Farai Dziva|MDC Alliance leader Advocate Nelson Chamisa has described the diatribe aimed at Zimbabwe Catholic Bishop as unfortunate and shocking.
“THE CHURCH, being the moral compass and ‘conscience guardians’, must speak truth to power in any society.
Gvt’s vitriol and diatribe aimed at the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ position on the current political &economic instability is evidence that Zimbabwe is indeed in turmoil,” President Chamisa tweeted.
MDC Alliance National Spokesperson, Advocate Fadzayi Mahere also tweeted :
“The State is at war with Catholic Bishops, journalists, authors, lawyers, the AU, the ANC, the ZSE, diplomats, civic society, nurses, doctors, Econet, Old Mutual, Chamisa – everybody is an enemy. They can’t look within & see the crisis they’ve created. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter.”
“Every progressive Zimbabwean must condemn the incendiary hate speech against Archbishop Ndlovu aired on
@ZBCNewsonline by the Minister of Information on behalf of
@edmnangagwa
& the State. We demand an apology and withdrawal of the unacceptable remarks. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter,” MDC Alliance posted on Twitter.
Farai Dziva|MDC Alliance leader Advocate Nelson Chamisa has described the diatribe aimed at Zimbabwe Catholic Bishop as unfortunate and shocking.
“THE CHURCH, being the moral compass and ‘conscience guardians’, must speak truth to power in any society.
Gvt’s vitriol and diatribe aimed at the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ position on the current political &economic instability is evidence that Zimbabwe is indeed in turmoil,” President Chamisa tweeted.
MDC Alliance National Spokesperson, Advocate Fadzayi Mahere also tweeted :
“The State is at war with Catholic Bishops, journalists, authors, lawyers, the AU, the ANC, the ZSE, diplomats, civic society, nurses, doctors, Econet, Old Mutual, Chamisa – everybody is an enemy. They can’t look within & see the crisis they’ve created. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter.”
“Every progressive Zimbabwean must condemn the incendiary hate speech against Archbishop Ndlovu aired on
@ZBCNewsonline by the Minister of Information on behalf of
@edmnangagwa
& the State. We demand an apology and withdrawal of the unacceptable remarks. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter,” MDC Alliance posted on Twitter.
Farai Dziva|President Nelson Chamisa has denounced the persecution of ordinary Zimbabweans by Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s “paranoid” administration.
The MDC Alliance leader, quoted by NewsDay bemoaned the deepening political crisis in the country.
“We are uncompromising, principled and relentless for real change. As a people, we have seen the worst of our times but we are getting over it soon.
We are focused and on course. We have seen the worst because our people are homeless, no opportunities, no food, no business; politics is at its worst with extreme and advance human rights abuses.
Children are dying in hospitals, curable diseases are killing people.
People are being beaten up every day and I am receiving reports that people are being pursued as if they are common criminals.
There cannot be a free Zimbabwe when people can’t walk free, having State agents breaking into their homes. It cannot be a free Zimbabwe when belonging to an alternative party attracts detention and arrest.”
President Chamisa also accused Zanu PF of attempting to annihilate genuine opposition.
“They have been fighting us as the MDC Alliance. They are trying to take away the people’s party and its name, the people’s headquarters, the MPs, financial resources allocated to us on account of the voters.
Anything they see they are taking away. They want to take everything, but Zimbabwean lives matter. We are the way to the future, the only. It is not as if we don’t know what we are doing.
What we don’t want is to play a game with predetermined results. We don’t want a question with a predetermined answer.
No one fights a weak opponent. They are resorting to hair raising terror against citizens,” President Chamisa told the publication.
Which Way Forward For the Education System in Zimbabwe
15 August 2020
After the heroic resistance by progressive teacher-unions to the reopening of schools without due consideration of the health, safety and welfare of pupils and teachers, the government now seem to have adopted a wait and see approach over the issue of reopening of schools.
Rather than taking a pro-active role in preparing for reopening of schools, the government in general and Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in particular, have taken a lackadaisical approach to the crucial issue of opening of schools.
As Ptuz we have no regrets for the crucial and national role we played in resisting the reopening of schools. As much as we were blamed by some politicians and yellow unions, history has absolved us.
It is becoming more clearly that chances of opening schools this year are far fetched and remote. But even if schools are to open next year, there is a need for preparation towards that, let alone clarity over the 2020 academic year.
Our humble submission is that this is the time for the Ministry to make meaningful engagement with teacher unions in order to map an agreeable possible way forward. The health, safety and welfare of teachers and pupils remain crucial issues to be addressed before schools can open, yet nothing towards this is seriously considered by the government and line Ministry.
There are no clear plans to assist pupils other than homelitic bellicose and rhetoric of radio and television lessons. While the efficacy of such lessons is certainly undoubted, we wonder how this would become a reality in a country where 75 to 80 percent of areas have no television and radio frequencies.
Our sober reflection is that
the country cannot afford to cancel the 2020 academic year even if schools open in January next year. Rather, pupils must be given an opportunity to learn for two to three months before they can write end of 2020 academic year exams.
This can be followed by a 2021 academic year divided into two-three months learning terms and ensure that by end of 2021 we have rectified learning challenges emanating from COVID-19 related closure of schools.
Any other options could give permanent challenges to the education sector. There are those who argue for the cancellation of 2020 academic year.
This would entail that there would be too many students for ECD and grade 1 classes in 2021 as the current pupils would be joined by other pupils in 2021 thereby posing infrastructural challenges. Such students will create permanent challenges every year, and after Grade 7, will create challenges associated with form 1 enrolment.
It is our hope that the govt will learn from history and avoid the challenges faced during the early 1970s when both standard 5 and standard 6 were integrated and allowed to write end of primary education examinations without creating room for expansion and absorption of such pupils for form 1. Consequently, several pupils found themselves out of school.
It is also worrisome that the government is silent about the recently generated discrepancies between teachers’ salaries and other sectors in government.
With a salary ranging from $3800 to $4200 (inclusive of allowances) all teachers have tested positive to poverty and are always scavenging for food.
It is callous for government to ignore the plight of teachers at a time it is pampering other sectors with less qualifications, years of experience and responsibilities with salaries that are 5 times that of teachers.
Government need to invest in quality public education and restore the purchasing power parity of the salary of teachers that was pegged at US$550 in October 2018.
Anything less than this is unacceptable, degrading and monumental labour injustice.
We have noted with concern how the government has used the moribund Apex Council for firefighting, romance and pulling cotton on the eyes of teachers. We, therefore, urge the government to do the most honourable thing by paying teachers US$550 that government unilaterally culled without teachers’ consent. Only well paid and motivated teachers living in safe environment can be dynamic and innovative even during covid-19 pandemic and find acceptable and safe ways to assist their pupils.
To all teachers, the time to unite and fight for an improvement of salaries and conditions of service is now. The time to see that Apex Council is a liability rather than an asset is now. This is a struggle that need everyone, male and female, tall and short, head and simple teacher. We either have to unite as professionals or else we will perish as fools.
By and large, the current parlous state of the education system is unenviable. Indeed, it is the so-called new dispensation that has allowed the education system to degenerate into the terminal ward. The officials in the Ministry of education lack the vision and power to drive the education system to greater heights particularly during the covid-19 pandemic. The government is indifferent and urinating upon teachers and telling them it’s raining.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary solutions. As managers of the world’s greatest asset, viz, students, we implore the government to plan for a robust improvement of the education system and pay educators well. Failure to plan is planning to fail.
We will not stand idle by to witness cold and calculated educational vandalism. The time to plan for a credible education system is now.
The time to pay teachers well is now. Teachers are workers too and must never be treated as second class citizens of Zimbabwe. We are in essence a vital cog of societal and national development and deserve best treatment by the state in order to engineer a skills revolution and benchmarks towards Agenda 2030.
Isolated from family, friends and acquaintances gave me time and opportunity to deeply reflect and search in heart and soul the meaning of everything that is happens in my life and many other Zimbabweans as well. I was six years old in 1980 and l remember vividly my Uncle, the youngest of my father’s siblings Samuel Sikhala who is my closest friend today of all my family members arguing with my father and my other Uncle. The argument was on why it was right to vote for PF ZAPU and Joshua Nkomo for a new independence leadership of our country as they prepared to go to Pamushana Mission to vote. They agreed all of them including their wives, to vote for PF ZAPU. Although young, l understood what they were conspiring to. As a young boy l was always taken to pungwes of ZANLA forces by one Chidoori who purported to be a Svikiro possessed by the Spirit of Mbuya Nehanda who was given sanctuary by my father at our family farm after he ran away from his Mandivengerei village from Bikita. He claimed that the Smith regime security agencies wanted to kill him for the role he was playing for the liberation struggle. On daily basis ZANLA freedom fighters led by comrades Kasikai, Bonde and others were always camping at our farm as it had mountainous and forest hideouts.
I always witnessed my mother’s chickens eaten daily. On other days, young village boys would be send to neighbouring farms to get chickens and mealie meal to feed the guerrillas. Chidoori would smear the ZANLA combatants with snuff (Bute) after making some growling noises which he said was some form of communication and conveyance of the messages to the ancestors and Spirits above. Chidoori lived 23 kms from the Smith forces that were hounding him from his village in Bikita. For almost 2 years he stayed at our home from 1978 to 1980. For all this long they wouldn’t know where he was. He only went back to his village after independence.
It did not take long for people in independent Zimbabwe to live the same life which Chidoori lived. PF ZAPU supporters everywhere started to be hounded for alleged insurrection. Anyone supporting PF ZAPU was labelled a dissident, terrorists as opponents of the current government are being labelled. This included men and women in villages who only had their hoes and ploughs as their weapons of survival. Dear Zimbabweans, some Zimbabweans of deflated mindset urged on the ZANU PF government to assassinate Joshua Nkomo. They labelled him all sorts of names that are currently being thrown against all opponents of the system.
Dear Zimbabweans, in our sober reflections today many of those who supported the persecution of Joshua Nkomo and his supporters are regretting. The sin of omission and commission haunts all of them to the present day. We lacked unity and persued parochial sectoral and party interests. Our daily preoccupation was obsession with power. The hunting for power superceded the core challenges of our society. We sow evil, division among ourselves and normalised absurdities. We lacked compact unity and voice to say this is wrong and we can not allow it. A wrong is a wrong.
Those who are abducting and killing our kith and kin do not have anything or a decent home they call theirs. They are suffering like all of us when their masters eat in abundance. They kill someone for pittance reward and nothing more. It is common in cursed societies, where someone kills for a dollar.
Never again shall we ever be divided by the rulers for them continue plundering our nation. Today, all Zimbabweans have found their voices. Let the voices continue to echo. From Human Rights organisations to Catholic Bishops, to Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe to every men and women in the streets, professional bodies to everyone. Speak Zimbabwe Speak. Let nothing divide us again as a people. Lets remain resolute.
#Free Hopewell Chin’ono
#Free Jacob Ngarivhume
#Free Godfrey Kurauone
NO to Corruption
NO to Looting
NO to Abductions
NO to Torture
NO to Violence Against the Citizens
NO to All Forms of Human Rights Abuses
#ZimbabweUnited
##ZimbabweansLivesMatter.
Zambian President Edgar Lungu has thanked Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa for his help in resolving the border issue between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
President Lungu says Dr. Mnangagwa took personal interest in the matter when he served as chairperson of the SADC Troika on Peace, Politics and Security Cooperation.
President Lungu said this during the 4th SADC Virtual Ordinary Heads of States Summit and Governments hosted by Mozambique.
The Head of State also called for peace in the SADC region.
He said from independence, Zambia has been an advocate of peace and unity in SADC.
And Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Malanji said SADC has ratified the 1989 border treaty between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mr. Malanji said the process of putting up beacons will soon be undertaken.
He said the treaty was born because of the commission which was put in place by former President’s Kenneth Kaunda and Mobutu Sese Seko.
Mr.Malanji said both Zambia and the DRC have shown willingness to provide resources for the exercise.
He told Journalists that the Zambian government has thanked Zimbabwe for presiding on the matter when it served as the chairperson of the SADC Organ Troika on Politics, Defense and Security.
Speaking when updated the media on the outcome of the 40th SADC virtual Heads summit, Mr. Malanji further said the presidents resolved to continue promoting peace and unity in the region.
During today’s summit, Tanzania handed over the Chairpersonship of SADC to Mozambique.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa will on Tuesday issue a “comprehensive” statement on the government’s controversial statement in response to the Pastoral Letter by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference on 14 August 2020.
This was revealed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Ndavaningi Nick Mangwana.
Regarding issues around the Pastoral Letter by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference, President @edmnangagwa is going to issue a comprehensive statement tomorrow.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s regime continues under pressure as the grouping of the country’s oldest churches the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), representing over four million Zimbabweans, has joined the growing list of churches and civil society organisations blasting goverment for poorly responding to the Catholic Bishops Conference letter.
The EFZ also issued a statement in support of a Pastoral Letter on the Current Situation in Zimbabwe by Roman Catholic Bishops last week.
Critics believe that the government went too far in its rebuke of the bishops, especially the kind of language that it used.
Below is the statement by the EFZ:
Solidarity Statement with the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference’s Pastoral Letter on the Current Situation in Zimbabwe of 14 August 2020
WE STAND WITH THE TRUTH AS ARTICULATED BY THE CATHOLIG BISHOPS
What is tuth? retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, I find no basis for a charge against him- John 18:38.
1. We the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) encompassing 845 member bodies representing over 4.5 million Christians wish to categorically state that we stand in solidarity with the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishop’s Conference (ZCBC).
As it is said “we cannot find any reason to condemn them” because what they articulated is the truth and nothing but the truth.
2. On 14 August 2020, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC) published a pastoral letter that “bears witness to the truth” that every ordinary Zimbabwean knows and faces every day.
We stand with the truth that the Catholic Bishops so ably articulated; a truth that affects our people on a daily basis; the truth of a multi-layered crisis of the convergence of economic collapse, deepening poverty, food insecurity, corruption and human rights abuses among many others. “The ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire “; we stand with this truth as depicted in Micah 7:3 and articulated by the Catholic Bishops. We stand with the truth “that the government is focused on things other than national democratic priorities”
3. Only the deceitful or malicious can deny these truths. Like Pontius Pilate, there may be those who cannot or will not see the truth even when it stares them in the face shackled in chains and falsely accused. They would rather call the silence of the oppressed “peace”, the brutality of force “justice” and the abnormality that people struggle with every day as “normal”. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and when this happens every truth is a lie and a veiled threat and every disagreement a revolt. It is true that “If the eye is evil the whole body should be full of darkness”- Matthew 6:22
4. In our Pastoral Letter issued on the 4″ of August 2020, we stated that Zimbabwe is indeed in a crisis-the crossroads between danger and opportunity. “The arrest of citizens and prohibition of mass action has not dented the momentum of discontent and agitation but instead has caused it to gain regional and international attention through the #ZimbabweanLivesMatter which has gone viral.
Arbitrary arrests, abductions, torture and suppression of people’s anger can only serve to deepen the crisis and take the nation into deeper crisis”.
We further called on the ruling authorities to utilize the window that still exists to turn danger into opportunity by entering into dialogue to address the underlying causes of the current crisis and realize the Zimbabwe we all want.
5. True democracy is not built on threatening and criticizing those who speak up or speak out; it is not in denying inconvenient and unpalatable truth; it is not demonizing those we disagree with. Democracy welcomes the truth.
Democracy is built on the search for truth. Feet and bodies may have been stopped on the 31st of July 2020 but the truth still marches on.
Harsh criticism may be poured out on the Church and its leaders but the truth still marches on. Abductions, torture and incarcerations maybe unleashed on journalists and every voice of dissent but the truth will still march on as it did during the struggle for independence against a more sophisticated and superior force of arms, and State machinery that made every aspirant of freedom a hunted terrorist.
6. The truth may be on the cross today and wrong may be on the throne but on the third day, it will rise again because the truth still marches on.
7. We reiterate the need for an inclusive engagement, dialogue and transformation.
STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY WITH ZIMBABWE CATHOLIC BISHOPS CONFERENCE PASTORAL LETTER OF 14 AUGUST 2020
As the Young Lawyers Association of Zimbabwe, a non-political association made up of members of different religious beliefs, we stand in solidarity with the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference and wholeheartedly agree with the contents of its pastoral letter of 14 August 2020.
Further to the same, we condemn the vitriolic response issued out by the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting as well as the comments made by the Secretary of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting on social media and in the press.
The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference have every right, as representatives of members of the Catholic Church to make statements on behalf of their members, and to advocate for the rights of their members as citizens of Zimbabwe.
We further acknowledge the biblical call on members of the Christian faith to “learn to do good; seek justice and correct oppression” as provided for in Isaiah 1:17.
We stand against the violence, intimidation and threats on the rights of Zimbabweans, and continue to call for the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe to uphold the provisions of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the rule of law.
This includes upholding the rights of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of movement and protecting the rights of accused persons to legal representation of their choice and to free and fair hearings before an impartial court.
As members of the legal profession in Zimbabwe, we will continue to offer our services to those who have been unjustly imprisoned, and those who face threats to their inalienable rights.
As per John Lewis, to whom the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference attributed the heading of their pastoral letter:
“When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something”.
The right to speak up is enshrined in the supreme law of Zimbabwe, and we call on the Government to respect the same.
Arrested Transform Zimbabwe leader Jacob Ngarivhume will know his fate on Friday after Harare magistrate Trynos Utahwashe Monday reserved ruling on the politician’s bail application.
Ngarivhume submitted that the state feared if he got released ahead of the protests, he was going to mobilise citizens to participate in a violent demonstration on July 31.
His lawyer, Moses Nkomo,argued the changed circumstances were sufficient to justify his release without compromising the initial refusal of bail.
“The passing of July 31 constitutes changed circumstances as he was denied bail due to the potentiality of demonstrations on the day which has come and gone,” he said.
Nkomo said there were only isolated demonstrations and a few arrests made.
He also submitted the demonstrations were not violent and were made in compliance to Covid-19 regulations on social distancing.
Nkomo also submitted that if granted bail, Ngarivhume was ready to pay $5 000 bail, continue residing at his last given address and report once every Friday at the police.
Prosecuting, Michael Reza challenged bail arguing there were no changed circumstances.
“Your Worship, what has happened is that July 31 has now migrated into a movement which is perpetual. This is no longer about a date,” said Reza.
“The primary objective of the movement is to ensure President Mnangagwa does not live out his ambitions to be a president.”
Reza said in the tweets being cited among the evidence, Ngarivhume said it was no longer about politics but a matter of life and death.
“If it was about politics, they would have waited for the 2023 elections,” he said.
Police officers chasing after striking nurses during the July demonstrations.
Moses Sigauke a nurse, appeared before Magistrate Zihove for routine remand on charges of incitement after he allegedly recorded a video in July while in detention at Mbare Police Station and posted it on Facebook encouraging nurses to join in demonstrating
Prosecutors alleged that Sigauke posted a message on Facebook which reads; “Ngatingouya tizadze camp tese tiite demo yedu tiri mu camp. Handiti ndimo munonzi muri illegal,” which when loosely translated means; “Let’s all gather at the police station and stage our demonstration.”
By posting such a message, prosecutors charged that Sigauke had incited nurses to gather at Mbare Police Station and demonstrate and cause violence.
For allegedly committing this offence, Sigauke was ordered to pay RTGS$500 in bail money.
After Monica Mutsvangwa's unprecedented genocidally and tribally framed diatribe against Archbishop Ndlovu, Ndebeles and Catholic Bishops; Mnangagwa has no option but to fire her or risk expediting his now inevitable ouster!#FreeZimbabwe#ZanupfMustGopic.twitter.com/bT9ENFpxqM
Six Harare MDC-Alliance councillors have been arrested for allegedly being involved in land scams as Government intensifies the fight against corruption in local authorities.
Those arrested are reportedly from Harare City Council’s housing committee.
In an interview with state media this morning, the head of Special Anti-Corruption Unit (Sacu) Mr Tabani Mpofu confirmed arrests of the six.
Mr Mpofu said there is tangible evidence linking the six to serious corruption charges.
Harare officials that have been arrested over the past weeks and appeared in court on corruption charges include Mayor Hebert Gomba, the housing director Addmore Nhekairo who is facing a charge of criminal abuse of office, acting human resources director Matthew Marara and principal housing director Edgar Dzehonye.
Some of the co-accused have since appeared in court and are out on bail.
Mnangagwa "has consistently and persistently exhibited traits of disloyalty, disrespect, deceitfulness and unreliability, he is also demonstrated little probity in the execution of his duties" – Govt Spokesperson, Simon Khaya Moyo 7th Nov 2017 – @ZBCNewsonlinepic.twitter.com/WcrTwh1Lc1
AN unknown number of people have been burnt to ashes in an accident involving three trucks after a driver for one of the trucks lost control due to speed and hit into another Faw Motor vehicle which was carrying suspected Jet1 Fuel.
At least three Zimbabweans if the dead are suspected to be Zimbabweans.
The three-truck pile up happened on Sunday mourning at the treacherous Kapiringozi Escarpment along the Chirundu-Kafue Road in Zambia.
The accidents occurred when the driver of one of the trucks lost control of the vehicle as it was descending the mountainous area, rammed into an oncoming truck before hitting a broken down truck, igniting a huge inferno.
The unknown number of people in the trucks were burnt beyond recognition. Zambian police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Esther Katongo confirmed the accident adding that two Zimbabwean drivers had so far been positively identified.
“Police in Chirundu received a report of a road traffic accident which happened today 16th August, 2020 around 6.40am on Chirundu-Kafue road at Kapiringozi hills involving three trucks.
“Involved in the accident was an unknown motor vehicle driven by an unknown driver with unknown number of passengers who are suspected to have been burnt to ashes,” she said.
One of the deceased drivers was a 25-year-old Zimbabwean who was driving a Volvo truck which had broken down while the other one was driving a truck with suspected Jet A1 fuel which could have ignited the inferno.
“The accident occurred when the unknown driver who was driving the completely burnt truck and was descending the hill lost control due to excessive speed and hit into a FAW Motor vehicle which was carrying suspected Jet1 Fuel. It also hit a stationary Volvo truck which had a break down and all the vehicles caught fire and were completely burnt,” she said.
Police and the fire brigade managed to put out the fire but the number of people who have died in the accident has not yet been established.
Socialite Mukoma Masimba, popularly known as Legend of Facebook, says he was not bewitched by anyone but his condition is controlled by a spirit.
Masimba has left his home and decided to stay on the streets of Melbourne in Australia.
He also confirmed to be having too many drugs with his friends, something he is working on.
This has left many well-wishers and concerned people worried about him with some sourcing for money to assist him.
While some think he has lost his sanity and others say he was bewitched by Sekuru Banda whom he previously challenged to show his powers. He is adamant that its depression and drugs.
He is famed for his shows “Go Deeper” and “Izalo NaMukoma Masimba” and being involved in many Facebook Pages.
Contacted for comment, Sekuru Banda could neither confirm nor deny the ongoing issue.
“Yes it’s Sekuru Banda, tichakufonera soon, asi iri kuda kutobuda mangwana here?” he said before hanging the phone.
H-Metro contacted Mukoma Masimba from his new base who confirmed the situation but denied that it’s Banda who has made his life a ‘misery’.
“This is the spirit of Go Deeper which has put me on the streets.
“I have mixed with many people on social media and I have produced many shows where I share my opinions on my Facebook pages.
“I got possessed whenever I will be sharing my opinions, it’s a spirit, ndinosvikirwa nemudzimu.”
He said Sekuru Banda did not do anything to him but he is going under depression.
“I challenged Banda because he had said he has powers and I challenged him.
“So following this incident, he thinks his powers worked on me and made me in this situation.
“I deny that, he should not take advantage of my situation, I still challenge him and other witch-killers, muZimbabwe hamuna varoyi, ndini ndikudaro,” he said.
He said he left his home to go and stay on the streets.
“The spirit of Go Deeper sent me in the streets and its now three weeks.
“I even went to hospital for check-up, if I am not okay upstairs, how would they leave me to go.
“They only said its depression and there is plenty of food here on the Melbourne streets, there are many blankets.
“I am here in the streets smoking mbanje (marijuana) with my friends, the spirit requires mbanje.
“I am a drug addict, so we will be looking for money to buy mbanje.
“I have left my family and people are surprised to see me in this situation.
“I just told my wife to pack my bag and I told her that I am going to stay in the streets, muroad having madrugs
“And she questioned me, ndikati, mweya weGo Deeper, is inviting me in the streets.
“My wife packed the bag and I left,” he said.
Mukoma Masimba is adamant that Banda has done nothing on him.
“But Sekuru Banda is claiming that I am in the streets because of him after I challenged him.
“I am trying to stop drugs myself not what he is saying that he ‘sorted’ me.
“So this make me to challenge all the witches, witch-killers, sangomas that kana vane mushonga ngavauye apa.
