THE UK Home Office has been accused of acting illegally when it invited Zimbabwean government officials to interview an asylum seeker at an immigration centre.
The Zimbabwean woman, who has been in the UK for more than 16 years and has an ongoing asylum claim, attended Vulcan House in Sheffield in December to find Zimbabwean officials waiting to speak to her.
She is one of scores of Zimbabweans to have been interviewed by Zimbabwean embassy officials at Home Office centres across the UK over the past few months, in what has been seen as an acceleration of the removals process since the country’s change of government.
The Home Office described the interviews as routine “redocumentation interviews” to establish the identity of a refused asylum seeker so that travel documentation can be issued and they can be removed from the UK.
In a letter to immigration minister Caroline Nokes, Paul Blomfield, the MP for Sheffield Central, said that as her claim to asylum was outstanding, subjecting her to such an interview contravened immigration rules. She had submitted her latest claim on 5 October last year.
UK rules state that no action should be taken to remove an individual from the UK until a decision on their asylum claim has been made.
In his letter, the MP said the interview had put his constituent at greater risk of persecution by the Zimbabwean government.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Re-documentation interviews with officials from receiving countries are a standard part of the Home Office returns process.
“These interviews are conducted where an asylum claim has failed and it is necessary to establish nationality and identity and to enable a travel document to be produced to facilitate return. They do not have a bearing on an asylum application.”
Own Correspondent|The Minister for Local Government, July Moyo, revealed that there could be as many as 300 bodies of Zimbabweans washed away by floods and now floating in Mozambique.
Minister Moyo said this during a post-cabinet media briefing in Harare Tuesday.
He said: “The distress calls started coming from Kopa, in Rusitu where two rivers which converge there burst and we understand there are bodies which are floating.
“Some have floated all the way into Mozambique and some of the peasants in Mozambique were calling some of our people saying that ‘we see bodies, we believe those bodies are coming from Zimbabwe.
“The total number we were told there could be a hundred, some going as far as saying there could be 300 but we cannot confirm this situation; our army is going on foot to Rusitu in order to go and assess the situation on the ground.”
FINANCE and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube says treasury has managed to reduced the public wage bill by cutting salaries of senior government officials by 5% across the board, retiring over 3 000 youth officers.
Other “unnecessary expenditure and ‘perks’” for ministers and MPs, most notably the procurement of vehicles, were also halted.
These measures had helped lower monthly budget deficit from US$242m in November to a surplus of US$733m in December, and a provisional surplus of $113m for January, with the “overall picture so far (being) one of cautious optimism”, Ncube said.
Minister Ncube sees inflation – currently at 59% – declining to 10% by the end of the year.
He is banking on slowing down money supply, liberalisation of the exchange rate and other broader economic reforms, although it will “not be plain sailing” for the struggling southern African country, he says.
In February 2019, Zimbabwe’s inflation rate shot up to 59.4% from 56.9% in January. In December 2018, it was 42.09%.
Foreign currency shortages and a thriving parallel market for Forex have been blamed for the steep rise in inflation in Zimbabwe, while shortages of some commodities have also seen prices creeping up.
However, Ncube is cautiously optimistic that inflation will fall down to 10% by the end of the year.
“As all Zimbabweans know, it has not been all plain sailing. The inflationary pressures we have faced have caused uncertainty and pain, and we have made dealing with this our number one concern,” Ncube said in an economic update released on Tuesday.
Ncube highlighted that in a bid to address this, “We have pushed ahead in our efforts to narrow the fiscal deficit and slow down money supply growth, and we project inflation to slow down to below 10%” by the end of the current year.
Zimbabwe’s monetary policy has also been tweaked to include what the government is describing as the “liberalisation of our foreign currency market and discarding of the fixed 1:1 exchange rate” peg for RTGS Dollars and bond notes.
Zimbabwe is reforming parastatals and aims to raise an initial US$350m from the disposal of shares in government-controlled enterprises that include telcos TelOne, Telecel and NetOne as well as the Post Bank and Zimpost. It has targeted these enterprises for “immediate reforms”, and work is already underway to identify transaction advisors.
STATEMENT: In the wake of Cyclone Idai, our customers’ friends, families and loved ones in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe need our support now more than ever. Many of our customers have contributed to relief efforts on the ground, and we’re supporting their generosity by donating $25,000 to the International Red Cross in the three affected countries. – WorldRemit
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OPPOSITION leader Nelson Chamisa wants his legislators to push for capacitation and reform of the Department of Civil Protection (DCP) in the aftermath of the devastating Cyclone Idai.
Speaking in Chimanimani, where the opposition leader has been lending weight to ongoing rescue operations by volunteers, army and government arms, Chamisa said there was need for a legislative agenda to reform institutions.
“We have to ensure that our MPs push an agenda to reform the DCP into a proactive, well-resourced and funded unit than a reactive arm, that is being caught flat-footed when disaster strikes,” he said.
Chamisa said DCP had been caught flat-footed at the Battlefields mine disaster which left nearly 40 dead and was napping in Manicaland were school children were not evacuated ahead of the cyclone.
He said there was need to ensure that the DCP had sufficient funds to procure its own reaction equipment and improve its disaster awareness and response ability.
“Legislators should come to the party, one life lost is one too many, we have to ensure there are laws that ensure the DCP has its own air rescue capacity, its own vehicles not this thing that they have to wait for help from other arms of the State who are slow in reacting,” he said.
Build Alliance Zimbabwe, leader Noah Manyika said the lack of preparedness by DCP and government was alarming and should be redressed.
“The tragedy of lack of preparedness is that the victims will simply be unaccounted for and, therefore, forgotten, without living witnesses from such communities the authorities who, but for their deadly negligence, could have saved many lives will only be too glad to pretend that the tragedy never happened,” he said.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has however committed that no effort or resources under his command will be spared to reach the affected and save lives.
Farai Dziva|Respected political analyst Dr Pedzisai Ruhanya has pointed out four factors that influence election results in Zimbabwe.
“Elections in Zim are never determined or won by votes. To win elections one needs FOUR THINGS 1. Money 2. Security apparatus 3.ZEC 4.Judiciary. This is the view of the Zaka villager after analysing electoral outcomes in Zim especially after 2000,” argued Dr Ruhanya.
“There4 MONEY, SECURITY APPARATUS, ZEC and JUDICIARY are the four centres of ZANU PF electoral gravity that the opposition led by @nelsonchamisa need to work on apart from controlling the VOTE/VOTERS in order to defeat ZANU PF in 2023. Centres of manipulation must FALL.”
Farai Dziva|Tonderai Ndiraya has announced his final 18-man squad for the trip to Mozambique.
The Young Warriors are set to leave the country tomorrow for their qualifying encounter of the Afcon U23 tournament scheduled for the 22nd of March before hosting their neighbours in Harare four days later.
Harare City duo of Wilfred Muvirimi and Colin Mujuru, and Herentals’ Tinotenda Benza are some of the notable players that have been dropped along with Farai Mutatu who plays in USA.
Here is the final 18-man squad for the trip to Mozambique:
Goalkeepers: Martin Mapisa (Velez CF, Spain),Nelson Chadya (Ngez Platinum).
Farai Dziva| Warriors captain Knowledge Musona says his injury is not complicated.
Musona arrived in the country yesterday for camp ahead of the crucial Afcon qualifier against Congo Brazzaville on Sunday.
The winger’s arrival is a boost to the national team following concerns that the player could miss the game due to an injury.
Musona did not play over the weekend after picking a minor tear on his groin last week, but he is hopeful he would be fine by the time the Warriors plunge into the defining battle.
“I went for a scan and they saw a small rupture on my groin, so they said it’s nothing big, so I will see in the next coming days how I will recover,” Musona told The Herald.
“I am feeling okay at this moment, but I think I have to go to the field and try to do the things that I was doing before I was feeling the pain and see how I am feeling.”
“But, at this moment, I can run normally, I have no pain, so I just have to go and try to kick the ball and see.”
Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa has responded to widespread criticism from angry Zimbabweans- following his controversial trip to the United Arab Emirates.
Addressing villagers in Ngangu in Manicaland Province today Mnangagwa explained the purpose of his trip to the United Arab Emirates.
“I received the sad news about the disaster while I was in the United Arab Emirates.
I briefed the President of that country who promised to assist with food items and blankets.
Having received the information about the natural disaster, I had to rush back home,” said Mnangagwa.
Mnangagwa is currently in Manicaland Province where he is assessing the extent of the destruction caused by Tropical Cyclone Idai.Cyclone Idai has left more than 100 people dead while hundreds others are still missing.
According to the latest government update on the effects of Tropical Cyclone Idai, 300 people are feared dead.
Farai Dziva|Constantino Chiwenga could not control his temper and literally exploded after being booed by villagers in the Ngangu area in Manicaland Province.
Chiwenga was jeered at as he attempted to silence those ” harbouring sinister political agendas during the time of bereavement.”
Chiwenga’s attempt to embarrass opposition leader Nelson Chamisa who visited Manicaland Province before Emmerson Mnangagwa’ s trip to the area, backfired when villagers jeered at him.
“This is not the time to pursue narrow political agendas.We know that there are some individuals who want to create unnecessary discord.
We will not take this lightly.Just keep quiet and remember that we are still grappling with the dire effects of the Tropical Cyclone Idai effects.You are now taking your political grudges too far,” said Chiwenga.
Chiwenga momentarily digressed from the main purpose of the event as he lashed out at ” misguided opposition malcontents. “
Farai Dziva|Constantino Chiwenga stunned all and sundry when he accused MDC A leader Nelson Chamisa of “playing with people’s lives.”
Addressing villagers in Ngangu, Manicaland Province today Chiwenga attacked the youthful opposition leader claiming his visit to the area was insignificant.
“This is not the time to play with people’s lives.Surely you cannot bring two chickens and present them to traumatized villagers.
Please stop playing games during such a sensitive period. We cannot tolerate such behaviour,” said Chiwenga.
“You saw him when he came here, what did he do? Can we tolerate such childish antics?”
Government functionaries were stunned by Chamisa’ s popularity in the area, political analysts have postulated.
Cyclone Idai which hit Manicaland last weekend has left the people of Chimanimani and Chipinge in dire need of aid, from food to clothes and other essentials which were vandalised by floods.
An unidentified old lady touched by the plight of flood victims and widespread calls for people to chip in with assistance, was pictured carrying a sack of goods she reportedly carried from Mbare to Highlands to submit at the Presbytarian Church
Farai Dziva| Controversial
Deputy Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Minister Energy Mutodi has claimed that the Government warned villagers in Manicaland Province of the dire effects of Tropical Cyclone Idai.
Mutodi said people should have vacated the affected zones following advance warnings of Cyclone Idai effects.
“Warnings were issued to people through the Meteorological Services Department and those residing in affected areas were supposed to seek shelter in safer zones, but you know people normally do not want to leave their homes,” said Mutodi.
However, civic organizations have blamed Government for its slow response to the disaster.
Election Resource Centre (ERC) boss Tawanda Chimhini said government should have been proactive considering the country has experienced similar disasters.
A SOMBRE atmosphere engulfed Paradise Park in Marondera Tuesday during the burial of one of the students from St Charles Lwanga High School, Munashe Jena, who succumbed to Cyclone Idai-induced injuries in Chimanimani on Friday.
It was not a narrative for the faint-hearted, as some of the students who travelled to Marondera to bid farewell to one of theirs recounted how they spent three days with their colleagues’ corpses in the classroom, waiting for the government rescue teams to take them to safety.
It all started on Friday night when a rockfall hit their dining hall, killing a security guard instantly before landing on the dormitory in which Jena and other boys were sleeping.
According to the students, it happened so fast and one of the deceased was hit by a chunk of glass from the window pane as disaster struck.
One of the students at the funeral still had muddy shoes, a sign that he was, indeed, coming from a difficult situation.
The chilling moment came when the boys narrated how the bodies were placed in the Form 1 classroom as they waited to be rescued.
“After retrieving the bodies, they were placed in a classroom as we waited for rescue. It was terrible and scary. The bodies were lying in the classrooms covered with blankets,” one of the students, who was visibly traumatised, recounted.
The students, after realising that there was no rescue for almost three days, embarked on an uncertain journey to Skyline for safety.
They recounted that some villagers and the boarding master made some makeshift coffins to ferry the corpses to safety.
“Some villagers and the boarding master then made some makeshift coffins to ferry the corpses of our colleagues. We went ahead, at night, not knowing where we were placing our feet. It was gambling, any mistake one would slip and that would have been the end. The road, the terrain was dangerous. The villagers and boarding master were behind us with the bodies, dicing with death as they manoeuvred their way to the nearest rescue point, at Skyline,” one student narrated.
