Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs dismissed TTM 3-0 in a DStv Premiership match.
Gavin Hunt’s men were struggling a couple of weeks back with only one victory in the 2020/21 campaign but three wins on the trot have brought them back on track.
It appears as if they haven’t missed Khama Billiat either; having won all games after the diminutive Zimbabwean winger limped off in the 0-2 defeat to Maritzburg United.
On the back of 2-1 victory over Cape Town City, Amakhosi got the better of TTM thanks to goals by Nkosingiphile Nhlakanipho Ngcobo, Lebogang Manyama and Happy Mashiane.
They are now 7th on the table with 16 points from 12 games.-Soccer 24 Zimbabwe
To say the Warriors cannot afford to lose their CHAN 2021 Group A match against Burkina Faso today is a big understatement.
Zdvravko Logarusic’s troops play the Stallions, who are equally desperate for a win to save their campaign, at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium with a ‘no margin for error’ situation on the back of their minds, having lost to Cameroon in the opener last week.
Should they lose to Burkina Faso, the Warriors will stay in Yaoundé only to fulfill the last match against Mali, which will consequently be a dead rubber.
They need to collect maximum points to keep alive their chance of progressing to the next round of the biannual tournament.
Logarusic faces an uphill task for that to happen though; the Croat is trying to motivate an injury and illness-hit Warriors squad.
Five players have been ruled out of the must-win clash through illness and injury respectively, leaving Logarusic with only 15 infield players to pick from.
He might make some changes though, with Denver Mukamba and King Nadolo tipped to start as the Warriors look for creativity in the middle of the park.
Marvelous Nakamba might have gotten plenty messages from Zimbabwean celebrities alike, such as Trevor Dongo, Freeman, and Etherton Beenie for his 27th birthday yesterday but the elephant in the room is that the soft-spoken midfielder’s future at Premier League side Aston Villa is at a cross-roads, yet again.
Once again and probably not for the last time, the Warriors star’s future at Villa Park is shrouded in uncertainty.
He has played a peripheral in the 2020/21 season and rarely features for Dean Smith’s side, especially in the league, with Douglas Luiz cementing his place in defensive midfield department.
To make things worse for Nakamba, Villa are reportedly pursuing, and close to signing highly-rated France and Marseille midfielder Morgan Sanson.
“Aston Villa have made an inquiry for Marseille’s former France Under-21 midfield man Morgan Sanson, who is available for around £15m,” reported BBC yesterday.
“The 26-year-old has been with Marseille since January 2017 and has been linked with a succession of Premier League clubs, including West Ham.
Villa have now begun talks with the French side and a deal could progress in this month’s transfer window. Marseille are prepared to sell in order to fund their own January signings.”
Galatasaray’s interest in the Zimbabwean is well- documented.-Soccer 24 Zimbabwe
By Taruberekera Masara- Primary and secondary education Minister Cain Mathema has to find a way of reopening schools to alleviate a disaster that is awaiting Zimbabwe’s school going children.
A generation is fastly being lost and it is compelling to issue a call for the government to prioritize school reopening and make classrooms as safe as possible.
While the urgency of arresting the Covid 19 crisis is primary, averting the irreversible harm to children’s education and well being is equally important.
It is imperative for the government to find a way of averting this brewing disaster. Schools must be opened.
Assertions by government run newspaper the Herald that current intervention measures by the government to school children and their education will be enough to help kids keep track are highly shocking.
Education has severely been disrupted, as schools struggle to cope with repeated closures and re-openings, and the transitioning.Even the options of digital and online schooling have never been handy enough.
These emergency measures have severely disadvantaged kids.
The only alternative is to open schools.
According to the World Bank, around 1.6 billion school children were affected by these closures at their peak (World Bank 2020).
“While the economic costs of closing businesses arise immediately and are thus very salient, closed schools and childcare centres have negative economic effects on the human capital accumulation of children that only arise in the long run”
“Education is a crucial determinant of future wages, and schools are an important driver of intergenerational mobility (Kotera and Seshadri 2017, Lee and Seshadri 2019)” they wrote.
It is increasingly becoming a reality that at the end of the lockdown restrictions we will have fifth or sixth graders whose reading levels will be that of a third grader or even worse. While we gloat in trying to arrest the disease through lockdowns,alternatives to serve the situations must be rolled out effectively and efficiently.
There is no room for excuse,its about a generation that can be lost,its about the future of our nation.
UNESCO warned that “Covid-19 school closures around the world will hit girls hardest”. Statistics on the ground in Zimbabwe points to a possibility that there will be “ drop-out rates which will disproportionately affect adolescent girls, further entrench gender gaps in education, and lead to increased risk of sexual exploitation, early pregnancy and early and forced marriage.”
Already country wide findings collated a tally of over400 school girls in Manicaland province who dropped out of school some with pregnancies.In Kwekwe three junior councillors eloped.
These are some of the so many cases whose cause could be largely school closures. According to World Vision, teenage pregnancy spiked during the Covid-19 lockdown, they added that the crisis is now is threatening to bar 1 million girls across sub-Saharan Africa from returning to school.
In their research study titled “Covid-19 Aftershock: Access Denied”, the organisation notes the pandemic caused “additional and unanticipated disruption”.
“School closures during crises can result in girls spending more time with men and boys than they would were they in school, leading to greater likelihood of engagement in risky sexual behaviour and increased risk of sexual violence exploitation.”
The adverse effects are exponentially wide Robert Jenkins UNICEF’s chief of education said:
“The closures not only interrupted educational progress; they also curtailed normal social interaction and limited access to essential services families relied on, including school nutrition and health programs, information on disease prevention, and access to clean water and sanitation.”
By and large the children are at loss. Deferment of opening schools have far reaching implications. There is need for rethink,remodelling and restructuring. Quickly.
It may be difficult to get children back to school following long-term school closures. Maintaining learning and links to schools during closures are crucial. Arguments have been that even during the time schools are closed radio and television education programs are being aired. While it is very positive to what extent are they effectively and efficiently beneficial. Are the services available for all. If an urban setting like Kwekwe does not have reception for radio and television what about remote areas like Chivi,Mbire,Guyu to mention a few. Who do we fool? Children need those four walls and a teacher in front of them.
The benefits of school closures should be balanced against the strong adverse effects. We should think ahead.
UNICEF made it clear that the needless closure of schools has no overarching goal. “What we have learned about schooling during the time of COVID is clear: the benefits of keeping schools open, far outweigh the costs of closing them, and nationwide closures of schools should be avoided at all costs”,
“Evidence shows that schools are not the main drivers of this pandemic. Yet we are seeing an alarming trend whereby governments are once again closing down schools as a first recourse rather than a last resort”
“In some cases, this is being done nationwide, rather than community by community, and children are continuing to suffer the devastating impacts on their learning, mental and physical well-being and safety”said Jenkins.
Teacher trade unions must also spare a thought for children beyond their advocacy for own members. We are losing a generation. Feedback on [email protected]
By Nomusa Garikai- Today, 20 January 2020, at exactly one minute past high noon Eastern Standard Time the whole of America will heave a huge sigh of relief. The four years of chaos, arrogance and down right lawlessness under Donald Trump rule are finally over.
On 19 November 1863 USA President Abraham Lincoln called upon all his fellow Americans to honour the many soldiers who had died in the civil war notably in the Gettysburg battle so that America’s democratic system government, “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Four years of Trump had tested America’s democracy like never before since the end of the civil war!
One of the central tenet of a health and functioning democracy is the respect of the rule of law. The one thing that mark Trump out as different is contempt of the law. He considering playing by the rules as a weakness.
The events leading to his impeachment showed just how much Trump wanted to win the 2020 presidential elections and used his position as US President to pressure the Ukrainian leaders to dig up some dirty on his political challenger. The Senate did not convict him but only because the Republican, Trump’s party, had the majority in the House.
When the results of the 3rd November 2020 presidential elections started coming in and it was clear Trump was losing, he denounce the election as a fraud. He was given ample opportunity to present the evidence to support his allegations in the courts and one after another his challenges were dismissed for lack of evidence.
Trump was recorded arguing a Georgia State Official to find him the 11 000 votes or so he needed to win that State!
Trump crossed the double red-lines when he ordered his supporters to storm Capitol Hill to stop the Senators from confirming Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as President and Vice President Elect. Trump supporters caused mayhem and five people died and several were injured in the violence.
The sole purpose of storming Capitol Hill was to reverse the people’s democratic wish of the 3 rd November vote, the ultimate expression of “government of the people, by the people, for the people”. The mob failed to reverse the people’s vote.
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” With these words President Joe Biden will become the 46th President of USA.
America’s government of the people, by the people and for the people lives on!
Tinashe Sambiri|Former Zanu PF MP Killer Zivhu has postulated that Douglas Mwonzora is too weak to challenge Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa in the 2023 Presidential election.
In his assertion, Zivhu notes that President Nelson Chamisa is the only man who can take on Mr Mnangagwa in the 2023 polls.
Although Zivhu was quick to point out that he would not stop supporting Mr Mnangagwa, he could not hide his admiration for President Chamisa.
“Bobi Wine all young people in Africa are behind you except those who are always used like free condoms in public toilets, who don’t believe young leadership can change Africa..
Get it right guys I don’t belong to any political party at the moment, 2023 my support goes to ED as the President .But we also need a strong opposition leader and Chamisa is the right candidate not Monzora.
I speak my mind don’t force me to speak yours, mavonero anosiyana I don’t have an Leader wokufadza because i don’t belong to any political party . Ndinotaura like any Zimbabwean anzwa nenhamo uye wangotarisira kuti Mwari vapindire mhuri dzedu dzirarame,” argued Zivhu.
By Gareth Carter- There is disquiet amongst exporters over the decision by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to increase foreign currency retention thresholds from 30% to 40%.
On January 8, the MPC came up with measures which were meant to enhance the administrative arrangements of the foreign exchange auction trading system, introduced in June last year.
As part of the measures, the surrender requirement on export receipts was reviewed from 30% to 40%, which means that exporters are now required to sell 40% of their export receipts to the RBZ at the prevailing foreign exchange auction rate.
The MPC then sought to ease the pain on exporters by removing the 60-day retention period on export receipts in a bid to give them flexibility on the utilization of their export receipts.
As such, exporters may now retain net export receipts in their Foreign Currency Accounts (FCAs) for an indefinite period.
But exporters have refused to be hoodwinked, saying the give-and-take approach taken by the Central Bank has left them in a far worse situation than before.
The said the development couldn’t have come at a worse time.
The Covid-19 pandemic, which has resulted in lockdowns, globally, has placed exporters, especially miners, in the jaws of death. To survive, miners actually need incentives as opposed to the stick.
While industry players don’t want to sound ungrateful for the abolition of the 60-day liquidation period for forex in our FCA, they said it is not healthy for the industry to be given less with one hand while more is taken from them with the other hand.
In an environment where the country is operating a dual economy – dominated by the informal sector –government policy mush seek to achieve equity between the two economies. In this case, foreign currency rates on the auction system have been outpaced by those on the alternative market, where the United States dollar (US$) is fetching well in excess of 120 Zimbabwe dollars (ZW$).
What that essentially means is that exporters are surrendering 40% of their foreign currency earnings to the RBZ at the ruling US$1 to ZW$82 against ZW$120 which they could have fetched on the parallel market. The difference between the two represents value which they foregoing for 40% of their export earnings.
The challenge for exporters then arises at many levels.
To start with, the foreign currency (60%) which they are retaining is not sufficient to cater for their import requirements. As a result, many of them are deferring capital projects. For miners, this affects geophysical exploration for minerals to extend the lifespan of their mines as well as the replacement of antiquated equipment, which puts lives in danger.
At the same time, the ZW$ being debited into their accounts for the surrendered 40% portion are a far cry of what is needed to support their local cash-flow needs, which are currently racing against inflation. Mind you, most mining consumables are payable in US$, not to mention taxes.
This places mining companies at a huge disadvantage when compared with their peers in stable economies whom retain 100 percent of what they earn.
It therefore doesn’t come as a surprise that Zimbabwe’s miners have missed on global rallies or boom in mineral prices, largely as a result of skewed policies.
Unfortunately, the latest development comes at a time when international markets are so unpredictable in terms of prices, with some metals, among them, chrome – plunging by as much as 35% at some point.
With the Covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc in international markets, the 30% retention threshold should have been scrapped or, at least, be maintained to give miners some breathing space during this difficult period. Sadly, the MPC had other ideas.
It is being hoped that the RBZ may bend backwards, more so, given that Zimbabwe has not been able to avail a rescue package to enable its exporters to pull through during this difficult period.
Because mining involves huge capital outlays and long-term planning, the frequent policy changes are certainly not helpful as they contribute to the climate of uncertainties that have, for years, been dogging the country’s economy.
Gareth Carter is an economist and researcher on mining matters. He is contactable at [email protected]
By Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo- No ways about it, we definitely need President Emmerson Mnangagwa around to make two serious resolutions around leadership, organization and Institutions.
We are way beyond politics, slogans, and bootlicking, we need each other. The rate at which people are dying, no time for cheap politics, bootlicking, blame game, slogans, this is the time to come together and bring solutions on the table.
My two cents advice worth taking, Mr President :
1. You must unite the nation, and Political leadership is expected to shelve cheap politics
2. Leaders, Organizations and Institutions must be your key priority areas
3. Government Institutions are literally dead, and we expect you to provide Strategic leadership. We have ZESA, NASSA, NET ONE and many others.
4. Why don’t you consider privatization of Strategic State companies?
5. The current cabinet is comprised of deadwood in some of the critical ministries. There is need for review, perhaps after wider consultation with citizen’s perspective
6. Institutional Framework is key on our judiciary, Parliament and Public Service Commission.
7. Do we still need two Vice President (s)? Considering the drama on state functions? One would be far much better to cut and redirect expenditure
8. Confrontational politics must come to an end. We need to seperate politics and Development.
9. We need a sound National Development Agenda and Policy for our country 10. SONE is now ripe for a clear tone or direction of our country 11. You must not keep the nation guessing on a proper Economic Recovery framework (plan), on the implications of Covid-19 pandemic
12. Food Security. Consider the value chain on pfumvudza project. It must reflect a business model approach 13. We need a proper Business Model approach on how to govern our country
14. Investment Policy must be reviewed.
15. We have only one TV station why? In this modern day society? Allow other private players to participate in the mainstream economy
16. The current crop of politicians around you represents the ” Old guard”, perhaps you may need fresh ideas around you.
17. Instead of a museum, why don’t you consider a State of the Art hospital around Warren Pk, or Heroes Acre area? You can channel those resources for a beautiful state of the art hospital
18. Kindly consider two approaches ; (a) Independent Advisory Board (b) Covid-19 Economic taskforce comprising of technocrats, Business Community, Researchers, politicians across political divide and corporate world leaders etc
19. Government must be a Solution oriented pivotal centre, for Strategy
20. Legacy is an important aspect of life when one is in ” office”
21. Our nation must not survive on handouts, but rather ” empowerment schemes” for citizens 22. As citizens, we stand guided by leadership, we expect answers on critical questions
23. Conflicting Statements from Ministers regarding Covid-19 pandemic, is a clear sign of policy inconsistency and old guard approach
24. Liberalizing the economy is vital for our situation 25. More attention is needed on productivity than politics. Money is not grown on trees, therefore we expect resources to be channeled towards industry for employment creation, tourism, mining, Agriculture, Infrastructure development etc. People want jobs not handouts.
Government must creat a conducive environment to enable Economic players and business to operate smoothly !!!
ZIST will be running a leadership and development online course , for more enquiries contact 0778387003
By A Correspondent| The late minister of foreign affairs and trade Sibusiso Moyo attended controversial businessman’s Kuda Tagwirei’s end of year mega party and four days later tested positive for Covid- 19, it has emerged.
Moyo, who is known for his role as the 2017 coup announcer on the national broadcaster ZBC-TV succumbed to Coronavirus today at a private hospital in Harare.
Moyo was very close to Tagwirei and was part of the well to do Zimbabweans who mixed and mingled at a mega party which has turned out to be a super spreader of Coronavirus.
The former army boss was confirmed dead this morning with President Emmerson Mnangagwa saying he lost a close friend.
Moyo is the latest top government official to succumb to the dreaded disease following the weekend death of Manicaland provincial affairs minister Ellen Gwaradzimba.
Perrance Shiri, another of the top military commanders who organized the 2017 coup, also died from Covid-19 last year. He was agriculture minister at the time.
Zimbabwe has seen Covid-19 cases spike everyday with 52 people succumbing to the disease in the last 24 hours.
The Emergency Committee will be reconvened within three months, at the discretion of the Director-General.
The Director-General thanked the Committee for its work.
Advice to the WHO Secretariat:
SARS-CoV-2 Variants
Continue to work with partners to develop standardized definitions and nomenclature of SARS-CoV-2 virus variants, based on their genetic sequence, that avoids stigmatization and is geographically and politically neutral. Provide clear information to State Parties on what constitutes a variant of concern.
Continue to increase worldwide capacities for SARS-CoV-2 molecular testing and genetic sequencing, in line with WHO guidance, and encourage rapid sharing of sequences and meta-data to strengthen monitoring of virus evolution and to increase global understanding of variants and their effects on vaccine, therapeutics and diagnostic efficacy. Strengthen the SARS-CoV-2 risk monitoring framework for variants by accelerating collaboration and harmonizing research to answer critical unknowns about specific mutations and variants, through relevant networks and expert groups such as WHO SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution Working Group and the WHO R&D Blueprint for Epidemics. COVID-19 Vaccines
Accelerate research on critical unknowns about COVID-19 vaccination efficacy on transmission, duration of protection against severe disease and asymptomatic infection, duration of immunity (following infection or vaccination), long-term protection after using different vaccination intervals, protection after a single dose, and vaccination regimes, in line with the SAGE and the Research and Development Blueprint recommendations.
Promote global solidarity and equitable vaccine access by encouraging States Parties and manufacturers to donate resources and provide support to the COVAX Facility. Promote technology transfer to low- and middle- income countries with the potential capacity to accelerate global production of COVID-19 vaccines. Support State Parties, including fragile states, in preparing for COVID-19 vaccine introduction by developing a national deployment and vaccination plan, in line with WHO guidance, that addresses barriers to COVID-19 vaccine readiness. Such planning should include prioritization of populations, regulatory authorization, supply and logistics preparation, indemnification and liability, health workforce planning, and access for humanitarian and vulnerable population. Health Measures in Relation to International Traffic
Lead development of risk-based international standards and guidance for reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission related to international travel (by air, land, and sea) based on current science and good practices that include clear recommendations for testing approaches and quarantine duration as appropriate. The guidance should additionally include advice on adapting those measure to specific risk settings, including movements of migrants, temporary workers, travellers and conveyance operators. Rapidly develop and disseminate the WHO policy position on the legal, ethical, scientific, and technological considerations related to requirements for proof of COVID-19 vaccination for international travelers, in accordance with relevant IHR provisions. Coordinate with relevant stakeholders the development of standards for digital documentation of COVID-19 travel-related risk reduction measures ,that can be implemented on interoperable digital platforms. This should include vaccination status in preparation for widespread vaccine access. Encourage States Parties to implement coordinated, time-limited, risk-based, and evidence-based approaches for health measures in relation to international travel.
