By– President Emmerson Mnangagwa has frozen in front of Binga villagers.

ZimLive reports that the 79-year-old Zanu PF leader had been speaking for 50 minutes in Binga on April 13 when he was suddenly overcome by a brain freeze.

“Next weekend, Christians have Good Friday…,” Mnangagwa began. Then, as hundreds of people watched on, he leaned away from the microphone and turned to his deputy, Constantino Chiwenga, with the most extraordinary question.
“What’s Good Friday for by the way, was it the birth or the death (of Jesus Christ)?”
As Chiwenga patiently gave him an impromptu sermon, Mnangagwa’s confusion only intensified. “So when was Jesus born?” he pressed his deputy.
The exchange went on for half-a-minute, until a supporter in the audience shouted: “ED Pfee!”
“Yeah,” Mnangagwa said as he returned to the microphone – apparently unaware it was picking every word from his chat with Chiwenga.
“I was asking whether Good Friday marks the birth or death of Christ,” he admitted.
But just moments later, he asked again if the next weekend was Easter.
In the Christian faith, Jesus’ birthday is celebrated on December 15 – Christmas – and his death is observed on Good Friday while his resurrection is celebrated on Easter Monday – the third day of his crucifixion.
-ZimLive

By- Noah Taguta Momberume, the leader of Johane Marange Apostolic Church, has been laid to rest.

The late Johane Marange apostolic sect was buried in Marange this Wednesday.

He died Sunday afternoon at the age of 82.

He was buried today in Marange at their church’s shrine in a state-assisted funeral.

By- Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) deputy President, Tendai Biti, said the recent attempts by Zanu PF to abduct his party activist Makomborero Haruzivishe were embarrassing.

Biti denounced the Monday night attack saying President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration does not respect human rights.

 He said:

The latest attempt to kidnap Makomborero Haruzivishe is proof beyond reasonable doubt that the Mnangagwa regime is an incorrigible regime with no respect of human rights.

It will never reconcile itself to the vision of a stable, peaceful, united, democratic, free Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe we all want.

Unidentified men purporting to be police officers in plain clothes reportedly approached Haruzivishe, manhandled and cuffed him, trying to arrest him.

Haruzivishe was saved by members of the public.

In a Facebook live video, the activist is heard resisting the would-be abductors and demanding to see the men’s identity documents.

Haruzivishe later added on Twitter saying he does not “understand why I was attacked in a clear abduction attempt yesterday.”

Haruzivishe spent 10 months and 22 days in prison last year for allegedly inciting public violence after he staged a demonstration in Harare last year.

He was also facing several other criminal charges. 

More: NewZimbabwe.com

By- Citizens Coalition for Change, leader Nelson Chamisa said he was ready to deliver Zimbabweans from the 20 year economic woes.

Posting on his tweet account recently Chamisa said come 2023, he will lead Zimbabwe. Posted chamisa:

We are ready! We will deliver Transformation, Dignity, Opportunity & Prosperity. I feel it. I know it and I sense it. A New Great Zimbabwe is loading…Fellow Citizens,#RegisterToVoteZW

By- The government said it was going to give teachers a small grocery each as a way of augmenting their paltry salaries.

In a tweet sent by ZBC, the government said teachers would be given a head of cabbage, a bottle of cooking oil and a loaf of bread per month.

By- The South Africa government said it would not be moved by claims that they were being xenophobic by kicking out undocumented foreigners.

SA home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi said he would continue to lock up all undocumented immigrants resident in that country.

His remarks come amid attacks on foreign nationals by vigilante groups under an operation code-named Dudula which claim to be targeting undocumented foreigners.

Motsoaledi was addressing an ANC regional conference in the Eastern Cape where the minister pledged that “unlike other coward ANC leaders”, his views on the scourge of undocumented foreign nationals running amok in the country will never be censored.

Motsoaledi said SA is the only sovereign country in the world where it is open season for “rascals” who have committed serious crimes in their countries of birth. He said:

One of the things that is contemporary in SA which is a big elephant in the room, and we are trying to run away from that elephant by keeping quiet, is the issue of immigration.

Why is the ANC keeping quiet and believing [this problem] will go away? It is not going to go away.

We must not be scared or embarrassed to mention the truth. I am in home affairs. I know what I am talking about.

Something is going wrong in our continent and SA is on the receiving end. When you talk, they take a big word and throw it at you and South Africans blink and run away. There is a word called xenophobia. Every time you try to show something is wrong, ‘xenophobia’.

We are the only country that accepts rascals. Even the UN is angry with us that SA has a tendency, because of something called democracy, to accept all the rascals of the world.

When people do wrong things in their countries, they run here. There is that guy from [Czech Republic] named Radovan Krejcir. He ran all the way to come and do nonsense here.

Motsoaledi said he was determined to see the undocumented foreigners thrown “in jail, locked in and the keys have been thrown away, then I will step down — only then.”

More: NewZimbabwe

By- Dozens of Zimbabweans leaving in South Africa are repatriating their valuables, furniture and appliances, as xenophobic threats intensify.

Recent attacks in South Africa on immigrants by members of groups such as Operation Dudula, Dudula Movement and PutSouthAfricaFirst have resulted in the murder of a Zimbabwean national, Elvis Nyathi, who was beaten and set alight outside his home in Diepsloot.

Nyathi was buried last week in Bulawayo with the assistance of the government of Zimbabwe.

