POPULAR preacher Nixon Chibuzor Ohizu, 46, the leader of Empowerment Ministries Church along Seke Road, Harare, has been arrested on allegations of bribery.
He allegedly tried to bribe National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) officials to reverse the cancellation of a lease agreement between his church and NRZ.
Ohizu was not asked to plead to the allegations when he appeared before Harare magistrate Richard Ramaboa last week.
He was remanded out of custody to October 1 on $10 000 bail and was ordered to surrender his passport.
Allegations are that on August 19, Ohizu went to NRZ offices where he found two high ranking officials, Colonel Nyabambi and Clive Ncube.
He allegedly tried to bribe the two officials to reverse the cancellation of a lease agreement between his church and NRZ served on him on August 7.
The two NRZ officials reportedly accepted a bribe offer of US$2 000 and he left the premises to collect the money.
The officials reportedly notified the police and a trap was set.
He allegedly gave US$2 000 to Ncube in $100 denominations, money which is being held as exhibit.
Prosecutor Sabastian Mutizirwa appeared for the State.-Daily News
OPPOSITION MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa has challenged Zimbabweans to move out of their cocoons and protect their rights in the wake of what he termed increased State-sponsored human rights violations in the country.
In a virtual address to his supporters last night where he accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of presiding over gross human rights abuses, Chamisa also pleaded with the international community to stand with the people of Zimbabwe “in their hour of need” as they were now under siege from the Zanu PF regime.
He started his address by quoting from Nobel Peace Prize winner and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who once said: “If you are neutral in the time of injustices, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
Said Chamisa: “I come to you in circumstances of unprecedented national crisis.
Zimbabwe has been turned into a banana republic, a pariah State and the epicentre of evil and outpost of terrorism against innocent civilians.
“It has become so apparent that if we are all going to wait for others to do it, it will never be done.”
He said Mnangagwa must stop
labelling citizens as terrorists and bad apples to justify the clampdown by State security agents.
Several people have been arrested while others are in hiding following a government crackdown that began in the run-up to the foiled July 31 protests.
“This business of branding, labelling and condemning citizens as bad apples and terrorists to be flushed out is unacceptable.
It is the leader who sets the pace for unity, peace and harmony, heal not kill, treat and not injure, love and not hate, encourage and not victimise,” Chamisa said.
He said Mnangagwa must not be vindictive, but apologise when he makes mistakes, insisting that there was need for Zimbabweans to have their voices heard and that protesting was their right.
“A leader apologises when they make mistakes, forgives and not revenge, love and not hate. Only bad leaders point fingers, blames anyone but themselves, seeks to explain problems not to solve them. Bad leaders opt to bury their heads in the sand,” Chamisa said.
He said he was heartened that the church had spoken out as the “moral campus” of the country adding it was now time for Zimbabweans to act and speak against the social ills choking their lives.
The opposition leader bemoaned the abuse of State institutions by government to silence opposing voices.
“Only when Zimbabwe goes through leadership renewal shall we witness a completely new crop of leaders who are accountable.
I call upon you not to allow fear mongers, terrorists, to stop you from opening up and demanding accountability. Enough is enough, Zimbabwean lives matter and we can’t breathe,” he said.
“Protest is a God-given right, a fundamental right. Stand up, speak out and fight for your rights.
Your voices matter. Let’s not allow threats to force us into silence.”
“Everyone can’t be wrong except the government, it can’t be possible.
It is government against the world. Journalists are wrong, lawyers are wrong, doctors are wrong, nurses are wrong, opposition is wrong, churches are wrong, bishops are wrong, prophets are wrong, (South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius) Malema is wrong, AU is wrong, UN is wrong, (Mmusi) Maimane is wrong, (Ugandan opposition leader) Bobi Wine is wrong, Europe is wrong, the region is wrong and only government is correct. It can’t be so,” Chamisa said adding it was now clear that government had become incapacitated to deal with the national crisis.-NewsDay
THE newly-elected Zanu PF Bulawayo Provincial executive committee has been tasked with mobilising party membership to ensure the party wins the 2023 harmonised elections by a 5 million vote margin.
Zanu PF National Political Commissar, Victor Matemadanda, this Sunday, presided over an electoral process to choose 15 members of the 25-member executive committee for Bulawayo Province.
The remaining 10 seats in the committee are set to be filled in due course.
After the election, the National Political Commissar spelt out the huge task for the committee in mobilising support and instilling discipline among party members ahead of the 2023 elections.
“As the party, we have a 5 million target which we have set for ourselves. Remember the president has put a vision but before we get to that vision we have said 2018 elections have created problems for us,” he says.
“The president was in the same bracket with the opposition (2 million bracket). What we plan to do is to have a 5 million vote in the 2023 election so that the margin is big for all to see,” he adds.
Zanu PF National Women’s League Deputy Secretary, Cde Angeline Masuku urged the newly elected Bulawayo executive committee to work in line with party values.
“We should work to bring back the values of the party.
It should not be about positions but commitment to serve the party and stand for the entire party ethos,” she said.
The newly elected Zanu PF Chairperson of Bulawayo province, Cde Obert Msindo pledged to serve the party well.
Bulawayo province has been without an executive following the dissolution of structures in 2019 and had been operating under the chairmanship of Politburo member, Cde Absalom Sikhosana who died in May this year.-ZBC News
POLICE in Dema, Mashonaland East Province, have arrested a 23-year-old man who allegedly killed his lover after being intimate with her in a car, before dumping the body in a bush.
Shepherd Ndemera of Madoro Village under Chief Seke is assisting police with investigations after he allegedly murdered his girlfriend, Nokuthula Shana, of Chitungwiza.
Provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Tendai Mwanza, confirmed the incident.
“I confirm a murder case that occurred in Dema where a female corpse was discovered in a bush,” he said.
“The suspect has since been arrested and is helping the police with investigations.
We urge the public to exercise restraint during misunderstandings to avoid such tragic incidents.”
On August 16 around 7pm, the suspect reportedly asked his girlfriend to spend a night with him in a car that he was guarding along the Chirasavana-Gombe Road.
The car had developed a mechanical fault.
It is understood the girlfriend proceeded to the place, but they had a misunderstanding over infidelity, which degenerated into a fight.
On realising his girlfriend had died, the suspect allegedly carried the body and dumped it in a bush about 200 metres from the broken down vehicle.
The body was discovered by a villager the following morning, who alerted Dema police, who observed that the half-naked corpse had bites all over the face and a deep cut on the head.
Police also found blood stains inside the vehicle, leading to the arrest of the suspect.-The Herald
Before the fateful August 21, 2020 which heralded the end of Job Saro Wiwa Sikhala’s revolutionary campaign against corruption outside the iron bars of Mnangagwa’s prison, he had a few days before proclaimed that revolutionaries do not cease their transformative and radical people-centered work until their liberation objective is met. My curious question to his perception of Malcolm X’s tragic end was answered with “I am ready to lead a revolution and for martyrdom.”
The foregoing is what inspires this great son of the soil who is now languishing in Chikurubi Maximum Prison where he risks exposure to the deadly duo of Covid-19 and a litany of KGB-like nefarious machinations of the repressive Mnangagwa regime. He had publicly stated and privately confided that the people’s rights superseded his own personal pursuits and as such championing the fight against corruption and the rapacious aggrandizement characteristic of the Zanu PF regime was paramount and sacrocanct to him.
Job Saro Wiwa Sikhala pondered at the prolonged democratic musings of the Zimbabwean people and the delayed ideal destiny that he had passionately fought for ever since his youthful days at the University of Zimbabwe. In his unrelenting and Karanga dialect he roared “zvokwadi mwana wamai this repressive regime will meet the same fate as that of Cambodia’s Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge.”With revolutionary optimism he bellowed, “My friend look at the demise of Pinochet, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Omar al Bashir, Jean Bedel Bokassa, Adolf Hitler, Mobutu Sese Seko, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Sani Abacha, and Idi Amin Dada.” He ended up writing a three part series article which could not transition to the third part because of his arrest and it was entitled, “All Dictators Die Miserable Deaths.” In what he termed epistles to Zimbabweans, he reassured his fellow countrymen that unrelenting fighters who have the resolve and tenaciousness to liberate the oppressed ultimately guide dictators to miserable endings.
In his humble and organic style of prosecuting the anti-corruption struggle against the Zanu PF elites which had been championed by his comrades Hopewell Chin’ono and Jacob Ngarivhume, Job Sikhala had managed to appeal to Zimbabweans across the political divide. The 31st July call for national action and the unprecedented security deployment which culminated in the Zimbabwean lives matter international hysteria was a net effect of his visionary hope of a post-repressive and corruption free nation. In the safety of his contrasted hide outs ranging from guerrilla-like settings to unknown locations as far as Zambia and Mozambique, he used social media to an anticipating population delivering his famous “Zimbabweans I come to you.”
By the time the state illegally apprehended him in Tynwald, Harare, Job Saro Wiwa Sikhala had forged ties with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in a rare and welcome southern African post- independence regional alliance that he envisioned as the climax of the struggle for a democratic and prosperous Zimbabwe. As he entered the Magumete (Prison Van) at Harare Rotten Row Court, he shouted “The People Shall Be Victorious, Vincere Caritate, Zimbabwe Para Todos” and was whisked away by the prison guards to Chikurubi Maximum.
Charles M. Mutama (Exchanging revolutionary notes with Wiwa)
Farai Dziva| Controversial Masvingo based preacher, Isaac Makomichi’ s anointed love potion herb has been a subject of discussion in Masvingo in the past few months.
Church leaders and pastors argue Makomichi is a sangoma because he uses herbs to resolve love matters.
“Anyone can help you to solve problems, even Satan has the power to fix love matters because he is the one who destroys them.
Makomichi must speak the truth, is he a sangoma or a prophet?” said one church leader.
In his response Makomichi said:
“The said pastors want to soil my name .
I’m not a sangoma, God revealed the love herb to me”.
By Patrick Guramatunhu- ”Sadly, I too tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. This virus is real and we need to fight it by following the guidelines that our Government has given us which is in line with the WHO regulations,” said Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Deputy Minister Vangelis Peter Haritatos.
Deputy Minister Haritatos, you were tested for covid-19 as soon as you suspected of catching the virus; possibly as soon as you learned your boss, the late Minister Perrance Shiri had the virus.
Do you know that there are hundreds of thousands of frontline workers, like nurses and doctors, who work with covid-19 patients without the recommended WHO PPE, not even the most basic face mask?
Deputy Minister, do you also know that WHO has recommended that frontline corona virus workers must be tested on regular bases? In Zimbabwe, many of the nurses and doctors let alone the ordinary people with the corona virus symptoms, are not being tested.
As soon as you learned you had the corona virus, you went into isolation to protect your family and friends. Has it ever occurred to you that all those poor Zimbabweans who have the virus but don’t know it because they are denied a US$6 test would too want to go into isolation to protect their family and friends?
Zimbabwe has carried out a total of 145 000 tests as of the end of July, that is 1 in 110 people tested. Compared to SA that has done 3 million tests which 1 in 20. This is contrary to the WHO clarion call to “Test! TEST!! TEST!!!”
There is a sinister reason why Zanu PF is not testing aggressively, at least not testing povo. The regime is hiding its blundering incompetence in the handling of the pandemic by sweeping the grime reality under the carpet.
Zimbabwe’s confirmed covid-19 cases and deaths is one of the lowest per capita in the world. Whilst other nations have earned the accolade by stamping out the virus Zimbabwe is cheating. Of course, if you do not test you will keep the confirmed cases and deaths very low.
The price of not testing is that many, many infected people who should be in isolation remain in the community spreading the virus far and wide. It is the povo, not the ruling elite, who are paying with their suffering and deaths for Zimbabwe’s rigged corona virus statistics!
Zanu PF is blatantly rigging the corona virus statistics, just as the regime has rigged the country’s elections, with the usual callous indifference to tragic suffering and deaths the spreading corona virus is causing to the ordinary people. Deputy Minister Haritatos, please, please spare us your insulting lies; the criminal negligence and dereliction of duty to save lives by this Zanu PF government is not what WHO ordered!
Farai Dziva|MDC Alliance vice president, Hon Tendai Biti has described Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s reconcilatory gesture as mere pretence meant to hoodwink the nation and the international community.
Biti also blasted Mr Mnangagwa for feigning concern about Gukurahundi atrocities.
“On the day he locked up #Job he was in Bulawayo discussing Gukurahundi.
But how can those with blood on their hands masquerade as healers.
They have shown no remorse contrition ,apology nor acknowledgement.
This abuse must stop.The Wananchi are not fools #ZimbabweanLivesMatter,” Hon Biti wrote on Twitter.
Farai Dziva|MDC Alliance vice president, Hon Tendai Biti has described Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s reconcilatory gesture as mere pretence meant to hoodwink the nation and the international community.
Biti also blasted Mr Mnangagwa for feigning concern about Gukurahundi atrocities.
“On the day he locked up #Job he was in Bulawayo discussing Gukurahundi.
But how can those with blood on their hands masquerade as healers.
They have shown no remorse contrition ,apology nor acknowledgement.
This abuse must stop.The Wananchi are not fools #ZimbabweanLivesMatter,” Hon Biti wrote on Twitter.
South African Broadcasting Cooperation has granted ZANU PF a platform to defend themselves against series of news reports that have been covered by the SABC news channel regarding abuse of human rights in Zimbabwe.
The program which will feature ZANU PF representatives will be aired on Wednesday at 9PM on the program African Perspective.
The platform was created after ZANU PF Director of Information Tafadzwa Mugwadi accused SABC news anchor Sophie Mokoena of being biased against Zimbabwe.
“Yesterday I had a 1 hour conversation with my sister & seasoned anchor @Sophie_Mokoena She is a wonderful lady in her trade. We talked over our disagreements On her part, she took me thru her long journey in her trade & gave me priceless advice which I found very inspiring.” Mugwadi posted on Twitter.
Mokoena acknowledged Mugwadi’s post by saying, “Thank you. Lets now move on. Let us all build a better Africa. Wednesday we will have a panel to revisit the Zim story. Giving all stakeholders right to reply. Watch @AfricanPerspec1 on #sabcnews channel 404 at 9 PM.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa, has “strongly reprimanded” Finance Minister Tito Mboweni for his weekend tweets, which sharply criticised Zambian President Edgar Lungu for abruptly firing the governor of the Zambian central bank, Denny Kalyalya.
