ZimEye.com is receiving unconfirmed reports of an accident on the R21 road, in Johannesburg.
20 Zimbabweans were affected in the mishap while aboard a Tenda bus from Beitbridge. Navigate to the satellite map above: ARE YOU AT THE SCENE? Send in your video, pictures and details of your experience right now to +447426863301
Details were sketchy at the time of writing and an official statement from the police unfruitful. ARE YOU AT THE SCENE? Send in your video, pictures and details of your experience right now to +447426863301
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Magaya, Makandiwa Charge US$1,500 per person for Prayers
State Media-PROPHETS Emmanuel Makandiwa and Walter Magaya charge as much as US$1 500 per person for a one-on-one engagement for those seeking spiritual solutions to their problems, figures at hand show.
The Sunday Mail Religion has established that without making the requisite payments, it is almost impossible to have access to the prominent and charismatic men of the cloth outside normal church services.
Some congregants can have access to the prophets during church services and in their offices, but if one wants exclusive face-to-face encounters, then money speaks.
Posing as potential clients, The Sunday Mail Religion made inquiries from United Family International Church leader Prophet Makandiwa’s Life Haven facility and Prophet Magaya’s guest houses.
Followers who want these personal engagements first have to stay for about three days at the guest houses.
Three days at Life Haven in Mt Hampden cost US$300 in a dormitory facility that houses up to 27 people who use bunk beds. For executive lodgings, one forks out US$900 for the three-day stay that comes with room service.
At another executive Life Haven facility in the leafy suburb of Glen Lorne, the minimum charge is US$1 200 and the maximum is US$1 5000.
Efforts to access into the facilities last Wednesday hit a brick wall as security manning the premises demanded payment receipts upfront. All payments are made at church offices while bookings can be done via the church’s website.
Said a security guard at the Glen Lorne site, “You cannot gain entry inside; but I can explain while you are outside the gate. Our houses range from US$1 200 and US$1 500 for three days and all payments must be made at the church office.” The Life Haven facility is built on the same model as that of Prophet Magaya’s guest houses for his Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries.
PHD charges a minimum of US$300, while executive board in Marlborough costs up to US$900.
Comparatively, four and five-star hotels have minimum charges of around US$100 per night.
“You have to make a booking first before visiting or being allowed into the guest houses. You are assured of a one-on-one encounter with the prophet if you pay the money,” said a lady who answered the phone at PHD Ministries.
Repeated efforts to get comments from PHD’s Overseer Admire Mango were fruitless as his mobile phones went unanswered through the week, and he did not respond to SMS enquiries.
Prophet Shame Hungwe said he charged US$100 for a two-day at one of his facilities.
He defended the guest houses, saying, “The problem with you people is that you can hardly find anything good from us; many churches have their sacred places where they go on several occasion.
The guest house experience presents a prayerful environment and an opportunity for believers to stay with God calming their promises.”
Goodness and Mercy Ministries founder Prophet Tapiwa Freddy, who also runs guest houses, said the facilities had no Biblical foundation.
He said, “To be honest … it is us (church leaders) who introduced it after we saw its dire need. Some people might ask why we make people pay; the answer is simple, we use the money to maintain the place, buy food and many other things that people might what to use during their stay. This is not a business.”
Prophet Freddy said there was nothing wrong if church leaders benefitted financially in the process.
“The Bible also teaches that it is an abomination for anyone to come to the house of God empty-handed,” he added. University of Zimbabwe lecturer and Revival United Christ International Bishop, Professor Marvelous Mhloyi, said Jesus never accepted money to help people. “Jesus is our prime example as Christians and we ought to imitate him. He never accepted money during his ministry. He healed people for free and my bible says we will get reward in Heaven.”
Prof Mhloyi encouraged Christians to seek guidance from the Holy Spirit on any spiritual matter.
Prophet Prince Wonderful weighed in citing Acts 8:18 which showed the apostles never accepted money to assist the needy, and they rebuked Simon the sorcerer for trying to buy the Holy Spirit.
“Merchandising is what the Apostle Peter predicted as one of the signs of a rising generation of false prophets and teachers claiming to be servants of Christ.
“It is clear the Apostle did not sell the epistles they sent to different congregation yet God funded their activities through generous givers in the ministry,” said Prophet Wonderful. “Today we have a crop of man of God who even after collecting tithes, offerings, all kinds of seeds and pastors appreciations (money and goods) still go ahead to sell oil, wrist bands, water among many other things. This shows how covetous our generation has become.”
Nigerian Synagogue Church of All Nations leader Prophet TB Joshua appears to have pioneered the guest houses phenomenon. But last year, tragedy struck when 81 people died when one of his facilities collapsed.
However, guest houses are the more palatable aspects of some churches’ operations, as some young church leaders sell “annointed” condoms, pens and salt among other items. – Sunday Mail
Tin Tin Deserted by Hubby
Television and radio personality Tinopona “Tin Tin” Katsande’s “husband” has walked out on her, sensationally claiming the two were never married.
Tin Tin’s celebrated “marriage” to Mr. Virimai Chigariro (33) delivered a “miracle baby” as she had previously said she could not bear children due to aggressive endometriosis.
In an unsolicited interview with the state media, Chigariro said 37-year-old Tin Tin had lied that he was her husband in order to protect her reputation because she had fallen pregnant.
Efforts to contact Tin Tin were fruitless as her phone was not available while alternative numbers went unanswered.
A mobile phone number belonging to Tin Tin’s maid, which we obtained from her friend (name withheld) was answered but the maid said her boss was not around. Subsequent calls were not answered.
Tin Tin has had to endure a doctor’s news that she would not have children, a sex video scandal, and dismissal from ZiFM Stereo where she was a presenter.
Things appeared to be looking up when she announced she was married and that she would have a baby. Now the man she said was her husband claims there was never a civil or customary union with Tino.
“The whole marriage debacle was just a stunt meant to protect her reputation since she was carrying a child,” said Chigariro.
The two are in a custody battle for their seven-month-old son.
Recently, Chigariro fled the couple’s lodgings in Belvedere— taking the baby with him to his sister’s place in Borrowdale.
Tin Tin retrieved the baby a day later with the aid of a lawyer and a relative, but Chigariro is still trying to get custody of his son.
Things appear to have been testy for quite a while.
In October 2015, this publication tried to speak to Chigariro but Tin Tin snatched the phone from him when she realised there was a journalist on the other end of the line.
Tin Tin said her husband was not to talk to the media, which was surprising considering that Chigariro is an aspiring musician.
It seemed he was ordered off the radar and he had not updated his Twitter and Facebook accounts in a month, which was odd for someone who had hitherto been quite active on social media.
Seven months later, it appears Chigariro can finally pour his heart out. Chigariro said he never paid lobola for Tino and the two had been cohabiting all along.
“I never paid any lobola or even tsvakirai kuno for Tin Tin and when some of my relatives saw the story about our marriage in the newspapers they were shocked. My dad called asking me when I had gotten married, my grandfather also called and congratulated me but told me that was not how things were done in our culture,” said Chigariro.
“When I first met Tin Tin she was like an outcast in her family so I didn’t even get to meet any of her relatives besides Tonderai Katsande. We met during Zim Fashion Week 2014 and she told me she was going through a hard time at a friend’s house in Eastlea where she stayed. She said some of the girls who were staying there were in the habit of stealing her clothes. I felt sorry for her and she has got a side to her – maybe because she is a good actress – or something, but I ended up falling for her.”
The pair started dating about a month after they met and she soon moved in with Chigariro.
“I moved her in with me at my sister’s place where I was staying at the time in November (2014) because I couldn’t stand seeing her suffering at the place where she was staying with people stealing her things and stuff like that.
“We then moved out when Tin Tin got pregnant. We moved to Waterfalls where we were renting a single room but I was not comfortable with the neighbourhood so we moved again after three months.
“From Waterfalls we moved to Greendale where we were renting a cottage and we stayed there for about 11 months until we got robbed and I felt that the area was not safe for us so I gave Tino rent money to go and look for another place,” he said.
Chigariro said Tin Tin found a place in Belvedere but the living arrangements were bizarre and he only agreed to stay after being assured suitable accommodation would soon be available as another tenant was set to move out, which never happened.
“… it was supposed to be a commune set-up where we would share the lounge and the kitchen but we would have our own bedroom.”
Chigariro, a part-time music teacher, says he was not only the breadwinner but was also responsible for cooking and household chores.
“I am a person who cooks for my family, that’s pretty much my job and that is something I have always done. So I was doing the housework and Tin Tin would just be there or not, sometimes she would be picked up and go out which sometimes got very frustrating.
“I ended up cooking for the landlady’s kids as well because the mother would just spend the whole day sleeping and there was no food in the house so this sort of became a strain on my budget, so I continued stressing the point that we needed our own private space,” he said.
Shortly into their stay in Belvedere, Chigariro made the decision to move out.
“I realised that there was something sinister that was going on at the house and the landlady’s kids actually told me that Tino had been coming to that house for the past four years but when we moved in, Tino acted as if she had recently met the lady.
“On April 21, in the morning, a white Toyota Vitz came to the house. The landlady went outside and Tino followed her. I followed them outside and discovered that they had gotten into the car, which had three other men. And when I tried to find out what was going on, Tino told me to go back into the house pointing out that I was embarrassing myself.
“I told Tino to get out of the car, she refused and one of the guys threatened to beat me up and when I realised that these guys could harm me, I went back inside.
“When they drove off, I called my sister and told her to send me a cab and started packing my things because I had decided that I couldn’t stay there any longer. Before I was done, Tino and her friends came back and tried to block me from leaving but I managed to escape with the baby and left all my belongings at the house.
“I went to my sister’s place in Borrowdale and the following day Tino sent her cousin and a lawyer to retrieve the baby and so I gave them the baby. What I just want right now is my baby because I don’t think she is safe with that woman considering what she is involved in.”
We contacted Tin Tin’s father, Chief Nyamukoho, who said he would have to talk to his daughter first before divulging any information.
When asked about his daughter’s whereabouts, he said: “At the moment I don’t know where she is but as soon as I get in touch with her I will call you and give you that information.”
Tino’s father would neither confirm nor deny getting lobola for his daughter.-state media
Political Leaders Abandoning their Countries for Treatment Abroad | OPINION
By Dr Masimba Mavaza| The story is not that Tsvangirai now is being treated abroad. The real and tragic story is why do presidents choose to be treated abroad?
The opposition leader Mr M Tsvangirai was rushed to South Africa for treatment. His ailment has not been made public and talking about it in MDC is a sign of insubordination. The good reason given for abandoning his country is that Mugabe does that as well. Is Mugabe Tsvangirai’s role model. The opposition embarrasses itself by confessing that they will do exactly what Mugabe does. Yet they scream loudly that Mugabe is being treated abroad.
The idea of having people treated away from their homes is not only knee-shaking but makes all wonder if its a clear message that our own health system is broken. In Britain it is a scandal for the queen and the prime minister to use cars which are not British made. But their children go in different schools from those of the common man But we are not UK.
In Zambia Michael Sata.
Since he assumed power in 2011, his health degenerated. His illness dates back to 2008 when he collapsed and had to be evacuated to South Africa’s Milpark Hospital.
Concerns about his health were met with vehement denials, laced with accusations of treason. Of alarm was the manner in which Sata was being carted around to South Africa, India, United Kingdom and Israel – in secret – disguised as official trips, when he was so evidently unwell. There was never a day he was treated in Zambia. Ironical the same President Sata lambasted other presidents for being treated abroad.
Zambian Vice-President Guy Scott, then vice president, told Parliament that Sata was ‘entirely normal.’ Even when the president, looking and sounding frail, Zambians were shocked to learn the next day that he had been flown to attend the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York.
That was his last flight alive. The government controlled media was peppered with statements saying “the opposition leaders questioning the health of President Sata are malicious” when it became evident that the public could no longer be pacified with platitudes and the belligerent on line media were keeping close tabs on Sata. His office the issued a terse statement (for the first time) that he travelled to the UK to seek medical treatment, where he subsequently died on October 28. No cause of death, just an announcement that Zambia was again without a president. This is exactly the situation in MDC where we are not told what ailment has bothered Mr T. Obviously Mugabe did not tell him so he wont tell any one. Is this the contender to the throne. Is this a policy we must adopt?
The irony is that while in the opposition, it is normal to be treated abroad. In 2009 Tsvangirai who was the prime minister had to be rushed to Botswana for treatment after an accident. So how many things will be done by the opposition in the name of Mugabe?
Like Sata, before him, Mwanawasa suffered poor health and was also secretly and periodically flown out to South Africa and the UK for treatment. Sata said at the time, that the nation “was entitled to daily medical bulletins on the state of its President”, because the well-being of the president was a national issue. In other instances Sata said the lack of information on the president’s sickness affected the entire country.
Mwanawasa suffered a stroke and was hospitalised in France (where he subsequently died).
Zambia now has the dubious distinction of having two sitting presidents suffer ill health in silence and finally, die abroad. This fact is the same with Zimbabwe where two presidents of different parties choose foreign care ahead of theirs.
It is an indictment on Zimbabwean leaders who refuse or neglect to provide good healthcare for their citizens, while they speedily travel abroad to seek appropriate treatment, leaving their electorate to suffer the almost non-existent health care provisions.
Zimbabwe has a crumbling health infrastructure. Out of about 2 000 health posts there are only three tertiary health institutions that should ordinarily provide high level medical care, but these face constant shortages of staff, essential drugs, long waiting lists for basic surgical procedures and overcrowding in the wards. In spite of repeated campaign promises by successive ministers to improve the health sector, the situation has deteriorated.
Of course Zimbabwe and Zambia are not the only countries to have woken up to learn that their president has been admitted in a foreign hospital. President Zuma of South Africa gets his health bill in Russia while Khama gets his treatment in UK. The grass always looks greener in the other pan.
Of Ethiopian leader and Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, initially, there was little said about his illness, but later it was revealed that he had died in a hospital in Brussels, Belgium at age 57, while undergoing treatment.
In January 2013 President Malam Bacai Sqnhq of Guinea Bissau died in a Paris hospital. He had been flown to France, after taking ill with suspected diabetes in November of 2011.
Then there was the fiasco after death of Nigeria’s Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2010. After many absences for treatment abroad, he was finally flown to Saudi Arabia on November 23 2009, having been diagnosed with “Acute Pericarditis”, (an inflammatory condition of the coverings of the heart). His return to Nigeria was shrouded in secrecy until his death. The Palestinian Yassa Arafat was treated in France where he passed on.
In all these instances, it has been the same: countries with poor health infrastructures, secrecy around the health of leaders – who even on their sick bed refuse to acknowledge the illness and choosing the best medical treatment that money can buy for themselves leaving their citizens to the vagaries of a poor health system.
As Zimbabwe heads towards polls scheduled to be held in 2018 these are things that will be on our minds: the leaders’ lies and obfuscation on the subject of their health- the fact that their monies were spent on secret health missions to destinations they themselves are not able to access in their individual capacities.
The public’s trust in such leaders has been undermined and to some degree, the country’s political security has been endangered. Should the MDC not win the upcoming election, it will be no one’s fault but their own. – [email protected]
CAR ACCIDENT: Harare Meeting Turns Nasty
A disturbing accident occurred Saturday morning at Hopley farm, Harare injuring five (5) people.
The five most who were reportedly hired thugs sent to disrupt a Housing Cooperative meeting involving the local MP for Harare South at Ushewekunze, hurriedly fled the scene after noticing police officers descending onto the area.
The local MP, Mr Shadreck Mashayamombe, has also been blamed for hiring 10 kombis from different locations to disturb the anti Cooperative meeting.
Two vehicles were damaged, a Toyota Progress and a BMW.
The five were rushed to hospital for medical treatment.
A comment from MP Mashayamombe was not possible at the time of writing.
More to follow…
FIRST PICTURES Of EgyptAir Jet Crash Debris
Sky – Analysis of the debris is likely to be key to determining what happened to the flight which plummeted into the Mediterranean.
Pictures have been posted online showing debris from the EgyptAir jet that came down in the Mediterranean on Thursday.
The images show items from the stricken plane, including a child’s life jacket and what appears to be part of a seat.
The images were posted online on Facebook by an Egyptian army spokesman.
Analysis of the debris is likely to be key to determining what happened to the flight.
One aviation source said that a fire would likely have generated multiple warning signals, while an explosion may not have generated any.
Egypt said its navy had found human remains, wreckage and belongings floating in the sea about 180 miles (290km) north of Alexandria.
A video of the search operation showed a shoe and a handbag among the items floating in the water.
Search crews are scouring for further wreckage, especially the plane’s cockpit voice and flight data recorders, commonly known as black boxes.
Planes and vessels from Egypt and five other countries – Greece, Britain, France, the United States and Cyprus – are involved in the search.
The waters in the area are 8,000 to 10,000ft deep, and the pings from the black boxes can be detected up to a depth of 20,000ft.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and representatives of Paris Aeroport, the French prosecutor, EgyptAir, and the Egyptian ambassador to Paris met about 100 family members of those on the flight on Saturday.
He said they expressed their “profound compassion” for the victims.
“In the name of France, once more, I am expressing my solidarity, but also our affection … for all those people who learned that a loved one, or even an entire family, have drowned in the sea – and who want to know, to know to be able to grieve.
“It’s a difficult moment, a painful moment. I wanted to say it again: We’re on their side.”
The plane was carrying 66 passengers and crew when it crashed on Thursday.
BONA MUGABE’S SON LATEST: President Flies to Singapore
President Robert Mugabe has flown to Singapore to pick up his grandson.
Mugabe took to the skies from South Africa yesterday soon after his attendance at the Fort Hare University’s anniversary.
Bona Mugabe’s son has been stuck in Singapore since his birth last month(click here to read more) after doctors ordered he should not fly due to health concerns.
State House sources told ZimEye Saturday Mugabe is in Singapore to collect the grandson. “HE flew to Singapore yesterday to collect the young prince,” they said.
The Mugabes’ choice of Singapore to deliver the new baby, has been criticised as the First Family’s hypocrisy and its lack of confidence in the country’s healthcare facilities.
It has led to the baby being nicknamed “Far East.”
“Like her father who gets medical attention at the state-of-the-art Gleneagles Hospital and Medical Centre in Singapore, Bona will anytime now give birth to Mugabe’s first grandchild in the Far East country, illustrating their family’s lack of trust in local health institutions,” one journalist wrote.
They continued, “Mugabe’s wife Grace also gets treatment in Singapore. On arriving from his annual vacation in January last year, Mugabe revealed his wife had an appendix removed and was recuperating in the Far East.
“The First Family’s decision that Bona should fly more than 8 000 kilometres across the Indian Ocean to give birth is widely seen as a comment on the state of the country’s health delivery system.”
Tsvangirai and Khupe Clash over Mujuru
MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai is reportedly warming up to the idea of forming a grand coalition with other opposition forces, including Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) leader Joice Mujuru.
Tsvangirai has for months dithered amid prodding from different quarters and a growing clamour from ordinary Zimbabweans to find common ground with Mujuru, who was kicked out of Zanu PF in 2014.
“He [Tsvangirai] is warming up to the idea, but there are serious divisions. The issue of forming a coalition, particularly with Mujuru, has become a common agenda item whenever the MDC-T national executive meets,” an MDC-T source revealed.
“There is serious resistance from the likes of vice-president Thokozani Khupe, who finds Mujuru a threat to her long-term plan to be the most powerful woman politician in the country. For some reason, Khupe has found a nexus with her previous political foe, Nelson Chamisa.”
Khupe and Mujuru, sources said, had also tried to find common ground without success during a visit to Dubai early this month.
“They tried to find each other in Dubai, where Mujuru received an award for bravery, but, in fact, that actually gave Khupe more reason to be scared that she is standing on quicksand,” the source continued.
Khupe was not available for comment yesterday.
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said his boss’ position on the issue of a coalition had not shifted, adding differences were healthy for internal democracy.
“We have insisted that talking about coalitions will be putting the cart before the horse. We need to speak with a common voice on the issue of the electoral environment, build trust and then at the appropriate time, talk of a coalition,” he said.
“Regarding different positions by some members of the leadership, everyone is entitled to their opinion and we allow that as a democratic party. However, the issue will be discussed in the same forum and we will come up with a common party position.”
However, party spokesperson Obert Gutu was quick to dismiss claims of divisions.
“Once again, let me make it abundantly clear that there are absolutely no divisions within our party regarding the coalition issue. And let me repeat, here and now, that president Morgan Tsvangirai’s office is handling the coalition issue,” he said.
“At the appropriate time, our party leader will publicly communicate what exactly is happening or has been happening behind the scenes.”
Mujuru’s ZimPF has also spoken about the issue of trust and ideology before a coalition can be hammered out.
Khupe and the late legislator, Thamsanqa Mahlangu, have also in the past been accused of scuppering the reunification of the MDCs, as, some speculate, they feared they would lose their lofty positions had MDC-T and MDC united.
Chamisa, who in the past has not hidden his opposition to a “marriage of convenience” with Mujuru, seemed to have mellowed.
“I am not the party and my position does not really matter because it is found within the party’s,” he said.
“For opposition parties, unity has no alternative, for in unity, we will find victory. Zimbabwe needs an organic broad tent and that is the MDC position. We now have different other formations and it is most desirable to add than to subtract, because in adding, we strengthen and in subtracting, we weaken.” Newsday
Prince Edward School Kids to “Manufacture” Zimbabwe’s First Car | BREAKING NEWS
PRINCE EDWARD SCHOOL pupils have just launched Zimbabwe’s first Car “Manufacturing Company”. For the first time since independence in 1980, the nation is set to have its first locally designed automobile.
The announcement was made during a special function on Friday in Harare attended by industry and government heads where the school emphatically revealed this is not a project to assemble vehicles, but to manufacture them. The car’s preliminary design can be seen on the function’s brochures (in pictures). Zimbabwe last manufactured its own vehicles in the 1970s when it was under the Ian Smith government.
Since then all that the nation simply needed to kickstart as a manufacturing country, was just one person sitting down on their computer to design their model. Automotive design which is the developing of the aesthetics of the vehicle, is part and parcel of the creation of the product concept, according to Vivek D. Bhise (Ergonomics in The Automotive Design Process, 2016). But the Zim government has for 36 years routinely spent millions of dollars importing top of the range foreign made cars against a struggling economy. This will however soon be no more thanks to Prince Edward school kids who are determined to create more than just a digital model.
ZimEye.com’s Simbarashe Chikanza caught up with the school’s Head of the Science Club, Mrs Princess Mushonga who gave the below brief interview:
The Intermediate Technology Development Group’s former officer, Miriam Mushayi applauded the development.
“For once it is refreshing to hear such amazing news coming out of Zimbabwe. This is clear testimony that given the right king of support, environment, Zimbabweans have the potential not only to scale to greater heights but to compete with the best in every other field be it innovation, self sufficiency and human capital expertise,” she said.
She continued, “We hope the nation will not only celebrate this wonderful achievement but patent it, nurture it and ensure these entrepreneurs establish an automobile industry with the trademark Made in Zimbabwe.
“We also want to see tax incentives for this initiative and let the innovation grow without rules and regulations stifling its growth.
“Who would have thought that in these difficult times we would be hearing of such an achievement in this country where everything is going wrong.”
Also commenting, the UK based Zim Achievers Awards director, Conrad Mwanza said:”We celebrate and encourage Innovation, Zimbabwe needs more projects and people like this and we should move away from confrontational politics to solution driven dialogue and poverty busting projects like this that will create employment and a living for our people.”
Panama Scam: 280 Zimbabweans Probed by RBZ
Zimbabwe’s central bank said on Friday it had opened investigations into about 280 locals named in the Panama Papers, amid claims millions may have been externalised from the country.
The investigation comes as Harare battles to stem a blazing cash crisis precipitated by massive outflow of cash estimated by the central bank at $1,8 billion last year alone.
Prominent names from the list released early this month from the leaked documents of a Panama law firm, Mossack Fonseca, include Zimplats chief executive officer Alex Mhembere, property tycoon Ken Sharpe, former Aico chief executive HappymoreMapara, plus well known businessmen Billy Rautenbach and John Bredenkamp.
