MDC Alliance Acting national women assembly Hon Mugidho, Chiredzi Deputy Town Chair Councillor Ropa, MDC Alliance Chiredzi West district chair Mr Kampota and others will spend the weekend in cells after being arrested on Friday.

Human Rights Lawyer Adv Martin Mureri said Chiredzi Magistrate Chikodzore will give judgement on the bail application on 3rd Monday 2020, at 14:15pm.

As MDC Alliance we are shocked by selective application of the law and we demand their immediate unconditional release. Bail denied is Justice denied- MDC Alliance Masvingo

NOTICE TO THE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE

By Hon Job Wiwa Sikhala
31st July Movement

As you have noticed after the 31st of July, instead of the regime attending to the issues raised by the Zimbabwean citizens they went into the default mode and escalated human rights abuses all over the place. Our people are being beaten, tortured, arrested for no apparent reason. This can not be allowed to continue.

On Saturday night residents of Dzivarasekwa were beaten door to door by people in military uniforms. The same thing happened in St. Mary’s around Chigovanyika area where citizens at night were indiscriminately beaten in their homes for no explanation.

Yesterday they were beating people door to door around the place where my house is called kuMapositori. In Zvishavane, the same happened, so was in Mucheke Masvingo and reports we are getting from Bulawayo, Gweru and Kwekwe are so sad.

I think you have all seen the pictures of Tawanda Mucheiwa a 22 year old nephew to journalist Mduduzi Mathuthu. The 2nd year university student was severely tortured after having been taken to different places, where at one time was driven for a period of 4 hours to an unknown destination where he was taken to a farm which had military trucks parked on it.

You have seen the unlawful arrests of Advocate Fadzai Mahere, author and international award winning writer Tsitsi Dangarembga, Cllr Godfrey Kurauone in Masvingo, Hon Mugidho in Chiredzi and several citizens in Gweru, Bulawayo, Chiredzi, Kwekwe, Matabeleland South and allover the place.

Last night Hon Settlement Chikwinya escaped attempted abduction on his person by 7 trucks loaded with state security agencies. We can not accept this situation. No one is safe. If not careful we will all perish. It is now time to speak to the world.

From tomorrow Monday the 3rd of August, we urge all of you to have an opportunity to stock food.

This is called upon because we need to speak more loudly for the entire week starting Monday the 10th of August to the 15th. That will be the week of action. This time it won’t be a one day event. It will be a week of expression against corruption and looting.

This time we are also speaking against gross human rights abuses against us. We will say no to corruption and no to looting. No to abductions. No to violence against the people of Zimbabwe by the state. These are going to be our 4 agenda items for our action. Why are you bringing violence against the people? People are peaceful in their homes and you raid them at night and beat them.

Dear Zimbabweans, we need to stop it. This has gone against all tenants of civilization and human dignity.

Why are people being beaten? Why are people being tortured, why are people being arrested for no crime? Kwayi unnecessary movements? What is that in a modern state? In the 21st century? No no no. We can’t accept this. One week action from the 10th of August to the 15th.

We are tired of being abused in our own country.
10th to the 15th we shall Speak.

Speak Zimbabwe Speak
No to Corruption and Looting
No to Abductions, Torture and Violence against citizens.

The Ministry of Health and Child Care has made it mandatory that corpses being handled at health institutions be tested for the novel coronavirus.

Similarly, in rural areas, every death is now being treated as a potential case for COVID-19 that need to be tested.

Acting Provincial Medical Director for Matabeleland North Province Dr Munekai Padingani has said they have instructed community members to report cases of sudden death to the police so that a Rapid Response Team (RRT) can collect the specimen. He said:

If there is death in the community, we have instructed community members to call the police and a Rapid Response Team (RRT) is also dispatched to collect the specimen.

The communities and traditional leaders are being sensitised that with any sudden death or just any death at home they must first make a report so that specimens are collected before the person is buried.

Reports indicate that some families in rural areas have been housing escapees from quarantine centres and in turn spreading the virus within villages.

As of Saturday, 1 August 2020, Zimbabwe had recorded 3 659 coronavirus cases, of which 2 579 are active, 1 011 recovered and 69 have died.

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ZANU PF aligned social media user Kudzai Mutisi has told President Emmerson Mnangagwa to resign and stay if he does not understand his responsibility to appoint a new minister of Health and Child Care to replace the sacked Dr Obadiah Moyo.

Posting on Twitter, Mutisi who has of late been candid on Mnangagwa and ZANU PF said the President was failing to see the urgency to appoint a new minister when the country was going through a pandemic which he said was strange of him.

“President @edmnangagwa must appoint a new Minister of Health without any delay… If he doesn’t know his responsibilities as a president he must resign and stay at home. Why is he so slow to act? We are in the middle of a pandemic & the President sees no urgency at all? Strange,” sais Mutisi.

Obadiah Moyo was sacked more than a month ago after he was implicated in corruption involving USD$60 Million COVID-19 response fund.

He was arrested and is out on bail.

Suspended ZANU PF politburo member Cleveria Chizema has accused her former housemaid of involvement in her recent fallout with her party colleagues.

Chizema was suspended from the politburo last week after she was found in possession of fliers and placards promoting the July 31 anti-government protests.

She said the posters were dumped at her home in Harare soon after a birthday party in March this year.

Chizema said she kept the fliers under a carpet and intended to present them to politburo members Oppah Muchinguri, who is the Defence Minister, and July Moyo – the Local Government Minister.

Chizema said she suspected that her long-time maid was involved in the plot as she left immediately after the posters were dumped in her yard.

She said:

There was another day, i could not sleep, the alarm kept ringing. I think this was definitely a plot against me.

….Six years together, no notice, no nothing. I suspect she was the one who knew I threw the papers under the carpet.

The fliers allegedly pushed for Vice President Constantino Chiwenga to take over the top job in the ruling party.

Reports claim that Chizema’s suspension was part of a broader move to weed out Chiwenga’s sympathisers and there could be more victims in the coming days.

Chiwenga, who engineered the coup that toppled long-time ruler Robert Mugabe in 2017, had an alleged fallout with President Emmerson Mnangagwa after the latter insisted on running for a second term in 2023 despite an alleged deal that he would serve for one term and allow his deputy to take over.

By A Correspondent- Former MDC legislator Norman Mpofu has challenged the opposition leader Nelson Chamisa advisers to resign for advising him to take leave when the nation needs him the most.

“Can Chamisa advisors do a noble thing and resign. How can they allow him to be absent from duty during such a critical moment. Being at the helm of a party in a struggle like the one in Zimbabwe requires sacrifices. One can not afford to even bury loved ones let alone mourn for a month. This is unprecedented. The party visibility has dropped,” Mpofu said.

“Party supporters and other citizens are under siege. Party supporters and citizens are being abducted. It needs him to confront the system, to galvanize the nation and condemn tyranny. It needs him to alert the world. MDC A is conspicuous by its silence in the middle of a crisis. Its visibility is declining.”

He said the party must realise the gap it has left. Individuals like Hopewell Chinono , Alex Magaisa , Mduduzi Mathuthu , Brezhnev Malaba have become the new voice of the voiceless.

“Mwonzora et al have a walk in the park. MDCA looks floored. What happened to that spirit of Chamisa of grabbing power when Tsvsngirai’s body was not even buried. Double standards I presume,” he said.

By A Correspondent- The Martin Dinha-led National railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) board has fired the parastatal’s management for alleged gross incompetence, mismanagement, and failure to turn around the fortunes of the company.

The development follows incessant complaints by the government on the state of affairs at the NRZ amid fears the company could soon be moribund owing to failed management.
and matters came to a head-on Friday when the NRZ board unveiled to transport and infrastructural Development minister Joel Biggie Matiza the new acting NrZ general manager (GM) Joseph Mashika.

Mashika is a member of the NRZ board. He will act until a substantive Gm has been appointed.

He takes over from Lewis Mukwada, who was “forced” into early retirement despite the fact that he had a running contract that was due to expire in October this year.

The introduction and unveiling of the new acting Gm would mark the beginning of a reshuffle process that would culminate in a new NRZ management setup.

“Those four managers, the general manager, Lewis Mukwada included, have been fired,” the insider said.

Dinha confirmed the development saying “as a board, we shall be guided by policy as we finalise the packages of those that are leaving”.

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Tawanda Mathuthu, the nephew of ZimLive Editor Mduduzi Mathuthu was abducted on Thursday, gruesome tortured and asked to drink his urine, it has emerged.

Former Cabinet Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo says Muchehiwa was a ‘guest’ of the dreaded Ferret team.

The Ferret team is made up of the police, military police, central Intelligence organization, and other security organs.

Said Moyo, “Mnangagwa’s Ferret Force, a team of five joined by others over the more than two days they held him, tortured Tawanda Muchehiwa in horrific ways like repeatedly beating him below his feet & on his bums, making him drink his urine, eat tainted food and mental torture!”

According to ZimLive  Muchehiwa, (22), was chained and tortured over 2 days, including being made to drink own urine. They accused him of plotting to overthrow President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

His uncle Mathuthus said the stated wanted to know who is supplying ZimLive with sources relating to the US$60 million Covid-19 tender scam which led to the firing of Health Minister Obadiah Moyo.

By A Correspondent- Suspended Zanu PF politburo member Cleveria Chizema said that she felt betrayed following her suspension from the ruling party’s supreme decision-making organ between congresses.

Chizema was frozen out from the ruling party after she was allegedly found in possession of fliers and placards supporting the July 31 mass protests.

Some of the placards also called for Vice President Constantino Chiwenga to take over leadership of the country.

But speaking to The Standard after the highly-charged politburo meeting that suspended her, Chizema said the posters were dumped at her house soon after her birthday in March this year and she intended to inform senior party leaders but could not do so because they were busy. She said:

… the message that was delivered by (Zanu PF acting spokesperson) Cde (Patrick) Chinamasa that I was found with papers with subversive messages, which were delivered at my house made it look like there was a van that brought those papers.

I was very disappointed I tell you. I have 50 years in the party. Since it was formed in Highfield — my father was active in the party.

I never had any misconduct for the past 50 years, 40 years of independence, nothing, and 10 years of struggle, nothing, It’s only today. I am disappointed.

Chizema claimed that she had been keeping the fliers since March and tried to present them to Oppah Muchinguri and July Moyo with no success.

Chizema confessed that she could not sleep the day she was suspended.-standard

Open letter to Human rights groups and Minister of Social Services

I am a member of the African Apostolic Church and i am highly disturbed and worried about Mutumwa Paul Mwazha’s (102 years) welfare and safety as his close lieutenants continue to pesture him to appoint a successor as well as disturbing his peace and abusing him.

At such an advanced age Mutumwa should be enjoying his privacy and not   disturbed by administrative ,court and succession  issues.

Before being inactive in church issuues  Mutumwa Mwazha appointed his last born son Bishop Israel Tawanda Mwazha, who is currently based in South Africa , to perform the functions which he used to do such as performing holy communion rites.

In 2019 Evangelist Kasima (mutumwa’s close aide) penned a letter which he claimed was written under Mutumwa’s instructions.