Mboweni, former governor of the SA Reserve Bank, tweeted at the weekend that: “Presidents in Africa must stop this nonsense of waking up in the morning and fire a Central Bank Governor! You cannot do that. This is not some fiefdoms of yours! Your personal property?! No!!
“The President of Zambia must give us the reasons why he dismissed The Governor or else hell is on his way. I will mobilize!”
In response, the Zambian government’s chief spokesperson, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Dora Siliya called Mboweni’s comments “immature and improper”, and said her government would take up the issue diplomatically.
Mboweni had responded defiantly by tweeting: “I stand by my statement. Central Bank independence is key. Not negotiable. Let all central bankers speak out!”
Later, he tweeted: “ You know. Trouble makers are game changers! I am glad that I am a TROUBLE MAKER!”
But Zambia evidently did deliver an official complaint and Ramaphosa was clearly not amused. First thing on Monday morning, Ramaphosa’s office issued a statement saying that the president had strongly reprimanded Mboweni.
“In one of his tweets, Minister Mboweni is promising to mobilise if not given reasons why the Central Governor has been fired by President Lungu,” Ramaphosa’s acting spokesperson Tyrone Seale said in the statement on Monday, 24 August.
“President Ramaphosa wishes to assure the government and people of the Republic of Zambia that the unfortunate remarks do not reflect the views of the South African Government and its people.
“The issue is being addressed to ensure that such an incident does not occur again. South Africa and Zambia enjoy strong historical relations dating back to the days of the struggle against apartheid. South Africa remains committed to maintaining the deep and solid bonds of friendship between the peoples of South Africa and Zambia.”
Mboweni retweeted Ramaphosa’s statement after deleting his earlier tweets criticising Lungu.
Zambians believe Lungu fired Kalyalya because Kalyalya was trying to rein in inflation and was also frank about the weakness of the economy.
He replaced him with Christopher Mvunga, a deputy secretary to the Cabinet who is likely to be far less independent, a Zambian journalist told Daily Maverick. This change was “like replacing an experienced heart surgeon with a mechanic, in the middle of heart surgery,” Zambia’s main opposition leader, Hakainda Hichilema, who leads the United Party for National Development (UPND), said on Facebook.
Sunday Chanda, media director of the ruling Patriotic Front party suggested Kalyalya had been fired because he deliberately tried to sabotage the economy by creating a liquidity problem to advantage Hichilema – his cousin.
Lungu is up for reelection in 2021 and clearly, the weak economy is counting against him. DM
South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has tweeted up a diplomatic storm by sharply rebuking Zambian President Edgar Lungu for firing the country’s central bank governor.
Lungu abruptly terminated Bank of Zambia governor Denny Kalyalya’s contract on Saturday with immediate effect, but without explanation. However, Zambians believe it was because he was trying to rein in inflation and was also frank about the weakness of the economy.
Mboweni, a former governor of the SA Reserve Bank, tweeted on Sunday that, “Presidents in Africa must stop this nonsense of waking up in the morning and fire a Central Bank Governor! You cannot do that. This is not some fiefdoms of yours! Your personal property?! No!!”
“No. That Governor was a good fella,” Mboweni continued. “Why do we do these things as Africans. The President of Zambia must give us the reasons why he dismissed The Governor or else hell is on his way. I will mobilize!”
The Zambian government’s chief spokesperson, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Dora Siliya, responded angrily by tweeting:
“We are very surprised with Tito Mboweni’s immature and improper criticism of a sovereign decision by Zambia.
“The Minister should be attending to COVID problems facing the South Africans, our focus here. We will pursue matter diplomatically.”
Mboweni, unrepentant, tweeted right back:
“Looks like I am in trouble about my statement on the dismissal of the Bank of Zambia Governor!
“I stand by my statement. Central Bank independence is key. Not negotiable. Let all central bankers speak out!”
Later he tweeted:
“You know. Trouble makers are game changers! I am glad that I am a TROUBLE MAKER!”
Lungu announced he had replaced Kalyalya as Bank of Zambia (BoZ) governor with Christopher Mvunga, the deputy secretary to the Cabinet, responsible for finance and economic development. The appointment was subject to ratification by the National Assembly, Lungu’s statement said.
This change was “like replacing an experienced heart surgeon with a mechanic, in the middle of heart surgery,” Zambia’s main opposition leader, Hakainde Hichilema, leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), posted on Facebook.
The IMF would now stop engaging with Zambia – also because of the country’s poor fiscal policies – and the kwacha would go into free fall, he said.
He added Kalyalya had been fired because he was “professional, ethical and above board” and had tried to prevent the kwacha free falling against major currencies, while Finance Minister Bwalya Ng’andu had been working against him, including by contracting new debt.
It was important for the BOZ governor to be free from political interference by the executive – as had just happened, Hichilema said.
A Zambian journalist told Daily Maverick that Mvunga was very unlikely to emulate Kalyalya’s independent monetary policy.
“He’s Lungu’s bootlicker,” the journalist said.
Sunday Chanda, media director of the ruling Patriotic Front party, suggested Kalyalya had been fired because he had only disbursed one billion kwacha of an intended 10-billion-kwacha stimulus package, despite the economy experiencing negative growth.
This, along with other “stringent” financial measures implemented by Kalyalya had created a liquidity problem.
“This was clearly suspected sabotage to knock out the economy completely which was what the UPND was banking on,” Chanda said, adding that Kalyalya was Hichilema’s cousin.
Some Zambian observers believe that Kalyalya’s remarks at a regular quarterly briefing on Wednesday 19 August may have been the final straw for Lungu.
He said Zambia’s economic conditions during the second quarter of this year had worsened and prospects for growth were weak, according to the Lusaka Times.
He blamed the country’s economic ills on a substantial decline in consumer demand, wholesale and retail trading. And he projected a 4.2% contraction in GDP, worse than the previous forecast of 2.6% contraction.
He said the sharp rise in the number of Covid-19 cases had had a negative impact on Zambia’s economy.
Kalyalya projected that inflation would decline, but also said there was a need to adjust macroeconomic fundamentals and debt sustainability to achieve economic stability in the country. DM
Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa and her husband Christopher Mutsvangwa might not be coming out of the same house after all, as the two ZANU PF heavy weights have expressed two completely varied opinions over opposition leader Nelson Chamisa’s “Kudira Jecha” statement.
Mutsvangwa recently told journalists during a cabinet media briefing that problems being experienced by the country emanated from post-2018 election vows by the opposition leader Nelson Chamisa that President Emmerson Mnangagwa would not find sleep in his rule.
“We all know that after the 2018 elections, the opposition MDC Alliance spoke about pouring sand (hamutongi tichadira jecha) on Mnangagwa’s reign and this is a public message.
“They have not stopped.”
“Some countries have imposed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe. These have caused divisions among families. They have stage-managed abduction stories. There is an enemy in Zimbabwe,” she said.
Her husband, Christopher Mutsvangwa, in a Sunday Mail column however differed with her claiming that Chamisa has completely failed to effect his threat claiming that Mnangagwa has conquered and bringing the country to prosperity.
Mutsvangwa wrote:
“Nelson Chamisa and his MDC-Alliance lost the election in the July 2018 elections of the post-Mugabe era.
“Reacting to this loss, he cockily pronounced that it was of no consequence.”
“His agenda henceforth would be to ensure that the country is ungovernable through extra-parliamentary and extra-constitutional disruption.”
Here was a self-proclaimed man of God embracing the mutually assured destructive path of biblical strongman Samson of the Temple.
There was an assured confidence of a defiant loser.
On what nuclear option weapon was he standing upon?
For the answer, dial Biti, his vice president of revolving MDC doors and a darling of the intrusive Washington neo-liberal practitioners of regime change in Zimbabwe.
Boasting of his legalistic command of complex financial matters, he gloated, “Mnangagwa can rig elections, but he cannot rig the economy!”
Why such political prancing by the two ambitious MDC stalwarts?”
Mutsvangwa goes on to mock Chamisa:
“President Mnangagwa’s mantra “Zimbabwe Is Open for Business” has acquired a potent and cogent expression.
“Welcome to on-ramp onto the highway to the middle-income status Zimbabwe by 2030.
“Sorry Chamisa, the dira jecharist. Zvakona! Mutakura wotonakisa.
“Pity to Biti. EDM has gone so far as to rig the economy.”
“As for detractors and doomsayers, ZDERA sanctions now face a potent weapon in a normalised economic and financial landscape.”
In Bulawayo, CID Law and Order have apprehended MDC Alliance Mat North Chairperson @PrinceDubeko & charged him with inciting public violence for distributing #ZanupfMustGo masks. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter.
An MDC Alliance official, Prince Dubeko Sibanda who was arrested and dragged to court after he allegedly distributed face masks branded #ZANUPFMUSTGO in Bulawayo has been freed on bail.
Revolutionary gratitude to all of you who were in solidarity with me in what I went through. As I got bail my cry is #FreeHopewell#FreeJacobNgarivhume#FreeJobSikhala . The message I bring is that prison officers, police officers, prosecutors & all want masks #ZanupfMustGo
The state says they two masks which had been distributed to two Pick n’ Pay, Hyper Supermarket workers on 2 August were recovered and can be presented as proof.
Prince Sibanda Dubeko is an MDC Alliance legislator for Binga North Post.
He joins scores of government critics who have been arrested so far since the detained opposition leader Jacob Ngarivhume convened the foiled anti-government protests he had slated for the 31st of July.
THE newly-elected Zanu PF Bulawayo Provincial executive committee has been given a daunting task with mobilising party membership to ensure the party wins the 2023 harmonised elections by a 5 million vote margin.
Zanu PF National Political Commissar, Victor Matemadanda, this Sunday, presided over an electoral process to choose 15 members of the 25-member executive committee for Bulawayo Province.
The remaining 10 seats in the committee are set to be filled in due course.
After the election, Matemadanda spelt out the huge task for the committee in mobilising support and instilling discipline among party members ahead of the 2023 elections.
“As the party, we have a 5 million target which we have set for ourselves. Remember the president has put a vision but before we get to that vision we have said 2018 elections have created problems for us,” he says.
“The president was in the same bracket with the opposition (2 million bracket). What we plan to do is to have a 5 million vote in the 2023 election so that the margin is big for all to see,” he adds.
Zanu PF National Women’s League Deputy Secretary, Angeline Masuku urged the newly elected Bulawayo executive committee to work in line with party values.
“We should work to bring back the values of the party. It should not be about positions but commitment to serve the party and stand for the entire party ethos,” she said.
The newly elected Zanu PF Chairperson of Bulawayo province, Obert Msindo pledged to serve the party well.
Zanu PF Bulawayo province has been without an executive following the dissolution of structures in 2019 and had been operating under the chairmanship of Politburo member, Absalom Sikhosana who died in May this year.
Olympic legend Usain Bolt has reportedly been infected by the COVID-19 virus, according to media reports.
Jamaican media reported on Monday that the now-retired 100m and 200m world record holder had tested positive for the virus.
Bolt, who celebrated his 34th birthday last Friday, is among the latest numbers of Jamaicans to have tested positive to the virus that has infected more than 1500 Jamaicans to date. Fifteen of those infected have died.
Chitungwiza Municipal Council demoted its acting town clerk Dr Tonderai Kasu last week after he unnecessarily declined to authorise free data lines and bundles for councillors.
He was also accused of issuing a public statement without council authority listing alledged irregularities in the construction of a building on the stand allocated to MDC-A deputy national chairman Job Sikhala in Zengeza 2
He was repleced by finance director Mrs Evangelista Machona.
The demotion was made during a special council meeting held last Thursday.
Well-placed sources said Dr Kasu was demoted on allegations that he had opposed a demand by councillors to have data lines and monthly bundles.
“Dr Kasu was pressured to sign a memo seeking authorisation of councillors to be given data lines and five gigabyte data bundles on a monthly basis, which are not included on the ministerial directive on the prescribed benefits for councillors,” said a source.
Another source said councillors were unhappy with the way he handled Sikhala’s stand issue after issuing public statements raising concern over developments at the politician’s stand in Zengeza 2.
Dr Kasu refused to comment on the issue, referring all the questions to the mayor.
But Chitungwiza mayor Lovemore Maiko said the decision was taken to allow Dr Kasu to focus on his health portfolio following concerns over the rise in Covid-19 cases in the town.
“There is a resolution that directors must rotate as acting town clerk. However, in this case we were motivated to reassign him to his portfolio due to the increased cases of Covid-19 in Chitungwiza,” he said.
“There was a gap which Dr Kasu needed to fill as a medical doctor and make sure we contain the pandemic just like in Harare where the health director, Dr Prosper Chonzi, is hands on.”
Clr Maiko dismissed allegations that Dr Kasu was being victimised for writing orders against Sikhala’s stand in Zengeza 2 as that decision was done collectively.
In terms of data bundles, he said they wrote a letter to the parent ministry, Local Government and Public Works, and were given the greenlight since they intended to conduct virtual meetings considering that their chambers have limited space, which does not allow them to practice social distancing.
Striking health workers have rejected Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga’s pleas for them to return to work, saying the government must first address their grievances.
Chiwenga, who was appointed Health and Child Care minister by President Emmerson Mnangagwa early this month, last week appealed to doctors and nurses to return to work while their grievances were being addressed.
The majority of health workers, including nurses, went on strike two months ago demanding salaries in United States dollars and the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE).
They were joined by doctors weeks later, crippling services at public hospitals at a time the country is battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
Shingayi Nyaguse from the Zimbabwe Senior Hospital Doctors’ Association said although their members were concerned about the plight of their patients, they would not return to work until their grievances were met.
“We are glad he (Chiwenga) is concerned about the lives of patients as we are,” Nyaguse said.
“Unfortunately, none of the factors that made people unable to come to work have been addressed.
“We would love to meet him or his representatives and discuss how to resolve the immediate issues and also to discuss how the underlying problems in the sector can be addressed in the medium to long-term.”
Enoch Dongo, the Zimbabwe Nurses Association (Zina) president, said nurses would only return to work after government addressed their grievances.
“Nothing has changed in as far as our grievances are concerned,” Dongo said.
He said besides poor remuneration, nurses wanted the government to improve their working conditions and provide them with PPE.
“We still do not have adequate personal protective equipment, so we will not be pushed to go back without the proper tools to carry out our work,” Dongo said.
Most public hospitals do not have drugs and basic equipment to treat patients.
Health workers have also been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic with over 400 of them testing positive for the disease.