Several firms, including Innscor and Zimplats, have been named for paying executives through offshore companies and accounts, allegations they have denied.
The central bank noted that there were legal reasons for opening offshore account and said it would approach the issue with an open mind, as not everyone named could be guilty of crime. However, the bank has questioned the morality of transferring large amounts of cash to tax havens like the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
“We have 280 Zimbabweans on the Panama Papers which the Reserve Bank investigating,” said Morris Mpofu, the central bank’s director for Exchange Control, addressing the 77th annual general meeting of the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe.
“We are surfing through that list. Some took funds to the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands,” he said, noting that the introduction of the multicurrency system in 2009, which is credited with briefly stabilising the economy until 2012, had seen international criminal syndicates taking advantage of the country’s lax policing of its financial systems.
In one case, three foreign nationals had camped at a five star hotel in Harare, withdrawing $3,000 per day for 30 days, Mpofu said.
They then slipped out of the country after bribing officilals at the border post, he claimed.
In a crackdown on vice, the RBZ has tightened the screws on withdrawals, with individuals now permitted to withdraw a maximum of $1,000 per day, or R20,000.
Mpofudefended the limits, saying “we have been too generous, very few Zimbabweans earn $30,000 per month”.
“The challenges that we faced when we liberalised the economy, is that we opened up and became a safe haven for international criminals. Zimbabweans also became ill-disciplined as well. Zimbabwe has become a fishing pond of hard currency.”
“We have been using our foreign exchange irresponsibly over the past five years and that has also affected the situation we are in,” said Mpofu.-The Source
Mliswa Invited to National Crisis Meeting
Way before his organisation, YARD (Youth Advocacy for Reform and Democracy) has become a party, Themba Mliswa has been roped into national crisis meetings.
A rolling reflection of how crucial the youth are to the future of national politics (youths constitute over 64% of the total electorate), Mliswa was yesterday, Friday, part of the National Crisis Committee meeting at 10am at Rockwood Spiritual and Formation Centre in Hatfield.
A Yard spokesperson said the development ” shows how strategic Yard is placed in the matrix of nation building in Zimbabwe”.
Meanwhile YARD appointed its head of Strategic Research.
Announced Mliswa, “I will take this opportunity to also announce the appointment of Musarurwa Hove as the head for Strategic Research and Implementation. He comes with invaluable experience in Economics and Research,” he said.
Voetsek Mugabe!, President Ordered
President Robert Mugabe was yesterday verbally mutilated by angry students in South Africa.
Protesting students outside the University of Fort Hare tried to force their way into the hall where Mugabe and President Jacob Zuma were due to speak at centenary celebrations on Friday.
Police used water cannons to disperse the crowd.
Over a hundred students were marching to the sports complex where the institution’s centenary celebrations are taking place.
Singing “Asinamali” (we don’t have money) and holding placards reading “Centenary my ass”, students promised to disrupt proceedings.
“If it means we fight till the end of the year, we will fight. What are they celebrating when we are hungry? Voetsek Zuma, voetsek Mugabe,” one student said.
Wednesday evening saw protesting Fort Hare students set fire to a building and a tent on the Alice campus, only two days before the university’s centenary celebrations. The protests continued until the early hours of Friday morning, when police fired rubber bullets and teargas at protesters.
The students claimed that university management had not met all of their demands.
One of the demands was that students who did not live in residences on campus should receive allowances for accommodation and transport before the end of the first semester.
Zuma as well as Mugabe soon entered in to speak at the event.-News24
LATEST:Tsvangirai Health Update
Below is the latest update on MDC, leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s health.
Tsvangirai who mid-week was rushed into South Africa for an emergency operation following a suspected stomach cancer condition, is recovering well, a close source told ZimEye.com Friday night.
“I was with the President in the afternoon and he is now much better”, they said before asking for anonymity due to reporting protocols.
The party’s Secretary-General Douglas Mwonzora also said the same of Zimbabwe’s first trade-union-leader turned politician.
It was not clear at the time of writing how successful Tsvangirai’s medical operation was. They neither would be drawn to reveal the medical institution Tsvangirai is at.
Earlier on Mwonzora had confirmed Tsvangirai had a medical procedure in that country after being taken ill.
“On the advice of his doctors, he had to travel to South Africa for treatment where he successfully underwent a medical procedure and is recuperating well. We are happy that our president is recovering well and we wish him a speedy recovery.
“We kindly request the nation and the party to give the president and his family the necessary space and privacy as he recovers. The nation and the media will be kept updated,” Mwonzora said.
More to follow…
Prophet Inserts Manhood Into Girl “to Block Demons,” Rapes Her
Terrence Mawawa, Chiredzi | A Chiredzi based prophet raped a 15 year old minor girl under the deception that this would drive away evil spirits that were tormenting her.
Shirichena, a self declared prophet with Ropafadzo Apostolic Church, raped the minor on December 16 2015, after entering her room and forcing himself on her having fondled her breasts claiming ‘ghosts’ were out to suck them.
He appeared before Regional Magistarate Judith Zuyu last week facing rape charges.
The minor had gone to Samba Business Centre together with a friend seeking spiritual deliverance.
Deceitful Shirichena subsequently told the minor he would visit her parents’ home to conduct the deliverance session.
Upon arriving at the house, Shirichena claimed the place was full of ghosts that wanted to kill the minor and she needed spiritual protection from him.
Shirichena in his abuse of the girl also fondled her breasts claiming ‘ghosts’ wanted to suck them.
He proceeded to rape the minor in the presence of her younger brother claiming it would block the demons.
It is reported that the younger brother is the one who later allerted the matter to their father, after a week of relentless sexual attacks on the girl. The matter was reported to the police leading to Shirichena’s arrest.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
CIOs Caught In Dodgy Car Scam
The vehicle importation scam has resulted in the revenue body’s commissioner- general Gershem Pasi and five executive managers being sent on paid leave.
According to sources at the revenue authority, CIO imported the vehicles using Harare dealer, Timothy Simfukwe who is accused of allegedly undervaluing four cars belonging to Zimra Human resources director Sithokozile Mrewa, customs and exercise commissioner Annah Mutombodzi, internal audit director Clive Majengwa, ICT director Tjiyapo Velempini and loss control director Charlton Chihuri.
The sources said investigations revealed the vehicles were undervalued by a minimum of 30% of their real value.
Normal procedure for government vehicles is that they are imported through Central Mechanical Equipment Department using a duty free certificate. However, it is understood that the CIO and police import their own vehicles.
A source who preferred anonymity said: “Investigations towards the end of January this year uncovered a huge racket involving vehicles which were being undervalued by some Zimra officials at Beitbridge Border Post and imported fraudulently. The investigations by the revenue body also showed that about 21 Corollas imported by CIO were undervalued, while 17 brand new executive cars, which include Prados and Land Cruisers, were also undervalued.
“The racket shows that most of these cars, Prados, Land Cruisers and Range Rovers, belong to top politicians and businesspeople. This has actually been going on for years. Simfukwe was working with some people in the system, including CIO. However, surprisingly we hear that they want to turn him into a state witness basically to cover up their tracks.”
Sources said the vehicle scam, which might suck in high-profile public figures also saw about 17 vehicles, that include Land Cruisers and Prados, were also undervalued by Simfukwe for bigwigs.
The sources said investigations indicate the number of the vehicles smuggled into the country could be more.
Media reports say more than 400 cars are believed to have been smuggled into the country this year alone by a syndicate of Zimra and clearing agents who have been processing counterfeit undervalued import documents to smuggle vehicles and other products.
Five suspects were arrested in connection with some of the cases after they allegedly cleared 52 cars in Harare using the fake documents.
This week, a Zimra official Aaron Gofo who was based at Beitbridge Border Post, and believed to have been part of a syndicate that processed counterfeit import documents to smuggle top-of-the-range vehicles and other luxury products, committed suicide in unclear circumstances. Gofo had been suspended from work.
Three of the Zimra executive managers — Chihuri, Mrewa and Majengwa — appeared in court last week facing charges of criminal abuse of office for allegedly undervaluing import duty on motor vehicles and swindling the state of US$110 000.
The three were granted US$500 bail each by provincial magistrate Tendai Mahwe.
According to court documents, allegations against Mrewa are that on different dates between May and August last year, and contrary to her duties, she connived with Simfukwe, a director of Eftrade Ventures (motor vehicle dealer and importer), and Liberty Tinashe Mahembe of Vonlet Trading (clearing agent) based in Beitbridge, to have her Toyota Prado declared as a second-hand vehicle when, in fact, it was imported brand new.
The state alleges Mrewa connived with Mahembe and Simfukwe to have the vehicle imported in her name instead of Efrtrade Ventures which was the actual importer.
It is alleged that due to her actions, Mrewa prejudiced the state of US$24 156,17, while Majengwa and Chihuri, who used the same method, prejudiced the state of US$32 825,18 and US$52 985,61 respectively. The state also alleges Majengwa undervalued a Toyota Land Cruiser, while Chihuri undervalued two Toyota Land Cruisers.
Efforts to get comment from State Security minister Kembo Mohadi were fruitless last night.
Zimra officials were also not available for comment. independent
Mnangagwa Ditched by Shumba
Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo | A decade after being humiliated by President Robert Mugabe for allegedly taking part in the Tsholotsho declaration, businessman Daniel Shumba, a staunch Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa ally has dumped the Team Lacoste to join Grace Mugabe’s G-40.
The Zanu PF Masvingo urban legislator and politburo member was sacked by Mugabe in 2004 alongside nine other provincial chairpersons for backing Mnangagwa for the post of VP ahead of Mugabe’s hot favourite Joice Mujuru.
In a surprise twist of events, Shumba last week withdrew the vehicle he had donated to the Team Lacoste and instead gave it to Zanu PF Provincial chairperson, Amasa Nhenjana, a G-40 senior official.
“Shumba has since crossed the floor to join the G-40 team led by the First Lady. So he retrieved the Mazda BT 50 vehicle from the Team Lacoste after being incensed by their attacks on Mrs Mugabe,” a Zanu PF source said.
Shumba has until recently been one of Mnangagwa’s key strategists.
Party insiders told Zimeye.com yesterday that Shumba’s withdrawal of resources from the Team Lacoste was a body blow that would weaken the Mnangagwa camp in the Masvingo Province a hotbed for Zanu-PF factional wars.
Party sources further revealed to ZimEye.com Shumba that retrieved his vehicle after being angered by the recent attacks on Mrs Mugabe.
“The whole thing emanated from the Nemamwa inter district meeting where Shumba clashed with senior party officials over the Grace Mugabe slogan issue,” the source further revealed.
Although Shumba could not be reached for comment, Nhenjana denied the claims as baseless and totally unfounded.
“I did not receive any vehicle from Shumba.I will be allocated a vehicle from the head office very soon. So the claims that I got a vehicle from Shumba are cheap and baseless,” said Nhenjana.
ZRP Cops Crushed by Chombo – REPORT
In a bid to curb the menace of corruption by traffic police officers collecting fines in cash at roadblocks, Government has announced that this will soon be a practise of the past.
Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo announced that Government is working on mechanisms to ensure fines are paid through an electronic system.
Minister Chombo also revealed that about 320 police officers were fired last year for various offences bordering on abuse of office through corrupt activities.
He said this in the Senate yesterday during a Questions without Notice Session as he also revealed plans to install satellites at all roadblocks to curb corruption.
Chombo was responding to MDC-T Senator for Matabeleland South, Mrs Sithembile Mlotshwa, who sought to know the purpose of roadblocks and what Government was doing about corruption allegations against traffic police officers.
He said traffic cops played a major role in policing to ensure only roadworthy and registered vehicles brought into the country legally were on the roads.
Minister Chombo said there had been an upsurge in the importation of stolen vehicles from countries such as Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa while others were legitimately bought but smuggled into the country without paying duty.
He said police roadblocks were also meant to guard against speeding.
“Out of all the 50 000 police officers that we have, some of them may not be forthright as you and I may want,” said Chombo.
“Last year, we dismissed 320 police officers for stealing and abusing their offices at roadblocks and other offices. So the police is keen to clean up those police officers who are contravening the laws that they are supposed to uphold.”
Minister Chombo said the issue of spot fines at roadblocks was of concern to Government and mechanisms were in place to stop the rot.
He said people were concerned that some of the money collected at roadblocks was not sent to Treasury as provided for in the law.
“I want to inform this august House that there is a paper circulating in Government whereby roadblocks will be manned by satellite so that from an office in Harare you can see what is happening at a roadblock in Tsholotsho and you can pay using methods such plastic money or mobile transfers.
“There will not be any cash that will be exchanged. Therefore we will be reducing the temptation for police officers to be corrupt. So I am really on your side. The issues you raise are legitimate. Just give us a couple of weeks, it will be a thing of the past,” said Minister Chombo.
Zanu-PF Senator for Manicaland Cde Shadreck Chipanga said there was a recent court judgment that spot fines were illegal.
To that end, he asked Minister Chombo to confirm whether it was now Government policy to defy court judgments by allowing police officers to demand spot fines.
Minister Chombo said he was not aware of the judgment adding that he would check.
He said in the event that there was such a judgment, the police should comply since they were expected to protect the law.
High Court Judge, Justice Francis Bere, last year said the collection of spot fines from motorists by the police and impounding of their vehicles if they failed to pay up was illegal and must be stopped forthwith.
He made the remarks while officially opening the 2015 Masvingo High Court legal year.
Justice Bere said there was neither a legal framework nor law which compelled a motorist to pay a spot fine or empowered police to impound someone’s vehicle.
He said Section 356 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (Chapter 9:07), which is often cited on the matter, did not give police officers powers to force a motorist to pay a spot fine.
Justice Bere said spot fines and their retention by the police needed to be clarified as the matter had caused a lot of confusion.
However, the police dismissed Justice Bere’ statement saying it was of no legal force since it was not a court ruling but his opinion.
Fireworks as NRZ Workers Riot
Fireworks as unpaid NRZ workers riot
Workers of the National Railways of Zimbabwe on Friday staged a demonstration in Harare demanding outstanding salaries backdating to last year.
More than 300 NRZ employees gathered at the parastatal’s local offices waving placards, demanding their outstanding salaries and allowances.
The railway workers also petitioned parliament and Labour Minister Prisca Mupfumira demanding that government urgently looks into their plight.
One of the protestors, Tafadzwa Bhunu, said life has become unbearable for most of the company’s employees following NRZ’s failure to pay them their dues.
Another demonstrator, Linda Masarira, who is challenging her dismissal from the company in the courts, said she was also worried that NRZ is not saying anything about the plight of its workers.
Masarira criticised Mupfumira for ordering all striking NRZ employees to return to work without her addressing the issue of their outstanding salaries and allowances. VOA
Army Abandons Shooting Victims
The family of 16-year-old Tawanda Musvipa, killed in March after an accidental discharge of an anti-aircraft machine by soldiers conducting drills near Inkomo Barracks, has accused the army of failing to honour the promises it made to the family following the incident.
Tawanda was shot on the right side of his chest and left lower back by a 12,7mm anti-aircraft gun which travels at 600 metres per second during assembly at Delamore Secondary School.
The bullet also struck 13-year-old Tinashe Awali on the right arm.
Although the army assisted Tawanda’s family to meet funeral costs, it failed to attend his memorial service on May 7 or provide material assistance as promised.
Tawanda’s relatives told Zimbabwe Independent this week the army only offered firewood, and even then, there was a condition that the family finds its own transport to collect the wood. Military bosses said they did not have fuel to transport it to the family.
The Musvipa family, which lives at a farm, did not take up the offer as firewood was readily available where they stay anyway.
Tawanda’s father Tichaona Musvipa said the army let the family down as it had promised to assist during the memorial service. The military had also promised to secure employment in government for some of Tawanda’s relatives as part of their long-term assistance.
“It’s really confusing what is going on. I am actually coming from One Para (near Inkomo barracks) to ask what steps they have taken towards compensating us for the death of our son which was caused by their carelessness. But all I am told is that government has no money and there is nothing much they can do,” said Musvipa on Wednesday.
“It pains me that on May 7 we held a memorial service for Tawanda which they knew about as it was announced at the end of his funeral. We even reminded them on May 5 and asked for assistance to feed relatives, friends and church colleagues who would be attending the service. They told us they didn’t have money and they could only provide firewood but added that they didn’t have transport to bring it. They said if we had a car with fuel we could collect ourselves. Honestly what kind of insult is that?”
Musvipa said the army officials later said they could only give the family US$50 for the memorial service.
“They left the money at Delamore Secondary School where Tawanda learnt. I only received it on May 13, way after the memorial service,” said the angry father. “Besides, what would I have done with the little amount of money. Tawanda had a bright future ahead of him. He is the one I pinned my hopes on. He is surely worth more than just firewood and US$50,” said Musvipa.
“All the promises they made to us about securing jobs for relatives seem to have just ended in empty words. When I asked them about the way forward, they said government had no money and in any case the matter was now before the Norton magistrates’ court and a soldier was arrested.”
Tinashe’s father Nickson Awali on Wednesday said although he was asked to submit written demands, the army had gone quiet. His son is still struggling with injuries from the shooting.
“The last time I spoke to them about compensation, I told them I wanted a lifelong support for my traumatised son because his injury will affect him for his entire life since he is right handed. Tinashe only started going to school today. We had to persuade him to go because he can’t move his hand which is now stiff. We were told he will need physiotherapy exercises for it to be functional,” Awali said.
Questions sent to ZNA spokesperson Alphios Makotore on Wednesday were not responded to by the time of going to print.
Officials in his office said he was out of office until Monday and insisted he was the only one who could respond to the queries. -Independent
Dr Nkosana Moyo joins Mujuru?
Former Industry Minister, Dr Nkosana Moyo may just be another big catch by the Joice Mujuru led Zimbabwe People First.
Sources within the party alleged to ZimEye.com that the former Minister concluded discussions with Mujuru at the weekend. The sources however could not give full details of the deliberations between Mujuru and Moyo.
Moyo resigned from President Mugabe’s cabinet in 2001 only a year into his office following what he described as difficult ZANU PF policies to work under.
He then left the country for South Africa unannounced before sending his resignation from cabinet via fax to Mugabe twenty four hours after leaving the nation.
Responding to Moyo’s resignation President Mugabe described Moyo as a coward.
“We can not work with cowards like Moyo in our cabinet. Wet want people who we can stand with amadoda sibili (real men) not people who chicken out when the struggle gets hot,” Mugabe was quoted.
Mugabe was highly applauded when he appointed Moyo into his cabinet as the man who was not aligned to a political party at that time, was expected to be an independent mind in the revival of the country’s economy..
Moyo could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.
No Water Again This Weekend For Harare Residents
The capital city is once again this weekend going to experience water shortages as the city fathers struggle to maintain and efficiently provide the precious liquid.
The non availability of water to residents for the second time this weekend, according to the city’s spokesperson Michael Chideme, has been caused by the “continued”, rehabilitation works at the Morton Jaffray Water Works.
Chideme told the state media that the planned shutdown from Saturday the 21st to Sunday the 22nd, is meant to take advantage of the winter period when water usage will be low.
He said they were confident the capacity of Morton Jaffray would increase by 120 mega litres to about 600 mega litres with the project completion earmarked for year end.
Repair works to Morton Jaffray are part of the multi-million dollar Harare Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Rehabilitation Programme meant to improve water supply which continues to deteriorate.
Harare continues to lose treated water through leakages from obsolete pipes.
According to the local authorities over 60% of treated water from Morton Jaffray is lost in transit leaving 40% being the real amount of water accessed by people.
LIVE VIDEO:Mugabe At Fort Hare
Dog Meat Sold in Chiredzi
Terrence Mawawa, Chiredzi|A cunning local man killed his father’s dog and sold the meat to unsuspecting patrons after convincing them it was game he had hunted.
It has emerged that Noel Kujongonya of Mkwasine Chiredzi, killed his father’s dog, last week, and approached nearby revellers who were sitting near traditional braai stand (mbaura) at Mkwasine, and sold the meat to them.
“He told the patrons that he had gone in the forest on a hunt and killed game. He sounded confident such that people scrambled to buy the meat. People went on to braai the meat. I am now disgusted knowing that I ate dog meat,”said a patron.
The matter came to light when Kujongonya’s father woke up the following day and discovered that his dog was missing.
After a few days he found the missing dog’s head and a blood stained knife in the garden. When he further investigated the matter he was told his son was spotted at the shops selling what he claimed to be game.
“When we confronted him, his son did not deny that he had duped people into buying dog meat. Asked why he did it ,he said he had to do it because he was broke and he needed some cash,” a relative of the family explained.
“We took him to the police but he was released after they could not find an appropriate charge against him.
The police said he did not break any law. Noel leads a reckless life and many people know him as an irresponsible young man,”said Kujongonya’s relative.
DOKORA AGAIN: Primary School Kids Forced into HIV Blood Tests
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Lazarus Dokora is set on a warpath with children’s rights organisations after it emerged that Primary school children are being forced to take HIV blood-tests, with some parents being compelled to sign consent papers against their better judgement or will. (ALSO READ Dokora Bans Scripture Union …….)
The exercise which commenced earlier this week, and is now postponed, was allowed by Dokora’s office, revelations emerged yesterday.
It is being conducted by the Harare City Health in conjunction with Child Protection Society (CPS), while Rujeko Clinic nurses conduct the testing, according to a statement released by women’s rights organisation, Zimbabwe Activist Alliance (ZAA).
While HIV testing and counselling remain the cornerstone in the fight against AIDS, government adopted set guidelines which require pre-counselling before testing to avoid trauma and related stigma. It is estimated that 190,000 (2013) children living with HIV in the country are aged between 0 to14 years with many not knowing their status according to the Ministry of Health.
However, in a hard hitting statement, ZAA National Coordinator, Lynnette Mudehwe took government to task over the exercise; “As ZAA, we are worried by the government’s continued behavior of not consulting citizens on issues regarding our children. Who did they consult on this ill advised bogus project?”
Mudehwe says in the statement that they found out about the ‘bogus’ exercise after a random visit to Dzivarasekwa 5 Primary School Tuesday morning; “ We talked to parents who were already at the school and other residents. Parents were given letters of consent to sign if they wanted their kids to be tested or not. About 30 parents took their kids for the exercise with many absenting their kids from school to boycott the exercise.”
Calling for the respect of children’s rights Mudehwe further said; “Our children are not guinea pigs. Why do they not test their children learning in the far east?”
“Residence in DZ rejected this exercise by making their children boycott the exercise. We urge citizens of Zimbabwe to remain vigilant and reject anything imposed on them without consultation,” she said.
Efforts to obtain a comment fron Minister Dokora were fruitless at the time of going to press.
Acie Lumumba Quits Mugabe, ZANU PF | BREAKING NEWS
Prolific ZANU PF youth and Harare businessman Acie Lumumba has ditched his boss Robert Mugabe.
Lumumba told ZimEye.com early Friday he has quit the ZANU PF party, saying it has become “too … corrupt and … out of touch with the reality”.
Lumumba who was kicked out of his job barely a few days after being appointed to a government post, said he is now officially out of ZANU PF.
Speaking to ZimEye.com, he said he would re-consider if President Robert Mugabe was to heed his complaints which he called “the issues”. He added saying he still trusts and honours Mugabe.
Meanwhile his written announcement was in a two paged resignation letter sent to Zanu PF Harare provincial chairperson Charles Tavengwa. In that he said he leaves Zanu PF “a broken hearted man as the party no longer serves the interest of the people, is too divided, too corrupt and too out of touch with the reality.”
“I am leaving the party Cde chairman,” the letter read.
“I cannot continue being part of a system that is destroying its own children; fails to care for its elders, doesn’t honour its service-men and, most importantly, doesn’t allow youths to grow and flourish – youths who, twenty years from now, will need to know how to guide this country forward.”
He also blamed the party for the country’s many problems.
“We collect taxes from regular people to pay huge salaries to corrupt and incompetent parastatal company managers; we collect exorbitant duties and kill local manufacturers.
“We speak of empowerment but do not fix the structural issues without which empowerment is economically impossible.”
