Titus Dzongodza, MD, was at the end of a long work day, throwing on his jacket to go home, when an 8-year-old girl gasping for breath walked through the doors of the new pediatric otolaryngology clinic at Harare Children’s Hospital in Zimbabwe.

“Immediately I knew we were in trouble,” Dzongodza, who was director of the clinic at the time, said in a Skype interview. “She looked obviously stressed and tearful.” Anoona (not her real name) had traveled all day with her mother by bus from their home in a rural village hundreds of miles away to reach the nearest hospital. It was springof 2018, a year after the opening of the pediatric otolaryngology clinic, which treats disorders of the ear, nose and throat. “I could hear the grating sound in her shaky voice indicating the return of the viral warts on her larynx,” Dzongodza said. “I knew we’d have to gather the whole team together in a matter of minutes.”

After two years of planning, building, fundraising, training staff and scrounging for medical equipment, the new clinic opened its doors in March 2017. Almost immediately, doctors were seeing three times more patients at the clinic than had previously been seen for ENT complaints at the adult hospital in Harare. Within its first year, thousands of new patients made the daylong trip by bus to get treatment for neglected conditions. It was only the second such clinic in Africa. (The first was in neighboring South Africa.)

In a country of 14 million people, there are only eight otolaryngologists, also known as ear, nose and throat doctors. Many consider the subspecialty of pediatric ENT unnecessary because of Zimbabwe’s many other unmet health care needs.

“This was a bold dream for a full-scale clinic with audiology and speech therapy services, as well as two operating rooms with a recovery room and beds for overnight care,” said Peter Koltai, MD, professor of otolaryngology and of pediatrics at the Stanford School of Medicine, who was recruited three years ago as a volunteer adviser for the project. “Now we believe that this new clinic can be used as a role model to be duplicated across all of Africa.”

The problem
The clinic was the vision of Clemence Chidziva, MD, an ENT surgeon and professor of otolaryngology at the University of Zimbabwe. Chidziva knew firsthand the effects of malnutrition, poor medical care and uncontrolled viruses on his pediatric ENT patients. He also knew these problems reached far beyond Zimbabwe into other parts of Africa and the developing world.

“I wanted to build a clinic that could provide high-quality care for children and proper training for pediatric ENT surgeons as well,” Chidziva said in a Skype interview.

Prior to the opening of the new clinic, Chidziva’s pediatric ENT patients received care at Harare Central Hospital — an adult hospital where conditions are poor, running water spotty and specialty care for children nonexistent. The children’s hospital is on the same grounds as the adult hospital, and children with ENT problems still undergo surgeries at the adult hospital. When Koltai first traveled to Zimbabwe in 2015, he stayed in the background, listening and learning about the problems he and Chidziva’s staff were going to try to fix.

“When I first arrived, I saw the fragility of this medical system,” Koltai said. “The lack of supplies, questionable water and electricity, the marginal cleanliness outside of critical areas in the hospital. There were no fiber-optic capabilities — that is, medical equipment used for internal examination of the body — and no record-keeping for patients. But I also saw the dedication of these doctors, who were working under conditions we would find almost intolerable at Stanford.”

The types of ENT problems Chidziva routinely treated — and that Koltai would eventually assist with during his repeated visits to Harare over the years — were far more serious than the general population understands, Chidziva said. There’s a common misperception in Zimbabwe that ENT problems in children are trivial. Parents think that continually running noses in their children, constant snoring and painful ear infections are just a way of life.

But, in fact, the list of serious problems is long: untreated ear infections that lead to perforated eardrums and often deafness; HIV infections that cause repeated ear and throat disorders; congenital neck masses; ingested button-cell batteries lodged in airways; leeches that crawl into the ears of babies left to play in the grass, causing uncontrollable bleeding.

“Many of these things are no longer problems in the modern world, but big problems in the developing world,” Dzongodzasaid. He is now on a fellowship in Melbourne, Australia, where he is training to become certified as a pediatric otolaryngologist. He will be the first physician with the certification in Zimbabwe when he returns to lead the clinic in July.

One of the most serious and common medical problems treated by the Zimbabwean physicians is called recurrent respiratory papillomatosis. It’s a disease caused by the human papilloma virus, or HPV, that causes growths in the upper respiratory tract. The growths can cause difficulty breathing, damage the vocal cords and become life-threatening. The conditionoften gets misdiagnosed as asthma, delaying treatment. Children first lose their voices and then struggle to breath until, as in the case of Anoona, the growths threaten to block respiration completely.

“By the time they get to us, they can’t sleep, they’re not growing, their breath is raspy and they are struggling to get in air,” Dzongodza said. “Usually they’re about 3 years old when they first show up, then they return maybe three to five times for surgery as the warts keep growing back. It’s a challenge for us, especially when much of the equipment we had been using was quite archaic.”

This was the case for 8-year-old Anoona, who was rushed into emergency surgery when she arrived on that spring evening struggling to breathe. It would be her eighth surgery to remove the viral warts from her larynx. As a toddler, she had been misdiagnosed with asthma and appeared at the hospital for the first time when she was 3 years old, gasping for breath. This time, though, she would be initially seen at the new clinic, with staff better trained to treat children, and operated on at the adult hospital with new equipment and advanced new imaging technology designed for use with children.

“All the surgeons on the unit had met her one way or the other over the years,” Dzongodza said. “Often the senior colleagues would dig into their pockets to get her bus fare for the next journey back to the hospital.”

The clinic
To make his vision a reality, Chidziva started by raising funds for construction of the clinic from the Christian Blind Mission International, a charity committed to improving conditions of those living in some of the poorest communities in the world. Next, he invited Koltai to join his team. Koltai’s prior experience in helping to set up several pediatric ENT clinics in the United States and working for 10 years as the director of the pediatric otolaryngology program at Stanford, would prove invaluable, Chidziva said.

“Clemence had a vision, and I bought into it,” Koltai said. “This project resonated with my goals of seeing the footprint of pediatric otolaryngology spread far and wide. I would supply some of the experience, and Clemence supplied the leadership.”

Koltai has spent endless hours scanning eBay in an effort to scrounge up reusable medical equipment at affordable prices. He brought two decommissioned surgical microscopes from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford to Harare and has been instrumental in plans for the delivery of an ultrasound machine. The Jenks family of Menlo Park, who had supported Koltai’s research work in the past, helped pay for the eBay purchases and their shipping fees. Early on, he secured funding from Stanford’s Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery to fly the physicians from the clinic, including Dzongodzaand Chidziva, to the Bay Area, where they stayed with Koltai and observed him for a month at Stanford Medicine.

“Peter’s work, together with his Zimbabwean counterparts, helping to stock the clinic with instruments and develop a novel training program for the surgeons was a terrific example of an equity partnership,” said Michele Barry, MD, director of Stanford’s Center for Innovation in Global Health. “Having worked on and off in Zimbabwe for almost 30 years, I can tell you that this accomplishment was no small feat.”

Over the years, Koltai has returned repeatedly to Harare to teach advanced surgical techniques, hold seminars and set up the previously nonexistent record-keeping program. The record-keeping will be essential for Chidziva’s long-range plan of creating a training ground at the clinic for future pediatric ENT surgeons, along with a research program to help advance academic appointments at the University of Zimbabwe. The first research project on the docket, he said, will be a clinical trial to provide evidence of what appears to be the widespread scourge of the HPV disease.

“We feel that with scientific evidence to support us, we can get our government to vaccinate for HPV to prevent this disease,” Chidziva said.

Still, the clinic remains a work in progress. Plans are moving ahead to open two operating theaters adjacent to the clinic and dedicated to treating children with ENT problems. Fundraising efforts have been amped up to fill gaps in care caused by the tripling of the patient load following the opening of the clinic. Due to constant funding shortfalls, much of the equipment considered essential at Stanford, such as MRI or CT machines, remains out-of-reach luxuries in Harare.

“When we created this clinic, we did it to improve care for our patients,” Chidziva said. “But within the first year of opening, we saw 3,500 patients, three times the average caseload. The struggle now continues to get them all onto an operating table in time.”

The future
In May, the team organized the first international symposium to advance pediatric otolaryngology across Africa, called PENTAfrica, held in Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, with the goal of advancing pediatric ENT across Africa. Attended by otolaryngologists and other health care professionals from Africa, Europe and North America, the event launched the organizers’ long-range plan to use the new program as a model to provide great access to care across the continent.

“We’re hoping our new clinic will plant a seed in each and every country in Africa,” said Chidziva. By July, with the return of Dzongodza from Australia and with the opening of the clinic’s operating wings, Chidziva will be well on his way to achieving his goals.

For Dzongodza, training thousands of miles away in Melbourne, he still worries about his patients back home, including Anoona. Dzongodza remembers taking off his jacket that evening, then scrambling, like usual, to track down equipment being shared by other staff at the hospital, including the oxygen tank and the pulse oximeter, before operating on the child’s airways. He complained to the attending nurse about the overbooked clinic, the incomplete vital sign chart and the inconsistent water at the clinic. But the new surgical equipment and Koltai’s surgical training made a difference that night.

