By Paul Nyathi|MDC-T President Nelson Chamisa who is also the MDC Alliance coalition Presidential candidate in the upcoming elections takes his country wide campaigns to Matabeleland South this week.

Chamisa who over the weekend called off rallies scheduled for Mberengwa and Zvishavane to give way to the MDC-T primary elections will be in the Matabeleland South capital, Gwanda, on Africa Day.

Most opposition political parties dread holding rallies in Gwanda town which does not normally provide the huge numbers.

Only former President Robert Mugabe normally filled up the stadium due to the financial backing on state resources that were used to bus people from around the Matabeleland South districts.

Before the rally in Gwanda, Chamisa will hold another rally in Maphisa growth point a few kilometres away from the notorious Bhalagwe Gukurahundi Concentration Camp where thousands of victims are buried in the disused mine.

No political party has ever held a major rally in the area since the Joshua Nkomo PF ZAPU era.

“It is because of the influence that has been perpetuated by some of our leaders who say they are leaders yet they are not leading us.

“The Nelson Chamisa cabal, so to speak, stopped most our members from coming to this launch by perpetrating political violence in different constituencies and areas in order to send a wrong signal that we don’t have people yet we have people. He is simply taking away power from the people and I want to announce this officially the launch of our BEST manifesto has been postponed indefinitely so that we are able to deal with housekeeping issues in our party.”

 

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State Media – Vice President Kembo Mohadi has dismissed claims by some opposition parties that the Zanu-PF Government is under the control of the military and will use the army to resist handing over power in the event that the party loses the forthcoming harmonised elections.

In an interview with The Chronicle yesterday, VP Mohadi said Zanu-PF draws its mandate from the people through the ballot box and would accept any outcome of the polls.
“Zanu-PF is not run by the military and we are not in the barracks. Of course, President Emmerson Mnangagwa is a trained soldier, I am a trained soldier and VP (Constantino) Chiwenga is also a trained soldier because that was our generation. We all went to war because it was a requirement then to go and fight but you can’t then say we are a military Government because we have all since retired from the military,” he said.

“Zanu-PF is not the one that has the power but the power lies with the people of Zimbabwe and if the people vote us out they would have rejected us. If you lose an election you would have lost and if you win you would have won. It’s simple as that”.

VP Mohadi said Operation Restore Legacy, which culminated in the new dispensation, had the blessings of Zimbabweans who took to the streets calling for the former President Robert Mugabe to relinquish power.

“Zimbabwe has never experienced any coup. You call us a junta government and I don’t know what you mean because if you are talking of Operation Restore Legacy, it was not the army that took over, there was an uprising by the people and everyone was saying Mugabe must go, Parliament equally said Mugabe must go and those are the people that removed him from power,” he said.

The VP said the army did not force Mr Mugabe to resign.
“It was not the army. If it were the army they would have arrested him (Mr Mugabe). He is at his house with his family and everything is going on well.
“He was never molested and I don’t know where you are getting these ideas that we are a junta government,” he said.

Mr Mugabe convened a Press conference in March to a selected group of local and foreign media organisations and claimed that he was “unconstitutionally” deposed through a coup despite resigning ahead of imminent impeachment on November 21 last year.

He further claimed he was ready to talk to President Mnangagwa to right what he claimed was an “illegality.”

Mr Mugabe resigned after the military intervened to arrest a fast deteriorating socio-economic and political environment in the country, which naturally triggered the elevation of Mnangagwa, who by then had been elected as Zanu-PF’s First Secretary by the ruling party’s Central Committee, to the highest office in the land.

VP Mohadi said the nation is now focusing on preparing for free, fair and credible elections.
He also dismissed claims by the opposition MDC-T and its partners in the Alliance that Zanu-PF has planned to rig the outcome of the watershed plebiscite.

“I don’t know what rigging is all about just as good as I don’t how losing an election is all about. If the opposition is talking about Zanu-PF losing or rigging I don’t know how they arrived at that conclusion. How do we rig an election which is run by an independent body?” he asked.

“Zec (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) is independent and there is no Zanu-PF member there who will be rigging elections in its favour.”

VP Mohadi said Zanu-PF and the opposition under the Constitution Parliamentary Committee (Copac), which was mandated with drawing up a new constitution for Zimbabwe by the Government of National Unity between 2009 and 2013, agreed to come up with an independent electoral body.

“If the opposition has issues pertaining to elections, Zec is there to verify what they don’t understand. We don’t run elections as Zanu-PF. How do we rig something that we don’t run? We are equal participants like them,” said the VP.

Zec chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba said this year’s elections cannot be rigged as the country’s voting system is foolproof.

She said the fact that the system is tamper-proof should ensure a free, fair and credible election that could not be rigged.

Zec has acquired a 100 percent secure Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) system.
BVR is a new voter registration system which captures an individual’s biometric features and ensures nobody can vote twice.

Justice Chigumba said members of the public with evidence that the voting system could be interferred with should bring it forward.

MDC-T leader Adv Nelson Chamisa recently told a rally in Nyanga that if the MDC Alliance did not win the coming elections that would be proof the ruling party had rigged them. He, however, failed to substantiate his claims.

