A SENIOR SECURITY guard and supervisor in Gwanda died allegedly while being intimate with a junior workmate. Married Maxwell Gwatipedza, 54, a Role Security company inspector, was found half naked with his underwear at knee level at about 2PM on Wednesday.
Matabeleland South acting provincial police spokesperson Sergeant Thabani Mkwananzi confirmed the incident.
“I can confirm that we’re investigating the sudden death of a 54-year-old man who died in Gwanda Town. The causes of his death will be revealed by post-mortem results,” he said.
Sgt Mkwananzi said Gwatipedza had left his work place after some routine checks at the Government Complex premises which they were guarding.
“However, at about 2PM, he was found dead on a bed at his residence by a workmate who had visited him. A report was made to the police and the body was taken to Gwanda Provincial Hospital where he was certified dead. The body is at the hospital mortuary awaiting post-mortem,” said Sgt Mkwananzi.
Sources said used condoms and female underwear were found at the scene. Gwatipedza, who is reported to have had a chest problem, was alleged to be in a relationship with Linnet Hlatshwayo, one of his subordinates.
Hlatshwayo, who informed their colleagues of Gwatipedza’s death, had visited the deceased at his house when the incident happened. She told The Chronicle she was not in a relationship with Gwatipedza.
“I’d gone there to collect some money which he had promised to lend me so that I could pay my rentals. When I got there, I discovered that he couldn’t wake up so I rushed to inform others. It’s a lie that we had an affair. I’ve my boyfriend whom I live with and I don’t know anything about his death,” she said.
Gwatipedza’s subordinates, however, were adamant that she was in a relationship with him.
“Everyone knows that she was having an affair with him, so it’s very suspicious for her to say that she found him already dead and with his pants down,” said one security guard.
Upon seeing that Gwatipedza had died, Hlatshwayo, in the company of another female security officer, informed their colleague, Dexter Tshababa, about the incident. Asked about the issue yesterday, Tshababa admitted to being approached by a visibly shaken Hlatshwayo about the death of Gwatipedza.
He said when they went to Gwatipedza’s place, they found him half naked with his manhood exposed.
“At first I thought it was just a joke, but I was shocked when we went to his house and discovered that he was indeed dead. He was not wearing his trousers and his underwear was a bit lowered. I had to dress him properly,” said Tshababa. – State Media

A SUSPECTED prostitute was arrested after assaulting her rival with an empty bottle in the stomach and several times on the head for stepping on her client’s foot at a Bulawayo night club.
Sifikile Baloyi, 30, of Pumula East appeared before Bulawayo magistrate, Marylin Mtshina charged with assault.
She was not asked to plead and remanded out of custody to April 16 on $100 bail.
It is alleged Cleopatra Ncube, who was severely assaulted by Baloyi, almost lost her front row teeth as they were left loose.
The state’s case as presented by Taurayi Hondoyemoto is that on April 6, this year at around 12AM, Baloyi was at Waverley night club located at corner Lobengula Street and 13th Avenue in the city centre.
Hondoyemoto told the court that Baloyi was sitting with an unidentified man.
“When Ncube was passing by, she accidentally stepped on the man’s foot,” he said.
The court heard that Baloyi started insulting Ncube before assaulting her once on the stomach with an empty bottle.
Hondoyemoto said Baloyi assaulted Ncube several times on the head with fists.
He told the court that Ncube managed to run away but Baloyi followed her outside the club.
“While outside she continued assaulting the complainant until she sustained injuries on the left breast,” said Hondoyemoto.
The court heard that Ncube also sustained bruises on her upper lip and neck.
“Due to the assault, Ncube’s two front teeth are loose,” said Hondoyemoto.

AN Inyathi man was yesterday sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping and impregnating his step granddaughter. Obert Mpofu, 56, who was initially charged with raping two of his granddaughters aged 12 and 13, was lucky when one of the victims’ mother chose to support him in court resulting in the State dropping the second charge.
The court heard that he had turned his granddaughter into a sex slave for a year during which he paid her off with packs of Jiggies and sweets. The granddaughter aged 13, a Grade Five pupil, fell pregnant when she was 12 and was taken in by Musasa Project where she divulged that she together with her cousin were being sexually abused at home.
Regional Magistrate Chrispen Mberewere rebuked Mpofu for turning the girls into his sex objects saying criminals like him were better off in prison.
“It’s common cause that the girl was abused and you were lucky as one of the mothers chose to defend you instead of supporting her own child. We are aware that a family meeting was held to discuss the abuse of these children and its clear to this court that you did it,” said magistrate Mberewere.
He said a medical report submitted as evidence before the court showed that the girl was sexually active and this was proof enough that the girl was raped numerous times.
“You are therefore sentenced to 20 years in prison of which three years are suspended on condition of good behaviour. The court condemns sexual abuse of children and it is our duty to curb the crime.”
When the girl gave her testimony in camera, she said Mpofu used to call her to his bedroom where he would rape her together with her cousin.
“He used to call me or my cousin and rape us one after another before giving us sweets and Jiggies. Sometimes he would rape me in my cousin’s presence. He made us promise to keep the abuses a secret after buying our silence with food,” she said.
The girl also said at one point, she was raped while her mother had gone to the district hospital to deliver. Prosecuting Trust Muduma told the court that sometime in 2012, Mpofu used to go to a local beer hall and come back drunk. He said Mpofu would then call the girls to his bedroom to dance for him.
On an unknown date but from the period extending from January 2012 to July 2014, Mpofu had sexual intercourse with the girls, one after the other. The matter came to light when one of the girls told her stepfather who was helping her do homework that Mpofu was having sex with them.
A family meeting was called and the girls revealed that Mpofu had been raping them. The matter was not reported to the police as it was settled at family level
Mpofu ran out luck when police got an anonymous tip off and instituted investigations.
One of the girls was already pregnant and she told Musasa Project counsellors that her step grandfather had been raping them for some time. – Chronicle

Johannesburg – As President Jacob Zuma and his Zimbabwean counterpart, Robert Mugabe, met for a second day of bilateral talks in Pretoria, the wife of former National Assembly speaker Max Sisulu, Elinor, said the two had failed to deal with the “shit of xenophobia” in front of them.
She said it was very probable that the issue of xenophobia was not on their agenda.
“They sit on a table and there’s lumps of shit on the table.The shit is xenophobia and its stinking there, but they will look elsewhere to put the blame yet and say kukhona okunukayo [something stinks], open the windows. They don’t deal with the shit. They talk about things which have no relevance to the people,” she said to applause.
She was speaking at a press conference on xenophobia in South Africa hosted by the African Diaspora Forum in Johannesburg.
Sisulu said xenophobia was not just a South African problem, but an issue all over the continent.
Listing a number of solutions, she called for better education on Africa in schools and society.
“People are operating on ignorance,” she said.
She also called on leaders to be careful and responsible on how they spoke about migrants in the country.
“When people beat each other up because of what you said, you say ‘oh no, I was quoted out of context’,” she said.
The conference was attended by SA Human Rights Commission, the King of the Batlokoa tribe, the Protection of Foreign Business and Citizens, the Nigerian Traders Union, human rights activists as well as foreign nationals. – News24

Expelled Vice President Joice Mujuru has opened fire on her “hateful” boss Robert Mugabe demanding answers on the mysterious death of her husband, General Solomon Mujuru, and also on the disappearance of activist Itai Dzamara.

Mujuru last night bluntly told her Zanu PF foes that she could never be expelled from the “genuine” ruling party, while also openly querying for the first time the mysterious death of her husband, General Solomon Mujuru, whose remains were found after an inferno at their Beatrice farm in 2011.
In a statement released by her aides, Mujuru also savaged Zanu PF bigwigs for showing no care for the life of abducted journalist turned pro-democracy activist Itai Dzamara, as well as the welfare of his young family.
“On the eve of the holiest day on the Christian calendar, the politburo chose to dwell on its relentless, unsubstantiated, malicious and hateful campaign against the person of Amai Mujuru.
“As if this was not inhuman enough, the much-decorated national hero, the late General Mujuru, who passed on in yet unclear circumstances, was not spared as well. It is un-Zimbabwean to desecrate our dearly departed. Hunhui ihwohwo / Ubuntu bani lowu?
“One wonders if the politburo ever spared any moment to enquire on the disappearance or lack of news on the whereabouts of young Itai Dzamara and what his young family is going through. My prayers go to ALL those who are hurting in silence.
“Given the prevailing economic hardships, the looming food crisis (tutsawona) and the declining inflows to the fiscus, the politburo’s silence on these matters is deafening.
“Ini handidzingike mu-original (I cannot be expelled from the original) and genuine Zanu PF!!!,” the hard-hitting statement said.
The statement came after President Robert Mugabe’s warring Zanu PF said they had summarily expelled her from the party last week, and at a time that the ruling party is on fire over contentious claims that her husband, whose war-time name was Rex Nhongo, plotted with her to oust and assassinate the nonagenarian before the revered late liberation war icon’s charred remains were found after the mysterious 2011 inferno.
It also came as Zanu PF has now officially split into two distinct and bitterly-opposed formations, with disaffected party stalwarts — including liberation struggle pioneers, war veterans and security sector bigwigs — coalescing under the banner and principles of the “original Zanu PF” and using the slogan “People First”.
The divisive allegations against Gen Mujuru, whose funeral at the Heroes Acre in Harare drew the largest crowd ever seen at the burial site, were contained in a report prepared by Zanu PF’s disciplinary committee and that was adopted by the party’s politburo last week.
The shocking claims have since prompted the Mujuru family to plan an urgent meeting to discuss the “disturbing and extremely serious” allegations, what the allegations mean and whether this had “played a part” in the death of the liberation pioneer.
Ironically, the late general is widely credited with catapulting Mugabe to the leadership of Zanu PF in the mid 1970s. However, he was also seen as the only senior party official who could challenge the nonagenarian.
His wife, who was once seen as Mugabe’s de facto successor, was booted out as Vice President of both the ruling party and the government last December following a vicious political assault on her by controversial First Lady Grace Mugabe.
The former VP was then subsequently expelled from the party altogether last week, the day that Grace resurfaced in the public domain after weeks of speculation regarding her health.
Investigations earlier this week have showed that the disaffected Zanu PF stalwarts who are involved with Zanu PF “People First” have been meeting regularly with many prominent Zimbabweans for some time now, to plan “the operationalisation” of the party in a bid “to reclaim the original Zanu PF”, which they allege has been hijacked by power-hungry mafikizolos.
Sources said many expelled and serving Zanu PF ministers, Members of Parliament, Youth and Women’s league officials who had been victims of the party’s harassment and brutal purges of the past few months, which had been fronted by Grace, supported the idea of Zanu People First and were pushing Mujuru to lead the party.
Former Presidential Affairs minister, Didymus Mutasa, who is a former top aide of Mugabe, has said that the group is pinning its hopes on the popular widow to lead the party.
“There is no doubt that the person that will take Zimbabwe from the current political and economic mess is Amai Mujuru. The government has failed and the Look East policy only makes a few people rich.
“Only until there is a real change of government, we are all going to suffer. The only person capable of changing this is Amai Mujuru.
“We are members of the original and genuine Zanu PF which was formed on August 8, 1963. We constitute the nucleus that bore the brunt of the national struggle. Unlike the mafikizolos who constitute the new-look and illegal central committee and politburo of the 2014 Zanu PF.
“Our membership is composed of the original and seasoned politicians, commanders of the Zimbabwe African National Army (Zanla), Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (Zipra) and Zimbabwe People’s Army (Zipa) forces who are now being marginalised,” Mutasa said. – DailyNews

Rising gospel musician; Kuda Mutsvene has released another video for the single “Mhururu” from his album “Chirangano”

Displaying his high levels of choreography and creativity skills; the video which is shot with a retro and urban feel; defines the future for this young man which is definitely looking bright. He featured his sister, Mercy Mutsvene another gospel ace who rocked during her days on this video and they displayed their unmatched talent as they melodiously sang this chorus.
 
Shot in the rural district of Seke and in the city of Harare; the video is well choreographed with dances that are mind blowing and will most certainly get people in the praise and dance mood be it at weddings or in the church. The song has also received rare reviews and is currently topping the gospel charts on local radio stations.
The album is marketed and distributed by Gospel Nation and is available for download on iTunes; Amazon and Google Play
Click on the links below and watch the video
 
Google Play: http://goo.gl/i59HsS
iTunes: http://goo.gl/wsX36T
Amazon: http://goo.gl/PA4CaC

As prominent activist Itai Dzamara’s disappearance reached a full month of cold suspense, the United States govt on Thursday raised the horn for justice and freedom.

The US said,  “today marks one month since the initial reports of the forced disappearance of Zimbabwean civil society activist Itai Dzamara.  The United States remains concerned about Mr. Dzamara’s whereabouts and wellbeing.

“On this date, we reiterate our call to the Zimbabwean authorities to mobilize their full resources to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mr. Dzamara’s abduction and to ensure the protection of his fundamental human rights and freedoms.

“The United States stands together with Mr. Dzamara and the people of Zimbabwe in supporting their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.  We call for Mr. Dzamara’s immediate and safe return to his family and friends.”

Dzamara was abducted on the 9th March at a barbershop in Glen View by men who presented themselves as police officers and told him they were apprehending him for cattle theft.

While most of the elite travel to overseas for medical attention, Zimbabwe’s povo and their livestock are bearing the government’s failure to capacitate health institutions and veterinary services.
Midlands’s provincial veterinary officer, Dr Thomas Sibanda said it was difficult to contain the outbreak because the Government does not have the necessary resources.
While farm invasions are still taking place, and little being done to contain foot and mouth, Zimbabwe is going to face another serious epidemic. “Foot and mouth outbreak in Zvishavane and some parts of Matabeleland, started sometime last year but the Government is failing to contain the outbreak because of lack of resources in the department to treat the disease,” said Sibanda.
Farmers who spoke to the media expressed anxiety over the situation and urged the Government to assist farmers in mobilizing resources to fight the outbreak.
“The virus does not kill the cattle immediately but this is a worrisome disease. We appeal to Government to visit our different dip tanks and organise farmers to contribute money towards the procurement of the necessary drugs,” said one villager at Mapazuli deep tank in Mapanzure.
Reports have become far and wide on the failure of local health institutions , to cater for its own people. The Ministry of Health has also been failing to answer questions from the povo, as to why the First Family travels to Asia for their medicals, while they claim that Zimbabwe’s health facilities are in good shape.
The answer to all this is for the povo to digest. The lumpy skin, foot and mouth diseases which broke out in Zvishavane and Matabeleland last November has not been contained because Government lacks the resources to fight the outbreak, as confirmed by a senior veterinary officers.
Foot and mouth virus only affects animals with horns. It affects the tongue and stops cattle from grazing resulting in them starving to death.
Human beings are affected by foot and mouth if they eat contaminated meat and there are fears that the outbreak could be fuelled by some butcheries, who are selling un-inspected meat.

