Media Statement|The South African Government has noted the decision of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe, handed down today, 24 August 2018, in the case brought by the MDC Alliance in which the results of the elections held on 30 July 2018 were challenged. The court has validated the results as released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on 02 August 2018.

The South African Government urges all those involved in the court case, in particular the applicants and the respondents, to accept the decision of the court. It is important, going forward, hat all parties work towards lasting peace, unity and prosperity in Zimbabwe.

President Ramaphosa has congratulated President Emerson Mnangagwa, the winner of the elections as confirmed by the Supreme Court, and has recommitted South Africa’s readiness to work with the Government of Zimbabwe in the pursuit of closer political, cultural, economic and trade ties for the mutual benefit of the peoples of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

ISSUED BY THE PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

Inserted by Khusela Diko, Spokesperson

Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan will receive a state funeral and burial in Ghana on September 13, the Ghanaian president said on Friday, calling it “a major event for our country”.

The announcement was made by President Nana Akufo-Addo following a meeting with Annan’s family in the capital Accra.

Annan, a Ghanaian national and Nobel peace laureate, died on August 18 at the age of 80 after a short illness.

“Kofi Annan was one of the most illustrious people of this generation. He was like an elderly brother,” Akufo-Addo said.

“It’s going to be a major event for our country… I expect many leaders to be present,” he said, adding that Annan will be buried in Accra’s new military cemetery.

Born in Kumasi, the capital city of Ghana’s Ashanti region, Annan devoted four decades of his working life to the UN and was the first chief from sub-Saharan Africa.

A career diplomat, he projected quiet charisma and was widely credited for raising the world body’s profile in global politics during his two terms as head of the UN from 1997 to 2006.

Following Annan’s death in Switzerland, where he lived not far from the UN European headquarters in Geneva, Akufo-Addo announced a week of mourning for “one of our greatest compatriots”.

Annan was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, as the world was reeling from the September 11 attacks in the United States, jointly with the UN “for their work for a better organised and more peaceful world”.

Another Nobel laureate, retired South African archbishop Desmond Tutu, described Annan as “an outstanding human being who represented our continent and the world with enormous graciousness, integrity and distinction”.

The first chief to rise from within the organisation’s ranks, Annan left the post as one of the most popular UN leaders ever, and was considered a “diplomatic rock star” in international diplomatic circles.

After ending his second term as chief, he kept up his diplomatic work, taking high-profile mediation roles in Kenya and in Syria, and more recently leading an advisory commission in Myanmar on the crisis in Rakhine state.

He enjoyed some success in ending post-election turmoil in Kenya in 2007, and the two main players in that crisis, former president Mwai Kibaki and his opposition rival Raila Odinga celebrated his efforts this week.

Annan’s death was met with an outpouring of tributes from world leaders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed his “wisdom and courage”, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel celebrated the “exceptional statesman in the service of the global community”.

Former US president Barack Obama said Annan “embodied the mission of the United Nations like few others”.

Current UN chief Antonio Guterres described his predecessor as “a guiding force for good”. “In many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations,” he said.

The UN high commissioner for human rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein described him as a “friend to thousands and a leader of millions”.

“Kofi was humanity’s best example, the epitome of human decency and grace. In a world now filled with leaders who are anything but that, our loss, the world’s loss becomes even more painful.”

– AFP

By Paul Nyathi|Latest information from ZEC Commissioner Dr Qhubani Moyo’s house in Bulawayo where gunshots were heard on Friday evening indicates (as claimed) that the case may have been a suicide attempt by a police detail guarding his home.

Moyo revealed this in a follow up social media post after stating that gun shots were heard at his house before a police detail was found in a pool of blood.

Initial indications were that the officer died from the shooting incident. Latest details however indicate that the officer is still alive in hospital.

“Now at home and have established that gunshots were from a police officer who shot himself.In bad shape but alive in hospital,” wrote Moyo.

ZimEye.com efforts to get a comment from police in Bulawayo have not been successful as officers claim that the matter is still being investigated.

PRESIDENT-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa will be sworn into office on Sunday at the National Sports Stadium in Harare in line with the law after the Constitutional Court dismissed MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa’s presidential challenge on Friday.

Mnangagwa was declared winner of the elections by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission with a revised 50.67% percentage of votes against Chamisa’s 44.3%.

However, Chamisa disputed the results and approached the ConCourt to determine his case.

Chief Justice Luke Malaba, sitting with eight other Constitutional Court judges, dismissed the case and declared Mnangagwa the legitimate President of Zimbabwe.

In an interview with state media
On Friday, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said Mnangagwa will be inaugurated within two days after the court’s ruling.

“The constitution says the inauguration should be held in 48 hours. So the judgement was delivered around 4PM, which means by 4PM on Sunday that (inauguration) process must be complete. I think the programme is being made to ensure that by 4PM we are through,” said Minister Ziyambi. He said Government departments have started preparing for the swearing-in ceremony.

“The relevant departments, the Foreign Affairs Ministry is already busy contacting the foreign dignitaries we had previously invited so that on Sunday the process must be completed,” he said.

Meanwhile, Zanu-PF party hailed the Constitutional Court’s declaration of Mnangagwa as the winner of the July 30 presidential polls. The party’s national secretary for information and publicity, Cde Simon Khaya Moyo, said they were elated by the judgment while calling for peace.

“Following the epoch making unanimous verdict by the Constitutional Court declaring unequivocally that, the winner of the Presidential election held on 30 July 2018 is President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, the revolutionary party Zanu-PF and its entire membership across the country and in the Diaspora is elated with superlative geniality,” said Cde Khaya Moyo.

