An ECD teacher at Budiriro 4 Primary School in Harare has been found dead on a hill in Aspindale, Mufakose.
Magdalene Mandiveyi was reported missing last week and police had been looking for her.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident.
“The ZRP is investigating circumstances surrounding the death of Magdalene Mandiveyi, who was an ECD teacher at Budiriro 4 Primary School in Harare. The deceased was reported missing and later found dead on January 27, 2023 in Aspindale, Mufakose.”
A black handbag, a black wallet containing the deceased’s national ID, a black Samsung cellphone, an Edgars card, a Jet company receipt, two pens, two markers, a payslip in the deceased’s name, US$5 cash and $1 290 cash were recovered at the scene.
“The next of kin have been advised. Anyone with information that may assist in the investigation may contact any nearest police station,” Asst Comm Nyathi said.
Meanwhile, police in Harare has arrested Joyce N’anga (18) and Constance Ratisai (22) in connection with a case of murder in which the victim, Elias Lundika (34) died after being hit with bricks and a cooking stick on the head at a house in Epworth last Thursday.
An altercation ensued when the victim confronted N’anga, who was his girlfriend, accusing her of entertaining other boyfriends. – state media
Tinashe Sambiri|The failure by Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration to curb drug abuse is worrisome.
This was said by CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa on Friday.
The CCC leader challenged the Zanu PF regime to reign in on rampant drug abuse in schools and communities.
“WE MUST ACT..Drugs are decimating our young people.
We are losing a whole nation and generation under our watch.
Our communities & schools have become drug havens. Where is government in all this? Where is law enforcement ? Everyone must be involved in fighting this scourge!#Act,” said President Chamisa.
See also CCC statement below:
NO TO DRUG ABUSE: We note the ever growing drugs crisis among the youth and our population with great concern. We need to collectively take action. A CCC Govt will roll out an anti-drugs campaign and a national Anti-Drug Policy to arrest this scourge.
Tinashe Sambiri|The failure by Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration to curb drug abuse is worrisome.
This was said by CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa on Friday.
The CCC leader challenged the Zanu PF regime to reign in on rampant drug abuse in schools and communities.
“WE MUST ACT..Drugs are decimating our young people.
We are losing a whole nation and generation under our watch.
Our communities & schools have become drug havens. Where is government in all this? Where is law enforcement ? Everyone must be involved in fighting this scourge!#Act,” said President Chamisa.
See also CCC statement below:
NO TO DRUG ABUSE: We note the ever growing drugs crisis among the youth and our population with great concern. We need to collectively take action. A CCC Govt will roll out an anti-drugs campaign and a national Anti-Drug Policy to arrest this scourge.
Shine Shine Queens FC is a Masvingo Urban based soccer team which has just been promoted into Zimbabwe National Women super league.
This club is appealing for anything you can assist with like soccer balls, water, sanitary ware, soccer jerseys, training bibs, tracksuits, and even cash.
This will help the young girls to fulfill their 2023 season hence bringing entertainment to the city, guarding the girl child against any social ills caused by idleness e.g drug abuse, early child marriages just to mention a few, promoting tourism through sport as some clubs will visit for example Great Zimbabwe Monuments after matches.
Masvingo let’s support our girl child.
Your dollar will help this sole club in the province. Contact: 0773896430/0774055819
Dynamos coach Herbert Maruwa believes his side still needs to improve in the finishing following the team’s 1-0 win over PSL newcomers Sheasham in Saturday’s pre-season friendly played at Ascot Stadium in Gweru.
The Glamour Boys scored the winner in the 86th minute through Frank Makarati.
The goal came after the Harare giants had dominated the play but failed to utilise the chances that came on their way.
Speaking after the match, Maruwa said: “I’m happy with the way the guys applied themselves. You know that we are building a new team and the response I’m getting is awesome.”
The gaffer added: “It’s a process, we need to make sure we improve our movement (when) going forward.
“The boys are doing well at the back but we need to make sure that we score the created chances.”
The Glamour Boys fielded some of their new signings in the first XI, including Kevin Moyo, Arthur Musiiwa, Donald Mudadi, Tanaka Shandirwa, Jayden Bakari and Emmanuel Ziocha.
When asked if the club will make more signings before the window closes, Maruwa said: “It depends, maybe one or two players (will arrive), but so far I can’t promise anything.
“We might add a goalkeeper and another defender.”- Soccer24 Zimbabwe
POLITICAL analysts have accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of misleading the world at the Feed Africa Summit in Dakar, Senegal, early this week where he said Zimbabwe was food secure.
They said his remarks were in contrast with the situation on the ground, where the World Food Programme (WFP) estimates state that 5,7 million people in Zimbabwe urgently need food aid.
Just before Mnangagwa left for Senegal, his government through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, had indicated that the country was in peak hunger season and the number of people queuing for State food handouts had increased by 54% to 3,7 million from December last year when only 2,4 million people registered for government food aid.
In his presentation to other African heads of State in Dakar on Wednesday, Mnangagwa said the country had sufficient wheat stocks after a bumper harvest and might even export the commodity.
He, however, said the biggest challenge during this agricultural season is fertiliser, which is mostly imported from Russia and Ukraine.
“So we said, because there is climate change, how many hectares of the land can we put under irrigation to produce two million plus tonnes to feed the nation? We determined how much yield a hectare has, hence we knew the figures and we did that, and we are food secure,” Mnangagwa said.
His remarks have torched a social media storm with citizens accusing him of using the Dakar opportunity to spread his Zanu PF propaganda.
Political analysts said Mnangagwa’s remarks contradicted the WFP, which estimates that 38% of Zimbabwe’s population is food insecure.
Political analyst Rejoice Ngwenya said: “These are lies. If you check Fewsnet and WFP reports, you can sense that our county exists on the borderline of food insecurity. Costs of inputs double every year due to currency problems, and farmers have no borrowing capacity due to high interest rates. Climate change makes rain-dependent agriculture risky. Zimbabwe is yet to recover from the effects of violent property rights violations which left millions of acres of arable land in the hands of incompetent (Zanu PF) party surrogates.”
Another political analyst Effie Ncube said: “I think Mnangagwa was just grandstanding and using the opportunity for propaganda. What he did is misleading the world.”
However, economist Prosper Chitambara said the county was making progress on food security.
“The country is making a progress towards food security. We have seen the successes in winter wheat production last year,” he said.
“However, I think there is a lot of work in terms of investments, completion of dam projects that government is embarking on, and we need to upscale our investments on irrigation. We need to put more land under irrigation and improve the rural economy.”- NewsDay
HAIRDRESSERS for Economic Development are inviting hairdressers around Bulawayo to come and join their organisation so they can benefit and expand their businesses.
The organisation is going to be formally launched sometime in February and has over 3 000 members at the moment.
The organisation is working towards getting land where hairdressers can build their own saloons and start working towards exporting their own hair brands made in Zimbabwe.
The National Hairdressers4ED chairman, Archibald Siziba said they are not only inviting hairdressers but also everyone who offers beauty enhancing services.
“We are going to push for hairdressers and beauticians to get land where we can grow our businesses. We are working towards exporting hair products and even getting nail machines that will allow us to make our own nails instead of importing them. We have done our research and we know it is possible to do this, that is why we are calling upon more hairdressers and beauticians to join us,” said Siziba.
He said the organisation will work towards addressing the challenges that most hairdressers face.
Ms Ferosa Ismail, the Bulawayo chairperson for the organisation said they are looking forward to growing the organisation.
She said the organisation will be giving full support to every hairdresser so that they can expand their businesses.
A member of the organization Ms Keresia Dagwaira said she is very happy they are going to be coming together as hairdressers and beauticians to address the challenges they come across.
“We are looking forward to having a stand at this year’s ZITF that will help us grow and be able to achieve all our economic goals. Most people know that hairdressers are gossipers so as an organisation we are going to push for hairdressers to start gossiping about economic things which will help us to reach 2030 while economically developed,” she said.
By A Correspondent- In a furious bust-up, a son-in-law fatally struck his father-in-law with a log and bricks over mangoes.
The scary incident which has become a subject of discussion in Lalapanzi area in Midlands province occurred on Sunday at Bhudhe 2 village in Lalapanzi.
A source close to the incident said John Munjanja (52) visited his sister, Muchaneta Munjanja (49) and found her with children while her husband Samson Maredzva (42) had gone out.
Being happy that her brother visited Muchaneta, gave him mangoes and when John was about to leave for his home Samson arrived.
The source said Samson got furious when he saw his father-in-law carrying mangoes and asked his wife why she gave him mangoes without his permission. An argument ensued between the pair resulting in Samson assaulting his father-in-law with a log.
“He fell to the ground, while he was lying on the ground he smashed his head with a brick. He groaned loudly as he died in a pool of blood,” said the source.
Muchaneta and a villager reported the incident to the police leading to her husband’s arrest. John’s body was ferried to Gweru General Hospital for post-mortem.
Midlands police spokesperson Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko confirmed the incident.
“We strongly discourage members of the public from resorting to violence whenever they are faced with disputes because that might lead to unnecessary loss of life,” he said.
A COUPLE chained up, tortured their maid (19) and poured boiling water into her gǝn!tals for allegedly stealing US$200.
Thembelani Moyo (28) and Sibongile Mpofu (28) who stay at Vukuzenzele village in Filabusi and work at Senga Hill Mill Mine, breathed fire when they arrived home unexpectedly on New Year’s Eve and discovered that US$200 which they had kept in their wardrobe was missing.
They quizzed their house maid – who cannot be named for ethical reasons – but she vehemently denied ever seeing the money. Her denials sparked fury in the couple.
They set upon her with everything they could lay their hands on. Moyo went caveman and grabbed a log to bash the hapless teenager while his wife, unleashed Kung-fu kicks and punches. Realising that she was staring death in the face, the battered maid croaked out a confession.
She told her employers that she had squandered US$169 and was left with US$31 which she surrendered to the uncompromising pair.
A neighbour, Simangaliso Moyo, escalated the violence when she arrived with a sjambok and mercilessly whipped the chained teen.
The torture reached a crescendo when Mpofu allegedly boiled water which she poured onto the half-dead maid’s pr!vatǝ partƨ. She allegedly told the victim that it would stop her from having ƨǝx with any man.
The maid sustained horrific injuries. After the vicious attack the couple rubbed salt into the wound by reporting the teenager to the police, for theft leading to her arrest.
However the maid’s appearance before Filabusi magistrate Abednico Ndebele, where she pleaded guilty to theft, opened a can of worms for the couple.
The maid stunned the gallery with a tear-jerking exposé of her ordeal.
Moyo admitted that they had chained her to stop her from running away.
The magistrate ordered that the teenager must be examined by a State doctor and remanded her out of custody.
While she was out of custody she reported the couple and Simangaliso, for assaulting her and scalding her on her pr!vatǝ partƨ with hot water to the police.
A medical report detailing the extent of the injuries on the maid’s privatǝs was availed in her second court appearance.
Magistrate Ndebele sentenced the teen to six months in prison, suspended four months for three years on condition that she does not commit an offence involving dishonesty and suspended the rest on condition that she restitutes US$169.
The couple and their neighbour were arrested for assault and appeared before Filabusi magistrate Sukoluhle Belinda Nunu last Wednesday.
Magistrate Nunu remanded them out of custody on $40 000 bail each, to 3 February for trial. They are self-actors.
IN a bizarre incident that sent chills down the spines of many, a Buhera woman who was praying smashed the heads of her two young children on a rock and killed one of them instantly as she claimed that a “voice” had instructed her to commit the heinous crime.
The other infant was resuscitated through first aid before being rushed to Murambinda Mission Hospital where he is said to be in a stable condition.
Mary Rukobo (24) of Mashangana Village under Chief Nyashanu has since been arrested on murder and attempted murder charges.
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Nobert Muzondo said Rukobo, who was expected to appear in court this week, crushed the heads of her two infants (two months) and (two years) on a rock.
She killed the two-month-old baby instantly, while the other is recuperating in hospital. The heart-rending incident occurred on January 19.
Inspector Muzondo said Rukobo, a member of a local apostolic sect, committed the offence at her worshipping shrine that is about 500 metres from her homestead.
Rukobo, who usually visited the shrine for night prayers, was allegedly nakǝd when she committed the offence.
It is alleged that the suspect left her home for prayers around 7pm.
She took the two children with her.
“While at the shrine, Rukobo started singing and praying loudly. Around 10pm, two passers-by, Ngonidzashe (36) and John Njanji (28) of Magunduru Village discovered that Rukobo was acting strangely and informed other villagers. They teamed up and visited the shrine to investigate,” said Inspector Muzondo.
As the villagers approached the shrine, Rukobo charged towards them while nakǝd.
She was ordered to stop and she complied.
“She was interviewed and confessed that she had killed her two-months-old son by crushing his head several times on a huge rock. She claimed that she had heard a voice instructing her to crush the heads of her children against the rock,” said Inspector Muzondo.
Inspector Muzondo said the villagers conducted a search and discovered the victims’ bodies lying on a huge rock about five metres away from the shrine.
They had swollen heads and bruises.
“The two-year-old infant was lying unconscious on the same rock with a swollen head, and the villagers quickly administered first aid. He regained consciousness and was rushed to Murambinda Mission Hospital for further management. The body of the young infant was taken to Murambinda Mission Hospital for a post-mortem,” said Inspector Muzondo.
Police from Chirozva base attended the scene and arrested Rukobo on murder and attempted murder charges.
A Rusape-based mental health specialist, Dr Thomas Nyamudya told The Manica Post that a number of new mothers experience disturbing thoughts and an emotional flatness – red flags that signal postpartum psychosis.
Postpartum psychosis is a severe mental illness, characterised by extreme difficulty in responding emotionally to a newborn baby – which can include thoughts of harming the child.
In extreme situations, a woman with this condition may exhibit behaviours such as staring off into space, muttering to herself, refusing to eat or making seemingly irrational statements.
The majority of those who experience the condition have a history of mental illness.
“Causes of postpartum psychosis are not well understood. It’s possible that the abrupt shift in horm0nes after delivery could trigger it. It can manifest in a period spanning from a week or a year after birth,” said the psychiatrist.
She said postpartum psychosis is a psychiatric emergency due to its potential for harm to the baby or the new mother.
“Some of its symptoms include sudden thoughts of throwing the baby or harming it in some way, delusions, which are some awkward beliefs that have no basis in reality and hallucinations – seeing or hearing things that aren’t there. She had difficulty responding emotionally to the baby,” she added.
By A Correspondent | A UK based 49y old Zimbabwean uncle wants to cheka hukama (cut self from family) so that he marries his biological sister’s 23yold daughter who he impregnated after grooming her since 17. He has a 10-month-old baby with his niece and wants to speed things up.
VIDEO LOADING BELOW….
The accused
He is a member of the Johane Masowe eChishanu that sociallite Olnda Chapel attends.
The family speaks to ZimEye on Thursday saying: We have a very difficult situation and it involves family.
We have our uncle who came into the UK from SA. He was now making questionable statements saying, I am allowed to enter your bedrooms.
He ended up moving out of the home. When he moved out, he was now staying with one of our sisters. She followed with him. Daddy was raising concerns.
Uncle was using statements of excuse saying he is helping his niece.
He would be stalking her.
Now today, the neice has a daughter who is 10 months old, and it turns out the baby’s father is the uncle.
Sekuru is a Madzibaba from vaPositori.
We need you to call Sekuru and interview awareness.
I am the child’s mother. A preacher later came out prophesying saying your daughter has a child with your brother.
Sekuru is here on the call with us… – LIVE DISCUSSION FOLLOWS… – REFRESH THIS PAGE FOR MORE
Shine Shine Queens FC is a Masvingo Urban based soccer team which has just been promoted into Zimbabwe National Women super league.
This club is appealing for anything you can assist with like soccer balls, water, sanitary ware, soccer jerseys, training bibs, tracksuits, and even cash.
This will help the young girls to fulfill their 2023 season hence bringing entertainment to the city, guarding the girl child against any social ills caused by idleness e.g drug abuse, early child marriages just to mention a few, promoting tourism through sport as some clubs will visit for example Great Zimbabwe Monuments after matches.
Masvingo let’s support our girl child.
Your dollar will help this sole club in the province. Contact: 0773896430/0774055819
By A Correspondent | A UK based 49y old Zimbabwean uncle wants to cheka hukama (cut self from family) so that he marries his biological sister’s 23yold daughter who he impregnated after grooming her since 17. He has a 10-month-old baby with his niece and wants to speed things up.
VIDEO LOADING BELOW….
The accused
He is a member of the Johane Masowe eChishanu that sociallite Olnda Chapel attends.
The family speaks to ZimEye on Thursday saying: We have a very difficult situation and it involves family.
We have our uncle who came into the UK from SA. He was now making questionable statements saying, I am allowed to enter your bedrooms.
He ended up moving out of the home. When he moved out, he was now staying with one of our sisters. She followed with him. Daddy was raising concerns.
Uncle was using statements of excuse saying he is helping his niece.
He would be stalking her.
Now today, the neice has a daughter who is 10 months old, and it turns out the baby’s father is the uncle.
Sekuru is a Madzibaba from vaPositori.
We need you to call Sekuru and interview awareness.
I am the child’s mother. A preacher later came out prophesying saying your daughter has a child with your brother.
Sekuru is here on the call with us… – LIVE DISCUSSION FOLLOWS… – REFRESH THIS PAGE FOR MORE
Tinashe Sambiri| CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa has described the late change champion Thomas Garatsa as a legend of the citizens’ struggle.
On Saturday President Chamisa attended Sekuru Garatsa’s burial in Buhera.
“I’m in Buhera… Laying to rest Our Hero and Change Champion Thomas Garatsa (87).
We have lost a strong and organic Community leader. RIP Champion,” President Chamisa on Twitter.
In a statement on Saturday, CCC paid tribute to Sekuru Garatsa…
GO WELL CHAMPION: Our Change Champion in Chief, Advocate @nelsonchamisa was in Buhera today to pay his last respects to a strong & organic community organizer, Sekuru Thomas Garatsa (87).
He always offered his time & resources to further the work of the Movement in his community.
Tinashe Sambiri|The failure by Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration to curb drug abuse is worrisome.
This was said by CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa on Friday.
The CCC leader challenged the Zanu PF regime to reign in on rampant drug abuse in schools and communities.
“WE MUST ACT..Drugs are decimating our young people.
We are losing a whole nation and generation under our watch.
Our communities & schools have become drug havens. Where is government in all this? Where is law enforcement ? Everyone must be involved in fighting this scourge!#Act,” said President Chamisa.
See also CCC statement below:
NO TO DRUG ABUSE: We note the ever growing drugs crisis among the youth and our population with great concern. We need to collectively take action. A CCC Govt will roll out an anti-drugs campaign and a national Anti-Drug Policy to arrest this scourge.
An estimated 5 million children died before their fifth birthday and another 2.1 million children and youth aged between 5–24 years lost their lives in 2021, according to the latest estimates released by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).
In a separate report also released today, the group found that 1.9 million babies were stillborn during the same period. Tragically, many of these deaths could have been prevented with equitable access and high-quality maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health care.
“Every day, far too many parents are facing the trauma of losing their children, sometimes even before their first breath,” said Vidhya Ganesh, UNICEF Director of the Division of Data Analytics, Planning and Monitoring. “Such widespread, preventable tragedy should never be accepted as inevitable. Progress is possible with stronger political will and targeted investment in equitable access to primary health care for every woman and child.”
The reports show some positive outcomes with a lower risk of death across all ages globally since 2000. The global under-5 mortality rate fell by 50% since the start of the century, while mortality rates in older children and youth dropped by 36%, and the stillbirth rate decreased by 35%. This can be attributed to more investments in strengthening primary health systems to benefit women, children and young people.
However, gains have reduced significantly since 2010, and 54 countries will fall short of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals target for under-5 mortality. If swift action is not taken to improve health services, warn the agencies, almost 59 million children and youth will die before 2030, and nearly 16 million babies will be lost to stillbirth.
