Zanu-PF Midlands province has recommended that six senior party members suspended over alleged misconduct, chief among them their involvement in the G40 machinations and creating parallel structures within the party, should remain ordinary members and not stand for office.

Those suspended include former ministers Fred Moyo, Chiratidzo Mabuwa, Francis Nhema, senior party members, Tsitsi Zhou, Tremendous Musara and Tafanana Zhou.

Last week, the National Disciplinary Committee wrote to the province informing the party leadership that Zhou, Moyo, Mabuwa and Nhema should be recognised as party members, but the provincial leadership says they should just be confined to being ordinary members.

This means if the decision is upheld by the National Disciplinary Committee, these party members would be ordinary card carrying members and will not be eligible to participate in the primary elections or any other election during the time of their suspension.

The suspensions were announced by provincial vice chairman Godwill Shiri and were adopted by the party provincial executive committee and the provincial coordinating council (PCC) on Saturday.

“We have suspended Tafanana Zhou because he was found guilty of working in isolation, associating with G40 and participating in the meeting that led to the unconstitutional suspension of other party members,” he said.

“He is a second offender and therefore, he will be suspended for three years. Tsitsi Zhou also appeared before the disciplinary committee and was also found guilty for proposing to have other party members unconstitutionally dismissed.

“She has been slapped with a two year suspension. Chiratidzo Mabuwa, who was facing the same allegations has been slapped with a three-year suspension because she is a repeat offender.
“Fred Moyo also got a three-year suspension for his involvement in the G40 machinations and is also a repeat offender. Francis Nhema who was running parallel structures in Shurugwi has been suspended for three years. Councillors, Tremendous Musara and Chiripai Chipondeni have been suspended for two years,” said Shiri.

Speaking at the same meeting, Midlands provincial chairman, Engineer Daniel Mckenzie Ncube, said the recommendations would be submitted to the National Disciplinary Committee for deliberation.

“As an organ of the party, we have made this decision and we will submit our recommendations to the National Disciplinary Committee,” he said.

“As a province, we are saying we have not expelled these members, but we will work with them at cell (village) level while they serve their suspensions.

“A lot has been said on social media regarding these issues. I would want to inform you that we have a channel of communication in the party and whatever might be circulating on social media, if it’s not communicated to the party members through our structures, then ignore it. Let us be focused.”- state media

A GRADE Three pupil from Manyewu Primary School in Entumbane suburb, Bulawayo died due to a brain tumor that developed after she was accidentally stabbed in the eye by another pupil with a pen while playing at the school grounds.

Zinhle Zulu (9) was buried last Friday, three weeks after she was stabbed by a Grade Five boy.
The deceased girl’s family was told by other pupils that she was stabbed by a boy who is in Grade Five and is yet to be identified.

Zinhle’s grandmother, Ms Margret Moyo yesterday said her granddaughter was admitted to Mpilo Central Hospital for four days where she later died.

Ms Moyo said doctors said Zinhle suffered a brain tumor as a result of the stabbing.
She said her granddaughter had been complaining about headaches since she was stabbed.

“On February 22, Zinhle came home from school saying she had been stabbed by a certain boy by mistake. I noticed that her eye was swollen but I thought the swelling would not last for long. So I nursed her at home thinking it was not very serious as there was no sign of a blood clot, little did I know the stabbing had caused internal harm and would lead to my granddaughter’s painful death,” said Ms Moyo.

“Her situation worsened on March 7. She could not even speak so I took her to the hospital. Doctors conducted a scan and told us she had developed growth in the head due to an infection that was caused by the stabbing. She passed on last week Monday and losing her was painful because she had always been fit and had no other illness prior to the stabbing.”
She said the boy who stabbed Zinhle has not yet been identified as other pupils seem to be scared to name him. Ms Moyo said they had made a report to the police.

“We asked Zinhle’s friends and they told us that it was a Grade Five pupil who had stabbed her but they could not tell us the child’s name. Maybe they will be able to identify the boy now that the matter will be handled by police. We are not seeking to punish the boy or his family but we want him to be identified so that we prevent him from doing a similar thing to other pupils and for other pupils to take this as a lesson,” Ms Moyo said.-state media

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is today expected to publish the names of individuals and corporates who externalised funds and assets, three days after a top cleric said authorities must start punishing corrupt individuals.

Days after assuming office last November, the President issued a three-month moratorium running from December 1 to February 28 for all those who externalised funds and assets to return them with no questions asked.
When the grace period lapsed, President Mnangagwa extended it earlier this month by two weeks.
Announcing the extension, the President said he would publish the names of those people who ignore his call to return the funds and then the law would take its course.

“A statement will be released to inform you how much has come back and how much is in the process of coming back, and how much is still remaining outside,” said President Mnangagwa.

“We have given them another two weeks, but on the 19th of this month, we will publish those who have not heeded the call and the amounts they owe this country.”
Last Friday, the President said nearly $300 million has been brought back by individuals and corporates who took advantage of the moratorium.

“We have 1 166 cases of externalisation, now we have three categories, one category has brought in the cash. We thank them, we won’t publish their names. They have brought in nearly $300 million,” said President Mnangagwa.
He said some of the culprits have come forward to negotiate after they had invested the funds in securing foreign properties to the tune of $680 million.

The naming and shaming of the corporates and individuals comes at a time when a Roman Catholic priest Father Fidelis Mukonori, who brokered negotiations between former President Robert Mugabe and the Zimbabwe Defence Forces last year, said corrupt individuals must be punished.

Addressing a Chief Executive Officers’ Round Table in Victoria Falls last Friday, Fr Mukonori said perpetrators must be punished to end the vice.

“There are some people who stole money for 37 years and have not been punished. Others are saying I can do the same (steal) but the fact of the matter is that those who did it should be punished or hand it over as promised,” said Fr Mukonori.

The cleric was making a presentation during a panel discussion on “Value system for the cross over-dealing with healing, reconciliation, corruption, entitlement and other imperatives”.
Fr Mukonori said corruption is an abuse of the value system and challenged citizens not to accept property or money that does not belong to them.

“Value system or moral conscience does not allow one to accept a bribe unless if it (conscience) is corrupted. As citizens we should be moulded by following our value system in line with the 10 commandments,” he added. – state media

The Zanu PF Youth League has urged party supporters to vote for their preferred candidates during the primary elections once the nomination process is complete.

Addressing thousands of party supporters at Mutiusinazita in Buhera South constituency during the party wards tours, Zanu PF Secretary for Security in the Youth League, Cde Silas Chimbilo said there is consensus within the party that imposition of candidates will not be tolerated.

He added that President Emmerson Mnangagwa is on record that the voice of the people is the voice of God, hence his calls against imposition of candidates.

Buhera South legislator, Joseph Chinotimba was happy that the Youth League is setting the record straight on the issue of imposition of candidates.

Chimbilo castigated those who claim to have been seconded to represent Zanu PF by the party leadership, urging the electorate not to be fooled by individuals whose motive is to gain political mileage while bringing the name of the party into disrupt.- state media

Terrence Mawawa | A United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) representative has said the organisation will not buy Mugabe’ s sentiments about the Government of Zimbabwe.

Yesterday, the UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner, who was in Zimbabwe, was unmoved by Mugabe’s rants, according to a State controlled publication.

“I have no comment on the specific statement that former President Robert Mugabe has made.

“Our priority is to help Zimbabwe elect its future government and above all to enable the nation emerge from a period of economic deterioration, suffering and poverty,” said Steiner, adding that everyone had a right to speak his or her mind.

Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo | War veterans here have called on President Emmerson Mnangagwa to avoid visiting his boss Robert Mugabe because he will be bewitched by the wily nonagenarian.

The Masvingo Chapter of the Zimbabwe National War Veterans Association yesterday urged Mnangagwa to distance himself from the veteran politician.

“Why does Mugabe want to have a meeting with the President? He is not a sincere man- we know his tricks and antics.

President Mnangagwa has to be very careful because Mugabe wants to bewitch him.

How can he be trusted? He is a cunning individual,” read part of the statement.

Zimbabwe’s first presidential and parliamentary elections since the end of former strongman Robert Mugabe’s long rule will take place in July, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Saturday.

The polls will be the first major test of the new leader, who took power in November after a de facto military coup forced the 94-year-old Mugabe to resign.

They will also be the first without Mugabe’s name on the ballot since independence from Britain in 1980.

“As a nation, party and government, we are looking forward to very peaceful, transparent and harmonised elections in July this year,” Mnangagwa told reporters after a meeting with South Africans President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday night.