“The people spoke during the recently held harmonised elections and now the ConCourt’s full bench, after a transparent legal process televised live, has endorsed the people’s will. The moment of truth is upon us, celebrations are beckoning, peace must prevail, we must embrace each other, it has been worth the democratic effort, we are a proud nation and real work now begins. We must deliver and live by our party’s motto ‘Unity, Peace and Development.’ Together we cannot fail.

State Media

By Paul Nyathi|The Thokozani Khupe led MDC-T Deputy President Obert Gutu has appeared celebrating loss at the Constitutional Court by MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa on Friday.

In a Twitter message which has attracted a huge barrage of condemnation by mostly MDC Alliance supporters, Gutu without mentioning names declares in a celebratory tone that it is not as easy to get into statehouse.

“You grab power through violence,chicanery and blackmail and you think you can land at State House through the same crooked means! Forget it!

Ku State House kure…lol.,” wrote Gutu.

Gutu led by Khupe split from the Chamisa led MDC early this year shortly after the death of founding MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai.

The splinter group accused Chamisa of unconstitutionally grabbing power from Khupe who was Co-Deputy President with Chamisa.

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Press Statement|Today, Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court declared Emmerson D. Mnangagwa the winner of the election and Zimbabwe’s next President and dismissed MDC Alliance’s challenge of the July 30 presidential election results. The United States urges all parties to respect the Zimbabwean constitution and the rule of law.

The IRI-NDI Zimbabwe International Electoral Observation Mission reported “several improvements to the electoral process compared to Zimbabwe’s past elections, though equally important problems gave rise to deep concerns that the process thus far has not made the mark.” Further reforms are necessary to meet standards Zimbabweans expect and deserve and which reflect regional and international best practices for democratic elections.

The United States remains concerned over politically motivated human rights violations and abuses, and acts of post-electoral retribution in Zimbabwe. Violence and unlawful activity should not be part of the political process, and those responsible for such transgressions must be held accountable. Human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of expression and association, must be respected, and victims and witnesses of human rights violations and abuses deserve protection under the law.

The United States encourages the Government of Zimbabwe to hold substantive discussions with all stakeholders and implement electoral and broader political and economic reforms. We stand ready to continue our dialogue with Zimbabwe’s political, economic, and civil society leaders to foster inclusive democratic governance for the betterment of all citizens.

Heather Nauert
Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC

August 24, 2018

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Good afternoon Zimbabweans. I am going to read out the DECLARATION.

We, who represent the majority members of the Zimbabwe diaspora numbering: 5,653,400 people, do declare as follows:

That we have valid reasons to prove to the world that the Zimbabwean nation, its government, and its courts have been captured by electoral fraud of a very serious magnitude and sophistication that has violently and criminally robbed the MDC Alliance and the majority of Zimbabweans of their legitimate vote.

We have undeniable evidence and proof to avail that Nelson Chamisa’s party on the 30th July 2018, won the popular vote by a wide majority against Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Zanu PF.

We further have reason and evidence to show that Nelson Chamisa’s party the MDC Alliance on the 30th July 2018, won the elections by a majority, nationally.

That we have reason and proof to show that at local government level that Nelson Chamisa on the 30th July 2018, won the elections by a majority nationally.

That we have reasons to show that there is a horrific state capture, and one of a very serious and a criminal nature perpetrated by ZANU PF and their counterparts in the army and the police and we hereby invoke criminal law proceedings at a local and international level. We further invoke electoral laws as provided by the Zimbabwe Constitution at national level. The Constitution is the only charter that provide the citizens’ fundamental rights and obligations and we are hereby exercising those rights which must be respected as provided for by law.

We invoke and engage SADC and African Union (AU) protocols on elections who are the legal custodians and responsible bodies of these protocols in any electoral challenges.

Above all this, we invoke public interest, and human morals – public interest to the Zimbabwean people locally and also as a matter of public interest to the international community;

We declare that as is reflected, there is no government in Zimbabwe, either awaiting or constituted in Zimbabwe at the present moment. We show cause with undeniable evidence that there is a criminal regime at present acting with impunity as state actors and harassing innocent citizens who are denied their fundamental rights as citizens to air their grievances . We also want to show cause why we believe that there is a terrorist organisation called ZANU PF running Zimbabwe illegitimately under military dictatorship since the ouster of the former president Robert Mugabe in a coup de tat in November 2017 . The same have of late captured the executive and interfered with the judiciary matters i.e courts of Zimbabwe. Their heavy handedness is in dealing with the voices of dissent cannot be ignored by the international community.

This is the group which began killing people on Wednesday the 1st August 2018, and have continued to terrorise our communities and at worst denying any responsibility of their actions but instead blaming the opposition.The list of continued terrorism is hereby noted.

We declare that ZANU PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa by declaring himself Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court Judge who will rule and rule while people who oppose him continue suffering under his scorched earth policies, has revealed that he possesses extra judicial powers to interfere with judicial verdicts, as was seen with the Tendai Biti case for public violence. We further deplore the actions of the Zambian gvt to ignore a court order and this is nevertheless a surprising trend in African politics that the governments meddle in judicial verdicts.

As a result of this sham election and massive electoral theft by ZANU-PF, facts are more than clear that Emmerson Mnangagwa has not only violated the Constitution of Zimbabwe but he is in blatant disregard and flagrant breach of the citizens’ fundamental rights and his contempt of court displays the kind of tyranny that has gripped the nation as whole.

We declare that Zimbabwe has fallen into the abyss of a failed and pariah state and we urge the international community not to pay lip service to the problems affecting our country but action must be taken to bring those responsible for the human rights abuses and those defying the rule of law to be identified and punished. It is unfortunate that our country Zimbabwe has fallen prey to a person and a party that is in perpetual violation of the constitution and frustrating the wishes of the majority.

