By A Correspondent- MDC Alliance leader President Nelson Chamisa has said the struggle for democracy is not instant coffee.

President Chamisa made the remarks on Saturday…

Commenting on attempts by the Zanu PF regime to force people to get vaccinated, President Chamisa said persuasion should be used- not coercion.

Said President Chamisa:
“Nothing comes without a fight. Easy come easy go. We are almost there. Struggles are not instant coffee …

Command vaccination is wrong! Vaccination must be a choice. It must be voluntary…

Vaccination can be achieved through effective communication and persuasive encouragement.”

He added :” NEW POLITICS..We must get rid of the politics of propaganda, violence &looting.We must fix what is broken& rotten in our politics.Fresh ideas & accountable leadership built around the community and citizens is essential. It’s time for COMMUNITY EMBEDDED LEADERSHIP.

The best revenge is to resist enmity! Resist the temptation to hate, hurt and hit back.”

By A Correspondent- Villagers of Tazvigwira village in Mapanzure area, Masvingo were left tongue-tied on July 23, when lifeless bodies of the three people who mysteriously drowned during a cleansing ceremony at Musongwezi River were found afloat.  

Masvingo Provincial Police spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa confirmed the incident and said one of the victims was still missing.

“We received a report about five people who jumped into a river during a cleansing ceremony. Four of the victims Victor Tazvigwira, Witness Chirombo, Blessed Dombo and Cosmore Mvidya have since resurfaced. Chirombo and Mvidya’s bodies was spotted lifeless floating on top of the river on July 23. The third body of Fungai Berevedza was later found around 5 pm in the same pool,” said Dhewa.

Sources who witnessed the event allege that on July 14, 2021, Pastor Amos Chituri (49) from Manyangadze village in Mutare was invited by some Tazvigwira villagers for prayers at Zishiri homestead.

Claiming to have been led by the Holy Spirit, Chituri reportedly prophesied that some villagers needed to be cleansed in a river.

The following day, the man of cloth went to Musongwezi River with the five victims to conduct a cleansing ceremony.

Eyewitnesses said during the purported ceremony, strange and scary sounds could be heard coming from a nearby mountain.

The five victims reportedly started praying in tongues and suddenly jumped into the river where they disappeared.

Only Tazvigwira and Dombo managed to resurface on the same day but couldn’t narrate what had pushed them to dive into the river.

A source privy to the developments told TellZim News that six police officers had since been deployed from Muchakata base and were monitoring the rituals being done at the river.-tellzim

By A Correspondent | Barely days after managing to deport only 14 out of 55 Zimbabweans, Britain has struck another deal with Emmerson Mnangagwa’s regime to charter a 2nd flight taking more deportees back to Zimbabwe on Tuesday, ZimEye reveals.

The jet is scheduled for the 27th July en route to Zimbabwe, and follows the first which was on the 21st July earlier exclusively revealed by ZimEye over 4 weeks before.

Scores of deportees previously served notice for the 21st July won’t get any further notice. They will be flown out by force.

It was not clear from which airport the jet will depart.

Of those who were saved because of a COVID outbreak at detention centres such as Brooke House, at Heathrow Airport, those who are negative are being flown.

Furthermore, Zimbabwe has agreed that even those who are COVID-19 positive will be taken away and later quarantined in their home country. These will be quarantined at the British taxpayer expense, upon landing in Harare, ZimEye reveals today.

Sources inside the British government told ZimEye there is nothing new, the government is simply following its obligations to the British public. Earlier in the month, a spokesperson for the Home Office told ZimEye,

“The public rightly expects us to remove those who have no right to be in the UK.”

Asked over the method of removals, and why people with no criminal records are being targeted, the Home Office told ZimEye, “We do not comment on operational matters.”

A comment from the Foreign Affairs Ministry was not possible at the time of writing.

ARE THE BRITISH SPONSORING MNANGAGWA?

Simba Chikanza comments: I have been asked for an opinion over this matter and as a journalist who’s interviewed both regimes, my take is:

Yes the British have a history of negotiating with vile dictators but in this case, it doesn’t seem UK is sponsoring Emmerson Mnangagwa other than pursuing its immigration policy like any other country is, and when it needs to remove criminals, it approaches the Zimbabwe Foreign Affairs Ministry, the same way it meets up with hostile nations like Russia, China; and even the most rogue such as Syria, Cuba, Equador etc.

Already Britain is being sabotaged by Mnangagwa’s London ambassador Christian Katsande who refuses to sign travel documents especially for his corrupt family and friends, who are criminals due for deportation.

The only challenge comes when the British plan to remove people who have a right to appeal it labels foreign offenders and the Harare meeting in June 2021 was clear over this which thing we have asked London for an explanation.

Such an agreement was clearly reached, and if UK goes ahead, it will be breaking its own laws.

As for removing dangerous criminals, UK does not seem different from other nations of the world. Let’s not forget, Britain at one time used to ‘deport’ its own citizens, I mean to banish violent criminals to distant islands.

Right now UK is struggling with a record spike in boat arrivals of asylum seekers from France, and by July, the figure has superceded the total for 2020. These people pose a new challenge that’s beyond the problematic COVID pandemic, which matter has caused Priti Patel to look for solutions by changing the law.

Tonight, UK solicitor Andrew Nyamayaro speaks over this explaining the new legislation, one passed a few weeks ago, and another one drafted a day after the Zimbabwe charter flight.

Appearing on ZimEye at 6pm, Nyamayaro will cover:

1. The New Nationality And Borders Bill.

2. Judicial Review And Court Bill.
(announced a day after Zimbabwe flops)

– last minute reprieves to be taken away…

3. What are the blind spots for each bill.

4. WHAT ARE THE HOME OFFICE’S NEW POWERS?

If I am a British Citizen, will the HO knock on my door at any time and take me away?

* Work Employment visa holder.
* Leave To Remain.
* Student.
* Discretionary Holder.
* Asylum Seeker

More details follow…

Tinashe Sambiri|MDC Alliance leader President Nelson Chamisa has said the struggle for democracy is not instant coffee.

President Chamisa made the remarks on Saturday…

Commenting on attempts by the Zanu PF regime to force people to get vaccinated, President Chamisa said persuasion should be used- not coercion.

Said President Chamisa:
“Nothing comes without a fight. Easy come easy go. We are almost there. Struggles are not instant coffee …

Command vaccination is wrong! Vaccination must be a choice. It must be voluntary…

Vaccination can be achieved through effective communication and persuasive encouragement.”

He added :” NEW POLITICS..We must get rid of the politics of propaganda, violence &looting.We must fix what is broken& rotten in our politics.Fresh ideas & accountable leadership built around the community and citizens is essential. It’s time for COMMUNITY EMBEDDED LEADERSHIP.

The best revenge is to resist enmity! Resist the temptation to hate, hurt and hit back.”

Tinashe Sambiri|MDC Alliance leader President Nelson Chamisa has said the struggle for democracy is not instant coffee.

President Chamisa made the remarks on Saturday…

Commenting on attempts by the Zanu PF regime to force people to get vaccinated, President Chamisa said persuasion should be used- not coercion.

Said President Chamisa:
“Nothing comes without a fight. Easy come easy go. We are almost there. Struggles are not instant coffee …

Command vaccination is wrong! Vaccination must be a choice. It must be voluntary…

Vaccination can be achieved through effective communication and persuasive encouragement.”

He added :” NEW POLITICS..We must get rid of the politics of propaganda, violence &looting.We must fix what is broken& rotten in our politics.Fresh ideas & accountable leadership built around the community and citizens is essential. It’s time for COMMUNITY EMBEDDED LEADERSHIP.

The best revenge is to resist enmity! Resist the temptation to hate, hurt and hit back.”

Tinashe Sambiri| Madam Boss, Mai Titi, Panganai Java and the two Mercedes Benz donations, the stage is set…

Passion Java could not buy his own mum a simple TV – she confessed in leaked audios that she had to scrounge for scraps at Parliament as a Mwonzora-Senator to stitch up her debt with the TV Sales and Hire company.

This was at a time her own son was splurging thousands to buy a Mercedes Benz for socialite Madam Boss a few months before.

A year later, he buys another car and a third one for another socialite, Mai Titi. Where is he getting the money from, and what is the agenda, notoriety, foolery[kupusisa vanhu], or both?

The Zanu PF leader Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s plot to use social media influencers to gain political points, has been boosted.

Intelligence sources in Mr Mnangagwa’s Zanu PF party have disclosed that social media influencers who include Panganai Java, Madam boss and Mai Titi are already in the game calculated to drum up support for Mr Mnangagwa for the 2023 polls.

Java, who has become Mr Mnangagwa’s social media frontrunner, blessed both Mai Titi and Madam boss with brand new Mercedes Benz vehicles on Friday.

This also comes at a time Madam Boss is collecting mobile numbers of her supposed followers under the guise of a promotion.

“This( the purchasing of vehicles for Madam Boss and Mai Titi) is a scheme calculated to sway social media users’ views as both ladies are seen as great influencers.

It is believed that their influence can therefore contribute to victory in the 2023 polls.

As you know Panganai Java is already campaigning for Number One and the two ladies are expected to join the scheme very soon,” Zanu PF intelligence sources told ZimEye.com.

However, political observers feel Madam Boss and Mai Titi could ruin their respective brands by reflecting allegiance to Mr Mnangagwa and Zanu PF.

” I strongly feel the two ladies should not fall into the Zanu PF trap. The gimmicks and gymnastics we are seeing are meant to neutralize the perceived opposition’s influence on social media. Sadly the two ladies are about to ruin their brands. I sincerely urge them to distance themselves from Zanu PF,” said one political analyst.

By A Correspondent- The Public Service Commission (PSC) has suspended the pensioners’ biometric registration process in response to rising coronavirus infections across the country and the suspension of non-essential travel.

In a statement, the commission said it will inform pensioners when it was convenient for them to visit the Registrar General’s office for registration. The statement read:

The Public Service Commission wishes to update valued pensioners that the planned biometric registration process has been temporarily put on hold.

This follows a significant surge in the COVID-19 cases and current measures put in place to curb the pandemic, including travel restrictions for non-essential service individuals.

The need to protect the lives of citizens, including that of our valued pensioners, remains paramount and the commission will do all that is possible in ensuring their safety.

In this regard, the commission shall inform pensioners when it is convenient for them to visit the Registrar General’s office for the biometric registration process.

Meanwhile, the commission urges esteemed pensioners to adhere to all health protocols in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic including masking up, social and physical distancing, sanitising, washing hands and staying at home as much as possible.

By A Correspondent- The City of Harare has shut down its main water treatment plant, Morton Jaffray, for critical maintenance to be carried out.

In a statement on Sunday, Harare City Council Acting Town Clerk Engineer Phakamile Moyo said all northern suburbs, as well as some south-western suburbs, will be affected.

Moyo urged residents to use water sparingly during this period until supplies are restored. The statement read:

Our major water treatment plant, Morton Jaffray is currently on shutdown to allow for repairs on leaks that are causing the flooding of pump station number 3 at Morton Jaffray.

Affected areas include all Northen suburbs, CBD, Kuwadzana, Dzivaresekwa, Warren Park, Crowborough, Workington, Southerton, Parts of Mbare, Eastlea, Hillside, Highfield, Houghton Park, and Parts of Waterfalls.

Residents are urged to use water sparingly during this period until supplies are restored.

By A Correspondent- The government says there is nothing strange about the deportation of 14 Zimbabwean nationals by the United Kingdom government.

The deportees landed in Harare on Thursday following their forced removal from the UK for various crimes they committed in that country.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade acting spokesperson, Livit Mugejo, said the UK deportees were just a fraction of those being received from neighbouring countries.

He said:

There is nothing unique in the deportations. South Africa last week deported 220 Zimbabwean citizens, including some who were released from jails.

This category of deportees from the UK is different from voluntary returnees, who are our citizens who opt to come back home on their own.

He said those returning involuntarily, like in this case, would have exhausted administrative and legal remedies to preserve their stay in the host country.

Said Mugejo:

Zimbabwe cannot refuse to accept its citizens and will welcome them back into the country.

They will receive the necessary social psychosocial support to help them with reintegration.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi told The Sunday Mail that since the deportees did not commit the crimes in Zimbabwe, they will be allowed to reintegrate freely.

He said:Our duty as the Zimbabwe Republic Police is to maintain law and order. We only come in if they have committed any crime.

However, the issue of these deportees is being handled by relevant government Ministries.

A UK-based lawyer who has been helping some with court appeals against deportation said a number of people were mounting last-ditch efforts to preserve their stay in the country.

Said Nyamayaro:

They were deported because they fall into the definition of Foreign National Offenders. Some may have tried to challenge their deportation and failed.