“Surgery went on successfully, but our nightmare remains of how to offer social support given her circumstances,” Dzongodza said. “I saw the child once more before leaving for Australia, and she was doing well. We can only hope that she continues to make the long journey back to the hospital when she needs us again.”

Stanford University

Canadian mining company Falconbridge Inc. had a big problem in Zimbabwe during the Gukurahundi disturbances in the early 1980s.

Its operations in war-torn Zimbabwe were in chaos. ZIPRA rebels opposing Robert Mugabe were firing at Falconbridge’s Blanket gold mine security force with rocket-propelled grenades. Workers there were also getting hungry, with food provisions running low due to blockades.

Thirteen-thousand kilometres away in Toronto, Falconbridge’s chief executive didn’t mess around. Bill James flew 24 hours to Zimbabwe and went straight to the Robert Mugabe’s office and demanded that Mugabe’s government protect Blanket Mine staff 24-hours a day. Mugabe barged.

“Bill wasn’t a wallflower. He’d barge into anyone’s office,” said Bill McNamara, a longtime friend of Mr. James and a lawyer with Torys LLP.

Mr. James’s demands, delivered in his signature loud, gravelly baritone, were simple: He wanted food for his employees and assault rifles for their protection.

“Mugabe’s looking like someone’s hit him on the head with a two-by-four,” Mr. McNamara said. “[Thinking,] ‘Who the hell is this guy?’ ”

But here’s the thing. Mr. Mugabe knew that without that mine in operation, Zimbabwe would suffer economically. The next morning, five truckloads of maize showed up at the mine, along with a dozen AK-47s.

Mr. James, who died last month at the age of 89, had a no-nonsense manner that rubbed some people the wrong way, but was deadly effective. He was known for turning around a number of large mining companies in the 1980s and ’90s, notably Falconbridge, which was in a deep financial hole when he took it over. Mr. James set a new bar for efficiency in mining that would be emulated in the decades ahead by the likes of Hunter Harrison in the American railroad industry. He was also renowned for his deep empathy and ability to connect with everyone, from some of the most formidable political leaders of the 20th century to the most junior miner in his operation.

William (Bill) James was born in Ottawa on Feb. 5, 1929, son of Lenore (née McEvoy) and William Fleming James, a geologist and owner of James, Buffam & Cooper, one of Canada’s pre-eminent mining consulting businesses. Junior caught the mining bug early. He started working underground in a gold mine near Timmins, Ont., in 1947, while he was still in high school.

“A lot of shovel work,” he told The Globe and Mail about his time in the mine.

He earned a bachelor of arts, then a master’s from the University of Toronto. In 1957, he completed a PhD in geology at McGill University in Montreal.

“He was always a practical down-to-earth type,” said retired geologist Brian Hester, a fellow student at U of T in the early 1950s.

“In my mind he always had his jacket off and sleeves rolled up.”

After graduating, Mr. James took a job as crew chief at a uranium mine in Elliot Lake in Northern Ontario. Far from resting on his academic laurels, he earned more underground overtime than anyone else.

“He wasn’t just a miner in an ivory tower. He was a miner’s miner,” Mr. McNamara said.

In 1961, he joined his father’s consultancy business, and worked with some of the big mining companies of the day, including Falconbridge, Teck and Placer.

Bill James with his son John James at Georgian Bay, 2001.

Michael Power, who worked alongside Mr. James at the consultancy, recalls his intense work ethic while the two raced to get a feasibility report on a mine done on time.

“We stayed in the office the entire weekend. We didn’t sleep. We had some cheese in the fridge and we got the report done,” Mr. Power said.

“He had unbelievable stamina.”

In 1973, Alfred Powis, CEO of Noranda Inc., one of the biggest Canadian metals companies of the day, hired Mr. James to run a subsidiary. By the next year, he moved up to executive vice-president with charge over the company’s mine portfolio. Extremely hands on, he had a remarkable ability to see both the big picture and the fine details.

“The key thing when you were dealing with Bill James, as I used to tell the people there at Noranda, you tell the truth,” Mr. Power said.

“There’s a tendency in organizations to BS a little bit. You don’t quite know the answer but you pretend to. You do that with Bill, he’ll know.”

In 1982, Mr. James joined Falconbridge Ltd. as CEO at a time when the great nickel company was in deep trouble. Falconbridge was losing $2-million a week, amid moribund commodity prices and a crushing debt load. Mr. James went to work cutting corporate fat. Executive washrooms, the two private jets, the helicopter, the fleet of Jaguars – he got rid of all of them. Facing down union bosses, he laid off 40 per cent of the Sudbury workforce. The Toronto head office was cut in half. Not surprisingly, the layoffs garnered resentment from some quarters. According to Sudbury native Stan Sudol, owner and editor of RepublicOfMining.com, a joke making rounds at the time was, “Bill James dies and goes to hell, but the devil kicked him out, because he kept shutting down his furnaces.”

But eventually it was Mr. James who had the last laugh – by 1984, Falconbridge was back in the black.

As ruthless as Mr. James could be, he also displayed a deeply human side. In 1984, when a rock burst trapped four miners underground in a mine near the town of Falconbridge, Ont., he raced to the scene. Against the advice of safety personnel, he went underground himself and through a small opening held the hand of a lone survivor, 22-year-old apprentice mine mechanic Wayne St. Michel, who was trapped under a giant rock. For more than a day, Mr. James stayed with the man.

“‘It’s going great, Wayne, it’s going great,” he told him over and over.

“‘We’re coming for you.’”

After 27 hours, Mr. St. Michel was freed, but, cruelly, he died shortly after in the hospital.

“The only time when I was a kid that I ever saw him cry,” said son John James of his father after the death of Mr. St. Michel.

“He was a really tough guy, but he really cared.”

Mr. James also proved himself to be a savvy dealmaker at Falconbridge. In 1985, the company paid $1.3-billion to acquire the coveted Kidd Creek copper, silver and zinc mine near Timmins, Ont. In doing so, he trumped his former boss at Noranda, Mr. Powis, who was desperate to buy the property. Kidd Creek, which helped diversify nickel-heavy Falconbridge into other metals, would go on to become an extremely profitable asset.

Losing Kidd Creek only emboldened Mr. Powis to go after Falconbridge itself. But Mr. James was in no mood to sell the company on the cheap, especially considering that by 1988, profit and revenue were at record highs. Eventually a three-way fight for Falconbridge ensued with Sweden’s Trelleborg AB and U.S.-based Amax Inc. also bidding. In the end, a joint offer by Noranda and Trelleborg AB succeeded, but the pair paid a steep premium, acquiring Falconbridge for $37 a share.

In 1990, Mr. James took on another big challenge. Like Falconbridge, uranium producer Denison Corp. was heavily indebted when he joined as CEO. On one particularly bleak Friday afternoon, Mr. James got a call that Denison was to be served notice later that day on a loan that was coming due. That would have put Denison on the brink of bankruptcy. At that point, Mr. James ordered everyone out of the Toronto office, turned off the lights, locked up, and slipped out the back door. A hapless lawyer from McCarthy’s showed up shortly after with the notice, banged on the door, but nobody came out. Over the weekend, Mr. James was able to line up alternative financing and Denison stayed afloat.

“He never quit,” John James said. “He always would find another way to make it work.”

By the time he left Denison in 1996, Mr. James was in his mid-60s but he’d hadn’t slowed down much. In the summer, one of his favourite leisure activities was to strap himself into his 9-metre Zodiac boat and take off around Lake Superior, often with his partner Jalynn H. Bennett in tow.

“He had two 400-horsepower engines on the back of the thing,” Mr. Power said.

“He used to say it was the second fastest Zodiac in the world. The fastest was owned by the CIA for catching drug smugglers off the coast of Cuba.”

He’d met Ms. Bennett, a fellow CIBC board member, a few years after getting divorced from his first wife, Joanna, to whom he was married for 32 years. Naturally, Ms. Bennett and Mr. James got into a couple of scrapes. On one of their Zodiac trips down the St. Lawrence, a CIBC bank manager in a small Quebec town refused to let Mr. James withdraw $10,000 in cash as there was some uncertainty regarding his identity. Mr. James asked the manager if she had the CIBC annual report on hand. When she brought it to him, he pointed out that the two souls standing in front of her, in their orange survival suits, were in fact the same CIBC board members whose pictures were in the report. Mr. James got his money, and an apology.

In 1996, Bill James signed up for one last business caper, this time at Inmet Mining Corp. Inmet’s prized asset was its 50-per-cent stake in the promising Antamina zinc-copper project in Peru. But Antamina proved to be elusive. Unable to raise about $1.3-billion to develop it, a reluctant Mr. James was forced to sell Antamina at the urging of an activist investor. In 2000, at the age of 70, Mr. James stepped down as CEO of Inmet and walked away from corporate life for good.

He stayed active in retirement. In winter, he skied most weekends at his cottage in Georgian Bay. In 2002, Mr. James, like his father, was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. In his later years, he moved into the family farm in Halton Hills, west of Toronto.

