By Talent Gondo| An Isuzu truck, registration number ACN 2759 was on Thursday caught on camera dumping waste on a wetland in Marlborough Harare.
Below are pictures of the truck:
By Talent Gondo| Finance and Economic Development minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has set up a crowd fund where he is appealing for donations to help government fight cholera.
Prof Ncube said in a tweet:
Together with my colleagues at Min of Health, we have set up an auditable emergency crowdfund to further efforts to fight cholera to date. Together we can win! Min Of Finance Cholera Crowd Fund:
EcoCash Biller Code 140286; CBZ Treasury, ACC 21537300017, Selous REF: FIGHT CHOLERA— Prof. Mthuli Ncube (@MthuliNcube) September 13, 2018
However, there were mixed reactions to Prof Ncube’s plea for assistance with citizens accussing President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government of having misplaced priorities.
Said Kuwadzana East Legislator who is also the MDC Deputy Treasurer Charlton Hwende:
“What kind of nonsense is this ? Your Government chartered a plan for grace to attend a funeral now 25 poor people have died all you can do is crowd funding ?”
Replied Zenzele, a journalist:
“And they will get money to buy new cars for ministers when they don’t have money to fight cholera.”
Added Exogomus Mapinyenye:
“There nothing wrong with what the Minister is doing setting this up. When the Grenfell Tower disaster happened in London, helplines and assistance lines and centers were established to coordinate assistance and donations. New approach to problems and you’re suspicious.”
Said Thandekile Moyo:
“We’re Unemployed,
Cholera riddled and Living in sewage strewn hoods. With our taxes our Gvt:
Drives SUVs, Lives in Borrowdale, Drinks bottled H²O, Kids in Private schools, Gets paid in USD. But here they are Asking us for $$ to solve a crisis Caused by their thievary. The epitome of delela!.”
Tweeted Zvobgo Luckson:
Again, it doesn’t go well if a whole Minister tweet and few minutes later delete the tweet. Be careful. pic.twitter.com/yvpzgDMHBR
— Luckson Zvobgo (@zvobgoluckson) September 13, 2018
Said Apollo Creed:
Imagine after chattering a plane for former first Lady.
— Noble Tinashe MD (@Noble_zw) September 13, 2018
THE elimination of bond notes, which has been called for by many, will not solve Zimbabwe’s fundamental economic problems, economists have argued.
The country has suffered chronic economic distress for more than two decades, of which, lately, a currency crisis has been the face, they say.
This has created a villain of bond notes, which were introduced in 2016, with many blaming much of the country’s current hardships on the surrogate currency said to be backed by an African Export-Import Bank facility.
On this backdrop, the new government has indicated that it intends to make some monetary changes, starting with the elimination of bond notes.
Economists have however warned that any reform programme that is not focused on fundamentals, with particular focus on the fiscal policy, will not come to anything.
“Even if bond notes were eliminated today, that would not solve the fundamental problems, we even had these before the introduction of the notes…we are blaming the symptoms when we should be dealing with the disease. Let us deal with the fundamentals,” Christopher Mugaga, an economist and chief executive of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, told The Financial Gazette this week.
Gift Mugano, another economist, said bond notes have contributed to a loss of confidence on the system but added that the country’s problems go beyond confidence issues.
“Removing bond notes might correct the confidence issues that were created by their introduction, but our problems run much deeper. We need fiscal consolidation and support with cash deposits to bring up our reserves,” he said.
Mugaga said government should not be preoccupied with bond notes, but should focus on the fundamentals, “starting with fiscal consolidation”.
In 2017, government’s domestic debt rose by 70,45 percent to $6,27 billion, while credit to the private sector stood at $3,71 billion. The increase in credit to government reflects its increased reliance on the banking sector to finance its budget deficit. This has pushed an increase in money supply, particularly real time gross settlement (RTGS) money.
“Under dollarisation, financing of the deficit should ideally be from foreign sources in order to mitigate the domestic creation of money which is not matched by foreign exchange,” John Mangudya, the central bank governor, said in his monetary policy statement in February this year.
Between June 2017 and June 2018, money supply increased by 41 percent, from $ 6,49 billion to $9,14 billion. This reflected an increase of in RTGS balances of 93,31 percent.
“…money creation in the form of RTGS balances has been very significant, broad money has continuously increased as government has been issuing Treasury Bills to pay for its debts locally…when they give that paper to an entity it becomes a balance on that entity’s account but there is no cash to back that up so there is a lot of virtual money in the system,” Mugano said.
Persistence Gwanyanya, another economist, said the virtual money is a worse evil than whatever people believe bond notes to be.
“What should be clear in your mind is that bond notes, though not perfect, are better than RTGS money. A look at the premiums on these two forms of money reveals this,” Gwanyanya said.
Mugaga said the virtual money is more of a problem than bond notes, “but the real problem is what has created these things — government borrowing”.
“Legislation should be adjusted to remove the central bank’s overdraft facility to government,” Mugaga asserted.
He also recommended a liberalisation of the foreign exchange market saying Foreign Currency Accounts or FCAs should be reinforced, adding that the central bank should scrap its foreign currency allocation priority list in favour of an “open market”.
Gwanyanya echoed Mugaga’s sentiments.
“There is need to improve bond notes by abandoning its exchange rate peg to the US dollar,” Gwanyanya said.
Mthuli Ncube, the newly appointed finance minister, has been very vocal lately, expressing his views on what should be done to turn around the economy.
Fiscal consolidation, monetary reforms, and currency market liberalisation are all ideas that he has backed.
Most Zimbabweans have however remained cautiously optimistic, after years of too much talk which is not complemented with action.
Despite promising fiscal rationalisation earlier this year, government recently gave civil servants an increment, even after public warnings against such “imprudence” from many including Patrick Chinamasa, who was then finance minister.
Fingaz
Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general and Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been laid to rest Thursday in his home country of Ghana.
Thousands of mourners gathered in the Accra International Conference Center to pay their last respects during an emotional funeral service on Thursday.
Annan’s widow, Nane Maria Annan was visibly moved as solo singer Alice Twum gave a rendition of the hymn “It Is Well.”
During her eulogy, the widow told the congregation: “Kofi always believed that his inner strength and sense of hope came from his deep roots here and I want to thank Ghana for giving me such an extraordinary human being.
“My love, you are now back home where you started your long journey. But may your wisdom and compassion continue to guide us, wherever we are,” she added.
Annan’s son Kojo and daughter Ama also paid tribute to their father during the three-hour ceremony.
Kojo, 45, said: “To the rest of the world, he was a global statesman par excellence. To me he was just Daddy. His singular gift is that he believed in humanity’s potential. He believed in everyone’s ability to achieve extraordinary things if given an opportunity.”
Annan, the first black man to lead the United Nations, died in August at 80 after a brief illness.
His body was flown back to Ghana from Switzerland on Monday ahead of the funeral.
The Ghanaian diplomat was the seventh UN secretary-general, serving from 1997 to 2006, and was the first to rise from within the ranks of the UN staff.
Annan, described by former Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as “Africa’s foremost son,” led the United Nations at a time of raging global terrorism; his efforts at combating conflicts in Africa, Asia and the Middle East won him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.
Current UN Secretary General António Guterres praised his close friend as an “exceptional global leader.”
“He had a gentle voice that made people smile and think of music but his words were also tough and wise. Kofi Annan was courageous speaking truth to power while subjecting himself to intense scrutiny,” Guterres said.
“Kofi Annan was the United Nations and the United Nations was him,” Guterres added.
World leaders who attended the funeral include five African presidents: Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, George Weah of Liberia, Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire, Hage Geingob of Namibia and Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger.
Others in attendance included Angolan Vice-President Bornito de Sousa; Princess Beatrix, the former queen of the Netherlands; Deputy Chief of the African Union Commission Kwesi Quartey; former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga; and Graça Machel, a former first lady of South Africa and Mozambique.
Many of Ghana’s traditional rulers, clad in their customary black and red flowing robes, were also present during the service.
Funeral rites are deemed very important in Ghana, and one of the traditional rulers told CNN that Annan should have been laid to rest in his ancestral home in the east of the country, with other royal family members.
Nana Annom III one of Ghanaian traditional chiefs was also present.
Nana Annom III told CNN: “Kofi Annan is a royal so he should have been buried with the others where he was born. He is an international figure so it was permitted for him to be buried in Accra,” he saidn.
Annan’s cortege was taken a few meters away from the conference center to the military cemetery, where he was given full military honors, including a 17-gun salute.
The UN will hold two other ceremonies in Annan’s honor later this month in Geneva, Switzerland, and in New York.
CNN
Makumbe Primary School headmaster Mr Silas Chitate was on Wednesday jailed for 15 years after he was convicted of raping one of his Grade Seven pupils.
Chitate (56) was initially sentenced to 18 years by Harare magistrate Mr Morgan Nemadire before he suspended three years on condition that he does not commit a similar offence within the next five years.
Prosecuting, Ms Venecia Matake told the court that on June 22, the complainant returned to Makumbe Primary from Marondera with three other pupils where they had gone for sports.
Chitate escorted the pupils to their homes, but found the gate to the complainant’s house locked.
He persuaded the complainant to sleep at his house and she agreed.
At midnight, the complainant was awakened by Chitate gripping her neck while his other hand was gripping her left leg.
Chitate proceeded to rape the girl and after raping her, he went to his bedroom.- state media
Magamba Cultural Activist Network Trust ( Magamba Network) has appeared in court on charges of externalisation after it transferred money to an international account without authorisation from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ).
Magamba Network’s creative director Sam Monro, appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Learnmore Mapiye on behalf of the organisation. The matter was remanded to October 11 for trial commencement.
Prosecuting, Ms Francisca Mukumbiri alleged that on June 3, 2014, Magamba Network transferred $5 150 from their Stanbic account to a solid ground holdings account held with Mauritius Commercial Bank Limited.
It is further alleged that on June 19, 2014 Magamba Network transferred $5 300 into the same account in Mauritius.
The network did this without seeking the approval of the Exchange Control Authority. Information came to light through an informer who made a report to the police.- state media
Like a joke, bread prices are rising tomorrow.
By Business Reporter| The price of bread is will increase by 10 cents this Saturday, it has emerged.
This follows a warning (SEE LIVE VIDEO) by the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) that the country faces an imminent shortage of bread due to low levels of wheat.
A memo from Innscor seen by ZimEye.com and written to the Food World company states as follows –
“Dear Sir Re : Price list effective Saturday 15 September 2018 Reference is made to the above. This letter serves to inform you that the price list for Innscor Africa Bread Company Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd t/a Bakers Inn bread effective Saturday 15 September 2018 will be as follows.
Standard Loaf All Variants per unit
Wholesale Delivered Price Recommended Retail Price
$1.00
(one dollar)
$1.10 (one dollar and ten cents)
Should you need any clarification, kindly contact our Sales and Marketing Executive, Mr Caleb Musodza on caleb[CONTACT DETAILS REDACTED]”
Innscor are the makers of Bakers Inn Bread.
– THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY: REFRESH THIS PAGE FOR THE UPDATES –
VIDEO LOADING BELOW…
If Parirenyatwa spills the beans on Mnangagwa….
— ZimEye (@ZimEye) September 14, 2018
VIDEO LOADING BELOW
It is very clear that the responsibility for expansion works on Harare’s water treatment infrastructure rests with Emmerson Mnangagwa’s office and the ZANU PF leader himself made false promises just before the just ended elections in July 2018 claiming that he has secured 680 million dollars for the task. Mnangagwa himself back then even revealed that government not Harare City Council was supposed to have built the Kunzvi Dam water treatment structure way back in 1996. But one of his cabinet ministers has begun blaming it on the MDC run council.
State Media – Government is working tirelessly to deal with the root causes of cholera and partisan utterances by Harare Mayor Councillor Herbert Gomba in NewsDay are unfortunate as it is not time to play games when people are dying from the water-borne disease, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Cde July Moyo has said.
Clr Gomba yesterday tried to lay the blame on Zanu-PF and Government for the outbreak of cholera in Harare.
In a statement yesterday Minister Moyo reprimanded Clr Gomba for the reckless remarks.
“I want to assure the people of Harare in particular as well as the citizens of Zimbabwe in general that we are not sleeping and we are doing everything within our power to not only bring this outbreak to an end, but to deal with the root causes. The public is asked to ignore this incident; rather let us work together to get things done; as a family,” said Minister Moyo.
He consoled families that have lost relatives to cholera and wished those hospitalised a quick recovery.
“It is necessary, at this point in time, for me to make a press statement thanking the joint efforts by the Government, the Harare City Council, well-wishers, both local and foreign, and the general public, in spite of the unfortunate utterances by the Mayor of Harare concerning the issue of cholera, as published by NewsDay. This is not the time to play games with people’s lives and try to score political points when the city is faced with a crisis of this nature,” said Minister Moyo.
“It is important that everyone understands that cholera and typhoid are infectious diseases that know no bounds and certainly do not discriminate. To attempt to create partisan political mileage out of the suffering of one’s own supporters is diabolical and needs to end forthwith. The statements by the Mayor are inappropriate in the extreme.”
Minister Moyo said Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo never blamed council for the cholera outbreak as alleged by Clr Gomba.
“I am sure that by now, a large number of Zimbabweans will have seen and heard exactly what the Honourable Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Obadiah Moyo, said at the meeting of yesterday (Wednesday).
“My Deputy Minister was there and has fully briefed me. At no time did the Honourable Obadiah Moyo try to pass the blame for cholera onto anyone. He even went as far as to commend the city council for the efforts they have made to date but encouraged them, and other players, to greater efforts. Where mistakes were made, these were discussed professionally merely to overcome the consequences and this discussion was not held in the presence of the public or the press
“Mayor Gomba might not be aware of the presence of his own officials in Honourable Dr Moyo’s meeting and these officials were able to give a vivid picture of what was happening. Perhaps His Worship should have met with his officials before making divisive and irresponsible statements with the potential to upset the amazing teamwork that has been built in combating this out-break.
“To echo Hon Moyo, the First Lady also commended the City following her visit to patients at the hospital,” said Minister Moyo.
He said Government was not under illusions as to the amount of work that needs to be done to get the water and sanitation infrastructure for Harare Province up to standard.
“We are aware of the chronic overloading of the system, parts of which are decades old. Since the dawn of the new dispensation, the President himself has intervened and secured funding from the Government of China, together with technical assistance, for the complete overhaul of the bulk water supplies, the purification works, the sewer plants and the water and waste water reticulation system.
The value of this assistance is US$940 million,” said Minister Moyo.
“The responsibility of supplying potable water to the residents of any urban area is vested in the council in terms of Part 8 of the Urban Councils Act whilst the management of sewer is covered by Part 7. I am at a loss as to why Clr Gomba would like to infer that the Government was obliged to provide alternative water supplies when council is collecting revenue for just that purpose.
“The caretaker council, which was lawfully established in terms of Section 80 of the Urban Councils Act, was only in office for a short time with restricted powers. Their only role was to ensure that governance did not stop.
“As Clr Gomba is aware, because he has served in council, the provision of protective clothing is not a councillor’s responsibility but rather a management function. A question that begs to be asked is why the workers had no protective clothing when the caretakers took over? The contamination of ground water supplies did not happen since the constitutional dissolution of councils at midnight of 29 July 2018.”
Minister Moyo noted that the opposition was yet to embrace President Mnangagwa’s call for Zimbabweans to work together and develop their country.
“Whilst I am aware that the offer of creating a team to take Zimbabwe forward, made by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, is yet to be taken up by the opposition, I believe that the Mayor’s indiscretions should never be allowed to divert our attention from saving lives.
Econet Wireless has availed $10 million towards containing a dual outbreak of cholera and typhoid following the declaration of an emergency in Harare on Monday.
The President’s Fund also released $100 000 towards the same cause, while Quest Motors donated a 3,5 tonne truck to assist with logistical requirements in managing the outbreak.
The Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS)has on the other hand launched a $250 000 appeal for it to assist the Government in its efforts to fight the outbreak.
As of yesterday, 25 people had died of cholera, while 3 766 others had received treatment at different camps in Harare since the beginning of the outbreak on September 6, 2018.
Speaking after receiving the donations in Harare yesterday, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo said he was impressed by the response of different stakeholders and donors to the crisis.
He said Government was compiling a list of anticipated requirement.
Dr Moyo said the list included requirements from other Government departments like sewer and water reticulation systems.
“Since declaration of the outbreak as a disaster, we have been receiving assistance from different organisations and corporates. These include local and foreign companies. I am thrilled by the assistance that continues to come through,” he said.
Dr Moyo urged stakeholders to continue assisting Government in its quest for a long-term solution to end water and sanitation-related diseases like cholera and typhoid.
He said teams on the ground were working flat out to ensure the outbreak was contained.
Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care Dr John Mangwiro stressed the need for good personal hygiene.
He said cholera and typhoid simply means ingestion of human faecal matter.
“People must play their role by practising good personal hygiene to avoid getting these diseases. As a Ministry we are running with the cleanliness is next to godliness mantra: Zimbabwe shall be clean again,” he said.
Econet Wireless chief executive officer Mr Douglas Mboweni pledged to continue supporting Government to end the cholera and typhoid outbreak.
He said Econet had assisted in the fight against cholera since the 2008-2009 national outbreak.
“We will be walking together as partners and we will be available to do what needs to be done to assist in this crisis,” said Mr Mboweni.
President’s Fund chair Mrs Getrude Chikwava said the cholera situation required everyone’s contribution.
“Funded through playing lotto, we are delighted that we were able to respond as quickly as possible to the plea for assistance. When a disaster has been declared, it becomes everyone’s responsibility,” said Mrs Chikwava.
Quest Motors also offered free service for its truck for the next three months.
In a statement, the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society said it was actively involved in community based monitoring of cholera, education and health promotion in communities, churches and schools.
It said to directly assist over 15 000 people with water and sanitation services to avoid further spreading of the outbreak, it required US$250 000.
“There is a high risk of the disease spreading to other provinces across the country as Midlands is geographically at the centre of the country and there is frequent movement of people. We have deployed most of the Red Cross volunteers to the capital city of Harare’s Glen View and Budiriro high density suburbs which have been identified as the epicentre of the outbreak,” said Mr Maxwell Phiri, the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society Secretary General.- state media
Same same na Chinamasa kungoti uyu anorohwa pamakore chete pic.twitter.com/Y2L3c6Nl1e
— MUPAMOMBE (@MUSHAIC1) September 13, 2018
VIDEO LOADING BELOW
Former Health and Child Care Minister David Parirenyatwa is a qualified medical doctor, far much better than his replacement, Obediah Moyo who holds fake papers. Parirenyatwa who has stood by Emmerson Mnangagwa through thick and thin, holds the secrets of the fake poison incident which propped Mnangagwa to power in November last year. He is the only minister who has stood on video to reveal that Mnangagwa only suffered a minor diarrhoea incident. This was after he checked, verified and cleared the man after the Gwanda incident.
Parirenyatwa was yesterday arrested and appeared at Harare magistrates’ courts on charges of criminal abuse of office.
The arrest is seen as part of Government’s effort to eradicate corruption that had reached epidemic proportions in several Government ministries and parastatals.
Parirenyatwa was not asked to plead to criminal abuse of office charges as defined in section 174 (1) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act chapter 9:23, when he appeared before Harare magistrate, Mr Elisha Singano.
The State, led by prosecutor Mr Michael Reza, did not oppose bail, but proposed that Parirenyatwa pay $1 000 coupled with stringent conditions.
Mr Singano reduced the bail to $500 and remanded Parirenyatwa to October 26.
Parirenyatwa (68) was required, as part of his bail conditions, to surrender his passport to the clerk of court and to report twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays, at the Criminal Investigations Department, Anti-Corruption Unit, Morris Deport.