This declaration is backed by millions of Zimbabweans who are in the diaspora and eager to see change and have their voices heard backed by millions who are suffering locally.

This declaration is made by the nearly 6 million Zimbabweans who are based in the diaspora who are not necessarily affiliated to Nelson Chamisa(many who are Emmerson Mnangagwa’s own supporters), but are Zimbabweans acting on legal, constitutional, moral and public interest grounds.

This declaration is made today on the 11th August 2018.

SIGNED BY:

Paul Nyathi|MDC Alliance President Nelson Chamisa has sent a message of hope to Zimbabweans following the shock Constitutional Court ruling on Friday.

The court ruled that Chamisa had failed to provide evidence that the July 30 presidential election was rigged against him.

Wrote Chamisa on his Twitter page on Friday evening.

“I hear your cries and feel your pain. I know you feel cheated, but take heart — your victory is not lost. Your will is sacred and we’ll listen to you on the path of peace and course of action to be taken to rescue our beautiful Zimbabwe from the jaws of poverty, corruption and dishonesty.”

EU Media Statement|Today, Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court dismissed the petition filed by opposition leader Nelson Chamisa challenging the results of the 30 July presidential election, thereby confirming Emmerson D. Mnangagwa as the winner of the poll.

It is important that everyone respects the Zimbabwean Constitution and the rule of law. Acknowledging the verdict of Zimbabwe’s highest court, all stakeholders should call for calm and restraint in both victory and defeat.

The recent increase in politically motivated human rights violations, including some acts of post-electoral retribution, is unacceptable. All cases need to be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice. The fundamental rights of all citizens need to be respected and the physical integrity and safety of the victims and witnesses protected.

The electoral process revealed improvements as well as challenges. A truly inclusive approach is the key to designing and implementing reforms that stand the test of time. It is important that the new government engages all stakeholders in substantive discussions on the necessary reforms, including on further electoral reforms.

The Heads of Mission stand ready to continue to work with Zimbabwe to foster democracy to the benefit of all its citizens.

EU

AN off-duty soldier from the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA)’s elite Special Air Service (SAS) unit last week sparked a major security scare at the Heroes’ Acre after he tried to smuggle a loaded Sig Sauer P226 Browning High Power handgun before he was foiled by alert security details.

President-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa officiated at the annual event.

The incident took place shortly before Mnangagwa arrived at the Heroes’ Acre for the annual Heroes’ Day commemorations.

Security staff manning final entry point at the national shrine detected the gun lodged inside the man’s clothes and immediately arrested him and took him into custody at Harare Central Police Station.

According to intelligence sources, state security agents, in co-ordination with police officers, effected the arrest, but a few hours later, officers from the British-modelled army’s SAS unit whisked him away from formal police custody and he is now believed to be under military detention at Inkomo Barracks in Harare.

“A loaded handgun was detected at a standard security screening point and caused a major security scare at the Heroes’ Acre. It was later discovered that the man was a member of the SAS. This was after he had been taken to Harare Central Police Station. People from that army unit then came in the evening and took him away from police custody and that is why you have not seen him appearing in court,” a security source close to proceedings said.

“Currently, no one knows what then happened to him. It could be that he may face internal army disciplinary measures or they have set him free altogether. But the effect of that incident was that the whole programme at the shrine had to be hurried and some items on the programme were omitted for security reasons. If you noticed, the president, after his speech, only went to pay respects to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and left the place without the customary visits to graves of some iconic heroes like Joshua Nkomo. It was deemed too risky for him to spend more time at the shrine,” the source said.

Another source from the military said: “Since the Bulawayo incident (where Mnangagwa narrowly survived a grenade attack at a rally ahead of the July 30 general elections) guns are tightly controlled and those in the army particularly know this. We wonder why he went there with a gun.”

National police spokesperson Charity Charamba said she was not aware of the arrest.

“I am not aware of that, you may have to check with the army,” she said.

ZNA spokesperson Overson Mugwisi demanded written questions which he did not respond to.

The incident has heightened the security fears around Mnangagwa which became self-evident since the grenade attack. For instance, on the Defence Forces Day commemorations, 24 hours after Heroes’ Day, Mnangagwa turned up at the National Sports Stadium with over 40 plain clothed security officers who completely surrounded his vehicle, itself a recently imported armour-plated and blast-proof Mercedes-Benz S-Class Pullman sedan, complete with all safety features to protect the occupants from any damage.

Mnangagwa shocked the crowd as he avoided walking on the red carpet which had been rolled out for him, preferring to walk on grass.

This comes amid grave infighting within security agencies and escalating political brinkmanship between Mnangagwa and his highly ambitious deputy, Constantino Chiwenga, due to unresolved leadership issues within Zanu PF and over the control of levers of state power.

The Independent has previously reported on the tensions between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga, and also among security forces.

An equivalent of the Unite States marine regiment, the SAS is a highly skilled special forces unit of the army, which undertakes a number of roles including covert investigation, counter-terrorism, direct action and hostage taking and hostage rescue.

It is the most highly trained military unit with cutting-edge expertise in weapon use, parachuting, sky diving and hijack reversal.

Independent

The MDC Alliance’s South African legal team have described Zimbabwe’s legal system as almost ‘xenophobic’ saying the legal embargo the minister of Justice Ziyambi Ziyambi triggered was against the letter and spirit of regional integration as well the tenets of pan-Africanism.

Speaking to South Africa’s eNCA news media today, Advocate Dali Mpofu and Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, who formed part of Chamisa’s legal team in a case which the plantiff challenged the presidential poll results said they are taking the matter to the South African government and SADC for a unfair treatment.