Groundup.org.za reports that more than five bus companies that operate cross-border trips to Zimbabwe every week say they have seen a huge increase in luggage being sent home.
Samson Chanetsa, the owner of Red Lion Bus Company, said he had seen an increase in goods being sent to Zimbabwe. He said:
We are carrying more luggage than passengers because people are afraid of falling victim to xenophobic violence. We used to travel with not more than 40 passengers per trip. We are now having a small number of travellers to Zimbabwe as people are spending more money on sending their luggage.
We are charging the same prices on luggage we charged last year. A double-door fridge remains at R1,500. This is the same price we have been charging in the festive season.
A driver, who did not want his employer to be named or to be named himself, said they were sometimes transporting less than 20 passengers while they were experiencing an unprecedented volume of luggage. He added, “That is where we are making our profit.”
Farisai Nyamadzawo, a domestic worker who has lived in Gqeberha for 15 years with her husband and their two children says they sent their household furniture and appliances to Zimbabwe by bus as they feared they could end up losing everything.

She added that they were not planning to relocate to Zimbabwe anytime soon because they are holders of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits.
Kuda Munyoro, a general worker at a smallholding in Sea View, and has been in South Africa for three years, joined hands with four Zimbabwean colleagues and paid R12 000 for their furniture and goods to be loaded on a bus from Gqeberha train station to Zimbabwe.
He said he was yet to decide on whether to go home for good or to remain in South Africa adding that he will apply for an asylum permit.
More: Groundup

Tinashe Sambiri| The Zanu PF leader Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa will never repent.

This was said by Citizens’ Coalition For Change vice president Hon Tendai Biti following the attempt by suspected government agents to abduct Makomborero Haruzivishe.

According to Hon Biti, Mr Mnangagwa’s administration has no respect for fundamental human rights.

“The latest attempt to kidnap
@MakomboreroH
is proof beyond reasonable doubt that the Mnangwagwa regime is an incorrigible regime with no respect of human rights.

It will never reconcile itself to the vision of a stable peaceful United democratic free Zimbabwe.The Zim we all want,” Hon Biti argued.

Prominent human rights defender Takudzwa Ngadziore also condemned the abduction attempt.

“It’s NOT YET UHURU
The headmaster’s of chaos & masters of darkness have once again tried to abduct my brother @MakomboreroH Even when it’s Independence Day, they’ve no shame. He spent more than 10 months Pre-Trial detention which is illegal & now this ?”

By A Correspondent- TJ Mathe, a three-year-old boy from Knightswood, Glasgow, drowned in rainwater in an unused pool in his grandparents’ garden on March 30.

TJ tragically died in Zimbabwe on March 30.

The Knightswood Early Years Centre pupil had travelled to the southern African country without his mum and dad on March 26 to meet his gran and grandad for the first time.

His parents Edwin and Medina Mathe were unable to go on the trip with him due to immigration constraints, so TJ flew over with his uncle.

Edwin, who works at Gartnavel Hospital, said their lives have been turned upside down by the death of their ‘precious’ little boy who has been described as ‘their world.’ He added:

Some days are better. Some are not so good. Our memories of our son are helping us through.

Medina’s cousin Tichawona Dauramanzi said the couple is heartbroken. He told the Daily Record:

They are absolutely devastated. TJ was their life. He was so precious to them.

Their whole world revolved around TJ and what’s happened has absolutely shattered them. He was their only child and they loved him dearly. We all did.

TJ’s death has shocked and saddened all of us. It’s a tragic, very sad situation.

Because of issues with Edwin and Medina’s Visas they weren’t able to travel with TJ and now they haven’t been able go over to be with their boy or to find out what exactly happened. All they know is what we have been told on the phone.

Tichawona said a post-mortem examination was carried out and TJ’s cause of death was put down as an accidental drowning.

He added that the kids were playing around an unused pool and when TJ hadn’t been seen for a little while, family members started to look for him only to find him in the pool.

Gemma Garbett, TJ’s keyworker at Knightswood Early Years Centre set up a fundraising page to help raise money to bring his body home to Scotland.

TJ’s body is to be flown home to Scotland this Wednesday after about £3 700 has been raised.

Tichawona said the family have been overwhelmed by the community’s generosity.

To donate click here.

More: Daily Record

By A Correspondent- Bubi villagers in Matabeleland North province are living in fear after a herd of elephants invaded the area.

Bubi MP Sonny Mguni (Zanu-PF) yesterday told Southern Eye that the villagers now feel unsafe due to the presence of jumbos in their area.

“There is a problem of elephants in some wards in Bubi district. In Bona (ward 21), Kenelworth (ward 19), Shimmers Plots (ward 12), Macdonald plots, Mhlotshana and Sabelweni. The elephants have left villagers counting their losses after damaging crops,” Mguni said.

“The villagers have reported that the elephants could number up to 70 or 90. The issue has now been reported to the Department of Wildlife and I understand hunters are on the ground looking for the jumbos and we hope they will capture them,” he said.

Indications are that despite the damages caused to crops and property by the jumbos, no deaths of humans have been recorded.

Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management (ZimParks) spokesperson Tinashe Farawo could not be reached for comments yesterday.

Recently, Farawo expressed concern over increases in human-wildlife conflicts.

Last June, ZimParks stated that they had recorded 30 cases of deaths of people trampled by elephants.

Farawo said elephants escape from game parks and invade human territories in search of food and water.

