By Staff Correspondent|The British government has appointed Melanie Robinson as Ambassador to the Republic of Zimbabwe starting in January 2019.

Robinson will take over from Catriona Laing who has been reassigned to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. At the moment Robinson is the executive director for the United Kingdom at the World Bank Group Washington.

She has extensive experience working for the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).

The U.K says it would strongly support Zimbabwe’s re-entry into the Commonwealth, a 53-nation bloc of former British colonies that could bring economic benefit to the once-pariah African state.

“The U.K. would strongly support Zimbabwe’s re-entry” into the Commonwealth, a press release from the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said at a roundtable at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London.

“The historic meeting ushers in a new era in U.K.-Zimbabwe relations and symbolizes Zimbabwe’s commitment to engaging meaningfully with the international community.”

The meeting signified the step in Zimbabwe’s attempt to reinstate its relationships with other countries, after decades of international isolation under former President Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe, who ruled the former British colony for nearly four decades, was ousted in November as part of a military coup. He was succeeded by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, formerly Mugabe’s deputy.

Mnangagwa has been trumpeting a “Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra in an attempt to resurrect the nation’s economy, which has been crippled by hyperinflation and sanctions.

Mugabe withdrew Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth in 2003 in a row over sanctions.

Staff Correspondence|The body of the late Zimbabwean Ambassador to Senegal Mrs Trudy Stevenson who died in Dakar Senegal on 24 August has been repatriated.

The body arrived at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport aboard a South African Airways flight.

It was accompanied by Mrs Stevenson’s son Dr Alex Graham Stevenson and embassy counsellor Louis Chitima.

Director Human Resources, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Mrs Petronella Nyagura and deputy director protocol and conferencing services Shepherd Gwenzi received the body.

Her son Alexander described his late mother as an exceptional person and mother.

He said she died alone watching TV and had been well until the time she died adding that news of his mother’s death came as a shock to him, her diplomatic colleagues, family and associates.

Alexander said his mother had a vast network of friends in the diplomatic corps, at the embassy and all.

He said the Minister of Health and Child Care Dr David Parirenyatwa who was in Senegal said Mrs Stevenson was a great ambassador for Zimbabwe and wanted to ensure the ties would benefit her country.

Charge d’ Affairs in the embassy said she was a hard worker and patriot of her country who always wanted to do the best in her work.

By Paul Nyathi|The much awaited City of Bulawayo mayoral elections public meeting has failed to take place as set out.

A packed Large City Hall waited patiently for the 4pm meeting to take place only for the Town Clerk Christopher Dube to emerge an hour later declaring that the public meeting can no longer take place as the councillors refused to have the meeting in public view.

Chaotic scenes immediately erupted in the city as residents failed to understand why the meeting would not go ahead.

Meanwhile yet to be confirmed reports indicate that the councillors met in isolation and elected the mayor the results of which are still to be made public.

The mayoral election is clouded in huge tribal fights with the council divided into two camps on who the mayor will be.

By Paul Nyathi|White City Stadium in Bulawayo, the venue of June 23 assassination attempt on President Emmerson Mnangagwa has gone up in flames.

The monumental City of Bulawayo facility went up in flames mid afternoon today on Tuesday under unclear circumstances.

The sports precinct has been closed from the public use since the bombing incident.

More details on the fire will be made available as they become available.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is currently in China attending the Forum for China-Africa Conference has sensationally claimed that his visit in the eastern economic giant will definitely bring exciting times to the people of Zimbabwe.

Mnangagwa who took to Twitter to share the news appeared in a picture with the Chinese President Xi Jinping while in other images he poses for pictures with other African head of states during the FOCAC meeting.

Representing the new Zimbabwe with pride and honour.

Exciting times ahead! pic.twitter.com/myTXP7KIzq

— President of Zimbabwe (@edmnangagwa) September 4, 2018

Staff Correspomdent|Senzeni Klassen, a sister-in-charge at Beitbridge District Hospital was recently suspend from work for allegedly making remarks on an audio that are deemed to cause negative tribal sentiments.

Klassen allegedly denigrated the Venda people of Beitbridge for voting a Zanu PF MP into power in the July 30, 2018 elections. She is said to have put Venda in low regard as compared to the Shona people.

The audio went viral on social media and some Venda people were already calling for her blood.

Media has established that Klassen was suspended on August 3 in the presence of her lawyers, Tinomuda Shoko and Obey Shava from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

Part of the suspension letter, which was signed by the District Medical Officer Dr L. Samhere reads;

“Following allegation of an abusive audio circulating on social media, please be informed that you have been suspended from service and attendance at work or continued performance of your duties at Beitbridge District Hospital.”

Masvingo Mirror

BULAWAYO’s newly-elected ward three councillor, Tinashe Kambarami (MDC Alliance) has been taken to court over an $11 000 debt owed to the National Railways of Zimbabwe Contributory Fund (NRZCPF).

Sometime in August 2016, the pension fund filed summons against Kambarami and Rosemary Kambarami demanding payment of an $11 300,64 debt, and the court granted the order, but the duo failed to pay up.

On August 27 this year, NRZCPF applied for Kambarami’s civil imprisonment for defying the court order.

“The Sheriff of the High Court require and direct Tinashe Kambarami and Rosemary Kambarami that you the defendants are called upon to pay the plaintiff the sum of $11 300,64 and taxed costs of $3 421,06. You are required to pay this sum by virtue of a judgment obtained against you at the High Court at Bulawayo on August 2, 2016 under which you were ordered to pay the sum of $11 300,64 interest thereon and were also ordered to pay $3 421,06 taxed costs of the case. The deputy Sheriff has attached and received $20 leaving a balance of $11 300,44,” the summons read.

NRZCPF submitted that the two should be brought before the High Court in Bulawayo to show cause why an order for their imprisonment should not be made.

“You should bring your evidence of your financial position and it will in your interest give the court evidence of your income from wages, salary or other earnings and any other income you may receive from any other sources,” the summons read.

“You are at liberty to approach the judgment creditor before the date of the hearing and make an offer of settlement of the sum due.

“Unless you pay the plaintiff the sum specified or unless the plaintiff accept the offer of settlement which you make, you must appear before the magistrate court on the date and at the time specified. If you do not do so, a writ of personal attachment may be issued against you and you may be committed to prison.”

The latest lawsuit came a few weeks after Kambarami was issued with another summons for civil imprisonment over a debt of nearly $40 000 in unpaid rentals and legal costs by the same pension fund.

Kambarami and NRZCPF entered into a lease agreement in September 2015, but he defaulted in payment of rentals resulting in his eviction and the culmination of a series of lawsuits.

In December last year, Kambarami lost some of his properties after they were attached by the Sheriff of the High Court and auctioned for failing to pay the debt.

NewsDay

By Paul Nyathi|Former police officer Tafadzwa Gambiza who in the 2005 elections arrested now State President Emmerson Mnangagwa for electoral misconduct continues to make headlines after he got a reprieve over his unfair dismissal from the police force.

