Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association secretary-general Victor Matemadanda says the association’s chairman, Chris Mutsvangwa, should stop dragging his name into his fights to do with the fuel business.

Matemadanda said he would not defend anyone on anything except party leader Emmerson Mnangagwa.

His remarks come in the wake of claims by Mutsvangwa, as quoted in some sections of the media over the weekend, that Matemadanda was gunning for Mutsvangwa’s position and was sponsoring provinces to recall him.

So far Mashonaland West and Mashonaland East have resolved to recall Mutsvangwa as chairman of the association with other provinces saying they will meet over the matter.

In an interview yesterday, Matemadanda said he was being persecuted for refusing to comment on the position taken by Mashonaland West and Mashonaland East.

“It’s known that for me to have problems with former president (Mr Robert Mugabe) it was because I had taken a position defending Mutsvangwa,” said Matemadanda.

“In our association, if a chairman comes from ZANU, it has to follow that the next chairman be from Zapu. By virtue of having been the most senior in terms of structure from the ZANLA side, if Mutsvangwa was removed during the G40 era, I was going to be the next chairman, but I refused that.

“We are scheduled for elections next year (and) if I refused the chairmanship five years ago, it will be stupid for me to be interested in that position six months before the elections.

“When Mashonaland West announced that they now want Mutsvangwa to be recalled, Mutsvangwa’s wife called me at midnight saying what is your take? I said, I spent five years fighting Mugabe and now I want to work for my family.

“I don’t want to be dragged into issues of fuel that we are hearing that there are certain people who want to invest in that sector. I have nothing to do with those wars (and) I don’t want to be involved. The fact that I refused to comment on the position taken by Mashonaland West is the reason why they are saying it’s me who is interested in the chairmanship post.

“The stupidity of whoever is saying that is, the constitution is very clear that if Mutsvangwa steps down today, his deputy is the one who takes over until we elect a new chairman.”

Matemadanda said he could not be bothered by Mutsvangwa saying he (Mutsvangwa) had not been attending meetings of the national executive since mid-last year.

“We last had a meeting of the national executive chaired by Mutsvangwa around July last year,” he said.

“After the November march going forward, we never had a national executive meeting chaired by Cde Mutsvangwa. All meetings have been chaired by Cde Headman Moyo and we never had any problem.

“What makes them think that I am interested in his position is the fact that I refused to comment on the position taken by Mashonaland West. I don’t want anyone’s approval for me to take a position of my choice.

“I have power in the association as secretary-general and I did not get that position because of whoever is saying that. I was elected by the people and I serve the people who elected me. As for Mutsvangwa, you know I saved him.

“He was fired from the party and I was also subsequently fired as a result of the position I took to support him. It’s just a big insult to say that I now want the chairmanship post six months before the elections. That’s stupid.

“ . . . (Acie) Lumumba said Mutsvangwa has his own people who want to invest in the fuel industry and are fighting others who are already in that industry. I have nothing to do with that and I am not going to involve myself in that.

“I am a simple farmer in Gokwe. I have no investment in the fuel industry or a relative with a service station. I don’t have an interest in the fuel industry which they are fighting for. So, they should not drag me into their wars.

“I don’t want to be involved and I am not going to fight for anyone this time around. If I am to fight, it has to be for the President because I have to defend my President, not any other person. If I am interested in the chairmanship post, it’s me who administered the constitution of the association, I know the procedure to follow. If I am interested, I will contest at the right time. It’s me who calls for elections, so we don’t have problems about holding elections and Mutsvangwa cannot be a threat to me because he has not been attending meetings of the national executive since mid-last year. So, what is his problem with me? I was calling him and he was not answering my calls and I told the vice-chairman, so should I follow him to his house?”

Matemadanda continued: “People who said Mutsvangwa must go are from Mashonaland West and Mashonaland East, but he does not want to confront them. Do I sit in the provincial meetings of those provinces? Anyone who proposes anything against Mutsvangwa then that person belongs to Matemadanda?

“That is nonsense. When I was elected, as part of my mandate people did not say I should go and defend an individual. If an individual started his wars, he should finish them instead of dragging everyone. Who doesn’t know that this whole matter has to do with the fuel business and nothing else?”

Matemadanda said he was aware that there were some elements fighting him at the party headquarters who wanted him to be removed as the secretary-general of the ZNLWVA.

“I was not appointed by Mutsvangwa. I was not appointed by any national executive member. I was appointed by the President,” he said.

“I will defend the President and not Mutsvangwa. I have nothing to do with him and we have not spoken and I have never had any problem with him.”- state media

Mpilo Central Hospital is appealing for assistance to rebuild destroyed buildings after an inferno engulfed doctors’ quarters on Saturday afternoon.

The hospital board chairperson Mrs Sichelesile Ncube appealed to the corporate world and the public to help rebuild the property valued at nearly $300 000 which was destroyed.
She said the fire which engulfed the doctors’ bar and a wing with apartments for about 15 doctors, resulted in most medical practitioners losing all their property.

A doctor was injured when he jumped out of his room. Mrs Ncube said it was fortunate that no lives were lost as a result of the fire.

“The hospital lost a building while doctors lost personal belongings. We are looking for alternative accommodation for the doctors,” said Mrs Ncube.

Some doctors said they lost important documents as their property was reduced to ashes.
A doctor who declined to be named said he lost US$3 000 which he said he was saving for a wedding set for next month.

“I am preparing for my wedding and these days service providers are demanding forex hence I was saving forex,” he said.

Bulawayo Chief Fire Officer Mr Richard Peterson said his office was contacted late hence it could not save the building and all the property.

He said a bar attendant at the block saw the fire but had no numbers for emergency services.

“The fire started in one room and spread to the entire building through the ceiling,” said Mr Peterson.

He said the value of property destroyed was $300 000 and property valued at $500 000 was saved.

“We managed to save the entire ground floor from the inferno,” he said.
Mr Peterson said the cause of the fire remains unknown and investigations were underway.
“The fire started in a common room where the doctors do their cooking and someone could have left the stove on,” he said.- state media

State Media – Zimbabwe is tackling all the challenges it is facing head-on despite some media reports that the hurdles facing the country cannot be resolved, President Mnangagwa has said.

Writing on his weekly column published by our sister papers, The Sunday Mail and Sunday News, the President said while he appreciates criticism, it was grossly unfair to focus only on the negative without also appreciating the positive that has occurred in the country.

“It is simply untrue and insincere to claim that our problems are the worst; that these are insurmountable, or that they are not being tackled head-on and resolved; that we are failures!
“Equally, it is simply untrue that we are the most corrupt nation, let alone the most tolerant of corruption,” he said.

The President said his administration has declared zero tolerance to corruption and has acted on some cases within the confines of the law.

“The motions of justice can be frustratingly slow, yet that is the way it works. There is no culture of impunity here. Under the New Dispensation, democracy has ‘broken out’ and continues to blossom. Civil liberties are at their most secure since our Independence. More continues to be done to deepen and secure them,” said the President.

He said the recent, unfortunate outbreak of cholera and typhoid triggered far-reaching interventions which are continuing and are likely to change the urban landscape forever.
President Mnangagwa said national peace, stability and unity were secure and assured.
He said the economy was on the rebound.

“All these are great positives which deserve celebrating, but without glossing over or minimising our challenges. The march to 2030 is on and unstoppable,” said President Mnangagwa.

The Government has adopted the “Zimbabwe is open for business” policy and enunciated Vision 2030, whose goal is to achieve an upper middle income economy in the next 12 years.

President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was about to commemorate the first anniversary of dramatic events of Operation Restore Legacy which ushered in a new political and economic dispensation the country now enjoys.

“What distinguished this revolution from all others that have happened on our African continent and elsewhere in the world is the sheer peace which accompanied it. Yet reading through review articles in newspaper columns today, the focus is on “guns”, and not on “roses” which made the whole episode such a unique and an enchanting model in social change, unexampled anywhere in the world,” said the President.- state media

Churches should stop collecting tithes as these are Old Testament practices specifically prescribed by God to the Israelites, Prophet Prince Wonderful has said.

Prophet Wonderful last week told The Sunday Mail Religion that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ did away with “the old ways” such as giving tithes.

Prophet Wonderful said he did not collect tithes and offerings, adding that preachers were using these to make money. He said preachers relied on Malachi 3:10 to take money from congregants.

The verse reads: “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’”

However, Prophet Wonderful said that verse should be contextualised with Malachi 1:1, which says, “Prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.”

The preacher — whose church has no name but is “a gathering of fellow heirs” — said Jesus did not survive from tithes but that people willingly supported His ministry.

He referred to Luke 8:1-3 which says, “After this, Jesus travelled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”

Prophet Wonderfrul said, “I have never collected any tithes or offerings since 2013. This is the true gospel because Jesus never preached that we pay tithes; that was a Jewish practice. We are not Jews but we were Gentiles until the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“Even Paul wrote in Ephesians 2 verses 11-16 that those who were not Jews were referred to as Gentiles or unclean, but the coming of Jesus Christ changed the game as everyone who believes in the Son of God is an heir of the kingdom.

“If we are followers of Christ, why then should we stick to the Old Testament teachings of tithes and offerings? The true gospel is that pastors ought not to survive from tithes but from wilful support from those who want to support the gospel.”

Prophet Wonderful also claimed baptism with water was an Old Testament practice that ended with the coming of Christ, who John the Baptist said baptised with the Spirit.

He also said Holy Communion was no longer relevant because the crucifixion of Jesus’ body represented the bread and wine.

“It’s also wrong to say so-and-so is a founder of a church because Jesus Christ is the one who started the Church. When Jesus calls someone to serve, the main focus should be pushing His agenda.

“We shouldn’t focus on being presidents or founders of churches; this is where self-glorification emanates from. This is how many start referring to themselves as spiritual fathers,” said Prophet Wonderful.

Other preachers disagreed with these views.

Pastor Morgan Moyo of New Gospel Ministries said there was nothing wrong with tithing, explaining: “There is no difference between the Old and New Testament. We use the Bible as a whole. Tithes are still relevant as God’s principles still apply up to this day.”

Another clergyman pointed out that Jesus, in Matthew 5:17-18, said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfil them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”-state media

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Another horrific accident has claimed lives on the highway between Harare and Norton.

Details on the accident are still very sketchy at the moment and ZimEye.com will provide these as they become available.

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The City of Bulawayo is in mourning following the death of senior citizen and former Highlanders board member, Jonathan Sayi Moyo, popularly known by his nickname Mabhanzi.

He was 80.

Moyo passed away on Friday night at Mater Dei Hospital in the city, where he had been admitted for post operation care. He had a knee operation three weeks ago.

Moyo’s son, Dothan said Moyo underwent an operation on the knee three weeks ago but his condition deteriorated ever since and was readmitted at the hospital on Thursday before passing away on Friday evening.

Highlanders Board chairman, Luke Mnkandla said a dark cloud was hanging over the institution and the city following Moyo’s death whom he described as one of the loyal members who gave all their efforts to making Bosso a better run institution.

