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

THREE children from Tsholotsho were burnt beyond recognition while four others were saved by their 12-year-old sibling after a fire gutted a room they were sleeping in while their parents attended a funeral wake.

The incident, which happened at around 10PM on Saturday in Nkunzi Village, about 50 kilometres from Tsholotsho Centre, saw property worth tens of thousands of dollars reduced to ashes.

The hero, Prolific Bhebhe (12) was awakened by smoke that was choking her and realised the house where all eight of them slept, was ablaze.

She managed to awaken and lead outside four of her siblings who escaped without injuries.

When she returned to save the remaining three, the inferno had blocked her way to where they slept and she failed to save them.

Villagers identified the deceased victims as Lindiwe Tshuma (10), Charmer Tshuma (8) and Prosperous Tshuma (6).

Kwandile Bhebhe (12), Nkazimulo Bhebhe (2), Roland Tshuma (12) and Principal Tshuma (8) escaped uninjured.

Mrs Judith Dube lost two children while her daughter-in-law Concillia Moyo (34) lost one child.

The area’s councillor, Motha Bhebhe, said the 12-year old girl noticed the house was on fire after she was awakened by smoke.

“She managed to wake up four of her siblings and took them outside but unfortunately by the time she tried to save the last three, the fire had grown big and blocked her way. She failed to proceed to where they slept and they died in their sleep.

“The children’s screams awoke neighbours but by the time they rushed to the scene, the fire was already fierce and they all failed to save the three children. Villagers said by the time they approached the gate, the roof of the whole house had caved in amid a shower of sparks,” he said.

Cllr Bhebhe said all the furniture was in flames, showing that the fire had already been raging for a long period and villagers could not enter the blazing house to get to the children who were trapped inside.

“Villagers used sand to try and put out the fire while others ran with buckets full of water but all efforts to put out the fire were futile as it had already consumed everything in the hut.

“That room was full of property and its clear the fire had started a long time ago. It burnt property to ashes before the children noticed,” he said.

The bodies were taken to Tsholotsho District Hospital enroute to Bulawayo for postmortem.

Cllr Bhebhe said it was high time Tsholotsho Rural District Council owned a fire tender as fires continued to wreak havoc in the district.

In September 2015, two children from Dikili Village in Tsholotsho died in an inferno after a fire gutted a room they were sleeping in while their mother was allegedly having a tryst with a boyfriend.

Property worth thousands of dollars was destroyed

State Media

A 28-year old man from Bulawayo has been arrested after he allegedly stole $17 000 from a pensioner’s bank account before splashing the money on a car and transferring funds to other accounts.

Thubelihle Nyathi from Old Luveve suburb was supposed to help pensioner Mr Nketa Moses Ngoga (60) buy a car but instead disappeared with his bank card before wiping the elderly man’s account clean.

Bulawayo deputy police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed Nyathi’s arrest saying he will appear in court soon.

“We have arrested a man from Bulawayo who is suspected to have stolen $17 000 from a pensioner. It was discovered that the suspect made three transactions using his victim’s bank account. He used $6 500 to buy himself a car. He also transferred $9 900 to a different account before making his last transaction where he transferred $1 600 to another account,” he said.

Insp Ncube urged members of the public to desist from giving people their bank details.
“This incident proves to us that members of the public are not heeding our calls. These two people did not know each other to the extent of giving one party bank details. Members of the public should rather seek assistance at institutions where they want to conduct their transactions instead of trusting random people in the streets as they often turn out to be crooks,” he said.

Sources said Nyathi met Mr Ngoga in Plumtree Town at the beginning of last month.
The old man requested assistance to buy groceries as he did not know how to use plastic money facilities.

“It seems while he assisted Mr Ngoga with his groceries, the old man then told him that he wanted to buy a car as he had received a pension lump sum. Nyathi told him that he had connections in Bulawayo who could assist him buy a car and they exchanged contacts,” said the source.

He said on Monday last week, Mr Ngoga met Nyathi hoping that he would help him to buy the car.
“They went to a local car dealer who however wanted $10 000 cash for the car that the old man wanted. The pair left and Nyathi took Mr Ngoga to a local hotel leaving him there. He took away his bank card promising to buy the car and bring it to him,” he said.

The source said Nyathi disappeared the whole day prompting the old man to report the matter to the police.

“The police made inquiries with the old man’s Bank and it was discovered that the account had been cleared. The police initiated a manhunt for Nyathi leading to his arrest. He was found in the company of a woman. He had withdrawn the money on three different occasions,” said the source.

He said on Wednesday police arrested Nyathi and discovered that he had bought a Nissan Sunny for $6 500.

Efforts to get a comment from Ngoga were fruitless as he was not reachable on his mobile phone.

Prices of basic commodities have been going up since last week and parents are struggling to buy necessities for their children who start school tomorrow.