Mnangagwa, 75, said the elections would be free of the violence that gripped previous polls and which was one of the reasons for strained relations between Zimbabwe and the West.

I have already invited all political parties in Zimbabwe to a roundtable where we all commit ourselves to non-violence,” he added.

Mnangagwa will have to announce a date in an official notice. He has said he would invite Western observers, who had been banned under Mugabe’s rule.

The state-owned weekly Sunday Mail said a European Union pre-election team was expected in Harare on Monday.

I have already invited all political parties in Zimbabwe to a roundtable where we all commit ourselves to non-violence,” he added.

Mnangagwa will have to announce a date in an official notice. He has said he would invite Western observers, who had been banned under Mugabe’s rule.

The state-owned weekly Sunday Mail said a European Union pre-election team was expected in Harare on Monday.

The EU head of mission in Zimbabwe, Phillipe van Damme, told the paper it would meet the president, political party leaders, and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

Mugabe, in his first comments since he stepped down, said last week that Mnangagwa’s rule was “illegitimate” and a “disgrace”.- Agencies

 

 

SPEECH SUNDAY 18 MARCH 2018
Salutations

Today I stand in front of you as a proud legitimate and constitutionally elected Acting President of the MDC, because of the unconditional love you continue giving to me.

We gather here one month and four days after the sad passing on of our founding President Dr Richard Morgan Tsvangirai, a colleague and a brother in the struggle for democracy. What is even more painful on the passing of the late President is that he had not yet attained the fruits of our struggle of a free, non-violent, prosperous and democratic Zimbabwe.

As we speak, Zimbabweans are currently going through untold suffering with more than 80% of the population living in abject poverty, misery and destitution. The majority of the people are living on less than one dollar per day in a country which is endowed with enormous mineral resources and yet there is nothing to show that we are a rich country.

As an MDC government we have a plan. A plan that will ensure that every Zimbabwean has a better life. A plan which has 6 key areas:

First and foremost we want to change the governance culture. The constitution must be respected and implemented to the letter and spirit in which it was written. We want to uproot the cancer which is corruption that has destroyed the social fabric of society.

Secondly, institutional reform is key especially in ensuring that the Police, the Zimbabwe National Army, all other security agencies and government departments stick to their core roles and duties in accordance with the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Devolution, as clearly provided for in the supreme law of the land, must be immediately implemented. Local communities should be permitted and duly empowered to benefit from the natural resources that are found within their respective regions. We also call for the genuine respect of our all our traditional leadership institutions such as chiefs, headmen and kraalheads. We strongly condemn what happened on March 3, 2018 where the Government stopped the installation of His Royal Highness Bulelani Lobengula Khumalo.

Thirdly, infrastructure development needs to be prioritised. Amongst other things, we also need to develop our transport infrastructure for ease of movement of passengers and goods. We also need to reform and develop the energy and water sectors as these are some of the core sectors needed for industry to operate effectively. Zimbabweans should be able to access suitable housing and shelter. In addition, our health delivery system has to be revamped to enable all Zimbabweans to easily access health care at affordable cost. In this instance, we are deeply concerned by the ongoing industrial action by junior doctors and other health professionals and we call upon the Government to immediately take measures to rectify this very unfortunate development that is causing untold suffering to the majority of our people. Education should be universally accessible to all Zimbabweans and indeed, we shall take measures to ensure that primary education is made free and also that tertiary students can access affordable student grants and loans.

Fourthly, the current problem that our economy is facing is economic stagnation. In order for the economy to revive we need to attract foreign direct investment through investor friendly policies and ease of doing business. This will lead to job creation. Zimbabwe is one of the most educated nations however the sad reality is that we are producing graduates with no prospects of employment. The youths are the future and yet the majority of them are unemployed and as we stand we have an entire generation which is in danger of not having the desired life that they want and deserve. The Zimbabwean economy is highly informalised with more than 5.4 million people surviving within the informal sector and yet informalisation does not facilitate capital accumulation. It is therefore important that the formal sector starts operating so that production will be the order of the day. This will then lead to the exportation of goods that will earn the much needed foreign currency which will end the liquidity crisis and phase out the bond notes resulting in the use of one strong stable currency. We shall ensure that there is mainstreaming of gender in all facets of our life, and particularly we should promote the empowerment of vulnerable groups such as women, the young and people living with disabilities.

Fifthly, there is need for Zimbabwe to return to the family of nations because we cannot continue to operate as a pariah state. We need other countries and those countries need us. Indeed, it is Zimbabwe that needs the world more than the world needs Zimbabwe. We are living in a globalised world and Zimbabwe need to be part of it in order to enjoy the benefits such as being able to access financial and capacity building support from the IMF, the World Bank and other international bodies for socio – economic development purposes.

Sixthly and finally, confidence building is fundamental to our national development and this can only be realised through the conduct of a free, fair and credible election. This should not be just a catch phrase that political parties say, this 2018 election should truly be free, fair and credible not only in words but in action. We need electoral reforms, media reforms, security sector reforms and non-violence just to name a few. Zimbabwe can only get back to legitimacy through a democratic process, without this we cannot restore confidence in our beloved Zimbabwe.

For Zimbabwe to develop it needs to have a strong democratic foundation. This can only be achieved through a constitutional democracy. We cannot have a country that is a constitutional democracy if we as the MDC do not follow our own constitution. When the MDC was formed in 1999, its formation was founded on a strong belief in constitutionalism. The MDC is a party that believes in the supremacy of the constitution, democracy, non-discrimination, equality and non-violence.

The current events that have unfolded have gone against our values and principles as a party and have changed our character and culture. The violence that took place during our departed President’s funeral in Buhera and at the Bulawayo office on the 4th of March 2018 was unacceptable and goes against what we have been fighting for, for the last 18 years. Many brave men and women have sacrificed their lives for this party’s values and as true cadres of the MDC we cannot stand by and watch while the party takes a direction opposite to what we fought for and continue to fight for. It is not about the easy thing to do, it is about the right thing to do.

We have come a long way with our colleagues however they seem to have taken a different path. A path which is against and does not respect the constitution, a path which does not respect democracy, a path which is violent, a path which discriminates on the basis of ethnicity and a path which discriminates against women who by the way constitute 54% of the voting population and therefore not only do they deserve a seat at the table but also deserve to head that table. We will not be silenced by violence or threats of violence. Personally, I will not stop fighting for the emancipation of women.

We who are gathered here collectively will always stand and be guided by the founding values, ethos, principles, character and culture of the MDC. We will not stand with those who have opted to use violence, defy the constitution, discriminate and go against the core values of the MDC. With a clear conscious, we are parting from these actions and we will continue to pursue the democratic project of taking the people of Zimbabwe to the Promised Land. Naturally, we shall very soon be going to an extra – ordinary Congress that will elect a new substantive leader of the MDC as provided for by the party Constitution and I hereby urge all of us to respect the outcome of the extra – ordinary Congress.

We demand that there be change, a change which will respect the Constitution. A change which will respect democracy, a change which will be against violence and a change which will be against all forms of violence and discrimination. The time has come and the time is now for us to take a stand and say enough is enough. We all want to be treated equally, with dignity and respect. We are all equal in the eyes of the Lord, the eyes of the law and indeed in the eyes of the societies that we live in. The time has come for a new Zimbabwe, not only for some but for all citizens regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, creed and religion. The time for us to stand up and be counted is now.

In this respect, therefore, we shall also pursue the formation of a holistic, viable and broad – based grand coalition of all progressive and democratic political forces that will face Zanu PF in the forthcoming harmonised elections. We shall always remain open to any forms of collaboration that are aimed at establishing a truly democratic and stable nation state in Zimbabwe.
Today, we boldly declare that we are the MDC and always shall remain the MDC that believes in not only respecting but also strictly upholding the party constitution as well as the party’s founding values, principles, character and culture. Going forward, we hereby immediately dissociate ourselves from any members of the MDC who are resorting to the use of wanton violence, intimidation and thuggery as tools for political mobilisation. Additionally, we also unreservedly and unashamedly declare that we are not going to part of any political formation that doesn’t abide by the dictates of the MDC constitution.

If God is for us then no-one can be against us. Indeed, God is for us who are gathered here today and we will continue to fight the good fight to one day attain a truly democratic Zimbabwe.

May the Lord Almighty Bless you all and may He Bless Zimbabwe.

