MDC President Nelson Chamisa has postponed his Bulawayo Thank You rally “to allow the party and the nation to put maximum concentration on Cyclone Idai, a party official has said.

Chamisa had scheduled his Bulawayo Thank You rally on the 23rd of March but with the nation currently engrossed in the cyclone idai disaster, proceeding with the meeting would have brought catastrophic consequences to the reputation of the party.

By Own Correspondent- Zambia has reportedly banned an energy drink on Wednesday after it was shown to have been adulterated with the male sex booster Viagra, according to authorities in Ndola, the city of manufacture.

The banning of Power Natural High Energy Drink SX comes as Zambia’s medicine regulator complained in December 2018 that the drink had been spiked with viagra.

The manufacturer, Revin Zambia Ltd, could not immediately be reached for comment on the ban.

The drink is also exported to African countries such as Uganda, Malawi and Zimbabwe, the manufacturer said last year.

The Zambian government has ordered the manufacturer to withdraw the drink after tests showed it contained Sildenafil Citrate whose brand name is Viagra

Sildenafil is an active ingredient in oral therapy in erectile dysfunction in men.-SowetanLive

By Own Correspondent- A Married man from Chitungwiza got the shock of his life when he caught his wife sleeping with another man at their matrimonial home after he had returned home from work unannounced.

Grace Pama (31) and Terence Chirubvu were not given time to dress up after they were caught having quality time by Nathaniel Nyagura, who together with his sisters, forced the duo to march to the police naked.

In an interview with a local publication, Nyagura confirmed the incident and said he was contemplating om taking Chirubvu to court.

” I caught them red-handed sleeping on our matrimonial bed. People have been telling me that my wife was involved in extra-marital affairs, but all along I did not believe it because I believed in our marriage.”

Nyagura and his wife, Grace are legally married under the Marriages Act Chapter 5:11.

” I stay in Mutare where I am trying to make ends meet, so I came back home today around 2:38 am and I saw my wife sleeping with another man on our matrimonial bed. I could not believe what I was seeing and I then invited my sisters to be witnesses,” said Nyagura.

Upon arrival at the police, Nyagura was then advised to approach the Civil Court. Nyagura furnished the publication with details that he was now processing divorce papers.

In an affidavit, Chirubvu admitted being in an adulterous relationship with Grace and also added that he was to pay Nyagura $5000 on or before three weeks as compensation.-StateMedia

By Own Correspondent- President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said no victim of Tropical Cyclone Idai should die of hunger adding that government was aware of the plight of those affected by the natural disaster which has so far claimed 98 lives leaving hundreds missing.

Mnangagwa, who visited the disaster struck Chimanimani in Manicaland on Wednesday said his government would ensure that those affected by Tropical Cyclone Idai are assisted considering their vulnerability following the devastating phenomena.

Said Mnangagwa:

“Hatidi kunzwa kuti pane munhu afa nenzara. Ndonzwa kuti mhuri dzakaenda, mombe dzakaenda, kwava nenhamo yakakura mudzimuri. Ndichiku UAE (United Arab Emirates), ndanzwa nyaya idzi mutungamiri weko vakafungawo kuti vangabatsira neyi, vakati vachatibatsira. (We do not want to hear that there is someone who died of hunger. I heard that lives were lost, cattle were lost, and there is great distress in families. Whilst I was still in the UAE, having heard about the tragedy, the leader of the UAE pledged to assist us),” said President Mnangagwa.

“Shamwari dzedu sa President weku Tanzania vaMagufuli vakati shamwari tanzwa njodzi iyi tikati hongu ndokubva vatumira mishonga, zvekufuka nezvimwe…ndege hombe yakasvika nezuro kubva ku Tanzania. Mamwe mazindege makuru achasvika na 4pm kubva ku UAE. (Our friends like President Magufuli of Tanzania yesterday sent a plane loaded with various items such as medicine, blankets….Some big planes from UAE are arriving at 4pm today,)” he added.