Meanwhile, Dongo said nurses were also frustrated that Chiwenga had not made an effort to engage them since he was appointed Health and Child Care minister.
“We just heard that the Health minister has called on us to go back to work, but he is yet to engage us,” he said. “We also need to be heard and share our side of the story.”
Nurses downed tools on June 8 citing incapacitation because of poor salaries and lack of PPE.
Senior doctors joined the strike, saying they too were unhappy with their conditions, which have been worsened by the absence of nurses in hospitals.
Itai Rusike, the director of the Community Working Group on Health, urged the authorities to urgently address the health workers’ grievances.
“We call for a speedy, fair and impartial procedure in resolving the labour dispute to avoid further loss of life,” Rusike said.
Strikes by doctors and nurses have become commonplace in Zimbabwe due to poor salaries and lack of equipment and drugs at hospitals.
Police officers at the Harare Magistrates Court had a torrid day trying to disperse a number of MDC Alliance supporters who had turned up at the courts in support of their leader Job Sikhala.
Sikhala was arrested from a house in Harare where he was supposedly in hiding from the police. He is charged with inciting violence.
By A Correspondent- Masvingo Provincial Covid-19 Taskforce announced on Monday that five government workers at Masvingo provincial offices have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The development was announced by the Taskforce’s spokesperson, Rodgers Irimayi who said out of a total of 139 workers that were tested for Covid-19 last week from the government offices in the city, five had tested positive.
Masvingo recorded two Covid-19 deaths last week, and the province, overall, has 19 other active cases.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe as a whole, as of Sunday 23 August 2020, had recorded a total of 5930 known coronavirus cases including 155 deaths.
Of late, local transmissions have been more than imported cases. Health authorities have as a result urged the citizenry to observe recommendations to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
Zanu PF Harare province has demanded that Harare City Council rescind the sale of land to some party officials, which the party was occupying on lease from the city, saying the transaction was fraudulently done.
The ruling party’s provincial executive led by acting chairperson, Oliver Chidawu, has since appointed the party’s District Coordinating Committee chairperson, Godwils Masimirembwa, to represent it in criminal investigations to establish the circumstances of the sale.
The Chidawu-led executive said only the party’s national leadership had the authority to handle the matter and not provincial executive members as what happened in the present case.
However, the party officials accused of buying Stand Number 55 Pomona Estate, Number 8 Campel Road measuring 8 000 square metres in Borrowdale, insisted the purchase was above board.
It is alleged that the party officials, using their private company, purchased the property through misrepresentation to council.
The stand has been used as district party offices by Zanu PF Borrowdale District since 1990.
One of the officials, Lameck Tarupuwa, said they bought the property after Zanu PF Harare province, through a letter by provincial secretary for administration, George Mashavave, notified council that it had no objection to the sale.
A paper trail in possession of The Herald show that normal procedures were followed in the acquisition of the land by Tarupuwa’s company, with letters from the city council and the party authorising the sale.
According to the papers, the stand was eventually bought by Pebney (Pvt) Ltd from the City of Harare on the strength of the letter from Mashavave.
The matter was eventually brought to the city’s Education, Health, Housing and Community Services and Licensing Committee, which approved the sale after the company offered to pay US$650 000 against a valuation of US$130 000.
In an interview yesterday,Mashavave said he wrote the letter after the then Zanu PF provincial management committee directed him to do so on the understanding that the party would be given alternative land.
Harare city council director for housing and community services, Mr Addmore Nhekairo, said they allowed Pebney to buy the stand after its application was accompanied by a cover letter from Zanu PF Harare province, indicating the party had no objection to the sale.
“We had no reason to doubt that party officials whom we were dealing with had no legitimate authority from the party,” he said.
“It was only brought to our attention when we attended meetings with Cde Chidau where we were told that we had to set aside the sale. Our hope is that they will find each other among themselves.”
In a new twist of events, Chidau’s executive has since reported the matter to police and appointed Cde Masimirembwa as the party’s contact person.
“This letter serves to authorise Godwills Masimirembwa in his capacity as Chairman Zanu PF DCC4 to represent Zanu PF in criminal investigations under CCD DR 55/7 and CCD CR 503/7/2020 pertaining to fraudulent purchase of stand number Lot 55 Pomona Estate (No 8 Campbel) by Pebney (Pvt) Ltd represented by Lameck Tarupuwa and the fraudulent transaction involving US$26 000 rentals due to Zanu PF rentals which was deposited into the account of one Fungai Chiboora,” read a letter from Chidau dated July 17, 2020.
In another letter to Mr Nhekairo, Zanu PF DCC4 secretary for administration Blessing Chimangah said Harare provincial members had no authority to consent to the sale of the land to a third party.
Chimangah said Harare City Council should have first offered to Zanu PF the right of first refusal before selling the land to a third party as per their agreement.
He said the purported consent to the disposal of land by Zanu PF was fraudulently given.
“Issues of land acquisition and disposal are decided upon by national leadership of the party, not by provincial leadership,” said Chimangah.
“Thus the letter written by Cde Mashavave or any provincial leader consenting to the disposal should be disregarded,” read the letter.
Further, it is argued that Tarupuwa was a member of Zanu PF Harare Province when his company, Pebney (Pvt) Ltd, purchased the property from the City of Harare.
Luck and certainly justice just don’t appear to be on the side of detained journalist Hopewell Chin’ono as he was denied bail by the Harare magistrates court yet again on Monday.
Chinono is facing charges of allegedly inciting the public to take part in a protest march last month.
He is seen as one of the key figures in the planned July 31 protests, which the government had outlawed citing security and Covid-19 health grounds.
He is accused of widely using social media to rally people to take part in the planned protests inspite of the ban of the marches.
Chin’ono, who was arrested together with other political activists on the same charges, has unsuccessfully tried to secure bail at the High Court and Harare Magistrates Court several times.
In the latest case, he sought bail on grounds of changed circumstances, arguing that since the date of the planned protests had passed, there was no need to keep him in remand prison.
The protests were generally snubbed by the public, a factor Chin’ono’s lawyers argued also made him a good candidate for bail.
But magistrate Ngoni Nduna dismissed the application, ruling that there were no changed circumstances that warranted granting of bail.
“Freelance journalist Hopewell Chin’ono denied bail again. Magistrate Nduna says there are no new facts warranting his admission to bail,” Chin’ono’s lawyers, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, said.
In the latest bid for partial freedom, the political activist had also claimed dangers of possible Covid-19 infection in prison.
Zifa president Felton Kamambo is set to appear in court on Tuesday 25 August on alleged bribery charges.
The association boss is being accused of bribing councillors to win the votes in the 2018 elections which propelled him to the Zifa presidency, dethroning Philip Chiyangwa.
Kamambo got 35 votes against 24 from Chiyangwa who decided against taking the voting into the second round.
Police national spokesperson, Paul Nyathi, has told The Herald that they have since finalised their investigations and submitted a docket to the National Prosecuting Authority.
“I can confirm that police were investigating allegations of bribery and they submitted a docket to the National Prosecuting Authority,” said Nyathi.
“Since this case is now before the courts, I shall make no further comments.”-Soccer 24
PSG fans clashed with the police in Paris last night following their team’s 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich in the Uefa Champions League final.
The unrest occurred after the match, and firefighters were called in to extinguish burning vehicles on the Champs-Elysees avenue. The damage was also done on the shops along the street.
According to information released by the police, about 83 people were arrested during the incident.
There were also clashes at PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium where 5000 fans had gathered to cheer their team on the big screen.
The chaos started after hundreds of supporters failed to get into the stadium before the game and the exchanges continued throughout the game, outside the ground, with youngsters armed with fireworks targeted with tear gas by police.-Sky Sports
Spanish giants Barcelona must do everything in their power to keep hold of Lionel Messi, Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario has said.
Messi has reportedly told both the Barcelona president and new coach Ronald Koeman that he sees his future away from the club after a disappointing season which ended without silverware.
Ronaldo, a former Barcelona player, insists the Argentine ace is too important for the club to let him go.
“Messi is the reference point for this team, and if I was Barcelona, I would not let him leave in any case,” Ronaldo told Spanish publication Marca.
“He has been a great player, and has a very intense relationship with the club. The situation has been exaggerated by their Champions League defeat. However, Messi needs his teammates to help him,” he added.-Soccer 24
Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono was on 24 August 2020 denied bail yet again following his fresh bail application on the basis of changed circumstances.
However, in his ruling, Harare magistrate Ngoni Nduna highlighted that alleged exposure to Covid-19 in the prison facility and the passage of 31 July 2020 (a day that had been planned for demonstrations), does not constitute changed circumstances that warrant the granting of bail.
The fresh bail proceedings had been held in camera following an application by the State represented by prosecutors Whisper Mabhaudhi and Tendai Shonhayi.
Chin’ono was arrested on allegations of incitement to participate in a gathering with intent to promote public violence, breaches of peace or bigotry or alternatively incitement to commit public violence, allegedly linked to the planned demonstrations.
In custody since 20 July 2020, Chin’ono is set to appear in court on 1 September 2020 for the continuation of the remand proceedings.
He is now represented by Advocate Taona Nyamakura after his former lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa was barred from representing him on allegations of being disrespectful to the court and making derogatory comments towards the court through a Facebook page titled: Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law.
By A Correspondent- A Mount Darwin pedophile was sentenced to 16 years in jail by Bindura regional magistrate Amos Mubhobho who for raping a 12 year old girl twice in the field.
Andrew Kambosha (37) of Nyamupfukudza village was convicted after full trial.
Prosecutor Samson Chamunorwa told the court that sometime in February Kambosha followed the minor in the fields and pinned her down before raping her.
A week later he used the same modus operandi and threatened to kill her if she revealed it to anyone.
The matter came to light when the victim asked the name of the rapist after he was involved in bestiality and told her aunty that he had raped her months ago.
She was taken to hospital where it was revealed that she was penetrated leading to his arrest.
Bayern Munich overcame Paris St-Germain in a tightly contested Champions League final in Lisbon to claim the crown for the sixth time.
Kingsley Coman, who started his career at PSG, settled a tense affair with a 59th-minute header at the far post from Joshua Kimmich’s cross to leave the French giants still searching for that elusive Champions League triumph.
It was a night of joy for Bayern coach Hansi Flick, who added the Champions League to the Bundesliga after initially taking over as interim coach from sacked Niko Kovac in November.
In contrast, it was a night of bitter disappointment for PSG’s two attacking superstars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, who failed to produce their best and found themselves frustrated by Bayern keeper and man of the match Manuel Neuer when they had the best of the first-half chances.
Mbappe’s pain increased in the second half when he looked to be tripped by Kimmich in the area, but PSG’s penalty claims were ignored – leaving Bayern to celebrate being crowned champions of Europe once more, becoming the first team to win the trophy by winning every Champions League game in a single campaign.
Bayern fully merited their sixth triumph in this tournament, an all-consuming machine that demonstrated graphically that they could overpower teams with attacking prowess but also showed the grit, determination and organisation to frustrate PSG’s attacking golden boys Mbappe and Neymar.
And huge credit must go to coach Flick, who has guided Bayern to 21 successive victories, reviving and inspiring Bayern after emerging from the shadows when Kovac was sacked in November and the club in crisis.
Flick also illustrated his ability to make the big calls, selecting Coman ahead of the influential Croat Ivan Perisic and being rewarded with that decisive moment just before the hour.
Bayern also leant heavily on one of the great figures of the club’s successes, keeper Neuer, who was at his magnificent best to stand toe-to-toe with Neymar in those crucial first-half duels and make the saves that made such a huge contribution to this victory.
Bayern’s status as European champions is deserved, having won every game in the tournament this season, not only having the ability to produce blistering performances of the sort that overwhelmed Barcelona 8-2 in the quarter-final and frustrate PSG’s threat in the final.
This is a developing team, with Leroy Sane already signed from Manchester City for next season, and Bayern’s future looks bright under Flick.
PSG’s big two misfire when it matters most
PSG looked to the two great superstars Neymar and Mbappe to spearhead their assault on the trophy they crave most after such lavish investment – but they were unable to break down the Bayern Munich barrier.
The pair had chances, especially in the first half, but their finishing was not at its best and the imposing figure of Neuer denied them, with Mbappe’s bad miss at the end of the opening period proving a pivotal moment.-Soccer 24
Farai Dziva|Opposition party Transform Zimbabwe is not happy with the way its leader is being badly treated in prison.
Read the party’s statement below:
On Friday 21st August 2020, Transform Zimbabwe President Jacob Ngarivhume appeared at Rotten Row
Magistrates Court for a ruling on his bail application.
Ngarivhume was arrested on 20 July 2020 and has
been applying for bail ever since with the state refusing him bail at every turn.
The recent application was premised on changed circumstances post 31st July.
In the previous denials,
the state had argued that granting bail before 31st July would allow Jacob Ngarivhume to complete his
mission of leading protests against corruption in the country.
After the 31st of July, it was Ngarivhume’s
submission that the 31st had come and gone and there were no violent protests as was feared by the
authorities.
Bail was denied and Ngarivhume will be remanded in custody until the 4th of September
2020.
It is becoming clearer by each appearance that the state is using the judiciary to settle political scores.
As a party we firmly belief that it is every Zimbabwean’s right to demonstrate peacefully as enshrined in
our Constitution.
Ngarivhume’s continued incarceration is based on Tweeter postings about an event
that people had a choice to participate in or ignore.
Meanwhile in Zanu Pf there were senior members
who were dismissed for being found with flyers in apparent support of the planned protests who are still
walking freely while Ngarivhume languishes in remand prison over social media posts.
The drama that has surrounded this case is also clear testimony that the state is out to settle political
scores. From refusing warm food, social visits, toiletries to consulting with his lawyers in private are all
pointers to this assertion.
As a political party, we find the state’s position deplorable and should never
be seen in a country that purports to be a democracy.
What we are witnessing is blatant violation of our
constitutional rights – Transform Zimbabwe
By A Correspondent- At least 364 people have succumbed to Malaria this year while 361 000 people were infected by the disease according to the World Health Organisation.
Most of the affected people are in Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland.
This comes as Zimbabwe observed World Mosquito Day, which falls on August 20 every year in commemoration of British doctor Ronald Ross’ discovery in 1897 that female mosquitoes transmit malaria among humans.
By Wilbert Mukori- “The Government will also start issuing birth certificates to children of some of the people who were killed during the disturbances and have been failing to get the documents and death certificates of those who died,” reported Zimeye.
