VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

DADDY MAKANDIWA: WHY ARE YOU ALL ATTACKING ME? https://t.co/LVNd25ftgD

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) June 19, 2023

1. God needs a prophet to stop him from sinning (2017).

2. Had it been for the prophet, God would have fallen apart. (2017)

3. Prophets protect God from sinning…(2017)

4. If you get to heaven, write this down, you get to heaven and you don’t find me there, you have gone to h-ell (2018)

5. ” I am more gifted than God.” (2023)

Analyzing the Honesty and Trustworthiness of Emmanuel Makandiwa’s Character in Light of His Sermons and Career

By Religion Reporter | ZimEye | Emmanuel Makandiwa, a prominent preacher and founder of the United Family International Church, has garnered a significant following over the years. However, his character and trustworthiness have come under scrutiny due to several controversial incidents and claims made during his sermons and career. This article aims to analyze the honesty and trustworthiness of Makandiwa based on these incidents, including his declaration that the Creator of the universe depends on his assistance, allegations of staging fake miracles, failure to accurately prophesy events, and his association with individuals accused of financial misconduct.

1. The Claim of Assisting the Creator of the Universe:

One of the most remarkable claims made by Makandiwa is that the Creator of the universe relies on his assistance. This statement raises questions about his humility and credibility as a spiritual leader. Such a declaration is inconsistent with traditional religious beliefs and places Makandiwa in a position of grandiosity and self-importance.

2. Allegations of Staging Fake Miracles:

Makandiwa has faced allegations of staging fake miracles, such as the controversial claim that he could heal people’s ailments, including a woman’s fat belly. The credibility of any spiritual leader can be seriously undermined when there are suspicions of deception surrounding their supposed miraculous abilities. These allegations cast doubt on Makandiwa’s integrity and raise questions about the authenticity of his claims.

3. Failure to Accurately Prophesy Events:

Another significant aspect of Makandiwa’s ministry is his prophetic declarations. However, there have been instances where his prophecies have failed to materialize. For example, he allegedly claimed to have healed Zimbabwean comedian Mai Titi of cancer, but later she was jailed for a separate offense. Such inaccuracies bring into question the authenticity and reliability of his prophetic abilities, eroding trust among his followers.

4. Association with Individuals Accused of Financial Misconduct:

Makandiwa’s close association with Uebert Angel, an individual accused of money laundering and being recorded by Al Jazeera Investigative journalists, raises concerns about his judgment and discernment. The failure to prophesy or address such serious allegations involving a close associate may suggest a lack of transparency or willingness to confront uncomfortable truths.

The analysis of Emmanuel Makandiwa’s character, based on his sermons and career, reveals several red flags that may impact his credibility and trustworthiness as a spiritual leader. The claim of assisting the Creator of the universe, allegations of staging fake miracles, failure to accurately prophesy events, and association with individuals accused of financial misconduct all contribute to a sense of skepticism. It is essential for individuals to critically evaluate the claims and actions of any spiritual leader, holding them accountable for their words and deeds. Ultimately, trust and honesty are foundational qualities necessary for any religious figure, and it is up to the followers to determine the level of trust they place in their chosen spiritual leaders.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has taken a swipe at the country’s detractors who seek to destabilise the country’s economy and inflict suffering on Zimbabweans.

He was speaking at the Bernard Mizeki commemorations in Marondera this Saturday, where he joined Anglican Church congregates in celebrating the life and ministry of a saint.

Upon arrival, President Mnangagwa led a tree-planting exercise at the shrine followed by a procession which ushered guests and congregates into a mass and Holy Communion.

The excellent relations between the government and the church were on display, with President Emmerson Mnangagwa reminding stakeholders to be vigilant as the country’s detractors are working round the clock to destabilise the country’s economy.

“Let’s also remain steadfast against the onslaught by our detractors who seek to hurt our economy and inflict suffering on all of us. Such greedy, divisive and harmful tendencies are ungodly. Our collective energies, skills, ideas and competencies must be directed towards building a prosperous, modern and industrialised Zimbabwe,” he said.

Turning to the forthcoming general elections, President Mnangagwa said churches must continue to preach and pray for peace and unity during the election period.

“In Keeping with our national Constitution, our country will be holding General elections on the 23rd of August 2023. In this regard, I appeal to the Anglican Church and other churches throughout our beloved motherland, Zimbabwe to preach and pray for peace, unity and love; before, during and after elections. No one must tell us about having peaceful elections but ourselves because it is what we want. Christian denominations must build bridges,” the President said.

President Mnangagwa reminded Zimbabweans that it is everyone’s responsibility to fight the menace of drug and substance abuse.

“As a nation, right from the community and family levels, we all have to help in fighting the menace of drug and substance abuse which is destroying some of our young people. The Bible says in Proverbs 22 verse 6, ‘Train up Children in the way they should go and even when they are old they will not turn from it’. The church is encouraged to design programmes and activities that attract young people and the youth to be more involved in healthy and productive activities. Pasi nemutoriro, pasi neguka. At the family and school level, we must remain guided by Proverbs 13 verse 24 which states that “whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them” vana vane musikanzwa ngavarohwe kusvika vati Tasa,” he said.

The President expressed gratitude at the invitation by the church to celebrate the life of Bernard Mizeki which saw him interacting with multitudes, ahead of the 23rd of August elections.

The Bernard Mizeki Shrine is billed to become a national heritage, with two solar-powered boreholes set to be installed courtesy of the government.- ZBC News

Vice President General (Rtd) Dr Constantino Chiwenga has been given an award of excellence by the India Africa Trade Council in honour of his contribution to trade between India and Zimbabwe.

He received the accolade on the sidelines of the ongoing 18th edition CII Exim Bank Conclave on India-Africa Growth Partnership.

The award honours achievers towards peace, security, growth and stability.

Dr Chiwenga said that he is honoured to receive the award on behalf of the government and people of Zimbabwe, adding that economic links between India and Zimbabwe that have a long history from the era of the Munhutapa State, present a conducive environment for present day engagements in different areas of cooperation.

According to Vice President Chiwenga, a Zimbabwe-India business delegation expected in the country in early July this year is testament to the successful Indo-Zim trade relationship.- ZBC

Vice President General (Rtd) Dr Constantino Chiwenga has been given an award of excellence by the India Africa Trade Council in honour of his contribution to trade between India and Zimbabwe.

He received the accolade on the sidelines of the ongoing 18th edition CII Exim Bank Conclave on India-Africa Growth Partnership.

The award honours achievers towards peace, security, growth and stability.

Dr Chiwenga said that he is honoured to receive the award on behalf of the government and people of Zimbabwe, adding that economic links between India and Zimbabwe that have a long history from the era of the Munhutapa State, present a conducive environment for present day engagements in different areas of cooperation.

According to Vice President Chiwenga, a Zimbabwe-India business delegation expected in the country in early July this year is testament to the successful Indo-Zim trade relationship.- ZBC

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has taken a swipe at the country’s detractors who seek to destabilise the country’s economy and inflict suffering on Zimbabweans.

He was speaking at the Bernard Mizeki commemorations in Marondera this Saturday, where he joined Anglican Church congregates in celebrating the life and ministry of a saint.

Upon arrival, President Mnangagwa led a tree-planting exercise at the shrine followed by a procession which ushered guests and congregates into a mass and Holy Communion.

The excellent relations between the government and the church were on display, with President Emmerson Mnangagwa reminding stakeholders to be vigilant as the country’s detractors are working round the clock to destabilise the country’s economy.

“Let’s also remain steadfast against the onslaught by our detractors who seek to hurt our economy and inflict suffering on all of us. Such greedy, divisive and harmful tendencies are ungodly. Our collective energies, skills, ideas and competencies must be directed towards building a prosperous, modern and industrialised Zimbabwe,” he said.

Turning to the forthcoming general elections, President Mnangagwa said churches must continue to preach and pray for peace and unity during the election period.

“In Keeping with our national Constitution, our country will be holding General elections on the 23rd of August 2023. In this regard, I appeal to the Anglican Church and other churches throughout our beloved motherland, Zimbabwe to preach and pray for peace, unity and love; before, during and after elections. No one must tell us about having peaceful elections but ourselves because it is what we want. Christian denominations must build bridges,” the President said.

President Mnangagwa reminded Zimbabweans that it is everyone’s responsibility to fight the menace of drug and substance abuse.

“As a nation, right from the community and family levels, we all have to help in fighting the menace of drug and substance abuse which is destroying some of our young people. The Bible says in Proverbs 22 verse 6, ‘Train up Children in the way they should go and even when they are old they will not turn from it’. The church is encouraged to design programmes and activities that attract young people and the youth to be more involved in healthy and productive activities. Pasi nemutoriro, pasi neguka. At the family and school level, we must remain guided by Proverbs 13 verse 24 which states that “whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them” vana vane musikanzwa ngavarohwe kusvika vati Tasa,” he said.

The President expressed gratitude at the invitation by the church to celebrate the life of Bernard Mizeki which saw him interacting with multitudes, ahead of the 23rd of August elections.

The Bernard Mizeki Shrine is billed to become a national heritage, with two solar-powered boreholes set to be installed courtesy of the government.- ZBC News

Tinashe Sambiri|CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa has said citizens are ready for the August 23 harmonized elections.

According to President Chamisa, the citizens shall govern the country, despite desperate attempts by the Zanu PF regime to subvert the will of the people.

On Thursday President Chamisa wrote on Twitter:

“THE HARARE CITIZENS ASSEMBLY…

Get ready Go! It’s all systems go! The Citizens shall govern in Zimbabwe…

THIS TIME WE WILL DO IT DIFFERENTLY…If they genuinely won in 2018 why would they bother about us whom they defeated. We won in 2018 and because #Godisinit we will surely win again.

This explains why we daily occupy their minds, hearts and lips rent-free! #Thistime we won’t allow.”

The daughter of murdered CCC activist Moreblessing Ali has declared that there will be no burial until Hon Job Sikhala is released from prison.

Moreblessing Ali was murdered by Zanu PF activists last year…

Hon Sikhala was arrested last year for speaking on behalf of Moreblessing Ali’s family as a lawyer.

The Citizens’ Daily Bulletin Headlines: Moreblessing Ali’s Daughter Refuses To Bury Mother Until Job Sikhala Is Released…

Transform Zimbabwe Press Statement

Transform Zimbabwe President Jacob Ngarivhume bail pending his appeal at the High Court has been quashed. The judge has dismissed the application and Jacob Ngarivhume will remain in custody pending his appeal hearing.

