Property worth thousands of dollars went up in smoke today at retired Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, Gideon Gono’s house in Borrowdale.
This is the third time mysterious fires have attacked the former Central Bank boss two others having been at his farm.
A double storey house worth more than $200 000 was razed to the ground and only the intervention of the Harare Fire Brigade service prevented further damage.
Below are pictures taken by the Daily News:
More details to follow… – DailyNews

• Jukwa access entry
• Disappear without explanation.
• Will Gen.Nyambuya now bring Itai Dzamara out?

THE SEARCH for abducted activist Itai Dzamara took a twist on Wednesday morning when top Ret Army General Mike Nyambuya stepped in.

 
Gen Nyambuya who shoved himself into a heated parliamentary debate discussing Dzamara and other human rights issues, appeared prepared to address public concerns on abductions.
 
He was chairing the thematic Committee on Human Rights discussion in session on Wednesday. The hot convergence continued into mid day and was still in session at the time of writing.
 
Gen Nyambuya(pictured) appeared to be interested in hearing concerns but was dismissed by participants.
 
 
Jukwa Entry
General Nyambuya is the one through whom Jukwa character Edmund Kudzayi was given entry into ZANU PF a development that eventually elevated him to the position of Sunday Mail editor. Nyambuya was also once Governor of Manicaland before being made Minister of Energy and Power Development in 2005. He was later in the 2008 parliamentary election beaten by the MDC-T’s David Anthony Chimhini.
 
 
Disappears without explanation
 
 
But no matter what his background is in ZANU PF Nyambuya remained speechless when he was told the ZANU PF run country is now a fear ridden nation where people disappear without explanation, shortly before attendants say, his outward expressions exposed him.
Elasto Mugwadi, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) Chairperson blasted  him saying, “I have stopped opening my email because I can not finish reading them. It needs me the whole year to read them and its a shame that in a highly securitised nation like ours a person disappears without explanation” he told Nyambuya.
 
Will Nyambuya change anything?
As the session continued Zimbabweans present joked with each other if Nyambuya would do anything to reveal Itai Dzamara’s whereabouts and to change Zimbabwe’s human rights record. He was exposed by his self evident facial expressions- SEE PICTURES … More to follow…
 
 

 

POLICE in Bulawayo are cracking their heads as they try to solve a cryptic puzzle where school pupils disappeared mostly in Emganwini and Nkulumane on a monthly basis for a period stretching from February to May.
Yesterday, State journalists published the story of three pupils that went missing in the city under different but equally baffling circumstances. The police said they were searching for Nontobeko Yolanda Nkomo, 10, of Nkulumane 12, Alington Shereni, 15, and Cyril Ndlovu, 15, both of Emganwini.
Now police have added a fourth name: 18-year-old Thabo Ncube, a former Founders High School pupil from Emganwini. Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo said Thabo went missing on February 12, a day after telling family members he was going to his former school to collect his O’ Level results. That was the last they saw of him.
Cyril Ndlovu, 15, a Form 3 pupil at Hamilton High School, also from the same suburb, went missing on March 1. Insp Moyo said: “Thabo Ncube is of medium built, about 1,7 metres tall, dark in complexion. He was last seen at around 10AM on February 12 going to collect his Ordinary Level results at school and never returned home.”
Cyril was last seen on March 1 at around 8.30AM. He was wearing a green T-Shirt, a black track bottom and Adidas takkies. Police are also searching for two other missing children, Nontobeko Yolanda Nkomo, 10, of Nkulumane 12, Alington Shereni, 15, of Emgwanini. Nkulumane and Emgwanini, which are neighbouring suburbs, are under Nkulumane Police Station’s policing radius.
Nontobeko, a Grade 6 pupil at Mgoqo Primary School, went missing on May 26 and Alington was last seen on April 30.
Said Inspector Moyo: “Nontobeko Nkomo is medium built, about 1.2m tall, dark in complexion. She was last seen on May 28 wearing a bottle green pair of trousers, bottle green jersey, bottle green blouse, black shoes, green socks and a green woollen hat. She was carrying a pink and grey satchel.
“She was last seen at around 9AM on May 28.”
The Bulawayo police spokesperson said the second child, Alington, a boy, was last seen on April 30 at around 8AM. He said Alington is about 1.2m tall, light in complexion, and of medium build.
Alington, a Form 2 pupil at a college in the Bulawayo city centre, left home after he was sent to buy bread at a local grocery shop.
“Alington was last seen wearing a white vest, brown bottom and blue shoes. We’re appealing to anyone with information on the whereabouts of the four missing children to contact the nearest police station. Alternatively, they can contact ZRP Nkulumane on landline 09-481145.”
Tsebiso Ncube, Thabo’s father, told journalists that his son’s disappearence was traumatising family members.
“My son left home on a Tuesday morning going to collect his results. He came back later in the afternoon saying he had failed to get them because he owed the school a textbook which he shared with his friend who stayed in Nketa,” Ncube said.
“On the following morning, his mother gave him transport money to drop off at his friend’s place so that they go together to the school and solve the textbook issue. That was the last we saw of him.”
Thabo’s mother, Botshiwe Ncube, said she called the school and teachers confirmed that Thabo had indeed passed through the school but did not collect his results.
“We confronted the friend who denied sharing a book with Thabo. The boy said he had last seen him on the day they wrote their last examination paper. We then reported the matter to the police.”
Friends said Thabo was a “quiet and reserved boy”.
At the home of the other missing boy, Cyril, his brother, Sipho Ndlovu, told journalists that when his young brother went missing he was not at home. He, however, said that their mother told him that Cyril had left home in the company of their neighbour identified as Handsome.
“She said Cyril left home with Handsome and they seemed like people who were on their usual errands, but he never returned home. The following morning, we heard that he had slept over at Handsome’s place, which is a few houses from ours,” he said.
“When we asked Handsome’s uncle of the two’s whereabouts, he said Handsome had left for Inyathi while Cyril is alleged to have told him he was going to South Africa. Sometime in May, we heard that the two had been seen at Amarula Night Club in Emganwini where it’s alleged they told patrons they were now working at a mine in Inyathi.”
Sipho said the family got really worried when Handsome returned home without Cyril. Handsome told the family that he was by himself when he went to Inyathi. “Handsome said he was never in the company of Cyril. He said they parted ways when he went to Inyathi while Cyril headed for South Africa,” said Sipho.
Irene Shawarira, Nontobeko’s mother, told journalists on Monday that her daughter had left for school as usual and she was expecting to see her later at home.
“Ntoe left for school in the morning and at around 9AM I received a call from her teacher informing us that she hadn’t returned to the classroom from the grounds,” said Shawarira.
“We tried to look for her around the school. We even asked her friends from school but they didn’t know where she had gone.”
Shawarira said she called in the police who have been searching for her since.
Alington’s mother, Lavender Kumire, told journalists that she had no idea about the whereabouts of her son.
She said: “I gave him $5 and sent him to buy bread at around 8AM on April 30. He never came back.
“I noticed after about 30 minutes that he was not yet home. I sent his siblings to check on him at the shops but they couldn’t locate him.”
She said she got worried and decided to go and look for her son on her own, but it was in vain.

A top US and senior Congressman has derided MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s recent boycott of elections and Tsvangirai’s plot to withdraw his MPs from parliament, while directly ridiculing him for his altering of the party’s constitution so he can rule it forever.
Early this year Morgan Tsvangirai ordered all his MPs to withdraw from parliament. This came at a time when the opposition leader also pulled his party from the race for the just ended by-elections which have seen Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF gaining its first stronghold majority since independence in 1980.
Tsvangirai then launched an anti MP crusade against his legislators who campaign for their seats with their funds and the party gets the glory. The move which was seen to be contemptuous of Tsvangirai’s faithfuls led to them vocalising, “we even bring to the party the only money there is from the government Political Parties Finance Act share; The party is really a franchise that we trade under and fund.”
The MPs yesterday however received a boost US Congressman Gregory Simpkins, a director in the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organisations, who sharply criticised Tsvangirai’s moves.
He said that opposition parties cannot make it until they stand out to fight the system from within, adding that stay aways are only counterproductive.
“Oftentimes we have heard the opposition saying it is tough to compete, they have to find a way of being effective rather than just saying it is too tough to compete so we are not going to take part. If you do not take part in an election process, how can you criticise something that you did not even test?” Simpkins said.
He added, “when you test the process you can say we tried to register our candidates or observers were turned away, you can point to examples. If you are not a part of it at all, then it is as good as there is no opposition.”
Simpkins arrived in the country for a fact-finding mission to identify ways of mending relations between Harare and Washington.
He continued,“for us sometimes the Democratic Party or the Republican Party is successful, sometimes they are partially successful. When we lose we do not take to the streets, we do not always go to the courts, we do not get angry, but we go back, consider what happened and prepare for the next election and that is what you have to do.”
He also appeared to directly knife Morgan Tsvangirai whose party is now under his sole control after he altered its constitution, saying the US political system was not built on personalities.
“However, when you start a political party in a country that is relatively new, very often the personalities override the ideology of the party, people vote for the person, ethnic groups. You feel that you started something and think that you best understand how things are supposed to be done, but over time you realise that does not work,” he said.
“It takes time and African countries are not going to do that overnight either. It takes time for people to realise that it is not all about me.
“I think there is a lot of frustration on losing elections and the thinking that the people leading the party are not serving their interests so they leave thinking they can do it better.”

• I am not afraid
• I do not even have a traffic offence
• Reporter may have written what they wanted

 
FORMER Presidential Affairs minister Didymus Mutasa has vowed he was ready to go to jail for spilling Zanu PF secrets after his ouster in December last year.
Mutasa has been warned in the State media that he risked arrest for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act after he revealed that Zanu PF rigged the 2013 harmonised elections. State media roped in political analysts who said the former Zanu PF secretary for administration was sworn to secrecy when he served in government and cannot divulge them after he was fired.
But Mutasa told the daily NewsDay the government would need to prove its case before a court of law.
“I am not afraid of being arrested as long as they tell me my crime,” he said. “There is also the issue of whether what was reported is what I said. The reporter may have written what they wanted and not what I said. I am a law-abiding citizen and I do not think there is anyone like me. I do not even have a traffic offence.”
The former Zanu PF strongman two weeks ago was quoted saying Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives were deployed in all sectors of the economy to gather sensitive information.
“Of course, you know that some waiters in hotels work for the CIO,” he was quoted as saying. “Your phones are listened to a lot. The CIO is huge and it produces many reports. From the UN (United Nations) there will regularly be a report. A report about the British. Or India. Not very good reports really. I had to read them. They made me tired.”
This, according to the State’s so called “legal experts”, exposed the government’s security apparatus and made it “vulnerable”. Section 4 of the Official Secrets Act makes it a criminal offence for any person who has in his possession or under his control any secret official code, document or information that has been entrusted in his confidence to him by a person holding an office in the service of the State; or has obtained; or has held office in the service of the State to communicate or publish it to any person.
The offence carries a 20-year jail term and if found guilty, Mutasa, who seemed unfazed, could spend the last years of his life in jail.-Newsday

Zimbabwe’s Minister for Small Enterprises Sithembiso Nyoni caused a scene yesterday when she arrived more than 90 minutes late at a function for an unveiling of an $8million cash injection for youth business projects.
The fund donated by the US, UK and Swedish governments and set to benefit 22500 young jobless Zimbabweans, saw the function’s speakers having to alter their speeches at the last minute to facilitate the late Minister.
When she finally arrives towards sunset, she neither apologised nor explained the reason for her delay despite having been pre-informed several weeks before Tuesday.
Her speech was loaded with gasps of expressions on how suspicious government is of donors and international organisations entering in to assist government.
She told delegates she had to defend her work with the International Youth Fund, “when I was defending my ministry’s partnership with IYF(International Youth Fund), I convinced the committee that we were going to work very hard and very well. I had to convince the committee to pass this partnership through and then I said if you see an international organisation signing an MOU with a government ministry it means they mean business to develop that country alongside that government and the people”. READ MORE – ZimAsset Massive Breakthrough $8Million Cash For Jobless Youths…

United States president Barack Obama has “humiliated” president Robert Mugabe by deliberately fronting away from the ageing 91 year old during his African Union visit.
The US government has made it very clear that while Obama is visiting  African Union bosses, their president has yet no plans whatsoever to meet the pivotal head of the AU, Mugabe.
 
This comes at a time when Mugabe publicly mocked Obama on gay rights at the weekend by inviting the US president to propose love to him.

 The US embassy indicated Obama has no plans whatsoever to meet Mugabe.
They replied inquiries saying, “President Obama will meet with AU leadership. However, we do not yet have any further details about those meetings,”
“What we do know is that this visit underscores US efforts to work with the countries and citizens of sub-Saharan Africa to accelerate economic growth, strengthen democratic institutions, and improve security.
“The visit will represent President Obama’s fourth trip to Africa since becoming President. He will travel to Ethiopia following his visit to Kenya for bilateral meetings,” the Statement read.
When contacted for a comment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed they have received no invitation from the US government for Mugabe’s presence to meet Obama. Foreign Affairs Perm Secretary Joey Bimha told reporters, “at present we have not received yet any indications on that. You all know that the AU Commission led by Ms (Nkosazana) Zuma) basically runs the AU,” he said.
Obama’s visit to Africa is geared at cementing US relations and cross continental investments while also focusing on the implementation of democracy in the nations.

A man appeared in court yesterday accused of striking his cousin and killing him using a knobkerrie following an argument over an exchange rate of US dollar to the South African Rand.
Lenin Mhlophe, 23, of Sibantubanye Village in Filabusi allegedly killed his cousin Mmeli Tshili, 21, last year on July 1st.
He appeared before Justice Lawrence Kamocha at the Bulawayo High Court facing murder charges.
Prosecuting, Nokuthaba Ngwenya described what happened on that evening at Mphehlane Nightclub at Vocola Business Centre in Filabusi while the pair were watching a match on the television.
The court was told  that the two cousins  decided to go outside to play snooker while listening to music played in the bar from Mhlophe’s mobile phone memory card.
Tshili liked  the music and quickly  offered to buy the memory card from Mhlophe.
“Tshili bought the memory card from Mhlophe for $6 and expected to get $4 change from R100,” said Ngwenya.
An argument started when Mhlophe gave Tshili only $3  stating that the exchange rate for United States dollar and the South African rand was not 1:10 as he claimed.
His continuous demand for his $1 angered Mhlophe who then dashed  back into the nightclub to fetch a knobkerrie which he used to hit his cousin Tshili on the  head.
“Mhlophe took his knobkerrie and hit Tshili on the head once and he fell to the ground. He ran away from the scene leaving his cousin lying unconscious,” said Ngwenya.
Tshili’s uncle, Majaha Masuku, testified in court, saying he tried to perform first aid  on Tshili before his nephew was rushed to Filabusi Hospital where he  then was referred to the United Bulawayo Hospitals.
“Soon after committing the crime, Mhlophe took his bicycle and disappeared into the dark.
I tried to perform first aid to my nephew, but this didn’t work and he  bleeding from his nose and head,” said Masuku.
Two days later the court heard  how Tshili’s condition got worse and he died .
A post-mortem report said the cause of death was intracranial haemorrhage, depressed skull fracture and blunt force trauma.
Mhlophe’s lawyer,Caroline Mudenda, defended  him saying  he only acted to defend himself.
“I didn’t intend to kill Tshili but I only acted to protect myself.
Tshili was the aggressor and I only reacted after he had pushed me against the wall and that’s when I struck him with a knobkerrie,” argued Mhlophe.
 

The District Development Fund has been rapped for failing to account for fuel worth $1,6 million amid indications that individuals within the entity were drawing huge quantities of fuel equivalent to an allocation of a Government ministry, an audit has revealed.
Auditor-General Mrs Mildred Chiri said there was rampant abuse of fuel by officials and more than 6 000 litres of fuel drawn in one month could not be accounted for. This is contained in her 2014 audit report tabled in the National Assembly recently by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa.
“Officials drew excessive fuel during the month of December 2012 and it was not clear what the fuel was being used for. In some instances the same officials would draw fuel which in other ministries or Government departments can be allocated for the whole month, but in the case of DDF, the fuel would be drawn once or twice a day,” said Mrs Chiri.
“I was concerned that officers would use the same vehicle or change vehicles more than once per day to draw fuel. For example, the officers at some point would withdraw 550 litres of fuel indicating that the fuel was used to fill a certain vehicle and when in reality no ordinary vehicle has fuel tanks with a capacity of more than 180 litres.
“In total 6 242 litres of fuel were consumed for bulk withdrawals for the month of December 2012. This was attributable to lack of an effective documented system of fuel allocation, coupled with weak supervisory controls.”
Mrs Chiri said there was a risk that without effective control system, fuel could be used for personal benefit at the expense of fulfilling objectives of the organisation. In response, DDF said the nature of their jobs required a lot of fuel.
“Issuance of fuel to management as observed by audit is project and assignment-based because of the nature of operations that call the same manager to be always on the move throughout the country supervising the projects or on administrative assignments,” read the brief response by the DDF management.
“The management response falls short of addressing the issue of fuel policy or regulating the fuel usage. Fund records do not show the project for which the fuel will be drawn to ensure proper accountability,” said Mrs Chiri while commenting on the response given by DDF.
On management of fuel, Mrs Chiri said during the year fuel amounting to $2,4 million was procured yet only $829 333 worth of fuel is accounted for leaving a balance of $1,6 million.
“The fuel shortage worth $1 581 359 should be investigated and conclusive action should be taken to avoid a similar situation. The Fund should consider migrating to a computerised fuel management system,” she said.

A PASTOR at Kingdom Fellowship Church who impregnated a 15-year-old girl after making her believe he was testing her virginity has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Elisha Persuade Nhando (40) admitted to impregnating the minor when he appeared before a Harare magistrate. He claimed they were lovers. Nhando yesterday pleaded guilty to having sexual intercourse with a minor.
Mr Tendai Mahwe sentenced him to three years in prison before setting aside one year on condition of good behaviour. In passing sentence, Mr Mahwe said cases of pastors abusing their duties were rampant hence the need to pass a deterrent sentence.
“Accused person you took advantage of the minor who looked up to you as a father-figure and abused her. Cases of pastors raping or abusing women and children are on the increase hence a clear message needs to be sent out there so as to deter offenders.
“Also you are a married man and your actions show that you only wanted to use the minor. After all, why did you take her from her parent’s house on the guise that as a pastor you wanted to take care of her. This is wickedness,” he said.
In his mitigation, Nhando pleaded for the court’s leniency arguing that he was in love with the minor thinking she was 17-years-old. In Zimbabwe, the age of sexual consent is 16. Pastor Nhando adopted the minor in October last year.
In January this year, the man of cloth proposed love to the minor and she accepted the proposal.
The following day Pastor Nhando took advantage of his wife’s absence and went to the sitting room where the complainant was watching television.
He told the girl he wanted to check if she was still a virgin. Pastor Nhando said the only way to do so was by inserting his manhood into the girl’s privates. He then slept with the minor and warned her not to tell anyone.
The pastor slept with the girl on several occasions thereafter leading to her pregnancy. The girl’s mother reported the matter to the police leading to Nhando’s arrest. The girl is now four months pregnant.