“It is grossly unjust that a child’s chances of survival can be shaped just by their place of birth, and that there are such vast inequities in their access to lifesaving health services,” said Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Children everywhere need strong primary health care systems that meet their needs and those of their families, so that – no matter where they are born – they have the best start and hope for the future.”
Children continue to face wildly differentiating chances of survival based on where they are born, with sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia shouldering the heaviest burden, the reports show. Though sub-Saharan Africa had just 29% of global live births, the region accounted for 56% of all under-5 deaths in 2021, and southern Asia for 26% of the total.
Children born in sub-Saharan Africa are subject to the highest risk of childhood death in the world – 15 times higher than the risk for children in Europe and northern America.
Mothers in these 2 regions also endure the painful loss of babies to stillbirth at an exceptional rate, with 77% of all stillbirths in 2021 occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Nearly half of all stillbirths happened in sub-Saharan Africa. The risk of a woman having a stillborn baby in sub-Saharan Africa is 7 times more likely than in Europe and North America.
“Behind these numbers are millions of children and families who are denied their basic rights to health,” said Juan Pablo Uribe, Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population, World Bank and Director of the Global Financing Facility. “We need political will and leadership for sustained financing for primary health care which is one of the best investments countries and development partners can make.”
Access to and availability of quality health care continues to be a matter of life or death for children globally. Most child deaths occur in the first five years, of which half are within the first month of life. For these youngest babies, premature birth and complications during labour are the leading causes of death.
Similarly, more than 40% of stillbirths occur during labour – most of which are preventable when women have access to quality care throughout pregnancy and birth. For children that survive past their first 28 days, infectious diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria pose the biggest threat.
While COVID-19 has not directly increased childhood mortality – with children facing a lower likelihood of dying from the disease than adults – the pandemic may have increased future risks to their survival. In particular, the reports highlight concerns around disruptions to vaccination campaigns, nutrition services, and access to primary health care, which could jeopardize their health and well-being for many years to come. In addition, the pandemic has fuelled the largest continued backslide in vaccinations in three decades, putting the most vulnerable newborns and children at greater risk of dying from preventable diseases.
The reports also note gaps in data, which could critically undermine the impact of policies and programmes designed to improve childhood survival and well-being.
“The new estimates highlight the remarkable global progress since 2000 in reducing mortality among children under age 5,” said John Wilmoth, Director, UN DESA Population Division. “Despite this success, more work is needed to address persistent large differences in child survival across countries and regions, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Only by improving access to quality health care, especially around the time of childbirth, will we be able to reduce these inequities and end preventable deaths of newborns and children worldwide.”
Geological Mapping is an important tool in the mining industry.
Many people look down upon Geological mapping and just do simple methods in search of minerals for example dowsing methods to search for minerals.
Geological mapping is the process done by a Geologist in which he picks up rock units called lithologies in an area, picking the orientation and structural features on the mine.
Explaining the importance of Geological mapping: One can know the contact zones which are important in gold mineralization. Gold moves in areas of low mean stress for example fractures, faults, etc if a Geologist is able to pic a contact zone he can be able to proceed checking possible mineralization in the cantact zone.
We at Inner Core Resources (Pvt.) Ltd offer Mining services from Geological mapping, reef mapping, Magnetics and IP in exploration for all minerals including Gold, Lithium, Manganese and base metals including copper, manganese etc. Exploration starts from desktop studies spanning to geological mapping upto geological reporting with our experienced personnel.
Why would you want to do this:
To understand the potential of your area, This would be your guideline during mining…
Information compiled by Inner Core Resources Private Limited in collaboration with Three Wingers Enterprises
Inner Core Resources can be contacted through its partner Three Wingers Enterprises.
Tinashe Sambiri| CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa has described the late change champion Thomas Garatsa as a legend of the citizens’ struggle.
On Saturday President Chamisa attended Sekuru Garatsa’s burial in Buhera.
“I’m in Buhera… Laying to rest Our Hero and Change Champion Thomas Garatsa (87).
We have lost a strong and organic Community leader. RIP Champion,” President Chamisa on Twitter.
In a statement on Saturday, CCC paid tribute to Sekuru Garatsa…
GO WELL CHAMPION: Our Change Champion in Chief, Advocate @nelsonchamisa was in Buhera today to pay his last respects to a strong & organic community organizer, Sekuru Thomas Garatsa (87).
He always offered his time & resources to further the work of the Movement in his community.
By-Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe and Police boss Godwin Matanga are facing arrest after human rights lawyers have filed an application at the Harare High Court seeking an order to be jailed.
This follows their willfully reneging on the order to compensate Pardon Chitongo, a victim of police brutality.
Chitongo was shot and permanently disabled by anti-riot police officers during the January 2019 anti-government protests as he stood outside his uncle’s home in Epworth.
In 2022, Kazembe and Matanga were ordered to pay Chitongo ZWL$3.7 million but have not done so.
Now wheelchair-bound, Chitongo is relying on expensive painkillers to ease pain in his body.
He is being represented by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)’s Paidamoyo Saurombe and Fiona Iliff. ZLHR said:
Kazembe and Godwin Matanga were on 3 August 2022 ordered by High Court Judge Justice Gladys Mhuri to pay ZW$3,7 million to Chitongo as damages after he was shot by ZRP officers on 14 January 2019.
Chitongo was shot by ZRP officers while he was standing outside his uncle’s house when police officers recklessly and indiscriminately started shooting towards him, ostensibly to target some protestors during an anti-government demonstration.
He had not been protesting, was simply caught in the crossfire and was hit by a bullet that pierced through his arm, penetrated through his body, came out on the other side of his body, and hit the other arm.
As a result of the grave nature of his injuries, Chitongo had to undergo an operation to remove one of his kidneys after he suffered permanent damage to his spinal cord.
The two have reneged on paying damages and this forced Chitongo to file an application seeking an order to hold the duo to be in contempt of court and that they are sentenced to 30 days in prison for defaulting on paying the judgment debt.
Riots broke out across the country in January 2019 as citizens protested against a fuel price hike and general hardships.
Security services responded with brute force, with 12 people reportedly killed while hundreds were tortured and injured. | NewZimbabwe.com
By- The government says schools are permitted to expel learners found in possession of drugs.
This follows last week’s expulsion of eight learners at Dominican Convent High School, a top Harare girls’ school, who were allegedly found in possession of illicit substances stashed in their belongings during a recent school trip to Nyanga. The matter is currently under police investigation. In an interview, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education spokesperson Mr Taungana Ndoro said: “We have carried out quite a number of community outreach programmes with partners, including those from the Zimbabwe Republic Police; the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation; and various other stakeholders to ensure we try and curb this scourge and nip it in the bud before it progresses. “As the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, we have a robust mechanism of outreach programmes to ensure that we stop drug and substance abuse in all our schools.” He said school heads are obliged to suspend a learner for 14 days where they reasonably suspect them of serious misconduct, pending investigation. “If the head is satisfied, after a fair hearing, that the learner is guilty of serious misconduct that merits expulsion after consultation with the district schools inspector, then the pupils will be expelled,” he said. “Where a head has decided to expel a learner, they should give the parents written notice of the date on which the expulsion is to take effect and, in the notice, they should state the reason for the decision to expel the learner.” Upon being notified of the expulsion, he said parents may appeal in writing to the provincial education director within 14 days of receiving the notice. “While the appeal is being determined, the learner who has been expelled is permitted to attend school. “However, provided that if the head of the school believes, on reasonable grounds, the learner’s attendance may lead to indiscipline or may result in injury of another person or damage to property, the head can prevent the learner from attending school for not more than a month after the appeal has been launched.” In a separate interview, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said investigations into the Dominican Convent matter were ongoing. “The matter is work in progress and we are still carrying out the investigations,” he said. -Sunday Mail
By-The City of Harare has temporarily decommissioned 15 boreholes that were contaminated with human waste in three suburbs.
The boreholes are believed to be the source of typhoid cases reported in Glen Norah, Mbare and Budiriro.
City health authorities tested water samples taken from 127 boreholes in the three suburbs and found significant traces of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, indicating the presence of faecal matter.
Seventy-two (72) suspected typhoid cases are being monitored, while about 20 others have been confirmed.
City epidemiology and disease control officer Dr. Michael Vere said:
We have tested several boreholes in Harare — a total of 127 — and we discovered that seven boreholes were contaminated with faecal matter in Glen Norah and eight boreholes in Mbare.
We temporarily closed these boreholes and installed in-line chlorinators; these are devices that contain chlorine, which kills all the bacteria in the water to make it safe for use.
These boreholes could have been the source of typhoid infection.
Increase potable water supplies
Vere said the city plans to increase potable water pumped into areas where boreholes have been decommissioned. He said:
We are working with our Water Department so that affected suburbs get water supplies.
Our health department has recorded 92 cases of suspected typhoid, of which about 20 have been confirmed.
From January 1, we recorded a total of nine cases.
We have seven cases from Glen Norah and two other cases — one each in Highfield and Ushewokunze.
We continued to record an increasing number of cases in Glen Norah and this prompted us to investigate the source of the outbreak.
By-Marauding hyenas have invaded Ward 37 Mberengwa District in the Midlands Province.
A villager, Luckson Pasipanodya, said the hyenas hadn’t attacked people yet, but they had already killed donkeys, goats, sheep, and calves.
The most affected areas are villages, Nungirai, Chivasa, Pararai and around Gwai Primary School, Makwava Primary, Chapungu Secondary and Mundi-Mataga Dam area under Chief Chingoma. Said Pasipanodya:
These hyenas are surely causing a headache to us as villagers. Goats, sheep and donkeys are at the mercy of these animals. We have never had them in such a big number.
This time there are many and are sure to leave us poorer and hungry as donkeys form part of our draught power.
They haven’t attacked people but fears are that they may pounce on children and those that may be travelling to catch buses at dawn.
Villagers said they do not know where the wild animals came from but suspect that they migrated from farms in the Sovelele area in Mwenezi and Makhado into Mberengwa.
MP for Mberengwa South Tasara Hungwe said they engaged the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) for help in dealing with the hyena menace and the teams were in the area. He said:
The hyenas have been a problem for some time but now the issue has escalated as people are losing livestock almost on a daily basis and people are even scared for their lives at this point.
We have engaged the Zimparks team and we hope they can do something to scare them away because people’s livestock is at risk.
Nungirai village head Wilbert Pasipanodya said the hyena menace will only get worse as the environment seems to be good for their breeding on a massive scale. | The Sunday News
Hopewell Chin'ono appears to confirm leaked audio with military intelligence officer, doesn't deny its authenticity, and says "focus on real issues- voter registration." In the audio, he says @nelsonchamisa is incompetent cause he's failed to get people registered to vote. pic.twitter.com/Tx3bSrT2db
Officer Chafunga of St. Mary's police will curse the day he raised a button stick against an accused in police cells. The crt awarded $400 000 damages against him. His lawyers have been pleading with @ZLHRLawyers not to have his account garnished.#StopPolicebrutality. pic.twitter.com/H2AmrxH1q2
It’s celebration time for some poor people in Masvingo after a well known business tycoon James Pande has arrived in the ancient city.
The tycoon (James Pande) known as #Big Deal has pledged to assist the poor.
Some opharns and widows said they received food items and school fees from the tycoon.
“Tinovagashira nemaoko maviri, ndafarira kuti zvese zvandakaitirwa pavana nechikafu havana kuda kunditora mifananidzo kuti vandishambadze, dai vaPande varamba vachiitirawo ruzhinji kubata kwakadai” said one granny who have been struggling to feed her family of six.
James Pande was also described as a Zanu PF strong member and a big supporter of ED.
(Johannesburg, January 27, 2023) – Zimbabwe should reregister hundreds of civil society groups whose registration it has withdrawn, and amend its Private Voluntary Organization Act to bring it in line with its obligations to protect freedom of association, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should also cancel an amendment that would bar groups from “political” activity under threat of criminal penalties.
On January 22, 2023, Zimbabwean authorities announced they had revoked the registration of 291 nongovernmental and civil society organizations for “noncompliance with the provisions of Private Voluntary Organization Act.” Human Rights Watch had criticized the law as retrogressive when it was being drafted in 2004 and raised the alarm on its potential violations of the right to freedom of association.
“Zimbabwe’s repression of civil society organizations needs to stop, especially in light of the general election this year,” said Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The government needs to stop using the Private Voluntary Organization Act as a tool to silence the exercise of fundamental democratic rights.”
The Private Voluntary Organization Act is incompatible with international human rights law standards on freedom of association to which Zimbabwe is a party, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Paul Mavhima, the labor and social welfare minister, said that registration was withdrawn from some groups because they allegedly failed to submit audited accounts for money raised from donors, while in other cases the revocation was for national security reasons, or for allegedly straying from their mandate.
Critics, however, have called the move a consolidation of authoritarian rule and a harbinger of worse things to come.
“The law is now an instrument of repression for the civil society sector,” a Zimbabwean human rights lawyer told Human Rights Watch. “The right of existence and operation is under threat because the requirements of this law can easily be used to shut down organizations and apply criminal law against NGOs and civil society leaders. This deregistration seems to carry the message that you either comply with our regulations or you perish.”
He noted that the restrictions can silence grassroots groups that provide guidance and leadership at the community level, leaving voters in the dark about important developments as the election nears.
In November 2021, the government proposed an amendment to the Private Voluntary Organizations Act to further restrict the operations of nongovernmental organizations. The amendment would allow the government to cancel the registration of organizations deemed to be “political,” with criminal penalties for the groups’ leaders. The government said it is aimed at curbing terrorism financing and money laundering to comply with the recommendation of the country’s Financial Action Taskforce. The parliament and the senate have passed the bill, and it is awaiting presidential signature.
There is no doubt that the adoption of the amendment will further threaten the already compromised right to freedom of association in the country, Human Rights Watch said. For this reason, the amendment should be withdrawn.
A member of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum told Human Rights Watch that the fact the amended law may come into effect before the general election means that groups that typically play an important role in the lead up to, during, and after, elections, will be shut out and prevented from doing so.
“What it means is that we may not have NGO-sponsored election observers and election monitoring by civil society organizations,” the rights defender said. “This would definitely undermine the credibility of the election because independent organizations that observe and compile reports on the electoral processes would not be able to do so. For many of us, it is very clear that there are specific organizations that this NGO law targets, and these are organizations that work on human rights and governance issues.”
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has on several occasions threatened to expel groups that do not follow his party’s mandate, and that in his view intervene in the country’s politics.
The African Union and the Southern African Development Community should intervene, Human Rights Watch said. They should urge President Mnangagwa not to sign the amendment into law. They should also urge the government to reconcile the Private Voluntary Organization Act with AU and SADC standards, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, AU Guidelines on Freedom of Association and Assembly in Africa, and SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
“The credibility of the upcoming general election, and whether it guarantees Zimbabwe’s citizens the right to genuinely chose their representatives, will be closely linked to the ability of civil society to monitor and report on the election process,” Budoo-Scholtz said. “Groups, especially those working on governance issues and acting as observers during elections, need to know they can operate without any fear of deregistration or criminal penalties.”
Two people died while 15 others were injured when two overloaded Honda Fit vehicles collided at the four-kilometre peg along Ruwazi-Igava road in Marondera on Monday.
The police confirmed the accident on their Twitter handle.
“The ZRP reports a fatal road traffic accident which occurred on 23/01/23 at 4 km peg along Ruwazi-Igava Road, Marondera, where two people died on the spot while 15 others were injured when a Honda Fit vehicle with eight passengers on board was involved in a head-on-collision with another Honda Fit vehicle with nine passengers on board. The bodies of the victims were taken to Marondera Provincial Hospital mortuary for post-mortem whilst the injured were admitted at the same hospital,” reads the Police tweet.
Accidents involving Honda Fit vehicles are mushrooming in the country.
Two people died while 15 others were injured when two overloaded Honda Fit vehicles collided at the four-kilometre peg along Ruwazi-Igava road in Marondera on Monday.
The police confirmed the accident on their Twitter handle.
“The ZRP reports a fatal road traffic accident which occurred on 23/01/23 at 4 km peg along Ruwazi-Igava Road, Marondera, where two people died on the spot while 15 others were injured when a Honda Fit vehicle with eight passengers on board was involved in a head-on-collision with another Honda Fit vehicle with nine passengers on board. The bodies of the victims were taken to Marondera Provincial Hospital mortuary for post-mortem whilst the injured were admitted at the same hospital,” reads the Police tweet.
Accidents involving Honda Fit vehicles are mushrooming in the country.
Tinashe Sambiri|The failure by Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration to curb drug abuse is worrisome.
This was said by CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa on Friday.
The CCC leader challenged the Zanu PF regime to reign in on rampant drug abuse in schools and communities.
“WE MUST ACT..Drugs are decimating our young people.
We are losing a whole nation and generation under our watch.
Our communities & schools have become drug havens. Where is government in all this? Where is law enforcement ? Everyone must be involved in fighting this scourge!#Act,” said President Chamisa.
See also CCC statement below:
NO TO DRUG ABUSE: We note the ever growing drugs crisis among the youth and our population with great concern. We need to collectively take action. A CCC Govt will roll out an anti-drugs campaign and a national Anti-Drug Policy to arrest this scourge.
POLITICAL analysts have accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of misleading the world at the Feed Africa Summit in Dakar, Senegal, early this week where he said Zimbabwe was food secure.
They said his remarks were in contrast with the situation on the ground, where the World Food Programme (WFP) estimates state that 5,7 million people in Zimbabwe urgently need food aid.
Just before Mnangagwa left for Senegal, his government through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, had indicated that the country was in peak hunger season and the number of people queuing for State food handouts had increased by 54% to 3,7 million from December last year when only 2,4 million people registered for government food aid.
In his presentation to other African heads of State in Dakar on Wednesday, Mnangagwa said the country had sufficient wheat stocks after a bumper harvest and might even export the commodity.
He, however, said the biggest challenge during this agricultural season is fertiliser, which is mostly imported from Russia and Ukraine.
“So we said, because there is climate change, how many hectares of the land can we put under irrigation to produce two million plus tonnes to feed the nation? We determined how much yield a hectare has, hence we knew the figures and we did that, and we are food secure,” Mnangagwa said.
His remarks have torched a social media storm with citizens accusing him of using the Dakar opportunity to spread his Zanu PF propaganda.
Political analysts said Mnangagwa’s remarks contradicted the WFP, which estimates that 38% of Zimbabwe’s population is food insecure.
Political analyst Rejoice Ngwenya said: “These are lies. If you check Fewsnet and WFP reports, you can sense that our county exists on the borderline of food insecurity. Costs of inputs double every year due to currency problems, and farmers have no borrowing capacity due to high interest rates. Climate change makes rain-dependent agriculture risky. Zimbabwe is yet to recover from the effects of violent property rights violations which left millions of acres of arable land in the hands of incompetent (Zanu PF) party surrogates.”
Another political analyst Effie Ncube said: “I think Mnangagwa was just grandstanding and using the opportunity for propaganda. What he did is misleading the world.”
However, economist Prosper Chitambara said the county was making progress on food security.
“The country is making a progress towards food security. We have seen the successes in winter wheat production last year,” he said.
“However, I think there is a lot of work in terms of investments, completion of dam projects that government is embarking on, and we need to upscale our investments on irrigation. We need to put more land under irrigation and improve the rural economy.”- NewsDay
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has hit four Uruguay national team players with match bans following an incident in the side’s 2022 World Cup match against Ghana.
Fernando Muslera and Jose Maria Gimenez have received four-match bans, while Diego Godin and Edinson Cavani have been suspended for a game each after they confronted German referee, Daniel Siebert.
The players were incensed by the referee’s calls during the encounter, especially the decisions not to award penalties for tackles on Darwin Nunez in the first half and Cavani in the second period.
On top of the match bans, the quartet will also do football-related community service, and pay fines of up to 20,000 Swiss francs ($21,701).
