Harare- Police investigating the Gushungo bombing fracas have released journalist and Media Centre director, Earnest Mudzengi, who they had detained early yesterday.
In a statement the Zimbabwe lawyers for Human Rights said they “are relieved that journalist and Media Centre Director Ernest Earnest Mudzengi has just emerged out of Harare Central Police Station, where he fielded questions from police detectives over an article published on The Zimbabwe Sentinel, an online news portal.
“The story which the police detectives took interest in quoted jailed Zimbabwe People Front Party leader Owen Kuchata declaring that his political party would roll out demonstrations to compel President Robert Mugabe to step down as leader of the troubled southern African country.
“Police also questioned Mudzengi, who received legal assistance from Gift Mtisi of ZLHR, about the operations of the Media Centre and recorded a statement from him as they consider to treat him as a witness in a case in which they are reportedly investigating.”

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai today announced his shadow Cabinet that he said will work hard in crafting and articulating alternative policies and programmes for the country.
He announced his shadow cabinet before the party’s national executive committee that met in Harare today to discuss the national crisis, adding that he had no doubt about the capacity of the men and women he had appointed.
Tsvangirai stressed to the executive that the shadow Cabinet will not be a shadow of the ZANU PF Cabinet in the strictest sense because the current government had failed and there was nothing either to monitor or to shadow. Moreover, he said the current Cabinet was structured taking into cognizance the need to balance the ZANU PF factions and not necessarily to transform the lives of people.
He said the MDC would not follow a template tainted by patronage, tired nationalism and factionalism. He bemoaned the apparent policy discord currently in government and said the MDC team will be robust in taking government to account and in policy articulation.
Apart from the shadow Cabinet, President Tsvangirai also appointed a team of portfolio secretaries that will shadow key Commissions, regulatory and statutory bodies.
The Shadow Cabinet
1. Finance —— Hon. Dr. Tapiwa Mashakada
2. Energy Development and Procurement ——– Eng. Elias Mudzuri
3. Transport and Infrastructure ——– Hon. Morgen Komichi
4. Policy ——- Hon. Nelson Chamisa
5. Tourism, Parks and National Resources ——- Hon. Sithembile Mlotshwa
6. Information Communication Technologies ——- Mr. Khalipani Phugeni
7. Local Government and Public Works ——- Mr. Jameson Timba
8. Mines and Small scale Mining ——- Hon. Gabuzza Joel Gubuzza
9. Urban Development and Re-Enginering ——- Hon. Eddie Cross
10. Foreign Affairs ——- Hon. Theresa Maonei Makone
11. Health ——- Dr Henry Madzorera
12. Public Service, Labour and Social Security ——- Hon. Purina Mpariwa
13. Defence ——- Hon. Gift Chimanikire
14. Home Affairs ——- Rtd. Major Giles Mutsekwa
15. Women’s Affairs ——- Hon. Fanny Chirisa
16. Legal Affairs ——- Mr. Douglas Togarasei Mwonzora
17. Commerce, Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises — Mr. T. Mureyi
18. Education, Tertiary and Vocationl Training —– Prof. Heneri Dzinotyiwei
19. Agriculture, Infrastructure and Food Security —- Mr. Valentine Ziswa
Portfolio shadow secretaries for statutory bodies and key institutions
1. Zimbabwe National Roads Authority (ZINARA) ——- Hon. Bheki Sibanda
2. Judicial services Commission ——- Hon. Innocent Gonese
3. Zimbabwe Electoral Commission——Hon. Murisi Zwizwai
4. Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority ——- Mr. Blessing Chebundo
5. Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission——Jon. Jessie Majome
6. Gender Commission ———- Hon. Lillian Timveos
7. Zimbabwe human Rights Commission —- Hon. James Makore
8. Zimbabwe Media Commission——Mr. Job Sikhala
9. Peace and Transitional Justice Commission—-Hon. Concilia Chinanzvavana
10. Sports Commission ——- Mr. Clifford Hlatshwayo
11. Public Service Commission —— Hon Tracy Mutinhiri
12. Traditional Leadership ————- Hon. Misheck Marava
13. National arts Commission ———– Hon. Agnes Sibanda Mloyi
14. Zimbabwe National Water Authority —– Dr Mandhla Nyathi
15. People Living with Disabilities, Special Needs ——- Mr. Denias Mudzingwa
The shadow Ministers for Lands and Water Development and Youth Affairs will be announced in due course.
Luke Tamborinyoka
Presidential Spokesperson and Director of Communications
Movement for Democratic Change
Harvest House

Chitungwiza Municipality has been implicated in a massive corruption case which has prejudiced the local authority of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The graft which was unearthed by an internal audit, includes the illegal selling of land by individual Councillors to unsuspecting home seekers.
Newsday reports of an data trail revealing that several councillors and workers usurped the role of the planning department by identifying undeveloped stands and submitting land for verification and allocation to the department of housing.
The culprits would then allocate the stands to themselves and other connected beneficiaries, thereby enriching themselves while prejudicing council of the much-needed revenue.
“Councillors are policymakers and identification of undeveloped stands and open spaces should remain the duty of the planning department,” the report said.
One councillor (name withheld) was implicated in the sale of more than 40 stands. Several other councillors were also implicated in the scam.
The report said site plans were being drawn by outsiders for use by council, a development that had worsened the illegal allocation of stands.
Chitungwiza mayor, Phillip Mutoti yesterday referred all questions to the town clerk, George Makunde.
Makunde was at first evasive when asked to comment by NewsDay and demanded to know who had leaked the report.
“Who gave you that report? Where are you getting those things?” he queried.
But when pressed further, Makunde said the matter was being looked into and promised to issue a statement when investigations were complete.
“It is a matter that is still being investigated, but all I can say is that we have received reports from residents complaining that certain Councillors are taking over repossessed stands and selling them or building their houses on them.”
Chitungwiza municipality is not new to corruption in 2010 the town’s former MDC-T mayor, Israel Marange, was arrested and convicted for corruption.
That was after the MDC-T had fired more than 10 of its Councillors on similar allegations.

Police in Harare has raided the Media Centre and its director Ernest Mudzengi  for  running a website  Zimbabwe Sentinel website www.zimsentinel.com for publishing a Gushungo story.
Mudzengi was picked up by three plain clothes police officers who said they wanted him to interogate him  over a story on Gushungo Dairy (owned by President Robert Mugabe) bombing plot published by his  website  which was  authored by a freelance jounalist Mlondolozi Ndlovu.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights has since deployed a lawyer to represent Mudzengi.
“Human rights lawyers have finally located journalist and at Harare Central Police.  Police have informed lawyers that they are treating Earnest Mudzengi as a possible witness in a case in which they are investigating,”ZLHR spokesperson Kumbirai Mafunda told ZimEye.com.
Freelance jounalist Frank Chikowore wrote on his Face book page
“The arrest of Mudzengi is an affront to freedom of expression enshrined in the country’s constitution.
“There is no reason to arrest Mudzengi as some of the alleged plotters have since been convicted by a competent court of law in this land. Mudzengi MUST be released unconditionally”.
 

Professor Jonathan Moyo who claims to be a veteran of the liberation struggle, made a no show at the highly important war veterans meeting in Harare today, Thursday. Moyo has openly said he is a war comrade who following his stint in Tanzania, was dispatched to the United States for studies (listen to the below audio).

It was a no holds barred Thursday afternoon in Harare, when veterans told Robert Mugabe, they want Moyo’s sidekick Saviour Kasukuwere fired and a war veteran put in his place. They argued charging that the national commissar job is for ex fighters only. Moyo was unavailable for commenting at the time of going to press. CONTINUE READING – LIVE UPDATES – 

Below are the latest details concerning the baby boy found dumped in a blair toilet at Fairfields, Mvuma on Saturday.
READERS’ NOTE: Those wishing to donate to the lad’s welfare are advised to do so via Mvuma Hospital where the lucky boy is currently hospitalised.
The latest witness statements say the lad was dumped on Thursday not Friday as earlier claimed, and so likely spent two nights in the pit.