Evidence-Based Response Strategies
Continue to rapidly provide and regularly update evidence-based advice; guidance; tools; and resources, including regular dissemination of resources to combat misinformation for COVID-19, to enhance evidence-based COVID-19 preparedness and response strategies and implementation of such strategies.
Surveillance
Continue to actively support countries to further strengthen their SARS-CoV-2 surveillance systems, including strategic use of genetic sequencing, by leveraging existing systems such as the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) and relevant networks for systematic sharing of data and specimens.
Strengthening Health Systems
Provide strategic insight on how State Parties can sustain the public health infrastructure, capacities, and functions developed for COVID-19 response to support strengthened health systems and universal health coverage in the long-term…
Credit:WHO
Inserted by Zimbabwe Online Health Centre
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Tinashe Sambiri|Transform Zimbabwe leader, Jacob Ngarivhume has hinted that he may not participate in the 2023 Presidential election.
Ngarivhume believes participating in the Presidential election will weaken the opposition.He also believes President Nelson Chamisa is a mature leader who deserves the support of all opposition members.
“Some people are asking me to revive Transform Zimbabwe- the political party I lead. But I believe now is the time for a new kind of mature politics. @nelsonchamisa leads the largest opposition party. By virtue of that he deserves our support.
My hope is that the MDC-A’s leadership may begin to engage the people of Zimbabwe and guide the process for reforms working with regional and international partners to take head-on the abuses in our country,” Ngarivhume wrote on Twitter.
By Jane Mlambo| Opposition leaders and political commentators have expressed concern over the continued abuse of the judiciary to lock up without trial, critical voices against government especially during this COVID-19 period, saying it is only exposing people to the pandemic.
Commenting on revelations by MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere that she had tested positive to COVID-19, Harare North legislator Rusty Markham questioned if government will continue holding on to incarcerated duo of Hopewell Chin’ono and Job Sikhala.
“I note that Advocate Fadzayi Mahere has tested positive, we note that Jacob Mafume was not well in prison. So will government hold Hopewell Chin’ono and Alan moyo in remand till they fall ill?”
Political commentator Dr Pedzisai Ruhanya said pre-trial detentions only served to expose people to COVID-19,
“ZANU PF must stop its pre-trial incarcerations against opposition activists and other citizens. These pre-trial detentions expose people to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
MDC Alliance vice President Tendai Biti had no kind words for the President Emmerson Mnangagwa administration charging that they must take responsibility for Mahere’s situation.
“The regime must take full responsibility of Advocate Mahere s situation . It must take full responsibility of every Zimbabwean who has succumbed to Covid 19 . Misgovernance , cluelessness & recklessness are crimes against humanity,” said Biti.
Mahere spend seven days in detention before she was granted bail on Monday this week while Sikhala, Chin’ono and a ZINASU leader Allan Moyo remain locked up waiting for bail appeal at the High Court.
Tinashe Sambiri|MDC Alliance National Spokesperson, Advocate Fadzayi Mahere has tested positive for Coronavirus.
In a statement on Wednesday morning, Advocate Mahere confirmed she tested positive for Coronavirus.
See her statement below:
Despite having been in an “isolation cell” and the “quarantine section” at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, I have tested positive for COVID-19, following seven days of pre-trial incarceration.
While I currently only have a cough and fever, I have chosen to share my results to draw attention to the deplorable state of our prison conditions and the very real threat faced by inmates at these facilities. I believe that in my own life, all experiences good and bad have been willed by God to teach me something deeper about humanity.
My present focus is a return to good health but my heart breaks for the many inmates who remain at the prisons. In this moment, I pray that my experiences spur us into action for those who society has tucked away in silence and mostly forgotten.
Their lives matter. I call on those with the authority to change things to look at the state of our prisons and respond accordingly.
COVID-19 is affecting us all. Now is the time to show leadership, pragmatism and humanity. As for those who continue to use lawfare as a tool to silence opposition voices, thank you for bringing to the light what has been forgotten in the dark. We must demand accountability for every Zimbabwean life under the supposed care of the State.
I ask that we not only pray for Zimbabwe but take responsibility for each other by wearing masks, social distancing, washing hands and avoiding gatherings. Most importantly let’s be kind to one another at a period when so many are going through so much. The consequences of poor leadership are evident but we the people should never tire of being exemplary in our conduct.
Tinashe Sambiri|Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa has officially announced the death of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister SB Moyo.
SB Moyo succumbed to Coronavirus on Wednesday morning.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announce Foreign Minister Dr SB Moyo has died.
Zimbabwe has lost a devoted public servant and a true hero, and I have lost a friend. He fought his entire life so that Zimbabwe could be free.
May he rest in peace,” Mr Mnangagwa said in a statement.
“Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Sibusiso Moyo (SB) has died.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Acting Minister Jenfan Muswere has confirmed the death but could not give further details,” ZBC News online reported.
Earlier today I spoke to Fadzayi Mahere who briefed me of the unsanitary conditions in our jails & her own positive COVID19 test after her unjust detention.
Her situation exemplifies the despicable tactics being used by the regime to weaponise this pandemic against opponents.
The unjust and prolonged detention of vocal citizens such as Job Sikhala, Hopewell Chin’ono and student Allan Moyo exposes them to unnecessary risk and further reveals the malicious intent of this regime in jailing opponents through unconstitutional provisions and repressive laws.
The true tragedy of such actions is the failure of the regime to recognize that COVID-19 has no political affiliation. It continues to affect countless citizens across the country without discretion and only sincere, well-informed and sensible leadership will help slow the spread.
Now is not the time for cheap politicking and irresponsible actions but rather an opportunity to ensure that the spotlight being cast on our public health institutions and prisons results in deliberate corrective action.
I implore all citizens to make it their duty to protect themselves and each other by adhering to guidelines as we work together to fight COVID-19. Every COVID 19 statistic is a human life.
By A Correspondent | Where is Kuda Tagwirei, at home, or at the prestigious hospital he personally funded and is now reportedly under the clinical care of?
Where is Kuda Tagwirei? STORY ON ZIMEYE: Contacted by ZimEye, Tagwjrei’s aide Hon Tino Machakaire said,
“it’s not true, no, he is okay” he said….
Asked concerning reports of Tagwirei being hospitalised, he said, “aah I don’t know what Wadyajena's) agenda is, but maybe…
A top aide close to businessman, Kuda Tagwirei has dismissed reports circulating claiming the man has succumbed to COVID-19.
Kuda Tagwirei
These also follow Gokwe Nembudziya MP Justice Wadyajena who has announced a death message suggesting Tagwirei has passed on.
Wadyajena who accuses Tagwirei of conducting a super-spreader party at the new year, once alleged that Tagwirei at one time fled the country with his family to the United Kingdom after his fuel company, Sakunda Holdings’ accounts were frozen by the RBZ.
He said of Tagwirei in October 2019″ he fled with his 3 kids in the middle of school term on 1 way tickets to UK.”
This time, the youthful Midlands MP has painted a picture of a dying Tagwirei on social media.
But contacted by ZimEye, Tagwjrei’s aide Hon Tino Machakaire said the allegations are not true.
“It’s not true, no, he is okay” he said.
Asked further, he added saying, ” no he is ok, he is alright, he is fine.”
Asked about reports of Tagwirei being hospitalised, he said, “aah I don’t know what his agenda is, but maybe he is dealing with speculation,” he told ZimEye.
At the time of writing calls to the businessman were failing, amid continuous ringtones and then sudden hang ups. ZimEye will keep are viewers and listeners updated of events as they unravel.
By Nomusa Garikai – “Ours must always be a story of hope. Of citizens who, knowing how ruthless & repressive this regime is, chose courage over inaction,” wrote Advocate Fadzai Mahere, MDC Alliance spokesperson.
Well those were very moving and courageous words especially in the light of what she had just gone through.
Fadzai Mahere was arrested and incarcerated last week for ‘publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state’. She had posting a video showing a baby supposedly killed by a policeman’s baton stick while strapped to its mother’s back.
She was writing about her “seven interminable nights of incarceration”.
“I was thrown into the all familiar lice-infested police cell with a drop toilet. The proverbial puddle of urine from last time and all the times before greeted me,” she narrated.
“Rather, it slapped my face. I was barefoot, having signed my shoes in upon entry as per procedure. There was no sanitizer, no facility to flush the loo, no sink and tap, no toilet paper and no sanitary bin. The blankets smelt of old urine. I shared the cell with 6 other ladies, most of whom were detained for breaching lockdown regulations.”
Zimbabwe’s prison service conditions are one of the worst in the world especially these days with the corona virus pandemic. Being send to prison in Zimbabwe is playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun!
What is so desperately annoying about Zimbabwe is our situation is a man-made problem. It is a Zanu PF man-made problem, in the first instance; 40 years and counting of Zanu PF gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and rank lawlessness has left the country in economic ruins and social and political chaos. In the second instance, more significantly for the nation going forward, this is a MDC man-made problem too.
Zanu PF thugs are ruthless all the other things named above but that is only the half of it; the other half is the regime’s breathtaking incompetence. The regime’s blundering incompetence has created many opportunities to end the party’s rule and the best opportunities, by a long country mile, were during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. And it was none other than the MDC leaders who wasted these chances.
To be fair to Advocate Mahere, she was not one of the MDC leaders who sold out during the GNU by failing to implement even one democratic reform.
The MDC leaders have since the GNU debacle continued participating in flawed and illegal elections wasting even more opportunities to force Zanu PF to implement reforms and thus end the curse of rigged elections. And it is not as if the MDC and the rest in the opposition camp did not know that by participating in these flawed elections they gave the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy. They knew that, as David Coltart MDC A Treasurer readily admitted.
“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the (2013) elections,” wrote Senator Coltart in his book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.
“The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility.”
The main factions of the MDC came together before the July 2018 elections to form the MDC A and the coalition still participated in the elections knowing fully well that Zanu PF was going to rig those elections for exactly the same reason they participated in the 2013 elections – greed.
Fadzai Mahere participated in the 2018 elections as an independent parliamentary candidate. She too knew Zanu PF was going to rig the elections and still she participated for the same reason as the rest of the opposition – greed.
Zanu PF learnt during the 2008 to 2013 GNU that MDC leaders are corrupt and breathtakingly incompetent, Zanu PF leaders are incompetent but MDC leaders take the biscuit. Zanu PF bribed MDC leaders to do nothing about implementing the reforms and, going forward, Zanu PF was able to exercise all its vote rigging powers and get away with it by making sure the opposition won a few gravy train seats, the bribe to keep them participating in flawed elections.
Fadzai Mahere has since joined the MDC A and the party is gearing to participate in the 2023 elections with no reforms in place. And so the nation is being dragged into yet another utterly meaningless election process whose outcome is already a predetermined Zanu PF victory, it is inconceivable for Zanu PF to lose an election it has a licence to rig. By participating Advocate Mahere and her MDC A colleagues will give the vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy.
“Ours must always be a story of hope. Of citizens who, knowing how ruthless & repressive this regime is, chose courage over inaction!”
We are just going round and round in circles here; how can that be a story of hope!
In participating in these flawed and illegal elections MDC leaders are not choosing courage over inaction, rubbish, they are once again choosing the few gravy train seats over the implementing the democratic reforms; free, fair and credible elections and everyone getting out of the hell-hole Zanu PF landed us in.
“I will never stop imagining that Zimbabwe will one day be free!” concluded Fadzai Mahere.
Yeah, Zimbabweans have heard that one before! All the hardships you are facing in Zimbabwe’s prison dungeons is so that Zimbabwe can be free. Mnangagwa and his cronies have never tired of reminding the nation of the many hardships and sacrifices they made in fight the country’s independence. It was all for the sake of freedom, liberty and justice for all.
Of course, Zimbabweans are NOT free today! Not everyone fighting for freedoms subscribes to the cause; mercenaries fight for personal gain.
Long before Zimbabwe attained her independence it was already clear that Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies were fighting for absolute power. They made no secret the wanted independent Zimbabwe to be a one-party state and thus ditching the long cherish “One man! One vote!” rallying call!
MDC leaders have failed to implement even one meaningful reform after 20 years on the political stage because they too, just like Zanu PF leaders, have taken their eyes off the freedom and liberty for all ball in pursuit of gravy train benefits.
Instead of implementing the democratic reforms designed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship MDC A is replicating itself into yet another arrogant party of thugs in Zanu PF’s own image. MDC A is selling out and we, the people, are expected to see this as heroic courage!
By A Correspondent- The Meteorological Services Department has urged farmers to plant early maturing crops amid indications that the rainy season would end in March.
Bulawayo provincial meteorological officer Chiposi Ngulube told Southern Eye that farmers should not risk planting crops that would take long to mature.
“Farmers should not take a risk, they should start planting early maturing crops if they wish to continue farming and we are likely to announce the end of the rainy season towards the end of March,” Ngulube said.
He said the country was expecting more rainfall activity in February.
Ngulube said they were monitoring Cyclone Eloise brewing in the Indian Ocean, which was projected to hit Mozambique, and bring large amounts of rain into the Beitbridge/Limpopo area.
Agritex provincial agronomist Davison Masendeke also said it a bit late for most of the crops to be planted except those that take 90 days to mature.
By Jane Mlambo| 31 July Movement convenor Jacob Ngarivhume has disbanded his Transform Zimbabwe party choosing to join hands with MDC Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa.
Posting on Twitter last night, Ngarivhume said he now believes in a new kind of mature politics while endorsing Chamisa as the leader of the largest opposition party in the country.
“Some people are asking me to revive Transform Zimbabwe- the political party I lead. But I believe now is the the for a new kind of mature politics. Nelson Chamisa leads the largest opposition party. By virtue of that he deserves our support,” said Ngarivhume.
He urged Chamisa and the MDC Alliance leadership to begin engaging the people of Zimbabwe and guide towards reform process.
“My hope is that the MDC-A’s leadership may begin to engage the people of Zimbabwe and guide the process for reforms working with regional and international partners to take head-on the abuses in our country.
“The MDC-A is the voice of the people on the international stage and it’s time the world heard from us,” added Ngarivhume.
By A Correspondent- Former Masvingo Central MP Jeffreyson Chitando (MDC) yesterday castigated President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, alleging that it was running out of people who deserve to be conferred with hero status and as a result was granting the status to undeserving people.
Chitando said Mnangagwa’s administration was belittling the country’s real freedom fighters by conferring liberation hero status to people that were born after the country attained independence in 1980.
He said this in reference to the liberation hero status which was conferred on the late 38-year-old Mashonaland Central Zanu-PF provincial youth leader, Lens “Ruwizhi” Farando, who died last week, and the national hero status conferred on the late Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister Ellen Gwaradzimba.
Ruwizhi (38) and Gwaradzimba (60) succumbed to COVID-19 last week. Gwaradzimba will the buried at the National Heroes Acre on a date yet to be announced.
Chitando said the late minister’s obituary, which was continuously aired by the national broadcaster ZBC-TV, was very misleading as it stated that she was born in 1960 and attended school in “Hippo Valley in Bikita”, before she fought in the liberation struggle in 1975 to 1976.
He said Gwaradzimba’s profile showed that she joined the liberation struggle at the tender age of 15, and that at 17 she was promoted to commander level in the provincial structure in 1977.
Chitando scoffed at the obituary, saying it had glaring errors in that whoever penned it showed that they did not know that Hippo Valley was not in Bikita, which makes people question its authenticity.
“The biggest problem is not about Zanu-PF trying to rewrite history to suit its interests, but that Zanu-PF is running out of true heroes and heroines. If the process of conferring hero status remains in the hands of a political party like Zanu-PF, it means that we will see a lot of distortion of the liberation war history. They will continue to panel beat it to suit their evil interests,” Chitando said.
“Is Hippo Valley in Bikita? It’s a big no. The fact that the author of the obituary does not know that Hippo Valley is not in Bikita raises eyebrows. It means that people can only believe the rest of the story at their own peril. Since 2017, the new dispensation has reduced the selection of heroes and heroines to child’s play. Those deserving to be at the Heroes’ Acre were denied that status because of hatred and factionalism,” he said.
Chitando went on to question the claim that the late Gwaradzimba was promoted to commander at the age of 17 in 1977.
But Zanu-PF party spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said there were laid-down procedures that were followed in conferring one with a hero or heroine, adding that provinces made recommendations before the President conferred hero status.
“There is no law that says those who were born after independence should not be accorded hero statuses. These are just trivial issues that are being raised by idle minds. If someone has served his or her country distinctly, then he or she deserves to be accorded that status,” he said.
“It’s not distortion of history, but it is correctly chronicling the events as they happened.”
By Jane Mlambo| It appears government has relaxed COVID-19 lockdown restrictions without making a formal announcement, in a move that benefits informal traders who continue to enjoy brisk business in the absence of formal businesses.
Early this month, Health minister Constantino Chiwenga announced an adjusted Level 4 lockdown and dawn to dusk curfew to curb the spread of the pandemic following a surge in numbers.
While Harare streets are now full of life with vendors and illegal commuters back at work, formal businesses who are not part of essential services remain closed and will only resume operations once a new pronouncement is made by the government.
In Harare, some police check points have stopped demanding letters and are now just checking for valid vehicle licenses while City of Harare has recalled its vehicle parking unit back to work- perhaps to take advantage of increased traffic in the CBD.
Most motorists were caught off-guard as City Parking did not announce its return to business with marshals deployed all over the city around 10am today (Wednesday).
This is despite the police issuing a strong warning that the country is still on lockdown while threatening to impound vehicles moving after the 6pm curfew.
The increased activity and relaxation in enforcement of lockdown restrictions is happening despite a surge in the number of deaths being recorded daily with the past two days registering over 100 deaths.
Are we out of the woods to warrant relaxation of lockdown restrictions?
By A Correspondent- Disgruntled Ethiopian Airways passengers yesterday expressed disappointment over what they said was poor service delivery by the National Handling Services (NHS), which closed airport check-in bays early, resulting in travellers missing their international flights.
This followed an incident on Monday when several passengers complained at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport after they were denied entry to their flights, allegedly by NHS which ordered its workers to shut down check-in services early.
One of the affected passengers, Moud Jennifer Chimboza, told NewsDay that on Monday, 20 passengers missed flights after they were denied check-in entry by NHS, which closed the Ethiopian Airways check-in point an hour earlier than the closing time.