Harare Town Clerk, Dr Tendai Mahachi has been suspended indefinitely.
Harare Mayor, Bernard Manyenyeni made the announcement while concluding a full council meeting Tuesday evening, citing what he described as a standing ethical issues.
This is the second time Mahachi has been pushed off work and last year ZANU PF Local Government Minister, friend to Mahachi, Ignatius Chombo, budged in, using his muscles and forcibly reinstating Mahachi amid a cloud of discontent over the matter. SEE VIDEO:

The ZANU PF controlled State Media yesterday claimed Councillors were as equally shocked with the decision as Dr Mahachi was ousted last night. Deputy Mayor, Councillor Thomas Muzuva was quoted saying they were never consulted on the matter.
After some probing from the media, Mayor Manyenyeni revealed that the indefinite suspension is to pave way for the succession issue and the thorny issue of hefty salaries for executives.
Mahachi said the organisation had been working on a succession plan, but queried the Mayor’s decision, saying it does not make legal sense.
Meanwhile, Mrs Josephine Ncube will be the Acting Town Clerk.

A STORY CIRCULATING on social network Whatsapp that a Maranatha school bus was Tuesday afternoon involved in an accident “40 minutes ago” and  17 children died on spot, has been dismissed by the school administration.
The accident was said to have occurred at a location between Westgate & Westlea, between Cotswold Hills and Ashdown Park.
There are two Maranatha schools in the Mabelreign area, and the largest one dismissed the report as they also confidently declared that it could neither have happened for the other one which is called Maranatha Preparatory school.
When contacted, a school administrator at the school which is near Kirkman, along Harare Drive told ZimEye.com there is no truth in the rumour. “I am afraid it is not true,” she said.
She also added saying she was on Tuesday afternoon being harassed by telephone calls from parents seeking out on the school children.
“All our buses are safely back at the school and are parked at the parking bay,” she said.
Of the other school, the Maranatha Preparatory School  she said the accident could not have happened because that school does not have a bus, as she suggested that the small kombi they possess would not accommodate 17 children.
ZimEye.com failed to obtain a comment from the Preparatory School since their numbers could not be found in the telephone directory.
More to follow as the events unravel

ZANU PF Information Secretary Jonathan Moyo was on Tuesday afternoon hit by a second round of humiliation from president Robert Mugabe over his ministerial axing last week Moyo has been claiming was only a temporary event.
Since the day he was booted from cabinet last week, Jonathan Moyo’s clique of handpicked editors have been busy with inking everywhere that the man will be returning in a few days time.
But a week later Mugabe crushed all hopes.
Cabinet was conducted as normal on Tuesday as Mugabe ridiculed Moyo by furthermore proceeding without a single mention of him. The man’s conspicuous absence plus his volcanic disgrace last week all wormed against his reputation as somewhat also confirmed by Presidential Spokesman George Charamba.
Contacted for a comment, Robert Mugabe’s spokesman appeared set to reply ZimEye.com during an exclusive interview when upon hearing Jonathan Moyo’s name, he abruptly ended the interview.
“Did you say you are inquiring on Professor Jonathan Moyo?,” was all he said, before speedily ending the interview without announcement.
Close ZANU PF sources say Mugabe has already made up his mind against Moyo and has another person in mind to appoint to the Information Ministry. The reason why he changed his mind on Moyo was that security chiefs had become increasingly uncomfortable with Moyo’s media muscles as he was now deemed more powerful than army boss General Constantine Chiwenga.

The gay community is up in arms with the state weekly newspaper The Sunday Mail over its recent reportage on a Zimbabwean man who changed sexuality. 
In a statement to ZimEye.com, Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe said the coverage of Tatenda Zenzo Karigambe also known as Tatelicious who the paper referred to as a “liar” and “thief”

At a time when Zimbabwe’s vendors need community support….

…A new gangrenous cancer is fast ripping apart industry and trade – Zimbabwe’s vendors have complained of the rising discrimination on the grounds of a person’s perceived allegiance to First Lady Grace Mugabe in this new phenomenon now labelled “Graceism.”

Vendors whose total number makes up Zimbabwe’s entire voting population, are being denied registration access on the grounds of their expressed allegiance.

Local Government and National housing Minister Ignatius Chombo is desperately needed to move in to act on Gwanda Council’s perennial failure to handle the fire service.
Local residents headed by the prolific Bekezela Fuzwayo have opened up a dossier proving how the council is “useless” in dealing with disasters and they are now appealing to government for urgent help. At least 10 people have been killed by Gwanda fires in a series of accidents  the council could have easily averted but allowed to happen.
Wrote Fuzwayo, “in the worst incident to date, a couple of years back about ten lives were gruesomely lost when a truck and a smaller vehicle had a head on collusion a few kilometres out of town and, as always, all our Emergency Services could do was to hopelessly stand by and watch while people and the vehicles burnt to ashes.
“It is with these continuous disasters and failures by our council in mind that as residents of Gwanda then find ourselves living in fear with no guarantee that our lives and properties are safe in the hands of our council’s emergency services department.
“We are wondering how many more lives and how much more property should be destroyed before we can all say “enough is enough” and bring this to an end.
“Of major disappointment is that all these losses happen as our council continues declaring that it has acquired state of the art fire fighting equipment and that the staff has been provided with the best training available.
“Residents have been shocked time and again to see our fire fighting teams arrive to the scene of a fire failing to operate the fire fighting equipment and/or showing a complete lack of skill and knowledge on how to fight the fire.
“After the recent fire at Power Sales, as Residents representatives in the company of some key stakeholders from the town, we invited council to a round table to discuss our preparedness to these disasters with a hope that a collective strategy would be formulated therefrom but council was not prepared to have the dialogue and dismissed the invitation as being unwarranted.
CONTINUE READING  http://www.zimeye.com/gwanda-deadly-fires-chombo-must-act-now/
 
 
 

President Robert Mugabe, has challenged President Barack Obama by asking his hand in marriage, in his weekly radio interview with the State Media on Saturday.
“I’ve just concluded since President Obama endorses the same-sex marriage, advocates homosexual people and enjoys an attractive countenance thus if it becomes necessary , I shall travel to Washington, D.C. , get down on my knee , and ask his [Obama’s] hand,” said Mugabe deriding U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling making same-sex Marriage a Right Nationwide.
“I can’t understand how this people dare to defy Christ’s explicit orders as our Lord prohibited mankind from sodomy,” said the old recalcitrant Zimbabwean leader in an interview with ZBC radio station, adding, the American Government is run by perverts, Satan-worshipers who insults the Great American nation.
The American tradition and heritage was based on lofty Christian principles, added Mr. Mugabe, but to the detriment of this great nation, America’s corrupt political elite is acting according to their diabolic whims.
Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage, the first ever from a sitting president, came amid growing pressure for the president to clarify his previously muddled opinion, as two senior members of his administration announced personal support for gay marriage and a day after voters in North Carolina approved a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
The statement brought an immediate reaction from his prospective opponent at home as well.
“My view is that marriage itself is a relationship between a man and a woman, and that’s my own preference,” Mitt Romney said at a brief news conference in Oklahoma City after Obama’s remarks were released. “I know other people have differing views — this is a very tender and sensitive topic, as are many social issues. But I have the same view that I’ve had since running for office. I shall end this mockery.”
Romney backs a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and was opposed to the Massachusetts state court decision legalizing gay marriage issued while he was governor.-MaraviPost/additional reporting

A NKAYI father yesterday withdrew a criminal case against a relative who raped his 12-year-old daughter saying the family had agreed to settle the matter out of court.
In an affidavit submitted before regional magistrate Abednico Ndebele, the rape victim’s father said he wanted the matter to be withdrawn.
The girl was allegedly raped by her 18-year-old cousin and the teenager was caught committing the crime by their aunt. “I’m the father to the complainant and I hereby wish to drop the charges against the accused because both these teenagers are school going children and their future is at stake. They’re related and we suspect they engaged in sexual intercourse out of ignorance,” he said.
“We sat down as relatives and resolved to settle this matter out of court.” Magistrate Ndebele accepted the withdrawal application.
The State led by Concilia Ncube said that on May 22 at around 10PM, at a homestead in Nkayi, the girl was asleep in a hut with her aunt and seven other cousins of different ages.
“The cousin then entered the girl’s blankets and allegedly raped her once while she was asleep. Her aunt saw the boy coming out of the blankets and she questioned him about his mission and he didn’t respond satisfactorily,” said Ncube.
“When he had left the blankets, the aunt went to the girl and found her asleep. She then noticed some semen on her thighs and buttocks and woke her up immediately.”
The family reported the rape to the police the next day and the girl was taken for medical examination.
The teenager was arrested and the father withdrew the matter before the alleged rapist could plead.
Local gender activist Lindile Ndebele rubbished the withdrawal of the rape charges saying the application was a violation of the girl’s rights.
“I wonder what the girl’s mother is saying in all this and I doubt if ever she was given a chance to contribute to this whole withdrawal decision. We’re only seeing the girl’s father, a man who sought withdrawal on behalf of the girl,” said Ndebele.
She said the fact that the cousin was aged 18 means he is an adult who should be tried in a court of law when he commits a crime.
“Rape is a serious crime and no one should be allowed to withdraw cases against rapists even in cases involving relatives.
“They may want to convince themselves that the issue will be solved at the family level but what about the girl’s emotional and psychological wellbeing. She is only 12 and who knows what will become of her as a result of the sexual abuse?”
Zimbabwe Women’s Coalition director Virginia Muwanigwa said rape is a serious crime against women which must never be negotiated or addressed internally, whether in the family or society.
“Rape is a crime and it is not within the jurisdiction of a father, family or community to withdraw it from the courts.
“This man may pretend that he is safeguarding the interest of the girl by withdrawing but the fact stands that the girl has already been abused,” said Muwanigwa.
She said the State must intervene and ensure justice prevails. chronicle

The National Vendors Union of Zimbabwe (NAVUZ) has complained against the discrimination of vendors who do not display their allegiance to first Lady Grace Mugabe.
Vendors told ZimEye.com they are being abused because of their failure to show forth their support of the First Lady. CONTINUE READING- CLICK HERE….

Fresh from his Hurungwe legislature loss, Businessman and politician, Temba Mliswa saw his property at his Spring Farm in Karoi attached yesterday over a US$2,8 million debt he owes the CBZ.
The farm is said to be next in line for attachment after the property items were valued to be too small for the huge debt.
Mliswa fell into the abyss on Monday, the day the man will forever remember.
The properties attached yesterday include 108 herds of cattle, farm implements and equipment, household property from his farm house, lodge and restaurant.
The Karoi Deputy Sheriff, Mr Stuwart Magudze confirmed attaching the property this afternoon, saying it will be auctioned if Mliswa fails to settle the debt in 48 hours.
Mr Magudze quoted by the State Media said the value of the property however falls far short of meeting Mliswa’s obligation to the bank.
An order to attach to the property is said to have been granted by the High Court at the beginning of this year but the execution was however delayed to give room for a possible settlement plan.
Efforts to get hold of Mliswa on his mobile phone were fruitless.

The National Vendors Union Zimbabwe (NAVUZ) says ZANU (PF) has taken over the registration of vendors and is discriminating their members against registration process favouring those who support First Lady Grace Mugabe.
The Vendors union representative which has more than 3 000 members in Harare alone cited the Grace Mugabe linked vendors Union , Queen of Grace, 100 Percent Empowerment, as one of the organizations which have hijacked the registration process of vendors.
“The information that NAVUZ has received thus far in respect of the ongoing registration process is that only members belonging to space baron led organizations such as Grassroots Empowerment, Queen of Grace, 100 Percent Empowerment members are allowed to register and several of our members have been barred from registering,” NAVUZ told ZimEye.com on Monday.
Two weeks ago the Grace Mugabe linked vendors’ union forced vendors to congregate at the Main Post office in Harare where it was registering them while chanting ZANU (PF) slogans.
The so called vendors’ representative also sold members ship cards at the registration point.
NAVUZ said should government through the Local Government Ministry leave politicians hijacking the vending regularization process their members are not going to be part and parcel of the process.
“Our position has always been clear that vendors must not be removed from their current vending sites until the ongoing registration process is complete.
“This registration process must be done in an inclusive, fair, transparent and non-partisan manner or else NAVUZ will not endorse its credibility and advise its members accordingly”.

MUTARE-COULD THESE STONES BE PRECIOUS DIAMONDS? Some Zimbabweans claim they have found new diamond deposits following their search for the stones today (Monday 29th June): PICTURES:

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been humiliated by proving himself to be a mental retard, Zimbabweans have concluded.
Mnagagwa was dressed down by the MDC-T’s Nelson Chamisa when the VP in parliament tried to shoot down the latter on the grounds of age. But Chamisa told him if he wants to press on age issues, he would be directly insulting his boss the Head of State.
“In the televised debate we see Mnangagwa displaying himself as a complete fool-mental retard”, said analyst Lenson Jongwa. VIDEO:

Gwanda residents have raised their voice against the council following deadly fires which ravaged and destroyed the Power Sales Shop in the Central Business District. They are calling on Local Government Minister Ignatius to act before it is too late by absolving the council of the fire service responsibility.
FULL TEXT of the statement by the Gwanda Residents Association:.
Since the event of the fire that burnt down the Power Sales shop in the Central Business District in Gwanda on Wednesday, 24 June 2015 , we have been inundated with calls from various media houses and members of the public seeking to understand the position of the Residents Association on the matter.
As stated to other sectors already, as Gwanda Residents Association and indeed residents of Gwanda, we are all still disturbed and shocked by the extent to which the Power Sales shop was burnt down while our Municipal Fire Services team failed to deal with the fire.
While we share a lot of sympathy with the Management and Directors of Power Sales on the sad and huge loss, as Residents representatives we are not only worried about the extent of the damage experienced by Power Sales nor about the circumstances around how the fire started, we are also and more so worried about our Municipality’s preparedness and capabilities in dealing with emergencies of this nature.
What worries us more is that our council does not possess a good history of successfully dealing with fires of any magnitude which they have been called to attend to.
In recent years, property running into hundreds of thousands of dollars has been destroyed by fire in and around the town on several separate occasions and in all of them council has rushed to the scenes and failed to deal with the fires.
In the worst incident to date, a couple of years back about ten lives were gruesomely lost when a truck and a smaller vehicle had a head on collusion a few kilometres out of town and, as always, all our Emergency Services could do was to hopelessly stand by and watch while people and the vehicles burnt to ashes.
It is with these continuous disasters and failures by our council in mind that as residents of Gwanda then find ourselves living in fear with no guarantee that our lives and properties are safe in the hands of our council’s emergency services department.
We are wondering how many more lives and how much more property should be destroyed before we can all say “enough is enough” and bring this to an end.
Of major disappointment is that all these losses happen as our council continues declaring that it has acquired state of the art fire fighting equipment and that the staff has been provided with the best training available.
Residents have been shocked time and again to see our fire fighting teams arrive to the scene of a fire failing to operate the fire fighting equipment and/or showing a complete lack of skill and knowledge on how to fight the fire.
After the recent fire at Power Sales, as Residents representatives in the company of some key stakeholders from the town, we invited council to a round table to discuss our preparedness to these disasters with a hope that a collective strategy would be formulated therefrom but council was not prepared to have the dialogue and dismissed the invitation as being unwarranted.
Following this refusal for dialogue by our council, we have no alternative but to appeal to the Ministry of Local Government to immediately suspend Council from offering this service and set up a commission of enquiry into the operations and capabilities of our town’s emergency services department as we can no longer stand the risk of having more properties and lives destroyed by fire in Gwanda.
We expect the commission of enquiry to be able to give a full report on whether our council is indeed prepared and capable to handle these emergencies and if not come up with what really needs to be done to build this department to it’s expected standards.
While that is on going, our local Civil Protection Unit will need to take the matter as a crisis and engage the services of the Zimbabwe Republic Police to set up a fully fledged emergency services section within the police in the town. This section within the police will be expected to attend to these emergencies far much better than what has been the case with our Local Authority until such a time that the Council department is satisfactorily set up and functional.
Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo Information and Publicity Secretary Gwanda Residents Association.

Losing candidate for Hurungwe West Temba Mliswa has no potent legal case against winner Keith Guzah’s election, legal experts at the Veritas NGO say.
In the issue released at the weekend the experts state that the man does not have legal strength for a lawsuit against the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. Even on the issue of Guzah’s alleged criminal conviction, the law only says that a person is ineligible for parliament if he or she was booted from parliament in the past five years for an offence of which Guzah was nowhere near parliament during the period.
 

FULL TEXT:
Hurungwe West, Swearing-in of New MPs, New Vacancies

 
A controversy has arisen over whether ZANU-PF’s Keith Guzah, declared winner of the Hurungwe West by-election on 10th June, was validly nominated to stand for the constituency.
What Does the Constitution Say?
All the Constitution says about qualifications for a constituency candidate is that a person is qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly if “registered as a voter” and at least 21 years old. A candidate is ineligible if he is not qualified to be a voter at all, or was compelled to leave Parliament in the previous five years because of being convicted of a crime [section 125].
The Constitution does not say that a constituency candidate must be registered on the constituency voters roll. [If this had been intended it would have said so directly – in the same way as sections 274 and 275, which state that an urban or rural councillor must be a registered voter in the urban or rural area concerned.]
Nor does the Constitution say that Act of Parliament can add additional qualifications or disqualifications for a constituency candidate. Hence any provision in the Electoral Act that attempted to do so would be null and void for inconsistency with the Constitution.
 