Tourisn Minister Walter Mzembi has opened fire on First Lady Grace Mugabe’s close friend and Resident Minister for Masvingo, Shuvai Mahofa saying that the Minister is ideologically bankrupt.
Mzembi who was for months rumoured to be a Joice Mujuru ally, took a direct swipe at Mahofa following the contentious issue of a large farm Mzembi wants to seize for himself, and which Mrs Mahofa has blocked from being taken over.
According to Mahofa Mzembi does not need any extra farm as he has too many properties already .
“We have already written a letter to the Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement (Dr Mombeshora) informing him of our decision to have Minister Mzembi’s offer letter at Barquest Farm withdrawn and nothing is going to change on that,’’ Mahofa said.
She continued, “Our decision as the provincial land committee cannot be challenged because it is us the people of Masvingo who decide what should happen with our land. The Minister of Lands cannot turn down what we would have recommended because he does not live here. The issue of Barquest Farm is a closed chapter and we have already assured the owner of the farm, Mrs Mitchell, that she is safe because the hatchery project there is very important to us,’’ added Senator Mahofa.
However, responding to the attack Mzembi opened fire on Mahofa saying: ”
“It is, in the circumstances, inconceivable and ideologically bankrupt for a senior Government official, who should know better, to defend both iniquities, let alone when such iniquities are by old colonial settler farmers.”
“The ongoing narrative about some farms being too strategic to take over is a misplacement of priorities. All land is strategic and should never be used as a tool for political revenge, vengeance or retribution by blacks against their own kind, as seems to be the case here,” he continued.
The Masvingo provincial land committee recently blocked Mzembi from moving onto Barquest Farm arguing that the hatchery project was of strategic importance as it supplied day-old chicks to Masvingo, Manicaland and Midlands provinces.
The Minsiter of Lands Sydney Mombeshora spoke saying he was still investigating.
“We will resolve the matter away from the media. We do not handle it in the media,” said Minister Mombeshora.
Mombeshora said his ministry was seized with the case.
 

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has performed a surprise u-turn on participating in the upcoming June bi-elections and will now meet Friday to debate on overturning a congress resolution which bars participation in elections until electoral reforms are implemented.
The move confirmed by spokesperson Obert Gutu, will have the party’s national council meet to make the decision that could decide the direction the party will take.
“The issue of by-elections will come under discussion by our national council on Friday because it is the highest decision-making body outside congress and has power to set-aside its resolutions,” said Gutu.
Gutu indicated the meeting will be a heated one, confirming an earlier exclusive ZimEye.com expose on the development (READ MORE- )
 
This came as pressure mounted from perceived potential international donors that Mr Tsvangirai crucified himself for Robert Mugabe gain when he recalled Tendai Biti and his group of MPs the MDC-T say are “rebels.”
 
The “rebels” include popular activist Solomon Madzore millions of Zimbabweans label Zimbabwe’s Nelson Mandela and pulled away untold thousands from Tsvangirai’s support base.
 
Impeccable senior sources in Tsvangirai’s office told ZimEye.com, Spokesman Obert Gutu’s announcing that the party is not going to participate but will hold an emergency National Council is the first sure step to reversing the boycott.
“That very same National Council unless Tsvangirai himself twists the decision, is the meeting that will reverse the 2014 Congress Resolutions that stops us from participating,” they said.
They also added that Tsvangirai is currently consumed in regret. “This has given the president a headache to ponder the loss of such a huge number of MPs whose presence diluted ZANU PF’s legislative stranglehold.”
 
“It is a great lesson learnt and the party has taken this issue seriously to avoid such developments in future,” they added.
It was not clear at the time of writing the full list of names of people Tsvangirai intends to field for the by elections but party heavyweights suggested that Theresa Makone, Douglas Mwonzora, Obert Gutu, and Tsvangirai’s uncle, Hebson Makuvise are all vying for the big job which has several benefits besides a salary.
The development if it goes according to plan, will also leave an embarrassing challenge to another prominent member of the party, Job Sikhala who has vowed to resign from politics altogether if his party participates in the said by-elections. One analyst last night loudly paused the following question, “What will Sikhala do?”

Didymus Mutasa has been eliminated from the by-election race under the Zanu PF ticket after his papers were rejected by the Nomination Court.
Mutasa was disqualified after a ZANU PF official approached the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission alleging Mutasa is prejudicially abusing the ZANU PF name in his favour.
His nephew Mliswa was accepted when he approached the Nomination Court for the Hurungwe West by-election, as an independent not as ZANU PF.
The development means three candidates will now contest in the June 10 by-election.Mutasa attempted to present his papers under Zanu PF when the Nomination Court sat today but his papers were rejected after the Zanu PF Manicaland provincial leadership objected to the submission of nomination papers under the name and symbol of the party.
The development left only three candidates battling for honours in the June 10 Headlands by-election.
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) Provincial Elections Officer, Mr Moffat Masabeya announced at the close of the Nomination Court at the Mutare Magistrate Court the three successful candidates that were duly nominated and those whose papers were rejected.
Zanu PF is being represented by Christopher Chingosho, while NCA will be represented by Mukunda David, with Mr Mukaratirwa Albert standing in as an independent candidate.
All the three party representatives expressed confidence of winning the Headlands legislative seat.
Zanu PF Acting Manicaland Provincial Chairman, Dr Samuel Undenge said the party will retain the Headlands constituency and demonstrate that Zanu PF is a people-centre party with the interests of the people at heart.
The Headlands Constituency fell vacant after the expulsion of former Zanu PF National Secretary for Administration, Didymus Mutasa and his subsequent recalling.
All the three candidates will battle it out to win the sole Headlands legislative seat.-State Media

Pretoria – Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe thanked South Africa for “taking care” of Zimbabweans who live and work in the country and called for support for President Jacob Zuma.
“You know that we owe you not just a gesture of thankfulness, which we must express, but we owe you that thankfulness for the tolerance there has been on the part of the government here, as our people have really offended your system by jumping the border and disturbing even the social system here,” he said at a media briefing with Zuma, while on a state visit.
“Where they have come as workers, well and good – we say thank you for providing them with that work.”
Relations between the two countries must be strengthened, he said.
He astounded and amused the media, who he called comrades, with long chats about various topics, and thanked them for the “publicity'” about him.
“You focused on me as a real dictator. Yes. A dictator would have cut the throat of Ian Smith,” he said referring to one of that country’s last white heads of state.
“I said, ‘let us turn our swords and ploughshares and work together’.”
He said Zimbabweans had vowed that those who were guilty of apartheid, would not get away with it, but that was “anger that comes with struggle”.
“Those who were enemies yesterday, they are friends.”
He continued with:”The Afrikaners say they came the moment (Jan) van Riebeeck set foot in the Cape and they forgot they had a home in Holland.
“But did they have apartheid? No. But then they want peace and peace does not mean you must have the lion’s share and the others have the baboon’s share.
“No, you are all together, let’s be equal. We did not send away whites. We took away land in accordance with what the British government and ourselves agreed upon.”
He said former UK prime minister Tony Blair reneged on that agreement and did want to pay the compensation.
“Blair. Who is he? He (was) the prime minister of Britain. I am president of Zimbabwe. It is our land, we will take it.”
He urged people to be supportive of Zuma.
“He has been in your press a lot. For what for?” he asked in a coaxing voice.
“We are South Africans, we can’t demolish our president.”
He offered Zimbabwe’s support to South Africa, saying: “We will support you. You will become a Bafana Bafana politically.”
Bafana Bafana is South Africa’s national soccer team.
“Thank you for listening to me – I can go on and on.”
News24

President not in SA to beg: Charamba
Presidential spokesperson, Cde George Charamba, who is also Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary, has dismissed claims by some sections of the media that President Mugabe is in South Africa to extend a begging bowl.
Charamba said the President in fact on a mission to upgrade bilateral ties with his southern neighbour, adding that Zimbabwe is seeking a special relations with South Africa based on mutual benefits and equality and not weakness.
 
Briefing the media in Pretoria, Charamba said Zimbabwe is also looking for fair and reciprocal trade with South Africa and the lifting of trade barriers given the fact that SA is the economic powerhouse on the African continent.
“Zimbabwe would want to attain a position where there is free flow of trade in both directions to ensure prosperity for both countries,” said Charamba.
He said as mining countries, there is need to recognise the fact that whatever happens in the sector in Zimbabwe also affects the sector in SA, hence the need for cooperation in that area.
“Zimbabwe is seeking for assistance to value-add its minerals, contrary to the notion of hand outs as purported by some sections of the media. With thousands of Zimbabwean experts and artisans employed as experts in SA it is also Zimbabwe’s belief that their contribution to the SA economy be recognised,” added Charamba.
Sources close to the meeting held soon after Mugabe’s arrival said ”South Africa wants us to have open mouths in which they pour their cereals ” and emphasized the need for Zimbabwe  to promote and grow her own industries to ensure it has something to trade in as opposed to consuming only without producing.
 
Meanwhile, President Mugabe who is on a historical 3-day state visit to South Africa is currently holding talks with his counterpart President Jacob Zuma at the Union Building in Pretoria.
Mugabe arrived at Union Building at 10 am and was welcomed with a gun salute and the singing of the national anthems of the two countries in a welcome ceremony in the Nelson Mandela Amphitheatre.
After the welcome ceremony the two leaders proceeded into a closed door meeting.
Official talks and a signing ceremony will follow the session at around mid day.
A total of 8 agreements are expected to be signed after the deliberations between the two leaders.
 
The agreements include the one on the establishment of a bi-national commission, MoU on diplomatic consultations, an agreement on mutual assistance between customs administrations, and an agreement on cooperation in water resource management and establishment and functioning of the joint water commission.

Parliament is broke and this has forced it to adjourn indefinitely, several MPs have said.

According to the March 19 edition of Hansard, the speaker, Jacob Mudenda, announced the adjournment of parliament to May 5. But several MPs said the break was likely to be longer than this due to a biting liquidity crunch that was making it difficult to fund parliamentary business.
The speaker did not give a reason for the adjournment of business after parliament resumed work on January 27 after the Christmas holiday.
“This does not augur well. Government and parliament were struggling to fund our trips and normal parliamentary business, but there is uncertainty around this closure. There is talk that it could be extended due to the poor financial position,” said an MP who declined to be named.
MPs and senators routinely claim money to cover fuel, accommodation, food and allowance expenses. Government already owes the legislators hundreds of thousands of dollars, with some former MPs still battling to get what is owing to them since their term of office.
 
Hotels turn MPs away
Some hotels are now turning away MPs who needed accommodation owing to the accumulation of huge bills that government is failing to honour.
Currently, parliament does not even have a substantive clerk after the mysterious departure of Austin Zvoma last year. Zvoma was reported to have been forced out owing to his alleged links to the faction led by Joice Mujuru, who has since been fired from the ruling party.
Another MP said that most MPs were using their personal resources to attend parliamentary business, and had been doing so for some time.
“We keep getting promises that we will be reimbursed soon, but it seems there is no money to do that. After battling for some time, quite a number of MPs have now resolved not to attend parliament and their grievances have been made known to the acting clerk and the speaker.
“As it stands, treasury is struggling to raise money and it might take months before we are back in the House,” said another MP. She added that ad hoc adjournments would worsen the backlog of bills and other parliamentary processes.
Little progress
Currently, the national assembly and senate are supposed to be deliberating on hundreds of laws that need to be aligned to the constitution adopted in 2013. Little progress has been made since the elections that took place the same year and ushered in the eighth parliament.
“At this rate, the year will end without any progress being made to align the laws with the new constitution. That would mean we would have gone for two years without doing anything on the laws and the new constitution. This has negative implications on reforms relating to elections, the media and other key issues,” she added.
 
Don’t cause trouble
The main opposition party, the MDC-T, insists that it will not take place in any by-elections or major polls without electoral reforms. The MP added that the adjournment of parliament could be used to serve Zanu (PF) political interests.
“Given our current political and economic problems, it seems government is of the view that MPs are likely to worsen the situation through parliamentary committee actions and general motions that would whip up people’s emotions. The government would rather have the MPs out of the picture so that they don’t cause unnecessary trouble,” she added.
Administrative staff is also said to be facing operational problems as the secretariat is reportedly struggling to purchase small items like stationery.
The government is struggling to pay civil servants and soldiers have been forced to go on lengthy breaks to cut down on operational costs.
Most key government programmes have been put on hold while referral hospitals are fast running out of essential drugs, with health ministry officials saying only 40 percent remains. Currently, government is relying on the donor community for more than 90 percent of its drug stocks.
Unemployment has risen to more than 80 percent, according to independent researchers, as companies continue to close down. Mudenda, who is a senior Zanu (PF) member sitting in the party’s politburo, could not be reached for comment. – The Zimbabwean

Somabhula-Disgusted parents at Brunsguard Primary school in Somabhula (in Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s home Midlands province area) have fired an onslaught at the school administration for incompetence.
This comes after the local school recorded zero percent for the past thirty(30) years, as ZimEye.com reveals. Parents with children learning at the school have since threatened to remove them next term, a development that will affect its sustainability.
According to displeased parents there was drama at the school as parents disrupted the main Annual general meeting (AGM) agenda accusing the teaching staffs of being incompetent, citing series of massive grade 7 failure rates. They alleged since Zimbabwe got its Independence in 1980,the school recorded dismal academic performance.
“I personally think the school should seek for divine intervention from prophets like Magaya and Makandiwa. The school administration got torrid time as (us) parents quizzed them for failing to troubleshoot the long failure rate problem.
“To be honest as parents we wonder why Brunsguard has failed to impress all these years. The school was built around 1977 by a commercial white farmer and by then it was one of the best farming schools attaining very good results. But at this juncture eeish, our pupils gets as far as grade 7 hardly constructing  a single simple English sentence let alone speaking in the language,” said the seemingly troubled parent .
Another source said most burning concerns by parents were raised at the school’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the institution last Thursday where she said a senior teacher; Mr Douglas Zvaravashe was on fire for absenting himself from school.
“I think there is need of serious inspection by the Education Ministry about the goings on here. Some teachers here willy-nilly abscond and come for lessons late as they first attend their farm fields. We are extremely worried because of the carefree attitude displayed by the tutors. We have every reason to care because these problems do kill the future of our children,” he said.
The wearisome parent who however said the community must not paint all the teachers at the school with one brush, appealed to the Ministry of Education to help them remove the rotten tomatoes before they spoil the whole basket failure of which he threatened to remove all her four children at the school.
The School head, Mr Dumisani Ndlela refused to comment and was quick to refer all questions to the District Education officer.
Several efforts to contact the Provincial Education Director (PED) Agness Gudo were fruitless as her mobile phone was not reachable by the time of going to print.