SNAKES HORROR: 4 Yr Old Girl Survives 2 Nights Alone In Forest
FOUR-YEAR-OLD girl from Mangwe, who got lost on her way home from school, miraculously survived two cold nights in an animal infested forest.
A search party comprising about 100 villagers, seven police officers and two sniffer dogs found Ntokozo Mabhena, a pre-school learner, asleep under a tree on Sunday evening.
Ntokozo had wandered about 35 kilometres from the school in Macingwane Village on Friday afternoon, to Kwite, a neighbouring Village.
Villagers said the little girl had lost weight but was otherwise unharmed. She is suspected to have survived on wild fruits. Search parties lit huge fires at night to keep away predators but the tot miraculously survived her ordeal unscathed.
Her family told the state media yesterday that they had lost hope she would be found alive because dangerous wild animals like leopards, hyenas and poisonous snakes roam the bush where she got lost.
The girl’s grandmother, Lizzy Dumani, was so overcome with emotion when she saw her alive that she collapsed and regained consciousness in hospital.
She told the state media she was part of the search team but she gave up on Saturday morning as she was overwhelmed by grief. Dumani said she became alarmed after her grandchild had not returned from pre-school by 3PM on Friday which compelled her to alert her neighbours.
She said after being found, Ntokozo was rushed to hospital where the medical staff confirmed that she was in good health.
“As a family we’re still shocked but Ntokozo has returned to her normal life as if nothing happened.
“She isn’t even saying anything about the incident and I’m not sure whether she is aware of what happened to her.
“She didn’t even shed a tear or show any signs of being scared. It’s as though nothing happened to her. We’re just grateful that she is safe,” said Dumani. One of the members of the search crew, Bakhethi Nleya, said they combed through rocky, thorny and bushy paths to find the girl.
“We were totally exhausted when we finally found her. We wonder how she covered all that distance,” said Nleya.
“We suffered bruises and cuts trying to find her but to our surprise, she didn’t have any injuries. “The bush which she cut across is infested with cheetahs, hyenas, leopards, pythons, mountain cobras among other predators,” he said.
“We were tracking her shoe prints but in some cases she was straying from the path and going across rocky areas. In such cases we were forced to split into groups and search across the area until we could retrace her shoe prints.
“In some cases she was stopping by wild fruit trees to get something to eat. When we found her, all her belongings she carries to school were still intact,” said Nleya.
The councillor of Izimnyama Small Scale area, Peter Ndlovu, said the police and community members had played a crucial role in locating the missing girl.
He said the police responded quickly while the entire community had contributed in finding Ntokozo.
Ndlovu said villagers felt it was a miracle that the girl survived two cold nights and wild animals alone in the bush.
“We thought she was dead when we saw her under the tree. Imagine the relief when she sat up and asked for water and food,” he said.
Mnangangwa Aide Killed in Horrific Accident
The Kwekwe businessman and owner of Steelmakers Private Limited Mr Alex Johnson, his wife Achamma and their employee who died in an accident on Wednesday, had close links to Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Following the breaking news revealed by ZimEye.com Wednesday night, the ZRP has confirmed Mr Johnson was actually Mnangagwa’s business associate.
The three passed away when a Mercedes Benz E320 they were travelling in collided head-on with another vehicle of the same make along the Harare-Bulawayo Highway.
The businessman was a close associate of VP Emmerson Mnangagwa.
National police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed the accident, which occurred at the 196km peg near Sable Chemical Industries outside Kwekwe.
Charamba told the state media Johnson, who was travelling to Harare with his wife, was being driven by an employee, Mr Sherman Majuru. The other vehicle that was Kwekwe bound, was being driven by Mr Privilege Fundira who had two passengers.
She said preliminary investigations showed that Mr Fundira tried to overtake a vehicle in front of an oncoming vehicle resulting in the head-on collision. Snr Asst Comm Charamba said Mr Johnson and his wife died on the spot while the driver died on admission at Kwekwe General Hospital.
“I can confirm that three people died while three others were seriously injured in an accident when two vehicles, both Mercedes Benz E320 models, collided head on at the 196 km peg along Harare-Bulawayo Highway.
“The accident occurred at around 5:10pm. Two people died on the spot while the other died at Kwekwe District Hospital. “Three people from the other vehicle were seriously injured and were taken to the same hospital for treatment,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has expressed its condolences to the John0son family.
CZI CEO Mr Clifford Sileya said the organisation was deeply saddened by the untimely death of its member who was running one of the few successful businesses in the iron and steel manufacturing industry.
The organisation had a moment of silence during its breakfast meeting in Gweru in memory of Mr Johnson.
“We heard that Mr Johnson, together with his wife, passed away last night after their vehicle smashed into another vehicle which encroached into their lane near Sable Chemicals, 10 km from Kwekwe. It is really sad,” he said.
HIV Testing Of Primary School Kids Illegal
The Zimbabwe Activist Alliance ( ZAA) issues a Press statement expressing their concern on the forced HIV testing of Primary school pupils:
We are saddened by the bogus exercise of testing primary schools students of HIV. This exercise is being conducted by Harare City Health in conjunction with Child Protection Society (CPS); Rujeko Clinic nurses conduct the testing. To date this testings was conducted at Gombo Primary School in Dzivarasekwa 3 on Monday. DZ 5 Primary & DZ4 primary were supposed to tested on the 18 & 20 May respectively.
We got wind of this issue and we visited DZ5 Primary School yesterday morning with Zimbabwe Women ln Politics Alliance (ZWIPA). We arrived at the school at 9am being the time the exercise was meant to commence. We talked to parents who were already at the school and other residents. Parents were given letters of consent to sign if they wanted their kids to be tested or not. About 30 parents took their kids for the exercise with many absenting their kids from school to boycott the exercise. The exercise was postponed indefinitely.
As ZAA, we are worried by the government’s continued behavior of not consulting citizens on issues regarding our children. Who did they consult on this ill advised bogus project?
Our children are not guinea pigs. Why do they not test their children learning in the far east?
Our Childrens Rights must be respected. We are the parents & guardians of our children not the state.
This continued abuse of Citizens by the state must come to an immediate end and as ZAA we promise to continue using all peaceful means to stop such ridiculous exercises.
Residents in DZ rejected this exercise by making their children boycott the exercise. We urge citizens of Zimbabwe to remain vigilant and reject anything imposed on them without consultation.
Together United ln Our Diversity for the love of Zimbabwe
Tendayi Lynnette Mudehwe
ZAA National Coordinator
Brother Sodomises Brother
A 17-YEAR-OLD boy has been arrested for allegedly sodomising his 12-year-old brother.
The teenager from Tshabalala suburb in Bulawayo, whose name cannot be disclosed for ethical reasons, allegedly had anal sexual intercourse with the Grade 5 pupil at their parents’ home.
A court heard the teenager woke up in the middle of the night and forced himself on the boy and threatened to kill him if he told anyone.
“Whilst I was asleep, I felt some pain on my behind and I immediately woke up and realised my brother had removed my underwear. His manhood was inside my behind. I tried to get up but I could not,” said the boy.
The teenager appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Themba Chimiso facing an aggravated indecent assault charge. Chimiso did not ask him to plead and remanded him in custody to June 2.
Prosecuting, Mufaro Mageza told the court that on May 16 at around 8PM, the teenager retired to bed after watching television and found his brother sleeping.
“Complainant was asleep and woke up when he felt some pain on his anus and realised that it was the accused person who had inserted his manhood inside his anus.
“Complainant tried to get up from the bed but failed to do so. He asked why the accused was acting the way he was and he responded by threatening him,” said Mageza.
“The complainant revealed the issue to his cousin after he heard that accused person had been arrested for another crime. The cousin later reported the matter to the police.”
The prosecutor said the boy was referred to hospital and a medical report can be produced in court as evidence.-state media
Diamond Crook, Tafadzwa Musarara Flees Twitter, Facebook
Zanu PF “diamond crook” and socialite Tafadzwa Musarara, has fled from all social networks, after reports exposed him as a girlfriend batterer and child abuser.
Musara who has been fingered by President Robert Mugabe as part of the missing $15 billion saga, went underground on Thursday.
It never rains but pours for Musarara who was humiliated in a hot panel discussion moderated by Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa on the ZiFM radio station which also had # theflag Pastor Evan Mawarire. Musarara failed to articulate clearly Zimbabwe’s problems and to defend Zanu PF policies.
To worsen matters, Musarara even went to the point of comparing the people’s suffering to the popular comedian Mr Bean’s TV program.
ZimEye.com this week revealed for the first time that Musarara has battered his ex-girlfriend to a point that she could have turned blind, soon afterwards denying paternity for his child (with her).
To further compound his problems, Parirenyatwa soon came out boldly distancing herself from Musarara, declaring on her twitter account that she had not invited Musarara to the program.
Jeering at Musarara, one of his twitter followers who goes by the handler “Pablo-de-don,” said he was glad Musarara fled after being given a few punches.
Mugabe Flies Off to South Africa
President Robert Mugabe has flown off to South Africa for a university function.
Mugabe who flew out with a large group of hangers-on, arrived in South Africa to attend celebrations at Fort Hare University in South Africa.
He will join other heads of State, alumni and eminent persons from across Africa, to attend the university’s centenary celebrations tomorrow. President Mugabe was invited to the celebrations last month by new South Africa Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Mpakama Mbete when he presented his credentials.
President Mugabe was accompanied by Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Dr Chris Mushowhe and senior Government officials, among them Presidential spokesperson, George Charamba.
He was seen off at the Harare International Airport this afternoon by his two Vice Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko, Cabinet ministers and service chiefs.
South Africa President Jacob Zuma will officiate at the celebrations. The celebrations started early this year, but tomorrow will be the main celebrations and hundreds of people from South Africa and across Africa are expected to grace the event.
Mathuthu Kicked Out of Chronicle | BREAKING NEWS
The former editor of NewZimbabwe.com and now editor of the government owned Chronicle newspaper, Mduduzi Mathuthu, has been kicked out of his job.
Mathuthu was today axed by a government directive handed by Zimpapers CEO Pikirayi Deketeke in Bulawayo.
The development comes after Mathuthu had published articles attacking Johannes Tomana and also recently humiliating Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa on his role in the Gukurahundi atrocities of the 80s.
Sources say Mathuthu has since been seconded for the state’s Namibian based Southern Times off shoot. More to follow…
EgyptAir Disappearance: Debris Found Floating In Ocean
Reuters – An EgyptAir jet carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar over the Mediterranean south of Greece on Thursday, with Athens saying the plane swerved in mid-air before plunging from cruising height and vanishing.
Greek state television said aircraft debris had been found in the sea during a search for the missing Airbus A320. Earlier, Greek officials said pieces of plastic and two lifevests were found floating some 230 miles south of Crete.
Officials were reluctant to speculate over the disappearance while the search was underway. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said it was too early to rule out any explanation, including an attack like the one blamed for bringing down a Russian airliner over Egypt’s Sinai peninsula last year.
But despite the caution, the country’s aviation minister said a terrorist attack was more likely to have taken down the aircraft than a technical failure.
In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama received a briefing on the disappearance from his adviser for homeland security and counter-terrorism, the White House said.
In Athens, Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the Airbus had first swerved 90 degrees to the left, then spun through 360 degrees to the right. After plunging from 37,000 feet to 15,000, it vanished from Greek radar screens.
Greece deployed aircraft and a frigate to the area to help with the search. Greek defence sources told Reuters earlier that two floating objects, coloured white and red, had been spotted in a sea area 230 miles south of the island of Crete.
According to Greece’s civil aviation chief, calls from Greek air traffic controllers to the jet went unanswered just before it left the country’s airspace, and it disappeared from radar screens soon afterwards.
There was no official suggestion of whether the disappearance was due to technical failure or any other reason such as sabotage by ultra-hardline Islamists, who have targeted airports, airliners and tourist sites in Europe, Egypt, Tunisia and other Middle Eastern countries over the past few years.
The aircraft was carrying 56 passengers – with one child and two infants among them – and 10 crew, EgyptAir said. They included 30 Egyptian and 15 French nationals, along with citizens of 10 other countries.
Asked if he could rule out that terrorists were behind the incident, Prime Minister Ismail told reporters: “We cannot exclude anything at this time or confirm anything. All the search operations must be concluded so we can know the cause.”
French President Francois Hollande also said the cause was unknown. “Unfortunately the information we have … confirms to us that the plane came down and is lost,” he said. “No hypothesis can be ruled out, nor can any be favoured over another.”
With its archeological sites and Red Sea resorts, Egypt is traditionally a popular destination for Western tourists. But the industry has been badly hit following the downing of the Russian Metrojet flight last October, killing all 224 people on board, as well as by an Islamist insurgency and a string of bomb attacks.
NO RESPONSE
Greek air traffic controllers spoke to the pilot as the jet flew over the island of Kea, in what was thought to be the last broadcast from the aircraft, and no problems were reported.
But just ahead of the handover to Cairo airspace, calls to the plane went unanswered, before it dropped off radars shortly after exiting Greek airspace, Kostas Litzerakis, the head of Greece’s civil aviation department, told Reuters.
“During the transfer procedure to Cairo airspace, about seven miles before the aircraft entered the Cairo airspace, Greek controllers tried to contact the pilot but he was not responding,” he said.
Greek authorities are searching in the area south of the island of Karpathos, Defence Minister Kammenos told a news conference.
“At 3.39am (0039 GMT) the course of the aircraft was south and south-east of Kassos and Karpathos (islands),” he said. “Immediately after, it entered Cairo FIR (flight information region) and made swerves and a descent I describe: 90 degrees left and then 360 degrees to the right.”
The Airbus plunged from 37,000 feet (11,280 metres) to 15,000 feet before vanishing from radar, he added.
Egyptian Civil Aviation minister Sherif Fathi said authorities had tried to resume contact but without success.
“NO ONE KNOWS ANYTHING”
At Cairo airport, authorities ushered families of the passengers and crew into a closed-off waiting area.
Two women and a man, who said they were related to a crew member, were seen leaving the VIP hall where families were being kept. Asked for details, the man said: “We don’t know anything, they don’t know anything. No one knows anything.”
Ayman Nassar, from the family of one of the passengers, also walked out of the passenger hall with his daughter and wife in a distressed state. “They told us the plane had disappeared, and that they’re still searching for it and not to believe any rumours,” he said.
A mother of flight attendant rushed out of the hall in tears. She said the last time her daughter called her was Wednesday night. “They haven’t told us anything,” she said.
EgyptAir said on its Twitter account that Flight MS804 had departed Paris at 23:09 (CEST). It disappeared at 02:30 a.m. at an altitude of 37,000 feet in Egyptian air space, about 280 km (165 miles) from the Egyptian coast before it was due to land at 03:15 a.m.
In Paris, a police source said investigators were now interviewing officers who were on duty at Roissy airport on Wednesday evening to find out whether they heard or saw anything suspicious. “We are in the early stage here,” the source said.
Airbus said the missing A320 was delivered to EgyptAir in November 2003 and had operated about 48,000 flight hours.
The missing flight’s pilot had clocked up 6,275 hours of flying experience, including 2,101 hours on the A320, while the first officer had 2,766 hours, EgyptAir said.
At one point EgyptAir said the plane had sent an emergency signal at 04:26 a.m., two hours after it disappeared from radar screens. However, Fathi said later that further checks found that no SOS was received.
FRANCE, EGYPT TO COOPERATE
The weather was clear at the time the plane disappeared, according to Eurocontrol, the European air traffic network.
“Our daily weather assessment does not indicate any issues in that area at that time,” it said.
Under U.N. aviation rules, if the aircraft is found to have crashed in international or Egyptian waters, Egypt will automatically lead an investigation into the accident assisted by countries including France, where the jet was assembled, and the United States, where engine maker Pratt & Whitney is based.
Russia and Western governments have said the Metrojet plane that crashed on Oct. 31 was probably brought down by a bomb, and the Islamic State militant group said it had smuggled an explosive device on board.
That crash called into question Egypt’s campaign to eradicate Islamist violence. Militants have stepped up attacks on Egyptian soldiers and police since Sisi, then serving as army chief, toppled elected President Mohamed Mursi, an Islamist, in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.
In March, an EgyptAir plane flying from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus by a man with what authorities said was a fake suicide belt. He was arrested after giving himself up.
EgyptAir has a fleet of 57 Airbus and Boeing jets, including 15 of the Airbus A320 family of aircraft, according to airfleets.com.
(Additional reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein, Amina Ismail, Ali Abdelatti, Mostafa Hashem, Asma Alsharif, Eric Knecht, Victoria Bryan, Siva Govindasamy, Sophie Louet, Tim Hepher, Michele Kambas, Lefteris Papadimas, Renee Maltezou, Brian Love and Miral Fahmy.; Writing by Lincoln Feast, Samia Nakhoul and David Stamp; Editing by Bill Tarrant, Paul Tait and Peter Graff)
Tsvangirai Health Deteriorates – OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT | BREAKING NEWS
MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai’s health has detereorated, the party has made an official announcement. Revealing in the below update, Tsvangirai who has for several months been rumoured to be secretly unwell(with a visibly shrunken body-PICTURES BELOW), has been flown into South Africa for emergency treatment.
Below was the update by Secretary General Douglas Mwonzora:
Early this week our President Morgan Tsvangirai was taken ill. On the advice of his doctors, he had to travel to South Africa for treatment.
Yesterday he successfully underwent a medical procedure and is recuperating well in South Africa. We are happy that our President is recovering well and we wish him a speedy recovery. We kindly request the nation and the party to give the President and his family the necessary space and privacy as he recovers. The nation and the media will be kept updated.
Kasukuwere Wants Our Heads,” – Bulawayo Council
Staff Reporter| The City of Bulawayo has made a passionate plea to churches in the City to pray for divine intervention to save the city from the wreath of Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere.
City Councillor for ward 18 Concilia Mlalazi made the plea at the burial of a Bulawayo City Council Accounting Officer in Bulawayo yesterday.
Councillor Mlalazi told more that 2 000 mourners that included senior City Council officials that Minister Kasukuwere is out to dismiss the entire council in order to block development in the city particularly the proposed Egodini Mall.
According to the Councillor, Minister Kasukuwere is frustrating the project which should already have been started because he wants to bring in contractors from Harare at the expense of locals.
“How can someone block such a massive development for the city just because they want contractors and employees to be people from Harare,”: she said.
Addressing the various church leaders who were at the grave site, Councillor Mlalazi implored on the clergy to seriously pray for the City Councillors as Kasukuwere has sent an investigative team to investigate the council with a plan to suspended the entire council.
“I know that Bulawayo pastors are a deep praying lot. Please pray for us, we need God to protect us against the Ministry,” she said.
Councillor Mlalazi further told the gathering that Minister Kasukuwere’s investigating team has in just two weeks cost the council over $30 000 of residents fund that could have been directed to service delivery.
“They are staying in very expensive hotels and claim huge amounts of money for their subsistence while doing this unwarranted investigation,” she said. “They are claiming a breakfast allowance of $75 while they are sleeping in hotels that provide them bed and breakfast,” added the councillor amidst inaudible comments from the mourners.
Ministry of Local Government despatched a crack audit team to investigate issues of irregularities in allocating residential and commercial stands by the City’s Councillors following mass complaints from the residents of the city.
The Local Government Board also blocked the construction of the Egodini Mall to pave way for investigations on allegations of corruption in the awarding of contractors of the mall.
Aircraft Disappears while Mid Air
SkyNews- An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo has disappeared from radar with 56 passengers and 10 crew on board, the airline says.
Flight MS804 departed the French capital at 11.09pm (CEST) before vanishing, according to what the airline described as “an informed source”.
The airline said that the plane, which carried two babies and one child among its passengers, lost contact with radar at 2.45am Cairo time (1.45am BST).
At this point the Airbus A320, which was built in 2003, was about three hours and 40 minutes into the four-hour flight and was at 37,000ft.
The airline said the plane had been 10 miles into Egyptian airspace, over the Mediterranean Sea.
However, Egyptian civil aviation authority spokesman Ihab Raslan told Sky News Arabia that it was about to enter Egyptian airspace when it disappeared. He said the plane had most likely crashed into the sea.
An informed source at EGYPTAIR stated that Flight no MS804,which departed Paris at 23:09 (CEST),heading to Cairo has disappeared from radar.
Ahmed Abdel, the vice-chairman of EgyptAir holding company, told CNN that there had been no distress calls from the plane.
The New York Times quoted Ehab Mohy el-Deen, the head of Egypt’s air navigation authority, as saying that Greek air traffic controllers had told their Egyptian counterparts that they had lost contact with the plane.
He said: “They did not radio for help or lose altitude. They just vanished.”
Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry says that search and rescue teams, including those from the Egytian Armed Forces, are looking for the plane.
Greece has also joined the search and rescue operation, sending one C-130 and one early warning aircraft, officials at the Hellenic National Defence General Staff said. They said one frigate was also heading to the area, and helicopters are on standby.
Meanwhile, an aviation source said the Civil Aviation Ministry was working to gather information on the technical state of the missing plane.
The airline said the plane’s pilot had flown 6,275 hours – including 2,101 hours on the same model – while the co-pilot had done 2,766 hours.
Aviation expert Rusty Aimer told Sky News: “Right now, the EgyptAir folks are talking with the Egyptian air traffic control facility.
“They’re in direct contact, trying to get as much information as they can, trying to find out – were there any radar outages in the sector?
“A radar outage…could be a loss of power to the radar station: it could be sabotage, it could be many things.
“That could be one reason they lost control of the aircraft. The other reason could be the aircraft itself disappearing, which could mean not a good ending.”
He added: “There are two scenarios where the radar blip of an aircraft disappears. The first is where the ground radar is not working for some reason and there’s a possibility of that happening.
“The second is if the aircraft itself loses the information it gives to the radar or the transponder.”
Sky News Middle East Correspondent Sherine Tadros said: “There are various airliners that make that indirect flight. EgyptAir is among the only ones that fly direct.
“This is a popular route, this is a time when people would have wanted to make that trip for business reasons, for personal reasons.
“It’s not a very long flight. So really at this point we just have to wait and see what has happened to this flight – where it could be.”
With its ancient archaeological sites and Red Sea resorts, Egypt is a popular destination for tourists.
But its tourism industry was badly hit following the downing of a Russian jet last year with the deaths of all 224 on board, the ongoing Islamist insurgency and a string of bomb attacks in the country.
More follows…
ANOTHER ACCIDENT: Steelmakers Boss Killed in Kwekwe|BREAKING NEWS
Another accident has occurred in Kwekwe resulting in a man and his wife’s death.
The Steelmakers company CEO, Mr Alexander Johnson, was last night involved in a head on collision with another vehicle and died at the scene.
Johnson, together with his wife, passed away last night night after smashing into another vehicle whose driver is said to have been drunk. Sources told ZimEye.com Johnson and his wife died in the head collision at around 7pm near Sable Chemicals, 10 km from Kwekwe.
Disturbing pictures in ZimEye.com’s possession show Mr Johnson’s body covered in blankets at the scene. His wife’s body also lay there with him.
The man’s driver (name withheld) who was alive at the scene, soon died at hospital, sources said.
A police report could not be obtained at the time of writing.
Meanwhile, a citation last night read stating that: Mr.Johnson was a graduate of the Kerala University, where he majored in Chemistry (Physics and Maths), and MA English Literature.
He began his career as quality controller in the R & D Dept. He joined Steelmakers as General Manager in 1996, overseeing the inception of Steelmakers Zimbabwe. He was appointed Group General Manager in charge of projects in Southern Africa in 2001.
Johnson was head of business development projects in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Having worked in various steel-plants in India and Kenya, he wielded a wealth of experience and technical expertise.
His shrewdness as a businessman saw him being voted the ZNCC business man of the year 2002 and subsequently holding Executive posts in various business bodies including Midlands Chamber of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries where he served a term as President and another as National Vice President.
A philanthropist by nature, Johnson was a member of several charitable organisations and also as counselor at Midlands State University.
“Selling Human Meat”: China Denies Reports
Xinhua – A top Chinese official on Tuesday dismissed reports in Zambian media that China has been selling human meat as food in Africa.
Reports on social media and a local newspaper quoted an unnamed Zambian woman living in China warning people to stop buying Chinese corned beef.