“I am doing this because I have a message to Zimbabweans.
“All l know is l am homeless, drug addict and working on it. Sekuru Banda lied, havana zvavakaita pandiri.
“The only thing is Mukoma uya wenhunzi ndiye wandirikunetsana naye kuhope. Go Deeper na Mukoma Masimba is still challenging Varoyi vese hapana anoroya munhu Zimbabwe yese.
“Sekuru Banda kana murimi give me a Signal… Go Deeper na Mukoma Masimba street baba still challenges Zimbabwe yese hakuna anoroya munhu,” he added.
Mnangagwa with outgoing members of the SADC troika on defence and security. The members recently showered him with praises for “good leadership.”
If there is one single conspicuous thing that seriously worries me about SADC (Southern Africa Development Community), more than anything else – it is the apparently fake, insincere, and totally stage-managed nature of the relationship between its countries’ leaders.
Never in all my forty-seven years of existence have I encountered such a grouping, of supposedly ‘comrades’ and ‘brothers and sisters’, which is based on pure deception and fallacy.
As much as I am an only child to my mother and father, but I surely know what it means to be in a family – as I have the most wonderful, supportive, and caring group of cousins, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, in-laws, friends, and of course, my dearest mother, wife and son – who have taught me, over the years, what it truly means to be ‘comrades’ and ‘brothers and sisters’.
The most outstanding lesson that I have learnt from all these great men, women, boys, and girls is that, “those who genuinely love you, will never hesitate to warn you, should you be taking a wrong, and even dangerous, path in life” – in fact, the cardinal rule has been, “those who love you the most, are the ones who readily rebuke you, and correct you, the most – since they want you to succeed and do well – but, those who hate you, and relish the chance to see you fall and fail, will condone and applaud your wrong ways, whilst busy laughing at you behind your back”.
Obviously, there will always be those who criticize and demonize you, just so as to destroy your reputation, and possibly destroy you – but, wisdom and discernment is the key in differentiating the two.
Such is the profound lessons of life, that I wish most us would cherish.
Back to our beloved SADC, and the relationship between its countries’ leaders. Does it not seem a little odd – actually, downright problematic – that these people, who claim to be one united family of ‘comrades’ and ‘brothers and sisters’ never rebuke or correct each other, whenever they embark on a wrong, or even clearly dangerous path?
When was the last time – or, most precisely, when did anyone hear this regional grouping ever chastise a fellow member country’s leaders when they had, for instance, violated the organization’s own charters, protocols, and guidelines, especially on democracy, human and people’s rights, and elections – let along those of the continental AU (African Union), or UN (United Nations)?
Most certainly, the answer is, “Never”.
Are we, then, to assume that this is somehow a grouping of the most righteous, perfect, and holy leaders on the face of the planet – because, quite frankly, we have witnessed members of other regional bodies, such as ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), the EU (European Union), openly condemning, and even taking bold decisive action, against a fellow ‘comrade’ and ‘brother and sister’, who would have transgressed against their statutes, principles, and values?
As a matter of fact, when then Gambia president Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after losing a December 2016 election, ECOWAS resolved to deploy its military to intervene on 19 January 2017, should he stubbornly continue to hold on to power. Fortunately, he soon saw the light, and fled the country.
Would anyone imagine something, even remotely, similar ever occuring in our own southern African community?
In this part of the world, a government can freely brutally butcher its own innocent defenceless citizens – whose only ‘crime’ would have been to cry out to their leaders that they were hungry, or calling them out for their shameless corruption, that would have bankrupted the nation – whilst, the regional body merely watches on, pretending to be doing something about it, without actually doing anything about it.
Most recently – definitely, not for the first time – Zimbabweans have been at the receiving end of their own leaders’ barbaric socio-legal atrocious ‘justice’ – that has been characterized by disproportional attacks on civilians accused of violating COVID-19 lockdowns and curfews (which have already witnessed the deaths of several people); reports of abductions, beatings up, torture, sexual abuses, and arrests on spurious charges of journalists at the forefront of exposing corruption at the very highest echelons of power, lawyers, and human rights, labour, and political activists.
Yet, listening to today’s (17 August 2020) speeches by regional leaders, during the virtual SADC 40th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government, one would be excused for assuming that this was a bunch of amorous teenagers courting each other – as, all that I could hear were meaningless statements, filled with distasteful praises for one another, with scant regard for the relentless and uncalled for sadistic savagery being subjected upon the ordinary people of Zimbabwe.
Most certainly, some would argue that these countries respect so-called ‘protocols’ and ”diplomacy’, and would never engage in ‘megaphone diplomacy’ – meaning that they would never reproach one another in the full glare of the world.
I am sorry, but as far as I am concerned, this is a whole lot of bull! When had the so-called ‘quiet diplomacy’ ever work? When Zimbabweans cried out to the regional group in the early 2000s, when then president Robert Gabriel Mugabe was busy hunting down, and persecuting perceived ‘enemies’ – in other words, opposition supporters – how did this ‘quiet diplomacy’, particularly practised by then South Africa president Thabo Mbeki help us?
Did we not disturbingly witness the horror of hundreds of innocent opposition supporters being butchered between April and June 2008, after Mugabe had lost elections to Morgan Richard Tsvangirai – whilst, Mbeki, with his ‘quiet diplomacy’, deceptively and deviously declared that ‘there was no crisis in Zimbabwe’?
As mentioned before, we are all part of a family, and my own experience of a loving family has been that, whenever I did something untoward, or even absolutely appalling, they would never hesitate to earnestly reprimand me – as this would be a sure show of unquestionable love, and a sincere desire to see me move on the right path in life, and be a better person.
Furthermore, a family that would look aside, whilst their own ‘comrade’ and ‘brother or sister’ damnably brutalizes his own wife and children – either, physically, economically, or emotionally – not only hates his wife and children, but also actually hates their own kith and kin.
Why do I say so? Well, the answer is obvious pertaining the wife and children, as not coming to their defence in the face of such heinous injustices, clearly means that the family does not care what happens to them – however, not rebuking their own, shows that they do not care whatever consequences he may face later, as he may end up in jail, or even maimed or killed by his abused and aggrieved wife, who would have had enough, and can not think of any other way out.
As nations, we have similarly witnessed how most tyrants ended. Who can forget the vicious angry beating up and killing of Libya’s once untouchable strongman Muammar Gaddafi, by his own countrymen and women, on 20 October 2011 – with the subsequent long queues of those wishing to view his dead body, just to be sure that the man who had held them captive in their own motherland, was truly finally dead?
Or, the traumatizing live television broadcast of the hanging of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, on 30 December 2006 – who had considered his fellow compatriots as his own slaves and property? Or, the shooting by firing squad in a stadium packed with relieved citizens, of Romanian tyrant Nicolae Ceausescu on 25 December 1989?
Closer to home, Zimbabweans still have very fresh memories of Mugabe’s most humiliating resignation on 21 November 2017 – after his own right-hand men, and once trusted military (that had mercilessly helped him stay in power, and even accused of being part of the 2008 massacres of opposition supporters), turned against him and toppled him in a coup d’etat.
The story is always the same, and is crystal clear for all who are willing to see – reign of terror never ends well – in fact, any evil never ends well…even though, at some time, the evildoer would have thought him or herself invincible, and on top of the world.
Would that not be very good and worthy advice for any genuinely loving family members to give to their own ‘comrades’ or ‘brothers and sisters’, should they embark on a clearly wrong and dangerous path – as opposed to simply watching, or even defending, someone clearly headed for disaster?
Or, possibly, the family members do not actually love their own, and would relish witnessing their inevitable downfall…
…food for thought!
Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist, writer, author, and speaker.
Spanish citizens demonstrating against wearing of masks.
Crowds of protesters gathered in the Spanish capital on Sunday to voice their opposition the mandatory use of face masks and other measures imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus.
People were pictured chanting slogans and holding placards in Plaza Colón in Madrid’s city centre.
The mandatory use of face masks was initially introduced in May for those travelling on public transport, and was later expanded to the rest of the country.
The protest comes two days after the government introduced a swathe of new restrictions, including a ban on smoking in public.
Spain has seen a surge in new infections since lifting its three-month lockdown in late June. The national death toll stands at more than 28,600 people.
First things first, I would like to categorically state that the Church in Zimbabwe and elsewhere remains an institution of great influence; that society still looks to this important institution for prophetic leadership on political, social and economic issues. The Church has numbers, not even exaggerated numbers but real figures. These numbers are key and strategic for any serious politician. If I were one, I would surely work to attract and not to attack the Church. I am not a Catholic but a Christian, I am a Lutheran, but I belong to an Ecumenical Church in Zimbabwe. I grew up in the Church; I studied the Church in school, worked in the Church for almost a decade and a half. Indeed, I am still in the thick of things where the Church is striving to fulfill its God-given mandate. This background, I value so much and this has forced me at least to say something about the plight of the Church in Zimbabwe at the moment.
The events of the past few days have shown that as a country we have lost respect of the institution of the Church. Following the release of a Pastoral letter to the nation by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC) on the 14th of August 2020, the Government of Zimbabwe, or at least individuals in that government chose confrontation ahead of dialogue with the Church. The Minister of Information and Publicity, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa singled out the President of the ZCBC, Bishop Robert Ndlovu and attacked him using very strong unpalatable and unchristian (but the Minister claims to be Christian) words. Yet, the letter had been produced and disseminated by an institution not an individual. Why the Minister attacked the person of Bishop Ndlovu and not the institution still calls for an explanation. Why the Minister opted for an attack and not dialogue, further calls for an explanation. Many who watched the 8 o’ clock news on that fateful night on ZTV were left wondering if the Minister read an official statement or a personal position against the person of Bishop Ndlovu. This development reinforced the fact that the coexistence of religion and government remains a contentious issue in this country. Everyone had hoped that “the Voice of the people would remain the Voice of God”. What happened to this appetizing phrase, no one knows.
The ZCBC letter was examined from political, social and economic vantage points by its genuine audience. It was simply a restatement of the obvious. Everyone knows the state of the country’s economy, politics and social life. Our politics has remained toxic, the economy is exclusive as only a few are benefiting from the country’s cake, the constitution is yet to be fully enjoyed while socially the country is still torn apart by hatred, polarization and lack of a shared national vision. The country’s incapacity to effectively respond to the natural disasters such as Cyclone Idai that wrecked havoc last year and the current COVID-19 pandemic are only symptoms of a huge deep seated challenge in Zimbabwe. This is not a new situation. Some of us have not even enjoyed the fruits of our education. The universities we attended just offloaded us onto a country whose main interest is to fulfill the aspiration of a few. No meaningful employment for our children. No food on the table for our mothers and fathers. We are yet to enjoy our rights as comprehensively covered in Chapter 4 of our constitution. Our health system is down in the context of a deadly pandemic. Abductions, arbitrary arrests of our citizens, withdrawal of our freedoms, fear of our supposedly gun wielding “protectors” and general sense of hopelessness, have characterized our people. When they hoped for help from our neighbors, our neighbors chose “quite diplomacy” and when our people expected dialogue among our leaders, our leaders chose to attack the Clergy. When our people were left with no option but to exercise their right to demonstrate, our people were thrown into jail or forced into the bush. Yet, this is our only country. Zimbabwe belongs to us all.
Going through the ZCBC letter, I saw this sad situation being retold in a biblical way. The Bishops did not say anything more than what an ordinary man or woman experiences in Zimbabwe. They simply restated the obvious. And stating the obvious became a major crime for them. Modise (2018) put it clearly that the Church is one of the inter-societal components that provide society with “blueprints.” If there is a belief that the Church should not be supplying society with “blueprints” it actually means that the Church should stay away from political, social, economic and judicial issues. Staying away from these issues that define humanity will mean abandoning the mission of the Church.
Jonker (1991, in Modise, 2018) argues that:
In abnormal times, when normal political action is made impossible by unjust laws, the banning of political organizations and suspension of democratic processes, the Church will have to step into the void with its political prophesy, to take up the cause of victims of injustice. That is also what the Biblical prophets would have done……… The Church should proclaim God’s demands of justice, fairness and protection of the poor. The Church should also not be afraid to criticize unjust laws and a specific political model.
The history of the Christian Church indicates that it has contrived to live and maintain its witness under very diverse types of governments. For the first three centuries of Christian existence, it was not even a permitted religion in the Roman Empire. Although not continuously persecuted, its influence for good could only be unofficial through the lives and witness of its members. With the “conversion” of the Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, obviously a new scenario emerged with its own list of responsibilities, challenges and at times opportunities for the institution.
In the case of Zimbabwe, the Smith and Mugabe administrations manifested different characteristics towards the Church. I will not labour to remind you how particularly the Catholic Bishops were treated under the two leaders. In the Second Republic, we are told that the Presidium is purely Christian and at least Church Goers (one is from the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe; one is Catholic while the other is Lutheran). A lot is expected from such “Christian” top employees of the country. However, the statement by Senator Mutsvangwa forces the audience to paint the whole Government with the same brush.
It is my held position that indeed, Minister Mutsvangwa attacked the Church in Zimbabwe and not Bishop Ndlovu, not even a single Church but an Ecumenical Church. In that case, by extension, Minister Mutsvangwa has attacked all the Christians in Zimbabwe. The ZCBC is the current Chair of the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD), a platform that brings together, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) and the Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches and Zionists in Africa (UDACIZA). The ZHOCD promotes Christian unity among its member ecumenical bodies and fights for equality, socio-economic justice, peace, constitutionalism and good stewardship of the country’s resources.
These days I hear and see the Church responding to the physical and emotional needs of the citizens of Zimbabwe due to COVID-19. Every congregation is finding ways to help those around who need food, assistance with their rent, connecting digitally or some other kind of accompaniment. The Church has further covered up for the gaps that in a normal situation would have been the role of Government. In other words, our Church has done a lot to clothe the naked nation. Otherwise, without the Church, our Government would have been greatly exposed. Thus, one would have expected to hear words of appreciation from the Government officials, not personal attacks targeted at the Clergy. When we expected a praise song from the Minister, we heard tribalistic and divisive utterances against Men of Cloth. This was really unfortunate and I hope the Government will find ways of apologizing to the Church, to Christians and indeed to the people of Zimbabwe. For me, this is more than mere solidarity with Bishop Ndlovu or the Catholics but with the broader Ecumenical Church in Zimbabwe. My firm belief in social, economic and political justice has pushed me to this end.
For everyone’s information, Senator Mutsvangwa has been one of my favorite Ministers of the time. She is eloquent, intelligent and in most cases she had remained smart and professional in her conduct of duty. She had been one of the key figures in the fight against COVID-19. However, the manner in which she handled the ZCBC case has tainted my view on her. I am sorry!
This is a personal opinion from Tinashe Gumbo and should not be in any way taken to represent the views of the various institutions Iam associated with.
Newly-appointed Ministers Anxious Masuka and Soda Zhemu were sworn in today at State House in Harare and immediately pledged to pursue Vision 2030 that will ensure increased production of food output and energy.
Zhemu, who takes over as Minister of Energy and Power Development came in with immediate bad luck as much of the country experienced some twelve hours blackout.
Speaking after being sworn in, Zhemu ironically said for any development across sectors, there should be adequate power supply.
On the other hand, Dr Masuka who assumes the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Climate and Rural Resettlement said he will make agriculture the backborne of economic development and transformation in line with President Mnangagwa’s vision.
SIX Hurungwe West headmen were unceremoniously relieved of their positions after allegedly refusing to support a Zanu PF preferred candidate, the late Keith Guzah, during the 2015 Hurungwe West by-election.
Member Mutinha, Aleck Munhava, Alton Manjonjo, Morgan Gora, Nobo Mahobo and Taurai Machipisa have now approached the High Court challenging the decision which was taken by Hurungwe West district administrator (now District development co-ordinator (DDC)) to strip them of their positions without a charge.
In his founding affidavit, one of the affected traditional heads Mutinha, who is cited as the first applicant said his ordeal and that of his co-applicants started in 2015 during the election campaign when Guzah was contesting for the same seat with now Norton MP Temba Mliswa.
Mutinha said the then minister of Local Government, Ignatius Chombo, openly accused him and his co-applicants of not supporting the Zanu PF and its preferred candidate and that they were unsuitable to be village leaders.
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“During a campaign rally held on Sunday April 26, 2015 at Nyambuya Primary School Ignatius Chombo, then minister of Local Government, who administered the affairs of traditional leaders, openly accused myself (Mutinha) and my co applicants of not supporting Zanu PF and its preferred candidate, Keith Guzah, and openly announced our unsuitability to be village leaders,” Mutinha said.
“I further aver that during the period extending from April 26, 2015 to May 10, 2015 the first respondent (Chief Nyamhunga (Boniface Chinehasha)) personally invited myself and my co-applicants to his homestead and issued us with verbal dismissal from traditional leadership positions as village heads.”
In the application, Mutinha cited Chief Nyamhunga, DDC, president of the Chief’s Council, Fortune Charumbira and Local Government minister, July Moyo as respondents.
Mutinha said they had made several efforts to seek clarity on the issue, but were later advised by the DDC that their positions had been filled and their cases sealed adding that the benefits and stipends they used to receive had also been scrapped off.
“This whole unhandsome corollary unfolded notwithstanding the settled position of the law with regards to the removal of traditional leaders. I am most aggrieved in that no charge of misconduct was ever levelled against myself nor any of my co-applicants other that our alleged refusal to participate in partisan politics and furthering the fortune of one political party,” Mutinha said.
“No inquiry or investigation was ever instituted. The dismissal of all of us was never justified and no efforts whatsoever were taken to explain the same … I am of the considered view that I am paying a heavy price for obeying the Constitution of Zimbabwe. In refusing to support Keith Guzah, the then Zanu PF candidate and staying out of politics, I aver that I and my colleagues clearly complied with section 281 of the Constitution which provides that traditional leaders should not ‘act in a partisan manner or further the interest of a political party or cause’.”
Mutinha also said, to add insult to injury, their dismissal was never done in terms of the law, adding it “was a brazen act of thuggery in which the law was never used but political muscle”.
“At all the stages of the process leading to our removal from the office of the Headman, we were denied the most basic, the most elementary and most sacrosanct of all the rights, the right to be heard before any decision was taken affecting one’s rights commonly referred to as audi alteram partem rule, a tenet of natural justice which goes back to the beginning of time when God granted Adam the right to make out his defence from committing the cardinal sin before banishing him out from the garden of Eden.”
*UK and Ireland MDC Alliance Provincial Spokesperson rescues Godfrey Kuraone from extremely cold prison weather*
Wezhira Munya
15 August 2020
Today, United Kingdom and Ireland MDC Alliance Provincial main wing spokesperson Patricia Chinyoka bought a ” “prison” warm jersey and hat.
Yesterday, MDC Alliance National youth organiser Godfrey Kuraone informed his lawyer Advocate Martin Mureri, Advocate Agency Gumbo and National social welfare secretary Maureen Kademaunga that, Masvingo Remand Prison official have requested him to stop wearing his “outside” jacket whilst in prison.
Consequently, councillor Kuraone had to endure Masvingo Remand Prison coldness. Masvingo experience very cold morning and evening weather temperatures.
As a result UK and Ireland MDC Alliance Provincial Spokesperson Patricia Chinyoka have send money to advocate Martin Mureri to buy a warm jersey and hat with prison colours (red and white).
Leader Chinyoka said, “Our MDC Alliance National youth organiser Godfrey Kuraone is being persecuted for his trust in the leadership of President Nelson Chamisa. He is fighting for the betterment of lives of all Zimbabweans.”
Advocate Martin Mureri said, “I want to thank UK and Ireland MDC Alliance Provincial Spokesperson Patricia Chinyoka for love and support for councillor Kuraone. This Jersey and hat will make him warm. May God bless leader Patricia Chinyoka. ”
Today is the 15th day since councillor Kuraone was imprisoned.
Councillor Godfrey Kuraone’s trial date is on 18th August 2020 at Masvingo Magistrate court.
Kindly see the attached Jersey and hat bought for MDC Alliance National youth organiser Godfrey Kuraone.
The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC.) read with grave concern, the government response to the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) pastoral letter of the 14th ofAugust 2020 entitled “The March is not Ended”. The government response presented by Mrs Monica Mutsvangwa, the minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, revealed the following worrying signs:
1. Responsibility: While the churches, including the ZCBC, have consistently identified the partial negative contribution of natural disasters and international isolation to government’s economic performance, it has however noted with grave concern that, the Government of Zimbabwe consistently takes no responsibility for its own failings characterized by corruption, policy inconsistencies and above all, failure to unite the nation towards a common vision.
The denialism that characterizes the Government of Zimbabwe’s handling of criticism has now become a deeply worrying trend. The blame-shifting labelling of critical voices as ‘regime change agents, and recently “terrorists” smacks of the government’s unwillingness or inability to engage on the basis of ideas as well as robbing citizens of any hope that things can improve.
2. Personalization: Pastoral letters, including the “The March is not Ended”, are products of prayerful discernment by the college of bishops informed by compassionate listening to the experiences of the congregants. Singling out the Most Revd Archbishop Richard Ndlovu, can only be viewed as undermining the most asset and character of the church that is its Unity. Our humble interpretation is that this is meant to isolate individuals from a collective discernment proem with the sinister aim of diluting the collective voice of the church. The ZCC takes with exception any efforts to interfere with the unity of the Church for which Jesus prayed for in John 17:21.
3. Courtesy: The government response was overtly too emotional and disrespectful for formal communication. Using public media to utter disrespectful communication against the person of Archbishop Ndlovu does not only present the government as inappropriately deploying the resources of the state, but also increases the toxicity that is already characterizing our public space. if the government had strong objections to the Bishops’ communication, it could have addressed those issues without appearing to be discourteous to the viewers of the only national television station. The government will do well through its public officials to instil positive engagement on the basis of ideas than to use public media to buttress negativity.
4. Unity: The government response to the pastoral letter “The March is not Ended”, also missed its unifying and national orientation but instead appropriated distorted historical links and false comparisons with the Rwandan genocide. While the comparisons arc unfounded and outrageous, they also seem to be intentionally or unintentionally stoking ethnic and tribal divisions which actually resulted in loss of thousands of lives in Matabeleland and Midlands during the Gukurahundi. To frivolously associate the bishops’ statement with such a major deep scar in the history of the nation, is not only insensitive to the existing present pain of those affected by Gukurahundi but also gives the impression that the government is paying lip-service to national healing and reconciliation.
The government statement could have been worth ignoring if it was only falsifying history, but it cannot be ignored as it appears dismissive of the invaluable work done by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, under the ZCBC, to offer documentation of the atrocities committed by the army during that dark period. The legacy of Gukurahundi still stalks the nation as those past hurts remain unhealed. His Excellency, President ED Mnangagwa has on several occasions spoken of the need to find healing on these past hurts, yet the government position gives the false impression that the 1987 Unity Accord brought closure to that episode.
3. Courtesy: The government response was overtly too emotional and disrespectful for formal communication. Using public media to utter disrespectful communication against the person of Archbishop Ndlovu does not only present the government as inappropriately deploying the resources of the state, but also increases the toxicity that is already characterizing our public space.
if the government had strong objections to the Bishops’ communication, it could have addressed those issues without appearing to be discourteous to the viewers of the only national television station. The government will do well through its public officials to instil positive engagement on the basis of ideas than to use public media to buttress negativity.
4. Unity: The government response to the pastoral letter “The March is not Ended”, also missed its unifying and national orientation but instead appropriated distorted historical links and false comparisons with the Rwandan genocide. While the comparisons arc unfounded and outrageous, they also seem to be intentionally or unintentionally stoking ethnic and tribal divisions which actually resulted in loss of thousands of lives in Matabeleland and Midlands during the Gukurahundi.
To frivolously associate the bishops’ statement with such a major deep scar in the history of the nation, is not only insensitive to the existing present pain of those affected by Gukurahundi, but also gives the impression that the government is paying lip-service to national healing and reconciliation.
The government statement could have been worth ignoring if it was only falsifying history, but it cannot be ignored as it appears dismissive of the invaluable work done by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, under the ZCBC, to offer documentation of the atrocities committed by the army during that dark period. The legacy of Gukurahundi still stalks the nation as those past hurts remain unhealed.
His Excellency, President ED Mnangagwa has on several occasions spoken of the need to find healing on these past hurts, yet the government position gives the false impression that the 1987 Unity Accord brought closure to that episode.
5. History: The ecumenical church’ relationship with the stare has been consistent from colonial Rhodesia to independent Zimbabwe. The government response presented by Minister Mutsvangwa seeks to create false discontinuity between the contemporary bishops and the suffering servants of the past. Such a view misses the importance of continuity of Tradition within Christian theology and practice.