“Check-in is supposed to be two hours before a flight, but NHS decided to close their check-in points an hour earlier, resulting in us missing our flight,” Chimboza said. She said resultantly, several passengers that missed flights were forced to do another COVID-19 test and to re-book flights.
COVID-19 tests are only valid for 72 hours.
But NHS station manager Ignatious Katsambe dismissed the claims, saying some passengers were failing to comply with airport regulations, which required travellers to check-in three hours before their scheduled flights.
“We are in a pandemic situation and different countries have requirements for their travellers which they need to adhere to. Some of the passengers fail to comply by these regulations because they are full of ‘I know’ since they live in Europe. However, airports have regulations that need to be followed,” Katsambe said.
He said there were some “habitual late comers” at airports who always want check-in bays opened for them simply because they would be dealing with an African airport.
Udzai kamfana kekushaya aka kuti i can give him money to use for the next 5 years asiyane nenyemba dzetuma jokes dzaanoita idzi ??? pic.twitter.com/IGfOk06O86
By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe recorded an unprecedented record high 60 COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours on Monday, a situation that has forced health experts to conclude that this could just be a tip of an iceberg, considering that collation of data on the pandemic has not been very efficient.
Around 773 deaths have been recorded in the country since the first case of the deadly respiratory virus was confirmed last year.
Health experts yesterday told NewsDay that the latest rise in the number of people succumbing to the virus could be heralding the beginning of catastrophe ahead, as the country struggles with a health sector which is in comatose, and people that have continued to defy COVID-19 lockdown regulations, as well as safety precautions.
In its COVID-19 situational report update, the Health Ministry said on Monday that the country recorded 689 new cases of the virus, out of a total 27 892 infections.
The 689 new cases were all said to be local infections, and health analysts said that revealed that people in the country should not continue to underestimate the effects of the second wave of COVID-19.
“All 689 are local cases with 339 of them being from Harare. The cumulative cases curve is spiking. The national case fatality rate now stands at 2,8 % as at January 18, 2021. Harare reported the highest number of cases today, 339. A total of 60 COVID-19 deaths were reported today, and 37 of the deaths occurred at institutional level, with 23 being recorded at community level,” the ministry’s update read.
It further said that on Monday, all provinces in the country reported COVID-19 cases.
Health expert and Mpilo Central Hospital acting chief executive officer Solwayo Ngwenya said the COVID-19 statistics of Monday were a reflection of how the virus continued to spread deep into communities.
He said if serious precautions were not taken to prevent the further spread of the virus, people would end up dying in large numbers.
“Unfortunately, this is actually the beginning of a terrible catastrophe that is going to happen. We have relaxed too much and we have under estimated the virus. We have now allowed the virus to penetrate deep into communities, and it is now widespread and is all over the place,” Ngwenya said.
“Relatives, who accompany sick people to hospitals and those that continue to hold funeral vigils, are most likely to spread the virus. The deaths start to multiply from there onwards. The attitudes and the behaviour of the population are very appalling,” he said.
Ngwenya said COVID-19 was a new virus, adding that at the moment nobody had a defence against it, which meant that there was a need to prevent its spread.
“The key point is prevention, and that is why I take my time to explain it in newspapers,” he said.
Another medical expert, Johannes Marisa, who is interim president of the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association, said the number of COVID-19 deaths could be more than the published figures, considering that data collection was not as efficient as expected.
“We need to put a margin of error. Remember complacency, ignorance and denialism is contributing to these deaths. We need to clamp down on these factors. Denialism is leading to late presentation to hospitals, with patients seeking treatment when they already have complications,” he said.
“We, therefore, need robust testing, more health education, correct information dissemination and social media has been awash with negative perceptions about public hospitals, which sometimes isn’t true.”
Itai Rusike, the executive director of the Community Working Group on Health, said vaccinating a significant proportion of the population was the only realistic way to arrest the spread of the pandemic.
“The people of Zimbabwe will now need to show great vigilance and social solidarity if we are to slow the rate of infection and ensure that our health facilities do not continue to be overwhelmed. The long-term effects of COVID-19 still remain to be seen,” Rusike said.
He said the collective insecurity generated by the pandemic requires a decisive public health response.
Rusike said on the other hand, the pandemic offered an important opportunity to demonstrate that alternative, people centred, democratic and collective responses were possible and essential, not just to prevent and contain infection, but to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
He said there was need to build back a stronger, more compassionate and equity-driven form of public health system in the country.
Chief co-ordinator of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Agnes Mahomva, said they were still looking into the issue of numbers.
“We have a large number of cases and the number of infections is increasing. We are actually looking at it, and we will come back to you with information when we have properly arranged our figures,” she said.
By A Correspondent- Police yesterday warned violators of the 6PM to 6AM curfew, saying that they will be out in full force to ensure full compliance with lockdown regulations.
Both defiant motorists and pedestrians risk being arrested and having their vehicles impounded.
The curfew was put in place by Government on January 2 as part of a 30-day level four lockdown in order to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Under new lockdown measures, church services have been banned, funeral gatherings have been limited to 30 people, bars and bottle stores shut down, restaurants closed while intercity and interprovincial movement has been limited to those classified as essential service providers.
Members of the public are expected to shop within a 5 kilometre radius from their homes while essential services employees will be allowed to pass through checkpoints after producing exemption letters.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said those who are found on the wrong side of the law will be swiftly dealt with.
“The curfew order runs from 6PM to 6AM the next day. Therefore, movements, whether on foot or motorised are not allowed during this period and anyone found walking or driving will be arrested, with vehicles being impounded. Those travelling between cities should plan their journeys so that they do not breach the curfew order,” said Asst Comm Nyathi.
Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi He said as police they noted with concern defiance by some members of the public in terms of compliance with lockdown regulations.
“On Sunday, 17th January 2021 and Monday, 18th January 2021, there was chaos along Harare Bulawayo Road, as long queues stretching from the Norton tollgate up to Whitehouse area, Harare were seen. Some motorists were even confrontational to the police despite the fact that most of them were non-compliant with the curfew order,” said Asst Comm Nyathi.
He said by Monday over 2 000 people had been arrested for violating the national lockdown regulations such as failure to wear a mask.
“On Monday 18 January 2021, a total of 2 336 people were arrested throughout the country for various offences related to contraventions of the national lockdown regulations. Of these, 890 were for contravening Section 4(1) (a) of Statutory instrument 83/20 that is unnecessary movement during national lockdown except those exempted and failure to wear face masks,” said Asst Comm Nyathi.
This brings the total cumulative arrests to 341 251 since March 30 last year.
Asst Comm Nyathi urged members of the public to take heed of safety, health and security measures meant to protect lives during this Covid-19 situation.
By A Correspondent- Harare cleric and businessman Shingi Munyeza has surrendered his post as Faith Ministries pastor after he was forced to publicly admit to adultery by his daughter.
Munyeza admitted in a short statement he had failed his wife and church.
“Recently I allowed myself into a situation where I fell morally. I failed my wife and family. I failed the church that I am part of. I therefore seek your forgiveness. I am stepping down to introspect and be restored. I covet your prayers and support,” read the message by the cleric.
What sparked his misfortune was an earlier Facebook post during the day by Munyeza congratulating self and wife on the occasion of the couple’s 26th anniversary.
But this was not taken in its real sense by Munyeza’s daughter, Nomsa, who then confronted her father in a cheeky Facebook reply over the latter’s adulterous relationship.
Nomsa told her father it was improper for him to shower her mother with anniversary messages when he was cheating on the same woman.
The daughter demanded that he deletes the message.
Munyeza posted that he had resigned from his position at church.
However, it was not very clear if he resigned on his own accord or was forced to after reportedly admitting to sleeping with an unnamed congregant.
What then followed was a social media buzzing with unsubstantiated claims the cleric had a chain of sex scandals with various women.
I am humbled. You will be forgiven, some have done ugly things that what you did. We know some people have murdered & have remained murderers, they've been brutal & ruthless & they've remained as such. At least you're shameful. Crooks do it without shame & respect of human life.
Not a single person born of woman is infallible, we see many men ' s infidelity baggage at their funerals , you have offloaded yours in your lifetime, cheer up. I have forever appreciated @HillaryClinton & Chelsea when the stakes were high on Bill !
By Jane Mlambo| Respected cleric and General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) Reverend Kenneth Mtata has discouraged people from making medical judgements based on religious declarations.
This follows remarks by United Family International church leader Apostle Emmanuel Makandiwa against the COVID-19 vaccines.
In one of his preachings, Makandiwa claimed that previous vaccines administered on Africans had distorted their DNA.
He also claimed that the DNA of Africans had been tampered in the search for the Covid-19 vaccine.
But Rev Mtata felt Makandiwa’s message was off the rail while discouraging reliance on religious declarations for medical judgments.
“No religious declarations or political manifestos can be the basis for making medical judgements. The bifurcation of discourses must be respected,” said Mtata.
Makandiwa’s remarks have divided opinion in the country with some of the opinion that government should take steps to censure those who make reckless statements about a pandemic that has already claimed hundreds of lives locally and millions globally.
What a loss Min SB Moyo. Having worked with him This was one person I felt was going to be a perfect successor to @edmnangagwa , cause of his work ethic and love for this country. My condolences to my dear friend and daughter to the late Elna Kundis. Sad day for our nation… pic.twitter.com/z8r42l07y8
What a day to wake up to SB Moyo gone !!!!! I hope the government officials will change their ways of ignoring social distancing measures.Stop cabinet meetings ,stop any governmental gatherings
3. Next time you see a doctor, nurse, teacher, civil servant etc on strike – ALL they want are better conditions, facilities to improve the quality of our lives & save such lives. Skilled rebharazi and all frontline workers keep up @drjaytee87@LynneStactia@MamoyoT#MaskUpZimpic.twitter.com/8YhZKJJqcZ
There is a diference between PPEs running out and not having them. The truth is better functioning facilities and systems prevents more deaths. This is no politics, this is no conspiracy theory, this is not scientific BUT just common sense #MaskUpZim#ZimbabweYadzoka
zanu pf ngaisachazvitutumadza. It's high time it has to borrow man power from the MDC to run the government. Payave pashata. Many in the leadrship of zanu are nt well helth wise. Some are advanced in age. Some are advanced in ignorance, age and depreciation of health.
God is fighting for Zimbabwe ?? imagine a death of a politician being celebrated by your citizens. African politicians must know that leaving office early is the only way for people to continue loving you, problem is overstaying. Africa has got much young people who can do better
By Jane Mlambo| MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere has tested positive to COVID-19 following her week long detention at Chikurubi Maximum prison.
Mahere confirmed the news on her Facebook account saying she tested positive to the deadly coronavirus despite having been put in isolation cells at Chikurubi maximum prison during her detention period.
“Despite having been in an “isolation cell” and the “quarantine section” at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, I have tested positive for COVID-19, following seven days of pre-trial incarceration,” she said.
Mahere bemoaned the deplorable prison conditions while calling on those with authority to look into the state of Zimbabwe prisons.
“They don’t even have the most basic need – running water. This is before we look at soap, sanitizer, clean masks and proper facilities to enable social distancing. Their lives matter. I call on those with the authority to change things to look at the state of our prisons and respond accordingly. COVID-19 is affecting us all. Now is the time to show leadership, pragmatism and humanity,” added Mahere.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to claim lives with over hundred people dying in the past two days.
Today the nation woke up to the news of the death of Foreign Affairs minister SB Moyo who becomes the third minister to succumb to the global pandemic.
Despite having been in an “isolation cell” and the “quarantine section” at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, I have tested positive for COVID-19, following seven days of pre-trial incarceration.
While I currently only have a cough and fever, I have chosen to share my results to draw attention to the deplorable state of our prison conditions and the very real threat faced by inmates at these facilities. I believe that in my own life, all experiences good and bad have been willed by God to teach me something deeper about humanity.
My present focus is a return to good health but my heart breaks for the many inmates who remain at the prisons. In this moment, I pray that my experiences spur us into action for those who society has tucked away in silence and mostly forgotten.
Their lives matter. I call on those with the authority to change things to look at the state of our prisons and respond accordingly.
COVID-19 is affecting us all. Now is the time to show leadership, pragmatism and humanity. As for those who continue to use lawfare as a tool to silence opposition voices, thank you for bringing to the light what has been forgotten in the dark. We must demand accountability for every Zimbabwean life under the supposed care of the State.
I ask that we not only pray for Zimbabwe but take responsibility for each other by wearing masks, social distancing, washing hands and avoiding gatherings. Most importantly let’s be kind to one another at a period when so many are going through so much. The consequences of poor leadership are evident but we the people should never tire of being exemplary in our conduct.
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Sibusiso Busi Moyo was Wednesday morning reported dead after contracting COVID-19.
Calls to the coup announcer were failing completely at the time when his relatives were neither picking calls.
The country has been thrown into mourning. Foreign Affairs minister @MinisterSBMoyo is reported to have passed on. Highly placed sources say the Coup announcer who has been unwell for a long time tested positive to #COVID19 two days ago. #StayAtHome #StaySafe, HSTV reported.
Moyo had underlying health condition which involved struggle with a kidney ailment for two years.
He was famous for announcing the coup that toppled Robert Mugabe from power under the lines: The President, of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Cde R.G. Mugabe and his family are safe and sound and their security is guaranteed.
We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice. As soon as we have accomplished our mission we expect that the situation will return to normalcy.
Foreign Affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo has become the latest high profile government figure to succumb to Covid-19, according to ZimEye sources.
Moyo became the face of the November 2017 coup after he appeared on national broadcaster ZBC TV to announce the removal of the late former President Robert Mugabe.
The shooter face revealed.. Zhang Xueun, 41, was on 22 June 2919 charged with attempted murder over the shooting at Reeden Mine, 26km out of Gweru along Matobo road.
Simba Chikanza and ZimEye what happened with that Chinese guy who shot a Zimbabwean last year?
Today ZimEye follows up on court case concerning gun attack by Chinese Businessman on 21 June 2020 against two Zimbabwean employees, which @ChineseZimbabwe claimed involved only one employee. @ZctuZimbabwe expected to make statement pic.twitter.com/iP8GcTb0Qx
Is he still on remand or he is free already? ZANU PF Party has given more power to the Chinese to do whatever they want with Zimbabweans. Tirimusango Wenje and his varakashi team will defend every inhumanity to please their masters. They would rather see a black man being abused than to call a spade a spade.
We need a new generation with an individual mindset. Not a programmed political mindset which is always being controlled by party leaders
“Ours must always be a story of hope. Of citizens who, knowing how ruthless & repressive this regime is, chose courage over inaction.”
As I was about to part ways with my phone to enter police detention, I sent Cee Musandu, my communications director, this message.
She had asked me what she should say. We have been the best of friends since 2016 when we joined #ThisFlag, a citizens’ movement that challenged the poverty, injustice and corruption prevailing under then President Robert Mugabe. The idea was to inspire an engaged citizenry that held the Government to account.
Many amazing and awful things had happened over the last four years but nothing had prepared us for the week that was to come.
It started on the Sunday morning. Two plainclothes police officers in an unmarked vehicle knocked on our gate and asked to see me. When asked what the issue was, they said it was in connection with tweets I had posted protesting police brutality. I had gone to the shops to buy some meds and supplies for the continued lockdown. They left.
As soon as I received the news, my heart sank. Courage does not mean you aren’t afraid. It means you act in spite of your fear. Hopewell Chin’ono and Job Sikhala had been arrested by the Police days earlier on similar charges. “Go seek refuge at a friend’s house,” my little brother suggested. I explained to him that you never run away from the Police. I quickly went back home, assuming that they’d come back. I telephoned David Drury, my old boss, mentor and trusted lawyer of choice.
He advised me to stay put and wait for their return. I waited for what seemed like an eternity. Upon nightfall, Mr Drury said that because the police had not come back, we would have to attend upon Harare Central Police Station first thing in the morning.
At 9am on Monday morning, we were at the Police Station. We waited for an hour before being attended to. They would not immediately confirm or deny whether or why they wanted me pursuant to their visit the day before. Eventually, they confirmed that I was under arrest for my tweets. By 10.50am, I had signed my warned and cautioned statement. The docket was complete.
We figured we would immediately go to court as we were in good time. To our surprise, the detective inspector came in with a detention order and told us to hurry up as we were “behind time.” She had been ordered to hurry up and take me to the cells. Mr Drury appealed with them to take us to court to avoid unnecessary and potentially unlawful pre-trial detention. (This was the first of many appeals he would make to police, prison and court officers in the ensuing seven days.) The officer refused and offered no explanation or reasons to explain why I had to be jailed if the matter was ripe for court.
I was thrown into the all familiar lice-infested police cell with a drop toilet. The proverbial puddle of urine from last time and all the times before greeted me.
Rather, it slapped my face. I was barefoot, having signed my shoes in upon entry as per procedure. There was no sanitizer, no facility to flush the loo, no sink and tap, no toilet paper and no sanitary bin. The blankets smelt of old urine. I shared the cell with 6 other ladies, most of whom were detained for breaching lockdown regulations. And there was Lisa, an alleged armed robber with whom I would make further contact in days to come. We talked, sighed and laughed then fell asleep on their concrete beds and covered ourselves in stained blankets that smelt of a mix of urine, human and dirt.
The next day, I was bundled into the back of a small police truck escorted by nine police officers who breathed on each other and breathed on me. Some wore masks and some wore them incorrectly.
An application was made to challenge my placement on remand on the ground that the Constitutional Court had declared the sections under which I was charged void and on the ground that the initial remand form was insufficient. The Magistrate postponed the handing down of his ruling to Friday. It was Tuesday. I was to be detained at Chikurubi Prison in the meantime.
As I walked up the prison truck in the rain, I slipped and fell. I quickly got back up because, since I was a child, my mother had taught me to get up immediately after a fall, dust myself up and move on. Mr Drury got into the truck to check if I was OK. He brought with him my bucket of supplies – assembled in haste by my siblings. It had all the good stuff – chocolate, candy, nuts, reading material and toiletries most of which I would soon learn were forbidden “inside”.
When we arrived, they told us to eat. Dinner was old sadza and watery beans. I politely declined – partly because I was in no state to eat but mostly because of the rule of caution that I had dished out to many a client when I was on the lawyering end of such an ordeal. The events of the previous two days had frozen my legal brain as I watched constitutional rights bludgeoned and the Supreme Law rendered a lifeless museum piece. I resolved that the only way to make it through this ordeal was to embrace it, follow all orders including the illegal ones and then just make the most of it. “Behave with beauty and dignity at all times,” is the best advice I received that week. We knelt before the prison wardens whom we called “Mbuya”. They took our details then stripped us of all clothing and our bras then handed us our green prison garb. I had a whole prison number – 38/21. My reading material (a YOU magazine and a Newsday newspaper) were taken away for “censoring.” I never got the newspaper back.
