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PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday reportedly chickened out of a church-organised presidential candidates’ indaba, which could have brought him within spitting distance of his closest challenger MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa ahead of the month-end polls.

The high-profile meeting had been organised by the Catholic Church-run Silveira House to enable the 23 presidential contestants in this year’s elections to interact as part of efforts to foster multi-party democracy in the country.

Both protagonists had, according to the organisers, initially confirmed attendance to the interface in Harare before making an 11th hour volte face citing “pressing commitments”.

The meeting eventually attracted a handful of presidential aspirants, among them People’s Rainbow Coalition candidate Joice Mujuru who left in a huff and without speaking, Coalition of Democrats’ Elton Mangoma, Nkosana Moyo of the Alliance for People’s Agenda and MDC-T vice-president Obert Gutu.

Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba yesterday seemed to confirm reports that the Zanu PF leader absconded the gathering to avoid being waylaid into a presidential debate with his rivals.

“We very much support the peace efforts (by the church). In fact, that’s their raison d’etre. (But) where you have them seeking to introduce a presidential debate, then that is beyond the Bible. In our communications strategy, we do not have room for that,” Charamba said.

Spokesperson of the organisers Father Arnold Moyo, without singling out individuals, said candidates who absented themselves gave last-minute excuses. Both Mnangagwa and Chamisa had campaign rallies in Kadoma and Kariba, respectively.

“We sent invitations to all candidates, many of them confirmed but some for various reasons could not come. Some of the reasons highlighted include ‘commitments’ but we are grateful to those who could attend in as far as instilling a sense of multi-party democracy and mutual respect is concerned,” Moyo said.

He added: “The same factors that I have highlighted; commitments that came up. We had hoped that they would send representatives, but that did not happen. We can only invite and hope that they come because we thought this was a very significant event. Initially, there was confirmation.”

But insiders within the Catholic Church said Mnangagwa had told emissaries that he would not attend if Chamisa was part of the gathering.

“Mnangagwa indicated he would not attend if Chamisa was part of the programme. If anything, he was one of a few who never really gave their word that they would come to the event,” NewsDay heard.

Chamisa, who in March this year challenged Mnangagwa for a public television debate ahead of the polls, yesterday said he would have attended had he been formally invited to the meeting .

“No. He was not invited in any formal way. He would certainly have made arrangements. I fear that their invitation may have been lost in the system. It did not reach me,” said Chamisa’s spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda.

But event organisers insisted that the youthful opposition leader had confirmed, but made a last-minute cancellation on Wednesday night, citing pressing commitments.

“Chamisa confirmed he was coming. He was aware of his rallies and this excuse is only a mirage. The reasons run deeper than this narrative we are being fed,” said a top Catholic priest who declined to be named.

Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference secretary-general Father Fredrick Chiromba was a bit more diplomatic, saying: “Originally, this event was supposed to be held on July 16, people like the MDC Alliance president (Chamisa) said he had cancelled his rallies at the time and later called last night (Wednesday), saying he could not cancel his rallies for a second time. For President Mnangagwa being the leader of the country and a candidate, there is a lot of work.”

He added that as a citizen he was happy with the election preparations so far, adding there was still room for the few sticking points to be resolved through dialogue before the polls.

Zimbabweans troop to the polls on July 30, the first without the country’s founding leader Robert Mugabe who stepped down under pressure from the military, Parliament and ordinary citizens last November.

Chamisa has, however, already raised a red flag, accusing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) of creating conditions that seem to favour Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF party.

THREE-TIME Commonwealth boxing champion winner Langton “Schoolboy” Tinago has been declared a provincial hero and will be buried at the Midlands Provincial Heroes’ acre on Sunday.

Tinago succumbed to pneumonia on Tuesday morning.

Addressing mourners in Mambo, Gweru, yesterday, Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister Owen Ncube said President Emmerson Mnangagwa had conferred provincial hero status on Tinago.

“With Tinago being a provincial hero, his family automatically qualifies to get benefits from the government. His children will be taken care of. It is now up to you to choose where you want him to be buried, but the state will make sure all resources needed are available. Whether you bury him at the Provincial Heroes’ Acre or at his rural home, he still remains a hero who fought for the country through sports,” said Ncube.

Boniface Pombi, the Tinago family spokesperson expressed gratitude to the government for the gesture.

“As a family we are very grateful and we feel honoured that our brother has been declared a provincial hero. He is a hero indeed because he raised the country’s flag high through boxing. Tinago will be laid to rest on Sunday at the Provincial Heroes’ Acre in Gweru,” said Pombi.

THE former Deputy Speaker of the Zimbabwe Rhodesia Parliament (1979/1980), Mr Walter Nqabeni Mthimkhulu, has died. He was 78.

Mr Mthimkhulu died in the United Kingdom on July 7 and will be buried on Wednesday next week in that country.

Family spokesperson, Mr Mzana Mthimkhulu, yesterday said a parallel burial service would be held at the Brethren in Christ Church in Bulawayo on the day of his burial. He described him as a family’s pillar of strength.

Mr Mthimkhulu became Speaker during the short-lived UANC government led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa that was in power for a brief period from June 1, 1979 until the country attained its independence on April 18 in 1980.

He relocated to the UK in 1985 and worked for a postal agency from that year until retirement in 2005.

A former NDP and Zapu activist, the former deputy speaker joined the UANC in 1975.

