By Dorrothy Moyo| The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s boss has said that postal votes that were cast in Bulawayo last week remain valid and cannot be nullified unless there is evidence of electoral malpractice that warrants their cancellation.

“Unless we actually have evidence that somebody was intimidated or forced to exercise the postal vote against their will. So my preliminary answer will be ‘yes’ they will be valid unless there is evidence of electoral malpractice around the exercise of that postal vote,” said Justice Chigumba.

She comtinued saying postal voting was optional and applicants were free to withdraw and present themselves to a polling station.

“Around the issue of validity of the postal vote. For those people who have been asked to use the postal vote it was firstly out of concern, with particular regards to ZRP they will be posted to do duties on polling day outside their polling stations, so this was the rationale. Instead of denying them their right to vote because of deployment, why can’t we utilise the postal vote? I encourage those who are not willing to exercise postal vote to simply decline and present themselves to their polling station on polling day,” she added.

Vice President Constatino Chiwenga has told a Contradicting story to sensitional reports by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on how he escaped from the country when under siege from former President Robert Mugabe last year.

Chiwenga revealed that the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Phillip Valerio Sibanda actually helped in the safe escape of Mnangagwa not the border jumping story which Mnangagwa related.

Addressing mourners at the burial of Gogo Yowana Kubvoruno, mother to General Sibanda in Gokwe’s Dera area on Sunday, Chiwenga said he first got the information about the President’s dismissal from Government from Gen Sibanda.

Chiwenga said acting on his instruction, Gen Sibanda played a pivotal role in the escape of Mnangagwa to Mozambique until he got a safe temporary shelter in that country.

“Today I want to tell you something I had never told anyone, a secret that has been between me and General Sibanda whose mother we are burying today.

“At the height of the madness that had rocked the country in November last year when senior officials in Government were being rebuked in public, a development which culminated in the dismissal of President Mnangagwa from Government and his position as Vice President of the party, I was out of the country in China on duty.

“General Sibanda then phoned to brief me on the sad developments and I asked him what we were supposed to do.

“We then had a discussion and I said to him, this man’s life is in danger he might be killed please do everything possible to make sure that he (President Mnangagwa) gets out of the country safe and alive. Gen Sibanda acted on that instruction and the President was taken out safely,” he said.

Chiwenga said Gen Sibanda dispatched three security details who escorted President Mnangagwa out of the country before they returned into Zimbabwe through the Mozambique border despite the fact that one of them had no passport.

“General Sibanda managed to take out President Mnangagwa safely. One of the three security details who took the President out had no passport but they managed to return home through the Mozambique border without passports.

“This man did a sterling job which I thought he would not accomplish,” said VP Chiwenga.

“After taking the President out, the army under the leadership of General Sibanda remained calm, maintaining peace while the country was at a standstill until I returned.

“I returned some few days later and we had an emergency meeting and decided to launch an operation, again when we were deliberating on the name of the operation, General Sibanda was the one who came up with the name Operation Restore Legacy, which became a huge success.”

Chiwenga described Gen Sibanda as a gallant hero who left some indelible marks in the country’s liberation struggle and in neighbouring countries where he operated.

He said the General’s mother was resting in peace knowing well that she bore the country a true hero.

Mnangagwa’s sensational story included him having to walk through the Mozambique jungle through the night after escaping gun shots at the border.

“I was fired at 4pm and left the office and by 6.30 pm, one of the security guys came to inform me that he must be part of a group that had a mission to eliminate me,” he said.

“I didn’t think it was pleasurable to wait to be eliminated. I left within four hours of being fired for the Mozambican border. I arrived at the border and our side of the border stamped my passport, but before they could lift the boom for me to cross into Mozambique, it was closed. The message came that I was not allowed to leave Zimbabwe. I said in that case there was no need, I (will) go back. They said again I was not allowed to go back into Zimbabwe but I said ‘you can’t stop me’. What case have I committed? As I was walking away, they tried to fire (at me) but I have one young man, one of my twin sons, was there. He is an officer and was able to grab the weapon and I was not shot.”

The President went on: “Then you know for many years I operated in Mozambique in the department of security. I know the area and it’s infested with land mines. Those things are still there, you walk in-between strings to avoid landmines. I did (that) from about 9 pm until about 7.30 the next day. I arrived in Mozambique and we had a lift back to the border to have my passport stamped again on the Mozambican side. Then I phoned a colleague from South Africa that I was on my way to Beira. By the time we arrived in Beira, a small plane had arrived from South Africa to pick me up and I went to South Africa.”

By Farai D Hove| The man who was filmed while firing a LIVE bullet in front of his colleagues, has been named as Trevor J Kudenga.

