Scores of Malawians were seriously injured when a Nyali Luxury Coaches bus they were travelling in side-swiped with a Mazda 323 some 20 kilometres outside Musina town in the early hours of today.
The incident occurred along the N1 highway, and the bus was reportedly travelling from Johannesburg to Malawi via Zimbabwe.
Witnesses said the incident occurred at around 2 am and that several passengers had broken limbs, including the bus driver.
“The injured have been taken to Musina hospital for treatment. We arrived at the scene shortly after the incident. No deaths were reported yet, though many passengers incurred serious injuries.

“Indications are that the bus trailer side-swiped with a small vehicle which was travelling in the opposite direction, and it veered off the road  and landed on its side partially blocking the road, ” said a witness Mr Cleto Zharare.
Scores of Malawians were seriously injured when a Nyali Luxury Coaches bus they were travelling in side-swiped with a Mazda 323 some 20 kilometres outside Musina town in the early hours of today.
The incident occurred along the N1 highway, and the bus was reportedly travelling from Johannesburg to Malawi via Zimbabwe.
Witnesses said the incident occurred at around 2 am and that several passengers had broken limbs, including the bus driver.
“The injured have been taken to Musina hospital for treatment. We arrived at the scene shortly after the incident. No deaths were reported yet, though many passengers incurred serious injuries.

“Indications are that the bus trailer side-swiped with a small vehicle which was travelling in the opposite direction, and it veered off the road  and landed on its side partially blocking the road, ” said a witness Mr Cleto Zharare. state media

Violet Gonda’s guest on the Hot Seat programme is eminent commentator Brian Kagoro, who says beyond being clear about why Mugabe must go, we need to be clear about what our future must look like. The country is reproducing the same politics that has manufactured gerontocracy and Kagoro explains why he believes Zimbabweans are again unwittingly being sent into a choreographed 2018 electoral dance. The constitutional lawyer has been invited to discussions on the setting up of a cooling off period through a National Transitional Authority. In an in-depth and candid interview, he talks about the weaknesses and strengths of this NTA initiative and dissects the current status of the political parties and emerging social movements in Zimbabwe? Below is a transcript of the interview;
Violet Gonda: Zimbabwe is on the brink of collapse. Running battles between anti Mugabe protesters and riot police are becoming regular and violent, including an unprecedented war of words between ZANU PF leaders and war veterans. My guest on the Hot Seat programme this week is human rights activist and constitutional lawyer Brian Kagoro who has always said ZANU PF’s biggest opposition is the economy. Now, given the fragile political landscape, how much time do we have as a country and what is the way forward?
Welcome on the programme Brian.
Brian: Thank you Violet.
Violet: I am sure you have seen that the mood in the country has totally changed over the last few weeks.  Can you define where we are right now?
Brian: I don’t think that this is the boiling point yet, but it’s a moment of great uncertainty, and this uncertainty in this moment arises out of three quick things.  Number one, people have been suffering for quite a long time now and the economy has been on life support for too long.  Number two, the ruling party; which has kept a false unity based on its vilification of the opposition and also this bogeyman of sanctions by the West. Well, the chickens have finally come home to roost within the ruling party because the veneer of unity has been wiped away and the real power disputes are coming to the fore. And the third and last thing is actually I think what has happened is that there has been an activation of a sector that for a long time had sub-let its entitlement to voice and place to the political parties – which is the citizen. So, the emergence of #ThisFlag, #Tajamuka and other movements indicate that there has been a re-activation of citizens outside of political parties occupying space and contending for their rights.
Violet: So are you seeing any similarities between what’s happening now and the historical struggles, especially the ones that you were involved with in the past?
Brian: Yes, I think this is essentially what happened in the late 1990’s and the contexts and circumstances were similar.  We saw in the 1990’s – because of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes and the internal repression – that several things happened to catalyse activism and discontent, namely: The cost of living had reached unsustainable levels and the State dealt with the discontent about poor service and rampant redundancies through force and violence. And the ruling party, which had factions emerging then, dealt with opposition through labelling.  What happened then is that labour organised itself as did the students and the women’s movements. And the coalescing or coming together of these entities led to what became in the  mid to late 90’s ,the constitutional moment or movement. And of course, predictably, the state responded first through violence and containment and then, second, when it realised that the tide couldn’t be contained ,the same State attempted to arrest the tide of change through different forms of accommodation, co-optation and diversion. What they tried to do was to hijack the process by engaging in their own constitutional reform process on their own terms.  Of course, it led to the referendum and the rest is history. When the state lost the referendum, its resort to violence was unprecedented in the history of independent Zimbabwe post-1988.  So we saw from the 4^th March, the death of Tichaona Chiminya ,Talent Mabika and many others and later on. This orgy of violence went all the way up to 2000, when we had the elections, various deaths, executions, and, post that date, abductions and human rights violations.
So, what we are seeing in response to these new protests is the Zimbabwean State doing what it knows best.  When it cannot reason with its citizens, when it cannot engage in transformative reform, it employs violence to manufacture coerced consent and silence.
Violet: But, are there any differences Brian?
Brian: There are differences and I think the differences are interesting. The differences are this, that the military and the war veterans and the ZANU PF youth historically always waded in on the side of Robert Gabriel Mugabe and there seemed to be an unbreakable bond of unity between and amongst the military bourgeoisie, the political bourgeoisie and the administrative bourgeoisie.
What we are seeing now are severe cracks within the upper echelons of the administration and civil service, those who have not been paid now for a long time, we are seeing open dissent from the loyalists.  Within the upper echelons of the coercive arms of the State, the Police, the Intelligence and the Army, we are seeing open dissent or the emergence of parallel structures of power diametrically opposed to the one centre of power and his kitchen cabinet. And within sections of the war veterans we are seeing that it’s no longer dissent but revolt, its outright revolt which even questions some of the collective lies that have been told repeatedly over the years about the history of the liberation struggle.  The country is no longer at ease and the centre is too old and divided to hold. And this component is so different from the situation in the 1990s and 2000s that it risks undermining the pro-democracy component /movement. Dissent from within the establishment against the High Priest of its politics is likely to get gullible admirers within the broader society that has become a prisoner of false hope. The danger is that the pro-democracy forces, who for long have had the removal of Robert Mugabe as one of their key objectives, might mistake the discontented ZANU PF elements as their genuine allies and therefore cede the space and hand-over the business of doing transformation to these forces. I personally don’t see these establishment rejects representing any meaningful transformation and I don’t think they themselves are transforming.
Violet:  This coalescing of opposition forces. Do you think there is a struggle for transformation there or it is a scramble for power? You have seen all these opposition political parties joining together and you also mentioned the Tajamuka and This Flag movements. Are they real alternatives?
Brian: No, if you were in ZANU PF you would be very happy with what #ThisFlag and #Tajamuka are doing. And what they are doing, although important for citizen agency, direct agency, is good for ZANU PF because what it does, it takes away real support and citizen confidence from the organised political parties that contest for the conquest of political power.  And, we have less than 19 months to the next election in 2018 and so in essence, the more you haveTajamuka and This Flag, because these are not going to contest for political power, and the more citizens are aligned to these, I think that if you were the ruling party or the incumbent, you would be happy to have the opposition not commandeering or commanding the collective support and trust of the masses. The fact that the opposition has been reluctant to associate with and reach out to or endorse these movements suggests that there are fault lines . These movements may actually shelter persons who have ambitions for power and thus will oppose the current opposition leadership. So that’s fine, there is nothing necessarily wrong with that in and of itself. But, when you bring together opposition political parties you have to be careful that you are not simply bringing together opposition political parties but you are bringing together a collective or collection of strengths, not weaknesses. At the moment, the articulation of what the developmental, or rather, what the economic alternative is, seems to me to be grossly dilated, if not diluted. I have keenly tried to read the substantive relevance or similarities of each opposition economic blue print and how it compares to the other and the obtaining situation on the ground. There is no consensus on economic matters; there is no consensus on the electoral either amongst the motley of opposition political parties. We have to make sure that the minimum programme of action does not represent a false alliance and false hope.
Violet: So you have mentioned the issue of war veterans, that they might not really be on the people’s side and that even if we have any change within ZANU PF, it’s not going to be transformative.  Did I get you right? That it will be change without transformation?
Brian:  You know what, war veterans may very well be on some people’s side. What I am arguing is that they are not necessarily on the side of human rights, not necessarily on the side of the sort of democracy that people of my generation and people in the late 1990’s into the 2000’s were fighting for. So, in essence, aligning with them means you have to negotiate away your struggle for accountability and end of impunity, because some of them were engaged in brutalising our people and violating human rights. Some people who have formed part of the grand coalition of opposition parties were responsible for the abduction and assassinations of some of my comrades. I am not so bling that I can not see the attempt to have me and my comrades suddenly develop political amnesia just because some of our comrades think that it is necessary for the purposes of negotiating their way into likelihood of power. These are fundamentals and they just can’t be negotiated away like that with absolutely no guarantees.
So the question we have to answer is do we ignore this very recent history of unpleasantness and move forward? How do we tell the children of Chiminya and may other citizens who were murdered in cold blood? How do we justify doing this? Do we use the exigencies of attaining political power? Do we use a broader normative framework? My sense is – I am very uncomfortable because there is not a discussion in the formation of this coalition as to what will happen to the historical accountability and this history is not a long history, it is a very recent history.
Violet: So what do you think the opposition should do in this case?
Brian: I’m not sure why they thought they needed to bring the expelled ZANU components –as important as they are as citizens.  I think the opposition has always lacked self-confidence and self-belief.  In 2008 when I interviewed with you I was clear that the opposition party was going to do much better in the rural areas and win the election. Most of the leadership of the opposition did not remotely believe in this possibility. The main opposition party was almost bankrupt and it had a skeletal election command centre.  It seemed that in 2008 we had a ruling party that was not prepared to lose and an opposition that wasn’t prepared to win. We again find ourselves in this instance in 2016 with much larger opposition which is using a traditional lens to view where citizen confidence is.  Who they should be wooing now are those citizens in Tajamuka, in This Flag movement by offering clear alternatives.  So that they are able to say: ‘as those progressive components in the opposition movement we are able to marshal sufficient support. We have assured our people that we have a people’s manifesto that they can endorse and in which they will see themselves, their futures and solutions to their present challenges. We-as the opposition- are offering them a truly alternative leadership, not just recycling the old core.’ The dearth of youth and scarcity of younger-tech savvy- political leaders is a by-product of a coalition of retirees. We are reproducing the same politics that has manufactured gerontocracy.
Violet: Are you surprised that even though the ZANU PF house is on fire – there is all this in-fighting we are hearing about – that ZANU PF still seems to be winning elections and even getting more members, as we saw in the last by-election where ZANU PF won with more than 12000 votes? Wouldn’t you think that with the current mood and the way people are so ‘anti the ruling party’; that not a lot of people will actually go out and vote for ZANU PF?
Brian: I think that over the years I have avoided engaging in false analysis.  There are some people who support ZANU PF and there are relatively many.  Whether they do it willingly or under coercion, is a discussion for another day, but there are many.  The 2000, 2005 ,2008 and 2013 elections prove this point. The reason for that support needs to be understood as it may be based on a lack of understanding of the political platforms and programmes of the opposition beyond the removal of Mugabe as President. Or it may pertain to wartime sentimentalities and the fact that Zimbabweans are politically polygamous by instinct.
I have suggested over the years that when you study the urban voter turn-out and in particular for the main opposition political party for the years 2000, 2005, 2008 and 2013 , you observe a progressive decline in that vote in terms of absolute numbers. When you look at the votes that David Coltart, Welshman Ncube, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, our brother in Mabvuku and so on and so forth, got in the first elections in 2000, and progressively what they got in the following elections, that vote, the winning margin, has declined by a threshold of between 10 to 19%, if not higher in some instances.  Whereas, on the other hand , what has happened is ZANU has created this impression of growing support for Mugabe and their MPs . Whether their figures are manufactured or they are real, it is a fact that Martin Dinha, was elected just two or three weeks ago with close to 12 600 votes and this is an increase from the threshold of votes in the same constituency before for ZANU PF.
So, in a sense, ZANU PF is a creature of power.  It is focused on telling a credible story about how it is likely to win 2018.  The more the opposition focus on all other side-shows, ZANU PF is focusing on power. So in every constituency that the opposition has boycotted, even the urban ones, the ZANU PF winning margin has not been the 3000 or 2000 that they got historically when those were contested constituencies, it has been a much higher threshold. And, I have kept on asking my friends in the alternative political movements, are we not being sent into a choreographed electoral dance, in the 2018 elections? Firstly, we have seen court judgements that essentially make you think that the courts are very impartial because ZANU PF stalwarts are being convicted in the courts – some who are serving legislators.  In a sense, for anyone to then wake up and say that the Zimbabwean courts are partial, it would be difficult to make that case, and equally so, for you to wake up and say ZANU PF does not have support when they have recorded in primaries, significant voter turn-outs in their favour, would be equally problematic, especially to an external audience. And, this is all choreographed for an external audience.  I get the impression that the opposition believes that Zanu PF has so failed and the economy is in such a parlous state that no sane Zimbabwe will vote for Zanu PF . That might be a great wish , but it doesn’t necessarily translate into a realistic strategic outcome without any real political work on the ground. The folk that attend rallies are already converted and their loyalties are clear. The silent majority that pitches up on voting day or decides not to pitch up needs to be fully understood and courted vigorously. This requires much more nuanced communication and engagement and not merely slogans and historical clichés about a failed regime.
My sense is that we still do need the visionaries within the opposition who concentrate on big rallies and mass mobilisation but you also need the nuts and bolts people who focus on strategy and on the minutiae detail of how to turn a supporter into a voter and a voter into an avid mobilizer of dozens of other voters.
At the moment I’m not seeing this division of labour. I only observe the palpable arrogance within certain corridors within the opposition each time someone questions their strategy, they dismiss the questioning as either academic or they say you are a diaspora hamburger-eater who does not know the practicalities of the local struggle. Labelling doesn’t answer repeated failure , reflection does. Any refusal to be reflective is political suicide or self-sabotage.
Violet: But you know Brian, speaking about visionaries, William Muchayi, a political analyst, actually wrote something quite interesting a couple of years ago.  He said that Zimbabwe is not short of political parties but has a severe drought of visionaries, like you have just pointed out, who can steer the boat in the right direction. But some go further and say people like you could have done much more but seem to have abandoned ship. How do you respond to this?
Brian: I live 50 percent in Zimbabwe. I keep hearing this nonsense of abandoning the ship. I live the other 50 percent in South Africa and this is purely because I run a private business and have to travel across the continent regularly and it is cheaper to do it out of either Nairobi, Johannesburg or Addis Ababa. I don’t work for anyone anymore, I work for myself. And for the 50 percent of the time when I am in my own country of birth , I do a lot, privately. I may not be in the press as much but do quite a lot to contribute to the democratisation of the country. I don’t think we have the luxury of saying let’s replace the cast of top opposition leaders that we have. We have 18 months and in 18 months we are not going to be able to do that and still hope to perform well at the election. It takes a whole lot to get ordinary masses to embrace a new face and be faithful to new leadership. The change management in this short-run to the next election would be messy. But we are able to put together winning teams to support what already exists. These are winning teams that focus on the technical aspects and clear political programmes… the think-tanks etcetera.  My sense is that we have concentrated too much on shaming and naming the regime for all its ills and forgotten that the morning after the regime has left – there is a country to govern and an economy to run or reconstruct. And unless we are clear about what that process of turning around the system is, we are going to have a lot of empty rhetoric and vision without transformation. And concentrate only the conquest of power and forget that the citizens’ discontent is not just about an individual and an institution but about failed policies and the crises of livelihoods that they experience. No sooner that the opposition would have come into government and that same frustration and anger will turn onto them and they better have clear solutions and not just hot air and insults for questioners. It is not enough to say we have our own blue print . This is the moment to ask citizens in a very sober and inclusive way what they want and for their ideas across a range of issues. This is how 1999 was started with the Godfrey Kanyenze, Rene and Kondo Raw Data Report. Raw Data Report was an objective assessment and consultation with citizens about what they wanted.
Violet: We will talk about the economy later but there is this talk about creating a Transitional Authority and you have been associated with it.  Press reports list a group of ‘concerned citizens’ who are said to be organising this. Names include Ibbo Mandaza, Trevor Ncube, Judith Todd. Can you tell us what you know about this?
Brian: Ok. I have not had the privilege of participating in the NTA discussions as yet. I was invited to the inception meeting, but was unable to attend. I have seen the documentation and raised a few questions privately to the group. The TNA mustn’t cause palpitations at all, it is not a new idea. You will recall that the crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition during mine and Brian Raftopoulos’s time had proposed a Transitional Authority at the time – when we thought the country was in crisis – that was around 2004/2005. The CPI, which did the Great Zimbabwe Scenarios, also proposed a Transitional Authority ahead of the GNU deal in 2008. So the idea itself is as old as the governance crisis in Zimbabwe. My understanding is very simple. You do not have consensus across the political divide. The primary focus for political actors is on the transfer of political power through an electoral process. At the rate at which we are going that is likely to be a fairly bloody and violent affair. In the meanwhile, the prolonged political bloodletting is not going to be kind on the economy . The economy is bleeding – if we, 19 months ahead of an election(in 2018) we have police officers not paid, soldiers not paid, CIOs not paid, civil servants not paid, ordinary vendors and cross border traders not able to do their trade – we have created a severe humanitarian crisis that will make the election year a highly emotive and polemic affair. So , as moderately reasonable people , we need to explore all possible options that will ensure that Zimbabwe remains stable and steers itself without external interference to stability and prosperity.
So the notion is. You do need a cooling off period and that cooling off period might be necessitated by several factors: An early step-down by Mugabe or an escalation of the sort of economic crisis and the political tensions within the country. And this requires that an expert group of people who are representative, technically competent help to stabilise things and steer the economy in the right direction. Whether this idea can and will fly in this context is immaterial, the nation needs to seriously discuss this and several other possibilities so that we are not hoodwinked into believing that everything stands or falls on the 2018 election.
Violet: But who picks the players? Is this by self selection?
Brian: There are several ways. The various ways in which the NTA is done is by expertise or  by  designation by parties. Parties do nominate folk for various commissions. Look, nothing is a likelihood in our country. I know a lot of people are critical of this idea as they are critical of many other ideas. Electoral reforms depend on Mugabe making the necessary concessions but the constitutional provisions requiring reforms must be adhered to. The NTA requires the subtle concessions across the political divide that this would be necessary. In any event ,the issue is that the country requires much more than one solution. The tragedy of our previous engagement is we have gone to the table with only one solution and when that solution fails we don’t have a Plan B or Plan C. I read the documents and they don’t seem cast in stone. The group insists that it is merely facilitating and not leading of predetermining a process that will  be shaped by robust national debate. The idea is not yet fully cooked and citizens must help add the necessary ingredients to ripen it. Those who dismiss the idea as pie in the sky must cast their imagination far and wide and see whether an election is possible in 2018 without the requisite reforms. If not , what will they do , should the reforms not come on time? What is plan B and C ?
Violet: But how would you entice the opposition political parties who seem to have rejected this and how can this be successful without ZANU PF who have also said no to this because of the GNU experience?
Brian: I am actually very surprised by that question Violet. You know when constitutional reform call(NCA), which we initiated with Tawanda Mutasah, Deprose Muchena, Everjoice Win, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, Perpetua Bwanya ,Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti and a few others – we were nobodies. And when we first put this idea on the table we were dismissed as idealistic, if not idiotic. In fact, that very year Emmerson Mnangagwa gave a speech at the Law School saying that they did not – as government – see the need for constitutional reform. In fact ,even some of our mentors told us that there was no way the idea of constitutional reform would see the light of day. This was our conversation in 1997. Barely two years later in 1999 ZANU PF was now discussing it at their Mutare Conference (or Congress) – and yet they had rejected the idea out-rightly. In 1998 we were not only discussing constitutional reform but we were moving towards a constitutional commission and the counter NCA position. The currency of ideas is not ended or founded on the acquiescence of political parties or political actors of the day. They are important, but not as important as they would like to believe. Transformative ideas are dependent on what citizens think is right for them. We have had an anomaly in Zimbabwe where we have mortgaged the future of the country to political parties and political actors who now assume the place of God in our lives and purport to think and speak on our behalf. This is an abomination. The future of the country remains in the hands of citizens and if there is a disagreement between the political parties and the citizens, the citizen always wins. Legitimacy of a political party is not in the fact that it exists, the legitimacy of a political party is in its ability to epitomise what we as citizens demand, desire and want. And at the moment, Zimbabwean citizens want a solution to their daily misery. Not to elect another dictator and not to have anybody who feels that they are entitled to leadership because they have suffered dictate what is and should be right for our nation. Kwete,No!  This is a make or break time for our nation and I think we need much more than just one idea on the table to discuss and we are not seeking for permission from anyone to discuss the myriad of alternatives at our disposal. As citizens we are entitled to determine the course of our own destiny, with or without organised political parties. They need voters and we need our voices and the spaces to take our rightful place as the legitimate employers of governments.
Violet: So who will provide the resources for this NTA?
Brian: Well let’s cross that bridge when we get there. I haven’t even been to a single meeting as yet. I am yet to be fully briefed about the initiative end of September. As I have said, it is an idea that was discussed in my absence. The documents have been shared with me. Despite my earlier criticisms, I will be happy to participate in the future discussions . All I am refusing is to accept that one idea-electoral reform- is more practical than the other. It all depends on whether you are trying to get a position in government and power or a long-lasting solution to our national condition. If you had asked most people, whether Morgan Tsvangirai should even be considered to lead our country in 99, they would have said that it was totally impractical. They would have told you – he doesn’t have the this and that qualification, he doesn’t have the national stature, no liberation credentials, no experience of State-Craft, and other such nonsense. Now that question is no longer on the table anymore. Everything that my generation has done in the pro-democracy movement in our country has been based on this idealism that says citizens are free and entitled to choose their leadership as well as ideas about development and the institutions that will shape that development. That discretion on the part of the citizens should not be constrained except by their own imagination and wishes. Let no one in the ruling party or opposition be foolish enough to believe that they have a monopoly or private keys to national legitimacy. Every citizen has a right to propose even the most foolish of ideas and to defend and propagate them , as long as they are not contrary to spirit of the constitution. The NTA isn’t at all , neither are the emerging national social movements.
Violet: Basically you are saying any pressure is good pressure … that pressure should not only come from political parties but also from the citizens and perhaps via this NTA initiative.
Brian: Yes. Look at this ridiculous thing happening in the USA. Donald Trump thought he had very clear ideas about immigration and now he has had to deal with citizens that are conscious and that have demands. Let the opposition political parties know that citizens are not guinea pigs. We don’t just chew what political parties tell us, especially if you are asking for votes in 2018. The thinking and self-acting citizen is the most dangerous weapon that has emerged in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa and Africa over the last decade. Social media has made these types of citizens to connect and learn from each other and dialogue daily to refine their ideas and broaden their platforms of engagement. We have since long passed 1999 and 2007 and this new day requires all of us to adjust to the new realities and the emerging new forms and types of leadership.
Violet: Critics of the NTA say there would have to be serious violence or civil unrest for such a platform to be created and for the international community to intervene or to support this call. Do you agree with this analysis that the time is not ripe enough for an NTA?
Brian: That is lazy analysis. It’s the laziest analysis I have ever heard. Every political power and actor within our country knows their weaknesses – whether they admit them in the media or they don’t. Everyone knows what ZANU PF is incapable of doing or marshalling now. The bravado and recalcitrance notwithstanding. Everybody knows what the opposition is incapable of doing now. The idea of an NTA has not been fully fleshed out. So when you start criticising and tearing into threads an idea that is still in evolution it just shows a debilitating and pathological immaturity on your part. Don’t get historical and hysterical when an idea you have not thought about is placed on the table, engage it. People have simply said – perhaps we need a Transitional Authority because if you do not have electoral reforms within the next six months its pointless doing electoral reforms with less than 8 months to go to an election and no money in the State coffers to give effect to such reforms. Because the institutions wont have taken root and the processes and mechanisms of the new electoral architecture will not be in place– if you look at how long it takes to set up a commission, to get the personnel, to get the internal procedure etc. etc. So you ask yourself, if the route of electoral reforms is this late in the day and we have an impending election, which the opposition is threatening to boycott in the absence of reforms, what do we do? Capitulate to an uncontested Robert Mugabe election in 2018? So a few people are asking the question – should we rather have another alternative on the table? That alternative may morph into different things as did the first NTA proposal which morphed into the GNU. Now although it was facilitated by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, it was not Mbeki’s decision or idea. It was the decision of the critical political actors at the time. And so it is useful for people not to um, adopt a politically monogamous approach to ideas. That only one idea is right – there are many potential solutions to the crisis we face in our country. Unfortunately,  if we do not think about the various possibilities we will be caught napping again, especially the academics in civil society. When a few of us were saying a negotiation was impending in 2008, you remember we were a few of us who were saying that negotiations were going to lead into a GNU.A lot of the people in the civil society and our super analysts did not see through the woods that these were political actors who were mainly concerned about retaining political power and they will negotiate based on what they see as the best possible option to get the most out of power or simply stay in power. People were in mourning when the opposition entered the marriage of inconvenience with Zanu PF and they were totally unprepared for that sort of political solution. It was a disaster in may respects , except its stabilisation of the economy, but all the same , it shows you that political actors will and can change their positions 360-degrees , if it suits their power objective.
 