“The government will next month start exhuming and burying bodies of victims of Gukurahundi.
“The recommendations were part of a high level third (closed door) meeting between President Mnangagwa and civil society groups under the banner of Matabeleland Collective at State House in Bulawayo yesterday.”
It is pleasing that those who have not been able to get birth and death certificates and all the other routine stuff done because of what happened during the madness Gukurahundi are finally going to do these things. It is shocking that it has taken nearly 40 years to have these matters sorted out.
Still, I have to question this Zanu PF government’s competence in the handling of any of the other substantive matters such as the reburial of Gukurahundi massacre victims, paying compensation to the victims, etc. To start with, these matters should be done after all the reports done so far on Gukurahundi have been released and the reburials, etc. are carried out as follow up processes.
There have been at least two official investigations, the Chihambakwe Commission, requested by Mugabe, and when Mnangagwa took over following the November 2017 coup he too set up a body to look into the matter. The two reports must be made public and only then must Zanu PF state publicly what the party propose to do next.
The path Zimbabwe has followed this last 40 years was defined, for better or for worse, by what happened during 1983 to the signing of the Zanu PF and PF Zapu Unity Accord – the Gukurahundi massacre years. Up to now, what happened has remained cloaked in shroud of secrecy and mystery. The shroud must now be lifted and the matter dealt with in an open and transparent manner.
Since Emmerson Mnangagwa and many of those in his Zanu PF government were the principle players in the Gukurahundi saga, it is very doubtful they can be trusted to let the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth come out. It would be better to do nothing regarding Gukurahundi at this point than to open up the old wound and make a complete mess of it!
The other point is; the timing of bringing up the substantive Gukurahundi issues is all wrong give the country is facing a very serious and immediate threat in then form of the corona virus pandemic! With out adding a new distraction, in the form of Gukurahundi, this Zanu PF government is already failing, once again, in its primary duty as the government of saving human lives.
This government’s blundering incompetence and deliberate acts of deception in the handling of the corona virus is putting hundreds of thousands of Zimbabwean lives at risk. This is a humanitarian tragedy that is unfolding here and now and demanding our urgent attention!
Zororo Makamba, the country’s first corona virus victim, was allowed to mix freely with the public because a senior Zanu PF official overruled an Immigration Official who wanted Makamba placed in isolation.
South Africa’s corona virus infection rate will be similar to that of Zimbabwe, given the heavy human traffic between the two. SA has 12 843 covid-19 deaths, for example, and Zimbabwe, with 1/4 the population, should therefore have 3 210 deaths. Instead, Zimbabwe has, officially, 151 covid deaths; 20 times lower!
As of end of July 2020, SA had done 3 million test or tested 1 out of every 20 (1:20) of its 60 million population. In the same period Zimbabwe carried out only 145 000 tests out of a population of 16 million or 1:110!
In April the Zanu PF government promise to ramp up the country’s testing capacity and test health care workers regularly. It has not done so and hence the reason some health care workers are yet to have the first test! The biggest price the nation pays for failing to test aggressively is that many people with the infection and should be in isolation will remain to interact freely and thus spread the virus far and wide.
By the time there is a corona virus vaccine and/or cure, in a year or so time; Zimbabwe’s official covid-19 death rate would 2 000 or so. The real figure would probably have soared to a few hundred times higher than to official figure. The corona virus pandemic has the potential to kill 400 000 plus Zimbabweans!
So after 37 years, Zanu PF is finally doing something for the Gukurahundi dead. The tragedy is in attending to the long dead the regime is fostering on the nation a new national catastrophe even costing the nation 20 times more human lives than the Gukurahundi massacre!
The corona virus pandemic constitutes the greatest of our generation threat to human lives and livelihood for not only Zimbabweans across the board but the world over. Zimbabwe’s performance so far in stopping the virus entering our borders and, once in, containing it; is one of the worst in the whole world. Keeping this corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF regime focused on the immediate task of saving Zimbabwean lives and livelihoods from the corona virus and the disruption it is causing is going to be tough.
Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies must be told in no uncertain terms ramp up the corona virus testing and all the other activities to help stop the spread of corona virus. The regime and the nation is ill equipped to deal with such matters as substantive Gukurahundi issues at present.
Indeed, Mnangagwa is bring up the substantive Gukurahundi issues to distract the nation from the urgent matters of the worsening economic meltdown, the growing social unrest and most pressing of all the soaring covid-19 infections and deaths! The need for all Zimbabweans to focus on the need to end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance has never been greater than it is today because until we end the curse all these problems will only get worse!
Caps United FC National Supporters Association Press Statement
To:
All Caps United FC Supporters
As we are aware that our club president has been arrested, as club supporters we really sympathise with him, but at the same time we are advised not to comment on his private life until and unless we are consulted.
The Caps United FC Supporters Association National Executive Committee is requesting its members to remain calm. Please desist from using Caps United FC platforms to make unnecessary, unconfirmed and uninformed comments.
Regards
E Museke
National Secretary General
For and on behalf of Caps United FC National Supporters Association
POLICE in Dema, Mashonaland East Province, have arrested a 23-year-old man who allegedly killed his lover after being intimate with her in a car, before dumping the body in a bush.
Shepherd Ndemera of Madoro Village under Chief Seke is assisting police with investigations after he allegedly murdered his girlfriend, Nokuthula Shana, of Chitungwiza.
Provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Tendai Mwanza, confirmed the incident.
“I confirm a murder case that occurred in Dema where a female corpse was discovered in a bush,” he said.
“The suspect has since been arrested and is helping the police with investigations.
We urge the public to exercise restraint during misunderstandings to avoid such tragic incidents.”
On August 16 around 7pm, the suspect reportedly asked his girlfriend to spend a night with him in a car that he was guarding along the Chirasavana-Gombe Road.
The car had developed a mechanical fault.
It is understood the girlfriend proceeded to the place, but they had a misunderstanding over infidelity, which degenerated into a fight.
On realising his girlfriend had died, the suspect allegedly carried the body and dumped it in a bush about 200 metres from the broken down vehicle.
The body was discovered by a villager the following morning, who alerted Dema police, who observed that the half-naked corpse had bites all over the face and a deep cut on the head.
Police also found blood stains inside the vehicle, leading to the arrest of the suspect.-The Herald
By A Correspondent- Hello Mwari [Hello God], a 2020 production of upcoming Zimdancehall chanter Jah Master has hit over a million views on Youtube since the 3rd of this month when it premiered on the NashTV channel.
Jah Master, in the song, calls God to inform Him that some people were plotting his downfall. He pleads with the Almighty to intervene, spiritually.
The hit has overshadowed other songs which were released this year.
Applying an ice pack to the area as soon after a bite as possible will reduce inflammation, itching, and discomfort.
Avoid putting ice directly on the skin, wrap it in a cloth or towel first.
Applying a topical antihistamine to a bite may help treat itching.
One study suggested that some antihistamines might be an effective treatment for mosquito bites.
Histamine is a chemical that the body releases as part of the inflammatory response to a mosquito bite.
It is histamine that causes itching, and antihistamines help to prevent histamine from taking effect.
People can take antihistamines in pill form, but other options include topical creams that a person can apply directly to the bite.
Hydrocortisone cream is a topical medication that can reduce inflammation and itching.
Hydrocortisone is available over the counter and on prescription but may not be suitable for everyone.
Children, pregnant women, or those with skin infections should not use hydrocortisone cream.
People should use these creams in moderation and only over short periods, or for as long as a doctor recommends in the case of prescription hydrocortisone.
Concentrated forms of heat might be useful for treating mosquito bites. One study from 2011 in Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology looked at the effectiveness of a device that emits concentrated heat. In most cases, the device was able to reduce the discomfort resulting from insect bites within 10 minutes of its application.
The study took place at beaches and bathing lakes in Germany. It is important to note, however, that of the 146 people in the study, only 33 had mosquito bites, with the majority having wasp stings.
There is some evidence that aloe vera can treat skin conditions, including
psoriasis. It has a wide range of potential uses and people usually apply the gel to the skin to relieve burns, frostbite , and
cold sores.
Some research on rats showed that Aloe littoralis, which is a close relative to aloe vera, might have anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties.
The scientists concluded that A. littoralis might help reduce the inflammation from mosquito bites and applying a gel may soothe the area, too.
Honey may have properties that make it useful for healing wounds .
Applying honey to a bite may help reduce inflammation and prevent infection, and in a similar way to aloe, applying it to the skin may also help soothe the area.
A person should see a doctor if a bite lasts longer than a week or shows signs of infection.
Sometimes, mosquito bites and other insect stings can cause allergic reactions. This can lead to an anaphylactic shock in extreme cases.
Anyone who experiences any of the following symptoms will require immediate medical attention:
It is also possible for mosquito bites to cause an infection.
If the bite lasts longer than a week or causes significant discomfort, consult a doctor.
Although it is difficult to avoid mosquito bites completely, people can reduce their chances of being bitten by:
using insect repellent
covering exposed skin as much as possible
using mosquito nets at night
installing mosquito screens on windows and doors
being aware of visiting places with a high density of mosquitoes or other insects
Avoiding all mosquito bites can be difficult.
However, home remedies can help reduce itchiness or irritation and provide comfort until a bite fully heals.
Source :Medical News Today
Inserted by Zimbabwe Online Health Centre
For more information follow /like our Facebook page :Zimbabwe Online Health Centre
We publish below the live updates at MDC Alliance leader Job Sikhala’s court hearing which is currently happening at Rotten Row Magistrates court
State says there should be an investigation into complaints put before the court by the defence counsel. Says Sikhala can only be removed from Chikurubi upon production of an investigation report https://t.co/Yb78xJnELM
14:35- The State says there should be an investigation into complaints put before the court by the defence counsel.
14:32- Mutimbanyoka told Sikhala that verbatim) “you will die” and asked for his next of kin’s number.
14:30- Harrison Nkomo who is representing Sikhala tells the court that jis client was mixed with inmates who had tested positive to coronavirus.
14:28- Mutimbanyoka instructed a junior prison officer to handcuff Sikhala for the whole day on 23 August 2020, the court hears.
14:25- Sikhala’s lawyers complain to Magistrate that his client was threatened with death by a prison officer named Mutimbanyoka at Chikurubi maximum prison.
By A Correspondent- Doctors at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals have with immediate effect withdrawn their services after some of their colleagues tested positive for COVID-19.
In a letter to the Hospital Management, the doctors said their decision to withdraw their services was to protect their patientsand the spread of the virus.
We publish below the letter to management by the doctors:
“A considerable number of the SRMOS have tested positive for SARS-Covid-19 and a sizeable number SRMOS are displaying symptoms of Covid-19 and await to be tested. In the best interest of other health workers and patients, we have found it best that we self-isolate at home whilst Mbuya Nehanda Maternity Hospital is disinfected.
Those who tested positive will be in quarantine as per national guidelines. Those who are symptomatic will self-isolate until they are cleared. Providing service whilst symptomatic and without proper PPE puts patients and other health workers at risk of contracting the highly contagious pathogen.
We kindly implore your office that you organise that all patients that will be admitted in hospital be tested for Covid-19. Those who test positive will have to be managed in the Red Zone.”
Farai Dziva|MDC Alliance vice chairperson, Job Sikhala’s lawyer has revealed his client was threatened with death by a senior prison officer.
Sikhala’s lawyer complained to the Magistrate that his client was threatened with death by a prison officer named Mutimbanyoka at Chikurubi Maximum Prison.
Mutimbanyoka allegedly instructed a junior prison officer to handcuff Sikhala for the whole day on 23 August.
He also mixed with inmates who tested positive for coronavirus.
Mutimbanyoka told Sikhala that he would die and asked for his next of kin’s contact details.
Hopewell Chin’ono lawyer, Roselyn Hanzi speaks on the denial of the legal team to consult with him by the ZPS. She said they will take legal action soon#ZimRightsLIVEpic.twitter.com/1NZdom7HA7
The court says #JobSikhala can only be removed from Chikurubi maximum prison upon the production of an investigation report detailing the aunthenticity of his complaints against state security agents. Can the STATE independently INVESTIGATE ITSELF? #ZimbabweansLivesMatter
We publish below the live updates at MDC Alliance leader Job Sikhala’s court hearing which is currently happening at Rotten Row Magistrates court
State says there should be an investigation into complaints put before the court by the defence counsel. Says Sikhala can only be removed from Chikurubi upon production of an investigation report https://t.co/Yb78xJnELM
14:38- The State says Sikhala can only be removed from Chikurubi upon production of an investigation report.
14:35- The State says there should be an investigation into complaints put before the court by the defence counsel.
14:32- Mutimbanyoka told Sikhala that verbatim) “you will die” and asked for his next of kin’s number.
14:30- Harrison Nkomo who is representing Sikhala tells the court that jis client was mixed with inmates who had tested positive to coronavirus.
14:28- Mutimbanyoka instructed a junior prison officer to handcuff Sikhala for the whole day on 23 August 2020, the court hears.
14:25- Sikhala’s lawyers complain to Magistrate that his client was threatened with death by a prison officer named Mutimbanyoka at Chikurubi maximum prison.
A 30-year-old jilted husband from Jejeti Village, Kasibo area under Chief Whange set his former mother-in-law Mrs Moyo’s homestead on fire after his wife Nobuhle Mrs Moyo’s daughter left him.
Absalom Nkomo had gone to Mrs Moyo’s house at night to enquire about his wife’s whereabouts and he was told she was not home and he proceeded to set Mrs Moyo’s huts on fire in a fit of rage.
According to the publication, Mrs Moyo and her 2 granddaughters survived the fire because they were already outside the house when he set the houses on fire.
The matter came to light in court where Nkomo stood accused of malicious damage to property. It is the state’s case that:
On the 9th day of August at around 11pm the complainant was in her bedroom hut with her grandchildren when the accused arrived.
The accused asked his mother-in-law about his wife Nobuhle Moyo’s whereabouts and the complainant told him that she didn’t know where her daughter was.
The accused became furious and insulted the complainant
Nkomo threatened to burn a kitchen hut and a bedroom hut unless they disclosed his wife’s whereabouts.
Mrs Moyo and her granddaughters went out of the bedroom hut and begged Nkomo not to burn their huts but he became more violent, the court was told.
Nkomo then entered the kitchen hut and took a burning log which he used to set the same hut alight.