He said Moyo was forthright in his manner during meetings and would not shy away from raising any matters that he felt needed to be discussed.

“He was one of the longest serving members of the club and also the board, having worked with some of the founder members such as (the late) Nsele Hlabangani and this made him a good store of history and was ever ready and willing to provide advice on club issues.

“Moyo was quite engaging and would raise whatever issue he felt was important during meetings, whether it is a board meeting or the annual general meeting. If he was given a chance to speak during AGMs everyone would listen attentively, aware that something important was about to be said,” said Mnkandla.

He revealed that he initiated the process of writing the club’s history after being appointed board chair and Moyo had been expected to be one of the leading lights, assisting a team that has been selected for the role.

Moyo was vice-chairman in the previous board that was chaired by Mgcini Nkolomi and was at one time transport manager in the 80s and 90s when Bosso used to have a huge travelling brigade.

Nkolomi paid tribute to Moyo saying he was a fountain of wisdom and showed great commitment to the club by attending every board meeting.

Dothan said Moyo born in Ntunte, Filabusi under Chief Maduna and attended Wanezi Mission before proceeding to Mtshabezi where he did his teacher training. He taught in Filabusi district before moving to Harare in the 1960s, where he worked for various entities that include the Ministry of Education, Speciss College and then joined the then Rhodesia Bank (Rhobank) which later turned to Zimbank at independence.

Moyo also dabbled in politics and was a member of Zapu, leading some of the branches.

He was father to famed radio personality Brenda Moyo.

Moyo is survived by his wife Gladys, three children, (Brenda, Dothan and Elnora), eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Mourners are gathered at number 5 Howes Avenue in Waterford and burial arrangements will be announced in due course.

State Media

Own Correspondent|DEPUTY Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Energy Mutodi has come out guns blazing against members of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) who compiled medical reports of victims of the August 1 violence in Harare.

The ZADHR in a report said it had attended to 11 people with gapping gun-shot wounds and accused government of a cover-up job while in one case the feared Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) tried to interfere with medical work.

The report titled: Zimbabwe a New Era/Error and compiled by medical doctors Norman Matara and Fortune Nyamande, documents cases the group attended to between August 1 and September 5, including 72 cases of politically-motivated violence.

In a statement, Mutodi said the doctors were not qualified to reach a conclusion on who fired the gunshots that left 6 people dead and many others wounded.

“Unless one is a bogus medical doctor, he or she cannot purport to tell who unleashed the arrow that injured a patient. A doctor is a specialist not in ballistics but anatomy, paediatrics, neurology and epidemiology. There can never be specialist doctors for human rights.” Mutodi said.

The ZADHR report says there was disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force (by the army), resulting in the death of at least 6 civilians and a lot more were injured.

“In the following days the army carried out a crackdown in Harare s high-density suburbs that included beatings and harassment of people. In other areas such as Muzarabani, Mutoko and Maramba-Pfungwe, opposition supporters and party polling agents were displaced from their homes after being threatened with torture or death, or both,”ZADHR said.

ZADHR provided emergency medical and surgical treatment to victims, conducted rigorous in-depth interviews with survivors and offered psychological counselling services.

Part of the doctors’ report reads:

MALE PATIENT (41) patient who is a street vendor in Harare CBD. He was selling his goods along Nelson Mandela Avenue when he encountered a group of soldiers who told him to go leave town.
As he was walking towards Angwa street he met a second group of soldiers who told him to turn back and head towards the direction he was coming from.

He refused to do so as he saw that where they were telling him to go people were being beaten by soldiers. He tried to run away and was shot and sustained a laceration on his left foot. Had an entry bullet wound on the posterior aspect of the left ankle.

Entry wound showed that this victim was shot from the back. He had extensive soft tissue injuries to the left foot but no fracture.

MALE PATIENT (31). Victim is a cellphone vendor in Harare. He alleges that he was crossing the road near former Ximex mall to meet a potential buyer when he saw a group of people running away from uniformed soldiers. Before he could figure out what was happening, he felt what was like an electric shock in his right forearm. Seconds later he saw blood all over his right upper limb. The victim had been hit by a bullet. He sustained a communited compound fracture of the right ulna.

FEMALE PATIENT (28). She was coming from work near 4th street in Harare when she was hit by a bullet on the forearm. The bullet pierced through her forearm and went on to kill a bystander. She sustained a deep laceration on the forearm but had no fracture.

FEMALE PATIENT (45). Victim was shot in the chest, fortunately the bullet missed major vessels and vital organs. She had extensive soft tissue injuries and had difficulties in mobilizing the right shoulder.

She had multiple sessions of physiotherapy. This victim survived on part time manual labour jobs and after this assault she could not carry out her usual jobs. Her source of living was heavily affected, and her daughter ended up dropping out of school for some period. This affected her psychological well-being in addition to the physical trauma she endured.

MALE PATIENT (34). Sustained extensive soft tissue injuries after he was hit by a bullet on the right distal forearm on 1 August 2018. He was attending to his personal business in Harare CBD when the soldiers shot at him. X-rays revealed that he had no fractures. His wound had multiple foreign bodies and needed debridement and daily dressings.
MALE PATIENT (26) who is employed as a Disc Jockey (DJ) at a local club. He narrated that he had just purchased a new laptop in town, when the shop owner accommodated a group of people who had come running for cover. The shop owner advised them to remain in doors until it was relatively calm.

A few minutes later, the shop owner started worrying about the possibility of having his shop burnt down for accommodating people who were being chased by the army. He then advised everyone in the shop to get out and look for another place to hide.

He remembers that one of the persons in that shop had told him that he had left his kombi (commuter omnibus) outside the shop and they would use it for cover and transport. The kombi driver then ran towards the kombi, but he could not make it to the kombi as he was shot in the chest and fell powerlessly.

When he was trying to help him, he felt a piercing sting on his right thigh and he dropped the kombi driver and ran away. He was not aware of the fate of the kombi driver. He presented later to a ZADHR doctor with a necrotic wound that needed debridement.

FEMALE PATIENT. (21) Was shot on the posterior aspect of the left calf and sustained extensive soft tissue injuries. She is a college student who was having her routine business in Harare CBD when she was shot by the soldiers. She missed several weeks of school as a result of this injury.

MALE PATIENT (41)who was shot in the chest by soldiers and died on the spot. He was certified dead by a ZADHR doctor at Parirenyatwa Hospital. However, when the doctor tried to examine the body to ascertain the full nature of the injuries, he was stopped by a suspected State agent and the body was whisked away. Postmortem results could not be obtained.

MALE PATIENT (26). Was walking in Harare CBD on 1 August when he was shot on the right thigh. He sustained a degloving injury to the right thigh. He presented late to the hospital due to lack of funds. His wound became necrotic and needed debridement in theatre.
MALE PATIENT (Age unknown) who sustained a gunshot wound to the pelvis on the 1st of August. The victim was shot by soldiers in Harare CBD whilst fleeing from them. Bullet was lodged in the pelvis but missed visceral organs. X-rays revealed no fractures. He was taken to theatre and the bullet was removed by the surgeons.

FEMALE PATIENT (Age unknown) who had a penetrating gunshot wound on the left buttock after she was shot by soldiers on 1 August in Harare CBD. She narrates that she was walking in the CBD when she suddenly saw a mob running away from soldiers. She started running too but unfortunately, she was shot, and the bullet lodged in the left buttock. X-rays revealed that she had no fractures. Bullet was removed in theatre by the surgeons.

Correspondent|ONIAS Ndlovu, a survivor of the Thursday night bus inferno near West Nicholson, has described the scene as one of absolute devastation and shock.

Since then, Ndlovu said he has been having nightmares, battling horrifying images of people being burnt alive.

The cries for help, the wailing, the screams and the horror of watching people being burnt alive still haunts him, he said from his Gwanda Provincial Hospital bed yesterday.

“The smell of burning flesh, the flames, the screams…,” Ndlovu broke down before finishing the sentence.

After regaining composure, he proceeded: “It still rings loud in my mind. You could hear the structure of the bus shattering in flames.

“It was so frightful, and more heartbreaking is that we could only, but watch helplessly in horror, and offer no rescue or assistance to those trapped inside the burning bus.

“The screams were so heartbreaking, they screamed to their death and no one could rescue them.”

Thirty-three people were reportedly burnt beyond recognition after the Brooklyn bus burst into flames around 11pm at the 181km peg along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge highway.

The survivors, 27 of them, sustained various degrees of injuries.

The bus, which was heading to Musina, South Africa, from Zvishavane, was carrying mostly cross-border traders.

The accident comes at a time when the country is still struggling to come to terms with the recent Rusape bus accident that claimed 50 lives.

Chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said initial investigations had shown that a gas tank that was inside the bus exploded, causing the inferno.

“I was seated three seats from the driver’s seat. There was some smell emanating from the front, and no one could tell what it was.

“It is at that time that the driver switched on the interior lights, slowed down the bus, showing indications of wanting to stop so that we investigate the source of the choking smell,” Ndlovu, aged 42, who resides at Ensindi resettlement area, about 16km from Gwanda town, said.

Ndlovu boarded the bus from Gwanda.

“Before the bus stopped, there was a huge explosion and in seconds, a huge fire broke out, quickly spreading to the rear of the bus,” he said.

“The blaze spread at terrifying speed, with the flames starting just behind the driver’s seat before engulfing the whole bus.

“I doubt even the Fire Brigade could have saved them even if they had arrived on time.”

In a matter of minutes, Ndlovu said, what was once a Brooklyn Express coach had been reduced to a charred shell by the fire.

Ndlovu was the only survivor still admitted at Gwanda provincial hospital yesterday. He suffered burns on both of his hands, thighs, ears, face and back.

Gwanda Provincial Hospital acting medical superintendent Rutendo Manyati said 16 of the injured survivors had been admitted at the hospital.

But the majority were discharged on request by relatives.

“We admitted 16 patients who had various injuries including burns and fractures; others were transferred on request to hospitals closer to home,” she said.

Manyati confirmed that drug and medicine shortages at the institution presented challenges in treating the injured.

“We have managed to mobilise resources from the provincial office. The national office is also involved in resource mobilisation to assist the injured,” she said.

“However, there are some resources we are having difficulties in sourcing, but luckily we have stakeholders who have reached out and expressed the desire to assist with those resources.”

Ndlovu had to buy some of his medication.

“I just do not know how I managed to get out of the bus as there were flames all over. the smoke was also choking us and there was a stampede,” he said.

Own Correspondent|FRENCH international oil giant, TOTAL, is facing serious fraud charges at Tredgold Magistrates Court, Bulawayo after allegadly defrauding one of its long time dealers of $65K.

TOTAL Zimbabwe Limited representative, Simba Chipawe, was issued with a warrant of arrest after failing to appear in Court on the 30th October, 2018 for continuation of trial.