Staff Reporter | Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries (PHD) leader prophet Walter Magaya, who has been under the media spotlight over many issues to do with his conduct, including sexual escapades involving women in his church is under media spotlight again. This time pictures below of a guest house he is alleged to own doing the rounds, on online publications and social networks, with many asking the obvious question, “How has this been funded?”
Recently Zimbabwe’s state owned newspaper, The Herald reported that Magaya is going to build 46 000 houses countrywide with questions being raised again, how he acquired so many stands, at a time that ordinary Zimbabweans are threatened with ‘Operation Murambatsvina’ part 2 as government embarks on another cruel programme to demolish houses they have sweated for.
The preacher officially opened the guest house, in Waterfalls, with a capacity to accommodate 2 000, people which will be used by PHD visitors attending prayer sessions.
 

Magaya said after his arrest two weeks ago, he was now “energised” to fight harder, as he had realised he had many enemies and countable friends.
“My spirit was energised by the event that took place two weeks ago. They made a mistake. Now I am ready to show
them this: I am here to change your life. I will do this in a very short space of time and because of that, I will achieve it,” he said.
Magaya was two weeks ago arrested on rape allegations and is out on $2 000 bail with stringent reporting conditions.
The hotel project, he said, was completed within four months and cost “millions of dollars”.
It created more than 2 500 jobs on the construction site and will create 250 permanent jobs for workers, who attend to visitors.
“From now, my focus is building houses for my partners, people who have stood by me through thick and thin,” he told the crowd, which included Tourism deputy minister Anastacia Ndlovu and Indigenisation minister Patrick
Zhuwao, among other senior government officials.

CIVIL servants have reacted angrily to government’s new “no work, no pay” policy, describing the move as tantamount to denying them the right to go on strike if they feel aggrieved. Saying in the reverse the same principle works, “No pay, No work.”
Apex chairperson Cecilia Alexander told NewsDay yesterday that the new policy proposal announced by Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare minister Prisca Mupfumira last week was a gross infringement on their labour rights.
“The idea of intimidating workers constitutes unfair labour practice,” Alexander said.
“That will be violation of section 65(3) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which ushers in the right to take job action. The Public Services Act has not yet been aligned with the new Constitution, but that being the case, the Constitution of Zimbabwe supersedes all enactments. The ILO (International Labour Organisation) convention number 98, which Zimbabwe ratified, also provides for the right to strike.
“The no work, no pay principle government is talking about is the same principle that we are also going to follow because it follows that no pay, no work.”
She, however, said job actions came as a last resort after all processes had been exhausted.
The government has been failing to stick to fixed pay dates for its workers due to a severe cash squeeze at Treasury, thereby, causing civil servants to be restive.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions leader, George Nkiwane, described government’s move as retrogressive.
Lawyer, Marufu Mandevere said although there is generally a principle of no work, no pay, changing labour laws call for collective bargaining.
“This means the employee cannot collectively bargain because the only power they have is to withdraw their labour. So the government wants to take away the power of employees, which means they cannot properly negotiate for their salaries, benefits of any other working conditions because the government will not pay them. It’s quite unlawful for them to do that particularly in collective agreement,” he said. newsday

HARARE High Court judge, Justice Priscilla Chigumba, today faces an acid test when she presides over an urgent chamber application filed by opposition parties and Harare residents last week challenging the legality of the police ban on all demonstrations in the central business district until September 16. This comes after President Robert Mugabe over the weekend made public threats against judges who do not tow his political line.
HIGH COURT HEARS CHALLENGE OF POLICE PROTEST BAN

WARNING – DISTRESSING PICTURES 

A fully developed baby was found thrown in the chamber in a public toilet near D square in Njube, Bulawayo yesterday afternoon.

A local Njube resident who discovered the baby alerted Njube Police who took it to United Bulawayo hospitals for a post mortem. This is the second case since ZimEye.com reported another one of a baby found dumped in a blair-toilet in Mvuma.
Meanwhile Njube Police have since launched a manhunt for the woman. ZRP cops are appealing to members of the public who may have information that can assist in locating the accused, to come forward. – ZimEye

Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo | The United Nations’ children body UNICEF has tacitly allowed ZANU PF to force kids into Robert Mugabe’s party structures.
In a latest of latests, the body has expressed neither remorse nor comment as it was announced that kids are to be forced into party rails.
Last month UNICEF attacked the family of abducted activist Itai Dzamara for the kids’ handing of flowers to ZRP cops in commemoration of their father’s disappearance. This month the body, said to be infiltrated by ZANU agents, watched as Mugabe’s party launched out to openly abuse school kids.
The desperate ruling party Zanu PF, in a panic mode, says school pupils will be forced to join party structures in a bid to promote patriotism. Hundreds of Zanu PF members and supporters have left the the troubled ruling party to join the Joice Mujuru led Zim People First. Addressing party supporters at a meeting in Chivi Central Constituency last week, Provincial Chairman Amasa Nhenjana said the party would recruit school children in order to revive its waning fortunes.
“We know the families that have a revolutionary background so we have to visit such households to recruit their children into party structures.If we do so,we will certainly sustain our legacy. Let’s go into schools and look for those who are mature and recruit them,”said Nhenjana. He said school heads who do not cooperate with the ruling party would be dealt with in a ruthless way. “We expect school heads to cooperate with us during the recruitment exercise.We will soon visit schools in Masvingo Province and those who do not cooperate will be dealt with accordingly.We also expect school pupils to boost our membership.We will therefore embark on a massive recruitment exercise next week.I urge you to approach all local schools.We want to promote patriotism among the school pupils,”said Nhenjana.

Schools open this week at a time Zimbabweans are faced with economic hardships, with many parents struggling to pay fees, and ironically many schools not able to provide quality services without demanding more cash from them. It is a “catch-22” situation for both parents and schools, as government warns that schools should not increase fees, saying those that do so without approval would be dealt with severely.
In an interview yesterday, the Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Professor Paul Mavhima, said schools can only increase fees if they have been given the greenlight to do so by the Government.
“As schools open, no school is supposed to increase fees without getting approval from the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. Why would one want to increase fees when fully aware that the economy is tough for parents. Also they can’t just increase the fees without approval, that isn’t procedural,” he said.