Opposition leader Ambrose Mutinhiri has told an election observer team from the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) that regional bodies should deploy military personnel to observe the forthcoming elections alleging over 5 000 soldiers have been deployed to rural areas.

Mutinhiri, who leads the National Patriotic Front (NPF) and is a former brigadier general, claims that while 2 000 soldiers were deployed before the start of Operation Restore Legacy which ousted former president Robert Mugabe, the number has since ballooned to 5 000.

“The army confirms that by 15 November 2017, it had put over 2 000 of its officers and embedded them in every community in Zimbabwe not just for the coup but for the forthcoming elections.

This number is now over 5 000.

“Zimbabwe cannot hold free, fair and credible elections with over 5 000 army officers embedded in every village and street communities across the country,” Mutinhiri said in his communiqué seen by the Daily News on Sunday to the visiting Sadc head of delegation, Leshele Thohlane.

The Daily News on Sunday sent questions to army spokesperson Overson Mugwisi on the alleged deployment, an allegation first made by the mainstream MDC, but there has been no response.

Mutinhiri, just like Mugabe, said Sadc — which is accused by some of turning a blind eye on the “unconstitutional” removal of the former Zanu PF leader from office- should now redeem itself by ensuring “that there are army officers to monitor the elections at every polling station, every collation centre and every command centre across the country.”

“If this is not done, the election will be stolen,” Mutinhiri warned the seven-member Sadc Electoral Advisory Council.

In his presentation on the electoral environment in Zimbabwe, Mutinhiri also said action should be taken against senior civil servants, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba and chief secretary to the president Misheck Sibanda, for allegedly working in cahoots with the military to remove Mugabe last November.

“It is of grave concern that key heads of civilian institutions that have major responsibilities to do with the administration of elections were part and parcel of the illegal military coup and these are…Sibanda…who failed to uphold his loyalty to…Mugabe and joined the coup makers against clear provisions of the Constitution…has remained in his position and has a lot to do with the administration of the election process. He cannot remain in that position if Zimbabwe is to have free, fair and credible elections…(permanent secretary in the ministry of Foreign Affairs) Joey Bimha. He was clearly part of the coup and used his position to mobilise Zimbabwe’s embassies to support the coup.

“Election observers are decided by his ministry and has already shown his hand in advancing the cause of the coup against the Constitution of Zimbabwe. He cannot remain in that position if Zimbabwe is to hold free, fair and credible elections.

“…Charamba, he was the secretary of the coup and has remained its voice. His responsibilities are to administer State information in the country. Information is the glue of free, fair and credible elections. Zimbabwe cannot hold free, fair and credible elections if State information is administered by the secretary of the coup. That is just impossible,” alleged Mutinnhiri.

Mugabe, who has reportedly endorsed Mutinhiri’s new political party, told reporters last week that he was “illegally” removed from power and seemingly blamed Sadc and the African Union for turning a blind eye to the soft coup.

While Mugabe distanced himself from NPF, his former allies who are currently exiled could be part of the opposition party, according to Mutinhiri, who hinted in the letter to Sadc that some of the fledgling political party members are still exiled and cannot freely express themselves in Zimbabwe.

“NPF’s wish would have been to bring before your Council, some of its founding members who have served in various public responsibilities and who have firsthand experience and knowledge why elections in Zimbabwe cannot be free, fair and credible under current military conditions that are worse than those witnessed in 2008.

“It is unfortunate that the NPF members with this experience and knowledge cannot appear before you in Zimbabwe because of the threatening and very dangerous situation arising from the 15 November 2017 military coup.

“NPF would be pleased if your esteemed Council takes this matter seriously and enables the NPF members in question to make their oral presentations on what they know outside Zimbabwe where their safety and security would be guaranteed,” said Mutinhiri.- Daily News

Leading women’s rights activist, politician MP Jessie Majome has endorsed the leadership of MDC Alliance, Hon. Nelson Chamisa.

Am enjoying the colourful crowd & mood @ MDC T Alliance rally @Mkoba Gweru. With @DMwonzora @nelsonchamisa @BitiTendai @Welshman_Ncube Ncube. Unity our best bet to remove 37 yrs of continuing ZANU PF misrule. Let’s register & get ready to vote ZANU PF out! pic.twitter.com/UC3sHMNkFz

— Jessie F. Majome (@JessieFMajome) March 18, 2018

 

Richard Ndlovu watched helplessly as his little niece suffered for a week before eventually succumbing to mushroom poisoning at Mpilo Central Hospital last Wednesday.

The child, Rutendo, was the fifth from the same family from Bulawayo’s Makokoba suburb to die after eating the poisonous mushrooms. Ndlovu strongly believes that if doctors at the institution were not on strike, at least one of the children would have survived.

“The little girl was admitted at Mpilo from last week and she had been in the intensive care unit. since then, she had been in pain,” he said.

“We could see from her condition that things were not well with her and we were holding only onto hope, but well, she has followed her siblings.”

Ndlovu’s harrowing tale was a recurring story among relatives and patients interviewed at Mpilo last week as the strike by doctor and nurses over poor working conditions intensified.

Thomas Fayayo, who was admitted on Thursday night, said he felt abandoned after nurses joined the strike the following day.

“I was admitted last night (Thursday) but when I woke up expecting to be treated and given food, I was told that nurses had downed tools,” he said.

“So we had to wait till mid-morning to be attended to. I am in pain and if this situation continues, I don’t see myself getting better any time soon.”

Byron Nkomo, who was accompanying his ailing father, said he feared his father would die before receiving treatment as the family could not afford to take him to a private hospital.

“This could be the end of him,” he said. “I don’t have money to take him to a private hospital.

“Those with money have taken their relatives to private hospitals. we just hope and pray, but my father’s situation needs urgency.”

Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association’s Matabeleland representative, Kevin Kusano said the strike would continue until their demands were addressed.

Mpilo Central Hospital’s clinical services director Solwayo Ngwenya appealed to the nurses and doctors to return to work.

“We have placed a few senior nurses to help with emergency cases and this is really affecting the hospital and putting innocent lives at risk,” he said.

“I urge the doctors and nurses to come back to work and resolve this matter with the government whilst they offer services.”

Meanwhile, services at Chinhoyi District Hospital were limited yesterday as doctors and nurses pressed on with their job boycott.

A nurse who refused to be named for professional reasons said the hospital administration owed them allowances arising from their duties in the private wards and overtime that should be paid by the institution.

“We have been patient for too long,” she said.

“When you see us refusing to go to work it’s not an issue that started now, but we have been negotiating with the administration for years to no avail.”

However, Chinhoyi District Hospital superintendent Collet Mawire played down the strike saying the nurses had some few grievances that the management was addressing.

“Nurses are at work. They had some few grievances which they brought to our attention and we are addressing that. things should be back to normal,” he said.- state media

Zimbabwe has been named among seven countries destined to go broke by year end if it does not address its basket of economic and financial woes, a United Kingdom-based company has said.

Love Money, a United Kingdom-based financial news service, named Zimbabwe alongside Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, Mozambique, South Sudan, Yemen and Venezuela as vulnerable.
The report listed reasons ranging from being a notorious economic basket case to a chronic lack of liquidity as the reasons behind Zimbabwe potentially going broke.

“Since 2000, Zimbabwe has gone from Africa’s booming bread basket to its most notorious economic basket case, running a gambit of financial disasters, from extreme hyperinflation to deep recession.

“Despite the ousting of President Robert Mugabe and a change in leadership in the country, the economic prospects for 2018 are anything but rosy,” Love Money said.
“In fact, the leadership transition is likely to trigger further instability, impacting on an already ailing economy, which is plagued by stupidly high debt, a chronic lack of liquidity and a bewildering unemployment rate, which some estimates put as high as 95%.”

A country becomes bankrupt when it has reached a stage where it can no longer pay the interest on its debt both internally and externally and convince anyone to lend it money.

A country can be broke due to either war or financial mismanagement by a government.

In Zimbabwe’s case, it is no secret that government has a long history of mismanaging finances as evidenced by its high wage bill, importing products that can be locally produced, excessive spending, borrowing, money creation, and high public debt.

Yet, there have been few changes implemented to fix the situation.

Addressing the Parliamentary Committee on Finance last Monday, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya dwelled on some of the financial challenges plaguing government.

“The nature of Zimbabwe is that we are financing the fiscal deficit using either treasury bills or overdrafts at the Reserve Bank,” he said.

“Under normal circumstances, if Zimbabwe had access to foreign finance, which is what the narrative, mantra, that Zimbabwe is open for business is trying to achieve, let us open up the economy so that we can get foreign finance.