A SECURITY guard has been arrested after he allegedly shot dead a suspected illegal gold panner at Epoch Mine in Filabusi following a 15km high-speed chase.
A group of about 15 gold panners allegedly sped off in a Toyota Hiace when security guards approached them, at around 7PM on Tuesday.
The vehicle was parked at the mine, where thieves stole 102 gold carbon boxes on Monday.
The chase ended at Filabusi Business Centre when Lufukudo Mgande of Para Reserve Security and Private Investigators, fired a bullet that shattered the rear windscreen of the Hiace.
It hit the panner, Wellington Moyo in the back of his head. He died on the spot.
Police, the state media established, freed the rest of the panners after searching the vehicle and finding metal detectors.
Residents declined to speak on the matter saying they didn’t see the incident as it occurred at night.
But the security company’s managing director Spare Sithole said Mgande was not to blame for the fatal shooting of Moyo.
He said his guards were professionals who would not recklessly shoot suspects. In this case, he said, they fired warning shots, before shooting at the vehicle.
“After realising that they were not stopping he tried to shoot the kombi’s tyres but missed because of the bumpy roads. The bullet hit the panner in the back of his head. We sincerely apologise that a life was lost but my security guard shouldn’t shoulder the blame,” he said yesterday.
Sithole said the guards were following a lead following a burglary.
“On Monday at about 2AM we received information that there was a break in at Epoch where 102 gold carbon boxes were stolen. Yesterday night at about 7PM we were investigating the case and we saw the kombi and tried to stop it. However, they sped off resulting in a high-speed chase,” said Sithole.
He said the panners only stopped after a security guard had shot a tyre on the vehicle.
“He was executing his duty. He fired warning shots but they didn’t heed his warnings. Even after the panner was shot his friends didn’t stop. They only stopped after he fired the second shot when he aimed at the kombi’s wheel,” said Sithole. He decried disrespect given to security guards saying they deserve the same respect as is given to other law enforcement agents.
“As long as security guards are called omahobho they’ll never be respected. They’re serving the country and should be given respect. They’ve initiated citizen arrests on several criminals but people are not recognising their importance,” he said.
When a state media news crew visited Filabusi yesterday, the kombi had been impounded at the local police station. Matabeleland South Acting police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Nkosilathi Sibanda said the matter had not reached his office.

A 14-YEAR-OLD boy from Luveve suburb in Bulawayo has appeared before a magistrate’s court for allegedly sodomising three boys from his neighbourhood.
The boy, whose name cannot be disclosed for ethical reasons, allegedly had anal sexual intercourse with the three minors aged eight, nine and 13, a court heard on Monday.
He appeared before provincial magistrate Abednico Ndebele facing three counts of aggravated indecent assault.
Ndebele did not ask him to plead and remanded him out of custody.
“The accused is a minor and in order for him to be tried, permission has to sought from the prosecutor general’s office. You shall therefore be advised of the dates when you will be expected to appear at the Bulawayo regional court for his trial,” said Ndebele.
The boy admitted to having anal sexual intercourse with the three minors.
“I admit to the crimes against me,” he said.
Prosecuting, Mufaro Mageza told the court that on a date unknown to the prosecutor during the month of September 2015, the boy approached the 13-year-old victim and asked him the whereabouts of a pair shoes that he had borrowed.
Mageza said the boy threatened the teen and forced him to have anal sex with him.
He said he would harm the boy if he told anyone about the incident.
The prosecutor said his second victim was the nine-year-old boy.
The court heard that on September 8, 2015 at around 6PM, the victim was playing with his friends and the accused at his place of residence.
“Whilst they were playing the accused person instructed the complainant to pull down his trousers to knee level and bend over.
“The complainant complied and the accused had anal sexual intercourse with him once,” said the prosecutor.
The court heard that the eight-year-old became the boy’s final victim before the matter came to light in October.
“On a date unknown but during the month of September, 2015, complainant was playing with his friends when he was approached by the accused.
“The accused instructed the complainant to pull down his trousers and he complied after he had been threatened,” said Mageza.
“The accused had anal sexual intercourse with him once,” said the prosecutor.
Mageza said the three minors were medically examined and a medical report can be produced in court as an exhibit.

A member of the Police Constabulary was fatally stabbed on Monday evening in Shurugwi after he attempted to arrest a suspect who was wanted in connection with an assault case.
Isaac Muzira died on the spot after he was stabbed with a knife on the left side of his chest by the suspect, identified as Thamsanga Sibanda.
Chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba yesterday confirmed the incident.
“On April 4 at around 2pm, police constable Muzira was on duty and in police uniform together with constables Chitimbe and Mushambi when they received a report of assault,” she said.
She said this was after William Sibanda had reported that Sibanda had assaulted him following a misunderstanding involving gambling. Snr Asst Comm Charamba said investigations were still in progress.State Media

A 27-YEAR-OLD Victoria Falls woman was yesterday ordered to perform 280 hours of community service for stabbing her husband with a kitchen knife following a domestic brawl.
Tracy Moyo of Mkhosana high-density suburb was convicted on her own plea of guilty when she appeared before Victoria Falls resident magistrate, Rangarirai Gakanje charged with physical abuse.
The court heard that on July 12 last year, Moyo’s husband Zamani Sibanda (33) arrived home from Chinotimba and found his wife away from home. She arrived a few minutes later, and a fierce quarrel ensued after Sibanda asked about her whereabouts.
Moyo, in a fit of rage, stabbed him several times on the right leg. Sibanda was then rushed to hospital for medication, leading to Moyo’s arrest.
In her defence, Moyo said Sibanda caused her to lose her temper after he labelled her a prostitute.
“I admit to the charge, but he is the one who started to slap and punch me accusing me of being a prostitute. He then took the knife from the kitchen to stab me, and as l was trying to take it away it accidentally stabbed him on his right leg,” she said.
Moyo was initially sentenced to 10 months imprisonment before eight months were suspended on condition of good behaviour and the remaining two months were commuted to 280 hours community service at Victoria Falls Magistrates’ Court.-Agencies

TWO prominent businesspeople with suspected links to President Robert Mugabe have been fingered in the ongoing international financial fall-out over what has become known as the Panama Papers.
Panama Papers are a series of confidential financial information leaks held by Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca and Mugabe is named as having allegedly benefited through Zanu PF-linked business tycoons John Bredenkamp and Billy Rautenbach.
According to reports, in 2009 Mossack Fonseca ended its relationship with Bredenkamp allegedly after revelations of his links with Mugabe.
“Bredenkamp, on the firm’s books since 1997, had been described in 2002 by a United Nations expert panel as ‘experienced in setting up clandestine companies and sanctions-busting operations’.
“In 2008, months before Mossack Fonseca cut ties, Bredenkamp was sanctioned by OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control, a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the US government charged with planning and execution of economic and trade sanctions in support of US national security and foreign policy objectives) for allegedly being a ‘crony’ of Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe and a well-known Mugabe insider,” media reports quoting the papers claimed.
Mugabe, at the height of his political confrontation with Western countries and in the aftermath of the imposition of sanction by the European Union and the US, challenged his accusers to bring evidence that he owned anything outside Zimbabwe.
Bredenkamp has consistently denied allegations linking him and his business ventures to Mugabe. In 2012, Bredenkamp successfully overturned European Union sanctions against him and his companies.
But, according to the Panama Papers: “One company, Tremalt Limited, purchased equipment for armies in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations alleged. It took seven years before a Mossack Fonseca employee reported internally that an Internet search implicated a separate company the law firm said was owned by Bredenkamp in a series of allegations concerning arms deals.”
Another government-linked business magnet, Rautenbach, has also been fingered in the reports and described in the documents as one of Mugabe’s “alleged bagmen”.
Other leaders named in the leaks include Yulia Tymoshenko, “a former Ukrainian Prime Minister and oligarch nicknamed the ‘gas princess’; Beny Steinmetz, an Israeli billionaire who had reportedly used a Mossack Fonseca-incorporated shell firm in the British Virgin Islands to pay a bribe to a wife of the homicidal dictator of Guinea, where Steinmetz was seeking (and subsequently got) a huge mining concession”.
Eleven million documents were leaked from one of the world’s most secretive companies, Mossack Fonseca.
The leaks also detail the offshore activities of family members and associates of former Chinese Premier Li Peng, ex-British Prime Minister David Cameron, Egypt’s former President Hosni Mubarak, and former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, among many other oligarchs across the world. newsday

Two ZBC journalists who broadcast the picture of witch doctor Nehanda Nyakasikana (D.O.D 1897) standing aside the famous Marondera man in shorts (Tezvara), are in hot soup.

Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo| Teachers here have slammed the move by the Education Ministry led by Lazarus Dokora to distribute templates of his national pledge craft to schools, calling it a direct attempt to indoctrinate pupils with the Zanu PF mantra.
Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Sylivia Utete Masango, representing her boss Dokora, last week dished out to the templates to school pupils in Masvingo claiming the national pledge would be mandatory because it reminded pupils about their social background, national heritage and the gains of the liberation struggle.
The national pledge, expected to be launched on May 3, requires pupils to salute the national flag while reciting words perceived to be deeply political in nature.
The national pledge reads in part:”I salute the national flag, respecting the brave fathers and mothers who lost lives in the Chimurenga /Umveleke. We are proud inheritors of the riches of our resources. We are proud creators and participants in our vibrant traditions and culture.”
Angry teachers in Masvingo Urban blasted Dokora for the deliberate attempt to inculcate the Zanu PF Chimurenga mantra in school pupils.
Teachers who spoke to ZimEye.com after the pupils received the templates said:”We are deeply worried about the move to introduce the so called national pledge. Dokora has gone too far in an attempt to please his boss President Robert Mugabe. The national pledge which will be launched on May 3 does not have any direct benefit to the pupils.
In fact it is a political move aimed at indoctrinating school children.”
Pastors have also attacked the move with a Masvingo based one Pastor Godfrey Zenda also weighing in his protest saying it violates spiritual freedoms of the citizenry.
Mugabe is expected to attend the official launch of the national pledge at a school in Matabeleland next month.

A FATHER is defending his own daughter’s alleged rapist in a classic case of colluding motives.
The alleged rapist, Tavengwa Timire, 34, a teacher at Gebbuza High School in Hwange, has been arrested for allegedly raping his wife’s mentally challenged younger sister on numerous occasions.
Timire of Ingagula in Hwange, pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of rape when he appeared before Hwange regional magistrate Dambudzo Malunga.
Interestingly, the victim’s father will today testify in favour of the alleged rapist son-in-law.
Timire, an Art teacher, claimed his wife’s younger sister, based in Bulawayo, was out to fix him.
“We had consensual sex,” Timire told the magistrate as he disputed that the victim, 20, is mentally retarded.
He was staying together with the victim in Hwange when the alleged abuse took place in 2010 and 2011 until she moved in with another sister in Nkulumane 5, Bulawayo. The woman was once his student at Gebbuza and Timire could not explain the kind of grudge that would make her fabricate rape charges against him.
The court heard Timire’s wife, the alleged victim and their sister based in Bulawayo were now not on talking terms as the accused’s wife begrudges them for reporting her husband who she had been shielding since 2011 to protect her marriage.
Prosecuting, Tawanda Sigauke said the alleged rape started in April 2010.
“Sometime in April 2010, the accused sneaked into the victim’s bedroom and raped her once. In September 2010, Timire again entered the spare bedroom and had sex with the complainant,” said Sigauke.
The court heard that Timire’s wife, who suspected that her husband was having an affair with her sister, had also sneaked into the room and was hiding under the bed while the two had sex. She allegedly slapped her younger sister but didn’t report the case, the court heard.
“Between January and August 2011, Timire allegedly raped the victim several times as he would enter her bedroom in the absence of his wife,” said Sigauke.
The matter came to light when the victim relocated to stay with the Bulawayo-based sister and revealed to her how Timire had been sexually abusing her.
The court heard that for some time, the Bulawayo-based sister tried to engage her elder sister (Timire’s wife) on the issue but she chose to keep quiet to protect her husband and her marriage.
“He approached me begging for an out of court settlement but I refused because he took advantage of my sister’s mental condition and connived with his wife to conceal the crime,” the victim’s Bulawayo-based sister told the court.
A report was made at Nkulumane Police Station leading to Timire’s arrest.-State Media

JUNIOR doctors have finally signed contracts with the government, ending a month-long impasse.
The doctors yesterday told the state media: “We did it in the interest of patients.”
The doctors, just out of university, refused to sign contracts on March 1 saying the agreements were tantamount to slavery.
A group of young doctors at Parirenyatwa led their colleagues to append their signatures on the agreements yesterday.
“In the interests of patients, we’ve decided to end this stalemate and join the country’s health sector although we’re not happy with the contracts being offered. We also discovered that some signed the contracts Nicodemously, so we feared victimisation,” said the doctors, through a representative.
At Mpilo Central Hospital, sources said doctors took the contracts home and promised to return them today after signing.
Gerald Gwinji, the Ministry of Health and Child Care permanent secretary, said the junior doctors are starting work today. “Yes they’ve signed. Check with the institutions tomorrow (today), you’ll find them working,” said Gwinji.
Over 60 doctors had petitioned the Health Service Board (HSB) over a decision to employ them as contract workers.
The decision resulted in an acute shortage of health personnel at public hospitals as junior doctors refused to sign the contracts. In a document titled “Petition against the proposed doctors’ contracts”, sent to the HSB, the junior doctors said: “We junior doctors of the class of 2016 are petitioning you to rescind the document presented to us as a ‘Contract for an Internship Training Programme’. After perusing this document, we have found it to be grossly flawed as it violates our constitutional rights, labour laws as well as women’s rights.
“The contract doesn’t state how much one earns during the period and prohibits us from joining any grouping or trade union so that the government can exploit us.”
The contract, the junior doctors said, denied female doctors maternity leave if they fall pregnant, a clause which was amended in a revised contract.
The government has offered them a gross monthly salary of $895, before allowances.
The new contract now states that female doctors can only fall pregnant after serving for 12 months.
Referral hospitals such as Mpilo, United Bulawayo Hospitals, Parirenyatwa, Harare Hospital and Chitungwiza, which together serve millions of patients each year, were the hardest hit.-State Media

A make or break meeting is underway in tomorrow in Harare with President Robert Mugabe. The President is being descended upon by war vets recently angered at the treatment of their leader Chris Mutsvangwa among other ills allegedly committed by Mugabe’s wife, Grace.
They are meeting Mugabe tomorrow, in meeting analysts says represents their last chance to ever speak to Mugabe while he is in power – READ WAR VETS LAST CHANCE.
War Vets Minister Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube told the state media the meeting is going ahead despite wide reports of intimidation and discrimination in the selection of delagates set to meet Mugabe.
“The war veterans are meeting tomorrow (today) on their own to come up with thematic reports to be discussed at tomorrow’s meeting.
“In actual fact, the kick off conference is on tomorrow in preparation of the main meeting with the patron (President Mugabe) the following day.
“Delegates started arriving today (yesterday) while some will arrive tomorrow morning to join their fellow comrades for discussions.”
At least 10 000 war veterans are expected at the meeting scheduled for the City Sports Centre in Harare.
Zimbabwe has 34 093 surviving war veterans and a third of them, mainly representatives will attend the indaba.
Dube said accreditation of delegates progressed well countrywide including in Harare where there were challenges on Monday. He said resources for the event were being mobilised.
“Things are now moving in the right direction in terms of logistics and we are managing,” Rtd Col Dube said.
“We had challenges because the process of mobilising money is cumbersome but things are in the proper order at the moment.
“As for accreditation of delegates, we haven’t received any reports of hiccups meaning everything is going according to plan in all the provinces.”
 