The majority remained after making applications to the Home Office or to the court.

Some remained for other reasons and an outbreak of COVID-19 at one of the detention centres has been mentioned.

Meanwhile, social commentator Rebecca Chisamba called for empathy in dealing with the returnees.

She said the deportees need help from their communities especially now and should not be discriminated against.

-statemedia

By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe swimming sensation Donata Katai has come first in Heat 1 in a personal best time of 1 minute 02.73 seconds at the ongoing Tokyo Olympic games.

However, the 17-year-old has failed to make it to the semi-final of the women’s 100m backstroke despite winning her heat on Sunday.

Her time was not enough to push her through to the semi-finals, as she was placed 34th in the overall heats, with only the top 16 progressing to the semi-finals.

Katai won her heat ahead of India’s Patel Maana, who came second in 1 minute 05.20 seconds, while Ince Kimberly from Grenada was third in a time of 1:10:24.

She is the first-ever Black Zimbabwean swimmer to compete in the Olympics.

ZIMBABWE EVENING WEATHER REPORT AND FORECAST ISSUED AT 1600 HRS ON SUNDAY 25 JULY 2021 VALID UNTIL TUESDAY 27 JULY 2021.

It was mostly cloudy this morning in Matabeleland South, Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, southern areas of Midlands (Zvishavane to Gweru), Masvingo and Manicaland Provinces with light morning drizzle at Makoholi, Masvingo, Zaka and Chipinge. The remaining parts of the country were mostly under clear skies and cold with slight ground frost reported at Harare and Mutoko.

The high-pressure system over the South African coast is still steering in cold moist air into the country.

FORECAST FOR TOMORROW MONDAY 26 JULY 2021.

Cloudy, cold and windy conditions with chances of light morning drizzle to persist in Matabeleland South, Bulawayo Metropolitan, southern areas of Midlands (Zvishavane to Gweru), Masvingo and Manicaland Provinces becoming partly cloudy by afternoon.

The rest of the country is expected to be cold and mostly sunny with chances of early morning ground frost.

IMPACTS

• Low temperatures, especially in the early hours of the morning and towards evening have negative impacts on poultry.
• Cold conditions overnight negatively impact vulnerable persons (e.g. the very young, elderly or ill), with abrupt falls in temperatures increasing the risk of respiratory illnesses such as coughs and colds as well as asthma attacks.

ACTIONS TO TAKE

• Monitor the temperature inside fowl-runs and adjust according.
• Always ensure the room is well ventilated.
• Ensure that vulnerable members of society are kept warm, especially overnight.
• If a brazier or open fire is used, ensure the room is well ventilated to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
• COVID is still a potential threat, stay safe, mask up, get vaccinated.

WEATHER FORECAST TUESDAY 27 JULY 2021

Mostly clear skies are expected to dominate the country. Early morning ground frost is highly probable in frost-prone areas such as Nyanga, Mukandi, Marondera, Wedza, Harare, Henderson, Gweru, Masvingo, West Nicholson and Matopos becoming sunny and mild by afternoon.

PRODUCED BY: The Meteorological Services Department IN CONJUNCTION WITH the Department of Civil Protection

By A Correspondent- Almost half of Zimbabwe’s population has become extremely poor because of the impact of Covid-19 and the economic contraction, a new survey has shown.

the 2020 Rapid Poverty Income Consumption and Expenditure Survey (PICES), conducted by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) in partnership with the World bank and unicef, found that the extreme poverty was due to “the combined effects of increase in the price of basic necessities, economic contraction caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and poor harvests”.

The PICES is a critical survey, which provides critical data that is used by the government in informing national policy for social welfare programmes, poverty mapping; and studying income disparities among socio-economic groups, among other vital information that is used across all sectors.

World bank country manager for Zimbabwe, Mukami Kariuki said the Covid-19 pandemic has contributed significantly to the poverty in the country.

“The pandemic’s socio-economic effects continue to cause suffering in communities,” Kariuki said.

The Rapid-PICES exercise captures policy-relevant information that can be used to design strategies to assist communities and mitigate the impact of the pandemic.”

The survey report released on Friday also noted that 63% of Zimbabwe’s population was keen to get vaccinated to protect themselves from Covid-19 if the vaccine was made available free of charge while the food insecurity level remained high with 61% of the total population and 71% of the rural population in severe or moderate food insecurity.

The Covid-19 pandemic, the report said, continued to play a negative role in keeping children out of school.

“Children have continued to bear the brunt of the pandemic. As results of this round of the survey show, only 40% of children were engaged in some form of remote learning, while access to essential health interventions has reduced,” Unicef representative Tajudeen Oyewale said.

“Social protection coverage has also been impacted, and I call upon all stakeholders to come together to support the country’s protection programmes.”-standard

By A Correspondent- Ngqabhuko Mhlophe spends his days at home, burrowing around the internet in search of a marketing internship.

A second-year student at the National University of Science and Technology, he needs an internship because his college requires it.

He began his search months ago, but so far, no luck.

Most companies aren’t offering marketing internships and, if they are, he doesn’t qualify. He has sent out only two applications.

“Seeking a place for [an internship] is exhausting,” said Mhlophe, who must do an internship in his third year.

“Beginning the search early, before the internship year, is best.”

Internships, also known as industrial attachments or work-related learning in Zimbabwe, allow university students to labour for a company or organisation, turning theoretical learning into practical knowledge.

Attachments often last eight months to a year. Today, many students like Mhlophe face the anxiety and uncertainty of getting internships, especially in Bulawayo.

Their struggles highlight the trickle-down impact of the country’s years long economic challenges, as many companies that once hired interns have either shuttered or abandoned Zimbabwe’s secondlargest city.

Once considered Zimbabwe’s industrial hub, Bulawayo used to export to the rest of the country’s southern region.

Companies made everything from clothing and textiles to food and furniture.

But in recent years, scores of companies both here and in other major cities throughout Zimbabwe have either closed or moved, buckling under hyperinflation, liquidity challenges, shortages of foreign currency and other aspects of Zimbabwe’s broken economy.

For years, attachments paved the way to full-time jobs for university students.

Companies often hired their best interns.

This pipeline has been especially important in Zimbabwe, where formal jobs in general are extremely limited.

Lillian Ncube is a marketing manager at a company where she interned six years ago.

The company hired her at the end of her internship. She says the process is harder today.

“Finding internship at the time I sought for it was quite a challenge because the economy had begun to crumble,” Ncube said.

Now, “due to companies struggling and most shutting down, it is very difficult for students to get internship vacancies”.

Years ago, students typically found internships within a month, said Felix Chari, a lecturer in business management and economics at Bindura University of Science Education. Some took even less time.

Now many students must take out-of-town internships — incurring the expenses of the move — or do attachments unrelated to their field of study, which reduces their chance of full-time work

Maqhawe Nkomo, a library and information management graduate, said he joined a non-governmental organisation for his 2017 internship that placed him in the media and information department.

“I would have preferred to be attached at a library,” Nkomo said, “but they had already taken some students, so I had to do my internship at [a non-governmental organisation], which did not have a substantive library.”

He considered himself lucky to find a library assistant’s job after graduation.

One reason for the shortage of internships is that student enrolment at universities has skyrocketed in recent years, even as industries and companies have vanished.

In 2005, about 55 000 students were enrolled in Zimbabwean universities. By 2017, that number had doubled.

All of Zimbabwe’s 15 registered universities consider internships a key part of their curricula.

And despite Zimbabwe’s economic woes, administrators say they will keep the requirement.

“Internship is an important part of the course because it links theory with the practical side of the study,” said Thabani Mpofu, spokesperson for the National University of Science and Technology, the country’s second largest university, based in Bulawayo.

“We can only hope that the economy will be better with time, but we cannot remove this requirement.”

At the Centre for Innovation and Technology, a website that publishes local news, director Zenzele Ndebele said his company used to offer four or five internships annually. In 2020, it didn’t offer any.

The university requirement meant they were already turning down more intern applicants, Ndebele said. Add the coronavirus pandemic, and companies feel squeezed even more.

“Covid-19 forced companies, including mine, to close and start working from home,” he said.

“This means companies could not take students on attachment because no one is going to supervise them.”

And the larger challenge — resurrecting Bulawayo’s industries — remains.

The government introduced a Transitional Stabilisation Programme, followed by the current National Development Strategy 1, to jump-start industry.

“The solution lies in government creating an enabling environment that supports reindustrialisation and resuscitates the economy,” said Chari, the lecturer. “This is a start.”

-Global Press Journal

By A Correspondent- A former high-ranking Zimbabwe People’s revolutionary Army (ZPrA) official Jack Mpofu is appealing for US$7 310 to finance a hip replacement surgery at a Bulawayo hospital.

Mpofu, the ex-deputy ZPrA chief of personnel and training, said he was shot on the leg during the 1970s war.

Two years ago, the war veteran broke the same leg on the pelvis after he fell down.

I have been trying to look for assistance from the government, but it looks like they do not have money,” Mpofu said.

“This why I am now appealing to the whole world. It’s now two years in pain and I am no longer able to walk anymore.”

He needs an implant that costs US$1 500, left hip replacement (uS$200), hospital fees (uS$2 300), anaesthetist’s fees (uS1 290) and specialist orthopaedic surgeon fees (US$2 000).

Those willing to assist can get in touch with Mpofu.

Standard

By A Correspondent- With no formal employment, Bekithemba Ncube* says smuggling groceries and other goods from neighbouring Botswana for resale in Bulawayo helps him put food on the table for his family.

The financial benefits from the illegal trade outweigh the risks of arrest and jail time, he argues.

“We travel mostly at night to evade arrest,” said Ncube, an informal trader.

Ncube runs a small grocery shop in Bulawayo’s busy 5th Avenue agricultural market.

A number of grocery shops, mostly selling cheap smuggled goods, have “taken” over trading spaces at Bulawayo’s agricultural market.

the grocery shops are always crowded while other traders that purchase those goods from “smugglers” operate from city pavements.

“If I am not travelling to Botswana, my links provide the groceries from the neighbouring country via illegal entry points, paying bribes along the way where possible,” Ncube said.

“We resort to smuggling because of the high duty taxes and corruption at the customs points. And besides, borders are closed.”

According to police, the smuggling of goods via illegal entry points in rural Plumtree is also rampant citing the recent arrests of smugglers.

In May, Matabeleland South police confiscated an assortment of smuggled goods in Mbimba and Madlambuzi in Plumtree.

“On May 16, police in Madlambuzi intercepted a grey toyota D4D twin cab FF20 HP GP with trailer FH19PM GP laden with smuggled goods at Madlambuzi business centre and nabbed Mqondisi Dube, Reason Ncube and Butholezwe Mkwanazi for smuggling,” the Zimbabwe Republic Police said.

“Police also recovered an abandoned toyota GD6 vehicle GIMM74 with trailer 002GIF GP at Mbimba business centre laden with smuggled goods.”

A month later in June, police revealed the arrest of three other suspects for smuggling goods into the country in Nxele, also in Plumtree.

“On June 26, police in Plumtree arrested 3 suspects for smuggling and recovered 6×43-inch LED television sets, 26 Waxiba radios, 15 Bluetooth box speakers, 50 litres of diesel and various clothing at Nxele illegal crossing point,” the ZRP added.

Various state security organs are involved in joint border patrols code-named “Operation No to Cross-Border Crimes” to curb the illegal border crossings by returning residents.

Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe has said drones will be deployed at the borders to fight the law-breaking.

However, the practice continues to flourish under law enforcement watch.

Former Ntabazinduna chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni said the government was fighting a losing battle.

“If the government of the day has failed to provide for the people, then it is only right and proper that they fend for themselves,” Ndiweni said.

“They (government) compound this failure by forcing the ordinary man and woman to borderjump instead of allowing them to travel in an orderly fashion with customs duties or payments of any sorts, on what goods they are carrying.”

Bulawayo-based commentator Reginald Shoko also admitted that the government was fighting a losing battle as he called on policymakers to address challenges facing local industry.

“Fighting smuggling is a good way of doing things, but is not a panacea of solving the problems that are facing the local industry and consumers which then forces the consumer to lean more on smuggled goods,” Shoko said.

He argued that people have been forced to smuggle because of the high cost of goods locally, emphasising the need to look at internal devaluation as some prices are a result of high exchange rates and “pure greediness”.

“We need to look at the build-up of prices from electricity, labour costs and all other cost drivers that affect the final pricing structure in Zimbabwe so that the prices are competitive,” he said.

The national statistical agency, ZimStat, said the food poverty line (FPL) as of June 2021 stood at $4,271. 85. this means that the minimum needs basket cost that much per person in June 2021.