State media

ZANU-PF says Simon Khaya Moyo remains the party’s Secretary for Information and Publicity and the public should disregard an earlier communication stating that the party’s Secretary for Legal Affairs, Paul Mangwana, was now the party’s acting spokesperson.

On Thursday, a party official issued a statement saying Mangwana would be the acting national spokesperson as Khaya-Moyo was preoccupied with campaigning for the Bulilima-Mangwe Senatorial seat.

The party’s Administration Director, Dickson Dzora, who had made the earlier pronouncement, clarified Zanu-PF’s position yesterday saying Khaya-Moyo remains the party’s spokesperson.

“This communication seeks to correct the press statement which I issued yesterday on behalf of the ruling Zanu-PF party in which I inadvertently ascribed the role of party spokesperson to Paul Mangwana in the acting capacity until further notice,” he said.

“The reason I gave was that the party spokesperson Cde Simon Khaya Moyo was unavailable due to the election campaigns currently underway. That was not the case and the miscommunication is regretted. Cde SK Moyo is the Zanu-PF Secretary of Information and Publicity and party spokesperson.”

Dzora said Mangwana would be the party’s point of reference on electoral matters.

“Cde Paul Munyaradzi Mangwana is the party’s Secretary for Legal Affairs and a member of the multi-party liaison committee during the harmonised elections scheduled for 30th July 2018. In that capacity, he is the party’s person on matters relating to the electoral processes and interface with election observers,” he said.

State media

Below are two pictorals showing ZANU PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa thanking the people of Mutare for attending his rally yesterday.

Mnangagwa’s statement drew the ire of Zimbabweans some who alleged that he forced vendors to attend.

There is a picture of police officers standing while apparently guarding empty vending stalls. PICTURES:

A Polygamous Masvingo man married to two siblings fatally struck his first wife with a log all over the body following a domestic dispute in the presence of her younger sister, police have confirmed.

Nhema Nyamayevhu (36) of Nyamayevhu Village under Chief Nyajena who was married to Molly (33) and Alice Elias (25) bashed the elder sibling and she sustained serious body and head injuries. She died upon admission to Chivi District Hospital.

Nyamayevhu is on the run and the issue that triggered the assault was not immediately revealed. Masvingo police spokesperson Inspector Charity Mazula said the incident occurred on Monday at around 9PM.

She said the deceased’s body was taken to Chivi District Hospital mortuary for post-mortem but the suspect disappeared after committing the crime.

“I can confirm receiving a murder case involving a polygamous man and his first wife. Police have since launched a manhunt,” said Insp Mazula.

Meanwhile, in another incident a Chivi man stabbed his friend in the abdomen with an okapi knife following a misunderstanding over accusations of knocking on villagers’ homesteads at night. He was left with his intestines protruding.
Insp Mazula said on Saturday at around 11PM, Mudyire Gondo (26) of Gonamutenga Village under Chief Shindi near Ngundu in Chivi allegedly stabbed Tafadzwa Gavi (21) of Shongamiti, ripping open his stomach.

“The two men were coming from watching a World Cup match at Shongamiti Business Centre. While going home Gavi accused Gondo of having a tendency of knocking on villagers’ doors at night and this did not go down well with him.

“Gondo then took a knife from his pocket and stabbed his victim in the abdomen leaving intestines protruding before he took to his heels,” she said.

An unnamed neighbour alerted Mr Gavi’s father who rushed to the scene and took his son to Chivi District hospital where he is receiving treatment.

Police said his condition remains critical and the suspect is still at large.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) yesterday met political party leaders or representatives and gave them samples of ballot papers to be used in the July 30 harmonised elections for them to test.

The meeting, dubbed the National Multiparty Liaison Committee meeting, and is convened by Zec to hear concerns from political formations, also heard issues raised by parties.

It also emerged at the meeting that the major parties, Zanu-PF and the MDC Alliance, had narrowed their differences in the run up to the election and pledged to work together   to resolve conflicts under the aegis of the MPLC.

“Zec Commissioner Dr Qhubani Moyo chaired the National Multiparty Liaison Committee meeting at which political parties demanded to be allowed to see where the ballot paper is being kept. They were given samples of the printed ballot paper to ascertain quality and design,” Zec said in a brief statement on its Twitter account @ZECzim.

Zanu-PF legal affairs secretary Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana outlined a number of areas that the parties had discussed.

Said Cde Mangwana: “Today Zanu-PF participated in the Multiparty Liaison Committee Meetings (MPLC) conducted by Zec A number of parties were represented including the MDC-Alliance, which had Mr (Jameson) Timba and Mr (Douglas) Mwonzora as the representatives.”
He confirmed the parties had been given ballot papers to test.

“Zec gave specimens of the actual ballot papers to parties so those who want to test for magic or unexplained vote mutations or migrations can do so. It was noted that they had been given the blank ballots in the past for further testing,” said Cde Mangwana.

“There was no objection to the configuration of the ballot itself but it was also noted that a party not taking part in the elections, called PDP (People’s Democratic Party), had made a court application challenging the current candidate configuration in the Presidential Elections ballot paper design.

“Zanu-PF expressed its recognition of Zec’s responsibility to print, store and distribute the ballots and leaves it to Zec to decide if it would allow the request of a few other parties to escort the distribution cars as well as to guard the provincial warehouses where the ballots are kept,” said Cde Mangwana.
MDC Alliance’s Mr Douglas Mwonzora confirmed that parties were given samples of ballots and agreed on a range of issues.