President Mnangagwa explained that the tragedy occurred after he had left for a business trip to Abu Dhabi meant to deepen bilateral ties between the two countries.

A HARARE magistrate yesterday relaxed bail conditions for suspended Chief Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe who is accused of criminal abuse of office.

Guvamombe who appeared before magistrate Lucy Mungwari successfully applied to have his bail conditions, which restricted him from travelling more than 50 km out of Harare, scrapped.

He had asked the court for the relaxation of the bail conditions to enable him to visit his farm in Bindura and a rural home which is outside the 50km radius.

The suspended chief magistrate also successfully applied to have his reporting conditions reduced from twice a week to once a week.

His passport was also temporarily released to allow him to travel to South Africa for the graduation ceremony of his child. Guvamombe is expected back in court on April 9.

It is alleged that sometime in June 2017, magistrate Elijah Makomo was assigned a criminal case in which Nathan Mnaba was the accused and Nighert Savania the complainant.

During the trial, numerous applications were allegedly made by the defence which were dismissed due to lack of merit.

This allegedly prompted the defence to approach Makomo, who was presiding over the matter on June 26, 2017 demanding that he recuses himself from the case.

Makomo is said to have turned down the request and advised them to file their application with the High Court or make a formal application with him.

It is alleged that Makomo was later advised to report to Guvamombe’s office with Mnaba’s court record and was told the fact that he was mishandling the matter and as such he should recuse himself despite the fact that there was no formal application from the defence for his recusal.

The court heard that Guvamombe went on to hear the complainant’s case despite him having previously had a business relationship with Mnaba’s father.

Guvamombe is also accused of offering internship to former ministers Supa Mandiwanzira and Saviour Kasukuwere who are both studying law at the University of Zimbabwe, but are being tried for different offences at the same courts.

Prophet Bushiri claims hawks members tried to get bribes from him. Ipid said investigations into allegations Bushiri made against the Hawks have been delayed due to his busy schedule.

It appears controversial Prophet is too busy for the police. Late last year, he opened a case with Ipid, claiming Hawks members tried to get bribes from him.

Ipid spokesman Moses Dlamini said: “The suspects are yet to be identified, and there’s still a lot that needs to be done in the investigation, which depends on the availability of the complainant.”

In November, Daily Sun reported Bushiri’s lawyer Terrence Baloyi claimed cops had demanded money to make the probe go away. He said they asked for R10 million at first, but when Bushiri refused to pay they reduced it to R5 million.

He said the amount later went down to R1 million before being increased to R3 million. Baloyi said this happened in April after it emerged Bushiri was being probed for money laundering, racketeering and rape.

At the time, the Hawks dismissed the claims. Daily Sun tried for a week to get hold of Bushiri, with no success. His spokesman Ephraim Nyndo hung up the phone.

An American hunter who shot a sleeping lion, making it writhe in agony before he killed it, has sparked a global storm of repugnance, with calls for him to be hunted down himself to face justice.

Footage of Guy Gorney shooting the animal in Zimbabwe has gone viral on social media, prompting universal fury.

Some users said they would love him to be savaged by lions, others said they would enjoy attacking him, and some hoped he too died in agony.

Mr Gorney fires twice more before the guide intervenes and shakes his hand to congratulate him.

The guide says: “A very nice lion,” laughs and pats Mr Gorney on the back. 

The footage also shows the pair prodding the dead lion with the rifle and admiring it, before the guide shakes Mr Gorney’s hand again.

One Twitter user described him as a “gutless self-obsessed narcissist with a gun, overactive ego and far too much money to waste”.

The video, dating back to 2011, shows Mr Gorney being coached in shooting. He points his rifle at the sleeping lion and fires a shot, which awakes the animal.

It arches its back in pain and writhes on its back, unable to stand or run away.