He is appealing both conviction and sentence.

Jacob Ngarivhume defense counsel Prof L Madhuku and Mr M Nkomo are still reading the judgement and will advise on the next steps. They will be looking at the merits of appealing today’s judgement at the Supreme Court or to wait for the appeal hearing.
We view today’s judgement as a travesty of justice and as clear evidence that the state is using the judiciary to fight its opponents. We see this as the state’s ploy to deny Jacob Ngarivhume an opportunity to participate in the 23rd August harmonized elections.

Aluta Continua

Fugitive businessman Peter Dube, wanted for multiple charges including murder and immigration violations, has been apprehended in Ireland.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police obtained an international arrest warrant, and Dube now faces extradition. After allegedly committing the murders, he fled to South Africa, assumed a new identity, and eventually ended up in Ireland. An investigation by the Irish police, known as An Garda Síochána, followed a newspaper article exposing Dube’s use of a false name to obtain asylum. Dube has appeared in court in Ireland.

“A male in his late 30s was arrested on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, for alleged offences, contrary to the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act of 2001. The male has appeared before the district court and is currently remanded in custody. As the male is currently before the court, An Garda Síochána has no further comment at this time.”

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has since initiated legal proceedings to extradite the suspect.

NPA head of the international co-operation and anti-terrorism unit Mr Clement Chimbare yesterday confirmed that a provisional arrest warrant had been issued against Dube. ZRP is now expected to transmit the warrant to Ireland’s law-enforcement authorities through the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol).

Dube had been placed on Interpol’s Red Notice, a request to law-enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition. Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said police were waiting for the extradition process to take place.

It is alleged that on April 23, 2021, Dube, who was a car dealer, approached his second wife, Nyasha Nharingo, and her suspected lover Shelton Chinhango — also a car dealer — who was seated in a minibus parked outside a flat in Gweru’s central business district, where she lived. He fatally shot Chinhango at close range and turned the gun on his second wife’s best friend, Gamuchirai Mudungwe, whom he shot in the chest. She died instantly.

He went on to shoot Nyasha and her sister Nyaradzo.

The two sisters were rushed to hospital, where Nyaradzo died on admission. It is believed Dube and Nyasha had a long-standing dispute, with the former convinced that she was involved in an adulterous affair.

Earlier investigations by our Bureau indicated that five months after the shootings, Dube allegedly changed his identity and acquired a passport (A09465267) in Eswatini on October 28, 2021. He later used the passport to move to Ireland, where he applied for asylum, before being accommodated at Red Cow Moran Hotel in Dublin. The fugitive also later assisted his wife, Nomatter Chawana, and children to acquire new identities. His luck, however, ran out on Wednesday last week, when he was taken into custody by police.

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has challenged the young generation to harness innovations to propel the country’s industrial growth.

He was speaking at the official opening of the 31st Junior Parliament in Harare this Friday.

Following in the footsteps of the August House, the young legislators conduct their business in the Junior Parliament which has representatives from the country’s 10 provinces.

This was showcased during the official opening of the Junior Parliament led by the newly elected Child President, Neville Mavu at the City Sports Centre in Harare this Friday.

The day coincided with commemorations to mark the Day of the African Child celebrated on the 16th of June each year in honour of young lives lost in the Soweto uprising of 1976 in South Africa.

President Mnangagwa took the opportunity to spell out the government’s expectations for the youth dividend where learners are expected to provide the needs of industry through the heritage based 5.0 model.

“It is folly for a nation to aspire to have things they do not produce. If you want a good house you must build it. We want to ensure when you leave university you must say I am fit to serve the growth of the country,” said the President.

He also stressed the need for young people to be proud of their origins.

“The development you see in the 1st world was done by their young people. People your age in Japan are Japanese so you also here in Zimbabwe must know you’re Zimbabweans.”

With drug and substance abuse affecting young people, President Mnangagwa said the Junior Parliament must play a leading role in dealing with the scourge.

“Drug and substance abuse continues to hound our young people. You must take a leading role in fighting this,” he said.

President Mnangagwa further noted the government’s commitment to uplifting the lives of young people, describing them as the backbone and future of the country.

The President also said the government will continue to work with development partners, particularly those with a mandate to support child protection, education and skills development.

“In fulfilling our commitment under the United Nations Suaga Development Cooperation Framework, the government will continue to collaborate with development partners, this cooperation should be in line with government priorities and respect our culture and values,” he said.

Attention was also drawn to the benefits of the digital age.

“The digital environment also opens new avenues for children with disabilities to engage in social relations with their peers, access to information and participate in public decision-making processes.”

The Opening Session of the Junior Parliament was also an opportunity for the young ones to highlight gaps where they need government support.- ZBC News

MASVINGO-A Mucheke man died last night after being stabbed thrice in the chest near Mundondo Nightclub following an altercation with another patron. 

Masvingo Assistant Police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Lorraine Ndlovu confirmed the matter to The Mirror. 
She said Owen Mabwe (38) of Zimuto Street in Mucheke was stabbed around 11:30 pm by a man only identified as Chitsano. 
Ndlovu said Police have since launched a manhunt for Chitsano. 

The circumstances are that the two were drinking beer separately at Mundondo Nightclub. They got into an argument over an undisclosed issue and began fighting…Masvingo Mirror

Tinashe Sambiri|CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa has said citizens are ready for the August 23 harmonized elections.

According to President Chamisa, the citizens shall govern the country, despite desperate attempts by the Zanu PF regime to subvert the will of the people.

On Thursday President Chamisa wrote on Twitter:

“THE HARARE CITIZENS ASSEMBLY…

Get ready Go! It’s all systems go! The Citizens shall govern in Zimbabwe…

THIS TIME WE WILL DO IT DIFFERENTLY…If they genuinely won in 2018 why would they bother about us whom they defeated. We won in 2018 and because #Godisinit we will surely win again.

This explains why we daily occupy their minds, hearts and lips rent-free! #Thistime we won’t allow.”

The daughter of murdered CCC activist Moreblessing Ali has declared that there will be no burial until Hon Job Sikhala is released from prison.

Moreblessing Ali was murdered by Zanu PF activists last year…

Hon Sikhala was arrested last year for speaking on behalf of Moreblessing Ali’s family as a lawyer.

The Citizens’ Daily Bulletin Headlines: Moreblessing Ali’s Daughter Refuses To Bury Mother Until Job Sikhala Is Released…

MASVINGO-A Mucheke man died last night after being stabbed thrice in the chest near Mundondo Nightclub following an altercation with another patron. 

Masvingo Assistant Police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Lorraine Ndlovu confirmed the matter to The Mirror. 
She said Owen Mabwe (38) of Zimuto Street in Mucheke was stabbed around 11:30 pm by a man only identified as Chitsano. 
Ndlovu said Police have since launched a manhunt for Chitsano. 

The circumstances are that the two were drinking beer separately at Mundondo Nightclub. They got into an argument over an undisclosed issue and began fighting…Masvingo Mirror

Tinashe Sambiri|CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa has said citizens are ready for the August 23 harmonized elections.

According to President Chamisa, the citizens shall govern the country, despite desperate attempts by the Zanu PF regime to subvert the will of the people.

On Thursday President Chamisa wrote on Twitter:

“THE HARARE CITIZENS ASSEMBLY…

Get ready Go! It’s all systems go! The Citizens shall govern in Zimbabwe…

THIS TIME WE WILL DO IT DIFFERENTLY…If they genuinely won in 2018 why would they bother about us whom they defeated. We won in 2018 and because #Godisinit we will surely win again.

This explains why we daily occupy their minds, hearts and lips rent-free! #Thistime we won’t allow.”

Tinashe Sambiri|CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa has said citizens are ready for the August 23 harmonized elections.

According to President Chamisa, the citizens shall govern the country, despite desperate attempts by the Zanu PF regime to subvert the will of the people.

On Thursday President Chamisa wrote on Twitter:

“THE HARARE CITIZENS ASSEMBLY…

Get ready Go! It’s all systems go! The Citizens shall govern in Zimbabwe…

THIS TIME WE WILL DO IT DIFFERENTLY…If they genuinely won in 2018 why would they bother about us whom they defeated. We won in 2018 and because #Godisinit we will surely win again.

This explains why we daily occupy their minds, hearts and lips rent-free! #Thistime we won’t allow.”

The daughter of murdered CCC activist Moreblessing Ali has declared that there will be no burial until Hon Job Sikhala is released from prison.

Moreblessing Ali was murdered by Zanu PF activists last year…

Hon Sikhala was arrested last year for speaking on behalf of Moreblessing Ali’s family as a lawyer.

The Citizens’ Daily Bulletin Headlines: Moreblessing Ali’s Daughter Refuses To Bury Mother Until Job Sikhala Is Released…

Suspected Zanu PF-linked land barons have invaded large tracts of land in Harare and Chitungwiza, where they are doling out residential stands to desperate home-seekers as a vote-buying gimmick ahead of the August 23 harmonised elections.

NewsDay has heard that some of the land barons in Retreat, Waterfalls, had pegged residential stands on land reserved for the Harare-Chitungwiza railway line as well as social amenities such as schools, with home-seekers being asked to pay between US$10 and US$20 as allocation fee.
An organisation known as Mapani Youth Housing Co-operative Society, with alleged links to Zanu PF, has been fingered in the illegal land sales.

“These barons are taking advantage of Zanu PF campaigns to sell stands (for) between US$200 and US$1 000. We are not really sure who is behind them,” said a resident who declined to be named.
“They have a tent near Musasa and Villa Bar in Retreat which they use as their base (office).”
Council spokesperson Innocent Ruwende yesterday expressed concern over the fresh land invasions.

Ruwende identified Glen View, Retreat (Harare-Chitungwiza Railway Reservation), Budiriro, Mufakose, Crowborough, Kuwadzana, Tafara/Mabvuku, Kambuzuma, Warren Park, Glen Norah, Mabelreign, Chisipite and The Grange among the affected suburbs.
“Land barons are generating fake allocation letters, receipts and diagrams which they use to dupe unsuspecting home-seekers,” he said.
“The cases are being referred to the relevant law enforcement agents and city’s audit division for prosecution. Council has noted that the land barons are misleading the beneficiaries that once they settle on these unplanned spaces, the City of Harare will regularise the areas.”
Ruwende said the land barons were misleading residents into believing that due to the forthcoming elections, illegal structures would not be demolished since they have “political protection”.
“This is a lie and residents are advised not to believe such deceptions. There is no single political party that owns or encourages land barons to engage in their nefarious and illegal settlement on open spaces and ecologically sensitive wetlands and such settlements will not be spared from demolitions,” he said.