Before increasing school fees, Prof Mavhima said, a school has to first explain to the Government why it intends to hike the fees.
“Basically, if they do it unprocedurally, they will be dealt with accordingly. In cases where schools increase the fees without following proper procedures, parents should approach the Primary and Secondary Education authorities at district level and just indicate that this is what is happening,” he said.
The Government has also said schools must not send pupils away for non-payment of fees, but should deal with parents.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Lazarus Dokora has previously said it is also illegal for schools to take parents who default paying school fees to debt collectors.
He said if schools decide to take the legal route to recover outstanding fees, they should approach the Small Claims Court, and not debt collectors.
Recently, 14 headmasters from schools in Bulawayo’s Luveve, Gwabalanda and Cowdray Park suburbs met to discuss the non-payment of fees at their schools.
During the meeting, it emerged that most schools were in a crisis as their coffers had run dry due to non-payment of fees, resulting in the institutions struggling to meet their obligations. state media

THE Tokwe-Mukosi flood victims who were resettled in Chingwizi resettlement area in Mwenezi have been left stranded and failing to get aid as a majority of them do not have National IDs while they are also failing to get birth certificates for their new born babies.
Most of the villagers claim that they lost their identity cards when their original homes were destroyed by floods in Masvingo South and Chivi communal lands and have been struggling to get new National IDs while most babies who were born at Chingwizi camp do not have birth certificates.
Approximately 3 000 families were forcibly evacuated from the soon-to-be-largest inland water reservoir’s flood basin and stayed for days in the open along the Masvingo-Beitbridge highway before they were resettled in a part of the Nuanetsi Ranch.
According to villagers, some of the victims and their children have been failing to get adequate food aid because they would have failed to either identify themselves or their children.
One of the villagers who refused to be named said most villagers were failing to get support from different organisations because they do not have IDs.
The villager said most of them are failing to travel back to Chivi to get the documents because they do not have any source of income.
“We have a serious challenge here because we do not have IDs. Even if we try to look for employment we are required to produce the IDs. Social Welfare also requires IDs when they come with any form of assistance. This has left us stranded and the dire situation has been worsened by the fact that we are supposed to travel back to Chivi where our records are so that we can get new IDs. We are appealing to the Government to assist us get our IDs so that we will be able to access humanitarian aid,” said the villager.
Another villager said their children were also in the same predicament as they were required to produce birth certificates at school and if they were to sit for any examination or participate in any sporting activity.
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Cde Obedingwa Mguni could neither deny nor confirm the issue but insisted that the Government had the capacity to assist the flood victims.
“I am not aware of that but what I can assure you is that we will definitely facilitate the process of issuing IDs to the villagers. I will have to engage the registrar’s offices who are responsible for the issuing of IDs,” he said. state media

President Robert Mugabe has unleashed overzealous Zanu-PF youths to social media platforms, in an apparent bid to over turn the flagging fortunes of his party.
He commanded them to use information communication technologies to defend and promote the ruling party.
Mugabe came out in strong support of efforts to criminalise cyber activism, saying he was happy that the Ministry of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, was drafting a law (Cyber Bill) to guide the proper use of social media.
So far efforts to jam communication systems through whatsapp services have come to naught, a result of alert and technologically savvy Zimbos who have been busted all CIO firewalls.
Mugabe told the Zanu-PF Youth League National Assembly at the ruling party headquarters in Harare on Saturday that social media should not be used negatively to attack party rivals.
Social media has been used positively in other countries to raise awareness of developments at home among the diaspora as well as a medium to raise funding for businesses.
The state media reports that so called “regime change agents” and activists have of late been using social media to mobilise street protests in a bid to destabilise the Government.
It goes further to allege that organisers distribute information through Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp messaging platforms on how to evade security forces who try to disperse them.
Said President Mugabe: “In promoting the party, our youths should use social media to defend the party and promote the party and develop Zimbabwe through ICTs. You all have a role to play in promoting our production and Zim-Asset Brand Zimbabwe.
“Brand Zimbabwe, the image of Zimbabwe, a Zimbabwe that is democratic, hardworking and peaceful. That’s the image, the brand of Zimbabwe you should project outside. And also to defend it from its detractors. Our youths should learn from the youths in China, Cuba and Russia that economic success stories have resulted from proper and constructive use of ICT,” he said.
Mugabe said quarrels in the party should not be taken up on the Internet. “All the dirty things we hear. Get off it. You should not be part of it, we should remain clean, clean, clean,” he said.
President Mugabe said the Youth League should not allow anybody, including senior leaders of the party, to divide it.
He urged party cadres to unite the party as well as steering away from factional tendencies.
“So these factions, like I said, keep away from it. I’m pleased that the Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology has begun its lectures that will equip our youths with ideas, that will make them understand the history of the party and its ideology.”
“When ideology is instilled into our minds we will be toeing the party’s direction and that is what we want to see.
“And also, we must reject corruption. Then of course there will be that understanding in regard to the respect that is accorded to seniors, even among yourselves, seniors to you who are within the party and even seniors outside the party,” he said.
Mugabe said the Youth League was Zanu- PF’s vanguard and had the mandate to further the interests of the party as well as defending the revolution by engaging in mobilisation activities.
He said he was happy that party youths managed to control themselves in the face of provocation by the “so-called protesters who have gone about burning and looting property”. state media

The Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Patrick Chinamasa, will present the 2016 mid-term national budget review statement on Thursday with a major focus on rationalisation of jobs in the civil service.
The Government currently spends about $200 million monthly in salaries, a figure that it says is not sustainable. This is not withstanding that the ministry of education has announced that it will be recruiting more teachers, exposing policy contradictions in the government institutions.
The 2016 $4 billion National Budget projected an economic growth rate of 2,7 percent driven largely by agriculture and the mining sector.
There were delays in presenting the mid-term budget review.
However, Minister Chinamasa said on Friday in Victoria Falls that the delay in presenting the statement had enabled him, for the first time, to include data for the month of June. “The mid-term budget review statement is coming. I will deliver it on Thursday September 8,” said Minister Chinamasa.
“We delayed because of commitments and my unavailability but that helped us in a way because we now have all data for the month of June, which is a new thing altogether. All data has been processed and I will present it on Thursday,” he said.
He said the review would, among others things, touch on job rationalisation in the civil service.
Government last month froze recruitment and promotions in the civil service as part of staff rationalisation following an audit by the Public Service Commission (PSC).
Recently, the PSC abolished more than 8 000 posts in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development. This was meant to reduce the Government’s wage bill which is estimated to take up 83 percent of the National Budget.
Minister Chinamasa said significant savings were being made as a result of the rationalisation, but he could not be drawn into giving details saying he would tackle that on Thursday in the budget review.
“Cabinet came up with a rationalisation strategy last year and ratified the decision in June this year. In terms of how much we are saving, we have made some savings but I will deal with that in the statement,” he said.
The minister is also expected to give an update on arrears to multilateral financial institutions with Government working on strategies to finalise its agreement to repay $1,8 billion it owes to the World Bank, African Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Minister Chinamasa said there was no deadline for repayment of the debt as engagements were a continuous process. state media

The late Belinda Mutinhiri, daughter to the Minister of Mashonaland East Provincial Affairs, Retired Brigadier Ambrose Mutinhiri, will be buried this Wednesday.
Family spokesperson, Mr Cain Muzuva told journalists that Belinda will be buried at glen forest cemetery this Wednesday.

The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) says rationing of water to farmers in the lowveld is necessary in preserving levels in Lake Mutirikwi, which is less than 20 percent full.
Decreasing water levels have forced the reduction of water being pumped to the lowveld from 10 cubic meters to five cubic meters per second to save the precious commodity.

COTTCO has appointed Mr Pius Manamike as the new Acting Managing Director after the suspension of Engineer Chris Murove last week, a move which has riled some of the stakeholders in the cotton industry.
Mr Manamike’s appointment comes a day after the suspension of Engineer Murove over allegations of misappropriating US$40.

Staff Reporter |Opposition political parties agitating for “electoral reforms” want polling laws amended so that people are forced to only vote for them, a senior ruling party and Government official, Patrick Chinamasa has frivolously claimed.
Chinamasa made the statement, on the eve of the National Electoral Reform Agenda (NERA), leadership will be in court tomorrow in the urgent hearing of the Statutory Instrument 101 A, to challenge the ban on all their demonstrations for a period of two weeks.
The urgent application has been set down for tomorrow 10am before Justice Chigumba.
The coalition of opposition parties has embarked on street protests aimed at forcing the government to make necessary electoral reforms, however, government has gone and done the opposite imposing a quasi state of emergency. President Robert Mugabe over the weekend lashed out at judges who make rulings in favour of protests which he said threatened Zimbabwe’s peace.
“Our courts and judges should understand it even better. They dare not be negligent in their decisions as requests are made by people who would want to demonstrate. Surely, they can take note of the fact that the mission is clear and deliberate towards causing violence,” he said.
The courts have in recent weeks allowed major protests to go ahead, the first was in Harare, after NERA approached the High Court seeking permission to hold their demonstration. Later the ruling by Bulawayo High Court Justice Nokuthula Moyo followed an urgent chamber application filed by Nera challenging the decision by police to bar the planned demonstrations in the city.

Zanu-PF Secretary for Legal Affairs Patrick Chinamasa told state media that many real electoral reforms had been instituted over the past eight years and talk of further changes was baseless. Statements that can lead to a serious showdown with agitated opposition groups.
Chinamasa – who is Finance Minister – is a former Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, and was Zanu-PF’s chief negotiator in the 2008 inter-party talks that ushered in the raft of electoral reforms.
He said most of the electoral reforms were at the instigation of the opposition, and those parties had failed to dislodge President Mugabe’s Zanu-PF under those new laws.
As such, he pointed out, calls for “electoral reforms” were not premised on tangible issues but indicated the opposition wanted Zanu-PF to simply hand over power via new laws compelling the electorate to only cast ballots in favour of the MDCs and their allies.
Chinamasa said parties had agreed on – among other areas – printing and distribution of ballot papers, manning of polling stations, how vote counting was to be done, the procedure for announcement and consolidation of results, voter registration, delimitation of constituencies, the composition and appointment of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, and proporational and women’s representation.
“ … the MDCs have no basis to demand any electoral reforms, and in fact as you are aware, they fear to lose elections. As you know, our Parliament from 2013 has thrown out members who were elected in 2013 and there have been numerous by-elections, almost to suggest another general election over the five-year term. And none of the splinter groups of MDC have participated for fear of losing those elections.
“You know there is now MDC-T, MDC-Biti, MDC-Mangoma, MDC-Welshman; and now more recently from our own party Zimbabwe People First – all of them are afraid of losing elections because they want to go into the 2018 elections lying to the people that they have the support of the generality of the population.
“So what we find now are false prophets peddling falsehoods about our electoral laws. The problem is not the Constitution, the problem is not the electoral laws; the problem is that none of these parties have viable alternative policies to those pronounced by Zanu-PF,” Cde Chinamasa said.
He went on: “The demand for President Mugabe to go is not a policy; and I think they should be told that it is for them to worry about their own leadership and not concern themselves with a leadership that is not leading their parties.
“It is for Zanu-PF to decide, and we have agreed that in order to win elections, we must have President Mugabe as our leader. They can’t tell us who should lead us. Their responsibility should be to find leaders who can stand against President Mugabe.
“So I want to emphasise that through the collaboration of Zanu-PF and all MDC formations – and before their own splintering and before Zimbabwe People First because that one was also part of us as we were negotiating levelling of the political ground – electoral reforms were done and there is no validity, no basis whatsoever to be demanding electoral reforms.”
Chinamasa also said, “What I understand they are saying, and which is not possible, is that we should put into the law that people should vote for them. It’s unheard of that we put in the electoral law and the Constitution that the opposition parties must win.
“For them to win, they must have the support of the people which they currently, and in the future, do not have because they have no policies about running the country. They have no policies about the economy and social development of Zimbabwe. And quite frankly we cannot make a law that people should support them and vote for them.” sunday mail

Staff Reporter | Under arrest #Tajamuka activists, who include Promise Mkwnanzi and Lynda Masarira have been tortured inside the notorious Chikurubi Maximum Prison.
The activists are being treated like dangerous criminals at the centre where they are being held and subjected to various forms of excruciating torture.

The citizen reps will appear in court 13 September and 15 September 2016.
They have been charged with public violence and other charges to do malicious damage of property in terms of section 140 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
Excruciating conditions designed for convicted criminals such as murderers and rapists are being used on the activists. They are for instance only allowed one visit in two weeks and have been made to wear prison garb.
Only one person can bring food for them each day.
The United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners state that “Prisoners shall be allowed under necessary supervision to communicate with their family and reputable friends at regular intervals, both by correspondence and by receiving visits”.
Calls have since been made to raise funds to feed the activists as they are faced with the horrors. Individual Zimbabweans have been chipping in but inside sources say this is not enough.
A member of the ZimEye community wrote explaining once again for instance the dire situation Lynda Masarira’s five children are in, as they are being separated at times and moved from home to home. “Meanwhile her kids are being moved about because she is a single mum with 5 kids. One of them is due to write O’levels, Apa mari ye school fees [is needed]” they said.
Zimbabwe’s prison conditions have even been condemned by the United Nations which cited that they do not meet international standards.
Among the group is a pregnant woman, an old lady above 70 and an old man above 70.
Many were limping into court and had not eaten since yesterday.
A comment from the Prison’s Services’ Information Department was not possible at the time of writing.

MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai has reportedly ordered Harare City councillors to drop Chris Mbanga as the deputy mayor and vote Enock Mupamawonde as his replacement due to the former’s alleged association with Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere.
Mbanga, who was elected following the death of Thomas Muzuwa last year, fell out of favour with the MDC-T leadership when he allegedly defied the party on the appointment of James Mushore as Harare town clerk and allegedly sided with the minister.
MDC-T secretary-general, Douglas Mwonzora confirmed Tsvangirai’s meeting with the councillors and that they discussed Mbanga.
“I attended the councillors’ meeting called by the president to deal with issues happening at Town House. The decision to recall the deputy mayor is the prerogative of elected councillors to exercise,” Mwonzora said.
“If they want to do that, they will do so on their own, taking into account all circumstances surrounding the demands at Town House.”
But insiders said Tsvangirai instructed his councillors at their next full council meeting to recall Mbanga and vote for Mupamawonde as his replacement, making him the third deputy mayor since 2013.
Two months ago, the MDC-T resolved to suspend Mbanga ahead of his appearance before a disciplinary committee chaired by MDC-T chairperson, Lovemore Moyo on allegations of causing the suspension of mayor, Bernard Manyenyeni.
He was accused of supping with the enemy, Kasukuwere, charges he denied.
Both Mbanga and Manyenyeni were elected councillors on MDC-T tickets in 2013.
When Manyenyeni was suspended for the second time on allegations of refusing to order an audit of council’s business units, Mbanga took over in an acting capacity and fired Mushore in defiance of a party directive. newsday

Media protection groups are calling on the international community to pressure President Robert Mugabe’s government to respect freedom of the press in Zimbabwe.
Photojournalist James Jemwa was released on bail Friday after spending a week behind bars, but the Media Institute of Southern Africa said two other journalists were still in custody and several others had been assaulted or had their equipment destroyed by police while covering anti-government protests.
“Media in Zimbabwe should enjoy their freedom as granted by the constitution and not at the benevolence of state agencies,” said Nhlanhla Ngwenya, head of the institute in Zimbabwe. “We are seeking to engage commanders of these people who have been arresting and wantonly beating up journalists and actually express our anger and let them know that journalism is not a crime. So the fact that they are found at these protests, it is not because they like it there, but it is because they are answering to their call of duty, as much as the police do so.”
On Thursday, the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists said it wanted international bodies such as the United Nations and the Committee to Protect Journalists to plead with the Mugabe government to respect freedom of the press, which has been guaranteed in the constitution since 2013.
Wave of demonstrations
For the past two months, Zimbabwe has been hit by an unprecedented wave of anti-Mugabe protests accusing the 92-year-old leader of failing to fix the country’s economy and respect human rights. It is during those protests that photojournalists have been assaulted, arrested or had equipment destroyed by police.
In a telephone interview Friday, Zimbabwe Information Minister Christopher Mushohwe maintained his earlier stance, in which he blamed journalists for the assaults from the police.
“Journalists should never, ever be part of a demonstrating mob,” he said. “You should always be on the side of law enforcement agents. And that is what is done internationally.” If protesters resort to violence, he added, journalists’ job “is to take pictures and not to be part of them.”
Mushohwe repeated his position despite the fact that video and photos have been circulating on social media showing police assaulting or chasing journalists and, in some instances, asking them to delete their work.
 
