“President Robert Mugabe is now too ill for the Presidency”, the High Court is to pass its verdict on the matter.
The lawsuit was submitted by a Zimbabwean lawyer who is demanding that the country’s highest court must now order an investigation to determine Mugabe’s fitness to hold office.
This comes after a series of evidential bad health signs that prompted speculation about his health.
The papers filed by the lawyer, Tinomuda Chinoka say the Speaker of Parliament and the president of the senate must conduct the investigation.
“Having a president that may lack capacity to carry out the job threatens democracy, undermines the constitution and puts in jeopardy the very foundation, security and future of the nation,” read the papers filed with the Constitutional Court.
Chinoka listed a number of incidents casting doubt on Mugabe’s ability to rule, including his tumble on a red carpet at Harare International Airport in February 2015.
They also referred to a gaffe last year when he read the wrong speech at the opening of parliament.
“Any person with their mental alertness intact would have recognised a speech that they have read only three weeks previously,” said the papers.
Mugabe, who turns 92 later this month, has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980. His health has been the subject of speculation in recent years.
In January he returned from his annual month-long holiday during which rumours flared that he had collapsed and died in Asia. News24/Additional Reporting

Management at the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) has been accused of flouting tender procedures, mismanagement, nepotism and corruption.
Details obtained by the State Media indicate the parastatal’s woes could be due to gross mismanagement as the company fails to pay duty for 33 buses imported from China in May 2015 despite one of Zupco’s bank accounts holding US$680 282 as at January 26, 2016.
Documents at hand show that things came to a head on January 26, 2016 when Zupco failed to dispatch a single one of its 150 buses in Harare because “there was no fuel”. This led to the suspension without pay of divisional operations manager Mr Jonathan Chandaengerwa.
Mr Chandaengerwa declined to comment saying “the matter was before a Zupco disciplinary hearing committee”.
One the documents in our possession reads, “On (January 26, 2016) it was said there was no money to buy fuel for northern division buses yet US$520 282 was sitting in a recapitalisation account. The buses needed only a minimum of US$10 000 to get on the road.” Zupco’s policy is that 30 percent of gross revenue goes to the recapitalisation account daily.
Despite sitting on huge cash reserves, Zupco has failed to dispatch buses citing lack of fuel, and has 33 units grounded at its Belvedere, Harare yard after failing to pay import duty since May 2015.
Workers’ salaries have been delayed since July 2015, added a source.
Zupco’s top management is also accused of refurbishing at unjustifiable costs.
For instance, bus number FF41 was refurbished for US$38 000 when a new FAW engine costs around US$15 000.
And bus FF41 broke down after travelling just 12km. Zupco CEO Mr Clifford Muwoni said there was nothing amiss with the bus breaking down soon after refurbishment.
“Even a brand new bus can break down after five kilometres. It’s normal,” he said. “The buses were not grounded on January 26, 2016; we just reduced the number of buses because of low commuter numbers.”
However, Mr Muwoni wrote a letter to Mr Chandaengerwa on January 27, 2016 saying the company lost about US$10 000 in daily revenue while “passengers were left stranded because there were no buses”.
Mr Muwoni also dismissed as “nonsensical” allegations that Zupco was flouting tender procedures when buying buses, trucks and trailers.
The CEO has also been accused of nepotism after his son, Mr Kevin Muwoni, was appointed a divisional risk officer, raising questions among workers if Kevin would investigate allegations of wrongdoing against his father.
Mr Muwoni defended his son’s appointment saying: “Kevin has been with Zupco since 2007 so there is no nepotism. Nepotism is when someone is not qualified for the job.”- State Media

A disabled Bulawayo based Zimbabwean family needs help after being let down by the Jairos Jiri association.
 
Mr John Jemwa and family, affected by a hereditary and rare condition affecting eyesight, are failing to get a meal each day after their Econet kiosk (pictured) was shut down due to a deficit not exceeding $2,500.00 in total.

A COUPLE allegedly fleeing unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been arrested with its eight minor children, one of them aged one year.
The eldest child is aged 14 years old. Kasambule Ebondo, 40, and wife Mumba Kayeye, 32, of Lubumbashi, told Victoria Falls magistrate
Rangarai Gakanje that they escaped from their country last week and chose to come to Zimbabwe to seek refuge. Prosecutors charged the couple with illegally entering the country.
The minors could be seen playing outside the courtroom while their parents were being tried. Ebondo and Kayeye pleaded guilty to the charge and were sentenced to four months in prison which was wholly suspended for five years on condition they don’t commit a similar offence within that period.
The magistrate also ordered that they be deported. “You should have sought to have travel documents before thinking of travelling instead of entering the country illegally,” said Gakanje.
Ebondo burst into tears as he explained to the court why he and his family fled the DRC.
“There is unrest in our country where people are being killed on a daily basis. We fear for our lives and that of our children because some of our relatives were axed to death recently. We will be having elections soon and that is what is sparking political disputes. We didn’t get a chance to obtain any travelling documents because of the unrest,” he said.
Prosecuting, Listen Nare told the court that the couple illegally crossed into the country from Zambia on Tuesday.
“The accused proceeded to Chinotimba suburb to seek refuge. Police detectives received information that there were illegal immigrants in the country. At around 4AM police found the eight children sleeping outside a shop,” the prosecutor said.
The court heard that when they were questioned, it was discovered that they were Congolese citizens who illegally entered the country. Ebondo and Kayeye failed to produce their travelling documents leading to their immediate arrest

By Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo|Those who live by the sword will die by the sword is an english adage which sums up the controversy surrounding the invasion of Crest Ibeka.
The farm was invaded by Zanu PF provincial chairman Ezra Chadzamira with the help of police details and soldiers. Chadzamira took it over from Yvonne Goddard a well known Zanu PF financier.
In a dramatic twist of events senior army officials and provincial CIO bosses are eyeing the farm and are determined to kick Chadzamira out. However Chadzamira is said to be seeking Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s protection since the securocrats are piling relentless pressure on him to vacate the farm. ZimEye.com has been informed the securocrats are also determined to take over the farm from Chadzamira in an arrangement they intend to partition it among themselves.
“There are CIO bosses and top military personnel who are eyeing the same property so they want to kick out Chadzamira so that they can partition the farm among themselves. Chadzamira is now seeking protection from Mnangagwa for the obvious reason that he belongs to the VP’s faction. So we are likely to witness twists and turns in the Cresta Ibeka saga,” said a senior provincial official.
Chadzamira who claimed the farm was underutilized is now under pressure from securocrats who are expected to convince President Robert Mugabe to fire him from the provincial chairmanship post. The controversial land grab exercise is widely blamed for crumbling of the nation’s economy with many analysts saying Zimbabwe, formerly the bread basket of Africa is now a basket case.

By Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo|A local headmaster was last week thoroughly beaten up by a female workmate he consistently pestered for sexual intercourse.
Sources at the school told ZimEye.com, Thomas Mureriwa the headmaster of Temeraire High School, was assaulted by Ophilia Bafana, the Head of Department for the English department in full view of school pupils. Bafana accused Mureriwa of pestering her for sexual intercourse.
Although Mureriwa denies the allegations, ZimEye can reveal the case was reported at Mashava Police camp under RRB 2514742.
It is understood Mureriwa had the habit of calling Bafana to his office where he expressed interest in having sex with the lady teacher. Incensed by Mureriwa’s sexual advances, Bafana took a bamboo stick and assaulted the school head in full view of pupils.
Bafana proceeded to grab the headmaster by the neck and continued to assault him with clenched fists until the deputy headmaster and other female teachers came to the dazzled Mureriwa’s rescue.
Masvingo District Education Officer(DEO), Zakaria Makopa said there was an altercation between the two but quickly said investigations were underway.
“We have heard about the incident but we are still carrying out further investigations so that we can then decide on the matter. The matter is being treated with confidentiality until we arrive at the crux of the whole issue,” said an evasive Makopa.
Mureriwa also vehemently dismissed the story despite clear evidence pointing to the incident. Social analysts here slammed officials who take advantage of their positions of influence to abuse female subordinates.