Harare’s ward 16 councillor Denford Ngadziore (Citizens Coalition for Change), said council had completed serving demolition orders to land barons after the invasion of about 130 hectares of Greenways land around Meyrick Park, Greencroft, Cotswold Hills and St Andrews Park.
“To avoid inconveniences, those with proof of ownership should approach Mabelreign acting district officer Gambiza before end of day. Working with police and other departments, the planned demolition will go ahead without fear or favour. This is a response to the residents’ outcry,” Ngadziore said in a WhatsApp message to residents in the affected areas.
In Caledonia, a Zanu PF aspiring candidate for ward 14 was named as one of the land barons.
“I have no actual information, but they have always been doing that. What can stop them when some ruling party candidates are land barons? They are desperate and cunning and that’s how they earn a living,” Eastview Progressive Trust chairperson Chenjerai Hondo Masviba said.
A Zanu PF supporter and Caledonia Development Association leader, Kingstone Chikanga, reportedly declared the area as his and directed all chairpersons of housing co-operatives to demand campaign fees from the beneficiaries.

In Harare North constituency, Zanu PF aspiring councillors for ward 42 have also allegedly been illegally parcelling out stands on wetlands and riverbanks.
Zanu PF Harare provincial chairperson Godwills Masimirembwa disowned the land barons in an interview yesterday.
“If ever that is happening, Zanu PF is not involved. The people doing that are thieves and they should be arrested. If possible, you can report them to the police. I will contact leaders in those areas to investigate that. We don’t tolerate such activities at all,” he said.
Coalition for Market and Liberal Solutions executive director Rejoice Ngwenya said police should act on the land invasions.
“There is absolutely no doubt that Cabinet said land barons are non-existent. The legislator or councillors in that area must raise a police case against all barons who claim to parcel land or charge levies. Parcelling State land is illegal, even if you are (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa’s son,” Ngwenya said.

An airport trespasser from Epworth was yesterday arraigned before Harare magistrate Mrs Ruth Moyo for allegedly trying to enter a VIP aircraft at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.

He is facing charges of contravening the Civil Aviation Statutory Instrument “access to airside and restricted areas” or is alternatively charged for trespassing.

He was denied bail and remanded to June 30.

The State requested that Mubare be examined to find out if he is mentally stable, or at least fit enough to stand trial.

The State alleged that Mubare arrived at the RGM International Airport at around 3.55pm and tried to get into the airport yard.
He was denied entry by the police who were manning the entry point.

Later on the same day, Mubare sneaked into the Air Zimbabwe airport yard where entry or access is denied to the air side.

The State requested that Mubare be examined to find out if he is mentally stable, or at least fit enough to stand trial.

-Online

Harare North MP Allan Norman Markham left parliament on Wednesday, after accusing ZANU PF MP Joseph Chinotimba of making racist comments.

During a debate on Statutory Instrument 144/22, which sets nomination fees for candidates seeking to run for president and parliament, Chinotimba heckled Markham and brought up his skin colour.

Chinotimba pointed at the opposition benches and asked:

You want to put forward Markham who is white leaving Biti who is a black man?

Chinotimba was referring to a contentious nomination battle between Markham and ex-finance minister Tendai Biti. Markham’s Harare North constituency collapsed during the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)’s delimitation, with a large section consumed by Harare East where Biti is the incumbent MP, ZimLive reported.

Markham protested that he considered Chinotimba’s statement “totally racial.” He accused the acting Speaker William Mtomba of showing no intention of calling Chinotimba to order.

He said:

In this inflammatory position that we are in now, it is quite clear to me that there is no reconciliation from the Hon. Member and the party he represents. Unfortunately, he is not the first to refer to me because of my colour. I was given my skin by my parents. It is not that I selected it. One can almost say God or whoever your God is gave it to you. I am sick and tired of being referred to as white.

In the constitution, it states categorically that you cannot separate us by religion, sex, gender, you name it and yet you tolerate that, Mr. Speaker.  I would like to announce to this House that I am absolutely disgusted by the racism that comes from that side and is also endemic in my own. I take leave of this House. Good afternoon.

He immediately left the House, and Chinotimba also left shortly afterward.

Mtomba told MPs that he had not heard Chinotimba’s remarks and asked him to withdraw his statement. 

-Newsday

Government has been urged to issue banknotes with higher denominations to make it easier for people to transact.

Currently, the $100 note is the highest banknote in the country, but it has been ravaged by inflation.

Blended inflation statistics released by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency show month-on-month inflation mounting since last month, gaining 13,3 percentage points on the April 2023 rate of 2,4% to 15,7%.

From a year-on-year perspective, general blended prices in the economy increased by 86,5% in May 2023 relative to 75,6% recorded in April 2023.

Although blended inflation spiked significantly in May 2023, it is not a true reflection of pricing dynamics.

With the United States dollar (US$) dominating in all domestic transactions, it means that the stable US$ commands more weight relative to the volatile Zimbabwe dollar (Zimdollar).

This exerts a stabilising effect on the weighted average, thus masking the actual inflation burden faced by economic agents, particularly the poor majority who are largely earning in local currency.

In its monthly economic review report for May, the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd) said given the prevailing galloping inflation, higher denomination banknotes were long overdue.

“These will help increase the public’s transacting convenience which is key in building market confidence,” it said.

“Adopt accruals accounting to get a complete and more accurate picture of the financial position of the government. This will inform fiscal and budgetary decision-making to avoid misallocation, increase financial resilience, reduce financial risks, and increase transparency,” Zimcodd said.

The organisation said the Zimdollar was on the verge of collapse and total rejection on the market as it is massively depreciating against the US$.

The local currency plummeted significantly on both foreign exchange markets in the month under review.

It shed nearly 40% on the parallel market in May 2023 from an average of $2 200 in April to $3 600 against the greenback.

Year-to-date (YTD), the Zimdollar is down by a staggering 75% which is slightly lower than a 77% decline registered in the entire 2022, Zimcodd noted.

On the official interbank market, the local currency lost 59% of its value to close May 2023 at $2 577,07, thus, giving a parallel market premium value of 40%.

“Granular analysis further shows that YTD the Zimdollar has erased 73% of its value in the interbank market — only 11 percentage points lower than an 84% decline witnessed in the whole of 2022,” Zimcodd said.

“These numbers are highlighting that ZWL is struggling to perform a store of value function. As such, economic agents are relentlessly substituting the ZWL — flight to safety to preserve earnings value.

“Largely driving incessant ZWL decline is the excess ZWL liquidity in the economy created by RBZ paying for forex ceded by tobacco farmers and exporters. Treasury is also to blame as it is failing to curtail mounting fiscal spending pressures.

“It is funding ongoing infrastructure projects, supporting agriculture, cushioning civil servants, and resourcing Zec [Zimbabwe Electoral Commission] to conduct the 2023 harmonised elections slated for August 23,” it added.

Also, starting from this month, Treasury will assume all Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe foreign obligations and undertake payments for all forex ceded by exporters.

All this contributes to excessive liquidity growth in the economy, Zimcodd said.

-Newsday

The Zimbabwe Nomination Courts will officially register candidates for the national general elections set for August 23, 2023, on June 21.

Here are some key facts about the nomination process:

Nomination is a process that requires prospective candidates to go through the nomination court to qualify or disqualify them from election.

All nominations for Presidential Candidates are received at a single designated venue in Harare.

Nominations of National Assembly Constituency members are received at designated provincial venues for all constituencies in the respective provinces.

Nominations of party-list candidates will be received at designated Provincial venues.

Nominations of candidates for election to local authority councils will be received at designated offices of the various local authorities countrywide.

Any person who meets the requisite qualifications can qualify for nomination.

Although candidate registration fees for some categories have been challenged in the courts as exorbitant, no new fee structure had been announced by June 14, 2023.

The required fees for Presidential Candidates are US$20,000; for National Assembly Constituency Candidates, US$1,000; and for Party List Candidates, USD$200 per party-list as stipulated by ZEC.

The Party list must adopt the Zebra format of having alternating female and male candidates with a female candidate always heading the list in order of preference.

Disqualifications from the party list include standing as a candidate in more than one province, standing on more than one party list, and standing as a candidate for the National Assembly or as a councillor.

Basic commodities have disappeared from shop shelves as most outlets are unable to secure foreign currency to replenish stocks, Business Times can report.

This comes as manufacturers are supplying goods to informal traders who pay in foreign currency as the economy battles currency volatility which has triggered a shortage of most locally manufactured basics.

A survey by this publication shows that products like cooking oil, soap, fresh milk and sugar, among others, were not on the shelves of most supermarkets in the capital.

However, the same products are available in tuckshops run by informal traders that sell in foreign currency. They are also available on the street supermarkets.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Denford Mutashu this week said the disappearance of basic goods had escalated.

“Goods are vanishing from shelves into grey markets where they are priced in US$ only and there is a general inability to replace stocks in the market,” Mutashu said.

He said formal trade has been affected by the exponential growth of the shadow economy yet remains entangled with regulatory, statutory fees, taxes, labour costs, and rentals.

“Supply chains have re-dollarised posing a threat to the existence of formal trade faced with the evaporation of market share easily surrendered to the informal trade while some suppliers and manufacturers are directing basic goods through ‘runners’ to the informal trade selling exclusively in US$ and not obligated to apply the legislated exchange rate when pricing goods,” Mutashu said.

He said the manufacturers are so cunning that they have come up with strict trade terms that most retailers cannot meet.

Most retailers usually pay within a week or fortnight, month or up to even six weeks but with that timeline, manufacturers are reluctant to supply formal outlets.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Kurai Matsheza said basic goods shortages were not a supplier’s problem as they supply both formal and informal traders.

“We are supplying both informal traders and formal traders regardless of the currency but one is supplied upon meeting trading terms of the suppliers.

“Some shops are failing to meet these trading terms that is why, some are facing restocking challenges,” Matsheza said.

Some retailers are saying the Financial Intelligence Unit sometimes monitors them resulting in them incurring huge losses as the local currency continues to depreciate.

Matsheza said high costs of inputs due to surging inflation and diminished export competitiveness due to heavily taxing exporters through the parallel market premium on surrender requirements are affecting the industry.

Retailers and wholesalers said this week that there has been growing demand for foreign currency payments along the value chain that have left them in a difficult position to compete with the informal traders who solely trade in US$.