The Harare man is seen in pictures while at front seats at ZANU PF meetings(see pictures). The Zimbabwean community was enraged yesterday when the man’s gunshot video was posted online. Many expressed dismay saying that he might not even be arrested due to his political connections. Some commentators made allegations that he is in fact an MDC member. But ZimEye can reliably reveal that he is Mr Kudenga who is a well known ZANU PF card carrying member.

Terrence Mawawa

Zanu PF is terribly afraid of losing the coming elections,a leading research organisation has said.

According to the International Political Research Institute (IPRI), fear has gripped the Zimbabwean government as
Nelson Chamisa has broken a record crowd pulling attendance in African political history.

The visionary and youthful MDC leader has gathered so much support and rally attendance that has not been witnessed in African history.

Such crowds have only been pulled by former president HE R.G Mugabe in 1980 after the white minority rule in Zimbabwe, followed by Nelson Mandela in post apartheid South Africa soon after his release from prison, according to the institute.

By Own Correspondent| The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) boss Justice Priscilla Chigumba has revealed that the elections body was not investigating allegations that police officers were forced to cast their votes in front of their commanders arguing that no one had formally lodged a complaint on the issue.

Chigumba insisted that since nothing untoward happened at Ross  Camp in Bulawayo, her organisation would not investigate the matter.

In an interview with a local publication, Chigumba said:

“…The acting chief elections officer did not deny that postal voting was underway, but denied that the commission had set up polling stations for that purpose.

The law does not envisage the setting-up of polling stations for postal voting, but that applicants exercise their right in secrecy before sealing their ballots in provided envelopes and returning same to the chief elections officer by a prescribed date.

… The videos have already been dismissed as fake by the police and this information was also given to observers by Senior Assistant Commissioner Erasmus Makodza during the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s briefing to local and international observers on its state of preparedness.

No official complaint has also been received from aggrieved persons to date and, therefore, there is nothing to investigate at this moment.”-Standard.

HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s
ruling Zanu PF has rubbished MDC Alliance leader
Nelson Chamisa’s claims that it is colluding with
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) in an
elaborate plot to rig next month’s elections using
Russian cyber experts.

Chamisa made the sensational claims on
Wednesday while addressing thousands of his
supporters after a demonstration meant to force
Zec to meet their demands for free, fair and
credible elections on July 30.

Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo reacted
angrily to the allegations calling them “childish”.

“He (Chamisa) must come forth with evidence to
back his claim. Can he identify the Russians he is
talking about? We are sick and tired of such
childish allegations that are meant for media
attention. If there is anything like that, why doesn’t
he prove it?”
Khaya Moyo said in an interview with
the Daily News on Sunday.

Chamisa said he was getting classified information
from Mnangagwa’s inner circle as well as elements
in the Zimbabwe National Army’s intelligence
department. He suggested the centre could no
longer hold in the ruling establishment, which he
said was leaking like a sieve.

“We know what they are doing and now they have
brought in about 64 Russians who are tampering
with the ballot papers and the voters’ roll,” Chamisa
claimed.

“If they are helping Zanu PF, then we have an issue
with them because we are a sovereign nation and
foreigners must not interfere with our internal
electoral processes,” he said.

This is not the first time that suspicions of foreign
actors in the country’s electoral processes have
been raised.
Zimbabwe is just the latest country to be
confronted with untested allegations of cyber
attacks relating to State-supported interference in
elections: ranging from email hacking and doxing,
in the 2016 US presidential election, to cyber
attacks on the Bundestag surrounding the 2015
German parliamentary elections, to dissemination of
“fake news” surrounding 2016 Italian referendum
votes.
International law gives States limited means by
which to respond to election interference.
Last month, exiled former Cabinet minister and
Zanu PF politburo member, Jonathan Moyo claimed
the ruling party had colluded with Zec to rig much-
awaited elections using hired Chinese experts.

Moyo, who fled the country at the height of a
military operation which facilitated former president
Robert Mugabe’s ouster last November, claimed
the rigging plot was on an industrial scale and was
going to be carried out in 14 different ways.

“Government has seconded to Zec a team of
Chinese BVR (Biometric Voter Registration) & cyber
experts from the People’s Liberation Army linked to
a top Chinese university.
“Their remit is to manipulate the voters’ roll through
shadowy & virtual polling stations and fake voters,”
he said in a post on his Twitter handle.

“The plot is to rig on an industrial scale. The rigging
is centred on (1) manipulation of the BVR voters’
roll; (2) manipulation of polling stations by Zec
technical staff from security organs and (3) army
intimidation of voters in villages,” Moyo, who once
served as government propagandist, said.

Zec is however, on record dismissing Moyo’s
claims as highly mischievous and claiming that the
elections body was independent from both Zanu PF
and government- Daily News.