He was also ordered not to interfere with State witnesses and to reside at his given address until the matter is finalised.
Charges against Parirenyatwa arose on June 4 this year when he was still Minister of Health and Child Care.
He allegedly abused his position as a public officer and directed NatPharm Board chairperson Dr George Washaya to terminate the contract of Flora Sifeku as managing director, allegedly showing favour for Newman Madzikwa who had once been sacked from the pharmaceutical company for reportedly selling donated drugs.
At the time he was fired in September 2009, Madzikwa was NatPharm’s Masvingo branch manager.
The indictment also revealed that Parirenyatwa had indicated that he required Sifeku’s services at the ministry’s head office for an indefinite period.
The board, it is alleged, complied with the former minister’s directive and gave Sifeku and Madzikwa six months contracts each as managing directors effective June 1 to November 30 this year.
It is alleged that Parirenyatwa’s conduct created a double dipping on NatPharm funds as the company was paying two salaries towards the managing director’s position, thereby prejudicing it of a total of $30 006.
The crime allegedly came to light through a tip-off this week, leading to the former minister’s arrest yesterday.
The State further alleges that Parirenyatwa’s actions were prejudicial to the good administration of NatPharm and the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
The former minister, who is being represented by Mr James Makiya of Makiya and Partners Legal Practitioners, was dropped when President Mnangagwa announced his new Cabinet on Monday this week.
President Mnangagwa has made the fight against corruption a key policy plank. Former Energy minister, Samuel Undenge was recently arrested for criminal abuse of office during his tenure and convicted.
Undenge was sentenced to four years imprisonment, but is out on bail pending appeal against both conviction and sentence.
Other former ministers who have been arrested are Ignatius Chombo, Walter Mzembi and Saviour Kasukuwere.
Chombo and Mzembi are yet to be prosecuted for similar offences while Saviour Kasukuwere was acquitted on charges of border-jumping.
To speed up the fight against corruption, Mnangagwa established a special Anti-Corruption Unit housed in the Office of the President and Cabinet in May this year.
The unit is aimed at improving efficiency in the fight against graft and to strengthen mechanisms for crime prevention. – state media/additional reporting
Government has availed $1 million to Harare City Council to repair or upgrade collapsed sewer systems in most high density areas. The city itself, which has an open budget towards the programme, has also deployed teams from other areas to assist in western suburbs.
The city has also halted water disconnections to ensure residents have continuous water supplies in the wake of the cholera outbreak which has claimed 25 lives so far.
In an interview after touring some of the areas in Glenview and Kuwadzana, acting town clerk Enginner Hosiah Chisango said the city was also clearing rubbish dumps in the affected areas.
“As part of our response to the cholera outbreak in Harare, we have moved in the areas of Glenview, Budiriro, Kuwadzana and Mufakose since last week. What we are doing is we are repairing and upgrading some of the sewer portions that had collapsed,” he said.- state media
The New Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube has been humiliated, his ministry after forking out over a million dollars for Grace Mugabe’s Private jet from Singapore last week, having suddenly begun begging the public to pay for a cholera fund on Thursday night.
Commentators were on the man’s case on Thursday night when he announced his campaign.
What added to the drama, was the man’s campaign screamer which stated that “this is to further efforts to fight cholera to” date.
Wrote former Sunday Mail editor Edmund Kudzayi, “Our Minister of Finance! After paying for Grace Mugabe to fly in a private jet from Singapore they are now begging the public for cholera money!
“Get your priorities right Zanu PF, stop buying luxury cars and hiring Gulf Stream jets!”
LIVE Comments :
Rising Zimdancehall star Jah Signal will be out for a month after he was involved in an accident in Harare.
The popular musician suffered bruises and broken ribs and might postpone the launch of his debut album Jaya.
Contrary to social media reports that the Sweetie (Shinga Muroora) hit maker was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after the accident, his manager Hillary Muchenje said all was well.
Jah Signal was, according to a statement on social media, involved in an accident on Wednesday evening on his way from the studio that left him and an unnamed friend in the ICU at Avenues Clinic in the capital.
“Zimdancehall’s top chanter and man of the moment Jah Signal aka Nicodemus Mutize was involved in a serious accident this evening. It is said that Jah Signal has been admitted at the Avenues clinic. He was later moved to ICU where he is still unconscious.
“He has suffered broken ribs, bruises and concussion. Statements from eye witnesses state that Jah Signal’s long time friend was driving Jah to the studio where he is putting final touches to his new album called Jaya.
“It is said that Jah’s friend was cut at an intersection by a kombi and he lost control and collided head-on with a lorry carrying sand. The car was damaged at the front and was thrown off the road instantly deploying airbags. Jah Signal’s friend is also in the intensive care. Let’s all hope and pray that it all goes well,” read the statement that was circulating.
However, Jah Signal’s manager Muchenje said although his artiste was involved in an accident and some of his ribs were broken, it was not serious and the lanky chanter was fine.
“The doctor gave him a month off, so we’ve cut down on the number of shows we are going to be doing. Maybe we shall postpone the album launch but that depends on how he heals and how he feels,” said Muchenje.
He said Jah Signal was not in ICU.
“I’m at the doctor’s at the moment checking up on him and getting the medication that he needs to recover. He suffered some bruises and broken ribs but no one is in ICU,” said Muchenje.
The chanter went on Instagram Live to show fans that he was fine yesterday.
The album is scheduled to be launched at Long Chen Plaza on a date to be finalised.
State Media
Government has availed $1 million to Harare City Council to repair or upgrade collapsed sewer systems in most high density areas. The city itself, which has an open budget towards the programme, has also deployed teams from other areas to assist in western suburbs.
The city has also halted water disconnections to ensure residents have continuous water supplies in the wake of the cholera outbreak which has claimed 25 lives so far.
In an interview after touring some of the areas in Glenview and Kuwadzana, acting town clerk Enginner Hosiah Chisango said the city was also clearing rubbish dumps in the affected areas.
“As part of our response to the cholera outbreak in Harare, we have moved in the areas of Glenview, Budiriro, Kuwadzana and Mufakose since last week. What we are doing is we are repairing and upgrading some of the sewer portions that had collapsed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has sent out a begging bowl to citizens asking for donations to help fight the epidemic.
Together with my colleagues at Min of Health, we have set up an auditable emergency crowdfund to further efforts to fight cholera to date. Together we can win! Min Of Finance Cholera Crowd Fund:
EcoCash Biller Code 140286; CBZ Treasury, ACC 21537300017, Selous REF: FIGHT CHOLERA
State Media
By Fred Zindi|In 1984, Debbie Metcalfe, Musekiwa Kumbula, Stanley Gumbe, Jeffery John Chavunduka, Mike Mhundwa and myself, formed an organisation which we called the Zimbabwe Music Promoters Association (Zimpa). This consortium was responsible for promoting local and international musicians. Gumbe had brought in Percy Sledge to Zimbabwe, Mhundwa promoted the Don Carlos show, Chavunduka was mainly responsible for South African artists such as Brenda Fassie, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Chico and Chimora, Metcalfe pushed the local promotion of the Bhundu Boys while Kumbula was responsible for Jimmy Cliff’s perfomances in Zimbabwe while I brought in King Sounds, Aswad and Dennis Brown.
It was at this gathering, while in a meeting that we heard of Peter Tosh performing in Swaziland. Mhundwa and I decided we would capture him and discuss the possibility of a performance in Zimbabwe on his way back to Jamaica. I flew to Swaziland to discuss this project with Tosh. He arrogantly said he was too busy to talk business with me. I flew back to Harare after his performance in Mbabane, Swaziland, but left him my contact details. To my surprise, he called me from Swaziland two days later informing me that he was coming to Harare to discuss business on conditions that I booked him into a hotel for two nights. I discussed this with Mhundwa who was excited by the whole deal. So, we booked him into the Bronte Hotel. He arrived the next day and we picked him up at the airport. We had informed the press that Peter Tosh would be coming to Harare and before we knew it, the Bronte Hotel was full of journalists who wrestled each other for an interview with him. One rather pushy journalist, Vivian Maravanyika, wanted an immediate interview with Tosh but was told to come back the following morning at 10am as he was too tired to give an interview at that time.
The following morning, we all went to the Bronte Hotel, at 10. Tosh was still in bed. We waited until 12 noon and I decided to go to the reception to phone him in his room. He answered abruptly with the words, “Soon come, man!” At 1:15 pm, he eventually emerged from his hotel room. Maravanyika politely asked, “Mr Tosh, you told us to come at 10, but we have been waiting here for three hours?” Tosh replied, “You is too raatid bomboclaat mad, man! What is three hour? You people have been waiting for independence from colonial rule for over 100 years. So what is three hour? [sic]”
He took out his satchel which was strapped around his shoulder and out came this long and thick spliff which at first I thought was a cheroot until he lighted it and the smell from the bellowing smoke made it obvious what it was. I had never seen such a large joint before. The last time I had seen him with close to such a big spliff was at a concert in London when he sang Legalise Marijuana, and he was preaching to a 99% all-white audience with policemen all over the auditorium, “Black people, this herb make you wiser, seen! Unless you come to this realisation, you shall remain in dem bombaclaat chain! Dem say it’s illegal but I smoke it and dem cyan’t arrest me, because if they do, I will not sing for you. If I don’t sing for you, you will riot, seen!”
“Now Vivian, talk to me now!”, he went on to say. Maravanyika asked when he was likely to come to perform in Zimbabwe. Peter avoided answering this question and after one long puff from his ganja, he turned to me instead, “Fred, is how much the population of Zimbabwe?” he asked. I told him that it was about eight million. He then laughed and went on to say, “Now go and tell Mugabe to come here and see me. Tell him the king of reggae music in command of three billion people all over the world would like to see him.” I told him that it was an impossible task. I could not figure out how I could ask the leader of the country to come to the Bronte Hotel to see Peter Tosh. I thought to myself, the spliff must be working on Tosh. I also wondered how he had smuggled that joint into Zimbabwe.
“If Mugabe doesn’t come to see me here, we cyan’t talk about performance in Zimbabwe!” That ended the conversation for that day.
Mhundwa and I decided to take him to lunch at a restaurant in town. We mentioned the Lido in Union Avenue (now Kwame Nkrumah Avenue).
“What kind of food do they cook over there?” he asked. “Never you forget that I and I is a rastaman. Me no believe in killing animals. So I and I don’t touch any kind of meat. Ital is vital, seen!” I told him that they also do vegetarian dishes there and he seemed satisfied with that answer. Off we went to town. He took his unicycle and rasta staff with him. As we got near the Lido, there were two people fighting for parking space, a black man and a white lady. Peter Tosh saw this and pointed his walking stick at the white lady, “You raasclaat. This is Africa for African, leave the black man to park freely in his country. You should go back to bombaclaat Babylon!” The white lady looked shocked and the balck man, whom we later learned was Ambrose Mtungwazi, apologised to the lady but still went on to park. After lunch, Tosh took his unicycle into First Street and rode it in front of an amazed crowd. He stopped to explain how his cycle functioned, “ You have to have nuff skill to ride this cycle. You see, a three-wheel one is a tricycle, a two-wheel one is a bicycle and a one-wheel one is a unicycle. Is better than any motor vehicle. You don’t need no fuel or battery, seen!”
Later that night, Mhundwa and I took Tosh to Archipellago Night Club in Baker Street (now Nelson Mandela Avenue). He shot straight past the white bouncers manning the entrance to the club. The two bouncers rushed towards him and asked him to pay. “What pay?” he retorted rather angrily. “You white people took me from Africa and enslaved me in Jamaica. I laboured for you without pay. So, is where you expect me to get money to pay?”
I was embarrassed. I tried to explain to the bouncers that this was the famous Peter Tosh but it didn’t work. He cursed the men and left the club in a huff.
The next day, on our way to the airport, we tried to commit Peter Tosh to agreeing to a date of performance in Zimbabwe and this is what he had to say, “Listen to me now! I am not coming to Zimbabwe on any lesser terms than Bob Marley. Bob was invited by Mugabe. So, go and tell Mugabe to write me a letter inviting me also. He should also tell me how much he is offering me for the performance. So, you go and work it out with Mugabe.”
That was it.
On September 11 1987, I was in Kingston, Jamaica trying to conduct further negotiations but I was met with the shocking news that Peter Tosh had been shot dead.
Feedback: [email protected]
The Standard
An official at the RG’s Office last month declined to issue Gonda with a passport when she went to Mudede’s Offices applying for a new Zimbabwean passport following the expiry of her previous passport which had expired while she was resident in the United Kingdom.
In declining to issue Gonda with a passport, the official at Mudede’s Offices returned her application with an endorsement written “S.L”. This implied that her application could not be processed as her name was on a so-called STOP LIST and hence the RG was prohibited from
issuing her with a passport or any form of identification which a Zimbabwean citizen is entitled to.
This compelled Gonda to approach her lawyer Denford Halimani of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who on Tuesday 28 August 2018 filed an application in the High Court seeking an order to oblige Mudede and Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister to unconditionally issue
Gonda with a Zimbabwean passport.
Said the ZLHR in a statement:
“In response to Gonda’s application, Mudede said the freelance journalist is entitled to a passport and said the so-called “STOP
LIST” administered by his office does not apply to her.
Mudede said Gonda encountered some “administrative problems” with a
junior officer who attended to her but should have “escalated” her
issue to a senior person in his office.
The RG charged that filing of the court application could have been avoided had Gonda referred her issue to a senior person in his office
or to himself directly.
The matter is yet to be heard and determined by the High Court.”
Gwanda Provincial Hospital has handled over 25 cases of diarrheal diseases over the past week although none has been confirmed to be cholera or typhoid.
Gwanda Provincial Hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr Puggie Chimberengwa has allayed fears that the district has been hit by the deadly cholera epidemic following an upsurge in cases of diarrhoea in the past week.
Dr Chimberengwa revealed that the more than 25 people who received treatment for diarrhoea at the health institution reside mostly in Gwanda’s high density suburbs and the surroundings mines.
“We recently had two patients that were in the ward one from Spitkop suburb, Garikai /Hlalani Kuhle and the other from Collen Bawn. We took samples and we sent some of them to private laboratories and some to the public hospital laboratory so that we get the tests. For now we don’t have confirmed cases of cholera, or typhoid,” he said.
Dr Chimberengwa added that a gap analysis on consumables, laboratory capacity and skills competence has been undertaken to strengthen the hospital’s capacity to effectively deal with the water borne diseases.
“We are ready to deal with cholera. However, as we have been doing drills we have been seeing loopholes that we are strengthening. For example we realised that we did not have the rapid diagnostic tests but we have already ordered that from Natpharm and other consumables so that we do our tests and confirmations locally. We are confident that if we get any case we will be able to manage it,” said Dr Chimberengwa.
Meanwhile, as part of its cholera emergency preparedness strategies the district has resolved to put in place two cholera treatment sites at the provincial hospital and at Phakama.
These will have a capacity of 10 beds each.
The Municipality of Gwanda with the assistance environmental health technicians is expected to intensify water quality monitoring.
Community sensitisation is also underway to curb an outbreak of the water borne disease.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care using a hailer to raise awareness on cholera at Phakama Business Centre in Gwanda.
There have been 21 confirmed deaths since the outbreak of the epidemic in Harare’s Glen View suburb and government has declared a state of emergency to enable the necessary assistance to be rendered.
ZBC News
MDC Alliance activist Paddington Japajapa has been summoned to appear in court to face charges of insulting Zambian ambassador to Zimbabwe, Zelipa Chitambo after he failed to secure a maize import licence.
Japajapa (50) was expected to appear before magistrate Nyasha Vhitorini on Thursday for disorderly conduct.
Allegations are that on October 13 last year, Japajapa, in the company of five female adults, visited the Zambian embassy at number 48 Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, Harare intending to see the trade attaché as he wanted to import grain from Zambia.
It is alleged when Japajapa was informed that the attaché was not available, he then demanded to see the ambassador, but was told that he could only see her after an appointment. Japajapa allegedly started shouting and then jumped into the elevator, intending to proceed to the ambassador’s office.
The State alleges that as security personnel blocked Japajapa from entering the elevator, Chitambo alighted from another elevator. She introduced herself to Japajapa and tried to cool his temper.
It is alleged at that moment, Japajapa said to Chitambo: “Why do you employ such kind of people? They don’t know what they will be doing. You should get rid of them.”
The State alleges Chitambo advised Japajapa that Zambia had stopped exporting grain to Zimbabwe, but Japajapa further shouted: “This is not the only embassy that can help us. We will seek help from other embassies.”
Farirai Nyamutowa appeared for the State.
— NewsDay
By Business Reporter| The price of bread is will increase by 10 cents this Saturday, it has emerged.
This follows a warning (SEE LIVE VIDEO) by the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) that the country faces an imminent shortage of bread due to low levels of wheat.
A memo from Innscor seen by ZimEye.com and written to the Food World company states as follows –
“Dear Sir Re : Price list effective Saturday 15 September 2018 Reference is made to the above. This letter serves to inform you that the price list for Innscor Africa Bread Company Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd t/a Bakers Inn bread effective Saturday 15 September 2018 will be as follows.
Standard Loaf All Variants per unit
Wholesale Delivered Price Recommended Retail Price
$1.00
(one dollar)
$1.10 (one dollar and ten cents)
Should you need any clarification, kindly contact our Sales and Marketing Executive, Mr Caleb Musodza on caleb[CONTACT DETAILS REDACTED]”
Innscor are the makers of Bakers Inn Bread.
– THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY: REFRESH THIS PAGE FOR THE UPDATES –
Terrence Mawawa|Unpredictable Harare Giants Caps United beat Chicken 2-1 In Bulawayo courtesy of goals by Joel Ngodzo and Wisdom Mutasa.
Ngodzo opened the scoring after converting a penalty following a foul on Mutasa edge of the box.
Mutasa went on to put his name on the scoresheet on the stroke of half-time, tapping in from a close range.
The Gamecocks pulled one back ten minutes into the second period through Innocent Muchaneka. They tried to get the equaliser but could not find it as the Green Machine keeper Prosper Chigumba denied them on several occasions.
The match ended 1-2 in favour of Makepekepe.
Log leaders FC Platinum dropped points in Harare when they were restricted to a 1-1 draw against Black Rhinos.
Allan Gahadzikwa gave Rhinos the cushion in the 40th minute before Rodwell Chinyengetere equalised in the 77th minute.
FC Platinum are now three points ahead of second-placed Ngezi Platinum who beat ZPC Kariba 1-0 at Baobab Stadium.
Madamburo got the winner through Keith Murera who netted in the 28th minute when he connected Micheal Charamba’s corner-kick.
Elsewhere, Shabanie Mine and Yadah settled for a goalless draw while Ephraim Mwinga was on target as Nichrut edged Bulawayo City.
Tinotenda Benza scored a brilliant rising shot in the second half which helped Herentals beat Bulawayo Chiefs 1-0.
The game between Triangle and Harare City ended in 1-1 stalemate. Lameck Nhamo was on target for the Sugar Boys while Ishmael Wadi secured the leveller for City.
Terrence Mawawa| Residents of Harare’s leafy suburb, Borrowdale are dumping rubbish at the area’ s district council offices to protest at poor service delivery.
In a tweet Harare resident Kelvin Motsi said”:Residents in Borrowdale have begun to dump rubbish outside the council district office in 
protest at failure to collect rubbish.
Heaps of garbage can be seen outside the council offices. It has taken over 4 days for council to remove the rubbish. What is the problem?”