The ZWL$ has been declining in value over the past few months resulting in the continued rejection of the currency by businesses.

Businesses are now demanding forex as it is more stable and is more likely to ensure their survival in the long run.

Mutashu said businesses were struggling to survive under the current operating environment.

“It is quite critical now that we stay afloat because there is a fight for sustainability by the majority of businesses. It is a very difficult balancing act where you must price for affordability and still be able to price to remain alive in business. It is a catch 22 situation.”

Recently Richards Group director Archie Dongo said suppliers are demanding forex payments for their products with little prospects for settling the remaining US$ invoices in ZWL$ at any rate.

“Where the ZWL$ is accepted we tend as retailers and wholesalers to be subjected to forward rating and this forward rating on ZWL$ prices then condemns the ZWL$ invoiced product to be uncompetitive.

-Online

MASVINGO – Mutonho Mutonho, an aspiring Zanu PF candidate for Gutu West who was disqualified by his party for campaigning before time has declared that he is going independent.

He told The Mirror that he was wrongfully charged and is contesting the seat as he enjoys immense support in Gutu West, one of the ruling party’s strongholds.
Gutu West is a predominantly resettlement area. Mutonho however, said he remains a Zanu PF member and is campaigning for President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Party gurus are adamant that incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) and deputy youth league secretary John Paradza is the party’s candidate. Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) led by Nelson Chamisa is yet to announce its candidate for the constituency.
“I am contesting as an independent candidate. I support President Emmerson Mnangagwa and I am campaigning for the party on all positions. I was wrongfully charged and yet I have the support of the people,” said Mutonho.

He was handed the suspension letter a day after submitting his curriculum vitae (CV) at the party office on March 12, 2023. He said he was only handed the letter after requesting for it.
The letter had come from the party’s national disciplinary committee on February 9, 2023. Party provincial chairperson Rabson Mavhenyengwa signed the same document on February 17, 2023.

Zanu PF Masvingo spokesperson Pepukai Chiwewe told The Mirror that Mutonho was found guilty.

“The vetting of CVs is done in Harare by the National Electorate Directory (NED) chaired by Mike Bimha.

Mutonho was charged with indiscipline and is barred from holding any position for two years. I am sure he was served with the letter when the verdict came out,” said Chiwewe…Masvingo Mirror

The Zimbabwe Republic Police Service has started a recruiting drive to increase its human resources as part of a comprehensive makeover that includes adopting a new organisational structure and rebranding to regain the trust of the public.

The general public has since been advised to be on the lookout for con artists who may try to profit from this initiative by promising them jobs within the police department.

ZRP stated that applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 22, possess a minimum of five Ordinary Levels, including maths, English and any other science subjects, earned in no more than two sittings, be physically fit, and have a minimum height and weight requirement of 1.68 metres for men and 1.62 metres for women. Both requirements must be met.

Additionally, candidates must be able to run 5 km on a road in 20 minutes for men and 25 minutes for women.

Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, a spokesman for the national police, acknowledged the hiring process in a statement.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police, an affiliate of the University of Zimbabwe, is seeking people who are physically fit and have the necessary qualifications to join the institution as general duty constables while also pursuing a certificate in police studies at Morris Training Depot.- state media

Police Officers and Accomplice Charged with Extortion for Demanding Money in Secret Affair Case

In a shocking case of abuse of power and criminal misconduct, two police officers and an accomplice have been charged with extortion after assaulting a couple and demanding money in exchange for keeping their affair a secret. The incident, which took place in Harare, Zimbabwe, has raised serious concerns about the conduct of law enforcement officials and their responsibility to uphold justice and protect citizens.

The Accused and Bail:

Takesure Magunje, Gift Pfirwe, and Jonathan Taurai Dhokwani appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs. Munashe Chibanda to face charges of extortion. The court granted each accused bail in the amount of $200,000, and they are scheduled to appear in court again on July 28. The severity of the charges reflects the gravity of their alleged actions and sends a strong message that such behavior will not be tolerated.

The Incident:

According to the State’s claims, on March 7, the complainant, accompanied by a male partner, was leaving a lodge when they were intercepted by Magunje. Magunje, along with Pfirwe and Dhokwani, both members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police stationed at PPU Diplomats, stopped the couple at the intersection of Rekai Tangwena and Tongogara Streets in Harare.

Magunje, presenting her ZRP identity card, accused the complainant of having an extramarital affair and proceeded to demand a sum of US$1000 in exchange for keeping the affair a secret from the complainant’s spouse.

Assault and Coercion:

As the couple was being driven to Hatcliffe, the accused assaulted the complainant, striking her twice in the face. They forced her to embrace her male partner and took a photograph as evidence of their relationship. The male partner, fearing for their safety, handed over US$80 before being abandoned in Hatcliffe.

Desperate for help, the complainant contacted a friend who worked at a pharmacy and pleaded for financial assistance. The accused then took the complainant to Kensington Shops, where they dropped her off and proceeded to the pharmacy to collect US$150.

Unintended Discovery and Arrest:

In a bizarre turn of events, Magunje inadvertently added the complainant’s contact to her family WhatsApp group, mistaking it for a cousin. This unintentional action led to her arrest when the complainant reported the incident to the police. Magunje was apprehended at Fife Avenue by officers from the PGHQ Internal Investigations, further exposing the alleged criminal behavior.

Accusations and Conclusion:

During the investigation, Magunje accused Pfirwe and Dhokwani, suggesting their involvement in the extortion scheme. The authorities will thoroughly investigate these allegations to ensure that all responsible parties are held accountable for their actions.

The charges of extortion against the two police officers and their accomplice highlight the importance of maintaining integrity within law enforcement institutions. Such incidents erode public trust and undermine the efforts of the majority of dedicated police officers who work tirelessly to protect and serve the community.

The legal proceedings scheduled for July 28 will provide an opportunity to further expose the truth and serve justice to the victims.

Matthew Muleya, the head of the Hwange District Zanu PF District Coordinating Committee, and Cuthbert Gwidi, the supervisor of the ZRP Police Band stationed at Mkushi Camp Depot (previously Morris Depot), have been exonerated of allegations related to the rape of a band member following a Harare fundraiser event in 2018.
After the State presented four witnesses, Harare magistrate Mrs. Loice Mukunyadze declared that Muleya and Gwidi had been cleared of all charges.

At the conclusion of the State’s case, the court granted the couple’s request for discharge, and they were released.

The two were accused of performing at a charity banquet where Muleya was a delegate in 2018 with the ZRP Police Band.

The female band member is said to have been left in Muleya’s care after Gwidi later called her back to the hotel where the function was hosted.

The victim was allegedly raped twice by Muleya after that.

For the State, Mrs. Shambadzeni Fungura appeared.

MASVINGO – Mutonho Mutonho, an aspiring Zanu PF candidate for Gutu West who was disqualified by his party for campaigning before time has declared that he is going independent.

He told The Mirror that he was wrongfully charged and is contesting the seat as he enjoys immense support in Gutu West, one of the ruling party’s strongholds.
Gutu West is a predominantly resettlement area. Mutonho however, said he remains a Zanu PF member and is campaigning for President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Party gurus are adamant that incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) and deputy youth league secretary John Paradza is the party’s candidate. Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) led by Nelson Chamisa is yet to announce its candidate for the constituency.
“I am contesting as an independent candidate. I support President Emmerson Mnangagwa and I am campaigning for the party on all positions. I was wrongfully charged and yet I have the support of the people,” said Mutonho.

He was handed the suspension letter a day after submitting his curriculum vitae (CV) at the party office on March 12, 2023. He said he was only handed the letter after requesting for it.
The letter had come from the party’s national disciplinary committee on February 9, 2023. Party provincial chairperson Rabson Mavhenyengwa signed the same document on February 17, 2023.

Zanu PF Masvingo spokesperson Pepukai Chiwewe told The Mirror that Mutonho was found guilty.

“The vetting of CVs is done in Harare by the National Electorate Directory (NED) chaired by Mike Bimha.

Mutonho was charged with indiscipline and is barred from holding any position for two years. I am sure he was served with the letter when the verdict came out,” said Chiwewe…Masvingo Mirror

By A Correspondent

CCC MP for Chitungwiza South Hon M Mavhunga has donated property to St Aidant’s Primary School.

According to Hon Mavhunga, the initiative to purchase the property is part of his CDF programme.

“Today ,we were at St Aidant’s primary school were we handed over 53 desks and 53 chairs, courtesy of CDF balance left from durawall project.

Thanks to the school administration, Seke South administration and our coordinators for accepting this positive gesture,” said Hon Mavhunga.

CHIKOMBA-President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday expects to commission Chivhu Dam in Chivhu, Mashonaland East Province.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development Dr John Bhasera, confirmed the development in an interview with The Mirror.

“President Mnangagwa will Thursday commission Chivhu Dam in Mashonaland East province.

“The dam is going to supply water to Chivhu town and provide irrigation water for surrounding communities. 

“The dam project is expected to add value to the Chivhu community through irrigation and fish farming,” he said. …Masvingo Mirror

A 35-year-old Mvurwi man has been jailed seven years for bashing his best friend to death for joking about bǝdding his wife.

High Court Judge Munamato Mutevedzi handed Mike Foya the lenient sentence after taking into consideration he committed the heinous crime after being provoked.

Four years of his sentence were set aside on condition that he does not commit a similar offence in the next five years.

The incident took place on October 9 last year.

Court heard during trial that Foya and his friend, Innocent Chawira were coming from a beer drink.

The two were so intoxicated that they had difficulties finding their way home.

In jest, Chawira boasted that he was in l0ve with Foya’s wife, igniting an argument that degenerated into a physical fight.

“The boastful friend was beaten and left for dead. He indeed was found dead the next day,” reads court papers.

During trial, Foya pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder but guilty to the lesser charge of culpable homicide as defined in section 49 of the Criminal Law Code.

Prosecution accepted his limited plea.

Foya submitted that he did not pay regard to the degree of force he applied when he assaulted his friend.

He said he did not pay regard to the fact that the part of the deceased’s body he targeted for the blow was delicate.

Justice Mutevedzi conceded his arguments were acceptable.

“Given the above evidence, we are satisfied that the acceptance by prosecution of the accused’s plea of guilty to the lesser charge is an informed decision.

“Against that background, the accused person is found not guilty and is acquitted of the charge of murder.

“He is found guilty of the lesser charge of culpable homicide as defined in s49 of the Criminal Law Code.

“The accused stands convicted of the offence of culpable homicide. He killed his friend in a drunken brawl.