War has broken forth in ZANU PF with the national political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere rubbishing declarations by pro-Emmerson-Mnangagwa strongman Ignatius Chombo that the politburo is going to discuss Professor Jonathan Moyo’s use of social blogging website Twitter.
In what analysts signalled as the sure signs of imminent bloodbath, Kasukuwere told journos Zanu-PF had no time discussing social media issues in its Politburo meetings.
He accused the Mnangagwa controlled media of trying to craft the agenda for the ruling party.
He told journos after meeting the party’s provincial chairpersons and some members of its affiliate organisations in Harare yesterday that Zanu-PF had serious issues to discuss.
His remarks differ from party spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo and Secretary for Administration Ignatius Chombo’s assertions that the abuse of social media by some party members was cause for concern and might be up for discussion at the Politburo meeting set for next Wednesday.
“This is the beginning of greater wars,” said analyst Gerald Ncube.
Organs of the party such as the Youth League have through the State Media voiced what they termed “grave concern” over the abuse of social media, while the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, which is an affiliate organisation, also registered displeasure on the same issue with the police weighing saying social .
The concerns came in the wake of frenzied tweeting by Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo, who has been attacking fellow Zanu-PF members on social media.
Said Kasukuwere: “I am actually surprised that you make social media an issue. It’s not an issue and we hear you telling us about the Zanu-PF Politburo agenda. You think we meet here to talk about WhatsApp?
“We meet here to discuss serious business, so stop dragging us into your small issues of the social media. We have much more serious work to do. We have much more serious things to worry about. That kind of directionlessness will not be part of what Zanu-PF stands for.
“We are surprised that you have already crafted an agenda for the Politburo when it meets. That agenda is approved by His Excellency and the secretary for administration. They are the ones who work on what the party will discuss and I want to say please no to agenda setting.
“We don’t discuss what you want us to discuss. We discuss issues that affect the generality of our party membership and how to assist the people of Zimbabwe.”
Kasukuwere said social media was not an issue to the party.
“I want to say to the Press please, please don’t misquote us and don’t turn around and make social media an issue,” he said. “It’s not an issue for us here. If it is an issue to you, let it be to you, but for Zanu-PF we are clear on what we stand for.”
When asked that President Mugabe in his official capacity as the First Secretary of Zanu-PF once implored party members from abusing social media, Kasukuwere interjected and said: “Don’t create problems to say Kasukuwere has gone against ah, ah no, no, please I have said don’t agenda set for the party.
“Please let the party do its work. If we are to discuss anything of that nature, can’t you allow us to discuss it quietly in our confines as a party?
“Why does it have to be the President said this, the President said this. Aah, aah, please when the President speaks we all listen to him, but don’t then go overboard and try and blow things out of proportion. The party is intact.”
Without elaborating, Kasukuwere said in a few days there would be some action to show support and loyalty to President Mugabe.
Kasukuwere said the party was ready for the 2018 elections and next week the commissariat department would be meeting provincial structures, starting with Matabeleland South.
He said he was not happy with the kind of reportage coming from the public media.
“We want to call upon our State-owned newspapers to help build the party,” he said. ‘’Like I said, let us not allow individual desires to become national desires. We have a country, we have a party, we have a leadership.
“I am appealing to the Press, please tone down the volume. We are not excited at all with the amount of noise that continues to occupy the front pages of this country. We deserve better news. We deserve better stories that unite, develop and move our nation forward. We are making a genuine appeal to all the leadership in the media that let us build our nation.”
Kasukuwere said the party leadership should disseminate developmental information on Zim-Asset and how the party and Government were dealing with challenges confronting the country.

MDC Spokesman Kurauone Chihwayi had a gun pointed at him and was beaten up by a ZRP officer.
The incident happened on Wednesday.

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has blocked the move to utilise biometric technology for national elections, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai says.
Below was his full statement released today Friday afternoon:
We meet amid a serious natio
nal crisis, now worse than what it was a month ago when I issued my end of year statement. Since then, things have gotten worse as exemplified by the promised bonus for civil servants still to be paid out, with the chances of it ever being paid out getting slimmer and slimmer by the day. In the countryside, poverty levels have worsened and people have no money in their pockets, a situation exacerbated by the food shortages that are set to worsen following yet another bleak farming season.
As a region and as a country, we are bearing the brunt of climate change, a serious issue that needs attention at policy level especially now as the entire SADC region faces a burgeoning food crisis. Millions of our citizens are staring starvation in the face unless we get urgent assistance to import about 1, 8 million tonnes of grain for both people and livestock. At the moment, we are told the country only has a paltry 250 000 tonnes of maize but surprisingly, but it took this government six months until only yesterday to declare this catastrophe a national emergency!
A debilitating crisis
In Matabeleland South, Masvingo and other parts of the country, Zimbabweans face imminent hunger. But amid all this looming starvation coupled with an economy on the ropes, no one is paying attention to this national crisis. There is no government response as Zanu PF is busy with what has become the grand preoccupation of everyone in this government—-the fight to succeed Mugabe.
We in the MDC have no intention to join their debate as the man declared at the recent AU summit that he will die in office. Our only concern is that whoever is in charge of the country at any given time must commit themselves to ensuring a stable, democratic country characterized by tolerance and prosperity. But while Rome is burning, the President and his two deputies could not afford to miss the luxury of their annual vacations outside the country, at the taxpayer’s expense, of course. In the case of one of the Vice Presidents, he came back from his annual vacation to continue with his occupancy of a five star-hotel in Harare, with his whole family including his grandchildren, again courtesy of the taxpayer!
Indeed, the current state of the nation resembles a national funeral; we are currently battling to meet our pledge to multilateral financiers to service billions of our external debt by April, there is 95 percent unemployment in the country, internal power generation capacity has drastically gone down; civil servants are on the edge because of unpredictable pay dates and their outstanding bonus while our public hospitals have run out of basic essential drugs. I have been meeting Zimbabweans across the country in the past few weeks and they have been telling me that the current crisis and the collapse of basic services are in sharp contrast to the good old days of the MDC in government! They were forthright and honest with me as to their trust and faith in the capacity of this party and this leadership.
It is now a matter of public record that the country’s economy is in turmoil. There is a serious liquidity crunch while revenue collections have drastically dwindled, typified by government’s failure to meet its wage bill. At a time when our economy needs a massive capital injection, no one is prepared to invest in the country and FDI has dried up. There is minimum trust and confidence in this government. As ordinary people, all we hear of are mega deals with China, amid this mega poverty in the country. These mega deals have not had any meaning and significance outside the government pronouncements in the State media. These billion dollar deals remain mere newspaper content that has not changed the lives of the people. From where the people stand, all they see around them is only poverty, suffering and looming starvation!
Just over a year ago, I published a treatise on my personal reflections, in which I described the country as having been turned into a huge mall of vendors; indeed a highly informal economy in which everyone is trying to sell something to someone. The situation is now even worse and the high unemployment level in the country and the economic collapse have become the most portent threat to national stability.
It is pertinent to note that the national crisis largely stems from the crisis of legitimacy, spawned by yet another stolen election in 2013. Since that monumental fraud, there has been a serious deficit of confidence in the regime in Harare. Unless and until we return to legitimacy through a truly free, fair and credible election, the national crisis will not relent. The collapse of the economy and its attendant problems are a mere window through which the political crisis of legitimacy is manifesting itself. The region, Africa and the rest of the world have to assist Zimbabweans in their call for far-reaching electoral reforms that will ensure a return to legitimacy.
We as political parties have joined hands in this national demand. In an unprecedented move, more than 10 political parties have signed up to the National Election Reform Agenda (NERA). Indeed, a truly credible election is now a precondition for the return to legitimacy, which must become an issue of national priority.