What Does the Electoral Act Say?
As stated above the Electoral Act cannot validly add a qualification for a constituency candidate that is not in the Constitution. And in fact it does not say anything about whether a candidate for a constituency seat must be registered on the voters roll of the constituency for which he is standing. What the Act does say is that if a candidate [presumably wanting to show good will and getting more backing in a constituency that has asked him or her to stand as its candidate] wants to transfer his registration as a voter from another constituency to the one in which intends to stand, he or she may do so [Section 23(1) of the Act]. But there is nothing in the Electoral Act which compels a candidate to do so, and an inference cannot be drawn from this section that he or she has to do so.
The nomination form in the Ninth Schedule to the Electoral Act seems to be what has caused some confusion. There were two versions of the pro forma certificate to be signed by candidates in the form distributed by ZEC:
One says “The candidate is enrolled as a voter in the constituency”. The other says The candidate is enrolled as a voter in the …………………… constituency” – leaving a space for the name of any constituency to be filled in. With the dots, the form reflects the Constitution [i.e. the true legal position]. Without the dots the interpretation is ambiguous. This suggests that the dots were omitted when the Act was printed, but whatever the explanation the presence or absence of a few dots in a mere form is no basis for reading an additional qualification into the Electoral Act, particularly when, like this one, the form also contains other obvious drafting errors.
There has been a suggestion in the press that ZEC should rerun the election. ZEC has no power to do so. The losing candidate will have to seek his remedy through the courts. He has already done so.
16 New ZANU-PF Constituency MPs Sworn In
Following the ZANU-PF clean sweep in the sixteen by-elections 10th June, the new ZANU-PF constituency members of the National Assembly were sworn in on Tuesday 16th June. The names of the new members and their constituencies are:
Bulawayo Metropolitan Province-
Lobengula: Maideyi Mpala;
Luveve: Ntandoyenkosi Mlilo;
Makokoba: Tshinga Judge Dube;
Pelandaba /Mpopoma: Joseph Tshuma;
Pumula: Godfrey Malaba Ncube
Harare Metropolitan Province
Dzivaresekwa: Omega Sipani-Hungwe;
Glen View South: Pius Madzinga;
Harare East: Terence Mukupe;
Highfield West: Psychology Maziwiza;
Kambuzuma: Tinashe Maduza;
Kuwadzana: Betty Nhambu
Manicaland Province
Chikanga-Dangamvura: Isau Fungai Mupfumi;
Headlands: Christopher Peter Chingosho
Mashonaland West Province
Hurungwe West: Keith Never Guzah
Matabeleland North Province
Tsholotsho North: Jonathan Nathaniel Moyo
Midlands Province
Mbizo: Vongaishe Mupereri
Seven New MDC-T MPs Sworn In
On 16th June ZEC in General Notices 186 and 187 declared the MDC-T party-list replacements for the unseated MDC Renewal Parliamentarians. The MDC-T replacements were sworn in on Thursday 18th June:
Senators: Anna Chimanikire [[Harare Metropolitan Province]; David Anthony Chimhini [Manicaland]; Theresa Maonei Makone [[Harare Metropolitan Province]; Beki Sibanda [Matabeleland South].
National Assembly women party-list members: Susan Matsunga [Harare Metropolitan Province]; Nomvula Mguni [Bulawayo Metropolitan Province]; Machirairwa Mugidho [Masvingo Province].
Two More Vacancies Announced
On Wednesday 17th June the President of the Senate announced two new vacancies after receiving notification from ZANU-PF that the Mrs Olivia Muchena and Mr Dzikamai Mavhaire were no longer members of the party.
All 5 MPs expelled from ZANU-PF on 21st May have now had their seats declared vacant. [See Bill Watch 21/2015 of 15th June for the previous week’s announcement that three National Assembly seats were vacant because of the expulsion from ZANU-PF of Mr Bhasikiti, Mr Butau and Mr Kaukonde].
Mr Bhasakiti is contesting his expulsion in the High Court and won a constitutional court case delaying the holding of a by-election to fill his seat pending the result of his High Court application.
Update on Parliamentary Numbers as at 19th June
National Assembly
Occupied seats:
ZANU-PF…………………………………..
206
MDC-T……………………………………….
56
MDC………………………………………….
2
Total occupied seats:……………….
264
Vacancies:
ZANU-PF (1 party-list seat,
5 constituency seats)………………….
6
Total number of seats: ………………..
270
Senate
Occupied seats:
ZANU-PF…………………………………..
35
MDC-T……………………………………….
21
MDC………………………………………….
2
Chiefs ……………………………………….
18
Disabled representatives …………..
2
Total occupied seats:……………….
78
Vacancies:
ZANU-PF only……………………………
2
Total number of seats: ………………..
80

VIDEO:

A Zimbabwean pentecostal pastor based in South Africa has been caught on video in bed with a married woman.
The development comes after another Zim pastor based in the UK was axed from his job after going on a fling with another married Londoner.READ MORE-Top Pastor Caught ‘Having Sex’ with Married Woman, Stripped
The incident which happened at the woman’s marital home in Johannesburg, was filmed by the husband using installed CCTV cameras which transmitted live via a live internet line.
He watched the whole “bedroom horror” while away at work in Saudi Arabia.
The husband in the video narrates the whole incident in Shona. “Now they have finished bathing and she is preparing the bed which has a warm electric blanket…”
“Where are you, are you coming,” the preacher says.
Now that she has finished he dives into the bed before her. She then follows just before the drama starts. MORE TO FOLLOW…

Due to the humanitarian situation following the Itai Dzamara disappearance, a two member staff delegation from the United States Congress is in Zimbabwe on a three day visit until June 30th 2015.
The Staff Delegation is led by Gregory Simpkins is Staff Director for the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa, Health, Human Rights, and International Relations. Mr Simpkins will be accompanied by Piero Tozzi, Counsel in the House Subcommittee on Africa, Health, Human Right and International Relations. The two officials will meet representatives of government, business and civil society organizations to hear firsthand accounts about the situation in Zimbabwe in relation to human rights, democracy and governance.
Early this month, the U.S. Congress subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations conducted a hearing on Zimbabwe. During the hearing a wide range of issues including United States government policy on Zimbabwe and future relations between the two countries. Dr Shannon Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, gave a presentation during the hearing which is available online. Dr Smith and Steven Feldstein, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, visited Zimbabwe on May 12 on a similar fact-finding mission.
BIOS
Gregory Simpkins is Staff Director for the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights, where he manages subcommittee activities and advises the Chairman on policy issues, arranges Congressional hearings, drafts legislation and conducts oversight missions. He served in the same position from 1997-98 and from 2005-2006.
Mr. Simpkins has served in a variety of positions in civil society, allowing him to help shape or implement U.S. policy on Africa, including two versions of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and U.S. corporate support for the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. A journalist who has worked in national and local radio as a reporter, talk show host and producer since 1977, Mr. Simpkins has written for national and international magazines and newspapers, including the Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Times, Jane’s Terrorism and Security Monitor, the Nairobi (Kenya) Law Monthly and The Guardian (Nigeria). From 2009-2011, wrote the blog Africa Rising 2010.
Mr. Simpkins also has been an interview subject on Africa events by such media outlets as the Voice of America and the British Broadcasting System and has lectured on Africa issues before audiences at such institutions as the Carnegie Institute for International Peace, the Heritage Foundation, the U.S. Foreign Service Institute, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and the Emancipation Support Committee (Trinidad and Tobago).
Beginning in 1987, Mr. Simpkins has been involved in foreign advocacy projects. In recent years, he has designed and managed democratization, trade and capacity-building programs in Africa. He helped to establish the African Democracy Network, an organization of more than 200 African democrats from 31 nations in 1994; the AGOA Civil Society Network, a coalition of African NGOs concerned with the equitable implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and the U.S. Civil Society Coalition for African Trade and Investment, an alliance of U.S. civil society organizations working on U.S.-Africa trade.
He holds a B.A. in journalism from George Washington University and an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management.
============
Piero A. Tozzi is counsel to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations. He holds a JD from Fordham University School of Law and a BA from Columbia University.
Prior to joining the Subcommittee, Piero authored numerous articles on international law, constitutional law and comparative constitutional law, and his work has been cited by the United States Supreme Court. In addition, he has submitted friend of the court briefs to the Supreme Courts of Mexico and Argentina, as well as the Interamerican Court of Human Rights.
At the Subcommittee, Piero’s focus has been on oversight of US global health and food security programs, as well as monitoring human rights issues in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. He also is tasked with overview of international organizations, in particular the United Nations. Piero engages with civil society organizations and other stakeholders on a regular basis, and negotiates the advancement of legislation within the Foreign Affairs Committee, other House Committees with overlapping jurisdiction and with the Senate, in particular the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Piero speaks Mandarin Chinese and Spanish, and lives with his wife and three children in northern Virginia.

Information minister and government spokesperson Jonathan Moyo could be sued for his endless string of insults on social media platforms, analysts have said.
Ever since Moyo joined micro blobbing site Twitter early this year, some of his conversations with followers have degenerated into serious verbal exchanges with the acerbic minister at times using uncouth language to denigrate the views of his followers, and at times using such words like “idiot”.
Moyo has justified the use of the hate language saying if provoked, he would retaliate.
Media expert and lawyer Chris Mhike said national leaders, particularly politicians and government officials were expected to be dignified and measured in their conduct and speech.
“Some of that insult language is certainly not ministerial,” Mhike said.
“As Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services (assuming that he still holds that portfolio), Prof. Moyo would also do well to lead by example through respecting the ethics of mass communication and therefore refraining from venomous language.”
Mhike said Moyo could easily be sued by aggrieved persons or institutions under civil law; or proceedings could be instituted against him in terms of criminal law and procedure, and that could be embarrassing for him.
“While he commendably objects to the existence of criminal defamation in Zimbabwe, that law is still officially valid, according to the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe and in terms of the Criminal Law [Codification and Reform] Act. The recent conviction of Tatenda Machingauta who had insulted Hon. Joseph Chinotimba on Whatsapp is a clear example of the applicability of criminal law to those who use offensive language on social media platforms,” Mhike said.
Moyo, who amassed close to 16 000 followers since he joined twitter in February, was in recent weeks involved in a verbal showdown with former South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni whom he described as an “Uncle Tom, irrational, foolish and a charlatan”. That was after Mboweni tweeted that he was annoyed by Moyo’s rants on twitter at a time Zimbabweans were suffering.
Media lecturer, Alexander Rusero said Moyo’s outbursts on social media was uncalled for since he was a government minister and spokesperson. He said Moyo ran the risk of having his personal views being mistaken for government views.
“There will be some implications of being a government spokesperson. Moyo is someone who is free to express himself but at times becomes excited and overwhelmed and forgets his government role,” Rusero said.
“I am not sure how bad the language is but sometimes it can be construed to represent government position. Moyo should know better. I don’t think he is intelligent, he is just a learned professor.”
Political analyst Pedzisai Ruhanya said Moyo should exercise restraint on social media platforms as a government spokesperson.
“Moyo should understand that he is far from being a private citizen and some people might just be there to provoke him into such rants that could be damaging to the government,” Ruhanya said. – The Standard

SIXTEEN pupils from Milton High, Townsend Girls’ High, Pace College and Girls’ College, were arrested on Friday after they were caught drinking and abusing dangerous drugs at Centenary Park in Bulawayo.
The pupils, all clad in school uniforms, were arrested and taken to Bulawayo Central Police station facing public drinking charges. They were arrested around 5PM when police raided the Centenary Park after receiving an anonymous tip-off.
The pupils, whose names cannot be published as they are minors, are also believed to have been engaging in sexual activities as there were used condoms nearby.
A source said the pupils were raided by police details from the dogs section. The police, the source said, found the pupils with bottles of whisky, dagga and a widely abused cough syrup with a high alcohol content, Broncleer, popularly known as Bronco.
They said the group made up of eight boys and eight girls admitted to drinking, taking dangerous drugs and engaging in sexual activities.
“They were all drunk when they were arrested. They said the park was their new base where they would freely drink and enjoy themselves,” said the source.
The pupils were released after their parents, guardians and school authorities were called in.
They painted a dejected picture tinted with shame as they sat on the floor at the police station with exhibits in front of them.
Bulawayo province police spokesperson, Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo, confirmed the arrests.
“I can confirm that a group of boys and girls were rounded up by police on Friday but they were dealt with accordingly. They’ve since been released and the matter is being handled by their parents and school authorities. As the police we’re still investigating and tracing suppliers of the dangerous substances they were found in possession of,” said Inspector Moyo.
He urged parents to always monitor their children in terms of behaviour and whereabouts after school and on weekends.
“These days the pupils are engaging in Vuzu parties and they are now doing them during school days. As such we’re encouraging parents and guardians to monitor them particularly when they say they are going to weekend parties as they use the opportunity to indulge in unsafe sex,” he said.
Insp Moyo said police have joined forces with the National Aids Council and Childline Zimbabwe to do campaigns in schools against alcohol abuse and unsafe sex.
“We have joined hands with NAC and Childline Zimbabwe in holding awareness campaigns in schools to highlight the dangers of drug abuse and engaging in unsafe sex in greater Bulawayo.
“We have been doing these campaigns for about a month now,” said Insp Moyo.
Teenage binge-drinking in Bulawayo has reached alarming levels amid concerns of moral decay in the city.
Over the past few months, there has been a plethora of house parties hosted by youths, who in most cases are as young as 13 years in the affluent suburbs of Bulawayo.
The teens organise house parties on the social networking platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber and Mxit.
It remains a mystery where the teenagers, most of whom are still in school, get the money to host the parties and buy the alcohol and drugs. Equally baffling is whether the children have the blessings of their parents and guardians when they host the wild parties.

Police yesterday said investigations on former Zanu-PF Mashonaland West provincial chairman Temba Mliswa for possessing suspected stolen farming equipment at one of his warehouses in Harare, were still continuing.
Police sources said Mliswa would soon be questioned once investigations have been completed. “The equipment is still under police guard as investigations on the case continue. He will be questioned soon,” said a police source.
It is believed that the equipment was part of equipment that was distributed under the Government’s Farm Mechanisation Programme, a few years ago. Police were recently deployed to the warehouse, which is along Simon Mazorodze Road, to guard the equipment.
Police and officials from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe also visited the premises and they will soon question Mr Mliswa in connection with the case. Last week chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed the developments.
“Yes, there is equipment under police guard belonging to Mliswa. We are carrying out investigations,” she said without divulging any other details for fearing to jeopardise the investigations.
In February, the embattled former Hurungwe legislator was arrested for illegally possessing seven AK47 assault rifles, with the police still to establish the intention for which he held the guns.
Mliswa was picked up by detectives from the CID Law and Order Section at his Spring Farm in Karoi where the guns were discovered.
According to sources, Mliswa was allegedly found in possession of the seven unlicensed AK47 rifles which were stashed at his farm. This was not the first time that Mliswa has had a brush with the law, although he was acquitted on several occasions.
In 2010, his lawyers sensationally revealed that he was facing up to 78 charges in Zimbabwe’s court system.
This was after he was arrested in the same year on allegations of extorting $1 600 from relatives of his two employees and the theft of 56 cattle in Karoi. In the same year, Mliswa along with Martin Mutasa and George Marere spent weeks in prison after being arrested on charges of fraud involving $1,05 million.
The three were alleged to have defrauded a Harare man, Paul Westwood, of his 50 percent shares in Noshio Motors, a car dealer jointly owned by Westwood and Hammarskjöld Banda and his wife.
After release on bail, Mliswa was re-arrested and charged for crimes dating back to 2002, which included cases of assault and common assault, theft, public violence, contempt of court, extortion, malicious damage to property, Shop Licences Act violation, Firearms Act violation and housebreaking.
Mliswa and his co-accused were acquitted of the Noshio case in June 2011.

A MAN, who pounced on four women, who were fetching firewood, masquerading as a Zimbabwe Parks and Wild Life Management Authority (Zimparks) official and attempted to rape them has been jailed for three years.
Chamunorwa Nyangore (30), from Machipisa village in Gambuzi, was convicted and sentenced on four counts of attempted rape by magistrate Ngoni Nduna last week.
The court initially sentenced him to five years, but suspended two years on condition of good behaviour.
Prosecutor Hazel Kondo told the court that Nyangore met the women, who were fetching firewood at Highlands Farm, on December 24 last year.
He identified himself as a Zimparks employee and told them that they were all under arrest for poaching.
The court heard that Nyangore force-marched the women up a hill where he later demanded $80 from them.
After they indicated that they did not have the money, Nyangore ordered them to undress and lie on the ground as he prepared to rape them.
However, the women got up and fled in different directions.
The women reported the matter to the police, leading to Nyangore’s arrest.-Newsday

A TOTAL of 368 police officers were last year dismissed from the Zimbabwe Republic Police for various acts of misconduct, Home Affairs Deputy Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has said.
Responding to a question in Parliament last week, Deputy Minister Ziyambi said the officers had been discharged in accordance with the Police Act.
“In 2014, the police force recorded 156 deaths among its members, 467 resignations and 368 were discharged for misconduct.
“A member can be discharged for misconduct, after conviction of a criminal offence, if he or she is unfit for duty by failing to adhere to the police code of ethics and it’s recommended that he or she be discharged as unsuitable.
“Some members were discharged for desertion, where a member is discharged after absenting himself or herself for a continuous period of 21 days or more. A board of inquiry then declares that he or she is a deserter,” Deputy Minister Ziyambi told Parliament.
The highest number was recorded in 2013, when a total of 448 police officers were discharged from the police force compared to 345 in 2012.
Deputy Minister Ziyambi also revealed that about seventy-five percent of police officers in the country had no official accommodation. He said thousands of police officers are in need of decent accommodation.
Deputy Minister Ziyambi said his ministry was negotiating with local authorities for residential stands for members of the police force. The deputy minister said police have housing committees in all provinces that are responsible for addressing the accommodation issue.
He said police officers who reside outside police camps are entitled to a living-out allowance as a condition of service.
“Three quarters of police officers don’t have official accommodation. In other words, about 75 percent of our officers need accommodation and the ministry has put in place plans to provide decent accommodation for police officers,” he said.
The deputy minister said construction of houses for police officers had already begun in some parts of the country.
“The building of additional housing units in already existing police camps is underway as exemplified by building of flats at Tomlinson Depot, housing units at ZRP Glen Norah, housing units at ZRP Msasa in Mashonaland East Province, housing units at ZRP Dotito in Mashonaland Central and housing units at ZRP Nehanda in Midlands Province. These are the projects that we’re undertaking,” he said.

Harare-News|Debate over Mapostori use of open spaces
Various apostolic sects have taken over many of the city’s open spaces in contravention of the City of Harare’s (CoH) by-laws. Harare News toured a number of spots where these sects conduct their business to check if they meet the standards set by council. Most of the places fall short of the required standards as they do not provide water or proper ablution facilities.

A senior member of the Johane Masowe eChishanu sect, who only identified himself as Madzibaba Enock, defended the Mapositori tradition of worshipping in open spaces. “God told us to worship in the wilderness (Masowe) and so we don’t construct buildings to pray in,” he said, adding that his own sect has complied with the local authority requirements. “For us, the place we use for worshipping meets the standards set because there are toilets and water provided,” said Madzibaba Enock, who worships at the open space near the Delta Beverages manufacturing plant along Seke Road. The venue, known by many as PaCoke Cola, is serviced by toilets and tap water that were supplied by council for commuters at the nearby bus terminus. The worshipers took advantage of this and established their base there. “When you see churches that don’t meet the required standards then they are illegal,” he added.
Madzibaba Hebron is an elder in the nguwo Tsvuku sect which conducts their services at an open space between Rufaro Stadium and Mupedzanhamo clothes market in Mbare. He said that there are more than 30 sects who worship there. He said, “We don’t spend a lot of time here, so we don’t see that it is necessary to pay the council for any services.” At this spot there are no ablution facilities and no provision of water.
Mudzidzi Miriam of Warren Park agreed with Madzibaba Hebron that most of these sects are conducting their business in contravention of council by-laws. “We do not commit ourselves to a permanent spot because most of us are nomadic, save for very huge gatherings,” she said. She added that most Apostolic sects do not carry food to church so they don’t litter the environment and that they rarely cut down trees as they provide shelter and shade. She also claimed that because of political connections most sects cannot be prosecuted by council for not working in line with its by-laws. “Having members who are politicians in one way or another is common among the Apostolic sects and when need be, they protect us,” she said.
Meanwhile Michael Chideme, City of Harare Principal Communication Officer, said that these churches should consult with council before they occupy any open space for their activities. “They should apply and follow our standards which require them to make sure that there are proper sanitary facilities, such as the provision of water and toilets, put in place,” he said. Chideme was not forthcoming on what the Council’s position is on those who do not meet the standards, as well as the price charged for leasing or buying such land. He requested Harare News to email questions to him but he has not yet responded to them.
Some of the apostolic sects that do not worship in buildings include Johane Masowe Jerusalem, nguwo Tsvuku, Johane Marange, Johane Masowe Sabata, Zviratidzo zvevapositori, Vadzidzi, and Zion Yetambo.
These sects convene mass yearly gathering (misangano yegore). Mapostori gatherings have in some instances attracted people from around the country and neighbouring countries, posing the danger of spreading communicable diseases, such as cholera and typhoid, owing to the lack of proper sanitary services.