After Ms. Bennett died in 2015, Mr. James developed breathing problems from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He died on Sept. 4 in Oakville, Ont., from heart failure. He leaves his sons Paul, Bill, George, John; daughters, Mary Witham and Anne Rogers; stepdaughter, Alexandra Bennett; stepsons, Braden Bennett and Sam Bennett and 17 grandchildren.

John James believes his father might have lived another 10 years, had he just slowed down a bit. But that wasn’t his style. Bill James’s attitude toward his own life was much like his approach to boating in a Zodiac.

“You’re going to go full tilt til the thing breaks, and then that’s it, you sink it.”

Globe and Mail

The current shortage of cooking oil on the market has had a negative effect on young women in Bindura who are reportedly resorting to barter trading sex in exchange for the priceless commodity, 263Chat has learnt.

Cooking oil and other basic commodities such as bread and sugar have since last week disappeared from supermarket shelves amid failures by the government to secure adequate foreign currency for manufacturers to import raw materials.

The shortages have also resulted in the return of the black market where a two-litre bottle of cooking oil is sold at prices ranging from $10 to $15.

While there is so much to worry about with regards to the shortages, young Bindura women since found respite in sex for cooking oil from illegal mine workers also known as makorokoza.

“It is sad that most young girls in surrounding mining areas in Bindura are now selling sex for a two-liter bottle of cooking oil. Most of these young girls are from child-headed families and they have no other means of getting the scarce but important commodity and they end up falling prey to prying makorokoza,” said one Bindura rural woman, Tarisai Muchena who claims to have witnessed a couple of young women falling prey to these men.

“Some mine owners are now paying their workers in commodities which include mealie-meal, cooking oil, sugar, and soap and they then take advantage of the disadvantaged young girls, giving them cooking oil in return for sex,” added one woman who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The young girls normally survive on handouts from well-wishers but now those good Samaritans are withholding their benevolence as they are keeping the little they have to sustain their families until such a time when normalcy returns.

“This means that they now have to resort to unthinkable means of survival which puts them at risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections and worse still, HIV/AIDS as they end up indulging in unprotected sex,” said Natasha Matika from Trojan Mine.

Most families in these mining towns are child-headed after their parents or guardians succumbed to the deadly HIV/AIDS pandemic.

“It is disheartening to note that most of these men are not sincere with these young girls. Instead of them helping out communities, they see an opportunity to go under the sheets with desperate young girls,” noted one lady identified as Amai Norma.

Fears of shortages are fueling the culture of hoarding and panic buying of basic commodities.

Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube has since assured the nation that the currently economic problems that resulted in shortages will be addressed in a week’s time.

-263Chat

President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday said his Government was aware and gravely concerned by the manipulation of the economy by a group of people and businesses aimed at destabilising the market by creating artificial shortages and a black market economy.

Speaking at the 17th Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE) graduation ceremony yesterday, the President warned those peddling falsehoods on social media.

He said the net was closing in on them.

“We also note the wanton peddling of false news through social media to cause despondency and alarm among people.
“We are now certain and clear of the personalities behind these wicked and criminal activities and the net is closing in on them. We will soon name, shame and bring to book these gluttonous individuals and companies.”

President Mnangagwa said the country would leapfrog to a modern society through inculcating scientific mindsets and the timely dissemination of appropriate information as well as publishing relevant research findings.

“I therefore call upon both the print and electronic media to educate the public about the value of Science education and scientific thinking in the world of today and the future.

“Institutions of higher learning, such as this one, must play a leading role in this regard. Government will on its part be receptive to solid scientific research outcomes.”

The President said there was need to demystify the belief that science subjects were difficult.
He said the country should encourage the promotion of learning of natural, biological and social sciences from Early Childhood Development.

“Bindura University must, thus, churn out graduates who are prepared and determined to ignite a science education revolution in Zimbabwe.

“To that end, we must begin to capacitate students to develop unconventional teaching methods which bolster scientific thinking and inculcates new scientific knowledge to learners at every level of the education system.

“Our interaction, service to the community, seminars, workshops and research studies must equally mirror an institution which is passionate to fulfil its mandate of providing world class science education which will propel our modernisation agenda.”

He said BUSE should leverage on its location in Mashonaland Central to contribute to the province’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“I therefore, exhort the university and graduates to use the skills and knowledge acquired from this institution to explore and exploit the wide array of natural resources that remain untapped and meaningfully contribute to the provincial Gross Domestic Product.

“It is indeed now time for an education system which is productive and responsive to our country’s socio-economic realities,” said President Mnangagwa. A total of 1 719 students, 878 males and 841 females graduated with degrees from five faculties.

The faculties include Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Faculty of Commerce, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Science Education and Faculty of Social Science.

Among the graduates were Zimpapers employees Nduduzo Tshuma, Prosper Ndlovu and Shamiso Yikoniko, who graduated with Masters of Science in International Relations degrees.

Speaking at the same occasion BUSE Vice-Chancellor, Professor Eddie Mwenje, said the university scored a number of success during the 2017/18 academic year.

“Bindura University is leading a national project funded by the European Union to the tune of 38, 387 Euro under the Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) programme.

“The programme seeks, among other goals, to catalogue, digitise and publish species records for non-timber forest products.”

The university also signed the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of Zimbabwe and represents the country on the International Governing Board.

It also received a grant worth $350 000 from the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM).

“The grant will allow the research team to expand work on use of tied contour rain water harvesting system in small grain and legume production for improved household food security, nutrition and income-generation in semi-arid smallholder farming areas of Zimbabwe.

“The university received funding from the International Foundation for Science for the expansion of work in flood recession cropping in Muzarabani area.

“It also received international recognition when the Institution was nominated to host the African Alliance for Disaster Research Institutes (AADRI).

“The alliance seeks to deepen the understanding of disasters and find implementable solutions to achieve disaster resilience; for example human, technical system and infrastructure resilience, survivability and well-being, by integrating knowledge and technologies from around the continent.”

This year the university also introduced new programmes that include, Masters in Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Masters in Economics, Masters in Purchasing Supply and Chain Management, BSc in Electronic Engineering, BSc in Optometry, BSc in Animal Health and Production Extension, BSc in Culture and Heritage Studies, BSc in Agricultural Engineering and Mathematics and a Postgraduate Diploma in Infection Prevention and Control.

Correspondent|Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) President Philip Chiyangwa is battling an optical health ailment which forced him to abandon the second half of the Warriors match against high- fancied Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday night at the National Sports Stadium, the Mail and Telegraph can reveal.

Chiyangwa was whisked away barely five minutes into the second half after he complained of poor eyesight.

“I can’t see properly because of these lights. I have problems with my eyes if I face light,”, he could be heard advising his lieutenants at the VVIP enclosure of the NSS within earshot of this reporter.

Shortly afterwards, his ‘crew’ led by Itai Ndudzo and Chamu Chiwanza had to assist him and guide him out of the stadium.

“Vhurai nzira maziso amdara haasi kuona mushe nenyaya yemalights aya (pave the way the old for the old man, his eyes were affected by the light),” Chiwanza barked at some of the fans who blocked the oversubscribed VVIP section.

Chiyangwa’s health has been a matter of interest on the social media but he has maintained that he is fit as a fiddle.

Speaking at the 17th Bindura University of Science and Technology graduation ceremony in Bindura yesterday, Mnangagwa warned those peddling false news on the social media.

He said the net was closing in on them. “We also note the wanton peddling of false news through social media to cause despondency and alarm among the people.

“We are now certain and clear of the personalities behind these wicked and criminal activities and the net is closing in on them. We will soon name, shame and bring to book these gluttonous individuals and companies.”

Mnangagwa said the country would leapfrog to a modern society through inculcating scientific mind-sets and the timely dissemination of appropriate information as well as publishing relevant research findings.

“I therefore call upon both the print and electronic media to educate the public about the value of Science education and scientific thinking in the world of today and the future.

“Institutions of higher learning such as this one must play a leading role in this regard. Government will on its part be receptive to solid scientific research outcomes.”

Mnangagwa said there was need to demystify the belief that science subjects were difficult.

He said the country should encourage the promotion of learning of natural, biological and social sciences from early childhood.

“Bindura University must churn out graduates who are prepared and determined to ignite a science education revolution in Zimbabwe.

“To that end, we must begin to capacitate students to develop unconventional teaching methods which bolster scientific thinking and inculcates new scientific knowledge to learners at every level of the education system. Our interaction, service to the community, seminars, workshops and research studies must equally mirror an institution which is passionate to fulfil its mandate of providing world class science education which will propel our modernisation agenda.”

The said the university should leverage on its location in Mashonaland Central to contribute to the province’s Gross Domestic Product.

“I therefore, exhort the university and graduates to use the skills and knowledge acquired from this institution to explore and exploit the wide array of natural resources that remain untapped and meaningfully contribute to the provincial Gross Domestic Product.

“It is indeed now time for an education system which is productive and responsive to our country’s socio-economic realities,” said Mnangagwa.

