With only two days left before Christmas, the country is trapped in a gloomy atmosphere, completely devoid of the shopping sprees synonymous with the season.

A snap survey in Harare in the past few days revealed that many people were only shopping for basic commodities as the economic crisis deepens.

A visit to major supermarkets in Harare, found most people buying the usual groceries for mainly basic goods. Many others chose to focus on buying school uniforms.

Tendai Murape said he was disappointed that he was not able to spoil his family as per tradition due to skyrocketing prices.

“A Christmas without soft drinks and ice-cream for the kids is meaningless,” he said.

“Instead of shopping for the fancy food here we are, buying flour to at least bake chimodho (home-made bread).

Murape said he was resigned to fate and would focus on the essence of the day.

“My family and I will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, our only hope amid the gloom,” he said.

Faith West who was shopping at OK Mart in Hillside said 2018 was a difficult year and there was nothing to celebrate this festive season.

“As you can see, there aren’t many people doing the usual mad rush for goodies because there is no money. This has been the most difficult year for everyone and we are all feeling the pinch,” she said.

Although major retail shops had marked down several items in a bid to lure customers, they still attracted few buyers.

Most companies were unable to give their workers bonuses as the economic woes continued to mount.

Elderly Ronia Kanhukamwe said this year would go down in history as the worst because of the economic crisis.

Zimbabwe’s economic problems intensified in September after Finance minister Mthuli Ncube introduced austerity measures that included a 2% tax on electronic transactions.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe monetary policy unveiled around the same time directing banks to separate foreign currency dominated accounts from real time gross settlement balances saw the exchange rate between bond notes and the United States dollar shooting up on the parallel market.

This spawned a shortage of basic commodities, fuel and medicines, which still persists.

Standard

 

Although Robert Mugabe is now part of history, the band of praise-singers that made him a demigod is still intact, singing itself hoarse in a
rat-race to please President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Observers opine that the apple-polishing and heightened fawning for Mnangagwa seen at the just-ended Zanu PF conference in Esigodini does not bode well for Zimbabwe.
Indeed, there is a connection between the old and new.
By Mnangagwa’s own admission, Mugabe who he removed through a coup last year “remains a father, mentor, comrade in arms and my leader.”
The parallels between the two men are almost infinite.History has it that it was Mugabe who taught Mnangagwa the political ropes while in prison and that it was Mugabe who invited Mnangagwa to the front in the twilight days of the liberation
struggle to make him his aide de camp.
While addressing over 60 000 people who filled the National Sports Stadium in a frenzied mood after the fall of Mugabe, Mnangagwa paid tribute to the man who now regards him as a traitor.
“We must say thank you to him and trust that our history will grant him his proper place and accord him his deserving stature as one of the founding fathers and leaders of our nation,” he said.
At the height of the powers, Mugabe had songs composed in his name, children named after him and towns were given a face-lift just to ensure
that his passage was comfortable.
And just like Mugabe days, Mnangagwa replicated the spectacle in Esigodini.
Mugabe might be long gone but Mnangagwa appears to be trapped in the same system that created his predecessor.
University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer Eldred Masunungure told the Daily News on Sunday that while there was a change of
leadership last year, there was no change of the system.

“We have to start from the premise of what happened last year. What happened last year was the change of leadership and there was no change of regime.Daily News

Correspondent|THE Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) has nullified the outcome of the recruitment exercise of aviation security officers which took place on 4 December and was clouded by the unfortunate death of two aspiring trainees.

In a statement issued by CAAZ CEO David Mangota, the authority says it will proceed via other recruitment methods following the unfortunate incident.

Two prospective male trainee aviation security officers who were taking part in a recruitment exercise conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) died at Parirenyatwa hospital in early December after suffering health complications during a selection road run at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.

The authority said the recruitment was part of its efforts to equip its Aviation Security Department.

An Australian man has been arrested on allegations of fraudulently acquiring Zimbabwean national identity documents and a passport to secure his stay in the country.

Aaron William Young (45) was arrested at his house in Harare last week by officers from the Department of Immigration and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) following a tip-off.

In a statement yesterday, the Department of Immigration’s public relations officer Mrs Canisia Magaya confirmed the arrest.

“Following a raid at his house, Aaron William Young was ordered to surrender all his identity particulars upon his apprehension. It was discovered that he possessed a fake Zimbabwe national identity card.

“Investigations with the issuing authority led to the unearthing of information that he had acquired the identity card fraudulently. Young applied for a Zimbabwean passport which he was issued, using the fraudulently acquired document,” she said.

Mrs Magaya said Young acquired a residence permit in 2010 after he married a Zimbabwean woman, but they divorced in May 2011 before attainment of citizenship.

“Records with the Department of Immigration show that he was an illegal immigrant in Zimbabwe from July 2015 which necessitated the criminal action on the part of Young. During this period, he also engaged in gainful employment unlawfully.

“He is being charged with fraud under the Criminal Codification and Reform Act and possession of documents one is not entitled to under the Immigration Act,” she said.

He will appear before a Harare Magistrate today.

The development comes after the Department of Immigration intensified its ongoing operation following an increase in the number of immigrants who are flouting the country’s immigration laws.

Since last month, the Immigration Department has arrested several immigrants who are set to appear in court while others have since been deported.

The Department said those who were intercepted were found using various tactics to circumvent due processes.

These included identity theft, tendering fraudulent documents to acquire visas and work permits, as well as entering the country illegally.

Terrence Mawawa|Tsitsi Masiyiwa’ s tweet in which she attacked those abusing the quest for justice has irked social commentator and IT expert Ms Miriam Mutizwa.

This is part 2 of Ms. Miriam Mutizwa’s open letter to Ms. Tsitsi Masiyiwa following her tweet that has generated debate on the true meaning of justice.

The letter reads as follows:
“I am grateful that your tweet that may have been targeted at persons you believe are abusing the quest for justice has generated conversations that are necessary and essential to a healthy democracy in Zimbabwe.
I consider myself to be an engaged citizen who is concerned about what does it mean to a good citizen and how ordinary folk like me can learn to use our power to make change.
Your tweet invites all to reflect on what justice is and ought to be. It also ignites and provokes all active citizenship to cultivate the values, knowledge and skills of effective citizenship in order to avoid the danger of being used by a few in the name of justice and equity.
I am sure that you will agree that literacy in justice and the rule of law is essential to making democracy work.
You are not alone in making the allegation that:“Some outcries and actions in pursuit of justice seem and look so right,” implying that you have undertaken a critical examination of some of the outcries and actions in the public domain that are presented as if they are in pursuit of justice.
However, my sister, I would have expected you to name and shame the impugned actions and outcries and the persons driving such actions and outcries.
Regrettably, I was left in a dangerously speculative mode with no answers from you as the author is this important departure in my well-established concern that after 38 years of Zimbabwe’s independence, there is a real and not imagined absence of outcries and actions in pursuit of justice.
A few weeks ago, I made my position clear that the Attorney General of Zimbabwe is not fit for purpose following his oral evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development on 19 November 2018 wherein he boldly stated that a law that applies retrospectively is a just and constitutional piece of legislation.
The law in question also allows shareholders like you my sister to be divested and deprived of the control and management of a company without following the due process of the law.
I have noted with concern that the people I would generally associate with business leadership have been silent on the constitutionality and legality of this law that was first introduced in 2004 via a Presidential decree in relation to SMM Holdings Private Limited (SMM).
This silence apart from deafening represents the greatest betrayal of the promise of justice, fairness and equity.
You may agree with my position that Mr. Joe Mutizwa who represented listed companies on 6 December 2018 at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee failed to mention to the world that although President Mnangagwa has made impassioned calls for accelerated foreign direct investment (FDI), a law exists that allowed a reconstruction order to be issued in relation to Hwange Colliery Company Limited (Hwange) to be issued by the Minister of Justice whose effect was to divest shareholders of the rights and freedoms in relation to their property without their consent and knowledge.
Following Mr. Mutizwa’s dismal performance, I have had the opportunity of sharing my concern that there exists a serious civics literacy deficit in Zimbabwe, a position which your tweet seems to ignore in preference of a direct attack on my actions and outcries that you believe are suspect and sponsored.
What I have learned is that if we allow people like Mr. Mutizwa and yourself who have been silent and continue to be silent on what I believe matters to a prosperous Zimbabwe for all, the cost will be borne by the majority who have no capacity and wherewithal to mitigate the financial and economic consequences.
I am based currently in the United Kingdom and like you my sister I was naive to expect that the fatalism that is manifest generally in politics is absent in business affairs.
I am sure that you will agree that since Hwange was placed under extrajudicial reconstruction, there has been no voice of business and reason to challenge the rationality, legality and constitutionality of this draconian law.
On the contrary, when in September 2004, SMM’s directors were dismissed by Mr. Afaras Gwaradzimba pursuant to a reconstruction order issued by the then Minister of Justice, Hon. Patrick Chinamasa, I also took the view that Mr. Mawere, as the shareholder, had been the author of his demise and as such I suffered no obligation to inquire into the facts and circumstances of the company let alone the propriety and the actions used to displace the lawful stakeholders of the company.
It was only until the Hwange affair that I began to question my own complicity in giving rise to a reality that can visit many of us including Econet, a company that you may have an interest in.
It is my understanding that you are working on some charity programs with the First Lady of Zimbabwe and hopefully you are close enough to influence the powers that be to act in the best interests of Zimbabwe.
However, the tone of your tweet would seem to suggest that you genuinely believe that the cause that I have taken is  not a just cause as on the face of it, it would seem that by challenging the constitutionality and legality of the Reconstruction Act, I am being used by Mr. Mawere in his presumed bid to get his companies back.
It has also come to my attention that there is an audio of a conversation between Dr. Daniel Shumba, who I understand was a fellow shareholder with you in a company called TSM Private Limited (TSM), and Mr. Mawere that is in the public domain whose contends may have motivated your tweet.
Assuming my interpretation is correct, it would appear that you believe that my outcry and actions in openly stating that the Reconstruction Act is a “toxic law” that belongs to a fascist and socialist dispensation is misguided and fatally flawed.
President Mnangagwa’s commitment to restoring the rule of law and constitutionalism is well known but concerns have been raised on implementation aspects.
I am sure you are aware of the article below published in the Herald on 21 December 2018 in which the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Hon. Monica Mutsvangwa said that the government is working on four Bills that will lead to a repeal of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) as the two pieces of legislation “have toxic areas” redolent “of the old dispensation.

