Jane Mlambo| Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) Secretary General, Raymond Majongwe has warned that remarks by war veterans on raising Presidential age limit should not be taken lightly as it was coming from Victor Matemadanda, who was instrumental in the removal of former President Robert Mugabe.

Matemadanda who is the war veterans Secretary General yesterday called for a constitutional amendment to raise the Presidential age limit from the current 40 to 52 arguing that the office requires mature people.

The opposition has since reacted angrily to Matemadanda’s proposal which they dismissed as sideshows at a time the economy was burning, but Majongwe was rather cautious saying the person pushing the agenda was not to be trusted due to the power he yields in the former combatants’ body.

https://twitter.com/RMajongwe/status/1070240217934807040

AN Upper Sixth pupil at Sizane High School in Bulwayo drowned in a swimming pool at a hotel in Masvingo during an educational trip on Saturday night.

Samuel Zingozi allegedly sneaked out of his room with his friend to swim leading to the tragedy.

Bulawayo acting Provincial Educational Director Mrs Olicah Kaira confirmed the incident saying her office was investigating the tragedy.

“We have lost one of our pupils, a Form Six pupil from Sizane High School who is said to have drowned at a hotel in Masvingo. The pupil was part of the Zimbabwe Tourism Quiz Competition winning team.

“As part of their winning prize they received a token of an educational tour to Great Zimbabwe, courtesy of one of our sponsors.

“He had gone there with three other pupils and their teacher,” said Mrs Kaira.

“I was therefore disturbed when I received a phone call from one of our teachers informing me about this tragedy. We have since launched a full scale investigation to find out what really transpired.”

The Chronicle news crew visited Samuel’s home and spoke to his father Mr Simon Zingozi who said he was devastated by the death of his son. Mr Zingozi said his son had completed his Advanced Level public examinations.

-State Media

Jane Mlambo| MDC Secretary General, Douglas Mwonzora has castigated war veterans for seeking to change the Presidential age limit from the current 40 to 52 saying Zimbabweans voted overwhelmingly in favour of the current set up when they endorsed the new constitution in 2013.

Posting on Twitter, Mwonzora said the war veterans behavior is meant to distract the nation from the economic current catastrophe that has seen prices of basic commodities going up while the local bond notes continue to lose value to the United States dollar.

The statement by war veterans that they want to agitate for a change in the presidential age limit is designed to distract the nation from the economic catastrophe. Zimbabweans in an overwhelming referendum vote in 2013 set the age limit at 40. Simple!

— Sen Douglas Mwonzora (@DMwonzora) December 5, 2018

An eight year-old Mutawatawa boy died after he was attacked by a green mamba while picking mangoes from a tree at the weekend.

Mashonaland East provincial police spokesperson Inspector Tendai Mwanza yesterday confirmed the incident.

“I confirm the death of a boy in Mutawatawa, who was bitten by a snake in a mango tree on Friday,” he said.

According to police, on November 30, at around 3pm, the boy went to the garden in search of mangoes, but encountered a green mamba that bit him on the left arm.

He was taken to a nearby clinic before he was transferred to Murewa Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

-Newsday

President Emmerson Mnangagwa made an undertaking to make the results of the August 1 inquiry public way before appointing the Mothlante Commission but will follow processes and formalities laid down in the law, his spokesperson Mr George Charamba has said.

Further, Mr Charamba said the Head of State and Government who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces does not require motivation from social media fanatics to do so.

The Commission of Inquiry was appointed by President Mnangagwa in terms of the Commissions of Inquiry Act to investigate the August 1 post-election violence that resulted in the death of six people and destruction of property worth millions of dollars.

Mr Charamba who is also the Deputy Chief Secretary (Presidential Communications) stated the President’s position following a misreading of his intervention by Twimbos on Monday when he explained that at law there was nothing that obligated President Mnangagwa to share the report with members of the public.

Mr Charamba further explained that there was nothing that also stops the President from making the report public if he so decides.

Speaking to our Harare Bureau yesterday, Mr Charamba said President Mnangagwa made the undertaking way before the constitution of the Commission of Inquiry and before the Commissioners were even identified.

“Zimbabweans must cool it and take it easy. There is no need for excitement. Let us avoid the feat of crossing the river when we are still at the summit of a hill,” said Mr Charamba.

“I sit in several meetings involving emissaries of foreign Governments and more particularly involving the President and the UN Secretary General. In all those meetings, the President made an undertaking that both processes and outcomes of the Commission will be an open affair. That was well before Commissioners had even been identified, certainly well before the Commission had been sworn in.

“He does not need any modicum of motivation by Twimbos to do the right thing. It’s a decision which he took a long time ago well before the Commission was constituted. That decision and commitment does not trash processes and formalities of receiving and digesting the findings of the Commission. That was the gist of my intervention all of which was conveyed in simple, comprehensible English.

“The current furore over the issue is doubly needless in that it misreads a simple communication from Government. Secondly, it elides time and processes.”

Mr Charamba said Government picked some critical lessons from the debate raised over the matter.

“But every cloud has a silver lining. There is a lot be bought from this mighty storm in the tea cup,” said Mr Charamba.

“It gave everyone a peep into national mind particularly a pre-disposition to suspect the intentions of the Government no matter how unfounded. The big gain is that from it we have inadvertently built a huge momentum against post-election violence and we should as a people harness that to very good effect for future elections.

“Secondly, it appears there is more sharpened reading of the law. I read someone saying somewhere that the Commissions of Inquiry Act is a colonial relic. Well and good, let’s deal with that so that we update our laws. More critically, I read someone saying Section 62 of our Constitution which give citizens right to information is in fact echoed by Section 5 of AIPPA. What this says then is that at long last and thanks to the Commission of Inquiry furore there is a new reading of Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. What this says then is that at long last and thanks to the Commission of Inquiry furore there is a new reading of AIPPA and I hope the responsible Ministry takes note.”

-State Media

THE High Court has dismissed with costs, a court challenge by MDC-Alliance losing candidate for Kwekwe Central Constituency, Blessing Chebundo, citing lack of evidence among other reasons.

Masango “Blackman” Matambanadzo of National Patriotic Front (NPF) garnered 7 578 votes against Chebundo’s 7 127 to win the election.

Chebundo through his lawyers, Chitere, Chidawanyika and Partners filed an election petition at the Bulawayo High Court citing Matambanadzo as the respondent.

Chebundo accused Matambanadzo of vote buying, abuse of public resources and misrepresenting to the electorate that he was working with the MDC Alliance.

He argued that Matambanadzo dished out cash, rice and other goodies to buy votes and used Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to buy an ambulance that he used for campaigning thereby abusing public facilities.

In his ruling Bulawayo High Court Judge, Justice Thompson James Mabhikwa dismissed the application.

Justice Mabhikwa said Chebundo had no evidence against Matambanadzo.

Blackman — as Matambanadzo is known — was represented by Liberty Mashanyare of Mavhiringidze and Mashanyare Legal Practitioners.“Consequently the election petition is dismissed with costs.

“The court held that it was very difficult to prove a charge of corrupt practices merely on the basis of oral evidence because in election cases it is very easy to get the help of interested witnesses but very difficult to prove charges of corrupt practices,” said Justice Mabhikwa.

He said Chebundo should have applied for an interdict or disqualification of the respondent at the time the vote buying took place.

“I asked the petitioner and his counsel why they did not apply to the court for an interdict or even disqualification of the respondent right at the time rather than wait until voting was over and after they lost the election,” he said.

Justice Mabhikwa said there was no evidence that after receiving the goods, the people went on to vote for the respondent.

On allegations of misrepresentation or impersonation, Justice Mabhikwa said, the court was not going waste time pondering on how well the supporters knew their candidates.

-State Media

More doctors yesterday joined the on-going strike, defying a government message to call off the job action.

The doctors have been on strike since Saturday to protest poor remuneration and the deteriorating health situation in the country.

“Only four out of 91 doctors came for work and I think the rest are waiting for talks between the doctors’ association and the employer over the issue of solving their problems before they report for duty,” Harare Central Hospital CEO Nyasha Masuka said.

Parirenyatwa Hospital and public health institutions in Manicaland and Bulawayo faced similar situations, with Mpilo Central Hospital and United Bulawayo Hospital keeping their out patient departments closed.

The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) yesterdya also distanced itself from utterances made by former member, Patrick Mugoni, who “represented” doctors at a meeting with the Health minister on Monday and appeared on the national televison urging doctors to go back to work.

Mugoni, who was ZHDA secretary-general until a few weeks ago when he was removed from office through a vote of no confidence for being partisan, is said to have met with Health minister, Obadiah Moyo on the pretext that he was representating the association and subsequently announced that doctors should resume duties with immediate effect while their grievances have not been addressed.

ZHDA said Mugoni was a bogus agent and not one of their own.

“The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association wishes to advise members of the medical profession, the media and the public at large of the futile attempts by one Patrick Mugoni, who appeared on ZBC purporting to represent ZHDA. The concerned doctor has been fired from the association for bringing the name of ZHDA into disrepute and violating the constitution of the ZHDA.”

“Dr Patrick Mugoni was suspended from the ZHDA after ‘crying’ while addressing the Zanu PF rally in Gweru. The ZHDA executive urges all stakeholders to ignore his utterances and any communication on the industrial action will be made through the information department,” ZHDA said in a statement.

ZHDA also promised to have Mugoni examined by colleagues in the profession and to give him psychological help and counselling, if needed.

Mugoni is infamous for weeping on national television after the doctors were awarded a pay hike in March. He said at the time he had been overwhelmed by emotions.

Zimbabwe Nurses’ Association (Zina) secretary-general, Enock Dongo, speaking on behalf of the Health Services Board yesterday said health workers were still negotiating with government.

“We are still negotiating with government, doctors are a single union that has downed tools, we appreciate that they have a genuine cause,” Dongo said.

Cabinet yesterday said it did not deliberate on the issue of the doctors’ strike.

“We did not discuss about the doctors’ strike because the Health minister told us that he talked to the them and that they have agreed to go back to work,” acting Information minister Mangaliso Ndlovu said yesterday.

The doctors expressed concern at the Health minister’s conduct.

“We wish to set the record straight that the industrial action that started on the 1st of December 2018 is still ongoing and the healthcare crisis in the country has reached an unprecedented critical level. Instead of addressing what is now perceived as a serious national health crisis, the Minister of Health seems to display an ‘I do not care’ attitude and ‘it is business as usual’ approach.

“We are even greatly disturbed that the minister went on national television in the evening of (Monday) to misinform the whole nation that the ongoing industrial action has been called off. He went on to acknowledge there is a serious shortage of vital medicines in public hospitals but nothing was being done,” ZHDA said.

Other stakeholders also laid into the Health minister for not handling the issue professionally.

“It is shocking that the Health minister Obadiah Moyo dwells on the legality of the job action than solutions as if he is reading from his predecessor’s script. No responsible and accountable minister or government would turn a blind eye to a crisis of this magnitude or wishes it away. We are in this health crisis minister because your predecessor (David Parirenyatwa) used to behave the same way: burying his head in the sand than tackling the issue head-on,” Community Working Group on Health director Itai Rusike said.

“We would like to remind the government that it has a national obligation to see that its citizens have access to quality and affordable health services as guaranteed in section 76 of the country’s Constitution. And that responsibility can only be achieved when health personnel like doctors, physicians and nurses are working normally,” Rusike said.