JOEL Mujuru, elder brother of the late Retired General Solomon Mujuru, yesterday dismissed reports that his younger brother sired about 90 children with different women, saying the family was only aware of nine children from three wives including the former Vice-President Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru.
Joel described all the other women and children who were now emerging from the woods seeking to claim a stake in the late army commander and national hero’s estate as “street kids and gold diggers” seeking to reap where they did not sow.
Mujuru died mysteriously in an inferno at his Beatrice farm in 2011. His multi-million-dollar estate has not yet been distributed and is currently at the centre of a fierce fight with several beneficiaries and claimants, among them Joice and her five children, lining up for a share of the spoils.
His official wives, according to Joel, were Joice, the late Simbiso — who had two children — and another woman he only identified as “Maidei’s mother”.
His vast business empire included mining and farming ventures.
But Joel said what was disturbing and suspicious was that several children were now surfacing at the courts before they introduced themselves to him, the only known surviving elder brother of the deceased.
“The rest who now claim to be Solomon’s children are street kids who are after his wealth,” Joel said.
“What kind of children are they who appear at the courts without even coming to see their father’s relatives? We like Solomon’s children, but those we don’t know should go for paternity tests first before we can accept them. Where were they when Solomon was still alive?”
The family is currently embroiled in a war over the estate, with many children surfacing at the High Court to claim their share of the vast empire amid reports that the former Vice-President had hidden her late husband’s will to deny other children born out of wedlock their share of the inheritance.
When the family met at the High Court recently to choose an executor, about 20 children were reportedly named as the late General’s children.
Some of them claimed that the former VP had changed ownership of some properties and demanded an audit of “their” father’s estate before it was distributed.
But Joel said his brother’s estate was still intact.
“If they want to know about Solomon’s estate, they should ask us. They should only go to the courts if there is a dispute. I am not supporting Teurai, but we cannot ignore her, she is Solomon’s wife. After all, as the Mujuru family, we don’t want anything from Solomon’s estate. It should be shared by his wives and children. But those that emerge now should go for paternity tests first,” Joel said.
He added: “I want everyone — including Teurai — to know that we don’t need anything from Solomon’s estate. If Teurai also thinks that we want her husband’s wealth, she is mistaken.”
Meanwhile, former Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said the Zanu PF national disciplinary committee’s report which implicated the late General Mujuru in a plot with his wife Joice to oust President Robert Mugabe as way back as 2004 was a desperate attempt to besmirchthe former VP.
Mujuru was recalled from her VP post and Zanu PF position in December, and summarily expelled from the party last week for allegedly plotting to kill Mugabe.
“For them to now say the late General was plotting to kill the President, and yet they buried him at the National Heroes’ Acre, shows a desperate attempt to find fault in his wife. Why were they quiet all along and say it only when he is dead and punish his wife for that?” Gumbo queried.
Gumbo, Mujuru and former Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa were expelled from the party for allegedly plotting against Mugabe. – Newsday

A LOWER Sixth student at St Dominic’s Chishawasha Secondary School, who scored 9As and 2Bs in her “O” Level examinations in 2013, might soon find herself out of school as her maternal grandparents have failed to raise the required fees.
Ayshire Mapeture has since sent out an SOS through her headmistress Sister Rose Rushwaya.
In her letter of appeal dated March 30 2015, Ruswaya said her institution could not continue to take care of Mapeture’s needs because of other pressing financial commitments.
“We have admitted her into school because she is well-groomed and we see that she has potential that given a chance, she will make a difference in society,” Rushwaya said.
“Mapeture passed her ‘O’ Levels with 9As and 2Bs, but could not collect her results as soon as they were released early 2014 because she had arrears in the school accounts.”
Mapeture stays with her maternal grandparents in Norton. She is the first born in a family of two.
Her parents are separated and both stay in South Africa in different households, but without stable employment.
She is currently studying Mathematics, Biology and Chemistry and dreams of becoming an optician.
Any financial assistance should be channelled through the headmistress’ office or call Rushwaya on +263 774 229 828 or +26377 276 7025.
-The above article first appeared in the Newsday paper-

News24|  *Mugabe arrives in SA for first state visit in over 20 years
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is due to arrive in South Africa on Tuesday afternoon, his country’s biggest trading partner, three days after his spokesperson suggested he would “soon bow out”.
The 91-year-old leader will arrive at 15:00 on board a plane from the struggling Air Zimbabwe state carrier. He will be accompanied by business leaders, government ministers and his wife Grace, who has recently been ill.
This is the first state visit Mugabe has paid to South Africa since 1994.
An official statement from the department of international relations said the visit will focus on “bilateral and economic co-operation” as well as “regional and continental matters”.
The Zimbabwe Independent newspaper reports that Mugabe may ask President Jacob Zuma to help fund a Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit on industrialisation, which is due to take place in Harare on April 26.
“He could be looking for some [financial] reprieve of some sort,” Pedzisai Ruhanya, of the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute told News24.
Twenty months after elections that returned Mugabe to power, Zimbabwe’s economy is shrinking. A tightly-stretched budget means he is struggling to pay civil servants and pay for commitments Zimbabwe has taken on after Mugabe’s election to the chair of both the SADC and the African Union.
Ruhanya told News24 that Zimbabwe’s failure to address concerns over indigenisation, which requires foreign-owned firms to part with majority shares, continued to be a deterrent for foreign direct investment, including from South Africa.
“There are no fundamental reforms in our politics,” he said.
Zimbabwe is still a major market for South African-produced goods. Critics, including some cabinet ministers, insist this is to the detriment of local industry. Zimbabwe’s ageing factories haven’t been able to recapitalise and they struggle to compete with their more efficient competitors in South Africa.
“As a political concern, Zimbabwe is no longer an issue in South Africa,” said MacDonald Lewanika, the director of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition.
“I think this has been demonstrated through various inactions they have taken since they relinquished their role as facilitator [in the Zimbabwe political crisis].”
“Their [South Africa’s] interest seems to be more economic than it does around values and political issues. All of these things are part of what inform the environment ahead of the president’s official visit to South Africa,” Lewanika told News24.
Zimbabwe’s political scene is currently dominated by bitter infighting within Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party. The party last week finally expelled former vice president Joice Mujuru, who was sacked in December when her growing popularity appeared to threaten Mugabe and his family’s hold on power.
State media at the weekend carried a suggestion that Mugabe would soon “bow out”. A column in the official Herald, widely believed to be written by Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba, said Mugabe had “discharged a key assignment to do with succession” in what appeared to be a reference to his placing of new Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa in direct line to succeed him.
Grace, 49, also appears destined for high-level politics following her election to the post of Zanu-PF women’s league chair in December.
– News24

EXPELLED FORMER VICE PRESIDENT Joice Mujuru has followed Morgan Tsvangirai’s trail by branching out of the ruling party and forming her own party, an insider has cast-all.
Tsvangirai used to be a powerful ZANU PF commissar but in 1999 decided to desert Robert Mugabe and form the MDC party together with a crawl of academics and  activists all disgruntled with ZANU PF’s perversion of the political pool.
Mrs Mujuru’s latest move likely was revealed by her top lieutenant Didymus Mutasa who said the party will bw called ZANU (People First). Mutasa who is popularly known under the nickname, “Gamatox,” said members of the “original and genuine Zanu PF which was formed on August 8, 1963” had decided to form “People First“ after the ruling party was taken over by a bunch of mafikizolos at the December 2014 congress.
Mutasa warned that the proposed new party would rock the ruling party since it had the backing of key figures in the security establishment as well as former Zipra and Zanla commanders.
“We want to have a party, but we are still talking about it. We are with Mai Mujuru, Rugare Gumbo and all those who were removed from the party,” he told a privately-owned radio station.
“It is many of us from different oppositional parties such as Simba Makoni, Dumiso Dabengwa and a lot of others who were no longer supporting Zanu PF.
“Our membership is composed of the original and seasoned politicians, commanders of the Zimbabwe African National Army (Zanla), Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (Zipra) and Zimbabwe People’s Army (Zipa) forces who are now being marginalised,” he said.
 
Mutasa hinted that many big names of disgruntled former Mugabe loyalists are warming up to the move.
Margaret Dongo, who left Zanu PF in the 1990s to stand as an independent candidate also appeared to warm up to the idea of a new party yesterday.
“A Zanu PF returning to the ideals of the liberation struggle is long overdue. It will attract war veterans, nationalists and all those who were wrongly expelled from the party. The generation that waged the liberation war is still there and should lead the party not these mafikizolos.
“Fortunately, these guys have seen the light and there are a lot of war veterans who have been looking for shelter,” Dongo said.
And despite the public bravado after expelling Mujuru and her allies, it is widely known that the People First movement has rattled the ruling party, amid fears that party hardliners may resort to extreme violence to thwart their opponents.
But Mutasa and team are not deterred.
“We should all converge to save our country from the corrupt and selfish leadership of the illegal 2014 Zanu PF. We will accept as members all Zimbabweans from all walks of life who are determined to work for a new Zimbabwe.
“We envisage a Zimbabwe where every member of society matters. Hence we shall require that in all considerations people must come first. Hence our slogan People First,” he said.
Gumbo said yesterday that the expulsion of Mujuru from the post-congress Zanu PF was a blessing in disguise as it would open the door for “like-minded persons” to work together towards a common objective.
“The expulsion of Mai Mujuru just shows vindictiveness on the part of those who are in the party’s politburo, but they have also played into our hands,” he said cryptically.
 
“Just a money-faction” – Prof Moyo
Commenting on the development ZANU PF spin doctor Jonathan Moyo scoffed at the move.
“Media dreams of a split will come to grief not least because the nefarious pursuits of expelled malcontents in the wilderness cannot be rationally described as a split,” Moyo said.
Dumiso Dabengwa’s 2008 foray into the political wilderness was not a split in Zanu PF nor was Simba Makoni’s Mavambo in the same year which ended up as Magumo in 2013.”
He continued, “it is also notable that the expelled Mujuru-Mutasa-Rugare cabal was widely seen as the money-faction before its long overdue expulsion because money was, as it still is, more important to the threesome than ideology.”
 

The MDC-T  youth have staged a protest in Bulawayo’s  Mpopoma -Pelandaba constituency citing that the ruling party is preparing to rig the parliamentary by- elections set for the 10th  of June .
As the country  prepares for elections after MDC-T recalled at least 21 MPs aligned to MDC-Renewal led by Sekai Holland last month, tension is rising between the two parties Zanu PF and MDC-T.
Five of the constituencies are in Bulawayo and Zanu PF has declared its intention to reclaim the seats lost in 2000 to the then newly-formed MDC.
MDC-T youth secretary for Mpopoma-Pelandaba constituency Mthokozisi Ncube said yesterday’s protest was sparked by a Zanu PF door-to-door campaign to recruit potential voters.
He claimed the party had embarked on a door-to-door campaign where it was recording names of unregistered voters and trying to intimidate them into voting for Zanu PF.
“We staged protests today (yesterday) against Zanu PF in the constituency. We noted that Zanu PF members have begun their door-to-door visits registering children aged between 15 and 17,” he claimed.
“They are told they would vote in the by-elections. We totally condemn such moves of forcing people to vote against their will.”
Ncube said the demonstrations targeted potential Zanu PF candidates Sikhanyiso Ndlovu and Joe Tshuma.
“Although we never saw Tshuma and Ndlovu, our message was clear, they should stop forcing people especially, children to vote,” he said.
“Tshuma should tell his other central committee members in their next meeting to stop it.”
However, Ndlovu who last week declared that he was interested in representing Zanu PF in the polls said he was not aware of the demonstration.
“No one has told me about the protests. In any case, I am in Harare now,” he said.
MDC-T has threatened to boycott the by-elections demanding electoral reforms. Zanu PF has scoffed at the boycott threats saying the opposition is afraid of certain defeat. -southen eye

A 28-year-old Harare man allegedly stabbed his ex-wife more than 10 times, killing her instantly following a dispute over the custody of their two minor children. Sydney Mudiro later drank poison in a bid to end his life, but was rushed to hospital.
According to the State Mudiro, of No. 3 Hopley Zone 5 Waterfalls, last week followed his ex-wife (name not given) of nine years to her new lodgings at house Number 308 Ushewokunze Phase 1 and demanded to have custody of their kids aged six and three.
The now deceased is said to have refused to give Mudiro the children and in a fit of rage he fatally stabbed the woman. Witnesses who saw the scene say there was blood all over the place.
Mudiro appeared in court last Thursday before magistrate Mr Vakayi Chikwekwe, charged with murder.
He was not asked to plead to the charge. Mr Chikwekwe remanded him in custody to May 16 and advised him to apply for bail at the High Court due to the gravity of the offence.
Mr Chikwekwe told him that the lower court had no jurisdiction to entertain bail issues in such cases.
The State, led by Mrs Leonellah Chitanda-Matowa, alleges that on April 1 at around midday, Mudiro went to his ex-wife’s house in Hopley.
It is alleged Mudiro tried to take their two minor children from her by force.
An altercation ensued between Mudiro and his ex-wife, the court heard.
It is the State’s case that Mudiro told the mother of his children that he wanted to have custody of the children, but the woman refused to give him the children. She allegedly told Mudiro that according to the law she was entitled to have custody of the kids.
This did not go down well with Mudiro, who then produced an okapi knife and stabbed the woman several times all over her body. The court heard that Mudiro went on to drink poison in an attempt to take his own life.
Neighbours made a report to the police and Mudiro was rushed to hospital. It is further alleged that Mudiro, who was under police custody in hospital, attempted to escape but was apprehended.-Herald

A male police officer kombi operators allege is notorious for bribery in the Highfield area, was last month knocked down by a passing kombi at a roadblock in the afternoon of the 22nd March.
The cop (name withheld) who survived the accident, is still recovering from the injuries sustained medics say are serious.
A 39-year-old man appeared in court last Thursday for allegedly knocking the policeman.
Lloyd Chirombo appeared before Mbare magistrate Ms Anita Tshuma charged with negligent driving.Ms Tshuma remanded Chirombo in custody to April 16. Prosecutor Ms Miriam Chiba said Chirombo was not a proper candidate for bail because he was likely to abscond as it took the police two weeks to apprehend him.
“Chirombo is not fit to be granted bail because he was on the run and our fear is that if he is remanded out of custody he might not come to court. More so, he committed a very serious offence considering that he knocked down a police officer who was clad in his uniform and was on duty,” she said.
Chirombo told the court that he was denying the allegations on the basis that he was not the one who was driving the motor vehicle on the day in question.
“I was off duty on the day in question. I was not running away from the police because I did not even know that the police were after me,” he said.
Allegations are that on March 22 this year at a roadblock in Highfield, Chirombo was driving a commuter omnibus.
The court heard that he knocked down a police officer in uniform who was carrying out traffic duties but he did not stop.