“That was the only option. We couldn’t remain at the school for long since we were now certain that no rescue would come our way. If we had remained there, it would have gotten worse, we were confused. We made it to Skyline before the police took the bodies to Chipinge.”
The school guard was buried in the same area where he hails from.
Jena, a Form 1 student had joined the school on February 6 after his parents had transferred him form another school to the Catholic-run institution, which is regarded as one of the best in the country.
The students, however, bemoaned the treatment they got from army officers, who mistreated them upon arrival to safety.
“When we arrived at Skyline, the soldiers who were there said they were not in a position to assist us since they had come to clear the road. It was only after we threatened to proceed on our own that they agreed to ferry us to a safer destination. One of our teachers almost got manhandled by the soldiers as he argued that we needed assistance,” the student said.
The trauma of the students worsened as people, including authorities, jostled to take them photographs, while some falsely claimed credit for rescuing them.
“We made it on our own to Skyline. No one helped us. Some were taking pictures of us. It was disturbing,” another student said.
The two deceased students were wrapped in blankets provided by the boarding master.
Scores of Marondera residents thronged Paradise Park Cemetery to bid farewell to young Jena who was laid to rest yesterday.
His body arrived on Monday night before burial was fast-tracked, since it was in a bad state.
According to his relatives, it was not an easy task to fetch Jena’s body, but said they were glad that finally he was laid to rest.
The burial was attended by acting provincial administrator Clemence Masawi, students from St Charles Lwanga, Marondera mayor Chengetai Murowa, Chief Makoni and civil servants, among others.
At least 100 people reportedly died while several others are still missing in the wake of the cyclone which made landfall in neighbouring Mozambique.
Government yesterday advised relatives of the deceased to go ahead and bury the bodies to avoid decomposition as mortuaries in the district were dysfunctional following extensive destruction of the power supply system throughout Chimanimani.
St Charles Lwanga High School students arrived in Mutare on Monday night, where they received counselling before being reunited with their families.
Farai Dziva|The Tropical Cyclone Idai disaster has exposed the Emmerson Mnangagwa led Government’ s glaring incompetence, political analyst Dr Pedzisai Ruhanya has said.
“If anyone should be blamed for the Manicaland cyclone disaster, it’s the government in charge because of its poor disaster management policies after similar problems in 2000 affected the country- not the opposition leaders like @nelsonchamisa who responded well to call for help and attention from communities.”
“Community radios should be licensed so that they can publicise such disasters locally.We should not to wait for these state-controlled radios.
That’s why licensing community radios is also key in disaster management.”
“Those who say @nelsonchamisa was attention seeking SHUT UP. Yes, we need to pay attention to this Manicaland disaster. Citizens and the world need to know so that we can get help. We even need iconic musicians and all good will ambassadors to publicise the disaster.
That is the precise purpose of this thread; to debate and to expose the lethargy of ED in addressing this cyclone.”
A NURSE from Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo is facing a US$10 000 adultery lawsuit after he allegedly engaged in an extra marital affair with a married woman and pressured her to kill her husband to sustain the relationship.
The nurse from Tshabalala suburb, Vushe Marime, allegedly told Mrs Judy Takanai to kill her husband Mr Claudio Takanai so that he could remain the only man in her life.
He allegedly volunteered to organise some injections for Mrs Takanai which she could use to kill her unsuspecting husband.
In papers filed at the Civil Court at Tredgold Building, Mr Takanai’s lawyer Mrs Sheron Drau from Pundu 7 Company Legal Practitioners said her client had been denied conjugal rights ever since his wife started sleeping with Marime.
“Sometime in November 2018, my client found out about the illicit affair from a co-worker who revealed that on several occasions Marime had sexual intercourse with his wife at various lodges in Bulawayo. The adulterous relationship between the two has destroyed a happy marriage as Mrs Takanai has become vindictive towards my client and has stopped performing her conjugal duties and supporting her husband emotionally,” said Mrs Drau.
Mr Takanai reportedly approached Marime requesting him to terminate the relationship in November last year and he refused and told him he was not man enough. He also boasted about the size of his manhood.
According to Mrs Drau, Mrs Takanai confessed about the relationship during a family meeting and asked her husband to forgive her.
“She stated that Marime was in the process of acquiring injections and would show her how to use them so that she could kill her husband. He also gave her some tablets that he sells on the black market and instructed her to lie to her husband that they were Paracetamols for pain when in fact they were pills that were lethal,” she added.
Mrs Drau said her client was now living in constant misery and fears for his life.
“Furthermore he has been humiliated by Marime who boasts about the size of his sexual reproductive organ. The effects of the adulterous relationship are far reaching as their children are also affected due to the misunderstandings between the couple,” she said.
“Simply put the relationship has hurt my client’s pride as a husband, a father and a man. As a result of the adultery, my client has suffered damages namely contumelia inflicted upon him in the sum of US$5 000 and the loss of consortium in the sum of US$5 000”.
A CREEPY husband is in the habit of sending nu_de pictures of himself and his well-endowed girlfriend to his wife, just to spite her.
Canisius Taziveyi and his wife Theresa Mabutho are both police officers but the level of abuse exhibited by Taziveyi is at another level. As such they have since gone on separation but he sends nu_de pictures of himself and his bootylicious girlfriend to his estranged wife as a form of emotional abuse.
At one point, taking a break from sending nudes, he threatened to burn her alive with a petrol bomb.
Knowing that her husband was a “doer” she applied for a peace order before he petrol bombed her, as he had threatened to.
“I have a problem with my husband whom we are legally married but we are now on separation as he moved to stay with another woman by the name of Massie Dube in Nkulumane.
“He emotionally abuses me by sending naked photos of him and his girlfriend. He is in the habit of insulting and degrading me in front of my neighbours and workmates,” she said in court.
She further revealed that he also threatened to burn her alive using a petrol bomb and has taken all their matrimonial property.
“He took some property saying he was sharing it. He moved away with all his clothes, two motor vehicles, pool table and marriage certificate. He is very violent and damaged my property which includes 18 windows, 42 inch television, plates and pots.
“He takes my phone and starts sending vulgar messages to my friends to tarnish my image. I am a human being and I will end up retaliating so I request the long arm of the law to help. I reported at work since we are both police officers,” she said.
Western Commonage magistrate Urgent Vundla granted the order. The respondent has to stay away from applicant’s place of residence and must not physically, verbally, emotionally abuse and threaten the applicant.
Own Correspondent|Residents of Ward 1 Gwanda Municipality are up in arms against the opposition councillor for the area who they claim not to be able to read and right.
According to the residents who approached the Daily News newspaper, councillor Mkhululi Chuma who was elected in the last elections had to relinquish chairing a council committee because of his academic challenges.
The opposition party which dominates the council had to lose the committee chair to a ZANU PF councillor Thulani Moyo.
The residents further complained that the councillor concerned resides in the MDC offices where he is working as the party security officer making it difficult for them to access the councillor at his residence if they have any issues affecting them.
Contacted for a comment by the media, Gwanda Town Mayor Jastine Mazhali dismissed the concerns of the residents on the academic challenges faced by the councillor claiming that the residents would not have raised the kind of complaint.
“I doubt that the residents may have raised that concern,” said Mazhali. “The complaint may have come from sources within the ward who are bent on discrediting the council.”
Mazhali however confirmed that Councillor Chuma was excused from chairing the committee claiming that the council did it deliberately in a bid “to balance up council” with the ruling ZANU PF.
“When we come together in council we forego our political affiliations and focus at developing the town which led us to agreeing with the ZANU PF councillors to balance up the chairing of council committees which then led the MDC to relinquish the Environmental Committee to ZANU PF,” he said.
The MDC which has a majority in council was chairing all the key council committees except the Audit Committee before relinquishing the Environmental Committee to the ruling party in an extremely rare arrangement.
Contacted for a comment, the Spokesperson for the Gwanda Residents Association Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo said that the Association was not a position to decide on the academic or otherwise credentials of a councillor but would be more concerned with the efficiency of the councillor in delivering service to residents.
Fuzwayo further blamed political parties for not exercising due diligence when choosing the candidates to second to the electorate. He also blamed the electorate for equally not considering the candidates provided but just voting for political parties without paying regard on the calibre of the candidate presented.
“The problem is with the political parties themselves as they are the ones who have to choose carefully who they put forward as candidates,” he said.
“It will be very unfortunate if the allegations against Chuma are true as the Urban Councils Act recommends that a councillor should at least be able to read and write. We will follow up the concern and take it up from there. ” he added.
Fuzwayo confirmed that the Residents Association had indeed received complaints from residents about the councillor’s residing at the opposition party offices indicating that the Association will be tabling the concern with the political party to move the councillor.
“We have to stand with the residents on this matter and we will definitely ask the MDC to urgently find alternative accomodation for the councillor,” he said.
Efforts to get a comment from the MDC leadership in the town were not successful at the time of writing.
By Own Correspondent- Cyclone Idai’s devastation on Manicaland was much greater than people had expected and the army has revealed that the death toll is expected to rise amid indications that at least 500 people are missing from the Rusitu Valley in Chimanimani district.
Tropical Cyclone Idai may very well turn out to be the worst weather phenomenon that the country has experienced as the death toll is currently at 98 while hundreds of homesteads have been destroyed.
3 Infantry Brigade commander Major General Joe Muzvidziwa, who is leading the army rescue mission revealed that they do not have an accurate number yet but said that he expects the figure to be well above 500.
Said General Muzvidziwa:
“We still need more nurses because those at Ngangu Clinic in Chimanimani Township are overwhelmed. At least doctors have arrived and they are already working.
We are still getting reports of areas that need assistance and we have made several flights into some of the affected areas . We do not have sufficient data on the numbers of people who died and those that are missing. In fact, when the data collation is done, we are expecting the number of missing people not to be less than 500.
The good thing is that the water levels have receded and if we manage to clear the roads we could have a clear picture by end of day tomorrow.”
Addressing the media after a post cabinet meeting Tuesday, Local government minister July Moyo said government had received reports of suspected Zimbabwean floating bodies in neighbouring Mozambique.
“We have been told by people in the Kopa area that there are bodies that are seen to be floating in Mozambique… they are suspected to be Zimbabweans….
At first we were told that they numbered 100 but now we got information that they could be 300. We are not so sure of the exact figures.
We have soldiers who are currently on the rescue mission and once they have physically counted how many of those bodies are Zimbabwean, we will then be able to update the nation.”
High Court Judge Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo has set aside the decision by Masvingo District Adminstrator (DA) to suspend Community Tolerance, Reconciliation and Development (COTRAD) operations and declares the decision null and void and of no force and effect. Justice Matanda-Moyo also ruled that the DA is not empowered by any law to suspend or stop COTRAD operations. The DA was ordered to pay costs of the application.
By Own Correspondent- Finance and Economic Development Ministry’s permanent secretary, George Guvamatanga, has revealed that blankets, clothing and food seized by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) will be distributed to the survivors of Tropical Cyclone Idai.
Guvamatanga said:
“With regards to basic necessities, such as blankets, clothing and food, the Accountant-General and Zimra are working out modalities of ensuring that current stocks of forfeited goods become available to the families in need.
Your officials will need to liaise with the Accountant-General on the requirements and modalities of distribution.”
Our team of officials led by Mr B. Mupuriri, the director implementation and monitoring department, will be in Manicaland to provide immediate assistance in the recovery efforts.
Cyclone Idai has killed close to 100 people and left massive destruction in its wake.
By Own Correspondent- Shelter for victims of Tropical Cyclone Idai is presenting challenges for government amid indications that government has no immediate plan on where and how to house the over 800 families affected by the natural disaster.
Local government minister July Moyo on Tuesday afternoon told the media at the post cabinet briefing that shelter for hundreds of families affected by Tropical Cyclone Idai presented “headaches” for government.
Said the minister:
“……..shelter is giving us headaches. Yes Chimanimani Hotel was hosting 500 of our people and Chimanimani primary school was hosting some who headed the calls and had left their homes before the cyclone hit the area.
Lately, some of the victims were returning to their homes and we were left with at least 300 at Chimanimani primary school. We made contact with Mike Mataure, the owner of Chimanimani hotel since his son was the one running the place and he was now anxious to say whether government would be able to pay him for his services. We assured him that we would pay him so he was then able to release some water and food which was spared during Tropical Cyclone Idai.
But the shelter that we have, we have been given a lot of tents we have been given a lot of malaria tablets and mosquito nets because after something like this, we need those things. However, we think we have enough tents in the meantime.”
A picture of army personnel offloading sofas for use by President Emmerson Mnangagwa when he arrives in Chimanimani has caused a social media stir with people questioning the logic behind bringing luxury in the midst of a crisis.
Pi
There are no planes to ferry the injured but there are planes to carry sofas zvakaoma
By Own Correspondent- FreeZim Congress president Joseph Makamba Busha has distanced himself from the President Emmerson Mnangagwa led dialogue describing the incumbent as a “coward” who was sacred of progressive ideas.