Emerging details from within the police indicate that Gambiza has been paid his terminal benefits dating back to 2008 when he was dismissed from the police after he refused to cast his vote in front of his superiors.

The highly controversial Gambiza rose to prominence when he arrested then Zanu PF Kwekwe parliamentary candidate, Mnangagwa together with his then election agent and now Local Government Minister July Moyo.

Gambiza arrested Moyo for allegedly contravening the Electoral Act after he had turned up at a polling station during voting putting on a ZANU PF campaign t-shirt with Mnangagwa’s face.

When Mnangagwa tried to interfere on Moyo’s arrest, Gambiza turned his handcuffs and arrested him too for obstructing the course of justice.

In the 2008 elections Gambiza refused to cast his vote in front of his superiors which led to his immediate dismissal from the police without benefits.

Since the time, Gambiza has been fighting unfair dismissal through his lawyers, Mhaka Attorneys.

Senior Assistant Commissioner Angeline Guvamombe Chief Staff Officer (Human Resource Administration) has advised Gambiza’s lawyers that their client has been accorded his terminal benefits and pay dating back to the time he was dismissed from the force after winning his case at the labour court.

“Your client is at liberty to approach the Office of his former Commanding Police Province who will issue him with a Certificate of Service as provided for in the relevant Police Standing orders,” wrote Assistant Commissioner Guvamombe.

“Copies of your client’s pay slips were issued to him during the period he was reinstated.

“After his discharge, your client may claim his terminal benefits to Pensions Office, Mukwati Building upon completing the appropriate Pension Refund Form.”

Gambiza is also remembered for raising a fraud and corruption case against former police commissioner August Chihuri.

The case, which was reported at Kwekwe Central Police Station was made before Chihuri was fired from his position.

Gambiza who himself had already been dismissed from the police at the time accused Chihuri of illegally printing fake spot fine books which were not prescribed at law and converting the money to his own use, paying his top officers and abusing his position for self-enrichment.

In his papers against Chihuri, Gambiza said he was aware that the matter had Cabinet approval and was debated in Parliament, but this did not make it law and Chihuri, as a law enforcer, was supposed to be competent enough not to implement illegal decisions.

MDC Alliance’s Goromonzi South youth chairperson Davison Chamisa yesterday appeared before Marondera magistrate Arnold Maburo answering to two counts of political violence after he allegedly threatened to destroy a Zanu PF official’s homestead before forcing another person to chant the opposition party’s slogan.

Chamisa (37), a Ruwa Local Board municipal cop denied the charge of threatening to burn Zanu PF Rusike district chairperson Norest Maziya’s homestead during campaigns.

He also denied allegations of forcing villager Peter Madakudya to chant an MDC slogan. The matter will be finalised tomorrow.

According to court papers, on June 23, Maziya was allegedly seated at his homestead in Rusike village when the accused person who was leading a group of MDC Alliance youths approached singing and chanting party slogans.

As they passed the homestead, Chamisa allegedly threatened to burn Maziya’s homestead.

On the same day, the group allegedly stormed Madakudya’s home and forced the complainant to chant the MDC slogan. Lee Gada represented the State.

– NewsDay

By Paul Nyathi|President Emmerson Mnangagwa has set Tuesday next week as the day on which the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Senate President and their deputies will be elected.

In a statement yesterday, Parliament said the Head of State and Government had set Tuesday next week as the day on which presiding officers would be elected.

“The President of the Republic of Zimbabwe has fixed Tuesday, 11th September 2018 at 0900 hours at Parliament Building as the date, time and place for the first sitting of Parliament in terms of Section 145 (1) of the Constitution, mainly to elect Presiding officers,” reads the notice from Parliament.

Section 145 of the Constitution reads: “First sitting of Parliament following general election, (1)The first sitting of Parliament after a general election must take place at a time and date determined by the President, but the date must not be later than thirty days after the President-elect assumes office in terms of Section 94.

“(2) Until the election of a President of the Senate or a Speaker, as the case may be, the first meeting of a House of Parliament must be presided over by the Clerk of Parliament.”

The election of presiding officers will be preceded by swearing-in of Members of Parliament to take place on Wednesday. Both events will be presided over by the Clerk of Parliament, Kennedy Chokuda.

Advocate Jacob Mudenda has been Speaker of the National Assembly in the Eighth Parliament, deputised by Marble Chinomona, while Edna Madzongwe was President of the Senate, with Chen Chimutengwende as her deputy.

By Paul Nyathi|The Confederation Of Zimbabwe Industries CZI, claims that coincidental technical faults at the country’s largest cement makers PPC Zimbabwe and Larfarge are behind the on going shortage of the commodity on the market.

In a real desperate effort to cover up for the shortage which manufactures blamed on the lack of foreign currency to purchase other raw materials from outside the country, Sifelani Jabangwe, president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), an umbrella body for the manufacturing sector in the country, claimed that technical failures were the reason behind the shortage of the cement.

“The shortage of cement could be due to the fact that coincidentally there has been a technical fault at both PPC Ltd and Lafarge,” he told state media.

While PPC Zimbabwe managing director Kelibone Masiyane could not immediately substantiate Jabangwe’s claims, Gweru-based Sino-Zimbabwe Cement said their operations were normal. Its sales and marketing manager, Mr Ibiam Sengwe, said they were producing at 100 percent capacity, which translates to 1 000 tonnes per day.

“We are doing exceptionally well. We are offering unhindered service to our customers. Every type of our cement is available on the market and our production is good,” he said.

The temporary shortage of cement has greatly upset the construction sector and shocked the market at large. The few outlets that have the product are reportedly selling it at double the original price. Most hardware stores that normally sell cement have run out of stock, while prices had increased to between $15 and $20 a bag compared to the recommended retail prices averaging $11.50 for PC and $10 for masonry.

The country has a demand of about 1,3 million tonnes of cement annually and local producers have a combined capacity of producing around 1,6 million tonnes per year.

By Paul Nyathi|A huge tribal storm is brewing in Bulawayo as the city prepares for the election of the mayor and his deputy on Tuesday afternoon.

The all opposition MDC Alliance councillors have been guided by the party to elect Ward 12 councillor Solomon Mguni as city mayor but councillors are set to defy the arrangement alleging the party leadership has no say in the choosing of the city’s first resident, it has been learnt.

In a party caucus held last week with the councillors, the party also ordered the councillors to elect ward 1 councillor Mlandu Ncube as the Deputy Mayor.

Party source close to the councillors told ZimEye.com that the decision by the party has divided the council on tribal grounds as some councillors claim that the two are being imposed on them to avoid having a person of Shona orientation as the mayor or deputy mayor in Bulawayo.

The 29 member council is divided into two factions with 17 of the councillors being of Shona orientation while 12 are of Ndebele orientation.

Besides the party efforts to have an only Ndebele people at the helm of the city, the other 11 Ndebele councillors are against councillor Mguni being elected as the Mayor preferring instead Ward 26 councillor, Norman Hlabano and Mguni as his deputy.