The State yesterday withdrew charges against Romeo Tanyaradzwa Musemburi, a University of Zimbabwe student, charged with attempting to commit an act of insurgency, banditry and sabotage.
The charges arose after he posted an article through a baba Jukwa e-mail account.
Prosecutor Idah Maromo did not delve into the reasons behind the withdrawal.
Musemburi’s lawyer Tonderai Bhatasara applauded the State’s move.
“The withdrawal of the charges against my client was long overdue and vindicates his protestations regarding his innocence,” he said.
“It was clear from the beginning that no offence had been committed and the arrest, charging and detention was a mere fishing expedition.”
Musemburi, 20, of 113 Shortstone Waterfalls in Harare, is a third-year student currently studying towards an honours degree in Economics.
He was appearing before Harare magistrate Douglas Chikwekwe.
Maromo alleged that on August 3 last year, Musemburi used his gmail account [email protected], to write and post an article to [email protected].
The e-mail read, “We want pfuti (guns) give us and we will hit the streets and fight for democracy.”
It was the State’s case that Musemburi’s article was meant to commit an act of insurgency, banditry, sabotage, terrorism with a view to overthrow the government through unconstitutional means.-DailyNews

MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Saturday tagged Joyce Mujuru and PDZ party leader Barbara Nyagomo into his MDC party.
ZimEye.com can reveal members of the various political formations were pulled into the MDC State of The Nation Address special function on Saturday.
Correspondence letters seen by this reporter read Mr.Tsvangirai inviting the parties into the MDC.
During the Saturday function Tsvangirai gave clarity to his vision for Zimbabwe’s political future as he indicated a possible coalition with Joyce Mujuru, Nyagomo’s PDZ, and other formations.
Said Tsvangirai, “I want to tell Zimbabweans today, that our convergence on non-participation must mean that there are exciting political prospects on the horizon.
“I as Morgan Tsvangirai, and the party I lead are prepared to work with Zimbabweans of all shades and political colours to bring back the country to sanity.
“I see the true grand coalition not as the unity of individuals or leaders of political parties, but as a unity of Zimbabweans who possess shared values and convergence on the patriotic goal to take our country forward.
“Today, I promise Zimbabweans that we are on the brink of an exciting political moment and they will be see us as political leaders converging on those issues that matter most to us all Zimbabweans.
“It is on this score that I can tell you here that on the 11th of July in Harare, I will be joining other Zimbabweans from various political backgrounds at a prayer meeting for Itai Dzamara that is being organized by the church.
“In the previous elections, the people of Zimbabwe have won the election but lost the results and we pledge in our diversity to continue to insist on the implementation of both the Constitution and the reforms agreed under the auspices of SADC and the African Union.” READ MORE – 
Barbara Nyagomo could not attend the function in person being represented by party officers as she is in the UK, and Mujuru was also present via a proxy, sources said.

President Mugabe has promised that the party will not stand by and watch while some people use the name of the party to commit crime and tarnish Zanu PF. He bemoaned that some leaders are using  Zanu PF to further personal interests by engaging in corrupt activities.
The President said this yesterday when he was addressing Zanu PF’s Youth League National Assembly at the party’s headquaters .
“There are some amongst us who are corrupt. Corruption is not just in Zimbabwe, but in Africa. Everywhere, there is corruption, corruption, corruption . With less business opportunities in the country there is a far better room for corruption, there is far better room for crime.
We have quite a number of bank scams. Those in the banking sector (have been) helping themselves to the deposits of the clients. Sometimes they do it in the hope that as time goes on they will repay, but alas that is usually not the case and they fail to return the deposits they would have shared amongst themselves and the bank becomes illiquid.
We have subscriptions, they are meant to come to the party and not to be shared amongst some people, no. The positions you have been given are because of the confidence of the people. You have not been given (the positions) to abuse them, to benefit yourself.
Don’t go and say there is a fund that has been created by (Vice-President Emmerson) Mnangagwa and everyone should contribute US$5 apa Mnangagwa haana kumbodaro; to (go to people and) say the President and First Lady vati vanoda mari. You spoil your name and in the process spoil the name of the party.
The thuggery you have been doing, you have not been sent by anyone. Some leaders claim the President has said this piece of land should be given to so and so. We know what is happening, no, no, no.”  the President said
President Mugabe also talked  about the arrest of  the suspended  Zanu PF Harare Provincial Youth Leader chair person  Godwin Gomwe to the youth leaders.
He described how Mr Gomwe and his accomplices allegedly abused the First Lady’s name to steal from home-seekers and other people  US$46 000.
“We want you to be good leaders, honest leaders. Idya cheziya. Don’t take advantage of the people. Don’t use the names of the leaders to cheat the people and rob them of their property.
Izvi ndizvo zvatanzi tiite naPresident; tiite naVice-President; tiite naMinister’ – zvese zviri zvenhema. Mumwe wenyu ndizvo zvakamusungisa. We wish him well. Apfidza. But you don’t improve yourself by hanging yourself.
You don’t go to Heaven by hanging. Don’t spill your own blood. Ivo VaDhara vekumusoro uko vakati tivepo, iwe woti haudi kuti uvepo; unoti kudiiko kana Vakubvunza? It is also cowardice in that situation. Ehe, punishment will come your way, but you don’t resolve it that way.’’ he said.
The president also expressed sorrow on farms that are underutilized and noted that some of the farmers were just holding on these properties for prestigious purposes, as he was responding to the youth’s request for land.
Young people were urged  to diversify economic interests, adding that Zanu PF was working with different countries to ensure broad empowerment.
“We give land not for prestigious purposes, but for economic purposes,”  said the President.
During  his  address, the President pointed that for Zimbabwe to develop it needs  Zanu-PF leaders who are responsible ambitious and disciplined.
He noted that it was imperative to have morally empowered youths for an economically empowered society.
President Mugabe said discipline would help party members understand the importance of subjecting themselves to Zanu-PF’s ideologically structured rules.
“We always believe the party is more important than an individual. I am what the people have made me. No one should say he is greater than the party. We have our effectiveness and experiences and their worth to us is when we join the masses of Zanu PF,” he said.
Youths were challenged to empower themselves through skills development so as to create jobs rather than waiting to be employed.
He said youths were  tomorrow’s leaders and should defend Zimbabwe from any threats to its peace.
“You have the right to fight for your country. You don’t give up. Even if someone has come with money, don’t sacrifice principle on the altar of opportunities. You say get away with your money, my land comes first, I am fighting for my land. That is the principle.
“You should get a national consciousness, an awareness of the evils of imperialism, distinction between right and wrong, you stand by what is right.” said the President
On the civic duty of voting, President Mugabe said party members should be educated on the importance of all electoral processes.
The President said Zanu PF wanted to see clear structures in all provinces and the issue of restructuring should be practical
He appealed to young people to work towards successful implementation of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation.
“Roll your sleeves and work towards the implementation of Zim-Asset. Develop the economy for Zimbabwe,” the President said.
At the same meeting, Zanu PF Youth League national chairperson Pupurai Togarepi said corruption in the party and Government had reached worrying levels.
“As the Youth League we will deal with those from our wing decisively as we complement the effort to rid our society of this unacceptable (corruption) scourge,” he said.
The meeting was meant to strategize implementation of various youth programmes.
Also in attended were VP Mnangagwa, party secretary for Administration Mr Ignatius Chombo and National Political Commissar Mr Saviour Kasukuwere. – State Media

COULD this be the man responsible for Itai Dzamara’s abduction?  – The ZRP cop tried to attack and cause grievous bodily harm on Harare West MP Jessie Majome, on Wednesday at the same spot where abducted Itai Dzamara was once brutalised earlier in the year.

The cop, (name supplied) violently encroached into Majome’s private space as she marched into parliament house for work. He threatened to assault before creeping away in shame into the back of a lorry.
“This police officer of the black boots section just threatened to beat me up with his fellow anti riot troops for taking his photograph outside Parliament of Zimbabwe encamped there and blocking my way,” said Majome.

She continued detailing, “so much for MP, let alone public access to Parliament in terms of section 141 of the Constitution.
He proceeded to verbally abuse me in a sexist manner and which I consider to be sexual harassment by saying it’s my husband that I should photograph and not him. My foot!
“I made it clear to him that I have a constitutional right to photograph especially public officers on duty paid my tax dollars, especially those blocking my way to sit in Parliament. He seemed to be unsettled a bit when he realized I’m an MP. He refused to identify himself and had no force (now service as the Police is now a service in terms of the Constitution) number as is now the norm.
“The police is unlawfully and unconstitutionally barricading teeming street vendors from demonstrating outside Parliament.
“This reminded me that I’m supposed to be afraid of taking photographs of all the king’s horses and all the king’s men. I’m not! I’m also reminded of a young lady who asked me in whispered incredulity when I snapped the child soldiers outside Parliament last week, if I was actually allowed to do that, to my own incredulity. What a terror-stricken nation!”
I intend to file a complaint against my insulter.

Moyo Out, Mphoko Next

Reports have emerged from inside sources that President Robert Mugabe has sealed the door on Information Minister Jonathan Moyo meaning the spin doctor will not be returning to the powerful information portfolio.
Sources quoted by a weekly suggested that Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko is next to be axed after Moyo following Mugabe’s wife Grace advising that spokesman Simon Khaya Moyo is more suitable. The find shows that Grace is somewhat in agreement and has also added opinion weight on Moyo’s exit.
Impeccable sources told ZimEye.com of the reason why Moyo was axed in that he made security personnel shiver in worry through his mass exposures in the State Media powerhoue.
“He made several people uncomfortable and really became more feared than general Chiwenga,” they said.
After Moyo’s ouster from government early last week, Mugabe is now in a fix over how to deal with his two deputies Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko who have allegedly struggled to get along, the Standard reports.
Sources said that Mugabe was exceedingly worried that his deputies hold ideologically and strategically divergent views and have failed to find each other since their appointment to the powerful posts. Their relatonship threatens the stability of the Zanu PF party battling to contain factional fissures.
Mnangagwa and Mphoko were appointed after the party’s controversial December congress which booted out several
leaders accused of trying to topple Mugabe.
The revelations come after Mugabe last week sacked Information minister Jonathan Moyo from Cabinet reportedly on a technicality after Moyo, whose appointment was based on his “special skills” became an MP after winning the Tsholotsho seat in a June 10 by-election.
Zanu PF and government officials at Munhumutapa government building said Mugabe’s snap decision to sack Moyo from Cabinet without even the knowledge of his two deputies has set the tone for a high magnitude reshuffle. The reshuffle would not only affect ministers linked to former Vice President Joice Mujuru who was fired from both government and Zanu Pf on allegations of plotting against the 91-year old leader.
Mugabe had hoped the exit of Mujuru and her allies would put to rest the issue of factionalism, but is worried some new centres of power in the form of the Generation 40 has emerged to square up with the Mnangagwa faction.
Moyo and party political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere were reportedly behind the G40 and have enjoyed the support of Mphoko, signalling the rift with his co-VP.
Mphoko last month clashed with Mnangagwa’s loyalists who included Psychomotor minister Josiah Hungwe for calling him Second VP, claiming he was on an equal footing with Mnangagwa.
Moyo recently told the BBC Hardtalk programme that Mnangagwa‘s appointment to the post of VP did not mean he was Mugabe’s heir apparent, claiming the succession race was still a wide open contest.
Barely six months after Mugabe appointed his two deputies, Mugabe is reportedly having serious headaches after gathering intelligence the two were operating at cross purpose and also that several of his ministers have been sucked into antagonism between the two, threatening the stability of his party.
“The President is set to make sweeping changes in his Cabinet that would possibly affect one of his deputies,” a source close to the developments said.
“The President is very worried. He is not happy over continued infighting in his party. He has intelligence that some of his most trusted lieutenants were involved in factional fights and is in a dilemma on how to deal with them after firing all those supposedly linked to Mujuru for the same offence.”
The source added. “He has headaches over his VPs who seem not to going along. They are ideologically and tactfully divergent. When he appointed Mnangagwa, he hoped his appeal to the Shona and Ndebele tribes would help resolve tribal conflicts and unite the party, but this did not happen. On Mphoko, his wife, Grace has begun to show reservations on his capabilities and has openly told her husband that Simon Khaya-Moyo would have made a better VP than him.”
Although presidential spokesperson Gorge Charamba was not picking calls yesterday, The Standard is reliably informed Mugabe would make sweeping changes to his Cabinet anytime soon and the tone had already been set by the sacking of Moyo from last Wednesday’s Cabinet.
Mugabe is also reportedly unhappy with Moyo who is accused of using the public media to allegedly feign factionalism in the party and the move to sack him could be followed by his reassignment to a different portfolio.
“The President is also worried that some of his ministers, including his deputies, were being implicated in abuse of office by extorting from potential investors extortion and he would want to crack the whip,” said another source.
The source cited Kamativi tin mine as an example. He said despite the minister of mines Walter Chidhakwa breaking a deal with Chinese investors, some of the ministers (names supplied) held parallel negotiating contracts with the Arabs and British for the same project.
This had forced Mugabe at one time to meet Chidhakwa in private to understand what was happening. Chidhakwa was not reachable for a comment yesterday.
“Supporters of one of the ministers have already been heard bragging that Chidhakwa would lose his job as soon as soon as Mugabe goes. They want every deal to be negotiated through his office. Already, the camp is extorting money from business communities to build a war chest against Mujuru in the event that Mugabe goes,” the source said.
“Mugabe is in a fix on how to deal with the spiralling of corruption and would surely make changes to his Cabinet possibly, starting from the top.”

Harare News| The expansion of Msasa Park has provided a ready market for stone crushers at the expense of the environment and human health.

Shingirai Vhundura, a builder, decided to augment his sporadic earnings by venturing into stone crushing. He works at a spot between Msasa Park and Zimphos where granite rocks are plentiful. His day begins at 8 o’clock, collecting rocks using a wheelbarrow and he then starts breaking these into smaller pieces using a four pound hammer. The job is repetitive and physically demanding. Vhundura said that he, together with other stone crushers, have resorted to digging up rocks as there are few loose rocks on the surface. They have devised a plan to weaken the rocks. “We burn old car tyres on the rocks and due to the great heat followed by the cool night temperatures the rocks start to crack. We sell a wheelbarrow-full for $2.” Vhundura says 5 cubic metres (60 wheel barrows) sells for US$120, adding that when a buyer wants that quantity they pool their resources and sell collectively.
Edmore Murwira, another stone crusher who works with his wife and children, said he was forced to rope in his family to up his daily production. “The children go around pick-ing up stones while my husband and I do the crushing,” said Mrs Murwira, Edmore’s wife. She complained about the transporters who act as middlemen, saying, “When buyers approach these truck owners wanting to buy quarry stones they are told that 5 cubic metres costs $200 and the transporter pockets the difference. On top of that, transportation cost of between $20–$50 per load is charged,” she lamented.
Murwira said their market base has been boosted by the construction taking place at the nearby Msasa Park suburb, which is rapidly expanding. According to him, the stones are used for making slabs, lintels, concrete, and for other building related uses.
City of Harare spokesperson Michael Chideme, when asked about the issue referred Harare News to the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) for comment. “That is more of an environmental issue, please contact EMA,” he said.
According to Steady Kangata, EMA spokesperson, manual stone crushing is now a growing phenomenon that can impact the environment. “This is new, it wasn’t there all along. Previously mechanical stone crushing was done after an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) had been carried out. We are working on this new scenario because mostly these people work on land not ear marked for development and at times they burn tyres that pollute the environment,” he said. He added that people also open pits to access the rocks and that this causes erosion and pools that are dangerous to human and animals.
Rock crushing produces quarry dust which is harmful when inhaled. Most hard rocks contain silica which can cause fatal respiratory hazards like lung cancer, bronchitis, and silicosis. These people are working without masks and the tyres they burn produce fumes that are dangerous.

Cancer which last year struck First Lady Grace Mugabe and her husband Robert, has caused mayhem countrywide killing a record 138,000 people in 2014 alone, statistics read.
The Non-communicable disease has overtaken HIV and Aids as the leading killer in Zimbabwe, the State Media reports.
The latest World Health Organisation statistics show that the number of HIV-related deaths in 2014 (63 853) and 2013 (61 476) do not match NCD figures – even when combined.
This has spurred health authorities into action, with their focus being prevention and early treatment.
The WHO Zimbabwe Report 2014 shows that NCDs accounted for 31 percent of all deaths in that year. The remaining deaths were caused by infectious diseases; maternal, peri-natal and nutritional conditions; and physical injuries.
NCDs are diseases which cannot be transmitted from person to person. The major ones are cardio-vascular and chronic lung diseases, cancers and diabetes.
Cancers topped the list with 10 percent of deaths followed by cardio-vascular diseases (nine percent), chronic lung diseases (three percent), and diabetes (one percent).
In 2008, WHO projected Zimbabwe to register 19 000 NCD deaths yearly, far less than what has materialised.
Countries with larger populations recorded more NCD deaths in 2014. The United States had 2,6 million; Nigeria had two million, South Africa had 608 000, France had 554 000 and Kenya recorded 369 000.
Dr Owen Mugurungi – the Health and Child Care Ministry’s preventive services acting principal director – linked high incidence of NCDs to diet.
“Traditionally, NCDs have been overshadowed by world attention on HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis. However, there is now need for a policy shift in Zimbabwe. These are no longer diseases of the wealthy. Anyone can succumb as they are lifestyle-related.
“NCDs may not ravage a society as quickly and visibly as uncontrolled infection, but their death toll is real and increasing. Most of them are preventable to a degree. By becoming informed, making conscious diet and exercise decisions and being proactive about their health, individuals can do a lot to prevent them.
“Avoid things that will raise risk factors … things like smoking actively or passively, drinking alcohol in excess and many others.” Dr Mugurungi said inadequate funding was impeding the ministry’s fight against NCDs.
“If the ministry got more funds then such funds would be adequately channelled to each health programme. Zimbabwe has been struggling to meet the Abuja Declaration target. Hopefully, we will get there.
“Dissemination health information is essential, but domestic health financing must be improved to address new challenges such as the rising levels of NCDs.”
Global NCD incidence has escalated over the years and this has been linked to poor dietary and general lifestyle habits.
NCDs kill 38 million people annually with statistics showing they are responsible for almost two-thirds (23 million) of all deaths in the developing world yearly.
In 2011, the United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs resolved to activate global mechanisms, including the Global Action Plan for Prevention and Control of NCDs (2013-2020).
This plan aims to reduce the number of premature deaths caused by this group of diseases by 25 percent by 2015.
In 2013, Zimbabwe’s Parliament advocated a cancer levy, but Treasury shot down the proposal arguing that this would further burden tax-payers.
Government is working towards meeting targets in the Abuja Declaration, which African Union states signed in Nigeria in 2001, pledging to raise health funding to at least 15 percent.
Zimbabwe’s funding is between eight and 10 percent.
Mr Itai Rusike, executive director of the Community Working Group on Health, said the need to increase NCD funding could not be overemphasised. The cost of treatment of most NCDs is beyond the reach of many Zimbabweans.
The costs of cancer treatments vary according to the type of and stage. The costs include examination, diagnosis, lumpectomy, surgery and chemotherapy/radiotherapy, which run into thousands of dollars with no subsidies to alleviate the financial burden.
Figures we obtained show that a radiotherapy session costs between US$3 000 and US$4 000, while chemotherapy costs between US$100 and US$1 000 per cycle depending on the stage the cancer would have advanced to.
In India, where many Zimbabweans seek such medical care, radiotherapy costs about US$1 900 and chemotherapy is an average US$900 per cycle.
Cancer Association of Zimbabwe monitoring and evaluation officer Mr Lovemore Makurirofa urged people to be more health conscious.
“Early detection greatly reduces the cost of treatment … Sadly, the opposite is true. When a cancer is detected late, then it becomes expensive to the patient and chances of cure are almost nil,” he said.