Terrence Mawawa|Former Government Minister Jonathan Moyo has scoffed at the statement of apology issued by the Speaker of Parliament following the tension that ensued as Chief Justice Luke Malaba and ZEC chairperson entered Parliament Building.
Angry MDC Alliance supporters hurled insults at Malaba while Chigumba was heckled inside Parliament Building.
Responding to an article published by a state run daily paper Jonathan Moyo tweeted:”Parliament apologises to Chief Justice Malaba and Chigumba” #Herald 1. What? Apology? 2. The apology is from ZanuPF, beneficiaries of the
poll theft, not Parliament; as there was no a
pology resolution. 3. No need to apologise for
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION!”
Cholera has been reported in Glen View, Mbare and Budiriro suburbs of Harare as well as other cities such as Gweru and Kwekwe.
more details to follow…
Terrence Mawawa| EcoCash has warned its agents to stop overcharging clients during the processing of transactions.
In a statement released on its Twitter account,EcoCash warned agents against charging customers extra money for cash out services.
“Do not be caught charging customers extra to Cash Out. It is prohibited and attracts serious penalties,” reads part of the statement.
In October last year, former Finance
Minister Patrick Chinamasa urged the public to report overcharging agents to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) or Econet.
The practice of charging extra to cash out started when cash shortages worsened.
Jane Mlambo| The opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa was yesterday greeted with wild celebrations in Glen View and Budiriro where he had gone on a tour of cholera affected areas.
According to the party spokesperson, by the time Chamisa was about to leave Glen View clinic where, the perimeter was thronged by tens of thousands of Zimbabweans who demanded to be addressed by ‘the people’s president.’
“By the time the President was about to leave the clinic, the perimeter was thronged by tens of thousands of Zimbabweans who had got wind of the President Nelson Chamisa’s presence.
”These citizens were requesting to be addressed by the President and chanting, ‘The People’s President!’
“The President progressed to Budiriro where he visited families that were mourning their loved ones. As he made his way to the first home-visit, throngs of Zimbabweans once again quickly gathered around the venue again chanting, ‘The People’s President’,” said Mafume.
Mafume added that Chamisa’s presence and the reception he got from the people angered Zanu PF which went on to deploy military intelligence in the area.
“At this time there were reports that cars belonging to the military intelligence had deployed in the area, which however did not bother citizens.
“It was not long after that Harare also saw the deployment of military helicopters, that encircled the city.”
Terrence Mawawa|Outspoken MDC Alliance official Tendai Biti has blamed the government for failing to prioritise health matters resulting in the proliferation of the deadly cholera epidemic.
In a tweet yesterday Biti said: ” The cholera crisis is unpardonable as it is
man made. This government has failed to provide capital funding to local authorities to address water infrastructure challenges .
They have failed the people . The International Community sadly must fill in the gap.”
“There is an urgent national health crisis beyond cholera.In places like Kariba , Lupane ,Nkayi , Kadoma, Chitungwiza and Gwanda there are zero drugs in state institutions.There is also no running water . This is State failure at its highest . The Global Health Fund and WHO must help,” added Biti.
Cholera has killed 21 people in Harare while 230
0 have been hospitalised.
Terrence Mawawa|Dancehall musician Linda Lipsy has said her track “Pfee” is apolitical.
Linda Lipsy, real name Tendazvaitwa Chitimbe, has dismissed claims
that her latest work, “Pfee” has connotations inclined to Zanu PF.
Zanu-PF popularised the word “Pfee”and incorporated it into a political slogan “ED Pfee” ahead of the 2018 harmonised elections.
“This song has many meanings. It is about social issues rather than political issues like many have described it. It’s all for the listener to decode it in their own preferred manner, but it’s not political. I talk about a driver who has to be cautious on the road to avoid
accidents. Others also describe the
song in a sexual manner but, well, it is for the listeners to give meaning to the 
song,” the musician told a daily paper.
Jane Mlambo|The University of Zimbabwe has postponed indefinitely a graduation ceremony due to be held on Friday in response to a police ban on “public gatherings” owing to a cholera outbreak in Harare.
more details to follow…
By Paul Nyathi|Retired former MDC National Chairman Samuel Sipepa Nkomo has castigated the state owned Herald and its sister media the ZBC for deliberately misrepresenting facts provided to them in interviews.
Speaking to ZimEye.com in an interview on Thursday, Sipepa Nkomo said that he had confidence that ZimEye.com would tell the true position regarding his retirement from active politics and his thoughts about President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s presumed election victory.
Nkomo expressed his disappointment at the Herald Newspaper for deliberately inferring that he had endorsed the ZANU PF presidential candidate Mnangagwa as the legitimate President of the country.
“I never at all said I was endorsing Mnangagwa as the president,” said Sipepa Nkomo who the state media ran screaming headlines that he had endorsed the controversial victory by Mnangagwa.
“When you read the story and compare the details with the headlines you don’t find anywhere where I endorsed Mnangagwa,” he said.
Sipepa Nkomo announced his retirement from politics on Tuesday after spending fifty eighty years in the opposition trenches. He was a member of almost all major opposition parties throughout his long fight in the struggle for democracy.
By Paul Nyathi|15 members of the rights group Community Water Alliance, Glenview branch and residents of the area have been arrested by details from the Police Internal Security Intelligence for demonstrating at the City of Harare Glenview District office over the council’s negligence which resulted in the outbreak of cholera in the area.
VIDEO LOADING BELOW…
The residents organised a seat in at the council offices demanding to be addressed by the new Mayor of Harare Herbert Gomba.
They were further demanding for the immediate dismissal of the district officer who they claim never took serious sewer burst reports by residents resulting in sewage spreading wide across the township into people’s homes.
At least twenty people have died in the country from cholera which started off from Glenview.
ZimEye.com is following this developing issue and details will be made available as they unfold.
Jane Mlambo| Former Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa has been granted $1000 bail and ordered to surrender passport to the clerk of court.
He has also been ordered to reside at his given address and report twice every week at his nearest police station.
Parirenyatwa is accused of “acting in contrary and inconsistent with his duties as public officer by directing the Natpharm board Chairperson Dr George Washaya to end Flora Nancy Sifekani’s contract with NatPharm as the Managing Director thereby showing disfavour to Flora Nancy Sifekani.
“The accuser further indicates that he required Flora Nancy Sifekani’s services at the Ministry of Health and Child Care head office for an indefinite period.
In the same directive, the accused showed favour to the ministry’s deputy director Pharmaceutical services, Newman Maddie’s by imposing him as the Acting Managing Director of Natpharm with effect from 01 June 2018,” reads Parirenyatwa’s charge sheet.
By A Correspondent| The outgoing deputy to the NPP’s leader, Joice Mujuru, Dr Samuel Sipepa Nkomo has revealed he did not at all endorse ZANU PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa.
VIDEO LOADING BELOW…
The state broadcaster, ZBC, yesterday claimed that Dr Nkomo has backed Mnangagwa, in a dry news piece with neither quotations of what they allege he uttered.
But in a full interview Thursday afternoon, the man himself told ZimEye.com, he did not at all endorse Mnangagwa.
He told ZimEye’s Simba Chikanza, “well, I, my brother I don’t know, I have worked in the newspaper industry myself, sometimes what appears on the headline, is not necessarily what appears in the main story.
“As you know I worked for the Daily News, if I can tell you whatever I said, there is nothing in it that says I said I have endorsed Mnangagwa, because that question never arose. That question never arose. All I did say that I was personally happy that he appointed Mthulu Ncube. Eh, the appointing of Ncube as Minister Of Finance and following his advice, following Mthuli’s advice, its a different thing; but if he follows Mthuli Ncube’s advice, then we can take a step forward. But if he doesn’t follow his advice to do that thing, we will be back to square one.
“I don’t know whether that means endorsement,” added Sipepa-Nkomo.
Dr Nkomo also told ZimEye, contrary to attacks on Nelson Chamisa by the state media, he is joining the opposition as an elder.
“Well I have been an official elder for the MDC because they have got a council of elders I have been the secretary(sic) for the elders; but this time around, I am simply an elder, I will be an elder in the opposition politics, and for me I was also asked, if they asked for my advice: I said I would advise all the opposition political parties because I want to be absolutely neutral, and but my first advice to all political parties (opposition progressive ones), is to unite and have one umbrella, rather than have 22 Presidential candidates against ZANU PF one; and I said that is a disaster. I said we need to begin talking now as opposition parties and have one presidential candidate; and not tomorrow, now in preparation for 2023.”
By Own Correspondent| Former Health and Child Care minister, Dr David Parirenyatwa has been nabbed by the serious fraud squad and is currently being interviewed, unconfirmed sources have claimed.
According to the sources, Dr Parirenyatwa is being interviewed over criminal abuse of office.
Dr Parirenyatwa joins the list of other former Zanu Pf stalwarts who have appeared before the courts facing an array of charges some of whom include former Energy minister Samuel Undenge, Ignatious Chombo and Saviour Kasukuwere among others.
However, citizens reacted differently to the allegations that the former minister had been arrested with some alleging that this was only a public relations stunt by the President Emmerson Mnangagwa led government targeting G40 stalwarts.
Said one commentator on twitter:
“Persecution of the remaining G40 elements in ZANU Pf ,,being used as a stunt to show that the president doesnt tolerate corruption, i foresee the arrest of Supa mandiwanzira soon..whilst known corrupt individuals like Mpofu wont be investigated anyway.”
Priviledge Makuvire added:
“I will start taking these arrests serious the day they arrest Obert Mpofu.”
Said Nkosana Ngulube:
“Arrest of former minister is no longer news 2 months from now he is going to be free roaming the streets It is a drama then
cast Parirenyatwa and ZACC
script ED
Guest artist -judiciary department.”
Kenny Mbukwa said: “I thought the Government announced that time for politicking is over. The arrest of Pari is nothing but political victimization. Pari is an angel compared to serial fraudsters some who have been redeployed to permanent posts in Zanu PF.”
Wrote the African Postman: “Why is it that prominent public officials are only prosecuted when they are retired/removed from office?From now on pple should be arrested as and when they commit crimes. In the spirit of transparency i hope Supa,Obert,Energy,Joram and Charamba will aslo be investigated.”
Jane Mlambo| Former cabinet minister, Professor Jonathan Moyo has continued his rant against President Emmerson Mnangagwa charging that he is an illegitimate leader who gained power through the assistance of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), the army and the Constitutional Court.
Early this week, Jonathan Moyo released a statement trashing former First Lady, Grace Mugabe for her remarks praising Mnangagwa saying she is an inexperienced politician.
WHEN:
1. The Army steals the election for you;
2. #ZEC declares you winner of the
stolen poll with three different unverified results;3. The ConCourt endorses #ZEC's declaration of your known unknown result;
4. Your party performs far better than you:
YOU ARE ILLEGITIMATE! pic.twitter.com/uCJkKFA3FW
— Prof Jonathan Moyo (@ProfJNMoyo) September 13, 2018
Professor has never hidden his disapproval of Mnangagwa even before the military coup that displaced former President Robert Mugabe from power.
Just before elections, he endorsed opposition presidential candidate, Nelson Chamisa coining a campaign against Mnangagwa called #letskwekwehim
By Masimba Musodza|Social media is abuzz with the appointment of Zimbabwean Olympic athlete Kirsty Coventry as Minister for Youth, Sport, Art & Recreation in the new government led by President Emerson Mnangagwa.
Her political views are unknown, and perhaps this is what has endeared her even moreto Zimbabweans across the political divide, many of whom see in her a refreshing alternative to the exhausted “war credentials” coterie that has characterised the political landscape since Independence and failed resoundingly to achieve its stated goals. She has a stable personal life, and is remembered telling reporters when asked about it that she expected the man who is now her husband to pay lobola, capturing the hearts of a conservative majority who have looked on in horroras other young celebrities trample on time-honoured traditions and lead what could be described as dissolute lives.
With her impressive achievements as an athlete widely known, it is considered a fait accompli that Ms Coventry will implement government programmes to develop Zimbabwean sportsat all levels. Critical attention is focused on the Arts aspect of her portfolio.
The question is being raised; what does Ms Coventry know about Arts, anyway?
To this question, I have quipped; A bloody lot more than most Zimbabwean politicians! I believe she can actually quote from a work of literature by a Zimbabwean writer that is not a “self-help” or “motivational” book, can tell Zimbabwean sculpture from pieces by artists from other countries, has watched a play by AmakhosiTheatre or been inside a hut done up in traditional art. The same cannot be said of the Philistines that make up the bulk of our political class!Even with a more refined and informed appreciation of Zimbabwean art, the question still lingers; what can Kirsty Coventry do to address the challenges of the arts sector? She is no musician, actress, writer, painter, sculptor.
Those who are familiar with my opinions know that I would prefer that the government had very little to do with the arts sector in the first place. I agree with the late great Zimbabwean author, Dambudzo Marechera, who said, “When politicians start to talk about culture, one better pack one’s bags and run away, for this invariably means censureship!”The sorry record of government in the arts sector speaks for itself.
There are more Zimbabweans today who earn a living from the arts, but this is a positive development that has transpired outside of any government programme, and demonstrates my conviction that artists should be saying, Thanks, but no thanks instead of drawing up a list of demands to present to the new minister. What we can thank the government for as artists are things like the over-regulation of broadcasting (including netcasting), which has stifled the growth of a viable motion picture industry, ruinous fiscal policies and restrictive taxation rules that have prevented many artists from purchasing capital goods from abroad or dissipated their hard-earned income, and censoring of divergent voices.
These are things that all the government has to do to improve the working environment for artists is step back and leave us to build our industry. There is one thing that the government can do; take real action to protect the intellectual property of artists.
Despite the country being a signatory to international conventions and having its own laws on piracy, bootleg CDs, DVDs, books and downloads are sold openly in Zimbabwe. While many musicians have given up expecting any royalties on their work, they can at least look togate takings when they stage live performances.
Those who work in motion picture do not have such alternative revenue streams, and are hit hard by the illegal sales or uploading of their movies. We can thank the government, which has stifled the growth of a viable broadcasting industry, for effectively taking away this alternative stream from many artists and for failing to treat piracy like the serious crime it is. The most visible evidence of this devastation is the fact that many of the filmmakers who made movies just a few years ago have given up on the industry, despite the fact that their movies have been seen by tens or even hundreds of thousands of people.
The enforcement of copyright laws is within the province of the Minister for Home Affairs, who exercises political direction over the Zimbabwe Republic Police. However, successive Home Affairs ministers have been ineffective. I think that Ms Coventry as Minister for the Youth, Arts & Recreation and as an influential person, can highlight the matter to the Minister for Home Affairs and ensure that it remains a focus for attention.
In ending, I would like to congratulate Kirsty Coventry on her appointment and hope that she will find the time to focus on a matter I feel affects the livelihoods of thousands of Zimbabweans and business entities.
Socialite Pokello Nare’s husband of three years Elikem Kumordzie has officially filed for divorce at the High Court saying he has lost love, affection and declared that his marriage to the “Queen of Swag” was irreparable.
The Ghanaian fashion designer, Kumordzie who is being represented by Rugano Mahuni of Mahuni Gidiri Law Chambers, wants a divorce decree order that custody of their minor child be awarded to Pokello with him exercising reasonable access on agreed holidays paying $500 as maintenance.
Pokello and Kumordzie have been on separation for the past year residing in different countries.
“Plaintiff and defendant were married to each other under the Marriages Act at Harare on September 28, 2015 and the marriage still subsists.
“They have not stayed together as husband and wife for the past year since September 2017,” reads Kumordzie’s declaration.
“…such is regarded by Kumordzie to be incompatible with the continuation of a normal marriage relationship.
“As a result Kumordzie has lost love and affection to the extent that there are no prospects for reconciliation due to irretrievable differences between the parties.”
He said it was favourable that their two-year-old son continues residing with Pokello.
“There is one child born of the marriage and it is in the best interest of the minor child that custody be awarded to Pokello with Kumordzie allowed access whenever he visits Zimbabwe.”
According to the court papers Kumordzie and Pokello did not acquire any movable property together.
Early this year, Kumordzie was quoted saying his marriage to Pokello was a mistake.
Elikem posted a short video of an engagement ring with a big rock on Thursday with the caption: “I’m definitely not making a mistake on the next one. The right one.”
The 29-year-old Elikem and Pokello, 32 met in the Big Brother Africa house in 2013 and got engaged in 2014 and had a traditional marriage in 2015.
Pokello has not responded to the allegations directly but suggested that she did not care what people said.
After rumours of her breakup with Elikem, Pokello in a series of cryptic messages on social media tried her best to project a picture of calmness despite the raging storm in her paradise.
“You will hear good things about me; you will hear bad things about me. Think what you want. I ain’t clearing s*** up,” she wrote earlier this year on her social media pages.
DailyNews
Source: Thando Khumalo|One of the enduring criticisms about Zimbabweans is that we live on hope.‘Kuzolunga’, ‘Zvichanaka’ It shall be well. That’s been the mantra when faced with the most harrowing times we have had to endure as a nation.
I am pretty sure that most times even as we recited those encouraging words to ourselves and others there was always a bit of trepidation in them. Will things really ever change? Can this country still be fixed or we have slid down too deep into the abyss?
November 2017, we woke up to news that President RG Mugabe who had ruled the country from 1980 had ‘stepped down’. It’s come to be known as a ‘coup not a coup’, whatever you choose to call it the reality was that he was now gone, a man who had loomed so large in the country’s existence. He had garnered a cult like following and had seemed invincible for so many decades.
At first there was disbelief, it seemed impossible. Processing this news was confusing, then, slowly the realisation that indeed it was true finally took root. The soldiers had ‘saved the country’ liberating it from an unrepentant dictator and there was gratitude and happiness with carnival like celebrations in the streets.
Finally, we were free of the albatross around our necks. This was a new beginning for the country and citizens. The euphoria was palpable; a new chance to make this country come right. Once again we became optimistic but this time it seemed we could reach out and grab the bright future that was to follow this ‘second independence’.
Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in as president on the 24th of November 2017, in front of a full jubilant National Sports Stadium and even opposition leaders who usually shunned or weren’t invited to national events were in attendance. We were now in an era known as the ‘new dispensation’. The new president said ’Zimbabwe is open for business’ and spoke of creating ‘jobs jobs jobs.’ We cheered and welcomed the military intervention in November because we had gotten to a point where we had nothing to lose.
A desperate population that had for so long sought to be rescued from the clutches of tyranny. Ironically the said rescuers had themselves been part of the very system we sought reprieve from, however at that moment as we stood between the cusp of history versus the future, we chose what was offered as the quickest salvation never mind that it was truly a contradiction, oddly enough it had the scent of freedom.
Once 2018 election campaigning started, however, that unity came to an end. We have been a politically polarised nation for decades now and it was on full show, the toxic vitriol from both sides was staggering in intensity, both main campaigns (Zanu PF & MDC Alliance) weren’t taking prisoners, it was either you’re with us or against us.
Ironically, a coup brought the nation together and an election exposed the divisions that existed. As is custom with all our elections it wasn’t smooth sailing, they were contentious with accusations and counter accusations of impropriety, suspicion of rigging with plans to aid the incumbent, threats of ‘stopping the elections’.
An uneasy, stressful and nerve-racking period.
Now President Mnangagwa has been given a five year mandate to lead the country. Promises have been made of a ‘New Zimbabwe’ which is poised to become the jewel of Africa as it previously was with a prosperous economy and citizenry.
We have gone through a lot since November 2017 to where we are now. It’s been a roller coaster of emotions. What happened in November it could be argued, was really just housekeeping, a party and government down on its knees from internal fights, waning popularity with the masses and an opposition movement loudly knocking on the doors of power. ‘The November Event’ as I call it, was going to happen with or without the citizens’ endorsement, resistance was futile. We were presented with a chance for change and we acquiesced, anything had to be better than what we were living through.