“We have made an appeal to our law bodies in South Africa to take this matter up; we are going to make an appeal to the South African government to take it up, SADC. The buzz word in SADC meetings is’ regional integration’, regional integration, how can you have regional integration if you are going to disallow people from practicing, how can you have regional integration if you are going to talk about permits, when Zimbabweans are here?

“Now you want to introduce almost a xenophobic legal practitioners appearance regime, we can’t do that we are one,” said Mpofu.

Mpofu said the judiciary denied Chamisa’s right to a fair and personal legal representation choice.

“He was denied a fundamental right of human beings to be represented in court by council of their choice.”

Mpofu further said he did not see logic in government denying them a green light saying a good number of Zimbabwean lawyers received training in South Africa and some are operating in South Africa.

Mpofu lashed at the irony of the new dispensation saying it signifies the former President Robert Mugabe who ruled with a heavy fist for a record of 37 years.

“The so called the new dawn they say they have there looks like it’s also a fake new dawn,” he said. “I spoke to minister Chinamasa outside the court he was boasting that he is the one who put in this law to restrict our appearance.”

Mpofu’ colleague, Ngcukaitobi, also added that government’s change of goal posts on what they required to in order to participate in court reflected that they were played a political game.

“The reasons kept shifting. Original we were told that we need permission of the law society of Zimbabwe we ultimately got the permission from the law society of Zimbabwe, we were then told that we had to submit some certificates, degree certificates and other documentation from local universities and local bars, we then complied with that.

“The ultimate reason which was communicated to us literal with an hour before the start of the court, was that South Africa is not a reciprocate country with Zimbabwe,” he said.

“The minister completely conflates the requirements in section 7. Under section 7 of the legal practitioners act of Zimbabwe if you are a reciprocating country you have automatic rights of appearance in the Zimbabwean courts.”

In response, Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi denied that the government refused to issue permits saying there was no proof and they can take the matter wherever they want.

“I don’t know who denied them, I don’t even know that. There was no letter which was written, can they show the proof,” he said.

AFP

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ZimEye brings our value readers and viewers LIVE updates from the Constitutional Court where the (Nelson Chamisa vs Mnangagwa/Chigumba) verdict is about to be announced.

PLEASE NOTE – this update is an assortment of both ZimEye and state media (ZBC) coverage.

– REFRESH THIS PAGE FOR UPDATES.

ZimEye is receiving sad news that Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Senegal, Trudy Stevenson has died.

Ambassador Stevenson was found dead at her official residence in Dakar, just a day after she tweeted condolence messages to the late former UN chief Koffi Anan.

Fuller details on her death were unclear at the time of publishing. – THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY – REFRESH THIS PAGE FOR THE UPDATES

WATCH: The LIVE Drama Outside Court | WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING ON INSIDE JUSTICE MALABA’S OFFICE? https://t.co/PXvjo5TRBs

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) August 24, 2018

The verdict for the Chamisa vs Mnanaggwa/ZEC/Chigumba case has been delayed by another hour.

The verdict has been delayed; the court will now sit at 3pm, announced the court clerk.

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ZimEye brings our value readers and viewers LIVE updates from the Constitutional Court where the (Nelson Chamisa vs Mnangagwa/Chigumba) verdict is about to be announced.

PLEASE NOTE – this update is an assortment of both ZimEye and state media (ZBC) coverage.

– REFRESH THIS PAGE FOR UPDATES.

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A SEX-STARVED Mushumbi woman has been arraigned before Guruve magistrate Artwel Sanyatwe facing charges of having sex with a minor.

Faina Bible of Kawanza village under Chief Chitsungo in Mushumbi was not asked to plead to the charge of contravening section 70 of the Criminal Codification Act chapter 9:23.

According to court papers, sometime in January this year, Bible allegedly proposed love to a 14-year-old Form 1 pupil, but the latter turned her down.

The accused reportedly hatched a plan to lure the boy using snacks sometime in February and the boy agreed to Bible’s proposal. The two had unprotected sex several times until the accused fell pregnant.

After the pregnancy, the boy’s parents reported the matter to the police, leading to Bible’s arrest. The matter was remanded to 29 August. Spiwe Makarichi represented the State.

In a related case, Aleck Maruva (20) from Stockburry Farm in Mvurwi appeared before a Guruve magistrate on the charge of having sexual intercourse with a 14- year-old girl on several occasions.

The matter came to light when the girl eloped to Maruva, leading to his arrest.

The matter was remanded to August 31 for trial.

NewsDay

STATEMENT: There is a fake article circulating Friday morning claiming that vice president Constantino Chiwenga last night visited the Chief Justice Luke Malaba. We wish to state that no such article was ever published on the ZimEye website or any of its portals. We ask members of the public not to circulate these falsehoods.

Kindly.

By Paul Nyathi|Former President Robert Mugabe’s son Chatunga Bellermine has scoffed at suggestions by ZANU PF alligned War Veterans that his father invited America to impose economic sanctions on rival Emmerson Mnangagwa led government.

Writing on social media, Chatunga described the suggestion as the biggest joke ever claiming that his father remains patriotic to the country despite being forced to quit his position in a soft coup in November last year.

“I don’t comment on politics usually because thats not my field but l find it very funny and very laughable some people saying our Father begged for sanctions to be imposed on Zimbabwe,” said Chatunga.

“Congratulations that is the most biggest joke of the year it deserves an award.

“When it comes to our Father he loves his country and he has continued to say he will remain in the country because he is a patriot person and everyone knows it.

“A great Pan Africanist who’s history doesn’t need to be explained. So you can’t alleged President Robert Mugabe asked for sanctions from the west thats hilarious.”

THE Zanu-PF Youth League has said it supports a call by the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) to have Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare renamed.

The war veterans on Tuesday said the former President was no longer fit to have the airport named after him because the name Robert Gabriel Mugabe will be remembered for a leader who gave up his flock to ravens as “he is a last-minute traitor”.