Zimbabwe’s gender rights activists, are on Wednesday staging a march in Harare, demanding an end to human trafficking.
This comes as an investigation revealed that hundreds of Zimbabwean women, have been smuggled and eventually turned into slaves and commercial sex workers in Kuwait.
The march movement includes top personalities the likes of Lynnette Mudehwe and Linda T Masarira, the Founder and National Coordinator for Zimbabwe Women in Politics Alliance.
“We feel let down and surprised at the slow pace at which the government of Zimbabwe is dealing with the trapped women in Kuwait after a period stretching about a month now, this is a case of misplaced priorities by the government,” said Linda Masarira.
She continued stating: “it is every government’s responsibility to ensure that their citizens are safe regardless of their geographical position worldwide. We also condemn the continual processing of travelling documents to unsuspecting women by the Ministry of Home Affairs and also to that effect, we don’t see any reason why these bogus employment agencies can still be left operating ,they must be immediately banned.”
The unedited petition by the Zimbabwe Women in Politics Alliance to the Kuwait embassy read: WE THE UNDERSIGNED, being members of the Zimbabwe Women in Politics Alliance including other civic society organizations and concerned Zimbabweans are:
Concerned about the trafficking of Zimbabwean women to Kuwait in the pretext that they will get jobs, which apparently is not the case.
Disturbed by the involvement of Kuwaiti officials and bogus agents in the trafficking of Zimbabwean women
Touched by the sexual harassment and enslavement of desperate Zimbabwean women being trafficked to Kuwait
Alarmed at the silence of the Kuwaiti embassy on the issue
Worried about the situation of some Zimbabwean women stuck in Kuwaiti
And petitioning for the safe return of the victims to their homeland; make the following demands;
That the Kuwait Embassy must play an active role in ensuring the safe return of the Zimbabwean women
The Kuwait Embassy must issue a public statement to clear the air on the trafficking of Zimbabwean women by its Embassy officials and other bogus agents
The embassy of Kuwait should ensure that its visa issuance system matches with best practice and they consider the safety of applicants first lest they expose desperate Zimbabwean women to bogus individuals masquerading as employers
Necessary steps are taken to ensure perpetrators are brought to book and that there is justice for victims.
We therefore append our signatures to this petition in solidarity with the victims of human trafficking.

A POLICE officer who is serving a suspension for demanding bribes to clear livestock has been arrested for attempting to rape a pregnant teenager at Jotsholo Police Station. Augustine Gumbo, 27, a constable, was allegedly caught naked after he broke into the witness quarter at the station on Saturday at around 11PM and tried to force himself on the 16-year-old.
Gumbo has a pending court case for abuse of office and forgery. The teenager is a State witness in a case where her husband, 22, allegedly slept with her and impregnated her when she was 12-years-old.
Her family allegedly agreed to let him marry her at the time but reported him to the police when he failed to pay lobola after she got pregnant for the second time. He was being held at the station pending a court appearance.
Police sources said Gumbo lusted after the young girl when he saw her doing menial chores at the station on Saturday afternoon. “Gumbo then came back later that night and tried to ravish the five months pregnant teen,” said a source.
“He entered the room where the witness slept, which is next to the charge office and jumped into her blankets and tried to rape her,” said the source.
Officers in the charge office were alarmed by the heavy struggles in the witness’ room.
“They said the sound of falling furniture prompted them to check what was happening. They found the woman trembling with fear. She told them someone had attempted to rape her,” said a police source.
“The officers started to look around using a torch and found Gumbo, who was dressed only in a shirt, hiding under a table. Realising he had been caught, he asked his colleagues to forgive him and let him go.”
The source said one of the police officers refused and said he would never protect a rapist. “The officer said he would arrest even his own father if he found him raping someone,” said the source.
When the 16-year-old broke the news to her husband the following day he allegedly ran amok. “He charged at officers and threatened to beat up everyone at Jotsholo Police (Station). He accused police of arresting him so that they could have his wife for themselves.”
National police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi declined to comment saying the case was now in court. “The matter is now under trial and you should get comments from the court.”

ANALYSIS- The state broadcaster, ZBC, has caused a stir by broadcasting a video displaying a doctored picture of witch doctor Nehanda Nyakasikana (D.O.D 1897) which shows the Marondera man in shorts standing by her side. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW….

The development is seen portraying perhaps the Nehanda’s insignificance in the place of honour which she was placed by notorious historian Aeneus Chigwedere.  ⚡ COMMENT: Should the witch doctor Nehanda Nyakasikana be the face of Zimbabwe’s heroism? Are there not better individuals of note in this nation’s glory? She was of no royal blood and was not even a Sabhuku. People from her clan who hail from that era do not even recognise her. What about King Mapondera, King Lobengula and King Harare and others, men and women who had living institutions of international repute and government that gave the white invaders a hard bashing, what happened to them? Who is that notorious historian who deleted Lobengula and Mapondera, men of pure royal blood and put the evil witch doctor in their place? DISCUSSION:

A group of Zimbabweans living in South Africa is circulating a highly disturbing campaign urging fellow Zimbabweans to kill former Vice President Joice Mujuru when she lands in South Africa next week.

Mujuru, now leading a new political formation, Zimbabwe People First, is expected to address a series of meetings with Zimbabweans in South Africa next week beginning in Pretoria on the 14th of April.
The message urges Zimbabweans no to attend Mujuru’s rallies accusing her of being the reason why they are living in the diaspora ever since her hay days when she was still vice to President Robert Mugabe.
“Zimbabweans please don’t attend the meeting organised by
Joice Mujuru of ZPF on 14 April 2016 in Pretoria. We are appealing to those who can put the law into their hands to do so by killing or assaulting her including her organisers,” reads the inflammatory circular.
The note riles Zimbabweans not to be “fooled” by Mujuru’s new party. According to the writers, Mujuru was dismissed from ZANU PF for her corruption and now claims to be coming in to perform better than Mugabe.
“Refuse to be used, Enough is Enough. Mujuru must go with ZANU PF,” reads the note.
Sources within the Zimbabwe People First in South Africa attribute the source of the note to ZANU PF supporters in South Africa.
There is serious rivalry between ZANU PF and Mujuru’s ZimPF supporters in South Africa which are threatening to generate into violent clashes.
Comment could not be obtained from Mujuru nor her spokesperson Rugare Gumbo.

Robert Mugabe’s divided and troubled Zanu-PF Politburo is meeting ahead of a potentially explosive war vets meeting with President Mugabe.
The party’s Secretary for Administration, Ignatius Chombo, said the Politiburo meeting will discuss important matters. Dr Chombo also confirmed that a Central Committee meeting has also been scheduled for Friday.
The meeting is coming at a time Zanu-PF is facing numerous disciplinary cases affecting several provinces.
Said Chombo: “The Zanu-PF Politburo meets on Wednesday at 10am while the Central Committee will meet on Friday at 10am again,” he said.
“These are very important meetings and all members should attend on time. The routine meetings are going to discuss important issues affecting the people.”
Although Chombo did not reveal the agenda of the meeting, it is understood that the Politburo will receive feedback from the National Disciplinary Committee on various disciplinary cases it handled.
The meeting would be seized with matters of the economy in light of the progress made in the implementation of Zim-Asset.
Among the cases that were dealt with by the NDC include the suspension of provincial chairpersons Kizito Chivamba (Midlands), Ezra Chadzamira (Masvingo) and Joe Biggie Matiza (Mashonaland East).
The trio was accused of mobilising people to boycott a meeting organised by the Women’s League to thank President Mugabe for his successful tour as African Union chairman.
With regards to the Central Committee meeting on Friday, President Mugabe hinted on his arrival from Japan on Saturday that on the agenda would be several appeal cases by fired and suspended party members.
“Mochienda monoronga. Tinenge tiine musangano weCentral Commitee musi wa8. Saka maprovinces ose vanosungirwa kuuya nenhengo dzavo ikoko,” said President Mugabe.
“Munoziva kuti Central Commitee ndiyo yakabata musangano, yakamirira Congress. Saka zvinangwa ikoko zvinouya, zvichemo zvinouya ikoko. Kana vaye vanenge vachiti takatongwa tinoda nyaya yedu iende kumusoro inokwanisa kuenda kuCentral Committee yozeyewa nedisciplinary committee yaikoko. Saka moronga tigoita musangano wakanaka weCentral Commitee unorakidza gwara.”
The Politburo last met on March 3, where it focused on Zim-Asset and the food security situation in light of the El Nino-induced drought that has seen crops wilting in most parts of the country.-State Media