The Uruguayan football federation has also been fined 50,000 Swiss francs ($54,248) and handed a partial stadium closure for their next home match over the “discriminatory behaviour of its supporters” and the “misconduct” of the players.- Soccer24 Zimbabwe
Al Nassr coach Rudi Garcia has blamed Cristiano Ronaldo for the team’s Saudi Super Cup semi-final exit.
The Portuguese star endured a frustrating outing on Thursday against Al-Ittihad, managing just one attempt on target during the match.
The effort went straight to the hands of the keeper, from a good position, and Al-Ittihad doubled their lead just 28 seconds later.
Al Nassr did pull one back through Anderson Talisca but Muhannad Shanqeeti’s strike deep into injury time killed the contest.
Speaking after the game, Garcia said he thinks that the outcome could have been different if Ronaldo had not fluffed his opportunity at that crucial moment.
“One of the things that changed the course of the match was Cristiano’s missed opportunity in the first half,’ Garcia assessed after the game.
“I congratulate Al-Ittihad. They presented a much better first half than us, and we played a good second half, but unfortunately we were not able to adjust the result. It’s true that we regret losing the Super Cup, but we are still the first in the league.”- Soccer24 Zimbabwe
Al Nassr coach Rudi Garcia has blamed Cristiano Ronaldo for the team’s Saudi Super Cup semi-final exit.
The Portuguese star endured a frustrating outing on Thursday against Al-Ittihad, managing just one attempt on target during the match.
The effort went straight to the hands of the keeper, from a good position, and Al-Ittihad doubled their lead just 28 seconds later.
Al Nassr did pull one back through Anderson Talisca but Muhannad Shanqeeti’s strike deep into injury time killed the contest.
Speaking after the game, Garcia said he thinks that the outcome could have been different if Ronaldo had not fluffed his opportunity at that crucial moment.
“One of the things that changed the course of the match was Cristiano’s missed opportunity in the first half,’ Garcia assessed after the game.
“I congratulate Al-Ittihad. They presented a much better first half than us, and we played a good second half, but unfortunately we were not able to adjust the result. It’s true that we regret losing the Super Cup, but we are still the first in the league.”- Soccer24 Zimbabwe
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has hit four Uruguay national team players with match bans following an incident in the side’s 2022 World Cup match against Ghana.
Fernando Muslera and Jose Maria Gimenez have received four-match bans, while Diego Godin and Edinson Cavani have been suspended for a game each after they confronted German referee, Daniel Siebert.
The players were incensed by the referee’s calls during the encounter, especially the decisions not to award penalties for tackles on Darwin Nunez in the first half and Cavani in the second period.
On top of the match bans, the quartet will also do football-related community service, and pay fines of up to 20,000 Swiss francs ($21,701).
The Uruguayan football federation has also been fined 50,000 Swiss francs ($54,248) and handed a partial stadium closure for their next home match over the “discriminatory behaviour of its supporters” and the “misconduct” of the players.- Soccer24 Zimbabwe
Tinashe Sambiri|The failure by Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration to curb drug abuse is worrisome.
This was said by CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa on Friday.
The CCC leader challenged the Zanu PF regime to reign in on rampant drug abuse in schools and communities.
“WE MUST ACT..Drugs are decimating our young people.
We are losing a whole nation and generation under our watch.
Our communities & schools have become drug havens. Where is government in all this? Where is law enforcement ? Everyone must be involved in fighting this scourge!#Act,” said President Chamisa.
See also CCC statement below:
NO TO DRUG ABUSE: We note the ever growing drugs crisis among the youth and our population with great concern. We need to collectively take action. A CCC Govt will roll out an anti-drugs campaign and a national Anti-Drug Policy to arrest this scourge.
POLITICAL analysts have accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of misleading the world at the Feed Africa Summit in Dakar, Senegal, early this week where he said Zimbabwe was food secure.
They said his remarks were in contrast with the situation on the ground, where the World Food Programme (WFP) estimates state that 5,7 million people in Zimbabwe urgently need food aid.
Just before Mnangagwa left for Senegal, his government through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, had indicated that the country was in peak hunger season and the number of people queuing for State food handouts had increased by 54% to 3,7 million from December last year when only 2,4 million people registered for government food aid.
In his presentation to other African heads of State in Dakar on Wednesday, Mnangagwa said the country had sufficient wheat stocks after a bumper harvest and might even export the commodity.
He, however, said the biggest challenge during this agricultural season is fertiliser, which is mostly imported from Russia and Ukraine.
“So we said, because there is climate change, how many hectares of the land can we put under irrigation to produce two million plus tonnes to feed the nation? We determined how much yield a hectare has, hence we knew the figures and we did that, and we are food secure,” Mnangagwa said.
His remarks have torched a social media storm with citizens accusing him of using the Dakar opportunity to spread his Zanu PF propaganda.
Political analysts said Mnangagwa’s remarks contradicted the WFP, which estimates that 38% of Zimbabwe’s population is food insecure.
Political analyst Rejoice Ngwenya said: “These are lies. If you check Fewsnet and WFP reports, you can sense that our county exists on the borderline of food insecurity. Costs of inputs double every year due to currency problems, and farmers have no borrowing capacity due to high interest rates. Climate change makes rain-dependent agriculture risky. Zimbabwe is yet to recover from the effects of violent property rights violations which left millions of acres of arable land in the hands of incompetent (Zanu PF) party surrogates.”
Another political analyst Effie Ncube said: “I think Mnangagwa was just grandstanding and using the opportunity for propaganda. What he did is misleading the world.”
However, economist Prosper Chitambara said the county was making progress on food security.
“The country is making a progress towards food security. We have seen the successes in winter wheat production last year,” he said.
“However, I think there is a lot of work in terms of investments, completion of dam projects that government is embarking on, and we need to upscale our investments on irrigation. We need to put more land under irrigation and improve the rural economy.”- NewsDay
An estimated 5 million children died before their fifth birthday and another 2.1 million children and youth aged between 5–24 years lost their lives in 2021, according to the latest estimates released by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).
In a separate report also released today, the group found that 1.9 million babies were stillborn during the same period. Tragically, many of these deaths could have been prevented with equitable access and high-quality maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health care.
“Every day, far too many parents are facing the trauma of losing their children, sometimes even before their first breath,” said Vidhya Ganesh, UNICEF Director of the Division of Data Analytics, Planning and Monitoring. “Such widespread, preventable tragedy should never be accepted as inevitable. Progress is possible with stronger political will and targeted investment in equitable access to primary health care for every woman and child.”
The reports show some positive outcomes with a lower risk of death across all ages globally since 2000. The global under-5 mortality rate fell by 50% since the start of the century, while mortality rates in older children and youth dropped by 36%, and the stillbirth rate decreased by 35%. This can be attributed to more investments in strengthening primary health systems to benefit women, children and young people.
However, gains have reduced significantly since 2010, and 54 countries will fall short of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals target for under-5 mortality. If swift action is not taken to improve health services, warn the agencies, almost 59 million children and youth will die before 2030, and nearly 16 million babies will be lost to stillbirth.
“It is grossly unjust that a child’s chances of survival can be shaped just by their place of birth, and that there are such vast inequities in their access to lifesaving health services,” said Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Children everywhere need strong primary health care systems that meet their needs and those of their families, so that – no matter where they are born – they have the best start and hope for the future.”
Children continue to face wildly differentiating chances of survival based on where they are born, with sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia shouldering the heaviest burden, the reports show. Though sub-Saharan Africa had just 29% of global live births, the region accounted for 56% of all under-5 deaths in 2021, and southern Asia for 26% of the total.
Children born in sub-Saharan Africa are subject to the highest risk of childhood death in the world – 15 times higher than the risk for children in Europe and northern America.
Mothers in these 2 regions also endure the painful loss of babies to stillbirth at an exceptional rate, with 77% of all stillbirths in 2021 occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Nearly half of all stillbirths happened in sub-Saharan Africa. The risk of a woman having a stillborn baby in sub-Saharan Africa is 7 times more likely than in Europe and North America.
“Behind these numbers are millions of children and families who are denied their basic rights to health,” said Juan Pablo Uribe, Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population, World Bank and Director of the Global Financing Facility. “We need political will and leadership for sustained financing for primary health care which is one of the best investments countries and development partners can make.”
Access to and availability of quality health care continues to be a matter of life or death for children globally. Most child deaths occur in the first five years, of which half are within the first month of life. For these youngest babies, premature birth and complications during labour are the leading causes of death.
Similarly, more than 40% of stillbirths occur during labour – most of which are preventable when women have access to quality care throughout pregnancy and birth. For children that survive past their first 28 days, infectious diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria pose the biggest threat.
While COVID-19 has not directly increased childhood mortality – with children facing a lower likelihood of dying from the disease than adults – the pandemic may have increased future risks to their survival. In particular, the reports highlight concerns around disruptions to vaccination campaigns, nutrition services, and access to primary health care, which could jeopardize their health and well-being for many years to come. In addition, the pandemic has fuelled the largest continued backslide in vaccinations in three decades, putting the most vulnerable newborns and children at greater risk of dying from preventable diseases.
The reports also note gaps in data, which could critically undermine the impact of policies and programmes designed to improve childhood survival and well-being.
“The new estimates highlight the remarkable global progress since 2000 in reducing mortality among children under age 5,” said John Wilmoth, Director, UN DESA Population Division. “Despite this success, more work is needed to address persistent large differences in child survival across countries and regions, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Only by improving access to quality health care, especially around the time of childbirth, will we be able to reduce these inequities and end preventable deaths of newborns and children worldwide.”
Tinashe Sambiri|The failure by Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration to curb drug abuse is worrisome.
This was said by CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa on Friday.
The CCC leader challenged the Zanu PF regime to reign in on rampant drug abuse in schools and communities.
“WE MUST ACT..Drugs are decimating our young people.
We are losing a whole nation and generation under our watch.
Our communities & schools have become drug havens. Where is government in all this? Where is law enforcement ? Everyone must be involved in fighting this scourge!#Act,” said President Chamisa.
See also CCC statement below:
NO TO DRUG ABUSE: We note the ever growing drugs crisis among the youth and our population with great concern. We need to collectively take action. A CCC Govt will roll out an anti-drugs campaign and a national Anti-Drug Policy to arrest this scourge.
(Johannesburg, January 27, 2023) – Zimbabwe should reregister hundreds of civil society groups whose registration it has withdrawn, and amend its Private Voluntary Organization Act to bring it in line with its obligations to protect freedom of association, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should also cancel an amendment that would bar groups from “political” activity under threat of criminal penalties.
On January 22, 2023, Zimbabwean authorities announced they had revoked the registration of 291 nongovernmental and civil society organizations for “noncompliance with the provisions of Private Voluntary Organization Act.” Human Rights Watch had criticized the law as retrogressive when it was being drafted in 2004 and raised the alarm on its potential violations of the right to freedom of association.
“Zimbabwe’s repression of civil society organizations needs to stop, especially in light of the general election this year,” said Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The government needs to stop using the Private Voluntary Organization Act as a tool to silence the exercise of fundamental democratic rights.”
The Private Voluntary Organization Act is incompatible with international human rights law standards on freedom of association to which Zimbabwe is a party, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Paul Mavhima, the labor and social welfare minister, said that registration was withdrawn from some groups because they allegedly failed to submit audited accounts for money raised from donors, while in other cases the revocation was for national security reasons, or for allegedly straying from their mandate.
Critics, however, have called the move a consolidation of authoritarian rule and a harbinger of worse things to come.
“The law is now an instrument of repression for the civil society sector,” a Zimbabwean human rights lawyer told Human Rights Watch. “The right of existence and operation is under threat because the requirements of this law can easily be used to shut down organizations and apply criminal law against NGOs and civil society leaders. This deregistration seems to carry the message that you either comply with our regulations or you perish.”
He noted that the restrictions can silence grassroots groups that provide guidance and leadership at the community level, leaving voters in the dark about important developments as the election nears.
In November 2021, the government proposed an amendment to the Private Voluntary Organizations Act to further restrict the operations of nongovernmental organizations. The amendment would allow the government to cancel the registration of organizations deemed to be “political,” with criminal penalties for the groups’ leaders. The government said it is aimed at curbing terrorism financing and money laundering to comply with the recommendation of the country’s Financial Action Taskforce. The parliament and the senate have passed the bill, and it is awaiting presidential signature.
There is no doubt that the adoption of the amendment will further threaten the already compromised right to freedom of association in the country, Human Rights Watch said. For this reason, the amendment should be withdrawn.
A member of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum told Human Rights Watch that the fact the amended law may come into effect before the general election means that groups that typically play an important role in the lead up to, during, and after, elections, will be shut out and prevented from doing so.
“What it means is that we may not have NGO-sponsored election observers and election monitoring by civil society organizations,” the rights defender said. “This would definitely undermine the credibility of the election because independent organizations that observe and compile reports on the electoral processes would not be able to do so. For many of us, it is very clear that there are specific organizations that this NGO law targets, and these are organizations that work on human rights and governance issues.”
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has on several occasions threatened to expel groups that do not follow his party’s mandate, and that in his view intervene in the country’s politics.
The African Union and the Southern African Development Community should intervene, Human Rights Watch said. They should urge President Mnangagwa not to sign the amendment into law. They should also urge the government to reconcile the Private Voluntary Organization Act with AU and SADC standards, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, AU Guidelines on Freedom of Association and Assembly in Africa, and SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
“The credibility of the upcoming general election, and whether it guarantees Zimbabwe’s citizens the right to genuinely chose their representatives, will be closely linked to the ability of civil society to monitor and report on the election process,” Budoo-Scholtz said. “Groups, especially those working on governance issues and acting as observers during elections, need to know they can operate without any fear of deregistration or criminal penalties.”
By Dr Masimba Mavaza | Opinion | FULL TEXT – Each time we are near elections a very annoying group springs up. It is a group with a special speciality of setting the truth upside down. Their profession can not be called anything else but lies. They expose their intelligence or lack of it and they are called liars. The main reason people lie is low self-esteem. Which is highly visible in this particular group. They use their lies to gain social acceptance. As a nation we must emphasise to these liars the consequences of lying.
The ZIMEYE a very popular online newspaper published a Twitter claiming that The Head of Security at @ZECzim, Mavis Matsanga is a serving CIO Director.
The publication went further to allege that her husband is a lecturer at UZ. “Mavis Matsanga straight to DG Isaac Moyo. Her father was a CIO and her family comes from Rusape. She lives near Patrick Chinamasa’s house which recently got burnt down.”sic.
The tweet is not only a lie but shameless blabbing total misrepresentation meant to cause mistrust and set a fight between ZEC and the electorate. The mentioning of the Director General and fixing a none existent relationship giving people jobs and ranks in the CIO is a way of casting aspersions and causing pandaemonium during the forthcoming elections.
ZIMEYE is persistently interfering with Zimbabwean elections and planning to disrupt the elections by undermining ZEC. Pathological lying is a symptom of various personality disorders, including antisocial, narcissistic, and histrionic personality disorders. Other conditions, such as borderline personality disorder, may also lead to frequent lies, but the lies themselves are not considered pathological.
For ZIMEYE to publish such a Twitter without verifying its information is beyond low. It is therefore clear that such nonsense published by ZIMEYE is shameful embarrassing and indeed idiotic.
But why is ZIMEYE giving such wrong information what does it aim to achieve by doing such. Why do newspapers appear to be able to get away with mild truth bending and sometimes even outrageous lies? people have more leniency for newspapers’ lies when they bolster a shared belief that a specific political stance is morally right.It appears to be because those lies are perceived by supporters as an acceptable and perhaps necessary means to achieve a. higher moral end.
A troubling and timely implication of such lies is that political figures may be able to act in corrupt ways without damaging their images, at least in the eyes of their supporters. So they use the journalists to advance the agenda of confusion and anarchy. It is sad that lying served a shared moralized goal and is more accepted and advocacy in support of the opposing view, or nonpreferred end, was more condemned, regardless of whether the statement was true or false.
Moral conviction for a cause, not the fairness of procedures, may shape people’s perceptions of any target who engages in norm-violating behaviors that uphold moralized causes, such as demonising ZEC and mixing it up with state security issues to gain maximum confusion.
To ZIMEYE Lying takes more energy than telling the truth, unless the liar has a personality disorder such as psychopathy or narcissism. In both of these cases the liar convinces him or herself that what they are saying is the truth—even if at some level they know it isn’t. By believing in their lies they prepare the people for rebellion.
The same is true of people in a high executive or political level. They have become so used to people accepting what they say, whether it is an obvious falsehood or not, that the energy expenditure in lying is minimized and they can keep on doing it without obvious psychological harm.
With the presidential and parliamentary campaigns in the homestretch, the quadrennial contest for deception, misdirection, fact-bending, half-truths, and downright lies, in other words, the challenge to win the hearts and minds of voters, is in full swing. We should understand that journalists mmaintain a neutral stance on which party and which candidates are the most disingenuous and dishonest, but lying seems to be reaching its apogee with less than ten months until the election, there will be new heights (or depths, depending on how you look at it) to be reached between now and July.
It is constantly amazing how often journalists lie and then, of course, their unwillingness to admit that they lied. The euphemisms that journalists politicians use for what is, in many cases, bold-faced lies are legend. Politicians misspoke. The biased media misinterpreted what they meant. Politicians’ words were distorted, misrepresented, twisted, exaggerated, or taken out of context.
They overstated, understated, or misstated. But, of course, politicians never lie, at least that’s what they say. It is sad that the Twitter is thrown in there knowing very well that the DG or his office will not respond.
Yet, the unvarnished truth is that ZIMEYE lied about Matsanga and ZEC. Why do journalists believe they can lie and not get caught? Particularly in this age of the Internet and its army of professional and amateur fact-checkers, the chances of lies standing up under the glare of the inevitable cyber-scrutiny are slim to none.
So, why do some opposition media believe they can lie when their untruths are so easily uncovered? Isaac Moyo is the Director General of Zimbabwe’s intelligence unit, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). Before his appointment to this post on 9 December, 2017 he was Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to South Africa and Lesotho. He does not in any way control appointments at ZEC.- DISCUSSION AT 7PM ON ZIMEYE
By A Correspondent- In a bizarre incident that sent chills down the spines of many, a Buhera woman who was praying smashed the heads of her two young children on a rock and killed one of them instantly as she claimed that a “voice” had instructed her to commit the heinous crime.
The other infant was resuscitated through first aid before being rushed to Murambinda Mission Hospital where he is said to be in a stable condition.
Mary Rukobo (24) of Mashangana Village under Chief Nyashanu has since been arrested on murder and attempted murder charges.
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Nobert Muzondo said Rukobo, who was expected to appear in court this week, crushed the heads of her two infants (two months) and (two years) on a rock.
She killed the two-month-old baby instantly, while the other is recuperating in hospital. The heart-rending incident occurred on January 19.
Inspector Muzondo said Rukobo, a member of a local apostolic sect, committed the offence at her worshipping shrine that is about 500 metres from her homestead.
Rukobo, who usually visited the shrine for night prayers, was allegedly nakǝd when she committed the offence.
She was interviewed and confessed that she had killed her two-months-old son by crushing his head several times on a huge rock. She claimed that she had heard a voice instructing her to crush the heads of her children against the rock,” said Inspector Muzondo.
Inspector Muzondo said the villagers conducted a search and discovered the victims’ bodies lying on a huge rock about five metres away from the shrine.
They had swollen heads and bruises.
“The two-year-old infant was lying unconscious on the same rock with a swollen head, and the villagers quickly administered first aid. He regained consciousness and was rushed to Murambinda Mission Hospital for further management. The body of the young infant was taken to Murambinda Mission Hospital for a post-mortem,” said Inspector Muzondo.
Police from Chirozva base attended the scene and arrested Rukobo on murder and attempted murder charges.
A Rusape-based mental health specialist, Dr Thomas Nyamudya told The Manica Post that a number of new mothers experience disturbing thoughts and an emotional flatness – red flags that signal postpartum psychosis.
Postpartum psychosis is a severe mental illness, characterised by extreme difficulty in responding emotionally to a newborn baby – which can include thoughts of harming the child.