Nkomo was fined $6000 by Hwange magistrate Ms Rangarirai Gakanje who also sentenced him to 10 months in prison before suspending 2 months on condition of good behaviour and also suspended the remaining 8 months on condition that he restitutes $203 400 the total value of the property destroyed in the fire and US$25 by Monday next week.-Chronicle
BY Dr Masimba Mavaza | Politics becomes brutal and bruising as enemies attack Cde Victor Matemadanda the Deputy Minister of Defence and ZANU PF’s National Political Commissair. Comrade Matemadanda has been accused of impregnating Mr Kaseke’s wife. Mr Kaseke is currently on Wheelchar.
A whatsapp message was circulating with no author saying, “Zanu PF national political commissar Victor Matema Damba impregnates Bety Nhambu Kaseke the wife of Karikoga Kaseke former ZTA CEO. Matemadanda and Kaseke were very close before, during and after the coup time.
“It was Kaseke who used to provide accommodation at rainbow towers to Matemadanda and Mutsvangwa when they were fighting Mugabe. Matemadanda took Betty from Kaseke after Kaseke fell ill, he is now wheelchair bound.
“This is the type of leadership we have in Zimbabwe and we expect these people to fix our political and economic quagmires.”
Cde Matemadanda commented saying, “I have no time for detractors. I am a principled man and i can never go down that low to defile my body with such human endurance. I have a great task for my President My Party and my nation. I do not want to dignify such street talk from people who want to slow down my work.”
In a serious tone Cde Matemadanda said “ we are a few years from 2023. My focus is on winning the elections for my president, my party and all ZANU PF MPs. “
He added “ I am Victor not only by name but in purpose. “
I am aware of some scrupulous people who tried to smuggle some CVs for the DCCs and I stood by the due process and the constitution of the party. By standing resolute I created a lot of friends and enemies. As a result I get a lot of mudslinging and accusations which baseless”
In Bulawayo, CID Law and Order have apprehended MDC Alliance Mat North Chairperson @PrinceDubeko & charged him with inciting public violence for distributing #ZanupfMustGo masks. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter.
In Bulawayo, CID Law and Order have apprehended MDC Alliance Mat North Chairperson @PrinceDubeko & charged him with inciting public violence for distributing #ZanupfMustGo masks. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter. #FreePrince https://t.co/7ofVRux9iS
……..
In Bulawayo, CID Law and Order have apprehended MDC Alliance Mat North Chairperson @PrinceDubeko & charged him with inciting public violence for distributing #ZanupfMustGo masks. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter.
By A Correspondent | Zengeza MP Job Sikhala’s wife last night received a message which suggests that there are poisoning efforts at the Harare Remand prison where her husband is currently held.
The message who’s authenticity could not be established was a supposed alert narrated in broken English that her husband will never be permitted bail, and will be poisoned.
It read in full:
“I’m a top prison officer works at Chikurubi maximum prison. I don’t want to lie to you, all these activists being arrested will not be permitted bail never.
“These guys are being given food poison and water inside. I don’t think the opposition MDC will exist again. Last night 3 government officials visits here and left some plastic bags with powders I’m sure it’s an additional poison to these inmates.
The arrest of Ngaribvume, Chin’ono and Sikhala’s main aim is to wipe them all in cells. 23-08-20 Alert!”
Sikhala is set to attend court Monday morning after being arrested on Friday afternoon and he has been charged for inciting public violence. His party, the MDC Alliance, however maintains that he is being punished simply for being an opposition MP.
The US is rallying the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) to play a more assertive role in helping to solve the deepening crisis in Zimbabwe.
The US is also urging Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa to open dialogue with the opposition.
Speaking for the first time since the ruling Zanu-PF called him a “thug”, US Ambassador to Harare Brian A Nichols, told TimesLIVE SA was leading by example and could achieve success in bringing about change in its neighbouring country.
“This is an opportunity for the institution (Sadc) to stand up to the excesses that are taking place here in terms of human rights abuses. And this is an opportunity for Sadc to promote a more prosperous region,” he said.
Zimbabwe says it is not on the agenda of the four-day SADC summit, which starts on Friday, because there is no crisis in the country.
“The step SA has taken in sending its special envoys here is very positive. The statement from the AU was a very positive step. All those people of goodwill will come together to support Zimbabwe at this difficult moment.”
Nichols said Zimbabwe had a three-pronged crisis: health care, food security and political turmoil.
“There’s widespread concern about where Zimbabwe is headed and people who are legitimate friends of Zimbabwe are deeply worried,” he said.
He said since 2018, after the disputed general elections that handed a narrow win to Mnangagwa, there had been high-level meetings between him and American officials — but what was discussed had not been implemented by Harare.
“We have had a couple of high-level meetings with President Mnangagwa. From Washington, secretary of state for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy has met with President Mnangagwa twice — once on the margins of the UN General Assembly in 2018, and then last year at the African CEO Summit in Maputo. At that time we talked about our desire to have a stronger relationship.
“But that depended on this government pursuing strong and irreversible reforms and, unfortunately, we are waiting for many of those reforms still to take place,” he said.
The ambassador said some of the concerns are “shared mutually” with some senior officials in government who believe the country’s future depends on enacting broad reforms around freedom of expression, rule of law, strong institutions, anti-corruption, and levelling the political playing field.
Nichols is not alone in calling for dialogue between Mnangagwa and MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa. Killer Zivhu, a former Zanu-PF legislator, was expelled from the party last month for making the same call. Last week, former Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono also suggested dialogue between opposing parties — but instead of having SA play the mediation role, he suggested Rwanda’s Paul Kagame for the task. Gono argued that because of his military background Kagame could do a better job.
Gono suggested that Zimbabwe should have a transitional authority while the country works on a framework for reform before elections are brought back.
Nichols said he believed this could work if all stakeholders acted in good faith.
“That is something that we have supported for the last couple of years. Several civic society organisations are advocating for that solution. How that dialogue progresses and what agreements come out of it, will depend on the people of Zimbabwe.
It will depend on all the political, economic and social actors and religious communities coming together and having a conversation centred around how we deal with the challenges of the economic crisis, how do we deal with corruption, as well as health-care issues, and how do we come up with a living wage,” he said.
Despite Harare denying there’s a crisis in the country, there has been an increased onslaught on opposition political activists. MDC Alliance legislator Job Sikhala was on Friday arrested and charged with inciting public violence by backing the July 31 protests.
He joins journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and Transforms Zimbabwe leader Jacob Ngarivhume who were denied bail.
Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party last month called Nichols a “thug” and accused him of funding the opposition ahead of the planned anti-government protests that authorities said were meant to overthrow the government.
The MDC leader over the weekend took time to address the ills engulfing Zimbabwe and said the situation in Zimbabwe was deteriorating every single day and there was an undeniable crisis in Zimbabwe.
“I come to you in unprecedented circumstances of national crisis, things are worsening every day, the situation is deteriorating, the situation is decaying and decomposing. Over the past few weeks and days, our country has attracted the attention and critical eye of the world,” said Chamisa.
Watch his full address in the video downloading below. Please be patient while the video downloads.
About 400 Zimbabweans are reportedly stranded at Lindela Repatriation Centre in South Africa after the Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa is said to be refusing to assist to verify them so that they can be deported.
Lindela is a detention centre for undocumented migrants in South Africa.
Some of the detainees who spoke to this publication over the weekend said the Embassy isn’t verifying them for deportation because Zimbabwe was not ready to receive them citing issues relating to lack of quarantine and rehabilitation centres.
South Africa cannot deport them without Zimbabwe verifying that they are her citizens.
Another detainees who is a former prisoner said his group was granted amnesty but when they got to Lindela they were informed that Zimbabwe had requested a halt to deportation. He has been stranded in the facility while other prisoners have returned to their countries or to their homes in South Africa.
The Zimbabwe Embassy was not available for comment at the time of writing.
Zambian President Edgar Lungu drew criticism after replacing central bank Governor Denny Kalyalya, who had been seen as a steady hand even as inflation soared.
The president on Saturday appointed Christopher Mvunga, who was a deputy secretary to the cabinet and previously served Lungu as deputy finance minister. He takes over as inflation lingers near 16% and the economy is set to contract 4.2% this year. He’ll also have to contend with a currency that’s the world’s second-worst performer this year, having depreciated by nearly 26% against the dollar.
Lungu didn’t give a reason for replacing Kalyalya, who had repeatedly called for the government to cut the fiscal deficit amid ballooning debt and falling foreign-exchange reserves. Kalyalya’s dismissal could raise concerns among investors who saw him as a credible governor that tried to keep a spendthrift government in check. Lungu in 2018 extended Kalyalya’s contract for five years.
“It is quite surprising because Dr. Kalyalya has performed sterlingly under very extreme circumstances,” Trevor Simumba, an economist based in Lusaka, the capital, said by phone. “To fire him in this manner sends a very negative signal. I’m shocked.”
Kalyalya previously served as deputy governor and spent years at the World Bank. Mvunga is an accountant who has worked for lenders including Standard Chartered Plc and Standard Bank Group Ltd. He doesn’t have the necessary experience in central banking, Simumba said. A call to Mvunga’s mobile phone didn’t connect.
“Christopher Mvunga is not capable of being central bank governor,” Simumba said. “Let’s be very clear about that.”
By A Correspondent | Below are among others, riveting pictures of ZANU PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa soon after ordering the killing of scores of black Zimbabweans between the 1st August 2018 and the 25th January 2019.
This article in full explores how Mnangagwa evolved from an open-smiling-face to a tongue-clung to-the-roof of his mouth 41 years later.
On the 4th April 1983, Mnangagwa announced that he is launching an operation to depopulate a part of the nation that supports opposing political views. He said:
“Blessed are they who will follow the path of the Government laws, for their days on earth will be increased.
“But woe unto those who will choose the path of collaboration with dissidents for we will certainly shorten their stay on earth,” he added.
As Minister of State Security, Mnangagwa was in charge of the brutal massacre of more than 22 000 Ndebele. He labeled dissidents ‘cockroaches’ and the killers of the Fifth Brigade army unit as ‘DDT,’ an insecticide.
Economy data shows how the country’s GDP crashed down following the operation, and effects were immediately felt from 1983 all the way to 1985. As if the lessons of those years were not enough, 32 years later in May 2015, Mnangagwa speaking at the home of the late Vice President Simon Muzenda would describe election winners and their supporters, the majority, as instant corpses.
This was late in 1979 at a preelection rally, just after the murder of his brother in law Gen Josiah Tongogara and the emerging pictures suggest Mnangagwa was a smiling happy man.
Then later this was – 1987 at the end of the Gukurahundi massacres. Mnangagwa doesn’t look happy that the killing is over, as it were.
Then later this was – 1987 at the end of the Gukurahundi massacres. Mnangagwa doesn’t look happy that the killing is over, as it were.
Around this time, Emmerson Mnangagwa’s dummy dissident, called Richard Gwesela had been killed by a newspaper article, literally. 22 years later, ZimEye would uncover that there was never anyone at all called Richard Gwesela, the dummy Mnangagwa used wans state agent, used to create chaos in communities in order to justify the mass massacre of tens thousands of people.
For a whole for your period, Gwesela who did not even have a bicycle, was immortal.
FAST FORWARDS 39 YEARS LATER
The first picture is that of Mnangagwa just 48 hours after ordering the mass shooting that got 6 people dead in the Harare CBD, a pre-planned operation executed during the hours election results were delayed leading to him suddenly being announce winner of the 2018 polls despite it being openly announced on LIVE state television, ZBC in his presence that the Zim military will be used to enforce an election outcome greater than the one ZANU PF achieved in 1980.
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa looks on as he gives a media conference at the State House in Harare, Zimbabwe, August 3, 2018. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo
The second picture is that of Mnangagwa barely 2 weeks after deploying the military in the capital city Harare killing 17 people and raping more than 50 women as their children watched between 15th and the 25th January 2019. ZimEye pursued Mnangagwa on his overseas travels and managed to push for the French broadcaster and others to grill Mnangagwa later in Addis Ababa.
During this moment (below) the man was speaking to the broadcaster France24, and this was the very heated moment as he denied deploying the military to carry out extra judicial killings and raping women.
He would however later openly confirm to the people of Mwenezi that he is the one who did it all and then deployed emissaries to SADC leaders in order to spoon-feed them on what to say concerning his military violence, blaming it on civilians.
RETWEET! – Mnangagwa in Mwenezi clearly threatened brutality against doctors and lawyers also threatening to shorten the lives of people who make noise. pic.twitter.com/fJx5dOemL5
Both military crackdowns were condemned by the United Nations rapporteur on human rights. WATCH HIS VIDEO BELOW:
Mnangagwa speaking to France24 in Feb 2019
On the 3d January, Mnangagwa told the people of Kuwadzana in the capital, Harare, that he will deploy the army on them once he suspects that they are the ones guilty of stopping the rain, literally. WATCH VIDEO BELOW:
Mnangagwa: "But once we know it is the people of Kuwadzana who do not wish it to rain, we will deploy the army to surround them to beat them up" Video- ZBC pic.twitter.com/apQ05pc4jn
Mnangagwa: "But once we know it is the people of Kuwadzana who do not wish it to rain, we will deploy the army to surround them to beat them up" Video- ZBC pic.twitter.com/apQ05pc4jn
Tens of thousands of people rallied in the Belarus capital Sunday and called for President Alexander Lukashenko to resign after disputed election results, a postelection crackdown, and a heavy military presence in the city.
Protesters, many wearing and waving the opposition’s colors of red and white, chanted “freedom” and “we will not forget, we will not forgive” as they walked in the Minsk city center. They briefly gathered near the president’s residence before dispersing peacefully.
While state media reported about 20,000 protesters took part, opposition-leaning media put the estimate at nearly 100,000 protesters, the French news agency reported.
The demonstrations began after the Aug. 9 election, in which Lukashenko claimed 80% of the vote. The results drew claims of fraud by opposition parties.
IT company director Yan Tamulyonok told the Associated Press he has been going to the protests each day to demand fair elections and freedom of speech. He said he believed the vote was rigged by the law-enforcement agencies and security services, who then violently dispersed protests.
The protests are seen as the biggest challenge Lukashenko has faced since he began to rule the Eastern European country of 9.5 million 26 years ago.
Lukashenko, seen on state media Sunday wearing body armor and carrying a rifle, called demonstrators “rats.”
Previously, he has used riot police to disperse rallies, but Reuters witnessed no clashes between police and protesters Sunday.