Public relations manager of  National Railways of Zimbabwe, Fanuel Masikati has expressed concern over the increase in cases of people committing suicide by throwing themselves in front of on-coming trains.
According to the NRZ, 147 people died between January 2007 and February 2015 on the country’s railway lines after throwing themselves in front of on-coming trains.
In a statement, NRZ Public relations manager  said many of the suicide cases involve women carrying young children.
Masikati did not, however provide figures for this year alone.
“Suicidal cases involving people who throw themselves in front of on-coming trains and those that seat on the railway lines are on the increase, a scenario which is of major concern to the NRZ and the public at large. People should seek counselling when confronted with challenges and seemingly difficult situations,” said Masikati.
“Some children and adults have been seen lying and sitting on railway lines, which is dangerous. These practices should be discouraged as they may result in people losing their lives. We’re appealing to the general public to desist from such retrogressive acts and report such cases to the nearest police or railway security stations.”
He said statistics show a trend where many people committ suicide in January, September and December, a situation he attributed to the so called “January disease” and school fees dilemma among other social challenges.
“It is common knowledge that many people are faced with hardships and social problems, but it is not an option or solution to commit suicide,” said Masikati.
He said rejection, negligence and societal stigma were also contributing to prevalence of suicide cases.
Masikati also said between January 2007 and February 2015, 167 people died and 581 were injured in accidents at rail level crossings.
He appealed to all motorists and public transport drivers to exercise extreme caution, when approaching rail level crossings.
“There are many people dying or being injured at rail level crossings as well as those involved in suicidal cases. Let’s all be responsible when driving on our roads. Remember, you cannot win an argument with a train,” said Masikati.
He said there were also people who were digging for gold along the railway lines as well as under the railway lines while others have been seen ploughing along the railway lines.
“This is risky to the movement of both passenger and freight trains throughout the country, particularly during the rainy season as it causes wash aways that have resulted in the derailment of trains,” he said. -chronicle

A diaspora group has splashed a liquid reward offer of $10,000 for information leading to the rescue of Itai Dzamara who was abducted on the 9th March in Glen View, Harare.
Suspected CIO agents pretending to be police officers took Dzamara in March after saying they were arresting him on the grounds of stealing a cow. He was abducted following his civic action calling on Robert Mugabe to step down as he is now too old.
The ZDA group led by Australia based Frank Dube called on Zimbabweans to call in (Harare number 0772889217) with “credible information” on the kidnapping.
The statement said a reward will be handed to anyone who “volunteers credible information that will lead to Dzamara’s location.
The statement came as the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition NGO also announced they are set to make a handsome offer for Dzamara’s find.
“We are putting together something and will be introducing a reward to anyone with information pointing to Dzamara’s whereabouts, and the person will be protected because we know that people might be afraid of disclosing who took him,” said the NGO’s Coordinator Nixon Nyikadzino.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit was in the way at the time of writing as Human Rights lawyers said they are dragging the CIO to court for failing to cooperate for the Dzamara’s release.

Touts and rank marshals captured performing press ups on top of a grave during the burial of the late Mbongeni, a local Bulawayo Hwindi/Tout.

A MAN from Mvuma allegedly raped and strangled a 22-year-old milk vendor and struck her head with an unknown object before raping the dead body, police have confirmed.
The unidentified man in his mid 30s and believed to be a serial rapist in Mvuma who preys on travellers waiting for transport along Masvingo-Harare near Chicken Slice allegedly went on to attempt to rape another woman who was coming from Chicken Slice Mvuma on her way home.
The incident occurred last week Tuesday when the victim, Privilege Mutara of Chivhu resettlement area was found dead by a passerby who sought to rescue yet another rape victim who had escaped death by a whisker from the same assailant.
Acting Midlands police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende confirmed the tragic incidents saying the police had launched a manhunt for the suspect who is believed to be behind a spate of rape cases in Mvuma town.
“I can confirm that we are investigating a case of attempted rape and murder after a woman was allegedly sexually harassed by an unknown male adult and another brutally murdered after being raped.
It is alleged that a female adult from Mvuma was walking towards Shayamavhudzi Township in Mvuma town using a bushy path coming from Chicken Slice. While on her way, she met the suspect and he tripped her to the ground and attempted to rape her. The complainant screamed but the suspect tried to gag her by pouring a handful of soil into her mouth,” she said.
However, luck ran out for the suspect when a passerby heard the complainant crying out for help and ran towards the bush where he found the suspect attempting to rape the complainant.
“The passerby chased after the suspect but came across Matara’s body which had been stripped naked. The passerby reported the matter to the police who attended the scene and discovered that Matara had been sexually abused,” said Asst Insp Mukwende.
She said the suspect was still at large.
“We are appealing to the members of the public who might have information pertaining to the whereabouts of the suspect to report to any nearest police station.
“We want to warn Mvuma residents to be wary of the suspect as he has reportedly raped many women in the area using the same method,” said Ass Insp Mukwende.
Meanwhile, Matara’s parents were up in arms with her husband after she went missing for three days but he did not make a follow-up on the matter.
Sunday News is reliably informed that the parents are demanding money from her husband and have reportedly vowed not to bury her if he fails to pay the money. – State Media

TWO Bulawayo men who were allegedly caught pants down while masturbating inside their parked car at a secluded place earlier this year have been acquitted.
Bulawayo magistrate Sibongile Msipa-Marondedze said the State had failed to prove its case beyond any reasonable doubt against Rodney Joseph (36), of Northend suburb and William Chimunhu (36) of Westgate.
Joseph and Chimunhu, who were being charged with public indecency, had pleaded not guilty arguing that they were only relaxing in their car.
“If indeed Joseph wanted to do the act I am sure he was going to switch off the light inside the car and go to the back seat where Chimunhu was. From the evidence given, I don’t think the State has a case against these two men and as such I retain a verdict of not guilty and accordingly they are acquitted,” ruled Msipa-Marondedze.
Allegations against Joseph and Chimunhu were that on January 22, shortly after 3AM, Sergeant Dominic Takawira of ZRP Westgate was on night patrol when he spotted a car parked at a secluded place near Sizinda Clinic in Westgate.
Takawira became suspicious and went close to the vehicle to investigate.
“Takawira peeped through a window of the car and found Joseph and Chimunhu inside.
“He saw Chimunhu lying on his back on the car seat and he was half naked while Joseph was busy fondling his erect manhood,” said Nkathazo Dlodlo, prosecuting.
The two men allegedly sprang to their feet when they realised that they had been spotted.
Takawira arrested them. chronicle

Diaspora No to Mugabe – Zimbabwe Vigil Diary: 4th April 2015
If further evidence was needed that Mugabe is crazy it came with his appeal to the diaspora to give him more money – presumably for his non-stop travels in search of eternal life.
Whatever Zanu PF in the UK says, no sane Zimbabwean here would dream of putting their money anywhere within Zanu PF’s grasp. The party’s UK spokesperson says Zimbabwe is a ‘victim’ of a vicious depression as well of course as ‘illegal’ sanctions but he happily proclaims that ‘the economic renaissance (is) already in motion’ (see: Zimbabwe Herald article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201504040103.html – Zimbabwe: Zim-Diaspora Policy Needed As Soon As Yesterday).
We don’t see any sign of an economic renaissance in Zimbabwe. Sure the UK diaspora supports our families at home – otherwise they would starve, die of preventable diseases or drop out of school. But Mugabe’s deluded hope of financial help from the diaspora only shows how out of touch he is with reality. Zimbabwe is a basket case and the diaspora doesn’t have any spare coins to toss in the begging bowls of crooks and con men.
Even genocidal maniac Mutasa (‘we only need 6 million people so long as they all support Zanu PF’) has now seen the light and tells the BBC he fears for his life. ‘You see people disappearing . . . so will they spare my life or send a sniper to shoot at me?’ he asked, adding that the fighting in Zanu-PF was worse than the situation under former white minority leader Ian Smith. ‘The Smith regime was not as bad as the current regime – it’s really terrible,’ Mr Mutasa said (.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32176164 – Zimbabwe ruling party expels Mugabe rival Joyce Mujuru 3 April 2015).
We at the Vigil ask who will invest in a country where a high profile human rights activist like Itai Dzamara can be ‘disappeared’ by the intelligence service? Or, for that matter, where the boss of the State Procurement Board – a plum rip-off job – owes more than a million dollars in unpaid tax on his earnings – let alone his bribes! The brazen Charles Kuwaza sees no need to pay taxes because ‘my contract is with the President’ (see: SPB boss racks up $1m tax arrears – http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/zimsit_w_spb-boss-racks-up-1m-tax-arrears-the-herald/).
We note that Zanu PF has expelled Joice Mujuru, describing her as ‘the Godmother of all the corruption, including that which has brought strategic parastatals like Air Zimbabwe, ZBC, NRZ, IDC and GMB to their knees’. (What about Mr Kuwaza’s SPB?) Apart from engaging in witchcraft and sorcery in her attempts to render the President unfit to govern, Mujuru is apparently the leader of fifth columnists. We wonder if they are talking about the fifth-rate columnists on the Herald? (See: http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/zanu-pf-expels-joice-mujuru%e2%80%a2-slew-allegations-cited-%e2%80%a2-plots-traced-far-back-2004/ – Zanu-PF expels Joice Mujuru – Slew of allegations cited – Plots traced as far back as 2004).
A meeting of the Zimbabwe Action Forum after the Vigil decided to ask for police permission to present a petition to the Zimbabwe Embassy at 11 am on Friday 17th April 2015 – the day before Zimbabwe Independence Day. The petition will focus on the abduction of Itai Dzamara. The protest follows a series of approaches to the Embassy by concerned Zimbabweans hoping to present a letter asking for an explanation of the abduction. In the latest protest, on Tuesday 31st March, Martin Chinyanga of Diaspora Feels It was taken into police custody for some hours and told not to approach within a yard of the Embassy after a complaint to the police by the Zimbabwean Ambassador.
Others taking part in the Tuesday protest were: Mary Muteyerwa, David Kadzutu, Noobukhosi Moyo, Hilda Gwesele, Tafadzwa Mushakwe, Enniah Dube, Rhoda Majoni, Mavis Chisvo, Linton Magume, Clever Manjoro, Epiphania Phiri, Danny Kadiki, Arthur Molife and Tendai Dlamani.
We are preparing a letter to the police detailing the concerns which prompt our approaches to the Embassy.
Other points
· The Zimbabwe Association is holding an exhibition ‘12 Years: Zimbabwe Association Exhibition Launch’ on Tuesday 5th May from 6 – 8 pm. The project is funded by the Heritage Lottery and shares the oral histories of Zimbabwean asylum seekers’ experiences in the UK from 2001 to the present. This exhibition contains material from the Zimbabwe Association archive, an extensive collection of records of individual cases, legal documents, press cuttings, reports, correspondence, and TV and radio recordings. For more details of the event check ‘Events and Notices’.
· For a short documentary by fellow journalists and activists on the abduction of Itai Dzamara check: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Pn3UKA5UY.
· Tendai Kwari of Occupy Africa Unity Square UK advises us that one of our supporters, Epiphania Phiri, has raised £50 which she has sent to the Dzamara family. He thanks her for her dedicated work.
· Thanks to those who came early to help set up: Eunice Mucherechedzo, Charles Dhumisani Ndlovu, Danny Kadiki, Piyo Choga, David Kadzutu, Mary Muteyerwa, Bridget Mupotsa and Fungayi Mabhunu.

A suspected South African poacher and his Zimbabwean accomplice were shot dead in Zimbabwe’s most exclusive wildlife sanctuary.
The two suspects died during a shoot-out with game scouts at Malilangwe, in south-eastern Zimbabwe.
The dead South African hasn’t yet been named, but he was working with a 28-year-old Zimbabwean from the southern town of Gwanda.
Police told the state-run Chronicle newspaper on Thursday that they wanted to first inform his next of kin.
The pair reportedly snuck into Malilangwe before dawn on Saturday.
But the private conservancy, which has hosted high-profile visitors like Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas, is tightly patrolled by rangers, who spotted the intruders.
They were killed in a gunfight and their bodies are at the local hospital in Chiredzi.

Expelled former ZANU PF Mash West boss and ex-legislator Temba Mliswa, has vowed to destroy President Robert Mugabe’s authority in his constituency and before the 2018 elections, to form a powerful union with MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s party.
Mliswa who has declared that ZANU PF will be finished by the year 2018 and a grand coalition of parties will ground his former boss Mugabe’s stranglehold for good, staked his blood against Mugabe’s government saying, “It is the state versus Temba Mliswa in the upcoming Hurungwe West by-election,” speaking of the upcoming by-elections in Hurungwe West following his ouster from ZANU PF.
 
“Reconciling with Mugabe”
Ironically however this came at a time when he was also seeking to meet President Robert Mugabe in order to reconcile. “I would like to meet the President. That’s the truth of the matter because he is the centre of power,”
“In terms of the (ZANU-PF) constitution, everyone has the right to meet the President  the party and give their side of the story but that opportunity has not been accorded to me. I have utmost respect for the President. I have spoken to him before. He has given me time and has listened to issues that I have brought to his attention and he has acted timeously and professionally,” he said.
 