In extreme situations, a woman with this condition may exhibit behaviours such as staring off into space, muttering to herself, refusing to eat or making seemingly irrational statements.
The majority of those who experience the condition have a history of mental illness.
Causes of postpartum psychosis are not well understood. It’s possible that the abrupt shift in horm0nes after delivery could trigger it. It can manifest in a period spanning from a week or a year after birth,” said the psychiatrist.
She said postpartum psychosis is a psychiatric emergency due to its potential for harm to the baby or the new mother.
“Some of its symptoms include sudden thoughts of throwing the baby or harming it in some way, delusions, which are some awkward beliefs that have no basis in reality and hallucinations – seeing or hearing things that aren’t there. She had difficulty responding emotionally to the baby,” she added.
By A Correspondent- Police in Bulawayo are hunting for a Honda Fit crew that allegedly kidnapped two passengers and sprayed their faces with a chemical that made them fall unconscious before robbing them.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident.
“We appeal for information that could lead to the arrest of the four suspects who were traveling in a Honda Fit. They are wanted for allegedly kidnapping a male and female passenger who boarded their car at Mbalabala turn-off. The suspects drove to Bulawayo City Centre where upon arrival they bashed the pair before robbing them of an undisclosed amount of cash and dumping them,” said Insp Ncube.
A source close to the incident said a woman who is aged 19 and cannot be named for ethical reasons was picked by a Honda Fit crew that had four occupants.
While they were on the way, the driver demanded money from the woman and her fellow passenger soon after that one of the crew members who was sitting in the in the front seat on the passenger’s seat sprayed the woman and her fellow passenger on their faces with an unknown liquid causing them to fall unconscious,” said the source.
The source added: “After that, they robbed the pair and drove to Bulawayo and arrived at around 11:30 PM. They dumped them near a fuel station located at the corner of Joshua Mqabuko Street and 3rd Avenue before they drove off.”
The woman later regained consciousness and phoned her boss before she reported the incident at Bulawayo Central Police Station.
By A Correspondent- Three teenagers have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for cutting electricity copper cables.
In a statement, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) yesterday said the trio committed the offence on January 15.
Richard Masunda (18), Tatenda Nyakura (18) and Honest Warambwa (19) were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for unlawfully cutting and removing overhead electricity copper cables.
“It is reported that the trio was arrested on January 15 at around 12am after police received a tip off.
The State told the court that on January 15 at around 0.30am, Police received a tip off that the three were cutting overhead electricity copper cables from street lights at Corner Charter and Mbuya Nehanda Street.
The police swiftly reacted to the information and found one of the accused persons in possession of the overhead copper conductor. He then led them to the other accused persons who were hiding, leading to their arrest. The value of the overhead copper cable recovered is US$450.
“Theft and vandalism of copper cables carries a mandatory sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.”
By Nomusa Garikai- “Central government is destroying and suffocating local authorities through ministerial directives, corruption, procurement, land barons, partisan staff recruitment and non-implementation of devolution as per the constitution. This we will change,” said Chamisa via Twitter.
Local authorities have been in the eye of the storm for failing to deliver basic services such as refuse collection and tapped water.
If wishes were kisses And kisses were songs, I’d sing for you melodies Vibrant and long.
By Sylvia Leigh
Of course, this is all wishful daydreaming on the part of Chamisa. For him to reverse any Zanu PF policies he and his CCC friends must first wrestle political power from Mnangagwa and company.
They (MDC) had the golden opportunity to do this by implementing the democratic reforms during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. They failed to implement even one token reform and the chance was wasted.
Mugabe bribed them with the trappings of high office and the rest is history.
Chamisa and company claim they will “win big” in 2023. It is all wishful thinking, of course. How can they win the elections so flawed there is no verified voters’ roll, rural voters are frog marched to vote for Zanu PF, etc., etc.
“Zviroto zviroto, siyai zviroto mumba!” (Daydreaming is daydreaming, one must not allow themselves to be carried away with their daydreaming!) said the late Zanu PF dictator Robert Mugabe dismissively of also late Morgan Tsvangirai’s claims of electoral victory.
The tragedy for Zimbabwe is there are many Zimbabweans out there who continue to believe MDC/CCC’s nonsensical daydreaming of ending the Zanu PF dictatorship without implemented the democratic reforms.
Even if the those involved in the vote rigging; the Army, ZEC, Police, etc.; were to switch their loyalty from Zanu PF to CCC – which is what Chamisa and Morgan Tsvangirai before have been actively promoting by promising they will all keep their privileges and loot – this will not guarantee good governance.
The root causes of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown and bad governance are the mismanagement, the rampant corruption and failure to hold those in power to democratic account; which are, in turn, the by-product of the political patronage system.
Trading in one patron, Mnangagwa, for a new one, Chamisa, will not end the criminal waste of human and material resources nor promote debate, democratic competition and free elections – the prerequisites for good governance.
The people of Zimbabwe have risked life and limb to elect MDC/CCC leaders into power on the understanding they would implement the democratic reforms to end the Zanu PF dictatorship, the nation has been dying for.
After 23 years, 5 of which in the GNU, MDC/CCC leaders have not implemented even one token reform. It is very disappointing that the people are not only given MDC/CCC their marching orders but continue giving the sell outs their support seduced by the daydream empty promises. Zviroto!
By Patrick Guramatunhu- “The world is flat or round not because you or me say it is flat/round. It is round because the mountain of supporting evidence say it is round,” my Secondary School teacher used to say.
Zimbabwe is well and truly stuck in this economic and political mess. 43 years after independence and the country is economic ruins, the four decades of Zanu PF gross mismanagement and rampant corruption have all but crippled the country’s once promising economy.
We are stuck with the corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF regime because the opposition, the men and women the nation had entrusted the task of implementing the democratic reforms and end the Zanu PF dictatorship have proven to be corrupt, hopelessly incompetent and thus utterly useless.
Nelson Chamisa and his MDC/CCC friends live in their own cloud cuckoo land in which evidence, facts, truth and reality count for nothing. What matters in cloud cuckoo land is what Chamisa says!
“CONGRATULATIONS FELLOW CITIZENS…IN ONE YEAR, YOU HAVE EXCELLED. Change Champions, you moved mountains. Because #Godisinit you Won 19/28 MPs, 89/149 Councillors in by elections.
THANK YOU;
-For your solidarity & support. -For believing and supporting us against all odds. #ANewGreatZimbabwe loading. Thank you Our God in Heaven. You are so faithful!
We aim to #WinBig to seal the Presidency. 2/3 in Parly, & choose both speaker of Parliament and President of Senate. We must attain a majority in local authorities. Citizens, let’s do it again! Come, #Thistime let us make it happen Big! #Onepeople,” said Chamisa in his latest Twitter.
CCC members call themselves “change champions” and Chamisa is “Change Champion in Chief” and yet MDC/CCC has failed to bring about even one democratic change in 23 years, 5 of which in the GNU. In cloud cuckoo land historic facts count for nothing.
Chamisa keeps boasting about CCC as new political party when all he did was rebrand MDC Alliance. Most of the leadership positions in CCC are filled by same individuals from MDC A and the CCC candidates in the by-elections are the winning MDC A candidates who were booted out of the Mwonzora led MDC A.
Most worrying of all is that Chamisa and company are hell bent on participating in these 2023 elections oblivious is the political reality that Zanu PF is rigging these elections. Yesterday, Justice Priscila Chigumba, ZEC chairperson, admitted the commission has failed to produce a verified voters’ roll but the elections will go ahead regardless.
CCC will participate in the elections regardless of mountain of evidence the election process is flawed and illegal. The party will win big because Chamisa said so!
By participating in these flawed elections CCC are giving SADC the excuse to endorse the rigged elections and grant Zanu PF legitimacy.
It is all very well for Chamisa and his fellow CCC leaders, they after the few gravy train seats Zanu PF gives away as bite. As MP one gets US$60k for a car and very generous salary and allowances plus the recent addition of US$40k for a house.
Chamisa will tell the supporters Zanu PF rigged the elections, something he has insisted would not happen, the morning after the vote. And the wildebeest herd and the nation at large will have to live with the consequences of yet another five more years of Zanu PF corrupt and tyrannical rule.
I, for one, am hanging my head in shamed that 43 years after independence we, in Zimbabwe, are still failing to hold free and fair elections. Tyrants like Mnangagwa foam and froth about white colonial oppression and yet are the ones denying their own fellow blacks the freedoms and human rights decades after independence.
For anyone to participate in any election without something as basic as a verified voters’ roll, in this day and age, is as foolish still believing the world is flat!
Zanu PF is rigging the 2023 elections. CCC sold out by failing to implement even one reform in 23 years and are selling out by participating in these flawed elections to give Zanu PF legitimacy. Even the village idiots prone to believing every word Chamisa says must know these are the irrefutable facts!
Zimbabwe is a failed state and is not just Zanu PF and their CCC acolytes who have landed us here; we the people in our naivety have played out part. If we participate in these flawed elections and give Zanu PF legitimacy then we deserve to suffer and die as Zimbabwe sinks deeper and deeper into the hell-on-earth of our own making.
It is all very well living in cloud cuckoo land and believing this CCC’s “winning in rigged elections” oxymoronic nonsense; it comes with a price tag to it.
In our Election Watches 1/2023 [link], 2/2023 [link] and 3/2023 [link] we recounted the progress of the preliminary delimitation report from the 26th December, when it was presented to the President by the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), to the 13th January, when an ad hoc parliamentary committee laid before both Houses of Parliament its findings and recommendations on the report. We outlined the committee’s findings, which were largely critical of ZEC’s report.
In this bulletin we shall recount what has happened since then and indicate what the next stages should be.
Progress So Far
The National Assembly and the Senate debated the ad hoc committee’s findings and recommendations on the 17th and 18th January, and both Houses resolved to accept them. The Speaker accordingly presented them to the President on the 19th January together with a transcript of what was said in Parliament about them, and the next day the President handed them to the chairperson of ZEC. [At this stage as far as we know the President did not comment on them.]
On receiving Parliament’s findings and recommendations on her Commission’s report, the chairperson of ZEC said:
· ZEC would examine all the recommendations and concerns.
· The President’s comments on the report would be sent to ZEC in the coming week, and commissioners would then meet to look at all the recommendations.
· Absolutely nothing went wrong with the delimitation process. There was no miscalculation of the 20 per cent permissible variation between constituencies and wards. Technical experts who advised on the 2007 delimitation took part in the current delimitation: hence, she said, “We have institutional memory”.
· The general election has to be held between the 26th July and the 24th August this year, which means that the final delimitation report has to be gazetted between the end of January and mid-February.
Some of these points require comment:
· Strictly speaking, the President’s comments on the preliminary delimitation report should have been given to ZEC at the same time as Parliament’s comments – section 161(8) of the Constitution states that ZEC must receive all the comments within 14 days after the report was laid before Parliament, and the 14-day period ended three days ago, on the 21st January. It doesn’t really matter when he sends in his comments, however, so long as ZEC has time to consider them.
· ZEC unquestionably miscalculated the 20 per cent variation limit. The effect of section 161(6) of the Constitution is that the number of voters in constituencies and wards may not vary by more than 20 per cent. As we explained in Election Watch 2/2023, this means that the difference in the number of voters between any one constituency and any other constituency anywhere in Zimbabwe may not vary by more than 20 per cent. Similarly, the number of voters in any two wards of a council area may not vary by more than 20 per cent. ZEC’s own report shows it wrongly adopted the formula laid down in the old Lancaster House constitution, which allowed constituencies and wards to vary by up to 20 per cent above and 20 per cent below the average – meaning that the numbers of voters in constituencies could vary by up to 40 per cent.
The previous delimitation in 2007 was conducted under the Lancaster House constitution, so the formula used by ZEC was correct then. It is not correct now because the new Constitution employs a different formula. Institutional memory is a good thing, so long as it does not trick institutions into living in the past.
· The final delimitation report has to be published six months or more before polling day in the next general election; if it is not, then in terms of 161(2) of the Constitution, the old 2007 delimitation will apply to the election. We explained in Election Watches 3/2022 [link] and 2/2023 [link] that polling day in the general election will have to be between the 28th July and the 26th August 2023, both dates inclusive. This means that the final delimitation report must be published by the 28th January – this coming Saturday – to meet the earliest polling date and by the 26th February to meet the latest polling date.
Hence the chairperson of ZEC was correct when she said that the final delimitation report has to be published between the end of January and the middle of February. What she did not point out however was that the later it is published the less leeway there will be in fixing the date of the general election – and if the report is published after the 26th February the new boundaries cannot be used in the election.
The Next Stages
ZEC now has to reconsider its delimitation in the light of Parliament’s recommendations and any comments the President may make. According to section 161(9) of the Constitution, once a preliminary delimitation report has been referred back to ZEC for further consideration of any matter or issue:
“… the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must give further consideration to the matter or issue concerned, but the Commission’s decision on it is final.”
This doesn’t mean however that ZEC can disregard the Constitution. ZEC’s decisions are final and conclusive in matters where ZEC can exercise a discretion – for instance to draw a boundary in order to take account of particular physical features or to reflect community of interest between voters – but in matters of constitutionality ZEC has no discretion: the final delimitation report must comply with the Constitution. Hence if Parliament correctly points out that ZEC has used an unconstitutional formula to calculate differences in voter numbers between constituencies and wards, ZEC must correct its mistake. It has no discretion in the matter.
Once ZEC has made the necessary corrections to its report, it must submit a final report to the President as soon as possible (section 161(10) of the Constitution) and the President must publish the final report in the Gazette within 14 days (section 161(11)).
A Referendum?
There have been suggestions that a referendum should be held as to whether this year’s general election should be postponed until conditions are more favourable for the holding of free and fair elections. Certainly, conditions at present are not very auspicious: political violence is increasing, and ZEC’s failure to conduct a delimitation in accordance with the Constitution does not inspire confidence in its ability to conduct a general election. On the other hand, there are several objections to the proposal:
· The Constitution does not envisage the holding of such a referendum.
· There is no provision in the Constitution for elections to be postponed beyond the five-year life of Parliament, so any postponement would necessitate a constitutional amendment.
· Time is now so short that it would be impossible to hold a referendum before the elections are due. What if a majority of voters rejected the proposal, and decided that elections should go ahead? It would probably be too late to give effect to their decision.
Can ZEC Meet the Deadline?
We observed in previous bulletins that ZEC’s disregard of the correct formula for calculating differences in voter numbers means that many constituencies and wards in the preliminary report are above and below the 20 per cent limits. Correcting these errors will entail substantially revising the report. And ZEC will also have to look at the other points raised by Parliament’s ad hoc committee: the failure to consult chiefs, for example, and lack of clarity in the maps.
All this will take time, and the time available is short. We hope ZEC will be able to meet the deadline, because the credibility of this year’s general election depends on it.
By A Correspondent- Pandemonium reigned supreme in Muchena area of Penhalonga last week after a 31-year-old man was found dead in a nearby dam following his disappearance for almost 18 days.
The Muchena community alleged that the man, Respect Kudzai Muradzikwa, died as a result of witchcraft as a neighbour, Abigail ‘Mai Chantie’ Bhatoni had ‘secured’ her house so that anyone who steals anything from her would die.
Mai Chantie has been a subject of scorn and is now being treated like an outcast following Muradzikwa’s death.
A mini-demonstration was held at her homestead, with irate neighbours baying for her blood and banishment from the area.
They argued that her wicked acts of ‘securing’ her property would claim the scalps of many people as she was a well-known shebeen queen who hosted many people at her house.
It is alleged that she was so cosy with her clients and some of them would get favours from her. Some would even take her property to their homes.
The Muchena community also claims that Mai Chantie has a hit list of six people who stole from her.
Muradzikwa was the first person to die and five more are now quacking in their boots as they do not know when the death angel will visit them.
Muradzikwa was found floating in a dam after he had allegedly stolen a radio worth US$2 from Mai Chantie.
Mai Chantie admitted that she had secured her property from those with sticky fingers.
She said she has suffered so many losses through thefts, hence the decision to hire the services of a spiritual healer to secure her property.
Following his death last week, the Muchena community took Muradzikwa’s body to Mai Chantie’s homestead and placed it at her doorstep.
The drama later degenerated into a free for all scenario last week on Wednesday during Muradzikwa’s burial.
Ugly clashes were witnessed as people exchanged blows, with counter accusations flying left, right and centre.
Muradzikwa’s wife, Kudakwashe Matsimike said there was bad blood between her late husband and Mai Chantie after he spurned her ƨǝxual advancǝs.
She said Muradzikwa had once stumbled upon Mai Chantie bǝdd!ng another man and had threatened to spill the beans to her husband.
As a counter measure, it is alleged that Mai Chantie unsuccessfully tried to lure Muradzikwa to go between the shǝǝts with her.
“My husband told me that she had seen Mai Chantie (Bhatoni) bǝdding another man. He refused to disclose the name of the person, afraid that I would gossip about the issue. That is the root of their grudge.
“From that time, my husband would get free beer from Mai Chantie to buy his silence. One day, Mai Chantie saw my husband relieving himself and she asked him to bǝd her, but he refused. She wanted to silence him at all costs.
“Before my husband disappeared and eventually died, he confessed that he had taken Mai Chantie’s small radio. He said he could hear a radio playing in his ears. I believe that my husband had not really stolen from Mai Chantie as it was their habit as patrons at her shebeen to take things from there,” said Matsimike.
She added: “My husband lost his marbles and we took him to Mai Chantie’s homestead. She admitted that she had protected her property from thieves. We had to call the person (name supplied) that she had engaged to secure her property. The spiritual healer told us that he was in Chipinge. We sent him US$50 for bus fare to travel back so that he could reverse the curse.
“When the spiritual healer came, he said he was going to help him using maize grains to reverse the curse. My husband was given a grain of maize to chew and was asked to tie the other grain in a cloth. He was supposed to bury the other grain in murky waters.
“The spiritual healer remained with the last grain and told Mai Chantie to remind him what to do with it after we had left her homestead. He also took a knife and placed it in a dish filled with clean water and the water turned into blood. We did not understand what was going on, so when the spiritual healer said my husband would recover, we believed him,” said Matsimike.
She said the spiritual healer told them to take Muradzikwa home so that he could sleep.
“Before we left Mai Chantie’s homestead, my husband told her that he didn’t know that she was that wicked. My husband refused to go home with us. He just left. I last saw him on December 28. We did not know his whereabouts until when his body was discovered. It was in an advanced state of decomposition,” said Matsimike.
Tawanda Muradzikwa, brother to the late Muradzikwa, said his brother ran away from home, claiming that he was being chased by Mai Chantie and two short men.
“We found my brother’s decomposing body in a dam. He had blood in his mouth and ears. I think Mai Chantie used my brother for rituals. I think she killed him and dumped the body in the dam to hoodwink people into believing that he had drowned.
“How can a man drown in a small dam like that when the water does not even reach one’s knees? And the other thing that made us assume that he was murdered was the fact that we found our brother’s body facing upright. If he had drowned, he was supposed to face downwards.
When we came to collect his body, we found a black ladies pant that we believe belongs to Mai Chantie, as well as fresh human waste near the dam. I think this was all done to conceal all evidence linking Mai Chantie to my brother’s death,” said Tawanda.
In a separate interview, Mai Chantie said she only secured her property.
“I was losing my property to thieves, including chickens, goats and even plates. The people in this community would do whatever they wanted at my house because my husband is always away. He makes weekend visits.
“I sell beer at my house and a lot of young men come here to drink so I had to take action. I approached a spiritual healer who helped me secure my property, but I didn’t know that it would result in someone’s death,” said Mai Chantie.
She said she would try to make amends with the bereaved family.
“I admit that what I did was wrong, but I did not want things to end in this way. I also chipped in with funeral assistance for the late Muradzikwa. I am prepared to appease his spirit,” said Mai Chantie.
She also said she is now worried about her family’s safety as she has been receiving endless threats from the community.
“I am worried about my children’s safety. They have seen me being harassed by people. They also witnessed the drama as Muradzikwa’s corpse was dumped at our doorstep. This is psychologically traumatising them. They are no longer safe here, but anyway what can I do. I am prepared to take whatever comes my way head-on,” she said.