“When financing our deficit from foreign finance, Mr chairman, we won’t have a problem because there would be foreign currency coming into the country.”

Mangudya said Zimbabwe owed nearly all members of the Paris Club, saying Afreximbank had been bailing out the country.

“Afreximbank has helped this economy to be where it is today. this economy would be very unsafe without Afreximbank,” he said.

“The reason why we are where we are is that we do not have friends. I said over the past 18 years we did not have access to foreign finance.

“We would love to go to hedge funds, to borrow from other people, but we owe them money.

“If you go to the AfDB [African Development Bank], we owe them money — $607 million; you got to World Bank, we owe them $1,2 billion. Lucky enough those other institutions say that if you owe money they do not give money.

“…any country where we look, we owe them money. Wherever you look, just check, east to west to south wherever we look under the Paris Club, we owe all the Paris Club members money.

“Non-Paris club members, we owe them money; South Africa, we owe them money, Malaysia — so we have no access to foreign finance.”

The Paris Club has 22 permanent members.

As at March 31, 2017, the country’s public debt stood at $11,6 billion of which $7,5 billion was external debt while $4,3 billion comprised domestic debt.

Analysts say Zimbabwe can get lines of credit from bilateral and multilateral institutions if it clears its arrears.

Zimbabwe is also hamstrung by a rising domestic debt, a culmination of years of fiscal deficits.

The fiscal deficit is projected to reach $627 million this year and will be financed by the issuance of treasury bills.

In his 2018 national budget, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa promised to address the wage bill through implementing a series of measures such as putting a freeze on recruitment, retirements, reduce the duplication of posts, cut fuel benefits, reduce the issuance of vehicles and cut foreign delegations, among others.

But, there has been slow movement in implementing these measures.

However, government consultant and economist Ashok Chakravarti said the country would not go broke but the foreign currency management system needed improvement.

“Chris Mutsvangwa [special advisor to the president] made a strong statement saying the Reserve Bank should not be involved in focusing so much in foreign exchange management, it is not their primary function and I agree with that view.

“This a situation where they are managing 35% and 65% with the banks based on some priority allocation, I do not think it is a good system at all,” Chakravarti said.

“We need to move to a more market-based allocation system and I think our forex problem could by and large disappear.

“We need some clear thinking about this, we cannot stick to old ideas that have come from our previous government.

“To give you one example, a lot of people who are exporting today they are being allowed to keep their foreign exchange and although it is not strictly according to RBZ regulations, they are actually reselling that foreign exchange to other importers at a premium.

“This is not the way you go about things. If you recognise that there is a foreign currency exchange and that there is a premium, then we should open it up, let us legalise it and regulate it properly.”

Financial expert Persistence Gwanyanya agreed that the country would not go broke but could be heading for a recession if the current situation persisted.
“If the situation does not change for the better, the economic situation may deteriorate.

“But, all the pointers would suggest that in the long term Zimbabwe maybe destined for improvement.

“If you look at the infrastructure and other capital investments that are coming up, they may suggest a better future for the country,” he said.

“But, in the short term, there are clearly challenges that the country is facing.

“The biggest challenge or the two challenges that Zimbabwe is facing can be categorised as the domestic financial position and external position.

“By the domestic position there is clearly a financial imbalance where we are spending more than what we are producing and for that matter we are spending a lot on recurrent items.” Standard

“Zimbabwe is topsy-turvy,’’ Robert Mugabe is telling me. And from where I sit, facing the fallen leader from across his broad desk, in a lavishly appointed reception room in his sprawling mansion on the outskirts of Harare, for once it is hard to find fault with his analysis.His henchmen have spent decades making life difficult and sometimes dangerous for journalists.

Mugabe has often denounced the British media as agents of colonialism, “bloody idiots’’ and “terrorists”.

And here I am, smuggled into the inner sanctum, for a heart-to-heart.

Mugabe’s world is indeed topsy-turvy. After 37 years in power, he finds himself in opposition, confined for the most part to this gilded cage – surrounded by high walls and guarded by soldiers — cooped up with his wife and her family.

He wants to tell the world that the new government of his one-time ally Emerson Mnangagwa is “illegitimate’’, that it owes its power to the military.
Mnangagwa still calls Mugabe a father figure.

Mugabe accuses him of betrayal.

“I never thought he whom I have nurtured, brought into government and whose life I worked hard in prison to save as he was threatened with hanging, that one day he would turn against me.”

It is the one real moment of real bitterness. During the course of our interview, he is by turns sad, nostalgic and pugnacious.

Through the fog of great age, his mind seems sharp. And on the occasions it strays, there is his wife, close at hand, to fuss around, to interject, to correct his mistakes.

Grace is our host.

She greets us and ushers us swiftly inside, and even serves us her home-made pizza.

This is the woman derided by many Zimbabweans as “Gucci Grace” for her expensive tastes and love of luxury.

Many too believe she became the power behind the throne — Mugabe’s heir apparent. That’s when the army moved in – and Mugabe and his wife were moved out.

“Imagine. They sent 40 000 soldiers against a woman,’’ she tells me.

“Am I really that dangerous?’’

Mugabe insists it was never his plan to install her as the next president.

“All that is rubbish,’’ he says.

He rejects too the accusation she tried to have Mnangagwa poisoned: “She would never do that, she is a Christian.’’

It makes me feel better about eating the pizza.

Now he’s offering to “help’’ his successor “restore democracy’’, but really this is another round of the factional infighting that has disfigured ruling party politics of Zimbabwe while the country has stagnated.

Elections, that if as free and fair as promised, will grant the new government legitimacy. They are scheduled for a few months’ time.

So Mugabe is lining up with a new opposition group made up of many of his old allies from Zanu PF faces.

But I wonder why Mugabe bothers. He’s 94 and tired.

Why not live out his remaining time, immune from prosecution, on a reported £10 000 a month pension, not to mention the mansion, free flights and fleet of expensive cars?
All paid for by Zimbabwe’s cash-strapped state while so many of his countrymen struggle to eat.

As we drive out, I notice that Mugabe has statues of himself erected in the garden. In one stone pose, his arm is raised, as if heralding an imagined crowd in glory and triumph.

He tells me he doesn’t want the presidency back.

So why play power politics again? For his friends? For his family? For his wife? Or just because that is what he has always done.- ITV

 

 

 

In most cases, origins of fires that gut houses leave traces: arson, electrical faults, gas explosions and uncontrolled naked flames.

But in some instances, the fires are unsolved mysteries. Since 2011, a house in Harare’s Budiriro 4 suburb has become the setting for a series of unexplained fires.

The causes of the fires – which gutted the house in three consecutive years – have not been ascertained.

In a version of events corroborated by several neighbours, Miss Chiratidzo Magume – whose home is adjacent to the “haunted” house, the fires always occur in June.
“It all began in 2011 when the house was gutted by a fire. We all thought it was an accident,” she says.

“However, the following year in June, the same house was once again destroyed by a mysterious fire. The owners of the house relocated to Mutare and leased the house.”

Adds Miss Magume: “After moving in, one of the tenants was horrified as he watched helplessly while his property engulfed by a fire whose source he did not know. He subsequently moved out.”

For three years, the house – which had been reduced to a shell – remained unoccupied. Then three commercial sex workers put a plastic roof and moved into the structure without the authority of the house owner.

The Sunday Mail caught up with one of the occupants of the once deserted structure who introduced herself as Sherrie and said she was living “comfortably” at the house.

“I am aware of the history behind this house, but I do not have a choice,” she said.
“I am failing to afford descent accommodation and worse I cannot afford to pay rentals. At first I was scared to live in this house, but now I am comfortable.”

Sherrie said she knew how to “deal” with the whatever was supposedly haunting the house.

“It is a known fact that the fires always raze this house in June. We will simply move out before June and return the following month. It is as simple as that,” a chuckling Sherrie said.
Neighbours suspect the fires are a result of witchcraft.

The owners of the house, whom neighbours say have not set foot their since 2015, could not be reached for comment. Sunday Mail

Presidential spokesman George Charamba has poked fun at his long time former boss, Robert Mugabe telling him to go to court if he has issues President Mnangagwa’s government.

Mr Charamba tells the state media that it was absurd for Mr Mugabe to place himself above the entire State and polity, and arrogate power to bestow legitimacy.

In addition, legal experts also trashed Mr Mugabe’s claims that he was removed via a military coup last November, pointing out that he had signed his own resignation letter. This comes as more details emerge about Mr Mugabe’s last days, what prompted the military to effect “Operation Restore Legacy”, and what convinced the former President to call it quits.