However, in the 15 days of protests, more than 7,000 people have been detained and hundreds beaten by police. Two people were killed in the postelection protests in Belarus, it has been confirmed.
The EU and United States have criticized the vote and condemned the postelection crackdown.
Ahead of Sunday’s rally, the Defense Ministry announced the army would take responsibility for protecting national memorials from protesters.
In a statement, the ministry said any unrest near such monuments and statues would no longer be responded to by police forces but by the army.
The statement came as army personnel were spotted being transported into Minsk in military transporters.
Thirty-one years ago, on August 23, 1989, an estimated 2 million people joined arms across the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in a protest against Soviet rule that became known as the “Baltic Way.” Protesters formed a 600-kilometer-long human chain from Vilnius, Lithuania, to the Belarusian border. Two years later, the Baltic states would achieve their freedom.
On Sunday, mass protests were held in Lithuania and Latvia, and were scheduled to occur in Estonia and Prague, as a show of support for Belarus across the Baltics.
Organizers in Lithuania Sunday estimated up to 50,000 people took part in their rally. In Latvia, hundreds marched along the Belarus border, the French news agency reported. Elsewhere, human chains were planned in Estonia and Prague.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition candidate who fled to Lithuania after the election and claimed to have won from 60 to 70% of the vote, said Saturday that Belarusians must “struggle for their rights” and not be distracted by Lukashenko’s claims that the country was under military threat.
Also, it was announced Saturday that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun will visit Lithuania and Russia next week for talks on the Belarusian postelection crisis.
Tsikhanouskaya’s team said Saturday that Biegun would meet the opposition candidate in Lithuania.
FILE – Fredie Blom celebrates his 116th birthday at his home in Delft, near Cape Town, South Africa, May 8, 2020
A South African believed to be the world’s oldest man died Saturday. He was 116 years old and a survivor of the 1918 Spanish Flu.
Fredie Blom’s family said he died of natural causes at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town.
Blom was born May 8, 1904, in the rural town of Adelaide, near the Great Winterberg mountains of Eastern Cape province, but he was not listed by Guinness World Records.
The oldest man on record is Bob Weighton, 112, in Britain.
South African media, however, have described Blom as “unofficially” the world’s man.
He was the only survivor of a family whose other members died during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. Blom also went on to survive two world wars and South Africa’s apartheid.
Blom was married for 46 years to a woman named Jeanette and became the father of her three children. He became the grandfather of five.
The US is rallying the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) to play a more assertive role in helping to solve the deepening crisis in Zimbabwe.
The US is also urging Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa to open dialogue with the opposition.
Speaking for the first time since the ruling Zanu-PF called him a “thug”, US Ambassador to Harare Brian A Nichols, told TimesLIVE SA was leading by example and could achieve success in bringing about change in its neighbouring country.
“This is an opportunity for the institution (Sadc) to stand up to the excesses that are taking place here in terms of human rights abuses. And this is an opportunity for Sadc to promote a more prosperous region,” he said.
“The step SA has taken in sending its special envoys here is very positive. The statement from the AU was a very positive step. All those people of goodwill will come together to support Zimbabwe at this difficult moment.”
Nichols said Zimbabwe had a three-pronged crisis: health care, food security and political turmoil.
“There’s widespread concern about where Zimbabwe is headed and people who are legitimate friends of Zimbabwe are deeply worried,” he said.
He said since 2018, after the disputed general elections that handed a narrow win to Mnangagwa, there had been high-level meetings between him and American officials — but what was discussed had not been implemented by Harare.
“We have had a couple of high-level meetings with President Mnangagwa. From Washington, secretary of state for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy has met with President Mnangagwa twice — once on the margins of the UN General Assembly in 2018, and then last year at the African CEO Summit in Maputo. At that time we talked about our desire to have a stronger relationship.
“But that depended on this government pursuing strong and irreversible reforms and, unfortunately, we are waiting for many of those reforms still to take place,” he said.
The ambassador said some of the concerns are “shared mutually” with some senior officials in government who believe the country’s future depends on enacting broad reforms around freedom of expression, rule of law, strong institutions, anti-corruption, and levelling the political playing field.
Nichols is not alone in calling for dialogue between Mnangagwa and MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa. Killer Zivhu, a former Zanu-PF legislator, was expelled from the party last month for making the same call. Last week, former Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono also suggested dialogue between opposing parties — but instead of having SA play the mediation role, he suggested Rwanda’s Paul Kagame for the task. Gono argued that because of his military background Kagame could do a better job.
Gono suggested that Zimbabwe should have a transitional authority while the country works on a framework for reform before elections are brought back.
Nichols said he believed this could work if all stakeholders acted in good faith.
“That is something that we have supported for the last couple of years. Several civic society organisations are advocating for that solution. How that dialogue progresses and what agreements come out of it, will depend on the people of Zimbabwe. It will depend on all the political, economic and social actors and religious communities coming together and having a conversation centred around how we deal with the challenges of the economic crisis, how do we deal with corruption, as well as health-care issues, and how do we come up with a living wage,” he said.
Despite Harare denying there’s a crisis in the country, there has been an increased onslaught on opposition political activists. MDC Alliance legislator Job Sikhala was on Friday arrested and charged with inciting public violence by backing the July 31 protests. He joins journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and Transform Zimbabwe leader Jacob Ngarivhume who were denied bail.
Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party last month called Nichols a “thug” and accused him of funding the opposition ahead of the planned antigovernment protests that authorities said were meant to overthrow the government.
Pyramid scheme bosses Bevern Dzinoenda and Ambrose Chikukwa are wanted by the police in connection with contravening the Banking Act after allegedly operating their money laundering business in Harare and Kwekwe.
Dzinoenda and Chikukwa ran a company called Bevern Capital (Pvt) Limited in Harare and Kwekwe, where they were taking deposits of various amounts from people for a return within a week, which was said to be in violation of the Banking Act.
Their partner, Richard Boutros Samunda, has since been arrested and appeared at the Harare magistrates court charged with violating the Banking Act, with a prejudice to the State of US$2 million.
Samunda is expected back in court today for his bail ruling after the State led by Mr Sebastian Mutizirwa opposed granting of his bail, saying he was a flight risk.
Mr Mutizirwa told the court that Samunda was likely to interfere with investigations, which he said were still at an early stage.
In his bail application, Samunda told the court that he was only a security person at Bevern Capital and had nothing to do with his employers’ day-to-day running of the business.
He told the court that he was not a flight risk since he owned the place where he resides in Belvedere.
Circumstances leading to Samunda’s arrest were that sometime in 2018, acting in connivance with Dzinoenda and Chikukwa, he formed Bevern Capital for purposes of accepting deposits from people and invest the money into an unknown enterprise.
The trio, through their company,
would return the money to the depositors after six weeks with a 50 percent interest.
On August 14 this year, the Reserve Bank, which is the sole regulator of banking institutions’ activities, received information to the effect that Bevern Capital was taking deposits from people.
Investigations by the RBZ revealed that the trio, through their company, were not registered either under the Banking Act or the Micro-Finance Act.
Mr Mutizirwa said on the same date, police raided Bevern Capital’s offices in Milton Park, Harare, and found the premises closed.
The police were said to have noted that Samunda had dismissed nearly 200 people from the place after been informed that police were looking for him.
The country’s health services continue to collapse as senior medical professionals at the country’s biggest health centre, Parirenyatwa Hospital,have downed tools immediate effect after a number of their colleagues in the profession tested positive for coronavirus.
The professionals include obstetrics and gynaecologists.
The decision to down tools by the specialist doctors also comes weeks after eight babies who needed urgent assistance died because of lack of poor staffing as nurses are on strike to press for better remuneration and personal protective equipment (PPE).
In a letter to the hospital management, the specialist doctors said the decision to stop offering their services was also in the best interest of patients.
“A considerable number of the SRMOS have tested positive for SARS-Covid-19 and a sizeable number SRMOS are displaying symptoms of Covid-19 and await to be tested,” said the notice.
“In the best interest of other health workers and patients, we have found it best that we self-isolate at home whilst Mbuya Nehanda Maternity Hospital is disinfected.
“Those who tested positive will be in quarantine as per national guidelines. Those who are symptomatic will self-isolate until they are cleared.
“Providing service whilst symptomatic and without proper PPE puts patients and other health workers at risk of contracting the highly contagious pathogen.
“We kindly implore your office that you organise that all patients that will be admitted in hospital be tested for Covid-19.
“Those who test positive will have to be managed in the Red Zone.”
MDC-T secretary general Douglas Mwonzora has endorsed President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) by calling for inclusion of civil society and the churches instead of calling for ours disbanding.
The grouping is made up of all opposition parties whose leaders challenged Mnangagwa in the 2018 presidential elections except the main opposition MDC Alliance two and other parties led by former Vice President Joyce Mujuru and former Finance Minister Nkosana Moyo.
Speaking in a virtual meeting Mwonzora feels the opening up of the dialogue process to a broader interest base was best to provide everlasting solutions to the troubled country.
“The problem with POLAD is that it is limited to political actors as if the crisis affects them alone,” he said.
“I think we could do better by widening that forum of dialogue to include churches, civil society, labour and business.
“If we include all those people, there is no danger of process generating or culminating into an elite pact.”
He added, “The MDC right now is making a proposal on how to have meaningful dialogue in Zimbabwe, dialogue that is going to have everlasting solutions to the Zimbabwe crisis, that’s our guiding principle.
“We are for dialogue and that dialogue must lead to everlasting solutions to the problems bedevilling Zimbabwe, that is rally number one.
“Rally number two, in approaching dialogue, we must be guided on what is in the best interest for Zimbabwean people, that is why we are welcoming the initiative by the South African President (Ramaphosa) to appoint an envoy to fact find on what is happening in Zimbabwe. That is a noble initiative by a neighbour.”
Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Thompson Mabhikwa has recused himself from the gold theft case involving Harare lawyer Admire Rubaya and seven others.
Rubaya is demanding over $1.1 million from Justice Mabhikwa in damages for unlawful incarceration.
He now wants Justice Mabhikwa’s fitness to hold office investigated.
Justice Mabhikwa’s recusal follows a criminal complaint filed against him for allegedly abusing public office after he ordered Rubaya’s “unjustified” 10-day incarceration at Khami Remand Prison in June.
Rubaya is facing theft charges or obstructing the course of justice after he defended his then client, Jefat Chaganda, for smuggling 14kg of gold to Botswana.
He wrote to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) and the police on July 28 seeking a probe and arrest of Justice Mabhikwa.
Justice Mabhikwa is denying the allegations, but agreed to pave way for another judge.
On Friday, Justice Mabhikwa issued an order recusing himself, so that “justice must not just be done, but must be seen to be done”.
The trial is set for continuation on September 8 and all parties have been notified of Justice Mabhikwa’s decision.
Rubaya was released from Khami Remand Prison after approaching the Supreme Court, which censured Justice Mabhikwa’s decision to revoke his bail.
He has since approached the High Court seeking leave to sue Justice Mabhikwa for damages suffered because of the detention as his constitutional rights were infringed.
For this reason, he intends to claim payment of the sum of $665 000 and $475 000, being damages in terms of the law.
Rubaya argues that Justice Mabhikwa caused his detention under circumstances where he was constitutionally-bound to presume the lawyer innocent.
He has also written to the Judicial Service Commission, which regulates the conduct of judges, to investigate Justice Mabhikwa’s conduct.
In his complaint to ZACC and the police, Rubaya alleged that on June 23, in the company of his co-accused, he appeared before Justice Mabhikwa for a pre-arranged remand hearing.
He said he was shocked when Justice Mabhikwa revoked their bail and remanded them in custody, without the State making an application for such incarceration.
Rubaya said Justice Mabhikwa acted with unparalleled caprice to his prejudice in a bid to fast-track a trial he had earlier on postponed to September 8 by the consent of all parties.
He further argued that Justice Mabhikwa’s decision to mete “group” punishment on the co-accused persons who were in attendance on June 23, 2020 on the basis of the non-appearance in court of Chaganda was not only unprecedented, but also negated basic fundamental tenets of natural justice.
Rubaya said before his bail was revoked, he had read a Facebook account under the name of Andrew Maimba claiming to be a journalist, who posted on his wall on June 11 warning him of the incident that finally unfolded in court on June 23.
Maimba went on to write a follow-up article on the day he was incarcerated indicating he had advised him of the impending detention, but had not paid heed.
Rubaya said it was cause for investigation that a journalist had knowledge of how court proceedings before Justice Mabhikwa were to unfold 12 days before.
Rubaya is charged along with Chaganda, who reportedly died early this year, the magistrate who tried the case at Plumtree Timeon Makunde, prosecutor Stanley Chinyanganya as well as Sidingumuzi Ncube, Tyson Ruvando, Godfrey Makuvadze, Ladislous Tamboonei and Ladislous Tinacho, who is in charge of the ZRP Minerals and Border Control Plumtree.
THERE are fears that two Harare couples that went missing in separate incidents this year, could have been killed and their bodies dumped at yet unknown places, police investigations show.
In mid-February, a Chinese couple went missing in the city and another couple went missing on June 21. Police said the whereabouts of the couples were still unknown and investigations were continuing.
Sources close to the investigations last week said although they had intensified the probe into the two cases, the couples could have been killed. So far, there are no leads that might assist police to locate the missing couples.
On June 21, a Borrowdale couple, Mr Gus Spartas (73) and his wife Ellen Mupfumisa (48) went missing and their vehicle, a Toyota Hilux double cab was burnt to a shell in the same suburb. The couple, which stayed alone at house number 3 Circle Close, Rolf Valley in Borrowdale, is said to have been missing since the morning of June 21.
Mr Spartas was a psychologist and all of his children and relatives are in the United States. A reward of US$1 000 is being offered for information on the couple’s whereabouts. According to neighbours, the couple left home at around 6am on that day and did not return. One of the neighbours said they only heard the couple’s vehicle leaving the house. After realising that the couple did not return home, the neighbours made a report to police.
Investigations led to the recovery of the couple’s vehicle that had been dumped and burnt in an area being developed for residential stands off Crowhill Road near Borrowdale Brooke.
The Herald understands the couple was residing in the cottage at their property while leasing the main house to another couple. The tenants are alleged to have been skipping rentals since January this year and were being charged about US$700 per month. It is said the couple disappeared around the same time Mr Sparta and his wife went missing.
Meanwhile, police are still appealing for information on the whereabouts of the Chinese couple that went missing in Harare in mid-February.