A total of 1 719 students, 878 males and 841 females graduated with degrees from five faculties.

Among the graduates were Zimpapers employees Nduduzo Tshuma, Prosper Ndlovu and ShamisoYikoniko, who graduated with Masters of Science in International Relations degrees.

Speaking at the same occasion the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Eddie Mwenje, said the university scored a number of success during the 2017/18 academic year.

“Bindura University is leading a national project funded by the European Union to the tune of 38 387 Euro under the Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) programme.

“The programme seeks, among other goals, to catalogue, digitise and publish species records for non-timber forest products.”

The university also signed the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of Zimbabwe and represents the country on the International Governing Board.

It also received a grant worth $350 000 from the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM).

“The grant will allow the research team to expand work on use of tied contour rain water harvesting system in small grain and legume production for improved household food security, nutrition and income-generation in semi-arid smallholder farming areas of Zimbabwe.

“The university received funding from the International Foundation for Science for the expansion of work in flood recession cropping in Muzarabani area.

“It also received international recognition when the Institution was nominated to host the African Alliance for Disaster Research Institutes (AADRI).

“The alliance seeks to deepen the understanding of disasters and find implementable solutions to achieve disaster resilience; for example human, technical system and infrastructure resilience, survivability and well-being, by integrating knowledge and technologies from around the continent.” – state media

A 22-year-old man has been jailed for an effective two years for using an edited EcoCash message to defraud a local businessman.

Magistrate Ms Amanda Muridzo jailed Langton Madhuviko of Chiedza Suburb last Friday after noticing that the accused had a similar case, which was still pending. Madhuviko’s accomplice, Blessing Ngirandi (18), will perform 210 hours of community service after Ms Muridzo conditionally suspended a 12 month sentence she had initially imposed on him.

The duo’s fraud charges arose on September 30 this year when they approached Rindai Gore of Nothing Fill and bought goods worth $158. The two got the goods after they presented an edited EcoCash message to Gore.

Among the items the pair received from Gore were a belt, a satchel, a bottle of Mazoe orange crush, brown sugar, rice, an electric shaving machine and a tool box.

The offence was discovered the following day after Gore could not reconcile her books due to the doctored EcoCash message.

Gore reported the case to the police leading to the pair’s arrest and all the goods were recovered.

In her ruling, Ms Muridzo said Madhuviko was a repeat offender who had not shown any remorse after being convicted of the same offence earlier this year.

She said Madhuviko, who was given community service for the earlier offence also committed this year, had escaped before completing his sentence.

Mr James Phiri prosecuted. – state media

Precocious Mpofu (36) allegedly forced his two daughters, Shalom (11) and Panashe (7) to drink a drainage cleaning chemical before also taking it in Yeoville suburb, Johannesburg.

The deceased, who is alleged to have been a pastor at Prophet Blessing Chiza’s Eagle Life Assembly and his wife, Ms Chido Chipangura had recently separated but she was still living in South Africa.

Family members said the bodies of the two girls and their father were found in his apartment while a container of the chemical was found in Pastor Mpofu’s car.

The bodies are expected to arrive in the country today. Pastor Mpofu allegedly left a suicide note in which he stated that he was facing a lot of problems most of them in his marriage.

He also allegedly said they were some people who were stalking him and mentioned four people with their contact details. Pastor Mpofu however did not give reasons why the individuals were stalking him.

The now deceased also sent a lot of messages to his family on the fateful day although he did not mention his intentions to kill his children and commit suicide. He however gave a hint when he directed how his property should be shared.

The family members told the Chronicle at their family home in Nkulumane suburb yesterday that from the information they received, the tragedy could have happened on Monday between 2PM and 4PM after pastor Mpofu had just returned from collecting his children from school.

The deceased’s father, Mr Sipho Mpofu, confirmed his son’s and grandchildren’s deaths.
He said his son and his wife had recently separated and the pastor was staying with his daughters.

“I am reliably informed residents at his apartment saw him carrying each of the daughters on his shoulders into their flat at around 2PM. At 2:40PM he sent his sister here in Bulawayo a WhatsApp message saying one of his daughters, Shalom had died. Exactly 10 minutes later, he sent another message saying his second daughter had also passed on. This puzzled his sister who was trying to call him to understand what exactly he was trying to say,” said Mr Mpofu.

He said when she tried to text him back, messages were no longer being delivered and the sister phoned Ms Chipangura telling her to go and check on her husband as he was texting strange messages.

“Ms Chipangura dashed to the flat only to find three bodies. The kids’ bodies were neatly laid in bed between blankets while Precocious body was on the floor,” he said.
Mr Mpofu said his son had earlier told him that he was being stalked by four men that he named in his suicide note.

He said his son also listed the four men’s phone numbers. Mr Mpofu said he used to hear through rumours that his son and his daughter-in-law were having marital problems.

“My son was at times coming to Zimbabwe alone or with his kids and we would hear of his marital problems from other people,” he said.

The deceased’s mother, Mrs Sibangani Mpofu said earlier on the fateful day, her son was texting his sister strange messages giving directives on how his assets should be distributed.

He is said to have ordered his sister to sell his car that is in South Africa and said the money should be given to his parents so that they “fund a huge task “ that was coming.

“It’s like he had already planned everything and shared his assets. In his numerous texts, he mentioned that his wife should never set foot at this family home. It means he meant she shouldn’t attend this funeral I guess,” she said.

At the Chipangura’s family home in Mpopoma suburb the news crew was chased away by family members who said they did not want to be disturbed while mourning.

“We are at loss and talking to you won’t bring back our children.Go to the guy’s family and get a comment from them and not us,” said a woman at the family home. – stat media

Correspondent|Independent Norton legislator Temba Mliswa has urged Finance Minister not to continue withholding funding for vehicles of members of Parliament, saying that vechicles are a critical resource for the legislators to perform their duties. Hon. Mliswa has also said the opposition MPs should be given first priority since ZANU-PF MPs already have vehicles given to them by their party during the campaign period.

“Regarding cars for government Ministers and MPs, it’s important for (Finance Minister ) Mthuli Ncube to understand that cars are a critical resource for enabling MPs to work in their constituencies,” Mliswa said.

In September, Government announced it had suspended the purchase of vehicles for Ministers and Members of Parliaments to make sure that available funds were directed towards the outbreak of cholera which was threatening to engulf the whole country. While the cholera has largely been contained, the treasury has been hesitant to splurge on government vehidcle at a time austerity measures announced by the Finance Minister are hurting and angering a wide cross-section of the citizenry.

“With the 15.7 million that the government has pledged towards the out break of cholera,we suspended things like purchase of vehicles for Ministers and Members of Parliament to make sure that we deal with this out break immediately,” Mthuli Ncube said at the time.

Mliswa thinks the cars for MPs must be procured still, beginning with those of opposition MPs who could not get vehicles from their party.

Hon. Mliswa said: “As ZANUPF MPs were given cars during campaigning, I urge Mthuli Ncube to stagger disbursement of vehicles and give cars to opposition MPs first.”

He said while government extravagance should be discouraged, the smooth functioning of the legislature should not be compromised.

“I’m against Govt extravagance but I’m also against compromising MPs and making them desperate. Let’s rather start with cutting down in the Executive which is over staffed anyway. The subsequent reduction in associated costs will see expenditure reduced significantly.”

Correspondent|The Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (ZESN), a local election monitoring board, has urged government to implement comprehensive electoral reforms to enhance the credibility of Zimbabwe’s electoral processes.

In its final report, ZESN noted improvements in law and practice during the electoral circle for the 2018 harmonised elections. The board also commended improved quality of voter education, peaceful campaigning season and provision of voting material.

In the report ZESN also noted the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)’s improved engagement with stakeholders as compared with the 2013 elections.

ZESN also stated that “the ZEC Presidential Results for the 10,984 polling stations had some errors albeit marginal to the extent of not affecting the outcome. An analysis of the results for the parliamentary elections and the presidential elections does not show significant discrepancies between the two.”

Among its recommendations ZESN urged government to ratify and domesticate international legal frameworks that relate to electoral processes, enforce punitive measures for those who contravene the electoral code of conduct and implement laws that ensure that the right to vote is extended to all citizens, including those in Prisons and in the Diaspora.

Before elections the Constitutional Court, on May 30, barred millions of Zimbabweans based in the diaspora from voting after it dismissed an application for amendment of provisions of the Electoral Act to allow them to vote from their bases.

ZESN was the largest domestic observer group in the just-ended harmonised elections whose separate election results tallied with those announced by the country’s official electoral body disproving rigging claims by MDC-Alliance.

As part of its comprehensive effort to observe the 2018 harmonised elections, ZESN trained and deployed over 7,200 observers to every ward, constituency, district and province of the country. Out of these, 750 were sample-based observers (SBO).

The SBO is an advanced Election Day observation methodology which allows ZESN to independently verify of the presidential results as announced by the ZEC and confidently comment on the voting and results tabulation processes.

Terrence Mawawa|The Zanu PF Youth League has vowed to expose the culprits behind “black market shenanigans.”

