By Own Correspondent| Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has urged party stalwarts to be guided by the Constitutional dictates of the party considering that Zanu Pf is bigger than individuals hence no one has monopoly over it.
Addressing supporters at Chipadze Stadium in Bindura yesterday (Saturday), VP Chiwenga said individuals must not mistake their popularity to be a reflection of ownership of the party.
Said Chiwenga:
“Zanu-PF is a like a pocket, it can fit everyone but no one can put the party into their pocket.
No matter how popular you become you’ll never own Zanu-PF.”
Speaking at the same venue, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said former party members who were contesting the forthcoming polls as independent candidates had automatically expelled themselves from the party.
Mnangagwa said the party was bigger than individuals hence these people ceased to be members of Zanu Pf because they had failed to be guided by the party’s Constitutional provisions.
Said Mnangagwa:
“You held primaries and let me reiterate that the party is bigger than any individual and no person should personalise it.
Independent candidates automatically expelled themselves from the party and should not campaign using my name or our party regalia as that is in violation of ZEC regulations.”
By Own Correspondent| Traditional chiefs will get brand new cars if Zanu Pf’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa wins the forthcoming polls slated for July 30, it has emerged.
Addressing party supporters at a rally at Chipadze Stadium in Bindura on Saturday, Mnangagwa said all the 289 chiefs will get brand new vehicles post July 30 if Zanu Pf romps to victory.
Said President Mnangagwa:
“When we ushered in the new dispensation we summoned all chiefs in Midlands and gave them cars while informing them of the new government. After 30 July when we are in power all the 289 will have brand new cars,
Chiefs have in the past openly declared their allegience to Zanu Pf and opposition political parties have accused them of practising partisan politics.
However, this is a violation of the country’s constitution which stipulates that traditional leaders should be non partisan in their conduct.
By Paul Nyathi|In a shock revelation, the opposition National Patriotic Front has revealed that it will provide the Deputy President in a Nelson Chamisa led government after the July 30 elections if the Chamisa led MDC Alliance wins the elections.
In an interview with Voice of America’s Studio Seven on Friday, NPF women’s league chairperson Mrs Sarah Mahoka indicated that the former President Robert Mugabe backed political formation has decided to support Mr Chamisa in return for the Vice President’s post.
“Bato redu arikuritungamirira izvozvi iyezvino hatina president kuNPF. President wedu isusu ndi (Nelson) Chamisa. Chamisa ndiye achapinda pahupresident, isusu tinotora hudeputy,” said Mrs Mahoka.
“Isusu takatobatana neAlliance because tinoda kubvisa junta yakabvisa baba vaMugabe, vachiti baba vaMugabe vakura,” she added.
State owned Sunday Mail newspaper also reports that the party Spokesperson Jealous Mawarire confirmed the development in a seperate interview saying the senior party member was speaking from an “informed position”.
“Cde Sarah Mahoka is a senior member of the party and she was speaking from an informed position. She was very accurate in her statement because it is a fact that our party is supporting Mr Nelson Chamisa to be President. That is definite,” said Mr Mawarire.
“She was also talking about the negotiations that we are having with the MDC Alliance where we have submitted our request that one of our members should be the Vice President.”
He was, however, evasive on who was likely to assume the envisaged Vice President’s post.
“The party will choose the person. We have our own mechanisms as a party to choose the candidate. The Vice President will come from the people who support our party,” he is quoted by the weekly state publication.
Mawarire however dispelled the perception that the probable person was former first lady Grace Mugabe.
“I cannot pre-empt the name of that candidate. As it stands, the former First Lady is not an active member of NPF and she is not in the running. . .” he said.
ZimEye.com has not been able to get a comment from the MDC Alliance though The Sunday Mail quotes Chamisa’ spokesperson Dr Nkululeko Sibanda.
“We embrace anyone who wants to campaign for president Chamisa. The truth of the matter is that all those who are supporting Mr Chamisa are running with the winning horse because they know that he is going to win this election.
“President Nelson Chamisa does not announce appointments through anyone but his office, this information you are referring to is not from his office,” said Dr Sibanda.
By Paul Nyathi|The MDC Alliance President Advocate Nelson Chamisa has written to Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba requesting to meet and discuss electoral concerns ahead of the mass demonstration by the opposition party set for Wednesday.
The letter which Chigumba has not responded to reads as below:
The crowd at Chamisa Rally in Zvishavane
By Dr P Zamchiya|I passed through the Caravan in Zvishavane this morning. An open space that sells delicious sadza, nyama and vegetables. We were served by Jocelyn Ndlovu. She resembled the ordinary hard working women trying to eke a living under ZANU PF’s destructive economic policies.
I was in town for the MDC Alliance’s 56th rally which was held today. It was not a surprise, that most of the customers that flooded the Caravan were in red. You could feel the ecstasy in the air that President Chamisa was coming to town.
After our meal, we drove through the city. The songs belting from people’s cars were about change. The color was red. The talk was Chamisa. As we approached the open space behind Pick and Pay, the rally venue, we were greeted by vibrant young people. They were singing, ‘Chamisa is an inheritance from our mighty father’.
I saw Honorable Amos Chibaya, after 55 rallies I expected him to be exhausted. But no. He said to me, ‘I am iron. I feel I can go for 2 more months’. This team is full of energy and believe it Chibaya has come of age. Give it to him.
I saw people from all walks of life. The blind, the old and the young, men and women, those living with disabilities, blacks and whites. Chamisa brought them together. The regalia was not as bright. The party has little money. However, it has people and a spirit of steel.
The man of the moment, Chamisa, finally arrived at exactly 1330hrs. The crowd went wild. Some wept. I could not believe it. The last time I saw people crying after seeing Chamisa was in 2011 at the Bulawayo party congress when he addressed the youth assembly. Remember those days! Well, the Chamisa moment in Zvishavane today was like something you could touch, smell and eat. They shouted he is ‘honey’! Reader, honey is sweet.
It was time for speeches.
The national youth Chair, Chidziva, got a standing ovation. He said ZEC and Mnangagwa should not backtrack on electoral reforms. He ended his speech by urging youths to be ambassadors of peace. Then came Lynette Karenyi, the national women assembly chair. A gifted leader. She said women must defend the vote and that there is no going back. As she delivered the speech, Chamisa noticed someone in the crowd. He waved at him. They exchanged smiles. He can connect.
The rally reached its crescendo when Chamisa stood up at 1415 hours to deliver his message. He was statesman like. He no longer moved from one corner of the stage to another. Guess what, he even had the SMART policy blue print on the lectern. What was the message? He spent more time on governance. He emphasised devolution of power, de-tribalising the names of provinces, establishing an e-government, making Gweru the administrative capital.
Reader, if you aimed to be deputy Minister just forget. Chamisa said deputy ministers to be abolished and a leaner government will be in place which is less costly. He promised to fight corruption viciously and restore executive powers to the mayors.
He intelligently appealed to the levers of state power. He left the soldiers, civil servants, police, war veterans and traditional leaders with nothing to fear under the Chamisa government. Hoping they can return the favour by allowing transfer of state power if Chamisa wins. It is politics. It will be sugar and honey all over, they were told with powerful charisma. The cash crisis will be resolved within 14 days through dealing with issues of confidence and trust. The crowd loved it. In line with his modernisation vision, a tractor in every village, solar panels in the rural areas, bullet trains and motorways. A provincial member who sat behind me whispered, ‘I can visualise it’.
Reader, Chamisa has the gravitas to make the people and nation dream with him.
He also took time to condemn ZEC over the opaque ballot printing process. He raised reservations about the ballot and the ordering of names on the ballot which is meant to give Mnangagwa an unfair advantage by placing him on the top. The Electoral Act is clear that it must be alphabetical. Chamisa was clear that he will not accept a ballot from ‘nowhere’. This is a serious matter. In authoritarian states the ink disappeared on the ballot paper in opposition strongholds within a few minutes after voting. These are not folk tales. Remember, Ukraine in 2004. This is the trend in competitive electoral authoritarian states the world over. Well, enough of my theories. 1543 hrs the boy from Gutu was done with the speech.
President Chamisa then asked those who were willing to pray with him. In his prayer with the crowd, he asked the Lord for peace to prevail and thanked the Lord for the strength to fight people who hold guns. One of the attendees said, ‘I have spiritually connected with the President. He is my President’. Well, I understand little about this. But wait, during the prayer, Chamisa’s eyes were closed. Remember ED would not close his rallies during prayers at ZANU PF rallies. Perhaps a young man at peace versus the old and insecure. For when he asked the crowd whether they wanted the young or the old they clamoured for the young. Beyond age, he contrasted himself with Mnangagwa on corruption record, human rights abuse and adultery. He pitched it as a choice between the good and the bad, the dirty and the clean.
Reader, yes there were multitudes of people but do they vote? I asked Makwasha, an MDC alliance candidate for council. He said, ‘I helped 4 900 people to register to vote in my ward only’.
As we drove to YaFM, a community radio in Zvishavane, after the rally, Chamisa said to me, ‘this is the largest crowd we have ever addressed in Zvishavane. This time the people are registered voters and we are expecting nothing short of victory’. For the time we drove together, he referred to Morgan Tsvangirai more than 10 times. He said he draws inspiration from MT and he is just finishing off the struggle. He described Morgan as ‘a visionary of all times, a trailblazer, pathfinder and pacesetter’.
At YaFm he was interviewed by Forbes Mugadza. Some of the journalists screamed upon seeing Chamisa. They could not wait for a photo moment. ‘I cannot wait to change my profile picture’, said one young lady at YaFm. Well, it was time to go. A message of change had been delivered with unrivalled charisma. No wonder the people of Zvishavane said they were going to eat sugar and honey in Chamisa’s new Zimbabwe.
By Own Correspondent| Zanu PF’s National Chairperson, Oppah Muchinguri is still stuck inside a South African Hospital, it has emerged.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa revealed Muchinguri’s health status this afternoon.
Addressing thousands of party supporters at Chipadze stadium in Bindura today, Mnangagwa said Muchinguri Kashiri, who is the current Minister of Environment, Water and Climate is getting better and was supposed to be discharged today from the South African health institution where she was receiving treatment.
“I spoke to her this morning. She is much better. She was supposed to be discharged from hospital today but when the doctor came, she was advised to stay a bit longer,” said Mnangagwa.
Muchinguri Kashiri is one of the senior Zanu Pf leaders including Vice President Kembo Mohadi who was injured in the White City Stadium bomb explosion which killed two people and injured over 45 others.
President Mnangagwa survived the bomb explosion which the party said aimed at killing their leader because “he was a straightforward person”.
The party said the attack was orchestrated by the G40 faction which is alleged to be fronted by former first lady Dr Grace Mugabe.
Zanu-PF is paying for political adverts being aired by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), while the MDC Alliance is crying wolf over unfair coverage by the national broadcaster because of failure to pay for the available political advertising space, Permanent Secretary for Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Mr George Charamba has said.
According to Section 160 H of the Electoral Act (Political advertising in broadcasting and print media), all political parties should be accorded advertising space by the national broadcaster, but such ads should be paid for.
The act reads: “(1) …if the broadcaster or publisher is prepared to publish any such advertisement a) it shall offer the same terms and conditions of publication, without discrimination, to all the political parties and candidates contesting the election; and b) the price it charges for publication shall be at the lowest rate it offers to publishers of commercial advertisements; and c) every such publication shall be identified clearly as an advertisement.”
In an interview yesterday, Mr Charamba said the MDC Alliance should not blame the national broadcaster for its lack of funding to pay for the adverts.
“People must not confuse access and procurement issues. At law, all political parties have a right of access to the national broadcaster, but it’s up to the political players to translate that right into reality and that is a function of the means, which are the resources and not of the law.
“If you look at the MDC Alliance party, they have been clearly struggling to campaign properly, which is why they have been trying to fundraise and which is also why they have not been able to purchase decent platforms for their candidate,” he said in reference to the embarrassing incident that saw MDC Alliance president Mr Chamisa falling off the stage in Hwange last month.
Mr Charamba said the MDC Alliance’s financial woes are there for all to see, as the party has even failed to put up posters on trees.
He was responding to claims by former MDC-T Member of Parliament Mr Settlement Chikwinya who claimed that ZBC was charging prohibitive fees.
“Beyond that, what their talkative outgone MP forgot to remind himself is that there are no MDC Alliance adverts in newspapers, which are a lot cheaper. Much worse, there are no MDC posters on trees. Is he suggesting that even trees have hiked their prices?”
Mr Charamba added: “They should never be a sense in anyone’s head that merely because they are contesting elections, that in itself is a license to rundown the frames of ZBC as a broadcaster. We will not allow that.
“The business of politics is expensive and if you are not ready to meet the expenses, get out.”
He suggested that MDC Alliance members could be converting party funds to personal use in anticipation of electoral defeat.
“They are thinking of life after defeat. You cant lose the politics and lose the money also.”
In an interview with The Sunday Mail yesterday, ZBC chief executive Mr Patrick Mavura said the MDC Alliance was among the motley of parties that have failed to take up the national broadcaster’s call for paid-for political adverts.
“We have availed programmes which are for free and other programmes which are paid for through adverts.
“We have been having challenges with the paid for programmes because only Zanu-PF has been able to pay while the other parties are struggling.”
Mr Mavura said ZBC had reduced advertising rate for political parties by 30 percent.
It is believed the opposition party has been pushing for free coverage in order to compensate for their failure pay for ad space.
Last week, MDC Alliance spokesperson Mr Welshman Ncube told our Bulawayo Bureau that his party had not been able to print posters for its presidential candidate, Mr Chamisa.
He also revealed that the party had resorted to selling regalia as it could not give it for free.
Early this year, Mr Chamisa’s party received US$1,873 663.83 under the Political Parties Fund Act, but MDCT- president Dr Thokozani Khupe, who broke ranks with the MDC-Alliance, has been fighting to get a share of the funds, saying her party was the legitimate beneficiary.
It is believed that the decision by non-Governmental organisations to turn off the taps due to alleged abuse of funds and the ineptness of beneficiaries has compounded the opposition political parties’ challenges. – state media
MDC T leader, Dr Thokozani Khupe, is confident of victory at the July 30 polls and said she hopes the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will deliver free, fair and credible elections.