This represents an increase of 3.2% over the May 2021 figure of $4,139.10.

Estimates by the government and other independent agencies show that the smuggling of goods costs the treasury nearly US$1 billion a year in unpaid customs duty.

Without any means of escaping the socio-economic crisis characterised by high unemployment, Ncube says the need to fend for his family motivates him to continue with smuggling.

“If the employed are struggling to make ends meet, how do they expect us to survive? …this is my meal ticket also,” Ncube says.

*This article was originally published by The Citizen Bulletin, a nonprofit news organisation that produces hard-hitting, hyperlocal reporting and analysis for the southwestern region of Matabeleland.

*Not real name*

By A Correspondent-  A group of transporters linked to Zanu PF bigwigs have allegedly threatened sugar-producing giant Tongaat Hullet with unspecified action if it fails to award them tenders. In May, the sugar producer flighted an advert in local newspapers calling for tenders before July 31.

However, last month before the tender deadline, a group of transporters led by Ephias Munodawafa (Chief Murinye) met Tongaat’s newly appointed chief operations officer James Bowmaker to express their dissatisfaction over stringent tender conditions.

Some of the prerequisite requirements for tender applicants were that transporters were obliged to have goodsin-transit insurance cover, a valid vehicle licence and certificate of fitness as well as proof of physical existence of trucks registered in the name of the company.

Vehicle tracking capabilities were also made mandatory for transporters.

The company introduced tight transport tender processes in a bid to rein in errant sugar transporters and curb corruption that saw the company losing hundreds of thousands of United States dollars each year.

This did not go down well with the politically-connected group, which accused Tongaat of setting stringent tender conditions in a bid to sideline them in favour of the company’s preferred transporter based in South Africa.

Sources close to the matter alleged that the group, which claims to be linked to the ruling Zanu PF party, also accused Tongaat of trying to violate devolution policies.

Chief Murinye confirmed meeting Tongaat and said they had already engaged President Emmerson Mnangagwa over the issue.

“We met Tongaat over that issue and we have also raised it with the president,” said Murinye.

Tongaat acting corporate affairs executive Ushe Chinhuru said the company had a tender committee that deals with all tenders flighted and they go through the full adjudication process, which includes short-listing of potential suppliers or service providers and post-tender negotiations until final award to successful tenderers.

Chinhuru said the company’s procurement policy guides the whole process.

All members, who participate in the adjudication of tenders make a declaration on potential conflict of interest and any conflicted member is recused from participating in the process,” he said.

“A selection criterion for awarding of tenders is agreed upfront by the committee with scoring made against each factor considered important for the specific tender.

“Awarding of tenders is guided by the company’s code of ethics and good governance and for avoidance of doubt awarding is never made on political lines.

“The whole awarding process is subjected to external audits to ensure compliance with the code of ethics and good governance.”

Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo distanced the party from the fiasco, saying it will not tolerate any attempt to put the name of the party into disrepute.

“If there is evidence, the company should immediately make a police report,” said Khaya Moyo.

Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission spokesperson, commissioner John Makamure, said Tongaat should approach the commission and formally inform them of the matter.

“The commission is there to receive complaints. It’s provided for in Section 265 of the constitution,” Makamure said.

“The commission will then consider the complaint and take appropriate action.”

Industry and Commerce minister, Sekai Nzenza, said such threats were criminal.

“If they had any grievances, they were supposed to raise them after the tender deadline. As it is, their actions are criminal and they should be reported,”Nzenza said.

Last year, one of Chief Murinye’s unroadworthy trucks was involved in a pile-up accident in Zambia resulting in more than six people being burnt beyond recognition.

-standard

By A Correspondent- Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution in Matabeleland South Province Cde Abednico Ncube has dismissed rumours that he succumbed to Covid-19.

Social media was yesterday awash with reports of his alleged death prompting him to clarify the position, stating that he was alive and on the mend.

“I am alive and recovering at home. I did contract Covid-19, I tested positive on 14 July 2021 and went into isolation thereafter. I am taking my medication and following orders from health officials. I am not dead as rumours are saying.

“I am much better. I am able to walk and eat and many other things. I am doing what I was instructed to do like staying away from other people. When the time comes (dying), it will happen, we all will die eventually,” he said.

However, a dark cloud is hanging over the rainbow province following the death of three prominent figures in the past week, all to Covid-19.

Last week Zanu-PF provincial chairman Cde Rabelani Choeni succumbed to the virus. The Provincial Education Director for the province Mr Lifius Masukume also died from Covid-19 infection on Friday morning. He had been admitted to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH).

On Thursday last week, former Matabeleland South Agriculture Society president Mr George Chipengo died at his Spitzkop suburb home in Gwanda Town, also from Covid-19.

-statemedia

By A Correspondent- President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration has been accused of favouritism after spearheading the tarring of at least 10km of the road in Mafararikwa leading to the main shrine of the Johanne Marange apostolic sect in Manicaland.

The developments followed the uproar that greeted an alleged Passover meeting by the sect that was allowed to go on despite it being in violation of measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Speaking to The Standard, Mutare West MP Teedzayi Muchimwe, a ZANU PF and senior member of the Johane Marange sect, said he was the one who lobbied for the tarring of the road. Said Muchimwe:

We applied for the rehabilitation of the road with the ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development targeting the Marange-Odzi road, and so far, we have rehabilitated the road from Marange Clinic to St Noah College.

We are targeting to rehabilitate the road to the Odzi area.

Yes, there are concerns about roads in diamond areas, we are looking into it and very soon we are going to see some changes.

Muchimwe dismissed allegations that the sect held its annual Passover meeting in violation of COVID-19 regulations.

He said police stopped some of the members, who had attempted to attend the gathering by mounting roadblocks on streets that lead to the shrine.

Meanwhile, Bocha Diamond Community Trust chairman, Moses Mukwada, said the government had shown favouritism by embarking on the road project. He said:

Roads leading to the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company are yet to be tarred despite several companies mining in the area, but the government chose the church for votes.

I am surprised that the government rushed to tar the road to St Noah College or to the shrine after that they just abandoned the project, this is clear favouritism.

We have many areas where diamonds are coming from and the roads are in a bad shape and we are worried very much about that and they just chose to rehabilitate the roads leading to the shrine.

ZANU PF always courts the apostolic sects during elections because of their huge following in the country.

Leading ZANU PF officials, including Mnangagwa and his deputy, Constantino Chiwenga, have been spotted at mapositori gatherings clad in apostolic garb even though they are not members of the churches.

By A Correspondent- The government has imposed a three-year jail term for any health personnel who would have embarked on job action.

Under the new laws gazetted on Friday, doctors and nurses working in public health institutions will no longer be allowed to go on strike for an uninterrupted period spanning more than three days

Amendments to the Act, once passed, will require healthcare providers to give two days’ notice in writing before embarking on collective job action.
In addition, all medical professionals will be required by law to provide care to patients in a medical emergency or needing critical or intensive care during a legal collective job action.
Any worker representative who incites or organises an illegal job action could face up to three years in jail, under the changes which are meant to bring back discipline into a profession that has been plagued by illegal job actions in the past.
Chief director in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Maxwell Hove, said once passed, the law will allow health care workers to strike for only three days per fortnight.
“Healthcare workers will not be able to go on strike for more than three days and will stay at work for a minimum of two weeks before the law allows them go on another three-day strike,” said Dr Hove.
“In each case no strike can go beyond three days and emergencies will also be covered during every strike”.
The amendments seek to replace the Health Services Board with an independent commission — the Health Services Commission — which will among other things create grades in the health service and fix conditions of service for doctors and nurses.
“Judicial Service Commission, Defence Forces Service Commission and Police Service Commission are examples of Commissions whose members are public officers but are not members of the Civil Service Commission as per section 199 of the Constitution.
“The same will apply to the Health Service Commission under consideration,” added Dr Hove.
Crucially, the proposed changes will designate health care workers as essential service providers as defined under the Labour Act.
The Labour Act designates any service whose interruption endangers the life, personal safety or health of the whole or any part of the public as an essential service.
Reads the Health Service Amendment Bill in part: “The Health Service shall be deemed as an essential service referred to in section 65 (3) of the Constitution; and no collective job action whether lawful or unlawful shall continue for an uninterrupted period of 72 hours or for more than 72 hours in any given 14-day period; and notice of any collective job action must be given in writing 48 hours prior to the commencement of such collective job action.
“Any individual who is a member of the governing body of any trade union or representative body of members of the Health Service which incites or organises any job collective action contrary to subsection 2(b) or (c) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level 10 or to imprisonment for a period no exceeding three years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.”
The Health Service Commission will be given powers to discipline any medical worker found to be in contravention of the new provisions.
The Commission can also report the offending member to their relevant professional council in terms of the Health Professions Act.
Zimbabwe Nurses Association (Zina) president Mr Enoch Dongo said there was a need for Government to consult health care professionals before enacting the amendments.
“It is never the intention of health workers to withdraw their labour, in fact it is the last option,” said Mr Dongo.
“So, it is important for Government to consult health personnel when crafting such laws.”
Senior Hospital Doctors Association (SHDA) president Dr Shingai Nyaguse requested for questions in writing and had not responded by the time of going to print.
-State media

By A Correspondent- The government has enlisted the services of a Lithuanian printing company, Garsu Pasaulis (GP), to produce national identity documents (IDs) to ease current shortages.

Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe last week told parliamentarians that a progress report presented by GP to the Government last week indicates that the procurement of consumables used to produce IDs has begun. Said Kazembe:

A private company was contracted to take over the production of IDs. This was necessitated by challenges our Government is facing with regards to foreign currency issues.

As you would appreciate, (for) our IDs and passports, we use a lot of consumables which are imported but that issue will become history very soon because the company that was contracted is seized with the matter.

In fact, only today we received a progress report to the effect that they are busy procuring all the required consumables to deal with the backlog of IDs.

However, in an interview with The Sunday Mail, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Aaron Nhepera said there are some contracts that still need to be signed.

He said:

Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission chair Elasto Mugwadi said while the announcement by Kazembe was welcome, they will be monitoring developments closely because national identification documents are a fundamental right.

Said Mugwadi:

Our target is to have everyone issued with a national document by end of 2022 since it is a national document.

By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) says it has identified an estimated US$7 billion worth of assets that were illicitly siphoned out of the country through corruption and money laundering.

ZACC spokesperson Commissioner John Makamure told The Sunday Mail that the anti-graft body has activated links with several international agencies to recover the loot, some of which is salted away in offshore bank accounts and trust funds.

Said Makamure:

The assets which were identified to have been acquired illicitly and externalised through corruption and money laundering from Zimbabwe to foreign jurisdictions are estimated at seven billion United States dollars (US$7 billion).

Investigations through formal and informal co-operation processes have commenced for some of the identified assets.

Locally, ZACC has, this year alone, identified close to US$24 million worth of ill-gotten gains that could be up for forfeiture.

Assets that ZACC seeks to recover include houses, residential stands, vehicles, or any other property attained from the proceeds of crime, including cash

Makamure said in 2021 the cases under investigation for asset recovery have cumulatively risen to 43 with the value of assets identified and seized amounting to US$24.1 million. He said:

Six cases were referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to recover ZWL$173m in ill-gotten wealth in 2021.

Asset recovery is integral to the anti-corruption fight. Follow-ups are ongoing in numerous other cases worth millions of dollars as ZACC steps up asset recovery from ill-gotten wealth.

Makamure said in 2020 there were 36 asset recovery cases with a value of US$4.5 million, which were under investigation by ZACC.

Of these 36 cases, 10 case files were referred to the National Prosecuting Authority with a value of US$ 3.2 million.

-statemedia

By A Correspondent-Over 500 people have succumbed to Covid-19 in the past week, as cases of the the pandemic surge.

According to the Covid-19 taskforce chief coordinator in the office of the President and Cabinet, Agness Mahomva, 90% of those who died were not vaccinated against the pandemic.

By A Correspondent- The government has gazetted amendments to the Health Services Act which ban doctors and nurses working in public health institutions from going on strike for an uninterrupted period spanning more than three days.

The amendments to the Act, which were gazetted on Friday, once passed, will also require doctors and nurses to give two days’ notice in writing before embarking on collective job action.

In addition, all health care providers will be required by law to provide care to patients in a medical emergency or needing critical or intensive care while they are on strike.

Under the proposed amendments to the Health Services Act, a worker representative who incites or organises an illegal job action could also face up to three years in jail.

Dr Maxwell Hove, who is the chief director in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, said once passed, the law will allow health care workers to strike for three days and wait for two weeks before embarking on another strike. Said Hove:

Healthcare workers will not be able to go on strike for more than three days and will stay at work for a minimum of two weeks before the law allows them to go on another three-day strike.

