Tinashe Sambiri|City of Harare Mayor, Jacob Mafume, has been remanded in custody to Monday November 30.

Magistrate Bianca Makwande who was supposed to preside over Mafume’s bail matter did not appear in court.

“Magistrate Makwande who is handling the bail matter for Mayor
@JMafume
did not appear in court today.

He was remanded to Monday 30 November for his bail ruling,” MDC Alliance wrote on Twitter.

By A Correspondent- A man who was caught indulging in sex in a car with his girlfriend almost died after three unknown men who were armed with a knife and a knobkerrie stabbed him several times all over the body and left him lying unconscious.

They robbed him of a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and cash all with a total value of US$5 300.

They smashed windows on the passenger’s side and driver’s side before attacking Ngonidzashe Ninge (42) and his girlfriend Nozizwe Khumalo (21) at a bushy area which is between Hyde Park Shops and Nkulumane complex. The source said Ninge had lowered his trousers to knee level with a condom on while Nozizwe had pulled up her skirt while they enjoyed themselves in the car.

Unfortunately, the source said, one of the men grabbed the hapless Ninge and pulled him out of his black Nissan X-Trail car.

The source said he tried to reason with them but they would not listen to his pleas.

Another source who is close to the pair said: “They took turns to clobber Ninge while accusing him of taking advantage of Nozizwe saying she was too young for him,” said the source.

They were not done yet with Ninge as they demanded cash while assaulting him.

A source close to investigations said Ninge sustained three stab wounds on the head, another wound on the right side of the back and bruises all over the body. The accused persons took away his Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and cash.

Nozizwe phoned Pumula police station and made a report. Police attended the scene.

“They found Ninge lying unconscious on the ground. They phoned an ambulance which came and ferried him to Mater Dei Hospital,” said a source close to the pair.

Efforts to get a comment from Ninge were fruitless. Khumalo could neither confirm nor deny as she only said “who told you that” before she terminated the call.

Bulawayo acting police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Nomalanga Msebele confirmed:

“We are investigating a case of attempted murder where a man was attacked while he was indulging in sex in a car with his girlfriend at around 7.30pm at a bushy area which is between Hyde Park Shops and Nkulumane complex. He was robbed of his Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and cash, all valued at US$5 300. We would like to urge community members not to indulge in sex in the bush because it’s illegal and dangerous.”

-statemedia

By A Correspondent- President Emmerson Mnangagwa has warned Zanu-PF bigwigs to be loyal to the party or risk being cut loose, as he bids to contain growing divisions in the former liberation movement.

Addressing a Zanu-PF politburo meeting in Harare yesterday, Mnangagwa also warned that authorities would not hesitate to nail party members who were using his name to commit graft.

This comes amid concerns that Zanu-PF is slowly drifting towards the climate that prevailed in the last few years in power of the late former president Robert Mugabe – which was marked by debilitating factionalism and tribalism.

It also comes as the run-up to the reinstated and  highly-divisive District Co-ordinating Committee (DCC) elections has been sullied by vicious infighting, which has seen some bigwigs being accused of fanning party chaos.

The irate Mnangagwa told his lieutenants yesterday that the DCC elections were meant to unite Zanu-PF and not divide the party through the current infighting being witnessed across the country.

“The DCC structures are a system to strengthen party co-ordination, as well as a useful vehicle to entrench party constitutionalism, internal democracy and grassroot mobilisation.

“More importantly, once established, DCCs should co-ordinate and unify our party through constant interaction with political districts, as we journey towards Vision 2030,” he said.

“Our meeting today should remind us that we are a people’s party with the responsibility to advance the emancipation and economic empowerment of our people.

“The need to ingrain the liberation and revolutionary history, ethos and value systems in all our activities is equally important.

“The party constitution requires members to be loyal, patriotic and to promote peace and unity.

“Under the Second Republic, our DNA entails that we serve our people whole-heartedly and promote inclusive development which leaves no one, and no place behind,” Mnangagwa said further.

This comes as the countdown to the DCC elections, whose dates were not finalised by the politburo yesterday, had been marred by allegations of dirty money changing hands – amid unproven claims that remnants of the party’s vanquished Generation 40 (G40) faction were burning the midnight oil to influence the outcome of the elections, in an alleged bid to engineer their group’s political comeback.

The DCC structures elect Zanu-PF’s 10 provincial executives –  from where the party and Mnangagwa draw members of the central committee and the politburo.

The DCCs were disbanded in 2012 after they were deemed to be fanning factionalism during Mnangagwa and former vice president Joice Mujuru’s battles to succeed Mugabe.

Then, Mnangagwa’s group had gained control of most regions, including Mujuru’s Mashonaland Central province.

Yesterday’s politburo meeting approved the compilation of DCC candidates who had gone through the party’s rigorous vetting exercise which was led by the Zanu-PF security department –  although it did not set the dates for the eagerly-awaited polls.

Speaking after the politburo meeting, acting party spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa confirmed that the vetting of candidates for the DCC elections had now been completed.

“On the DCCs, the position at the moment is that the security department has completed the vetting and a schedule of the list of those who qualified is now being compiled.

“As the politburo, we resolved to advise the provincial co-ordinating committees (PCCs) on how to proceed after the compilation of the successful contestants.

“We want to assure our members that irregularities that have occurred will be fairly and impartially addressed by the party. I want to assure members that elections will be conducted fairly.

“We do not want to cripple those who are popular with the electorate because of corrupt elements who want to manipulate the process,” Chinamasa added.

He also revealed that the politburo had been briefed on last month’s violence in Kwekwe Central, where party youths armed with machetes assaulted officials and the police during a primary election to choose a Zanu-PF representative.

“There was an incident in Kwekwe where violence was unleashed.

“The investigations by our security have been completed and this (the ensuing report) will be submitted to the secretary for administration – and where the need arises, it will be submitted to the national disciplinary committee.

“You must anticipate that heads will roll and justice will be done without fear or favour if there are members of Zanu-PF who have put the name of the party into disrepute.

“No one will be spared. But we have not yet seen that report,” Chinamasa said.

So bad was the fracas in Kwekwe that police had to fire teargas to disburse supporters of Kandros Mugabe and Energy Ncube – the two Zanu-PF officials who were vying to fill the vacant constituency seat that was won by the late Masango “Blackman” Matambanadzo in the 2018 elections.

Armed with machetes and iron bars, youths stormed the party’s Kwekwe district office then, where the election was being held, and assaulted polling officers and voters – damaging vehicles in the chaos.

Zanu-PF has also had to withhold results of its primary elections that were recently conducted in Harare, amid allegations of ballot fraud and massive rigging.

The primaries followed the recent recall of legislators and councillors by the MDC’s interim leader Thokozani Khupe – as she flexed her muscles in her current wars with Nelson Chamisa.

Meanwhile, Mnangagwa also warned yesterday that his government would not hesitate to arrest anyone who was mired in corruption, even where such people had strong links to the ruling party.

“The fight against corruption continues unabated. Zanu-PF under the second republic will never allow the party to be a sanctuary of malcontents.

“To this end, name dropping to camouflage criminal and corrupt behaviour is unacceptable.

“Those using such retrogressive and counter-revolutionary tactics must stop forthwith. “Varikuita izvi cherai chikomba mupfire mate (Those who are doing this must stop forthwith).

“Our revolutionary nature and the ongoing national development agenda demand that we engender a corrupt-free Zimbabwe.

“Let us, therefore, shame, shun and expose all forms of corruption,” Mnangagwa exhorted his party members.

The Zanu-PF leader has consistently declared zero tolerance on corruption, and has since cut loose two Cabinet ministers who were arrested for alleged graft – former Tourism minister Priscilla Mupfumira and her ex-Health counterpart, Obadiah Moyo.

Former Energy minister Samuel Undenge and the principal director in Mnangagwa’s office, Douglas Tapfuma, are also serving jail terms for various cases of graft.

Currently, the deputy minister of Health and Child Care, John Mangwiro, is under probe in a matter relating to a controversial and since cancelled US$5,6 million coronavirus supplies tender.

-dailynews

By A Correspondent- A syndicate comprising vehicle suppliers and senior procurement officials in various State institutions has been milking millions of dollars from state coffers through murky and inflated vehicle supply deals.

Business Times can reveal that some motor vehicle suppliers have been dribbling the government through taking advantage of the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) decentralised system to invoice government departments’ different prices for the same product.

According to the new procurement law all ministries, State-owned enterprises and local authorities are supposed to establish Procurement Management Units (PMUs).

These units are expected to be manned by professional procurement officers who are licenced in terms of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act [Chapter 22:23].

The PMUs are now responsible for the whole procurement cycle in the public sector from the planning, adoption of the appropriate method of procurement, preparing bid notices and shortlisting, managing the bids and evaluation processes, preparing evaluation reports to awarding of contracts and overseeing their management and preparing procurement reports.

This according to well-placed sources at Treasury has seen motor vehicle suppliers invoicing different prices despite delivering the same product with same specifications to State departments.

This publication is reliably informed that the Treasury has since raised a red flag on this potential prejudice and has communicated to various government departments to undertake due diligence on vehicle procurement.

Information at hand showed that what is invoiced to the Zimbabwe National Army on vehicle supply is not the same as what is invoiced to the Zimbabwe Republic Police despite the two being government security arms.

There are also allegations that vehicle suppliers could have put a premium on prices due to the government’s failure to meet obligations in time.

 “Treasury has since raised a red flag and ordered an urgent review on the payments being made by various government departments to vehicle suppliers.

This was after a potential prejudice was unearthed where there are unexplained variances in invoices being issued to different government departments despite getting the same product,” a source said.

“Government has been losing money through this syndicate that is involving senior government officials and procurement officers.

The vehicle suppliers have been taking advantage of the existing decentralised procurement system.”

This has sparked calls for the amendment of the current PRAZ procurement system so that all procurement is done under a consolidated framework agreement to be supervised by Treasury and PRAZ. PRAZ acting chief executive Clever Ruswa told Business Times that price variations were also necessitated by the fluctuation of the exchange rate and there was a directive by the Treasury to synchronise vehicle procurement.

 “The issue of price variations was necessitated by the exchange rate fluctuations and Treasury has since made a directive to halt all vehicle procurement for now until there is synchronisation on the vehicle procurement system,” Ruswa said.

Finance and Economic Development Permanent Secretary George Guvamatanga was not picking calls by the time of going to print.

A car dealer who requested anonymity told Business Times: “Remember the issue of foreign currency is another factor and in this case the price variations may be due to where the dealer got the forex at the time of importing the vehicles. You will find that the price will be bound to be cheaper when the dealer has gotten the forex from the auction while the price will be on a high side if forex has been obtained from the black market. So this is usually a function of the cost of money.”

A procurement expert, who requested anonymity, said the price variations by motor vehicle companies has been a factor of the government’s failure to honour its obligations and therefore end up being charged a premium.

“Government doesn’t have money and car dealers are ending up making various financing arrangements factoring in the cost of money. This has seen motor vehicle suppliers ending up charging different prices depending on every institution and its ability to pay in time,” the procurement expert said.

Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply chairperson, Preston Hwena told Business Times that this was possible on the PRAZ procurement system and going forward there was a need to come up with a consolidated approach on procurement.

“There is a need to come up with a consolidated approach on procurement where state institutions come up with a framework agreement that will set uniform prices on motor vehicles. This will entail bulk procurement of vehicles and pig banking that will mean the same vehicle, same specifications and same price at the end of the day saving money” Hwena said.

He said there was also a need for procurement practitioners of various State institutions to carry out due diligence and research before making procurement decisions.