Criminal charges against TOTAL emanate from a Marketing License Agreement entered into with Messrs Ronnah Mafurirano, trading as Skyorks Service Station, sometime in 2006. The material terms of the agreement included marketing and selling of Total petroleum products at Skyorks while Total would supply products on approved terms of credit.

Messrs Mafurirano alleges that in or about October, 2011 TOTAL made a wrongful and fraudulant call upon a $65K guarantee which she had secured in favour of Total through CBZ Bank Limited. The call was made when TOTAL was faced with a meritorious dispute as to the amounts owing. It acted mala fide and unlawfully in declining to investigate various issues including underground leakages, overthrowing of fuel and invoices showing fuel purpotedly delivered but not received by the complainant.

An audit report completed in November, 2015 subsequently proved that the amount of $65K was not due by the complainant to TOTAL and that the payment on the guarantee by CBZ was not in settlement of any legal obligation of the complainant to TOTAL.

As a result of TOTAL’s arbitrary conduct, the complainant suffered damage amounting to millions of dollars including the fore-closure of her property in Khumalo.

This matter brings to the fore the urgent need for government to intervene and have a clear corporate governance policy which must be adhered to without fear or favour, especially by multi-national corporations operating in Zimbabwe.

To my knowledge, many Total dealers in Zimbabwe have had their properties fore-closed without proper investigatons/audits having been conducted and judicially evicted from their place of business in similar circumstances.

I am persuaded to think, the French company has used its financial muscle to legally wear out those who dare challenge its internal control systems.

Walter Nyabadza is a Zimbabwean lawyer and legal advisor for the National Reclamation Assembly. He writes in his personal capacity.

By EDDIE CROSS|SOME weeks ago, people were saying that the resumption of shortages and fuel queues meant that we are going back into the conditions we experienced in 2005 to 2008.

No, that’s not the case. Our exports and the GDP growing rapidly and we have had a sharp reduction in the fiscal deficit and we will be in surplus by Christmas. At this pace we will be in a different country by March 2019.

Seeing things in perspective has never been more important in Zimbabwe. If we fail to do so, our view of the current problems we are encountering will be distorted and we may all make decisions we later regret. When people went out and paid 6 or 7 to 1 for USD and then bought groceries at astronomic prices, they both regret that now as open market prices and conversion rates have fallen back to 2,5 or 3 to 1.

In 2009 our pessimism was well founded, the economy had collapsed by 90 per cent, all financial institutions were bankrupt, the retail industry was in dire straits having been ruined by price controls and inflation. There seemed to be no way out of the mess we were in and then the MDC won the 2008 election and in February 2009 the GNU was born.

What then happened confounded all our critics and the pessimists who had written us off. What they failed to see was the wider perspective: Zimbabweans are very resilient, we have a huge hidden economy, we have learned how to handle a delinquent Government and international isolation. So when we were offered fairly decent policies and conditions we exceeded expectations in every way.

In a very real sense the same thing applies today. The Government of Mr Mugabe had simply resumed control of the State after the GNU came to an end and for them it was ‘business as usual’.

The looting resumed, the printing of money again became a problem as they tried to cover the fiscal deficit that was doubling every year and Mr Mugabe pretended that he was in the driver’s seat of this broken down bus until he was a 100.

When Emmerson Mnangagwa took power in November 2017, he took almost everyone by surprise. What rocked the world was ordinary Zimbabweans response, they came out on the streets in celebration – not of the change of Government but the final political demise of the Mugabe family.

The Army were greeted as hero’s and I have never seen so many army soldiers kissed on the streets – not since the end of the Second World War. The people of this very special country sealed the deal with this massive, spontaneous, response.

I have never seen so many army soldiers kissed on the streets – not since the end of the Second World War.

Then, once the situation had settled down, the army went back into their barracks – a peaceful, disciplined withdrawal. One Ambassador said to anyone who would listen that he would never underestimate the Army again. Not a window broken, not a stone thrown, not a single vehicle overturned and burnt. It demonstrated the essentially Christian character of the country and the discipline of our armed forces.

The problem was that all the players in the new Government were recycled from the old regime. What we failed to see that in fact a tiny fraction of the Zanu PF Party had taken control and had very different views on what had to be done to ‘fix’ the country. Zimbabweans sensed this and there was talk of ‘who is in control’ and can ED survive? But if we looked carefully the perspective had changed significantly.

In a week, the new President changed the entire membership of the Joint Operations Command, an institution that had effectively been a parallel government for the past 38 years.

He appointed new leadership of every security function – choosing men who are professionals in their fields and largely from Zipra veterans. I thought that was an amazing step given the fact that he had just used the old leadership to secure a transfer of power. In a way he was building a fire wall between the past and the future.

In March 2017, when approached to consider a National Government without an election in 2018, Emmerson had responded with the view that Zimbabwe had to hold a reasonably free and fair election if it was to gain international recognition and support.

In my view he was to hold true to that view and in the process put his whole political future on the line. He could easily have lost the election and the final margin of just 30 000 votes or 0,6 per cent, was simply too tight to call. Or for comfort. But the gamble paid off.

Again perspective was important – what the opposition failed to see was that the international Community was fed up with the constant crisis in Zimbabwe and wanted to engage and get the countries international relations back to normal. What they also failed to see was that the new President was determined to do just that.

What we also failed to see was that he also (unlike Mugabe) recognised that if Zimbabwe was to recover, we had to have a deal with the multilaterals – so now we get a determined thrust – recognition of the right of the former white farmers to fair compensation, recognition that Zimbabwe had to stop doing stupid things – get back on the global playing field and accept the rules for becoming a player. We had to settle our multilateral debt, we had to stop spending money we did not have.

He also recognised that he had to tackle corruption – now so entrenched in the State that it represented a form of state capture. So much money floating around from corrupt deals and arrangements that his colleagues were almost all dependent on ‘brown envelopes’.

All of us need to recognise that while the President doing all this that he was in every way a minority leader. After he had engineered the dismissal of the Mujuru elements in the Party, then the G40 and finally the Mugabe faction, what was left of Zanu? His own group of loyalists is tiny and the political Generals who were so dominant in the last 20 years of the Mugabe rule were more competitors for power rather than compatriots.

When he put together his new team after the elections, he took more risks – appointing a majority of Ministers from the Midlands and the South. Bringing in 5 non-political technocrats’ and shifting the Vice President out of the Ministry of Defence.

The new team, unlike the transition team appointed after the MAT in November, is clearly made up of men and women who are the appointees of the new President. In doing so he has re-established the Cabinet as the main centre of power.

I believe the next step in this process will be a gradual reduction in the influence of the military in the State at all levels of Government.

The emphasis of ‘being open for business’ and the start made in returning to the international playing field has elicited considerable private sector interest and I personally have a list of private sector projects that, if implemented, will involve the investment of US$30 billion and will generate many billions in new exports and hundreds of thousands of new jobs. This was impossible under Mugabe.

I now hear people saying that the resumption of shortages and fuel queues and the sudden emergence of a parallel market for hard currencies means that we are going back into the conditions we experienced in 2005 to 2008.

Nothing could be further from the truth, our economic fundamentals are sound, exports and the GDP growing rapidly and once the new team in the Ministry of Finance started to tackle the macro economic problems of the country, they were immediately rewarded by a sharp reduction in the fiscal deficit and we will be in surplus by Christmas.

At this pace we will be in a different country by March 2019. Let’s keep our current problems in perspective – if we do, they will not look so entrenched or formidable.

Eddie Cross is MDC founding member and its former economic advisor. He writes in his own capacity.

THE highway between Beitbridge and Masvingo will be closed today. The road is being temporarily closed to allow for repairs on the railway line following an accident likely to cost Beitbridge-Bulawayo Railway (BBR) millions of dollars in repairs.

A detour for buses and smaller cars has been created following the inevitable closure of Zimbabwe’s mainland artery between Pretoria and Harare.

Haulage truck drivers have been asked either to delay or use the Zvishavane or Bulawayo routes, almost an extra 800km to Harare

In a public notice yesterday, the Transport and Infrastructural Development ministry said the road would be closed from 7am to 3pm at the level crossing 5km from the Beitbridge border post where the massive accident occurred.

No lives were lost and only one BBR crew member sustained minor injuries in the accident seven days ago.

A goods train travelling from Bulawayo to South Africa derailed at the level crossing last Sunday afternoon after colliding with a haulage truck, which was racing to beat the train in crossing. The road was blocked for 16 hours.

Work to clear the road passage was concluded on Monday, but the railway line remained blocked after the line and locomotives were extensively damaged.

BBR chief executive Thembi Moyo, could not immediately provide the quantum of the damages although experts said it could run into millions.

“Work on lifting the wreckage from the site of Sunday’s collision between a South Africa-bound goods train and a haulage vehicle near Beitbridge is in progress. Heavy lifting began on Friday after we secured heavy-duty cranes from Harare,” Moyo said.

Two locomotives and six loaded wagons were to be lifted and open space for line repairs, she said.

Moyo was not sure when the line, which was built to create the shortest rail route between Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe with South African ports, would be ready for use.

“It will only be possible to make an informed guess about how long it will take to reopen the line once the wreckage has been lifted off it. This was a major accident, which has caused damage not only to the derailed locomotives and wagons, but to about 160 metres of railway track,” she said in an interview.

“As the accident occurred at a level crossing, it will be necessary to close the road for about eight hours to reconstruct the section of uprooted railway line that crosses the road.

“BBR is working with the relevant authorities in connection with the notices and permits that are needed for a road closure. In the meantime, work will continue on the rest of the damaged railway track.”

She said assessors from BBR and the customer whose cargo was damaged were still working out the damage to rolling stock and to the cargo, some of which could only be done once the damaged rolling stock had been lifted.

“It is too early, therefore, to be able to quantify the costs the accident has caused. There is also the business lost due to the closure of the line to factor in,” Moyo said.

Two locomotives, the caboose, six wagons and the containers in the wagons were damaged in the accident.

“BBR would like to appeal to all road users to exercise extreme caution at level crossings in order to ensure there is no train approaching before driving across it.

“If there is an approaching train, it is always safest to wait for the train to pass before proceeding across the level crossing,” Moyo said.

An independent railway consultant said damages in Beitbridge could easily run into millions of dollars.

“Bringing those cranes here alone runs into hundreds of thousands and the amount of man hours there does not come cheap,” said a railway accidents expert, speaking on conditions of anonymity.

— Standard

By Own Correspondent| A Kwekwe soldier was assaulted by five men over the August 1 shootings and deaths of civilians.

The five men allegedly assaulted Witness Mpofu (26) as payback for the August 1 killings and injuries threatening to kill the soldier in revenge.

The men were identified as Maphios Magora (30), Tawanda Magora (39), Owen Magwiramhaka (27), Rashid Phiri (24) and Daniel Nzveda (27).

The soldier is a Torwood resident but based at Pomona Barracks.

The incident reportedly occurred while the men were drinking beer in Kwekwe on September 1.

The five, all residents of Torwood in Kwekwe, are said to have assaulted Mpofu with clenched fists. They were eventually restrained by vendors.