By Own Correspondent | The same man who criticised former First Lady Grace Mugabe for using church podiums for politics, the very same reason he declared a coup on his boss, Robert Mugabe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, caused a scene at a vapositori church in Marange. This incident comes just 8 months after Mnangagwa wrote a strongly worded letter declaring while fleeing Zimbabwe, that he would return to lead and Grace Mugabe would be punished for abusing church platforms. Mnangagwa can be seen in the below fresh video declaring to a completely silent congregation: “Pamberi ne ZANU PF, pamberi ne ZANU PF! [NO ANSWER].”

After realising the lack of interest, he then continues to immediately announce, “we shall hand all of you t-shirts,” once again to a totally unresponsive church crowd. SEE THE BELOW FOOTAGE:

Terrence Mawawa

Despite the heavy downpour in Masvingo, thousands of MDC Alliance supporters and residents of the ancient city of Masvingo are flocking to the coalition’s star rally at Mucheke Stadium.

Residents of the ancient city have vowed to brave the heavy showers to meet the charismatic leader who will take on President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the July 30 polls.

Earlier today Chamisa addressed thousands of MDC Alliance supporters in Bikita District.

Terrence Mawawa

Despite the heavy downpour in Masvingo, thousands of MDC Alliance supporters and residents of the ancient city of Masvingo are flocking to the coalition’s star rally at Mucheke Stadium.

Residents of the ancient city have vowed to brave the heavy showers to meet the charismatic leader who will take on President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the July 30 polls.

Earlier today Chamisa addressed thousands of MDC Alliance supporters in Bikita District.

Our LIVE broadcast is being interrupted by heavy rains which have hit the area… We shall RESUME SHORTLY…

Terrence Mawawa

Members of the Movement for Democratic Change’ s Veteran Activists Association yesterday honoured fallen cadres who were allegedly murdered by Zanu PF supporters in 2008.

Below is a statement written by MDC’ s Veteran Activists Association:

“Mashonaland Veteran Matamisa Silas’ grave has been rehabilitated.

The veterans have done it again, the construction and laying of tombstone on our veteran’s grave has been carried out successfully.

We applaud the veterans who have helped in cash or kind to support the noble exercise.

VICE-President Constantino Chiwenga yesterday promised residents of Harare’s oldest suburb modern apartments with swimming pools as Zanu PF stepped up its campaign to wrestle control of the capital from the opposition.

Chiwenga told a campaign rally in Mbare that the dilapidated hostels in the poor neighbourhood would be transformed after the elections.

Zanu PF supporters, who first fought for T-shirts before Chiwenga arrived, cheered as the VP also promised that the entire infrastructure in Mbare would be modernised.

He said those that had relocated to affluent suburbs like Borrowdale would flock back to Mbare.

“We have a comprehensive master plan for the home industries and the Mbare hostels to the extent that wherever we reconstruct a block of flats, there will be swimming pools for children and kindergartens,” Chiwenga said.
“Mbare will be the first place that we are going to develop in Harare, and those that had relocated to Borrowdale and Mount Pleasant will come back to Mbare.”

Chiwenga blamed the MDC-T-run council for the poor state of Mbare. He said residents were staying in dilapidated buildings with broken windows, potholed roads, and dirty surroundings with uncollected litter because of the incompetence of the council.

“The [Zanu PF] Mbare National Assembly candidate Tendai Savanhu asked if I was aware of the conditions at the hostels and I told him that I have visited the place in disguise,” he claimed.

“After noticing the poor living conditions, we then came up with the master plan for Mbare and Harare.

“There are serious health issues like cholera and typhoid because of the MDC-T-led council.
“The water pipes and sewer reticulation systems are archaic and they failed to replace them.” -Standard

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)’s handling of the July 30 presidential, parliamentary and local government elections came under sharp scrutiny last week after the opposition MDC Alliance claimed to have discovered police officers clandestinely voting at a camp in Bulawayo.

ZEC acting chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana sparked controversy when he told the state-controlled Herald’s online edition reports of postal voting being undertaken at Ross Camp were “hogwash”.

The story was later removed from the publication’s website after police confirmed that voting was underway.

However, Zec chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba insisted that nothing untoward happened at Ross Camp.

Chigumba (PC) told Standard Newdpaper senior reporter Xolisani Ncube (XN) that her commission would not investigate the allegations that police officers were forced to cast their ballots in front of their commanders because no one had lodged a complaint.

She also argued that her critics were raising “sensationalised allegations and extra-judicial requests presented as legal rights contrary to the legal framework that governs elections”.

Below are excerpts from the interview.

XN: Last Thursday there was confusion after Zec acting chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana issued a statement denying that postal voting was underway while police confirmed that officers were voting at Ross Camp in Bulawayo. What caused this confusion if Zec is solely in charge of the process?

PC: The acting chief elections officer did not deny that postal voting was underway, but denied that the commission had set up polling stations for that purpose.

The law does not envisage the setting-up of polling stations for postal voting, but that applicants exercise their right in secrecy before sealing their ballots in provided envelopes and returning same to the chief elections officer by a prescribed date.

