Correspondent|Harare Central Hospital has cut its student nurse intake numbers in half from 72 to 35 and will now take students with passes in a single sitting as the hospital is facing a shortage of tutors, an official has said.

Speaking at the Harare Hospital school of nursing and midwifery graduation and prize giving ceremony, Harare Hospital Chief Executive Officer Nyasha Masuka said the shortage of tutors has resulted in change of policy.

“One of the major issues that I would like everyone to know is that we have a shortage of tutors which has opted a change in policy in terms of recruitment of nurse trainees.

For Harare Hospital, for example, we will be selecting those with at least two advanced levels and passes in ordinary levels.”

Masuka said the Zimbabwe Nurse’s Council did investigations and discovered that qualifications might have been compromised.

Masuka however said the country was facing a shortage of nurses.

“But as you know we have a serious shortage of nurses in this country and our nurse population ratio is very low so we need more numbers of these nurses especially for care of children and maternity.”

Speaking at the same occasion, Health and Child Care Minister Moyo concurred with Msuka saying the change in policy would help bring well qualified nurses.

A total of 276 students from different categories ranging from registered general nurses, intensive and coronary care nurses, midwifes, theatre nurses and pediatric nurses graduated.

M&T

President Emmerson Mnangagwa will invoke the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act to introduce tough regulations to bring currency manipulators to book.

In his weekly The Sunday Mail column, the Head of State and Government said it was inconceivable that rampant black market activities were thriving without complicity of high-ranking State officials.

Information gathered so far, he said, indicated that “an intricate network of currency speculators mostly in high places and in places of trust”.

Further, a police spokesperson informed this publication that they had made arrests of illegal currency dealers who were linked to prominent people, and would soon make the findings of their investigations public.

In his column, President Mnangagwa said: “Considering that more than $9 billion is passing through different electronic platforms and leaving an ‘electronic trail’, it is inconceivable that these illicit transactions have and can ever go on undetected or unnoticed. It simply cannot be.”

Speculative activities, especially illegal foreign currency trading, have caused a marked depreciation of bond notes and RTGS balances against the United States dollar, triggering hikes in the prices of basic commodities, panic-buying and product shortages.

President Mnangagwa revealed he had tasked his top legal advisors to craft comprehensive legislation to plug loopholes that allowed black marketeers to operate with impunity.

“Currently, we have no legislation to deal with currency manipulators. We therefore need urgent and robust measures to deal with this financial menace.

“Accordingly, I have now instructed the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to work closely and expeditiously with the Attorney-General in order to produce a new set of regulations which will be promulgated under temporary law-making powers which I, as President, am allowed by the Constitution.

“These regulations will remain in force for a statutory period of six months, during which a Bill will have to be processed for consideration by our Legislators,” President Mnangagwa said.

The new law will be in line with international best practices, where suspicious transactions are automatically flagged and investigated.

Jurisdictions such as the United States also trace if such transactions are being taxed.

In a “cash-lite” economy like Zimbabwe’s, such a dragnet would quickly dredge speculators as most transactions are e-based. Yesterday, Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyati said they had made arrests in connection with illegal currency trading linked to bigwigs.

“We can confirm that we have made some arrests with regards to some of the prominent people who are behind the illegal currency deals.

“You are aware of the Government position to deal with such deals which are causing economic damage to the country. Very soon, we are going to release full details of some of these culprits and the nature of the crimes,” he said.

Attorney-General Advocate Prince Machaya added: “Some time at the end of last year we attempted to address it through a Statutory Instrument that we introduced, read together with the Exchange Control Act.”

Statutory Instrument 122A of 2017 empowers police to seize money from people suspected of illegal currency dealings.

Part of the SI reads: “In relation to any dealing in currency, an authorised officer or a police officer acting to enforce any order (a) may, for the purpose of holding the currency as an exhibit in a subsequent prosecution, seize any currency upon a reasonable suspicion that the possessor thereof is dealing in it unlawfully, that is, in contravention of any order or any provision of the Act or these regulations by virtue of which the order is made.”

Lawyer Mr Jonathan Samkange accused monetary authorities of sleeping on duty by failing to detect suspicious transactions.

“It is well within the mandate of the (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe) to track all suspicious transactions, or at least watch over the banks so that they can follow up on such transactions.

“The law empowers them to have such oversight. It appears that they are not doing so and the question that has to be asked is why are they not?

“It’s the norm across the world for any huge transactions to be accounted for. For example, I have a daughter who is at university in a foreign country and whenever I pay fees for her, I have to justify such a transaction.

“If other countries can raise alarm on such transactions, why do our monetary authorities choose to remain quiet when millions of dollars are moved every day?” he questioned.

-State Media

VIDDO:

Jane Mlambo| Leader of the Opposition MDC, Nelson Chamisa has described the current fuel crisis in the country as a result of leadership kwashiorkor.

The youthful politician said it was sad that Zimbabweans are wasting precious time dealing with disastrous consequences of leadership failure by the Zanu PF Government.