-Newsday

By A Correspondent- The Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development ministry yesterday released Higher Education Examinations Council (Hexco) Industrial Training and Trade test examination results, which showed a 66% pass rate.

In a statement, Higher Education ministry secretary Fanuel Tagwira said students could begin collecting the results on Tuesday (yesterday) in their respective regions.

“The secretary for Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, Professor Tagwira wishes to announce that the Higher Education Examinations Council (Hexco) Industrial Training and Trade Test results for the April 2022 Examination session have been released,” the statement read.

“He wishes to thank all stakeholders involved in the national examination system. Their contribution towards the success of the examinations has resulted in the achievement of a 66% pass rate. All candidates are advised to access their results from their respective regions as from Tuesday April 20, 2022.”

By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission has left people of Mazowe baffled after it completed its corruption investigations on Mazowe Rural District Council (MRDC) and has never disclosed its findings but has instead handed over its report to MRDC officials.

ZACC has been investigating and arresting council officials in Mashonaland  Central province with Guruve, Muzarabani, Bindura and Mvurwi chief executive officers being dragged to court but on Mazowe nothing was actioned.

ZACC spokesperson John Makamure refused to comment directing questions to his information  department.

Residents who spoke to Bulawayo24.com suspect collusion between ZACC and MRDC officials.

We are worried with ZACC it was conducting investigations at MRDC but nothing was communicated to us we are only told that the report was left  at council how is that possible when they are supposed to deal with the council but they claim to leave them their report,” lamented Sekai Gokomere.

“We suspect the people involved in the corrupt activities at MRDC are dining with ZACC,” Rodrick Tsunga said.

However, some ZANU PF councillors in Mazowe are accusing council chairman John Mudzonga and Mazowe West legislator Kazembe Kazembe of illegally parcelling stands to ZANU PF youths who were instrumental in the provincial elections.

The disgruntled councillors told Bulawayo24.com that an urgent full council meeting has been called to address the issue.

“We are not happy very few people are benefiting hence an urgent meeting has been called this nonsense should stop,” fumed the councillors.

By A Correspondent- The High Court has given police commissioner-general Godwin Matanga seven days to re-instate a sacked police officer or go to prison for 90 days for contempt of court.

Constable Sikhathazile Moyo was fired from the service following a recommendation by the ZRP board president.

She was, however, reinstated by the High Court in 2020 when Justice Clement Phiri directed her reinstatement without loss of salary and benefits.

Efforts to get her reinstated were blocked, allegedly after Matanga ignored the court order.

This prompted Moyo to return to the High Court, this time applying for Matanga to be held in contempt.

Justice David Mangota of the Harare High Court upheld her request, warning Matamga he faces prison for ignoring a court order.

“The application for contempt of court be and is hereby granted. The respondents are hereby ordered to purge their contempt by complying with paragraph four of the court order… within seven days from the date of this order,” the order granted by Justice Mangota says.

“In the event that the respondents have failed to comply with paragraph 2 above, they are hereby held in contempt of court and are hereby committed to civil imprisonment for a period of 90 days. The respondents are ordered to pay costs of suit on a punitive scale.”

ZRP staff officer human resources administration Josiah Chideme had opposed Moyo’s application. He accused Moyo of concealing information he claimed would have led to a different outcome.

Chideme said in an affidavit: “I humbly submit that this application is bad at law. The applicant has not placed sufficient and correct information before this court for it to exercise its discretion judiciously.

The applicant intends to mislead the honourable court into portraying an image that the respondents are in contempt of the court order. I therefore wish to categorically put the record straight as to what actually transpired after the court order was issued.

“After being served with the court order, the applicant was invited to come for her reinstatement. The communication was made to her station, Mukumbura, to contact her about the process of reinstatement. It was at that time that we received communication to the effect that the applicant was now a full time politician.

In actual fact, she had contested under MDC Alliance ticket during the 2018 elections whereupon she lost to Noveti Muponora of Zanu-PF. With this information and cognisance of the Constitution of Zimbabwe that states that no member of the civil service must be an office bearer of a political party, it was found undesirable and unlawful that she be reinstated. In any event, she had not disclosed this fact when she was granted the order by judge.

“I therefore conclude that the information placed by the applicant is a mere attempt to mislead the court instead of assisting the court to reach a judicious decision. It is a mere abuse of the court process.”-NewZimbabwe

By A Correspondent- The Biltrans Transport truck driver Masimba Murombo (48), who disappeared last week en route to Harare from Chirundu, is still missing and police are still investigating the matter.

Following his alleged hijacking, fellow truck drivers have come out guns blazing saying the case exposed the poor working conditions of haulage truck drivers in the country and region.

Murombo, a father of six, went missing last Friday. While his truck was recovered in Chegutu on Saturday and the copper consignment he was transporting was also recovered at a farm in the area, his whereabouts remain a mystery.

Chegutu Criminal Investigations Department is said to be still investigating the case.

According to cross-border drivers, Murombo’s case has exposed poor working conditions for those transporting copper from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to South Africa.

Truck driver Steven Nyamasve blamed Biltrans Transport for neglecting its workers.

‘‘Another truck driver was arrested in DRC and placed in filthy cells for more than a month without getting assistance from his company. He was only saved by some drivers who went on strike against the company called Upman in order to force it to act and save him,” the truck driver said.

Benjamin Katemazondo alleged that Biltrans Transport does not pay its drivers well.

“The bosses there must feel the heat of exploitation, underpayment and taking drivers for granted,” he said.