The letter reinforced that Bishop Tawanda would continue doing his duties as spritual leader and leading in holy communion.

The letter also went on to instruct other leaders to go with Bishop Alfred Kushamisa Mwazha (Second born son) when buying holy communion items since he is the most senior leader when people are at church.

Mutumwa’s eldest son Ngoni Edward Mwazha was barred from leading since he went against church doctrine of one men one wife but he married many wives and thus unqualified.

On 19 March 2020 all Mutumwa’s sons and Board of trustee members were called and the letter was read in their presence by his aide Ev Kasima.

Later the letter’s contents were intepreted differently as some felt Tawanda should lead the church since he had been given an important task to lead in holy communion whilst others felt Kushamisa should lead since he was most senior as indicated in the letter. This issue spilled into public domain and this prompted some government officials  to try and break the impasse.

They organised to go to Mutumwa’s house to hear his correct position pertaining succession issue in the letter but that did not materialise as the visit generated into chaos in May 2020 and the clashes of the day made headlines in most Zimbabwean media outlets including ZBC TV.

The event then prompted one of the church members Reverend Ernest Mhambare( son to the late church chairman Enoch Mhambare) to report the matter to High court on urgent basis.He wanted the perpetrators of the violence( including Mutumwa’s sons Ngoni,Kushamisa and James as well as Secretary General Juru, Bishops Tafa of Harare North, Bishop Chiome and Rev Siyamuzhombwe) to stop that.He also wanted to compel church leaders to use the constitution in all matters pertaining the church succession and administration.

The church constitution states that in the event of Mutumwa’ s death, illness or absence , the church would be headed by a Priesthood Council (PC) which is made up of mutumwa’s biological sons who are bishops and all matters to be decided unanimously not by majority vote in the PC. The PC would be assisted by a Board of Trustee BOT which is also a high ranking body which encompasses PC and other selected church leaders.

The succession matter divided the leaders so much that two camps exists : those supporting Tawanda Israel Mwazha ( last born) and others supporting Kushamisa Afred Mwazha( second born).

Among senior members Tawanda’s camp has support of Church Chairman Chiseko Mwazha, Vice chairman Patrick Mahachi, Vice Secretary General Mhizha  whilst Kushamisa’s camp has General secretary Juru, James Mwazha as well as non church members Ngoni Mwazha and Dr Masimba Mwazha.

Various Bishops and Reverends also took sides.These 2 camps take turns to visit mutumwa seperately several times trying to lure Mutumwa to appoint their preferred candidates  as successors.

They visit him a lot exposing him to corona virus considering that his age is advanced and very vulnerable .

When the case was tried at High court Kushamisa’s camp felt it was losing as Applicant Mhambare’s lawyers requested to see the authenticity of the 19 March letter and this riled Kushamisa’s camp which felt it was losing since the matter is to go before the judge on 5 August 2020.So to strengthen their defence they sought Paul Mwazha’s signature.This prompted Kushamisa Mwazha and his team led by Rev Siyamuzhombwe to go and force Mutumwa Mwazha to put a fingerprint on the letter of 19 March.Mutumwa did not concede but the cabal made sure  his thumb had to be put at all cost.They dipped his finger in ink against his will and he complained so much about the incident since he was no longer comfortable with his hands following the dipping.He even complained to Siyamuzhombwe that he would break his thumb( munondikuvadzaka he said) as Siyamuzhombwe kept on pressing it on the letter making finger prints.After forcing him to put his finger print Mutumwa kept on asking what had happened to his hand(munwe wangu waomarara sei mandiitei?) and why they had treated him (ko mazviitirei?ah vakomanaka)that way.He actually said he had never experienced such discomfort in his hands( hazvisati zvambodai kutotanga nhasi).He requested to get an explanation for over 25 minutes to what could have happened and why.He requested to have hands washed about three times but kept on requesting explanation and complaining about his discomfort.Siyamuzhombwe instructed his aides to give him gloves to wear so that he does not feel nor see the ink).There is a 40 minute audio clip supporting this incident.

As a member of the African Apostolic church led by Paul Mwazha i feel mutumwa’s rights were violated physically and mentally.Physical and emotional abuse took place.

The man of God was deceived .His health rights were violated and continue to be violated. I call upon all human rights groups which deal with rights of the elderly to investigate this case and other members who continue to abuse Paul Mwazha’s rights to be brought to book.

Paul Mwazha no longer has peace deserved by an elderly man. He is being disturbed by power hungry leaders, he is being exposed to covid 19 as well as having right to privacy violated.

His right to good health was violated by Norman Siyamuzhombwe (on Wednesday 29 July  at ‘Number 8’) when he dipped mutumwa’s finger into ink without his knowledge and he became irritated continuously untill they gave him gloves to cover up for their misdeeds.

One member who was in that meeting even complained that mutumwa was not in agreement with the act( vatenderana nazvo here zvamuri kuvaita?). Elderly people must be protected as enshrined in the constitution of Zimbabwe and Mutumwa Mwazha has that right too.

Hope caring Zimbabweans and organisation will assist the old man who dedicated his entire life in building one of the biggest Apostolic churches.

Yours

 Moyo EV.

The South Africa based couple has donated personal protective equipment to the Ezra Tshisa Sibanda Initiative meant for the health institutions in Bulawayo.

This was confirmed by Sibanda through his Facebook Post.

“Help me thank and appreciate the lovely couple from South Africa, husband and wife who donated PPE worth R50 000 to my Initiative including transporting the goods from South Africa to Bulawayo.

I’m so pleased and truly appreciate these 2 adorable South African citizens who run a very successful business in SA and would want to remain anonymous. To be identified by people l don’t know and offer assistance because they believe in me and trust my works, means the world to me. I’m deeply humbled good people,” he said.

The message from the couple reads:

Dear Ezra, 

“It might be small items but they will go a long way in changing lives of those in need in your country. My family and our business will always support such commitments with community development ngoba umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu Siyabonga. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to touch the lives of the less fortunate people.”

The donation comprised N95 Masks,1000 × Surgical Masks , 5 x 25 litres of Liquid Hand Sanitizer , 10 x 5 litre of Alko 70% Jely Sanitizers and INFRARED Thermometers etc .

“I have passed the PPE to Thorngrove Hospital, it was handed over to His Worship, the Mayor of the Great City Solomon Madlala Mguni by our foot soldier and representative Admond Ntini. Thank you for helping to keep our frontline staff and patients safe with an in-kind donation of protective equipment. As Ezra Tshisa Initiative we are so grateful for the support of our initiatives and projects. God bless you!!,” the couple wrote.

By A Correspondent- Striking doctors have vowed to press on with their job boycott despite pleas by President Emmerson Mnangagwa for them to return to work amid revelations that scores of people could be dying in their homes due to lack of medical care.

Mnangagwa pleaded with senior doctors to abandon the strike that began last week during an address at the burial of Agriculture minister Perrance Shiri at the heroes Acre on Friday.

The doctors joined nurses and other health workers, who have been on strike for over a month, as they demanded salaries in foreign currency and provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) to deal with Covid-19 cases.

Norman Matara, the Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights secretary-general, said the government should first pay health workers a living wage, provide adequate PPEs and equip hospitals with medicines and equipment to end the strikes.

“The government should simply meet its end of the bargain, pay health workers a living wage, provide them with adequate personal protective equipment, and equip hospitals with medicines and equipment,” Matara said.

“If they do this simple task, health workers will happily return to work and do their job of saving lives.”

“The government wants health workers to act “in the nation’s interest and exhibit a sense of responsibility’, yet the same government is not meeting its end of responsibilities.”

“Health workers cannot work on empty stomachs and without protective clothing simply because they save lives.”

Enock Dongo, the Zimbabwe Nurses Association president, said Mnangagwa should ensure the government addressed health workers’ grievances if he expected them to return to work.

“We heard what the president said, but we also want him to hear and listen to what we are saying.

“First, he must respect our work and we will also do our part,” Dongo said.

“We want the president to look into our issues. If he acknowledges our issues which are genuine, then he must address them.

“No way can we go into such a dangerous environment without wearing protective gear in the name of national interests, that will not work.”

“Right, now many nurses are being evicted from their lodgings because they failed to raise rentals, which are now US$40 to US$70, but salaries are below US$30.

“Even if they say we are not acting in the national interest, but we have families to look after.”

Public hospitals are turning away sick people, including those with Covid-19 symptoms, leading to fears that people are dying in their homes without any treatment.

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Watch the live video loading below….

By A Correspondent- While in an interview with Trevor Ncube, Douglas Mwonzora gave an account of what transpired at the takeover of the Harvest House by the MDC T which is contrary to what was reported and what was seen on footage that circulated on social media.

Mwonzora was responding to a question about the perception that the military and the police helped them to take over the Morgan Tsvangirai House when he said:

The takeover of Harvest House was actually done by three youngsters as a result of the plan we had conceived. It was done at 5pm, we had taken about a month planning this, we planned it well and the three youngsters took over. When they took over, they invited the other 12 to make them 15 and this was again according to plan.

This is after I had asked Nelson Chamisa and Charlton Hwende to give over administration of Morgan Tsvangirai House, they had promised there would be bloodshed, and there would be a bloodbath and so on. I told them that the time we take Harvest House, it would be so smooth. The police were not involved; they only came more than three hours later.

This was in response to Charlton Hwende, who came with 45 people. I think it was smart, cleverly done, and I also think that the youngsters who did it, did it well. I can also share a secret, that one of the enticements was mealie-meal. Somebody was asked to go and buy mealie-meal and they left the guard.

While it is not clear what Mwonzora was trying to say since he did not get into finer details of his 3 member takeover, speculation becomes rife that Mwonzora by that narrative is trying to sanitize the infamous takeover that made opposition party members and other organisations conclude that he was working with the ruling party to decimate the MDC Alliance.

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By A Correspondent- Zupco is spacing out passengers in its buses increasing social distancing, while the mandatory temperature testing, sanitisation, wearing of masks by passengers and disinfection of buses after every trip will continue.

Last night, Zupco acting chief executive Mr Evaristo Madangwa said the Ministry of Health and Child Care screened staff at the Willowvale depot on Wednesday and nine of the company employees were found positive.

It was not clear if these were rapid screening tests or the diagnostic PCR tests.

“We shall continue to spray, disinfect each bus and omnibus daily,” said Mr Madangwa.

“Zupco shall continue to ensure temperature checks, hand sanitisation and wearing of face masks by both passengers and crews.

“Efforts are underway to ensure continuity of service by Zupco. As we fight this pandemic we once again encourage our passengers, stakeholders and the nation at large to take all necessary precautions to curb the spread of Covid-19.”

Meanwhile, in a statement the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) advised of the temporary closure of its Head Office and Harare Region Office from yesterday to August 3 to allow for disinfection after 11 of its workers tested positive.

“This closure is to facilitate thorough disinfection of our offices as a precautionary measure to mitigate the spread of Covid-19,” said Zimsec in a statement.

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By A Correspondent- Speaking at a post-Cabinet briefing, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa said Government will also recruit additional staff to run Covid-19 tests.