Shortage of fuel is a shortage of leadership….As Zimbabweans we waste most of our time dealing with disastrous consequences of a leadership kwashiorkor ! pic.twitter.com/XSGCMR0On6

— nelson chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) October 21, 2018

FIREBRAND Norton legislator, Temba Mliswa, on Wednesday tore into the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, accusing it of being hypocritical after it failed to come to the defence of former Vice-President Joice Mujuru when she was publicly crucified by former First Lady Grace Mugabe.

Grace accused Mujuru of laziness that did not befit a Vice-President in a vicious character assassination campaign at Phelandaba Stadium in Gwanda in the run up to the Zanu PF congress in December 2014.

She also accused her of witchcraft and prostitution.

Speaking at the Zimbabwe Gender Commission meeting in Bulawayo on Friday, Mliswa said the commission slept on the job at a time Mujuru needed their support.

“I am asking the Gender Commission and you civil society; what did women do when the former First Lady (Grace Mugabe) was insulting other women? What did women do to defend Amai Mujuru when she was attacked by the former First Lady and why were you quiet?” Mliswa queried.

“When the former First Lady insulted the current President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, what did you do about it?”

In response, Zimbabwe Gender Commissioner Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe admitted that while the commission was not yet established when Mujuru was victimised, they were caught napping when Mnangagwa was dragged over live coals “because of the situation”.

“When the current President was insulted, what did the commission do?

We deal with both men and women. We just don’t deal with women.

But what I would want to say is that in the first instance, it was before the Gender Commission was established,” she said.

“But I am not making any excuses.

The other issue that happened and I think that you acknowledged [it] when you spoke, that at some point it was very difficult for the gender commission to do anything because of the situation.”

Mukahanana-Sangarwe, however, said the commission lacked financial backing.

“I think now that we have been challenged about these issues as a Gender Commission, particularly of taking the government to court, we should also note that to take the government or anyone to court costs money and the budget of the Gender Commission is very limited and the budget comes from government,” she said.

The commissioner said it was something that could be further discussed and they needed every woman to throw their weight behind the campaign.

“It’s an issue for all women. It’s not just for the Gender Commission and if a woman is insulted, our expectation is that all the women, in the civil society and the gender commission and all the women should be marching against some of these issues and protest against other women being harassed,” she said.

The meeting was held under the theme “Women Experiences and Perspectives on 2018 Elections and Recommendations for 2023”.

NewsDay

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

Government has no intentions of either introducing price controls or “punishing” profiteering businesses, Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu has said.

Rather, Government is embarking on a price monitoring system along the production chain, from manufacturers to retailers, as part of measures to flush out economic saboteurs.

The pronouncement come at a time when there are fears among the business community and individuals that Government is about to introduce price controls.

Price controls are undesirable as they result in disappearance of commodities from shop shelves and the emergence of the black market.

The last time price controls were introduced in 2007, there was a frenzied buying spree that emptied most shop shelves.

As a result, most manufacturers stopped producing, saying the price freeze was not viable given that prices for raw materials was sky-rocketing.

Latest fears stem from Government’s announcement early last week that it has embarked on the price monitoring system as part of measures to flush out economic saboteurs.

Briefing journalists at a joint Press conference after a Cabinet meeting, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said Cabinet had resolved that action be taken against profiteering players fuelling unjustified price increases, thereby imposing hardship on citizens.

During the same meeting, Minister Ndlovu weighed in saying the culprits risk withdrawal of the central bank’s foreign currency support, among other stringent penalties.

“There is a peer monitoring system among suppliers and retailers and in terms of that system, we will start by cautioning the deviants and it might end in the withdrawal of the support that the RBZ is giving to most of the entities,” said Minister Ndlovu.

The ministers’ announcements was wrongly interpreted by most industrial players as an introduction of prices controls. However, appearing on Zimpapers Television Network programme on Thursday, The Chase, Minister Ndlovu said Government has no intention of introducing price controls.

Following the recent introduction of fiscal and monetary measures meant to stabilise the economy, panic buying and hoarding has already left some shops empty, prompting Government to intervene and calm the markets.

However, price controls are not part of Government’s plans, according to the responsible minister.

“Price control are not on the table, Government has not taken that position and it will not take that position. We have made it quite clear that it’s not coming,” reiterated Minister Ndlovu.

The Industry and Commerce Minister said no businesses will be “punished” by the authorities.

“Certainly Government will not consider doing that and I like the fact that you put it clear as a punitive measure, we don’t believe anyone has to be punished for anything, this is a situation that we all have to collectively deal. So far, interactive platforms have worked and we believe we can do more through such platforms,” he said.

During the TV programme, business expressed concern over the suggestion to monitor their operations.

-State Media

A senior Bulawayo police officer died on the spot together with his wife when a vehicle they were travelling in was involved in a head-on collision with a haulage truck near St Luke’s Hospital along the Victoria Falls-Bulawayo road in Lupane Friday night.

Police spokesperson for Matabeleland North, Chief Inspector Siphiwe Makonese confirmed the tragic incident but could not give further detail.

