Dear Editor,
My heart is heavy with anger after seeing China and India donate rice to Zimbabwe last week and this week respectively amid revelations that millions face starvation.
My biggest question is where is the money from the diamonds that we have been sending to these countries over the years.
After years of diamond mining activity in Zimbabwe by Chinese tycoons , our local communities in Marange are worse off than before. What irks me most is the much publicity the State media ZBC, Herald give to these food donations making itit all front page news.
Three decades after independence we still cannot secure our agriculture and food security. For years Mugabe has prioritised elections, opting for temporary farm inputs like fertiliser bags and 10 kg maize seed handed to each rural farmer in an election year.
If my memory saves me well, this is not the first donation made by India. These countries are not doing us any favour. These donations cannot match the economic deals they enjoy in this country and will not solve our food security. Isn’t it true that when you give a hungry man a fish, you feed him for a day but teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime
It’s pathetic that our foolish ministers accompanied by State media make it such big business to attend and make acceptance speeches for these donations when they should instead be making announcements for funding important projects like the Zambezi Water.
If this government prioritised Zambezi water project to date we could be having a farming green belt criss-crossing the country.
Very disappointed,
Farai Nyampinga
Sex Now!, Woman Demands Pleasure From Magistrate in Court
A woman caused a scene in court as she demanded to be fleshly gratified from a local magistrate.
Tarisai Nyamundaya, from Harare was in the Civil Court yesterday begging to be granted an order saying she was sexually-desperate and dying.
The court heard that Tarisai’s husband, Clemence Nyamundaya has been spending time away with girlfriends denying his wife her conjugal rights.
It was not clear if Tarisai is married according to chapter 37 of the Marriages Act.
But she insisted, “I want this court to order my husband to come home and be intimate with me because I am dying for sex.” she said this causing the magistrate to brighten his countenance before the shocked small crowd in court.
Some have claimed that the magistrate’s flesh expanded to the point that he was dis-empowered and could only pass a ruling for counselling.
Tarisai emotionally pleaded with magistrate Mr Trevor Nyatsanza to stop Nyamundaya from visiting girlfriends and to attend to her saying ,“I also want the court to bar him from going to his girlfriend’s house so that he can have sex with me like what he used to do when we got married.”
Nyamundaya was not in court.
Mr Nyatsanza dismissed Tarisai’s application saying this was a domestic case, and the court had no jurisdiction to give such orders. He advised Tarisai and her husband to go for counselling.
Biti’s UMDC Suddenly Dissipates
The popular United MDC, (UMDC) party comprising Welshman Ncube and Tendai Biti formations, has reportedly crumbled.
The union has dissipated following the recall of 21 members of parliament from Biti’s Renewal Team after Morgan Tsvangirai succeeded in removing them from the august house.
The two formations shared similar political-genes having deserted leader Morgan Tsvangirai beginning with Welshman Ncube in 2005, and Tendai Biti nine years later, in 2014. It was hoped that the united front would forge new life into opposition politics after Morgan Tsvangirai’s reputation collapsed following the 2013 national elections.
Sources say that the party has since variously scattered amid bitter infighting for senior posts. These saw the spokesman for Ncube’s wing, Nhlanhla Dube pulling out in an alleged disgruntlement.
One official who commented anonymously said
“It is now history this great project has fallen after starting in good faith, but it was met with some problems and practically we can say UMDC is now dead,” an insider, who declined to be named, said.
“We felt there was a group of people within the MDC Renewal Team who had secretly connived with another clique in the MDC led by Welshman Ncube to grab power without sticking to the roadmap we agreed on at Old Hararians.”
He added: “Some of us felt sidelined and for some time we adopted a wait-and-see attitude. The concept of putting all democratic forces together to fight Zanu PF is not a bad idea at all, but we are against the power grab that had been arranged behind our backs.”
Another UMDC official quoted by a local daily added: “Now, we don’t have a common understanding among ourselves. Others are saying let’s drop the UMDC because of the problems in the MDC while others are saying we should stick to the roadmap.”
But UMDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume has dismissed the reports. “As far as it stands, the agreement is as agreed in the roadmap. There has not been any variations formally or informally,” Mafume said.
“We are actually looking at a bigger coalition with more parties and UMDC was just a starting point. There are no serious problems. There might be issues of clarification, which issues have platforms to be addressed on in the agreement.”
Yesterday, MDC-T members in Masvingo petitioned their provincial leaders demanding the recall of two councillors who crossed the floor to the MDC Renewal Team.
MDC-T Masvingo district secretary Robert Murambatsvina confirmed the development yesterday.
Although he refused to divulge the names of the those targeted, sources said those in the firing line were Godfrey Kurauone (ward four) and Daniel Mberikunashe (ward five).
The two have, however, maintained their loyalty to the mainstream MDC-T party.
“We have written to the party leadership seeking to recall some councillors who won on our party ticket but have since crossed the floor to join the Biti and Sekai Holland-led MDC Renewal Team. We are just waiting for a nod from the party headquarters as we feel they should face the same fate as that of the 21 legislators and Senators recalled from Parliament last week,” he said.
Murambatsvina said if given the go-ahead, the recall would cascade down to rebel councillors at rural district councils in the eight districts around Masvingo province.
MDC-T secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora could not be reached for comment although he is on record saying the party would not rush to recall rebel councillors after Biti and company were expelled from Parliament. ZimEye/Newsday
Welshman Ncube Rushes to Plug Holes, Handpicks Leaders
MDC leader Welshman Ncube who has seen a rising exit of many senior members of his party, has rushed to plug the holes.
Ncube announced Monday he has made several appointments.
Below was his party’s press statement release .
Announcement Of New Appointments Of Portfolio Secretaries
The office of the President, on behalf of the Standing Committee wishes to announce that following recent resignations by some members of the National Executive the MDC National Standing committee has made the following appointments and changes;
Joshua Mhambi who was the deputy director of Planning, Strategy and Implementation has been reassigned to the position of Secretary for Information and Publicity and will be deputized by Henry Chimbiri, who was formerly the Deputy Director of Policy and Research. Sibongile Mgijima has been moved from Deputy Secretary for Information and Publicity to be a member of the Standing Committee as Director of Policy and Research.
Prof. Welshman Ncube
President
Cecil John Rhodes’ Grave Under Threat – Tourism Boss
The current wave of protests against the statute of Cecil John Rhodes in South Africa could spill into Zimbabwe, African Sun hotel boss Shingi Munyeza has hinted.
Students, staff and members of the public at the University of Capetown in the neighbouring country are demanding the statue be taken down because they believe “it is offensive”.
The development has seen Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) leader Julius Malema entering into the fray demanding that this should not only apply to the University of Cape Town (UCT) alone, but to all other tertiary institutions in that country.
Commenting from his social networking portal on Monday evening, Shingi Munyeza said he has been watching the developments closely. “Observing with interest the debacle involving the Rhodes statue and UCT students. Wait till they realize his remains are in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Already Rhodes’ grave has been variously vandalised as local war vets threatened to remove Rhodes’ remains and throw them into the ocean. [READ MORE -Rhodes’ Grave Desecrated By War Vets, They Plan To Dump Skeleton In Indian Ocean ]
Meanwhile, Julius Malema has fired shots saying the statue is a symbol of colonialism and must be taken down. He addressed a Human Rights Day rally in Langa at the weekend calling for the statue of Cecil John Rhodes at UCT’s Cape Town campus to be removed.
“It is this EFF which will remove the Rhodes statue at UCT. Rhodes must fall,” he said.
Adding to the controversial statements, the Associate Professor of Sociology, Xolela Mangcu, has told South African media that the statue should have come down a long time ago.
“What is one of the first things that happen in an oppressed society? It happened in Iraq, it happened in the Soviet Union. The symbols of those systems come down, they should have come down a long time ago,” he said.
Cecil John Rhodes a rich businessman who persoanlly carved present Zimbabwe’s borders, was the architect of the colonisation of several nations including Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe while also being involved in controversial politics in neighbouring South Africa.
IN PICTURES: Horror Barber Shop Where Itai Dzamara Was Abducted From
BREAKING NEWS:Mugabe Loses Own Memory
President Robert Mugabe has been struck with a memory lapse risen into the disturbing fourth level on the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) scale(READ MORE -GDS) , yesterday Sunday as experts now reveal.
As not only his aides, but also he himself now admits his failing health, Mugabe addressing Kutama mission delegates yesterday, confidently vocalised that his late brother Michael was born 80 years later than his actual birth date.
Yesterday’s revealing development came weeks after the 91 year old, Head of State currently in charge of 15 Million human beings, made several other cognitive blunders including vehemently denouncing his own party saying, “Pasi ne ZANU PF,” and also stating that he lost to his political rival Morgan Tsvangirai by a shocking 73% margin.
“When we failed to, when Tsvangirai got 73 percent of the votes …”, he said before he was embarrassingly assisted by surrounding securocrats in December last year.
Speaking yesterday, Mugabe said, “Michael was born in 1999, then there was Rafael who was born in 1922, and my mother said he never lived long and he died of diarrhoea after six months. I was born in 1924,” he said.
Mugabe also said he was a worried and overworked old man and as a result have many sleepless nights.
According to dementia specialist Catherine E. Myers in her medical journal “Memory Loss and the Brain.” (READ MORE -GDS), patients at level 4 may also deny there is any problem with his/her memory even though it is evident to friends and family.. Other experts say the level Mugabe’s memory loss has reached is absolute.
Meanwhile, the frail-looking nonagenarian also told current and former students that he had arrived late for the event because he had only slept for two hours on Saturday night.
“I want to thank you all for coming. I was disjointed because we came back at midnight yesterday. I had two hours of sleep and … I have the habit that if I have something that worries my mind, my mind; sleeps on it and I constantly jump out of sleep and say is it not time, is it not time. That is why we were a bit late in coming to this function,” Mugabe said.
However, Mugabe — the world’s oldest President did not say what it was that was troubling him.
Among the issues disturbing Mugabe are the rising political tensions in his party, a worsening economy, a sick wife and his own failing health associated with old age.
Memory Loss- Global Deterioration Scale (GDS)
Catherine E. Myers | The Global Deterioration Scale is a global rating scale which is used to summarize whether an individual has cognitive impairments consistent with dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease). Individuals are rated according to a seven-point scale, as outlined below; a score of 4 or higher is usually considered to be indicative of dementia. A score of 3 on the GDS is considered consistent with mild cognitive impairment (MCI); people with MCI are at heightened risk to develop dementia within the next few years.
GDS Rating:
1 = Patient has no complaints of memory deficit; clinician can detect no memory deficit evident during interview.
2 = Patient complains of memory deficit (forgetting names, forgetting where one has placed objects), but clinician can detect no objective evidence of a memory deficit during interview.
3 = Patient shows evidence of mild memory deficit during intensive clinical interview; symptoms include:
patient may have gotten lost when traveling to a familiar location, may forget familiar names, may have problems finding the correct word
family and/or co-workers are aware of memory lapses
patient may have lost or misplaced an object of value
patient may show anxiety and/or deficits in concentration
4 = Patient shows clear-cut evidence of memory deficit during interview with clinician, including decreased memory of current and recent events, decreased ability to travel or handle finances, inability to perform complex tasks. Patient may also deny there is any problem with his/her memory even though it is evident to friends and family.
5 = Patient can no longer handle activities of daily life without some assistance; patient is unable to recall a major aspect of current life such as own address or telephone number, and may have trouble choosing proper clothing to wear (e.g. deciding whether a coat is required).
6 = Patient is largely unaware of all recent events and experiences; may forget spouse’s name, may become incontinent, may show personality changes.
7 = Patient loses all verbal abilities over the course of this stage; patient is incontinent and requires help with feeding and toileting; patient begins to lose basic motor skills (e.g. ability to walk).
Further Reading:
The GDS scale was originally presented by B. Reisberg, S. Ferris, M. de Leon and T. Crook (“The global deterioration scale for assessment of primary degenerative dementia,” in American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 139, pp/. 1136-1139.)
by Catherine E. Myers. Copyright © 2006 Memory Loss and the Brain
Tsvangirai Haunted by 21 Rebels
Opposition MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai “is haunted” by the rebellion of ‘his’ 21 legislators a year later, despite successfully recalling them from Parliament, sources have revealed.
The 21 lawmakers, who include former MDC-T Secretary General and Finance Minister Tendai Biti, were expelled from Parliament last week, after Tsvangirai had requested for their ouster from the House of Assembly because they ditched the party whose ticket put them in the august house.
The former 19 House of Assembly members and two Senators broke away from the mainstream MDC last year April and formed their party ,the MDC Renewal, citing “dictatorial tendencies” by Morgan Tsvangirai.
“Yes we did show them (expelled MPs) that we are the real MDC and indeed the very party which gave them the mandate to represent those constituencies which they were representing, but honestly speaking we are worried about their departure,” a highly placed official within the MDC-T party told ZimEye.com at the weekend.
The rebels include popular activist Solomon Madzore millions of Zimbabweans label Zimbabwe’s Nelson Mandela.
“This has also given the president headache and time to sit down and ponder why such a huge number of senior party officials would revolt.
“It is a great lesson learnt and the party has taken this issue seriously to avoid such developments in future,” they said.
The Tsvangirai led MDC suffered a similar blow in 2005 when a group led by the party’s former Secretary General Welshman Ncube broke away following a disagreement on whether to contest in the senatorial elections or not.
Mugabe Abused Me for Years – Mujuru
FORMER vice-president Joice Mujuru says she bitterly feels President Robert Mugabe used her for years and later dumped her from her senior positions in Zanu PF and government after also loyally serving for 42 years, having started working for the ruling party in the middle of a fierce liberation war at a tender age of 17.
Mujuru — who has kept stoic silence after she was unceremoniously booted out of the Zanu PF presidium and state vice-presidency following turmoil which rocked the party ahead of its controversial congress last December — told the Zimbabwe Independent this week she feels betrayed by Mugabe because of how far back they came from and the way she was treated.
Mujuru also feels used and abused by Mugabe, his wife Grace and their supporters who have called her names and hounded her out of her positions amid a political storm and accusations of corruption as well as assassination plots she vehemently denies.
Speaking exclusively to the Independent, Mujuru said she and her husband the late retired army commander General Solomon Mujuru backed Mugabe and other senior party members who arrived in Mozambique from 1975 onwards from prison to intensify the liberation war against Ian Smith’s Rhodesian regime.
“We (together with Solomon, her late husband who was a retired army commander) and others were used as their ladder to the top and now we have been discarded like scrubs (cleaning items),” Mujuru said.
“But I don’t feel hurt by the persistent attacks directed at me by both President Mugabe and his wife because the person they are describing is not me. Actually, I feel embarrassed on their behalf because that is not the way I was brought up.”
Mujuru said she is, however, pained by the way Mugabe and others are treating her after her sacrifices to liberate the country and service in the government.
“I crossed into Mozambique in 1973 to join the war and people like President Mugabe, Edgar Tekere and Oppah Muchinguri later came in 1975 to find us at the front. Everyone knows this, including VaMugabe. The General (Mujuru) asked me to help people like Muchinguri because she did not want to be with us in the camps,” she said.
Despite that Mugabe ganged up with his wife and supporters to attack and abuse her at the height of Zanu PF’s vicious succession battle, Mujuru says she bears no grudge against them and those who ascended at her expense.
Mujuru was replaced as vice-president by Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. Her allies were ruthlessly purged from party structures and government. The witch-hunts continue unabated.
“I have no hard feelings about what they (Mugabe and others) did to be at the top. God made it so … God is the reason why even in pain I smile, in confusion I understand, in betrayal I trust and in fear I continue to fight,” Mujuru said.
Mujuru’s allies, former Zanu PF heavyweights Didymus Mutasa and Rugare Gumbo, however, say Mugabe, Mnangagwa and others rose through blatant subversion of the party constitution and related processes. They are challenging the legality of the Zanu PF congress and its resolutions in court.
Asked what her future political plans are and if she would contest in the next presidential elections in 2018 since many in Zanu PF say she has a huge social base and following, Mujuru said: “Only God knows. I am not losing any sleep over that. Even President Mugabe always says that leaders come from the people.”
After joining the struggle as a teenager and later becoming a cabinet minister at Independence in 1980 until last year when she was unceremoniously fired under a litany of accusations, Mujuru says she did not deserve the brutal attacks and abuse she has been viciously subjected to.
When Mugabe and the likes of Tekere arrived in Mozambique in 1975, she was one of the combatants who helped them settle in amid serious resistance from senior Zanla High command figures led by Wilfred Mhanda.
Mujuru’s husband played a decisive role in enabling Mugabe to take control of Zanla troops and camps as well as the party which at the time was divided and locked in internal strife in an explosive way.
In his book, Dzino: Memories of a Freedom Fighter, Mhanda explicitly narrates how General Mujuru “sold out” so that Mugabe could take over.
“Without that historical ‘sell out’ in Beira, Mozambique, in January 1977, Mugabe and the old nationalist guard might have been relegated to the dustbin of history in favour of Machingura and his Zimbabwe People’s Army (Zipa) ‘revolutionaries’, hardly three years before Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980,” reads part of the book.
It was also General Mujuru’s intervention again in 1978 that saved the day not only for Mugabe and the old nationalist guard, but also for Zanla commander Josiah Tongogara. This was during the purported “coup” attempt led by Joseph Taderera which subsequently implicated the former Dare ReChimurenga members, namely Rugare Gumbo, Henry Hamadziripi and Kumbirai Kangai.
Mujuru says she feels seriously let down by Mugabe whom she did not only support in his ascendancy to the top, but also respected as a father figure and someone who helped her to rise from being a barely literate ex-combatant to a cabinet minister, and later vice-president before her ignominious expulsion.
Last year, Chrispen Mataire, a senior veteran of the liberation struggle who was part of Mhanda group that was barricaded in dungeons until Independence for opposing Mugabe, wrote in the Independent that by 1975 Mujuru was already third in command at Chibavava-Toronga camp where Mugabe and other officials were first introduced to the troops.
When Mugabe and Tekere arrived in Mozambique, they were initially quarantined because Zanla commanders and even the late Mozambican president Samora Machel were suspicious of them. Samora wanted senior Zanla commanders to take over the struggle like he did with Frelimo to become civilian leaders after Independence.
Upon her controversial entrance into mainstream politics during her countrywide “meet-the-people rallies” last year, Grace claimed, among other stinging allegations, Mujuru was corrupt, extorted companies and wanted to assassinate Mugabe.
However, Mujuru this week again intensely denied the allegations, saying they were false.
“I have nothing to do with all those companies. They are just being targeted for nothing. Zanu PF is chasing shadows and groping in the dark for anything they can use to attack and bring me down,” she said.
Mujuru says despite all the attacks, she remains loyal to Zanu PF as she served the party since she was a teenager and was ready to defend herself before its relevant structures or in any court of law so long as due process is followed.
Commenting her relations with Grace and Muchinguri, the main architects of her dramatic downfall, Mujuru said: “I have nothing in common with her (Grace),” adding, “Muchinguri knows the role I played in her life to be where she is.”
Asked what was happening on her alleged corruption investigations, Mujuru said only her accusers and indicters should be able to answer that.
“They (Mugabe and Zanu PF) should have an answer to that question. Why would they be scared of an ordinary, simple widow like me to whom they can say whatever they want when they want to?” she said. – Independent
Tsvangirai visits Dzamara family
MDC T President Morgan Tsvangirai today visited the Dzamara family in Glen View in commiseration with their plight following the abduction and disappearance of journalist-cum-activist, Itai Dzamara.
Tsvangirai met Dzamara’s brother, his mother, wife and children and told them the party stood in solidarity with them in this sad hour.
The MDC leader urged the family to continue to place their faith in God and narrated how he was abducted in almost similar circumstances and spent three weeks without anyone knowing of his whereabouts.
“I only resurfaced at a police station after three weeks of brutal torture and harassment,” said Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai later visited the barbershop where Dzamara was abducted, where his barber narrated how two men arrived in a car with a folded number plate.
He said they stormed the shop, identified themselves as police and accused Dzamara of stock-theft before they handcuffed him and bundled him into their car.
The MDC leader said it was ironic that the State was saying it was the MDC that abducted Dzamara when in fact; he was arrested by people who identified themselves as police. He said the MDC held the State culpable and responsible for the whole sordid saga.
Mugabe, 91 pal Drops Dead In Singapore
- Robert Mugabe friend and age-mate dies 91 in Singapore
- Singaporeans, some teary-eyed, flocked to the Istana to leave personal tributes and sign a condolence board.
AFP| Singapore — Singapore plunged into mourning and world leaders united in tribute Monday after the death of Lee Kuan Yew, the iron-fisted politician who forged a prosperous city-state out of unpromising beginnings.
His son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, issued a statement before dawn announcing the passing of his 91-year-old father at the Singapore General Hospital following a long illness.
He declared seven days of national mourning until the former leader is cremated on March 29.
“He fought for our independence, built a nation where there was none, and made us proud to be Singaporeans. We won’t see another like him,” the prime minister said in an emotional televised address.
Lee’s remains will first be taken to the Istana state complex for a two-day private family wake before lying in state at Parliament House.
Singaporeans, some teary-eyed, flocked to the Istana to leave personal tributes and sign a condolence board.
US President Barack Obama led world leaders in hailing Lee, who turned a small territory lacking its own natural resources into a world player in finance, trading and shipping — all the while with a heavy political grip that was long decried by rights campaigners.
“He was a true giant of history who will be remembered for generations to come as the father of modern Singapore and as one of the great strategists of Asian affairs,” Obama said in a statement.
China lauded Lee’s “historic contributions” to their relationship after the Communist leadership embarked on dramatic economic reforms from 1978.
President Xi Jinping said Lee was “widely respected by the international community as a strategist and a statesman”.
Tributes also came in from a host of international leaders including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the prime ministers of Malaysia, Britain, Japan and Australia.
Lee, whose health rapidly deteriorated after his wife of 63 years, Kwa Geok Choo, died in 2010, was in hospital for nearly seven weeks with severe pneumonia.
Two years before he died, Lee revealed that he had signed an advance medical directive instructing doctors not to use any life-sustaining treatment if he could not be resuscitated.
He served as prime minister from 1959, when colonial ruler Britain granted self-rule, to 1990, leading Singapore to independence in 1965 after a brief and stormy union with Malaysia.
Singapore now has one of the world’s highest per capita incomes and its residents enjoy near-universal home ownership, low crime rates and first-class infrastructure.
The opposition Workers’ Party, whose leaders were among those harried for years by Lee under his authoritarian rule, joined the rest of the nation of 5.5 million people in mourning him.
“His contributions to Singapore will be remembered for generations to come,” it said in a statement.
On the diplomatic front, Lee’s counsel was often sought by Western leaders, particularly on China — which he identified early as a driver of world economic growth — as well as more volatile neighbours in Southeast Asia.
Singapore-based political analyst Derek da Cunha told AFP that “Lee Kuan Yew gave Singapore an international profile completely disproportionate to the country’s size”.
But the Cambridge-educated lawyer was also criticised for jailing political opponents and driving his critics to self-imposed exile or financial ruin as a result of costly libel suits.
Singapore strictly controls freedom of speech and assembly. While it has become more liberal in recent years, it still uses corporal punishment and ranks 150th in the annual press freedom ranking of Reporters Without Borders — below Russia and Zimbabwe among others.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, acknowledged Lee’s economic legacy but said “it also came at a significant cost for human rights”.
He said it may now be time for a national “conversation” on greater political liberalisation.
Lee stepped down in 1990 in favour of his deputy Goh Chok Tong, who in turn handed the reins to the former leader’s eldest son Lee Hsien Loong in 2004.
The People’s Action Party (PAP), which was co-founded by the elder Lee, has won every election since 1959 and currently holds 80 of the 87 seats in parliament.
Lee retired from advisory roles in government in 2011 after the PAP suffered its worst poll result since it came to power, getting only 60 percent of votes cast amid public anger over a large influx of immigrants, the rising cost of living, urban congestion and insufficient supply of public housing.
In his last book “One Man’s View of the World”, published in 2013, Lee looked back at his remarkable career and concluded: “As for me, I have done what I had wanted to, to the best of my ability. I am satisfied.”
Block Shona Products from Entering Bulawayo
Bulawayo – In a latest tribal scuffle, unemployed youths in Bulawayo are calling for the removal and banning of all Shona manufactured products and replacing them with their local Ndebele labels.
Addressing journalists at Bulawayo press club, Zenzo Nyoni, Chairperson and leader of Bulawayo Youth Unemployment Agenda, said they are now calling for the removal of all Shona manufactured products like mahewu, juice drinks and freezits.
“We are going to make sure all companies bearing Shona names must be sent back to Harare, as they are making money at the expense of Bulawayo youths and Ndebele speaking employment seekers. We want companies that open their doors in Bulawayo’s industrial areas and employ 100% local Ndebele youths and school leavers. We will not allow anyone from outside Bulawayo to be employed in our mother land of Mthwakazi state, at the expense of our own job seekers,” he said amid grumbling from the addressees.
“We are also going to demonstrate and march in the streets of Bulawayo, calling all our people to drive out Ndebele blood suckers, who make money in our back yard at our expense,” added Nyoni.
Allan Mlalazi who identified himself as a culture representative, from ZAPU, added fuel on the already burning situation by talking about the 1979 Shona grand plan. “The Shona speaking people planned in 1979, to disempower all Ndebele speaking people and their community. They also deliberately ignored building schools and improve industries to impoverish the Ndebeles. They raped our women and daughters, thereby affecting us by cohabiting with Ndebele speaking Shona children,” he said.
Mthwakazi State president Mqondisi Moyo, also acknowledged that they will not rest until all Ndebele speaking youths and community are empowered by the reopening of the industry. “We will visit all companies opening in Bulawayo to employ Ndebeles and not to bring their Shona speaking workers here.
However a Bulawayo businessman Mr Misheck Moyo, threw back the blame of industrial woes to the former Minister of Industry Prof Welshman Ncube who he said failed to turn around the tables for Ndebeles during his tenure as the influential commercial gatekeeper.
“David Coltart successfully improved Education Ministry, while Ncube kept bickering. I think Mlalazi, Zenzo and Mqondisi must look themselves in the mirror before driving away their possible employers in Shona labels,” he said.
MDC-T Backs Temba Mliswa
MDC-T members in Mashonaland West Province have threatened to rally behind former Zanu PF provincial chairman Temba Mliswa and help him retain the Hurungwe West constituency in a by-election scheduled for June 10.