Once again, we find ourselves back to living on hope, it’s what we do, kuzolunga, zvichanaka. Was that said with a quivering voice?
Thando Khumalo is a political writer and analyst who has written several articles on the Zimbabwean political landscape. Other interests include women’s developmental and political participation issues as well as children’s education. Thando has a BA in Communication Science from UNISA.
By Own Correspondent| First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa through her Angel of Hope foundation has launched #NganonaAmai, where she will be inviting school children for storytelling or folktales in a move aimed at promoting cultural heritage.
Through the program, the First Lady will also conscientise pupils on the importance of cultural heritage.
Said the First Lady:
“It is important for the young generation to know about their culture.
From today going forward we will be meeting here tichidzidzisana chinyakare chedu, meaning we will be teaching each other our cultural heritage.”
The Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-SA) urged President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa and his two Vice Presidents (Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi) to be exemplary and be the first to publicly declare their assets and liabilities as a tool to inspire others, prevent corruption, and facilitate the detection of illicit enrichment and conflict of interest.
Mr. Obert Chinhamo, the Director of ACT-SA urged President Mnangagwa and his two deputies to lead the asset declaration process by doing it first since this has the potential of inspiring and motivating others.
“It is one of the practices of exemplary leadership to inspire others by doing it first. Leaders must be prepared to show others how it is done. President Mnangagwa should lead by example and declare his assets and liabilities similar to what the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has done. It makes a lot of sense if President Mnangagwa and his two Vice Presidents, Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi, lead the process. By declaring assets, and liabilities, it shows clearly that one has nothing to hide. There is a lot of benefit since it also increases the trust of citizens in individual politicians and civil servants.” he says.
ACT-SA submits that these declarations are important for many reasons that include:
a) The declarations show that politicians and civil servants have nothing to hide and this increases transparency and the trust of citizens in public administration;
b) Declarations help to prevent conflicts of interest and to resolve such situations when they arise, in order to promote integrity;
c) They are used to monitor wealth creation by individual politicians and civil servants, in order to dissuade them from misconduct and protect them from false accusations, and to help clarify the full scope of illicit enrichment or other illegal activities.
Mr. Chinhamo added that it should part of the law that all individual politicians and senior civil servants declare their assets and liabilities before taking office.
“The law should make it mandatory that all politicians and high profile civil servants declare their assets and liabilities before taking office. This is one of the areas that need reform. We hope and trust that President Mnangagwa will not leave out these declarations in his list of anti-corruption activities” he adds.
ACT-SA added that public disclosure of the private assets of public officials and family members do not clash with the rights to privacy and data protection. Both rights are not absolute and can be restricted provided there is a basis in law and a legitimate public interest justifies the restriction. Prevention of corruption and exposing unexplained wealth of officials are serious and legitimate public interests.
Source: Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-SA)
By Own Correspondent| The black market rates have soared with the US Dollar trading at 92 percent for RTGs while it is trading at 75 percent for bond notes.
The newly elected Finance and Economic Development minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube is on record promising to deal with Zimbabwe’s prevailing cash crisis soon after his swearing in at the State House in Harare.
Professor Ncube took over from Patrick Chinamasa who failed to implement a working formula which resulted in the banks running dry of cash reserves and failure to process international remittances.
Reported the Zim Bollar Index:
SECOND UPDATE
Rates have spiked Yet again with the RTGS/USD breaching the 90% mark to close the day at 92%. RTGS/Bond note rose to 75% as market continues to disregard the Bonnd Note:
RTGS/USD 92%
Bond/USD 75%
RTGS/Bond 12%@BrezhMalaba @Mathuthu @EdmundKudzayi pic.twitter.com/Fyp3lbDLxV— ZimBollar (@ZimBollar) September 12, 2018
Both Houses of Parliament met Tuesday 11 September to elect their presiding officers. These were their first sittings since members were sworn in on Wednesday 5th September, and they were held on the date fixed by the President by proclamation in terms of section 145 of the Constitution [Proclamation 4/2018, published in Statutory Instrument [SI] 159A/2018 as corrected by SI 168A/2018].
In the National Assembly
The National Assembly met at 9.30 am with the Clerk of Parliament, Mr Kennedy Chokuda, in the chair. The sitting only came to an end at 6.17 pm after the late afternoon swearing-in ceremony before the Chief Justice; there were two long adjournments to allow for the printing of ballot papers and for the Clerk and his assistants to officiate at the afternoon’s parallel proceedings in the Senate.
Election of Speaker
The Clerk called for nominations:
– Former Speaker Hon Jacob Mudenda was nominated for ZANU PF by Hon Mguni, seconded by Hon Mliswa.
– Hon Paurina Mpariwa was nominated by Hon Biti for MDC, seconded by Hon Gonese.
As there were two candidates, voting by secret ballot was required. The House adjourned for ballot papers to be printed.
On the resumption of proceedings the election was conducted by the Clerk under the supervision of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission [ZEC]. Voting figures in the secret ballot were:
Ballots issued: 263
Mudenda: 179
Mpariwa: 79
Spoilt papers: 5
Hon Mudenda was declared duly elected as Speaker.
Election of Deputy Speaker
A similar process was followed for the election of the Deputy Speaker. Two candidates were nominated: Hon Tsitsi Gezi for ZANU PF, Hon Murisi Zwizwai for MDC. Voting figures in the ensuing secret ballot were:
Ballots issued: 254
Gezi: 175
Zwizwai: 79
Rejected ballot: 1
Hon Gezi was declared duly elected as Deputy Speaker.
These results were hardly surprising as ZANU-PF have a large majority in the National Assembly. As Hon Mudenda was not a sitting member of Parliament, and Hon Gezi continues to hold her National Assembly seat [Constitution, section 127] these elections did not alter the relative strengths of parties in the National Assembly.
Swearing-in ceremony
Chief Justice Malaba entered the House to noisy objections from some Opposition MPs, who called for another judge to preside over the swearing-in ceremony and broke into song. Despite this the ceremony went ahead. Both Mr Mudenda and Mrs Gezi were duly sworn in, and Mr Mudenda took the chair as Speaker.
Adjournment to 18th September
After a brief acceptance speech from the Speaker and congratulations from the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Hon Ziyambi, and Hon Mutseyami of MDC, the House adjourned for a week, until Tuesday 18th September.
In the Senate
Starting at 2.30 pm, proceedings in the Senate followed the same pattern as those in the National Assembly.
Election of President of the Senate
There were two candidates: Hon Mabel Chinomona from ZANU PF [National Assembly MP for Mutoko North] and Hon Senator Morgen Komichi from MDC. Voting figures in the secret ballot were:
Ballots issued: 74
Chinomona: 52
Komichi: 22
Hon Chinomona was declared duly elected as President of the Senate.
Note: When elected as President of the Senate Hon Chinomona immediately and automatically ceased to be a member of the National Assembly [Constitution, section 129(1)(d)]. There must, therefore, be an early by-election for her former constituency of Mutoko North.
Election of Deputy President of the Senate
There were two candidates: Hon Senator General (Rtd) Michael Nyambuya from ZANU PF and Hon Senator Lilian Timveos from MDC. Voting figures in the secret ballot were:
Ballots issued: 76
Nyambuya: 51
Timveos: 25
Hon Nyambuya was declared duly elected as Deputy President of the Senate. He continues to hold his Senate seat [Constitution, section 123].
Swearing-in ceremony
Both Hon Chinomona and Hon Nyambuya took the necessary oaths of loyalty and office before the Chief Justice in the Senate Chamber shortly after their National Assembly counterparts took their oaths in the National Assembly.
Adjournment to 18th September
Like the National Assembly, at the close of yesterday’s proceedings the Senate adjourned until Tuesday 18th September.
Attendance in both Houses was good:
– 263 of the 270 total membership in the National Assembly
– 76 of the 80 total membership in the Senate.
As voting in Tuesday’s elections appears to have been on party lines, the voting figures serve as a guide to how the National Assembly and the Senate will vote on issues on which there is disagreement between the governing party and the Opposition.
The figures also suggest that, while on paper it is possible for ZANU PF to achieve two-thirds majority votes in both Houses, this would need very careful organisation.
Two Vacancies in the National Assembly
There are two vacancies in the National Assembly:
– one ZANU-PF proportional representation seat in Matabeleland North, vacant since the death of Hon Thokozile Mathuthu on 13th August [to be filled by a qualified woman nominated by the party in terms of section 39 of the Electoral Act]
– the Mutoko North constituency seat vacated on Tuesday by Hon Chinomona when she became President of the Senate [to be filled by a by-election called in terms of section 39 of the Electoral Act].
Source: Veritas
THE Zanu-PF Youth League has warned MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa not to go ahead with his plans for a “swearing-in ceremony” at Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield, Harare, on Saturday.
The MDC Alliance leader intends to be “inaugurated” as the People’s President after gathering more than 2 million votes against President Emmerson Mnangagwa who had about 200 000 votes more than Chamsia.
Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga a close friend to the MDC carried out a similar inauguration in January after narrowly losing the presidential race.
Addressing a press conference yesterday, the ruling party’s Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs Lewis Matutu said the Kenya situation could not be replicated in Zimbabwe.
“We are deeply disturbed by Mr Chamisa’s plans to hold a pseudo inauguration on Saturday,” he said.
“We know it is not all MDC Alliance members who support his actions. He wants to disturb the peace in the country and lead innocent young people astray. We, however, urge the youths not to be used. The focus now following the appointment of the Cabinet by His Excellency the President is on development and improving the people’s livelihoods,” said Matutu.
“He (Chamisa) should know that Zimbabwe is not Kenya and that he is not Mr Odinga. We are aware that he is taking advice from Odinga, that advice is not constructive for Zimbabwe.”
Chamisa has however indicated that he will go ahead with the inauguration as planned at the MDC 19th Anniversary celebrations in Harare on Saturday.
Newsday
By Paul Nyathi|Residents of Harare and members of the Community Water Alliance in Glen View and Budiriro have agreed to march to and hold a sit-in protest at City of Harare Glen View District Offices in reaction to the worsening cholera outbreak in Harare.
The protests which was still gathering momentum at the time of writing is to push the City of Harare and Government authorities to speed up containing the epidemic that has claimed over twenty people and hospitalised thousands.
According to the protestor, the Community Water Alliance committee in Glenview started engaging the local district officer a Mr Gwiriri three months back to impressing upon him the need to address sewer pipe bursts but he ignored their call.
The widespread sewer blockages and bursts in the area are attributed to the cholera and typhoid outbreak that hit the area before spreading to much of the country.
“Two weeks before the outbreak the CWA local structures re-engaged Mr Gwiriri and he did not respond. A day before outbreak, CWA structures in Glen View engaged local councilor Mr. Charles Chidagu, who visited Mr Gwiriri that same day. The local councilor was told that there is no fuel. The distance from district offices to affected areas is 250-300 metres,” said Community Water Alliance Information Officer Timothy Chitambure in a statement.
“We view the actions by Mr. Gwiriri as gross negligence and we hold him liable for cholera deaths”
The residents have vowed to remain camped at the offices until they are convincingly addressed by the Mayor of Harare Herbert Gomba.
“Residents will not leave the offices unless and until the Mayor of Harare Councilor Hebert Gomba comes to address them and their grievances. NO WORK WILL BE CARRIED OUT AT THE DISTRICT OFFICE UNTIL RESIDENTS GRIEVANCES ARE ADDRESSED,” Chitambure emphasised.
ZimEye.com efforts to get a comment from the Mayor were not successful at the time of writing.
By Own Correspondent| ZEC Commissioner Netsai Mushonga has urged those who allege that there was an assassination attempt on ZEC Chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba to produce video evidence of their allegations.
Commissioner Mushonga’s statements come in the wake of allegations that there was an attempt at Justice Chigumba’s life at Sam Levy Village in Harare where she was heckled by unknown assailants in a development which saw her lose her handbag and earnings.
Commissioner Mushonga however dismissed the story as fake news challenging those who originated the story to substantiate their claims by providing video evidence.
Said Commissioner Mushonga:
“Assassination attempt is fake news. I challenge the originators of the story to produce a video to their story. A ten minute attack will have minimum 10 videos captured by the public…..”
According to the story, the ZEC Chairperson survived an assasination attempt when an unruly mob believed to be opposition supporters heckled her at an affluent Western suburb’s Sam Levy’s Village shopping centre where she had gone for a massage.
Her bodyguards were overpowered by a hostile crowd of thugs wielding weapons and shouting threats of assasination and obscenities at the helpless judge.
Her bodyguards had to seek help from ZRP Borrowdale whose Reaction team swiftly arrived and dispersed the mob.
A visibly shaken Chigumba was quickly whisked away in her brand new SUV.
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan will be buried in his native Ghana on Thursday after a state funeral attended by world leaders past and present, traditional rulers and global royalty.
The ceremony at the Accra International Conference Centre marks the end of three days of national mourning for the respected diplomat.
Annan led the UN from 1997 to 2006 and was the first from sub-Saharan Africa to do so. He died on August 18 aged 80 at his home in Switzerland after a short illness.
The current head of the world body, Antonio Guterres, is expected to attend the funeral, which will be followed by a private burial at the capital’s military ceremony.
The president of neighbouring Ivory Coast and the leaders of Liberia, Namibia, Ethiopia and Niger confirmed their attendance at Thursday’s obsequies, according to Ghana’s information minister.
Former heads of state from Germany to Mauritius were also flying in.
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo called the funeral “a major event for our country” and described Annan as “one of the most illustrious people of this generation”.
Ordinary Ghanaians and dignitaries have paid their respects to Annan since his coffin was returned from Geneva and received with full honours on Monday.
Thousands of people have filed past the coffin, which was draped in the red, green and gold national flag and guarded by the military in ceremonial uniform.
Born in Kumasi, the capital of Ghana’s Ashanti region, Annan devoted four decades of his working life to the UN, and was known for bringing quiet charisma to the role.
He was widely credited for raising the world body’s profile in global politics during his two terms in office, facing challenges including wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Annan was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, as the world was reeling from the September 11 terror attacks in the United States, jointly with the UN “for their work for a better organised and more peaceful world”.
He left the post as one of the most popular — and recognisable — UN leaders ever, and was considered a “diplomatic rock star” in international circles.
He kept up his diplomatic work, taking mediation roles in Kenya and Syria, and more recently heading an advisory commission in Myanmar on the crisis in Rakhine state.
He acted as a negotiator between the government and the opposition in Kenya after post-election violence at the end of 2007, leading to the formation of the Grand Coalition government.
Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga will be among those attending Thursday’s ceremony, his office said.
Others include Princess Beatrix, the former queen of the Netherlands, and her daughter-in-law Princess Mabel, who were close friends of Annan.
Annan is survived by his wife Nane Maria, his children and grandchildren.
FINANCE Minister Mthuli Ncube has reignited debate on adoption of the rand, saying it is the only way to deal with Zimbabwe’s chronic liquidity challenges.
This also comes as business executives and analysts have said it is time for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s new administration to deliver chiefly on cutting Harare’s worsening budget and trade deficits, currency shortages and other economic ills.
The former African Development Bank vice president said on Monday that his plans to reform the country’s currency system include adopting “the United States dollar only and remove the bond notes from circulation through a demonetisation process and also liberalise exchange controls.
“The other way is to adopt the rand by negotiating to join the Rand Monetary Area, and this will close the gap in loss of competitiveness against our largest trading partner, South Africa,” Ncube said just after his swearing in.
The ex-banker, who is planning to set up an international advisory council to lead Zimbabwe’s re-engagement efforts with the international community, said another proposal would be to introduce a new Zimbabwe dollar to replace the bond notes that were introduced by the government in November 2016 to ease a biting liquidity crunch.
Zimbabwe discarded its fiat currency in 2009 after it was ravaged by hyper-inflation which had peaked at around 500 billion percent, rendering it unusable.
It then adopted a number of foreign currencies, including the US dollar and the South African rand, but the dollar was more popular.
A few years later US bank notes had started to run short, forcing the government to introduce a token currency – the bond notes – parallel to the dollar but have seen its value eroded by more than 50 percent to the greenback.
Industry experts who spoke to The Financial Gazette this week said rand adoption could help the country reduce domestic prices and raise its international competitiveness.
Having called on retailers and members to quote their prices in rand in May 2018, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Sifelani Jabangwe said shifting to the South African currency could help the authorities gain time and allow them to initiate a much needed shot in the arm in terms of implementing policies that are investor friendly.
“However, the rand issue requires a lot of engagements between government and private sector. This is to try and stabilise the economy. We have to assess all possible angles and open a robust debate. The good thing is that we have the technocrats who have the ability,” he said.
Tony Hawkins, a University of Zimbabwe lecturer, said it would be prudent to have a respected currency in place when bond notes are phased out.
“After removing the bond notes, we have to put something in its place for people to have something to transact with. Currently there are about only $400 million of bond notes in circulation,” he said.
Another economist Ashok Chakravat indicated that Zimbabwe could informally adopt the rand while it works on the formalisation into the South African Customs Union.
The Rand Monetary Union is made up of South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.
“In order to join the rand union, we should have our own currency, so at the moment we can’t lose sleep over the bond notes, they are not the challenge,” Chris Mugaga, the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce chief executive said.
Denford Mutashu, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president, concurred with Mugaga and said there was need to address economic fundamentals first before adopting any other currency.
“Adopting the rand as the major transacting currency without fixing the fundamentals may not get us far. It will be a brilliant idea but are we saying government expenditure will decline because we are using the rand?” he said.
“South Africa is at its initial stages of its land reform while Zimbabwe is at the home stretch. What will happen to the rand at the peak of land reform, one wonders. We can actually invest in having our own currency if we are to manoeuvre out of the multi-currency system. It comes with sovereign benefits also,” Mutashu added.
Piers Pigou, Crisis Group Consultant, said while adopting the rand could bring a temporary relief to the cash-strapped country, the challenge was in reconciling real time gross settlement cash with actual money.
“Whether the country chooses the rand or not as its primary currency, it is still stuck with the problem of RTGS. How do you fill the gap of the RTGS accounts, which are not backed by real currency? Will the depositors be willing to take a haircut and lose the value of their money when their accounts are converted to rands?” he said.
United States-based economic commentator Francis Mukora said the new Finance minister’s move to adopt the rand should be supported as the measure has potential to boost trade between Zimbabwe and South Africa.
For many years, South Africa has been Zimbabwe’s single largest trading partner.
“When the rand becomes the de facto currency of Zimbabwe, the country’s economic woes could seriously start to diminish and this would drive confidence in Zimbabwe as being a place to do business and invest,” he said.
Mukora noted that the use of the rand will restrain the Zimbabwe government’s deficit spending.
“Zimbabwe’s policy inconsistencies may require strong legal protection and commitment to insulating the monetary policy from political pressure. As such, it will not be possible for the government to undermine the monetary system if it officially adopts the use of the rand,” he added.
Fingaz
Jane Mlambo| MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has claimed President Emmerson Mnangagwa was bluffing on his promises to implement devolution, accusing him of violating the Constitution by appointing Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs.
“He has appointed ministers of State, which appointments are unconstitutional in the first instance and a subversion of devolution. Provincial councils will have no role in circumstances where a province already has an executive minister,” he said, adding that the appointment of 10 Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs was, therefore, void at law.
Top lawyer Thabani Mpofu also said there was no provision in the law which allowed Mnangagwa to appoint Provincial Affairs ministers.
“The Ministers of State are unconstitutional; there is no constitutional sanction for their appointment and their effect, however, is to negate devolution which is constitutionally provided for. How can a provincial council function when there is an executive minister for the province?” he asked.