“More nurses will be urgently recruited from the available pool of qualified nurses, while processes to resolve those on industrial action continue. In addition, to strengthen the Covid-19 response, Government will recruit additional staff to run Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests, including unemployed graduates.

“Government will also expedite the secondment and recruitment of additional staff such as nurses, laboratory scientists so as to strengthen health delivery system and national response to the Covid-19 outbreak,” she said.

The minister revealed that modalities were also being put in place to enable industrial and innovation hubs to produce Viral Transport Media (VTM), a critical ingredient in PCR tests currently in short supply, so as to enhance testing capabilities.

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By A Correspondent- While in conversation with Trevor Ncube, MDC T Secretary-General Douglas Mwonzora said his fight with the firebrand MDC T leader Nelson Chamisa was not personal and he was not aiding Zanu PF to decimate the MDC Alliance, The Standard reports.

When Trevor asked if Mwonzora winning the Secretary-general post in 2014 ahead of Chamisa was the reason why he was now in another formation while Chamisa was in another formation Mwonzora said:

I don’t think so, but when Morgan Tsvangirai died, he took over power in the manner he did and I did not support that. I thought that we were emasculating our own constitution. My fight with him has never been personal.

Mwonzora was asked again what stopped him from competing against Chamisa for the position of the party president in the 2019 MDC Alliance congress, in his response he said the party sabotaged him by purging his supporters from the structures:

First of all, I intended to challenge him and when we started the congress process, I found out my supporters had been purged from the structures. All the 2014 structures were purged. I then decided not to contest at all.

Mwonzora also accused Chamisa and the group he is leading of not adhering to ideology and said Tendai Biti does not share the social democracy ideology at all. Mwonzora denied aiding the ruling party in decimating the MDC Alliance and said he was working within the confines of constitutionalism when he decided to join Khupe’s camp.

FOUR former MDC employees have now applied for the High Court to issue a garnishee order against the party’s bank accounts to recover terminal benefits and salaries which they are owed.

Wilson Box, Aleck Tabe, Geraldine Sibanda, and Lawrence Paganga previously sued the MDC Alliance, but recently directed their lawsuits against the Thokozani Khupe-led MDC-T group and specifically wanted US$155 318 deducted from the government grant the party recently received.

However, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that neither MDC Alliance nor MDC-T can receive the $7,5 million political funding under the Political Parties Finance Act until a resolution on the on-going legal battle over which formation is entitled to the money is settled.

According to the Political Parties Finance Act, all parties that poll more than five percent of the vote in a general election share the sum budgeted for political parties each year in proportion to their votes.

Box and his colleagues cited Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, MDC-T and CBZ bank as respondents in the High Court application and want deductions made until the US$155 318  together with interest at the prescribed rate and taxed costs have been paid in full.

Box and his colleagues obtained court orders against MDC-T in terms of an arbitration award and filed writs of execution against its moveable property.

One of the applicants instructed the sheriff to attach MDC-T’s moveable goods in order to recover the money, but the return of service indicated that the party’s property was insufficient to cover the debt.

The court heard Box and his colleagues were not aware of the specific details of MDC-T’s property and can no longer instruct the sheriff to attach them.

In the event that they find the immovable property, the amounts realised from the sale of the said property, they argued, may not be sufficient to cover the debt.

The court heard that MDC-T lawyers had written to Box and his colleagues on April 26 indicating intentions to pay the debt from the government grant.

“To secure payment of the said money to applicants, the applicants have, therefore, approached this honourable court seeking a garnishee order against MDC-T’s bank account or any other account which their funds are disbursed,” reads the application.

Daily News

EMBATTLED former Information deputy minister Energy Mutodi was on Wednesday ordered to apologise to the party for misbehaving when he appeared before a disciplinary hearing in Marondera.

The hearing was held following a series of postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The musician-cum-politician was fired by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on May 21 after tangling with Foreign minister Sibusiso Moyo before Zanu-PF’s Mashonaland East province issued him with a prohibition order.

Efforts to get a comment from the provincial disciplinary committee chairperson Michael Madanha were fruitless.

However, a top party official, who declined to be named, said Mutodi was “warned” before being ordered to apologise.

“The disciplinary hearing was finally conducted in Marondera on Wednesday. The matter is not over yet. Mutodi was warned over his conduct and was ordered to apologise to the party for his misconduct. He will not retain his provincial executive post, but will remain an MP. The party saw it fit to let him be the Goromonzi legislator,” the source said.

Since his sacking, Mutodi has been inactive on social media and has shunned public life.

During a provincial co-ordinating committee meeting held in Marondera recently, the Goromonzi West lawmaker cut a lone figure as he occupied the back seats.

The lockdown to control the spread of the novel coronavirus has disrupted Zimbabwe’s education system to an extent that it may take years to recover.

Authorities were forced to halt the first term for 2020 in March after the country recorded its first cases of the flu-like disease that was first detected in China late last year.

The government had few options available when it came to education because the environment in schools is ideal for the quick spread of the virus, something that could have been catastrophic for a country with an ailing health delivery system like Zimbabwe.

Three months after the lockdown began, some children started returning to their schools to sit for the June examinations a fortnight ago.

The phased re-opening of schools, however, starts on July 28 with classes of pupils sitting for final year examinations, which are Grade 7 and Form fours as well as Form sixes.

They would be followed by those in Grades 6, Forms 3 and 5 classes while those in Grades 3, 4 and 5 as well as Forms 1 and 2 would be in the next phase.

Grades 1 and 2 will follow thereafter while those in early childhood development classes would be the last to return to school.

The government insists that it is doing all it can to ensure the health and well-being of learners, teachers, staff and communities. But it should not be lost in people’s minds that prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, Zimbabwe’s economic and health systems were already under a severe strain.

A break of four months has also left schools that heavily rely on user fees for their operations, struggling for survival as parents were not paying school fees.

Expecting the schools to meet preconditions for the safe resumption of classes that include infection and control measures could be asking for too much in an economy that is on its knees.

To eliminate risks of infection, schools should ensure social distancing and the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) at a time the economy is imploding.

As if that was not enough, Zimbabwe last week recorded a spike in Covid-19 infections and deaths. As of Friday, the number of cases had risen to 942 with 13 deaths.

The statistics are a stark reminder that the threat posed by Covid-19 remains high, hence the need for caution in opening up society including the return of children to school.

Zimbabwe could learn a valuable lesson from Kenya, which last week cancelled the 2020 school calendar.

Classes will only resume next year where hopefully significant progress would be made towards finding a vaccine to control coronavirus infections.

There is absolutely no need for the government to rush the re-opening of schools at the risk of opening a route for a surge in infections.

ELEVEN political activists, including MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzai Mahere, filmmaker and novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga and others from various pressure groups, yesterday appeared in court facing charges of participating in Friday’s illegal demonstrations in Harare.

Mahere, Dangarembga, Paul Besa, Julie Gabriel Barnes, Chamunorwa Phillip Ndengu, Tinotenda Muskwe, Tinashe Murapata, Jessica Drury, Nyasha Musandu, Josee Lotter and Simon Drury appeared before Harare regional magistrate Mr Ngoni Nduna.

They were separately charged with participating in a public gathering with intent to cause public violence and breaching the Public Health Act (Covid-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) Regulations 2020.The accused were not asked to plead to the charges and were remanded to September 18, 2020 on $5 000 bail each.

They were ordered to surrender their passports and report once every Friday at their respective police stations.

Through their defence lawyers, the activists said they have complaints against the police and indicated that they would file written submissions in respect of those complaints by August 4, 2020.

They notified the State that they would challenge their placement on remand when they return to court on September 18.

The State, led by Mr Michael Reza and Ms Tendai Shonhiwa, had it that on July 31, MDC Alliance and other pressure groups organised an illegal demonstration to effect regime change.

The court heard that at different times and locations, but in Harare, the 11 took to the streets demonstrating against the Government.

Mahere and six others were arrested between 11am and 11.30am while demonstrating between Alps Road and The Chase.

Police are said to have recovered placards from Jessica Drury’s car inscribed #FreeZim, #FreeMDCtrio, #stopabductions and #handsoff the Constitution. On the second count, they allegedly breached Covid-19 regulations while they were marching.

By KENNETH MUFUKA

Finance minister of Zimbabwe, Mthuli Ncube, PhD (Cantab), has become the poster child of everything that is wrong with the management of affairs in Zimbabwe. He must go. Then and only then, will Zimbabweans be able to go back to the drawing board and start fresh.

In a nutshell, he represents (willingly and unwillingly) the worst of Zimbabwe; the best education money can buy, mastery of the lexicon one would think they created the dictionary with Merriam Webster, they know everything, they teach the world how to run their affairs, they have engineers with titles on their behinds, but the potholes in Bulawayo have been known to swallow Mazda pick-ups. In short, Pettinah Gappah has concluded that they are an embarrassment to the world for always begging.

It is, therefore, time for him to go. Now! In the exit package I will include his sidekick, Dr John Mangudya. Notice the lofty titles which denote their much learning, signifying nothing.

Rwanda’s Paul Kagame does not have a single title, but has more sense than both these brothers combined.

Ncube no longer carries any credibility, even if he were to change course in midstream, as he has done several times, the market no longer pays him any mind. I will list his sins below, each one deserves the severest of punishments, the least of which would be a minimum of 10-year banishment from Zimbabwe.

Taking a cue from his discredited Zanu PF masters, he ignored his own wisdom, that there are universal laws that operate whether humans try to bend towards themselves or not.

Gresham’s law says that bad money drives out good money. Ncube confessed knowledge of this law on August 31, 2018. “The bond note currency is bad money and we know in economics bad money drives out good money.” Ncube should have known better.

That is sin number one. Keep your own advice. Honourable men resign when their wise counsel is not followed.

Sin number two comes from the Zanu PF manual. Learn nothing from history. Price controls are useless from time immemorial.

When Roman Emperor Diocletian issued his list of maximum prices for goods and services, including haircuts and prostitution, the rhetorician Lactantitius of Nicodemida (301 AD) had a field day. Entire towns failed to produce goods they had formerly produced for export, those with fixed salaries, (especially soldiers) found that their money was increasingly worthless as artificial prices did not reflect actual costs.

Prostitutes and barbers particularly found the going insufferable as their efforts had been underpriced.

There is nothing new under the sun. Ncube should have educated his masters or resigned. Having failed to do either, he finds himself riding a tiger.

Sin number three is tampering with the value of money. Once one tampers with monetary values, everything goes haywire. On November 12, 2019, grain millers bought a tonne of maize at $3 548. Three months later, the cost had risen to $55 900.

As indicated above, once the value of money has been interfered with, there is no knowing when and where the tiger’s ride will end and what will happen to its rider.

As I write, July 7, I am informed that men of learning at the University of Zimbabwe, including the great mind Hasu Patel, have quit for greener pastures. With a salary of $7 000 per month (US$70), they can hardly fill a car with petrol.

Lactantitius, mentioned above, referred to soldiers in particular. Away from home, their fixed salaries no longer lasted a month.