The demand for a credible election
As a party our decision not to participate in elections until the implementation of far-reaching reforms has resulted in a fruitful debate in the country and important steps being taken in the correct direction. That ZEC itself has acceded to a biometric voters roll and the debate around the involvement of the United Nations in running our elections are all issues on the front seat of the national debate because of the decision we in the MDC have taken against participation in mere rituals disguised elections.
We note the disturbing statements from Emmerson Mnangagwa that the UN and other countries except only those in Africa will be invited to observe our elections. He also disputed the ZEC position that it was seriously considering using a biometric voter’s roll, raising suspicion as to whether the electoral management body is really independent at all. The law is very clear that it is ZEC, an independent body, which must run elections and invite observers. For the executive to interfere and usurp this role by making premature statements on the biometric roll and observer missions; issues that fall under the purview of the election management body, vindicates what we in the MDC have always said that Zanu PF rigs elections and meddles with the work of independent conditions. Mnangagwa’s statements confirm that he is the hardliner that he has always been and not the reformist that some in the diplomatic community had begun to think he was.
We in the MDC welcome new, positive developments around elections and urge ZEC to reassert its independence. The electoral management body must adhere to SADC and AU standards governing the conduct of elections. They must proceed with the biometric voters roll in line with regional standards and, with the involvement of all stakeholders, come up with a comprehensive and cogent framework to facilitate voter education, a fresh voter registration exercise and other election logistics. The UN must not observe the elections, they must run them. Given our unique situation, the UN remains the only credible international body that should be involved in the actual management of the election to the satisfaction of all the parties.
Implementing the Constitution
Our government is not only struggling to meet its basic obligations but has abandoned all pretence at democratic governance. Chief among its many crimes is the failure to align the country’s laws to the new Constitution, crafted and overwhelmingly endorsed by the people of Zimbabwe in May 2013.
In that Constitution, among many other progressive provisions, Zimbabweans said they wanted devolution but more than two years after the election, that revolutionary provision has not in any way been implemented as the governance system remains highly centralized. What the Zanu PF government has done instead is to appoint Ministers of Provincial Affairs even in the two metropolitan provinces of Harare and Bulawayo where they lost dismally.
That new Constitution is one of our major success stories as the democratic movement in Zimbabwe but the government is developing frozen feet in living true to the wishes and aspirations of the citizens as expressed in that charter. Ours is a government that remains contemptuous of any agreement with anyone, including with its own people.
I also wish to advise that the current demolitions of people’s homes in Harare are diabolical and a gross violation of human rights. The people must know that it is government that is demolishing people’s houses. We have directed our councils not to destroy people’s homes but to ensure that those with destroyed homes are relocated to properly planned settlements under the direct authority of an elected local government. Most of these settlements now being demolished were unplanned dwellings encouraged by Zanu PF itself which the same government is now demolishing. On our part, we have instructed our local authorities to make sure that they do the humane thing, which is to relocate these stranded and homeless people to properly sanctioned areas.
The challenge for the region and the international community
For the region, Africa and the broader international community, the immediate challenge is the pending humanitarian crisis that needs to be addressed. This country alone will not be able to sufficiently mobilize adequate food stocks required, itself a sad indictment on the much-vaunted land reform programme that has not been underpinned by productivity. The country needs international assistance to mobilize humanitarian assistance to avert the imminent starvation and to ensure food security.
Related to this is the partisan distribution of food. We in the MDC have had our supporters being denied food handouts in most parts of the country because of their political affiliation. In parts of Manicaland, our people have stormed GMB depots and bravely demanded that food handouts be given in a non-partisan manner. There is indeed going to be a huge national demand for transparency and non-partisan distribution of food by our supporters in all parts of the country. Zanu PF should stand warned that we have told our supporters throughout the country to be vigilant and to boldly demand their share of what they should legitimately get from government.
Beyond the deceptive veneer of a stable country is a monumental crisis of multiple proportions that could implode any moment. Due to this government’s culture of repression and its unique capacity to successfully prevent people from expressing themselves, it would be folly for Africa and the world at large to mistake the people’s induced silence as a sign of stability in the country. What the world needs to appreciate is that when Zimbabweans eventually express themselves—as they certainly will in the not-so-distant future—the implosion will engulf the entire SADC region.
The current false peace is just calm before the storm. Given the worsening situation, it is only a matter of time before things come to a head; and the international community should take heed.
Until very recently, President Mugabe was the chairperson of the African Union and SADC. It appears some in Africa and the broader international community had allowed his occupation of those rotational positions to cloud them from making an objective and rational judgment regarding the situation in Zimbabwe. Only last week, he was breathing fire and brimstone on the need to reform the United Nations Security Council.
Yes Mr President. We agree that the UN must be democratised. But charity begins at home. There must also be reform in Zimbabwe in every aspect of our lives. This country must also be democratised so that no one lives in fear of being another Itai Dzamara.
I am aware that the EU has decided to re-engage Zimbabwe and I know that the people of Zimbabwe stand to benefit from any form of re-engagement. But I wish to restate our position that the international community must not just re-engage without a framework. They must insist on implementation of agreed electoral conditions and the embracing of universally acceptable standards by the authorities in Harare. The world must insist on the need to respect the rule of law and the conditions sanctioned by SADC to ensure that the next election is vaccinated from the periodic mischief that has blighted the credibility of all our elections.
Any re-engagement must be accompanied by a stubborn insistence on universally accepted standards that ensure the guarantee of full freedoms and the enfranchising of the ordinary citizen. Any re-engagement must be alive to the past and present acts of omission and commission and the crimes committed against the innocent citizens of the people of Zimbabwe.
The challenge to the democratic movement
However, I do not wish to only pose challenges to the world without giving the same challenges to us as opposition parties and the broad democratic movement. Petty squabbles and hatred of fellow opposition personalities must not cloud us from the patriotic responsibility to confront Zanu PF and to chart a new Zimbabwe together. Collectively, e must outgrow the selfish mindset of thinking that we can go it alone. We all need each other as a broad family of united, patriotic Zimbabweans if we are to bring a new democratic dispensation whose hour has come!
We definitely need each other and that is why the party I lead took a resolution at the last Congress that we will work with other like-minded institutions to confront the beast. In the same vein, I wish to commend other political parties with whom we crafted the National Electoral Reform Agenda. NERA is clear evidence that it is possible for us to come together and I appeal for the same spirit of patriotism to continue bringing us together on many other issues on which our togetherness will yield positive results for the sake of our beloved country.
I want to warn Zanu PF under the ambit of NERA, we will collectively do everything—-and I mean everything…..to ensure that we have credible election in 2018.
As the broad democratic movement, we have many points of convergence and it behoves upon us to harp on those areas we agree on so that we work together for the sake of our country. It is clear the only game changer ahead of the next election is for us in the democratic movement to work together and re-ignite the floundering confidence of the people of Zimbabwe that the change we seek will indeed be achieved in the very near future.. We owe it to history to seize this moment and work for our country. I remain encouraged by the spirit of togetherness that is gathering momentum amongst us. I want to boldly declare to the people of Zimbabwe that beneath the current facade, we are surely and definitely finding each other, the only condition being that any discussion must be a discussion of institutions and not individuals.
Conclusion
It is clear that that the country needs to open a new leaf. We cannot continue like this and it is inevitable that something has got to give! We in the democratic movement have no option but to come together and, as I have said, I am encouraged by the fact that we seem to be finding each other.
To our colleagues in Zanu PF, I reiterate the proposal I have always given them. It would be in their best interest if they agreed to a dialogue of a broad cross-section of stakeholders beyond just political parties. Our experience is that we need more than an elite conversation of political parties. We need a conversation of Zimbabweans; a conversation that must include business, labour, the informal sector and all the other stakeholders and interest groups keen on finding a lasting solution to the country’s crisis.
Indeed, once bitten, twice shy. This national conversation should not be premised on the intention of forming another inclusive government but on hammering a way out of the crisis of legitimacy. We need to agree on a framework for a truly free, fair and credible election. Only then can we begin to resolve the country’s crisis. Zanu PF may spurn this call for a national conversation but history will judge them harshly for having buried their heads in the sand in this crucial hour. If Zanu PF chooses not to talk with the broad section of stakeholders, then Zimbabweans in their broad sense will definitely speak to each other to the exclusion of Zanu PF.
In the past few weeks, I have been meeting with ordinary people in Harare, Chitungwiza and Bulawayo. I feel emboldened and encouraged by the unstinting faith that the ordinary person has with this people’s project called the MDC. They still remember with nostalgia the days of the MDC in government when we opened schools, hospitals and other basic services that had been shut down by Zanu PF incompetence.
They miss our competent hand on the wheel of government. The glorious past of national stability, national peace and national prosperity with the MDC in government has become a distant past……..indeed a distant past that Zimbabweans can only remember with nostalgia. It was heartening during my interactions with the people in the past one month to note that apart from their poverty and suffering, they still retain unstinting faith in us; indeed they are certain that a new Zimbabwe beckons and is definitely on the horizon.
I thank you