Kent University law lecturer, Alex Magaisa said the violation of chapter 14 of the Constitution by Zanu PF was clear testament that there was no will to stick to constitutionalism by Mnangagwa’s government.
“Chapter 14 of the Constitution vests power in the people to elect their own provincial leaders through provincial councils. This limits the power of the President to make political appointments. However, when former President (Robert) Mugabe was in charge, he ignored the devolution provisions and appointed Ministers of State. After the coup, President Mnangagwa persisted with this practice,” he said.
Another constitutional law expert Lovemore Madhuku said the appointments undermined devolution.
“That’s not an easy question (whether the appointment was unconstitutional or not). It will need the courts to say. What is easy to say is that they undermine devolution,” Madhuku said.
“Whether it’s constitutional or not, I think it’s a different question because the President has the prerogative to appoint ministers and to assign them functions.”
Mnangagwa, while swearing-in Ministers of State said he was acting in line with the Constitution, which empowered him to make such appointments to aid his government in running the affairs of provinces.
On his campaign trail, the President said his government would implement devolution, a statement that was in sharp contrast with his then Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa, who during his budget presentation last year said the government was bankrupt and could not fund the provincial councils and wanted Parliament to remove the devolution clause from the Constitution.
The 2013 Constitution makes provision for devolution, but Parliament is yet to enact the legislation.
Zanu PF secretary for legal affairs Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana said Mnangagwa was committed to implementing devolution and that appointment of Ministers of State for provinces would not stop the implementation of devolution.
“There is a separation of government and the legislature. The President is exercising executive powers, he has the power to appoint any ministers,” Mangwana said.
Section 268 of the Constitution stipulates that “there is a provincial council for each province, except the metropolitan provinces, consisting of — (a) a chairperson of the council, elected in terms of section 272; b) the Senators elected from the province concerned”.
Constitutional law expert and opposition leader Welshman Ncube said the appointment of provincial ministers was unconstitutional and against Mnangagwa’s stated objectives to implement devolution.
“It is not only a threat to devolution but unconstitutional,” Ncube said. He said with the appointment of Ministers of State, provincial councils would have no role in circumstances where a province already has an executive minister.
“This should be corrected immediately,” he said. “One hopes that they will have a U-turn to this. We expect the provincial council chairpersons to be elected and sworn-in.”
-Newsday
Paul Nyathi|FINANCE and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has embarked on a stakeholder listening and consultation programme as he prepares to roll out reforms to transform the country’s economy.
Former ZANU PF Central Committee and Politburo Member Jonathan Moyo this week advised Ncube not to start talking or creating any programmes without first hearing from these two key ZANU PF structures or risk frustration on his job.
“A minister of finance is not a technocrat but a politician. You will need political clout that comes from being a ZanuPF member, an MP and, crucially, a central committee & politburo member. If you are not these things, it’s a disaster & if you are, your technocratic CV dies,” said Moyo.
On Wednesday Prof Ncube met with 50 chief executive officers of the leading businesses in Zimbabwe to consult and listen to the challenges they are facing in their operations.
In a statement, the ministry said Prof Ncube began his consultative meetings with the private sector and would be meeting other stakeholders.
The meeting was held in Harare.
“Issues raised by Zimbabwe’s leading chief executive officers who met today with Professor Mthuli Ncube include prohibitive cost of finance, shortage of foreign currency, high import duties, uncompetitive business environment and bureaucracy,” reads the statement.
“The Minister of Finance and Economic Development and the captains of industry discussed possible solutions to the challenges the business leaders are experiencing while operating in Zimbabwe.”
Minister Ncube has promised to take into account the issues raised and proposed solutions as he kicks off his mandate to make Zimbabwe a middle income country by 2030.
The chief executives and senior business leaders that met privately with the minister yesterday came from different companies drawn from diverse sectors.
These include Anglo-American, British American Tobacco, Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ), CDF Investments Trust, Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, Delta, Dulux Paints, Ecobank, EcoCash, Econet, Fastjet, FBC Bank, GEM Group, Imara, Innscor, Lafarge, Levy Group, Lobels, Masimba Holdings, Meikles Hotels, Minerva, National Foods, Nedbank, NMB Bank Limited and Old Mutual Group.
Others were Pick & Pay, Pulse Pharmaceuticals, RioZim, Securico, Stanbic Bank, Standard Chartered, Steward Bank, TelOne, Total Zimbabwe, United Refineries and Zimplats.
The minister is set to meet with other stakeholders on his “listening roadshow”.
State Media Extract
Jane Mlambo| MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has called President Emmerson Mnangagwa to order following his appointment of Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs, a move he said is unconstitutional and a subversion of devolution.
Chamisa said with provincial ministers having executive powers, provincial councils will have no role thus a vote of no confidence against devolution of power which is in the constitution.
“He has appointed ministers of State, which appointments are unconstitutional in the first instance and a subversion of devolution. Provincial councils will have no role in circumstances where a province already has an executive minister,” he said, adding that the appointment of 10 Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs was, therefore, void at law.
Chamisa’s lawyer, Thabani Mpofu added that Mnangagwa acted outside his constitutional powers in his appointment of provincial ministers.
“The Ministers of State are unconstitutional; there is no constitutional sanction for their appointment and their effect, however, is to negate devolution which is constitutionally provided for. How can a provincial council function when there is an executive minister for the province?” he asked.
Kent University law lecturer, Alex Magaisa said the violation of chapter 14 of the Constitution by Zanu PF was clear testament that there was no will to stick to constitutionalism by Mnangagwa’s government.
“Chapter 14 of the Constitution vests power in the people to elect their own provincial leaders through provincial councils. This limits the power of the President to make political appointments. However, when former President (Robert) Mugabe was in charge, he ignored the devolution provisions and appointed Ministers of State. After the coup, President Mnangagwa persisted with this practice,” he said.
Another constitutional law expert Lovemore Madhuku said the appointments undermined devolution.
“That’s not an easy question (whether the appointment was unconstitutional or not). It will need the courts to say. What is easy to say is that they undermine devolution,” Madhuku said.
“Whether it’s constitutional or not, I think it’s a different question because the President has the prerogative to appoint ministers and to assign them functions.”
But Zanu PF secretary for legal affairs, Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana sang from a different hymn book, saying the appointment of Ministers of State for provinces would not stop the implementation of devolution.
“There is a separation of government and the legislature. The President is exercising executive powers, he has the power to appoint any ministers,” Mangwana said.
-Newsday
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has arrived in Bulawayo where he is scheduled to officially open the $2 billion Hopeville Housing Project and commission a $2 million tomato processing plant in the City.
He was welcomed at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport by Vice President Kembo Mohadi, Bulawayo Provincial Affairs Minister Judith Ncube, Cabinet Ministers, senior government and Zanu PF officials.
Sondelani Ranching owned by Peter Cunningham launched the $2 million state-of-the-art tomato processing plant for the production of tomato paste in Bulawayo in June this year.
Co-director Reverend Patson Netha said the plant has the capacity to process 150 tonnes or over 1,5 million tomatoes.
Most of the plant’s machinery was sourced from China while the other components were shipped from Italy at a cost of about $1 million with the total cost of setting up the factory being close to $2 million.
South Africa imports about 30 000 tonnes of tomato paste annually while the other big importers are the Democratic Republic of Congo (16 630t), Angola (16 000t) and Namibia (1 208t).
The Hopeville Housing Project is a $2 billion up-market satellite town spearheaded by Thompson Properties. The first stage of the project began with the servicing of residential stands whose size range from 500 square metres to more than 1 000 square metres.
The entire project, which can be equated to Kempton Park in neighbouring South Africa, will see the construction of 20 000 plush and affluent houses, up-market shopping malls as well as state-of-the-art recreational facilities.
The housing development will be carried out in three stages with stage one, which is estimated to cost more than $100 million, comprising homes, a shopping complex, gymnasium, library, three schools, local authority offices as well as land reserved for the construction of churches.
State Media
Jane Mlambo| Former Health Minister David Parirenyatwa has been arrested on charges of criminal abuse of office.
He is currently being interviewed by detectives from the Serious Fraud Squad, police sources have confirmed to one source.
More details to follow…
MDC Alliance councillors in Victoria Falls are the latest band of party councillors to face the wreath of the party for defying the party in the election of mayors and deputy mayors.
The Alliance on Wednesday summoned new mayor Somvelo Dhlamini to the party’s Hwange offices over allegations of defying a party directive where they were directed to vote for Margaret Varley as mayoral candidate and, instead, voted in Dlamini.
Dhlamini confirmed the orders, saying that alliance leader Nelson Chamisa had called him asking about the Friday incident.
“We were summoned to go to Hwange to explain how things changed on Friday and as I was there, the president called me inquiring what had transpired on election day and I suggested that I write a report and submit to his office tomorrow (today) where I’ll also explain myself to him,” Dhlamini said.
However, provincial party secretary-general, Mxolisi Ndlovu, who attended the Hwange meeting, had no kind words for Victoria Falls councillors and Dhlamini.
“We convened a meeting with them at our Hwange offices because we wanted to know what transpired since the day of swearing-in, we were not there. We only attended the first one and on the second, we suddenly heard that they had been called in for another swearing-in ceremony. So we wanted them to tell us their story so that, in turn, we inform the national executive, but I cannot pre-empt anything before the president (Chamisa) receives the report,” Ndlovu said.
“We summoned them as councillors because it was collective defiance what they did. We have our own guidelines and if you go against them, honestly no one accepts that. In our organisation, we stand by our rules and the rule was to have Varley as a mayor and him as a deputy.”
Residents protested against Varley’s imposition, leading to the postponement of the elections.
They accused the party of imposing candidates and sending director for mobilisation, Farai Chinobva, who was openly giving councillors orders during nomination.
Ndlovu said residents should not meddle in party politics.
“We are the custodians of the Victoria Falls Municipality, but we believe there were outside forces who were at play in our affairs and we wonder why those people are so interested in our affairs. Yesterday, I was in Umguza, Zanu PF do their things well and whip their councillors into line and everything went smoothly because they followed orders given by the party,” he said.
“We might hate Zanu PF, but they are a principled party in terms of whipping people to toe the party line. They choose their chairperson from the caucus of the party up to the end, but when it comes to us, when we do our internal things, it becomes an outcry.”
Meanwhile, at least one Zanu PF councillor voted with opposition for the post of chairperson and his deputy at Chiredzi Rural District Council on Monday.
With a majority of four councillors against three for the MDC Alliance, Gibson Hwende won the chairperson’s post, beating Blessing Mazinyani with five votes against three.
The post of the deputy chairperson went to an independent candidate, Ropafadzo Makumire, who beat Liberty Macharaga of Zanu PF by a similar margin.
“I believe the task that has been installed on me by my fellow councillors is huge. It is not about which party I support, but what I represent, the interests of the people of Chiredzi,” Hwende said.
“I promise to push for development of the area without looking at who supports which party or what. All we want is development.”
NewsDay Extract
Jane Mlambo| Following a police ban on public gatherings on the grounds of containing the current cholera outbreak in Harare, the opposition MDC Alliance has vowed to proceed with their planned inauguration of Nelson Chamisa as the President of Zimbabwe saying Zanu PF and Emmerson Mnangagwa are running scared and using the epidemic as a skapegoat to block them from interacting with people.
The MDC Alliance through its newly appointed spokesperson, Jacob Mafume said Zanu PF was worried over the continued support Chamisa was receiving from Zimbabweans who are reported to have chanted ‘Chamisa the people’s president’ during his tour of Cholera affected areas in Glen View and Budiriro yesterday.
The move by the MDC Alliance has set the stage for a bitter clash with law enforcement agents who yesterday issued a strong warning against public gatherings.
“These illegal attempts by ZRP to cancel events on health grounds are an excuse for ZANU PF’s downright fear of citizens.
“They clearly show that Emmerson Mnangagwa knows that he lost the election and is operating this country on the bases of martial law and a perpetual state of emergency to protect himself from democracy,” said Mafume.
He accused ZRP of interfering in health matter which is not part of their jurisdiction saying this is a vote of no confidence in the new Minister of health.
“ZRP has no business declaring health emergencies as this should be the preserve of health professionals and institutions. It is not clear why the ZRP is dealing with issues of health,” charged Mafume.
Last week Saturday, Chamisa said he is going to be inaugurated by the people at Gwanzura Stadium further hinting that once installed he will chart his own way while Mnangagwa goes the other direction.
By Own Correspondent| Opposition MDC has called on the ZRP to stop meddling in the party’s plans to commemorate its 19th anniversary alleging that the ban on Saturday’s celebrations was reflective that President Emmerson Mnangagwa was an illegitimate leader.
In a statement issued by the party, the MDC alleged that the police is being used by Zanu-PF and President Mnangagwa to interfere with the opposition’s plans for a rally to commemorate the MDC’s 19th Anniversary.
The opposition wanted to use the occasion to “inaugurate” Nelson Chamisa as the people’s president.
Below is the full statement by the MDC.
Press Statement Agoraphobic Mnangagwa Interferes with Police on MDC Anniversary
Earlier yesterday the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) received full permission from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to go ahead with its planned gathering for its anniversary on Saturday the l5`” of September 2018. However, by mid-morning President Nelson Chamisa visited cholera-affected areas in Glen View, Harare, meeting with patients and health professionals and assessing the response to the outbreak.
The President witnessed for himself the situation and tasked the Harare Mayor to do everything possible to deal (with) any challenges and called on the government to play a positive role. He also invited other stakeholders to chip in and provide assistance as necessary.
By the time the President was about to leave the clinic, the perimeter was thronged by tens of thousands of Zimbabweans who had got wind of the President Nelson Chamisa’ s presence.
These citizens were requesting to be addressed by the President and chanting, `The People’s President!’ The President progressed to Budiriro where he visited families that were mourning their loved ones. As he made his way to the first home-visit throngs of Zimbabweans once again quickly gathered around the venue again chanting, `The People’s President’.
At this time there were reports that cars belonging to the military intelligence had deployed in the area, which did not bother citizens. It was not long after that Harare also saw the deployment of military helicopters, that circled the city.
This was followed by the deployment of the ZRP spokesperson to issue a statement banning all public events including the one that the MDC had received permission for. The statement used Cholera as an excuse, although it is clear that this epidemic is currently limited to and contained within specific areas of Harare.
Between the issuance of permission by ZRP and its cancellation was the evidence of tens of thousands of Zimbabweans who thronged the streets in Glen View to talk to President Chamisa.
Illegitimate governments are always fully threatened by citizens and fear seeing them together. These illegal attempts by ZRP to cancel events on health grounds are an excuse for ZANU PF’s fear of citizens.
They clearly show that President Mnangagwa knows that he lost the election and is operating this country on the bases of martial law and perpetual state of emergency to protect himself from democracy.
ZRP has no business declaring health emergencies as this should be the preserve of health professionals and institutions. It is not clear why the ZRP is dealing with issues of health.
Even then, is this a vote of no confidence in the Minister and Ministry of Health of this illegitimate government? President Mnangagwa must be worried by overreliance on a militarised form of government to protect illegitimacy.
We all know too well what happens when people’s rights are readily abused by dictators. We know how such dictators end up running countries that are unstable and economies that are stagnant. We know how this turned out for former President Mugabe.
Scared by its illegitimacy the Mnangagwa government then ordered the ZRP to cancel our l 9th Anniversary celebrations after realising that President Chamisa pulling tens of thousands of people into the streets.
The numbers on the streets of Glen View and Budiriro were a clear sign of things to come at Gwanzura Stadium. Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans are expected to overrun the stadium this weekend.
We call upon President Mnangagwa’s illegitimate government to stop fearing the people of Zimbabwe. This government must remember that, no matter what it does, the fate of this country is in the hands of the people of Zimbabwe. They are the final court and judges.
President Mnangagwa should not live in unending fear, there is a solution, to his BP raising crisis. Which is to restore this country to legitimacy by releasing the ZEC server results and allowing an elected government to assume office.
In light of this, the MDC leadership is considering available option in the best interests of our country and the need for a legitimate, stable and reliable government.
By Own Correspondent| Chitungwiza has recorded 14 suspected cholera cases, 2 of which have been confirmed, Chitungwiza Mayor Gift Tsverere has said.
Addressing journalists at the local authority offices (Tuesday), Tsverere said Chitungwiza municipality had set up a cholera treatment camp at St Mary’s poly clinic as a public health measure.
Said Tsverere in a press statement:
Press Statement on Cholera Outbreak
The Chitungwiza Municipality is greatly concerned with the current cholera outbreak which started in the City of Harare and has now spread to involve other parts of the country, including Chitungwiza.
While the number of cases seen in Chitungwiza is still quite small compared to the numbers of cases being seen in the City of Harare, the situation is still a cause for concern and requires prompt and decisive action to mitigate and resolve it.
So far Chitungwiza has 12 suspected cased with two confirmed cases, bringing the total 14, although it is expected that the actual numbers of those affected will change with time.
As a municipality which carries the mandate to safeguard the welfare of its residents, efforts have been put in place so that the town becomes cholera free.
The municipality’s health department has established a cholera treatment camp situated at St Mary’s poly clinic as a public health measure.
The council has also deployed a dedicated medical team to deal with the situation and is in consultation with other multi sectoral stakeholders for purposes of seeking resolution to the current outbreak.
The municipality shall with immediate effect tighten the inspection of all food processing outlets to ensure health standards are adhered to according to the law.
The council is discouraging the public from sourcing food from illegal food vendors. We are also appealing to the residents to immediately report any sewer leakages to our offices so as to enable the prompt deployment of the rapid response team which is on standby.
The municipality is working tirelessly to try and ensure adequate and reliable potable water supplies to the residents of Chitungwiza.
We call upon all residents, stakeholders and partners to practise active citizenship through taking responsibility for preventing and mitigating the spread of cholera.
The Municipality is also advising residents to ensure that they have good hygienic practices at household level, specifically:
• Practising thorough hand washing after using the lavatory, before preparation of food and before eating
• Avoiding open defecation
• Eating food while it is still hot
• Avoiding shaking hands unnecessarily
• Treating all water at point of use with water guard, aqua tabs or through boiling
• Avoiding eating from untrusted sources especial during public gatherings
• Buying fruits and vegetables from trusted sources and ensuring that they are cleaned before consumption.
The municipality is appealing to all partners, stakeholders and well-wishers to come together in a collective effort to beat the cholera scourge.
Finally we wish to encourage all residents to immediately seek medical attention at the first sign of diarrhoea, dehydration, stomach pains, fever or vomiting. Anyone who is ill and is suspected to have cholera should be referred to the Municipality’s Health department’s cholera treatment camp at St. Mary’s Clinic
“Together we can defeat Cholera”
Clr Gift Tichaona Tsverere
(Mayor)
12th of September 2018
Jane Mlambo| Giant telecommunications company, Econet Wireless has bowed down to pressure from its users who last week took to Twitter to protest against the company’s decision to increase the minimum purchase for electricity tokens via its mobile money platform, Ecocash to $10.
Econet through a press statement announced the reduction of the minimum purchase amount to $5 with the company saying they have worked to stabilize the ZESA system which they cited as the reason for the increase.
”Ecocash and ZETDC are happy to advise that the minimum purchase for electricity tokens via Ecocash has been reduced to $5
“This follows works to stabilize the ZETDC system. Further reductions in the minimum purchase will be announced as soon as the system has been fully stabilized,” said Econet.
MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has claimed President Emmerson Mnangagwa was bluffing on his promises to implement devolution, accusing him of violating the Constitution by appointing Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs.
“He has appointed ministers of State, which appointments are unconstitutional in the first instance and a subversion of devolution. Provincial councils will have no role in circumstances where a province already has an executive minister,” he said, adding that the appointment of 10 Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs was, therefore, void at law.