It is my considered view that the Reconstruction Act belongs to a class of laws that are so reprehensible that they do not need to be considered as laws at all.
I could be wrong in concluding that by stating that some of the outcries and actions in pursuit of justice seem and look so right: “until you discover the source of the outcry and sponsor of the cause,” you were speaking directly to me.
If my reading is correct, you were directly castigating me for attacking the Reconstruction Act as one of the laws that stands and ought to be repealed simply because it is tainted by Mr. Mawere who although you are not naming him would probably stand to be vindicated if this law is scrapped.
I am sure you will agree that this law has been used in relation to a number of parties beyond Mr. Mawere as may be the case with AIPPA and POSA.
I am not sure of what your state of mind was when you chose the words in the tweet in question but it would appear that you hold the position that justice ought to be selective and in this case the sponsor of my action in your words is Mr. Mawere who deserves no justice let alone sympathy if he was the only victim.
In other words, apart from your husband who obtained refuge from the Courts with public support and sympathy, you are suggesting that we ought to have looked at Mr. Masiyiwa the driver of the litigation to establish whether in fighting for the liberalization of the telecommunications industry, he was solely motivated by personal gain and not by any public interest.
Should we follow the example of your husband where the fight for liberalization was contextualized as a fight for justice but the reality has turned otherwise with you now preaching a message of selective justice simply because the prime victim is a person you hold in low esteem?
I am still troubled by your tweet and the moral, legal and constitutional implications therefrom. It is not at all clear what your position is in relation to the law in question.
I would have been happy if you could substantiate your claim about the connection between the quest of justice and the alleged sponsorship.
It was my expectation that the journey Econet has travelled would have produced rich experiences to share about why the rule of law is a critical ingredient in driving positive change.
I cannot find anyone in the business sector who has fought relentlessly using the constitution as a lever to a market-led telecommunications industry than your spouse and at no stage did I think about the real motivation behind the many litigations until now.
I am sure that where your spouse is concerned, the end must justify the means and where the Reconstruction Act operates, you have no problem with the law’s toxicity.
It is clear to me that if the people who look up to as the beacons of hope and justice turn out to be charlatans, then we are all compelled to begin to reimagine civics.  I have learned that I do fail to learn what public power is and is not, how it is practiced, someone else like you my sister will, in my name, in my turf, with my voice, and against my interests.
For any casual reader, it would appear that your tweet was meant to be a wake up call for all rational and forward-thinking people yet in reality it was meant to divide and discourage a person like me from being engaged as a citizen on what should matter to our common future.
You have provoked and ignited my passion to now critically examine your own journey to stardom and wealth. It is important that our eyes and ears are not diverted to focus on what you deem are axis of evil like Mawere, Shumba and many others that you think are not supportive of your husband but to build a new culture where ideas about citizenship, power, and responsibility are democratized and celebrated.
It may be the case that unlike Mawere, your husband’s actions have been solely motivated by a quest for justice.  If this is the case, I for one will now have to listen to other voices about the true facts associated with your commercial narrative.
The Econet story has rightly or wrongly ignited interest but the facts around it are not generally shared as is the case in respect of the SMM story that has seen Mr. Mawere in the public domain unpacking the story behind the story.
We can only deepen our understanding of citizen power by telling the stories the way it should be done.  It is important, therefore, that we use the stories of Strive Masiyiwa, James Makamba, Reward Kangai, Dr. Julius Makoni, William Nyemba, Gilbert Muponda, James Mushore, Enock Kamushinda, and many others to establish whether black business excellence in general has celebrated or vilified.

It is striking that your husband’s narrative gives no recognition to people like Dr. Shumba’s role yet Dr. Shumba has V11 forms that confirm that on 15 January 1999, an extra-ordinary general meeting of TSM shareholders was held at which you were represented as a shareholder.
The resolutions raise a number of troubling questions that seem to support Dr. Shumba’s version that he could have been a victim of an orchestrated fraudulent scheme involving the disposal of his shares in TSM.
In terms of the resolutions set out in the attachment, it is not clear to me how you could participate in a sham meeting whose agenda fell outside the jurisdiction of the shareholders when regard is had to the fact that none of the shareholders were shareholders of the listed company, Econet.
Dr. Shumba is on record stating that the shares he held in TSM were not tradeable and, therefore, could not be sold as a proxy of the listed shares.
It is clear from the thread below that there is some confusion as to what motivated the EGM to be convened in relation to the affairs of TSM yet the substance of the meeting was about the right, title and interest of TSM as a juristic person in its own right in relation to Econet.
You participated at this meeting where TSM, Continental Securities and Kingdom Securities were not represented yet the resolutions passed affected their rights and obligations.
I am sure you would have known at the material time that Dr. Shumba’s shares could not be sold through stockbrokers.
I end this portion of my letter to you by sharing a thread on twitter on this issue and its materiality in determining the role, if any, of Mr. Mawere in Econet affairs as you seem to suggest.
I have now established with certainty that if Dr. Shumba has any residual concerns about how he was dealt with by your husband, such concerns have nothing to do with Mr. Mawere.
However, I stand to be corrected by you how you have arrived at the conclusion that Dr. Shumba and Mr. Mawere are the parties that are abusing people like me on the question of the legality and rationality of the Reconstruction Act

 

THE jet-setting businessman had approached the High Court seeking to overturn a charge of “criminal conduct” in the manner in which he won the 100-megawatt (MW) Gwanda solar tender, which his lawyers said was designed to frustrate the flamboyant businessman.

“It be and is hereby declared that procurement contract No ZPC 304/2015 dated October 23 2015 between the applicant and respondent is valid, and binding between the parties,” Chitapi ruled, adding the energy firm “acted unlawfully and in bad faith” — and possibly under external influence — especially when the contract provided for a dispute resolution mechanism in a matter which did not warrant any criminal sanction.

“The parties shall meet to review progress in regard to the discharge of their obligations in terms thereof as provided for in clause 5 of the contract within 60 days of this order failing, which the party in default shall be deemed to have repudiated the contract and liable in damages to and at the instance of the innocent party,” Chitapi ruled.

Chivayo’s High Court claim was broken down as $15 million for loss of profit from the purported termination of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, $5 million for costs in putting together the CHINT Electric partnership and China Exim Bank financing as well as $5 million for reputational damage.

Chitapi emphasised that Zimbabwean law provided for competent remedies and the ZPC’s “attempts to hold the EPC contract as either lapsed or terminated was incompetent, and the company could not terminate an agreement, which had not commenced”.

He also said the involvement of state organs in the form of police in a situation where there was a clear dispute resolution mechanism of arbitration was “unfortunate and precipitate”, and such conduct “would send wrong signals to investors that if they conclude contracts with state entities they risk criminal charges”.

Chitapi said section 49 (2) of the constitution guarantees that “no person may be imprisoned merely on the ground of inability to fulfil a contractual obligation and the sanctity of contracts enjoys constitutional protection”.

In a statement last weekend, Intratek welcomed the ruling and apologised for delaying the project.

“On behalf of our shareholders, the board and management I would like to also take this opportunity to sincerely apologise to our employer ZPC and to the nation as a whole for all the delays in implementing the project and rest assure you the 100 MW Gwanda Solar Power station will be commissioned sooner rather than later,” Chivayo said in a Facebook post.

“As a young businessman we learn from our mistakes as we grow so our focus remains to implement the project in the fastest possible time and feed in 100 MW of clean energy into the national grid for the benefit of the nation and indeed the reputation of our company.”

Chivayo also expressed gratitude at the High Court ruling pointing out that they were not concerned about compensation for damages incurred during its squabbles with ZPC.

“At Intratrek Zimbabwe (PVT) LTD we are gratified and relieved by the High Court’s verdict. As a company owned by eminent and patriotic Zimbabweans, we however have no intentions whatsoever of pursuing the claim or benefiting from any damages,” the statement said.