Even if soldiers and nurses’ salaries, pegged at $3 000, were doubled, the buying capacity remains insufficient to sustain a living.

Sin number three is the growing lawlessness in the management of financial affairs. It was hoped that Ncube’s arrival at treasury would bring some form of financial sanity to government agencies, and indeed he boasts about a surplus.

The truth is that top government managers are paying him no mind and are becoming more boisterous. Hopewell Chin’ono reported on July 3 that eight Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Agency (Zera) officers bought Toyota four-wheel drive vehicles from their agency for Z$2 000 each. The officers — Ranga Ngoni (Z$80 860), Jacqueline Ngoni, (Z$80 960) MZ Tapera (Z$101 075) and five others — then rented the same vehicles to Zera, while they received free petrol as well.

The amounts in parenthesis are the sums they received in mileage allowances in one month. There are some things which even if they were legal, look wrong and should be avoided.

Similarly, the Health authorities splashed over US$8 million on Range Rovers while hospitals lack basics like bandages and protective gear for staff. That money can equip more than one major hospital.

You sluggard, before you go begging, look in your backyard and see what amounts of monies are going to waste.

The shamelessness of these brothers allows them to assume that while they splash money everywhere, the US embassy is responsible for feeding their poor and paying for HIV-Aids medicines.

Return of the US dollar

On October 18, 2018, Ncube announced with fanfare the Transitional Stabilisation Programme which would be replaced by a five-year plan in December 2020. This plan would “operationalise Vision 2030…acknowledge policy reform initiatives of the new dispensation to stimulate domestic production, exports, rebuilding and transforming the economy to an upper middle income status by 2030”.

There is a method to this madness. Zanu PF believes that they are gods and in the beginning there was their word, and if they say, operationalise, stimulate through command agriculture, command street dealers from selling US dollars, then it will be done.

They talk “big noise about market forces” yet tell everybody what to do. One cannot withdraw his US dollars at will. One cannot withdraw his wages from a bank. Zanu PF tells the farmers what to grow through command agriculture. Government sets prices for corn (maize), for bread, and for petrol.

As prices chase the US dollar, government remains in a state of denial. I have left my severest damnation to the end. I am compelled to use the word “allege” in the next sentence. My sources “allege” that the chief malefactors in this government are paying themselves in US dollars even as they forbid workers access to the same benefits.

The hope that Ncube’s arrival at treasury would bring house cleaning has disappeared. A leaked memo from Police General Headquarters described the lives of policemen as that of daily torment. Ncube is the clean face that represents this charade. He must go for his own sake, or forever be remembered as the face that covered up “vices most notorious”, a leadership steeped in “idleness, treachery, revenge, cruelty, impudence, stealing, lying, profanity, debauchery, nastiness and intemperance”, a ruling class that has extinguished natural law and reproofs of conscience.” So wrote Encyclopedia Britannica about our race in 1798.

Extracted from The Standard

MISA Zimbabwe

Tawanda Muchehiwa, the nephew to ZimLive editor Mduduzi Mathuthu, was found yesterday evening, the 1^st of August 2020 around 2200hrs after he was ‘dropped off’ at his place of residence by his tormentors. Muchehiwa had been missing since the 30^th of July 2020 after his arrest by police officers and his detention at Bulawayo Central Police Station.

Muchehiwa was brutally tortured and has sustained serious injuries. Following his re-appearance, his Lawyer Nqobani Sithole filed a report which was only finalized around 02.00hrs this morning.

The MISA-Zimbabwe deployed lawyer stated that Muchehiwa informed him that he was picked up from the police station by officers from the army’s Military Intelligence Department. He alleges that he was subsequently taken to an unknown location which he only recognises as bushy.

Muchehiwa is currently at a private hospital in Bulawayo where he is receiving medical attention.

Background

The police officers had since professed ignorance as to his whereabouts which had led MISA-Zimbabwe through lawyer Nqobani Sithole to file an urgent chamber application for habeas corpus.

High Court judge Justice Makonese on 1 August 2020 ordered the police to investigate the whereabouts of Tawanda Muchehiwa and produce the outcome to the Magistrates Courts at Tredgold Building in Zimbabwe’s second city of Bulawayo within 72 hours.

The court had ordered that the 72 hours commenced from 1400hrs on 1 August 2020.

CONDOLENCE MESSAGE BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT, CDE EMMERSON DAMBUDZO MNANGAGWA, FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF AIR CHIEF MARSHAL (Rtd) PERRANCE SHIRI, MINISTER OF LANDS, AGRICULTURE, WATER AND RURAL RESETTLEMENT, JULY 29, 2020.

I learnt with utter shock and a deep sense of grief of the death early this morning of Air Chief Marshal Perrance Shiri (Rtd), our Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement, after a short illness.

A stalwart of our war of national liberation, Cde Shiri ranked high among our leading Zanla Field Commanders, whose contribution to the national liberation struggle was simply valiant and outstanding.

His commitment to the liberation of this country and his people amply showed when he, alongside our Vice President, General C.G.D.N Chiwenga, abandoned his studies at Mount Saint Mary’s Mission School in Wedza in 1973, and defied all odds to join the liberation struggle at a very tender age.

Once fully-trained and battle-hardened, the late Cde Shiri rose through the ranks to become the overall commander of Tete Province, one of the hottest fronts in the war.

Under his command, several spectacular missions against the enemy were carried out, among them the 1978 blasting of oil tanks in the then Salisbury, itself the heart and citadel of the settler power.

Indeed that military action, which was undertaken by a specialised ZANLA Unit which he mentored, reverberated well beyond the immediate theatre of war, and proved a turning point in the struggle for national liberation.

After the struggle, he would continue serving his country in the military, including playing a salutary role in the integration process by which erstwhile warring armies were re-oriented and re-moulded into a cohesive national army.

Later, he would be redeployed to the Air Force of Zimbabwe, becoming our second indigenous Air Force of Zimbabwe Commander after the late Cde Josiah Tungamirai.

While he discharged his onerous command duties, he still found time to further his education, in the process acquiring several professional qualifications and two masters degrees in the field of business and development.

Always focused, hardworking and hands-on, the late Minister Shiri was key to revamping our food sector by ensuring our farmers were fully mobilised, motivated and supported to mechanise, modernise and climate-proof our agriculture for sustainable national food security.

Barely a month ago, we launched and agricultural equipment initiative he concluded with an American company, John Deere.

Except for his untimely demise, we would have launched yet another of his many initiatives on mechanisation, this time with the Republic of Belarus.

It was also during his short-lived ministerial tenure that he reached out to, and opened negotiations with, white former commercial farmers with a view to breaking the impasse over the age-old national land question.

Only this morning (Wednesday), we signed an historic agreement with the former farmers, itself a crowning moment for his tireless efforts.

Sadly, as fate would have it, he would not live to witness this historic moment!

We miss him sorely.

On behalf of the Party, Zanu PF, Government, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces of which he was a longstanding member, my family and my own behalf, I wish to express my heartfelt condolences to the entire Shiri family, especially his children, who now stand orphaned.

As they go through the painful motion of deep grief, I urge them to find comfort and solace in the distinguished role and career of continuous service, which their father gave to this country.

He remains our hero together, making his demise a blow we all keenly feel and share.

May his dear soul rest in eternal peace.

PUBLIC and private hospitals should not turn away patients or demand a Covid-19 certificate first before admitting patients, particularly in emergency cases, Government has said.

The latest exhortation comes after the country has gone through its worst month yet, as 61 Zimbabweans succumbed to the coronavirus in July alone. Acting Health and Child Care Minister Professor Amon Murwira said Government is engaging hospitals to ensure that they provide other life-saving services to avoid unnecessary loss of life.

“Other things that may happen or mis-happen are the things that we want to hear and rectify. What we want to do is to ensure that we revamp our health system, invest in it and ensure that every citizen has access to health services as enshrined in our Constitution.

“This disease (Covid-19) does not spare anyone, but we have to ensure there is continuity in terms of service provision otherwise we may regress and lose lives unnecessarily. Hospitals should continue offering services and desist from making unreasonable demands at the expense of lives. We all have to be responsible at some point,” said Prof Murwira.

Scores of people are failing to access health care as health institutions, including both private and public health institutions, are insisting on Covid-19 certificates before admitting patients, even in emergency cases.

However, the certificate can only be issued after a polymerase chain reaction (PCR test), which is going between US$65 to US$80 at various private institutions, although the test is free at some public hospitals.

There are fears inordinate delays in admitting patients could lead to the unnecessary loss of life.

Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals public relations officer Mr Linos Dhire said the institution has been struggling to provide services due to the ongoing industrial action by health workers.

“The strike by both nurses and doctors has greatly affected the delivery of our services across the hospital. The situation has been worsened by the fact that some among the few who have been reporting for duty are testing positive for Covid-19 and have to go in isolation. Fellow healthcare workers who are their contacts have to go off duty and isolate and this has significantly contributed to low numbers on the ground. Consequently, the hospital has been forced to respond to dire emergencies only,” he added.

Zimbabwe Nurses Association president Mr Enock Dongo said nurses were waiting for Government to make a tangible offer to review their conditions of services before they consider going back to work.

“Since we started the industrial action, we haven’t had any meaningful discussion with Government insofar as our demands are concerned. Yes, the Government provided a platform for negotiation but they didn’t bring any offer on the table. They only said our demand of salaries in USD was not feasible,” said Mr Dongo.

Health Services Board chairperson Dr Paulinus Sikhosana, however, said negotiations with the health workers will continue with the hope of reaching an agreement soon.

“Negotiations are continuing; they never stopped . . . we need to reach an amicable solution soon,” said Dr Sikhosana.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa last week implored health workers to commit to serving the nation while Government acts on their grievances.

“We must stop the scourge of Covid-19, itself a global pandemic. It spares no one, great or small. All nations of the world are suffering from its impact, with figures of infections and deaths rising daily. In unity and through discipline, we stand a chance to save our nation from its menace,” said the President.

“I call on our medical staff to act in the national interest and exhibit a great sense of responsibility. My Government hears your cries, listens to your concerns. But the time to serve is now. Your grievances, which we acknowledge and continue to address, cannot be enjoyed at the expense of loss of life. When the pandemic spreads and the death toll rises, there are no winners, none at all. Tinopera tese kufa,” he said.

State Media

SIX miners, among them a woman, have been arrested for allegedly attacking three police officers and damaging a vehicle they were using in protest to the arrest of their workmate.

Tawanda Msimanga (27), Diana Shoko (37), Muzi Moyo (33), Mehleli Dube (28), Thamsanqa Ndlovu (31) and Lloyd Sithole (28) all from Gwanda were not asked to plead when they appeared before Gwanda magistrate Miss Lerato Nyathi facing a public violence charge. They were remanded in custody to 7 August for trial.

Prosecuting, Miss Faith Mutukwa said the gang blocked the vehicle which the police were using and one of them forcibly took handcuff keys from a police officer and released their workmate who had been arrested in connection with an assault case.