Meanwhile, Moyo at a Press conference revealed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has unveiled a $25 million drug facility, with about 100 000 tonnes of medicine set to arrive from India.

-Newsday

A Beitbridge woman who killed her 50-year-old husband by kicking him on his privates before finishing him off by stabbing him with a kitchen knife during a fight over money for rent, was yesterday sentenced to 15 years in jail.

Geraldine Nyoni (26) fatally stabbed her husband Majahana Mazibuko on March 4 last year during a fight at their rented home in Dulivhadzimu high density suburb in the border town.

Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Thompson Mabhikwa convicted Nyoni of murder with constructive intent.

In passing the sentence, Justice Mabhikwa condemned Nyoni’s conduct, saying the courts have a duty to protect the sanctity of human life through passing deterrent sentences.

“The loss of the deceased’s life was caused by the accused person and the current trend of murder cases which are on the rise is disturbing. In fact, what is actually more disturbing is that more and more women are now daring by committing serious offences like murder and armed robbery,” he said.

“One would have expected the accused person to scream for help after committing such an offence but you instead chose to rush to the police station to make a fake report of domestic violence.”

Justice Mabhikwa said a life was unnecessary lost in a gruesome manner.

“It is regrettable that a precious life was needlessly lost. It is the duty of the courts to uphold the sanctity of life through passing harsh sentences. Accordingly, the accused person is sentenced to 15 years imprisonment,” ruled the judge.

Chief Public Prosecutor, Mrs Tariro Rosa Takuva said the couple had a long history of domestic disputes relating to money issues.

The court heard that on March 4 last year at about 8PM, the accused person and the deceased were at their place of residence when a misunderstanding ensued over money for rent.

An hour later, the couple received two visitors, Zwelibanzi Phakathi and Saidi Chisa who were related to Mazibuko.

“The two visitors had come to complain to the accused person over her alleged ill-treatment of the deceased. The accused person and the two visitors went on to exchange harsh words over the issue. After about 30 minutes, Phakathi and Chisa went to their car and drove off,” said Mrs Takuva.

Mazibuko remained behind trying to calm down his wife after a dispute had arisen over the issue of money.

The court heard that Nyoni allegedly kicked her husband on the private parts before she picked a kitchen knife and stabbed him.

“A fight ensued between the two resulting in the woman picking a kitchen knife. She stabbed her husband on the right side of the neck and fled from the scene leaving him lying in a pool of blood,” said Mrs Takuva.

Soon after committing the alleged offence, Nyoni went to the police station where she made a report of domestic violence.

Neighbours rushed Mazibuko to Beitbridge District Hospital where he died upon admission.

Nyoni was later arrested by police and the blood- stained knife was recovered from their house.

In mitigation through her lawyer, Mr Tawanda Tavengwa of Mutuso, Taruvinga and Mhiribidi Legal Practitioners, Nyoni pleaded for leniency, saying she was of ill-health and a sole breadwinner taking care of her three minor children.

Nyoni said after the stabbing, she was frightened and out of shock she stormed out of the house and went to the police station to report the matter.

-State Media

Civil servants yesterday threatened to down tools if government failed to reverse its austerity measures, including partial payment of bonus and payment of customs duty in foreign currency.

In a joint Press briefing yesterday, Health Services Apex Council chairperson, Enock Dongo and his civil service counterpart, Cecilia Alexander, said the situation currently obtaining in the country, particularly their conditions of service, demanded that government adjusts some of its policies.

This came at a time the economic situation in the country is worsening, forcing many companies to rationalise and turn to desperate means of survival.

“The Health and Civil Servants Apex Council jointly demand for a revision of some of the 2019 budget proposals by the Minister of Finance,” Alexander said.

“It is our position that any further move to implement the said proposals will certainly cause disharmony between ourselves and the employer and may in the end defeat the government’s well-intentioned objective to stabilise the economy.”

She said they were not consulted on the budget, a violation of Section 65 of the Constitution which guarantees government employees the right to consult and be consulted.

“The decision to pay a bonus based on basic salary is unacceptable to us and amounts to a withdrawal of a benefit, much against the law. The same applies to the 5% cut on the salaries of senior civil servants,” Alexander said.

Civil servants also demanded salaries in foreign currency and an adjustment to the cost of living allowances.

“If workers are going to pay duty in forex, it follows that salaries should be paid in forex. This proposal on forex will have the effect of excluding civil servants from buying vehicles and some foodstuffs. Our salaries are in RTGS (real time gross settlement), customs duty is in US dollar. If we convert our salaries to US dollar on the parallel market we get jailed for 10 years,” Alexander said.

“The budget does not at all mention a cost of living adjustment, which is an urgent matter given the massive erosion of our incomes since the continuous surge in prices of basic goods and service,” Alexander said.

-Newsday

An eight year-old Mutawatawa boy died after he was attacked by a green mamba while picking mangoes from a tree at the weekend.

Mashonaland East provincial police spokesperson Inspector Tendai Mwanza yesterday confirmed the incident.

“I confirm the death of a boy in Mutawatawa, who was bitten by a snake in a mango tree on Friday,” he said.

According to police, on November 30, at around 3pm, the boy went to the garden in search of mangoes, but encountered a green mamba that bit him on the left arm.

He was taken to a nearby clinic before he was transferred to Murewa Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

-Newsday

More doctors yesterday joined the on-going strike, defying a government message to call off the job action.

The doctors have been on strike since Saturday to protest poor remuneration and the deteriorating health situation in the country.

“Only four out of 91 doctors came for work and I think the rest are waiting for talks between the doctors’ association and the employer over the issue of solving their problems before they report for duty,” Harare Central Hospital CEO Nyasha Masuka said.

Parirenyatwa Hospital and public health institutions in Manicaland and Bulawayo faced similar situations, with Mpilo Central Hospital and United Bulawayo Hospital keeping their out patient departments closed.

The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) yesterdya also distanced itself from utterances made by former member, Patrick Mugoni, who “represented” doctors at a meeting with the Health minister on Monday and appeared on the national televison urging doctors to go back to work.

Mugoni, who was ZHDA secretary-general until a few weeks ago when he was removed from office through a vote of no confidence for being partisan, is said to have met with Health minister, Obadiah Moyo on the pretext that he was representating the association and subsequently announced that doctors should resume duties with immediate effect while their grievances have not been addressed.

ZHDA said Mugoni was a bogus agent and not one of their own.

“The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association wishes to advise members of the medical profession, the media and the public at large of the futile attempts by one Patrick Mugoni, who appeared on ZBC purporting to represent ZHDA. The concerned doctor has been fired from the association for bringing the name of ZHDA into disrepute and violating the constitution of the ZHDA.”

“Dr Patrick Mugoni was suspended from the ZHDA after ‘crying’ while addressing the Zanu PF rally in Gweru. The ZHDA executive urges all stakeholders to ignore his utterances and any communication on the industrial action will be made through the information department,” ZHDA said in a statement.

ZHDA also promised to have Mugoni examined by colleagues in the profession and to give him psychological help and counselling, if needed.

Mugoni is infamous for weeping on national television after the doctors were awarded a pay hike in March. He said at the time he had been overwhelmed by emotions.

Zimbabwe Nurses’ Association (Zina) secretary-general, Enock Dongo, speaking on behalf of the Health Services Board yesterday said health workers were still negotiating with government.

“We are still negotiating with government, doctors are a single union that has downed tools, we appreciate that they have a genuine cause,” Dongo said.

Cabinet yesterday said it did not deliberate on the issue of the doctors’ strike.

“We did not discuss about the doctors’ strike because the Health minister told us that he talked to the them and that they have agreed to go back to work,” acting Information minister Mangaliso Ndlovu said yesterday.

The doctors expressed concern at the Health minister’s conduct.

“We wish to set the record straight that the industrial action that started on the 1st of December 2018 is still ongoing and the healthcare crisis in the country has reached an unprecedented critical level. Instead of addressing what is now perceived as a serious national health crisis, the Minister of Health seems to display an ‘I do not care’ attitude and ‘it is business as usual’ approach.

“We are even greatly disturbed that the minister went on national television in the evening of (Monday) to misinform the whole nation that the ongoing industrial action has been called off. He went on to acknowledge there is a serious shortage of vital medicines in public hospitals but nothing was being done,” ZHDA said.

Other stakeholders also laid into the Health minister for not handling the issue professionally.

“It is shocking that the Health minister Obadiah Moyo dwells on the legality of the job action than solutions as if he is reading from his predecessor’s script. No responsible and accountable minister or government would turn a blind eye to a crisis of this magnitude or wishes it away. We are in this health crisis minister because your predecessor (David Parirenyatwa) used to behave the same way: burying his head in the sand than tackling the issue head-on,” Community Working Group on Health director Itai Rusike said.

“We would like to remind the government that it has a national obligation to see that its citizens have access to quality and affordable health services as guaranteed in section 76 of the country’s Constitution. And that responsibility can only be achieved when health personnel like doctors, physicians and nurses are working normally,” Rusike said.

Meanwhile, Moyo at a Press conference revealed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has unveiled a $25 million drug facility, with about 100 000 tonnes of medicine set to arrive from India.

-Newsday

Civil servants yesterday threatened to down tools if government failed to reverse its austerity measures, including partial payment of bonus and payment of customs duty in foreign currency.

In a joint Press briefing yesterday, Health Services Apex Council chairperson, Enock Dongo and his civil service counterpart, Cecilia Alexander, said the situation currently obtaining in the country, particularly their conditions of service, demanded that government adjusts some of its policies.

This came at a time the economic situation in the country is worsening, forcing many companies to rationalise and turn to desperate means of survival.

“The Health and Civil Servants Apex Council jointly demand for a revision of some of the 2019 budget proposals by the Minister of Finance,” Alexander said.

“It is our position that any further move to implement the said proposals will certainly cause disharmony between ourselves and the employer and may in the end defeat the government’s well-intentioned objective to stabilise the economy.”

She said they were not consulted on the budget, a violation of Section 65 of the Constitution which guarantees government employees the right to consult and be consulted.

“The decision to pay a bonus based on basic salary is unacceptable to us and amounts to a withdrawal of a benefit, much against the law. The same applies to the 5% cut on the salaries of senior civil servants,” Alexander said.

Civil servants also demanded salaries in foreign currency and an adjustment to the cost of living allowances.

“If workers are going to pay duty in forex, it follows that salaries should be paid in forex. This proposal on forex will have the effect of excluding civil servants from buying vehicles and some foodstuffs. Our salaries are in RTGS (real time gross settlement), customs duty is in US dollar. If we convert our salaries to US dollar on the parallel market we get jailed for 10 years,” Alexander said.

“The budget does not at all mention a cost of living adjustment, which is an urgent matter given the massive erosion of our incomes since the continuous surge in prices of basic goods and service,” Alexander said.

-Newsday

Press Release|Letter to Honourable Advocate Jacob Mudenda Speaker of the National Assembly

Dear Sir

RE: Increase in Collection of Personal Information in the Absence of Adequate Data Privacy Legislation

RE: INCREASE IN COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION IN THE ABSENCE OF ADEQUATE DATA PRIVACY LEGISLATION

MISA Zimbabwe writes to you to express its concern over the rise in the local use of surveillance technology and equipment in the absence of adequate and clear data privacy legislation.

Equipment such as the traffic cameras installed in parts of Bulawayo collect vast amounts of data that sometimes includes personally identifying information.

The same goes for the undefined facial recognition equipment reportedly acquired from China and the cybersecurity equipment that Japan recently pledged to Zimbabwe.