“He is 31 years old. Counsel who represented him urged the court to take into account that he is indeed a youthful offender.

“This court has accepted in the past that the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013 in s20 accords the status of youth on any person between the ages of 15 and 35 years.”

Mutevedzi considered that Foya did not waste the court’s time and was a family man.

“The accused pleaded guilty to the charge. Needless to say, pleas of guilty are valuable to the expeditious resolution of criminal cases.

“Criminal trials particularly in this court are often a prolonged battle with extended hours being expended in the maze of seeking the truth.

“In that process huge amounts of material resources are needed for the payment of witness expenses.

“An accused who pleads guilty must therefore be rewarded for the savings which he/she brings to the administration of justice.

“Whether it was intended to be a prank or it was reality nobody will really know. If it was a prank, it unfortunately went horribly wrong.

“The court equally accepts that the accused acted out of provocation by the deceased who taunted him for having an extra mɑrital ɑffɑir with his wife.

“As if that was not enough, the deceased went on to assault the accused who then retaliated and killed him. The deceased was therefore the initial aggressor.

“The situation was compounded by the fact that the accused was intoxicated. He simply lost it as a result.”

The judge also considered that Foya has been in jail since his arrest last year.

— ZimLive

Mrs. Zodwa Dabengwa, the widow of national hero and liberation pioneer Dumiso Dabengwa, passed away.

Mrs. Dabengwa passed away from cancer in UK yesterday.

The president of the Zapu, Mr. Sibangilizwe Nkomo, stated that he was also informed of Mrs. Dabengwa’s passing through their party structures in the United Kingdom.

“I’ve just been in communication with our party chairperson in London, who without shedding more light revealed that Mrs Dabengwa has passed on. I also don’t have detailed information on the issue and we will continue to wait for more information from those based in the UK,” said Mr Nkomo.

Posting on the social media platform Twitter, political analyst and a family friend Dr Ibbo Mandaza wrote:

“Sad news. Our sister, Zodwa Dabengwa has just passed away in London after a long battle with cancer. A brave and great woman, Dumiso’s spouse, Comrade, and mother to Nombulelo and her siblings.”

Dabengwa passed away in 2019 at the age of 79 while travelling from India to Zimbabwe for medical treatment.

In Ntabazinduna, Matabeleland North, he was buried at his rural home after being honoured as a national hero.

Imagine consuming 2 kilogrammes of sadza or rice, 2 kilogrammes of meat, six pints of lacto, one litre of juice and two litres of water just for lunch or supper? This in addition to 30 eggs, 2 loaves of bread plus beans and bacon for breakfast.

That’s the daily eating routine of 36-year-old Arnold Zikhali, affectionately known as “Strongman”, who has turned into an overnight celebrity after videos of his weird eating habits went viral on social media with many questioning his financial muscle and stomach capacity.

Zikhali weighs 146 kilogrammes.

“I was born like this, that’s why I was given the name DDF – Don’t Disappoint Food. So, up to today I eat food, I don’t even have a favourite foot I just eat food,” Strongman says.

Zikhali attributes his huge appetite to his hobby which involves pulling wagons, haulage trucks and vehicles on straps.

“For me to be able to eat large quantities of food like I do it’s because of the work that I do. Have you ever seen a person pulling 2 buses, a train wagon 54 tonnes? It’s me alone, so which means I am abnormal, I eat this daily 15 boiled eggs – 15 fried, beans, a lot and right now I am already hungry. When I pulled the 54 tonne wagon my body was stressed. This happens every time I pull something heavy, so when I eat, my body will be recovering. I work with fat, more food, more fat, more power. Now I want to pull a plane, Air Zimbabwe weighing 543 tonnes. So for the mean time I need to eat more so that my body gains more energy.”

But then who cooks for him and does the man lead a normal life?

“I have no wife, but I have my friend Knowledge and his wife cooks for me she knows that I eat a lot. Right now, I am financially down but when the finances pick up, I will have a wife. I have a girlfriend and she has accepted me for who I am I do visit my relatives and whenever I do visit them I find my food well prepared because they know my eating habits,” Strongman adds.

According to calculations done by the ZBC News crew, his breakfast alone costs an average US$25 and the question on everyone’s lips is who funds it?

“I have never calculated how much I use on food because I don’t want to be stressed but my friend and my manager helps me whenever I am financially down and chip in with money for food. I have never gone without food, as you can see I have many friends so in the meantime they assist. 2 kgs sadza or rice 2 kgs meat 6 pints of lacto,” he says.

Zikhali’s daily eating habits have also baffled scientists.

Nutritionist, Ms Tafadzwa Zhawari explains, “In this case, it’s something that has speculation and it’s something that someone is saying not saying that its true or its false, but as a nutritionist and as a scientist, I would recommend that we carry out a study to really make him a cohort that we follow, follow his eating patterns everyday and also measure the energy that he is expending and understand how it’s happening that he is eating all this food that he is claiming to eat and he is still healthy. He is not obese he looks okay, he is physically fit, so we really need to understand what is it that is behind all this.”

Zikhali’s is also full of intrigue as the man claims that he has never fallen sick in his entire 36-year life journey.

However, true to the dictates of nature every man yearns for companionship with the only missing link in his life being a wife.

But he has got that covered too once he becomes financially stable.

One person died while another is trapped at a mine at Christian campsite in Umzingwane.

Rescue operations have been ongoing since last night, with How Mine rescue team leading the mission.

A traditional healer allegedly had sex with his wife inside their kitchen hut while a guy who brought a sangoma for a healing session at his home was told to wait outside by the healer.
You read that correctly; a guy from Jarichari Village in Gokwe South, under Chief Njelele, was told to wait outside their cooking hut while the sangoma was having sex with his wife.

The shocking incident occurred on March 15 at around 10 a.m., when the woman, whose name is being withheld out of respect for her morals, and her ill husband sought the advice of the local sangoma, Zedias Zemba (46), of Shonhai Village, Chief Chireya in Gokwe North.

Zemba reportedly advised the couple to do the healing session in their home after consulting with them.

After agreeing, the woman brought Zemba to her house along with her ailing husband. He was accompanied by Anesu Emmanuel Moyo, his assistant.

Zemba arrived at their location and commanded the woman and her husband to go inside their kitchen hut.

While still inside, Zemba gave the woman’s husband instructions to visit a nearby road intersection and gather some soil, which he claimed he intended to use in the cleaning procedure.

In addition, Zemba told his aide to remain outside the kitchen hut while he remained inside with the woman to watch for the woman’s husband’s return.

Zemba allegedly pulled the woman down while they were in the cooking hut. She allegedly experienced sexual contact with him under duress.

The woman’s husband apparently arrived earlier than anticipated, and Zemba’s helper stopped him from going to the kitchen hut by telling him that Zemba would call him after he was finished with his wife. He reportedly obliged.

After performing the deed, Zemba unlocked the door and invited his coworker and the woman’s husband inside.

When the woman eventually told Zemba’s other assistant about her experience, the situation came to light.

After receiving advice to contact the police, Zemba was apprehended.

Since then, Zemba has made an appearance before Gokwe magistrate Honest Musiyiwa on a rape charge.

He wasn’t asked to enter a plea and was kept in detention until June 20. The State’s representative was Malvern Nzombe.

Police have also publicly warned women to be aware of rapist prophets and sangomas after receiving several allegations of women being reportedly assaulted during healing sessions.

After being caught trying to have sex with a married woman during a healing session at his shrine last week, a self-described prophet from Kwekwe fled completely nude.

According to reports, after being exposed by the woman’s husband, the prophet, who can only be identified as Chikandamina and is currently on the run from the Amaveni area, fled in his birthday suit.

The headmaster of Gwindingwi Secondary School, Mr. Stanford Tsindikwa, was discovered dead close to Rusape Dam in a strange incident in Makoni.

A fortnight ago, Mr. Tsindikwa was reported missing after he allegedly made multiple calls and texted his wife about his plan to end his life.

Inspector Norbert Muzondo, a spokesman for the Manicaland Provincial Police, verified the incident and stated that inquiries are ongoing.

“On May 29, Mr Tsindikwa left his Mabvazuva home in Rusape, proceeding to his workplace at Gwindingwi Secondary School. He later sent suicidal text messages to his wife, Ms Concern Mandiyaba.

“He did not return home that day. A search was conducted to no avail. On May 31, Mr Martin Shiridzinomwa of Magamba suburb discovered Mr Tsindikwa lying dead near Rusape Dam.

“A report was made to the police and they attended the scene. No injuries were noted. The body was conveyed to Rusape General Hospital for post-mortem. Investigations are underway,” said Inspector Muzondo.

Makoni District Schools Inspector, Mr George Chidhakwa said Mr Tsindikwa was having domestic problems, resulting in him being absent from work for the greater part of this term.

“I understand that he had some domestic problems. He was not regularly attending work this term due to marital issues,” said Mr Chidhakwa.- state media

One person died while another is trapped at a mine at Christian campsite in Umzingwane.

Rescue operations have been ongoing since last night, with How Mine rescue team leading the mission.

CHIKOMBA-President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday expects to commission Chivhu Dam in Chivhu, Mashonaland East Province.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development Dr John Bhasera, confirmed the development in an interview with The Mirror.

“President Mnangagwa will Thursday commission Chivhu Dam in Mashonaland East province.

“The dam is going to supply water to Chivhu town and provide irrigation water for surrounding communities. 

“The dam project is expected to add value to the Chivhu community through irrigation and fish farming,” he said. …Masvingo Mirror

14 June 2023

DEAR Zimbabweans, Regional and Worldwide Friends!

Re: One Year Under Arbitrary Detention in My Oppressor’s Prison

My dear Zimbabweans, Regional and Worldwide Friends!

The 14th of June 2023 marks the end of one full twelve-month cycle of my incarceration. It also marks the beginning of another cycle.

I do not know how many more twelve-month cycles I shall endure in this dungeon. Only my oppressors know. I do not care at all.

They can confine my physical being, but they can never confine my spirit. My resolve remains unshaken. I have not lost hope.

I will never lose hope. I do not hope for justice in my own matters. Oppressors never serve justice. Oppressors have no shame.

I have hope, that one day, the spirit of Moreblessing Ali will finally find rest and be at peace. I have hope that one day the family of Moreblessing will be comforted.

I have hope that one day, Zimbabwe will be counted among the family of progressive and democratic nations. The oppressor’s reign is nigh.

For it is darkest when dawn draws near. Whenever the drum beats the loudest, it is about to burst.