We were placed in an isolation cell with no window. Covid positive inmates were housed in the cell next to us. We shared a “toilet” outside lock up time. We were locked in our cell and a 5l container with the top cut off was placed in the corner of the room for us to relieve ourselves that night. The next morning, we were moved to another section. It was a mix of remand prisoners and convicted inmates. Convicted inmates wore yellow. The concrete floor was our mattress. We had to make our beds out of old, dirty, torn, smelly blankets stamped “Parirenyatwa Hospital.” Breakfast was watery porridge and a smidgen of peanut butter with some sugar which inmates had to eat with their fingers because spoons are forbidden.
We went round the room sharing the charges that had brought us in. Curious, I saved my story till last. Murder, murder, murder, murder, armed robbery, theft, armed robbery, lockdown, curfew, lockdown then “tweeting.” They laughed. So did I. One of the inmates in our section was Chipo* who, four years earlier, had axed a man to death in Gutu and started “eating his brain.” She would walk into our cell and pick an inmate up then place her down again. She would rummage through the bin for food, chase rats “to eat” and sometimes snatch people’s food. It was evident to an untrained medical eye that she had no mental capacity to commit a crime.
We were ordered to go and weed the garden. No distinction was drawn between those who were “in with labour”, those on remand and a person in my position who was challenging the very placement on remand. I chose happiness and took it as an opportunity to get some much-needed exercise. When the hoe was passed to me, they said “Fadzie, scrape don’t dig. This is weeding.”
I made many friends because humanity is wired towards positivity. People in distress tend to make the most of tough situations united by our basic human instincts that want dignity, freedom, community and progress. I helped many fill out their bail application forms and dished out legal advice on available defences to many who requested it. I encouraged those who had done bad things to live right as soon as they got out. Story after story made me reflect on my own personal circumstances and feel grateful for God’s many mercies.
Mr Drury, Emma Drury, my fellow advocates from Chambers, Harrison Nkomo, Rose Hanzi and Tino from ZLHR all came to visit me. I lived for those visits. Sometimes, I’d stand lifeless at the window of my cell staring at the gate in anticipation that someone would show up. Mr Drury showed up everyday – a lawyer of immense distinction, integrity and honour who had taught me the ABC’s of court litigation, legal drafting and client management as we fought several land and human rights cases over a decade ago when I was a junior lawyer at Gollop and Blank was now plying his trade on me. I was confused as to how it had got to this but at the same time, reassured that I was in extremely capable hands. I nearly shed a tear when he pledged his own title deeds as he moved my bail application. “Your worship, I know her and can vouch for her. I’m prepared to put my head on the block because I know she won’t abscond.”
“Please tell my mom to stop crying,” I repeatedly said to everyone who visited. My parents, brothers and sisters are gladiators. Family is life.
Every day at lock-up time, I sat at my window and watched the skyline change from blue to a beautiful golden-peachy hue. The quiet beauty of the setting sun descending below the horizon was a peaceful reminder that the whole thing would eventually end. At least I hoped. I had mentally prepared for this to go on for weeks.
After seven interminable nights of incarceration, the court granted bail. I stepped out of the prison truck and knelt before the prison wardens one last time, crying internal tears of joy that the sun had finally set on this ordeal. I also remain hopeful that one day, the sun will set on injustice and repression. Until then, I will always choose courage over inaction.
I will never stop imagining that Zimbabwe will one day be free.
THE twists and turns in the January transfer business at English Premiership football club Aston Villa could leave Zimbabwe international midfielder Marvelous Nakamba on the brink.
Nakamba, who celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday, has once again come under the spotlight following the talk about the possible arrival of Frenchman Morgan Sanson at the Birmingham side before the close of the January transfer window.
There has been concerns back home for Nakamba who has been deprived of game-time after falling down the pecking order at Villa this season.
As a result, the midfielder has played peripheral roles in the current campaign. Nakamba has featured just four times in the English Premier League, and even that has totalled 103 minutes of football with the season approaching the half-way mark.
News that Villa are one of the clubs interested in signing the £22,5 million Marseille midfielder Sanson could leave Nakamba further down the pecking order with slim chances of him getting involved this season.
Already, Aston Villa appear to have a surplus of midfielders with Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Nakamba, Conor Hourihane, Ross Barkley and Henri Lansbury all lining-up for selection.
But McGinn and Brazilian Douglas Luiz have been the preferred partnership for manager Dean Smith and the duo has been impressive in central midfield.
It’s hard to imagine where Sanson would fit into Villa’s midfield, as Luiz, McGinn and Barkley, who is on loan from Chelsea, have been superb this season.
Nakamba has been on the periphery and fellow midfielder Hourihane has been linked with a move away this January. Barkley, though, has been out injured with a hamstring injury since November.
Still, there is likely to be a big shake-up should Sanson get roped in.
According to reports from England, Sanson, a creative midfield player who can play box-to-box or in a holding role if needed, would be quite the coup for Villa if they can pull off a deal.
The general feeling among the Villans is that Sanson is too good for the Villa bench.
“In my opinion if he signs he is replacing someone so either Barkley isn’t coming or Luiz is off to (Manchester) City. I hope I’m wrong but can’t see us spending £20m for him to be a bench player unless we are looking into serious rotation next season,” said one Villa fan on Twitter.
According to football publication, Football Whispers, Sanson is more of an upgrade on Nakamba.
“A versatile midfielder, Sanson has often played as one of Marseille’s two holding players, alongside the likes of Strootman and Luiz Gustavo in a 4-2-3-1 (formation).
“He has, however, performed other roles. He has partnered Maxime Lopez in a 4-4-2, often sitting deep with the more creatively inclined 21-year-old influencing play higher up the pitch.
“His role during 2018/19 was defensive compared to 2017/18, his first full term after arriving from Montpellier in January 2017, in which he often operated in a more advanced midfield role supporting the striker.- The Herald
POLICE Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga has directed police in Bulawayo to look for veteran modelling instructor Ms Sipho Ncube-Mazibuko as part of investigations following her rape allegations against self-exiled G40 kingpin Professor Jonathan Moyo.
Ms Ncube-Mazibuko posted on her Facebook page last Friday claiming that Prof Moyo raped her 11 years ago while she was pregnant.
She said efforts to report Prof Moyo, whom she said was powerful at the time, were ignored.
At the time, self-exiled former Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri was still at the helm of the police services.
Prof Moyo, believed to be in Kenya, fled the country in November 2017 during Operation Restore Legacy. He is wanted by the police after absconding court where he is facing charges of allegedly diverting US$244 575 from the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (Zimdef).
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said although Ms Ncube-Mazibuko has not yet formally made a police report, the officer commanding police in Bulawayo, Commissioner Patton Mbangwa, has been instructed to handle the matter.
“The officer commanding Bulawayo is trying to get in touch with Ms Ncube-Mazibuko so that we can verify her statement on Facebook and conduct inquiries. She has not made a formal report, but I can confirm that the officer commanding police in Bulawayo is looking for her,” he said.
Ms Ncube-Mazibuko said “some powerful men” do not care whether one is married or not or whether one consents or not.
“Well, I was sexually abused by Professor Jonathan Moyo and was too scared to even report or tell anyone until that fateful day 11 years ago when I went and told the police at Bulawayo Central Police Station what he had done to me,” she said.
Ms Ncube-Mazibuko wrote on her Facebook page: “Well, I have decided to empty my closet and speak out about a man who sexually abused me when I was pregnant and went on to silence me because he was very powerful and untouchable.”
“I went to the police to open a docket against these evil men who had tormented my mind with sexual and emotional abuse.”
She said police recorded her statement but nothing was done to investigate my case.- The Herald
The European Union (EU) and the United States of America have both expressed concern over the Zimbabwean government’s failure to probe the disproportionate use of force by security personnel against civilians in January 2009.
In a statement posted on its Twitter handle, the EU in Zimbabwe demanded an end to impunity and the prosecution of human rights violators. It said:
Two years on, investigations are lacking and impunity continues to prevail on human rights violations perpetrated in #Zimbabwe in January 2019. #NoZIMpunity.
In a related development, the U.S. Embassy in Harare queried why Zimbabwe has not yet prosecuted and convicted the security forces accused of rape, torture, and killing civilians in January 2019. It said in a tweet:
Two years. When will Zimbabwe investigate, prosecute, and convict government security forces accused of rape, torture, and killing civilians in Jan 2019? Two years is too long to seek justice/answers/accountability.
Zimbabwe descended into anarchy characterised by the looting of businesses and barricading of roads in January 2019 after the government unilaterally hiked the price of fuel by over 150 per cent.
In response to the fuel riots, the government blocked the internet for several days and unleashed security forces on civilians resulting in the death of over 20 people and serious injuries to hundreds.
There were also allegations of some rogue members of the security services moving from door-to-door raping women who were too terrified to report the abuse for fear of victimisation.
The Zimbabwean government denied the reports insisting that “terrorists” and a “third force” were responsible for the violence.- Pindula News
MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa yesterday warned Emmerson Mnangagwa against “stoking political fires” through arbitrary arrests of his opponents and silencing of divergent voices.
Chamisa told NewsDay in an interview yesterday that the Zimbabwean government’s arbitrary arrests and torture of opposition activists and other citizens who hold divergent views were likely to escalate ahead of the 2023 harmonised elections, if they were not nipped in the bud.
He also called on the African Union regional bodies to act swiftly in condemning dictatorship on the African continent, as well as use of the military in settling political contestation disputes like what happened in Uganda during last week’s elections, where veteran leader President Yoweri Museveni was announced as winner of an election mired by intimidation and arrests of opposition leaders.
Museveni was announced winner, with the army camped at his rival Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine)’s residence.
On the arrests of journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, the MDC Alliance vice-chairperson Job Sikhala and party spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere and others, Chamisa said it was clear that the Mnangagwa administration was using “the law as a tool for oppression in Zimbabwe”.
He said that intimidation of opposition leaders and divergent voices was the same template that was used by African dictators.
“It is the same template used by dictators. It represents a major attack on alternative voices. It shows that our country is sliding back into the Rhodesian settler regime era, where politics of repression, torture, and arbitrary arrests were the order of the day. It is a signifier of shrinking democratic space,” the main opposition leader said.
He said the country was sliding back into anarchy and tyranny taking advantage of the COVID-19 lockdown period.
“We are sliding back into anarchy and tyranny. Whereas we have COVID-19, we have a pandemic of authoritarianism. We have a disease of despotism and dictatorship, escalation of persecution by prosecution.”
He added: “It is an attempt to poison the nation and stoke fires of hostility. Instead of my opposite number Mnangagwa being a father figure, he is choosing to behave like the last born in the family, starting fires and mischief when we need a head of State and sober mind.
“We don’t need to be pyromaniacs. He is in the habit of starting fires and a government leader must not start fires but extinguish them. This is advice I am giving to my opposite number Mnangagwa for free. He who starts fires often gets burnt by those fires. This is genuine elderly advice.
“Stop harassing citizens. It’s always wise not to make the mistake of growing old without growing up. Zimbabwe needs maturity and magnanimity, as well as tolerance in politics.”
Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo was not picking calls yesterday for a comment. But Zanu PF is on record distancing itself from the abuse of State machinery for political gain.
On the issue of the just-ended Ugandan elections, Chamisa said it spelt doom for Africa, adding that regional bodies must stand against such “gigantic fraud.”
“It is ominous and spells doom for the African continent. A disputed election places a danger on our continent’s march to democracy and progressive governance.”
“There is a disturbing new wave of dictators, wherein the incumbent abuses State institutions to perpetuate their grip on political power.
“No sitting President must abuse State institutions for personal purposes. Nobody must abuse key people institutions like the army, the police or courts to redeem their fortunes in a political office.
“Apart from COVID-19, we now have the authoritarian pandemic of dictatorship and disputed elections. We have seen election disputes in Africa. We have shining examples in South Africa and recently Malawi. Brutal killings and elimination of competitors in the name of politics has no place in the new Africa that we seek to build.”
He said no life should be lost on account of politics and elections.
“Oppression must come to an end. Oppression will end when the oppressed stand up and the oppressor is forced to sit down and bow out. This has been the most unfair, violent election campaign in recent times with the butchering of innocent citizens almost on an industrial scale.
“The expression of the will of the people cannot be altered by an army like what we saw in Uganda. That is unacceptable. The persecution of Bobi Wine is an attack on the fresh face of Africa and an attack on the largest constituency on the continent, the young people who must stand up and dominate Africa,” he said.
Chamisa said the African Union and African bodies must condemn and disregard such gigantic fraud of the people’s will. He said the AU should stand up to condemn and not endorse Museveni’s tomfoolery.-NewsDay
A CHINESE national who was recorded on video allegedly assaulting his two employees and then setting a dog after one of them following a wage dispute appeared in court yesterday.
Zhong Zhongyi (60)
Zhong Zhongyi (60), a director of Fools Investments in Hope Fountain, appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Mr Shepherd Mjanja facing assault charges. He was remanded out of custody to February 24 on $3 000 bail.
Zhong allegedly assaulted the two complainants, Mr Tatenda Mangena and Mr Costan Mhasa, following a misunderstanding over unpaid salaries.
In his bail application, Zhong argued that he was not a flight risk and would not abscond if released on bail.
The State, which was represented by Mr Nkathazo Dlodlo, did not oppose his application, arguing that there were no compelling reasons warranting his continued detention.
He was ordered to report once every Friday at Nkulumane Police Station as part of the bail conditions.
Zhong was also ordered to continue residing at his given address and not to interfere with State witnesses until the matter is finalised.
Prosecuting, Mr Dlodlo said on January 16 at around 8AM at Fools Investment premises in Hope Fountain, the accused had a misunderstanding with his workers over unpaid salaries. The dispute degenerated into a scuffle during which Zhong indiscriminately punched Mr Mhasa all over the body.
After he was restrained, the accused person then suddenly followed the complainants armed with a shovel. He then allegedly hit Mr Mhasa once on the left arm before turning the heat on Mr Mangena.
“After assaulting Mhasa, the accused also turned on Mangena and struck him twice with a shovel on his left arm before they fled from the scene,” said Mr Dlodlo. A police report was made leading to the arrest of the accused person. -Chronicle
Tinashe Sambiri|MDC MDC Alliance vice president, Hon Tendai Biti has pointed out that there is no legal basis for detaining journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and Hon. Job Sikhala.
Commenting on the elections in Uganda Hon Biti said Museveni has “outdone himself in stealing elections.”
“Kaguta Museveni has outdone himself this time around. The deranged autocrat rigged so brazenly that his fellow rigsters ,including Biya , Lungu,Conte ,Afwerki,Obiang, Ondimba , Magafuli ,Rwambiwa , Nguesso, Eyadema , Deby & Ouattara have been too embarrassed to congratulate him.”
“With Fadzi’s release we now demand the release of Hopewell Chin’ono a,Job Sikhala and young Alan Moyo.
They are innocent and the illegitimate fascist regime has no legitimate grounds for detaining the same #FreeJobSikhala #FreeHopewell,” added Hon Biti.
He added:” The people of Zimbabwe are now afraid of the courts due to lack of consistency and partisan conduct.”
Tinashe Sambiri|MDC MDC Alliance vice president, Hon Tendai Biti has pointed out that there is no legal basis for detaining journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and Hon. Job Sikhala.
Commenting on the elections in Uganda Hon Biti said Museveni has “outdone himself in stealing elections.”
“Kaguta Museveni has outdone himself this time around. The deranged autocrat rigged so brazenly that his fellow rigsters ,including Biya , Lungu,Conte ,Afwerki,Obiang, Ondimba , Magafuli ,Rwambiwa , Nguesso, Eyadema , Deby & Ouattara have been too embarrassed to congratulate him.”
“With Fadzi’s release we now demand the release of Hopewell Chin’ono a,Job Sikhala and young Alan Moyo.
They are innocent and the illegitimate fascist regime has no legitimate grounds for detaining the same #FreeJobSikhala #FreeHopewell,” added Hon Biti.
He added:” The people of Zimbabwe are now afraid of the courts due to lack of consistency and partisan conduct.”
Tinashe Sambiri|MDC MDC Alliance vice president, Hon Tendai Biti has pointed out that there is no legal basis for detaining journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and Hon. Job Sikhala.
Commenting on the elections in Uganda Hon Biti said Museveni has “outdone himself in stealing elections.”
“Kaguta Museveni has outdone himself this time around. The deranged autocrat rigged so brazenly that his fellow rigsters ,including Biya , Lungu,Conte ,Afwerki,Obiang, Ondimba , Magafuli ,Rwambiwa , Nguesso, Eyadema , Deby & Ouattara have been too embarrassed to congratulate him.”
“With Fadzi’s release we now demand the release of Hopewell Chin’ono a,Job Sikhala and young Alan Moyo.
They are innocent and the illegitimate fascist regime has no legitimate grounds for detaining the same #FreeJobSikhala #FreeHopewell,” added Hon Biti.
A humongous crocodile caused panic at Chiredzi District Hospital on Monday morning after it was spotted in a storm drain at the health facility.
Acting Chiredzi District Hospital medical superintendent Dr David Tarumbwa confirmed the incident but said the reptile did not attack anyone from the time it was spotted at around 4 AM until it was captured and translocated by a team from Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority(Zimparks). He said:
It was just a crocodile that was seen within the hospital area around 4 am but it did not attack anyone. No one was injured.
The situation was managed very well and the crocodile was taken by Zimparks and deposited in Chiredzi River.
We thank God that the situation was managed bit a crocodile is dangerous even to a beast(cow) what more to a human being.
I think there’s a need to improve security at institutions like hospitals because there is a lot of movement caused by heavy rains that have been falling.
The development was substantiated by Chiredzi District Administrator and Civil Protection Unit chair Lovemore Chisema.
Chisema refuted claims that huge reptile might be the work of juju, saying it could have strayed from a canal because of rising water levels. He said:
Yes, we woke up this morning(Monday) to a scare over a crocodile that was in a storm drain at Chiredzi Hospital but it didn’t attack anyone until it was removed from the place by a team from Zimparks.
The good thing is that authorities at the hospital managed to make sure the crocodile remained at the same place(storm drain) until it was removed by guys from parks who tool it to Chiredzi River about 16km from the hospital.
Heavy rains have been falling here for days and these animals(crocodiles) even also get confused sometimes so maybe it just strayed from a canal because of rising water levels. I don’t think there is more to it.-The Herald
INJURIES and illness have hit the Warriors camp ahead of tomorrow’s must-win game against Burkina Faso in the ongoing African Nations Championships (Chan) tournament, with five players set to be ruled out, leaving coach Zdravko Logarušić with just 15 infield players to pick from.
Smarting from their 1-0 defeat to hosts Cameroon in the opening match of the tournament on Saturday that left their chances of progressing hanging by a thread, the Zimbabwe coach has got a huge crisis in his camp to deal with.