TEN boys from Western Commonage Police Camp aged between six and nine years were allegedly sodomised by a 12-year-old boy who stays in the same compound and his friends whose identities are unknown.
Three of the abused boys reportedly spent three days indoors as they could not walk after sustaining serious injuries.
The incident which occurred on Sunday, 14 June has been kept under tight wraps as the parents of the child who is accused of being the ring leader in the sodomy case are reportedly threatening the victim’s parents from reporting the matter.
The victims who are doing their primary education in various schools in the western suburbs were taken for medical examination at Mpilo Hospital where doctors found that three of the 10 children were seriously injured.
A parent whose child was seriously injured said the family had decided not to pursue the matter because “there are some serious threats which the victim’s families are receiving”.
A medical record which the family provided to Sunday News reads: “Child is definitely penetrated anally with the evidence of reflex anal dilatation and anal tissue.”
For the sake of her child, the parent said the matter should be dealt with so that there can be “peace at the camp and victims can have a peace of mind”.
“I only discovered that there was something wrong with my child when he came home limping. When I queried, he lied and said he got injured while he was playing. But I later realised that there was something wrong because his face was sour and after persisting, he then told me that he was sodomised,” the victim’s mother said.
“Unfortunately, from the whole crew which was sodomised, mine is among the three that were seriously injured. As the family we have already decided to let the issue go because the boy’s mother, whom our children are saying sodomised them, is threatening us that something bad can happen if we mention his child’s name. With that, we are no longer interested in the matter but our children need protection so that they can too grow up and have a peace of mind.”
Another parent whose child was seriously injured after being sodomised said she was shocked that children could abuse their juniors.
“Well my brother, the matter truly happened and I am still shocked on how a boy of that age can do such an act? My son is now taking some tablets which were prescribed by the doctor and I hope that he will remain at his level best. School authorities are not aware of that issue because sometimes telling them might result in the matter leaking and affecting their mental well-being,” she said.
Another victim’s parent confirmed the incident, saying her child vividly remembered what happened despite the doctor indicating that there was no penetration in the medical report.
“The child is among the children who were abused. When we ask him what happened, he tells us everything but when he went for medical examination the doctor said there was no penetration. He was also taken for counselling so that he cannot be affected by what happened,” she said.
Another parent whose six-year-old child claims to have been sodomised but whose medical report states that there was no damage or evidence of penetration, said he was having sleepless nights because his son’s behaviour had changed. He said he feared that the situation might get worse as his son continued to meet the perpetrator on a daily basis.
“The boy (name withheld) is the ring leader. He has his friends who stay outside the camp whom he brought and sodomised our kids. I am not settled because this matter is going to severely mentally affect my child. What is so disturbing is that the police seem not to be taking harsh measures to take the matter to court. How our children cannot get affected by this bad incident when on a daily basis they are seeing the person who sodomised them? My child told me that (name supplied) was the one who was sodomising him and police also know that,” he said.
The accused boy’s mother confirmed receiving the reports but denied that her child was a sodomite.
“The matter truly happened. Everybody here knows that there is that issue but my child is innocent. He is not involved in this issue; people are just spreading information which is not true at all. You can go to the charge office to get more information because that’s where the matter was reported. I never threatened people, what I simply did was to tell them to stop dragging my son’s name into the issue because he is not involved,” she said.
The mother of the third boy who is said to be seriously injured refused to divulge any information. She said the matter was not for public consumption. Despite other victim’s parents and some residents telling the paper that her child was seriously injured, she denied the matter.
“My child is not part of that crew which was sodomised. I will not entertain further questions on that matter,” she said before turning her back.
Contacted for a comment, Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo said he could not give a comment because he had not received the report.
However, officers at his office had earlier indicated that they had compiled a report which they were waiting for Insp Moyo to release after he was done with a meeting he was attending. Sunday news

Criminal land barons who are illegally parcelling out residential stands using Zanu-PF’s name will be arrested, the ruling party’s Secretary for Administration and Local Government Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo has said.
Dr Chombo told The State Media last week that it was a criminal offence for party activists to parcel out land. He said Zanu-PF does not condone such behavior and those found on the wrong side of the law would be brought to book.
“All the laws in this country were made by Zanu-PF. So we cannot make laws that we do not want to follow. We want them to be followed to the later not only by our supporters and activists but also by the generality of Zimbabweans.
“We do not tolerate criminal activities and anyone who breaks the laws will be arrested especially land barons and unscrupulous land developers who are hiding behind the name of the party to do their criminal activities. I can assure you that they will find themselves behind bars,” he said.
He said his ministry had directed all local authorities to draft mechanisms to deal with illegal settlements.
“We have given them two months to deal with the issue of illegal settlements. So as we speak they are assessing the magnitude of the problem and they will make their presentations and we will take it from there,” he said.
Dr Chombo said some settlements would be regularised as the beneficiaries were mere victims of the criminal barons’ activities.
“We are legalising some of those illegal stands but obviously some will be affected. For example those who are building on institutional stands like schools, under power lines and so on (will be removed),” he said.
A fortnight ago, former Zanu-PF Harare province youth chair Cde Godwin Gomwe was arrested for allegedly giving out stands illegally.