Mpofu then filed a police report leading to the gang’s arrest.

The five are out on bail.-StateMedia

Zimbabwe’s formal employment figures have topped one million — the highest ever in the country’s history — on the back of a raft of interventions by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Government to realign macro-economic fundamentals and stimulate growth and development.

President Mnangagwa has set his sights on transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle-income economy by 2030.

In an interview yesterday, CZI president Mr Sifelani Jabangwe said there was increased activity in manufacturing, with several new companies coming to the fore, while some existing ones had been revived.

“Things have changed for the better as companies are employing a lot of people. We are compiling a final report on the statistics on the employment figures,” he said.

Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe chief executive Mr John Mufukari added that new jobs had largely been added in small and medium-sized enterprises.

In his weekly column in the The Sunday Mail, President Emmerson Mnangagwa says statistics from the National Social Security Authority showed a workforce of more than one million registered employees.

“This is the highest employment level ever in our country, with strong prospects of more jobs coming in the future,” the President says.

“At a recent meeting I had with the business community, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries corroborated this by reporting that 800 000 jobs had been created so far.”

The Head of State and Government adds that companies like Zimasco, Bindura Nickel Corporation, Paramount Garments, Treger Holdings, Tanganda Tea Company and Suzan General Trading have recorded a quantum leap in exports.

“By September this year, the value of our exports stood at US$3,01 billion, itself an 18,1 percent increase from the US$2,55 billion realised between January and September last year.”

The mining sector has been the leading light, with gold output already outstripping the 24 tonnes produced last year to reach 30 tonnes.

Government expects the final gold production figure for 2018 to be 34 tonnes.

President Mnangagwa goes on: “Tobacco, too, made impressive gains. A record of 252,3 million kilogrammes was delivered to our auction floors, up from 190 million kilogrammes delivered in 2017.

“This positive trend shows we will soon break the cyclical shortage of foreign exchange which affects the economy every year this time until the next tobacco crop.”

President Mnangagwa explains that the high demand for foreign currency points to increased business activity as industry, mining and agriculture demand more raw materials and inputs.

Some notable projects underway indicating revived economic activity include the Chinese-funded Hwange Power Station expansion project and the huge tile manufacturing enterprise near Norton.

However, the President says, despite these advances, the pirvate media and the political opposition wanted to paint a picture of a country at a stand still, in the process creating a negative country risk that affected all citizens within the context of international trading and lending.

“Things have got to change, principally our attitude and our whole sense of responsibility to our country and its prospects,” said President Mnangagwa.

“It is, after all, our only country, meaning our fortunes or misfortunes ebb and flow with how well it is perceived by and in the wider world.”

-State Media

THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority last week raided Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries leader Prophet Walter Magaya as part of its lifestyle audits.

Zimra has been seeking clarity on how high rollers fund their lifestyles and whether or not they are paying what they should in taxes.

The Sunday Mail understands that top Zimra officials visited Prophet Magaya twice on Friday as they sought answers on how the preacher amassed his wealth and what his tax returns were.

A Zimra lifestyle audit questionnaire seen by The Sunday Mail asks respondents to explain what businesses they have, to list the properties they own, and how much tax they are paying.

Yesterday Zimra Commissioner-General Ms Faith Mazani said the Prophet Magaya probe was ongoing.

“This is a sensitive investigation and I cannot comment about it at the moment. It’s still an internal operation and as you can see a lot is happening. I still have to see the reports so that I will able to give out accurate information. For now I cannot confirm anything,” she said.

Prophet Magaya’s spokesman Senior Overseer Admire Mango could not be reached for comment.

Information at hand shows that Zimra raided PHD’s premises and Yadah Hotel in Waterfalls, with officials quizzing Prophet Magaya at length.

The Zimra lifestyle audits last week saw showy businessman Genius Kadungure arrested for alleged tax evasion to the tune of US$22 million.

He has been remanded in custody to November 30, 2018 and his lawyer is seeking bail at the High Court.

Zimra says its lifestyle audit indicates the assets Kadungure acquired between 2009 and 2016 were worth far more than his declared income in that period.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared war on corruption.

In a Financial Times article last week, the President said, “Collecting revenue effectively and efficiently combined with cuts and privatisations, will enable us to cut the budget deficit.

“These measures are being complemented by an anti-corruption drive that will save Zimbabwe hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Investigations are underway and arrests are already being made, including of ministers and senior executives. The era of zero tolerance for corruption is here.”

Last week Chief Justice Malaba read the riot act to magistrates’ lackadaisical approach to corruption, which has seen the unjustified release of suspects on bail thus eroding public confidence in the anti-graft drive.

-State Media

ZANU-PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo (SKM) told Standard senior reporter Xolisani Ncube (XN) in a wide-ranging interview that Mnangagwa was committed to reviving the economy.

He said the ruling party was also happy that former president Robert Mugabe’s ouster had ended politics of hate in the country and put the economy at the centre.

He defended Zanu PF’s decision to splash millions of dollars on top-of-the-range vehicles for its senior leaders at a time the government is urging Zimbabweans to tighten their belts following the introduction of austerity measures last month.

XN: It’s a year since former president Robert Mugabe was toppled. As Zanu PF, do you still feel the way you changed your leadership was right?

SKM: I believe as a party and government we have done a lot of good work.

It has been a busy year for us as a party and our president has set the ball rolling.

For the first time in the history of Zimbabwe, we had more than 100 political parties contesting in an election.

We had no violence, parties were allowed to campaign freely and everyone respected other people’s rights and choices.

For the first time, we had 23 or more presidential candidates and everyone was allowed to go to any place to campaign and sell their message to the voters.

Since Zanu PF is a giant, we managed to win back our power and also we are people-centred.

On the economic front, we have stabilised the economy and have put measures to ensure that we have a middle-class economy by 2030, a vision stated by our president. So I can tell you that we are on the right track.

XN: But ordinary people feel the economic situation has worsened after the departure of Mugabe. We have shortages of basic goods and the financial markets are not stable. What is your reaction to that?

SKM: You have to understand that Zimbabwe has had to endure decades of isolation largely because of our land reform programme.

We have had sanctions put on us as a country and we have suffered a lot.

When President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over, he opened his hands for dialogue.

He has opened his government for business and we are re-engaging with everyone across the globe.

So it would be impossible that we experience a turnaround within a short space of time.

Also, let me tell you that we have noted sabotage by those who do not want to see Zimbabwe flourish.

They cause shortages of foreign currency. It is important to note that government has moved swiftly to address that.

If you were to go into shops, you will find a different picture, our shops have restocked and we are slowly getting there.

Yes, we had challenges, but government has put in place measures to address that.

Have you read about the government’s transition stabilisation programme? We are working around the clock to ensure that we have economic stabilisation and a turnaround.

XN: Corruption has been identified as a real threat to economic recovery and people out there believe that the Zanu PF regime is doing nothing to fight the scourge. How do you respond to that?

SKM: You might appreciate that since the coming-in of President Mnangagwa, we have seen a number of people being arrested for corruption.

The president has adopted zero tolerance to corruption. I think you have seen bigwigs at the courts on allegations of corruption.

No matter your status in society, our president and our laws are very clear: you must be accountable for your actions.

Even if you are a cabinet minister, a central committee member or a politburo member, you will have to answer for your actions.

The president has promulgated policies that deal with corruption. If you have been following events at the courts, you can tell that the situation indeed has changed.

No matter your position, if you do a wrong thing, you will have to answer for that.

Our anti-corruption drive is paying dividends, we will win this war. It’s a war we should all sacrifice to win. Every Zimbabwean has a mandate to fight corruption.

XN: What is Zanu PF’s position on Finance minister Mthuli Ncube’s proposals to cut government expenditure by retrenching civil servants?

SKM: The government has adopted the transition stabilisation programme, which deals with the public service and how as government we should deal with our finances in terms of expenditure.

You must read through and appreciate what the government is doing to address those anomalies.

More importantly, government has already begun the process to trim down the public service by retiring and streamlining ministries and departments.

So as a party, we are delighted that yes, the process is not very quick, but we are moving. We have a number of challenges, but they are not insurmountable.

XN: At a time the government is encouraging Zimbabweans to tighten their belts, Zanu PF has been on a spending spree. People are asking where the party is getting the money to buy top-of-the-range vehicles.

SKM: We are a gigantic party with a strong support base. We have friends of the party as well who come in and assist.

We are an organised party, not a tuck-shop briefcase movement thriving on stone-throwing and making noise, we have a social base that has representation everywhere.

We have friends who believe in us as a party and assist when need be.

XN: Some have alleged that you are using or abusing state resources to acquire these assets while the taxpayer is wallowing in poverty.

SKM: The money we get from government is very clear. It is regulated by law and given to every party with representation which is above 5% in Parliament.

We don’t abuse any state resources, but work with a strong budget supported by our people.

From government, we only get what is ours in accordance with the law, the Political Parties Finance Act and all.

XN: So who is buying those top-of-the-range vehicles and funding the party?

SKM: Which vehicles? we are a party of programmes and have many friends, did I not say that? What do you want to hear?

No, we are not getting money from government other than what is allocated to us as stated by the law; we are funded by our people and get valuable assistance from our friends from time to time.

XN: Are you happy with the state of the party a year after Mugabe’s exit from the scene?

SKM: Before the operation, we had disunity within the party, there was no cohesion amongst our people and today we have a different story.

The thrust of our politics as a country has shifted from the politics of hate to economic agenda.

We might not have achieved all we wanted, but certainly we are getting there.

— Standard

A SOMBRE atmosphere fills the air as relatives and passers-by watch in disbelief at the charred remains of a bus which has somewhat been turned into a mass grave.

The remains of people that have been reduced to ashes lie scattered all over in an incident that would haunt many for a long time. A journey that had become a routine for many cross-border traders turned out to be the last when they were caught up in the inferno that engulfed the bus.

Police officers, Red Cross workers and Fire Brigade crew work with so much precision as they sift through the debris in a bid to make out and recover what is left of the victims who perished in this horrific incident. After several hours of working the officers manage to gather the remains and pack each body in a plastic bag.

On Thursday around 11pm a Musina bound Brooklyn Express Bus caught fire at the 182km peg along the Bulawayo- Beitbridge Road near West Nicholson area in Gwanda following a suspected gas cylinder explosion. A total of 33 people were burnt to death while 27 sustained injuries. The bus was mainly carrying cross-border traders from Zvishavane, Insiza and Gwanda districts.

As news of this unfortunate disaster spreads across the country and beyond anxious relatives now trickle to Gwanda Provincial Hospital health information centre to check on the status of their relatives. Mrs Pauline Ncube of Freda Mine in Gwanda rushes to the information desk with hope that her 23-year-old niece could be among the injured. She is assisted by officers from the Zimbabwe Republic Police who search for her niece’s name on the list of 27 patients that were handled by the hospital. To her despair Mrs Ncube does not find the name on the list.