Terrence Mawawa, Mvuma|A local businessman is nowhere to be seen after impregnating a form two pupil. Stephen Matikizha, the Mvuma based businessman, vanished after impregnating one of the socially disadvantaged pupils he looks after at his shop.
The matter came to light at a recent meeting that was chaired by ward 11 councillor Gabriel Mavezera. The councillor expressed concern at the increase in cases of sexual abuses and Matikizha panicked and accused the councillor of raising allegations against him.
Local sources said Matikizha had sex with the minor on several occasions until she fell pregnant.
“The whole community has been shocked by Matikizha’s paedophilic behaviour. All along many people viewed him as a good Samaritan -oblivious of the fact that he insinuated secret motives in looking after the children. Matikizha’s wife also became suspicious after noticing the girl’s breasts discharging white fluids. A lot of clandestine activities transpired at Matikizha’s shop ,” said another local businessman.
Matikizha has since fled from the area and is believed to be in Harare leading a police search for the businessman.
Councillor Mavezera said the incident was unfortunate since Matikizha took advantage of vulnerable children abusing them in the way.
It is also understood the other girls who stay at Matikizha’s homestead have also raised complaints against the businessman.
His wife has also indicated she is not aware of her husband’s whereabouts.

Several government departments including the Zimbabwe National army and the Zimbabwe Republic Police, owe the Masvingo City Council up to US$16m in unpaid water bills, it has emerged.
Authorities at the city council revealed over the weekend government departments including the police, army, the Cold Storage Commission and Masvingo Provincial hospital had outstanding water bills, grossly affecting council operations.
The authorities further disclosed senior army and police officers threatened council employees over the unpaid water bills. As a result of the ballooning debt, the local authority is grappling with service delivery,among other viability matters.
Although the city fathers have also been blamed for poor service delivery, sources at the Civic Centre, the city council headquarters, said the situation had been exacerbated by the said arrears.
According to documents seen by ZimEye.com the list of debtors is as follows: “The ZRP owes the city council $3,2 million, the Zimbabwe National Army $10 million, Cold Storage Commission $ 1,2 million, National Railways of Zimbabwe $ 200 000, Masvingo Teachers College $320 000, Masvingo Provincial Hospital $270 000, Construction Department $760 000 and Local Government Ministry $ 200 000.”
Masvingo City Mayor Councillor Hubert Fidze conceded the unpaid water bills were grossly dampening the local authority’s operations.
“We are facing serious viability challenges as a result of unpaid water bills. Several government departments owe us a lot of money and most of them are uncooperative,” said Fidze.
The city council is under immense pressure from residents associations to upgrade the water augmentation system among other services.

A WOMAN from Victoria Falls, who told a court she has endured sexual starvation for seven years, is suing her husband’s alleged mistress for $5,000. Bekezela Ndlovu, 35, a secretary at Oasis College, is claiming the money from Faith Mawodzeka who works at the Victoria Falls Border Post.
Bekezela said her husband Jordan Ndlovu, 40, has not had sex with her since 2009 because he has been sleeping with Mawodzeka. She wept in court when Jordan turned up to testify in favour of his alleged girlfriend.
Jordan denied having an affair with Mawodzeka despite his wife chronicling before Victoria Falls magistrate Rangarirai Gakanje, events she said proved the two were cheating.
Mawodzeka is not married and works at the border post while Bekezela and Jordan were married in 2003 under Chapter 5.11.
In her summons, Bekezela said the affair has caused her emotional and physical distress. She accused Mawodzeka of insulting her over the phone. Bekezela said her husband would assault her whenever she confronted him about the affair while at one point she was also insulted by Mawodzeka’s daughter.
She said for seven years they would go for counselling sessions but the affair continued.
Jordan testified against his wife and accused her of washing dirty linen in public as he defended his alleged girlfriend.
Bekezela has since moved out of the matrimonial house and now stays with a friend in the same suburb. She told the court her husband admitted being in love with Mawodzeka when his parents convened a meeting to solve the issue. She also told the court that her husband would sometimes spend about two weeks at Mawodzeka’s house.
The court heard Jordan and Mawodzeka spent most of their time together while at work and when Mawodzeka’s child died, he bore the funeral expenses.
Jordan and his girlfriend would allegedly go shopping in Botswana together. The civil trial continues this week. State Media

A 31-Year-Old Chinamhora man allegedly raped a psychiatric patient and gave her a plate of groundnuts and a rake to keep her silent about the assault, a court heard on Friday.
The man, Konoro Chideu, was facing rape charges when he appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Elijah Makomo.
He pleaded not guilty saying that on the day the woman was away with her relatives who were consulting traditional healers about her mental health.
However, he was denied bail and ordered to approach the High Court for his bail application. He will be back in court on April 14. Allegations are that in December last year Chideu was at his homestead standing alone in the yard when the woman arrived and asked for a rake.
The court heard that Chideu told the woman to go into the kitchen hut and she complied. It is alleged that Chideu followed her into the kitchen hut and proposed love to her; she rejected his advances. He allegedly grabbed and raped her.-State Media

Zimbabwe’s Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede has been struck down over his controversial published claims in which he charges that contraceptives cause cancer and were introduced by western governments to annihilate the black race.

Mudede’s claims that some birth control measures cause different types of cancers in women are not backed by scientific facts, since research linking the use of contraceptives to cancer has not been carried out in Zimbabwe, the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe (CAZ) has said.
The Cancer Association of Zimbabwe’s information officer, Mrs Priscilla Mangwiro, said current evidence showed that the benefits of using contraceptives far outweighed the risks.
“Studies elsewhere could have shown that prolonged use of some contraceptives for more than eight years slightly increase chances of women developing reproductive cancers, but no such studies were done in our country,” said Mrs Mangwiro.
She said while the area of contraceptives was shrouded with a lot of controversy, the benefits of using them were far more than the associated risks.
Mr Mudede and his colleague Mr Richard Hondo in February, launched their book titled Genetically Modified Organisms and population control drugs in developing countries, aimed at discouraging women from using contraceptives and consumption of GMOs, by linking them to a number of health-related effects, including cervical and uterine cancers.
Government, through the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council, has also dismissed Mudede’s claims saying they were not backed by any scientific evidence.
However, Mr Mudede insisted birth control drugs were introduced to control the black minority by Westerners.
“The grand plan seems to be the control of the world’s black population. The unfortunate thing is that these contraceptive drugs have ruinous, often fatal side effects, and are targeted at black women,” said Mr Mudede in his book.
According to the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe, the majority of cancers in developing countries are infection-related, with 60 percent of them associated with HIV and Aids, with the other causes attributable to unhealthy eating habits and sedentary lifestyles.
Mrs Mangwiro said in order to prevent cancers, Zimbabweans should exercise regularly, eat balanced diets and avoid tobacco use.
“About 50 percent of cancers could be prevented and another 30 percent of cancer deaths could be avoided by mainly not using tobacco, having a healthy diet and being physically active, moderating the intake of alcohol and maintaining a healthy weight,” she said.
The National Aids Council has also incorporated cancer awareness in its programmes considering that 60 percent of cancers were HIV-related.-State Media

President Robert Mugabe has warned liberation war veterans that his administration shall never be controlled by any association let alone the War Veterans Association.
Addressing thousands of ZANU PF supporters who traveled to welcome him at the Harare international Airport yesterday, Mugabe told the war vets that “everyone participated” in the liberation war and so no one should be seen holding the country at ransom using liberation war credentials.
“We all went to war. No one can tell us about war. Politics leads the gun and those who were in Zanla and Zipra should tow the party line,” said Mugabe.
“All the ex-detainees, restrictees should follow party procedure. We are not run by associations,
never, ever,” he said.
Mugabe went on to warn that ZANU PF will not hesitate to dismiss anyone who refuses to tow the ZANU PF line.
“It was Zanu-PF which gave direction, and those who had been “misled” into attacking the party leadership should “mend their ways” or risk being booted out.”
Mugabe said he was the one who was sent to organise the party after the death of Herbert Chitepo and had managed to unite Zipra and Zanla forces and they went to the Geneva conference as a united force.
“We went to Geneva a united front and after independence we had to split because of disturbances caused by dissidents. We then had a unity accord and became one party again. So the party leads everyone, it gives direction.”
Mugabe said the meeting between him and the war veterans’ association scheduled for next week would be used to tell each other the truth and also to address any grievances that the former liberation fighters might have.