In a statement last week, Zanu-PF Youth League secretary Pupurai Togarepi told The Daily News they
were compiling a list of people behind money changers whom they would soon name, and shame.

Togarepi said the Youth League would petition Parliament to improve current legislation.

“We hope the monetary authorities
will use present legislation to cause the arrest of these fat cats or where such laws are absent or weak bring such (statutes) to Parliament for
improvement and enactment.

We have watched in horror and dismay the so-called money changers holding this nation to ransom, and we cannot continue to let these greedy and corrupt individuals continue to bleed this great nation, which is on an economic rebound and new political
trajectory… just to line their pockets.
Let those behind these crooks…
hoarding our monies know that we
have the means to smoke them out…

The youth league… will not tolerate this nonsense any further and… we will descend on the robbers who are
masquerading as money changers,” said Togarepi.

Terrence Mawawa| Former National People’s Party spokesperson Jeffryson Chitando has categorically described those who claim the shortage of basic commodities is a result of panic buying as “stupid and stubborn” elements.

“Stupid and only stupid people claim the shortage of goods in Zimbabwe is due to “panic buying”.

This is called “Lack of confidence
in Mnangagwa’s government,” said Chitando in a statement yesterday.

Government sympathisers have embarked on a massive campaign to sweep under the carpet ruling party officials’ glaring errors in a desperate bid to shift the blame for the economic woes to imaginary economic saboteurs.

Beverages manufacturer Delta says foreign currency challenges coupled with hoarding of soft drinks witnessed in the past few weeks is to blame for the short supply of the commodity on the market.

The company’s corporate affairs director Mr Alex Makamure said foreign currency shortages which heightened at the beginning of the month have resulted in production bottlenecks.

“We get the concentrates to make soft drinks from Swaziland but owing to forex challenges we can’t manufacture these. Normally there is a steady supply but the hoarding caused by panic buying worsened the situation,” he said.

Most shops visited by the ZBC did not have soft drinks in stock but lovers of alcohol need not to worry about availability and pricing as alcoholic beverages produced by the local manufacturers are not affected because the raw materials are locally produced.

“You don’t need a lot of forex to make beer because barley, maize and malt are locally produced that is why there is a steady supply of alcoholic drinks,” added Mr Makamure.

The company is producing only bottled drinks and has suspended canned drinks at one of their production factories.

The beverage company requires at least $US5 million monthly to import critical ingredients for soft drinks manufacturing as well as for other services.

The RBZ is overwhelmed by requests of foreign currency for imports and the onus rests on the country to prioritise local production to supply the market.

-State Media

The Electoral Court has dismissed with costs the electoral petition lodged by MDC Alliance candidate, Gift Konjana, for the Chegutu West constituency national assembly seat in the 2018 harmonised polls.

Konjana was seeking the invalidation of Dexter Nduna’s victory in the 2018 polls.
In the ruling of the Electoral Court handed down by Justice Mary Zimba Dube, the petition lodged by Konjana did not meet the rules governing election petitions.

The petitioner sought an order setting aside the declaration by the Constituency Elections Officer of Dexter Nduna as the duly elected member of the national assembly for Chegutu West constituency in the harmonised elections held on 30 July 2018.

Additionally, the petitioner sought an order of the court declaring him the duly elected member of the national assembly for Chegutu West constituency.

Konjana also sought the Registrar of the Electoral Court to be directed to serve a copy of the order nullifying Nduna’s victory to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Clerk of Parliament of Zimbabwe and finally he sought for the respondents to bear the costs of the suit.

In her order, Justice Dube found the petition fatally defective in that it did not comply with the requirements of Rule 21.

She registered her misgivings at the failure by the applicant’s lawyers to follow the rules of practice.

She added that the arrangement of the petition failed to meet the strict rules of procedure and therefore the court was left with no option but to dismiss the matter before delving into its merits as the court’s residual power to condone infractions in electoral matters is curtailed.

The court dismissed the petition with costs and ordered the Registrar of the Electoral Court to serve a copy of the court order on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and Clerk of the Parliament of Zimbabwe.

-State Media

Jane Mlambo| A 25-year-old man will stand trial in November after Harare Magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa granted his application for change of plea from guilty to not guilty.

Night Tawona Shadaya, who was convicted for criminal insult on 3 October 2018, for allegedly retweeting a message from a ghost account in the name of Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) Chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba will now stand trial on Monday 05 November 2018 after his lawyers Noble Chinhanu and Idirashe Chikomba of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights filed an application for change of plea from guilty to not guilty.

Shadaya was arrested on Friday 07 September 2018 and charged with criminal insult for allegedly impairing the dignity of Justice Chigumba after he allegedly posted an offensive message on Twitter, denigrating the ZEC Chairperson.

Prosecutors alleged that Shadaya created a twitter account in the name of Justice Chigumba in August 2018, just after the country’s harmonised elections and tweeted a message which reads; “I can’t wait for the election fiasco to come to an end. I could do with a holiday and some good sex. My body needs a break.”

In doing this, prosecutors charged that Shadaya contravened section 95 (1) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.

The State alleged that Shadaya retweeted the same message in the month of August and his conduct had the effect of causing criminal insult to Justice Chigumba and “seriously impaired the dignity” of the leader of the country’s elections management body.
Shadaya becomes the latest Zimbabwean to be hauled before the courts on charges emanating from using social media platforms.

In November 2017, Zimbabwe Republic Police officers arrested Martha O’Donovan, an American citizen and charged her with subverting a constitutional government after claiming that she undermined authority of or insulted Robert Mugabe, the country’s former leader through posting a message on social media.

But O’Donovan was set free by Harare Magistrate Nomsa Sabarauta after her lawyers successfully challenged the continued placement of the American citizen on remand without being given a trial date.
In May, John Mahlabera, a 36 year-old prison officer was arrested and charged with undermining President Emmerson Mnangagwa through posting some political comments on social media. However, his employers, the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services, later dropped the charges.

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

Jane Mlambo| A 25-year-old man will stand trial in November after Harare Magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa granted his application for change of plea from guilty to not guilty.

Night Tawona Shadaya, who was convicted for criminal insult on 3 October 2018, for allegedly retweeting a message from a ghost account in the name of Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) Chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba will now stand trial on Monday 05 November 2018 after his lawyers Noble Chinhanu and Idirashe Chikomba of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights filed an application for change of plea from guilty to not guilty.

Shadaya was arrested on Friday 07 September 2018 and charged with criminal insult for allegedly impairing the dignity of Justice Chigumba after he allegedly posted an offensive message on Twitter, denigrating the ZEC Chairperson.

Prosecutors alleged that Shadaya created a twitter account in the name of Justice Chigumba in August 2018, just after the country’s harmonised elections and tweeted a message which reads; “I can’t wait for the election fiasco to come to an end. I could do with a holiday and some good sex. My body needs a break.”

In doing this, prosecutors charged that Shadaya contravened section 95 (1) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.

The State alleged that Shadaya retweeted the same message in the month of August and his conduct had the effect of causing criminal insult to Justice Chigumba and “seriously impaired the dignity” of the leader of the country’s elections management body.
Shadaya becomes the latest Zimbabwean to be hauled before the courts on charges emanating from using social media platforms.

In November 2017, Zimbabwe Republic Police officers arrested Martha O’Donovan, an American citizen and charged her with subverting a constitutional government after claiming that she undermined authority of or insulted Robert Mugabe, the country’s former leader through posting a message on social media.

But O’Donovan was set free by Harare Magistrate Nomsa Sabarauta after her lawyers successfully challenged the continued placement of the American citizen on remand without being given a trial date.
In May, John Mahlabera, a 36 year-old prison officer was arrested and charged with undermining President Emmerson

Mnangagwa through posting some political comments on social media. However, his employers, the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services, later dropped the charges.

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

THE Kgalema Motlanthe-led Commission of Inquiry into the August 1 killings of innocent civilians by the military must be driven by the need to gather as much information as possible so that they can reconstruct the events of the day to get to the bottom of the matter.

But what is more worrisome at the moment is that out of the 11 people that had testified by end of day on Wednesday, eight were either Zanu PF supporters, employees or linked to the ruling party when a more broad-based and inclusive approach, including the shooting victims and opposition supporters, would have been more ideal.

If the Zanu PF narrative becomes too dominant in the commission, the risk of having compromised political players dominating the proceedings will be high, rendering coming up with an impartial judgment difficult.

The families of those that lost their lives needlessly need to know what exactly transpired beyond politicking, so that they can be able to deal with their loss and find closure.

It would be tragic if the predominantly Zanu PF discourse is allowed to play out during the hearing because this may taint the final outcome. Ideally, the commissioners should take note of the need to be as broad as possible through expanding their net to include testimonies from families of the victims.

Zanu PF, and even the MDC itself, should not be allowed to be the major players in the hearings as ordinary citizens would most likely give credible evidence not tainted with some form of political bias.