“As patriotic Zimbabweans, we have no intentions of benefiting from any damages. Our focus remains to implement the project… and feed 100 MW of clean energy into the national grid for the benefit of the nation.

“…I would like to also take this opportunity to sincerely apologise… and assure the nation that the project will be commissioned soon,” Chivayo said.

— DailyNews

Correspondent|A COLOURFUL wedding ceremony ended tragically at Chachacha Growth Point in Shurugwi on Saturday when a 14-year-old groomsman died in a freaky car accident during the procession.

Midlands Police Spokesperson Ethel Mkwende said they have not received the report.

According to Masvingo Mirror, Response Mapfuti was riding in one of the cars in the wedding procession when the driver lost control, veered slightly off the road and side-swiped a tree.

Mutemeri who had his head hanging out through the window as he celebrated the event crashed against the tree and died. He died on the spot, according to authoritative sources.

The car was being driven by Diploma Mutemeri. The deceased was buried at Mutemeri Village on Tuesday. The incident left a wide rift between some family members at the wedding with others saying the wedding should be stopped while others advocated for the event to go on.

Although the wedding was allowed to continue after the incident, there were also sharp clashes with some family members condemning the continuation of the event.

The wedding was hosted at Mutemeri Village under Chief Mupangani. Marvelous Madzivanyika, an eye witness said the incident was so shocking it left people confused the question of continuing with the wedding lingered on until the end.

“The boy’s death so early into the wedding shocked everyone but of more surprise was the continuation of the event even when there was already a death in the wedding party,” said Madzivanyika.

Own Correspondent|A 28-YEAR-OLD businesswoman has confessed to sleeping with pastors and prophets, as part of a ritual to get money, wrecking marriages and churches in process.

Sithabisile Mathema who was in the habit of falling in love with pastors and prophets so as to wreck their ministries and marriages has been left with egg on her face after she was exposed at a church service.

Popular prophet Signature real name Emmanuel Gwandida called her out exposing her before the congregation.

” I have fallen in love with more than 50 pastors and they have tasted my thing,” said Mathema.

” I got muthi from a traditional healer in South Africa and I was instructed to sleep with men of the cloth, after that I would make money,”she said.

The congregants were left in awe after her confession that many churches and marriages had come to an end under her hand. Mathema went on to say that the when the pastor would sleep with her, his marriage or church would start crumbling.

”I can tell you that after I sleep with a pastor his church would start to face challenges leading to it to break up. Morever he would start to have marital problems and in the most cases his marriage would collapse,” she said.

Mathema said that she had been contemplating quitting for some time and was grateful that she had been delivered from the scourge.

Six people have in a head-on collision near Mutimurefu Prisons in Masvingo.

More details to follow…

More than five women became a spectacle of shame after they were exposed by apostolic sect leader, Madzibaba Mutumwa that they were blood suckers that cause accidents.

This was after Madzibaba Mutumwa picked five women who were standing in a group along Harare road, and while pointing a finger at them, he revealed that they were on a mission to cause accidents.

As a result the women in question fell on the ground one after the other, allegedly confessing that indeed they are satanists.

“We survive on blood. Today we were assigned to cause accidents on this road — we mainly target buses and cross border motorists. We had planned that after we are done we will shift to other highway roads. We know that from such accidents we get a number of victims,” said a woman who identified herself as Ropafadzo Moyo.

In a trance-like state another woman confessed that they have caused many accidents.

“Madzibaba I fear you! Don’t burn me, I beg you. Let me tell you the truth. We survive on accidents and we have mysteriously caused many accidents in the country and we wanted to cause one today,” she said.

She went a gear up in revealing how they gain powers to cause accidents.

“At times we are paired and instructed to sleep on the graves of recently dead people, from that we gain powers,” she said.

Since Madzibaba Mutumwa began his crusade in Bulawayo he declared war on satanists.

“Let me warn satanists who are causing accidents on the roads that their days are numbered on this earth and they will be exposed,” he said.

State Media

A MAN from Bulawayo was accidentally shot and wounded on the shoulder when a police officer allegedly opened fire at a suspected robber within the city’s Central Business District on Friday afternoon.

According to a police source, Timothy Mangena (48) from Hillside was shot in the crossfire when Constable Samuel Marava attempted to gun down an alleged criminal, identified as Winter Chisale at about 2.40pm at a vegetable market place and cross border bus rank along George Silundika Street between 4th and 5th avenues.

“The victim was seated in his car waiting for his wife who was doing some vegetable shopping when Constable Marava who was on surveillance spotted Chisale being dropped by a blue unmarked Honda Fit vehicle.

Chisale tried to fish out a cream satchel from a parked car which belongs to Sitheni Maqhuzu Ncube who had left his car doors unlocked and windows were down.

“Constable Marava, who was armed with a service pistol, fired two warning shots into the air and two other shots towards the getaway car when it was fleeing from the scene. Mangena who was sitting in his car was hit by a bullet. Thereafter he saw blood oozing from his left shoulder. He is currently admitted to United Bulawayo Hospitals for medical attention,” said the source.

The source added that the bag which Chisale allegedly stole contained an HP laptop and an Ipad was recovered when Const Marava wrestled Chisale as he tried to escape.

“Constable Marava caught up with Chisale before he got into the getaway Blue Honda Fit. He grabbed him from behind and they started wrestling until Chisale dropped the satchel on the ground and managed to break loose, enabling him to jump into the getaway car which then sped off.

The getaway car managed to escape with its occupants,” said the source.

Ncube and Mangena proceeded to the Bulawayo Central Police Station where Ncube filed a report of theft from a vehicle.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi could not comment on the matter, saying he had not received the full report.

The scene has been cordoned off, awaiting processing by ballistics experts.

In gory scenes witnessed in Harare yesterday morning, a man was found in possession of a human head following a high-speed chase in the capital.

The suspect was also allegedly driving a suspected stolen vehicle. Coincidentally, the arrest followed the discovery of a dismembered human body in a disused toilet around the light industry area.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi told The Sunday Mail yesterday evening that investigations are underway.

“We are still doing an investigation on that issue and we cannot release more details, but we can confirm a man was found with a (human)head in a car,” said Ass Comm Nyathi.

“It is said he had stolen the car, leading to a chase. The man is currently in police custody and we shall release a statement soon.

“Firstly, a dismembered human body was found in a disused toilet on Lytton Road in Harare and it had no head and a leg. Then today a man was found with a human head in the boot of a car.” -state media

Barely days after Gen Constantino Chiwenga took over negotiations between government and striking doctors, junior surgeons have been told they should resume duty immediately after the Labour Court last night ruled that their industrial action is illegal as it contravened provisions of the Labour Act.

Justices Betty Chidziva and Gladys Mhuri ruled that the doctors did not follow the notification procedures prescribed by the law.

“The findings of the court, in terms of Section 107 of the Labour Act, are as follows: Having listened to both parties’ submissions, the court found that the collective job action embarked on by the respondents (Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association) and its members on the 1st of December 2018 is unlawful,” reads the ruling.

“This finding is based on the fact that the respondents in the critical services category, as provided for by the provisions of SI (statutory instrument) 137 of 2003, are prohibited from engaging in collective job action.

“Respondents even, through their witness Dr Muzoremba, failed to prove that they were exposed to any occupational hazard which they reasonably feared to pose an immediate threat to their health and safety.”

The court ruled that no evidence was presented to substantiate the claim that the doctors embarked on the job action to avert an immediate threat to their health and safety.

“All members of the Zimbabwe Doctors Association, doctors and members of staff who participated in the unlawful job action should report for work within 12 hours of service of this order on the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association at Parirenyatwa Doctors’ Lounge, Harare.”
The court ordered the Health Services Board (HSB) to dock salaries of all doctors and medical staff for the number of days they did not report for duty.

“The Health Service Board is entitled to take disciplinary action against members of the Zimbabwe Hospital Association, doctors and members who participated in the unlawful job action and also that the respondents are to bear application costs on the ordinary scale.”

Mr Farai Chingwere from the Civil Division of the Attorney General’s Office represented the HSB, while Mr Munyaradzi Gwisai stood for the ZHDA.

Mr Gwisai refused to comment. This effectively puts an end to the 22-day job action.-state media

A fresh cholera outbreak has claimed three lives from 10 cases recorded since Tuesday in the Chomubobo mining area in Mberengwa, Midlands province.

The affected patients are quarantined at Mnene Mission Hospital. Midlands’ provincial medical director Dr Simon Nyadundu confirmed the outbreak. Dr Nyadundu said government has since set up two cholera treatment camps at Chomubobo and Mnene Mission Hospital.

He said the first case was recorded on Tuesday. “I can confirm that there has been a cholera outbreak in Mberengwa. Two of the affected had passed on by Friday, while another one died this morning (Saturday).

“We have tested the affected people and it has been confirmed that it is cholera. “The affected people are admitted at Mnene Mission Hospital, where we have set up a treatment camp. We are setting up another camp today (Saturday) in Chomubobo area,” he said. Government is still searching for the source of the waterborne disease.

Dr Nyadundu said: “Chomubobo is a mining area. As you are aware, there was a cholera outbreak in Mt Darwin in the mining area of Mukaradzi. “These artisanal miners are very mobile and it could be possible that the cholera came from Mt Darwin.