“On 14 June at around 2pm the accused persons were at Geelong Mine where they work when one of them Tawanda Msimanga proposed love to Ms Ntokozo Moyo and she turned him down. Msimanga went on to assault Ms Moyo several times and also threatened to kill her. Ms

Moyo then reported the matter to the police who came to attend the scene.

“Constables Mehluli Ncube, Emmanuel Moyo and Ebeny Bhonda proceeded to attend the scene in a vehicle which belongs to a civilian who offered to assist them with transport.

“The cops then apprehended Msimanga and when they were about to leave the rest of the accused persons started shouting at the police officers and ordered them to release Msimanga,” she said.

Miss Mutukwa said the accused persons then blocked the vehicle in order to prevent it from leaving. She said in the process one of the accused persons smashed the rear window of the vehicle and punched Constable Mehluli Moyo who was seated with the accused.

Miss Mutukwa said one of the accused persons forcibly took handcuff keys from Constable Moyo’s shirt and released Msimanga. He went on to smash the windscreen of the car using the pair of handcuffs which had been used on Msimanga.

“Seeing that they couldn’t contain the accused persons the police fled from the scene and hid in the bush and called for backup. A reinforcement team comprising Support Unit members from the West Nicholson Police Station attended the scene and the accused persons were arrested at Colleen Bawn tollgate while travelling in a vehicle they had hired,” she said.

Miss Mutukwa said the value of damaged property is US$387.

Meanwhile, two men have been arrested while their three accomplices are still at large after they ganged up on a man and beat him to death after accusing him of stealing gold ore.

Mpho Moyo (36) and Qhubekani Ndlovu (40) both from Colleen Bawn and their accomplices assaulted Morgan Sibanda before they drowned him in a saline pond while they had tied his hands and legs with a wire.

Moyo and Ndlovu were not asked to plead when they appeared before Gwanda magistrate, Miss Lerato Nyathi facing a murder charge. They were remanded in custody to 7 August.

Prosecuting, Mr Noel Mandebvu said the gang attacked Sibanda on 23 July.

“On 23 July at around 9pm at Sally 22 Mine in Collen Bawn Moyo and Ndlovu together with three other people who are still at large confronted Morgan Sibanda.

“They assaulted him with a hammer mill, fan belts, horse pipe and also punched and kicked him several times.

“They then tied his hands together to the back with a wire and also tied his feet together with a wire. They then drowned him in a saline pond.

“Upon realising that he had passed out the gang dumped Sibanda’s body in a makeshift plastic tent at the mine and fled. Sibanda’s body was later found by some mine workers who reported the matter to the police resulting in the arrest of the accused persons,” he said.

Standard

Striking doctors have vowed to press on with their job boycott despite pleas by President Emmerson Mnangagwa for them to return to work amid revelations that scores of people could be dying in their homes due to lack of medical care.

Mnangagwa pleaded with senior doctors to abandon the strike that began last week during an address at the burial of Agriculture minister Perrance Shiri at the Heroes Acre on Friday.

The doctors joined nurses and other health workers, who have been on strike for over a month, as they demanded salaries in foreign currency and provision of personal protective equipment (PPE)to deal with Covid-19 cases.

Norman Matara, the Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights secretary-general, said the government should first pay health workers a living wage, provide adequate PPEs and equip hospitals with medicines and equipment to end the strikes.

“The government should simply meet its end of the bargain, pay health workers a living wage, provide them with adequate personal protective equipment, and equip hospitals with medicines and equipment,” Matara said.

“If they do this simple task, health workers will happily return to work and do their job of saving lives.”

“The government wants health workers to act “in the nation’s interest and exhibit a sense of responsibility’, yet the same government is not meeting its end of responsibilities.”

“Health workers cannot work on empty stomachs and without protective clothing simply because they save lives.”

Enock Dongo, the Zimbabwe Nurses Association president, said Mnangagwa should ensure the government addressed health workers’ grievances if he expected them to return to work.

“We heard what the president said, but we also want him to hear and listen to what we are saying.

“First, he must respect our work and we will also do our part,” Dongo said.

“We want the president to look into our issues. If he acknowledges our issues which are genuine, then he must address them.

“No way can we go into such a dangerous environment without wearing protective gear in the name of national interests, that will not work.”

“Right, now many nurses are being evicted from their lodgings because they failed to raise rentals, which are now US$40 to US$70, but salaries are below US$30.

“Even if they say we are not acting in the national interest, but we have families to look after.”

Public hospitals are turning away sick people, including those with Covid-19 symptoms, leading to fears that people are dying in their homes without any treatment.

AT least 14 people have died from Covid-19 on admission to health institutions across the country in the last six days with the Government making it mandatory for all corpses to be tested for the virus.

According to the Friday Covid-19 update from the Ministry of Health and Child Care, 14 deaths have been recorded where 11 were males and three females.

“Today we report the results of 14 deaths which occurred from 26-31 July 2020 in the community and on admission to casualty departments at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals after investigations and post-mortems were done. These include 11 males and three females from Harare, Mashonaland West, Manicaland and Bulawayo provinces and had respiratory symptoms compatible with Covid-19 and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests came out positive for Covid-19,” read the report.

However, the Ministry of Health has made it mandatory that corpses being handled at health institutions be tested for the virus.

There has been a rise in the number of people who are confirmed positive to Covid-19 upon their deaths in the country’s major cities.

Dynamics have, however, been different in rural set ups where when a person dies of what locals deem to be from natural causes, the deceased are quickly buried without a post-mortem, as the family can ask for a waiver of the post-mortem. However, Covid-19 seems to have altered the practice with acting Provincial Medical Director for Matabeland North Province Dr Munekai Padingani saying every death was now being treated as a potential case for Covid-19 that needed to be tested.

“If there is death in the community, we have instructed community members to call the police and a Rapid Response Team (RRT) is also dispatched to collect the specimen. The communities and traditional leaders are being sensitised that with any sudden death or just any death at home they must first make a report so that specimens are collected before the person is buried,” he said.

Dr Padingani, however, said there was a chance that some people were being buried without the hospital or RRT’s knowledge in rural communities as some people could be conducting burials without much information reaching health institutions or the police.

“We cannot say it is happening 100 percent because some people don’t report to these teams and we will not know that someone died from Covid-19 possibly. In Matabeleland North we have two deaths, one from Hwange and the other from Binga. As for the case in Binga where one person died at home, we collected the specimen and that is when we knew that it was a Covid-19 death. The family members of the deceased in Binga were all tested using Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostics and they were all negative.

“We wonder where she contracted the virus because she came from very far away in Binga so we were asking ourselves questions as to how she contracted Covid-19 if no one from her family had it. So, we just assumed that maybe she was visited by someone who was positive. That is the only assumption we got as all contacts were negative,” he said.

The Ministry of Health and Child Care has intensified educating traditional leaders in rural communities to assist in curbing the spread of the virus as there were several reports of families housing escapees from quarantine centres in villages and in turn spreading the virus among themselves. Most of the escapees were returnees from South Africa and Botswana who are originally from Matabeleland North and South provinces.

In the latest statistic goverment announced 490 new cases. Worryingly, 485 of those are local contact cases.

It brings to 3,659, the number of cumulative cases. With two new deaths bringing to 69 the total and 7 recoveries bringing to 1011 in total it means there are 2,579 active cases.

THE Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) has increased fares for urban routes by 100 percent.

According to the new fares, passengers will now pay $8 per trip for Zupco buses up from $4 while Zupco kombis are now charging $16 up from $8. The new fares became effective yesterday.

In an interview yesterday, Zupco chief executive officer Mr Everisto Madangwa said the new fares were to ensure the company improves service delivery as well as cushion its costs. He said high operational costs the company was incurring had also necessitated the fare increases.

“Yes, we have increased our fares by 100 percent, a move we felt is necessary for us to further improve our services to the public, further these new fares will enable us to cushion our costs which we incur as a company,” said Mr Madangwa.

According to the national lockdown regulations, Zupco registered buses and kombis are the only ones allowed to offer public transport in the urban areas.

Mr Madangwa assured the travelling public that their vehicles will be on the road in their numbers as they had adequate fuel to service their fleet. He also said the company was in the process of increasing its fleet by enticing more transport operators to join the Zupco franchise. The company has about 500 buses and kombis plying Bulawayo routes.

Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) director of public relations, Colonel Overson Mugwisi, was a hardworker and remained loyal to the liberation war before and after independence, Minister of State for Harare Metropolitan province Oliver Chidawu has said.

The army spokesperson succumbed to Covid-19 on Friday and was buried at Glen Forest Memorial Park in Harare yesterday.

He was declared a liberation war hero.

Addressing mourners, Minister Chidawu, who is also acting ZANU PF Harare chairperson, said Col Mugwisi will always be remembered.

“The ZDF shall forever cherish the late Colonel Mugwisi’s selfless service to the people of Zimbabwe before and after Independence.”

Col Mugwisi was first appointed the official spokesperson of the Zimbabwe National Army in 2009, when he was Lieutenant Colonel, taking over from Lieutenant Colonel Simon Tsatsi.

He then rose to become ZDF spokesperson. Born in 1956 in Masvingo, Col Mugwisi attended Torwood Primary School, Drake and Amaveni secondary schools in Kwekwe, Midlands province.

He then crossed into Mozambique to join the liberation struggle in September 1976.

In his military career dating back to Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, Col Mugwisi held various senior posts, among them Adjutant Zimbabwe Military Academy (ZMA), Officer Commanding Cadet Division ZMA, and Staff Officer responsible for Administration Plans at Army Headquarters.

He was also Staff Officer responsible for research at the Zimbabwe Staff College and Directing Staff Joint Command and Staff Courses at the Zimbabwe Staff College before he went into public relations.

Over the years, Col Mugwisi attended most career courses offered by the army during the Junior Staff Course, the Company Group Commanders Course and the Command and Staff Course.

He is survived by four children.

Images of ZimLive Editor’s Nephew Tawanda Muchehiwa who was abducted by state security agents last week and dumped last night have been posted online.

Shared by Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, the heart-rending images shows Muchehiwa badly injured after more than two days of torture at the hands of suspected state agents.

Below are the two images shared by SAHRDN on their Twitter handle.

Zimbabwe has recorded its biggest jump for a single day in Covid-19 cases.

The Ministry of Health and Child Care announced on Saturday that 490 new cases were recorded. Of major concern is that 485 of those are local contact cases.

The huge jump brings the national tally to 3,659 recorded cases. The day also recorded two new deaths bringing to 69 the total and 7 recoveries bringing to 1011 in total it means there are 2,579 active cases.

By A Correspondent| Norton legislator Temba Mliswa has shared his COVID-19 test results done at Norton Hospital.

Posting on Twitter, Mliswa said he had promised to share the results once out, saying he will restrict his movement as much as possible to protect himself so that he won’t be infected.

“As promised my results as below. I’m grateful for the negative result. This however doesn’t mean I can’t contract the virus & I’ll therefore ensure I restrict my movements as much as possible. As a legislator it’s a fine line between assisting the people & being the catalyst,” said Mliswa.

ZESA Holdings executive chairman Dr Sydney Gata has been suspended from office and will be blocked from accessing his office at the power utility’s headquarters, the Minister of Energy and Power Development, Fortune Chasi said yesterday.