Goods that include rice, cooking oil, cereals, sugar, washing powder, lotions, toiletries, instant noodles, snacks, sweets and juices have been on an upward trajectory in retail outlets in Bulawayo while their prices have been constant on the street.

A snap survey conducted by The Chronicle revealed that prices have gone up by up to 50 percent.

A majority of residents said they now avoid retailers and buy commodities from street vendors, whose prices were up to half of what is charged by retailers.

They called on the Government to rein in retailers, who they said were profiteering as there was no justification for the price increases.

Mrs Nompumelelo Moyo said she was having a headache trying to juggle her budget.

“I did a survey in three retail shops hoping to get better prices but it’s the same story. Things are not balancing and they exceed my budget.

Last term I forced my child to go with instant porridge because Cerevita — his choice of cereal — was expensive but now the price for instant porridge is high as well but I cannot send him away without any cereal,’’ she said.

Instant porridge has risen from an average of $2.50 to $3.25 while Cerevita remains pegged at about $3.75.

The Chronicle noted that the price of a 2kg packet of local Red Seal rice has risen from $2.50 to $2.90 while cooking oil has gone up from around $3 to about $4.20.

Instant noodles went up to $5 from $4.20 while tomato sauce now costs $1.35 from $1.10. Single ply tissue paper shot to $1.75 from an average of $1 while Farai sanitary wear now costs an average of $1.

Jumbo snacks increased from $1.80 to $2.90. Arctic mints increased from $3.20 to $4.29 while lolly pop sweets increased from $4.50 to $5.30.

The price hikes have sparked outrage among parents who are trying to balance paying bills, putting food on the table and preparations for the new school term, especially those with children going to boarding schools.

Miss Lisa Mugabe said: “School opening days are hectic, retailers increase prices forgetting that we have many expenses; school fees, groceries and transport money to send children to school.’’

Mr Denis Parrot said: “Groceries are expensive and I am stressed out trying to balance all the expenses. Where my child learns there is only one visiting day per term. Imagine sending a child to school with little or inadequate grocery. I have already been forced to remove some food items from his grocery list.’’

Another parent, Mrs Linda Nare, said for some groceries she preferred buying from vendors.

“I ended up buying snacks and juice from vendors because shops were a non starter. At times like this you forget about quality and aim for quantity and prices of goods,’’ she said.

Ms Lisca Ncube said the Government should protect consumers from greedy businesspeople.

“When the economy normalises and people have found alternative markets, the same retailers are the first to run to Government for protection. When it suits them, they exploit consumers. Such unfairness has no room under the new dispensation.

“The media should also investigate the building industry where prices have been shooting up willy nilly but manufacturers claim they last raised prices last year,” said Ms Ncube.

Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) president Mr Danford Mutashu said an increase of prices of basic commodities and other products is looming in Zimbabwe as people are not yet certain of the future economy.

“Usually when business people are not certain of the political status of a country, they tend to panic and this leads to price hikes. This is evident by cash commodification in the streets,” he said. – state media

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has dispelled social media rumours that schools will open on September 10, instead of tomorrow for the third term.

In an interview yesterday, permanent secretary in the Ministry, Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango, said there were no changes and encouraged teachers and pupils to be ready for schools opening tomorrow.

“I can confirm that schools are opening on Tuesday September 3 as we had communicated to schools before we closed for the second term,” she said.

“There are no changes and there won’t be any as all is set for us to start the third term on Tuesday.”

The unsigned social media message that was purportedly addressed to provincial education officers read: “Please be advised that schools will be opening on 10 September instead of 3 September as earlier advised.

“The change has been necessitated by movement of teachers across provinces.”

Dr Utete-Masango castigated the social media claims, saying people should not be swayed by unfounded reports.

She said prospective 2019 Form One pupils should consider applying online for boarding school places.

“We are working on improving the system so that parents can access applications online,” she said. “This is the way to go and this facility is only for boarding schools that offer Form One places.”- state media

South African opposition leader, Julius Malema has picked an African language spoken by approximately 100 million people across the continent and suggested that it be made the official language of Mama Africa.

Speaking at a media briefing organised by his party the Economic Freedom Fighters, where he issued a speech touching on a series of issues, including the Donald Trump tweet on South Africa’s land reforms, Malema called for the adoption of a common language in Africa, hinting at Swahili being that language.

“We must develop a common language that can be used throughout the continent. Like Swahili, if it can be developed as the language of the continent,” he said.

In the EFF media briefing, Malema also called for the unification of Africa, rooting for a single currency, single president and single parliament.

Swahili is the most spoken native language in Africa, commonly used in East and Central African states. It is an official language in Kenya and Tanzania.

Approximately 100 million people are able to converse in Swahili. That figure means Swahili is spoken by more people than Korean or Italian.