Mai Chantie also said she failed to attend Muradzikwa’s funeral out of fear.
Instead, she sent emissaries with her funeral assistance, but the Muradzikwa family rejected it.
Police confirmed the incident and said investigations are in progress.
However, just a day after Muradzikwa’s burial, all hell broke loose as his spirit started wreaking havoc, seeking retribution.
The spirit is possessing people from the community, explaining to them about his death at Mai Chantie’s hands.
He first manifested on a community member, one Mai Mashawa, before doing the same on five other villagers including his wife.
They narrated how he died. Those possessed also attacked a fellow villager, Simba Mashaba, saying he had assisted in his murder.
The spirit said: “I died a painful death. A day after the spiritual healer tried to save me, I went back to Mai Chantie’s house. She teamed up with four other people to strangle me to death. They dragged my body to the forest and dumped it there for 15 days. When they realised that I was decomposing, they dragged my remains to the dam and dumped them there.
It added: “My mother once came closer to where my remains were, but could not see me as she was blinded by Mai Chantie’s goblins. Enough is enough and the truth has to be told. I will pursue all those who helped Mai Chantie to kill me and get rid of my body. I will name and shame them. I will not rest until my spirit is appeased.”
One of the manifesting women spoke in a voice which the community said is Mai Chantie’s and explained that she had no intention of killing Muradzikwa, but only wanted to punish him through a mental illness.
“I was having an ɑffa!r with Respect (Muradzikwa) and he was very good in bǝd. I thought if I used his spǝrms for rituals, my business would be good, just like him in bǝd.
“Unfortunately, Respect knew what I had done because he foresaw everything and cautioned me. He threatened to spill the beans, so I had to take action. He did not steal the radio, I fabricated the whole story. I have tattoo marks (nyora) on both hands to attract young men,” said the voice.
Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (Zinatha) president, Mr George Kandiero said the late Muradzikwa might have been possessed by a spirit or his family might have done some rituals to evoke his spirit to avenge his death.
“It is very possible that a dead person can start avenging his death a day after his burial due to anger. He could have been possessed by a spirit that was protecting him.
“His family could also have done some rituals to bring back his spirit to haunt those who killed him. It is an avenging spirit that needs to be appeased and it will not rest until justice prevails,” he said.
By A Correspondent- Two people died while 15 others were injured when two overloaded Honda Fit vehicles collided at the four-kilometre peg along Ruwazi-Igava road in Marondera on Monday.
The police confirmed the accident on their Twitter handle.
The ZRP reports a fatal road traffic accident which occurred on 23/01/23 at 4 km peg along Ruwazi-Igava Road, Marondera, where two people died on the spot while 15 others were injured when a Honda Fit vehicle with eight passengers on board was involved in a head-on-collision with another Honda Fit vehicle with nine passengers on board. The bodies of the victims were taken to Marondera Provincial Hospital mortuary for post-mortem whilst the injured were admitted at the same hospital,” reads the Police tweet.
Accidents involving Honda Fit vehicles are mushrooming in the country.
BULAWAYO city centre came to a standstill on Tuesday afternoon when a convoy of cross-border kombis, mostly South African registered Toyota Quantums, moved around with drivers honking their horns, marking the launch of Malayitsha for Economic Development.
Driving in a procession, the cross-border transport operators drove through the city centre, attracting the attention of onlookers as they snaked their way to Crescent Sports Club, the venue of the launch.
Omalayitsha are among the unsung heroes to most communities, particularly in the Matabeleland region where most people based in the diaspora rely on them to send groceries and money to their loved ones back home.
Speaking during the launch, Zanu-PF provincial secretary for administration, Raymond Mtomba said omalayitsha play a critical role in people’s lives yet they are overlooked and not given the due recognition for their services.
“In as much as we might not give credit to omalayitsha, they play a big role in our day-to-day lives, especially in this part of the country. When we look at reality, most people in the country are buying their property and other items from neighbouring countries such as Botswana and South Africa,” he said.
Mtomba said omalayitsha are not only the backbone of the transport industry but of the nation as they continue to support many families.
“We could not have continued to support and endorse many different stakeholders forgetting the key players in our economy, which is why we have allocated a separate space from where they will operate from. This initiative to give these transporters operating space will go a long way in reducing the commotion among transporters carrying passengers from undesignated areas,” he said.
Mtomba said omalayitsha also contribute to the country’s economic growth and development.
“They transport groceries, building materials among other things and also come handy especially when a Zimbabwean based in South Africa dies in the neighbouring country without a funeral policy,” he said
Malayitsha for Economic Development vice chairperson, Mr Mqondisi Ndlovu extended his gratitude to the ruling party for facilitating that they secure operating space at the Entumbane Complex.
“We have always faced challenges in operating because we did not have space to operate from. In as much as it seemed like we were unruly by operating illegally, the reason why we operated at undesignated spaces was that we did not have any space to operate from,” he said.
“This initiative by the ruling party to grant us space will go a long way in promoting our businesses and it shows that the ruling party is a listening party.”
Mr Ndlovu said they are fully behind President Mnangagwa’s economic policies and development agenda, which leaves no one and no place behind.
A cross-border transporter, Mr Mlungisi Moyo said the efforts spearheaded by President Mnangagwa to promote businesses are an indication that he is a listening leader.
“We appreciate the work being done by the President, which shows that he does not discriminate against anyone or overlook the needs of his people. We asked for operating space and we were given,” said Mr Moyo.
By A Correspondent- Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Paul Mavima, has said the government has not deregistered any Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) operating in the country.
In an interview with the Zimpapers Television Network’s The Chase programme on Thursday night, Mavima said the government has identified and informed 391 NGOs who are non-compliant with the dictates of the Private Voluntary Organisation (PVO) Act to regularise their operations.
He said the identified NGOs, whose figure was 450 last year but has come down to 391, still have a chance to regularise their operations before the Government gazettes their deregistration. Said Mavima:
The list still gives them an opportunity to regularise before we gazette, for now, we haven’t gazetted but soon we will be gazetting.
We have given them a very long rope but once we gazette they will then have to apply afresh to operate.
He also denied claims that the listing of non-compliant NGOs was done based on the amended PVO Act, saying the process to amend the law has not been completed. Mavima said:
The new Act’s amendment process has not been completed and a lot of people have been saying there is a draconian action by Government in line with the new Act and we have started to see the implementation of that Act which is going to constrain civil society space.
The Act has always been there and just like in any other country, it provides a criterion for registration for anyone who wants to operate a PVO.
It sets the requirements needed, a management arrangement, provides annual reports to the PVO board, audited financial statements and keeps within the mandate that you said you wanted to operate in and also to confine yourself to the geographical space that you said you want to operate from. This is standard procedure, everywhere.
By A Correspondent- Five learners from Vhembe High School in Beitbridge have been found guilty of cheating in the November 2022 ZIMSEC Ordinary Level examinations.
The learners were slapped with suspended sentences varying from six months to a year.
The learners were identified as Immaculate Mapako (18), Eussein Makaranga (18), Tinotenda Mavusi (16), Paul Moto (16), and Patricia Dube (18).
Prosecutor Olivia Chamutinya said the learners accessed different leaked exam papers through social media.
She said the matter only came out after one of the students alerted the invigilator Lindani Sibanda who in turn informed the school head Petros Sibanda during an exam that she had seen the paper that she was writing.
Beitbridge Magistrate Variro Gabi sentenced Mapako to 12 months, suspended two months for Makaranga and Dube got eight months, while Mavusi and Moyo were sentenced to six months each. All the learners will do community service.
In passing the sentences, the magistrate considered the learners’ ages.
The verdict was delivered on Wednesday last week. | The Mirror
By A Correspondent- A 62 year old man was yesterday arraigned before a Harare magistrate facing charges of selling a residential stand using a fake title deed.
The accused, Lovejoy Nyamande was arrested on January 18. His case was adjourned to February 2 for a ruling.
The complainant in the matter is property developer Tinashe Mukewo (32).
Allegations are that sometime this month; Nyamande hatched a plan to defraud unsuspecting home seekers.
He obtained fake title deeds in respect of stand number 635 Good Hope Township, Harare and a fake national Identity card in the name of Marlven Simbarashe Gono, the real owner of the stand.
Armed with the fake title deeds, Nyamande advised the complainant that he was selling a stand measuring 2 037 square metres at a price of US$50 000.
Since the complainant was into property development, he engaged Embassy Real Estate Agents in Harare to view the stand.
They did and were satisfied with the stand.
The complainant and accused then agreed to meet on January 17, 2023 at Embassy Real Estate Agents in Harare for payment and processing of agreements of sale.
Nyamande produced the fake title deed for the property and a fake national identity card.
The complainant then took the documents to the Deeds Office for verification and was informed that the deed was fake.
By- Police in Harare have arrested former Zanu PF director of information, Psychology Maziwisa.
Mziwisa Friday appeared at the Harare magistrate courts, which remanded him in custody.
He has been on the run since 2018.
Maziwisa was arrested in 2018 together with former television presenter Oscar Pambuka after they were fraudulently awarded a tender to do public relations work for Zesa Holdings under their firm, Fruitful Communications (Pvt) Ltd. Former energy minister Samuel Undenge facilitated the tender at a time the power utility had its own functional public relations department. He was convicted for abuse of office. Maziwisa and Pambuka were convicted for fraud but later released after they appealed at the High Court. Pambuka is already serving a two-and-a-half years jail term for the fraud after he was convicted by Mbare Magistrate, Mr Nyasha Vitorini this week.
By- Several South African lobby groups met on Wednesday to discuss the upcoming court bid to oppose the SA government’s decision to scrap the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP).
The case is set to be heard at the High Court in Pretoria from 11 to 14 April.
The event was organised by the UCT Refugee Rights Unit and the Centre for European Policy Studies.
Speaking at the event a lawyer representing the applicants in the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) court bid said the SA Minister of Home Affairs failed to consider the Constitutional rights of children born and raised in South Africa in the decision to scrap the permits. He said:
The core relief is to get the decision to terminate the ZEP and that some form of interim measures be in place to protect ZEP holders until the minister can take a proper decision.
Almost 180 000 permit holders now face deportation if they cannot find alternative legal permission to live in South Africa.
Portia (not her real name) who has a Ph.D. in Law at the University of Cape Town (UCT), said the SA government’s decision has drained her emotionally.
Portia, who moved to South Africa when she was 16 years old and is currently doing a post-doc at UCT, said:
How can I be in a country, where I came as a minor and be expected to pack my bags to go to Zimbabwe?
My attachment to Zimbabwe is not as strong as it is to South Africa. My whole education was in South Africa…
I obtained my Bachelor’s degree, Masters and completed Ph.D. using ZEP. … I can’t explain how much this fiasco is affecting me mentally and my career.
Tendai (not his real name), said he has been teaching science at a high school for 13 years.
His son is doing his second year at university and his daughter is in matric this year. He said:
We were considered supporters of the opposition party MDC and so I ran away and to South Africa. My youngest child was two and my son was in grade 2.
I have contributed a lot to South African society and have been a loyal taxpayer. This is where my life is centred.
I have built my whole life around Cape Town. Going back to Zimbabwe at this time – I don’t know where I would start.
How’s my daughter going to finish school? I will fail to provide for my child.
Am I going to terminate my children’s education so that she doesn’t have a future anymore?
The emotional stress we have to go through [is too much].
The SA government gave ZEP holders until the end of June 2023 to apply to remain in South Africa on a critical skills permit, though very few of them meet the stringent critical skills criteria. | GroundUp
By-Celebrated Zimdancehall music producer, PTK, is back and working on releasing “Bodyslam Riddim Part 2′.
The award-winning producer, who enjoyed a purple patch in his career before moving to South Africa where he did very little in terms of music production, is back in the country.
While on Star FM, PTK says he wants to repeat the ‘magic’ he did on the first ‘Bodyslam Riddim’ —a compilation which had hit songs including Seh Calaz’s Kwatinobva, Tocky Vibes’ Simudza Maoko, and the late Soul Jah Love’s Mwari Ndovatenda.
He said:
Expect the same magic magic from the first one, it be there again in the second one, Zimdancehall has risen.
PTK is currently recording the ‘Bodyslam Riddim Part 2’ at his stable PTK Music and artists such as Killer T, Kinnah and Tipsy, Empress Masina, Quality, as well as Rydah Fire, have already recorded.
NINE people have been arrested on allegations of stealing maize following a recent accident involving a haulage truck and a goods train at a rail crossing along Solomon Mujuru Drive (Kirkman Drive) in Harare.
The accident occurred in the early hours of last Friday and as a result, two wagons on the goods train which was carrying maize from Zvishavane to Blue Ribbon Foods in the city derailed.
Harare provincial spokesperson Inspector Luckmore Chakanza said some people in and around the area took advantage of the situation to steal the maize whose quantity is yet to be ascertained.
The maize was packed in 50kg bags.
“Investigations conducted have led to the arrest of nine people so far and they were taken to Dzivarasekwa Police Station for further management. They will appear in court facing theft charges,” he said.
FORMER Cabinet minister and Zanu PF politburo member, Colonel (Retired) Tshinga Dube (81) yesterday defended his latest appointment to the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) board saying his mind was still fit and stable to add value to the parastatal.
His latest appointment to the NRZ board by Transport and Infrastructure Development minister Felix Mhona has triggered an outcry with some Zimbabweans saying a strategic parastatal such as the NRZ needed serious restructuring and modern technology, and its board should be led by young technocrats.
But Dube (81) yesterday defended his new job on the NRZ board telling NewsDay that while his body might be frail, his mind is very sharp and stable.
“I was appointed by my President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is the appointing authority. If you have queries, go and ask him. l have committed no sin to be appointed to the NRZ board, after all l am not the chief executive officer.
“I don’t work on my feet, but I use my brains, and my brain is still stable. l have been in the industry for many years, and have sat on over 20 boards worldwide. l have resuscitated many companies and I don’t care what people say since I would not be able to answer to all of them,” Dube said.
In a statement, the NRZ said Dube would serve for three years on the board whose term ends on December 6, 2025.
But Zimbabweans said there must be age limits for people who serve on company boards.
NRZ is currently struggling to stay afloat amid allegations of corruption which has dampened prospects of its resuscitation.
Pokugara Properties, owned by controversial businessman Ken Sharpe, which caused the arrest of a State witness testifying against it for malicious damage to property has applied to have the same witness blocked from testifying.
Pokugara’s lawyer, Tawanda Zhuwarara did not state the reasons when he appeared before Magistrate Faith Chakanyuka on Wednesday.
He said he would formally make written submissions to the court regarding his application to stop former Harare City Council (HCC) Chief Building Inspector Roy Nyabvure from testifying.
Nyabvure is is testifying against Sharpe, Russian investor Tatiana Aleshina, John Van Blerk and Harare City Council officials Mandla Ndebele, Isaiah Zvenyika Chawatama, Samuel Nyabezi and Lasten Taonezvi, among others, charged with malicious damage to property.
This was after they destroyed property developer George Katsimberis’ show house in Borrowdale on allegations that it was built without approved plans.
Nyabvure, in an anti-corruption case prosecuted by Zivanai Macharaga of the Special Anti- Corruption, claims the housing plans were legitimate. He has also repelled pressure from Pokugara to change his statement against Katsimberis.
In another case, Nyabvure is an accused person in a case Pokugara is the complainant against Katsimberis.
Tue case is prosecuted by acting deputy Prosecutor General Michael Reza, from the National Prosecuting Authority. It was given priority by the courts despite Pokugara having reported the case after Katsimberis.
Pokugara, working in cohorts with Reza, which caused the illegal arrest of Nyabvure in November last year, now wants the same witness who was only released by High Court judge Pisirayi Kwenda after spending a month in remand prison, denied bail by the lower court, to be stopped from testifying against them.
Nyabvure is set to testify on the legality of the building plans that were used by Katsimberis.
“The said witness was warned to appear in court in on November 8, 2022, for the trial however due certain circumstances the witness could not appear in court physically. The witness then appeared on January 13, 2023,” Zhuwarara said.
In November, Nyabvure was arrested at the Harare Magistrates Court when he went to testify against Pokugara, Sharpe, Aleshina and other HCC officials.
This was after Reza misled the police that had finished testifying, a claim that has now forced Katsimberis to apply for his recusal, describing him as not only “biased, but pathetic liar too” who should be put in the witness’ desk and be cross examined to expose his deceit and bias towards Sharpe.
Reza is however refusing to be put to his defence.
To prove Rez/ misrepresentation, Nyabvure was arrested at court. A police officer tried to lure Nyabvure out of the court processions to arrest him before he could take to the stand to testify, but the former council employee refused to come out. He was later arrested outside court, despite a plea from Macharaga that he was a state witness.
Reza is battling allegations that he is doing Sharpe’s biding in court against Katsimeris and his several other opponents. Katsimberis’ lawyers, when applying for Reza’s recusal, questioned by the law officer is the one handling all cases Sharpe is the complainant.
Police in Harare have arrested Joyce N’anga (18) and Constance Ratisai (22) in connection with a case of murder in which the victim, Elias Lundika (34) died after being hit with bricks on the head and a cooking wooden stick on the back on 26/01/23 at a house in Epworth.
An altercation ensued when the victim confronted Joyce N’anga who was his girlfriend for entertaining other boyfriends.
A Zanu-PF councillor in Buhera South, Manicaland province, is in the eye of a storm after villagers accused him of stealing fertiliser meant for distribution to villagers under the Presidential Inputs Scheme.
Ward 29 councillor David Chirinda was allegedly caught red-handed by some Zanu-PF youths at Chabata business centre in Buhera on Sunday morning.
Village head Passmore Chabata confirmed the development yesterday .
“We are worried because the councillor is yet to be arrested, but a police report was made at Birchenough Bridge Growth Point. We have a sad situation in Buhera South constituency in ward 29, where Chirinda was caught red-handed stealing presidential inputs. On Saturday, police and officials from the Grain Marketing Board came with some fertiliser at Chabata business centre and the inputs were supposed to be stocked at Mutisi shops,” Chabata said.
“Chirinda diverted all the fertiliser to his shop ahead of the distribution the following day. He took the keys and went home. We alerted some youths, including those from Zanu-PF, and at around 4am, he was caught opening the doors of his shop and stealing the fertiliser. I represent all traditional leaders and such people must be arrested.”
Villagers allege that Buhera South legislator Joseph Chinotimba (Zanu-PF) is defending the councillor.
Chinotimba yesterday, however, said: “I don’t want to be involved in the matter.”
Chirinda was not reachable for comment.
Manicaland police spokesperson Inspector Nobert Muzondo said they were still investigating the matter.
In an unrelated matter, an alleged land baron and Zanu-PF district co-ordinating committee member for Harare province, Spencer Mabheka has been fingered in fresh land invasions in the capital.
Harare ward 16 councillor Denford Ngadziore (Citizens Coalition for Change) exposed the issue, saying: “It has come to my attention that a group of politically-connected land barons held a meeting in which they resolved to proceed with another illegal invasion in various areas in Mabelreign, including Greenways at Haig Park, Meyrick Park, St Andrews Park, Cotswold Hills and Greencroft.
“True to that illegal resolution, they have proceeded to invade Greenways. They are doing this without any supporting documents as required at law.”
Mabheka, however, denied the allegations and accused Ngadziore of mudslinging him because they contested against each other in the 2018 elections.
“In a nutshell, I am a Zanu-PF district co-ordinating committee secretary for administration. I contested the 2018 elections for local authorities. I have been assisting people to get borehole water, and in 2015, I patched potholes and repaired boreholes in ward 16. I am not sure of what Ngadziore is talking about. He is only smearing my name because he thinks I will contest him again this year,” he said.
Allegations are that there is a ploy by the ruling Zanu-PF party to dangle land to the youths ahead of this year’s polls.
The ruling Zanu-PF party has allegedly unleashed machete-wielding gangs in the Midlands province to mobilise voters for its five million votes for ED campaign ahead of this year’s polls.