Bertha Mabwe said truck drivers transported millions worth of goods, including copper, and yet they were underpaid.

Another truck driver, Tempy Maromo, said Murombo was not supposed to have travelled alone at night.

Most truck drivers, who spoke to NewsDay, said Murombo was supposed travel in a convoy with other truckers, instead of travelling alone.

The Murombo family spokesperson, Weston Murombo yesterday confirmed that although the truck and copper were recovered, their relative was still missing. ‘‘Our relative is still unaccounted for although police are still investigating the matter,” Weston said.

Mashonaland West provincial spokesperson Inspector Margaret Chitove said she was yet to get all the facts on the matter.

Attempts to get a comment from Biltrans Transport were fruitless as their number was not getting through.

By A Correspondent- Charges against the Marondera serial rapist and killer have risen to 23 after Harare magistrate Yeukai Dzuda added three more counts of murder yesterday.

Bright Zhantali (30) was remanded in custody to April 29 pending indictment.

It is alleged that on July 17, 2020 at around 7pm, Zhantali approached the now-deceased female, Priscilla Chidakwa (24), who was a sex worker, and offered to pay her US$10 for the whole night.

He then lured her to Donnybrook Race Course in Mabvuku, Harare where he raped her once before strangling her. He threw her body in a trench.

Her corpse was discovered a day later by a passer-by who was walking back home from church and reported the matter to the police.

On the second count, on December 7, 2021 at around 1pm, the accused person approached Manyara Chisora of Ruwa under the guise that he was looking for a piece of land to rent.

When they went into her house to sign a lease agreement, Zhantali raped the deceased and murdered her by striking her three times with the back of an axe. He also stole her valuables.

The deceased’s daughter found the lifeless body of her mother in the bedroom. She alerted her aunt and the matter was reported to the police in Ruwa.

On the third charge, court papers stated that sometime in December 2021, Spiwe Nyamoto was at Double Jay Night Club in Mabvuku when she was approached by Zhantali, who hired her for the night.

The pair agreed to go near Mabvuku Sewerage Ponds, where he raped her and stabbed her to death. Zhantali stole some cash from her before disappearing from the scene. Her body was thrown into a sewerage pond.

Her body was discovered floating in sewage by a passer-by on December 26, 2021.

When the police went to the scene, two cellphones, which linked Zhantali to the murder, were recovered.

By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority bus was involved in a tragic accident on Tuesday that has reportedly claimed the lives of four of its members.

According to a statement issued by the Revenue Authority, the accident happened near Corona Shops along the Masvingo Road, approximately 90km from Harare.

“It is with a heavy heart that the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) wishes to confirm that a ZIMRA bus carrying members of staff coming from Beitbridge to Harare was yesterday, Tuesday 19 April 2022, involved in a road accident The accident happened at around 1800hrs. The accident resulted in the loss of lives and injuries.” ZIMRA said in a statement.

The authority added that it is working with the relevant authorities to assist affected staff members.

In a twet on Wednesday the Zimbabwe Revenue and Allied Workers Trade Union (ZIMRATU) said, “We are saddened by the loss of lives and injuries of our ZIMRA members in a road accident near Corona Shops along Masvingo-Harare Highway. They were traveling from Beitbridge to Harare on 19 April 2022.”

More details regarding the accident are still being investigated.

By A Correspondent- The late Johanne Marange Apostolic Church leader, High Priest Noah Taguta (82), who died last Sunday, will be buried at Mafararikwa in Marange tomorrow.

The Taguta family spokesperson and the late High Priest’s son, Mr Phillip Taguta, confirmed the development.

He said his father, who was born in 1940, passed on in Marange last Sunday and will be buried at Mafararikwa Shrine.

“Our High Priest died on Sunday and will be buried at Mafararikwa Shrine tomorrow. He is survived with 25 wives and 120 children,” said Mr Taguta.

High Priest Taguta led the church for the past 30 years after being ordained in July 1992.

By A Correspondent- South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi has launched a furious attack on undocumented foreigners, warning that he is coming for all of them.

The minister, who has taken a hardline stance on immigration, warned that he will only step down from his current role once he has locked up all undocumented foreigners in the country.

The firebrand minister also scoffed at claims of xenophobia, arguing that people from all over the world are taking advantage of South Africa’s lax immigration policies.

Speaking at an ANC regional conference in the Eastern Cape, Motsoaledi said,

“One of the things that is contemporary in SA, which is a big elephant in the room, and we are trying to run away from that elephant by keeping quiet, is the issue of immigration,” said Motsoaledi.

“Why is the ANC keeping quiet and believing [this problem] will go away? It is not going to go away.

“We must not be scared or embarrassed to mention the truth. I am in home affairs. I know what I am talking about.

“Something is going wrong in our continent, and SA is on the receiving end. When you talk, they take a big word and throw it at you, and South Africans blink and run away. There is a word called xenophobia. Every time you try to show something is wrong, ‘xenophobia’.”

Motsoaledi warned all undocumented foreigners that he has made it his mission to ensure that they are jailed if they stay in South Africa.

“When all of them are in jail, locked in, and the keys have been thrown away, then I will step down — only then.”

This comes at a time when there has been an increase in nationalist and anti-immigration sentiments in South Africa.

Some South Africans are increasingly becoming hostile to foreigners, especially Zimbabweans, accusing them of causing high unemployment among locals and committing crimes.