Richard Hachiro and Ronald Chitiyo,who started the match against the Indomitable Lions, have been ruled out of tomorrow’s match after picking injuries during the game.
Hachiro is struggling with a knee injury, while Chitiyo was substituted later in the game due to an Achilles problem.
Three other players Andrew Mbeba, Qadr Amini and Thomas Chideu will also miss the match due to illness.
The trio were also unavailable for the first game.
This effectively leaves Logarušić with only 15 players at his disposal to choose from a team to face the Stallions, who are equally desperate to win the match after losing 1-0 to Mali in their first Group A match.
“This is a crisis we are faced with,” team manager Wellington Mupandare said yesterday.
“It’s a difficult situation for the coaches now because they don’t have a big pool to choose their squad from for this important match. We have a problem of fitness in the squad because of the problems that we all know, and this development can only complicate things.”
Logarušić had hoped to “refresh” his team for the Burkina Faso clash, but the unavailability of some of his stars will certainly muddle those plans.
This Chan continues to be a nightmarish experience for the Croat, who was forced to pick inactive players for the tournament after last season’s local Premier League failed to start due to COVID-19.
The players had not kicked a ball in a competitive game in over a year.
Then as the team was beginning to intensify their preparations, a bout of the deadly virus hit their camp, affecting nine players and six officials, resulting in discontinuation of training.
Cameroon and Mali top Group A with three points, and the two clash in another match tomorrow with the winner almost assured of a place in the quarter-finals.-NewsDay
“Ours must always be a story of hope. Of citizens who, knowing how ruthless & repressive this regime is, chose courage over inaction.”
As I was about to part ways with my phone to enter police detention, I sent Cee Musandu, my communications director, this message.
She had asked me what she should say. We have been the best of friends since 2016 when we joined #ThisFlag, a citizens’ movement that challenged the poverty, injustice and corruption prevailing under then President Robert Mugabe. The idea was to inspire an engaged citizenry that held the Government to account.
Many amazing and awful things had happened over the last four years but nothing had prepared us for the week that was to come.
It started on the Sunday morning. Two plainclothes police officers in an unmarked vehicle knocked on our gate and asked to see me. When asked what the issue was, they said it was in connection with tweets I had posted protesting police brutality. I had gone to the shops to buy some meds and supplies for the continued lockdown. They left.
As soon as I received the news, my heart sank. Courage does not mean you aren’t afraid. It means you act in spite of your fear. Hopewell Chin’ono and Job Sikhala had been arrested by the Police days earlier on similar charges. “Go seek refuge at a friend’s house,” my little brother suggested. I explained to him that you never run away from the Police. I quickly went back home, assuming that they’d come back. I telephoned David Drury, my old boss, mentor and trusted lawyer of choice.
He advised me to stay put and wait for their return. I waited for what seemed like an eternity. Upon nightfall, Mr Drury said that because the police had not come back, we would have to attend upon Harare Central Police Station first thing in the morning.
At 9am on Monday morning, we were at the Police Station. We waited for an hour before being attended to. They would not immediately confirm or deny whether or why they wanted me pursuant to their visit the day before. Eventually, they confirmed that I was under arrest for my tweets. By 10.50am, I had signed my warned and cautioned statement. The docket was complete.
We figured we would immediately go to court as we were in good time. To our surprise, the detective inspector came in with a detention order and told us to hurry up as we were “behind time.” She had been ordered to hurry up and take me to the cells. Mr Drury appealed with them to take us to court to avoid unnecessary and potentially unlawful pre-trial detention. (This was the first of many appeals he would make to police, prison and court officers in the ensuing seven days.) The officer refused and offered no explanation or reasons to explain why I had to be jailed if the matter was ripe for court.
I was thrown into the all familiar lice-infested police cell with a drop toilet. The proverbial puddle of urine from last time and all the times before greeted me.
Rather, it slapped my face. I was barefoot, having signed my shoes in upon entry as per procedure. There was no sanitizer, no facility to flush the loo, no sink and tap, no toilet paper and no sanitary bin. The blankets smelt of old urine. I shared the cell with 6 other ladies, most of whom were detained for breaching lockdown regulations. And there was Lisa, an alleged armed robber with whom I would make further contact in days to come. We talked, sighed and laughed then fell asleep on their concrete beds and covered ourselves in stained blankets that smelt of a mix of urine, human and dirt.
The next day, I was bundled into the back of a small police truck escorted by nine police officers who breathed on each other and breathed on me. Some wore masks and some wore them incorrectly.
An application was made to challenge my placement on remand on the ground that the Constitutional Court had declared the sections under which I was charged void and on the ground that the initial remand form was insufficient. The Magistrate postponed the handing down of his ruling to Friday. It was Tuesday. I was to be detained at Chikurubi Prison in the meantime.
As I walked up the prison truck in the rain, I slipped and fell. I quickly got back up because, since I was a child, my mother had taught me to get up immediately after a fall, dust myself up and move on. Mr Drury got into the truck to check if I was OK. He brought with him my bucket of supplies – assembled in haste by my siblings. It had all the good stuff – chocolate, candy, nuts, reading material and toiletries most of which I would soon learn were forbidden “inside”.
When we arrived, they told us to eat. Dinner was old sadza and watery beans. I politely declined – partly because I was in no state to eat but mostly because of the rule of caution that I had dished out to many a client when I was on the lawyering end of such an ordeal. The events of the previous two days had frozen my legal brain as I watched constitutional rights bludgeoned and the Supreme Law rendered a lifeless museum piece. I resolved that the only way to make it through this ordeal was to embrace it, follow all orders including the illegal ones and then just make the most of it. “Behave with beauty and dignity at all times,” is the best advice I received that week. We knelt before the prison wardens whom we called “Mbuya”. They took our details then stripped us of all clothing and our bras then handed us our green prison garb. I had a whole prison number – 38/21. My reading material (a YOU magazine and a Newsday newspaper) were taken away for “censoring.” I never got the newspaper back.
We were placed in an isolation cell with no window. Covid positive inmates were housed in the cell next to us. We shared a “toilet” outside lock up time. We were locked in our cell and a 5l container with the top cut off was placed in the corner of the room for us to relieve ourselves that night. The next morning, we were moved to another section. It was a mix of remand prisoners and convicted inmates. Convicted inmates wore yellow. The concrete floor was our mattress. We had to make our beds out of old, dirty, torn, smelly blankets stamped “Parirenyatwa Hospital.” Breakfast was watery porridge and a smidgen of peanut butter with some sugar which inmates had to eat with their fingers because spoons are forbidden.
We went round the room sharing the charges that had brought us in. Curious, I saved my story till last. Murder, murder, murder, murder, armed robbery, theft, armed robbery, lockdown, curfew, lockdown then “tweeting.” They laughed. So did I. One of the inmates in our section was Chipo* who, four years earlier, had axed a man to death in Gutu and started “eating his brain.” She would walk into our cell and pick an inmate up then place her down again. She would rummage through the bin for food, chase rats “to eat” and sometimes snatch people’s food. It was evident to an untrained medical eye that she had no mental capacity to commit a crime.
We were ordered to go and weed the garden. No distinction was drawn between those who were “in with labour”, those on remand and a person in my position who was challenging the very placement on remand. I chose happiness and took it as an opportunity to get some much-needed exercise. When the hoe was passed to me, they said “Fadzie, scrape don’t dig. This is weeding.”
I made many friends because humanity is wired towards positivity. People in distress tend to make the most of tough situations united by our basic human instincts that want dignity, freedom, community and progress. I helped many fill out their bail application forms and dished out legal advice on available defences to many who requested it. I encouraged those who had done bad things to live right as soon as they got out. Story after story made me reflect on my own personal circumstances and feel grateful for God’s many mercies.
Mr Drury, Emma Drury, my fellow advocates from Chambers, Harrison Nkomo, Rose Hanzi and Tino from ZLHR all came to visit me. I lived for those visits. Sometimes, I’d stand lifeless at the window of my cell staring at the gate in anticipation that someone would show up. Mr Drury showed up everyday – a lawyer of immense distinction, integrity and honour who had taught me the ABC’s of court litigation, legal drafting and client management as we fought several land and human rights cases over a decade ago when I was a junior lawyer at Gollop and Blank was now plying his trade on me. I was confused as to how it had got to this but at the same time, reassured that I was in extremely capable hands. I nearly shed a tear when he pledged his own title deeds as he moved my bail application. “Your worship, I know her and can vouch for her. I’m prepared to put my head on the block because I know she won’t abscond.”
“Please tell my mom to stop crying,” I repeatedly said to everyone who visited. My parents, brothers and sisters are gladiators. Family is life.
Every day at lock-up time, I sat at my window and watched the skyline change from blue to a beautiful golden-peachy hue. The quiet beauty of the setting sun descending below the horizon was a peaceful reminder that the whole thing would eventually end. At least I hoped. I had mentally prepared for this to go on for weeks.
After seven interminable nights of incarceration, the court granted bail. I stepped out of the prison truck and knelt before the prison wardens one last time, crying internal tears of joy that the sun had finally set on this ordeal. I also remain hopeful that one day, the sun will set on injustice and repression. Until then, I will always choose courage over inaction.
I will never stop imagining that Zimbabwe will one day be free.
Warriors skipper Ian Nekati has rallied his teammates and urged them to put 100% effort to collect maximum points when they play Burkina Faso tomorrow.
Zdravko Logarusic’s charges lost their first Group A clash against hosts Cameroon 0-1 last Saturday and desperately need a win in the second match to brighten their chances of progressing to the next round of the rescheduled bianual football spectacle, reserved exclusively for locally-based players.
The Chicken Inn right back has urged his teammates to go for the kill in search of three points.
“We are going to be positive and tichawedzera attack yedu because we need goals kuti tiende mberi,” he told local broadcaster ZBC TV.
“Sa captain ndakagara nevakomana and told them how important the game is, and munhu wese anofanirwa kuisa 100%.”-Soccer 24 Zimbabwe
Ronald Koeman has defended Lionel Messi after the Barcelona captain received a red card in Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup final to Athletic Bilbao.
The 33-year old was expelled in last minute of regulation time following a VAR intervention when he struck Asier Villalibre in an off-the-ball incident as frustration got the better of him. The red card was his first in his senior Barca career.
The team went on to lose the match 3-2 after extra time.
Speaking after the match, Koeman said: “I can understand what Messi did.
“I don’t know how many times they fouled him, and it’s normal to react when they keep trying to foul you as a player who is looking to dribble with the ball, but I need to see it again properly.”
Given the red card was shown for violent conduct, Messi is likely to face a four-game ban across La Liga and the Copa del Rey.- Soccer 24 Zimbabwe
Zimbabweans had gotten used to seeing the name Tino Kadewere on the scoresheet for Olympique Lyon so much so that some thinks its abnormal for him to play three games without finding the back of the net.
It’s perhaps a case of a man being a victim of his own brilliance or fans believing in him too much to argue that three games is too much football played for him to not score. Whichever the case is, the lanky striker is on ”rough patch” according some.
Yesterday’s 0-1 loss to Meltz, which he started and lasted until the 76th minute, was the third consecutive game he has not found the back of the net for Rudi Garcia’s side.
Understandably for the Zimbabwean football-loving public, since the Highfield bred star opened his Lyon account in the 3-2 win over Strasbourg on the 18th of October last year, he has not played for 270 minutes without scoring, as is the case now but equally factual is the fact that in that same period, his striker partner, Cameroonian Karl Toko Ekambi, with whom he has formed a lethal attack together with captain Memphis Depay, has not scored either.
Of the the trio, only Depay has scored in the last three games; the Dutch whiz with three strikes to his name- a brace against Lens and one against Rennes.
The bright side is that few initially believed the Warriors star can command a regular place in the star-studded Lyon attack but he has defied those odds to do so hence any sane person can bet his last cent that he can recover his goal scoring touch.
Worryingly for him though, the departure of Mousa Dembele to Atletico Madrid might have been something everyone affiliated to Kadewere wanted, but it also resulted in Algerian striker Islam Slamini joining the club.
Competition will obviously be the order of the day as Slimani seeks to revive his career, which is why it is important for Tino to pull up his socks.- Soccer 24 Zimbabwe
Tinashe Sambiri|MDC MDC Alliance vice president, Hon Tendai Biti has pointed out that there is no legal basis for detaining journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and Hon. Job Sikhala.
Commenting on the elections in Uganda Hon Biti said Museveni has “outdone himself in stealing elections.”
“Kaguta Museveni has outdone himself this time around. The deranged autocrat rigged so brazenly that his fellow rigsters ,including Biya , Lungu,Conte ,Afwerki,Obiang, Ondimba , Magafuli ,Rwambiwa , Nguesso, Eyadema , Deby & Ouattara have been too embarrassed to congratulate him.”
“With Fadzi’s release we now demand the release of Hopewell Chin’ono a,Job Sikhala and young Alan Moyo.
They are innocent and the illegitimate fascist regime has no legitimate grounds for detaining the same #FreeJobSikhala #FreeHopewell,” added Hon Biti.
Warriors coach Zdravko Logarusic is targeting maximum points against Burkina Faso on Wednesday.
The Warriors suffered a 1-0 loss to Cameroon in their opening match of the African Championship (CHAN) and are currently on the bottom of Group A.
Logarusic is now looking to pick his first points against the Stallions.
“The Burkina Faso game is different altogether,” he said. “We know for certain that even a draw may not be enough at the end judging from where we want to be at the end of the tournament.
“We will adjust obviously. Burkina Faso are not Cameroon. We are all playing away from home and we will punch hard. We need a result and I have told the boys to go at them right from the start.”
Kick-off is at 9 pm Zimbabwean time.-Soccer 24 Zimbabwe
Tinashe Sambiri|MDC MDC Alliance vice president, Hon Tendai Biti has pointed out that there is no legal basis for detaining journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and Hon. Job Sikhala.
Commenting on the elections in Uganda Hon Biti said Museveni has “outdone himself in stealing elections.”
“Kaguta Museveni has outdone himself this time around. The deranged autocrat rigged so brazenly that his fellow rigsters ,including Biya , Lungu,Conte ,Afwerki,Obiang, Ondimba , Magafuli ,Rwambiwa , Nguesso, Eyadema , Deby & Ouattara have been too embarrassed to congratulate him.”
“With Fadzi’s release we now demand the release of Hopewell Chin’ono a,Job Sikhala and young Alan Moyo.
They are innocent and the illegitimate fascist regime has no legitimate grounds for detaining the same #FreeJobSikhala #FreeHopewell,” added Hon Biti.
Own Correspondent| A prominent Masvingo vendor, Mbuya Gamuchirai has sensationally claimed she recently reconciled with her lover who abandoned her at 16.
Mbuya Gamuchirai is known for selling groceries and second hand clothes.
Said Mbuya Gamuchirai: “I’m so happy after witnessing the unbelievable miracle.
Some people might say prophet Isaac Makomichi is a witch but my story is different.
I got pregnant when I was 16 and the father of the child abandoned me.
Since that time,I have been trying to get married but I failed.
I visited Prophet Isaac Makomichi and he gave me some oil. After using the oil for two weeks I began to see positive results.Now I am relieved because I reconciled with my man.
I thank the God of Prophet Isaac Makomichi.”
Church leaders insist Makomichi’s spiritual power is not from God.
The Emergency Committee will be reconvened within three months, at the discretion of the Director-General.
The Director-General thanked the Committee for its work.
Advice to the WHO Secretariat:
SARS-CoV-2 Variants
Continue to work with partners to develop standardized definitions and nomenclature of SARS-CoV-2 virus variants, based on their genetic sequence, that avoids stigmatization and is geographically and politically neutral. Provide clear information to State Parties on what constitutes a variant of concern.
Continue to increase worldwide capacities for SARS-CoV-2 molecular testing and genetic sequencing, in line with WHO guidance, and encourage rapid sharing of sequences and meta-data to strengthen monitoring of virus evolution and to increase global understanding of variants and their effects on vaccine, therapeutics and diagnostic efficacy. Strengthen the SARS-CoV-2 risk monitoring framework for variants by accelerating collaboration and harmonizing research to answer critical unknowns about specific mutations and variants, through relevant networks and expert groups such as WHO SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution Working Group and the WHO R&D Blueprint for Epidemics. COVID-19 Vaccines
Accelerate research on critical unknowns about COVID-19 vaccination efficacy on transmission, duration of protection against severe disease and asymptomatic infection, duration of immunity (following infection or vaccination), long-term protection after using different vaccination intervals, protection after a single dose, and vaccination regimes, in line with the SAGE and the Research and Development Blueprint recommendations. Promote global solidarity and equitable vaccine access by encouraging States Parties and manufacturers to donate resources and provide support to the COVAX Facility. Promote technology transfer to low- and middle- income countries with the potential capacity to accelerate global production of COVID-19 vaccines. Support State Parties, including fragile states, in preparing for COVID-19 vaccine introduction by developing a national deployment and vaccination plan, in line with WHO guidance, that addresses barriers to COVID-19 vaccine readiness. Such planning should include prioritization of populations, regulatory authorization, supply and logistics preparation, indemnification and liability, health workforce planning, and access for humanitarian and vulnerable population. Health Measures in Relation to International Traffic
Lead development of risk-based international standards and guidance for reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission related to international travel (by air, land, and sea) based on current science and good practices that include clear recommendations for testing approaches and quarantine duration as appropriate. The guidance should additionally include advice on adapting those measure to specific risk settings, including movements of migrants, temporary workers, travellers and conveyance operators. Rapidly develop and disseminate the WHO policy position on the legal, ethical, scientific, and technological considerations related to requirements for proof of COVID-19 vaccination for international travelers, in accordance with relevant IHR provisions. Coordinate with relevant stakeholders the development of standards for digital documentation of COVID-19 travel-related risk reduction measures ,that can be implemented on interoperable digital platforms. This should include vaccination status in preparation for widespread vaccine access. Encourage States Parties to implement coordinated, time-limited, risk-based, and evidence-based approaches for health measures in relation to international travel.
Evidence-Based Response Strategies
Continue to rapidly provide and regularly update evidence-based advice; guidance; tools; and resources, including regular dissemination of resources to combat misinformation for COVID-19, to enhance evidence-based COVID-19 preparedness and response strategies and implementation of such strategies.
Surveillance
Continue to actively support countries to further strengthen their SARS-CoV-2 surveillance systems, including strategic use of genetic sequencing, by leveraging existing systems such as the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) and relevant networks for systematic sharing of data and specimens.
Strengthening Health Systems
Provide strategic insight on how State Parties can sustain the public health infrastructure, capacities, and functions developed for COVID-19 response to support strengthened health systems and universal health coverage in the long-term…
Credit:WHO
Inserted by Zimbabwe Online Health Centre
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Tinashe Sambiri|MDC MDC Alliance vice president, Hon Tendai Biti has pointed out that there is no legal basis for detaining journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and Hon. Job Sikhala.