Minister Chasi told our Harare Bureau that Dr Gata would be barred from Zesa premises until due processes have been completed.

“Our initial stance as Government was to observe corporate governance and give the board an opportunity to deal with the matter. This entailed giving the board time to investigate the serious allegations against Dr Gata. But alas! He (Dr Gata) decided to lock the board out of Zesa premises. He took the view that no board meetings would take place as a way to stall progress.

He then proceeded to bar the board entry into Zesa premises and ordered security to lock them out. He refused to accept the letter of suspension and instead proceeded to suspend the entire board as if he had the powers to do so. He doesn’t. It’s a very strange and unusual action suggesting that something was seriously wrong.”

As a consequence, Minister Chasi said processes are underway to ensure that normalcy is restored at Zesa.

“This will include barring Dr Gata from Zesa for a defined period to allow the investigations to happen. We want to be very procedural and need to. We will continue to assume that he is innocent until proven guilty.

“He needs to make it easy for us otherwise the irrational actions he is taking — like firing fellow board members — will cause everyone to think otherwise,” he said.

However, a defiant Gata yesterday said he was not going anywhere, saying “corruption was fighting back at him” for his attempt to expose the rot at the parastatal. He said he must be given time to implement a forensic audit that recently exposed massive graft at the parastatal.

Dr Gata said his lawyers had advised him to stay put because a meeting that was held to suspend him was non-procedural after a top Zesa manager, who is currently on trial for alleged corruption, presided over the proceedings.

Yesterday, the drama at the power utility continued to fester after about a dozen leaders of workers’ unions affiliated to Zesa converged at the power utility’s headquarters in Harare in solidarity with Dr Gata, saying he was being victimised for fighting corruption at the parastatal. The workers pleaded with Minister Chasi to reverse his decision.

Dr Gata, who has had an on-off relationship with Zesa, is facing a slew of allegations including allocating himself five vehicles and fuel for private use, using $10 million to fund Christmas parties, hiring ghost employees on Zesa’s payroll and using his private entity to carry out projects meant for Zesa.

He also stands accused of interference with disciplinary processes relating to a Mrs Norah Tsomondo.

Commenting on the allegations in an interview with our Harare Bureau, Dr Gata denied any wrongdoing.

On the allegations of allocating himself the five vehicles, he said: “Two vehicles, a Toyota Fortuner and Mazda BT50 are not owned by Zesa but individuals not related to me. The third vehicle a Toyota Fortuner is owned by Zesa and is under the custody of the Group Legal Advisor and Corporate Secretary being used for board purposes.

The fourth vehicle is owned by Zesa…but has been recently allocated to the Loss Control Department to carry out investigations on vandalism. The fifth vehicle was a pool vehicle which was ordinarily parked at the company basement for use by various drivers.”

Dr Gata said the Christmas parties did not cost $10 million as alleged and were an investment in staff morale.

He said the allegation on installation of solar equipment was false while the hiring of “ghost employees” was above board.

On Mrs Tsomondo’s case, Dr Gata said the matter had been decided well before he joined Zesa.

Asked if he was not defying the Minister by continuing to report for duty, Dr Gata said: “In terms of the law, I am not. I have been advised by my lawyers that the so-called suspension was unprocedural. If anything I am carrying out instructions which are in my contract of employment that the Minister himself gave me.

“In my contract, the Minister advised me to personally ‘take a hands-on approach to the litany of issues bedeviling this important utility’. I urge the Minister not to obstruct my terms of reference by being influenced by suspected criminals at Zesa.”

Dr Gata said he was seeking the way forward from the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, to whom he wrote giving his side of the story. In the letter to Dr Sibanda, Dr Gata alleged that Minister Chasi had invited Zesa Company Secretary Mr Saidi Sangula to be part of a meeting to decide his fate, despite the fact that he is currently before the courts on an alleged case of corruption at Zesa.

In a statement yesterday, the Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union, whose leaders converged on Zesa’s headquarters to show solidarity with Dr Gata, said the suspended Zesa boss was being persecuted.

“It appears to us that some of the allegations are being peddled by some members and remnants of the previous administration who, after being fired and or being prosecuted for their malfeasances over the years, are now trying to hit back through raising allegations designed to malign and demonise Dr Gata and his management team,” said Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union general secretary Mr Martin Chikuni.

Secretary-general of the Energy Sector Union of Zimbabwe Mr Gibson Mushunje said Dr Gata should be allowed to implement recommendations of the forensic audit.

“Some of the current members of the Zesa board and senior managers (names supplied) agreed to some of the shady deals at Zesa. They were fingered in the forensic audit. We think it’s more urgent to implement the forensic audit than to persecute Dr Gata. We are not defending Dr Gata but we are defending the truth. Let’s have implementation of the forensic audit first before other issues,” said Mr Mushunje.

Mr Pearson Madzongwe, a representative of the Zesa group of companies, appealed to Minister Chasi to reinstate Dr Gata.

“Our final plea to the Minister of Energy and Power Development Honourable Chasi and His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa is to give Dr Gata a chance to turnaround the fortunes of Zesa as we the workers are absolutely happy with his selfless leadership and vision. Had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic, we would have staged a solidarity march to protect our leader from being harmed by corrupt and fired managers who were fingered in the forensic audit.”

Leader of the Zesa widowers and pensioners Mrs Enea Maroveke demanded Dr Gata’s immediate reinstatement saying he had made “a remarkable impact” since his appointment.

In his letter dated July 30, 2020 to board members, Dr Gata declared that he was still in charge and disputed the fact that Mrs Tsitsi Makovah was the acting board chair. Approached for comment, Mrs Makovah declined to discuss the matter and referred questions to the Energy and Power Development Ministry.

-State Media

Yesterday, 1 August 2020, Zimbabwe recorded the highest number of new Covid-19 cases after 490 people tested positive to the deadly virus.

Two people succumbed to the disease while seven recoveries were recorded in Mashonaland East and Masvingo.

This takes the total number of cases 3659 with deaths now at 69 while recoveries stand at 1011.

Read the Ministry of Health and Child Care update for more details

My Fellow Zimbabwe Police came to my place at 4:00 and took me and @realnigelndlovu .. Help us and tell the world .Tell the world and we are currently at magwegwe police being profiled,” he said.

BUSINESSMAN Genius “Ginimbi” Kadungure has demanded that former First Lady Grace Mugabe’s son Russell Goreraza and her brother Samson Marufu pay him his full balance after a botched sale of his Mercedes Benz ML63 to the two.

In a High Court case, Goreraza borrowed the car from Kadungure last year and got involved in an accident. He then reportedly sold the damaged vehicle to Marufu without the knowledge of Kadungure.
When Kadungure got wind of the transaction, he demanded payment of the wreck or its return from Marufu.

This prompted Marufu to approach the High Court seeking an interdict against Kadungure arguing that he wanted to unlawfully take away the car despite the former investing US$18 000 to repair it.

In his notice of opposition, Kadungure clarified that he entered into an agreement of sale with Marufu in December 2019 when he realised that he had been duped by Goreraza.

He said Marufu has paid US$4 000 and a balance of US$11 000 remained outstanding and was due within a week of the initial payment.
He said Goreraza should have involved him in the sale of the wreck since it was still registered in his name, adding that it ended up being undervalued by US$5 000.

Kadungure said Marufu was lying that their agreement of sale had no specific deadlines for payment.“His claim to the motor vehicle is mired in dubious circumstances.

“The applicant ought to simply pay the outstanding balance rather than use the court through misrepresentations to avoid paying what is lawfully owed to me.“If truth be told, it has been me who has been very patient with the applicant in pursuing my balance since December 2019,” Kadungure said.

Kadungure denied threatening or using illegal means to recover his vehicle and said he was in the process of instituting a lawsuit against Marufu over the issue.

“My communications with the applicant were legitimate demands regarding the fact that the balance is long overdue. The applicant has been using the excuse of the current national lockdown.
“In any event it is for the applicant to follow up with his relative (Goreraza) about the US$10 000 he paid him,” added Kadungure.

– Daily News

A 19-year-old Bindura woman committed suicide following a dispute with her husband over sadza.

The incident happened in Nyakudya village, Bindura, after the woman’s husband refused to go to the grinding mill where he had been sent by his wife.

The wife, Clara Phiri, instead, went to the grinding mill and on her return, she prepared sadza but withheld the meal from her husband, Biggie Chakorwa (32).

Reports indicate that Chakorwa did not complain but simply went to bed on an empty stomach.
Chakorwa’s reaction unnerved Phiri who went on to consume a tobacco pesticide.

She was rushed to Bindura District Hospital after complaining of a stomach ache and was pronounced dead upon admission.
Mashonaland Central police spokesperson Inspector Milton Mundembe confirmed the incident.

He said:
I can confirm a sudden death case in Bindura where Clara Phiri of Nyakudya village took her life after a misunderstanding with her husband Biggie Chakorwa (32)- NewsDay

Brian Chitemba and Kuda Bwititi
ZESA Holdings executive chairperson Dr Sydney Gata has been suspended and will not be allowed to enter the power utility’s headquarters, Energy and Power Development Minister Fortune Chasi said yesterday.

He said Dr Gata would be barred from Zesa premises until due processes have been completed.

“Our initial stance as Government was to observe corporate governance and give the board an opportunity to deal with the matter. This entailed giving the board time to investigate the serious allegations against Dr Gata.

“But alas! He (Dr Gata) decided to lock the board out of Zesa premises. He took the view that no board meetings would take place as a way to stall progress. He then proceeded to bar the board entry into Zesa premises and ordered security to lock them out,” he said.

“He refused to accept the letter of suspension and instead proceeded to suspend the entire board as if he had the powers to do so.

He doesn’t. It is very strange and unusual action suggesting that something was seriously wrong”.

As a consequence, Minister Chasi said, processes are underway to ensure normalcy is restored at Zesa.

“This will include barring Dr Gata from Zesa for a defined period to allow the investigations to happen. We want to be very procedural and need to.

“We will continue to assume that he is innocent until proven guilty. He needs to make it easy for us, otherwise the irrational actions he is taking — like firing fellow board members — will cause everyone to think otherwise,” he said.

Dr Gata is facing a slew of allegations that include abusing the power utility’s five pool vehicles, scuttling the disciplinary hearing of a top executive and splurging $10 million on Christmas parties and procedurally sending four consultants to South Africa at Zesa’s expense.

Minister Chasi described the corruption allegations as “egregious and very worrying” and called for a thorough board investigation. Government has since called for a thorough and expeditious investigation into the allegations.

Minister Chasi wrote to the Zesa board of directors on Monday ordering them to expedite the probe.

The letter was copied to Deputy Minister Magna Mudyiwa, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda, Secretary for Energy and Power Development Dr Gloria Magombo and Dr Gata himself.
But Dr Gata has been defiant.

He claimed that his lawyers had advised him to stay put because a meeting that was held to suspend him was unprocedural.

He has since responded to Minister Chasi objecting to the processes that led to his suspension, and now wants the matter to be adjudicated.