He told our Harare Bureau last night that the party would subject the papers to tests.
“We are still to vet the ballot papers. The MDC-Alliance also insisted on the ballot papers to be checked batch by batch and all political parties’ stakeholders to monitor their storage until election day,” said Mr Mwonzora.

“They also insisted that all political parties’ stakeholders should accompany the ballot papers to polling stations on elections day,” he said.

According to information from the meeting, some parties requested to test samples of ballots on election day by marking them and see at the end of the election where such guinea ballots would have migrated votes and the commission promised to deliberate and come back to the parties.

Zec did not object to providing parties with samples of indelible ink as requested by some parties.
Zanu-PF registered its objection to the aggressive language used by other parties in threatening to halt a proclaimed election through unconstitutional means.

This is in reference to threats by the opposition MDC Alliance which has said it will disrupt elections if some of its demands are not met.

Political parties also agreed not to distribute food in a partisan manner. The next meeting of MPLC will be on Tuesday next week.- state media

Former Energy Minister Samuel Undenge who is at the centre of the Wicknell Chivayo scandal, has been sentenced to four years in prison albeit for another matter.

Undenge was earlier on convicted of a charge of abuse of office and was thereafter sentenced to 4 years in prison by Harare magistrate Hosea Mujaya.

Magistrate Mujaya suspended a year and a half leaving the former minister to serve an effective two and half years in prison.

Undenge was convicted of the offence after the court determined that he truly authored a letter ordering power utility ZESA to engage the services of Oscar Pambuka and Psychology Maziwisa’s company, Fruitful Communications to do public relations work for the power utility.

The magistrate determined that this was despite the fact that Zesa has its own public relations department. As a result of the letter, Fruitful Communications later received a payment of $12 650 from Zesa.

Undenge once served in former President Robert Mugabe’s administration and is now the first former Mugabe minister to be convicted of a crime, somewhat to confirm what the military declared last year when they removed Mugabe in November 2017. Back then they said they were only targeting criminals around former president Robert Mugabe. To date however, only Undenge has been jailed.

Caps United have finally recovered their team Bus after clearing their former employee Joyce Kapota’s dues on Wednesday.

The team Bus was attached last month by the Sheriff of the High Court after the 2016 Champions reneged on a payment settlement plan in the $10 000 debt owed to its former employee Ms Joyce Kapota.

The former club’s communication officer, Kapota, was awarded $10400 by the Labour Court in a non-payment of terminal benefits dispute following the unlawful termination of Kapota contract in February.

Speaking to SportBrief, Kapota confirmed that she finally received her dues after 40 days of the attachment ruling.

” Its true that I finally received my dues from Caps United today (Wednesday), 40 days after we attached their bus,” she confirmed.

Kapota was reported to have received $3 460 prior to the Sheriff’s gesture as part of the payment plan, which the club later on defaulted.

The latest development comes at a time when the team is set for a blockbuster match against current log leaders, FC Platinum at Mandava Stadium on Sunday.

The two teams have met 14 times so far in the professional league, Caps United dominate the statistics after winning five, drew 8 and lost only once to the current Champions.

The Afrobarometer survey which President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s media celebrated last month when it reported that MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa is getting 31% of the vote, has reported a new paper that predicts a slight up for Chamisa.

Chamisa has closed in on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s gap down to 3 percentage points. Chamisa is now projected to get 37 percent of the vote compared to Mnangagwa’s 40 percent. 20 percent of the voters refused to reveal their preferences or are still undecided about who to vote for. A measly 3 percent confirmed that they will be voting for the rest of the 21 candidates combined.

Afrobarometer says Chamisa needs to win 66 percent of the 20 percent who are undecided in order to get 50 precent + 1 votes in order to avoid a runoff. Afrobarometer announced saying :

Important, too, are the 20% of citizens who did not declare a voting intention. This group is made up of the 15% who refused to answer the voting-intentions question and the 5% who said they did not know whom they would vote for.8 Yet the choices of undeclared voters at the ballot box could have a decisive effect on the outcome of the presidential election. So how might they vote? Some speculative estimates are possible, as follows:

If undeclared voters split their votes in the same proportions as declared voters (i.e. 40% for the ZANU-PF and 37% for the MDC), then we estimate that the incumbent candidate could win on the first round.

But what if, as seems more likely, undeclared voters lean toward the opposition? What proportion of these reticent citizens would have to vote for the MDC to ensure the opposition a majority of votes (50% plus one) on the first round? According to our calculation (see Box 1), the MDC would have to obtain about two-thirds (66%) of undeclared votes in order to secure a first-round victory in the presidential election. In our opinion, this prospect lies within the realm of reasonable possibility.

The Welshman Ncube led MDC, a member of the main opposition MDC Alliance, is reported to have violently grabbed a party vehicle from a Gwanda based workshop without paying for its repairs.

According to a ZBC News report, the party sent the vehicle for repairs at Majongozi Panelbeaters six years ago and has been failing to settle the debt for the repairs plus storage costs amounting to over a thousand dollars leading to violently grabbing the vehicle from the workshop.

According to the workshop owner, Mr Bekile Mhlanga, the party sent through a group of thugs from Bulawayo to violently remove the vehicle from his workshop.

“They broke the key to the workshop and took the vehicle away without paying the charges,” he said.

Mhlanga castigated the party for its violent behaviour indicating that he has since made a report to the police.

“If they are this violent before they are even in power what more can we expect when they get into power,” said Mhlanga.