The consistency with which the ZCBC and the ecumenical church have pursued justice, peace and unity cannot be forgotten. Coincidentally, the issues raised by the ‘The March is not Ended” of the 14th of August 2020 are fundamentally similar to calls by Bishop Donal Raymond Lamont in his Open letter to the Rhodesian Government on the 1111i of August 1976. In both cases, the message was well-meaning and consistent with the prophetic traditions of Micah, Amos, Jeremiah, John the Baptist and even our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who have responded to this salvation history with repentance found life. Those who rejected it suffered destruction, not only in a spiritual sense but also materially.
Calls
6. In light of the issues raised above, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches:
6.1 Seeks to affirm its solidarity with the spirit and intent of the “The March is not Ended” as honest communication aimed at calling the government of Zimbabwe to meaningful and respectful engagement to find solutions to the current pressing issues,
6.2 Seeks to enter into a collective discernment process to understand this government’s preparedness to engage and hence calls for the urgent convening of the National Episcopal Conference of the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations to deliberate on the state of the nation and agree on the appropriate ecumenical action
6.3 Calls on all Christians and churches to pray for peace, well-being and courage for Archbishop Ndlovu, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the broad Christian Church in Zimbabwe as they will be demanded to exercise their prophetic and pastoral mandate for the nation.
6.4 Calls on all citizens to remain united across the denominational, ethnic, and political divide realizing that only through active, organized and peaceful citizens’ participation, the nation will be totally transformed.
6.5 Calls upon President ED Mnangagwa to provide leadership by retracting the personal attacks on Archbishop Ndhlovu and the church leaders, but invite the national to an inclusive national dialogue towards a homegrown solution to the challenges that are facing the nation.
By Kennedy Kaitano- It is not a crime to share rumour about corruption publicly, because some things that may be thought to be allegations will actually be the truth.
Corruption is not something with a laid down process, so it must be attacked whenever there is suspicion, and it is the onus of the falsely accused to clear themselves adequately.
In the case where allegations had been made that former Honourable Fortune Chasi had been fired because he wanted to investigate corrupt deal at the National Oil Infrastructure Company, Honourable Chasi and Mr George Guvamombe have explained that Mr Chasi had never attempted to investigate corruption in the deal that he was not even aware of, and they should be given the benefit of doubt.
However, those in the know should still be allowed to bring up any information they may have, as very often the saying that there is no smoke without fire sometimes proves itself right.
The other key issues that still have to be explained are the alleged relationship between the President and Ms Moline Mayahle and the alleged corruption appointment of Ms Mayahle to the Board of EMA.
These two important issues should equally be explained. I apologise for erroneously stating that Ms Mayahle is a member of the Zesa Board in my previous article on this subject, and I sincerely apologise for that.
It is important to know if Ms Mayahle is qualified to be a member of the EMA Board in the first instance, and secondly what makes her more eligible that the many others who are also qualified for the same position who were not considered.
Members of the public expect that only people who have adequate proved experience should be appointed to positions such as Ms Mayahle was appointed to in 2019, a year after President Mnangagwa was announced by the Zimbabwe Elections Commission as the winner in the country’s presidential elections.
The public is entitled to know the strengths which people who are appointed to public office bring to the role, so the country’s leaders need to justify why Ms Mayahle got appointed. Searching for Moline Mayahle on various search engines doesn’t bring much, apart from the announcement of her appointment in the Herald, her alleged relationship with President Mnangagwa, and one page from the University of Zimbabwe which doesn’t give any detail.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t tell much about her profile, but again we should not rule her out as a potentially capable Board Member, but that has to be explained by the appropriate authorities.
And her alleged relationship with President Mnangagwa is a key issue too. If she is indeed a mother to three of President Mnangagwa’s children as alleged, she should not have been appointed to the EMA Board, regardless of her qualifications for it.
While I am not too familiar with the processes involved in appointing people to the Boards of Government-linked governance boards, I am of the strong opinion that families of sitting presidents should be avoided, especially so when they are not publicly known to be conversant with the subject matter for the Board for which they are appointed.
It will be in the best interest of the nation if President Mnangagwa can explanation her relationship to Ms Moline Mayahle. Transparency is vital.
Cosafa has set the preliminary dates for this year’s edition of the senior men’s Cosafa Cup in South Africa.
The tournament was supposed to take place in May, but it was postponed following the outbreak of the coronavirus. According to information released by the regional body on Monday, the competition is now scheduled to take place during the October FIFA international window.
Zimbabwe will not be able to take part after they were banned. The sanction resulted after the nation failed to honour an agreement to host the 2019 edition of the Cosafa Cup.
The Under-17 and Under-20 Men’s Championships have been set for November and December 2020, respectively, in Mauritius. Both tournaments serve as qualifiers for the continental finals to be staged by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The senior Cosafa Women’s Championship will happen on October 19-31 in Nelson Mandela Bay. There is also a plan to overlap the Women’s Under-17 Championship (October 15-25) with the senior tournament in South Africa.-Soccer 24
By Bishop Ancelimo Mgaya- The Zimbabwe Divine Destiny ZDD notes with grave concern the unpalatable and unwelcome remarks by the Zimbabwe government towards the ZCBC statement in which the Church was simply playing its role of speaking truth to power, advising and admonishing national leaders.
Central to the letter were complains against gross human rights violations that are currently being perpetrated against innocent civilians in Zimbabwe. This continues to happen despite the recommendations made by the Mothlante Commission, which unfortunately remain unfulfilled.
The perpetual freefall of the economy, exacerbated by unbridled corruption especially in high offices calls for any right thinking Zimbabwean to castigate the behavior of the state. There is nothing that the ZCBC statement manufactured nor exaggerated. The issues of Gukurahundi are still outstanding. Victims are crying for redress and it cannot be wished away simply because of the 1987 Unity accord.
Truth telling and justice must precede forgiveness and unity. The perpetrators of Gukurahundi are still alive and some are still in power. We therefore buttress the ZCBC position, that the nation is told who did what to who if we are to realize sustainable peace and forgiveness.
ZDD has warned in the past and we reiterate that No government can subsist through intimidation, murder, torture and arbitrary arrests of citizens who hold contrary views which characterizes modern day Zimbabwe. Anyone who holds contrary views to those of the political leadership in office is vilified, harangued and persecuted. Hopewell Chin’ono and Jacob Ngaribvume are examples of the myriad uncountable Zimbabweans who are either maimed or wrongfully arrested at the hands of the state.
This is what the church is lamenting and to imagine the ferocity with which the state has responded, is ridiculous. It has no national nuance. It is hedonistic. It is barbaric and cannot move a nation forward.
What was even more alarming was the temerity of the Information Minster Monica Mutsvangwa to quote Bishop Lamont and even attempt to celebrate him when he stood against the brutal regime of Smith as if the present government is any better. The same crime and injustice Lamont stood against is what the church is up against today, surprisingly.
In his own words President Mnangagwa said ‘this catch and release must stop’. ZCBC simply alluded to alarming levels of corruption without the corresponding justice. Hopewell, Ngarivhume and the nation are crying for the same.
We conclude by warning President Mnangagwa’s government that, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall’, (Proverbs 16:18). Ecclessiates 4:13 says, ‘Better is a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive counsel’.
The government of Zimbabwe has demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that no one is important not even God as they have blasphemed times without number but be warned, God is not mocked.
Warriors striker Tino Kadewere has thanked Olympique Lyon for the love they showed his family during and after the funeral of his brother Prince.
Prince Kadewere died in Harare last Wednesday and was laid to rest in Zvimba yesterday.
Before and after their Champions League quarter-final victory over Manchester City, the Lyon players paid tribute to Prince, in form of t-shirts and a message on the stadium screen which read ‘Rest in Heaven Prince Kadewere.’
Tino took to Instagram to express gratitude to the club.-Soccer 24
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has reportedly told the club’s chiefs that he wants to leave this summer after growing frustrated with the current situation.
Barca finished their 2019/20 campaign without a trophy for the first time in over a decade. And following their elimination from the Champions League on Friday, the Argentine threatened to leave at Nou Camp unless there is major restructure at the club.
According to Brazilian sports channel Esporte Interativo, Messi is no longer willing to wait for the change and now wants to leave “immediately”.
The 33-year-old’s contract is set to expire in June 2021 and has a clause of £633m ($829m).
However, Barcelona have refuted the report, and several other Spanish outlets are insisting Messi is yet to decide on his future.-Soccer 24
Bafana Bafana star Percy Tau scored on his Anderlecht debut in their 3-1 win over ten-man Sint Truiden in the Belgian League on Sunday.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns forward is on loan from English Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion.
He netted Anderlecht’s third in stoppage time to get up and running on a high.
Anderlecht’s other goals came from Bogdan Mykhaylichenko and Landry Dimata.
Meanwhile, for Knowledge Musona’s KAS Eupen, the search for their first win of the season continues after they were thumped 0-4 by defending champions Club Brugge.
Musona started for Eupen in the behind the strikers role for the second game in succession.-Soccer 24
Farai Dziva|The Zimbabwe Council of Churches has urged Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa to retract attacks on Catholic Bishops with immediate effect.
In a statement on Sunday government accused Archbishop Richard Ndlovu of inciting civil unrest.
See ZCC statement below :
The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC.) read with grave concern, the government response to the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) pastoral letter of the 146 of August 2020 entitled “The March is not Ended”. The government response presented by Mrs Monica Mutsvangwa, the minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, revealed the following worrying signs:
1. Responsibility: While the churches, including the ZCBC, have consistently identified the partial negative contribution of natural disasters and international isolation to government’s economic performance, it has however noted with grave concern that, the Government of Zimbabwe consistently takes no responsibility for its own failings characterized by corruption, policy inconsistencies and above all, failure to unite the nation towards a common vision.
The denialism that characterizes the Government of Zimbabwe’s handling of criticism has now become a deeply worrying trend. The blame-shifting labelling of critical voices as ‘regime change agents, and recently “terrorists” smacks of the government’s unwillingness or inability to engage on the basis of ideas as well as robbing citizens of any hope that things can improve.
2. Personalization: Pastoral letters, including the “The March is not Ended”, are products of prayerful discernment by the college of bishops informed by compassionate listening to the experiences of the congregants.
Singling out the Most Revd Archbishop Richard Ndlovu, can only be viewed as undermining the most asset and character of the church that is its Unity. Our humble interpretation is that this is meant to isolate individuals from a collective discernment proem with the sinister aim of diluting the collective voice of the church. The ZCC takes with exception any efforts to interfere with the unity of the Church for which Jesus prayed for in John 17:21.
3. Courtesy: The government response was overtly too emotional and disrespectful for formal communication. Using public media to utter disrespectful communication against the person of Archbishop Ndlovu does not only present the government as inappropriately deploying the resources of the state, but also increases the toxicity that is already characterizing our public space. if the government had strong objections to the Bishops’ communication, it could have addressed those issues without appearing to be discourteous to the viewers of the only national television station. The government will do well through its public officials to instil positive engagement on the basis of ideas than to use public media to buttress negativity.
4. Unity: The government response to the pastoral letter “The March is not Ended”, also missed its unifying and national orientation but instead appropriated distorted historical links and false comparisons with the Rwandan genocide. While the comparisons arc unfounded and outrageous, they also seem to be intentionally or unintentionally stoking ethnic and tribal divisions which actually resulted in loss of thousands of lives in Matabeleland and Midlands during the Gukurahundi. To frivolously associate the bishops’ statement with such a major deep scar in the history of the nation, is not only insensitive to the existing present pain of those affected by Gukurahundi, but also gives the impression that the government is paying lip-service to national healing and reconciliation.
The government statement could have been worth ignoring if it was only falsifying history, but it cannot be ignored as it appears dismissive of the invaluable work done by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, under the ZCBC, to offer documentation of the atrocities committed by the army during that dark period. The legacy of Gukurahundi still stalks the nation as those past hurts remain unhealed.
His Excellency, President ED Mnangagwa has on several occasions spoken of the need to find healing on these past hurts, yet the government position gives the false impression that the 1987 Unity Accord brought closure to that episode.
3. Courtesy: The government response was overtly too emotional and disrespectful for formal communication.
Using public media to utter disrespectful communication against the person of Archbishop Ndlovu does not only present the government as inappropriately deploying the resources of the state, but also increases the toxicity that is already characterizing our public space.
If the government had strong objections to the Bishops’ communication, it could have addressed those issues without appearing to be discourteous to the viewers of the only national television station.
The government will do well through its public officials to instil positive engagement on the basis of ideas than to use public media to buttress negativity.
4. Unity: The government response to the pastoral letter “The March is not Ended”, also missed its unifying and national orientation but instead appropriated distorted historical links and false comparisons with the Rwandan genocide. While the comparisons arc unfounded and outrageous, they also seem to be intentionally or unintentionally stoking ethnic and tribal divisions which actually resulted in loss of thousands of lives in Matabeleland and Midlands during the Gukurahundi.
To frivolously associate the bishops’ statement with such a major deep scar in the history of the nation, is not only insensitive to the existing present pain of those affected by Gukurahundi, but also gives the impression that the government is paying lip-service to national healing and reconciliation.
The government statement could have been worth ignoring if it was only falsifying history, but it cannot be ignored as it appears dismissive of the invaluable work done by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, under the ZCBC, to offer documentation of the atrocities committed by the army during that dark period. The legacy of Gukurahundi still stalks the nation as those past hurts remain unhealed.
His Excellency, President ED Mnangagwa has on several occasions spoken of the need to find healing on these past hurts, yet the government position gives the false impression that the 1987 Unity Accord brought closure to that episode.
5. History: The ecumenical church’ relationship with the stare has been consistent from colonial Rhodesia to independent Zimbabwe.
The government response presented by Minister Mutsvangwa, seeks to create false discontinuity between the contemporary bishops and the suffering servants of the past.
Such a view misses the importance of continuity of Tradition within Christian theology and practice. The consistency with which the ZCBC and the ecumenical church have pursued justice, peace and unity cannot be forgotten.
Coincidentally, the issues raised by the ‘The March is not Ended” of the 14th of August 2020 are fundamentally similar to calls by Bishop Donal Raymond Lamont in his Open letter to the Rhodesian Government on the 1111i of August 1976. In both cases, the message was well-meaning and consistent with the prophetic traditions of Micah, Amos, Jeremiah, John the Baptist and even our Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who have responded to this salvation history with repentance found life. Those who rejected it suffered destruction, not only in a spiritual sense but also materially.
Calls
6. In light of the issues raised above, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches:
6.1 Seeks to affirm its solidarity with the spirit and intent of the “The March is not Ended” as honest communication aimed at calling the government of Zimbabwe to meaningful and respectful engagement to find solutions to the current pressing issues,
6.2 Seeks to enter into a collective discernment process to understand this government’s preparedness to engage and hence calls for the urgent convening of the National Episcopal Conference of the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations to deliberate on the state of the nation and agree on the appropriate ecumenical action
6.3 Calls on all Christians and churches to pray for peace, well-being and courage for Archbishop Ndlovu, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the broad Christian Church in Zimbabwe as they will be demanded to exercise their prophetic and pastoral mandate for the nation.
6.4 Calls on all citizens to remain united across the denominational, ethnic, and political divide realizing that only through active, organized and peaceful citizens’ participation, the nation will be totally transformed.
6.5 Calls upon President ED Mnangagwa to provide leadership by retracting the personal attacks on Archbishop Ndhlovu and the church leaders, but invite the national to an inclusive national dialogue towards a homegrown solution to the challenges that are facing the nation.-Zimbabwe Council Of Churches
South Africa’s Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize has revealed that his country has recorded 132 coronavirus related deaths bringing the total number of deaths to 11 879.
The minister also said that there were 162 more Covid-19 related deaths – 70 from Eastern Cape, 27 from Gauteng, 21 from KwaZulu-Natal, 6 from Free State, 18 from North West and 20 from Western Cape
Mkhize also said the total number of coronavirus cases stood at 587 345 after a 3 692 increase in infections over the past 24 hours. In a Sunday update, he said:
We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the health care workers who treated the deceased.
The number of recoveries currently stands at 472 377 which translates to a recovery rate of 80%.
South Africa has the highest number of infections on the African continent and is also among the most affected globally.
The health department claims that over 3.4 million people have been tested for coronavirus since March and in the past 24 hours, just over 22 000 people were tested.
South Africa has prepared over a million graves for coronavirus victims in Gauteng.- IOL News
Lawyer Moses Nkomo speaks on the defiance of a High Court order by Zimbabwe Prisons & Correctional Service which is not allowing social visits for Transform Zimbabwe party leader Jacob Ngarivhume.
Mdc Alliance Namibia has the conviction that the presentation of the prisoners of conscience:
Hopewell Chin’ono,Godfrey Kurauone and Jacob Ngaribvumwe in leg-irons is a serious victimisation resembling a thugocratic and authoritarian state administered by a blood-thirsty arrogant regime.
My comprehension of such a repressive measure points to a political crisis that warrants intervention since Kurauone Godfrey the National Youth Organiser in the Mdc Alliance was arrested for singing an anti-Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa song. The other spurious charge was also that he allegedly burnt tyres in Mashava on the 31st July.
Moreso, Hopewell Chin’ono was in leg-irons only for unearthing corruption and looting in Zanupf.
It is quite sickening to hear the Minister of Information and Publicity Monica Mutsvangwa claiming that there is no crisis in Zimbabwe.
The gross mismanagement of public funds apparent in Zanupf leadership has become a humanitarian crisis that guarantees external intervention to deal with the political,social and economic upheavals and vials of wrath in Zimbabwe.
Therefore,those who purport that there is no political crisis are either insane, intoxicated or both.
The arbitrary arrests,torture and abductions of all voices of dissent is a futile attempt to break their resolve to reveal the political and social decay in the fake liberators are incontrovertible evidence to the simmering political crisis in Zimbabwe. It is the politics of habitual denialism in Zanupf leadership in the names of Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, long-mouthed Nick Mangwana and the clueless Monica Mutsvangwa which compels them to lie to the international community.
They continue to hide behind sovereignty when it is crystal clear that state security agents are responsible for the demonisation of our beloved country. Zanupf Satanists abuse human rights by denying the citizenry of their personal freedoms enshrined in the constitution of the country like refusing bail to a revolutionary singer. We want to make it categorically distinct that they can arrest a revolutionary but its a mammoth task the jail the revolution.
Furthermore, when innocent citizens were short on 1 August 2018 where more than 6 people were shot in cold blood, from 14 -24 January 2019,more than 17 nationals were shot and many women and children were raped.
The Mothlante commission was set up to investigate the atrocities, it barely resolved that the soldiers who are supposed to protect the citizens were the ones who butchered them for protesting against rigged elections.
Upto now no perpetrator of rape, abductions,torture and arbitrary arrests has been brought to book. With this level of human butchery, we conclude that there is a colossal political crisis in the country.
In addition, the history of impunity in Zanupf emanated from the late 1970s when the country experienced mysterious deaths of gallant fighters of the liberation struggle.
These included the death of Cde Herbert Chitepo in 1975 on his way from Zambia, Leopold Takawira, Josiah Tongogara and many others. It was carried over to 1983 during the Gukurahundi genocide which claimed more 30 000 Ndebeles in the Matebeleland and Midlands who were put in mass graves and noone was made to account for soldierisation and demonisation of the country. Inhuman late President Mugabe called it a moment of madness without even an apology.
Moreover,the recent obstruction by the Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa’s autocratic regime to the envoy sent by President Cyril Ramaphosa to meet with the Opposition, civil society and other stakeholders is an effort hide the current crackdown on the social democrats. This was done under the guise of sovereignty and non-interference in the domestic affairs of a country hence it becomes an automatic attempt to conceal the gross abuse of human rights. If there was absolutely nothing to hide, the regime could have allowed the envoy to meet the victims of Zanupf misrule. This kind of stubbornness and political ineptitude must be confronted with equal measure.
Finally,as Mdc Alliance Namibia, we posit that the economic regeneration of a nation can not be divorced from its political regeneration hence the need for personal freedoms, rule of law and putting in place of all constitutional mechanisms.
Zanupf must abandon their habitual denialism and halt blaming dark forces for the political,social and economic casualties they are inflicting on the citizenry who are languishing in abject poverty. Zimbabwe needs political solutions to revamp the economy that is on a tailspin. Our late Icon of Democracy President Morgan Richard Tsvangirai once told them that they could rig the elections but the economy will remain torn and tattered.
Consuming a healthy diet throughout the life-course helps to prevent malnutrition in all its forms as well as a range of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and conditions.
However, increased production of processed foods, rapid urbanization and changing lifestyles have led to a shift in dietary patterns.
People are now consuming more foods high in energy, fats, free sugars and salt/sodium, and many people do not eat enough fruit, vegetables and other dietary fibre such as whole grains.
The exact make-up of a diversified, balanced and healthy diet will vary depending on individual characteristics (e.g. age, gender, lifestyle and degree of physical activity), cultural context, locally available foods and dietary customs.
However, the basic principles of what constitutes a healthy diet remain the same.
For adults
A healthy diet includes the following:
Fruit, vegetables, legumes (e.g. lentils and beans), nuts and whole grains (e.g. unprocessed maize, millet, oats, wheat and brown rice).
At least 400 g (i.e. five portions) of fruit and vegetables per day (2) , excluding potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava and other starchy roots.
Less than 10% of total energy intake from free sugars (2, 7) , which is equivalent to 50 g (or about 12 level teaspoons) for a person of healthy body weight consuming about 2000 calories per day, but ideally is less than 5% of total energy intake for additional health benefits (7) . Free sugars are all sugars added to foods or drinks by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, as well as sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.
Less than 30% of total energy intake from fats (1, 2, 3) . Unsaturated fats (found in fish, avocado and nuts, and in sunflower, soybean, canola and olive oils) are preferable to saturated fats (found in fatty meat, butter, palm and coconut oil, cream, cheese, ghee and lard) and trans-
fats of all kinds, including both industrially-produced trans- fats (found in baked and fried foods, and pre-packaged snacks and foods, such as frozen pizza, pies, cookies, biscuits, wafers, and cooking oils and spreads) and ruminant trans- fats (found in meat and dairy foods from ruminant animals, such as cows, sheep, goats and camels).
It is suggested that the intake of saturated fats be reduced to less than 10% of total energy intake and
trans- fats to less than 1% of total energy intake (5) . In particular, industrially-produced trans -fats are not part of a healthy diet and should be avoided (4, 6) .
Less than 5 g of salt (equivalent to about one teaspoon) per day (8).
Salt should be iodized.
For infants and young children
In the first 2 years of a child’s life, optimal nutrition fosters healthy growth and improves cognitive development. It also reduces the risk of becoming overweight or obese and developing NCDs later in life.
Advice on a healthy diet for infants and children is similar to that for adults, but the following elements are also important:
Infants should be breastfed exclusively during the first 6 months of life.
Infants should be breastfed continuously until 2 years of age and beyond.
From 6 months of age, breast milk should be complemented with a variety of adequate, safe and nutrient-dense foods. Salt and sugars should not be added to complementary foods.
Practical advice on maintaining a healthy diet
Fruit and vegetables
Eating at least 400 g, or five portions, of fruit and vegetables per day reduces the risk of NCDs (2) and helps to ensure an adequate daily intake of dietary fibre.
Fruit and vegetable intake can be improved by:
always including vegetables in meals;
eating fresh fruit and raw vegetables as snacks;
eating fresh fruit and vegetables that are in season; and
eating a variety of fruit and vegetables.
Fats
Reducing the amount of total fat intake to less than 30% of total energy intake helps to prevent unhealthy weight gain in the adult population (1, 2, 3) .
Also, the risk of developing NCDs is lowered by:
reducing saturated fats to less than 10% of total energy intake;
reducing trans -fats to less than 1% of total energy intake; and
replacing both saturated fats and
trans- fats with unsaturated fats (2, 3) – in particular, with polyunsaturated fats.
Fat intake, especially saturated fat and industrially-produced trans- fat intake, can be reduced by:
steaming or boiling instead of frying when cooking;
replacing butter, lard and ghee with oils rich in polyunsaturated fats, such as soybean, canola (rapeseed), corn, safflower and sunflower oils;
eating reduced-fat dairy foods and lean meats, or trimming visible fat from meat; and
limiting the consumption of baked and fried foods, and pre-packaged snacks and foods (e.g. doughnuts, cakes, pies, cookies, biscuits and wafers) that contain industrially-produced trans- fats.
Salt, sodium and potassium
Most people consume too much sodium through salt (corresponding to consuming an average of 9–12 g of salt per day) and not enough potassium (less than 3.5 g). High sodium intake and insufficient potassium intake contribute to high blood pressure, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease and stroke (8, 11) .
Reducing salt intake to the recommended level of less than 5 g per day could prevent 1.7 million deaths each year (12) .
People are often unaware of the amount of salt they consume. In many countries, most salt comes from processed foods (e.g. ready meals; processed meats such as bacon, ham and salami; cheese; and salty snacks) or from foods consumed frequently in large amounts (e.g. bread). Salt is also added to foods during cooking (e.g. bouillon, stock cubes, soy sauce and fish sauce) or at the point of consumption (e.g. table salt).