NewsDay gathered from some distraught villagers that the machete-wielding gangs were reportedly going door-to-door and frog-marching villagers to attend Zanu-PF party meetings, where they are forced to pose as defectors from the opposition in an operation dubbed “Dzoka kumusha” (come back home).
Last week, a high-level Zanu-PF delegation, which included party political commissar Mike Bimha, was in the Midlands province to mobilise voters and to ensure victory in the province, which is home to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the ruling party’s first secretary and presidential candidate.
Early this month, Zanu-PF, through its commissariat department, launched a Returnees’ Desk led by Blessing Chebundo, a former MDC member and Kwekwe legislator to strengthen its grassroots voter mobilisation programme.
Fear-struck villagers told NewsDay that over the weekend, some youth militias armed with machetes had stormed their homes to force them to attend party meetings.
On Tuesday, Zanu-PF reported that it had successfully registered 3 500 returnees from the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party in the Midlands province, claims which were, however, disputed by the opposition party.
“It was a great day yesterday in Hozoli, Redcliff, as Tongai Matutu, (Blessing) Chebundo and their team registered over 3 500 new returnees defecting from @CCCZimbabwe,” the ruling party said on its Twitter handle.
“They complained of sexism, tribalism, individualism, misuse of party funds as well as betrayal by opposition leaders.”
In an interview with NewsDay, Chebundo confirmed that Operation Dzoka Kumusha was underway as a Zanu-PF voter mobilisation strategy, but said he was not aware of people who were being forced to defect to the ruling party.
“I have not yet confirmed the 3 500 figure, but what I know is that throughout the country, we have recruited voluntarily. I can’t disclose statistics as yet, but what I know is there are tens of thousands who are have dumped the opposition, coming to Zanu-PF, including family members of the key opposition activists. Some are bigwigs coming with their families. We record every member who defects. This is being done under Operation Dzoka Kumusha.”
Kwekwe Central legislator Judith Tobayiwa (CCC), however, dismissed the claims.
“It is not true that our members are defecting to Zanu-PF. These are mere fabrications,” she said.
“What we are aware of is that Zanu-PF is printing our party regalia, dishing out to their members or other ordinary people, who they parade as CCC members who have defected.
“We are also aware of incidences where Zanu-PF is forcing citizens to take part in their meetings against their will. Vendors, for instance, are forced to leave their stalls to attend the Vendors for ED meeting against their will.”
In its central committee report released at the party’s seventh national congress in October last year, Zanu-PF said it would up its game after observing waning support in the rural areas, perceived to be its stronghold.
Rights defenders have expressed concern over escalating political violence ahead of the elections.
Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) has raised fuel prices in its latest review, which is effective January 26, 2023.
In a statement seen by Bulawayo24.com, the regulator said petrol would now be sold at US$1.59 or ZW$1 241.01 up from US$1.54 or ZW$1 124.61.
The authority also said the retail price for diesel is now US$1.68 or ZW$1 315.09 up from US$1.62 or ZW$1 188.77.
The statement reads: “The public and operators are advised that the blending ratio remains at E5. Operators may sell the petroleum products below the prescribed prices depending on their trading advantages and should display prices in a prominent place as provided for by the fuel pricing regulations.
Stakeholders are advised that the petroleum price releases by ZERA can be verified on the official ZERA website, Facebook or Twitter handle.
For historical prices since June 2020, please see: Zimbabwe Petrol And Diesel Fuel Prices (ZERA Updates 2020 – 2023) The average price of diesel around the world is 1.33 U.S. Dollars per litre while the average price of gasoline around the world is 1.30 U.S. Dollars per litre.
GlobalPetrolPrices.com says the differences in prices across countries are due to the various taxes and subsidies for diesel. All countries have access to the same petroleum prices of international markets but then decide to impose different taxes. As a result, the retail price of diesel is different.
Analysts noted, however, that while the conflict had an impact on economies all over the world, Zimbabwe’s fuel prices were greater than those of its regional counterparts because of higher taxes.
Hindu Society Harare (HSH) in Zimbabwe seems to have lined-up extensive religious and social activities, projects, celebrations during 2023.
These include three daily aartis; twice-weekly yoga classes; weekly havans, Gayatri Pariwar prayer session, Mahila Mandal, Satya Sai Bhajans, Krishnanand Saraswati Prathana, Pushpanjli Bhajans, Art of Living, Swaminarayan Satsang Sabha, Hindu Bhajan Mandal, Shishu Yuvak Mandal, Shivyog.
In 2026, HSH will be celebrating 100 years of existence since its founding in 1926. To commemorate this event, HSH plans to publish a book documenting events, photos and various milestones during the last 100 years. It has appealed to the community to contribute photos and documents relating to various milestone events since its 1926 formation; including festival celebrations, religious events, temple and school construction, etc.
HSH organized various charity donations for children, cancer care, and others during 2022. It runs two temples in Harare, Ridgeview Shree Omkar Mandir and Cameron Street Shree Omkar Mandir. It has medical equipment and reportedly provides emergency care to the community.
It also runs an ECD Department, Westridge Primary School, Westridge High School; producing high-achiever students in academic, cultural and sports arenas. Its ECD Centre is complete with computer, art and music classrooms; swimming; tennis lessons; dancing lessons; and organizes Fancy Dress Day. Pass rates of Westridge High School have been reportedly mostly 100%. It also runs a Gujarati School; which besides teaching Gujarati language, also organizes havan, yoga, religious talks and dance classes.
It regularly holds religious activities/celebrations like Navaratri, Sharad Purnima, Diwali Mela & Puja, Makar Sankranti, Vasant Panchmi, etc., and plans to organize Maha Shivratri, Holi, Dhuleti, Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti, in the near future. HSH reportedly organized four-hours long Diwali Mela (fair) on October 22 in Harare celebrating Diwali, the most popular festival of Hindus; and it included fireworks, entertainment and food-stalls.
Cameron Street Shree Omkar Mandir celebrated 90th anniversary in February 2019, while 25th anniversary of Ridgeview Shree Omkar Mandir was observed in 2017.
In the past, HSH reportedly had been conducting various bhajan events, twice-weekly yoga classes, Hindi lessons, cultural/social activities; organized daily aarti at both the temples with Havan on Sundays; and offered funeral assistance for bereaved families; etc.; besides running Mahila Mandal, Shishu Mandal and Yuvak Mandal.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, commended HSH for engaging the community all these years; and for its efforts to keep the Hindu spirituality, concepts and traditions alive; and attempting to pass these on to the coming generations amidst so many distractions in the consumerist society.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, also suggested Hindus to focus on inner search, stay pure, explore the vast wisdom of scriptures, make spirituality more attractive to youth and children, stay away from greed, and always keep God in your life.
Hindus are God’s people, full of courage and generosity, Rajan Zed added.
“Let us pray for a peaceful world. Let us care deeply for those in need. Let us educate our children for a future for all”; a statement in a recent HSH Newsletter reads.
Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.2 billion adherents, and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.
Norton legislator Temba Mliswa has blasted bus operator Rimbi Tours for taking the government to court following the revocation of their operating license.
Last week, government moved in to revoke Rimbi Tours and Zebra Kiss operating license after the two buses were involved in an accident while racing along Harare-Nyamapanda road. The accident claimed one life.
Following their suspension, Rimbi Tours challenged by ban in court while Zebra Kiss took the dialogue and have since been allowed back on the road.
Posting on Twitter, Mliswa said Rimbi Tours was just overzealous in taking government to court.
“Have read that Rimbi Buses has now taken Gvt to court. Thats a very poor decision. One cardinal rule is that in everything try and avoid fighting the Gvt. You will never win. These Rimbi Buses guys are simply being overzealous in taking Gvt to court.
“Transport Minister Mhona is himself a lawyer who understands these things and wouldn’t have made this decision hastily and without due diligence. The bus operators should simply admit that they were wrong, carry their cross and redeem their losses later.
“This excitable move to go to court is poor advise from their lawyers. Mabhazi anoita makonzo nazvo izvi. The best move for Rimbi buses now is to withdraw that case as soon as possible and engage Gvt properly.
“The very act of contesting the suspension in court doesn’t augur well for their PR. You have been culpable in the loss of lives& now you contest in court against due punishment. That doesn’t speak of repentance. They should be taking corrective measures in their company,” said Mliswa.
#JAILED | GMP investigation results in two men jailed for a total of 32 years after a serious assault in #Manchester City Centre.
Two men aged 26 and 30, were sentenced at Manchester Crown Court today to a total of 32 years after seriously assaulting three male victims on Monday 13 June 2022 in Manchester City Centre.
Jordan Smith (06/05/1***) of Hulme Street in Salford was sentenced to 15 years for two counts of section 18 assault, a section 47 assault and possession of an offensive weapon.
Simbarashe Mandaza (05/06/1***) of Back Hulme Street in Salford was sentenced to 17 years for two counts of section 18 assault, and a section 47 assault.
Detective Constable Natalie Hollows of GMP’s City of Manchester district said: “The attack of three innocent young men will never be tolerated in our communities across Greater Manchester. Our officers have worked tirelessly with the victims and their families to ensure they receive justice after this horrific and senseless attack.
“The three victims were simply enjoying a night out in Manchester City Centre, when they were attacked in what is believed to be a case of mistaken identity.
“Smith and Mandaza had lay in wait for around 40 minutes after choosing a brick as a weapon before the victims had left a bar on Peter Street at 2.15am. The victims were then assaulted in a barbaric manner from behind, being repeatedly hit over the head with the brick, punched and stamped on, causing severe and life changing injuries.
“Though this attack will have a lasting impact on the victims lives it is my hope this sentencing will provide some form of closure. Greater Manchester Police would like to thank the victims, their families and members of the public who helped provide information to ensure the sentencing of two dangerous individuals and ensure justice for the victims.”
If you want to report a crime or any information to Greater Manchester Police, please call 101 or report using our reporting tool on our website: www.gmp.police.uk
Always call 999 in an emergency.
Alternatively, you can provide information about a crime or criminal activity to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
KEDIBONE Moloi (42) had been looking for a job for a long time, and early last month her luck seemed to change.
But her hopes were soon destroyed when she was told the facts of life.
“No tl0f tl0f, no job,” she was allegedly told.
Kedibone Moloi from Vereeniging, Vaal, said on 11 December she went to a car dealership in the area to drop off her CV. She was called in for an interview the next day.
“Getting an interview was wonderful. I was over the moon!” she said.
She said that the interviewers l0ved her, but she didn’t hear anything further.
She phoned a manager in the first week of this month, who told her it looked promising. Then the manager started chatting with her on WhatsApp and asked to see her.
“I thought he wanted to give me the good news in person. I was really devastated when he asked to have ƨǝx with me,” she said.
He also asked what c0nd0ms she liked, and if she had a b0yfriend.
“I thought the manager was paving the way for me to be an employee, but I was wrong.”
She asked why he was doing that to her, and he said he badly wanted her.
“I hate that this has become standard in South Africa.
“I want all these creepy managers to learn a lesson from this,” she said.
Though she ended up not getting the job, she said she would rather walk away with her dignity intact.
Daily Sun spoke to franchise executive Shane Kruger, who said they were not aware of this matter, but acted swiftly.
“Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We take allegations of ƨǝxual harassment extremely seriously. As Hyundai Vereeniging, we are committed to ensuring a safe environment. Our HR director will spearhead an investigation,” said Kruger.
GOVERNMENT has lifted the suspension of the operator’s licence for Tashlly Investment, trading as Zebra Kiss following comprehensive measures put in place by the bus company to avert accidents in the future.
Last week, Zebra Kiss and another bus company Rimbi were involved in an accident that resulted in one death and 21 injuries after the two buses were involved in a risky road race in Mutoko District along the Harare-Nyamapanda Highway.
As a result, their licences were withdrawn by the issuing authority in terms of Section 17 (1) (b) (i) of the Road Motor Transportation Act [Chapter 13:15).
In a statement Thursday, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Felix Mhona said Zebra Kiss’ licence suspension has since been lifted.
“The lifting of the suspension follows the submission of comprehensive measures that have been put in place by Tashlly Investments to avert such accidents in future After a meticulous consideration of the submission, the Ministry is satisfied that the measures that have been mainstreamed by the operator are adequate to checkmate recurrence of operational behaviours which can be interpreted as violations of terms and conditions for the licence.
“The ministry will continue to enforce and monitor compliance with the terms and conditions of all operators’ licences, including measures against reckless and negligent driving,” said Minister Mhona.
ZANU PF member and former information secretary, Psychology Maziwisa has appeared at the Harare magistrate courts after he was arrested this Friday.
Maziwisa, who was believed to be on the run, has been remanded in custody.
Psychology Maziwisa
He was arrested in 2018 together with former television presenter Oscar Pambuka after they were fraudulently awarded a tender to do public relations work for Zesa Holdings under their firm, Fruitful Communications (Pvt) Ltd.
Former energy minister Samuel Undenge facilitated the tender at a time the power utility had its own functional public relations department. He was convicted for abuse of office.
Maziwisa and Pambuka were convicted for fraud, but later released after they appealed at the High Court.
Pambuka is already serving a two-and-a-half years jail term for the fraud after he was convicted by Mbare Magistrate, Mr Nyasha Vitorini this week. ZBC
State Media – For most women, marriage is the stuff of their dreams, a way to confirm that they are indeed women, a badge that they display with pride, but for some it can be a nightmare. For Brenda Ndlovu, a one-time child bride, the union was an anchor that moored her to poverty.
Life turnaround… Brenda
After many years of inertia, Brenda who got married at 15 after falling pregnant, decided to quit her marriage and go back to school and achieve her dreams.
She does not regret that brave decision as she now an entrepreneur with a degree, works at Skyz Metro as a presenter and a producer.
Her experiences have made her become more determined to transform other people’s lives through an organisation that she founded.
“I fell pregnant when I was 15 while I was in Form Three. I had to drop out to become a housewife after my parents said I had to live with my boyfriend. Marriage was not easy and it became harder when my husband lost his job at a time when I had just given birth to my second child.
“I started planting tomatoes in the yard at our home so that I could sell them to get funds that helped sustain the family. I managed to keep the profits that I got from selling tomatoes until I managed to get capital to go to South Africa to get wares.
“When I became a cross-border trader I had clients at prominent places like Mhlahlandlela because I managed to market my products to them and they would always place orders and business went very well.
“I realised my potential. I felt since childhood that I wanted to do a job dealing with people so I had to quit marriage and go back to school so that I could pursue my dreams by getting certificates in public relations and using my gift professionally.
“I then left the marriage that I had been in for seven years and went back to school. I went back to Form Three and I was attending night school at Mpopoma High. I failed twice because of the pressure that I had from looking after my children and the business I was running, but I did not have the option to quit regardless of my age but I kept on being focused on reaching my destiny,” said Brenda.
She passed on her third attempt and went on to further her studies at Species College where she enrolled for Secretarial Studies. After that she studied for a Degree in International Relations at the Zimbabwe Institute of Diplomacy.
“I got my degree in Harare and things were not easy because I could go for a month eating bread and Mazowe only, but I was not discouraged because I really knew what I wanted. I became fortunate enough to get a job as soon as I got my degree because I was talented in the field. I started working in 2020 at the Embassy of Romania but I could not work longer because Covid-19 hit and I had to leave the job.
“The job, however, opened more job opportunities for me because soon after leaving the job I got employed under a six months contract at Mhlahlandlela as a personal assistant for the acting Provincial Medical Director in the Ministry of Health in Bulawayo Province.”
After leaving the Ministry of Health, Brenda found herself knocking on the Skyz Metro doors.
“After the contract ended, I heard that Skyz-Metro was looking for an independent radio producer and I went there and they took me. I am hosting a programme on Skyz Metro named ‘I rise with Brenda’. I named the programme ‘I rise’ because I believe in other people regardless of their backgrounds because of the way I rose and changed my life.
“My aim is to inspire, encourage, and motivate a disheartened person out there who once dreamt of becoming someone in society and under various circumstances gave up and became content with their current situation. The program’s purpose is to encourage people to reach their maximum potential. So far, I have invited more than 40 people in less than a year who have shared their life stories, traumas, challenges, and experiences and I helped them to overcome their circumstances and begin a fresh life.
“My programme has managed to raise a lot of people who are making it in life at different ages from different backgrounds. I see people going back to school at the age of 50, taking degrees and driver’s licences among many other achievements they get.
It feels great to me when they call me back and thank me for helping them to get hope of improving their lives.”
Brenda’s exploits have not gone unnoticed. She has won awards and has been invited to preside over important events.
“I have managed to win a Megafest Southern Region Business Award as I have got the Gold Award Winner and the outstanding business personality of the year 2022. Also, I won a prize for being a keynote speaker at the women in engineering seminar 2022 and the Youth Connect Centre Bulawayo Entrepreneurs’ dinner in 2022.
“What I can encourage other people is that they should be able to realise opportunities wherever they will be because I managed to get all that I have today because I pounce on opportunities that come my way. I’m a director of ceremonies for many events, and I founded Brenda Blessings Trust which I use to transform the lives of young people through the resounding Word of God.
“I am also a producer of amasi with a soon-coming brand called Amasi ka MaHarts. I am a busy woman and I don’t love sitting. I am a mother of two children that I manage to raise alone. I’ve been taking care of them since they were young and I also afford to take them to the best schools through hard work,” said Brenda. -state media
Tinashe Sambiri|CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa has described the late party member Tino Chiremba as a dedicated change champion.
According to President Chamisa, Chiremba served the nation with amazing determination.
“A CITIZENS HERO..A Citizens Champion & leader in Citizens activism whose dream was a Zimbabwe that works for all. You served your country, citizens and community well. You visited.We prayed & was the last. My condolences to the Citizens and Chiremba family. Rest Well Champion,” President Chamisa wrote on Twitter.
He also condemned the harassment of political activists by the Zanu PF regime.
“THEY ARE CITIZENS’ HEROES! The onslaught on the yellow train sees us celebrating our 1st anniversary with our champions behind bars on spurious charges! Champions HON MPs Sikhala, Chibaya, Machingauta & Budiriro 25 are sadly under persecution. #JusticeWillPrevail!”
A well-known Madzibaba with Johane Masowe Chishanu Church has appeared in court for allegedly stealing a G-string and US$40 belonging to a sex worker that he had hired for a short time.
Nyasha Zinyede Chigariro (23) of Muroyiwa Village under Chief Chirumhanzu allegedly hired a prostitute for a quickie but the latter realised that she had no condoms when they reached the room where they wanted to have an act.
She left to look for the condoms but she realised when she came back that her purple panty and US$40 was missing from her bag. She reported the matter to Police.
The matter was before Shurugwi Magistrate Sithabile Zungula on January 9, 2023 and the accused pleaded guilty.
Prosecutor Pride Gomera told the court that incident happened in December when the two met at Mzansi Bar in Shurugwi town. The two proceeded to Grand hotel where the accused resides.
Magistrate Zungula gave Chigariro 350 hours community service at Siyahukwe Primary School. -Masvingo Mirror
A few English Premier League sides are reportedly monitoring Marvelous Nakamba’s situation with a view of signing the midfielder before the end of last week.
The Warriors international is yet to play this term after falling out of favour and Villa coach Unai Emery recently told him that he’s not in his plans and can leave the club in this transfer window.
No offers have been made so far but according to Birmingham Mail some clubs from the English top-flight and the Championship monitoring the situation.
The newspaper claimed: “Nakamba is hoping to find a move away from Villa with a couple of Premier League clubs and Championship sides monitoring the situation.”
The 29-year-old, who arrived at Villa Park in 2019 will enter the final 12 months of his contract at the end of this season.- Soccer24 Zimbabwe
KEDIBONE Moloi (42) had been looking for a job for a long time, and early last month her luck seemed to change.
But her hopes were soon destroyed when she was told the facts of life.
“No tl0f tl0f, no job,” she was allegedly told.
Kedibone Moloi from Vereeniging, Vaal, said on 11 December she went to a car dealership in the area to drop off her CV. She was called in for an interview the next day.