In each case no strike can go beyond three days and emergencies will also be covered during every strike.

The amendments also seek to replace the Health Services Board with an independent commission – the Health Services Commission.

The Commission will, among other things, create grades in the health service and fix conditions of service for doctors and nurses.

The proposed changes will designate health care workers as essential service providers as defined under the Labour Act.

The Labour Act designates any service whose interruption endangers the life, personal safety or health of the whole or any part of the public as an essential service.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) president Enoch Dongo said there was a need for Government to consult health care professionals before enacting the amendments.

-statemedia

By A Correspondent- The government has criminalised job action for doctors and nurses.

Under the new laws gazetted on Friday, doctors and nurses working in public health institutions will no longer be allowed to go on strike for an uninterrupted period spanning more than three days

Amendments to the Act, once passed, will require healthcare providers to give two days’ notice in writing before embarking on collective job action.
In addition, all medical professionals will be required by law to provide care to patients in a medical emergency or needing critical or intensive care during a legal collective job action.
Any worker representative who incites or organises an illegal job action could face up to three years in jail, under the changes which are meant to bring back discipline into a profession that has been plagued by illegal job actions in the past.
Chief director in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Maxwell Hove, said once passed, the law will allow health care workers to strike for only three days per fortnight.
“Healthcare workers will not be able to go on strike for more than three days and will stay at work for a minimum of two weeks before the law allows them go on another three-day strike,” said Dr Hove.
“In each case no strike can go beyond three days and emergencies will also be covered during every strike”.
The amendments seek to replace the Health Services Board with an independent commission — the Health Services Commission — which will among other things create grades in the health service and fix conditions of service for doctors and nurses.
“Judicial Service Commission, Defence Forces Service Commission and Police Service Commission are examples of Commissions whose members are public officers but are not members of the Civil Service Commission as per section 199 of the Constitution.
“The same will apply to the Health Service Commission under consideration,” added Dr Hove.
Crucially, the proposed changes will designate health care workers as essential service providers as defined under the Labour Act.
The Labour Act designates any service whose interruption endangers the life, personal safety or health of the whole or any part of the public as an essential service.
Reads the Health Service Amendment Bill in part: “The Health Service shall be deemed as an essential service referred to in section 65 (3) of the Constitution; and no collective job action whether lawful or unlawful shall continue for an uninterrupted period of 72 hours or for more than 72 hours in any given 14-day period; and notice of any collective job action must be given in writing 48 hours prior to the commencement of such collective job action.
“Any individual who is a member of the governing body of any trade union or representative body of members of the Health Service which incites or organises any job collective action contrary to subsection 2(b) or (c) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level 10 or to imprisonment for a period no exceeding three years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.”
The Health Service Commission will be given powers to discipline any medical worker found to be in contravention of the new provisions.
The Commission can also report the offending member to their relevant professional council in terms of the Health Professions Act.
Zimbabwe Nurses Association (Zina) president Mr Enoch Dongo said there was a need for Government to consult health care professionals before enacting the amendments.
“It is never the intention of health workers to withdraw their labour, in fact it is the last option,” said Mr Dongo.
“So, it is important for Government to consult health personnel when crafting such laws.”
Senior Hospital Doctors Association (SHDA) president Dr Shingai Nyaguse requested for questions in writing and had not responded by the time of going to print.
-State media

By A Correspondent- A Tsholotsho man has gone into hiding after allegedly killing his eight-year-old daughter by throwing her headlong to the floor.

A drunk Mthokozisi Hadebe (32) of Makhala line under Chief Gampu in Mbamba area, accused the now deceased Nokukhanya and her two siblings aged four and three, of leaving the homestead unattended during the day when he was away from home.

Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Glory Banda confirmed the incident which happened on Tuesday night saying investigations were in progress.

“We received a report about a man who has escaped after allegedly killing his daughter and he is wanted for murder,” he said.

Insp Banda said on July 20 at around 11PM, Hadebe arrived home drunk and found his wife already asleep.

He proceeded to his children’s bedroom hut and found them asleep as well.

Hadebe woke up the three juveniles and accused them of leaving the homestead unattended during the day when he was not at home.

He slapped the three juveniles, police said.

Hadebe allegedly lifted Nokukhanya and threw her onto the floor.

She hit her head against the floor as she fell.

The girl fell unconscious and Hadebe panicked as he picked her up and carried her outside the bedroom hut holding her against his chest while calling for help.

The deceased’s paternal grandmother heard the noise from her homestead about 100 metres away and rushed to the scene.

The elderly woman found the suspect carrying the now deceased who was having difficulties in breathing.

The girl eventually died before being taken to hospital and they put the lifeless body in the bedroom hut.

The grandmother woke up the girl’s mother who was still sleeping in her bedroom hut and at that moment Hadebe left the homestead and disappeared.

A report was made at Mbamba police station before the body was taken to Tsholotsho District Hospital mortuary to be relayed to the United Bulawayo Hospitals for post-mortem.

-statemedia

Tinashe Sambiri| Madam Boss, Mai Titi, Panganai Java and the two Mercedes Benz donations, the stage is set…

Passion Java could not buy his own mum a simple TV – she confessed in leaked audios that she had to scrounge for scraps at Parliament as a Mwonzora-Senator to stitch up her debt with the TV Sales and Hire company.

This was at a time her own son was splurging thousands to buy a Mercedes Benz for socialite Madam Boss a few months before.

A year later, he buys another car and a third one for another socialite, Mai Titi. Where is he getting the money from, and what is the agenda, notoriety, foolery[kupusisa vanhu], or both?

The Zanu PF leader Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s plot to use social media influencers to gain political points, has been boosted.

Intelligence sources in Mr Mnangagwa’s Zanu PF party have disclosed that social media influencers who include Panganai Java, Madam boss and Mai Titi are already in the game calculated to drum up support for Mr Mnangagwa for the 2023 polls.

Java, who has become Mr Mnangagwa’s social media frontrunner, blessed both Mai Titi and Madam boss with brand new Mercedes Benz vehicles on Friday.

This also comes at a time Madam Boss is collecting mobile numbers of her supposed followers under the guise of a promotion.

“This( the purchasing of vehicles for Madam Boss and Mai Titi) is a scheme calculated to sway social media users’ views as both ladies are seen as great influencers.

It is believed that their influence can therefore contribute to victory in the 2023 polls.

As you know Panganai Java is already campaigning for Number One and the two ladies are expected to join the scheme very soon,” Zanu PF intelligence sources told ZimEye.com.

However, political observers feel Madam Boss and Mai Titi could ruin their respective brands by reflecting allegiance to Mr Mnangagwa and Zanu PF.

” I strongly feel the two ladies should not fall into the Zanu PF trap. The gimmicks and gymnastics we are seeing are meant to neutralize the perceived opposition’s influence on social media. Sadly the two ladies are about to ruin their brands. I sincerely urge them to distance themselves from Zanu PF,” said one political analyst.

By A Corresp[ondent- A mysterious fire has gutted more than 30 homesteads at a settlers’ village, Ledbury Farm in Matepatepa in Bindura.
In the absence of a solid explanation, in the absence of evidence of the source and indeed in the absence of science, the villagers find themselves pointing fingers at each other and obviously, in times like these, accusations of dabbling in witchcraft thrive.
Desperate villagers, there, are now looking for answers everywhere from prophets to the occult and to God, but the answer is just not there.
The village is now agog with speculation that someone is using Sandawana, a goblin believed to bring good fortune to one person at the expense of others.
Although the fire which started on June 27 at Torero compound has subsided after close to a month of burning, women and children are still sleeping in the open fearing that the remaining grass-thatched huts might catch the fire while they sleep.
So desperate are some of the villagers that they have resorted to removing the grass thatch from their huts to protect their property.
When this reporter got there, the situation at the compound was eerie and profound, the charcoal, the shells of the burnt down houses, the smells and everything else pointed to a disaster.
Sitting outside a thatched kitchen, Amai Chipo was quick to point out that it was not her homestead, but she was guarding her friend who was cooking inside, in case of the fire.
“We are friends and when she is done cooking she will come to my kitchen and guard outside while I cook. We are taking turns to guard each other,” she said.
“This has become our way of life now. Even when we are bathing in our grass built bathrooms, we are now guarding each other to avoid casualties.”
Describing the fire, she said it a ‘silent’ fire which starts at the rooftop inside the house and only identified when the house is already engulfed
Village head Mr Antony Chipandire said the immediate need of the affected families are tents so that they have shelter.
“However our major need is for the problem to be solved. We were resettled at this farm in 2001 and we have never witnessed such an incident. This is a mysterious event and we are appealing for help to have the problem solved,” he said.
“I was in Mbire on a work-related trip when I received a call that houses were mysteriously burning down. I cut short my trip and came back home.
“I went to Chief Negomo’s homestead to inform him of the events and he called a spirit medium who said one of the community members used sandawana juju for money making rituals.
“The Chief gave us people to perform traditional rituals at the compound. The following day prophets who were sent by the Chief arrived and said they were afraid to point at the culprits without adequate security. “A lot of prophets volunteered to assist us. We received prophets who came through the radio and I was made to collect ashes at every burnt down house and put them in a clay pot. That was the longest night of my life.”
Mr Chipandire said after two days, the prophet came back and cleansed the pot saying the problem was solved.
“They raised the cleaned clay pot and started praying until smoke came out of the pot. They smashed the pot and said they had solved the problem. Before they left the compound a grass precast wall caught fire and afterwards another house caught fire,” he said.
“We decided to approach Chief Masembura and he did some rituals. The problem subsided for two day and the fire started again. We went back to the Chief and he summoned spirit mediums who said some people in the community have used juju.
“The spirit medium performed some rituals and for now the fire has subdued for four days now. A lot of rumours are going round in the compound with some saying the first fire victims are the juju culprits, these are just rumours.”
He thanked their legislature Cde Kenneth Musanhi for providing blankets and grain to the affected families.
He said the first victims lost all their property and grain to the fire, before the donation of grain and blankets to the affected families.
If the rumours in the compound are anything to go by, one of the suspects allegedly obtained juju from his father-in-law to grow his flock of ducks. Others say, an unknown man visited the compound last year demanding a top-up of money to those he had given juju to because he was about to die.
Some are saying hyena ‘laugh” were heard in the compound. The A1 farm was resettled to 73 plot holders in 2001.
The compound which harbours about 90 households is home to immigrants from Malawi and Mozambique as well as locals who were farm workers prior to the land reform.
The village development committee chairperson Mr Earnest Chasvika said, “We have three compounds at this farm but we haven’t witnessed such an incident. However, this community has people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
“We are puzzled and living in fear. We don’t know the cause of the fires, initially we thought it was acts of arson but we realised it was a mystery.
“The Environmental Management Agency visited the compound and up now there is no solution in sight.”
We caught up with one of the victims Farai Chigumbura at Foothills clinic who said he was taking his Covid-19 vaccine following a break in the fires.
The father of one said he lost household property, cash and grain in the fire. “We are sleeping in the open due to fear. We are appealing for tents to shelter children and women since it is cold.
“We are hearing that someone used juju but it is now backfiring. We have our suspects but prophets are coming and never returning to the compound,” he said.
As to the future of this compound, only time will tell.

-Herald

By A Correspondent- Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife Marry Mubaiwa Chiwenga has opened up on her failed relationship ahead of her 40th birthday. The former model insisted that she did not marry her powerful husband for his wealth. Instead, she says she was attracted by the wealth in his heart, his gentleness and his love and knowledge of God.
The former model and Vice President Chiwenga were married for 10 years in a union that produced three children. However, the two are currently engaged in a highly contentious divorce after things soured in 2019.
Seemingly reminiscing on her life and relationship ahead of her birthday, Marry posted on social media.
As I turn 40 on 22, July, I thank God for the life that he has thrown @Me, the weight I have had to carry, the humiliation that I suffered at the hands of my other half, the baseless accusations and the weight of his instructions and authority. Evil eye.
I didn’t marry the material wealth, I married the wealth that was in his heart, the gentle touch of his hand, the knowledge of God, his understanding of what my heart wanted, he understood the person that I was, the me that I am today, focused, forgiving and forward-thinking.