Zimbabwe on Thursday tightened controls on offshore investments to plug foreign currency leakages after the country lost $1,8 billion in illicit financial flows last year — over a third by individuals.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of a cash squeeze after abandoning its hyperinflation-ravaged local currency in 2009 and adopted mainly the US dollar whose supply is limited. Presenting the Monetary Policy governor John Mangudya said foreign currency outflows were worsening the already critical liquidity in the economy.
RBZ records show that $684 million was externalized by individuals in 2015 for various for various purposes that include donations, investments and account transfers.
Firms externalized $1, 2 billion in the form of export sales proceeds and highly inflated management fees, technical and professional fees.
“In order to guard against externalisation by related companies through service payments, management fees, technical fees, service fees or by whatever name they come under, shall not exceed an aggregate of 3 percent of revenue and shall require Bank approval,” said Mangudya.
“Individual and corporate investments offshore of more than $10,000 should be declared to authorities with any such investments in the future requiring Bank approval.”
Mangudya said despite the leakages the banking sector was in a sound state in 2015 with deposits going up 11, 2 percent to $5,6 billion as at 31 December.
Non-performing loans went down from 14, 5 percent as at June to 10,9 percent in December.
“This is largely attributable to the disposal of qualifying loans to ZAMCO and the effective credit risk management strategies employed by banks.
In order to increase liquidity and minimize payment gridlocks the central bank increased financial institutions’ nostro limits from five to 10 percent of the bank’s total deposits.
Mangudya also said Zimbabwe will now allow foreign investors to buy stakes of up to 49 percent in companies listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange from 40 percent previously to boost investment.
The southern Africa country’s economy is suffering from low growth and a devastating drought pressured by low commodity prices and a strong US dollar.
“We have also increased the threshold of foreign investors on the stock exchange from 40 percent to 49 percent in line with the indigenisation and economic empowerment policy,” said Mandudya.-Source

Twenty school heads in the Midlands Province have been suspended for allegedly embezzling school development association (SDA) funds and fraud.
Among the suspended are the Guinea Fowl High School head Manson Mudzingwa and Kwekwe High School headmaster only identified as Shumba, who were served with suspension letters last week.
Mudzingwa is allegedly facing 19 counts to do with of abuse of office, SDA funds and school property. Shumba is allegedly facing one count of improper association for yet unknown charges.
The suspension of the school heads is a follow-up on the purge of unscrupulous Government school heads by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
Ministry officials said at least 10 school heads were suspended after a recent audit conducted by the ministry exposed misappropriation of funds in the schools.
Midlands Provincial Education Director Agnes Gudo confirmed the suspension of the school heads.
She, however, said the number of suspended school heads was not more than 20.
Gudo also did not divulge the amounts involved but parents said the amount ran into millions of dollars.
“Yes, there are school heads that have been suspended but I have no actual numbers but they could be around 10 school heads,” she said.
Patrick Zumbo, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, promised to respond to questions from Chronicle on the exact number of suspended school heads by the close of business yesterday but had not done so.
Last year in November, the heads of Chikumbiro Primary, Mkoba 3 and Nkululeko High Schools were suspended after being implicated in the financial rot following audits.
Mkoba 3 High School headmaster Ronnie Munhenzwa and his Nkululeko High counterpart Jealous Sungwa were served with suspension letters on November 2.
Tariro Matongo, the head of Chikumbiro Primary School, received her letter a week earlier.
Also last year, in Bulawayo Milton High School head William Ncube and his deputy Nosizi Muleya were suspended for alleged abuse of funds.
Townsend High School headmistress Millicent Moyo was censured for contravening the Public Finance Management Act and the Treasury Instructions Act after auctioning pupils’ cellphones without permission.
Forensic audits ordered by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education have revealed that school authorities across the country could have embezzled millions of dollars from levies paid by parents.
According to the report, about 1 800 schools (18 percent) have been audited and the exercise has unearthed massive doctoring of accounts and documents to conceal the shenanigans.
Professor Paul Mavhima, the Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, confirmed that the audits unearthed massive theft of funds by school authorities.
He said schools were handling about $1 billion in levies each year.
Prof Mavhima said if misappropriation was allowed to continue, it would result in schools failing to undertake infrastructure development. – State Media

 
The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), which last year introduced forced leave on soldiers as a cost cutting measure, is struggling to feed soldiers in army barracks countrywide, it has emerged.
Elias Mambo|Standard| Military sources this week said the barracks have been running without adequate food supplies forcing soldiers to improvise and look for alternative food sources.
Efforts to get a comment from the army were fruitless as the director of army public relations Lieutenant Colonel Alphios Makotore had not responded to questions sent to him by the time of going to print.
The army had requested that questions be sent to the public relations department in writing. An email was sent to the PR secretary Peter Kamonera who confirmed having received it and promised to send the responses before deadline. Sources, however, said the food shortages were dire.
“There were no supplies in Gutu (4,2 Combat group) barracks since Friday last week,” the source said.
“Supplies only came yesterday (Tuesday) but we are not sure whether the new supplies will take us through the forthcoming week,” the source said adding: “It was only rice that was delivered.”
Sources at the Commando Regiment headquarters in Cranborne also said food supplies were in short supply since the beginning of January.
“We no longer have breakfast. Lunch is provided but very few officers do eat in the canteen because it is mainly sadza and beans or at times cabbages. If it is not beans or vegetables then it will be sadza and sour milk which comes in bulk from Gushungo Dairy,” the source said.
Military sources also said Bulawayo’s 1 Brigade and Imbizo barracks have been hard hit by food shortages resulting in soldiers and army recruits surviving on boiled cabbages and beans.
Since 2013, the ZNA has been operating on a shoestring budget resulting in military bosses ordering soldiers to look for alternative accommodation, in a desperate effort to reduce costs by limiting the number of personnel staying in barracks.
This, however, comes at a time when the Defence ministry was allocated US$358 million by Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa in his 2016 budget statement.
Last year, ZNA ordered its members to go on forced one-month paid leave after every month in an effort to reduce expenditure on food bills, utilities and other expenses at barracks.
ZNA later introduced a forced two-weeks break for soldiers every month as a cost cutting measure, but ZNA members revealed that they were expected to be off duty for a month after every month.
This means members of ZNA effectively work for six months a year although they may be recalled at no notice should there be an emergency.
The army is reportedly, in addition to shortages of food, also struggling with basics such as uniforms.
This week Defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi admitted things are not well in the army and assured troops that his ministry was working tirelessly to improve their conditions of service, which have deteriorated over the years owing to poor economic conditions, which Zanu PF blames on sanctions although critics say it is because of the party’s ruinous economic policies.
“I know that for now there are challenges. These facilities are not adequate but you can be sure that the government is doing everything in its power to make sure that we have decent accommodation,” he said while addressing students of the joint command and staff on the country’s Defence Policy at the Zimbabwe Staff College.

Welshman Ncube led Movement for Democratic Change’s Spokesperson Kurauone Chihwayi on Thursday dismissed as “stinking” falsehoods reports that  senior members of their party were  teaming up to pass a vote of confidence against their leader.
There were reports Wednesday that efforts by some senior MDC party to impeach the former Industry and Commerce Minister were at an advanced stage.
Ncube was said to be impeached for personalising the political movement by making unilateral appointment to key party positions.
In an interview with ZimEye.com Thursday Chihwayi said the party was aware of “some” elements within the party who were struggling to collapse “our vibrant” movement.
“The MDC is too strong and too stable to be shaken by these stinking falsehoods cooked by desperate dissidents that we know,”said Chihwayi.
“King Welsh is in-charge and in control, and is not going anywhere”.
Chihwayi said those wishing to take leadership positions should wait for the party’s congress.
“The Green machine will unmask the idiots who are trying to build their profiles using falsehoods and Professor Welshman Ncube is the most sober and principled political leader on the market in Zimbabwe,”he said.
“Only an idiot can believe these baseless ouster claims, we are a happy and united family working on very exciting party programmes for our supporters and members.
“Professor Welshman Ncube is the legitimate President of the rejuvenated and lubricated MDC”.