The true version of his response is as in the Herald of July 13, 2018.

XN: Why was the postal voting process not advertised like in previous elections?

PC: There is no provision in the law that requires the commission to publish the postal voting process and the commission has placed all issues to do with the postal voting process in the public domain through disclosure of entities and statistics of those who were participating to all stakeholders.

XN: Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Senegal Trudy Stevenson tweeted last week that her embassy had not received postal ballots. What assurances can you give that Zec is abiding by the law in handling the postal votes?

PC: As far as Zec is concerned, it has despatched the postal ballots for successful applicants to the relevant ministry and it is now up to the ministry to forward the same for them to exercise their right.

It is also incumbent upon the ministry to meet the deadlines set by the law.

XN: There are videos circulating on social media showing police officers voting in front of their superiors. Is that how the voting process is supposed to be handled? Is Zec going to investigate claims by some police officers that they were forced to vote under the watch of their superiors?

PC: The videos have already been dismissed as fake by the police and this information was also given to observers by Senior Assistant Commissioner Erasmus Makodza during the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s briefing to local and international observers on its state of preparedness.

No official complaint has also been received from aggrieved persons to date and, therefore, there is nothing to investigate at this moment.

XN: How many ballots have you despatched through the postal voting system and what measures are in place to ensure the system is not manipulated?

PC: The commission received a total of 7 646 applications for postal voting. Out of that figure, 185 were disqualified for the reason of not being on the voters roll.

The commission is, therefore, processing a total of 7 461 successful applications.

The information on the postal ballot processing is available for the public to inspect and verify, so the issue of manipulation does not arise.

XN: What is your reaction to allegations that the presidential election ballot paper has been designed to favour President Emmerson Mnangagwa?

PC: The allegations are regrettable and the commission, as already explained to stakeholders including observers, it did consider all options in coming up with the design of the ballot paper.

The proposed one column design by a concerned stakeholder would have resulted in a long ballot paper of A3 plus in size and required double the amount of paper.

It would also have been difficult for the folded ballot paper to fit in the aperture of the ballot box because of its small size.

Further, that would have meant more ballot boxes would fill up quickly leading to more being required for procurement.

The cost-benefit analysis revealed that the option would have required not only an increase in ballot paper, but also an increase in the production time plus number of ballot boxes to be procured.

The two-column design is the design that has been adopted by the commission for all ballot papers with candidates in excess of 14 people regardless of the type of election, using its discretion after weighing the available options.

The candidates’ names will still retain the alphabetical order of surnames as provided for in section 3 (11) (b) (i) of the Electoral Regulations SI21 of 2005.

However, stakeholders are reminded that issues to do with the design and printing of ballot paper remain the exclusive right of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in terms of Section 239 (g) of the constitution of Zimbabwe.

XN: Why is Zec refusing to accede to demands by the opposition to inspect the ballot paper printing process?

PC: This is not a legal requirement and Zec in attempting to build consensus invited political parties to observe the printing of the ballot on the 12th of June 2018, but which gesture was abandoned following unlawful and unreasonable demands by some stakeholders on the process.

However, interested stakeholders were provided with the sample ballot paper for them to assess the quality and for comparison on election day if they had doubts.

XN: Do you think Zimbabweans still have confidence in Zec following last week’s incidents that included a massive demonstration against the way you are handling the pre-election period?

PC: That the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission may not know, but it is convinced that it has not broken any law.

Moreover, the demonstration and complaints were from a single stakeholder to the electoral process.

XN: Independent observers have been picking serious mistakes on the voters roll since it was made public. What assurance can you give Zimbabweans that these are genuine mistakes and not deliberate attempts to rig the elections?

PC: The problem has been that the media has also failed to uphold the right to reply.

It has gone on to publish falsehoods using sensationalised headlines without seeking the view or explanation of the commission on issues raised on the voters roll.

However, the commission has already issued public notices in the print media explaining some of the misrepresentations made.

The voters roll produced by the commission is a good product owing to the technology used to weed out duplicates and to avoid doubling registration.

XN: What is Zec doing to regain public trust that it will be impartial in running the elections?

PC: The commission will continue adhering to the law and providing the electorate with the correct information through its voter education programmes and responses to issues raised.

XN: What is your reaction to reports that there are polling stations with only two voters?

PC: That is also false. The commission has since published the polling stations for the forthcoming elections.

There was confusion by stakeholders between registration/inspection centres and polling stations.

XN: What are some of the challenges you have encountered since your appointment as Zec chairperson and did you anticipate them prior to accepting the appointment?

PC: The challenges are dealing with sensationalised allegations and extra-judicial requests presented as legal rights contrary to the legal framework that governs elections.

Yes, I did anticipate them because Zimbabwe is a country under transition and some habits by stakeholders will need time for stakeholders to discard them.