Mliswa, who was recently expelled from Zanu PF and Parliament alongside former Presidential Affairs minister Didymus Mutasa for taking President Robert Mugabe to court, wants to contest the by-election as an independent candidate.
He has also filed a court challenge seeking to block the by-elections.
MDC-T provincial organising-secretary Wilson Makanyaire said although his party had resolved to boycott the polls citing an uneven playing field, the province had agreed to back Mliswa in order to prevent Zanu PF from reclaiming the constituency.
Besides the MDC-T, war veterans and traditional leaders in Hurungwe West people have also vowed to stand by Mliswa in the by-election.
“I call upon all forces of reason to form a provincial political coalition to reject President Mugabe from his backyard. We must support the candidate who has an advantage over others against Zanu PF and in this case it is Mliswa,” Makanyaire said.
He blasted Zanu PF officials of unleashing a terror campaign in Hurungwe West ahead of the by-election.
“It’s sad that the expulsion of Mliswa has brought new terror as known innocent supporters known to be MDC-T and those who back Mliswa are being victimizsd,” he said.
Contacted for comment, MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu, however, said the party was still bound by its congress resolution not to participate in any elections before implementation of key electoral reforms.
“I talk on behalf of the party and the position of the last congress is very clear that we will not participate in future elections until and unless there are electoral amendments. Only the national council can overturn that . . . I don’t want to say my own thoughts in case I’m misunderstood.” Gutu said.
Mliswa said he could not comment on the matter as it was still before the courts. – Newsday
Mugabe Blows Up 70,000 Litres of Jet Fuel
PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE is today blowing up an extra 70,000 litres of jet fuel as he flies away to Algeria.
The cost of the fuel is circa $1 per litre meaning Mugabe’s trip aside allowances will gobble close to $100,000.
On the trip Mugabe is taking with him a large team of intelligence and government agents.
The State Media has claimed that Algeria is paying for Mugabe’s visit.
A State Media apologetic stated at the weekend, “State visits are considered to be the highest expression of friendly bilateral relations between two sovereign states and discussions centre on networking and developing economic, cultural and social links.
“At the end of a State visit, the foreign Head of State traditionally issues a formal invitation for a reciprocal State visit by the host.”
Mugabe and his delegation are visiting Algeria at the invitation of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the State Media report furthered.
Foreign Affairs permanent secretary Ambassador Joey Bimha yesterday confirmed the State visit, saying Zimbabwe and Algeria had a long history of co-operation in various fields including economic, political and education sectors.
“This State visit is in view of the strong political relations that we have with Algeria,” he said. “We have also been working together in education where we have students from here studying in Algeria.
“The economic co-operation needs to be enhanced by identifying other areas of working together and it is hoped that the State visit will give us an opportunity to enhance the economic co-operation.”
WATCH VIDEO: Shonas Completely Innocent of Gukurahundi – Joshua Nkomo
Grace Mugabe Set to Take Biti’s Parly Seat
Zimbabwe’s First Lady Grace Mugabe is set for “MDC rebel” Tendai Biti’s Harare East constituency parliament seat, a report says.
Last week’s recall of 21 Biti’s Renewal Team MPs has created an opportunity for Grace who has never been in politics, to contest Harare East and Zanu PF officials Godwills Masimirembwa and the Godfrey Gomwe-led provincial youth wing — are eager to please the First Family having already started moves to usher Grace in.
Full Report by The Standard:
Zanu PF hawks have reportedly started pushing for First Lady Grace Mugabe to contest the Harare East constituency, formerly occupied by MDC Renewal secretary general Tendai Biti.
This comes amid predictions by analysts that the MDC-T dominance in urban seats was under threat as Zanu PF was working on grabbing the opposition seats following the recent dismissal from Parliament of 21 MDC Renewal MPs.
The Standard was told, the recall of 21 Renewal Team MPs has created room for Grace to contest Harare East and speculation is that she is amenable to the idea.
Zanu PF officials said the Godwills Masimirembwa-led Harare provincial executive and the Godfrey Gomwe-led provincial youth wing — eager to please the First Family — had already started moves to approach Grace to convince her to stand in Harare East.
Grace, who is the party’s Secretary for Women’s League, was now reportedly ready to become the Minister of Women’s Affairs, currently vacant after Oppah Muchinguri was moved to the Higher Education portfolio.
“We are being told the move to urge Grace to contest the Harare East seat is being pushed by Harare province. But on the other hand, we are also seeing the First couple’s own aides and a few other party heavyweights quietly toying with the idea of her contesting,” said a senior Zanu PF official.
“So at the moment it is not yet clear whose idea it is, whether it is Grace herself or other people bootlicking the First Family.”
Zanu PF national commissar Saviour Kasukuwere yesterday could neither confirm nor deny Grace’s interest in Harare East.
“Is that what you want to speculate? Anybody in the party can be a candidate anywhere,” Kasukuwere said curtly.
Masimirembwa also said the province had not started the identification of candidates yet.
“We don’t have candidates for the seats in Harare yet as we wait to get direction from the national leadership. We want their direction on the matter,” Masimirembwa said.
Grace’s candidature, insiders say, cannot be ruled out as speculation has been high since December that she would join her husband’s cabinet after her ascension into the politburo. However, her handicap has been her lack of a parliamentary seat which is a pre-requisite for one to be a minister under the Constitution.
Grace was last year endorsed as Zanu PF Women’s League boss after she was reportedly approached by the then outgoing Muchinguri executive and war collaborators. But it turned out that Grace herself, with the support of a few party hawks, engineered her political rise which coincided with the fall of former Vice-President Joice Mujuru.
The former VP was viciously attacked by Grace who accused her of corruption and of trying to topple Mugabe. The First Lady has rapidly grown to be the kingmaker in Zanu PF following her appointment as the Women’s League boss at the disputed December 6th national congress.
Other seats to be contested include Harare East, Kambuzuma, Kuwadzana, Glen View South, Dzivarasekwa and Highfield West.
Zanu PF officials yesterday said the party was determined to get all the seats in Harare and will leave no stone unturned to achieve this.
“If we managed to get Epworth, Mt Pleasant and Harare South in 2013, what can stop us now? We will get all the seats this time around,” said an official.
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One Response to Grace earmarked for Biti’s seat
pornstar March 22, 2015 at 5:41 pm #
The muroyi is already sitting on a toilet seat !!!!!!!
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WATCH VIDEO: Dead Man Raised Back to Life ?
GERMAN Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke in the below interview joins the CBN’s Pat Robertson to discuss the resurrection claim. FULL REPORT:
PAT ROBERTSON: The Bible says that before the throne of God there will be this vast multitude from every people and tongue and nation. And we are seeing a multitude that no man can number. It is a great pleasure to welcome back to The 700 Club a dear friend, a man who is speaking to more people face-to-face, I believe, than anyone else in history. Reinhard, it is a delight to have you with us.
REINHARD BONNKE: Thank you, Pat.
ROBERTSON: I understand that in Nigeria, you haven’t seen nine million in your crusades; you had nine million decisions for Jesus.
BONNKE: Yes at the last five crusades, every crusade is five days. From November of last year to March of this year, we had 9,120,000 registered decisions, people completing the decision card. We counted the decision cards: 9,120,000 in five months. Next year instead of five crusades, I want ten crusades, and so instead of having 10 million, we will have 20 million souls for Jesus.
ROBERTSON: You just have never seen such numbers. In India 1,200,000 is the vastest crowd I have ever seen assembled. It was unbelievable.
BONNKE: It is awesome. It is an ocean of humanity.
ROBERTSON: What is God saying to you about Africa? I know you have a call to Africa. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. What is He saying to you? The fire of revival is burning like never before.
BONNKE: Yes. Nigeria has its problems, nobody denies that, but there is a surge of spiritual, I would say, Christian dynamics that are awesome. We are not at all with our back to the wall, not at all. I mean, it just moves like a mighty ocean wave of freshness and strength and power. Jesus saves. We see testimonies like this man coming back to life.
ROBERTSON: I want you to tell us about him. He was in one of your meetings. He was hit by a car. I understand he was stiff and rigormortis had set in. I don’t know if they had embalmed him or not.
BONNKE: They did.
ROBERTSON: He had been embalmed?
BONNKE: He was embalmed, but not the way it is done in America with the removal of organs. They injected chemicals into the body to slow down decay, since there was no refrigeration.
ROBERTSON: So what happened?
BONNKE: His wife was one with a promise from God that woman have received back the dead by resurrection. She said, ‘My husband will come back, and I have heard Reinhard Bonnke is in Onitsha this Sunday I will bring him there. She brought him there. I was preaching and I knew nothing about it. Suddenly, the man started to breathe. His story is awesome and what he was shown while he was in eternity.
ROBERTSON: Tell me, what did he see?
BONNKE: An angel took him to show him Paradise. He showed him the mansions that are waiting for the saints. And he showed him hell. He saw the people in hell. He said one shouted to him, ‘I was a pastor and I stole money. Help me to return the money.’ He said it was so frightening to him that the angel turned to him and said, ‘The prayer of the rich man in Luke 16 will now be fulfilled, and you will be sent back to earth as a last warning to this generation.’
ROBERTSON: For those who are not aware of that, in Luke 16 the rich man lifted up his eyes in torment and said, ‘I have a number of brothers. Let me go back and warn them.’ Father Abraham said, ‘No, they have Moses and the prophets. If they won’t believe them, they will not believe the one who rose from the dead. Now, he says that in this last day, he’s going to be the one? He has come back?
BONNKE: He has come back. People who see this video [Raised from the Dead] are getting saved by the thousands. I hear reports from across the world. It is such a powerful tool of evangelism and we are absolutely delighted. I wish I could have produced Pastor Daniel here today.
ROBERTSON: We tried to get him through customs, but it is so tough in America to get a visa in this country. We couldn’t get him in. You say he saw hell. Were there fires? Torment?
BONNKE: He said he saw no fire but he said he saw these people cannibalizing themselves. Every time they had done it, the flesh seemed to jump back to the same places and then the torment started again. He said it was so horrible. He came back and said, ‘Heaven is real. Hell is real. Become serious with God. You need to be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and live a holy life.’
ROBERTSON: I want to stop right now, ladies and gentlemen, and ask, where are you in the Lord? Are you playing games with God? Where are you with God?
Reinhard, give this audience a word about how they can come to Jesus. We will talk more about these crusades, but there are people right now who need to be spared from hell.
BONNKE: It is true. I would say it this way. We have to say ‘yes’ to Jesus. Many have done that, but when saying ‘yes’ to Jesus, we must say at the same time ‘no’ to sin. Otherwise, that ‘yes’ to Jesus is invalid. We cannot walk in two directions at the same time. If we do, we fool ourselves. That would be very terrible, like that pastor that was witnessed there. Say ‘yes’ to Jesus from the bottom of your heart and turn around from unrighteousness. Repent of your sins and receive forgiveness by the blood of Jesus Christ Then walk the path of righteousness. Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Let’s pray together right now. Pray ‘Dear Lord Jesus, I say ‘yes’ to you and ‘no’ to sin. Forgive me of my sins. Wash me with your precious blood. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. In Jesus name, amen.’
ROBERTSON: Amen. Those who prayed with Reinhard call us at 1-800-759-0700 and we will send you a free booklet called ‘A New Beginning.’ We want you to be established in the Lord. And whether you want literature or not just call us and say that you prayed. Hell is real. Hell is real. The Bible talks about it and Jesus talks about it. What that man was saying, Reinhard, was that it wasn’t so much literal flames, but the flames of missed opportunity and the anguish of conscience. And these people are gnawing on their own flesh because they hate what they have done so much they are trying to destroy themselves but they can’t?
BONNKE: All accused themselves. They didn’t blame anyone else. He said that they didn’t see the angel next to him. They only saw him and were calling for help. The angel turned around and said that Daniel would be connected to me and that through me this testimony would be spread across the whole world. Suddenly Daniel gasped for air in the church. He was there in the basement while I was preaching upstairs, ‘In the name of Jesus!’ It is awesome. I mean that story has covered Nigeria, Africa, and the world.
ROBERTSON: I am sure this man was not learned in the Bible, but the Apostle Paul says your own conscience will either excuse or accuse you in the day of Jesus Christ. So their own conscience was their accuser. They were accusing themselves?
BONNKE: Yes. Yes they do.
ROBERTSON: They weren’t covering up anymore. A pastor had been stealing money. He was essentially a fraud and a hypocrite and he was in hell crying out for help?
BONNKE: Yes.
ROBERTSON: But there is no help. Once they are there, they are there. It is permanent.
BONNKE: That is so. You know, you mentioned about the missed opportunity.
ROBERTSON: Oh, dear!
BONNKE: They keep on missing it because there is no opportunity.
ROBERTSON: What did he see in heaven?
BONNKE: He saw the saints worshiping. He said it was so wonderful he wanted to enter that place. My question to him was ‘Did you see Jesus?’ He said there was a white, bright light and all of those saints were worshiping and looking in that direction. He said, ‘I shaded my eyes, but my eyes could not penetrate it.’ Then he was taken to the mansions. He tried to describe the beauty of those mansions. He said, ‘Like, like, like.’
ROBERTSON: He didn’t have the words.
BONNKE: He said he was told the mansions are ready but the saints are not.
ROBERTSON: Oh, my! Did Jesus or anyone give him a warning for the church? Did he come back and say something to those who are supposed to be living for the Lord?
BONNKE: He had another fearful experience. I didn’t know this Pastor Daniel at all. He said that the angel said to him, ‘If God had not decided to send you back to earth, you would join the people in hell.’ He was shaking.
ROBERTSON: But this guy is a pastor. What was it?
BONNKE: He was a man who didn’t live right.
ROBERTSON: So he was a fraud.
BONNKE: He was not living right. He now lives right.
ROBERTSON: But if he hadn’t had that experience, he would have joined those in hell?
BONNKE: That is what he was told.
ROBERTSON: Oh, my goodness! That, Reinhard, is a much tougher standard than we are used to. We are thinking here in America of easy grace and I am a good guy.
BONNKE: My own television team that made that video said they couldn’t sleep for three nights and everybody brought their lives up to standard, the standard of the Word of God. It brought a lot of heart searching.
ROBERTSON: Did this man have a chance to speak his testimony to that multitude that came to hear you?
BONNKE: He was at my crusade. It was fantastic. I had him in Vienna. At the same time, while I had my meetings there, there was an esoteric convention there. When they heard that someone had come back from the dead, they love to hear the voices from the dead, and s they said, ‘Can you not address us?’ He went to speak to them, preached, and made an altar call and 50 witches got saved.
ROBERTSON: This is incredible. Do you have a video?
BONNKE: It is right here [Raised from the Dead]. So many pray for their loved one. This is a step further. This really is a call to salvation that is very urgent.
ROBERTSON: I am inspired having you with us.
PICTURES: Mysterious Fires Continue Ravaging Family’s Homestead
A family in Palapye has been left homeless and poor by bizarre fires that continue to wreck havoc in their home.
The fires have destroyed all their property leaving with nothing to show.
This week, 47-year-old Mmaseji Willie, phoned The Voice to report that the fires torched her last mattress.
She said the mysterious fires have been causing havoc and destroyed everything they kept in the house.
Narrating their ordeal, she said, “At first we thought a neighbour was burning trash until smoke engulfed the entire house. Our bags and clothes burnt to ashes. The fire came from under the bags.”
Her eyes looking into the distance with despair, she said when the fires first started they managed to rescue some of their property and kept them in their new house which was later gutted by fire.
“We have nothing left. We are poor and have to beg to eat. We even sleep outside to protect the little that is left. We can’t even go into the house because of the smell of the fires. Besides, if we return these clothes to the house, they will burn,” she said.
Pointing at the rubble of their hut which was gutted down by the strange fires, Willie’s daughter, 28-year-old Dikeledi Thapelo, said their hut burnt down in a strange way.
“The fire started from the roof top but we put it out with the help of the neighbours. The second one was so fierce that as we trying putting it off, balls of fire flew to the other side of the roof and gutted down the hut,” she said.
Their ordeal doesn’t end with the fire. Thapelo revealed that her brother died strangely beside the railway line.
“His legs were severed off and we suspect these fires are responsible,” she alleged.
The troubled family has sought the help of Eloyi Church which is popular for exorcising evil spirits.
A day after they went to seek help, another fire broke out.
Left holding her baby by her boyfriend, Thapelo blamed the fires for her misfortunes.
“I suspect a relative who has a vendetta against me. I think she has sent a thokolosi to terrorise us. The fire church which I attend has informed me that all these problems are a result of a problem in the family. Men don’t stay with us. I’m having trouble contacting the father of this baby.” – TheVoice
TB Joshua Dodges Court Hearing Again
Nigerian preacher TB Joshua who was slapped with a bold denial by the Nigerian High Court, has chosen to defy the court order to testify in the investigation into the collapse of a building at his church’s compound which killed 116 people last September.
Joshua has vexatiously evaded the Coroner’s hearing, causing delay on hundreds of grieving families who are waiting to obtain a judicial understanding of what truly went wrong when his giant building collapsed on their loved ones on the 12th September last year.
The incident claimed 116 lives, two of them Zimbabweans who included MDC leader Greenwich Ndanga.
Soon after the disaster, the state government of Lagos launched the inquest through the Coroner’s Court to ascertain why his six-storey building in the compound of the Synagogue Church of All Nations crashed down.
Joshua, lead pastor of All Nations, had claimed that the collapse was the result of an attempt on his life by Islamist radicals. However, government officials believe the collapse was down to construction work that compromised the structural integrity of the building.
The preacher, who is popular in Nigeria for his reported prophetic and healing abilities, attempted to halt the investigation into the collapse, claiming that it was outside of the Coroner’s jurisdiction.
However, a Lagos state court judge dismissed Joshua’s motion on March 6 on the grounds that it lacked merit.
Last Thursday, Business Day Live (BD Live) reported that once again Joshua did not appear at the hearing scheduled before the Coroner’s Court. His representative, Seun Abimbola, told the Coroner’s Court that they have filed an appeal against the state court’s ruling and have also requested a temporary stay on the judgment.
The coroner told Mr Abimbola that he expected Joshua to appear but added that although he could issue a bench warrant for the preacher’s arrest, it was his preference to avoid taking such measures.
“[I] don’t want to do that,” he said.
He told Mr Abimbola to specify a date for Joshua’s attendance at the court.
The Lagos state government attorney told BD Live that they did not receive any notice about TB Joshua’s appeal and that because of this, “the high court ruling stands.” ChristianToday/Additional Reporting
Obert Gutu Has Brain Of a 5 Yr Old – Psychology Maziwisa
One of the worst things that can befall any spin chief is to venture into a contest with someone who is much sharper and more thoughtful than he is. Obert Gutu is, sadly, in this kind of situation today.
I issued a very straightforward statement yesterday in which I made the case for the inclusion of madam Bona on President Mugabe’s trip to Japan recently.
Instead of responding to my statement point by point, as would be expected from a normal spin doctor, Gutu decided instead to go personal, ignoring my argument completely, and doing such a sordid job in his attempt to defend Morgan Tsvangirai’s despicable leadership style.
Of course none of this surprised me at all. There is a certain level of depth, logic, detachment and intellectual capacity that any serious spokesperson must possess. Gutu, for all his nominal claim to the contrary, possesses none of that.
There was a time, not so long ago, when the MDC-T lacked seriousness in virtually every other respect except its information department. For example, Chamisa and Mwonzora were both hopeless souls in the sense that they served under a hopeless leader with a hopeless cause. They still do.
But the common denominator between them, which made things a little more hopeful, was that, no matter how wrong they were in their arguments, they demonstrated a level of wit, brilliance and intellect. They were serious people.
Regrettably and quite evidently, Gutu is the complete opposite of that. Emotional, stupid, intellectually bankrupt and completely out of his depth- he is a 53 year old with the brain of a 5 year old.
He needs to shut up and spend a bit of time learning from the best. Moreover, his miserable attempt at defending Tsvangirai’s wretched leadership record was particularly laughable.
Gutu needs to appreciate that no matter how much lip stick you put on a dog- it still remains a dog.
BREAKING NEWS: MDC-T Supporters Brutally Assaulted In Chitungwiza
ZimEye.com is receiving information that seven (7) MDC-T supporters were brutally assaulted Sunday morning in Chitungwiza.
The attack occurred when Tsvangirai supporters had converged a meeting to discuss a residential-stands scandal.
Some residents alleged that Mayor Phillip Mutoti (who has been previously involved in stand allocation scuffles) is behind the attack, but they failed provide any evidence for their claims. Allegations prevailed however that the attackers were ZANU PF youths instead.
Biggie Chitengo, Tonde Chabuka nevamwe 5 were swiftly carried by one only identified as “Puzo” to the local hospital following the assault. More to follow as events unfold…
Makandiwa Sucked In $2Million Gvt Donation Scandal
United Family International Church’s Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa, has been caught in a $2 million scandal involving an illegal donation by the government to his church.
Makandiwa and two other churches, have been sucked into a US$2 million storm after receiving Government public viewing area (PVA) television screens in an unsanctioned donation.
Indications are that Government never approved the donation of 40 PVA television screens to UFIC, Celebration Church, Zimbabwe Christian Church and other organisations by the Tourism and Hospitality Industry Ministry.
The ministry has come under scrutiny for its failure to capture receipt and disposal of the television screens in its master asset register.
In her 2013 audit report, Auditor-general Mrs Mildred Chisi said: “In 2010 the ministry bought 40 PVA television screens for US$2 million from China. PVA screens were meant to provide viewing for the public during the (Fifa Soccer) World Cup that was hosted by South Africa in 2010. The PVA screens were received well after the World Cup games. The ministry failed to record the PVA equipment in its master asset register.
“It would appear as if the ministry had no other plans for the screens after the World Cup games because it has since donated, without prior Treasury approval, some of the screens to churches for what was termed ‘religious tourism’, and other organisations.
“The State has not benefited financially from the current arrangement and I noted that there are no terms and conditions to ensure that the PVA screens are safeguarded from vandalism and abuse.” She recommended that the ministry immediately identify how the public can benefit from the PVA screens so that Government can recoup costs incurred in their purchase.
Responding to the Auditor-General’s findings, the ministry admitted it had not followed procedures in donating the screens to UFIC, ZCC Mbungo and Celebration Church.
“It is on that basis that churches such as UFIC, ZCC Mbungo and Celebration Church are key players in religious tourism. They receive an excess of 20 000 foreign visitors annually to their activities,” said the Tourism Ministry.
Both UFIC and ZCC confirmed receiving PVA screens as donations from the Tourism Ministry but would not give further details. UFIC spokesperson Pastor Prime Kufakunesu said the church got the screens in 2012 while ZCC spokesperson Mr Raymond Muringani said “we were given a PVA television screen by the Ministry of Tourism”.
Efforts to get a comment from Celebration Church were fruitless.
Parliament Forces Expelled MPs To Pay Back $1 Million
Parliament has instituted proceedings to force 22 former legislators to repay nearly US$800 000 advanced as vehicle loans during their short stint in the legislative assembly.
Twenty-one MDC-T MPs and one Zanu-PF legislator, Didymus Mutasa, were recently expelled from the House of Assembly and must pay back loans that would ordinarily have been serviced over the course of their five-year terms (2013-208).
Another expelled Zanu-PF MP, Themba Mliswa, was among a few legislators who turned down the US$35 000 per MP car loans extended to them last year.
The 21 ex-MPs from MDC-T were booted out of Parliament because they dumped their party and formed the United Movement for Democractic Change. The uncle-nephew pair of Mutasa and Mliswa was recalled from the House of Assembly after Zanu-PF expelled them from the party for fanning factionalist politics that sought to unconstitutionally remove President Mugabe from office.
Acting Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda told The Sunday Mail that the expelled parliamentarians should repay the loans.
“The majority of the legislators secured vehicles from that initiative and were supposed to pay back the money during the five-year tenure of the Parliament,” he said.
“When they secured the vehicles under this revolving fund, the legislators signed contracts which stated that they will pay back the money. We are now working on modalities on how these expelled legislators will pay back the money because on average each of the 22 parliamentarians owes us US$35 000. Necessary steps will be taken for us to recover the money since they are no longer in Parliament.”
MPs are yet to start servicing the loans because Parliament has been unable to consistently pay them their sitting allowances. The expelled 22 legislators benefited from a US$12 million deal Government secured with Croco Motors that saw 290 legislators purchase all-terrain vehicles at a ceiling price of US$35 000 per MP.
Parliament – through Treasury – undertook to pay Croco Motors over eight months while the legislators would repay through deductions from their sitting allowances.
Now administrators at Parliament are crafting measures to recover the money. -sunday mail
Zanu PF Will Feed All Zimbabweans : Mnangagwa
Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has announced and promised the nation that despite the looming drought in the country,the government is ready to feed every household.
He said this to thousands of people at Women’s Day Commemorations in Mvuma yesterday citing, that Government has already put in place a plan to import supplementary grain to feed the nation.
Preliminary findings of an ongoing crop assessment show that at least 300 000 hectares of maize were affected by prolonged dry spells and cannot be salvaged.
Government has set up committees in all 10 provinces to harness resources towards averting hunger.
“Gore rino hongu, matunhu ekuno kusouth, mvura haina kunaya zvakanaka, asi kumatunhu ari kunorth vazhinji vari kukohwa. Asi sehurumende, tinenge takavheneka nyika yose. Tavakuziva matunhu ane chikafu chishoma uye tavakuziva kuchapinda nzara,” he said.
“Saka Hurumende inenge ichironga nechekare kuti matunhu iwayo apihwe chikafu, kusave kana nemhuri inofa nenzara. Structure yedu inoti chero pavillage, ward; panacouncillor kana mumwe munhu wedu we Zanu-PF anenge aripo. Uyezve, kune madepartment eHurumende arimo mumawards. Saka vari pasi ipapo vanokwanisa kuziva kuti pano pachava nenzara here kana kuti kwete.”
He also said: “Madzimambo ariko kumaruwa, nemaheadman, nemaSabhuku. Sabhuku anoziva kuti paagere ndiyani anenzara, voreporter kuna councillor kana District Administrator; iye DA osimudzira kuyenda kuna Provincial Administrator, chikafu chouya.
“Saka hapana anofa nenzara muZimbabwe; chikafu tinacho. Tine Strategic Grain Reserve yedu uye tiri kuunza chimwe chibage chekututsira pane zvatinazvo nechimwe chagara chiripo.”