While MISA Zimbabwe concedes to the fact that the Zimbabwean cyberspace must be protected, it is our respectful submission that such protection of the local cyberspace must be within the confines of and not unjustifiably encroach on the universal human rights principles and the Zimbabwean Constitution.

Section 57 of the Zimbabwean Constitution guarantees the right to privacy. This right to privacy includes protection from excessive and unjustified State surveillance.

MISA Zimbabwe respectfully contends that privacy provisions found in the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) fall short of the privacy principles espoused in the Constitution. There is therefore, need to gazette privacy legislation that will adequately protect citizen data from over-surveillance at the hands of the State.

Another point of concern is the lack of transparency around the acquisition of this cybersecurity equipment and the conditions under which it is sold to Zimbabwe.

For example, Zimbabweans woke up to read that Zimbabwe would send vast amounts of biometric and personal data to CloudWalk Technology, a Chinese based entity that is providing Zimbabwe with facial recognition technology. This is a violation of people’s right to privacy because no one had knowledge of or consented to the cross border transfer of their data.

The lack of transparency and information around these deals is against the spirit of good governance and basic principles governing public administration as enshrined in sections 9(1) and 194 (1) (f) and (h) of the Constitution.

MISA Zimbabwe therefore urges Parliament to exercise its oversight function by examining how the acquisition and use of unspecified surveillance equipment will influence or curb the lawful enjoyment of the fundamental rights to privacy and free expression.

Yours Sincerely

Golden Maunganidze
Chairperson

CC Hon. C. Hwende: Chairperson Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on ICT and Cyber Security

Source: MISA Zimbabwe

Jane Mlambo| Opposition MDC leader, Nelson Chamisa has reacted angrily to calls by war veterans to have the Presidential age limit raised from 40 to 52 saying, it simply means the old want to fix the young.

Posting on Twitter today, Chamisa ridiculed the former combatants for seeking to raise the age bar instead of the democracy bar.

He added that their latest call vindicates his electoral victory in the July 30 harmonised elections.

If ever one doubted our July 30 election victory just listen to the chefs’ outbursts.They rule but can’t lead.The Old want to fix the young. Instead of raising the DEMOCRACY bar ED wants to raise the AGE bar. No true new amends the constitution to take away rights!#nothingchanged

— nelson chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) December 5, 2018

ZANU PF Matabeleland South province has requested national hero status for the late distinguished educationist and former National University of Science and Technology (Nust) vice-chancellor Phineas Makhurane.

The academic died aged 79 on Saturday at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo. He was diabetic.

“All I can say is that we have submitted our recommendation to the politburo for the national hero status and honour on Makhurane,” Zanu PF Matabeleland South provincial chairperson Rabelani Choeni told NewsDay.

“We now await the politburo decision. We are confident that the request will be granted,” he added.

A senior Zanu PF official disclosed that the party was confident the decision-making body would confer the educationist with the national hero status.

“It is a fact that Makhurane made significant contributions to the education sector, to Nust, specifically, as an institution. He was a respected academic and we are confident he will be laid to rest at the national shrine,” he said.

Records show that Makhurane is one of the first Africans to study physics and mathematics at the then University of Rhodesia and Nyasaland now University of Zimbabwe.

Makhurane was also appointed to serve on the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council as board chairperson.

He was the first black Zimbabwean to acquire a PhD in the sciences.

He is survived by his wife, four children — three sons and a daughter — and six grandchildren.

NewsDay

Own Correspondent|THE Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) yesterday distanced itself from utterances made by former member, Dr Patrick Mugoni, who “represented” doctors at a meeting with the Health Minister Obadiah Moyo on Monday and appeared on the national televison urging doctors to go back to work.

ZHDA also promised to have Mugoni examined by colleagues in the profession and to give him psychological help and counselling, if needed.

Striking doctors believe that their colleague Dr. Patrick Mugoni needs psychiatric help.

Dr. Mugoni is infamous for weeping on national television after the doctors were awarded a pay hike in March. He said at the time he had been overwhelmed by emotions.

“Dr Patrick Mugoni was suspended from the ZHDA after ‘crying’ while addressing the Zanu PF rally in Gweru. The ZHDA executive urges all stakeholders to ignore his utterances and any communication on the industrial action will be made through the information department,” ZHDA said in a statement.

“The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association wishes to advise members of the medical profession, the media and the public at large of the futile attempts by one Patrick Mugoni, who appeared on ZBC purporting to represent ZHDA. The concerned doctor has been fired from the association for bringing the name of ZHDA into disrepute and violating the constitution of the ZHDA.”

Dr Mugoni, who was ZHDA secretary-general until a few weeks ago when he was removed from office through a vote of no confidence for being partisan, is said to have met with Health minister, Obadiah Moyo on the pretext that he was representating the association and subsequently announced that doctors should resume duties with immediate effect while their grievances have not been addressed.

ZHDA said Mugoni was a bogus agent and not one of their own.

Meanwhile, the doctors’ strike has spread. The doctors have been on strike since Saturday to protest poor remuneration and the deteriorating health situation in the country.

“Only four out of 91 doctors came for work and I think the rest are waiting for talks between the doctors’ association and the employer over the issue of solving their problems before they report for duty,” Harare Central Hospital CEO Nyasha Masuka said.

Parirenyatwa Hospital and public health institutions in Manicaland and Bulawayo faced similar situations, with Mpilo Central Hospital and United Bulawayo Hospital keeping their out patient departments closed.

Cabinet yesterday said it did not deliberate on the issue of the doctors’ strike.

“We did not discuss about the doctors’ strike because the Health minister told us that he talked to the them and that they have agreed to go back to work,” acting Information minister Mangaliso Ndlovu said yesterday.

The doctors expressed concern at the Health minister’s conduct.

“We wish to set the record straight that the industrial action that started on the 1st of December 2018 is still ongoing and the healthcare crisis in the country has reached an unprecedented critical level. Instead of addressing what is now perceived as a serious national health crisis, the Minister of Health seems to display an ‘I do not care’ attitude and ‘it is business as usual’ approach.

“We are even greatly disturbed that the minister went on national television in the evening of (Monday) to misinform the whole nation that the ongoing industrial action has been called off. He went on to acknowledge there is a serious shortage of vital medicines in public hospitals but nothing was being done,” ZHDA said.

Other stakeholders also laid into the Health minister for not handling the issue professionally.

“It is shocking that the Health minister Obadiah Moyo dwells on the legality of the job action than solutions as if he is reading from his predecessor’s script. No responsible and accountable minister or government would turn a blind eye to a crisis of this magnitude or wishes it away. We are in this health crisis minister because your predecessor (David Parirenyatwa) used to behave the same way: burying his head in the sand than tackling the issue head-on,” Community Working Group on Health director Itai Rusike said.

“We would like to remind the government that it has a national obligation to see that its citizens have access to quality and affordable health services as guaranteed in section 76 of the country’s Constitution. And that responsibility can only be achieved when health personnel like doctors, physicians and nurses are working normally,” Rusike said.

Meanwhile, Moyo at a Press conference revealed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has unveiled a $25 million drug facility, with about 100 000 tonnes of medicine set to arrive from India.

THE High Court has dismissed with costs, a court challenge by MDC-Alliance losing candidate for Kwekwe Central Constituency, Blessing Chebundo, citing lack of evidence among other reasons.

Masango “Blackman” Matambanadzo of National Patriotic Front (NPF) garnered 7 578 votes against Chebundo’s 7 127 to win the election.

Chebundo through his lawyers, Chitere, Chidawanyika and Partners filed an election petition at the Bulawayo High Court citing Matambanadzo as the respondent.

Chebundo accused Matambanadzo of vote buying, abuse of public resources and misrepresenting to the electorate that he was working with the MDC Alliance.

He argued that Matambanadzo dished out cash, rice and other goodies to buy votes and used Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to buy an ambulance that he used for campaigning thereby abusing public facilities.

In his ruling Bulawayo High Court Judge, Justice Thompson James Mabhikwa dismissed the application.

Justice Mabhikwa said Chebundo had no evidence against Matambanadzo.

Blackman — as Matambanadzo is known — was represented by Liberty Mashanyare of Mavhiringidze and Mashanyare Legal Practitioners.“Consequently the election petition is dismissed with costs.

“The court held that it was very difficult to prove a charge of corrupt practices merely on the basis of oral evidence because in election cases it is very easy to get the help of interested witnesses but very difficult to prove charges of corrupt practices,” said Justice Mabhikwa.

He said Chebundo should have applied for an interdict or disqualification of the respondent at the time the vote buying took place.

“I asked the petitioner and his counsel why they did not apply to the court for an interdict or even disqualification of the respondent right at the time rather than wait until voting was over and after they lost the election,” he said.

Justice Mabhikwa said there was no evidence that after receiving the goods, the people went on to vote for the respondent.

On allegations of misrepresentation or impersonation, Justice Mabhikwa said, the court was not going waste time pondering on how well the supporters knew their candidates.

State Media

AN Upper Sixth pupil at Sizane High School in Bulwayo drowned in a swimming pool at a hotel in Masvingo during an educational trip on Saturday night.

Samuel Zingozi allegedly sneaked out of his room with his friend to swim leading to the tragedy.

Bulawayo acting Provincial Educational Director Mrs Olicah Kaira confirmed the incident saying her office was investigating the tragedy.

“We have lost one of our pupils, a Form Six pupil from Sizane High School who is said to have drowned at a hotel in Masvingo. The pupil was part of the Zimbabwe Tourism Quiz Competition winning team.

“As part of their winning prize they received a token of an educational tour to Great Zimbabwe, courtesy of one of our sponsors.

“He had gone there with three other pupils and their teacher,” said Mrs Kaira.

“I was therefore disturbed when I received a phone call from one of our teachers informing me about this tragedy. We have since launched a full scale investigation to find out what really transpired.”

The Chronicle news crew visited Samuel’s home and spoke to his father Mr Simon Zingozi who said he was devastated by the death of his son. Mr Zingozi said his son had completed his Advanced Level public examinations.

State Media

Cabinet yesterday approved the Zimbabwe National Diamond Policy which is expected to regulate the diamond mining sector and ensure effective accountability in the mining, processing and selling of the precious mineral.

The policy will see only the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC), Murowa Diamonds and two other companies to be approved by Government, undertaking diamond exploration and mining in the country.

Briefing journalists after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services acting Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu said the policy covers all stages of diamond value chain namely exploration, mining, processing, valuation, marketing, beneficiation, value addition as well as issues of security and law enforcement.

Outlining the key features of the policy, Minister Ndlovu said: “Any other entity or person with diamond mining title shall approach any one of the four approved companies for Joint Venture arrangements.

“Government through ZCDC shall be the 46 percent and the local Community Trust-the 5 percent indigenous partners of any foreign investor who intends to undertake diamond mining activities in Zimbabwe. Government may waiver that local ownership threshold subject to submission of satisfactory submissions and due diligence. All rough diamonds produced from all diamond mining operations shall be submitted to the Diamond Value Management Centre to be established by the ZCDC for cleaning, sorting and valuation save for Murowa Diamonds.”

Minister Ndlovu said private players will participate in value addition after cleaning and sorting and after obtaining the necessary approvals.

He said 10 percent of diamonds will be reserved for local value addition.

Government, in consultation with stakeholders, came up with the diamond policy after observations loopholes that made it inadequate to effectively regulate the diamond industry in the face of emerging developments and new dynamics in the industry.