According to the highly placed sources, the councillors said to be of Shona orientation are moving to accept the party arrangement to have Mguni elected as mayor but on condition that one of their own, that is Ward 3 Councillor Tinashe Kambarami, is elected as Deputy Mayor.

The stand off has apparently been leaked to the residents of the city and has attracted huge interest from members of the radical pressure group turned political party, Mthwakazi Republic Party who have vowed to make sure that Kambarami is not elected as the Deputy Mayor of the city.

The group has mobilised residents of the city to attend the council meeting which has since been moved from the council committee room to the Large City Hall to accommodate the huge number of residents expected to attend the meeting.

Bulawayo Town Clerk Christopher Dube confirmed that the local authority will conduct the process at the Large City Hall deviating from the norm where it’s done privately at the Committee Room.

“Bulawayo residents want to know what is happening and in promoting transparency, we have resolved to have the meeting at the Large City Hall.

“Normally this should be a Special Full Council meeting which is held not even at the Council Chambers but at the Committee Room in closed doors. But because we want this to be transparent we will allow everyone to come in,” said Mr Dube.

He said the municipality considered that the Council Chambers will be too small to accommodate residents as evidenced by the scores who turned out last Friday at the swearing in ceremony of the councillors.

“We considered that if we hold it at the Council Chambers other people will not be accommodated like what happened during the swearing in ceremony. So we’re going to be conducting the ceremony at the Large City Hall.”

Dube said police will be there to maintain peace during the process.

“And police have confirmed their presence. We want to barricade some areas to ensure that residents do not access a certain area so that they will not interfere with proceedings,” he said.

“We want the process to be done without any disturbance so councillors should be in a position to elect the mayor and deputy mayor of their choice.”

Bulawayo police spokesperson Chief Inspector Precious Simango urged residents to abide by the law during the election process.

“We are appealing to Bulawayo residents to follow the proceedings without any interference. Police will be out to maintain peace.

“However, they will arrest anyone who will breach the law. They should also respect police officers who will be deployed on duty,” said Insp Simango.

By Paul Nyathi|The newly elected members of the National Assembly and Senate will be sworn in on Wednesday to kick start work of the ninth parliament of Zimbabwe.

Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda has indicated that all necessary logistics for the swearing in ceremony have been made and a notice of the swearing in given in accordance with Section 128(1) of the Constitution.

“Parliament is geared for the swearing in of Members of the Ninth Parliament on Wednesday September 5 as required by Section 128 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The swearing in will done starting with the National Assembly at 10:00am and the Senate at 1430,” he said.

“Seeing that we have 270 members in the National Assembly the swearing in will done in batches of 10 MPs to expedite the process. Accommodation for members from outside Harare will be at the usual hotels that we have an arrangement with.”

Twelve villagers from Mangwe District have been arrested for allegedly beating up a man to death after accusing him of stealing from a homestead within their community.

Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Philisani Ndebele confirmed the incident which occurred on Saturday in Mayobodo area.

He said the gang detained Misheck Ncube for about four hours and during the process severely assaulted him with whips.

“I can confirm that we are investigating a case of murder where 12 people from Mayobodo area ganged up and beat up Misheck Ncube after accusing him of stealing. They detained him for about four hours and beat him up with whips until he bled from the mouth and head.

“They then took him to the village head who ordered them to rush him to the clinic as he was seriously injured. Ncube was taken to Mambale Clinic for treatment where he died two hours later from injuries sustained during the assault. We have arrested 12 suspects and they are assisting police with investigations. They are expected to appear in court facing a murder charge,” he said.

Chief Insp Ndebele urged members of the public to desist from taking the law into their own hands. He said community members must surrender suspects to the police upon apprehending them.

A source who preferred anonymity said Ncube was beaten up after being accused of stealing property that belonged to a villager who works in South Africa.

“ Joshua Dube was assigned by his nephew to watch over his property and homestead as he works in South Africa. When Dube went to check on the house on Saturday morning he realised that some property namely clothes and some appliances were missing,” said the source.

“He noticed some shoe prints around the homestead and he notified 11 other villagers. They teamed up and followed the shoe prints which led them to Ncube’s homestead. They confronted Ncube and accused him of stealing the property which resulted in the assault.” – state media

The majority of more than 2300 Zimbabweans have declared that the environment and tourism minister Oppah Muchinguri is stealing endangered white rhinos and selling them off to foreign Nations. The below were the results from the poll whose accuracy was maintained by a strict IP filter that ensures that only distinct human beings vote:

DOES THIS MAKE SENSE? – Zim Has Less Than 50 White-Rhinos And Muchinguri Says She's Donating 10 Beasts To DRC

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) September 1, 2018

Why Did It Take Muchinguri 3 Days To Admit She's Secretly Exporting 10 Rhinos Out Of Zimbabwe? @edmnangagwa @OppahMuchinguri @SharonHoole @wildlifesociety

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) September 3, 2018

Ten armed robbers pounced on an ice-cream distribution company in Bulawayo and got away with more than $8 300 in the early hours of yesterday after tying up two security guards and three other employees at the premises.

The machete and iron bar-wielding robbers raided Great Flavours Enterprises in Kelvin North and assaulted two security guards and some employees before breaking a locker containing the cash.
The suspects disappeared into the darkness soon after committing the crime and they are still at large.
Bulawayo police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Precious Simango, confirmed the incident saying investigations were underway.

She said the armed robbers made off with more than $8 300 and six cellphones all valued at about $600.

“We’re investigating a robbery case which occurred just after midnight. 10 unidentified robbers wielding machetes and iron bars, pounced on employees at an ice-cream company and robbed them of more than $8 200 and six cellphones.

“They assaulted them with iron bars while they searched them, demanding cash and valuables. In the process, they took away their cellphones worth $600 and a total of $120 cash that was in their pockets. They tied up the five men, proceeded to ransack the place and broke a locker that contained cash amounting to $8 228,” she said.

Chief Insp Simango appealed to members of the public who may have information that may lead to the arrest of the 10 suspects to notify the police.

“We are appealing to anyone who may have information leading to the arrest of the suspects to contact their nearest police station,” she said.

Chief Insp Simango also warned members of the public to desist from keeping large sums of money as this may attract thieves who may injure or kill them.

“People should learn to bank their money to avoid unnecessary cases of robberies. Sometimes such incidents result in loss of lives and injuries,” she said.

Two weeks ago, four masked armed robbers allegedly stormed a house in Bulawayo’s Gwabalanda suburb and got away with more than $18 000 raised from selling a house.

The assailants, armed with hammers, knives and an iron bar, allegedly raided the couple at their home, torturing the husband as they demanded cash from him while the others ransacked the house.

The man allegedly gave them information about where he had stashed the money after the gang stabbed him multiple times and hit him with a hammer on both hands.
Sources said the suspects broke an iron padlock and forced open a security door at the kitchen to gain entry into the house.

During that same week, two people were attacked with bricks before they were robbed of P800, US$200, $11 bond and a cellphone by unidentified robbers in Bulawayo.