The army were this month preparing to shoot Zimbabwe’s vendors, Morgan Tsvangirai says. FULL TEXT:
We meet today on the 27th of June, a day that invokes blood-soaked memories of the unmitigated and State-sponsored violence we witnessed seven years ago.
Exactly seven years ago to the day and three months after I had defeated him in an election; President Mugabe contested against himself in a bloody election run-off and claimed he had won.
Four days ago, we buried Brighton Matimba, the MDC’s head of social welfare whose office was burdened with the catastrophe of 2008. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
I pulled out of the run-off after that violence which was meant to punish the people for exercising their democratic right to vote for me and the MDC. But that did not stop Mr. Mugabe from participating in a ridiculous so-called election as a sole candidate.
We also meet today, two years after the people’s vote was subverted in yet another stolen election on 31 July 2013, but the economic collapse and the national despondency after that monumental fraud are now so palpable and evident to all they cannot be hidden anymore. Our country faces an unprecedented catastrophic economic and social collapse.
They told us then, that it was an overwhelming victory for Zanu PF; but we can now all testify that the true victor in that election was evil and the hopelessness of the people that we see around us today.
On Friday, 24 January 2014, I presented a state of the nation address in which I pointed to a country fast accelerating towards a monumental implosion.
Today, as I rightly predicted, the meltdown is upon us while the party in government remains pre-occupied with ceaseless internal purges and diversionary succession wars while the nation teeters on the brink of total collapse.
I have travelled across the country and seen for myself the problems facing the people. I have seen the desperation on many faces, the poverty and despondency that has been brought about by the inevitable failure of ZANU(PF) to keep their empty promises which they continue to make to the people.
From the flood victims of Mahuwe in Mashonaland Central, to the suffering many in Tsholotsho, from Chipinge to Binga, from Mudzi to Kariba, I have met and spoken to humble ordinary men and women who have testified to an unbearable life under the incompetent leadership of this government.
Apart from the discouraging economic signs now visible everywhere, the demon of State sponsored violence is back as typified by the abduction more than 100 days ago of Itai Dzamara, who remains missing to this day.
After co-existence of the political parties in an inclusive government for four years, we thought the violent past had become another country.
We were wrong. The leopard has remained faithful to its spots.
And in open provocation to the peace-loving, hardworking people of this country, the army only last month rescinded on a threat to gun down millions of suffering vendors eking an honest living by selling their wares on the streets.
Instead of promising the nation food, stability, development, progress and jobs, the government promised gunpowder and violent removal to the innocent millions of our people who are only trying to feed their families.
On the few occasions that he is in the country nowadays, we wonder if the President takes time to even think about the monumental economic and social crisis engulfing the nation and the suffering that we the ordinary people are going through. It is evident that Mugabe does not care and if he does, he surely has a funny way of showing it! Our country is on autopilot to nowhere.
The economy
It is now 26 months since the elections in July 2013 brought to an end the inclusive government that had ushered in outstanding progress and provided respite to the people.
It is now obvious to all serious observers that the elections in 2013 were perhaps the most manipulated and rigged election in our short history.
After years of poor governance, corruption and soaring inflation, the inclusive government brought price and fiscal stability, direction and rapid economic recovery that brought hope back.
This was most clearly demonstrated by revenue to the State which expanded from just $280 million in 2008 to $4,3 billion in 2013.
Zimbabweans remember with nostalgia the good times of the MDC in government but it all seems like a long time ago, given the dispiriting reality now around us. After the purported victory of 2013, the economy lost no time in casting a vote of no confidence in the Zanu PF led government that had been imposed on the people. Within days, values on the stock market began to decline and are now barely half what they were in 2013 while more than $2 billion has fled our markets over the past two years.
In the banking sector, most indigenous banks, rotten with patronage , insider loans, poor management and lack of regulatory oversight by the Reserve Bank, have all but collapsed. So much for indeginization!
In the past two years, 40 per cent of our commercial banks have either been placed under curatorship or in liquidation with the loss of over $1 billion of the people’s savings and income.
The flight of capital, loss of cash balances at the banks and the liquidation of investments have resulted in a cash crunch that is paralyzing the private sector, exacerbating the closure of companies and inhibiting economic activity throughout the country.
These immediate problems have been further exacerbated by the resumption of demands for the transfer of assets to politically connected individuals and military officers under the guise of indigenization.
The continued onslaught on the rule of law and property rights, have reduced Foreign Direct Investment to new record lows.
As a consequence, it is our view that the national economy in fact contracted in 2014 and that this contraction in economic activity is accelerating by the day. This view is supported by the decline in national tax receipts to $3,8 billion in 2014 and the revised budget of $3,5 billion in 2015. Even this reduced estimate is now looking optimistic.
It seems as if Zanu PF has learnt nothing from its 35 years in power. To illustrate this lack of understanding and ignorance of economic principles, the unjustified and unbudgeted expenditures in 2014 and in 2015 have pushed the budget from the surplus achieved during each of the years of the MDC control of the fiscus, to over $1 billion in 2014 and a projected $1,5 billion in 2015.
This means that the government has incurred a totally unsustainable budget deficit of 23 per cent of expenditure in 2014 and it should be noted that this is approaching 31 per cent in 2015. This is totally unacceptable and violates the fundamental principles underlying the International Monetary Fund’s Staff Monitored Programme (SMP), negotiated under the inclusive government and signed by President Mugabe in 2013.
The consequences of this accelerating collapse of the economy are extremely grave; unemployment has reached record highs, disposable incomes have declined and the State is unable to meet its day to day needs for it to be effective in delivering services to the people.
In the midst of this crisis, Zimbabwe faces the worst food shortages since 1992 when extreme drought conditions forced massive food imports and 2008/9 and over 70 per cent of the population needed food aid from the international community.
This is exacerbated this year by the collapse of incomes and the inability of millions of Zimbabweans to meet their basic needs. We have heard recently that now the government is begging for food aid from a donor community which they insult on every turn. That is not only embarrassing, but indicates the level of desperation and incompetence of this government.
One of the things that make this situation even worse, is the continued denial of the regime of the fact that their land reform programme has been an unmitigated disaster for everyone.
That disaster is characterized by the continuous land invasions, new farmers without security or support, land owners dispossessed of billions of dollars of assets without compensation and the displacement of two million people who used to make a living on the farms and the need to import virtually all of our food.
This is compounded by an incompetent and bungling Minister of Agriculture who neither understands what is wrong nor has a clue as to how to make things work again. He has persistently overestimated local production volumes to please the President with lies and this year is no exception.
This crisis is further compounded by the decision last year to tell the World Food Programme that they were “no longer needed”. As a consequence, the international community (with the exception of China and Russia), who have in the past 7 years poured billions of dollars into Zimbabwe and provided food and health services and assistance with clean water supplies, is ill-prepared for yet another year of desperate humanitarian needs for Zimbabwe.
Because of corruption and incompetence, the Grain Marketing Board and the Ministry of Finance simply do not have the resources or the capacity to respond to our urgent needs. Simply to protect his pride, the President does not have the courage to declare a food emergency and ask those whom he disparages for help.
What we have heard in an unclear and muffled tone is Mugabe’s deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa, belatedly asking for $300 million from development agencies to mitigate this disaster.
And as the nation stares another season of starvation, we want to warn against any partisan distribution of food to the people of Zimbabwe. We suspect that this partisan approach to food distribution will happen once more, putting millions of our people at the risk of starvation.
We urge the world and the development agencies to look out for this persistent Zanu PF behavior to deny citizens their right to food along partisan and political lines. We as the MDC will also deal with these problems as best we can and our supporters will be asserting their right to food just as all other deserving Zimbabweans.
Fellow Zimbabweans, there will be consequences for this multi-layered crisis currently facing the country. One of these, will be an increase in human flight as thousands of Zimbabwean economic migrants flee to countries who offer opportunities denied in their home country. The South Africans are not responsible for Xenophobia – leaders like Robert Mugabe are directly responsible and yet continue to deny this fact but are quick to blame others. That is typical.
Another consequence of the collapse of the economy is the massive growth in our informal business sector which they are now calling the “new economy” in order to once more, blame exogenous factors for the problems they have clearly created.
Today, only eight per cent of all adults are formally employed and therefore 92 per cent of our population depends on informal business activity for a living. We have about 700 000 small scale peasant farmers, 2,5 million street traders, 500 000 small scale miners, 180 000 cross border traders and 100 000 mini bus operators who, despite the continuous harassment by the police, must move the nation every day with amazing ingenuity and efficiency.
Today, more money circulates in this “shadow” economy than in the formal sector and it makes a huge contribution to our collective welfare and being albeit informal. Without this army of hard working small business persons and without remittances from the estimated five million Zimbabweans now living outside the country, things in the country would be very much worse. In fact, they would be disastrous!
This community of hardworking, innovative and enterprising people is a breeding ground for the next generation of successful miners, farmers and entrepreneurs. Far from recognizing their contribution, Zanu PF regards them as “urban rubbish” and “illegal miners” and is doing all they can to dislodge them from their places of work and sustenance.
Let me remove any doubt from your minds, any attempts by the regime to mount a second “Murambatsvina” will be strongly resisted and the MDC commits itself to the protection of all informal business persons, their inclusion in our economy and to making it possible for them to grow and prosper.
This crisis we face now is quite different from the collapse that took place from 1997 to 2008. This time we have deflation, not inflation, we have a hard currency and no shortages but no money with which to buy what is in the supermarkets. In 2008 the region was assisting us in our efforts to secure the fundamental changes we needed to get our beautiful, hard-working country back on its feet. Today, the region is ignoring our situation.
In 2008, the Fishmonger Group of 17 countries committed themselves to our stability and recovery to give us time to get our democracy back on track. Today, they have other priorities and are leaving us to deal with this new crisis on our own.
Rights and governance
The governance MDC yearns for is social democracy with policies underpinned by the sacrosanct values of justice, solidarity and freedom. Contrary to the Zanu PF philosophy, we cannot have policies centred only on distribution of limited assets at the expense of production. In the absence of economic production, there is nothing to distribute.
True and genuine empowerment speaks to a welfare State based on production anchored on sound policies that promote domestic and foreign investment. Any other empowerment policies in the absence of production fall far short of what the people expect and deserve.
The primitive emphasis on re-distribution of limited assets, rent seeking mentality with unjustified entitlement is what has brought this economy and this country to its knees. As a nation, we had done well by writing our own Constitution to infuse the values and culture under which the people said they want to be governed. This is the only governance culture which will spur our national development and prosperity.
It is now over two years since this country adopted a new national Constitution, achieved after 15 years of struggle and popular demands for change. Apart from the respite given to the people of this country, the only other real achievement of the GPA and the inclusive government was the negotiation and agreement on a new constitutional dispensation.
Yet two years down the line, the new Constitution has not been implemented properly by changing the 400 instruments of legislation that require amendment if we are to bring the new governance charter to life. Even the Speaker of Parliament last week complained about the lethargy by the Minister of Justice, who is also the Vice President, in seeing to it that Zimbabweans live under their new Constitution.
It must be noted that if this process is concluded in a responsible and legal way, most of the reforms enshrined in that Constitution would return Zimbabwe to sanity, economic recovery, freedom and democracy.
We in the MDC hold dear the issue of credible elections and reforms that would poise this country for growth and development. As I have said, most of the reforms are now in our Constitution.
As a party, we have made a firm commitment to withdraw from the electoral system until it is reformed along the lines envisaged in the GPA, signed under the auspices of SADC and the AU.
There is little purpose in submitting our supporters to elections when the whole system is so subverted and undemocratic. So firm are we in our adherence to the implementation of the Constitution and a new governance culture that we are demanding full compliance with the SADC norms and values for democratic activity. Nothing short of that will suffice. Until that is achieved to our satisfaction we can confidently promise our people that we will not participate in any election.
In the past year, virtually every political party except the MDC has disintegrated, leaving the people with neither leadership nor hope. We in the MDC committed ourselves in 1999 to changing our government democratically, within the law and without violence.
We have stuck to those principles and we have neither beaten one policeman nor broken a single window in the past 16 years while we ourselves have been beaten, abducted and killed.
I am not sure whether we can maintain that stance into the future.
One thing is for sure, the present situation is untenable and unacceptable and perhaps the time has come for us to take matters into our own hands and force the changes that are needed.
I know that there are many in Zanu PF today who share that sentiment that the future is indeed in our hands.
The Social services sector
Our social services sector, particularly health, education, water and sanitation services, is in limbo. Once the pride and marvel of our people, our schools and hospitals have collapsed under this government’s watch.
Despite our major success in the education sector, during the era of the inclusive government, there has been palpable decline in terms of quality and access since 2013. For example, the recently introduced examination fees for Grade 7 students are not consistent with the new Constitution of Zimbabwe, which regards access to basic education and health as rights and not as privileges.
On the health sector, our major referral hospitals such as Harare hospital, Parirenyatwa and Mpilo have become death chambers while morale remains low as witnessed by the recent job action by doctors and nurses.
Whereas during the era of the inclusive government we had created the Education Transition Fund (ETF) and the Health Transition Fund (HTF) together with development partners to engender progress, today the social services sector has collapsed under ZANU(PF) mismanagement.
Even our local authorities are broke and struggling to provide clean water and sanitation services.
Zanu PF’s populist decision to cancel all debts in the run up to the last election has come back to haunt our councils as all of them are owed hundreds of millions of dollars, with government itself being the biggest debtor to local authorities.
These debts were cancelled in one fell swoop and today no resident feels encouraged to pay rates and services as they feel that the Zanu PF government will bring back the ill-advised bonanza towards the 2018 election.
Our streets are teeming with millions of Zimbabweans seeking to earn a living in these harsh economic times characterized by job losses and an unemployment rate of 90 percent. As it becomes apparent that the Zanu PF election promise to create two million jobs was just an election gimmick, the streets have provided sanctuary to the many unemployed Zimbabweans seeking to earn a living.
This is a ticking time bomb and a threat to national stability. The only viable solution is to create employment as opposed to threatening vendors on our streets with gunpowder. They simply want jobs and not bullets!
With government legitimacy, policy clarity and policy consistency, we can begin to deal with some of these problems that we in the MDC effectively dealt with during our short stint in government.
Security
The threat by the government to deploy soldiers to violently hound out vendors from the streets and the abduction of Itai Dzamara by State security agents have brought back the debate on the security of citizens in this country.
Today on 27th of June, the seventh anniversary of the violent clampdown on the people in 2008, we find ourselves in the ironic position where we are not safe in our own country. Zimbabweans are in the invidious position of being unsafe both in South Africa where others recently suffered xenophobic attacks, and even in their own country, where only last week innocent citizens in Gutu, Masvingo were violently driven out by soldiers from land they occupied in 2000.That is unacceptable.
Section 212 of our new Constitution is clear that the function of the Defence Forces is to protect Zimbabwe, its people, its national security and interests and its territorial integrity and to uphold this Constitution.
But the security forces, including the police, the intelligence services and even the prison services, have been made themselves become the biggest threats to the citizens of this country.
At Chikurubi Maximum security prison recently, police and prison officers shot and killed during several inmates following a riot over food. Many others were subsequently tortured and subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment in violation of the Constitutional rights of prisoners.
But it is the vicious assault of an honourable MP, Costa Machingauta, the assault of villagers and headmen in Hurungwe West and the abduction and disappearance of Dzamara that stick out like a sore thumb in the gross human rights abuses experienced this year alone.
I know that the security services themselves do not harbor any ill-intentions against their fellow citizens. They are a patriotic sector that is just abused by the State. In any case, most of them are under the age of 40 and have nothing to do with the power retention agenda of this government. Our soldiers, police officer and members of the intelligence services are professionals who want better working and living conditions like all of us. Left to their own desires, they would not harass anyone. They want decent salaries, better working conditions and decent uniforms. Like the rest of the citizenry, they also want a new Zimbabwe; a country where they would be able to prosper and to pursue and live their dreams.
We applaud the EU and other members and groups in the international community who have spoken out and made resolutions on the increasing human rights abuses in this country.
We urge the region, the continent and the broader international community not to abdicate their responsibility but to stand by the people of Zimbabwe in these trying times. They must speak out and make it clear to this brutal regime that the world will not stand by and watch while this country slides down this ruinous and violent path, negating and eroding all the positive signals that had been engendered by the inclusive government.
Infrastructure
Poor and collapsed infrastructure has become the bane of this country. Roads, railways, airports and our ports of entry have failed to inspire confidence; neither do they showcase a country ready to do business nor do they spur investment, tourism and economic growth.
Run-down infrastructure, coupled with industry grappling with obsolete and outdated machinery and capital equipment have not helped matters in creating a truly business environment that reflects a modern economy of the 21st century.
The dire state of key enablers for economic growth such as the energy sector and ICTs tell their own sad story. There are no tangible steps being taken towards increasing power generation especially in the area of utilizing renewable energy. With 3 000 hours of sunshine per year, we ought by now to have harnessed this critical enabler for growth and development and improved upon the framework we in the MDC had laid out during our short stint in government.
Instead of harnessing ICTs as key enablers for growth and development, this government thinks ICTs are a threat and not an opportunity. We have legislation that allows for snooping into private communications and several censorship laws that discourage rather than encourage the use of ICTs. Again, we have seen the undoing of the liberal environment we in the MDC tried to create when were in charge of this portfolio during the inclusive government.
Only last week, we missed the deadline to migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting but the government has instead tried to mislead the nation that the deadline was partly met when in fact it was totally missed.
While other countries have moved to the era of e-health and e-learning by harnessing the use of ICTs for growth and development, this government has dismally failed to improve on what we did during our time in government.
My Vision and the Way forward
For some of us, the new Zimbabwe we have fought for all these years is anchored on a clear vision for our country.
In the meantime, before we realize that vision, there have to be short-term recovery measures to rescue this economy and save this country from falling over the precipice. The short-term interventions must deal with the problems of starvation and social services sub-sectors of health, education, water and sanitation.
There has to be a new culture of professionalism in our State institutions which have proven their inefficiency and lack of proper work ethic expected of State entities. This of course, is because they are mired in patronage at the expense of delivery.
I want to say that we in the MDC believe that there is no sanctions regime and our national predicament has nothing to do with the so-called sanctions that have become a convenient cover-up for Zanu PF failure and incompetence. They have become masters in continually denying that the problems we face today were mainly created by them and them alone.
There is a basis for international engagement in these short term measures to bring back the country on the rails. But that engagement and intervention must be conditional on Zimbabwe respecting values such as democracy and respect of the rights of the citizen which must mean the demand and insistence by the international community for the implementation of far –reaching reforms.
As I have said, most of these reforms and new governance culture are enshrined in the Constitution that Zimbabweans wrote for themselves but which this government is refusing to implement.
I envision a new country with a vibrant economy that meets the aspirations of all Zimbabweans underpinned by policy consistency, growth and prosperity for all.
In the new Zimbabwe, I see a great nation rising from the ashes of Zanu PF misrule. I see the realization of our promise for a better future for our children and our great grandchildren in a land full of happiness, abundance and the inalienable right for all of us to pursue our ambitions without limit.
I see the possibility of reconciliation of all peoples regardless of race, tribe, gender or political affiliation; a nation working together in resolving its problems.
I envision a Zimbabwe with a new ethos, where people live in peaceful co-existence regardless of their cultural, ethnic, racial, religious or political differences.
I envision a Zimbabwe where all can live up to their full potential. Given our traumatic past, we must learn to tolerate and reconcile with each other; to draw a line in the sand and say never, never again should any citizen be slaughtered on ethnic, racial, political or any other grounds for that matter.
We must be an inclusive, united society that is ready to swim or sink together, where diversity is celebrated rather than punished.
It is the celebration of our differences that will ultimately make our democracy hold.
In the new Zimbabwe, there will be no compromise on the dignity of every citizen, which, thankfully, is now enshrined in our Constitution.
All citizens must enjoy the true meaning of life by being treated equally by government and all State institutions. The equality and dignity of all citizens will be the cornerstone upon which our democracy will be built in the new Zimbabwe.
We aspire for a Zimbabwe characterized by economic prosperity, equity with notable increases of GDP and individual income levels.
I envision a country that uses modern technologies to accelerate productivity through strategic investment partnerships in the agricultural, manufacturing and mining sectors; productivity that will ultimately benefit the ordinary citizen.
I yearn for a new Zimbabwe with a modernized transport infrastructure that includes the resuscitation of the competitiveness of our national airline. We need to invest in upgrading our airports to promote commerce, trade and tourism.
I see a new Zimbabwe where the participation of women and the youth in mainstream economic activities is guaranteed and encouraged.
We aspire for a new nation with an accountable government; a country where a prosperous and inclusive economy prevails underpinned by the rule of law, political stability, policy consistency and predictability.
We must build a corrupt-free Zimbabwe with a government that is at the forefront of aggressively tackling systemic graft and dismantling the rise of unjust scales.
An efficient public service is the cornerstone of an efficient government. There is need in the new society we envisage to de-politicize the public service; to harness efficiencies and new competences as well as implementing institutional transformation to prepare public institutions with the onerous role to efficiently serve the people of Zimbabwe.
Efficient social service delivery will engender happiness among our citizens by ensuring the provision of affordable and qualitative clean water, affordable housing, healthcare and education across the nation.
We strongly believe in the sacred commitment to our liberation war and democratic struggle objectives and honour all of our fallen heroes and heroines who paid the ultimate price for us to be free from oppression of man by man.
I pledge that all our fallen heroes and heroines will one day be fully recognized as the champions of our country’s important struggles. We pledge to always celebrate and honour them, and to respond to the welfare needs of their families in a sustainable manner.
Conclusion
The return to legitimacy through a credible election is the only durable and acceptable answer to the crisis facing the country.
It is for this reason that we have launched our Without Reforms, No elections campaign after noting that we needed to make this issue a priority ahead of the next election, whenever it is going to be held.
There has been some misinformed criticism of our decision not to participate in the just-ended by-elections. It must be understood that we are looking at a far much bigger picture and ahead of the 2018 elections, we must address those issues that have affected the credibility of our elections since 2000.
There has been convergence around the issue of non-participation from most players in the opposition party circles, including even those who only a few months ago were in the top echelons of Zanu PF.
They have come out in the open to laud our decision not to legitimize this charade masquerading as legitimate elections.
That convergence means that for once, the majority of Zimbabweans are united on the one key issue which is to ensure that the next election is not only truly free, fair but credible as well. We must begin to address, once and for all, the contentious issue of a disputed legitimacy which is the root cause of our current national crisis.
I want to tell Zimbabweans today, that our convergence on non-participation must mean that there are exciting political prospects on the horizon.
I as Morgan Tsvangirai, and the party I lead are prepared to work with Zimbabweans of all shades and political colours to bring back the country to sanity.
I see the true grand coalition not as the unity of individuals or leaders of political parties, but as a unity of Zimbabweans who possess shared values and convergence on the patriotic goal to take our country forward.
Today, I promise Zimbabweans that we are on the brink of an exciting political moment and they will be see us as political leaders converging on those issues that matter most to us all Zimbabweans.
It is on this score that I can tell you here that on the 11th of July in Harare, I will be joining other Zimbabweans from various political backgrounds at a prayer meeting for Itai Dzamara that is being organized by the church.
In the previous elections, the people of Zimbabwe have won the election but lost the results and we pledge in our diversity to continue to insist on the implementation of both the Constitution and the reforms agreed under the auspices of SADC and the African Union.
We urge SADC and the rest of Africa not to be by-standers on the insistence of these reforms that we as political parties agreed under their watch.
Twice in the past 10 months, I have written to heads of State of SADC and Africa on these issues but I will be directly engaging them in due course. The people’s victory has been stolen from us for far too long and it is time to draw a line in the sand and be the captains of our destiny.
We can no longer give that responsibility to others or to ZANU(PF) who have unashamedly shown us throughout the years that they neither care nor are they competent in taking Zimbabwe forward.
I have always said that at a personal level, I am greatly inspired by the story of David as a major lesson to victims of theft to salvage their stolen legacy and their pick-pocketed treasure.
After the enemy had stolen everything from him, as the enemy of freedom did to the people of this country on July 31, 2013, David does not resign to fate, as some people expected us to do.
According to the book of Samuel, David asks the Lord whether it would be possible for him to recover his property; his treasure which the enemy had stolen from him. The Lord says to David: “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and recover all.”
And so the people of Zimbabwe shall pursue the one who stole their destiny on July 31, 2013 and in the previous national elections. They shall certainly overtake and recover all.
The people’s will is sovereign and no thief can steal God’s time.
The people’s sweet victory and the realization of the national dream can only be postponed or delayed but never abandoned.
We may not recover the lives which were lost in the senseless violence over the years and we may not be able to recover the lost time. But we shall definitely pursue and recover the lost dignity and the pride of this nation and its people.
Only then can those who have died in our war of liberation and democratic struggles of our nation rest in peace with the satisfaction that we have completed their quest for freedom and peace for all.
Yes, we owe it to those heroes and heroines and to future generations to deliver a free Zimbabwe well within our lifetime.
It is not impossible!
I thank you

ZANU PF song owl Energy Mutodi has written claiming that Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa is set to be assassinated, attracting negative backlash from opposition figures the likes of UCAD leader Albert Matapo.
The report comes after the same Mutodi claimed that abducted activist Itai Dzamara is currently hiding at a hotel in Botswana, and that he has evidence of Joyce Mujuru performing witchcraft rituals to kill President Robert Mugabe.

Below were the claims:
By Energy Mutodi
VP EMMERSON MNANGAGWA TARGETED FOR ASSASSINATION

A close ally of Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko businessman (F****** ********) is plotting an assassination on Hon. VP E.D Mnangagwa since last year it has emerged. At the core of the plot is the succession issue as well as Gukurahundi. According to documents that are now in our possession, (F****** ********) approached former MDC-T treasury general Roy Bennett in Fourways, South Africa, where he told him of his intention to assassinate Mnangagwa for what he said were unwarranted arrests and malicious Exchange Control crimes which were leveled against him at the direction of the VP in post independence Zimbabwe.
During the meeting, Mutanda who intimated that he had served as chief body guard to the late VP Dr Joshua Nkomo emphasised the need to avenge sufferings he endured from Mnangagwa. He said he had been victimized by Mnangagwa for trying to expose the role he had played in the Gukurahundi killings as well as that of the President.
Mutanda also briefed Bennet how he had lost millions of dollars after a Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ) bank auctioned off his personal property and goods held at Caps Holdings under the orders of VP Mnangagwa. Mutanda then promised Bennet that he would help him recover his lost farmland in Chimanimani provided he helped him fight and oust Mnangagwa because he was sure that VP Mphoko was going to be the next president as they would strategically remove President Mugabe from power after tactfully isolating him from his strong and staunch supporters.
Mutanda further mentioned that there is no way Mphoko will not be President as they have a good link with Russians and the South African government who will help them in getting rid of President Mugabe as soon as Mnangagwa is eliminated. However Roy Bennet turned him down, mentioning he did not believe him and his plans. He suspected Mutanda could have been an imposter and CIO operative. Mutanda further met Roy for the second and third time but was again told off as the former MDCT legislator emphasised that he was no longer interested in politics and was focusing on his life and family.
Mutanda, who is said to be married to the late Joshua Nkomo’s daughter who was divorced by former Minister Francis Nhema is said to have disclosed in further meetings with different people that he was working with Professor Jonathan Moyo and Vice President Mphoko himself to make sure that Mnangagwa was blocked from taking over from President Mugabe. He added that Mphoko would work with a Mthwakazi Liberation Front party to keep the Gukurahundi issue alive in Matebeleland while Professor Moyo would use Zimpapers and other media houses to discredit Mnangagwa.
He also added that under the grand plan, which would be kept away from Mashonas such as Saviour Kasukuwere and Patrick Zhuwawo who may spill the beans due their ethnic backgrounds and closeness to Ngwena, newspapers would first accuse Mnangagwa as being at the centre of Gukurahundi atrocities while exonerating Mugabe so as to win the President’s support or at least make him indifferent.
They would also issue radio station licenses to their loyalists where campaigns against VP Mnangagwa will be executed. He added that when public support for Mnangagwa waned, a plan to assassinate him would be put into action whereby he would be shot in Bulawayo while attending a Bosso-Dembare challenge match in honour of Gushungo’s AU and SADC chairmanship. The shooting would be publicized as a Gukurahundi revenge act and when it happens, the VP would be in the company of his Shona speaking peers such as Saviour Kasukuwere who would not have been briefed of the plot.
In the long term plan, when the team would have succeeded to pull down both Mnangagwa and President Mugabe, Phelekezela Mphoko would serve only one term, becoming Africa’s new hero after Nelson Mandela. Albert Matapo would be appointed Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces while Emmanuel Marara would head the ZNA. Moyo will then take over from Mphoko as President of the Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces.

Sheffield – A prolific Morgan Tsvangirai party official who is seen in numerous footage standing by the MDC leader, Jenatry “Chihota” Muranganwa, has been convicted of raping a 12 year old girl.
Chihota was yesterday slapped with a five(5) year jail term for grooming and then pleasuring himself on the innocent minor.
He is set to be deported from the United Kingdom soon after his release.
The first investigative story which first appeared on ZimEye.com last year, revealed how Chihota popularly known for a long period for his energetic singing at MDC-T party meetings, had an affair with a married woman, (name withheld) whose daughter he would soon attack for his gratification.
He even at one time booked a room at a local Premier Inn and was seen pulling the minor into the budget hotel for intimacy.

When contacted by ZimEye during an investigation soon after the hotel fracas, Chinota did not deny abusing the girl.
But he soon afterwards hired lawyers attempting to block the fangs of the law.
The truth however prevailed and he was arrested and then tried. The trial which was heard on Thursday in court room 9 under case number T20147806, returned a guilty verdict for the severe statutory rape and grooming. He was subsequently sentenced on Friday morning.