“The area, just like any gold-panning area, has poor sanitation, unclean water sources. Some of the cases were recorded in surrounding communities.”

Mberengwa North Member of Parliament Cde Tafanana Zhou said local communities were frantically working to contain the disease from spreading to other districts.

“We are monitoring the situation in Chomubobo and we are making frantic efforts to combat the disease. We do not want it to spread to other communities or neighbouring districts. We want to urge people in Mberengwa to practice good hygiene and take precautionary measures,” he said.

There are also fears of fresh cholera outbreaks in Chiredzi.-state media

ZANU PF leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa used last week’s Zanu-PF annual conference week in Esigodini to further push his main internal rival Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga against the wall in a major move that for the first time after the November 2017 coup leaves him in a relatively firmer position.

The conference’s most significant resolution was to endorse Mnangagwa as the party’s sole candidate for the 2023 general election.

Since the hotly contested presidential poll on July 30, Mnangagwa has been using his disputed mandate to reinforce his grip while also moving to contain and sideline Chiwenga, who is widely believed to harbour presidential ambitions.

Before the elections, Chiwenga had an upper hand as he controlled levers of power following the coup which he masterminded and thereafter bestowed the presidency on Mnangagwa.

Chiwenga also used his powers to influence appointments, grabbing the vice-presidency and controlling the Defence ministry while at the same time dictating the pace of events and national trajectory.

Following the coup, Mnangagwa was practically a lame duck, having been hauled from a hideout in exile. He had no control of events on the ground that led to the removal of former president Robert Mugabe.

In addition to that, Chiwenga was also in control of the Zanu-PF primary elections, leading to the general elections and also ran a seemingly parallel campaign in the run-up to the polls. The military machinery, with Chiwenga’s residual influence, also rescued Mnangagwa from what looked like certain defeat by MDC Alliance candidate Nelson Chamisa. But soon after the election, Mnangagwa has taken charge, decimating Chiwenga’s power base through cabinet appointments that excluded his allies, real or perceived.

More critically, he also took the Defence ministry from Chiwenga, apportioni ng it to one of his most trusted allies, Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri, who before and during the Esigodini conference was one of the strongest voices saying Mnangagwa should not be challenged in 2023.

In a bid to slow down the push, Chiwenga-who was hamstrung by an illness which took him to South Africa for treatment-made some spine-chilling outbursts at a meeting held at his rural home in Hwedza, attended by senior Zanu-PF officials mostly from his Mashonaland East home province.

At the meeting, Chiwenga warned that he would not stand and watch as some people played games with the country, a statement read by his opponents as a direct salvo at Mnangagwa.

“We are all Zimbabweans from all the corners of the country and no one is superior to the other. That’s why we stood up in November 2017; we wanted to fight to leave inheritance for posterity and not promote an individual. Therefore, you must not say now because I am there, nothing else matters. Who are you?” Chiwenga was quoted as saying.

However, Mnangagwa’s allies were undeterred and directly took the fight to Chiwenga. Hardly a week later, they gathered at the party’s national headquarters in Harare and launched the campaign to ensure Mnangagwa would not be internally challenged in 2023. The campaign was code-named #ED2023-PFee and it reverberated through the conference tent from day one to the end.

It has been viewed as a political masterstroke in some quarters. The conference duly obliged and adopted the pro-Mnangagwa mantra as its key resolution.

After senior party official Jacob Mudenda completed reading out the resolutions, which were immediately afterwards adopted by the conference, a visibly captivated Mnangagwa said: “All the resolutions were unequivocal and will certainly strengthen and consolidate the correct line as well as our desire to grow and modernise our revolutionary mass party.”

Refusing to rest on his laurels on the back of the conference resolution, Mnangagwa immediately took decisive action, when, earlier this week, he moved, through Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa, to get rid of editors at state-controlled newspaper group Zimpapers and replaced them with new ones in a factional battle which also includes control of the state media platforms, critical for the control of the narrative and information dissemination.

A tug of war had been simmering between Mutsvangwa as well as permanent secretary Nick Mangwana, on one hand, and deputy minister Energy Mutodi on the other, over the removal of the editors.

For Mnangagwa’s allies, the debate is effectively closed and he is now going to serve two terms, barring unforeseen events like accidents and deaths which are known to alter the course of history.

For Chiwenga, this should certainly be a great betrayal, having put his head on the block to rescue Mnangagwa from exile after he had been fired from government.
To many in Zanu-PF, it is hardly inconceivable that Mnangagwa would have been president without Chiwenga’s intervention.

Mnangagwa for now has an upper hand and the big question being asked in the corridors of power now is: could this be the end of Chiwenga or is he just having a strategic retreat? But with the economy in spectacular decline, Chiwenga and other Mnangagwa rivals could gain more ammunition to fight back. -Independent

Own Correspondent|A SPERM donation craze has hit Harare after an In-Vitro Fertilisation Zimbabwe team led by Dr Tinovimba Mhlanga called for well-wishers to donate sperms in exchange for a token of $80 per donation.

A recent advert which has gone viral invited potential sperm donors to visit the lab located in Harare.

The sperm are used for In-vitro fertilisation, where a woman’s eggs and sperms are brought together outside the womb in a dish in a laboratory.

The potential mother receives treatment to stimulate the formation of follicles, after which Dr Mhlanga extracts eggs in the follicular fluid from the mother through aspiration under ultrasonic guidance in an operating theatre adjacent to the IVF Laboratory at The Avenues Clinic.

They are then passed in a tube through a hatchway between the theatre and the laboratory to embryologist Tinei Makurumure.

The eggs and sperm provided are then placed in a fertilisation medium in a dish in the laboratory.

The woman goes home soon after the eggs have been harvested. The embryologist monitors closely the development of any embryos.

A few days later, when there is an embryo ready to be transferred in her womb, the woman comes back for embryo transfer.

A microscope video camera facility is one of the recent innovations introduced in The Avenues IVF laboratory and theatre.

“Through the microscope video camera facility, the patient is able to see which embryo is picked and we are able to explain why we have chosen one embryo over another.

“They are able to see everything as it happens in the laboratory while they are in the theatre,” Dr Mhlanga said.

Unused embryos are frozen for possible future use.

Own Correspondent|A 28-YEAR-OLD businesswoman has confessed to sleeping with pastors and prophets, as part of a ritual to get money, wrecking marriages and churches in process.

Sithabisile Mathema who was in the habit of falling in love with pastors and prophets so as to wreck their ministries and marriages has been left with egg on her face after she was exposed at a church service.

Popular prophet Signature real name Emmanuel Gwandida called her out exposing her before the congregation.

” I have fallen in love with more than 50 pastors and they have tasted my thing,” said Mathema.

” I got muthi from a traditional healer in South Africa and I was instructed to sleep with men of the cloth, after that I would make money,”she said.

The congregants were left in awe after her confession that many churches and marriages had come to an end under her hand. Mathema went on to say that the when the pastor would sleep with her, his marriage or church would start crumbling.

”I can tell you that after I sleep with a pastor his church would start to face challenges leading to it to break up. Morever he would start to have marital problems and in the most cases his marriage would collapse,” she said.

Mathema said that she had been contemplating quitting for some time and was grateful that she had been delivered from the scourge.

Correspondent|A 51-year-old man suffered the indignity of screaming for his neighbours to rescue him after his wife had grabbed and squashed his testicles following a domestic dispute. Charles Tavara’s wife Grace Sibokwane refused to release the man’s family jewels and had to be pulled off her husband by concerned neighbours who had rushed to assist.

The court heard that on the day in question Tavara returned home at around 5 am in the morning. He had left the previous day at around 9 pm in order to attend a neighbour’s funeral. Tavara courted his wife’s anger after he vomited onto the bed. An angry Grace then grabbed and starting crushing his testicles, forcing the unfortunate man to scream to his neighbours for deliverance.

However, Tavara begged the magistrate to drop the charges saying that he would work out things with his wife. Said Tavara,

I no longer want to pursue the case. If you may kindly drop the charges, she is my wife.

Harare magistrate Obedience Matare acceded to Tavara’s request. The magistrate said,

The accused acted unlawfully and is hereby warned to resolve disputes amicably in future.

Correspondent|About 70 Intercape bus passengers were left traumatised after they were robbed at gunpoint in the early hours of Friday morning.

An Intercape double-decker bus was travelling from Maputo to Johannesburg via Mbombela when it was hijacked by five armed suspects near Delmas on the N12, reports Lowvelder.

Dina Maguire boarded the bus in Mbombela to travel to Johannesburg. She said she still fears for her life as she has been receiving strange phone calls since the incident.

Capt Peter Tebeila confirmed that the driver was distracted by a sedan which drove too close to his bus. “One of the occupants signalled to the driver to stop, waving a firearm at him. He stopped the bus and the thugs’ vehicle stopped in front of it.”

According to Tebeila, there were five men who spoke isiZulu. Two of them entered the lower deck and two the upper deck of the bus. He said they ordered the passengers to hand over their valuables, ranging from jewellery to laptops and cellphones, including the driver’s cellphone and watch.

Maguire was sitting right at the entrance to the bus by the driver, and says one of the attackers grabbed her first. “He put a gun in my mouth and said, ‘If you don’t do what I say, I’m going to kill this white bitch’.”