Road Accidents in Zimbabwe WHO IS TO BLAME?

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) April 3, 2016

Tombs bus kills 18 cattle.

Eighteen cattle were killed when a Tombs Motorways bus coming from Botswana hit 24 cattle on approaching the 87 kilometer peg along the Harare-Bulawayo road, between Chegutu and Half Way at Sangongore farm.
ZimEye.com is told the bus had (8) eight passengers on board and no one was injured in the process.
Police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident to the State Media.
He urged drivers to avoid speeding, especially when passing through farming areas.

Harare – Zimbabwe will never give back land to dispossessed former white farmers as it is a national resource and the sovereign right of black people, President Robert Mugabe said on Saturday.
Mugabe told hundreds of Zanu-PF supporters at the Harare International Airport on his return from his visit to Japan that the late vice president Joshua Nkomo had told him on his death bed that Zimbabweans should not let go of the land that was in their hands.
Don’t be fooled that we have reached a point where we will give back land to the whites. They have money and we don’t. They have tractors and some are even renting from some of us. Beware, the land must remain a national resource, a sovereign right,” he said.
The country should shun regionalism and tribalism and ensure the national resources were equitably distributed.
Mugabe warned Zanu-PF supporters against being “tricked” into joining the newly formed Zimbabwe People First party led by former vice president Joice Mujuru, saying it had nothing to offer.
“The Zimbabwe People First is lost. Don’t listen to media reports that they have made inroads in our strongholds, they don’t have any people. Then you think someone can leave a party like Zanu-PF to join People First, what for?”
Zanu-PF’s central committee would meet on April 8 to map out strategies and hear grievances from the provinces, he said.
The land issue remains thorny in the Southern African country where thousands of white commercial farmers were forced off their land during the chaotic fast-track land reform programme which claimed a number of lives in 2000.
Just last week, the country held a stakeholders’ workshop to look at ways of compensating the farmers whose land was expropriated by the government since independence in 1980.
African News Agency

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe was reportedly offered asylum by his then Senegalese counterpart Abdoulaye Wade in the aftermath of his electoral loss to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai at the 2008 polls, former Education minister David Coltart has claimed.
In his autobiography, The Struggle Continues: 50 Years of Tyranny, Coltart said former South African President Nelson Mandela had a very low opinion of Mugabe and thought his successor Thabo Mbeki understood the Zimbabwean leader better.
Mugabe lost the first round of voting to Tsvangirai only to force through a violent run-off whose outcome was rejected by the international community and the opposition at home.
As diplomatic efforts to resolve the impasse in Harare continued following the disputed 2002 presidential elections, Coltart said in October 2003 he and former Finance minister Tendai Biti met Wade in Dakar and presented him with a dossier of events in Harare.
The meeting triggered a chain of events that sucked in the Senegalese leader, including a reported altercation with Mbeki over Mugabe.
“We handed him a dossier cataloguing human rights abuses and electoral fraud in Zimbabwe,” Coltart wrote.
“Being a lawyer himself, Wade was interested to hear the views of two Zimbabwean lawyers. He was sympathetic, and he told us that he would do what he could to get sense to prevail.
“Wade became critical of Thabo Mbeki’s failure to be more proactive in Zimbabwe. In 2009 he offered Mugabe asylum, saying ‘My friend Mugabe does not want to make concessions, we are at a dead end, he can no longer govern the country alone’.”
It was also reported that earlier Wade visited Zimbabwe in 2007, where he had a tense meeting with Mugabe over the deteriorating situation in the country.
Biti confirmed the meetings and that Mugabe had offers for asylum from a lot of other countries.
“Wade was part of a new crop of African leaders that found it unpalatable for an old nationalist leader to bog down the continent. We had (John) Kufuor in Ghana, (Mwai) Kibaki in Kenya and a very different (Yoweri) Museveni in Uganda,” he said.
“Mbeki himself was relatively new and Mugabe had become so politically unfashionable that everyone was offering him an opening.”
Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said he had not read Coltart’s book and could not say much. “I would not want to comment much because I have not read the book. But I do not know anything about that (asylum),” he said.
Following a State visit to Harare in November 2007, Wade told reporters in Harare that Mbeki had no monopoly on finding a solution to the Zimbabwe crisis.
“We should, at the level of Heads of State, together with brother Mbeki, undertake mediation. I think that Zimbabwe should be treated as an African problem, to be solved by all African leaders,” he was quoted as saying.
“Thabo Mbeki does not have the sole right to meet with Mugabe. Mbeki has done a lot, but the problem has not been solved.”
Wade’s visit to Harare had been postponed twice as relations between him and Mugabe remained clouded by suspicion.
After meeting with Wade, Coltart said he had stopped over in South Africa before a chance meeting with revered anti-apartheid icon Mandela.
Coltart said he had explained to Mandela that “because of his deep-rooted fears, Mugabe was unlikely to give up real power through dialogue” and Mbeki needed to appreciate that given the latter’s “policy of quiet diplomacy”.Newsday

UPDATE – Since the circulation of this story, facts surrounding this article have had corrections sought on them – SEE KARIBA ROBBERY: Story Correction (Click to Read).
ZimEye.com is receiving reports of a notorious robbery at Warthogs Bush Camp in Kariba last night. (navigate to the exact scene of the attack using the interactive Live Satellite map below)

Despite there being guards on duty, the unnamed thieves managed to sneak into one of the lodges, through the bathroom window and took with them a large bag belonging to tourists who are of Swedish origin, the report by a Kariba publication said.
The camp site’s lodges are built of quality albeit traditional logs and thistles (SEE PICTURES AND SATELLITE MAP).
Their passports were also in the bag.

It was not clear at the time of writing if the attackers injured anyone. Meanwhile, anyone finding these items has been asked to please contact one, Tracy on – 0772 224 505. Thieves often discard personal items that are of no use to them, such as ID cards.
– ZimEye

MDC-T Vice President, Thokozani Khupe, this week continued with her nationwide International Women’s Day celebrations attracting huge followings in rural Matebeleland. Below was a pictorial coverage of some of her meetings in places such as Lupane and Silobela.