Some motorists who witnessed the incident said Assistant Inspector Mthokozisi Sibanda, stationed at Drill Hall’s police recruiting department, was heading towards Bulawayo when the accident occurred.

They said Sibanda, who two months ago also lost his seven year old son, encroached onto the lane of oncoming traffic as he tried to avoid hitting a herd of cattle that had strayed onto the highway.

“We arrived at the scene when the accident had just happened just a few kilometres from Kenmaur. Both the driver and passenger were already dead and stuck in the Honda Fit car. We managed to inform police who attended to the scene,” said a motorist who was driving from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls.

The mangled car landed on the side of the road while the haulage truck had also veered off the road and stopped on the other side of the road.

Concerned motorists appealed to government to quickly erect a fence on either side of the highway to keep livestock and wild animals off the road as this has led to continued loss of life through road accidents.

Motorists said driving at night along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road was a death trap because of the animals, as villagers along the highway are not used to penning their livestock, especially between the Tyce Hurst and Insuza stretch and between Phulula and Lupane.

The road stretch between Halfway and Victoria Falls is also infested with wild animals such as elephants, buffaloes, wild dogs and hyenas mostly, which patrol around at night as the area is within the Hwange and Zambezi national parks.

VIDEO BELOW

Correspondent|Former Harare Mayor Ben Manyenyeni has congratulated the City of Bulawayo for yet again being crowned the best run city in the country.

Manyenyeni sent his congratulatory message to the City through his official Facebook page on Sunday morning.

“It’s the City of Kings one more time, Amhlope!!Bulawayo voted Best Run City in Zimbabwe. Very little politics, minimum interference, professional managers, a united community …….

Congratulations and keep it up,” said Manyenyeni.

Bulawayo City Council (BCC) was named the best run council in the country at the annual Local Government Investment Conference (LOGIC) that was held in Bulawayo this week.

BCC came tops after landing two of the five awards at stake – solid waste management and sewer reticulation and public lighting.

A number of local authorities face service delivery challenges in areas of water provision, solid waste and sewer reticulation.

Bulawayo rarely records water borne diseases cases despite the city traditionally facing water challenges.

Bulawayo mayor Solomon Mguni said the local authority was humbled by the recognition, adding their vision is to be Africa’s best run city in years to come.

“The quest now is to be the best run city in Africa as we used to be in the 1980’s,” Mguni told journalists on the sidelines of the LOGIC conference.

This is not the first time that the BCC has been named the best run council with former Local Government ministers stating the same.

The third LOGIC conference that was organised by the Urban Councils’ Association of Zimbabwe was running under the theme “Local Authorities: Ready for Investment”.

A 21-year-old Midlands State University student was early this week ordered to perform 70 hours of community service after he was convicted of stealing panties from female students to use them for masturbation.

Prince Danda, a fourth year Media and Society Studies student, pleaded guilty to the charge of theft when he appeared before Gweru magistrate Beaulite Dube.

He told the court he used them to visualise their owners wearing them as he ‘self-pleased’ himself.

“I used the panties for masturbating while imagining women wearing them,” Danda told the court, before blaming evil spirits for his actions.

Dube said she considered that Danda was a first offender who needed to be given a chance to complete his studies but said what he did was an abomination that deserved punishment.

She sentenced him to six months in prison but set aside four months on condition of good behaviour and a further two months if he completed 70 hours of community service at Senga Polyclinic.

The court heard that on October 14 at around 12:30pm, the first complainant, Immaculate Tatenda Cigarette, a 21-yer-old female student was at 1401 Nehosho when she saw accused Danda at the gate.

The accused went to the back of the house and stole complainant’s blue undergarments from the washing line and put them in his pocket.

When the complainant confronted him, he said he had lost his way before leaving the place. She then went to check her clothes and discovered that her underwear was missing before pursuing Danda.

She met police officers on patrol and reported the matter.

On the second count Danda went to house number 588 Nehosho where Nokuthula Nkomo, another 21-year-old MSU student resided.

He used the same method to steal her grey panties from the washing line before disappearing. Police later found Danda at Nhemachena shops in Senga where they searched him and discovered the undergarments in his pocket before arresting him.

The undergarments, valued at $6, were recovered.

A search at Danda’s residence led to the discovery of several more female undergarments, which he admitted to have stolen in the same way.

Correspondent|Emmerson Mnangagwa led ZANU PF Matabeleland North deputy provincial secretary John Khumalo (65) and a traditional healer, Sithembiso Tshuma (42), were on Friday jailed for nine years each for illegal possession of a pangolin skin.

Khumalo, of Jotsholo village in Lupane, at first denied the charge before admitting that he wanted to use the skin to seek treatment for his niece’s nose bleeding ailment.

He also said he got the skin from his co-accused when they appeared before Hwange provincial magistrate, Livard Philemon.

Prosecutor Onias Nyathi told the court that on May 26 this year at around 7pm, police received a tip-off that there were people in possession of pangolin scales, who were looking for buyers at a local hotel.