ZimEye.com could not immediately get a comment from the MDC officials. Police in Gwanda confirmed getting a report on the matter indicating that investigations are still in progress and arrests will be made soon.

Harare City Council on Thursday resolved to send names of three successful candidates for the position of town clerk to the Local Government Board (LGB) for consideration.

The three are Engineer Hosiah Chisango who scored 1 052 points, former Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) finance director Robert Mangwiro 903 points and a University of Zimbabwe lecturer Eugine Makaya who managed 852 points.

A special council meeting held yesterday resolved to forward the name of Mangwiro despite that he was dismissed by Zimra after being found guilty of 21 counts of misconduct in 2016.

Mangwiro challenged the dismissal at the Labour Court, claiming the conviction was made in error, but the disciplinary committee maintained that a dismissal was appropriate in light of the conviction. Harare Mayor Councillor Bernard Manyenyeni said council had resolved that Mangwiro’s name should be forwarded on the principle that everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty

“We met as council to receive the recommendations of the Human Resources and General Purposes Committee on the interviewing process for the next Town Clerk for the City of Harare,” he said.

“The recommendations were acceptable after a lot of debate. As you appreciate, there are indications that in the public space there are challenges facing one of the aspirants for the position.

“The position that we have adopted is that everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty, so the recommendations are proceeding as per the outcome of the interviews, so there will be no objections on this particular matter that is still under consideration.”

Queried on when the public can expect the appointment of the new town clerk after LGB approval, Clr Manyenyeni said, “We have no idea. The Local Government Board operate at their own space and if you ask me l do not even know how often they meet. We engage them when we have a position for senior management.”

During council’s debate on Mangwiro’s case, acting chamber secretary Charles Kandemiri said council had the legal right to vary, alter or reject the recommendations from the human resources committee.

He said in terms of the Urban Council’s Act, it did not specify the number of candidates that council should refer to the LGB.

“If council is convinced that candidate number two has some misconduct it is not pleased about, council has the power to remove him,” said Kandemiri.

“It is subject to council to decide because this is a recommendation.”

Harare has failed to fill the position over 30 months owing to various reasons with the latest attempt seeing a consultant going through over 127 applications, with only 11 candidates being shortlisted for the position.

The post fell vacant in 2014 after Dr Tendai Mahachi’s retirement.

CHRONICLE Business Editor Prosper Ndlovu on Wednesday scooped the first prize at the 2018 Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) Media Awards presented in Lusaka, Zambia.

Ndlovu, who was covering the regional body’s 20th Summit that ended yesterday, won the first prize in the print category for outstanding economic and regional integration journalism.

The award, which includes a trophy, certificate and cash prize, was presented by Comesa Authority chairperson and Madagascar President, Henry Rajaonarimampianana.

Ndlovu, a holder of an Honours Degree in Journalism and Media Studies and just completed his Masters Degree in International Relations, said he was humbled to receive the recognition.

“I am excited to scoop the award and humbled with gratitude at the same time. The recognition of quality journalistic work by an organisation of Comesa’s stature has a huge significance in my professional growth and indeed the reputation of my employer, The Chronicle and the entire Zimpapers Group,” he said.

Ndlovu was congratulated by the head of the Zimbabwe delegation to the summit and Presidential Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Industry, Commerce and Enterprise Development Minister, Dr Mike Bimha and Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Zambia, Gertrude Takawira.

The Comesa Media awards were launched at the 13th Summit of the Comesa Authority of Heads of State and Government which was held in Zimbabwe in 2009.

The awards promote reporting of Comesa regional integration activities and recognise journalists whose works contribute to the integration agenda.

The awards which are open to journalists from the 19 Comesa member states also acknowledge the role of print and broadcast media in setting the agenda for public discourse.

Chronicle

Former Finance minister Ignatius Chombo (pictured) has filed an urgent High Court application seeking permanent stay of his trial, citing infringement of his constitutional rights.

Chombo, who was represented by Lovemore Madhuku when he appeared before magistrate Lazini Ncube, successfully applied for the postponement of the case to August 2 pending the High Court determination on his application.

Madhuku told magistrate Ncube that the High Court should determine whether the State during Chombo’s arrest did not violate his constitutional rights when he was allegedly abducted by State agents who blind-folded him for nine days and subjected him to torture and other forms of inhumane and degrading treatment.

Madhuku told the court that he wrote to the Prosecutor-General, advising him of the need to postpone the trial, but the State indicated that the trial would proceed despite the pending application.

“The attitude of the State and National Prosecution Authority is grossly unreasonable and it undermines the rule of law. Proceeding with the criminal prosecution before a determination renders the latter academic. Why an applicant should be taken through a criminal prosecution that may be declared void?” Madhuku said.

“Chombo has more than a prima facie right. Serious violations of constitutional rights can be remedied by a permanent stay of prosecution.”

Madhuku is seeking the court to permanently stay all the criminal charges levelled against Chombo.

Chombo is facing various allegations of corruption, fraud and criminal nuisance.

Tapiwa Kasema appeared for the State.

Newsday

Press Statement:The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) has completed its audit of the 2018 Voters’ Roll as provided by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on
the 18th of June 2018.

Auditing of the 2018 Voters Roll is particularly important given the concerns raised about the 2013 Preliminary Voters Roll. ZESN’s analysis of the 2013 Preliminary Voters Roll found duplicate registrations, under registration of urban and young
voters and over registration of rural and older voters.