The two were attacked as they walked to board kombis to Pumula South suburb from Old Lobengula suburb along Old Mazwi Road towards Masiyephambili Drive.
No arrests have been made.
– state mediq

Police in Goromonzi have arrested three suspects in connection with the shooting of illegal gold panners at Acturus Mine that occurred on Sunday morning.

This comes as investigations into the shooting incident by security guards at the company.

The three suspects have been identified as Learnmore Matangira (29), Enerst Kavhu (39) and George Mahufa (57).

10 spent cartridges have also been found at the scene of the crime.

The shooting incident occurred around 8.am when five armed security guards belonging to Braising Security, the company contracted to provide security at Acturus Mine, approached about 30 gold panners at Goromonzi RDC offices compound and opened fire, seriously injuring four.

The injured are currently at Parirenyatwa Hospital receiving treatment.

It is not clear what exactly happened that led to the guards opening fire on the panners.

Residents say the mine authorities should find more amicable ways of resolving such conflicts.

“It is not good to see our children having running battles with the mine security guards. A solution which does not involve use of firearms need to be found urgently,” said one, Erica Kamarori.

ZRP Mashonaland East Provincial Spokesperson, Inspector Tendai Mwanza confirmed the arrests and said the suspects are expected to appear in court on Tuesday facing attempted murder charges. – state media

Correspondent|The Movement for Democratic Change Alliance which is contesting the results in 19 national assembly constituencies needs to win only one case to deny the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front a two-thirds majority which allows it to, among other things, change the national constitution.

Although ZANU-PF won five more seats above the two-thirds majority in the 210 elected seats, it only won 35 in the proportional representation seats to give it 180 seats in the 270 member lower house, exactly a two-thirds majority without any single seat to spare.

A single victory by the MDC could therefore reduce the number of seats to 179 which is below the two-thirds majority.

Some ZANU-PF legislators and officials have been talking about amending the constitution to raise the minimum age for one to qualify to contest for president.

Right now the age is 40 which Chamisa attained this year 12 days before the death of Morgan Tsvangirai on Valentine’s Day.

Chamisa went on to wrestle leadership of the party and contested as president losing narrowly to Emmerson Mnangagwa.

He has, however, rejected the result despite losing at the Constitutional Court.

This has led some of his critics to argue that Chamisa is insisting that he won because of immaturity. He cannot handle defeat because of his young age.

ZANU-PF youths have, however, vowed to contest any such proposal saying some of the party leaders like former Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) boss Josiah Tongogara were accomplished statesmen by the age of 40.

“When Gen Tongo died, he was 41. An accomplished war strategist and statesman. He was the leading beacon at Lancaster Negotiations. He unlocked impasses with his mature approach,” Nick Mangwana, the ZANU-PF chairman for the UK said.

“We cannot change our rules because of 1 self-destructive immature 40 year old. Let’s be progressive.”

By Paul Nyathi|The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, ZLHR, has deployed three lawyers to offer emergency legal support services to three opposition MDC Alliance party members arrested in Harare on Monday

The MDC members including Highfield West constituency MP-Elect Happymore Chidziva, Chamunorwa Madya, the Deputy Secretary-General for the MDC Alliance Youth Assembly and Mafaiti Mubaiwa, were arrested on Monday by Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers when they handed themselves over to the police after a national search for them.

The police officers accuse Chidziva of inciting public violence after he told MDC Alliance party supporters at a political rally held in July 2018 in Gweru in Midlands province that his party supporters will protest against an unfavourable election outcome and will defend their vote if Zimbabwe Electoral Commission rigs the election in favour of ZANU PF party.

According to the police, hundreds of MDC Alliance took to the streets on August 1 protesting the delayed release of presidential results allegedly on the strength of Chidziva’s inferences.

Six people were killed at the protests when members of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces fired live bullets to quell the protests.

By Paul Nyathi|Alderman Herbert Gomba has been elected as the new Mayor of Harare.

Gomba a long serving councillor in the city previously served as deputy mayor in the 2008 to 2013 council.

He takes over the opposition MDC Alliance run council from outgoing mayor Bernard Manyenyeni who did not seek re-election.

The EU, one of Zimbabwe’s biggest donors has suspended funding of a US$14 million conservancy project in Save Valley in Chiredzi because thousands of Zanu PF supporters illegally settled in the area are resisting eviction.

The EU project is meant to erect a fence around Save Valley Conservancy which is famed for the second largest black rhino population in Africa. The project is not only important for Zimbabwe’s wildlife and tourism industry but is aimed at reducing people-wildlife conflicts that are a perennial problem in Chiredzi and parts of Bikita.

The Conservancies were invaded by landless Zimbabweans at the height of land invasions in 2002.
Both Chiredzi District Administrator (DA) Lovemore Chisema and Joseph Shoko, the chief environment officer in the Ministry of Environment confirmed the move by EU. They said they received directives to stop any further programs on the project.

“We received a directive from EU to stop any further programs regarding implementation of a project in Save Valley funded by EU. We have not been furnished with reasons,” said Chisema.
Apart from erecting the fence, the Fund is meant to build schools, sink boreholes and build dams for people in the area.

Newly elected Zanu PF MP for Chiredzi North, Roy Bhila buttressed the fear when he vowed that he would not allow the 10 000 families settled in the conservancy to be moved because they voted for him. Chiredzi North is one of the constituencies where Zanu PF performed exceptionally well garnering 36 00 votes against MDC Alliance’s 3 000.

“During my tenure in office, I will not in any way allow the relocation of people from Save Valley. Wildlife is not more important than people. I am their representative and they told me that they don’t want to move,” said Bhila in an interview with The Mirror.

Chisema said EU told him to stop any program to do with the implementation of the project carried out by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). In addition to erecting the fence, part of the funds were going to be used to establish infrastructure in the conservancy.
Chisema said that he was now waiting for communication from Government on how to proceed.

It is also believed that EU suspended the funding over Government’s questionable respect for Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPA).

“They stopped the program indefinitely, they didn’t tell us but it might be due to elections. We are hopeful that we will continue since the implementing partners, FAO were on the ground and their roadmap will be presented to Cabinet,” said Shoko.

Masvingo Mirror

Patients on tuberculosis (TB) treatment have expressed fears of developing drug resistant TB following shortages of a key combination drug in most health institutions in the past two months.

Some patients from Chitungwiza interviewed claimed that the drug – rhzefdc – was in short supply since June and they have been travelling to as far as Mvurwi and Shamva to get their supplies.

“We have been experiencing this shortage for the past two months and some adults have been taking paediatric formulations. Some of us have had to go as far as Shamva just to get these drugs,” said one of the patients who spoke on condition of anonymity.

She said with this interrupted treatment, they were now fearing for multi-drug-resistant TB.

Deputy director for Aids and TB Unit in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Charles Sandy confirmed the shortages but was quick to point out that the Medicines San Frontiers (MSF) and the embassy of South Sudan had since chipped in to avert the crisis.

“Yes, our deliveries were delayed resulting in a temporary shortage of some drug combinations but MSF quickly chipped in with the required medication thereby averting the crisis,” he said.