“My niece boarded the bus in Gwanda, she was going to buy some groceries for her family since prices for most basic commodities have gone up here. She was like my own daughter because her mother passed away sometime back and I looked after her until the time she got married. After we heard about the fire incident her husband went to the scene but failed to locate her among the injured. When I came here I had hope that there could be a chance that she was still alive but now it seems I was wrong. They have referred me to Bulawayo for a DNA test. The thought of my sister’s child wailing in agony as flames consumed her breaks my heart- she died a painful death,” said Mrs Ncube as tears filled up her eyes.

A woman who survived the horrific incident, Mrs Ntombizodwa Ndlovu (38) from Harare said there was a lot of jostling and shoving as passengers tried to escape through windows and the door. She said there was little time for one to escape the fiery flame that was spreading fast. Sitting on a hospital bed Mrs Ndlovu recalled how the fire started.

“I was sitting towards the back of the bus and I could smell a gas like chemical. At that time I wasn’t alarmed and assumed that it was a minor problem which crew members would check on and rectify, little did I know that the worst was about to happen.

“I heard a loud explosion and saw a huge flame which originated from the front of the bus heading towards the back. I panicked and at the same time I was afraid and confused. It quickly dawned on me that I had to escape through the window. I tried to open a window next to where I was seated but it failed to open. I managed to escape through the next window,” she said.

Mrs Ndlovu said in her bid to escape she landed on the ground on her back and sustained some injuries. She said a good Samaritan pulled her to her feet and dragged her to safety. Mrs Ndlovu said when she looked back she realised that her peers she was travelling with were still trapped in the bus. She said there was nothing anyone could do as the bus was engulfed in flames.

“The flame was too huge and we had to maintain distance. I was terrified and at the same time I had pain in my heart as I had to stand and watch numbers of people burn to ashes before my eyes. We could literally see some of the people trying to make it to the windows but they couldn’t beat the flames. This is a traumatic incident as I have never witnessed such a horrific incident before. I’m grateful that I escaped but saddened by the lives that were lost,” she said.

Mrs Ndlovu said she was on her way from Zvishavane to buy some wares in Musina, South Africa. She said she lives in Harare but passed through Zvishavane to visit her sister before boarding the Brooklyn Express Bus. Ms Simangaliso Ndlovu (39) of Mberengwa District said she boarded the bus in Zvishavane and was also on her way to buy wares from Musina. She said cross-border trading was her source of income. Simangaliso said she also had to escape through the bus window. She sustained minor burns while attempting to flee.

The driver of the bus, Mr Ndabezinhle Sikhosana who escaped with minor burns said he did not know what could have caused the fire but there was a smell of gas which was followed by an explosion which originated from behind his seat then a flame filled the whole bus. It is suspected that a gas cylinder caused the fire.

Matabeleland South Civil Protection Unit Committee chairperson who is also the Provincial Administrator Ms Sthandiwe Ncube said the Government has availed $16 000 for funeral expenses. Ms Ncube said families would be given the money after undergoing a DNA test.

“Government has so far availed $16 000 to assist bereaved families. Each deceased person will be allocated $500 which will only be released after a DNA test to confirm that the person is their relative. As the CPU we have set up a health information centre at the Gwanda Provincial Hospital which comprises various stakeholders such as ZRP, Social Welfare, Local Government, Ministry of Women Affairs, Registry, Ministry of Health and counsellors to help survivors and those who would like to make enquiries,” she said.

This incident comes a week after 47 people died in a horrorific accident involving two buses which occurred at the 166km peg along the Harare-Mutare Highway. In June 2017, 43 people died along the Harare-Chirundu Road after a speeding bus driver failed to negotiate a curve. In August 2018, 13 people died when a commuter omnibus going towards Kadoma made a sudden about-turn in front of an oncoming bus.

According to the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, 1 838 deaths were recorded in 2017 due to road accidents; and as of March 2018, the number of people killed had risen by 31 percent compared to the same period last year.

The TSCZ also indicated that road crashes increased by 24 percent from 33 136 recorded between the January to August period last year to 41 155 this year. Fatalities in the same period rose to 1 483 from 1173 in the same period a year ago. This comes at a heavy economic cost. Losses from road traffic accidents are estimated at $400 million annually.

State Media

Correspondent|SHORTAGE of drugs and the move by pharmacies to decline electronic transfers preferring United States (US) dollars is set to persist as government is yet to thrush out an immediate solution to the crisis, Health and Child Care minister Obadiah Moyo has said.

This comes as Zimbabwe’s government has reached out to a wide array of well-wishers to avert disaster amid an increase in fatalities as ordinary citizens’ struggle to get the greenback to buy essential drugs.

Chief among the country’s well-wishers is Vice president of India Venkaiah Naidu who has pledged to provide 100 tonnes of drugs.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has also engaged the World Health Organisation (WHO) to provide relief as the “situation has become an emergency.”

WHO recently assisted the southern African nation with $3 million during the cholera outbreak

“This issue of selling drugs in United States dollars, it is an issue which is also troubling us as a ministry, because we were thinking that all the pharmacies should sell their drugs with the currency which is readily available,” Moyo told Senators on Thursday.

“The money which is out of supply is United States dollars, so it does not help that the currency that is not available is the one that they are asking people to pay. Moreover, for that foreign currency to be found, it is very difficult. Our relatives in the rural areas cannot afford those drugs because they cannot get hold of the United States dollars.”

Moyo appealed to pharmacies to accept the bond notes, electronic transfers and medical aid cards.

“As of now, the RBZ does not have enough United States dollars but we are also pleading with them that from the few United States dollars that they have, they should watch closely those whom they give the money – whether they are using that money for drugs or they divert it for other uses,” said the former Chitungwiza Hospital chief executive officer.

Moyo said government was committed to resourcing the industry and the Reserve Bank of ZImbabwe has, been releasing what it can to the pharmaceutical industry.

He added that Cabinet had set up a committee to investigate on how foreign currency is being used.

He insisted that the ultimate solution is for Zimbabwe to manufacture its own drugs.

“From the allocation we are going to get, we will buy raw materials to give CAPS and Datlabs for them to manufacture drugs; they will account for the money that they will be given. After they manufacture, we will send those drugs to National Pharmaceutical Company (NatPharm). NatPharm does not have enough drugs in their warehouses as of now. We told NatPharm that we want to do a re-stocking exercise. We want to fill their warehouse with drugs,” he said

“We have also engaged the World Health Organisation (WHO), they helped us during the cholera outbreak. They gave us drugs worth $3 million, now they are also helping us. They are in their meetings because we told them that it is now an emergency in Zimbabwe. Yesterday I was with the Head of WHO in Zimbabwe and he sends a message to their Headquarters in Congo. We have also engaged their Director General who is in Geneva, I met him when I went for a meeting and he has understood that and they also want to help us. Their hearts are pure when it comes to helping Zimbabwe.”

Moyo said arresting owners of pharmacies who are charging in United States dollars was not the solution.

He could not however proffer an immediate solution.

“As a ministry, we have engaged the ministry of Justice and the ministry of Finance. I think you saw what happened on the fuel crisis, some garages had their licences revoked. We also contemplate doing the same but we have to be wise on that and we do want pharmacies to complain that we have revoked their licences because of US dollars. On the other hand we are saying US dollar is another currency which we can use to trade in Zimbabwe. We have engaged the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Finance on the way forward,” he said.

Health stakeholders have been calling on government to move swiftly to curb the parallel market in order to bring sanity back to the medical industry and avoid distortions in the pricing of services and medicines.

The supply chain for medicines has a number of players that is manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers and has been operating at below optimum levels with credit facilities withdrawn due to unavailability of forex to pay for prior orders.

Sections of desperate Zimbabweans have since turned to medicines from the street or online vendors, which are cheap but harmfull as most would not have undergone the quality product assessment by the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe.

M&T

Own Correspondent|The current in-fighting within the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZLWVA) is likely to destabilise the ruling ZANU PF party as war veterans claim to be the heartbeat of national politics.

Inside sources within the ZNLWA told this publication that the war veterans leadership insists that their constituency is sensitive and their influence dictates the pace in day to day politics and they can set the direction of the politics in the country.

“A storm is brewing in Zanu PF as war veterans are divided in groups which might eventually divide the party leadership,” said the source.

“There is a big crisis now and the national executive council is supposed to meet soon and come up with a position as to where we are headed.

“It is without doubt that this crisis will spill into a political crisis and war vets are trying to protect the nation from a full blown crisis,”added the source.

The in-fighting within the war veterans body reached a tipping point on Wednesday when the Mashonaland West provincial council resolved to recall the chairman Christopher Mutsvangwa whom they accused of being divisive, self-centred and putting the name of the organisation into disrepute among a litany of allegations. On Thursday Mashonaland East provincial council endorsed Mutsvangwa’s recall.

This invited a different opinion from the organisation’s national spokesperson Douglas Mahiya who described the resolution as ‘wishful thinking’.

When contacted for comment, Mutsvangwa refused to comment citing that he was under the weather.

“I am not well, I know you want to do your job but at least understand that people can be sick.

“I think you have also not been well at sometime in your life,” he said.

Mahiya also refused to comment on the current issues at this juncture.

Political analysts who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity said the divisions in ZNLWVA were symptomatic of the divisions within the ZANU PF leadership.

“You see what is happening here is a tell tell sign that each of the war veterans faction is backing a certain side within the presidium.

“The Mash West chapter clearly accused Mutsvangwa of disrespecting President Mnangagwa by his utterances in which he disagreed with the Command Agriculture programme which is generally believed to be Mnangagwa’s brainchild. Mahiya then comes in and defends Mutsvangwa which means he is also technically denouncing Command Agriculture programme and its architect. There is a storm brewing and the relevant ministry must intervene forthwith and douse the fire,” said a political commentator who preferred anonymity.

“Mutsvangwa seems to be playing the role of kingmaker,” he added

ZANU PF has however previously put it on record that there was no animosity within the presidium as widely speculated.

Own Correspondent|Outspoken former deputy finance minister and career banker Terrence Mukupe has for the first time conceded that his former boss Patrick Chinamasa felt threatened by him in belief that he was after his job during his tenure in the Ministry of Finance.

This has put to rest speculative reports that the two’s relationship was marred by traits of ‘professional jealousy’ that resulted in discordant policy announcements being made within the ministry.

Mukupe was responding to an enquiry on any achievements he made in his short tenure as deputy minister of one of the ‘hot’ ministries in cabinet.

On his own admission, he failed to achieve anything in his role due to toxic politics that often exists among government ministers.

“Close to none (achievements) as it was clear that I was reporting to a Minister who didn’t like me and felt I was out to get his job and froze me out from day one. I did my best under the circumstances, gave my recommendations and am happy some of them are in line with what the current set up is carrying out,” Mukupe said speaking from his new base in Mozambique.