Minister Ndlovu said Cabinet received a progress report on the upgrading of the Harare-Beitbridge Road.

“Notable progress so far registered on the project is as follows; segmentation of the Harare-Beitbridge Highway Road into nine sections namely: Skyline-Beatrice; Beatrice-Chivhu; Chivhu Town: Chivhu-Fairfield; Fairfield-Masvingo; Masvingo Town; Masvingo-Ngundu; Ngundu-Bubi; and Bubi- Beitbridge,” he said.

“Commencement of works on selected portions of the Highway, namely: Skyline- Beatrice and Beatrice-Chivhu: and construction of the detour along the Skyline-Beatrice Section as well as the Beatrice-Chivhu Section is already underway.”

Minister Ndlovu said Cabinet was briefed on the New City designs and urban regeneration projects by Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister July Moyo.

These designs and projects cover the new Parliament Building and the New City in the Mt Hampden and urban renewal project for Mbare (Harare), Sakubva (Mutare) and Makokoba (Bulawayo).

“The new city project will be developed in partnership between Government and private sector players, based on the concept of the modern and self-contained smart city. The launch of the projects will be undertaken soon.”

Minister Ndlovu said with the festive season coming, Cabinet had agreed that a raft of preventive measures be taken at the policy, regulatory, infrastructural and social security levels to curb road accidents.

“The various measures to be introduced in this regard will be publicised to the nation after the ongoing consultations on the road map for their implementation have been concluded,” he said.

Cabinet also approved several projects to be implemented under the 100-day priority projects under the Ministries of Information, Communication Technology and Courier Services and Industry and Commerce.

State Media

POLICE will next week resume roadblocks and checkpoints on the country’s highways to minimise road carnage ahead of the festive season, a Cabinet Minister has said.

Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister, Engineer Biggie Matiza, said police will be working in partnership with the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe and the Vehicle Inspection Department to restore sanity on the country’s roads ahead of the festivities.

A high number of accidents are normally recorded during the festive season hence the move to resume roadblocks.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Ministry’s Strategic Planning workshop in Bulawayo on Monday, Eng Matiza said police and other stakeholders will be on the road as from next week ahead of the festive season.

“We’ve had quite a number of accidents in the past month and we are taking measures to try and reduce the carnage on our highways. The Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe has an extensive programme that they are doing on the roads together with VID and the police. So as from next week there will be many roadblocks whose purpose apart from enforcing traffic rules and regulations, will be to educate motorists on the importance of safe driving, “said Eng Matiza.

He said he was meeting Home Affairs Minister Cain Mathema tomorrow to discuss modalities of enforcing traffic rules and regulations.

“There are laws that are there but they were just not being enforced. We have to make sure that those laws are enforced especially this holiday,” said Minister Matiza.

He said his Ministry was also working on a programme to engage stakeholders as it seeks ways of taming road carnage.

“First, we had an inter-Ministerial meeting to draft a raft of measures meant to curb carnage on our roads and we are in the process of meeting stakeholders to get their input. This coming week we will meet among others transporters, drivers and passengers’ associations to get their input” said Eng Matiza.

He said the Vehicle Inspection Department will be out in full force to conduct spot checks and remove unroadworthy vehicles from the roads.

Government in a bid to tame the traffic jungle, recently increased fines for traffic offences to as much as $700.

Announcing the 2019 National Budget last month, Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube justified the increase saying Government was concerned about the “high incidence of accidents on the country’s roads, which have resulted in serious injuries and in some cases deaths of several people.

Prof Ncube said it was sad that the accidents at times claim the lives of bread winners and also place a huge financial burden on the injured victims, relatives as well as the State.

Meanwhile, commenting on the proposed Accident Road Fund, Eng Matiza said the announcement of funding by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development during the budget presentation was a welcome development.

“It’s a welcome development for us and we will soon finalise issues to do with this proposed fund. The fund is meant to alleviate the suffering of those involved in accidents,” he said.

The fund will meet costs for ferrying the injured to hospital, treatment and other such expenses.

State Media

Correspondent|ZIMBABWE will allow foreign diamond miners to own more than 49 percent on condition that rough stones produced from the country are submitted to a beneficiation centre to be operated by the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company, minutes of a cabinet meeting held on Tuesday show.

Zimbabwe has vast deposits of diamonds although global miner, Rio Tinto has exited the country. This has left locally owned RioZim as well as the state-controlled ZMDC as the major diamond producers in the country.

Cabinet has now said it would allow two other unnamed companies to venture into diamond mining but has given conditions for this.

“Government may waiver that local ownership threshold subject to submission of satisfactory submissions and due diligence that all rough diamonds produced from all diamond mining operations shall be submitted to the Diamond Value Management Centre to be established by the ZCDC for cleaning, sorting and valuation,” the government said in minutes for the cabinet meeting.

Zimbabwe Mines Minister, Winston Chitando said in response to Business Report Online that “the two other companies (to be allowed to mine diamonds) will be announced in due course”.

Another condition for the local ownership requirement to be waived is that “private players shall participate in value addition after cleaning and sorting” as well as reserving 10 percent of the gems mined for “local value addition”.

He also highlighted that the decision to allow only four companies to mine diamonds in Zimbabwe was aimed at ensuring that “there is overall effective accounting on the mining processing and selling of diamonds” in the country.

“Four is a number that was felt it would give government and stakeholders their effective monitoring of what is happening on the ground,” said Chitando.

Through the ZCDC, Zimbabwe will own 46 percent in all diamond firms in the country while five percent will go to indigenous partners of the foreign firms.

Zimbabwe is also seen reserving majority shareholding in platinum mining companies for the state, a situation that will impact on SA platinum producers, Anglo Platinum, Impala Platinum and Sibanye which have operational units in the country.

THE South African Department of Home Affairs has urged Zimbabweans who haven’t yet received their special permits to be patient. The Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) allows Zimbabweans living in South Africa to regularise their stay in the country.

The ZEP application process opened on 15 September 2017 following the expiry of the Zimbabwean Special Permit (ZSP) in December 2014. Zimbabweans had to apply by end of November last year, but this was extended to 31 January and then to 15 February 2018.

On 15 November 2018 the department announced the completion of the adjudication and printing of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP).

Some Zimbabweans in South Africa are frustrated by how long it has taken to get the Zimbabaw Exemption Permit. Photo: Brent Meersman
The applicants are disputing the claims by VFS Global that people are hard to reach. They have paid R20 for receiving sms updates during the application process. Their email addresses were also made available but they haven’t received any communication.

VFS has said that it is “facilitating all ZEP collections until 31 January 2019. Applicants who have not received their permits are welcome to track their applications on the VFS Global website by inserting their AURN number as well as their last name.”

A statement released by Home Affairs says “84 applicants’ fingerprints need to be retaken. VFS has been trying to contact these applicants to no avail.”

The Media Manager at the Department of Home Affairs, David Hlabane said, “The applicants who have not been notified may be among those whose adjudication is being finalised or whose outcomes are on the dispatch route from our Department to VFS for distribution. We are working on completing the whole process by 30 November 2018, and therefore plead for patience among applicants who are yet to receive their permits.”

Hlabane added that the applicants who have proven difficult to reach were contacted, also by phone, including people who must retake fingerprints and those whose passports had expired. VFS had undertaken to provide, in its offices, the list of the applicants affected, including those with outstanding passports.

Some Zimbabweans also complained that they have gone several times to the VFS offices with no luck. When they track the permits online they keep on getting a message that their application has been received at Home Affairs.

One of them wrote, “May you ask the Minister of Home Affairs on our behalf what is going on because this issue of work permits have blocked a lot of things. Our lives are on a stand still.”

“Our employers are fed up of paying us, then later we go back to them and tell them that the money has bounced back since my account has been frozen. We are scared of losing our jobs now,” said another.

The Zimbabwe Exemption Facebook page is also full of comments from irate beneficiaries.

Mthandazo Mjena Moyo wrote, “I had been waiting for a year now. Home Affairs is a joke.”

Rachael Musoni Munikwa wrote, “I went to check mine there is nothing. I submitted on 7 November last year.”

In its 15 November statement Home Affairs said that it has completed the adjudication and printing of 178,172 applications for the ZEP. It said, “A total of 180,188 Zimbabweans have applied for the ZEP permit. Out of this number 180,104 completed the application process. A total of 147,574 have already been dispatched to VFS and 108,485 have already been collected.” The balance of 39,089 is in the process of being collected or sent to the various VFS collection offices. The remainder of 30 598 is currently being updated on the Departments system and will be dispatched to VFS.”

The department also said that 1,932 applicants had expired passports and cannot be processed. These people need to contact the Zimbabwean Consulate to obtain new passports.

“The Department has met with the Zimbabwean Consulate who undertook to expedite the passport applications of those who did apply. The closing date to submit new passports is 15 December 2018,” said Home Affairs.

One of the requirement for the ZEP application was to be in possession of a 90 days valid passport. Eventually Home Affairs extended the deadline to 15 February 2018 to accommodate people who were struggling to obtain their passports.

— GroundUp

Lands, Agricultural, Water, Climate
and Rural Resettlement minister Perrance Shiri has ordered State-owned companies under his purview to start making a profit and pay
dividends, in a renewed attempt by the government to squeeze quasi firms to plug holes in the National Budget.
Shiri told a 2018 strategic planning workshop last week that government was closely monitoring the feasibility of parastatals under his ministry.
“I expect parastatals under my ministry to positively contribute to the GDP and declare dividends… The government is looking at the viability of the current parastatals and what they are contributing to the GDP.
“There should be justification for the formation of parastatals and they are usually planted at strategic areas to ensure the continued flow of raw materials or continued stability of
employment in the country,” Shiri said.
The dividend decree follows a similar demand made earlier in the year but was largely overlooked.
However, market analysts expect broad adoption of the order next year with negotiations to take place on a company-by-company basis.
Shiri said the nation was looking up to the agricultural sector to turn around the economy and hopes it contributes 16 to 20 percent of the
country’s GDP and 40 percent of all export earnings, whilst providing solid livelihoods to 67

percent of the populace.Daily News

Correspondent|NORTON legislator Temba Mliswa continues to hog the limelight for the wrong reasons after he was kicked out from the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement where he had barged into a meeting for an unspecified agenda, claiming he was sent by unnamed powers-that-be to represent their interests in the committee.

Committee chair Gokwe Nembudziya legislator Honourable Justice Mayor Wadyajena, confirmed that the committee kicked him out because he is not a member of the committee.

Writing on his Twitter page, Wadyajena said “We just expelled Temba Mliswa from Agric Committee proceedings. He isn’t a Member and claims he represents ‘other’ interests. Mliswa is intent on spreading anarchy after his recent failure to procedurally chair the Mines Comm. What a disgrace! Kudos, Comm members, for standing firm!”

Mliswa wanted to be a member of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement, but the manoeuvres were thwarted by Wadyajena.

Mliswa, who also chairs the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development, is currently in the eye of a storm after a failed attempt on Monday to discuss the Hwange Colliery Company reconstruction despite the matter being before the courts, making it sub judice.

Mliswa this Tuesday allegedly barged into the Lands Committee unannounced, claiming he was sent by unnamed powers-that-be to represent their interests in the committee.

Efforts to get Mliswa’s reasons for gate-crashing the meeting proved fruitless as he was not picking up his phone.

Following the debacle in his committee, Mliswa, hinted that he might reconsider his position as chairman of the Mines Committee.