Accusing Mugabe of abusing power
But Mliswa has also spoken out hinting at Mugabe’s alleged abuse of state powers to crush opposition politicians. He blasted his boss’ party saying, “Zanu PF has no capacity to mobilise and that is why they have always resorted to assistance from the state apparatus to force people to attend their rallies and vote for them. But even with rigging they will lose in Hurungwe West,” he said.
He continued,  “I will not be campaigning in Hurungwe for fear that people will be victimised, there will be terror and we know that despite their intimidation tactics they have been failing to get people to buy into their preferred candidates. There will be no t-shirts because people will be victimised.”
“Zanu PF has forgotten that Hurungwe West rejected both the party and president in 2008 and I had to persuade people to vote for me in 2013.
“I had to persuade them that the president is the right person to lead this country. I had to preach non-violence and people were actually shocked that a Zanu PF member preaches anti-violence ahead of elections.”
 
ZANU PF splitting in 2018.
The spit-firing politician blasted his former party saying it will split before 2018.
“Zanu PF will split; it is a split organisation anyway but the MDC will remain. There will be a coalition of opposition forces. I am for change and if the opportunity comes I will be willing to grab it, he said.
He added that he will work with Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T. He said, “I would like to work with young people, like Chamisa (Nelson former MDC-T organising secretary) and Jessie Majome (Harare West lawmaker). They have brilliant ideas for the country, for the governance of the country which what we lack now,” he said.
He continued saying “there will not be a single party majority and, in any case, most of the Zanu PF MPs are on their way out because they do not work.”

The Mujuru family has been gripped by a grid of fear after the ZANU PF politburo’s latest statement upon booting former Vice President Joice Mujuru struck a direct link between the mysterious death of her husband General Solomon Mujuru and Joice’s expulsion.
As a Mujuru daughter spoke to a local weekly, another Mujuru relative and aunt of the deceased’s children told ZimEye.com the whole family is now daily in fear.
The development has been confirmed by ZANU PF Politburo member Cephas Msipa who last year rushed to stop a war veteran Zanu PF Kwekwe DCC chairman and war veteran George Valentine Makombe from revealing intimate details of a conversation he made with the late retired General Solomon Mujuru, three years ago, which revelation blows open the fact that a day before Mujuru perished in an unexplained inferno at his Beatrice Farm on August 15 2011, Msipa travelled to the Midlands where he met Makombe and informed him that some Zanu PF vultures were plotting to remove his wife, Joice from the Vice-Presidency. Mujuru returned to Harare that Saturday, and the following night his house was gutted by a fire that killed him.
Speaking to ZimEye.com, Mrs (Name Withheld) has revealed she is haunted by visions of her cousin brother Solomon Mujuru’s death five years since his body was found brutalised and burnt up at his Chegutu farm.
“No relative should ever have to bury their own but the nature of Solo’s death was so violent that I can barely sleep at night, haunted by the images of him alone, attacked by his own bodyguards, and then burnt up alive.
“Whenever I close my eyes I see Solo covered in blood and then ashes afterwards.
“When I later fall asleep I have horror nightmares in which I am running to the farm try and save him,” she said.
General Mujuru died in a mysterious inferno at his Ruzambu Farm in August 2011 and the State opposed attempts by the family for an independent autopsy to determine the cause of his death.
The Mujuru family was suspicious of the manner of his death and was not satisfied with the findings of the government sanctioned inquest which ruled out foul play.
In separate interviews with Independent journalists yesterday, Mujuru’s family members and close associates added weight saying the vicious attack on the Mujuru family has rekindled their suspicions that General Mujuru had been murdered and now raised the possibility that they too could be targeted.
Mujuru was one of the most powerful people in Zanu PF and was said to be the only person who could look President Robert Mugabe in the face and speak his mind.
There was little doubt that he was the kingmaker in Zimbabwean politics and historians and politicians agreed Mugabe owed his acceptance as leader in Zanu PF to the late general who convinced liberation fighters to accept him in 1976.
Mujuru family members, close associates and friends said following the former VP’s expulsion from Zanu PF on Thursday and the labelling of the late decorated army commander as a coup plotter, they now feared for the worst.
One of Mujuru’s children told The Standard yesterday on condition of anonymity that they now lived in fear, as the claims by the party’s national disciplinary committee could be used by enemies of the Mujuru family as justification to harm them.
She said the way her mother was treated had left her traumatised. Joice has been vilified as a coup plotter, a dishonest person, a witch and morally loose by President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace.
Mugabe has not relented on his attacks on her, even though the former Vice-President has retreated to her farm where she is engaged in full-time farming.
“She [former VP Mujuru] has gone through a lot in the short period. He [the late General Mujuru] died in 2011 under mysterious circumstances and before we could fully recover, we are unjustifiably hit this hard again. I think the best way for her is to remain quiet and give all to God,” she said.
Mujuru’s daughter said the allegations by the politburo that her father wanted to remove Mugabe could explain why he was killed in the inferno.
“We then begin to suspect whether that was the reason he [Mujuru] died such a painful death. She [Joice] is spending Easter with her grandchildren probably at the farm but news of her expulsion from the party has aroused fears for her life and our lives too. We do not feel safe anymore.”
The Zanu PF disciplinary report presented by legal secretary Patrick Chinamasa to the politburo on Thursday claimed that Mujuru and her husband started plotting against Mugabe in 2004 and were instrumental in the 2008 “Bhora Musango” project which Zanu PF claims cost it elections that year.
“As way back as 2009 the government and the party was aware that Joice Mujuru and her late husband, the late Rex Nhongo Mujuru, were plotting to remove President Mugabe,” the report said.
It was known to the party that they plotted to block the nomination of President Mugabe as the party’s leader at the 5th people’s congress working in collusion with provisional chairmen.”
The report does not however say why no action was taken while General Mujuru was still alive.
Joice was yesterday said to be too busy with numerous Easter programmes at her Salvation Army church to respond to her sacking.
The Standard was however told by people close to her that she could draft a statement that could be released after the holidays.
Commenting on Mujuru’s expulsion from Zanu PF, former party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said: “They [Zanu PF politburo] want to destroy roots, trunk, branches and leaves, but I tell you that we have very strong roots and will win in any election. We will continue to support our leader [Mujuru] and the expulsion will definitely have no effect on our support base.”
Analysts said the firing of Mujuru from Zanu PF was clear indication of the fear in the rival camp who felt Mujuru remained a threat for as long as she was in the party.
Academic Ibbo Mandaza said: “For me, it’s a self-obituary on Mugabe PF. That has nothing to do with the Zanu we know. It’s interesting to see that latter day lawyers like [Patrick] Chinamasa are preparing the charge sheet against Mujuru. It’s a bunch of outsiders passing judgements on liberation heroes.”
Another analyst Charles Mangongera said: “This is the calculation on the part of Machiavellian schemers in the Mnangagwa camp. They see her [Joice Mujuru] as a threat to their ambitions and had to make sure she is out of the picture because if Mugabe is gone either naturally or otherwise, she would have a legitimate claim that her removal from office was illegal.” ZimEye/ Additional Reporting Standard

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is suing the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation, CIO, for refusing to release social and human rights activist Itai Dzamara.
Dzamara was abducted by members of the Central Intelligence Organisation, CIO, in Glenview last month.
Dzamara was challenging President Robert Mugabe to step down ‘because he has failed the country’.
Rights lawyers had earlier approached the High Court seeking for his release and on 13 March an order for his intensified search was given to the CIO.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights at the weekend said they were frustrated by government’s arrogance and continued abduction of Dzamara.
They said they were preparing some contempt of court papers against the state security.
“While others are enjoying the holiday break, in Zimbabwe, human rights lawyers have commenced Contempt of Court proceedings against Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi, Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri, Central Intelligence Organisation Director-General Happyton Bonyongwe and State Security Minister for failing to comply with a High Court order issued on Friday 13 March 2015 by Justice David Mangota which obliges them to report after every two weeks on progress they have made in searching for the missing Dzamara”, said Kumbirai Mafunda the ZLHR publicist.
 

A HONDE-VALLEY man was fined $60 for kissing and fondling a 13-year-old’s breasts last week. Taurai Zindi Chemutsanga (21) of Marekera Village, Zindi, pleaded guilty to the offence of kissing and fondling a 13-year-old’s breasts.
Presiding over the matter was Mutare senior magistrate Mrs Sekai Chiundura and prosecuting was Mr Douglas Matiure. The court heard that on March 8, Chemutsanga and the minor, who were lovers, were in the kitchen when the accused began kissing her. Chemutsanga proceeded to fondle her breasts.
“The minor’s mother entered the kitchen and caught the accused red-handed and a police report was made which led to Chemutsanga’s arrest,” said Mr Matiure.
In his defence, Chemutsanga told the court that the complainant was his girlfriend and therefore he thought there was nothing wrong in kissing her as well as fondling her breasts.
“She consented to my actions, Your Worship, and by the look of it, she was also enjoying as well as I was,” he told the court.
Mrs Chiundura, however, told him that it was an offence to act in such a manner even with a consenting minor.
“She is a minor and does not know the consequences of what she was doing. The law does not even permit you to be in a love relationship moreover a sexual relationship with someone who is under the age of 16.”
He was also warned to stay away from young children. – Manica Post

AN INJIVA who disappeared for 18 years, only to return early this year threatening to shoot his former girlfriend for falling in love with another man, has appeared in court.
Maria Ncube said she started dating Sihlobo Ndlovu in 1994 and he disappeared without a word in 1997, only to return early this year when she had moved on with her life.
Ncube and Ndlovu both reside in Gwabalanda and the woman said her ex-boyfriend had threatened to shoot her as well as her new lover on several occasions.
She told magistrate Evelyn Mashavakure that Ndlovu harasses her when he sees her with her new boyfriend who promised to marry her.
“Your Worship, I’ve reported him to the police several times but he still comes back threatening to shoot me. I’m no longer free to be with my boyfriend at my place because he banned him from coming to visit me and threatened to kill him,” she said.
Magistrate Mashavakure granted the protection order and ordered Ndlovu to stop abusing Ncube.
Ndlovu told the court that for the past 18 years he was in jail in South Africa but did not state for what crime.
He said he did not understand why Ncube wanted a protection order after they were intimate when he came back from the neighbouring country.
Ndlovu told the court that when he came back from South Africa this year, he was welcomed in the city by Ncube who took him to her place.
“Your Worship, I’m surprised because everything was well when I came back. I told her the reason why I was not communicating with her and we even made love,” Ndlovu said.
Ndlovu said he now wanted all his belongings that he left at Ncube’s place but Ncube said she did not have anything that belongs to him because all she had was what he gave her as gifts. -Chronicle

Zanu PF’s senior decision making body, the Politburo, has accused the late general Solomon Mujuru for plotting to violently remove Mugabe from power. A report produced at the Politburo meeting on Friday confirms the suspicions which led to the elimination of the late retired general, Solomon Mujuruas the Mugabe-controlled politburo now reveals.
The late Solomon Mujuru and her widow Joice are fingered as the chief plotters of a plan to kill or remove Mugabe from power through unorthodox means dating back from the time Joice was appointed Vice President. The couple are accused of attempting to carry out their plan during the party’s 2009 congress.
Solomon Mujuru met his fate in 2011, in a house inferno which produced unusual blue flames, nearly 2 years after the acrimonious 2009 congress. His body was burnt beyond recognition.
But on Friday, ZANU PF spokesperson Simon Khaya-Moyo announced the decision of the politburo to expel the late general’s widow Joice Mujuru from ZANU PF on accusationa of plotting with her late husband to annihilate president Mugabe.
The Politburo accuses Joice Mujuru of pushing her late husband’s agenda to eliminate Mugabe stating that ‘her actions after his demise in December 2011 have certainly been consistent with her husband’s strategic objectives, which sought to oust President Mugabe from power.’
This pronouncement confirms earlier reports that the relationship between Mugabe and the late general had hit rock bottom after Solomon directly told Mugabe to step down resulting in a stand-off between the two men during a politburo meeting.
According to the National Disciplinary Committee report to the Politburo, Dr Mujuru began working against the party’s interests and President Mugabe together with her late husband General Solomon Mujuru ever since she was elected VP in 2004.
“From as far back as the 5th National People’s Congress, the party and Government was aware that Joice Mujuru was either leading or complicit in a plot to oust the President. She, then with the help of her late husband had plotted to thwart the President’s nomination at the 5th National People’s Congress, mainly through the agency of her cabal’s handpicked or imposed provincial chairmen,” reads part of the report.
The report said Dr Mujuru manipulated internal party primary elections, replacing provincial chairpersons with members of her faction, resulting in the abolition of the District Coordinating Committees in 2012.
The report added that the former Vice President had also hatched plans to illegally remove President Mugabe at the 6th National People’s Congress and/or have him assassinated.
“During the run up to the 6th National People’s Congress, multi-sourced intelligence exposed a plot to boo the incumbent First Secretary and President of the Party and therefore, purport to oust him by acclaim of the gathered delegates at Congress.
“Intelligence at hand also pointed to a subplot to assassinate the President in case the approach failed to oust him,” added the report.
Dr Mujuru was also accused of engaging in witchcraft and sorcery in her attempts to render the President unfit to govern.
The report also said Dr Mujuru together with the late General Mujuru was instrumental in the “bhora musango” phenomenon that saw Dumiso Dabengwa leaving Zanu-PF to form Zapu while Simba Makoni formed Mavambo-Kusile-Dawn, resulting in the revolutionary party nearly losing the 2008 harmonised elections, and leading to the formation of the inclusive Government.
“Much as Joice Mujuru claims she cannot be held accountable for the actions of her late husband, her actions after his demise in December 2011 have certainly been consistent with her husband’s strategic objectives, which sought to oust President Mugabe from power,” the report reads.
The NDC also said Dr Mujuru was at the fore of creating a competing centre of power and was systematically usurping President Mugabe’s power and arrogating them to herself.
“On more than one occasion, she and her cabal attempted to convene Cabinet and the Politburo in order to fast track their divisive putschist agenda while the President was out of the country. Quite often, she insisted that ministers and other functionaries of Government and the party must report to her whenever they received directives from the President.
“With increasing brazenness in the run-up to the 6th Congress, she would order the same ministers and functionaries to ignore the President’s directives and counsel even, at times, issuing her own countermanding directives,” the report added.