Busha described political party leaders participating in the dialogue as sympathisers of the ruling party eager to join Zanu Pf.
He said this at a press briefing held in the capital Harare Wednesday.
Said Busha:
“I am not part of his (Mnangagwa) dialogue. What I have done is that, I have written to him seeking audience but he has refused to engage. What I have noticed is that Mnangagwa is scared of ideas. He is a coward. Why is he refusing to have bi- lateral talks with me if he is so sure of his Vision 2030?
The inter party dialogue is a useless exercise. I am glad that leader of the other opposition party Nelson Chamisa refused to be part of it. Its a useless exercise because he (Mnangagwa) is trying to co- opt people who are eager to join Zanu Pf. The opposition political parties in that dialogue are looking out for their own selfish interests.”
Government has intensified efforts to partially privatize telecommunication companies Telone and NetOne and is offering the two entities to potential investors as a joint package.
Cabinet yesterday gave the nod to this arrangement after a presentation by Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube.
Public enterprise reforms are espoused in Government’s Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), an economic blueprint that advances President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030 of turning Zimbabwe into an upper middle income economy.
Briefing journalists after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Prof Ncube said Government was working on finding a transaction advisor who will evaluate the entities’ assets, formulate a strategy in terms of earning projections and shareholding levels.
He said Government will not have less than 40 percent equity in the two companies. “We do realise that the two companies are joined at the hip and they rely on each other and make a whole when they are together,” he said.
“If that was considered as such, they will be well positioned to compete with competitors such as Econet within the market. What Cabinet then decided to agree on today was basically to conclude the issue of a transaction advisor for TelOne and NetOne. In doing so we have to ensure that they are offered as a package together. It is a joint offering to an investor. Government will get better value for money if these are offloaded together as a package.”
Prof Ncube said the companies were saddled with debts and needed equity and technological injection.
“As we do so, we think that Government should not have less than 40 percent equity in the two companies,” he said.
“That is what we are targeting but of course we are always free to negotiate with investors. We are going to make progress on this and will keep you updated as we work with transaction advisors in terms of which suitors have been shortlisted and tell you who they are.”
In terms of timelines, he said Government should have identified investors by September.
Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) Zimbabwe had initially been selected as the transaction advisors for TelOne.
Said Prof Mthuli: “PWC went through a process of selection for transaction advisors for TelOne. They are about to sign a contract to that effect but given that we want to offer the two as a package it will be a good idea to find a process that will enable them to also advise on the NetOne side of the transaction so that we have one transaction advisor advising across the two assets.”
Government has taken the decision to restructure parastatals as some of them have become perennial loss makers.
In 2016, 38 out of 93 audited SOEs incurred a combined $270 million loss because of dislocated corporate governance practices and ineffective control mechanisms.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has send his consolations to the victims of cyclone Idai saying his country stands with Zimbabwe as it come to terms with the devastating loss of lives and infrastructure.
In a tweet posted this morning, the Kenyan President passed his message of encouragement to Zimbabwe and Malawi who are currently battling the devastation from Cyclone Idai.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reportedly left Mutare on his way to Chimanimani where he is set to meet with cyclone idai victims.
Mnangagwa was pictured departing in a helicopter, accompanied by government officials.
He has been criticized for his indifferent approach to the plight of cyclone idai victims when he decided to fly to United Arab Emirates for a business visit.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday responded to critics who have accused his administration of responding slowly to Cyclone Idai.
Mnangagwa urged people to ignore people who want to take advantage of the situation for political mileage. Said Mnangagwa:
You should ignore those with the ivory tower mentality who want to take advantage of the situation for political mileage. In any family kunowanika vasingahwisisi vamwe vachihwisisa. Ndosaka muchiona vanohwisisa vachizotonga. Tisanetseka nevanotaura mashoko ekusvora. We must continue to listen to our people to find out what they need to restore their communities and their families.
Civil society and politicians have blamed Government for its slow response to Cyclone Idai. Nelson Chamisa, through his spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda, said the disaster should not have claimed so many lives considering that warnings about the cyclone were issued well in advance. Election Resource Centre (ERC) boss Tawanda Chimhini said government should have been proactive considering the country has experienced similar disasters before.
Jane Mlambo| Local Government Minister July Moyo said that the death toll from Tropical Cyclone Idai is set to rise as there is a high number of people who are yet to be accounted for.
Addressing the media after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday in the capital Harare, Moyo said the number of casualties has been a fast-moving figure.
“Most of the casualties come from either collapsed buildings and people are trapped in the collapsed buildings or secondly the mudslides and people are buried under and we have not moved enough equipment to do the job of excavating.
“People have resorted to using shovels. That is why it is important for us to move equipment out there. Some have been taken by rivers which come and sweep the whole homestead…this 98 I am sure will not be the last we will hear.
Score of people died from rockfalls, landslides and drowning as the cyclone lashed Manicaland, Mashonaland East and Masvingo Provinces over the weekend.
Free Zimbabwe Congress President Joseph Busha has warned government against begging the United Nations when it has the capacity to deal with effects of Cyclone Idai.
Busha is currently addressing a press conference in Harare. Below is the stream to the presser
A 30-YEAR-OLD man, who was part of a gang that has been terrorising residents in Marondera, has been sentenced to 28 years in prison by regional magistrate Clever Tsikwa, who convicted him on three counts of armed robbery.
Blessing Kuzvinzwa Nyika, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to three of the four counts and will serve an effective 25-year jail term after three years were suspended on condition of good behaviour.
According to court papers, on February 15, Nyika and his four accomplices, who are still at large, went to Ndirande Farm in Goromonzi, where he was formerly employed as a general worker.
They broke into magistrate-turned-lawyer Jacqueline Pratt’s house and ordered her and her four employees to lie down while assaulting them with wooden logs.
They tied the complainants with cables and ransacked the house. They stole a Bernadelli pistol loaded with 20 rounds, US$270, ZWR$1 270, Tab E cellphones and a Mercedes-Benz ML car keys.
The total value of the stolen property was pegged at $10 040 and only $8 150 was recovered.
The robbers then bundled the complainants into the car and drove to Pratt’s daughter-in-law’s residence, who resides on the same farm.
On arrival at Pratt’s daughter-in-law’s place, the gang stole some property and cash using Pratt’s pistol. They then dumped the Mercedes-Benz and stole a Nissan X-Trail.
On the third count, during the same night and using the stolen Nissan X-Trail, the robbers, now wearing masks, went to businessman Gift Phillip’s place of residence.
They broke the bedroom window and pointed the stolen pistol at Phillip and his wife while others were breaking down the kitchen door to gain entry.
While inside the house, they threatened to rape Phillip’s wife if they were not given money.
They ransacked the house and stole US$200, ZWR$800 and some valuable. Goods worth $250 were recovered.
During the same night and using the stolen Nissan X-Trail, the gang carried out another armed robbery in Ruvimbo Park, where they stole cash and valuables before disappearing.
Nyika was arrested after police details discovered one of the stolen phones from a buyer who implicated him. He then led police to where he had sold some of the stolen gadgets.
ZimEye will be livestreaming a press conference by one of the country’s Presidential aspirants in the 2018 harmonised polls, Joseph Makamba Busha of the FreeZimbabwe Congress.
CHIREDZI West legislator Farai Musikavanhu has threatened to sue Chiredzi Town Council over that they destroyed property worth thousands of dollars in February, saying they were man-made and avoidable if proper urban planning and mitigatory measures had been put in place.
The Department of Civil Protection (DCP) findings show that flooding was caused by blocked and poor drainage systems and that most of the affected properties were built on either wetlands or water chains, thereby putting the blame squarely on the council’s town planning and engineering departments.
Musikavanhu, in a residents’ WhatsApp group, threatened to drag the council to court for negligence.
“Greetings again comrades. While Chiredzi appears to have been spared the wrath of Cyclone Idai, there are serious lessons to be learnt from the devastation that is being reported from Chimanimani and Chipinge.
“It is on this understanding that I would like to reaffirm my resolve to hold Chiredzi Town Council to account in respect of the findings arising from the floods that we experienced on February 13, 2019. I am in the process of compiling a legal position in this regard. Yes, natural disasters will come periodically, but we do have an obligation to take mitigatory measures, including good urban planning,” the MP posted.
Contacted for comment, Musikavanhu said: “If you were following Constituency Talk on ZTV, you would know where I am coming from.”
United Chiredzi Residents and Ratepayers’ Association secretary Bernard Dachi said the town planning and engineering departments needed a shake-up.
“We feel that the two departments need a complete overhaul because suing council is just going in circles and burdening the same ratepayers. In fact, that’s what we can call political showboating meant to achieve nothing, but just cheap politicking. It’s just like robbing a person with the left hand and giving back with the right hand.”
Chiredzi council chairperson Gibson Hwende said he believed the floods were a natural disaster and no one should shoulder the blame of their effects. He went further and said if there was any aggrieved party, his door was open for dialogue.
“I do respect personal rights, but we strongly believe this was a natural disaster and that is why DCP was activated to assist the victims. Personally, I think the best way whenever our communities are confronted with problems of such magnitude is that leaders should collectively find solutions through dialogue.
“Dialogue is the best tool of building our communities in this modern world. We are in the process of rebuilding our town and we need everyone, even as leaders should collectively contribute towards the reconstruction of our town.
“The legal route is another way, which I believe should be the last option provided the doors for dialogue are closed, because it has cost implications which should be met by the same council,” Hwende said.
Former Zanu PF Midlands Senator Flora Buka, has been taken to court by the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) over a US$368 833 debt for electricity supplied at her Riverbend Farm, East Clare in Kwekwe.
Through its lawyers Chihambakwe, Mutizwa and Partners, the power utility demanded, via the High Court, payment of the outstanding amount. The former minister in the then Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s Office is yet to respond to the litigation.
According to the court papers, Buka is said to have failed, neglected and/or refused to settle the debts for her three electricity accounts being US$222 161, US$119 922 and US$26 749, respectively.
“The defendant (Buka) is indebted/liable to the plaintiff (ZETDC) in the sum of US$368 833,48 as at March 4, 2019, being charges in respect of power/electricity supplied by the plaintiff to the defendant at the latter’s special request and instance in terms of the running electricity supply contract between the two,” the power utility said in its declaration.
ZETDC further said, despite several letters of demands seeking Buka’s co-operation, the former minister has reneged to fulfil her contractual obligation prompting the power utility to approach the court for recourse.
“The defendant has failed, neglected or refused to pay the above sum/amount despite written demand. By reason of the said failure, neglect or refusal to pay the above sum/amount, the defendant is obliged to pay the same with interest thereon at the prescribed rate which is currently 5% per annum,” ZETDC said.
Former Kaizer Chiefs and Maritzburg United goalkeeper Arthur Bartman, who enjoyed a journeyman career of nearly 20 seasons, died at the age of 46 on Tuesday.
Bartman’s untimely death was confirmed by his hometown club, Maritzburg United, who he served with distinction as a player and goalkeeper coach after announcing his retirement.
“The club has learnt with sadness of the passing of former goalkeeper coach‚ Arthur Bartman,” the club said in a statement on Twitter.
“Prayers and thoughts go out to the Bartman family during this time. You will always be a part of the Team of Choice.”
The cause of Bartman’s death – was born and raised in Pietermaritzburg – was not confirmed by the club.
Bartman made his debut in the top-flight for African Wanderers in the 1997/1998 season and went on to represent 15 clubs over the course of his career.
He is best known for representing Kaizer Chiefs after completing a move to the Soweto giants as a 36-year-old veteran when the club faced a goalkeeper crisis.
The experienced shot-stopper went on to star for AmaKhosi during two seasons at the club, winning back-to-back Telkom Knockout trophies before retiring in 2013.
The club has learnt with sadness of the passing of former goalkeeper coach, Arthur Bartman. Prayers and thoughts go out to the Bartman family during this time. You will always be a part of the Team of Choice.
A HARARE magistrate yesterday dismissed an application for refusal of remand filed by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) president Peter Mtasa, secretary-general Japhet Moyo and #ThisFlag leader Evan Mawarire. The three are accused of trying to subvert a constitutional government following the January 14-16 protests against fuel price hikes.
Mtasa and Moyo, who are represented by Alec Muchadehama and Mawarire by Tonderai Bhatasara had filed the application before magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa, saying the State was delaying their trial.
Prosecutor Sebastian Mutizirwa successfully asked for postponement of the matter, saying the docket had been sent to the Prosecutor-General’s Office for perusal.
But Bhatasara and Muchadehama told court that the State was not ready for trial.
Muchadehama said other suspects who were arrested during the same time with his clients had already been tried. He further told court that the State should give his clients trial dates like it did when it fast-tracked other public violence cases.