VP Mnangagwa urged Auxillia Mnangagwa – Zanu-PF’s candidate in the by-election scheduled for this Friday – to work hard and commended her for the developmental projects she has initiated in the constituency.
These projects include borehole drilling and school and clinic refurbishments.
“Zuva ranhasi ndichikusiirayi musikana uyu, Mamoyo … takafamba naye tese achinditsigira. Ndingati ini maitomuziva kudarika ini nekuti ini kazhinji ndaipiwa mabasa akawanda ndichinge ndichifamba kunze kwenyika kana kuHarare. Asi maprogrammes anga asingamire; ivo vachiita maprogrammes iwayo.”- sunday mail
Tsvangirai Officially Ingrafted Into ZANU PF Constitution
Secret ZANU PF documents obtained Thursday reveal that Morgan Tsvangirai is now part of the ZANU PF constitution body politique.
The leaking of the documents follows the sudden ouster of former vice president Joice Mujuru and most recently the expelling of MPs loyal to Tendai Biti, as ZANU seeks to re-establish its foothold in the country.
One of the documents points to Morgan Tsvangirai and two other opposition leaders as “key to the ultimate implementation.”
The details have been corroborated with ZANU PF’s 28 year old spelt out master goal. It states on Number 6 that; ‘’Zanu Pf shall seek to establish a ONE-PARTY STATE in Zimbabwe.’’
COMMENT:
Zanu never overruled its desire to set up a one-party state in any of its Congresses ever since 1987 and beyond. To achieve its One Party state desire, it has always used all possible means to destroy opposition parties; swallowed its liberation rivalry Zapu after emasculating it through Gukurahundi atrocities. It never took long to get rid of all other parties such as Zanu Ndonga, UANC, ZUM, etc. Before its split in 2005, MDC mounted a spirited challenge upon but Zanu was able use Tsvangirayi and turn him into a dictator that fellow leaders were would not hesitate to run away from. This culminated in MDC now led by Prof Ncube, the then MDC 99 led by Job Sikhala and MDC Renewal. The killer jaw towards its pursuance of a One Party state is its ensnaring MDC T into its fold through the recent sacking of MDC Renewal MPs. Zanu has been campaigning on the ground and displaying its political stamina whilst MDC T was engrained in anger against Renewal leadership.
Maybe Tsvangirayi deliberately handed over these seats to Zanu for all we know is that he never revoked his Zanu membership, or surrendered its membership card. Would it be correct then to assume that Tsvangirayi is still pursuing Zanu ideals whilst pretending to be an opposition leader? If not by choice, still one of the Zanu documents mention how leaders like him and other potential leaders are going to be strategically morphed and moulded into pseudo opposition figures who will maintain hostile faces, yet will be kept perpetually making secret deals with ZANU PF as revealed by its document. Morgan Tsvangirayi’s recent agreement with Prof Moyo has simply proved this. It would be naive to assume that Morgan not aware of Zanu’s long term intentions to establish a one party state because he was one of its middle leaders when the 1987 Unity Accord was signed.
If Morgan Tsvangirayi is really no longer a Zanu member, then the master-script found in President Robert Mugabe’s drawers and leaked yesterday by an insider anonymous whistleblower sympathising with Amai Mujuru, display Tsvangirai as the first trial product now firmly engrafted for the first serious stage of mobilisation. The meeting and agreement with Prof Moyo is a strong indicator that Morgan Tsvangirayi knows and is in agreement with Zanu’s long term goals to set a One Party state in Zimbabwe. He and his supporters may think otherwise, but did they not know that by sacking Renewal MPs they were handing nearly all these opposition seats to Zanu to enable it to turn the country into a One Party state? Indeed Zanu is happy to have a token seats kept by MDC T so that it camouflages Zimbabwe as being a One party state from the nosey international community. Zanu will always point to the pathetically few MDC T MPs as proof that it is a tolerant multi-democratic party.
As said the whistle-blower who availed the Zanu documents; in this Zanu – MDC T agreement that saw Renewal MPs sacked, concluded saying only “President Mugabe is the winner at the end of it all”. Analysts said this is all part of the Zanu /Zapu Unity Agreement that spels out what a united Zanu PF aims to achieve “into eternity”.
ZRP Cop Caught with Shocking Animal-Sex-Videos
An ex-ZRP cop and father of-three was arrested after having been caught with indecent videos of animal to human footage.
Clayton Chigoya who was found with videos of men having sex with large fish and eels was yesterday waiting to discover his fate.
Detectives swooped on the social worker’s home after receiving a tip-off he had received indecent images of children on his mobile phone.
A total of 19 electrical devices were seized including a damaged HTC phone which contained 404 videos on its memory card including seven portraying sex acts with animals.
Other examples of horrific pornography included two sexual scenes with children believed as be as young as three years old.
A jury at Reading Crown Court was told that the extreme pornographic videos portrayed various sex acts with animals including a horse, eels and a large fish.
Prosecuting, Russell Pine told the court two of the animal sex videos had also been forwarded on to other numbers from Chigoya’s phone.
Mr Pine added: “You were part of a group of people who had a similar interest in these sorts of videos weren’t you?
“Is it possible you watched them and thought they were a little interesting and maybe a little bizarre but no harm in it?”
Bald Chigoya, aged 47 years, denied five counts of possessing extreme pornographic images and two counts of possessing indecent images of children.
The father-of-three, of Gatwick Close, Slough, Berks., claimed that he had never seen any of the seven the videos, which were sent through WhatsApp messages.
However, he did admit he had previously watched animal porn films but blamed his faulty phone for receiving and sending messages he claimed he had no idea about.
He said: “They were sent on my WhatsApp. When I saw them, I deleted them but not on this particular phone we are talking about.
“I have never in my life requested any videos with animals. It is not because you want to watch it or request it, it is just sent around.”
However, the jury found Chigoya guilty of all of all seven counts following the three-day trial.
Chigoya, who was suspended from his job working with vulnerable adults and children as a social worker following his arrest, was released on bail to appear at the same court to be sentenced in May.-Express.co.uk
Youths Dump MDC and Join ZAPU.
By Thulani Nkala
The tranquillity in the ZAPU ranks is finally paying huge dividends; today on the 21st March 2015 at ZAPU’s new offices in Bulawayo scores of the MDC Youths dumbed the MDC to join ZAPU.
“We have come back home, we have always known our true home, ZAPU is our true home, we are happy to be back home” said one of the MDC Youths who defected to ZAPU today.
ZAPU has for the past year consistently and painstakingly built its structures and ensured its visibility and this has slowly attracted new members, however, it had not yet attracted enmasse defections till today.
ZAPU has now successfully re-branded itself as a modern revolutionary Party, whose roots are firmly anchored in people power and people aspirations.
People are starting to believe the ZAPU proposition of a firm, unapologetic and uncompromising stance against the Mugabe regime.
“We have carefully calibrated the ZAPU unique proposition to meet the people’s needs, with our modernisation agenda and a huge number of people are warming up to our cause” Mr Christopher Maphosa said.
“It is not by coincidence that you now see large numbers of the people flooding our ranks, it was through deliberate strategic planning” said Mr Maphosa, who was clearly ecstatic due to the MDC Youths defections to ZAPU.
ZAPU is continuing with its activities, in the UK, will see the Party staging yet another demonstration at the Zimbabwean embassy on the 27th March, a third of its nature within a month.
On the 2nd May 2015, the Party will hold its Annual General Meeting at a venue to be announced in the Midlands. The AGM is promising to be the most vibrant and lively gathering since the Party’s revival.
Zimbabwe Indigenization, A Legalized Plunder of National Assets by ZANU (PF)
Last week, Deputy Minister of Industry & Commerce, Chiratidzo Mabuwa just woke up from wherever she had been and reached out for the microphone to intimidate journalists. She had emerged guns blazing against “irresponsible journalism” over negative coverage and discouraging support for Indigenization laws in Zimbabwe. She forgot that she is living in her own little tower far away from the majority of Zimbabweans who feel short-changed after having been left out in the quay by ZANU (PF) that has fought hard to encourage people to think that indigenization means raising chickens in a cage for sale to make profit. Of all possibilities, indigenization has been collapsed into feeding broilers for sale.
And people must celebrate empowerment despite the screaming product shortages and poverty. I wish she knew the truth about the whole circus. Indigenization in Zimbabwe has become synonymous with robbing national wealth to put into the hands of the top 100 people who belong to ZANU (PF). Nothing came out of the Indigenization laws or Black empowerment laws except for the economy was destroyed to nothing. People now live in dire poverty, everything is sinking, farms covetously taken have stopped producing. Even farm workers now go unpaid and the system is in chaos. Mines were confiscated and the farm produce was harvested. After that, nothing else emerged from the so called Black Empowerment.
Where big wig and big headed politicians took over the most productive farms, they then turned around and encouraged youths to rear chickens. That was the empowerment that they were referring to as they sought to blindfold the gullible yand desperate youths. Foreign Direct Investment was quashed. Nothing came to function. Those at the apex of the program got richer and fatter as the wider base was left where it was found without any meaning or benefit in the so called land reform, or affirmative action, or economic leveling. There was no benefit for the common man. Villagers still remain squashed in stony patches of land as production remains challenged. The grazing areas are hounded with erosion. Deforestation and hunger have become the order of the day. In the name of Black Empowerment, all city transit systems have been killed and replaced with the matatus. The dirty kombis. 35 years ago we had a polished city transit system that saw buses run on time with uniformed drivers who stopped the buses at legal spots of loading and offloading passengers.
Then, police had respect because they never openly asked for money or chased kombi drivers killing people just for money. There was no horse play between the police and the public community members. Now we are back in the Neanderthal phase and here we go as we start again. People get killed daily through road accidents or police chasing kombis for bribes. As if that is not enough, police make kombi business their ATM machines that must produce cash by the day. To add more poverty to the already weak and impoverished we now have toll gates. More money for the top 100 politicians like the most absent-minded VP on earth, Mphoko as the whole nation suffers. And that is the very Indigenization the drunken Minister is talking about. She doesn’t even know what time it is in Zimbabwe. If one were to challenge her to point to the benefits of the empowerment program especially to the ordinary person she would be stuck. People have been left poorer. The Ministers now have taken over every profitable venture, mine and factory and destroyed it.
The most productive farms have been taken over and after the first harvest that was never worked for, the farms have died. Cows have become barbeque beef. Nothing is working in Zimbabwe. They claim they gave people power. They should say we gave ourselves power to take over or confiscate anything of value and destroy it. Zimbabwe has been destroyed by this empowerment or indigenization law. Even the President Mugabe can hardly be home. It’s not worth his time because the environment is depressing. That’s why he hops from nation to the next as he rules from the skies. There have been more burdens than benefits. There is nothing good to talk about regarding empowerment. People have been left anxious and angry. The infrastructure is no more. Now they sell elephants to get revenue.
Where are the tourists going to come from when we send the elephants to abroad? Poor planning, lack of foresight, selfishness, big headedness, malice and negligence are part of the Indigenization policy in Zimbabwe. There is gross abuse of political power. Mugabe now owns 85% of Borrowdale. It’s like the gold rush days. Mai Mujuru owns most of the good mines today. Now she claims victim because she no longer eats at the big table like Didymus Mutasa. Every top Minister is filthy rich. Even Mphoko refused a $3 million home in Harare because he felt he deserved a bigger and better one. That’s just the culture. And all this is the very indigenization that Zimbabweans must cheer for and wipe sweat about. Indigenization or Black Empowerment in Zimbabwe was like a legalized plunder or robbery of national assets. There is nothing to celebrate. It’s too chaotic and there is no benefit for me, a poor citizen without political muscle. What’s left to celebrate in Zimbabwe? Maybe good rains. People cry daily about poverty, joblessness, homelessness, hunger, disease. Is this the indigenization or the Black Empowerment. Black Empowerment or Indigenization my foot!
Mugabe Clobbered In Namibia
President Robert Mugabe was on Saturday digitally mocked as he appeared in the Namibian capital, Windwoek for that country’s Presidential inauguration.
Mugabe 91, who appeared alongside controversial Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo, and Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, had a rushing cold mood cast against him from hundreds of Zimbabweans digitally hovering over the function. Zim citizens commenting closely, poured scorn as they pointed at how Mr Mugabe was conspicuous as the oldest human being in the stadium where Mr Hage Geingob was sworn in as Namibia’s new president.
The inauguration ceremony took place on the same day with the Independence celebrations on Saturday.
“Why can’t he see that he is the oldest human creature in the whole crowd?” wrote one only identified as Sibanda.
Others poured their comments in return echoing one and the same thing with others wishing that this could be Mugabe’s last ever Presidential inauguration.
“Zvatosvika kumagumo izvo this is Mugabe’s last – it is now coming to an end,” wrote a critic of Mugabe only identified as Matthew Kadota.
Meanwhile the new President Geingob (74), became the third president of Namibia in less than 25 years while Mugabe has single handedly hanged on since 1980.
Speaking soon after his inauguration, President Geingob said he will focus on poverty eradication, social inequalities, the economy and improved service delivery.
“People have high expectations. They want food, shelter and clothing. They want a leader to act quickly, thus the must challenges to be met.
“People cannot eat a constitution or democracy and our first priority is to declare war on poverty and inequality. We will have a brand new ministry. The ministry of poverty eradication,” Mr Geingob said.
Earlier, thousands of Namibians and dignitaries from different countries thronged the stadium, for the country’s independence silver jubilee.
Man Bolts Out of Prison Like Lightning
A PENHALONGA MAN incarcerated at the Mutare Remand Prison bolted away from guards “like lightning,” as described.
The man has been slapped with an eight-month jail term after he tried to escape from Mutare Remand Prison. Dangarembize appeared before senior magistrate Mrs Sekai Chiundura facing charges of escaping from lawful custody.
Facts are that on the March 9, 2015 George Masamba, a prison officer at Mutare Remand Prison, was guarding Dangarembize, who was working in the garden with the other inmates.
The accused then suddenly started running and jumped over the fence. They gave chase and re-arrested him near Mutare Provincial Hospital. When asked why he had committed the offence Dangarembize said he was being abused by a certain prison officer who assaulted and gave him unreasonable loads of work.
Mrs Chiundura told him that he should have reported the case rather than try to escape. – State Media
Tsvangirai M’: I Wish I Was Mugabe
Harare Mayor Bernard Manyenyeni has boldly indicated that he wishes he was President Robert Mugabe.
Manyenyeni said ‘dictators’ like President Robert Mugabe, Information Minister Jonathan Moyo and Gideon Gono, were needed to run the affairs of the Harare city council, for service delivery to improve.
“I am talking about a more trusted version of Gideon Gono, a less political version of Jonathan Moyo. That type of personality provided they have the support of everybody. But that person should come out of the following: the Town Clerk, the mayor, the minister of Local Government and if necessary the state President,” Manyenyeni told residents in Harare last week.
“One of those four people should be sincere but powerful enough to call the shots and get the things right. I am happy to support that person whoever he is and I am also happy to be that person”.
Manyenyeni is under fire from residents who accuse him of failing to improve service delivery.
He however attributes his failure to political interference.
The Mayor recently said that there were a lot of political payers interfering with the affairs of the city of Harare.
Manyenyeni also said his Town Clerk, Tendai Mahachi was one of the stumbling blocks to the effective running of the city.
Mahachi, he said, ignores his (Manyenyeni) directives and rather consults with the Local Government Minister Ignatious Chombo.
Sex In Car: Top Accountant Caught In The Act
An auditor has been caught romping with his lover in a hospital car park in Blantyre, Malawi.
The couple were arrested and hauled before the Blantyre Magistrate Court. Thokozani Maluwa (26) and 20-year-old Emma Peter, pleaded guilty and were given 40 hours community service each.
They were caught by a night-shift guard while in the act in a Nissan Tida BU 2489 parked at the Hospital’s car lot. Maluwa and Peter were charged with Idle and Disorderly under Section 180 of the Penal Code. They said the found the idea of sex in the car park very exciting. – NyasaTimes
$12 Billion Diamonds Stolen from Zimbabwe
Customs UK| ZIMBABWE HAS LOST an estimated $12 billion through illegal trade involving multinational companies from rich countries involved in the mining sector here.
The amount siphoned off is enough to pay off the country’s total debt– estimated at just under $10 billion.
A new report, entitled Capital Flight, Natural Resources and Institutions in Zimbabwe and compiled by Zimbabwean researchers and academics, reveals that the multi-billion capital flight has taken place over the last three decades – largely through falsified invoicing.
According to the researchers, trade in the major minerals involves companies from Zimbabwe’s main trading partners, which include South Africa, Canada, Australia, UK, China and the US.
“Capital flight from Zimbabwe reached a record high of $3.1 billion in 2006. Evidence from the African Development Bank and Global Financial Integrity (2013) also shows that Zimbabwe has lost a cumulative $12 billion in the last three decades through illicit financial outflows ranging from secret financial deals and tax avoidance to illegal commercial activities,” says the report.
Furthermore, according to the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (2014) the country is losing more than $50 million worth of gold every month through smuggling,” it adds.
Independent estimates last year indicated that gold leakages accounted for losses of around $ 800 million every month, a figure that has not been officially refuted.
Zimbabwe is endowed with abundant mineral resources that experts say could easily turnaround the economy, but their contribution to economic development has remained minimal.
The report says the mining sector, despite being touted Zimbabwe accounts for about 9 percent of the world’s diamond production, 6 percent of platinum and about 4 percent of palladium output.
The country is currently extracting around 30 different types of minerals, chief among them diamonds, gold, nickel and platinum, with minerals accounting for most of the exports.
“Most of the metals and minerals mined locally are for the export market. This therefore presents a fertile ground for mis-invoicing – given that most of the companies in the mining sector are foreign owned,” reads the report.
The research indicates that the companies involved in minerals trade have been under-invoicing their goods by bringing less capital into Zimbabwe and then exporting high value minerals to numerous destinations.
The offending companies declare a smaller amount of money they receive from exports than what is reported as imports by trading partners.
They have also been over-invoicing imports, whereby the companies have been accessing more locally available foreign currency and then taking it out under the pretence that it would be used to import goods and service.
The exporters report a larger amount of money they use for importing than what is reported by trading partners.
The report identifies corruption, dysfunctional regulation, weak enforcement of rules and money laundering as the main drivers of capital flight. It also blames the financial leakages on tax evasion, lack of transparency in trade transactions, high and persistent government budget deficits, excessive external borrowing, and political instability.
Canada, China, Germany, UK, Greece, Italy, US and Zambia are named as gateways to facilitate capital flight out of Zimbabwe. Italy recorded the highest capital flight from Zimbabwe between 2008 and 2013 while the highest illegal inflows came through Belgium.
The researchers also blamed President Robert Mugabe’s Look East policy for massive capital flight.
‘”Even the ‘friendly countries’ like China show capital flight from 2010. This might suggest that during the crisis period China was bringing unrecorded capital into Zimbabwe, but as the economy improved China was sending out money from Zimbabwe as illegal repatriation of profits,” says the report.
Developed countries like the US, Germany and Canada could have been used as routes through which money was illegally taken out. The report also notes that diamond export mis-invoicing was rife in trade between Zimbabwe and European countries, including the UK
PICTURES: Sex Scandal Priest and Nun in Manicaland
Vicar General of t St Charles Lwanga in Manicaland Fr Fungai Chipiro says the church is investigating the case of a priest and a nun’s lurid sexual affair.
But he said that the church is not about to rush into any decisions based on media allegations. “As a diocese we are making our own ground investigations. Until we have concluded those investigations, these are just rumours,” he said in a telephone interview.
Father Taurai Saunyama (30) and Sister Rukudzo Rosemary Nyamugunduru (22) forgot their vows to be the dedicated spouses of Jesus Christ and turned to each other for some very human comfort.
The WhatsApp messages, they allegedly sent to each other, show that this is not a case of two innocents who had just been tempted and were in any way regretting the lapse, but a case of seasoned operators.
Sister Rukudzo blatantly relives memories that she intends to recreate as she says, “Musi wuye watakaenda kuChipinge ummmmm wakandigonera wena. U are sweetie. Manheru ndouya here?” -State Media
Pastor Oppah Muchinguri Caught Nakedly Abusing Police Officers
Higher Education and Tertiary Education and church pastor Oppah Muchinguri has been caught in a case of said ‘shocking’ spiritual nakedness when she variously abused police officers working on a case of an arrested ZANU PF official.
The case involves the local ZANU PF provincial secretary for youth who is guilty of operating a detested, said ‘sinful’ beerhall, beyond legal hours.
Muchinguri violated male police officers working on the case as she ordered the immediate release of the accused.
Muchinguri’s pentecostal denomination views drinking or operating a beer outlet, a dreadful sin and the very pivot of spirital nakedness.
But under her lead, ZANU PF youths yesterday besieged Mutare Central Police Station demonstrating against the detention of one of their leaders, the local Newsday reports.
Getrude Mutandi, who is the Zanu PF Manicaland provincial youth secretary for finance, was arrested by police on Thursday night on allegations of operating her bottle store after hours.
Police raided the bottle store and rounded up revellers who were drinking beer including Mutandi, alleging that the bottle store had no licence to operate after stipulated hours.
Mutandi spent the night in police cells and remained detained for the better part of the day yesterday. She was released around 1500hrs without any charge following the intervention of politburo member Oppah Muchinguri who allegedly ordered her release.
Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs Mandi Chimene also allegedly played a role by ordering the release of Mutandi. The youths, who were more than 50, camped outside the police station demanding the release of Mutandi.
Mutare District police chief, Chief Superintendent Winstone Muza, tried to address the youths, but failed to control them.
Muza said to the youths: “This is not a political meeting. Could you please disperse as we look into the matter? We should not come here to disturb peace.” Muza called for reinforcement from other police officers. More than 20 officers came and tried in vain to disperse the youths who were singing and chanting Zanu PF party slogans.
The youths stayed put at the police station and continued singing. They then called other youth members to come and besiege the police station.
UK Police Called in as Zimbabweans Storm, Close Down Embassy Demand Itai Dzamara
Zimbabwe Embassy in London is facing difficult times ahead as operations are likely to be disrupted by Zimbabwean activists demanding the release of Itai Dzamara.
On Thursday a group of Zimbabweans led by William Chinyanga stormed the Embassy demanding the release of Itai Dzamara who was abducted in Harare by men believed to be State agents from the notorious CIO. It is believed the abduction was engineered by the State to dare the opposition parties into open street protests and then use those unsanctioned demonstration as an excuse to arrest the opposition party leaders and activist.
The government is currently facing acute liquidity and economic challenges and is said to be looking for ways to divert attention from its failure to manage the collapsing economy.
ZimEye.com is reliably informed another protest group is preparing to storm the Embassy next week.
Further protests are said to be planned that would force the Embassy to completely close down An activist told ZimEye.com that they would be engaging all other European countries to shut down Zimbabwe embassies within tbeir reach.
Sex With Minor – A Birthday Present
A boy aged 17,appeared in court on Thursday after he allegedly had sexual intercourse with his 14-year-old girlfriend as her birthday present. Enoch Murahwa appeared before Mbare magistrate Anita Tshuma facing charges of sexual intercourse with a minor. Tshuma deferred the matter to today for sentence.
Allegations are that on Februray 20 this year, the girl visited Murahwa’s house.
The court heard that when the girl entered the living room, the maid left the room leaving the two alone.
It is the State’s case that Murahwa entered his mother’s bedroom and called the girl telling her that he wanted to give her a present as it was her birthday.
It is alleged that while in the bedroom, Murahwa started caressing the girl and the two ended up having sexual intercourse once.
The court was told that it was by consent.
However, on returning home the girl told her mother what had transpired and the two went to make a report to the police.
Meanwhile, another teenager appeared before Mbare magistrate Gladys Moyo facing similar charges after he allegedly had sexual intercourse with his 13-year-old girlfriend on different occasions.
Billy Makumbe, 19, pleaded guilty to the charge.
Allegations are that sometime between December 2014 and February this year, Makumbe and the girl were in a relationship.
The court heard that in December the two had sexual intercourse once.
It is alleged that in February the two again had consensual sex three times.
The matter only came to light when the girl’s mother noticed behavioural changes in her daughter.
Upon quizzing her, the girl then revealed to her mother that she had been having sexual intercourse with her boyfriend.
A report was made to the police. -chronicle
Another Key Fugure Quits MDC
Nhlanhla Dube the spokes person for MDC led by Professor Welshman Ncube announced that he had quit his position and resigned from the party. This is a hard blow to the party especially as it comes just a month after other two key figures ,the secretary general Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga and vice chairman Frank Chamunorwa — resigned from their positions.
Dube cited the “callous abuse and character assassination” in the party which had “gravely affected my personal space” as the key reason why had had made the decision.
Dube, like Misihairabwi-Mushonga and Chamunorwa before him, feels Prof Ncube is surrounded by a group of acolytes who have convinced him that a “gang of four” — with party chairman Goodrich Chimbaira being the fourth — would not support him as leader of the United Movement for Democratic Change (UMDC), a new party to be formed through the merger of the MDC and MDC Renewal at a forthcoming joint congress.
Dube was disappointed Prof Ncube did not rein-in some of his supporters who have been launching personal attacks at the four senior officials.
He said in a letter to Prof Ncube, seen by The Chronicle: “I took the opportunity to speak to these unfortunate circumstances and misplaced political agenda at our last meeting of the national standing committee in Bulawayo. I opened myself up to scrutiny with the hope of initiating debate for purposes of transparently dealing with the allegations.
“Sadly there was no appetite to interrogate these matters then. This callous abuse and character assassination has in the meantime gravely affected my personal space. I’m thus unable to continue serving with a clear conscience amidst the contradictions at play.”
Dube said “a lot has been said and insinuated, but by far the most disappointing was the spurious accusation that I have been working covertly in an imaginary group of four members of the party’s leadership, organising a rebellion against your continued and future leadership of the party.”
He added: “No words can adequately describe my very deep disenchantment with the deeds of those people who I believed shared my passion and vision in our common struggle.”
He told Prof Ncube that he believed “taking a back step would allow the party to focus on its important work at hand without unnecessary contradictions and damaging suspicions of fragmentation within the leadership.”
Dube resigned on March 10, but waited until yesterday to make public his exit after Prof Ncube had asked him to wait until he had returned from the United Kingdom. In the interim, Dube spoke to a Prof Ncube emissary who could not talk him out of resigning from his post and quitting the party altogether.
Last night, Dube told The Chronicle that he was “taking a break from partisan politics”.