Salt intake can be reduced by:
limiting the amount of salt and high-sodium condiments (e.g. soy sauce, fish sauce and bouillon) when cooking and preparing foods;
not having salt or high-sodium sauces on the table;
limiting the consumption of salty snacks; and
choosing products with lower sodium content.
Some food manufacturers are reformulating recipes to reduce the sodium content of their products, and people should be encouraged to check nutrition labels to see how much sodium is in a product before purchasing or consuming it.
Potassium can mitigate the negative effects of elevated sodium consumption on blood pressure. Intake of potassium can be increased by consuming fresh fruit and vegetables.
Sugars
In both adults and children, the intake of free sugars should be reduced to less than 10% of total energy intake (2, 7) . A reduction to less than 5% of total energy intake would provide additional health benefits (7) .
Consuming free sugars increases the risk of dental caries (tooth decay).
Excess calories from foods and drinks high in free sugars also contribute to unhealthy weight gain, which can lead to overweight and obesity. Recent evidence also shows that free sugars influence blood pressure and serum lipids, and suggests that a reduction in free sugars intake reduces risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (13) .
Sugars intake can be reduced by:
limiting the consumption of foods and drinks containing high amounts of sugars, such as sugary snacks, candies and sugar-sweetened beverages (i.e. all types of beverages containing free sugars – these include carbonated or non‐carbonated soft drinks, fruit or vegetable juices and drinks, liquid and powder concentrates, flavoured water, energy and sports drinks, ready‐to‐drink tea, ready‐to‐drink coffee and flavoured milk drinks); and
eating fresh fruit and raw vegetables as snacks instead of sugary snacks.
Credit:WHO
Inserted by Zimbabwe Online Health Centre
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ZLHR CONDEMNS VILIFICATION OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
ZIMBABWE
Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) stands in solidarity with the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) and condemns the vilification of Catholic Bishops by government which borders on outright fanning of hate speech.
The vilification of the Catholic Bishops came after the clergymen rebuked government’s ominous transgressions in a Pastoral Letter on the “Current Situation in Zimbabwe” issued on 14 August 2020 in which they raised concerns over human rights violations.
In their Pastoral Letter, the Catholic Bishops highlighted and criticised state-sponsored human rights excesses.
In response to the ZCBC’s Pastoral Letter, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Minister Monica Mutsvangwa in a curse-laden tirade against the Catholic Bishops singled out Archbishop Robert Christopher Ndlovu and also raised some unwarranted tribal sentiments.
There can be no justification of this vilification of the clergymen and this anti-Catholic scorn because for the Bishops, speaking out against transgressions is their moral obligation.
As ZLHR, we are greatly concerned that the intolerance of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government on dissent and criticism is becoming more despicable every passing day and we should realise that it is the manifestation of President Mnangagwa’s and his followers’ fear on the people’s legitimate dissatisfaction from a leader who claimed and promised to be a “listening” President which is equally growing.
We have noted that in 2020 while the vilifiers and the vilified are different, the script is the same.
The incendiary statements by government are aimed at inflicting shame on clergymen and to vilify their struggles that spring from righteous causes.
Section 60 of the Constitution provides for freedom of conscience and states that;
“Every person has the right to freedom of conscience, which includes— (a) freedom of thought, opinion, religion or belief; and (b) freedom to practise and propagate and give expression to their thought, opinion, religion or belief, whether in public or in private and whether alone or together with others.”
In addition section 62 of the Constitution provides that; “Every person has the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom to seek, receive and communicate ideas and other information.”
Besides domestic laws, government is bound by some regional and international instruments including Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides that; “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” and which does not permit any limitations whatsoever on the freedom of thought and conscience.
As clergymen, the Catholic Bishops must not abdicate their sacred mandate as shepherds to whom the Lord has entrusted his flock and no amount of vilification, intimidation or threats should make them give up their critical role, especially that of giving voice to the voiceless.
Being Bishops or clergymen does not divest them of their civil and political rights to free speech, because they are still citizens of Zimbabwe and have the inalienable right to speak about the government’s shortcomings.
ZLHR urges the Catholic Bishops to have faith and take heart as they have long championed people’s rights and freedoms for several decades.
To the Catholic Bishops, always bear in mind the biblical verse in 1 Peter 5:8, which reads; “Be alert and of sober mind.
Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
To government, ZLHR calls for the withdrawal of its intemperate and inflammatory statement and urges it to embrace constructive criticism and the principles of good governance.
Farai Dziva|The Zimbabwe Peace Project has strongly denounced the intimidation of Catholic Bishops by Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s troubled administration.
Disgraced Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa accused Archbishop Ndlovu of attempting to cause disharmony in the country.
See ZPP statement below :
ZPP stands with ZCBC
ZPP is deeply concerned with the response by the govt of ZW through the Information minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, to the Pastoral Letter by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishop’s Conference (ZCBC) entitled ‘The March has not ended”.
The letter, among other issues, denounced the human rights breaches by government.
Several human rights actors have faced harassment, arbitrary arrests, abduction and torture, particularly since the onset of the COVID-19 induced national lockdown.
The letter also noted how past, unresolved hurts such as Gukurahundi and the current unprecedented corruption levels are contributing to the frustrations of the citizenry.
It is unfortunate that, instead of self introspecting and at least engaging the clergy to deliberate on the issues raised, the government chose to target and launch a tribal attack on the Archbishop, Robert Christopher Ndlovu, accusing him of being evil-minded and misguided.
Such attacks are concerning, particularly in an environment where dissenting voices have n abducted or arrested. All the ZCBC has done is, like every other institution that seeks to see values of democracy being implemented, reach out to the govt with the hope for a better ZW
The hate language and vilification by the government only serve to further increase tensions and are a clear disrespect of Sections 60 and 61 of the Zimbabwe Constitution that provide for Freedom of Conscience and Freedom of Expression respectively.
In the last few weeks, many institutions, among them, the @_AfricanUnion , @UN SG, the chairperson of the African Comm for Human & People’s Rights have voiced concern about the events unfolding in the country. @CyrilRamaphosa has also dispatched envoys to Harare on same issues.
ZPP, whose vision is a Zimbabwe where there is Peace, Justice, Dignity and Development stands in firm solidarity with the ZCBC and all signatories to the Pastoral Letter, who called for the much-needed inclusivity, when they noted that “it feels as though the poor have no one to defend them. They don’t seem to feature on the national agenda. Their cries for an improved health system go unheeded.
Their plea for a transport system that meets their transport blues are met with promises & promises and no action”
“…the only time we see real action is when our leaders are jostling for power, to secure it or to ascend to offices of power…”
It is regrettable that the church, where citizens have always found refuge during turmoil is attacked for calling out govt on widespread corruption, the health delivery that has become a death trap and an economy that has seen the majority of people sink deeper into poverty.
It is important for the govt to be cognisant of their obligation to respect the rights of its citizens & protect them as per Constitution & other instruments that include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We, like ZCBC, simply ask government to do the right thing, return to constitutionalism and uphold the rule of law.
ZPP calls for: The govt to acknowledge that the country is facing a crisis which, if left unattended, threatens to spiral out of control impacting the generality of citizens.
Continued denial of a crisis that is there for all to see is not going to make it disappear.
ZPP further calls for: The government to realise that human rights are neither given at the benevolence of the government nor are they a privilege.
Govt to retract the hate statement and properly engage with the ZCBC, the church at large and all Zimbabweans in dialogue
Lastly, ZPP asks government to stop fanning divisions among citizens through use of hate language
United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (UCCZ) cleric, Rev Fredrick Thondhlana and Sungura maestro Tatenda Pinjisi have appealed for God’s intervention as Zimbabwe faces one of its worst economic crisis in a decade.
Expelled Zanu-PF youth leader Godfrey Tsenengamu says that the foiled July 31 demo was just a dress rehearsal as there were more protests planned, which could lead to a major uprising.
He says the majority of Zimbabweans are fed up and that President Mnangagwa was increasingly under pressure in Zanu-PF, where some bigwigs were allegedly no longer backing him.
Meanwhile, MDC Alliance vice president Tendai Biti has warned that Zimbabwe’s political and economic crises have now reached a boiling point that could soon lead to a bloodbath as civil strife was imminent.
He said the country needs international help and that the activities if South Africa, African Union and the United Nations Security Council will be key going forward due to rising human rights violations.
Farai Dziva|MDC Alliance leader Advocate Nelson Chamisa has described the diatribe aimed at Zimbabwe Catholic Bishop as unfortunate and shocking.
“THE CHURCH, being the moral compass and ‘conscience guardians’, must speak truth to power in any society.
Gvt’s vitriol and diatribe aimed at the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ position on the current political &economic instability is evidence that Zimbabwe is indeed in turmoil,” President Chamisa tweeted.
MDC Alliance National Spokesperson, Advocate Fadzayi Mahere also tweeted :
“The State is at war with Catholic Bishops, journalists, authors, lawyers, the AU, the ANC, the ZSE, diplomats, civic society, nurses, doctors, Econet, Old Mutual, Chamisa – everybody is an enemy. They can’t look within & see the crisis they’ve created. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter.”
“Every progressive Zimbabwean must condemn the incendiary hate speech against Archbishop Ndlovu aired on
@ZBCNewsonline by the Minister of Information on behalf of
@edmnangagwa
& the State. We demand an apology and withdrawal of the unacceptable remarks. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter,” MDC Alliance posted on Twitter.
Farai Dziva|MDC Alliance leader Advocate Nelson Chamisa has described the diatribe aimed at Zimbabwe Catholic Bishop as unfortunate and shocking.
“THE CHURCH, being the moral compass and ‘conscience guardians’, must speak truth to power in any society.
Gvt’s vitriol and diatribe aimed at the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ position on the current political &economic instability is evidence that Zimbabwe is indeed in turmoil,” President Chamisa tweeted.
MDC Alliance National Spokesperson, Advocate Fadzayi Mahere also tweeted :
“The State is at war with Catholic Bishops, journalists, authors, lawyers, the AU, the ANC, the ZSE, diplomats, civic society, nurses, doctors, Econet, Old Mutual, Chamisa – everybody is an enemy. They can’t look within & see the crisis they’ve created. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter.”
“Every progressive Zimbabwean must condemn the incendiary hate speech against Archbishop Ndlovu aired on
@ZBCNewsonline by the Minister of Information on behalf of
@edmnangagwa
& the State. We demand an apology and withdrawal of the unacceptable remarks. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter,” MDC Alliance posted on Twitter.
Transform Zimbabwe leader and Convenor of the 31 July protest, Jacob Ngarivhume’s admission of bail was argued today and the court will give a ruling on Friday 21 August 2020.
Six Harare MDC-Alliance councillors have been arrested for allegedly being involved in land scams as Government intensifies the fight against corruption in local authorities.
The arrests come as President Mnangagwa recently urged the justice system to step up the fight against corruption and bring an end to the “catch-and-release syndrome,” while the arrest of “small and big fish” should become the new normal.
Those arrested are reportedly from Harare City Council’s housing committee. In an interview this morning, the head of Special Anti-Corruption Unit (Sacu) Mr Tabani Mpofu confirmed arrests of the six.
Mr Mpofu said there is tangible evidence linking the six to serious corruption charges. Harare officials that have been arrested over the past weeks and appeared in court on corruption charges include Mayor Hebert Gomba, the housing director Addmore Nhekairo who is facing a charge of criminal abuse of office, acting human resources director Matthew Marara and principal housing director Edgar Dzehonye.
Some of the co-accused have since appeared in court and are out on bail.
A Mutare couple is in trouble after marrying off their 15-year-old daughter for $40.
The couple appeared in court yesterday before Mutare magistrate Prisca Manhibi facing charges of pledging a female person as defined in section 94 (1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
A 20-year-old Mutare man (who cannot be named to protect the identity of the minor), to whom the girl had been married off, has already appeared in court facing charges of having se_xual interc0urse with the minor girl.
He admitted guilty, together with his supposed in laws, to the charges and will be sentenced on Monday.
It is the State’s case that on July 29, the 20-year-old man told the minor’s parents that he intended to marry her.
The couple, however, made an arrangement that he pays any lobola amount of his choice before taking their daughter for marriage.
On August 2, 2020, the man brought $40 as per agreement and gave it to the couple, who handed their daughter to the accused.
The matter came to light after neighbors reported to nearest police station, leading to the trio’s arrests.
Below is a statement posted on Instagram by Zimdancehall star Seh Calaz’s wife laying bare their domestic affairs including claims that the Hatipisike hitmaker’s irresponsibility.
Moira Knight
Kutaura privately as adults ndinenge ndichitoda but as you can imagine haana chaanotaurika naye. He is very good at kutiza. I haven’t seen Tawanda since 12th august paaka tiza mumba aka jamba jura hall when i tried to talk to him.
I spent my birthday with his relatives takamumirira so we could discuss the issues but he did not turn up even after being phoned several times. I have been away for a few months, not on holiday but giving birth to my son and unfortunately when i came back ndakaona imba yave sango hence my reason for involving his relatives.
On a serious and concerning note, ndinganzi ndopenga ndo bleacher handi zvare and all yes it’s fine, but at 30 years old munhu wechi rume anofanirwa kunge akura brain. Paya panenge pachinzi ndiri celeb or ndiri Kushoota video or panopostwa ma picture pa instagram munhu achislayer kunge slay queen every 3 hours, kana kwazodoka it would be good to know munhu akuenda kumba kwake after a hard day’s work not kuswera achitenderera mbare yese taking pictures.
But noo, dzapadhuze nekudzingwa kwadzino roja. By now having been in the industry for that long should have built even a small basic house like other artists have done. Kungonzi ndeyako and hapana achakudzinga or kuvunza rent is an achievement. Look at the sofas.
They should have been replaced time ago because munhu anoshanda and has been for years. Zvasiyana nekuti munhu asingaende kubasa. Yes currently theres covid/lockdown but right now as we speak i think pane video irikushootwa for flambo purposes, not for free by the way. Mari that is once again going out and probably not coming back. But mwana haana pekugezera or cot bed. He refurbished his studio kuti mufunge munhu akarongeka. If you see this place muchaona ndiri munhu ari right. Mumba macho hamuna any other picture but madziro aka hangwa, kunamirwa ma pictures ake enlarged and framed.
Ndakanyara when i had to serve hama dza Tawanda food i had to place the plates straight pa floor because table ikutadza kungotengwa kana ye $300 zvayo, I’m sure kumbare dziriko. Handipenge usually kana ndaita courage yeku taura out thats the only way he might hopefully see the seriousness of this situation.
Zanu PF leaders are behaving as if they hold title deeds to a country called Zimbabwe and have in the process become some of the world’s most notorious abusers of human rights, veteran politician Dzikamai Mavhaire has said.
Addressing hundreds of mourners gathered at the burial of MDC founder member, Crispa Musoni in Nyazvidzi, Gutu on Sunday, Mavhaire said most Zanu PF leaders making noise about the liberation struggle were nowhere near the war and identified Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Senator Lovemore Matuke as a culprit.
Matuke is also Zanu PF secretary for security in the politburo.
“Zanu PF refuses people food, harasses, torments and vilifies those who criticise it. Some of its leaders speak like they came from Mozambique literally carrying the country called Zimbabwe on their heads (Saka kana vamwe vachingoita sevakadengezera nyika kuti tisu takauya nayo vatibetserevo nokuti Mwari unoziva. Kune vamwe vakauya madeko, vese vamunoona vanaMatuke vanga vasipo, hapana akanga ariko. Vabvunzei vanga vasiko, ini ndaiveko. Tisataurirwe zvinhu nevanhu vakanga vasiko. Asi Musoni waiveko!).
“They behave like they hold title deeds to the country and in the process they choose who to give welfare food and who not to give food. There is no one with a title deed to Zimbabwe. They label those who disagree with them as sellouts.
“Don’t be told lies. I was there, these noise makers were nowhere near the war. Matuke was nowhere near the war yet today he vets our heroes.
“Musoni who lies in that coffin was there before most of us. He brought food to Nkomo, Mugabe, Zvobgo, myself and many other politicians when we were in prison and he worked for the Red Cross. Therein lies a great unsung hero of both the liberation war and the democratic struggle of Zimbabwe.
“If you see your hero status being determined by a caucus of a few pretenders then you must know that there is something terribly wrong about it. God knows his heroes,” said Mavhaire to applause from the mourners.
Mavhaire said Zimbabweans are being cowards for allowing Zanu PF to refuse deserving people food aid. He said there is no Zanu PF politician who can claim that food aid is coming from his or her mother’s granary.
“Chikafu ichi hachibvi mudura ramai nhingi. The food aid distributed by Government comes from the tax payers’ money. It is your money and why should anyone refuse you food bought by your own money. Youth, where are you when all this is happening?
“As Zimbabweans we are being cowards for allowing this to happen,” said Mavhaire.
Musoni who was one of the founder members of the MDC in 1999 died at a private surgery at Nyika Growth Point in Bikita at 6pm on Friday. He was buried at his farm where MDC supporters from both Nelson Chamisa’s MDC Alliance and Khupe’s MDC T turned up in large numbers.
Prominent politicians present were Mavhaire from the MDC A, Masvingo Mayor Collen Maboke, former MPs Jeffryson Chitando, and Renson Makamure, Oliver Chirume, an emissary from MDC T bigwig Elias Mudzuri.
Musoni’s nephew and war veteran Kudakwashe Mubika fought hard to stop MDC from participating at the funeral but this was in vain as the vociferous party faithfuls would have none of that.
Apart from Mavhaire, Gutu North chairman Philip Mahachi also addressed the mourners.
Women in small-scale mining communities in Bindura, Mashonaland Central have ventured into pr0stitution for survival as the sector has been ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Institute for Young Women`s Development representative Constance Mushayi confirmed many teen mothers in areas such as Foothill and Benridge have resorted to se_x work after they were excluded from government-run social safety net programmes.
“Women in small-scale artisanal mining communities are now engaging into se_x work due to Covid-19 induced poverty. The challenge is that we have more teen mothers who were relying on mining activities but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the sector is under performing.
“The situation has been worsened by the fact that these teen mothers have been excluded from social safety net programmes by the government and they have remained vulnerable to economic woes,” said Mushayi during a virtual meeting convened by Green Governance Zimbabwe Trust (GGZT).
She implored the government to support the women with social safety nets as well as availing relevant information about Covid-19.
“Covid-19 has led to significant loss of income in areas such as Bindura because local business is supported by mining activities. The demolition of the flea markets has also worsened the plight of over 400 families who rely on selling their goods to miners,” said Mushayi.
Due to lack of transport and movement restrictions, she said, most local women have not been able to restock their businesses while those employed in mines have been told to go on forced leave.
“Mines have downsized due to Covid-19 pandemic. Artisanal mining is a major source of employment in Mashonaland Central with women constituting around 30 to 50% of the total workforce.
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“Women have primarily been involved in crushing, sluicing, washing, panning, sieving, and sorting and in some occasions, actual mining. Women have been very active in the provision of goods and services at the mining for example food and drinks and sales of artisanal mining equipment such as sieves, flash lights to mention but a few,” Mushayi.
She added Covid-19 had also led to a surge in vices such as domestic violence, corruption and crime in areas such as Shava, Matepatepa and Mazowe.
ZANU PF Central Committee member Cde Justice Zvandasara is under investigation for allegedly purchasing land earmarked for the construction of party offices in Harare and leasing it to a local bank without permission from the ruling party.
Cde Zvandasara is suspected to have connived with four others to fraudulently buy and lease out 8 000 square meters that had been set aside for party offices in Pomona.
The property, known as Lot 55 Pomona Estate or 8 Campbell Road, Pomona was purchased by a private company, Pebney (Pvt) Ltd, from the City of Harare.
It is alleged that Cde Zvandasara and his accomplices Lameck Taruhwa, George Mashavave and two others purchased the property that was being used as district party offices by Zanu PF Borrowdale District since 1990.
It is understood the party had a right of first refusal over the property.
Cde Zvandasara allegedly went on to lease the land in question to CBZ Bank for US$26 000 which was paid into one Fungai Chiboora’s account.
The case was reported under CR 503/07/2020 — CCD DR55/07 with Cde Zvandasara and his accomplices now facing fraud charges.
National Police Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the case, but could not give details.
“I can confirm that the matter was reported to police. We we will avail more information once investigations are complete. We are still on the ground doing the necessary enquiries,” he said.
Zanu PF Harare Provincial chairperson Cde Oliver Chidau said the matter was still to be formally brought to his attention.
“The matter is still being handled at district level. As a province, we are still to receive a report pertaining to the matter. I will give a response once I have been formally informed of the matter and we will also handle it from there,” he said.
A junior police officer in Plumtree has been arrested for allegedly using social media to incite members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) to defy orders from their superiors to enforce lockdown regulations.
Levias Ngwenya (36), a police constable stationed at Plumtree Police Station allegedly wrote on his Facebook timeline, urging his colleagues in the security service sector to disregard Government directive by allowing people to engage in anti-Government protests.
He accused the Government of “bribing” police and soldiers by offering them a pay rise and US$75 Covid-19 risk allowances so that they descend on protestors.
Ngwenya appeared before Plumtree magistrate Tayengwa Chibanda facing charges of causing disaffection among members of the police force or defence forces as defined in section 30 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
He was released on $500 bail and remanded to July 28 for trial.
Ngwenya was ordered not to access his social media accounts and to continue residing at his given address until the matter is finalised. He was also ordered not to interfere with State witnesses as part of the bail conditions
Prosecuting, Ms Dorothy Kanengoni said on July 8 at about 2.58AM, Ngwenya posted on his Facebook page, alleging that soldiers and police were being used by the Zanu-PF-led Government to turn against the generality of impoverished Zimbabweans.
The post read: “Soldiers and police don’t be fooled and brainwashed with the money, which has little buying power. You should not allow Zanu-PF and Government to use you to attack your fellow brothers and sisters.”
“The reason why police officers and soldiers were given the money is to oil them so that they are able to descend heavily on impoverished civilians who are scheduled to demonstrate on July 31 as it is a divide and rule tactic,” wrote Ngwenya.
Ms Kanengoni said the message was aimed at inciting security forces to revolt against the Government.
“The accused person had no lawful right to induce other members of the ZRP and Zimbabwe Defence Forces to disregard Government directive,” she said.
The court heard that on August 9, Ngwenya using his Facebook account posted: “Zimbabwe police officers and ZNA must wake up and smell the coffee. It is time to embrace change not to fight our fellow citizens. Zanu-PF Government is using you for nothing.”
“What can you achieve with a paltry ZW$10 000 and useless Covid-19 risk allowance of US$75, which is not even accessible in banks. Wake up guys.”
Mr Bruce Masamvu who is being instructed by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is representing Ngwenya.
Gokwe-Nembudziya and ZANU PF legislator Justice Mayor Wadyajena has said MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa’s political career will not thrive because of the people he associates with.
The ZANU PF politburo member claims that Chamisa is surrounded by a group of violent people, the Vanguard who are misleading him. He said:
GOVERNMENT regulations restricting business hours to between 8am and 3pm to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic are not in violation of the country’s laws, the High Court has ruled.
The ruling on Friday came after the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) challenged the legality of Statutory Instrument 174 of 2020 which compels businesses to close by 3pm.
The recent spike in confirmed coronavirus infections, prompted Government to impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew as part of a raft of measures to stop the spread of the lethal pandemic which has so far killed 132 people from 5 261 recorded cases.
Security forces are enforcing the curfew between 6pm and 6am while all non-working people are required to stay at home, except when they want to buy groceries or seek medical attention.
Only those providing essential services are allowed to work outside the stipulated hours.
Following the arrest of jpolitical activist Hopewell Chin’ono and opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume, lawyers representing the duo, Ms Beatrice Mtetwa and Moses Nkomo — both instructed by the ZLHR — could not persuade a Harare magistrate to continue hearing bail applications beyond 3pm.
Court officials said they were adhering to Government regulations on business hours.
This prompted the ZLHR to rush to the High Court, challenging the regulations, arguing this was unconstitutionally disadvantaging arrested persons.
In its lawsuit, ZLHR listed the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Minister of Health and Child Care as respondents.
They wanted Statutory Instrument 174 of 2020 not to limit the sitting of the magistrates’ court when dealing with initial bail applications and challenges to placement on remand.
But Justice Clement Phiri dismissed the application for interim relief sought, finding merit on the preliminary points raised by JSC lawyer Mr Addington Chinake of Kantor and Immerman.
Mr Chinake had argued that allegations against Chin’ono, Ngarivhume and Harare mayor Herbert Gomba mentioned in the ZLHR’s founding affidavit, were not properly before the High Court.
He said in the absence of any cogent and acceptable proof of the allegations made in the form of supporting affidavits, his client believed that the applicant’s case was speculative.
The allegations, he argued, were based on hearsay and conjecture and the JSC was of the view that the court could not grant the relief sought on the grounds of such speculative apprehension.