Commenting on the elections in Uganda Hon Biti said Museveni has “outdone himself in stealing elections.”
“Kaguta Museveni has outdone himself this time around. The deranged autocrat rigged so brazenly that his fellow rigsters ,including Biya , Lungu,Conte ,Afwerki,Obiang, Ondimba , Magafuli ,Rwambiwa , Nguesso, Eyadema , Deby & Ouattara have been too embarrassed to congratulate him.”
“With Fadzi’s release we now demand the release of Hopewell Chin’ono a,Job Sikhala and young Alan Moyo.
They are innocent and the illegitimate fascist regime has no legitimate grounds for detaining the same #FreeJobSikhala #FreeHopewell,” added Hon Biti.
Tinashe Sambiri|The MDC Alliance has described Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s victory in the just-ended Presidential election in Uganda as null and void.
Museveni stands accused of killing opposition members and massive rigging.
Museveni also altered the Presidential age limit to maintain his grip on power.
See the MDC Alliance statement below:
MDC Alliance Statement On Elections In Uganda
STATEMENT ON THE JUST ENDED UGANDAN ELECTIONS
The Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC A) is deeply concerned by the just-ended fundamentally flawed elections in Uganda.
The elections were marred by human rights abuses and fell short of regional and international standards governing democratic elections including the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.
We urge the international community to hold President Yoweri Museveni’s government to account and not to lower the bar for free, fair and democratic elections as doing so encourages dictators across the African continent.
Despite criticising African leaders who subverted democratic processes to remain in power during his early days, President Yoweri Museveni manipulated the country’s Constitution to remove the presidential age limit in order to extend his stay in power as one of Africa’s longest-serving authoritarian leaders.
In the run-up to the January 2021 elections, 54 citizens were killed and dozens of others were arrested following riots that were triggered by the arrest of Presidential Candidate Bobi Wine for allegedly violating Covid 19 regulations whilst internet was shutdown.
Arrests of independent monitors, denial of accreditation to international observer missions and the current house arrest of President Bobi Wine have also seriously and negatively affected the credibility of the elections.
Contrary to the impetus that propelled the struggle for liberation across Africa including the principle of one man one vote’, we have observed a rise in electoral authoritarianism or elections without democracy in countries such as Uganda, Zimbabwe and Tanzania where elections have become rituals for authoritarian consolidation.
In these countries, elections have been punctuated by the weaponization of the law, abuse of state resources and institutions, violence, intimidation, and outright rigging among a menu of electoral manipulation.
We implore the African Union and the international community to unreservedly hold to account countries that do not respect democratic principles and human rights in line with international norms and practises as not doing promotes undemocratic elections and authoritarianism.
“Ours must always be a story of hope. Of citizens who, knowing how ruthless & repressive this regime is, chose courage over inaction.”
As I was about to part ways with my phone to enter police detention, I sent Cee Musandu, my communications director, this message.
She had asked me what she should say. We have been the best of friends since 2016 when we joined #ThisFlag, a citizens’ movement that challenged the poverty, injustice and corruption prevailing under then President Robert Mugabe. The idea was to inspire an engaged citizenry that held the Government to account.
Many amazing and awful things had happened over the last four years but nothing had prepared us for the week that was to come.
It started on the Sunday morning. Two plainclothes police officers in an unmarked vehicle knocked on our gate and asked to see me. When asked what the issue was, they said it was in connection with tweets I had posted protesting police brutality. I had gone to the shops to buy some meds and supplies for the continued lockdown. They left.
As soon as I received the news, my heart sank. Courage does not mean you aren’t afraid. It means you act in spite of your fear. Hopewell Chin’ono and Job Sikhala had been arrested by the Police days earlier on similar charges. “Go seek refuge at a friend’s house,” my little brother suggested. I explained to him that you never run away from the Police. I quickly went back home, assuming that they’d come back. I telephoned David Drury, my old boss, mentor and trusted lawyer of choice.
He advised me to stay put and wait for their return. I waited for what seemed like an eternity. Upon nightfall, Mr Drury said that because the police had not come back, we would have to attend upon Harare Central Police Station first thing in the morning.
At 9am on Monday morning, we were at the Police Station. We waited for an hour before being attended to. They would not immediately confirm or deny whether or why they wanted me pursuant to their visit the day before. Eventually, they confirmed that I was under arrest for my tweets. By 10.50am, I had signed my warned and cautioned statement. The docket was complete.
We figured we would immediately go to court as we were in good time. To our surprise, the detective inspector came in with a detention order and told us to hurry up as we were “behind time.” She had been ordered to hurry up and take me to the cells. Mr Drury appealed with them to take us to court to avoid unnecessary and potentially unlawful pre-trial detention. (This was the first of many appeals he would make to police, prison and court officers in the ensuing seven days.) The officer refused and offered no explanation or reasons to explain why I had to be jailed if the matter was ripe for court.
I was thrown into the all familiar lice-infested police cell with a drop toilet. The proverbial puddle of urine from last time and all the times before greeted me.
Rather, it slapped my face. I was barefoot, having signed my shoes in upon entry as per procedure. There was no sanitizer, no facility to flush the loo, no sink and tap, no toilet paper and no sanitary bin. The blankets smelt of old urine. I shared the cell with 6 other ladies, most of whom were detained for breaching lockdown regulations. And there was Lisa, an alleged armed robber with whom I would make further contact in days to come. We talked, sighed and laughed then fell asleep on their concrete beds and covered ourselves in stained blankets that smelt of a mix of urine, human and dirt.
The next day, I was bundled into the back of a small police truck escorted by nine police officers who breathed on each other and breathed on me. Some wore masks and some wore them incorrectly.
An application was made to challenge my placement on remand on the ground that the Constitutional Court had declared the sections under which I was charged void and on the ground that the initial remand form was insufficient. The Magistrate postponed the handing down of his ruling to Friday. It was Tuesday. I was to be detained at Chikurubi Prison in the meantime.
As I walked up the prison truck in the rain, I slipped and fell. I quickly got back up because, since I was a child, my mother had taught me to get up immediately after a fall, dust myself up and move on. Mr Drury got into the truck to check if I was OK. He brought with him my bucket of supplies – assembled in haste by my siblings. It had all the good stuff – chocolate, candy, nuts, reading material and toiletries most of which I would soon learn were forbidden “inside”.
When we arrived, they told us to eat. Dinner was old sadza and watery beans. I politely declined – partly because I was in no state to eat but mostly because of the rule of caution that I had dished out to many a client when I was on the lawyering end of such an ordeal. The events of the previous two days had frozen my legal brain as I watched constitutional rights bludgeoned and the Supreme Law rendered a lifeless museum piece. I resolved that the only way to make it through this ordeal was to embrace it, follow all orders including the illegal ones and then just make the most of it. “Behave with beauty and dignity at all times,” is the best advice I received that week. We knelt before the prison wardens whom we called “Mbuya”. They took our details then stripped us of all clothing and our bras then handed us our green prison garb. I had a whole prison number – 38/21. My reading material (a YOU magazine and a Newsday newspaper) were taken away for “censoring.” I never got the newspaper back.
We were placed in an isolation cell with no window. Covid positive inmates were housed in the cell next to us. We shared a “toilet” outside lock up time. We were locked in our cell and a 5l container with the top cut off was placed in the corner of the room for us to relieve ourselves that night. The next morning, we were moved to another section. It was a mix of remand prisoners and convicted inmates. Convicted inmates wore yellow. The concrete floor was our mattress. We had to make our beds out of old, dirty, torn, smelly blankets stamped “Parirenyatwa Hospital.” Breakfast was watery porridge and a smidgen of peanut butter with some sugar which inmates had to eat with their fingers because spoons are forbidden.
We went round the room sharing the charges that had brought us in. Curious, I saved my story till last. Murder, murder, murder, murder, armed robbery, theft, armed robbery, lockdown, curfew, lockdown then “tweeting.” They laughed. So did I. One of the inmates in our section was Chipo* who, four years earlier, had axed a man to death in Gutu and started “eating his brain.” She would walk into our cell and pick an inmate up then place her down again. She would rummage through the bin for food, chase rats “to eat” and sometimes snatch people’s food. It was evident to an untrained medical eye that she had no mental capacity to commit a crime.
We were ordered to go and weed the garden. No distinction was drawn between those who were “in with labour”, those on remand and a person in my position who was challenging the very placement on remand. I chose happiness and took it as an opportunity to get some much-needed exercise. When the hoe was passed to me, they said “Fadzie, scrape don’t dig. This is weeding.”
I made many friends because humanity is wired towards positivity. People in distress tend to make the most of tough situations united by our basic human instincts that want dignity, freedom, community and progress. I helped many fill out their bail application forms and dished out legal advice on available defences to many who requested it. I encouraged those who had done bad things to live right as soon as they got out. Story after story made me reflect on my own personal circumstances and feel grateful for God’s many mercies.
Mr Drury, Emma Drury, my fellow advocates from Chambers, Harrison Nkomo, Rose Hanzi and Tino from ZLHR all came to visit me. I lived for those visits. Sometimes, I’d stand lifeless at the window of my cell staring at the gate in anticipation that someone would show up. Mr Drury showed up everyday – a lawyer of immense distinction, integrity and honour who had taught me the ABC’s of court litigation, legal drafting and client management as we fought several land and human rights cases over a decade ago when I was a junior lawyer at Gollop and Blank was now plying his trade on me. I was confused as to how it had got to this but at the same time, reassured that I was in extremely capable hands. I nearly shed a tear when he pledged his own title deeds as he moved my bail application. “Your worship, I know her and can vouch for her. I’m prepared to put my head on the block because I know she won’t abscond.”
“Please tell my mom to stop crying,” I repeatedly said to everyone who visited. My parents, brothers and sisters are gladiators. Family is life.
Every day at lock-up time, I sat at my window and watched the skyline change from blue to a beautiful golden-peachy hue. The quiet beauty of the setting sun descending below the horizon was a peaceful reminder that the whole thing would eventually end. At least I hoped. I had mentally prepared for this to go on for weeks.
After seven interminable nights of incarceration, the court granted bail. I stepped out of the prison truck and knelt before the prison wardens one last time, crying internal tears of joy that the sun had finally set on this ordeal. I also remain hopeful that one day, the sun will set on injustice and repression. Until then, I will always choose courage over inaction.
I will never stop imagining that Zimbabwe will one day be free.
By Taruberekera Masara in Pretoria| Primary and secondary education Minister Cain Mathema has to find a way of reopening schools to alleviate a disaster that is awaiting Zimbabwe’s school going children.
A generation is fastly being lost and it is compelling to issue a call for the government to prioritize school reopening and make classrooms as safe as possible.
While the urgency of arresting the Covid 19 crisis is primary, averting the irreversible harm to children’s education and well being is equally important.
It is imperative for the government to find a way of averting this brewing disaster. Schools must be opened.
Assertions by government run newspaper the Herald that current intervention measures by the government to school children and their education will be enough to help kids keep track are highly shocking.
Education has severely been disrupted, as schools struggle to cope with repeated closures and re-openings, and the transitioning. Even the options of digital and online schooling have never been handy enough.
These emergency measures have severely disadvantaged kids.
The only alternative is to open schools.
According to the World Bank, around 1.6 billion school children were affected by these closures at their peak (World Bank 2020).
“While the economic costs of closing businesses arise immediately and are thus very salient, closed schools and childcare centres have negative economic effects on the human capital accumulation of children that only arise in the long run”,
“Education is a crucial determinant of future wages, and schools are an important driver of intergenerational mobility (Kotera and Seshadri 2017, Lee and Seshadri 2019)” they wrote.
It is increasingly becoming a reality that at the end of the lockdown restrictions we will have fifth or sixth graders whose reading levels will be that of a third grader or even worse. While we gloat in trying to arrest the disease through lockdowns,alternatives to serve the situations must be rolled out effectively and efficiently.
There is no room for excuse,its about a generation that can be lost,its about the future of our nation.
UNESCO warned that “Covid-19 school closures around the world will hit girls hardest”. Statistics on the ground in Zimbabwe points to a possibility that there will be “ drop-out rates which will disproportionately affect adolescent girls, further entrench gender gaps in education, and lead to increased risk of sexual exploitation, early pregnancy and early and forced marriage.”
Already country wide findings collated a tally of over400 school girls in Manicaland province who dropped out of school some with pregnancies.In Kwekwe three junior councillors eloped.
These are some of the so many cases whose cause could be largely school closures. According to World Vision, teenage pregnancy spiked during the Covid-19 lockdown, they added that the crisis is now is threatening to bar 1 million girls across sub-Saharan Africa from returning to school.
In their research study titled “Covid-19 Aftershock: Access Denied”, the organisation notes the pandemic caused “additional and unanticipated disruption”.
“School closures during crises can result in girls spending more time with men and boys than they would were they in school, leading to greater likelihood of engagement in risky sexual behaviour and increased risk of sexual violence exploitation.”
The adverse effects are exponentially wide Robert Jenkins UNICEF’s chief of education said: “The closures not only interrupted educational progress; they also curtailed normal social interaction and limited access to essential services families relied on, including school nutrition and health programs, information on disease prevention, and access to clean water and sanitation.”
By and large the children are at loss. Deferment of opening schools have far reaching implications. There is need for rethink, remodelling and restructuring. Quickly.
It may be difficult to get children back to school following long-term school closures. Maintaining learning and links to schools during closures are crucial. Arguments have been that even during the time schools are closed radio and television education programs are being aired. While it is very positive to what extent are they effectively and efficiently beneficial. Are the services available for all.
If an urban setting like Kwekwe does not have reception for radio and television what about remote areas like Chivi, Mbire and Guyu to mention a few. Who do we fool? Children need those four walls and a teacher in front of them.
The benefits of school closures should be balanced against the strong adverse effects. We should think ahead.
UNICEF made it clear that the needless closure of schools has no overarching goal.
“What we have learned about schooling during the time of COVID is clear: the benefits of keeping schools open, far outweigh the costs of closing them, and nationwide closures of schools should be avoided at all costs”,
“Evidence shows that schools are not the main drivers of this pandemic. Yet we are seeing an alarming trend whereby governments are once again closing down schools as a first recourse rather than a last resort”
“In some cases, this is being done nationwide, rather than community by community, and children are continuing to suffer the devastating impacts on their learning, mental and physical well-being and safety”said Jenkins.
Teacher trade unions must also spare a thought for children beyond their advocacy for own members. We are losing a generation.
The country’s first black Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Dr Kombo Moyana succumbed to COVID-19 on Monday night.
Moyana who was at the helm of the central bank between 1983 and 1993 died while admitted at a local hospital.
Dr Moyana’s death was confirmed by members of his church the United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (UCCZ).
“Dear UCCZ Church Family. “It is with a heavy heart that I am informing you that last night we lost one of us at UCCZ Eastlea Dr Kombo James Moyana exRBZ Governor passed on to Glory last night.He was in Hospital. He succumbed to Covid 19.”
A crackdown by security forces against protests in Jan 2019 resulted in the deaths of 17 Zimbabweans. Two years on we continue to call for accountability and on the govt to enact political and economic reforms that will benefit all Zimbabweans #ActiononReform#StandUp4HumanRights
Two years. When will Zimbabwe investigate, prosecute, and convict government security forces accused of rape, torture, and killing civilians in Jan 2019? Two years is too long to seek justice/answers/accountability. pic.twitter.com/cIUDbzh7ez
By Patrick Guramatunhu- Zanu PF and its apologists are renowned for their single mindedness belief in offence as not only the best but only defence. It is therefore a novelty to see them scrambling to mount a rear-guard defensive action!
“Zimbabwe does not hold China responsible for the emergence and spread of Covid-19 and the two countries continue to enjoy excellent relations, Government has said,” reported the Zanu PF controlled Sunday Mail.
“This follows the circulation of a purported telephone conversation between the Minister of Defence and War Veterans Affairs, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri and political activist-cum-journalist Simba Chikanza where he infers that Government blames China for the pandemic.”
Of course, “Zimbabwe does not hold China responsible for the emergence and spread of covid-19!” It was a Freudian slip of the tongue on the part of Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri!
In other words Zimbabwe holds China responsible; everyone knows China, being a secretive nation, tried to keep the outbreak a secret and thus giving the virus a head start. And like everyone else, Zimbabwe has been making a concerted and conscientious effort never to publicly accuse China of anything!
Indeed, when the number of corona virus cases and deaths started to soar in Europe and the Americas in March and April 2020; USA President Donald Trump blamed China. He insisted in calling it “The China virus!” It was none other than Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri who said the virus was God’s punishment of the West for imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe.
Officially, Zimbabwe has one of the lowest per capita corona virus cases and deaths in the world but only because the Zanu PF government, like the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is super sensitive about criticism and so has been under reporting the figures.
However, the corona virus cases and deaths have soar in the last month Zimbabwe’s wilfully inadequate health care service was quickly overwhelmed. In her interview with Simba Chikanza, Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri described how she had been running around like a headless chicken trying to get medical help for a relative with covid-19.
“Zimbabweans are dying. This is serious. Covid 19 is serious,” a tearful Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri told Chikanza.
“The Chinese, the disease is now on a fresh peak now. Cases are rising again. They are the ones who started their experiments and things got out of hand and now their experiments are costing us. They cannot control this now. They have costed us…. those whom we call our all weather friends, look at what they have done to us.”
At moments such as this it is near impossible to keep up the phoney lies bottled in.
The gene is out of the bottle; Zimbabwe, just like many other nations out there, blames China for the corona virus. The CCP’s lack of democratic accountability and its obsession with secrecy to hide its blundering failures is costing us all the earth!
The Zanu PF regime and its apologists’ rear-guard action claiming Zimbabwe is not blaming China for the corona virus is futile. The gene is out of the bottle and cannot be put back.
“We wish to make it clear that the sentiments expressed do not reflect the position of the Government of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe and China enjoy excellent relations,” continued the statement from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Rubbish! Zimbabwe’s so called “excellent” relationship is one of the tick to the cow; the tick gets all the blood it wants and get so bloated it cannot even move, the cow gets absolutely no benefit from the relation. Indeed, the Zimbabwe cow has been sucked dry it is weak and sickly.
“An army-linked miner, Anjin Investments (Pvt) Ltd, grabbed the most lucrative diamond claim in Marange from a firm owned by the government after being relicensed under unclear circumstances, it has emerged,” reported The Independent/Bulawayo 24 last week.
“Investigations carried out with support from Information for Development Trust, a non-profit organisation helping journalists to expose corruption and bad governance, established that Anjin has effectively taken over Portal B, a diamond-rich zone in Marange that was being mined by the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC), a government outfit set up in 2016.”
The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown and political paralysis is corruption and the wholesale looting in Marange has become the epicentre of it all.