She said as the attackers went through the rows of passengers, if they did not hand over their phones, laptops and cash quickly enough, they would get punched or hit with the butt of a gun.

The men wore gloves and were carrying handguns, she added.

“They went through every single part of the people’s hand luggage. The whole ordeal must have been about 45 minutes. I could see only one vehicle and I could see it was a white minibus taxi.”

Another passenger Lungi Mdluli, hails from KaBokweni. She was travelling to Johannesburg with her daughter. They sat upstairs.

Mdluli was taking a nap when she heard people saying, “We want money, don’t look at us.”

She said they started with those sitting in the front. “They slapped the one gentleman. They also punched my daughter.”

As the robbers worked their way to the passengers in the back, some of the people tried to hide their valuables.

“I was hiding mine in my underwear and covering myself with a blanket. Then they fired two shots in the bottom of the bus into the ceiling, right next to me. I gave them some of my cash and cellphones.”

Mdluli added that two people on her deck were carrying US dollars.

“This thing was planned,” she said. “What kind of hijackers would let people hide things? They were looking interested in the dollars.”

Tebeila said the attackers ordered the driver to continue driving. At the Delmas and Bronkhorspruit intersection, the driver was ordered to stop and the thugs got off.

“Eventually when they left, I had hidden a phone in my bra so I phoned the Intercape bus company number to tell them,” Maguire said. “The woman phoned the police for us who arrived soon afterwards. They escorted us on the wrong side of the highway back to the nearest police station.”

The passengers were asked to make to police statements.

Intercape Media confirmed the incident. The statement said that a case was opened at the Delmas Police Station ,and Intercape would give its full support to the investigating officers.

Intercape confirmed that no one was hurt in the incident. “We can also confirm that we do not have insurance for such terrorist attacks.”

According to Tebeila, at the time of going to press, the suspects’ whereabouts were unknown.

A Harare magistrate yesterday ordered the State to give Nyanga South Member of Parliament and former Information Communication Technology and Cyber Security Minister Supa Mandiwanzira some of the documents he asked for in his application for the release of further particulars in order for him to thoroughly prepare for his trial.

Magistrate Mr Francis Mapfumo ordered the State to provide the employment contract for Mandiwanzira’s personal assistant Tawanda Chinembiri, to confirm whether or not he was a Government employee when he was appointed a ministry representative on the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe board.

The State had only provided confirmation of termination of his contract by the Public Service Commission in September this year.

Mr Mapfumo also told the State to provide a copy of the correspondence between NetOne and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe relating to exchange control approval for the payment to Megawatt Energy (Pvt) Limited and a copy of minutes held in February 2016.

Mr Mapfumo however dismissed Mandiwanzira’s request for other particulars like a copy of Government procurement procedures and copies of comparative quotations from Detecon of Germany and Sofrecom of France which he said were not necessary in the trial.

His trial is now scheduled to commence on January 21, 2019.

Mandiwanzira is accused of criminal abuse of office after he allegedly engaged South African firm, Megawatt Company to provide services to NetOne without going to tender.

He is also accused of appointing his personal assistant, Tawanda Chinembiri to the Postal Telecommunications and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) board.

State Media

A Harare lawyer, Fred Machokoto of Machokoto and Partners Legal Practitioners, was yesterday jailed 60 months for embezzling $57 000 in trust funds.

Machokoto was jointly charged with another lawyer, Mr Pardon Nhokwara who was also a signatory to the trust fund and his firm Machokoto and Partners was cited as the first accused.

However, Nhokwara and the firm were both acquitted of all charges after their evidence proved that they were not working in cahoots with Machokoto.

Machoko will however, serve 24 months after Harare magistrate Ms Victoria Mashamba suspended 12 months on condition of good behaviour and another 24 months if he repays the $57 000 on or before March 30, 2019.

The two had been out on $200 bail.

Prosecuting, Mrs Idah Mateke-Maromo told the court that in 2013 four farmers, Patience Tsvakwi, Killiot Mukanya, Robert Makwanya, Tawanda Mungwari and Simbarashe Murerwa got offer letters from the Ministry of Lands for various pieces of land on Lot 3A Triangle Ranch in Chiredzi, which was formerly owned by Triangle Limited.

The farmers, who are the complainants, planted and harvested their sugar cane and delivered it to Triangle Limited for sale. Triangle Limited refused to give them their money and they approached the High Court for recourse through their lawyers Machokoto and Partners.

In their application, they sought the eviction of Triangle Limited from the plots. They also wanted the court to intervene so that they could get their payments for the sugar cane they had delivered.

The farmers won their case but before they could execute the court order, Triangle agreed to pay them a total of $57 000, the court heard.

The company then transferred the money through their lawyers Scanlen and Holderness into Machokoto and Partners trust account.

Despite the money having been transferred, Machokoto and Partners went on to instruct the Sherriff to attach property belonging to Triangle Limited on the basis that the funds had not reflected in their account.

On April 5 last year, Machokoto went to Triangle Limited in the company of the Sheriff where he demanded payment of $68 098-89.

To avoid having their property attached, Triangle Limited, transferred the $68 098,89 into Machokoto and Partners trust account.

Since Triangle had made another payment, Machokoto was supposed to refund the $57 000 to Scanlen and Holderness.

Instead, Machokoto, who was a signatory to the trust account, converted the money to his personal use.

This prompted Scanlen and Holderness to sue the farmers in a bid to recover their money and a default judgment was granted in favour of the law firm.

A report was then made to the police, leading to Machokoto’s arrest.

State Media

By Own Correspondent| Eastern and central Zimbabwe experienced an earth tremor.

The tremor measuring 5.5 on the Richter’s scale had its epicenter 60km South-East of Chipinge.

The Meteorological Services Department is yet to release an official statement regarding the tremors which occured around 7:43 am.

This is a developing story. More details to follow .

Refresh this page for updates.

POLICE in Bulawayo have arrested a man from Tshabalala suburb who has been on the run for more than two months after he allegedly killed his girlfriend in cold blood following an infidelity dispute.

Xolisani Sibindi, 30, allegedly stabbed Sehlulekile Mlalazi, 23, from Magwegwe suburb who died at Mpilo Central Hospital a day after the attack.

Sibindi allegedly vanished after committing the crime on October 3 and has been on the run for more than two months.

The incident is said to have occurred when the couple was drinking beer at the Joshua Nkomo Family owned bar near Renkini Bus Terminus in Bulawayo.

The suspect yesterday led police details to the sports bar where he allegedly committed the crime during indications.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Chief Inspector Precious Simango confirmed Sibindi’s arrest.

She said police fished him from his hideout at Gweru’s Antelope Park.

“We’ve arrested a 30-year-old male suspect in connection with a murder case which occurred at a sports bar near Renkini Bus Terminus.

“The suspect is alleged to have stabbed his 23- year- old girlfriend after he accused her of cheating on him,” she said.

“The crime was committed in October and the suspect was on the run until his arrest recently.”

Sibindi is alleged to have stabbed Mlalazi with a sharp object.

“This was a crime of passion that we believe could have been resolved amicably without any loss of life.

“We continue to appeal to members of the public to seek peaceful recourse and never allow emotions to cloud their judgement,” said Chief Insp Simango.

State Media

The Members of Parliament are entitled to one car for five years.

Ministers are entitled to two cars plus those of the subsidiary that they have. They have allowances. They have everything that they want.

This is one pillar of the state which is the executive. We have got the judiciary as well, the judges, magistrates.

The issue is that we are trying to understand the relevance of Parliament but you cannot talk about the relevance of Parliament without talking about the three pillars of the state and then say, what role does Parliament pay?

The Executive has got a role that they play but we are supposed to be equal. This is the point.

But if we look at it, we are not equal in any way because others are capacitated more than the others, yet this Parliament here is the one that is responsible for oversight over everyone but it is paid less.

How then do we expect this country to move forward when we have those who are supposed to be exercising oversight are less capacitated?

Because of that, the relevance of Vote 2 being there is that Parliament having the role of oversight must be able to do it in a manner where they are not compromised. Members of Parliament here are looked down upon because of the welfare issue more than anybody else.

We are all Members of Parliament with the Ministers who are also appointed by the President but the moment that they are appointed to the Executive, we are different because of what they have.

Members of Parliament spend more time in the Ministers’ offices begging for coupons because Ministers have a full book of coupons per month/week.

If you look at it, how then do you expect Members of Parliament to also exercise their role? So, you have a situation where you will have one of the cousins who is poor and as a result, they also get allowances on the cars that they have.

If I am not mistaken, I think they get cars every two years and they buy those cars at book value. A Range Rover costing $120 000, they get it for around $6 000 book value.

If you want to see the difference, go to any Minister’s house today and see how many cars are parked there. This is out of order yet in terms of performance as Ministers, they have failed to move this country forward.

So, it is only important that we are all equal and being equal is also about the resource which is given to us.

The Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development is very much aware that the budget that he is going to allocate to the Members of Parliament have oversight over it and for them to be effectively capacitated, we talk about the researchers and the Clerks in Parliament.

We have a situation where one Clerk serves three Committees and one researcher serves three Committees. So, how then do you expect us to be able to be discharging our duties in a professional manner when we are handicapped in terms of research and human capital?