Before Misihairabwi-Mushonga quit last month, the MDC youth assembly wrote to Prof Ncube calling for her ouster after she described the opposition party as a “junkyard”.
The latest resignations to hit Prof Ncube’s MDC follow the damaging departures of Qhubani Moyo, the party’s former director of policy and research who is taking a sabbatical from politics, and former Bulawayo spokesperson, Edwin Ndlovu, who joined the MDC-T. -chronicle
Former MDC-T MP Wins Spot Fine Case
A judge yeaterday ruled that the business of police impounding vehicles at roadblocks for failure to pay spot fines by drivers is “unlawful”. The ruling was made at Bulawayo High Court by Justice Andrew Mutema as he ordered police to release a car they seized from former MDC-T Lupane West MP Njabuliso Mguni, who had failed to pay a $50 spot fine.
Mguni challenged the seizure of the car through his lawyer, Lizwe Jamela, of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR).
The police Officer-in-Charge Traffic Section (Bulawayo District), the Officer Commanding Bulawayo Province and the Home Affairs Minister who were the respondents in this case did not oppose Mguni’s petition for an order declaring the police actions illegal.
“The conduct of the respondents be and hereby declared unlawful. The first respondent is hereby directed to release the impounded vehicle, a Toyota Carina registration number AAC4478 forthwith to the applicant upon production of the car’s registration book,” said Justice Mutema.
“In the event that there are any allegations against applicant or the vehicle, the respondents should follow the laid procedures in justice administration.”
Mguni’s brush with the police suggests the ZRP continues to violate a 2012 ruling by Justice Maphios Cheda of the Bulawayo High Court who held that police cannot insist on the payment of a spot fine by the roadside. The judge said motorists should be issued with a ticket to be paid within a reasonable time.
“The said ticket should give the motorist a reasonable time within which to pay the fine in accordance with their regulations, unless the said offender elects to pay the fine on the spot,” Justice Cheda said.
Justice Cheda said an exception could be made where the motorist was a foreigner or had no “acceptable identification which will in turn make it difficult for him/her to be traced in the event of a default in paying the fine.”
In his affidavit, Mguni stated that he was stopped at a roadblock by a police officer while driving along 6th Avenue in Bulawayo’ CBD on March 16. The vehicle belongs to one Thembile Moyo.
The police officer who stopped him advised him that his third number plate was tampered with and for that reason he should pay a $20 fine.
“I was advised that I should pay an additional fine of $20 for an alleged missing rear number plate light and a further $10 for alleged missing front reflectors. This gave a total of $50 in all,” Mguni said.
“I advised the police officer, who was addressing me, whose particulars are unknown to me, that I did not have the said money in my possession. I then requested a ticket to be issued against me so that I would be able to practise my lawful option as I was in no position to pay the fine so demanded.”
The former legislator said his request was dismissed by the officer, who insisted that the motor vehicle would be impounded until he paid the fine. -herald
Zim Cricket Team Loses Vehicles to Pay Debt
A television broadcast van and other vehicles belonging to Zimbabwe’s cricket board have been auctioned on the orders of a court to pay an outstanding debt of more than $200,000 to a former employee.
The outside broadcast van and nine other vehicles used by staff members like the chief executive, the director of coaching, and the head selector, were sold in Harare this week to pay money owed to former commercial executive Andrew Muzamhindo.
Other cars belonging to Zimbabwe Cricket were also auctioned this month.
Zimbabwe Cricket is in serious financial trouble, as is the country’s football federation.
Last week, Zimbabwe were thrown out of 2018 soccer World Cup qualifying for failing to pay money they owed to their former national coach.-AP
Chicken Slice Employs Shonas, Ditches Ndebele JobSeekers
BULAWAYO- A Bulawayo civic youth organisation, Bulawayo Unemployment Youth Agenda (BUYA) has vowed to engage fast food chain Chicken Slice over its employing of people who are exclusively from outside Matebeleland.
Speaking at a press conference held in Bulawayo Thursday, BUYA Chairperson, Zenzo Nyoni said time has come for people of Matebeleland to benefit from resources within their region.
“We want to engage Chicken Slice because we have realised that the majority of its employees are Shona. Our youths are not afforded the opportunity to work and we feel something needs to be done,” said Nyoni.
He also said his organisation will engage different sectors to ensure that youths in Bulawayo are given fair employment opportunities like what is happening to youths from other different regions of the country.
“Youths from Matebeleland are looking for job opportunities in South Africa and Botswana. It is high time devolution is put into practise for the benefit of the youths and the region at large,” he added.
Nyoni also took the event to congratulate people from Maleme community for defending their land against foreigners who wanted to benefit from resources without putting into cognisance the community surrounding them.
He said it is that kind of courage which is needed to arrest the marginalisation and under-development of the Matebeleland region.
Musavengana Hove is a youth activist based in Bulawayo. Email [email protected] for feedback.
Biti Flashes Quitting Politics
MDC Renewal leader Tendai Biti has flashed signals suggesting that he is quitting politics.
Biti according to the Jonathan Moyo controlled State Media, appears to be considering life after politics following the expulsion of 21 Members of his faction, including himself, from Parliament this week. The 21 MPs were expelled at the instigation of the MDC-T led by Mr Morgan Tsvangirai for crossing the floor from the party on whose ticket they entered Parliament.
Mr Biti’s faction has indicated that it will challenge the decision in the courts. A member of his inner circle confided in The Herald, though, that Biti will not be heavily involved in the court challenge.
However, in an interview with The Herald at his Milton Park offices in Harare this week, Mr Biti appeared disillusioned with opposition politics and in particular, failure to coalesce to defeat Zanu-PF.
Clad in a dark grey suit that seemed to reflect his mood, palpable disillusionment ran through the responses of the usually loquacious Biti. “I have played my part as a Zimbabwean,” he said when challenged over his future.
“I have been in the trenches since my time at the University of Zimbabwe and played my part. I think that it is time that others played their part too, I have played mine.”
Asked whether that meant retiring from politics, the lawyer said, “I have not said that. I have just said I have played my part.” “The issue of the expulsion of the 21 members of Parliament is a tragedy for democratisation politics in Zimbabwe,” he said.
“It is also a tragedy for national politics. It is unprecedented in any part of the world that democratically elected members of Parliament can be eliminated as we saw on Tuesday.
“But the country will continue moving on and the challenge is how do we rescue and save our country?
“Just because 21 MPs were fired I don’t think we suddenly got US$40 billion in direct investment in the country. It won’t happen. So nobody except the forces of evil benefited from this. What it means is that unless we are able to focus on things that put bread on the table we are wasting time.”
Mr Biti described Mr Tsvangirai as having gone “way past his sell-by date” and surrounded by sycophants. The fiery opposition politician believes time has come for the transfiguration of national politics.
“We need to go beyond politics and craft a vision of Zimbabwean-hood because unless we do that, we are accelerating on auto-pilot to a position of oblivion, a position of nonentity,” said he.
“Zimbabwe’s politics is dominated by intolerance and by hatred.
“I shudder to open any newspaper because what you read there is hatred and vitriol and diatribe.
“But newspapers don’t create this, they are just a mirror image of the society that they are from — a reflection of what we have become, a miserable group of going-nowhere people stuck in hatred and bitterness.
“We need to convert these predatory and vicious cycles of exclusion into virtuous circles of inclusivity and that is the challenge and obligation on this generation.”
Zimbabwe to Export Live Elephants, Defies Opposition
Zimbabwe intends to proceed with plans to export live elephants to China, the United Arab Emirates and France because the country has too many of the animals and needs to fund its national parks.
The exports will go ahead despite opposition from wildlife activists because there is no alternative, Environment, Water and Climate Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said Friday in a speech in Hwange, the country’s biggest national park.
“It has not been an easy journey. Where we have tried to cull, we are told no because it’s inhuman and we agree,” he said. “Where you try to bring in the hunters there are also sanctions. Where we try to carry out live sales they say don’t sell. We are between a rock and a hard place.”
While Hwange has the capacity to support 15,000 elephants, the park in northwestern Zimbabwe has 43,000 of the animals. Overpopulation of elephants leads to damage to vegetation, which reduces biodiversity.
“We’ve chosen to be decisive,” he said. “There are those who complain, that’s your business to complain.”
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a Norfolk, Va.-based campaign group, criticized Zimbabwe’s treatment of elephants, saying the authorities used helicopters to scatter herds and then captured the young.
“These innocent and terrified babies have been traumatically torn away from their families,” PETA said in a statement on its website.
Elephants can be sold for between $40,000 and $60,000 each, depending on age, and the revenue could help meet the $2.3 million annual running costs of the park in the northwest of the country, Director for Conservation at the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authorities, Geoffreys Matipano, said in a Dec. 18 interview at Hwange. At the time he said 62 were destined for export. Bloomberg
Faltering Mbada Resorts to Digging Conglomerate Diamonds
Government-owned Mbada Diamonds has started small-scale mining of conglomerate and kimberlitic diamonds as alluvial stones continue to dwindle, mines minister Walter Chidhakwa has said.
Marange diamond miners, who have been engaged in open cast operations, in 2013 said they had hit hard rock and that alluvial deposits were thinning out on their allocated concessions. They also said the deep seated conglomerate diamonds were not commercially viable.
“I went to Marange to see the exploration work that is being done by Mbada. They have started doing a bit of conglomerate (diamond mining) as well and also kimberlite. If they can do that, then that would take the company forward,” he told The Source on Friday.
He refused to give more details.
Last year, Mbada indicated that it was importing new state-of-the-art machinery to extract deep-seated conglomerate and kimberlitic diamonds.
Chidhakwa also said he had directed Mbada to re-engage its retrenched workers.
The company had reduced its workforce from approximately 1,800 to 500 due to low production as alluvial gems ran out.
“They said the low production forced them reduce their staffing levels. But my position was that once they have done exploration and discover more diamonds they can then reengage those people and take the company to a new level not based on alluvial diamonds only but a combination of all,” said Chidhakwa.
The minister has proposed to bring all diamond mining operations in the country under one firm in which the state will have a 50 percent shareholding.
Other miners in the Chiadzwa area include Marange Resources, Diamond Mining Company (DMC), Anjin, Jinan and Mbada Diamonds.
The proposal includes Murowa Diamond Mine near Zvishavane owned by global resources giant, Rio Tinto plc.
Man Sodomises Girl, 8
A 49-year-old man who sodomised an 8-year-old girl has been arrested, Maun police have said.
The suspect from Nxaraga village in the North West District was detained at Maun Police Station this week while waiting to appear before court on rape charges.
He allegedly raped the girl last weekend at Dikhuting cattle post.
According to Maun Police Station Commander Superintendent Peter Gochela, the victim’s father is employed by the accused’s sister to look after her livestock and normally takes her little girl with him to the cattle post for a weekend.
Gochela said it is at the cattle post that the suspect sneaked into the victim’s blankets and raped her.
“Information that we have is that the suspect got angry with a neighbour who rushed to help after hearing the girl screaming. He was found on top of her and went back to his bed while hurling insults at the neighbour,” said the police boss.
Gochela said after the neighbour left, the suspect went back and raped the young girl but this time on her behind.
Her father is said to have arrived the following day only to find the bad news to which he received the bad news about what happened to her daughter.
He took the girl with him back to Nxaraga where he reported to his wife and later the police.
The accused was arrested at the cattle and is currently held in custody for further investigations.
“He will be arraigned in court soon,” said the Station Commander. – TheVoice
Stripped Naked Full-Skin Right On Twitter
Law student Pulane Lenkoe – the girlfriend of Orlando Pirates midfielder Thandani Ntshumayelo has had her nude pics posted on Twitter by an ex.
A photo search of “Pulane” on Twitter will tell you exactly why the 31-year-old has garnered more than 11000 new followers, in just over 72 hours, since the picture was leaked.
Even rapper Cassper Nyovest and DJ Sbu are fans. DJ Black Coffee was apparently forced to unfollow her once a Twitter user alerted his pregnant wife, Rockville actress Mbali Mlotshwa, of his virtual dalliances.
Lenkoe said yesterday: “I’m literally shaking right now. I don’t want to deal with this. I just want it to go away. I wish I could just wake up and somebody tells me it’s just a dream.
“I don’t want all of this attention. Good Friday [is approaching], my goodness. I’m going to church. I don’t want people looking at me like I’m some whore.”
Lenkoe said Ntshumayelo advised her to “let it go” – but what options besides this are open to her and others?
Social media law expert Emma Sadleir said Lenkoe could sue her ex for infringement of privacy, lay a charge of crimen injuria, or even get a protection order under the Protection from Harassment Act.
But Sadleir added: “Often victims land up doing nothing because whatever you do means that more people land up finding out.”
Just over a week ago, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo admitted the microblogging site “sucked” at dealing with abuse on the platform. Twitter then introduced new rules to combat revenge porn – banning the posting of “intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject’s consent”.
The complaints would be processed daily by its Trust and Safety team. Lenkoe’s name and picture has been trending on Twitter for three days.
Several users commented about the post, including comedian @Trevornoah, who said: “So Pulane starts trending and then Kanye tweets nudes of Kim? Why can’t we just let other children shine?”
Lenkoe said: “People who have been following me [prior to this saga] know that I wouldn’t even put a picture of me in lingerie. That’s my punani for the world to see, why would I do that? I’m not that girl.
Mugabe Flies Out of Country Again
ZIMBABWE’S sky-scouring President Robert Mugabe has left for Windhoek, Namibia this Friday to attend the inauguration of President Hage Geingob. He has only just returned from Japan.
As usual he has taken with him a large entourage of hangers on. President Geingob is Namibia’s 3rd head of state after founding fathers Sam Nujoma and Hifikepunye Pohamba, both from the Ovambo people.
Namibia celebrates its independence Silver Jubilee on Saturday and the occasion coincides with the inauguration of the new president.
President elect Geingob received 87 percent of the total votes cast, romping to victory in the November 2014 Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The winning percentage is the highest ever by SWAPO since independence.
Nine political parties took part in the presidential elections while 16 political parties participated in the National Assembly polls in which SWAPO got 80 percent.
Dabengwa Calls For a United Front To Boot Out Zanu PF
ZAPU leader Dumiso Dabengwa on Wednesday called on opposition parties to unite for future elections, saying he had learnt from the past that there was need to unite to defeat Zanu PF.
In an interview with Southern Eye during the official opening of the party’s new offices at corner Connaught Avenue and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street on Wednesday, Dabengwa said there was need to come together as a united front to oust Zanu PF .
“Zapu sent its proposal for a united front framed in 2012 and this was in cognisance of the 2013 elections, but unfortunately the opposition did not respond,” he said.
“We hope that this time, since they have learnt a lesson, they will be organised to make sure that they face whatever as a united front.
“We need to be a united front so that everybody has space and we are able to give opportunities of being represented,”
“Zapu is now in serious business.”
Dabengwa said united front would defeat Zanu PF hands down.
“We need to be a united front so that everybody has space and we are able to give opportunities of being represented,” he said.
His remarks came only 24 hours after the MDC-T caused the expulsion of 21 legislators for crossing to the MDC-Renewal, a sign that opposition parties were growing further apart.
Dabengwa said they would send emissaries to other parties to discuss forthcoming by-elections.
“We will have to discuss the issue of participating in the by-elections with members of relevant constituencies and we will also discuss it with opposition,” he said.
“This will make us catch up on issues to do with the united front.”
Tsvangirai Slaps Mugabe with Damning Lawsuit
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has taken a step to sue President Robert Mugabe to stop all the country’s pending by-elections before the passage of necessary electoral laws, in conformity with Zimbabwe’s new Constitution.
Tsvangirai filed papers at the Constitutional Court on Monday accusing Mugabe of deliberately violating electoral laws.
Tsvangirai wants the courts to not only stop but nullify President Robert Mugabe’s by-election move.
In his lengthy application, Tsvangirai cited Mugabe as the key respondent in the matter, after the nonagenarian recently set March 27 as the date for by-elections in Chirumhanzu-Zibagwe and Mt Darwin West.
MDC secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora said in the application that the elections, which are now just a week away, could not be held as that would be a breach of the country’s new Constitution.
“There is no law which permits the holding of elections under electoral laws that are ultra vires the Constitution. The current Electoral Act without the necessary alignment with the supreme law of the land is incapable of enabling a free and credible election,” reads part of Mwonzora’s application.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), which is the 1st respondent in the matter, has already established voter registration centres which the MDC contends is contradictory to its earlier position that it could not provide a voters’ roll because of the absence of enabling legislation.
“Curiously, 1st and 2nd respondents (Zec and Zec chairperson Rita Makarau) established voter registration centres even without the ‘robust and appropriate legislative intervention’ that was referred to by the 2nd respondent as recently as December 2014, as being a necessary precondition for the execution of credible voter registration and other electoral processes,” contends Mwonzora.
The other respondents in the matter are Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa (5th), registrar general Tobaiwa Mudede (3rd) and attorney general Prince Machaya (6th).
In 2014 Makarau argued that “an Act of Parliament must provide for the conduct of elections and referendums,” but in its submissions the MDC says “no such law as envisioned by the Constitution has been put in place”.
“If the alignment of laws is an ongoing process and if respondents are close to actualising the alignment of the Electoral Act with the Constitution, through a General Laws Amendment Bill, as soon as is promised in the opposing affidavit, then there surely can be no reason for the rush into the two illegal by-elections, and any other that the respondents may be planning,” Mwonzora says.
The MDC also argues that there is need to bridge the gap between the enabling act and the Constitution.
“It is difficult to understand why the 4th and 5th respondents (Mugabe and Mnangagwa) should on one hand indicate that the amendment of the Electoral Act to align it with the new Constitution is about to be completed, then on the other hand argue that the process is still far from being completed,” Mwonzora added.
He said the fact that the alignment of legislation with the Constitution was “a mammoth task which cannot be completed overnight”, could not be the justification for the conduct of illegitimate elections that were ultra vires the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The MDC further argued that holding elections with a defective constitution was a “self-aggrandisement exercise for the benefit of some of the respondents and their families”.
It also attached Makarau’s response to another application filed by Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa in December last year, where he was demanding the provision of a new voters’ roll.
In the response, Makarau said the amendments introduced by the Electoral Amendment Act were of no effect to some sections of the Electoral Act.
“Firstly, the first respondent (Zec) is given the role of adviser to Parliament with respect to proposed amendments to the electoral law. It is not given the power to dictate the content of any legislation that is eventually enacted by parliament.
“Secondly, parliament is only enjoined to consider the recommendations made by the first respondent. It is not mandated to accept them.
“Thirdly, the function of Parliament differs materially from the function of the first respondent and the former does not take direction from the latter in the execution of its mandate as it is Parliament that will remain accountable for any legislation that it passes,” she said.
Dabengwa, the leader of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu), filed his Electoral Court challenge demanding an electronic voters’ roll from the Zec last year.
The former Cabinet minister also demanded that the commission compiles a new voters’ roll and register in accordance with the country’s new Constitution.
In the application, Dabengwa, who is represented by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, cited Makarau, the electoral body itself, the chief elections officer and Mnangagwa as respondents.
Dabengwa, who stood as a presidential candidate for his party in the 2013 elections, said he had a right to act in the public interest in terms of the new Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The former Zanu PF politburo member said Zec should comply with five key provisions of the country’s Constitution and the Electoral Act.
He said according to the country’s new Constitution which, came into force on May 22, 2013, every citizen over the age of 18 had a right to vote.
However, he noted, since the new Constitution came into effect, the commission had not complied with its function to register voters on a continuous basis.
Dabengwa said without the registration of voters, there could not be an election in terms of the Electoral Act.
“I understand from articles in the press in September 2014, in relation to filling a vacancy in the Senate for Manicaland Province and the eligibility of (former Reserve Bank Governor) Gideon Gono to fill that vacancy that the commission claims that there is, at present, no legal framework for voter registration and that as a result nobody can be registered as voters,” he said.
The Zapu leader said it was Zec’s obligation to ensure continuous voter registration, in order to keep an up-to-date voters’ roll, which should be readily available to members of the public, upon meeting the necessary requirements.
“If, as the commission apparently now contends, it has no power in terms of the Electoral Law to register voters, this would inevitably lead to the dire conclusion that it is unable to carry out one of its most fundamental constitutional functions,” Dabengwa said.
Dabengwa further stated that it was not sufficient for the commission to take over and use the old voters’ roll from the registrar-general.
“It is incumbent on the commission to compile a completely new voters’ roll,” he said. – Daily News/ Additional Reporting
About Fathers And Their Daughters
It has been a traditional belief, especially in many cultures that sons are more superior than daughters. Because of this limiting belief, men who have daughters only were made to feel inferior and pressurised to the point of getting children from outside marriage in search of a son.
This is a false belief and was put in place most probably by inferior men who thought that be-littling women will make them feel better. This belief is no different from xenophobia, and results from low self-esteem and not feeling good about one’s self. In general, the source of any thought that be-little another human being is usually low self-confidence or fear.
Here are some points worth noting:
- Before God, men and women are equal, actually every person is equal. So having a daughter or son does not matter as far a God is concerned. After all a child is a gift from God. Gal 3:28 says, ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’ Gender is a physical phenomenon that is invalid spiritually. In heaven or rather in the spirit there is no gender. If you are heavenly minded, gender is not a big deal!
- The male genes control the gender of the child, that is, the sperm carries the genes that determine whether the child will be a boy or girl. So changing women does not change your chance of having daughters.
- Men who reject their daughters in preference of a son, not only to they deny their daughter a blessing, but by bringing an illegitimate son they also bring a curse to thems elf. A good lesson is Abraham. The descendent of the illegitimate son, up to today are still fighting Abraham’s descendant/seed. If you look closely most boys who came as a result of the father ‘searching for a boy’ end up having personal issues in life. It is better to have a blessed daughter than a son from a cursed relationship.
- In life, I have discovered that everything that you do not choose is part of your calling. For example your race, family, origin, physical features etc. God made that way and put you where you are for a purpose. He gave you daughters or sons for a purpose. Who knows one of them will become the saviour of nations through her gifts. Your duty as the parent is to raise your children according to God’s instructions. God gave you daughters or sons for a purpose. Find that purpose!
So, love your children regardless of sex, abilities, disabilities, physical features, etc. Each of these was designed and put in place for a reason.
You daughter needs you. In her book, Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know, Doctor Meg Meeker found out that the involvement of fathers in daughters’ lives, providing warmth and control results in:
- Increase likelihood of achievement of higher academic success.
- Daughter exhibiting less anxiety and withdrawn behaviours.
- Less likelihood that daughters engage in premarital sex, drug use, and alcohol.
- Significantly fewer suicide attempts and fewer instances of body dissatisfaction, depression, low
self-esteem, substance abuse, and unhealthy weight.
Ask God to help you to see and accept what he has given you. Align your expectations with God’s plans, not what you or the society think.
Your child is special!
Have a great day.
Share this with you college friends.
Please share your thoughts, ideas and comments below!
© Copyright 2014 by It’s My Footprint, www.itsmyfootprint.com/blog.
Desire for Unprotected Sex Lands Policeman in Hospital
ZimEye Correspondent
A Chatsworth based police officer in Masvingo province’s Gutu district, has been admitted at Masvingo General Hospital, after demanding unprotected sex from his wife in a drunken stupor.
The wife, Melody Matuke (21) who could not stomach the weird sexual advance turned down the desire, leading to a scuffle that forced Saviour Mlahleki (26) to threaten the woman wife with a knife.
As if it was not enough, Melody disarmed her sexually starved husband, a trained Zimbabwe police officer and stabbed him. He was rushed to Masvingo General Hospital where he is currently receiving medical attention.
Masvingo Police Press & Liaison office declined to speak on the matter and promised to come back with the comment, which was not done by the time of going to press.
According to sources privy to the family, Mlahleki did not take light his wife’s refusal to have sex leading to a misunderstanding. The wife Melody is said to have refused to have unprotected sex as she suspected that her husband was sleeping around with prostitutes.
The matter which was initially reported at Chatsworth police station where Mlahleki is stationed will proceed after the recovery of the victim, who is admitted at Masvingo Provincial Hospital as he sustained serious injuries.
Senior German gvt Official Visits Zimbabwe
A senior German government official is next week visiting the country and hold meetings with ZANU (PF) government which are aimed at improving the sour relations between Harare and Berlin.
According to the German Embassy in Harare, Friday, the German envoy who is the Director General for Sub-Saharan Africa and Sahel of the German Federal Foreign Office, Ambassador Georg Schmidt is visiting Harare from 23rd to 24th March.
“During his visit he will meet members of the Zimbabwean Government, Parliament and Judiciary as well as representatives of civil society institutions. Ambassador Schmidt will address the public forum at the end of the conference on Tuesday 24th March including some remarks on the current state and perspectives of bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and Germany,” the Embassy said in a statement.
The Embassy also said Ambassador Schmidt’s visit will coincide with the conference “Assessing Progress on the Implementation of Zimbabwe’s New Constitution: National, Regional and Global Perspectives” which is organized by the Max-Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law (MPFDPR), Germany, in collaboration with the Development and Rule of Law Programme (DROP) at the Faculty of Law, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and the Southern African Political Economy Series (SAPES) Trust, Harare.
Cooperation between Germany and Zimbabwe deteriorated in 2002, after the ZANU (PF) government had violently driven away former white commercial farmers from their farms.
Although President Robert Mugabe said ,that the move was meant to redress colonial land imbalances, it is the way the programme was conducted that received worldwide condemnation.
‘Mugabe must apologise for Rape’-Retired Lt Colonel Ndlovu
By Chrispen Tabvura
ZimEye Correspondent
In yet another scathing attack on Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe, who recently celebrated his 91 years in the resort town of Matabeleland, its community are extremely demanding an apology for rape and brutality perpetrated by 5th Brigade soldiers during Gukurahundi.
Retired Lt Colonel Ray Ndlovu’s sentiments during BUYA (Bulawayo Youth Unemployment Agenda) presser revealed that the tribal war between Shonas and Ndebeles is far from over.
“Mugabe must address the nation on rape and killings that affected Ndebeles after he ordered soldiers to do so from 1982 until 1987. Those soldiers raped and impregnated our women and left their daughters and sons who are now Ndebele speaking not by choice. Mugabe must say sorry to us and we are more than ready to listen to his voice of apology,” said retired Lt Ndlovu.
Mqondisi Moyo, the president of Mthwakazi State political party, echoed the same sentiments and opened what he called a can of worms.