As I turn 40 tomorrow, I thank God for the life that he has thrown @me, the weight I have had to carry, the humiliation that I suffered at the hands of my other half, the baseless accusations and the weight of his instructions and authority. Evil eye pic.twitter.com/FzVbVCfXVX
— Marry Mubaiwa-Chiwenga (@MarryMubaiwa) July 21, 2021
I didn’t marry the material wealth, I married the wealth that was in his heart, the gentle touch of his hand, the knowledge of God,his understanding of what my heart wanted, he understood the person that i was, the me that I am today, focused, forgiving and forward-thinking.
— Marry Mubaiwa-Chiwenga (@MarryMubaiwa) July 21, 2021
Marry also expressed her anguish and heartbreak at her failure to see her children. She accused the Vice President of abusing his powers as a senior public office holder by denying her the right to see her three children aged 10, 9 and 7.
I am going to be 4ty tomorrow and just wishing and wanting and waiting for my children Tendai, Christian and Michael to be with me. What kind of a father denies his children which he claims to love the right to be with their mother and vice-versa. Where is God when you need him?
I am going to be 4ty tomorrow and just wishing and wanting and waiting for my children Tendai, Christian and Michael to be with me. What kind of a father denies his children which he claims to love the right to be with their mother and vice-versa. Where is God when you need him?
According to Marry, the marriage between the two broke down somewhere between July and November 2019 at the time when Vice President Chiwenga was critical and fighting for his life following allegations that he could have been poisoned.
Since then Marry has been arrested several times and is facing attempted murder charges. This is after the Vice President alleged that Marry tried to kill him while he lay incapacitated in a hospital in South Africa. She is also facing charges of money laundering and externalizing foreign currency.
The embattled Marry and Vice President Chiwenga are also engaged in a messy child custody battle. She has been accused of being an unfit mother and a drug addict who is psychologically unwell to look after children.

By A Correspondent- Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) deputy director-general Gatsha Mazithulela has been dragged to the High Court over a farm seizure by senior members of the President’s Office.

The matter spilled into the Bulawayo High Court this week as owners of Kershelmar Farm in Nyamandlovu — 40 kilometres north of Bulawayo — seek to stop the land grab, which is putting Zimbabwe under the spotlight over the respect of property rights.

The chaotic land reform of 2000 tarnished Zimbabwe’s image, resulting in the isolation of Harare from the international community as Zanu PF used brute force to take over white-owned farms.

Even 20 years after the initial land redistribution exercise, farm invasions are still taking place, including some covered under international bilateral agreements.

In the latest case involving senior officials from the President’s Office, Kershelmar Farm has been partitioned despite belonging to a privately-owned entity run by indigenous Zimbabweans, including Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (Osisa) director Siphosami Malunga, son to the late outspoken national hero Sydney Malunga.

Malunga and his business partners seek, through the High Court, to protect their property rights against the state power used by Mazithulela and his juniors to parcel out privately-owned land in Matabeleland North province.

A strongly-worded affidavit filed at the High Court by Kershelmar shareholders accused Mazithulela of retributive action and hostility against farm owners who he allegedly labelled as “anti-government” agents.

The affidavit, seen by the Zimbabwe Independent this week, underscores that the fate of former cabinet ministers Jonathan Moyo and Saviour Kasukuwere, whose farms were seized by the government in the aftermath of the 2017 coup which toppled former president Robert Mugabe, would also befall Kershelmar shareholders.

Moyo and Kasukuwere — who are living in exile — had their farms downsized by the government, following the political fallout which collapsed the 37-year Mugabe iron-fist rule.

-Zimbabwe Independent

By A Correspondent- Agriculture minister Anxious Masuka and Matabeleland North Minister of State Richard Moyo have been dragged to the High Court over a farm seizure by senior members of the President’s Office.

The matter spilled into the Bulawayo High Court this week as owners of Kershelmar Farm in Nyamandlovu — 40 kilometres north of Bulawayo — seek to stop the land grab, which is putting Zimbabwe under the spotlight over the respect of property rights.

The chaotic land reform of 2000 tarnished Zimbabwe’s image, resulting in the isolation of Harare from the international community as Zanu PF used brute force to take over white-owned farms.

Even 20 years after the initial land redistribution exercise, farm invasions are still taking place, including some covered under international bilateral agreements.

In the latest case involving senior officials from the President’s Office, Kershelmar Farm has been partitioned despite belonging to a privately-owned entity run by indigenous Zimbabweans, including Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (Osisa) director Siphosami Malunga, son to the late outspoken national hero Sydney Malunga.

Malunga and his business partners seek, through the High Court, to protect their property rights against the state power used by Mazithulela and his juniors to parcel out privately-owned land in Matabeleland North province.

A strongly-worded affidavit filed at the High Court by Kershelmar shareholders accused Mazithulela of retributive action and hostility against farm owners who he allegedly labelled as “anti-government” agents.

The affidavit, seen by the Zimbabwe Independent this week, underscores that the fate of former cabinet ministers Jonathan Moyo and Saviour Kasukuwere, whose farms were seized by the government in the aftermath of the 2017 coup which toppled former president Robert Mugabe, would also befall Kershelmar shareholders.

Moyo and Kasukuwere — who are living in exile — had their farms downsized by the government, following the political fallout which collapsed the 37-year Mugabe iron-fist rule.

-Zimbabwe Independent

By A Correspondent- Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) deputy director-general Gatsha Mazithulela, Agriculture minister Anxious Masuka and Matabeleland North Minister of State Richard Moyo have been dragged to the High Court over a farm seizure by senior members of the President’s Office.

The matter spilled into the Bulawayo High Court this week as owners of Kershelmar Farm in Nyamandlovu — 40 kilometres north of Bulawayo — seek to stop the land grab, which is putting Zimbabwe under the spotlight over the respect of property rights.

The chaotic land reform of 2000 tarnished Zimbabwe’s image, resulting in the isolation of Harare from the international community as Zanu PF used brute force to take over white-owned farms.

Even 20 years after the initial land redistribution exercise, farm invasions are still taking place, including some covered under international bilateral agreements.

In the latest case involving senior officials from the President’s Office, Kershelmar Farm has been partitioned despite belonging to a privately-owned entity run by indigenous Zimbabweans, including Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (Osisa) director Siphosami Malunga, son to the late outspoken national hero Sydney Malunga.

Malunga and his business partners seek, through the High Court, to protect their property rights against the state power used by Mazithulela and his juniors to parcel out privately-owned land in Matabeleland North province.

A strongly-worded affidavit filed at the High Court by Kershelmar shareholders accused Mazithulela of retributive action and hostility against farm owners who he allegedly labelled as “anti-government” agents.

The affidavit, seen by the Zimbabwe Independent this week, underscores that the fate of former cabinet ministers Jonathan Moyo and Saviour Kasukuwere, whose farms were seized by the government in the aftermath of the 2017 coup which toppled former president Robert Mugabe, would also befall Kershelmar shareholders.

Moyo and Kasukuwere — who are living in exile — had their farms downsized by the government, following the political fallout which collapsed the 37-year Mugabe iron-fist rule.

-Zimbabwe Independent

THE United States yesterday said it was unfazed by the Zimbabwean government’s actions of undermining their assistance to fight the ravaging COVID19 pandemic and remained committed to assisting millions of its population.

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member, Jim Risch, said Washington has been the largest provider of health and humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe, totalling US$3,5 billion since independence in 1980, and would not be swayed by politicking.

“No matter how hard the Zimbabwe government tries to undermine our assistance, we remain committed to helping Zimbabweans fight the COVID19 pandemic,” he posted on Twitter reacting to Harare’s position to reject a donation of Johnson and Johnson vaccines by the US.

Addressing journalists on the 25 million COVID19 vaccines donation to the African Union, Gayle Smith, State Department coordinator for Global COVID19 Response and Health Security and Akunna Cook, deputy assistant secretary of State for African Affairs, also reiterated the position that there was nothing political about the donations.

They said the donation was motivated by the desire to help Africa combat the ravaging virus.

“As the President (Joe Biden) said, we are doing this with no strings. We are not asking governments to take a position in our favour on the Security Council, to buy our goods, to do anything else, much as we have done with all of the other investments we have made in Africa’s progress on health,” Smith said.

“Our intent here is very clear. We want to see Africa defeat this pandemic. We want to see Africa be resilient and to thrive. So there are no strings attached, is, I think, the first and most important message that we can offer.”

Cook said: “We have long been partners of Africa, and our assistance is really about being good partners to Africa. It’s not about coercion or influence. It’s really about wanting to make sure that our African partners are resilient and are able to have a strong and healthy future in this increasingly interdependent and interconnected world. Vaccines don’t – viruses don’t know borders. Right? And so it is clear to us that defeating this pandemic everywhere, including in Africa, is essential.

“On mistrust, I think it’s – we as the United States, we see ourselves in a leadership position. That is why we are sharing these vaccine doses that we have available, and we are trying to do it as quickly as possible.”

On Wednesday, government through presidential spokesperson George Charamba claimed the US was politicising the vac- cine donations and had handed over half a million doses to the main opposition MDC Alliance for “political vaccination.”

The MDC Alliance and the US have rubbished the claims.

Zimbabwe is targeting at least 10 million vaccinations by year-end to achieve herd immunity and allow life to get back to normal.

Of the intended target, only 1 352 524 had received their first doses by Thursday, while only 664 587 had received their second jab.

-Newsday

FORMER Bulawayo deputy mayor and Ward three councillor Tinashe Kambarami has dragged President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Bulawayo City Council and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to court seeking his reinstatement.

Kambarami was recently blocked by senior council officials from assuming his duties following his reinstatement as Ward three councillor by the Supreme Court.

Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Thompson Mabhikwa in 2019 declared Kambarami’s election null and void after 1892 Mthwakazi Restoration Movement Trust and Nomalanga  Dabengwa approached the High Court challenging his election.

He, however, appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court which overturned Justice Mabhikwa’s ruling.

Following the apex court’s ruling, Kambarami early this month attempted to attend a full council meeting but the move was blocked by mayor Solomon Mguni and town clerk Christopher Dube.

The two officials claimed Kambarami had been recalled from the council by the Douglas Mwonzora led MDC-T.

Kambarami had been recalled from council together with other eight councillors last year by the MDC –T but the former deputy Mayor argues that when he was purportedly recalled, he was no longer a councillor because his election had been nullified.

“The application for a declaratur is made on the grounds that the letter written by MDC –T be declared null and void in as far as it relates to the applicant (Kambarami) as he was not serving as a councillor during that time. He, therefore, could not be recalled,” he argued in his latest court challenge.

“Further and alternatively, the decision of the MDC-T to expel or arrive at the determination that applicant is no longer a member of the Bulawayo City Council to be declared unlawful and set aside and consequently the letter written by the 2nd respondent to the 3rd respondent is declared null and void.”

The court application was filed through his lawyers Mqhawe Mpofu of Sam Mlauzi and Partners.

Kambarami also wants the court to bar Mnangagwa and ZEC from proclaiming Ward three vacant.

“The President and, or his officials, functionaries, employees, agents or assignees be and are hereby permanently interdicted proclaiming a date for the holding of a by-election in Ward three, Bulawayo in terms of section 39 of the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:13).

“Consequently, there being no lawful encumbrance to the resumption of applicant’s duties, the 1st respondent shall immediately admit the applicant to council pursuant to his reinstatement by operation of the law following the judgment in case number SC 66/21 on May 2021,” further reads the application.

In the application Kambarami also Local Government Minister as respondents.

The respondents are yet to file their opposing papers.

-Newsday

THE GOVERNMENT has enlisted the services of a Lithuanian printing company, Garsu Pasaulis (GP), to produce national identity documents (IDs) to ease current shortages.

A progress report presented by GP to the Government last week indicates that delivery of consumables used to produce IDs has begun.

Responding to questions from Members of Parliament in the National Assembly last week, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe said the move will address the backlog.

“A private company was contracted to take over the production of IDs.

“This was necessitated by challenges our Government is facing with regards to foreign currency issues,” he said.

“As you would appreciate, (for) our IDs and passports, we use a lot of consumables which are imported but that issue will become history very soon because the company that was contracted is seized with the matter.

“In fact, only today we received a progress report to the effect that they are busy procuring all the required consumables to deal with the backlog of IDs.

“Even with the passport issue, the situation has improved a bit (and) I am pleased to say in the next few months we will see a big change since access to these documents is a human right.”

In an interview with The Sunday Mail, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Mr Aaron Nhepera said Cabinet had approved the deal.

“We are still in talks with the company. There are contracts which still need to be signed, but I can confirm that Cabinet has approved.”

Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission chair Dr Elasto Mugwadi applauded the move.

“We will be monitoring what the minister said closely because national identification documents are a fundamental right.

“We carried out a national enquiry of the issue a few years back, we noted issues such as low production of the national documents, rejection of affidavits signed by chiefs and headmen and requirement of up to six witnesses when one requires a national document in some instances.

“So we had a meeting with the minister some time last year and he assured us that the issues will rectified.

“Our target is to have everyone issued with a national document by end of 2022, since it is a national document,” he said.