Police officers went to the hotel, where they found Khumalo and Tshuma seated in a car.

After introducing themselves, they requested to search the vehicle before recovering a pangolin skin with scales stashed in a plastic bag in the boot of the car.

After the two failed to provide a permit, they were arrested. The pangolin skin, weighing 0,648kg and with 138 scales, was valued at $690.

Through their lawyer, Givemore Muvhiringi of Muvhiringi and Associates, the duo had earlier argued in court that the skin did not belong to them and suggested that it could have been planted to frame them by the police informant.

Khumalo, however, pleaded for mercy from the court in mitigation after he had been convicted, arguing that he had picked up the animal at his farm and had sought Tshuma’s assistance after hearing that a pangolin could be used to heal nose bleeding.

He said he had a niece afflicted with the problem.

Newsday

Make a date for the “Beyond the dollar: Better times ahead for Zimbabwe” roundtable discussion with Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube, United Nations Resident Coordinator Bishow Parajuli and Economist Eddie Cross.

TWO of the 12-man machete wielding gang that assaulted cops and destroyed six police bicycles, have been arrested.

Prince Moyo (24) and Descent Moyo (26) both from Spitzop North suburb in Gwanda, were not asked to plead when they appeared before Gwanda magistrate Ms Nomagugu Ncube facing robbery, malicious damage to property and assault charges.

They were remanded in custody to October 24.

Prosecuting, Miss Faith Mutukwa said Prince and Descent and their accomplices first stole money from Mr Jason Moyo and when police tried to arrest them, they attacked them.

“On 7 October at around 12 noon Prince and Descent together with 10 other men who are still at large met Mr Jason Moyo and they accused him of stealing their money on the previous day.

“They forcibly took $100 cash from him and a cellphone and went away. Mr Moyo reported the matter to the police who attended the scene and found the gang who were armed with machetes and axes still on the scene. When police tried to arrest them they threw stones at them forcing the cops to flee,” she said.

Miss Mutukwa said six cops who had attended the scene fled leaving their bicycles behind. She said the gang remained behind and destroyed the six bicycles with axes and machetes.

“The gang left and along the way met another cop who was alone and they took his cellphone and $5. They later met another resident, Mr Succeed Nyathi, who was driving a donkey- drawn scotch cart and they struck one of the donkeys with a machete. They went on to assault another resident, Mr Luckmore Banda over an undisclosed reason,” she said.

Miss Mutukwa said following police investigations, Prince and Descent were arrested.

State Media

ANTI-RIOT police had to be called in to restore order at a service station along Khami Road near Thorngrove suburb in Bulawayo after violence broke out as motorists jostled to refuel.

The disorder was allegedly caused by some motorists who attempted to jump the queue.

There were four parallel queues and as such fuel attendants were overwhelmed by the disorder hence they called the police.

According to eye witnesses, fights erupted between some taxi drivers and long distance bus drivers that were also queuing for diesel.

Some cars had partially blocked Khami Road thereby causing a traffic jam as motorists from opposite directions had to navigate carefully as only one lane was open.

Bulawayo assistant police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident.

“I can confirm that we were called in to restore order at a service station following a stampede by motorists after word went round that the station had diesel. We did not make any arrests. However, we managed to quell a potentially disastrous situation. We urge members of the public to be orderly in their conduct to avoid such situations,” said Inspector Ncube.

Meanwhile, some commuter omnibus operators in Bulawayo have increased fares from 75 cents to between $1 and $1,50.

Commuters who expressed outrage at the latest fare hikes which they said are very high given the people’s salaries.

Kombis plying the city to Tshabalala, Nkulumane, Nketa and Mpopoma routes are charging $1 while commuters from suburbs such as Cowdray Park, Luveve and Entumbane are now paying $1,50.

State Media

Former Deputy Finance Minister, Terence Mukupe has alleged that the socialite, Acie Lumumba recently appointed to the Finance Ministry is a thief. Below was the full text of his allegation:

If you need to understand the recent appointment of Acie Lumumba by Prof Mthuli Ncube just read law number 2 under the 48 laws of power which I abridged below :

“2: Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies”

But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them

The key to power is the ability to judge who is best able to further your interests in all situations. Keep friends for friendship, but work with the skilled and competent.

My advice to the Prof is please keep him away from money… He has a serious weakness… Am sure he will be opening a toll gate very soon for people to see you without your knowledge… Straight out of the Kasukuwere school of ideology!

The Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) through to December 2020 has secured the backing of the World Bank Group and IMF.

In an interview with The Sunday Mail last week, Prof Ncube said, “I have only been a minister for one month. We need patience, we know what we are doing. What I can say to Zimbabweans is that they should give me six months to see the full impact of the changes from the policies that we have pursued.

“Of course, I need a year to make a formal report with things such as the Budget, but judge me after six months. We would have made very good progress in various fronts, both in terms of arrears clearance agenda and progress on the fiscal front, dealing with the revenue front which we have acted on and cutting Government expenditure.”