President Mnangagwa has repeatedly assured the world that the harmonised elections, expected to be held in July this year, would be free, fair and credible.

The Government has invited observers from all over the world to see for themselves, with President Mnangagwa declaring repeatedly that “Zimbabwe has nothing to hide”.

Western countries like the United Kingdom and United States that were barred by the previous administration have also been invited this year, including Commonwealth representatives.
Opposition activists and Government critics, most notably fugitive former Cabinet Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo, have resorted to referring to the ruling party as Junta PF on social media.

The move is apparently meant to lay a foundation for a protest based on army interference if Zanu Pf wins the elections. – state media

A 17-year old girl smashed a beer bottle across the face of a Chief in Binga after he reprimanded her for being skimpily dressed. Chief Siabuwa (52) said he sustained a cut under his right eye from the assault.

He was stitched at Siabuwa Clinic before being referred to Binga District Hospital for further treatment. Ms Tlou Dube, who recently relocated to Zewula village, under chief Siabuwa, from Bulawayo, was walking with a friend only identified as Mbimbi when she committed the cultural taboo.

The incident occurred last Wednesday at Siabuwa Business Centre and was reported to the police.
Chief Siabuwa said he was at the business centre when he saw the two teenagers who were dressed in “very short dresses” and approached them to counsel them on proper dressing to preserve their values and morals.

“As I spoke to them, Dube walked away, telling her friend to walk on and not listen to nonsense. I told her to go if she felt I spoke nonsense and leave the other girl to listen to what I had to say. I re-introduced myself and even produced my identification card thinking maybe she was not aware of who I was.

“She continued to yell at Mbimbi and returned to where we stood, picked up an empty bottle of beer from the ground and hit me right in the face. Well, I hope the teenagers will get real counselling to restore their values and morals which they seem not to have at all,” he said.
Chief Siabuwa said he had found the teenagers’ behaviour grossly disrespectful and irritating and had tried to talk sense to them.

“The teenagers were walking in a public place, indecently dressed and so I tried to warn them for their own protection because that could result in them being abused by men. In our society and culture, females don’t dress in the manner they did,” said the area chief.
Chief Senator Siansali said Ms Tlou recently relocated from Bulawayo to live with her grandmother in Zewula village.

He said the girl was probably not aware of the difference in culture and morals between Bulawayo and Binga.

“She also may have not been aware of the importance of the chief’s status as a community leader. Their dressing didn’t suit our Binga community and the chief tried to warn them to protect them as that is one of a traditional leader’s roles in the community.

“The teenagers’ behaviour was unfortunate. It’s unheard of in our culture.

“It may have been a result of influence from morally decadent cultures from other countries. As a nation, we need to reform ourselves to avoid becoming what we are not,” said Chief Siansali. -state media

UPDATE – Following complaints on the article published in the morning, the state owned Herald newspaper, has alleged that the military commander, Valerio Sibanda attended ZANU PF leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa’s political rally on Saturday. The Herald furthered this in bold imprint as is seen below.

This article is an update of the earlier piece in which Gen Sibanda was reported by the state media to have attended the ZANU PF rally in Mutare. PICTURES:

By Own Correspondent|A Kariba based security guard has been hauled before the courts for sodomising a 14 year old boy sixteen times.

The 32 year old guard appeared before magistrate Toendepi Zhou facing aggravated indecent assault charges and he was remanded out of custody until May 30 2018.

Prosecutor Phillip Urayi told the court that the guard, who cannot be named to protect the minor, started sodomising the 14 year old in November last year.

The accused, who is also a junior trainer at Kariba Junior Club lured the minor whom he was paying $30 monthly for his “services”, the court heard.

The act was only exposed on 13 May 2018 when the brother of the victim caught them red handed and upon further investigation, they revealed how it had all started.

The court heard that the brother of the minor had been monitoring the suspects’
movements which were suspicious before he caught them red handed in the act in the bedroom.

He told the court that he was alerted about the intimate relationship between his brother and the guard who is also his nephew and had confronted them but they had denied it.

It was after he caught them that he quizzed them about their affair and they disclosed how it had started.

He reported the case to the police leading to the guard’s arrest.

“It is because of the influence that has been perpetuated by some of our leaders who say they are leaders yet they are not leading us.

“The Nelson Chamisa cabal, so to speak, stopped most our members from coming to this launch by perpetrating political violence in different constituencies and areas in order to send a wrong signal that we don’t have people yet we have people. He is simply taking away power from the people and I want to announce this officially the launch of our BEST manifesto has been postponed indefinitely so that we are able to deal with housekeeping issues in our party.”

 

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By Paul Nyathi|MDC President and MDC Alliance coalition government Vice President hopeful professor Welshman Ncube has joined the brigade of presidium hopefuls not contesting the national elections.

In an interview held with the state run Sunday News on Friday, Professor Ncube revealed that he will not be contesting in any of the constituencies seconded to his MDC party in the MDC Alliance coalition.

As was said by the ruling ZANU PF current Vice Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi who did not contest the party primary elections, Ncube said he will also only help co-ordinate and campaign for his party candidates and MDC-Alliance presidential candidate, Nelson Chamisa.