They said they would soon submit a petition to Government over the matter.

In an interview, the Zanu PF Youth League secretary, Cde Pupurai Togarepi, said they are rallying their full support behind the decision of their elders.

“The airport had a name before it was named Robert Mugabe and when it suited us, we changed it. In the same vein it is our prerogative as a nation to rename the same airport as we wish,” he said.

“Zimbabwe is not Robert Mugabe’s kingdom but belongs to Zimbabweans, therefore we support the decision made by our elders without any hesitation or regrets.”

Cde Togarepi said if the Government agrees to the name-change, they would prefer a name that promotes the image of Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, the Children of Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association said they shared the same sentiments with their parents.

“Mugabe betrayed the struggle and that airport is the tourism face of Zimbabwe. Having it named after the name of a traitor is unacceptable.

“We strongly feel that should have been done as soon as he chose to betray the struggle,” said CZNLWVA secretary general Cde John Muchenje.

“Mugabe and family can’t hold Zimbabwe to ransom. They don’t have title deeds of the country, hence we need to take the nation further without the shadows of people who let us down hovering around us.”

The airport, formerly Harare International Airport, was renamed after the former President following recommendations by the then Zanu-PF Youth League led by Kudzanayi Chipanga.

The name was changed in November last year, a week before Mr Mugabe’s resignation. — State Media

A TOP detective who allegedly approached Bulawayo businessman Lovemore Sibanda so that he could fraudulently tender his registered mining company documents to facilitate the release of 14 kilogrammes of gold kept at Plumtree Police Station as an exhibit through a court order, appeared in court yesterday.

The gold, which is part of the 28kg worth about $1 million intercepted from a suspect who was trying to smuggle it into Botswana through the Plumtree Border Post, belongs to one Jefat Chaganda.

Detective Assistant Inspector Ladislous Tinacho (50), who is in charge of the ZRP Minerals and Border Control Unit in Plumtree, allegedly linked Chaganda to Sibanda who then agreed to use his Qalo Syndicate Mine documents purporting to be the owner of the gold before securing a court order facilitating the release of 14kg of the gold worth $358 000.

Det Asst Insp Tinacho was given a $5 000 kickback for his efforts.

The gold, which was later sold at Fidelity Printers and Refiners, was seized by police while being smuggled to Botswana through Plumtree Border. It was subsequently taken to the police station where it was kept as an exhibit.

Det Asst Insp Tinacho yesterday appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Sithembiso Ndlovu facing a charge of defeating or obstructing the course of justice. He was remanded in custody to September 3.

Prosecuting, Chief Public Prosecutor Ms Nonhlanhla Ndlovu said on July 7 this year at Plumtree Police Station, gold weighing 28kg and worth $970 000 was stolen from the armoury through an act of unlawful entry.

The gold was later intercepted by police at One-Stop Shop leading to the arrest of Chaganda. He was found in unlawful possession of part of the stolen gold weighing 14 kg.

Chaganda was taken to court and during his trial, representations were made to the court that through Qalo Syndicate, he was the purported owner of the gold, which was the subject of the matter.

Det Asst Insp Tinacho assisted Chaganda to secure a lawyer. He also connected him to Sibanda whom he connived with and fraudulently used Qalo Syndicate documents to facilitate the release of the 14kg of gold. Det Asst Insp Tinacho was given $5 000 as a kickback.

The court heard that Chaganda was discharged at the close of the State case and the magistrate ordered the release of the gold.

“Soon after the gold was released through a court order, Chaganda took the mineral to Fidelity Printers and Refiners where it was bought for $358 000. Det Asst Insp Tinacho was given $5 000 as a kickback,” said Ms Ndlovu.

Sibanda was given $30 000 for the use of his mine documents while Chaganda and his accomplice shared the remainder.

“By allowing such misrepresentations to be made before the court, the accused person prejudiced the trial proceedings, which resulted in the release of the gold into his possession,” said the prosecutor.

Meanwhile, Sibanda’s application for bail pending trial was held in camera. He was remanded to September 24 and it could not be established whether he was granted bail or not.

The Officer-in-Charge of Plumtree Police Station, Inspector Ginger Vhiyano and six of his subordinates have since appeared in court in connection with the matter.

They were all remanded in custody to September 3 by Plumtree resident magistrate, Miss Sharon Rosemani. The seven allegedly hatched a plan to steal the gold and two FN rifles.

According to court papers, detectives from the Minerals and Border Control Unit arrested a suspect who was trying to smuggle 28 kilogrammes of gold through the Plumtree Border Post into Botswana.

The seven then took the gold as an exhibit and locked it at the police station’s armoury for safekeeping.

The offence came to light on July 15 when Chief Inspector Mangena, who was reporting for duty, noticed that two FN rifles which were booked in the charge office were not physically there in the armoury.

State media

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga says the country’s focus should now move from political sloganeering to rebuilding the economy.

He was speaking at Greenfields Farm in Chakari on the occasion of a tour of a 350 hectare wheat field where he earlier in the year launched the command wheat programme for 2018.

The farm is owned by Mr Colleen Gura.

Vice President Chiwenga, who is on a national crop assessment tour, said time for politicking is over as focus should now be on rebuilding the national economy through productivity in various sectors including agriculture.

Mashonaland West Provincial Crop and Livestock Officer, Edna Shambare implored the government to comprehensively provide for command agriculture programmes through provision of the necessary mechanical farming equipment.

Prior to touring Greenfields Farm, Vice President Chiwenga had visited Nyathi Imhenyu Farm in Banket in the company of the Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, Retired Air Chief Marshall Perance Shiri and other senior government officials. – state media

Seven people died early this morning and eight others were seriously injured when two buses side-swiped at the 98 km peg along the Harare-Masvingo highway near Pimbi River.