 
 

By Kennedy Nyavaya| Not so long ago, award-winning comedian Carl Joshua Ncube was entangled in a nasty social media spat with controversial businessman Wicknell Chivhayo where the latter flaunted his wealth and seemed the bigger man then.
Ncube is, however, having the last laugh after breaking the Guinness world record for staging the highest number of shows in a week, a feat which rubbishes Chivhayo’s demeaning assertions on the comedian.
The “self-made millionaire” early this year was quoted referring to the comedian as “poverty stricken” and a “small boy”. But Ncube has proven otherwise.
“If you are going to be successful you have to know that the level of haters you have is directly proportional to that of the success,” Ncube told The Standard Style on Tuesday.
Ncube said none of the rants from Chivhayo had stuck because he took them as compliments.
“To me it is more of a compliment than an insult and when you look at successful people they will tell you no one believed them in the beginning, so, I am proud that I have a similar story to tell now.”
Ironically, Chivhayo’s most “sensible comedian” Baba Tencen whom he gave R100 000 is said to have floundered at the Anne Kansiime show last month.
Meanwhile, Ncube who awaits official communication from the Guinness Book of Records expressed happiness over the accomplishment.
“There is nothing better than setting out to do something and achieving it in the end. I am excited although I did not get the time to celebrate much as I had to fly for a show in Uganda,” he said.
On what the big achievement could mean for the future of the local comedy sector, he said upcoming comedians should aim higher.
“Young people should not look up to me, but they should target me. I am only clearing the forest and younger comedians have a lot on their side, including age so this is like a precedence and they can look at it as an inspiration to reach greater heights,” he said.
This year, Ncube attempted to build a comedy dome in Victoria Falls, but he believes he can do so in the near future.
“Normally when people achieve something big they have a tendency of stopping there, but I think there is still more things I could do. I want to take comedy to the world and present it in different languages,” he said. – Standard

ZANU-PF Politburo member Professor Jonathan Moyo has dismissed as political fallacy allegations that Generation 40 (G40) is a political faction within the revolutionary party angling itself in the succession matrix.
Addressing journalists at the Bulawayo Press Club on Friday evening, Prof Moyo said G40 was not a faction but a purely demographic issue that seeks to describe the generation from where the political future of the country is expected to derive its shape.
He said it was laughable that if one was to ask those that call G40 a political faction within Zanu-PF who the members of the faction were they would say: “Professor Moyo, Kasukuwere (Saviour) and Zhuwao (Patrick).”
Prof Moyo further quizzed: “How can a political faction have three people?”
He said the myth that G40 was a political faction within Zanu-PF tussling to succeed President Mugabe with the alleged Lacoste faction was a product of successionists’ political imagination that has no place in modern day politics.
Prof Moyo, who is the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development and Tsholotsho North legislator said when he coined the term G40, in an article, he was far from making it a political faction.
He said the term was simply a generational term that spoke to the demographic structure and the essentiality of the age group 18 years to 40 years in determining the election outcome and the direction of the country’s politics.
Prof Moyo said it was absurd and “absolutely stupid” for anyone serious in politics to ignore the generation which comprises the 18 to 40 age group as it was an integral part of the voting constituency and the country’s demographic structure in general.
“G40 is a term that I introduced not to mean a political party faction as has been interpreted and reported. I introduced the term as a political scientist. In fact that is the vocation I am most comfortable with. I introduced it not under any political pressure from anyone. It is a generational term and it’s purely demographic. And if anyone does not look at it that way then they are stupid.
“Demographic issues ought to speak for themselves. It is a term that I arrived at after analysing the demographic structure and it showed that the elections are going to be decided by the G40,” said Prof Moyo.
 

Staff Reporter | In response to President Robert Mugabe’s attack on the country’s judiciary the ZLHR has issued the statement below. Addressing Zanu PF youths yesterday Mugabe warned judges who sanction demonstrations that enough is enough, “Our courts, our justice system, our judges should be the ones who understand even better than the ordinary citizens.”
UNWARRANTED ATTACKS ON THE JUDICIARY UNACCEPTABLE
ZIMBABWE Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) is deeply concerned by the recent attacks directed at the judiciary by the state-run Herald and Sunday Mail newspapers and identified public figures, which brazenly interferes with the independence and integrity of this arm of government.
In articles published in the Herald on Saturday 27 August 2016, titled “Time Zanu PF Used Its Two Thirds Majority” and on Monday 29 August 2016, titled “Whither Zimbabwe’s Judiciary?” as well as the Sunday Mail of Sunday 28 August 2016, titled “The duty of the four estates” – the state-controlled media has resumed its long-standing and relentless attacks on the judiciary.
The articles, amongst other things, unfairly and unlawfully criticise a recent court order handed down on Friday 26 August 2016 by a High Court judge who interdicted Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers from interfering with, obstructing or stopping a demonstration organised to demand significant electoral reforms by a coalition of legitimate political parties in the country in line with constitutionally guaranteed rights.
The comments and deliberate selection of words in these articles raise serious questions about the intentions of the media houses and those behind the writing and publication of the articles. Such statements are reckless and undermine the administration of justice and the independence and integrity of the judiciary. The pronouncements are inconsistent with the Constitution and cannot be said to be fair comment.
ZLHR considers such articles to be in contempt of court, unwarranted, calculated to bring the administration of justice into disrepute and designed to instill fear and reduce independence of mind and action of members of the judiciary.
Section 164 (1) of the Constitution provides that: “The courts are independent and are subject only to this Constitution and the law, which they must apply impartially, expeditiously and without fear, favour or prejudice”, while Section 164 (2) plainly provides that: “The independence, impartiality and effectiveness of the courts are central to the rule of law and democratic governance.”
As an organisation which strives to foster a culture of human rights and respect for constitutionalism, ZLHR:
1. Calls upon journalists and media houses to fairly and accurately report on judicial processes and refrain from incendiary and intimidating comment and/or opinion which is clearly calculated to interfere with the functions and independence of the judiciary and to intimidate judicial officers from executing their judicial duties without fear or favour;
2. Urges the government to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection of judges and to respect and defend the independence of the judiciary; and
3. Calls upon the Judicial Service Commission to promptly take appropriate action and stern measures against the unrestrained and direct attack, intimidation and contempt of its judicial officers by members of the executive and legislature.
ENDS
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has poured scorn over the latest rumours of his health, joking that he had died and was resurrected.
Mr Mugabe, 92, was arriving back in the country at the main airport in Harare and appeared jovial as he disembarked.
Flight data had suggested his plane was heading to East Asia but that it instead went to Dubai. Mr Mugabe said he had gone there for a family matter.
In May, Mr Mugabe’s wife, Grace, said that he would rule from the grave. The flight path and other rumours had led some to speculate that Mr Mugabe had suffered a serious health problem and had sought treatment in Dubai or had even succumbed to his illness.
But Reuters news agency said that on arriving at Harare Mr Mugabe had told reporters in the local Shona language: “I had gone on a family matter to Dubai concerning one of my children.
“Yes, I was dead, it’s true I was dead. I resurrected as I always do. Once I get back to my country I am real.” Mr Mugabe is expected to address a youth meeting later on Saturday.
He has been in power since 1980 and has said he will run again for office in 2018.
The country remains in political and economic turmoil, amid allegations of government corruption.
The capital saw a wave of protests last week, with dozens arrested. Police on Thursday banned demonstration in the capital for two weeks. Mr Mugabe has vowed to crack down on anti-government dissent. bbc

Beitbridge senator Tambudzani Mohadi, Zanu-PF Matabeleland South provincial chairperson Rabelani Choeni and a few villagers last week, in defiance of presidential directives, allegedly invaded Double O Ranch in Beitbridge.
The property is the only farm in Matabeleland South with a successful banana and tomato cultivation project funded by a loan from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Owner of the farm, George Watson (Jnr) confirmed that Mohadi, who is State Security minister Kembo Mohadi’s wife, Choeni, Amon Ndou and some villagers last Friday announced their takeover of the 2 000-hectare property.
“I was away in Chiredzi with my family when they came. My 70-year-old mother and some workers were at the farm,” said Watson.
“They physically pushed my mother aside and entered our house where they made a list of all our property. They instructed that nothing should be removed since everything now belonged to them.”
Mohadi and the invaders did not present an offer letter from the government.
The group, once stopped by Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko in 2014 after a similar raid, allegedly broke into the workshops before drawing a list of equipment and implements. They later declared that they were the new owners.
When contacted yesterday, Choeni said he does not speak to reporters he did not know.
“I don’t want to talk to you. What is your paper? I just don’t speak to any journalists,” he said.
Choeni has failed to develop a farm near Zhovhe Dam in Beitbridge that was allocated to him during the land reform programme.
Mohadi, who with her husband are not new to farm disputes, said she did not know anything about the invasion.
“Don’t you know that I have my own farm? I don’t know what you are talking about. Who is Watson? What are you talking about?” she asked.
The Mohadis, who own the Twin River Ranch lost a court battle to a relative Given Mbedzi from whom they tried to wrestle Zingwe Island, which is on Lot 9, Plot 1 of the Jompempi Block in Beitbridge.
Apart from a few cattle, there is no other meaningful production at Twin River Ranch, which has a failed citrus project.

Former vice-president Joice Mujuru drew thousands of people, including supporters of other opposition supporters to her inaugural rally in Mashonaland Central Province held in Zanu PF’s strong hold of Bindura.
University students and youths from the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC-T attended the rally that also had People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Tendai Biti as one of the speakers.
Addressing the rally, Mujuru said the economic crisis was a product of President Robert Mugabe’s politics of hate.
“Every time he speaks, he is fighting everyone. He is always shouting at western countries,” she said.
“Those people have pulled out their money, folded their hands and this is what has taken us where we are today.”
Zimbabwe is experiencing a serious economic meltdown due to capital flight and poor foreign direct investment inflows.
Opposition political parties and economists blame Mugabe for the decline, citing inconsistent policies and inability to stamp out corruption.
But the 92-year-old leader has relentlessly accused the west of sabotaging him in order to effect a regime change. He blames western countries’ restrictive measures for the economic collapse.
Mujuru said a country does not need enemies in order to develop economically. She said a Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) government would embrace every country for the purpose of economic development.
“I believe every country can contribute to our economy in its own way for the good of our people,” she said.
She said there was need for the country to change its agricultural policy in order to grow the economy as well as empower rural communities whose lives have been depending on the sector.
The former VP also claimed that during her years in government as Mugabe’s deputy, she initiated several developmental projects which were sabotaged by fellow government ministers who viewed them as political projects to earn her political mileage for succession purposes.
She also warned her party supporters to be vigilant to avoid being infiltrated by Zanu PF.
Mujuru said she delayed coming to address in her home province because she did not want to have her supporters victimised by Zanu PF members as Mashonaland Central has become notorious for harbouring political thugs.
Several ZimPF supporters who fell victim to political violence after they were beaten or had their homes torched by suspected Zanu PF supporters, were paraded during the rally.
Suspected Zanu PF supporters were yesterday reportedly mounting roadblocks and forcing back some vehicles carrying ZimPF supporters to Mujuru’s rally.
Meanwhile, Biti said Mujuru’s entry into opposition politics was a blessing because it now gives the opposing forces the liberation war flavour that they lacked in previous elections.
He said opposition parties had failed in their quest to unseat Mugabe because they lacked the liberation war history.
“Most of us are born frees. We did not have the liberation pillar to lean on,” Biti said.
“With Mujuru the past and the present equals the future. With the show of unity among opposition parties victory is now certain.”
The former Finance minister brought along several PDP officials, including Solomon Madzore and Evelyn Masaiti.
Other ZimPF officials that attended the rally included, Rugare Gumbo, Dzikamai Mavhaire and Didymus Mutasa. standard

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe yesterday lashed out at the country’s judges for allowing demonstrations against his government by opposition parties and pro-democracy groups, saying there was a broader plot to topple liberation movements in the region.
The 92-year-old leader spoke in the wake of intensifying protests against his rule and claimed the opposition had been given huge sums of money to destabilise his government.
Mugabe, fresh from a secretive trip to Dubai, was addressing Zanu PF youth league national assembly meeting in Harare where he issued a chilling warning against judges that allow citizens to exercise their rights to protest against the government.
Mugabe’s rant came two days after police banned all demonstrations in the capital through Statutory Instrument 101a of 2016 issued by officer commanding Harare central district chief superintendent Newbert Saunyama, which the opposition parties are now challenging in the courts.
“We are happy that you [Zanu PF youths] have managed to restrain yourselves in the face of real provocation by the so-called protesters who have committed acts of violence,” he said.
“We can’t allow that to continue unimpeded. Enough is enough.
“I would want to say, we all as people of Zimbabwe, have a duty and obligation to ensure that there is peace,” Mugabe added, warning protesters against destruction of property.
Mugabe then launched a tirade against judges for passing judgments that allow protesters to proceed with demonstrations in the face of sanctions.
“Our courts and judges should understand it even better. They dare not be negligent in their decisions as requests are made by people who would want to demonstrate.
“Surely, they can take note of the fact that the mission is clear and deliberate towards causing violence,” he said.
“Four or two days ago there was violence and to grant permissions again thereafter when there is a probability of violence, is to pay reckless regard to the tenet of peace in the country. We hope they have learnt their lesson.”
Mugabe added that the country’s opposition,using funds from Western governments, was on a “destabilisation mood”.
“They want to make the country ungovernable. They want to push their undemocratic agenda to remove a constitutionally elected government.
“They want elections now but what’s wrong with 2018 when they are due?
“Even if they were to be held now, would they win?” Mugabe.
The veteran ruler claimed there was a broad opposition agenda funded by the west to destabilise southern Africa, “especially countries governed by former liberation movements”.
“Their masters are providing huge sums of cash to provoke conflict and instability in the region,” he said.
“Their aim is to replace liberation movements with pliant puppet regimes that pander to their needs because they have realised our people-oriented policies are a threat to their economic interests.
“The Zanu PF government will not be derailed by sideshows being pushed by spineless opposition parties. They have failed in the past 36 years.”
Zanu PF Youth League National Commissar Innocent Hamandishe in his address to Mugabe as part of a thematic committee on the state of the country had indicated the ruling party would crush future demonstrations.
“We have noted with concern the recent demonstrations and want to tell you that no protests will succeed in removing you from power,” he said.
“We, as the youth league, are now on standby and next time there is any such demonstration, we will take the law into our own hands to defend the party.”
At the turn of the century when opposition to his rule grew and the country’s judges passed adverse rulings against his party, in particular, the violent land expropriation, Mugabe used the same tactic, including war veterans who stormed the courts.
The move caused chaos within the judiciary, leading to the resignation and forced removal of respected judges at the time. The Standard

Boarding a plane remains a dream for many Zimbabweans but for a local politician and businessman, Kenneth Musanhi, owning one is the ultimate dream, one he has just realised. The Zanu-PF legislator for Bindura North recently coughed up close to US$890 000 for an aircraft at an auction in Harare.
 
He joins the “big boys league”, asserting himself as one of the richest people in the country.
The legislator confirmed buying the 12-seater Cessna 208 Caravan which once belonged to Mbada Diamonds.
 
The diamond company lost the plane after its creditor — Pungwe Mining — won a High Court order to recover a debt.
 
“It’s not a jet as people are saying, it’s a caravan. The plane was bought by one of my companies called CATS, it’s not me who bought it in my personal capacity,” said the legislator, refusing to shed more light.
 