Mohadi and Chiwenga also revealed that they will not be contesting their party candidacy elections but will be campaigning for the party alongside with the ZANU PF presidential candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa hoping to be re-seconded into their current Vice President positions.

The move by Prof Ncube has equally raised questions on his relevance, post-elections as he is the only party principal in the alliance who is not gunning for a seat.

MDC-T president Mr Chamisa is the alliance’s presidential candidate while other principals are standing as either MPs or Senators in the seats that have been reserved for their parties.

The MDC Alliance is made up of seven political parties, MDC-T, which is led by Mr Chamisa, PDP (Mr Tendai Biti), MDC (Professor Welshman Ncube), Transform Zimbabwe (Mr Jacob Ngarivhume), Zanu Ndonga (Mr Denford Musiyarira), Multi-Racial Christian Democratic Party (Mr Mathias Guchutu) and Zimbabwe People First (Retired Brigadier-General Agrippa Mutambara).

“I am certainly not contesting. I think you have seen that the MDC has published its list of the candidates for the National Assembly and my name is not there so that tells you I am not running for the National Assembly seat nor am I running for Senate nor the Proportional Representation. So you will not find my name in any of them,” he said.

Prof Ncube however declined that he was angling to become a deputy to Chamisa as he was already a leader of a party — MDC.

“I am already one of the seven principals in the alliance so why should I be a deputy?” he said.

Sources within the party however revealed to ZimEye.com that Ncube is definitely set to become Chamisa’s Deputy as his party and Biti’s PDP are set for a historic unification immediately after the elections regardless of the outcome of the elections.

MDC president Professor Welshman Ncube will not contest for any position in the forthcoming elections and will only help co-ordinate and campaign for his party candidates and MDC-Alliance presidential candidate, Mr Nelson Chamisa.

The move by Prof Ncube has raised questions on his relevance, post-elections as he is the only party principal in the alliance who is not gunning for a seat. MDC-T president Mr Chamisa is the alliance’s presidential candidate while other principals are standing as either MPs or Senators in the seats that have been reserved for their parties.

The MDC Alliance is made up of seven political parties, MDC-T, which is led by Mr Chamisa, PDP (Mr Tendai Biti), MDC (Professor Welshman Ncube), Transform Zimbabwe (Mr Jacob Ngarivhume), Zanu Ndonga (Mr Denford Musiyarira), Multi-Racial Christian Democratic Party (Mr Mathias Guchutu) and Zimbabwe People First (Retired Brigadier-General Agrippa Mutambara).

In an interview on Friday, Prof Ncube said he was not contesting for any position in the forthcoming elections.

“I am certainly not contesting. I think you have seen that the MDC has published its list of the candidates for the National Assembly and my name is not there so that tells you I am not running for the National Assembly seat nor am I running for Senate nor the Proportional Representation. So you will not find my name in any of them,” he said.

Prof Ncube also said he was not angling to become a deputy to Mr Chamisa as he was already a leader of a party — MDC.

“I am already one of the seven principals in the alliance so why should I be a deputy?” he said.

The alliance has also been dogged by power struggles resulting in the parties failing to come up with neutral colours and symbols to use for the campaigns. In Kenya, the National Super Alliance (Nasa) formed by opposition political parties led by Mr Raila Odinga adopted a single colour branding with all the parties in the coalition dropping their respective regalia.

Prof Ncube, who is also the alliance’s spokesman said campaign regalia will be in two forms — red for the presidential campaigns and respective party colours for other campaigns such as Parliamentary and Senatorial. MDC-T’s brand colour is red while MDC-N is branded in green, PDP’s colours are orange, Transform Zimbabwe (blue), ZimPF (white) while Zanu-Ndonga does not have defined party colours.

“The presidential campaign material, that is to say the t-shirts, berets, posters and pamphlets, will obviously be branded in red, the colour of the MDC-T where our presidential candidate is coming from. In respect of our candidates’ campaign at Parliamentary level as well as at ward level, the candidates and the parties are at liberty to use all of the seven colours of the alliance,” he said. The alliance is also grappling to consolidate the ideas from the seven parties to come up with a manifesto.

Other major players in the coming elections, Zanu-PF and the MDC formation led by Dr Thokozani Khupe, have already launched their manifestos.

Prof Ncube said the alliance had put in place a policy and research committee that was spearheading the process of coming up with the party’s manifesto. He was, however, non-committal on when the alliance planned to launch its election manifesto.

“We have a policy and research committee which is chaired by Tendai Biti. That committee in consultation with the other committees and the principals has been working on two documents. The first document is a comprehensive detailed policy document. That committee is also working on the second document, which is an abridged version of the bigger document which will become the manifesto that we are going to launch and present. So at some point in the next few weeks we will set a date for the launch of the two documents, the comprehensive policy document and the manifesto. So it is work in progress, which we hope to complete as soon as possible and hopefully before an election is proclaimed,” he said.

The MDC Alliance has threatened to crack on several occasions, with Transform Zimbabwe leader Mr Ngarivhume at some point threatening to quit the coalition over allocation of Parliamentary seats among the seven political parties. Reports have indicated that MDC-T was also selecting candidates in seats that are already reserved for other parties. – state media

EVANGELICAL Fellowship of Zimbabwe president and Faith Ministries pastor Dr Shingi Munyeza has shut down his alcohol-selling businesses that were a cause for much debate in recent years.