“It is clear from the foregoing that I respectfully take the view that your letter in casu ought not be the basis of the way forward between you (as the line Minister) and the Executive Chairman.

I believe this a matter that requires, on an urgent basis, the mediation role of the Office of the President and Cabinet. I will engage that mediation role without delay.”

The Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union (ZEWU) seems to be fighting in Dr Gata’s corner.

In a statement released as a “special communiqué to all Zesa staff” last week, Dr Gata claimed to have suspended the other eight board members-The Sunday Mail

A FUMING village head leapt to his feet during a traditional court and assaulted a villager with fists after they exchanged harsh words.

According to a villager who requested to speak on condition of anonymity, tempers flared when Tayisi Ncube and village head of Jeqe Village, Ward 24 in Matopo, Simon Zulu, exchanged harsh words.

The villager said it happened so fast that the enraged Zulu charged at his subject while pointing a finger at him.

“We could sense danger on how they exchanged harsh words at each other.

The village head stood up and pointed a finger at Ncube while accusing him of disrespecting him and influencing other villagers to disrespect him,” said the villager.
The villager added: “The village head then went flying with fists at Ncube.

Zulu was too powerful for him as he rained the fists too fast for him and he fell and bled.”
It took the intervention of one of the brave villagers who restrained the marauding Zulu.

“Zulu wanted to teach him a thorough lesson as he continued beating him while he was bleeding from the mouth and nose. But thanks to the villager who stopped him from further assaulting him,” said the source.

Contacted for a comment Ncube said: “I wanted to put my point across but he got furious and assaulted me with fists.

I tried to flee as I did not retaliate because I respected him as he holds an influential position in the community and is our traditional leader.”

The source further revealed that the temperamental Zulu was known for beating up his subjects during traditional court meetings.

“He is known for beating villagers who object to his views. Last year he beat a villager and just recently he beat another villager. Most of the villagers are afraid of him,” said the source.

Efforts to get a comment from Zulu were fruitless as his mobile phone rang continuously.
The matter was reported to the police and local leadership.

Meanwhile, Zulu this week appeared at the Plumtree magistrates’ court for initial remand on an assault charge following the traditional court brawl- B-Metro

Farai Dziva|The MDC Alliance says the persecution of opposition members and human rights defenders by Emmerson Mnangagwa’s troubled administration is a sign of desperation.

See full statement below:

01 August 2020

The MDC Alliance condemns the arrest and persecution of National Spokesperson Adv Fadzai Mahere, Acting Chairperson of the Women’s Assembly Hon Mugidho,National Youth Organising Secretary Godfrey Kuraone, councillor Edward Dzeka and many others.

We demand their immediate and unconditional release.

The right to peaceful protest is provided for by the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

The fact that the illegitimate ZANU-PF government does not like it can not make it legal. Law is not based on the regime’s likes or dislikes.

Yesterday, across the country, there were a myriad of other unlawful arrests, including that of award winning author Tsitsi Dangarembwa, Mdudusi Matutu’s family members among others.

All these arrests further tarnish an already bad image of our country.

If Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF are serious, they must arrest corruption, state capture, hunger, poverty and economic decay.

The weaponisation of law and systematic targeting of members of the MDC Alliance and dissenting citizens is a sign of desperation. A clear manifestation of an unstable and panicking government.

Clifford Hlatywayo
Deputy National Spokesperson

Farai Dziva|The MDC Alliance says the persecution of opposition members and human rights defenders by Emmerson Mnangagwa’s troubled administration is a sign of desperation.

See full statement below:

01 August 2020

The MDC Alliance condemns the arrest and persecution of National Spokesperson Adv Fadzai Mahere, Acting Chairperson of the Women’s Assembly Hon Mugidho,National Youth Organising Secretary Godfrey Kuraone, councillor Edward Dzeka and many others.

We demand their immediate and unconditional release.

The right to peaceful protest is provided for by the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

The fact that the illegitimate ZANU-PF government does not like it can not make it legal. Law is not based on the regime’s likes or dislikes.

Yesterday, across the country, there were a myriad of other unlawful arrests, including that of award winning author Tsitsi Dangarembwa, Mdudusi Matutu’s family members among others.

All these arrests further tarnish an already bad image of our country.

If Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF are serious, they must arrest corruption, state capture, hunger, poverty and economic decay.

The weaponisation of law and systematic targeting of members of the MDC Alliance and dissenting citizens is a sign of desperation. A clear manifestation of an unstable and panicking government.

Clifford Hlatywayo
Deputy National Spokesperson

Farai Dziva|Firebrand South African opposition leader Julius Malema has described Emmerson Mnangagwa as a “clueless ideological amoeba.”

Malema also accused Mnangagwa of trampling on the fundamental values of the liberation war.

See statement below:

The Economic Freedom Fighters notes the announcement by Emmerson Mnangagwa the President of Zimbabwe, that his government has taken a decision to compensate the British occupiers of Zimbabwean land who lost their illegitimate rights to Zimbabwean land through the fast track land reform programme.

Mnangagwa announced that they had secured S3.5 billion to pay to British settlers for the loss of ‘their lane. through the Zimbabwean land reform programme and hopes that this will bring closure to the instability brought about by the forced return of Zimbabwean land back to Zimbabwean people. We are of the firm view that Mnangagwa is either deeply misinformed about the real causes of the crisis in Zimbabwe or is simply catapulting to the pressure from the white supremacist world.

Either way, the treasonous act of paying to white settlers money that Zimbabwe does not have will not resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe which is essentially a political crisis resulting from years of mismanagement at the centre of which Mnangagwa features prominently.

It must also be noted that the push for the repossession of the land In Zimbabwe was not initiated by the State. At the time Zimbabwe gained its independence, the framework for land reform was premised on a market-led land reform programme whereby the State with the assistance of Britain, was required to purchase land from white landowners for land redistribution purposes.

This was based on the 1980 Lancaster Agreement, which provided that the government would not engage in compulsory land acquisition and that land distribution would take place subject to the principle of ‘willing buyer willing saner’, whereby the government would ‘pay promptly adequate compensation’ for property.

When this failed to return Zimbabwean land back to Zimbabweans.

It was the ordinary person on the street, together with war veterans, who started forcefully taking back their land in Zimbabwe. This action found a willing political leader in the form of a resolute and ideologically clear Seeder in President Robert Mugabe.

Mnangagwa is now not only pissing on the graves of the many heroic men and women who laid down the lives for the return of Zimbabwean land but he is also desecrating on the legacy of Robert Mugabe from whom he violently took power in an unprincipled coup. This action Is a serious blow to the idea of decolonisation in the continent. It is reminiscent of the forced debt France imposed on Haiti when the Haitians liberated themselves from slavery. wherein France demanded payment for loss of property.

The crisis in Zimbabwe is as a direct consequence of the political ineptitude of the ruling elite there.

Their deeply embedded cronyism and their insatiable desire for theft of public funds.

It has been proven time and again that ordinary Zimbabweans who got the land as a result of the fast track land reform programme are actually working the land and producing at levels that would be much higher if there was a targeted support programme from the State.

Mnangagwa will be remembered as a clueless, ideological amoeba who was prepared to tread on important gains of the struggle in order to be liked by whites.

We deeply condemn this act of betrayal by Mnangagwa and call on ordinary Zimbabweans to reject this wasteful use of money that should be directed towards building hospitals in Zimbabwe.

Farai Dziva|Firebrand South African opposition leader Julius Malema has described Emmerson Mnangagwa as a “clueless ideological amoeba.”

Malema also accused Mnangagwa of trampling on the fundamental values of the liberation war.

See statement below:

The Economic Freedom Fighters notes the announcement by Emmerson Mnangagwa the President of Zimbabwe, that his government has taken a decision to compensate the British occupiers of Zimbabwean land who lost their illegitimate rights to Zimbabwean land through the fast track land reform programme.

Mnangagwa announced that they had secured S3.5 billion to pay to British settlers for the loss of ‘their lane. through the Zimbabwean land reform programme and hopes that this will bring closure to the instability brought about by the forced return of Zimbabwean land back to Zimbabwean people. We are of the firm view that Mnangagwa is either deeply misinformed about the real causes of the crisis in Zimbabwe or is simply catapulting to the pressure from the white supremacist world.

Either way, the treasonous act of paying to white settlers money that Zimbabwe does not have will not resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe which is essentially a political crisis resulting from years of mismanagement at the centre of which Mnangagwa features prominently.

It must also be noted that the push for the repossession of the land In Zimbabwe was not initiated by the State. At the time Zimbabwe gained its independence, the framework for land reform was premised on a market-led land reform programme whereby the State with the assistance of Britain, was required to purchase land from white landowners for land redistribution purposes.

This was based on the 1980 Lancaster Agreement, which provided that the government would not engage in compulsory land acquisition and that land distribution would take place subject to the principle of ‘willing buyer willing saner’, whereby the government would ‘pay promptly adequate compensation’ for property.

When this failed to return Zimbabwean land back to Zimbabweans.

It was the ordinary person on the street, together with war veterans, who started forcefully taking back their land in Zimbabwe. This action found a willing political leader in the form of a resolute and ideologically clear Seeder in President Robert Mugabe.

Mnangagwa is now not only pissing on the graves of the many heroic men and women who laid down the lives for the return of Zimbabwean land but he is also desecrating on the legacy of Robert Mugabe from whom he violently took power in an unprincipled coup. This action Is a serious blow to the idea of decolonisation in the continent. It is reminiscent of the forced debt France imposed on Haiti when the Haitians liberated themselves from slavery. wherein France demanded payment for loss of property.

The crisis in Zimbabwe is as a direct consequence of the political ineptitude of the ruling elite there.

Their deeply embedded cronyism and their insatiable desire for theft of public funds.

It has been proven time and again that ordinary Zimbabweans who got the land as a result of the fast track land reform programme are actually working the land and producing at levels that would be much higher if there was a targeted support programme from the State.

Mnangagwa will be remembered as a clueless, ideological amoeba who was prepared to tread on important gains of the struggle in order to be liked by whites.

We deeply condemn this act of betrayal by Mnangagwa and call on ordinary Zimbabweans to reject this wasteful use of money that should be directed towards building hospitals in Zimbabwe.

PROMISING to love and support one another “until death do us part” is arguably the most difficult part of marriage vows.

A Bulawayo woman allegedly dumped her husband and eloped with her married lover who also dumped his wife and children.

Nothando Mpunzi, a hairdresser at a salon situated at corner 5th Avenue and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street allegedly dumped her husband and took off with her married boyfriend Ntokozo Sibanda.

According to Ntokozo’s wife Loveness Sibanda she was left in the lurch after Mpunzi eloped with her husband of 15 years.
Loveness said her estranged husband was refusing to maintain his two children but providing upkeep for his lover’s three children.

An embittered Loveness bared her soul at the Bulawayo Civil Court where she was suing Mpunzi for disturbing her peace and marriage because of her adulterous relationship with her husband.

“I am legally married to Ntokozo Sibanda under the Marriages Act Chapter 5:11 and it’s still subsisting. The marriage is blessed with two minor children aged nine and 14.