By RTUZ |The Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (RTUZ) notes the announcement coming from the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Patrick Chinamasa, that civil servants bonuses which were due in November 2015 will be paid starting in February 2016 stretching to May 2016. This is welcome progress but we still wait for actual dates to be pronounced and the use of proper channels in communicating this government position.
While this position that Minister Chinamasa is announcing comes as sweet news to the long suffering government workers and is also a serious climb down by government which had earlier in the year declared that ‘bonuses were not a priority.’
After this insulting declaration from government, RTUZ gave the government up to the 15^th of February 2016 to sort out its mess and give bonus dates or else the union would mobilize its members and other civil servants to pour into the streets of Bulawayo and Harare demanding that those that have failed must just ship out.
Hence Chinamasa’s climb down and subsequent unveiling of bonus dates is a clear victory for the union. RTUZ is however not naïve and until the bonuses are in our accounts we will remain vigilant and on stand-by to ensure that the government honours its pledge.
It must also be understood that there still a number of outstanding challenges confronting teachers and government workers in general.
Firstly the issue of the unilateral 7.5% pension deduction which the government imposed via the 2016 national budget is out of order. The government workers are still earning far below the poverty datum line hence the scheme cannot be introduced now as it will leave the workers worse off given the meager salaries they are earning.
More importantly, the pension management framework needs to be agreed on by the government workers and the government itself. Thousands of workers had their pension savings eroded when the Zim-dollar was dumped amid hyperinflation.
Corruption is also rife in the management of these pensions and there is need for a transparent and real time remittance and accounting system which will guard against abuse of the funds. As it stands no one knows where the funds are being remitted if at all. This is unacceptable and RTUZ reiterates that this scheme be stopped forthwith.
The secondly the unilateral cancellation of vacation leave for teachers is a gross violation of workers’ rights as guaranteed in section 65 of the constitution and also section 68 which guarantees the right to administrative justice.
For the government to unilaterally cancel a condition of service which was part of the employees’ contract midway into the agreement is the hallmark of unfair labour practices and as a union we will be taking this case to the Constitutional Court for redress.
If these two critical matters are not addressed with the urgency they deserve the union will turn to the streets to push this government, as we have done before, to respect its workers. Meanwhile RTUZ is consulting with its members on whether or not to take to the streets on the 26^th of February 2016 if the 7.5% deductions continue.

By Terrence Mawawa Masvingo| The faction-ridden ruling party, Zanu PF has suspended eight councillors thought to be sympathetic to former Vice President Joice Mujuru.
The troubled ruling party has been flexing muscles on factional battles ignoring the hunger ravaging the province of Masvingo and the suspension of the eight councillors has further plunged Zanu PF into chaos.
The provincial executive last week suspended the eight councillors from Bikita accusing them of working with Mujuru to destroy the ruling party. Among the affected are Dakarai Chikotomere of ward 6 Nathan Zeya, ward 8, Thomas Mafanise (ward 16) and Pearson Mutume of ward 24.
Councillor Mafanise conceded the ruling party was torn by internal strife adding the suspension was a result of endless factional battles in Zanu PF.
“It is true we were suspended for allegedly working with Mujuru but the fact is there is more to it.The suspension is a result of factional battles in the party. We were given suspension letters by senior provincial officers. The allegations are that we are leaking information to Mujuru .It is stated clearly in the letter that the party has resolved to suspend me because of working with Mujuru -among other accusations.I have also been accused of absconding party meetings, ” said Mafanise.
Zanu PF provincial chairman Ezra Chadzamira confirmed the suspensions while Political Commissar Jeppy Jaboon said the ruling party did not regret the move and the executive would work tirelessly to flush out rogue elements in the party.
Party insiders yesterday said the move to suspend the councillors was a result of the CIO video filming of Mujuru’s secret meeting. It is understood the video clip has been shown to President Robert Mugabe and many heads are expected to roll when Mugabe comes to Masvingo province for his birthday bash later this month.
Councillor Zeya said he would move on with his political career if he is expelled from the ruling party while sources said the eight suspended councillors have already joined Mujuru’s People First.

By Terrence Mawawa Gutu| A police officer based at Gutu Police Camp was thoroughly bashed by his wife after being caught at his secret hide out – his girlfriend’s house on the 23rd January.
According to court records, the incident happened last week at a house in Hwiru suburb, Mupandawana town when Shawman Mahuda was caught stark naked with his girlfriend after his wife Florence Tapfumaneyi got a tip-off from a friend, ZimEye.com can reveal.
The irate Tapfumaneyi then went to the house armed with a stick and ordered Memory Rukave(Mahuda’s girlfriend) to open the door. On gaining entry into the house, Tapfumaneyi slapped Rukave several times and ordered her out of the house before charging for Mahuda who fled to the bathroom.
In a fit of rage Tapfumaneyi assaulted her husband several times all over his body until he became unconscious.
Mahuda was rushed to Gutu Mission Hospital where a medical report was compiled, leading to Tapfumaneyi’s arrest . The case was heard before the Gutu magistrate’s court last week.
However Mahuda claimed his wife chased him out of their matrimonal home such that he had to seek refuge at Rukave’s place.
Cases of domestic violence are on the increase across the country as a result of various factors including the current socio-economic challenges. Sources close to Mahuda also claimed he was avenging his wife’s cheating tendencies. The sources further alleged his wife ordered him to move out of the house following a series of heated arguments.

“As you are already aware, Government is currently experiencing cash flow constraints, which makes it untenable to effect a bullet payment.
“To allow room to mobilise the required resources, Government will be staggering the payment of bonuses for public servants beginning this month and until May 2016.”
Anxiety had gripped Government workers who constantly demanded that Government announces the dates when the bonuses would be paid.
Minister Chinamasa said specific pay dates will be communicated upon mobilisation of the requisite resources, adding that, “Treasury sincerely regrets all the inconvenience caused.”
In previous years, Government staggered the bonuses due to cash flow challenges and some workers received their 13th cheque as late as January instead of the traditional November.
Due to tight fiscal space, Minister Chinamasa had early last year contemplated suspending payment of bonuses for 2015 and 2016 to create space for funding Zim-Asset.
The move irked civil servants and President Mugabe overturned the suspension saying “when Government bestows a benefit on civil servants, that benefit cannot be withdrawn because it has become a right.”
Last month, Government had to change pay dates for its workers with the last batch getting their salaries on January 5.
Government later met civil servants’ representatives and gave them specific pay dates when their salaries would be paid.
All workers got their salaries as announced and the employer promised constant pay dates this year.
Delays in the payment of the 2015 bonuses saw some civil servants threatening to strike not before their representatives met Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya who took them through what Government had in its coffers at that time.
This satisfied the representatives who subsequently ruled out the industrial action. At least 83 percent of Government revenue is servicing salaries, a development that stifles economic growth.
Government has come up with a number of strategies to reduce the wage bill and is rationalising the civil service following an audit carried out last year by the Civil Service Commission.
Student teachers and trainees’ allowances have been reduced from $329 to $157, while salaries for teachers at private and trust schools have been terminated.
All vacant posts have been abolished, bus fare for civil servants has been reintroduced, under-used staff is being redeployed, funding of bridging courses has been scrapped while all members who were abusing various types of leave, tampering with pay sheets and attendance registers have been charged.
At the same time, no teacher will go on vacation leave as there is no money to pay relief teachers who will replace them for the three months they will be away.
Government has also reintroduced a 7,5 percent pension contribution, which had been shelved since 2009 when every civil servant was getting $100.-State Media

A 66-year-old farmer and long time Zanu PF donor, Yvonne Goddard, who funded the party’s 2005 provincial elections campaign and provincial conference in 2001 has been kicked out of her CrestaIbeka Farm on the outskirts of the city, inspite of her benevolence.

By Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo| Former Zanu PF Central Committee member Claudius Makova is locked in a fierce wrangle with the Bikita District Coordinating Committee over office furniture he donated to the ruling party.
Makova who was expelled from the ruling party has since joined former Vice President Joice Mujuru’s People First. The man is determined to take the furniture he donated to the ruling party but Zanu PF hawks in Bikita have refused to hand over the property.
Sources told ZimEye.com Makova sent one of his assistants, Kudakwashe Gopo to take the furniture but he was denied entry into the Zanu PF offices, prompting Makova to take legal action . Although Makova could not be reached for a comment, papers seen by ZimEye.com reveal Makova and Gopo submitted a claim to the Bikita Magistrate’s Court in a bid to recover the donated furniture.
“Due to the false allegations levelled against the Plaintiff, the Plaintiff’s reputation was impaired and or maliciously injured. Plaintiff submits that it is just and equitable that damages be awarded in his favour in the sum of US $ 10 000 … ,” read the papers.
Meanwhile the Zanu PF Bikita DCC has accused Makova of attempting to smuggle party property to Mujuru’s People First.
A party official closely linked to Bikita DCC chairman, Isaac Mashanda, said the ruling party would not surrender its furniture to a traitor.
“Makova is desperate and confused and what makes him think he has the right to take Zanu PF furniture-he is daydreaming. He must concentrate on the People First business and leave Zanu PF alone. We are busy preparing for the 21st February Movement celebrations and we have no time to attend to Makova’s hogwash,” said the official based at the Bikita DCC office at Nyika Growth Point.
Zanu PF has a well known history of ignoring court rulings and it remains to be seen whether Makova is going to win his case againsts the ruling party. At present Makoba has other allegations against him involving the manner in which he snatched the wife of the late philanthropist Jairos Jiri and presided over the destruction of the charity organisation bringing it down to a mere vacation centre that actually charges vulnerable disabled people.
Observers say the refusal by Zanu PF to hand over furniture reflects the party’s culture of intimidation and flagrant disregard of democratic voices.
Zanu PF even refused to hand over power after its ignominious electoral defeat in the 2008 watershed polls.