By A Correspondent- Two Air Force of Zimbabwe paratroopers were last week injured during drills to prepare for Independence Day celebrations.

A third paratrooper was also got injured while displaying his skills during the Independence Day celebrations held on Monday at Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa presided over the celebrations, held for the first time in Bulawayo since the country’s independence from Britain in 1980.

Zimbabwe National Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Alphios Makotore said everyone at the Independence celebrations witnessed the accident.

“If you were there at the independence celebrations, it means you saw what happened. There is nothing for me to add. It was an accident that everybody saw. You can check with the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) as these are their soldiers,” he said.

AFZ spokesperson Squadron Leader Donovan Muroyiwa said the injured soldier had recovered.

“The injured soldier is now well,” Muroyiwa said, but expressed ignorance on the condition of the other two soldiers who were injured during preparatory drills.-newsday

By- The government said it was going to give teachers a small grocery each as a way of augmenting their paltry salaries.

On a tweet sent by ZBC, the government said teachers would be given a head of cabbage, bottle of cooking oil and a loaf of bread per month.

By- Five (5) people have died and twenty-seven (27) more were injured when a UD truck they were travelling in was involved in an accident along the Makuti-Kariba Road.

The truck, which was ferrying civil servants and Kariba residents from Kariba district Independence celebrations in Kasvisva, Nyami-Nyami, veered off the road and fell into a valley about 35 kilometres before Kariba on Monday night.

The injured were taken to Kariba District Hospital. However, authorities have resolved to transfer 19 of the people injured in the accident to Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital to receive specialised care.

Earlier reports indicated that four people died on Monday. One of the injured people, a woman, sadly passed away on Tuesday morning, taking the death toll to five.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has confirmed the accident, saying the names of the deceased will be announced in due course. ZRP said in a statement:
The ZRP confirms a fatal road traffic accident which occurred at the 40km peg along Makuti-Kariba Rd, on 18/04/22 at 2145 hours where four people died while 32 others were injured after a ZEDTC Nissan UD70 truck in which they were travelling in, went off the road and crashed.
The names of victims will be announced in due course.
Kariba district Civil Protection Committee acting chairperson Patience Mubango said:
We had a very unfortunate incident in our district of an accident that has left five people dead and 27 others injured.
We are currently gathering all the information and mobilising resources to ensure that the 19 people transferred to Chinhoyi and the clinical staff get there.
The injured incurred injuries ranging from broken bones, bruises and deep cuts.

18 APRIL IS OUR NATIONAL BIRTHDAY…

Political differences we have but we’re ONE PEOPLE & ONE NATION.

This day belongs to us all as Citizens.Even when change happens, the day remains special.

Liberation means happiness,freedom and basic services.The liberation promise is our new task-

Advocate Nelson Chamisa

Citizens’ Coalition For Change President

By- Some residents of Chitungwiza’s Ward 7 in Zengeza East Constituency accuse ZANU PF’s candidate for the 7 May by-elections, Charamba Mlambo, of intimidating the electorate.

Mlambo, a former councillor in the area, is allegedly moving from house to house marking people’s names on the voters’ roll.

When contacted for his comment by NewsDay, Mlambo said the complaints were being made by his political rivals. He said:

What is the allegation there? Every candidate was given a voters’ roll by ZEC [Zimbabwe Electoral Commission].

The purpose was for us to know the people to target during our campaigns. It was also a way to do away with rigging allegations.

Some people are good at mobilising people who don’t vote and expect those numbers to translate into votes. So my rivals have the right to do the same.

Some are too lazy to go through the voters roll because it has about 3 400 people. It requires patience.

We are doing this in broad daylight and I wasn’t given the voters’ roll secretly.

Meanwhile, CCC candidate, Lovemore Maiko, who is a former Chitungwiza mayor accused Mlambo of vote-buying. Said Maiko:

All the candidates have the voters’ roll. However, how others use it is against the spirit and letter of a free and fair election.

We have taken steps to fumigate our ward against such electoral malpractice.

I have heard from the grapevine that he is dishing out groceries. This has always been ZANU PF’s gimmick in every election.

Chitungwiza Ward 7 fell vacant after the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC-T recalled Maiko from the Council on 2 March.

Bothwell Patsika is contesting the seat on an MDC Alliance ticket.

More: NewsDay

The price of bread has shot up to 341 dollars. This was according to a schedule released at the beginning of the week which shows the sharp rise, which is a result of market forces through a mix of variables such as the war in Ukraine. Schedule:

By- Citizens Coalition for Change President Nelson Chamisa has been excited by a new dance by the party activist, Madzibaba Veshanduko.

Posting the the CCC activist Madzibaba Veshanduko real name, Godfrey Karembera dancing on his Twitter account Chamisa expressed excitment.

By- The late Johane Marange Apostolic Church Boss, Noah Taguta Momberume left 25 wives and 120 children.

Taguta (82), who died last Sunday, will be buried at Mafararikwa in Marange Tomorrow.

The Taguta family spokesperson, Phillip Taguta, who is the late’s Taguta’s son, confirmed the development.

He said his father was born in 1940, adding that he died in Marange last Sunday and will be buried at Mafararikwa Shrine. Said Taguta:

Our High Priest died on Sunday and will be buried at Mafararikwa Shrine tomorrow. He is survived by 25 wives and 120 children.

Taguta led the church for the past 30 years after being ordained in July 1992.

The Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution Nokuthula Matsikenyere will represent the Government at Taguta’s burial.

The Johane Marange Apostolic Church, which has the largest number of mapostori (white garment) followers in Marange, is notorious for child marriages.

Last year, a 15-year-old girl, Anna Machaya, died during childbirth at the Marange shrine in Bocha and was allegedly buried in a secret place.

The man responsible for the pregnancy, Hatirarami Momberume, coincidentally shares the same surname as the late Mutumwa Noah Taguta Momberume, though it is not known whether the two are related or not.

More: The Manica Post

By- Zanu PF yesterday frog-marched vendors to attend the Independence Day celebrations held at Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo.

Newsday confirmed vendors along 5th Avenue, are being force-marched to the Uhuru celebrations.

“At around 7-8am buses with Zanu PF people came and forced all the vendors to board the buses and go to the stadium. Some, because of fear, boarded the buses,” a vendor said.

“We had to close our wares with plastics so that they could not get wet or stolen. Some vendors quickly rushed back home fearing the Zanu PF members would come back.”

StreetWise Informal Traders Association director Percy Mcijo said politicians should stop abusing people.

“It is a sad situation to have vendors forced to attend Independence Day celebrations. The problem is that the marketplace where those vendors are sited is illegal and Zanu PF placed them there. The Bulawayo City Council denied vendors access to that area, but it was Zanu PF that placed them illegally. Whatever the reasons, they should stop abusing people,” Mcijo said.
He said it was unfortunate that the ruling party was taking advantage of people due to the poverty prevailing in the country.
“People are doing illegal things every time not because they want to, but because of the situation in the country. Government should improve the situation in the country so that people do not suffer like this,” he added.
It has become norm that people are bussed by political parties to attend political events.
Zanu PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa was not reachable for comment on his mobile yesterday.
This was the first time since Independence in 1980 that the celebrations were held in Bulawayo. Newsday

By- Seven (7) people have appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday in connection with the murder of Zimbabwean national Elvis Nyathi.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane confirmed the development to News24 on Tuesday. 

She said:

We can confirm, as the National Prosecuting Authority [NPA], that a group of seven men appeared in court in relation to the murder of Elvis Nyathi.

Nyathi was killed in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, on 6 April 2022, by a mob after he failed to show them his passport.

The seven men face charges of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and extortion.

Police initially arrested fourteen suspects but after prosecutors went through the contents of the docket, it was decided there was insufficient evidence against the other seven.

The seven were remanded in custody to 22 April 2022 for them to acquire legal representation.

More: News24

By-The Zimbabwean embassy in South Africa has confirmed the death of five Zimbabweans in the last week’s flash floods and mudslides in South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal Province.

South African authorities say the floods have killed 443 people while 63 more people are still missing.

Search and rescue operations are currently underway in various parts of the province but officials have conceded that some bodies may never be found.

Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to South Africa, David Hamadziripi, confirmed the death of five Zimbabweans and expressed his condolences to the families of the departed. He said:

The search and rescue operations are continuing. The Consul-General, Mrs (Melody) Chaurura returned from Durban on Monday.

She had positive confirmation of five Zimbabweans who died as a result of the floods.

We await further information from the police on any other Zimbabweans who might have fallen victim to the floods.

Hamadziripi added that the embassy was in the process of identifying and notifying the victims’ next of kin.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night declared the KwaZulu-Natal floods a national state of disaster. He said:

The significance of the port of Durban and related infrastructure for the effective operation of the country’s economy means that this disaster has implications far beyond the province of KwaZulu-Natal.

… [the declaration of the national state of disaster] is to ensure an effective response across all spheres of government to the extreme weather events and conditions that have occurred in several parts of the country.

The primary responsibility to coordinate and manage the disaster is assigned to the national sphere of government, working closely with provincial governments and municipalities.

More: Chronicle

By-Reports coming from South Africa say that security agents there have arrested 14 people in connection with the murder of Elvis Nyathi.

The 43-year-old Zimbabwean was brutally murdered by a mob that is pushing hate crimes against migrants, especially Zimbabwean around Gauteng province.

Nyathi of Matobo District under chief Malaba area was stoned and burnt by the suspects who are running a vigilante operation dubbed ‘Dudula”, a Zulu word meaning drive back.

He was killed in Diepsloot north of Johannesburg and was buried in Bulawayo on Saturday.

Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Ms Phindi Mjonondwane said they had since received a docket concerning the murder case.

“We received the docket relating to the suspects in the Elvis Nyathi murder case. The 14 suspects will appear in Randburg after lunch, the prosecutor is busy going through the docket,” she said.
It is alleged Nyathi was killed after failing to pay a bribe of R300 to the vigilante group that was going around checking documents in the area.
The man had just returned from work when tragedy struck.
Already South African authorities are carrying out a three-month operation to restore sanity in the area.

18 APRIL IS OUR NATIONAL BIRTHDAY…

Political differences we have but we’re ONE PEOPLE & ONE NATION.

This day belongs to us all as Citizens.Even when change happens, the day remains special.

Liberation means happiness,freedom and basic services.The liberation promise is our new task-

Advocate Nelson Chamisa

Citizens’ Coalition For Change President

19 April 2021

As we continue to celebrate Zimbabwe at 42, it is imperative for all Zimbabweans to nurture the culture of tolerance, peace, unity and love. Yesterday, Zimbabweans from all walks of life celebrated the independence of our beloved country.