Mukupe, who still has passion for finance, said President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration has to rise above mere rhetoric in engaging with the United States for the removal of sanctions while at the same time making root and branch changes at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe if the country’s economy is to claw out of the fire.
He urged for the acceleration of economic reforms that are necessary to right sizing the economy.

This comes as Zimbabwe is facing a wide array of economic challenges that include cash shortages and the proliferation of foreign exchange parallel market rates which are having a negative effect on prices.

“The current environment is still far from ideal. More is needed to be done to engage the Americans so as to lift ZIDERA. As long as that is in place I really feel for Prof (Finance minister Mthuli) Ncube,” Mukupe said before taking a dig at the central bank leadership.

“The other issue is we need to do away with the Soviet style economics whereby the central bank Governor is like a ‘mini god’ who decides who he wants to subsidise in the economy,” Mukupe said.
Mnangagwa and Ncube have maintained that the bond note and the United States dollar is at par but Mukupe insists that living in denial will not move the country forward.

“We have to recognize the parallel market because that is where 90 percent of the economy is functioning from. We just need to swallow our pride and get into bed with the Rand Union as a temporary stabilization measure. The other issue is that financial reforms should not be half hearted. The central bank and the finance ministry need a complete overhaul to boost business confidence,” he said.

The former Wall Street Banker served a turbulent nine months as Chinamasa’s deputy.

Asked on his relocation to Mozambique, he said:
“I’m a finance person first and foremost. With my partners we are in the process of setting up a Pan African investments firm anchored in Mozambique focusing on the logistics value chain from Beira into SADC. As for the politics of the land we achieved what we wanted, we have a new dispensation in place and the right blend of the technocrats and politicians.”

Never one to shy away from controversy, Mukupe’s short stint as deputy Finance minister saw him stir public outcry when he mocked MDC legislator Tendai Biti, over his alleged HIV status, during a live political debate on Star FM.

He was also arrested and fined for assaulting his ministry’s finance director, 58-year-old Ignatius Mvere, for allegedly giving him a “paltry $910 travel allowance”.

He was also in the eye of a storm when he was mentioned in a fuel scam, facing fraud charges and was in and out of court on answering to various lawsuits over thousands of dollars in unpaid debts.

He however insists: “Check most of those suits,they were malicious at best and have been cleared.”

M&T

A GOODS train derailed near Cement Siding in Bulawayo on Saturday. Railways officials say a locomotive pulling another went off the railway tracks under yet to br verified circumstances, and they both overturned.

The crew had been taken to a local hospital for treatment, but the state of their injuries could not be ascertained.

The service was being operated by the Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway company. The locomotives were due to pull wagons loaded with cement from PPC Cement, about 5km east of the city.

This becomes the second train derailment inside a week after another goods train hit a truck and derailed near Beitbridge on the tracks leading to Harare.

The Beitbridge-Harare road was blocked for two days, before engineers from BBR managed to move the wagon blocking the road.

Zimbabwe has been hit by a spate of accidents over the past fortnight on both its rail and road networks. Many lives have been lost, leaving hundreds injured.

Correspondent|THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA)’s lifestyle audit which unearthed massive fraud and tax evasion by Harare socialite Genius “Ginimbi” Kadungure has been extended to the next target: Walter Magaya of the PHD Ministries.

Zimra has been seeking clarity on how high rollers and celebrities fund their lifestyles and whether or not they are paying what they should in taxes.

Zimra officials visited Prophet Magaya twice on Friday as they sought answers on how the preacher amassed his wealth and what his tax returns were.

A lifestyle audit is simply “a study of a person’s living standards to see if it is consistent with his or her reported income”.

Its purpose is to identify pointers to improper activity that has enabled the person to live beyond their means.

Lifestyle may be judged from things that are pretty public, such as a house, a car, a taste for extravagant food and drinks, holidays or expensive women (or men) which cannot be explained on the basis of what is known of the person’s resources.

A Zimra lifestyle audit questionnaire, which ZOOMZimbabwe is in possession of, asks respondents to explain what businesses they have, to list the properties they own, and how much tax they are paying.

Yesterday Zimra Commissioner-General Ms Faith Mazani told The Sunday Mail the Prophet Magaya probe was ongoing.

“This is a sensitive investigation and I cannot comment about it at the moment. It’s still an internal operation and as you can see a lot is happening. I still have to see the reports so that I will able to give out accurate information. For now I cannot confirm anything,” she said.

Prophet Magaya’s spokesman Senior Overseer Admire Mango could not be reached for comment.

Information at hand shows that Zimra raided PHD’s premises and Yadah Hotel in Waterfalls, with officials quizzing Prophet Magaya at length.

The Zimra lifestyle audits last week saw showy businessman Genius Kadungure arrested for alleged tax evasion to the tune of US$22 million. Read the full story here.

He has been remanded in custody to November 30, 2018 and his lawyer is seeking bail at the High Court.

Zimra says its lifestyle audit indicates the assets Kadungure acquired between 2009 and 2016 were worth far more than his declared income in that period.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared war on corruption.

In a Financial Times article last week, the President said, “Collecting revenue effectively and efficiently combined with cuts and privatisations, will enable us to cut the budget deficit.

“These measures are being complemented by an anti-corruption drive that will save Zimbabwe hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Investigations are underway and arrests are already being made, including of ministers and senior executives. The era of zero tolerance for corruption is here.”

Last week Chief Justice Malaba read the riot act to magistrates’ lackadaisical approach to corruption, which has seen the unjustified release of suspects on bail thus eroding public confidence in the anti-graft drive.

Below are live videos broadcast by several media houses who include the state broadcaster, ZBC, showing 8 months before the elections, showing ZANU PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa smiling the very moment his then senior officer and personal advisor announced that the military would be deployed to enforce an electoral result outcome favourable to him. VIDEO LOADING…

Dear Editor.

Another horrific accident has happened along Khami Road near Fly Over. A Quantum tipped upside down and deep inside gully. (pictures)

Five suspected MDC Alliance supporters allegedly assaulted a soldier in Kwekwe, accusing him of shooting and killing civilians during the August 1 post-election skirmishes in Harare.

The five allegedly threatened to kill the soldier as payback for killing innocent civilians.
Maphios Magora (30), Tawanda Magora (39), Owen Magwiramhaka (27), Rashid Phiri (24) and Daniel Nzveda (27) allegedly assaulted Witness Mpofu (26).

The suspects are all from Torwood in Redcliff while Mpofu is a soldier based at Pomona Barracks in Harare, residing in Torwood.

Last week, Kwekwe magistrate Mr Tayengwa Sangster released the suspects on free bail. The case will proceed by way of summons.

Mr Freddy Ndoro, representing the State, said on September 1, 2018 at about 5pm, Mpofu was drinking beer near Torwood Supermarket.

Phiri, who was also drinking beer in the company of his co-accused, approached the complainant and accused him of restraining them from beating up his colleague who had broken an egg the previous day.

Phiri started shouting at the soldier until the other four joined in. The five then started punching and slapping Mpofu.
The court also heard that the suspects threatened to kill Mpofu to avenge the “innocent souls killed by the soldiers” on August 1.

It took the intervention of vendors to restrain the gang. Mpofu then filed a police report, leading to the gang’s arrest.- state media

Government has identified over 107 000 sites across Zimbabwe for construction of houses under the Command Housing programme.

The scheme, which President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to officially launch, is targeting 470 000 houses in the next five years. Designs under the programme have been completed with the focus on high-rise modern apartments.
Zimbabwe’s housing backlog is estimated at 1,3 million units, with 500 000 of those needed in Harare.

Plans are underway to build houses in rural areas in line with President Mnangagwa’s drive to modernise the entire country. This will be done under a Human Settlement Policy.
Secretary for Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Mr George Magosvongwe said a pilot Command Housing scheme would be done in Mt Hampden.

He said the programme included revamping of existing infrastructure and residential suburbs such as Mbare in the capital and Makokoba in Bulawayo.

Government has availed US$150 million for the first phase of the programme.
“It’s important to note that we can’t continue dishing out arable land to housing projects. This means that developers have to build vertically rather than horizontally.
“President Mnangagwa has emphasised the need to address rural housing, thus we will work with other Government entities to ensure that title deeds are availed in both urban and rural areas as a way of modernising our communities and stemming rural-urban migration.”
Mr Magosvongwe said local authorities had been tasked to come up with regeneration plans showing how they intended to improve living conditions.

“Meetings have been held with banks, pension funds and other stakeholders since the programme can only be achieved through collective efforts,” he added.
Illegal settlements have mushroomed in and around urban areas over the last 20 years, many of them lacking essential services like potable water and sewer infrastructure.

Rural and urban planning expert Mr Nyasha Mutsindikwa said Command Housing was a noble idea which would spur development. – state media

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

 

The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) yesterday dismissed allegations raised by the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) that the army was responsible for the shooting of civilians on August 1 as false, saying the ZDF position was clearly stated to the Commission of Inquiry and the ZADHR report should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves.

Responding to an article in the Daily News that claimed the military had taken a body from the morgue in a desperate bid to tamper with evidence, Director Defence Forces Public Relations Colonel Overson Mugwisi said if the ZADHR had any evidence to assist the inquiry, they should present it to the Motlanthe Commission.

“The Zimbabwe Defence Forces position on the 01 August shooting incident was clearly stated through evidence given to the Commission of Inquiry on post-election violence.

“Allegations against the Zimbabwe Defence Forces attributed to the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) purporting that ‘the military had, in one of the ugly incidents witnessed, forcefully taken away a body from the morgue, in a desperate bid to tamper with evidence’ are false and should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve.

‘‘If the ZADHR has any evidence that can assist the ongoing inquiry on unfortunate deaths from post-election violence, they should present it to the Zimbabwe Republic Police experts or Commission of Inquiry seized with the investigations,’’ Col Mugwisi said.

The ZADHR yesterday panicked after releasing a questionable report trying to pre-empt the findings of the Commission of Inquiry set to investigate the August 1 disturbances that resulted in the death of six people.

In their report, ZADHR scandalously concluded that the six were killed by the military without proffering any evidence as to how they arrived at the claims.

They also alleged intimidation of MDC-Alliance supporters by Zanu-PF, which has nothing to do with the medical evidence they purported to present.

This is despite the fact doctors have no expertise in ballistic materials to certify that the bullets used were from the ZDF armoury.

In a rushed statement that further exposed the organisation, ZADHR sought to justify their funding by making claims that they were apolitical.

The statement was directed to The Herald after it made some inquiries on certain issues that cast aspersions on the credibility of their report.

“ZADHR wishes to alert members of the public, the Mothlante-led commission and all Zimbabweans that there are concerted efforts by the State media to dismiss the recently launched report by ZADHR on post-election violence,” reads part of the statement.

“ZADHR is in possession of communication of a State media journalist who has been enquiring all day about the sources of funding for ZADHR and whether or not ZADHR is linked to political parties.

“For the avoidance of doubt and to set the record, the ZADHR board states that ZADHR is non-partisan, as its constitution bars office bearers from holding any political office.