“While we continue to pray for ZEC to fully comply with Section 239 of our country’s Constitution in ensuring a free, fair and credible election, we are readying ourselves for this election because we will not concede a penalty for Zanu-PF to score an easy electoral victory.
“The electoral field has never been free and fair ever since my party broke onto the political scene, and this time around this problem has been amplified by the fact that we are using a biometric voting system for the first time.
“I encourage our supporters to mobilise for a huge turnout even as we continue to implore ZEC to comply with all the technical and administrative requirements they are to abide with as prescribed by our current electoral law, something which is surely within their means,” she said.
MDC-T leader and one of the four female presidential candidates in the forthcoming harmonised elections, Dr Khupe, has promised to end all forms of violence if elected into office.
The 54-year-old Dr Khupe, who was battling Mr Nelson Chamisa for the control of MDC-T, found herself on the receiving end of intra-party violence in the opposition party’s game of thrones.
In the July 30 harmonised elections, her party will be contesting under the banner of the MDC-T, which, for her, is a victory of sorts.
Dr Khupe told The Sunday Mail last week that violence is a weapon of cowards and her government will have zero tolerance to the practice.
Violence, she said, paints a bad picture for the country’s democracy and the electorate must shun politicians with violent tendencies.
“My view is that political violence in whatever form or category is a choice weapon of cowards who have nothing to place on the table for nation building and development.“My government will have zero tolerance for all forms of violence, including political violence. I advise the electorate not to waste their time with politicians who use poor souls as instruments of unleashing violence on their competitors,” said Dr Khupe.
“It certainly does not paint a good picture for our democracy that even a woman who has been in the highest political corridors for three decades like myself cannot escape being subjected to misogyny, violence and humiliation as has been seen in recent times.
“Such violence is the reason why our women representation in political offices remains very far from the minimum thresholds,” she said.
She also promised to cultivate an environment that affords equal opportunities for Zimbabweans.
“My vision is for a Zimbabwe which offers equal opportunities for all its citizens in all the political, economic, social, political, and cultural spheres.
“Equal opportunities in these spheres means that all Zimbabweans must have access to the best jobs with good working conditions and remuneration, the best healthcare, the best education, the best clean water, food, and the best delivery of all social services.”
Devolution of power, she added, could help unshackle the economy and create conditions for economic growth.
“Centralisation of the economy has meant that failure of the central economy through Government interference has always translated to failure of all economic activities in the various provinces of the country.
“Failure of the centralised economy created the highly informalised economy that now exists.
“My first step will be to fully implement devolution of power as a way of building provincial economies, which are fully insulated from the vagaries of what happens in central Government.”
“Strong provincial economies will create equal opportunities for all people in Zimbabwe by localising jobs and retaining a huge share of gains from their local resources for local development,” she said.
The MDC-T leader intends to deal with cash shortages through producing and exporting as a means to earn foreign currency.
Continued Dr Khupe: “My understanding of the cash crisis is that it is a symptom indicative of a failing centralised economy, and this problem will naturally resolve itself once our provincial economies begin to produce and export and the country earns new money into the economy. Any other cash shortage solution that can be proffered will be a stop-gap measure incapable of permanently resolving this crisis.”- state media
No politics during #WineOclock. But I will answer your question. Given what is on offer I think ED is the right man right now. Not Zanu-PF. I am confident he will deal with the remnants of Zanu-PF, NPF, G40 etc. He wants to live legacy and show he is different from Mugabe https://t.co/kMM4cI9f07
In support of Zimbabwean entrepreneur Celia Rukato of Chjaa Scarves I bought myself the Zimbabwe #NationalScarf. Celia saw a gap in the market and must be commended. This scarf does not belong to Zanu-PF. Like the national Flag and Anthem this scarf must unite not divide us pic.twitter.com/1NZ7559P1p
I disagree with my good Cde @TrevorNcube on this one. ED is ZANU & ZANU will never be good for Zimbabwe, not yesterday, today, not tomorrow. I’ve asked about ED’s personal achievement even as housing min, but dololo. Guy has no known record of “positive” accomplishment??♂️
Mmmmm so why didnt he start dealing with the remnant of Zanu pf, NPF and G40 when he assumed power in November? He has had 6 months to do that. I think ED sold people a dummy in November. We wont be fooled twice!!!!
By Wilbert Mukori| “A boycott from this month’s harmonised elections as mooted by the MDC Alliance can only have an impact if it has the buy-in of all opposition parties,” argued Daily News.
“The Alliance is bitter that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) is not transparent in its approach to electoral issues, including the printing of ballot papers.
“If the MDC Alliance decides to boycott the poll, this will backfire spectacularly as other political parties will go ahead and contest, hence legitimising the process.”
Read that and it is immediately clear why Zimbabwe must be one of the “shit-hole countries”, USA President Donald Trump was talking about. In 38 years we have fallen from one of the top ive richest countries in Africa to the poorest country in Africa. Unemployment has soared to dizzying heights of 90% and has been 80% plus for the last decade already. ¾ of our people now live on US$1.00 or less a day! Basic services like clean running water, health, etc. have all but collapsed.
What makes Zimbabwe’s rapid descend into this hell-hole so shocking and disappointing is that it is man-made. The filthy poor majority live cheek by jowl with the few filthy rich ruling elite who live in $4 billion Blue Roof mansions, have a fleet of expensive cars, have 45 gold watches, have multiple farms, multi-million dollar business interests, etc.
Before independence the country produced enough to feed its own people with plenty leftover to be the bread basket of the region. Today the country is dependent on imported food aid, too poor to pay for it. In the day and age when human ingenuity has turned deserts into green orchards we are starving in, for all intent and purposes, the Garden of Eden – a living testimonial of a nation blundering from pillar to post.
The Daily News article above, showed that here is a nation that cannot even see that two wrongs do not make a right, a kindergarten level intellectual challenge. There was no hope of the nation understanding the more complex and intricate matters of freedom, human rights, justice and commonwealth hence the blundering from pillar to post and the rapid descent into the shit-hole!
“If the MDC Alliance decides to boycott the poll, this will backfire spectacularly as other political parties will go ahead and contest, hence legitimising the process,” the Daily News argue This is just nonsense! The legitimacy or otherwise of these elections is not decided on the head count of how many political parties participated but on whether the process itself was free, fair and credible. The 2008 elections have become the benchmark because that year Zanu PF showed the world that the party’s blatant cheating and vote rigging and use of wanton violence has reached nauseating heights, it was impossible to see how one can hold free, fair and credible elections under such conditions.
Mugabe declared himself the winner of the 2008 elections, but no one grant him and his Zanu PF thugs the political legitimacy as the dually elected government. Not even SADC and the AU, known for turning a blind eye to Zanu PF rigging in the past, would pretend the 2008 elections were free and fair.
SADC leaders told Mugabe the only legitimate government they will recognise was a
Government of National Unity (GNU) of Zanu PF and the two MDC factions. The GNU’s primary task was to implement a raft of democratic reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF one-party dictatorship and all its dictatorial powers including the carte blanche powers to rig elections.
Sadly, Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends to whom the task of implementing the reforms fell, sold-out.
Mugabe bribed the MDC leaders’ the trappings of high office; a former white-owned farm for Welshman Ncube, $4 million mansion for Tsvangirai, etc. In return, the MDC leaders kicked reforms into the thicket of prickly pears!
When SADC leaders realised that no reforms had been implemented, they wanted the 2013
elections postponed. “If you go into next month’s elections, you will lose; the elections ARE
DONE!” they told MDC leaders.
By ignoring SADC leaders’ advice and taking part in the 2013 elections with no reforms the MDC give the flawed and illegal process some modicum of credibility and legitimacy as David Coltart readily admitted in his book.
“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the (2013) elections,” explained Senator Coltart.
“The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility.”
SADC leaders were not interested in getting every opposition politician to boycott the elections, it is not the head count that mattered, but when they failed to get even one Zimbabwean opposition party to public support the boycott they were forced to allow the flawed election result stand.
The reason the MDC factions contest the elections in total disregard of the SADC leaders’
warning is greed. It was greed that had made Tsvangirai et al kick the reforms into the prickly pear thicket and it was the same greed that drove them to take part in the flawed 2013 elections and now this year’s equally flawed elections.
“The MDC Alliance will have to work hard so as to convince its members to also boycott the
election; something which will be very difficult. It has also not invested in regional diplomacy and advocacy, hence will have very few backers if they pull out,” continued Daily News.
Hogwash! MDC members and the Zimbabwe electorate at large agreed to participate in the 2013 elections only because MDC leaders had repeatedly assured them the elections will be free, fair and credible. The penny dropped, in some few head at least, when Zanu PF blatantly rigged the elections! A significant number of Zimbabweans are not taking part in this year’s elections because they can see the futility of hoping to win rigged elections.
Why would SADC leaders need convincing of the need to implement reforms before holding
elections when they are on public record arguing the same thing in 2013?
“We hope Chigumba will be able to uphold her constitutional duty to deliver a free, fair and
credible election in which the MDC Alliance participates,” said the Daily News.
The writer has no clue what he/she is writing about! The unreformed ZEC is, in all but name, a department in Zanu PF there to deliver the party’s no regime change mantra. How anyone can still hope that the same ZEC will also deliver free and fair elections only goes to show how confused they are.
The Daily News article was titled: “MDC Alliance election boycott will be suicidal”. Actually, MDC leaders committed collective kamikaze when they forgot about the reforms because they had their snouts in the gravy train feeding troughs. When it emerged that they had failed to implement even one reform in five years MDC lost all political credibility and it has been rapid descend into chaos and hell from there on.
By contesting flawed and illegal elections MDC are giving the process credibility; a second wrong compounding the first wrong of MDC failing to implement the reforms during the GNU. Ask yourself: If you were Zanu PF desperate to hang on to power, would you ever implement any reforms if you are guaranteed that the opposition will always participate no matter how flawed and illegal the process happen to be? You will have to be stupid to do so; Mnangagwa and his junta friends are ignorant, corrupt and, yes, even stupid but not that stupid as to risk losing power by holding free and fair elections.
Indeed, by participating in flawed elections, so flawed “the elections ARE DONE” long before even the first ballot is cast, MDC are helping Zanu PF extend its autocratic rule and the nation stuck in the shit-hole the regime has landed us in. The nation gained nothing from Zanu PF ‘s continued rule expect trouble and more trouble.
Zimbabwe’s hope of ever getting out of this shit-hole now rests with the international election observers. If they ignore the foolish notion that the legitimacy of these elections depends of the head count of how many political parties took part and focus on process; then there is no way such a flawed and illegal process can ever be judged to be free, fair and credible. Condemning these elections will give Zimbabwe a chance to revisit and implement the raft of democratic reforms agreed at the onset of 2008 GNU.
The very best result one can expect is an MDC victory with a powerful Zanu PF opposition. After their pathetic performance during the GNU, there is nothing to make anyone believe that the MDC government will be mediocre, at their best. Having a very disruptive Zanu PF opposition will only make the matters worse!
In a democratic Zimbabwe, neither Zanu PF thugs nor these sell-out MDC leaders will survive. A free media and democratic opponents will dig up their pathetic past record and make sure the electorate know they will be letting the nation into if they recycled the deadwood.
Only a health and functional democratic system of government complete with freedom of
expression and a free media will end the Zanu PF dictatorship and allow the people to think for themselves. We must end the insanity of risking the whole the nation’s destiny on a capricious act as winning rigged elections, even after 38 years of repeated failures! – SOURCE: zsdemocrats.blogspot.co.uk
By Own Correspondent| Zanu PF’s National Chairperson, Oppah Muchinguri is still stuck inside a South African Hospital, it has emerged.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa revealed Muchinguri’s health status this afternoon.
Addressing thousands of party supporters at Chipadze stadium in Bindura today, Mnangagwa said Muchinguri Kashiri, who is the current Minister of Environment, Water and Climate is getting better and was supposed to be discharged today from the South African health institution where she was receiving treatment.
“I spoke to her this morning. She is much better. She was supposed to be discharged from hospital today but when the doctor came, she was advised to stay a bit longer,” said Mnangagwa.
Muchinguri Kashiri is one of the senior Zanu Pf leaders including Vice President Kembo Mohadi who was injured in the White City Stadium bomb explosion which killed two people and injured over 45 others.
President Mnangagwa survived the bomb explosion which the party said aimed at killing their leader because “he was a straightforward person”.
The party said the attack was orchestrated by the G40 faction which is alleged to be fronted by former first lady Dr Grace Mugabe.
VIDEO: MNANGAGWA vs CHAMISA Rallies: In ED’s People Are Taught History Lessons, In Chamisa’s We Are Taught Lessons Of The Glorious Future – IS THIS TRUE? https://t.co/wJkTWshdM3
By Own Correspondent| President Emmerson Mnangagwa has revealed the health status of the party’s National Chairperson Oppah Muchinguri who is currently recuperating at a South African hospital following her injury at a bomb explosion at White City Stadium in Bulawayo last month which claimed two lives.
Addressing thousands of party supporters at Chipadze stadium in Bindura today, Mnangagwa said Muchinguri Kashiri, who is the current Minister of Environment, Water and Climate is getting better and was supposed to be discharged today from the South African health institution where she was receiving treatment.
“I spoke to her this morning. She is much better. She was supposed to be discharged from hospital today but when the doctor came, she was advised to stay a bit longer,” said Mnangagwa.
Muchinguri Kashiri is one of the senior Zanu Pf leaders including Vice President Kembo Mohadi who was injured in the White City Stadium bomb explosion which killed two people and injured over 45 others.
President Mnangagwa survived the bomb explosion which the party said aimed at killing their leader because “he was a straightforward person”.
The party said the attack was orchestrated by the G40 faction which is alleged to be fronted by former first lady Dr Grace Mugabe.
By Own Correspondent| MDC Alliance aspiring parliamentary candidate for Harare South, Shadreck Mashayamombe has dismissed as false reports alleging that he was reportedly arrested and detained at Waterfalls police station in Harare.
Mashayamombe, said it was news that he had been arrested since he was currently going about his campaign in his constituency.
“It is false. I am currently at a rally and I was never arrested yesterday or today,” said Mashayamombe.
According to social media reports, Mashayamombe was arrested over a stands scam and had been detained at Waterfalls police station in Harare.
A staunch critic of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mashayamombe is the MDC Alliance parliamentary candidate for Harare South and he is set to battle it out with Mnangagwa’s nephew Tongai in the forthcoming harmonised polls set for 30 July 2018.