Swahili is one of the official languages of the African Union. Swahili is also one of the official languages of the African Union.

The leader of South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party remarks comes just months after Twitter officially recognised Swahili as one of the languages users can communicate with on the social site, effectively making Swahili the first African language to be recognised by the US-based social networking site.

Early last year, Rwanda also joined the bandwagon and officially adopted Swahili as one of its official languages.

MDC Alliance presidential candidate Mr Nelson Chamisa “lost” the just ended elections because he disregarded the election road map that was agreed upon by the party and endorsed by the late leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai before he died.

In a candid analysis on the just ended elections, former MDC-T legislator and advisor Mr Eddie Cross also said the Alliance’s existence into the next elections was next to none.

Mr Cross announced that he is quitting both politics and MDC-T to concentrate on business. He accused Mr Chamisa of turning the elections into a “Chamisa thing” and not an MDC-T issue, in the process disregarding what the party had put in place as a roadmap to win the elections

“I was very critical of the policy procedure adopted by Chamisa because 18 months before his unfortunate death, Tsvangirai had set up a policy group to prepare for this election which was chaired by Dr (Tapiwa) Mashakada and it produced a 37-paged document which I thought was very good but when Nelson took over he simply rejected it out of hate and then he did something out of his own initiative.

“A party is a team and you can’t toss aside the views of your team and simply proceed with something that you concocted with other elements in the alliance and just simply announce it, which is essentially what happened. The MDC-T manifesto never had real interest on the campaign and I thought it was too long and it was too complicated,” said Mr Cross.

He said in the run up to the elections, Mr Chamisa had made the elections about him, a strategy which, Mr Cross said Mr Tsvangirai had long dispelled noting that there was a need to target the grassroots first, which would naturally escalate to the presidency.

Mr Cross said if Mr Chamisa was to entertain any hopes of winning future elections he had to refocus his strategy starting from the wards going up to the parliamentary seats.

“In the past we always concentrated on the Presidency thinking that if you capture the Presidency you have captured the Government, that’s true but the real fight, political fight is not at the top, it’s at the bottom. It’s in the wards and Morgan’s concept was that we should turn the 2018 campaign and concentrate on the wards and that is saying if we win the wards we win the districts, we win the districts and we win the presidency.

“In the end of course Nelson and the Alliance went back to the old system that fought the Presidential election. Yes, he did a brilliant job, he was a great speaker, he was charismatic, he was well educated but at the end Morgan was right and that was a crucial mistake for the Alliance of not concentrating on the grassroots,” said Mr Cross.

Mr Cross said the elections were the best run since the formation of the MDC in 1999 and Mr Chamisa’s constitutional court challenge for the Presidential election was a futile attempt.

“I think this election, despite all criticism, it was the best election since 2000. We were allowed complete freedom to go where we wanted with no police interference and very little violence. We had freedom of speech, freedom of association. I think this campaign was much free than other campaigns and I think to be frank the election results will be very difficult to contest.

“As for the Alliance’s existence, it’s a difficult ask but my view is that we have heard very little from Welshman Ncube who is one of the most senior members of the Alliance, of which I agree with his sentiments, I don’t think the Alliance will hold together in the future as I don’t think the alliance is particularly united at the moment,” said Mr Cross.

Turning to his resignation from active politics Mr Cross said this was a decision which he had long informed the late Tsvangirai about, but they had felt that he should not publicise it to allow a smooth transition in his constituency.

He, however, blasted the Alliance for bungling resulting in the fielding of two candidates in the constituency which resulted in them eventually losing to Zanu-PF candidate Cde Raj Modi in Bulawayo South.

“Morgan and my family said I should retire so I agreed to retire a long time ago and the party asked me not to make it public because they didn’t want a fight in the party on the candidate to take over my constituency. In the final analysis it didn’t make any difference because there was a fight and the party lost,” he said.

Sunday News

THE Bulawayo City Council will bolster security at the special council meeting for the election of the city’s mayor and deputy mayor on Tuesday after skirmishes that were experienced in the council chambers on Friday.

The local authority has further announced that the special council will be held at the Large City Hall to accommodate the huge numbers of members of the public who are expected to attend the contentious elections.

Last Friday activists linked to the Mthwakazi Republic Party disrupted council proceedings after Ward 24 councillor, Arnold Batirai pitched up late for council proceedings allegedly drunk. The activists manhandled Clr Batirai and attempted to eject him from the council chambers.

In an interview with Sunday News, the city’s Town Clerk, Mr Christopher Dube said what happened on Friday was unfortunate hence their reason to engage the Zimbabwe Republic Police to ensure security during the proceedings.

“We will certainly have heavy security because what happened on Friday is embarrassing and unfortunate. Yes, residents could have been aggrieved by the councillor’s conduct but when he is in chamber, he is protected. What I must emphasise is that we do not condone rowdy behaviour from our residents especially during council meetings.