“ZADHR is a membership-based organisation whose core activities are funded by its members. ZADHR also has strategic partnerships with development partners who also fund government health programmes.”

Political analysts yesterday roundly condemned the report by ZADHR, saying it was more of a political statement than a medical compilation.

Harare-based political analyst Mr Tafadzwa Mugwadi said: “The doctors’ report on the August 1 events falls short of being a medical report, but mere political commentary,” he said.

“It shows, though regrettably, the serious levels of polarisation that have infiltrated our medical sector and our hospitals in particular. The doctors have strayed and gate-crushed into a technical area which they have not an iota of knowledge over.

“The question of whose gun released the bullet is not a matter of guessing and speculation, but one under the purview of the arms and ballistic experts following technical processes of testing cartridges. It is, therefore, worrisome that doctors who are supposed to be the leading figures in scientific research become dangerously speculative and experimental.

“One hopes such speculation and hearsay will not become a habit when it comes to examination of patients.”

Mr Mugwadi continued: “By and large, the report is more of bus stop political gossiping than a medical report. If this coterie of mischievous doctors was concerned with the political questions of August 1, then they should have presented their accounts of the events before the Commission of Inquiry than drag a whole respected profession of medicine in a doomed bid to score cheap political outputs much to the disdain and chagrin of an anxious nation.”

Another political commentator Mr Godwine Mureriwa said: “Their sentiments or conclusions are as prejudicial as the notorious presumption by the MDC-A that elections can never be free, fair and credible if they do not win an election.

-State Media

The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) yesterday dismissed allegations raised by the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) that the army was responsible for the shooting of civilians on August 1 as false, saying the ZDF position was clearly stated to the Commission of Inquiry and the ZADHR report should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves.

Responding to an article in the Daily News that claimed the military had taken a body from the morgue in a desperate bid to tamper with evidence, Director Defence Forces Public Relations Colonel Overson Mugwisi said if the ZADHR had any evidence to assist the inquiry, they should present it to the Motlanthe Commission.

“The Zimbabwe Defence Forces position on the 01 August shooting incident was clearly stated through evidence given to the Commission of Inquiry on post-election violence.

“Allegations against the Zimbabwe Defence Forces attributed to the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) purporting that ‘the military had, in one of the ugly incidents witnessed, forcefully taken away a body from the morgue, in a desperate bid to tamper with evidence’ are false and should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve.

‘‘If the ZADHR has any evidence that can assist the ongoing inquiry on unfortunate deaths from post-election violence, they should present it to the Zimbabwe Republic Police experts or Commission of Inquiry seized with the investigations,’’ Col Mugwisi said.

The ZADHR yesterday panicked after releasing a questionable report trying to pre-empt the findings of the Commission of Inquiry set to investigate the August 1 disturbances that resulted in the death of six people.

In their report, ZADHR scandalously concluded that the six were killed by the military without proffering any evidence as to how they arrived at the claims.

They also alleged intimidation of MDC-Alliance supporters by Zanu-PF, which has nothing to do with the medical evidence they purported to present.

This is despite the fact doctors have no expertise in ballistic materials to certify that the bullets used were from the ZDF armoury.

In a rushed statement that further exposed the organisation, ZADHR sought to justify their funding by making claims that they were apolitical.

The statement was directed to The Herald after it made some inquiries on certain issues that cast aspersions on the credibility of their report.

“ZADHR wishes to alert members of the public, the Mothlante-led commission and all Zimbabweans that there are concerted efforts by the State media to dismiss the recently launched report by ZADHR on post-election violence,” reads part of the statement.

“ZADHR is in possession of communication of a State media journalist who has been enquiring all day about the sources of funding for ZADHR and whether or not ZADHR is linked to political parties.

“For the avoidance of doubt and to set the record, the ZADHR board states that ZADHR is non-partisan, as its constitution bars office bearers from holding any political office.

“ZADHR is a membership-based organisation whose core activities are funded by its members. ZADHR also has strategic partnerships with development partners who also fund government health programmes.”

Political analysts yesterday roundly condemned the report by ZADHR, saying it was more of a political statement than a medical compilation.

Harare-based political analyst Mr Tafadzwa Mugwadi said: “The doctors’ report on the August 1 events falls short of being a medical report, but mere political commentary,” he said.

“It shows, though regrettably, the serious levels of polarisation that have infiltrated our medical sector and our hospitals in particular. The doctors have strayed and gate-crushed into a technical area which they have not an iota of knowledge over.

“The question of whose gun released the bullet is not a matter of guessing and speculation, but one under the purview of the arms and ballistic experts following technical processes of testing cartridges. It is, therefore, worrisome that doctors who are supposed to be the leading figures in scientific research become dangerously speculative and experimental.

“One hopes such speculation and hearsay will not become a habit when it comes to examination of patients.”

Mr Mugwadi continued: “By and large, the report is more of bus stop political gossiping than a medical report. If this coterie of mischievous doctors was concerned with the political questions of August 1, then they should have presented their accounts of the events before the Commission of Inquiry than drag a whole respected profession of medicine in a doomed bid to score cheap political outputs much to the disdain and chagrin of an anxious nation.”

Another political commentator Mr Godwine Mureriwa said: “Their sentiments or conclusions are as prejudicial as the notorious presumption by the MDC-A that elections can never be free, fair and credible if they do not win an election.

-State Media

Local churches have called for the reversal of the two percent tax on all electronic transactions on top of financial reforms in the national budget to be presented by Finance minister Mthuli Ncube next week.
The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) said they held extensive nationwide consultations on the 2019 national budget and talked to about 1 000 people in approximately 42 areas across the country.

“An unmistakable consensus arose from the consultative processes highlighting an urgent need to reform our economy,” ZCC said. “Most Zimbabweans want the direction of the economy to change. They want a more caring economy, an economy that delivers prosperity and justice together.

“They also want to see the reversal of austerity measures and greater investment in basic social service delivery, greater support and investment towards the overlooked informal sector insofar as it sustains the livelihoods and basic needs of the majority of our people, job creating and inclusive
industrialisation that also gives small to medium enterprises, smallholder farmers, artisans and informal sector workers fair opportunities to compete.”

The church leaders also demanded fundamental structural reform of the economy to redress the imbalances and inequalities in access and control of wealth, economic power, productive resources and opportunities and gender sensitive and redistributive mechanism to reduce the inequitable care burden shouldered by women at the household level.

ZCC called for an acceleration of devolution to ensure local authorities have greater control and accountability over local resources in addition to some drastic measures to reign in corruption and restore public trust and confidence in public officials.

The churches said there was need to expand the national “cake”, alleging that since 2009, the budget allocations have been inadequate, leading to widening budget deficits.

They said key budget priorities should be education, health, water, agriculture, housing and social security sectors.

They also challenged the government to address some distortions in the economy that have resulted in the emergence of exorbitant parallel rates which were beyond the reach of many.

ZCC said Zimbabwe needed to collectively develop a shared, comprehensive and inclusive national economic vision that holistically address issues of the economy, the environment, industrialisation, skills and technological developments, decent and dignity of work and property ownership, among many other issues.

-Newsday

Government will soon remove all prosecutors seconded to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) from State security agencies with no law degrees, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi has told the National Assembly.

He made the disclosure after Zengeza West MDC MP Job Sikhala asked what was the government doing to deal with the problem of under-qualified people in the Judiciary.

This comes amid concern that over 50 percent of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) personnel — mostly seconded from the police, Air Force, army and prisons — are unqualified for their job, thereby compromising the justice delivery system.

“We now have an overwhelming number of qualified legal practitioners from our own local institutions like Midlands State University, University of Zimbabwe and also a supplement of other qualified legal practitioners from South African universities,” Sikhala said.

“What is the government policy over the phasing out of under qualified personnel who have been seconded to work in the Judicial Services Commission and also in the National Prosecuting Authority where we have under qualified soldiers and police officers who are working as prosecutors in our courts?

“What is the ministry’s policy over the issue of phasing out police officers and soldiers from our courts?” Ziyambi said government would soon be demilitarising the NPA.

“I want to thank Sikhala for the question and indeed he is very correct. The NPA Act stipulates that all our law officers must have a degree and we are in the process of ensuring that we comply with that requirement of the NPA Act and very soon we will phase out all those who are under qualified from our establishment,” he said.

Sikhala demanded to know when government was going to fire the under qualified prosecutors. This comes amid disquiet over huge salary disparities between demoralised permanent prosecutors and those seconded from various security services including the army, Air Force, prisons and police who are on higher remuneration.

Ziyambi said he is waiting for the Finance minister to unfreeze recruitment of government staff before removing the seconded staff.

“We do not want to disturb the justice system. What we are doing is that we applied to Treasury so that we can be allocated posts and I am very happy that this year we got some posts that were allocated for prosecutors,” he said referring to the August recruitment of 106 new prosecutors to fill in gaps created by mass resignations over the years as a result of plummeting morale among staff and poor working conditions caused by lack of resources.

“So, progressively, as we fill in the posts, we will request that those that have been seconded should go back. “We do not want to create a shortage when we have not been given posts. I acknowledge that we need to get rid of them. We have even encouraged those that are under qualified to go and upgrade their qualifications and join the Prosecution Unit since they are already there.

“So, for me to give a time frame, it is not dependent on me alone but it is also dependent on Treasury when they give us a full complement of the staff that we require.”

-Newsday

By Own Correspondent| President Emmerson Mnangagwa joins other Heads of State and Government at the ongoing AU Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Mnangagwa who left yesterday in at the summit where key decisions and declarations are set to be made following rigorous debate over proposed institutional reforms for the continental body.

The Africa Union Chairman President Paul Kagame of Rwanda is expected to give a blow by blow account on his findings after two years of exhaustive research and possible areas of generating revenue for the continental body.

Currently the SADC leaders are already meeting in Ethiopia to discuss about some of the recommendations by the Council of Ministers.

The Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Ambassador Cain Mathema attended the Council of Ministers meeting which finalised the agenda of the heads of state and government.

Africa is said to have the resources and the brains to catapult itself from underdevelopment to a more developed continent given the political will of its leaders with more responsibility going towards the 2063 target.

Also in Addis Ababa are Zimbabwean Ambassadors Tedious Chifamba from Brussels, Grey Marongwe from Kuwait and Albert Chimbindi based in Ethiopia.

So the AU Extraordinary Summit will see the AU sign posting its road to more independent from the donor funding.-StateMedia

 

 

Government will soon remove all prosecutors seconded to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) from State security agencies with no law degrees, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi has told the National Assembly.

He made the disclosure after Zengeza West MDC MP Job Sikhala asked what was the government doing to deal with the problem of under-qualified people in the Judiciary.

This comes amid concern that over 50 percent of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) personnel — mostly seconded from the police, Air Force, army and prisons — are unqualified for their job, thereby compromising the justice delivery system.

“We now have an overwhelming number of qualified legal practitioners from our own local institutions like Midlands State University, University of Zimbabwe and also a supplement of other qualified legal practitioners from South African universities,” Sikhala said.