In a statement, ZRP Spokesperson, Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed the accident, saying the accident involved two buses both belonging to Jarax Bus Company which were travelling in opposite directions.

Senior Assistant Commissioner Charamba said the driver of the bus which was travelling from Masvingo to Harare encroached into the lane of the oncoming bus, resulting in a side-swipe before veering off the road and overturning.

She said the injured were taken ferried to Chivhu General Hospital for treatment, while the bodies of the deceased were also taken to Chivhu Hospital mortuary.

Senior Assistant Commissioner Charamba urged drivers to avoid travelling during the night and avoid straddling the centre line of the road. – state media

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The Zimbabwe Republic Police has denied mounting guard for ZANU PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa’s reported inauguration. Below was their statement:

We dismiss this report, whatever the outcome of the crt process the ZRP always deploys for security reasons. It is police responsibility to maintain law and order. Any high profile case of this nature & threats that have been made b4 calls for security measures to be in place.

— Zimbabwe Republic Police (@PoliceZimbabwe) August 23, 2018

Since as far back as Friday, customers have been having problems buying ZESA (electricity) tokens. Regardless of the platform, it seems buying a token is not possible right now.

Internally, a colleague initially tried to purchase their electricity using EcoCash as far back as Monday but his attempts were futile. Yesterday, he resorted to buying using Paynow and after getting a voucher, he still couldn’t redeem the token.

After failing to redeem the token, Paynow referred our colleague to Powertel as they were the ones facing challenges with their system. Powertel’s response was to encourage him to keep trying. This is crazy because to keep trying to redeem the voucher you have to text at a cost of 5c per text.

EcoCash has released a statement and they are pointing the finger at ZETDC(Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company) and ZESA:

Dear Valued Customer

We apologise for service disruptions you may be experiencing in trying to purchase tokens. The ZESA token purchase system is currently down and ZETDC team are working to resolve the technical challenge. We sincerely regret any inconvenience this may have caused you and we will inform you as soon as normal service is restored.

There will be those who will point fingers at EcoCash as they have had a number of disturbances over the past few months but in this case, the blame lies elsewhere. It seems.

At the time of writing were yet to reach Mr Fullard Gwasira – the Group Stakeholder Relations Manager at ZESA Holdings- who handles PR.

We are not sure when the system challenges will be resolved but it would be wise to steer clear from trying to purchase ZESA tokens until the challenges are actually dealt with.

Techzim

Chitungwiza and Harare residents have blasted their local authorities for allowing mushrooming of Zanu PF-linked illegal settlements on wetlands, saying this was destroying the environment.

Combined Manyame and Chitungwiza Residents’ Association director Marvellous Kumalo said they had raised the issue with council, but no action was taken to protect wetlands, which have been under attack for a long time, with no remedy insight.

“Council has been promising to evict those people who have invaded a wetland adjacent to its head offices in Zengeza. We suspect that this is being allowed due to the political affiliation of the invaders as council seems reluctant to act,” Kumalo alleged.

“This is not the first time that the piece of land in question has been invaded and we realise that council has a tendency of not acting on time. As a country, we are failing to protect wetlands, largely due to political interference.”

The land in question, according to council records, was once allocated to United We Stand Housing Co-operative owned by Zanu PF activist, Fredrick Mabamba, before council withdrew it after government had directed that the wetland be protected.

Although council spokesperson Lovemore Meya said he could not comment on the matter as he was away in Bulawayo, sources at Chitungwiza council said the local authority has been failing to evict the invaders for fear of a backlash from Zanu PF.

“It is a difficult matter to deal with. Remember we have a commission run by Zanu PF members and they can’t act on these people who are party activists,” a source said. The commission running Chitungwiza is headed by former mayor and top Zanu PF official, Joseph Macheka and the district administrator.

In Harare, council has now resorted to getting a court order to evict the invaders.

“We are proceeding through an urgent chamber application to get an eviction order,” council spokesperson Michael Chideme said.

In Harare, the wetland along Bulawayo Road was among those that have been invaded by Zanu PF youths and when council attempted to evict them, it faced a legal challenge.

Newsday

Media Statement By Crisis In Zimbabwe Coalition|August 22, 2018, Zimbabwe’s constitutional court will preside over a landmark case in which MDC Alliance President; Nelson Chamisa is seeking nullification of the July 30 elections whose outcome was in favour of Zanu PF’s Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The July 30 elections were marred by several irregularities as witnessed by events that obtained pre and post the election period.

Chief among the irregularities included the controversy around the printing, storage and transportation of the ballot papers as well as the issue of the voters’ roll.

It has to be noted that Zimbabwe’s Electoral Court set before contestants were issued with the voters’ roll and this was against recommendations by regional missions to the 2013 Zimbabwean elections while logistics around the printing and distribution of ballot papers remained a top secret.

This came at a time there was an apparently unholy alliance between the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and Zanu PF.

The Elections Logistics Committee, which is tasked with the running of elections, remained a top secret as well amid allegations that it was staffed with Zanu PF sympathizers and members of the military.

In the run up to the elections, it became crystal clear that transparency and accountability were largely lacking on the part of ZEC which had apparently been militarized following the November 2017 coup which deposed former President, Robert Mugabe.

Other irregularities prior to the July 30 elections included the issue of soldiers as well as traditional leaders being deployed to campaign for Zanu (PF) in the rural areas against the dictates of the country’s supreme law.

There was also an attempt to steal postal votes and this was unearthed at Rose Camp police station in Bulawayo on July 12, 208 when it was exposed that members of the police force were being made to vote under the watchful eye of their superiors who were directing them to vote for Zanu (PF).