Another, Silvio Pires, wrote: “Can anyone explain to me how this monster is walking freely amongst us?! Pity our society when we allow such barbaric [sic] not to be punished!”Colin Mckillen said: “No words for what this evil b*****d gets up to. Let’s hope karma catches up with him – he really deserves the worst.” 

“Trophy” hunting is legal in Zimbabwe and South Africa, where wealthy hunters – usually American – pay huge sums to shoot animals dead. 

PROTECT

Africa’s lion populations have plummeted in recent years, with estimates there could be as few as 15,000 left.

Mr Gorney, 65, from Manhattan, Illinois, has not responded to any of the torrent of criticism.

His Facebook account – where his profile picture shows him straddling another lion he killed – is not visible, and that of a woman apparently his daughter is also not public.

He has not responded to media requests to comment.

He has previously admitted having killed the “big five” species: elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo.

In 2015 he told WBBM radio he had killed 70 animals.

“I like pitting myself against these animals. And what greater trophy than an elephant?” he said.

He claimed hunting was conservation. “You can say, why’d you shoot a lion? I love zebra, so shooting a lion probably saves 70 zebra a year, give or take,” he said.

He said he follows the law when hunting and can’t abide poachers.

The US allows hunters with permits to import wildlife “trophies”.

In the UK, Lion Aid is lobbying for a ban on imports of lion parts to discourage hunting. — Independent, UK

Correspondent|Mandla Mataure, the general manager of Chimanimani Hotel, has explained why his hotel survived Cyclone Idai.

He told BBC Focus on Africa radio:” We were fortunate because this building was built soon after World War Two, so it’s got very solid concrete walls – it wasn’t damaged but just standing near a window and hearing the sheer force of the wind and the rain, I couldn’t even imagine what it was like for those who were in the village.

From the first night we have been sheltering about 400 people. It’s families – men, women, children who were just stranded and had nowhere to go after their homes were destroyed.

So we’ve opened up our doors: we’ve got a big enough conference room and lounge for people to sleep – camping style, at least until we can get something more semi-permanent.

A lot of people feel safer here [at night], maybe going back during the day to the areas where their homes were to try and salvage whatever they can find. Buildings were swept away, we’re in a mountainous area – it’s a mess. A lot of lives have been lost and we’re still counting, some people have been buried but some bodies are still under rubble.

We’ve got about four or five different roads that can bring you to Chimanimani but on each road there’s at least one or two bridges that have been damaged, making those roads impassable, so we’re pretty much stranded at the moment.

There are probably other areas in more need of rescue and support than us. Where we are is more the “Central Business District” (CBD) of Chimanimani, but the more remote areas are in desperate need of support

Own Correspondent|The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi has revealed that Government is working on repealing the willful HIV transmission law.

Section 79 (1) of the Criminal Codification and Reform Act on deliberate transmission of HIV reads: “Any person who knowingly that he or she is infected with HIV, or realising that there is a real risk or possibility that he or she is infected with HIV, intentionally does anything or permits the doing of anything which he or she realises involves a real risk or possibility of infecting another person with HIV, shall be guilty of deliberate transmission of HIV, whether or not he or she is married to that other person and shall be liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding twenty years.

“It shall be a defence to a charge under subsection (1) for the accused to prove that the other person concerned knew that the accused was infected with HIV and consented to the act in question, appreciating the nature of HIV and the possibility of becoming infected with it.”

Ziyambi, during a Question and Answer session in Parliament today, said the law will be repealed.

Calls for the law to be repealed have been made since about 3 years ago. In 2016, Elizabeth Tailor Human Rights Award winner and HIV activist, Ms Martha Tholanah said this law must be scrapped because it stigmatised and discriminated against people living with HIV.

Ms Tholanah, who has been living with HIV for the past 17 years, said criminalisation of wilful HIV transmission was done a long time ago on the advent of the disease, when no one wanted to be associated with it.