My Arrest and Detention

The story of my arrest has been told countless times. My detractors have yarned so many tales and woven so many versions of why I was arrested and remain in detention.

They have invented the biggest lie to cover their shame for jailing an innocent man. Lies have short legs. They claim that I violated a bail condition. What nonsense!

If I did, what has stopped them from holding an inquiry in accordance with the law, to establish whether any bail condition was violated or not?

What has stopped them, from bail treatment in that matter in accordance with the law? They have not done so. They cannot do so! For, no bail condition was ever violated!

My dear Zimbabweans, Regional and Worldwide friends, it has often been said that there are two sides to every story.

Today I tell you that there are always three or more sides to any story. Oppressors have their own carefully crafted narrative that they harp on about.

The victims have their narrative that is seldom spoken about. The world has its own narrative. The world narrative can never be uniform.

It is either based on objectivity or driven by sheer prejudice and bias. I choose not to write my own story. I choose not to share my own narrative.

I choose to leave it to posterity to judge me. I can only ask one thing of posterity; that when you do write of these events, as Othello [The Moor of Venice] beseeched in his dying speech, speak of me as I am, nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice.

I am but just a lawyer, jailed for representing his client’s interests and seeking justice for his murdered client’s family. I am an opposition lawmaker, jailed for criticizing the brutalities of the ruling regime.

I am a simple farmer, who seeks not only to produce crops but, tend to the Zimbabwean fields to produce prosperity, justice, freedom and equality for all, not for the elite alone. This is the only crime that I know, and the only crime I accept as having committed.

The Allegations Against Me

I am facing a myriad of allegations. None of them hold any substance. I am no stranger to contrived allegations bearing no substance. I have been arrested over 68 times now.

Hitherto, I had never been convicted of any of the allegations brought to bear against me. When I raised this in one of my bail applications, I was accused of boasting that I had never been convicted for any of those offences and this was used as a pretext to deny me bail.

I was not boasting. I was merely presenting facts as they stood. My oppressors felt hard hit, and they orchestrated a false conviction to blemish my hitherto untainted record.

That conviction is as strange as the allegations were. They said I obstructed the course of justice. They said I did so by recording and posting a video.

They said the utterances in that video diverted police attention from pursuing their suspect to pursuing Zanu PF members.

All their witnesses were police officers! None of them had evidence that I recorded any video. None of them had evidence that I posted any video.

None of them could prove that I uttered any of the alleged statements. None of them proved that the police actually pursued any member of Zanu PF following the alleged utterances. None of them could prove that the murder suspect was not in fact aligned with Zanu PF.

Nonetheless, they convicted me. They did not need any evidence. They only needed to send a message.

Unfortunately for them, I am hard of hearing if they want me to hear that there will be no justice for a slain woman, callously murdered in cold blood in the most horrendous fashion possible.

Their message will never reach my ears. They need to seek a new audience. The only message I am getting, and capable of getting, is to never tire of toiling for justice and freedom. It will come one day. The night is always long, but the morning will always bring joy.

My dear Zimbabweans, Regional and Worldwide Friends, when shame deserts a people, they behave in a strange way.

My oppressors have no shame. They have no face. They have no trace of ubuntu in them – BUT – their days are numbered. For nothing lasts forever under the sun.

I am facing yet more allegations. I wish I could speak about them in better detail – but the matters are still pending in court.

While the choreographed outcome is plain for all to see, I will abide by higher wisdom and refrain from commenting on matters that are still to be concluded.

I reiterate my innocence – but my innocence is clearly not enough to save me from the clutches of my oppressor’s jaws.

I will abide by the belief that my oppressors are just like sandpaper, they will hurt and bruise me for the time being, but they will leave me polished and brighter as they become worthless, and worn out.

The Motivation for the Current Epistle

This epistle comes after a long time without me communicating with you. In that long period of non-communication, I have been hearing all the wonderful things you have been doing for me and my family. I stand in awe of the love and support that you have shown. I appreciate you all.

You have shown me the true meaning of love and solidarity. You have stood by me during a very long and trying period.

You have not forsaken me. You have not deserted me. You have refused to pander to the whims of the oppressor. You have done so out of love. You have sacrificed a lot on my account.

You have made me appreciate once again that solidarity is a universal principle shared by a people with a common love.

It developed over centuries to fight against injustices perpetrated upon the innocent and those standing for a just cause.

Doing nothing in the face of injustice is treachery to the human conscience. You have refused to betray the true human conscience.

Thank you Dearest Zimbabweans. Thank you Regional and Worldwide Friends!

I hear all about your implacable solidarity. God is watching these injustices. In His good time, He will restore what the locusts are eating.

My Reassurance

Let me reassure you, I will stand with the people even if it costs my freedom. I will stand with the people even if it costs my professional and political career.

I will stand with the people even if it costs my blood. No one should be mistaken to think otherwise.

The dumb and punitive attempts by the authors of my misery to divide us through my persecution will not deliver their anticipated results.

Chain me all you want. It won’t work. It will not work. I will neither tire nor slumber. I will never waive from speaking against injustice. I come from the people. I am one with the people. I will die with the people!

My Prison Conditions

There are hundreds of people who have visited me at my oppressor’s prison. They were left in shock and disbelief at the level of maltreatment that I go through. I am always shackled in chains like a terrorist even when I am shuffled to meet my visitors.

At one point the prison authorities failed to unlock the chains. They struggled in vain for over an hour. They had to call people from the armory who had to use a hammer and chisel, putting my leg on the hard cemented surface and started pounding on the leg irons until they broke.

My left leg sustained serious injuries and got swollen for weeks and when it started healing, my skin was peeling off. This is the kind of torture I am going through on a daily basis, it’s been a full 365 out of 365 days now.

At one point, I requested the Minister of Justice, Ziyambi Ziyambi, as the administrator of the Prisons Act to conduct a prison visit. He did not come. He is unbothered. I wanted to raise a few simple questions to him.

Why was I being ill-treated like this under his care?
Was he deriving satisfaction at the treatment prisoners, particularly political prisoners in Zimbabwe receive?
Why am I being inflicted with pain on a daily basis?
Why am I always shackled in chains?
I have received information and intelligence about his intimate, active and direct involvement in all my cases.

I would have wanted to ask him in person to confirm or rebut these. I also wanted to know whether this most gruesome torture of exposing me, to inhuman and degrading treatment gives them full satisfaction of sadism.

He did not bother to come. He refused to be answerable to the people. I am told the people of Zvimba recently reminded him of who the true master is – the people – kudos to them for voting out a tyrant. More tyrants will fall by the wayside if they refuse to respect and honor the people.

Shackling someone in chains because of being opposed to them is an anathema in the 21st century. In Zimbabwe, they still practice it, 43 years after independence!

Let them keep me in this prison for as long as they wish. They cannot mute the fundamental human rights issues arising out of my detention.

I have written to the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda to have the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Senate Committee on Human Rights to come and see the shackling administered on me on a daily basis.

I have also requested the International Red Cross Society and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to visit me and witness for themselves, the pain I am going through, the chains of torture I am shackled with.

My question, dear friends and Zimbabweans, am I the biggest criminal in Zimbabwe to be treated worse than a terrorist?

New Cause for Concern

While shackled in solitary confinement, I received information that there are some university students who have been arrested on my account and are being denied bail. University students!

They have been deprived of the opportunity to write their examinations. Their right to education hangs at peril.

All this is on account of what is alleged against them. They are alleged to have called for my release!

This was done through some graffiti calling for my release which was allegedly spray painted on the walls of some buildings in Harare’s Central Business District.

That graffiti has been termed malicious damage to property! For that, at least six university students are languishing in jail.

All of them have been arrested, simply because they are part of the University of Zimbabwe Student Representative Council or Executive Members of the Zimbabwe National Students’ Union [ZINASU].

It has become that dangerous in Zimbabwe to call for my release. The full wrath of the State machinery will descend upon you.

It would appear that the CID Law and Order Section no longer has any work to do except monitor social media handles to ascertain what either I or people sympathetic to me say and follow this up with arrests, malicious charges and refusal of bail.

That section of the police must simply be renamed the Job Sikhala and Sympathizers’ Arrest and Detention Police Department.

Shame on them. Shame on those who rob students of their future by depriving them of their education.

Shame on those whose thirst for vengeance makes them know no boundaries and target university students. I pray for the release of these students. They have a future. They are the future.

Keep the Prayers Coming

To those who pray for me without ceasing, I say thank you. Thank you all for remembering me in your prayers.

Nothing surpasses your supplications to the Almighty. Your prayers are being heard. Your prayers shall be answered much to the shame of my oppressors. Keep your prayers coming. Keep them flowing.

History has taught us that, the world awakened to the Jewish Holocaust, though long after Hitler had massacred 6 million Jews.

The world came to the rescue when nearly a million innocent civilians, mainly of Tutsi origin had already been murdered in Rwanda.

The world is now a global village. It has always been. We have always been one people. The response may take longer, but it will come.

Many casualties may be experienced before the response comes, but it will come. Never lose hope.

Their silence on Moreblessing Ali’s murderers

I am today treated as the biggest criminal in Zimbabwe. You have constantly heard about my perceived crimes all year round.

I have been brought to trial and am defending my innocence – BUT – I ask you today: What became of Moreblessing Ali’s murderer?

They tell us he confessed to his crime and made indications on how he killed and dismembered her. They have all the evidence they want, including a confession.

They have made this public knowledge – BUT – what became of his trial? They arrested him on 16 June 2022 according to the information they made publicly available. Barely four days after my own incarceration.

How far have they gone with his matter? Where are they? Why are they silent about it for a year now? Why are they obsessed with Job Sikhala and his perceived sympathizers?

Why should they rush to court and manufacture a conviction based on video clips shared on social entertainment sites like WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube – platforms created for social entertainment – and ignore the evidence of what they tell us to be a voluntary confession about the most gruesome murder of a woman in our lifetime? This is the criminal justice we have here in Zimbabwe, dear friends.

A criminal justice system where you are told that downloading a video from YouTube is the same as creating, generating, or originating the video.

It is public knowledge that I will never be granted bail. It is public knowledge that anyone arrested for showing or suspected of showing sympathy with me will never be granted bail.

It is common knowledge that the cases against me are choreographed by hidden hands meting out their political vendetta against me.

My heart bleeds at the nasty turn our criminal justice system is taking. We used to be a pride among the nations.

Jurisprudence from Zimbabwe was quoted in many foreign jurisdictions in praise. We have now become a laughing stock and are being quoted for purposes of ridicule.