The Standard.

By Own Correspondent| The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has revealed that following threats against its staff by opposition political parties, the elections body has lodged formal reports to the Zimbabwe Republic Police to ensure the security of its staff.

ZEC deputy chair Commissioner Emmanuel Magade said this during a meeting with election observers in Harare recently.

Said Commissioner Magade:

“I can confirm that threats have been issued to ZEC staff, some of it is captured on camera.

Some unkind and uncharitable things have been said about us. We find it totally, totally dispeakable and unconscionable and deplorable.

What we have done as law-abiding citizens is to refer those threats to the police and other law enforcement agencies.”

He refuted allegations that ZEC was a biased umpire in the Electoral process arguing that contrary to this belief, the elections body was conducting itself professionally without bias.

“Our wish and our ambition is that we should have an incident-free election. It is very regrettable that people like us who are supposed to be neutral umpires (are subjected to this).

We are not in the hands of anybody. We are not in the pockets of anybody; we belong to the people of Zimbabwe. So please help us to make the process straightforward and something that we can all be proud of.

Come July 30, we want to come up with a product that is fit for the purpose. These threats will not deter us in our endeavor to deliver free, verifiable and credible elections and once again I find the threats totally deplorable and in fact diabolical,” he said.

Opposition MDC Alliance, a coalition of 7 political parties last week marched to the ZEC and handed a petition with a raft of demands some of which included that ZEC should allow political parties to view the printing of the ballot papers, that ZEC avails an auditable voters roll with pictures and that the organisation should conduct itself professionally.

However, the MDC Alliance President Nelson Chamisa and other top stalwarts could not hand over their petition as the ZEC Chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba was nowhere to be found.

MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa has now publicly disowned the MDC-T name saying his party would not be using the name ever again.

Addressing thousands of party supporters at Mutasa on Saturday , Chamisa warned his supporters not to be confused by the name and symbols on the ballot paper saying that his party had dumped the name which is being used by a rival Thokozani Khupe MDC faction in the election.

It is unclear what name Chamisa’s party will adopt after the election.

“Be careful during voting, there is now an MDC tsotsi (crook) which is using the MDC-T symbols. It now stands for MDC tsotsi… MDC thokoloshi…We will never use this name again,” Chamisa said.

The name previously referred to MDC Tsvangirai after the iconic late founding MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai. It was adopted in the run up to the 2008 elections after the party split in 2005.

Turning to the ongoing storm over postal ballots, Chamisa said the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) had completely lost credibility in delivering a free and fair election.

He said the MDC Alliance will be pushing for Zec’s suspension from conducting the elections.

“We failed to agree with Zec and we now want Zec to be excused and have another body to referee the election,” Chamisa said,  adding he would take the grievance to regional and international bodies like (Southern Africa Development Committee) Sadc and African Union (AU).

He said it was embarrassing that the country was still bickering over electoral rights four decades after independence which should have brought full voting rights to Zimbabweans.

“What did (Josiah) Tongogara and (Herbert) Chitepo die for when we are still arguing over a vote? …it means someone slept on duty. It means Zanu-PF only took over the position that was previously occupied by the Rhodesian Front without any reforms,” Chamisa charged.

He said rigging was going to be difficult for Zanu-PF in this election as he was being alerted of  any suspicious manoeuvres to subvert the electoral process.

Among the problems they are having with Zec is its alleged failure to order ZBC to report impartially.

“Our other problem is Zec’s failure to rein-in ZBC. We are concerned because it remains so partisan. It even acts on behalf of Zanu-PF. We are concerned at the direction it is on. It’s a public broadcaster but reports like it belongs to Zanu-PF,” Chamisa said, before threatening legal action on it to ensure that it reports impartially.

“We want to task, even taking them to court,” Chamisa said.

Daily News

A commissioner with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), Mrs Netsai Mushonga, has reported death threats received on social media to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), saying she takes them very seriously.

Commissioner Mushonga, who has a strong presence on Twitter, has been using her social media account to post updates on election-related issues. However, last week she received a message from what appeared to be an anonymous Twitter account under the name Solomon Rex Nhongo Mujuru, threatening to shoot her.

“I have reported to the police the case of someone who threatened to shoot me. There are other cases of abuse and insult, but I have chosen to report that particular case because I took it very seriously. The person threatened to shoot me twice,” she said.

She said the threats would not deter her from routinely sharing information with the public through the micro-blogging site.

“I believe that whatever we are doing is right and my conscience is clear. I will not be deterred from doing our job. I will continue giving information to the public and I will continue tweeting because people have a right to information. We cannot deny people the right to information just because of a few malcontents,” she said.

Senior Assistant Commissioner Erasmus Makodza, who is Commander for ZRP 2018 Harmonised Elections Commitee, said law enforcement agents have launched investigations.