Faith Ministries at one point reportedly tried to pressure the clergyman into stepping down from the pulpit because he ran gambling establishments and night clubs.

Pastor Munyeza’s News Cafe outlets in Borrowdale and Five Avenue Shopping Centre closed doors last week.

Some former employees have claimed they are owed salaries. “The businesses were just shut without notice to workers and some of us are owed huge sums of money. We were told that News Cafe was likely to reopen at a shopping mall close to Chinhoyi Street,” said one of them, while declining to be named for fear of victimisation. Pastor Munyeza said News Cafe was relocating.

“There are a number of factors which led to the temporary closure of the businesses. Chief among the reasons are the foreign currency challenges.

“There are also issues about rentals because the current arrangement was not working. We haven’t closed the businesses but it’s about consolidating, restrategising and refocusing.”

A strong critic of former President Mr Robert Mugabe, Pr Munyeza has dabbled in politics and has also called for free, fair and credible elections in 2018. – state media

 

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By Own Correspondent| The splinter faction of the MDC T led by Dr Thokozani Khupe has laid blame on Nelson Chamisa, and his youth wing the Vanguard for the low turnout at the launch of the party’s manifesto.

A paltry turnout of less than 50 delegates by 2 pm saw the party’s leadership at the venue of the occasion, hold an emergency press conference where they revealed how their members had been intimidated and blocked from attending the launch.

Secretary General of the party, Nixon Nyikadzino flanked by the Secretary General of the Women’s wing, Lynette Mudehwe told journalists that the presence of the Vanguard had sent shivers within the party leadership and members forcing the Khupe faction to cancel the rally.

“We have since cancelled our event until further notice and this is because of the acts of violence and intimidation by Chamisa’s youth wing, the Vanguard,” said Nyikadzino.

Mudehwe revealed that this was the reason why notable senior leaders from their party were also conspicuous by their absence at the venue of the rally.

“Our President, Thokozani Khupe is in a safe venue as she waits to hold a crucial meeting with the party’s leadership in Harare tomorrow,” she said.

…

Questioned on whether they had made a police report regarding the acts of violence against their members, Nyikadzino confirmed that a police report had been made and the party hoped that the perpetrators of the violence and intimidation would be brought to book.

“Yes, we have the evidence to support our claims and since this matter has been reported to the police, we will be following due process regards availing that evidence,” said Nyikadzino.

MDC politician Mrs Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga on Friday praised President Mnangagwa for his humility and pro-people stance.

Misihairabwi-Mushonga, who helped organise a meeting between the President and women in Harare yesterday said the President easily accepted the invitation, even though she was from the opposition party.

She said the only two questions the President asked were about the venue and the time.

“Mr President just for you to get a context on why women felt this was important, this has been a standing issue for women’s organisations in particular and women that are coming from communities to be able to access and to be able to speak to their President.

“We want to break with the past by coming up with this meeting. We are breaking the past in a number of ways. The first one is we know that presidents were difficult to access.

“Presidents have always been difficult to access for a number of reasons and I hope because we said this is going to be very open and frank, you will allow me Mr President to be brutally frank. Your Excellency the main problem that we had with accessing Presidents has been gatekeepers around the President. Literally those that are around Presidents, we had to work with them as if midzimu (spirit mediums) and just to getting to where you are is a struggle and for us having you here is exceptional and it is historic.

“So we broke with tradition in a number of ways. We broke with tradition in terms of how this meeting was even organised because tradition has always said we have to go and be vetted by security, our organisations have to say who funds them in case we are being funded by regime change agents. Your Excellency, we are glad we did not have to do that.”

Mrs Misihairabwi-Mushonga said President Mnangagwa was the People’s President.

“I must tell my colleagues here that on the day that his Excellency agreed to this meeting that you had asked for us to go and request, he asked only two questions, ‘where is the venue and what is the programme’. For me that was important because we were tired of having to sit down and explain anything and everything that we were going to do. We also want to break from the past because there are people that think they own a Head of State so unless you are coming from a party or ruling party, it was impossible to get to the President. I am not coming from the ruling party. I come from the opposition and I want to thank you your Excellency that that tag did not stop you from coming here,” she said.

She added: “We are also breaking the tradition around formalities so our seating arrangement here and the fact that you are sitting at that table, it is breaking the formalities. We are breaking the tradition because we have been prisoners of language so today isiNdebele, isiShona, isiXhosa siya sikhuluma. We are breaking from the tradition and being prisoners of the cockpit syndrome were only those around you is the voice that you hear.

“You are always saying your Excellency that the voice of the people is the voice of God but if that voice is only dominated by a particular people and a particular gender, it ceases to be the voice of God. So you will need today voices that are different and we are hoping that you will allow these voices to be as bold to challenge you but also for you to challenge us as for this interaction to be as good as we want it to be.

President Mnangagwa praised the organisers of the interactive dialogue saying it was a first of its kind in Zimbabwe.

He said that next time he would bring his entire Cabinet for them to respond to concerns directed at their ministries.