Whilst a lot has been said about the milestones that Zimbabwe has achieved, for women it is not yet Uhuru 42 years after independence. Women still struggle to unclasp the bondages of poverty, exclusion and systematic marginalization.

It is imperative to note that the discrimination of women in Zimbabwe is systematic and well calculated. The gender imbalances & stereotyping socially, politically & economically is structural and needs 100% commitment from all women in Zimbabwe for us to be able to break all the barriers prohibiting women to reach their full potential in this highly patriarchal dominant country. Indeed it is not yet Uhuru for women participation in governance and politics.

It is not yet Uhuru for economic opportunities for the majority of women in Zimbabwe. All relevant organs of the state, CSOS, the church and society at large need to stop the cosmetic approach to dealing with issues that affect women in our country.

Firstly, we need commitment by all organs of the state to adhere to section 17 of the constitution of Zimbabwe which enshrines gender balance. Secondly, charity begins at home, how are we raising the girl child? The girl child should be encouraged to dream and live her dream without being forced to submit to men.

Parents should raise children in gender balanced homes which will nurture a culture of equality and build confidence in the girl child to accomplish her goals without feeling intimidated.

Efforts have been made to empower women through the women’s bank unfortunately the efforts are too elitist as most ordinary women don’t stand a chance to access the loans due to lack of collateral.

Unity of purpose is what is needed for women in Zimbabwe to get to a stage of a women’s revolution in our beloved country and celebrate Independence Day at equal footing with every other Zimbabwean.

LEAD is working tirelessly to give women a safe space to participate in governance and politics. We are capacitating women and building a new brand of leaders who are responsible and responsive to the needs of Zimbabwe.

LEAD is the only party that abolished the Women’s wing after realization that women are grouped into this wing/league/assembly and given an illusion of power which is virtually non existent.

One fundamental cause we have in common with the current government is the desire to strengthen our unity, enhancing national cohesion and entrenching peace within our country.

We can’t prosper if we are always antagonizing. Peace, unity and love are the cornerstones of a strong nation. The independence day theme for 2022 was very appropriate for a time like this. “Leave no one and no place behind”.

As the spirit of unity continues to gain momentum in our teapot shaped country, don’t be left behind. LEAD applauds the move by government to rotate independence day celebrations in all the ten provinces of the country.

Yesterday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa reaffirmed government’s commitment to empowering Zimbabweans and we implore the President of Zimbabwe to oversee that this commitment is upheld by all state departments and that no Zimbabwean is prejudiced of left behind because of their class in society or political affiliation. In terms of agriculture President Mnangagwa’s government should ensure that every Zimbabwean who wants to contribute meaningfully in the agricultural sector is afforded land to do so in our quest to ensure that we become a food secure nation.

It is sad that land is still being distributed in a partisan manner which continues to disenfranchise all those who want to work tirelessly to plug into the economic development agenda.

We are all Zimbabweans and we should all have equal opportunities to national resources. President Mnangagwa announced that a phased free education system will be effected from 2023.

Some years back government promised free education to all primary school students in line with the constitutional provisions of the constitution of Zimbabwe yet nothing of that sort ever happened. We pray that this announcement is sincere and that it will be implemented so that no child will be left behind.

We are all Zimbabweans before we belong to any political party. April is a month we should all reflect on the liberation struggle and how some patriotic Zimbabweans sacrificed their lives for us to be liberated. Things might not be rosy now, all successful countries once went through recession and became economic powerhouses.

Zimbabwe is about to rebirth into economic prosperity. The darkest hour is before dawn. All this shall come to pass. Stop cursing your country, start believing that together we can positively transform Zimbabwe if we tolerate each other in our diversity and work towards nation building and development.

You are the LEADER that you have been waiting for. It’s time to LEAD and ensure sustainable economic and human development in Zimbabwe.

Long live Zimbabwe! Happy Independence to all my fellow countrymen!

Mambokadzi Linda Tsungirirai Masarira LEAD President

By-The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, ZBC has mocked MDC-T President, Douglas Mwonzora, who recently got votes in the March 26 local government elections by calling him the leader of the country’s biggest opposition political party.

In a tweet, Tuesday ZBC, pictured Mwonzora attending the country’s 42 Uhuru celebrations in Bulawayo Monday.

Tweeted ZBC: Leader of the biggest opposition party in Zimbabwe spotted next to Linda during the just ended Independence Day celebrations. A GNU is on the cards.

By- South African officials have arrested hundreds of undocumented foreign nationals from Zimbabwe and other SADC countries at the Beitbridge Border Post at Musina in Limpopo.

South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, was at the Beitbridge Border Post monitoring the situation. He said:

From the 11th of April until today, which is the whole week, more than 700 people, who were trying to cross illegally, have been arrested and sent back.
As you can see, we have deployed here at the border. But, by chance, there might be some people who escape and those who are caught at two roadblocks … there’s a roadblock just when you enter Musina and there’s a roadblock 30 kilometres outside Musina next to the Baobab plaza.
So, the two roadblocks will clean up whatever has, somehow by any chance, escaped here from the border.
Border Management Authority’s Commissioner, Mike Masiapato, said that there will ensure that the vandalised fence along the border with Zimbabwe is rehabilitated. Said Masiapato:
The issue of the fence is one of those critical issues that we’re actually going to look at.
One thing that I can confirm now is that all the infrastructure in the land borders particularly is going to be transferred from the Department of Public Works into Border Management Authority.
So, at that point, we’re going to start taking over this kind of responsibility in terms of maintaining all the infrastructure around and all of that.
So obviously, we are still going to be engaging with the National Treasury around financing-related issues.
And out of that in the longer term, we’ll be able to start rehabilitating the fence.
He said the department’s Border Management Authority will deploy 200 newly-appointed guards to the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The guards will work together with the members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) on a 24-hour basis to stop illegal border crossings.