She, however, said owing to developments in the medical field, HIV is now just like any other disease hence the law must be informed by science trends.

“Evidence has shown that chances of transmitting HIV to another person if you are on treatment are slim. The law must then speak the same language with science to achieve our national and global goals and targets,” said Ms Tholanah.

She said the current law discouraged people from getting tested thereby delaying them from accessing treatment early, reversing global efforts to end Aids by 2030.

Government and civil servants yesterday sealed a salary accord after the employer improved its offer to the workers from $350 million to $400 million.

This will translate to a salary increment of $129 across board effective April 1.

The lowest paid worker in Grade B1 will now be getting $570 up from $441.

Negotiations for a further salary review—possibly in June—will continue with other non-monetary incentives being considered.

The Government workers put pen to paper after a Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) meeting held in Harare.

An agreement sealed by the two parties states that a consensus was reached after taking into consideration “the challenges being faced by members of the public service due to rising cost of living and having noted the state of the economy.”

“(It was agreed that) a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of $400 million be effected across the board for all members of the public service with effect from April 1 2019 to December 31, 2019,” reads the agreement.

“Government undertook to clear the Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) arrears resources permitting and provide additional public service buses to augment the current fleet of buses.”

The JNC also agreed that Statutory Instrument 52 of 2019—which allows civil servants to import cars duty-free—be implemented.

It was also agreed that study tours on the establishment of the Public Service Bargaining Council be conducted by June 2019.

“Negotiations would continue to consider sector-specific allowances and other non-monetary incentives,” reads the agreement.

Apex Council chairperson Mrs Cecelia Alexander said negotiations will continue until the welfare of civil servants improved.

“Though we have our demands which we want met, at least this is a sign of fruitful dialogue which has culminated into this agreement,” she said.

“As Apex Council we will continue negotiating with the employer and this agreement is subject to review in June. We have agreed that developments in the economy, whether positive or negative, will see the parties sitting on the table to dialogue.”

She added: “As Apex Council we are also happy that finally we have been heard on the issue of duty-free cars. This is also a sign that Government is committed to the betterment of our lives as workers and we hope all other non-monetary incentives we are pushing for will come to fruition.”

Government recently unveiled a $60 million housing facility for civil servants as part of the non-monetary incentives.

A memorandum of agreement between the employer and the National Building Society (NBS) on the rollout of the project is in place.

This is part of Government’s commitment to provide decent and affordable housing to the people, mostly civil servants and among President Mnangagwa’s interventions to alleviate hardship among citizens on the back of austerity measures Government is implementing.

State Media

African Medallion Group founder Frank Buyanga has condemned the shooting of two guards after 10 robbers pounced on his Toyota Land Cruiser in an attempt to steal gold in Boksburg, South Africa.

Two men, Francois Swart and Dale Collins, were seriously injured during the attack, sparking outrage in a country with some of the world’s worst rates of violent crime.

South Africa police have launched a manhunt for the suspects, who used armour-piercing bullets in the robbery, and fled the scene in a VW Golf.

Police spokesperson Kay Makhubele said the two occupants of the Toyota were injured after their car was riddled with bullets and are battling for life in hospital where they are receiving specialist medical care. “They were transporting gold along the R21 in Jet Park in Boksburg when they were attacked by the group,” Makhubele said.

“Unfortunately, two guards were shot and seriously wounded during the attempt.”

The suspects fled in two sedans without being able to take anything, and police have appealed to anyone with information to come forward. “We urge any member of the public who might have information which could lead to the arrests of these suspects to contact their nearest police station,” Makhubele added.

The South African-based gold trader AMG said scenes from the CIT robbery on the R21 in Gauteng were horrific and a regular occurence in South Africa. “AMG Group is deeply saddened by the events of yesterday. We would like to send our prayers and heartfelt thoughts to the families of Francois Swart and Dale Collins, who operate in our industry,” he said in a statement released on the company’s social media platforms.