The objective of the voters roll audit was to provide independent non-partisan information about the quality of the 2018 Voters Roll. This serves to enhance the transparency and accountability of the process.

ZESN’s audit of the 2018 Voters Roll had two components: field tests that involved comparing registration information collected from voters with what is on the 2018 Voters Roll; and computer tests that entailed analyzing the 2018 Voters roll for internal consistency and in comparison to the 2013 Preliminary Voters Roll and census data.

The 2018 Voters Roll was assessed along three dimensions: Accuracy (the degree to which the voters roll has errors); Currency (the degree to which the voters roll has been updated); and Completeness (the degree to which the voters roll contains all eligible voters).

“Overall, ZESN finds that the 2018 Voters Roll received on the 18th of June is an improvement over the 2013 Preliminary Voters Roll” said Andrew Makoni the ZESN’s Chairperson.

In terms of accuracy, the audit did not identify anomalies in the 2018 Voters Roll that affected a large percentage of registrants or were they concentrated amongst registrants of a particular area, gender or age. While no voters roll is perfect, a less rushed process would have allowed more time for ZEC to identify and address anomalies.

The 2018 Voters roll is more current than the 2013 Preliminary Voters Roll as there is a significant number of new registrants as well as more urban and young registrants and fewer
extremely old registrants.

In terms of completeness, the 2018 Voters Roll is more inclusive than the 2013 Preliminary Voters Roll which was with generally higher registration rates – though registration rates for
urban and young voters remain lower those for rural and older voters.

ZESN was not able assess the impact of the deduplication process itself as the ZEC has not provided an electronic copy of the 2018 Preliminary Voters Roll or the Exclusion List.

In the interest of transparency ZESN encourages the ZEC to release these documents to interested
stakeholders.

It is also evident that the ZEC continues to make revisions to the 2018 Voters Roll. For example, there are 11,344 more registrants on the List of Polling Stations released by ZECon 07 July 2018 than on the 2018 Voters Roll.

ZESN calls on the ZEC to provide political parties and observer groups with the version of the Voters Roll that will be issued to polling stations and used on Election Day.

ZESN remains committed to promoting credible elections and will continue monitoring electoral processes and the environment.

ZESN-Press-Release-on-Audit-of-the-2018-Voters-Roll

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has had a bad cold over the past few days that saw him taking medication in public, his spokesperson George Charamba has claimed.

Charamba made the clarification after a picture of the President holding a packet of tablets went viral on social media.

In an interview with State Media, Charamba said there was nothing amiss with the President holding the tablets.

“He had a bad cold that saw him dropping off the burial of General Valerio Sibanda’s mother, Gogo Yowana Kubvoruno, where he was then represented by his deputy, General Constantino Chiwenga (Retired),” he said.

“There is nothing to picture home about. The Meteorological Services Department has been giving us periodic updates about the chilling weather conditions. Even the President lives under the same weather just like you and me – they are also susceptible to cold.

“The President is back in form and that is why he is back on his campaign trail.”

MDC-Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa’s security team on Wednesday had to use minimal force to stop a stubborn party member from interfering with his security set up.

Crispa Musoni was stopped from driving inside Chamisa’s motorcade by the security details after he insisted on wanting to meet with the opposition leader who had declared him as an unsanctioned candidate for the party for Gutu Central Constituency.

Musona was advised by the party to withdraw his candidature after the June 14 nomination court to pave way for Alliance partner candidate Ernest Mandigo from the Multi-Racial Christian Democrats, one of seven political parties in the MDC Alliance.

Chamisa had earlier paraded Mandigo as the Alliance candidate in a rally in Gutu promoting rage from Musona who tried to force audience with Chamisa at the end of the rally who would not entertain him in public. Musona then drove his car behind the opposition leader’s in the hope of getting his attention.

On reaching Chivhu with Musoni behind them, Chamisa’s security team stopped their vehicles and took Musoni out of his vehicle and threw his car keys into a thicket to stop him interfering with the motorcade.

Speaking to state media, Musoni sensationally accused Chamisa for ordering an attack on him by the security details.

“We both submitted our papers and continued campaigning. I only learnt that he had been made the official candidate ahead of me during the rally. After finishing addressing the rally, Mr Chamisa called Mr Mandigo to the podium and introduced him to the electorate. He dressed me down and I was shocked,” said Musoni.

“Being someone who has worked in that area for long and has high respect for the people there, I chose to do the wise thing, that is asking for an audience with the president through the party leadership. When he (Mr Chamisa) was about to come off the stage, I tried talking to him, but I was pushed away by the aides and they drove away, but because there was traffic, they could not speed off.”

Musoni said he went into his car and decided to follow Chamisa who was heading to Harare.

“The timing of this was painful and that is the reason why I wanted an audience with him,” he said. “I only wanted an explanation and I thought maybe he had some words and reasons that would ease my emotions.

“When we got to the T-junction in Chivhu, Chamisa’s crew stopped and blocked me. The other cars which were behind then arrived and I was encircled before they shouted at me saying I was mad. I told them I was not mad, but wanted to see the president,” Musoni told the media.

Musoni said the aides took away his car keys and threw them away before applying pepper spray on his eyes.

“I have not found the keys since then,” he said.

“I was only helped by a Good Samaritan, an apostle who was travelling with his fellow church members. They took me to the police station, but I told them to take me to hospital first because I did not know the type of chemical which was troubling me.