Procurement in government departments and State enterprises has become the fertile ground for corruption. The fight against corruption has scalps. Obadiah Moyo was fired as Health and Child Care minister in July following his arrest for allegedly engaging in a US$60m shady deal involving Drax International for the supply of Covid-19 materials without following proper government procedures.

He is out on bail and will stand trial on January 11. The ministry’s deputy John Mangwiro is also under probe by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission for allegedly arm twisting the National Pharmaceutical Company to award a US$5.6m tender to Youth Health Care for the supply of Covid-19 laboratory equipment, reagents and consumables.

The below is an exclusive interview with Deputy Defence Minister Victor Matemadanda last Sunday (republished) in which the ZANU PF National Commissar states saying the president had just finished speaking when he was allegedly poisoned.

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…
https://www.facebook.com/ZimEye/videos/218950873028209/

This statement suggests that the latter could have also been attacked in Marondera.

• I was forcing myself to be normal,
• It was not an allergy
• It was a gas
• there is no one whose hand I shook.
• President had finished addressing

ZimEye: vaMatemadanda

ZimEye: How are you feeling today?

ZimEye: Did you manage to get that (other) doctor?

Matemadanda: I am still to contact him I was still trying to reach him.

ZimEye: Are you sure this was poison and was not an allergic reaction?

Matemadanda: Aaah, other tests indicate to that [effect].
ZimEye: They indicate to an allergy?

Matemadanda: No, to some poison.

ZimEye: Is there a name for the poison?

Matemadanda: Aaah, it’s a gas they said they will confirm for me by about Tuesday, I don’t know after analysing.
ZimEye: By Tuesday?
Matemadanda: It’s a gas which they are saying entered my body.

ZimEye: And you suppose that gas was released from the assailant’s palm?
Matemandanda: I did not see…it was so swift the person came saying they want to remove something from my cap. Upon that moment that is when I inhaled. At one time I thought they were removing an insect and it was the insect that was smelling, but I later realised that it something else when it began reacting.

ZimEye: And you smelt something strong upon that moment?

Matemadanda: Yes, yes, yes, right there. Not strong to the point of realising what it was.
Do you know these green insects [ zvipembenene]? So I thought that because we are now in November, ~I thought it was that insect.

ZimEye: It was a chipembenene on top of the cap?
Matemandanda: No, I did not see it. The man just said there is something on top of your cap, so I just assumed when I smelt the strong scent, as the man indicated.

ZimEye: And have you ever reacted to a chipembenene?

Matemadanda: Aah, no.

ZimEye: I am just assuming it was.

Matemadanda: Aaah, no. I think it was…It’s just that when it happened it was unexpected, I only realised upon recollection that on top of the cap there was nothing because I had just come out of the hall where the president was addressing. I did not go elsewhere. So I had only escorted him to the car.

ZimEye: So you had gone back to sit down?

Matemadanda: I did not even go back to sit down, I was now going to my own car, when I started feeling funny, I rushed to go sit inside the car. I felt a dizziness, what was like a flue, or something so I thought it was a reaction to the smell; I rushed to go into the car and said to my boys let’s go into the car. But it just continued getting worse, because there developed an element of hunger, so I told them go buy me some sadza at OK Supermarket there, but when I began eating that is when I started vomiting, so ….

ZimEye: But when this person came to touch you were sat down?

Matemandanda: No, President had finished addressing. That is when I escorted him to his car, to see him off, so when I left to go to my own car, that is when this man came saying: Cde there is something on top of your cap, so he opened his palm saying he is removing something; He was enlarging the veranda (of my cap), that is when I inhaled that gas, and I felt it was something unusual, there is an odour which I did not understand, but I was not quick to realise it could be something dangerous, that is when I thought ‘it is a chipembenene, I don’t know.’ But the reaction just developed gradually.

ZimEye: Do you think we could get video footage?

Matemadanda: Aaaah, because president had already left, and the camera people usually only focus on the president, I don’t know but I asked for them . I don’t know if we will find the footage.

ZimEye: Then suddenly you were now hungry; when was the last time you had had some food?

Matemadanda: I had breakfast, when I got to the meeting I had told myself I would not eat in public, but I drank water which I had carried with me to the meeting. And I did not eat anything, and there is no one whose hand I shook, and I did not drink any water there.

ZimEye: But this hunger you insist it came from that smell, that powder?

Matemadanda: I wouldn’t, me I am diabetic, but I am not (sic)…but when I became hungry, I never thought it was something abnormal, because hunger was not as extensive to the point where I would scream for food to be bought, normally I would ask to drive home to eat there.

But I actually bought sadza at OK, but I don’t know how it is connected, for to say what, I don’t know.

ZimEye: Suddenly you are confused?

Matemadanda: Yes, there was some lapsing like as if I want to sleep, or some confusion that is mild, such that if you force to gather strength it could come back, but some laziness suddenly became the order of the day.

ZimEye: And that came from that very moment just after the person had touched your cap, that is when you became confused?

Matemadanda: Aaaaah, I … it was sort of a gradual thing that was happening as I was moving and responding to this thing, but in the final analysis, I could see while walking it’s like I want to forget this and that. I could not make up how that was now happening. So I was forcing myself to be normal, but knowing that there is a dizziness, a confusion, what what what.

ZimEye: If ZBC had published or broadcast especially this statement on poison, do you feel that there would be a more diligent search to establish who did this?

Matemadanda: I had never…in fact I had never because what I know is that these things end up in some hands where a lot of speculation emerges. It might end up creating enemies for me because what happens is people start following scenarios and going …

Even vaChinamasa paya pavakataura (when he said) … I was saying it shouldn’t be a thing that is trying to confirm the speculation that is around. Because what I know is the narratives that will be drawn, will end up creating enmity with people unnecessarily. So even as it is now I was going to respond today, but I would not give them a statement, I don’t want.

ZimEye: You want to wait for the tests on Tuesday?

Matemadanda: I want to see, but all the same I am getting myself treated, so, I don’t see the need and use, otherwise it is just a learning curve where I should try and be more cautious; But otherwise I don’t want to be all hyper about it and the speculative reporting that is accompanying it because in the end there is nothing that it gives me, apart from people creating their narratives; if I once quarelled with someone and so forth.

FULL INTERVIEW AUDIO STREAMED ON ZIMEYE.COM

By A Correspondent- National Assembly Speaker Jacob Mudenda has revealed that Parliament is contemplating crafting a law that will regulate DNA testing in the country amid revelations that there is no such law.

Mudenda said this during a stakeholders meeting with Matabeleland-based civic society organisations and journalists in Bulawayo.

He was responding to concerns raised by the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) officials that the country had no law regulating DNA testing.

“I was at Nust and the university raised questions on the issue of secrecy of the DNA results with major focus on how they are handled or publicised.

“They said a law must be there to pave way for such a process.

“I agree with the university. We shall have a process of coming up with that law,” Mudenda said.

“They did not write a petition, but they presented an oral petition during my visit there.”

The Speakers’ remarks come at a time the government is working on a law that will guide the process of exhumations of the remains of

Gukurahundi victims in Matabeleland and Midlands. Nust is expected to conduct the genetic studies.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa tasked traditional leaders to oversee the exhumations and reburial of Gukurahundi victims.

The genetic studies will assist in exhumations of Gukurahundi victims buried at undignified places across the country.

The Speaker said Parliament would soon have a 24-hour television station dedicated to parliamentary proceedings.

-newsday

By A Correspondent- A Catholic University chief security officer, Brighton Tangwanda, has been arrested for stealing a mattress at Bulawayo Catholic campus and giving it to his girlfriend Morleen Mufandaedza.

Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube yesterday confirmed the arrest of Tangwanda (30).

Ncube said the incident occurred between August and November this year and Tangwanda was arrested Thursday.

“The value of the goods stolen is not yet known, but the incident occurred between August and November. Tangwanda took advantage of his position as the chief security guard and stole the mattress at Catholic University,” the provincial police spokesperson said.

“He stole a single mattress and gave it to his girlfriend, Mufandaedza.

“So far, the mattress has been recovered, but investigations are still ongoing to see if there are other things which had been stolen during that period.”

Ncube urged institutions to employ professionally trained security people as guards.

“My plea is that, organisations and institutions should employ security guards with a track record so as to avoid employing thieves,” he said.

By A Correspondent- The National Blood Services Zimbabwe (NBSZ) was greatly affected by the lockdown imposed following the outbreak of the coronavirus, which restricted movement of people, an official has said.

Donations to the country’s sole blood bank was severely disrupted by the closure of schools during the period as students were its biggest contributors, chief executive Lucy Marowa said.

Marowa was speaking at NBSZ’s festive season campaign launch that was held virtually yesterday.

“We were affected by COVID-19 lockdown, our staff, donors were on lockdown, we haven’t recovered, we still feel the effects today and our strategic plan was affected. We had to realign our activities to the new normal,” she said.

She stocks in the blood bank fell to ‘alarming levels’ at one time.

“Movement of our donors was restricted despite our service being an essential one. As we launch this year’s festive season campaign, let me tell you that we have put in place measures and we have resolved not to over-rely on students for blood donations where 75% of our donors were students,” said Marowa.

“The six-month break had a huge toll on us and we are hoping for a 50-50 ratio for schools and ordinary donors so as to shift reliance on schools and we hope 2021 will be better.”

Each year, NBSZ has a festive season blood campaign because of higher demand during an often accident filled period.

As the mum cries at the burial, Moana’s father consoles the late Michelle Amuli’s mother while asking for forgiveness. He says:

‘But what we want, the child’s spirit has rested, that’s what we want.

“It is not right, her spirit was being troubled.

“We feel sad, her soul has rested.

“We are asking for her spirit to be laid to rest, in Jesus’ name, these are our kids.

“In life we forgive each other. We are asking for forgiveness, so that her soul can rest.”

Moana's mum crying at burial site pic.twitter.com/qXYfVL9OoX

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) November 28, 2020

'MOANA'S LAST DAY ON EARTH – EN ROUTE TO BURIAL' https://t.co/5sih3OB2Nq

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) November 28, 2020

Watch the live video loading below……

https://fb.watch/21ZaUhfKsj/

By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has announced that 80 pirating taxis were impounded for violating COVID-19 regulations in Bulawayo.

This comes barely two weeks after police in Bulawayo impounded 127 vehicles that were also pirating in defiance of the Government regulations.

The development was confirmed by Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube who said the impounded vehicles included commuter omnibuses (Kombis), Honda Fit and pirate buses. Ncube said:

Police in Bulawayo have impounded 80 vehicles which include 60 pirate kombis, four pirate Honda Fit cars, four pirate buses, two unregistered vehicles and ten cars for violating road laws. These vehicles were banned from ferrying passengers locally or plying the intercity routes.

Since March when Zimbabwe recorded its first coronavirus case, the government banned all vehicles save for ZUPCO buses and Kombis from ferrying passengers as a measure to stop the spread of the virus.

The government seems reluctant to authorise the return of kombis and private taxis even at a time when demand for public transport has risen as the government is slowly reopening the economy.

The Ministry of Local Authority and Public Works ordered owners of privately-owned kombis to register with ZUPCO saying the move was meant to restore order in the public transport sector.

A number of privately-owned kombis have in the recent past been pirating some routes taking advantage of the shortage of ZUPCO buses and kombis.

-statemedia

Twenty-one (21) Kenya nationals were earlier this week arrested over the use of fake “Covid-free certificates” to travel from Kenya to the United Arab Emirates.

Kenya has recorded 80 102 officially confirmed cases of coronavirus and 1 427 deaths since the pandemic began.

Earlier this week, the UAE decided to stop giving visas to citizens of 13 countries, including Kenya, Somalia, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria.

The 21 travellers were attempting to fly to Dubai when they were apprehended at the main airport in Kenyan capital Nairobi on Thursday.