Yesterday Mr Charamba said, “The former President has asked for a meeting with President ED to cleanse what he calls an unconstitutional order.

“Well, far be it from me to prevent any meeting between the President and any Zimbabwean, least of all his former boss.

“However, looking at it from a commonsensical point of view, I can’t see how an order which is allegedly unconstitutional gets cleansed by a meeting of two individuals over a cup of coffee.

“That is to assume that the two, in the sum, constitute the State and the two define constitutionalism. Is this not really an issue that he (Mr Mugabe) should take to the courts for them to determine? But as I said, this is just me.”

Lawyers who spoke to The Sunday Mail said Mr Mugabe’s departure from office was wholly legal.

Law Society of Zimbabwe president Mr Misheck Hogwe said, “Mugabe’s statements have no legal basis. He does not supersede the Constitution.

“The old man resigned and according to the laws of the country, the ruling party has to replace the President as we witnessed by the elevation of President Mnangagwa.

“The fact that President Mnangagwa was sworn in by the Chief Justice, who was appointed by Mugabe himself, makes the former President’s statements worthless.

“His statements are coming from a disgruntled person who should not be taken seriously. There is no other way the President can be legitimised other than by what happened.”

Continued Mr Hogwe; “I don’t know why he wants to engage with the President because the President is legitimate according to the laws of the country and he has been accepted both locally and internationally.”

Lawyer and Zanu-PF Secretary for Legal Affairs Mr Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana weighed in: “Due to old age, the former President might have forgotten that the national Constitution he signed has a provision for impeachment of a President.

“That process was underway when he finally tendered his resignation and the pressure of the constitutional process forced him to resign.

“Zimbabweans must forgive the old man. Maybe due to his advanced age he has forgotten that he willingly tendered his resignation to the Speaker of Parliament.

“History has to be written correctly; all due constitutional process was followed. After Congress recalled him as First Secretary and President of Zanu-PF, the same party initiated impeachment processes through party Chief Whip Cde Lovemore Matuke.”

Another lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “a coup by definition is a sudden and violent takeover of Government and that did not happen as all systems of Government remained functional”.

“Section 212 of the Constitution provides that the Zimbabwe Defence Forces are the last line defence of the Constitution,” he added.

“And where there is a dispute over legality, isn’t the cure approaching the courts? He should approach the Constitutional Court if he has a legitimate claim of a coup. Right now he is implying that a bilateral meeting is larger and above an election or a court.”

A source close to what was happening as Mr Mugabe’s regime crumbled said the Command Element of the ZDF had to the very end placed the Constitution at the centre of all its decision-making.
This included rejecting a bizarre request Mr Mugabe said for then ZDF Commander, General Constantino Chiwenga, to succeed him as President of Zimbabwe.

“Mugabe and Grace were following proceedings on TV, seeing the huge crowds in the streets that were demanding he step down immediately, and his wife in particular was afraid that (Ambassador Christopher) Mutsvangwa and incensed university students would soon storm Blue Roof (the Mugabes’ residence).

“Zanu-PF had started a process to recall Mugabe and there was bipartisan support in Parliament for impeachment.

“There was real panic at Blue Roof, and Mugabe sent an emissary (name withheld) to General Chiwenga with two strange requests. The first was that Mugabe wanted Chiwenga to be President, and the second was that when he dies, he does not want to be buried at the Heroes Acre.

“General Chiwenga told (the envoy) that the leadership question was for political parties to decide and his concern was the Constitution and national security.

“He said ‘changu kupfeka makwapamakwapa’ (‘I am a uniformed soldier’). As for where you bury each other, that has nothing to do with the military.”

The insider said the military’s respect for constitutional order was also apparent at the November 16, 2017 meeting between Mr Mugabe and a South African delegation sent by then President Jacob Zuma.

“Mugabe invited General Chiwenga to that meeting, and he came with VaElson Moyo (then Air Vice-Marshal, now Air Marshal). Also present were South Africa’s Minister of Defence (Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula), their State Security Minister (Bongani Bongo), and others from both countries.

“As soon as General Chiwenga stepped in, he walked directly to Mugabe and saluted him before taking his seat. Is that how a coup happens? That single gesture moved the lady (Minister Mapisa-Nqakula) so much.

“She almost cried at the level of respect, even in such tense times and said from the way people were talking, she never expected to see the general respecting Mugabe like that. She said it means Zimbabwe has many lessons to teach Sadc.

“Right up to the day Mugabe resigned, the commanders maintained respect for their then Commander-in-Chief even as he tried to protect a criminal cabal.”

He said a mediation team – comprising Roman Catholic cleric Father Fidelis Mukonori, Central Intelligence Organisation Deputy Director Mr Aaron Nhepera, and Mr Charamba – pleaded with Mr Mugabe to accept that he had lost long lost control and that the popular uprising could descend into chaos if he remained recalcitrant.

“Two messages were conveyed to Mugabe. One was that the street demonstrations were escalating and people were mobilising themselves to go to Blue Roof. The ZDF made it clear that if that happened, they were not prepared to order troops to open fire on civilians. In fact, a disgruntled State House worker had led a group right up to the final (security) checkpoint before Blue Roof and the military moved quickly to convince people to keep their demonstrations away from that house.

“The second message was that the ZDF would not in any way interfere with an impeachment process because that would be in breach of the Constitution.

“Mugabe said, ‘So it means they (the military) are no longer ready to defend me? They are opening the floodgates.’ Even as Mugabe vainly sent (name withheld) to try and divide MPs and the Speaker of the House to stop them from impeaching him, he was raging at (then State Security Minister Kembo) Mohadi and (then Defence Minister Dr Sydney) Sekeramayi for not using State apparatus to quell the uprising.

“It took him a while to appreciate that this was very much a social revolution and that the national security organs would not act unconstitutionally just to protect his position as Head of State. He came around slowly, which is why you hear in his ‘asante sana’ speech the concession that while he did not agree with the military action, there certainly were national grievances demanding rectification.

“He eventually signed a resignation letter, which was drafted by the Attorney-General (Mr Prince Machaya) in the presence of (then Justice Minister Happyton) Bonyongwe. So tell me, is that a coup? Does a coup incorporate impeachment? Does it enlist the Central Committee of the party that has provided the President who people want out? Does it involve a demonstrations by people from across the political divide?” Sunday Mail

After claiming to have made a phone call to Heaven which became the talk of the town, Pastor Sanyangore is back with a new television programme on Just Net TV which is set to inspire non-believers.

Dubbed Heaven Online the programme was influenced by the phone call that the self proclaimed prophet did a few months back which left a lot of people shocked by the fact that one can possess the ability to “make a phone call” to Heaven.

“People should not be shocked by the fact that I made a call to Heaven and this programme seeks to show the world God’s availability to human kind. So in ‘Heaven Online’ we are saying Heaven is available to answer and help us, God does not go offline, he is always available as the Bible says he neither sleeps nor slumbers,” Sanyangore said.

Sanyangore said the programme has given him the opportunity to create belief to non-believers and show them what God can do in people’s lives.

“The programme gives me the opportunity to reach out to the world with the message of Jesus Christ and to demonstrate to people the power of God, in the end more souls are won into the Kingdom of Christ,” he said.

“I believe that this is for a good cause as it will definitely change people’s lives, even the non-believers because they will be seeing what God can do in other people’s lives which creates belief in the non-believers,” he added.

Sanyangore said people should not look forward to more miracles from him but from God as he is only but a vessel of God.

“I urge people to look forward to more miracles from God, not from me, if they look forward to more from me they will be disappointed as it is God’s business to perform miracles, as he has been doing since the beginning of the world and he won’t stop,” Sanyangore said.

The self proclaimed prophet has received a lot of criticism on miracles that he has done but that has not let the man of God stop doing the assignment that God assigned him.

“I have received a lot of criticism from people saying I perform fake miracles and I use juju and stuff like that, but these things don’t move me because the same was done to Jesus Christ, they even got to the level of calling him Beelzebub but Jesus did not stop but continued with his mission,” he said.

Asked if he really talked to God on the phone, he said the phone call to Heaven was not only a miracle but a prophetic message to the world which people should believe.

“It surprises me that people doubt that God can speak through a phone which was made for communication yet they believe that he spoke to Moses through a bush fire. Who is better me or Moses?” he said.- State Media

ZimEye will be LIVE in Gweru from 11am covering the MDC Alliance rally – refresh this page to watch below:

Today the MDC Alliance held powerful rally in Kwekwe where thousands of people attended. The rally was part of the nation wide rallies which the MDC Alliance is doing across the country in preparation of the 2018 elections.