Central Air Transport Service (CATS), formerly United Air Charter, is part of Mr Musanhi’s KSM business empire. state media

Following a well written script which has seen the state unleash its terror on opposition leaders and their supporters, the ruling Zanu PF party has accused the main opposition party led by Morgan Tsvangirai the MDC, of training terrorists.
This is not the first time such charges have been made against opposition leaders, Tsvangirai himself escaped the guillotine narrowly after he had been charged with treason, standing accused of plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe. Other opponents to Mugabe’s regime who went through similar torrid times, include the late liberation icon Joshua Nkomo, opposition leader Ndabaningi Sithole and other opposition figures.
Consequently, it comes as no surprise that under pressure Mugabe’s regime which is faced with imminent collapse, now says it has proof Tsvangirai is training bandits, again giving it leeway to wantonly harass and persecute innocent opposition members.
The signs of a government in panic mode are clear after the gazetting of Statutory Instrument 101a of 2016, which effectively banned all demonstrations for two weeks, a move some groups which include #Tajamuka are set to defy.
The state media claims that the opposition MDC-T began plotting to destabilise Zimbabwe in July 2016 and had members of its youth wing trained in paramilitary tactics and urban violence outside the country. Further, authorities are compiling a database of “career demonstrators” involved in destabilisation efforts over the months and will either apprehend or rehabilitate them.
The government mouth piece goes further to claim that information gathered suggests senior MDC-T figures began plotting in July when shadowy elements, going by the hashtags “tajamuka” and “thisflag” sparked civil disturbances in Harare, Bulawayo and Beitbridge, threatening to make the opposition party a sideshow.
It is believed MDC-T hawks, faced with irrelevance and donor fatigue, started planning civil disobedience and sent youths for training in certain African countries (names supplied). These groups were deployed last week to unleash unprecedented violence in Harare’s central business district.
The weekend reports by the state media also claims that they witnessed how some of them hid bricks and stones in lunch boxes, milled around intersections “innocently” and then attacked unsuspecting police officers. The “protesters” also used catapults.
At First Street Police Post in Harare, officers had to retreat after an opposition activist tossed a teargas canister into their station. Home Affairs Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo told this paper that information at hand indicates the attackers had been trained.
“There is intelligence which we are gathering, and indications are that these people have been trained outside Zimbabwe to carry out these acts. In due time, we will expose what they have been doing behind the scenes leading up to these protests because a lot has been happening.
“As President Mugabe correctly alluded to in his speech on (Friday), these people are plotting an ‘Arab Spring’ strategy to remove the sitting Government of Zanu-PF. “They really think they have gone a gear up, but it will not work here. We are aware of these opposition leaders who are leading these acts and very soon, they are going to be made to account for their deeds.”
Last week, Home Affairs Deputy Minister Obedingwa Mguni told the National Assembly that culprits would be brought to book and then rehabilitated. He was responding to a question from Chegutu West MP Dexter Nduna (Zanu-PF).
Mguni said, “Unfortunately Honourable Nduna, we cannot fully reveal the steps that we are taking, but I will try to partially answer your question. We have a very strong intelligence section that is gathering all the data (of career demonstrators) that you are concerned about.
“We are now advanced because some people need rehabilitation. We are not only arresting people, but we have gone a step further and now go out to visit such people and rehabilitate them so that they fit well into the society. We do not want people who endanger other people’s lives.”
In an interview with The Sunday Mail afterwards, Deputy Minister Mguni said: “I cannot reveal details about our intelligence operations. But what we are doing is gathering information to bring these people who are organising these protests down.
“We have noticed over the week that these demonstrations have now turned criminal to the effect that they have become avenues for looting, arson and other criminal activities that are not related to peaceful demonstrations.
“So, what I told Parliament was we are using our intelligence infrastructure to detect people at the forefront of organising these activities and bring them to book.” And a Government official who preferred anonymity said the judiciary should be wary of elements who wanted to use the courts orders to unleash terror.
“Eyebrows are being raised over some of these judgments (allowing protests to go ahead), and there is serious worry that there could be something amiss in the Judiciary. “It does not make legal sense for the protesters to be granted the right to protest when there is clear evidence each time they have been granted that right, they have gone on to unleash violence. Corrective action will have to be taken.”
Another said, “On Wednesday, there was a lot of chaos and violence as the MDC-T youths ran riot in the CBD. Surely this should have informed the decision on the next application that the opposition would make for a ‘peaceful demonstration and march’.
“In my view, there were several compelling reasons to suspend the ‘protests’. There was the Agricultural Show where many people, including children, were gathered, and a very senior foreign dignitary was visiting the country and the Show. Children are on holiday, and there are queues at banks. So we have a lot of people in town. Most important was the precedent set on Wednesday when thugs burnt cars and raided retailers.”
Security sources told The Sunday Mail that the “protests” had been backed with Western money, some of which is being channeled to give free legal representation to those arrested.
The sources said the protests were tailored to portray Zimbabwe in bad light during the Ticad Summit in Kenya, this week’s Sadc Summit of Heads of State and Government in Swaziland and the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The United States and Canadian embassies in Harare blew their cover when they openly supported the riots, while so-called Group of Elders members Mr Kofi Annan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Ms Graca Machel called for a “transition in Zimbabwe”. Sunday Mail

THE Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority is dangling a discounted USc4 tariff for mining companies during off-peak periods to relieve pressure on the national grid and help miners increase production.
Mining firms, which are among the major consumers of electricity, have been pressuring the power utility to reduce tariffs as they struggle with low commodity prices on international markets.
The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe is lobbying for electricity charges levied on miners to be cut to USc7 per kilowatt hour from current USc9/kWh during peak periods.
But Zesa wants miners to take advantage of even lower off-peak rates. Demand for electricity usually peaks between 6am and 10am, and 5pm and 8pm.
Zesa spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira told The Sunday Mail Business that the USc4 tariff was targeted mainly at large-scale miners.
“Since December 2015, (the Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company, a unit of Zesa) has managed to stabilise power supplies in the national power grid to maximise production of miners. Coupled with steady supplies of imports, those consumers did not encounter inconveniences associated with loss of production time. ZETDC has also intensified demand side management and energy efficiency measures for farmers and miners to contain their tariffs.
“Large-scale miners having been given the option of time of use tariff where they are charged USc4 per kilowatt hour during off-peak times and all categories of miners are still at an average peak tariff of USc9,06 per kilowatt hour,” said Mr Gwasira.
Dedicated power supplies
Though the USc4 tariff is considered attractive, the Chamber of Mines says mines prefer expensive dedicated power lines — charged at US14c — since they are reliable.
Chamber of Mines economist Mr Pardon Chitsuro said last week dedicated lines effectively made mining houses immune to load shedding.
“Some large miners are using that rate of USc4 per kilowatt hour, which is very cheap and encouraging to boost their production levels. However, most mines usually prefer dedicated lines of power supply which are close to USc13 per kilowatt hour as they are always available.
“Dedicated lines are always preferred in the mining sector as far as power supply is concerned; even when there are power shortages they won’t suffer the effects load shedding as they are exempted due to the higher tariffs they pay,” explained Mr Chitsuro.
The mining sector requires about 120MW to operate viably. But should planned US$3,8 billion investment in mining be achieved by 2020, demand will soar to 210MW.
Power shortages have been weighing on production.
Metallon Corporation’s production update for the quarter ended June 30, 2016, showed that Zimbabwe’s biggest producer of the yellow metal lost 112 hours of production, which equates to 48kg of gold or 1 700 ounces.
The company reportedly lost more than 169kg of gold (5 975oz) in the first half of the year.
Lobbying for tariff reductions by mining companies is not peculiar to Zimbabwe and has become common in other resource-rich countries reeling from falling commodity prices.
The National Regulatory Authority of South Africa last year approved a 9,4 percent increase in tariffs for 2016 to 2017 despite spirited efforts by miners to discourage the move. On January 1, 2016, Zambia’s government increased tariffs for mining companies to USc10/kWh.
But increases for commercial and industrial customers were reversed on February 6. Zambia imports electricity at USc19/kWh.
Before the increase, Zambian mining companies had filed a lawsuit against the proposed increases and the case is before the Lusaka High Court.
Zambian mines consume about half of the country’s power output. The country has capacity to generate more than 2 200MW.
Like Zambia, Zimbabwe imports power to meet demand.
With a decline in output at Kariba South Hydro Power Station, which has for long been the country’s workhorse producing 750MW, the Zimbabwe Power Company, another Zesa unit, has been buying electricity from South Africa’s Eskom and Mozambique’s HCB.
Price headaches
Miners point to subdued commodity prices as their main reason for opposing tariff hikes.
The prices of many commodities bottomed out this year as growth in China, the world’s biggest consumer of minerals, slowed.
Market watchers are generally cautious of prices going forward.
But commodity prices are no longer moving in concert as most metal prices are now reacting differently to demand and supply forces. For example, platinum and gold prices have been showing signs of recovery relative to other minerals.
At the beginning of the year, the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe had projected mineral revenues would drop by US$50 million to US$1,8 billion in 2016 from US$1,85 billion realised in 2015.

Ponzi Scheme |How are you Editor, your article on thousands lose money to ponzi scheme is erroneous, misleading and a copy and paste from the Herald, which I think is unethical.
Pinda mutown izvozvi uone munhu aripamabanks izvozvi! What are they saying? At CABS just Opposite Herald yacho yesterday we were over 1000 and only 60 vanhu vakapiwa mari did they write anything about that???? Nhasi ndopavanoti MMM hee this and that ! Did they ever warn us that you it is now risk to work for the government cause you risk not get paid did they warn us that if we deposit our monies the bank will one day fail to give us our deposits which they promised to keep safe?.?? More so they are profit making entities unlike MMM❗Why mr Reporter are not telling people that banks have no money so that people dont waste the little they have comming to the empty banks❓???? Is it not news❓?????? Why Mr reporter are you so glad to report MMM now that it is facing a challenge where were you when people were being rewarded❓???? I would like to give🏨 Herald my petition that after 15 September it must report that MMM is now changing the world for Sure! ❗❗❗
[12:57 PM, 9/3/2016] +263 77 524 7140: WHEN THEY CALL IT A SCAM, SHARE THIS WITH THEM
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
Is MMM really a scam?
Is it a scam to have a system that brings a community of people together that financially help one another, willfully, without being forced?
Is it a scam to have a system that creates a platform for individuals to combat poverty at its core?
We always say fighting poverty is a collective effort; Now instead of people stealing, cheating or robbing they join their hands in good heart to provide financial help to one another, is that scamming really?
Is it a scam to see families that couldn’t afford to bring food on the table now able because of the financial help they have received from other nembers?
Is it a scam to see students who couldn’t afford to have pocket money and monthly allowances in tertiary institutions now able to afford because of MMM?
Is it a scam to see entrepreneurs rising from the capital money raised through MMM and in return they contribute to the economic growth of this country and create employment to thousands?
I will tell you what a scam is?
🔹A real scam is to hinder people to their financial freedom yet encourage them to keep borrowing from your system so that they work for you and pay the rest of their lives if they live that long…
🔹A real scam is to have someone work 40 years of his/her life and after retirement that person must take the fruit of his/her years of hard labour and pay the debts and bonds that refused to end because of ever increasing interest rates.
🔹A scam is when your bank sends you an sms alert to inform you that you have earned #0. 50 on your money, and later charge you #4. 00 on the sms alert. Your bank also charges you exorbitantly every month on something you know nothing about ; and there’s nothing you can do other than to keep quiet because you have no choice.
🔹A scam is when your mobile network provider charges you on the service you never make a request for (caller tunes, news updates, etc)
🔹Working for a government and being paid the same salary as when 1 Dollar was N165 till now is a scam.
🔹Working for government for years without promotion is a scam.
🔹Working for so long and just getting a sack letter or retiring broke and in debt is a scam.
🔹Serving your country for one year and crying to get a job is a scam.
🔹Not being paid salaries for 5 months or more is a SCAM.
🔹Not being able to transfer your job to your children is a SCAM.
🔹Spending 6 years in Primary school, 6 years in Secondary School, 4, 5, 6 years in Higher Institution, 1 year Internship (for some) 1year of NYSC and at the end you still roam about looking for non-existing job is the REAL Scam.
Meanwhile someone somewhere is enjoying financial freedom, making millions, driving brand new cars etc all in joining MMM without submitting CV, NYSC discharge Certificate etc….and people still say it’s a scam?
Is it therefore a scam to have a system that produces people that can afford to buy a house they could have paid for 20 years in cash had such a system not been introduced?
Is MMM a scam? You can make your own judgment as to who a real scammer is.
Please share this message everywhere, the world needs to hear it.
Together We Change our lives n Zimbabwe
Prepared by MMM 10+ guider Leadmore

Staff Reporter | The urgent application to interdict the police from interfering with independent candidate Temba Mliswa’s rally in Norton today was granted by the High Court.
Mliswa’s victory comes as the Zanu PF Mashonaland West provincial chairman and aspiring Norton constituency candidate, called on leading figures in the former freedom fighters community to wrest the seat from the ruling party.
Mliswa told journalists recently that he had solicited support from Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association (ZNLWVA)secretary-general Victor Matemadanda and former chairman Jabulani Sibanda as he prepares to launch a door-door campaign at the weekend.
“It is true. I have asked Matemadanda and Sibanda to help me because we cannot separate it from the liberation struggle. It is also important that they speak on the next course of action and Zimbabweans want to reclaim the country they have always wished for and deserve from Zanu PF.
“With what is going on, it is important that the freedom fighters speak to the people,” Mliswa said.
War veterans have broken ranks with Zanu PF and the relationship between the party and the former freedom fighters hit an all-time low following the release of a scathing communiqué urging President Robert Mugabe to resign.
Sibanda was fired from Zanu PF as part of the purge that swept away former Vice-President Joice Mujuru and a host of her supporters or alleged sympathisers beginning in 2014, with tremors still being felt to this day.
Matemadanda was not reachable yesterday, while Sibanda was not willing to comment, but Mliswa insisted they had given “a commitment to attend”.
Mliswa, in his main poster for the October 22 by-election called to fill the vacancy left following the axing of former Cabinet minister and ZNLWVA chairman Christopher Mutsvangwa, has also invoked liberation war icons Josiah Tongogara and Alfred Nikita Mangena with their pictures prominent. The former Hurungwe West MP said Zimbabwe’s first and second Chimurenga heroes would frown at what the country had become under Zanu PF.
“It is important to remind our leaders when they are going astray that the struggle was not about them, but the people. We need to remind them of the values the likes of Tongogara, Nikita Mangena and Mbuya Nehanda died for,” he said.
“The struggle was about multi-party democracy. This is a reminder to the powers-that-be that even in death national heroes like Tongogara and Mangena are watching and would frown at what they see.”
Tongogara and Mangena were revered commanders of the liberation struggle, while Nehanda, whose picture with Sekuru Kaguvi also adorns Mliswa’s poster, was hanged alongside Kaguvi for leading the first anti-colonial struggle at the end of the 19th century. Newsday

Staff Reporter | The United States government has just issued the brother of missing activist Itai Dzamara, Patson, with a visa to join now exiled Pastor Evan Mawarire in anti-President Robert Mugabe protests at the United Nations.
Mawarire who led the first successful national mass action against Mugabe’s regime fled the country citing state harrassment and that Zanu PF militia threatened to rape his wife. Mugabe who was rumoured to have died, appeared this morning, not his usual feisty self and still not able to explain to a skeptical nation his sudden disappearance, is expected to attend next week the next United Nations General Assembly. It has become custom for the 92 year old leader to use UN events to vent his anger against western powers and opposition from home against his rule. This time round the man other dictators love to love, has much waiting for him as Zimbabweans converge on President Barack Obama’s land to tell him enough is enough.
Zimbabwean activists will haunt him in what is now dubbed #ShutDown New York, similar to the ongoing protests actions in Zimbabwe which have shaken Mugabe’s rule.
However, speculation is rife as to whether Dzamara will return to Zimbabwe or decide to join the millions of Zimbabwe’s Diaspora, including Mawarire who decided to stay out.
Dzamara on his way to the USA for mega demo with Evan Mawarire.
Missing Itai Dzamara’s brother, Patson, is heading to America. He is in South Africa at present where he has given several interviews to news outlets.
Dzamara is one of the speakers at a mega demonstration planned for New York at the United Nations.
Zimbabweans hope to shame President Mugabe who has ruined the country for decades.
Dzamara follows the path taken by Pastor Evan Mawarire who fled to the USA via South Africa. He is not coming back.
It is not clear if Dzamara will return but those in the know say Dzamara will return as he continues to push for answers for his missing brother.