The crisis ridden Zimbabwe government has again issued conflicting statements on the payment of overdue bonuses owed to civil servants. The bonuses are routinely paid in November and December.
Treasury was expected by the end of March to pay bonuses to members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services and the health sector but failed to meet its obligation.
A statement released Thursday morning by Health Services Board executive director, Ruth Kaseke, showed the dysfunction in government.
The statement directed to secretary for Health and Child Care, Brigadier General Gerald Gwinji, read: “As you might be aware bonus payment for Health Workers had been scheduled for today, (Thursday) 31st March 2016. Please advise all institutions that there has been a delay in the honoring of this commitment and we await details from treasury.”
Later, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa issued a somewhat contradictory statement saying, “As previously communicated, government is paying the 2015 bonus payments on a staggered basis, with the first installment having been made end of February 2016. The next proposed payment date is for end March 2016. In this regard, 2015 bonus payments for members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police are being made tomorrow (Friday), 1 April 2016.”
Chinamasa’s statement further said, “To allow for mobilization of additional resources, 2015 bonus payments to members of the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services and staff under the Health sector will be made on Thursday 7th April 2016. The 2015 bonus payment dates for the Education Sector and the rest of the civil service remain as previously communicated, that is, 30th April, 2016 and 31st May, 2016 respectively.”
Chinamasa in February said members of the defense forces – who include the Zimbabwe National Army and the Air Force of Zimbabwe – were to be paid that month, followed by the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services and the health sector in March.
Only the defense forces have been paid to date in what many government workers allege is a divide and rule tactic.
Due to tight fiscal space, Chinamasa had early last year contemplated suspending payment of bonuses for 2015 and 2016.
Chinamasa said economic activity was depressed and with more people working in the informal sector where they do not pay taxes, it was unsustainable to continue paying the bonuses.
The move irked civil servants and President Robert Mugabe overturned the suspension saying “when government bestows a benefit on civil servants, that benefit cannot be withdrawn because it has become a right.”
At its peak, the country had two million workers in formal employment, but the figure has shrunk to a paltry 500,000 in the last decade.
Chinamasa says Zimbabwe spends $260 million on salaries every month or 82% of the total revenues raised from taxes. Cutting the wage bill is part of reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund under an ongoing plan to revamp the economy.
President of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association Dr Fortune Nyamande told VOA Studio 7 that they were expecting their bonuses Thursday as promised by treasury but thy were not paid. He said there was no formal communication from the government as to why it had failed to honor its promise.VOA

A government minister has angrily denied that President Mugabe dozed off while standing during a joint media briefing held with Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Shinzo Abe in Tokyo.
The Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Dr Christopher Mushohwe cautioned the media against unwarranted, disrespectful, mischievous and unprofessional onslaught on President Mugabe.
“Journalists should uphold professional ethics and code of conduct and desist from maliciously injuring a person’s reputation or dignity,” said Mushohwe.
“Watching the said video clip, one could see President Mugabe nodding his head in response to the message being delivered by the Japanese Prime Minister,” he added.
Minister Mushowe said Zimbabwe does not expect this kind of unprofessional behaviour and wilful misconduct from local journalists as it damages the reputation of President Mugabe in a big way.

A 36-YEAR-OLD man from Gweru allegedly raped his two daughters aged two and seven and gave them sweets to buy their silence.
The accused (name withheld to protect the identity of the minors) appeared before Gweru Regional Magistrate Morgan Nemadire facing two counts of rape.
He pleaded not guilty to raping his biological daughter, 2, and his stepdaughter. The man was remanded out of custody on free bail to April 6.
In his defence, the man alleged that his girlfriend — a teacher at a local school — was fabricating the matter to fix him.
“Your Worship I didn’t rape my kids. She is lying. She wants me to suffer because I no longer love her. At the same time, she has a friend employed at Gweru Provincial Hospital who might have helped her to falsify medical reports.
“I recall when I started staying with her, her mother told me that the complainant had been abused about a year back by one of their relatives. I’m not the one who raped her,” he said.
Prosecuting, Andrew Marimo told the court that on count one and on a date unknown to him but in September last year, the accused was left alone with the complainant.
The court heard that the accused called the complainant into the house while she was
playing outside.
“He locked the door and raped his seven-year-old stepdaughter twice and threatened to assault her if she disclosed the abuse to her mother,” said Marimo.
“The matter came to light on October 1 last year when the complainant’s grandmother visited the family and told her grandchildren that they should report anyone who molests them. The children opened up about the sex attacks.”
On the second count, Marimo told the court that last year, the accused called his two-year-old biological daughter into the toilet and raped her once. After the act he bribed her with sweets.
The matter came to light when the tot was medically examined after the elder daughter reported the rape to their grandmother. State Media

Daniel Chigundu|Legislator Jessie Majome has blasted musician Jah Prayzah for using a “sexfied-school uniform” in the video for his popular song Eriza, arguing that the move has the potential of sending wrong signals to some men.
Contributing to child marriages debate in Parliament recently the outspoken women rights activist urged musicians, artists and the media to play a part and stop promoting images that seem to condone sexual intercourse with girls.
“Indeed, I must say one of my favourite musicians has a brilliant, good song but unfortunately he produced a video that shows very suggestive and sex dances being done by girls wearing school uniform.

“Mr. Speaker Sir, while that is entertainment, but unfortunately, those things send messages that say it is alright for girls to wear little dresses and to dance in a sex manner and titillate men. It also sends signals into some perverted men to actually start drooling over school girls.
“I understand that as we speak, they are stories in the media about how there is an uproar where certain commercial sex workers are also now wearing uniforms that are sexed up, if I may call it that and are luring men. I am thinking that the men who will stop to buy the services from those sexual workers are actually not going to stop because they have been attracted by a sexfied school uniform.
“If I go further, I am disturbed by the consequences that it means that they will actually find a school girl in a school uniform attractive and lure her away from the parts of virtue and detract her from there and that is the paths of child marriage. We need to keep our girls in school so that they attain qualifications and they are able to look after themselves and make decisions for themselves.
“We must show zero tolerance to rape and sexual intercourse with children and we must not marry children. We must remove those images and deceit from entertainment and media reports that seem to condone and encourage sexual activity and the titillation of people using children in sexual images,” she said.
In his video for the song Eriza off the chart toping album Jerusarema, Jah Prayzah feature 22 year old voluptuous dancer Lady Storm (real name Lyn Magodo) dancing suggestively in a school uniform.
Early this year Jah Prayzah also held a live musical show where everyone was expected to come dressed up in school uniform.- OpenParly

Midlands-Villagers here in Mvuma have sued Chief Chirumanzu, (born Gerald Mudzengi) for extortion, the state media has revealed.
Chief Chirumanzu according to the villagers is taking their cattle by force as punishment for conducting farming operations on a sacred day, known as ‘Chisi’ in Shona.
More than 10 villagers in Mvuma resettlements are challenging Chief Chirumanzu for unilaterally claiming jurisdiction over their area.
The villagers allege that Chief Chirumanzi took herds of cattle and goats from them as punishment for carrying out their farming operations on Thursday, which is a sacred day in Chief Chirumanzu’s area.
The villagers are arguing the chief has no jurisdiction over their area and are not bound to follow the traditional beliefs.
One of Chief Chirumanzu’s victim, Ellen Tadiwa is a widow and she lost the only beast she had as punishment for farming on a Thursday.
The villagers allege that  the chief took more than 25 cattle and many goats which he was allegedly taking to a nearby butchery in Lalapansi.
While the chief was charging one beast for the alleged offence, other chiefs charge a maximum of US$20 for the same offence.
Meanwhile, a letter from the Ministry of Rural Development, Promotion and Preservation of National Culture and Heritage to the Midlands Provincial Administrator indicated that the chief has no jurisdiction over A1 and A2 plots.
The letter further indicates that there is need to discuss with the chief to correct the problem.
The villagers have reported the matter to the police under CR number 04/03/16 and CR 06/03/16.