“Getting an interview was wonderful. I was over the moon!” she said.
She said that the interviewers l0ved her, but she didn’t hear anything further.
She phoned a manager in the first week of this month, who told her it looked promising. Then the manager started chatting with her on WhatsApp and asked to see her.
“I thought he wanted to give me the good news in person. I was really devastated when he asked to have ƨǝx with me,” she said.
He also asked what c0nd0ms she liked, and if she had a b0yfriend.
“I thought the manager was paving the way for me to be an employee, but I was wrong.”
She asked why he was doing that to her, and he said he badly wanted her.
“I hate that this has become standard in South Africa.
“I want all these creepy managers to learn a lesson from this,” she said.
Though she ended up not getting the job, she said she would rather walk away with her dignity intact.
Daily Sun spoke to franchise executive Shane Kruger, who said they were not aware of this matter, but acted swiftly.
“Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We take allegations of ƨǝxual harassment extremely seriously. As Hyundai Vereeniging, we are committed to ensuring a safe environment. Our HR director will spearhead an investigation,” said Kruger.
GOVERNMENT has lifted the suspension of the operator’s licence for Tashlly Investment, trading as Zebra Kiss following comprehensive measures put in place by the bus company to avert accidents in the future.
Last week, Zebra Kiss and another bus company Rimbi were involved in an accident that resulted in one death and 21 injuries after the two buses were involved in a risky road race in Mutoko District along the Harare-Nyamapanda Highway.
As a result, their licences were withdrawn by the issuing authority in terms of Section 17 (1) (b) (i) of the Road Motor Transportation Act [Chapter 13:15).
In a statement Thursday, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Felix Mhona said Zebra Kiss’ licence suspension has since been lifted.
“The lifting of the suspension follows the submission of comprehensive measures that have been put in place by Tashlly Investments to avert such accidents in future After a meticulous consideration of the submission, the Ministry is satisfied that the measures that have been mainstreamed by the operator are adequate to checkmate recurrence of operational behaviours which can be interpreted as violations of terms and conditions for the licence.
“The ministry will continue to enforce and monitor compliance with the terms and conditions of all operators’ licences, including measures against reckless and negligent driving,” said Minister Mhona.
By-WhatsApp made it possible for users of its app to message themselves. The feature is now available for people on Android, iPhones, KaiOS, and also on the web or the desktop app.
Messaging yourself can be important if you want to just make a note to yourself using WhatsApp. It’s also useful if you want to see how an important message will come out before you send it out.
You can also forward messages to yourself.
Here’s how to Message Yourself on WhatsApp:
Here are the steps you need to take to message yourself. If you find that you don’t have any of the features mentioned below, it means that you are using an old version of WhatsApp and that you need to update it.
By- A female member of the apostolic sect in Buhera has been arrested after smashing the heads of her two young children on a rock and killing one of them instantly as she claimed that a “voice” had instructed her to commit the heinous crime.
The other infant was resuscitated through first aid before being rushed to Murambinda Mission Hospital where he is said to be in a stable condition. Mary Rukobo (24) of Mashangana Village under Chief Nyashanu has since been arrested on murder and attempted murder charges. Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Nobert Muzondo said Rukobo, who was expected to appear in court this week, crushed the heads of her two infants (two months) and (two years) on a rock. She killed the two-month-old baby instantly, while the other is recuperating in hospital. The heart-rending incident occurred on January 19. Inspector Muzondo said Rukobo, a member of a local apostolic sect, committed the offence at her worshipping shrine that is about 500 metres from her homestead. Rukobo, who usually visited the shrine for night prayers, was allegedly naked when she committed the offence. It is alleged that the suspect left her home for prayers around 7pm. She took the two children with her. “While at the shrine, Rukobo started singing and praying loudly. Around 10pm, two passers-by, Ngonidzashe (36) and John Njanji (28) of Magunduru Village discovered that Rukobo was acting strangely and informed other villagers. They teamed up and visited the shrine to investigate,” said Inspector Muzondo. As the villagers approached the shrine, Rukobo charged towards them while naked. She was ordered to stop and she complied. “She was interviewed and confessed that she had killed her two-months-old son by crushing his head several times on a huge rock. She claimed that she had heard a voice instructing her to crush the heads of her children against the rock,” said Inspector Muzondo. Inspector Muzondo said the villagers conducted a search and discovered the victims’ bodies lying on a huge rock about five metres away from the shrine. They had swollen heads and bruises. “The two-year-old infant was lying unconscious on the same rock with a swollen head, and the villagers quickly administered first aid. He regained consciousness and was rushed to Murambinda Mission Hospital for further management. The body of the young infant was taken to Murambinda Mission Hospital for a post-mortem,” said Inspector Muzondo. Police from Chirozva base attended the scene and arrested Rukobo on murder and attempted murder charges. A Rusape-based mental health specialist, Dr Thomas Nyamudya told The Manica Post that a number of new mothers experience disturbing thoughts and an emotional flatness – red flags that signal postpartum psychosis. Postpartum psychosis is a severe mental illness, characterised by extreme difficulty in responding emotionally to a newborn baby – which can include thoughts of harming the child. In extreme situations, a woman with this condition may exhibit behaviours such as staring off into space, muttering to herself, refusing to eat or making seemingly irrational statements. The majority of those who experience the condition have a history of mental illness. “Causes of postpartum psychosis are not well understood. It’s possible that the abrupt shift in hormones after delivery could trigger it. It can manifest in a period spanning from a week or a year after birth,” said the psychiatrist. She said postpartum psychosis is a psychiatric emergency due to its potential for harm to the baby or the new mother. “Some of its symptoms include sudden thoughts of throwing the baby or harming it in some way, delusions, which are some awkward beliefs that have no basis in reality and hallucinations – seeing or hearing things that aren’t there. She had difficulty responding emotionally to the baby,” she added. Manica Post
Trophy hunter attacked and eaten live by the brothers of another lion he had killed and was posing with for photos while live streaming on Instagram in South African. pic.twitter.com/R60tSs2l8d
By- a Harare magistrate has released the twenty-six members of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) who were arrested in Budiriro on bail.
Magistrate Yeukai Dzuda granted bail of ZWL$30 000 each while two of the accused, aged 81 and another 72 years, were given free bail.
They were all remanded to 3 February 2023.
CCC national spokesperson, Fadzayi Mahere, announced the development. Mahere said:
BREAKING: The #Budiriro26 have been granted bail by the Magistrates’ Court. They are to pay 30K bail each, report to police once a week and not interfere with witnesses. Thank you to all citizens who flooded the court in solidarity with our change champions.
Mahere said the party was not celebrating the activists’ release. She said:
We don’t celebrate the release of the #Budiriro26. They should never have been arrested in the first place. How can we celebrate 2 weeks of abuse that led to our members contracting Covid in jail? It’s not a crime to say “Ngaapinde Hake Mukomana.” We will not stop saying it! They were arrested two weeks ago when they intended to hold “an unsanctioned” meeting at the house of Costa Machingauta, the opposition MDC Alliance Member of Parliament for Budiriro.
While at the gathering, the accused persons chanted [CCC] political party slogan “Ngaapinde hake Mukomana, 2023 Chamisa chete chete” meaning “let the boy get in, 2023 Chamisa only”.
Members of ZRP Budiriro received a tip-off that the accused were gathered and went to investigate.
Police say upon arrival at Machingauta’s house, officers observed that the accused’s conduct was disturbing the peace of a section of members of the public.
CCC organising secretary Amos Chibaya and Machingauta were among those arrested.
?CONDOLENCE MESSAGE: We’re saddened to learn the passing of a change champion & community organizer in Buhera, Sekuru Garutsa. He was so determined to see #ANewGreatZimbabwe. He always offered his time & resources to further the work of the Movement in his community. pic.twitter.com/B2S492iQyw
— Citizens' Coalition for Change (@CCCZimbabwe) January 27, 2023
By- There was chaos in the Muchena area of Penhalonga last week after a 31-year-old man was found dead in a nearby dam following his disappearance for almost 18 days.The Muchena community alleged that the man, Respect Kudzai Muradzikwa, died as a result of witchcraft as a neighbour, Abigail ‘Mai Chantie’ Bhatoni had ‘secured’ her house so that anyone who steals anything from her would die. Mai Chantie has been a subject of scorn and is now being treated like an outcast following Muradzikwa’s death. A mini-demonstration was held at her homestead, with irate neighbours baying for her blood and banishment from the area. They argued that her wicked acts of ‘securing’ her property would claim the scalps of many people as she was a well-known shebeen queen who hosted many people at her house. It is alleged that she was so cosy with her clients and some of them would get favours from her. Some would even take her property to their homes. The Muchena community also claims that Mai Chantie has a hit list of six people who stole from her. Muradzikwa was the first person to die and five more are now quacking in their boots as they do not know when the death angel will visit them. Muradzikwa was found floating in a dam after he had allegedly stolen a radio worth US$2 from Mai Chantie. Mai Chantie admitted that she had secured her property from those with sticky fingers. She said she has suffered so many losses through thefts, hence the decision to hire the services of a spiritual healer to secure her property. Following his death last week, the Muchena community took Muradzikwa’s body to Mai Chantie’s homestead and placed it at her doorstep. The drama later degenerated into a free for all scenario last week on Wednesday during Muradzikwa’s burial. Ugly clashes were witnessed as people exchanged blows, with counter accusations flying left, right and centre. Muradzikwa’s wife, Kudakwashe Matsimike said there was bad blood between her late husband and Mai Chantie after he spurned her sexual advances. She said Muradzikwa had once stumbled upon Mai Chantie bedding another man and had threatened to spill the beans to her husband. As a counter measure, it is alleged that Mai Chantie unsuccessfully tried to lure Muradzikwa to go between the sheets with her. “My husband told me that she had seen Mai Chantie (Bhatoni) bedding another man. He refused to disclose the name of the person, afraid that I would gossip about the issue. That is the root of their grudge. “From that time, my husband would get free beer from Mai Chantie to buy his silence. One day, Mai Chantie saw my husband relieving himself and she asked him to bed her, but he refused. She wanted to silence him at all costs. “Before my husband disappeared and eventually died, he confessed that he had taken Mai Chantie’s small radio. He said he could hear a radio playing in his ears. I believe that my husband had not really stolen from Mai Chantie as it was their habit as patrons at her shebeen to take things from there,” said Matsimike. She added: “My husband lost his marbles and we took him to Mai Chantie’s homestead. She admitted that she had protected her property from thieves. We had to call the person (name supplied) that she had engaged to secure her property. The spiritual healer told us that he was in Chipinge. We sent him US$50 for bus fare to travel back so that he could reverse the curse. “When the spiritual healer came, he said he was going to help him using maize grains to reverse the curse. My husband was given a grain of maize to chew and was asked to tie the other grain in a cloth. He was supposed to bury the other grain in murky waters. “The spiritual healer remained with the last grain and told Mai Chantie to remind him what to do with it after we had left her homestead. He also took a knife and placed it in a dish filled with clean water and the water turned into blood. We did not understand what was going on, so when the spiritual healer said my husband would recover, we believed him,” said Matsimike. She said the spiritual healer told them to take Muradzikwa home so that he could sleep. “Before we left Mai Chantie’s homestead, my husband told her that he didn’t know that she was that wicked. My husband refused to go home with us. He just left. I last saw him on December 28. We did not know his whereabouts until when his body was discovered. It was in an advanced state of decomposition,” said Matsimike. Tawanda Muradzikwa, brother to the late Muradzikwa, said his brother ran away from home, claiming that he was being chased by Mai Chantie and two short men. “We found my brother’s decomposing body in a dam. He had blood in his mouth and ears. I think Mai Chantie used my brother for rituals. I think she killed him and dumped the body in the dam to hoodwink people into believing that he had drowned. “How can a man drown in a small dam like that when the water does not even reach one’s knees? And the other thing that made us assume that he was murdered was the fact that we found our brother’s body facing upright. If he had drowned, he was supposed to face downwards. “When we came to collect his body, we found a black ladies pant that we believe belongs to Mai Chantie, as well as fresh human waste near the dam. I think this was all done to conceal all evidence linking Mai Chantie to my brother’s death,” said Tawanda. In a separate interview, Mai Chantie said she only secured her property. “I was losing my property to thieves, including chickens, goats and even plates. The people in this community would do whatever they wanted at my house because my husband is always away. He makes weekend visits. “I sell beer at my house and a lot of young men come here to drink so I had to take action. I approached a spiritual healer who helped me secure my property, but I didn’t know that it would result in someone’s death,” said Mai Chantie. She said she would try to make amends with the bereaved family. “I admit that what I did was wrong, but I did not want things to end in this way. I also chipped in with funeral assistance for the late Muradzikwa. I am prepared to appease his spirit,” said Mai Chantie. She also said she is now worried about her family’s safety as she has been receiving endless threats from the community. “I am worried about my children’s safety. They have seen me being harassed by people. They also witnessed the drama as Muradzikwa’s corpse was dumped at our doorstep. This is psychologically traumatising them. They are no longer safe here, but anyway what can I do. I am prepared to take whatever comes my way head-on,” she said. Mai Chantie also said she failed to attend Muradzikwa’s funeral out of fear. Instead, she sent emissaries with her funeral assistance, but the Muradzikwa family rejected it. Police confirmed the incident and said investigations are in progress. However, just a day after Muradzikwa’s burial, all hell broke loose as his spirit started wreaking havoc, seeking retribution. The spirit is possessing people from the community, explaining to them about his death at Mai Chantie’s hands. He first manifested on a community member, one Mai Mashawa, before doing the same on five other villagers including his wife. They narrated how he died. Those possessed also attacked a fellow villager, Simba Mashaba, saying he had assisted in his murder. The spirit said: “I died a painful death. A day after the spiritual healer tried to save me, I went back to Mai Chantie’s house. She teamed up with four other people to strangle me to death. They dragged my body to the forest and dumped it there for 15 days. When they realised that I was decomposing, they dragged my remains to the dam and dumped them there. It added: “My mother once came closer to where my remains were, but could not see me as she was blinded by Mai Chantie’s goblins. Enough is enough and the truth has to be told. I will pursue all those who helped Mai Chantie to kill me and get rid of my body. I will name and shame them. I will not rest until my spirit is appeased.” One of the manifesting women spoke in a voice which the community said is Mai Chantie’s and explained that she had no intention of killing Muradzikwa, but only wanted to punish him through a mental illness. “I was having an affair with Respect (Muradzikwa) and he was very good in bed. I thought if I used his sperms for rituals, my business would be good, just like him in bed. “Unfortunately, Respect knew what I had done because he foresaw everything and cautioned me. He threatened to spill the beans, so I had to take action. He did not steal the radio, I fabricated the whole story. I have tattoo marks (nyora) on both hands to attract young men,” said the voice. Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (Zinatha) president, Mr George Kandiero said the late Muradzikwa might have been possessed by a spirit or his family might have done some rituals to evoke his spirit to avenge his death. “It is very possible that a dead person can start avenging his death a day after his burial due to anger. He could have been possessed by a spirit that was protecting him. “His family could also have done some rituals to bring back his spirit to haunt those who killed him. It is an avenging spirit that needs to be appeased and it will not rest until justice prevails,” he said. Manica Post
Zimbabwe is a country of its own- imagine people putting on Zanu-PF regalia, are right now busy pushing a ZUPCO(govt company) bus pic.twitter.com/c1qXAzG9kb
A few English Premier League sides are reportedly monitoring Marvelous Nakamba’s situation with a view of signing the midfielder before the end of last week.
The Warriors international is yet to play this term after falling out of favour and Villa coach Unai Emery recently told him that he’s not in his plans and can leave the club in this transfer window.
No offers have been made so far but according to Birmingham Mail some clubs from the English top-flight and the Championship monitoring the situation.
The newspaper claimed: “Nakamba is hoping to find a move away from Villa with a couple of Premier League clubs and Championship sides monitoring the situation.”
The 29-year-old, who arrived at Villa Park in 2019 will enter the final 12 months of his contract at the end of this season.- Soccer24 Zimbabwe
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp says he will retire from football management before the age of 70.
The German gaffer started his coaching career at Mainz at the turn of the millennium before a working at Borussia Dortmund. He has been at Liverpool since 2015 and his current contract with the club ends in mid 2026.
Speaking on BT Sport podcast Mike Calvin’s Football People, Klopp said he knows when to walk away from the game and rebuffed emulating the career of ex-Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson who reached the mid-70s while still in coaching.
“After 22 years now, I know when I cannot change anything anymore and I know that’s the moment I stop thinking about it,” said the gaffer.
“I sleep really well, come home, have half an hour, drive home and that’s the last 30 minutes of the day where I really think about the job.
“The job is incredibly demanding, it is, but it’s great as well. That’s why I say when Roy Hodgson came back again to Crystal Palace and I ask him ‘why go out again?’ and he said ‘I love it’.
“I cannot see myself being 70 and being on the dugout in whatever weather and training for one or two hours. I can’t see that but I understand a little bit where they are coming from. I hope then that other things are that interesting to me and I am really fine with not being involved anymore.”- Soccer24 Zimbabwe
An estimated 5 million children died before their fifth birthday and another 2.1 million children and youth aged between 5–24 years lost their lives in 2021, according to the latest estimates released by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).
In a separate report also released today, the group found that 1.9 million babies were stillborn during the same period. Tragically, many of these deaths could have been prevented with equitable access and high-quality maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health care.
“Every day, far too many parents are facing the trauma of losing their children, sometimes even before their first breath,” said Vidhya Ganesh, UNICEF Director of the Division of Data Analytics, Planning and Monitoring. “Such widespread, preventable tragedy should never be accepted as inevitable. Progress is possible with stronger political will and targeted investment in equitable access to primary health care for every woman and child.”
The reports show some positive outcomes with a lower risk of death across all ages globally since 2000. The global under-5 mortality rate fell by 50% since the start of the century, while mortality rates in older children and youth dropped by 36%, and the stillbirth rate decreased by 35%. This can be attributed to more investments in strengthening primary health systems to benefit women, children and young people.
However, gains have reduced significantly since 2010, and 54 countries will fall short of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals target for under-5 mortality. If swift action is not taken to improve health services, warn the agencies, almost 59 million children and youth will die before 2030, and nearly 16 million babies will be lost to stillbirth.
“It is grossly unjust that a child’s chances of survival can be shaped just by their place of birth, and that there are such vast inequities in their access to lifesaving health services,” said Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Children everywhere need strong primary health care systems that meet their needs and those of their families, so that – no matter where they are born – they have the best start and hope for the future.”
Children continue to face wildly differentiating chances of survival based on where they are born, with sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia shouldering the heaviest burden, the reports show. Though sub-Saharan Africa had just 29% of global live births, the region accounted for 56% of all under-5 deaths in 2021, and southern Asia for 26% of the total.
Children born in sub-Saharan Africa are subject to the highest risk of childhood death in the world – 15 times higher than the risk for children in Europe and northern America.
Mothers in these 2 regions also endure the painful loss of babies to stillbirth at an exceptional rate, with 77% of all stillbirths in 2021 occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Nearly half of all stillbirths happened in sub-Saharan Africa. The risk of a woman having a stillborn baby in sub-Saharan Africa is 7 times more likely than in Europe and North America.
“Behind these numbers are millions of children and families who are denied their basic rights to health,” said Juan Pablo Uribe, Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population, World Bank and Director of the Global Financing Facility. “We need political will and leadership for sustained financing for primary health care which is one of the best investments countries and development partners can make.”
Access to and availability of quality health care continues to be a matter of life or death for children globally. Most child deaths occur in the first five years, of which half are within the first month of life. For these youngest babies, premature birth and complications during labour are the leading causes of death.
Similarly, more than 40% of stillbirths occur during labour – most of which are preventable when women have access to quality care throughout pregnancy and birth. For children that survive past their first 28 days, infectious diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria pose the biggest threat.