“The State said they need six weeks to complete the investigations and now it is more than six weeks. There is only one exhibit which is a video, but they are taking more than six weeks to investigate that video. The State was stampeding us to try public violence matters after just 30 minutes of the arrest, but now they are refusing to try our clients within that period,” Muchadehama said.
However, Mugwagwa dismissed the application, saying the State had demonstrated to the court the progress they had made for the purpose of coming up with a trial date.
The matter was postponed to April 16.
Allegations are that on January 1, 2019, Mtasa, while working in connivance with Mawarire, recorded and published a video which went viral on all social media platforms.
It is the State’s contention that the contents of the video were meant to subvert a constitutionally elected government. The allegations are that Mtasa and Mawarire were coercing Zimbabwean workers to boycott reporting for duty and encouraging civil disobedience or resistance to the law.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni (R) jokes with Rwandan President Paul Kagame (L) at the end of the summit on Burundi in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Photo : REUTERS
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ADV) – Ugandan President has come out of the shadow on Tuesday to acknowledge holding a “private meeting” with members of a dissident group seeking to unseat the government of Kigali.
President Yoweri Museveni’s statement is allegedly contained in a letter he dispatched on Tuesday to his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, sources said Tuesday.
The African Press Agency (APA) correspondent in Rwanda who revealed the information did not provide more details.
President Museveni’s acknowledgement comes barely a day following the deportation on Monday from Uganda of a group of four Rwandans who were detained and allegedly tortured in Ugandan cells, according to APA.
Uganda had explained that if any Rwandan was jailed in Uganda must have committed some form of crime and were legible to face trial and possible detention if found guilty.
In light of this, the government in Kigali has advised its citizens against travelling to Uganda.
It can be recalled that Uganda had accused Kigali of unilaterally imposing an embargo on goods entering its territory.
Kigali also accused Ugandan of backing armed groups and terrorist organisations hostile to Rwanda, including RNC, FDLR and others, who it claimed were receiving several forms of assistance and support from Uganda.
Kigali had always argued that it had repeatedly communicated all those strategic information to the government of Uganda but without any reaction from Kampala.
Correspondent|Zimbabwe’s ruling party, Zanu (PF) has embarked on a provincial restructuring exercise, the party’s national political commissar Lieutenant-General Engelbert Rugeje (Retired) recently disclosed.
“ZANU- PF will take the ongoing provincial restructuring exercise, which saw the revolutionary party dissolving its provincial structures in Bulawayo and Harare, to all provinces,” said Lieutenant-General Engelbert Rugeje (Retired).
According to The Sunday Mail, Lt-Gen Rugeje (Rtd) said restructuring was being done in line with the party’s constitution, which prescribes restructuring of provincial structures after every four years.
“What happens in our party is that our constitution stipulates that every year, we restructure our cells (village structures) and there will be elections. After two years, there is branch restructuring and then after three years, we restructure our districts. In the fourth year, we will then restructure provinces and then the fifth year we have the Central Committee and then we go for a congress.
“However, because we got into the new dispensation there are some things that we failed to do because there were other pressing issues and programmes such as the harmonised elections, our primary elections and the national people’s conference.
‘‘We then failed to conduct our provincial elections due to the tight schedule,” he said.
The governing party, he added, is presently training 10 000 facilitators for the Chitepo School of Ideology, who will be sent to all provinces.
All Zanu-PF members and those aspiring to join the party will have to undergo ideological training, he said.
Correspondent|Two Chinhoyi men were jailed three years each by magistrate Tayengwa Chibanda for destroying a billboard with the portrait of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Darlington Willard Machemba (31) and Clifford Maleka (24) pleaded guilty to the charge of disturbing peace, security or order of the public.
The two pulled down, tore and burnt a billboard bearing the portrait of Mnangagwa during the January protests against fuel price hikes. They were arrested on January 15.
The two will each serve two years behind bars after one year was suspended on condition of good behaviour.
A 37-YEAR-OLD maid from Bulawayo has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for brutally bashing her employer’s two-year-old child for breaking a dinner plate.
Silibaziso Tshuma told Western Commonage magistrate Ms Tancy Dube that she hit Ms Omhle Ncube’s daughter to discipline her.
Tshuma pleaded guilty to a charge of ill-treatment or alternatively neglect of a young child.
She was sentenced to 24 months in prison.
Eight months were suspended for five years on condition that she does not commit a similar offence.
Tshuma will serve 16 months effectively in prison.
Tshuma told the court that she used a stick to discipline the minor after she dropped a dinner plate on the floor.
“I just hit her like a child who needed to be disciplined so that she does not do it again,” she said.
However, the prosecutor Mrs Thembani Mpofu said the bruises on the child indicated a severe beating with a weapon that was more than a mere stick.
She said sometime this month, Tshuma was with the minor having supper.
“After the minor finished eating she was ordered to put her plate in a sink. Before she could reach the kitchen, the plate fell and it broke.
“Tshuma hit the child until she had bruises on her body,” she said.
In her testimony, Ms Ncube said on the day of the incident she and her husband were in South Africa.
“I was called by my sister who told me that when she went to see the child she noticed some bruises and asked her what had happened.
“My daughter told her she had been hit by the maid,” she said.
The court heard that Ms Ncube’s sister took Tshuma to a police station and reported the matter, leading to her arrest.
A medical report that was produced in court showed that the minor had severe bruises all over her body.
Former Zanu PF Midlands Senator Flora Buka, has been taken to court by the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) over a
US$368 833 debt for electricity supplied at her Riverbend Farm, East Clare in Kwekwe.
Through its lawyers Chihambakwe, Mutizwa and Partners, the power utility demanded, via the High Court, payment of the outstanding amount. The former minister in the then Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s Office is yet to respond to the litigation.
According to the court papers, Buka is said to have failed, neglected and/or refused to settle the debts for her three electricity accounts being US$222 161, US$119 922 and US$26 749, respectively.
“The defendant (Buka) is indebted/liable to the plaintiff (ZETDC) in the sum of US$368 833,48 as at March 4, 2019, being charges in respect of power/electricity supplied by the plaintiff to the defendant at the latter’s special request and instance in terms of the running electricity supply contract between the two,” the power utility said in its declaration.
ZETDC further said, despite several letters of demands seeking Buka’s co-operation, the former minister has reneged to fulfil her contractual obligation prompting the power utility to approach the court for recourse.
“The defendant has failed, neglected or refused to pay the above sum/amount despite written demand. By reason of the said failure, neglect or refusal to pay the above sum/amount, the defendant is obliged to pay the same with interest thereon at the prescribed rate which is currently 5% per annum,” ZETDC said.
A TEENAGER who was employed as a herdboy in Lupane allegedly attacked and killed his employer with a shovel after she fired him for indiscipline.
Police spokesperson for Matabeleland North Chief Inspector Siphiwe Makonese confirmed that the herdboy had since been arrested for allegedly killing his employer Ms Memory Moyo (57).
Chief Insp Makonese said Ms Moyo succumbed to head and leg injuries on admission to St Luke’s Hospital following the attack that occurred at her homestead in Jabatshaba Village under Chief Mabhikwa last Friday.
Ms Moyo’s attacker, Alfred Chachimba, who is originally from Dandanda in Lupane District, allegedly fled from the scene soon after committing the crime.
He was arrested on Monday.
“I can confirm that we received a report of murder where a 17-year-old boy who was employed as a herdboy attacked his employer after she rebuked him for his behaviour,” said Chief Insp Makonese.
A neighbour Mrs Selina Ndlovu found Ms Moyo lying unconscious in a pool of blood about 30 minutes after the attack and alerted other villagers who rushed her to hospital.
“The accused arrived home around 6pm and Memory Moyo rebuked him for coming home late and told him that he had been fired. This did not go down well with the accused who picked a shovel and struck the now deceased three times on the head and once on the right leg,” said Chief Insp Makonese.
Chachimba fled from the scene leaving Ms Moyo, who had collapsed and become unconscious, bleeding excessively from the head.
Neighbours rushed Ms Moyo to St Lukes’ Hospital but she died on admission.
Her body was taken to Bulawayo for post-mortem while her attacker was arrested on Monday in Dandanda, under Chief Menyezwa where he had fled to.
He is expected to appear in court charged with murder.
MORE than 500 people are still missing in Rusitu Valley in Chimanimani district as rescue efforts are being hampered by damaged roads, 3 Infantry Brigade commander Major General Joe Muzvidziwa, who is leading the army rescue mission, has said.
Efforts to rescue victims of Cyclone Idai are still underway with the military yesterday being assisted by a privately owned helicopter that was ferrying the critically injured from some of the affected areas to Mutambara Hospital and Skyline help centre.
Helicopters could not fly into the area since Sunday owing to bad weather conditions.
In an interview at Skyline junction in Chimanimani, Maj Gen Muzvidziwa said there is no sufficient data on the number of missing persons and those who have died especially in the Rusitu Valley where loss of human life and damage to infrastructure was extensive.
“We still need more nurses because those at Ngangu Clinic in Chimanimani Township are overwhelmed. At least doctors have arrived and they are already working.
“We are still getting reports of areas that need assistance and we have made several flights into some of the affected areas,” he said.
“We do not have sufficient data on the numbers of people who died and those that are missing. In fact, when the data collation is done, we are expecting the number of missing people not to be less than 500.
“The good thing is that the water levels have receded and if we manage to clear the roads we could have a clear picture by end of day tomorrow.”
Relief efforts to ease the plight of people affected by Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani has taken days to reach the epicentre of the disaster owing to impassable roads.
Manicaland provincial administrator Mr Edgar Seenza said teams have been deployed to find alternative routes that could be used to get food, medicine and other needs to the affected communities.
“We are still trying to reach the affected areas and relief teams are on the ground trying to find alternative routes to reach out to the affected communities,” said Mr Seenza.
Roads were damaged while bridges were washed away after Cyclone Idai left a trail of destruction in Chimanimani and Chipinge districts.
As of yesterday motorists could only travel as far as Skyline junction from Jopa turn off near Chipinge but could not proceed to Chimanimani town nor the opposite Biriiri-Mutare road.
The heavily affected areas such as Rusitu, Ngangu in Chimanimani, Biriiri and surrounding areas.
Department of Civil Protection (DCP) Director Mr Nathan Nkomo yesterday warned people against visiting Cyclone Idai-ravaged areas saying traffic congestion on bad roads is disturbing rescue efforts at a time government has started assessing the extent of damage.
He said increased traffic is causing congestion that is disturbing transportation of relief supplies and slowing down rescue efforts.
He said they are failing to reach Ngangu and Mutambara Mission because of too much traffic.
Mr Nkomo urged people to reduce visits to ravaged areas because the roads are not in good condition which may lead to further disaster.
“We have been assigned to reach hotspots which are Ngangu and Mutambara Mission to help cyclone victims but the road is congested. I urge the public to reduce the number of visits because the roads are so bad and too much traffic on bad roads will lead to further disaster,” he said.
In a separate interview, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister July Moyo said with assistance from the army and other departments, his Ministry had started assessing how much will be required to repair destroyed infrastructure.
He said on Monday helicopters managed to access areas that were not accessible the day before making it easier for engineers to see the damage caused by the cyclone.
“As we monitor the situation in Manicaland and assist the affected people we’re also assessing the extent of damage caused by the cyclone. The cyclone destroyed infrastructure in many parts of the province, especially bridges, roads, schools and homesteads.
“Unfortunately some areas are not accessible because the roads were blocked and there’s mist in the area. We’ve only managed to see half of the bridges that were destroyed. As soon as it clears and we manage to see the rest of the bridges and infrastructure we’ll be able to tell how much we need for reconstruction,” said Minister Moyo.
He said it was a horrendous experience for affected people, including school children to wait for rescuers in such conditions.
“The army helicopters yesterday managed to have access to the affected areas and there’s progress. We have army engineers who’re working with our engineers to give us definitive costs when they finish assessing the situation,” said Minister Moyo.
He said the cyclone had left a huge trail of destruction leaving his Ministry with much work on its hands.
The Minister added that the area was mountainous and most people were living on the sides of mountains.
Agony is etched in Tapiwa Chanyawo´s face as he tells of the night the storm came, a mudslide swept away their home, and his family died.
Their home, in the eastern Zimbabwean town of Chimanimani, lay in the path of Idai — a gigantic tropical cyclone that may have left more than a thousand dead in its wake.
“My father, my mother, my two sisters including the elder one and her child, they all died,” Chanyawo told AFP from his bed at a local hospital, counting the numbers on his fingers.
His family was among 98 confirmed dead in Zimbabwe. At least 217 more are missing and 44 stranded, according to the information ministry.