“Mugabe and his accomplices designed what was called the grand plan to eliminate Ndebele speaking people and all their families, so that he would face no resistance in whatever he wanted in Bulawayo. We now have Shonas who are Ndebele speaking in all parts of Bulawayo state, because they were brought up by their raped mothers,” said an emotional Moyo.
However, Zenzo Nyoni, the Chairperson of the youth employment seekers (BUYA), told ZimEye.com that, his organisation will not sit and cry expecting Mugabe to reform, as this may take a lifetime linger. “We are already fighting unemployment in Bulawayo and the entire region, since Mugabe has openly declared war on Bulawayo youths, by relocating companies to Harare. We are aware that this was planned way back in 1979, that Ndebeles must suffer,” he said amid applause from the audience.
I Will Quit Politics if Tsvangirai Contests By-Elections – Sikhala
I will quit politics if MDC T contests by elections – Sikhala
Staff Reporter
MDC T National Executive Member Job “Wiwa” Sikhala has vowed he will quit politics if his party reverses its resolution not to contest any elections in the country until some unmentioned electoral reforms are put in place by government.
Taking a $100 bet and putting his political career on the table against prominent Zimbabwean writer Pettina Gappah on Facebook, Sikhala vowed that the MDC T will as a matter of principle not participate in the 17 by elections coming as a result of his party dismissing its Members of Parliament suspected to have defected from the party. Sikhala a former Harare legislator himself also discarded the perception that not only will the MDC T take part in the by elections but he will be one of the MDC T candidates.
Gappah and Sikhala have made their challenge open for members of the public to monitor.
Petina Gappah, writes, “I am asking my friends to share this post as widely as possible, for accountability. I have bet Job Wiwa Sikhala that not only will the MDC participate in the urban by elections, but Job himself will be a candidate. He says not only will the MDC NOT take part in the by-elections, he will RESIGN from politics if they do. If they take part, he owes me a 100
dollars and a resignation letter.”
Job Sikhala writes “I have also thrown my $100 on the betting basket. No one is going to be allowed to play around with our minds on this one…….don’t buy Petina Gappah ‘s poke on the MDC (T) nose. No one is contesting. If I am wrong on this one, I will resign from politics.”
The public has reacted with a wait and see interest on the matter. Several have warned Sikhala that his words will come back to haunt him.
Man Batters Wife Over Loaf of Bread
A 31-YEAR-OLD man from Nketa in Bulawayo appeared in court facing physical abuse charges after he allegedly battered his wife when she demanded $1 to buy bread for their children.
Moses Mudadigwa (31) appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Tancy Chipumha Dube where he was charged for violating section 89 of the Domestic Violence Act.
He pleaded guilty to the charges against him and was remanded out of custody to tomorrow.
In his defence, Mudadigwa told the court that his wife challenged him in front of the children and that did not go down well with him.
“I do admit to the charges, but my wife provoked me by challenging me in front of my children to make it seem as if I am a bad father,” he said. “I had no right to beat her, but she was out of line.”
Prosecutor Busani Moyo told the court that on Sunday last week, Mudadigwa came home with a loaf of bread and his wife, Yvonne Toendepi, asked that he share it with their children.
Mudadigwa ignored his wife’s request and continued eating until his wife told him that they had not eaten anything since morning.
“I asked him to give the children bread, but he ate it all alone,” Toendepi said.
He reportedly finished the bread and went out for a while before returning in the afternoon.
The wife again approached him begging that he give them money for bread and he agreed.
He gave his eight-year-old daughter a dollar and instructed her to buy at Musarurwa shops, while her mother directed her to a nearby tuckshop.
Mudadigwa felt challenged and he grabbed the money from his daughter and went into the bedroom with it. Toendepi followed him, asking why he was acting in that manner.
However, the husband assaulted her and her screams attracted the attention of neighbours, who rescued her.
The matter was reported to the police, leading to Mudadigwa’s arrest.
He was sentenced to six months in prison, with two being suspended for five years on condition that he does not commit a similar offence.
The remaining four months were suspended on condition he performs 420 hours of community service at West Commonage Police Station.-SouthernEye
Rights Abuses: Government Destroying All Hope Of Recovery
The Zimbabwean government is destroying all hope of economic recovery through the recently revived human rights violations spoiradically across the country which include the abduction of activist Itai Dzamara. Economic analysts have fired warning that Zimbabwe may sink deeper into its 2005-7 shrink era.
By Eddie Cross
I normally do not give the Heritage Foundation in the USA much attention, but this week they dropped a copy of the above report into my pigeon hole at Parliament and I read it with great interest and growing concern.
The index has been running for 20 years and uses four areas of national activity to measure “economic freedom” in individual States and regions of the world. These are the Rule of Law, Government Size, Regulatory Efficiency and Open Markets. What was pleasing was to see the tremendous progress in global terms of these elements in countries and continents across the world. Global GDP has risen from $40 trillion in 2000 to $52 trillion in 2012, a rise of 30 per cent in 12 years. Global poverty has declined by 40 per cent over the same period.
The index also gives two tables – one linking economic freedom to democratic governance and economic freedom to social progress. In both cases the trend line is clear – in the first case exponential and in the second case the trend line shows a close correlation between social progress and economic freedom.
Now I know the Foundation is a conservative think tank and strong exponent for open markets and conservative economic policies, but you cannot ignore this sort of analysis. It represents the real world in which we live and operate. Taken together with the World Banks “Ease of Doing Business” survey earlier this year where we were ranked near the bottom of the list of countries, this new survey is very important.
The survey says that the top ten countries include only one African State – Mauritius and the two top contenders are both City/States – Hong Kong in number 1 and Singapore in number 2 slot. Our neighbor Botswana sits at 36 out of 186 countries, South Africa at 72 (below Ghana) and China at 139. Zimbabwe sits at 175 out of 186 countries and was in 2012/13 one of the better performers in terms of moving up the list.
But if you think about it, where were we in 2000? Our income per capita was double what it is today, our formal economy was twice its present size and employed 1,2 million people compared to below 600 000 today. Life expectancy has declined and over 80 per cent of our population is now classified as being poor with over 70 per cent in the worst classification of being “absolutely poor”. While the rest of the world has made huge progress in terms of democracy, human rights and the general quality of life, we have regressed in every area.
If we take just one factor – that of income per capita, the report reveals that the average income per capita in the “Free” countries was $53 000 a year, in the “Mostly Free” countries it was $40 000 a year, in the “Moderately Free” countries it was $19 000 and in the “Mostly Unfree”, $6 000. In our category the average income of the “Repressed” States was $8 000 a year – our actual GDP per capita is just over $1200 per annum and we must now be among the poorest nations of the world.
These are not just statistics and I know the adage “there are lies, damn lies and statistics”, but they represent the harsh realities of where we are today. Zimbabwe is an unmitigated disaster.
If I was to make the above statement in Parliament this afternoon, it would be greeted with loud shouts of “sanctions” by my colleagues on the Zanu PF benches. Most certainly they would never allow a debate on these issues because they know damned well, that they are directly responsible for this calamitous state of affairs. What is worse for them is that the markets are very consistent in the way they vote every day against Zanu PF government. All you have to do is watch the stock market here, watch property prices, especially commercial and industrial property.
Right now our inflation is negative – minus 1,4 per cent in the first two months, revenues to the State are shrinking at 5 per cent a quarter and 40 per cent of our banks have closed their doors since the Zanu PF “victory” in 2013. To top it all even the weather seems to be voting against them, I looked at a website this morning and for the next week, Zimbabwe sits in a region surrounded by rain while remaining drought stricken with clear blue skies. I doubt if we will produce 20 per cent of our food needs this season.
Bad government has a price; the problem is that it is the people as a whole who pay the price and not the perpetrators. Especially it is the marginalized and the poor who suffer and anyone who doubts this simply has to visit Zimbabwe and look beyond the streets of our Cities to see the reality.
Tsvangirai’s Bloody Red Beams Brighter Than Biti’s Mazowe Orange Pale
Re:
- From Harvest House to their new offices at the Mazowe Animal Farm
- Whose idea was it to ditch the MDC’s fiery REDNESS to choose to sip cold Mazowe orange juice?
Dear Editor,
When Toendepi Shonhe and other MDC Renewal officials went to the Labour Court to sue the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC-T for “fair dismissal”, they knew very well that there was no dispute who was the real MDC-T between the Sekai Holland-led MDC Renewal and the Morgan Tsvangirai-led outfit. If they really believed that the Sekai Holland-led grouping was the genuine MDC-T, then they should have gone to court as they were already working for the same party. Interestingly, while they sued the Morgan Tsvangirai-led outfit, MDC Renewal also got a share of the money given to political parties under the Political Parties Finance Act. They should, therefore, have simply got their salary payment from that allocation. What they did not realise was that their action amounted to saying indirectly that there was no contest as to which group between the Tsvangirai-led MDC-T and the MDC Renewal was the legitimate MDC-T which is represented in parliament. Fortunately, the Labour Court realised the merits of their argument and in its ruling, confirmed that the Tsvangirai-led MDC-T was the legitimate MDC-T which had the right to recall parliamentarians and Senators. Their action only proves how greedy some of our politicians have become.
The Bitis and Shonhes went on and created their own logo, name and colours, and it was not a coincidence that the colour they chose was the Mazowe Crush colour. Wait a minute, was that really a coincidence? No, not at all, because they were wholesomely part and parcel of the insane Grace Mugabe Mazowe Crush movement.
Now that the Speaker of Parliament has made the right decision and approved the recall of the MDC Renewal parliamentarians, the work that all democratic forces in Zimbabwe should do is to push for electoral reforms. NOW, before the bye-elections for the vacant seats can be held. All MDC formations have said they will not participate in any elections until meaningful reforms to the electoral process have been made. I believe that such reforms are already contained in the new Constitution, so the work to democratise the electoral process has already begun in a way and only needs to be completed, a much easier task, I think, just that there is no political will on the part of Zanu PF. In any case, Zanu PF wouldn’t grant reforms that disadvantage them, so those calling for the reforms must fight for them.
I wouldn’t conclude my opinion piece without criticising those who have been blaming the MDC-T for giving away the seats to Zanu PF since the MDCs have vowed they will not contest in elections without reforms. All those who have said so have only been proving to the public that they are not prepared to fight for the same reforms to take place. Some of them actually hoped to enjoy salaries from parliament until the next general election.
My call is for everyone: Morgan Tsvangirai, Professor Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti, Dumiso Dabengwa, Sekai Holland, Civic Society and everyone else who cares about Zimbabwe, to put as much pressure as possible not only on Mugabe and Zanu PF, but on all institutions that can help bring about the reforms, including SADC and the African Union, to play their part in ensuring something positive happens before the by-elections to replace the recalled legislators. If you are genuinely fighting for positive change, you should be able to forget your petty political differences and work together only for the sake of reforms. Individual parties will contest the elections separately, or those that can form alliances or unite such as the current work in progress between the Professor Ncube led MDC and the Renewal Team can still exercise their constitutional rights to do so.
Philip Chiyangwa hit the nail on the head recently when he accused Zimbabweans for wanting to wait for ever. The time to strike is NOW. Do not expect to enjoy parliamentary benefits that you do not deserve just for the reason of not wanting to “donate” seats to Zanu PF.
Benjamin Chitate,
Gweru
HIV AIDS Breakthrough as Drug Makes Men Resistant to Virus
A US drug, Truvada, currently under trials has proven to be effective in giving men 100% resistance from contracting the virus.
Report by Healthline:
Results of the PROUD and IPERGAY trials show that taking Truvada before and after high-risk sex makes study participants, who were gay and bisexual men, 86 percent less likely to contract HIV.
Two studies testing whether the drug Truvada (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) can prevent HIV infections in a real-world setting made their prime-time debuts this week at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle, Washington.
Both were a resounding success, boasting an 86 percent reduction in new HIV infections among volunteers using Truvada.
Truvada is an HIV medication FDA-approved to prevent the spread of HIV when it’s used as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.
But the really big news is that researchers got the same results whether the men involved took Truvada once a day (as it’s typically prescribed) or “as needed” before and after risky sex.
The first trial, called IPERGAY, included 400 men who have high-risk sex with other men in France and Canada. Volunteers were randomly assigned to take Truvada or placebo pills.
The men took two pills between two and 24 hours before sex, and a third and fourth pill 24 and 48 hours later. Because the men reported having sex frequently, they took Truvada an average of four days a week “as needed.”
There were two new HIV infections among men taking Truvada, and 14 new infections among those taking the placebo pills. Men in the trial taking Truvada lowered their risk of HIV infection by 86 percent.
The second trial, called PROUD, recruited 545 gay and bisexual men in the United Kingdom who admitted to having had recent unprotected sex. Half were assigned to begin taking Truvada every day right away, while half were assigned to receive Truvada after one year.
In the group that started Truvada right away, three men contracted HIV. However, in the group that delayed Truvada, there were 19 new HIV infections. That’s a risk reduction of 86 percent for the first group.
“These results are extremely exciting and show PrEP [pre-exposure prophylaxis] is highly effective at preventing HIV infection in the real world,” said Sheena McCormack, a professor of clinical epidemiology at University College London and chief investigator of the PROUD study. “These results show there is a need for PrEP, and offer hope of reversing the epidemic among men who have sex with men.”
Experts hope these results will remove some of the stigma surrounding Truvada and encourage more men to talk to their doctors about using PrEP.
They caution that these results can’t be expanded to include opposite-sex couples, since the risk of infection during sex is different based on the type of sex partners have. – Healthline
Banana’s Son Blasts Mugabe State House
A son of Zimbabwe’s first post-independence president, Canaan Sodindo Banana, says centralization of political power has devastated the southern African nation once regarded as one of the continent’s bread baskets.
Forty-eight year old Nathan Sipho Banana, who describes the State House where he grew up as an executive prison, says this sad development can only be reversed if Zimbabweans adopt a common national socio-economic vision.
Banana whose father was convicted of sodomy, further says this can be enhanced through accountability and transparency among the nation’s political leaders.
He speaks to Studio 7’s Gibbs Dube in this exclusive interview in which he also talks about his childhood and life after leaving the State House.
His father was convicted and jailed for sodomy. He pleaded not guilty of 11 charges of sodomy and related issues. – VOA
Psychology Maziwisa, You Need To Dig Deeper Before You Speak!
I rarely agree with Obert Gutu due to his hypocrisy and some of his childish or make-believe theories on anything he writes about. Just for this once, I will take an exception and help him dismember you Psychology because of your pathetic reasoning and fragile submissions. I am shocked that with such a compromised IQ, you are actually considered one of the top brains in ZANU PF. No wonder why we have such endless flaws on policy implementation from ZANU PF. And what happened to that ZIMASSET that seemed to obsess and excite every big wig at the time of inception? It was like a mandatory prayer. Sadly now no one even talks about it. How memories fade.
Here is why I oppose you Maziwisa:
I find your reasoning weak and shallow and you conveniently want to pollute every Zimbabwean to think that Mugabe and ZANU (PF) were God-sent to abuse the nation and pulverize it until no life exists in the country. Poor thing. Farming, mining, education system, industry and the infrastructure have now been totally destroyed and we do not know what is now left. But God does not send evil people to destroy a nation. he protects them. Now every cabinet minister gets a degree by a phone call from any Zimbabwean University of choice. The only litmus for one’s credentials now is the reasoning capacity of bearer. Listener beware! Talking of academic inflation as introduced by Grace Mugabe, that has now spread to even once respectable people like the famous Harare businessmen who now are receiving bogus red academic gowns for PhDs granted in dingy motel corridors in company of less than five people where there is no proven credential, no college accreditation, no faculty, no audience or any related dignitaries to support a noble ceremony. What a shame! Then you emerge Psychology Maziwisa, LLB (soon to be PhD from any institution of choice in Zimbabwe) with a loose mouth but no fact on anything. Your battle with Obert Gutu or Morgan Tsvangirai just made me perceive you as a real clown. Of course Tsvangirai doesn’t deserve the disrespect that you attacked him with. I still respect him as having the guts to stand up and tell a dictatorship to slow down. He did so when no one else had the balls. Today we have opposition in Zimbabwe.
First things first, Bona Mugabe is not a madam. She has not earned that title before the Zimbabwean community. We are not her subjects neither has she been publicly bestowed with that honor. She is just a mere child of Mugabe and that familial connection does not mandate the suffering Zimbabweans to pay allegiance to her. She is a nonentity on the bureaucratic channels.
Secondly, while Bona Mugabe had a right to travel with her family, she had no capacity to share the seats pf protocol on the bilateral talks. She has no standing and has no capacity to represent Zimbabwe in any scenario. In any case that’s why we had Mumbengegwi or the frail President Mugabe or close security details. Even Grace Mugabe had no capacity to be on the bilateral talks table. She lacks the mandate of office besides the big mouth.
Thirdly, I get amused by your quick reference to the USA on anything that happens in Zimbabwe. Is America your yardstick for standards? Or is it an infatuation. Anything you err on you are quick to weave in the USA as a comparable example. Why not check with the East? I had assumed you hated the West down to the cups they drank from? How interesting. And to make matter worse, you compare Bona to Chelsea. First of all Chelsea was not married when she welcomed guests at the White House. She was still under the Clinton surname. Bona has since moved on with Chikore and she belongs there. Then at the same time the capacity in which the Zimbabwean situation is happening is quite different from the American situation at the time because Bill Clinton was sitting on a booming economy. Mugabe is actually destroying Zimbabwe on purpose. That is why people can now afford to donate elephants for his birthday. You tell me, where else can anyone own a wild elephant under the sun and have a capacity to butcher it except in Zimbabwe? Doesn’t that ring bells on how crazy Mugabe is? All national assets and natural resources have been pegged and are now owned by individuals. Even rivers are now individually owned. That doesn’t happen in a civilized society like the USA.
Then you declare that Tsvangirai will never rule Zimbabwe. In other words you were implying that no one else would ever rule Zimbabwe. Who are you? With this sinking economy where every newspaper company, bank, company, factory and store are closing by the day do you think Zimbabweans will keep holding on? Do you think they will keep cheering for all this nonsense from ZANU PF where the President gobbles $1 million to travel with 100 delegates and return home with a promise for $2 million aid? Do you think the Chinese are serious when they donate 5 tonnes of rice as aid and you sign them up to receive all you have in diamonds and gold? Aren’t we back to our ancestry that has been mocked for selling Zimbabwe over packets of sugar and whiskey? Isn’t this the same re-colonization that makes Mugabe pound the podium crying, “Zimbabwe shall never be a colony again’? I must remind you that Mugabe is not born to rule Zimbabwe forever. We are not his people. He does not own us. God does. Mugabe is not a God. He can be removed by election. For now he must thank NIKUV, tired Tobaiwa Mudede and ZEC. Otherwise, in all fairness, he could be out by now.
Everyone is hungry and angry. Nothing is moving in Zimbabwe. Even hospitals have no medications. There is massive brain drain. Roads have pot holes. ZRP is busy collecting bribes. Nenyere Flats is busy making illegal music and movie productions through government-sanctioned piracy. This is a close. We are at a standstill. Then we have the 10 000 ghost workers whose salaries go to cabinet ministers and Chinamasa is acting haywire trying to cut the largest cabinet in the world for such a tiny nation. Do you think, Maziwisa, Zimbabweans are that blind?
Please check with your psychiatrist. I heard you have a very touching past that involves abuse. Please do not let that affect your spokesman-ship. Your reasoning is not to standard for a spokesperson. That job needs a witty person who has done extensive public relations and communication Sadly, this is the caliber of lawyers we look up to in this day and age in modern Zimbabwe. What a travesty!
Egypt’s President Sisi Slammed Over Al Jazeera Attack
Al Jazeera has condemned a claim by President Sisi that its journalists are activists rather than impartial observers. The network has also strongly defended its coverage of an airstrike by Egypt in Libya last month, after Sisi said it had fabricated footage of dead children. Al Jazeera had strongly proven the authenticity of the footage at the time.
Sisi’s comments were made to a group of visiting African journalists, when their first question was about the ongoing case of the two Al Jazeera journalists currently being retried in his country.
Sisi said: “The Al Jazeera reporters in Egypt had turned into activists instead of objective journalists. Look at what they reported about our intervention in Libya against the ISIS for killing 21 Egyptian (Coptic Christians). They went and picked a picture they took in Syria and claimed that was Libya as a result of our air strikes on the ISIS positions. They claimed we had killed children and women. Egypt is not going to tolerate this …. We are working on the constitutional review to address some of these issues.”
Al Jazeera had aired one report of children killed by airstrikes in Libya since Egypt’s intervention. The February 16 Al Jazeera Arabic report included
footage of children killed by Egyptian airstrikes in Darna. Despite false accusations of inaccurate reporting by Egyptian media, all witnesses of the attack verified the authenticity of the Al Jazeera report.
Al Jazeera spokesperson Osama Saeed said that claiming Al Jazeera would fake footage of dead children was a “shocking” accusation.
“Sisi’s attack on Al Jazeera’s factual reporting is a poor and misguided attempt to draw attention away from the facts of the ongoing retrial of our journalists in Egypt. Before their arrests, Baher and Mohamed helped produce our accurate, balanced and comprehensive journalism in Egypt. All the work they were involved in is available to view online. The president has previously said that he wished this case had never arisen, and recently promised to free Baher and Mohamed. Rather than make misleading and false claims regarding Al Jazeera’s coverage, the president’s efforts should be concentrated on ending this miscarriage of justice.”
The next retrial hearing is tomorrow. The previous two court sessions were adjourned quickly after prosecution witnesses failed to appear, a delay that has been criticized. Al Jazeera has communicated to its journalists to continue to concentrate on the case and to forgo any public comments on the case that may harm the ongoing retrial.
Sisi’s full interview via New Vision : Egypt is working to strengthen African roots and ties
Chombo Fondled Grace to Expel Me:Mliswa
Expelled former Hurungwe West MP Themba Mliswa has laid into ZANU PF’s secretary for Administration Ignatius Chombo saying the latter abused his liberties in the party to execute his long standing grudge on him.
“Chombo abused the grace of both God and man and we shall see how far he goes because indulging with “grace” you cannot go far,” said Mliswa speaking to a friend last Thursday.
Adding fire to his outrage on Chombo, Mliswa told a weekly, boasting that he is preparing to embarrass Chombo now that by elections have been set for, and he will contest as an independent.
“I wouldn’t pick a fight I would lose. I have never lost an election in my life. I was the provincial secretary for lands which I won. Before that, I was provincial youth chairman. Then I won the district coordinating committee elections for Hurungwe and stood for parliamentary elections and won before I went on to win the provincial chairmanship. After the vote of no confidence, I stood for Central Committee elections and got the highest number of votes but was once again blocked. I can stand for any constituency in Hurungwe and win easily, he told the Financial Gazette.
Mliswa said Minister Ignatius Chombo was the reason he was expelled from the party.
“When talking about my downfall, you can never escape mentioning (Ignatius) Chombo. He clearly doesn’t like me and he sees me as a threat. Is it because I do not come from Mashonaland West, or that the chairmanship there is a preserve for the Zezurus and not for any other Zimbabwean? I then get confused and fail to understand the motive of the liberation war. He is a man who is used to usurping the powers of the provincial chairman and would want everyone to tow his line. He needed to be the centre of power in the province when the (party) constitution clearly states that the chairman is the centre of power. He was not happy with my work ethic because I wanted to do things constitutionally.
I will give it to Cde Chombo that I am glad he is there as secretary for administration. I did not understand how people like Cde (Webster) Shamu would say ‘chef’ to Chombo and yet, Cde Shamu was way too senior to him from a structural point of view; so I never understood why he would always say ‘chef’ to someone on number 16 on the national structure. Mai Madzongwe (Senate President, Edna Madzongwe) became a Politburo member earlier, but the two (Shamu and Chombo) would never want to refer to her as ‘chef’. That creates confusion, but if you are going to lead, you want clarity and I sought that clarity. I saw this confusion as the reason why many chairpersons in this province would be forced out. Chombo wants to put everyone in his palm. If you are not on his, you go, and for sure I was not on his side and I also went.
It is important to understand that while the party is supreme, it derives its supremacy from the people. So it’s equally important that the party hears from the people who I have worked with, what they think about all the allegations levelled against me. I intend to go back to the constituency and talk to the people. If they have resolved to have me stand, I will stand. The electorate must not be taken for granted or abused. When they decide to vote a person into office, they know what they are doing.
Mliswa said he was treated harshly by Zanu PF.
“I want to be heard. I feel that the decision to expel me was harsh, it was very harsh. We are young people and are bound to make mistakes. That should not warrant the highest organ (the Politburo) to sit down and expel me. There are people who have made mistakes bigger than mine but are still in the party. I did nothing wrong. You can’t expel me for disrupting meetings. Our (ZANU-PF’s) constitution is very clear on issues of dismissal.
Mliswa said he was not part of the Mujuru camp.
“That’s all lies. I don’t belong to anyone. I made myself in politics. So to say I belonged to the Mujuru faction is not true. What tells you I was? She was vice president of the party and country and people respected the office and not the individual. If someone can be expelled for that, then everyone who has worked with her when she was acting president, including the service chiefs who saluted her, must go. But that’s not the case. I know of no meeting I ever attended where it was discussed that the President must be toppled and Mai Mujuru must take over.”
Nelson Mandela’s Widow Jets Into Harare
Liberation hero and former Mozambican President Samora Machel’s widow, Graca, is in Harare for a grand women’s empowerment conference.
Graca who is also Nelson Mandela’s widow, will be addressing Zimbabweans tomorrow morning.
The function hosted by the Network of African Business Women’s forum, is being held at Meikles Hotel starting at 8am.
It is costing $50 per head.
More details below:
Stop ‘tarnishing’ indigenisation laws-Minister threatens Journalists
A top ZANU (PF) official has declared war on journalists for ‘tarnishing’ the indigenization policy and ‘driving away’ investors.
Deputy Industry and Commerce Minister Chiratidzo Iris Mabuwa shocked reporters and business delegates on Thursday who she was addressing in Harare, when she said the low uptake of the empowerment laws was caused by journalists who were reporting negatively about it.
The Indigenization laws were enacted in 2007 and since then their implementation remains contested.
According to the laws foreign nationals intending to invest in the country are required to cede 51% of their stake to locals.
“These fellow black Zimbabwean journalists who are looking at me right now, you should see what they write about the black indigenization law, they plough it,” she accused reporters covering the event.
“Now I come and tell you, own the means of production and then you just write negative about it, do you want me to say shame on you, I can say that”.
The Mberengwa South legislator said was angry with journalists who wanted to reverse the gains of the liberation struggle using the pen.