They are accused of using forged medical documents that certified they tested negative for coronavirus in advance of travel.

The world is still grappling with the coronavirus and fears abound that there might be a second wave of the virus.

Some states are considering reimposition of lockdowns as a measure to stop the spread of the novel virus.

Meanwhile, scientists say they are close to finding a vaccine which has fewer side effects to humans adding, however, that more tests need to be conducted to make sure people who use the vaccines are safe.-BBC

Watch the video loading below….. (please be patient as it uploads)

https://fb.watch/21ZaUhfKsj/

Harare Mayor, Cllr Jacob Mafume was this Saturday remanded to Monday 30 November for his bail ruling after the magistrate who is handling his criminal abuse of office case failed to show up in court.

Mafume was arrested by the Special Anti-Corruption Unit (SACU) on Wednesday, 25 November 2020 for allegedly influencing the Harare City Council housing director to allocate at least two residential stands in Westlea sometime in March 2020.

Commenting on the failure by Magistrate Makwande to appear in court today, a law lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, Advocate Fadzayi Mahere, who is also MDC Alliance’s spokesperson said the bail process in the country was flawed.

She said:

The courts’ approach to bail hearings requires reform & a shift in approach. Bail hearings must be heard urgently & determined expeditiously. The right to liberty is sacrosanct. It’s regrettable that they would render the Constitution a lifeless museum piece. #FreeJacob

His arrest followed a spate of arrests of fellow councillors in Harare over alleged illegal selling of state and or council land.

The cases are still pending.

Some analysts say the charges are trumped up and are meant to frustrate the opposition MDC Alliance and portray is as a corrupt party.

By A Correspondent- Twenty (20) students at a Gweru-based Anderson High School have tested positive for the coronavirus making the school the latest learning institution to be affected by the novel virus.

This comes amid increased calls for the government to close schools which were reopened in phases since the 28th of September.

The development was revealed by Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister Larry Mavhima Friday that results received so far indicated that 20 learners had tested positive for the pandemic.

He said:

Out of the 53 Covid-19 tests initially conducted at the school, 14 positive results were received with 10 girls and 3 boy.

The cases have since risen to 20 with 14 girls and 6 boys. The school has a total enrolment of 394.

Mavhima said immediate action taken by the school includes separation of affected students from the rest, disinfection of all halls of residence in the school, isolation of all positive and symptomatic cases as well as quarantining of negative cases.

The school has also directed day scholars to quarantine at home from Thursday after screening while further restricting movement in and out.

Other schools, John Tallach and Matobo High Schools, both in Matebeleland, have since been sealed off after positive cases were recorded at the institutions.

Health Minister Constantino Chiwenga indicated that Harare-based Prince Edward High School also recorded positive cases.

Still, the government maintains that it will not be closing schools.

-Wires

By A Correspondent- Harare Mayor, Cllr Jacob Mafume was this Saturday remanded to Monday 30 November for his bail ruling after the magistrate who is handling his criminal abuse of office case failed to show up in court.

Mafume was arrested by the Special Anti-Corruption Unit (SACU) on Wednesday, 25 November 2020 for allegedly influencing the Harare City Council housing director to allocate at least two residential stands in Westlea sometime in March 2020.

Commenting on the failure by Magistrate Makwande to appear in court today, a law lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, Advocate Fadzayi Mahere, who is also MDC Alliance’s spokesperson said the bail process in the country was flawed.

She said:

The courts’ approach to bail hearings requires reform & a shift in approach. Bail hearings must be heard urgently & determined expeditiously. The right to liberty is sacrosanct. It’s regrettable that they would render the Constitution a lifeless museum piece. #FreeJacob

His arrest followed a spate of arrests of fellow councillors in Harare over alleged illegal selling of state and or council land.

The cases are still pending.

Some analysts say the charges are trumped up and are meant to frustrate the opposition MDC Alliance and portray is as a corrupt party.

-newsday

watch the video loading below,,, (please be patient as it uploads)

https://fb.watch/21XWtKDwvP/

Watch the live video loading below…..

https://fb.watch/21W0kbeuZq/

By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe and South Africa are working flat out to harmonise management and health systems at Beitbridge Border Post so that more people can cross the Limpopo during the festive season without health risks and without compromising immigration and customs checks.

The border is expected to reopen to vehicular traffic on Tuesday next week after being closed when Covid-19 restrictions started being implemented in March.

Before the restrictions, an average of 35 000 people were cleared at the border daily during peak periods, with 15 000 travellers on a normal day. At present, Zimbabweans coming home need pre-clearance from the embassy and consulates in South Africa to avoid swamping health testing, while the number of buses is limited.

Besides the traffic between the two countries, thousands of travellers a day from Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola were cleared at Beitbridge, a problem that is intensified as Botswana tightens its lockdown.

Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe and his South African counterpart, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, re-affirmed the need to harmonise the operating environment after meeting in Musina yesterday.

After the meeting, the two ministers along with Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Dr John Mangwiro, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Deputy Minister David Musabaya and law enforcement officials toured the South African side of the border.

Minister Kazembe said preparations had gathered momentum for the continued gradual border re-opening, which will see pedestrians and motorists being cleared this festive season.

Cabinet recently approved the re-opening of Beitbridge, Plumtree, Chirundu, Victoria Falls and Forbes border posts on December 1. The land borders were closed to passenger traffic at the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdowns across the Sadc region in March.

“We have met today with our counterparts in South Africa and we have agreed on a number of areas where we need to collaborate to ensure a seamless movement of traffic during the festive season and beyond,” said Minister Kazembe.

“This is a unique festive season where people have not been able to move due to the Covid-19 pandemic for the better part of the year and there is bound to be more human traffic from next week.”

The two countries would employ the previous border management systems used during peak periods, but with health screening and testing. Minister Kazembe and Dr Motsoaledi agreed to strengthen the capacity of port health officials to screen and test travellers.

Minister Kazembe said Zimbabwe was not leaving anything to chance and security had already been tightened at the border posts and along the Limpopo River to contain criminal activities.

“We have walked this road before,” he said.

“The immigration, security and customs officials have handled huge volumes of traffic before. What we are only doing this time is beefing up staff and improving the capacity of port health officials to screen and test travellers to avoid creating congestion.”

The Ministry of Health and Child Care had already started testing border workers of Covid-19 to establish the numbers ready for duty. Dr Motsoaledi said South Africa had addressed congestion challenges which had dogged their side of the border in the last 21 days.

“We are here today to review our strength on the ground with our brothers from Zimbabwe,” he said.

“You are aware we have had challenges of congestion in the last three weeks. This emanated from the fact that Botswana closed its borders and we are now handling most of the transit traffic at Beitbridge.”

Congestion on the South African side had been worsened by commercial truck drivers disregarding the border protocols, which required them to park in truck stops and only leave for the border after customs clearance.

The South African National Defence Force, Musina municipal traffic police and the Limpopo Provincial Traffic Police had been deployed to restore order on the N1 Highway which leads to the border.

In addition, the South African Revenue Service had removed from its procedures, the use of the Customs Notification Document (CN2), following repeated systems breakdown which caused delays in cargo movement.

“We have also met with relevant border agencies on our side to ensure that we strengthen security for both travellers and manage illegal migration between Zimbabwe and South Africa,” said Dr Motsoaledi.

“We need to maintain the current momentum to eliminate delays of travellers. It’s a tradition that we have many people passing through our land borders every December and hence we continue planning ahead.”

-Newsday

By A Correspondent- Beneficiaries of Pfumvudza and drought relief programmes should not be coerced into covering transport costs as it is Government’s responsibility to deliver grain and inputs to them, Manicaland Provincial Development Coordinator, Mr Edgars Seenza, has said.

He said those being asked to make such payments must report the cases to the police.

Mr Seenza’s comments come amid revelations that some unscrupulous Government workers in Chipinge and Chimanimani districts were conniving with transporters and village heads to demand US$1 or R20 from beneficiaries of the two programmes, yet that responsibility was being shouldered by the Government.

At least $118 million is being mobilised to transport inputs under the Climate-Proofed Presidential Inputs Programme, commonly known as Pfumvudza, from Grain Marketing Board (GMB) depots.

Information gathered by The Manica Post showed that Agritex and Department of Social Welfare officials, truck drivers and village heads were charging unsuspecting beneficiaries in foreign currency for them to be included on the list of beneficiaries.

Proceeds are shared amongst members of the syndicates.-Manica Post

By A Correspondent- Churches have started lobbying for a parliamentary seat to have issues affecting their constituency debated.

The church representative organisations made the call in Bulawayo on Tuesday during a meeting between civic society organisations (CSOs) and Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda.

CSOs and the media were drawn from Matabeleland North, South and Bulawayo province.

Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) representative, Samuel Mabvundu said the church was socially conscious and should be represented in Parliament.

“Over 80% of Zimbabweans are Christians and therefore there is need for representation in that regard. You find Christianity dominating in public gatherings while it is only the traditional leaders who are given room in Parliament,” Mabvundu said.

“I think we also need representation from the Christianity side. We now need to change that mentality. Instead of the church standing up, we need to be there as it happens, rather than standing up later when things have fallen apart.”

Another ZCC member only identified as Manjengwa said there was need for churches to have a seat in Parliament.

“My issue is on people who are represented in Parliament. You spoke of chiefs, the disabled, but there is no church representatives. Where are they? You never mentioned them? Is it that you do not want them to be represented in Parliament?” Manjengwa asked.

In response, Mudenda said if the church engages into politics, who would help people to turn away from sin?

“You cannot serve two masters. You either serve God or Caesar, but this is not to say you cannot be a politician. What you can do is appeal to the President that of those five ministers selected by the President, one of the reverends then becomes a minister,” Mudenda said.

“When one becomes the minister, he then leaves the collar. Things will not fall apart when the church is not in Parliament. Things fall apart when the church is not praying for politicians. Every Sunday, congregants have to be reminded to stop sinning, so when you are in politics this then becomes difficult.”

Mudenda said it was, however, possible for a pastor to become a politician as portrayed by the Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera.

Last week, Zanu-PF Harare women’s league chairperson Betty Nhambu-Kaseke said there was need for the church to be fully incorporated into the National Development Strategy One launched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

-newsday

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By A Correspondent- Zanu PF youths have rallied behind party’s youth leader, Tapiwa Muto, who faces charges of assault, public violence and murder.

Muto (36) was arrested Tuesday in an afternoon raid by some police and military intelligence officers while coming from the party’s Kwekwe District offices.

Kwekwe Magistrates court released him on bail on Friday, the day the youths brought Kwekwe Central Business District to a standstill.

Following his release and addressing party supporters at Kwekwe Zanu PF District Offices, Muto said he was unmoved by his arrest on allegations he described as fabricated.

He said:

I want to express gratitude to all of you who have come in support of me, it is evident that G40 is still within our midst. However, my resolve is unshaken. I want to urge you to remain united.

They will come up with spurious charges but that will all count to nothing if we are united. Let us remain united and we will prevail.

Muto and some party youths are being accused of causing public violence during a Zanu PF primary election that was prematurely abandoned after fierce clashes between rival camps last month.

The state alleges that on December 11 2020, Muto and his accomplices namely Tafadzwa Rodgers, Wiseman Ngwenya, Raymond Chiriga, Petros and other two who are still on the run, intentionally caused the death of Andrew Moyo, by taking turns to beat him with switches and open hands all over the body.”

Moyo was rushed to Kwekwe General Hospital after the assault and was pronounced dead upon admission.

The state also alleges that on the 6th of June 2018 Muto, in the company of others who are still at large, approached Kennedy Tumwe at Mvuda’s Corner Sports Bar Mbizo 4 Shopping Centre, Kwekwe whom they assaulted after an argument over political issues.