Valentine’s Day after briefly visiting a friend in Highlands. Their car, a Mercedes Benz ML was found abandoned, but intact the following day.
Friends and relatives have offered a $1 million reward for anyone with information that might assist in the search. Those with the information can also contact CID Homicide on (0242) 2758031 or send a WhatsApp message to 0733 333 331 or 0773 070326.
Captured Matabeleland Collective leader Jenny Williams has showered unprecedented praises for Matabeleland genocide leaders Emmerson Mnangagwa and the late commander of the Gukurahundi army Perence Shiri for what she called a commitment to tackling the emotive Gukurahundi issue as well as committing to solving the regional historical challenges through completion of stalled projects such as the Zambezi Water Project.
Mnangagwa was in Bulawayo on Saturday and engaged civic society organisations represented by the Matabeleland Collective.
In an interview after the meeting, Williams said the Mnangagwa had demonstrated willingness to solve problems bedevilling the region in a short space of time.
“His Excellency’s commitment is quite significant because this meeting was called at very short notice. His line ministries are coming in and we are moving,” she said.
Williams went on to mourn the passing on of Shiri which a great majority of Matabeleland celebrated because of his brutality as he led Gukurahundi during the 1980s.
Shiri, then known as Black Jesus, ordered for the killing of over 20 000 people in the region.
“Unfortunately, we recently lost a key Minister of Lands and Water, Perrance Shiri. Now we are now waiting for the new minister to put his gloves on. The issue of Zambezi Water Project is one of the key issues for engagement.
“The equalisation of the people of Matabeleland must be realised through ensuring the completion of the Zambezi Water Project, that will make our people see that something is being done.”
Part of challenges from Gukurahundi is the significant number of people and families who need birth and death certificates. Williams said she was dragging Mnangagwa to the Matopos area where the highest number of people were murdered by Gukurahundi at Bhalagwe concentration camp.
“The President created a dispensation that they will ensure there will be free documentation for people who were affected by Gukurahundi and in general, the people of Matabeleland. Most of the issues have been addressed and we are now wanting to launch this project in Matopos, because that is the centre,” said Ms Williams.
“Sometimes there are whole generations that don’t have birth certificates or any documentation. So as we identify the beneficiaries, the Registrar General will bring a mobile team to make sure the reality of a document in the hands of the people is actually realised,” said Ms Williams.
Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi.
TWO women in Hwange are reportedly battling for life at a local hospital after being hit by stray bullets fired by police officers who were raiding informal coal traders.
The women who are neighbours were reportedly shot on Saturday evening as they sat outside their houses at A section in Madumabisa Village.
National Police Spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said:
“We are still investigating the unfortunate incident and will have more details tomorrow.”
However, eyewitnesses told Chronicle that the two women were chatting at their homes when Zulani Mudenda who had come from bathing was shot in the abdomen while her unidentified friend was hit on the breast.
“Two women were shot and injured by officers from the Support Unit stationed at Number 2 showgrounds who opened fire maybe to scare illegal coke traders during a raid. One of the women who were at the house at A section, Zulani Mudenda had her stomach ripped open while her neighbour was hit on the breast,” said a resident.
The raid was reportedly sparked by an increase in the number of people who are panning for coke at a disused mine dump following increasing demand from some coal merchants for the product. A 50kg sack of coke is bought by the merchants at US$3. One woman from the area recently died while another escaped death by a whisker when they fell into a tunnel before being buried alive while scrounging for coke at the dumpsite. They suffered burns and bruises following the mishap and had to spend weeks in hospital.
Residents through their association appealed for an investigation into the incident arguing that it had left them in a state of shock and fear.
“As residents we are saddened by the shooting of the two ladies and we call for a proper and comprehensive investigation of the matter. There should be no sacred cows,” said Greater Hwange Residents Trust co-ordinator, Mr Fidelis Chima.
Minister of Labour Thulas Nxesi has said that government was looking at a policy to limit the employment of foreign nationals.
South Africans can look forward to a bleak future on the job front after Covid-19 decimated the local economy, condemning many to the ranks of the unemployed.
Statistics SA shows an estimated 1.5 million people have lost their jobs in the past five months of lockdown. Unemployment has risen to 30.1%, from a high of 27.7% in February.
Furthermore, the SA Reserve Bank and National Treasury expect the economy to shrink by about 7%, which means job opportunities will shrink further for locals.
Some sectors of society have voiced dissatisfaction at the number of foreign nationals holding both unskilled and skilled positions in the country, while locals continue to bear the brunt of unemployment.
South Africans have in recent months flooded social media expressing anger, particularly towards the government, for employing foreign nationals in key state departments while locals with similar qualifications and, in some instances, more experience, are sidelined.
ANC activist Phapano Phasha is one of the most vocal against the employment of foreigners in government positions. She recently took to Facebook and said what was transpiring “smelled of white supremacy tactics”, adding that what is happening in South Africa needed to be addressed, even though the people doing so would be called xenophobic.
“We are the only country on the continent which has deployed foreign nationals from the continent in strategic positions of power. We have Zimbabweans, Kenyans, Ghanaians, and Nigerians running strategic departments in government. You can’t find South Africans running the show in such countries,” she wrote.
Phasha said the employment of black foreign nationals was not a coincidence because they are not regarded as black enough to act as agents of transformation.
“They are the most arrogant and gatekeepers of white privilege. They start as students at our universities, some come here as lecturers then get promoted to our SOEs (state owned enterprises) under the pretext of transformation. Now enough with this crap. Anyone who is against transformation is an enemy agent. We must deal with these characters because they are not Pan Africanist,” she said.
Another red flag raised was the issue of overseas recruits, with 11.2% of university permanent academic staffing made up of international scholars. The report of the Ministerial Task Team on the Recruitment, Retention and Progression of Black South African Academics, says out of that figure of 11.2%, the statistics show that 34% of the international academic staff in South African universities are from Zimbabwe and Nigeria, with Zimbabweans accounting for 25%.
At the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape and University of Venda in Limpopo, large numbers of the international academics are from Zimbabwe and Nigeria, while UCT and Wits appear able to attract academics from a much wider range of countries.
According to a 2017 study by the African Centre for Migration & Society, approximately 4% of people of working age (15-64 years) across the whole of South Africa were born outside the country.
The study found that foreign-born migrants have a higher rate of employment than South African migrants. It further stated that statistical and econometric digging into Stats SA data in 2014 compared the employment rate of foreign-born workers with that of South Africans, found this to be true and prevailing.
However, the migrants are also more likely to be employed in precarious work – or in the informal sector – than South Africans. This pattern is happening because many employers exploit foreign-born migrants’ willingness to accept more precarious work. Migrants also often hope to use precarious jobs as stepping stones to jobs in the formal labour market.
Minister of Labour Thulas Nxesi said the government was looking at a policy to limit the employment of foreign nationals and his department was in the process of developing a new “national employment policy” as it focuses on economic recovery post-Covid-19.
During a virtual parliamentary meeting on July 21, deputy minister Boitumelo Moloi said the policy will include new regulations around labour migration. As part of a larger project to develop a national employment policy, a labour migration policy development is being fast-tracked both to address immediate challenges, as in the road freight and logistics sector, as well as to co-ordinate labour migration policies with the southern region and continent- wide, she said.
Despite the proposed policy changes, the government continues to be tight-lipped on the exact number of foreigners it employs and the reasons why it employs them. Attempts to get comment were unsuccessful.
The Department of Home Affairs said it does not keep stats of such but merely enforces regulations emanating from the Department of Labour.
The Department of Labour passed the buck to the office of Public Service and Administration Minister, Senzo Mchunu, but there again, attempts to obtain comment were unsuccessful.
At the beginning of the year, IFP MP Liezl van der Merwe said the party wanted to propose legislation to ensure that a certain percentage or a certain quota for certain skills should go to people from outside the country who are in the country legally but the majority of the jobs should be reserved for South Africans.
She said it was looking at an 80:20 ratio, with businesses obligated to ensure that at least 80% of those employed were South Africans.
That issue is also part of former Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba’s new political party campaign strategy. He said the party has been in consultation with many South Africans who have indicated that the employment of foreigners was disadvantaging them.
Mashaba said one thing that has come out and which will be one of its policy offerings would be a skills audit of foreign nationals from 1994. He said it would look at how all of them obtained their citizenships and if they are here legally, the party will encourage that.
“Foreign nationals will only be allowed to work and live in South Africa if they are bringing a skill that is not available. This matter is not negotiable for us. Our Constitution is very clear on this matter. You can’t get citizenship if you don’t meet the requirements,” he said.
The Black Management Forum (BMF) said it supports the calls for more South Africans to be employed but that must not translate to the ostracising of Africans.
BMF president Andile Nomlala said the problem with the discussion around foreign nationals and employment always focuses on black Africans and disregards that white Europeans also hold senior positions in the country.
Nomlala added that if the country wants to deal with the issue of foreign nationals in critical positions, it must be in a holistic manner and include white Europeans.
“If you want to deal with the issue of foreign nationals, we have to be cognisant of the fact that they bring in skills,” he said.
Nomlala added that the African expatriates need to ensure they are not being used to suppress and bypass transformation.
“In the same breath, the whites who don’t want transformation prefer to employ Africans because they are expats, they don’t question the transformation programme. The Africans must not allow themselves to be used as a tool to circumvent transformation because they have less authority to engage on the matter.
“I support them being in positions as long as that doesn’t suppress the potential of locals. But there are intricacies that we need to deal with as individuals.
“As a top economy on the continent, are you not going to be able to attract and absorb skills and talent from the rest of the continent?
“We need to work with them to expand the footprints of our companies throughout the continent. You can’t say we can’t have a Nigerian when RMB has a branch in Nigeria.
“There are many South Africans who are on the continent because of the work they do,” he said.
He added that as much as he supports Africans being employed in South Africa, the issue of skills shortage must not be used as an excuse.
“We don’t have a skills shortage as a country. There are many qualified and competent black professionals in every field but the controllers of the economy and government don’t see good in each other. We are ready to bury our own on anything and embrace anyone who is not ours. Blacks are ready to bury each other,” Nomlala said.
This was late in 1979 at a preelection rally, just after the murder of his brother in law Gen Josiah Tongogara and the emerging pictures suggest Mnangagwa was a smiling happy man.
By Antony Taruvinga
The DEVIL must be STOPPED.
It can’t be business as usual when our people are being murdered like animals.
ED must never be forgiven even if or when he loses power, he must be held accountable for the many deaths he masterminded, including this latest loss of young life.
Life is precious that nobody deserves to lose it over the right to associate with a party of choice.
This Cde (Lavender Chiwaya) was abducted, murdered and dumped a few meters away from his home This is crude, fellow Zimbabweans.
By A Correspondent | Zengeza MP Job Sikhala’s wife last night received a message which suggests that there are poisoning efforts at the Harare Remand prison where her husband is currently held.
The message who’s authenticity could not be established was a supposed alert narrated in broken English that her husband will never be permitted bail, and will be poisoned.
It read in full:
“I’m a top prison officer works at Chikurubi maximum prison. I don’t want to lie to you,all these activists being arrested will not be permitted bail never.
“These guys are being given food poison and water inside.I don’t think the opposition MDC will exist again.Last night 3 government officials visits here and left some plastic bags with powders I’m sure its an additional poison to these inmates.
The arrest of Ngaribvume,Chin’ono and Skala main aim is to wipe them all in cells. 23-08-20 Alert!”
Sikhala is set to attend court Monday morning after being arrested on Friday afternoon and he has been charged for inciting public violence. His party, the MDC Alliance, however maintains that he is being punished simply for being an opposition MP.
Lindiwe Zulu ANC Secretary for International Relations
South Africa’s ruling party, The African National Congress (ANC)’s Lindiwe Zulu has said their party cannot fold arms as the human rights and the economic deterioration in Zimbabwe continues. ..
Zulu was speaking during a virtual Governance Accountability Platform (GAP) discussion on “The ANC and Zimbabwe” that was being hosted by the Brenthurst when she said SADC had to deal with the Zimbabwean crisis in a different way:
We also think that Sadc needs to deal with this issue in a different way, it can’t be the same all the way of getting reports and reports and nothing being done…
Sadc should have to look into this in a different way and we believe as ANC we can work through other liberation movements; in fact when I finish this meeting, I am supposed to be talking to my counterparts in Mozambique, Angola and so forth.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, I can assure you that he is very much committed to resuscitating and looking at what we did in the past; what worked and what didn’t work and how we can approach it right now
Zulu acknowledged that there is a crisis in Zimbabwe despite the government’s claims that there is no crisis in Zimbabwe:
…These are the questions I am asking in order for us to deal with the situation.
Can we now move to asking ourselves the real painful questions before we get to the big issues?
We need to turn this much closer to ourselves for us to be able to deal with the situation which leads to the issue of the need of agreeing that there is a crisis in Zimbabwe because it doesn’t help us to be going under the table, disappearing and coming back; that is a fact.
The fact is if there wasn’t a crisis in Zimbabwe we wouldn’t be talking about what I have just said,
Zulu also said the continuous engagement between the two neighbours and the success they have had over the years was being eroded and they had to continue engaging with Zanu PF to find a solution to the Zimbabwean crisis:
I believe that whatever success was achieved during the period we are talking about, the last 20 years are being reversed; so we need to put the people at the centre. It cannot be about personal feelings and individual interests. As the ANC we must continue to engage with Zanu PF and it is about agreeing that there is a crisis.
The culture, ethos and values of the liberation were not just freeing the country from external occupation and racism. What we need to be asking ourselves is whether we are still on the correct path of what we fought for including human rights, economic and social freedom.
We therefore cannot be told that we are interfering in Zimbabwe,
We do believe that there is an opportunity for us once we agree that we need to be frank on dealing with the issues. They (political parties) must fix their internal dynamics so that when somebody else comes talking to Zanu PF and whatever is said is what it is.
In South Africa, for example, if we have a problem and people say just talk to ANC and you think you will be solving the problem, you will not be solving the problem.
It doesn’t matter how I feel about the EFF, the DA, that’s not the issue, the issue is that we need to engage with everyone and create a fair playing field.
The Zimbabwean government has refused to acknowledge that there is a crisis in Zimbabwe and it responds to anyone who subscribes to that narrative to the point of attacking some organisations like the Catholic Bishops after they pointed out the issue in a pastoral letter to the government.-Daily News
Farai Dziva|MDC Alliance vice president, Hon Tendai Biti has described Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s reconcilatory gesture as mere pretence meant to hoodwink the nation and the international community.