As Chairperson of the Mines Committee, Mliswa has attracted unwarranted attention to himself in the past with probably his altercation with the then Minister of Home Affairs Obert Mpofu being the highlight.

Mpofu refused to give evidence before Mliswa citing his demeanour when he once visited him at his home nicodemously as the excuse.

He also clashed with Dr Daniel Shumba who he accused of exhibiting extortionist tendencies while he was the then chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee and had said Mliswa was a power hungry legislator who wanted to upstage him from his position.

He later chaired the committee after Dr Shumba was fired from Zanu PF and subsequently recalled from parliament.

WHITE farmers in Zimbabwe who were evicted from their properties years ago have been experiencing a drop in food production, and their hope to get government financial help to compensate any losses caused by land seizures is slowly dimming, according to some activists.

“The average age of farmers at the peak of land reform was around 55. Now the vast majority are over 70 and many are unable to work. Thus the need for settlement is very real. Sadly, many have died without [a] settlement and others are facing extreme hardship,” said Ben Gilpin, director of the Commercial Farmers Union.

In 2000, war veterans evicted at least 4,500 white farmers. They need at least $72 million in reparations given that the effects of farm seizures are still felt to date, the publication reported. Ben Freeth, a former white farmer who was kicked out of his citrus farm in 2009 and is now a land-rights activist, said that farmers had taken small compensation packages from the government out of desperation.

“We do want compensation for our losses, but not under the current very poor terms that they are offering,” he said. “This has been paid over time and is only worth a fraction of what it should be.”

Freeth also added that the payment for nearly 200 farmers in 2009 was in Zimbabwean dollars, meaning that it was discounted against market valuations.

Furthermore, a group of farmers had approached the government for compensation since 2009 because they have gotten poor or their health has seriously deteriorated.

Following the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa told a crowd of white voters prior his victory during the July 30 elections that he would not take their land away, a clear departure from Mugabe’s policies who instilled a land reform campaign to seize farms from white farmers.

Though his speech was received with praise among Zimbabwe’s white population, farm activists are still skeptical about his campaign promises. Despite the government allocation of nearly $3 million in reparations, Gilpin told South Africa’s website Eyewitness News last month that, while this is a sign that the government has not forgotten about the displaced farmers, the money earmarked for compensation should be much higher. However, the government is still in dire financial straits, making it very unlikely to reach a larger sum.

Farm distribution has sparked a racially charged debate in South Africa as well. The ruling African National Congress has promised to redistribute wealth among the population, and it has included a constitutional amendment to allow the government to expropriate land without making any payment. White farmers still own the most profitable farms and estates.

A Bloomberg report found that the discussion over land expropriation has affected the farming industry, as confidence has dropped to nearly 45 percent—the lowest since 2006—and land prices reached $672 per hectare in July, down from $990 in December 2017.

In August, President Donald Trump tweeted that he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to ”closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers,” shortly after Fox News aired a report that the South African government “was taking farms from white farmers.” However, this claim is not true.

In response, the South African government lashed out at the president, saying in a statement that “South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past.”

— Newsweek

Correspondent|Zimbabwe Mining Development Cooperation (ZMDC) boss has been hauled before the court on allegations of criminal abuse of office.

Acting Chief Operations Officer, Lawrence Gondo who is also a retired senior army officer allegedly wrote a letter of recommendation which would in turn cause the release of 59 tonnes of copper ore which were impounded by the police from illegal copper dealers, the court heard.

Gondo is alleged to have written the letter claiming that Kirsten Chirenje, Mtileni Piet and Famina Masaire who were accused persons were indeed registered copper dealers and they had legally acquired the mineral from ZMDC’s Mhangura Mine.

As a result of the letter he authored, the accused persons were acquitted by a Chivhu magistrate for the offence they were being charged for.

He appeared before Harare magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa facing charges of criminal abuse of office and he was given free bail pending finalisation of the matter by the police.

The matter was remanded to January 15.

Allegations are that between October 29 and October 31 2018, Gondo wrote a letter where he allegedly misrepresented that Cute Suppliers Private Limited had been offered a three months trial mining contract at the ZMDC’s Mhangura Mines.

The court heard that the letter was intended to obstruct investigations in connection with 59 tonnes of copper ore impounded by the police at Featherstone in Chivhu.

In the letter, Gondo allegedly falsely inferred that Cute Suppliers had acquired the copper ore from Mhangura Mine when it did not originate from the said mine.

Through his act, it is alleged that Gondo showed favour to Mtileni Piet and Masaire who were being charged of failing to give a satisfactory account for possession of copper.

Resultantly, the accused persons were acquitted at the Chivhu magistrate’s court.

Meanwhile, Masaire appeared before the same Harare magistrate charged with violating the Copper Control Act and for defeating the course of justice.

Masaire was also remanded out of custody to January 15 on free bail.

It is the State’s case that Masaire connived with Element 22 employee Tarisai Bera and allegedly misrepresented to Inyati Old Mine Headlands that she is employed at Element 22 and bought 59 tonnes of Copper Ore.

When the copper was impounded, Masaire further misrepresented that she is employed at Element 22 and produced the company’s copper dealing Permit Number COP 2039.

On the second count, Masaire intending to defeat the ends of justice, allegedly misrepresented to the police and Chivhu magistrates courts that Element 22 were the owners of the 59 tonnes of the mineral when it in fact belonged to her and a South African registered company who both are unlicensed to deal in copper.

A Gwanda-based cop was yesterday sentenced to three months in jail for maintenance arrears of $1 230 accumulated over 18 months.

Brian Baye who is stationed at ZRP Matabeleland South Provincial Headquarters in Gwanda was convicted on his own plea of guilty to failure to comply with a maintenance order by Gwanda provincial magistrate, Mr Maphios Moyo.

He was sentenced to three months imprisonment of which one month was suspended on condition that he does not commit a similar offence within the next five years. The remaining two months were further suspended on condition that he clears the maintenance arrears.

Baye was ordered to pay an additional $50 per month with effect from this month until the arrears are cleared. Prosecuting, Miss Ethel Mahachi said Baye was ordered to pay $70 a month to Ms Peacemaker Moyo for the upkeep of his minor child.

“On 11 January 2016 Baye was ordered by the court to pay $70 towards the upkeep of his child. Baye defaulted payment from June 2017 to October 2018 resulting in the arrears. Miss Moyo reported the matter to the police leading to his arrest,” she said.

In a related matter, another Gwanda man was sentenced to six months in jail for maintenance arrears of $2 500 which accumulated over 31 months.

Shepherd Moyo who works as a cashier in a bar at a local mine, was convicted on his own plea of guilty to failure to comply with a maintenance order by Gwanda magistrate, Miss Lerato Nyathi.

He was sentenced to six months imprisonment which was wholly suspended on condition that he clears the maintenance arrears.

Moyo was ordered to pay an additional $100 per month with effect from this month until the arrears are cleared.

In passing sentence, Miss Nyathi rebuked Moyo for neglecting his duty of supporting his child.
“During these two years and seven months that you were not paying maintenance who did you expect to fend for your child?” she asked.

Prosecuting, Miss Glenda Nare said Moyo was ordered in February 2015 to pay $80 per month to Ms Primrose Pelewelo for the upkeep of his child.

She said Moyo, however, did not pay for some months- state media

Bindura Mayor Councillor Carlos Tokyo and three other MDC-Alliance councillors on Monday appeared at Bindura magistrate court facing allegations of stealing 100 by 50 kilogrammes of drought relief maize at Tendai Hall, Chipadze area in Bindura.

The quartet appeared before magistrate Ms Msipa Maria facing theft charges and were remanded out of custody to December 11 for allocation of trial date.

The other three councillors are Friday Mutata Chigwande ward 4, Oliver Mukombwe ward 6 and Tongai Jack ward 7. They are represented by Mr Obey Shava. – state media

Terrence Mawawa|Ms. Miriam Mutizwa, a Zimbabwean born UK resident who has been following closely matters related to the existence and operation of the controversial Reconstruction of State-Indebted Insolvent Companies Act (the Act), asks whether Hon Mliswa is a villain or victim in the Hwange and SMM matters as his conduct seems to be inconsistent, contradictory and untenable for a Chairman of multi-party forum as the Portfolio Committee of Mines and Mining Development.

“The facts and circumstances surrounding the invitation of Mr. Nicholas Van Hoogstraten (NVH) to present oral evidence in relation to the affairs of Hwange Colliery Company Limited (Hwange) yesterday remain clouded in mystery.

This is the message that Hon. Mliswa shared with his colleagues who are members of the Committee on Mines:

It is clear from this message that it was NVH who initiated the request to appear before the Committee.

In addition, it cannot be disputed that the version that Hon. Mliswa presented following the abortive hearing that was scheduled to take place yesterday, is not supported by any facts that there was any prior attempt by NVH through the Clerk of Parliament, Mr Chokuda, to request his appearance before this Committee.

It would appear that there exists only one plausible version that on 27 November 2018, NVH reached out to Hon. Mliswa via a telephone message that he had come all the way from London to appear before the Committee.

If this is correct, then it follows that NVH had proceeded to visit Zimbabwe without the knowledge and consent of the Committee members.

It seems to be the case that Hon. Mliswa subsequently advised NVH to come before the Committee on Monday, 3 December, 2018.

It is not at all clear whether in the subsequent call, Hon Mliswa had informed and sought the consent of his Committee for NVH to be granted audience by the Committee.

Notwithstanding, the meeting proceeded on the basis agreed to between Hon. Mliswa and NVH.

With respect to jurisdictional facts, it is not clear what legal authority NVH possessed entitling him to substitute the directors who by law are vested with the control and management of a company.

Furthermore, I doubt that NVH had the support of the Administrator who in terms of the operation of the Reconstruction Act is now vested with the exclusive control and management of Hwange.

It is my understanding that in terms of the Act, the Minister has the power to issue a quasi-judicial order that permits him to substitute the board and shareholders of Hwange.

I was, therefore, perplexed to hear that the Parliamentary Portfolio on Mines and Mining Development resolved to hold back on cross-examining NVH because the Hwange reconstruction is before the courts when in truth and fact, it is now law in Zimbabwe, a point NVH may be ignorant of, that an order issued in respect of a targeted company like Hwange, cannot be varied or rescinded by any court of law.

If my understanding is correct, then there is no locus for NVH to challenge an order that the Court has only been granted by law to confirm and nothing else.

No shareholder or director has legal standing to challenge the intended confirmation and at the very least one would expect NVH’s lawyers to know the mischief in the Act.

It is trite that in terms of the Reconstruction Act, every disposition of the property, including rights of action, of the company and every transfer of shares or alteration in the status of its members, made after the commencement of the reconstruction, shall, unless the administrator otherwise orders, be void.

This morning, I was surprised to establish that following the advice of Hon. Settlement Chikwinya, a member of the Hon Mliswa Committee, that Mr. Mawere had written the following letter to Mr. Chokuda:

This letter was written on 28 November 2018 and the contents would seem self-explanatory.

To the extent that this letter was informed by representations by a member of the Committee that the meeting that Hon. Mliswa had convened was on the diary of the Committee, it became necessary for Mr. Mawere, a shareholder of SMM Holdings Private Limited (SMM), to also be allowed to make submissions on the legality and constitutionality of the Reconstruction Act.

In my books, it would be a futile exercise for any shareholder to seek remedies from the Court without challenging the moral, legal and constitutional basis of a law that permits a Ministerial order to rank equal or even senior to a judicial order.