“At Chivhu hospital, they took close to an hour trying to clean my eyes and later referred me to Harare where I sought further treatment at the Avenues Clinic.”

The same media says that Chamisa’s spokesperson Dr Nkululeko Sibanda yesterday said the actions of the aides were in order as they wanted “to protect the president.”

“They have to do that if there is a security threat to the president,” he said. “You have to realise the issues that have been happening in the country, the bombing and so forth. I wouldn’t be surprised that our security is taking such measures.

“The security is cautious all the time, does what is best. That is within norm and would happen in any party.”

Nelson Chamisa’s aide for economic affairs Tapiwa Mashakada has been blocked from getting Harare Council’s.top job.

Harare City Council yesterday announced that it has dropped him on the basis of suitability.

The municipality resolved to send names of three successful candidates for the position of town clerk to the Local Government Board (LGB) for consideration.

The three are Engineer Hosiah Chisango who scored 1 052 points, former Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) finance director Mr Robert Mangwiro 903 points and a University of Zimbabwe lecturer Mr Eugine Makaya who managed 852 points.

A special council meeting held yesterday resolved to forward the name of Mr Mangwiro despite that he was dismissed by Zimra after being found guilty of 21 counts of misconduct in 2016.

Mr Mangwiro challenged the dismissal at the Labour Court, claiming the conviction was made in error, but the disciplinary committee maintained that a dismissal was appropriate in light of the conviction. Harare Mayor Councillor Bernard Manyenyeni said council had resolved that Mr Mangwiro’s name should be forwarded on the principle that everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty.

“We met as council to receive the recommendations of the Human Resources and General Purposes Committee on the interviewing process for the next Town Clerk for the City of Harare,” he said.

“The recommendations were acceptable after a lot of debate. As you appreciate, there are indications that in the public space there are challenges facing one of the aspirants for the position.

“The position that we have adopted is that everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty, so the recommendations are proceeding as per the outcome of the interviews, so there will be no objections on this particular matter that is still under consideration.”

Queried on when the public can expect the appointment of the new town clerk after LGB approval, Clr Manyenyeni said, “We have no idea. The Local Government Board operate at their own space and if you ask me l do not even know how often they meet. We engage them when we have a position for senior management.”

During council’s debate on Mr Mangwiro’s case, acting chamber secretary Mr Charles Kandemiri said council had the legal right to vary, alter or reject the recommendations from the human resources committee.

He said in terms of the Urban Council’s Act, it did not specify the number of candidates that council should refer to the LGB.

“If council is convinced that candidate number two has some misconduct it is not pleased about, council has the power to remove him,” said Mr Kandemiri.

“It is subject to council to decide because this is a recommendation.”

Harare has failed to fill the position over 30 months owing to various reasons with the latest attempt seeing a consultant going through over 127 applications, with only 11 candidates being shortlisted for the position.

The post fell vacant in 2014 after Dr Tendai Mahachi’s retirement. In 2016, council appointed former banker Mr James Mushore to the post of town clerk, but just a few hours after council announced his appointment, Government rescinded the decision because the local authority flouted procedures of appointment as laid out in the Urban Councils Act.

Council then conducted fresh interviews, where top MDC-T official and former Cabinet minister Dr Tapiwa Mashakada came up tops, but the Local Government Board did not approve the three short-listed candidates.

Dr Mashakada was dismissed as a suitable candidate by the board, which said his curriculum vitae did not offer a concrete history in an appropriate executive management position, hence his experience was nowhere near what was required of a town clerk.- state media

As the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chair Priscilla Chigumba continues to block access to the voters roll database server, she has said that the edited the copy she availed last month is clean copy.

State Media – The 2018 voters’ roll has been printed and does not have double registrations, nor dead or ghost voters, as it was specifically compiled to address the flaws of the 2013 voters’ roll, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chair Justice Priscilla Chigumba has said.

In a statement released yesterday, Justice Chigumba said: “The Commission would be pleased to receive a list of these dead voters for further investigation”, while failure to prove such claims would mean the allegations are false.
Justice Chigumba said the Commission would not deny voters with similar names and dates of birth their right to vote simply because of allegations that they were “ghosts”.
She said the Commission was willing to provide evidence proving that these were “unique individuals with unique photographs and fingerprints.”

The final voters’ roll has demographic details of the voter such as the first name, surname, date of birth, ID number and a photograph of the voter appear on the roll.
The MDC-Alliance led by presidential candidate Mr Nelson Chamisa has been at the forefront of spreading claims that the voters roll is flawed because it does not contain pictures of voters and that it has numerous dead and ghost voters.

This is despite the fact that the alliance has failed to provide evidence of all its claims, whose main aim is to discredit the July 30 elections.

“In 2017, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission made a bold decision to compile a new voters’ roll for the 2018 Harmonised Elections because of the shortcomings of the 2013 voters’ roll which stakeholders had brought to the attention of the Commission,” said Justice Chigumba.
“The Commission and stakeholders were in agreement that the 2013 voters’ roll had become defunct because it was not constantly updated to cater for changes in the demography of voters. The Commission, therefore, finds it very strange for anyone to compare the 2013 and the 2018 voters’ rolls when it is well documented that stakeholders had unanimously agreed that the 2013 roll had become difficult to use for any credible election.

“What is even more shocking is the allegation that the Commission copied dead voters from the 2013 voters’ roll. It is difficult to imagine how a dead person from the 2013 roll could have resurrected and showed up at a registration centre between September 2017 and June 2018 to have their photo and fingerprints recorded for the new voters’ roll.