The storm struck overnight Friday after first smashed into central Mozambique, whose president, Filipe Nyusi, said on Monday that at least a thousand people there may have perished.
More than a hundred houses in Ngangu township in Chimanimani were destroyed by heavy rain, raging winds and rolling rocks.
The structures are made of home-baked bricks and corrugated iron sheets.
Homes of this type are a familiar sight across Zimbabwe, and are known for their resilience.
But, in Ngangu, they were no match for a storm packing hurricane-force winds, pounding rain and mudslides.
Jane Chitsuro, 42, miraculously survived but struggled to hold back the tears of loss.
“I have no clue where my daughter is buried in the debris,” she said, her head wrapped in a bandage.
“There is no house left to talk about, no furniture, nothing to wear or cover oneself with. Only masses of broken bricks and rocks”.
Praise Chipore’s face is bruised and swollen — the evidence in pain of what happened to her on Friday night.
“A flood came and my house was destroyed and I was buried underneath it. My daughter who was with me on the bed was washed away from me and then a bigger flood carried me farther away,” said Chipore.
Grief pervaded the Chimanimani community on Monday as families started burying their dead in damp graves, with some family members sharing one grave.
A tractor did several trips carrying coffins, fashioned out of crude timber by local woodworkers, to the burial site.
Chimanimani is one of Zimbabwe’s most picturesque regions, a verdant place of mountains, water falls and rainforests that is deeply popular with tourists
But the scene following Cyclone Idai was one of awful desolation.
The storm not only destroyed homes. It also washed away crops awaiting harvest in the fields and ripped bridges to pieces, leaving destruction that acting defence minister Perrance Shiri said “resembles the aftermath of a full-scale war”.
Some roads were swallowed up by massive sinkholes, a business centre was wiped out while bridges were ripped to pieces by flash floods.
“This is the worst infrastructural damage we have ever had,” Zimbabwean Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joel Biggie Matiza said.
The eastern district of Chimanimani was worst-hit, with houses and most of the region’s bridges washed away by flash floods.
Some of the most affected areas are not yet accessible, and high winds and dense clouds have hampered military rescue helicopter flights.
Two pupils and a worker at a secondary school in the area were among those killed after a landslide sent a boulder crashing into their dormitory.
Soldiers on Sunday helped rescue the surviving nearly 200 pupils, teachers and staff who had been trapped at the school in Chimanimani.
The majority of the missing are thought to be government workers, whose housing complex was completely engulfed by raging waters. Their fate was unknown because the area was still unreachable.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa who cut short a visit to Abu Dhabi, visited the affected areas on Tuesday. — DailyMail, UK
More than 500 people are still missing in Rusitu Valley in Chimanimani district as rescue efforts are being hampered by damaged roads, 3 Infantry Brigade commander Major General Joe Muzvidziwa, who is leading the army rescue mission, has said.
Efforts to rescue victims of Cyclone Idai are still underway with the military yesterday being assisted by a privately owned helicopter that was ferrying the critically injured from some of the affected areas to Mutambara Hospital and Skyline help centre.
Helicopters could not fly into the area since Sunday owing to bad weather conditions.
In an interview at Skyline junction in Chimanimani, Maj Gen Muzvidziwa said there is no sufficient data on the number of missing persons and those who have died especially in the Rusitu Valley where loss of human life and damage to infrastructure was extensive.
“We still need more nurses because those at Ngangu Clinic in Chimanimani Township are overwhelmed. At least doctors have arrived and they are already working.
“We are still getting reports of areas that need assistance and we have made several flights into some of the affected areas,” he said.
“We do not have sufficient data on the numbers of people who died and those that are missing. In fact, when the data collation is done, we are expecting the number of missing people not to be less than 500.
“The good thing is that the water levels have receded and if we manage to clear the roads we could have a clear picture by end of day tomorrow.”
Relief efforts to ease the plight of people affected by Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani has taken days to reach the epicentre of the disaster owing to impassable roads.
Manicaland provincial administrator Mr Edgar Seenza said teams have been deployed to find alternative routes that could be used to get food, medicine and other needs to the affected communities.
“We are still trying to reach the affected areas and relief teams are on the ground trying to find alternative routes to reach out to the affected communities,” said Mr Seenza.
Roads were damaged while bridges were washed away after Cyclone Idai left a trail of destruction in Chimanimani and Chipinge districts.
As of yesterday motorists could only travel as far as Skyline junction from Jopa turn off near Chipinge but could not proceed to Chimanimani town nor the opposite Biriiri-Mutare road.
The heavily affected areas such as Rusitu, Ngangu in Chimanimani, Biriiri and surrounding areas.
Department of Civil Protection (DCP) Director Mr Nathan Nkomo yesterday warned people against visiting Cyclone Idai-ravaged areas saying traffic congestion on bad roads is disturbing rescue efforts at a time government has started assessing the extent of damage.
He said increased traffic is causing congestion that is disturbing transportation of relief supplies and slowing down rescue efforts.
He said they are failing to reach Ngangu and Mutambara Mission because of too much traffic.
Mr Nkomo urged people to reduce visits to ravaged areas because the roads are not in good condition which may lead to further disaster.
“We have been assigned to reach hotspots which are Ngangu and Mutambara Mission to help cyclone victims but the road is congested. I urge the public to reduce the number of visits because the roads are so bad and too much traffic on bad roads will lead to further disaster,” he said.
In a separate interview, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister July Moyo said with assistance from the army and other departments, his Ministry had started assessing how much will be required to repair destroyed infrastructure.
He said on Monday helicopters managed to access areas that were not accessible the day before making it easier for engineers to see the damage caused by the cyclone.
“As we monitor the situation in Manicaland and assist the affected people we’re also assessing the extent of damage caused by the cyclone. The cyclone destroyed infrastructure in many parts of the province, especially bridges, roads, schools and homesteads.
“Unfortunately some areas are not accessible because the roads were blocked and there’s mist in the area. We’ve only managed to see half of the bridges that were destroyed. As soon as it clears and we manage to see the rest of the bridges and infrastructure we’ll be able to tell how much we need for reconstruction,” said Minister Moyo.
He said it was a horrendous experience for affected people, including school children to wait for rescuers in such conditions.
“The army helicopters yesterday managed to have access to the affected areas and there’s progress. We have army engineers who’re working with our engineers to give us definitive costs when they finish assessing the situation,” said Minister Moyo.
He said the cyclone had left a huge trail of destruction leaving his Ministry with much work on its hands.
The Minister added that the area was mountainous and most people were living on the sides of mountains.-state media
By Own Correspondent- Deputy Minister for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Energy Mutodi said people in areas worst affected by Tropical Cyclone Idai should have vacated following advance warnings of impeding disaster.
Government did not have capacity to evacuate everyone before Cyclone Idai struck.
Said Mutodi:
“Warnings were issued to people through the meteorological services department and those residing in affected areas were supposed to seek shelter in safer zones, but you know people normally do not want to leave their homes. Government did not have enough to vacate everyone.”
However, civil society and politicians have blamed Government for its slow response to Tropical Cyclone Idai.
Election Resource Centre (ERC) boss Tawanda Chimhini said government should have been proactive considering the country has experienced similar disasters before.
Spokesperson for the MDC leader Nelson Chamisa Dr Nkululeko Sibanda said government should have done more to warn citizens and encourage citizens to vacate lower ground.
Sibanda said this could have saved a lot of lives.
Farai Dziva|Masvingo Mayor Councillor Collins Maboke has vowed to continue with his duties at the Civic Centre.
In spite of being ordered to step down by MDC A leader Nelson Chamisa, Maboke is unfazed by the directive.
Maboke was given a one-week ultimatum to leave his mayoral post or face expulsion. Maboke has indicated that he will only respond to Chamisa’s threats if he receives communication in writing.
“I was away on the day in question (last Saturday) attending a family bereavement. I cannot be bound by an announcement made in public, more so when I was not even present at the said meeting.
The party has official channels of communicating and I am yet to receive anything, so as of now I am continuing with my mayoral duties,” said Maboke.
“In the event I receive official communication I will then make available my response.”
Farai Dziva| Opposition leader Noah Manyika has said Emmerson Mnangagwa is a hardhearted and uncaring leader.
The Build Zimbabwe leader has further argued that Mnangagwa is living up to his reputation of being a hardhearted man.
Manyika was commenting on Mnangagwa’s response to disasters affecting ordinary Zimbabweans in the past three months. He also has als said Mnangagwa is not proactive as evidenced by his failure to give warnings from his office prior to the effects of the Cyclone Idai.
“Those cases include the shootings, the Battlefields mining disaster, the situation in our hospitals, and now Cyclone Idai. When the President left the country to go to the UAE, he was aware of the effects of cyclone Idai. There were no warnings from his office, no plans for people in the direct path of the storm to be evacuated, cutting short a trip he should have had the decency to postpone or cancel is meaningless.
What we see is a President living up to his reputation of being a hardhearted man in spite of his claims that he is as soft as wool.”
Farai Dziva|A senior government official has threatened to stop all Non Governmental Organisations activities in Masvingo Province.
Last week Masvingo District Administrator Roy Hove suspended the operations of Community Tolerance Reconciliation and Development (COTRAD) in Masvingo District following a directive from Emmerson Mnangagwa.
COTRAD has since filed court papers opposing the suspension.
Yesterday Hove threatened to block all NGO activities in Masvingo Province.
“We have the power and influence to stop you from carrying out your operations,” Hove told representatives of NGOs in the ancient city of Masvingo.
Farai Dziva|MDC A supporters have described Emmerson Mnangagwa as a “brainless dictator who lacks the charisma to turnaround the country’ s economy.
See below a statement posted on the party’ s Facebook page , MDC Alliance Supporters:
This man left so many people dying in Zim to go and play golf.
Some people are not serious and don’t care about anyone except themselves, their families and their friends.
We already have a helicopter he can play around with and we will not be bothered by him since he wants to be a pilot.
Please tell Daniel Chirongoma that eventually we got a vulnerable pilot to fly his helicopter. What is stopping Mnangagwa’s advisors from telling him to go to the show ground and play with the plane which is already there and ready to be used by a brainless dictator like him.
It will save a lot of money if ED spends his time at Harare Show Grounds playing around with Daniel Chirongoma’s helicopter.
The guy wants to be a pilot and we already have our own plane -readily available.
OPPOSITION MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has once again slammed the door on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s calls for national dialogue saying he will only go to the state house for his swearing in ceremony not to dialogue with someone whom he says he floored in the July 30 polls.
Chamisa said Mnangagwa had no right to set the conditions for dialogue because he did not get the mandate from the people but is where he is because of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) and the Constitutional Court (ConCourt).
Mnangagwa and Chamisa have so far successfully avoided being in the same room since the July 30 polls despite valiant efforts by churches and civic society to draw them to the negotiating table.
Addressing the Masvingo provincial council over the weekend, Chamisa said Mnangagwa invited him to a dialogue at the state house addressing him as a losing candidate.
“Mnangagwa had the guts to write a letter to me inviting me to a dialogue as a losing candidate. The losing candidate is him and others.
“This is the reason why I have not attended any of those supposed meetings of losers. Mnangagwa should caucus with other losing candidates and when they are done they should come find me.
“I will not come to the state house to be given cakes and drinks, no. If I am coming to the state house it will be for my swearing in as President of the country,” said Chamisa.
Chamisa said he is not waiting for 2023 but is going to take over soon and will be seeking his second term in 2023.
“We are not waiting for 2023, no. That is too far. Our time is now and I will be seeking re-election in 2023.
“Mnangagwa has seen nothing yet. We are going to pile pressure on him,” said Chamisa. — Zim Morning Post
A WATERFALLS based model is crying foul after she found her nude pictures circulating on social media.
Fadzai Wayne Gonono, 18, who is Miss Personality Zim Schools 2018 and current People’s Choice Miss Summer Harare, said she is deeply hurt with what happened as it was not her intention for her nude pictures to leak to the public.
“I do not like it, it hurts and it’s disgusting.
“It was not my intention to have those pictures all over the social media.
“Nobody wants her nude pictures to go viral, no one in her right senses would want that and I don’t want that,” said Fadzai.
Though she refused to name her school, Fadzai is an upper six student and she has blamed her classmate for spreading her nude pictures.
“I took nude pictures of myself and forgot to delete them.
“When I went to school I charged my mobile phone on a laptop of my classmate named Elias.
“He got access to my file because my phone doesn’t have a password and copied my pictures.
” And I do not know how he did it because when someone opened his or her Share It would receive the pictures, that is how people started sharing my pictures,” said Fadzai.
“And I am not suspecting him, he actually did it.
“There are witness who are there to testify,” she added.
She has also denied sharing her pictures with anyone.
“I did not send my pictures to anyone.
“I don’t send nude pictures to anyone and that is my number one priority.