That is glaring and we do not have the time because we are not full time and we do not have the time to be doing research. The research for us is done by the Parliament staff which is critical in ensuring that this Parliament is mandated to do its job accordingly.

I want to talk about the aspect of the community information centres and the constituencies as well.

There is no way that you expect a constituency to function without being resourced and it is that one car again that goes around.

The cars that we get are not too hard for the terrain. We are talking about a land cruiser which is the only car which is able to make sure that these Members here are able to do a job because the Toyotas that you give us are not able to do the job.

You need a 4X4 Land Cruiser, V8 with chrome – those new ones. Those are the ones that we want.

Members of Parliament who are seated here, the only thing that they own is a car and if they are not given a car which has value and which gets them to do the job, they will not be able to do their jobs.

We can no longer have a situation where when a Member of Parliament ceases to be a Member of Parliament, he or she is a destitute. It is sad.

This is the only Parliament in the world where you regret not being a Member of Parliament. If you want to see how poor they are out there, the pension is not good enough, the allowances are not good enough yet they would have served this country.

This is the time this year this budget must address the welfare of the Members of Parliament.

As Members of Parliament, we have been labeled in a bad way because of our welfare.

People look at our welfare and already they judge us and say Members of Parliament are not able to do A, B, C, D because of our welfare and that perception can only go away if this issue is addressed.

I want to talk about the role of the Members of Parliament on the ICT. Today we are in the ICT world – iPads are not here, they do not have the computers yet we are expected to follow.

You can see even at times Parliament does not even give us this Order Paper on time but, if we all have iPads, we are able to take notes. This is the world that we are faced with at the end of the day and it is important that Parliament is capacitated in that way.

I want to also talk about the sitting allowances. They mean absolutely nothing.

The Committee that I chair can sit from 8 to 8 in the evening working for this country but what they get is a pittance $75, not US dollar.

Bond cash is better than RTGS and these are people who are working tirelessly for this country in those Committees.

Those Committees have a risk on their own because you are exposing people who have money and who have the ability to even put a mafia together for you but what do we get – $75.

That has to be reviewed because you want Members of Parliament to be able to execute their duties in a professional manner and that can only happen when they are sitting there and they are able to be given an allowance which is conducive.

We meet on Mondays where the kitchen is closed and they are hungry – they do not eat.

You expect people to work yet they do not even get lunch when they are here and this budget must address the welfare of the players from even eating well.

We are talking about wanting to be a world class Parliament but we only have a one course meal and the dessert is an apple/banana yet when we go out to other areas we get trifle, a nice fruit salad, custard, ice cream and all that.

But, look at what we get here – a mere banana and apple. There is no soup. The diet of Members of Parliament is important. Nutrition is important because when Members do not eat well, they do not function well.

So, it is important that the nutrition of the Members of Parliament is maintained in order that they are able to discharge their duties.

Mr. Chairman, the Hon. Minister must understand that there is a programme called wellness. Wellness is the wellbeing of the Members of Parliament.

They do not even have a gym where they can go to. They do not even have a sports club where they can go to and recreation is important for the mind.

They are stressed in here. We have Members of Parliament dying because of blood pressure and stress that you know. So, how many more are going to die before we rescue the situation.

We must have a recreation club where we play golf or choose any sport that we want to partake in. We must be able to have world class gyms where we are able to train because when you are strong physically, mentally, it equally helps you.

So, this is the world class Parliament that we are talking about.

I want to talk about the issue of fuel coupons given to Members. Already, Parliament has actually cut down what Members are supposed to get. What we used to get in the Eighth Parliament is not what we get now. So, now you are saying to yourself, even the coupons that we got in the Eighth Parliament were not enough.

Members of Parliament are people with integrity and dignity. Trust them and give them a whole book and let them have a book and not be scrounging around for coupons.

We queue up like little children for coupons which are not even enough.

So, when are we going to have integrity and dignity left for the Members of Parliament?

Members of Parliament, because their welfare is not enough end up selling fuel coupons. We are known for selling fuel coupons.

Whenever it is a Thursday, all the service stations know that Members of Parliament are coming to sell fuel coupons because of the welfare that we have. It is a situation which is unattainable and a situation which cannot be allowed to happen. The role of Parliamentarians cannot be underestimated.

I talk about the allowances that we get when we leave this country. The allowances that we get are US$50 per day leaving Zimbabwe. It is not enough.

The foreign currency that we get is not enough at all and it has to be looked into and the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development must be able to also increase that allowance we get when we leave the country.

Parliament must be able to give us a credit card which you use and you account for it because when I do not have my money, it is parliamentary work that I am doing.

There must be a credit card which is given to Members of Parliament when they travel and what they must do is to account for it when they come back, not a situation where the money that we get is not enough even for you want to buy meals when you leave the country. It does not represent the country well.

Lastly Mr. Chairman, Members of Parliament cannot be divided. They are all entitled to diplomatic passports and it is important that that money also goes towards Members of Parliament being given diplomatic passports. We cannot be divided.

If I have a diplomatic passport and when I am travelling with my team, they do not have a diplomatic passport, they use the other route.

How can we be divided over a mere issue that just needs capital injection? So, may I propose again that the Hon. Minister of Finance and Economic Development ensures that Members of Parliament are all issued with diplomatic passports so that we are the same and no different. Thank you.

The Zimbabwe Embassy in Pretoria on Friday sent a high-level delegation to the memorial service of Zimbabwean media personality, publicist and veteran broadcaster, Milicent Chanetsa, who passed away in a Pretoria hospital this week after a short illness.

Chanetsa was based in Pretoria and her memorial was held at the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church, headed by charismatic preacher Shepherd Bushiri.

“On behalf of the embassy [of Zimbabwe], on behalf of the ambassador [David Hamadziripi] and my colleagues at the embassy, I want to extend our deepest condolences to Milicent’s family – to the Chanetsa family – on the loss of their daughter.

“She was a close friend of the embassy. She was a good journalist, as you know, and she covered the embassy’s events,” said deputy Zimbabwean ambassador, Mietani Chauke.

Chauke was accompanied by Zimbabwe’s consul general, Henry Batiraishe Mukonoweshuro, and embassy official Anos Machinjike.

Amongst other stations, Chanetsa filed news reports for Star FM radio in Zimbabwe – the country’s first licensed commercial radio station which ended a 32-year monopoly by the state-controlled broadcaster.

Chanetsa’s brother, Ronald, described his sister as an inspiration to the family, who had become a role model through her work in the media industry.

“We are humbled as a family by the massive condolences and the messages of support we are receiving since the news of Mili’s passing broke.

“The world has really stood with us in comforting us, especially our mother. Let us not grieve like those who do not have hope,” he told the gathering.

Several Gauteng-based journalists also attended the event. Most speakers told of Chanetsa’s love of high heels

Born in Chitungwiza, near Harare, Chanetsa is survived by parents Lilian and Andrick. Her body was on Friday scheduled to be transported to Zimbabwe.

— African News Agency (ANA)

Jane Mlambo| Veteran Trade unionist and Secretary General of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has floored MDC President, Nelson Chamisa saying he will not waste time engaging the opposition leader as he will not address their issues.

Majongwe was responding to a Twitter user who questioned his decision to engage President Emmerson Mnangagwa over teachers grievances.

The outspoken unionist said Chamisa was a nobody as far as labor issues were concerned hence no need to engage him.

On Friday, Majongwe and his PTUZ delegation met with President Emmerson Mnangagwa following their request to meet and highlight challenges teachers were facing in their line of work.

If we don’t engage these people and we decide tho engage Chamisa will he address our challenges and concerns? How? As who? These are Labour issues the gvt of the day should address them

— Raymond Majongwe (@RMajongwe) December 22, 2018

Jane Mlambo| Veteran Trade unionist and Secretary General of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has floored MDC President, Nelson Chamisa saying he will not waste time engaging the opposition leader as he will not address their issues.

Majongwe was responding to a Twitter user who questioned his decision to engage President Emmerson Mnangagwa over teachers grievances.

The outspoken unionist said Chamisa was a nobody as far as labor issues were concerned hence no need to engage him.

On Friday, Majongwe and his PTUZ delegation met with President Emmerson Mnangagwa following their request to meet and highlight challenges teachers were facing in their line of work.

If we don’t engage these people and we decide tho engage Chamisa will he address our challenges and concerns? How? As who? These are Labour issues the gvt of the day should address them

— Raymond Majongwe (@RMajongwe) December 22, 2018

THE High Court has declared unconstitutional the refusal by Ihlathi High School in Bulawayo to release results of an Ordinary Level candidate over outstanding fees and referred the matter to the Constitutional Court (ConCourt).

The pupil, Prudence Moyo from Ihlathi High School through her lawyer Mr Bruce Masamvu of Dube-Tachiona and Tsvangirai Legal Practitioners asked the court to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court for a constitutional declaration.

The school has since February 2016 been refusing to release the results demanding to be paid the outstanding fees.

In papers filed at the Bulawayo High Court, the headmaster of Ihlathi High school and the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Professor Paul Mavima were cited as respondents.