“We are looking into these issues and we will be following up with stations where the matter has been reported. I want to warn those that abuse social media that we have mechanisms to catch them if they commit crimes,” he said.

State Media

By Own Correspondent| Elders of the Johane Marange Apostolic sect have predicted President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s victory as the country heads for the watershed polls advising him to stop campaigning since his victory was already guaranteed.

Speaking during Mnangagwa’s visit at their shrine in Mafararikwa, Marange today, Apostle Abel Chimbadzo, one of the church elders assured the Zanu PF Presidential candidate of victory in the forthcoming polls saying he had already been anointed to lead Zimbabwe.

Said Chimbadzo:

“Mr President, you can even go back and stop campaigning because you have begged the trophy already.

There is nothing that this man (Noah Taguta, leader of the church) says and does not come to pass. My appeal to you is that please keep his word in good faith.”

Addressing thousands of church members gathered at the shrine, Mnangagwa thanked the church for welcoming him and allowing him to address the multitudes of worshippers whom he said had come to the shrine voluntarily unlike those that attend party rallies.

“When we call for rallies, we visit people’s homes inviting them and we tell them that we will give them t-shirts. Some just come for the t-shirts…..but i have never seen such a big crowd come voluntarily. It is God’s hand,” he said.

He thanked the church for endorsing him as the chosen leader,  adding that his government valued the church and would ensure that all their needs were met as long as he was in power.

“When God says or writes anything prophetic, he does not erase it. So I can safely say I am in,” said Mnangagwa who was donning the church’s robe called “gemenzi” in Shona.

By Own Correspondent| A prophet from the Johane Marange Apostolic sect has predicted President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s victory in the forthcoming harmonised elections claiming that the Zanu Pf leader was the country’s annointed leader who should stop campaigning since his victory was “guaranteed”.

Speaking during Mnangagwa’s visit at Mafararikwa shrine in Marange today, Apostle Abel Chimbadzo, one of the church elders assured the Zanu PF Presidential candidate of victory in the forthcoming elections adding that his ascendancy to the Presidency in November last year had been predicted in the spiritual realm.

Said Chimbadzo:

“Mr President, you can even go back and stop campaigning because you have begged the trophy already. There is nothing that this man (Noah Taguta, leader of the church) says that does not come to pass.

My appeal to you is that please keep his word in good faith.”

Chimbadzo took a satirical dig at former president, Robert Mugabe whom he said lost focus at the end of his 38 year reign.

He said:

“There was a leader who once came here. I have forgotten his name but I will call him Samson. He came with his wife whose name I have forgotten as well but I will call her Delilah.

Samson, when he sat here, he was ordained to be a leader, he was given garment and a holy staff (rod). When he went back to his land , he gave the staff to his wife Delilah. He surrendered his power to the woman.

As a clever woman, she knew there was power in the staff and she took it during the night and the husband looked for it in the morning but couldn’t find it.

The wife then told the husband that his deputy was troublesome and should be chased away. The soldier was chased and ran away through the night…and when he came back ,he went straight to the state house.

So today we are saying Mr President, you were a wise soldier who learnt from his predecessor. You learnt from his mistakes. The star you got here today signifies leadership. It’s called the star of David which stands for the name of Israel.”

..

..

By Own Correspondent| Self exiled former higher and tertiary education minister Professor Jonathan Moyo has implicated the current Zimbabwean Ambassador to Russia Brigadier General Mike Sango to be the man who coordinated the disappearance of journalist and activist Itai Dzamara in 2015.

Dzamara, known in Zimbabwe mostly for his Occupy Africa Unity Square campaign against the then government of former President Robert Mugabe was abducted on  March 9 2015 at a barbershop in Glen Norah and to date, he has not been found.

Dzamara became famous through his hand-delivered petition to Mugabe where he called for his resignation.

21/24 In the spirit & letter of the new Constitution & the Second Republic that is crying for a new generation of leadership with a new ethos, I wish to disclose privileged information I got about what happened to Itai Dzamara & why. I share this as a potentially useful detail!

— Prof Jonathan Moyo (@ProfJNMoyo) July 13, 2018

22/24 After the controversial dismissal of Emmerson Mnangagwa on 6 Nov 2017, a lot of credible informants came forward with tones of information implicating Mnangagwa & his cohorts in unspeakable atrocities. Really. This is a fact that not even an earthquake will ever destroy!

— Prof Jonathan Moyo (@ProfJNMoyo) July 13, 2018

23/24 I got to know from a high level source with access to the information; that ZDF's Military Intelligence Department (MID) abducted Itai Dzamara & subjected him to extreme torture like in the gukurahundi & State of Emergency days. Mnangagwa, Chiwenga & Mohadi know about this!