Mr Chinake also argued that the ZLHR’s seeking of a declaration of constitutional invalidity of the law on return date, was not proper at the interim stage.
After considering the preliminary points raised by Mr Chinake at the beginning of the legal proceedings, the judge found merit in the issues raised against the human rights lawyers.
“It is this court’s considered view that the applicant in this matter, has failed to take this court into its confidence and justify why this matter should be treated as urgent,” he said.
In that regard, ZLHR failed to prove a strong case that the regulations are unlawful hence the court was not in a firm position to grant the relief sought.
“Accordingly, the points in limine raised for and on behalf of the first respondent are upheld and the application for interim relief is hereby dismissed with costs,” said Justice Phiri.
In their urgent application, the ZLHR wanted an order compelling the respondents, in the interim, to put into place measures and facilities which ensure that the courts, when dealing with challenges to placement on remand and bail applications shall not be imperilled by the timelines set out under the Public Health (Covid-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown Amendment) Order 2020.
ZLHR director Ms Roselyn Hanzi had argued in her affidavit that in practice, once a bail application or challenge to placement on remand had commenced, it was supposed to be heard to finality before the court adjourned for the day.
She said bail matters had previously been granted or refused well after hours and times well into the evening.
THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is proceeding to fill the proportional representation vacant seats which arose after the opposition MDC-T party recalled some of its parliamentarians because it is bound to do so under the law once it has been notified by the Speaker of the National Assembly or President of the Senate that a vacancy exist.
ZEC has made it clear that it has no discretion in the matter. Once informed of a vacancy, it must follow the Electoral Act in filling that vacancy, unless a court orders it do otherwise, which has not happened. ZEC does not decide whether a seat is vacant or not. The Act sets out how ZEC fills a proportional representation seat. For constituency seats, the President is also involved to set the nomination day and the date of the by-election.
In a statement, ZEC chief elections officer Mr Utoile Silaigwana said the move to fill the proportional representation seats was in terms of the law.
“The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) would like to inform the public that it is proceeding with filling in the proportional representation vacant seats which arose from recalls made by the MDC-T party in line with provisions of section 39 of the Electoral Act.
“Following concerns raised by some stakeholders and in the spirit of transparency, the Commission wishes to clarify the legal position on filling of proportional representation vacant seats,” said Mr Silaigwana.
“Section 39(4) of the Electoral Act states that upon being notified of a vacancy, the commission must without delay, notify the public of the vacancy by a notice in the Government Gazette.
The commission then invites the political party that had nominated the original member in writing to submit the name of a qualified person to fill the vacancy. That party must lodge with the commission a nomination paper in the prescribed form, countersigned by any two of the designated national office bearers of the party or by such other two office-bearers of the political party which the Commission is satisfied are duly authorised to make the required counter signatures.”
Mr Silaigwana said the import of the provision was to create a peremptory process by which such vacancies were filled.
“The commission has no discretion as to whether the process should or should not commence. Once notice is given and received by ZEC as prescribed in Section 39(3) of the Electoral Act, the processes stipulated in Sections 39(4) to 39(8) must be initiated and carried out, lest ZEC be in breach of law.
“In simple terms, ZEC is bound to follow the provisions of the Electoral Act unless a court order expressly enjoins it to refrain from doing so. The commission has received no such order from the court and must thus pursue its mandate as per the dictates of the law,” he said.
It was important to note that the commission was not an arbiter of who may or may not recall a member of Parliament.
“It merely facilitates the filling of the resultant vacancy in the confidence that Parliament has conformed to its governing procedures and to the law in notifying it of the vacancies. If there is an objection to the creation of the vacancy itself, the remedy for that lies not in an attack on the performance of peremptory statutory functions by the commission, but elsewhere.”
Mr Silaigwana went on to say ZEC’s stance on filling proportional representation seats had been taken, noting that the process of filling these seats did not pose a threat to public health nor would it violate regulations put in place by Government to curb the spread of Covid-19.
“All other electoral activities which involve gathering of people with the potential to fuel the spread of Covid-19, however, remain suspended.
“This position will remain in place until the operationalisation of the ZEC Covid-19 policy on elections which sets out measures on conducting elections without causing a danger to public health.”
The High Court on Friday dismissed an urgent bid by 14 legislators to stop MDC-T from replacing them in Parliament following their recall.
South Africa’s president has said coronavirus infections appear to have peaked in the country, as he announced a sweeping relaxation of lockdown measures.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said nearly all restrictions on the country’s economy will be eased from today.
A controversial ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco will be lifted.
Domestic travel, small family gatherings and the reopening of businesses will all be allowed.
In a TV address on Saturday, Mr Ramaphosa said the easing of restrictions will help to revive the country’s flagging economy after a period of great hardship for the country.
However, he called on South Africans not to let their guard down against Covid-19 despite “signs of hope”, warning of difficult times ahead. The country has recorded more than half of Africa’s coronavirus infections, with more than 570 000 cases and 11 500 deaths to date.
South Africa also has the fifth-highest number of cases in the world after the US, Brazil, Russia and India, but infections have started to dip in recent days.
Mr Ramaphosa said the number of new daily confirmed cases had dropped from a peak of more than 12 000 to an average of 5 000 over the past week.
The number of active cases has declined to about 105 000 and the recovery rate risen to 80 percent, the president said.
“As we look back at the past five months, all indications are the South Africa has reached the peak and moved beyond the inflection point of the curve,” Mr Ramaphosa said.
In March, the South African government introduced some of the toughest lockdown restrictions in the world. Borders were shut to international travellers, schools were closed, alcohol was banned and people were told to stay at home. A large proportion of South Africa’s coronavirus infections have been reported in Gauteng, the country’s financial hub.
Professor Welshman Ncube MDC Alliance Vice President
MDC Alliance Vice President Professor Welshman Ncube has expressed shock at the way government responded to the Catholic Bishops Conference call for a better life for Zimbabweans.
In Tweet on Sunday, Professor Ncube said no goverment in this day and age can ever be expected to speak the way Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa spoke in an official government statement on Saturday.
Below is professor Ncube’s tweet.
I have read & reread the government of Zimbabwe's response to the Catholic Bishops' pastoral letter & remain beyond shock that there is a government on earth in the 21st century that can release this kind of hurtful drivel as an official government statement. God help us!
Mnangagwa "has consistently and persistently exhibited traits of disloyalty, disrespect, deceitfulness and unreliability, he is also demonstrated little probity in the execution of his duties" – Govt Spokesperson, Simon Khaya Moyo 7th Nov 2017 – @ZBCNewsonlinepic.twitter.com/WcrTwh1Lc1
The ruling ZANU PF party continues with its unprecedented attack on the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference calling them all possible names, this after the bishops penned an honest letter to goverment demanding for the betterment of the lives of Zimbabweans.
Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa beat them all when she wrote a goverment statement on Saturday calling the men of the cloth evil and deserving to be killed in a genocide.
Another ZANU PF stalwart, Masvingo based businessman who lost the party primary elections for the Chivi North constituency in the last elections, Collen Mharadzano has also come into the fray saying the bishops are drunkards and sex perverts not deserving to speak to issues affecting the country.
Speaking from Mutsvangwa’s dictionary, Mharadzo is quoted in a state media publication picking on Archbishop Ndlovu the leader of the conference saying that “history will record him and his acolytes as accomplishes to the country’s detractors.”
“This is an unfortunate tag on people who are entrusted with nourishing souls of the believers.
“Instead of Archbishop Ndlovu being at the forefront of sowing seeds of peace and eternal coalescing of diverse tribes,race and creed which constitute our beautiful nations.”
Mharadzano said his sentiments betray the fundamentals which the Christian faith is built upon.
“It is a religion predicated upon the love and forgiveness which the Lord Jesus Christ embodies.
“Therefore Archbishop Ndlovu and his accomplices are betraying, abusing the faith and trust which the multitudes of congregants have entrusted upon through spearheading hate, pandemonium and division amongst their flock and indeed the nation of Zimbabwe,” he said.
In addition, Mharadzano said, the Catholic bishops must also be reminded that they are not sacred.
“No, some of them are known drunkards and some are even alleged to be sexually perverts, hence they should limit themselves to the role of nourishing souls, a role which they have to date failed dismally.”
Their association with the American establishment, he said, depicts them as latter day Judas Iscariots was America’s foreign Policy on Zimbabwe is at crossroads with the national aspirations defined by the indigenous’ ownership of their land.
Former MDC Stalwart Obert Gutu has joined ZANU PF in heavily blasting the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference over an open letter demanding for government to better the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans.
In a state media publication on Monday, Gutu said although there is a fine line between evangelism and political activism, the pastoral letter bellies the fact that the country’s detractors have roped in men and women in cloth to perpetuate their evil machinations.
“There is always a serious conflict when men and women of the cloth decide to push a partisan political agenda whilst they still claim to be apolitical. Of course, one can argue that you can’t completely separate religion from politics but then, sometimes there’s always a very fine distinction between evangelism and political activism. The pastoral letter from the Catholic Bishops is undoubtedly controversial.
“It proves, beyond a shadow of doubt, that at least some of the Catholic Bishops have openly taken sides with certain oppositional forces in Zimbabwe’s political terrain. Therein lies the major challenge. These bishops should remove their pastoral gowns and openly enter the political fray if they have decided to be active politicians. They can’t have their own cake and eat it. They can’t blow hot and cold.
“They can’t approbate and reprobate,” he said.
Mr Gutu traced the current onslaught on Zimbabwe to the Land Reform Programme, a Zanu PF programme that empowered the black person who had been deprived of his land by white settlers.
“One doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to appreciate that there are extremely powerful global forces that have never, ever forgiven the Zanu PF government for daring to embark upon the revolutionary land reform programme at the turn of the new millennium. That marked the genesis of most of our current political and socio-economic challenges.
“The Catholic Church is the richest religious organisation in the world and there is absolutely no prize for guessing why the movers and shakers of the regime change agenda would deliberately target some elements within the Catholic Church to be agents of their nefarious agenda. This is a classic example of the use of soft power to try to force regime change in Zimbabwe. That said, there’s need for the Government authorities in Zimbabwe to reach out not only to the Catholic church but indeed to all relevant stakeholders and seek to soberly and rationally put across their side of the story.
“As it is said, when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. The ordinary people’s interests should always be protected,” Mr Gutu said.
After the revelations or allegations that have been raised of possible corruption by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the Zesa crisis which saw the Zesa Executive Chair, Board, and the Minister of Energy and Power Development fire in a very short space of time, it would be appropriate if President Mnangagwa responded to the revelations or allegations. This would be appropriate for purposes of transparency.
I am at all implying that the President did or did not do what he is alleged to have done, and it is him and those involved who would know. The allegations which have real names of people given and positions to which they were appointed are given, names of businesses that benefited from the alleged USD$1.2 Billion deal that appears not to be above board mentioned, and some of the people behind the companies named, making it appear very real. President Mnangagwa must simply accept or deny the alleged customary marriage to Moline Mayahle, a confirmed member of the Zesa Board who got appointed to the Board after President Mnangagwa came into office.
Apart from the President explaining himself, those in the know should provide evidence to the Anti-Corruption Commission and to international investigators who can establish the truth
Ministry Of Finance permanent secretary George Guvamatanga has celebrated his and his family’s victory over coronavirus infection in style by hiring a private aircraft to fly the entire family to Victoria Falls.
Guvamatanga was infected by the virus which also spread to his wife, young children and household staff.
Doctors have now given Guvamatanga and his family the all clear – and the treasury secretary gave his family cheer by flying them to Victoria Falls.
Guvamatanga, however, did not travel with the family although he momentarily went into the aircraft to ensure his family was comfortable.
Guvamatanga – the government’s paymaster – has been in the eye of a storm after approving dubious payments running into millions of dollars to Drax International, a company linked to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s twin sons Collins and Shaun. The company was awarded tenders worth over US$60 million to supply drugs and medical devices to the health ministry without going to tender.
Obadiah Moyo was arrested and sacked as health minister over the scandal exposed by ZimLive. Four executives of the state-owned drugs firm NatPharm were also arrested, but no action was taken against Guvamatanga who maintains that the task of doing due diligence on suppliers fell on the health ministry.
Zimbabwean human rights activist Jestina Mukoko arrives at a magistrate’s court in Harare on December 24, 2008.
ZPP is deeply concerned with the response by the govt of ZW through the Information minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, to the Pastoral Letter by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishop’s Conference (ZCBC) entitled ‘The March has not ended”.
The letter, among other issues, denounced the human rights breaches by government. Several human rights actors have faced harassment, arbitrary arrests, abduction and torture, particularly since the onset of the COVID-19 induced national lockdown.
The letter also noted how past, unresolved hurts such as Gukurahundi and the current unprecedented corruption levels are contributing to the frustrations of the citizenry.
It is unfortunate that, instead of self introspecting and at least engaging the clergy to deliberate on the issues raised, the government chose to target and launch a tribal attack on the Archbishop, Robert Christopher Ndlovu, accusing him of being evil-minded and misguided.
Such attacks are concerning, particularly in an environment where dissenting voices have n abducted or arrested. All the ZCBC has done is, like every other institution that seeks to see values of democracy being implemented, reach out to the govt with the hope for a better ZW
The hate language and vilification by the government only serve to further increase tensions and are a clear disrespect of Sections 60 and 61 of the Zimbabwe Constitution that provide for Freedom of Conscience and Freedom of Expression respectively.
In the last few weeks, many institutions, among them, the @_AfricanUnion, @UN SG, the chairperson of the African Comm for Human & People’s Rights have voiced concern about the events unfolding in the country. @CyrilRamaphosa has also dispatched envoys to Harare on same issues.
ZPP, whose vision is a Zimbabwe where there is Peace, Justice, Dignity and Development stands in firm solidarity with the ZCBC and all signatories to the Pastoral Letter, who called for the much-needed inclusivity, when they noted that “it feels as though the poor have no one to defend them. They don’t seem to feature on the national agenda. Their cries for an improved health system go unheeded. Their plea for a transport system that meets their transport blues are met with promises & promises and no action”
“…the only time we see real action is when our leaders are jostling for power, to secure it or to ascend to offices of power…”
It is regrettable that the church, where citizens have always found refuge during turmoil is attacked for calling out govt on widespread corruption, the health delivery that has become a death trap and an economy that has seen the majority of people sink deeper into poverty.
It is important for the govt to be cognisant of their obligation to respect the rights of its citizens & protect them as per Constitution & other instruments that include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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Prison Officers Ignoring Court Order – Chin’ono’s Lawyers
File Photo: Police Britality
Mnangagwa And Mugabe Are Just Two Sides Of The Same Coin – Bhebhe
ZIMBABWE Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) executive director Roselyn Hanzi
FULL TEXT: Human Rights Lawyers’ Statement On The Savage Attack Of Catholic Bishops By Govt
We, like ZCBC, simply ask government to do the right thing, return to constitutionalism and uphold the rule of law. ZPP calls for: The govt to acknowledge that the country is facing a crisis which, if left unattended, threatens to spiral out of control impacting the generality of citizens. Continued denial of a crisis that is there for all to see is not going to make it disappear.
ZPP further calls for: The government to realise that human rights are neither given at the benevolence of the government nor are they a privilege. Govt to retract their hate statement & properly engage with the ZCBC, the church at large and all Zimbabweans in dialogue
Lastly, ZPP asks government to stop fanning divisions among citizens through use of hate language
THE Air Zimbabwe flight that left Guangzhou, China on Saturday night on another repatriation mission is expected to touch down at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport this morning with 132 passengers.
The Air Zimbabwe Boeing 767-200ER is set to arrive at 9.30am carrying 131 adults and an infant.
Most of the passengers are Zimbabwean students who were stranded in China.
Air Zimbabwe spokesperson Ms Firstme Vitori last night confirmed that the flight was on its way back to Harare, but could not reveal the exact time of arrival.
“I can confirm that the flight is on its way, but I will only know the arrival time when it lands in Johannesburg,” she said.
Ms Vitori said the flight was carrying both Zimbabwean and South African citizens.
The students had been holed up in China following the Covid-19 lockdown and the subsequent cancellation worldwide, of most commercial flights.
Parents had been asked to pay at least US$1 000 each to bring back the students on the chartered flight.
Air Zimbabwe had hoped that the outbound leg of the flight would be taken by locally-based Chinese who are being repatriated back home.
However, the Chinese Embassy is understood to have made alternative arrangements.
For a while, the students appeared destined for a continued life of desperation and hunger as Air Zimbabwe said they could not afford flying an empty plane to China.
However, Government stepped in and a happy ending starts today when the students return home and are quarantined.
Experts say Air Zimbabwe has done incredibly well, operating the B767-200ER on repatriation charters even though the last flight lasted more than a month after the aircraft developed engine trouble in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) stands in solidarity with the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) on their call for peacebuilding, nation-building, eradication of corruption and the need for stability and good governance.
Through a pastoral letter dated 14 August, ZCBC called on the government to address challenges bedevilling the country. Major issues raised by the ZCBC, which the Forum agrees with, include the need to deal with corruption, impunity, cycles of violence, economic challenges and the need for peacebuilding given rampant episodes of mass human rights violations including Gukurahundi.
The Forum is however shocked with the attacks against the ZCBC by the government through the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Publicity Mr Nick Mangwana’s statement published in the Herald of 15 August and the statement released by the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Senator Monica Mutsvangwa on 15 August 2020. It is surprising that high-level government employees take time to vent against the church for addressing issues that are already in the public domain and known by all citizens. In his statement, Mr Mangwana professed ignorance to the obvious human rights and socio-economic crisis fueled by the unresolved past injustices clearly indicated by the ZCBC in their statement. Similarly, Senator Mutsvangwa went out guns blazing labelling the good-willed ZCBC as purveyors of violence. Rather, the statement by the ZCBC clearly called for peace, constitutionalism and respect for human rights.
The Forum would like to draw the attention of Mr Mangwana and Senator Mutsvangwa to our Bill of Rights particularly sections 60 on freedom of conscience and section 61 on freedom of expression. The statements issued by Mr Mangwana and Senator Mutsvangwa directly infringe the enjoyment of these constitutionally given rights. The Forum also directs the attention of the government on the importance of the church in advocating for social justice. The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) and other catholic related organs were at the forefront of denouncing human rights violations before independence. Silencing the church to speak up against injustices is deplorable, unwarranted and a betrayal of the people’s revolution against autocracy and mass human rights violations which started during the liberation struggle.
The Forum reiterates its unwavering solidarity with the ZCBC.
The Forum, therefore, calls upon the government to;
Respect freedom of expression, association and human rights’
Show tolerance of divergent views and accept constructive criticism;
Accept that we are in a crisis and work towards genuine concerns raised by the ZCBC rather than distorting history calculated specifically to discredit the ZCBC.
Like the ZCBC, the Forum reminds the government and citizens that The March is not Ended.
The death toll from Covid-19 in Zimbabwe reached 132 yesterday with two more deaths, one in Bulawayo and one in Manicaland.
With another 85 confirmed infections, the total of confirmed cases has reached 5 261, although of these 2 092 have recovered with a large extra block of Harare recoveries expected to be in the statistics from tomorrow, according to the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
Harare remains the source for the largest number of infections with 2 035 cases and 71 deaths.
Bulawayo comes in with 1 204 infections and 27 deaths, with Manicaland at 308 cases and 14 deaths and Midlands with 483 cases and six deaths.
South Africa now has 11 677 deaths from 683 653 cases, but with 466 941 confirmed recoveries with infection and death rates now falling and just over 100 000 active cases.
Globally, the death toll has reached 771 518 from 21 480 111 cases, although experts agree that the number of cases is significantly higher while accepting the general accuracy of the death toll.
To : Chief Staff Officer Operations
: Chief Staff Officer Crime
From : Officer Commanding Police Mash Central Province
Dated : 15 August 2020
Subject : ARREST OF MEMBERS AT BATANAI ROADBLOCK SITE, BINDURA
1. On 15 August 2020 at about 1530 hours and at Batanai Roadblock along Bindura- Harare Road, Number 056010E Sgt Majatandare and Number 070135H Detective Constable Chigumira were arrested for Contravening Paragraph 35 of the schedule to the Police Act as read with section 29 and 34 of the said Act Chapter 11:10 by a team comprising of Superintendent Mumanyi [Bindura District Superintended Crime and operations], Number 045946Q Chief Inspector Chimano [Acting Provincial Police Intelligence Officer ] and Number 046003C Inspector Gwati [Z.R.P Bindura Police District Intelligence Officer].
2. On the above mentioned date and time, Bindura District received a complaint of corruption by Police Officers manning Batanai Road, Bindura. Acting upon the complaint, a team led by Superintendent Mumanyi was dispatched to check on the activities of Police officers manning the roadblock. Upon arrival the team noticed that the roadblock was manned by number 056010E Sgt Majatandare, Number 070135H Detective Constable Chigumira, Number 988253M Cst Muchekeche , Number 989334 M Cst Muchengeti and Corporal Chigwara of Zimbabwe National Army[ZNA]. Searches were carried out on all members who were manning the roadblock and were found only with the money they had declared upon commencing of their duty and recorded in the Roadblock Occurrence Book.
3. While at the roadblock, the team observed a black jacket which was placed on a chair behind a tree within vicinity of the roadblock site. C/Insp Chimano asked Member in Charge roadblock Sgt Majatandare the owner of the jacket in the presence of Superintendent Mumanyi and other roadblock team members. Sgt Majatandare told C/Insp Chimano that the jacket belonged to Detective Constable Chigumira who was part of the roadblock team and in turn D/C Chigumira acknowledged the ownership of the jacket. D/C Chigumira was asked on how much money was in the jacket and he said that he was not aware.
4. C/Insp Chimano searched the jacket and observed that, the right hand pocket of the jacket contained US$18 with the denominations and serial number on annexure 1 attached.
5. The jacket also contained ZWL $247-00 with the denominations and serial number on annexure 2 attached.
6. The roadblock registers were checked and observed that the money in the jacket was not declared. The money was mixed up in the pocket and had no proper sequential arrangement an indication that there was no proper counting when the money was placed in the jacket pocket.
7. The accused persons are in police custody awaiting court appearance. The money and jacket held as exhibits were handed over to Officer in Charge Bindura Central as Exhibit. Bindura Central Exhibit book Number 63/20.
Several organizations, including the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), have expressed support for Catholic bishops, who are accusing President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government of serious human rights violations.
In a statement, the ZLHR said, “There can be no justification of this vilification of the clergymen and this anti-Catholic scorn because for the Bishops, speaking out against transgressions is their moral obligation.
“As ZLHR, we are greatly concerned that the intolerance of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government on dissent and criticism is becoming more despicable every passing day and we should realise that it is the manifestation of President Mnangagwa’s and his followers’ fear on the people’s legitimate dissatisfaction from a leader who claimed and promised to be a ‘listening’ president which is equally growing. We have noted that in 2020 while the vilifiers and the vilified are different, the script is the same.”
The ZLHR further said, “The incendiary statements by government are aimed at inflicting shame on clergymen and to vilify their struggles that spring from righteous causes.”
“As clergymen, said the ZLHR, the Catholic Bishops must not abdicate “their sacred mandate as shepherds to whom the Lord has entrusted his flock and no amount of vilification, intimidation or threats should make them give up their critical role, especially that of giving voice to the voiceless.
Being Bishops or clergymen does not divest them of their civil and political rights to free speech, because they are still citizens of Zimbabwe and have the inalienable right to speak about the government’s shortcomings.
“ZLHR urges the Catholic Bishops to have faith and take heart as they have long championed people’s rights and freedoms for several decades. To the Catholic Bishops, always bear in mind the biblical verse in 1 Peter 5:8, which reads; ‘Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour’.”
The ZLHR urged the government to “its intemperate and inflammatory statement and urges it to embrace constructive criticism and the principles of good governance.”
In a pastoral letter, Catholic bishops said, “Zimbabwe is in a “a multi-layered crisis of the convergence of economic collapse, deepening poverty, food insecurity, corruption and human rights abuses.
“… Fear runs down the spines of many of our people today. The crackdown on dissent is unprecedented … Our government automatically labels anyone thinking differently as an enemy of the country: that is an abuse.”
The pastoral letter, signed by ZCBC president Archbishop Charles Ndlovu, Archbishop Alex Thomas (ZCBC deputy president), and bishops Paul Horan (ZCBC secretary and treasurer), Michael Bhasera (Masvingo), Albert Serrano (Hwange), Rudolf Nyandoro (Gokwe) and Raymond Mupandasekwa (Chinhoyi).
Reacting to these sentiments, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa dismissed their remarks, saying they are ill-informed and designed to cause anarchy in Zimbabwe.
Mutsvangwa said, “The Government of Zimbabwe calls upon the Catholic congregation to ignore the specious pastoral letter. Bishop Christopher Ndlovu is leading a coterie of Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops along the wrong path of bygone petty tribalism, narrow regionalism and the debunked and defeated racial antagonism.