Dr Sandy said Government was also expecting further supplies from the embassy of Sudan this weekend as well as its own shipment.
“We have received MSF supported medicines last week and are anticipating our own deliveries to start coming in this weekend as well as the

South Sudan delayed donation. We anticipate the situation to have improved after the weekend,” said Dr Sandy.
TB is treatable, but drug interruptions increase chances of development of drug resistant strains which are difficult to treat, takes longer and expensive compared to ordinary TB.

TB remains one of the country’s major public health problem and with the emergence of drug resistant TB, the country risks eroding gains already made in reducing the general TB burden in the country.

Zimbabwe is among the 30 high TB burdened country’s in the world.

State Media

By Paul Nyathi|President Emmerson Mnangagwa, has delayed announcing his Cabinet to give talks with youthful MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa a chance, highly-placed sources have revealed.

Zimbabwe has been without a Cabinet since August 26, when Mnangagwa took oath of office after Chamisa’s Constitutional Court application, challenging his electoral victory.

According to the sources, Mnangagwa has invited Chamisa this talks in having some MDC Alliance members included I the cabinet.

Chamisa and the MDC Alliance have however dismissed the claims that they are involved in any talks with President Mnangagwa. In a media briefing last week, Chamisa completely ruled out any possibilities of him working with and within the ZANU PF governemnt claiming that the ruling party will “swallow him. “

By Paul Nyathi|Veteran conservationist Gail Amyot has made a passionate call to the people of Bulawayo to protest the export of White Rhino from Matopos National Park to the DRC.

The plea which has been making fast run around the people of Bulawayo comes after Minister of Environment and Tourism Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri hit headlines for allegedly unprocedurally donating ten White Rhinoceros from the park to the DRC.

The message reads as follows:

“Good morning good people of Bulawayo. This is an appeal from a lifelong conservationist who served for many years on the Parks & Wildlife Board of Zimbabwe and for WEZ, asking you to stand up and POST and enquire into the current capture of White Rhino that is taking place right now in Matobo National Park.

Thank you all. Please take the time to add your voice.“

MDC-ALLIANCE MEMO TO ALL ZIMBABWEANS

ALL NATIONAL leaders
ALL PROVINCIAL Leaders
ALL DISTRICT leaders
ALL WARD leaders
ALL BRANCH leaders
ALL MPs and Cnclrs

31 AUGUST 2018, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI HOUSE, HARARE

Revolutionary and convivial greetings to you all.

1. Congratulations to every one of you for your service, sacrifice, hard work and well-deserved victory in the July 30 elections.Makorokoto, Amhlope!!People alone are the makers of history. You have made history!! Our struggle is a people’s struggle, your struggle.

2. In this election, we managed to field candidates in both parliament and council more than ever in the history of our party.

3. Despite some challenges that arose during the nominations where in some areas we had more than one candidate, we tried our best to resolve others but we must certainly improve on our internal democracy and electoral processes, now and in the future.

4. Our campaign, however, was incredible. We ran an exciting and unparalleled killer-campaign.We made history. We managed to hold a record of 87 Presidential rallies across the country and more than 500 consultative meetings with community and opinion leaders from various sectors and areas

5. From the 2013 election, we have managed to increase the number of our MPS in parliament from 41 to 88 inclusive of our 24 women proportional representatives .We have increased our Senators to 24

6. From this election, we control over 26 urban councils out of 32 (81%) and we must be proud of that. We won 536 council seats.We control all the metropolitan cities and towns including Harare and Bulawayo.

7. Our support base are the majority of active people and taxpayers who contribute about 80% of the taxes collected in the country.

8. If we compare with our previous election, again we have made significant inroads into rural areas and farming communities.

9. Our Presidential election campaign was massive and won the popular vote. We won this election and won it resoundingly. 2.6 million People voted for us. Even, on ZECs announced totals, this is the best tally our party has ever produced. It is also a significant increase with about a million votes from our previous best tally even by ZEC’s own figures.

10. I would like to thank all those who worked tirelessly to support the party and our campaign. We have many people who contributed their time, money and effort to this struggle. Our youth, women, polling agents, technical staff, volunteers, generational consensus, Zimbabweans and party structures in the DIASPORA, organising department and all that teams, I salute you for your incredible work, service and sacrifice.

11. Despite the inhuman, barbaric and cruel tactics that you saw on the 1st of August which led to the loss of innocent civilian lives, we should not allow those who have stolen our victory to rob our people and get away with it. Zimbabweans voted for and yearn for change.

12. On account of our pursuit of peace and constitutional means to exhaust all domestic remedies we chose to pursue the legal route and lodged a very strong case at the Constitutional Court.I wish to thank all of you for being peaceful, resisting all machinations and temptation to descend into anarchy in the face of provocation instigated by our opposition.

13. Apart from the results which show that we won this election with 2.6 million of the vote, we have unearthed clear traces of manipulation with a shoddy attempt to launder the baseless election result that gave Mr Mnangagwa a narrow win with about 38 000 votes we have already demonstrated doesn’t exist. Our matter did not call for the reopening of the ballot boxes or the so called election residue. If ZEC announces 18million votes in a country of 10million people the matter ends there. It is a fraud. No need to open any ballot box.

14. Contrary to the finding of the Court, we presented a very strong case in court that did not need us to do any opening of election residue or present V11s because as you know, we were using ZEC’s own results. Mr Mnangagwa’s votes were, among other things inflated using a combination of the following methods –
a) Wrong results were announced by ZEC
b) ZEC’s own figures which do not tally
c) No tally between parliamentary votes and presidential
d) Differences between v11 and v23- with inflation for Mr Mnangagwa and deflation me
e) More votes than the people registered under the polling station
f) No tally between people who voted and results announced
g) Polling stations collated twice
h) Missing Polling stations unaccounted for
i) Some of my votes omitted from final tally
j) No tallies posted on some of the polling stations
k) Identical results tallied by ZEC
l) Percentages of voter turnout from ZEC not tallying

15. These deliberate manipulations were clearly meant to create a new election result either than the one that reflects the will of our people.

16. We have pursued and exhausted all local legal remedies available to us in order to overturn the brazen subversion of the will of the people.

17. The court judgement is a further entrenchment of the subversion of the will of the people of this country.Whereas we respect the Court and rule of law, It is clear that court erred. It’s judgment has no bearing on the factual issues presented to court and the legal issues the court had to deal with.

18. This all is worsened by the fact that attempts had been made to frustrate our case:
– The sheriff refused to serve our papers on time to give the court an excuse to dismiss our case on a technical grounds.
– The registrar of the Court, under the instruction of Chief Justice Malaba refused to issue a subpoena to bring to Court a ZEC commissioner together with the ZEC server which would have clearly shown we won this election by 56% is being hidden.
– The Minister of Justice, Ziyambi Ziyambi who is conflicted because he is also Mr Mnangagwa’s Chief Election agent denied our foreign lawyers the right to represent us in court.