“I would like to thank the organisers of this meeting. It has never happened before, if it happened, well maybe it was that time I had jumped the border. This exercise we had today was extremely fruitful and in future if you call it again, my entire Cabinet will be here so that they answer questions relating to their ministries,” he said.

The Herald.

ZANU PF leader President Emmerson Mnangagwa is today expected to address thousands at Sakubva Stadium.

Thousands Saturday morning had already gathered at the venue and below were some state media (ZBC) picturage of the function-

By Paul Nyathi|The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has released a statement distancing itself from a mobile application which is doing the rounds on the Whatsapp platform. The application produces a message which seems to be in favour of president Emmerson Mnangagwa. In a Statement, Zec said,

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) would like to disassociate itself with an app circulating on the WhatsApp platform. The app has a ZEC logo and the message “Click to vote.” When one follows the command, the following message appears:”Congratulations! You have voted for Emmerson Dambudzo Munangagwa. Your vote counts.”(sic).

Members of the public are hereby advised that the message did not originate from ZEC and would like to state that the Commission does not use WhatsApp to communicate public information. At present, ZEC is using the mainstream media, the ZECWebsite ZEC Twitter handle @ZECzirn and bulk SMS messaging to communicate wall die public.

The Commission is also advising the public that it is not possible for upcoming election candidates to receive votes through a mobile phone app since voters have to present themselves physically at their respective allocated polling stations to cast their ballots on polling day.

By Paul Nyathi|ZEC have released some important information which the public needs to be aware of:

* Inspections centers will be open from 7am to 5pm during the entire process.

* If your details were incorrect (duplicate ID numbers, or multiple registrations) you were removed from the Voters roll and put on an exclusions list. If you are on the exclusion list you will be told how to correct this information and be put back onto the voters roll. There are 11,018 people on the exclusion list.

* People who registered after 6 April 2018 will NOT be found on the Provisional Voters roll. Your details will be on the Final Voters Roll.

* Take your ID with you.

* If you want to transfer your registration, you need to go to a Registration Center, not an Inspection Center

* SMS Checking will be available, and ZEC have stated that Online checking will also be available (despite a previous claim they would not make this available!) They are working on a *265# USSD code – this won’t be available yet.

By Paul Nyathi|Inspection of the newly produced Zimbabwe Electoral Commission voters roll opens on Saturday for a period of eleven days.

The inspection opens with reports that 11 000 possible voters were rejected by the electronic Biometric Voter Registration system who have been put in a seperate exclusion roll.

The exclusion list, consists of registrants who could not be on the provisional voters roll for various reasons including multiple registrations, sharing of the same ID number and the deceased.

The exclusion lists, will be provided alongside the provisional voters roll at polling stations where the anomalies were identified.

The inspection will take place in 10 807 centres established by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) countrywide.

The process allows prospective voters to check if their details are correctly captured and to correct anomalies.

Those on the provisional voters’ roll are people who registered before the cut-off date of April 6, 2018.

People who registered after April 6 will appear on the final voters’ roll.

Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday, ZEC chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba said the inspection shall be open from May 19 to May 29 from 7am to 5pm during the entire inspection period.

“This is a critical stage in the production of a completely new voters’ roll for the forthcoming harmonised elections and beyond.

“The inspection follows a series of events that started with the launch of the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) blitz and mop up exercise, which saw the commission registering about 5,4 million registrants.

“These entries went through a data cleaning process where some anomalies were identified. The most commonly observed discrepancies arose from typographical errors and incorrect polling station posting while others involved people with the same ID numbers and multiple registrations,” he said.

She said they are expecting to identify more anomalies by subjecting it to public inspection before a final voter’s roll is gazetted.

“The inspection of the provisional voters roll is in itself an auditing process by citizens,” she said.

By Paul Nyathi|Despite evidence that the state media lied about MDCT President Nelson Chamisa saying he is young and strong to impregnate any woman, the government run Chronicle newspaper on Saturday ran a distasteful cartoon further purging the young politician.

The cartoon by Wellington Musapenda has attracted huge criticism from readers and MDC-T supporters who are calling on the media house to apologise to Chamisa.

ZimEye.com could not get an immediate comment from the MDC-T Presidential spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka on the cartoon.

The distasteful cartoon in The Chronicle Newspaper 19 May 2018.

“Presidents have always been difficult to access for a number of reasons and I hope because we said this is going to be very open and frank, you will allow me Mr President to be brutally frank. VIDEO –

Your Excellency the main problem that we had with accessing Presidents has been gatekeepers around the President. Literally those that are around Presidents, we had to work with them as if midzimu (spirit mediums) and just to getting to where you are is a struggle and for us having you here is exceptional and it is historic. So we broke with tradition in a number of ways. We broke with tradition in terms of how this meeting was even organised because tradition has always said we have to go and be vetted by security, our organisations have to say who funds them in case we are being funded by regime change agents. Your Excellency, we are glad we did not have to do that.

“We are also breaking the tradition around formalities so our seating arrangement here and the fact that you are sitting at that table, it is breaking the formalities. We are breaking the tradition because we have been prisoners of language so today isiNdebele, isiShona, isiNxosa siya sikhuluma. We are breaking from the tradition and being prisoners of the cockpit syndrome were only those around you is the voice that you hear.