By Own Correspondent| MDC Alliance aspiring legislator for Harare South, and former Grace Mugabe aide, Shadreck Mashayamombe was reportedly arrested over Stoneridge settlements.
Unconfirmed reports claimed that Mashayamombe is reportedly at Waterfalls police station in Harare.
Efforts to get a comment from the police regarding Mashayamombe’s arrest were futile.
While details of his arrest were still sketchy, Mashayamombe is on record claiming that last week suspected Zanu-PF stalwarts kidnapped him and demanded that he withdraws his candidature from the constituency before taking his Parliament-issued Chevrolet vehicle and dumping it along the Harare-Bulawayo Highway.
According to Mashayamombe, his kidnappers told him to withdraw his candidature in Harare South where he is set to battle it out with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s nephew Tongai for the legislator post on July 30.
Mashayamombe is also on record revealing that Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is “hounding” him.
Addressing party supporters at a rally in Harare, VP Chiwenga is on record saying government will “go after land barons” adding that their days were numbered.
A former member of Zanu Pf, Mashayamombe was elected into parliament in July 2013 to represent Harare South constituency before he was expelled from the party in November 2017 following a military initiative code named Operation Restore Legacy which saw former President Robert Mugabe’s resignation.
In January of 2018 Mashayamombe was expelled from parliament in terms of Section 129 (1) (k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe after ZANU-PF informed the National Assembly that he was no longer a member of the party.
MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa today, Saturday invades Emmerson Mnangagwa home area, Zvishavane.
Zvishavane is the nation’s precious location for asbestos mining, and also where Mnangagwa built for himself a giant mansion among a swarm of poor village houses.
ZimEye will bring our value readers the LIVE coverage from here today. Watch the preparations below:
By Own Correspondent| MDC Alliance aspiring legislator for Harare South Shadreck Mashayamombe was reportedly arrested over Stoneridge settlements.
Unconfirmed reports however claimed that Mashayamombe is reportedly at Waterfalls police station in Harare.
Efforts to get a comment from the police regarding Mashayamombe’s arrest were futile.
While details of his arrest were still sketchy, Mashayamombe is on record claiming that last week suspected Zanu-PF stalwarts kidnapped him and demanded that he withdraws his candidature from the constituency before taking his Parliament-issued Chevrolet vehicle and dumping it along the Harare-Bulawayo Highway.
According to Mashayamombe, his kidnappers told him to withdraw his candidature in Harare South where he is set to battle it out with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s nephew Tongai for the legislator post on July 30.
Mashayamombe is also on record revealing that Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is “hounding” him.
Addressing party supporters at a rally in Harare, VP Chiwenga is on record saying government will “go after land barons” adding that their days were numbered.
A former member of Zanu Pf, Mashayamombe was elected into parliament in July 2013 to represent Harare South constituency before he was expelled from the party in November 2017 following a military initiative code named Operation Restore Legacy which saw former President Robert Mugabe’s resignation.
In January of 2018 Mashayamombe was expelled from parliament in terms of Section 129 (1) (k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe after ZANU-PF informed the National Assembly that he was no longer a member of the party.
By Own Correspondent| MDC Alliance Women’s Assembly Chairlady Lynette Karenyi was in Bulawawayo for a 3 day door to door election campaign dubbed “Mhou neMhuru Yayo” where the women’s wing mobilised for support for the Alliance candidates ahead of the watershed polls.
The campaign, which also aimed at encouraging the electorate to go out and vote on voting day saw the party’s women wing leadership visit the under privileged members of society in Bulawayo.
Said Karenyi:
“We are here to tell you that, as one of the biggest opposition provinces in the country, you should put your vote on President Chamisa and Alliance candidates come July 30th.
Do not worry about others in this province we must all rally behind one leader if we are to defeat Zanu PF. President Chamisa will make a good president.”
The campaigns were also attended by the Provincial chairperson for Bulawayo, Gift Banda and Provincial Women Chairlady Elizabeth Chimedza among other party leaders.
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Kumaruzevha kunotoda ma election agents aye anorara pa polling station obva kune dzimwe nzvimbo not mu same area. Nekuti vemusame area are always intimidated vanonzi chimboendai kudzimba kwenyu mozodzoka instead yekuti varare vakachengeta maballot box pamwe chete.
Zanu PF inoita advantage nekumamisha nekuti inoziva kuti ma observer mazhinji anenge ari muma town
Pa command centre yepa Mudzi leader,gore ra2008 paya,after taverenga mavotes ese,vaka delayer kuunza ma ballot box edzimwe nzvimbo dzakaita seVombozi Chimukoko etc ndokwavanozokandira mavotes anodarika number yavakange vakadyiwa nayo .
I have information yekuti Mudzi yese. Nemutoko,Mount Darwin,Dande etc kune mabollot box akatogadzirwa anenge akafanana neacharatidzwa vanhu zvese sealing tape and everything.
Ma observer vanenge vanorara. Ma election agent anenge adzingwa.
Kuseni vanhu vese vavapo panozovhurwa iwo mabollot box aya akavhotwa kare voverenga pamwe. Ma observer varipo munhu wese aripo.
Command centre yeku Mudzi ine back door. So zvavanoita ndezvekuti vanodzinga everyone mukati zvonzi garirai padoor asi ivo vanozosmuggler out maballot box ne kusmuggler in aka rigwa kare.
Saka ngapakumbirwe Au and sadc to add manpower yesecurity inorara yakachengeta maballot hapafanirwe kurariwa kana kudzingana kunzvimbo idzi kumamisha cause they know very well kuti ma observer kunzvimbo dzekumamisha.
By Paul Nyathi|Members of a Matabeleland focus social media WhatsApp group called Social Democracy Forum have made contributions totalling over US$1 000 towards funeral expenses of the late Bulawayo socialite and activist Hloniphani Golide Tshuma who died on Tuesday.
Amongst those who contributed towards the funeral expenses through the group are prominent political leaders Priscilla Misihairabwi Mushonga, PDP Deputy President Kucaca Phulu and parliamentarian Jassimine Toffa.
Various prominent persons including Phulu and ZEC Commissioner Dr Qhubani Moyo, Highlanders Football Club CEO Nhlanhla Dube, Mthwakazi Republic Party President Mqondisi Moyo, Zimbabwe Communist Party leader Ngqabutho Mabhena and several high profile persons from the region sent touching condolence messages on Tshuma’s sudden death due to suspected hyper tension.
“Hloniphani was a simple man, with a rare quality of engagement and activism. Although Tshuma was not an MRP card carrying member he was always present in almost all our programs. His input and honest criticism has been fruitful for us,” said MRP leader Moyo in a condolence message.
“His dedication to the best interests of Bulawayo and Matebeleland is beyond question. We have seen in almost every activity that has the best interests of our people. He is our immeasurable giant,” said MDC Youth Secretary General Descent Bajila.
Tshuma who founded the group four years ago and brought together the who is who of Matabeleland personnel from across the board will be buried in Bulawayo on Sunday.
MDC Alliance President, Nelson Chamisa said Zimbabwe needs a new leadership that values the people instead of an old Zanu Pf leadership that violated people’s economic, social and political rights for over 3 decades.
Chamisa said the electorate should not be hoodwinked into giving President Emmerson Mnangagwa another 5 year mandate to govern the country since the party had failed to address the simple bread and butter issues for the past 38 years.
Addressing hundreds of party supporters at Mataga business centre in Mberengwa, Chamisa said Zanu Pf leader President Emmerson Mnangagwa cannot fool Zimbabweans because he is just like his predecessor former president Robert Mugabe.
“Mugabe and Mnangagwa belong in the same whatsapp group. Umwe ndi driver umwe ndihwindi meaning one is the driver and the other one is the conductor,” said Chamisa.
He said it is highly unlikely that Mnangagwa is sincere that he has reformed from his old ways of doing things considering that he was part of Mugabe’s administration which plunged the country into the current economic quagmire.
“Zimbabwe inoda mutungamiriri kwete mutongi meaning Zimbabwe needs a leader and not a dictator.
Hatingapfekedze chembere jojeti tobva tatoti yava mhandara meaning we can not dress up an old woman in the latest fashion and start claiming that they are now young,” said Chamisa.
He called on the electorate to change the country’s fortunes by voting for real change under the able leadership of the MDC Alliance.
American R&B star Chris Brown has been arrested in Florida on a charge of felony battery.
On Thursday the singer and rapper performed a concert on his Heartbreak on a Full Moon tour in West Palm Beach, Florida, and was arrested shortly afterwards.
He was taken to the nearby Palm Beach county jail, and was released on bail of $2,000 (£1,500). It is not yet clear who has accused him, and no more details are yet available about the incident.
Alongside a career that has included seven US top-five albums, and hits such as Run It, No Air and Loyal, Brown has been apprehended numerous times by police. Most famously, in 2009 he attacked his then girlfriend Rihanna, leaving her bruised and bleeding. “I really hit her, with a closed fist, I punched her … that’s going to haunt me forever,” he said in a recent documentary.
In October 2013, he was arrested on an assault charge after being accused of punching a man who tried to have his photo taken with Brown, later pleading guilty to the incident. The violation of his probation following the attack on Rihanna meant that he was sentenced to 131 days in jail, though was released early.
Another girlfriend, Karrueche Tran, won a five-year restraining order against Brown in 2017, alleging that he had threatened her with violence. In January 2016, a woman accused him of punching her in a Las Vegas nightclub, though Brown denied it and charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.
In August 2016, an unidentified woman reported Brown to the Los Angeles police, saying he had threatened her with a gun at his house – he was released on $250,000 bail and has never faced trial over the incident.
In May 2018, he was sued by a woman who claimed she was raped at his home by one of his friends, Lowell Grissom Jr – the lawsuit is ongoing, though Brown’s lawyer has stated: “My investigation shows that none of these allegations are true.”
ALLIANCE for the People’s Agenda (APA) president Nkosana Moyo says he is inundated with requests for beer and T-shirts every time he meets the electorate on the campaign trail countrywide as they want “to turn elections into a transaction”.
In a discussion with approximately 15 people at the Masvingo Civic Centre yesterday, he was quick to say that he has never given in to such demands.
“Everywhere I go, people ask me to buy them beer and give them T-shirts. But I do not buy them. I explain to them politely that this has partly destroyed our country. They turn elections into a transaction. They are doing themselves a service by securing the future of the country and their children in the best hands, they are not doing me a favour.
“When a candidate is campaigning and they are buying people things, where are they getting the money? Afterwards you complain about corruption, when you have started it from day one when you start an interaction with candidates which leads to corrupt practises,” he said.
Asked about his chances in the elections where 22 other candidates are vying for the presidency, Moyo, a businessman and former Cabinet minister who has held several positions in multilateral institutions, chose to be diplomatic.
“About me winning . . . the answer does not come from me. It lies with the Zimbabweans who I give that process, otherwise I will be involved in conflict of interest since I am one of the candidates . . . but if people follow my ways of how to choose a leader, I will win.
“People need to know what went wrong. People should look for the right person to fix things. What is wrong is the economy. Out of the 23 candidates, people should choose who is best to fix it. It needs a person who is good at the job. People should choose themselves the best candidate from the 23 contestants. They should look at our CVs, experience, track record so that they choose well.
So if the people follow what I am saying, I do not have any no competition. That is how I see it,” he said.
Moyo said the electoral playing field is tilted in Zanu PF’s favour.
“All our State institutions, not just the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), are appendages of Zanu PF. Zec is an arm of Zanu PF, whether we like it or not. The chairperson of Zec was appointed by the president, not by an independent panel that represents the interests of the people.
“What we need is for our institutions of State to be guided by the Constitution and they should understand that they stand above all political parties and protect the interests of Zimbabwean citizens not those of political parties,” he said.
By Own Correspondent| Former energy minister Samuel Undenge breathed a sigh of relief after a Harare magistrate Annie Ndiraya on Thursday acquitted him on charges of failing to pay maintenance for his son.
Undenge had been dragged to court by his former wife Angeline who alleged that he had maintenance arrears of R226 805.
However, the court ruled that the child in question was now an adult as he had turned 18 hence the minister had no obligation to pay the said figure.
In her ruling Magistrate Ndiraya said,
“The application to extend maintenance order period after the child had turned 18 was dismissed by on March 26, 2014. It is also this court’s view that there is no legal order in existence to still compel the accused to pay the maintenance.
It is not in the interest of justice for the accused to continue paying the maintenance when there is no legal order compelling him to do so. The order automatically lapses upon the child reaching 18.”
Thokozani Khupe and Joice Mujuru failed to agree on coalition
PEOPLE’S Rainbow Coalition presidential candidate Joice Mujuru has disclosed that MDC-T presidential candidate Thokozani Khupe snubbed her proposal for a coalition ahead of the July 30 polls.
This came against the backdrop of earlier reports suggesting that the two had held talks in Bulawayo, but failed to agree on the leader of the proposed union.
Speaking on Thursday at a Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) discussion on women’s participation in the forthcoming elections, Mujuru said she was the one who approached Khupe with a coalition deal through an unnamed emissary.
“I had gone out of my way to invite Khupe, but it was never accepted. I did send the word through her emissary and I didn’t get any response,” the former Vice-President said.
Both Khupe and Mujuru were among the four female candidates contesting for the presidency on July 30, with critics having blamed women for failing to rally behind a single candidate in order to disrupt the patriarchy, which has for decades dominated national politics.
With 54% of the registered voters being women, analysts have argued that the fate of the country will be determined by the female vote.
Khupe, however, denied having received any coalition proposal from Mujuru and went on to downplay the notion of mergers ahead of the July 30 election, saying the reality was that there were 23 presidential candidates from which the electorate could choose.
She said it was important to drive efforts towards campaigning because elections were fast approaching and there was no time to adjust operational arrangements and rally behind a single female candidate.
“She (Mujuru) articulated the issue clearly that she went through somebody else, but what I would like to say is that let us look at reality, we have 23 candidates. So are you saying that the others are not going to be splitting the vote?
“I think uniting as women is a very noble and good idea, but let’s look at reality. Reality right now is we have four female candidates out of the 23 presidential candidates. So I would like to encourage women to vote for one of the women who are sitting at front here,” Khupe said.
A WOMAN from Bulawayo who stabbed her husband, kept the body for two days before dousing it with paraffin and burning it to conceal evidence, has been slapped with a 18-year jail sentence.