In an interview on the sidelines, the TZ president Jacob Ngarivhume highlighted that the MDC Alliance rallies are a good step in restoring legitimacy to Zimbabwe. “The Mnangagwa regime is an illegitimate regime which usurped power through a coup. Though the coup may have been a popular one, it does not make it legitimate. Zimbabwe is a democratic nation and the only leadership we will recognise is one which is elected by the people, which is exactly what we believe we will get come August this year.

Asked to comment on whether the elections will be free and fair, Ngarivhume highlighted that BVR was a step in the right direction towards free and fair elections. “ZANU-PF used to rig in the past because of the previous voters role we had. Ghost voters always gave ZANU PF an advantage, but with the coming of BVR, we have managed to deal with this problem. We are still fighting for more reforms with one of the key ones being media access. The media plays a very critical role in shaping the politics of a nation and should be made accessible to all political players and not just the ruling party. However, as we continue to fight for these and other reforms, the public needs to be registered to vote so that they vote this year. Registration centers are still open so those who have not yet registered should take this opportunity to register.”

Lastly, we asked Mr Ngarivhume what they are offering to the people of Zimbabwe both as a party and as the MDC Alliance.” As a party, we believe the failure of Zimbabwe is the failure of leadership. In terms of natural resources, Zimbabwe is blessed more than any other country in Africa. Midlands on its own has resources that surpasses those of other nations, but Zimbabwe has remained poor because of the type of leaders we have. We need a new crop of leaders, leaders who fear God, leaders we can believe to Transform Zimbabwe. This is what we are offering to the people of Zimbabwe both as a party and in the Alliance.”

“In line with this vision, we will be holding our inaugural congress on the 23rd and 24th of March in Harare to select the leaders who will push our vision for the next 5 years,” concluded Ngarivhume.

The MDC Alliance is an amalgamation of seven political parties namely MDC-T led by Nelson Chamisa, Transform Zimbabwe led by Jacob Ngarivhume, MDC led by Welshman Ncube, PDP led by Tendai Biti, MCD led by Guchutu, Zanu Donga led by Sakwinji and the Zim PF led by Agrippa Mutambara. Today’s meeting was part of their two day tour of Midlands province which will end tomorrow with a rally in Gweru.

Former Energy minister Samuel Undenge has hit hard times, he told a court last week he could not afford transport fares to hearings and now there are reports his children have been thrown out of a South African university.

Undenge counted among Zanu PF’s rich elites was involved in multi million dollar deals, building himself mansions even as Zimbabweans suffered till he fell from grace with the demise of former president Robert Mugabe.

The local Daily News reports that Undenge has been dragged to the High Court by his daughters Bongai and Kumbirai, who are represented by their mother, seeking to force him to pay their school fees.

According to an urgent chamber application filed on Thursday, Undenge is in default of his obligations to pay fees for the children, who are both at Cape Town University in South Africa.

According to the children’s mother, Angeline, the children have been given notice to vacate the campus accommodation within 72 hours, as they are unable to register for the current semester because Undenge has not paid their fees.

“The respondent (Undenge) is neglecting his responsibility towards the applicants (Bongai and Kumbirai) without reasonable excuse.

“The maintenance court ordered and directed that he should maintain the applicants…,” she said adding that the court ordered him to pay for his children’s fees up to the age of 35.
She said Bongai is a third-year student and apart from her tuition, she requires accommodation, food and medical insurance.

“However, what is obtaining now is that she has not been able to register for the current semester (which has) just commenced because respondent has not paid, actually there is an outstanding balance which has been accruing interest.

“The balance due for payment for the last academic year is R144 261, 26…Because of respondent’s failure to pay the sum highlighted above, the college has now cancelled or withdrawn the housing offer and has now demanded that applicants move out of the college within 72 hours,” she said.
She also said Undenge has acted contemptuously considering that there is a court order demanding him to pay the fees.

“Unless this honourable court otherwise orders respondent to immediately pay, first respondent will suffer irreparable damage to her future. She faces the danger of failing to complete her studies, hence her future is in imminent danger,” she said.

Angeline also said that Undenge has an obligation to pay for Kumbirai’s school fees and other costs and said she had also given him the fees breakdown.

“Then respondent’s wife approached me with a security man threatening me saying she would not allow respondent to pay for foreign university fees for both applicants.

“Thereafter, I got a letter from respondent’s legal practitioners stating that respondent would pay the foreign fees for the first applicant only until she finished her studies but as for second applicant, it stated that he should enrol at any local universities affordable to him,” the court heard. She said Undenge’s wife later approached her again threatening her.

“She further said she would indeed achieve it (her demands) since she was connected to the most powerful woman in the country. In the course of time, I then received a letter dated 13th of December 2016…respondent was no longer willing to pay for the foreign fees for first applicant despite having undertaken to do so. He made it plainly clear that if he was to pay for second applicant’s fees, he would do so for a local university only since he had other children needing to be assisted when they enrolled into universities,” the court was told.

She said Undenge does not have any children with his fourth wife, whom he is staying with but is paying for his wife’s children from another marriage, one of which is at a European university.

“Thus respondent has the luxury to do the best for another man’s children while he is prescribing his own biological children to such colleges that offer the lowest fees because he suddenly professes that he has no money for them,” Angeline said.

Undenge has not yet responded to the application in the matter still pending before the High Court. Daily News

Contrary to social media speculation the MDC Alliance will not boycott elections.

We will not boycott the election but there will be no election without implementation of the Ten Point #PEACE demands. pic.twitter.com/btkOUJzmye

— TENDAI BITI (@BitiTendai) March 17, 2018

A man from Tshabalala suburb in Bulawayo cheated death in a double suicide attempt, leaving a knife lodged in his neck in a bid to evade responsibility after his girlfriend told him that she was pregnant.
Roy Masopo (29), who is still hospitalised, unsuccessfully tried to hang himself at the family house in Tshabalala last Sunday at around 10PM. After that he stabbed himself once in the neck with a knife, which was only removed after he was admitted to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH).

His grandmother, only identified as Mrs Soko, said her grandson was alone in the room when he attempted to take his own life, but declined to say much about the hanging incident.

Mrs Soko said after the hanging attempt failed, her grandson went and sat outside the house. She said she was called by neighbours only to be told that Masopo had stabbed himself.

“Roy was in his room when he attempted to hang himself but failed. He then took a kitchen knife and stabbed himself once in the neck and the knife broke,” Mrs Soko said. Masopo was rushed to the UBH by his friends who were called by the family.
Mrs Soko said the knife was successfully removed from his neck and he is still admitted at the hospital.

She said her grandson had been told by his girlfriend that she was pregnant.
“Roy said that he’s stressed and poor and it was better for him to end his life,” said Mrs Soko.
A friend who spoke on condition of anonymity said they rushed him to the hospital after being called by Masopo’s family members.

“We were at Hlanganani cocktail bar when we received the news that Roy had stabbed himself.
We rushed to his place where the family was still waiting for the ambulance to ferry him to hospital but it was taking too long, that’s when we rushed him to UBH in a kombi,” said one of his friends. State Media

Dr Helen Godwin, mother to Peter and Georgina has died in London yesterday, March 16th 2018. She was 92.
The family announced that there will be memorials for her – in London and Harare – in a few months.

“She has lived a long and surprising life. As a girl in Kent, she watched the Battle of Britain in the skies overhead. As a rating in the Royal Navy, stationed in Dover, she was frequently under shellfire from the German “big guns” at Calais. As a doctor in Zimbabwe, she has run leper colonies and tuberculosis hospitals; she has vaccinated thousands, saved second twins, held the hands of patients dying of a new disease called AIDS, even as others shrank from them.
She has lived through a guerrilla war, seen her oldest daughter killed in it. In her old age, she has felt her heart break again. The health-care system she dedicated her life to building lies shattered. She has lost her house and her savings and her friends and her dogs. And she has watched her husband die a difficult death. Now she is determined that death will not cheat her.”

Excerpt From: Peter Godwin. “The Fear.”

“No young person is going to vote ZANU PF,” says Nelson Chamisa – WATCH LIVE

President ED Mnangagwa arrives at RG Mugabe Intl Airport to welcome his SA counterpart President C Ramaphosa. pic.twitter.com/sVVLf5SwOb

— Christine Lethokuhle (@Letty_Mabhena) March 17, 2018

refresh the page to watch –

Goromonzi district has run out of male condoms, putting many sexually active people at risk at a time when the local village health workers have upped the fight against new HIV infections.