Muto is also accused of assaulting Terrence Jabangwe.

All Africa

HARD-HIT by a shocking 57 pupils that have tested positive for Covid-19, Chinhoyi High School has issued a distress call to government, private sector and non-governmental organisations to chip in with resources to curtail the further spread of the deadly viral disease.

The school, which is one of the elite learning institutions in the town, was Tuesday forced to send back home day scholars, who were in the midst of preparation for their final public examinations.

However, boarding pupils are still holed up at the school with reports that some parents and guardians had tried, without success, to whisk their children to safety after receiving disturbing news of the outbreak.

Those affected are in quarantine at the school’s hostels.

The dire situation at the school prompted the convening of an urgent meeting Thursday by the Covid-19 Provincial Taskforce held at Cooksey Hall.

During the meeting, Chinhoyi High School headmistress, Mary Nyeverengwa raised grave concern over the safety of the pupils on the backdrop of shortages of basic personal protective equipment (PPEs), laxity in adherence to safety protocols, among other issues.

“The school is appealing for urgent assistance so that we contain the situation. We are appealing for PPEs like face masks, knapsacks for spraying disinfectants and fumigants,” said the school head.

“We also appeal for cutlery that authorities can thoroughly sanitise as there is fear the boarders who use their personal cutlery that they bring from home could spread the disease amongst themselves.”

The school is also seeking food for teachers who will be invigilating examinations so that their movement in and out of the premises in search of food is avoided as this could spread new Covid-19 cases.

Mashonaland West provincial medical director, Dr Gift Masocha assured parents and guardians that all systems had been activated to ensure the safety of pupils.

He reiterated that the second wave of Covid-19 was projected to result in more people falling sick as there was now complacency within the public in adhering to laid down World Health Organisation (WHO) prevention and containment protocols such as wearing of face masks, social distancing and hand sanitising.

He said Chinhoyi had become the epicentre of Covid-19 in the province with more residents testing positive for the flu-like ailment.

Masocha said six new cases were recorded Wednesday.

“Yesterday (Wednesday) results that came out revealed that of the 42 that were tested, six came out positive. Of these six, three are from Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT), one from the locality while another one is from Muriel Mine (Banket),” said Masocha.

Douglas Chiwiro, who is deputy director in Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs and Devolution minister Mary Mliswa-Chikoka’s office, urged the public to be vigilant as more and more cases were being recorded in the province.

Chiwiro also implored law enforcement agencies to arrest those violating the law, particularly bar owners who were disregarding stipulated operating hours, hinting that a curfew should be tightened.

Zimbabwe’s food import bill has expanded exponentially in the first nine months of 2020, reflecting the biting effect of drought experienced over the last two years, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Professor Mthuli Ncube disclosed in the 2021 Budget Statement presentation on Thursday.

Food imports increased from US$140.5 million in the first nine months of 2019 to US$458.0 million for the comparable period in 2020, representing an increase of 226%. Minister Ncube said this was on account of high grain imports the country had to procure following two consecutive drought years.

Despite the impact of drought, Zimbabwe’s food imports tended to increase substantially through 2000 – 2019 period ending at 8.1 % in 2019. Local productivity has taken a heavy hit following the contentious land reform in the late 90s, with the country now spending a larger bill to import its staple maize grain.

According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s (RBZ) monthly report, Treasury spent US$1.5 million on maize imports in August, and the figure shot up to US$4 million in September. This is happening at a time where government is providing food handouts and subsidised roller meal, which are part of measures to fight the existing threat of food insecurity among vulnerable social groups.

Internet tabloid, Femine Early Warnings Systems Network (FEWS NET), indicated that the severity of food emergencies are expected to persist across most typical deficit producing areas in the south, west, and extreme north through at least March 2021.

“This is the result of ongoing poor macroeconomic conditions, consecutive droughts, and continued COVID-19 impacts,” said FEWS NET.

The food import bill is likely to close the year even higher amid continued price increases on wheat and maize owing to depleted global yields which have seen the cost of importing grain surge.

The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) earlier this month indicated that it is now working with the central bank to mitigate these increases and consumer spend ahead of the festive season.

Meanwhile, merchandise imports are estimated to have contracted by 4.3% to US$3.2 billion during the period under review from US$3.3 billion for the same period in 2019.

“The declines were mainly witnessed in imports of fuel, raw materials, machinery, manufactured goods and vehicles, on account of the impact of COVID-19 restrictions,” said Minister Ncube while indicating that the COVID-19 pandemic was mainly felt in trade in services with both exports and imports registering sharp declines.

He said, “Services exports sharply contracted to US$245.2 million for the period January to September 2020 from US$422.3 million for the comparable period in 2019, owing to weak travel and tourism, transport and other business services exports. Services imports similarly declined from US$679.9 million in 2019 to US$250.5 million in 2020 for the same period.”

Equity Axis News

POLICE in Bulawayo have impounded 80 vehicles that were pirating in defiance of the Government’s travel restrictions meant to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The vehicles were impounded during a blitz dubbed ‘Covid -19 Enforcement’ that started on Monday. The operation is expected to end when sanity prevails.

About two weeks ago police in Bulawayo impounded 127 vehicles that were pirating in defiance of the Government regulations.

Government in March this year banned public transporters and left Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) as the sole operator.

Commuter omnibus operators have to register under the Zupco franchise to ferry passengers.

Some of the private operators joined Zupco but others are insisting it is unfair.

In banning the private kombi operators, the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works said it was rationalising the public transport sector which had become chaotic.

In recent weeks, an increasing number of kombis not registered under Zupco and pirate taxis started to illegally ferry commuters on several routes in Bulawayo.

Zupco kombis are charging $24 per trip while pirate taxis and kombis not registered under Zupco are charging $40 or R10 per trip.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said:
“Police in Bulawayo have impounded 80 vehicles which includes 60 pirate kombis, four pirate Honda Fit cars, four pirate buses, two unregistered vehicles and ten cars for violating road laws. These vehicles were banned from ferrying passengers locally or plying the intercity routes,” said Insp Ncube.

Hope is fading by the day for 40 informal gold miners trapped in a collapsed mine in Bindura for more than 48 hours ago after rescue operations were stalled due to flooding.

The disused mine collapsed late on Wednesday in Bindura town, about 70km (43 miles) north of the capital, Harare, after uncontrolled blasting by informal miners keen on making quick cash in the economically troubled southern African country.

Wellington Takavarasha, the head of Zimbabwe Miners Federation, which represents small scale miners in the country, told Al Jazeera the mine was still flooded, but held out hope for the trapped miners.

“Nothing much has changed on the ground. We are currently dewatering the mine because it is flooded so that rescue operations can resume. The ground is too wet right now and that makes rescue operations dangerous,” he said.

“This is an underground mine so I think the miners could have sought safety in any one of the tunnels. But the mine is flooded.” He added that the number of those trapped underground could be higher because informal miners do not keep a tally of people operating in the mines they occupy.

So far, only six miners have been rescued from the debris and are recovering at a hospital.

Just last week, 10 illegal gold miners were buried alive at Premier Estate, located in the eastern part of the country, when the owners of the mine commenced reclamation – a process of restoring mined land to a natural or economically usable state.

Deepening crisis
Zimbabwe is in the throes of a deepening economic crisis characterised by high inflation at close to 500 percent, foreign currency shortages, a devastating mix of a rapidly weakening currency, and stagnant salaries and high unemployment.

In December last year, the World Food Programme warned the country was facing its worst hunger crisis in 10 years, with half of its population – 7.7 million people – being food insecure.

A combination of unemployment of more than 90 percent and hunger has forced common Zimbabweans to take up risky informal jobs such as illegal gold mining.

The Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) director, Farai Maguwu, said mine collapses are frequent because artisanal mining is now a year-round occupation for many Zimbabweans.

“Big mines have been scaling down over the years. When they stop producing, syndicates linked to politicians invade these mines and they don’t adhere to sound safety measures when mining,” Maguwu said.

“The kind of mining artisans do is dangerous as most of them don’t have mining or engineering knowledge.”

Artisanal mining
Maguwu said the government’s failure to revive the economy has pushed Zimbabweans into artisanal mining.

“In this season, we should be seeing less and less artisanal mining. Instead, people should be working the fields as the ground is wet and risky to mine,” he said.

“Climate change-induced droughts has meant that artisanal mining is now a full-time all-year job because the ground is often dry,” he added.

Most parts of Zimbabwe are currently witnessing a wet spell.

According to the Zimbabwe Miners Federation, about 50,000 small-scale miners are registered in the country, each employing at least 10 workers.

The federation says small-scale and artisanal mining sector in Zimbabwe benefits more than 1.5 million people.

The landlocked southern African country sits on vast gold and mineral endowment, including diamonds and platinum. Gold accounts for 60 percent of the country’s exports.

Zimbabwe’s gold deliveries to Fidelity Printers and Refineries, the sole buyer of gold in the country, plunged 73 percent in September to 1.36 tonnes from 2.8 tonnes in the same period last year, a decline blamed on smuggling by small miners.

Zimbabwe is in debt distress and this could provide the biggest challenge on efforts to recover the economy from the abyss of collapse. Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube presented a ZWL$421.6 billion 2021 National Budget on Thursday, and once again it leaves more questions than answers.

According to the budget statement, the country’s external debt is estimated at US$8.2 billion, as at end September 2020 which is an increase by US$106 million from the end 2019 amount of US$8.09 billion and was mainly on account of penalties and interest arrears.

“Of the total external debt, 17% is owed by public entities through guarantees,” Minister Ncube said.

Government through its National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) launched last week said worsening the country’s debt position was the rapid accumulation of external arrears.

“There is high risk of moral hazard, with many public entities approaching government for debt assumption,” the NDS1 says.

According to the budget statement, total Public and Publicly Guaranteed (PPG) debt is estimated at 78.7% of GDP by end of 2020 and the debt stock is marginally above the SADC recommended threshold of 60% of GDP and the Public Debt Act threshold of 70% of GDP.

Minister Ncube further highlighted that domestic debt as at 30 September 2020 was ZWL$12.5 billion, which is 1.2% of GDP and 1.8% of the total public debt.

While domestic debt has been stable, and seemingly more sustainable to service, external debt is highly unsustainable given the current shortages in forex to service the obligations. Two-thirds of this debt are arrears and with the economy coming from a two-year dip, it is unlikely to see any repayment in 2021.

The domestic economy, which, in 2018-20 was confronted with climatic, macroeconomic and the current Covid-19 shocks, is projected to contract by – 4.5% in 2020 as per the Ministers projections. However, other independent projections like Equity Axis foresee a worse downturn at about -10% in 2020.

For any future financing from IFIs, requires the authorities to clear the arrears first which is unlikely in the near time. It is worthy to note that, Zimbabwe’s debt management legal framework is rated quite strongly by development partners such as the World Bank and the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute as one that meets minimum standards for debt management. But, the government has been failing to comply with the law.

The ballooning external debt could prove the major setback in the government’s efforts to revive the ailing economy. While stability has been noticed over the recent months on exchange rate and inflation trends, there are high fears that the stability is highly unsustainable.

If the Zimbabwe dollar further depreciates value, and budget deficit persists in addition to the rapid accumulation of external arrears, toxic as that combination is, the country will by no means manage to safely carry the debt.

Equity Axis News

State Media

Imports of second-hand vehicles more than 10 years old are to be banned to contain the import bill and promote the domestic motor industry, while all vehicles imported from Japan now require prior clearance to ensure they are not contaminated by radioactivity from the 2011 accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

The proposal for the ban on older second-hand cars was part of a raft of measures to rebuild Zimbabwe’s assembly industry presented by Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube when he unveiled the 2021 National Budget on Thursday, while the need for radiation clearance was part of a statutory instrument gazetted by President Mnangagwa.