As the deadly factional and succession wars within President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu PF get uglier, the defiant former Presidential Affairs minister, Didymus Mutasa, says his political enemies have organised a hit squad to kill him in a desperate bid to silence him once and for all.
Speaking in an interview in Harare yesterday, Mutasa said the plot to kill him had similarities to the way “the system has silenced” journalist turned pro-democracy activist Itai Dzamara — who was abducted in Glen View in broad daylight by suspected State security agents a month ago, and has not been seen since then.
He also announced yesterday that he had decided not to contest the Headlands by-elections slated for June because of the uneven political playing field and the “frightening presence of soldiers, intelligence officers and the police” in many ofSays he has the names of hired assassinsFROM P1 the areas where the poll will be taking place.
Mutasa, who has intimate knowledge of the ruthless modus operandi of the ruling party having been in charge of the country’s spooks and having worked as Mugabe’s confidante for many decades, said he was aware of the “nefarious plot” to assassinate him.
“I am not going to be abducted as they did to Dzamara, but that does not mean I am scared, I am not,” Mutasa said.
Through his open defiance of Mugabe and Zanu PF hardliners, Mutasa has created many enemies within the ruling party — and readily admits himself that, “there are a lot of people who want to silence me”.
With Zimbabwe set to hold by-elections in at least 16 constituencies countrywide in June, many critics of Zanu PF accuse the ruling party of employing dirty tactics, including irregularly deploying the army and unleashing operatives of the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in the areas where polling will take place, to coerce voters.
Mutasa said yesterday that it was “sad that Zec (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) is silent and yet they are aware of the presence of soldiers in different constituencies. They are aware of their presence but they are not saying anything”.
Quizzed by the Daily News whether the security establishment had played a part in previous polls while he was still a top Cabinet minister, Mutasa said although he was aware of “such shenanigans”, he could not “speak out” because he did not want to antagonise his former comrades even more.
“I can now complain because I could not complain in the past since I was part of the system. There was a time in the 1990s when I complained about Esap (Economic Structural Adjustment Programme, the government’s then economic blueprint) and I was kicked out, so I could not risk that again by raising such sensitive topics,” he said.
The diminutive politician, who has morphed from being an obsequious loyalist of Mugabe to one of the nonagenarian’s most unflinching critics, said he had been informed by insiders of the sinister plot to “silence me”.
“I can actually name the people who have been set on me. They are investigating me and when I want to die I will go to Rusape because that is where they want to kill me.
“I can say who wants to kill me because I know the system very well,” the former State security minister said almost nonchalantly.
Mutasa said he was also ready to confront a former subordinate of his, CIO boss Happyton Bonyongwe, with the alleged list of names of people who were out to eliminate him.
Opposition parties and human rights organisations have blamed Zanu PF for Dzamara’s disappearance last month, with the government being recently compelled by the High Court to search for him.
Although foreign governments such as those of the United States of America, Canada, Australia and France have been cranking up the pressure on Harare to locate the missing activist, the country’s security apparatus, that is very “efficient” when dealing with Zanu PF opponents, is still to find him.
Still, Mutasa said he was not afraid of being killed.
“Those who took Dzamara cannot produce him now because he is either not in the state in which they took him from his home, or simply because he is no longer there and that is a very bad Zimbabwe where people just disappear,” Mutasa said. – DailyNews

A BULAWAYO pastor allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl after claiming her family was haunted by evil spirits and also that his manhood drives out demons.
Greatness Tapfuma (33) of Kingdom Rulers International Church appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Willard Mafios Moyo on Wednesday facing rape charges. Prosecutor Mufaro Mageza told the court that in October last year, Tapfuma proposed love to the victim who was a member of his church, but was turned down.
During the same month, Tapfuma invited the girl to his Cowdray Park house and told her of a “prophecy” claiming her family was being attacked by demons and needed cleansing. She told the victim that part of the cleansing would involve her sleeping with him.
“He told me that if I did not sleep with him my father was going to die and I be turned into a Satanist,” the girl said in court. Tapfuma allegedly grabbed the girl and had sex with her three times without her consent.
The man of cloth was not asked to plead and was remanded out of custody on $300 bail.
Last year, Tapfuma was acquitted of rape charges after two members of his church accused him of sexually abusing them.
It was alleged that he raped the women aged 25 and 22 respectively, after inviting them to his house for prayers.

A Harare woman who ganged up with her friends and humiliated her husband’s lover by undressing her and inserting their fingers into her private parts while recording the act appeared in court yesterday facing charges of indecent assault. However the husband, a ZRP officer who watched as his lover was tortured, has not been charged as ZimEye.com reveals.
The video recording went viral on social media last week, thereby catching the attention of the police who arrested Moreblessing Ngome (29) and her alleged accomplices. Ngome, who is employed by Innscor, is jointly charged with Judith Muchenje (23) and Diana Chibanda (32).
They are facing assault and aggravated indecent assault charges. Magistrate Mr Vakayi Chikwekwe remanded the three to April 9 on $100 bail each. In his bail ruling, Mr Chikwekwe noted that there was provocation.
“It is the court’s view that there was gross provocation and the accused persons are not likely to abscond hence they are suitable candidates for bail,” he said. Prosecutor Mrs Leonella Chitanda-Matowa had opposed bail arguing that there was overwhelming evidence against the trio.
“Your Worship, it won’t be in the interest of justice to grant the accused persons bail considering the seriousness of the offence they are facing. The State’s case is strong for there is a video footage in which the three were caught in the act. They are likely to abscond if granted bail,” she said.
The three, who were not represented, argued that they were proper candidates for bail as they never tried to abscond. Muchenje said if they had wanted to abscond, they would have done so when the media was awash with news that police were looking for them.
Ngome distanced herself from inserting fingers into Nyachowe’s private parts, saying she only punched and slapped her before handing her over to her accomplices as she went to pray in the house.
Chibanda denied all the allegations against her while Muchenje told the court that she only fondled Nyachowe’s breasts and mocked her.
“Mambo wangu zvimwe zvirikutaurwa nedare ndakazviita asi zvimwe handini ndakazviita nekuti taive takawanda saka mumwe nemumwe ane zvake zvaakaita. Naizvozvo tokumbirawo kutongwa tichibva kumba hatimbotize,” Muchenje said.
Mr Chikwekwe ruled in favour of the trio. According to the State, Nyachowe (24) of 542 Komboniyatsva in Epworth, is a girlfriend of Ngome’s husband, Brian Moyo, a ZRP officer based a Braeside Police Station. It is the State’s case that sometime last month Moyo took Nyachowe to his house and sneaked her into his bedroom while his wife was sleeping in the kitchen.
Ngome woke up the following morning and went to the bedroom where she saw her husband in bed with Nyachowe. It is alleged Ngome teamed up with her accomplices Muchenje and Chibanda and assaulted Nyachowe.
They slapped and punched her and later used sticks to beat her. They stripped her naked and wore plastics on their hands before inserting their fingers into her private parts. They forced her to dance while naked, the court heard.
But Moreblessing Ngome’s ZRP officer husband who watched as his lover was tortured will not be charged as ZimEye.com reveals. Contacted yesterday officers said they were not going to charge Mr. Brian Moyo despite him being complicit to the attacks. In the video Moyo appears at the door of the house communicating to the women.
” He did not participate in the attack so we cannot charge him,” said Constable Sibanda. ZimEye.com in an earlier expose revealed that Moyo was of a truth complicit in the attack. [READ MORE – Stripped Naked Prostitute In ZRP Cop’s Custody, VIDEO ] 

Expelled former Zanu-PF provincial chairman for Mashonaland West Temba Mliswa has confirmed working with MDC functionaries to form a “grand coalition” to stand against Zanu-PF in 2018 harmonised polls.Mliswa, who was recalled from Parliament after his expulsion from Zanu PF, said he would contest his former seat, Hurungwe West, as an independent candidate on June 10.
Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday, Mliswa claimed Zanu-PF would split in 2018 because of deep rooted factional fights, while declaring the opposition MDC would be much alive.
“I’m young and I think the future is for the young . . . There will be a paradigm shift in 2018. Wait and see. I do not see a legislator coming in who is over 60. I’m not talking of regime change but a paradigm shift that will usher in a new era of politics . . .
“I would want to see (Nelson) Chamisa, (Jessie) Majome. I like Chamisa. They (Chamisa and Majome) have great brains good for our country.
“I know the young boys as I said; there will be a grand coalition. If there was something like that I would advocate for it. It makes sense. I want to be in it.”
Mliswa made another claim that the Young Turks in Zimbabwe were being let down by the older generation.
He said he would fight for his generation to put hands on the levers of State power.
“I want to fight for my generation,” he said.
“Our generation has more voters than any other generation. I like change and this fight is not about me but my generation. So if we are united, why can we not win?
“I think we have been let down by generations before us. These guys are supposed to pass the baton stick to us but they do not even have the stick.”
Mliswa alleged that people were still hesitant to buy his idea, adding that he would use the Hurungwe West by-election as a launch pad for his proposed coalition.
He claimed that he would win the by-election and that would work as a precedent for others to stand as independent candidates too.
“It has to start with someone,” he said.
“People are a bit shaky and the real by-election is in Hurungwe West. I’m going to stand as an independent candidate and I’m going to win resoundingly.
“Even if they rig, I’ll still win,” he said.
As has become his character, Mliswa went on a rampage, denouncing the Zanu-PF leadership saying his expulsion from the party was a blessing.
Mliswa made claims of corruption against several Zanu-PF officials including Cdes Obert Mpofu, Ignatius Chombo, Saviour Kasukuwere and Professor Jonathan Moyo.
He said he was pained that his uncle Didymus Mutasa, together with other members of the Mujuru cabal that include Ray Kaukonde, John Mvundura and Luke Mushore, had been booted from their posts on the basis of falsehoods.
State media
 

The Global Fund has urged Zimbabwe to prioritize gays and sex workers in its HIV and AIDS programming if she is to be considered for funding. 
Zimbabwe gets 35% of its AIDS funding from the Global Fund, which is  a pool of international AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria donors.
Sex workers, prisoners and the gays are discriminated against by the when it talks about HIV and AIDS management and programming because of politics and moral issues which are always raised against them.
There are also laws which criminalize gay activities and prostitution which make it difficult for those engaging in such activities to approach health care centres seeking for services if they become sick.
In an interview  with Zimeye,French Ambassador for HIV/Aids, TB, Malaria and transmittable diseases,  Philippe Meunier,  and   Global Fund board member ,said  they (Global Fund) were going to consider funding for nations which prioritize  these marginalized groups  in their  health programmes.
“It is a key priority that what we want to reach out is the marginalized populations. If we do not do it we won’t be efficient .It is also a question of investing in human health so it is really a high priority,’ he said. 
“The question is equal access to health and this means we must have a level playing field around, and we cannot have stigma discrimination and things like that. We mean normal access to health”.
France is the second largest contributor to the pool.

Another sex video rocks Midlands State University
Kwacha Mahachi|Gweru | There are serious concerns from Gweru residents on why the Midlands State University (MSU) students in the city of progress are continuously caught offside, producing pornographic videos that circulate among students.

The latest recording is a 30 –second clip of shameful deeds. In the latest yet still fresh video is an incident where the University’s a level 2.1 Human Resources Student , Dephine N****** ******(Name Withheld)’s footage leaked and is still circulating among students in Whatsapp groups.
The scandalous video shows  Miss Mazara and her unidentified boyfriend in the very act of bedroom games.
More concern was raised after it emerged from an impeccable source the boyfriend spread the video after a misunderstanding when he discovered that the girlfriend had dumped him and was now going out with a sugar daddy, a well known Gweru businessman .
“Having been dumped for a sugar daddy, the dejected guy went on to circulate the video among Whatsapp group mates on social networks. I am informed the young lady was subsequently suspended,” they said.
Leaking of sex-videos is not a new phenomenon as in 2011 and 2012 other sex tapes found their way out of the Pandora’s Box somewhat signaling that the leaks will continue unabated.

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Government has increased Ordinary Level examination fees with immediate effect from $13 to $15 per subject.
In a move likely to bring reprieve to parents and guardians, the government however approved that candidates in both examination and non – examination classes be allowed to do part payment of their examination fees.
Government has, however, not adjusted examination fees for all Advanced Level subjects that have remained at $26 per subject.
Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Lazarus Dokora, said Cabinet’s decision, which came after “a thorough process of consideration,” would enable the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (Zimsec) to put in place a robust and watertight examination security system.
Government last set examination fees in 2013 and there was a two-year moratorium.
Practical subjects and oral subjects’ fees have also been increased to $15, up from $13.
“This Cabinet decision on the examination fees always comes after a through process of consideration. I’m happy to state that it was a necessary process, which led to a decision with a balance on affordability and the need to secure system credibility.
“At Ordinary Level, there is a modest rise in examination fees. This upward review of Ordinary Level examination fees comes on the back of two years of a moratorium when the fees remained pegged at $13 per subject. The years concerned were 2013 and 2014,” he said.
Minister Dokora said government policy had been always to make education accessible to all and it was in that regard that Cabinet approved the principle of allowing candidates from both examination and non-examination classes to do part payment towards their examination fees.
He said this would be done at specified rates per subject, while spreading payments until they were fully paid up by the beginning of the second term of every examination year.
Minister Dokora said Cabinet also approved a contribution by parents towards the cost of Grade Seven examinations and modalities were being worked out on how this could be achieved.
“While examination costs are unavoidable, the desire is that Zimsec holds fees within manageable limits as possible so that the disadvantaged of our society are not unduly penalised. Our system of education is one of the best in the world.
“Our qualifications are internationally recognised and Zimbabweans enroll at institutions of higher learning with the greatest ease. Unfortunately, the excellence of our system has attracted the attention of criminals who seek to reap where they did not sow,” he said.
Minister Dokora said many have sought to fraudulently obtain the O-Level Certificate and people were prepared to pay huge amounts of money to obtain free knowledge of the content of question papers and unduly increase their chances of passing.
He said school heads; particularly the acting ones have leaked question paper content to prospective candidates or in some way given them undue assistance.
“While the law enforcement agencies have their role, it is incumbent on Zimsec to put in a robust and watertight examination security system.
“To do this, they need to be adequately resourced. It is in this context that Cabinet has allowed a modest increase in fees at O-Level to help cushion Zimsec on costs of achieving a tamper-proof examination delivery monitoring system,” he said. -chronicle