“Ndine hurombo zvikuru munoda kufa muri varombo. isu takupai mukana, takanowurirwa, wokuti mutora zvinhu imi makunyora zvisiri izvo ( I feel pity for ,and you want to die poor.We are giving you the chance to empower yourselves but you are denying that chance and choose to tarnish the image of the country through negative reportage)”.
“You are planting the wrong seed for your children and grandchildren, musazviite izvozvo ndozotsamwa (stop it before I get angry),” she threatened.
Prison Riots, Lecturers, Dzamara, Zimbabwe Red Ripe for Revolution
How ready is Zimbabwe for a revolution?
ZimPolicy Debate: With the Itai Dzamara abduction, the subsequent bloody prison riots, and then the lecturers’ strike, it is clear right now that Zimbabwe is pregnant with volcanic emotions for a major revolution. The unprecedented embarrassing Chikurubi Maximum prison riots on Friday the 13th prison authorities tried to hide their corruption on, only displays an every growing-angry nation, Zimbabwe.
If only there was someone of something that would trigger that revolution, l tell you we are steps into a revolution. Why l say this is because there are independent events showing disgruntlements. Chikurubi, Dzamara, UZ, MPs, all this.
But other arguments say this is mere talk with no substance. Wrote two other Zimbabweans,
“But how do you then assume power if not through elections? Remember even after the liberation struggle we went to the polls. But the situation is different now. We have an elected government. Some might argue that the ballot was stolen. But in the absence of a substantiated allegations of rigging, then there is no basis to entertain the rigging claims. So as a people do we want to set a precedent of removing elected governments by force? How do we ensure that the leader of such “revolution” represents the majority of Zimbabweans? For all we know, things may be so hard but ZANU PF does have its fair share of support. In 2008, the MDCs got majority seats in Parliament.This shows that elections are winnable. We must avoid the temptation to think that elections are only fair when the parties that we belong to win.”
Another Zimbabwean said all ZANU PF needs to do is to address its factionalism and mend relations. They said, ” If Zanu Pf addresses its factionalism and mend their relations, then the third force will rocket to power unexpectedly. Mdc is not going to get in power even if it wins elections. Why? Zanu Pf will go to war with anybody who goes against the revolution concept. It also can use state machinery to ensure the MDC will never get closer to power. Of course it’s propaganda but it works well for Zanu pf.” – Lance Mushaninga, ZimPolicy Debates, Harare
Gutu and Maziwisa Shoot At Each Other
ZANU PF Information mic-cast Psychology Maziwisa and MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu fired shots at each other on Thursday with Gutu (who has a long history of retreating to using base ageism when pressured in a debate) calling the former a misguided missile and a ‘young man.’
He went on in bold print to utilise gheto insults such as “stupid” in describing Maziwisa.
The two had been debating with the public on the issue of President Robert Mugabe’s daughter Bona’s presence during the Japan governmental visit, something academics said the enraged Gutu should instead investigate so to raise real points of abuse such as if Bona’s hotel bill was paid for by government. But Gutu without mentioning any issue of such abuse, threw daggers at Maziwisa following the ZANU PF spkesperson’s ZTV interview in which he defended Bona’s presence in Japan.
Below was Gutu’s statement in full:
Many Zimbabweans do not even know the attention – seeking Psychology Maziwisa from a bar of soap. To millions of peace-loving and well-groomed patriots, this misguided and uncouth young man is nothing but just another brick in the wall.
It is extremely unfortunate that one Psychology Maziwiza characteristically attempts to spring up to the defence of the indefensible regarding one Bona Mugabe – Chikore’s State – funded jamboree to Japan. That a little-known political turncoat by the name Maziwisa takes advantage of the Zanu PF – controlled ZBC TV in order to launch a crude, primitive and malicious attack on the person of MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai just goes to show how low the fascist, faction – ridden and beleaguered Zanu PF regime can sink in desperately attempting to divert the people’s attention from the crumbling economy as well as the collapsing public health delivery system.
It is absolutely shocking and uncivilised for someone with such a dubious character and controversial personal lifestyle to denigrate the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe in such a crass and uncouth manner. This Maziwisa boy desperately needs expert psychiatric attention to help him cope with the hazards that come with leading a rather controversial lifestyle. Maziwisa has definitely taken leave of his senses. He needs every concerned Zimbabwean’s prayers to help him get rehabilitated back into mainstream and conventional society.
In a typical Mugabe hero-worshipping fashion, Maziwisa, a moral pervert himself, had nothing substantial to tell the nation to prove his point except to attack Morgan Tsvangirai’s personality with his foul and unmeasured diatribe.
Whilst it is common knowledge that the junior Zanu PF employee, working in the regime’s information department, is merely singing for his supper, he should be mindful that it is not in his best interest to throw stones when he knows that he, himself, is fully ensconced in a very transparent glass house!
For one Psychology Maziwisa to get stupidly carried away and abuse the public broadcaster to wantonly insult other citizens and the intelligence of the people of Zimbabwe, it would certainly attract dire consequences on his personality and character, not least his ominous and wayward identity.
The MDC takes great exception to the unfortunate and Stone-Age utterances that were made by the thoroughly misguided and hopelessly excitable junior spokesperson of the Weevils faction of the collapsing Zanu PF party. As a responsible and family – centred political party, the MDC will not succumb to the temptation of unmasking one Psychology Maziwisa’s rather unusual and controversial personal lifestyle. Suffice to reiterate that this young man should have some little bit of decency in both his public and private lives.
In response however, Maziwisa launched a direct attack on Gutu’s MDC-T party. Below was his statement:
“We have noticed with great pity the rather desperate attempt by Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC-T party to make issue with Madam Bona Mugabe’s trip to Japan in which she accompanied her father, and our dearest leader, President Robert Mugabe.
Not only is this another sign of Mr. Tsvangirai’s pettiness, it’s a demonstration that he is clueless about what happens in the global political sphere, especially since there is no law (domestic or international) that precludes a head of state from travelling with his or her daughter on state visits.
While we don’t expect Mr. Tsvangirai to know this from personal experience because he has never been a head of state himself and is unlikely ever to become one in his lifetime, at least we reasonably expect that he should be acquainted with these basic facts because they are a matter of public record. It’s really not too much to ask from someone who has a well-known dream of one day becoming Zimbabwe’s head of state.
It is a matter of public record, for instance, that former US President Bill Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea, not only attended incalculable state meetings and functions with her father, she in fact, when her mother was away campaigning, became the focal point at White House where she received several foreign dignitaries. Madam Bona Mugabe has not done anything nearly as much.
We refuse to buy into the narrative that for as long as it’s President Mugabe doing it- no matter how perfectly lawful it is, it’s wrong, but if it’s Bill Clinton doing it it’s cool. It’s a barbaric way of doing politics.
The fact of the matter is that Tsvangirai needs to mind his miserable political business. Isn’t it amazing that he has become so desperate for attention that he wants to generate headlines even with the pettiest of issues? It is a very sad situation indeed and a clear sign that Mr. Tsvangirai might just be beginning to see that his political career is drawing to an unhappy end.
At least President Mugabe is travelling abroad with his daughter. Tsvangirai has travelled on innumerable foreign missions with concubines, most of whom are young enough to be his daughters. If he sees glory in that, then shame on him.
He needs to shut up and concentrate on sharpening his leadership skills.
Make no mistake, we are not at all perturbed by this.
As far as we are concerned, Chimpanzees scream, dogs bark and Morgan Tsvangirai talks nonsense.”
Kasukuwere Saves Beautiful Female Journalist from Being Axed
The Environment, Climate and Water Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has saved top female journalist and Herald Business editor, Happiness Zengeni from being booted out of the Zimpapers stable for the publishing of an alarming and explosive story, ZimEye.comhas learnt.
The business section of The Herald on Tuesday published a revealing story headlined “February inflation points to a dying economy”.
The Herald editor Caesar Zvayi viewed the title as alarming and ordered Zengeni and her deputy, George Chisoko, to write detailed reports explaining how ‘such a screaming headline’ ended up being published.
Chisoko was subsequently suspended because he was the duty editor on that day.
Under normal circumstances the Editor, despite being absent is answerable for any editorial mistake published in a newspaper.
In December Zvayi, was sent on forced leave for publishing story headlined “Gono, Biti ties raise suspicion”.
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said the story was based on “emotive and false assertions that smack of a hidden political agenda.”
In his defence Zvayi said he was not present when the story was published but he was sent home despite raising that excuse.
Highly placed sources within the publication’s editorial team have claimed to both the Minister and ZimEye.com that Zengeni was Kasukuwere’s girlfriend hence the survival. They accused the ZANU PF commissar saying he was in love with the female journo said to be “very attractive and beautiful” hence the unusual gesture.
“She (Zengeni) spent the rest of the day (Tuesday) under pressure from Zvayi for the story, and only to be rescued by Minister Kasukuwere. In fact the directive to suspend her and Chisoko came from the Ministry of Information but because the Minister in charge (Jonathan Moyo is a close ally of Kasukuwere the decision to fire her was then reversed and Chisoko was sacrificed,” said the source.
Zvayi confirmed Chisoko’s suspension saying his actions were meant to cause alarm and despondency.
“To this end, I am suspending you for the next two weeks on full pay with immediate effect. During this period, March 17 to April 3, you are not allowed to enter company premises”.said Zvayi in a letter he wrote to Chisoko and seen by ZimEye.com
Efforts to obtain a response comment from Minister Kasukuwere failed as his phone kept ringing without being answered.
King Mswati under fire to release Jailed Journalist and Lawyer
The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) has asked for the release of BhekiMakhubu editor of “The Nation-Swaziland” and his lawyer ThulaniMaseko who have been jailed since 18 March 2014 for publishing articles critical of the judiciary in Swaziland.
“The King Mswati III of Swaziland should order the release of both the journalist and his lawyer after one year in prison”, said Mohamed Garba President of FAJ. “FAJ is raising serious concerns on the permanent attempts by the Kingdom of the Swazi authorities to muzzle all freedoms” added Garba.
The Kingdom of Swaziland has been portrayed as one of the most repressive regimes in Africa and freedom of expression and freedom of association have been under siege since time immemorial. On this date of March 18, 2015 BhekiMakhubu, editor of “The Nation ” and his lawyer, ThulaniMaseko mark one year in a Swaziland jail for publishing articles critical of the judiciary.
The journalist was first jailed for writing stories critical of the judiciary, in an independent news magazine, and the lawyer representing him was later jailed as well.
FAJ calls on all human rights and freedom of expression organisations to express solidarity, raise their voices, and lobby the Swazi King for the release of the two prisoners languishing in jail after an unconstitutional closed court hearing.
CIO Engineer Killed in 9th fl-Accident at Harare Office
One man died and two others were injured on Wednesday when an elevator fell several floors in a government building in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, according to a report.
ZBC TV reported that three technicians are understood to have been working on four old elevators at Chaminuka Building, where the spy agency — the Central Intelligence Organisation — has offices.
“An elevator car they were decommissioning accidentally fell,” the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) said in its main evening news bulletin.
Earlier unconfirmed reports said that the lift had fallen nine floors. This was not confirmed by the TV report.
“The three were taken to hospital, where one died. Medical personnel say the condition of the other two is stable,” the ZBC said.
Investigations are continuing.
Magaya Breathes Fire, Savages “Fake Prophets”
PROPHETIC HEALING and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries church leader Walter Magaya has exploded in anger attacking people he says are false prophets abusing his popularity for financial gain.
Magaya said men have been spotted travelling around the country selling so called “anointing water” under his name.
Speaking to journalists in Marondera, Magaya warned his worshippers to beware of the conmen.
“They are out there and I now have some names, but all the same these people are traveling around presenting themsevels as PHD prophets. Beware of them,”said Magaya.
He added that it is not only water but there is also fake anointing oil carrying his trademark “Yadah,” the alleged men are selling.
A church official has said the conmen are charging $7 for the anointing oil.
Another Top CIO Humiliated, Blocked Seizing White Farm
In another farm wrangle, Zenzo Ntuliki a senior security official who sought to bar a commercial farmer Tim White from interfering with activities at the farm, has lost as his application was dismissed by the Bulawayo High Court.
Justice Nokuthula dismissed an urgent chamber application by a senior intelligence officer who sought a provisional order to stop an Esigodini white commercial farmer from kicking him out of Avalon Farm in Umzingwane district.
In a similar case recently, Rodney Mashingaidze, a district officer in the President’s Office, lost his case against a white commercial farmer, Peter Cunningham at Maleme Farm in Kezi District.
Ntuliki cited White, officer commanding police in Matabeleland South, Happymore Sigauke and the Sheriff of the High Court as respondents.
In her ruling, Justice Moyo said she did not dispute that Ntuliki was allocated the land after it was gazetted by government in 2003. She, however, ruled that the applicant did not follow the proper procedures in occupying the farm and subsequently dismissed his application.
“Applicant must wait for the law to take its course before creating urgency for himself. It would seem applicant failed in his bid to despoil first respondent (White). In my view, the applicant should have followed due process in seeking to occupy the farm rather than confronting the first respondent and advising him of his imminent take-over of the farm. He should have left it to the lands authorities to notify the respondent to vacate the farm and give him a reasonable period within which to leave,” said the judge.
Justice Moyo said the Ministry of Lands and Rural Settlement should have notified White of its decision to repossess the farm and allowed the concerned parties to be heard.
“It’s my considered view that the Ministry of Lands and Rural Settlement cannot allow a party to occupy land and then offer the same land to another without following the requirements of the rules of natural justice that demand that the one who understands has a right to remain in occupation, should be duly notified of the intention to take that right away, make representations if any, and a decision be taken subsequently after all the concerned parties have been heard,” said Justice Moyo.
“In my view, administrative decisions should be taken within the ambit of the law. For the applicant to have a well grounded fear that the first respondent wants to dispossess him of the farm or to disturb his effective control, applicant must have occupied the farm after following due process, which is not the case in this situation. I accordingly dismiss the application with costs,” ruled Justice Moyo.
In his founding affidavit, Ntuliki who is being represented by Cheda and Partners accuses White of blocking his workers from occupying Avalon Farm and refusing to vacate the property.
“This is an urgent chamber application for an interdict against White. I’m the legal holder of real and personal rights over an area of land known as Lot 2 of Lot 36 Essexvale also known as Avalon Farm in Esigodini. The farm was gazetted and acquired by the government in 2003 and it was subsequently offered to me in terms of the Agricultural Land Settlement Act in 2014,” said Ntuliki.
He argued that White has been refusing to vacate the farm despite having initially reached an agreement to leave on January 10, this year. Ntuli said he has an offer letter from the ministry.
“White was supposed to vacate the farm on 10 January, 2015, but he reneged on his word and my workers have been reduced to vagabonds as he is stopping them from moving in and they are now squatting in the bush,” said Ntuliki.
The state security official is also accusing the commercial farmer of endangering his livestock through illegal mining activities.
“The respondent is vandalising my irrigation equipment and he is also conducting illegal mining activities within the vicinity of the farm thus endangering my livestock due to massive environmental degradation as he is leaving large open pits, cyanide and mercury, which are dangerous chemicals. He is also polluting water sources on the farm,” said Ntuliki.
In his opposing papers, White said he has been in occupation of the 142 hectares farm since 1998 after he bought it from his family.
“Lot 2 of Lot 36 Essexvale commonly known as Avalon Farm was purchased by my family in 1988. It was held under a holding company PHW Farm (Pvt) Ltd. In 1998, I sold my town house and bought the farm from my family,” he said.
“I believe I’m in lawful occupation of the farm because I was granted a permit to remain in occupation of the farm by the Ministry of Lands and Rural Settlement in 2007 and that permit was confirmed in writing,” said White.
He further argued that he had not been officially notified by the Ministry of Lands and Rural Settlement to vacate the farm. – State Media
Mugabe Breaks History as The World’s Surviving Man With No Grandchild
Dear Editor,
Congratulations people of Zimbabwe. We have made history. We are the only country in the world with a 91 year old President and the only man in the world at that age who has no grandchild.
The curse will never leave when you hold such records under the sun.
Fact:
If Mugabe had a child at 20, his child would be 71 years old.
If that child had a child at 20, Mugabe’s grandchild would be 51.
If his grandchild had a child at 20, the great grandchild would be 31.
If the great grandchild had a child at 20, the great great grandchild would be 11.
Time for action.
Government Secures $200 Million For Digitalisation
Information,Media and Broadicasting Services Minister Prof Jonathan Moyo has told the National Assembly that Zimbabwe is now set to beat broadcasting digitalisation deadline which is the 17th of June 2015 as the Government has secured $200 million after issuing the Datacasting licence to NetOne to fund the migration from analogue system to digital.
The new system would revolutionise the broadcasting sector, one of which would entail a new licence system where receivers would be levied between $3 to $5 access fee per month under a pay per view arrangement.
The migration is set to create thousands of jobs in the broadcasting and downstream industries as there will be several broadcasting channels.
Presenting a Ministerial statement in the National Assembly to update the House on the migration project prescribed by the International Telecommunications Union, Professor Moyo said Government found funding through issuance of a Datacasting licence for Digital Dividend.
“The Datacasting Licence was issued to NetOne on 23 December 2014 by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe at the cost of $200 million after an open, transparent and competitive licensing process in accordance with the Broadcasting Services Act. What this means is that the broadcasting sector has been innovative enough to fund the country’s digital migration. This is commendable given the challenge of competing demands on Treasury,” said Prof Moyo to rousing applause from legislators across the political divide.
Upon securing the $200 million, said Prof Moyo, BAZ engaged a Chinese company, Huawei Technologies, to implement the digital migration on the basis of a feasibility study submitted to Government last year.
Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Beijing on August 2014 during a historic state visit by President Mugabe where several mega deals were signed.
Prof Moyo said the implementation would be done in two phases, with the first one expected to be completed by June 17 2015 involving digitalisation of 30 transmitter sites.
He said BAZ would ensure that there would be no analogue television transmitter along or near the country’s borders to interfere with neighbours, which was the essence of the ITU deadline.
“In this regard Mr Speaker, Honourable Members should take note that the ITU deadline is a ‘Switch Off’, not a ‘Switch on’ deadline. There is therefore no question that we will somehow fail to switch off those analogue television transmitters along or near our borders. In any event, in a number of cases there will be nothing to switch off because there are no analogue television transmitters along or near our borders,” said Prof Moyo.
BAZ, he said, would build six new transmitters in Binga, Chikombedzi, Chipinge, Hwange, Kotwe and Mapisa, areas that would have such gadgets installed for the first time in their history.
Phase two, he said, would involve, among other several things, digitalised 18 new transmitter sites, six ZBC studios, six content production centres, web television system — all to be completed by December 2015, except revamping 25 radio transmitters to be done by end of January 2016.
Government, he said, would secure and subsidise between 300 000 and one million set top-boxes, that is decoders to convert analogue signal to digital for viewing public.
Public broadcasting will move from television licensing regime to a new ICT application where licence fee will be accessed at a fee which was being proposed at between $3 and $5 per month per television set.
“Everyone who watches television will be required to pay an access fee through subscription. This includes those who subscribe to satellite television content such as DSTV. The manual access television license will be retained for those who will choose not to subscribe to any licensed television content but this licence will be at a very high scale to cover the cost of its manual collection,” he said.
Prof Moyo said some of the advantages of digital migration were that the country would have more television broadcasting channels including a public broadcasting channel to be dedicated to the National Assembly covering sittings and that for portfolio committees on a continuous basis.
There would be another frequency available for licensing to at least six private commercial television broadcasters while the fourth would be reserved for future use to be decided by future generations, he said. -herald
Zimbabweans Hate Indigenisation, Prefer Foreign Investment
ZIMBABWEANS prefer foreign direct investment (FDI) to indigenisation for employment creation, a new survey by the Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) has revealed.Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News, Zimbabwe News.
According to the survey, an overwhelming 72% of respondents subscribes to the sentiment that FDI was the way to go in terms of rejuvenating the economy.
“Zimbabweans have over the past two years maintained their preference for encouraging job creation through foreign investment rather than the indigenisation of the economy by taking over foreign-owned companies, despite the preference having dropped by six percentage points from 78% in 2012 to 72% in 2014,” revealed the survey.
“These results come in at a time when the Zimbabwean economy is experiencing a downward spiral, with an estimated unemployment rate of over 80% and there is consensus among political parties and the civil society on the need to stop the free fall of the country’s economy and empowering the citizens of Zimbabwe.”
However, the report said, there was no policy consensus regarding the methods of achieving these goals.
“There are two contrasting viewpoints that dominate the debate on empowerment in Zimbabwe. The first school of thought (indigenisation) is popularised by Zanu PF while the second paradigm, that of encouraging foreign investment, is mainly popular with the opposition parties, particularly the MDC-T,” said the report.
The survey also showed that support for FDI is high among both male and female respondents as there was only a three percentage point difference between the males (73%) and the females (70%) who prefer foreign investment to Indigenisation.
“In 2012, urban dwellers were significantly more inclined to prefer the foreign investment strategy (88%) compared to their rural dwellers (74%),” said the report.
“A disaggregation of data by province revealed that all provinces are in support of foreign investment although the intensity of that support differed across provinces.
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“The province which recorded the highest number of respondents in support of foreign investment was Bulawayo (93%), followed by Harare with 83% of respondents endorsing foreign investment over indigenisation.”
At 52%, Mashonaland Central province recorded the least proportion of respondents who supported FDI.
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The report said 93% of respondents who said they would vote for the MDC-T supported the strategy of FDI compared to over half (53%) of Zanu PF supporters who echoed similar sentiments.
On the other hand, more than 10 in Zanu PF loyalists (41%) supported the indigenisation policy as compared to only 6% of MDC-T supporters.
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The survey was conducted on behalf of Afro barometer African-led, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, economic conditions, and related issues across more than 30 countries in Africa. – Newsday
Police Shot Directly Onto Harmless Prisoners, Mnangagwa Confirms ZimEye Report
Zimbabwe Republic Police officers fired directly at prisoners who rioted at a high security jail in Harare last week, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa told parliament on Wednesday as he confirmed a ZimEye.com exclusive coverage of the brutal killings on the day. [READ MORE – Chikurubi Riot: 7 Prisoners Shot Dead as Mass Torture Begins; ………... Massive JailBreak, 1 Shot Dead as Fire Breaks Out at Chikurubi Maximum Prison ]
Mnangagwa contradicting the prison authorities’ spokesperson who claimed no gunshots were fired, said however officers fired live bullets onto the unarmed prisoners while also alleging that the disgraced former ZANU PF MP candidate and church pastor, Robert Gumbura convicted of rape, had masterminded the prison food riot.
He said the prisoners had “armed themselves” with pieces of wood and bricks and began attacking officers at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison on Friday because they thought the police “[did] not have bullets”.
“When the officers felt that they were in serious danger that is when they fired and one inmate died in prison,” Mnangagwa said, contradicting earlier claims from a prisons spokesman that the first reported casualty was not shot but died in a stampede.
“Those who got wounded, one died the same day and the other three died later on. Altogether five have passed on,” he said.
“Two had climbed the roof to escape and that is why they were shot,” the vice-president, who is also justice minister, added.
He did not say whether the fifth victim died of gunshot wounds or from other injuries sustained during the chaos, which lasted three hours and was sparked by discontent over poor food.
The Prisons spokesperson had last week insisted that officers only used blanks.
Harare West MP Ms Jessie Majome (MDC-T) asked why Mnangagwa’s version was different from spokesperson of the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services, Elizabeth Banda-Karinda’s, who was quoted in the media saying inmates died during an ensuing stampede.
Mnangagwa responding, admitted that he “had read in the press” what was said, but added: “I am giving this house the report I have received as Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
“I have no doubt that the report… is the authentic and official report, not the one that is in the newspapers,” he added, in an official transcript of his speech.
Meanwhile ZimEye.com can reveal that the number of the shot prisoners is actually seven(7) and the prison authorities have been suppressing the figures since last Wednesday.
ZimEye/SAPA
Maziwisa is a misguided missile – MDC T
Movement for Democratic Change this afternoon issued a scathing press statement concerning ZANU PF’s Maziwisa. The following is the unedited press release.
Many Zimbabweans do not even know the attention – seeking Psychology Maziwisa from a bar of soap. To millions of peace-loving and well-groomed patriots, this misguided and uncouth young man is nothing but just another brick in the wall.
It is extremely unfortunate that one Psychology Maziwiza characteristically attempts to spring up to the defence of the indefensible regarding one Bona Mugabe – Chikore’s State – funded jamboree to Japan. That a little-known political turncoat by the name Maziwisa takes advantage of the Zanu PF – controlled ZBC TV in order to launch a crude, primitive and malicious attack on the person of MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai just goes to show how low the fascist, faction – ridden and beleaguered Zanu PF regime can sink in desperately attempting to divert the people’s attention from the crumbling economy as well as the collapsing public health delivery system.
It is absolutely shocking and uncivilised for someone with such a dubious character and controversial personal lifestyle to denigrate the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe in such a crass and uncouth manner. This Maziwisa boy desperately needs expert psychiatric attention to help him cope with the hazards that come with leading a rather controversial lifestyle. Maziwisa has definitely taken leave of his senses. He needs every concerned Zimbabwean’s prayers to help him get rehabilitated back into mainstream and conventional society.
In a typical Mugabe hero-worshipping fashion, Maziwisa, a moral pervert himself, had nothing substantial to tell the nation to prove his point except to attack Morgan Tsvangirai’s personality with his foul and unmeasured diatribe.
Whilst it is common knowledge that the junior Zanu PF employee, working in the regime’s information department, is merely singing for his supper, he should be mindful that it is not in his best interest to throw stones when he knows that he, himself, is fully ensconced in a very transparent glass house!
For one Psychology Maziwisa to get stupidly carried away and abuse the public broadcaster to wantonly insult other citizens and the intelligence of the people of Zimbabwe, it would certainly attract dire consequences on his personality and character, not least his ominous and wayward identity.
The MDC takes great exception to the unfortunate and Stone-Age utterances that were made by the thoroughly misguided and hopelessly excitable junior spokesperson of the Weevils faction of the collapsing Zanu PF party. As a responsible and family-centred political party, the MDC will not succumb to the temptation of unmasking one Psychology Maziwisa’s rather unusual and controversial personal lifestyle. Suffice to reiterate that this young man should have some little bit of decency in both his public and private lives.