“What we are planning to do is that we will move the Tuesday meeting to the Large City Hall after receiving a request from residents and noting the importance of this meeting, we are just going through the legal implications of this but we see nothing wrong at all,” said Mr Dube.

He said the election of the mayor and deputy mayor is key to the functioning of the local authority hence the interest by residents.

“We want to avoid excluding residents in this process because they are our key stakeholders, if you realised during the Friday meeting councillors came with their families and ward members hence the high numbers which led us to shut some of them out.

“Residents are really looking forward to this election all we have to do is assure them of their security, have a heavy police presence barricade certain areas so councillors are able to conduct their democratic right of voting for the mayor and deputy mayor without any intimidation,” said Mr Dube

State Media

A serious shortage of cement has hit Harare with the few outlets that have the product selling it at double the official price.

The majority of hardwares and other outlets that normally sell cement were out of stock while prices had been hiked to between $15 and $20 a bag compared to the recommended retail prices averaging $11.50 for PC and $10 for masonry.

“We do not have any cement. It’s a crisis. That is why some shops have increased prices because when we ask our suppliers they are telling us that they do not have any in stock.

A shortage of cement will sabotage the growth of the economy,” said a shop attendant at a hardware in the capital who only identified himself as Tonderai.

Hardware outlets said supply delays were resulting in a huge increase in demand for the product.

“The price just went up and it is because there is a shortage. We had ordered a load two weeks ago, but we only received it today,” said a sales attendant at Nongerai Hardware along Seke Road.

Cement is now more readily available on the black market where the going price is $20 per bag.

“Prices have been on the rise in the past three days. Maybe it is the said sanctions now taking a toll on us,” said a dealer at Mbare’s Magaba area.

Cement producers could not be reached to comment on what had triggered the sudden shortages.

The cement shortage and the sudden price hikes and growing scarcity of numerous other products have added to a plethora of economic problems besetting Zimbabwe in the wake of the recent elections.

Last week, the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency revealed that inflation had shot to 4,29% per annum, the highest in six years.

Also, the year-on-year inflation rate hit 4,29% in July 2018 from 2,91% in June 2017, an increase of 47,48% in the Consumer Price Index which measures changes in the general price level, driven mainly by food and non-alcoholic beverages.

Standard

Former Electoral Supervisory Commission chair Bishop Dr Ralph Peter Hatendi has died.

He was 91. Bishop Hatendi succumbed to chronic heart and lung diseases on Friday at Avenues Clinic in Harare, where he had been admitted two days earlier.

Family spokesperson and daughter Mrs Pauline Makoni said, “He had been battling chronic heart and lung diseases for over 10 years. He was a truly loving father and an inspirational man who feared the Lord and the church.”

Anglican Diocese of Harare Bishop Chad Gandiya said Bishop Hatendi’s death was a great loss.

“The sudden death of Dr Hatendi came to us as a shock, he will be fondly remembered for his contributions to the national church in advancing theological education,” he said.

“He came into office (as Bishop of Harare and Mashonaland) during crucial time towards Independence. His contributions in terms of support to nationalist leaders is well documented. He will be missed.”

Bishop Hatendi was born in 1927 in Manicaland and attended school at St Augustine’s in Penhalonga.

He proceeded to Associate of Kings College in London where he studied Theology, subsequently earning a doctorate in Divinity at World University in 1987.

He was the first black bishop of the Diocese of Harare in 1979, holding the office until his retirement in 1995, therefter being appointed chairperson of the then Electoral Supervisory Commission.

At the time of his death, he was the assistant Bishop in the diocese of Harare

A funeral service will be held in his honour tomorrow at St Anne’s Anglican Cathedral in Harare at 9am.

Bishop Hatendi’s body will be cremated and his ashes interred in the cathedral at a date to be announced.

He is survived by his wife Jane, four children, 11 grandchildren and two grand-great children.

State Media

Media Statement By Crisis In Zimbabwe Coalition|Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition has noted the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry which has been tasked to investigate the shooting of civilians in the capital on August 1, 2018 by the military. The shootings followed demonstrations which rocked the capital as citizens protested against delays in the announcement of election results.

As CiZC, we have serious reservations concerning the composition of the Commission of Inquiry.

We are left to suspect that nothing much will come out of the inquiry given the fact that the incumbent’s loyalists the greater part of the commission. It seems the commission is aimed at pacifying the international community on the state recklessness that led to innocent souls being lost. It is calculated to absolve the state of wrong doings through this compromised commission and a carefully structured methodology and terms of reference which starts from the point of innocence yet, in real fact the perpetrators are known as captured in the video clips on the internet.