Prof Ncube noted that Zimbabweans had spent about US$1,3 billion on the imports of buses, light commercial and passenger motor vehicles from 2015 to September 2020.

“This is despite the existence of capacity by the local motor industry to assemble the above-mentioned range of motor vehicles,” he said.

“Furthermore, due to lack of effective standards and regulation, unroadworthy vehicles, which, in some instances fail to meet environmental and safety standards, find their way onto the market. In line with the National Development Strategy 1, which underscores value addition, I propose to remove second-hand motor vehicles aged 10 years and above, from the date of manufacture at the time of importation, from the Open General Import Licence.”

Prof Ncube said commercial vehicles such as tractors, haulage trucks, earth-moving equipment and other specialised vehicles used in mining and construction would be exempt from this requirement.

In 2011, Government banned the import of vehicles more than five years old, although the ban was later reversed following an outcry from the public.

In order to stop imports of vehicles contaminated with radioactive debris, President Mnangagwa yesterday gazetted a Statutory Instrument requiring those importing vehicles from countries that have experienced level two and above radiation on the International Nuclear Radiological Event Scale to obtain clearance for radiation contamination.

S1 281 of 2020 is cited as the Radiation Protection (Safety and Security of Radiation Sources) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020 (No. 5).

Japan is the only country that has experienced a radiation event above level two on the INES, notes the instrument, when in 2011 it experienced a disaster at its Fukushima Nuclear Plant following an earthquake and the accident was rated 7 on the INES.

While most cars imported from Japan will not be contaminated, the regulations will prevent vehicles that were near the nuclear power plant being salvaged and exported to Zimbabwe.

According to the SI, any person who does not comply with the regulations or who makes a false statement or declaration or falsifies any documents concerning the country of origin of a vehicle shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level 5 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or both such fine and such imprisonment.

State Media

SOCIALITE Michelle “Moana” Amuli, who died in horrific car accident on November 8, is set to be buried today after the High Court resolved a three-week-long impasse between her estranged parents over handling of the funeral and burial site.

Justice Pisirayi Kwenda found no legal basis to stop the burial according to Muslim religion in line with her father’s wishes.

Moana’s father Mr Ishmael Amuli and mother Ms Yolanda Kuvaoga desired different funeral ceremonies and different grave sites.

The burial order designated Warren Hills Cemetery as Moana’s resting place, but the mother insisted that she be buried the Christian way at Zororo Cemetery.

Justice Kwenda ruled that the burial order issued to Mr Amuli on November 18, 2020 was correctly issued with the knowledge of the mother, who conceded during the hearing that there was nothing wrong with the manner of its issuance.

“It remains valid. There is no reason to replace a valid burial order with another,” said Justice Kwenda.

“The application for an interdict cannot succeed.”

The Burial and Cremation Act [Chapter 5:03] has no provision that deals with resolution of burial disputes and the judge felt it might be that in the past such a provision was not necessary because of the richness of culture and adherence thereto by the various ethnic communities in Zimbabwe.

Given this novel case, there might be need for legislative intervention prescribing a dispute resolution mechanism that gave prominence to customary law remedies.

But in deciding this case, Justice Kwenda found that there was no evidence that Mr Amuli would exclude Ms Kuvaoga from her daughter’s funeral saying: “The assignment of roles at a funeral as stated in this case, does not amount to a restriction on the applicant’s rights to be participate in activities at her daughter’s funeral which warrants the intervention of the court.

“The applicant has not established the legal basis for the reliefs sought.”

Justice Kwenda said the relevance of what Ms Kuvaoga said was Moana’s worldly lifestyle and her alleged celebrity status was difficult to fathom.

“It appears to me that the applicant does not appreciate the possible implications of over-emphasising the deceased’s secular habits which she believes gave her an elevated social standing in her last days because she could be basking in the grandeur of the perceived status,” said Justice Kwenda.

The judge said Ms Kuvaoga’s oral evidence had no relevance to the relief sought. On the other hand, he found that Moana was born to the Amuli family.

To this end, the court found, the right to family was fundamental and protected in the constitution under Chapter 4 Bill of rights.

In this regard, Justice Kwenda ruled that Mr Amuli raised his daughter from the age of barely a year until she attained adulthood and was her sole custodian and guardian.

Funeral Programme for Mitchelle ( Moana) Amuli

Date Saturday 28/11/2020

8:00am Arrival at Parirenyatwa

9:30am Body arrives at Kuvaoga Family residence (Engineering)

11:30am Body arrives at Highfields Mosque (Old Highfields)

1:30pm Body leaves for Warren Hills (Muslim Section)

2:00pm Burial

Sheikh Yusuf Binali
Family Spokesperson
0772807183

SCIAZ Media Liason

Ibrahim Mpache

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State Media

Zimbabwe and South Africa are working flat out to harmonise management and health systems at Beitbridge Border Post so that more people can cross the Limpopo during the festive season without health risks and without compromising immigration and customs checks.

The border is expected to reopen to vehicular traffic on Tuesday next week after being closed when Covid-19 restrictions started being implemented in March.

Before the restrictions, an average of 35 000 people were cleared at the border daily during peak periods, with 15 000 travellers on a normal day.

At present, Zimbabweans coming home need pre-clearance from the embassy and consulates in South Africa to avoid swamping health testing, while the number of buses is limited.

Besides the traffic between the two countries, thousands of travellers a day from Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola were cleared at Beitbridge, a problem that is intensified as Botswana tightens its lockdown.

Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe and his South African counterpart, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, re-affirmed the need to harmonise the operating environment after meeting in Musina yesterday.

After the meeting, the two ministers along with Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Dr John Mangwiro, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Deputy Minister David Musabaya and law enforcement officials toured the South African side of the border.

Minister Kazembe said preparations had gathered momentum for the continued gradual border re-opening, which will see pedestrians and motorists being cleared this festive season.

Cabinet recently approved the re-opening of Beitbridge, Plumtree, Chirundu, Victoria Falls and Forbes border posts on December 1.

The land borders were closed to passenger traffic at the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdowns across the Sadc region in March

“We have met today with our counterparts in South Africa and we have agreed on a number of areas where we need to collaborate to ensure a seamless movement of traffic during the festive season and beyond,” said Minister Kazembe.

“This is a unique festive season where people have not been able to move due to the Covid-19 pandemic for the better part of the year and there is bound to be more human traffic from next week.”

The two countries would employ the previous border management systems used during peak periods, but with health screening and testing.

Minister Kazembe and Dr Motsoaledi agreed to strengthen the capacity of port health officials to screen and test travellers.

Minister Kazembe said Zimbabwe was not leaving anything to chance and security had already been tightened at the border posts and along the Limpopo River to contain criminal activities.

“We have walked this road before,” he said. “The immigration, security and customs officials have handled huge volumes of traffic before. What we are only doing this time is beefing up staff and improving the capacity of port health officials to screen and test travellers to avoid creating congestion.”

The Ministry of Health and Child Care had already started testing border

workers of Covid-19 to establish the numbers ready for duty.

Dr Motsoaledi said South Africa had addressed congestion challenges which had dogged their side of the border in the last 21 days.

“We are here today to review our strength on the ground with our brothers from Zimbabwe,” he said.

“You are aware we have had challenges of congestion in the last three weeks. This emanated from the fact that Botswana closed its borders and we are now handling most of the transit traffic at Beitbridge.”

Congestion on the South African side had been worsened by commercial truck drivers disregarding the border protocols, which required them to park in truck stops and only leave for the border after customs clearance.

The South African National Defence Force, Musina municipal traffic police and the Limpopo Provincial Traffic Police had been deployed to restore order on the N1 Highway which leads to the border.

In addition, the South African Revenue Service had removed from its procedures, the use of the Customs Notification Document (CN2), following repeated systems breakdown which caused delays in cargo movement.

“We have also met with relevant border agencies on our side to ensure that we strengthen security for both travellers and manage illegal migration between Zimbabwe and South Africa,” said Dr Motsoaledi.

“We need to maintain the current momentum to eliminate delays of travellers. It’s a tradition that we have many people passing through our land borders every December and hence we continue planning ahead.”

Government has declared readiness to administer public examinations beginning next week after putting in place adequate measures informed by World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, to curb the spread of Covid-19.

In keeping with social distancing rules, examinations will be sat for from more classrooms and spacious halls to minimise chances of spreading the virus.

This week, Government announced the release of a further $150 million to needy schools to improve sanitation.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister Ambassador Cain Mathema said the June exams were conducted successfully and this time around, schools had improved their response.

He said they were expecting a similar outcome in the second round of public exams scheduled for this December and assured parents that all the requirements would be adhered to.

“All the measures needed to hold the examinations in a safe environment, have been put in place and examinations will be starting in December as scheduled,” said Minister Mathema.

“Protective clothing for learners and teachers is now in place and we expect to hold exams successfully like we did in June. I want to assure parents, guardians and all stakeholders that everything is in place for holding successful examinations.”

For schools with confirmed Covid-19 cases, Minister Mathema said measures were in place to isolate, as well as take care of any arising cases.

Speaking after this week’s Cabinet meeting, Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu said authorities were strengthening protective and preventative measures in boarding school environments.

“The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education with technical support from the Ministry of Health and Child Care, is organising logistics for implementing practical measures to minimise the recurrence of the John Tallach School experience in other boarding schools,” he said.

Measures included reviewing the maximum carrying capacity of all boarding hostels, conducting detailed inspection of boarding facilities and targeted training of hostel matrons, boarding masters, as well as kitchen staff.

Calls to proceed with examinations have been growing from various sectors as preventing pupils from going to the next grade would clog their streams.

National Association of Primary Heads president Mrs Cynthia Khumalo said the major challenge was the disrupted learning time for students because of Covid-19 mitigatory measures.

National Association of Secondary Heads president Mr Arthur Maposa said they might not be ready to manage the big numbers of examination classes.

By A Correspondent| MBCA head of Credit Herbert Chingono and Garrison Industries founder Tambudzai Tongofa have been taken to court to settle US$5002 they allegedly swindled Crosstrack Investments, a leading borehole drilling company based in Harare.

Chingono is being sued on his personal capacity.

Facts are that in July this year, Garrison Industries which is based in Bulawayo sub- contracted Crosstrack Investments to drill a borehole at Chingono’s residence since the company had no proper equipment and capacity to carry out the task.

Garrison Industries and Chingono agreed to pay US$5002 including tax.

Despite several demands, the defendants have failed to pay for service rendered.

Investigations by this publication have flagged possible conflict of interest between Chingono and Garrison industries.

Garrison Industries got a credit facility from MBCA where Chingono is the head of Credit. It is under unclear circumstances how Garrison Industries ended up paying for borehole drilling at Chingono’s residence.

“It’s a case of kickbacks that have gone wrong. Garrison Industries were supposed to drill a borehole at Chingono’s residence as a thank you token and they were supposed to foot the bill. Chingono has been helping Garrison Industries a lot using his position at MBCA,” said a source who works in the bank.

Contacted for comment, Chingono said, “I am just checking with our Head of Legal if I can respond to a matter before the Courts to which I have prepared a notice to defend. Once I get the nod, I will do the necessary.”

By A Correspondent| The family of the late socialite Michelle Moana Amuli last night clashed on whether to give a chance to the fitness bunny’s mother to bid farewell to her daughter before she is buried at Warren Hills cemetery.

According to a family source, there were sharp disagreements with some feeling she should have her chance while others opposed the idea on the grounds that she has embarrassed the family by taking the matter to court.

“Some were saying let’s give her while others were against the idea,” said the source.