Lakela Sweswe (25) of Buena Vista suburb in Bulawayo said she committed the offence in self-defence as her abusive husband, the late Anofa Mlauzi, had tried to stab her with the same knife.
Mlauzi had accused his wife of committing adultery.
Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Martin Makonese convicted Sweswe of murder with actual intent. He said the court was taking into consideration that the accused was 23 years of age and was an immature young woman who had just been married.
“In sentencing the accused person, the court shall regard the battered woman syndrome. This must, however, be balanced against the sanctity of human life,” said the judge.
“This case brings out the scourge of domestic violence. It is my view that a lengthy prison term is appropriate. You are sentenced to 18 years imprisonment,” ruled Justice Makonese.
He said the act of self defence was not very clear as she was not under any imminent attack as she instead waited behind the door and stabbed her husband.
“Her conduct after the murder doesn’t show that she had no intention of killing him, if she panicked then why did she burn the body?” said Justice Makonese.
In mitigation, Sweswe’s lawyer, Ms Marygold Sibanda, said her client was young at the time of commission of the offence and has two children who are aged four and 31 months who still need their mother’s attention as one of them stays with her in prison.
Ms Sibanda argued that her client’s marriage was rocky from the beginning and she had endured frequent beating from the deceased person and her conduct was a result of the cumulative abuse.
“My Lord we submit that the deceased person should not be considered a saint in his death as he was a villain and abuser for three years,” said Ms Sibanda before Justice Makonese interjected.
He said the excuse of abuse should not be used as a defence to kill other people as it set a bad precedence.
“Why did she stay in an abusive relationship? Don’t use that as an excuse since it will set a wrong precedence because men will be finished in the homes as women would want to get rid of their problems. Some men are abusers physically and emotionally,” the judge said.
The defence pleaded for a lesser sentence of five years. The State represented by Ms Nonhlanhla Ndlovu said Sweswe behaved negligently in that after stabbing her husband she retired to bed leaving him bleeding.
“Furthermore, she went on to burn the body to conceal the evidence and lied about his whereabouts. Human life still remains sacred, no human being must be allowed to take the law into their own hands,” said Ms Ndlovu.
It is the State case that on June 8, 2016 at about 1AM, Mlauzi arrived home from a beer drink and a misunderstanding ensued between Sweswe and Mlauzi with the latter accusing his wife of adultery.
“The misunderstanding degenerated into a fist fight, thereafter Mlauzi left the house for a short while and upon his return, Sweswe, who had picked a kitchen knife and stood in wait by the door, stabbed him once on the neck and he fell down and later died.
The court heard how Sweswe dragged his body to a shack which was within their premises and after two days she poured paraffin on the deceased’s body and burnt it.
The matter came to light when neighbours discovered Mlauzi’s body in the shed leading to Sweswe’s arrest.
It’s three weeks to the elections and Zimbabweans have been raising several questions on the country’s preparedness for the watershed election.
The State owned Herald newspaper Political Editor, Tichaona Zindoga (TZ), sat down with ZEC chairwoman Justice Priscilla Chigumba (PC) to discuss these issues.
The full interview is as follows:
TZ: Can you walk us through the mandate of ZEC and where it derives its power and legality.
PC: ZEC is one of those commissions which were set up in terms of Chapter 12 of the new Constitution which came into place in 2013. ZEC derives it constitutional mandate and the basis of its powers from the Constitution itself which actually stipulates firstly that it shall be an independent commission and gives it the exclusive mandate to deal with the registration, voters and all electoral processes. So basically its mandate is derived from the Constitution and from the Electoral Act and attendant regulations.
TZ: What is the composition of ZEC and its secretariat?
PC: ZEC in terms of its organogram is made up of nine commissioners. There is a chairperson, who is myself, who takes the oath of office in terms of the Constitution. We have a deputy chairperson and other commissioners who among all nine commissioners each superintends one province. I am responsible for Harare Metropolitan Province. As you can see, it’s quite a large province. The secretariat is headed by the chief elections officer and we have other officers, directors in various departments such as voter education, knowledge management, ICT etc.
TZ: How do you respond to allegations that ZEC is militarised, allegations which are of a serious nature and have swirled for some time now?
PC: We take those allegations seriously. We do have former members of the army, Prison Service, ZRP, Central Intelligence, President’s Office officers. When I came in as chairperson I took time to sit and look at those allegations and found out that approximately 13.8 percent of secretariat staff has a security sector background.
I checked all the records and I satisfied myself that of all of them none is currently serving. I would like to emphasise the fact that ZEC actually advertised certain posts and we had of that 13.8 percent of our secretariat, these are the employees of ours that responded to advertisement. They actually went through the interviews and were selected. So when you hear members of the public saying that ZEC is militarised, it gives the false impression that we walked into an army barrack or ZRP and arbitrarily chose certain people to come and work for us. But the truth of the matter is that most of these people, of the 13, 8 percent, actually joined ZEC more than five years ago.
As you know, there has been a freeze on Government posts so we have not been able to recruit anyone. So we have had these employees for quite a while, they are our employees, they were employed in terms of the standard procedures and we have taken the position that there is no law in Zimbabwe which prevents us from employing someone merely because they have retired from the army or police.
Our position is that we intend to keep our employees until such time as there is a law which instructs us or guides us to say as an electoral commission we may not employ such people. But we are an independent commission and we independently recruited these people and they are here to stay.
TZ: Can you elaborate on the concept of independence. How is ZEC as an independent body supposed to work with Government and what is the nature of interaction between the two? Do you take instructions from anybody, let’s say from the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs?
PC: The Constitution guides us on the concept of independence and in a nutshell, the Constitution stipulates that ZEC “shall not” be under the direction or control of anyone. So that means in the discharge of our duties, we have absolute discretion in deciding what to do and how to carry out our mandate and our functions. In terms of our interaction with Government, we report to Cabinet through the Ministry of Justice, and when I say we report I don’t mean we seek permission from them to discharge our mandate.
What we basically do is that on a weekly basis we have a meeting with the Minister of Justice and we advise him of how far we have gone on our preparations for instance if we have had the minister briefed this week. It’s not only ZEC, but also other commissions, the Judicial Service Commission, the Prisons Service, the Attorney-General’s Office, we all meet the minister and we tell the minister that week’s activities.
For example, this week we would have told the minister that we have training for electoral officers in our province and what he simply does with the information is relate it to Cabinet. It’s a constitutional and legal way of actually keepingCcabinet informed about our activities and it benefits us in a way because for instance if we require money from the Treasury and if there is no money we go through the Minister of Justice, ask him to tell Cabinet to avail funds to Treasury. So it’s a reporting structure to keep Government apprised of all of our activities. We don’t seek permission from the Government through the Minister of Justice, he does not come to give us directions to say we should do XYZ, but sometimes he puts questions to us to say for instance, the question around the voters’ roll was raised in Cabinet and they would want to know what is happening with this and we respond to say this is how far we have gone.
TZ: Another important concept or tenet relates to transparency. To what extent is ZEC transparent given complaints for example, now that ZEC has not allowed political parties to participate in certain processes they need to scrutinise?
PC: It is my considered view that ZEC is more than 100 percent transparent and I will say so because of a few basic things. First thing is that we have what we call stakeholders engagements. We invite political parties to sit down with us and discuss. We invite civil society organisations and diplomats. Periodically, we do it at two months intervals. As we draw close to the elections, we will do these stakeholders engagement meetings once a month. We were doing them every two weeks and now we have a weekly chairperson’s briefing with the media where we sit with members of the media and advise them on what we are doing.
With regards to the question of ballot paper printing, what I will say is firstly, ZEC is an independent commission, that means it cannot be directed by anyone to do anything, it means it cannot be controlled by anyone to do anything. How we interpret that as a commission is to say in everything that we do, we must always be guided by the law.
So we start of from saying, what does the law say in regard to the ballot paper printing for instance?
The law explicitly says ZEC has the exclusive and sole mandate to design, print and distribute ballot paper.
So that is the legal position, the law is very clear; there are no grey areas. We have encouraged political parties during the time when the Electoral Amendment Bill was debated in Parliament to say look there is no legislative framework for these requests that you are making to us to be made part of these processes, so kindly go to Parliament and try to get these requests made part of the law. They did go to Parliament, if they want to be honest, they did try to get their requests made part of the law, it was debated in Parliament and the Parliament process, the legislative process itself didn’t work in their favour. And our position was, we must be guided by the law because we cannot be seen to be inventing arbitrary things which are not part of our law.
The basic problem that we are having with certain requests is that, where there is no legislative framework in place, it creates difficulties for us but in the interest of transparency we have said to political parties that, I will give an example. We have 55 political parties who successfully fielded candidates through the nomination courts.
So we have said look, we accept and admit there is no legislative framework, you tried to get the law passed in Parliament you failed, but in the interest of transparency why don’t you sit down as 55 political parties that are going to the election and try and reach consensus.
So we know that there is one particular political party which has concerns, why don’t you table your concerns amongst your peers as 55 political parties? We do have what are called multi-party liaison committees, whose constitutional mandate is to build consensus around disputes pertaining to elections. Those multi-party liaison committees are chaired by Commissioner Doctor Moyo.
So Commissioner Dr Moyo convened a meeting where he was supposed to discuss the modalities with the political parties to say, “What exactly is it that you like to see in the process of viewing the printing of the ballot paper or being included in the process?”
Before he could discuss the modalities, that meeting was disrupted and commissioners actually had to vacate the room because of what was happening there.
So this is now the bone of contention to say that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission was not transparent because it allegedly didn’t consult political parties; but in our defence I would like to say we did set up meetings; but that meeting was disrupted and as a result we then had to proceed with printing because the idea was parties would sit down, discuss modalities and then they could be there when printing started.
The reason why they were not actually there is because that meeting was disrupted but we had a printing schedule which we had to stick to in order to be ready for the election day on the 30th, so we really couldn’t wait for political parties to organise themselves, we started printing.
However, three days into printing, Dr Moyo then sent out invitations to political parties to say ‘Please come’. The parties that are complaining did not avail themselves at the meetings. No modalities were discussed, so the commissioner used his discretion and that is now water under the bridge because we are actually half way through printing.
TZ: There is this issue around pictures on the voters’ roll, which has been subject of controversy. Can you explain how the concept of pictures on the voters’ roll works and what is the legal position regarding that?
PC: Alright, the first thing that I would really like to communicate is that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission should be congratulated for availing a final voters’ roll to Zimbabweans for the first time; a good six weeks before election day. It has never been done before in the history of this country that the electoral management body actually availed a final voters’ roll that Zimbabweans could actually hold in their hands and say ‘This is our final voters’ roll’. So I think that we should be given some merit for doing that.
Now, the second thing that I would like to say is that it is actually not factually correct that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission failed to avail copies of the voters list prior to our availing the final voters’ roll. I will tell you why. The law in 2013, the New Constitution, was the one which actually gave the mandate to us as opposed to the Registrar General to say the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission should start a new voters’ list. That is why we started registering voters afresh using the biometric voter registration system. It’s also a myth that there are ghosts on that voters’ list, because all the people on that voters’ list actually walked up to a BVR machine; they had fingerprints taken, they had photographs taken. That is the second thing.
The third thing of note is that despite the fact that the Constitution gave us the mandate to make a new voters’ list, there is no attendant legislative framework to control access to the data; which we got.
So what we basically have at the moment is we are juggling competing interests. The Constitution guarantees the right to access to information, but that right to access to information is not absolute. The Constitution also guarantees the right to privacy, the right to privacy is also not absolute. When we registered (new) all our voters’ afresh and took their biometric features, we didn’t contemplate a situation where the release of that data in a voters’ list would potentially impinge on the right to privacy.
So initially, as a commission, we had found nothing wrong with releasing the voters’ roll as it was. We were then alerted by legal advice to say you need to be a little bit careful with the data that you release, especially if that data has the potential of being misused or abused; for instance, identity theft; security concerns. We had certain public statements to the effect that people intended to use those pictures to go and knock on people’s doors and ask people to verify whether their faces were actually on the voters’ roll. We found that unacceptable.
Now, the reason why we found that unacceptable is: the Constitution says we must provide a voters’ roll which is in analysable format and which is searchable. Now what that basically means is that in order to analyse a voters’ roll, it must be in a certain format. So, we put it in Excel format, we then put in names, addresses and ID numbers and it is our considered view that the inclusion of people’s pictures is not going to make the voters’ role any more analysable than it already is and moreover, we did open up the voters’ role for inspection for an eleven-day period if you recall and what we did during that eleven-day period is we actually printed hard copies of the voters’ roll and we said to voters ‘Look, all of our designated polling stations we have turned them into inspection centers. We would like Zimbabweans to physically go to inspection centres and take a look at the voters’ rolls’.
If you had gone to your polling station, which was an inspection centre, you could have seen a hard copy of the voters’ roll. You could have actually seen your picture on that voters’ roll because the hard copy which we availed during inspection is similar to the one which will be availed on polling day and that one will have pictures.
So, the criticism that people went to nomination court without benefit of having seen the voters’ role, in our view, is unwarranted because hard copies of those voters’ rolls, polling station-based voters’ rolls, were actually available. So those who wanted to see which of their neighbours they could actually ask to endorse their nomination, could have done that during the inspection period because those hard copies were available.
It is actually not true, I would like to emphasize, that we did not or we failed to avail even provisional copies. So, during the inspection period, the voters’ roll was availed in three forms. It was in hard copy at the inspection centres, which are our polling centres. It was there in soft copy, we had it on a link. It was there at all our provincial centres; at all our district centres and for your information, it’s actually, as we speak, available at all district and provincial centres. You can actually walk in and have a look at the voters’ roll.
So, the underlying thing behind our refusal to provide a voters’ roll with pictures is that we have provided it in searchable and analyzable form despite the lack of pictures and we have withheld the pictures out of legal concerns for the privacy of others. There are no rights in the Constitution which are absolute. Every right is subject to limits in a democratic society, and we believe that we have discharged our mandate to produce and provide a final voters’ roll, which is analyzable and searchable and we have fulfilled our Constitutional mandate at every stage of the electoral process we have availed copies of even the provisional voters’ roll.
TZ: Other concerns, and we have seen this, include people with multiple IDs or an improbable number of people staying at a particular address. How do you respond to such allegations?