My husband however, deserted his family to go and stay in Magwegwe with his girlfriend Nothando Mpunzi. His girlfriend also left her husband to co-habit with him.

“Nothando does not respect me despite the fact that she is now staying with my husband of 15 years. And my husband no longer maintains our children but he maintains her three children.

She is also harassing and stalking me and my children,” complained Loveness.

She adds: “I don’t want my children to go to her place because of the sleeping arrangement where her 15-year-old son sleeps on the same bed with my 14-year-old daughter.

She and my husband sleep with my nine-year-old child on the same bed. I am not happy with that arrangement”.

Surprisingly, Mpunzi’s husband was also in court when Loveness sought reasons from her (Mpunzi) on why she left her husband to stay with hers.

Mpunzi, who indicated that she never harassed Loveness was, however, not opposed to her request for a peace order.

“I am not opposed to her application for a peace order since I don’t talk to her,” she tersely said.

Loveness’ request for a peace order was dismissed by presiding magistrate Nomasiko Ndlovu after Mpunzi indicated that she never harassed her.

The magistrate however, advised Loveness that one of the remedies an aggrieved spouse like her could pursue was a claim for adultery damages-B- Metro

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Edgars closed its Gweru branch on Thursday to allow for fumigation of the store after an employee tested positive for coronavirus.

In a statement, the company’s Managing Director said the Rapid Response Team in Gweru has commenced contact tracing.

The company said all employees at the branch have undergone testing and have been cleared to resume duty.

The statement read:

We wish to advise our Gweru customers of the temporary closure of the Edgars Gweru branch [on 30 July 2020] to facilitate for deep cleaning and sanitization following one staff member testing positive for Covid-19.

Contact tracing of the staff member is currently underway through the Rapid Response Team in Gweru. In line with the Ministry of Health regulations, all staff members at the Edgars Gweru branch have undergone testing and have been cleared to resume duty.

We take this opportunity to assure you, our customers and valued stakeholders, that we will continue to align and follow through the set measures provided by the Ministry of Health to curb the spread of COVID-19.

We encourage everyone to continue wearing masks, practising social distancing, sanitising and washing hands regularly with soap under running water.

By A Correspondent- The Midlands State University (MSU) has deferred examinations for final year students who were set to start writing on Monday, 3 August 2020, due to the increasing cases of coronavirus in the country.

The move has negatively affected final semester students in the faculties of Science and Technology, Law, Education and Natural Resources Management and Agriculture who were scheduled to start their examinations on August 3.

MSU Registrar Tinashe Zishiri said they had no option but to postpone the examinations to a later date due to increasing coronavirus cases.

On 24 July, Higher and Tertiary Education permanent secretary Professor Fanuel Tagwira announced that all tertiary institutions would suspend face to face lessons and focus on e-learning in a move aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.

As of July 31, Zimbabwe had recorded 3 169 confirmed coronavirus cases, 1 004 recoveries and 67 deaths.

-NewZiana

By A Correspondent- A 19-year-old Bindura woman committed suicide following a dispute with her husband over sadza.

The incident happened in Nyakudya village, Bindura, after the woman’s husband refused to go to the grinding mill where he had been sent by his wife.

The wife, Clara Phiri, instead, went to the grinding mill and on her return, she prepared sadza but withheld the meal from her husband, Biggie Chakorwa (32).

Reports indicate that Chakorwa did not complain but simply went to bed on an empty stomach.

Chakorwa’s reaction unnerved Phiri who went on to consume a tobacco pesticide.

She was rushed to Bindura District Hospital after complaining of a stomach ache and was pronounced dead upon admission.

Mashonaland Central police spokesperson Inspector Milton Mundembe confirmed the incident. He said:

I can confirm a sudden death case in Bindura where Clara Phiri of Nyakudya village took her life after a misunderstanding with her husband Biggie Chakorwa (32).

-Newsday

AUGUST 1, 2020
Today marks 2 years since 6 people lost their lives at the hands of the military in Zimbabwe. Two years on, there is still no justice for the innocent civilians.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) remains concerned with the delayed justice for the victims bearing in mind that “justice delayed is justice denied.”

Following relatively peaceful 30 July 2018 harmonised elections, protests broke out in the Harare central business district on 1 August 2018, with protesters demanding the release of the results of the presidential elections.

In response, the media documented security forces indiscriminately shooting and assaulting civilians, including those who were not taking part in the protests.

Some were shot at the back, as they were escaping the scenes. As a result of the shootings, six (6) people died whilst over sixty (60) more people were brutally assaulted.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe to lead a Commission of Inquiry into the 2018 Post-Election Violence whose report was released on 18 December 2018.

Some of the recommendations made by the commission are as follows;

The payment of compensation for all victims of the violence and dependents of the deceased. Where the deceased had young children, the Commission recommended that they be urgently assisted with school fees and their general welfare.

The government should put in place a special committee to assess and determine the quantum of damages and compensation to be awarded to victims on a case by case basis and their general welfare
The government should set up a fund to assist those directly affected.
Police to urgently complete their investigation to enable the prosecution of those persons responsible for alleged crimes committed on the 1st of August 2018.
The Forum which represents some of the victims and relatives of the deceased persons remains extremely concerned that two years on, nothing of substance has been done to operationalise the Commission’s recommendations.

On 28 June 2020, the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Permanent Secretary Virginia Mabhiza issued a statement in which she alleged that government had fully complied with recommendations made by the Motlanthe Commission.

She also stated that some of the victims’ families had not approached the Department of Social Welfare for assistance.

This is all surprising as the recommendations of the Motlanthe Commission never alluded to the need for the victims’ family members to approach the Department of Social Welfare, and no public or direct communication to the victims was ever made for them to approach the Department of Social Welfare.

The Forum has also noted with concern the unrepentant nature of the State in the protection of human rights.

In January 2019, the State abrogated the recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry and unleashed the military into the streets once again.

At that point, seventeen (17) people lost their lives. As we remember fellow citizens who lost their lives on 1 August 2018, the State has also unleashed the security forces onto the streets of Zimbabwe leading to the death of Paul Munakopa who was shot in Bulawayo and the assault and torture of many more.

Apart from the compensation of victims, there is no evidence of security sector reforms in the country as recommended by the report of the Commission of Inquiry.

It is disturbing to also note that there is no record in the public domain pointing to any disciplinary action being taken against members of the armed forces who perpetrated the heinous crimes.

Rather, Brigadier-General Anselem Sanyatwe the tactical commander of the force deployed on 1 August 2018 was promoted and subsequently appointed Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Tanzania.

The 1 August 2018 events remain a fresh wound in Zimbabwe. As a result, the Forum calls on:

The government to-

fully implement the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry;

learn from the past and desist from the unnecessary deployment of the military to
conduct civilian policing duties;
pursue its constitutional mandate in relation to allegations of continuous human rights violations at the hands of the State apparatus;
prosecute military personnel who killed unarmed civilians to be held accountable
for their actions; and
reach out to the families affected and provide compensation.
The National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) to:

to urgently work towards reconciliation and compensation to the victims of 1 August 2018 shootings; and
work towards prevention on recurrence.
Zimbabwe HUMAN RIGHTS NGO Forum

World-acclaimed author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga, MDC Alliance national spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere and five other protestors were granted a $5 000 bail each by a Harare magistrate on Saturday.

Dangarembga, Mahere, Simon Drury, Tinashe Murapatsa, Nyasha Musendu, Josee Lots, Jessica Drury, Julie Barnes and Tinotenda Muswe appeared before Magistrate Ngoni Nduna.

They were facing two charges of participating in a public gathering with intent to promote public violence, and contravening the Public Health (Covid-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) Act for participating in peaceful protests on Friday, 31 July 2020.

The seven were arrested separately in Avondale, Groombridge, and Borrowdale. The charge sheet read:

The accused persons were seen demonstrating and placards were recovered. There are witnesses who will testify and give evidence to the effect that accused not having been exempted to carry out any movement within the national lockdown period, did so.

The accused were represented by Alec Muchadehama, Chris Mhike, and Paidamoyo Saurombe.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) in Bulawayo has secured the release of Panashe Vongai Sivindani on $2 000 bail.

Sivindani, who is a third-year student at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), was arrested on Friday for staging a lone anti-corruption demonstration at a TM supermarket. She has also has been ordered to report to police once a week.

Newsday

FORMER Zipra cadres yesterday said they were still bitter with the late Agriculture minister Perrance Shiri because he commandeered the North Korea-trained 5th Brigade military unit that committed atrocities in the Matabeleland and Midlands regions in the mid-1980s.

Shiri, who is the former Air Force of Zimbabwe boss, died on Wednesday morning and was buried at the National Heroes’ Acre in Harare yesterday.

He commanded the 5th Brigade deployed by the late former President Robert Mugabe “to deal with a dissident insurgency” in the Matebeleland and Midlands provinces, which killed over 20 000 people, according to the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe.

“As Zipra ex-combatants based in foreign countries due to the hooliganism and unethical behaviour conducted by an army commanded by Shiri, we are not saddened by his death; neither do we consider him as a cadre,” Zipra Veterans Association secretary Petros Sibanda said in a statement.

“We lost families, comrades and colleagues over the operations of 5th Brigade headed by Bigboy Chikerema (aka Perrance Shiri). Today, we are shell-shocked to learn from the President of Zimbabwe (Emmerson Mnangagwa) that Perrance Shiri was a great commander.

“This is utter nonsense. How on earth do you declare a commander of warlords a hero. Someone who masterminded the death of more than 20 000 people unarmed civilians?”

The Zipra cadres said they would put it to Mnangagwa that they abandoned their families, hard-earned independence because of the 5th Brigade Gukurahundi massacres masterminded by him working with Shiri.

“We doubt very much that he was an indeed trained soldier because a trained soldier is driven by high levels of human dignity, respect, over and above, he is selfless and protects the citizens of the country with high agility,” Zipra said.

Farai Dziva|The MDC Alliance says the persecution of opposition members and human rights defenders by Emmerson Mnangagwa’s troubled administration is a sign of desperation.

See full statement below:

01 August 2020

The MDC Alliance condemns the arrest and persecution of National Spokesperson Adv Fadzai Mahere, Acting Chairperson of the Women’s Assembly Hon Mugidho,National Youth Organising Secretary Godfrey Kuraone, councillor Edward Dzeka and many others.

We demand their immediate and unconditional release.

The right to peaceful protest is provided for by the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

The fact that the illegitimate ZANU-PF government does not like it can not make it legal. Law is not based on the regime’s likes or dislikes.

Yesterday, across the country, there were a myriad of other unlawful arrests, including that of award winning author Tsitsi Dangarembwa, Mdudusi Matutu’s family members among others.

All these arrests further tarnish an already bad image of our country.

If Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF are serious, they must arrest corruption, state capture, hunger, poverty and economic decay.

The weaponisation of law and systematic targeting of members of the MDC Alliance and dissenting citizens is a sign of desperation. A clear manifestation of an unstable and panicking government.

Clifford Hlatywayo
Deputy National Spokesperson