MDC: Equal Opportunities for all
Obert Chaurura Gutu
[lightbox link=”http://www.zimeye.com/wp-content/live_images//2015/03/Psychology-Maziwisa.jpg” thumb=”http://www.zimeye.com/wp-content/live_images//2015/03/Psychology-Maziwisa-203×232.jpg” width=”203″ align=”none” title=”Psychology-Maziwisa” frame=”true” icon=”image” caption=””]
Gumbura Masterminded Chikurubi Prison Riot- Mnangagwa
[lightbox link=”http://www.zimeye.com/wp-content/live_images//2014/07/gumbura999.jpg” thumb=”http://www.zimeye.com/wp-content/live_images//2014/07/gumbura999.jpg” width=”250″ align=”right” title=”gumbura999″ frame=”true” icon=”image” caption=””]Jailed RMG Independent End Time Message leader Robert Martin Gumbura masterminded a foiled escape bid by prisoners at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, leading to the death of five inmates who were shot after ignoring warning shots by security details, Acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa said yesterday.
Responding to questions from legislators in the National Assembly, Mnangagwa said the inmates, most of them dangerous, initially thought that prison warders and other security details were not armed and proceeded to climb ceilings in a bid to escape.
When reinforcements fired warning shots, he said, the inmates thought the guns had no bullets resulting in shots being directed at them to stop the escape.
“They conspired to break away from prison. A group of a hundred were involved in this conspiracy, surprisingly also, Gumbura was chairing that conspiracy. They went into the kitchen and caused damage, breaking pipes, attacked prison warders and eight of them were injured. While that was happening the core group was climbing into the ceiling trying to escape. When reinforcement came they thought they had no bullets and attacked the officers.
“They (security teams) then fired into the air but they (inmates) said there is nothing in the guns. They then fired straight at them, that was when they retreated and order was restored. We have now enhanced security.”
Harare West MP Ms Jessie Majome (MDC-T) asked why Mnangagwa’s version was different from spokesperson of the Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services, Elizabeth Banda-Karinda’s, who was quoted in the media saying inmates died during an ensuing stampede.
“It is true that I read what you said. But I am giving you a report I got. I have no doubt that the report is authentic and a formal report. I believe that what I said represents what happened,” said Mnangagwa.
On relish, he said the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority had since given prison authorities cooking oil confiscated at border posts for violating entry requirements to feed the inmates. – State Media
Judges Caught Watching Pornography Axed
Criminals could seek to have their convictions overturned after four judges were caught watching pornography on their work computers.
London- Three judges have been sacked for viewing pornographic material via their official IT accounts, the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office has said.
The pornography was not illegal in content, a spokesman added.
However the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice concluded it was an “inexcusable misuse” of their official accounts and “wholly unacceptable conduct for a judicial office holder”.
A fourth judge resigned before the official inquiry had concluded.
District Judge Timothy Bowles, Immigration Judge Warren Grant and Deputy District Judge and Recorder Peter Bullock have been removed from office.
The three judges were not linked in any way. A fourth judge, Recorder Andrew Maw, was also found to have viewed similar inappropriate material via his judicial IT account.
Judge Maw worked at Lincoln County Court, District Judge Bowles at Romford County Court, Judge Bullock on the North Eastern Circuit, and Judge Grant at the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, based at Taylor House in London.
Analysis
Clive Coleman, BBC legal correspondent
Today’s announcement is unprecedented. It is exceptionally rare for a judge to be removed from office.
For three judges, albeit pretty junior ones, to be sacked at the same time represents a serious blow to the reputation of the judiciary.
However, there is no suggestion that any of the sacked judges did anything illegal in accessing pornography via their judicial computers. Had they done the same thing at home there would have been little basis for dismissing them.
This is purely a question of misconduct and the misuse of judicial IT accounts paid for by the taxpayer.
Should any of the three wish to challenge their dismissal, it would open up the interesting prospect of a former judge bringing a judicial review of the decision to remove them as a judge, which itself would be heard by a judge.
‘Question of conduct’
The Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice would have removed Recorder Maw had he not resigned before the conclusion of the disciplinary process.
It is a question of whether of not the judiciary system is being drawn into disrepute, he said.
He added: “There’s no suggestion at all that the judges have done anything illegal; it is a question of conduct.”
He said the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) “carefully monitors” judicial conduct.
A spokesman for the JCIO would not comment on what led to the inquiry, or whether the judges’ contracts included any clauses on the use of their official IT accounts.
The spokesman told the BBC that though the judges would no longer be allowed to work in a judicial role, they can still pursue other work.
He said: “As far as I’m aware the judges are not appealing the decision.”
‘Undiagnosed depression’
Former Immigration Judge Warren Grant said he had been suffering from “severe and undiagnosed depression” at the time of the allegation.
Mr Grant, who now works as an immigration law specialist at a firm of North London solicitors, issued a statement asking for privacy.
He said: “I do not wish to comment save to say that for some years before, and during, the period covered by the conduct which formed the subject of the complaint laid against me I was suffering from severe and undiagnosed depression.
“I request that the privacy of my family and myself be respected so that we are allowed to continue with our lives.”
Though the JCIO reported today that Recorder Maw resigned ahead of the disciplinary process, a statement from the Courts and Tribunal Judiciary published on 30 September last year reported that he had retired.
The JCIO spokesman told the BBC: “He resigned and took his pension”.
Recorder Maw, 65 when he resigned, was admitted as a solicitor in 1973. He served as a Deputy District Judge in 1983, a District Judge in 1994, Assistant Recorder in 1996 and a Recorder from 2000. – BBC
Sanitary pads taboo ditched… as Masvingo Chiefs agree to outreach
Chrispen Tabvura
ZimEye Correspondent
Masvingo District’s chiefs and custodians of the traditional values and cultures have succumbed to SNV’s sanitary wear outreach, thereby putting to rest the taboo issue of publicly discussing about women’s menstruation.
In a situation that has been welcome by women and girl children as a breakthrough, chiefs were divided over the outreach of the sanitary issue, while others were supporting the programme as they labelled it a saviour of their girl children from cancer related illnesses.
Chief Musara told ZimEye.com that he fully supports the SNV sanitary programme; it created awareness and self-employment for those groups that are making the RUMP (reusable menstrual pads) for sale. “I am solidly in full support of this programme, as it has created health clubs in my jurisdiction and also in schools in my wards, teachers have created timetables for training girls and boys on the importance of hygiene including menstrual hygiene management. I am also going to encourage my community to use this opportunity of health programmes to get rid of any health complications and myths surrounding menstruation as it deprives women and girls full access to health care” he said.
His sentiments were echoed by those of chief Chibwe, who said, “The sanitary issue particularly the self-made pads must be taken seriously, as this has benefited child headed families. Many girl children who have been losing classes during their periods, have been assisted by this outreach and practical action, as they were taught to manufacture the pads.”
While other chiefs endorsed the SNV sanitary programme, Chief Mugabe was of the opinion that he was not going to preach the sanitary pads gospel, as it remained a taboo for men to talk about it. “I am not going to preach the pads issue as a chief, but I will accept the programmes to be done through our wives. I will only attend chiefs’ briefings on the issue, but not to get involved because it is taboo, customary values should not change, because of development interventions,” he said.
Lindile Ndebele the Senior Water and Sanitation Adv[lightbox link=”http://www.zimeye.com/wp-content/live_images//2015/03/Chief-Chibwe-stressing-a-point-during-SNVs-sensatisation-meeting-in-Masvingo.-Pic-BY-Chrispen-Tabvura.jpg” thumb=”http://www.zimeye.com/wp-content/live_images//2015/03/Chief-Chibwe-stressing-a-point-during-SNVs-sensatisation-meeting-in-Masvingo.-Pic-BY-Chrispen-Tabvura-348×232.jpg” width=”348″ align=”none” title=”Chief Chibwe stressing a point during SNV’s sensatisation meeting in Masvingo. Pic BY Chrispen Tabvura” frame=”true” icon=”image” caption=””]
[lightbox link=”http://www.zimeye.com/wp-content/live_images//2015/03/Chirichoga-High-school-girl-friendly-latrine-cleaning-in-progress.-Pic-BY-Chrispen-Tabvura.jpg” thumb=”http://www.zimeye.com/wp-content/live_images//2015/03/Chirichoga-High-school-girl-friendly-latrine-cleaning-in-progress.-Pic-BY-Chrispen-Tabvura-348×232.jpg” width=”348″ align=”none” title=”Chirichoga High school girl friendly latrine cleaning in progress. Pic BY Chrispen Tabvura” frame=”true” icon=”image” caption=””]
[lightbox link=”http://www.zimeye.com/wp-content/live_images//2015/03/Masvingo-District-chiefs-captured-discusiing-during-SNV-sensatisation-meeting.-Pic-By-Chrispen-Tabvura.jpg” thumb=”http://www.zimeye.com/wp-content/live_images//2015/03/Masvingo-District-chiefs-captured-discusiing-during-SNV-sensatisation-meeting.-Pic-By-Chrispen-Tabvura-348×232.jpg” width=”348″ align=”none” title=”Masvingo District chiefs captured discusiing during SNV sensatisation meeting. Pic By Chrispen Tabvura” frame=”true” icon=”image” caption=””]isor, who is leading the facilitation team on the outreach in Masvingo District, applauded the traditional leaders, for accepting the development and lifesaving agendas carried out by SNV a Netherlands development organisation. “I am humbled by the chiefs and would like to thank them for this breakthrough in saving women and girls from various infections caused by lack of information around menstrual hygiene management. It was a challenge for girls and women to openly discuss issues around menstruation.”
Biti Rips Tsvangirai Apart
Tendai Biti press statement:
The Parliamentary ruling made on Tuesday, 17 March 2015 by the Senate President, Edna Madzongwe and the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Jacob Mudenda and to purportedly expel 17 members of parliament and four senators marks a sad and tragic day for democracy in Zimbabwe.
It is a heavy blow to democracy and democratic agenda when the MDC Renewal Team is building a new narrative and that narrative is to provide the solution.
It is unprecedented anywhere in the history of democracy. Democracy is a very simple process as the people have a say on the issue of recalling an MP not a political party.
The sum total of the people who voted for the MPs in 2013 comes to 102 000 people. The expulsions are therefore undemocratic and not supported by the Constitution.
It is a reflection of naivety, a reflection of surrender by Morgan Tsvangirai as these spaces are going to be very difficult to recover.
Our erstwhile colleagues have now agreed to collude with the ruling party to reverse the gains that the democratic movement has made over the last 15 years.
Our lawyers are in the art of crafting court applications to challenge the ruling. There is no right of recall of an MP in the Constitution.
It is ironic that at a time when they are preaching their message of ‘big tent’ politics, they have seen it fit to cut the nose to spite the face by donating parliamentary seats to Zanu PF at a time when the Zimbabwean democratic opposition movement in Zimbabwe must be making efforts to close ranks and fight the Zanu PF dictatorship. It is a sad reality that they are now more Zanu PF than Zanu PF.
Zimbabwe’s economy is currently experiencing rapid decline and the citizens are suffering with poverty and deprivation on the rise.
The people are suffering and they are looking for a political alternative that gives them hope for a better future.
Zanu PF has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that it does not have a solution to the challenges we are currently facing. The people are looking up to the opposition to offer leadership and yet our colleagues choose to go to bed with Zanu PF to further erode the little democratic space we had occupied in Parliament following the grand electoral theft by Zanu PF in 2013.
While we respectfully differed with Tsvangirai and his colleagues on strategy and principles, we never imagined that they would one day collude with Zanu PF against the people’s democratic project.
The people of Zimbabwe expected that the few MPs from the MDC formations in Parliament would work together to bring sustainable solutions to the country’s challenges and we have no doubt that they are now disillusioned by Tsvangirai’s shenanigans with Zanu PF.
Further, the ruling by the Speaker yesterday is clearly part of a political strategy that has nothing to do with the law as it is unconstitutional. In making his ruling yesterday, the Speaker of the House of Assembly did not follow due process.
On two occasions last year, 8 May and 14 November, Mudenda ruled that there were two centres of power in the MDC-T and that the legitimacy of the party’s leadership had to be determined by a competent court of law.
The question now is what has made Mudenda change his earlier judgments when the courts have not made any ruling on the matter and the circumstances of the matter have not changed?
Regrettable as it is, it is now apparent from Tuesday’s judgment that there is now political incest between Zanu PF and Tsvangirai and his cohorts.
The actions of the Speaker of the House of Assembly are unconstitutional as the party that purports to have written to him does not exist and Mudenda has succeeded to be in the same bed with it.
Meanwhile, as the MDC Renewal Team, we will intensify our radical constitutional and democratic struggle and we assure Zimbabweans that Parliament or no Parliament, we will be executing the people’s democratic project on the streets and other legal platforms.
The MDC Renewal Team is guided by the Mandel resolutions of 26 April 2014. We will continue with the idea of pushing for the alignment of the country’s laws with the Constitution. We will push for genuine electoral reforms. We will push for the agenda of economic transformation. We will depart from the use hate language and impunity.
We will continue with the idea of the grand coalition of democrats, the national convergence. As genuine democrats, we are able to regroup and in 2018, we give the people of Zimbabwe a chance of undoing what Zanu PF has done for the past 35 years because we are in the correct.
In soccer they say the one with the ball is the one who is marked and the MDC Renewal Team is being marked because it is in control of the ball.
PICTURES: Mystery Lightning Bolt Strikes Mutare
An international journal has published a photograph of a rare lightning strike over Zimbabwe taken by a Mutare resident last month. Dr Peter Lowenstein took the photo of the bolt, which is absolutely straight – unlike most lightning strikes which have a zigzag shape.
The journal Earthsky says the occurrence is very rare. “It was sheer luck to catch that bolt – surely a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. There were only three visible and audible strikes during that storm, many minutes apart,” said Lowenstein.
The strike is known as a positive cloud-ground (CG) strike. Apart from being much less common than normal negative lightning, positive lightning is very energetic with discharge currents exceeding 100,000 amperes (compared to less than 30,000 for negative strikes).
-zimbabwean
Lawyers force Nyagura to re-open UZ
Following a harsh legal threat issued by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights on Tuesday, to the University of Zimbabwe which had evicted students and closed the institution, UZ Vice Chancellor Levy Nyagura, Wednesday reversed the decision and reopened the college.
“Following an earlier statement issued yesterday advising students, members of the public, and indeed the University of Zimbabwe Community that the institution was going on recess until 24 March, 2015, I am happy to advise that urgent issues that needed immediate attention have now been resolved.
“Consequently lectures resumed today March 18, 2015 at 0800 hrs.
“Resident students should return to their hostels immediately and attend lecturers,”Nyagura said in a statement.
ZLHR on Tuesday, threatened Nyagura with legal action for giving students a short notice to vacate the University campus.
This was after the students had demonstrated against the striking lecturers and starvation.
Nyagura however attributed the reopening of the college to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Oppah Muchinguri whom he said rescued the desperate situation.
Nonpayment of salaries of lecturers at the Masvingo’s Great Zimbabwe State University Midlands State University, and the UZ soused the riots.
Ncube likened to Idi Amin
Francis Mufambi, who has resigned from the Welshman Ncube-led MDC, has likened the opposition party president to the late Uganda authoritarian leader Idi Amin.
Mufambi, who was the party’s national youth secretary for international relations, told the Daily News that he was resigning from the party because it had deviated from its initial values and norms.
“I am actually sad that I am leaving the MDC but I have to do it after realising that we are creating a monster more than Idi Amin,” Mufambi said.
“The innocent are actually suffering, while the guilty are rejoicing.
“The president of the party (Ncube) is surrounded by a very dangerous and destructive cabal led by Edwin Mushoriwa and the president just accommodates them because they are people who sing for their supper and dance for sadza.”
Mufambi becomes the latest official to jump ship in the wake of the resignation by Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, who was the organisation’s secretary-general and lately Nhlanhla Dube, the spokesperson.
Other officials that have left are Frank Chamunorwa, who was the vice national chairman.
Mufambi, who has also served in the international relations implementation committee of the United MDC, has been holding a senior position in the Ncube-led MDC since 2011.
“I am terminating my membership with the MDC,” he said.
“There are factional issues that I am not happy with. As one of the senior youth leaders, I was faced with a lot of blemishes and faults.
“If you are thought to be in Misihairabwi-Mushonga’s camp, you are treated like a leper. The way they treated Priscilla’s issue was unconstitutional.
“They said the presidency has accepted the resignation when in actual fact there is no organ called the presidency in the MDC.”
He said the party was condoning hate speech and other unconstitutional acts.
He added that there were other party members who had done a hatchet job of copying and pasting Zanu PF’s tactics in pursuit of power, adding that Misihairabwi-Mushonga was being treated in the same way former Vice President Joice Mujuru was treated in Zanu PF.
“This is the biggest castration of democratic order of our times. I will be happy to leave the organisation whose chances to win after such acts are between slim and none. It’s possible for my grandmother to be a goalkeeper for Dynamos than Welshman to be president of this country,” he said.
He said there was need for opposition parties to work together and have unity of purpose.
“There is ego among leaders. They are selfish. Most of them are running political parties to fund raise for their private projects. We can only talk of winning on the day that all opposition parties will come together and fight Zanu PF as a united force,” he said.
Mufambi said he was fighting for democracy in the country and had lost several of his relatives through Zanu PF’s iron-fisted actions.
“My mother was beaten by Zanu PF thugs, who caused her sickness, culminating into her death. There is need for a very radical programme of action characterised by mass action,” he said.
-DailyNews
Tsvangirai Celebrates Mnangagwa, Jonso Special Deal
Dear Editor,
Below is another open admission by Morgan Tsvangirai to what I said before in my article and rejected by a few Tsvangirai symphathisers that of a truth Tsvangirai struck a deal with evil Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday. This was also fully painted in red this morning as ZANU PF Commissar Savior Kasukuwere wrote in public that this is a Tsholotsho victory for his doomed party. Read Obert Guru’s statement here:
By Obert Gutu, Tsvangirai Party Spokesman*
The MDC applauds the decision by the Speaker of the National Assembly and the President of the Senate to uphold the provisions of Section 129 (1) (k) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and allow the recalling of 21 Members of Parliament who deserted the party that sponsored them to get elected into the august House. The 21 former MPs deserted the MDC and joined a rival political party that now calls itself the UMDC. Their rebellious move meant that they were no longer representatives of the MDC party that got them elected into Parliament.
The decision to recall the rebel 21 MPs is also in keeping with one of the key resolutions of the MDC 4th national congress that was held at the City Sports Centre in Harare from October 31, 2014 to November 2, 2014. Congress unanimously resolved that these renegade MPs be recalled from Parliament since they were no longer representing the interests of the party and the people who voted them into office.
It is beyond reasonable disputation that the renegade MPs’ continued stay in Parliament purporting to be representing the MDC was not only hypocritical but wholly self – serving and completely disrespectful and highly contemptuous of the thousands of MDC supporters who voted them into Parliament on July 31,2013.
It is beyond debate that the 21 renegade MPs were voted into Parliament on an MDC ticket but they later joined another political party without the mandate of the people who put them into office. The 21 rebels selfishly betrayed the people who voted them into office. These political renegades should have had the common decency to consult the people who elected them into Parliament before making the decision to cross over to form another political party.
It does not need rocket science to appreciate the simple social and political rules of engagement which dictate that if you belong to a political party; the moment you leave that particular political party you would have abandoned the political party’s supporters as well.
The latest historic development now presents an opportunity for the 21 rebel MPs to seek the electorate’s mandate in order for them to return to Parliament as members of their new political party or as independent candidates. These political renegades should not be permitted to blow hot and cold. Indeed, they should not be allowed to have their cake and eat it.
MDC: Equal Opportunities for all
Obert Chaurura Gutu
MDC National Spokesperson
South Africa Deporting 3000 Zimbabweans, Rejects Permits Renewals
The South African government says it will start deporting Zimbabweans whose applications to remain in that country under the Zimbabwe Special Permits program have been denied.
Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba told a media briefing in Midrand, South Africa, on Tuesday that out of 83,009 applications adjudicated so far, at least 2,396 have been rejected as the figure encroaches the 3,000 marker.
He said those that have been rejected will be removed soon from South Africa. However, the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, one of the organisations working with exiled Zimbabweans in that country, says South Africa had started the deportations long before Tuesday’s announcement.
Programme manager at the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, Diana Zimbudzana, said her organisation will petition the international relations and co-operation ministry to lobby the Home Affairs Ministry to address issues affecting rejected immigrants.
PICTURES: ZimCare Boosted By Churches
Dear Editor,
On the 11th March women from different denominations in gweru donated foodstuffs to Mudavanhu ZimCare Trust school in Mkoba.
As the role of churches is to assist vulnerable members of the community, the donors came from Salvation Army, Anglican and Methodist churches. PICTURES:
Dodger Biti, You are Free to Approach the Courts
Dear Editor,
I have just read your article in which the MDC Renewal Team, Tendai Biti hints that the MDC Renewal Team will be approaching the Constitutional Court over the nullification of their seats by the Speaker of Parliament. Tendai has his constitutional rights to do so, and I wish him good luck.
It is interesting though that the Labour Court not too long ago ruled in favour of Toendepi Shone when he wanted payment after being fired by the MDC-T, while at the same time the MDC Renewal Team had been claiming that they are the legitimate party and had ‘suspended” and eventually “expelled Morgan Tsvangirai and others from the party. I would want to ask my brother Tendai if, educated as he is, and being the democrat that he claims to be, and being a person who claims to be anti-corruption, why he did not go to the courts and say Toendepi Shone are wrong because we are the legitimate party, so the MDC-T led by Morgan Tsvangirai are not liable to pay Toendepi Shone and others who were dismissed with him?
Tendai Biti is reported as saying that the speaker’s decision was a political strategy meant to weaken the opposition, but the truth is that when Mudenda denied the request to have them expelled in the first place, it was Zanu PF’s strategy to weaken the Tsvangirai-led MDC-T because they know that the Tsvangirai-led MDC-T is the real threat to them, but expelling them was the rightful decision Mudenda must have made then because Biti’s Mandel gathering was not a properly constituted meeting that could suspend Morgan Tsvangirai and other top leaders who the bogus meeting claimed they had suspended. Tendai Biti knows this very well as an educated lawyer, but is just trying to cause confusion.
Tendai Biti seems to angle his statement in such a way that people end blaming MDC-T for donating the seats to Zanu PF, and not on any legal merit. Several questions arise from that kind of thinking as I will explain below.
Firstly, from my reading, Zanu PF already has the two thirds majority that is required for them to amend the constitution if they wish. Of what effect, then, are the 21 parliamentarians who are to be recalled in disturbing Zanu PF plans that they may want to push through parliament? Parliament, therefore, is no longer the arena through which to push change, and the recall should be used as an opportunity to think out new strategies, which Biti and others have always accused Morgan Tsvangirai of lacking.
Secondly, one of the accusations the MDC Renewal outfit have laid against Tsvangirai is that he agreed to have the party go through an election when the playing field was not even. If they find that a good arguement, why would they want to hold on to seats that they shouldn’t have had if Morgan Tsvangirai had pulled the party out of the election? The truth is that they will have blammed Morgan Tsvangirai for pulling the party out of the race.
Thirdly, while all the MDC formations have said they will not contest elections until reforms have been made, they did not give a time frame over which the reforms should be made, and surely, Zanu PF will not give those reforms without the opposition fighting, and being thrown out of parliament gives Biti and company enough time to go into the streets to fight for those reforms, which can be achieved before the by-elections. I, therefore, advise my brother Tendai not to cry over spilt milk, but focus on the bigger picture – fight Zanu PF hard to ensure that the reforms are achieved before the by-elections.
Biti said the 21 MPs worked very hard to win those seats, as if the party that sponsored them did not make any contribute aything to that victory. Admittedly, those MPs worked very hard, but my brother Biti would be fooling himself if he thinks that Morgan Tsvangirai’s influence did not contribute to that victory. If the MPs worked hard on their own to win those seats, then why was Morgan Tsvangirai being blamed for the party’s loss in the elections. Going by my brother Tendai’s argument that the MPs worked hard to win those seats, it would mean that the party’s candidates who lost in the 2013 did not work very hard, so why blame Morgan Tsvangirai? My brother Tendai, you are just angry out of greediness, and bitter at the loss of income which could be one of the reasons why you were trying to hang on in parliament.
Wake up and smell the coffe, my dear brother Tendai. Be careful about your decision to go to Concourt, as it may backfire. I see it as an intention political relevance, but we will expose you big time – don’t say I was never warned.
Tsvangirai Gangs Up with Mnangagwa |OPINION
A secret meeting was held on Monday afternoon at 2PM between Morgan Tsvangirai agents and Emmerson Mnangagwa and a deal was struck to expel the Renewal Team in exchange for favours for ZANU PF, sources say.
Let me praise Morgan Tsvangirayi and his legal team for a stunning political win through the Speaker of Parliament. It was a good surprise win that even Zanu is happy it came so easily and so timely. Well done Dr Richard Morgan Tsvangirayi, you have shown the armatures what politricks is all about. Prof Welsh, Advocate Biti and company lost this one.
Indeed it is a victory that is hollow and shallow, but a victory it is. The same as the celebration of victory by a footballer who after a hat trick score, his adrenalin drives him round the pitch and supporters’ terraces, only to be told after realising that noone else is celebrating with him that he was offside. How so deflating and draining. The feeling of betrayal and demotivation, he can not face the fans for a while. This is the shocking situation finds himself in Morgan Tsvangiayi. His victory is hollow and not worthy celebrating. His opponents are surprised seeing him pumped up in the air. This is the curse Zimbabwean opposition politics face. It is saddled with a huge burden in Morgan Tsvangirayi. In him we have an albatross that is difficult to shake. We are to blame; we made him into an albatross in the same way we created a monster out of Mugabe. The onus is us to unmask and unmake Morgan Tsvangirayi’s over inflated ego.
This celebration of betrayal is surprising. It is as if I am watching the 2013 election results, once again stunned and dazed, and almost throwing away my Zimbabwean citizenship. Then I knew the opposition was going to lose, but little did l know it was going to be vanquished almost out of existence. Zanu can perform tricks. Its tricks do not shock me anymore; I am only stunned that we still have Morgan Tsvangirayi as an opposition leader after allowing Zanu to get away with all tricks in the book. He has just handed Zanu another one, an own goal. Would Dynamos saddled with injuries quickly beat poor Tsholotsho team so that it faces an injury free Highlanders when it can avoid it? It would surely rather keep its rivalry at a distance by allowing Tsholotsho some lame excuses for delaying the match. In the same vein, one wonders why Morgan Tsvangirayi and team think it is better to go to bed with Zanu simply to spite the Renewal team.