OPPOSITION parties under the banner of the National Electoral Reform Agenda (Nera) have launched a court battle against Statutory Instrument 101a of 2016, which banned protests in Harare for two weeks.
The legal instrument, which expires on September 16, put paid to yesterday’s planned mega demo, but Nera, a grouping of 18 opposition political parties coming together to fight for electoral reforms ahead of the 2018 general elections, yesterday made an urgent High Court chamber application challenging the ban.
Nera head of legal affairs, Douglas Mwonzora said the opposition parties are represented by People’s Democratic Party leader, Tendai Biti.
Although constitutional lawyer, Lovemore Madhuku said it was within government’s power to ban the protests, Mwonzora argued the statutory instrument violated the Constitution because protesting was a basic human right, that falls under the Bill of Rights and any piece of legislation taking away the rights was ultra vires (beyond the legal power or authority of) the charter.
“The power to issue a statutory instrument rests in a government minister, not an officer of the police. How can an officer commanding a district make law? This not constitutional,” Mwonzora said.
The statutory instrument was issued by the officer commanding Harare central district, Chief Superintendent Newbert Saunyama, who had earlier on blocked, for the second consecutive time, Nera’s request to hold a demonstration.
Mwonzora, the MDC-T secretary-general, said they had decided to challenge the ban because the reason they wanted to protest was to file a petition with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
The ban on protesting in Harare means Nera cannot petition the electoral body.
MDC-T spokesperson, Obert Gutu said the government was now desperate, as its “end is nigh”.
He said the ban was synonymous to a subtle state of emergency and showed that government was panicking, with the ever increasing voices of dissent.
“Protesting is a human right and should not be violated. The ban shows that the regime is running scared of the people,” Gutu said.
Transform Zimbabwe leader Jacob Ngarivhume said: “The ban is because the demonstrations are gathering momentum everyday. They are getting stronger and stronger. The Nera demo sent the most shock waves. They are scared, hence, the reaction.”
But political analyst, Alexander Rusero said there were two sides to consider concerning the statutory instrument.
“Morally, it may sound correct for the government to impose a ban, given that its mandate is to ensure law and order and ensure the security of the entire citizenry, as well as their property. So if you follow up the recent protests, they, to some extent, were hijacked by thugs, seizing the opportunity to loot, steal and damage property,” he said.
“However, there was need by the police to exhibit brilliance and professionalism in trying to separate peaceful protesters from hooligans and thieves rather than impose a blanket ban. A few malcontents, who hijacked the protests, are the ones who should be brought to book.
“In between a period of elections, peaceful protests are the only language citizens may use to relay grievances to the government and banning them is not only politically misguided, but exposes the government.
“Whereas violence and destruction of property may not be condoned, a government that infringes on fundamental human rights enshrined in a Constitution it purports to adhere to signals confusion, cluelessness and incompetence on comprehension of the rule of the law.” newsday

Zimbabwean activist Stern Zvorwadza has vowed to defy the ban imposed on all protests in the capital Harare, saying a mother of all demonstrations was planned for Monday, News24 reported.
Speaking to News24 on Friday, Zvorwadza said that Zimbabweans who were protesting against President Robert Mugabe’s government were ready for a massive but peaceful demonstration in Harare.
He said  the protest would mark an end to the ongoing abuses by the police.
“On Monday we are going to stage the mother of all protests in the capital Harare. The police can do what they have been doing in the past, but we would not be shaken. I would rather die than be told what I can or not do,” said Zvorwadza.
Zimbabwean police on Thursday issued a ban on all protests in the capital for the next two weeks.
The notice cited a lack of manpower to prevent disorder. It said that demonstrations would only be allowed after September 16.
Future of generations
The notice also stated that anyone taking part in protests before then, could be imprisoned for up to a year.
Harare has been rocked by weeks of near-daily protests over a plummeting economy, allegations of corruption and Mugabe’s decades-long rule.
Police have often used tear gas, water cannons and open violence to crush the demonstrations.
Zvorwadza also took a swipe at government officials, who labelled as terrorists all those protesting against Mugabe’s regime. He said it was unfortunate that those in authority only cared about their comfort at the expense of millions of the poor in Zimbabwe.
“The ministers who are calling us terrorists are losers, because we know that we represent peace. They have murdered people for which some have just disappeared without a trace. Where is Itai Dzamara? So they must first clean themselves before labelling us terrorists.
“They are the terrorists that work for a mafia that has murdered people mercilessly while we are fighting for a better future for generations to come,” he said.

Government has adopted a “no work, no pay” approach against civil servants who participate in demonstrations to push for a better living.
State media reports that this means any civil servant who participates in illegal industrial actions will not be paid for the duration of the absence. Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira issued the warning at the handover of farming implements — including tractors, ploughs and planters — among others to Portlet Estates cooperative in Makonde yesterday.
Minister Mupfumira said civil servants should not be used by detractors to destabilise the country.
“We expect civil servants to work hard. Be warned that as Government, we will not be as lenient with you civil servants as last time when you participated in an illegal stayaway and did not turn up for work,” she said.
“You are warned that next time it is going to be no-work-no pay for all civil servants who participate in illegal stayaways.”
She said labour dispute resolution mechanisms needed to be exhausted before any industrial action could be undertaken.
Industrial action, she said, was every worker’s right according to Article 65, but only when a deadlock persisted after three meetings of the Apex Council and Government.
She said detractors bent on destabilising the country would influence civil servants to participate in illegal industrial action but would not be there when the same workers faced the consequences.
“Do not be misled because the people who influence you to participate in illegal demonstrations and stayaways will not be there when you and your families have to face the music alone,” she said.
Government workers, Minister Mupfumira said, should not be quick to embark on industrial action over salary delays of between a week or two saying some workers in the private sector were going for months without being paid.
She said punitive sanctions by the West had constrained the fiscal space but Government was trying its best to ensure its workers were paid.

This, she said included bonuses which had since been shelved in the private sector.
Zimbabwe has seen a wave of anarchy disguised as “peaceful demonstrations” orchestrated by opposition players, which Government said were aimed at destabilising the country.
This has prompted Government adopt Statutory Instrument 101, which prohibits any demonstrations in and around Harare CBD for the next two weeks.
Turning to command agriculture, Minister Mupfumira said lax monitoring and mentoring programmes for farmers should be attended to urgently for the success of the programme.
She said extension and technical services needed to be scaled up.
“Agritex should take a leading role in ensuring that Command Agriculture is a success. We have seen over the years that extension service are not as robust and available as in years gone by,” she said.
“Extension workers should exercise due
 
No work, no pay for strikers: Govt diligence in selecting people to take part in the programme. To people who are not into farming five tonnes per hectare is a small figure but it is more than the national average by far. This calls for serious people.”
She said the selection process should be strictly on merit and Agritex needed to ensure tight supervision of how the inputs availed by Government were used.
Agritex expertise, she said was needed now more than ever as the country took steps to ensure food security.
“Agritex extension workers should take stock on why farmers are not managing more than one tonne per hectare so that where people need to be taught they get the service,” she said.
A cocktail of early mobilisation of resources by Government before the onset of the rains and maximum utilisation of water harvested in dams for irrigation, would guarantee success, she said.
Portlet Estates cooperative has 83 members and is targeting 249 hectares for maize production this season.
Makonde legislator Cde Kindness Paradza attended the ceremony while Minister of State for Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs Cde Faber Chidarikire was represented by director in his office, Mr Jim Kadziya. state media

As the Zanu PF succession battles rages on, the two main party wings which will be decisive, in deciding President Robert Mugabe’s successor, hold crucial meetings, the youth and women’s wings.
The Zanu-PF Youth League is meeting today in Harare to discuss the state of the party and the country’s economic situation. The meeting is in fulfilment of the party’s constitution that requires the youth wing to meet at least twice a year and would be addressed by President Mugabe in his official capacity as the party’s First Secretary and President. Zanu-PF deputy secretary for Youth Affairs Kudzai Chipanga yesterday confirmed the meeting.
He said delegates to the meeting were members serving at provincial and national levels of the party’s youth wing.
“We are going to discuss several issues and among them is the issue of the state of the party, issues to do with discipline, social issues and the economic situation in the party and the country,” he said.
“This is our first national assembly meeting for this year and we hope to have another one before the end of the year.
“This particular meeting was scheduled for the month end of August, but we have to postpone it due to other commitments.”
On the women quota in the presidium Chipanga said: “We have not deliberated on that matter as the Youth League. Possibly, there might be individual members in the league who may have their personal views in that regard, but as the Youth League, we have not discussed it and it is not on our agenda. That issue was raised by the Women’s League during the Victoria Falls conference.”
Chipanga said all was in place for the high profile meeting that would define the direction of the party’s youth wing.
The Youth and Women’s leagues are critical arms of the revolutionary party.
Zanu-PF has come up with a number of initiatives to empower the youths. The party, through the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, has allocated residential stands to the young people in various towns.
So far youths in Harare, Bulawayo and Masvingo have already benefited from the residential stands and plans are afoot to expand the programme to other cities and towns.
The party is also making concerted efforts to ensure that the youths are incorporated into national projects such as road construction. state media

A BULAWAYO man is on the run after he allegedly blew $45 000 belonging to his employer.
Samuel Moyo, who is now on the police wanted list, was employed as a manager at Rubicon Drilling in Bulawayo’s Belmont industrial area.
Police have since launched a manhunt for the fraudster who allegedly committed the crime three months ago.
Acting Bulawayo police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Abednico Ncube said they are appealing for information leading to Moyo’s arrest.
“We are appealing for information that may assist us to locate and subsequently arrest Samuel Moyo who is wanted in connection with a case of fraud which occurred on June 20, 2016. He was employed as a manager at Rubicon Drilling Company when he converted $45 000 to his own use,” he said.
Asst Insp Ncube urged members of the public with information on Moyo’s whereabouts to contact the officer in charge of Donnington Police Station Insp Khanye on (09) 468520 or the investigating officer Constable Absolom Chigamba on (09) 474005 or 0713673398 or alternatively visit any nearest police station.

Moyo is tall, slim and brown in complexion and his last known address is Number 32A Percy Avenue, Hillside suburb in Bulawayo.

Two weeks ago, a driver from a tile and carpet company in Gweru also vanished with $26 000 he had collected from the company’s branches outside the city.
Privilege Chipangura (31), who is also wanted by police, dumped the company vehicle in Gweru’s Central Business District and was not seen again after he committed the crime.
Chipangura of Mambo suburb in Gweru was sent to Kwekwe and Kadoma on August 18 to collect money from the company’s branches.
It is said that Chipangura was on August 18 handed $14 000 by the company’s Kadoma branch manager and $12 000 by the Kwekwe branch manager and he allegedly proceeded to Gweru and never surrendered the money.
After failing to report back for work, the company, using a vehicle tracking system, recovered the car which Chipangura had dumped in Gweru’s CBD. state media

Terrence Mawawa | Masvingo | As the country’s political temperature continues to rise, a house belonging to a senior MDC official was torched by suspected Zanu PF youths last week.
MDC Provincial Youth Assembly chairperson, Philiph Chingini lost property worth $9000 after his grass-thatched house was torched by suspected Zanu PF youths infuriated by his role in the protests against President Robert Mugabe’s government.
The incident happened in Zimano Village, Nerupiri area in Gutu District. It is understood that suspected Zanu PF youths torched his house as a way of punishing him for playing an active role in the demonstrations taking place across the country. Mugabe, whose whereabouts have remained a mystery, is under pressure to step down following more than three decades in power. Chingini told ZimEye.com the incident happened around midnight when his 13 year-old daughter was alone at home. “My daugther was alone and fast asleep when she heard the sound of footsteps at the kitchen door. She then heard loud knocks at the bedroom door. The arsonists then torched my house and stole four goats and 16 hens from my fowl run. I am sure this was done by Zanu PF youths after I successfully organised an MDC demonstration in Masvingo,” said Chingini. MDC Provincial Treasurer Takanayi Mureyi said the incident was tragic and unfortunate. “There is no doubt Zanu PF youths torched Chingini’s house.Violence has no place in our society,” said Chingini. In 2008 houses belonging to opposition supporters, mainly MDC members, were torched by members of the Zanu PF youth militia. Opposition supporters were killed, tortured and maimed during the brutal presidential election run-off campaign.

A haulage truck carrying Delta Beverage’s mahewu products, overturned at Kelvin and Cripps road in Graniteside, Harare early Friday morning.
It was reportedly coming from Sunnningdale direction and overturned after the driver allegedly failed to negotiate a corner.
Witnesses told NewsDay that passerbys had to jump into the truck to rescue the trapped driver and switch off the engine of the truck which was now lying on its side.
The injured driver was rushed to hospital.
“People had to come inside to drag him out as he was unable to move. His head must have hit the walls of the truck and his leg broke,” said a witnesses.
“I think the truck was over loaded and there was too much weight on the left side because he wasn’t even speeding.”
He added: “Luckily he had his seatbelt on, because if he hadn’t he could have died. “ newsday

The First Lady Grace Mugabe has been implicated in a dirty club scheme which involves Zimbabwe Republic Police bosses, ZimEye can exclusively reveal.
ZimEye.com exposes Mugabe’s links to Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri’s wife, Isabel.
Mugabe has found herself embroiled in the scandal involving the Kuyedza Women’s Club which was notoriously set up by Chihuri’s wife, Isabel. It is used to swindle poor ZRP cops of their hard earned salaries as they are forced to buy traditional materials locally known as maZambia.

ZimEye reveals the below in a shocking account
Morale in the ZRP has hit an all time low within the rank and file.
Last week a radio was sent from Police General Headquarters in which a
directive was made to all male officers to purchase a piece of cloth
inscribed with ZRP logo and letters KWC which stands for Kuyedza
Women’s Club. The cloth popularly known as a zambia in Zimbabwe is
being forced on the male officers at a cost of $50 though it is worth
less than $5.
Kuwadza Women’s Club was formed by wife of Commissioner General
Chihuri and is allegedly linked to the First Lady. The directive to
officers is not in line with the Police Act and has led to serious
disgruntlement of police officers as they feel that it erodes their
meagre salaries. An Assistant Inspector whose identity is withheld
fumed that such a directive is ultra vires the Police Act and is
imposed against their will. The zambia cloth is being said to be
bought for wives of male police officers. There 40 000 male police
officers in the country which implies this directive will raise $2 000
000 for Mrs Chihuri and her links. The pieces of cloth will be have
already been sent to most police stations. He also mentioned that most
police officers are against beating citizens but they have no option
as they take orders from superiors in their line if duty. There is no
laid down procedures for lower ranked officers to register their
grievances. Failure to purchase the zambia will be construed as gross
indiscipline.
 
 

Staff Reporter| Two reasonably innocent street vendors in Gwanda were on Thursday arrested by plain cloth police for picking up a NERA demonstration flyer and giving it to other vendors to read.
The two vendors, Leonard Ndlovu and Oscar Zhou have been in police custody since Thursday morning and due to appear in court this morning.
According to human rights advocacy organisation Restoration Of Human Rights Matabeleland South Spokesperson Norman Mudadisi, the two vendors picked up a flyer which had been thrown from a moving vehicle, read the flyer before giving it to other vendors to also read.
Plain cloth police officers who were within the vicinity quickly apprehended the other vendors who were reading the flyer.
The two then intervened in the fracas telling the police officers to produce identity cards that could prove that they were indeed police officers before demanding for the release of the other vendors confessing to have given the flyer to them.
The police then arrested the two and charged them for inciting public violence by sharing the flyer and for obstructing the course of justice by “interfering with the duties of the police.”
According to Mudadisi, ROHR Matabeleland South has since been able to get the two legal assistance from Abammeli Human Rights Lawyers in Bulawayo who will appear with the two in court on Saturday morning.
The organisation castigated the police for what they termed unnecessary intimidation strategies meant to intimidate vendors out of the demonstrations by arresting the two vendors.

Thousands of people, among them civil servants and vendors, have lost thousands of dollars to fraudulent online pyramid scheme MMM Global Zimbabwe after it collapsed recently. The social financial network, which relied on an accelerating number of new members to pay off the old, abruptly terminated its services last week leaving participants stranded.This comes as Econet’s mobile financial service platform, EcoCash yesterday distanced itself from the pyramid scheme.
Participants claimed they were using EcoCash for their transactions.
Zimbabweans have in the past months been joining the online investment scheme in droves in a bid “to get rich quickly”.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe warned people that the scheme was fraudulent and there was no legal recourse in the event they lost their money.
The central bank said MMM, which advertises its operations through a website and recruiting agents, was not a registered or regulated entity.
EcoCash yesterday said: “We have noted that some of these pyramid schemes are allegedly advertising in a manner that suggests that the Ecocash facility is a medium for prospective members to deposit their money. This is not correct.
“We advise our valued customers and all stakeholders that Ecocash is a licensed mobile payment platform that enables customers to make financial transactions such as sending money, buying prepaid airtime as well as paying for goods and services within the confines of the law of Zimbabwe. EcoCash promotes safe and legal transactions but will not be held liable for any losses arising from the use of EcoCash to engage in illegal activities such as Ponzi schemes.”
The scheme advertises itself as a mutual aid fund under which recruited members contribute money to assist others and are promised investment returns of 30 percent per month.