While COVID-19 has not directly increased childhood mortality – with children facing a lower likelihood of dying from the disease than adults – the pandemic may have increased future risks to their survival. In particular, the reports highlight concerns around disruptions to vaccination campaigns, nutrition services, and access to primary health care, which could jeopardize their health and well-being for many years to come. In addition, the pandemic has fuelled the largest continued backslide in vaccinations in three decades, putting the most vulnerable newborns and children at greater risk of dying from preventable diseases.
The reports also note gaps in data, which could critically undermine the impact of policies and programmes designed to improve childhood survival and well-being.
“The new estimates highlight the remarkable global progress since 2000 in reducing mortality among children under age 5,” said John Wilmoth, Director, UN DESA Population Division. “Despite this success, more work is needed to address persistent large differences in child survival across countries and regions, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Only by improving access to quality health care, especially around the time of childbirth, will we be able to reduce these inequities and end preventable deaths of newborns and children worldwide.”
By-Twenty-six members of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) who were arrested in Budiriro have been granted bail by Harare Magistrate Yeukai Dzuda.
The activists who are from Budiriro were granted ZWL$30 000 each while two of the accused, one aged 81 and another aged 72 years were granted free bail.
They were all remanded to 3 February 2023.
CCC national spokesperson, Fadzayi Mahere, announced the development. In a Twitter Mahere said:
BREAKING: The #Budiriro26 have been granted bail by the Magistrates’ Court. They are to pay 30K bail each, report to police once a week and not interfere with witnesses. Thank you to all citizens who flooded the court in solidarity with our change champions.
Mahere said the party was not celebrating the activists’ release. She said:
We don’t celebrate the release of the #Budiriro26. They should never have been arrested in the first place. How can we celebrate 2 weeks of abuse that led to our members contracting Covid in jail? It’s not a crime to say “Ngaapinde Hake Mukomana.” We will not stop saying it! They were arrested two weeks ago when they intended to hold “an unsanctioned” meeting at the house of Costa Machingauta, the opposition MDC Alliance Member of Parliament for Budiriro.
While at the gathering, the accused persons chanted [CCC] political party slogan “Ngaapinde hake Mukomana, 2023 Chamisa chete chete” meaning “let the boy get in, 2023 Chamisa only”.
Members of ZRP Budiriro received a tip-off that the accused were gathered and went to investigate.
Police say upon arrival at Machingauta’s house, officers observed that the accused’s conduct was disturbing the peace of a section of members of the public.
CCC organising secretary Amos Chibaya and Machingauta were among those arrested.
Tinashe Sambiri|CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa has described the late party member Tino Chiremba as a dedicated change champion.
According to President Chamisa, Chiremba served the nation with amazing determination.
“A CITIZENS HERO..A Citizens Champion & leader in Citizens activism whose dream was a Zimbabwe that works for all. You served your country, citizens and community well. You visited.We prayed & was the last. My condolences to the Citizens and Chiremba family. Rest Well Champion,” President Chamisa wrote on Twitter.
He also condemned the harassment of political activists by the Zanu PF regime.
“THEY ARE CITIZENS’ HEROES! The onslaught on the yellow train sees us celebrating our 1st anniversary with our champions behind bars on spurious charges! Champions HON MPs Sikhala, Chibaya, Machingauta & Budiriro 25 are sadly under persecution. #JusticeWillPrevail!”
By Court Correspondent | The case pitting the controversial Australia based ZANU PF socialite labelled (by government employees) a CIO State Prostitute, Susan Mutami and Norton MP Temba Mliswa in which the legislator was arrested for holding a press conference (against COVID regulations) to address her allegations against him, has collapsed.
The High Court declared the MP not guilty at the close of the state’s case.
In a ruling dated 19 January 2023, Justice Katiyo said:
WHEREUPON after reading documents filed of record and hearing Counsel
IT IS ORDERED THAT
1. The decision of the first respondent dismissing the applicant’s application or discharge at the close of the gate ease under CRB No. 1251/21 be and is hereby set aside
2. In its place he and it is hereby replaced with the following:-
-Application 14 discharge at the close of the state case is granted. Accused person be and is hereby found not guilty and acquitted.”
3. No order as to costs.
BACKGROUND STORY…
Susan Mutami – file
By A Correspondent | Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of the controversial self styled whistle-blower, Susan Mutami following an eletric period of exposing ZANU PF President Emmerson Mnangagwa and rallying the public around that cause, between June and August 2022. Mutami is now nowhere to be seen. Since the period of the United Nations she went off social media and off friends.
So what really happened to the whistleblower who could have easily helped to lift the plight of abused minors? ZimEye searches around all over Brisbane, among friends, family, and even on the Twitter website that became her attack base against people like Marry Mubaiwa who ended up being amputated following Mutami’s false allegations, Susan still cannot be found.
ZimEye checks with Susan’s mother, Rebecca Mutami, whose phone is switched off soon after picking up the journalist’s voice. Soon after that call, the mum’s Facebook posting stops completely for months running into December, not a single dot can be seen.
ZimEye turns to Susan’s young sister, the 20 year old Kundai, whose phone is swiftly switched off soon after the ZimEye journalist has introduced himself.
“How are you Kundai? I am looking for Susan,” our reporter asks, to which she replies by demanding to know,
“Who is calling?”
The call is terminated upon announcement of ZimEye.
Afterwards, another local Australian Correspondent tasked by ZimEye tries her luck, only to report back saying that the phones are ringing but none of the two, (mother and young sister) are picking up.
So was Susan Mutami killed? If anything happened to her at least her brother, still to be contacted, would have notified the world, a source tells ZimEye.
To somewhat confirm this, an intelligence agent provides possibly the clearest detail on Susan Mutami’s whereabouts. “The last time I spoke with her she told me that she is now changing her number because she has to avoid people,” they tell ZimEye. ZimEye was still to be given Susan’s “new phone numbers,” at the time of writing as promised.
So what really happened to this whistleblower who also says she is an anti terorism expert and who was going to make announcements at the UN General Assembly in September exposing her former boss and one time “boyfriend”?
Something happened to her which is more than money, a state agent tells ZimEye. The whole sequel begins in 2020, when Mutami got pregnant twice in a year to 2 different men, amid a long string of others in the same 12 month period.
She would also in the same year threaten to ‘rape’ Simba Chikanza’s own father (94) during interviews.
The below is a trail of event twists that involved high profile ministers caught between two scandals, one on the sale of stands, and one of trappings using Susan who was self proclaiming to be an anti-terrorism expert.
It was all triggered when earlier in the year, the Special Anti Corruption Unit head, Thabani Mpofu was close to arresting Local Govt Minister, July Moyo over the alleged sale of stands in Harare, Kwekwe and Gweru for his own benefit.
There were several beneficiaries listed on this reported scandal who are in the ministry of Justice; so to hide this, a quick plan was hatched to get Mpofu fired.
Owen Ncube
Mpofu, who leads the controversial taskforce, was swiftly accused of authoring letters for MDC Alliance Vice President Tendai Biti advising the opposition icon on ways of navigating through the justice system.
Close sources allege that, when this was about to happen, the Norton MP Temba Mliswa went over to president, Emmerson Mnangagwa to advise him to ignore the calls to fire Mpofu; doing this in order to settle scores with the enemy of an enemy (Mliswa had heard that Thabani Mpofu had been set up by July Moyo, Owen Ncube, and Virginia Mabhiza). Mliswa has had several bones to chew with Thabani Mpofu. Mliswa reasoned with Mnangagwa saying: how could Thabani Mpofu author letters for MDC Deputy President Tendai Biti in this age and time when he could simply pick a phone call.
Parallel to all this, Temba Mliswa was the subject of an ongoing probe in which he was entangled with ex girlfriend, Susan.
Facts became clear mid February that, Susan Mutami, the centre of the axis, was used to incriminate Mliswa.
Mutami is an enigma. She claims she bedded the late SB Moyo, Killer Zivhu, Temba Mliswa. She even openly announces saying she has bedded Emmerson Mnangagwa.
She says she has Mliswa’s twins, while at the same time naming her son after his arch enemy, Owen Ncube.
5 LOVERS, 2 PREGNANCIES TO 2 DIFFERENT MEN, ALL IN ONE YEAR
–
In 2020 alone, she dated at least four High profile men who include the Foreign Affairs Minister SB Moyo, one after the other:
Susan Mutami’s 2021 June profile picture – source: Susan Mutami, Twitter.com
Polite Kambamura, the Mining Deputy Minister (they were engaged). Walter Chikwana, Secretary for the Judicial Commission (they had a civil partnership in 2020), and ZANU PF MP, Hon Kenneth Musanhi (see pictures).
Furthermore, an affidavit seen by ZimEye states in addition that she was already pregnant way before bedding Mliswa in 2020
–
The affidavit, certified by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), shows that as at around March 2020, she was still engaged to another man, who works inside the JSC, Mr Walter Chikwana.
–
The man was reached for a comment but wouldn’t speak or respond to questions.
The affidavit states that Mutami was carrying a pregnancy to another man at the end of March 2020. In the affidavit, her boyfriend, Mr Chikwana says:
+
‘ I am Susan Vivian Mutami’s partner and in case of emergency I can be contacted on the above mentioned address or on my mobile number, +263772***********”
–
He then goes on to say he is the legal guardian of SB Moyo’s Child (full name redacted-in accordance with the Children’s Act on the paper).
–
” I am also the legal guardian of (name withheld), and our unborn child as of date. Attached hereto is a copy of my identification.”
–
The affidavit was signed on the 24th March 2020.
Affidavit
The development puts burden on Mutami to explain the timing drama surrounding her two pregnancies (to different men) which are within months of each other.
–
She also says that she is the holder of two Australian degrees of which she has none, and also makes false claims that she is the winner of Australia’s CEO awards. During interviews with Mutami, ZimEye reveals how that her claims to university courses are baseless.
VIDEO LOADING BELOW
Asked to state which universities issued her 2 degrees, Susan Mutami says: the @AusEmbZim performed all verification checks. She says: "There is no way a whole embassy would just leave and accompany me to go and donate, and hand out donations without doing proper checks on me…" pic.twitter.com/deBmXUv4St
She is also put to task on her CEO Awards claim, and it is revealed that she was only a passerby at the function who posed in front of a camera holding someone else’s award. (SEE RGM INTERVIEW BELOW)
Her ex lover, Mliswa has maintained his allegations that he was set up by the Central Intelligence Organisation in order to incriminate him using Susan Mutami.
By this time, he has been arrested and charged for violating COVID regulations while holding a press conference to address her allegations against him.
After all this, she is stopped while trying to leave the country, and then she is put under the custody of the Central Intelligence Organisation. Mutami is held for possessing details on the attempted assassination of the president and killing of three aides at the White City Stadium, then she is whisked out by two powerful ministers who have close links to the president, July Moyo (local governments), Owen Mudha Ncube, minister of state security. After being whisked out without knowledge of the mother body of the CIO, she then starts to attack to the Director General of the CIO, who she claims she once dated, then threatening to release secret information on the cabinet, Politburo and a number of other official secrets, while on the same tweet, absolving the two ministers, July Moyo and Owen Mudha Ncube.
At this time, July Moyo is under investigations for parceling out land, a case being probed by Thabani Mpofu’s SACU organisation.
July Moyo is very close to permanent Secretary Mrs Virginia Mabhiza and Kumbirai Hodzi, the prosecutor General. At the same time, Thabani Mpofu’s SACU is having clashes with the Prosecutor General. There was a collusion between the Prosecutor Gen and July Moyo to get Thabani Mpofu fired. The PG and July Moyo then approached the president Emmerson Mnangagwa to pass allegations that Thabani Mpofu has advised Biti.
The event trail is as follows:
Thabani Mpofu is accused of writing WhatsApp letters to MDC Alliance MP Tendai Biti giving him advice on how to return to parliament, and this makes the president very angry. At this time, Mnangagwa has also been told by Perm Sec Virginia Mabhiza, and Prosecutor Gen Kumbirai Hodzi, to ignore the request to arrest Minister July Moyo on land fraud.
Mnangagwa then summons Thabani Mpofu to State House where he is dressed down. It is reported that Mpofu has been fired. ZimEye contacts Mpofu who tells this news network, it’s not true at all. Are you my employer?, Mpofu fires a question while answering to the report.
Soon afterwards, Temba Mliswa who is naturally against Mpofu, comes to the rescue of Mpofu to tell the President that Mpofu has been set up. Thabani Mpofu also gets support of the CIO DG Isaac Moyo. This angers July Moyo who together with Owen Ncube sponsor Susan Mutami to tweet ‘some dirt’ on Isaac Moyo while absolving July Moyo and Owen Ncube publicly, on the Twitter website.
State security sources report saying Mutami was whisked out of Zimbabwe through the Beitbridge Border post. ZimEye requests paperwork to confirm that the escape was truly through that border post. No date is provided, but by end of April 2021, she is now safely in Australia.
Both Owen Ncube and July Moyo are contacted for a comment, and their phones are put down soon after hearing the interview questions.
Responding to the state security reports, Mliswa denies ever approaching Mnangagwa to assist Mpofu. He tells ZimEye: “Mpofu, Matanga, Mudha, July Moto, and Ziyambi Ziyambi are all one and the same, working hand-in-hand.”
It surfaces that Mutami is an agent of July Moyo and his team to settle their matters with Director General, Isaac Moyo. Thabani Mpofu then suddenly comes out the victim of the two warning camps.
By this time, the development has raised questions on how safe Zimbabweans are when ministers and two officials are using a woman to settle their personal scores. Is Zimbabwe is being run by people controlled by bottom power, or is it that Susan Mutami has some ability to capture all these people, or she is so dazzling to control the nation’s top government officials?
The following year 2022, at a time when there are many questions still to be answered by Susan such as: where is the proof of your degrees in counter terrorism? Where are Mliswa twins you said you gave birth?, Why do you seem skipping from one high profile man to the other?, where is the proof of your nursing degree? Why on earth did you threaten to rape Simba Chikanza’s father?, Where is the proof that you are a famous person who won the Australian CEO awards?, Susan Mutami bounces out to announce that she was raped by Emmerson Mnangagwa.
During her tweets, she also accuses the mother of 5, Marry Chiwenga, saying she (contrary to clear video evidence) attempted to kill her husband the Vice President, allegations that would get Marry amputated after being denied her passport for a medical travels.
She also accuses her former lover, Mliswa of raping a minor who eventually died from an abortion.
On her widely attended Twitter space, Susan Mutami accuses journalists who have asked her these pertinent questions of being state agents, going to the point of claiming Simba Chikanza whose father she threatened to assault, was paid by the military intelligence.
She then promises to fly to the UN General Assembly to expose Mnangagwa and connect with the masses over her allegations.
The whole nation starts to expect her to dress down the 80 year old ZANU PF leader in front of the world. ZimEye maintains its caution stating that Mutami cannot be genuine, and the Queensland Police where she claimed she has registered a police case have announced that the number she publicised is not even a police case reference.
Her Twitter account stops posting by the end of August 2022 and in the whole of September, there is not a mention of Mutami at the UN General Assembly.
By Dec 2022, Susan Mutami has gotten Marry Chiwenga amputated and on another hand, dashed the hopes of millions of abused children whose rape cases are likely to be doubted now when they make reports.
Between being silenced and just going silent on her own, what has happened to Susan Mutami?
Geological Mapping is an important tool in the mining industry.
Many people look down upon Geological mapping and just do simple methods in search of minerals for example dowsing methods to search for minerals.
Geological mapping is the process done by a Geologist in which he picks up rock units called lithologies in an area, picking the orientation and structural features on the mine.
Explaining the importance of Geological mapping: One can know the contact zones which are important in gold mineralization. Gold moves in areas of low mean stress for example fractures, faults, etc if a Geologist is able to pic a contact zone he can be able to proceed checking possible mineralization in the cantact zone.
We at Inner Core Resources (Pvt.) Ltd offer Mining services from Geological mapping, reef mapping, Magnetics and IP in exploration for all minerals including Gold, Lithium, Manganese and base metals including copper, manganese etc. Exploration starts from desktop studies spanning to geological mapping upto geological reporting with our experienced personnel.
Why would you want to do this:
To understand the potential of your area, This would be your guideline during mining…
Information compiled by Inner Core Resources Private Limited in collaboration with Three Wingers Enterprises
Inner Core Resources can be contacted through its partner Three Wingers Enterprises.
Tinashe Sambiri|CCC leader President Nelson Chamisa has described the late party member Tino Chiremba as a dedicated change champion.
According to President Chamisa, Chiremba served the nation with amazing determination.
“A CITIZENS HERO..A Citizens Champion & leader in Citizens activism whose dream was a Zimbabwe that works for all. You served your country, citizens and community well. You visited.We prayed & was the last. My condolences to the Citizens and Chiremba family. Rest Well Champion,” President Chamisa wrote on Twitter.
He also condemned the harassment of political activists by the Zanu PF regime.
“THEY ARE CITIZENS’ HEROES! The onslaught on the yellow train sees us celebrating our 1st anniversary with our champions behind bars on spurious charges! Champions HON MPs Sikhala, Chibaya, Machingauta & Budiriro 25 are sadly under persecution. #JusticeWillPrevail!”
China's now a superpower as it uses its army to build roads, while Zimbabwe's military has spent the last 43yrs killing citizens; & if the number of people murdered since Gukurahundi is a km per person, 30,000 km of road network would be straddling the country- @DondoComfortpic.twitter.com/ZbdhLmzcvK
Government has not deregistered any Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) operating in the country but has instead identified and informed 391 NGOs who are non-compliant with the dictates of the Private Voluntary Organisation Act to regularise their operations.
In an interview with Zimpapers Television Network’s “The Chase” programme last night, the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Professor Paul Mavima said the identified NGOs, whose figure was actually 450 last year, but has come down to 391, still have a chance to regularise their operations before Government gazettes their deregistration.
“The list still gives them an opportunity to regularise before we gazette, for now we haven’t gazetted but soon we will be gazetting. We have given them a very long rope but once we gazette they will then have to apply afresh to operate,” said Minister Mavima.
He rubbished as unfounded claims by what he said were “cynical people” who are always bent on portraying the country as being in a crisis mode.
Minister Mavima said these people are falsely claiming that the listing of non-compliant NGOs was done based on the new Act when in actual fact the process to amend the legislation has not been completed. “The new Act’s amendment process has not been completed and a lot of people have been saying there is a draconian action by Government in line with the new Act and we have started to see the implementation of that Act which is going to constrain civil society space. The Act has always been there and just like in any other country, it provides for a criterion for registration for anyone who wants to operate a PVO. It sets the requirements needed, a management arrangement, provide annual reports to the PVO board, audited financial statements and keep within the mandate that you said you wanted to operate in and also to confine yourself to the geographical space that you said you want to operate from. This is standard procedure, everywhere,” said Minister Mavima.
He said the majority of the listed NGOs were not in the political or human rights space or even a space that can be interpreted as affecting the outcome of an election.
“Those who are saying something now are just full of sound and fury and there is no logic in what they are saying. The culprits are always the same, Zimbabwe’s resident cynics, those who want to portray that the country is always in a crisis mode. This list of the now 391 was originally 450 and was published a year ago to say these organisations are not in compliance, some have regularised hence the figure is now 391. Everywhere in the world, the Government has to know where the money was going and coming from. When you use public money to do something you have to account for it,” said Prof Mavima.
He said the country only deregistered two NGOs last year for national security reasons.
Minister Mavima said one of the NGOs had said they wanted to provide services to children and started constructing schools and after that started teaching fundamentalism in those schools.
“We said no, you don’t do that. They have been appealing and twice we have heard their appeal but we have said they will not operate,” he said.
On the Jairos Jiri Association position, Minister Mavima said the association has over the years been unbundled and became a number of organizations offering such services as education and others to disadvantaged and disabled people.
“Some of these (Jairos Jiri Association) offshoots have complied while others have completely gone defunct
Here is another example that has been used, Jairos Jiri Association. People do not realise that Jairos Jiri was unbundled, it became a number of organisations, one in education, another offering services to disadvantage and disabled people. Some have complied while others have completely gone defunct,” addedMinister Mavima.
Slightly over 2 500 NGOs are operating in Zimbabwe.