“Its evil message reeks with all the vices that have perennially hobbled the progress of Africa. It trumpets petty tribal feuds and narrow regionalist agendas … That he (Archbishop Ndlovu) hopes to sow seeds of internecine strife as a prelude to civil war and national disintegration.”
ZANU PF Central Committee member Justice Zvandasara is under investigation for allegedly purchasing land earmarked for the construction of party offices in Harare and leasing it to a local bank without permission from the ruling party.
Zvandasara is suspected to have connived with four others to fraudulently buy and lease out 8 000 square meters that had been set aside for party offices in Pomona.
The property, known as Lot 55 Pomona Estate or 8 Campbell Road, Pomona was purchased by a private company, Pebney (Pvt) Ltd, from the City of Harare.
It is alleged that Zvandasara and his accomplices Lameck Taruhwa, George Mashavave and two others purchased the property that was being used as district party offices by Zanu PF Borrowdale District since 1990.
It is understood the party had a right of first refusal over the property.
Zvandasara allegedly went on to lease the land in question to CBZ Bank for US$26 000 which was paid into one Fungai Chiboora’s account.
The case was reported under CR 503/07/2020 — CCD DR55/07 with Zvandasara and his accomplices now facing fraud charges.
National Police Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the case, but could not give details.
“I can confirm that the matter was reported to police. We we will avail more information once investigations are complete. We are still on the ground doing the necessary enquiries,” he said.
Zanu PF Harare Provincial chairperson Oliver Chidau said the matter was still to be formally brought to his attention.
“The matter is still being handled at district level. As a province, we are still to receive a report pertaining to the matter. I will give a response once I have been formally informed of the matter and we will also handle it from there,” he said.
By A Correspondent | Presidential Advisor Christopher Mutsvangwa has said his boss Emmerson Mnangagwa cannot be corrupt because he set up an anti-corruption commission.
Speaking to the state broadcaster, ZBC, Mutsvangwa said Mnangagwa cannot be accused of corruption because he has fulfilled the constitution by setting up the Zimbabwe anti-corruption commission, ZACC. The organisation is led by Justice Loice Matanda Moyo whose husband, Sibusiso Moyo has been named in a USD1,2 billion scandal allegation that torched storm at the weekend as the reason why Mnangagwa has fired Energy Minister Fortune Chasi.
Her organisation was still to comment on the allegations at the time of writing.
Recently describing the same commission, Mnangagwa personally, and somewhat unwittingly described the organisation as a “new corruption,” which he set up to investigate corruption crimes.
Meanwhile, speaking to the ZBC, Mutsvangwa criticised the 31 July movement which is against corruption. He said,
“Surprisingly those who were behind 31 July didn’t want sanctions they instead invoked The Bogey of corruption, as a reason for people to go into the street and they wanted some how to attach the tag of corruption to the head of state of the country when it is clear that he is the first one who has set up an @ZACConline , as the constitution requires. He has fired ministers including as recently as yesterday because of the tag, because of the stigma of corruption, it has never happened in this country…
“So here is a man who is cleaning the mess, who is moving down the main street, cleaning the sewage, he is now being accused of being the one who is corrupt now that’s where this whole thing was supposed to lead to regime change and removal of the president…” VIDEO:
"Surprisingly those who were behind 31 July didn't want sanctions they instead invoked The Bogey of corruption, as a reason for people to go into the street and they wanted some how to attach the tag of corruption to the head of state of the country …. https://t.co/PJBE7YkERF
"when it is clear that he is the first one who has set up an @ZACConline , as the constitution requires. He has fired ministers including as recently as yesterday because of the tag, because of the stigma of corruption, it has never happened in this country…
"So here is a man who is cleaning the mess, who is moving down the main street, cleaning the sewage, he is now being accused of being the one who is corrupt now that's where this whole thing was supposed to lead to regime change and removal of the president…"
Farai Dziva|President Nelson Chamisa has denounced the persecution of ordinary Zimbabweans by Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s “paranoid” administration.
The MDC Alliance leader, quoted by NewsDay bemoaned the deepening political crisis in the country.
“We are uncompromising, principled and relentless for real change. As a people, we have seen the worst of our times but we are getting over it soon.
We are focused and on course. We have seen the worst because our people are homeless, no opportunities, no food, no business; politics is at its worst with extreme and advance human rights abuses.
Children are dying in hospitals, curable diseases are killing people.
People are being beaten up every day and I am receiving reports that people are being pursued as if they are common criminals.
There cannot be a free Zimbabwe when people can’t walk free, having State agents breaking into their homes. It cannot be a free Zimbabwe when belonging to an alternative party attracts detention and arrest.”
President Chamisa also accused Zanu PF of attempting to annihilate genuine opposition.
“They have been fighting us as the MDC Alliance. They are trying to take away the people’s party and its name, the people’s headquarters, the MPs, financial resources allocated to us on account of the voters.
Anything they see they are taking away. They want to take everything, but Zimbabwean lives matter. We are the way to the future, the only. It is not as if we don’t know what we are doing.
What we don’t want is to play a game with predetermined results. We don’t want a question with a predetermined answer.
No one fights a weak opponent. They are resorting to hair raising terror against citizens,” President Chamisa told the publication.
By A Correspondent-Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University (ZEGU) employees, an institution run by the ZAOGA have gone for months without any salaries.
The ZAOGA run university, is named after the church’s founding father Ezekiel Handinawangu Guti. It is also his personal property.
Last month, Guti hit the headlines after his name appeared as one of the beneficiaries of the controversial farm mechanisation scheme where he reportedly pocketed US$116 693.00.
Together with several other women and men of the cloth including Nolbert Kunonga, Rutendo Wutawunashe, Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi, Guti never repaid the money, the burden of which was later offloaded to tax payers.
Said an employee at the university who spoke on condition of anonymity:
“Yes it is true that we have gone for two full months without getting salaries. We have not been told why. No one, including the Human resources department has given the employees any explanation as to why we havent received salaries.
Our worry is that while the salary issue is there, the biggest problem is that we are expected to use our own finances to further university business in this difficult time.
We are now being subjected to a forced contribution of not only our services as labourers, but also our finances.
As if thats not enough, the level of victimisation and threats for just asking this salary is too much to bear hence no one has ever asked this question.
We have been reduced into slaves to say the least. I won’t get into details as to the amount that we are getting as salaries. It’s undoubtedly worse than peanuts and we have been promised a review which has never materialised.”
ZimEye is waiting for correspondence from the ZEGU regards the issue.
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Gun attacks happening at N Richards Msasa, GMB turnoff, Harare- 2 people shot dead in the last 2 days, the Passengers Association Of Zimbabwe reports saying. pic.twitter.com/cn4juD9UIK
Farai Dziva|President Nelson Chamisa has denounced the persecution of ordinary Zimbabweans by Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s “paranoid” administration.
The MDC Alliance leader, quoted by NewsDay bemoaned the deepening political crisis in the country.
“We are uncompromising, principled and relentless for real change. As a people, we have seen the worst of our times but we are getting over it soon.
We are focused and on course. We have seen the worst because our people are homeless, no opportunities, no food, no business; politics is at its worst with extreme and advance human rights abuses.
Children are dying in hospitals, curable diseases are killing people.
People are being beaten up every day and I am receiving reports that people are being pursued as if they are common criminals.
There cannot be a free Zimbabwe when people can’t walk free, having State agents breaking into their homes. It cannot be a free Zimbabwe when belonging to an alternative party attracts detention and arrest.”
President Chamisa also accused Zanu PF of attempting to annihilate genuine opposition.
“They have been fighting us as the MDC Alliance. They are trying to take away the people’s party and its name, the people’s headquarters, the MPs, financial resources allocated to us on account of the voters.
Anything they see they are taking away. They want to take everything, but Zimbabwean lives matter. We are the way to the future, the only. It is not as if we don’t know what we are doing.
What we don’t want is to play a game with predetermined results. We don’t want a question with a predetermined answer.
No one fights a weak opponent. They are resorting to hair raising terror against citizens,” President Chamisa told the publication.
"Surprisingly those who were behind 31 July didn't want sanctions they instead invoked The Bogey of corruption, as a reason for people to go into the street and they wanted some how to attach the tag of corruption to the head of state of the country …. https://t.co/PJBE7YkERF
"when it is clear that he is the first one who has set up an @ZACConline , as the constitution requires. He has fired ministers including as recently as yesterday because of the tag, because of the stigma of corruption, it has never happened in this country…
"So here is a man who is cleaning the mess, who is moving down the main street, cleaning the sewage, he is now being accused of being the one who is corrupt now that's where this whole thing was supposed to lead to regime change and removal of the president…"
Which Way Forward For the Education System in Zimbabwe
15 August 2020
After the heroic resistance by progressive teacher-unions to the reopening of schools without due consideration of the health, safety and welfare of pupils and teachers, the government now seem to have adopted a wait and see approach over the issue of reopening of schools.
Rather than taking a pro-active role in preparing for reopening of schools, the government in general and Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in particular, have taken a lackadaisical approach to the crucial issue of opening of schools.
As Ptuz we have no regrets for the crucial and national role we played in resisting the reopening of schools. As much as we were blamed by some politicians and yellow unions, history has absolved us.
Takavafira Zhou
It is becoming more clear that chances of opening schools this year are far fetched and remote. But even if schools are to open next year, there is a need for preparation towards that, let alone clarity over the 2020 academic year.
Our humble submission is that this is the time for the Ministry to make meaningful engagement with teacher unions in order to map an agreeable possible way forward. The health, safety and welfare of teachers and pupils remain crucial issues to be addressed before schools can open, yet nothing towards this is seriously considered by the government and line Ministry.
There are no clear plans to assist pupils other than homelitic bellicose and rhetoric of radio and television lessons. While the efficacy of such lessons is certainly undoubted, we wonder how this would become a reality in a country where 75 to 80 percent of areas have no television and radio frequencies.
Our sober reflection is that
the country cannot afford to cancel the 2020 academic year even if schools open in January next year. Rather, pupils must be given an opportunity to learn for two to three months before they can write end of 2020 academic year exams.
This can be followed by a 2021 academic year divided into two-three months learning terms and ensure that by end of 2021 we have rectified learning challenges emanating from COVID-19 related closure of schools.
Any other options could give permanent challenges to the education sector. There are those who argue for the cancellation of 2020 academic year.
This would entail that there would be too many students for ECD and grade 1 classes in 2021 as the current pupils would be joined by other pupils in 2021 thereby posing infrastructural challenges. Such students will create permanent challenges every year, and after Grade 7, will create challenges associated with form 1 enrolment.
It is our hope that the govt will learn from history and avoid the challenges faced during the early 1970s when both standard 5 and standard 6 were integrated and allowed to write end of primary education examinations without creating room for expansion and absorption of such pupils for form 1. Consequently, several pupils found themselves out of school.
It is also worrisome that the government is silent about the recently generated discrepancies between teachers’ salaries and other sectors in government.
With a salary ranging from $3800 to $4200 (inclusive of allowances) all teachers have tested positive to poverty and are always scavenging for food.
It is callous for government to ignore the plight of teachers at a time it is pampering other sectors with less qualifications, years of experience and responsibilities with salaries that are 5 times that of teachers.
Government need to invest in quality public education and restore the purchasing power parity of the salary of teachers that was pegged at US$550 in October 2018.
Anything less than this is unacceptable, degrading and monumental labour injustice.
We have noted with concern how the government has used the moribund Apex Council for firefighting, romance and pulling cotton on the eyes of teachers. We, therefore, urge the government to do the most honourable thing by paying teachers US$550 that government unilaterally culled without teachers’ consent. Only well paid and motivated teachers living in safe environment can be dynamic and innovative even during covid-19 pandemic and find acceptable and safe ways to assist their pupils.
To all teachers, the time to unite and fight for an improvement of salaries and conditions of service is now. The time to see that Apex Council is a liability rather than an asset is now. This is a struggle that need everyone, male and female, tall and short, head and simple teacher. We either have to unite as professionals or else we will perish as fools.
By and large, the current parlous state of the education system is unenviable. Indeed, it is the so-called new dispensation that has allowed the education system to degenerate into the terminal ward. The officials in the Ministry of education lack the vision and power to drive the education system to greater heights particularly during the covid-19 pandemic. The government is indifferent and urinating upon teachers and telling them it’s raining.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary solutions. As managers of the world’s greatest asset, viz, students, we implore the government to plan for a robust improvement of the education system and pay educators well. Failure to plan is planning to fail.
We will not stand idle by to witness cold and calculated educational vandalism. The time to plan for a credible education system is now.
The time to pay teachers well is now. Teachers are workers too and must never be treated as second class citizens of Zimbabwe. We are in essence a vital cog of societal and national development and deserve best treatment by the state in order to engineer a skills revolution and benchmarks towards Agenda 2030.
ZANU PF Central Committee member Justice Zvandasara is under investigation for allegedly purchasing land earmarked for the construction of party offices in Harare and leasing it to a local bank without permission from the ruling party.
Zvandasara is suspected to have connived with four others to fraudulently buy and lease out 8 000 square meters that had been set aside for party offices in Pomona.
The property, known as Lot 55 Pomona Estate or 8 Campbell Road, Pomona was purchased by a private company, Pebney (Pvt) Ltd, from the City of Harare.
It is alleged that Zvandasara and his accomplices Lameck Taruhwa, George Mashavave and two others purchased the property that was being used as district party offices by Zanu PF Borrowdale District since 1990.
It is understood the party had a right of first refusal over the property.
Zvandasara allegedly went on to lease the land in question to CBZ Bank for US$26 000 which was paid into one Fungai Chiboora’s account.
The case was reported under CR 503/07/2020 — CCD DR55/07 with Zvandasara and his accomplices now facing fraud charges.
National Police Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the case, but could not give details.
“I can confirm that the matter was reported to police. We we will avail more information once investigations are complete. We are still on the ground doing the necessary enquiries,” he said.
Zanu PF Harare Provincial chairperson Oliver Chidau said the matter was still to be formally brought to his attention.
“The matter is still being handled at district level. As a province, we are still to receive a report pertaining to the matter. I will give a response once I have been formally informed of the matter and we will also handle it from there,” he said. -Herald
Manchester City midfielder Kevin Debruyne has been crowned the English Premier League (EPL) player of the 2019-20 season.
The former Chelsea player beats Liverpool trio Jordan Henderson, Sadio Mane and Trent Alexander-Arnold Southampton striker Danny Ings, Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope and Leicester City’s Golden Boot winner Jamie Vardy to the annual award.
The Belgian international was the only Man City player to be nominated for the prize after they relinquished their Premier League title to Liverpool following two seasons as EPL champions.
Although City’s domestic campaign fell short of their previous lofty standards, De Bruyne enjoyed his most productive season since arriving in Manchester in 2015.
Kevin recorded 20 assists – equalling the league record set by Thierry Henry in 2003 and also scored 13 times to help City finish as the division’s highest scorers for the third successive season.
Meanwhile, Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp won the Premier League Manager of the Season ahead of Chelsea’s Frank Lampard, Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder and Leicester City’s Brendan Rodgers.- Sky Sports
GOVERNMENT regulations restricting business hours to between 8am and 3pm to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic are not in violation of the country’s laws, the High Court has ruled.
The ruling on Friday came after the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) challenged the legality of Statutory Instrument 174 of 2020 which compels businesses to close by 3pm.
The recent spike in confirmed coronavirus infections, prompted Government to impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew as part of a raft of measures to stop the spread of the lethal pandemic which has so far killed 132 people from 5 261 recorded cases.
Security forces are enforcing the curfew between 6pm and 6am while all non-working people are required to stay at home, except when they want to buy groceries or seek medical attention.
Only those providing essential services are allowed to work outside the stipulated hours.
Following the arrest of jpolitical activist Hopewell Chin’ono and opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume, lawyers representing the duo, Ms Beatrice Mtetwa and Moses Nkomo — both instructed by the ZLHR — could not persuade a Harare magistrate to continue hearing bail applications beyond 3pm.
Court officials said they were adhering to Government regulations on business hours.
This prompted the ZLHR to rush to the High Court, challenging the regulations, arguing this was unconstitutionally disadvantaging arrested persons.
In its lawsuit, ZLHR listed the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Minister of Health and Child Care as respondents.
They wanted Statutory Instrument 174 of 2020 not to limit the sitting of the magistrates’ court when dealing with initial bail applications and challenges to placement on remand.
But Justice Clement Phiri dismissed the application for interim relief sought, finding merit on the preliminary points raised by JSC lawyer Mr Addington Chinake of Kantor and Immerman.
Mr Chinake had argued that allegations against Chin’ono, Ngarivhume and Harare mayor Herbert Gomba mentioned in the ZLHR’s founding affidavit, were not properly before the High Court.
He said in the absence of any cogent and acceptable proof of the allegations made in the form of supporting affidavits, his client believed that the applicant’s case was speculative.
The allegations, he argued, were based on hearsay and conjecture and the JSC was of the view that the court could not grant the relief sought on the grounds of such speculative apprehension.
Mr Chinake also argued that the ZLHR’s seeking of a declaration of constitutional invalidity of the law on return date, was not proper at the interim stage.
After considering the preliminary points raised by Mr Chinake at the beginning of the legal proceedings, the judge found merit in the issues raised against the human rights lawyers.
“It is this court’s considered view that the applicant in this matter, has failed to take this court into its confidence and justify why this matter should be treated as urgent,” he said.
In that regard, ZLHR failed to prove a strong case that the regulations are unlawful hence the court was not in a firm position to grant the relief sought.
“Accordingly, the points in limine raised for and on behalf of the first respondent are upheld and the application for interim relief is hereby dismissed with costs,” said Justice Phiri.
In their urgent application, the ZLHR wanted an order compelling the respondents, in the interim, to put into place measures and facilities which ensure that the courts, when dealing with challenges to placement on remand and bail applications shall not be imperilled by the timelines set out under the Public Health (Covid-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown Amendment) Order 2020.
ZLHR director Ms Roselyn Hanzi had argued in her affidavit that in practice, once a bail application or challenge to placement on remand had commenced, it was supposed to be heard to finality before the court adjourned for the day.
She said bail matters had previously been granted or refused well after hours and times well into the evening. -Herald
Farai Dziva|In typical and predictable Zanu PF style, Information Minister Monica has released a lengthy statement attacking Catholic Bishops.
In her epistle loaded with offensive diction and circumlocution, Mutsvangwa accused the Catholic Bishops of Inciting civil unrest.
Read part of Mutsvangwa’s statement below:
As the GoZ, we vehemently object to and strongly condemn the Pastoral letter of Archbishop Christopher Ndlovu and his coterie of Catholics Bishop prelates.
Its evil message reeks with all the vices that have perennially hobbled the progress of Africa.
It trumpets petty tribal feuds and narrow regionalist agendas so that it can sow seeds of internecine strife as a prelude to national disintegration.
Below is the Catholic Bishops Letter:
The struggle in Zimbabwe, between those who think they have arrived and those on the march, has resulted in a multi-layered crisis of the convergence of economic collapse, deepening poverty, food insecurity, corruption and human rights abuses among other crises in urgent need of resolution
The call for demonstrations is the expression of growing frustration and aggravation caused by the conditions that the majority of Zimbabweans themselves are in. Suppression of people’s anger can only serve to deepen the crisis and take the nation into deeper crisis.
The voices of various governments, the European Union, the African Union and the United Nations on the desperate situation in Zimbabwe have not only confirmed the seriousness of human rights breaches by government agents but the need to rally behind #ZimbabweanLivesMatter.
Their failure to make broad consultations with the church and civic society at this most tempestuous time was most regrettable. Was this not an opportunity missed.
In the meantime, some of our people continue to live in hideouts, with some incarcerated, while others are on the run. Fear runs down the spine of many of our people today.
The crackdown on dissent is unprecedented. Is this the Zimbabwe we want? To have a different opinion does not mean to be an enemy,
It is precisely from the contrast of opinions that the light comes.
Our government automatically labels anyone thinking differently as an enemy of the country: That is an abuse. We want our politics to build a united nation and not to divide us, turning the military who ought to continue the memory of the late heroes against the people who fed them and clothed them and who gathered intelligence at great risk and saved many of our fighters from peril.
As your bishops, we feel that this described situation is true of Zimbabwe. It feels as though the poor have no one to defend them. They don’t seem to feature on the national agenda. Their cries for an improved health system go unheeded.
Their plea for a transport system that meets their transport blues are met with promises and more promises and no action.
The only time we see real action is when our leaders are jostling for power.
The clerics said while some fellow African countries were strengthening their democratic institutions, Zimbabwe was busy weakening
Refusal to listen to the people has led us to where we are today.-Catholic Bishops
Farai Dziva|In typical and predictable Zanu PF style, Information Minister Monica has released a lengthy statement attacking Catholic Bishops.
In her epistle loaded with offensive diction and circumlocution, Mutsvangwa accused the Catholic Bishops of Inciting civil unrest.
Read part of Mutsvangwa’s statement below:
As the GoZ, we vehemently object to and strongly condemn the Pastoral letter of Archbishop Christopher Ndlovu and his coterie of Catholics Bishop prelates.
Its evil message reeks with all the vices that have perennially hobbled the progress of Africa.
It trumpets petty tribal feuds and narrow regionalist agendas so that it can sow seeds of internecine strife as a prelude to national disintegration.
Below is the Catholic Bishops Letter:
The struggle in Zimbabwe, between those who think they have arrived and those on the march, has resulted in a multi-layered crisis of the convergence of economic collapse, deepening poverty, food insecurity, corruption and human rights abuses among other crises in urgent need of resolution
The call for demonstrations is the expression of growing frustration and aggravation caused by the conditions that the majority of Zimbabweans themselves are in. Suppression of people’s anger can only serve to deepen the crisis and take the nation into deeper crisis.
The voices of various governments, the European Union, the African Union and the United Nations on the desperate situation in Zimbabwe have not only confirmed the seriousness of human rights breaches by government agents but the need to rally behind #ZimbabweanLivesMatter.
Their failure to make broad consultations with the church and civic society at this most tempestuous time was most regrettable. Was this not an opportunity missed.
In the meantime, some of our people continue to live in hideouts, with some incarcerated, while others are on the run. Fear runs down the spine of many of our people today.
The crackdown on dissent is unprecedented. Is this the Zimbabwe we want? To have a different opinion does not mean to be an enemy,
It is precisely from the contrast of opinions that the light comes.
Our government automatically labels anyone thinking differently as an enemy of the country: That is an abuse. We want our politics to build a united nation and not to divide us, turning the military who ought to continue the memory of the late heroes against the people who fed them and clothed them and who gathered intelligence at great risk and saved many of our fighters from peril.
As your bishops, we feel that this described situation is true of Zimbabwe. It feels as though the poor have no one to defend them. They don’t seem to feature on the national agenda. Their cries for an improved health system go unheeded.
Their plea for a transport system that meets their transport blues are met with promises and more promises and no action.
The only time we see real action is when our leaders are jostling for power.
The clerics said while some fellow African countries were strengthening their democratic institutions, Zimbabwe was busy weakening
Refusal to listen to the people has led us to where we are today.-Catholic Bishops
By Hon Job Wiwa Sikhala
31st July Movement Spokesperson
We have read the tweet by Dr Alex Magaisa where he says the #31stJuly2020 hashtag was a leper to many political players; because of their opaque miscalculations that the mobilisation was doomed to fail. This was a narrative that was being sold in the political market by different players for different reasons. Some sold the narrative because they are the looting faction in ZANU PF. Some are the surrogates of the system and yet others peddled the doomsday line because they don’t have a plan to tackle the myriad of challenges we face today as a nation. Some imagined wrongly that this was a repeat of November 2017 where the military abuse the support of the people. Nothing can be further from the truth.
The doomsayers misunderstood the unshakable resolve of citizens in our country to unite and fight for a common purpose on issues that affect their lives and livelihoods on a daily basis.
Corruption stinks to everyone. Looting is abhored by everyone. Abductions, torture, violence against citizens and all forms of human rights abuses are hated to high heavens by everyone.
These are the issues that have rallied us together as citizens across the length and breadth of our country. Nothing brings more unity than issues that affect the generality of the people across the full spectrum of political interests. The concerns of citizens are beyond any individual cultism or political party interest.
Some of us can’t sacrifice living in the bushes, as we are doing, far away from our families whom we dont know where they are going to get the next meal, only to do so for selfish personal goals that are divorced from the needs of ordinary Zimbabweans. We don’t need anything except the freedom and happiness of all the people of Zimbabwe.
When those who initially shunned and even despised the #31July2020 Initiative crawl from their caves, after the world had spoken, we must not be ashamed of their appetite to be heard or to be part of the movement of the masses. Every Zimbabwean has a right to be heard and must thus be heard. That’s the essence of the 31st July Movement: to give every Zimbabwean a voice.