“You are always saying your Excellency that the voice of the people is the voice of God but if that voice is only dominated by a particular people and a particular gender, it ceases to be the voice of God. So you will need today voices that are different and we are hoping that you will allow these voices to be as bold to challenge you but also for you to challenge us as for this interaction to be as good as we want it to be.”

Zimbabweans can now inspect the voters roll online.

This emerged as it was announced that about 11,000 people from the 5,4 million registered voters have been placed on the exclusion list after their demographic data was not captured correctly ahead of the inspection of the voters roll which begins today.

Presenting a paper on Electoral Processes at a media workshop on election reporting in Bulawayo, ZEC deputy director for Elections and Training, Ms Rejoice Mthombeni, said the names of the excluded registrants would be forwarded to the Registrar General.

“There are close to 11 000 people on the exclusion list because there are some instances where we noticed that there are people with the same names, surname, same age, and registration documents. So, as we were clearing the voters roll, we picked up those things.

“So we have taken that to the Registrar General’s office because say for example someone between the two, one would be having an authentic document, so we took it to civil registry so that they determine who is who,” said Ms Mthombeni.

She said Zec would be using three options to verify their details.

Ms Mthombeni said people can inspect the voters roll by going physically to the established centres to check their details, check online on the Zec website or utilise the bulk short message service (SMS) facility.

“There are just over two million people who gave us their phone numbers and we are just hoping that they will benefit from the mass SMS system to avoid congestion at the polling stations during inspection. If there are errors they will then visit their polling station to amend,” she said.

Ms Mthombeni said other registrants were giving them numbers that don’t exist hence they would have to use other options to verify their details.

She explained the electoral processes highlighting that soon after the proclamation of the election date by the President, the Nomination Court would sit.

“At the Nomination court, a candidate is required to bring five registered voters from the Constituency to nominate him or her. If only one candidate is nominated at a Constituency, they are declared the winner,” said Ms Mthombeni.

She said after the sitting of the Nomination Court, campaigns would begin officially and would end two days before the actual election date.

“Voting according to the law is 12 hours. That is, from 7AM to 7PM. If there are any delays to the opening of a polling station, then that would be a special case but it will close exactly after 12 hours,” Ms Mthombeni said. – state media

By Own Correspondent| National Patriotic Front (NPF) is calling on its members to reactivate grassroots structures so that members can inspect the voters roll due to kickstart tomorrow (Saturday).

In a press statement released on Friday night and directed to all provincial secretaries, Jappy Jaboon, who is NPF national political commissar, called on the party’s provincial secretaries to activate their structures and encourage their members to go and inspect the voters roll starting tomorrow as advertised by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

“Members must check their names in the voters roll from 19 May till 29 May’ as advertised by the ZEC.

Let us mobilise and mobilise,” said Jaboon.

The party also urged potential voters who had not yet registered to vote through the biometric exercise to take advantage of the voter verification exercise to register to vote.

“Please note that all those who are not registered can go and register during this verification period,” said the NPF.

NPF is a party formed by mostly former Zanu PF stalwarts who were elbowed out of the party by Lacoste, a faction within Zanu Pf which is reportedly led by President Emmerson Mngagwagwa.

The party is currently being led by Retired Brigadier General Ambrose Mutinhiri and analysts predict that the party will force confusion in the ruling party as it has Mugabe support, an assertion which critics of the ruling party have dismissed

 

By Own Correspondent| There is furore in the MDC T led by Nelson Chamisa amid allegations that the party is  imposing candidates like what happened in the Zanu PF primary elections where convicts and “criminals” were elected to represent the party in the national elections due in a few months.

One of the MDC-T officials who has been cleared to contest in the party’s weekend primaries for Mabvuku Tafara House of Assembly seat, James Chidhakwa is according to disgruntled party members not fit for political office since he was from 2003 up to 2007 imprisoned on car hijacking charges.

MDC-T stalwarts who requested anonymity said the dreadlocked youthful politician was being backed by the MDC-T youth wing supported by Chamisa to stand in the party’s primaries with the sitting constituency’s MP, James Maridadi.

Social media was this week awash with images of a police clearance letter with Chidhakwa’s fingerprints purportedly posted by him in a bid to clear himself from the criminal allegations leveled against him by fellow party members.

“This is going to give an advantage to Zanu PF which knows that Chidhakwa is a criminal and what they will simply do is to wait for the day when all the names of aspiring MPs have been submitted and should he win the primaries and then they inform the nomination court that there is a criminal who is in the race.

Once that has been noticed, the nomination court will withdraw him and declare the Zanu PF candidate as an uncontested winner,” said one of the senior MDC-T officials who requested not to be named for fear of victimization.

MDC T supporters alleged that all this chaos was being caused by the party’s national chairman, Morgen Komichi.

“Komichi is imposing youths on these positions in a bid to impress Chamisa so that he keeps his position in the party safe,” another MDC-T senior member said.

Another MDC-T official who also requested anonymity said Komichi was the one pushing for the ouster of senior party members the same way Harare west MP Jessie Majome was elbowed out of the primary election race leading to her decision to contest the forthcoming polls as an independent.