A 25-year-old Harare man allegedly stabbed his wife and her boss with a knife after accusing the two of having an extra marital affair, the court heard on Monday.
Gibson Mugwamba was charged with attempted murder when he appeared before Harare magistrate, Mr Elijah Makomo.
He was remanded in custody to February 15 and ordered to approach the High Court for bail application.
It is alleged that on Saturday last week, Mugwamba accused his wife of having an extra marital affair and threatened to kill her.
The court heard that one of his wife’s bosses tried to intervene to calm the situation by taking Mugwamba outside the gate.
It is alleged that during the scuffle, Mugwamba stabbed his wife and her boss with a knife on the stomach and both sustained deep cuts.
The two were rushed to Parirenyatwa Hospital where they are receiving treatment.-State Media

The Kariba based Pastor Patrick Mugadza who was arrested for telling President Robert Mugabe the truth on how people are suffering during the ZANU PF congress in December, had his case shifted once again yesterday.
Mugadza’s case was to be heard before magistrate Lindiwe Maphosa who lugged it once again, ZimEye.com has learnt.
After travelling all the way from Kariba, Mugadza was told the case can only be heard on the 11th February. More frustration also came as the courts are furthermore sitting on Mugadza’s application for the case to be escalated to the Constitutional Court.

His lawyer from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Thulani Nkala of Dube and Company argues that Mugadza’s prosecution is a violation of his constitutional rights and must be heard at the ConCourt. More to follow…

The next Zanu-PF Politburo meeting — likely to take place this week — is set to discuss cases of party members who abuse social media to attack other members, party spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo has said.
The centre of the charges is Professor Jonathan Moyo in person, who bigwigs belonging to the Emmerson Mnangagwa faction have reported to President Robert Mugabe. Moyo is reportedly of the G40 grouping that seeks to elevate First Lady Grace Mugabe above Mnangagwa.
The move comes after war vetetrans vowed to deal with Moyo “once for all.” “Ww are saying enough is enough with this Jonathan nonsense. He is the same Jonathan who was a famous critic of Zanu PF while he was in South Africa,” the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) said in a statement.
In an interview with the State Media yesterday, Khaya Moyo said members should use party structures for communication. This comes in the wake of concerns by the party’s affiliate organisations such as the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) that some party members were abusing social media.
ZNLWVA contends that some party members were using social media to fan factionalism. The party’s First Secretary, President Mugabe, is on record having warned party members to desist from abusing social media and leaking information to the private media to the detriment of the party.
Said Khaya Moyo: “The President says we must avoid social media. We are a party with structures and where we have situations of transgressions they should be brought to the party through relevant structures.
“If somebody raises those issues (at the Politburo meeting), I think the party will come up with a position. I am not sure yet if there is a Politburo meeting this week, but it is possible that there can be one.” At its next meeting, the Politburo is also likely to have a review of the party’s National People’s Conference held in Victoria Falls in December last year.
Another issue likely to be on the agenda is the state of the economy and bonuses for civil servants.
The party may also receive a report from the secretary for external affairs Simbarashe Mumbengegwi on the recent African Union Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where President Mugabe handed over the continental body’s chairmanship to Chadian President Déby Itno.

Last week ZimEye.com revealed that embattled MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai has called for an urgent audit of party structures in Masvingo following mass defections to former Vice President Joice Mujuru.- READ MORE

President Robert Mugabe and opposition MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai have lined up a number of nationwide campaign rallies amid reports the two politicians have been shaken by the tremors caused by former Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s underground campaign, particularly in the rural areas.
Mugabe told Zanu PF supporters at Harare International Airport on Sunday that he would soon launch provincial campaigns to touch base with the electorate and mend rifts caused by factionalism.
“We will come to the provinces for meetings, telling you, with those who will organise the meetings, about the new ideas that we have to go ahead. And these issues of unity in Africa and going forward, the issues for women empowerment, youth advancement,” he said, addressing hundreds of party supporters gathered to welcome him, as he landed from the African Union Summit in Ethiopia.
Last year, the ruling party sanctioned a series of provincial rallies that were addressed by First Lady Grace Mugabe, where she handed over government-sourced farming equipment and food to party supporters.
Tsvangirai has already started his nationwide campaigns with party spokesperson Obert Gutu saying the meetings were meant to enable the MDC-T leader reconnect with the grassroots ahead of the 2018 elections.
“The president will be meeting the grassroots and I wish all of us, from the standing committee to the branch, could learn from him and emulate his politics. This is what Zimbabweans want, a hands-on person” he said.
Tsvangirai started with Harare, where he reportedly advised party members to avoid being “bought” by emerging political outfits.
“His message to Harare was that with the imminent formation of other opposition political parties, MDC-T supporters should remain alert and not be swayed by money to follow other outfits,” a source, who attended one of his meetings, said.
This followed reports that several former MDC-T officials, including former councillors, were now campaigning for Mujuru’s yet-to-be-launched party. MDC-T Harare provincial chairperson, Eric Murayi last week confirmed that Tsvangirai met with his party structures in Glen Norah, Highfield and other suburbs in the province.
After Harare, the MDC-T leader visited Bulawayo and Masvingo last week, where he also rallied party members to remain united and resist the temptation to jump ship. Tomorrow, Tsvangirai is also expected to visit six districts in Masvingo, where the party has lost its Chiredzi North district chairperson Josphats Chapfidza and Mangezi Mangezi of Bikita to PF.
Zanu PF also lost its former Chivi South MP Irvine Dzingirai to PF a fortnight ago, while the entire People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Masvingo provincial executive has defected to Mujuru, dealing a body blow to its leader Tendai Biti.
MDC-T Masvingo provincial chairperson James Gumbi confirmed that Tsvangirai would be touring six districts in the province.
“For now, the president is not going to have a star rally in Masvingo, he said he is going to visit six districts in the province. He will go to Masvingo rural, Gutu, Chivi, Chiredzi and Bikita and we are negotiating so that he visits Zaka,” said Gumbi. “We will arrange for a star rally thereafter if there is need,” he added.
Asked if these were not emergency meetings held in reaction to Mujuru’s penetration in Masvingo, MDC-T provincial spokesperson, Dusty Zivave brushed off the suggestion.“The coming of the president is just like any other ordinary visit, it was a provincial council meeting provided for in the constitution done every three months,” he said. Newsday

THREE touts have appeared in court for allegedly assaulting a police officer at Basch Street Bus Terminus, popularly known as Egodini, while trying to free their colleague who had been arrested for touting.
Lovemore Sibanda, 26, Vusumuzi Nkomo, 37, and Hlanganani Mthombeni, 27, appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Batanai Tuwe facing assault charges. The trio pleaded not guilty and were remanded out of custody to today for trial.
Prosecuting, Tarisai Mutarisi said on December 26 last year, the cop, Munyaradzi Dube and some police officers were on duty while in civilian attire at Egodini bus terminus. The police officers arrested Joseph Mapako for touting.
The court heard that as Dube escorted Mapako to Bulawayo central police station, Sibanda, Nkomo and Mthombeni confronted him demanding their colleague’s release. Mutarisi said Dube was slapped and kicked several times all over the body before being hit with stones by the touts who fled, leaving him lying on the ground.
A medical report was produced in court showing that Dube sustained head injuries, among others. “Dube proceeded to Bulawayo central police station where he was rushed to Mpilo Hospital for treatment,” said Mutarisi.
A follow up was made and Sibanda, Nkomo and Mthombeni were arrested. State Media

The Daily News paper has thrown a celebration after the Supreme Court dismissed its former editor Geoff Nyarota’s court case which was to do with his ouster in 2010.

Former Vice President Joice Mujuru has appointed a 39 year old technocract, Philani Noble to lead her party in the United Kingdom.
Mr Philani Noble (39), a former MDC-Tsvangirai turk and a Film Studies expert (READ MORE -CLICK HERE), was on the 23rd January elected the new provincial leader following Mujuru’s instructions to ditch old war veterans many who are now in their 70s.