THE fraud trial of four Harare men accused of allegedly defrauding Walter Magaya’s Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries of $116 000 in a botched car import deal, failed to continue yesterday as the suspects’ lawyer is hospitalised.
Businessman Upenyu Mashangwa and his co-accused Cosmas Mushaninga, Kudakwashe Larry Mapfumo and Clifford Tinashe Gonde are facing an alternative charge of smuggling and failure to pay duty for a Land Rover Discovery 4 vehicle they imported from South Africa in 2014 on behalf of PHD Ministries.
Prosecutor Michael Reza told the court that Mashangwa’s lawyer Tafadzwa Hungwe was ill. The other suspects’ lawyers Dumisani Mthombeni, Sylvester Maruza and Anesu Bangidza were also not present in court.
Presiding magistrate Noel Mupeiwa remanded the matter to April 25.
This is the fourth time that the trial has been postponed since January.-Newsday

Terrence Mawawa|A Bikita man committed suicide, by drinking a deadly chemical after being slapped with a maintenance fee above his monthly salary.
Artwell Murindi ,who was an employee of Bikita Rural District Council, Committed suicide on March 23 ,after the court there ordered him to pay $270 as a maintenance fee for a child he had with a local woman. A figure above his $ 240monthly salary.
Murindi’s relatives told ZimEye.com last week ,that he had initially considered fleeing to South Africa after the court ruling.
“We are still shocked by Murindi’s decision to take his life .He initially indicated he was crestfallen and he wanted to flee to South Africa after the court ruling.We tried to advise him to remain calm and get over it but to our surprise he drank some poisonous chemical and died instantly.” Further stating: “Murindi visited the woman he had a child with in a bid to resolve the issue but he later decided to kill himself,”said Murindi’s relative. Bikita Rural District Council Chief Executive Peter Chibi ,said the incident was deeply disturbing.He however did not disclose much information on the matter adding it was a delicate issue.
Murindi’s untimely death is still ridden with controversy in the local community with some of his relatives blaming the woman for causing the his death.

HLALO CASE AGAINST MORGAN TSVANGIRAI DISMISSED WITH COSTS
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has won the lawsuit filed against him by suspended senator, Matson Hlalo.
Hlalo sued Tsvangirai contesting against his ouster.
But the case was dismissed with costs.
MDC-T Secretary General Douglas Togarasei Mwonzora announced in celebratory mode as he walked out of the High Court, “people wanted Courts to decide MDCT matters. Now the courts have decided”

GOVERNMENT has so far managed to assist 21 women return from Kuwait and an equal number is being looked after at a shelter for run-away maids in the Arab country awaiting repatriation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the development yesterday.
But as Government is helping the Zimbabweans return home, it is feared 90 more could be on their way to Kuwait after being duped by unscrupulous agents to secure visas.
“The ministry has established that 165 visas were processed by unscrupulous Zimbabwean agents working in cahoots with registered Kuwait agencies. The Kuwait authorities have also stated that 90 of these 165 visa recipients have not yet entered Kuwait,” it said.
“It therefore entails that so far about 75 Zimbabwean citizens were lured into Kuwait under false pretext when it comes to remuneration and conditions of service although they were fully aware that they were going to work in the domestic service industry. These people were also misled by the agencies that it would be possible for them to transfer jobs after a few months of arrival in the Gulf emirate.”
The ministry said 26 more women held in homes in Kuwait indicated to the Zimbabwean Embassy in that country that they wanted assistance to return home. “The ministry further updates that 21 of our citizens are back in the country and a further 21 are being sheltered at a Kuwaiti shelter for run-away maids.
“Our embassy in Kuwait has further pointed out that 26 of our nationals have called for assistance as they are still being held in Kuwaiti homes,” it said.
The ministry said with the help of the Zimbabwean Embassy in Kuwait, it continues to help Zimbabweans in distress in that country as and when they come forward.
It thanked the Kuwaiti government and its embassy in Harare for “the good co-operation extended to us and our citizens in resolving this matter”.
“Zimbabwe and the State of Kuwait enjoy excellent bilateral relations. Since independence, Zimbabwe has benefited from soft loans and grants from the State of Kuwait. The funds were used to support various programmes in the transport, energy, agriculture and infrastructure development sectors.”
It has since emerged that the Kuwait government issued 180 “Article 20 visas” meant for domestic service industry.
Article 20 visas are exclusively for the domestic service industry and are not transferable.
This means that a person who enters Kuwait under such a visa cannot be employed in another industry.-State Media

ZANU-PF political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere has warned ambitious party leaders bent on turfing aside President Robert Mugabe from power before his term is out that their actions will be resisted.
Kasukuwere said President Mugabe remained the best leader for both party and country, insisting Zanu-PF would win the 2018 elections with him at the helm.
“President Mugabe’s term of office runs until 2018 and any talk or discussion questioning his legitimacy borders on treason,” said Kasukuwere, who was addressing party supporters in Dotito, Mashonaland Central Province, on Wednesday.
“Let’s continue supporting the founder of our nation until his job is done. With our President, Zimbabwe will succeed, black Africans will succeed and Zanu-PF will succeed.”
In his birthday interview with the state media aired early last month, President Mugabe said any discussion about his succession was misplaced considering that he was given the mandate by the majority of Zimbabweans to rule until 2018.
He said he could have not accepted the mandate if he knew he would not be able to complete his term.
“When we went to Congress in 2014, and the people said you’re the candidate in 2018, I didn’t say I was a candidate to retire, only to retire mid-way,” he said. I was a candidate for the term, the term is a five-year term.”
On Tuesday, President Mugabe told journalists in Japan, where he is on a State visit, that challenging his constitutional mandate was tantamount to rejecting the wishes of Zimbabweans. With health permitting, he would stand for another term in 2018, he said.
Kasukuwere said Zanu-PF had confidence in their leader and the party was optimistic he would be able to stand for another term in 2018 and win.
He told party supporters not to be moved by opposition parties, particularly Joice Mujuru’s Zimbabwe People First.
“Who can beat him [Mugabe]? Nobody! President Mugabe will win the election in 2018 come what may. He’s an icon, he has worked very hard for the country and defending the gains of the liberation.
“We’ve heard some people saying let’s ‘BUILD’ [Mujuru’s ‘Blueprint to Unlock Investment and Leverage for Development’]. Build what? What have you built before? Show us your previous works,” said Kasukuwere.

A 25-YEAR-OLD police officer who is based at Mzilikazi Police Station Bulawayo, appeared at the Marondera Magistrates Court on Tuesday facing allegations of stealing 49 cellphones from his former schoolmate.
Lyson Nyamande, who was travelling from Bulawayo to Rusape, allegedly stopped over in Marondera and was offered a place to sleep by the complainant, Kudakwashe Mutete.
Nyamande pleaded guilty to the charge of stealing 49 cellphones, a laptop and cash when he appeared before Marondera magistrate Josephine Sande and was remanded in custody for sentencing today.
The court heard on March 2 at around 8pm, Nyamande visited Mutete and asked to be accommodated for the night before proceeding on his journey the next morning. Mutete, the court heard, agreed and the two slept in the same room, but the cop woke up in the middle of the night and stole a satchel containing 49 cellphones of different makes.
All the cellphones had no batteries at the time. Nyamande also stole a laptop and $75 before disappearing into the night.
The next day at around 4am, Mutete woke up and discovered his property had been stolen and Nyamande was nowhere to be seen and he reported the matter to the police, leading to the cop’s arrest in Rusape, but he had already sold some of the cellphones.
The stolen property was valued at $1 540 and only property worth $865 was recovered.Babra Mabika appeared for the State.
Meanwhile, a police officer attached to Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Katemo Tembo, appeared at the Harare Magistrates’ Court yesterday facing charges of criminal abuse of office after allegedly demanding $200 from a Harare man.
Tembo was not asked to plead when he appeared before provincial magistrate, Elijah Makomo and was remanded in custody to today for his bail application.
It is the State’s case that Tembo allegedly acted as a debt collector for McLeod Mahachi, who was trying to cancel a consultancy agreement that he had entered into and paid Godknows Yakiti to have his mining company registered.
Mahachi, according to State papers, had paid Yakiti $750 of the $900 registration processing fees before he had a change of mind about the deal.
Mahachi, the State alleges, then approached Tembo to force Yakiti to repay the money and the former called the latter and ordered him to come to CID offices, where he ordered him to pay back.
The State alleges, Yakiti in turn called the police internal investigations department and reported the matter resulting in a trap being set and Tembo was arrested in the city centre, while receiving $200 in marked notes from Yakiti.
Sebastian Mutizirwa is prosecuting for the State.