AMG said the shootings have once again highlighted the phenomenon of gun violence in South Africa. Even though South Africa’s murder rate has been gradually dropping, it remains one of the world’s most violent countries.

“AMG is saddened by the high levels of crime in South Africa and continues to pray for a better and safer South Africa.” AMG – an African initiative raising awareness on wealth creation and wealth inclusion of fellow Africans – based in Sandton, is one of Africa’s greatest bullion money-making machines and develops and distributes precious metals – mostly gold and related products such as medallions and krugerrands.

Since its inception in 2017, AMG – known for its intense innovation – has produced and sold plenty of medallions within this short period of time. This included the sale of Pan African 1/4 Oz Fine Gold Medallion released last April, which sold out in record time. The start-up has continued to break records and set new standards of excellence since then.

But the gold industry it operates in in South Africa is faced with a severe crisis as a result of the daily spate of cash-in-transit
attacks and gold heists that threaten the safety of employees and members of the public. — DailyNews

By Own Correspondent- Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, Kirsty Coventry has apologised for moving the date of Zimbabwe’s award ceremony NAMA from March 23 to April 13, 2018.

A statement from Coventry reads:

“My Ministry sincerely apologises to the Sector, Corporates, Events Manager AB Communication, the public and nation at large for inconveniences caused by this development. We assure that the ceremony will be held accordingly as had been planned at Harare International Conference Centre. As a Ministry, together with our parastatal the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, we took the decision based on the current national situation of the effects of the natural disaster, Cyclone IDAI that have claimed lives and vastly destroyed properties. Cognisant that we are a culture Ministry that values unhu/ubuntu, we saw it noble that we move the awards ceremony and join the rest of fellow Zimbabweans in assisting the affected families.”

By Own Correspondent- Zimbabwean farmers are expected to sell up to 240 million kg of tobacco this year, a 5 percent decrease from 2018 due to drought.

This was revealed by a Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

TIMB data seen by Reuters shows tobacco exports have already earned $178 million since January, with South Africa and China the top two importers.

In an official circular on Wednesday, the RBZ said farmers would now be paid in the local transitional RTGS dollar currency, reversing a decision to pay them half their money in U.S. dollars. The biggest farmers’ group said it was studying the notice.

Farai Dziva| Constantino Chiwenga has triggered “twitter war after accusing 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.

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|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. “

THE Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-SA) has called for an investigation into reports that officials at the Kwekwe Depot of the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) are allegedly receiving bribes in exchange for drivers’ licences.

Obert Chinhamo, the director of ACT-SA said complainants have singled out four officials who are soliciting for bribes of US$100 in exchange for Class 4 and 5 drivers’ licences.

All those refusing to pay would fail regardless of how good they are.

He said on March 18, 2019, more than 18 representatives of driving schools in Kwekwe met and resolved to shun taking learners to the depot in protest against the corruption thereof.

Chinhamo claimed that he alerted one of the senior officials at the depot but nothing was done about it. “I gave him the names of the four officials implicated in the corruption scandal as well as an indication that there were several learners willing to help him set the traps and catch the culprits red-handed.

He promised to visit our offices on the same day for further discussions but he didn’t. I am not surprised that driving schools have decided to protest against this depot. Corruption is sickening and it disturbs even more when a leader of such a depot refuses to cooperate in support of his subordinates.” he said.

By Own Correspondent- President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga have returned to Harare after meeting Cyclone Idai victims and affected communities and assuring them of government’s support.

Mnangagwa and Chiwenga arrived at the Robert Mugabe International Airport. Mnangagwa who was in Manicaland Province, today spent the whole day assessing the extent of damage in the areas that were devastated by Tropical Cyclone Idai, consoling those who lost their loved ones and assuring the people of relief efforts by government.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has flown into a mountainous town on Zimbabwe’s eastern border with Mozambique to visit the survivors of a devastating cyclone that has killed scores of people and caused widespread damage.