Justice Nicholas Mathonsi ruled that the conduct of the respondents was inconsistent with the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

“The conduct of the respondents to withhold applicant’s Ordinary Level results on the basis of non-payment of school fees is inconsistent with the Constitution of Zimbabwe and is invalid to the extent of its inconsistency,” ruled the judge.

He said the actions of the respondents were unlawful and an infringement on the applicant’s right to education in terms of section 75 (1) (a) as read with section 81(1) (f) of the constitution.

“The matter is hereby referred to the ConCourt in terms of section 175 (1) and (5) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe,” ruled Justice Mathonsi.
Prudence did Form One to Four at Ihlathi High School in Tshabalala.

“Having completed her Ordinary Level examination, the results were released by the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council to the school in 2016,” said Mr Masamvu.

At the time the Ordinary Level results were released, Prudence owed Ihlathi High School $412.

Mr Masamvu said the applicant’s basis for the application was for the court to make a declaratory order.

“From the date results were released the respondents have refused to release the said Ordinary Level results to the applicant until payment of full school fees arrears. I seek an order that the refusal by the respondents to release the applicant’s Ordinary Level results on the basis of failing to pay school fees is unconstitutional as it violates the constitutional right to education and rights of children,” he argued.

“Furthermore, the respondents’ actions are also unlawful as they are not provided for by any law. There are lawful ways upon which the respondents can recover their unpaid fees”.

Mr Masamvu said the respondents’ conduct has infringed on the pupil’s fundamental right to education as she has failed to progress with her education without the O-Level results.

“The Constitution of Zimbabwe guarantees a right to basic adult education which is State funded and as such the respondents have no right to infringe on the minor child’s rights on the basis of failing to pay school fees. The conduct of the respondents further does not in any way advance the best interest of the minor child,” he said.

Mr Masamvu said the conduct of the respondents was an abuse and deprivation of the applicant’s education.

“I submit that the provisions of Section 6 and Section 21 of the Education Act (25:04) which provide for payment of school fees do not give the powers to withhold examination results where school fees are not paid,” he said.

In 2011, the Bulawayo High Court ruled that it is parents who undertake to pay all fees for their children when they bring them to school and failure to do so should result in legal proceedings being instituted against them.

The court ruled that school fees payment obligation was a contract entered into between a parent or guardian and the school concerned and not the pupil. It said the said contract can either be express or implied.

The court also made it clear that it was improper to use pupils as pawns to enforce payment by either turning them away or withholding examination results.

-State Media

GOVERNMENT has given schools the greenlight to increase 2019 tuition fees and levies, but only after seeking approval from the Primary and Secondary Education ministry.

In a circular to principal directors, head of office directors, provincial education directors, primary and secondary school heads, teacher associations and trust schools, Primary and Secondary Education ministry secretary Tumisang Thabela yesterday told schools to submit applications if they want to increase fees.

“Statutory Instrument (SI) 1597A of 2007 gives the official requirements for the approval of fees. It recognised that the level of fees and levies charged reflect the economic environment and in the case of some schools, significant revenue is required following the withdrawal of the Government Teachers Grant to schools that previously received them,” the circular read.

“In light of the above, schools that wish to increase fees and levies need to submit their applications to the Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education and approval has to be received by the schools before any increases are effected.”

Thabela added: “In order for the secretary to appreciate the basis upon which the levies are calculated, schools need to submit together with the application, the following: current audited accounts, minutes of a properly constituted meeting of no less than 20% of the school parents assembly, proposed budget.”

Primary and Secondary Education minister Paul Mavima yesterday said schools that had increased tuition fees should revoke them and submit fresh applications.

“Those who had already increased their fees for next year… this will be revoked as they have to follow the procedure of applying for the increment,” Mavima told Southern Eye.

The prices of uniforms, textbooks and other school stationery have gone up, with some now priced in hard currency.

Zimbabweans are grappling with basic goods and services price hikes owing to exchange rate disparities between the bond note and the United States dollar on the black market.

Government insists that the surrogate bond note and the greenback trade at the rate of 1:1.

-Newsday

Correspondent|THE family of the late MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has announced plans to hold his memorial service February 14 next year which would mark an exact full year since his death, the family has informed President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration.

Family spokesperson Manase Tsvangirai said at the former Prime Minister’s residence in Harare’s Strathaven suburb that they have since begun preparations for his memorial.

“The family has decided to hold a pressor because there has been a lot of guess work and posting on social media regarding the late Tsvangirai’s memorial service,” said the younger brother to the once popular opposition politician.

Manase Tsvangirai said the family will announce concrete plans for the ceremony once everything was in place.

“Veteran opposition leader Ian Makone has been selected to be the chairperson of the organising committee of the function,” he said, adding that they have also informed the government, MDC and other stakeholders about the event.

The founding MDC leader was buried at his Buhera rural home where the memorial service is going to be held.

Tsvangirai succumbed to a long battle with colon cancer at a South African hospital where he had been receiving treatment since he came out publicly about his ailment 2016.

He was later given a state assisted funeral in an unprecedented government overture towards a Zanu PF rival.

His shock death aged 65 plunged his party into disarray with the main opposition immediately splitting following fierce differences on who should be successor.

FOLLOWING the publication of a story in the state media yesterday titled “AIPPA, POSA on deathbed”, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has clarified as follows:

Further to an article which appeared yesterday in The Herald, the words “repeal” and “toxic” are misplaced because they both imply pre-determination of the outcome of the statutory process.

For the record, AIPPA was put to address the obtaining historical circumstances which were existing, when there were concerted efforts to bring about illegal regime change.

The Operation Restore Legacy and subsequent opening up in the 2nd Republic has created a totally different set of circumstances.

Prior to the opening up, there is also the 2013 Constitution which created another new set of circumstances, thus it is in this vein that we are amending AIPPA so that it aligns itself to both, the Constitution and the 2nd Republic reforms.

The Executive and Legislature will comb through AIPPA and remove that which is not in concert with the 2nd Republic reforms. This may entail the repealing or amendment of AIPPA, that is why the Government will reinforce the good and remove the bad.

Let it be noted that the All Stakeholders Conference which the Ministry held was strictly a consultative affair.

This open and wide exchange of views is in no way to be misconstrued as a substitute for the due processes of both the Executive and the Legislature.

After all, both bodies are complete and unfettered masters of their agendas and processes as provided by the Constitution as the supreme law of the land.

Correspondents|A horrific accident involving several vehicles has happened this morning on the notorious stretch between Kwekwe and Gweru.

According to witnesses, it is suspected the truck breaks failed and crashed into four stationary vehicles at a police roadblock.

More details to follow…

TEACHERS’ representatives under the labour body Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) yesterday met with President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House to discuss their grievances.

The PTUZ delegation was led by its president Dr Takavafira Zhou and requests, among other issues, that teachers’ salaries be paid in US dollars and that teachers’ children be exempt from paying tuition fees.

PTUZ secretary general Mr Raymond Majongwe, said they had an obligation to present their grievances to President Mnangagwa, who is the Head of State and Government and “not any other imaginary power or president”.

He described the meeting as a huge success.

Mr Majongwe said President Mnangagwa pledged to look into issues they raised before making a formal response.

“We were able to articulate the challenges that the teachers are facing,” said Mr Majongwe.

He said it would be difficult for teachers to return to work if not paid in US dollars.

“We ran through a coterie of serious challenges that we are facing, from salary issues. Our demands are clear that because of the purchasing power parity theory, it is going to be very difficult for teachers to return to work if we are not going to be paid in US dollars because the prices out there in the shops are just beyond the reach of many.

“We were also able to raise issues relating to our day-to-day demands about the allowances that we are earning, issues around infrastructure, challenges of teachers with disability, issues around housing for teachers and many other proposals that we were able to give to the President,” he added.

He described the meeting as rare.

“The most important aspect being that this was a rare opportunity; the first of its kind,” said Mr Majongwe.

He said they articulated challenges facing teachers and are looking forward to the President’s response. “I will be naïve to think that the President is going to stand and say ‘I will give you back your bonuses.You are going to be paid in US dollars’. The most important thing is we articulated and unequivocally put a clear position from the PTUZ and its membership that these are the challenges that we are facing and we honestly expect the President to respond. In his own words, he said he had understood and he is going to meet his ministers and deliberate on those and respond to us formally,” said Mr Majongwe.

Mr Zhou said they also proposed solutions to some of the challenges faced by teachers.

“For example, we have teachers who are teaching up 120 pupils. We told him that there is an excess of teachers that are not employed,” he said.

“They have suspended the recruitment of new teachers and even those excess teachers after recruiting, we can still engage on a Government-to-Government (basis) with neighbouring countries and those teachers can get employed. We have also highlighted that teachers are incapacitated. The basic salary of a teacher is $284 and from that $284, a mere uniform for a Form 1 pupil is ranging between $850 and $2 000,” said Mr Zhou.

“We also proffered solutions like a teacher may be allowed that three of his or her children must not pay tuition fees and (school) levy so that you can lessen the burden and other things like boarding fees,” he said.

“Those who work for the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority do not pay for electricity and those who work for Zimbabwe National Water Authority do not pay for water but there is no direct benefit for teachers,” he said.

THE court has issued a warrant of arrest for Zanu PF Makoni North legislator, James Munetsi, after he failed to appear in court for trial in a case where he is accused of duping several people in a land scam.