“One can take pictures of herself and it’s not a crime especially when it’s your privacy,” she said. — HMetro
Bulawayo based Mthwakazi restoration political organization Mthwakazi Republic party (MRP) has alleged that teachers of Shona ethnic group are being secretly hired at the Bulawayo Post Office barely a week after The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education said the teachers were wrongly deployed and were now being recalled to be redeployed elsewhere.
MRP said in a statement:
We have just received information that the teachers from outside the region are being employed secretly now at the Post Office. It is rumoured that the reversal by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education was just a fake meant to suppress the anger of the people of Bulawayo.
We encourage Bulawayo Civic organisations to rush to the Bulawayo Post Office and get clarity on what is happening. We also urge school Development Committees to resist the deployment of such teachers in their schools.
The deployment of the teachers had irked a number of organizations and parents who considered the act unthinkable.
Progressive Teachers union Secretary General Raymond Majongwe was quoted by the media saying, “This mammoth responsibility cannot be left to five people sitting in an office at PSC, and to avoid such things government should involve stakeholders such that those with qualifications are selected properly.
“The coincidence that there are 90 per cent Shona names raises eyebrows even when we know there are several who are born there. What of the Nambya, Tonga, Venda, Kalanga and Sotho names? Some who were there on the first list?”
Minister of Defence Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri has admitted that the government was ill prepared to handled Cyclone Idai because it failed to anticipate the magnitude of the cyclone. Idai has wreaked havoc in Manicaland and at least 98 people have been confirmed to have died while more 200 others are missing.
Speaking to the media in Chimanimani on Tuesday, Muchinguri-Kashiri is quoted as saying
I had not anticipated Cyclone Idai to be so bad. We had heard that floods were coming and a cyclone, but we had not moved or done anything to help ourselves.
I think we as people of Manicaland province have learnt a lesson and next time we will protect lives and urge people to move to know what will happen, and we move into camps together with the government’s help.
Authorities in Malawi have said that 150 people have died as a result of the cyclone while Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has said that he expects the deaths to be greater than 1000.
By A Correspondent| Johannesburg- ZimEye will tomorrow morning LIVE stream a session of complainants in recent multiple police cases of rape who are voicing out that they have been victimised. The “victims” have united in one voice – The session begins at just after 9am (JoBurg time)
Gugu Ncube being arrested for her nude protest at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
By Paul Nyathi|A social media post by a Samukeliso Moyo who claims to be controversial nude protestor Gugu Ncube claims that the much talked about “activist” may be losing her mind.
The post which attracted a huge attention when it was posted on social media on Monday was however later removed from the media platforms but not before enthusiasts managed to screen shoot it and share it with ZimEye.com.
For 42-year-old Shingai, a schoolteacher in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, the past year has been the best of her adult life as she has been able to get sleep with a clear conscience. This was after she decided to tell her husband that she was raped about two decades ago.
“My father was a driver for one of the [late] vice presidents, so after I finished my Advanced Levels, my father jokingly mentioned to him in passing that he was afraid of going home because I was pestering him about going to college, something that he could not afford,” Shingai said. Her father didn’t appreciate the value of educating a girl and preferred for her to be married to someone who had already been introduced to the family.
“That is when the VP offered to help in getting a scholarship for me. He suggested that I should come and see him when he was at his rural home.”
When she went to see him, he raped her and ordered her to come to see him more frequently so as to speed up the process of getting a college admission and a government scholarship. She never did.
Upon returning home Shingai’s family noticed that something terrible had happened to her, but no one dared ask. Possibly knowing his boss’s habits, Shingai’s father angrily quit his job as the VP’s driver, and died shortly after.
A few months later she married the man her family had chosen for her.
“For all my adult life, there was one word that scared me… DNA, but not anymore, since I decided to open up to my husband,” Shingai told TRT World.
After counselling at their church, her husband accepted that it was not his wife’s fault that she was raped, she was just another hapless victim of the mighty in Zimbabwean society. He went on to rule out any paternity tests for their first-born son, insisting that just the tests on their own – no matter the outcome – could needlessly affect their now adult son in a negative way.
Fortunately for Shingai, it was easy for the husband to believe her rape story because over the years he had silently observed the strange way she reacted when the name of the former vice president was mentioned anywhere, worse still when she saw his picture on the country’s only television channel, or in newspapers. It had baffled him why the man celebrated as a national hero put her off so much, despite her father having worked for him for many years.
The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test that Shingai lived in morbid fear of for many years is no longer just a far off threat as was the case in the past.
Until five years ago, DNA tests were not available in Zimbabwe. The expensive procedure could only be performed abroad and most citizens could not afford it. This allowed secrets to remain secret, especially for thousands of rape victims who would rather suffer in silence than expose the real fathers of some of their children and then – together with their children – suffer the insults and stigma associated with rape in most African societies.
Now a local university and several private laboratories are carrying these tests at fees many ordinary citizens can afford. In some cases, these services have been offered free of charge to those that genuinely cannot afford to pay.
While the development has been welcome in general, it has however brought real nightmares to most women who are victims of rape within families. Those women at workplaces, in schools, in churches and in various uneven power relationships, most of whom find it hard to reveal the assaults for fear of losing their marriages, suffering stigma and retribution, or even losing their very lives.
With DNA tests now easily available, more men with question marks over the paternity of their children are taking up the tests. The secrets that rape victims would only wish to take with them to their graves are publicly revealed, opening old wounds, and this time accompanied with noisy allegations of infidelity in cases where paternity fraud could be proven.
These are victims that, in a 2017 United Nations report, Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Adama Dieng, said survive rape but often do not survive its social repercussions, adding that many were literally dying of shame, foregoing medical and legal help in order to avoid humiliation.
“Simply stated, stigma kills,” Diengsaid as he pressed the Security Council to redirect the stigma of sexual violence from victim to perpetrator.
The Director of the Women’s Comfort Corner Foundation, Rita Marque-Mbatha, agrees that social stigma is the biggest challenge to victims of rape, starting a chain effect that results in women choosing to suffer in silence and sometimes leading them into complicated lives.
“The way which victims/survivors are treated contribute to secondary trauma,” said Marque-Mbatha, herself a victim of sexual harassment at work who single-handedly defied odds in a 16-year fight for justice. “Any victim/survivor watching the brutal cross examination from the gallery in the courtroom would make a decision not to speak out about the traumatic experience.”
Nyaradzo Mashayamombe, the Executive Director of Tag-A-Life International Trust, an advocacy organisation that promotes girls’ rights, said that on the whole DNA technology is a good thing, and could help those partners abused their partners and made to look after children that are not their own. The only problem is that it is a solution that starts at the wrong end of the problem.
Nyaradzo Mashayamombe
She believes that the technology should be made available for rape survivors so that perpetrators get convicted. This way, she said, more women can confidently report rape leading to fewer secrets, thereby reducing cases of rape victims that end up being seen as paternity fraudsters.
“DNA is not available where women need it most… soon after they have been raped, so that more perpetrators can be punished and shamed, not the victims, as what is happening now,” Mashayamombe said.
She said the circumstances must be incredibly difficult for any normal woman not to reveal the true paternity of a child and it is these circumstances that society ought to establish.
Even in Western countries, where rape is better reported, studies have pointed out that “a meta-analysis of 28 studies of women and girls aged 14 and older who had had non-consensual sex obtained through force, threat or incapacitation found that 60 percent of these victims didn’t acknowledge that they had been raped”.
This is even worse for countries like Zimbabwe, where the political leadershipdoesn’t take issues such as the rape of women seriously. It took celebrated Zimbabwean author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga more than a decade to reveal the rape that she suffered in 2004.
A 2018 United States human rights report on Zimbabwe noted that many victims of rape considered it a “fact of life”.
“Social stigma and societal perceptions that rape was a ‘fact of life’ continued to inhibit reporting of rape,” the report said.— Source: TRT World
By Own Correspondent- Deputy Minister for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Energy Mutodi said people in areas worst affected by Tropical Cyclone Idai should have vacated following advance warnings of impeding disaster.
Government did not have capacity to evacuate everyone before Cyclone Idai struck.
Said Mutodi:
“Warnings were issued to people through the meteorological services department and those residing in affected areas were supposed to seek shelter in safer zones, but you know people normally do not want to leave their homes. Government did not have enough to vacate everyone.”
However, civil society and politicians have blamed Government for its slow response to Tropical Cyclone Idai.
Election Resource Centre (ERC) boss Tawanda Chimhini said government should have been proactive considering the country has experienced similar disasters before.
Spokesperson for the MDC leader Nelson Chamisa Dr Nkululeko Sibanda said government should have done more to warn citizens and encourage citizens to vacate lower ground.
Sibanda said this could have saved a lot of lives.
Own Correspondent|MDC leader Nelson Chamisa says the disaster preparedness of Zimbabwe is a disaster on its own. Speaking from a tour of the cyclone-hit parts of Manicaland, Chamisa says he had gone to give a :”listening-interface” as well as interact with affected communities.
Here is his statement in full:
“My visit to the Manicaland cyclone affected areas was more of a listening-interface and interaction with the communities platform. The affected spoke about their ordeals and shared their harrowing experiences,” Chamisa said.
“I went to Mhandarume, Wengezi, Nyanyadzi,Tanganda halt, Devuli primary school and Birchnough bridge but couldn’t make it to Nedziwa, Ngangu,Kopa, Skyline and other areas in Chipinge most affected by this catastrophic disaster as the roads were impassable.
“I love the people of Manicaland. Chimanimani and Chipinge are great places. I marvel the beauty of our country. We met wonderful people. Though marginalized and tormented, the people have the zeal to better themselves. It really breaks my heart.
“The most affected places are most likely going to remain inaccessible by road.The humanitarian challenge will remain for some time as the cyclone has destroyed sources of livelihoods, it is important for human assistance to remain active beyond Cyclone Idai news headlines.
“We have assembled local teams and leadership on the ground aimed at identifying victims that need further help or medical attention and to enable those victims to be transported to a facility capable of giving them the care they need.
“I salute the brave ordinary people whose personal sacrifices saved lives. The spirit of ubuntu extended by Zimbabweans from all the corners of the country and from the Zimbabwe Diaspora has been unprecedented, exemplary and legendary.
“The lesson to draw from this is that THE PEOPLE UNITED are best able to respond to any emergency. I urge the nation to harness this ubuntu spirit and to use it to build capacity for responding to similar emergencies in the future.
” I acknowledge the intervention of various local, provincial, national and international humanitarian organizations that responded swiftly and continue to respond to save and protect lives.
“The response of the people was better than the response of the State which came like an afterthought when cyclones are a scientific phenomena whose formation and trajectory can be detected and forecast. We saw the Cyclone coming but state did little to warn and remove people from harm’s way.
“With the advent of Climate Change, cyclones have become regular in our part of the world. Citizens would have thought by now the State has learnt something about how to save lives and to protect the people during these deadly cyclones.
“The sad reality is that the the disaster preparedness of the entire infrastructure of the State is itself a disaster. Indeed, devastation caused by Idai,especially the tragic loss of life, has exposed the clear and present danger that the State itself is a disaster.
“Most of our road infrastructure and bridges are substandard and of poor workmanship.What we want here is a National Infrastructure plan for the whole country spanning into 20 to 50 years that speaks to national focus on … roads and rail networks, bridges and bullet trains.
“Haphazard settlement in the countryside is a ticking time bomb.We need integrated national settlement planning upon accelerated rural upliftment program.Have standards even models for structures and houses certified for human habitation thru a district planning commission.
“We must put in place effective disaster preparedness and early warning systems to be put in place through a revamp of the current inadequate mechanisms.
“We need an accelerated industrialization and urbanization upon an integrated upgrade of rural facilities to state-of-the-art level in health, energy, communication and housing. We must think and act SMART. Let’s do it. We will do it!”
Logistics challenges stand in the way of Zimbabwe’s wheat and fuel supplies which are held up at the Beira Port in Mozambique in the aftermath of the devastating Cyclone Idai occurrence.
According to the Grain Millers Association Zimbabwe, 100 truckloads of wheat are held at Mozambique’s Beira port which is inaccessible at the moment because of damages to the road network and some of the port’s facilities.
At a parliamentary hearing in the capital on Tuesday, the association’s President Tafadzwa Musarara (pictured) said the lack of access to the grain could worsen an already precarious position.
He said some of the grains received over the last few days from Beira was wet, also impacted by the cyclone.
Zimbabwe has grappled with a lack of adequate of wheat supplies for a couple of years now and the situation had been compounded since 2016 as forex challenges worsened amidst demand growth.
RBZ and the Grain Millers Association has been working closely to facilitate supplies. Although the efforts have been commendable a huge market gap remains in place.
Over the last few months bakers have sought to increase the price of bread to address the challenges but government’s hand has been visible in controlling the price, thus hampering supply.