This was revealed by Mwanza Health Centre committee chairperson Erica Nhapi during a media tour organised by the National Aids Council (NAC) of Mashonaland East.

Nhapi said the shortage of condoms has put most people at risk of HIV infections as well as sexually transmitted diseases. “We have a crisis. It’s now three months since we have had the shortage. It is putting our work under a tight situation. I don’t know how to solve this situation,” Nhapi said.

With funding from NAC and other health stakeholders, community health workers have embarked on various community initiatives aimed at improving accessibility of health services such as the door-to-do delivery of anti-retrovirial drugs to those who would have tested positive, as well as close monitoring of the same to ensure adherence to treatment.

“The problem of condoms has been on-going for three months and this definitely puts many at risk of STIs,” Nhapi said.

Through health workers’ initiatives, NAC and Africad Zvandiri, have also established groups that cater for adolescents who are HIV-positive, but would not have been initiated on treatment.

Zimbabwe has set 2030 as the target for an HIV and Aids-free generation and has lined up programmes which include protection, prevention, treatment and prevention of mother-to-child transmission.

In Mashonaland East, NAC has selected Marondera, Macheke and Murehwa rural as the hotspots and various projects have been initiated such as voluntary testing and male circumcision to prevent new infections.

“We have won the battle against discrimination and segregation and now we are dealing with adherence to treatment. The challenge has been men. Most of them are shy to get tested or they are shy to get treatment. So we have decided to remove barriers that scare away people from being tested,” Nhapi said.

In Marondera, the district Aids co-ordinator, Sabestian Manjengwa said through various initiatives, the HIV prevalence rate has dropped from 21,6% to 15,8% and cases of new HIV infections have dropped from 2 000 to 1 400 annually. – Newsday

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Friday that the country “has moved on” in response to claims by former president Robert Mugabe that he was ousted in an illegal “coup d’etat”.

Mnangwa added in a short statement that he “noted recent remarks made to the media” by Mugabe who spoke to foreign journalists at a location in Harare on Thursday. It was Mugabe’s first public statement since his resignation in November.

“I say it was a coup d’etat — some people have refused to call it a coup d’etat,” Mugabe told South Africa’s SABC broadcaster, referring to the brief army takeover which led to Mnangagwa assuming power after Mugabe’s resignation.

“We must undo this disgrace which we have imposed on ourselves, we don’t deserve it… Zimbabwe doesn’t deserve it.”

Mnangagwa’s brief response, posted on his official Twitter account and bearing the seal of the presidency, added that Mugabe “is entitled to express himself freely, as is the case for any private citizen”.

“The nation has moved on. Our focus at this time shall remain on preparing for free, fair and credible elections in 2018.”- AFP

Former Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara has branded President Emmerson Mnangagwa “careless and thoughtless” for asserting that Zimbabwe is going through a radical economic transformation the Zanu PF leader claimed will catapult the country to a middle-income economy (MIC) by 2030.

Mnangagwa has repeatedly said in the past few weeks Zimbabwe is open for business and could become an economic giant over a short period of time, if all Zimbabweans worked towards economic development.

But in a hard-hitting rebuttal, Mutambara, who attended the CEO Roundtable meeting at the resort town of Victoria Falls on Thursday, told NewsDay the Zanu PF leader’s much-trumpeted Vision 2030 is meaningless.

“In my view, it is neither sensible nor meaningful for Mnangagwa to posit that the shared vision for Zimbabwe is for us to be a middle-income country by 2030. This is careless and thoughtless talk,” charged Mutambara, who was Deputy Premier during the Government of National Unity between 2009 and 2013.

“What does that vision statement mean. What are the specific matrix? The MIC nomenclature is a World Bank analytical tool that refers to economies with the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of between $1 005 to $12 235. This is too broad a grouping.

“In any case our GDP per capita income is $977; hence jumping to $1 005 over 12 years is not sufficiently ambitious. More crucially, this definition of a share vision does not explicitly address the politics and society pillars. Neither does it speak to the issues of values and flagship (mega-impact) projects. Furthermore, where was the buy-in and ownership of that shared vision achieved? It is shared by whom?”

In his submissions to the CEO Roundtable meeting, Mutambara said there should be a collectively desired destination of the country in 2040 – the Share National Vision – and a shared competitive national identity – The National Brand.

“The vision has three pillars: politics, society and economy. Overarching issues are values and mega-impact projects. There is need for buy-in and ownership by all Zimbabweans, all sectors (industrial, business, social, academic) and all political parties,” he said.

“Differences should be on how to achieve the vision but a shared national vision requires new political, social and economic values across the nation which includes inclusiveness, tolerance, democracy, freedom, constitutionalism, integrity, meritocracy, equality, fairness, entrepreneurship, creativity, technology savvy, ubuntu, continuous learning and winning habits.”

Mutambara said a new dispensation is “not declared, but earned”. “We are not there yet.”- Newsday

Another shocking homosexual attack has been made against the G-40, this time by Obadiah Musindo.

The local Newsday reports that the Zanu PF-aligned cleric and Destiny for Afrika Network founder, Musindo has claimed that G40 members who had captured the State before the resignation of former President Robert Mugabe comprised of known homosexuals, whose agenda was to legalise the loathed practice in the country.

Addressing clerics who are set to benefit from his housing schemes ahead of this year’s election, Musindo claimed Operation Restore Legacy which ousted Mugabe, was sanctioned by God to save the nation from named homos_exuals who wanted to introduce the practice in the country.

“Operation Restore Legacy that was done by the soldiers helped us in one thing, because State House had been captured by ga_ys, not from opposition, but from Zanu PF.

“Temba Mliswa was clear on who these ga_ys are, so restore legacy saved us from the kingdom of ga_ys who had infiltrated State House.

“If these guys had managed to secure power (G40), it was (homos_exuality) going to be legalised. Some people really know that this one is this one’s wife. Right now you will have been doing all night prayers asking why God had done these things to you,” Musindo said amid applause from the congregation of pastors.

Musindo also warned the President Emmerson Mnangagwa administration against abusing power in the same manner Mugabe and G40 members did, as God will remove it because he only ordains leaders who were willing to serve his people.

“What Mugabe did was not good for the country, and if this leadership of Mnangagwa, (VP Kembo) Mohadi and (VP Constantino) Chiwenga forgets the people, I tell you that God shall remove them. If Mnangagwa is there to serve himself, then he has no business with God,” Musindo said.

ZANU-PF had to recall former President Mr Robert Mugabe from power as he was now failing to discharge his duties because of negative influence from his young wife, Grace, the party secretary for administration Dr Obert Mpofu, said yesterday.

Addressing thousands of party supporters at Nabushome Primary School in Hwange District during President Mnangagwa’s rally, Dr Mpofu, who is also Minister of Home Affairs and Umguza MP, said the intervention by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), which ushered in a new political dispensation last November, was timely.

“We had to recall former President Mugabe because he was failing to perform his duties. His source of downfall was his young wife (Grace). That’s why I always say danela esalukazini sakho ngoba uzathwala nzima (rather stick to your aged wife and avoid problems),” said Dr Mpofu, drawing laughter from the bumper crowd.

“Ungagijimisana laboMankhri bazakwenza ube lesiyezi (if you pursue young women, they will be your downfall). It was evident that the former President had become confused and he started persecuting Cde Mnangagwa for nothing.”He recalled how President Mnangagwa was humiliated and demonised by the former First Lady during the party’s provincial youth interface rallies before being fired unceremoniously from both his posts as Vice President of the country and Zanu-PF second secretary.

“But the people, the military and the party resisted that. Even Parliament stood up and reacted with a move to impeach the former President. The Zanu-PF central committee also took action and recalled Mugabe who, seeing he had nowhere to turn, tendered his resignation,” said Dr Mpofu.

He said Mr Mugabe demise was sweet news to the generality of Zimbabweans and the world at large.

“So, that is why we are in this new dispensation and those who are opposed to it are lost. The ZDF intervention was timely because this country was losing direction. All meetings were now being held to insult people,” said Dr Mpofu.

In his address President Mnangagwa jokingly referred to Dr Mpofu’s remarks saying the era of insults was over as the former First Lady was now confined to her home. The President said he remained calm despite repeated insults by Mrs Mugabe as he realised that shelacked wisdom.- state media

 

“Zanu-PF will win this election and continue to rule until eternity.”