At that time, the ZEC Acting Chief Elections Officer, Utoile Silaigwana connived with the state media and flatly refused that there was postal voting taking place.

The State media, and in particular The Herald, would go on to pull down the story from their website after the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) confirmed that indeed postal voting had taken place.

During the pre-election period, vote buying and intimidation were quite rampant as well while the State media operated as more of a Zanu PF mouthpiece against the opposition. A number of top leaders in ZANU PF publicly intimated that the military would not respect any electoral outcome that was not in favour of the ruling party.

On voting day, several bogus polling stations were exposed while in some areas, opposition election agents were threatened and chased away from polling stations. There were alarming cases of assisted voters with Masvingo Province in particular recording very high numbers.

A number of ZANU PF activists were also seen milling around polling stations recording details of those who had voted.

In the Gokwe-Chireya area, a number of traditional leaders either stood as candidates of the ruling party or were chief election agents in direct contravention of the Traditional Leaders Act

At some of polling stations around the country, the number of people who voted was more than the number of people who had registered to vote. A video of a truck that had delivered ballot papers to a polling station in Mtawatawa, Mashonaland East province also went viral on social media.

The transmission, counting and declaration of results was a serious cause for concern with ZEC admitting data capture errors. This in itself is a pointer that ZEC was not prepared to run a credible election and lacked the necessary expertise as the tallying of votes is marred by inaccuracies

Going Forward

In as much as ordinary Zimbabweans are pinning their hopes on the constitutional court application, there are genuine fears among the ordinary citizens.

The fears among ordinary Zimbabweans, (captured through snap surveys) are premised on the following

1. That the current Zanu PF is a military junta- It is a fact that Mnangagwa came into power following a military coup in November 2017 which was disguised as ‘Operation Restore Legacy’. The need to entrench political power resulted in the militarization of key state institutions including ZEC.

2. That the appointment of the Chief Justice is the preserve of the president who in this case is a respondent or interested party in an Electoral Dispute presided over by the same appointee and this defeats the principle of separation of powers and compromises the independence of the judiciary. President Mnangagwa (then as Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs) pushed for the Amendment of the Constitution (Constitution Amendment Bill No.1 of 2017) to further entrench presidential powers in the appointment of the Chief Justice.

3. The recent court ruling against calls for more players to broadcast and stream live the Constitutional Court case goes against media plurality and principles of transparency and accountability to the general citizenry. This is reminiscent of the outcome of the 6 major court cases that had implications on the elections and were dismissed by the same court soon after the Proclamation of the Election Date in June 2018. Such cases included compelling ZEC to be transparent and accountable, release of the voters roll, Diaspora voting and the subjection of ZEC to the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs despite the constitution giving it full independence

4. Mnangagwa will shoot for power – This was revealed by Zanu PF’s Minister for Masvingo State province, Josiah Hungwe May 2018. In December 2016, Hungwe had openly stated that Zanu PF will hire the army to safeguard their stay in power. And in December 2017, Mnangagwa’s Special Advisor, Christopher Mutsvangwa publicly announced that Zanu PF will be campaigning with the assistance of the army. Events that obtained on August 1, 2018 when 7 people were shot by the military in Harare served as clear testimony to Hungwe’s sentiments that Mnangagwa will shoot for power. It became quite apparent that after the sham polls of July 30, 2018 the army was ready to silence any dissenting voices with the bullet. After the army was unleashed to shoot civilians in the capital, there was unwarranted arrest of opposition leaders and supporters while civil society leaders were being persecuted and had to flee for safety

5. That the army stands ready to block opposition rule- The current Vice President, Constantine Chiwenga, who is apparently in control of the army at the moment (despite retiring from the army, he still operates his office at the King George VI Barracks in Harare), during his days as Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces stated on numerous occasions that the army will never allow the opposition to rule the country. His sentiments would be buttressed by other senior army and Zanu PF officials. In May 2018, Zanu PF’s Terrence Mukupe openly declared that even if the opposition wins in elections, the army would block their ascendancy to power.

6. Zanu PF’s interference with the judicial system- This was prevalent during Mugabe’s era and when Mnangagwa had made attempts to make Zimbabweans and the whole word believe that the country was in a new era, he confirmed our worst fears when he declared that he had to intervene to ensure that opposition leader, Tendai Biti was granted bail following his arrest on allegations of releasing election results. In states such as Zimbabwe, the judiciary is often controlled and manipulated to serve the narrow interests of the incumbent.

7. A number of election disputes have not been concluded including the case of the now late former Prime Minister and leader of the Opposition MDC T, Morgan Tsvangirai challenging the election of former President Robert Mugabe in 2002. This, in the eyes of the ordinary citizen further shutters the little shred of hope that the Judiciary is capable of delivering a justifiable outcome. There is genuine fear among ordinary regarding the apparent connection between the judiciary, ZEC and the Zanu PF.

CiZC Position:

As Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, we reiterate our position that the July 30, 2018 elections were marred by several irregularities, pre and post the election period and thus failed the credibility test. It is our view that the attempt at sanitizing the November 2017 coup through a shady electoral process has bred and perpetuated a state legitimacy crisis. We abhor the attempts by Zanu PF to force ordinary citizens into submission through arbitrary arrests, intimidation as well as the bullet. In our view the post Mugabe dispensation saw the rise of hardliners in the ruling party backed by the military who have shown little commitment to reforming our political space. In the interregnum Zimbabwe’s transition to democracy has regressed to the 2008 stalemate.

More importantly, we however would like to put it on record that the credibility of the July 30 elections as well as legitimacy of the next government would heavily rely on a credible and progressive outcome from the constitutional court process.

We are disturbed by reports of Zanu PF trying to stick to its old ways of influencing court processes and outcomes.