“The Commission would be pleased to receive a list of these dead voters for further investigation. In the absence of receiving such a list, we can only conclude that this is a false allegation.”

In a bid to produce a water tight voters’ roll, the commission set up inspection centres throughout the country to allow physical inspection of the voters’ roll between May 19 and 29.
Following the inspection period, Justice Chigumba said, additional work was done on the voters’ roll to effect data corrections.

“During the inspection period, 114 691 requests for voter registration data corrections were received and effected,” she said. “Section 32 of the Electoral Act 2:13 mandates the Commission to ensure that no one person appears more than once in the voters’ roll.

“The same law allows the Commission to remove any duplicates that are found in the roll. In compiling the 2018 voters’ roll, 31 248 duplicates were identified and removed while 39 892 transfers were effected.”

Justice Chigumba revealed that 8 146 registered voters had died before printing of the voters’ roll and had since been removed.

“In order to identify dead voters on the 2018 voters’ roll, the Commission engaged the office of the Registrar General who is responsible for the registration of births and deaths,” she said.

“During the compilation of the 2018 voters’ roll, the Commission noticed that several people shared identical ID numbers. Such cases were referred to the office of the Registrar General for verification. Some cases were resolved while a number are still under investigation.

“In order for the Commission to finalise the voters’ roll in time for the elections, 1 667 cases of duplicate ID numbers that are still under investigation were excluded from the voters’ roll and compiled in the Exclusion List. 510 of these shared the same ID numbers but with different details while 1 157 shared the same ID numbers and details, but are different individuals based on the biometric data.”

Justice Chigumba emphasised that she welcomed factual information proving discrepancies in the voters’ roll

Zanu-PF National Assembly candidate for Buhera South Cde Joseph Chinotimba has taken a swipe at Chief Chamutsa from Buhera for meddling in political issues.

Cde Chinotimba described Chief Chamutsa as a full-time politician who has since turned his back on his traditional roles as a chief.

He said this on Tuesday while addressing people during the commissioning of Nyadi Bridge in Buhera South by Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs Senator Monica Mutsvangwa.

“There is one of our chiefs who is troubling us here in Buhera,” he said. “This chief has turned himself in to a full-time politician. His name is Chief Chamutsa. I have tried on several times to engage him, but to avail. He is the only chief from Buhera who has been giving us problems.”

Cde Chinotimba said there were some village heads who were also dabbling in politics and accused them of receiving incentives from certain politicians.

He suggested that Government should withdraw incentives to all traditional leaders who were being fingered in political squabbles.

“I think those who are being involved in politics should stop receiving their incentives from the Government,” he said. “This is because they are getting something from politics and they should not also receive what others who are not actively participating in politics get.

“We know there are some village heads who have since joined politics. They should stop executing their traditional roles.”

Speaking at the same event, Minister Mutsvangwa commended Cde Chinotimba for the developmental work he is undertaking in Buhera South constituency.

She promised to look into some of the challenges that Cde Chinotimba highlighted.

“I have heard you complaining that there are people from Buhera who are drinking water from Devure River,” said Minister Mutsvangwa. “As Government, through the District Development Fund, we will make sure that boreholes are drilled in Buhera.

“I heard that there are nine boreholes that need fittings and I promise that within two weeks, work will commence on those boreholes.”

Minister Mutsvangwa said Government, through the relevant departments, would make sure that some parts of Buhera with no cellphone coverage would get base stations.- state media

ZANU PF strongman Simon Khaya Moyo may just be finding his way out of the ruling party with reports that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has lost faith in him.

Khaya Moyo who has been the party spokesperson was on Thursday unceremoniously relieved of his duties as spokesperson and replaced by the party Deputy Secretary for Legal Affairs Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana.

The party claimed in a statement to media houses, that Moyo was being relieved from the spokesperson position as he has to concentrate in campaigning for the Bulilima Senatorial seat.

However, highly reliable sources within the party told ZimEye.com that Khaya Moyo may soon be dismissed from the party on allegations that he is still peddling the rival G40 agenda within the party.

The sources rubbished claims by the party that Moyo was being relieved of his spokesperson duties because he was involved in campaigns.

“SK is not the only party official involved in the campaigns, why would he alone be excused from his position to concentrate on campaigns when even the Vice Presidents are involved in the campaigns,” said a source.

“The truth of the matter is that Mnangagwa is positioning to dismiss Moyo and this will be done shortly after elections,” the source added.

President Mnangagwa on Tuesday made a passionate call for all party members who are still paddling G40 ideas to quit the party or risk dismissal. He at the time did not divulge who those members were.

Opposition MDC Alliance candidate for Zengeza West Constituency Job Sikhala says he ready to die in fight against rigging of votes if the votes are stolen in the July 30 general elections.

Addressing his party supporters at Zengeza 2 Shopping Centre in Chitungwiza on Thursday, Sikhala said he will not hold arms and watch ZEC rigging the people’s election.

“I am ready to sacrifice my life for the people of Zimbabwe, if Zanu PF and ZEC want to rig our victory then they should brace for a fight as we will not fold our hands and just sit idle,” he said.

Sikhala added that even if the military intervenes or interferes with the election, he will not be intimidated by their guns as he will be protecting the voice of the people.