By- President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday evening that cabinet had resolved to declare a national state of disaster to provide relief to KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape which had been extensively damaged by floods.

“Tonight we are a nation that is united in our grief and pain,” he said in an address to the nation.

Nearly 4,000 homes had been destroyed in KwaZulu-Natal and more than 40,000 people had been displaced by the floods.

“This is a humanitarian disaster that calls for a massive and urgent relief effort” said Ramaphosa.

This is a developing story.

TimesLIVE

By-The Economic Freedom Fighter EFF leader, Julius Malema, has apologised to Zimbabwe for the atrocities committed by South Africans on Zimbabweans living in that country.

 Malema sent his apology through a congratulatory message on Zimbabwe’s attainment of its 42nd Independence this Monday, 18 April 2022.

In a statement, EFF also asked Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa to forgive South Africa and its people for violent attacks on foreigners in SA. The statement read:

The EFF joins the people of Africa and the world in celebrating the 42nd anniversary of the independence of Zimbabwe, from the yoke of British colonialism.

Cecil Rhodes’s 1889 expedition of Africa is characterized by genocide against African people, land grabs and subjugation of Africans to wars of land dispossession and resistance.

The white colonialists were so shameless and disrespectful that they renamed African land after themselves.

The atrocities of Cecil Rhodes are imprintable, but still, the government of South Africa finds no offence in keeping this brutal colonialist’ name in a South African institute of higher learning, the so-called Rhodes University.

Statues of brutal white settlers and amongst them Cecil Rhodes are still in public spaces of South Africa, at the behest of the ruling party and its enablers, white monopoly capital.

This independence anniversary comes at a time of heightened Afrophobia that resulted in a violent and merciless killing of a gardener, Elvis Nyathi, who was accused of stealing jobs, gardening deemed a job stolen.

On this day, we call upon the people of our sister country, Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa to forgive South Africa and its people for the misdemeanours and criminality of a few, misled by the lack of uBuntu, to hate Africans in Africa.

The EFF recalls with deep sense of shock the death of Ernesto Alfabeto Nhamuave who was beaten, stabbed and set alight in an informal settlement in 2015 for selling sweets in a street that deemed such as stealing of jobs and opportunities for South Africans. To date, no one has been arrested for this gruesome act of inhumanity.

Criminality knows no nationality, in fact, the real criminality is at the doorsteps of white settlers who invaded and grabbed land and mineral resources for themselves at the exclusion of Africans.

Afrophobic violence in the democratic South African timeline spans from 1994 and reached its peak in 2008 when 62 Africans from other parts of Africa including South Africans were massacred by South Africans.

The level of self-hate and inhumanity of senseless killing of other Africans by Africans must be condemned in its entirety and unequivocally, with the contempt it deserves.

To the people of our sister country Zimbabwe, on this day, we wish you well on the anniversary of the glorious triumph of the People’s War, Hondo, against white minority settlers.

Pamberi ne hondo, Pamberi ne chimurenga!

By- The family of Elvis Nyathi, the 43-year-old Zimbabwean who was brutally murdered by a xenophobic mob in Johannesburg’s Diepsloot in South Africa last week wants the perpetrators of the gruesome murder to be brought to justice.

Speaking at Nyathi’s funeral service held at the Brethren in Christ Church, New Lobengula on Saturday, his cousin, Mphathisi Ndlovu, said:
As the Nyathi and Ndlovu families, we are traumatised by the way Elvis died. We will try to move on but we will not forget.

No person deserves to die the way he was killed. We hope his killers would be punished.

He was a hard worker working for his family, he was a jovial person who loved peace and quiet.

Meanwhile, the Nyathi family expressed gratitude to all Zimbabweans who comforted them in their grief. Said Ndlovu:
We thank the whole of Zimbabwe for showing support, despite differences in the languages we speak, Zimbabweans showed us immense support.
They showed us that they can unite and speak one language. This is one of the occasions where I have witnessed Zimbabweans coming together for one cause. Our wish is may this unity last going forward.
At the border, we were welcomed by well-wishers who bought us food. Along the way, people were stopping us, passing their condolences.
This showed us that Elvis’ death touched the hearts of many.
We stopped in Esigodini for a small service and received donations from the people, stopped at NUST and here in Bulawayo, we saw your tremendous support.
This really touched us as a family. God will thank you on our behalf.
The late Elvis Nyathi Banajo Mbodazwe was born on 14 February 1979, at Brunapeg Hospital to parents Mfanyana Nyathi and Sipho Ndlovu.
He grew up at Tshatshe, Sewula in Kezi, and did his primary education at Sewula Primary School in Matabeleland South Province.

Nyathi’s family moved to Insuza and in 2006 he left for South Africa, where he was a gardener until his death.
In South Africa, he lived in Diesploot Extension One where he was beaten, stoned and set alight metres from his home.
Nyathi was currently building his own home in Ntabazinduna, Umguza District, Matabeleland North Province.
He leaves behind his wife Nomsa Tshuma and four children.