At the time of publishing, it was not yet clear what they had settled as they could not conclude the burial programme in the absence of their Islamic Church leader who was expected to attend the meeting.

The source said Moana’s was bitter that the whole programme had gone against her earlier plans and had specifically spoken about her “deco” which she was worried about.

“Mai Mitchy vaipopota kuti ko deco yangu ndichaita sei nayo (Michelle’s mother was fuming that her deco had been rendered useless),” said the source.

A local news organisation NewsHawks has published a damning report claiming that Impala Car Rental is owned by the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation who owns controlling shares in the company.

According to NewsHawks, an investigation over two months into Impala’s affairs and Muchehiwa’s abduction in Bulawayo on 30 July shows the car hire belongs to the CIO. The kidnapping occurred a day before the 31 July protests, preceded by a sweeping crackdown on civic and political activists, including journalists, by state security agents.

Documents obtained during the investigation show that Impala – registered as Impala Carriers (Pvt) Ltd – is now owned by Chilten Trust, a CIO entity, represented by company chief executive Thompson Dondo in the car hire firm’s registration documents. Impala’s registration number is 2519/1989.
Although Impala registration documents have been removed from the company registry in Harare, The NewsHawks managed to meticulously piece together the record.

Investigations reveal Chilten Trust is a CIO entity used for administrative, operational and investments purposes.   The probe unearthed a secret arrangement between Dondo and the CIO on the ownership of the business.

The probe shows Dondo – whose National Identification card Number is 58-132451P-50 – represents CIO interests in Impala. His address was given on the documents as No. 92 McChery Avenue, Eastlea, Harare. A search for the address led to No. 92 McChlery, not McChery.

Dondo’s ID No. – the last two digits 50 – shows he is from Mutasa district in Manicaland province. The digits 58 suggest he obtained his ID from Kwekwe.
The NewsHawks journalists, then working for the Zimbabwe Independent, first came across Chilten Trust in the late 1990s and again in 2003 investigating its ties with Israeli  intelligence-linked entity Nikuv which was hired by government to produce new IDs and passports, and later biometric identity and travel documents. Nikuv, which deals with electrical issues, is infamous in Zimbabwe for election rigging controversies.

Our journalists also later encountered Chilten Trust in 2003 when it was embroiled in a failed CIO plot to frame the late MDC founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai, the party’s then secretary-general Welshman Ncube and the late Renson Gasela, an MDC leader, and implicate them in false allegations that they had conspired to assassinate the late former president Robert Mugabe.

In the plot to frame MDC leaders, Chilten Trust was used by CIO as a conduit to make payments through CBZ Bank and ZB Bank (formerly ZimBank) to dodgy international Israeli public relations consultant Ari Ben-Menashe via his Canadian-based political consultancy, Dickens & Madison, between 30 November 2001 and 5 August 2002.

Documents show that Chilten Trust took control of Impala on 6 September 2017 after it had acquired 16 000 shares at a nominal value of ZW$1 each. At the time the exchange between the United States dollar and the Zimbabwean dollar was 1:1.
An Impala CR2 document, used for creating and issuing new shares or for share allotment in a private company, shows the 16 000 shares gave the CIO outfit a controlling 50.2% shareholding.
The nominal share capital of the company was 32 000 shares going for ZW$1 each. The number of shares previously allotted, including subscriber shares, was 100. This left 31 900 shares available for cash to the tune of ZW$31 900.

After Chilten Trust found its way into Impala through Dondo, on the same day – 6 September 2017 – the balance of the shares went to a company called Gutlomm Trust located on the 7th Floor of Robinson House, Harare. The company was represented by Tendai Gunda whose ID number is 50-173439E-42.

Dondo and Gunda are both from Manicaland. Gutlomm Trust is no longer present at the given address. Checks show that it has now moved to Eastlea along Samora Machel Avenue. The CR6 document says Impala is located on Number 40 Chiremba Road, Hillside, which is public knowledge.

Asked about Impala’s shareholding and CIO connection, Impala company lawyer Jivas Mudimu said: “I don’t want to lie; I’m a lawyer for Impala, but I don’t know what is in its CR14 (information on directors). I don’t think it is any of my business anyway. I don’t know who owns what at Impala.”

Following weeks of endless drama since her death in a car crash on the 8th of November, Michelle Amuli popularly known as Moana will finally be buried today after the High Court dismissed an application by her mother Yolanda Kuvaoga to gain full control of the funeral programme.

Moana who died together with controversial Harare businessman Genius Kadungure, will be buried today at Warren Hills cemetery instead of Zororo Memorial Park which had earlier been announced by Doves.

According to Amuli family members, a service for Moana will be held at Belvedere Islamic Church Hall before burial.

A close family source revealed that a meeting was held last night to deliberate on what to do with Kuvaoga who wanted to have a moment to bid farewell to her child.

“Some felt she should be given upto 2 hours to allow her friends to pay their last respect while some were opposed to the idea,” the source said.

Its not yet clear what they finally agreed on but the source said there was violent opposition to the idea of giving her mother unfettered access to the body due to how she had fought the Amuli family.

More to follow….

ONE person died and two others were seriously injured after being struck by lightning in Mutare today (Tuesday).

The incident occurred during a thunderstorm that hit the city earlier this afternoon.

Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa confirmed the incident which happened near the Grain Marketing Board Depot in Sakubva.

“I can confirm that three people were struck by lightning this afternoon. One of them died on the spot and the other two were seriously injured and taken to Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital where they are receiving treatment,” he said.

Insp Kakohwa, however, could not release details on the identity of the deceased and injured.

The country is expected to receive heavy rains this week accompanied by strong winds and lightning and the Meteorological Services Department has issued an alert for people to be cautious during thunderstorms and avoid seeking shelter under isolated trees or small sheds.-Manica Post

A Rusape man who stoned his mother to death following a misunderstanding over tea will spend the next 23 years in jail.

Muzowaka Macheke (47) was convicted of murder as defined in Section 47(i)(a) or (b) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23, when he recently appeared before Mutare High Court judge, Justice Hlekani Mwayera.

Prosecutor Ms Jane Rose Matsikidze said the murder was committed on January 27 in Chasaya Village under Chief Tandi.

“Muzowaka, his mother Mrs Monica Macheke and a domestic worker, Ms Margret Bhiza were living at the same homestead when Muzowaka committed the offence.

“On the day in question at around 3am, the accused person returned home and found his mother and Mrs Bhiza sleeping in their bedroom,” said Ms Matsikidze.

He asked for sadza and was referred to the kitchen.

“After eating, Muzowaka asked the domestic worker to make him some tea. The deceased came out of her bedroom with the intention of cooling down her son as he was now demanding the tea. However, Muzowaka did not take heed of his mother’s calls.

“Muzowaka became violent and slapped his mother, before stoning her several times on the head,” said Ms Matsikidze.

Mrs Macheke died on the spot.

Post mortem results showed that her death was due to serious head trauma.

Testifying in court, Ms Bhiza said Muzowaka was drunk when he committed the murder.

Ms Bhiza said when Muzowaka became violent, she rushed to advise Mr Morgan Macheke about the incident but when they returned, Mrs Macheke was already lying in a pool of blood.

The matter was reported to the police, thereby leading to Muzowaka’s arrest.-Manica Post

A HONDE Valley man recently confessed to killing his nine-year-old nephew for ritual purposes, before going on to harvest the minor’s private parts, arms, ears and eyes after being contracted to do so by his brother and another businessman.

However, reliable sources in the community are saying the man is walking scot-free after making the confession.

Jacob Muranganwa is now said to be facing the full wrath of his late nephew, Zedek Muranganwa’s avenging spirit which reportedly carries him outside during his sleep.

Zedek was murdered last year by his father’s brother Jacob.

The murder came to light when one of the Muranganwa siblings — John —approached acting Chief Mutasa’s court accusing his brothers — James and Abraham — of harassing him and breaching his peace.

John said James and Abraham were accusing him of killing Zedek for ritual purposes. However, things took a dramatic twist when Jacob sprung from his seat to confess to the murder.

“I cannot endure this torment anymore. Every morning I wake up sleeping outside. At first, I thought I was sleep-walking, but when I started seeing Zedek’s image every night, I knew his avenging spirit was behind it all. “Whenever it gets dark, l see the boy’s image. I am the only one who sees him, even when I am with someone else,” confessed Jacob during the court session.

Jacob said he murdered Zedek for ritual purposes and harvested the boy’s private parts, arms, ears and eyes.

Three days later, he hung the lifeless and mutilated body on a tree near the boy’s home to stage a suicide.

Jacob fingered his brother, John, businessman Kwambana and another unidentified businessman, of contracting him to carry out a ritual murder to boost their businesses. John allegedly owns a leisure centre in Honde Valley.

“Sometime last year, my brother John, Kwambana and another businessman asked me to harvest a young boy’s body parts for money-making rituals.

“The next day I saw Zedek coming from school and I lured him to my workplace — John’s grinding mill. I promised to give him some money for his school fees and he obliged. I gave him sadza laced with Maragada pills.

“He ate the sadza and dozed off moments later. I took a hammer and hit him once on the head. Zedek died instantly. I took his body and hid it behind the grinding mill.

“After closing the grinding mill, I cut off the body parts. When John and his partners came to collect the body parts, they placed the body in a refrigerator. It stayed there for three days before they instructed me to hang it near Zedek’s home to make it appear like the boy had committed suicide,” narrated Jacob.

After Jacob’s confession, Chief Mutasa ordered his aides to accompany him to Ruda Police Station as he said criminal issues were beyond his jurisdiction.

However, John died mysteriously a week later.

He was buried last Friday.

The Muranganwa siblings’ relatives who spoke to The Manica Post on condition of anonymity said John was found dead. They said they suspect that Zedek’s avenging spirit might have pushed his Uncle John into an early grave.

On the other hand, reliable sources from the community said Jacob is walking scot free after being released from police custody.

Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Tavhiringwa could neither confirm nor deny the matter and said investigations were underway.

“We have called Ruda Police Station and they could neither confirm nor deny that they are handling such a case. However, word doing the rounds in the community confirms the murder case. We will need to dig deeper with the investigations to get to the bottom of the issues,” said Insp Kakohwa.-Manica Post

BENEFICIARIES of Pfumvudza and drought relief programmes should not be coerced into covering transport costs as it is Government’s responsibility to deliver grain and inputs to them, Manicaland Provincial Development Coordinator, Mr Edgars Seenza, has said.

He said those being asked to make such payments must report the cases to the police.

Mr Seenza’s comments come amid revelations that some unscrupulous Government workers in Chipinge and Chimanimani districts were conniving with transporters and village heads to demand US$1 or R20 from beneficiaries of the two programmes, yet that responsibility was being shouldered by the Government.

At least $118 million is being mobilised to transport inputs under the Climate-Proofed Presidential Inputs Programme, commonly known as Pfumvudza, from Grain Marketing Board (GMB) depots.

Information gathered by The Manica Post showed that Agritex and Department of Social Welfare officials, truck drivers and village heads were charging unsuspecting beneficiaries in foreign currency for them to be included on the list of beneficiaries.

Proceeds are shared amongst members of the syndicates.-Manica Post

The Zimbabwean government has refused to bow down to pressure from education stakeholders to close all schools across the country after several schools were put under lockdown due to a high number of pupils testing positive for coronavirus.

The leader of government business in Parliament Ziyambi Ziyambi on Wednesday told Parliamentarians that there is a need to accept the new normal saying COVID-19 outbreaks at schools will be looked at on a case-by-case basis. Said Ziyambi:

What we have decided as the government is that we have to adapt and live in the new normal. What we cannot do is, if a school in Chinhoyi has an outbreak of COVID-19, we then close a school in Mutare.