A top pastor in the United Kingdom exposed while allegedly engaging in nature’s forbidden pleasures with a married woman, has been stripped.
ZimEye.com can reveal that Rev Tsaurai Kudakwashe Mapfeka has nosedived from a man of the cloth to that of the broth after being found guilty of jumping into bed with a congregant’s wife.
The development has left many Methodist church men regretting as they told ZimEye.com they would never again allow their wives to be counselled by a male pastor.
Mapfeka who earlier in the year was humiliated by his lover’s husband, Maxwell Chirewa in full view of worshippers, will have to sweep the United Kingdom’s streets for a living. He was on Thursday slapped by the church with a penalty of 2 years 6 months under the status of Involuntary Leave.
Internal church meetings now exclusively revealed by ZimEye.com show that
that the trial court for the Mapfeka-Chirewa Case was set on June 23 under Bishop Alfred Wesley Gwinn Jr who was presiding, which returned a verdict of guilty on June 24.
On the 25th June the jury went again into session to deliberate on the penalty. They returned with a penalty of 2years 6 months under the status of Involuntary Leave.
Rev Mapfeka will now report to the Board of Ordained Ministry about where he would be attending church. He will be required to maintain a good standing status during that time. The verdict and penalty will be with immediate effect as from June 25, 2015.
Sources told ZimEye Mapfeka has also been deprived of his church mansion.
“On the housing transition we leave it in the hands of the leaders in the UK to process, monitor and implement that transition in a way which does not go against the laws of the United Kingdom,” the source said.
Drama in church
Mapfeka was exposed early in january during the thanksgiving announcement by Mr. Chirewa who in the middle of church seized the microphone to announce that Rev Mapfeka was having an affair with his wife.
While elders tried intervened and took Chirewa outside for him to cool down, more drama ensued as the pastor and his wife followed on collecting their children for a speedy exit.
Chiwera then remained behind as he revealed all to members on that Mapfeka was having an affair with his wife, Linda Chirewa who he said once lied to him saying to have gone to Zimbabwe when she soon went to Germany on holiday with the reverend.

He produced photo-graphics of the two in Germany and a number of shocking WhatsApp messages. Among the text messages were exchanges said to have been between Linda and Mapfeka. In one of the messages Linda writes “Am thinking pane varikunakiranawo sesu so lolest (Just wondering if there are any out there who are enjoying each other just as we do ” to which the cleric replied “ukanzwa vamwe undiudzewo (If you hear of any do tell me).”

She continued “Musiwa 2 nguva dzino chinenge chakachaya kkk (On the 2nd at exactly this time we will be having fun” to which Mapfeka replies “8 days, wakavhura (Have you opened?” Linda asks: “Kuvhura (Opening?)” and the Revered replies “Ehe! (Yes)”.

AFP|A ZIMBABWEAN journalist has been sentenced to a year in jail for publishing a newspaper without government registration, the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) said Friday.
Foster Dongozi, ZUJ secretary-general, said Patrick Chitongo was convicted by a magistrate’s court on Thursday and received a one-year prison sentence.
“It’s a sad day for press freedom when people are jailed for disseminating information,” Dongozi told AFP.
“However, we advise that, much as we disagree with the law which compels journalists to register, those intending to practise or publish should comply to avoid ending up in dicey situations.”
Regional media freedom advocacy group, the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA), said Chitongo had been jointly charged with three interns after publishing three issues of a newspaper called The Southern Mirror.
They were charged with breaching the country’s media laws, which forbid “carrying on or operating a mass media service without a valid registration certificate.”
Chitongo’s co-accused were acquitted after the court found that they were college students who did not have a say in the paper’s publication.
Chitongo denied the charges, saying the publications were dummies he intended to hand in to the media commission for registration.
Under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, journalists have to register annually with a government-appointed commission and publishers need to have a registration certificate.

Scores of Zimbabweans were nearly killed yesterday when three buses instantly caught fire in a “mysterious” incident that saw the flames extending all the way to two nearby trucks.
The accident occurred at around 4pm in Newton, along Main Street, the area where most Zimbabwean cross border buses park before they leave South Africa for Zimbabwe.

The trucks were carrying piles of luggage destined for various towns in Zimbabwe, Bulawayo Masvingo, Kwekwe, Gweru and Harare.
 
The Munhenzwa, Elite and Hi-Tec coaches were reduced to ashed-black metal by inferno some have suggested may have emanated from a cigarette butt that caught onto leaking petrol.

Zimbabwe’s ambassador to South Africa Mr Batiraishe Mukonoweshuro said the cause of the fire was yet to be established.
“Indications are that the fire started from an Elite coaches bus which then spread to Munhenzwa and Hi-Tech and the two trucks. However, no human life was claimed though property worth thousands of rands was reduced to ashes.
“We are yet to establish the total value of the property which was destroyed. Our officers are still on the ground,” he said.
Mr Mukonoweshuro said fire-fighters tried to pull the Munhenzwa bus from the scene, but it was too late.
One of the witnesses identified only as Mai Kuda, said the cause of the fire was still a mystery.
“It is a shock how a cigarette butt can be said to have caused so much damage to three buses and trucks. I heard that there was fire here and rushed to check if there were any people I knew, fortunately nobody was hurt except groceries and various properties which were damaged,” she said.
Of late there has been an upsurge in robberies by criminals purporting to be South African police officers targeting Zimbabwean cross border buses outside Polokwane and Pretoria cities.
The suspects are yet to be accounted for. Efforts to get comments from authorities at Munenzwa, Hi-Tech and Elite coaches were fruitless last night.
One of the ladies who works at the Newton area, Ms Tendai Zhou, said other bus crews had to drive off from the area as the fire raged on.
“The situation was terrible and we suspect that the fire was started deliberately by jealous people considering that most of the buses have been robbed along the N1 Highway.
“In most cases we will be having more than 50 buses here especially those going to Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia,” she said. (State Media/Additional Reporting)

Expelled former Media minister Jonathan Moyo is not returning to the government information department he was heading, impeccable sources have suggested of the man who met a humiliating end early this week when president Robert Mugabe kicked him out of cabinet in full view of colleagues.
Until today Jonathan Moyo had claimed that he was out of government only temporarily. He communicated this theory to his clique of handpicked editors who have continued to control the powerful state media broadsheets The Herald, Sunday Mail and The Chronicle.
But the worms of shame swam to shore on Friday afternoon when it emerged professor Moyo is unlikely to be reinstated.
This came despite numerous public comments aired that Mugabe was going to reinstate him.
“The President has his choice man who should be made known in a few days time. Jonathan Moyo all this while thought special irreplaceable but we have many literate, competent, and more deserving spokesmen in the party,” said a source.
Other sources said the “speed and stealth” with which Mugabe had dealt with Moyo not only suggested that “there is one centre of power in Zanu PF” but also that a major Cabinet reshuffle was in the offing, “which spells danger for many complacent bigwigs”.
“It is squeaky bum time at the top in Zanu PF and government, to borrow football lexicon. By freezing Moyo, even if this is temporary, Gushungo (Mugabe) is showing all and sundry that he is in charge and the sole centre of power in the party. It’s as simple as that for me.
“But others also say, and with good reason too, Fear as Cabinet reshuffle looms that a comprehensive and long-rumoured Cabinet reshuffle that should have happened after the ouster from power of Mai Mujuru and her allies last year is finally here, which spells danger for many complacent bigwigs who have until now thought that they are safe,” a senior Zanu PF official said yesterday.
Another insider said what had alarmed many ministers was the fact that Moyo’s removal from Cabinet had come “like a bolt from the blue” and at a time that the new Tsholotsho North legislator looked “very secure” both at party and government level, despite Zanu PF’s worsening factional and succession wars.
“Of all the comrades in the party, he was one of the few that behaved and moved around with a swagger, which is why we were all shocked when the president chased him away from the Cabinet meeting without notice,” a minister said.
Talk within Zanu PF has for the past few months been about looming Cabinet changes, with many insiders pointing to the need for Mugabe to not only rejuvenate his under-performing Cabinet, but also replace all the people he had fired as part of the ruling party’s ruthless purges of the past seven months.
Another source said yesterday that there was “an understanding” in Zanu PF that the ejection of Moyo from Cabinet was “part one of the equation” and that the political future of other bigwigs such as Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa, Tourism minister Walter Mzembi and Energy minister Samuel Undenge were also on the line.
“It’s not so much that the expectation is that any or all of these gentlemen will necessarily be fired, the emerging view is that they will more likely be re-assigned to other posts which may not sit well with some of them.
“It will also not be surprising if the president announces this long-awaited Cabinet reshuffle within the next two weeks, an opportunity that he may use to energise Cabinet and replace under-performing ministers in a continuing revamp that he started spearheading late last year,” a politburo member said.
Mugabe himself has recently expressed dissatisfaction with the performances of some of his Cabinet ministers, amidst a worsening economic crisis in the country that has seen Zimbabwe move from once being regarded as a regional bread basket to a much derided basket case.
Speaking in an interview with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation current affairs to mark his 91st birthday in February, the only leader that Zimbabweans have known since the country’s independence from Britain in April 1980, said pointedly that some of his ministers were not delivering.
In the meantime, and as part of the toxic mix pulling Zimbabwe backwards, Zanu PF’s deadly factional and succession wars continue to cast a long shadow over the country and Mugabe’s own political life, with many of his trusted lieutenants divided on the basis of their factional orientations that saw former Vice President Joice Mujuru and her allies being purged from the post-congress party.
Among other party stalwarts who have been sacrificed in the mindless bloodletting since then include former Cabinet ministers Didymus Mutasa, Nicholas Goche, Francis Nhema, Olivia Muchena, Webster Shamu and Dzikamai Mavhaire.
Worryingly for many, there is no indication that the era of the brutal purges is now behind and that the party and country can now focus on critical governance and service delivery issues.
If anything, more senior officials are said to be facing the sack under the continuing party expulsions, with several ministers linked to Mujuru — among them Education minister Lazarus Dokora and Sports minister Andrew Langa — top of the guillotine list.
Mugabe’s freezing of Moyo out of Cabinet on Tuesday took many people by surprise, with no clarity up to today whether this is a permanent move or temporary one.
Moyo, who was appointed Information minister as a non-constituency Member of Parliament after the disputed 2013 harmonised elections, successfully contested for the Tsholotsho North constituency in the June 10 by-elections.
It was not clear whether his going for the seat allegedly without Mugabe’s blessing infuriated the nonagenarian or whether the president was merely throwing his weight around or just being a stickler to constitutionalism as Moyo’s legislative status had changed — which meant that he would need to be re-appointed as minister.
But the Daily News was told that the stunning drama that saw the loquacious politburo member being chased away from Cabinet began as soon as the Cabinet meeting started on the day when Mugabe allegedly summoned Moyo and told him to get out of the meeting.
A well-placed source claimed that a supposedly surprised Moyo had then approached Mugabe to ask for forgiveness, but that the nonagenarian would have none of it.
If Moyo’s banishment from Cabinet is not temporary, this would not be the first time that the Zanu PF secretary for science and technology has been shown the door by Mugabe — as he was booted out in 2005 after he allegedly refused to obey Mugabe’s orders not to stand as a candidate in the same constituency.
Moyo took part in the 2013 national elections but lost the Tsholotsho seat to a newcomer, Roselyne Nkomo.
A year ago, Mugabe savaged Moyo while speaking at the National Heroes Acre in Harare, at the burial of former Cabinet minister Nathan Shamuyarira, saying Zanu PF had been infested by weevils which needed to be taken care of.
This came in the wake of another brutal assault on the beleaguered Moyo a few days before that when he described the minister as the “devil incarnate”, as factionalism in Zanu PF reached alarming levels.
Mugabe then accused Moyo of causing confusion in Zanu PF, being dishonest and lacking principled vision — further describing him as a counter-revolutionary who had employed Zanu PF enemies as editors at State media companies.-DailyNews/Additional Reporting

Former Zanu (PF) provincial chair for Mashonaland West, Temba Mliswa, has alleged that Keith Guzah who beat him in a by-election in Hurungwe West recently, failed to disclose to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) that he was a car theft convict.
He then soon afterwards changed his real name the same way church preacher Uebert Angel has done (the latter who did so after being published for academic fraud).
Under the Electoral Act, candidates are supposed to declare their past convictions and failure to do so must lead to disqualification.
Mliswa, who held the Hurungwe West seat, ran as an independent after being fired from Zanu (PF) and lost narrowly to Guzah.
He is contesting the outcome of the pol and wants the results nullified.
ZEC chair, Rita Makarau, has already acknowledged that Guzah was not registered in the constituency as also required by the law.
In papers filed under case number EC05/15, Mliswa alleged that Guzah failed to disclose that he was once convicted for theft of a car.
Apparently, Guzah was convicted under an alias, Never Phiri.
Mliswa’s lawyer, Dunira Hungwe, confirmed the claim against Guzah in court papers yesterday.
“We filed papers for the nullification of the Hurungwe West by-election results and besides the now common cause that Guzah fraudulently refrained from advising the Electoral Commission that he was once convicted under the name of Never Phiri,” Hungwe said.-thezimbabwean

DESPITE having been married for the past 34 years, a Mutare man shamed his wife by stripping her naked in public following a domestic dispute.
Veronica Chikwinya had to seek shelter at a nearby house with her hands covering her private parts after her husband, Kephas Kunhuwa, assaulted and left her in her birthday suit.
The couple appeared before Mrs Yeukai Chigodora with Chikwinya seeking a protection order against her violent husband.
“We married in 1981 and since then I have been his punching bag. He recently stripped me naked after I had gone to his sister’s funeral in Mozambique and when I came back he assaulted and insulted me.
“He stripped me naked, Your Worship. I had to seek shelter at a nearby house with my hands covering my private parts. Your Worship I looked like a mad woman,” she said.
Kunhuwa admitted to stripping his wife, but blamed his wife for having extra marital relationships.
“At her age she is involved with a very young man who is old enough to be our grandchild and he was also one of our farm hands. That only provoked me and I am sure that she had not gone to my sister’s funeral , but to a honeymoon with her young lover. Of course I did strip her and I am not sorry about that. I do not assault her at all, she is lying to the court,” he said.
Mrs Chigodora asked him how Chikwinya got injured since she had shown the court scars all over her body. “Well, I did push her at one time and she fell,” he said.
Mrs Chigodora ordered Kunhuwa to desist from assaulting, insulting, harassing and disturbing his wife. However, she said she could not order them to separate since it was not in her jurisdiction to do so.-Manica Post

VOA|Panelists discussing the state of Zimbabwe’s democracy and economic development at an event hosted by the Washington Based think tank, National Endowment for Democracy (NED), expressed cautious optimism, of the country’s future.
United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Bruce Wharton, one three panelists at the NED event, titled, “The Challenges of Democratization and Economic Recovery in Zimbabwe”, dismissed an “Arab spring”-like revolt in Zimbabwe, despite the country’s political and economic hardships, citing the population’s high level of education and strong religious belief.
Wharton further said he was optimistic because Zimbabwe was in a very slow generational transition from a generation of men and women who fought against the minority government in the 60s and 70s to a modern pragmatic and less didactic group of people who are coming behind them.
Wharton attributed part of Zimbabwe’s problem to the caliber of the country’s politicians, whom he says are more interested in it as a way of living to pay their bills and get nice cars, than protecting the people.
Academic and Southern African Economic and Political Trust chairperson, Ibbo Mandaza, also a panelist, too expressed optimism for Zimbabwe, but described the last ten years as “tumultuous” but filled with “incorrigible optimism.”
But he questioned Zimbabwe’s ability to reform under the current leadership.
Mandaza, who is part of a movement called the National Convergence Convection, with Bishop Sebastian Bakare, advocates for engagement with the 50 percent of Zimbabwe’s skilled professionals living in the Diaspora.
Part of the audience which attended the panel discussion on Zimbabwe’s political and economic processes in Washington DC on Wednesday. (Photo: Marvellous Mhlanga Nyahuye)
Part of the audience which attended the panel discussion on Zimbabwe’s political and economic processes in Washington DC on Wednesday. (Photo: Marvellous Mhlanga Nyahuye)
Businessman and consultant, Shingi Munyeza, who was also part of a business delegation from Zimbabwe that is currently on a fact-finding mission to the U.S., said while prospects for an economic turnaround are high, raised concern over the lack of liquidity in the formal sector.
Munyeza said the adoption of the US dollar as a currency of exchange has plunged the country into a crisis because goods and services are more expensive than from South Africa.
Among the crowd in attendance for the discussion, which included members of Zimbabwe’s embassy staff, was Sharon Hwekwete, a Hubert Humphrey fellow and human rights lawyer.
Mandaza said he and his partners in the national convergence hope to raise $10 billion that will go toward debt relief, education and other programs that could help jump start the country’s economy.-VOA

THE Constitutional Court has barred President Robert Mugabe from declaring Mwenezi East constituency vacant following the expulsion of MP Kudakwashe Bhasikiti from Zanu PF.
The full Constitutional Court bench agreed with Bhasikiti that Mugabe should be stopped from declaring the seat vacant until the High Court finalizes his expulsion case.
Represented by MDC-Renewal Team’s Tendai Biti, the former Masvingo provincial state minister recently filed an urgent chamber application seeking to bar Mugabe from calling for by-election following hi recent ouster. Radiovop

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority is launching out after millions made by Zimbabwe’s mushrooming prophets for taxes.
Millions of dollars are expected to be raised from the raid seen to start with controversial personalities the likes of Emmanuel Makandiwa, Uebert Angel, and Walter Magaya.
The move came after Ubert Angel(Mudzanire) boasted that he is worth $60million, a bounty made while working in Zimbabwe. He relocated from the United Kingdom a poor man only rising from the grass in Zimbabwe, meaning his fortunes were made from church offerings within the country. Zimra has been blasted for allowing prophets and preachers to make millions without paying tax.
As a result of numerous complaints, the government revenue collector has announced it is going after money made by preachers for taxation. Zimra’s Commissioner General Gershem Pasi told the portfolio committee on Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperatives Development, “We are now focusing on them (churches) and we have engaged them, we are setting parameters.”
He continued, “we don’t care how they make their money and come November we will be through with our legislative proposals to the minister (Patrick Chinamasa Finance and Economic Development) which will tighten that area because we have seen loopholes there. They are not immune to taxation.”

It is now 35 years after Zimbabwe attained Independence from Britain but government still blames the former colonial masters  for its failures.
Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday shocked delegates attending a water conference underway in Harare when he said  government’s failure to provide portable water to its citizens was caused by Britain. 
Mnangagwa  said were it not because of the former “colonizers” who left obsolete water pipes government would be providing safe water. 
“Zimbabwe still has gaps that we inherited from the skewered system from former colonial masters. We need to address that,” said Mnangagwa.
As a result of government’s failure to provide portable water, women and children walk long distances to get the precious commodity. 
Most urban centres experience extreme water shortages for years now, raising fears of waterborne diseases that thrive in unhygienic conditions.
Residents have resorted to drilling boreholes in a bid to counter the water challenges, but this has been said to deplete the water table.
Most of these boreholes have not been sanctioned by authorities.
The worst affected are those who have moved onto new housing developments and settlements which do not have infrastructure for water.