He said the aftershocks of the new policy measures would not stop the stabilisation agenda.
“There is no regret. We are not going to do policy reversals, it’s a very bad idea to reverse policy. We need policy consistency. All we want is for Zimbabweans to understand what we are trying to do. We have a patient that is bleeding, these policies are the solution, they are not the problem,” he said.

“We will run some numbers on how we will do cost-cutting on a monthly basis. We will run some numbers on a monthly basis on the expenditure. This means after one year, I will be able to report formally on where we are. That is why I am saying, if you give me six months, you will see changes, significant changes.”
Treasury will cut the civil service wage bill, which stands at $300 million per month, by $60 million.
Added Prof Ncube: “I am confident that we will make a lot of progress, you will see the measures in our Budget, and (the) tentative date is 22 November.

“Government wages are about $300 million a month, so if we are reducing that from 70 to 50 percent (of expenditure), so we will save about $50 million to $60 million, which over time is what we would want to save on a monthly basis. This is the trajectory over the next three years.

“I can’t say whether (bonuses of civil servants) will be there or not, but it is an issue that we are looking at. We will consult with the President and other stakeholders, but in this Budget, we will show that we are serious about cutting expenditure.”

Prof Ncube said by broadening the tax base through the new two percent transactional tax and presenting a credible TSP, Government had completed part one one of the three-stage process of clearing arrears to international finance institutions.

“The plan basically has three stages: the first stage is to produce and present a credible reform programme, I have done that through the TSP.
“I have presented the document to the partners – IMF, World Bank and the African Development Bank, the IFIs, as well as the Paris Club. It was well received, almost without exception. They challenged me to walk the talk and ensure that the implementation happens. I then told them that implementation had already started through the tax.

“The second phase is we are desirous to make an offer to pay the AfDB. The pari passu rule says that we should pay them and WB at the same time, but we are pleased to realise that there has been an agreement to allow for some flexibility on that.

‘‘I am really confident that by next year we would have done that. The World Bank figure of $1,3 billion is large compared to the $680 million for AfDB, so for that one we will be seeking support from one or two countries, or even all the G7 nations. We need to do that and we are going to make a request.

“The AfDB amount is covered under what we call Pillar 2 resources. Of course, we have to top-up but that is manageable. The real issue is the World Bank portion.

“Then (stage) three is the Paris Club bilateral negotiation. Once we make an offer to clear off the AfDB arrears, we will then also kick-start the Paris Club negotiations and have conversations in a serious way.”

A meeting to that end has been scheduled for November 14 in Livingstone, Zambia; while Zimbabwe continues to engage the United States on economic sanctions.

The finance chief also said it was critical to have the right management at the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and a new board would be appointed soon.

It has since emerged that Government is considering using some of the money raised from privatisation of State-owned enterprises to compensate pensioners who lost money during the hyperinflationary era. – state media

Retailers and manufacturers who increase prices of goods and services without justification will face heavy Government fines under a new consumer protection law that fosters fair business practices.

Cabinet recently approved principles of the Consumer Protection Bill, which will be tabled before Parliament soon.

The proposed law, which has been in the works for some time, coincides with a recent bout of arbitrary price increases by retailers. The new law will give bite to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, which has largely been viewed as a toothless bulldog.

The law criminalises the practice of retailers and manufacturers forcing consumers to buy extra goods in order to purchase a single item. Not displaying prices on shop shelves will also become an offence.

Furthermore, the law seeks to prohibit tele-marketing of goods and services by retailers and manufacturers without consumers’ permission. Breaching the law will attract deterrent penalties that range from fines to withdrawal of trading licences.

Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Mr Raji Modi told The Sunday Mail last week that Government would fast-track the law as it was overdue.

He said, “Everything is now in order. The Bill is ready and now awaits to go to Parliament. The Bill has been on hold for quite some time now; thus, Government is going to work with speed so that it becomes law.

“We want to create a law for consumer protection like most countries have done, a law that will give teeth to the Consumer Council (of Zimbabwe) to make sure there are no unfair business practices and unjustified price increases.”

Through the new law, it will become possible, Deputy Minister Modi said, to rein in businesses that profiteer at consumers’ expense.
“The law will be able to take certain action where appropriate. For example, at the moment, when there are unwarranted price (increases), there is nothing much that can be done, the best they can do is just complain about that and it ends there.

“All along we have been working on this Bill and it now awaits the process of being tabled in Parliament,” he said.
CCZ executive director Ms Rosemary Siyachitema said the law would protect consumers.
“This will be a national law that will have a body which will have powers to prosecute and incarcerate perpetrators of such crimes,” she said.

“Now consumers have a law to fall back on as all along we used moral suasion. We now have a law to fall on. We are glad that as CCZ, we have been part of making the law.”
Some retailers have been demanding payment in US dollars only.

To cushion consumers and restore sanity in the market, Government last week introduced a price monitoring system along the production value chain from manufacturers to retailers. – state media

Who's Trusted By The Economy MNANGAGWA vs CHAMISA?