— Prof Jonathan Moyo (@ProfJNMoyo) July 13, 2018

24/24 The MID officer who oversaw this is Brigadier General Mike Sango who was then CID & is now Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Russia. Why did they do this? To build a case against President Mugabe; as they did on 7 March 2007 with their savage attack on the late Morgan Tsvangirai! pic.twitter.com/9Ry20tunYV

— Prof Jonathan Moyo (@ProfJNMoyo) July 13, 2018

By Own Correspondent| Three MDC-Alliance members have been detained at Mutare Central police station without a charge hours after being taken in.

The three, Sam Chabuka, Godwin Sithole and Walter Mutwayo are currently being held at the Charge office after being picked by police from Mutare Main Camp.

MDC Alliance Manicaland Provincial Spokesperson, Trevor Saruwaka revealed that the trio were taken in after they had gone to the police camp in response to an alert that members of the police force were voting the Ross camp way.

Chabuka is the MDC Alliance local government candidate for Ward 12 where the Police station falls under.

The MDC-Alliance Mutare Central MP, Hon Innocent Gonese, is at Mutare Central Police station where the three are held to establish the charges and reasons for their arrest.

Said Saruwaka:

“Sadly, the arrests cast an even deeper aspersions to the credibility, fairness and even freeness of the electoral process.”

On Thursday, police officers at Ross camp in Bulawayo voted amid allegations that they cast their postal ballot under the watchful eyes of their superiors.

However, the ZRP has denied the allegations adding that the voting process was done procedurally and according to the law.

By Own Correspondent| A Bindura Magistrate , Vongai Muchuchuti on  Friday postponen to Monday next week her judgement in a case where four allies of Zanu PF Mashonaland Central provincial chairman, Kazembe Kazembe are facing charges of hijacking a Harare businessman, Tafadzwa Musarara’s truck which had his election campaign material during the party’s primary elections.

The accused, Boyd Fungulani, Shingirai Chisango, Lens Faranando and Jonah Gwenya all of whom were part of Kazembe’s campaign team during the party’s primary elections allegedly committed the offence against Musarara, in a development which saw him lose over $12 000 worth of goods.

Magistrate Muchuchuti adjourned the court session twice after two of the accused persons Ngwenya and Faranando did not pitch up for the judgement.

The duo are Zanu PF secretaries for transport and youth in Mashonaland central province respectively.

Following their failure to present themselves at 8:00 am, the court session resumed at 10:00am and this time only Ngwenya showed up.

Through his Lawyer Zvidzai Kajokoto, Ngwenya pleaded with the court to be lenient with him since he was looking for his colleague (Ferenando) who had not responded when his name was called out three times by the court at 08:00am.

The state represented by Brighton Korera however argued that Ngwenya was lying as he had seen the two outside the court before the court session.

“The accused person is lying and is undermining the court because I personally saw him and his colleague outside the court as I was coming in at around 08:00 am. He is not telling the truth by saying that he was looking for his colleague when his name was called three times,” said Korera.

Magistrate Muchuchuti however cancelled the warrant of arrest she had against Ngwenya and reprimanded him against defaulting in future before postponing the judgement to Monday 16 July.

“I am postponing the case because i had combined the four of you in the judgement but now because that the fourth accused is in default, I have to separate him from this judgement meaning that I am now going to rewrite it,” she said.

Charges against the four are that on the eve of Zanu PF primaries held on 28 April at Dandamera shopping centre in Concession, and  the four accused persons pounced on a 30 tonne truck loaded with flour and mealie meal belonging to Musarara.

The state alleges that the quartet ordered the driver of the truck, Bachelor Mpalane to surrender the car keys to them before beating him up and looting food stuffs which included flour worth $12 000.

Only food stuffs worth $885 were recovered.

The case was reported at Concession police station who referred it to Bindura CID section leading to the arrest of the four.

However, an official who refused to be identified alleged that Zanu PF Mashonaland Central provincial chairman Kazembe Kazembe is trying to bribe the court officials who are presiding over this case.

“ He (Kazembe) is making concerted efforts of trying to influence the judgement through sending his people to look for the court officials whom they want to give money,” said a senior Bindura court official.

“We have refused to tolerate them because we feel they might be trying also to trap us, and turn the case to us that we were soliciting for bribe,” said the source.

Efforts to get a comment from Kazembe were futile.

ZimEye brings our valued readers and viewers LIVE coverage of Nelson Chamisa’s star rally on Saturday morning.

– REFRESH THIS PAGE TO WATCH.
(more follows)

The MDC-T has admitted to sleeping on duty in Parliament instead of working on reforming the Electoral Act and attending to issues they are now raising on the eve of an election.

It admitted the reforms could not be addressed through demonstrations saying the only avenue is through Parliament.

MDC-T national secretary for information and publicity Ms Linda Masarira made the admission at a press conference in Harare yesterday.