This too, shall pass. We shall once again be the torchbearers of an independent and progressive justice delivery system.

Appreciation of Legal Team

I am deeply indebted to my legal team for the excellent services they render. I am grateful for the privilege of having been represented by Zimbabwe’s finest legal minds in the form of Advocate Eric Matinenga, Advocate Thabani Mpofu, Beatrice Mtetwa, Alec Muchadehama, Harrison Nkomo, Blessing Nyamaropa, Jeremiah Bamu, Obey Shava, Tinomuda Shoko, Doug Coltart, Rutendo Muchenje, Paul Mutsatsa, Emmanuel Zellers Gumbo, Anna Muchena, Marian Tafadzwa Nyaruwanga and many other talented legal minds that have been part of my legal travails over the years.

I am also greatly indebted to my international team of lawyers, led by Bob Amsterdam and Maya Dagan for the sterling work they have done in representing me in line with the mandate I bestowed upon them.

There are no sufficient superlatives that I can muster to thank my lawyers for their outstanding and splendid service to me, during the most difficult journey of my life.

Many may not know that the services they have rendered are largely without compensation. Many may not know of the many sacrifices they have made on my account.

Many may not know how they have lost better-paying clients as they continued, on an almost daily basis, to render me legal representation, most times without getting any form of compensation at all.

Your dedication and fine representation leaves me speechless and draws tears down my cheeks. I salute you, and the love that you have bestowed on one of your own in this profession.

The burden of my children being orphaned during my lifetime, the challenges and difficulties I face while I am in my oppressors prison is too heavy to bear.

You have never complained for a second in all these months of your dedicated service in my cases. I thank you.

I am a witness to your great performance in court, tearing apart the lies and falsehoods of my oppressors as was done by other lawyers in the past such as George Bizos, Herbert Chitepo, Vernon Derange and Bram Fischer among others.

In victory you have many friends but in failure you are an orphan. Friends flock to you in their multitudes when your sun shines on you and during your prosperity, but when trouble visits you, it comes with an exodus of friends.

Only those who stand with you in truth will continue standing by your side. Hypocrisy is part of human nature and it is a shame without bounce. My long stay in Chikurubi Maximum Prison has helped to sift the genuine from the hypocrites.

Looking into the Future

My dear Zimbabweans, Regional and Worldwide Friends!

Despite the circumstances I am currently in, we must always look into the future. We must never be defined by our situations, but define ourselves in every situation.

We are together in the agonies of this moment. There is no fruitful journey that ever came easily in the history of mankind.

The bread that we enjoy is baked in a very hot oven. The diamonds, rubies, gold and other minerals that give us wealth are produced through blood and sweat.

The challenges may seem insurmountable but be assured nowhere in life have tears and sorrows of many have gone unanswered.

Our nation shall be a home of happiness where all of us shall enjoy the fruits in it in equality and fairness. They may plan to kill us, but it will not end well for the murderers.

Elections in Zimbabwe are beckoning. I yearn that they be free and fair. I pray that they be peaceful. Your time is at hand dear Zimbabweans.

The time to vote for change. As Citizens we made a pact for change. We must remain true to the cause. I urge you to go and vote in your numbers.

I urge you to vote for the Citizens’ Coalition for Change. I urge you to restore Zimbabwe’s lost pride through your vote.

We cannot endure another five years of soaring inflation. We cannot endure another five years of economic instability.

We cannot endure another five years of injustice and oppression. We cannot endure another five years of what the oppressors in Zanu PF are only capable of offering – FAILURE. We are the jewel of Africa. We cannot allow ZANU PF to make us a failed state.

Salutations and Farewell

Dearest Zimbabweans, Regional and Worldwide Friends!

My travails are being chronicled. I have been chronicling each and every abuse I ever experienced at the hands of my oppressors.

I am trying, in those chronicles, as much as is humanely possible, not to be too subjective and present on the first part, an entirely undiluted record of the proceedings against me, and where necessary, infuse my own commentary.

I plead with all of you to read it and come to your own conclusions. Read and decide for yourselves. You shall have the opportunity to read all the details of my travails.

Let me leave you for now. Let me leave with you with an extract of Nelson Mandela’s speech at the Rivonia Trial, which has largely moulded my philosophical outlook despite my travails: –

“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

I love you all! Please pray for me and pray for a better Zimbabwe!

VOTE FOR THE CITIZENS COALITION FOR CHANGE

Yours, in chains

Job Wiwa Sikhala

I Am Ready To Die For Truth – Sikhala

14 June 2023

DEAR Zimbabweans, Regional and Worldwide Friends!

Re: One Year Under Arbitrary Detention in My Oppressor’s Prison

My dear Zimbabweans, Regional and Worldwide Friends!

The 14th of June 2023 marks the end of one full twelve-month cycle of my incarceration. It also marks the beginning of another cycle.

I do not know how many more twelve-month cycles I shall endure in this dungeon. Only my oppressors know. I do not care at all.

They can confine my physical being, but they can never confine my spirit. My resolve remains unshaken. I have not lost hope.

I will never lose hope. I do not hope for justice in my own matters. Oppressors never serve justice. Oppressors have no shame.

I have hope, that one day, the spirit of Moreblessing Ali will finally find rest and be at peace. I have hope that one day the family of Moreblessing will be comforted.

I have hope that one day, Zimbabwe will be counted among the family of progressive and democratic nations. The oppressor’s reign is nigh.

For it is darkest when dawn draws near. Whenever the drum beats the loudest, it is about to burst.

My Arrest and Detention

The story of my arrest has been told countless times. My detractors have yarned so many tales and woven so many versions of why I was arrested and remain in detention.

They have invented the biggest lie to cover their shame for jailing an innocent man. Lies have short legs. They claim that I violated a bail condition. What nonsense!

If I did, what has stopped them from holding an inquiry in accordance with the law, to establish whether any bail condition was violated or not?

What has stopped them, from bail treatment in that matter in accordance with the law? They have not done so. They cannot do so! For, no bail condition was ever violated!

My dear Zimbabweans, Regional and Worldwide friends, it has often been said that there are two sides to every story.

Today I tell you that there are always three or more sides to any story. Oppressors have their own carefully crafted narrative that they harp on about.

The victims have their narrative that is seldom spoken about. The world has its own narrative. The world narrative can never be uniform.

It is either based on objectivity or driven by sheer prejudice and bias. I choose not to write my own story. I choose not to share my own narrative.

I choose to leave it to posterity to judge me. I can only ask one thing of posterity; that when you do write of these events, as Othello [The Moor of Venice] beseeched in his dying speech, speak of me as I am, nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice.

I am but just a lawyer, jailed for representing his client’s interests and seeking justice for his murdered client’s family. I am an opposition lawmaker, jailed for criticizing the brutalities of the ruling regime.

I am a simple farmer, who seeks not only to produce crops but, tend to the Zimbabwean fields to produce prosperity, justice, freedom and equality for all, not for the elite alone. This is the only crime that I know, and the only crime I accept as having committed.

The Allegations Against Me

I am facing a myriad of allegations. None of them hold any substance. I am no stranger to contrived allegations bearing no substance. I have been arrested over 68 times now.

Hitherto, I had never been convicted of any of the allegations brought to bear against me. When I raised this in one of my bail applications, I was accused of boasting that I had never been convicted for any of those offences and this was used as a pretext to deny me bail.

I was not boasting. I was merely presenting facts as they stood. My oppressors felt hard hit, and they orchestrated a false conviction to blemish my hitherto untainted record.

That conviction is as strange as the allegations were. They said I obstructed the course of justice. They said I did so by recording and posting a video.

They said the utterances in that video diverted police attention from pursuing their suspect to pursuing Zanu PF members.

All their witnesses were police officers! None of them had evidence that I recorded any video. None of them had evidence that I posted any video.

None of them could prove that I uttered any of the alleged statements. None of them proved that the police actually pursued any member of Zanu PF following the alleged utterances. None of them could prove that the murder suspect was not in fact aligned with Zanu PF.

Nonetheless, they convicted me. They did not need any evidence. They only needed to send a message.

Unfortunately for them, I am hard of hearing if they want me to hear that there will be no justice for a slain woman, callously murdered in cold blood in the most horrendous fashion possible.

Their message will never reach my ears. They need to seek a new audience. The only message I am getting, and capable of getting, is to never tire of toiling for justice and freedom. It will come one day. The night is always long, but the morning will always bring joy.

My dear Zimbabweans, Regional and Worldwide Friends, when shame deserts a people, they behave in a strange way.

My oppressors have no shame. They have no face. They have no trace of ubuntu in them – BUT – their days are numbered. For nothing lasts forever under the sun.

I am facing yet more allegations. I wish I could speak about them in better detail – but the matters are still pending in court.

While the choreographed outcome is plain for all to see, I will abide by higher wisdom and refrain from commenting on matters that are still to be concluded.

I reiterate my innocence – but my innocence is clearly not enough to save me from the clutches of my oppressor’s jaws.

I will abide by the belief that my oppressors are just like sandpaper, they will hurt and bruise me for the time being, but they will leave me polished and brighter as they become worthless, and worn out.

The Motivation for the Current Epistle

This epistle comes after a long time without me communicating with you. In that long period of non-communication, I have been hearing all the wonderful things you have been doing for me and my family. I stand in awe of the love and support that you have shown. I appreciate you all.

You have shown me the true meaning of love and solidarity. You have stood by me during a very long and trying period.

You have not forsaken me. You have not deserted me. You have refused to pander to the whims of the oppressor. You have done so out of love. You have sacrificed a lot on my account.

You have made me appreciate once again that solidarity is a universal principle shared by a people with a common love.

It developed over centuries to fight against injustices perpetrated upon the innocent and those standing for a just cause.

Doing nothing in the face of injustice is treachery to the human conscience. You have refused to betray the true human conscience.

Thank you Dearest Zimbabweans. Thank you Regional and Worldwide Friends!

I hear all about your implacable solidarity. God is watching these injustices. In His good time, He will restore what the locusts are eating.

My Reassurance

Let me reassure you, I will stand with the people even if it costs my freedom. I will stand with the people even if it costs my professional and political career.

I will stand with the people even if it costs my blood. No one should be mistaken to think otherwise.

The dumb and punitive attempts by the authors of my misery to divide us through my persecution will not deliver their anticipated results.

Chain me all you want. It won’t work. It will not work. I will neither tire nor slumber. I will never waive from speaking against injustice. I come from the people. I am one with the people. I will die with the people!