19. To this day, no one knows exactly how many votes Mr Mnangagwa claims to have got and received in this past election. How does a person win an election with an unknown figure?

20. Although we have instructed our legal team to pursue the matter at continental level via the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, this remains a political legitimacy matter that requires a political solution which we must provide as Zimbabweans.

21. Despite all this, the party foundation remains strong and its structural base remains unshaken.

22. However, in light of the ever-changing political dynamics, the party needs to continue to renew, strengthen and adapt itself.Going forward, leadership and organizational renewal, institutional and constitutional reforms including administrative reform shall be necessary.

23. The country is in a state of stagnation. There is evident collapse of the economy, hyperinflationary rates which shall be exacerbated by the widespread printing of money, widespread rent-seeking looting by the few elite, rife patronage, persistent deadening poverty, no jobs, no cash in banks and lack of confidence in the economy.

24. There is intimidation and coordinated repression against democratic movement leadership and activists which must be immediately stopped.

25. There is general increase of poverty, displacement of vendors and our people. Across the country there is poor social service delivery across.We have a duty to provide leadership and rescue the people and our country.

26.To all our MPs and Councillors, I urge you to perform at the highest level of excellence. We expect you to articulate views espoused in our SMART manifesto document. Resist and shun corruption and arrogance. We will deal ruthlessly with the corrupt and lazy ones. Have a schedule of events for engaging communities, your constituencies and wards frequently and with regularity. Avoid being missing persons(mps).Please meet the voters and thank them. Let us also start meaningful livelihoods and upliftment projects in your constituencies to impact and improve people’s lives.

27.Therefore, on 29 August 2018, the National Council met in Harare at Morgan Tsvangirai House, to review the situation and consider its position and way forward. The council noted that it was meeting in the context of a stolen election. The council considered important matters relating to the elections, the party and the country and made the following resolutions:
a) The people’s President and candidate Advocate Nelson Chamisa won the election with 2.6 million votes and that he is the legitimate President of the country.
b) The Party will consult Zimbabweans across the country and within two weeks about the way forward with regards to the stolen election, thereafter shall embark on a national programme of action resulting from the outreach.
c) The President is broadly mandated to engage all stakeholders local and international, in dialogue with the scope of dealing with the current impasse arising from a stolen election and to resolve related governance issues.
d) The Party will put into effect an earlier resolution to integrate Alliance partners back into the Mainstream MDC.
e) The Party will engage in THANK YOU RALLIES to thank the 2.6 million voters who voted for me as your Presidential candidate , including supporters and all Zimbabweans who voted in this historic election.

28.Any such dialogue by the party must and shall be anchored on a 5 point plan to include –
1. RETURN LEGITIMACY AND DEMOCRACY -The respecting of the WIN and WILL of the people, respecting true outcome of this election.
2.INSTITUTING REFORMS – to allow for the holding of truly free, fair and credible elections in Zimbabwe.The reforms must include electoral reforms, political reforms, Constitutional and Legal reforms.

3.DEALING WITH THE ECONOMY-coming up with an immediate shared and robust economic rescue plan to deal with the deteriorating economic situation and the social security and humanitarian situation.

4. NATION BUILDING, NATIONAL HEALING PEACE and RECONCILIATION -dealing with the rule of law, protection of human rights and good governance issues

5.INTERNATIONAL REENGAGEMENT-to end all international isolation , democracy hygiene issues and dealing with the debt challenge.

29.The Movement for Democratic Change remains the only hope for transformation, sustainable inclusive prosperity and better opportunities for all in Zimbabwe.

30.Our election victories show that the people of this country have trust and confidence in our Party’s SMART AGENDA, it’s leadership, it’s policies and programmes. We must fulfil our people’s hope , expectations and never betraying the people’s aspirations.

31.For those who have been praying and fasting for our success, keep the faith.Do not despair.God’s promises are sure and true. God’s will is not human will. God’s will has no cheating. God’s will can not be rigged. We are praying for an exodus moment. Our faithful God will Take us there. Our God of justice will Take us to that other side. Our God of Mercy will Take us to that Promise.

32.Our Victory is certain!You voted and They cheated but we will pursue and recover all.Together we and you will liberate Zimbabwe .Together we and you will make Zimbabwe great again!!

Behold the NEW, change that delivers!

Thank you

God is in it

God Bless you.

MDC – ALLIANCE

VICE-PRESIDENT Kembo Campbell Mohadi has sensationally claimed that he now feared for his life following an acrimonious fallout with his official wife, Tambudzani Bhugadi Mohadi (nee Muleya), whom he accused of sending threatening messages on his mobile phone after he instituted divorce proceedings last year.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is flanked by his deputies, Constantino Chiwenga (left) and Kembo Mohandi at the
Vice-Presidents swearing-in ceremony at State House on Thursday last week
Mohadi has since approached the Civil Court in Harare seeking a protection order against her and an order barring the Beitbridge Senator from selling the couple’s matrimonial property before finalisation of their divorce matter.

“I am a law-abiding citizen and given the increasing incidences of people who are killing their spouses for passion, I pray that this honourable court protects me against the threatened violence,” he said.

“I have approached this honourable court seeking an order for protection order against the respondent in terms of the Domestic Violence Act, more particularly, in that the respondent is a very abusive person and/or a person of a violent disposition such that I am now leaving in fear of my life.”

The couple got married in 1981 under Marriage Act, (Chapter 5:11) before separating in 1999, and Mohadi claims that since then, his life has been a “living hell”.

Sometime in September last year, Mohadi, who then was State Security minister, approached the High Court in Bulawayo seeking nullification of the couple’s marriage, claiming it had irretrievably broken down and the matter is still pending.

On August 10, 2018, Mohadi again petitioned the Civil Court in Harare seeking a protection order, saying his estranged wife had escalated violence against him.

“After the respondent [Tambudzani] got served with copy of the divorce summons, the respondent has escalated her violent tendencies against my person [Mohadi] and even calling me on my mobile phone while insulting me and threatening to tarnish my image, which has the potential to damage my political endeavours in view of my political office and as a member of the government,” Mohadi said in his founding affidavit filed under case number DV1797/18 in a matter set to be heard on Friday.

The VP further said his wife had even gone to the extent of influencing their children to turn against him and to also participate in disposing of the couple’s matrimonial property despite the pending High Court matter.

“To live up to her word, the respondent is now influencing the children, in particular, [names withheld] to insult and turn against me and they are also selling some matrimonial property with the blessing of the respondent,” Mohadi said.

“I am married to the respondent in terms of Marriage Act, (Chapter 5:11) and the marriage still subsists. However, the marriage developed some irreconcilable differences, which led to the separation of the parties some 19 years ago and, as such, there are no prospects of restoration of a normal marriage,” he said. “After the respondent was served with summons, she has now started selling the matrimonial property before the finalisation of the divorce matter in order to defeat the ends of justice.”

Mohadi added that the alleged abuse “actually started when I married the respondent in 1981, but as my wife with whom I have children with, I was of the view that things would improve for the better, but, in fact, the abuse escalated to alarming levels that led to our separation sometime in 1999”.