President Mnangagwa has said his party is set to ” rule until eternity”.

Speaking Matabeleland North Province at Nabushome Primary school in Hwange district yesterday, Mnangagwa said the coming election, due in July this year, will be a defining moment for Zimbabwe’s democracy.

 

Mnangagwa spoke of  “unity, peace and love” to ensure this year’s plebiscite was free, fair and transparent.

“We are going to have elections in July this year. We are determined to have free, fair and transparent elections in Zimbabwe. There is no reason for anyone of us to resort to violence. People should choose and vote for whoever they like.

“”But people will vote for a party with a record of development, a party that liberated them and that party is Zanu-PF. I have no doubt Zanu-PF will win this election and continue to rule until eternity,” he said.

Mnangagwa also called for the lifting of sanctions imposed on the country due to historic happenings, saying Zimbabwe has already shown a new path. – Herald

Murder accused Rodney Tongai Jindu is living it up behind bars, B-Metro has learnt.
He is in remand prison, having failed on numerous occasions to get bail. He is facing two counts for the murder of his childhood friend Cyprian Kudzurunga (28) and neighbour Mboneli Joko Ncube (30) before burying them in shallow graves.

In refusing Jindu’s last get-out-of- jail bid, Bulawayo High Court Judge, Justice Nicholas Mathonsi said there was real danger the suspect could commit more murders.
As such, the suspect has one option, that’s to make jail life bearable considering that he could possibly be in longer.

A recently discharged inmate told B-Metro of Jindu’s lifestyle in the slammer.
“He’s very particular about what to eat. In most cases he resorts to eating isitshwala and tinned foods such as beef and baked beans. I rarely saw him eat boiled vegetables or sugar beans (staple food in jail),” said the former inmate.

Breakfast at the prison comes in form of white or sorghum porridge without sugar at 8am. Thereafter, inmates are served with quasi-lunch at 10.30 am before they go for an early supper at 2pm.

Since Jindu is not a convict but a remand inmate he is allowed daily visits on week days.
“At Khami Maximum Prison, convicted inmates are visited on Saturdays and Sundays between 9am to 3.30am and their family members are allowed to bring them tinned stuff.

“Remand inmates are visited by their family members from Monday to Friday (9am to 3.30pm) and their family members are also allowed to bring them tinned stuff that includes beans, fish and beef,” Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) Bulawayo Metropolitan public relations officer, Principal Correctional Officer Garainashe Moyo said.
Jindu is also said to have brought into jail his elegant dress code.

“A sun hat is a must in his wardrobe. Not long ago he paid tailors (also prisoners) to make new outfits for him, “ added the former jail bird.

The medium of exchange behind bars is soap, cigarettes and other groceries that one receives from outside. However, he does not take part in public events at the prison.
“He usually keeps to himself reading magazines or chatting with a few elderly inmates,” said the source.

While other inmates will seek to kill time by playing football, chess and other social activities, Jindu is yet to develop a hobby.

“I never saw Jindu grace any of the football matches. Actually, there is an elected Khami Football Association board that runs both the Premier and Division One Leagues. Both leagues are made up of  – eight clubs each and matches are either played during the week or during weekend days,” said the source adding that Highlanders, Dynamos, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Medics are some the names that were accorded to clubs that make up Khami’s football family. – BMetro

Zanu PF legislator, Justice Mayor Wadyajena says former president Robert Mugabe is desperately trying to divide Zanu PF and must be ignored.

Addressing hundreds of party supporters yesterday in Gokwe Nembudziya, Wadyajena said Mugabe is supporting opposition political parties to dilute the party’s votes in the forthcoming elections.
He said that it is the responsibility of party members particularly the youths to be vanguards of the revolutionary party and be alert to any forms of diversion that may result from opposition political parties.
Wadyajena implored the electorate to vote for the party’s presidential candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The country is set to hold its elections this year with the clarion call by President Mnangagwa being for peaceful, free and fair elections.

Preparations for the elections have already been given thumbs up by various regional organs including SADC, and the African Union, with the latest greenlight coming from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP. -state media

Seemingly evasive gang of 10 notorious armed robbers, that pounced on several businesses in Mutare and stole thousands of dollars after blowing up safes, resurfaced on Tuesday morning and hit a Sakunda Service Station in the city using the same modus operandi.

A security guard and two attendants at the garage were assaulted and later had their hands tied by the cheeky criminals who went on to blow up a safe using dynamites.
They got away with cash amounting to $4 400, fuel coupons valued at more than $100 and an assortment of electrical gadgets that included laptops.

To cover their tracks, the criminals destroyed a CCTV system and took the main server. The incident happened at around 3am at the filling station situated at Corner C Avenue and Fourth Street.

A robbery docket has since been opened at Mutare Central Police Station under RRB 3461741. Manicaland police spokesman Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa confirmed the robbery.

Circumstances were that the three complainants, Mary Marume (33) who is a fuel attendant, Happymore Chivorese (27) a security guard and Clariata Gedhe who is employed as a shop attendant were approached by two of the criminals who were armed with pistols.
The robbers searched the security guard to establish whether he had a firearm. They also took cell phones belonging to the three complainants and an eco agent cell phone for the service station registered in the name of Hlupekire Kandiero.

The two suspects then called their accomplices who were numbering up to six to join them. They were armed with picks and iron bars. One of the robbers forced marched Marume and Chivorese to the main office leaving Gedhe in the supermarket.

While in the main office they tied the two complainants using computer cables that had been disconnected from a computer. The other robber who remained in the shop with Gedhe demanded cash and she gave him $160.

After handing over the money she was also force-marched to join her workmates in the main office where she also had her hands tied.

The robbers then used picks to break five doors which led to different offices. In one of the offices the criminals destroyed a CCTV hard drive and went away with it.
They proceeded to the manager’s office and blew up a Geni money safe using dynamites. They took US$4 415 which was in the safe. The robbers also took two Lenovo laptops, fuel coupons valued at US$145, a CCTV hard drive server, a Nokia cell phone and a few grocery items from the shop and disappeared.

Moments later Gedhe managed to untie herself and she went on to untie her colleagues. A report was then made at Mutare Central Police Station.
Detectives quickly attended the scene and recovered a piece of the dynamite that was used to break open the safe.

They also found three cell phones belonging to the three workers that were later dumped by the robbers as they fled.

When The Manica Post visited the scene of the crime, one of the victims was at pains to explain to detectives the horror she experienced at the hands of the robbers.
She said as soon as the robbers got into the shop one of them snatched her jacket and also took a cap from the security guard and went outside at the forecourt.

“While outside, the robber who was now clad in our uniform, told off clients who wanted to buy fuel saying we had run empty. He did this to cover up the robbery, which was in progress inside the shop.

“They assaulted us and even made us to sing some songs. As they were about to go after collecting their loot, they ordered us to sing Jah Prayzah’s song “Kutonga Kwaro,” she said.

From analysing the way they are executing the robberies, detectives revealed that the same gang is responsible for the robberies that happened at a bus company in the city, a shop heist in Odzi and another service station robbery in Dangamvura. – Manica Post

Zimbabwe’s ousted president Robert Mugabe is of the view that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and South Africa in particular let him down when the army forced him into retirement in November last year.

Speaking to journalists for the first time since his removal in Harare on Thursday‚ Mugabe said a bad precedent has been set.

“In a way I feel betrayed‚ but you also have to look at their (neighboring countries’) conditions. Besides South Africa‚ most of them did not have the capacity to intervene. South Africa could have done more‚ but it didn’t. They set a bad precedent‚” Mugabe said. When Mugabe was holed at his private residence during the military operation‚ he spoke telephonically with then president Jacob Zuma who later sent a team of negotiators led by Minister of Defence and Military Veterans‚ Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula‚ and the Minister of State Security‚ Advocate Bongani Bongo.

At the time Emmerson Mnangagwa had fled to South Africa. He returned when Mugabe had been forced to resign.

But before returning home‚ Mnangagwa separately met with Zuma and his then deputy Cyril Ramaphosa.

Meanwhile‚ responding to interviews granted to international media houses by Mugabe‚ President Emmerson Mnangagwa said his former boss is free to do as he pleases since he resigned from office constitutionally.

“On 21 November 2017‚ former president Robert Mugabe tendered his resignation in terms of Section 96‚ subsection 1 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. He is entitled to express himself freely‚ as in the case of any private citizen‚” Mnangagwa said.- Timeslive