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) October 20, 2018

MDC Alliance leader  today  took people  by surprise when he unexpectedly joined a long Fuel queue at  Puma Service Station.

Chamisa who waited patiently to be served said government must act immediately to stop the crisis.

-iharare

The ZANU PF Murehwa North parliamentary candidate, Daniel Garwe, who dumped his wife for a girlfriend, has been slapped with a two month jail term.

He received a suspended two months imprisonment for resisting an order stopping him from stripping two farms in Harare and Mvuma, pending divorce at the higher court.

His estranged wife Ms Miriam Garwe had obtained a court order in June this year, stopping the legislator from taking or in any way disposing of any of the assets held under the family companies and family trust.

But in defiance, Garwe took away part of the matrimonial property, prompting the wife to file contempt of court charges against him.

Justice Silvia Chirawu-Mugomba heard the matter and found Garwe in contempt of court. She said Garwe deserved censure.

She did not hesitate to impose a 60-day imprisonment wholly suspended on condition that he complied with the court order.

“In the event that the respondent fails to comply forthwith with . . . the applicant (Miriam Lilieth) is entitled to lodge a complaint on oath with the registrar of this court, who shall upon receipts of such complaint, issue a warrant of committal against the respondent (Garwe) for him to serve the suspended sentence,” said Justice Chirawu-Mugomba.

At the hearing of the contempt of court charges, Garwe was challenged to prove that he was not in wilful defiance of the court order. The legislator claimed he could not comply with the court order on the grounds that he was busy with elections campaign in his constituency.

He had also requested to be given until August 1 to comply with court judgments. But Justice Chirawu-Mugomba noted that Garwe’s request ignored the fact that the court order required him to comply with the court decision forthwith.

“He has failed to show how the campaigning prevented him from complying with a court order,” she said.

“His attitude seems to be that of a person who seeks to be excused from complying with a court order simply because he was taking part in an election process.

“To allow such conduct would be tantamount to throwing spanners in the rule of law.”

The couple’s marriage is on the rocks, hence an action for divorce is pending in this court.

At the centre of the divorce is the issue of what constitutes assets of the spouses.

During the subsistence of their marriage, the couple conducted family businesses through and held family assets in family companies and family trust namely: Planet Building Contractors (Pvt) Ltd, Hastream Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd, Macheke Motors (Pvt) Ltd t/a Sebakwe Range Farm; Kudakawashe and Tafadzwa Garwe Family Trust.

-state media

The Constitutional Court(Con-Court)’s landmark court ruling against draconian protests legislation opens a new chapter for human rights, Amnesty International has said.

This comes after the Con-Court overturned Section 27 of the Public Order and Security Act (Posa), which prohibits demonstrations without prior authorisation from the Zimbabwe Republic Police.

Handing down the judgment, Rita Makarau said the legislation in question was open to abuse by the State.

“This landmark decision by the Supreme Court is a welcome step which we hope opens a new chapter for human rights in the country,” Amnesty International Zimbabwe executive director Jessica Pwiti said.

“For far too long, this repressive piece of legislation has been used to systematically harass, arbitrarily detain and torture people seen as opposition supporters or those trying to expose human rights violations.

‘‘The fact it is no longer on the statute books is cause for celebration.

“But it’s now the responsibility of the police and other relevant authorities to ensure the court’s decision is adequately implemented.

“This means facilitating an environment in which the right to peaceful assembly is ensured without undue restrictions .”

-Daily News

A public hearing on the August 1 violence entered a third day at a hotel in the capital yesterday, with Zanu PF supporters claiming that the army cannot be blamed for the election unrest that turned deadly as soldiers opened fire on opposition protesters, saying the MDC Alliance should take full responsibility for the loss of lives.

This emerged at a public hearing of a commission of inquiry put in place to investigate the post-election violence that left at least six people dead and countless others injured.

The commission includes former South African president Kgalema Motlanthe, presidential candidate Lovemore Madhuku, former Tanzania defence chief Davis Mwamunyange, former president of the law society of Zimbabwe, Vimbai Nyemba and British human rights lawyer Rodney Dixon QC.

The seven-member team is looking into events preceding the violence on August 1 and the “motives and strategies employed in the protests”.

The commission is also investigating the circumstances which necessitated the involvement of the military in the maintenance of law and order and whether the degree of force used was appropriate to the threat.

The army was deployed in the capital after police proved unable to quell MDC demonstrators who claimed the historic July 30 election was being rigged. Much of the city centre resembled a war zone, with military helicopters flying overhead, armoured personnel carriers moving through burning debris and patrols of soldiers chasing stone throwers down narrow streets. Terrified citizens took cover in shop doorways or behind walls still covered in posters bearing portraits of election candidates as volleys of shots rang out and stones flew through the air. Witnesses reported seeing soldiers beating people with makeshift batons and shooting wantonly.

Despite relatives testifying that their deceased relatives were murdered by members of the military, pro-Zanu PF backers justified the use of deadly force.

Tendai Chirawu, the secretary for administration for the Zanu PF youth league, justified the involvement of the army, saying it was clear that the police with their water cannons were unable to control the marauding crowds.