From the proceedings since Tuesday, one can see that Zanu PF official Peter Zimowa was already playing the blame game, pointing his finger at the MDC for allegedly fanning violence, instead of simply recounting what happened on the day in question.

Given that the police and the military were also in the thick of things on the day in question, they must also be given an opportunity to speak so that the commissioners can canvass as much evidence as possible from different witnesses before they can make a well-considered opinion.

Given the emotions swirling around this issue, it is not going to be an easy job for the commissioners, who must be alive to the significance of the subject, especially because it involved the loss of seven human lives and probably left some families with no breadwinners.

Done judiciously and with utmost care, the inquiry should be able to bring this matter to rest and allow the nation to heal and move forward.

-Newsday

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

Jane Mlambo| THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has declined to prosecute Magamba Cultural Activist Network Trust for allegedly externalising foreign currency without authority from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).

Magamba Cultural Activist Network Trust, represented by Sam Monro, the organisation’s creative director, had been charged with externalisation after it allegedly transferred $10 450 from its local bank in Zimbabwe in 2014 to an international account without seeking
authorisation from the RBZ.

But Prosecutor Francesca Mukumbiri of the NPA on Wednesday 17 October 2018 declined to prosecute Magamba Cultural Activist Network Trust, represented by Harrison Nkomo of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, when trial was supposed to commence on the basis that the state had no witnesses to lead evidence in the matter.

Correspondent|MIDLANDS Provincial Affairs Minister Larry Mavhima has blamed unemployment cause by the President Emmerson Mnangagwa led government for fuelling the massive machete wars by artisanal miners across the province and spreading to the whole country.

Speaking to the media in Kwekwe, Mavhima said government is concerned with the deadly machete wars which have claimed many lives in the province.

The security services are however seized with the matter, the minister added.

“In our provincial Joint Operations Command (JOC) meetings where I am the chairperson the issue of machetes in the province has always cropped up.

“The security sector is currently gripped with the matter as we cannot allow such a scourge to continue.”

Highlighting the major driver of the crisis, the minister said; “The fundamental problem is that youths are unemployed.

“As government we need to introduce programs to take youths from this quick money. Youths have been driven by desperation and lack of guidance.

“It is disturbing that our youths are no longer respecting life.”

He continued; “We are extremely worried about this banditry and lawlessness as a result of disputes occurring amongst artisanal miners.

“We resolved as JOC that we are not going to tolerate the situation. One death is too many.

“We cannot tolerate a situation where artisanal miners are using guns, and homemade weapons in their wars.

“It is saddening that our youths are butchering each other for the sake of a mere $200 which they might have made.

“It is regrettable that our people deteriorate to such predatory animal behaviour. We cannot allow this to continue.”

Government, Mavhima said, has identified some hot-spots were machete wars were rampant, one of them being Kwekwe-based Gaika.

The closure of Gaika Mine, Mavhima explained is not an isolated incident but a national programme to sanitise the country.

“I can confirm that Gaika Mine is one of the mines listed to be addressed from a national point of view. It is not an isolated case.

“There is a whole list of mines which we said must be dealt with,” he said.

ZoomZim

A HARARE magistrate yesterday changed the plea of a 25-year-old Chitungwiza man who is accused of re-tweeting a message from a spoof account named after Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba after she had already convicted him of the crime.

Night Tawona Shadaya, who is represented by Noble Chinhanu from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, successfully applied for change of plea before magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa, saying he had mistakenly pleaded guilty to the charge due to a misunderstanding of the essential elements of the offence.

In her ruling, Mugwagwa said it was clear from the record that the essential elements of the matter were not clearly stated and that there was a possibility that the accused thought the Twitter account belonged to Chigumba.

Shadaya’s lawyer had submitted that his client had wrongly and mistakenly pleaded guilty after having had an incorrect understanding of the essential elements of the charge.

Chinhanu said the accused never had intention to commit the offence and was not afforded the chance to defend himself. The accused was not made to enquire if the Twitter account was genuine and retweeted from the account which he believed was Chigumba’s.

The State, represented by Francisca Mukumbiri, had opposed the application, saying the court is only waiting for Shadaya to proffer special circumstances of the matter, as he was already convicted.

Mugwagwa postponed the matter to November 5 for trial.

It is alleged that sometime in August this year, an unknown person created a Twitter account in the name of Chigumba and tweeted a message which read: “I can’t wait for the elections fiasco to come to an end. I could do with a holiday and some good sex. My body needs a break.”

The State alleges that the tweet seriously impaired Chigumba’s dignity.
NewsDay

Beverages manufacturer Delta says foreign currency challenges coupled with hoarding of soft drinks witnessed in the past few weeks is to blame for the short supply of the commodity on the market.

The company’s corporate affairs director Mr Alex Makamure said foreign currency shortages which heightened at the beginning of the month have resulted in production bottlenecks.

“We get the concentrates to make soft drinks from Swaziland but owing to forex challenges we can’t manufacture these. Normally there is a steady supply but the hoarding caused by panic buying worsened the situation,” he said.

Most shops in Harare did not have soft drinks in stock on Thursday but lovers of alcohol need not to worry about availability and pricing as alcoholic beverages produced by the local manufacturers are not affected because the raw materials are locally produced.

“You don’t need a lot of forex to make beer because barley, maize and malt are locally produced that is why there is a steady supply of alcoholic drinks,” added Mr Makamure.

The company is producing only bottled drinks and has suspended canned drinks at one of their production factories.

The beverage company requires at least $US5 million monthly to import critical ingredients for soft drinks manufacturing as well as for other services.

The RBZ is overwhelmed by requests of foreign currency for imports and the onus rests on the country to prioritise local production to supply the market.

Zbc News

At least 27 791 adults and 2 751 children in Hurungwe District are living with HIV, a record in the province.
However, according to the National Aids Council in Mashonaland West, the HIV prevalence rates in the province were on the decline.

In an interview, the NAC Mashonaland West provincial manager Mr Agrippa Zizhou said people should not relax.

“The HIV prevalence in the province is gradually decreasing, but that does not mean we should relax because areas like Hurungwe and Zvimba are still demanding extra attention because generally the districts had the highest population of people living with HIV as compared to other districts in the province,” he said.

Zvimba District has an estimated population of 26 489 adults and 2 622 children living with HIV respectively while Kariba had the least number of 3 707 adults and 367 children.

Mr Zizhou said the estimated total number of adults living with HIV in Mashonaland West in 2017 was 135 252, a decrease from the 141 409 recorded in 2016.

He also attributed the decrease to various prevention and treatment programmes that included condom use, anti-retroviral therapy and the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission programmes.

“The decline in HIV prevalence rate can be attributed to increased campaign awarenesses where people were sensitised on condom use, advantages of abstaining from sexual intercourse and the implementation of PMCT programmes,” he said.

State Media

Correspondent|The trial for MDC-Alliance principal Tendai Biti, who is facing charges of inciting violence, is expected to start on November 12 before a Harare magistrates.

Biti through his lawyers, Beatrice Mtetwa, Alec Muchadehama, Harrison Nkomo, Gift Mtisi and Denford Halimani, has indicated that he wants to go to the High Court to challenge his arrest which says was not legal.

The trial comes at a time when Biti has been implicated in the August 1 violent clashes by a witness who testified before the commission of inquiry.

Testifying in the public hearings underway at a Harare Hotel, Stella Matsengarwodzi, a witness said she saw Biti addressing the youths who then started denouncing President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

“Soon after Biti spoke his car sped off and the remaining mob started chanting Chamisa Chamisa is who we want not Mnangagwa,” she said.

Matsengarwodzi said it shortly was after this the demonstrators attacked the Zanu pf headquarters.

In court Biti, however, indicated that he would like to be tried after the High Court appeal. The trial is set for 12 November.

Biti was arrested at the Zambian border post after he tried to cross into the neighbouring country seeking asylum claiming he was running away from persecution by the state security.

Biti told the court that his mother, brother and nephew were harassed by unidentified men who went to his mother’s house looking for him. He claimed that gunshots were fired at his brother when he was on his way to Bindura in the company of his minor children.
Biti said on August 2, there was an attempt on his life by unidentified people driving unmarked vehicles.

He is out on $5 000 bail which was granted by Harare magistrate Francis Mapfumo.

Biti is also facing charges of contravening Section 66A(1) of the Electoral Act Chapter 2:13, which prohibits the unofficial or false declaration of election results.

He is alleged to have unlawfully declared opposition party leader Mr Nelson Chamisa as the winner of the presidential elections on July 30.

The Zimbabwean law states that only the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson is empowered to declare the winner of an election.
Uladi is appearing for the State along with Mr Michael Reza, Chipo Muronda and Jonathan Murombedzi.

Correspondent|The ZANU PF supreme decision making body the politburo failed to accord the late Midlands Provincial vice chairman Goodwill Shiri a National Hero Status after the provincial executive had submitted an application for the honour.

Shiri has instead been declared a liberation war hero and will be buried at the Midlands provincial hero’s acre on Friday.