My Prison Conditions

There are hundreds of people who have visited me at my oppressor’s prison. They were left in shock and disbelief at the level of maltreatment that I go through. I am always shackled in chains like a terrorist even when I am shuffled to meet my visitors.

At one point the prison authorities failed to unlock the chains. They struggled in vain for over an hour. They had to call people from the armory who had to use a hammer and chisel, putting my leg on the hard cemented surface and started pounding on the leg irons until they broke.

My left leg sustained serious injuries and got swollen for weeks and when it started healing, my skin was peeling off. This is the kind of torture I am going through on a daily basis, it’s been a full 365 out of 365 days now.

At one point, I requested the Minister of Justice, Ziyambi Ziyambi, as the administrator of the Prisons Act to conduct a prison visit. He did not come. He is unbothered. I wanted to raise a few simple questions to him.

Why was I being ill-treated like this under his care?
Was he deriving satisfaction at the treatment prisoners, particularly political prisoners in Zimbabwe receive?
Why am I being inflicted with pain on a daily basis?
Why am I always shackled in chains?
I have received information and intelligence about his intimate, active and direct involvement in all my cases.

I would have wanted to ask him in person to confirm or rebut these. I also wanted to know whether this most gruesome torture of exposing me, to inhuman and degrading treatment gives them full satisfaction of sadism.

He did not bother to come. He refused to be answerable to the people. I am told the people of Zvimba recently reminded him of who the true master is – the people – kudos to them for voting out a tyrant. More tyrants will fall by the wayside if they refuse to respect and honor the people.

Shackling someone in chains because of being opposed to them is an anathema in the 21st century. In Zimbabwe, they still practice it, 43 years after independence!

Let them keep me in this prison for as long as they wish. They cannot mute the fundamental human rights issues arising out of my detention.

I have written to the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda to have the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Senate Committee on Human Rights to come and see the shackling administered on me on a daily basis.

I have also requested the International Red Cross Society and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to visit me and witness for themselves, the pain I am going through, the chains of torture I am shackled with.

My question, dear friends and Zimbabweans, am I the biggest criminal in Zimbabwe to be treated worse than a terrorist?

New Cause for Concern

While shackled in solitary confinement, I received information that there are some university students who have been arrested on my account and are being denied bail. University students!

They have been deprived of the opportunity to write their examinations. Their right to education hangs at peril.

All this is on account of what is alleged against them. They are alleged to have called for my release!

This was done through some graffiti calling for my release which was allegedly spray painted on the walls of some buildings in Harare’s Central Business District.

That graffiti has been termed malicious damage to property! For that, at least six university students are languishing in jail.

All of them have been arrested, simply because they are part of the University of Zimbabwe Student Representative Council or Executive Members of the Zimbabwe National Students’ Union [ZINASU].

It has become that dangerous in Zimbabwe to call for my release. The full wrath of the State machinery will descend upon you.

It would appear that the CID Law and Order Section no longer has any work to do except monitor social media handles to ascertain what either I or people sympathetic to me say and follow this up with arrests, malicious charges and refusal of bail.

That section of the police must simply be renamed the Job Sikhala and Sympathizers’ Arrest and Detention Police Department.

Shame on them. Shame on those who rob students of their future by depriving them of their education.

Shame on those whose thirst for vengeance makes them know no boundaries and target university students. I pray for the release of these students. They have a future. They are the future.

Keep the Prayers Coming

To those who pray for me without ceasing, I say thank you. Thank you all for remembering me in your prayers.

Nothing surpasses your supplications to the Almighty. Your prayers are being heard. Your prayers shall be answered much to the shame of my oppressors. Keep your prayers coming. Keep them flowing.

History has taught us that, the world awakened to the Jewish Holocaust, though long after Hitler had massacred 6 million Jews.

The world came to the rescue when nearly a million innocent civilians, mainly of Tutsi origin had already been murdered in Rwanda.

The world is now a global village. It has always been. We have always been one people. The response may take longer, but it will come.

Many casualties may be experienced before the response comes, but it will come. Never lose hope.

Their silence on Moreblessing Ali’s murderers

I am today treated as the biggest criminal in Zimbabwe. You have constantly heard about my perceived crimes all year round.

I have been brought to trial and am defending my innocence – BUT – I ask you today: What became of Moreblessing Ali’s murderer?

They tell us he confessed to his crime and made indications on how he killed and dismembered her. They have all the evidence they want, including a confession.

They have made this public knowledge – BUT – what became of his trial? They arrested him on 16 June 2022 according to the information they made publicly available. Barely four days after my own incarceration.

How far have they gone with his matter? Where are they? Why are they silent about it for a year now? Why are they obsessed with Job Sikhala and his perceived sympathizers?

Why should they rush to court and manufacture a conviction based on video clips shared on social entertainment sites like WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube – platforms created for social entertainment – and ignore the evidence of what they tell us to be a voluntary confession about the most gruesome murder of a woman in our lifetime? This is the criminal justice we have here in Zimbabwe, dear friends.

A criminal justice system where you are told that downloading a video from YouTube is the same as creating, generating, or originating the video.

It is public knowledge that I will never be granted bail. It is public knowledge that anyone arrested for showing or suspected of showing sympathy with me will never be granted bail.

It is common knowledge that the cases against me are choreographed by hidden hands meting out their political vendetta against me.

My heart bleeds at the nasty turn our criminal justice system is taking. We used to be a pride among the nations.

Jurisprudence from Zimbabwe was quoted in many foreign jurisdictions in praise. We have now become a laughing stock and are being quoted for purposes of ridicule.

This too, shall pass. We shall once again be the torchbearers of an independent and progressive justice delivery system.

Appreciation of Legal Team

I am deeply indebted to my legal team for the excellent services they render. I am grateful for the privilege of having been represented by Zimbabwe’s finest legal minds in the form of Advocate Eric Matinenga, Advocate Thabani Mpofu, Beatrice Mtetwa, Alec Muchadehama, Harrison Nkomo, Blessing Nyamaropa, Jeremiah Bamu, Obey Shava, Tinomuda Shoko, Doug Coltart, Rutendo Muchenje, Paul Mutsatsa, Emmanuel Zellers Gumbo, Anna Muchena, Marian Tafadzwa Nyaruwanga and many other talented legal minds that have been part of my legal travails over the years.

I am also greatly indebted to my international team of lawyers, led by Bob Amsterdam and Maya Dagan for the sterling work they have done in representing me in line with the mandate I bestowed upon them.

There are no sufficient superlatives that I can muster to thank my lawyers for their outstanding and splendid service to me, during the most difficult journey of my life.

Many may not know that the services they have rendered are largely without compensation. Many may not know of the many sacrifices they have made on my account.

Many may not know how they have lost better-paying clients as they continued, on an almost daily basis, to render me legal representation, most times without getting any form of compensation at all.

Your dedication and fine representation leaves me speechless and draws tears down my cheeks. I salute you, and the love that you have bestowed on one of your own in this profession.

The burden of my children being orphaned during my lifetime, the challenges and difficulties I face while I am in my oppressors prison is too heavy to bear.

You have never complained for a second in all these months of your dedicated service in my cases. I thank you.

I am a witness to your great performance in court, tearing apart the lies and falsehoods of my oppressors as was done by other lawyers in the past such as George Bizos, Herbert Chitepo, Vernon Derange and Bram Fischer among others.

In victory you have many friends but in failure you are an orphan. Friends flock to you in their multitudes when your sun shines on you and during your prosperity, but when trouble visits you, it comes with an exodus of friends.

Only those who stand with you in truth will continue standing by your side. Hypocrisy is part of human nature and it is a shame without bounce. My long stay in Chikurubi Maximum Prison has helped to sift the genuine from the hypocrites.

Looking into the Future

My dear Zimbabweans, Regional and Worldwide Friends!

Despite the circumstances I am currently in, we must always look into the future. We must never be defined by our situations, but define ourselves in every situation.

We are together in the agonies of this moment. There is no fruitful journey that ever came easily in the history of mankind.

The bread that we enjoy is baked in a very hot oven. The diamonds, rubies, gold and other minerals that give us wealth are produced through blood and sweat.

The challenges may seem insurmountable but be assured nowhere in life have tears and sorrows of many have gone unanswered.

Our nation shall be a home of happiness where all of us shall enjoy the fruits in it in equality and fairness. They may plan to kill us, but it will not end well for the murderers.

Elections in Zimbabwe are beckoning. I yearn that they be free and fair. I pray that they be peaceful. Your time is at hand dear Zimbabweans.

The time to vote for change. As Citizens we made a pact for change. We must remain true to the cause. I urge you to go and vote in your numbers.

I urge you to vote for the Citizens’ Coalition for Change. I urge you to restore Zimbabwe’s lost pride through your vote.

We cannot endure another five years of soaring inflation. We cannot endure another five years of economic instability.

We cannot endure another five years of injustice and oppression. We cannot endure another five years of what the oppressors in Zanu PF are only capable of offering – FAILURE. We are the jewel of Africa. We cannot allow ZANU PF to make us a failed state.

Salutations and Farewell

Dearest Zimbabweans, Regional and Worldwide Friends!

My travails are being chronicled. I have been chronicling each and every abuse I ever experienced at the hands of my oppressors.

I am trying, in those chronicles, as much as is humanely possible, not to be too subjective and present on the first part, an entirely undiluted record of the proceedings against me, and where necessary, infuse my own commentary.

I plead with all of you to read it and come to your own conclusions. Read and decide for yourselves. You shall have the opportunity to read all the details of my travails.

Let me leave you for now. Let me leave with you with an extract of Nelson Mandela’s speech at the Rivonia Trial, which has largely moulded my philosophical outlook despite my travails: –

“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

I love you all! Please pray for me and pray for a better Zimbabwe!

VOTE FOR THE CITIZENS COALITION FOR CHANGE

Yours, in chains

Job Wiwa Sikhala

Today( Wednesday) marks 1 year for Hon Job Wiwa Sikhala while in pre-trial detention.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) & The International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (1966) categorise pre-trial detention as a gross human rights violation
Emmanuel Zellers Gumbo Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Parliament of Zimbabwe Open Parly ZW Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission…Heal Zimbabwe Trust

Today( Wednesday) marks 1 year for Hon Job Wiwa Sikhala while in pre-trial detention.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) & The International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (1966) categorise pre-trial detention as a gross human rights violation
Emmanuel Zellers Gumbo Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Parliament of Zimbabwe Open Parly ZW Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission…Heal Zimbabwe Trust