Munetsi (50) was expected to appear before magistrate Yeukai Chigodora on trial, but failed to turn up in court.

The complainant in this matter is Opper Williams, a pastor at Faith of God Ministries and 178 others.

Allegations are that sometime in 2012, Williams was introduced to Munetsi who was a Zanu PF councillor for Mayo ward 35 in Makoni. Williams was told Munetsi was able to assist her and other pastors of her church to secure land for farming in the Mayo area. It is alleged after some months, Munetsi hatched a plan to defraud the unsuspecting land seekers and invited Williams to Mayo area to have a look at the land waiting to be allocated. The complainant was allegedly shown the application forms of the land which had monetary requirements of $105.

The State alleges the complainant was convinced and she paid $105 for five hectares of land. Other pastors who had accompanied her allegedly also paid their money to Munetsi to be allocated five hectares each. Sometime in 2013, Williams phoned Munetsi requesting for lease papers of their purchased land but Munetsi allegedly told her that he had been given another bigger place at Wenslydale Farm. Munetsi allegedly told Williams to look for buyers interested in bigger plots measuring 15 hectares at $200. As a result, Williams invited a number of people. It is alleged Williams went and advised her church members, friends and relatives some as far as from Australia, United Kingdom, Afghanistan, South Africa and Botswana. It was allegedly agreed between Munetsi and Williams that the complainant would receive the payments on behalf of the Zanu PF MP.

The State alleges at one point, Munetsi came to Harare and went to Faith of God Ministries church where he addressed the congregants about the land. He made the complainants fill forms, including purported offer letters from Rusape Rural District Council.

He promised to bring them back after they have been stamped by council and their receipts as proof of payment.

It is alleged as time progressed, land seekers became impatient and approached Williams who in turn looked for Munetsi who now became evasive.

The State alleges Munetsi was then arrested in February 2015 and he allegedly admitted to defrauding the land seekers of $60 000 and nothing was recovered.

Devoted Nyagano-Gwashavanhu appeared for the State.

-Newsday

Exiled former cabinet minister Professor Jonathan Moyo has attacked the Motlanthe report on the August 1 killings, describing it as “the worst published Report by a Commission of Inquiry since 1980.” The 21-tweet thread from his @ProfJNMoyo account reproduced verbatim below:_

1/21 It’s notable that the Motlanthe Commission Report does not extricate the Commision from the antecedent toxicity, arising from its flawed composition & terms of reference, that exposed it upfront as a compromised ZanuPF PR scheme. In fact, the Report confirms these flaws!

2/21 The fact that the Commission did nothing to liberate itself from its founding prejudices, especially with regards to its flawed composition & terms of reference, means its Report cannot be expected to meet legitimate public expectations. Something never comes from nothing!

3/21 There’s something instructive from the old-age Shona adage that “rine manyanga hariputirwi”. This is particularly true where atrocities are involved. It is impossible to use a Commission or anything else for that matter, to hide or escape from gross crimes against humanity!

4/21 The smoke and mirrors in Motlanthe Commission’s Report cannot obfuscate the fact that everyone knows why the Commission was setup in the first place. On 1 Aug civilians were gunned down by soldiers & some were killed in cold blood & others brutally injured in broad daylight!

5/21 What happened was self-evident to the naked eye. What was not obvious & needed to be established for purposes of accountability was the identity, names, of the soldiers on rampage & crucially, the authority that deployed them with lethal ammunition in a civilian situation!

6/21 Mnangagwa publicly told the nation & the world that he did not know who deployed the soldiers; meaning that it was not him. That he did not know was the only reason why Zimbabweans & the international community demanded an independent international commission to investigate!

7/21 Notwithstanding the antics by Motlanthe’s Commission to dance naked in the dark with smoke & mirrors; and not withstanding its convulted terms of reference, only two key questions needed factual answers: (a) who are the soldiers that killed civilians & (b) who deployed them?

8/21 WHO DEPLOYED THE SOLDIERS? The Commission had no stomach to bluntly say it was MNANGAGWA. It confirms the fact by claiming the deployment “was lawful”, a matter of law for a court, and by attaching on page100 Obert Mpofu’s & Chiwenga’s letters which say it was Mnangagwa!

9/21 The finding that Mnangagwa deployed the soldiers is significant in two respects:

(a) Clearly Mnangagwa lied in August that he did not know who had deployed the soldiers. This is egregious.

(b) Responsibility & accountability for what the soldiers did is with Mnangagwa!

10/21 WHO KILLED & INJURED CIVILIANS?

“The Commission’s finding on a balance of probabilities from all the evidence is that the deaths of six (6) people and the injuries sustained by thirty five (35) others arose from the actions of the Military and Police”.
P. 48 of Report!

11/21 Regarding the causes of death & injury of civilians on 1 Aug, the Report says on p. 40:

“The Commission has NOT RECEIVED ANY CONCRETE EVIDENCE THAT ANY PERSON other than the Army and Police used guns during the protests on 1 August 2018”.

This puts paid to Vanguard crap!

12/21 Whereas the Report clearly says the six civilians who died were killed by the Army or Police & the 35 civilians were injured by the Army, the Commission fails to name the soldiers & police officers who committed specific atrocities. This renders the Report a big cover up!

13/21 The Commission’s failure to name the culpable soldiers & police officers is a dereliction of duty against its mandate. Even worse is its recommendation that the Police should investigate the 1 August crimes & the Army should identify & sanction its culpable soldiers. Plz!

14/21 The Report says the Army or Police killed the six dead & the Army injured the 35 injured, & that no one else but the Army & Police used guns; & that Mnangagwa deployed the soldiers yet the Commission assigns no accountability to him, his VP, ministers, Army & Police bosses!

15/21 The Commission’s position that only soldiers & police officers should be held accountable after further investigations & that no political & legal accountability should attach to Mnangagwa, his VP, ministers, Army & Police bosses is contrary to domestic & international law!

16/21 The Commission belabours the point that it was a fact finding process, and not a court of law. Yet its Report makes findings of law, notably that the military deployment was lawful. The Commission had no basis or competence whatsoever to draw such a scandalous conclusion!

17/21 The Commission alleges that the 1 Aug demonstratios, which it acknowledges kicked off peacefully, “had been incited, pre-planned and well organized by the MDC-Alliance”. But the Report does not have any evidence that shows or proves any PRE-PLANNING by the MDC-Alliance!

18/21 “Pre-planning” means “organising in advance”. It is revealing that the only pre-planning about 1 Aug that is proved in the Report was done by the Army & the Police on 29 July BEFORE even voting started on 30 July. The Report’s Appendix 7 has police letters that prove this!

19/21 Nothing in the Report explains why the Police & Army were planning about 1 August protests on 29 July. All of their 1 August letters refer to 29 July. Is this not the smoking gun that points to who planned & orchestrated the 1 August protests? Why was this not investigated?

20/21 The Army & Policy pre-planning on 29 July is damaging given the Report’s finding that the Army deployment “COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF THE POLICE WERE ADEQUATELY EXPERIENCED, better equipped & more suitably organized”. This is damming. Why blame the MDC-Alliance for this!

21/21 The Report of the Motlanthe Commission is poorly written, badly reasoned & self-contradictory. It’s the worst published Report by a Commission of Inquiry since 1980. Its saving grace is that it puts paid to the lie that Mnangagwa did not know who deployed the Army on 1 Aug.

By Admire Machiwenyika| The outspoken FreeZim Congress President, Joseph Makamba Busha has castigated President Emmerson Mnangangwa over the level of corruption in government and the interference with the judicial system.

The losing presidential candidate in the controversial July 30 elections challenges Mnangagwa to deliver on his promises to shun out corrupt ministers and brought them to justice.

“Even up to now those few ministers who have been taken for questioning have not been charged and we know them. I’m not sure if those are the only people who have committed crime in Zimbabwe,” expressed Busha.

“I also implore the government to stop interfering with the judicial system when these matters are being dealt with in courts,” added Busha.

FreeZim president lashed at the President Mnangagwa for falling short on his promises to the struggling ordinary Zimbabweans.

“There are issues to do with job creation and improvements of lives. The people will always remain hopeful but they need something tangible. One of the things that Zimbabweans were repeatedly told was that the criminals who were causing corruption would be removed, but that was not the case.

Busha went to castigate the new dispensation over other undelivered electoral promises such as cash shortages, fuel crisis and many other issues affecting millions of Zimbabweans.

During the campaigning period, Mnangagwa made a cocktail of promises including creating employment, opening up new industries through foreign direct investment among others.

“The so called new dispensation is facing the same situation we faced in 2008 were people were queuing for money in the banks, people were queuing for fuel on petrol stations. If you were not around in 2008 and you went away only to come in 2018, certainly there would be no difference because the environment and circumstances remain the same,” said Busha

“We talk about a new dispensation when there is no change. A new dispensation is about new leadership not change of positions. So our view is that there is no change because Zimbabweans are still battling to get cash to be able to do their activities,” said Busha.

Busha was among the presidential hopefuls that stood for this year’s elections which were subsequently won by the Zanu PF leader Emmerson Mnanganwa only after a Concourt ruling against Chamisa who had challenged the result.