Elsewhere the Minister of Transport and Energy also announced on Monday that fuel supplies are held up at Beira as the Feruka pipeline has been affected by the Cyclone. He however allayed shortages, charging that the country had adequate reserves.
Cyclone Idai is an intense tropical cyclone which is the strongest tropical cyclone to strike Southern Africa in a decade. The tenth named storm and record-breaking seventh intense tropical cyclone of the 2018–19 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Idai originated from a tropical depression that formed off the eastern coast of Mozambique on 4 March.
The depression made landfall later in the day and remained a tropical cyclone throughout the entirety of its trek over land. On 9 March, the depression re-emerged into the Mozambique channel and was upgraded into Moderate Tropical Storm Idai next day.
The system then began a stint of rapid intensification, reaching an initial peak intensity as an intense tropical cyclone with winds of 175 km/h (110 mph) on 11 March. Idai then began to weaken due to ongoing structural changes within its inner core, falling to tropical cyclone intensity. Idai’s intensity remained stagnant for about a day or so before it began to re-intensify.
On 14 March, Idai reached peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h (120mph) and a minimum central pressure of 940 hPa (27.76 inHg). Idai then began to weaken as it approached the coast of Mozambique due to less favorable conditions.
On 15 March, Idai made landfall near Beira, Mozambique, as an intense tropical cyclone moving into the eastern parts of Zimbabwe.
Community Report on the day’s activities in Chimanimani, with thanks to Doug van der Ruit.
First of all, a huge thank you to all, for unbelievable support. It brings tears to my eyes.
The plan on Monday was:
1. Get doctors to Mashonjowa
2. Air force to casavac serious patients to Mutambara Hospital.
3. Air Force to collect doctors from Mashonjowa and take to places of need. With meds.
3. Fly Bob Henson’s helicopter along roads to establish which is best route to tackle.
Unfortunately this is actually what happened.
Really disappointing and very, very frustrating.
1. Met with Air force, discussed plan of action, everyone happy.
2. Bob Henson arrived in his Robinson, with doctor and meds. Much relief.
3. Weather was a little dodgy, but decided to go anyway. Plan to fly in formation with Air Force with casavac patients to Mutambara at their request then see if any doctors arrived to take them to where they are needed. Sadly, this didn’t happen because of a fault with their helicopter, so we flew off without patients deciding to go ahead with recce roads. Air Force later flew off to Chipinge, without any patients.
4. Flew road to Chipinge then to Mashonjowa. Nobody there yet, flew on to Mutambara to collect more meds from them for doctor in Chimanimani. Checked out Wengezi to Skyline road…pretty stuffed, especially near the top. Several bridges down. Picked more meds from guys at Skyline and flew home.
5. Went to Command Center and informed authorities what we did, and what we plan to do.
Tomorrow’s (today) plan is:
1. Presuming Air Force is not around, collect doctors from top of Skyline and take them to where they are needed along with meds.
2. Do more road flying, especially old Chipinge road. I didn’t think about this earlier, but it is a good option, because it bypasses Skyline, but will need lots of work.
3. If Air Force is back, try to get them to move doctors and casavac work. Actually they have been a disappointment.
For the other teams, I would like to suggest carry on as planned. Before work starts on Skyline, we need to fly old Chipinge Road.
The cyclists, please recce the following roads into the Biriwiri area, Chikwizi, Mhakwe, Shinga. Any road that comes from Nyanyadzi side into Biriwiri area. The people there need help, and we cannot access from Chimanimani side.
Brett and his team to establish base camp at top of Skyline.
That’s about all.
Just heard fantistic news from Ed Mordt at Air Exec. Strive is paying for big helicopter, with one tonne capacity. I cannot tell how much difference this will make. If it happens, it will be exactly what we need and will save lives.
I am sorry for not replying to many WhatsApps, but I am snowed under and I know there is so much capability out there. Thank you so much again.
Opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa helps clear a bridge affected by the cyclone in Chipinge.
Own Correspondent|Following a tropical cyclone that tore through the eastern parts of Zimbabwe, the southern African country is weighing up the loss of life as well as the impact of the damage to infrastructure such as roads, bridges and business.
According to a member of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industry, Henry Nemaire, who is based in the affected Manicaland region, there has been extensive damage in terms of road infrastructure which has made some business operations such as plantations inaccessible. Most of Zimbabwe’s plantations are in the Eastern Highlands region.
“There is extensive damage in terms of roads, bridges and power lines …
“The main focus is to make sure that power is restored in the Chimanimani and Chipinge district where most of the export oriented farms are located.
Nemaire said the farms might have to power factories for the next four weeks.
“But for us to be producing export goods, using diesel, it will be too expensive for the export market, so we need power to be restored urgently.”
He also called on Government to waiver duty on fuel for the affected companies ranging from timber, tea, coffee, macadamia and avocado plantations.
Listed entity, Ariston Holdings, which counts South Africa’s Origin Global Holdings Limited as its major shareholder, has macadamia and avocado plantations in one of the ravaged areas, Chipinge.
Reports from the company say in addition to the damage on buildings, warehouses and other facilities at the farms, the macadamia and avocado plantations were also heavily damaged.
While the extent of the damage is still to be ascertained, Ariston is heavily invested in macadamia having invested in a world class nuts processing plant and irrigation facilities as well as doubling of production to 1 351 tonnes. Last year, its avocado exports stood at 160 tonnes.
Tanganda, owned by Pick n Pay partner Meikles, has 458 hectares of avocado and 779 hectares of macadamia nuts.
“We also hope that the national engineering team will also help in restoring access to affected areas,” said Nemaire.
The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development has already implemented an Emergency Response Plan, that is aimed at opening up washed away roads and repairing bridges to enable accessibility in Chimanimani in the shortest time possible, according to Transport Minister Joel Matiza.
Some roads and bridges in Chimanimani are currently cordoned off to make way for engineers to work on the damaged roads in the shortest possible time.
Farai Dziva|Goods confiscated by ZIMRA will be donated to survivors of Tropical Cyclone Idai.
This was disclosed by Finance and Economic Development Ministry Permanent Secretary, George Guvamatanga.
Guvamatanga said blankets, clothing and food seized by ZIMRA will be distributed to the survivors of Tropical Cyclone Idai.
“With regards to basic necessities, such as blankets, clothing and food, the Accountant-General and Zimra are working out modalities of ensuring that current stocks of forfeited goods become available to the families in need.
Your officials will need to liaise with the Accountant-General on the requirements and modalities of distribution.
Our team of officials led by Mr B. Mupuriri, the director implementation and monitoring department, will be in Manicaland to provide immediate assistance in the recovery efforts,” said Guvamatanga.
The Zimbabwe Revenue And Allied Workers Trade Union ZIMRATU
is appalled by the conduct of the newly appointed Zimbabwe Revenue Authority
board chairperson Callisto Jokonya and his failure to provide leadership on
critical issues affecting the revenue authority.
ZIMRATU is also worried by Jokonya’s wanton attacks on
collective bargaining processes whereby he threatened not to review workers’
salaries until they rid themselves of corruption and direct attacks on individuals
for being members of the union and leaders of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions.
His displays of arrogance by refusing to entertain questions
from employees and unsubstantiated allegations of corruption against employees
boarders on victimization to silence workers against raising grievances.
ZIMRATU would like to make it clear to Jokonya that collective bargaining
processes cannot be dictated but are a product of mutual negotiations.
We do not take such attacks lightly as they are meant to instil
fear among workers leaders and eventually the membership in general. Any attack
on trade union leaders is an attack on our stomachs and livelihoods as workers.
His utterances that fighting corruption, reviewing workers conditions
of service in light of the prevailing economic challenges and that educating
taxpayers to be tax compliant lacked substance, are worrisome.
Farai Dziva| Opposition leader Noah Manyika has said Emmerson Mnangagwa is a hardhearted and uncaring leader.
The Build Zimbabwe leader has further argued that Mnangagwa is living up to his reputation of being a hardhearted man.
Manyika was commenting on Mnangagwa’s response to disasters affecting ordinary Zimbabweans in the past three months. He also has als said Mnangagwa is not proactive as evidenced by his failure to give warnings from his office prior to the effects of the Cyclone Idai.
“Those cases include the shootings, the Battlefields mining disaster, the situation in our hospitals, and now Cyclone Idai. When the President left the country to go to the UAE, he was aware of the effects of cyclone Idai. There were no warnings from his office, no plans for people in the direct path of the storm to be evacuated, cutting short a trip he should have had the decency to postpone or cancel is meaningless.
What we see is a President living up to his reputation of being a hardhearted man in spite of his claims that he is as soft as wool.”
Farai Dziva|The Premier Soccer League has agreed to raise gate entry charges for all league matches in the upcoming season, triggering an outcry from football fans.
The charges were pegged at $3 for the cheapest ticket in the past campaigns but will now cost $5 (RTGS dollars). Big games will attract a charge of up to $10 for the rest of the ground.
The increment is due to the economic changes being experienced in the country. Zifa has also increased the fees, putting the cheapest ticket for the upcoming Warriors match against Congo at $10.
The 2019 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season is set to start on Saturday, 30 March.
Farai Dziva| Warriors star Matthew Rusike left Cape Town City last week to join Norwegian club, Stabæk Fotball after spending just over a year at the Absa Premiership club.
The 28-year-old striker made just 13 appearances in all competitions for City this season and scored two goals. However, he played no part in the team’s last seven league encounters.
South African football website, Soccer Laduma has reported that Rusike was released by his employers despite having three months left on the contract.
The release was necessitated by the club’s eagerness to create some space on their wage bill. The Zimbabwean was reportedly among the highest earners at the Cape Town-based outfit.
The fact that the player fell out of favour under the mentorship of Head Coach Benni McCarthy also forced the management to make a quick decision about his immediate future.
Farai Dziva|Masvingo Mayor Councillor Collins Maboke has vowed to continue with his duties at the Civic Centre.
In spite of being ordered to step down by MDC A leader Nelson Chamisa, Maboke is unfazed by the directive.
Maboke was given a one-week ultimatum to leave his mayoral post or face expulsion. Maboke has indicated that he will only respond to Chamisa’s threats if he receives communication in writing.
“I was away on the day in question (last Saturday) attending a family bereavement. I cannot be bound by an announcement made in public, more so when I was not even present at the said meeting.
The party has official channels of communicating and I am yet to receive anything, so as of now I am continuing with my mayoral duties,” said Maboke.
“In the event I receive official communication I will then make available my response.”
The University of South Africa (Unisa) says one of its employees has been cleared of wrongdoing following a woman’s claims that he asked her to perform sexual favours so she could keep her job at the Unisa Centre for Early Childhood Education (UCECE).
The investigation into the claims by Gugu Ncube was conducted by Unisa’s internal employee relations directorate.
“It considered evidence in the form of SMS exchanges and witness statements/affidavits. Based on these, the investigation concluded that there was no merit to the allegations.
“Ms Ncube had also laid a charge of rape with the South African Police Service (SAPS), [and the] investigation also arrived at the conclusion that there was no merit to the allegation,” Unisa spokesperson Martin Ramotshela told News 24 on Monday.
Unisa did not share a physical report or findings with News24.
Naked protest
Last week, Ncube was arrested after staging a naked protest at the Union Buildings.
She said she wanted to alert President Cyril Ramaphosa of the alleged abuse she had suffered at the hands of Unisa, as well as the SAPS.
But, instead of meeting the president, police arrested and charged her with public indecency.
During the demonstration, Ncube repeated her sexual harassment claims, which the man she accused denied.
“Our client has denied the allegations and there were no findings against him. In fact, in January last year, [Ncube] retracted the allegations,” his lawyer Jeffrey Maluleke told News24 on Monday.
While the institution confirms that the man is an employee, it says that he served in the UCECE in his personal capacity.
“He served on the Board of Trustees of UCECE in his private capacity or deployed by another entity. He was not deployed by Unisa to the board,” Ramotshela explained.
The institution also said the UCECE was an independent entity established in terms of the Trust Property Control Act 57 of 1988, which had its own board of trustees and ran its own affairs.
“Unisa has no authority whatsoever to interfere in the affairs of UCECE. Whilst the university respects the rights of its employees to serve on boards and other structures outside the university, this does not translate into the university having the right to interfere in the affairs of the structures.
“UCECE is no exception,” Ramotshela said.
Unisa claims to have never distanced itself from Ncube’s allegations but rather sought to clarify its relationship with the crèche where she was employed.
“As a matter of fact, being privy to other dynamics of the case that are not in the public domain, the university is currently engaging a variety of internal and external stakeholders with a view to establishing how best to offer assistance to Ms Ncube, considering the difficult emotional period she might be going through,” Ramotshela added.