Last month, the Registrar-General’s Office abruptly suspended a two-day application exercise to issue this year’s Advanced and Ordinary Level school examination candidates with IDs after the department was overwhelmed by applicants.

-State Media

Doctors and nurses working in public health institutions will no longer be allowed to go on strike for an uninterrupted period spanning more than three days under proposed changes to the Health Services Act.

Amendments to the Act, which were gazetted on Friday, once passed, will also require health care providers to give two days’ notice in writing before embarking on a collective job action. In addition, all medical professionals will be required by law to provide care to patients in a medical emergency or needing critical or intensive care during any legal collective job action.

Any worker representative who incites or organises an illegal job action could also face up to three years in jail, under the changes which are meant to bring back discipline into a profession that has been plagued by illegal job actions in the past.

Chief director in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Maxwell Hove said once passed the law will allow health care workers to strike for three days and wait for two weeks before embarking on another strike.

“Healthcare workers will not be able to go on strike for more than three days and will stay at work for a minimum of two weeks before the law allows them to go on another three-day strike. In each case no strike can go beyond three days and emergencies will also be covered during every strike.”

The amendments also seek to replace the Health Services Board with an independent commission – the Health Services Commission, which will among other things create grades in the health service and fix conditions of service for doctors and nurses.

“Judicial Service Commission, Defence Forces Service Commission, Police Service Commission are examples of Commissions whose members are public officers but are not members of the Civil Service Commission as per section 199 of the Constitution. The same will apply to the Health Service Commission under consideration,” added Dr Hove.

Crucially, the proposed changes will designate health care workers as essential service providers as defined under the Labour Act.

The Labour Act designates any service whose interruption endangers the life, personal safety or health of the whole or any part of the public as an essential service.

Reads the Health Service Amendment Bill in part:
“The Health Service shall be deemed as an essential service referred to in section 65 (3) of the Constitution; and no collective job action whether lawful or unlawful shall continue for an uninterrupted period of 72 hours or for more than 72 hours in any given 14-day period; and notice of any collective job action must be given in writing 48 hours prior to the commencement of such collective job action.

“Any individual who is a member of the governing body of any trade union or representative body of members of the Health Service which incites or organises any job collective action contrary to subsection 2(b) or (c) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level 10 or to imprisonment for a period no exceeding three years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.”

The Health Service Commission will be given powers to discipline any medical worker found to be in contravention of the new provisions.

The Commission can also report the offending member to their relevant professional council in terms of the Health Professions Act.

However, Zimbabwe Nurses Association (Zina) president Mr Enoch Dongo said there was a need for Government to consult health care professionals before enacting the amendments.

“It is never the intention of health workers to withdraw their labour, in fact it is the last option. So, it is important for Government to consult health personnel when crafting such laws.”

Senior Hospital Doctors Association (SHDA) president Dr Shingai Nyaguse requested for questions in writing and had not responded by the time of going to print.

-State Media

THE Government has started splitting some schools into two or more to decongest them as Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc in communities.

The Government is also contemplating opening schools virtually. There are a number of options also being put forward including scrapping Term Two and allowing only examination classes to attend lessons while others learn virtually.

Sunday News understands that one school in Luveve, Bulawayo has already been divided into two institutions with separate staff as the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education puts in place measures to see how they could reopen schools.

Director Advocacy and Communication in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Mr Taungana Ndoro could neither deny nor confirm the development.

“All I can say is that there are a number of measures we are putting in place to ensure that we deal with Covid-19 when schools open. Right now the situation is not good, teachers and headmasters are dying of Covid-19, when schools are closed,” he said.

However, impeccable sources in the Ministry said they wanted enrolment to be reduced to 1 000 and any school with more than the number will be divided into two.

“It’s not just about reducing the number of new enrollment but dealing with the current numbers. It has been put forward that schools must have just 1 000 pupils so that the classes can be managed during the Covid-19 crisis. The exercise has already started and one school in Bulawayo has already been divided into two with separate staff. Funds permitting we are pointing to a need to build more schools to enable decongestion,” said the source.

Mr Ndoro said as a Ministry, they were waiting from guidlines from the Ministry of Health and Child Care on the way forward.

“We are waiting for the direction from the Ministry of Health and Child Care. Treasury has also said this time parents must chip in to ensure that when schools open they contribute to issues around safety of the kids.”

Last month, under the enhanced level four lockdown, the Government deferred the opening of schools for the second term as cases of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to surge.

-State Media

By A Correspondent- Two Mvurwi based cell phone thieves suspects were arrested on Thursday after they tried to sell stolen cell phones to a detective.

Romeo Zvinairo (33) and Missi Mutumika (23) were arraigned before Guruve resident magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa on Friday facing unlawful entry and theft.

The state led by Albert Charewa alleged on July 15 the duo broke into Rumbidzai Musonza’s house and stole a number of itel phones.

Musonza discovered the unlawful entry and theft the next day and filed a police report.

On July 23 detectives heard that the duo were selling their loot and purported to be buyers before arresting them.

Musonza possitively identified her cellphones and were all recovered.

The matter continues on August 4.

By A Correspondent- At least five police officers have been arrested, while more are under investigation over their alleged involvement in smuggling activities along the border with Mozambique as authorities declare zero tolerance against the rampant vice which is bleeding the economy.

National police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi revealed on Wednesday that the seemingly free-for-all situation that was obtaining along the porous border line was due to corrupt law enforcement agents who were working in cahoots with smuggling syndicates.

“The evidence is there on the ground that we have finally won the war against smugglers who had created a free-for-all situation along the border. This is so because we have taken a multi-stakeholder approach which involves all arms of law enforcement in dealing with smugglers. The ongoing operation will continue indefinitely until order reigns.

“Corruption among some of our officers manning the borderline was negatively affecting our operations to restore order. At least five police officers have been arrested on allegations of working with syndicates to smuggle contraband into the country and a lot more are still under investigations.

“We are saying zero tolerance against corruption and we mean it. Smugglers were carrying on with their illegal enterprise because there were some law enforcement agents who were looking the other way after receiving bribes. We have put an end to that and that is why everything has gone back to normal. Trade with the outside world should take place via legal entry points at the borders and not through the bush,” he said.

Assistant Commissioner Nyathi said the recent successes in combating smuggling are largely due to the priceless support the police is receiving from members of the public who are supplying tip-offs regarding the movement of the smugglers.

“These smugglers are cunning and dynamic. They change their operations and routes daily in order to evade arrests, but members of the public have been supplying useful information resulting in numerous arrests. This is the cooperation we need because smuggling bleeds the economy and it affects us all.

A litany of strategies has been put in place so that we deal with smuggling once-and-for-all. I cannot tell you everything because that will jeopardise our operations, but what I can assure you is that there will be no peace for would-be smugglers.

“On the other hand, the media played a big part in exposing this rot and bringing everything to the attention of the authorities. This is the kind of coverage we need to bring out corrupt activities,” he said.

Assistant Commissioner Nyathi also said the recent arrest of three suspects who had smuggled more than 19 000 litres of diesel into the country through Chipinge show that law enforcement agents are manning the entire borderline.

He said some of the smugglers who ordinarily used illegal routes near Mutare have shifted and are now trying out some routes in remote places.

“We have all the information and law enforcement agencies are manning the length and breadth of the entire borderline. Everything should get into the country through official points,” he reiterated.

The three suspects from Harare were last week hauled before a Mutare provincial magistrate on allegations of contravening the Customs and Exercise Act after they had smuggled 19 000litres of diesel from Mozambique via an illegal crossing point at Southdowns in Chipinge.

The trio – Charles Dube (54), Tanaka Kwaadini (27) and Dennis Chinokora (27) – appeared before Mr Langton Mukwengi and were denied bail.

Public prosecutor, Mr Tafadzwa Chiwanza said on July 14, Assistant Inspector Onward Tembedza received information that some trucks were smuggling fuel into Zimbabwe using an undesignated crossing border point in Chipinge

A team of four police officers from Mutare Central District Police Intelligence Unit reacted to the information and laid an ambush at the Southdowns illegal crossing point near Makuyana Village.

Mr Chiwanza said the police officers spotted an unregistered DAF CF tanker truck crossing into Zimbabwe and intercepted it.

Upon being interviewed, the occupants indicated that they were carrying approximately 19 000 litres of diesel.

They failed to produce the relevant documents and the tanker was subsequently impounded and escorted to ZRP Mutare Central together with the accused persons.

— Manica Post

Tinashe Sambiri|MDC Alliance leader President Nelson Chamisa has urged citizens to register to vote in numbers as doing so is the only way effective way of getting rid of political violence, rampant looting and propaganda.

Zimbabwe is expected to enter a new era of new politics, according to President Chamisa.

The citizens are suffering as a result of looting of national resources by Zanu PF bigwigs.

“NEW POLITICS ..We must get rid of the politics of dishonesty, propaganda, violence and looting.

We must fix what is broken and rotten in our politics.

Fresh ideas, thought leadership and accountable representatives built around the community and citizens is essential.

It’s time for COMMUNITY EMBEDDED LEADERSHIP #newthingsahead,” President Chamisa wrote on his official Facebook page.

Tinashe Sambiri|MDC Alliance leader President Nelson Chamisa has urged citizens to register to vote in numbers as doing so is the only way effective way of getting rid of political violence, rampant looting and propaganda.

Zimbabwe is expected to enter a new era of new politics, according to President Chamisa.

The citizens are suffering as a result of looting of national resources by Zanu PF bigwigs.

“NEW POLITICS ..We must get rid of the politics of dishonesty, propaganda, violence and looting.

We must fix what is broken and rotten in our politics.

Fresh ideas, thought leadership and accountable representatives built around the community and citizens is essential.

It’s time for COMMUNITY EMBEDDED LEADERSHIP #newthingsahead,” President Chamisa wrote on his official Facebook page.

By A Correspondent- A Zanu-PF dark horse has emerged in Marondera Central constituency ahead of a looming primary elections, resulting in party members diverting attention from traditional contestants.

Richard Mavhunga, a former top army officer and businessman, reportedly submitted his curriculum vitae (CV) to represent the ruling party during the by-elections after the seat fell vacant following the recalling of opposition MDC Alliance’s Caston Matewu.

Mavhunga will be battling against traditional rivals Lawrence Katsiru and educationist Cleopas Kundiona, who all have since submitted their CVs.

Mavhunga went quiet in 2013 after he was barred by the late former President Robert Mugabe from contesting in Marondera West constituency to pave way for Ambrose Mutinhiri.

He was forced to withdraw his nomination papers as an independent candidate after being muscled out of the race.

Mutinhiri went uncontested in Zanu-PF for the Marondera West seat, which he went on to win against the MDC-T.

In the 2018 harmonised elections, Mavhunga stood as an independent candidate for Marondera West after losing to Zanu-PF’s Sphiwe Mukunyaidze in the ruling party primaries.

Mavhunga is now targeting Marondera Central, which was won by MDC Alliance’s Matewu during the 2018 general polls.

Matewu beat Kundiona, who represented Zanu-PF after beating Katsiru in the party’s internal polls.

Mavhunga yesterday confirmed that he had submitted his CVs to contest for the Marondera Central seat.

“I have submitted my CVs to contest for the Marondera Central seat,” Mavhunga said.

“I am ready for the primary elections. I arrived at this decision as I feel that this constituency lacks proper candidates who can return the seat to Zanu-PF. The new dispensation demands vibrant people who can also win people to the party as we move towards the five million votes campaign for 2023 elections.”

Zanu-PF is currently inviting CVs from its members to fill the vacant seats, among them Murewa South and Marondera East constituencies.

-newsday

By A Correspondent- A Zimunya man left the court dumbfounded after admitting being intimate to a cow “because all women were rejecting his love proposals”.

John Muchiriwesi (24), from Nehwangura Village under Chief Zimunya in Mutare, appeared before magistrate Langton Mukwengi charged with bestiality.

Asked by the magistrate why he was intimate with a cow, the accused said he had no girlfriend.

“My Lord, all girls I am proposing are rejecting me. That was the reason why I decided to be intimate with the cow,” he said.

It is the State’s case that on March 26, 2021 at around 11am, the complainant, Simbarashe Nkomo, left his four cattle tied with a rope in the paddock grazing pasture and proceeded home.

On the same day, the complainant went to the paddock to check the cattle.

He saw the accused tying the cow’s legs to a tree using a rope. He removed his trousers and pants and become intimate with the cow.

When Muchiriwesi saw the Nkomo heading towards his direction, he picked his clothes and ran away.

He will be back in court next week for judgment.

By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwean man deported from the UK Shepherd Masvanhire has apologised to his family and all Zimbabweans especially women for killing his wife adding that he regrets his mistake.