A man from Chirumanzu employed as a herdboy allegedly assaulted a 68-year-old woman with a switch after she advised him not to milk cows because of deteriorating pastures.
Ajay Bopani (27) of Masiiwa village yesterday appeared before Gweru magistrate Judith Taruvinga facing assault charges.
Prosecutors said on March 22, Bopani was advised by his employer’s mother Maria Gwinyai not to milk cows because they were facing starvation.
However, the herdboy insisted he would not stop because he needed the milk for relish. The following day Gwinyai found Bopani preparing to milk the cows at her son’s homestead and an argument ensued.
Bopani allegedly used a switch to assault the hapless old woman on the head and hands.
Gwinyai sustained multiple injuries on her arms and suffered headaches as a result of the assault.
She was referred to St Theresa Hospital before making a police report that led to Bopani’s arrest.
Taruvinga remanded Bopani out of custody on $10 bail to April 9 for trial.-southen eye

A rape and robbery suspect allegedly committed suicide by hanging using his T-shirt while in police custody at Masvingo Central Police Station, police have confirmed. Nevison Tapesana of Tapesana Village under Chief Shumba area was found hanging from the arm of a window frame in police cells on Saturday at around 7 AM.
Tapesana is alleged to have admitted to raping his brother’s daughter, impregnating her as well as infecting her with HIV. He is suspected to have been behind the rape and subsequent gruesome murder of Masvingo Teachers’ College female student Zvikomborero Chingarandi last month.
Chingarandi was allegedly raped and murdered on her way to church and her body was found by security guards a few metres from the college’s perimeter fence along a footpath.
Acting Masvingo police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Nkululeko Nduna said Tapesana’s body was taken to Masvingo General Hospital for post-mortem.
“I can confirm the sudden death by hanging of a rape and robbery suspect, Nevison Tapesana in police cells at Masvingo Central Police.
“He was in custody in connection with a number of rape and robbery incidents committed in and around Masvingo. He admitted to raping his brother’s daughter who he impregnated and infected with HIV”, said Asst Insp Nduna.
Police said the suspect was apprehended by members of the public on Friday last week after he was spotted loitering suspiciously in a bushy area near Rujeko suburb.
He was taken to Rujeko Police base and was handed over to Masvingo Central Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for questioning.
“After questioning he was put in custody but was found hanging from the arm of a window frame in the police cell the following morning,” he said.
Tapesana was facing serious charges that could have attracted a lengthy sentence if he had been convicted and it is suspected that could be the reason he decided to take his own life, police said.

There was commotion at Large City Hall when hundreds of people who failed to gain entry into the venue for Prophet Walter Magaya’s PHD Ministries crusade, camped outside the venue on Tuesday.
The crusade was meant for card-carrying PHD ministries partnership members only but the charismatic preacher’s followers in Bulawayo would not accept that.
Some people camped outside vowed not to leave claiming that being within the vicinity of the “prophet”, was enough to solve their problems.
The crowd gathered at the hall as early as 9am for the crusade scheduled to start at 4pm ending at 8pm.
When Magaya finally arrived at around 5pm, police had a tough time controlling the crowd outside. There was total chaos when he started his healing and deliverance session.
The PHD leader had no choice but to give a special deliverance to the people outside but all hell broke loose as people jostled to get closer to him.
So serious was the stampede that sensing danger, Magaya quickly retreated back into the building as the situation was about to get out of hand.
He only came back after order had been restored by the police, PHD ushers and security details.
During his sermon, Magaya reiterated that his life was under threat.
“Last week, I told people that my car brakes were tampered with but only three days ago my car was tampered with again,” said Magaya.
“They tampered with a certain wire on my vehicle so that I get involved in an accident. Only yesterday, one of my members was almost abducted so that they would go public claiming Magaya akachekeresa (used human sacrifice). What kind of behaviour is that?
The PHD Ministries founder said his enemies were working tirelessly to ensure his demise and that of his ministry.
Magaya also took the opportunity to announce the ministry’s first international tour which will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa in May.
“From 26 to 29, we will be going to South Africa. Preparations are already underway for the crusade. I will be going there next week to assess the open space we can use,” Magaya said.
“It will be the first crusade outside Zimbabwe and it will be very big. We want all the thousands of South Africans to be surprised that who is this, what is this and how come a house of carpenter is producing such great things. What good can come out of Zimbabwe? We want to show them that we are alive and there is life in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Magaya said this will be the beginning of many international tours to follow. He also reiterated the prophesy of a million people crusade which he said was certainly going to take place in the capital despite the disbelief by the naysayers.- DailyNews

The Zanu PF Politburo has expelled former Vice President Joice Mujuru from the party for several allegations bordering around indiscipline and dishonesty.
The Politburo meeting, which ended this evening at the Zanu PF headquarters in Harare, resolved to expel Dr Mujuru and to uphold the votes of no confidence handed to some party members prior to last year’s congress.
10 allegations were raised against the former Vice President, among them plotting to unconstitutionally unseat President Robert Mugabe and orchestrating the 2008 ‘Bhora Musango Campaign,’ to the detriment of the party.
The Politburo also accused Dr Mujuru of fanning factionalism in the party by abusing her office to create competing centres of power, behaviour that was described as unbecoming for a Vice President and Second Secretary of the party.
She is also accused of collaborating and colluding with the enemy and providing leadership to the regime change agenda.
Dr Mujuru, who was fired from government last year, will now follow on the doldrums of politics other party members, among them Didymus Mutasa, Rugare Gumbo, Jabulani Sibanda and Themba Mliswa, who have since been expelled from Zanu PF.
In another development, the Politburo resolved to uphold the votes of no confidence passed against some senior members of the party in 2014 and banned those affected from holding senior positions for a period of two years.
Relating to the primary elections in Headlands, the party has directed that only the five shortlisted candidates: Tinaye Chigudu, Christopher Chingosho, Chiripamberi Sheilah, Mahere Nyagumbo and Elizabeth Mukungatu should contest.

MDC Renewal Secretary General and one of Zimbabwe’s best barristers, Tendai Biti has left Zimbabwe for the United States.
Mr Biti’s departure for the US came within two days after ZANU PF Commissar Saviour Kasukuwere sensationally charged that Biti is quitting Zimbabwe and politics altogether.
Impeccable sources told ZimEye.com Mr Biti is no longer in Zimbabwe.
“He skipped the country yesterday to America,” one of the sources said.
The claims were confirmed by Renewal Team Spokesperson Jacob Mafume who told ZimEye.com of a truth Mr Biti is on his way to the US. Said Mafume,
“He flew out of the country. He will go to the US on party business,” he said without shedding further light on the duration of his stay there.
According to ZANU PF’s Kasukuwere, Biti is relocating to the United States and will not return.
But Mr Biti told a close friend who has requested to remain anonymous that he is returning after four weeks.
It was not clear at the time of writing what his trip to the US is for, while speculation was rife that he may have relocated for good.
“For one to settle in the USA, apart from being granted asylum as a refugee, normally, outstanding talent in politics, sport, arts or the scientific field are great catalysts with which to earn a settlement visa in the USA. Since Mr Biti is a barrister and politician of repute, assumption has been forwarded that he may be seeking to “externalise” his profession.

Johannesburg – Zimbabweans on Wednesday reacted enviously on social media to news that Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan had conceded defeat in the country’s landslide elections.
Some Zimbabweans made reference to their own president Robert Mugabe, now 91, who lost the first round of presidential elections in March 2008. Results were delayed for five weeks.
When it was finally confirmed that opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai had won more votes than Mugabe, supporters of the president, backed by the military, embarked on a campaign of retribution. At least 200 MDC supporters were killed.
According to the official 2008 tally, Tsvangirai’s first round lead over Mugabe was not enough for him to be declared an outright winner. There were strong suspicions however that the figures had been manipulated to deny the MDC leader outright victory. Tsvangirai pulled out of a second round of voting, citing violence against his supporters. Mugabe was eventually pushed by the regional SADC grouping into a power-sharing government that lasted four years.
In contrast, Nigeria’s Jonathan on Tuesday swiftly conceded defeat to Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler. Buhari promised Nigerians that “change has come”.
“Well done Nigeria. Well done Goodluck. Zimbabwe do take note,” tweeted user @LiyaJemima.
“If the Nigerian election had been in Zimbabwe the results would have taken five weeks or more to announce,” said @gidi_gabriel.
The state-owned Herald newspaper, which is the voice of the Mugabe government, carried an agency story on Jonathan’s defeat without comment.
Tsvangirai decided to contest presidential elections in July 2013, even though many electoral reforms he had called for had not been implemented and his party did not have access to the electoral roll. The MDC leader lost to Mugabe, who has been in power in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. – M&G

There was drama at Makokoba main bus terminus, when a toddler who was on her mother’s back foiled the thief who had opened the zip of a handbag in a move to fish out money which was meant for traveling expenses.
A two and a half year old Sasha Mabhena opened a more than lightning slap across the thief’s face who had opened the handbag, leaving the long fingered man to seek refuge at the nearby Mzilikazi police station, as the travellers temporarily shelved their jostle to enter the bus, to mete instant justice to the crook.
While the mob was shouting for the capture of the fleeing crook, rank marshals were outpaced before the robber stormed into the nearby Mzilikazi police camp for safety from the marauding crowd that was in pursuit, baying for his head.
Hundreds of people who were at the main bus terminus to travel for holiday to their respective destinations , stormed Mzilikazi police station in hot pursuit of the mugger, but were restrained by the officers who were manning the station, from assaulting him
“Bring him out here, we want him for stealing our bus fares, come on you corrupt police officers handover that robber to us for a strong action and we will give him back to you soon after thoroughly dealing with him,” shouted the angry mob.
Riot police had to be called to quell  the situation as more and more people were thronging the police station in search of the crook.
Last month, a cell phone thief was nearly killed by the mob after he snatched a handset from a woman who was on  her way  shopping.

As the issue regarding the sickness of the First Lady Dr. Amai Grace Marufu Mugabe continues to unravel, there are unsettling reports about her rapidly deteriorating condition emerging from the inner circles.
As a Central Intelligence Office agent spoke out yesterday, President Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba was seen admitting that indeed Grace earlier on in March was secretly flown out of the country to Dubai to receive emergency treatment.
Since last Christmas, Dr. Mugabe has been reported to be battling incurable colon cancer. That was the problem that saw the first family remain in Asia for almost two months as the first lady was reportedly receiving chemotherapy. This problem comes in the wake of some of the famous miracle prophets in Zimbabwe who have failed to heal the Mother. All three are nowhere near the issue and have been evasive as they have all sugar coated their failings by praising President Mugabe.
The red flag after the holiday was the first lady’s absence from the national picture. Some papers were insinuating that she had issues with a daughter that was reported to be on Mugabe ‘ s will as a child between Mugabe and Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri. Later the notorious doctor emerged but had calmed down on her loud speeches due to her illness. But it was during her absence that some overzealous ZANU PF activists evicted innocent peasants from Manzou farm in Mazowe to pave way for Grace Mugabe ‘ s animal farm.
Now the latest report from inner circles has it on record that the first lady could possibly meet her creator before this coming independence day. So frail is her reported condition that her family has been depressed and anxious. The remission process has not been impressive and her body continues to suffer from pain as the colon cancer eats her up.
Yesterday a Central Intelligence Office agent told ZimEye.com in Harare, the First Lady will likely not be breathing in 14 days’ time.
“Amai may not be with us after the next two weeks, it is very sad”, the man who cannot be named for his protection said.
More to follow….
More to follow. …

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission yesterday announced that preparations for the 2018 harmonised elections are underway and that it would soon embark on a nationwide voter registration exercise to capture names of prospective voters.
Justice Rita Makarau Zec chairperson said during a feed-back meeting with various stakeholders and political parties that the organisation was working on logistical arrangements to kick off the massive exercise.
The feedback meeting involved Zec updating the stakeholders on the pilot voter registration exercises that were carried out in Mt Darwin West and Chirumanzu-Zibagwe constituencies recently as a precursor to the national registration of voters.
“All that we are doing now is in preparation for 2018,” said Justice Makarau. “I thought one of you would stand up and say “Zec, stop registering voters” and I did not hear that, so I will record it as an emerging consensus that yes, Zec should proceed with the pilot exercise and register as many voters as it possibly can.
“Again, an emerging consensus is that we must continue with the dialogue…at the end of the day if the product is good it belongs to you and if it is bad, Zec will take responsibility for the product.
“Because you have given us a vote of confidence that what we are doing appear to be good, we appear to be in the right direction, I will venture now to say we have been given the green light to pilot this on a national level and we will start registering voters nationally as soon as logistical arrangements are put in place.”
The new Constitution empowers Zec to compile and maintain the voters’ roll and the electoral body has carried out pilot registration exercises to test its systems in constituencies where by-elections have been conducted.
Justice Makarau took the opportunity to explain why Zec had changed from its initial stance that it would not carry out registration of new voters unless enabling legislation had been put in place.
“There are two schools of thought on this one,” she said. “One says in the absence of the legislative framework Zec cannot rely on the constitutional provisions alone (to register voters). The other one says no, the constitutional provision is adequate and you read the other laws that are in existence to be in conformity with the Constitution and where those laws contradict the Constitution you read them as pro non scripto (as if they were not written).
“We have those two positions confronting Zec and we are saying one of them is correct. But before a determination is made, we in Zec, we don’t know which one is correct and we will proceed to register voters until we are stopped by a court order that explains our U-turn.”
Justice Makarau said Zec was consulting other electoral management bodies in the region to adopt appropriate technologies in the compilation of the voters’ roll.
“Are we going to come up with a new compilation? Yes, we are,” she said. “We are looking into the Sadc region to see what technology our sister EMBs are employing and we are trying to borrow some of that technology and expertise again on a pilot basis to see which one suits us.”
Justice Makarau reiterated that Zec would continue using the old voters’ roll as the basis for its registration exercise.
“Are we coming with a new voters roll? I have an ambiguous answer to that, yes and no,” she said. “Yes, in the sense that the voters’ roll that is coming is new to Zec, Zec has never had a voters’ roll of its own.
“So, it’s new to us, it’s new to Zec. Zec has never had a voters’ roll before, all the faults in that voters’ roll should you find ghost workers or ghost voters on that voters’ roll, the faults will now be Zec’s faults and not the Registrar General’s. In that sense it’s a new voters’ roll, it’s coming from a new body.
“Is it a new voters’ roll? No, it can’t be. Zimbabweans have not changed. We can’t create new people to put on the voters’ roll, so St Mary’s voters’ roll will still have Job Sikhala on it and to that it’s not a new voters’ roll. It’s just a voters’ roll that is being maintained or compiled by Zec.”
Justice Makarau said they would not adopt a new model of voter registration as it was clearly spelt out in the law.
“We are using the model that vaMudede (Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede) used to use,” she said. “The model of voter registration is laid out in the law. The law mandates us to carry out a continuous voter registration system.”
Justice Makarau defended the use of national identity cards to register voters, saying the document had proved reliable and challenged anyone with a better alternative to proffer it.
She urged people not to use their differences with Mudede to besmirch the document.
“I don’t know if there is anyone without a national identity card, one that enables us to transact in a number of commercial activities,” said Justice Makarau. “It is a reliable document.
“The reason I’m saying so is because most transactions that bind us as Zimbabweans are based on the ID and we have had very few complaints about the security and integrity of the ID. Why I’m raising this issue is because our voter registration system is also based on that document.
“Yes, we may not like vaMudede, but most of us flash the ID left, right and centre and it’s actually the document that gives us our identity and we in Zec thought it is the document we could use as the basis for starting our voter registration exercise.
“We are using the ID number because we are told it’s unique, it’s yours and yours alone and we are saying it’s a good basis to give you a voter registration identity. But you can come back and tell us that there is another document we can use, let’s use our degree certificates those who have them and those who don’t have them, our clinic cards. We have to come up with a document that all Zimbabweans agree on.” -chronicle S