According to the source, the chairman was doing this so that if Chamisa wins there will be no competition on government positions since the party would now be having “new comers”.

Contacted for comment on the criminal allegations leveled against him , Chidhakwa who acknowledged having been cleared for the primaries confirmed that he was arrested for more than 20 times since 2000 but not on robbery related cases.

“I was arrested many times and have more than 20 cases all of which are politically related and most of which i was also acquitted with some dying natural deaths,” he said.

“This is election time and i know where this is coming from.

If what you are claiming is true, the party has a security department which vets candidates and surely they would not have cleared me,” he said.

On the police clearance document bearing his name and ID number circulating on social media, Chidhakwa said although the name and ID number were his, he did not post such material on social media.

“Why would i post that on social media and for what reasons,” he said.

Komichi, who is being accused of being the chief architect behind Chidhakwa’s candidature was not available for comment.

Clearing “criminals” to contest for public office was seen in the just ended Zanu PF primaries where a number of party officials with tainted history were elected to represent the party in the forthcoming elections.

The tainted Zanu PF members who won the party’s primaries included
musician-cum-politician, Elias Musakwa‚ Gilbert Muponda ,Campion Mugweni, Killer Zivhu, and Energy Mutodi.

Musakwa was early this year named in a list released by President Emmerson Mnangagwa of people who illegally externalised funds.

He is however Zanu PF’s nominee for the Bikita West National Assembly seat whose election he won in the party’s chaotic primary polls.

According to President Mnangagwa’s list of looters Musakwa allegedly externalised US$9 million to Portugal.

Muponda on the other hand revokes sad memories of the early 2000s when the banking sector all but collapsed after exposure to ENG an asset management company he was running together with his friend.

The duo were engaged in Trust Bank , Time Bank and other businesses that closed shop.

Another Zanu PF aspiring MP who won the party’s primary elections Killer Zivhu was in 2005 convicted and sent to jail for duping cross boarder traders through an organization he was leading.

By Talent Gondo| Political parties and concerned stakeholders will in the forthcoming harmonised polls witness the printing of ballot papers, Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), Justice Priscilla Chigumba has revealed.

Speaking to journalists at the elections body’s headquarters in Harare this afternoon (Friday), Justice Chigumba said the ZEC had taken the decision to allow political parties and other interested stakeholders to witness the printing of ballots in order to foster transparency and build consensus in the country’s electoral processes.

“What we have said as ZEC is that we simply follow the law, and we are guided by the law,” said Justice Chigumba.

She said because the decision to allow for political parties to observe the printing of ballots was within ZEC’s mandate, the elections body had given a nod to the process and was currently working on the modalities to ensure the smooth implementation of the process.

“With regards to the second part of the demands made by the concerned political party on the printing of ballot papers, in order to foster transparency and build consensus, we have taken a decision as a commission that we will certainly do that because that is within our mandate, purview and our discretion.

“We have already exercised our discretion to allow for that and what is left is to engage all the stakeholders and work out the modalities not only with the political parties but all the other stakeholders,” said Justice Chigumba.

She however said regarding the demand for the political parties to participate in the procurement process of the ballot paper, the issue was not within ZEC’s mandate hence the elections body could not allow it.

Justice Chigumba said because the matter was a legislative one, there was nothing that the elections body could do except act within the dictates of the law.

“This is an issue for the legislature and not an issue where ZEC has the mandate to change the law with regards to a demand made by a political party.

It is my considered view that the political party concerned took those views to parliament, tried to get them to be made part of the law and failed,” she revealed.

The MDC Alliance has in the past raised the flag regarding the procurement of the ballot paper alleging that the process is flawed and is being manipulated to the advantage of Zanu Pf.

Watch the video below as Justice Chigumba speaks..

By Emmerson Mnangagwa| I was delighted to participate in the “Women’s Conversations on Legislation” conference this morning, the first of its kind in Zimbabwe. I enjoyed having the chance to engage with, and listen to, representatives of over 40 women’s organisations from across the country.

I was moved to listen to women from all walks of life talk of the challenges they face, and to share our vision for gender equality in the new Zimbabwe, and for economic development for all.

In our new Zimbabwe, there must also be a new era of fully equal gender relations, in which all citizens are treated with respect and dignity.

Public media ups propaganda ante against president Chamisa

The public media has upped its propaganda ante against the people’s leader, president Adv. Nelson Chamisa by putting words into his mouth in a desperate bid to malign and ostracize him from the women constituency of Zimbabwe.

The State-owned Herald and Chronicle newspapers today published a malicious story falsely alleging that president Chamisa told a rally at Maboleni in Vungu yesterday that he was young and energetic enough to impregnate a woman when in fact he never said anything to that effect. He never made any direct or inferred reference to impregnating any woman at the rally. All he said was that he will score many positives when elected to lead the country.

In the past week alone, the public media has published 49 stories all denigrating the person of the incoming president who is set to resoundingly win the forthcoming election. The public media has incessantly concocted vulgar words and anti-women messages as purportedly coming from president Chamisa with the aim of making him unpopular with the majority women-folk in the country.