Top lawyer Thabani Mpofu also said there was no provision in the law which allowed Mnangagwa to appoint Provincial Affairs ministers.
“The Ministers of State are unconstitutional; there is no constitutional sanction for their appointment and their effect, however, is to negate devolution which is constitutionally provided for. How can a provincial council function when there is an executive minister for the province?” he asked.
Kent University law lecturer, Alex Magaisa said the violation of chapter 14 of the Constitution by Zanu PF was clear testament that there was no will to stick to constitutionalism by Mnangagwa’s government.
“Chapter 14 of the Constitution vests power in the people to elect their own provincial leaders through provincial councils. This limits the power of the President to make political appointments. However, when former President (Robert) Mugabe was in charge, he ignored the devolution provisions and appointed Ministers of State. After the coup, President Mnangagwa persisted with this practice,” he said.
Another constitutional law expert Lovemore Madhuku said the appointments undermined devolution.
“That’s not an easy question (whether the appointment was unconstitutional or not). It will need the courts to say. What is easy to say is that they undermine devolution,” Madhuku said.
“Whether it’s constitutional or not, I think it’s a different question because the President has the prerogative to appoint ministers and to assign them functions.”
Mnangagwa, while swearing-in Ministers of State said he was acting in line with the Constitution, which empowered him to make such appointments to aid his government in running the affairs of provinces.
On his campaign trail, the President said his government would implement devolution, a statement that was in sharp contrast with his then Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa, who during his budget presentation last year said the government was bankrupt and could not fund the provincial councils and wanted Parliament to remove the devolution clause from the Constitution.
The 2013 Constitution makes provision for devolution, but Parliament is yet to enact the legislation.
Zanu PF secretary for legal affairs Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana said Mnangagwa was committed to implementing devolution and that appointment of Ministers of State for provinces would not stop the implementation of devolution.
“There is a separation of government and the legislature. The President is exercising executive powers, he has the power to appoint any ministers,” Mangwana said.
Section 268 of the Constitution stipulates that “there is a provincial council for each province, except the metropolitan provinces, consisting of — (a) a chairperson of the council, elected in terms of section 272; b) the Senators elected from the province concerned”.
Constitutional law expert and opposition leader Welshman Ncube said the appointment of provincial ministers was unconstitutional and against Mnangagwa’s stated objectives to implement devolution.
“It is not only a threat to devolution but unconstitutional,” Ncube said. He said with the appointment of Ministers of State, provincial councils would have no role in circumstances where a province already has an executive minister.
“This should be corrected immediately,” he said. “One hopes that they will have a U-turn to this. We expect the provincial council chairpersons to be elected and sworn-in.”
NewsDay
Jane Mlambo|Harare City Council has decommissioned two boreholes in Glen View after the water tested positive for Vibrio cholerae, a cholera causing bacteria.
City corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme confirmed the development in an interview with The Herald yesterday.
“Yes, I can confirm that we have decommissioned two boreholes in Glen View because we suspected they were the epicentre of the spread of cholera in the area,” he said.
“The water was positive when it was tested for the bacterium.”
Mr Chideme said the development was part of the measures that the Harare City Council was implementing to curb the spread of cholera.
He said repairs to damaged sewer pipes was being done.
“Besides decommissioning of boreholes, we are also replacing all collapsed sewer pipes in Glen View and Budiriro for a start, then we will soon move to other areas,” said Mr Chideme. “The work has already started and is in progress.”
Government has since activated the national response mechanism to combat the dual outbreaks of cholera and typhoid.
The national response taskforce comprises of representatives from the Ministries of Health and Child Care, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Defence and War Veterans and the Department of Civil Protection, local authorities and other inter-agency representatives.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care is coordinating the national response, while City of Harare is coordinating on the outbreak in Harare.
Chitungwiza, Midlands, Manicaland, Masvingo and Mashonaland Central provinces have since reported sporadic cases of cholera — all traced back to Harare.
-State media
By Paul Nyathi|President Emmerson Mnangagwa has assured the nation that his government is doing all it can to curb the cholera outbreak ravaging the country.
“My thoughts and prayers are with those suffering from the cholera outbreak, and the loved ones of those we have lost.
In order to speedily contain the outbreak and efficiently mobilise our resources, we have declared a state of emergency in Harare, and are working closely with our international partners who are assisting us in this crucial endeavour.
I urge all residents of the affected areas to exercise extra care with their hygiene and follow the instructions of the authorities as we seek to contain and overcome this outbreak.
Let me assure you that we are working tirelessly to control the situation, and we hope to communicate progress in due course.”
By Paul Nyathi|Opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa says his visit to cholera patients at Glenview Hospital in Harare on Wednesday left him very touched and challenged on how bad the situation is.
“My visit to Glen view left me so touched, harassed and challenged.The scale of the cholera crisis is severe.A collective national approach is necessary to contain and stop any loss of life,” said Chamisa on his Facebook page on Thursday morning.
Paul Nyathi|In the middle of contracting positions by the Ministry of Education and The Ministry of Health on claims that at least two school children have died due to the ravaging cholera outbreak, latest information indicates that a school head in Glen View succumbed to the disease on Wednesday morning and too the death toll from the epidemic to 21.
Health minister Obadiah Moyo confirmed the incident during a special meeting with various ministries as government sort to find a solution to the epidemic.
“We have just held a special meeting so that we come up with proper coordination in trying to resolve the crisis. This outbreak is not just of cholera but typhoid as well,” said the minister.
“I would want to confirm that a teacher has passed on in Glen View. It’s actually a Headmaster who lost his life to cholera and that’s how serious it is,” the Health minister said.
“It is getting worse and the number of cases is going up.”
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Paul Mavhima earlier issued a contradicting statememt claiming that none of the twenty one victims so far were school children or anyone from within the schools in the country.
Moyo said number of suspected cases has risen to 3060 with 45 confirmed.
Most of the cases have been recorded in Harare, mostly in Glen View and Budiriro.
“We are a new team coming in and we don’t want to have this continuous cycle of outbreaks,” said minister Moyo.
“We are going to make sure Zimbabwe becomes clean again. We will look and correct water reticulation and this will be our main agenda.”
Moyo conceded a worry that the outbreak degenerate to 2008 levels when over 4,000 people died from the disease. He however, insisted that measures being put in place by the authorities should mitigate the possibility.
NEW Harare Mayor, Herbert Gomba says the central government and Zanu PF should take responsibility for the cholera outbreak which has so far claimed the lives of 21 people, alleging that a caretaker commission that was put in place to run city’s affairs last month abrogated its duties leading to the outbreak.
Health minister Obadiah Moyo told a meeting of government departments dealing with the outbreak that cholera had now spread outside the capital, with more than 3 000 people now infected.
The outbreak is the biggest since 2008 when 4 500 people died and another 40 000 were treated after being infected.
Gomba said although it was not appropriate in the circumstances to play the blame game, the newly-appointed Health minister should “shut up” and assist in solving the crisis as his Zanu PF party and the central government were largely to blame for the outbreak.
“If we are to be honest to ourselves, this issue is all because of Zanu PF and central government. While we accept that our council ought to have done more in terms of public health management, central government and Zanu PF should feel ashamed for this. They should not even try to blame us, but assist in finding a solution,” Gomba told NewsDay.
Gomba said government last year undertook a study on boreholes and it was discovered that most of them were contaminated and ordered that they be decommissioned.
“But because central government had failed to provide a reliable source of water for the residents, and people continued to use those boreholes,” Gomba said.
“Also, we had a challenge of Zanu PF politicians who, during campaigns, were telling the people to use borehole water even though as council we had decommissioned them. Our workers could not do anything. When the previous council was out of office and government set up a commission, the workers went on strike because the commission did nothing to provide them with protective clothing. This also exposed people to a situation under which no one could do the public health monitoring and garbage collection.”
The Harare mayor said the absence of such mechanisms, exposed residents to unsafe water and the end result was a cholera outbreak.
“We remain committed to do our job to solve the cholera/typhoid pandemic. We have been calling on government to build Kunzvi and Musami dams since 2008 in order to deal with water supply issue and you have a minister coming in saying we have failed, it is sad. People are dying and (residents) certainly don’t need all this,” Gomba stated.
On Tuesday, Moyo blamed council for failing to collect garbage and attending to sewer outbursts in the affected areas as the cause for the outbreak.
But Gomba said from the laboratory tests conducted last week, the epicentre of the outbreak was the same boreholes that had been decommissioned as well as lack of monitoring by city workers on public health.
“The minister should have taken time to ask his officials what happened before opening his mouth. We don’t need to expose our lack of understanding on public health issues so early. This is a problem which central government and Zanu PF should take responsibility for.
“Had the illegal commission which was there attended to the welfare of the workers, we could have prevented this. Had government provided the long talked about Kunzvi Dam and other new water sources, we could have not exposed people to use contaminated boreholes,” Gomba said
Another city councillor, Jacob Mafume, who is also the MDC Alliance spokesperson said the cholera outbreak was a result of “lack of seriousness by central government to fund infrastructural development”.
“The minister has to stop the blame game and focus on the crisis. He should not make us think that (former Health minister David) Parirenyatwa was better by uttering lies. This is a central government issue. He must appreciate that we don’t have enough water to supply residents and central government has the obligation to source for that,” Mafume said.
“They have for years failed to deliver on the Musami or Kunzvi projects. I urge to minister to think more and speak less on these issues. We don’t intend to question his educational capacity or question the authenticity of his doctorate just because he is showing a lack of appreciation of public health issues.”
However Local Government minister July Moyo, who appointed the contentious commission to run Harare, said he had engaged the mayor on the cholera issue and they had agreed on a work programme.
“The issue of the commission is nothing really to the matter we have at hand. The commission was in place for two weeks only. Council management was also there, they ought to have looked at those things,” Moyo said.
“For your own information, I met the mayor and his deputy this morning and we are charting a way forward. I don’t think this would help at all. Let us focus on solving the issue at hand and mapping a way forward than looking for scapegoats.”
Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said as far as the party was concerned, all urban local authorities have been under the jurisdiction of the MDC and they should not blame anyone for the outbreak.
“The Health minister has details on that, but all I know is that all urban local authorities have been under the MDC. If they cannot be held accountable for their failure, then they should not be anywhere near governance.”
In Mashonaland East province, six cases of cholera have so far been reported.
According to provincial epidemiology and disease control officer Paul Matsvimbo, of the six suspected cases, three were reported in Marondera, while Murehwa, Seke and Wedza districts reported a case each.
“The province received reports of suspected a cholera outbreak on Friday evening and as of Tuesday, six suspected cases have been reported,” he said.
“All the cases so far are linked to an earlier cholera outbreak in Harare, they did not originate within this province. One of the patients admitted to Wedza Hospital actually stays in Glen View and had gone to Wedza for work.
The one admitted at Musami (Murehwa) had also travelled from Glen View, so these cases are directly linked with Harare.”
Meanwhile, First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa has urged responsible authorities to implement measures to eliminate factors leading to the spread of disease.
Speaking after a tour of Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital, Auxillia also called on people to ensure their safety at all costs.
“All this is happening as a result of overcrowding and poor service delivery. People should be given land to build houses and avoid overcrowding and the subsequent spread of diseases like cholera,” she said.
Zimbabwe’s largest mobile network, Econet Wireless joined the fight against the outbreak and yesterday launched a public awareness campaign.
The group yesterday said it has also begun to offer material support to public health teams working to combat the epidemic.
“We have partnered with the government, through the Health and Child Care ministry’s department of epidemiology and disease control, to offer centrally co-ordinated material support to the nationwide effort to combat the cholera outbreak,” the company’s chief executive, Douglas Mboweni said.
“We are sad at the deaths that have been reported due to the outbreak of this disease and we will play our part by using our resources and our reach to help prevent the spread of the disease and save lives.”
He said the support included preventive items, such as hand sterilisation material, aqua tablets and special protective clothing for health workers, as well as case management supplies that include antibiotic medicines and IVR fluids.
Mboweni said Econet had already begun sending out free SMS alerts to the public, educating them on how the disease is contracted and how it spreads, how to avoid contracting the disease, how to prevent its spread and how to treat it.
NewsDay
Paul Nyathi|The MDC Alliance provincial chair for Harare province Eric Murai says that the blanket ban issued by the police on public gatherings in Harare due to the cholera outbreak in the capital has not affected their rally set for Gwanzura Stadium on Saturday.
Murai said via social media on Wednesday that police have given the nod for the MDC event to proceed free of any interruption.
“Let everyone know that we have been granted permission by the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
“Please let the word spread as far as possible so that everyone come and witness this historic event where our President His Excellency Adv Nelson Chamisa will take oath before his legion of supporters.
“Don’t miss out on this unique event. Chamisa Chete Chete. Chamisa of the people, by the people, from the people.”
Police in Harare earlier in the week issued the MDC with a letter which allowed the party to proceed with the event on condition they controlled the behaviour of their supporters, they did not alter the venue and time of the event and did not try to intimidate passers-by among some of the restrictions.
“You shall ensure the peaceful dispersal of your members from the celebrations. Any deviation from the above will result in police dispersing your gathering,” read part of the letter written by Officer Commanding Police Harare District Chief Superintendent Winston Muzah.
Police have not issued any order stopping the MDC from proceeding with the gathering.
Earlier on, MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume had vowed the main opposition was determined to defy the ban on public gatherings citing the need to contain the cholera outbreak.
“They have used these epidemics to ban our own activities but not one of their activities has been banned due to cholera or typhoid outbreaks. They are proceeding as usual. We are therefore also proceeding as usual,” he said.
VIDEO LOADING BELOW…
State Media on Thursday outlined various plans being set out by newly-appointed Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs who claim that their focus during their five-year term would be economic development using resources in their respective provinces.
The Ministers speak to issues that are specifically designated to the Provincial Council Chairpersons who are specifically identified by the constitution of which the Ministers are not mentioned.
Throwing a purge on former President Robert Mugabe when parliament decided to impeach him, one of the issues raised by the houses was that Mugabe had failed to implement the chapter 14 closes of the Constitution as prescribed, a fate which President Emmerson Mnangagwa has followed suit.
They said the devolution concept, if fully implemented, would accelerate economic growth as it empowered provinces to determine their development priorities.
Government plans to introduce wholesale changes to the national governance architecture by devolving power and authority to provinces.
This means each province will have its own economic development plan underpinned by resources found in that province.
Experts are already working on the policy and legal framework to make devolution a success.
Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs Ellen Gwaradzimba said she wanted to rebrand the province using available resources.
“We want Manicaland to be the model province,” she said.
“We also need an equitable distribution of national resources and major projects I will give focus on include diamond-cutting and polishing, completion of Marowanyati Dam in Buhera, resuscitation of irrigation schemes in Middle Sabi, Nyanyadzi and Nyakomba as well as construction of Kondo Dam. We also have to ensure we construct new irrigation schemes around Osborne and Mupudzi dams.”
Minister Gwaradzimba said she would also prioritise road infrastructure development and maintenance in rural and urban areas.
“We want an alternative bridge to Birchenough Bridge because maintaining the existing one costs $40 million, while construction of a new one costs $35 million,” she said.
“I also want to see the construction of Manicaland State University and its satellite centres. Health will also be promoted through infrastructure development. Of immediate priority is Mabvazuva polyclinic in Makoni which requires about $360 000. We also want to give our tourism attraction centres a facelift.”
Minister of State for Midlands Provincial Affairs Larry Mavima said priorities would be in different sectors.
“The Provincial Affairs Minister now has new responsibilities, which involve ensuring that devolution takes place from a legislative point of view as well as the economic activities that contribute to the GDP of the country,” he said.
“To grow our GDP as Midlands, we are luck that we are endowed with rich mineral resources which include diamonds, gold, platinum, coal, chrome, emeralds and lithium. We have to look at how best we can grow the mining sector in an inclusive manner. Artisanal miners have to be capacitated so that they grow and contribute to the GDP.
“They should collaborate with big mining companies and get the necessary technical expertise to be professional,” he said.
Mashonaland East Provincial Affairs Minister Apollonia Munzverengi said the province would focus mainly on agriculture and mining for development.
“Mashonaland East province is dominated by agriculture but there are mining activities in areas such as Acturus, Goromonzi, Mutawatawa and Mutoko,” she said.
“We have to come up with viable activities to develop the province using these two key areas. As someone taking over, I need to have an insight into what is taking place in the province. I do that through meeting heads of department. They will give me reports of what they have been doing and their annual plans,” she said
“I will get to know what projects they have implemented and what is still outstanding. I will also come up with my input. For example it is not a secret that this is year there is a possibility of low rainfall and this means the abundant water bodies in the provinces have to be fully utilised such that we irrigate our crops to have sufficient food.”
Minister of State for Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs Richard Moyo said all programmes in the province should be completed within set timelines.
“We have got our projects like the Gwayi-Shangani Dam, the Bulawayo-Nkayi and the Bulawayo- Tsholotsho Road, among others,” he said.
“We are checking on how far those have gone and push them so that by the end of December they should be able to impact positively on the lives of the people in the province,” he said.
“In terms of devolution, if it comes into practice, it will help us a lot as we have got our mines, animals and tourist attraction centres. These we will use to develop ourselves and the good thing is we will be running most of these projects on our own. We also have the methane gas project coming in Lupane and this will go a long a way in uplifting the living standards of our people.”
Under devolution, Harare Metropolitan would be Zimbabwe’s ICT nerve centre, while Bulawayo Metropolitan would become the country’s industrial hub, said President Mnangagwa recently.
Manicaland province would be the diamond beneficiation centre, with Midlands being the iron and steel value-chain beneficiation centre, he said.
Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Ezra Chadzamira said focus would be on poverty eradication using resources in the province.
‘We have a strong mining background, a lot of livestock and dams in the province,” he said.
“We will focus on irrigation, creating employment and value addition to the many products that come out of the province. Eyes will be on the Tugwi-Mukosi project as it is expected to take the province to another level. Experts are working on the master plan. Once that is done that’s when we will have a clear picture of what goes where. There will be tourism, agricultural and recreational activities.”
Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs Judith Ncube said: “There are a lot of projects and programmes in the pipeline but priorities have to come from the people. The people of Bulawayo are key in this whole issue of development. My policy is there is nothing I can do without the people. They are going to come up with their own priorities and my role will be to facilitate and adhere to the policies. I am going to engage them so that we fail together or succeed together. Failure though is not an option.”
Minister of State for Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs Monica Mavhunga said she would be able to comment after “completing the hand-over take over process.”
Harare is yet to have a Minister of State for Provincial Affairs.
By A Correspondent| The Zimbabwean authorities must urgently take measures to stop and address the cholera epidemic that has so far claimed 20 lives, Amnesty International said after the government today declared the outbreak a national disaster.
Initial cases of cholera were reported in Gweru and Harare last month and the capital is now the worst affected area, with more than 15 people confirmed to have died of the infectious disease. The country’s 2008 cholera outbreak, which claimed the lives of more than 4,300 people, was the largest ever recorded in Zimbabwe. Unless urgent action is taken the death toll of this current epidemic is also likely to be significant.
“The current cholera epidemic is a terrible consequence of Zimbabwe’s failure to invest in and manage both its basic water and sanitation infrastructure and its health care system. It is appalling that in 2018, people are still dying of such a preventable disease,” said Jessica Pwiti, Executive Director of Amnesty International Zimbabwe.
“Given what happened in 2008 the government should have been better prepared. But no lessons were learned from the 2008 epidemic and the outbreak and deaths we’re seeing now is symptomatic of a still broken-down sanitation infrastructure and poor sewer management, worsened by shortages of drugs and medical supplies.”