I was surprised that even Hon. Mliswa does not seem to know that a law that is patently inconsistent with the bill of rights that are entrenched in the 2013 Constitution is invalid and should have no force and effect.

Listening to NVH, it became clear to me that the purpose of giving NVH audience was to allow him to attack Hon. Chitando on his former role as the Chairman of Hwange and lead to the inescapable conclusion that he should be barred from dealing in the Hwange matter.

It would appear that the mischief intended by seeking NVH into the Committee’s record on Hwange was exposed prior to the meeting leading to the other members of the Committee raising serious objections to the decision by Hon. Mliswa to use the Committee for ulterior purposes.

Hon, Mliswa knew and ought to have known that outside talking about the legal and constitutional issues, NVH had no authority to speak on behalf of Hwange notwithstanding the fact that he claims to be the second largest shareholder.

With respect to the SMM matter, I have now had the opportunity to read from Mr. Mawere’s share in the Friends of SMM’s (FOSMM) whats up group that I belong to:

It is clear from the messages attached hereto that Mr. Mawere wrote a formal letter to Mr. Chokuda that was received.

It is also not in dispute that Mr. Chokuda’s record is that he apparently directed the Committee Clerk to engage the Committee Chairperson and to advise Mr. Mawere accordingly.

Mr. Chokuda then seem to have apologized to Mr. Mawere as follows: “Accept my apologies if that did not happen. Will follow up with them.”

Mr. Mawere responded by saying that: “No one contacted me and what I heard yesterday from Hon Mliswa was disturbing and contemptuous of the process that he had recommended apparently for me to approach you.”

The last communication between Mr. Mawere and Mr. Chokuda seems to have been at 8:13am this morning.

Notwithstanding, Hon. Mliswa seems to have exposed the fact that he made the Committee made the decision to deny Mr. Mawere audience without even having the courtesy and decency of asking him about what he intended to contribute to the matters in dispute.

As I listened to the interview that Hon. Mliswa had last night and the misleading response he gave to the questioner in relation to SMM’s status and the manner in which Mr. Mawere has been treated since 2004, I could not help but wonder whether Hon. Mliswa is a villain who is driven by agendas or he is constructively a victim of ignorance and illiteracy.

Because of his “known it all” and domineering approach to any issue, it is clear that the agenda of the Committee could possibly have been compromised and the events of yesterday cleared my mind that not all the members have been sold to Hon. Mliswa’s cavalier antics.

This is what he said yesterday on the SMM matter in response to this question: “My question to Hon. Mliswa is about SMM and why Mawere has been treated unfairly?” He said as follows: “I think the SMM issue again, I think this is an issue of a company went under reconstruction. I ask myself whether reconstruction works because so far it has achieved the results in terms of resuscitating the mine itself – We have said that through the ZMDC enquiry we shall include SMM. He (Mr. Mawere) wrote to us as the Committee saying that he wanted to appear before us but we said SMM was put under ZMDC – we need to inquire into their operations – the right to appear and contribute is universal and Mr. Mawere cannot be denied this right – that is what parliament operates – no one can stop anyone to appear. In fact, last time in the last Parliament we visited the mines and we had intended to call Mr. Mawere. But definitely we will ask him to come and make his submissions but in the context of SMM as a subsidiary of the ZMDC.”

When one carefully reviews the above, it becomes abundantly clear that Hon. Mliswa is a devious character. Firstly, the official position of the Ministry of Mines as represented in court papers under oath is the SMM in under reconstruction.

This position as set out in the judgement below.

Hon. Mliswa knows and ought to know that Hon. Chitando’s predecessor ruled that SMM is a company that is still under reconstruction and as such the Minister of Mines is the only one with jurisdiction to deal with its matters.

In addition, the Learned Judge underscored that SMM’s status remains as it was established by the Minister of Mines through the notice in the Government Gazette of 6 September 2004.

It is also the case that the Minister of Mines had argued that the applications by Mr. Mawere and the affected parent companies of SMM were fatally defective in that there was a mis-joinder on the part of the Minister of Mines being cited as the First Respondent in the matter and non-joinder on the part of the Minister of Justice under whose purview the Reconstruction Act falls.

It is then surprising where the Mliswa Committee obtained the facts to support the contention that SMM is a subsidiary of ZMDC.

I am still trying to struggle with the idea that SMM has been under reconstruction for the past 14 years. What kind of nonsense is this that would permit this absurdity to have a live and be confirmed as legitimate by the Mliswa Committee.

I understand that Hon. Mliswa who seems to be the puppet master has already exposed the contempt with which he holds Mr. Mawere, a bona fide shareholder who is given less respect that NVH who Hon. Mliswa was willing to energetically and enthusiastically as a more worthy witness for the Committee.

Mr. Mliswa clearly believes that the SMM matter has already been resolved and Mr. Mawere should come before the Committee as a witness in a matter involving an organization that he neither a shareholder nor a director.

In what capacity would Mr. Mawere come before this Community if he has nothing to do with SMM? This question is yet to be answered but clearly Hon. Mliswa has no appetite to deal with this question.

The only reason SMM would be a subsidiary of ZMDC is if the company has already been nationalised.

Yet the irony that is easily lost in the exuberance of Hon Mliswa is that there is no provision in the Constitution that permits the expropriation of private property,” said Ms. Mutizwa.

Terrence Mawawa|Former Gutu Central Constituency MP Oliver Chirume has described the unruly behaviour of Zanu PF MPs- who blocked Hwange shareholder Nicholas Van Hoogstraten from appearing before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy- as deplorable.

Hoogstraten, who has several businesses in the country and was over the years said to have been close to the erstwhile Mugabe regime, was due to address Parliament’s mines committee on Monday.

He travelled to Harare at the invitation of committee chairman Temba Mliswa, the independent MP for Norton.

However, in rowdy scenes, Zanu PF MPs refused to allow Van Hoogstraten to appear before the committee claiming he had a case pending before courts in Harare.

A frustrated Mliswa said he was considering stepping down from his position as chairman of the committee and would his decision within 48 hours.

Chirume said: “Frankly speaking, we did not expect such uncouth behaviour from from honourable members of the House of Assembly.

How can we surely expect investors to come to Zimbabwe when MPs conduct themselves in such an ignominious manner?

That is typical of the Zanu PF culture and as we have always said, the Reconstruction Act is flawed and unconstitutional.”

Chirume is a member of Friends of Shabanie and Mashava Mines(FOSMM), a non profit making organisation that was formed by concerned SMM stakeholders.

The Minister of Health and Child Care, Obadiah Moyo said that the government has no capacity to pay doctors’ salaries in foreign currency. Most of the junior doctors are on strike and one of their demands is that they get their salaries in United States dollars.

Moyo had this to say – “There is no foreign currency in the country to buy medicines for use in hospitals, and that particular aspect of paying individuals in US dollars is not possible. The President has been encouraging the pharmacists to sell drugs in local currency because there is no foreign currency, people cannot get foreign currency.

“If we were to try and say we are going to be paying people in foreign currency it would eat into the allocations for medicines, fuel and other things. Arrangements are being made as we access foreign currency.”

-Online

Ecocash chief executive, Natalie Jabangwe  been appointed into the inaugural global Task Force on Digital Financing by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

The taskforce will recommend strategies to harness the potential of financial technology in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.

It will be co-chaired by ABSA chief executive, Maria Ramos and United Nations Administrator Achim Steiner.

Guterres said the impact of technology in achieving financial inclusion cannot be underestimated.

“We have already seen how technology has helped expand financial inclusion -itself an important goal – by 1.2 billion people in just six years.

“But we have only just begun to tap the potential of digital finance and investment to meet the broader agenda set forth in the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change,” he said.

-State Media

VIDEO LOADING BELOW….

By A Correspondent |Petroleum mogul and managing director of Sakunda Holdings Kuda Tagwirei has announced that one of his subsidiary, Sakunda Logistics, is closing shop.

The company will permanently close down on December 31 and the company cited irrecoverable losses over the past four years.

In letter dated November 30 and authored by the company’s finance and human resources director (S Mpunga), the employees were notified of the imminent closure and their terminal benefits will be communicated individually.

“I regret to notify you all that Sakunda Logistics will be permanently closing down as we have suffered irrecoverable losses over the past four years.

“We are sorry to notify you that your jobs with Sakunda Logistics terminates in one month0n 31 December 2018,” read part of the letter.

“We express our deepest gratitude to all of you for your dedicated service at Sakunda Logistics.We wish you the best in all your future endeavors,” further read the letter.

This development might come as a blow to Command Agriculture where, Sakunda was one of the companies from the private sector that was funding the programme.

efforts to get a comment from Kuda Tagwirei were in vain as his mobile phone was not reacheable.

Jane Mlambo| War veterans have called for the enactment of laws that bar anyone who call for economic sanctions from contesting elections in Zimbabwe.

Led by their Secretary General, Victor Matemadanda, war veterans said all those who call for sanctions should be declared enemies of the state.

“The ZNLWVA condemns all reactionary forces who go around the work asking for the extension of sanctions and call upon the conference to;

“(We)declare all who call for sanctions against Zimbabwe and who work against government efforts to resuscitate the economy as enemies of the station and nation of Zimbabwe

“(We) call upon conference to call on parliament to enact laws that cause an investigation and establishment of facts on people who call for sanctions and economic sabotage. If proved to be true, to make such people not eligible for election to district, provincial council, Member of Parliament, Senator and President position,” said Matemadanda.

Correspondent|MDC Alliance secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora has disowned a man who claims to be the party’s member and made a High Court application seeking to order Parliament of Zimbabwe to stop paying MDC-A legislators sitting allowancres and other benefits.

The man Justice Dzingirayi, argued that MDC-A MPs were susceptible to bribes from ZANU PF and should stop receiving any material things from the ruling party.

In an 87 page application, Dzingirayi claims to be a member of the opposition party and was disgruntled that MDC Alliance MPs were receiving “bribes” so they would eventually accept President Emmerson Mnangagwa as Zimbabwe’s legitimate leader.

He argues they must remain unpaid until the outcome of the party’s appeal regarding the 2018 election results from the African Court.

In an interview at Morgan Tsvangirai House on Tuesday, Mwonzora said Dzingirayi was definitely an agent of the ruling party.

“This person who has placed the application is a Zanu-PF functionary no doubt about it. What he says he is and what he displays to be are two different things, in most of this application he is mocking the MDC leadership, he is mocking the president, he is mocking the MPs and his application is not bona fide at all.

“But what is interesting in his application he has not even shown proof that he is an MDC member, none whatsoever,” he said.

The secretary general pointed out that Dzingirayi did not provide a party card in his application and said he had gone as far as to check the MDC Alliance’s registry and failed to find him listed.

“It is mischievous Zanu-PF people who tried to be too clever by half unfortunately the application is unsustainable it is a poorly constructed application and poorly reasoned,” he said.

Mwonzora described the application as “ill-conceived” and a case of “lawfare” whereby the law was being used to attack political opponents.

“It is a distraction, he thought that he would scare our MPs into recognising Mr. Mnangagwa,” he said.

The High Court application has 115 respondents consisting of all the MDC-A ’s MPs, its president Nelson Chamisa, the minister of Finance Mthuli Ncube, the clerk of Parliament and the party itself.

Mwonzora said the application was “unsustainable” as the vast majority of the coalition party’s MPs had already won in their constituencies and the appeal to the African Court was over the presidential results.