President Robert Mugabe attempted a run away from journalists in Mozambique on Thursday afternoon amid fears that Nigerian journo Adeola Fayehun was present in the country.
Mugabe was met with a heavy atmosphere of humiliation upon touching down in Maputo as he had lost his liberation hero lustre being met by a generation that is future-looking. Mozambique has had at least eight Presidential changes since independence in 1975.
Mozambique is celebrating its 40th independence anniversary amid pomp, music , dance and drama.
Zimbabwe’s President was among dignitaries the likes of Presidents of Angola, Namibia, Zambia among others together with former president of Botswana Festus Mogae.
ZimEye.com’s correspondent in Maputo gave this update: A few minutes ago, Mugabe was seen chatting with other dignitaries . He also greeted one of Samora Machel’s grand daughters.
It was at that point that Mugabe attempted to evade journalists.
“Security initially had refused the journalists to get near him. But they later allowed the grilling after a vetting which determined that Nigerian journalist Adeola Fayehun was not among the group of scribes present.
“During the address Mugabe congratulated the people of Mozambique on the milestone of their 40th anniversary.
Mozambique has had at least eight Presidential changes since 1975 unlike Zimbabwe which has known only one leader.
Mugabe however said he and the people of Zimbabwe received with gladness Mozambique’s independence because it became a launchpad for the liberation of neighbouring countries.
“He bemoaned that key heroes he worked with Eduardo Modlane, and Samora Machel are not alive today. But they left a legacy, said Mugabe.
“He said the likes of Chisanno, Guebuza, Chipande and others are there to continue that legacy.
“After the laying of wreaths at the heroes acre Mugabe together with other dignitaries left for Machava stadium for the national event event.

Two days after he was expelled, former Information and Media Minister Jonathan Moyo has gone missing.
Moyo was fired by President Robert Mugabe in a development legal analysts say was deliberate as Mugabe did all under the guise of a technicality of Moyo having been elected an MP saying he needs a new appointment letter.
Moyo’s sympathisers led by Herald Editor Caesar Zvayi rushed to claim his ouster from cabinet was only temporary and he would be installed to his post.
But Moyo who has since switched off his cellphone is reportedly licking his wounds as it becometh clear he was jilted and Mugabe has shut the door on his political fortunes.
He was nowhere to be seen in parliament yesterday as his phone was also turned off.
Mugabe’s legal advisors claim that Moyo had to be removed from office to pave the way for a re-appointment after his return as an MP for Tsholotsho.
Top Legal Analyst Lovemore Madhuku however had a differing interpretation. Dr Madhuku says:
1. A person appointed as a Minister from outside Parliament in term of section 104(3) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013 does not vacate his or her office as a Minister upon being elected a Member
of Parliament.
2. A person who is appointed from outside Parliament does not become a Member of Parliament. He or she is only entitled to sit and speak in Parliament, but without a vote: section 104(5) . He or
she has the same status in this regard as a Vice President or an Attorney General.
3. The only circumstances in which the office of a Minister becomes
vacant are specified in section 108.
4. Every Minister, whether appointed from in or outside Parliament, ceases to be a Minister if (i) fired by the President, (ii) he or she resigns or (iii) a new President assumes office.
5. Outside the above three situations, section 108 draws a distinction
between ministers appointed from Parliament and those appointed
from outside Parliament. A Minister appointed from Parliament
automatically vacates office as a Minister if he or she loses his or her seat in Parliament: section 108(2). A Minister appointed from outside Parliament remains a Minister if he or she gains a seat in Parliament because subsection 4 of section 108 does not require such a Minister to vacate office in those circumstances. On the contrary, the principle in the constitution is that such a Minister`s position is strengthened when he or she gains a seat in Parliament.
6. The President is only allowed to appoint a person from outside
Parliament on the basis of that person`s “professional skills and competence”. In other words, the President must only appoint persons from outside Parliament if he/she is of the opinion that there are no such professional skills or competencies in Parliament.
The President is limited to only 5 such Ministers. Thus, if some of the Ministers find seats in Parliament, the spirit of the Constitution is satisfied and the President may either not appoint new Ministers from outside or look for other skills still missing from Parliament to
maintain the quota of 5(for outsiders).
7. There is no new procedure required for a Minister appointed from outside Parliament to continue with his or her duties after gaining a seat in Parliament.
8. Regarding the reports surrounding Minister Jonathan Moyo, if it is true that some advice were given to the President suggesting that he ceased being a Minister upon becoming a Member of Parliament, that advice would certainly be an incorrect reading of the
Constitution.
9. The wrong advice may have stemmed from one or both of two situations. The first situation may be that the advisers thought he became a Member of Parliament upon being appointed a Minister and therefore ceased to be a Minister in terms of section 108(2). As
already indicated, a person appointed to be a Minister from outside Parliament does not become a Member of Parliament.
10. The second situation is that the advisers may have misunderstood
section 108(3) which provides as follows:
“.. a Minister or Deputy Minister who was not a Member of Parliament
on appointment as Minister or Deputy Minister vacates his or her office
as such if circumstances arise that would result in his or her seat becoming vacant were he or she a Member of Parliament.”
This provision refers to some aspects of section 129 such as ceasing to be qualified for registration as a voter, being declared insolvent and being convicted of certain offences. The provision has no application whatsoever to the issue of gaining a seat in
Parliament.
1. There are only two legal ways in which Jonathan Moyo may vacate office as a Minister in the current circumstances. These are (i) being fired by the President and (ii) himself resigning.
PROF LOVEMORE MADHUKU
24 JUNE, 2015

In the near future Zimbabweans may soon be immunised against HIV transmission if trials for a vaccine to stop the spread of the deadly virus are a success.
The same trials will also be carried out in Zambia and Malawi, as a step by Southern Africa gears up efforts to fight HIV.
Local scientists are already working on the commencement of the vaccine trials.
University of Zimbabwe scientist Dr Lynda Stranix-Chibanda is leading the trials on behalf of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) which is in partnership with UZ and the University of California San Francisco (UZ-UCSF).
Dr Stranix-Chibanda said they were conducting awareness campaigns in communities to ensure that processes involved in research and issues around vaccines are well understood.
After the awareness campaigns, recruitment of trial volunteers would start.
Dr Stranix-Chibanda said although more work still needed to be done at Seke South Clinic, which will be used for the research, they were close to having everything in place for the trials.
The study protocol was undergoing final revisions prior to being submitted for approval to regulatory authorities.
“While this delay may be frustrating, it emphasises the systematic process researchers and regulators follow to protect the safety and rights of participants,” Dr Stranix-Chibanda said.
She said the processes will see the trial beginning between October and December this year instead of the initial proposed dates in August.
“We will not be able to start the trial until the revised protocol has undergone full review and approval by all the regulatory bodies in Zimbabwe,” she said. “This would be the first time Zimbabwe is participating in an HIV vaccine trial.”
The study known as HVTN 107 is expected to recruit participants over a period of six months and follow them up very closely for three years to evaluate the vaccine product’s effect on the immune system and monitor for side effects.
Dr Stranix-Chibanda said it could take some time to conclude if the vaccines prevent new HIV infections.
“A product’s safety must first be verified in small studies before large-scale trials are conducted to see if it actually works to prevent new infections,” she said. “This is quite normal in vaccine research, the polio vaccine took 70 years to develop.”
Dr Stranix-Chibanda said it was important for Zimbabwe and the region to take part in such trials for HIV prevention because of the burden of the disease.
The product earmarked for trial in the three Southern African countries is based on a similar vaccine tested in Thailand a few years ago, whose results showed 60 percent protection in preventing HIV infections among adults in the first year after vaccination.
The product used in Thailand was modified for the HIV strain in Southern Africa.
Only the Thailand study out of six major vaccine studies conducted so far has promised to prevent new HIV infections.
A number of such trials will be conducted across Southern Africa to test different regimens of the virus.
Addressing journalists at a media symposium on HIV vaccines held in Zambia recently, a scientist with the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia Dr Margaret Kasaro said a vaccine was the answer to ending the spread of HIV.
Dr Kasaro said a vaccine that has a 30 percent chance of protecting people from getting HIV when administered to about 20 percent of the people who need protection can save up to six million lives.
Facilitated by AVAC – an organisation involved in simplifying science for the ordinary person, the media symposium was attended by journalists from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.  -State Media

THEMBA Mliswa has lodged a petition with the Electoral Court seeking to nullify the victory of Zanu-PF legislator Keith Guzah in the Hurungwe West by-election.
He argues that Guzah was not eligible to contest in the by-election because he was not a registered voter in the constituency. Mliswa wants the court to nullify Guzah’s victory and declare him the winner.
Guzah polled 5,961 votes against Mliswa’s 4,239 ballots in the by-election held on June 10.
In a petition filed at the Electoral Court yesterday, Mliswa also claimed that Guzah is an ex-convict.
He cited electoral malpractices as well as intimidation as the basis for his complaint.
“Having familiarised myself with the electoral law, I can safely state that one cannot stand as a parliamentary candidate in a constituency in which he or she is not registered,” stated Mliswa in his affidavit.
He said he would prove at trial of the petition that Guzah was not registered as a voter in any of the wards in Hurungwe West.
To that end, Mliswa claims Guzah stood disqualified from contesting in the constituency.
“The fact that respondent is not a registered voter in Hurungwe West, whether by error, negligence or design, clearly impugns the respondent’s election and the electoral return that declared him the winner,” he said.
“Having considered the legal import of the foregoing, this court (Electoral Court) is thereby enjoined to declare me the winner of the by-election due to my legitimacy.”
Mliswa further contends that Guzah’s previous conviction, coupled with his refusal to appraise electoral authorities of his criminal record, barred him from holding office as a Member of Parliament.
“The fact that the respondent hid the essential information from the electoral authorities substantiates the allegation that the respondent committed electoral fraud,” he said.
“In that case he is disqualified from being a Member of Parliament.”
Mliswa intends to lead evidence that Guzah and his agents engaged in widespread intimidation of the electorate.
“The most sinister of those intimidatory activities was the open deployment of military personnel at schools throughout the constituency, who declared that there would be widespread reprisal should I win the election,” he said.
He also accused Guzah of using traditional leaders’ influence in his political activities ahead of the polls and massive vote buying. Guzah has up to three weeks to respond to the petition.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on Monday attempted to clear the air on the alleged bungling in handling the Hurungwe by-election.
ZEC declared that Guzah, was lawfully and procedurally nominated as a candidate for the Hurungwe West by-election though he failed to cast his ballot in the polls conducted on June 10.
Musindo Hungwe instructed by Advocate Tawanda Zhuwarara is acting for Mliswa.

In a bid to bring down the number of illegal immigrants, South Africa is expected to send around 800 Zimbabweans back home today by train.This will be the second batch to be brought home.
An official said that the first group of 796 men arrived in the country via the Beitbridge border post on June 3. The latest arrivals will bring the total number of people who have been deported from South Africa since the beginning of the year 8,750.
It is alleged that these people were picked up for violating South Africa’s immigration laws.
Yesterday Zimbabwe’s Consul General to South Africa, Batiraishe Mukonoweshuro said the documentation of those due for deportation would be completed today( Wednesday).
He went on to say the group would be left at the National Railways of Zimbabwe station adjacent to the government-run reception and support centre which has a carrying capacity of 1,000 people at any given time.
“We expect them to leave Johannesburg on Thursday (tomorrow) and arrive in Zimbabwe the next morning.
“There are over 800 people due for deportation, but we’ll have the exact number by end of day tomorrow (yesterday) upon completion of the documentation processes”.stated Mukonoweshuro.
He said they had agreed in principle with the Home Affairs department that children and women would always be deported in buses.
Mukonoweshuro said the train was introduced as a way to reduce over crowding at the Lindelani Transit Holding Centre by illegal immigrants.
He said the train would only be used in cases where there would be larger numbers of people at the centre.
Mukonoweshuro suggested the need for Zimbabweans travelling to South Africa to always ensure that they have the right needed documents. “Those travelling with children must be aware of the new requirements of long birth certificates and the requisite affidavits, in cases where only one of the parents is travelling with a minor,” he said.  -State Media

A Harare man has been slapped with jail sentence for insulting Búhera South legislator Joseph Chinotimba on the Whatsapp network.
Mr Tendai Benjamin Machingauta from Epworth, narrowly escaped prison when he opted for an alternative fine of $100, all for expressing himself on Chinotimba charges which the Buhera legislator told ZimEye.com soon after the trial, cause and incite violence.
The court yesterday upheld that Machingauta insulted Mr Chinotimba by his beard. The exact words used in the Whatsapp chat were “Pfutseki Chinotimba, mandebvu aro.”
Harare Magistrate Vakai Chikwekwe bowed to the prosecutor Sharon Mashavira’s arguments who said that the “insults can lead to inciting violence and, therefore, a short, sharp and effective prison term would be appropriate in these circumstances.”
At the end of trial Chikwekwe ruled that Machingauta’s words were violence centric. The magistrate indicated Machingauta deserved a worse sentence and was only saved because he is a first time offender. “In assessing sentence I took into consideration that the accused showed contrition by admitting to the charge and is married and has two children,”
“Imprisonment is rather harsh to a first offender and I, therefore, fine you $100 or one month in prison,” the magistrate said.
Contacted for comment soon after the trial, Mr Chinotimba told ZimEye.com even after Machingauta’s conviction, he would not forgive the 29 year old man.
“How can I forgive him, it is too late now that he is in cells. If I was to forgive him, it could only have been earlier”, Chinotimba said.
Chinotimba in the exclusive ZimEye.com interview added to his anger sating that Machingauta’s crime was that of forming a Whatsapp group in which he together with some friends started a party in which they added the legislator shortly before hurling insults on him.
“I never applied to be in their party, I am a ZANU PF member,” said Chinotimba.
When grilled over the fairness of the judgement given the fact that Chinotimba himself has insulted others beginning with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai attacks which have credibly triggered violence over the years, Chinotimba replied saying, “You are now talking about the opposition party, that is something else, we do attack each other in parliament knowing that so and so is which side of politics.”
This man registered me into their party without my consent, Chinotimba hinted to ZimEye.

ZIMBABWE’S ROADS which could have all been fixed in less 7 days, are in a desperate state just as President Robert Mugabe’s family administration loots an estimated $11Million siphoned through the dodgy ZINARA parastatal government falsely claims is renovating the roads, attempting a job that can easily be completed by full salaried Transport Ministry staff members.
ZINARA which is headed and single handedly controlled by Mugabe’s cousin, Albert, failed to deduct $7,5 million being 10 percent withholding tax to 23 suppliers that had no tax clearance and proceeded to pay $4,1 million to creditors without authorised payment vouchers, an audit has revealed.
According to the audit, Mugabe’s senior management were paying themselves hefty monthly allowances, including $9 000 holiday allowance per individual outside the payroll, prejudicing the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority of revenue in tax. Zinara is among seven State entities that had adverse reports from Auditor-General Ms Mildred Chiri in her 2014 report that was made available yesterday.
Already Transport Minister Obert Mpofu has resigned from the blame as he told ZimEye.com earlier, “call ZINARA, don’t call me. ZINARA is under a board, why don’t you talk to the board chairman,” he said as he avoided naming Mr Mugabe’s name.
The parastatal collects more than $5,5 million per month from 26 tollgates, owes among its debtors the Development Bank of South Africa ($12,8 million), NMB ($8,5 million), the Department of Roads ($5 million) and Cimas for employees’ medical aid cover.
It also collects around $130 million annually from road access fees, vehicle licensing, transit fees, and fuel levy, among other revenue streams.
The State Media reports that the The Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation paid $3,1 million on corporate social responsibility with no breakdowns, acknowledgement of receipts from beneficiaries and gave non executive directors 2 940 litres per individual with $27 450 holiday allowance each without the parent ministry’s approval.
The Environmental Management Agency board raised its own fees without approval from the parent ministry, while the Health Services Board approved increased fuel allocations for board members without the concurrence of Treasury among other ills noted.
On Zinara, Ms Chiri said the Administration dealt with suppliers that had no valid tax clearance and had paid $75 million to 23 suppliers prejudicing Zimra of $7,5 million in tax.
“I observed that Zinara did not deduct 10 percent withholding tax for payments made to suppliers without valid tax clearance certificates,” she said.
Some of the firms were Infralink ($63,7 million), Twalumba Civils (2,4 million) Group Five Engineering ($200 000), Heritage Agro Equipment ($2,4million) Badon Enterprises ($2,4 million) Fremus Enterprise ($2,2 millon) Applied Wighing Scale ($200 000) Bitumen, Brown Engineering, Forit, Cortman Investments, Gratic Trading, Easthset, Gramaton, Tegasteel among others.
In response, Zinara management told the auditors that tax clearances lapsed after the firms were already contracted leading to the exposure but said efforts to recover the money were on course.
“Infralink has been part of Zinara and was formed only for the purposes of acquiring DBSA loan and repayment thereof. Zimra had two of its commissioners conflicting on Infralink registration for VAT and income taxes. One commissioner registered it and another de-registered it. This brought confusion and the likely exposure,” read the brief response.
On the $4,1 million payment that occurred between 2012 and 2013, Ms Chiri said in terms of Zinara standing instructions for payment to be made, payment voucher and the bank transfer request should be authorised by the relevant signatories.
“I observed that payments amounting to $4 157 937 were made without authorisation since the payment vouchers were not signed by the relevant signatories. The risk is that fraud and errors may not be detected resulting in financial loss to the organisation,” she said.
It was noted that management paid themselves allowances outside the payroll thereby circumventing payment of tax.
The monthly allowances were home telephone ($225), entertainment ($750), home security (24hours) private fuel (750 litres) and holiday allowance ($9 000.)
“Vehicle loans amounting to $140 000 availed to each of the directors were above the authorised $100 000 in the contracts of employment,” she said.
Zinara former chief executive, Mr Frank Chitukutuku unilaterally increased his salary from July to December 2013, said Ms Chri.
The Administration bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee and office furniture for an official in the parent ministry worth $83 000 and $10 230 respectively.
“I also noted that on December 28 2012 the Administration paid for Christmas hampers worth $173 000 to staff at the parent ministry in violation of the Roads Act.
The Administration disbursed funds to local authorities beyond the budgeted allocations as high as 1 503 percent while others received nothing.
For example, the Department of Roads got $14,3 million against an allocation of $3,3 million, Rusape town council got $668 000 against an allocation of $93 000 in 2013 while in 2012 it got $992 000 against an allocation of $124 000.
Kariba urban council did not get anything for in the two years while it had an allocation of $150 000 (2012) and $94 000 (2013).

The jailed Johanne Masowe eChishanu Vapositori sect leader Ishmael Chokurongerwa
has failed to obtain a bail release.
Madzibaba Ishmael’s hopes were dashed when the High Court dismissed it for lack of merit.
Justice Garainesu Mawadza ruled declaring there are no prospects of success on appeal for the cop basher leader.
The court dismissed Chokurongerwa’s application for bail pending appeal ruling that the lower court had properly assessed the credibility of the state witnesses’ evidence and that he found no fault in the judgement of the lower court.
Justice Mawadza said it is not in dispute that public violence occurred at the Budiriro shrine resulting in the assault and subsequent injuries on police officers, journalists and members of the Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe while what was in dispute was Chokurongerwa’s presence at the shrine.
He said Chokurongerwa in his defence outline failed to set grounds for the truthfulness of his alibi and failed to give all material facts relevant to his defence leaving the court to exercise its discretion.
On the sentence he said the 5-year jail term imposed on Chokurongerwa was commensurate with the seriousness of the offence, considering that people were seriously injured while state equipment was damaged.
He said the interests of due administration of justice and the rights of the appellant were balanced.-State Media