Philani Noble | PROFILE | Philani Noble who was elected the new People First party UK leader is based in the North East of England. He is the 2nd born of five siblings: 3 girls two boys.
DOB 17-02-1977 born in insiza Fulabusi, he grew up in Montrose Surbabs & Emakhandeni Township. He did his primary at Helem primary and came out a Top Class student at Milton High School Bulawayo. He then continued college at Barnfield College in Bedfordshire UK specialising in Performing Arts & Film Studies.

A police officer stationed at Chitungwiza Police Station was last week sentenced to an effective six months in prison for assaulting a woman who had come to see her son at the station.
Constable Jacob Tsatse (29) of ZRP New Camp had once arrested the complainant Erina Chikumbanerwande (40) of Unit L in the same town. The court heard that on October 12 last year at around 10pm, Chikumbanerwande was at the station visiting her son who was under arrest.
While in the charge office, Chikumbanerwande had a heated argument with Tsatse who followed her on her way out. Tsatse called for another police officer to apprehend Chikumbanerwande at the main gate on the grounds that she was fleeing from lawful custody.
The court heard that Tsatse slapped Chikumbanerwande several times, twisting her hand and kicking her on the ankle on her left leg.
After the assault, Tsatse handcuffed Chikumbanerwande and detained her in the cells at the police station. Later on, Tsatse released Chikumbanerwande, who went to seek medical attention.
Appearing before Chitungwiza magistrate Mr Takunda Mutetwa, Tsatse denied assault charges, but was convicted after prosecutor Ms Ntombikayise Nleya proved a strong case against him.
Mr Mutetwa slapped him with a nine-month jail term with three months suspended for five years.
In passing sentence, Mr Mutetwa slammed Tsatse for bringing the name of the police into disrepute.
“You are a custodian of the law and what you did on the day was uncalled for,” he said.

President Robert Mugabe is not guilty of allowing the continued bloodshed in the Burundi conflict during his term as Africa Union chair, his spokesman says while laying the blame on Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
Mr George Charamba says Mugabe did not neglect Burundi. He defended his boss saying contrary to the said “misconception” that Mugabe did very little to solve the conflict, he actually did all he could within his means but was limited by jurisdiction.
Charamba said “the procedure of the AU is not to run everything from the centre, but rather it is to build from the blocs.”
“The instrument of first intervention is always the regional entity, it is the organ of first instance in conflict resolution. In the case of Burundi, that organ would be the East African Community (EAC) through President (Yoweri) Museveni, which explains why the President of Uganda is the point man for Africa on Burundi,” said Charamba.
“The EAC initiative on Burundi is in full swing, and they have not indicated to the AU that they have run into a cul-de-sac. It would have been premature for the then AU Chairman to invite himself into Burundi as he worked on the recommendation of the regional bloc concerned,” he added.
Charamba also said the decision to intervene militarily in a sovereign country with a standing government is a very heavy one as it involves lives, peace and security.
“We are all seeing the horror of Libya which came about because of precipitous interventions,” said Charamba, adding that the then chairman was strictly procedural, circumspect and mindful on the issue of military intervention.

Workers at Duration Gold owned Vumbachikwe mine in Gwanda have been ripped off thousands of dollars in dodgy salary deductions by the company whose directors claim to be well protected by former Indigenization Minister Saviour Kasukuwere.
The huge gold producing mine has been “stealing” money utilising fake deductions from the workers’ salaries, which are never processed as stipulated on paper, ZimEye can reveal.
Top on the list of deductions not remitted to the authorities are pension funds meant for the Mining Industry Pensions Fund and the Mine Workers Union of Zimbabwe. Documentary evidence ZimEye this week begins offloading shows sums being taken by the company and never paid out as required. The MIPF has revealed to ZimEye.com that the company has dodged contributions for several years.
This development is the latest after numerous others involving the actual salaries thereof. Late last year the Messenger of Court in Bulawayo attached the mine’s biggest front end loader for auction to pay the workers’ union the outstanding amounts. The earth moving machine valued at nearly (1)one hundred thousand dollars, was rescued from auction after the company at the last hurried to enter into an arrangement which involved an immediate down payment of $18 000.
Sources within the mine reveal to ZimEye.com that the white owners of the mine who took it over ownership from Forbes and Thompson Gwanda, have been on a spree of removing the black top management replacing them with white foreigners.
Some of the foreign new managers are said to be working in the country without proper documentation and yet the entity knowingly facilitates their stay and employment in the country.
The workers complain that the original management team left in charge by Forbes and Thompson is being sent on early retirement before the age of 65 stated as their retirement age in the contracts of employment. The mine management is sending them on retirement without any retirement packages and the Pensions Fund is neither paying them anything as a result of the non remittance of pensions contributions.
The sources further claim that the owners of the mine always threaten the workers with dismissal or some unspecified action saying that nothing will ever be done to them as they have the protection of ZANU PF national commissar Saviour Kasukuwere.
The mine which is one of the top gold producers in the country has been subject of indigenization law concerns for a number of years as it continues failing to meet the country’s indigenization requirements.
In his time as Minister of Indigenization and Youth Empowerment, Kasukuwere was accused of accepting secret arrangements with white mine owners contrary to the laws of the country. According to media reports his dealings with the mine owners eventually led to his removal from the Ministry as massive corruption was suspected in the dealings.
Kasukuwere is in the process of constructing one of the most expensive mansions in the country, his private residence. Efforts to obtain his comment failed as he did not respond even after a 60 day waiting period.

President Robert Mugabe took time to sleep during the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa yesterday. Below are some picture morsels ALSO READ: VIDEO-Mugabe Nearly Collapses Onto Podium.

President Robert Mugabe yesterday threatened to pull out of the United Nations saying the organisation is not democratic.

State Media report– African countries will not hesitate to walk away from the United Nations if Westerners continue to block efforts to reform and democratise the organisation, President Mugabe has said.
In an address interrupted several times by thunderous applause, appreciative whistling and standing ovations from Heads of State and other delegates yesterday, the outgoing African Union Chair warned that the day was coming when the continent would say enough was enough.
The no-holds-barred speech, made as President Mugabe opened the 26th Ordinary Summit of the AU in Addis Ababa, was a tour de force in oratory and gave the world nearly an hour of the Zimbabwean leader at his imperious and peerless best on the international stage.
From the start, when giving an impassioned call to action on the Palestine issue, to the end when President Mugabe announced Chad’s President Idriss Déby Itno as his successor at the AU, the gloves were off.
Indeed, on assuming the Chairmanship, President Déby conceded that it was not everyone who could give such a frank talk on the state of Africa and the world.
President Mugabe spoke soon after Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas thanked Africa for its support for a two-state solution to end Israeli aggression in the Middle East.
The Zimbabwean Head of State and Government, credited before the Summit for bringing the Palestinian question back to the centre, rallied African support for fellow oppressed peoples.
He spoke with real fire about the world sitting back as Israel brutalised Palestine — he was to use similarly powerful language later on when denouncing global inaction over Morocco’s continued colonisation of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic — before neatly tying this in with the warning that continued injustice would see the continent abandon the UN.
UN Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-Moon sat at the high table with President Mugabe, and nodded his head as the outgoing AU Chair passionately spelt out the travesty of denying African countries equality in the comity of nations.
“We are supposed to be free and independent Mr Ban Ki Moon; supposed to be free— the 54 countries (of Africa). We come to the United Nations for the ceremonial (General Assembly); every year, September, we are there.
“We pay lots of money, go there and attend the General Assembly and make speeches, go back home: year in year out.
“But the bosses in the Security Council say you shall never have the powers that we have as permanent members … Reform the Security Council!” President Mugabe thundered as African leaders stood as a body in sustained applause, the second such interlude of note after the earlier approbation following his remarks on justice for Palestine.
And with the charm that he is renowned for, President Mugabe pressed home the point with a light touch that drew a mixture of laughs and applause when he continued: “I want to tell you, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, you are a good man. But, of course, that does not make you a fighter; it’s not what your mission was.”
Then it was back to straight shooting and the warning that Africa would pull out of the UN.
“We will fight for our own identity, for our own integrity and personality as Africans. We are Africans. If we decide – and we shall certainly do so one of these days – that down with the United Nations, (then) we are not members of it.
“Others are real members of it, we are artificial members of it. We can’t continue to be artificial members of it
How can only a handful of people (dominate the Security Council)?
“In fact, there is only America and the Europeans – those who say they are white-skinned. . .because they are white-skinned. ‘Anyone who is not like us shall not have the powers, strength and integrity that we have.’ If the United Nations is to survive, we must be equal members of it; equal members who can say when we go to the body, that we are now speaking fully as members with a voice that’s understood, respected and honoured.
“But no, that’s not it. We met in Swaziland years ago and we came up with (the) Ezulwini Consensus. We have said we want two permanent members with a veto if the veto is to continue. We don’t like it, but if the veto is to be retained those (African) members must also have IT, but if the veto is to be abolished they shall be like others.”
The AU’s common position on UN reform as captured by the Ezulwini Consensus demands at least two permanent seats with veto power and five rotating seats on the Security Council.
Britain, China, France, Russia and the US are the current veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council.
China and Russia have been open to discussing reforms, as have emerging powers like India and Brazil who also want to sit on the Security Council.
President Mugabe also questioned why the UN was headquartered in the United States and yet the majority of the organisation’s membership could be found in Africa and Asia.
The outgoing AU Chair had one last – good humoured but profound – message for Mr Ban, when he said “tell them (Security Council), for the last time that we are also humans and not ghosts”.
“We also belong to the world. Africa shall no longer tolerate slavery by any means; by denial of rights. . .I hope you will hear from us on the issue of the United Nations reform.
“You’re a good man, you’ve visited our countries where diseases have visited and where calamities and terrorism have taken place. We say thank you. That distinguishes you from others. We know where you come from” President Mugabe said, drawing yet more laughter.
The President aimed a blow at US leader Mr Barrack Obama, asking: “But what is he? A voice made to speak their language, to act their act and not our act. They are still superior.”
He painted a picture of the horror of being black in the United States, saying people of colour were shot by white authorities on the streets and “nobody seems to talk about it, but today instead they still want to talk about us”.
President Mugabe rounded off that matter by saying Western interference in African affairs was directed at trying to plant pliant governments on the continent, adding that the colonial agenda had taken on the robes of NGOs – again drawing enthusiastic applause.
Using their various covers, the agents of neo-colonialism, President Mugabe said, were dispersed all over the continent as “spies, pretenders, some say they are here in Africa to assist us, even in armed groups in our territories”.
In a laugh-inducing farewell to the AU Assembly, he told President Déby he was available to render advice thus: “I will still be there, until God says ‘come join the other angels’.”
President Mugabe also said it “was an honour to guide our organisation to implement its vision of the Africa We Want”.
The applause was long and warm as President Mugabe made his way off the podium, twice raising his fist in a salute that brought the entire AU Assembly to its feet.
And there were to be more laughs when he pretended to hit President Déby over the head with the AU Chairman’s gavel as he handed over the mantle.