We remain worried why the president is keen on creating parallel structures when the Constitution established Constitutional Bodies is Chapter 12 (Independent Commissions Supporting Democracy). We are of the strong conviction that the state must strengthen the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) to undertake work of this nature as provided by Section 243 (1) of the Constitution. We implore the President to channel such resources towards the strengthening of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission as a constitutional body mandated to carry out such investigations.

CiZC maintains that just like in the past years, the blame for the murder of civilians on August 1 lies squarely with the government of Zimbabwe. Because of party-state conflation, ZANU PF has shown beyond any reasonable doubt that they are prepared to use state resources to cling to power and block public access to critical information on public/national investigations.

It also has to be noted that Zimbabwe has a history of organized killings of innocent civilians at the hands of the government, despite the fact that inquiries were launched, have been swept under the carpet. In some cases, there hasn’t been any attempt to investigate the issues while in other cases, government has completely expressed ignorance or chosen to keep quite on the murder and torture of civilians.

Some of the cases that have never been openly investigated include the Gukurahundi massacres which resulted on the death of more than 20 000 civilians as well as the murder of nearly 300 opposition activists in the June 2008 run-off election. It has to be noted also that since the formation of the country’s biggest opposition in 1999, the country has continued to witness torture and murder of opposition activists and these issues have largely been ignored by Zanu PF as violence and murder reign supreme among their tactics to retain power. If anything, Zanu PF, despite its claims of a peaceful and tolerant party, has not and can never be expected to dismantle its violence machinery.

It is justifiable to conclude that the August 1 shootings were pre-meditated especially taking into consideration sentiments from senior Zanu PF officials that Mnangagwa will shoot for power and also that the army stands ready to block opposition rule in the country .

Given the above, it is reasonable again to conclude that the motive behind the shootings is well-known.

We maintain that it is the prerogative of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission to come up with information concerning who ordered the military into the streets and after that we expect corrective action to be taken against the culprits. Our expectations are that the nature of our politics should not impinge on the capacity of the ZHRC to deliver its constitutional mandate and that no person or state body should undermine the role of the ZHRC.

Staff Correspondent|Vice President Constantino Chiwenga says it will no longer be business as usual for the “comrades” who will be joining the new government as it moves with speed to implement the programmes that were being sold by the ruling party during its campaigns in the harmonised elections.

He was speaking to local and international journalists on his immediate task, soon after the swearing in ceremony at State House in Harare today.

Vice President Chiwenga told the media that while the new dispensation hit the ground running first time, they will maintain the speed with a vision of rebuilding the economy and improving the socio-economic status of the people.

The vice president compared the speed and pace needed with the Greek mythology figure of the ancient phydippedis.

He warned civil servants, those who will be selected into cabinet and others who are expected to deliver the vision of economic construction and socio-economic upliftment that they will be expected to do as determined and not as they wish.

He said the private sector is also expected to contribute towards the development efforts through close interaction with government.

He said the agric show indaba held in the capital on Wednesday is a clear demonstration of how government and the private sector can help each other.

Vice President Kembo Mohadi said industrialisation of the country is top priority and with highly educated and skilled manpower, Zimbabwe can realise its vision for economic development and industrialisation.

He said Zimbabwe is on a drive to attract investors some of whom came to observe the elections, to provide the required support for industrialisation.

The swearing in of the two vice presidents is step towards the formation of the new government after the 30 July harmonised elections.

Jockeying for Cabinet posts is turning nasty, with some of those eyeing positions in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration resorting to a vicious propaganda campaign to undermine other contenders for the appointments.

With Mnangagwa expected to announce his new Cabinet anytime following his inauguration last Sunday, the jostling for positions is getting uglier.

To get ahead of other aspirants, some have turned to social media by concocting and circulating images of Zanu PF politicians purportedly campaigning for MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa in a bid to discredit them.

Reports also suggest that other Cabinet hopefuls are viciously lobbying Mnangagwa to overlook certain individuals on spurious grounds, including unproven claims that they did not campaign for him ahead of the July 30 polls.

Mnangagwa has since retained Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi as his deputies.

It is being hoped that he will appoint the rest of his Cabinet once the newly-elected members of Parliament have been sworn in.

Already, organisations affiliated to the ruling party are openly lobbying the president to pick some of his ministers from their membership.

These include the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), the Zanu PF youth league, and the party’s women’s league.

Mnangagwa has indicated his desire to appoint an effective Cabinet to turn around the country’s economy and usher in reforms in line with his “Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra.

Znlwva spokesperson Douglas Mahiya said it was unfortunate the some “uncouth” aspirants were resorting to dirty tactics to get Mnangagwa’s attention, saying they will not succeed in misleading the president.

“The president doesn’t like it,” he said.

“His principle is that you cannot canvass for a position because it is clear that those who do that want to abuses the positions.”

While advising Mnangagwa to make merited appointments, Mahiya said it was equally important for him to consider the former liberation war fighters as well because they are the custodians of Zanu PF’s revolutionary principles.