In 2016 Robert Mugabe revealed that the country was being swindled out of a staggering US$ 15 billion in diamond revenue. The one nation that has been behind the looting in Marange is China, Anjin is a Chinese company.
Mugabe fell-out with the Chines big-time accusing them not fulfilling their promise to fund Zimbabwe’s mega-deals. The Chinese, in turn, accused Mugabe of not paying his debts. Mugabe booted out Anjin out of Marange.
It is widely believed the Chinese played a major role in Zimbabwe’s November 2017 military coup which booted Mugabe out of office. Mnangagwa was the chief beneficiary of the coup and he not only arranged for Anjin’s return but, as we can now see, claim the most lucrative diamond claim!
It has been said Zimbabwe is stuck with this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship because China will never allow free, fair and credible elections and regime change. Never!
The destiny of Zimbabwe is not and has never been in the hands ordinary Zimbabweans but in the Chinese!
Oh please, we are not all stupid and blind not to know the difference between “Zimbabwe and China enjoy excellent relations!” and “Zanu PF and China enjoy excellent relations!”
— Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe (@ChineseZimbabwe) January 18, 2021
By A Correspondent- The Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe has issued a statement saying it is not fair to hold the entire Chinese community over a 25seconds video published below.
We publish below the developments which led to the above video as published by a local publication, Newsday:
Two mine workers at the Fools Investment Mine in Hope Fountain, which is just outside Bulawayo, were last Saturday assaulted by their Chinese employer after they demanded payment of their outstanding wages.
Their employer, Zhong Yi Zhang allegedly owes workers’ wages backdated to July last year.
Some of the affected workers, who spoke to Southern Eye, but refused to be named, said they feared victimisation.
They alleged that Yi Zhang is abusing them.
“These guys are just beating people; yesterday (Saturday) he (Yi Zhang) assaulted two workers.
“We made a police report at Waterford in Bulawayo, and the Chinese rushed to Hillside Police Station in a bid to block any legal action against them,” one of the mine workers said.
“Two people were assaulted, after several workers gathered to demand their salaries which are outstanding from July last year.
“The workers were asking for a written agreement on how they will recover their outstanding money. Those who were assaulted are Constan Masa and Tatenda Mangena,” he said. As a result of beatings, Mangena is said to have sustained injuries on the arm, while Masa was injured on his private parts.
The workers alleged that the Chinese employer pays them any amount that he deems fit, instead of paying their stipulated wages.
Fools Investment Mine manager Thabani Masuku confirmed the incident, adding that it stemmed from a petition which the workers submitted last Friday.
“They were asking for their money and they had submitted a petition saying their concerns should be looked into by January 31 before they take action on the employer,” Masuku said.
“I took the petition to the director, and he said he will look into it. He later sent away the workers who had gathered.
“The next day (Saturday), he assigned some workers to work, but other employees stopped them from performing the duties, saying they must wait until workers’ grievances are addressed.”
Masuku said the Chinese director then started taking pictures and when the workers asked him why he was doing that a scuffle ensued.
“He attacked the workers with fists and later took a shovel which he used to attack one of the workers and injured him on the arm.
“During the scuffle, a security guard fired a shot and the mine director rushed to the office and brought a gun which he pointed at Masa, before calming down and handing it to the guard,” he said.
In their petition, the workers demanded a timeframe for the supply of personnel protective equipment, since they had none.
They also demanded backdated pay to July 2020.
Other demands included provision of information on pay dates, and that their salaries must be paid in US dollars.
National Union of Mines Quarrying, Iron and Steel Workers of Zimbabwe regional officer Abraham Kavalanjila confirmed the incident.
“We condemn this barbaric act by these employers. The law has to take its course. No one is above the law. We will not allow such behaviour targeted at workers. There must be no racial discrimination, the Labour Act is clear.
“As a union we will work 24 hours a day and seven days a week until this matter is resolved in terms of the law,” Kavalanjila said.
Zhang’s spokesperson Han Le’s phone was not reachable.
Bulawayo Police spokesperson, Inspector Abednicho Ncube referred Southern Eye to national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi who was not picking calls.
By Wilbert Mukori- There is no denying that Zimbabwe is in a serious economic and political mess. Anyone with half a working brain would tell you Zimbabwe’s problems are, above all else, man-made problems and all emanating from bad governance.
The very fact that the economic and political mess is a man-made problem offers one hope; a man-made problem has a man-made solution. What is the solution?
Well, that is the trillion dollar question.
However, what I do know with certainty is that Zanu PF and MDC leaders are not the solution to our problem. I know that because they are the ones who landed us into this mess and after 40 years of dragging us deeper and deeper into the abyss it is naive to still belief they can get us out of the mess.
If Zanu PF and MDC leaders are so clever as to lead us out of the mess, then why did they, Zanu PF, drag us into the mess in the first place. And, in the case of MDC, have they failed to do so these last 20 years, 5 of which they were in the 2008 to 2013 GNU.
Of course, it is insane to repeat the same thing over and over again, for 40 and 20 years and counting, and expect a different result. And yet there are some “experts” egging to repeat the same foolishness once again!
“This is best time for Mnangagwa, Mwonzora and Chamisa to sit down together,” argued Daily News and rolled out their so-called experts.
“These three are the key political players in that Chamisa is very popular and that Mnangagwa prefers to see Mwonzora as the official opposition leader,” argued University of Zimbabwe political analyst, Eldred Masunungure.
“If the mood of talking to each other like all the sides want to portray is there, that would be the most progressive way to push forward a national agenda that is not partisan.”
The last political dialogue between these political leaders ended with the 2008 to 2013 Government of National Unity (GNU) whose principle task was to implement the democratic reforms. They failed to implement even one reform in five years!
If is one thing to keep wittering on and on about having the same politicians in yet another GNU but what is there to suggest they will do any better!
“The dialogue has to concern not just political issues, but economic ones as well. It will take a very long time for Zimbabwe to recover sufficient economic stability to act as a platform for multi-sector growth,” advised Stephen Chan, Professor of World Politics at the London School of Oriental and African Studies.
At least the 2008 to 2013 GNU had a clear objective; “to implement the democratic reforms necessary to ensure the blatant cheating and wanton violence of the 2008 elections are not repeated ever again”! Since Mnangagwa insists the July 2018 elections were “free, fair and credible”, it was doubtful if anyone was ever going to get the new GNU to implementing any meaningful political reforms. And Professor Chan, in his infantile wisdom is giving the GNU an excuse for shelving political reforms – focus on the economy.
So Professor Chan, is the new GNU going to follow Zanu PF economic policies, as articulated in the party’s Vision 2030 or is it the MDC’s RELOAD or whatever? If it is Vision 2030, why has Zanu PF failed to implement its policies since it has 2/3 parliamentary majority already and does not need the opposition?
Even if RELOAD were the right economic policies and the country was to enjoy similar economic recovery as in the 2008 to 2013 GNU, the economic had a 12% growth rate in 2009 from a – ve 6% the previous year; at the end of the GNU Zanu PF got back into power because no meaningful political reforms were implemented. History will repeat itself again!
The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic mess and political paralysis is the country’s failure to hold free, fair and credible elections. The nation has been stuck with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF regime for 40 years and counting because the party rigged elections to stay in power. Not many people understand that reality and even few dare to acknowledge it in their proposed solution.
The 2008 to 2013 GNU’s greatest promise as a solution to end the Zimbabwe economic and political crisis was the acceptance by SADC leaders that the 2008 elections were not free, fair and credible. The GNU was tasked to implement a raft of democratic reforms to ensure future elections are free, fair and credible.
Sadly, none of the political leaders in both Zanu PF and the two MDC factions in the GNU had the vision nor political will and courage to implement the reforms. And ever since the GNU, MDC leaders have given up the hope of getting the reforms implemented and have participated in flawed and illegal elections knowing fully well that by doing so they would give legitimacy to the vote rigging Zanu PF regime.
Zanu PF has allowed the opposition to win a few gravy train seats, a bribe MDC leaders have found irresistible.
By blatantly rigging the July 2018 elections Mnangagwa confirmed that Zimbabwe was still a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs – same as it was under Mugabe. His “Zimbabwe is open for business!” mantra was died in the water because investors are a shrewd and savvy lot, they do not do business in a pariah state.
The two University intellectuals’ rolled out by the Daily News proposed solution is doomed to fail because it is premised on cheap deception. The proposed new GNU of Zanu PF and MDC is nothing but the vote rigging Zanu PF dictatorship with MDC leaders added in as window dressing mannequin. The shrewd and savvy investors will never be fooled by that, they will know the GNU is the same Zanu PF pariah state by another name.
Zanu PF and MDC leaders will never implement the democratic reforms to end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance. Never! They had the best opportunity to do so during the 2008 to 2013 GNU and they wasted it.
Just because Zanu PF and MDC leaders failed to implement the democratic reforms does not mean the reforms are no longer necessary. They are our only ticket out of this economic and political hell-on-earth we have been stuck in for four decades now!
Just because Zanu PF and MDC leaders have proven beyond all doubt that they are corrupt and incompetent and will never ever implement the democratic reforms does not mean no one else can do it. Of course, there are hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans who understand what the reforms are about and have the knowledge and vision to have the reforms implemented.
What has stopped the country appointing the body of visionary leaders to implement the reforms is the ordinary people themselves; they have been very slow in understand that MDC leaders, much less Zanu PF, will never implement the democratic reforms. Even after the MDC leaders failed to implement the reforms during the 2008 to 2013 GNU, the people have continues to follow the party blindly like sheep to the slaughter.
The people have not searched for the competent leaders to implement the reforms because they believe, even now with all the benefit of hindsight, that MDC leaders will deliver democratic change. And having people like Masunungure and Chan bombarding them with all this nonsense of a new Zanu PF and MDC GNU as a solution has only helped to confuse povo and not enlighten them!
Of course, it is infuriating that the goal for free, fair and credible elections in Zimbabwe has been made that much harder to attain by not just the Zanu PF tyrants but by the opposition MDC sell-outs and many others masquerading as intellectuals, independent media, etc.
After 40 years and counting of rigged elections; we must either implement the reforms to ensure Zimbabwe’s next elections are free, fair and credible. Or the elections must be declared null and void to create the political space for the appointment of the body that will implement the reforms. This is not too much to ask!
By A Correspondent- A woman who, allegedly assisted her boyfriend to rape her 13 year old daughter, was yesterday granted bail along with her lover by the Bulawayo High Court.
The woman (48) and her lover (36), both of Matopo district in Matabeleland South province, were released on $2 000 bail each by High Court judge Justice Thompson Mabhikwa.
He remanded their case to February 18, for trial.
The names of the accused are withheld to protect the identity of the victim.
The court heard that sometime in 2014, the two lovers had a child. They then connived that during the period, the boyfriend would sleep with the 13 year old minor.
The girl would sleep with her mother in the kitchen, but later, the man would sneak into their blankets and rape her.
This is said to have happened several times under her mother’s watch until she fell pregnant.
Allegations are that at times the mother would allegedly also order the girl to go to her boyfriend’s home regularly to sleep with him.
After the girl fell pregnant, her relatives then made a report to the police, which led to the arrest of the two lovers.
— Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe (@ChineseZimbabwe) January 18, 2021
By A Correspondent- The Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe has issued a statement saying it is not fair to hold the entire Chinese community over a 25seconds video published below.
We publish below the developments which led to the above video as published by a local publication, Newsday:
Two mine workers at the Fools Investment Mine in Hope Fountain, which is just outside Bulawayo, were last Saturday assaulted by their Chinese employer after they demanded payment of their outstanding wages.
Their employer, Zhong Yi Zhang allegedly owes workers’ wages backdated to July last year.
Some of the affected workers, who spoke to Southern Eye, but refused to be named, said they feared victimisation.
They alleged that Yi Zhang is abusing them.
“These guys are just beating people; yesterday (Saturday) he (Yi Zhang) assaulted two workers.
“We made a police report at Waterford in Bulawayo, and the Chinese rushed to Hillside Police Station in a bid to block any legal action against them,” one of the mine workers said.
“Two people were assaulted, after several workers gathered to demand their salaries which are outstanding from July last year.
“The workers were asking for a written agreement on how they will recover their outstanding money. Those who were assaulted are Constan Masa and Tatenda Mangena,” he said.
As a result of beatings, Mangena is said to have sustained injuries on the arm, while Masa was injured on his private parts.
The workers alleged that the Chinese employer pays them any amount that he deems fit, instead of paying their stipulated wages.
Fools Investment Mine manager Thabani Masuku confirmed the incident, adding that it stemmed from a petition which the workers submitted last Friday.
“They were asking for their money and they had submitted a petition saying their concerns should be looked into by January 31 before they take action on the employer,” Masuku said.
“I took the petition to the director, and he said he will look into it. He later sent away the workers who had gathered.
“The next day (Saturday), he assigned some workers to work, but other employees stopped them from performing the duties, saying they must wait until workers’ grievances are addressed.”
Masuku said the Chinese director then started taking pictures and when the workers asked him why he was doing that a scuffle ensued.
“He attacked the workers with fists and later took a shovel which he used to attack one of the workers and injured him on the arm.
“During the scuffle, a security guard fired a shot and the mine director rushed to the office and brought a gun which he pointed at Masa, before calming down and handing it to the guard,” he said.
In their petition, the workers demanded a timeframe for the supply of personnel protective equipment, since they had none.
They also demanded backdated pay to July 2020.
Other demands included provision of information on pay dates, and that their salaries must be paid in US dollars.
National Union of Mines Quarrying, Iron and Steel Workers of Zimbabwe regional officer Abraham Kavalanjila confirmed the incident.
“We condemn this barbaric act by these employers. The law has to take its course. No one is above the law. We will not allow such behaviour targeted at workers. There must be no racial discrimination, the Labour Act is clear.
“As a union we will work 24 hours a day and seven days a week until this matter is resolved in terms of the law,” Kavalanjila said.
Zhang’s spokesperson Han Le’s phone was not reachable.
Bulawayo Police spokesperson, Inspector Abednicho Ncube referred Southern Eye to national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi who was not picking calls.
By A Correspondent| A Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) leader Allan Moyo who has spent more than 40 days in prison will appear at High Court on Tuesday 19 January 2021, where a Judge will hear and make a determination on his bail application.
Setting down and hearing of Moyo’s bail application at High Court was delayed after his lawyer Obey Shava of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights encountered some challenges in securing the UZ student’s record of proceedings from Harare Magistrates Court, where he was denied bail by Magistrate Judith Taruvinga, who in December 2020 ruled that he is a flight risk as he could abscond standing trial.
Moyo, a University of Zimbabwe student was arrested on Monday 7 December 2020 by Zimbabwe Republic Police members and charged with incitement to commit public violence as defined in section 187(1)(a) of the Criminal Law(Codification and Reform) Act as read with section 36(1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act after he allegedly called for a revolt against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.
Prosecutors claim that the 23 year-old Moyo incited some commuters on 3 July 2020 at Copacabana bus terminus in Harare when he addressed and told them that the time to stage a revolt against President Mnangagwa’s administration in Zimbabwe was conducive as the ZANU PF party leader has failed the people of Zimbabwe.
Prosecutors also alleged that Moyo told commuters that President Mnangagwa’s government was not capable of presiding over the country’s affairs as it has presided over the suffering of people in Zimbabwe
By A Correspondent| MISA Zimbabwe has filed an urgent application with the High Court for an order compelling the responsible ministries to widely disseminate comprehensive information on both private and public testing, isolation and treatment of COVID-19.
The Minister of Health and Child Care, and the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, are cited in the application as first and second respondents respectively.
In its application, MISA Zimbabwe says the information and reportage being disseminated on the current public health situation in the country is incomplete, uninformative, and inadequate.
In that regard, MISA Zimbabwe contends the current information fails to take into consideration the requirements of all citizens in Zimbabwe.
This application comes on the backdrop of an earlier one filed by the organisation in April 2020 wherein the High Court ordered the two ministries to ‘publish and disseminate on all available platforms, the daily COVID-19 updates in all the official languages.’
It is MISA Zimbabwe’s argument that the quality of information being disseminated is poor and shortchanging the citizens as no information has been disseminated on the new strain of COVID-19.
There is also no information as to the statistics emanating from private health facilities.
“There is no information advising the public of the new variant of COVID-19, its pathology and whether such variant has been detected in Zimbabwe.
“In fact, there is no information as to whether the 1st Respondent is even testing for the new COVID-19 variant. The amount of cross-border interaction with South Africa makes Zimbabwe particularly susceptible to exposure” says MISA Zimbabwe.
MISA Zimbabwe also highlighted that:
“Critically there is no information as to the statistics emanating from private health care providers such as the number of tests that have been conducted by such facilities, the attendant results, various aggregation of those results around gender age and location.
“All this information is critical in regards to public awareness and well as delimiting the true state of the public health emergency.”
It further argues that there is still no information on the nature and quantity of equipment available in the designated public and private institutions in Zimbabwe to deal with the resurgent pandemic.
“We are in a second and more dangerous wave of the virus and it is important that the public is made aware of the state of preparedness,” says MISA Zimbabwe.
— Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe (@ChineseZimbabwe) January 18, 2021
By A Correspondent- The Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe has issued a statement saying it is not fair to hold the entire Chinese community over a 25seconds video published below.
We publish below the developments which led to the above video as published by a local publication, Newsday:
Two mine workers at the Fools Investment Mine in Hope Fountain, which is just outside Bulawayo, were last Saturday assaulted by their Chinese employer after they demanded payment of their outstanding wages.
Their employer, Zhong Yi Zhang allegedly owes workers’ wages backdated to July last year.
Some of the affected workers, who spoke to Southern Eye, but refused to be named, said they feared victimisation.
They alleged that Yi Zhang is abusing them.
“These guys are just beating people; yesterday (Saturday) he (Yi Zhang) assaulted two workers.
“We made a police report at Waterford in Bulawayo, and the Chinese rushed to Hillside Police Station in a bid to block any legal action against them,” one of the mine workers said.
“Two people were assaulted, after several workers gathered to demand their salaries which are outstanding from July last year.
“The workers were asking for a written agreement on how they will recover their outstanding money. Those who were assaulted are Constan Masa and Tatenda Mangena,” he said.
As a result of beatings, Mangena is said to have sustained injuries on the arm, while Masa was injured on his private parts.
The workers alleged that the Chinese employer pays them any amount that he deems fit, instead of paying their stipulated wages.
Fools Investment Mine manager Thabani Masuku confirmed the incident, adding that it stemmed from a petition which the workers submitted last Friday.
“They were asking for their money and they had submitted a petition saying their concerns should be looked into by January 31 before they take action on the employer,” Masuku said.
“I took the petition to the director, and he said he will look into it. He later sent away the workers who had gathered.
“The next day (Saturday), he assigned some workers to work, but other employees stopped them from performing the duties, saying they must wait until workers’ grievances are addressed.”