PC: I will take that in two parts, let`s deal with the question of a large number of people apparently residing at one place on the voter`s roll. If you recall, when a potential registrant walked up to a BVR kit, there was certain information they were supposed to provide such as proof of residence. A lot of our residents, let`s take one particular case where there were 122 people registered at one place, they all brought sworn affidavits that they resided at that place. Now, we trained our kit operators to check that sworn affidavits were genuine and authentic. As long as there was a sworn statement from a person stipulating that they resided at a certain place, our kit operators would accept those affidavits. In terms of our administrative processes, there is absolutely nothing that we did wrong as a commission in accepting those sworn statements. It might be debatable whether or not those people ought to have been prosecuted for swearing to affidavits but with regards to that particular instance. By the way, (regarding recent reports of 400 people staying at a particular address) it is actually 122 people, it`s a church shrine we understand there are some residences there at the church shrine. It is not 400 or 300, it is 122 and they all brought sworn statements which was in line with our stipulated procedures so we did nothing wrong.
The second part of your question was with regards to identity particulars which appeared to not to be in order. We have been told there is a person who is 150 years old, we have been told that there are people with similar IDs. You will find that those people with ID particulars that were rejected by the system are actually on the exclusion role, not the voters roll. It is something which is beyond our control as a commission, because we actually don`t have a mandate to register citizens, we don’t issue ID. What we basically did with the data that we received is, wherever we flagged similar IDs, similar names or people who appeared to be shall I say to have an abnormal length of life, we referred all those cases to the Registrar General because he has the mandate to keep the register of citizens and he basically then said to us, this person is not in our system.
I do not want to speak for the Registrar General because I don’t have the mandate but basically I understand that there are some people who did some unorthodox things in order to register themselves as citizens of Zimbabwe. That is the mandate of the Registrar General, he is seized with these matters. What we did is that when those people were flagged by our system, we excluded them from the final voters` roll, they may have appeared on provisional voters` rolls but we excluded them from the final voters roll and referred them to the Registrar General for correction and investigation and possible further action which is within the purview of the Registrar General. Yes, we admit people walked up to our machines; they were registered but when they were flagged they were excluded. If you recall, one of the basic requirements of being registered to vote is that one must be a Zimbabwean citizen and we use our national IDs to show that we are citizens. The minute you have a problem or an anomaly with your ID, you are no longer eligible to be registered to vote. We do accept and we have encouraged people to say, if they correct those anomalies they can still reregister and appear on the 2023 election, so it is not necessarily fatal.
TZ: In the process of printing ballot papers, how safe are these ballot papers and their specimens from leaking to the public?
PG: The places that we have chosen for printing of ballot papers as you know, Printflow is printing our ballot paper for council elections and Fidelity is printing our papers for the presidential election and the National Assembly. We have absolute confidence in the security with both those buildings with regards to ballot papers that are in the process of printing.
The question of leaking to social media, nothing is ever a 100 percent foolproof but what I will tell you with regards to the process is that we are basically an administrative body. In terms of administration, the design of the ballot paper originates in a department here at ZEC. So, we have a ballot paper design department which is manned by experts who sit down and say this is how we are going to design the ballot paper, these are the colours that we are going to use, are we going to use A4 size paper or are we going to use A3. So, for instance, I will tell you that for the presidential election, ordinarily we procure what are known as ballot paper rolls but for the presidential election we now had to procure ballot paper sheets because of the high number of candidates. Human beings being what they are, there is a department here, all of our offices here I have a 100 percent confidence in their ability to keep our material confidential.
TZ: What happens if they do leak?
PC: If they do leak, we must find the source of the leak and prosecute the person.
TZ: Does it not compromise the process or otherwise a rethink of the process?
PC: No, I don’t believe that it compromises the process because the constitution gives us the exclusive mandate to design, print and distribute. So, we still have the exclusive mandate we are still in control and we will still print and go ahead and proceed. People can speculate on social media, we understand all sorts of things on social media, that the ballot paper if you put an X on one end it can migrate to the other end after 12 hours, a lot of the things being said on social media are mere speculation.
TZ: MDC Alliance, one of the contestants in these elections, has just reiterated that it will not participate in the coming elections if certain demands are not met. Can you highlight what demands have been made to you, at least formally, and what your response to the same is?
PC: The first thing I would like to say is that our electoral laws are persuasive, they are not mandatory. For instance, let`s take registration to vote; we don’t have laws that compel Zimbabwean citizens to vote. In certain jurisdictions, if you do not register to vote within six months of turning 18, certain things will happen to you. We do not have laws that compel citizens to participate in the electoral processes. Similarly, if you register to vote and you decide not to vote on election day, we do not have laws that follow you to your house to come and say, you are on the final voters’ roll why didn’t you exercise your right to vote?
The right to vote and the right to participate in electoral processes in Zimbabwe is voluntary. If I decide as the chairperson of ZEC to say I am not going to exercise my right to vote I am allowed to make that decision and the law does not come to look for me to ask why I did not exercise my right. It is actually my right to decide not to exercise my right to vote. I think I have answered your question without commenting directly on what other people may or may not have said. One is at liberty to exercise one`s right by deciding not to participate.
TZ: But we are talking about what is considered a major player in the process. If they decide not to participate will it not render the process a sham and its outcome?
PC: I would like to go back to the Constitutional Court and the judgment which they gave sometime I believe was in February 2018. The Chief Justice has given us guidance. Remember we said as an Electoral Commission we are always guided by law. Two political parties went to the Constitutional Court and asked the Constitutional Court to stop the election on the basis that they would like the law changed with regards to financing of political parties, they were of the view that the law was not fair to them.
They said dear Constitutional Court please stop the election so that we can change this law so that it is fair to all of us. I have said and I was paraphrasing what the Chief Justice said in that judgement, he said, once the President proclaims the election date nothing can stop that election because in proclaiming the election date, he is exercising an exclusive mandate which is derived from the constitution. Once an election date is proclaimed, those timelines which kick in up to this date cannot be stopped by a court of law. If you actually take that judgment – it`s a judgment of the full bench of the Constitutional Court – and you read it, the Chief Justice actually says that it would be incompetent for any court in Zimbabwean to make a court order to stop the election because an election is called in terms of the constitution.
I did paraphrase what the Chief Justice said, I said in other words he said nothing short of an earthquake will stop the election. I was telling stakeholders that we are guided by what the constitutional court said. To answer your question directly, I believe that we have been guided by the highest court in the land that once the election date has been proclaimed nothing can stop that election. It is a question of the law which has been interpreted for our guidance by the Constitutional Court; it is not ZEC playing games with anyone, it is the law.
TZ: Some people think you are being arrogant. What is your response to that?
PC: My response to that is that I am not being arrogant when I am merely interpreting a judgment of the Constitutional Court. I may have paraphrased what the ChiefJjustice may have said but in essence, that was the ratio decidendi of that judgment from the Constitutional Court in dismissing that application by political parties which said please stop the election because we need to do certain things. The Chief Justice said once a proclamation has been made nothing can stop an election, it is there in that judgement. I was merely paraphrasing those words in a bid to advise stakeholders that whatever legal remedies you may have, stopping an election is not one of them.
TZ: What is the role of foreign observers, do foreign observers and envoys influence the way you discharge your mandate?
PC: I will answer the last part of the question first, the answer is absolutely not. As I have already said; not even the Government of Zimbabwe can direct or control ZEC to do anything or not do anything. So, foreign observers or envoys cannot place us under their direction or control. We do have engagements with them, where they try and understand the electoral laws. We try and disseminate information saying in this jurisdiction this is what are law says with regards to such and such. We are not influenced by them although they are one of our vital stakeholders and we do have discussions with them.
TZ: How much are these elections costing us and are resources available to see the process through?
PC: As you know we submitted a budget of $198 million to Treasury. Treasury committed itself to releasing a $140 million to us and the deficit we are grateful to our funding partners UNDP, European Union, UN Women and others. So far, I really would like to acknowledge and thank the Government of Zimbabwe for putting their money where their mouth is because the primary responsibility for funding our election lies with the Government of Zimbabwe and they have fulfilled their primary responsibility. In fact, we are expecting the last tranche of all the money. We have procured ballot papers, ink, operational vehicles, all electoral and election material using money from Treasury. Of course, the deficit was made up by our funding partners.
TZ: Can ZEC and Justice Priscilla Chigumba be trusted to deliver a clean and acceptable process of election in Zimbabwe in the year 2018?
PC: Justice Priscila Chigumba is not above ZEC, Justice Priscila Chigumba is a servant of the ZEC; which means she is a servant of the Zimbabwean electorate. I would like to reassure Zimbabweans, those who are registered to vote and even those who are not registered to vote; we will deliver a free, fair, credible and transparent election. I would like to acknowledge and thank Zimbabweans for being very peaceful. We had a very peaceful pre-election phase, we are now in the election period, we did have isolated incidences mostly of intraparty violence. We had a few clashes around the primary election and mostly our country has been peaceful and I would like to thank Zimbabweans for that. Let`s encourage each other to be peaceful towards each other, we really need to be able to exercise our rights to choose our preferred leader without necessarily fighting with each other if we have different choices.
WINNIE NYANYIWA UPDATE. It was a dream come true for Winnie on Thursday afternoon as she submitted her application at the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and she is currently waiting for placement. She was advised to bring her application by the Permanent Secretary Dr Sylvia Utete Masango. Said Winnie, “I don’t know how to thank everyone that donated. I am so grateful to each and every one that assisted me. Be blessed always.”
Elections will go ahead as scheduled on July 30 and no one has the power to reverse the proclamation scheduling voting on that date, President Mnangagwa said yesterday.
Addressing senior Cottco officials and Government officials who include Vice President Constantino Chiwenga at Cottco ginnery at Gokwe Centre, President Mnangagwa said questions over which presidential candidate was coming first or last on the ballot paper were not an issue.
He said the issue of where a name of a presidential candidate will be placed on the ballot paper would not stop the elections.
“Everywhere we have been to, the people are very clear. This confusion that there are no elections is only in Harare. The rest of the country, they are geared, they understand what they want to do,” he said.
The President said no one was born with a name. “This question of saying my name should be here or there or an alphabetical order must be used is null and void. When they saw my name on top of the ballot they said they should have used alphabetical order and therefore Mnangagwa’s name should not be on top,” he said.
“Elections will go ahead whether you start with the initial C or M on the ballot paper. Elections will go ahead. But you must remember that there is only one person who can decide to stop the elections and it’s me who proclaimed them and no one else made the proclamation. It’s only Zanu-PF which can decide whether elections are held or not”.
President Mnangagwa said the election observers should be allowed to observe the polls from anywhere in the country. He reiterated that elections will be peaceful, transparent and free and fair.
“When election observers visit you, allow them to observe, treat them well. Explain to them how we operate and assure them that we will hold credible, peaceful and free and fair elections,” he said.
The President later addressed a well-attended Zanu- PF rally at Mapfungautsi Primary School in Gokwe South yesterday where he said Zimbabwe was in a developmental mode that will bring prosperity to the people.
“Yesterday I was opening the Empower Bank which is aimed at capacitating young entrepreneurs with loans to start business projects. Last week I officially opened the Zimbabwe Women’s Micro Finance Bank which provides loans to women and small scale businesses. Everyday this current leadership is asked to officiate at ground breaking ceremonies or opening factories, this and that every day as we build our economy,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was an awakening socio-economic giant that needs the input of every Zimbabwean. He said the new dispensation was putting in place a conducive environment for businesses. “As a Government we work to ensure that the companies are supported locally and that investors are also given an opportunity to invest in all sectors of the economy. Now hotels are becoming very few as more and more tourists continue to visit the country which is open for business. Jerusalem which had been destroyed is now under reconstruction. A stone on top of a stone, we are building layer by layer and the home we are building as Zimbabweans will be very strong,” said the President.
He said the country will continue with its re-engagement drive to maintain friendly relations with all countries. “The last 20 years or so we were isolated as a nation and didn’t have any friends but now we are saying we are open to engagement and reengagement. Those countries we had strained our relations with, we are reengaging them and we are starting new relationships with those we previously had no relations”, said the President.
He said Government was committed to opening up closed companies like Ziscosteel in the Midlands Province. “We want to create a better Zimbabwe so that we leave a legacy for our children. Midlands Province almost has all the minerals we have in the country and as such we have a programme to assist small scale miners so that they have equipment to mine,” he said. “On infrastructure development we are going a head with developing roads from Beitbridge, Masvingo, Harare to Chirundu as well as the Beitbridge, Bulawayo to Victoria Falls road. These roads must be dualised. In Gokwe I hear DDF is busy rehabilitating roads so that they can be used by motorists.”
The Government, he said, was looking into sources of energy like solar, thermal and gas to move the economy.
“We need to see power here in Gokwe to push the growth of our economy. We are looking at hydro power, gas and solar programmes and we have investors or companies that are looking into that so that we take power to the people. There should be clean water to the people of Gokwe and passable roads as part of socio-economic development of this area. The school also should be well equipped and I am donating 50 computers,” he said. – State Media
A 29-YEAR-OLD man was found hanging from a roof truss in Emganwini suburb after a court ruling banishing him from his mother’s home for troubling her and his sister.
Chetjuma Nyoni was found hanging outside the house on a roof truss with a rope cut out from a blanket yesterday morning. His mother had allegedly sought legal action after she was having problems with him at home over his drinking habits.
Nyoni, who worked as a cook at a sports bar in Emganwini suburb was allegedly ordered by a local magistrate about three months ago not to harass his mother and when he defied the order, he was recently ordered to move out of the house.
Neighbours who spoke to The Chronicle said Nyoni had a habit of quarrelling with his mother and siblings whenever he was drunk, which led to his mother seeking a peace order against him.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango confirmed the incident.
“I can confirm that we are dealing with a case of sudden death in which a man was found hanging at Emganwini suburb. Investigations are underway,” said Insp Simango.
She encouraged people to seek counselling when they encountered problems.
When a Chronicle new crew arrived at the funeral wake in Emganwini suburb, the deceased’s family
was said to have gone to a funeral parlour for funeral arrangements.
A neighbour who was at the home who identified himself only as Mr Ndlovu said they never thought that the family feud would end in death.
“We know that sometimes families fight and have differences but I personally did not think that the family feud would escalate to this level and culminate in death,” said Mr Ndlovu.