That’s why Zimbabweans spoke in unison. That’s why the world spoke in one chorus. From ordinary individuals, political leaders, celebrities, the African Union, South Africa, EFF, Julius Malema, Thuli Madonsela, Mmusi Maimane, Ian Khama, the United Nations Human Rights Council, professional bodies, churches(see the powerful pastoral letter by the Catholic Bishops) including the Vatican. We cannot list everyone here, save to say that every voice counted. That is the beauty of the voice of citizens.
Then you hear someone saying the #31July2020 was not a success or that citizens are being used. To us the citizens, it is exactly what we wanted to achieve, and it was therefore a resounding success. The ZimbabweanLivesMatter was born out of the #31July2020 success. It lives on and indeed do so until we, the citizens achieve our ultimate freedom.
Even countries in a war zone have never witnessed the deployment of the entire security services against the citizens like what was witnessed on 31st of July. No one remained in the barracks, camp or offices. Even as they roam around the street following illegal intructions from top, we know they and their families are also suffering under the weight of corruption, misgovernance and mismanagement. They were running allover the place, but they also want change. Thank you beautiful Zimbabweans.
Let me reassure you dear compatriots that our desire for a free and truly independent Zimbabwe has emboldened us. We are with you all the way to the true people’s victory. We want the people’s victory and that victory is coming.
Don’t be misled. Nobody will stop me from talking and speaking about the Zimbabwe we all want. That is the basic freedom I will die fighting for. So anyone dreaming of gagging me must take a nap and have another dream. Victory for our people is coming. No retreat, no surrender.
#FreeHopewellChinono
#FreeJacobNgarivhume
#FreeGodfreeKurauone
No to Corruption
No to Looting
No to Abductions
No to Torture
No to Violence Against the Citizens
No to All Forms of Human Rights Abuses
#FreeZimbabwe
#ZimbabweansLivesMattet.
#ZimbabweUnited
The struggle in Zimbabwe, between those who think they have arrived and those on the march, has resulted in a multi-layered crisis of the convergence of economic collapse, deepening poverty, food insecurity, corruption and human rights abuses among other crises in urgent need of resolution
The call for demonstrations is the expression of growing frustration and aggravation caused by the conditions that the majority of Zimbabweans themselves are in. Suppression of people’s anger can only serve to deepen the crisis and take the nation into deeper crisis.
The voices of various governments, the European Union, the African Union and the United Nations on the desperate situation in Zimbabwe have not only confirmed the seriousness of human rights breaches by government agents but the need to rally behind #ZimbabweanLivesMatter.
Their failure to make broad consultations with the church and civic society at this most tempestuous time was most regrettable. Was this not an opportunity missed.
In the meantime, some of our people continue to live in hideouts, with some incarcerated, while others are on the run. Fear runs down the spine of many of our people today.
The crackdown on dissent is unprecedented. Is this the Zimbabwe we want? To have a different opinion does not mean to be an enemy,
It is precisely from the contrast of opinions that the light comes.
Our government automatically labels anyone thinking differently as an enemy of the country: That is an abuse. We want our politics to build a united nation and not to divide us, turning the military who ought to continue the memory of the late heroes against the people who fed them and clothed them and who gathered intelligence at great risk and saved many of our fighters from peril.
As your bishops, we feel that this described situation is true of Zimbabwe. It feels as though the poor have no one to defend them. They don’t seem to feature on the national agenda. Their cries for an improved health system go unheeded.
Their plea for a transport system that meets their transport blues are met with promises and more promises and no action.
The only time we see real action is when our leaders are jostling for power.
The clerics said while some fellow African countries were strengthening their democratic institutions, Zimbabwe was busy weakening
Refusal to listen to the people has led us to where we are today.-Catholic Bishops
Which Way Forward For the Education System in Zimbabwe
15 August 2020
After the heroic resistance by progressive teacher-unions to the reopening of schools without due consideration of the health, safety and welfare of pupils and teachers, the government now seem to have adopted a wait and see approach over the issue of reopening of schools.
Rather than taking a pro-active role in preparing for reopening of schools, the government in general and Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in particular, have taken a lackadaisical approach to the crucial issue of opening of schools.
As Ptuz we have no regrets for the crucial and national role we played in resisting the reopening of schools. As much as we were blamed by some politicians and yellow unions, history has absolved us.
Takavafira Zhou
It is becoming more clear that chances of opening schools this year are far fetched and remote. But even if schools are to open next year, there is a need for preparation towards that, let alone clarity over the 2020 academic year.
Our humble submission is that this is the time for the Ministry to make meaningful engagement with teacher unions in order to map an agreeable possible way forward. The health, safety and welfare of teachers and pupils remain crucial issues to be addressed before schools can open, yet nothing towards this is seriously considered by the government and line Ministry.
There are no clear plans to assist pupils other than homelitic bellicose and rhetoric of radio and television lessons. While the efficacy of such lessons is certainly undoubted, we wonder how this would become a reality in a country where 75 to 80 percent of areas have no television and radio frequencies.
Our sober reflection is that
the country cannot afford to cancel the 2020 academic year even if schools open in January next year. Rather, pupils must be given an opportunity to learn for two to three months before they can write end of 2020 academic year exams.
This can be followed by a 2021 academic year divided into two-three months learning terms and ensure that by end of 2021 we have rectified learning challenges emanating from COVID-19 related closure of schools.
Any other options could give permanent challenges to the education sector. There are those who argue for the cancellation of 2020 academic year.
This would entail that there would be too many students for ECD and grade 1 classes in 2021 as the current pupils would be joined by other pupils in 2021 thereby posing infrastructural challenges. Such students will create permanent challenges every year, and after Grade 7, will create challenges associated with form 1 enrolment.
It is our hope that the govt will learn from history and avoid the challenges faced during the early 1970s when both standard 5 and standard 6 were integrated and allowed to write end of primary education examinations without creating room for expansion and absorption of such pupils for form 1. Consequently, several pupils found themselves out of school.
It is also worrisome that the government is silent about the recently generated discrepancies between teachers’ salaries and other sectors in government.
With a salary ranging from $3800 to $4200 (inclusive of allowances) all teachers have tested positive to poverty and are always scavenging for food.
It is callous for government to ignore the plight of teachers at a time it is pampering other sectors with less qualifications, years of experience and responsibilities with salaries that are 5 times that of teachers.
Government need to invest in quality public education and restore the purchasing power parity of the salary of teachers that was pegged at US$550 in October 2018.
Anything less than this is unacceptable, degrading and monumental labour injustice.
We have noted with concern how the government has used the moribund Apex Council for firefighting, romance and pulling cotton on the eyes of teachers. We, therefore, urge the government to do the most honourable thing by paying teachers US$550 that government unilaterally culled without teachers’ consent. Only well paid and motivated teachers living in safe environment can be dynamic and innovative even during covid-19 pandemic and find acceptable and safe ways to assist their pupils.
To all teachers, the time to unite and fight for an improvement of salaries and conditions of service is now. The time to see that Apex Council is a liability rather than an asset is now. This is a struggle that need everyone, male and female, tall and short, head and simple teacher. We either have to unite as professionals or else we will perish as fools.
By and large, the current parlous state of the education system is unenviable. Indeed, it is the so-called new dispensation that has allowed the education system to degenerate into the terminal ward. The officials in the Ministry of education lack the vision and power to drive the education system to greater heights particularly during the covid-19 pandemic. The government is indifferent and urinating upon teachers and telling them it’s raining.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary solutions. As managers of the world’s greatest asset, viz, students, we implore the government to plan for a robust improvement of the education system and pay educators well. Failure to plan is planning to fail.
We will not stand idle by to witness cold and calculated educational vandalism. The time to plan for a credible education system is now.
The time to pay teachers well is now. Teachers are workers too and must never be treated as second class citizens of Zimbabwe. We are in essence a vital cog of societal and national development and deserve best treatment by the state in order to engineer a skills revolution and benchmarks towards Agenda 2030.
THERE was a time when Olympic Lyon striker Tino Kadewere used to play barefoot at Highfield Academy in Harare, until his brother Prince bought him his first pair of football boots.
Tino still remembers well that pair of Diadora boots.
There was also a time when Tino’s favourite shirt number was 14, especially when he was still playing for Zimbabwe’s international youth teams — the Under-17 and Under-20 squads.
Three-time Ballon d’Or winner and Dutch football legend Hendrik Johannes Cruyff, popularly known as Johan Cruyff, is the greatest player in the history of the game to wear the number 14 shirt.
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry also used to wear the same jersey number when he was still a Gunners player.
But Tino was inspired to wear that number 14 jersey by his brother Prince, who used to don the same jersey number when he was still a star player at now-defunct sides Monomotapa and Air Zimbabwe Jets.
Sadly, Prince is gone and Tino, who now wears jersey number 24 at Lyon, is a devastated young man.
Coach Pipi, as Prince was affectionately known, died after a short illness at a medical facility in Harare on Wednesday at the age of 40.
At the time of his death, Prince was coaching Division Two side Highfield Youth Academy, a club that was founded by his late father, Onias.
Tino flew back into the country on Thursday afternoon and was part of the grieving Kadewere family members and relatives who attended Prince’s burial at Murombedzi in Zvimba yesterday, after Government gave him an exemption to leave quarantine on Friday.
After receiving the sad news from Lyon director Juninho’s phone, Tino was helped by his club to get an immediate flight — Ethiopian Airways plane — which arrived in Harare on Thursday afternoon.
He was sent into quarantine at Bronte Hotel before he was released on Friday.
The Warriors forward poured his heart out a few hours before Prince’s burial in Zvimba yesterday.
“This is another sad chapter in my life. I have lost a caring brother. I will miss him; it is not going to be easy.
“But I believe he is now an angel looking after me, sitting next to my late dad,” Tino told The Sunday Mail Sport.
Tino, who is settling well at French Ligue 1 giants Lyon, revealed how his fledging football career was inspired by his late brother Prince.
“My first pair of football boots, I got them from Pipi when I was still at Highfield Academy. Before that I used to play barefooted.
“I chose to wear jersey number 14 at the Academy, at Prince Edward High School, with the Under-17 and Under-20 national teams because that was the same jersey number worn by my brother Prince.
“When I went to Sweden, Pipi helped me a lot as he would help me with some drills whenever I came back home.
“To be honest with you, I never really got to watch Prosper, our eldest brother, but I watched Prince play for Monomotapa and Air Zim jets.
“Everyone knows how good Pipi was as a player and I always wanted to be like him.”
Tino also revealed how he managed to immediately secure a flight back to Zimbabwe, given the prevailing coronavirus situation through which flights, especially those into Southern Africa, are limited.
“Ethiopian Airways was the only flight available and my club played a crucial
role in helping me secure the flight on the same day I got news of my brother’s death.
“Olympic Lyon sent their condolences to the family.
They wrote some e-mails to the Zimbabwean football authorities to help me get an exemption to attend my brother’s burial.-The Sunday Mail
Farai Dziva| The reasons why Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa abruptly fired Fortune Chasi, have been revealed following a ZimEye leak in November last year.
On the 21st November 2019, ZimEye revealed that the then ZESA boss Sydney Gata and Mnangagwa are close relatives.
“ED and Sydney Gata married the Mayahle sisters of Chipinge. Gata left Ntombana Regina Mugabe for Angeline and ED married Molline,” part of the leak read.
The leak has since been developed by the exiled Prof Jonathan Moyo who says Chasi was sacked for attempting to reverse a deal that was fraudulently crafted by SB Moyo and Mnangagwa to loot State cash.
Mnangagwa and (Foreign affairs Minister) Sibusiso Moyo allegedly stole USD $ 1,2 disguised as a state loan from SOTIC International.
See Prof Moyo’s argument :
In May 2019 Mnangagwa & SB Moyo stole USD 1,2 billion disguised as a State loan from SOTIC INTERNATIONAL, fronted by Kuda Tagwirei. The theft was structured by SB, using NOIC assets as mortgage. Chasi found out, tried to reverse it & got fired yesterday.
So, @fortunechasi
was fired not because of #Zesa affairs but because his conduct in investigating & seeking to cancel the USD 1,2 billion SOTIC deal at NOIC is INCOMPATIBLE with Mnangagwa’s EXPECTATIONS as a beneficiary of the SOTIC deal along with SB Moyo & Kuda Tagwirei!
Criminally, the SOTIC USD 1,2 billion was structured by
@MinisterSBMoyo
, who got USD 12 million for “structuring it”; and it was sent to #NOIC after it had already been approved by
@edmnangagwa
,
@FinanceZim and
@ReserveBankZIM
; with USD 1,2 billion paid to PRIVATE ACCOUNTS!
Either bravely or naively, after his investigation,
@fortunechasi
sought an alternative to the SOTIC deal & negotiated it with GLENCORE. But no alternative was possible to implement; without costing SOTIC its USD 12 million a month or refunding the USD 1,2 billion advance!
Without having been briefed on the SOTIC Agreement & thus unaware of its architects & its beneficiaries,
@fortunechasi
got the deal investigated.
Chasi’s investigation found that the deal was comprehensively & shockingly detrimental to the national interest on every score!
When Chasi became Energy Minister, the USD 1,2 billion advance payment had been paid, all NOIC assets had been mortgaged as collateral for the advance payment, SOTIC was running NOIC & demanding only forex for the fuel; thus making it unaffordable to the majority of locals!
However, Chasi has claimed during his tenure as Energy Minister, he never caused any investigation into NOIC.
“I have seen a set of tweets Jonathan moyo suggesting that I caused an investigation into what he calls the SOTIC deal .
I have no knowledge of this deal nor did I cause the alleged investigation. I am not sure what the source of the investigation is nor the motive.”
Leader of the little known opposition party, LEAD, Linda Masarira has dumped her party to rejoin the Khupe led group MDCT.
The move by the vocal female politician is reported to have been influenced by Thokozani Khupe who wants Masarira to be part of the MDCT MPs and Senators team to replace MDC alliance MPs.
MDC Alliance has so far lost more than 15 seats in both parliament and Senate through recalling.
The 15 members to be replaced through nominations came as a result of Proportional Representation.
Some of the members who are on the list to replace MDC alliance PRs in parliament are Yvone Musarurwa, Bertha Mwonzora while Gift Chimanikire Will replace Gideon shoko for senatorial seat.
Masarira was previously with the MDCT as the party spokesperson before she formed her party LEAD after she was fired.
She was fired after her image putting on a ZANU PF regalia went viral on the internet.
The gesture was regarded to be in violation of the party’s principles. She defended her actions on deaf ears, leading to her expulsion from the party.
The Thokozani Khupe-led MDC-T has recommended the expulsion of five Bulawayo MDC Alliance (MDC-A) councillors for insubordination.
The five councillors are former Deputy Mayor, Tinashe Kambarami (Ward Three) who is already barred from office pending the outcome of a Supreme Court appeal on his legitimacy to be a councillor, Concillia Mlalazi (Ward 18), Alderman Earnest Rafamoyo (Ward 20), Councillor Tinevimbo Maphosa (Ward 21) and Ald Norman Hlabani (Ward 26).
MDC-T Bulawayo provincial secretary Nomvula Mguni wrote letters to Khupe and party’s acting secretary-general, Douglas Mwonzora requesting the recalling of the five.
She wrote:
The Bulawayo Province has decided to recall the councillors guided by the party’s constitution which state that every member shall have the duty to accept and conform to the constitution, policies, principles, rules and regulations of the party.
And also to conduct oneself in a manner which is not prejudicial to the interests of the party and in particular to adhere to the code of conduct of the party, to observe discipline, not engage in any form of violence, to behave honestly and carry out loyal decisions of the party.
In March, the Supreme Court ruled that when MDC Alliance leader Nelson became MDC-T president in 2018, he did so in violation of the party’s constitution, therefore, Khupe must assume the presidency albeit in an acting capacity pending an extraordinary congress.
Even though Chamisa and Khupe contested the 2018 elections as leaders of separate political formations, MDC-A and MDC-T respectively, Khupe has taken over Chamisa’s MPs and Councillors even though she lost heavily in the election.
Mine Workers in Marikana gathering for the commemoration at the site of the massacre.
JOHANNESBURG – Sunday marked exactly eight years since the mass shooting in Marikana by police, which left 34 mine workers dead and many have decried the lack of justice since then.
Miners at the North West platinum mine owned by Lonmin embarked on an unprotected strike over wages on 10 August 2012 which turned violent. Ten people were killed including miners, police officers and security guards.
On 16 August following a standoff with police, 34 miners were shot and killed.
Eight years ago, Lonmin mine workers started protesting over wages.
In the days leading up to the mass shooting on 16 August, 10 people were killed and the then North West Police Commissioner Zukiswa Mbombo called for the violence to end.
Cyril Ramaphosa, who was at the time a non-executive board member at Lonmin, called for concomitant action.
After days of staging a protest at the now infamous Koppie, police attempted to disperse the crowd.
But 34 miners were shot and killed on that day and the news made international headlines, mainly due to the police’s handling of the situation.
To this day, the families of the victims are still waiting for justice to be served.
The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (Seri) said the persistent failure to prosecute those responsible in the Marikana massacre has further fuelled police brutality in the country.
Seri’s Nomzamo Zondo said government’s failure to deliver any form of justice to the families has contributed to the country’s amnesia around the massacre.
“It is a moment of betrayal for them [miners] by the government. That moment has carried on in the past eight years as they’ve had to struggle to seek justice and the prosecution of those responsible.”
Zondo said while the families of the mineworkers continue to wait for justice, excessive use of force and brutality by the police persists.
“The lockdown showed us that the police are unaccountable as they were with the Marikana massacre.”
Several recommendations made by the Farlam Commission in 2018 into the killings are yet to be implemented.
THE Government has dismissed as patently false claims by exiled former Cabinet Minister, Professor Jonathan Moyo, that the National Oil and Infrastructure Company (NOIC) received a US1,2 billion loan from a foreign company, Sotic International.
Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Permanent Secretary Mr George Guvamatanga yesterday said no such deal was ever signed. Prof Moyo alleged that NOIC was forced to mortgage the national oil pipeline to secure the said loan. He claimed this was behind the decision to drop Fortune Chasi from his position as Minister of Energy and Power Development last week.
However, no such loan agreement was ever signed.
“The information is false. The value of the pipeline is US$300 million. Sotic could only lend money that it would have raised from its bankers, unless it had free cash flows.
“Which bank would lend you US$1,2 billion against security of an asset worth US$300 million? One of the critical tenets of lending is the purpose of the loan and the source of repayment.
“An international lender would not conduct adequate due diligence and lend a country $1,2 billion which will then be fraudulently diverted,” said Mr Guvamatanga.
Loans to Government are guided by the Public Debt Management Act, and any Government borrowing goes through a Debt Management Committee chaired by the Secretary for Finance with the Reserve Bank Governor and the Attorney-General being the other members of the committee.
“No loan would be captured in Government books if not approved by this committee. The approval then allows the loan to be captured into Government books for the purpose of repayment.
“It is not possible to record the loan if the loan proceeds have not been received and just like in the banks, there is also a process of front office, middle office and back office in the Public Debt Management Office,” said Mr Guvamatanga.
The system is foolproof and one could not just end up with a loan where the proceeds were never received and captured in the system. Mr Chasi himself dismissed Moyo’s claims and clarified that he never commissioned an investigation into any Sotic deal. No investigation was ever done on NOIC, he added.
“I have seen a set of tweets (by) Jonathan Moyo suggesting that I caused an investigation into what he calls the SOTIC deal. I have no knowledge of this deal nor did I cause the alleged investigation.
“In my entire tenure at the Ministry, I never caused any investigation or enquiry into anything at NOIC. I had no issues at that level.
“I must make it very very clear that I don’t habour any bitterness regarding my current position. I accept the decision to relieve me of my position as that is the President’s prerogative,” Mr Chasi tweeted.
Moyo’s latest claim is just one of several contradictory conspiracies that he has fed his followers over the last few days. On Friday, posting a screenshot of a WhatsApp message, Moyo claimed that Chasi had been fired after he “reportedly struck a deal with Glencore Industries, owners of Total”.
However, Glencore, a UK commodities company based in Switzerland, in fact does not own Total, a French oil firm. There is no relationship between the two firms.
Challenged on that lie, Prof Moyo admitted that his claims “don’t quite add up”. It was then that Moyo changed his story to Sotic. His frantic tweets came after it emerged that Moyo and other former G40 allies had written to the ANC, begging South Africa’s ruling party to help G40 remnants to be readmitted into ZANU PF. Only the revolutionary movement had the capacity to resolve any problems in Zimbabwe, the 5 July letter to the ANC said.
“We don’t believe that there is an alternative political formation in Zimbabwe which can address this crisis,” Moyo and Patrick Zhuwao said in the letter
Four MDC Alliance activists in Bulawayo have told harrowing tales of torture at the hands of suspected state security agents following their alleged abductions on suspicion that they were involved in the organisation of the July 31 protests against corruption.
Security forces ruthlessly put down the protests that were organised by Transform Zimbabwe leader Jacob Ngarivhume, who is now languishing at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. He was arrested on the eve of the protests on charges of plotting to overthrow President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.
A number of people were allegedly abducted throughout the country prior to July 31, while others were seized from their homes or went underground days after the set day of the protests, raising alarm across the globe.
Mnangagwa’s under fire government has been denying accusations by senior officials from South Africa’s ruling ANC and the African Union that there are gross human rights violations in Zimbabwe.
But the MDC Alliance says it has gathered testimonies from its members, who were allegedly tortured by suspected state security agents that accused them of being behind the July 31 protests.
Swithren Chirowodza, the party’s spokesperson in Bulawayo, said Takunda Madzana (MDC Alliance youth secretary for cadreship development), Otillia Sibanda (a former party official), Nyasha Masundire (a youth chairman) and Michael Mubasa (a senior MDC Alliance official) had blood cuddling stories to tell about their experiences after they were allegedly abducted.
“On July 26, 2020, between 11pm and 12 midnight, Madzana was abducted from his Magwegwe home by suspected state security agents and later dumped after horrendous torture, which among other diabolic acts included being immersed in and out of a pool of water. They also applied electric shocks on his feet,” Chirowodza claimed.
“The suspected state security agents also took US$50 from Madzana’s house.
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“Sibanda was abducted from her house in Bulawayo’s Sizinda Township between 7 and 8am on July 29, 2020.
“Assailants drove a Toyota Platz and a Honda Fit. She was tortured and later dumped along Plumtree Road near Mbokodo butchery.”
Chirowodza alleged that Masundire was abducted from his home in Sizinda at around 10pm, by three armed suspected state security agents on July 29.
“One of them wore military fatigues with a belt of bullets strapped over his shoulder, while two wore police uniforms,” he said.
“Masundire suspects that he was taken to a stream or river in Matabeleland North where they tortured him heavily while he was naked.
“Like Madzana, the torture included being immersed in and out of water.
“He was later dumped at the traffic lights in Nkulumane 12,” he said.
“The three armed suspected state security agents were accompanied by other assailants, who remained inside two vehicles that were parked outside Masundire’s house.
“Masundire is still receiving medical attention,” he said.
Chirowodza said Falanga — beating the soles of the feet with a blunt object — which was a common torture method during the Gukurahundi atrocities was used on some victims of the abductions.
He said this Falanga method was used on Remember Moyo, Sazini Ndlovu and other MDC cadres, who were falsely accused of killing war veteran Cain Nkala.
Chirowodza said Mubasa’s house in Bulawayo’s Sizinda suburb was attacked by about eight suspected state security agents armed with AK-47s at approximately 2am on August 2.
He said the assailants attempted to burn the house down and repeatedly called out Mubasa’s name when they failed to gain entry.
“Mubasa survived by threatening suicide by arson, if the assailants dared to enter his house.
“Mubasa has reported the case to the police despite their poor record in solving similar issues,” Chirowodza said.
He condemned the alleged abductions, intimidation, torture and arrests of MDC Alliance members, human rights activists, students and recent harassment of relatives of a journalist in Bulawayo by suspected state security agents.
Chirowodza also claimed to have escaped an abduction attempt when suspected state security agents pounced at his home and broke in at midnight on July 30.
To gain entry, the suspected state security agents, who brandished AK-47s, smashed the window to his 13-year-old daughter’s bedroom.
“They then broke the door to another bedroom, grabbed beverages, a black Samsung cellphone, a DSTV decoder, MDC party regalia, clothing and other valuable household items,” he said.
Chirowodza claimed the assailants told his daughter that they wanted to kill him.
He said the agents, wielding AK-47s, broke into the home of MDC Alliance Bulawayo youth assembly executive member, Josphat “Mzaca” Ngulube in the early hours of July 29.
“They threatened his family after failing to find Mzaca.
“Mzaca says they “took away documents, all the money in the house and my uncle’s bottle store stock.”
Ngulube said they took away R11 000 and US$800 from his home.
The former civil servant told Sabc last week that he had fled to South Africa as he feared for his life.
A fornight ago, his niece Noxolo Maphosa was allegedly abducted by unknown assailants, who tortured her in a bid to force her to reveal Ngulube’s whereabouts.