He said the fact that the majority of the war veterans do not have requisite qualifications to become ministers was inconsequential as ideology was more important than academic qualifications.

“Being an effective minister does not only call for academic and technocratic input, but political ideology of the party in line with the principles of the revolution.

“The pattern of doing things is more important than academic input,” he argued.

“Zanu and Zapu were governments in exile during the war and we borrowed principles of governance and later developed our own and it is those principles that (former president Robert) Mugabe failed to make use of and hence lost connection with the people.

“The interaction of the combatants and the people during the war makes them ideal candidates for positions of ministers because they know what the people want so we hope the new cabinet will take war veterans into perspective”.

Zanu PF women’s league chairperson for Harare province Ratidzo Mukarati said Mnangagwa was alive to the expectations of women, adding that the wing will support his decisions.

A Zanu PF insider told the Daily News yesterday that the desperation for Cabinet posts has reached fever pitch and it is not likely to recede until Mnangagwa unveils his line-up.

“For as long as a new Cabinet is not announced, it will be dog-eat-dog and we hope it won’t get to the extent of harming each other,” said the insider..

“But frankly, some of the efforts are desperate and useless.

“The appointing authority obviously has adequate intelligence on the background, conduct and behaviour of all candidates before and during the elections.

“They are intelligent enough to distinguish between fact and fiction.”

DailyNews

A woman who was mistaken for a witch after being found tiptoeing on graves at Luveve Cemetery on Tuesday afternoon is lucky to be alive after a mob meted instant justice on her.

Luveve residents took the law into their hands when they whipped a woman only identified as Stella accusing her of being a witch looking for dead people’s bodies to eat.

“Stella was found on Tuesday afternoon — alone in the cemetery. She was tiptoeing on graves.

“I was on my way to work when I saw a woman with torn, dirty clothes talking to herself while tiptoeing on the graves. I quickly called out to other people passing by.

“She kept repeating the name Stella after being asked her name,” said a resident.

The crowd started accusing her of witchcraft after she failed to explain what she was doing at the graveyard.

“When she was asked what she was doing, she only smiled at people which led to her being whipped,” said the source.

Stella is said to have been whipped by the crowd which led to her howling. On the picture that was taken she is seen as someone who is weeping and in pain.

The victim was fortunate as police officers arrived at the scene and took her to the police station.

However, acting Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said: “We had received a missing person alert last week of a mentally unstable female and as we were investigating the case reports were made of a woman being accused of witchcraft at Luveve’s graveyard.

“We attempt to uncover facts first before charging victims — in the course of investigations we realised Stella was mentally unstable and was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

According to Insp Ncube, families which had reported missing persons were called in to identify the female and one family recognised her as their relative.

— BMetro

THE family of Zimbabwe’s former Ambassador to Senegal, Mrs Trudy Stevenson, yesterday announced she will be cremated next Friday.

In an announcement on her Twitter handle, the family said: “The funeral will be held at Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic Church, Mt. Pleasant, Harare, on Friday 7 September at 10am. Light refreshments will be served afterwards, followed by a private cremation.”

Ambassador Stevenson was a founding member of the MDC.

She was appointed ambassador to Senegal and the Gambia in 2009 during the Government of National Unity as a deployee of MDC led by Professor Welshman Ncube.

Ambassador Stevenson was found dead at her residence in Dakar last week.

She was 73.

A former Member of Parliament for Harare North (2000-2008), she continued to serve as ambassador after the collapse of the unity government.

State Media

AN ailing Kwekwe-based explosives manufacturer could have compromised national security because of poor security and failure to follow laid down procedures at its plant, workers have alleged.

In a stinging letter, accompanied by a petition to the inspector of mines, workers at GML Explosives (formerly known as Dyno Nobel) made startling allegations against the company, including security and legal breaches.

“We note with great concern that the company was not observing rules and regulations pertaining to the sale of explosives. The company is selling explosives to customers without permits and in cases of customers with permits, their permits are not endorsed as required by law.

“We suspect the company is not keeping proper and accurate records of explosives sold and this compromises national security,” the workers alleged.

Mines principal director Charles Tahwa confirmed receipt of the letter, but referred questions to Mines secretary Munesu Munodawafa.

“Yes, but talk to the permanent secretary,” Tahwa said.

Earlier, Tahwa had requested time to consult with the inspector responsible for explosives, who he said was in charge of such cases.

Munodawafa said he was tied up with the Harare Agricultural Show Society business and could not talk.

The employees have demanded that the company be placed under liquidation because it had not been operating and that it owed them in excess of $1 million in salary arrears.

Two people died while dozens including Vice-President Kembo Mohadi, were left with injuries after an explosion rocked White City Stadium as President Emmerson Mnangagwa left the podium after a Zanu PF campaign rally in June.