“He said the intervention of the police was fully justified in the interest of maintenance of law and order.

Terrence Mugwadi, a political commentator who made it clear in his testimony that he was a supporter of the ruling party, said he did not witness the army action on August 1, but claimed there was a clear putsch by the MDC Alliance to unconstitutionally seize power.  “This was not a demo for results but an attempt for power seizure.

“War songs were being sung and people were frog-marched into that demo. MDC engages in violent activities within the CBD; they think they own Harare,” Mugwadi said.

“I wouldn’t want to give speculative evidence on what I saw. I cannot say I saw the army.”

The MDC has made statements challenging the composition of the commission and alleging that it has ‘‘murky’’ intentions against the party.

Testifying on Wednesday, secretary-general of the MDC youth, Lovemore Chinoputsa said the commission had an agenda of smearing dirt on the MDC, a development that is surprising in a ‘‘new dispensation’’ where relationships are expected to be amended. Ignatius Neshawa, a brother in–law to the late Ishamel Kumire — a vendor who was shot in the cross-fire — said the soldiers showed no mercy as they unfurled their operation. He told the commission that when he tried to present the bullet cartridge to the police after the incident as evidence, he was rudely dismissed.

“I saw my brother-in-law falling; he actually fell on my feet.  I thought he had tripped and fell as people were running away from the soldiers. He had fallen head wards, when I turned him, I saw a cartridge,” he told the commission.

“About nine soldiers arrived on the spot; one pointed a gun at me and told me to leave immediately. He was actually ready to fire.

“I told him to go ahead and shoot as they had already killed my brother-in-law.”

The testifying relatives alleged that hospital officials made attempts to conceal the cause of death as gunshot wounds. He said the number of people who were killed on the day in question was also understated.

-Daily News

Relocated Harare vendors operating from an open space at Coca-Cola Corner along Seke Road in Graniteside are facing hard times as the rainy season approaches.

Vendors who spoke to the Daily News yesterday said they had been “dumped” at the dusty site which is still under construction and inaccessible to their regular customers.

Contacted for comment, Harare City Council spokesperson Michael Chideme said they had provided facilities at the site and all was in order.

“Is that what they are saying? We have provided shelter for the vendors,” he said.

Interviewed vendors pleaded with city authorities to address their plight.

“With the approaching rainy season, we need tents or shades.

“The place is open and we are exposed to the sun in this heat. With heavy rains, it’s going to be very muddy and impossible to operate from these grounds.

“They have not provided us with the promised tables imagine we are selling from this dusty ground,” said Margaret Kani.

“Our regular customers from the city centre are not able to access us this far. It is just meaningless; we come here to sit all day without selling even a single item.”

Others said with the worsening economy, they were hardly making any earnings at the new site.

“We are returning home empty-handed everyday; yet the cost of living has gone up.

“On a good day in the city centre, one would go home with at least $30 or $40.

“Now I can’t even afford a loaf of bread, worse still I now need $2 for transport daily. I am just coming here to ensure my stand is not taken away,” said Zuwana Chombuka.

Vendors complained that the ablution facilities at the site were not enough for hundreds conducting business at the premises.

Margaret Dangarembwa said the site was just too small and now crowded since the arrival of vendors from the CBD.

“We can’t fit anymore; the place is too small for hundreds of us.  We need more toilets and at least a security wall to secure the place.

“When it’s windy, it becomes impossible to display our wares because of the rising dust,” she said.

Vendors were violently removed from the CBD by police on the wake of the declaration of a state of emergency following a cholera outbreak.

Opposition parties and civil society groups noted that government was blind to the plight of vendors in the context of high unemployment.

-Daily News

Opposition kingpin Tendai Biti has lashed Finance minister Mthuli Ncube for his “wrong economic prescriptions” for the country.

This comes after Ncube’s recent policy measures — which include the introduction of an unpopular two cents per dollar transaction tax — were roundly rejected by long-suffering Zimbabweans who accuse the new Treasury chief of plunging their lives further into poverty.

“The decision to impose that tax … and vary that tax from five cents a transaction to two cents in a dollar is a disaster, ill-thought, ill-informed and ill-founded and we are paying the price for it.

“The challenge in Zimbabwe is of course that of the budget deficit, but the deficit has been created not because we are collecting less revenue,” Biti told the Daily News in an exclusive interview yesterday.

“We are spending too much on the wage bill … 90 or 95 percent is spent on over 200 000 workers’ wages. And so we have to reduce the wage bill.

“When I was minister of Finance, I believed in a cash budget. You spend that which you have. I believed in fiscal consolidation … Eat what you kill.

“We managed because I was very clear and I would say no … (with regards to wasteful and ill-considered expenditure),” he said further.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s plans to revive the country’s battered economy received a severe jolt after Ncube’s belt-tightening measures — which were announced at the beginning of this month — failed to find resonance with ordinary people and business alike.