“We are not afraid of their (army) guns, we have seen many dictators who are no longer there if the people say no it is a no and the will of the people should be respected and this time around the will of the people will be respected,” said Sikhala.

The former St Mary’s legislator also took the opportunity to pay tribute to former President Robert Mugabe for endorsing Nelson Chamisa’s candidature for the post of President.

“Even Mugabe who once led Zanu PF has endorsed our young and energetic president Advocate Nelson Chamisa, he has realised that the party he once led has destroyed the future of this country and Zimbabwe now needs fresh legs to run the affairs of the country,” he said

Meanwhile, Sikhala has said he is sure that Zanu PF will not get 2000 votes in Zengeza West, adding that should it happen it will be a very big surprise.

Zimbabwe is scheduled to hold elections on 30 July this year, but the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) which is charged with running elections has been accused of trying to favour Zanu PF at the expense of other political parties that successfully filed their nomination papers.

ZEC is currently at loggerheads with civic society organisations that specialise in elections to the extent that it has been taken to court on several occasions.

Openparly

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is scheduled to meet the minority white people community in Harare over the weekend, ZimEye.com is reliably informed.

A message being circulated amongst the white people in the country and copied to ZimEye.com indicates that Mnangagwa will meet the group on Saturday allegedly to hear concerns from the community which colonised the majority black people before independence.

Thousands of the white Zimbabweans left the country at the turn of the century when then President Robert Mugabe effected a ruthless and chaotic land reform programme which grabbed land from the white people and was given to the majority black people.

The message circulated to the community reads as follows:

“Good Morning Fellow Colleagues,

Please come out in your numbers to support this unique occasion. Let us unite behind President ED Mnangagwa.”

THE opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) party has hauled the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and its Chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba to court seeking an order to stop the elections management body from posting ballot papers for the presidential election to applicants who have applied for postal voting and to redesign the ballot paper.

The Tendai Biti-led PDP party filed an urgent chamber application in the Electoral Court on Wednesday, seeking an order to stay the use of the current presidential ballot paper designed and printed by ZEC and for the elections management body to take some corrective measures.

PDP, which is represented by Tonderai Bhatasara of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, argued that the way ZEC designed the ballot paper for the presidential election gives unfair prominence to another candidate to the prejudice of PDP’s own candidate, who is Nelson Chamisa of the MDC Alliance.

The opposition political party argued that the ballot paper that was designed by ZEC and is being distributed by the elections management body for the forthcoming presidential elections is inconsistent with the Constitution, the Electoral Act and the electoral guidelines.

ZEC and Justice Chigumba, the PDP argued, have not given contesting political parties and presidential candidates access to the ballot paper to allow them to participate effectively in the electoral process in contravention of section 155(2)(c) of the Constitution and had also proceeded to conduct postal voting for the election of a President without presidential candidates having access to the ballot paper.

PDP argued that ZEC made, designed, produced and printed a presidential ballot paper that is not in the prescribed form as provided in section 57 of the Electoral Act and its regulations.

The opposition political party charged that ZEC and Chigumba’s conduct is in breach of section 156 and 68 of the Constitution and hence there is urgent need to preserve the transparency, integrity and credibility of the electoral system.

PDP wants the Electoral Court to order ZEC to design a ballot paper for the 30 July 2018 presidential election in the manner prescribed by the law, where names of the candidates are listed in alphabetic order, one after the other, until the last one.

The opposition political party also wants ZEC to be ordered to cease posting ballot papers for the presidential election to applicants who have applied for postal voting.

More than 1 000 non commissioned police officers from the force ranks countrywide have been promoted as the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) seeks to win back public trust and confidence.

Speaking on behalf of the ZRP Commissioner General Godwin Matanga during the promotion parade for 172 non commissioned officers in Harare at Morris Depot today, Officer Commanding Harare Province Senior Assistant Commissioner Elliot Mvere said the promotions took into account the need to ensure a 50-50 gender parity.

“The initiatives are being made to ensure we do our work in a diligent manner for the benefit of the nation,” he said.

He also called on the promoted officers to seriously consider the mandate of the force in ensuring that they comply with relevant ethics enhance, police visibility and professional services to clients as well as the public.

“We are really considering that the force becomes a shining beacon of the nation for the benefit of the nation,” said Senior Assistant Commissioner Mvere.

It emerged at the promotion parade the exercise is also aimed at improving service delivery, operational efficiencies, while mobilisation of adequate resources is also being taken into account.

Zbc News

MDC Alliance Presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa has warned that his party will shut down the City Of Harare if he fails to reach an agreement with Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, ZEC, Chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba on the production of the ballot paper for the upcoming elections.

Addressing a bumper crowd of MDC Alliance supporters in Kariba on Thursday, Chamisa said that his party is pushing ZEC to reprint the ballot paper involving all political parties in the designing and printing of the paper.

Chamisa said that his Alliance wants ZEC to also involve the parties in deciding where the paper is printed and how it is distributed to the polling stations around the country.

“If we fail to reach an agreement with Chigumba on our demands on the ballot paper by next week, we will march in the streets of Harare in huge numbers until ZEC agrees to our demands,” said Chamisa.

“We will bring everyone from around the country and we will shut down Harare,” he added.

Chigumba has insisted that ZEC has completed the printing of the ballot papers and all political parties were invited to monitor the printing process and the political parties did not attend in full.

Chamisa further reiterated that his party will not boycott the elections but will make sure that the elections are not held at all if ZEC fails to adhere to the expectations of the opposition party.