A close friend to the deceased Mr Mthokozisi Nyokeni said he was with him the night before he died and he did not show any signs of having suicidal thoughts.
“He was my best friend and we went to the same primary school and grew up in the same neighbourhood. Right now we were the best beer buddies and people knew that we were so close. I am heartbroken by his death and I feel that his family could have done better than seek a peace order which demanded that he move out from his home,” said Mr Nyokeni.
He said the deceased had spent close to a month without a fixed home and spent some nights sleeping outside his mother’s house.
“I don’t understand how three people can fail to accommodate their own in an eight roomed house. How could they fall asleep not knowing where one of their own slept and what he ate?” he said. – State Media
Home return… DuduzaneFormer president Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane has returned to South Africa from abroad‚ in time to attend his brother Vusi’s funeral on Saturday.
“I can confirm that he came into the republic last night. He was briefly detained by the SAPS and it was confirmed there is no warrant of arrest for him‚” his lawyer Rudi Krause said on Friday.
“He is in SA for his brother’s funeral and to appear in court on the culpable homicide charges.”
He was detained because a look-out had been circulated for him on the SAPS system on a 2016 Rosebank case.
Krause said police did not want to identify what this case is in regard to. “At this stage‚ we do not know the nature of that case.”
The National Prosecuting Authority has told SowetanLIVE there is currently no warrant for Duduzane — only the summons for him to appear in a Johannesburg court on Thursday‚ July 12‚ to face two charges of culpable homicide related to a 2014 car accident.
Elaborating on Thursday night’s events‚ Krause said Duduzane Zuma was “briefly detained” at the O.R Tambo International Airport upon his arrival.
“No warrant of arrest was issued‚ he was therefore not arrested.”
The law enforcement officials‚ he said‚ were professional in their conduct.
“They acted responsibly and were completely fair‚” Krause said.
Nhlakanipho Vusi Zuma‚ 25‚ a lupus sufferer‚ died on Sunday. His funeral service will be held at the Rhema Recreational Centre in Randburg on Saturday morning‚ before being laid to rest at the Westpark Cemetery. He was the youngest of five children born to the former president and his third wife‚ the late Kate Mantsho. His siblings are the twins Duduzane and Duduzile.
The summons against Duduzane Zuma is in connection with the deaths of two minibus taxi passengers.
Phumzile Dube was killed in February 2014 after his Porsche collided with the taxi in which she was travelling. Her fellow passenger‚ Nanki Jeanette Mashaba‚ who was injured in the accident‚ reportedly died in hospital a few weeks after the crash.
In August 2015‚ the NPA decided not to prosecute the former president’s son‚ despite Magistrate Lalitha Chetty finding‚ during a formal judicial inquest into the death‚ that there was prima facie evidence that Dube’s death had been caused by the younger Zuma’s negligent actions.
But‚ after AfriForum and former prosecutor Gerrie Nel announced that they intended to pursue a private prosecution against Zuma‚ the state reconsidered that decision‚ and sought representations from Zuma on why he should not face charges.
– Sowetan
There will be no sixth World Cup crown for Brazil. The pre-tournament favourites have been knocked out in the quarter-finals following a 2-1 defeat to an impressive Belgium side, who dominated the first half and then clung on in the closing stages with Brazil pressing for an equalisier.
Group G winners Belgium will now face France having staged a miraculous comeback in the last 16 against Japan before preventing another from their opponents in the quarter-finals.
There was a touch of fortune to Belgium’s opener, a corner which glanced first off Miranda and then Fernandinho’s arm into the back of the net. Kevin Bruyne’s excellent finish to a lightning-quick counter-attack then doubled their tally, with Brazil scrambling at 2-0 down.
Tite’s substitutions had a positive effect with Douglas Costa and Renato Augusto, who pulled one back, adding real impetus. But Belgium were unbowed, with two desperate penalty attempts from a diving Neymar waved away and numerous Brazilian shots blocked and cleared to send Belgium through.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has explained why they let Khama Billiat go at the end of his contract.
Billiat has joined rivals Kaizer Chiefs on a free transfer, signing a three-year-deal.
In an interview with KickOff.com, Mosimane said the club was not willing to meet Billiat’s demands and risk losing other players in the process.
“I think everybody knows that we look after our players well.”
“But, honestly speaking, if we gave Khama what he wanted we would lose Themba Zwane, Tiyani Mabunda, Gaston Sirino, even Percy [Tau], who is still our player remember.”
“I would lose Denis Onyango – African player of the year, Tebogo Langerman … I would lose all these players just for one man – no, it’s not possible.”
“I don’t want to talk about other teams, they know what they’re doing, but Denis Onyango is important to me. It means I must give all these players that kind of money. No, it’s not possible.”
Pitso also revealed that their offer to Billiat already exceeded the PSL’s record for earnings, but believes the Zimbabwean international was lured by an even more lucrative offer at Amakhosi.
“We gave him a good offer. Trust me, it was a big offer. The offer that we gave, he could have been the highest paid player, which would probably have taken four years for that record to be broken.
“Where he is now, I don’t know how many years it’s going to take to break his record.”
By Own Correspondent| The four men who were allegedly nabbed and found in possession of US$4 million and an estimated 100 kilograms of gold were arrested in Borrowdale Harare following a tip off that the quartet were allegedly going to smuggle the money out of Zimbabwe.
Police details recovered the money and gold which was stashed in suitcases.
The US dollars, in $100, $50, $20 and $10 notes was reportedly confiscated by the police pending on going investigations regarding the matter.
National police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi said he was still checking the details of the case.
This is a developing story. More details to follow.
FIFA has warned football legend Diego Marodona after he made controversial comments about referee Mark Geiger.
Geiger officiated England’s Round of 16 win over Colombia marred by squabbling, protests to the referee, play-acting and feigning injury.
The Argentine great described the victory as a “monumental robbery” and that the American referee “shouldn’t be given a match of this magnitude.”
“Following comments made by Diego Armando Maradona, FIFA strongly rebukes the criticism of the performance of the match officials which it considers to have been positive in a tough and highly emotional match,” said FIFA in a statement.
FIFA also said it was “doing everything within its power to ensure principles of fair play, integrity and respect are at the forefront of this World Cup and how the organisation is now run.”
The ruling party Zanu PF has challenged the ruling by the High Court on barring the ruling party from forcing pupils and teachers to attend its rallies.
The ruling party through its legal team has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe arguing that in the new dispensation pupils and teachers have never been forced to attend political activities.
The ruling party has also slammed the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission for presenting biased information to the High Court.
According to a report compiled by the ruling party’s legal team, the details presented to the High Court were outdated and devoid of facts.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it is clearly and unequivocally stated that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is totally against violence, hate speech and derogatory language.
As such nobody is compelled to attend political rallies. As a matter of fact that those who attend rallies do so voluntarily,” a member of Zanu PF’ s legal team said.
They said Nelson Chamisa is a Mnangagwa project.
Now they say Nelson Chamisa is a Mugabe project. They say he met Bob in Dubai.
Rubbish, it turns out Chamisa has never even been to Dubai all his life!!
By the way, why would it be bad for Chamisa to meet Bob if it was magnanimous for Mnangagwa to visit Tsvangirai?
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s decision to interact with ordinary Zimbabweans on twitter has backfired following a barrage of attacks from angry individuals.
” I had the honour to inaugurate Empowerbank, Zimbabwe’s first Youth Empowerment bank. A truly blessed initiative.
$12m will be made available to support young Zim businessmen and women.
Creating opportunities for our youth is my number1 priority. You are the future of this great nation! ” tweeted Mnangagwa.
Below are responses to his tweet:
“Tsvee zvekutonga nyika and sorting out cash crisis. You open a bank in a country with no cash – where you are failing to run the few banks already there ? Shame manhingi”
“$12m to a youth empowerment bank and $200m for billboards and t-shirts. What a focused president.
This is the longest July I have ever encountered!
First it was Command AgriBank
Then Women’s Bank
Now Youth’s Bank.”
“Action on Cash Crisis = 0
What’s next ? Powerbank ?”
” When do you think will be the right time to retire from politics Mr President?
President, are you not embarrassed that at this rate of opening banks we shall soon have more banks than cash? We have enough banks toda mari!!!”
” Unfortunately Mr President, us the youth see the future of this great nation without you at the helm.
Dai matonosasa ve team yeku colcom vawedzere nyama mu pie kwete zvema cashless banks.”
“War vets bank, rural bank, street kids bank the list is endless.
If you are serious about us being your #1 priority just resign.hamudiwe #coup prez.”
By Paul Nyathi|Very tight security was set up at President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s rally in Gokwe on Friday afternoon.
Members of the public were barricaded over 40 metres away from where the president was set. Hundreds of heavily armed soldiers and state security agents were deployed all around the venue.
The tight security around Mnangagwa comes after Mnangagwa escaped an assassination bid at the end of a similar rally at White City Stadium in Bulawayo on the 23rd of June.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has chided opposition political parties saying they are mere curtain raisers in the July 30 elections.
Addressing Zanu PF supporters in Gokwe today Mnangagwa has described Zimbabwe as a democratic nation in which individuals are free to exercise their constitutional rights.
“We have so many pretenders in this race but as you know I am the main man in the polls.
We really need these curtain raisers because they are just like those who provide entertainment at traditional ceremonies. Can you hold a traditional ceremony without incorporating entertainers?
Tell your relatives who have decided to leave the ruling party to come back home,” said Mnangagwa.
He also boasted of the ruling party’s massive support in Midlands Province.
European Union election observation mission says they are not happy with the level of transparency over the printing and storage of ballot papers for the 2018 general elections.
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is reportedly in the process of printing the ballot papers to be used in the election and had also invited the participating political parties to come and observe the process as was demanded by the opposition parties.
However, opposition parties dismissed the gesture claiming they were made to observe from about 20 metres away and were not even given the specimen of the ballot papers or even that of the paper that is being used.
Addressing the media at a press conference, the European Union Election Observation Mission deputy chief observer Mark Stevens said they are in favour of transparency of the printing process as it enhances transparency.
“Issues such as observation of the printing of the ballot papers, observation and storage of ballot papers comes out in quite a lot of elections, some countries provide for it, some countries don’t.
“But what we discovered in different cases is that when such access is provided it enhances confidence and it can enhance transparency and credibility which is why we are fully in favour of it.
“We went along to observe the printing of the ballot papers so we are aware of the opposition’s concern to that event because it wasn’t quite as we expected either so we encourage as much inclusivity and transparency as possible particularly around sensitive issues of printing of ballot papers,” he said.
Nelson Chamisa’s election agent Jameson Timba last week told the media that the printing of ballot papers must be stopped as parties were not given an opportunity to actually observe the process.
Timba said in a proper observation, political parties should have been given the sample of the paper that is being used, the specimen of the ballot paper being printed, and the rundown of the serial numbers and also be allowed to observe the actual printing process.
The election agent added that in so far as they are concerned there was no observation because the parties had no reference to the processes.
Speaking at the Making Election Make Sense debate series organised by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) United Democratic Movement Presidential candidate Violet Mariyacha concurred with Timba adding that they are likely not to contest if the issues are not solved.
MDC Alliance and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) have already organised a demonstration against ZEC demanding to demand transparency on ballot paper printing.
OPINION- This is Cde Butroes Butroes from Belvedere and totally unrelated to the person caught with $4million so machinja stop your stupid propaganda. Don’t tarnish someone name and Zanu-PF name for your political mileage.
By Own Correspondent| The Counselling Services Unit (CSU) has issued a statement refuting allegations that the organisation misappropriated and misused funding from the USAID.
The organisation revealed that as part of efforts to ensure transparency and accountability, any Zimbabwean or American national in the country was free to inspect the organisation’s books of accounts including its accounting system.
Below is the full text of the statement:
Counselling Services Unit statement on suspension of funding by USAID
The Counselling Services Unit (CSU) is registered as a health clinic in Zimbabwe to provide non-partisan medical and rehabilitation services to all victims of organised violence and torture in Zimbabwe. Since 2003 CSU has provided services to more than 25 000 victims
throughout Zimbabwe in often adverse conditions.
The current distressing situation created by a unilateral termination of funding by USAID on the United Nations International Day for Victims of Torture before investigations of fund usage are complete, and the subsequent lack of communication from USAID despite written requests, and the blanket Embassy statements, innuendo and allegations are deeply distressing to the Board, staff and survivors of torture in Zimbabwe. At no time have funds been misappropriated; diverted or put to misuse by CSU, all funds are entirely committed to promoting the treatment, rehabilitation, safety and re-integration back into communities for survivors of torture. CSU has annual audits by internationally credible audit firms appointed by the Board in agreement with USAID and has at no time had any adverse audits or questionable use of funds been raised, either by the audit firm or USAID or the Office of the Inspector General.
In the interests of transparency to both the Zimbabwe public who are beneficiaries of the services offered by CSU, and the American Public who are the donors to this program, the Board and management have resolved to make all the financial accounting and management of the funds open to inspection by any Zimbabwean or American citizen by appointment from today 4 July 2018.
It is our sincere hope that USAID will carry out investigations urgently with a view to reinstating the funding for the sake of the many clients who sorely need the medical
treatment and counselling services. In the meantime, CSU will endeavour to continue to provide the best possible services, in recognition of the needs of our clients.
Counselling Services Unit “Eliminating Fear; Building Courage”.
The EU Observer Mission during their press conference Friday morning said that the demand by MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa to be furnished by ZEC an analysable BVR and to be involved in the printing, storage, transportation and distribution of ballot papers, is in order as it enhances and improves transparency and openness.
Below was their statement – REFRESH TO READ
EUROPEAN UNION ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION
REPUBLIC OF ZIMBABWE HARMONISED ELECTIONS 2018
Chief Observer Brok: “The 2018 harmonised elections are a critical test of Zimbabwe’s reform process”
HARARE 6 July — “These elections are a critical test of Zimbabwe’s reform Process. Given the context of past elections, great efforts need to be made to ensure public and political confidence in the 2018 polls” stated Elmar Brok, Chief Observer of the EU Election Observation Mission, in a press conference in Harare on Friday. Mr Brok added: “Necessary efforts include transparency and inclusivity, confidence in the integrity of the voter roll, emphasis on secrecy of the vote and the peaceful conduct of the polls.”