“What is the government policy over the phasing out of under qualified personnel who have been seconded to work in the Judicial Services Commission and also in the National Prosecuting Authority where we have under qualified soldiers and police officers who are working as prosecutors in our courts?

“What is the ministry’s policy over the issue of phasing out police officers and soldiers from our courts?” Ziyambi said government would soon be demilitarising the NPA.

“I want to thank Sikhala for the question and indeed he is very correct. The NPA Act stipulates that all our law officers must have a degree and we are in the process of ensuring that we comply with that requirement of the NPA Act and very soon we will phase out all those who are under qualified from our establishment,” he said.

Sikhala demanded to know when government was going to fire the under qualified prosecutors. This comes amid disquiet over huge salary disparities between demoralised permanent prosecutors and those seconded from various security services including the army, Air Force, prisons and police who are on higher remuneration.

Ziyambi said he is waiting for the Finance minister to unfreeze recruitment of government staff before removing the seconded staff.

“We do not want to disturb the justice system. What we are doing is that we applied to Treasury so that we can be allocated posts and I am very happy that this year we got some posts that were allocated for prosecutors,” he said referring to the August recruitment of 106 new prosecutors to fill in gaps created by mass resignations over the years as a result of plummeting morale among staff and poor working conditions caused by lack of resources.

“So, progressively, as we fill in the posts, we will request that those that have been seconded should go back. “We do not want to create a shortage when we have not been given posts. I acknowledge that we need to get rid of them. We have even encouraged those that are under qualified to go and upgrade their qualifications and join the Prosecution Unit since they are already there.

“So, for me to give a time frame, it is not dependent on me alone but it is also dependent on Treasury when they give us a full complement of the staff that we require.”

-Newsday

Government will soon remove all prosecutors seconded to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) from State security agencies with no law degrees, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi has told the National Assembly.

He made the disclosure after Zengeza West MDC MP Job Sikhala asked what was the government doing to deal with the problem of under-qualified people in the Judiciary.

This comes amid concern that over 50 percent of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) personnel — mostly seconded from the police, Air Force, army and prisons — are unqualified for their job, thereby compromising the justice delivery system.

“We now have an overwhelming number of qualified legal practitioners from our own local institutions like Midlands State University, University of Zimbabwe and also a supplement of other qualified legal practitioners from South African universities,” Sikhala said.

“What is the government policy over the phasing out of under qualified personnel who have been seconded to work in the Judicial Services Commission and also in the National Prosecuting Authority where we have under qualified soldiers and police officers who are working as prosecutors in our courts?

“What is the ministry’s policy over the issue of phasing out police officers and soldiers from our courts?” Ziyambi said government would soon be demilitarising the NPA.

“I want to thank Sikhala for the question and indeed he is very correct. The NPA Act stipulates that all our law officers must have a degree and we are in the process of ensuring that we comply with that requirement of the NPA Act and very soon we will phase out all those who are under qualified from our establishment,” he said.

Sikhala demanded to know when government was going to fire the under qualified prosecutors. This comes amid disquiet over huge salary disparities between demoralised permanent prosecutors and those seconded from various security services including the army, Air Force, prisons and police who are on higher remuneration.

Ziyambi said he is waiting for the Finance minister to unfreeze recruitment of government staff before removing the seconded staff.

“We do not want to disturb the justice system. What we are doing is that we applied to Treasury so that we can be allocated posts and I am very happy that this year we got some posts that were allocated for prosecutors,” he said referring to the August recruitment of 106 new prosecutors to fill in gaps created by mass resignations over the years as a result of plummeting morale among staff and poor working conditions caused by lack of resources.

“So, progressively, as we fill in the posts, we will request that those that have been seconded should go back. “We do not want to create a shortage when we have not been given posts. I acknowledge that we need to get rid of them. We have even encouraged those that are under qualified to go and upgrade their qualifications and join the Prosecution Unit since they are already there.

“So, for me to give a time frame, it is not dependent on me alone but it is also dependent on Treasury when they give us a full complement of the staff that we require.”

-Daily News

An unmoved President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday insisted opposition leader Nelson Chamisa must appear before the commission of inquiry investigating the deadly August 1 shootings, which left at least six civilians dead in Harare.

-Daily News

Local churches have called for the reversal of the two percent tax on all electronic transactions on top of financial reforms in the national budget to be presented by Finance minister Mthuli Ncube next week.
The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) said they held extensive nationwide consultations on the 2019 national budget and talked to about 1 000 people in approximately 42 areas across the country.

“An unmistakable consensus arose from the consultative processes highlighting an urgent need to reform our economy,” ZCC said. “Most Zimbabweans want the direction of the economy to change. They want a more caring economy, an economy that delivers prosperity and justice together.

“They also want to see the reversal of austerity measures and greater investment in basic social service delivery, greater support and investment towards the overlooked informal sector insofar as it sustains the livelihoods and basic needs of the majority of our people, job creating and inclusive
industrialisation that also gives small to medium enterprises, smallholder farmers, artisans and informal sector workers fair opportunities to compete.”

The church leaders also demanded fundamental structural reform of the economy to redress the imbalances and inequalities in access and control of wealth, economic power, productive resources and opportunities and gender sensitive and redistributive mechanism to reduce the inequitable care burden shouldered by women at the household level.

ZCC called for an acceleration of devolution to ensure local authorities have greater control and accountability over local resources in addition to some drastic measures to reign in corruption and restore public trust and confidence in public officials.

The churches said there was need to expand the national “cake”, alleging that since 2009, the budget allocations have been inadequate, leading to widening budget deficits.

They said key budget priorities should be education, health, water, agriculture, housing and social security sectors.

They also challenged the government to address some distortions in the economy that have resulted in the emergence of exorbitant parallel rates which were beyond the reach of many.

ZCC said Zimbabwe needed to collectively develop a shared, comprehensive and inclusive national economic vision that holistically address issues of the economy, the environment, industrialisation, skills and technological developments, decent and dignity of work and property ownership, among many other issues.

-Newsday

President Emmerson Mnangagwa left for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday for the 11th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU), where he will join 54 other African Heads of State and Government expected to continue discussions on the institutional reform process of the continental body.

He was seen off at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by Vice President Kembo Dugish Mohadi, Cabinet Ministers, service chiefs and senior Government officials.

VP Mohadi is the Acting President.

Heads of State and Governments are expected to meet today and tomorrow for the session.

The Permanent Representative Committee (PRC) — made up of permanent representatives from all the 55 member states — met on Monday last week, while the 20th Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council — a successor to the Organisation of African Union’s Council of Ministers — convened on Wednesday.

All member countries participate in the Executive Council usually through their Foreign Ministers.

In a statement on Thursday, the AU’s directorate of information and communication said the Assembly will likely “make decisions and declarations” on outcomes of the Executive Council meeting held earlier in the week. “The Assembly will consider and make decisions and declarations based on the outcomes of the 20th Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council meeting, held from 14 — 15 November 2018,” said the AU.

“Main topics covered by this summit include AU institutional reform, reform of the AU Commission, mandate of the AU Development Agency (AUDA), and financing of the African Union.”

The Assembly is the supreme organ of the African Union and consists of all the 55 Heads of State and Government of the AU.

African leaders intend to revitalise, realign and reform the organs of the AU — the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Pan-African Parliament as well as the Peace and Security Council (PSC) — in order to make them more efficient and impactful.

The mandate of NEPAD (New Partnership for African Development), which is set to be integrated into the AU as a development agency (the African Union Development Agency) will also be examined.

The idea to reform the AU was first broached at the June 2015 AU Summit in Sandton, South Africa, in June 2015 and gained traction the following year when Rwandan President Paul Kagame was tasked to undertake a study on how the reform process could be undertaken.

With the aid of a nine-member advisory panel of experts from across the continent – who include Econet Wireless executive chairperson Mr Strive Masiyiwa and ex-South Africa Reserve Bank Governor and current Finance Minister Mr Tito Mboweni – President Kagame came up with a report that was adopted in January last year.

In essence, the reform programme is envisaged to regenerate the continental body into an institution that can sustainably finance its activities, connect to the AU’s 1,2 billion citizens on the continent and realign the continental bloc to deliver on its priorities.

Progress in implementing some of the key aspects of the reform process has already been made.

The AU has since introduced the women and youth quotas, while the rationalisation of the working methods of the body has been completed.

Working on transitioning the bloc to a financially independent entity is progressing slowly.

Currently, more than 60 percent of the AU’s operational budget is funded by donors.

— Chronicle

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By Own Correspondent| The Civil Protection Unit (CPU) has released $16 000 to families of the 32 people confirmed dead in the Brooklyn Express bus accident in Gwanda.

The accident, which was allegedly caused by a gas tank which exploded in the boot of the bus, saw the 32 burn to death in a explosion which reduced the bus to ashes.

The state broadcaster reported that contrary to media report claiming that over 40 people died in the inferno, the ZRP confirmed 32 deaths revealing that 27 others were injured while some of the victims are unaccounted for.

The Brooklyn bus was travelling from Bulawayo to Messina when tragedy struck along West Nicholson road around 11 pm on Thursday night.

The state broadcaster also reported that a desk has been set up at Gwanda Provincial Hospital to assist those who suspect that their relatives are victims of the tragedy.

However, the $16 000 funeral assistance money released by the CPU to assist the bereaved families will be disbursed after DNA tests have been carried out.

By Own Correspondent| Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief executive officer Karikoga Kaseke was reportedly hospitalised over an ailment said to be a stroke, ZimEye has learnt.

Sources said Kaseke was initially admitted at the Corporate 24 Medical Centre with significantly impaired communication.

He remains ill and has been transferred to the Borrowdale Trauma Centre.

A source who spoke to ZimEye however revealed that Kaseke was still hospitalised.

The ZTA chief executive officer is set to leave the institution he has led for 13 years.

This is a developing story. Refresh this page for updates.

 

 

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A man from Bulawayo has appeared in court for assaulting his pregnant wife for dressing ‘inappropriately’.

Betram Lunga (29) of Matshobana suburb punched Pretty Malabwe (24) for wearing shorts in public. Lunga pleaded guilty to physical abuse charges when he appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Mr Lungile Ncube.

“I was angry because of the way my wife was dressed. If she had met my relatives dressed in that manner they would have concluded that I married a prostitute. She is pregnant and she was wearing a tight short in public,” he said.

Mr Ncube fined Lunga $100 or 90 days in prison. Mr Kenneth Shava for the State told the court that on Saturday last week at around 6PM, Malabwe was at Munga shops in Matshobana suburb sitting with a friend when Lunga approached them and asked her why she was wearing shorts.

He said Malabwe in response told her husband not to worry about what she wears because he does not buy her clothes.

Mr Shava said Malabwe’s response angered Lunga who then punched her several times with fists. He also threatened to assault her with an empty bottle, the court heard.

Lunga was later restrained by his father and Malabwe managed to escape and reported the assault to the police leading to Lunga’s arrest. – state media