Shiri (61) was killed in a road accident on Monday evening after a bus, which was trying to avoid stray donkeys, landed on top of his car near Gwenoro Turn-off along the Gweru-Bulawayo Road.

Zanu-PF Midlands provincial chairperson Engineer Daniel McKenzie Ncube said the Zanu-PF Politburo had declared Shiri a liberation war hero.

Eng Ncube said the liberation war hero status was most befitting considering Shiri’s rich political history and unquestionable war credentials.

“As a province we feel honoured that our late vice chairman Cde Shiri has been declared a liberation war hero. We will negotiate with the family and if all goes well Cde Shiri will be buried at the provincial heroes’ acre,” he said.

Shiri joined the liberation struggle in 1978.

At independence he joined the Ministry of Youths, Sports and Culture until 1989.

He was transferred to the Ministry of Political Affairs in 1990.

In 1999 Shiri was elected Zanu-PF Youths League National Political Commissar.

In 2004 he was elected into the Central Committee under Midlands Province. He retained the same position in 2014.

In 2017 Shiri was co-opted into the Midlands Provincial Executive as vice chairman a position he held until his time of death.

Shiri was involved in accident at 6.30PM on Monday while driving a branded party vehicle towards Bulawayo on the way to his farm.

He was in the company of a neighbour who also sustained serious injuries.

He is survived by his wife Sithembile and three daughters.

PRICES of contraceptives have gone up sharply and people have since been urged to seek services at public health institutions as they are available for free.

The price of some brands of condoms has increased from $3 to as much $12 a packet while the cheapest brand, Protector Plus which used to cost 20 cents, is now selling for $1 a packet.

The price of the emergency contraceptive pill has increased from $5 to $15 and is not available at many pharmacies.

Speaking during a sexual reproductive health rights media advocacy workshop in Mutare, Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council executive director Dr Munyaradzi Murwira, said contraceptives are available at public health institutions for free.

“I think people should be aware that the largest provider of family planning services in the country is the public sector. People can seek services at government clinics and hospitals as well as councils’ health institutions.

“These health institutions provide contraceptives including condoms for free,” said Dr Murwira. He said only those who can afford to pay should seek such services from the private sector.

“Normally, those who go to the private sector are people who can afford the services and as such we urge most people to make use of the public facilities where all services are available for free or at a nominal cost,” said Dr Murwira

He dismissed fears that people may fail to access contraceptives saying public facilities have adequate stocks.

State Media

Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira has ordered a Dzivaresekwa-based brick manufacturing company Tiger Bricks to stop operating and start working on reclaiming all its disused pits and fencing off the active areas.

The directive, which will be enforced by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), follows the drowning of Tinashe Mlambo (16) in one of the open pits while swimming with friends.

Speaking during a tour of Tiger Bricks (Pvt) Ltd located at Rainharm Farm in Mount Hampden, Minister Mupfumira said the company has been breaching Statutory Instrument 7 of 2007 (Environmental Impact Assessment and Ecosystems Protection Regulations).

The law states that commercial sand and clay excavations are done after the issuance of a licence by EMA, in consultation with the local authority.

“In the plan, the operator highlights the mitigating measures they will put in place for public safety and to ensure that their activities will cause minimum damage to the environment and economically viable and socially acceptable manner. Such measures include fencing off areas with open pits and reclaiming all disused pits for proper rehabilitation of degraded sites.

“Tiger bricks is holder of an excavation licence, implying they should have an excavation and rehabilitation plan.

“It is unfortunate they were not judicious in adhering to their plan on this particular incident resulting in the boys accessing the pits,” said Minister Mupfumira.

She said all brick moulding companies and operators in Rainham area have been issued with a 48-hour deadline from October 16, 2018 to submit short term action plans to rehabilitate the affected area and an inspection is to be done to see if they adhere to their plans.

“All companies concerned were told to start rehabilitation work immediately and an inspection is to be done on Tuesday October 23, 2018,” said Cde Mupfumira.

Speaking at the same occasion, Tiger Bricks environment officer Mr Silas Kambanje expressed the company’s deep condolences to the Mlambo family and said it was going to place security around the area while it fills up the open pits.

“The pits are going to be filled up within two weeks. We are going to continuously level the area,” said Mr Kambanje.

He said they had also contributed $6 000 to the deceased family to help with funeral arrangements.

EMA’s environmental management services director Mr Steady Kangata said the agency is going to enforce the law and impose stiffer penalties on companies breaching the law.

“As EMA we are very sad over the incident that happen here. Each time we look at the environment, it is supposed to give life and at no one point should it take away life.

“We want to urge all companies in the brick moulding companies and mining sector to abide by the provisions of Environmental Management Act,” said Mr Kangata.

State Media

Prices of contraceptives have gone up sharply and people have since been urged to seek services at public health institutions as they are available for free.

The price of some brands of condoms has increased from $3 to as much $12 a packet while the cheapest brand, Protector Plus which used to cost 20 cents, is now selling for $1 a packet.

The price of the emergency contraceptive pill has increased from $5 to $15 and is not available at many pharmacies.

Speaking during a sexual reproductive health rights media advocacy workshop in Mutare, Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council executive director Dr Munyaradzi Murwira, said contraceptives are available at public health institutions for free.

“I think people should be aware that the largest provider of family planning services in the country is the public sector. People can seek services at government clinics and hospitals as well as councils’ health institutions.

“These health institutions provide contraceptives including condoms for free,” said Dr Murwira. He said only those who can afford to pay should seek such services from the private sector.

“Normally, those who go to the private sector are people who can afford the services and as such we urge most people to make use of the public facilities where all services are available for free or at a nominal cost,” said Dr Murwira

He dismissed fears that people may fail to access contraceptives saying public facilities have adequate stocks.- state media

Correspondent|It is alleged that Nyasha Zenda was approached and threatened at Joina City by MDC youths who accused him of testifying against them. He reported the matter to police.

It is alleged that Nyasha Zenda was approached and threatened at Joina City by MDC youths who accused him of testifying against them. He reported the matter to police.

Harare – MDC Alliance youths are threatening witnesses who are testifying at the ongoing August 1 shooting inquiry, Zanu-PF national secretary for administration Tendai Chirau has said.

Posting on his Facebook Chirau said a police reorted has been made against the MDC Alliance youths who threatened Nyasha Zenda.

“Some suspected MDC Alliance youths threatened Nyasha Zenda with some unspecified action. It is alleged that Nyasha Zenda was doing his daily chores at Joina City and was approached by some youths who accused him of testifying against them during a public inquiry held yesterday. A police report has since been made,” Chirau said.

Zenda, who was a Zanu- PF council candidate for ward 6 in the 2018 harmonised elections told the commission of inquiry that MDC Alliance members assaulted him, before burning his bus.

Zenda said he escaped from further harm by hiding in the boot of a vehicle.

The ongoing inquiry into the post-election violence that rocked Harare on August 1 will continue until Friday after a dramatic first day which saw witnesses nailing the opposition MDC Alliance protestors for triggering the chaos that left six people dead after a military intervention.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa set up a commission of inquiry which was sworn in on the 19th of September and is comprised of three Zimbabweans and four foreign nationals namely Vimbai Nyemba, Charity Manyeruke, Lovemore Madhuku ,Rodney Dixon (United Kingdom) Emeka Anyaoku (Nigeria) General Davis Mwamunyange (Tanzania) and Kgalema Motlanthe (South Africa).

Ever since the coup was carried out in November last year, Emmerson Mnangagwa’s own colleague in the presidium, Phelekezela Mphoko’s life has gone for worse, this time with his son being arrested and tried for stealing when the facts show that he borrowed money from his business. Mphoko is the one who exposed Mnangagwa’s blue ocean strategy in July last year.

State Media – The trial of ex-Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko’s daughter-in-law, Nomagugu (36) who is accused of “looting” cash and goods from Choppies outlets without board approval starts today.

Her husband, Siqokoqela will face similar charges when he appears in court from November 26 to November 30.

Siqokoqela’s trial was set to commence on Wednesday before Bulawayo magistrate Nyaradzo Ringisai but was postponed to November 26 after the State represented by Taurai Hondoyemoto indicated that they needed time to serve the accused’s lawyers with the State’s papers.

“Matter was confirmed for trial commencement today (Wednesday). The State, however, applies for a postponement so as to be able to serve the defence with the state papers. I liaised with my colleague and suggested that we shall dedicate the 26th up to the 30th of November 2018 for trial so that we would finish the matter,” the State’s submissions read in part.

Siqokoqela (40) who is a director of Nanavac Investments (Private) Limited, a local partner for the Botswana-registered Choppies Distribution Centre (Proprietary) Limited is facing 170 counts of fraud and theft involving more than $50 000.

Nomagugu is facing 49 counts of extortion after she allegedly ordered the supermarket managers to unlawfully dispense over $30 000 cash from their point of sale machines after threatening them with either deportation or dismissal.

The couple, of Hillside suburb, is out of custody on $200 bail each. As part of their bail conditions, the two were ordered not to interfere with State witnesses.

Siqokoqela is accused of abusing his power to “loot” cash realised from sales at different supermarkets and replacing it with transfers.