We look at it case-by-case and say we have had cases here, what we do to ensure the safety of the learners as well as to ensure that learners continue learning. We have realised that we can literally have a 365-day lockdown.

This comes after coronavirus cases at schools have surged, with John Tallach in Matabeleland North recording 189, Chinhoyi High School in Mashonaland West has recorded 57 cases and Matopo High School in Matabeleland South has 10 positive cases.

Some of the schools have been quarantined to curb the spread of the virus.-Daily News

Tinashe Sambiri|MDC Alliance Deputy president, Hon Tendai Biti, has described Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube’s National Budget Presentation as a damp squib.

The budget has not addressed key matters affecting ordinary Zimbabweans, according to Hon Biti.

Below is Hon Biti’s argument:

“Joining SACU and the RMU is only logical … The USD has appreciated by 19 % in last two years so Zim must devalue same to a currency that’s weak but credible . Rand offers that .

Besides that is the faster way to SADC integration with all its economies of scale…

As expected this was yet another damp squib.A real missed opportunity to address the key distortion in the economy which is FX & monetary policy. The fiction of ZWL$ is not working .Real value , real wages & real incomes needed to be restored . Maintaining ZWL$ fiction is madness

The failure to restore USD wages and pensions is the ultimate theft & failure by regime .Failure to deal decisively with pensions&the Justice Smith Inquiry recommendations another disaster The raft of tax measures proposed are anti poor & anti people particularly presumptive taxes

The tax attack in the informal economy , the levying of taxes in USD, the punitive taxes on fuel makes the 2021 budget is vicious anti- working class budget. Budget assumptions are a pipe dream & 7% GDP growth rate is an illusion . The country is trouble . #ZimbabweanLivesMatter

Tinashe Sambiri|The MDC Alliance has made a bold decision to expel the party’s provincial chairperson of the Women’s Assembly (Bulawayo) for disregarding standing principles.

MDC Alliance national spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere on Thursday said the party had nothing to do with Masotsha’s utterances which she made soon after she was exonerated from allegations of plotting the abduction of Tawanda Muchehiwa by the dreaded Ferret team.

“The MDC Alliance unequivocally dissociates itself with the utterances expressed by Tendai Masotsha in an audio recording which was circulated publicly on or about the 24th of November 2020, post our internal inquiry.

The said utterances run contrary to the values, beliefs, principles and disposition of the party. As a matter of record, the alleged conversation with Hon Jameson Timba never took place.

As a party of rules, the National Standing Committee resolves and recommends to the National Council that Tendai Masotsha be expelled from the MDC Alliance in accordance with the provisions of the Party Constitution on the grounds that her conduct violates the values that govern the party and her continued membership would be detrimental to the MDC Alliance,” said Mahere.

Political analysts have urged the MDC Alliance to flush out all implants within its structures.

“This is the time to flush out moles within the party.The decision to expel Masotsha is wise and appropriate,” said a social media analyst identified as Mwana Wevhu.

Tinashe Sambiri|The MDC Alliance has made a bold decision to expel the party’s provincial chairperson of the Women’s Assembly (Bulawayo) for disregarding standing principles.

MDC Alliance national spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere on Thursday said the party had nothing to do with Masotsha’s utterances which she made soon after she was exonerated from allegations of plotting the abduction of Tawanda Muchehiwa by the dreaded Ferret team.

“The MDC Alliance unequivocally dissociates itself with the utterances expressed by Tendai Masotsha in an audio recording which was circulated publicly on or about the 24th of November 2020, post our internal inquiry.

The said utterances run contrary to the values, beliefs, principles and disposition of the party. As a matter of record, the alleged conversation with Hon Jameson Timba never took place.

As a party of rules, the National Standing Committee resolves and recommends to the National Council that Tendai Masotsha be expelled from the MDC Alliance in accordance with the provisions of the Party Constitution on the grounds that her conduct violates the values that govern the party and her continued membership would be detrimental to the MDC Alliance,” said Mahere.

Political analysts have urged the MDC Alliance to flush out all implants within its structures.

“This is the time to flush out moles within the party.The decision to expel Masotsha is wise and appropriate,” said a social media analyst identified as Mwana Wevhu.

Tinashe Sambiri|Mr Ishmael Amuli, the father of the late celebrity, Michelle “Moana” Amuli has said her daughter will be laid to rest at Warren Hills Cemetery in Harare on Saturday.

This follows a protracted battle with Moana’s mother over burial rights.

Mr Amuli has been granted permission to bury her daughter by the High Court.

Watch video below. ..

Popular Sungura Musician Alick Macheso will before the year fold entertain his fans with a brand new single which will be released on 4 December 2020.

The single which is yet to be named, according to the sungura maestro is a Christmas present to his legion of fans and it will also be part of his forthcoming album to be released at an undisclosed date.

Macheso spoke briefly about the album before he referred all questions to his publicist and said:

The single will be out first week of December, it’s for the fans.

When contacted for comment, his Publicist Tich Makahamadze said the production of the said single is already at an advanced stage.

Macheso last made headlines when he featured in Freeman’s song Ngaibake whose video garnered over 2.8 million views on YouTube.-H-Metro

GIRLS College in Bulawayo has indefinitely closed following a Covid-19 case which was detected after the school held a leavers’ party for Upper Six students.

This development comes at a time when Covid-19 cases are on the rise in Bulawayo which now has the highest number of active cases in Zimbabwe.

One more person had died of Covid-19 in Bulawayo on Tuesday, the only death recorded in Zimbabwe as new cases continue rising in the country.

The country recorded 110 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours with 106 being local and the remainder returnees from Botswana and no deaths were recorded in the same period.

Of the new cases, Bulawayo was leading after recording 53 followed by Matabeleland South on 28 and Midlands recorded 15.

As at 25 November 2020, Zimbabwe had 9 506 confirmed cases, including 8 336 recoveries and 274 deaths.
Bulawayo has in the past five days recorded seven deaths which constitutes 77 percent of the total deaths reported in Zimbabwe during the same time.

The city has the highest number of active cases in Zimbabwe at 233 against 827 cases in the whole country.

Of the 462 new cases recorded in Zimbabwe in the last six days, 205 were from Bulawayo and authorities have said the upsurge is a testament of a good contact tracing and testing system.

Bulawayo provincial medical director Dr Welcome Mlilo confirmed the Girls College incident saying contact tracing is currently ongoing.

He bemoaned the increase of Covid-19 in the province saying it’s a worrying trend.

“We are recording a steady rise in number of Covid-19 cases in Bulawayo Metropolitan Province of late. This is obviously a worrying trend, but we believe it’s also testament to our strong surveillance system in the province. It means we are suspecting and testing the right segment of the population. It’s testament to good contact tracing,” he said.

“This unfortunately also reveals that Covid-19 continues to spread in the community. Bulawayo is expecting a sharp rise in number of returning residents from Botswana and South Africa, Injiva. As such, we are working on some measures to put in place to ensure safety of communities and to minimise spread of the virus over the holiday season.”

He called on residents to protect lives by practising safety measures which include the proper wearing of masks, social distancing and the washing of hands with either soap or hand sanitizer. “It is absolutely crucial that we practice these measures with a high level of discipline as we are now approaching the holiday season.

This can potentially present a challenge as the buzz of activity expected during this period will see an exponential rise in the number of cases. So, what we do now as Bulawayo will have a bearing on the number of cases we will experience over the festive period as well,” added Dr Mlilo.

Concerned parents said their children were informed yesterday morning that Girls College had to close to avert the spread of Covid-19.

In a letter addressed to parents dated November 24, Girls College principal Mrs Les Ross said the school continues to take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our staff and students with daily monitoring of temperatures, regular sanitising of all surfaces, mask wearing and social distancing.

“As you know, on Thursday 19th November Girls College held a Leavers’ Dinner Dance for our U6 Leavers. The event was held in a large open venue and numbers of both guests and staff working at the event were kept below 100. Unfortunately, since the dance one of the attendees has tested positive for Covid-19,” read the statement.

She said the virus has been contained within the U6 group as they had for the most part finished their exams and left the school and hostels some time before the dance.-Chronicle

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and his Zimbabwean counterpart, Kazembe Kazembe on Friday held a closed meeting at the offices of the Musina Local Municipality in Limpopo to discuss immigration matters.

Motsoaledi and Kazembe were to later visit the Beitbridge border post. The meeting comes as undocumented foreign nationals continue to enter South Africa from Zimbabwe through the porous border.

The army and the police have started a campaign to push undocumented foreign nationals back to Zimbabwe.

Early this year the Department of Public Works erected a controversial low-quality R37 million border fence.

Recently South Africa started what it termed a push back strategy. This involves soldiers forcefully pushing hundreds of illegal immigrants entering South Africa through the fence back to Zimbabwe by soldiers. On Tuesday soldiers chased hundreds of illegal foreigners.

The fence was procured in terms of the COVID-19 prevention measures to stop the inflow of people from neighbouring countries.

HIGHLANDERS FC have announced a three-year partnership with new technical sponsor, England-based sportswear provider On the Ball (OTB) worth US$300 000.

Bosso, who have parted ways with sportswear manufacturer Roar, announced the arrival of OTB as their new sponsor at a colourful ceremony at a Bulawayo hotel yesterday.

The partnership, which was meant to kick in at the start of the 2020 season, is subject to renewal.

Bosso got four sets of playing kit, a short and long-sleeved traditional zebra-striped shirt, which they can alternate with black or white shorts, as well as an all-black and all-white playing kit.

The deal also includes four sets of training kit made up of neon, orange, red and peppermint green, accompanied by black shorts.

The peppermint training kit, which looks bluish, has already raised debate in social media, with the club’s followers associating the colour with perennial rivals Dynamos.

The training kit will also be used for warm-ups.

The traveling kit, which the technical team will also wear on the bench, comprises white golf shirts, with a splash of grey as well as black golf tops. The tops can either be worn with black tracksuit pants or black shorts.

The ZANU PF secretary for administration, Obert Mpofu has announced that the party’s District Coordinating Committees (DCCs) elections will be held on 5 and 6 December 2020.

Mpofu made the announcement at the ZANU PF Headquarters on Friday evening during the National Spokesperson’s Editors Cocktail Dinner.

Mpofu said voting will be done from 0800hrs to 1600hrs at the respective designated Ward centres across all the 8 provinces and only candidates which were vetted and approved by the National Security Department and Commissariat will participate in the elections.

He added that the national elections Command Centre will be located at the Party Headquarters in Harare and will be presided by the national chair, secretaries for administration, security, national political commissar and other supporting Politburo members.

Mpofu said the DCC elections will be governed by the following parameters:

The Electoral College will consist of District Executive Committee Members
Deployment of Supervisory Teams to Provinces will be on the 3rd December 2020
The Voters Roll will be as per the – 2017/2018 approved Membership Registers
The Elections Supervisory Team – Each Province will be supervised by a team from a different province
Ballot Papers will only consist of the approved candidates.

The Zimbabwean government has refused to bow down to pressure from education stakeholders to close all schools across the country after several schools were put under lockdown due to a high number of pupils testing positive for coronavirus.

The leader of government business in Parliament Ziyambi Ziyambi on Wednesday told Parliamentarians that there is a need to accept the new normal saying COVID-19 outbreaks at schools will be looked at on a case-by-case basis. Said Ziyambi:

What we have decided as the government is that we have to adapt and live in the new normal. What we cannot do is, if a school in Chinhoyi has an outbreak of COVID-19, we then close a school in Mutare.

We look at it case-by-case and say we have had cases here, what we do to ensure the safety of the learners as well as to ensure that learners continue learning. We have realised that we can literally have a 365-day lockdown.