The Chief Observer concludes today his first visit to Zimbabwe. During his stay, he met with the President of Zimbabwe, the Chair of the Zimbabwe Election Commission, political parties and candidates, civil society and other stakeholders.
“The presence of the EU Election Observation Mission demonstrates the European Union’s commitment to the conduct of peaceful, inclusive, transparent and credible elections in Zimbabwe. The EU wishes to accompany Zimbabwe in its transition to satisfy, the legitimate expectations of the Zimbabwean people and stands ready to engage further if the appropriate conditions are met. Elections are in this regard, an essential step in a long and challenging reform process.”
We hope the presence of EU observers can be a source of support for the conduct of credible elections. Our observation focuses not only on the election day but on the entire electoral process, including the environment for the polls, conduct of the campaign, results transmission and the resolution of any election-related legal disputes after voting has finished. In making our assessment we will consider the environment and context for the polls alongside election day itself”, said Mr Brok.
A core team of ten analysts arrived in Harare on 6 June 2018. Forty-four long-term observers arrived two weeks later and are deployed to all ten provinces to observe the process in urban and rural areas. A further forty-four short-term observers will reinforce the mission before Election Day. They will be joined by a Seven-person delegation from the European Parliament, as well as by diplomats of EU Member States and partner countries, bringing the mission’s strength on and around Election Day to some 140 persons.
The EU EOM conducts a comprehensive and impartial analysis of the whole electoral process. This includes assessing the legal framework, the performance of the election administration, voter registration, candidates’ nomination, campaign activities, respect for fundamental freedoms, access to and conduct of the media, voting and the counting and transmission of results, and the period after the Polls. If a second round of voting is required, the mission will remain in Zimbabwe for this.
The EU EOM is bound by a code of conduct, which requires strict neutrality and no interference in the process. The mission undertakes all its work in accordance with the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and cooperates closely with national and other international observers. The EU EOM will publish its initial findings in a Preliminary Statement, which will be presented about two days after Election Day. A final report will be published within two months.
RE: ADF Chairman Marc Gbaffou relocates to France.
This serves to inform members of the media that African Diaspora Forum Chairman, Marc Gbaffou, has relocated to France with his family.
Gbaffou, who has been the ADF’s leader and main media contact person since the organisation’s formation 10 years ago, left South Africa on June 27 2018, leaving Dr Ur Kuomba – the ADF Deputy Chairperson, as the Acting Chairperson of the organization for the next six months, ahead of our next Annual General Meeting.
We appreciate the role that Gbaffou played in leading the ADF since its formation in 2008, during which time he grew the organisation into a true advocate of both migrants’ rights and Pan-Africanism, at a time when our people found themselves being turned against each other by a slew of challenges, especially here in South Africa.
The ADF will continue with its mandate of safeguarding the rights of migrants and fostering the spirit of social cohesion and will render Dr Kuomba its unconditional respect and support he needs as he steers the organisation on during this transitional period.
The organisation has also beefed its structures with new blood as it seeks to transform itself into a giant in fighting xenophobia, curbing crime and pushing the ideals of One Africa, Ubuntu and Pan-Africanism going forward. New initiatives will be launched and revealed to members of the media in due course.
The ADF’s new contact persons are now Dr Kuomba (Acting Chairman) at 079 *** ****, Ngqabutho Nicholas Mabhena (Media Manager) at **********, Mxolisi Ncube (Acting Secretary) at 073 ******** and Kennedy Khabo (Official Spokesperson) Mabe at 072 *** ****.
Members of the media are however, advised that Kennedy Khabo is the official spokesperson of the organisation and all correspondence should be directed to him.
MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa yesterday claimed that they he had met Sadc and the African Union (AU) officials to register his displeasure over poll irregularities, and assured them that he would not boycott the elections although the ground was uneven.
Addressing scores of party supporters at Garwe Stadium in Chivhu, Chamisa said: “The reason why I am late (to the rally) is that I was engaging the Sadc and AU over irregularities ahead of the polls. I even told them that [President Emmerson] Mnangagwa will not get 25% or 20% of total votes. We will not boycott the election. I know all their tricks to bring in fake ballot boxes,” he said.
The MDC Alliance is currently pushing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) to be transparent on ballot paper printing, among other demands.
“It is not going to happen (election). You won’t threaten or harass me. I am like a tick, if I bite I won’t leave. I have told Sadc and AU that there is a misfit in the country. The process by Zec to print ballot papers is disputed,” Chamisa added .
The youthful leader said his move was triggered by Mnangagwa’s refusal to engage all parties for a dialogue on how to move the country forward.
Chamisa’s assurance that he would not boycott the polls came amid reports that he had told other MDC Alliance principals on Tuesday that he was now considering the option given Zec’s intransigence.
The youthful opposition leader also hailed the army for pledging to respect the country’s Constitution and not to involve themselves in partisan party politics.
“I am happy to hear that the army has vowed to follow the Constitution. That is good, they are there for the people. When Mnangagwa and Chamisa tussle in the political ring, they should step aside. But when Chamisa wins, they should salute, they will be saluting the government, not me,” he said.
By Paul Nyathi|Splinter Thokozani Khupe led MDC-T Deputy President Obert Gutu says that he finds nothing wrong being done by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, ZEC, in the preparations for the harmonised elections set for July 30.
Speaking in an interview with the state run ZBC TV news on Thursday, Gutu blamed rival Nelson Chamisa led MDC Alliance for not giving the electoral body time to execute its mandate in the preparation for the elections.
The MDC Alliance has been up in arms against the electoral commission over the production of the ballot papers to be used in the election and the voters roll being provided to contesting parties.
The MDC Alliance claims that ZEC is denigrating on an earlier agreement that all political parties will be involved in the designing and printing of the ballot paper. The party is also demanding for a comprehensive voters roll with pictures of the voters to be circulated to contesting parties.
In the interview Gutu said that his MDC-T is satisfied with the way ZEC is producing the ballot paper claiming that it is the sole mandate of the commission to design and print the ballot paper.
“ZEC is a constitutional commission tasked with running the elections and should be given the opportunity to run the elections undisturbed,” said Gutu.
ZANU PF Deputy Secretary for Legal Affairs Fortune Chasi also echoed Gutu’s sentiments in a seperate media interview claiming that ZEC is doing a wonderful job as the country heads towards the watershed elections.
“The MDC Alliance demands to sit and watch the printing of ballot papers for twenty hours and seven days is extremely illogically,” said Chasi.
The MDC Alliance is threatening to go on nation wide demonstrations next week against ZEC on the ballot paper production and the voters roll. The opposition coalition also accuses ZANU PF of using members of the army to campaign for the ruling party in the rural areas.
Chasi challenged the MDC Alliance to furnish the nation with evidence of the soldiers campaigning for the ruling party. The army also gave a disclaimer on soldiers campaigning for the ruling party in a press statement early in the week.
By Discent Collins Bajila|If ever the English adage “a man is as good as his latest performance ” matters, it is in Zimbabwe political campaigns that it matters most.
Over the years, the average Zimbabwean voter has stopped worrying about the history of the candidate they vote for. The average voter is now concerned about how the candidate made them feel during the campaign period. Did they make us dance in huge crowds? Did they bring us something nice? Did they promise fire and brimstone if we don’t vote them and explicitly demonstrate that? Did they make us laugh? Did they make us chant a slogan?
The average voter doesn’t read manifestos. He doesn’t care if a candidate was a bully at High School or is the one who translated the Ten Commandments to indigenous languages. The average voter is rather concerned about how the candidate made them feel during the campaign period.
If a candidate doesn’t do rallies, he/she doesn’t attract the average voter because the average voter has herd mentality. The average voter decides well within a group.
The above average voter rarely attends rallies but they have so much connections that they get to analyse every speech and every event by every candidate. While the average voter is attending rallies, interfaces and demonstrations, the above average voter is studying manifestos of every candidate and listening to commentary. At times the above average voter gets to be called an expert or an analyst by centrist media houses.
The above average voter is also concerned about academic qualifications of candidates and their employment history or administrative capacity.
Then there’s the below average voter. It is for lack of a better term that I have to call them below average. This voter votes for someone of a particular race, particular tribe, particular gender, particular residential address. They listen to all speeches and manifestos within the prism of their race, tribe, gender, street name or village. They look at a candidate’s nuclear team and ask begin to analyze population dynamics in therein. What percentage of his/her core team are from my village? Where was each and every member of that team before they joined the the team? Such are the interests of the below average voter.
They care less about manifestos but will attend rallies to pick racial, tribal, chauvinist, ageist and regionalist innuendo in speeches, songs and regalia.
The majority of the voters of Zimbabwe are in the average and below average cohort.
The media subconsciously and unanimously identifies politicians who appeal to the average and below average voters and terms them “top contenders “.
I wish I had known this in 2013, but as I have been saying recently, we all make mistakes in life. Those who are clever than some of us will learn from our mistakes yet those less clever will prefer to learn from their own share of mistakes.
Discent Bajila is the Welshman Ncube Youth Secretary General.
Battle rages on, Thokozani Khupe and Nelson Chamisa
By Paul Nyathi|Advocate Thabani Mpofu says that the MDC-T faction led by Nelson Chamisa remains the genuine MDC-T and entitled to all the benefits associated with the party.
In an wide ranging interview with the media on Thursday, Mpofu said that the splinter faction led by Dr Thokozani Khupe can not claim to be the genuine MDC-T previously led by the late MDC founding President Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mpofu said this responding to statements by the Khupe led MDC-T Deputy President Obert Gutu that they have since adopted the genuine MDC-T following a withdrawal from the High Court by the Chamisa led faction.
Advocate Mpofu threw away Gutu’s claims that Chamisa withdrew contesting the name case from the High Court indicating that the case is still being heard at the High Court.
“The case is still at the High Court with Chamisa indicating that he is leading the MDC-T as Khupe and her collegues were dismissed from the party,” said Mpofu.
“We only withdrew the case from an urgent court hearing to a normal roll and we wait for a court date to be given where we will bring witnesses. Gutu and their lawyer Professor Lovemore Madhuku are aware of that,” said Mpofu.
Responding to claims that the Khupe faction is demanding Chamisa to pay back to them $1. 8 million advanced to the party by government under the political parties funding, Mpofu said that the Chamisa led faction rightfully received and used the money as the genuine MDC-T.
“The money was directed to the party that runs the MDC-T headquarters and its the party led by Chamisa. Even the Bulawayo regional office is run by Chamisa which clears to who the funds should be directed to,” said Mpofu.
“Every Zimbabwean who is serious about life knows who the genuine MDC-T is,” said Mpofu.
“The MDC-T name which Khupe is using is not the MDC-T referring to Tsvangirai that everyone knows but its MDC Thoko referring to Thokozani Khupe,” said Mpofu.
ZimEye.com could not get a comment from Gutu and Madhuku on the claims by Advocate Mpofu.
A 22-YEAR-OLD man from Mbizo suburb in Kwekwe was fatally stabbed with a knife by fellow patrons outside a night club following a misunderstanding over a suspected prostitute.
Acting Midlands provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende confirmed the murder of Alex Katambarare on Monday at Mbizo Inn Nite Club.
“Police in Mbizo suburb in Kwekwe are investigating a case of murder in which Alex Katambarare of Mbizo in Kwekwe died after being stabbed to death with a knife following a dispute over a girlfriend at Mbizo Inn Night Club on Monday,” she said.
Asst Insp Mukwende said on the night in question Katambarare was drinking beer in the company of his friend Takawira Chaitezvi.
She said during the beer drink, Katambarare went outside the club and started talking to a suspected hooker.
“A man only identified as Kelvin who was with his friend confronted Katambarare and slapped him on the face accusing him of talking to his girlfriend. The now deceased then ran way but the suspects chased him and then tripped him,” said Asst Insp Mukwende.
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa launched a new bank for young people on Thursday with government injecting $12.5 million.
The bank to operate under the name EmpowerBank will provide low interest business loans to young people between the ages of 18 and 35.
The bank is being launched in the background of a similar fund which was looted by the ZANU PF youth under former President Robert Mugabe’s Youth Development Fund which was introduced in the run up to the 2013 elections.
Launching the bank, Mnangagwa said that his government will not accept corruption and dishonesty as was done with the Youth Development Fund where millions of dollars were dispatched to ZANU PF youth and never paid back.
“. . . the youth and other beneficiaries of the bank packages must be honest, straightforward and responsible and pay back the loans advanced to them,” said President Mnangagwa.
The Empowerbank, which is capitalised to the tune of $12,5 million, is seen as yet another election campaign tool to hook the youth to vote for the ruling party.
Mnangagwa allayed fears that the bank is a campaign tool claiming that the bank is a futuristic financial institution.
Said President Mnangagwa: “I am thus optimistic that this institution will, in the long-term, birth the top entrepreneurs, millionaires and multi-millionaires of tomorrow.”
President Mnangagwa said the banking sector, and all other sectors, should harness the “immense potential” that resides in youths, as the country strives to achieve its vision of becoming a middle-income economy by 2030.
“To this end, my Government stands committed to ensure that its young citizens showcase and develop their talents, inherent creativity and innovation for sustainable economic development.
“It is envisaged that this financial institution will mitigate the limited access to credit finance, which for a long time has been an impediment to youth empowerment and emancipation,” said the President.
Added President Mnangagwa: “Let us re-inculcate a culture of savings and that of rewarding depositors through payment of interests as this will go a long way in rebuilding confidence and ultimately enhancing stability in the financial services sector.”
EmpowerBank board chairman Mr Raymond Njanike, said the bank will be a deposit taking micro-finance institution which will provide a number of services such as SME accounts, school fees loans and agri-business accounts, among others.
Two branches of the bank are expected to be opened in Harare and Bulawayo by September this year.
EmpowerBank becomes the sixth deposit taking micro-finance institution, including the Zimbabwe Women’s Microfinance Bank that was launched last week.
The four women (Thokozani Khupe, Joice Mujuru, Violet Mariyacha and Melbah Dzapasi) candidates who are vying for the Presidential post in the upcoming general election say they have no money to field a minimum of about 20 000 election agents.
According to Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), there is going to be about 10 000 polling stations across the country for the 2018 elections and generally, a candidate is expected to deploy at least two agents taking the tally to 20 000.
In previous elections, the country’s main opposition party MDC-T before the split used to face challenges when it comes to deploying election agents especially in rural areas owing to various reasons that range from intimidation and lack of resources.