Masuku said the Chinese director then started taking pictures and when the workers asked him why he was doing that a scuffle ensued.
“He attacked the workers with fists and later took a shovel which he used to attack one of the workers and injured him on the arm.
“During the scuffle, a security guard fired a shot and the mine director rushed to the office and brought a gun which he pointed at Masa, before calming down and handing it to the guard,” he said.
In their petition, the workers demanded a timeframe for the supply of personnel protective equipment, since they had none.
They also demanded backdated pay to July 2020.
Other demands included provision of information on pay dates, and that their salaries must be paid in US dollars.
National Union of Mines Quarrying, Iron and Steel Workers of Zimbabwe regional officer Abraham Kavalanjila confirmed the incident.
“We condemn this barbaric act by these employers. The law has to take its course. No one is above the law. We will not allow such behaviour targeted at workers. There must be no racial discrimination, the Labour Act is clear.
“As a union we will work 24 hours a day and seven days a week until this matter is resolved in terms of the law,” Kavalanjila said.
Zhang’s spokesperson Han Le’s phone was not reachable.
Bulawayo Police spokesperson, Inspector Abednicho Ncube referred Southern Eye to national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi who was not picking calls.
— Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe (@ChineseZimbabwe) January 18, 2021
By A Correspondent- The Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe has issued a statement saying it is not fair to hold the entire Chinese community over a 25seconds video published below.
We publish below the developments which led to the above video as published by a local publication, Newsday:
Two mine workers at the Fools Investment Mine in Hope Fountain, which is just outside Bulawayo, were last Saturday assaulted by their Chinese employer after they demanded payment of their outstanding wages.
Their employer, Zhong Yi Zhang allegedly owes workers’ wages backdated to July last year.
Some of the affected workers, who spoke to Southern Eye, but refused to be named, said they feared victimisation.
They alleged that Yi Zhang is abusing them.
“These guys are just beating people; yesterday (Saturday) he (Yi Zhang) assaulted two workers.
“We made a police report at Waterford in Bulawayo, and the Chinese rushed to Hillside Police Station in a bid to block any legal action against them,” one of the mine workers said.
“Two people were assaulted, after several workers gathered to demand their salaries which are outstanding from July last year.
“The workers were asking for a written agreement on how they will recover their outstanding money. Those who were assaulted are Constan Masa and Tatenda Mangena,” he said. As a result of beatings, Mangena is said to have sustained injuries on the arm, while Masa was injured on his private parts.
The workers alleged that the Chinese employer pays them any amount that he deems fit, instead of paying their stipulated wages.
Fools Investment Mine manager Thabani Masuku confirmed the incident, adding that it stemmed from a petition which the workers submitted last Friday.
“They were asking for their money and they had submitted a petition saying their concerns should be looked into by January 31 before they take action on the employer,” Masuku said.
“I took the petition to the director, and he said he will look into it. He later sent away the workers who had gathered.
“The next day (Saturday), he assigned some workers to work, but other employees stopped them from performing the duties, saying they must wait until workers’ grievances are addressed.”
Masuku said the Chinese director then started taking pictures and when the workers asked him why he was doing that a scuffle ensued.
“He attacked the workers with fists and later took a shovel which he used to attack one of the workers and injured him on the arm.
“During the scuffle, a security guard fired a shot and the mine director rushed to the office and brought a gun which he pointed at Masa, before calming down and handing it to the guard,” he said.
In their petition, the workers demanded a timeframe for the supply of personnel protective equipment, since they had none.
They also demanded backdated pay to July 2020.
Other demands included provision of information on pay dates, and that their salaries must be paid in US dollars.
National Union of Mines Quarrying, Iron and Steel Workers of Zimbabwe regional officer Abraham Kavalanjila confirmed the incident.
“We condemn this barbaric act by these employers. The law has to take its course. No one is above the law. We will not allow such behaviour targeted at workers. There must be no racial discrimination, the Labour Act is clear.
“As a union we will work 24 hours a day and seven days a week until this matter is resolved in terms of the law,” Kavalanjila said.
Zhang’s spokesperson Han Le’s phone was not reachable.
Bulawayo Police spokesperson, Inspector Abednicho Ncube referred Southern Eye to national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi who was not picking calls.
By A Correspondent| Informal traders are creeping back into Harare’s central business district (CBD) as they begin to feel the pinch of the 30-day Level 4 lockdown announced by Health Minister, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.
The lockdown was prompted by a surge in coronavirus infections and deaths caused by the second wave of the pandemic.
Only essential services – which include hospitals, law firms, media, funeral parlours, pharmacies and supermarkets have remained open while the rest are supposed to stay home. However, with more than 80 percent of Zimbabwe’s population working in the informal sector, many families were immediately plunged into poverty.
Cornered and desperate, vendors and other informal traders have begun to defy lockdown measures. Nhau went around some popular informal trade areas where Zimbabweans have begun emerging in droves to earn some money in a bid to food on the table.
Linnet Shoko, who sells imported clothes in Mbare told Nhau that there was nothing else she could do to raise funds to feed and clothe her two minor children after her husband passed away a year ago.
“Yes, I am aware of the current lockdown measures but I have no choice as I have to feed and clothe my children. We are playing cat and mouse games with the police trying to avoid arrest while earning a living,” she said.
Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (ZICEA) secretary-general Wisborn Malaya told Nhau that his organisation was pushing Government to release cushioning allowances promised to its members.
Malaya said without those allowances, their members would be forced to find ways of making ends meet.
“The second wave has really shown that it is a serious disease. We want as many people to keep safe. We continue to send awareness through our different platforms for people to adhere to sanitisation, social distancing and staying at home,” said Malaya.
“On the other hand, we have a huge underlying problem. When Government introduced this lockdown they did not provide cushioning allowances for people to stay at home. So this is the major issue affecting the people who live from hand to mouth. They are going to jiggle around so that they put food on their table.
“This is the big challenge we have as a country and we need that collective approach to encourage Government to speed up the process of cushion allowances. On the 10th of January Government released a statement that they had availed about Z$3.5 billion to take care of the vulnerable including informal traders but so far we have not seen any action regarding that cushioning support. Government must quickly expedite that.”
Malaya added that it seemed as though the informal sector was being unfairly targeted as more businesses continue to open their doors.
Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the increasing disregard for Covid-19 protocols by the public was concerning.
Nyathi said despite arresting over 2000 people daily, the public remained arrogant and complacent. He urged the media to complement police efforts by making the public more aware of the deadly effects of the disease.
“We are arresting over 2000 people nationwide per day violating the national lockdown measures but it appears most are not valuing their lives by being arrogant and complacent.
“People are not taking Covid-19 seriously and we will keep on dealing with these lockdown violators. It is not about being arrested that matters, it is about your health and the health of others. May the media chip in by spreading awareness,” he said.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been struggling even way before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country in March last year, but the lockdown has brought misery to the common man who is not formerly employed.
By A Correspondent- Former Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education Professor Jonathan Moyo says he regrets comments he made during his time as Minister of Information about the disappearance of Itai Dzamara in 2015.
Moyo who is in exile said his comments were informed by a security report that had been presented to Cabinet by then Minister of Home Affairs Kembo Mohadi.
Mohadi is reported to have told Cabinet that Dzamara’s disappearance was staged to put pressure on the Zanu-PF government.
Speaking to Q Dube on Magamba TV’s Take Down, Professor Moyo said, “Where is he, I wish I knew where he is, the record will show that when he disappeared in 2015, I was Minister of Information, and in May 2015 in an interview on Hard Talk, I made remarks about him or his whereabouts which were most unfortunate and very regrettable and I expressed my regret while I was still in government in June 2016,” he said.
According to Professor Moyo, Kembo Mohadi as Minister of Home Affairs had given a report in Cabinet on behalf of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Joint Operation Command that the Dzamara issue was meant to pressure the government.
“…their report to us in Cabinet was that Itai had disappeared as an internal job to put pressure on the government and we had to find a way of presenting that view.
“But still when we were in government it became obvious that in fact he had been abducted and had been abducted by the security organs and the question is was it a JOC abduction, or a CIO abduction
“What you and Zimbabweans must know is that there is no crime, serious crime involving a disappearance or murder or abduction that is not resolved in Zimbabwe unless it is done by the security forces.
“The only crimes of that nature that have never been resolved in Zimbabwe have been done by the state and we can count them, right from the days of Gukurahundi, from the Majonga issue, Rashiwe Guzha, Cain Nkala, Jestina Mukoko, all these people up to now.
“What happened to young Tawanda Muchehiwa those crimes that are not resolved of that nature without exception are perpetrated by the state security organs, either one of them or all of them in a joint operation and there is a common pattern about them, the way the abductees go,” he said.
Moyo who is also a critic of the Emmerson Mnangagwa’s regime highlighted that his father abducted in the same manner as with the others, before being tortured and killed.
“My own Father was abducted, tortured and murdered when the Gukurahundi 5th Brigade was first deployed, its very first action in January 1983.
“The very action of Gukurahundi were to abduct, torture and murder people in Tsholotsho, its first area of operation was in Tsholotsho, that patten has continued to this day and the people on the ground, the field operatives, the enforcers who were behind those atrocities are the one who are now in charge of the political system and Zimbabweans need to treat these issues with the seriousness they deserve,” he said.
Dzamara who was a critic of the late President Robert Mugabe was reportedly abducted from a barbershop by men believed to be CIOs who were travelling in unmarked twin-cab vehicles.
Despite many campaigns calling for his return, both the regimes of Mugabe and Emmerson Mnangagwa have been reluctant to bring the issue to finality.
By A Correspondent- With just two weeks into the tightened lockdown, locals are already showing signs of fatigue if the clash between media personality MisRed and raunchy dancer, Bev Sibanda today is anything to go by.
What seemed like an innocent tweet by MisRed where she insinuated that Bev Sibanda was not the dancer’s real name, ended up getting really messy as Bev did not take this kindly.
“Ah, so Ray isn’t your actual actual name. It’s like the day I found out that Bev Sibanda isn’t her real name. I’m shook,” tweeted MisRed after realising that comedian, Ray Vines name is actually Melusi Chiripowako.
Bev who has been under the radar mainly due to the lockdown clearly did not like MisRed’s sentiments at all and resurfaced to defend herself. In true Bev style, she came out with all her weapons, mudslinging and body shaming MisRed in the process.
“MisRed, zvikumbo zvinenge chimwana chenzou,” responded Bev with an image of her ID which proved that her birth name is indeed Beverly Sibanda.
Due to a lack of entertainment, people were excited by this clash with some like former minister, Fortune Chasi watering the clash by making it comical.
“MisRed, you were not in my corner during that match. Now look I won,” tweeted Chasi.
MisRed who has become a common victim of such clashes on social media seems to have adapted as she apologised to Bev timely for offending her. Thereafter, she proudly posted an image of her thighs and tweeted: “shout out to all the girls with baby elephant sized thighs”.
Following this clash, it has become apparent that locals are hungry for entertainment and personalities may want to start giving them the desired content because after all, that, according to last year’s happenings, is the only way that one can remain relevant during the lockdown. With little or no controversy, one can easily be forgotten.
Media watchdog, MISA Zimbabwe has filed an urgent High Court application for an order compelling key government ministries, Health under acting President Constantino Chiwenga, and Information, to disseminate information on ongoing Covid-19 testing, isolation and treatment programmes.
By A Correspondent- Alex Magaisa, a former advisor to late former Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, has challenged MDC-T chairperson Morgen Komichi to apologise to the MDC Alliance members of Parliament and councillors who were recalled by his party last year before calling for unity.
This comes after Komichi had asked Magaisa and another academic, Pedzsai Ruhanya to “provide solutions for Zimbabwe, not insults” and “to let the youths insult and stone throw”. In response to Komichi Magaisa said:
Senator [Morgen Komichi] my attention has been drawn to your public post [below]. We have worked together well in the past, so the respect is mutual.
However, I have to say it has been much diminished by your conduct last year when you joined in the subversion of the people’s will.
The arrogance and pleasure with which you and your chums wielded the axe against fellow MPs and councillors was a most horrendous and disagreeable sight.
A man does not urinate on the heads of people and then ask them why they are unhappy with him. It was you who threw stones first.
Therefore, Senator, with great respect, you’re not in a position to take the moral high ground as you’re trying to do; playing the humble servant when there’s utter carnage behind you.
You should look at those people – voters, MPs, councillors – in the eye and at least apologise.
When you were axing elected representatives, grabbing money due to the MDC Alliance claiming they were yours and imposing losers like Khupe into Parliament, it was you guys who were insulting not only the voters but democracy itself. You were throwing stones, Senator Komichi.
At the time, we tried to appeal to your conscience. We did. But you would hear none of it.
You were high on borrowed power. Now your fellow representatives are redundant, voters have no representation while some have charlatans that you imposed. Now you play the meek card?
I know you like to quote the scriptures, Senator. When the prodigal son left, squandered his fortune and became desperate it was not the father who went to the son, no.
It was the son who returned and apologised. He did not call his father to come to join him when he had nothing.
I don’t think the lesson is lost on you. The prodigal son does not say, “come here father, let us eat together” when he has nothing in his plate.
If you truly believe in what you say, you know where home is. Return if you wish and show respect to the people you disrespected.
Hello Mukoma Simba. Hide ID am in Zim ndingaurayiwe. I have my real name apa. What I want to say about the demands to delete the interview with Oppah is DON’T DELETE. Iwo pawanotinyepera everyday pa ZBC wanonzi nani Delete? Right now wana Hope wari mujeri for saying the truth. Wajaira to intimidate people. Kuti we all dance to their tune. If you delete mukoma Simba it means you are a Coward and you realise you are wrong. If you stand by the Truth then you will have the interview stand. Musakwatiswe, if anything the interview should be translated into as many languages as possible . Taneta nawo wanhu awa.
Mr @DMwonzora, you cheat on your own wife, you drive around Zimbabwe pleasuring yourself on other women, everyone in the country sees this, and then in 2021 you start accusing me of destroying your marriage, are you saying I am the one who sent those women after you?
Statement by the Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe.
The victim suffered dog bites and as was said, “fed to dogs”
The Chinese Embassy has taken note of a short video circulated by some on social media purportedly showing a fight between a local man and his employers. The Chinese Embassy supports a fair and transparent handling of all violations of law by the Zimbabwean authorities, regardless of whom is involved. It is important that a complete and truthful account of the incident is made available. Trial by some on social media, based on partial information in a video of only 25 seconds, is not helpful. The whole truth of the incident has not been established. It is wrong and dangerous to hold the entire Chinese community responsible for what happens in this unclear incident.
By Tatenda Chimuti | One of the statements caught on the #Gwaradzimbagate audio is quite revealing on what’s going on at ZBC. Muchinguri complained that they’re doing nothing to spread COVID19 awareness, instead they’re busy promoting themselves. (VIDEO)
One wonders, has Oppah Muchinguri brought this issue to Cabinet Meetings? What does Monica Mutsvangwa have to say about this? Being told she’s doing nothing about the pandemic and yet people are dying. What about the former British Mental Health nurse, Nick Mangwana? Why have they not done anything about spreading awareness? Is it enough to just put TV adverts?
As Secretary of Information what improvements have been made since Zororo Makamba passed away around this time last. Nick choses to bully Human Rights activists and exchanging political banter with the opposition.
Hope they got the message. Hey Nick, not everyone is in Twitter. Start spreading awareness. The same way you spread t-shirts and food packages during elections.
Got a surprise visit from the Managing Director for CBZ’s Agro-Yield Mr Walter Chigodora to assess if we have put to good use the inputs we got. Am proud of our crop this season as it is looking very good and is great value for the amount of inputs we have utilised.
ZIMBABWE international Tendayi Darikwa finally tasted competitive league football for the first time in 18 months with a man-of-the-match shift as his new club Wigan Athletic settled for the share of spoils in a six-goal thriller against Rochdale in the English League One on Saturday.
The 29-year-old completed his move from Championship Nottingham Forest last week. However, the Zimbabwean defender was unlucky not to bag maximum points on debut after Wigan Athletic allowed 10-man Rochdale to come back from the dead by conceding a 96th-minute equaliser as the match ended in a 3-3 draw.
Darikwa, who is a key member of the Zimbabwe national team in the current Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, was naturally relieved with his first outing for Wigan.
According to a report from the Nottingham Post, the industrious fullback showed no signs of rustiness on his return to league football despite spending a year-and-a-half on the sidelines due to injury.
UK publication, Wigan Today, gave him a rating of 8/10 and named him as their man-of-the-match.-The Herald
A humongous crocodile caused panic at Chiredzi District Hospital on Monday morning after it was spotted in a storm drain at the health facility.
Acting Chiredzi District Hospital medical superintendent Dr David Tarumbwa confirmed the incident but said the reptile did not attack anyone from the time it was spotted at around 4 AM until it was captured and translocated by a team from Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority(Zimparks). He said:
It was just a crocodile that was seen within the hospital area around 4 am but it did not attack anyone. No one was injured.
The situation was managed very well and the crocodile was taken by Zimparks and deposited in Chiredzi River.
We thank God that the situation was managed bit a crocodile is dangerous even to a beast(cow) what more to a human being.
I think there’s a need to improve security at institutions like hospitals because there is a lot of movement caused by heavy rains that have been falling.
The development was substantiated by Chiredzi District Administrator and Civil Protection Unit chair Lovemore Chisema.
Chisema refuted claims that huge reptile might be the work of juju, saying it could have strayed from a canal because of rising water levels. He said:
Yes, we woke up this morning(Monday) to a scare over a crocodile that was in a storm drain at Chiredzi Hospital but it didn’t attack anyone until it was removed from the place by a team from Zimparks.
The good thing is that authorities at the hospital managed to make sure the crocodile remained at the same place(storm drain) until it was removed by guys from parks who tool it to Chiredzi River about 16km from the hospital.
Heavy rains have been falling here for days and these animals(crocodiles) even also get confused sometimes so maybe it just strayed from a canal because of rising water levels. I don’t think there is more to it.-The Herald
ZIMBABWE international Tendayi Darikwa finally tasted competitive league football for the first time in 18 months with a man-of-the-match shift as his new club Wigan Athletic settled for the share of spoils in a six-goal thriller against Rochdale in the English League One on Saturday.
The 29-year-old completed his move from Championship Nottingham Forest last week. However, the Zimbabwean defender was unlucky not to bag maximum points on debut after Wigan Athletic allowed 10-man Rochdale to come back from the dead by conceding a 96th-minute equaliser as the match ended in a 3-3 draw.
Darikwa, who is a key member of the Zimbabwe national team in the current Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, was naturally relieved with his first outing for Wigan.
According to a report from the Nottingham Post, the industrious fullback showed no signs of rustiness on his return to league football despite spending a year-and-a-half on the sidelines due to injury.
UK publication, Wigan Today, gave him a rating of 8/10 and named him as their man-of-the-match.-The Herald