The woman claimed that Chinese beef companies were collecting dead human bodies, marinating them, packing them in tins labeled as corned beef and sending them to Africa.
Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Yang Youming issued a statement expressing how unfortunate it was that people with ulterior motives were attempting to destroy the long-standing partnership between Zambia and China.
“Today a local tabloid newspaper is openly spreading a rumor, claiming that the Chinese use human meat to make corned beef and sell it to Africa. This is completely a malicious slandering and vilification which is absolutely unacceptable to us,” he said in a statement.
“We hereby express our utmost anger and the strongest condemnation over such an act,” he added.
The Chinese envoy has since asked relevant government departments in Zambia to investigate the tabloid and source of the rumor in order to clear the name of the Chinese people.
Zambia’s Deputy Defense Minister Christopher Mulenga has since promised that the government will launch investigations into the reports.
“The government of Zambia regrets the incident in view of the warm relations that exist between Zambia and China. We shall make sure that relevant government authorities will take up the investigations and give a comprehensive statement,” he said.
4 More “Crooks” Arrested Over Kuwait Scam
Brenda Avril May (62), a secretary at the embassy, was re-arrested after fresh charges emerged. May has pending similar charges before the courts.
She recruited Joyleen Muchengu on the pretext that she was going to work as a nurse aide for former Kuwaiti Ambassador to Zimbabwe Ahmed Al-Jeeran’s brother, Bader Khaled.
On reaching Kuwait, Muchengu was sold and forced to do menial jobs.
Police also arrested Jethro Madakasi (23), a policeman based in Mutare.
He reportedly lured Sandra Chikomwe on the pretext that he had secured employment for her before demanding $50 which he said was for processing police clearance and a medical report.
The other two are Nyasha Bako (29) and Lucia Makwangwa (41), who are accused of sending four women to Kuwait where they were turned into slaves. Twelve people have been arrested in connection with the case so far.
The suspects have since appeared in court and were represented by Mr David Dhumbura of Coghlan Welsh and Guest, Mr Obey Zimbodza from Zimbodza and Associates and Mr Liberty Gono of Machaya and Associates.
The quartet appeared on separate records before Mr Vakayi Chikwekwe. May, Madakasi and Makwangwa were freed on $500 bail each. They were ordered to report to the police three times a week.
Bako was denied bail after the State proved that he was a flight risk. Prosecuting, Mr Peter Kachirika submitted that Bako had been on the run since March.
The Prosecutor-General’s Office consented to a free bail for May on the basis that she was already on bail while Madakasi and Makwangwa had been ordered to pay $300 bail, but Mr Chikwekwe overturned the State’s decision and ordered the quartet to pay $500 each.
They were remanded to June 14.
Mr Kachirika alleged May processed a visa and air ticket for Muchengu after misrepresenting to her that she was going to work as a nurse aide for Bader Khaled Al-Jeeran.
Muchengu left Zimbabwe on October 14 and upon arrival in Kuwait, she was whisked away by an unidentified agent while her passport was confiscated.
At the hands of her employer, Muchengu worked for long hours, was not given food and was not allowed to leave the house. The court heard that Madakasi, who connived with his alleged accomplice, Progress Mehlo based in Kuwait, misrepresented to Chikomwe that he had connections in Kuwait and had secured a job for her as a maid where she would be paid $700 per month.
He allegedly processed a visa and air ticket for her and she left the coun- try.
It is the State’s case that Bako and Makwangwa connived and recruited Zviito Kaurimbo, Tariro Muza, Emmaculate Mujeyi and Hazvinei Garanewako.
When they got to Kuwait their passports and mobile phones were confiscated and they were placed under house arrest where they were abused and worked as maids for long hours without food.
They were later rescued by Zimbabwean Embassy officials in Kuwait who facilitated their return home.
So far suspects that have appeared in court in connection with trafficking are Brenda Avril (31), Lucia Chibayambuya (26), Lawrence Chibayambuya (23), Faith Magora (57), Edgar Muchineripi Gora, Josephine Gondo (26) and Fadzai Nyahondo (19). -state media
Man Axes Wife After Catching Her with Another Man
A 21-YEAR-OLD man from Bulilima struck his 16-year-old ex-wife with an axe three times after he saw her with another man.
Nevious Moyo, who is employed as a general hand at Stretton Farm Compound in Figtree area, allegedly armed himself with an axe and struck Sisasenkosi Ndebele inflicting serious injuries on her leg, arm and back before fleeing from the scene.
Moyo appeared on initial remand before Plumtree magistrate Gideon Ruvetsa facing attempted murder charges and was remanded in custody to May 31.
Prosecuting, Elisha Mazorodze said Moyo ambushed Ndebele and left her for dead after the attack.
“On 8 May, Moyo met Ndebele while she was with her boyfriend and he confronted her on why she was with him. Ndebele dismissed the confrontation after pointing out that she and Moyo were now separated,” he said.
“At around 6PM, Ndebele and her sister were on their way home from a well where they had gone to fetch water.
“They came across Moyo who emerged from behind a bush armed with an axe. Moyo struck his ex-wife with the axe three times and then hit her several times with the axe handle. Ndebele’s sister rushed home during the attack and alerted her mother.”-state media
Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa Seized by Destiny | EXCLUSIVE
Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa is her own woman, the woman of the moment, a media celebrity, an icon who has become a house-hold name both in Zimbabwe and the vast Diaspora. Through her cutting edge interviews, carried out with style, poise characterised by graceful deportment, whatever the subject she is tackling, however vexatious – she stands out!
The programmes manager at Zimbabwe’s first private radio station ZiFM, tackles all issues sensitive or not with balance. Ruvheneko is able to do this not because she is a Parirenyatwa grand-daughter to the late nationalist Samuel or daughter to her father David, but because destiny seized her. Her talent speaks for itself.
All things being fair this girl has it, and has captured hearts of both foes and friends.
Exposed to the limelight at a tender age, years later Ruvheneko is still breaking new ground. ZimEye.com’s Grace Kwinjeh caught up with Ruvheneko, and below was the discussion.
WOS – Who is Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa ?
RP – Ruvheneko is a passionate Zimbabwean. She is a media and communication specialist who currently hosts two talk shows on radio (ZiFM Stereo) and on TV (ZBC).
WOS – What inspired you into journalism?
RP – I was inspired by two things; watching journalists on TV as I was growing up and thinking, “I could do that. In fact, I want to do that!” Then finally my English and History teachers in high school who always told me they can just see me up on Television one day convinced my mother of this and here I am…even though I left my parent’s house at the age of 18 for University to study law.
WOS – What would you say are the main challenges you face as a journalist in a polarised society like ours in Zimbabwe?
RP – The main challenge for me is being a Parirenyatwa because listeners (& guests) always believe I have an agenda or have been sent by someone so it is impossible to appear objective as a journalist should be.
WOS – Can we discuss that a little more, I read a letter on one of the sites which published an interview you had with one prominent member of society, basically this person argued that as a Parirenyatwa there is no way you can understand or identify with the suffering masses, what is your take?
RP –I am human. I am Zimbabwean. I feel like any human. I feel like any Zimbabwean.
I was blessed to have my parents give me the childhood they gave me and never do I take that for granted, but it does not make me heartless, naive or ignorant to the suffering of our people. I see what we are going through and I just wish it was easier to believe that I too have challenges. It is unfair to assume my life is roses.
WOS – Your family lineage is a family of successful doctors. You could have been on a nice well paid, rewarding job right now. Why on earth did you go for jelly-journalism?
RP – Lol! I don’t do what I do for the money.
WOS – Thank you that is really humbling. Let us talk a bit about the situation of Zimbabwean women in the media. I have been there and know for certain it is not a bed of roses. Tell us more about your experiences and that of other female journalists?
RP – Journalism is a risky profession but so fulfilling regardless of one’s sex. Being a female journalist in Zimbabwe is not easy; not just from within the profession but from outsiders who think we are “a certain kind of woman” who doesn’t deserve much respect. I therefore do my best to defy all that.
WOS – For instance female journalists face sexual harassment in the newsroom and even by sources; What mechanisms are there to raise awareness and guard against this?
RP – There are organisations that are there to protect us but impunity is a real thing on all levels of our society.
WOS – Tell us more about the culture of impunity. Any cases you have stumbled across or that you have had to deal with?
RP – No cases that I have had to deal with personally.
WOS – Tell us more about your show
RP – My show was inspired by my passion for my country. I felt that the average person had no access to the people in high offices to ask questions, to hold them accountable for their actions or lack of thereof and simply to praise their efforts where due. So I thought, “The Platform” could become a platform for just that.
WOS -You have a big heart and carry a burden of the daily struggles Zimbabweans are enduring, in your routines as you talk to politicians and other important stakeholders. Do you see an easy solution in sight?
RP – Ideas, plenty. Solutions, I don’t know. We need more than just solutions; we need implementation.
WOS – I read somewhere that you are a born again Christian, how does your spirituality connect with your daily life?
RP – My spirituality does not need to connect with me daily because I stay connected with it constantly. It’s the only way I can sleep at night and the only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning. I attribute none of what I have achieved to myself; it’s ALL HIM. All of it.
WOS -As a journalist which is your memorable moment? You were the first woman for instance in decades to host the ZITF tell us more about this and much more.
RP-My memories are separated; Ruvheneko the journalist and Ruvheneko the MC. Granted my talk shows and experience in radio got me onto the stage as an MC but the memories are different. My most memorable MC moments are: The First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe’s 50th birthday party. The other was Miss Zimbabwe 2014. Epic! As a journalist, it had to be the day I interviewed a strong young woman called Precious.
WOS – What are your hobbies, what do you do when you are not in the studio, what makes Ruvheneko relax and unwind?
RP – My hobbies are travelling, kick-boxing and cooking. They make me relax. Instantly! Lol. I also enjoy just sitting in the sun with people I can laugh with – friends, family or complete strangers.
Kasukuwere On Spotlight Again as Harare Finance Boss is Fired
Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere was yesterday under the spotlight again after the sudden firing of Harare City Council’s finance director Justin Mandizha.
Mandizha barely eight months into his contract, has been relieved of his duties on unclear allegations.
The development comes immediately after the suspension of the mayor Ben Manyenyeni the latter who has furthermore been defeated by Kasukuwere at court, so far.
The state broadsheet reported Mandizha has been fired “mainly for his failure to steer the city out of debt and reduce ballooning salary arrears, which now stand at six months”.
The report continued saying, the Human Resources Committee met on Tuesday evening and decided to cut short Mandizha’s performance-based contract.
The decision is expected to be confirmed at a full council meeting.
Mandizha’s appointment was a subject of scrutiny during his short stint at council amid allegations that he was roped into city’s structures by his uncle, suspended councillor, Mayor Bernard Manyenyeni.
He also had his probation extended to six months after failing to meet set targets.
However, councillors who attended the meeting said there was a consensus that Mandizha had failed to meet his set targets.
“He failed to improve revenue collection and he also failed to collect money from places like Mbare Musika which just needs a pre-cast wall to control farmers and get revenue. When he joined council we were three months behind in the payment of salaries, but the figure has doubled,” said one councillor.
He said Mandizha was expected to get a letter terminating his contract soon.
Mandizha joined Harare last year after a short stint with Cashflow Solutions (Pvt) Limited. He joined Cashflow Solutions immediately after his tenure with the United Nations, where he acquired the bulk of his working experience. He worked with the United Nations World Food Programme and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.
At a recent full council meeting, most councillors blamed Mandizha for worsening the city’s salary arrears.
Human Resources and General Purposes Committee chairperson, Clr Wellington Chikombo, could not be reached for comment yesterday, but last week he said council was disgusted by the failure to pay salaries, saying deserving action would be taken.
“Deserving action will be meted against undeserving individuals; City of Harare is not a safe haven for inept, amateurish and un-proficient people,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Harare Municipal Workers Union has said the $275 000 set aside for salaries daily by the city is “just a drop in a sea full of fish that need food”.
Harare Municipal Workers Union executive chairman Cosmas Bungu said while the union welcomes the city’s efforts, they are not enough to address the dire situation the workers face.
“Of the $15 to $16 million council collects every month excluding collections from council business, the ideal situation that shows seriousness on the part of the employer would have seen the employer setting aside over $600 000,” he said.
China to Kill 3 Zimbabwean Women
China’s courts are preparing to execute three (3) Zimbabwean women over drug trafficking.
The Secretary for Foreign Affairs Mr Joey Bimha was yesterday quoted by the state media saying they have received reports of less than 10 Zimbabweans arrested in China over drug trafficking with about three women on death row in Beijing.
Mr Bimha’s assertions put paid to claims by Goromonzi National Assembly member, Beata Nyamupinga, who told the National Assembly on Tuesday that more than 1 000 Zimbabweans, mostly women, have been trafficked to China alone, with 200 of them in jail and on death row for drug trafficking.
Introducing a motion on human trafficking in the National Assembly Nyamupinga, who is also chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, said most of the women trafficked to China were married to Nigerians.
She claimed the women were arrested after they were caught with wedding gowns loaded with hard drugs.
But Mr Bimha last night said they had received reports of a far less figure.
“Our embassy has told us that less than 10 Zimbabweans mostly women were arrested in China for drug trafficking. About two or three were on death row after they were found with drugs in suitcases and one of them has since died in custody. These are the last figures we last got from our embassy in China. We will, however, check with our embassy in Beijing to establish if the figure has risen to that level,” said Mr Bimha.
In her contribution, Nyamupinga said 34 percent of African countries were major sources of human trafficking to Europe while 26 percent of victims from mostly in East African countries were trafficked to Arab states.
“We have about 200 Zimbabweans and the majority of the 200 are women on the death row in China because they have been used by Nigerians who are coming here, marrying them through an Act (of Parliament) that we enacted in this House. They marry them and then ask them go to China to buy their wedding gowns. As they go to China to buy the wedding gowns, they are given a bag, which is called false bottom and in that false bottom, there are drugs packed in there,” said Nyamupinga.
SUICIDE HORROR: Zimra Official KIlls Self
A Zimbabwe Revenue Authority official, believed to have been part of a syndicate that processed counterfeit undervalued import documents to smuggle top-of-the-range vehicles and other luxury products, has committed suicide in unclear circumstances.
Aaron Gofo (34), who was based at Beitbridge Border Post, had been suspended from work.
Sources said Gofo, who was known for promoting Zim-dancehall artistes, drank poison while seated in his car in Mbare, Harare.
Gofo reportedly told some of his friends that his four colleagues from work had been arrested and that he was wanted by the police in connection with the Zimra scam.
Another source said Gofo was having marital problems and this could also have driven him to take his life.
Gofo, who allegedly owned several properties and vehicles in and around the city, took a cellphone from an airtime vendor, which he used to call some of his relatives that he was going to kill himself.
Since Monday, condolence messages have been pouring in on social media from friends and relatives.
He was buried at Granville Cemetery on Tuesday afternoon.
The incident comes after several Zimra officials have either been suspended or arrested in connection with undervaluing import documents at Beitbridge Border Posts.
Recently ,there were reports that more than 400 cars are believed to have been smuggled into the country this year alone by a syndicate of Zimra officials and clearing agents who have been processing counterfeit undervalued import documents to smuggle vehicles and other products.
The Herald is reliably informed that five suspects have been arrested in connection with some of the cases after they allegedly cleared 52 cars in Harare using the fake documents.
Sources said following their arrests, the suspects were found in possession of more than 100 fake clearance certificates. Investigations carried out revealed that the suspects managed to acquire registration number plates for at least 52 vehicles and this was discovered by officials at the Central Vehicle Registry (CVR) last week.
It also emerged that for the past few years, several car dealers in and around Harare had their cars seized by Zimra after it was discovered that most of them had fake documentation.
According to some of the car dealers, the clearing agents are working with some Zimra officials to smuggle the cars into the country and then impound them for auction. Some of the dealers have since taken Zimra to court in a bid to recover their vehicles.
This comes amid reports that Zimra was losing millions of dollars to dealers who processed counterfeit undervalued import documents to smuggle vehicles and other products into the country.
Zimra has been losing millions of dollars to a syndicate of dealers who process counterfeit undervalued import documents to smuggle in vehicles. Several people, some of them former Zimra employees, allegedly act as clearing agents and have been arrested for prejudicing the State of various amounts of money in separate incidents.
Senior Zimra officials who are supposed to be custodians of customs and excise laws, have reportedly used bogus clearing agents to import personal vehicles.
Some of the offences were unearthed recently after the owners approached Zimra offices to check the authenticity of documents for their vehicles.-state media
Dokora’s Bloody Jihad: Churches Riot
Hundreds of Christians from all walks of life today, Wednesday, demonstrated against Primary and Secondary Education Minister for among other things introducing the “National Pledge,” and stopping Christian activities in schools.
Dokora who has become unpopular for several of his “unreasonable” policies now dubbed “the launching of a bloody jihad”, is forcing pupils to recite a Zanu PF poem he calls the National Pledge.
Dokora has ignored calls by the public and church organisations to stop forcing school children from parroting Zanu PF.
In the capital on, Wednesday, scores of people, staged a massive demonstration in the city centre against him.
The demonstrators challenged Dokora to resign.
“Zimbabwe’s education system is in a mess! Teachers remain unpaid and instead of addressing these pertinent issues the ministry is violating our children’s freedom of conscience,” read one of the messages carried by the protesters.
Man Dangles Manhood on Girl(12)
A MAN from Pumula suburb in Bulawayo has been sentenced to a year in prison for exposing his manhood to a 12-year-old girl. Norman Sivango, 38, a married father of two, met the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in a bush where she was picking up plastics to use in making a fire.
Sivango took out his manhood from his trousers, held it in his hands and charged towards the girl who ran away with the accused in pursuit.
Sivango pleaded guilty to a public indecency charge before Western Commonage magistrate Themba Chimiso. He was sentenced to an 18 months jail term with six months suspended.
“Six months are going to be suspended on the condition of good behaviour. You will serve an effective 12 months in prison,” said Chimiso. The girl said when she met Sivango, he instructed her to stop.
“I met the accused in the bush and he instructed me to stop as he held his privates. I started running and he ran after me but failed to catch me,” said the girl. Sivango attributed his bizarre behaviour to evil spirits.
“Your Worship, I wasn’t in my right mind when I acted that way. I was possessed by evil spirits your Worship,” he said.
Prosecuting, Steward Madzore, said on May 12, 2016, at around 7PM, the girl was approached by Sivango in a bushy area behind a church in Pumula suburb.
“The accused instructed her to stop. He ran towards the complainant with his private parts in his hands. The complainant ran away and he continued to follow her. The complainant informed a member of the neighbourhood watch committee who searched for the accused and managed to apprehend him,” said Madzore.-state media
Tongogara’s Ghost Joins “This Flag!” Campaign| VIDEO
DO YOU LOOK like the late General Josiah Tongogara? ZimEye.com is looking for an actor who can impersonate Gen. Tongogara in a short #This Flag campaign motion skit video as it would appear in 1979 just before crossing over into Zimbabwe.
Interested? Contact ZimEye right now with your photographs, submitting your short video skit at a wall scene that looks like the below picture, on +447426863301.
The text outline would read as follows, “This flag shows what I fought for. This flag as I now speak from my grave, is a reminder that things are wrong. What I fought for, This Flag, is now but just a long forgotten dream. This Flag!”
www.ZimEye.com Email [email protected]
School Forces Pupils To Clean Toilets With Bare Hands
Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo|Pupils at Zimuto High School are being forced to clean toilets with bare hands much to the dismay of parents. An anonymous letter written to the school authorities has left officials at the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe(RCZ) run panicking.
It has emerged pupils are being forced to clean the toilets without protective gloves and overalls,posing a serious health hazard in the process.
In the letter it was indicated pupils were likely to be affected by water-borne diseases. “There are reports that pupils at the school are the ones who do the cleaning of the toilets-sadly without protective gloves.There are chances that there will be a disease outbreak,”read the letter.
Several parents whose children are at the RCZ run boarding school have also lodged complaints on the issue. The headmaster of the school, Edson Chihanga said he was aware of the issue and said the School Development Committee (SDC) was handling the matter.
“I cannot comment on the issue because it is being handled by the SDC. You can get in touch with the RCZ education secretary if you want further clarification on the issue,” Chihanga told ZimEye.
Masvingo Provincial Education Director, Zedius Chitiga said he would investigate the matter and take appropriate action.
Mugabe Balks Grace Mugabe Over Badly Cooked Food
Tafadzwa Musarara Fingered In Horrific Girlfriend Battery, Child Abuse
The political analyst sent by ZANU PF early this week to attack “This Flag” Pastor Evan Mawarire, the controversial, Tafadzwa Musarara, is fingered in a horrific case of girlfriend battery and child abuse, ZimEye can reveal.
Musarara who is linked to the who’s who of Zanu PF, impregnated a girl in December 2014, in a grisly case, which has dragged on for months in the courts, full of drama and has seen the gross tampering of court files and procedures.
The mother of his child, name withheld, has over several months relentlessly appealed to expose a violent boyfriend who furthermore now refuses paternity to his child.
Much drama surrounding the conducting of paternity tests, have seen Musarara ducking behind court officials as he continues under impunity.
Details revealed to ZimEye show that Musarara is fingered for allegedly beating up the woman sometime in November last year weeks after the baby was born. Pictures of her countenance show a bloodied battered face with injuries that could have easily left her blind.
Court records show Musarara had until a botched court case last month, been paying maintenance for his child.
“He was paying $150 per month but has suddenly stopped,” the baby’s mother told ZimEye.com.
Drama ensued in the March court hearing when the mother was blocked from presenting her official submissions.
“The judge did not at all give me the opportunity to make my presentation.
“I was still speaking while showing that Tafadzwa has been paying $150, that figure cannot just be revised down to $50, when the judge interrupted me saying Tafadzwa will no longer pay anything until paternity tests are completed,” she said.
Picture facials show the baby is a replica of the man. The paternity tests battle continues.
Approached for a comment, Musarara has remained mum over the damning revelations. ZimEye reached him via written messages none which have been replied to. More to follow…
Mnangagwa Flubs In Parliament – AUDIO
Tsvangirai March Banned
The demonstration had been set for May 28 starting at the Bulawayo City Hall car park at 10AM and ending at King Lobengula’s Kraal along Masotsha Ndlovu Avenue at 2PM.
The MDC-T, through its lawyers TJ Mabhikwa and Partners, yesterday filed an urgent chamber application at the Bulawayo High Court seeking an order interdicting the police from interfering with its planned protest.
In his founding affidavit, James Sithole, the party’s organising secretary for Bulawayo province, claimed that the planned protest dubbed, “March against poverty and corruption”, sought to bring to the fore the MDC-T’s position on the declining socio-economic and political conditions in the country through a “peaceful demonstration.”
“Top of the priority of the issues of the planned peaceful protest is the rampant and alarming levels of corruption wherein $15 billon reportedly mysteriously went missing from the government coffers, escalating poverty, acute cash shortages and poor service delivery among other pressing issues while the government is seemingly taking a lackadaisical approach in tackling these issues,” said Sithole.
The MDC-T last month had a similar demo in the capital where its rowdy supporters flooded the streets of Harare’s central business district and disrupted traffic flow.
They also harassed Harare City Council workers prompting police to warn the opposition party’s leaders that they would not be allowed to infringe on the rights of innocent citizens.
During the protest, a Choppies Supermarket security guard was hospitalised after sustaining serious injuries at the hands of the marauding MDC-T supporters who ran amok in the wake of an address by party leader Morgan Tsvangirai promoting lawlessness.
The party claimed in court papers that it had invested vast amounts of money, time and other resources in preparation for the planned demonstration in Bulawayo.
Sithole said his party informed the police of the planned demonstration but they did not sanction it.
“The reasons for not sanctioning the peaceful demonstration were primarily that police had serious reservations due to the fact that a similar demonstration that we conducted on April 14, 2016 in Harare was not peaceful. They further said the economic environment was not conducive for a political demonstration of any form amid fears that it could be infiltrated by bad elements hence they could not guarantee the security of participants,” he said.
National police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba recently said the rowdy behaviour exhibited by some MDC-T supporters was the reason why sometimes they were reluctant to clear such gatherings.