The application comes at a time when MPs within the MDC Alliance allege that they have been receiving identical death threats, especially after their demonstration last week Thursday.

“The MPs have already spoken for themselves anyway, through their chief whips they have commented on the threats that they have been getting, some of them death threats that we have been receiving and I have received mine as well on the day of the demonstration,” he said.

A text message which was sent to Mwonzora last Thursday reads.

“Zita rangu ndonzi ‘Death’. Mafreedoms nemarights amunoda kukosha aya be careful kuti security in numbers haiwanzobatsiri kana wawega. We are gunning for you!!” the message read.

Mwonzora said he was unfazed by the threats. “My answer to that person is just go to hell,” he said.

M&T

Own Correspondent|CAKES and bread will be in short supply at Christmas as National Foods, one of the largest food manufacturers in Zimbabwe announced it would be shutting its doors this Wednesday because it had been unable to pay its suppliers due to a crippling shortage of foreign currency.

In a letter to its “valued customers” the company – jointly owned by Tiger Brands and Innscor Africa, an Harare-listed company – National Foods said it anticipated the mills in Harare and Bulawayo would close on Wednesday.

It said it would still mill out wheat in process and supply the limited stock it had in hand.

The company, which has fast foods, maize and flour milling, snacks manufacturing, poultry and edible oils units under its portfolio, blamed foreign currency shortages for the impending closure of its mills.

Zimbabwe, which abandoned its own currency in 2009 to use a basket of currencies mostly led by the US dollar, is in a serious economic bind – foreign currency, fuel and medical supply shortages are the order of the day.

“As you are well aware the nation has been facing foreign currency shortages for some time. As a consequence, National Foods has faced difficulties in settling its foreign wheat suppliers,” the firm said in a letter dated 3 December 2018.

Tiger Brands owns about 37 percent of the company.

“Our suppliers regret having to take this position but have themselves reached the point where they cannot fund their businesses,” National Foods said.

Correspondent|ZANU-PF’s Mashonaland West political commissar Simon Solomon has been arrested on allegations of engaging in irregular land deals. Solomon is currently detained at Kadoma Central Police Station.

He is alleged to have illegally sold a farm in the province for at least $10 000.

Since the launch of the land reform programme in 2000 the bulk of farmland now belongs to the State and cannot be sold privately.

More details to follow…

PROMINENT Prophet Itai Ukama of Abundant Life Ministries prophesied that some unnamed Zimbabwean leaders will die one after the other starting from 3 December 2018.

From the prophecy of the man of the cloth, the leaders belong to the ruling party ZANU PF. In the prophecy which was issued on 21 October 2018, Ukama requests the church to pray so that they can stop the death of these people.

Here is the full prophecy below:

We want to pray for the nation of Zimbabwe that the spirit of God will rest upon it. Let us pray that the cup of God will not be poured undiluted by grace and mercy over Zimbabwe.

When these people start dying one by one you are not sure they will be replaced by the good ones. Better the devil you know than an angel you do not know, better the devil who is already rich than the one who will come and want to start afresh.

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

Zanu-PF’s Mashonaland West political commissar Cde Simon Solomon has been arrested on allegations of engaging in irregular land deals.

Cde Solomon is currently detained at Kadoma Central Police Station. He is alleged to have illegally sold a farm in the province for at least $10 000.

Since the launch of the land reform programme in 2000 the bulk of farmland now belongs to the State and cannot be sold privately.

More details to follow…

-State Media

WATCH VIDEO BELOW

LAWYERS, human rights groups and opposition parties have expressed fears that the report by the commission of inquiry into the post-election violence in which the military allegedly killed six civilians will never be made public after Presidential spokesperson George Charamba said the report was meant for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s eyes “only”.

Charamba was quoted by the State-controlled media on Monday saying Mnangagwa had the discretion to make the report public or not, but experts said such utterances defeat the constitutional spirit of transparency and accountability.

In September, Mnangagwa appointed a seven-member commission, led by former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe to probe the killings. The commission concluded its hearings last week and gave Mnangagwa an executive summary of its findings last Thursday while a full report will be presented ‘before December 19.’

“Members of the public entertained a reasonable expectation that results will be made public. The President is obliged to do so because of public expectations,” lawyer Alec Muchadehama said, adding that although the commission of inquiries Act is silent on what the President can do with the findings of the commission, the rule of law advocates for due process and, therefore, there should be finality to any process.

“Section 62 gives citizens some rights to information. The citizens have the right to information held by the State for public accountability purposes. Even the media has the right to know. Section 5 of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act also gives people the right to information. Even under international best practices, the people have the right to know the outcome of a process they participated in.”

Muchadehama said the Commission of Inquiries Act was a colonial relic which contradicts the new Constitution’s right to information. He said it does not say whether or not the President must keep the outcome of an inquiry, but due to people’s reasonable expectations, Mnangagwa was obliged to release the report.

“There are already questions surrounding the Chihambakwe report (the report on inquiry into the Gukurahundi atrocities of the 1980s), Mnangagwa should try to earn the public’s confidence by making it public or this will satisfy our suspicion that the inquiry was an international public relations gimmick.” he said.

Kudakwashe Hove, another lawyer, said Charamba’s statements were a threat to the people’s right to access to information as enshrined in the Constitution.

“People died and information in the public interest and public good should be disclosed. Even if the Commission of Inquiry Act can give Mnangagwa such right, the Act will be ultra vires the Constitution because it denies people the right to information granted in the supreme law,” Hove said.

“Even principles of good governance call for transparency. The Motlanthe Commission was paid using taxpayers’ money. If Mnangagwa keeps the findings, a person who does not have any relative who was killed on August 1, what will the people whose relatives died think? Will this bring closure to the issue?”

He said Zimbabwe should never allow a situation where reports were kept, saying such practice has denied closure to the Gukurahundi atrocities.

Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum director Blessing Gorejena said in the constitutional spirit of openness, Mnangagwa was mandated to make the findings public. Gorejena said they were shocked by Charamba’s statement, describing it as “out of tune” because Mnangagwa promised to make the outcome of the inquiry public when he set up the commission.

She said everyone, more importantly the victims, have the right to know the contents of the report.

Opposition MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume said they did not agree that the report was for Mnangagwa’s eyes only “because people were shot in public with everyone seeing, the commission has done its inquiry in the full glare of the public and everyone knows what was said and how it was said”.

“It is an act of futility and dereliction of duty for Mnangagwa to try and shelf this report like other reports such as those on Gukurahundi. We cannot have a situation where public funds are used for one person to see only, public funds are for everyone, so we do not agree.”

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition’s Thulani Mswelanto said it was unfortunate that the State continued to fund commissions of inquiries using public funds, but the public never gets to know the contents, challenging Mnangagwa to observe values of good governance such as transparency and accountability.

Combined Harare Residents’ Association executive director Mfundo Mlilo said there was no way the report could be for Mnangagwa’s eyes alone.

“The August 1 report is a national report and must be published as soon as it is practicable. If they wanted a private report, why did they make public consultations? There is no other reason why the report could be made private other than to deny Zimbabweans the truth of the August 1 events,” Mlilo said.

Vendors Initiative for Socio-Economic Transformation (VISET)’s Samuel Wadzai whose members were hugely affected by the shootings said if the President wanted to make the findings private, then it was wrong to hold public hearings.

Human Rights Watch director for Southern Africa Dewa Mavhinga said in the spirit of openness, the findings must be made public.

-Newsday

THE majority of Zanu PF leaders in Masvingo snubbed the Chiredzi West victory celebrations held at Chishamiso Stadium in Hippo Valley on Saturday amid indications that they could have stayed away due to factional fights rocking the party in the province.

Chiredzi North legislator Roy Bhila complained to Zanu PF provincial chairperson, who is also Provincial Affairs minister of Masvingo, Ezra Chadzamira, after he was asked to give a vote of thanks after the celebrations.

“We have a lot of people who are not working together with others in Chiredzi, and they don’t attend (party) functions. We want you to flex your muscle and show them that in Zanu PF, we should toe the same line,” he said.

Speakers, including the provincial political commissar, Jevas Masosota, urged Chadzamira to deal sternly and decisively with two councillors who were issued with prohibitive orders in October this year.

Zanu PF Masvingo province recently recommended the recalling of ward 2 and 8 councillors, Obert Ngwenya and Josphat Nzombe, for allegedly voting for Gibson Hwende of MDC Alliance as council chairperson ahead of the preferred party candidate, Blessing Mazinyani.

The celebrations, which were organised by Chiredzi West legislator, Farai Musikavanhu, were not without drama, with Owen Makese, an aide to ward 2 councillor Ngwenya, being ejected from the VIP tent.

This led to Ngwenya and some of his supporters leaving the function in a huff, but ward 8 councillor Nzombe stayed put throughout the function.

Musikavanhu told SouthernEye that he did not witness the ejection of Makese.

Some of the notable absentees included central committee member and former Masvingo governor, Titus Maluleke and his wife, Senator Otilia Maluleke, women’s league provincial chairperson, Euginia Simon Mhlanga, Chiredzi South legislator, Kalisto Gwanetsa and Chiredzi East legislator, Denford Masiya.

Contacted for comment, Masiya said he could not speak on the matter as he had other commitments in his constituency.

-Newsday

THE majority of Zanu PF leaders in Masvingo snubbed the Chiredzi West victory celebrations held at Chishamiso Stadium in Hippo Valley on Saturday amid indications that they could have stayed away due to factional fights rocking the party in the province.

Chiredzi North legislator Roy Bhila complained to Zanu PF provincial chairperson, who is also Provincial Affairs minister of Masvingo, Ezra Chadzamira, after he was asked to give a vote of thanks after the celebrations.

“We have a lot of people who are not working together with others in Chiredzi, and they don’t attend (party) functions. We want you to flex your muscle and show them that in Zanu PF, we should toe the same line,” he said.

Speakers, including the provincial political commissar, Jevas Masosota, urged Chadzamira to deal sternly and decisively with two councillors who were issued with prohibitive orders in October this year.

Zanu PF Masvingo province recently recommended the recalling of ward 2 and 8 councillors, Obert Ngwenya and Josphat Nzombe, for allegedly voting for Gibson Hwende of MDC Alliance as council chairperson ahead of the preferred party candidate, Blessing Mazinyani.

The celebrations, which were organised by Chiredzi West legislator, Farai Musikavanhu, were not without drama, with Owen Makese, an aide to ward 2 councillor Ngwenya, being ejected from the VIP tent.

This led to Ngwenya and some of his supporters leaving the function in a huff, but ward 8 councillor Nzombe stayed put throughout the function.

Musikavanhu told SouthernEye that he did not witness the ejection of Makese.

Some of the notable absentees included central committee member and former Masvingo governor, Titus Maluleke and his wife, Senator Otilia Maluleke, women’s league provincial chairperson, Euginia Simon Mhlanga, Chiredzi South legislator, Kalisto Gwanetsa and Chiredzi East legislator, Denford Masiya.

Contacted for comment, Masiya said he could not speak on the matter as he had other commitments in his constituency.

-Newsday

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has pledged to turn around the welfare of traditional chiefs by piling benefits and a share of the $310 million set aside for devolution in the 2019 National Budget.

He made the pledge yesterday in response to a tall list of demands presented to him by the traditional leaders at the ongoing national chiefs council conference in Kadoma.

The development comes at a time when government has not made such pledges for civil servants who are planning to down tools and plays into suspicions that Zanu PF pampers traditional leaders for political gains.