Chirowodza also said MDC Alliance’s Bulawayo women assembly provincial chairperson Tendai Masotsha was arrested on July 30 at about 12:23pm and was briefly detained at Bulawayo’s Central Police Station.
He said after her release from police custody at or about 7pm, Masotsha was allegedly abducted by suspected state security agents outside Bulawayo Central Police Station, tortured severely and later dumped at Four Winds Shopping Centre at or about 4am on July 31.
MDC Alliance’s Bulawayo Central MP Nicola Watson’s home was allegedly raided by suspected state agents on July 30.
“They demanded to have material to do with the July 31 peaceful protests and proceeded to search Watson’s home in her absence.
“Armed with a fake search warrant, they even broke into one of the servants’ cottages,” Chirowodza said.
“Suspected state security agents stoned MDC Alliance national youth secretary for informal sector and livelihoods and Bulawayo Ward 22 councillor, Rodney Jele’s house on Saturday August 1, at 12:45 am.
“They smashed all the windows and drove off after attempting to forcefully gain entry.
“Rodney Jele has since lodged a report with the police.”
Chirowodza also said MDC Alliance Bulawayo youth provincial secretary Pashor Sibanda reported that suspected state security agents attacked his Cowdray Park family home, broke the gate keys and used the butt of an AK-47 rifle to smash windows at or about 1am on August 2.
“Pashor says the assailants, threatened his family at gunpoint so that they would reveal my whereabouts,” he said.
“The shocked and confused occupants of the house screamed to draw the neighbours’ attention.
After Pashor’s mother shouted “thieves” the assailants jumped over the precast wall and ran away.
The stories echoed that of 22-year-old Tawanda Muchehiwa, who was abducted by suspected state security agents driving an unmarked vehicle in Bulawayo on July 30 in the afternoon.
“Several methods of torture were used on Tawanda,” Chirowodza said.
“Unable to walk, with bruises all over his back and on the buttocks, he was dumped three days later near his house in the early hours of August 2.”
Muchehiwa is a cousin of Zimlive editor Mduduzi Mathuthu, who was forced into hiding after police raided his Bulawayo home on the day of the abduction.
Police used a search warrant that claimed that Mathuthu, who was instrumental in exposing a scandal where the government entered into a US$60 million procurement contract with a shaddy company for the supply of materials to fight Covid-19, was involved in the production of subversive material.
According to reports, the scandal involving the company known as Drax International implicated one of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s children.
Chirowodza called on the government to protect the rights of citizens as enshrined in the constitution of Zimbabwe.
It seems CBZ’s latest systems is not going too well. This is something even the bank has been forced to admit as according to them, that upgrade has resulted in intermittent service. Of particular concern are some customers who have reported seeing zero balances in their accounts even though they had money before the upgrade. CBZ acknowledged this and said they expected this to be rectified once the upgrade was complete. If you are a CBZ customer just check your account to make sure everything is in order.
CUSTOMER NOTICE
To our Valued Customers,
We would like to thank you for your continued support and advise that we are in the process of refining the system as we finalize the upgrade. As a result, please bear with us for intermittent challenges being experienced transacting on our platforms. We are working flat out to resolve them. Thank you for your patience and we sincerely apologize for any inconveniences caused.
Customers report issues
According to some customers, CBZ swipe machines were not working as well. It’s not clear whether the issues have been resolved as businesses have already reported losing sales due to the glitches. Some reported failing to make payments using their accounts while others reported seeing strange debits on their accounts.
This calls to mind Ecocash’s famous shambolic upgrade last year. Some people have said this resulted in the mobile money wallet falling out of favour with the wider public resulting in the government neutering the service in a way that people never thought possible last month. The service expected people to defend it but people were fed up with the way the service was doing business. Steward bank also went through a similar phase.
To be fair despite issues. The CBZ upgrade has not gone anywhere nearly as bad as the above two examples. All the bank has to do is make sure it doesn’t spiral out of control.
Zimlive|Zimbabwe’s inflation was 837.53 percent year-on-year in July compared to 737.26 percent the previous month, state statistics body Zimstat said on Saturday.
On a monthly basis, prices increased by 35.53 percent compared to 31.66 percent in June.
Zimstat did not give a reason for the increase but the local currency, which was reintroduced in June last year without sufficient reserves to back it, has been relentlessly depreciating against the United States dollar.
Many Zimbabweans have seen their savings evaporate and still struggle to afford basic commodities such as sugar and the staple cornmeal, with corruption and poverty rife.
The figures were published shortly after a government statement was issued saying that President Emmerson Mnangagwa had implemented policies “that resulted in a robust economy” and had kept the country “commendably stable”, denying any crisis.
The government statement — published by the state-owned Herald newspaper — was a response to a letter by Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops on Friday that deplored a recent crackdown on dissent by Mnangagwa’s regime and a deepening crisis in the country.
Last month, the authorities banned protests planned by an opposition politician and deployed the army and riot police in huge numbers to quell them.
Opposition figure Jacob Ngarivhume, who had called for the July 31 protests against alleged state corruption and worsening economic troubles, was arrested 12 days ahead of the strike.
Journalist and documentary filmmaker Hopewell Chin’ono was also detained. They both remain in custody after being denied bail.
More than a dozen protesters, including award-winning author Tsitsi Dangarembga, were arrested on July 31 and later freed on bail. All have been charged with inciting public violence.
The bishops described the clampdown as “unprecedented” and weighed in on the ongoing crisis, which the government has repeatedly denied.
They said the “struggle in Zimbabwe” resulted “in a multi-layered crisis of the convergence of economic collapse, deepening poverty, food insecurity, corruption and human rights abuses”.
Government spokesman Nick Mangwana accused the bishops of joining the “bandwagon of individuals and entities” seeking to invent crises for political gains.
“Government reiterates that Zimbabwe, like most countries in the world is currently grappling with challenges attendant to illegal sanctions, drought and the coronavirus pandemic,” Mangwana said, quoted by The Herald. “There is no crisis, political or otherwise.”
The United States slapped sanctions on Zimbabwean businessman and political operator Kudakwashe Tagwirei days after the July 31 crackdown, calling him “notoriously corrupt”.
The sanctions were issued to commemorate the two-year anniversary of a violent army-led suppression of protests over alleged election fraud, in which at least six people were killed.
John Robert Lewis, an American politician and civil-rights leader, who saved in the United States House of Representatives, died recently. At his funeral, he was praised for recognising that the march for freedom is not ended even in the present time in which we live. This too is our challenge in Zimbabwe today between those who behest in a past and completed liberation and those who realize that the march is not ended. Peace-building and nation-building are never completed tasks. Every generation has to establish national cohesion and peace.
2 Current Events
The struggle in Zimbabwe. between those who think they haw arrived and those on the march has resulted in a multi-layered crisis of the convergence of economic collapse. deepening poverty. bead insecurity. corruption and human rights abuses among other crises in urgent need of resolution. The call for demonstrations is the expression of grossing frustration and aggravation caused by the conditions that the majority of Zimbabweans find themselves in. Suppression of people’s anger can only serve to deepen the crisis and take the nation into deeper crisis. This comes on the backdrop of unresolved past hurts like Gukurahundi, which continue to spawn even more angry new generations.
The voices of various governments, the European Union, the African Union and the UN on the desperate situation in Zimbabwe lose not only confirmed the seriousness of human rights breaches by government agents but they need to rally behind #Zimbabweanlisesmatter. Following the government crackdown on dissent after the 31′ of July demonstrations, we have also witnessed attempts by President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa to intervene by sending a special envoy. Their failure to make broad consultations with the Church and civic society at this most tempestuous time was most regrettable. Was this not an opportunity missed? In the meantime, some of our people continue to live in hideouts, with some incarcerated while others are on the run. Fear runs down the spine of many of our people today. The crackdown on dissent is unprecedented. Is this the Zimbabwe we want? To have a different opinion does not mean to be an enemy. It is precisely from the contrast of opinions that the light comes. Our Government automatically labels anyone thinking differently as an enemy of the country: that is an abuse.
3. Corruption
“… the ruler demands gills, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictates what they desire” Micah
7:3
The corruption in the country has reached alarming levels. Government and civic society are agreed that corruption is chocking the economy and compromising our justice system. While there is this acknowledgement there hasn’t been equally a serious demonstration government to rid the country of this scourge. The ‘catch and release’ approach makes the ordinary man in the street question the sincerity of the government to deal &tensely with corruption. Is there no connection between ‘Oat some journalists are unearthing about the government officials’ endemic corruption and their arrest?
In Micah 7:1-6 the prophet is miserable over the state of his nation. Nobody can be trusted, and people wait in ambush to do violence to each other. This sad and sorry state, Micah says, is because leaders could not be trusted. they used their power for personal gain. Micah was from the countryside, a prophet who proclaimed God’s reproofs to the rich and ungodly leaders of Judah. Micah, like many of the prophets, champions the poor and the oppressed. With brutal honesty, he communicated a message of justice and mercy. He cared for God’s people with profound compassion. Micah graphically condemns Israel’s corrupt leaders and exposes their hypocrisy. God, the prophet says, is not fooled when leaders mouth the right words but have corrupt hearts. Political corruption, greed, arrogance was common amongst the men of his time. They didn’t care about the corporate or common good.
Micah says that when leaders lose their way, it is because they no longer see themselves as servant leaders. They endanger everyone in the organisation or nation. Servant leaders place the interests and needs of their followers ahead of their self-interests and needs. Generally, they value the well-being and development of their followers, building their communities, acting authentically and sharing power. The premise of servant leadership is that the most effective and influential leaders are those who strive to serve others rather than take control or be in charge. The servant-leader will continually think about what involves the least damage or pain for the people over whose lives they have power. Servant leaders will value the worth of every person. The organisation or nation they build will honour the importance of every individual. The prophet Micah proclaims a message that is especially relevant to the conditions we face in our society and country.
4. Heroes and Defence Forces Days.
We have just celebrated the Heroes Holiday and the Defence Forces day in which we mean and express gratitude for the immense sacrifices made by our war heroes. Most of our people contributed to the success of war effort in various ways. We remember Thomas Mapfumo and others who through their music conscientized the people about the struggle and the reasons for it. We know of businessmen and women, teachers, the mujibhas and chimbwidos, whose support was the difference between winning the war and losing it. As a nation, we must appreciate and be grateful to those who despite not holding a gun made an immense contribution of supporting the cause. As your Shepherds, we are sensing that our national leaders want to take us back to the mentality and practices of the war times where it was “us against them.” We want our politics to build a united nation and not to divide us, turning the military who ought to continue the memory of the late heroes against the people who fed them and clothed them and who gathered intelligence at great risk and saved man of our fighters from peril. Some of our vocal political leaders are busy re-creating the war situation of us and them.
5. National ‘transformation
“What man is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it” Jeremiah 9:12
We feel that the government is focused on things other than national democratic priorities: This amounts to dereliction of duty. Good leaders are wise enough to see when change and innovation are necessary. They see the gap -of how things are and how they should be – and they seek to close that gap. Deep-seated values guide them. They are willing to make systemic changes to uplift the lives of all.
Jeremiah was a passionate prophet. His straight talk to the leadership of his time brought him great personal suffering. But he was devoted to his people and would not keep quiet when leaders deliberately mislead their followers. Jeremiah, despite widespread opposition, endures and is faithful to his God-given mission. The prophet’s commitment and integrity stand in stark contrast to the leaders of his time. Jeremiah shows that, sometimes, some of the most important change and innovation comes about when leaders are willing to listen. An effective leader is one who sees the gaps and wisely works on the things that need to change. Good leaders are called to confront the gaps into which many fall and feel abandoned. Poverty is one such gap.
Confrontation is one of the toughest tasks of leadership. It is also one of the most courageous and important things a leader can do. Jeremiah is not interested in leaders who speak politically correct words. He is more concerned about their ability to act and bring about the structural change needed so that all are treated with dignity. Leaders who are committed to building a better organisation or nation are those who have a compelling sense of what is right. Deep-seated values guide them. Their principles are at the core of their decision-making process. They are willing to name what is not working, have difficult conversations and then make tough decisions. They do not shy away from the problems. They are faithful to the people they lead — not their own aspirations or political egos. Refusal to listen to the people has led us to where we are today. Loud cries on social media and attempts to demonstrate in a very repressive environment like this is a clear sign that Zimbabweans feel that the government has turned their ruck on them abdicating from the responsibility to build a united nation. Have we not all been divided by this divisive political environment to the detriment of the national common good?
As we recognize the sacrifices made by all our people towards our liberation, we continue to worry about what has become of “gutsa ruzhinji” the mantra of the war times and the 80s. This is only possible when we build a robust economy capable of benefitting the poor and the marginalized who perhaps because of the war lost the opportunity to study and educate themselves or their children. While we understand the need to re-engage with the global economic: community we ought as well, not to lose sight of the impoverished and marginalized Zimbabweans. For example, the newly signed agreement between the Zimbabwean Government and the former commercial farmers does not feature or include the interests of the farmworkers and their families who lost livelihoods. While we appreciate the effort of resolving the land question, we think that it should also show concern for the most vulnerable. It seems to us that Zimbabwe is driving itself fast in the direction of capitalism thinking that this will bring untold benefits for our people. We need to be cautious as Pope Francis reminds us. Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralised workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting. To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor….” Evangelii Gaudium 2013).
As your Bishops, we feel that this described situation is true of Zimbabwe. It feels as though the poor have no one to defend them. They don’t seem to feature on the national agenda. Their cries for the improved health system go unheeded. Their plea for a transport system that meets their transport blues is met with promises and more promises and no action. The only time we see real action is when our leaders are jostling for power, to secure it or to ascend to offices of power. It is not clear to us as your Bishops that the national leadership we have has the knowledge, social skills emotional stability and social orientation to handle the issues that we face as a nation. All we hear from them is blame of our woes on foreigners, colonialism, white settlers and the so-called internal detractors. When are we going to take responsibility for our own affairs? When are we going to submit to the requirements of national accountability? While our neighbours in the region are strengthening their democratic institutions, we seem to be weakening ours. Our Chapter 12 institutions, the judiciary and Prosecuting Authority seem to be losing their independence and effectiveness. Our health care institutions have collapsed. Our well-trained doctors and nurses remain incapacitated. For a long time, they have felt neglected. As Bishops, we have tried to open an honest dialogue on our health care personnel and the health care institutions and the door was shut in our faces. In the face of growing numbers of COVID-l9 infections, where does the nation turn to? With the necessary tools in short supply in our hospitals, we notice with wounded hearts that government officials seem to have more PPE than our nurses and doctors
6. The Comprehensive National Settlement Framework Proposal
The National Convergence Platform (NCP), a platform made up of different Apex Church bodies, Civil society organisations, Business bodies and Professional bodies, recently launched its proposed comprehensive national settlement framework to resolve Zimbabwe’s complex challenges on 5 August 2020. The Comprehensive National Settlement Framework (CNSF), seeks to establish consensus amongst the citizens as to what should constitute a comprehensive agenda toward a lasting solution to Zimbabwe’s challenges. This is a deliberate effort to build a convergence agenda amongst citizens towards the Zimbabwe We Want.
The comprehensive national settlement framework makes a clarion call on the core issues that the nation must resolve in order to extricate itself out of the current malaise. The issues are as follows:
A victim-led process which adheres to globally accepted norms and international law.
A broadly agreed reform process towards constitutionalism and the rule of law:
A new social contract on the basis of an inclusive national economic vision;
August 2020 you wrote a letter attacking the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishop Conference,(ZCBC) you mentioned Archbishop Robert Ndlovu in particular,
Let me remind you that the Catholic Church is not MDC but it is a universal church for all
By attacking our bishops, you have attacked us all, The Catholic church has got millions of Zimbabweans who subscribe to it including Zanu PF members, VP Guvheya Chiwenga is a Catholic, Patrick Chinamasa is a Catholic, many government officials are Catholics, Catholic church is not a political party but it is a church of Christ
You have declared war on the church and it is very unacceptable, Zanu PF is not a demi-god, allow constructive criticism and the country will move forward, As Catholics, we don’t take orders from you Mrs Mutsvangwa but we take orders from our bishops who leads us to Christ, VP Chiwenga knows that,, your nonsensical utterances have reached an alarming level, the bishops must be allowed to preach any gospel without any hindrances, who are you to tell the bishops what to say and what not to say, the bishops were not anointed by you but they were anointed by Christ, therefore, they should speak without fear and favour, they don’t take orders from Zanu PF,
Who doesn’t know that we have a crisis in Zimbabwe, our annual inflation is on 635%, isn’t that a crisis, there is catch and release for those who are corrupt, Obediah Moyo never slept in police cells isn’t that a crisis, civil servants are being paid peanuts isn’t that a crisis, there is no freedom of expression you are already attacking our bishops for speaking against oppression isn’t that a crisis, ??? So we urge you Madam Mutsvangwa to shut up and allow our bishops to do their job, it is their duty to give you advise and correct you,, The Catholic holy mass is more important than Zanu pf ideologies, we focus on Christ and not on so-called gwara remusangano, and I’m sure you are forgetting that Zanu pf is not Zimbabwe, by attacking the Catholic Church, you have decided to play with fire, you have declared war on Zimbabwe as a whole and the whole world, as Catholic members and Christ-followers, we will not listen to your rubbish, we don’t subscribe to you and we will never allow the devil to attack our church using people like you…..
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has rued Raheem Sterling’s miss in their defeat to Lyon in the Champions League on Saturday.
The EPL side failed to progress through to the semifinals for a third consecutive season following a 3-1 loss to the French club. Moussa Dembele struck twice late in the game after Kevin De Bruyne had cancelled out Maxwel Cornet’s opener.
But the complexion of the game could have changed by Sterling in the 86th minute. The striker blazed his shot over the bar in front of an open goal from five-yards out which would have made it 2-2.
City went on to concede within a minute after the miss when Dembele pounced on a poor parry from Ederson to extend the lead.
Speaking after the game, Guardiola said: “We created chances, scored a magnificent goal, but unfortunately missed another one.
“In this situation, you have to equalise and go to extra-time in the last minutes, and after, we concede the third goal.
“In this competition, you have to be perfect. We created more chances, more shooting, but unfortunately, we are out again.”
On his thoughts about the team’s performance, the coach said: “One day we will break this gap to the semis. In the first 20, 25 minutes, we struggled to find spaces to attack.
“The second half was okay – we were there. I had a feeling we were better. You have to be perfect in this competition.”-Soccer 24
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has reportedly told the club hierarchy that he will leave in 2021 if drastic changes are not made at the Catalan giants.
The Argentine ace reacted to Baryen’s demolition of Barcelona in the Champions League quater-final with a bold call for change, failure to which he is willing to leave.
According to Spanish radio Cadena Cope, Messi spoke to Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu after the game and told him openly that he is not happy with the situation at the club and if there are no big changes this summer, he will leave.
There is a clause in Messi’s Barcelona contract which states that the he can leave for free next summer.
Barcelona’s humiliating defeat to the Bavarians, was the first time in Champions League history that a team conceded 8 goals in the knockout stages and also the first time since 1946 that the Catalans were breached eight times in a single game, a catastrophe which also paved way for defender Gerard Pique offering to be the first player to step aside if there is need for an overhaul.
-Soccer 24
Farai Dziva|President Nelson Chamisa has denounced the persecution of ordinary Zimbabweans by Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s “paranoid” administration.
The MDC Alliance leader, quoted by NewsDay bemoaned the deepening political crisis in the country.
“We are uncompromising, principled and relentless for real change. As a people, we have seen the worst of our times but we are getting over it soon.
We are focused and on course. We have seen the worst because our people are homeless, no opportunities, no food, no business; politics is at its worst with extreme and advance human rights abuses.
Children are dying in hospitals, curable diseases are killing people.
People are being beaten up every day and I am receiving reports that people are being pursued as if they are common criminals.
There cannot be a free Zimbabwe when people can’t walk free, having State agents breaking into their homes. It cannot be a free Zimbabwe when belonging to an alternative party attracts detention and arrest.”
President Chamisa also accused Zanu PF of attempting to annihilate genuine opposition.
“They have been fighting us as the MDC Alliance. They are trying to take away the people’s party and its name, the people’s headquarters, the MPs, financial resources allocated to us on account of the voters.
Anything they see they are taking away. They want to take everything, but Zimbabwean lives matter. We are the way to the future, the only. It is not as if we don’t know what we are doing.
What we don’t want is to play a game with predetermined results. We don’t want a question with a predetermined answer.
No one fights a weak opponent. They are resorting to hair raising terror against citizens,” President Chamisa told the publication.
Which Way Forward For the Education System in Zimbabwe
15 August 2020
After the heroic resistance by progressive teacher-unions to the reopening of schools without due consideration of the health, safety and welfare of pupils and teachers, the government now seem to have adopted a wait and see approach over the issue of reopening of schools.
Rather than taking a pro-active role in preparing for reopening of schools, the government in general and Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in particular, have taken a lackadaisical approach to the crucial issue of opening of schools.
As Ptuz we have no regrets for the crucial and national role we played in resisting the reopening of schools. As much as we were blamed by some politicians and yellow unions, history has absolved us.
It is becoming more clearly that chances of opening schools this year are far fetched and remote. But even if schools are to open next year, there is a need for preparation towards that, let alone clarity over the 2020 academic year.
Our humble submission is that this is the time for the Ministry to make meaningful engagement with teacher unions in order to map an agreeable possible way forward. The health, safety and welfare of teachers and pupils remain crucial issues to be addressed before schools can open, yet nothing towards this is seriously considered by the government and line Ministry.
There are no clear plans to assist pupils other than homelitic bellicose and rhetoric of radio and television lessons. While the efficacy of such lessons is certainly undoubted, we wonder how this would become a reality in a country where 75 to 80 percent of areas have no television and radio frequencies.
Our sober reflection is that
the country cannot afford to cancel the 2020 academic year even if schools open in January next year. Rather, pupils must be given an opportunity to learn for two to three months before they can write end of 2020 academic year exams.
This can be followed by a 2021 academic year divided into two-three months learning terms and ensure that by end of 2021 we have rectified learning challenges emanating from COVID-19 related closure of schools.
Any other options could give permanent challenges to the education sector. There are those who argue for the cancellation of 2020 academic year.
This would entail that there would be too many students for ECD and grade 1 classes in 2021 as the current pupils would be joined by other pupils in 2021 thereby posing infrastructural challenges. Such students will create permanent challenges every year, and after Grade 7, will create challenges associated with form 1 enrolment.
It is our hope that the govt will learn from history and avoid the challenges faced during the early 1970s when both standard 5 and standard 6 were integrated and allowed to write end of primary education examinations without creating room for expansion and absorption of such pupils for form 1. Consequently, several pupils found themselves out of school.
It is also worrisome that the government is silent about the recently generated discrepancies between teachers’ salaries and other sectors in government.
With a salary ranging from $3800 to $4200 (inclusive of allowances) all teachers have tested positive to poverty and are always scavenging for food.
It is callous for government to ignore the plight of teachers at a time it is pampering other sectors with less qualifications, years of experience and responsibilities with salaries that are 5 times that of teachers.
Government need to invest in quality public education and restore the purchasing power parity of the salary of teachers that was pegged at US$550 in October 2018.
Anything less than this is unacceptable, degrading and monumental labour injustice.
We have noted with concern how the government has used the moribund Apex Council for firefighting, romance and pulling cotton on the eyes of teachers. We, therefore, urge the government to do the most honourable thing by paying teachers US$550 that government unilaterally culled without teachers’ consent. Only well paid and motivated teachers living in safe environment can be dynamic and innovative even during covid-19 pandemic and find acceptable and safe ways to assist their pupils.
To all teachers, the time to unite and fight for an improvement of salaries and conditions of service is now. The time to see that Apex Council is a liability rather than an asset is now. This is a struggle that need everyone, male and female, tall and short, head and simple teacher. We either have to unite as professionals or else we will perish as fools.
By and large, the current parlous state of the education system is unenviable. Indeed, it is the so-called new dispensation that has allowed the education system to degenerate into the terminal ward. The officials in the Ministry of education lack the vision and power to drive the education system to greater heights particularly during the covid-19 pandemic. The government is indifferent and urinating upon teachers and telling them it’s raining.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary solutions. As managers of the world’s greatest asset, viz, students, we implore the government to plan for a robust improvement of the education system and pay educators well. Failure to plan is planning to fail.
We will not stand idle by to witness cold and calculated educational vandalism. The time to plan for a credible education system is now.
The time to pay teachers well is now. Teachers are workers too and must never be treated as second class citizens of Zimbabwe. We are in essence a vital cog of societal and national development and deserve best treatment by the state in order to engineer a skills revolution and benchmarks towards Agenda 2030.
More pictures of Kuwadzana man assaulted by soldiers while being accused of being an MDC member at 7pm Friday night in Kuwadzana. Soldiers accused him of trying to remove @edmnangagw, the family tells ZimEye pic.twitter.com/31PmauAGT6