Biti also blasted Mr Mnangagwa for feigning concern about Gukurahundi atrocities.
“On the day he locked up #Job he was in Bulawayo discussing Gukurahundi.
But how can those with blood on their hands masquerade as healers.
They have shown no remorse contrition ,apology nor acknowledgement.
This abuse must stop.The Wananchi are not fools #ZimbabweanLivesMatter,” Hon Biti wrote on Twitter.
POLICE in Bulawayo have smashed what appears to have been a well-orchestrated fake foreign currency manufacturing racket, arresting a teenage girl and her boyfriend who were allegedly printing the counterfeit money.
Police expect to make more arrests as they say the syndicate could involve more people.
During a raid at a house where the couple stayed in North End, police recovered an assortment of fake high denominations of US dollars and South African Rand stashed under a mattress.
Police suspect that several unsuspecting people could have fallen prey to the fraudsters.
One of suspects, Chantelle Sibalwa (18) was arrested while trying to use a fake US$100 bill to buy a box of chicken at a local food outlet.
She led investigators to her boyfriend, Onesmus Zimunya (33)’s house where
US$2 265 and R1 700 in fake money, an HP Diskjet printer, bond paper, rulers and razor blades allegedly used in the commission of the crime were recovered. It is suspected the fraudsters could have been changing the fake money for real currency by buying stuff and getting change.
Cashiers at a leading supermarket last week reportedly told their superiors they had turned away a number of people who were trying to buy groceries with money they suspected was fake.
Police spokesperson for Bulawayo Inspector Abednico Ncube yesterday, said more people could be involved in the syndicate.
“I can confirm that we received and are investigating a case involving fake currency where equipment used to manufacture fake money was recovered. As police we suspect this could be a syndicate involving others and we expect to make more arrests as we continue with our investigations,” he said.
“We urge people to be extra careful and particularly when dealing with foreign currency. Illegal money changers are likely to be markets for such fake currency and those found dealing in illicit activities will face the full wrath of the law.” Chantelle and Zimunya are set to reappear in court tomorrow facing charges of possession of articles for criminal use. They made their initial court appearance on Friday and were remanded to tomorrow pending trial. They were released on $1 000 bail each.
Sources said Chantelle was arrested on Thursday last week after walking into a Chicken Inn outlet in the city centre and produced a fake US$100 note intending to buy a box of two piecer chicken.
“She entered the shop just like any other customer and ordered a box of two-piecer at Chicken Inn using a US$100 note, serial number KB74984746B. Upon payment, an alert cashier noticed that the money was fake and she immediately notified her shift manager,” said the sources.
A report was made to the police leading to Chantelle’s arrest.
“Upon being quizzed by police, Chantelle initially gave incoherent responses as she kept on changing her story before she eventually revealed that her boyfriend was involved in the scam of manufacturing counterfeit notes,” said sources.
She revealed to the police that her boyfriend had more fake notes at his place of residence including the machine used to manufacture the counterfeit notes.
Chantelle was taken to Bulawayo Police Station where detectives were assigned to conduct further investigations.
The girl accompanied the detectives to Zimunya’s house where they recovered US$1 200 comprising fake US$100 notes, four fake US$50 notes, 11 counterfeit US$10 notes, 13 fake US$5 banknotes and 17 fake R100 notes hidden under a mattress.
Police also recovered an HP Diskjet printer serial number CN442175TZ, bond paper, rulers and razor blades.
Last month, an illegal money changer in Bulawayo was duped of R23 000 by another illegal foreign currency dealer who had phoned him under the guise that he intended to change US$ 1400 at a local hotel.
However, after the deal had been concluded, the victim discovered that he had been given fake US$100 notes with the same serial number. -Chronicle
Farai Dziva|MDC Alliance vice president, Hon Tendai Biti has described Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa’s reconcilatory gesture as mere pretence meant to hoodwink the nation and the international community.
Biti also blasted Mr Mnangagwa for feigning concern about Gukurahundi atrocities.
“On the day he locked up #Job he was in Bulawayo discussing Gukurahundi.
But how can those with blood on their hands masquerade as healers.
They have shown no remorse contrition ,apology nor acknowledgement.
This abuse must stop.The Wananchi are not fools #ZimbabweanLivesMatter,” Hon Biti wrote on Twitter.
LANDS, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Deputy Minister Vangelis Peter Haritatos who was recently on self-isolation after testing positive to Covid-19, has returned to work after recovering from the deadly disease.
Covid-19 has so far claimed more than 800 000 lives globally and infected more than 23 million people while more than 14 million have recovered. Zimbabwe has recorded more than 5 800 cases and 153 deaths and 4 629 people have recovered.
He tested positive for Covid-19 after being in contact with his former boss, the late Air Chief Marshal Perrance Shiri (Rtd) who succumbed to the Covid-19 virus last month.
Haritatos, who tested negative three weeks ago, on Friday took to social media and shared his experience.
He narrated how the past few weeks had been the toughest in his life.
Haritatos paid tribute to God for sparing his life and thanked his family for the support they gave him during the trying time. To fight the virus, he said he took Zithromax, Vitamins B, C and D and Zinc.
Haritatos said despite following the Government and World Health Organisation (WHO) health guidelines, he made one mistake, which ultimately resulted in him contracting the virus.
Haritatos said upon contracting the virus, he felt like something “evil” had entered his body.
“The coronavirus is real. The last few weeks have been the toughest in my life, I thank God for saving me and giving me the strength to fight an evil virus that has ravaged the world over,” he said.
“It was not an easy fight to overcome, but I thank God for blessing me with the family that I have. My beautiful wife and pillar of strength nursed me from the start. She ensured that I ate, took my medication, continuously hydrated, and most importantly that I stayed in a positive state of mind.”
He paid tribute to his children, parents, in-laws and siblings for supporting him when he needed it most.
Haritatos said after President Mnangagwa announced that the late national hero Air Chief Marshal Shiri (Rtd) had succumbed to Covid-19, he decided to put himself into self-isolation for the safety and security of his colleagues and family.
“Sadly, I too tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. This virus is real and we need to fight it by following the guidelines that our Government has given us which is in line with the WHO regulations. I followed everything to the comma and full stop, but I made one mistake, and that one mistake resulted in me contracting the virus,” he said.
Haritatos urged the generality of the people to adhere to stipulated regulations and measures put in place by Government to contain the spread of the deadly virus.
“Do not take off your mask when talking to people regardless of who they are. Protect yourself, protect your family, protect your friends, protect your colleagues, protect us all and help stop the spread of Covid-19. All it takes is one simple mistake, so you should be extra careful and do not take anything for granted. Before I got sick, I heard the saying that treat everyone as a potential threat, and that is exactly the case when it comes to this deadly virus,” he said.
“I knew that my work on earth was not complete. I knew that I still had to serve my people, fulfil my national duty, and make the difference through the mandate that was given to me. At 34 I still have a whole life to live, and I still have many years ahead of me to make a difference in this world, more importantly for our beautiful country.”
Haritatos said his 76-year-old father continued to run family businesses alongside his supportive mother without challenges.
The MP for Muzvezve in Mashonaland West, said during self-isolation, he relied on his dependable constituency co-ordinator to take care of all constituency issues.
“I remember messaging my co-ordinator to tell him the bad news, my message started with ‘please do not worry, but unfortunately, I have tested positive for Covid-19,’” he said.
“Our family doctor was truly unbelievable. I owe him my life. I am truly blessed to have the most amazing people around me. I prayed hard sometimes several times a day and my prayers were not so much for me, although when I did, I prayed for the strength to fight this virus.”
Haritatos said he also prayed to God so that his family and those who had come into contact with him while he was infectious did not contract the virus.
“I am so grateful to the Almighty, not one of my family members tested positive. You may ask why I didn’t pray so much for myself, and this is because I knew that my work on earth was not complete,” he said. -Chronicle
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire appeared in court on Saturday after being arrested following an incident on the island of Mykonos.
The England defender, 27, is on holiday in Greece.
The Syros prosecutor’s office said on Friday that “three foreigners” had been arrested after an alleged altercation with police officers on Thursday.
Maguire’s lawyer Konstantinos Darivas said he denies the allegations and the defender left court without comment.
Darivas added that he was “fully convinced he will be released without any charges” on Saturday.
Maguire joined United from Leicester for £80m – a world record fee for a defender – in August 2019.
“The club is aware of an alleged incident involving Harry Maguire in Mykonos last night,” United said in a statement on Friday.
“Contact has been made with Harry, and he is fully co-operating with the Greek authorities. At this time we will be making no further comment.”
Greek police said in a statement officers had tried to break up an altercation between two groups outside a bar and that the three foreigners had then verbally abused and assaulted one of the officers.
The statement claimed that after arriving at Mykonos police station, the three arrested individuals then “strongly resisted, pushing and hitting three police officers” and that “one of the detainees tried to offer money so that the trial against them would not be completed”.
The police say a file has been opened which includes accusations of “violence against officials, disobedience, bodily harm, insult and attempted bribery of an official”.
It is not known specifically what Maguire has been accused of.
United’s season finished with a 2-1 defeat by Sevilla in the Europa League semi-finals on 16 August.-BBC
Mberengwa – A girl doing Form 3 at Chomusenda Secondary School in Mutata Village under Chief Mposi, Mberengwa was assaulted by a married woman recently after she allegedly approached a prophetess for a charm to break the latter’s marriage so that she could take over the husband.
It did not rain but poured for Sheila Hove (27) when Mberengwa Magistrate Evia Matura fined her RTGS$500 or 30 days in prison for assaulting her husband’s Form 3 girlfriend.
According to the State Hove discovered love messages between her husband Tonderai Zhou, (36) of Mutata Village under Chief Mposi, Mberengwa, and the girl who cannot be named for ethical reasons in the husband’s phone.
On July 11, 2020, Hove confronted the girl as she was going to fetch water and took away her phone before going through the messages.
She was shocked to find out that the minor was actually in communication with a prophetess and pleading with her to ensure that Hove loses favor in the eyes of her husband.
Hove assaulted the girl with fists and the complainant’s father reported the matter to the Police leading to the arrest of the Hove.
She expressed bitterness over the court’s ruling and told The Mirror that she survives and fends for her family by selling sweets and jiggies.
The fine imposed on her wiped away all her savings-The Mirror
By A Correspondent- In an incident that left employees and passengers’ shell- shocked a bus driver went berserk and assaulted a Zupco depot manager with fists before he violently pushed him to the ground.
The dramatic incident happened last Sunday at around 2pm at Zupco Khami Road depot in Bulawayo.
According to a source who declined to be named in fear of reprisals, Mehlokazulu Ndlovu (33), a bus driver went to the depot intending to refuel his vehicle.
When he arrived at the depot, he went straight to the manager Blessing Chikowore.
“He asked to refuel his bus but the manager told him that the fuel which was allocated to him should not have been used up as such he was supposed to do more trips which were proportionate to the amount of fuel that was allocated to him the previous day,” said the source.
This did not go down well with Ndlovu as a result a misunderstanding ensued between the two. The source said Ndlovu turned his boss into a punching bag.
“He punched him several times in the face. He bled profusely from the nose.
“The fists were too fast for him as a result he fell down. It had to take the intervention of another employee who restrained the marauding Ndlovu who was all over his manager,” said the source.
The manager, the source said, sustained injuries on the face.
A report was made at Mzilikazi Police Station leading to the arrest of Ndlovu. Chikowore was then rushed to a hospital.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident: “We would like to discourage members of the public to shun resorting to violence in an attempt to solve a misunderstanding. Violence has proved it leads to injury and sometimes loss of an innocent life.
“We therefore implore members of the public to engage third parties like public relations officers, human resources managers or counsellors so as to solve differences that could have arisen in the company,” he said.
Contacted for comment Mehlokazulu’s boss Thandolwenkosi Hlabangana said: “It was unfortunate but we are happy that the matter has been settled.”
Efforts to get a comment from Chikowore were fruitless.
A FIGHT over a black ball in a game of pool ended tragically after three men allegedly struck a Chipinge teenager last week.
Benjamin Mukwakwami (19) died upon admission at St Peter’s Mission Hospital in Chisumbanje after he had been struck several times all over his body by John Mlambo (23), Brighton Mureya (18) and Clemence Mureya (26).
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa confirmed the incident and said it happened at Tuzuka Business Centre, which is under Chief Musikavanhu’s area.
“Benjamin and his brother Munorweyi were playing pool while John, Brighton and Clemence were drinking beer.
“The black ball rolled towards John. He took it and hid it in his jacket,” said Inspector Kakohwa.
“Benjamin confronted John over the issue and a fight ensued.
Munorweyi tried to intervene but John’s friends — Brighton and Clemence — ganged up against Benjamin.
“John went away and came back brandishing a machete and struck Benjamin twice on the neck. A shop attendant, Alois Runawo, grabbed the machete and closed the shop,” said Inspector Kakohwa.
John, Brighton and Clemence then went home, while Benjamin and Munorweyi also retired to their home.
“Later that night, Brighton went to Benjamin’s homestead armed with a wooden log.
He struck Benjamin several times all over the body and left him unconscious.
He also struck Munorweyi, who then managed to escape.
“As Benjamin was bleeding profusely, he was ferried to St Peter’s Mission Hospital. Unfortunately he died upon admission,” said Inspector Kakohwa.
John, Brighton and Clemence were arrested and are assisting police with investigations.
Inspector Kakohwa appealed to members of the public to desist from resorting to violence when solving their differences.
— Manica Post
Farai Dziva|Respected Political analyst, Dr Stephen Chan has warned Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa to stop denigrating Roman Catholic Bishops as he will not win the battle against the clerics.
Mr Mnangagwa attacked Catholic Bishops for “abusing the pulpit”.
Mr Mnangagwa further accused the Catholic Bishops of advancing “a nefarious agenda meant to destabilize the peace in the country.”
However, Dr Chan has warned Mnangagwa to “stop digging while he is a hole.”
” There is a well-known adage: when you realise you’re in a hole, stop digging. To take on the might of the Catholic church is very daring but it runs in the face of another adage: choose the fights you can win.
The Catholic solidarity is widening. There was a time once when President Mugabe worked with Catholic Bishops to end the war in Mozambique.
His 1992 speech in Rome was about dialogue and reconciliation,” Dr Chan wrote on Twitter.