A Gwanda nurse who claims that her low salary caused her to live out of shoplifting was yesterday nabbed by security guards at an OK Supermarket in the town.
25 year old Sikhanyisiwe Moyo who is employed as a nurse at Phakama Clinic in Gwanda was arrested by the alert security guards as she tried to walk out of the shop with ten 750ml bottles of Viceroy Brandy.
The arrest led to the recovery of several other items stolen from the chain store by Moyo using the same tactic.
Moyo is reported to have been repeatedly going to the supermarket in her nursing uniform and would pick up groceries listed on an old till slip from the store and walk straight to the exit with the groceries and make her way through the unsuspecting guards who would release the goods on the strength of the old receipt.
Her luck came to an abrupt end yesterday after an alert CCTV monitoring guard realised that the nurse pushed a shopping trolley with ten bottles of brandy straight to the exit point without going through the pay points.
The guard immediately alerted his colleagues at the door who double-checked the till slip only to discover it was an old till slip leading to her immediate arrest.
One of the security guards immediately remembered that the nurse had gone out of the shop with groceries on two occasions on that day which led the police to go for a search at her home where more groceries and till slips from OK Supermarket were recovered.
It was “street drama” in the town when police officers ordered the handcuffed nurse to push a trolley full of groceries through the streets of the townships to the police station.
Questioned upon arrest why she was on a shoplifting frenzy, the kleptomaniac nurse claimed that she was resorting to the criminal life because her salary was not enough to cater for her family’s needs. The nurse blamed the delays in getting their salaries as another contributing factor to the life she was leading.
Several incidents of professionally employed people nabbed for shoplifting have been reported in the country. In one case a doctor was arrested for stealing a packet of cigarettes as he did not have money due to delayed salary payments by government.
Moyo will appear at the Gwanda magistrate’s court on Monday on the charge of several counts of shoplifting.

Government has once again reiterated that the public sector employees’ 13th cheque will be paid without fail and dates for the payments will be announced soon.
This comes as civil servants’ representatives have refuted reports that they will go on strike over the bonuses, saying that they have engaged Government on the best structure of disbursing payments.
Civil servants have been anxious over the delay in bonus payments, but Government has repeatedly said it will burn the candle at both ends to mobilise resources and honour its commitment to pay the 13th cheque.
Speaking to The Sunday Mail last week, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira said Government would not let down its workers on the bonus payments.
“Regarding the issue of payment of 2015 annual bonuses, my Ministry is currently finalising consultations with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development,” she said.
“It should be noted that Government has not reneged on its commitment to pay annual bonuses. As soon as the consultations are through, dates for payment will be announced.”
Minister Mupfumira said it is Government policy to pay bonuses on an indiscriminate scale.
“Civil servants have always been belittled and ridiculed from all corners of society. Government has since restructured to ensure that all civil servants are qualified for whatever position held,” she said.
“Therefore, Government does not share the sentiments that its employees are drunkards, but professionals that are responsible for the administration of the country in terms of Section 199 of the Constitution.
“There has never been an official position regarding the alleged wayward behaviour and they deserve to be paid their bonuses. Government is yet to implement performance related bonuses.”
Recently, some statements were attributed to Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Minister, Professor Jonathan Moyo who is said to have argued that civil servants’ bonuses must be performance related.
Commenting on the payment structure, Minister Mupfumira said it is common for Government to stagger payments.
“Historically, pay dates have always been structured as such without problems. Government adheres to the principle of quality and impartiality hence does not favour any group of its employees, it treats them equally.
“Staggering pay dates for employees has been the norm and Government has considered numbers of personnel in each sector considering the rate at which it can mobilise resources.
“It is imperative to note that all sectors get their salaries after every four weeks.” Speaking to this The Sunday Mail yesterday, Apex Council representative, Mr Sifiso Ndlovu dismissed reports of a looming civil servants strike over bonus.
“It is not true that we are planning a strike, what we have simply done, as Zimta, is that we have taken the Government to court over the issue.
“The commitment to pay bonuses from His Excellency is very clear. What is not clear however, is the date of payment. So we are waiting for the Minister of Labour (Mupfumira) to confirm a date of payment.
“The rumour that we are planning to strike is not true at all,” he stressed.
President of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, Mr Ruchard Gundani concurred with Mr Ndlovu.
“We are not at the point of striking. We understand Government’s position on the bonuses and consultations are ongoing.
“We are waiting for a meeting to be held on February 10, which is a follow up meeting to discussions we held on the 6th of January.” State Media

MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai is heading to Masvingo where he seeks to win back support.
Tsvangirai will be addressing five rallies in Masvingo to rejuvenate his supporters as he prepares for what calls his last battle.
The rallies comes after thousands of supporters deserted him to now support former Vice President Joice Mujuru.
Yesterday he was in the province where he attended the provincial executive meeting.
MDC-T Masvingo Provincial Spokesperson Dust Zivhave confirmed the rallies in an interview with the local Mirror.
“President Morgan Tsvangirai will on Saturday attend a provincial council meeting that will be at our provincial offices. He will use the meeting to familiarise with party structures and as a province we will be preparing for his tour of the province.
“The president will address rallies in five districts starting on 10 February in Gutu, Bikita, Chivi, Masvingo and Chiredzi. He will use the rallies to meet the big MDC-T family and tell them the vision of the party which will definitely be in power come 2018” said Zivhave.
From the 10th of February,Tsvangirai will hold a rally at Mukore in Bikita, then he will be at Bhasera in Gutu on 11 February.  He will continue with his rallies on the 12th  of February, and address his supporters at Ngundu in Chivi before making another address at Muchakata in Masvingo on 13 February. He is going to hold his  last rally  at Tshovani Stadium in Chiredzi on 14 February.
Tsvangirai`s visit to the Province came at a time when some of his supporters as well as those from Zanu PF are  defecting to joini the newly formed People First party.