“Be that as it may, I have instructed my legal practitioners of record [Mugiya and Macharaga Legal Practitioners] to institute divorce proceedings before the High Court against the respondent and the matter is pending under case number HC2520/17,” he said.

According to the VP, during the subsistence of the couple’s marriage, the union was blessed with four children and they had also acquired vehicles, tractors and other agricultural equipment, which he said he was prepared to equally share with his wife.

“The parties have not been intimate with each other over a period of over 18 years now, which is the cornerstone of any normal marriage. The parties have lost love and affection for each other and no longer share common interests,” Mohadi said.

The Vice-President also said while he was staying with his wife, the couple acquired movable and immovable property and even after separation, but still wanted the court to distribute the assets equally.

He said during the land reform programme, he was allocated a farm at Lot 1 of Lot 10 Jompembe Beitbridge, Umzingwane Estates, where he made some developments, but was willing to surrender the property to his wife.

“The plaintiff made some developments at the farm, namely 450 herd of cattle, fishing compound, safari camp, manager’s house, main house and farm workers’ compound. The plaintiff is also leasing a farm at Delma Lupepe Farm, Insiza District and has a herd of 460 cattle,” Mohadi said.

“It is just and equitable that the 450 herd of cattle … be awarded to defendant (Tambudzani) and the 460 herd at Delma Lupepe Farm be awarded to plaintiff. The parties also acquired a homestead in Dipeni, Beitbridge, under Chief Staunze and there are a few goats and some sheep. It is just and equitable that the same be awarded to the plaintiff.”

Mohadi also said during the subsistence of the marriage, the couple acquired several household goods and he was proposing that each of them should keep whatever was in his or her possession.

“It must be noted that save for the uncompleted houses in Beitbridge, the defendant never contributed anything to the acquisition of the matrimonial assets referred to herein, but the plaintiff has considered the fact that the defendant has been his wife for some years,” Mohadi said.

NewsDay

THE aviation industry faces collapse, owing to failure by monetary authorities to remit ticket sales to foreign airlines, which have now ballooned to $76 million, making Zimbabwe an unprofitable ticket-issuing destination.

Kenyan Airways was the first airline to pull the plug on Zimbabwe, suspending all ticketing from Zimbabwe, citing foreign currency shortages, which has blighted their fiscal operations.

“In light of the increasing foreign currency repatriation difficulties experienced since 2016, we regret to inform our trade partners that Kenyan Airways is temporarily suspending the distribution of ticketing authority in the Zimbabwe market,” the statement read.

Outgoing Transport minister Joram Gumbo said he was aware of the challenges faced by airlines as they try to access their foreign currency, noting that Kenya Airways had written two letters threatening to take drastic action.

“I am not a minister at the moment, but I am aware of the challenges which are faced by airlines, including Air Zimbabwe. It’s not like they won’t be having the money, but it will be in the banks as bond notes and cannot be repatriated. This becomes an issue for the RBZ (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe) and Finance minister. We have in the past engaged them with a view of solving this issue,” he said.

RBZ governor John Mangudya said efforts were being made to ensure that a solution is found soon.

“We owe IATA (International Air Transport Association) around $80 million in air tickets purchased in Zimbabwe. We are putting in place measures to ensure that the country’s arrears to IATA are paid. Kenya Airlines is one of the airlines owed within the debt due to IATA. We have been in constant touch and positive discussion with IATA and its member airlines on the matter,” Mangudya said. Zimbabwe is facing an acute foreign currency shortage, which has seen prices of goods soaring over the past few months.

Mangudya introduced a surrogate currency, the bond note, which the government insists is at par with the US dollar, although it has since lost value and is now trading at close to 80% of its value to the dollar.

Fears abound that other airlines could follow suit, leaving business and travellers stranded, thereby affecting President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s efforts to open up Zimbabwe for business.

OPPOSITION MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa reportedly faced serious legal obstacles in mounting his Constitutional Court (ConCourt) challenge against the presidential results last month, with fresh details emerging that the ConCourt bench demanded a lot of supporting evidence, which legally could not have been obtained within the given time-frame.

Chamisa’s lead lawyer Thabani Mpofu told NewsDay in an exclusive interview at the weekend that his team avoided seeking a recount of the votes because it was not the focus of their case and that it would have been impossible to access the residue within seven days. He cited a 2013 Supreme Court case where he represented Chamisa’s chief election agent Jameson Timba, who then had lost in the Mt Pleasant parliamentary election, but was denied access to the ballot boxes.

“I represented Timba in 2013. What the Supreme Court upheld was that if you want residue in harmonised elections, you have to cite everyone involved — councillors to presidential candidates — because this involved opening all the ballot boxes. So technically, it means you can’t get the residue in seven days to challenge the results,” Mpofu said.

If Chamisa wanted to access election residue, he would have had to serve, over 3 000 respondents 48 hours after announcement of the results, get the residue and challenge the election results within seven days.

Chamisa had indicated to the ConCourt that he had sufficient evidence, including V11 forms, whose tallies when added together, gave him a little over 2,6 million votes, beating Mnangagwa by over 400 000 votes.

Mpofu said the V11 forms had been placed before the ConCourt, but the Chief Justice Luke Malaba-led bench insisted on evidence adduced from ballot papers and other electoral residue, which they ruled was the only avenue to get substantial evidence to prove the rigging allegations.

“The exchange that I had with the judges was not about the V11, it was about the residue and what it means was what was in the ballot boxes. So when they were saying after the elections, if you decided that you wanted to challenge, you should’ve opened all ballot boxes, you obviously know that’s not possible. We had our V11 forms and presented them before the courts,” he said.

Chamisa reportedly faced a hostile judicial system, where his lawyers alleged that the deputy sheriff and registrar connived to ensure that their case would collapse.

Said Mpofu: “We had an unco-operative and hostile system to contend with, you know what the sheriffs did on instructions. You know the complaint that we had with the registrar refusing to accept process. If you go to court with a subpoena, nobody should ask you why you are issuing the subpoena, it just should be issued. It is for the person who has been subpoenaed to then object when they come before a court, so the subpoena must be issued. The person must come to court, if there is an objection, they must raise it. We cannot have a system which says to a litigant you can’t issue legal process. One thing that is completely unacceptable, much the same way you cannot have a system which says you instruct the sheriff to issue service and he deliberately doesn’t do so, and he tells you he was ordered not to do so. He had eight hours within which to effect service, and he completely refused. It’s totally objectionable. So that is the kind of system that we had to come up against, not only did we do our best.”

Mpofu added that their case also hinged on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec)’s server, but they could not access it because the registrar refused to issue processes and Chief Justice Malaba had indicated that he would not accept any court applications, leaving Chamisa’s case hanging on the strength of Zec’s own admissions of its faulty election figures.