The public media clearly has an agenda to concoct lies and sculpt malice against the young and popular MDC Alliance presidential candidate in the vain hope that they will succeed in denting his towering brand and image.

The negative public media reportage provides ample evidence why we are demanding media reforms as part of a comprehensive reform package that must precede the next election. Equal, fair and impartial coverage must be the dictum of our public media.

Regardless of how many times they put words into president Chamisa’s mouth, the people of Zimbabwe will not stop reposing their faith and trust in his dynamic leadership.

Indeed, a new Zimbabwe is on the horizon.

Zimbabweans want change that delivers.

Behold the new.

Luke Tamborinyoka
Presidential Spokesperson and Director of Communications

President Emmerson Mnangagwa met several women’s organisations representatives in Harare this Friday morning under the topic: “Women’s Conversations on legislation with his Excellency the President of Zimbabwe”.

The President was accompanied by Vice President Kembo Mohadi, Finance Minister Cde Patrick Chinamasa who stood in for Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development Cde Sithembiso Nyoni and other senior government officials.

The meeting brought together over 40 women’s organisations from different backgrounds and spheres of operation.

In their presentations, young girls highlighted lack of school fees leading to prostitution, poverty in young mothers, sexual harassment, high fees and accessibility of loans as challenges in tertiary institutions.

The students suggested a sexual harassment policy be put in place and to be functional in tertiary institutions.

In response, President Mnangagwa said early marriages are forbidden for both girls and boys under the age of 18, adding that he has since suggested the criminalisation of such acts through a bill.

Officials in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs said the bill is not yet ready and the President directed that the bill be tabled in the first session of the next parliament.

Regarding forced marriages, the President said it is the duty of everyone to protect the girl child and uphold high morals in society.

The President noted that commercial sex work is unlawful, saying those who know of these acts should report to the police.

Regarding students loans, the President said stringent requirements to access the loans should be removed.

Turning to students’ sexual harassment at higher institutions, he said it is necessary for the Ministry of Justice to engage in dialogue with students and management so that government devises means of addressing the problem.

Female school children bemoaned lack of affordable sanitary wear and requested that they be accessed free of charge. A petition to this effect was handed over to the head of state by Tanyaradzwa Mutate from Zengeza One High School.

The second group of grievances to the President came from women from diverse backgrounds who complained of need for clean water in urban areas, high electricity charges, lack of medicines in government hospitals, an appealed for free maternal health services, and that cancer screening be followed by free cancer treatment.

A representative of cross-border women traders appealed for speedy immigration and customs clearance, provision of bathing services and refreshment services, resting facilities at the border and less road blocks on the route after border searches.

A woman from Manicaland Hotsprings spoke of poor mining practices from diamond mining firms in the area, lack of compensation from mining companies after relocation. She also called on government to give women mining claims.

Women with disabilities said they face stigma and discrimination and are left behind in development programmes and in decision making and they appealed for quotas for women with disabilities, including housing.

In his response to the water issue, President Mnangagwa said government has secured a loan from China to address the clean water issue in Harare, while for rural areas state-of-the-art borehole drilling machines have been acquired.

He also said government is working on increasing classrooms in affected areas throughout Zimbabwe.

President Mnangagwa said government is in the process of crafting a new diamond policy which directs that communities in the mining areas must benefit.

The President blamed the Environmental Management Agency for not monitoring how mining companies dispose of chemicals which are polluting water sources.

He said any company engaging in mining will be legally required to craft a social responsibility programme.

On Land, he said an audit is underway and multiple farm ownership will be exposed.

He said widows under the law should inherit the land when the husband passes on and no one should dispossess the widow.

President Mnangagwa explained the Command Agriculture Programme in detail, saying the government recently launched Command Livestock in Matabeleland Provinces.

On farmers grain payments, he said GMB is now doing it timeously, adding that this trend started with the launch of the Command Agriculture Programme which he spearhead starting in the 2016-2017 season.

On disabilities issues, the President says he has appointed Cde Joshua Malinga as Special Advisor on Disability issues in the Office of the President, revealing that Cde Malinga has presented a paper on disability issues which will be looked at soon.

On Zanu PF primaries, he admitted it was quite disappointing that only about 10 percent who won are women.

“There is need to find a formula to achieve a reasonable representation of women – the current formula is not working. However, there 60 seats reserved for women in parliament where they compete amongst themselves… this was agreed amongst political parties,” he said.

On violence, the President said: “Whenever I see people who are gathered, like here, I preach unity, unity. I ask all political leaders to commit ourselves to peace, unity and love for each other…,” he said, adding that people must accept divergent views and let the best idea win.

Responding to the issue of cash shortages, the President spoke of the recent US$100 million soft loan from the UK, which he said will help to ease cash shortages. He also asked Minister Chinamasa to give further details on the issue of cash shortages, who amongst other interventions, said the best solution is to move towards a cashless society.

President Mnangagwa commended the organisers of the interactive dialogue with women organisations’, saying it is a first of its kind in Zimbabwe, adding that next time he will bring his entire cabinet so that they respond to various concerns.

The women paid tribute to the President for signing the AU charter on democratic elections and human rights which they said goes a long way in addressing women’s dreams and aspirations and for protecting women’s rights.

Source: ZBC News