Election agents are an important component in guarding against alleged vote rigging at polling stations.
Speaking at a Making Election Make Sense debate series part 6 organised by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) MDC-T faction leader Thokozani Khupe said while the security of the vote was the most important thing, the cost of deploying election agents is her current nightmare.
“My major concern and worry is the security of the vote, we need to secure the vote and it can only be secured by polling agents which we are supposed to deploy to polling stations but the cost is a nightmare.
“We need about 20 000 election agents for the 10 000 polling stations, to train these agents you need something like US$400 000 and then to deploy them across the country it costs not less than US$600 000.
“So we are looking at about US$1 million just for deployment of election agents that is a nightmare for some of who are operating from a zero budget and would like to appeal to all funders to make sure that they give us the support so that we are able to train our polling agents and at the same time deploy them,” she said.
Violet Mariyacha of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) echoed the same sentiments and appealed to the international community to lend a helping hand.
“We are facing the same challenge as others since we are not getting anything from the government because of the current Political Parties Financing Act.
“The situation is even worse because of the donor fatigue that is being experienced in the country and so we are also appealing to well-wishers and the donor community to come to our assistance,” she said.
While the Political Parties Financing Act prohibits political parties from being financed from outside the country, it, however, compels the government to only fund political parties that are represented in Parliament.
Various parties have however complained against the Act arguing that it gives Zanu PF and MDC-N and MDC-T (Chamisa) an advantage over other parties and want it repealed or revised.
Speaking at the same debate, #1980 Freedom Movement of Zimbabwe leader Melbah Dzapasi acknowledged the problem adding that while the number of polling agent might be too big and the financial requirement also too big but the with the sacrifice of her party members they can do it.
People’s Rainbow Coalition Presidential candidate Joice Mujuru said her supporters have been sustaining other party programs and meetings and she is confident they will continue to do the same on the issue of polling agents.
While the candidates are competing against each other, they are however united in calling for people to vote for a woman candidate.
There are 23 candidates fighting for the Presidency and for the first time since independence, there are four women who are trying their chances.
It is widely believed that if women are elected to high ranking posts in government, it will go on to ensure women’s issues are given priority.
Women constitute about 54 per cent of the Zimbabwean population but Parliament only has 35 percent women as legislators thanks to the temporary Proportional Representation clause which will expire in 2023.
By Paul Nyathi|President Emmerson Mnangagwa has expressed excitement on being connected on social media platform WhatsApp for the first time.
The President opened his public WhatsApp chat page on Wednesday which he says he will use to connect with the people of Zimbabwe and to promote dialogue.
For one to join the WhatsApp chat group, he or she should send a message on mobile number +263 776 910 469.
President Mnangagwa confirmed the authenticity of the WhatsApp platform on Thursday speaking at his Munhumutapa offices. Mnagwagwa said one of his friends came up with the idea to connect him on the social media chat platform.
“Yes, we now have a WhatsApp chat platform. A friend of mine came and asked for my WhatsApp number and I told him that I was not on WhatsApp.
“He also asked for my email address and I told him that I did not have one. I said I don’t need all that and he laughed. He said there was need for me to connect with the modern world and talk to the people,” he said. “He came back a few minutes later asking for my mobile phone to install the WhatsApp software,” the President said.
President Mnangagwa said he finally accepted the new technology. “I am now on WhatsApp and I will let it operate for some weeks and see how it goes,” he said.
Early this year, the President opened his official Facebook account and invited followers to message their thoughts as part of “a new national dialogue”.
Three unknown assailants attacked, forced-marched a man to his home and took turns to rape his wife without protection before robbing him of $150 in Esigodini, police have confirmed.
The 45-year-old man (name withheld) of Low Density Suburb was attacked while on his way from work at around 8PM on Wednesday. Matabeleland South police spokesperson Inspector Philisani Ndebele confirmed the incident.
He said the suspects were still at large. “I can confirm we received a report of a case of rape and robbery. The three unidentified assailants were armed with stones, axe handles and knives.
“They attacked a 45-year-old man, assaulted him as they pursued him to his house where upon arrival the trio forced him to open the doors at knife-point.
“They manhandled him as they woke up his wife (42) and took turns to rape her before demanding cash. They got away with $150 that was stashed in the couple’s suitcases,” he said.
Insp Ndebele appealed to members of the public that may have any information concerning the suspects to contact their nearest police station. A source that preferred anonymity said the victim was coming from his workplace, a local night club, when the trio pounced on him.
“They attacked him with stones and chased after him until they caught him. They force-marched him to his home and forced him to open the doors.
“Once inside, they manhandled him at knife-point while one of them walked to his bed where he raped his wife. They all took turns to rape her while her helpless husband who had a knife pointed to his throat, sadly watched on,” said the source.
The source said the robber went on to demand all the money that they had in their house and the couple produced the $150 that was stashed in the bags.
“The quickly left the house and fled into darkness. The couple reported the matter and police attended the scene. No arrests have been made so far,” said the source.-state media
President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday literally broke his arms traditionally for the European Union chief election observer Mr Elmar Brok who visited him yesterday. The president can be seen in his mukwasha pose in the below pictures.
This is not the first time the head of state has broken his arms for foreign dignitaries. He has done the same for the Ambassadors of Great Britain, and the one of Australia.
The EU election delegation boss paid a courtesy call on President Mnangagwa and briefed him on the purpose of their visit to Zimbabwe.
State Media: The head of the EU observer mission in Zimbabwe visited the President in the company of his deputy Mr Mark Stevens and the EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Phillipe Van Dame.
Mr Brok said he had had fruitful discussions with President Mnangagwa. “I have explained to the President why we are here. We believe in free and fair elections which brings people together.
“It is most important for a peaceful country and it does not matter who wins. We would like to see that happening. It should not only be a creation of fairness on the election day but fairness must also prevail even in the run-up to the elections.
“Our findings will determine which type of elections we will have here in Zimbabwe,” said Mr Brok.
EU has deployed 44 long-term observers throughout the country ahead of the harmonised elections on July 30.
High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Mrs Federica Mogherini also appointed Mr Brok, member of the European Parliament, as chief observer of the EU EOM to Zimbabwe.
In a statement, Mrs Mogherini said the Zimbabwean elections were key for the country.
She said the future President, Parliament and local Government councils would have the responsibility of steering the transition process in the country. Mr Brok said the elections, to be held under a new electoral framework, represented an important step in the country’s political transition.
The EU said the 44 observers team was the second contingent, following the core team consisting of 10 analysts which arrived in Harare early last month.
The team will stay in the country until the completion of the electoral process and then prepare a comprehensive final report. Together with diplomats accredited in Harare, the EU EOM is expected to deploy on election day about 140 observers from all 28 member states as well as Norway, Switzerland and Canada.
A further 44 short-term observers will be deployed a few days prior to election day.
A delegation of the European Parliament and diplomats from EU Member States accredited to Zimbabwe will also reinforce the mission on election day.
DHL Zimbabwe is being accused of forcing workers to reveal their Ecocash transactions.
Some workers have since left the organisation for being forced to reveal their transactions while others have been questioned by company authorities after revealing their Ecocash transactions.
The human resource manager Violet Kadye said she could not comment on the issue.
“No comment. Bye,” she said before hanging the phone.
Efforts to engage her again were fruitless as she was not picking the phone and questions sent to her via WhatsApp went unanswered.
“The officials are forcing us to surrender our Ecocash transactions to them because they think we are stealing from them.
“It started in March when we were called by the HR department and each person was asked to show them their Ecocash transactions and we were not comfortable doing so. Those who refused to hand over their phones were threatened.
“The officials said they would deal with anyone who fails to cooperate and this is forcing everyone to just surrender their phones of which I believe this is private.”
It is said some people have resigned because of this.
“We were called to the police station around March and when we got there, there were a lot of stories that had been fabricated against us and this forced me to resign because I couldn’t stay at such a place,” said a former worker who resigned.
“One cannot even understand what they are doing but it is not fair for one to invade someone’s privacy.
“Now I don’t know what will happen because they haven’t given me my money yet and I don’t even know when they will give us.” H Metro
ManyikaBy Farai D Hove| The outgoing Harare Mayor Ben Manyenyeni has poured his tears of grief upon the passing on of the popular podium toaster, Emmanuel Manyika.
Wrote Manyenyeni, “We all share the shock of his passing on.
“What a distinguished compere and event host!
“I wouldn’t say MC, (maybe M.Sc.) – as he had perfected the SCIENCE of directing ceremonies.
“He was peerless in stature, competent and consistent in his delivery with finesse.
“Our loss too – our prayers are with his family at this time of grief.”
Could the below predicament which the then opposition party, Zanu PF faced in February 1980, be MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa’s blast from the past set to last past July 30th 2018?
Is This Chamisa's Blast From The Past Set To Last?
Reports suggest that Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo might leave Real Madrid for Juventus this summer after seeing a transfer request granted.
Juventus are prepared to pay the 33-year-old €30m-a-year.
The Italian giants are said to be willing to hand Ronaldo a four-year contract worth €120m (£101m).
Earlier reports suggest that the 33-year-old refused to sign a new contract at Real Madrid as the player seeks a way out of Madrid.
Initially Ronaldo’s former club Manchester United were originally regarded as the favourites to sign him when his club future was cast into uncertainty.
Highlanders winger Gabriel Nyoni is undergoing trials at Township Rollers in Botswana.
Nyoni left the country on Tuesday. He is expected to feature in a friendly match against South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.
The club confirmed the news with a statement posted on their official Twitter page.
“We wish all the best to our speedy forward and vice captain Gabriel Nyoni who commenced trials with Botswana side Township Rollers today. The sky is the limit.”
Meanwhile, midfielder Nigel Makumbe who is on loan from FC Platinum is also set to go to South Africa for assessment at Supersport United.
The popular master of ceremonies and public speaker, Emmanuel Manyika has died. He passed away in the early hours of Thursday 5 July.
Mr Rabison Shumba described Manyika as “a prolific speaker & MC. We learnt from him to be who we are today. The Godfather of Professional Emceeing in #Zimbabwe. He handled my wedding with precision. Great man. His legacy is huge. I will miss Emmanuel M Manyika. Voice that had an Invoice.”
Former Disk Jokey, Tich Mataz said, “I’m really heartbroken to hear about the passing on of the legendary Mr Emmanuel Manyika, a Maverick in the MC’ing industry and an irreplaceable master of the game. Gone but will never be forgotten.
Rest in Eternal Peace my brother ?? Zimbabwe has lost a shining star.”
A Gutu man has been arrested for fondling his daughter’s breasts and licking her her private parts.
The man, Livingston Mbizvo(39) of Magombedze Village in Gutu District appeared at the Magistrates Court in Mupandawana Town last week.He was charged with indecent assault.
According to the State outline, the incident happened in 2016 and Mbizvo’ s 13-year- old daughter was afraid of disclosing the matter to her mother.
Mbizvo followed his daughter to her bedroom and forcefully opened the door while the girl was fast asleep. The incident happened when the girl’s mother had had gone to a funeral.
When Mbizvo entered his daughter’s bedroom, the girl tried to run away but her father overpowered her.
He forcibly removed her clothes, fondled her breasts and licked her private parts.
The girl later disclosed the issue to her mother who reported the matter to the police.
The European Parliament has rejected controversial EU copyright law proposal termed, “draconian.”
The proposed bill had Beatles legend Paul McCartney going against internet giants and the creators of Wikipedia.
It was firmly resisted by major US tech giants as well as advocates of internet freedom, with some campaigners warning it could even spell the end of viral “memes” or jokes.
“Today’s vote represents a victory for democracy,” said Siada El Ramly, head of EDiMA, a lobby representing Google, Facebook and other US tech giants.
The ruling party Zanu PF has ordered sugarcane farmers to make donations in cash and in kind towards its political programmes before the July 30 polls.
According to sources in Chiredzi ruling party officials met with the leadership of Commercial Sugarcane Farmers Association of Zimbabwe and demanded donations towards Zanu PF activities.
“Every sugarcane farmer under the association is compelled to make contributions towards Zanu PF political events.
A meeting was held at the weekend and sugarcane farmers were instructed to fund ruling party activities,” sources revealed to ZimEye.com yesterday.
However an official at the association has said the donations will be made out of ” out of goodwill and voluntarily.”
“This is not a new thing, it is our obligation to support political programmes,” said the official.
Outspoken Zanu PF critic Antony Taruvinga has sensationally claimed President Emmerson Mnangagwa’ s Zanu PF is funding 21 Presidential aspirants in a bid to dilute MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa’ s support.
Taruvinga argues Mnangagwa is terribly afraid of Chamisa’ s growing influence.
“Nearly 21 candidates are an extension
of Mnangagwa’ s Zanu PF. They are being sponsored to participate in
the elections and in the event the MDC Alliance boycotts the polls, they will endorse the rigged plebiscite.
They are not complaining about ZEC and Mnangagwa voters’ roll and ballot printing shenanigans,” said Taruvinga.
“Some of them have already
endorsed the ongoing fraudulent processes.
The end is not looking good for
Mnangagwa and Chigumba but
we will not let them steal our mandate.”
Irate mobile phone users have lambasted the government for pestering Econet Wireless over its alleged failure to slash down service charges.
The government is accusing the country’s leading mobile phone service provider of deliberately defying a directive from POTRAZ on the reduction of tariffs.
Below are comments from angry mobile phone users on the looming showdown between government and Econet:
Dady VaAngie:
Eco-cash is not a government programme and Econet is under no obligation to explain its modus operandi to Zanu PF.
Fix cash problems and stop relying on other people to fix your mess.
Kukue Haripo:
If Ecocash is down we must use cash zve nhaimi..
Where is the cash you promised us.
Gift N Ndlovu:
Hehehehe…we are a sick nation,the government must solve the cash crisis rather than seeking clarification from Econet,this is happening at a time our clueless leaders are boasting of the introduction of plastic money.
Gotwe Siza Wekwachizinga:
Leave Econet alone. You are failing to solve the cash crisis and instead of thanking Masiyiwa you want to give him the burden of your mess. That’s an insult and unacceptable.
Elections will go ahead as scheduled on July 30 and no one has the power to reverse the proclamation scheduling voting on that date, President Mnangagwa said yesterday.
Mnangagwa voters’ roll and ballot printing shenanigans,” said Taruvinga.