The opposition party argued that police had no legal basis to bar its supporters from staging a demonstration.state media
War Vets Killed as Bus Hits A Cow
TWO war veterans died on the spot and 13 others escaped with serious injuries when a bus they were travelling in hit a cow and veered of the road near Filabusi and overturned.
The two deceased former freedom fighters, Saziso Sibanda and Betty Madhochi were coming from a meeting organised by the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Cde Obedingwa Mguni on Saturday in Gwanda.
Matabeleland South police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector, Nkosilathi Sibanda yesterday confirmed the accident that claimed the lives of the two ex-combatants.
Sibanda was from Gwanda while Madhochi was from Gweru.
“Yes, I confirm that two people died on the spot and 13 other sustained serious injuries at the 184km peg along Mbalabala–Zvishavane road at around 7PM near Filabusi kiosk. Tinopaishe Muremba aged 41 was driving due east towards Zvishavane with 15 war veterans and two other passengers. Upon reaching the spot he hit a cow and veered off the road to the right side and the bus overturned and landed on its roof,” said Asst Insp Sibanda.
“As a result the two died on the spot and their bodies were ferried to Filabusi Hospital mortuary. As police we urge motorists not to travel at night and observe rules and regulations of the road. We’re also appealing to villagers to pen their cattle to avoid loss of lives as police will not hesitate to enforce the law and punish those whose livestock cause accidents.”
This week, Matabeleland South police said they would soon start taking stern measures against farmers whose livestock stray into highways.
Offenders would be fined $20 per beast that strays into the road at night and $10 per beast during the day with culpable homicide charges being preferred if accident becomes fatal. chronicle
MPs To “Sit On the Floor Forever” Until Kuwait Women Return
By Sukoluhle Sibanda | Zimbabwe Parliamentarians staged a sit in during Tuesday’s Parliament session, in protest against Governments lack of action in expeditiously bringing back the rest of women who were trafficked to Kuwait.
The move comes after the MPs were criticised by the Zimbabwe Women in Politics Alliance for not doing much on the Kuwaiti crisis.
The situation in Kuwait is so dire that the cash strapped Zimbabwe embassy there faces closure, further compounding the situation for the women trafficked there, who are now stranded, with no solution in sight.
The issue of the 200 hundred women who were trafficked to Kuwait hit the headlines, last March after a Zimbabwean court in the capital Harare, found that former diplomat Ahmed Al-Jeeran was the ring-leader of the trafficking ring, and that he had used his status and power to lure the women, with the help of one of his secretaries, Brenda Avril May.
Human trafficking is a modern day slave trade as it involves moving a person or people from one place to another, often to a far away place for purposes of enslaving them, putting them into inevitable prostitution, domestic servitude or even begging, among some of the vices.
Zimbabwean women have now fallen victim because of the socio-political situation in the country. After interventions by a parliamentary delegation led by National Assembly Speaker Advocate Jacob Mudenda and chairperson of the portfolio committee on Foreign Affairs Kindness Paradza 32 traumatised human trafficking victims landed at Harare international airport last Friday evening from Kuwait. The emotional women were repatriated back home courtesy also of Young women Christian Association.
“Today we met the ruler of Kuwait His Highness, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah and acting Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, where a directive was issued that the women should be repatriated in order to avoid the deterioration of relations between the two friendly nations through these criminal activities perpetrated by a syndicate of human traffickers in Kuwait and Zimbabwe,” Paradza told the press at the time of the visit.
Mr Emmanuel Mabaso a Harare citizen said; “The Political situation in Zimbabwe caused an Economic down turn which has seen unemployment levels of more than 90 per cent. Poverty and destitution has caused Zimbabweans to become economic migrants in the diaspora. This has made Zimbabwe a fertile hunting ground for human traffickers.”
Mr Mabaso further suggested a solution that the government has to get the politics right and encourage investment in the country. “This will in turn kick start the economy and industry becomes alive again. The ripple effect will be seen in more employment and a return to working economy with people who have pride and dignity,” he said.
Kuwait Slavery: Webster Shamu Fingered
Former Cabinet Minister Webster Shamu was yesterday named in Parliament as the proprietor of a downtown strip tease joint that was allegedly used as a recruitment point in the trafficking of 150 women to Kuwait and other countries in the Middle East.
Several legislators called for the closure of the joint, accusing it of promoting debauchery and demanded that Kuwait embassy officials be held responsible for aiding the trafficking of girls in that country who were eventually used as sex slaves.
Shamu, who had been a Cabinet Minister for several years before being stripped owing to his alleged links with former Vice President Joice Mujuru’s putschist cabal, denied owning the club saying the allegations were made by people bent on tarnishing his name.
This came out during a motion moved by Goromonzi West MP Beata Nyamupinga (Zanu-PF), calling for expeditious investigations into circumstances surround the luring of the girls under the pretext that they would get lucrative jobs in Kuwait.
In her contribution, Nyamupinga condemned the exploitation of women in the night joints.
During the debate, Tafara/Mabvuku MP Mr James Maridadi (MDC-T), said the club was owned by a member of Parliament, adding that another legislator was subletting stalls at Mupedzanhamo Flea Market where he collected $200 per stand while remitting $15 to council.
He was directed to give names by stand-in Speaker of the National Assembly, William Mutomba following protests from Mbare MP Tendai Savanhu (Zanu-PF), to which he said he would furnish the house with names today.
During the debate some MPs could be heard shouting Shamu’s name each time legislators from both Zanu-PF and MDC-T made reference to the night club.
This prompted Kuwadzana East MP Mr Nelson Chamisa (MDC-T) to ask Speaker of the National Assembly, Advocate Jacob Mudenda who had returned to the chair to direct Shamu, who was already on the floor to respond to allegations that he owned the joint.
“It is something that he needs to clarify. I want to get guidance from the Chair if Hon Shamu should not respond to these allegations because they are serious,” said Mr Chamisa.
Shamu denied owning the joint saying the allegation was as spurious as the accusations that ZBC bought him a vehicle despite the fact that he got it from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
“I don’t own any kind of night club in my business activities. In fact, it has become a common feature for people to cast aspersions on MPs, especially those on my right (MDC-T),” said Shamu.
During debate, several MPs said Kuwait should be held responsible for allowing the exploitation of Zimbabwean girls, some of whom had since returned.
Meanwhile, Adv Mudenda appealed to MPs to call off a demonstration against Kuwait through sitting on the floor.
Adv Mudenda said while he agreed with their concerns, allowing them, mostly female MPs sitting on the floor would disrupt the smooth flow of business considering space constraints.-state media
Wicknell $5Million “Theft,” Minister Spins U-turn
Energy and Power Development Minister Dr Samuel Undenge has summoned the Zimbabwe Power Company to justify reasons for paying controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo’s Intratek $5 million for the 100 megawatt Gwanda solar project in the absence of a performance guarantee to safeguard public funds.
Dr Undenge, who was last week quoted as saying ZPC tenders were aboveboard, yesterday made a U-turn in the wake of the exposure of irregularities by The Herald saying there was need to get to the bottom of the matter and take action on officials who bungled on the $200 million project.
The performance guarantee would have given ZPC room to recover its money in the event Intratek defaulted on the contract.
As it stands, the Zesa Holdings subsidiary has nothing in place to cover the risk. Initially, Dr Undenge had been accused of pushing ZPC officials to make the payment in the absence of a bond.
“These are public funds and they must be safeguarded at all costs. Action will be taken on whoever would be found wanting. I have summoned the ZPC management to come and explain how this was made possible,’’ he said.
“I am also meeting the ZPC board, which appears to have been kept in the dark to get its side of the story. The ZPC management tried to explain why they released the money without a bond but that is not satisfactory. I will only be fully equipped with information after meeting the board tomorrow (today) morning.”
Dr Undenge added: “After that I will then issue a statement because as the minister superintending over such big projects, I cannot go quiet after realising there is a problem somewhere.
“Energy is one of the key drivers of the economy and as such, we have to get to the bottom of the matter. In any case, these projects run into millions of dollars.”
Zesa Holdings chief executive Engineer Josh Chifamba has also hinted that the power utility’s code of conduct had to be applied against those who defied corporate governance tenets.
In the absence of a performance bond, ZPC management was supposed to inform its board before releasing any cent but the panel was by-passed.
ZPC is headed by Engineer Noah Gwariro.
Zesa Holdings and the ZPC board are jointly calling for an audit of all power deals involving Intratek.
The private firm has also been awarded tenders to construct the 30MW Gairezi hydro power station at a cost of $128 million and upgrade Munyati power station for $113 million.
The $5 million released to Chivhayo without a bond was supposed to cover feasibility studies, topographical survey, boreholes, clearance of site, the geo-technical survey, fencing of the site, way leaves and administrative structures.
Only feasibility studies, borehole siting surveys and the topographical survey have been done.
According to documents gleaned by The Herald, the contractor should provide a performance guarantee and an advance payment guarantee.
Reads the documents: “The contract includes a clause to protect the client against losses incurred in case the contractor fails to perform as per clause 4.2 of the FIDIC Silver Book (contract book). The contractor will provide performance bond with a value equivalent to 10 percent of the contract price.
“The contract allows for an advance payment guarantee where the contractor requests an advance payment for mobilisation (on site). The advance payment is 30 percent of the contract price and is paid upon the employer receiving an advance payment bank guarantee. Under the requirement, the contractor is expected to procure and provide the guarantee at their own cost.”
The ZPC board met last Thursday and spent the whole day discussing the Intratek issue with some board members calling for the suspension of officials involved.
This comes as Government is working on a new law called the Public Sector Corporate Governance Act that will see corruption and other related maladministration in the public sector being punishable at law.
The new law, which is likely to be effected next month, would largely incorporate recommendations made in the National Code for Corporate Governance that was crafted by Government and the private sector in 2014.-state media
Govt Secret Scam using Cash Crisis
Zimbabwe’s cash crisis has led to questions about the government’s management of the country’s financial systems, with indications that its increasing borrowings on the domestic market have created a financial black hole for the banking sector and the economy.
The government, with no access to foreign funding, resuscitated the Treasury Bill (TB) market in October 2012. After initially struggling to convince a sceptical market, the TBs have become government’s primary vehicle for fundraising.
Under the TB system, the government issues “promissory notes” to raise money. Worldwide, TBs are popular because, with government backing, they are virtually risk free. But this is only where markets work well.
Analysts say the effect of the TBs avalanche, especially between 2014 and 2015 and the state’s manipulation of the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) is the primary cause of the cash shortage that is presently choking the economy.
In the latest quarterly bulletin, the Ministry of Finance said $245 million worth of TBs were issued in the domestic market during the first three months of the year, reflecting government’s huge appetite for cash. Of this amount, $15,9 million went towards financing the budget deficit while $229,1 million went towards debt repayment and other recurrent spending.
Annually, it projected domestic loan repayments of $678,6 million and a budget deficit of $150 million, result in a financing gap of $828,6 million for the year 2016.
Reserve Bank officials privately estimate the current amount of local debt in the form of TBs at over $4 billion, most of which is attributable to the Finance Ministry through its Public Debt Management Office. The $4 billion gap is equivalent to the size of the entire 2016 national budget.
The central bank’s own schedule showed the growth of its TB securities held by commercial banks from $325,7 million in January last year to $1,126 billion in February this year.
Building societies held $65,6 million from $51,8 million over the same period.
According to analysts, those who are being paid through TBs were simply discounting the securities in the local market and wiring the real money out of the system, a practice which depleted nostro balances.
Zimbabwe’s ability to import cash is now limited because of the depleted nostro positions.
In October 2008, at the height of the hyperinflation era, former Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono described the RTGS system as “a vehicle for illicit foreign exchange parallel market dealings that have distorted exchange rates beyond the wildest imagination.” The system had been introduced a few year earlier primarily to stem cash shortages, reduce cheque fraud risks and delays in customer payments.
Analysts say government is the transgressor this time, paying for the maturing TBs and interest payments through the RTGS and starving the market of cash.
But the government’s problem is that the RTGS cannot fund nostro balances or be used to import cash. Under proper banking conditions, the RTGS position simply reflects cash held in vaults by RBZ and the nostro balances in RBZ’s accounts held with external banks. If a bank needs nostro funding, it will request the RBZ to credit its nostro account against a reduction in the bank’s RTGS position.
Cash has always been imported from the nostro positions.
It raises the question of how the RTGS position got to where it is now.
One analyst says the TB maturities are being honored at a time when revenue collection is much lower than recurrent expenditure — Q1 figures show a 16 percent disparity between collections and target — and were being met by pushing figures not backed by real cash. This means there is not enough notes and coins to back bank balances, a situation which should not occur in a market that does not print the currency.
Opposition Member of Parliament for Bulawayo South, Eddie Cross, suggests the government is being more Machiavellian.
“In 2015 the RTGS system (money transfers through the banks) handled $45 billion dollars – $170 million a day. This demonstrates the speed at which money circulates in any economy. Now what happens in this system is that when you fill in an RTGS form at your local bank, the bank processes the documentation and sends it, with a wire transfer of funds from YOUR account, to the Reserve Bank. In 2015 your money sat there for an average of three days before onwards transfer to your supplier/creditor or other beneficiary. 3 days at $170 million a day – average money in the account at the RBZ $500 million,” he wrote on his blog last week.
“Now I believe that the only credible explanation of the sudden cash shortage is that when (Finance Minister) Chinamasa cannot balance his books at the month end and needs cash, he has been dipping into the RTGS account at the Reserve Bank – replacing the funds with a simple IOU. This is patently illegal and puts every bank at risk because, when the commercial bank takes real dollars out of your account for transfer you expect them (you trust them) to deliver at the other end.”
Faced with a cash crunch, the government has sought to bring back a localized currency to create financial mobility in the market in the form of “bond notes.”
It has already successfully done so with bond coins since 2014 which, along with the proposed notes, derive their value comes from a bond facility from the Afreximbank. In 2014, Afreximbank put up a $50 million bond, a form of a loan, for bond coins introduced to ease the shortage of change in the economy. The planned bond notes are backed by a new $200 million loan, also from Afreximbank.
But a senior banker noted that the bond notes and coins are just a local currency by another name, suggesting their introduction was forced upon the central bank by the political establishment and explains the apex bank’s difficulty in selling their legitimacy to a suspicious market.
Whether by design or accident, Zimbabwe is in the local currency era and it is up to the market to decide whether to accept or reject it, the banker said.
It is worth noting that in February 2009, government only formally introduced the multi-currency era long after the market had rejected the hyperinflation ravaged local unit, the banker added.-The Source
Police ‘Kill’ Motorist At Roadblock, Sex Organs Pulled Off
Terrence Mawawa, Bikita |Overzealous police officers here pulled a motorist’s genitals until he collapsed and died following a roadblock scuffle over the payment of a spot fine.
The incident happened last Wednesday near Muvhuti School in Bikita,along the Masvingo-Mutare road. In yet another tragic event involving the police, the man who was travelling towards Masvingo with his wife, was stopped by the police who demanded a spot fine, resulting in an argument.
As the scuffle ensued, one of the police officers pulled the motorist’s genitals until he fainted. The man was rushed to Silveira Mission Hospital where he later died.
Authorities at the hospital claimed they were instructed by the police not to release the name of the deceased. “We saw the motorist as he was groaning and grimacing in pain. He was discharging saliva from his mouth. We then realised that he was in a critical condition,” they said .
They continued, “the man’s wife kept on hurling obscenities at the police. However we have been instructed not to release the name of the deceased.
“The woman openly accused the police of killing her husband,” said a nurse based at the Roman Catholic run hospital – who told ZimEye.com on condition of anonymity.
The incident comes in the wake of another genital attack by a ZRP cop, a woman based in the same area, Masvingo, who is currently facing charges for the crime.
Masvingo Provincial police spokesperson Inspector Charity Mazula said she was yet to be informed about the incident adding she was out of office.
“I am out of office so I have not heard anything ,” she said.
Meanwhile, the police’s high speed chases have also resulted in fatal accidents. For instance in January this year, a pedestrian was killed after being hit by a Toyota Fun Cargo vehicle in Gutu following a police high speed chase.
In Harare several accidents have occurred as a result of police raids on commuter omnibus operators.
Pastor Mawarire’s ZiFM Blaster: Fidelis Fengu Speaks Out
The platform hosted by Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa, is a great testimony of how Zimbabwe is maturing as a democracy.
The past debates like the one with William Lumumba Mutumanje aka Acie Lumumba and the recent one with Evan Mawarire, are a sign that Zimbabweans have a right and can freely practice their right to freedom of expression as enshrined in the constitution.
It is a shame that as a people we fail to view issues objectively. We are politically polarised and it has reached a point where we cannot debate national issues for progress’ sake but rather seek to gain cheap political points. We are fiddling with people’s lives, we are playing games with our children’s lives and future.
Zimbabweans need to unite even in our differences and shine brightly in our individuality for a better country.
I posit here that Tafadzwa Musarara and Evan Mawarire had an explosive debate that could have helped us craft solutions to our problems as a nation. Unfortunately it degenerated into an anti- Mugabe Vs Pro- Mugabe discourse which characterises our vitriolic national politics than solve anything.
The agents of regime change have erroneously led us to believe that everything must be about removing Mugabe; yet key national issues will remain unresolved even if he goes today. In that vein everything must be about strengthening institutions and systems and to get Zimbabwe functioning well. Albeit we have challenges and yes we shall differ on the diagnosis of the symptoms, but the country comes first. You can remove Mugabe today but what guarantee is there that Joyce Mujuru or Morgan Tsvangirai can do better and deliver in office when key institutions and systems are not strong enough? We have all witnessed the chaos our neighbour Zambia even after a Tsvangirai style (Pastor Frederick Chiluba) party took over, the latter who died with a damning corruption scandal on his head.
It is our national duty as a people to strengthen and defend our institutions and systems and that is what we are missing as a nation.
In a nutshell well done Ruvheneko keep going, well done Evan and well done to Tafadzwa, a new beacon of hope has begun! Zimbabwe is a healthy democracy that needs more patriotism and balanced interpretation of problems and solutions.
Mugabe “Fires” Tomana | ANALYSIS
President Robert Mugabe is going to set a tribunal that will decide on whether Prosecutor General Johannes Tomana is still fit to hold his office.
According to the state media recommendations for the President to set up that body were made by the Judicial Service Commission on Monday.
Legal analysts say the move is the last straw and shows Mugabe has already fired Tomana.
The once President Robert Mugabe’s blue eyed man, Tomana, is facing criminal charges at the Harare Magistrates’ Court involving an alleged “foiled bomb attack” on Gushungo Holdings Alpha & Omega dairy plant, and was in October last year slapped with a 30-day jail term for contempt of court after he defied court orders to issue certificates for the private prosecution of Bikita West legislator Munyaradzi Kereke and Telecel shareholder Jane Mutasa.
The sentence was, however, wholly set aside on condition that he complied with the court orders and issued private prosecution certificates to Mr Francis Maramwidze and Telecel within 10 days, failing which he would be barred from practising as a lawyer in Zimbabwe.
Kereke is accused of raping an 11-year-old relative while Mutasa was facing charges of swindling the company of airtime recharge cards worth millions of dollars.
The resolution to refer the case to President Mugabe was made at a meeting convened by the JSC commissioners yesterday.
In terms of the Section 187 (3) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe if JSC makes a recommendation to the President, the President must set up the tribunal.
Section 187 (10) states that the suspension of the PG or judge becomes automatic the moment a recommendation is made to the President.
Sources who attended the meeting yesterday confirmed the development saying only one commissioner out of nine who sat yesterday had a different view.
At the end of the day, the majority decision prevailed.
The resolutions came at a time Tomana was still fighting to block the disciplinary proceedings through the courts of law.
Tomana’s lawyers yesterday filed an application at the Constitutional Court contesting the dismissal of his application for referral of his matter to that court by the High Court.
Last week High Court judge Justice Lavender Makoni threw out the referral application by Tomana saying it was frivolous.
In the dismissed application, Tomana was seeking to bar all serving High Court judges from hearing his urgent interdict stopping the disciplinary action that had been initiated by JSC.
Instead, Tomana preferred a retired judge or a foreign-based one.
Yesterday’s application was a challenge against refusal by Justice Makoni to refer his request for a retired judge to the Constitutional Court.
Tomana last year was again at the centre of another storm for allegedly abusing the court process to rubber-stamp the acquittal of former Zupco board chairman, Professor Charles Nherera, who was charged with corruption.
The abuse reportedly occurred at the time when Tomana was the Attorney- General. Prof Nherera was acquitted by the High Court in November 2009 barely a year after Tomana was appointed to the post of then AG.
In his court papers filed at the High Court Tomana argued that the process seeking to remove him from office was unlawful and was activated by the JSC.
Tomana argued that the Constitutional Court judgment, which committed him to jail unless he issued certificates for private prosecution was issued from a court of no jurisdiction.
He also contends that the order was also invalid in that the Constitutional Court dealt with a matter which was not before it. The Constitutional Court, he added, cannot at law deal with a contempt of court matter.
Chiefs-We Demand New Cars, Cash, and Farms
Traditional chiefs yesterday demanded duty-free vehicle imports, farms, an increase in their monthly allowances, new vehicles, as well as government-funded medical aid cover, as if oblivious to the economic crisis the country is facing.
Speaking at the ongoing Chiefs’ Council meeting in Harare yesterday, the traditional leaders said they should be allowed to import vehicles duty-free at least once every three years as part of their benefits.
They also demanded to be allowed to choose for themselves suitable pieces of land ahead of their subjects and bemoaned delays in the disbursement of their monthly $300 allowances, which they described as a pittance.
“Why can’t government allow us to import vehicles duty-free since we are not being given the vehicles to use? This will help in alleviating our transport challenges,” Chief Masendu, of Matabeleland South, said.
Chief Ngungumbane from Midlands said the traditional leaders were “an important constituency”, which needed medical aid cover and deserved to be treated as legislators. “We also need clarity on the roles played by the MPs, chief, district administrator and the provincial administrator, as these people are fighting each other for recognition,” he said.
In response, Rural Development, Promotion and Preservation of National Culture and Heritage minister Abednego Ncube attributed the payment delays to fiscal challenges faced by the State.
“Once the economic climate improves, the ministry will take all necessary measures towards migrating to an efficient and effective payment system. The same applies to the outstanding purchase of vehicles, which is being affected by the constrained fiscal environment in the country,” he said.
“I wish to advise you that dialogue with the Finance ministry is continuing with the view of ensuring that the matter remains high on their priority list.” -Newsday
Mnangagwa Botches Parliament
Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has been taken to task over his botching of Parliamentary cardinals.
Mnangagwa has sabotaged the democratic discharge of affairs in the August House, by dodging on the monitoring of crucial government Commissions.
This expose was made by Harare West Member of Parliament, Jessie Majome, who revealed, “every Commission must submit to Parliament, through the responsible Minister, an annual report describing fully its operations and activities”.
Lamenting the VP Mnangagwa’s disappointing response, Majome further explains; “the report submitted not later than the end of March in the year following the year to which the report relates. I asked him the very same question last year about this delay.”
She made a swipe at Mnangagwa whom she accused of exhibiting a patronising behavior, “The VP’s response is the usual patronising response that as a Government they are working on it, similar to his response last year. Government continues to ride roughshod over the Constitution.”
The tough talking Majome further reveals that Government is in contravention of section 323 of the constitution resolutely stating that she will continue the fight for the Supreme Law of the land to be adhered to, “in fact Government’s work is so simple. All they have to do is to follow the Constitution. Surely this is not much to ask.”
Majome has remained one of the few visible MPs in a Parliament full of dead wood, with many going for several sessions without contributing to any debate.
Man Impregnates Lover’s Daughter
Terrence Mawawa | A cunning Gweru man stunned his girlfriend when he impregnated her 15 year old daughter after clandestinely dating the minor for more than a year.
Tawanda Marufu of Mkoba,Gweru,impregnated the girl after having sex with her on several occasions.The two would sleep together in the absence of the girl’s mother. Marufu appeared before Gweru Magistrate Musaiona Shortgame facing charges of having sexual intercourse with a minor. The mother of the minor only discovered the secret affair after she bumped into the messages that were in her daughter’s mobile phone.