He said:

“I apologise to all Zimbabweans and all women…. I killed one person and ….if you hate me that much come and see me…i know i have made my mistake … i take full responsibility of my actions.”

Watch Masvanhire speak…..

TBy Wilbert Mukori- Zimbabweans are a naive and gullible people, easily fooled; hence the reason the country is in such a mess. Indeed, in some cases as now we like to be fooled so we do not have to deal with the consequences of knowing the truth!

Only a village idiot believes Zimbabwe has had 88 415 corona virus cases and 2 747 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic. One of the reasons why the numbers have remained very low is because the regime has not been testing for the virus even when common sense dictated it. By not testing, tracing and tracking as diligently as we should we have allowed many people with the virus to continue to mix and spread the virus.

We have found comfort in the official figures suggesting there are very few people out there with the virus and dying from it. False comfort since many more people have the virus and died than the official figures and more significantly hundreds of thousands of those who had the virus and thousands of the died would have been spared if only the nation had the common sense to demand to know the truth and due diligence in the testing!

We are a foolish and conceited people who insist on seeing what we want to see regardless of how far-fetched that happens to be from the reality.  Zimbabwe is in this hell-on-earth of our own making and we are not getting out of it by pretending everything is just fine!

The corona virus has happened at the time when Zimbabwe was already down and out after decades of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and rank lawlessness making the country a Banana Republic in which nothing worked. The idea that the country has fared much, much better than countries like SA with a robust economy, working health care services, etc. is just nonsense.

SA has over 2 million corona virus cases and over 68 000 deaths and Zimbabwe, with ¼ SA’s population and an all but collapsed health care service and economy, should be faring far worse than having ¼ of SA’s cases and deaths. Instead of over 500 000 cases and 17 000 deaths; Zimbabwe, officially, has 88 415 cases and 2 747 deaths, less than 20% in each case. No wonder the Zanu PF regime has been bragging about it!

“Despite Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 response being one of the best on the continent as evidenced by fewer deaths and infections as compared to other nations, for government, a single death is one too many,” boasted Zimbabwe’s Minister of Information (read Propaganda), Monica Mutsvangwa.

In a way that there should be such a wide discrepancy between the official corona virus cases and the real numbers on the ground should not come as a surprise; Zanu PF ruling elite have always ridden roughshod over the masses denying them their freedoms and rights including their right to a meaningful say in the governance of the country and even the right to life.

The testing, tracking and isolation protocol was diligently carried out to reduce any of the ruling elite getting the virus; the protocol was largely ignored when it was the life of povo at stake.

To include all the corona virus cases and deaths among the povo in the official count would have exposed the Zanu PF regime’s blundering incompetence in the handling of the pandemic and that was sacrilege.

Indeed, the first thing the Zanu PF regime soon after the outbreak of the pandemic was to ensure it alone controlled who get tested of the virus and only the official figures are released for publication. A 20-year jail sentence awaits anyone who publish anything other than the official corona virus cases and deaths.

A 20-year jail sentence for taking away Zanu PF’s bragging right that the regime’s handling of the corona virus pandemic is “one of the best on the continent” although we all know that is a lie. Worse still, this is a damned lie that has helped the virus spread more widely and faster causing more economic disruption and more human misery and deaths.

There is not one Zimbabwean out there with half a working brain who does not know that the official covid-19 cases and deaths are damned lies; they know in country of 15 million the undertakers would not be overwhelmed by 50 or so additional deaths per day over the normal.

And yet the majority of Zimbabweans have elected to believe the damned lie “Zanu PF’s handling of the pandemic is one of the best on the continent” because to do otherwise will force them out of their sloth-like slumber – this, just like Zanu PF’s lying, is nothing new.

Zanu PF blatantly rigged the 2018 elections; the regime denied over 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora the vote (more than the 2.4 million who voted for Mnangagwa), ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll, etc.; and still the regime maintain the elections were legal, free, fair and credible.

Zimbabweans, for the sake of maintaining their sloth-like slumber have pretended their right to free and fair elections is not a right but a privilege and so the blatant vote rigging was all water off a duck’s back.

It is true that in the long run, each nation get the government it deserves; we in Zimbabwe certainly deserve this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship complete with the entourage of equally corrupt and useless opposition parties.

Zimbabwe is in this man-made economic and political mess because for the last 41 years and counting Zimbabweans have maintained this stony indifference to criminal waste of the nation’s material and human resources, causing untold human suffering and deaths, by the country’s ruling elite.

It sickens me to admit this but readily do so because it will kill me not to; it is far better to throw up, unsightly as that may be, than hold down the poison.

Mankind is a creature of reason and one does not need to be a rocket scientist to an election in which 30% plus of the electorate are denied the vote cannot be a free and fair election.  When 49% of the population is languishing in abject poverty, basic services such as education and health care have all but collapsed and the corona virus is caused heart-breaking human sufferings and deaths – far more that the official lies; surely this must force everyone out of their sloth-like slumber and demand change. Sadly, the sloth has not even stirred!

The corona virus storm is not done yet, Zimbabwe will have done very well indeed if the country was to vaccinate the 10 million herd immunity by this time next year (the regime claims it will achieve this target by end of the year, that is doubtful given it took six months to vaccinate 1 million (first dose) and 600 000 (required two doses) and so the grime-ripper has time to increase the covid-19 cases and deaths toll.

And as long as the country remains a Banana Republic governed by corrupt, incompetent and murderous tyrants who are not democratically accountable to the people, the country’s relentless march deeper and deeper into this man-made hell will continue; the march will continue as long as the people remain in their sloth-like slumber. The sloth-like slumber has lasted 41 years now, only time will tell how much longer it will last?

By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe will only hold by-elections if the country vaccinates about 10 million people, representing 60% of the population required to reach herd immunity, Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has said.

In October last year, government through Vice-President and Health Minister Constantino Chiwenga ordered the suspension of by-elections citing COVID-19 fears.

The by-elections were necessitated by the recall of MDC Alliance MPs by the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC-T and deaths of some MPs, which left about 26 seats vacant, according to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec).

Contributing to parliamentary debate on the Zec report for the year 2020 on Thursday, Ziyambi said the country was sticking to the suspension of by-elections due to COVID-19.

He said polls would only take place upon achievement of the vaccination targets.

“You do not vote when you are dead. You do not exercise your democratic rights when you are dead,” Ziyambi said.

“I believe that all things being equal, once we have reached herd immunity, we are going to vote. So for now, we stick to the laws that are there.”

In April this year, Chiwenga said the country was targeting the 10 million vaccination mark by year-end to allow life to get back to normal.

Of the intended target, only 1 352 514 had received their first doses by Thursday, while 664 587 had received their second jab.

But Dzivarasekwa MP Edwin Mushoriwa (MDC Alliance) said Zec was not moving with speed to fulfil its mandate and the delay was prejudicing the electorate currently not represented in Parliament.

“If you check the Zec report of 2020 and then you check its mandate and what it is supposed to do, you will realise that there are a lot of gaps that need to be filled,” he said.

“As we speak right now, we have got numerous vacancies in the House and a number of constituencies do not have MPs. A number of wards in this country do not have councillors. By-elections and representation is the key ingredient in a democratic society.”

Mushoriwa said the failure to conduct by-elections in a country with at least 20% of the people not represented was putting the “democratic ethos of a country in jeopardy”.

“We do not want to have a situation where other people will then tend to view the electoral commission as a commission in handcuffs,” he said.

“It appears as if it is doing the bidding of other people rather than the mandate which it was given by the Constitution and the people of Zimbabwe.”

Mushoriwa said a lot of gatherings had been allowed to proceed in Zimbabwe and raised questions why government was particular in stopping by-elections.

“We have had quite a number of church gatherings, some apostolic sects having more than 10 000 people gathered at a shrine.

“Right now, we are here passing laws, budgets and other things, but we also need to be cognisant — what about the people of Kuwadzana, who do not have a voice in Parliament? What about the people in Highfield, in Mkoba, they also need to have their voice. They need to have a channel upon which they can throw in some of their recommendations and some of the things that they want Parliament to do and to change.”

The MDC Alliance desperately wants the by-elections to regain its parliamentary presence after losing most of its legislators, a development that also forced it to lose funding under the Political Parties (Finance) Act.

Yesterday, Zec announced that it had suspended operations for two weeks due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is hereby notified for the general public that all Zimbabwe Electoral Commission offices across the country will temporarily close for 14 days from July 26, 2021 to August 8, 2021; in response to rising COVID-19 cases countrywide,” Zec chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba said in a statement.

Zimbabwe has recorded 95 722 new infections and 63 819 recoveries in the past two weeks.

-Newsday

By A Correspondent MDC-T leader Douglas Mwonzora has insisted that his party was the only legitimate owner and rights holder to the name first used in 1999.

Speaking during a question and answer session on HSTV, an Alpha Media online radio and television platform, Mwonzora said his party was the only legitimate holder of the name MDC.

“I know only one legitimate holder of that name and that is the MDC-T, it is also the legitimate holder of the name MDC Alliance,” Mwonzora said.

“I am not dreaming about this, it is documented. I don’t know what other leaders are going to do, but you are going to find our political party on the ballot paper,” he added.

He told MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa to look for a new name for his political party ahead of the 2023 general elections.

“Our aim is not to stop people from contesting the election; people who want to contest the election must be free to contest an election,” he said.

“People who have formed their own party must have the courage of using the names of their new political parties.”

The MDC has splinted several times since its formation in 1999. In 2005, its split led to the formation of MDC by Welshman Ncube. Later, Job Sikhala formed his MDC99, but none of them were dragged to court over name use.

But Mwonzora said he would deal with anyone who attempted to use the name MDC during an election.

“We are definitely going to be the users of the MDC name because it is in black and white, anybody who wants to steal our name we will deal with that,” he said.

There has been uncertainty in Chamisa’s camp over its continued use of the name MDC Alliance after Mwonzora said the name belongs to his party because it was the party that went into an alliance with the other parties.

MDC Alliance vice-president Tendai Biti has, however, come out saying there was no need to get a new name, but instead, they could ditch the affix Alliance and adopt a Chamisa as the affix.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has, however, said it was more concerned with symbols than party names when accepting nomination papers for the purposes of

elections.

The Zimbabwe Elections Support Network has been advocating for laws to register political parties in order to allow regulation for the purposes of determining those entitled to receive public funds.

-NewsDay

By A Correspondent- The smuggling of liquor, cigarettes, bags of cement, and building materials through the Zambezi River into Binga has been on the rise, with police accused of facilitating illegal activity.

Concerned communities along the banks of the mighty Zambezi River bordering the country with Zambia have called for the intensification of security patrols to curb the vice.

Smugglers were reported to be smuggling the items, most of them in high demand in the country.

Binga residents alleged that police assisted smugglers to cross the Zambezi River to the nearest Zambian town, where they buy their goods and smuggle them back into the country.

“Through assistance by the police officers, many people cross the mighty Zambezi River into the nearest towns in Zambia where they buy goods for resale in Binga and other towns like Hwange and Bulawayo,” a resident, Davis Mupande, said.

“Police officers’ cars help smugglers transport their goods from the shores of the river to their houses. Police have been involved in high smuggling deals, compromising their roles as security agents, who should protect the State from such corruption practices.”

Another resident who requested anonymity said police officers sometimes fought over the smugglers.

“The water transporters are also linked to the police for the swift movements in the water. At times, the police officers fight for clients (smugglers) to transport goods from the shores to inland,” he said.

“The key leading agents usually smuggle alcohol, mealie-meal, bales of clothes, cement, building materials and many other goods found in their shops.”

The source said one of the boats drowned two weeks ago while trying to cross the river.

“Recently, a rig sank while attempting to cross from Zambia to Zimbabwe’s Binga border harbour overloaded with a variety of goods ranging from groceries to cement, and many more. Most of the transporters are controlled by the police officers,” the sources said.

Matabeleland North provincial police spokesperson Inspector Glory Banda declined to comment saying he was not at work.

“I am not going to say anything on this issue because I am not at work at the moment,” he said.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi requested Southern Eye to call later, but he was no longer picking calls when further efforts to get his comment were made.

By A Correspondent- Police in Bulawayo on Thursday intercepted a haulage truck that is suspected to have been carrying smuggled goods looted in South Africa.

Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Officer Commanding Bulawayo Province, Commissioner Patton Mbangwa confirmed the arrest of a suspected smuggler who was offloading some goods along Harare road in the dead of night. Said Comm Mbangwa:

Our men were on patrol and intercepted this truck along the Zuva garage. They saw this truck offloading goods into the other truck and when they approached the truck one of the trucks took off.