On Twitter, Ncube posted what appeared to be a staff card with an employee number attributed to Unisa.A
“For purposes of access control, the crèche staff are issued with Unisa access cards. The issuing of an access card is not a confirmation of employment by Unisa, but just a means of facilitating and controlling access to and out of the Unisa premises.
“Access cards are issued to staff, students and contractors rendering a service on university premises,” Ramotshela said in response.
Ncube’s attorney, Mpho Nefuri told News24 that she was not aware of any investigation or findings that cleared the alleged perpetrator.
“I don’t know anything about this. We were not made aware of this.
“We have not even received any form of communication from Unisa at this point, only the media,” she said.
Meanwhile, previous victims of Gugu Ncube’s similar allegations have convened a press conference on Wednesday in Johannesburg to emphasise that Gugu is fabricating the allegations against the UNISA senior staff member.
Amongst those who are going to be at the press conference are Africa Diaspora Forum leader Marc Gubbafou who Gugu sensationally accused of raping her last year.
Also set to appear is popular Johannesburg pastor Acts Aota who Gugu named and shamed on social media as having abused her.
ZimEye.com will endeavour to provide a live coverage of the press conference.
Farai Dziva|A senior government official has threatened to stop all Non Governmental Organisations activities in Masvingo Province.
Last week Masvingo District Administrator Roy Hove suspended the operations of Community Tolerance Reconciliation and Development (COTRAD) in Masvingo District following a directive from Emmerson Mnangagwa.
COTRAD has since filed court papers opposing the suspension.
Yesterday Hove threatened to block all NGO activities in Masvingo Province.
“We have the power and influence to stop you from carrying out your operations,” Hove told representatives of NGOs in the ancient city of Masvingo.
Unbelievable! Chamisa looks down a damaged bridge.
THE VISIT TO CHIMANIMANI..CHIPINGE!!
1/16 The visit to the Manicaland cyclone affected areas was more of a listening-interface and interaction with the communities platform.The affected spoke about their ordeals & shared their harrowing experiences.
2/16 I went to Mhandarume, Wengezi, Nyanyadzi,Tanganda halt, Devuli primary school and Birchnough bridge but couldn’t make it to Nedziwa, Ngangu,Kopa, Skyline and other areas in Chipinge most affected by this catastrophic disaster as the roads were impassable.
3/16 I love the people of Manicaland. Chimanimani and Chipinge are great places. I marvel the beauty of our country. We met wonderful people. Though marginalized and tormented, the people have the zeal to better themselves. It really breaks my heart.
4/16The most affected places are most likely going to remain inaccessible by road.The humanitarian challenge will remain for some time as the cyclone has destroyed sources of livelihoods,it is important for human assistance to remain active beyond Cyclone Idai news headlines.
5/16 We have assembled local teams and leadership on the ground aimed at identifying victims that need further help or medical attention & to enable those victims to be transported to a facility capable of giving them the care they need.
6/16 I salute the brave ordinary people whose personal sacrifices saved lives. The spirit of ubuntu extended by Zimbabweans from all the corners of the country & from the Zimbabwe
Diaspora has been unprecedented, exemplary and legendary.
7/16The lesson to draw from this is that THE PEOPLE UNITED are best able to respond to any emergency. I urge the nation to harness this ubuntu spirit and to use it to build capacity for responding to similar emergencies in the future.
8/16 I acknowledge the intervention of various local, provincial, national and international humanitarian organizations that responded swiftly and continue to respond to save and protect lives.
9/16The response of the people was better than the response of the State which came like an afterthought when cyclones are a scientific phenomena whose formation & trajectory can be detected and forecast.Saw Cyclone coming but state did little to warn& remove pple from harm’s way
10/16 With the advent of Climate Change, cyclones have become regular in our part of the world. Citizens would have thought by now the State has learnt something about how to save lives and to protect the people during these deadly cyclones.
11/16The sad reality is that the the disaster preparedness of the entire infrastructure of the State is itself a disaster. Indeed, devastation caused by Idai,especially the tragic loss of life, has exposed the clear and present danger that the State itself is a disaster.
12/16 Emergency situations require emergency responses.And emergency responses require emergency preparedness.The State is wanting in this regard.We dare find urgent ways to rectify this incapacity to enable the State to be in a position to save lives and protect citizens.
13/16Most of our road infrastructure and bridges are substandard and of poor workmanship.What we want here is a National Infrastructure plan for the whole country spanning into 20 to 50 years that speaks to national focus on ..roads & rail networks, bridges & bullet trains.
14/16 Haphazard settlement in the countryside is a ticking time bomb. We need integrated national settlement planning upon accelerated rural upliftment program.We must have standards even models for structures and houses certified for human habitation through a district planning commission.
15/16 We must put in place effective disaster preparedness and early warning systems to be put in place through a revamp of the current inadequate mechanisms.
16/16We need an accelerated industrialization and urbanization upon an integrated upgrade of rural facilities to state-of-the-art level in health, energy, communication and housing.We must think and act SMART.Let’s do it.We will do it!
Farai Dziva|MDC A supporters have described Emmerson Mnangagwa as a “brainless dictator who lacks the charisma to turnaround the country’ s economy.
See below a statement posted on the party’ s Facebook page , MDC Alliance Supporters:
This man left so many people dying in Zim to go and play golf.
Some people are not serious and don’t care about anyone except themselves, their families and their friends.
We already have a helicopter he can play around with and we will not be bothered by him since he wants to be a pilot.
Please tell Daniel Chirongoma that eventually we got a vulnerable pilot to fly his helicopter. What is stopping Mnangagwa’s advisors from telling him to go to the show ground and play with the plane which is already there and ready to be used by a brainless dictator like him.
It will save a lot of money if ED spends his time at Harare Show Grounds playing around with Daniel Chirongoma’s helicopter.
The guy wants to be a pilot and we already have our own plane -readily available.
Boeing announced on Tuesday that it would soon release a software update and related pilot training for the 737 MAX that will address concerns discovered in the aftermath of the Lion Air Flight 610 accident in October last year.
“We’ve been working in full cooperation with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Transportation and the National Transportation Safety Board on all issues relating to both the Lion Air and the Ethiopian Airlines accidents since the Lion Air accident occurred in October last year,” Dennis Muilenburg, chair, president and CEO of Boeing, said in a statement.
“Based on facts from the Lion Air Flight 610 accident, and emerging data as it becomes available from the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 accident, we’re taking actions to fully ensure the safety of the 737 MAX. “We also understand and regret the challenges for our customers and the flying public caused by the fleet’s grounding.”
‘We are united with customers’
He said work was progressing thoroughly and rapidly to learn more about the Ethiopian Airlines accident and understand the information from the airplane’s cockpit voice and flight data recorders.”Our team is on-site with investigators to support the investigation and provide technical expertise. The Ethiopia Accident Investigation Bureau will determine when and how it’s appropriate to release additional details,” said Muilenburg.
“We’re united with our airline customers, international regulators and government authorities in our efforts to support the most recent investigation, understand the facts of what happened and help prevent future tragedies.”
Fin24 reported earlier that the sovereignty, integrity and role of civil aviation regulators have become the focus of debate in aviation circles since the fatal crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8.
The SA Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), like the US FAA, did not order the grounding of this aircraft model as a precaution immediately after the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
It was only days later that US President Donald Trump announced the grounding of all Boeing 737 MAX 8s. This step, supported by the manufacturer Boeing, effectively grounded all 371 of these planes in operation around the world.
In South Africa, meanwhile, there is still not an official airworthiness directive on the SACAA website to make it mandatory to ground all MAX 8s.
Approached for comment, SACAA spokesperson Kabelo Ledwaba said in the authority’s view it was not necessary to issue one in SA, as only Comair had a MAX 8 that was flying in and out of SA in service, and this aircraft had been voluntarily grounded.
Ledwaba emphasised that immediately after the Ethiopian Airlines crash, SACAA started its engagements with Comair and Boeing.
Farai Dziva|Controversial MDC T deputy president Obert Gutu has fired a broadside at his social media opponents claiming they are sponsored cyber terrorists.
Gutu has been widely criticized for softening his stance on Emmerson Mnangagwa’ s administration.
“There’s a small group of sponsored social media terrorists who are thoroughly uncomfortable with my independence of thought and fearless addiction to principle.
They would want me to be a brainwashed ‘hero’ worshiper. That won’t happen,” declared Gutu.
“Well, well, well… some people on Twitter complain that I’m insulting people who are abusing me.These people are ”social media terrorists.” If you throw firepower at me, please don’t expect me to smile back at you.Firepower will be met with deadlier firepower. That’s me!”
Farai Dziva|Deputy Information Minister, Energy Mutodi, has described former Zanu PF Political Commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere’ s comments on Twitter as misdirected anger.
Last week Kasukuwere vowed to take the fight to protect his territorial integrity -to Emmerson Mnangagwa.
“Former Minister Saviour Kasukuwere’s anger is misdirected.
While attaching one’s immovable property for skipping bail is horrifying and disgusting, he cannot blame the ED Mnangagwa administration for allowing the rule of law to prevail. The 8th Parliament must have outlawed such laws,” argued Mutodi.
HP has recalled 78,500 laptops and workstations, over fears their batteries pose “fire and burn hazards”.
The affected computers were all sold between December 2015 and April 2018, and include various ProBook models, along with models in the Envy, x360 and Notebook range.
HP is urging anyone with one of these laptops to request a replacement battery and apply a software update that switches their battery into safe mode, preventing it from charging.
“The quality and safety of all HP products is our top priority,” the company said in a statement.
“We learned that batteries provided by one of our suppliers for certain notebook computers and mobile workstations present a potential safety concern.
“We took immediate action to address the issue and are replacing the batteries in question.
“This action pertains to approximately 0.1% of the HP systems sold globally during the recall time period.”
HP said it had received eight reports of battery packs overheating, melting or charring – including one report of minor injury and two reports of property damage totalling $1,100.
“It is essential to recheck your battery, even if you did so previously and were informed that it was not affected,” the company stated on its website .
“However if you have already received a replacement battery, you are not affected by this expansion.”
All the laptops with faulty batteries are listed below. You can also download a tool from HP’s website to check if your computer is affected.
HP Probook 640 G2
HP ProBook 640 G3
HP ProBook 645 G2
HP ProBook 645 G3
HP ProBook 650 G2
HP ProBook 650 G3
HP ProBook 655 G2
HP ProBook 655 G3
HP ProBook 430 G4
HP ProBook 440 G4
HP ProBook 450 G4
HP ProBook 455 G4
HP ProBook 470 G4
HP ZBook 17 G3
HP ZBook 17 G4
HP ZBook Studio G3
HP x360 310 G2
HP Pavilion x360
HP ENVY m6
HP 11 Notebook PC
The following products are compatible with, but were not shipped with, affected batteries.
Customers may have purchased a battery as an accessory or received a replacement battery that is affected by the recall:
HP ProBook 430 G5
HP ProBook 440 G5
HP ProBook 450 G5
HP ProBook 455 G5
HP ProBook 470 G5
HP ZBook Studio G4
HP ENVY 15
HP mt20
HP mt21
HP mt31
If you have one of these computers, you should download HP’s ‘Battery Validation Utility’ from its website and enter the model number to check if it’s affected.
If it is, you should not try to remove the battery yourself, but you should put the computer into “Battery Safety Mode”, which will will discharge the battery and disable future charging until the battery is replaced.
An HP technician will then contact you via phone within 3-to-5 business days, following verification of your order, to schedule a time to replace the battery in your computer.
The technician will provide the replacement battery, and the replacement will be performed at your home.
Disposal instructions for the used battery will be included in the box with your replacement battery.
Own Correspondent|IF you thought Vimbai Zimuto would stop posting racy nudes just because she’s presently in Zimbabwe, then sorry, because she’s just done it again.
Vimbai, who flew in on Sunday from the Netherlands where she’s based so that she can finishing recording her upcoming videos, says nudity is art.
In her latest photo, she sits in the sand all naked with her back towards YOU.
The photo has sent social media into a spin.
She is appearing on BustopTV today, as well as on PowerFM radio with DJ Chamvary from 1.15 PM.
By Own Correspondent- MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has implored government to divert tax payers money towards helping victims of Tropical Cyclone Idai instead of wasting that money funding “useless trips”.
Chamisa yesterday toured Chimanimani to offer support to victims of Tropical Cyclone Idai.
He said:
“We did what we do with our own resources sourced from our own savings and from well wishers. We continue to help as the situation in the East urgently requires intervention.
What I witnessed yesterday left my heart torn and bleeding. People lost their lives, some still missing, homes, livestock and infrastructure destroyed. The people have no food and clothes.
Those in control of taxpayers’ money must have heart and feelings, stop useless trips and use that money to alleviate the situation.”