The August 17 letter, which shows it was received at the Mines ministry four days later, said GML Explosives had also failed to follow procedure in the disposal of defective explosives.

“The company is not reporting bad/reject/defective explosives to the inspector. A lot of poorly manufactured boxes of defective explosives were returned by customers late last year and early this year, but these were never reported to the inspector of mines in terms of the law and there is no evidence to show how they were disposed of,” the letter said.

Owned by Croinvest (Pvt), the company, formerly Dyno Nobel, has been struggling to survive for years. The workers claim that security at the premises in the Midlands city is compromised and was in breach of the Explosives Act.

Early this week, seven GMB workers died while one is still missing in Chinhoyi after an explosion, suspected to have been caused by an electrical fault, left scores injured.

“Sir, we are sitting on a time bomb, which can explode anytime. Regular inspections of lightning conductors are not being done. Lightning conductors are not maintained yearly and no certificates of good order, after mandatory inspections, have been obtained by the company as required by law. In other words, buildings, metal walls, roof and all plant machines are not efficiently earthed,” the letter also said.

NewsDay

Newly-elected National Assembly members and senators will take oaths of office on Wednesday next week, Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda has said.

After taking the oaths, the National Assembly members will elect the Speaker of the National Assembly and his or her deputy and senators will also elect their president and his or her deputy.

According to a notice published in an Extraordinary Government Gazette yesterday, Mr Chokuda said MPs will be sworn in the morning and senators in the afternoon.

He said the notice of oath of Members of Parliament is done in terms of the provisions of Section 128(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment No. 20 of 2013.

“It is hereby notified that, in terms of Section 128 (1) of the Constitution the day and time for members of Parliament to make and subscribe the oath of a Member of Parliament before the Clerk of Parliament in the form set out in the Third Schedule to the Constitution shall be:

(a) ten o’clock in the morning on Wednesday, the 5th of September, 2018, for Members of the National Assembly; and

(b) half past two o’clock in the afternoon on Wednesday, the 5th of September, 2018, for Members of the Senate; at Parliament Building, Harare.”

The swearing in of the legislators followed the July 30 harmonised elections in which Zanu-PF retained its two thirds majority in the National Assembly after winning 145 out of the 210 contested constituencies.

The seven-party MDC Alliance managed only 63 seats, with the National Patriotic Front (NPF) winning one seat.

Independent candidate Mr Temba Mliswa won the Norton National Assembly seat.

In 2013, the ruling Zanu-PF won 160 seats to the then MDC-T’s 49, with one seat going to the MDC then led by Professor Welshman Ncube, who is now an MDC-Alliance principal.

Some of the laws that were passed during the Eighth Parliament were Local Government Amendment Act, Public Finance and Management Act, Special Economic Zones Act, Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences Act and Gwanda State University Act, The Trafficking in Persons Act, The Public Accountants and Auditors Amendment Act and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Debt Assumption and Public Debt Management Act.

State Media

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State Media – PROPERTY worth more than $300 000 was destroyed when a huge fire gutted Bulawayo’s biggest flea market, Unity Village.

The flea market, which is located at the corner of Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street and 6th Avenue, saw about 37 stalls that were stocked with a variety of goods being destroyed by the fire which broke out at around 9PM on Thursday.

Some traders cried uncontrollably while others fainted as they arrived to the grim scene at the market yesterday morning.

Traders said they lost their stock ranging from clothes, footware, cell phones and laptops.
Bulawayo Fire Brigade Senior Divisional officer Mr Edward Mpofu said preliminary indications point to an electrical fault as the cause of the fire.

He said they were however, still investigating before making a final conclusion.
Mr Mpofu they were called at 9.44PM and arrived at the scene at 9.49PM.

“When the brigade arrived about five minutes after receiving the first call for help, the fire was found well alight and involving about 37 stalls that were well stocked with a variety of goods.
“The brigade observed that the fire burnt with a lot of intensity as most of the structures were deformed. The electrical wiring was also severely affected. The circuit breaker supplying the affected area had three breakers that tripped,” he said.

Mr Mpofu said the premises’ security guards unsuccessfully used a fire extinguisher to deal with the fire before calling the Fire Brigade.

“Investigations reveal that the fire originated from any of stalls 11, 16 or 42 and that most likely as a result of an electrical gadget like a kettle left ‘on’ or due to an electrical fault,” he said.

When The Chronicle visited the flea market yesterday morning, a committee member at the flea market, Mrs Siphokuhle Sibanda, said they lost goods worth over $300 000.

“The brigade arrived on time but they had challenges locating the fire hydrant we have inside, so they had to connect at Joshua Mqabuko and 6th Avenue which increased the damage since most of our goods are flammable. Everything we have worked for was burnt to ashes. Maybe we will end up seeking loans to restock and rebuild the structures. We are starting from scratch,” she said.
Speaking between sobs, one stand owner who preferred anonymity said it felt like she was bereaved.