“So before the case, we had a case management meeting and the Chief Justice had indicated that no application would be heard at courts on the hearing day. If any application was heard, it would be dismissed. So technically, when we went to court on that day, we had an option of making an application to have the registrar compelled to issue the subpoena, but we knew that it would be dismissed, because clearly that is what we had been told. So we knew the state of that application and also we knew that it was clear that the registrar had refused to issue the subpoena, which would’ve told the truth, a truth which would have declared Chamisa as the winner,” he said.

Mpofu, whose eloquence failed to win the argument of the day, said the case was strong and did not need residue back-up.

“So this issue that has gotten the country crazy about the fulcrum and the pith, it comes in that context of saying that once you want to show that he (Mnangagwa) did not win, that’s the fulcrum of the case and it does not depend on the residue and I think you can see that. It depends on Zec’s own numbers,” he said. MDC Alliance has since uploaded the evidence on the Internet to prove that they had all the V11 forms and that they did not challenge the poll result from the blues.

Newsday

ZIMBABWE is lobbying to be included among African offshore clearing centres for the Chinese currency, the renminbi (RMB), as it seeks to grow trade between the two countries and boost confidence in the local banking sector, a top diplomat has said.

The RMB was added to the IMF’s basket of currencies two years ago, meaning it is now a reserve currency that can be used as a unit of exchange in international trade and international cross-border transactional settlements.

Presently, the UK is the world’s largest clearing centre for the RMB outside Greater China, followed by Singapore.

Zimbabwe hopes to reach an agreement with Beijing on the offshore centre during the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Co-operation that officially opens tomorrow. This year’s edition of the triennial summit will be co-chaired by host President Xi Jinping and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to China Mr Paul Chikawa told state media last week that Harare was also pursuing opportunities in e-payments, telecommunications, infrastructure, and power transmission and distribution. Zimbabwe is also angling for a market for its agricultural produce.

Ambassador Chikawa said: “If all goes well, we will be so keen to be one of the centres in Africa, if not the leading centre, to have an offshore Renminbi Centre. You know, Hong Kong — which is part of China — is; Singapore is; London is. That means it is a reserve currency in its own right.

“So, if we are able to fashion out an agreement in the area of banking, and we are hopeful that our own (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe) Governor (Dr John Mangudya) — though he is not part of Focac — could find space and time to come here.

“We are pursuing certain interests, very formative stages to introduce the e-payment system as a part of dealing with the liquidity situation and also growing with the times. This is part of the vision, part of the dream, but it’s a lot bigger.”

State Media

Government has been accused of neglecting Air Zimbabwe resulting in a high employee turnover rate coupled with a high skills development cost at the airline, a report has revealed.

According to an exit report from the former board chairperson Chipo Dyanda on the state of Air Zimbabwe, morale was low among staff while government dilly-dallied with a legacy debt and recapitalisation plan.

“Workers generally feel job insecurity due to lack of a transparent communication system with them on the direction of the company and its relationship with Zimbabwe Airways and Zimbabwe Aviation Leasing Company. Therefore, they are always on the job hunt because of that insecurity,” Dyanda wrote in her 12-page exit report.

Outgoing Transport minister Joram Gumbo dissolved the Air Zimbabwe board recently in preparation for placing the parastatal on a reconstruction order through an administrator.

The airline has been struggling to remain afloat due to a legacy debt amounting to $341 million and what the former board chairperson termed lack of support from the shareholder.

Dyanda said the decision to place the airline under an administrator could be misplaced and was done in haste without taking due care since Air Zimbabwe had the potential to “flourish” if government followed through a recapitalisation plan set out by management and her team.

“The strategic turnaround plan indicates that it requires $189 million over three years and not all at once. The important capital is the short-term $44 million to operationalise the new business model since it intends to reopen international destinations,” she wrote.

Dyanda listed what her team achieved throughout its tenure (2016-2018), among which was the reduction of the workforce from 500 to 232 and the retrenchment of all under-qualified or unqualified staff.

“The low salaries of pilots continue to be a source of staff flight to greener pastures. Air Zimbabwe operates in a competitive international environment and localised salaries continue to drain out the staff after the airline has invested heavily in their training,” Dyanda said.

“Air Zimbabwe has become a training ground for other airlines locally and internationally, yet the training weighs heavily financially on the airline. In addition, expecting Air Zimbabwe to be efficient and competitive in the international space is unrealistic considering its old fleet. The airline needs to be re-equipped.”

She doubted the authenticity of the $341 million debt saying an audit needed to be carried out as it was “wrongly bundled” together with a legacy debt and inflated figures.

“A true picture of the nature of the debt is that of the $341 million, 92,32% of it was local debt while only $26,182 (about 7,68%) is foreign debt, and 77% of the local debt is inter-parastatal and government through the ministry of Transport and Infrastructural development,” Dyanda said.

Government last year established a separate airline, Zimbabwe Airways, whose set-up was being spearheaded by Simba Chikore, a former chief operating officer at Air Zimbabwe and former President Robert Mugabe’s son-in-law.

The decision, according to Gumbo, was aimed at evading Air Zimbabwe debts while at the same time it was an attempt to keep the country represented in the skies.

The new airline is yet to fly as it has not yet got its paperwork in order. Dyanda said government had let down Air Zimbabwe in its bid for recapitalisation.

“The airline (Air Zimbabwe) was to be funded in two ways; either shareholder recapitalises the airline from the fiscus or attracts strategic partners. No funding was received from the fiscus, but instead, a new airline was funded. Strategic partnerships that were received did not receive attention either nor did the airline receive feedback from the shareholder. This is a major obstacle to the implementation of the strategic turnaround plan,” Dyanda said.

The former board chair stated that among the key efforts made to revive the airline included proposals that required scrutiny and implementation by government.

“The airline attracted viable proposals that required further scrutiny and engagement. Some proposals included cash injection while others wanted to bring equipment. One more wanted a marketing relationship in Europe. These were forwarded to the ministry in 2017 and 2018,” Dyanda said.

Responding to these assertions, minister Gumbo told The Standard that although he had not seen Dyanda’s exit report, issues that she raised were not new.

“I share and appreciate the issues they are raising. Critically we have to understand that Air Zimbabwe has had challenges piling up for a long period of time,” Gumbo said.

“All the issues you are saying, as the ministry we have raised them before. It is just that government does not have money to put in and we also realised that Air Zimbabwe was fast turning into a bottomless pit. I have explained the reason behind the establishment of Zimbabwe Airways, an idea I believe we should support as a country.”

He said there was need to change the work culture and attitude towards public enterprises.

“We need to adopt a profit-making mentality and not view these public institutions as social clubs. We must all work for profitability and increase productivity,” Gumbo said.

“I appreciate the efforts Dyanda and her team put in seeing that Air Zimbabwe remained in the skies, but let us agree, its books are in a sorry state. We need to work on that so that when we go to investors, we are not exposed to manipulation.”

“I am still waiting for government to take over their debts and I supported their plan with the hope that the legacy debt would be the assumed by government,” Gumbo said.

“But as you know, the operations of government are guided by the law. We are still waiting for that to happen. I have high respect for the board and they did a great job. I don’t think it would be prudent to blame the minister. Some of these things we have to follow government processes.”

The Standard