Since Cyclone Idai hit on Friday evening, the farming town of Chimanimani has been largely cut off from the rest of the country, with bridges destroyed and routes blocked due to mudslides and fallen trees.

Mnangagwa on Wednesday cut across a rocky stream as he visited patients in the Chimanimani District Hospital in Ngangu township. 

Boulders fell down the mountain slopes blocking all paths to the hospital, while trickles of floodwater continued to flow in some parts of the town.

“We tried to warn people; we asked those living on the downward slopes to move to higher ground, but that was just [a] warning …. we didn’t know how bad, now we are met with this tragedy,” Mnangagwa told a crowd of locals gathered around a football field.

“Many of our people have died …When we are faced with a tragedy like this, we wish that we all come together and unite and support each other through this time as one family,” he said.

The government has said that at least 98 people have been killed and more than 200 are missing in Zimbabwe as a result of the powerful cyclone, which has also ravaged parts of Mozambique and Malawi, causing flash floods, destroying infrastructure and wiping out entire communities. 

On Monday, Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi said the number of people killed in the cyclone and preceding floods in his country could exceed 1,000.

‘What about those missing?’

In Chimanimani, which is accessible only by air, at least 40 people have been buried since Monday, but the overall death toll and the full extend of the damage remain unknown.

Local residents told Al Jazeera there were still areas where people were trapped, while others lamented that their neighbours were still missing following the weekend’s heavy rains.

“My wife was injured and my child was hurt, but my neighbours’ children are missing. Nobody knows where the two children are [and] if they are alive,” Zviyere Ngomariya, a 44-year-old local businessman, said.

“I thank God my family is OK, but what about those who are missing?”

Mnangagwa, who cut short a trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has declared the cyclone a national disaster and promised that the government would provide the necessary assistance – including medicine and food relief – beyond the budgeted $50m response.

The UAE has provided $4.9m in emergency aid, while other countries in the wider region – including Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Tanzania – have also provided humanitarian assistance.

Meanwhile, the African Union has pledged to contribute $350,000 to Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique affected by Cyclone Idai and said it will dispatch an assessment mission to survey the damage affecting more than two million people in the three countries.

Mnangagwa is also visiting other cyclone-hit areas in the eastern highlands affected by the cyclone. Search and rescue missions are ongoing with at least 42 people reportedly marooned in areas around the border district.

While the threat of heavy rains remains, military units and roadworks employees are working to clear obstructed roads and bridges, albeit with very limited resources.

— Al Jazeera

Own Correspondent|ZIMBABWE National Army’s Major General Joe Muzvidziwa of the 3 Infantry Brigade who is the commander leading rescue efforts in Manicaland has said that the death toll for Zimbabwe may reach 500. He said most of the damage occurred in the Rusitu Valley.

He said: “We don’t 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 Wednesday.”

Meanwhile, Roman Catholic Pope Francis is praying for victims of the cyclone-induced flooding in southern Africa and is urging support for those affected.

Francis issued an appeal at the end of his weekly general audience Wednesday for those affected by the flooding in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi that have killed more than 350 people.

Francis said: “I express my pain and closeness to those dear people. I entrust the many victims and their families to the mercy of God and urge comfort and support for those who have been struck by this calamity.”

Aid workers are rushing to rescue victims from treetops after the cyclone unleashed the devastating floods.

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.

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|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.

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”.

Marime is yet to respond.

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.

— BMetro

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- 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.

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.”

Watch the video below for this and more.

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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.

-State Media

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.

-Herald

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.

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.

Memory Mandudzo represented the State.

-Newsday

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.

Refresh this page for updates.

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.

-Newsday

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.

The matter is pending.

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.

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.

The billboard was valued at $6 000.

Zengeza Matura prosecuted.

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.

State Media

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.

The matter is pending.

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.

State Media

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

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

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.”

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

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?”