She questined her daughter and she revealed she was in love with Marufu.She also revealed she was pregnant .
Marufu ,who is married,said the minor’s mother wanted to fix her for refusing to dump his family.
“The two have fabricated this against me because the complainant’s mother wants to fix me since she expected me to leave my family and marry her.Your worship I did not have sex with the girl ,”said Marufu. In response the minor’s mother said:”I put it that you had sexual intercourse with my daughter because sometimes I could leave you with her for days.” The judgment on the matter will be passed later this month.
Mugabe Barbed by War Vets
Some war veterans say they will not take part in the so-called one-million-men-march set to next week organized by Zanu PF youth to show their support for President Robert Mugabe.
The former freedom fighters, who came from all the provinces and numbering more than 500, gathered in Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West province, on Saturday and noted that they were unhappy about the tension between the Zanu PF Youth League and war veterans.
The war veterans said a faction calling itself Generation 40 or G40, said to be sympathetic to First Lady Grace Mugabe, has allegedly finally realized that she cannot lead a faction in Zimbabwe.
Secretary general of the Zimbabwe Liberation War Veterans Association, Victor Matemadanda, said members of the G40, who have no history of the liberation struggle, were taking advantage of the communication breakdown between the former fighters and first family before they met President Mugabe last month, to divide the party.
Matemadanda claimed that Mrs. Mugabe, touted by G40 as President Mugabe’s successor, has realized that she cannot lead a faction when she is the mother of the nation. The other faction is allegedly led by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who like Mrs. Mugabe, has denied having any presidential ambitions.
Matemadanda said the war veterans are not going to be part of the organizers of what he described as a poorly mobilized one-million-men march because they don’t want to be associated with failure. Matemadanda said some elements within the G40 faction want to use them in a last minute effort to save the much-publicized event.
The war veterans, whose meeting was punctuated with a lot of “Down with G40” slogans, said people who are trying to cause confusion in the party are the same people that say “there’s a plot to kill President Robert Mugabe in order to succeed him.”
They added that the people saying this should be arrested and forced to release the names of the alleged culprits.
Sanyati lawmaker and national war veterans secretary for business development, Runesu Blessed Geza, claimed that Zanu PF supporters, who are spreading lies to the nation that there are people who want to kill the president, must provide tangible evidence to the police or risk being arrested themselves for causing alarm in the country.
War Veterans Association’s consultative committee member for Kadoma, Jimaya Muduvuri, who is on whirlwind tour of provinces, says indications are that Vice President Mnangagwa and Mrs. Mugabe don’t lead any factions.
Jamaya, who is claiming to have been sent by Mnangagwa said to be his uncle to issue such a statement, stressed that the vice president won’t even try to take over the Zanu PF leadership when President Mugabe is still alive.
“I asked the vice president about this talk that he wants to wrestle power from the president while he is still around until 2023 but the vice president said he is not interested in that since he has been with President Mugabe for a long time. In fact, he told me that he respects the president.”
Geza said there is nothing wrong in Mnangagwa succeeding President Mugabe as long as that post is vacant.
The war veterans further urged G40 members such as lawmaker Sarah Mahoka who once told Mnangagwa to come out clean on allegations that he wanted to allegedly topple President Mugabe, to step down.
Contacted for comment, Mahoka said the war vets are misrepresenting facts and dared them to come and contest her if they think they are more popular than her in Hurungwe.
“Mai (Mrs.) Mahoka won’t be intimidated by anyone. I want real men to come and challenge me and see what will happen.” – VOA
Uebert Angel Endorses ‘Satanist’ DAVINCI CODE Name | IN PICTURES
The Spiritist Preacher many Zimbabweans call “Prophet” Uebert Angel, has caused a stir after publicly endorsing the name tag of the notorious “Davinci Code” book written by Dan Brown, which alleges that Jesus Christ of the Bible married Mary Magdalene and had children with her.
The Davinci Code, slammed by learned scientists, historians and theologians of writ as a Satanic book, links in a notorious theory claims of historic artist, Leonardo Davinci’s paintings with wild claims that Jesus Christ, the latter who is worshipped by Christians worldwide as God Almighty’s blessed Son, became intimate with Mary Magdalene. It also further suggests that he was gay.
Angel (real surname- Mudzanire, changed after he was exposed for academic fraud), stamped his endorsement of the Leornardo Davinci name in a tweet made public on Monday, as ZimEye.com reveals below saying he has chosen the name for his building project currently underway in Zimbabwe.
Theologians commenting on Monday doubted Angel’s credentials saying under no circumstances would a true Christian who worships Jesus Christ ever pick the name of a known perversion agent of Satanic proportions, Leornardo Davinci. Respected theologian, Rev Noah Pashapa said, “I have long concluded that his unpredictability, megalomania and penchant for the delusional and ludicrous, displays a psychiatric dysfunctional condition that requires psychiatric attention.
PICTURES BELOW-
ZESA Slaps Maziwisa: Blocks Dodgy Cash Payments
The government’s electricity parastatal, Zesa, has blocked all dodgy payments to ZANU PF MP Psychology’s briefcase company.
The company’s chief executive Engineer Josh Chifamba has — with immediate effect — directed the power utility’s subsidiaries to stop any further payments for public relations consultancy to Fruitful Communications, a company owned by Highfield West legislator Psychology Maziwisa and newscaster Oscar Pambuka.
This comes amid reports that over $32 000 of public funds from Zimbabwe Power Company was on its way to the firm’s bank account last week.
Energy and Power Development Minister Dr Samuel Undenge directed ZPC and the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company to hand-pick Fruitful Communications to do public relations consultancy for the firms.
The directive came despite Zesa Holdings and its subsidiaries having fully- equipped public relations departments drawing full salaries and benefits.
The development saw the subsidiaries losing tens of thousands of dollars monthly.
Eng Chifamba last Friday said the honeymoon was over for Maziwisa and his partner, former Zimbabwe Broadcasting Services anchor-man Oscar Pambuka.
“That has been stopped on the spot,” he said.
“These are public funds and we have directed the subsidiaries to stop any further payments. We have taken action on that.”
Dr Undenge concurred: “They have told us that the company has no unique skills and I have also told them to stop engaging them if they are not adding value to their activities. You only pay for value addition and something which you do not have.”
Sources yesterday said Fruitful Communications, which was engaged in January, was about to be paid some money last week for “work done”.
The media campaign included organising conferences and Press briefings, a development that left the Fullard Gwasira-led public relations department out of work.
Said a source: “Invoices of $32 000 from the Zimbabwe Power Company were already at the Zesa headquarters waiting for approval by the chief executive officer. My understanding is that the invoices were rejected and (Eng) Chifamba told the subsidiaries not to release any cent to the gang of two. This is a good move by management who have now decided to be brave and stop this mess created by senior Ministry officials.”
The media campaign was supposed to run until 2018.
The state media last week exposed Dr Undenge’s shenanigans although he tried to downplay the issue saying the firm should have been engaged free of charge.
Mother Poisons 3 Children, Kills Self
A Shurugwi woman who could not stomach being jilted by her husband for another woman allegedly forced her three children to drink poison before committing suicide, police have confirmed.
Acting Midlands police spokesperson Sergeant Xolani Dube confirmed the incident which occurred on Saturday evening when Cencia Ncube of Railway Block in Shurugwi forced her three children Pamela (14), Lionel (11) and Makanaka Ncube (2) to drink water laced with Dimethoate chemical.
Sgt Dube said on the fateful day, Ncube had a misunderstanding with her husband, whose name was not given and stays in Gweru’s Mtapa High density suburb.
“Police in Shurugwi are investigating a case of murder and suicide where a female adult drank Dimethoate chemical and forced her three children to drink too. The incident occurred at the woman’s residence at Railway Block in Shurugwi on Saturday at around 4PM.
“Circumstances are that the woman, Cencia Ncube from Shurugwi, came home from Gweru after having a misunderstanding with her husband. It is alleged that upon arriving home, she drank Dimethoate chemical and forced her three children Pamela, Lionel, and Makanaka Ncube to drink it too,” he said.
Sgt Dube said after about an hour, Lionel went to inform their neighbour, Shelfin Williams, about what his mother had done.
“Williams went to the Ncube’s home and found her groaning in pain together with her daughters and informed another neighbour, Herbert Manduku, who ferried Ncube and the children to Shurugwi Hospital.
Ncube and Pamela were referred to Mpilo Hospital where they died on Sunday. The other two, Lionel and Makanaka are admitted at Shurugwi Hospital where their condition is stable,” he said.
Relatives alleged that Ncube and her husband only identified as Baba Pamela had a misunderstanding over infidelity.
A relative who spoke on condition of anonymity alleged that on Saturday, Ncube was informed by her aunt that her husband was having an extramarital affair with a woman who stays in Mambo high-density suburb in Gweru.
“Ncube’s aunt told her that her husband had given his mistress their vehicle and this angered her. She came to Gweru and confronted the ‘small house’ before confronting her husband, who was drinking beer at Mtapa Shopping Centre.
“The husband is reported to have told her off and said he was no longer interested in her,” said the relative.
Ncube, the relative added, went back to Shurugwi where she allegedly forced her three children to drink poison before committing suicide.-state media
Close Some Embassies, MPs Declare
Members of Parliament have recommended the closure of some embassies due to the cash crisis that has seen some diplomats and embassy staff failing to get their salaries.
Presenting a report in the National Assembly, Zanu-PF MP Kindness Paradza, who was part of a delegation to Kuwait that was led by the Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda, said the government should consider scaling down when it comes to embassies’ abroad.
Chief Musarurwa and Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga were also part of the parliamentary delegation that was in Kuwait from April 25 to 29 at the invitation of the Kuwait National Assembly and while there the lawmakers played a big role in rescuing 32 women who were stranded in that country.
Paradza said Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Kuwait, Grey Marongwe, told them that his salary, hospital bills and rentals have not been
paid by the government for months.
“The executive should consider making a bold decision and close down some embassies. Our Ambassador in Kuwait, Marongwe painted a gloomy picture on the situation at the embassy, which is similar or worse than what’s prevailing in other embassies dotted around the globe.
“He told the delegation he was humiliated when he was summoned, on February 22, 2016, to the Kuwait Foreign Affairs Ministry over outstanding rentals after owners of properties occupied by embassy staff had approached their government for redress. The rentals are seven months in arrears and landlords were demanding immediate evictions,” he said.
Outstanding rental arrears stood at $130,000.
“Ambassador Marongwe was bitter that when his wife died in Kuwait in June 2015, the government failed to assist him financially in repatriating the body home. He had to borrow from the Bank of Kuwait to pay for airfares, embalming and other expenses. This is despite the fact that Treasury owes Ambassador Marongwe US$127,000.00 in salary arrears,” said Paradza.-state media
Mnangagwa:Corruption Killing Country
Dear Editor.
By Sparkleford Masiyambiri| Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has bemoaned corruption saying Zimbabwe is under a curse.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZAC) needs the legislative blessing of the Law, and the universal participation of all stakeholders in our communities, in order for it to carry out its mandate more successfully.
This is the only sure way of stamping out the gnawing nuisance of corruption which is threatening to tear our society apart. The worst vice in this country is corruption which is undermining almost every public entity and the entirety of the corporate world.
The most effective way for the anti-corruption commission to prevent this evil is to identify corruption areas and then promulgate policies, procedures and regulations that can seal loop-holes. In this regard, it is important to highlight some areas that are especially vulnerable to corruption, such as, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZMRA), Vehicle Inspection Department (VID), Zimbabwe Republic Police Traffic Section and the Registrar General’s department among others. These certainly should attract the maximum attention of ZAC. In addition ZAC should also cast its eyes on the public procurement unit, hiring, retention and promotion of public officials, management of public finances, and the construction of projects.
In the meantime, the ZAC hands seem to be tied as there is an outstanding legal hurdle, which however has been thumbed up by the new constitution Section 255 subsection 3 which states that, ‘The Government must ensure that, through legislative and other means, that the Zimbabwe Anti-corruption Commission has power to recommend the arrest and secure the prosecution of persons reasonably suspected of corruption, abuse of power and other improper conduct which falls within the Commission’s jurisdiction’
It is anticipated that with the wide and special powers which can be provided for under the prospective re-alignment of the law in line with the constitutional provision, ZAC can be more formidable and powerful enough to curb corruption. The investigative measures to be adopted by ZAC can be more apparent and transparent for the good of the society as offenders can be arrested, tried and sentenced accordingly in the courts of justice.
The expected law can also empower the ordinary citizens by creating a platform upon which they can also furnish the ZAC with relevant information or tips which can enhance them to execute their responsibilities.
Worship Mugabe or Starve, Hungwe Orders Villagers
Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo| President Robert Mugabe’s long time apologist, who is also a former Rhodesian spy, Josiah Dunira Hungwe has ordered villagers in Mwenezi district to chant slogans worshipping the president in order to receive food aid.
Hungwe who was captured on camera drinking home brewed beer with Mugabe in Gutu on Friday at a time the nation is grappling with hunger, ordered villagers in Mwenezi to chant maxims praising the veteran leader in order to get food aid.
Hungry villagers-including school children and the elderly were forced to recite maxims praising Mugabe.
Mwenezi District is one the areas hard hit by drought and the majority of the villagers are facing starvation. With most areas across the country experiencing critical shortage of food, the politicisation of food is rife with Zanu PF supporters-especially those who sympathise with Mugabe and his wife Grace-getting first preference while perceived opposition supporters are being deliberately left out of the crucial exercise.
MDC provincial chairman, James Gumbi told ZimEye.com opposition supporters are being forced to chant Zanu PF slogans praising Mugabe in order to receive food aid.
“It is true that opposition supporters are not receiving food aid when hunger is seriously affecting them. It is unfair for villagers to be forced to recite slogans in order to get food aid. It is the government’s responsibility to feed the nation and yet villagers are being forced to chant maxims. Zanu PF is capitalising on the food crisis to force villagers to join the party. We are going to send our supporters to the respective food distribution centres to grab the food because they cannot fold their hands while their families face starvation,” said Gumbi.
On Friday Mugabe said the government was struggling to feed the nation and he also dismissed reports on the politicisation of food.
ZRP Cops Bashed By Dynamos Supporters | VIDEO
Zhuwao Attacked By Angry Youths
Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo| Controversial Minister of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment, Patrick Zhuwao, was nearly beaten up by angry youths who demanded jobs from President Robert Mugabe’s nephew.
Zhuwao, who was in Masvingo last week to address a public dialogue meeting was forced to eat a humble pie after the youths threatened to detain him, demanding an explanation on the two million jobs promised by the government. The agitated youths also threatened to assault the minister if he did not give them a satisfactory explanation. The angry youths threatened to lock up Zhuwao at the Civic Centre, the venue for the meeting demanding an explanation on jobs promised by the government.
The minister came face to face with public anger when he was confronted by youths from Zanu PF in a surprise move that left him shaken to the core. Party insiders quickly claimed Zhuwao was undressed by youths loyal to Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the perceived Zanu PF power struggles.
Tatenda Nyoka, an executive member of the Zimbabwe Congress of Students Union, an organisation affiliated to Zanu PF challenged Zhuwao to push for employment creation. “You are not going to leave this place unless you give us something tangible. We also want you to push parliament to adopt a quarter system so that youths can also get representation,” said Nyoka. Another youth identified as Charles Munganasa also said: “It is an insult for you to say the government is empowering us with education when it’s our constitutional right. The education is being paid for by our parents, therefore our parents are empowering us, not the government”. The youths also yelled direct insults at Zhuwao, “Who are you to stop us from saluting our chancellor (President Robert Mugabe?”said the youths.
The embattled Zhuwao left the venue hurriedly following the embarrassing incident.
Mugabe Must Fire Mumbengegwi
During debate on a motion on the case of an estimated 200 Zimbabwean women stranded in Kuwait, opposition MPs Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga (MDC Proportional Representation) and Paurina Mpariwa (Mufakose MP MDC-T) accused Mumbegwegwi of failing to attend Parliament to listen to the report on legislature’s delegation to Kuwait.
The motion was introduced in the National Assembly by the chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, Kindness Paradza. Last month, MPs called for Mumbengegwi’s ouster from the ministry when Parliament was shown embarrassing images taken from Zimbabwean embassy in Ethiopia, with most of the building showing neglect.
This comes amid reports that most Zimbabwean embassies were in debt, with embassy officials struggling to make ends meet as they were also in salary arrears.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga said Mumbengegwi was spending more time accompanying President Robert Mugabe and neglecting his job in the process.
“I am tired of repeating the same story around the Foreign Affairs ministry, and it is either Mugabe takes us seriously on what we said about the ministry, for example, the minister is never in Parliament,” she said.
“He [Mumbengegwi] is not the President of this country, and so where the President goes, he does not necessarily have to go all the time. He should be sitting in his office dealing with some of the issues raised pertaining to embassies and let his deputy, Edgar Mbwembwe, go instead,” she said. Mpariwa added: “Mumbengegwi should be part of the discussion of this motion on distressed girls, but, unfortunately, he is never here in Parliament whenever discussions are held.”
The Foreign Affairs committee urged the ministry to set up an ad hoc special fund to assist in the repatriation of the young Zimbabwean women still holed up in Kuwait and other Arab countries, where they work as slaves.
Statistics from the Zimbabwean Embassy in Kuwait show that around 190 visas were issued by the Kuwait Embassy in Zimbabwe from July 2015, with 90 women still to enter Kuwait.-Newsday
Magistrate In Hot Soup for Acquitting Friend
THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has castigated a Bulawayo magistrate for alleged bias after she acquitted a colleague on a charge of malicious damage to property. Batanai Tuwe recently acquitted Tsholotsho resident magistrate Victor Mpofu on a charge of malicious damage to property. Mpofu had allegedly destroyed a boundary fence following a land dispute.
The NPA, however, wants the matter to be heard again by a different magistrate on the grounds that Tuwe had been biased in favour of Mpofu. Mpofu had pleaded not guilty and then notified the court that he was going to apply for discharge at the close of the state case, which the state opposed.
Tuwe then set free her fellow magistrate. In papers before the court, the NPA argued that the presiding magistrate was biased and lacked a clear understanding of the law when she ruled that Mpofu had no case to answer.
“The decision by the first respondent (Tuwe) to discharge the second respondent (Mpofu) forms the basis of this application. Tuwe erred by acquitting Mpofu and she showed a clear bias if not a lack of understanding of the law,” said Nokuthaba Ngwenya.
She said Tuwe misdirected herself by disregarding the evidence of three state witnesses. “The first respondent erred by acquitting the second respondent prematurely before the application for discharge was made by Mpofu. -state media
Enough Is Enough: Bishop Tudor Bismark tells Mugabe
By a Correspondent| The leader of New Life Covenant Church, Bishop Tudor Bismack, has taken a swipe at the corrupt political leadership in Zimbabwe, bemoaning the suffering that ordinary citizens are daily enduring.
Sporting a Zimbabwean flag tied to his right wrist akin to the Evan Mawarire inspired hashtag #ThisFlag, the Bulawayo born Bismark was not pulling any punches, in his sermon, titled ‘Issues behind issues.’
Zimbabwe is in a crisis, the nation is struggling with corruption and the church is beginning to stand up and speak out against the prevalent corrupt practices that now characterise public office.
Dropping a line in ChiShona and another in SiNdebele ‘Ha Ndaneta; Sengidiniwe’ (I am tired of this corruption), the Bishop exclaimed!
“What the hell is going on out there” he asked? Confronting the issue of the newly introduced bond notes.
“There are issues behind issues, what’s really going on with bond paper, what’s the issue? What’s the issue and the little man on the street that’s you and I. We don’t have the capacity to move our money out… but I can guarantee you the big guys with big money have been shipping money out this week or a month ago.”
Bishop Bismark went on to recommend the popular George Orwell’s Animal farm as book of the month.
“I recommend this book as our book of the month, read it!”
“You’ll find our culprits in that book. It is an allegoric book on the Bolshevik revolution, how the animals gather together and have a meeting to overthrow the Czar of Russia, because they are sick and tired of being in an abusive system. But what happens is they replace one abusive system for another. The things that they were against, they now do, what they fought for or against they’re now imposing on their people….” Bishop Bismark was, however, quick to point out that he was talking about Orwell. The fear that once gripped the nation and silenced even the servants of God has now evaporated.
Scandal after scandal has been the hallmark of Zimbabwe. Increasingly it seems that the problem goes beyond the political elite. It is now an endemic and systematic problem affecting almost every sphere of society across the nation.
The sometime party of liberation, (Zanu PF) is at the centre of this rot. Like many liberation parties on the continent of Africa, who are now in parliamentary politics, most of those at the helm of these once noble organisations have now, but, become fat cats: the former liberation party is feeding on its own people like ticks on a cow, its leadership seeks its own comfort and well-being, not that of those who elected them.
Feeding on its own propaganda, it thinks that it is invulnerable, even at times godlike. It attempts to use the poor as welfare grant hostages who are expected to vote up, shut up and put up with whatever seems expedient to those in power. The people of Zimbabwe have been patient, they have afforded this corrupt leadership the time and space to deal with the problems the country faces. This leadership has failed and a crisis looms. Our leadership stands judged because of their vanity.
The church is now speaking up, enough is enough.
Onward Christian Radio, calls upon all Christians in particular those in Zimbabwe to stand up and speak out against corruption. As Christians, each time when we allow or accept a bribe, we destroy our hearts, we destroy our personalities, and we destroy our country. Corruption moreover takes away our joy, our peace. Corrupt people don’t live in peace.” Zimbabwe is not at peace and is being destroyed by those who have been consumed by corruption.
The Prophet Hosea judges Judah and Ephraim harshly “The princes of Judah have become like those who move a boundary, on them I will pour out my wrath like water. Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgement, because he was determined to go after vanity” (5:10-11). The people of Zimbabwe deserve better. They do not deserve to be abused, yet again, by a Government whose only interest is itself.
tudorbism
SHONAS KICKED OUT OF MATABELELAND: GMB Ordered Closed
Staff Reporter|Controversial Chief Ndiweni of Ntabazinduna in Matabeleland North, has ordered that the Grain Marketing Board depot in Ntabazinduna, be immediately closed allegedly for only employing Shona speaking people and not benefiting the local community.
A move that has placed the chief at loggerheads with local Member of Parliament, Dr Obert Mpofu, who is totally against it, accusing the Chief of being unreasonable and also claiming that people in the area were agitated by the chief’s actions.
“Since he was appointed to be acting chief after the death of his father, all he has brought to the people is confusion,” charged Dr Mpofu.
Sources within the Chief’s office say he raised the issue with the District Administrator of Umguza District, last week, demanding that the depot be closed because the food aid from there was being distributed unfairly to his people and causing disharmony amongst his subjects.
Doctor Mpofu, confirming the developments over the weekend, further explained that; “We had a meeting last week in Ntabazinduna together with the District Administrator, concerning the proposed move by Chief Ndiweni to shut down the GMB depot. People are so agitated. What he is doing is anti-people. We do not want confusion in Ntabazinduna.”
According to Mpofu Chief Ndiweni cannot shut a public institution which does not belong to him.
“He can’t shut down a public institution which does not belong to him. It belongs to the public and whatever he is doing, he is not doing it for himself but punishing the community. People are supposed to receive maize at that depot but if it is to be shut down, where do they get maize from. We have engaged local authorities in the area to look into the situation,” said Dr Mpofu.
On the contrary a villager from Nhlambabaloyi Village of Ntabazinduna Moses Gama opposed Obert Mpofu’s sentiments, claiming the villagers in the area actually agree with the Chief’s demands to close the depot until it is sorted out.
Zhuwao Attacks Mugabe
Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo|Barely a few months after being humiliated in public by his uncle, President Robert Mugabe,Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Minister, Patrick Zhuwao ,has openly said Zanu PF leaders are too old to serve the nation.
Ironically Zhuwao is believed to be a key member of the G-40 team pushing for Grace Mugabe’s ascendancy to the presidency.
Addressing youths at a public dialogue meeting in Masvingo last week, Zhuwao castigated old Zanu PF leaders for failing to carry out their duties effectively.