This comes after coronavirus cases at schools have surged, with John Tallach in Matabeleland North recording 189, Chinhoyi High School in Mashonaland West has recorded 57 cases and Matopo High School in Matabeleland South has 10 positive cases.

Some of the schools have been quarantined to curb the spread of the virus.

More: Daily News

Some unions representing teachers have vowed that their members will not invigilate Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) examinations which start on 1 December saying the exams body should have a separate arrangement with them.

In a letter dated 23 November 2020 and addressed to the Public Service Commission and Primary and Secondary Education ministry, Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said:

We also officially inform you that our members will not invigilate Zimsec examinations because they do not work for that parastatal.

If ZIMSEC wishes to secure their services, it should negotiate with them for remuneration commensurate with that duty.

We stand ready to facilitate that dialogue before the examination session starts in earnest on December 1.

The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) said its members were still incapacitated and were also not in a position to invigilate the examinations.

Both unions, PTUZ and ARTUZ, advised their members to report for duty, with the former saying teachers should only work for a maximum of three days a week while the former has encouraged its members to attend school once every week.

Harare magistrate Bianca Makwande has postponed to Saturday (tomorrow) the bail ruling for Harare mayor Jacob Mafume who was arrested on Wednesday on criminal abuse of office charges.

Mafume allegedly forced Harare City Council officials to parcel out some stands in Harare’s Westlea suburb to his sister and colleague.

The State opposed bail on the grounds that Mafume will likely interfere with witnesses and could also abscond.

Through his lawyer Tonderai Bhatasara, Mafume said there was no way he could interfere with investigations because he is not a Council employee. Said Bhatasara:

As an officer of this court, the accused is aware of the dire consequences of breaching bail.

He is a legal practitioner for 20 years; he is married with two kids. He has a car and immovable property being a residential stand in Mt Pleasant.

He is a mayor of Harare and earns about $6 000 from this job. He generates $100 000 a month from his practice as a lawyer.

Mafume is denying the charges. He said if he had indeed committed the offences, then the witnesses would be accomplices because they are the ones who have powers to parcel out stands.

HENRIETTA Rushwaya today complained in court that her 6kg gold was being tampered with at Fidelity Printers and Refiners saying it has since lost three grams in weight and also lost 6 percent of its purity.

Rushwaya, through her lawyer Mr Tapson Dzvetero, said she was also subjected to harassment during the time she will be moved from Chikurubi Maximum Prison to Fidelity Printers and Refiners for re-assaying of the said gold, which is kept as an exhibit.

Rushwaya said she was harassed on November 19, 20 and 23 where she was taken from Chikurubi Maximum Prison to Fidelity Printers and Refiners for re-assay of the gold.

“The gold that has been seized from accused and its weight has since varied with three grams.

“The purity percentage has materially varied with some blocks ranging from 93 percent and others now more than 100 percent.

“It is our view that once this gold was taken in the hands of police as exhibit it is now subject to the court’s directive.

“She cannot be asked to sign for the gold as she is no longer in her custody. The gold has since lost its purity by 6 percent,” said Mr Dzvetero.

Rushwaya is jointly charged with businessman Ali Muhamad, security agents Stephen Tserai and Raphios Mufandauya, miner Gift Karanda on smuggling.

Watch the video loading below…..

https://youtu.be/yNJBHsXALiY

By A Correspondent- The late socialite Michelle “Moana” Amuli will finally be laid to rest on Saturday, 28 November 2020 at 1 pm at Warren Hills Cemetery.

This comes after High Court judge Justice Pisirai Kwenda on Friday dismissed, with costs, an urgent chamber application filed by Moana’s mother Yolander Kuvaoga.

Kuvaoga filed the application at the High Court last week seeking to have the burial order issued on 18 November nullified.

She wanted her estranged husband and Moana’s father, Ishamel Amuli to be prevented from renouncing their prior agreement that Moana be buried at Zororo Cemetery.

However, Justice Kwenda today ruled that since Moana was born to the Amuli family, it is a constitutional value that cannot be taken away as she identified with the customs of her family.

He added that Amuli raised the deceased and was her sole custodian and he chose the religion (Islam) for her and there was no evidence that she openly renounced Islam from 2013 when she became an adult.

Justice Kwenda concluded by saying that the burial order of 18 November was correctly issued and there was nothing wrong with its issuance and therefore it remains valid.

Moana will therefore be buried in accordance with Muslim rites as her father, Ishmael Amuli, who raised her single-handedly is a Muslim.

https://fb.watch/20Lg7OPq2o/

Tinashe Sambiri|MDC Alliance Deputy president, Hon Tendai Biti, has described Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube’s National Budget Presentation as a damp squib.

The budget has not addressed key matters affecting ordinary Zimbabweans, according to Hon Biti.

Below is Hon Biti’s argument:

“Joining SACU and the RMU is only logical … The USD has appreciated by 19 % in last two years so Zim must devalue same to a currency that’s weak but credible . Rand offers that .

Besides that is the faster way to SADC integration with all its economies of scale…

As expected this was yet another damp squib.A real missed opportunity to address the key distortion in the economy which is FX & monetary policy. The fiction of ZWL$ is not working .Real value , real wages & real incomes needed to be restored . Maintaining ZWL$ fiction is madness

The failure to restore USD wages and pensions is the ultimate theft & failure by regime .Failure to deal decisively with pensions&the Justice Smith Inquiry recommendations another disaster The raft of tax measures proposed are anti poor & anti people particularly presumptive taxes

The tax attack in the informal economy , the levying of taxes in USD, the punitive taxes on fuel makes the 2021 budget is vicious anti- working class budget. Budget assumptions are a pipe dream & 7% GDP growth rate is an illusion . The country is trouble . #ZimbabweanLivesMatter

By A Correspondent- The Daily News has dispelled media reports that Zimbabweans Mogul Kuda Tagwirei acquired a stake in a company that publishes the Daily News, The Daily News reports.

According to the publication, online media had claimed that Tagwirei bought the Daily News:

In its e-paper yesterday, the Zim Morning Post also claimed that Tagwirei is a shareholder in Modus Media the publisher of the iconic and market leading business newspaper, The Financial Gazette.

Similarly, the paper also claimed that Tagwirei is a shareholder in Jester Media Services, the owners of the newly licensed 3K television station. This is simply not true.

Rather embarrassingly too, the paper also claimed that Modus Media is owned by Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe the publisher of the Daily News. This is false.

Rather ridiculously, Zim Morning Post further claimed that “the Daily News’ application (presumably for a TV licence) coincided with a radical shift in the publications (sic) editorial policy” — adding, for good measure, that “The pro-government policy coupled with Tagwirei’s influence appears to have catapulted the publications’ TV licence application to land one of six slots on offer”.

This is false and defamatory, as it suggests that Jester Media Services won its openly and transparently tendered TV licence through devious and corrupt methods.

The publication dismissed these reports and said Jester Media Services, Modus Media and 3K TV are owned by one family and claimed by ZimMorning Post that Jester Media Services won its TV license tendered publicly through devious and corrupt methods is defamatory.

A spokesperson for the stakeholders affected by the alleged false reports denied even doing business with Tagwirei at any point and said:

Neither the shareholders nor the directors of Jester Media Services, Modus Media and ANZ (which publishes the Daily News) have ever met, let alone had any business or social dealings with Mr Tagwirei. The malicious intentions by those peddling all these falsehoods are clear, and this is to impact negatively on the concerned businesses.

A clear demonstration of this co-ordinated malice is that none of those who have written all these false stories have ever attempted to verify their misplaced claims with us. But it will be well,” a spokesperson for the shareholders said.

Because the Zim Morning Post story went beyond the boundaries of incompetence and erroneous reportage, legal action will be taken against it. The extreme fascination with our businesses is a source of major mystery for us, with many people, especially journalists who should know these things seemingly keen to donate shareholders to us

Tinashe Sambiri|In the video footage below President Nelson Chamisa blasts Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa and Zanu PF for misleading the nation.

According to President Chamisa, Mr Mnangagwa has created deaths for all instead of health for all.

See link below :
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3730550550339449&id=150154425045764

By A Correspondent | First Lady, Auxillia Mnangagwa was on Friday morning spotted in Domboshawa road driving with a reduced motorcade of only 2 cars, a Range Rover and a Toyota Hilux.

Her normal entourage comprises:
7 cars minimum: 3 in front, Range Rover in the middle, and 3 other cars at the back.

She was alone in the back seat; At the front was her driver and a female bodyguard.
In the twin cab were 3 people, 2 male, and 1 female.

Inquiries by ZimEye.com at the time of writing could not establish the reason for her humble appearance.

WHY DO THINK IS THE REASON FOR THE REDUCED MOTORCADE?

The development comes against the backdrop of a rift between Auxillia  and her husband, Emmerson, and as at mid last year, an audio recording surfacing of a woman sound-a-like the First Lady, pleading with a military intelligence officer to kill her husband in her stead. 

The audio which surfaced around July, has ‘Auxillia’ telling the army officer he could go ahead and kill Mnangagwa.

“You are spying on me, if you ask Manjoro he will tell you that I told him that I will ask you about it, what do you want from me Murombo?

“If I die, it is on you who’s done it,” she continued.

She added saying: 

You were using Manjoro to tell you of my whereabouts and now that he is gone you have started again.”

The woman then continued ranting saying

“Just tell me what you want from me Murombo because you cannot spy on me. It is almost a year and I have been quiet.

“Why are you spying on me? Why?”

She added:

“This matter wont stop. I am coming to your office, it is better you pull out your gun and shoot me.”

Just as the male at the end of the other line tried desperately to answer her, the female voice continued demanding answers: 

“Who are you telling my whereabouts? What do you need that information for? I am coming to deal with you,” shouted ‘Auxillia.’

She then told him to kill her husband in her stead. She said:

“If it is Mnangagwa whom you do not want just kill him and leave me alone I have my own surname, I do not speak politics, I do not speak about the army, what if I die another death do you think you will survive?

“You planted Mhlanga in my office as low in rank as he is, do you think I am a fool. I am a trained somebody. You are seeking to deal with Mnangagwa through me through tracking my phone, am I Mnangagwa?” she asked.

Towards the end, she began pleading for the soldier to spare her life. She said:

“You are stupid, I will expose you, I do not care about your post but you personally. I am shocked. I am just a woman, a granny but I have powerful people like you spying on me. Go shoot Mnangagwa and spare me. I am no threat to anyone.

“Go and shoot Mnangagwa do not shoot me, I am not a threat, go and shoot Mnangagwa,” she said. – ZimEye

WHY DO THINK IS THE REASON FOR THE REDUCED MOTORCADE?

By A Correspondent- Henrietta Rushwaya today complained in court that her 6kg gold was being tampered with at Fidelity Printers and Refiners saying it has since lost three grams in weight and also lost 6 percent of its purity.

Rushwaya, through her lawyer Mr Tapson Dzvetero, said she was also subjected to harassment during the time she will be moved from Chikurubi Maximum Prison to Fidelity Printers and Refiners for re-assaying of the said gold, which is kept as an exhibit.

Rushwaya said she was harassed on November 19, 20 and 23 where she was taken from Chikurubi Maximum Prison to Fidelity Printers and Refiners for re-assay of the gold.

“The gold that has been seized from accused and its weight has since varied with three grams.

“The purity percentage has materially varied with some blocks ranging from 93 percent and others now more than 100 percent.

“It is our view that once this gold was taken in the hands of police as exhibit it is now subject to the court’s directive.

“She cannot be asked to sign for the gold as she is no longer in her custody. The gold has since lost its purity by 6 percent,” said Mr Dzvetero.

Rushwaya is jointly charged with businessman Ali Muhamad, security agents Stephen Tserai and Raphios Mufandauya, miner Gift Karanda on smuggling