“For many of us here right now, we feel like we have been robbed of a loved one. This was the bread basket for hundreds of us here with some people being the stand owners while the market has been a source of employment for hundreds as well.

“Being one of those whose stands were burnt down, we lost goods worth $5 000 and above each. Many people here order stock to last them over five months so that we don’t do frequent trips to neighbouring countries,” she said as she sobbed uncontrollably.

Another trader, Mr Zivanai Moyo, said he had also lost important documents that he kept at one of his stands, which include his identity particulars and a motor vehicle registration book.

“People here keep so many things in this market as they spend most of their time here and conduct many business transactions from their stands. Those with affected stands lost virtually everything and it is very sad,” said Mr Moyo.

A Bulawayo man pleaded with a magistrate to jail his 16-year-old son for allegedly stealing property worth $1 000.

The accused’s father told Bulawayo magistrate Ms Sithembiso Ndlovu that he would prefer to see his son behind bars because of his habit of stealing from home. The juvenile appeared in court facing a theft charge.

He was not asked to plead and was remanded out of custody on free bail to September 3.
“I’ve had enough of this boy. I would rather have you jail him. He has stolen a lot of property from me and our neighbours, where I am staying; they don’t want to see him.

“For a long time he has got away with it. He has to be taught a lesson so please send him to prison,” said the accused’s father. The magistrate said the boy could not be sent to prison.

“We cannot imprison him because he is a juvenile, he has a right to a lawyer which the State will provide,” said the magistrate. The boy’s father persisted with his plea.

“All I want is for him to be punished. He has to feel pain please,” he begged.
Ms Ndlovu told the father that they will deal with all that when the lawyer has attended to both of them as there is a process to go through first.

The court heard that the accused person stole money and a cellphone from the complainant.

Total value of stolen property is $1 000 and nothing was recovered. – state media

State Media – Government will only legalise production of industrial cannabis and will put in place regulations to control its production, President Mnangagwa has said.

He was speaking during a question and answer session at the sixth annual Agribusiness Conference held at the Exhibition Park on Wednesday.

President Mnangagwa said Government was working on separating medicinal cannabis from ordinary cannabis, which is popularly known as mbanje.

“We want to separate industrial cannabis from the ordinary cannabis (mbanje) and we have put it in legislation that is being championed by the Ministry of Health and Child Care,” he said.

“Wherever in the world where it has been allowed, there are strongest conditions for it to be grown. Under our Statutory Instrument we are regulating how it should be grown. It must have maximum security. That is why the security sector should be involved.”

President Mnangagwa said production of cannabis required capital outlays; it must be done scientifically. Most of it is done under green houses, where it is in open space it must be protected.”
Cannabis (mbanje) can be used for food, fuel, oil, animal feed, bedding paper, textiles and cosmetics, among others.

“You must get a licence for you to satisfy the requirements we made,” said President Mnangagwa. “For now it is a security restricted area.”

The legalisation was announced by Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa in a Government Gazette under Statutory Instrument 62 of 2018 (Dangerous Drugs – Production of Cannabis for Medicinal and Scientific Use Regulations).

Producers of mbanje will be licensed by the Minister. Some farmers bemoaned the high charges for the production licences.

They said the crop will end up being produced by corporates. The licence costs $50 000. – state media

ZANU PF leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday ordered the police to descend heavily on reckless drivers as he consoled families that lost relatives when a Chawasarira bus collided head-on with a commuter omnibus at the 152km peg along the Harare-Bulawayo highway on Thursday morning.

The accident killed 13 people on the spot and left 23 others injured.

Tragedy struck near Muzvezve River Bridge, about 10km outside Kadoma City at around 9am when the kombi, which was on its way from Empress Mine, encroached into the lane of the oncoming bus.

In a statement, Mnangagwa said: “The death of 13 commuters in a traffic accident near Kadoma yesterday has once again highlighted the needless loss of precious lives on our roads through negligent driving. That so many lives continue to be lost repeatedly suggests growing indiscipline on our roads.

“A robust response by way of enforcement of traffic rules is thus required. All transport operators must respect life and limb by ensuring that their vehicles are roadworthy and that their drivers exercise maximum caution on the road.”

Mnangagwa urged Zimbabweans to support and stand by the bereaved families.

He said Government will assist the families by meeting all funeral and burial expenses.

“On behalf of the party, zanu-pf, and Government and on my own behalf, I wish to express my heartfelt condolences to families which have lost their loved ones in this bloody accident. In the same vein, I wish speedy recovery to all those injured in the same accident,” he said.

“While the exact circumstance of the accident are being investigated, Government will, with immediate effect, step in to assist bereaved families in ways set out in our policy on such disasters.”

Mnangagwa urged the police to be tough on negligent drivers.-state media