“It is a clear position that the opposition slept on duty. We cannot try and protect ourselves because of the (predicament) we find ourselves in. From 2013 to 2018, honestly these issues to do with electoral reforms were supposed have been dealt with but the friction and the splits in the opposition actually caused us to be in the state we are in right now,” said Ms Masarira.

She said the situation was worsened by the decision by the MDC-T then under Mr Morgan Tsvangirai to dismiss some legislators from Parliament.

The legislators were recalled from Parliament for belonging to the Tendai Biti and Elton Mangoma- led MDC.

“When MPs were fired in 2015 it actually reduced the number of opposition representation in Parliament. That is why we still find ourselves in this state where we have failed to have electoral reforms because we did not have that vote in Parliament,” added Ms Masarira.

She said street demonstrations would not change anything.

“Electoral reforms are done by Parliament. We can march and do a whole lot of other things but the only thing that we can do now since the election date was already proclaimed is to push ZEC to act in a fair, transparent and free manner as we go into 2018 elections.

“What is important is as soon as Members of Parliament get into Parliament they are supposed to deal with electoral reforms so that we avoid this last-minute rush for the things that were supposed to be done in five years,” said Ms Masarira.

She said under the circumstances, reforming the Electoral Act was only possible in the next Parliament.

“I urge those who will make it into Parliament to address these issues so that by 2023 we will not be singing the same negative repetitive songs of crying foul and crying for reforms,” said Ms Masarira.

MDC-T secretary-general Mr Nickson Nyikadzino said the party was going to deal with the issue of electoral reforms democratically.

The MDC Alliance led by Mr Nelson Chamisa has been staging demonstrations in Harare demanding the so-called electoral reforms.

Herald

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has with immediate effect suspended Prosecutor General (PG) Advocate Ray Goba pending an investigation into his fitness to continue holding office.

The PG’s suspension follows recommendations made by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) to the President to set up a tribunal to investigate him for alleged misconduct.

Adv Goba is facing charges of failing to prosecute high profile corruption cases forwarded to his office by investigating agencies, sneaking out of the country without Cabinet authority, entering Namibia despite being a prohibited immigrant in that country and using abusive language as well as insulting lawyers.

Adv Goba has also been barred from accessing the National Prosecuting Authority Offices during the period of the suspension.

Advocate Goba confirmed his suspension.

“Some people came to serve me with the letter of suspension. They came in the morning today (yesterday) and they were from the President’s department,” he said.

According to the suspension letter, Adv Goba was suspended from office in terms of Section 187 of the Constitution.

“Please be advised that by virtue of provisions of Section 259 (7) as read with Section 187 (3) of the Constitution, His Excellency the President has appointed a tribunal to inquire into the question of removing you from office of Prosecutor General,” reads the letter.

“Accordingly you are suspended from office with immediate effect in terms of section 187(10) of the Constitution until the President on the recommendation of the tribunal either revokes the suspension or removes you from the office of the Prosecutor General.”

Reliable sources said JSC during its Extraordinary General Meeting held on July 12, noted that the allegations against Advocate Goba necessitated the need to do an inquiry into his suitability to continue holding the office of Prosecutor General.

Advocate Goba is alleged to have on more than one occasion travelled out of Zimbabwe to Namibia without obtaining the necessary Government approval.

He also on more than one occasion entered the Republic of Namibia despite him being a prohibited immigrant in that country.

The PG is alleged to have violated his constitutional obligation by refusing to prosecute corruption related cases initiated by investigating agencies.

He is alleged to have given various excuses for failing to prosecute the cases.

A source said among the high profile corruption cases Advocate Goba is alleged to have refused to prosecute is that of former Higher Education Deputy Minister, Dr Godfrey Gandawa and that of former Home Affairs and Finance Minister, Ignatius Chombo.

The dockets of the two accused are among many that were completed long back according to sources.

Advocate Goba was declared a prohibited immigrant in 2011 while working in Namibia as Deputy Prosecutor-General and legal services director in case number A118/2011 but was allegedly travelling to that country without Cabinet Authority.

The PG is also accused of putting his office into disrepute by trading insults with lawyers and there are claims that he allegedly insulted Prophet Walter Magaya’s lawyer Mr Nyikadzino Simango, Sources said the Tribunal is set to be sworn in on Tuesday.

By Own Correspondent| The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Chairperson Priscilla Chigumba has contradicted her predecessor, Rita Makarau on the thorny subject of the diaspora vote.

Chigumba is set for a clash with Makarau after declaring that diasporans are illegal voters. She said there is no provision in the law to allow diasporans voting rights.

She was writing in response to the head of the London based Zimbabwe Diaspora Focus Group, Ezra Sibanda on the matter.

She said, “we regret that we are unable to accede to your request for the reason that currently there is no enabling legislation for Zimbabweans in the diaspora to vote.”

But her predecessor Makarau weeks before leaving announced that diasporans can vote.