Politically MDC T is closer to UMDC than to Zanu, and MDC was originally formed to fight against Zanu’s dictatorship. But having morphed into a dictator himself, and seen the party split three parties, Tsvangirayi now finds it better to go back to his roots where he learnt politricks, Zanu. He has once more betrayed the aspirations and dreams of all Zimbabweans as he did in the 2008 and 2013 elections by providing some puzzling comic leadership that only Zimbabweans could put up with.
Indeed, who would have thought the once roaring lion of democracy would help Zanu to introduce a one state in the country? As it MDC T, after the split with MDC Renewal, is at its weakest moment to fight Zanu. Its coffers are empty. Again, its being broke is a sign of lack of substance even in financial wisdom for a party that was once worth millions which just vanished into leaders’ accounts. No sign of it now, and instead, another begging bowl is out to the international community. UMDC is still shaping itself to pose a significant challenge. Even though divided, Zanu has all national resources at its disposal to abuse towards taking nearly all the seats vacated by MDC Renewal. Yet again, Tsvangirayi and his advisors have proved lack of foresight, strategy and focus. Instead, they let their anger and thirsty for revenge destroy their chance to regroup and get stronger. Watch how the desperate to win Grace/ Mnangagwa team will vanquish the opposition.
The Grace /Mnangagwa team has been given an opportunity to strengthen itself by fielding well known candidates from its own group of worshippers. Unless Mai Mujuru fields her own Zanu candidates, she is out of contention and the elections are between Zanu, UMDC and MDC T. The Mnangagwa team, desperate to show its teeth, will certainly walk over most of the seats, and where does that leave Tsvangiray? Happy and contented that he has revenged on Tendai Biti at the expense of Zimbabweans’ thirsty for democracy? Happy that he has treated Tendai Biti the same way he did Prof Welshman Ncube during the GNU? Alienating possible allies? This is shocking strategy, the first of its own in politics. A man who needs allies, and had ready made allies he has a lot in common with, allies he founded a party with; is good at insulting them as he sees himself as an Almighty indisputable conquering father of Zimbabwean politics? He exhibits the same sense of entitlement
that has kept him away from State house. When will Morgan Tsvangirayi ever learn anything in politics? This is a man who by all means has proved not able to lead, to strategise, to have any political foresight, let alone political wisdom!! His advisors, if any, must be great admirers of Mugabe for they do not want to see his back. They are happy to stay as opposition leaders. It seems it pays staying in opposition as most donors give money to opposition parties and not ruling parties.
Why does Morgan Tsvangirayi allow personal hatred to replace political foresight and vision? He failed to make it to State House in 2008 because of his personal hatred for Prof Welsh Ncube. He failed in 2013 again because he was so convinced that we Zimbabweans adore and worship him like his bunch of whores and we would blindly vote for him despite his comic private and public conduct. To him politics is about Tsvangirayi the Man! Its not about Zimbabweans, it is not about looking around for possible allies to work with. It is not about defeating Zanu. It is all about being angry and revenging on those who disagree with Tsvangirayi the Man!! How cursed is Zimbabwe to politically contend with such an albatross?
Do not mistake me, Morgan Tsvangirayi has a right to politically fight for the space UMDC is taking, but he had to bear in mind that their common enemy is Zanu. He thus had to be strategic and plan ahead, not to strengthen Zanu. All he has done now is to unite with Mnangagwa. He has simply taken potential allies’ seats to Zanu instead of keeping them closer for 2018. What if there is a deadlock in 2018 and either of the three need the other to form a government? Will Tsvangirayi approach UMDC? Assuming he proves he is popular, has he not even destroyed all his chances of uniting with his former colleagues? For me, this is a pathetic opposition leader who this time around must have even shocked himself that he has managed to reduce the opposition MPs’ number from parliament!
$400 Million Needed To Rebuild Harare Roads
Group Five and Bitumen World has volunteered to rehabilitate some of the Harare city’s roads in a social corporate responsibility and as a gesture to the Government.The Harare city council has received this as a boost to their roads which are mostly in a sorry state.
The two companies were contracted by Government through the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration to rehabilitate the country’s major highways.
The city says $400 million is required to rebuild the road network which is facing collapse due to effects of the weather and lack of maintenance.
Speaking at a Press conference to introduce the social partners, Town Clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi said Group Five would initially work on Cripps Road, while Bitumen World would concentrate on Seke Road.
“There will be road reseal on the stretch of Rotten Row from Samora Machel to Robert Mugabe Way and pothole patching from the corner of Robert Mugabe and Rotten Row up to Cripps Road,” he said.
“Major reseal work will be on Seke Road from Dieppe to Kenneth Kaunda. While the partners will be working on the said roads, City of Harare road gangs will be concentrating on other city roads. This is part of our enhanced service delivery focus.”
Bitumen World representative Mr Andre Zietsman said his company was grateful to Zinara and Government for affording it a chance to work on the country’s roads.
“We believe it is the right thing for us to do. We believe other companies should do the same,” he said.
Group Five International projects director (Zimbabwe) Mr Ham Coetzee said it was an honour for his company to partner with Government and Zinara in the road project.
“Zimbabwe has been good to us and we appreciate what Zinara has been doing for us,” he said.
Acting Zinara chief executive Engineer Moses Juma said it was good that the two companies had volunteered to rehabilitate the city’s roads. -herald
Expelled MDC-T MPs Vacuum Paves Way For Zanu PF
The expulsion of at least 17 MDC-T PMs from Parliament has been received with joy by Zanu PF yesterday with much focus on the most valued Tsholotsho North constituecny,which a few Zanu PF failed to win in Matebeleland during the 2013 elections.
Zanu PF national commissar Saviour Kasukuwere wrote on Twitter encouraging Prof Jonanathan Moyo who lost the seat with a narrow margin to Mrs Roseline Nkomo to grab the seat saying, “Jonso bring back our constituency. Bring it back home!”
Prof Moyo proudly twitted back to Mr Kasukuwere’s call saying, “Copied National Commissar. This is a case of a lost but found constituency.”
Mrs Nkomo, who polled 4 827 votes to Prof Moyo’s 4 163, was one of 17 MPs and four Senators who peeled away from the Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T to form the United Movement for Democratic Change (UMDC) – a coalition with the Professor Welshman Ncube-led MDC. Mr Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party petitioned the Speaker of Parliament Advocate Jacob Mudenda to expel the MPs, claiming they had fallen foul of rules which bar lawmakers elected on a party’s ticket from “crossing the floor” – that is joining another party. Adv Mudenda granted the MDC-T its wish yesterday, effectively setting the stage for 17 by-elections. Zanu-PF sees this as an opportunity to consolidate its huge parliamentary majority and few victories would give the party as much satisfaction as reclaiming Tsholotsho North.
In the 10 Matabeleland North constituencies, Zanu-PF lost only in Tsholotsho North, Nkayi South and Hwange Central. The party had a clean sweep in Matabeleland South, winning all 13.
Bulawayo, though, was a tough nut to crack – yet Zanu-PF could gain an unlikely foothold if the MDC-T and the UMDC carry out their threats to boycott the elections.
Five seats are up for grabs in Bulawayo – Mr Bekithemba Nyathi (Mpopoma Pelandaba), Mr Samuel Sipepa Nkomo (Lobengula), Mr Reggie Moyo (Luveve), Mr Albert Mhlanga (Pumula) and Mr Gorden Moyo (Makokoba). The axed MPs have a tough decision to make – stick with the party’s boycott directive or break ranks and contest. A boycott would deliver the seats to Zanu-PF. Mr David Coltart, a member of the UMDC, observed: “Given that the MDC-T say they’re boycotting by-elections, are they happy to hand these seats over to Zanu-PF? One thing is crystal clear from Twitter – both Jonathan Moyo and Saviour Kasukuwere issued deliriously happy tweets about the move. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.” The UMDC yesterday appeared determined to fight Adv Mudenda’s ruling in court. Former MDC-T secretary general Mr Tendai Biti, now a key figure in the UMDC, was yesterday not ready to entertain talk of by-elections. His Harare East seat was also declared vacant. “The ruling is clearly political and is borne out of the relationship between Tsvangirai and Zanu-PF. We’re obviously going to challenge this in a court of law,” said Mr Biti.
Prof Ncube, one of two interim leaders of the UMDC, told The Chronicle last night that if it got to it, they would not contest any by-elections. “No, we’ll not contest. We’ve not contested in a single by-election since the 2013 elections, whether for council or Parliament and we’ve said it several times that we don’t want to take part in any by election,” said Prof Ncube.
Should the MDC-T or UMDC rethink their positions and contest, two other marginal seats – other than Tsholotsho North – could be closely fought. In Harare East, Mr Biti garnered 9 538 against 8 190 for the Zanu-PF candidate, while in Dzivaresekwa Mr Solomon Madzore won by less than 1 500 votes after he managed 6 591 against Zanu-PF’s 5 402.-herald
Chinotimba Teenager Brutally Attacked By Buffalo
A Chinotimba area Form Two pupil at Mosi-oa-Tunya Secondary School in Victoria Falls is battling for life at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo after he was gored by a wounded lone buffalo in the resort town on Sunday morning.Relatives said the attack took place at around 8AM between the gorges and a railway line near the veterinary offices.
They said 14-year-old Brendon Nkomazana was fetching firewood with his elder sister, Vanessa, in the company of four neighbours when he was attacked.
Some members of an apostolic sect who were conducting a service nearby reportedly took to their heels and abandoned church when they heard Vanessa screaming for help.
The family said by yesterday afternoon, the boy was yet to be attended to despite the fact that he was still semi conscious and bleeding from the mouth.
Brendon reportedly sustained injuries under the left ear as the buffalo’s horn narrowly missed his throat. His cousin, Cecilia Ndlovu, said Brendon was lucky to be alive.
“They left after 8AM to fetch firewood with three girls and two elderly women. They said they heard Brendon scream and shortly thereafter saw him being tossed into the air after the buffalo attacked him. He might not have seen it coming because the grass is long while trees are still green,” said Ndlovu.
She said the wounded buffalo tried to attack him again but failed because he lay still in the grass. “It threw him into the grass and he lay there still. The buffalo looked for him and trampled everywhere but couldn’t locate him. The other members of the group hid behind some bushes watching from a distance. When the buffalo moved away after failing to locate him, they quickly hurried to where Brendon lay and carried him while calling for help,” she said.
Brendon’s uncle, Calvin Lowani Shoko, said his nephew could hardly breathe when he was rushed to Victoria Falls District Hospital.
“I was at the bus terminus when I received a call that Brendon had been attacked by a buffalo. I rushed to the bush and found that he had already been carried to hospital by a Vehicle Inspectorate Department truck. After realising that the buffalo had moved away, Vanessa ran to seek help from a nearby church but the apostolic sect members picked up their garments and fled when she told them there was a wounded buffalo nearby.
“The two elderly women who had accompanied the children to fetch firewood helped carry Brendon and were later picked by a VID vehicle which rushed him to hospital. At that time he was bleeding profusely while the neck was swollen.
“Looking at where it gored him, it narrowly missed his throat and only God knows how he survived. He could hardly breathe and they stitched him to stop the bleeding but he started bleeding from the mouth. He was given some pain killers and immediately transferred to Mpilo Central Hospital where he is admitted,” said Shoko.
Brendon’s aunt, Nyembezi Ndlovu, who accompanied him to Bulawayo, said by yesterday afternoon he had not been treated as they were told to wait for a doctor.
“We arrived at around 3PM on Sunday and he was admitted. When we arrived for the afternoon visit today (yesterday) he hadn’t been put on a drip and hadn’t eaten anything. He can hardly breathe and is still bleeding from the mouth. He is still half conscious and that’s worrying us. We only hope God will intervene and heal him,” said Ndlovu.
Parks and Wildlife Management Authority rangers hunted down and shot the buffalo on Sunday. Last year, a man from Monde was killed by an elephant near Masue River while another was gored by a buffalo in Victoria Falls town as wild animals continue to wreak havoc.
Only last month, a 24-year-old Bulilima man escaped with severe injuries after a leopard attacked him while he was searching for donkeys in a bushy area.
Gift Moyo of Male Village in Dombodema area said the animal pounced on him from a tree. His seven dogs, which were accompanying him, saved his life as they fought the leopard off before the animal could injure him further.
Moyo’s wounds were stitched at the local Dombodema Clinic.
Weak Capital Pushes Global-Insurance Out Of Business
Zimbabwe’s insurance regulator has suspended short-term insurer Global Insurance from underwriting new business due to a weak capital position.
The Insurance and Pension Commission (IPEC) said it had carried out an onsite inspection and resolved to suspend the company. According to its third quarter report for the period ending September 30, Global’s core capital stood at $662,000 against a minimum requirement of $1,5 million.
In 2013, the regulator doubled the minimum capital requirements for the sector, with short-term insurers required to achieve a minimum capital level of $1,5 million and life assurers having to put up $2 million. Companies were required to have complied by last September.
“Following the conduct of an on-site inspection …, the commission hereby advises that Global Insurance Company Limited has, with immediate effect, been suspended from initiating and renewing insurance business,” said IPEC commissioner Manette Mpofu in a letter dated March 13.
“The regulatory measure has been taken in terms of section 67(3) of the Insurance Act [Chapter 24:07], taking cognizance of the glaring shortcomings noted in the inspection, in a bid to protect policyholders. Meanwhile, we request that you withhold all the funds due to Global Insurance Company Limited from the pools administered by your association which include the Motor Insurance Pool, pending further instructions.”
Last year IPEC, which is yet to release the year-end report for the sector, told The Source that eight short-term insurers – about a third of the companies — and one life assurance company failed to meet minimum capital thresholds by the June 30 deadline, reflecting a struggling industry amid an economic slowdown.
The regulator has, since dollarisation in 2009, deregistered several insurers which include Agricultural Insurance Company, Altfin, Jupiter Insurance Company, SFG Insurance Company and Suremed Health Insurance Company.-The Source
Sex Enraged Man Beats Up Wife
A 36-year-old Harare man was yesterday arraigned before the courts for assaulting his wife for denying him sex.
Oliver Chaibva, of number 16297 Sunningdale 2, Harare, was warned and cautioned by Mbare magistrate Ms Precious Muzondo not to repeat such barbaric behaviour. Chaibva pleaded guilty to physical abuse.
Circumstances are that on February 13 this year Chaibva and his wife Fatima Muma (34) were sleeping in their bedroom. The court heard that around 00:30 hours Chaibva woke his wife up and demanded sex.
The wife refused saying she was tired. Chaibva forcibly tried to have sex with Muma but failed. He beat her up. Chaibva was arrested after Muma reported the matter to the police.
CIOs Completely Defeated But are Still Allowed to Divide People
Recent events in Matabeleland South have shown how divided the people of Zimbabwe are. The Maleme Ranch issue only saw people of Matabeleland advocate for the removal of the CIO Officer Mashingaidze who had stopped progress at the ranch run jointly by a white farmer and the local community. In the City of Kings, there were also skirmishes with the commuter bus drivers who cried out loud and clear that they have had enough of unnecessary road blocks in which the only thing the police offices wanted was to ask for are bribes.
When the two events started, both organised by local people without any political leadership involved, one would have thought all voices of justice and democracy would join in. Surprisingly none did, even the media voice was muted. Can one ask, why? Why do we get divided on issues that affect us all? We were all united condemning the unnecessary grabbing of land that is benefiting communities, yet now a specific issue that needed our attention to set a huge precedent comes our way and we all ignore it as if it is not taking place at all. Is Zimbabwe so divided such that its voices of democracy mean nothing and are silenced according to regional concerns only?
What made the giants of democracy suddenly lose their voices where they were all needed? Did they not see the injustice we all saw where one man has to deny the entire community of hundreds of people from benefiting from a project they have worked so hard on and benefitted for the last ten years?
Speaking to young people from the community, there are more than 100 families on this ranch and nearly 600 workers. The farm owner has been helping the community in various ways (projects like poultry gardening have commenced since the beginning of this past decade. There is no doubt that the stopping of one Walter Mzembi from “acquiring” Mitchell’s farm in Masvingo served the same purpose as the Melame community wanted, only that they did not have a Mahofa to do it for them.
Several young men and women have had their school fees paid by the farm and even some University students have their tuition fees paid for by this farm. It should be known that efforts to take the farm started with the local MP, Khanye who I understand already owns three more farms since he grabbed since he became MP. When Khanye failed, Mashingaidze then muscled his security status and was almost there. The local community determines its future, and it is happy with its white partner because most people from these villages; Magobeni, Mablaweni , Halale Silozwe, Shumbes, and the areas along Kezi-Maphisa road have benefitted from the farm. Numerous students have passed through Ebennerzar within its premises.
With regards to the land grabbing going on in this area, I received an email from one of the young men at the centre of it all who was born and bred in the area. With his permission, I include it below;
‘’…There are too many people involved in this. Its not only this Mashingaidze. We are aware of people like John Clever Dube saying they were mandated by Zanu pf to do absolutely anything they want towards an ill advised move of repossessing all farms. Its not only him, there is another not yet identified CIO member who is with Mashingaidze in this operation. Let alone the fact that this man failed to operate the farm he grabbed along Figtree (a dairy farm). To make matters worse, he failed to just prove himself an effective as he failed a simple farmers’ project through poor pricing policies because he sold his birds at $2.50 just below breakeven point which highlights serious business failure. If Maleme is to be taken, can you imagine the disaster for the community? Lets not overlook the D.A because he is also part of the mobile train targeting looting farms profits. His parasitic activities are seen by his prowessness towards repossessing of farms via Clever Dube, Crispen Ndlovu, Bangi Mabika, one Ndabazokufa and their friends. Corruption rocks Matopos leadership. This is not about tribalism at all. It started way back in the proposed ZimAsset document. Most good and productive farmers working with their communities are subjected to loose their hard earned projects to lazy clueless thugs via this animal Zimasset. One stands astonished as they use their power to manipulate the province. We feel like we are being colonised by a party which sends its leaders to destroy Matebeleland. Both Clever and his counterparts can not make bread from flour so they will make the existing flour disappear while the masses suffer as their coffers swell.
I hope you get the picture of what is happening here. There are too many farms being abused and not benefiting people yet the villagers have no land as well…’’
Lecturers Strike No More, Claims Muchinguri-Kashiri
The troublesome nationwide lecturers’ strike together with the subsequent students’ strike at the University of Zimbabwe are now no more, Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Minister and Pastor Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri has claimed.
As students slept rough on Harare’s streets with riot police pursuing them from behind into the night, Muchinguri-Kashiri issued a statement claiming that the strike should end.
This was so despite an official statement by the University of Zimbabwe authorities that the institution will only open on Tuesday the 24th March.
Mrs Muchinguri-Kashiri among other things said that the government had released outstanding salaries for state university lecturers and staff to end strikes which had forced the University of Zimbabwe to temporarily close.
Lecturers at state universities, including Midlands State University (MSU), National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) and the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) abandoned lectures last week in protest at the non-payment of February salaries and last year’s bonuses.
Muchinguri-Kashiri, speaking to reporters in Harare yesterday, said she met with representatives of university staff before appealing to Acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa for an urgent solution to end strikes at the institutions of higher learning, as well as a demonstration by students at the UZ.
“I wish to confirm the position taken as follows: that salaries will be mobilised and released before the end of the day, Tuesday, March 17, 2015, whilst the bonus will be staggered,” she said.
She said lecturers should return to work immediately. “Pursuant to this resolve, members of staff in all State Universities are requested to resume normal teaching, learning and research activities with immediate effect,” she said.
Muchinguri-Kashiri said treasury highlighted financial challenges the government was facing and efforts being made to address the situation at state universities.
“Treasury officials expressed their sincerest regret over the dismal failure to meet the dates designated as pay dates,” she said.
Meanwhile, the UZ announced on Tuesday it was closing until March 24, 2015, after students demonstrated in solidarity with lecturers and non-academic staff.
But Muchinguri-Kashiri said the UZ will open for lectures today.
“We’ve been communicating with Vice Chancellor Levy Nyagura to discuss the way forward given what we agreed with workers’ representatives. He did agree that he took the decision to close because of the demonstrations which took place,” she said.
“We both have agreed that activities have to resume and UZ will be opened tomorrow morning (today) with lectures. I hope all the institutions will adhere to the directive.(New Ziana/Additional Reporting)
IN PICTURES: Riot Police Arrest Students as UZ Shuts Down
BREAKING NEWS: Thomas Mapfumo Cancels South Africa Shows
Chimurenga Music Company (CMC), on behalf of Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks Unlimited and Jimmy Jimalo Entertainment, would like to express sincere regret over the inevitable last minute cancellation of a performance that was scheduled for March 27th (Johannesburg) and March 28th (Cape Town) in South Africa.
Despite thorough preparations for the trip, a glitch emerged due to some unforeseen delay in the release of travel documents for some of the band members. While concerted efforts are still underway to secure the release of the travel documents, there is no guarantee that the documents could be timely available before the scheduled dates.
With that fortuitous development, CMC and Jimmy Jimalo Entertainment were jointly left with no option but to cancel the trip as a timely remedy to avoid further prejudice and inconvenience to all the fans.
The prejudice and inconvenience caused through this untimely cancellation is sincerely regretted.
Be that as it may, CMC continues to be humbled by, and appreciates the support, cooperation and loyalty that have been enjoyed by the band.
Current Chaos in Zimbabwe, a Seeming But Dangerous Regional Cauldron
The week started with the abduction of human rights firebrand Itai Dzamara. The world over has been shaken and the abduction has been embarrassing as the government has no explanation for it since their hands are tied and they are guilt-conscious. Their inertia alone in not instructing the CIO to return him home spoke volumes. Even those who sought to defend and justify the abduction came out with flimsy reasoning, enough to openly admit that they had no clean hands in the scandal.
Then the Chikurubi prisoners rioted for being fed with sadza( thick corn meal porridge) with a dry Royco Usavi mix soup. They went on rampage and broke the loose fences as they sought a way into freedom after their complaints or discomfort went unnoticed. With the prison break emerged various theories. Something was amiss with the prison system leadership. Not enough was being done to maintain prison security. It also became a danger to society for Class D prisoners (murderers, robbers and rapists) to be on the loose. Resultantly, seven were shot dead but there has not been an official statement regarding the cause and any remedial moves made to assure people of public safety. Then the CIO gave orders that it was best to locate ring leaders and kill them. What a loss of ideas!
As the prisoners broke loose and as Itai Dzamara went unreleased or not located, President Mugabe’s ego was dented by the Japanese Embassy who only wanted 42 people to travel to Japana for a Disaster Reduction Conference in Sendai. Instead of 42 delegates, Mugabe took 100 delegates with families just leaving behind cats and dogs in Zimbabwe. It became an embarrassment in that the world over was sending just a few people to mark their presence. He took that opportunity as an excuse for his cabinet to enjoy an overseas trip and the hangers on gobbled a whopping $1 million. This was at a critical time when the government was cracking heads to see how best the economy could be revived. That move simply communicated the level of government seriousness to the world. As if that was not enough, Mugabe went on to disparage the West and vowed that he would never kneel for aid. So interesting because even Japan begs to the West for sustainable development. Zimbabwe was reeling under so much poverty, corruption and not even having enough to pay the 10 000 ghost workers whose salaries were being pocketed by Government Minsters. It became an embarrassment that he boasted of Zimbabwe’s friendship with countries like India and China, that were actually also looking West for survival. He actually made the Zimbabwe situation worse because the world is even irked by the Itai Dzamara abduction that has sent some blabber mouths issuing vitriol for the world to forget the sin.
In London, the Vigil went on a protest under “I am Itai Dzamara”. Inspired by human rights firebrand Vince Musewe after he asked of the whereabouts of clergy, student leaders, community action groups and other related human rights outfits, they took to the streets and even embarrassed the Government of Zimbabwe more.
Then the University lecturers went on strike. A week later, impatient students went on strike to protest against the Lecturer strike that was said to have gone on for an unreasonably long time.
In Masvingo, instead of the city paying the Messenger of Court to recover their attached vehicles, the city fathers saw it fit to simply buy new vehicles instead of honoring their commitment to pay the disgruntled salaries. It simply demonstrated unprecedented profligacy under the approbation of the Minister of local government. Corruption was everywhere. There was no corner where something was not happening.
In Matabeleland, for the first time ever since his appointment, VP Mphoko made sense as he boldly refused that the CIO district head there, a Mashingaidze should sit on a farm that was benefitting the community. Many praised him for being sober and at least saying something sensible for the first time in 4 months. Then in Masvingo, Mahofa clashed with Mzembi who vowed to take over Mitchell’s farm as he wanted it badly despite the same concern that it benefitted the community. As Minister of Tourism, many wondered on his sanity because he knew the reason behind the community motive yet he seemed to demonstrate rare covetousness through his plan. Many would keep watching to see who had bigger political muscles in the game.
The list became endless but the main theme was that people were hungry, and jobless. No services were moving. Many in Zimbabwe were frustrated as the government was not doing enough to bring back jobs and services to the people. Above all, many were getting angry through the government’s insatiable appetite for luxuries through cars and foreign travel at a time when nothing was moving or working at home.
BREAKING NEWS: Tendai Biti’s Renewal Team Axed from Parliament
Zimbabwe’s parliament has expelled 17 legislators who left the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party after a bout of infighting in the party last year, the national assembly’s speaker said on Tuesday.
The expulsion of the members, including former MDC secretary general and finance minister Tendai Biti, could further weaken the opposition’s voice in parliament, where President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF enjoys a commanding majority.
Biti, an outspoken lawyer, was thrown out of the MDC by its leader Morgan Tsvangirai last April after his rebel MDC Renewal group failed in an attempt to oust Tsvangirai who has been at the helm of the MDC since its formation in 1999.
The opposition MDC party, which re-elected Tsvangirai as its leader in November, asked parliament early this month to expel Biti’s group for having left the party, deepening the turmoil that has split the MDC.
Speaker of parliament Jacob Mudenda said Biti and his group did not challenge the request by the MDC, and announced their expulsion. The affected members were ushered out of parliament.
Under Zimbabwe’s constitution, if a member of parliament joins or forms another political party, their seat is declared vacant and a fresh election is called within 90 days.
Four more members in the upper Senate chamber were expected to suffer the same fate.
Jacob Mafume, spokesman for the MDC Renewal group said they would use legal means to challenge the speaker’s decision. – Reuters