It is then when police discovered that this haulage truck has these goods. The driver of the white truck was chased by police and dumped the vehicle only to appear this morning.

From the look of things, it is visible that these goods did not enter the country legally. The proper destination of this consignment is Msasa in Harare.

You may be aware that there were lootings in South Africa and we suspect that these are some of these goods.

We are now investigating how these goods managed to get into the country and who the owners are.

Comm Mbangwa called on members of the public to report any suspects with looted goods to their nearest police station.

He said Zimbabwe’s relationship with South Africa should remain cordial as it is and the ZRP will not allow Zimbabwe to be a destination for stolen goods that belongs to a neighbour.

Added Comm Mbangwa:

Recent deadly riots in South Africa’s Kwazulu-Natal and Gauteng Provinces resulted in the looting of malls and warehouses and the closure of busy highways, with the country economy estimated to have lost over 20 billion rands

-ZBC

By A Correspondent- A youthful Headlands businessman was last week gunned down by robbers who made off with US$1 500 cash and other goods.

Mr Knowledge Kapfava (27) died days later after succumbing to the wounds.

Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Luxson Chananda confirmed the robbery.

The robbers, who are still at large, also attacked another Headlands businessman, Mr Paradzai Nyarugwe, and stole US$1 500, groceries and a Toyota Ipsum vehicle

Mr Nyarugwe sustained serious injuries after being severely assaulted all over the body with electric cables.

“The five robbers, who were on a looting spree, were armed with pistols and electric cables. They broke into Mr Kapfava’s shop at Nyamombe Business Centre in Mayo and stole US$1 500 and some groceries. They shot him several times on his thigh and tied him with cloths before vanishing from the scene. Mr Kapfava died a few days after the incident,” said Inspector Chananda.

The incident happened a few hours after the five robbers had pounced on Mr Nyarugwe (77) near the business centre.

The five produced pistols and demanded cash from him.

The gang stole US$1 500, a Samsung laptop, a television set and data cables from Mr Nyarugwe.

“They demanded Mr Nyarugwe’s car keys and assaulted him with electric cables all over his body. They drove Mr Nyarugwe’s Toyota Ipsum vehicle to Nyamombe Business Centre where they attacked Mr Kapfava,” said Inspector Chananda.

He appealed to members of the public with information leading to the arrest of the five to contact their nearest police station.

In March, two gun-toting robbers pounced on a Headlands service station and shot a fuel attendant, before vanishing with US$700.

The duo approached Kumbirai Marozva and Silence Makandiona at Energy Park Service Station and demanded cash.

They shot Marozva and left him for dead.

-ManicaPost

By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe will not hold by-elections any time soon as it needs to vaccinate about 10 million people, representing 60% of the population required to reach herd immunity.

As of Friday, 23 July 2021, only 1 400 905 people had received the first jab, while 671 155 people had received both doses.

In October 2020, the government through Vice-President and Health and Child Care Minister Constantino Chiwenga ordered the suspension of by-elections citing COVID-19 fears.

On Thursday Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi said the country was sticking to the suspension of by-elections due to COVID-19.
He said elections would only take place upon the achievement of the vaccination targets. Ziyambi said this while contributing to a parliamentary debate on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) report for the year 2020. He said:
You do not vote when you are dead. You do not exercise your democratic rights when you are dead.
I believe that all things being equal, once we have reached herd immunity, we are going to vote. So for now, we stick to the laws that are there.
The by-elections were necessitated by the recall of MDC Alliance MPs by the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC-T and deaths of some MPs across the political divide, which left about 26 seats vacant, according to ZEC.
Meanwhile, Dzivarasekwa MP Edwin Mushoriwa (MDC Alliance) said ZEC was not moving with speed to fulfil its mandate and the delay to hold by-elections was prejudicing the electorate currently not represented in Parliament.

-NewsDay

By A Correspondent- Former MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu and newly appointed Commissioner of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) is under fire by pro-democracy grouping, Zimrights over his affiliation to Zanu PF.

Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights), a National Transitional Justice Working Group Zimbabwe (NTJWG) member, recently filed an application demanding that Gutu be removed from NPRC as section 286 of the Constitution forbids political party actors from serving as NPRC commissioners. The NTJWG statement read:
Dzikamai Bere, the executive director of ZimRights, who deposed the founding affidavit, had submitted that on March 17, 2021, Gutu joined Zanu PF amid pomp and fanfare at State House where he was welcomed to the political party by President Mnangagwa.
But in a shock response, while admitting the reports and the article (Sunday Mail, 21 March: Why I joined Zanu PF) explaining his decision to join Zanu PF, Gutu submitted that he was yet to submit a formal application and had not paid the required joining fee. He said he had abandoned the idea of joining Zanu PF when he was appointed to NPRC.

Ironically, Gutu was in March paraded at State House by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who announced that the former MDC-T vice-president had defected to the ruling party.
Some have been calling for Gutu’s dismissal from NPRC over his recent remarks on Gukuruhundi atrocities that killed over 20 000 civilians in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.

Gutu said Gukurahundi constituted a small fraction of the issues the NPRC was dealing with.

By A Correspondent- A Youthful Headlands businessman has been gunned down by robbers who made off with US$1 500 cash and other goods.

Mr Knowledge Kapfava (27) died days later after succumbing to the wounds.

Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Luxson Chananda confirmed the robbery.

The robbers, who are still at large, also attacked another Headlands businessman, Mr Paradzai Nyarugwe, and stole US$1 500, groceries and a Toyota Ipsum vehicle.

Mr Nyarugwe sustained serious injuries after being severely assaulted all over the body with electric cables.

“The five robbers, who were on a looting spree, were armed with pistols and electric cables. They broke into Mr Kapfava’s shop at Nyamombe Business Centre in Mayo and stole US$1 500 and some groceries. They shot him several times on his thigh and tied him with cloths before vanishing from the scene. Mr Kapfava died a few days after the incident,” said Inspector Chananda.

The incident happened a few hours after the five robbers had pounced on Mr Nyarugwe (77) near the business centre.
The five produced pistols and demanded cash from him.
The gang stole US$1 500, a Samsung laptop, a television set and data cables from Mr Nyarugwe.

“They demanded Mr Nyarugwe’s car keys and assaulted him with electric cables all over his body. They drove Mr Nyarugwe’s Toyota Ipsum vehicle to Nyamombe Business Centre where they attacked Mr Kapfava,” said Inspector Chananda.

He appealed to members of the public with information leading to the arrest of the five to contact their nearest police station.

In March, two gun-toting robbers pounced on a Headlands service station and shot a fuel attendant, before vanishing with US$700.

The duo approached Kumbirai Marozva and Silence Makandiona at Energy Park Service Station and demanded cash.
They shot Marozva and left him for dead. – Manica Post

By A Correspondent- Umuguza women have lost ZAR 1300 and cellphones to ten armed robbers.

The armed robbers struck in Umguza at the Mgambela shops in Matabeleland North province and robbed two women

Police on their Twitter page said the women were robbed on Tuesday and are appealing for information to help their investigations.

“Police in Nkulumane are appealing for information which may aid investigations of a robbery case which occurred on 20/07/21 at Mgambela shops, Umguza. Two women who were employed as a shopkeeper and cashier were attacked and robbed by 10 suspects of cash amounting to ZAR 13 200 and US$15, cellphones, shoes and other valuables,” tweeted the police.

By A Correspondent- Bulawayo police have intercepted a Toyota Quantum vehicle, stolen from neighbouring South Africa, along the Bulawayo-Beitbridge highway.

Sharing a picture of the Toyota Quantum, which is generally used by cross-border transporters, police said Wiseman Ndlovu (35) and Nkosilomusa Ndlovu (42), were arrested at a roadblock along The Bulawayo-Beitbridge Road.

The duo tried to disable the tracker on the vehicle but failed.

By A Correspondent- Police in Bulawayo have impounded a South African truck carrying smuggled groceries worth more than R200 000.

The Zambia bound truck was intercepted along the Bulawayo-Harare Road near Zuva garage while the driver, Mr Phila Vilakazi, was trying to offload the goods into another truck heading to Kwekwe.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednego Ncube said the owners of the smuggled goods failed to produce paperwork proving that the groceries came through the Zimbabwean border.

“This vehicle was impounded by the Zimbabwe Republic Police, central traffic department, along Harare Road behind Zuva garage. This was after police on patrol enforcing Covid-19 regulations and traffic regulations noticed that there were two trucks which were exchanging some properties and goods,” said Insp Ncube.

“Police officers interviewed them and Mr Vilakazi indicated that he was from South Africa going to Zambia. Police also discovered that the groceries put on top of what Vilakazi was intending to take to Zambia did not have any papers proving they had been cleared.”

Insp Ncube said in the middle of that, some members of the public came to the scene and claimed to be owners of the groceries.

“They also attempted to bribe police officers who turned them down. One of the truck drivers attempted to run away and only appeared this morning to claim his vehicle as both cars were taken to Ross Camp,” he said.

“We will continue doing our best to arrest anyone found with goods that are not declared as they are not welcome into the country. We encourage members of the public to continue cooperating and to report any suspicious transactions,” he said.

By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe will not hold by-elections any time soon as it needs to vaccinate about 10 million people, representing 60% of the population required to reach herd immunity.

As of Friday, 23 July 2021, only 1 400 905 people had received the first jab, while 671 155 people had received both doses.

In October 2020, the government through Vice-President and Health and Child Care Minister Constantino Chiwenga ordered the suspension of by-elections citing COVID-19 fears.

On Thursday Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi said the country was sticking to the suspension of by-elections due to COVID-19.
He said elections would only take place upon the achievement of the vaccination targets. Ziyambi said this while contributing to a parliamentary debate on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) report for the year 2020. He said:
You do not vote when you are dead. You do not exercise your democratic rights when you are dead.
I believe that all things being equal, once we have reached herd immunity, we are going to vote. So for now, we stick to the laws that are there.
The by-elections were necessitated by the recall of MDC Alliance MPs by the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC-T and deaths of some MPs across the political divide, which left about 26 seats vacant, according to ZEC.
Meanwhile, Dzivarasekwa MP Edwin Mushoriwa (MDC Alliance) said ZEC was not moving with speed to fulfil its mandate and the delay to hold by-elections was prejudicing the electorate currently not represented in Parliament.

-NewsDay

A CHIMANIMANI man will spend the next 10 years in jail after fatally assaulting his wife for failing to buy him some beer.

Amos Gwinya was convicted of murder as defined in Section 47(1)(a) or (b) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23 by Mutare High Court judge, Justice Isaac Muzenda last week.

Mr Malvern Musarurwa prosecuted.

The court heard that on March 6, 2020 at Mutambara Mission staff quarters in Chimanimani, Gwinya demanded money for alcohol from his wife, Nyasha Mudzimu.

When she didn’t give him anything, he physically attacked her all over the body.

Mudzimu, who was a teacher at Mutambara Mission, sustained serious injuries and died on April 6.

Testifying in court, Mudzimu’s domestic worker, Anymore Mabvira, said she heard Gwinya demanding money from Mudzimu.

She said she later heard Mudzimu shouting that Gwinya was killing her.

In the company of neighbours, Mabvira knocked on Mudzimu’s bedroom door.

When Gwinya opened the door, Mudzimu was lying on the floor.

“Mudzimu got up and tried to escape. While in the passage, Gwinya punched her with a fist on the forehead. Mudzimu managed to escape, but Gwinya followed her. While outside, she fell down and Gwinya dragged her for about eight metres.

“He kicked and stamped on her body before neighbours could restrain him,” testified Mabvira.

Mudzimu became unconscious and was frothing from the mouth and nose.

She was rushed to Mutambara Mission Hospital before being transferred to Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital.

However, she succumbed to the injuries and died a month later.

Dr Dominic Nkulu who carried out a post-mortem on Mudzimu concluded that the cause of death was due to head injuries.- Manica Post

Tinashe Sambiri| MDC Alliance leader, President Nelson Chamisa has implored citizens to exercise extreme caution and abide by laid down protocols as COVID-19 continues to cause havoc across the country.

According to President Chamisa, every gathering is a potential superspreader of the deadly virus.

“These past weeks we lost many of our loved ones.

Many have been sharing their experiences with #COVID19. The virus doesn’t move on its own, it needs people.

Fellow citizens, treat yourself as a potential carrier. Every gathering is a potential super-spreader.

Let’s observe Covid protocols! Let’s us steadfastly PRAY to defeat this pandemic. Only God saves,” President Chamisa wrote on his official Facebook page.

Health experts the COVID-19 delta variant is more lethal than the previous infections.

The nation is currently battling to contain the spread of the deadly virus.