Allegations are that between July last year and June this year, Siqokoqela proceeded to various Choppies supermarkets where he allegedly demanded varying amounts of cash, goods and services for various purposes from the employees without approval from the board.

He allegedly deceived the employees into believing that he was the one at the helm of Choppies Zimbabwe and had authority to demand or collect anything he wanted from the business.
He also reportedly told the employees that he had the authority to collect goods on credit, which was a misrepresentation.

The court heard that on different occasions, Siqokoqela collected cash, groceries and an assortment of building material and ordered personnel from the finance department not to deduct money from his salary.

It is also alleged that there were occasions when he also misrepresented that he intended to replace the money through swiping from Point of Sale (POS) machines.

In papers before the court, Siqokoqela by virtue of being a non-executive director was entitled to a monthly gross salary of $10 000, company vehicle, fuel, telephone allowance and 3,53 percent of profit after tax as dividend at the end of each year.

Although he was not supposed to be directly involved in the day to day operations of the company, Siqokoqela allegedly masqueraded as the owner of the company in Zimbabwe and even threatened to either dismiss or deport employees of Indian origin for defying his orders.

The matter came to light in May 2018 when the Botswana-based Choppies group chief executive officer, Mr Ottapathu Ramachandran discovered that there were a series of financial imbalances while going through the company management accounting books.

It was discovered that the company was prejudiced of $51 945,53. The matter was reported to the police and investigations were conducted leading to Siqokoqela’s arrest and nothing was recovered.
Nomagugu allegedly bulldozed various Choppies outlets in Bulawayo and demanded cash. She allegedly ordered 15 Choppies Supermarket managers in Bulawayo to unlawfully dispense more than $30 000 cash from their POS machines.

The Mphokos are being represented by Professor Welshman Ncube of Mathonsi Law Chambers.- state media

Three suspected thieves stole nearly $90 000 from a Bulawayo woman whom they offered a lift only for them to take-off leaving her behind in Colleen Bawn after taking a recess.

The money $80 000 in bond notes and US$ 8 330 was in a suitcase.

Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Philisani Ndebele confirmed the incident which occurred in Colleen Bawn along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge Road on Tuesday night.

He said Mrs Lindiwe Moyo lost her money after the vehicle which had three other people stopped for a recess in Colleen Bawn but then took off leaving her behind.

“I can confirm that we recorded a case of theft involving $88 330. The complainant, Mrs Lindiwe Moyo boarded a Toyota Wish vehicle from Bulawayo to Beitbridge and with her she had a suitcase containing $80 000 bond notes and US$ 8 330.

“The vehicle had three people on board – two men and a woman. They stopped in Colleen Bawn for a recess and they later went back into the car and drove off leaving Mrs Moyo behind. The matter was reported to the police and investigations are under way to arrest the suspects. We appeal to anyone with information that can assist us to visit any police station near them,” he said.

Chief Insp Ndebele said in another incident which occurred on Monday in Dulibadzimu Suburb, Beitbridge a man lost $1 500 which he had locked up in a safe in his house.

He said an unknown suspect broke a window and used a hook to retrieve the safe and left unnoticed.
He urged members of the public to desist from carrying and storing large sums of money as that could endanger their lives.

“As police we continue to urge people to desist from carrying around large sums of money or storing it on their properties. This woman who had her money stolen is lucky to be alive because she could
have been killed in the process,” said Chief Insp Ndebele.

“We also urge passengers to also be wary of vehicles they board especially if they are not public service vehicles especially at night. They should also take down registration numbers of the vehicles they board in order to make our investigations easier. In this case the vehicle registration number isn’t known.”- state media

• WATCH: The Commission of Inquiry to the August 1 post-election events conducting an inspection in-loco at the  ZANU PF Provincial Offices.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) collected $7, 5million in 12 days in car import duty at Beitbridge as vehicle dealers acted on rumours that Government intends to introduce duty in US dollars.

The dealers resorted to buying cars with bigger engines as a way of keeping their money on valuable properties.

Under normal circumstances Zimra collects an average of $8, 5 million monthly. However, as a result of the panic daily imports from the neighbouring country have increased to between 500 and 700 cars.

State Media

A fresh scandal is set to engulf the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) after its directors’ decision to purchase several top of the range luxury vehicles for themselves worth more than $2 million despite a clear directive by President Emmerson Mnangagwa for government and all parastatals to cut on spending.

Recently, Deputy Chief Secretary for Presidential Communications George Charamba said the country was seized with cutting recurrent expenditure, through a raft of measures including cutting benefits and growing revenue collections.

ZCDC’s multi-million dollar purchase, insiders say, was made using part of the $80 million Government investment which the company claimed it so desperately needed to build capacity and to enable the exploration and mining of conglomerates.

The $80 million came after the diamond producer benefited from a $35 million PTA Bank facility. Similar questionable moves around vehicle procurement and expenses have been made at the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development where at least $1,2 million is being blown on vehicle hiring annually for directors.

Information at hand shows the Ministry in 2017 bought brand new twin cabs for its directors. Six of the twin cabs have, according to a top ministry official, already been sold to the directors for $1 500 each. This is against the requirement that vehicles can only be sold to the users after five years.

“The six directors are PMD Mashonaland Central, PMD Mashonaland East, legal advisor, human resources director and ICT director,” reads part of a dossier gleaned by Business Times.

“Now the ministry is hiring vehicles for the six directors from CMED at a monthly cost of $30 000,” read the report. In total, the ministry has 20 hired vehicles.

Secretary for Mines and Mining Development Onesimo Moyo could not be drawn to comment. “I am in a meeting right now, we can talk maybe later when I finish but this meeting is to prepare for bigger meetings tomorrow,” he said in a telephone conversation.

Moyo listened to all the questions from this publication before he promised to call after his meeting.

Ministry of Mines finance director Morgan Makina could not be reached for comment as his mobile number was on voice mail.

A few weeks after taking oath, President Mnangagwa’s regime reviewed the vehicle scheme to allow permanent secretaries and equivalent grades, one personal issue vehicle while commissioners and equivalent grades would also get one vehicle.

Under the new rules, principal directors, directors and deputy directors and their equivalents get a vehicle loan scheme.

ZCDC CEO Moris Mpofu confirmed the developments saying the purchase of operational vehicles was done in July 2017, but delivery of those vehicles was delayed due to obtaining foreign currency challenges.

“The purchase of these vehicles was done in accordance with approved budgets and clearance from the board of directors, The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development and the Office of the President and Cabinet together with the purchase of the conglomerate plant and complementary earth moving equipment and other operational assets.

(ZCDC has all correspondences to this effect). The types of operational vehicles purchased were benchmarked against local mining industry standards,” said Mpofu.

Out of the total capitalisation of $80 million, Mpofu said, less than $2 million was used to purchase vehicles required for the operation of the business.

“It is important to note that operational vehicles are a necessity in mining business, ZCDC is not an exception, while the greater part of the budget had to be expensed on essential production equipment and operational vehicles were required to support production.

“You would appreciate that management need to travel to and from the mine and the administrative functions of the business has to be capacitated to support operations. Surely you don’t expect support structures of the mine to use excavators and graders to go to strategic business assignments.

Mpofu said when ZCDC was formed in 2015, it did not have operational, production equipment and assets of its own; hence it relied on leasing some assets from Marange Resources.

An intelligence report earlier this year exposed a number of malpractices including diamond leakages. The reports raised a red flag amid serious allegations some top managers and politicians connived with buyers to manipulate prices. A diamond deal to process and market Zimbabweans stones in Botswana which was being pushed by ZCDC has also been at the centre of debate with information it was oversold and will benefit a few individuals.

The Botswana deal was allegedly structured with the heavy involvement of Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe’s Israeli consultant Raphael Bitterman and involves individual who are heavily conflicted.

ZCDC publicly dismissed the allegations as baseless. However, a leaked MMCZ internal report in our possession for the country’s January diamond tender has exposed variances averaging 319 percent and as much as 6 389 percent between the ZCDC reserve prices for its diamond parcels and the market bids.

This left questions around competence of ZCDC’s diamond valuators and added to indications of possible salting away of revenues at the diamond miner.

For the January/February 2018 tender, the MMDC report showed that ZCDC expected to fetch $54,4 million at an average reserve price of $85,61 per carat, but instead, the highest bids on all 11 parcels could amount to $17 million at an average price of $26,80 per carat.

Such questionable moves are expected to be addressed through a Diamond Policy – meant to regulate, guide operations and market the precious stones- which President Mnangagwa in June said would be unveiled August. The new policy, some close sources say, could reverse consolidation.

Meanwhile ZCDC is targeting diamond production of 10 million carats in the next five years. Last year, ZCDC produced 1,8 million carats of diamonds; and the target according to the company’s strategic plan is to produce 10 million carats by 2023. This would be increased to 12 million carats by the year 2025.

Earlier this month, the State-owned diamond mining company, announced plans to commission a $100 million conglomerate diamond plant by year end.

-Business Times