Ncube’s measures, which were announced on the same day that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya presented his post-election Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) — subsequently witnessed the crash of bond notes against the US dollar on the black market.

Since then, there has been widespread panic among consumers that things could deteriorate to the horrific lows of 2008 when hyper-inflation decimated the Zimbabwe dollar and emptied supermarkets.

Biti said Ncube wasn’t likely to succeed in pulling the economy out of the woods because he was focusing on “taxing people instead of cutting government’s wasteful spending”.

He said further that Ncube’s assurances that his measures would bring down the prices of basic consumer goods were futile as the country was “at the cusp of another economic hurricane”.

“The prices can’t go down because the cost of the US dollar can’t go down, and the US dollar cost can’t go down because we are not importing anything that will increase our supply, and we are not attracting any FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) or overseas development assistance,” he said.

Biti was credited with steadying the country’s economy which had tanked to historic levels due to hyperinflation in 2008, which forced both Zanu PF and the MDC to the negotiating table where an agreement was reached to form a government of national unity (GNU).

When he left the government in 2013, Treasury had $6,5 billion in its coffers, while the State’s domestic debt was a mere $275 million.

Today, the government has less than $200 million import cover and a gigantic $10 billion in domestic debt alone.

-Daily News

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

A Zimbabwean student at Dublin City University (DCU) in Ireland, Shepherd Machaya, is facing deportation this Sunday. Shepard left Zimbabwe due to political unrest in his country. He says he is from an area near Gweru, and that ZANU-PF supporters would kill him if he is deported back to Zimbabwe.

“This is the only other place that I know,” Shepard said in an extremely emotional video.

Shepard Machaya is a second year Management of Information Technology and Information Systems at the north Dublin university.

Mr Machaya fled his home country of Zimbabwe nine years ago and has been living in Direct Provision ever since.

His application for asylum was recently rejected and he was served a deportation order for Sunday, October 21.

The students have launched a petition urging Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan to reconsider the decision.

On Friday afternoon, a number of DCU students demonstrated outside the Department of Justice & Equality calling upon Minister Charles Flanagan to revoke Shepherd’s deportation order.

He explained his situation in a video posted on Dublin City University’s Student Union’s Facebook page.

DCUSU president Vito Moloney Burke read the open letter penned by the DCU sabbatical team to the minister to a crowd of over 100 supporters of the campaign lined on the steps of the department building.

“Shepherd Machaya’s deportation order is completely inconceivable to us.

“Not just because he is a model citizen, who has contributed so much to our communities through the sheer commitment to his studies and bettering himself to contribute to society, but also because of the undeniable danger he will be placed under should he return to Zimbabwe.

“We urge Minister Flanagan to prevent him from being forcibly returned to a place where he was tortured and his best friend was murdered.”

DCU are claiming that his status as refuge should still be valid as his life is in danger should he be forced to return.

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.

-263Chat

Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) has castigated some sections of the Warriors fans who they claimed were “disguised in military uniforms” following the pandemonium that ensued before the Zimbabwe’s AFCON qualifier against DRC on Tuesday night.

The Warriors spirited to a 1-1 draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The match was marred by crowd trouble at the National Sports Srtadium entry points with fans overwhelming the security resulting in a huge number of them entering the match through undesignated points for free.

ZIFA came under fire for the stadium fracas.

The football association’s communications manager, Xolisani Gwesela, sprung to the defense of the mother board putting the blame on unforeseen challenges that were beyond their control.

ZIFA, in a statement said it was saddened by the incident and promised to make corrective measures next time.

“The Association regrets the unfortunate crowd trouble and stampede which occurred at some entry points.

“We are very delighted and thankful that no life was lost,” reads part of the statement.

ZIFA, through Gwesela claimed that they had done everything according to the book before they were overwhelmed by fans.

“It became very difficult to serve more than 20 000 fans at once as this is impossible with the current gates we have at the National Sports stadium.

“We also experienced network and connectivity challenges at our payment points and this resulted in the slow processing of payments which culminated in restlessness and crowd trouble,” Gwesela said in a statement.

Gwesela blamed an unruly section of the fans who were “dressed in military uniforms” for assisting in crowd trouble.

“Some rogue elements who were dressed in military uniforms and some unscrupulous stewards also caused mayhem and assisted fans to enter the stadium using undesignated points, demanding bribes in return.

“In a bid to avert a stampede and curb loss of life, the committee also authorised that some gates be opened for fans to enter free of charge,” he said.

Gwesela said ZIFA have enough evidence to support their allegations that a section of rowdy elements within the uniformed forces played a part in crowd trouble.

“We have visual evidence of the criminal behaviour displayed by rogue elements who were in military uniform and we will present it to relevant authorities for further action,” he said.

Gwesela said they have learnt the hard way and will put corrective measures to avert the crisis in future.

“Going forward, we endeavour to counter such scenarios by introducing pre-match ticket sales and availing adequate entry points.

“To avoid recurrence of Tuesday’s unfortunate events, all stakeholders involved in the organisation of national team matches have agreed to reactivate the Disaster Management Committee,”he said.

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.