Zhuwao was grilled by the youths over the failure by the government to provide the promised two million jobs as promised in 2013.
“You must understand that I work with officials who are very old and tired.Most of them qualify to be my grandparents. Therefore it is very difficult for them to meet the expectations of the youths. You have to do a lot of explanation for them to understand,” said Zhuwao.
Coincidentally Zhuwao’s uncle,Mugabe,who turned 92 in February attacked the youthful minister over his misinterpretation of the country’s indigenisation policy.
Mugabe embarrassed Zhuwao when he openly contradicted his nephew’s utterances on the indigenisation policy, forcing the youthful minister to retract his earlier comments.
Party insiders said Zhuwao’s comments could be a direct response to Mugabe’s earlier attack on the young minister.
The rhetoric on indigenisation is widely blamed for precipitating the current economic chaos that has culminated in the cash crisis as companies maintain a cautious approach.
Army Rushes In as Dynamos Match turns Violent
Dear Editor.
It’s so painful seeing the team we love so much getting down like that. I watched yesterday supporters vari kuVIP after the match (ALSO READ – Dynamos Beaten 1-0)singing kuti Mubaiwa usaite fun nevanhu and asking him to reinstate Silva but (the police began beating people) mapurisa abva atanga zvavo zvekurova vanhu and chasing them away till the fans started throwing stones.
ZNA came to the rescue locked DeMbare executive at Rufaro. Chikengezha was struct by supporters. Mubaiwa must go, said furious Dynamos fans who were later dispersed with teargas some minutes ago.
(ALSO READ – Dynamos Beaten 1-0)
These Dynamos players have played with our emotions. Enough is enough was their message as they fought running battles with police as players were kept inside Rufaro.
Violence Breaks Out as Dynamos is Beaten by Platinum
Dynamos . . . . ..0
FC Platinum .(1) 1
CHAOS erupted at Rufaro yesterday as scores of angry Dynamos supporters engaged in running battles with the police after the Glamour Boys’ poor start to the season reached a new low as they crashed to their first home Castle Lager Premiership defeat at the hands of FC Platinum. The country’s biggest and most successful football club, who have turned into an average team this season, slumped into 15th place on the Premiership table and only newboys Border Strikers have been a poorer team this year.
DeMbare have now played three league matches at the place they call home and only picked one point in a dull draw against Triangle and, crucially, they are yet to score in 270 minutes in their fortress in league action. In case you have just forgotten, they have also lost to CAPS United, for the first time in a league match in seven years, and yesterday the fans could not take it any more and exploded in rage as they disowned their men, the first time it has happened in history and gave a standing ovation to FC Platinum.
Then, outside the main VIP Entrance, chaos erupted. Gift Bello, a former Dynamos player, took advantage of poor marking inside the box and headed in the only goal of the match from a corner kick swung into the box by Elvis Moyo after only 21 minutes.
DeMbare never recovered from the blow and, with each passing minute, frustration was exploding in the stands. The Glamour Boys had one of their worst starts to the season under Paulo Jorge Silva, who was sacked on Thursday, with DeMbare only managing five points in five starts before the Portuguese gaffer was dismissed.
Silva was given a standing ovation by the fans in the Vietnam Stand when he walked into the stadium, and his popularity rocketed when he challenged a close call by the first assistant who ruled that Obey Mwerahari had strayed into an off-side position.
And the DeMbare fans, who converged outside the main entrance of the VIP Stand, then chanted Silva’s name, after the game, showing that they still believed in the Portuguese gaffer. With Lloyd Mutasa having been given the mandate to lead the side on the interim basis for the next five games, it appears DeMbare supporters now don’t know who to blame and where to turn to during this free-fall.
The angry mob yesterday blocked the main exit gate, chanting derogatory songs against their club’s leadership and calling for the reinstatement of Silva. “Mubaiwa usaite funny funny nevanhu,” they sang as they directed their anger towards their club president Kenny Mubaiwa, who was not at the stadium yesterday.
And, as their ranks swelled, the protest soon turned violent. Police, who were assisted by Dynamos marshals to clear the area, were overwhelmed by the stone-throwing mob for close to an hour and had to retreat into the stadium before calling in reinforcements.
The Harare City Council van, which transports cash from the stadium, was caught in the crossfire as it made its way out. The Dynamos team bus was trapped inside the stadium while FC Platinum and their coach Norman Mapeza were cheered when they left the stadium.
Eventually, teargas were fired into the air but the mob still fought back before they decided to disperse after more than an hour of pandemonium. The Dynamos leadership, which was also under fire from a section of supporters for appointing the Portuguese coach, will surely be seized with a new challenge in the post-Silva era. “For a result, it’s quite disappointing because we really needed to bounce back. Unfortunately we conceded what I thought was a simple goal coming from a set piece,” said Mutasa.
“You always think that in these set pieces you need individual concentration but we were found wanting on that occasion.” The Harare giants virtually played second fiddle to the platinum miners, who have become a well-drilled unit under Mapeza. They were always second to the ball with the visitors’ Winstone Mhango, Rodwell Chinyengetere and Tatenda Dzumbunu controlling the engine room. Dynamos’ first meaningful shot at goal came in the 54th minute.
Again the DeMbare frontline had another miserable day in office after starting unchanged with Kudzanayi Nyakasaka and Rodreck Mutuma, a poor imitation of men who used to lead the club’s last line of attack. Nyakasaka had a good chance in the 15th minute when an overhead ball deceived the FC Platinum defenders and, with the goalkeeper off his line, chipped wildly over.
FC Platinum then benefited from poor defending when Bello, probably the shortest man in the box, somehow managed to get his head on the ball from a corner kick just when both sides were still trying to settle. The visitors seized the initiative and were all over the hosts and frustrated fans then started chanting Silva’s name.
Another sad episode happened towards the end of the match when the DeMbare supporters rained missiles towards the direction of the visitors goalkeeper, who had gone down to receive medical attention when their team was pressing hard for an equaliser. DeMbare appeals for penalty in the 88th minute were turned down by Rusape referee Brighton Chimene after Carlos Rusere’s shot struck Kevin Moyo’s hand inside the box.
FC Platinum hit back quickly with a counter-attack and they could have doubled their tally when substitute Marshall Mudehwe used his pace to break into the hosts’ half but was denied by the crossbar. The platinum miners returned to the top of the table with the win. They are the only side that remains unbeaten this season with 16 points in the bag.
Pure Platinum Play also stretched their unbeaten run in the league to 27 matches. Ironically, their last defeat was against Dynamos at Rufaro in May last year. Although they have positioned themselves as strong candidates for this year’s championship, Mapeza yesterday told reporters he was talking one game at a time.
“I have to be honest with you guys, I am not thinking much about it. We are just taking each game as it comes. It’s too early (to think about the championship). The most important thing for us is to collect as many points as we can during the season.
That’s the most important thing. “That second half I spoke to the guys, I knew they (Dynamos) were going to come at us but the most important thing was to be disciplined. I think we were very disciplined at the back and I think that’s what kept us going. “We got our chances and we buried them. That was the difference,” said Mapeza.
Teams
Dynamos: T. Mukuruva, O. Mwerahari, O. Mushure, E. Muroiwa, S. Linyama, D. Mukandi, S. Alimenda, B. Amidu, C. Rusere, K. Nyakasaka (G. Murwira, 73rd min), R. Mutuma (R. Kawondera, 56th min)
FC Platinum: P. Mhari, I. Nekati, G. Bello, K. Moyo, E. Moyo, W. Mhango, R. Chinyengetere (W. Kamudyariwa, 81st min), T. Dzumbunu, W. Musona, T. Rukanda (I. Wadi, 81st min), O. Chirwa (M. Mudehwe, 66th min) – state media
Mugabes Warned By Doctors
President Robert Mugabe and his family have been warned by doctors in Singapore.
Surgeons attending to Mugabe’s newly born grandson, told Mugabe’s daughter, Bona and the First Lady, they will endanger the toddler’s life if he returns to Zimbabwe.
Confirming a recent ZimEye.com expose, Mugabe on Friday revealed his grandson has had to stay in Singapore for a month due to health concerns – [SEE – Bona stuck in Singapore].
He told delegates in Gutu his wife, Grace has remained stuck in Singapore as a result of the warning.
“Deno Mai (First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe) vari pano vandiperekedzawo ndichiuya kuzobata maoko kumadzisekuru angu asi ndazouya ndega nekuti ivo havana kukwanisa kuuya nekuti vakaenda kunze kwenyika uko mwanasikana wedu (Mrs Bona Mugabe-Chikore) akokomborerwa, ane chikomana chandaiti ini ichi chichafudza mombe dzangu chete ichi, – I wish my wife was here as she would have escorted me to the funeral. She could not make it as she is tied down with my newly born grandson, the one I have long wished will tend to my cattle,’’ he said, before breaking into laughter.
“Vanachiremba vakati anofanirwa kuzokwira ndege ave nemwedzi saka anofanirwa kusvika mwedzi uno (May) around the 16 or 17 – the doctors warned us saying due to health concerns the boy cannot fly until after a month, around May 16 or 17. Chiremba akati mwana haakwanise kukwira ndege, deno mange muchienda nemota zvino mundenge anofanirwa kusvika mwedzi, achasvitsa musi wa 16 or 17 mwedzi uno,’’ he said.
Bona and her husband, Simba Chikore, wedded on March 1 2014.
ACCIDENT HORROR: Grace Mugabe ‘anti’ War Vets Feared Dead in Car Crash Mystery | BREAKING NEWS
At least five liberation war veterans are feared dead in a road accident in Filabusi on the Bulawayo-Masvingo highway.
The veterans were reportedly traveling to Zvishavane after attending a strategic meeting in Gwanda where they are believed to have discussed issues to do with the planned ZANU PF youth million man match to be done to show support for both President Mugabe and the First Lady.
Details of the accident were still coming through at the time of writing though initial details claim that the vehicle burst a front-tyre and rolled over killing the five on the spot in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The accident comes short in the heels of a Daily News journalist’s death trap after his vehicle’s wheels tampered with by unknown assailants. The journo’s publication had in the days running up to the incident last week, been leading in a series of articles exposing First Lady Grace Mugabe. More to follow…
Harare Directors Face Dismissal
The councillors of Harare will soon make a big decision which includes firing those city officials accused of being incompetent.
It has been learnt these officials are accused of failing to steer the city out of debt and not doing enough to reduce ballooning salary arrears that now stand at six months.
The workers accuse the city of infringing upon their rights with Harare Municipality Workers’ Union executive chairman Mr Cosmas Bungu saying council workers have turned into beggars surviving on handouts from well-wishers Mr Bungu also represents workers in the Harare Municipal business units.
A councillor who spoke to The Herald on condition of anonymity said they were losing confidence in some of the city officials and would soon take drastic measures that included firing some officials.
Among those who are likely to face the chop are finance director Mr Justin Mandizha, who is accused of presiding over declining service delivery in the city and worsening the city’s salary arrears.
Mr Mandizha joined Harare last year after a short stint with Cashflow Solutions (Pvt) Limited, immediately after his tenure with the United Nations, where he acquired the bulk of his working experience.
He worked with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) before landing the current post at the council.
Councillors feel that he has failed to change the city’s fortunes because when he joined the city salary arrears were on three months but three more more months have been added.
At a recent full council meeting most councillors blamed Mr Mandizha for worsening the city’s salary arrears.
Contacted for comment, Human Resources and General Purposes Committee chairperson Clr Wellington Chikombo said council was disgusted by the failure to pay salaries saying deserving action would be taken.
“We are disgusted, it makes us shudder to say the least. Any excuse will remain unwelcomed, our employees have to be paid with immediate effect. No unjust system would be allowed to last forever. We will roll our sleeves to fight for the poor.
“Deserving action will be meted against undeserving individuals, City of Harare is not a safe haven pot for inept, amateurish and un-proficient people,” he said.–State Media
Chivayo Swindles $4.8million from ZESA
The Zimbabwe Power Company management bypassed its board and paid $4,8 million to convicted fraudster Wicknell Chivayo’s Intratek Zimbabwe for pre-commencement works on the 100-megawatt Gwanda solar plant without the private firm submitting a performance guarantee to protect public funds.
Managers at ZPC could now face action under their code of conduct.
A performance guarantee or bond is a form of financial security provided by a contractor before receiving any down-payment for a project and it enables the client to have recourse in the event the contractor fails to perform obligations in the contract.
The bungling has seen accusations that the Energy and Power Development Ministry or its Minister, Dr Samuel Undenge, pushed ZPC officials to make the payments to Intratek but Dr Undenge denied the accusations saying the ZPC management blundered on their own and were not supposed to release a cent to Intratek without putting in place mechanisms to recover the money in the event the firm defaulted.
Zesa Holdings and the ZPC board are now calling for an audit of all the power deals involving Intratek. The $4,8 million was supposed to cover feasibility studies, topographical survey, boreholes, clearance of site, the geo-technical survey, fencing of the site, wayleaves and administrative structures.
Only feasibility studies and the topographical survey have been done on the $200 million project.
Zesa Holdings chief executive Engineer Josh Chifamba confirmed the development saying apart from the audit, the code of conduct would be applied against ZPC officials who defied corporate governance tenets.
ZPC is headed by Engineer Noah Gwariro.
Said Eng Chifamba: “That was bungling and we have asked to understand why (ZPC) management would do that with public funds. These are public funds and there is a well-established system that if you make an advance payment, there must be an advance guarantee against the money.
“That is a given and all officials know that. An advance payment should be secured with a performance bond and that is meant to manage the risk in the event of non-delivery of a service paid for. You will have recourse by cashing the bond and recovering whatever you would have paid.”
Eng Chifamba continued: “The fact that they decided to release money to Intratek without a bond means they had to alert the board and seek authorisation and apparently this was not done.
“With this development, we have considered it prudent to do a forensic audit to review all the contracts just to check if they can stand to scrutiny as far as corporate governance and risk management is concerned.
“We have a code of conduct as a company and it is going to be applied to deal with staff who might have been negligent.”
The Zesa Holdings Audit and Risk Management Committee also raised a red flag and summoned ZPC officials to explain the bungling last week.
Zesa group legal advisor and corporate secretary Mr Saidi Sangula wrote to ZPC officials on May 9 requesting them to come for a meeting last Wednesday.
Reads Mr Sangula’s letter: “Your committee will be requested to brief the Zesa Holdings on issues surrounding the appointment of Intratek Company for the Gwanda and other power projects and the current status relating to that contract.”
Quizzed why they by-passed the board and released the money to Intratek without securing performance bond, ZPC acting managing director Joshua Chirikutsi referred questions to the board chairperson, Engineer Stanely Kazhanje.
“Haaaa, on that one, talk to the board chairman,” Eng Chirikutsi said.
Eng Kazhanje said: “I understand you talked to the group chief executive (Eng Chifamba) and what he has said is the correct information and the position of the board.”
On allegations that he had pushed ZPC management to act otherwise, Dr Undenge said he would never support a move that did not protect public funds.
“I would never do that because I called the Zesa management to a meeting where we wanted to know how they were going to manage the financial risk,” he said.
“I stated that they should pay any contractor against performance and ensure there are performance bonds in place because we are dealing with public funds. I asked ZPC to prepare a paper stating the mechanisms they will use to guard against any financial risk. That paper is still to come. Anything contrary and what has happened is against the ministry’s expectations.”
The ZPC board met last Thursday and spent the whole day discussing the Intratek issue with some board members calling for the suspension of officials involved.
Government is working on a new law called the Public Sector Corporate Governance Act that will see corruption and other related maladministration in the public sector being punishable at law.
The new law, which is likely to be effected next month, would largely incorporate recommendations made in the National Code for Corporate Governance that was crafted by Government and the private sector in 2014.-state media
Nyagomo Vows to Remove Mugabe
By Terrence Mawawa| United Kingdom based Progressive Democrats of Zimbabwe leader (PDZ), Barbara Nyagomo, says she has returned to Zimbabwe to remove President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF from power in the 2018 poll and put an end to the woes bedevilling the country.
“I have returned home to fight for the people’s freedom. I live with the people and I am using public transport in order to identify with the suffering people of Zimbabwe. I am here to fight for freedom and there is no going back,” said Nyagomo.
As the Renewal Team and MDC leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube seem to be losing the influence in political circles- leaving the 92 year old Mugabe enjoying a power vacuum, Nyagomo claims her party is a ray of hope to defeat Zanu PF.
Nyagomo, a professional nursing practitioner, social work specialist and philanthropist also alleges her innovations have been copied by Joice Mujuru’s Zim People First and the First Lady Grace Mugabe.
She told ZimEye.com in an exclusive interview yesterday, she returned to Zimbabwe ,after leaving the country in 1997, to tackle ZANU PF’s waning stranglehold.
“I am not intimidated and I will keep on fighting for the people’s total freedom from dictatorship. I am eating black jack so that I can identify with the people of Zimbabwe who cannot afford decent meals.My greatest joy is to leave with the ordinary people,” she continued.
Nyagomo further encouraged Zimbabweans to forge a united front and defeat Mugabe’s dictatorship.
“This is the time for all progressive minded people to join hands and remove Mugabe from power-come 2018.We are setting up structures across the whole country and we are here to prove that we can stand up and be counted,”said Nyagomo.
Although political analysts have remained cynical about the possibility of defeating Mugabe without the formation of the grand coalition, Nyagomo insists her party will defeat the revolutionary party in 2018.
POSB Makes 7.6million Profit
The People’s Own Savings Bank (POSB) has declared a dividend of almost US$2 million to the government after recording a US$7,6 million profit.
The bank’s profitability has been attributed to the US$20 million capital injection by the shareholder and good management of non-performing loans which averaged 10.8 percent.
Speaking after receiving the cheque, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Cde Patrick Chinamasa said the bank has proved beyond doubt that they have a good financial inclusion strategy.
POSB’s declaration of the dividend to the government is sending a strong message that the bank is a force to reckon with in the local economy while at the same time proving that state enterprises have the potential to operate profitably.
The bank has maintained its strong presence in all parts of the country while other financial institutions have been withdrawing their services within rural communities.-state media
Uebert Angel In Rihanna Bong
Mugabe Demo in UK
Zimbabweans from all walks of life and different political parties gathered in Slough, UK, at the invitation of the MDC UK to demonstrate their repugnance at the Mugabe regime’s misrule.
This came in the wake of a recent “Jobs March” by the MDC T in Harare, Zimbabwe. The theme of the Slough demonstration was “Mugabe must go, to save Zimbabwe!”
Chants of “Mugabe must go, to save Zimbabwe! To save Zimbabwe, Mugabe must go!” reverberated from a packed hall at the Labour offices in the Slough High Street, in Chalvey.
Former MDC Chairman for UK, Ephraim Tapa was one of the main speakers at the event where he stressed the need for unity of all Zimbabweans as they faced the Mugabe regime. He also commemorated the death of Cde Tonderai Ndira, an activist who was abducted and killed by agents of Robert Mugabe on the 14th of May, 2008.
His decomposed body was found with eyes gouged out and tongue cut out. Mr Tapa read a few lines from an article written by Edward Mukuze, a human rights activist and ROHR Southampton branch Vice Chairperson as well as MDC Southampton Information and Publicity Officer. Read Mr Tapa, “They shattered his jaw bones, broke his knuckles to smithereens, shot a bullet through his heart and stabbed him repeatedly as well as battered him with an object, probably a hammer, that left a gaping hole on the back of his head.”
This gesture of unity by Tapa, himself a
former MDC UK Chairperson somewhat demonstrated how far Zimbabweans are prepared to let bygones be bygones in their quest to form a united front aimed at dislodging ZANU PF from power. The following is a video clip of Ephraim Tapa leading the demonstrators in song in Slough.
The MP for Slough, Fiona Mactaggart who was also one of the speakers at the event spoke in solidarity with Zimbabweans displaced by the Mugabe regime and forced to seek asylum in the UK. She spoke of the need for people like herself to ensure that in the campaigns for human rights, the people of Zimbabwe are not forgotten.
She let out that the UK government is “deliberately trying to create what they call a hostile atmosphere in relation to immigration and what that means is that they are effectively making it impossible for Zimbabweans who are here to remain safely. She stressed her frustration at the UK government who are making it impossible for Zimbabweans, who she sees as hard working people, to earn a living in the UK. She said she thinks former colonies of the U.K, need to become mature democracies to enable their citizens to be prosperous and free. “Prosperity and freedom go together”, she said. “The big problem for Zimbabwe is that initially prosperity came without freedom then freedom without prosperity…. and then neither.”
Good attendance of events like this are the beginning of a show of maturity amongst us as Zimbabweans and promise to bring unity against the injustices imposed on us. As a political and human rights activist I say to my fellow Zimbabweans, unity makes strength. Our national flag should unite us all. Simunye! Pamberi nekubatana!
Edward Mukuze writes in his own capacity as a political and human rights activist.
CIO Raid: Pasi Says He Remains Zimra Boss
Pasi through his lawyers Mutamangira & Associates was responding to a story published by The Standard on May 8 where it was revealed that the board asked him to take paid leave to facilitate investigations into a car importation racket.
This was after investigations that followed a car accident he was involved in last month allegedly unearthed a scandal involving the registration of his Toyata Land Cruiser vehicle.
The Zimra boss said the allegations were not true as he was not under investigation.
“Our client was not suspended as your article alleges,” the lawyers wrote. “Our client was asked to take leave following a decision of the board of Zimra, the circumstances of which are under consideration by our client regarding the validity thereof and the basis upon which the request is premised.”
Pasi was sent on leave alongside five other senior Zimra officials by the authority’s board amid an investigation into an alleged car importation racket.
The other officials that were sent on paid leave were Sithokozile Mrewa (human resources director), Annah Mutombodzi (customs and exercise commissioner), Tjiyapo Velempini (ICT director), Clive Majengwa (internal audit director) and Charlton Chihuri (loss control director).
Pasi also took issue with allegations that the investigations that ‘nailed’him and the other Zimra officials were carried out by the Central Intelligence Organisation.
“It is astounding that you mention the Central Intelligence Organisation as having conducted the alleged investigation in light of such fallacious findings,” the lawyers wrote. “Nothing short of malice and petty spite could package such total untruths as the outcome of investigations.
“The ineluctable conclusion being that the flawed investigation cannot be the basis of any lawful action.”
Pasi did not dispute that he was involved in an accident in Harare while driving his Toyota Land Cruiser but said the registration number was ADJ 6890 not ADS 6890 as reported by The Standard.
“Our client indeed owns a Toyota Land Cruiser whose registration number is ADJ 6890,” the lawyers said. “This vehicle was purchased by our client in 2014 from Toyota Msasa and not from Timothy Simupfukwe as your article implies.
“Our client has never had any dealings with Timothy Simupfukwe and has no knowledge of the said Timothy Simupfukwe.”
Simupfukwe has been accused of working with a syndicate of top Zimra officials to evade duty for imported cars.- Standard
Grace Absence Shakes ZANU-PF
FIRST Lady Grace Mugabe’s absence has unsettled her G40 faction in Zanu PF as her loyalists are no longer certain about their political future, insiders revealed last week.
G40 faction members have been fighting each other in public while others are openly distancing themselves from the group.
A few months ago G40 upped its bid to torpedo a faction linked to Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the race to succeed 92-year-old President Robert Mugabe, with Grace addressing public rallies to undress her rivals.
Grace is in Singapore where her daughter Bona went to deliver Mugabe’s first grandson over a month ago.
In her absence, officials previously linked to her were seen openly dissing out the camp or other members within the faction in a move that shows things are falling apart in the faction.
Senior G40 members said they had put on hold most of their programmes as they await further instructions from Grace when she returns home. “We are expecting that she will attend the [Mugabe] solidarity march on Africa Day, but a lot of things have happened during her absence,” said one official linked to G40.
“Look at what Jimaya Muduvuri is doing, what Acie Lumumba and Patrick Zhuwao are doing to each other and reports that some members of the youth and women’s leagues have crossed swords.
“Muduvuri has since embarked on his own mission which he claims he was tasked by Mnangagwa.