Some of the people left counting their losses told The Herald that they received emails that the scheme had been suspended until September 15.
“All along things were moving in the right direction and we now have nowhere to claim our investments,” said Mr Tinashe Muza of Harare.
“When we started putting our funds in the scheme one could get assistance within seven days but things later changed to 14 days and when we were shut out the waiting period was 21 days. What it simply means is that the number of people in need of help has outnumbered the number of people joining. Right now we have nowhere to get our money which we invested.”
MMM stands for Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox and takes its name from its founder, Sergei Panteleevich Mavrodi of Russia.
He founded MMM in 1989 and the scheme was declared bankrupt three years later leading to the disappearance of Mavrodi until his arrest in 2003.
Another victim, Mrs Rosemary Mawonde said: “We never thought the scheme would end this way as we believed that by using EcoCash to do the transactions, things were in order. I am surprised that EcoCash is also distancing itself from the scheme and it is clear that I will never recover the $300 that I invested.”
While some people who were skeptical about the scheme started with small amounts, it is believed some poured in thousands of dollars anticipating higher returns.
The RBZ said the schemes were fraudulent as existing investors were ‘paid money not from genuine market investment of their funds, but from contributions made by new investors, until a point when the scheme can no longer attract new investors,”
“The participants are made aware that they make their money by recruiting new members who in turn must recruit more members,” warned the Central Bank.

The First Lady Grace Mugabe has continued to support Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016, which has seen the banning of the importation of certain products, further tormenting Zimbabweans who survive on cross border trade for survival.
This is at a time that informal cross-border traders in Zimbabwe are in for another shocker as government is planning to expand an unpopular imports ban. The country is headed for more protests after the previous ban sparked violent demonstrations at the Beitbridge border post that connects into South Africa and was temporarily shut as protesters clashed with the police.
Mugabe urged the Zimbabwe Republic Police’s Kuyedza Women’s Club to capitalise on SI 64  to increase production for the local market, without taking into account the already documented negative impact the instrument in question has had on Zimbabweans.

A MAN from Pumula South suburb in Bulawayo who attacked and robbed a Sunday News reporter on his way from work has been sentenced to 15 months in jail.
Handsome Zulu appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Mr Stephen Ndhlovu facing robbery charges.
He pleaded not guilty  but was convicted due to overwhelming evidence.
Zulu robbed Dumisani Nsingo of a Samsung cellphone, $30 and a paper bag with bread and chips.
Yesterday, he told the court that he had been given the cell phone by a friend Tinashe Siziba who asked him to sell it.
“I didn’t steal the cell phone, Tinashe gave it to me asking me to sell it on his behalf,” said Zulu in his defence.
The court heard that Siziba was recently convicted of murder and is serving a jail term.

Prosecuting, Ms Magret Takawira said Zulu attacked Nsingo on April 16 at around 10PM.
“The complainant disembarked from a taxi near Godlwayo Primary School. The accused person approached from the opposite direction and hit him with a stone on the head,” said the prosecutor.
“He fell unconscious. The accused took his cellphone, wallet that contained cash and a national identity card.”
She said Nsingo regained consciousness and went to report the matter at Pumula police station.
“Police arrested one Xolani Dube who was found in possession of the stolen phone on June 19. During interrogation, Dube told the police that he had bought the cellphone from Zulu leading to his arrest on August 11,” said Ms Takawira.
In a statement, Nsingo said he regained consciousness at around 1AM on the following day after the attack and sought assistance at a house close by.
“The man I found at that house accompanied me to the police station. I fell unconscious again when I got there. I regained consciousness at the hospital. The police called me on June 20 asking me to go to the station to identify my phone,” read the statement. state media

By Staff Reporter | A Harare magistrate, Tendai Mahwe on Friday released Freelance photo journalist, James Jemwa, and nine other protesters who were arrested for protesting against President Robert Mugabe, last Friday in Harare.
Jemwa was arrested despite having identified himself as a bonafide journalist while covering the skirmishes that paralysed business in central Harare.
His freedom comes after an outcry by media lobby organisations who demanded for his unconditional release.
Releasing the scribe magistrate Mahwe, ordered Jemwa and company to deposit a bail fee of  $50 through the clerk of court and not to interfere with witnesses.
Jemwa is going back to the courts on 12 September for trial.
Speaking to journalists soon after winning the bail application, Jemwa’s attorney, Harrison Nkomo, said journalists should petition the police over the harassment of their colleagues.
“Unless something serious is done and you as journalists stand up to make sure that police before they execute their duties they uphold the constitution, you know the constitution is very clear with regard rights that journalists enjoy in this country, it is shocking to find the journalist being arrested for executing their duties, something that really requires some form of admonishment, from all progressing societies in the country,” said Nkomo.

By Shiellah Sibanda| While there have been many false predictions of late, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe will never be forgiven by God and will be dead by December this year, a London based prophet insists claiming.
Mugabe has shed too much blood and because of this, none of his prayers will ever be answered, the London based Prophet Austin Moses said, adding his claim that Mugabe is going the way of eternal perdition.
Prophet Austin Moses who in July 2014 successfully predicted what he said was The Big Tree falling with its branches in Zimbabwe (way before Joice Mujuru whose party logo would turn out to be the large baobab tree), said Mugabe will be forgotten in a few months’ time from today and his whole dynasty is going with him.
Moses spoke to ZimEye journo Emmanuel Chindove during a ZimEye Live TV program.
“The blood of many Zimbabweans has been shed..Many Zimbabweans died …and their blood has cried to God,” said Moses.
In the ZimEye Live program filmed in 2014, Moses claimed Morgan Tsvangirai (who has this weekend united hands with former VP Joice Mujuru) would be at the helm of the opposition that will replace Mugabe.
CLICK BELOW TO listen/watch.

Staff Reporter |Gwanda civic and political activists this morning defied heavy police presence and cancellation of National Electoral Reform Agenda demonstrations to deliver the electoral reform petition to ZEC offices in the town.
Led by local civic leader Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo and MDCT Matabeleland South proportional representation Member of Parliament Nomathemba Ndlovu, the five member group made its way past a group of heavily armed anti riot police and plain clothes police guarding the ZEC offices to deliver the petition.
Police last night cancelled country wide NERA demonstrations that were meant to be held today. The country’s major urban centres woke up to heavy police patrols in a bid to quash the demonstrations

GOVERNMENT has covertly deployed the military and other security forces to surround the protests-wrecked capital Harare, while unleashing a crack unit to operate under cover to crackdown on the opposition and civil society groups stepping up pressure for President Robert Mugabe to reform or quit.
This comes after Mugabe last week threatened to quell the current wave of demonstrations and riots rocking the country’s structure-induced stability, saying: “They are thinking that what happened in the Arab Spring is going to happen in this country, but we tell them that it is not going to happen here.”
The Zimbabwe Independent understands nine lieutenant-colonels and 65 majors have from the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and other senior Zimbabwe Defence Forces officers have been deployed under the cover of command agriculture, with some manoeuvring into strategic positions around Harare — behind the scenes — to position themselves to swiftly move and quash any revolt as political discontent and social unrest grow.
A crack unit, which comprises the army, police and intelligence agents, has reportedly also been unleashed in various provinces and areas to monitor, infiltrate and hunt down firebrands rallying a revolt against Mugabe’s regime.
“Harare and other major cities are technically surrounded at the moment in anticipation of an uprising and to pre-empt any such revolt. The stakes are high for the Mugabe and senior military commanders who have a lot to lose if government is overthrown through a popular uprising,” a military source said.
“Currently Zimbabwean security services have a powerful presence throughout the government, bureaucracy and the economy. Senior military, police and intelligence officers — who are mainly war veterans — dominate the Joint Operations Command, which has sweeping powers and authorities to oversee government operations and initiate projects outside the bounds of normal security activities, such as mining, farming and food distribution. They have vested political and business interests, hence a nexus within the triumvirate of politicians, businesspeople and military commanders.”
At the highest levels, the military has been indispensable in maintaining Mugabe and Zanu PF in power. So the deployment of the army is seen as the last resort after police have been struggling to contain the spreading protests, from the Beitbridge riots in July to Harare’s almost daily demonstrations now increasingly becoming confrontational and sometimes violent, especially when police use brutality to stop them.
The crack team is said to have caused alarm within the government and military ranks as its orders include crushing the protestors and destroying their infrastructure.
“There is a crack unit which has been trained and deployed, including on Monday this week. It concludes the police, army and other security forces,” a source said. “Some of its members went out on Monday and there concerns that this covert operation might be used to harass, threaten, and arbitrarily hunt down people pushing for Mugabe to go, including rights defenders, dissenters, activists, and opposition protestors. There is a great deal of discomfort with the military manoeuvres and deployments, especially undercover operations.”
Zimbabwe’s military has previous intervened in civilian affairs, leaving a trailing of human rights abuses and killings, including the Gukurahundi massacres.
“Some deployed operators under the crack unit have told their parents that they were scared about the instructions they had been given and if they had a choice they would not be involved in sinister activities,” a government source said. “Government, through the Ministry of Defence and parliament, needs to explain what is going on. These kinds of things led to horrific atrocities in the past and we should never ever again allow the military to casually be involved in civilian affairs, especially if the police are there. Only limited military involvement should be allowed when the police are overwhelmed.”
Contacted for comment, Defence secretary Martin Rushwaya referred questions to the Defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi who could not be reached by phone to deal with the issue. Questions sent tothe minister’s mobile phone were not replied to despite being delivered and indications they had been read.
Efforts to get a comment from ZNA spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Alphios Makotore were unsuccessful he was unreachable on mobile phone. Officers in the ZNA public relations department said Makotore will only be available today.
Police spokesperson Charity Charamba said she was not aware of the deployment of a crack team. “I don’t know about it. I am not an operations person, but if I were in my office I could have found out for you,” she said.
Military sources this week said the deployment of the crack team was a result of the failure by police to contain protestors. Riots were initially sparked by an import ban of South African goods which some people survive on.
Riots broke at Beitbridge Border Post on July 1 with police failing to combat the demonstrators. This led to all the police officers being transferred after the Police Internal Security Intelligenceat the border town complained the police officers had ignored their early warning calls on the riots.
Sources said in addition to the crack team at least nine lieutenant-colonels and 65 majors were deployed across the country under the cover of the US$500 million Stalinist-style command agriculture project which seeks to produce two million metric tonnes of maize a year on 400 000 hectares of land using 2 000 farmers.
Sources said the deployment’s real intention is to ensure that the officers gather information and thwart protests while preparing for the 2018 elections. The army has helped out Mugabe in previous elections, mainly since 2000. In April, Mugabe for the first time publicly admitted this while addressing a war veterans in Harare.
As reported by the Independent last week, soldiers were also on high alert and reportedly assaulted civilians when an alliance of opposition parties tried to stage a demonstration demaning electoral reforms. The protest march postponed to today last week was yesterday stopped through a statutory instrument.
Last week was the first time since the 1998 food riots — in which 10 people reportedly died — that government has unleashed the military to quell protests.
Out of the senior officers deployed to the 10 provinces under the command agriculture guise, 71 are understood to be war veterans deemed loyal to Mugabe, sources said.
“While there is a clique of those close and loyal to Mugabe, most military officers are deemed to be loyal to the military institution, not to any one person,” a military source said. “This small group, which is well looked after, is the one energetically behind the current military deployments and manoeuvres.
“But not everyone is happy with this. Some feel it is unprofessional to use the military to suppress peaceful protests and dissent. Middle-level officers going down to rank-and-file military are not happy with their working conditions and politicisation of the army.
“Huge salary disparities in army structures has also been a source of disgruntlement. As it stands while war veterans are in the top echelons of the military structure, nearly 80% of the force is comprised of men and women who joined after independence, but who are not well looked after.”
Last week, Mugabe warned an Arab Spring-style uprising would be crushed.
“They are burning tyres in the streets to get into power. They are thinking that what happened in the Arab Spring is going to happen in this country, but we tell them that is not going to happen here,” Mugabe said. “What politics is that when you burn tyres? We want peace in the country.”
This week Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba warned opposition protesters had “crossed the line”. “Let everyone be warned — opposition or wherever — that the government will not tolerate this anymore,” Charamba said.

ACTING Prosecutor General (PG) Advocate Ray Goba’s suitability for office has been thrown in doubt after it emerged locally this week he has a criminal record in Namibia where he was also declared a prohibited immigrant, while he worked there as deputy prosecutor-general and legal services director until five years ago.
This has put the appointing and supervising authorities President Robert Mugabe and Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is in charge of the Justice ministry, in an invidious position as the PG’s job requires someone with integrity or simply without a criminal record.
Goba was sworn in as the acting PG on July 7 by President Robert Mugabe after the setting up of a tribunal to determine if the suspended Johannes Tomana is suitable to continue holding the position. The tribunal was given three months to make a determination during which period Goba would be acting.
Tomana was suspended for criminal abuse of office and hearings into his case are on.
Some lawyers have also questioned the constitutionality of appointing an acting PG from outside when Tomana is still in office.
Goba, who served as Namibia’s Deputy Prosecutor General, was convicted in a Namibian regional court in 2002 for driving a vehicle on a public road with excessive blood alcohol concentration in contravention of Section 140 (2) of the Road Traffic Ordinance 1967; failing to obey a road traffic sign in contravention of section of section 101 (1) of the Ordinance and attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice.
The conviction over his attempt to obstruct or defeat the course of justice, in particular, is haunting Goba, who was denied a work and residence permit in Namibia in 2011 on the strength of the conviction.
Following the regional court’s ruling an aggrieved Goba appealed to the High Court in 2004 seeking to quash the conviction.
Justice Gerhard Maritz, however, upheld Goba’s conviction over his failure to obey a road traffic sign and attempting to obstruct or defeat the course of justice.
The appeal against conviction for driving a vehicle with excessive blood alcohol concentration was successful after Maritz ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the blood which had been analysed was the specimen obtained from Goba shortly after his arrest.
His application for leave to appeal at the Supreme Court was dismissed.
According to court documents, Goba’s conviction on the charge of attempting to obstruct or defeat the course of justice was premised on the allegation that he “knowingly tried to avoid the taking of a specimen of his blood within the statutory period of two hours by (a) refusing to furnish the law enforcement officers with the cellphone or telephone number of his legal representative before the specimen was taken; (b) attempting to escape while being transported in lawful custody to the hospital for the specimen to be taken; (c) attempting to escape from lawful custody at the hospital before the specimen was taken (d) attempting by threats to intimidate the law enforcement officers not to investigate the alleged offence against him and (e) refusing to submit to the taking of a blood specimen by the doctor when requested to do so.”
Goba was arrested at 2:15am on February 12 2000 by traffic police officers after he turned right in conflict with a directional arrow, leading to the chain of events which resulted in his conviction for attempting to defeat the course of justice.
Following his conviction, the Namibian government declined to renew his employment permit which lapsed on December 31 2010 after he failed to secure work and residence permits. At the time he was the Chief Director of Legal Services and International Cooperation in the Ministry of Justice.
Goba applied again for a work permit and a permanent residence permit to legitimise his stay in Namibia after the termination of his contract, but learnt on February 15 2011 that both applications had been rejected.
He appealed to the Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration on February 18, explaining that his last contract of employment had come to an end unexpectedly and pointed out that he had also appealed against the refusal of permanent residence and was awaiting a decision in respect thereof. He also filed a High Court application seeking the review and setting aside of the decisions taken by the Immigration Selection Board to refuse to grant him permanent residence and employment permits. In addition, Goba sought an order that he be entitled to carry on his profession in Namibia and another one that the Director of Immigration issue him a permanent residence permit.
He indicated that he wanted to work with Namibian law firm Shikongo Law Chambers.
However, Justice Raymond Heathcote dismissed his application, citing his conviction.
“Unfortunately for the applicant, he was convicted (by a Namibian Court after he came to Namibia), on a charge of attempting to obstruct or defeat the course of justice. On appeal, this conviction was confirmed by the High Court on 29 June 2004. An application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court was also refused,” Heathcote ruled.
“In various subsequent applications for visas the applicant sought to downplay the offence as a ‘traffic offence’, or failed to furnish details of the offence as he was required to do.
“As a legal practitioner, the applicant would have known that in terms of section 39(2) (f) (i) of the Immigration Control, Act 1993, (herein after ‘the Act’) any person who has been convicted in Namibia of any offence specified in Schedule 1 of that Act, shall be a prohibited immigrant in respect of Namibia. Schedule 1 of the Act includes the offence of ‘defeating or obstructing the course of justice’ and any attempt to do so.
“During argument it soon became clear that, if section 39(2)(f)(i) declared the applicant a prohibited immigrant, the application cannot succeed.”
Heathcote dismissed Goba’s application, saying: “I conclude therefore that applicant, having been found guilty of an attempt to defeat the course of justice (in Namibia by the Namibian Courts), is a prohibited immigrant, and the court cannot under such circumstances grant the interim relief.”
Goba told the Zimbabwe Independent yesterday the charges brought against him were “racially-motivated” and “unjust” after clashes with two white police officers while driving home at night. He said he had an altercation with them after they accused him of drunken driving as well as straddling an unbroken traffic line. Goba claimed he was manhandled and denied access to a lawyer. Police accused him of threatening them, a charge he denied.
“Surely how could I threaten uniformed officers? I just told them that I would sue them to the last donkey. I can be accused of arrogance because I was arrogant. I’m arrogant when I know that I am right,” he said.
Legal practitioners have questioned whether Goba is fit for the PG’s job in light of his conviction. In terms of Zimbabwe’s Constitution, a PG must meet stipulated qualities.
A “fit and proper person”, according to the dictates of law, must satisfy a raft of ethical and professional attributes, in particular honesty and reliability.
Goba said those questioning his integrity and suitability for the post, though entitled to their opinions, were malicious. He said his superiors were aware of his criminal record.
“I have nothing to hide. Before I took up this post, I disclosed this issue to my superiors. If they appointed me after I revealed this then surely I must have done something good in Namibia where I served with distinction,” he said. “The world is full of malicious people. Why did they provide this information to you (the media) and not to the President or the Minister of Justice? Those who are questioning my suitability for office are entitled to their opinion, but if a minor traffic violation is used as a yardstick to determine one’s suitability for office, then no one would be appointed in any office anywhere. I am probably the best person to do the job because I have personally experienced injustice in the criminal justice system. I know what injustice is and how the criminal justice system can bring about unjust results.”
Goba was appointed Namibia’s Deputy Prosecutor General in 1998 and served in the Justice ministry until December 2010. independent