In 2008, Amnesty International found that the government’s failure to contain and manage the cholera outbreak was caused by the lack of a safe drinking water supply and broken-down sanitation systems that left residents surrounded by flowing raw sewage. Yet a decade later we are seeing the same failures causing this latest outbreak.
The organization is calling on the government to take immediate action to ensure that further deaths are prevented through ensuring access to appropriate medical care and treatment. Longer term the new government must prioritize rebuilding the country’s health care system and infrastructure.
“The newly elected government of Zimbabwe must learn from its predecessor’s mistakes and take action that stops people dying from preventable diseases. The authorities must invest in proper sanitation and health infrastructure and ensure universal access to health care,” said Jessica Pwiti.
“If Zimbabwe lacks the resources to address these issues it can and is obliged under international law to request assistance to do so. As the government itself has now admitted this is a national disaster which requires an immediate and effective response.”
Amnesty International
By Jane Mlambo| The Controversial Zanu PF legislator for Goromonzi West and Deputy Minister of Information, Energy Mutodi has once again caused a stir on Twitter after he accused the opposition MDC run Harare City Council PF ‘breeding’ cholera and typhoid.
Mutodi is the same man who once ran gross falsehoods on Emmerson Mnangagwa’s behalf beginning with the 2014 fake story of Joice Mujuru plotting to kill former President Robert Mugabe, down the 2017 November Gwanda poison propaganda, all which were notorious misleading themes meant to prop up Mnangagwa; has launched his latest one, this time attacking the MDC Alliance party.
The man who on Monday threatened MDC Alliance Presidential candidate, Nelson Chamisa with violence, has since accused opposition Councillors of sleeping on the job, in the events that have led to the current cholera crisis.
He has instigated residents to riot and boot them out. FULL TEXT
Cholera Alert! As we have always said, MDC councils are breeding homes for cholera, typhoid & other waterborne diseases. It’s happening in Harare of all the towns. MDC counselors are sleeping on the job. It’s high time residents say enough is enough & boot them out.
— Dr Energy Mutodi (@energymutodi) September 12, 2018
But state media files reveal that his boss, Emmerson Mnangagwa is the one solely responsible for the mess. Mnangagwa even came out as late as July this year, a week before elections promising to build the water treatment plant meant to have been built way back in 1996. (click here to read more on this expose’)
By Own Correspondent| ZANU PF leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday rushed to console families of those who succumbed to cholera, soon after MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa’s visit.
Chamisa visited victims early morning yesterday, and hours later Mnangagwa released his statement late Wednesday afternoon just after 4pm (Harare time).
According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care, 21 people have so far died from cholera nationally while over 3 000 suspected cases have been recorded.
Said Mnangagwa:
“My thoughts and prayers are with those suffering from the cholera outbreak, and the loved ones of those we have lost.
In order to speedily contain the outbreak and efficiently mobilise our resources, we have declared a state of emergency in Harare, and are working closely with our international partners who are assisting us in this crucial endeavour.
I urge all residents of the affected areas to exercise extra care with their hygiene and follow the instructions of the authorities as we seek to contain and overcome this outbreak.
Let me assure you that we are working tirelessly to control the situation, and we hope to communicate progress in due course.”
By Paul Nyathi
|If it was e old days of the postman, he will be literally camping at National People’s Party leader Joice Mujuru’s doorstep dishing in resignation letters from the hundreds of her party officials who are dumping her.
The former Vice President’s once very promising opposition party is literally closing doors as almost everyone in the leadership of the party is throwing in the towel after a disastrous performance in the July 30 elections.
ZimEye.com was on Wednesday highly inundated with copies of numerous resignation letters that were being showered at Mujuru in a manner one would believe was planned ahead.
Below are, just, some of the letters that have been sent to Mujuru and made available to ZimEye.com.
Madam President, as I had indicated to you in our last Working Committee meeting that I would like to quit politics entirely, I now tender my resignation from NPP as Vice President and member of the party! Madam president, I wish you well for the future. Dr S S Nkomo.
Dear President Dr Joice TR Mujuru
RE:Resignation From NPP
I hereby resign from National People’s Party as National Chairman and member of the party.
It was a pleasure working together as a team.
I now wish you madam President and the party greater progress in your future endeavours.
Sincerely Yours
Dzikamai C Mavhaire
Dear President Dr Joice Mujuru
CC
●National Chairman
●Sec General
●Working Committee
●National Standing Committee
RE : Resignation As NPP Sec For Information and Publicity and Party Member
I hereby resign as National People’s Party Sec for information and Publicity and a member of the party.
Madam President I would like to thank you for the trust you had shown in me.It was a greater pleasure working under you.
Yours
Jeffryson David Murisi Chitando
DEAR PRESIDENT DR JTR MUJURU
CC
NATIONAL CHAIRMAN
SEC GENERAL
WORKING COMMITTEE
NATIONAL STANDING COMMITTEE
RE: RESIGNATION FROM NATIONAL PEOPLES PARTY.
I HERE BY THUS RESIGN AS A NATIONAL EXECUTIVE MEMBER AND AS MEMBER OF THE PARTY. IT IS SO CLEAR THAT ZIMBABWE IS NOW A TWO PARTY STATE AND ITS EITHER YOU ARE ZANU OR MDC AND I PERSONALLY CANT BE ZANU. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE THAT I WORKED WITH TO THIS FAR.
PHILANI GAMA.
Att: Dr JTR Mujuru
CC
National Chairman
Sec General
REF: Resignation as NPP Byo Provincial Chairman
I do hereby tender my resignation as Bulawayo Provincial Chairman.
I would also want to take this opportunity to thank the President & party supporters for the support they gave me as their Chairman and in the recently held elections.
Yours
David Moyo
Dear Dr Joice Mujuru
CC
National Chairman
Sec General
Provincial Chairman
REF: Resignation as NPP Byo Provincial Organising Secretary
I have pleasure in submitting my resignation letter as Bulawayo Provincial Organising Secretary .
Im really thankfull for the support you gave me in the execution of my duties & in the recently held elections .
Yours
Nkosinathi Hove Mpofu
Att: Dr JTR Mujuru
CC
°National Chairman
°Sec General
°Byo Provincial Chairman
Ref :Resignation as *NPP National Executive Member*& party member.
I take this opportunity to tender my resignation as a party member & National Executive Member.
It was a pleasure being a party member. Wishing the NPP President & the party success in all future activities.
Yours
Obert Manduna
Former NPP National Executive Member
To the NPP Acting SG: Dr Karanda.
RE: Resignation from our Provincial Executive Posts and the Party.
We the undersigned having made efforts to engage the National Party Leadership on the State of the Party before , during & after elections , having also written directly to the same and expecting some answers which we expected for a written response or to be addressed at the recently held special Standing Committee Meeting. We note with concern that nothing was resolved save for the fact that some top leadership distanced themselves from all what the party had made commitment to prior to elections.
Despite alerting you on the sad state affairs in the Province where there are mass resignation and defections , we feel your delay in addresing this by saying some meetings will be held is just a delaying tactic that is meant to buy time while you leave us at Provincial level burning from supporter rage.
Because of the above we therefore kindly revoke our membership from NPP and resign from the positions that came with it.
We wish the party and its leadership all the best in its endeavours
Regards
Mat North Provincial Working Committee.
1. Howard Phangwana
Chairman
2. Annastacia Moyo
Vice Chair
3. Bright Mvanya
Secretary General
4. Roseline Nkomo
Treasurer
5. Donald Shoko
Secretary For Information
6. Lameck Ndlovu
Organising Secretary
7. Rachel Malunjwa
Chairperson Women Wing
8. Bernard Ncube
Chairperson FF Wing
P/S We have written this to you as we note that the Chairman whom we were supposed to address this letter to has since resigned
By Dorrothy Moyo| Another ZRP cop, this time a female, has been found dead following a loud gunshot.
The incident happened outside ZRP Southlea Park in Harare, ZimEye is told.
Below is the official ZRP memo following the shooting:
MEMORANDUM SUBJECT: SUICIDE BY SHOOTING OF JOYCE MUTASA AT ZRP SOUTHLEA PARK, WATERFALLS, HARARE.
This memorandum serves to place on record circumstances and initial investigations carried out on the above subject matter. Informant: Christopher Takura aged 34 years; Force number 056672Z Rank Sergeant Joyce Mutasa 34 years, based at ZRP Southlea Park, Harare. (Force number 984910D Rank Constable)
Circumstances On 11 September 2018 at around 1400 hours, the now deceased commenced duty at ZRP Southlea Park. Informant who was the In Charge shift one deployed the now deceased at the main gate. The now deceased booked a FN rifle serial number 12434 with a magazine of ten rounds in the occurrence book entry number 10274/18 which she would use at the guard duties.
At around 1940 hours, Constable Muganda (075306D), Constable Marwa (081634G) who were in the charge office heard a gunshot sound from outside the charge office.
At the same time Constable Zimutemera (990713L) had gone out to check for the now deceased so that they could go home together since they were about to knock off duty at 2000 hours. She went to the car, a Toyota Spacio registration number ADS 8644 white in colour where the now deceased was and called her but with no response. She then opened the passenger’s door and found the now deceased sitting on the driver’s seat facing down with some blood stains on her trousers.
She then went back to the office and advised the informant. Constable Marwa, Constable Muganda and the informant went to the motor vehicle to investigate. The informant opened the driver’s door and found the now deceased sitting on the driver’s seat facing downwards. He observed some blood stains on the now deceased’s trousers. The informant made a Police report at ZRP Southlea Park.
“No one can say “stop the world, I want to jump off”. We are stuck with what we have and have to make it work,” he argued in his latest article.
How tediously monotonous! We have been stuck in this rut and it has NOT worked for the last 38 years! It is absolutely insane to soldier on, that is the point!
It is this simple and single track mindedness that points to why the MDC has had so many golden opportunities to bring about the democratic reforms the country has been dying for but wasted them all. With such insane leaders as Eddie Cross, it is little wonder the country is stuck!
Zimbabwe is in a serious economic and political mess with unemployment a nauseating 90% and political paralysis as neither the ruling party, Zanu PF, nor the whole opposition camp led by MDC have a clue what to do. The root cause of the mess is the country’s failure to hold free, fair and credible elections.
Zanu PF has created a de facto one-party dictatorship that has stifles all public debate and democratic competition forcing all the competent individuals to shy away from politics leaving the space to be filled with corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs. Where one expected quality fish all we get is frogs, crocodiles and, at best, mudskippers!
The 2008 elections were a landmark elections because everyone, even SADC and AU known for endorsing many of Zanu PF’s rigged past elections, refused to endorse the party’s victory claim that year. SADC helped hammer out a Global Political Agreement spelling out the need for Zimbabwe to implement a raft of democratic reforms to be implemented to stop Zanu PF rigging future elections. A Government of National Unity (GNU) was formed to implement the reforms!
The task of implementing the reforms fall on the MDC partner in the GNU, not Zanu PF, for the obvious reason that the latter would not want its carte blanche powers to rig elections removed. Eddie Cross was an MP and very a senior member of the MDC led by the late Morgan Tsvangirai, he was even considered for ministerial appointment in the GNU. To the utter horror of everybody who followed Zimbabwe politics, MDC leaders failed to get even one reform implemented in five years of the GNU.
SADC leaders warned Tsvangirai et al not to go into the 2013 elections without first implementing the reforms. “If you go into next month’s elections you will lose; the elections are done!” they warned.
As we know MDC leaders paid no heed and Zanu PF went on to blatantly rig that year’s elections as SADC leaders had predicted.
Five years later, with still not reforms in place MDC were once again warned of the folly of taking part in a flawed and illegal election process in which Zanu PF had carte blanche powers to rig the elections. Sadly MDC leaders, once again, paid no heed and, as expected Zanu PF blatantly rigged the elections. Eddie Cross wants us to believe otherwise!
“How are we doing so far? Well here is my personal check list, it may not be to the liking of many, but I think it represents where we are and what might lie ahead,” he argued.
“Firstly, we have held another election, it was more open, democratic and acceptable than any other election I can recall, and I have been a player in all of them since 1980.”
There was an impressive list of international election observers, from nations Mugabe had kept out in the past; not even one of them have said the elections were free, fair and credible. How could they; when there was no free public media, when 2 to 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora where denied the vote, when ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll, etc.?
Mr Cross does not deny any of the above irregularities and thus carefully avoid denying the elections were rigged. He instead argues that we must accept these rigged elections because past elections were worse!
What matters is we have been stuck in this mess because we failed to hold free, fair and credible elections and because these elections were rigged it means we are still stuck.
“Secondly, it is now clear that the international community has accepted the above outcome – with reservations,” Eddie continued.
“This government is being offered legitimacy – not on an open platter but on condition that the government meets expectations and implements reforms to economic and political policies which will deliver a more stable and growing economy and a free and fair election in 2023.”
First of all no one in the international community, except the usual suspects like China who have no clue what they are talking about, has endorse the recent elections as free, fair and credible. Second, the same conditions Eddie is taking about were laid before President Mnangagwa before the recent elections by the Americans why would they now want to pretend Zanu PF did not know it was expected to fulfil these condition in 2018!
After 38 years of rigged elections everyone knows that once Zanu PF is left off the illegitimate hook they will forget about implementing any reforms. Expecting this Zanu PF regime to do so this time is just wishful thinking on MR Cross’s part.
“Thirdly, the new president, for the first time, is asking the whole country for help to secure the future. He has extended the hand of reconciliation to the opposition, he has stated time and time again that he wants an inclusive and more open government and wants to put the past behind us,” says Eddie Cross.
Now suppose President Mnangagwa FAILS to deliver the “secure future” he is promising do you really think he would honour the promise to hold free, fair and credible elections? Of course not! We will be back where are today with Zanu PF having blatantly rigged the elections and the new president, whoever that might be, extending his hand of friendship and asking us all to put the past behind us.
If we are serious about ending this scourge of rigged elections then we must stop making excuses for accepting rigged elections and pretending we can hold one-party dictatorship to democratic account.
Zimbabwe is the poorest nation in Africa but only because for the last 38 years we have failed to deal with our problem of bad governance as exemplified by the curse of rigged elections. Until we bite the bullet and deal with this problem, the country will sink deeper and deeper into the abyss of poverty, hopelessness and despair.
Single track minded leaders like Eddie Cross are not helping the nation see the problem much less come up with the solution. They have either wasted many golden opportunities to solve the problem because they cannot think or listen to sound advice, their minds is a fog that never clears. They are now part of the problem not the solution. – SOURCE: zsdemocrats.blogspot.co.uk
What's Mnangagwa busy doing as people are killed by Cholera, is he serious?
— ZimEye (@ZimEye) September 13, 2018
State Media – Government has with immediate effect banned public gatherings and food vending in Harare, as part of drastic measures to contain cholera and typhoid.
Cholera has so far killed 21 people and 3 000 others have been treated for the disease.
Deaths from suspected cholera will only be handled by health personnel and the same applies to funerals.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police has also been roped in to ensure adherence to these measures, while health teams are working flat out to manage all identified suspected cases.
The Harare City Council has been tasked to address sanitation issues and ensure provision of clean and adequate
Addressing journalists soon after an all stakeholders cholera meeting in Harare yesterday, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo said the measures were meant to effectively contain the outbreak.
Dr Moyo said cholera cases were increasing on a daily basis and there was need to ensure coordinated response as well as taking drastic measures.
“As far as cholera is concerned, the number of cases have increased,” he said. “They are increasing on a daily basis and as of this afternoon the figure stood at 3 067 cases. A majority of these cases are emanating from the same epicentre of Budiriro and Glen View areas. The number of deaths has also risen to 21.”
Dr Moyo said measures put in place were also meant to ensure that the outbreak does not get worse like what happened between 2008 and 2009.
In 2008 and 2009, over 4 000 people died of cholera, while about 90 000 were treated of the disease.
“We should not be seeing any deaths as a result of cholera or typhoid,” said Dr Moyo. “These are diseases which can be managed to avoid death. So, we have all agreed that we are going to take drastic action to combat these diseases from spreading further.”
Dr Moyo said although the outbreak spread to other parts of the country, the epicentre remained in Harare.
“Those who have been identified in other parts of the country to have the diseases, especially cholera, are being managed appropriately except for one death which occurred in Masvingo,” he said. “Most of the deaths have occurred in Harare. So, we are concentrating on Harare.”
On vendors, Dr Moyo said the municipality had failed to effectively control them, hence the roping in of the police.
“It is essential that vending is stopped, especially in the area of Glen View and Budiriro,” he said. “Eventually we would want to see vending being directed to appropriately designated areas after facilities have been constructed and designated.”
Dr Moyo said Government would continue disseminating health education to the public on ways of preventing and controlling the spread of diseases such as cholera.
Harare City Council acting town clerk Engineer Hosiah Chisango said the municipality was working flat out to repair blocked sewer and restoring water supplies in the affected areas.
He said Glen View 8 had no tap water on Tuesday because his team was working on blockages in the area, requiring temporary closure of water supplies.
Questioned on the slow pace by council to attend to blocked sewer, Eng Chisango said the municipality experienced revenue challenges, forcing it to introduce promotions on rate payments to increase its revenue.
“Ordinarily, we should be able to attend to all reported blockages or bursts within 24 hours, but of late we have been facing challenges with our revenue,” he said. “This is why we had to introduce certain promotions to try and increase our revenue base.” -state media
State Media – 
In a statement issued yesterday, the newly elected Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda said the “indecorous” behaviour was uncalled for and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
The unruly opposition party members caused delays in the swearing-in of Adv Mudenda and his deputy Cde Tsitsi Gezi when they broke into song denouncing Chief Justice Luke Malaba, who presided over the ceremony,” said Adv Mudenda in the statement.
“On behalf of the Parliament of Zimbabwe and, indeed on my own behalf, l would like to publicly apologise unreservedly to the Chief Justice, His Lordship Hon Luke Malaba and the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Justice Priscilla Chigumba for the indecorous behaviour by some members of the National Assembly during the swearing in ceremony of presiding officers yesterday.
“The Chief Justice is the head of the third arm of the State and should be accorded the respect due to his office and indeed the entire judiciary. The behaviour was uncalled for and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
“Let me remind those members who displayed such deplorable conduct that Section 119 of our Constitution provides that:
“(1) Parliament must protect this constitution and promote democratic governance in Zimbabwe (2) Parliament has power to ensure that the provisions of this constitution are upheld and that the State and all institutions and agencies of government at every level (including Parliament) act constitutionally and in the national interest.
“It is in this context, therefore, that I convey my sincere apologies to the Chief Justice and Justice Chigumba for the shameless attacks on their character and person in the course of their constitutional duties. It is my expectation that such unbecoming behaviour will not be repeated in the House whose lofty stature must be guarded jealously at all times.”
Zanu-PF Chief Whip Cde Pupurai Togarepi said they also regretted the behaviour exhibited by MDC Alliance members.
Cde Togarepi said in future, appropriate action would be taken against such members.
“We as Zanu-PF regrets the behaviour of MDC Alliance Members of Parliament during the proceedings, including the swearing in of the presiding officers of Parliament on September 11, 2018 in the National Assembly,” he said.
“As the ruling party, we found the behaviour of the opposition party as demeaning the decorum and dignity of both the legislature and the judiciary.
“As a ruling party, we were taken aback by the uncouth behaviour of the opposition party, especially at a time when the country witnessed a free, fair and credible plebiscite. This deplorable behaviour is not expected from serious Members of Parliament.” -state media
Several houses in South Africa were reportedly damaged, while cars were burnt on Monday following the arrest of nine taxi drivers after a Zimbabwean man was attacked and killed in his tuckshop in Klerksdorp.