“It now shows he deserted the camp. But amid all these things, people are unsure if she [Grace] is still interested in the camp or she is now on the other side as reported by the rival faction,” said the source.
Although sources described Muduvuri as a lightweight in the succession matrix, they said even senior people in the ruling party and government were taking a back seat in activities linked to G40.
On the other hand, those who bought into reports that Grace had dumped the camp were making frantic efforts to make peace with Mnangagwa’s faction.
While addressing a rally in Kadoma last year, Grace spoke glowingly about Muduvuri who then went on to fight known Mnangagwa allies such as Gokwe-Nembudziya MP Justice Mayor Wadyajena at the Zanu PF congress in Victoria Falls last year.
Muduvuri has since been dragged before a disciplinary hearing in his Mashonaland West province, believed also to be pro-G40, to explain his mission of “cleansing Mnangagwa faction’s soiled public image”.
Yesterday, he appeared to be downplaying the hearing, saying he was in Gwanda where he was continuing with his task.
“I appeared [at a disciplinary hearing] on Tuesday, but I told them that what we don’t want in Zanu PF are the said G40 and Mnangagwa factions. I will not stop the work I am doing,” he said.
“I saw VP Mnangagwa and asked him about all this [allegations of leading a faction] and he denied knowledge of any faction.
“People are happy with the work that I am doing and today [yesterday] we are in Gwanda with the same message,” he said, adding that he was given the mandate to tour the country by Mnangagwa.
Muduvuri vowed no one would fire him from Zanu PF.
“Who can chase me away? Who is the most senior person, the leader of a province or the VP?” he asked.
“When I appeared before them on Tuesday, I explained to them the kind of work that I am doing. The message is we don’t want factions and we don’t want to hear anything on G40 or Lacoste [Mnangagwa faction].”
Sources said Muduvuri’s relations with other G40 members, including the outspoken Hurungwe East legislator Sarah Mahoka, had soured because of his campaign.
There are also reports that he played a crucial role in mending relations between the fired seven provincial youth chairpersons and Grace.
“What is happening now is that people are sitting on the fence and in many instances people are appearing both to be in support of G40 and Lacoste because they are not sure which way to take.
“Mahoka called for a rally in her constituency recently which was meant to ignite the lost zeal, but the rally did nothing to appeal to the members.
“Grace’s return will put everything into shape and clear the air for G40,” added the source.
Mnangagwa’s faction — which enjoys the support of the military and war veterans — has seemingly gained ground in recent days as G40 members returned to their cocoons.
G40 has been using the Zanu PF national disciplinary committee as its biggest weapon in dealing with its foes.- Standard
Army General (ret) Drops Mugabe Bombshell Book
Major General (Retd) Kudzai Mbudzi drops Mugabe bashing book.
Former vice-president Joice Mujuru’s Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) is this week expected to release a book titled, The National Grievances, with its author saying it will expose President Robert Mugabe’s poor track record.
Former top soldier and ex-Zanu PF official Major General, Kudzai Mbudzi, yesterday said the party had nothing to fear in exposing the 92-year-old leader.
“As the title suggests, the book will be giving a detailed account of national grievances against Mugabe.
“It will expose his failures in all the facets of our lives,” Mbudzi said.
“The book will look at how Mugabe destroyed education in this country, high levels of unemployment, the collapse of industry, deterioration of infrastructure, poor road network and how he is creating sex workers out of very innocent people, how he destroyed the economy and all other sectors in Zimbabwe.”
He said the book would also show how Mugabe has led Zimbabwe into international isolation.
“Mugabe has created a brigade of refugees of Zimbabweans who are all over the world trying to look for employment,” he said in relation to the amount of brain drain Zimbabwe has suffered under Mugabe’s watch.
On their part, Mbudzi said the book would be used as a manual for the ZimPF structures so that they will be able to explain how Mugabe has destroyed the nation.
“The other purpose is to build a culture within our party so that we have a culture of shared values and common understanding on the issues we are fighting Mugabe about. It will serve as a training manual for our structures,” he said.
Asked if he was not afraid of victimisation, Mbudzi said there was nothing to fear from a 92-year-old man.
“Can I fear that Mugabe is old? I am not the one responsible for his old age. Why will we have to fear a person as old as that?” he said.
Mbudzi said his party was complementing what other opposition parties like MDC-T have been talking about on the unworthiness of having Mugabe at the helm of the country.
He said their version would be a detailed account followed by pictures in a book with about 60 pages.
“We will not have a launch as such. The book is with the printers now and we expect it this week. Once we receive it, we will start giving it to people,” Mbudzi said.
ZimPF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said Mugabe’s revelations on Friday that Mujuru’s party was recruiting Zanu PF members in Masvingo showed he was panicking.
“Obviously, he knows how most people in Gutu support People First and Masvingo province is one of our strongholds,” he said.
“Mugabe is trying to rubbish People First, but now they are trying to review and check if the suspensions and purging were done procedurally.
Gumbo dismissed the Zanu PF move to lure back some of the people fired for supporting Mujuru by opening a fresh avenue for them to appeal.
“You don’t accuse people first and review their cases later. His appeal committee will not make an impact,” he said.
“We are not concerned at all because we have our own vision. People have already made their minds about the road they want to embark on.”
Gumbo added: “People are concerned about unemployment and the absence of social services and I am sure they can see for themselves that this party will not take them anywhere.”
However, a sizeable number of people who were fired along with Mujuru are said to be flocking to the secretary of administration Ignatius Chombo to make appeals against different sanctions imposed on them.- Standard
Father Has Sex with 3 Daughters – REPORT
A MBERENGWA man has left fellow villagers dumbfounded amid allegations he was in the habit of engaging in sex with his three daughters and allegedly sired three children with them. It is understood that the man from Chief Maziofa had a child with his first daughter, two children with his second and is believed to be sleeping with his third daughter. Sunday News visited the area last week, where traditional leaders and villagers alleged that the man who cannot be named for ethical reasons had indeed sired children with his children. Mabhiza village head Mr Moses Hove “confirmed” that the man has children with his daughters and was once arrested for incest.
“This issue is an old one. He has been doing that for a very long time and we are worried that when he was arrested, he was released despite my brother Sarai reporting him to the police. Personally I have never caught him in the act but from the information that we have gathered, he has three children with his two daughters. I am prepared to stand before the court and testify to what I know and what I have been advised by fellow villagers. This is unacceptable culturally. Incest is taboo. I can even go with you to his homestead and confront him in your presence,” said Mr Hove.
Other villagers claimed the man impregnated his first daughter in 2003 and the child was now 13 years old and doing Grade Seven at a local primary school. He was arrested after his son teamed with a fellow villager Mr Sarai Hove and reported the matter to the police but was allegedly released without being charged.
Another villager who said naming him will create tensions with the man said he chased away his son after he revealed to fellow villagers that his father was sleeping with his children and had impregnated one of them. The villager said the man then went on to impregnate his second daughter and the child is doing Grade Two. The man, the villager further alleged, had a second child with the second daughter who has just started the Early Childhood Development (ECD) education level.
“Everyone in the village is aware that the man sleeps with his children. He is such a shameless man. He has a child with his first daughter and two children with the second and now he is sleeping with his third daughter. He was once arrested but was released by the police. We suspect that he uses juju,” said the villager.
The villager added that it is suspected that the third daughter is also pregnant for her father. However, when the Sunday News crew visited the man’s homestead, he claimed that villagers were framing him. The man said the second daughter only had one child and said the last two children, which are said to be hers were his wife’s.
“I do not know about that. It is news to me whoever told you was lying,” he said. The man was, however, evasive when asked on why he was arrested in 2003 referring all questions to his wife. “Wait for my wife she is taking a bath,” he said.
The wife professed ignorance but did not corroborate with her husband on the number of children they have. While the man said they have seven children, his wife said they had six. Contacted for comment the third daughter referred the news crew to her father while others could not be located.
ZANU-PF Youths Beat Each Other Up
THERE was chaos at the Zanu-PF Convention Centre in Gweru yesterday during the revolutionary party’s Midlands Youth League inter-district meeting with members engaging in sporadic fights. Tensions exploded during the meeting with some youths engaging in scuffles after they formed small groups and tried to prevent each other from entering the venue. Police in anti-riot combat had to be called in to control the youths resulting in the meeting being delayed from 10am to 2pm.
Midlands Zanu-PF acting chairman and National Secretary for Education Dr Jorum Gumbo condemned the youths’ behaviour and vowed to discipline the perpetrators. He bemoaned lack of discipline among the youths saying it would tarnish the image of the party.
“I am embarrassed with the behaviour that you have exhibited today. The worst part of it is that you did it right in front of our guests. We had to call the police to restore order here as if we are not peaceful people. We have the names of the perpetrators and we will discipline them. Whoever was causing chaos is anti-President and Zanu-PF. Do not come here to cause violence,” Dr Gumbo told the youths.
Acting Midlands Zanu-PF Youth chairman Prosper Machando claimed the youths were being used by some political leaders who have ulterior motives. He claimed some members of the party who have amassed a lot of wealth were in the habit of bribing youths and buying them intoxicating substances so that they use them to their advantage.
Machando also blamed the national executive of the youths for allegedly creating rapport with a selected few in the province and circumventing proper channels of communication within the Youth League structures.
“We are worried that there are some members of the party who bribe our colleagues because they have accumulated wealth. They buy them beer and they cause confusion. Our province is united. Another challenge is that some people are going to the national executive and start confirming dates of the one million men march before we receive any formal communication as the provincial leadership. That is very wrong,” said Machando.
Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs Kudzanai Chipanga said the youths wanted a direct link to President Mugabe and no longer wanted a Youth Secretary who is not a member of the Youth League.
“We want a direct link between the Youth League and the President. We want to create a platform to interface with President Mugabe. Kwete zvekuisirwa madhara mberi kwedu (not to put old representatives in front),” he said.
Chipanga said the youths would want to engage the Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement, Dr Douglas Mombeshora to speed up the farm downsizing exercise to enable youths to benefit from the land reform.-state media
Minister Dokora “Steals” School Money-REPORT
Controversial Primary Education Minister, Lazarus Dokora, has caused another uproar following his banning of Christian activites in schools, this time stretching his hands to snatch away private money paid into schools by parents.
Dokora has passed a ministerial directive to give him access to school levy cash so he can take a slice of it “for ZANU PF uses”, as parents charge saying Dokora is going to use the money to prop up his party.
Schools which have been struggling financially, are now saddled with an extra burden to offload their last remaining cash reserves to government-the first time such a thing has happened since independence in 1980.
“This is another ploy to just steal our money, the Minister must stop this”, a parent of two pupils at Girls High school, said.
Although the state media reported claiming that new signatories would be created so parents can access the bank accounts, ZimEye.com can reveal Dokora has surreptitiously hatched a plan to dip his fingers into the moneybags of every school in Zimbabwe. He has communicated his plot saying “we have been having the building fund since 1980 and we have developed a blueprint for levies which we have sent to schools requesting ideas.
“If I can get three or five percent from the building fund then I can get a pool fund for schools,” he said.
As a result, school development associations will now lose control of development levies, with Dokora’s officials being dispatched to monitor and administer the funds.
But Dokora’s Secretary, Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango, argues that the School Services Fund is key to curbing fraud and misappropriation.
Dr Utete-Masango said, “We, as the ministry, have proposed a School Services Fund that will be resident at schools, with tuition fees and levies being deposited into that single account. The account will have many signatories who include parents’ representatative bodies, school heads and other SDA officials. And once the accounts are established, there will be extensive monitoring by the relevant authorities to prevent misuse of funds.
“We will concretise this proposed system after receiving stakeholder feedback. The ministry is consulting stakeholders across provinces and a team is already dealing with the feedback. Further, we are working on various Statutory Instruments and the Education Act with the ultimate objective of aligning them with the Constitution.
“And also, the accounts will help learning institutions come up with School Development Plans designed to fulfill the funding requirements necessary to spur school development.”
Govt Blows $400million on ZimAsset
The state has blown over $400million on its controversial ZimAsset programme, the state broadsheet reports.
Government spent more than US$400 million on projects under the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation in 2015, with more resources expected to be channelled towards energy, housing, agriculture and other areas.
Zim-Asset, adopted in 2013, is Zimbabwe’s foremost economic blueprint and covers infrastructure and utilities, social services and poverty eradication, food security and nutrition as well as vaue addition and beneficiation through to 2018.
In a letter of intent to the IMF contained in the lender’s latest market report, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya said US$431,9 million went to water, energy, transport, irrigation and housing infrastructure last year.
Although he could not readily provide the breakdown, Minister Chinamasa told The Sunday Mail there was ample evidence of Zim-Asset’s progress.
Part of the letter reads, “We conducted a mid-term review of our economic blueprint, Zim-Asset. The outcome of that review suggests that we need to mobilise more financing and prioritise projects.
“To finance some of our projects, we have resorted to non-concessional loans, especially in the area of infrastructure investment, development partner support as well as statutory funds.”
The IMF report notes that Government recognised the importance of infrastructure to increasing productivity and competitiveness.
In the energy sector, Government is seized with several projects, including hydro, coal fired, diesel and solar power, all of which are at various implementation stages.
The UN has also come in full support of Zim-Asset, signing the Zimbabwe United Nations Development Framework that will see the world body mobilising US$1,6 billion between this year and 2020.
Zundaf has an average US$400 million annually to support development programmes as guided by Zim-Asset.
It will also support six national priority areas: food security and nutrition, gender and equality, HIV and Aids, poverty reduction and value addition, public administration and governance and social services and protection.
The IMF report states that the African Development Bank Group was involved in Zim-Asset implementation. “The (AfDB) engagement is anchored on the Government’s main economic policy blueprint—the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset, 2013–2018).
“The bank supports the country through basic infrastructure rehabilitation in the water and energy sectors for inclusive service delivery; capacity building and technical assistance for strengthening institutional governance; and private sector participation for job creation. “
The IMF commended Government for implementing economic policies successfully despite adverse weather conditions and low commodity prices.
“(Government) underscored the importance of maintaining fiscal prudence and pressing ahead with ambitious structural reforms to address impediments to investment, foster private sector-led growth, and reduce poverty, making the best use of the Fund’s targeted technical assistance. “Further progress on these fronts, as well as on clearance of external arrears, will pave the way for full re-engagement with the international community, allowing Zimbabwe to regain access to external financing, particularly from the Fund, in support of its development agenda.”
True Leaders Don’t Use Force
Lesson on Leadership
By Bishop Henry Muzhari
Don’t follow the leader — be the leader.
Leadership is the art of persuasion—the act of motivating people to do more than they ever thought possible in pursuit of a greater good.
It has nothing to do with your title.
It has nothing to do with authority or seniority.
You’re not a leader just because you have people reporting to you. And you don’t suddenly become a leader once you reach a certain pay grade.
A true leader influences others to be their best. Leadership is about social influence, not positional power.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. —John Quincy Adams
You don’t even need to have people reporting to you to be a leader. A janitor can influence people and lead just as a CEO can.
Likewise, anyone can become a follower, even while holding a leadership position.
If you’re a slave to the status quo, lack vision, or don’t motivate everyone around you to be their absolute best, then you’re a follower. Even if you happen to have a leadership title, people won’t follow you when they see those behaviors present.
A senior executive who creates unnecessary bureaucracy, locks himself in his office, and fails to interact with others in any meaningful way is no more a leader than an antisocial software engineer who refuses to do anything but write code.
Of course, the real question is—are you a leader or a follower?
To find out, you need to ask yourself some very important questions. Think carefully as you respond to each one, and you’ll soon know for certain.
1. Do you go above and beyond?
Followers do their jobs, and that’s it. No matter how good they may be at those jobs, it rarely occurs to them to go beyond their basic functions. Leaders, on the other hand, see their job descriptions as the bare minimum—the foundation upon which they build greatness. Leaders see their real role as adding value, and they add it whenever and wherever they see an opportunity.
2. Are you confident?
Followers see the talents and accomplishments of other people as a threat. Leaders see those same talents and accomplishments as an asset. Leaders want to make things better, and they’ll take help anywhere they can find it. Leaders are true team players. They aren’t afraid to admit that they need other people to be strong where they’re weak.
3. Are you optimistic?
Followers see the limitations inherent in any given situation; leaders see the possibilities. When things go wrong, leaders don’t dwell on how bad things are. They’re too busy trying to make things better.
4. Are you open to change?
Followers are content to stick with the safety of the status quo. They see change as frightening and troublesome. Leaders are maximizers who see opportunity in change. Because leaders want constant improvement, they’re never afraid to ask, “What’s next?”
5. Are you decisive?
Followers often hesitate to act, out of fear that they’ll do the wrong thing. Leaders aren’t afraid to make a call, even when they’re not sure if it’s the right one. They’d rather make a decision and be wrong than suffer from the paralysis of indecision.
6. Are you accountable?
When mistakes are made, followers are quick to blame circumstances and other people. Leaders, on the other hand, are quick to accept accountability for their actions. They don’t worry that admitting fault might make them look bad, because they know that shifting the blame would just make them look worse.
7. Are you unflappable?
Followers often let obstacles and mishaps throw them off course. When something goes wrong, they assume the whole project is doomed. Leaders expect obstacles and love being challenged. They know that even the best-laid plans can run into unexpected problems, so they take problems in stride and stay the course.
8. Are you humble?
Followers are always chasing glory. Leaders are humble. They don’t allow any authority they may have to make them feel that they are better than anyone else. As such, they don’t hesitate to jump in and do the dirty work when needed, and they won’t ask anyone to do anything they wouldn’t be willing to do themselves.
9. Are you passionate?
Followers are trapped in the daily grind. They go to work and complete their tasks so that they can go home at the end of the day and resume their real lives. Leaders love what they do and see their work as an important part of—not a weak substitute for—real life. Their job isn’t just what they do; it’s an important part of who they are.
10. Are you motivated from within?
Followers are only motivated by external factors: the next title, the next raise, the next gain in status. Leaders are internally motivated. They don’t work for status or possessions. They are motivated to excel because it’s who they are. True leaders keep pushing forward even when there’s no carrot dangling in front of them.
11. Do you focus on titles?
Followers care a lot about titles, both their own and those of the people they work with. They’re very conscious of who outranks whom, because they lack the skill and motivation to create leadership from within. Leaders, on the other hand, focus on what each individual brings to the table, regardless of what’s printed on a business card.
12. Are you focused on people?
Followers focus on what they can achieve individually. Leaders are team players, because they know that greatness is a collective feat. A leader is only as good as what he or she can achieve through other people.
13. Are you willing to learn?
Leaders, while confident, know that they’re neither superhuman nor infallible. They’re not afraid to admit when they don’t know something, and they’re willing to learn from anyone who can teach them, whether that person is a subordinate, a peer, or a superior. Followers are too busy trying to prove they’re competent to learn anything from anyone else.
Bringing It All Together
Take another quick look at the questions above. There’s not a single one about title, position, or place on the org chart. That’s because you can have the title and position without being a leader.
You may have worked for someone who fits that description. And you probably have colleagues who serve in leadership roles without a title.
Leadership and followership are mindsets. They’re completely different ways of looking at the world. One is reactive, and the other is proactive. One is pessimistic; the other is optimistic. Where one sees a to-do list, the other sees possibilities.
So don’t wait for the title. Leadership isn’t something that anyone can give you—you have to earn it and claim it for yourself.
Uebert Angel Mocks the Poor
Prosperity-spiritist, Uebert Angel has been found in a Rihanna bong, as he attacked less privileged people.
ALSO READ – Uebert Angel Sex Scandal ;
Angel who also says everyone who criticises President Robert Mugabe is poor, has this time suggested that every person who looks facially unattractive (ugly), is simply broke.
ALSO READ – Uebert Angel Demands Sex from Church Girls;
Writing in a message on his social networking portal with pictures of US singer, Rihanna, Angel (real name changed after he was exposed for academic fraud) said, “sometimes you not ugly, you just broke.” PICTURE:
Harare Bashed by Tsholotsho FC
Harare City. . . . . . . . . . .(0) 0
Tsholotsho FC. . . . . . . . . . (1) 1
TSHOLOTSHO just love beating Harare City.
After stunning the Sunshine Boys in their in their maiden top flight match at Rufaro last season, Lizwe Sweswe and his boys were back to heap more misery on the home side yesterday.
Bruno Madanhire’s goal on five minutes earned the visitors maximum points, leaving Harare City coach Taurai Mangwiro searching for answers.
“It was one of those days when we were just negative especially in the first half when we fell behind and then left ourselves with a mountain to climb in the second,” he said. “Consistency is the key word here. We were our own worst enemies in letting them surge ahead first and, despite the improved showing in the second half; we were never comfortable after that. We are never comfortable chasing games.”
Mangwiro has every reason to feel annoyed with his team.
A weak clearance by goalkeeper Tafadzwa Dube was intercepted by Simbarashe Gorogodyo, who obliged by chipping the ball behind a static Harare City defence.
With the entire City defence looking for the offside flag, Madanhire latched onto the ball and beat Dube.
The home side battled hard to come back into the game but the visitors’ goalie Chang Mariyoni was unyielding.
Sweswe was elated by his team’s performance.
“It was a tough game, but we had a plan in place and I am happy my charges adhered to it and we won the game,” he said. “I am glad to see my team showing their experience in this league, and that same experience is starting to turn into confidence. As far as the result goes, I am glad we managed to get the full three points, away from home. Every point will count later on in the second half of the season, when teams beef up their squads and come out stronger.”
Teams
Harare City: T Dube, J Tigere (K Kumwala), A Chiveya, T Ndhlovu, B Moyo (N Diro), F Madhanaga, T Samanja, W Manondo, P Manuvire, G Kufandada (B Maglas), H Chimutimunzeve
Tsholotsho FC: C Mariyoni, M Phiri, N Moyo, T Ncube, W Stima, B Ncube, K Chitiyo, R Mufudze, B Madanhire (N Gama), S Gorogodyo (D Chivandire), M Ponyera (S Dube)
Snake Inside Hospital Building: FRESH DETAILS EMERGE
UPDATE: – Fresh details have emerged from the investigation following the snake find at Mvuma Hospital on Friday. It has been asserted that the snake (pictured) is not native to the Mvuma area. Authorities are now probing the possibility of an employee having smuggled the reptile into the institution.
A hospital is the last place one would expect to find a snake – workers at Mvuma Hospital were Friday morning shocked to find a slithering surprise inside the building.
It was no lizard, and no small snake, but a giant, 3 metre serpent taking a dip inside one of the attached offices.
Impeccable sources told ZimEye.com, the office was locked, adding to the mystery that this could have been the work of witchcraft by one of the workers. ZRP officers were called to the scene.
Continue reading “Snake Inside Hospital Building: FRESH DETAILS EMERGE”
21 Zimbos Escape Kuwait
Twenty-one more victims of human trafficking have returned home from Kuwait amid reports that some are still stranded in some small Gulf states as the government continues to seek ways of flying the country’s citizens home.
Efforts by the government and various stakeholders is bearing fruit as more victims of human trafficking arrived in the capital on Friday.
Speaking to journalists in Harare, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs Cde Kindness Paradza said the arrival of the 21 victims shows the government’s commitment to ensuring human trafficking victims are brought back home.
A number of Zimbabweans have been duped by unscrupulous employment agencies to travel to various parts of the world all in a bid to search for greener pastures.
Most of them have ended up being subjected to working as slaves with some being sexually abused.
Air Zim Boss Buried
Air Zimbabwe public relations executive Shingai Taruvinga Dhliwayo who was found dead in a bush in Botswana last week has been laid to rest in Norton.
Hundreds of relatives, friends and colleagues convened in Norton to pay their last respects to Shingai.
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport chairperson, Cde Dexter Nduna and Musha Mukadzi Zimbabwe Armed Forces Foundation national chairperson Mrs Marry Chiwenga said that thorough investigations should be carried out to bring the murderer to book.
Family spokesperson and father to Shingai, Salvation Army church pastor, Major Zindoga Nathan Taruvinga (Retired) said the family has lost a hardworking and loving daughter.
Friends and workmates said Shingai will be missed as she was a loving person who worked well with everyone in society. Shingai is survived by husband Totizirepi Dhliwayo and three children.