Langton Ncube | The notorious Central Intelligence Organisation is at it again making anonymous calls in which it is threatening the lives of civic leaders.
In a relentless continued onslaught on civic society activists, suspected members of the now much less feared, CIO, Thursday afternoon threatened Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition two senior employees for organizing national protests.
The two, Thulani Mswelanto, the Crisis In Zimbabwe Coalition’s programmes manager and information officer, Edgar Gweshe, received some anonymous phone calls threatening them for coordinating the civil unrests that has rocked the country.
The two received the threats after their organization has sent a solidarity massage on Tuesday supporting the 31 August shut down call by #Tajamuka.
“ Thulani Mswelanto received an anonymous call from an unidentified man who later went on to threaten him with unspecified action over Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition’s role in coordinating protests over misgovernance in Zimbabwe.Prior to that, two unidentified men had visited his home enquiring about his whereabouts,” CIZC said in a statement Thursday.
“The men,  were driving in an unmarked Isuzu vehicle which was parked about 100 meters from Mswelanto’s place.
“Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Information Officer, Edgar Gweshe has received similar threats from unidentified people who wanted to enquire over Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition’s involvement in civil protests that have rocked Zimbabwe over the past months,”the civil society organization said.
“The latest threats from the State agents are genuine cause for alarm especially given the abductions and torture of opposition as well as civic society activists over the last months”.

Pressure continues to mount on President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF to resolve the current economic and political crises bedevilling the country, as former Zipra and Zanla combatants seek to close ranks and demand change from the regime.
ZPRA Veterans Association spokesperson, Robert Ndebele in a statement yesterday said: “As a matter of principle, we stand with them on constitutional issues, good governance, deteriorating economic and political situation.
“We feel that everybody, and not just war veterans, needs a sober and joint effort to resolve the issues confronting our motherland.”
Ndebele said, as war veterans, they had made a mistake of aligning the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association with Zanu PF over the years.
“The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association departed from its founding values and principles of being non-partisan and a welfare organisation and became an unprincipled arm of Zanu PF,” he said.
“As a result, it inevitably got entangled in Zanu PF’s factional fights that characterised Zanu in exile. We do not, as a matter of fact, wish to be dragged into those wars.”
Ndebele noted that, at one point, Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko, was asked “to shut up as the war veterans were trying to resolve Zanla/Zanu issues”.
“This created the impression that the association (Zimbabwe War Veterans Association) was not meant for ex-ZPRA cadres. We were not part of the Mgagao Declaration that made Robert Mugabe president of Zanu and will not comment on it,” Ndebele said.
“While we sympathise with, and in no way condone the victimisation, arrest, prosecution and persecution of (war veterans’ spokesperson Douglas) Mahiya and others, we must draw attention to the fact that in the 1980s, ZPRA commanders and ordinary cadres, some of whom were serving in the Zimbabwe National Army, were subjected to the same abuse and arrests on trumped up charges. At no time did any of our Zanla counterparts raise a finger in protest.
“However, we remain open to genuine dialogue on any platform for unity as we demonstrated during the liberation struggle, that anticolonial struggle.” newsday

CENTRAL Intelligence boss Happyton Bonyongwe a fortnight ago reportedly warned President Robert Mugabe that continued infighting in Zanu PF at a time social discontent is rising is likely to fuel civil unrest.
Sources in the security sector said this week Bonyongwe briefed Mugabe after learning that First Lady Grace Mugabe and her backers in the G40 Zanu PF faction wanted to launch a fresh onslaught on Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa to politically disable him as part of the cut-throat succession wrangle to replace Mugabe.
Before Bonyongwe’s briefing, Grace had invited Zanu PF provincial Women’s League chairpersons from the country’s 10 provinces to her orphanage in Mazowe to push for fresh attack on Mnangagwa, whom she wants replaced as Mugabe’s deputy by a woman.
Grace and her allies want Zanu PF’s December conference to be turned into an extraordinary congress where the vice-presidency will be up for grabs. The Women’s League is pushing for reintroduction of the women’s quota in the presidium to ensure that Mnangagwa is replaced by a woman.
The women’s assembly, with support from the Youth League, is planning rallies to drum up support for the move while ratcheting up pressure on the vice-president to crumble in the heat of the suffocating race.
“At the Mazowe meeting, Grace said the rallies will be rolled out soon and the message to be sent to the structures was that of a fresh call to have a woman in the presidium,” the source said.
“Mugabe also had a meeting with Youth League leader Kudzai Chipanga, who is part of the G40 camp, to discuss the plot.
“However, Mugabe was warned by Bonyongwe that there are chances of a civil unrest spreading even further if internal issues in Zanu PF are not resolved amicably. There are intelligence reports which show that tension is rising as social discontent and unrest are becoming widespread.
“After this warning Grace toned down and did not attack Mnangagwa when she met the Women’s League executive on Thursday last week.”
In preparation for the onslaught, Grace and the Women’s League had purchased thousands of T-shirts emblazoned with Grace’s image. The T-shirts are written Munhu wese kunaamai (Everyone belongs to the mother) and were printed in South Africa.
“The plan was for Grace to re-launch her ‘meet-the-people’ rallies similar to those she ran ahead of the party’s December 2014 congress which led to the ouster of former vice-president Joice Mujuru and her backers.
“She tried to repeat the modus oparandi on Mnangagwa earier this year, but backtracked after fierce resistance from war veterans and the military. But now that the bulk of the war veterans’ leadership has been booted out of the party, she feels its time to resume the rallies.”
Zanu PF is currently divided on factional lines with the Mnangagwa faction fighting a war of attrition with the G40 faction over Mugabe’s succession.
The CIO is, however, worried that Zanu PF infighting could fuel social discontent “at a time the party and government should be pulling together to contain the growing crisis,” one source said.
The intelligence is also worried that the opposition seems to be gaining ground while officials expelled from Zanu PF seem to have added impetus to opposition politics as the likes of Mujuru, who is leading the Zimbabwe People First party, have joined hands with the MDC formations and other opposition parties to pile pressure on Mugabe.
Former Zanu PF administration secretary Didymus Mutasa has also been troublesome as he is chairing the National Electoral Reform Agenda (Nera) comprising of 18 political parties. The parties are demanding reform of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the country’s electoral process.
Nera organised demonstrations which rocked Harare last Friday and has planned another protest march today.
The organisation is also planning protests countrywide to pressure the government into agreeing reforms.
War veterans leaders expelled from the party have also supported peaceful demonstrations and are engaging opposition parties.
Last weekend, war veterans met MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai “in a bid to find a solution to the economic and political crisis bedevilling Zimbabwe”.
“All these developments are worrying the intelligence,” a security official said. independent

MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai has reportedly ordered Harare City councillors to drop Chris Mbanga as the deputy mayor and vote Enock Mupamawonde as his replacement due to the former’s alleged association with Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere.

ORDINARY Zimbabweans can now influence and determine the suitability or otherwise of aspiring judges by commenting on their behaviour ahead of public interviews for appointment to the bench.
According to the recently published Judicial Service Commission guidelines on appointment of judges, the list of candidates are published before the interviews to allow individuals with adverse information about the nominees to divulge it to assist the nation in selecting quality judges.
If a nominee conducts him or herself unprofessionally or in some way that does not suit someone of the status of a judge, those with such information are called upon to inform the JSC before the public interviews are conducted.
JSC recently published guidelines followed in the appointment of judges, in its quest to promote transparency and constitutionalism.
A 12-page booklet titled “Guidelines on the Appointment of Judges” was published ahead of the public interviews of eight High Court judges vying for four vacant positions in the Supreme Court.
The interviews have been set for September 29.
The JSC also sends the list of nominees to the Law Society of Zimbabwe and other relevant organisations for comments on the personality of the candidates, who are all lawyers.
According to the guidelines, JSC will not consider malicious allegations against candidates that are brought up anonymously.
Candidates are informed of the adverse comments made against them and they are also given an opportunity to defend themselves.
“Nominees will be informed of any adverse comments received from members of the public and may be questioned about them at the interview with a view to determining whether or not the adverse comments will have a bearing on the nominee’s probity,” the guidelines read.
The public also plays an integral role in the nomination of the aspiring judges. The nominated candidates also need to sign on the nomination form as confirmation that they will be interested.

JSC, in terms of Section 180 of the Constitution, is mandated to advertise any vacancies arising on the bench and to invite the President and members of the public to nominate suitable candidates.
The same commission conducts public interviews for the prospective judges, deliberates on the performance of the interviewees and later sends its recommendations to the President.
After the interviews, deliberations are done in private and a lot of issues are considered in arriving at a list of successful candidates.
“Deliberations on the suitable nominees will take into account the performance at the interview, any comments from the Law Society of Zimbabwe, any other relevant organisations and or the public as well as the information supplied by the nominees in the detailed questionnaire.
“Deliberations on the final list of suitable nominees shall take into account the diverse and gender composition of Zimbabwe which the judiciary must reflect,” reads the booklet.
For each vacancy, the commission submits three names of successful candidates and the President will make a final appointment.
JSC chairperson, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku or his deputy chairs the public interviews.
All commissioners, who will be part of the panel, are given an opportunity to ask questions to the interviewees.
Aspiring judges, according to the guidelines, must be competent, hardworking, independent, committed to community and public service and knowledgeable among other qualities.
Commissioners will independently score each nominee on each of the above qualities before they deliberate on the performances as a group.
High Court judges Justices Francis Bere, Priscilla Chigumba, Alfas Chitakunye, Charles Hungwe, Samuel Kudya, Joseph Mafusire, Lavender Makoni and Nicholas Mathonsi will on September 29 be interviewed for four vacancies that arose in the Supreme Court.
Their names have since been published.

In a move to address the shortage of teachers in schools, the Government has made a ‘U’ turn, and will start recruiting educators.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) has since written to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education granting them permission to start recruiting.
“Please be advised that, acting in terms of Section 8 (1) (a) of the Public Service Act (Chapter 16:04), the commission has granted authority to recruit teachers to replace members whose services were terminated from January 2016 to date.
“Please be further advised that, the Public Service Commission Secretariat shall be represented in the recruitment process,” reads the statement.
The total number of teachers to be recruited has not yet been established, but in June, Government announced that up to 10 000 would be engaged.
The Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) chief executive Mr Sifiso Ndlovu said they had been informed by the Government of the recruitment drive.
“The uplift of teacher recruitment is a provable development which is going to improve the standards for teaching and learning, as well as the quality of education.

The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Lazarus Dokora was not immediately available for comment and his Deputy Professor Paul Mavhima’s phone was not being answered.
However, last week Dr Dokora assured teachers and headmasters that they were exempted from the Government’s decision to freeze the recruitment and promotions in the civil service.
The Government’s decision is part of its staff rationalisation exercise that is in line with recommendations of the Civil Service Report of 2015.
The rationalisation also saw the Government abolishing more than 8 000 posts in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.
In June, Minister Dokora indicated that about to 10 000 teachers and headmasters could be recruited.
At that time, Zimta said the country has about 120 000 teachers in employment, leaving a shortfall of 10 000. About 25 000 teachers are said to be out of work.
Matabeleland North provincial education director Mrs Boithatelo Mnguni last week said the shortage of teachers in the province had resulted in most schools operating with skeleton staff. – State Media

Terrence Mawawa | Masvingo |Controversial Masvingo State Minister Shuvai Ben Mahofa has clashed with Environment, Water and Climate Change, Minister Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri over the invasion of white-owned wildlife conservancies in the Save Valley.
Mahofa is trying to push Muchinguri to designate the wildlife conservancies to Zanu PF functionaries.Two months ago Mahofa openly contradicted her boss President Robert Mugabe over the Tongaat land grab programme. The outspoken state minister directly sanctioned the controversial land invasion programme two months ago. In comments likely to spark a racial outcry, ZimEye can reveal Mahofa told Muchinguri in a closed door meeting held in Chiredzi last week, party supporters were not happy with the occupation of wildlife conservancies by the whites at the expense of the ruling party supporters.
“We are not happy because all conservancies are in the hands of white people. Thousands of hectares are in the hands of white people while black people -mainly our supporters are not getting anything.We want our people to run these conservancies,” said Mahofa.
However, Muchinguri openly contradicted Mahofa and accused the latter of rampant greed and corruption. She accused Mahofa of inciting party supporters to grab the conservancies. “People have the wrong impression that there are many conservancies. Some people are shouting on top of their voices but we will not tolerate the invasion of wildlife conservancies. I will make sure that will not happen.I know there are politicians who want to grab the wildlife conservancies in the Save Valley. The people who want to take over the conservancies have failed to utilise the farms they grabbed a few years ago.Therefore we will make sure it will not happen again,” said Muchinguri. Party sources told ZimEye.com both politicians have interests in the Save Valley Conservancies and Muchinguri is wary of Mahofa’s influence in the province.

Harare| A gang of five robbers suspected of stealing $800 and raping a tenant at the Apostolic Faith Mission Church in Harare appeared in court yesterday. The same group also allegedly raided a Total Service Station and got away with $12 000.
One of the accused, Alouis Nyamadzawo (41) is on bail pending appeal while Talent (30) and Shadreck Madzima (40) completed their prison terms. The other two, Edson Murambidzi (23) and Gift Mudamburi (40) have a pending robbery case.They appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Bianca Makwande facing robbery and rape charges.
They were remanded in custody to September 15.
Prosecuting, Mr Peter Kachirika alleged that on August 15, at around 2am Nyamadzawo and Madzima teamed with Chikaka, Makodza, Ronnie, Wilbert and Dannie who are on the run.
Armed with a pick and a five-pound hammer, the group went to Total Service Station in Warren Park 1.
They stole $85 and cell phones from two fuel attendants before breaking into the service station store. They stole $12 000 and fled, it is alleged.

Armed with the hammer and pick, they manhandled the security guard, Pfumai Mukodzani.
It is alleged they struck him with a hammer in his head demanding to be shown where the church cash was.
Using the hammer, they broke into the caretaker’s room and started assaulting Funny Mereki and his son Keith. They allegedly stole cellphones and tied Mukodzani and Funny together.
The court heard that the group took Keith and demanded that he show them all the people at the premises. Keith led them to a tenant’s house. It is alleged that they ransacked the house and demanded that the tenant tell them where the church cash was.
They stole shoes and cellphones before shoving Keith under the tenant’s bed. The court heard that one of the accused was left behind while others broke into the pastor’s office and stole $800. He allegedly raped the tenant and only stopped after his accomplices started calling him.- State Media