According to reports in the neighbouring country, the situation had been tense in the North West province since Sunday morning‚ when patrolling police found a man with stab wounds.
South Africa Police Services spokesperson Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone was quoted as saying: “It came out later that the body with two stab wounds was of a local taxi driver.”
He said a group of taxi drivers gathered with the intention of avenging the death of their colleague‚ claiming he had been killed by foreigners.
“According to information available at this stage‚ reports suggest that later during the day‚ a 28-year-old Zimbabwean national was allegedly stabbed with a knife in his chest by taxi drivers while at his tuckshop‚” said Brig Mokgwabone.
“He was taken to hospital but certified dead on arrival.”
He said before the killing‚ a group of people were seen setting hawkers’ stalls alight at the taxi rank.
Brig Mokgwabone said the public order policing unit managed to normalise the situation.
Police then arrested nine suspects‚ aged between 22 and 52‚ on Sunday afternoon in connection with the murder of the foreign man and for public violence.
At around midday on Monday‚ Brig Mokgwabone said community members had started damaging property at Pienaarsdorp‚ where numerous foreign nationals live.
He said a number of vehicles had been burnt at a workshop belonging to a foreign national.
“Properties were also burnt down‚ but we are not yet sure how many were destroyed,” said Brig Mokgwabone. “They also attempted to loot a tyre shop‚ but police managed to disperse them‚” – state media
By A Correspondent| ZANU PF leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa is guilty of misleading the nation on water treatment works, it has emerged.
Mnangagwa, a week before the 2018 elections, told the nation
that he has secured $680 million for the Kunzvi-Musami Dam construction works. ZimEye can reveal these works have been outstanding since 1990. The project which ZANU PF has sat on was scheduled to be completed more than 22 years ago.
Below was the state media news article profiling Mnangagwa’s promise:
DATE 25 JULY 2018.
Government has secured funding for the construction of the much-awaited $680 million Kunzvi-Musami Dam and for its incorporation into Harare’s water supply system, a development expected to solve the capital city’s water challenges.
The project has suffered numerous delays and controversies over the years, with many bidders failing to get the multi-million dollar contract. Kunzvi Dam, to be built at the confluence of Nyaguwe and Nora rivers in Goromonzi district, falls in a different catchment area from Chivero, Manyame, Seke and Harava dams that derive their water from Manyame River.
It is expected that once completed, the dam will ease water problems faced by residents of Harare, Chitungwiza, Ruwa and Norton. The dam has been on the drawing board from as far back as the 1990s. The then Department of Water Development proposed the idea of the construction of a new reservoir on Nyaguwe River to serve Harare and its satellite towns in 1996.
Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the modernisation of Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on Monday, President Mnangagwa thanked his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping for unlocking funding for the project and many others.
“Allow me to express our profound gratitude to His Excellency, President Xi Jinping, for the decision to unlock funding for various projects, such as the Hwange 7 and 8 Thermal Power Project and the construction of Kunzvi-Musami Dam, including this important project (airport),” he said.
“We are indeed most grateful for the support we continue to receive from the People’s Republic of China in our quest to leapfrog our economic development.”
President Mnangagwa recently commissioned work for the Hwange 7 and 8 Thermal Power Project that is expected to boost power generation.
Renowned town planner Mr Percy Toriro is on record saying the construction of Kunzvi Dam was the solution for Harare’s perennial water shortages.
“Although the current Morton Jaffray upgrades will bring relief, they will not sustainably solve Harare’s water problems,” he said. “The problems should be understood in two contexts, firstly the breakdown of the water infrastructure due to normal ageing and wear and tear; and secondly from the growth of the city population for which no provision has been made over the years.
“While everyone else is concerned about the water shortages, for me as an urban planner, I am surprised that we have managed to reach this far. Our projections were that Harare would suffer serious water shortages from the year 2000, hence the plan was to start building Kunzvi Dam in 1996.”
Kunzvi Dam is viewed as the solution to the capital city’s water woes, which have persisted for decades, forcing authorities to impose water rationing during dry months, while other areas go for months without municipal water supplies.
Harare City Council is carrying out a rehabilitation of Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant, which now has a capacity of over 520 million litres per day, up from around 400 million.
Upon completion, the plant will still not meet the required 1 200 mega litres of water supplies to the city a day.
Former Vice President Joice Mujuru, who performed dismally in the July 30 elections, has been deserted by most of her allies leaving the National People’s Party (NPP) she leads on the deathbed.
High profile figures that resigned from Mujuru’s sinking ship include the party vice president Samuel Sipepa Nkomo and chairperson Dzikamai Mavhaire.
NPP spokesperson Jeffryson Chitando also threw in the towel leaving Mujuru, who could only poll a measly 12 000 votes in the July 30 harmonised elections deserted.
Although Mujuru was not immediately available for comment, the Daily News saw several resignation letters that were addressed to the former vice president, who is on record conceding that the country’s political space is a domain of two political parties, the MDC Alliance and Zanu PF.
“As I indicated to you in our last working committee meeting that I would like to quit politics entirely, I now tender my resignation from NPP as vice president and member of the party! Madam President, I wish you well for the future,” read a letter from Nkomo.
Former minister of Energy Mavhaire, who was one of Mujuru’s closest allies, also quit.
“I hereby resign from National People’s Party as national chairman and member of the party. It was a pleasure working together as a team. I now wish you madam president and the party greater progress in your future endeavours,” Mavhaire said in his letter.
When she was expelled from Zanu PF in 2014 on a litany of charges that ranged from treason to witchcraft, Mujuru left the ruling party with several party bigwigs, including the then party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo and secretary-general Didymus Mutasa.
But like a deck cards, Mujuru’s party started to crumble a few months after its formation.
Initially, Mujuru’s party was called the National Patriotic Front (NPF) but divisions led to a split and then the formation of NPP.
Mutasa, Gumbo and many others left Mujuru accusing her of being an indecisive leader and she was left to count on the outspoken Mavhaire, who helped her weather the blizzards but the July 30 polls brought their own lessons and consigned the former vice president to a bridesmaid’s role. – Daily News
The Zimbabwe Republic Police are reportedly being left out in the ongoing investigations into a bombing incident that took place at a Zanu-PF rally in June and left at least two people dead and several others – including senior party officials – injured.
According to Daily News, unnamed police sources said the investigations into the deadly bombing were still “inconclusive” despite President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s claims that those responsible were now known.
Mnangagwa told his supporters in August that suspects behind the bombing incident were now known and were to be dealt with after the country’s election period was concluded.
“We now have the knowledge of who did it. We want the current (electoral) processes to pass then we will deal with that matter,” the state-owned Herald newspaper quoted Mnangagwa as saying.
But a top security agent told Daily News that the police were yet to identify and arrest those involved.
“This is a high security issue, maybe those in Harare know things that we might not know here. Remember we have been shut out of this. But as far as we are concerned here in Bulawayo, we are still hunting for the suspects,” the unnamed top police official was quoted as saying.
Police spokesperson, Charity Charamba, also claimed she was in the dark, the report said.
The explosion rocked the White City Stadium where Mnangagwa was addressing thousands of his supporters.
Mnangagwa managed to escape unhurt, while over 40 people, including the president’s two deputies were injured.
One of the vice presidents, Kembo Mohadi and Zanu-PF Chairperson Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri were airlifted to South Africa for medical treatment.
News24
WHO IS LYING BETWEEN THEM?
Govt Ministers Clash In Public Over Schoolkids Cholera Deaths | https://t.co/MMdXj6tCNJ via @ZimEye
— ZimEye (@ZimEye) September 12, 2018
By Simba Mukaka| Two newly sworn-in cabinet ministers had a discord giving divergent statements on cholera deaths of schoolkids.
The Minister of Health and Childcare, Obadiah Moyo announced one thing while the Primary and Secondary Education Minister Professor Paul Mavima declared the opposite.
The embarrassment comes at a time when the Cholera death toll shot up as the latest figures pointed to 21 people dead.
Health and Childcare Minister Moyo introducing his cabinet colleague to Zimbabwe’s First Lady, Auxillia Mnangagwa at Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital where over 300 cholera people are being treated, said there were schoolkids killed by Cholera.
“We have Professor Mavima. He has just arrived. His school children were affected. You know he lost some kids at the schools. So we are working as a team,” he said.
Clashing with his counterpart, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Professor Mavima argued there were no school pupils who died.
“I would like to correct information about kids that were said to have been lost. As of now, we haven’t lost any pupil from our schools,” he said adding that, “There are some parents of children in our schools who have died.”
But on Tuesday, Health Minister Moyo declared that two school children from Glen View 5 Primary School succumbed to cholera.
“We have had one major problem, at the schools. At one of the schools we lost two children and there are about 20 kids who are sick,” he said.
Moyo added that lessons were temporarily closed to contain the situation in affected schools.
“We have decided to suspend the classes at the school while we bring in the fresh water. We cant close permanently because they will be having examinations soon. We will resume the classes when water is available. If we dont suspend the classes, they will carry on drinking from that same contaminated water from unsafe wells,” he said. “The germs, bacteria we are talking about have a short incubation period. After three hours, the symptoms will start showing. Thats why we have to suspend the classes at this school. Its inconvenient but relevant to save lives.”
Updating journalists on the cholera situation earlier in the morning before touring BRIDH with Mai Mnangagwa, Moyo said a school headmaster died.
Further slipping away from Moyo’s statement on schools’ temporary closure, Professor Mavima claimed schools were safer for children.
“We are finding that our learners may actually be safer coming to school because they have clean water, they have WASH facilities, they are also getting information on this, he said.
Government in collaboration with corporates and non-Governmental Organisations such as Delta, Unilever, Unicef, MSF and WASH are doing their level best providing medication and safe water in schools and the affected communities.
By A Correspondent| The City Of Harare has said it is well equipped to deal with any suspected cholera case.
The municipality made this announcement in the below tweet.
The development comes as the death toll from cholera reached 21 on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, ZANU PF leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa’s wife, Auxillia took time at Beatrice Hospital during the day and below was our video coverage.
All Harare City Council health institutions are well equipped to deal with any suspected cholera cases. Treatment for cholera, typhoid and diahorrea is free.
— City of Harare (@cohsunshinecity) September 12, 2018
Terrence Mawawa|The ruling party has announced through its youth leader Godfrey Tsenengamu that it will hold a victory celebration rally at Chipadze Stadium in Bindura on Friday.
While the police have banned public gatherings in Harare due to the deadly cholera outbreak that has claimed 21 lives, thousands of people are likely to travel to Bindura, situated 86 km from the capital city, posing a high risk of spreading the diseases to the town.
According to Tsenengamu plans for the event are at an advanced stage.
Jane Mlambo| With the police banning the holding of public gatherings to contain the cholera outbreak that has claimed 21 lives and affected more than 2000 people, opposition MDC Alliance’s planned inauguration of its leader Nelson Chamisa will no longer be possible this week.
The event which attracted harsh criticism from Zanu PF with government threatening to deal with Chamisa, was slated for Gwanzura Stadium, which is a few kilometers away from Glen View where the first outbreak in Harare was reported.
The event which was likely to attract people from all over Harare and surrounding areas, was considered to be a health threat which could escalate the spread of the deadly disease.
ZimEye could not get in touch with the MDCAlliance Spokesperson, Jacob Mafume to confirm if they will continue with the planned event but a statement from the police has already warned against those who disregard the ban on public gatherings.
By Own Correspondent| Education Minister Professor Paul Mavhima has dispelled as false statements alleging that two primary school pupils succumbed to cholera.
He was speaking to journalists soon after the First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa’s tour of Beatrice Infectious hospital Tuesday afternoon where she was visiting cholera victims.
Said Professor Mavhima:
“Let me also take this opportunity to tell you that contrary to claims that 2 pupils died from cholera, I would like to tell you that this is not true.
What we have is a situation where our pupils have lost their parents. I would also like to tell you that schools are actually safer than homes because at school, we have ensured that there is adequate water and the learners are practising good hygiene because we are teaching them about cholera.”
Watch the video below for this and more.
VIDEO LOADING BELOW…
By Terrence Mawawa| Premier Soccer League action will continue with 8 matches lined up for Wednesday.
Match-day 26 Fixtures:Wednesday, September 12, 2018: Ngezi Platinum vs ZPC Kariba (Baobab Stadium) Chicken Inn vs CAPS United (Luveve Stadium) Nichrut vs Bulawayo City (Ascot Stadium)
Black Rhinos vs FC Platinum (NSS)
Shabanie Mine vs Yadah (Maglas Stadium) Herentals vs Bulawayo Chiefs (Rufaro Stadium) Mutare City vs Highlanders (Vengere Stadium)
Triangle United vs Harare City (Gibbo Stadium).
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Dynamos vs Chapungu (Rufaro Stadium)
Match-day 27 Fixtures:Saturday, September 15, 2018 FC Platinum vs Herentals (Mandava Stadium)
Bulawayo City vs Chicken Inn (Barbourfields Stadium)
ZPC Kariba vs Highlanders (Nyamhunga Stadium)
Yadah vs Ngezi Platinum (Rufaro Stadium) CAPS United vs Shabanie Mine (NSS)
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Chapungu vs Nichrut (Ascot Stadium) Bulawayo Chiefs vs Triangle United (Luveve Stadium)
Harare city vs Dynamos (Rufaro Stadium) Black Rhinos vs Mutare City Rovers (NSS).
Jane Mlambo| The MDC Alliance candidate for Mwenezi in the just ended elections, Mr Kudakwashe Chasura Bhasikiti, wrote a letter to Zanu-PF seeking readmission into the ruling party.
Bhasikiti, a former Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister, claims was forced out of the party by former first lady, Amai Grace Mugabe and her G40 cabal.Bulawayo24 got sight of a letter written by Bhasikiti to the Zanu-PF secretary for administration, Obert Mpofu in which he applied to be re-admitted in the party.
Wrote Bhasikiti:
I hereby request re-admission in Zanu-PF party. I was forced out of the party by the former President of Zimbabwe when he publicly denounced me in front of thousands, who had thronged Mucheke Stadium in the run-up to the 2013 harmonised elections because of my different views
I believe in the Zanu-PF ideology and pledge to work hard for Zimbabwe under the guidance of this revolutionary party. With the new political dispensation ushered in by the so-called Operation Restore Legacy, the party is surely poised for positive growth.
Contacted for comment, Obert Mpofu confirmed that they got the letter. Bhasikiti contested in the just ended parliamentary elections under MDC-A ticket and was heavily defeated by Omar of Zanu PF in Mwenezi.
Contacted on why he decided to leave MDC-A,Bhasikiti said,there is no future there and Zanupf is not going anywhere as long as there is no serious opposition .”It shall take ages for opposition to dismantle Zanu PF. We all thought that after the expulsion of Mai Mujuru, vaMugabe and the likes of vana Mtasa nana Rugare Gumbo, Zanu PF was going to tumble in the elections. There was no rigging. Rural vote is crucial and is controlled by Zanupf. You cannot talk of fun things like spaghetti roads in Murehwa or Binga” said Bhasikiti.
Dear Editor.
Hide ID….. on the Chorela outbreak, I no longer think that this is a coincidence. How can cholera attack the same area twice….Glen View and Budiriro?
This same scenario happened in 2008 after the national election was rigged. Remember that Emmerson Mnangagwa came out after that election saying he wishes if he was God so that he could cut oxygen on every MDC supporter. Maybe ndini hangu ndikuona two many movies where political leaders try to reduce the population nekuisa ma diseases.
Look at another example – White City bombing whose champion survivor (or main actor) was ED.
Speaking to dozens of party supporters in Masvingo in April 2015 where he was commissioning a water treatment plant Mnangagwa said those who did not support Zanu (PF) deserved to die. “We have things that we get for free from God such as oxygen, but when it comes to water we have to do something so that it is purified hence people have to pay for it. If I were God I was going to (sic) deprive all those who do not support the revolutionary party of oxygen so that they all die. I mean MDC supporters and their leader Morgan Tsvangirai,” said Mnangagwa.
Strongest Opposition stronghold twice yoooooooo. May God Protect Us!
Anonymous, Harare
Terrence Mawawa|Zimbabwe Warriors captain Knowledge Musona has said it is disappointing to drop points but believes their draw against Congo on Sunday is a decent result.
Musona created Zimbabwe’s only goal that was scored in the the 22nd minute by Khama Billiat.
The skipper combined well with Billiat before crossing the ball to the latter to blast home.
Musona also created some good chances and could have put his name on the scoresheet.
His biggest opportunity came in the 26th minute when he failed to tuck home a rebound.
He was also denied by the keeper later in the second half.
In a message on on his Twitter account, Musona thanked everyone who rallied behind the team.
Terrence Mawawa| The Thokozani Khupe led MDC T is likely to hold its own 19 Anniversary Celebrations – parallel to the MDC Alliance’ s event at Gwanzura Stadium.
In a twitter message MDC T spokesperson Linda Masarira indicated that the party was making preparations to commemorate the opposition party’ s 19 anniversary.
“Happy @MDC_T official 19th anniversary. Our MDC-T 19th Anniversary Theme : Consolidating
our Founding Principles of Democracy, Equal Opportunities for All, Constitutionalism, 
devolution, peace and solidarity,” tweeted Masarira.
Jane Mlambo|Newly appointed Minister of Finance, Professor Mthuli Ncube has embarked on a listening and consulting roadshow with stakeholders, starting with a private meeting with captains of industry.
Professor Ncube met with fifty chief executive officers of the leading businesses in Zimbabwe to consult and listen to the challenges they are facing in their operations.
Issues raised by Zimbabwe’s leading Chief executive officers who met today with Professor Mthuli Ncube include prohibitive cost of finance, shortage of foreign currency, high import duties, uncompetitive business environment and bureaucracy.
The Minister of Finance and Development and the captains of industry discussed possible solutions to the challenges the business leaders are experiencing operating in Zimbabwe. The Minister promised to take into account the issues raised and proposed solutions as he kicks off his mandate to make Zimbabwe a middle income country by 2030.
Chief executives and senior business leaders that met privately with the minister today came from the following companies: Anglo America, British American Tobacco, Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ), CDF Investments Trust, Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, Delta, Dulux Paints, Ecobank, EcoCash, Econet, Fast JET, FBC Bank, GEM Group, Imara, Innscor, La Farge, Levy Group, Lobels, Masimba Holdings, Meikles Hotels, Minerva, National Foods, Nedbank, NMB Bank Limited, Old Mutual Group, Pick & Pay, Pulse Pharmaceuticals, RioZim, Securico, Stanbic Bank, Standard Chartered, Steward Bank, TelOne, Total Zimbabwe, United Refineries, Zimplats.
Terrence Mawawa|A leading social media platform @ GNU Zimbabwe has claimed President Emmerson Mnangagwa will offer MDC T leader Thokozani Khupe an ambassadorial post in his government.
“With ED poised to ask Dr Thoko Khupe to replace the late Trudy Stevenson as Ambassador to Senegal and The Gambia, we
ask Zimbabweans if Khupe should accept such an offer,” tweeted @GNU Zimbabwe.
Neither Khupe nor party s
pokesperson Linda Masarira could be reached for a comment on the issue.
Terrence Mawawa|War veterans are demanding loans from banks under favourable conditions.
Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association (ZNLWVA) secretary-general and deputy minister for War Veterans, Victor
Matemadanda made the remarks while addressing the former freedom fighters in Bulawayo at the weekend.
“Banks operators think that giving the comrades money is risky, instead they give the tsotsis (fraudsters)
who have stolen millions.
We are going to approach banks that
want to work with us and we will give them our conditions. Such banks will be remembered for empowering comrades. I know there are some banks that were opened by
our monies and some of them have since 
closed,” said Matemadanda.