Mnangagwa was accompanied to the event by his deputies, Kembo Mohadi and Constantino Chiwenga and his Cabinet ministers.

“In this second republic, the importance of chiefs is going to be upheld highly. There is a $310 million that has been budgeted for devolution next year. If you divide that by 10 provinces you will realise that each province will get $31 million. Now, every chief comes from a particular area of a province. So what I am saying is that as chiefs of a particular province, sit down and discuss among yourselves how much of that money will go towards your welfare. That way the grievances on increases of allowances and fuel allocations will be solved,” he said.

Mnangagwa also assured chiefs that the vehicle scheme will stay despite protests from members of the public.

“Your packages are different from those of civil servants because you are part of the governance structure. So you will find out even if a pastor preaches how good, they will not be given cars by government. But you will get them because it is your entitlement. Your welfare is clearly spelt out in the Constitution,” he said.

The President also promised that chiefs will soon be exempted from land tax. He also promised more land and livestock for the traditional leaders.

“The Constitution clearly spells out that chiefs are custodians of our culture, values and land. So if they are custodians of land, why should they pay tax for the land that they own? This is something we are going to correct. There are also chiefs who did not get land during the land reform programme,” he said.

“That exercise is past now, but we have land audit going on where we are repossessing land lying idle and cutting to size farms that are more than 500 hectares each. On the other hand, we are repossessing farms from multiple owners. Accordingly, all the chiefs who do not have land will get it from the farms we are taking in the process of the audit.”

Mnangagwa also said chiefs should get first preference on the presidential inputs programme and other government agricultural subsidies.

“Chiefs cannot be made to queue for the inputs. How then will their dignity be preserved? So we are going to take heed of your demands on that issue so that you get first preference,” he said.

Mnangagwa also promised that chiefs in Matabeleland who did not get cattle during the command livestock scheme will benefit in the near future.

Chiwenga, who delivered closing remarks, urged the traditional leaders to in turn play a critical role in aligning the rural folk with interests of the government and rein in people with dissenting voices.

“Chiefs, even in the past enjoyed high honour. Look at King David in the Bible or King Solomon. They were all people of great standing in society. The importance of chiefs must, therefore, be preserved in this country and throughout the continent of Africa. We have been doing fairly well on that regard as Zimbabwe. However, as chiefs, you also need to teach people in the rural areas good morals and respect for government,” Chiwenga said.

“Chiefs must contribute in furthering the policies of government and its vision. If we hear a bad-mouthed child, we should ask the chief of that area to explain the waywardness of such a child. We do not want people with wire-brushes in their mouths in the rural areas. We do not want the country to be like an animal farm where citizens have no respect for elders and behave haphazardly.”

Newsday

Jane Mlambo| Parliament will at the end of this week adjourn for 10 days to pave way for the Zanu PF Annual Conference starting from the 11th to the 16th of December in Esigodini, Matebeleland South.

According to Veritas, “at the end of next week (Thursday 6th December or Friday 7th, if fast tracking is adopted] the National Assembly will adjourn until 18th December. This ten-day adjournment is for the ZANU PF conference to be held in Esigodini, Matebeleland South.”

Both Houses will resume sitting on Tuesday 18 December to deal with any unfinished national budget business.

LAWYERS, human rights groups and opposition parties have expressed fears that the report by the commission of inquiry into the post-election violence in which the military allegedly killed six civilians will never be made public after Presidential spokesperson George Charamba said the report was meant for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s eyes “only”.

Charamba was quoted by the State-controlled media on Monday saying Mnangagwa had the discretion to make the report public or not, but experts said such utterances defeat the constitutional spirit of transparency and accountability.

In September, Mnangagwa appointed a seven-member commission, led by former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe to probe the killings. The commission concluded its hearings last week and gave Mnangagwa an executive summary of its findings last Thursday while a full report will be presented ‘before December 19.’

“Members of the public entertained a reasonable expectation that results will be made public. The President is obliged to do so because of public expectations,” lawyer Alec Muchadehama said, adding that although the commission of inquiries Act is silent on what the President can do with the findings of the commission, the rule of law advocates for due process and, therefore, there should be finality to any process.

“Section 62 gives citizens some rights to information. The citizens have the right to information held by the State for public accountability purposes. Even the media has the right to know. Section 5 of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act also gives people the right to information. Even under international best practices, the people have the right to know the outcome of a process they participated in.”

Muchadehama said the Commission of Inquiries Act was a colonial relic which contradicts the new Constitution’s right to information. He said it does not say whether or not the President must keep the outcome of an inquiry, but due to people’s reasonable expectations, Mnangagwa was obliged to release the report.

“There are already questions surrounding the Chihambakwe report (the report on inquiry into the Gukurahundi atrocities of the 1980s), Mnangagwa should try to earn the public’s confidence by making it public or this will satisfy our suspicion that the inquiry was an international public relations gimmick.” he said.

Kudakwashe Hove, another lawyer, said Charamba’s statements were a threat to the people’s right to access to information as enshrined in the Constitution.

“People died and information in the public interest and public good should be disclosed. Even if the Commission of Inquiry Act can give Mnangagwa such right, the Act will be ultra vires the Constitution because it denies people the right to information granted in the supreme law,” Hove said.

“Even principles of good governance call for transparency. The Motlanthe Commission was paid using taxpayers’ money. If Mnangagwa keeps the findings, a person who does not have any relative who was killed on August 1, what will the people whose relatives died think? Will this bring closure to the issue?”

He said Zimbabwe should never allow a situation where reports were kept, saying such practice has denied closure to the Gukurahundi atrocities.

Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum director Blessing Gorejena said in the constitutional spirit of openness, Mnangagwa was mandated to make the findings public. Gorejena said they were shocked by Charamba’s statement, describing it as “out of tune” because Mnangagwa promised to make the outcome of the inquiry public when he set up the commission.

She said everyone, more importantly the victims, have the right to know the contents of the report.

Opposition MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume said they did not agree that the report was for Mnangagwa’s eyes only “because people were shot in public with everyone seeing, the commission has done its inquiry in the full glare of the public and everyone knows what was said and how it was said”.

“It is an act of futility and dereliction of duty for Mnangagwa to try and shelf this report like other reports such as those on Gukurahundi. We cannot have a situation where public funds are used for one person to see only, public funds are for everyone, so we do not agree.”

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition’s Thulani Mswelanto said it was unfortunate that the State continued to fund commissions of inquiries using public funds, but the public never gets to know the contents, challenging Mnangagwa to observe values of good governance such as transparency and accountability.

Combined Harare Residents’ Association executive director Mfundo Mlilo said there was no way the report could be for Mnangagwa’s eyes alone.

“The August 1 report is a national report and must be published as soon as it is practicable. If they wanted a private report, why did they make public consultations? There is no other reason why the report could be made private other than to deny Zimbabweans the truth of the August 1 events,” Mlilo said.

Vendors Initiative for Socio-Economic Transformation (VISET)’s Samuel Wadzai whose members were hugely affected by the shootings said if the President wanted to make the findings private, then it was wrong to hold public hearings.

Human Rights Watch director for Southern Africa Dewa Mavhinga said in the spirit of openness, the findings must be made public.

-Newsday

The church has also waded into the economic debate with United Family International Church leader Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa weighing into the growing calls for government to consider the option of using the rand as a solution to solving the currency crisis that has become a burden for both business and consumers.

Divergent solutions have been proffered on how government can deal with the current fiscal challenges, including the wider usage of the rand as the functional currency given the already strong connection between Zimbabwe and South Africa in terms of trade and FDI.

UFIC leader Prophet Makandiwa, the latest voice to wade into this debate, this Sunday advised monetary authorities to urgently address the currency distortions that have become an albatross for both business and consumers.

Industry leaders such as the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) and the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe  are on record pushing fiscal authorities to adopt the rand as a currency of reference which would ease the pressure on the country as it had become an easy target to access the green back.

According to the industrial body’s past president Mr Busisa Moyo, the rand link presents a strong option for Zimbabwe considering the already strong relationship between the two countries.

The government is currently implementing a number of reforms to revive the economy implemented through a raft of cost cutting measures, but has approached the currency crisis issue with saliency leaving room for arbitrage opportunities.

Despite the growing calls, treasury maintains a lot of issues need to be considered before taking such a route.

The debate on the use of the rand ahead of the US dollar to resolve the country’s currency challenges escalated last year, with arguments centered on the trade statistics where the country’s economic activity is already quoted at 95 percent with Pretoria.

-State Media

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has pledged to turn around the welfare of traditional chiefs by piling benefits and a share of the $310 million set aside for devolution in the 2019 National Budget.

He made the pledge yesterday in response to a tall list of demands presented to him by the traditional leaders at the ongoing national chiefs council conference in Kadoma.

The development comes at a time when government has not made such pledges for civil servants who are planning to down tools and plays into suspicions that Zanu PF pampers traditional leaders for political gains.

Mnangagwa was accompanied to the event by his deputies, Kembo Mohadi and Constantino Chiwenga and his Cabinet ministers.

“In this second republic, the importance of chiefs is going to be upheld highly. There is a $310 million that has been budgeted for devolution next year. If you divide that by 10 provinces you will realise that each province will get $31 million. Now, every chief comes from a particular area of a province. So what I am saying is that as chiefs of a particular province, sit down and discuss among yourselves how much of that money will go towards your welfare. That way the grievances on increases of allowances and fuel allocations will be solved,” he said.

Mnangagwa also assured chiefs that the vehicle scheme will stay despite protests from members of the public.

“Your packages are different from those of civil servants because you are part of the governance structure. So you will find out even if a pastor preaches how good, they will not be given cars by government. But you will get them because it is your entitlement. Your welfare is clearly spelt out in the Constitution,” he said.

The President also promised that chiefs will soon be exempted from land tax. He also promised more land and livestock for the traditional leaders.

“The Constitution clearly spells out that chiefs are custodians of our culture, values and land. So if they are custodians of land, why should they pay tax for the land that they own? This is something we are going to correct. There are also chiefs who did not get land during the land reform programme,” he said.

“That exercise is past now, but we have land audit going on where we are repossessing land lying idle and cutting to size farms that are more than 500 hectares each. On the other hand, we are repossessing farms from multiple owners. Accordingly, all the chiefs who do not have land will get it from the farms we are taking in the process of the audit.”

Mnangagwa also said chiefs should get first preference on the presidential inputs programme and other government agricultural subsidies.

“Chiefs cannot be made to queue for the inputs. How then will their dignity be preserved? So we are going to take heed of your demands on that issue so that you get first preference,” he said.

Mnangagwa also promised that chiefs in Matabeleland who did not get cattle during the command livestock scheme will benefit in the near future.

Chiwenga, who delivered closing remarks, urged the traditional leaders to in turn play a critical role in aligning the rural folk with interests of the government and rein in people with dissenting voices.

“Chiefs, even in the past enjoyed high honour. Look at King David in the Bible or King Solomon. They were all people of great standing in society. The importance of chiefs must, therefore, be preserved in this country and throughout the continent of Africa. We have been doing fairly well on that regard as Zimbabwe. However, as chiefs, you also need to teach people in the rural areas good morals and respect for government,” Chiwenga said.

“Chiefs must contribute in furthering the policies of government and its vision. If we hear a bad-mouthed child, we should ask the chief of that area to explain the waywardness of such a child. We do not want people with wire-brushes in their mouths in the rural areas. We do not want the country to be like an animal farm where citizens have no respect for elders and behave haphazardly.”

NewsDay