Hundreds of teachers and other civil servants who had gone on study leave at various school and universities throughout the country at the beginning of the current semester have been ordered to go back to their workstations because Government has no money to pay relief staff.
This order is despite the fact that the civil servants had paid fees ranging from $525 to $800 for the semester depending on the programme. The civil servants were also irked by the fact that the fees they paid was not reimbursed and some of them had moved their properties from their workstations to other places.
Shattered civil servants left the universities just days after they had settled and some actually cried when the news was broken to them, said sources at the Great Zimbabwe University in Masvingo where about 60 students were forced to leave.
“It is not all civil servants who were ordered to go back but there is a large number which was said to have had no study leave clearance letters from the employer,” said a source.
The Mirror is reliably informed that teachers who had joined various universities were phoned by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education last week and ordered to go back to their workstations.
The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Lazarus Dokora said the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare was the best to comment on the matter as they were the employer. The Minister of Public Service, Prisca Mupfumira said she can only comment after a week.
“I need to verify this information so please get hold me after a week,” said Mupfumira.
The Mirror is informed that Government had to withdraw the civil servants because the bill to pay salaries to the relief workers threatened to balloon the wage bill. In addition to paying the salaries for the relief workers, Government would also pay half salaries to get comments from the Universities were fruitless. -Mirror

The MDC Renewal Team has reiterated it will not contest in the forthcoming 14 by-elections following the recall of 21 MPs by MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, saying Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda erred in interpreting the Constitution when he declared the seats vacant.
The Renewal Team joins the MDC-T which has also said it will not participate in any elections before so-called reforms are carried out.
The 14 seats, together with seven others won by the MDC-T on proportional representation in the July 31, 2013 harmonised elections, were declared vacant after MDC-T wrote to Adv Mudenda indicating the legislators were no longer representing its interests in both the National Assembly and the Senate after they joined the MDC Renewal Team.
The 21 legislators first joined the Renewal Team led by Tendai Biti before a merger with the MDC faction led by Professor Welshman Ncube to form United Movement for Democratic Change.
President Mugabe has since proclaimed April 16 as the date when the Nomination Court will sit in five provincial capitals to receive names of those who intend to contest in the 14 by-elections set for June 10.
The Renewal Team has since gone to court contesting the expulsion of the legislators and its urgent application is set to be heard on April 14.
Renewal Team spokesperson Jacob Mafume on Tuesday said there was no need to contest in the by-elections since they believed the legislators were unfairly treated because they never crossed the floor.
“The true position is that we did not form a new party, we expelled a few leaders from MDC-T,” he said. “We believe that the Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda erred in his ruling, so the question of by-elections does not arise.
“We believe the economy has bigger problems to solve than by-elections. The money that is being used to fund the by-elections could be used to avert the hunger following the incessant rains.”
Zanu-PF is getting ready for the by-elections, with a number of its prospective candidates having submitted their curriculum vitae which are now awaiting vetting before primary elections are held.
Of the 21 vacant seats, MDC-T will nominate people to fill seven of them won through proportional representation using the party’s share of the vote in the July 31, 2013 harmonised elections.
The 14 by-elections will be held on the same day with those of Headlands and Hurungwe West to replace expelled Zanu-PF legislators Didymus Mutasa and his nephew Temba Mliswa, respectively.

A total of 10 prisoners were sentenced to death in 2014 pushing the number of inmates on death sentence to 95.
Amnesty International Zimbabwe (AIZ) on Wednesday disclosed the rise in the number of prisoners on death row as it launched worldwide report on death sentences and executions carried in 2014.
AIZ executive director Cousin Zilala told journalists at a media briefing held in Harare that 10 prisoners were sentenced to death in 2014 as Zimbabwean authorities resorted to capital punishment to combat crime.
The 10 prisoners include a Mozambican national identified Isaac Mlambo. Zilala said figures obtained by Amnesty from the government showed that a total of 95 prisoners were under sentence as at the end of December last year. -State Media
Four prisoners who were under sentence for death had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment while no prisoner under sentence for death were pardoned in 2014. In 2014, only one prisoner was exonerated from death sentence, Zilala said.
Zilala, whose organisation has been advocating for the abolishment of the death sentence and for a moratorium on executions said the death penalty is “cruel, inhuman and degrading.”
Globally, Amnesty International opposes the death penalty at all times – regardless of who is accused, the crime, guilt or innocence or method of execution.
Amnesty International has been working to end executions since 1977, when only nine countries had abolished the death penalty. Today, the number has risen to 140.

ZANU-PF will hold primary elections to select a candidate for the Headlands constituency by-election set for June 10.
The constituency was left vacant following the expulsion of former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa.Zanu-PF national political commissar Mr Saviour Kasukuwere announced the date in a statement yesterday.
He said deputy secretary for administration  Mr Douglas Mombeshora, would lead the team seconded by the national commissariat to conduct the polls.
“The Zanu-PF secretary for commissariat, Mr Saviour Kasukuwere wishes to announce that the Zanu-PF primary election for Headlands constituency is going to be held on Sunday, April 5, 2015,” reads part of the statement.
“Party members will go to vote at their usual polling stations. The polling stations will open at 0700 hours and will close at 1900 hours.”
The voting, Mr Kasukuwere said, would be done according to cells and members would be required to produce national identity cards or valid passports as proof of identity.
Twelve candidates have been approved to contest in the elections.
Those approved are  Christopher Chingosho, William Taurai Chiripamberi, Sheila Mahere (Nyagumbo), Tinaye Chigudu, Elizabeth Mukungatu, Tedius Nyikayaramba, Albert Nyakuyedzwa, Nathaniel Mhiripiri, Timon Tandi, Moses Chikwariro, Ndakaitei Mandangu and Dakarai Mapuranga.
Mapuranga’s CV was initially rejected on the grounds that he was not in provincial structures for the minimum five years.
Mutasa was expelled from Zanu-PF together with his nephew Temba Mliswa for bringing the name of the party into disrepute.
The two were part of a putchist cabal led by former Vice President Joice Mujuru that wanted to illegally topple and/or assassinate President Mugabe.
The duo was recalled from Parliament following their expulsion from Zanu-PF. -chronicle

Masvingo Provincial minister Shuvai Mahofa has blocked the overzealous Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi on his tracks to grab a productive farm that supplies poultry products to the whole province and beyond.
It is suspected greedy Mzembi owns two more farms in the province as Shuvai Mahofa pronounced that investigations will start to establish the farms in questions. Mahofa’s stance to resist the greedy takeover of farms by Zanu PF officials comes after Matebeleland villagers successfully blocked CIO agent Rodrick Mashingaidze from taking over Maleme farm.
Walter Mzembi lost the battle to take over part of Barquest Farm which houses the biggest chicken hatchery project here after the provincial lands committee recommended the withdrawal of his offer letter.
The minister was early this year issued with an offer letter to take over about 367 hectares of Barquest Farm owned by Mrs Hellen Mitchell.
The farm is located 20km east of Masvingo city on the shores of Lake Mutirikwi and houses a hatchery project that produces 100 000 day-old chicks per week.
Besides supplying day-old chicks to Masvingo, Barquest Farm also supplies Manicaland and Midlands provinces.
This forced the Masvingo provincial leadership, led by Provincial Affairs Minister Senator Shuvai Mahofa, to bar Eng Mzembi from taking over the farm, arguing that it was strategic to the economy of the province.
Eng Mzembi defended his plans to move into Barquest Farm, saying he would not interfere with Mrs Mitchell’s chicken hatchery project but intended to partner her.
He said the portion of land allocated to him had been gazetted for compulsory acquisition under the land reform programme.
Sen Mahofa yesterday said the provincial lands committee turned down Eng Mzembi’s plans.
She said investigations were underway to establish how many farms Eng Mzembi owned in Masvingo.
“The Masvingo provincial lands committee met and agreed that Minister Mzembi should not move into Barquest Farm and a letter recommending the withdrawal of his offer letter for the land in question is being prepared and will be sent to the Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement Dr Douglas Mombeshora,’’ she said.
“The only thing we can do for Minister Mzembi is to look for another farm for him but we are first investigating reports that he already has two farms with one of them said to be a conservancy on the outskirts of Masvingo.’’
Senator Mahofa said they wanted to know what happened to Minister Mzembi’s chicken farming operations at Standard A1 Farm near Stop Over business centre.
Minister Mzembi claims that he bought the farm before the start of the land redistribution exercise.
Acting Masvingo provincial chief lands officer Mr Fortune Chimbishi refused to shed light on Minister Mzembi’s future at Barquest Farm only saying they were going to look for another farm in Masvingo for allocation to the Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister.
A few years ago, Zimbabwe chiefs’ council president Chief Fortune Charumbira attempted to take over Barquest Farm but was stopped after the provincial leadership said the property was of strategic importance to Masvingo province.

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa colluded with the army and Chinese mining company Anjin Investments to steal diamonds from Marange, according to Didymus Mutasa.
In an interview with The Zimbabwean, the Zanu (PF) former secretary for administration, who was recently fired from the party for “breaching protocol”, confirmed the widely shared views that Marange diamonds were looted by senior ruling party officials.
Mutasa has for a long time supported Joice Mujuru, Mnangagwa’s rival in the battle to succeed President Robert Mugabe, and has filed a Constitutional Court application to challenge the Zanu (PF) December congress, which he insists was unconstitutional.
“Those who benefitted from diamonds in Chiadzwa are (VP Emmerson) Mnangagwa and others from the army including a company called Anjin,” said Mutasa.
A 2004 United Nations report also named Mnangagwa as one of the many officials, military figures and international corporate agents who had looted diamonds and other precious minerals from war-ravaged Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Zimbabwe had sent troops to the DRC in 1998 to rescue the government of the late Laurent Kabila from a rebel onslaught, and high ranking officials from government, including army generals, were reported to have amassed overnight riches through the minerals smuggling.
Mnangagwa has also been linked to an underground illegal gold mining syndicate in the Midlands province but he has denied the reports.
There are three shareholders in Anjin – the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (10 percent), Chinese firm Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Company (50 percent) and The Zimbabwe National Army (40 percent). The defence forces commander, Constantine Chiwenga, is believed to be a strong Mnangagwa ally.
In 2013, former ZMDC board chair Goodwills Masimirembwa confirmed that the army owned shares in Anjin when he addressed journalist in Mutare.
As a result of the massive diamond looting, the treasury failed to realise taxes and royalties, said Mutasa. “When we still had the government of national unity, (Finance Minister Tendai) Biti kept asking where the diamond money was going as it was not finding its way to treasury,” he said.
Biti was at loggerheads with Zanu (PF) cabinet ministers then, as he boldly declared that diamonds revenue was not coming to the national fiscus in 2011 and 2012 and hinted at large-scale looting.
Civil society organisations have also raised concerns over massive looting in Chiadzwa.
Mutasa further indicated that former Manicaland Provincial State Minister Chris Mushohwe was also part of the cartel that benefitted from the diamond loot at the expense of the entire nation.
During his tenure as Zanu (PF) secretary of administration, Mutasa blew the whistle against former party members who were accused of siphoning diamond funds from Marange firms. This resulted in the suspension of provincial chairperson Mike Madiro, his deputy Dorothy Mabika, provincial youth chairperson Tawanda Mukodza, youth secretary for security Admire Mahachi, youth secretary for information and publicity Masimba Kangai and former District Coordinating Committee chairperson for Mutare Urban Clever Muparutsa.
The members allegedly received a combined $700,000 from Chiadzwa firms. Mutasa also hinted that he had gathered documented evidence that other party stalwarts from the Women’s League were extorting funds from Chiadzwa.
He was dislodged from his position in a nasty factional war threatening to split Zanu (PF) before he could deal with the matter.
In 2012, Global Witness released an investigative report that revealed the intricate link between Zanu (PF) and the military elite in shadowy joint venture companies that were used to loot diamonds in 2008, with part of the proceeds being used to fund human rights abuses.
“Research by Global Witness suggests that links between diamond companies in the controversial Marange diamond fields and military, police and intelligence organisations loyal to President Mugabe may be continuing to fund repression.
“These groups were implicated in widespread and systematic violence during the 2008 elections, during which at least 200 people were killed whilst thousands were tortured and beaten. Human rights abuses in Marange have continued since the army’s seizure of the diamond fields in 2008,” said the report.
“Our investigations reveal how opaque company structures can hide who benefits from diamond revenues and provide cover for the military and secret police. State-owned diamond mining entity ZMDC is the nominal joint venture partner in Marange’s main diamond companies. However our findings indicate that the true beneficiaries of some Marange concessions, are often obscured but include members of the security forces and individuals linked to the Zanu (PF) leadership,” added the researchers.
The report also identified a Hong Kong-based Chinese national, Sam Pa, as an international agent who had financed the secret police in return for diamonds and other business opportunities. zimbabwean