For and on Behalf of Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition

Tabani Moyo

Spokesperson

Zanu PF says it has received the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) petition to strip the naming of Harare’s airport after former president Robert Mugabe.

Party national chairperson, Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri said she is in support of the removal of the name as Mugabe’s behaviour speaks of a man who has turned against the ethos and values embodied in the Zanu PF party.

Muchinguri Kashiri said the war veterans are justified to feel betrayed by Mugabe and their petition is valid.

She also castigated the actions taken by Mugabe when he directed the harassment of war veterans in 2016.

“It is so disturbing to hear that Mugabe, whom we worked with for over 30 years, is the one who is now going the opposite way. If i knew that that Mugabe is of such character, I was not going to join the war. He made the innocent souls to die for nothing,” said Cde Muchinguri Kashiri.

Speaking at the same occasion, ZNLWVA Secretary General, Victor Matemadanda said apart from going ahead calling for the effecting of a name change of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport to another hero with sound war credentials, the war veterans want some farms taken from Mugabe since the law of the land clearly states that one man one farm.

“Mugabe is a sellout and he should not continue to benefit from the fruits of the land. We are going to take some farms he has. How can one person have more than 21 farms,” he said.

Muchinguri Kashiri also thanked the liberation war veterans for supporting President Emmerson Mnangagwa before, during and after the just ended harmonised elections.

ZBC

By Paul Nyathi|ZIMBABWEAN authorities have dropped charges against Munyaradzi Shoko, the leader of the Children of Zimbabwe War Veterans’ Association (COZWA), who was arrested for allegedly posting some offensive statements on Facebook against President-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Shoko, a known critic of Mnangagwa was arrested by Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers on Tuesday and charged with criminal nuisance as defined in section 46 as read with paragraph 2 (v) of the third schedule of the Criminal Law (Codification Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.

ZRP officers claimed that Shoko, who was represented by Moses Nkomo of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights posted some statements on Facebook between March and May 2018 criticising Mnangagwa and which read; “At one time he beat up his own biological mother, he was later suspected for killing his own family head-boy. He was pinpointed for being the brains behind Ndebele 1980s scum. His name is generally associated with evil and devilish deeds. Today he is pleading for ur vote. WHAT A SHAME!!!!!!!!.”

ZRP officers said Shoko’s statements were likely to create a nuisance and would interfere with the ordinary comfort, peace or quietness of the public.

But on Thursday 23 prosecutors dropped the criminal nuisance charges against Shoko together with the public violence charges, which they had pressed against the COZWA leader.

ZRP officers had charged Shoko with public violence as defined in section 36 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 for allegedly participating in protests staged in Harare early this month over delays in announcing the results of the harmonised elections held last month.

Prosecutors only pressed ahead with the assault charges, where they alleged that Shoko contravened section 89 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 after he allegedly assaulted Energy Mutodi, a ZANU PF member on 25 August 2017 at Holiday Inn Hotel in Harare.

However, Shoko was set free after the National Prosecuting Authority refused to put him on remand and instructed ZRP officers to proceed by way of summons if they intend to prosecute the COZWA leader.

Meanwhile, a Gweru Magistrate on Thursday granted free bail to Musa Mandirewa, a resident in the Midlands provincial capital, who was arrested on Tuesday 21 and charged with malicious damage to property as defined in section 140 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.

Prosecutors claimed that Mandirewa, who is represented by Jabulani Mhlanga of ZLHR, threw a stone at a vehicle owned by the Gweru City Council and damaged the vehicle’s rear windscreen during clashes which broke out between ZRP officers, municipal police and some informal traders.

Mandirewa returns to court on 11 September 2018 for trial.

Via ZLHR

The MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa has expressed hope that the Constitutional Court will deliver a judgment that justifies what he described as superb submissions from his legal team led by Advocate Thabani Mpofu.

Chamisa is challenging President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s victory who according to ZEC garnered 50.8 percent to the former’s 44.3 percent.

Posting on his micro blog twitter yesterday, Chamisa applauded his legal staff for the presentations made in the court yesterday.

“Praise be to God! Our esteemed Constitutional Court has just heard our solid case on the theft of the people’s vote. I congratulate our ‘A’ legal team led by Adv T.Mpofu for a superb job. The world now knows the truth. What remains is for justice to be done,” he said.

Advocate Mpofu also received extol from self exiled former cabinet minister professor Jonathan Moyo who described his submissions as ‘classy’ and ‘compelling’.

“Advocate Thabani Mpofu’s compelling submissions on how #ZEC manipulated the numbers, as not to require reopening the ballot boxes to establish the point, brings to memory the world’s four famously rigged elections in Haiti, Vietnam, Liberia Guyana!

“Advocate Thabani Mpofu was in a class of his own today. He hoisted ZEC by its own petard. Now they know that their data is alternative primary evidence to checkmate manipulation of the residue in ballot boxes!,” Moyo said.

The court will on Friday deliver judgement on the matter.

However, Zanu PF is also confident that the court will rule in their favor with their lawyers led by Charles Uriri pursued the technical part of the applicant’s election challenge arguing the petition failed to meet the seven day prescribed by the constitution and therefore should be thrown away.

Zanu PF United Kingdom representative, Nick Mangwana expressed confidence of winning court case saying Zimbabweans elected President Mnangagwa as their leader for the next five years.

“Zimbabweans chose Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa as their leader 4 the next 5 years. By our rules he should be sworn in to govern per that mandate. He stands ready to do so. Nearly 70% of Zanu PF parliamentarians are ready to anchor that GVT. Deal with it and let’s build our country,” Mangwana said.

In the event the court uphold Mnangagwa victory on Friday, the inauguration will then take place within 48 hours at stipulated by the constitution.

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