By A Correspondent- Government has fully complied with recommendations of the Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry into the August 1, 2018 post-election violence, the state media has reported.

We publish below the full report by The Sunday Mail:

The Commission of Inquiry —which was chaired by former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe — gave four broad recommendations which included compensation of the victims’ families, electoral reforms, political co-existence and security sector reforms.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Permanent Secretary Mrs Virginia Mabhiza, who was also the Commission’s secretary, told The Sunday Mail that the commission’s recommendations had been implemented.

“Four key issues ranging from compensation of the victims’ families, electoral reforms, political dialogue and security sector reforms came out as the key recommendations from the Motlanthe Commission,” said Mrs Mabhiza.

“There has been a lot of compliance. We have complied fully with the Motlanthe Commission, but some of the processes are still ongoing. Though the Covid-19 lockdown has delayed implementation of some of the recommendations, we have covered a lot of ground.

“To a large extent, we have complied with recommendations of the commission though some of the issues remain work in progress.”

She said the establishment of the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) was in fulfilment of the recommendation on initiating civil political co-existence, adding that several parties outside the dialogue platform were requesting to be included.

“For political co-existence you can see that POLAD is very much on the ground,” Mrs Mabhiza said.

“One major recommendation from the Motlanthe Commission was that political parties should dialogue. All political parties have converged and are dialoguing progressively. Only a few are not part of the dialogue.

“POLAD is also getting a lot of applications from other parties that want to be part of the platform, which means on the ground dialogue is taking place.”

She said in terms of legislative reforms, laws such as the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) have already been repealed while others that were considered undemocratic are in theprocess of being dismantled.

These include the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), whose successor laws are at different stages of legislation in Parliament.

“In terms of laws, Parliament is working on a number of issues that are pertinent, especially for electoral processes.”

Mrs Mabhiza said on compensation, some of the victims’ families had not approached the Department of Social Welfare for assistance.

Compensation for the families of the victims of the violence includes school fees support for minor children and medical bills. Some of the businesses that were damaged have received financial support from Government.

“When the report came out we had physical communication with the victims’ relatives and families whom we told of the procedures to follow through social welfare in order to get compensation,” said Mrs Mabhiza.

“As the Ministry of Justice we are not responsible for payments; payments are processed through (Ministry of Public Service, Labour and) Social Welfare. What has happened is that we have not really received much feedback from the families to ascertain the sort of assistance they have received.

“We had planned for assistance with payment of school fees for minor children and handouts to assist other elderly dependants with ordinary expenses.”

Secretary for the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Mr Simon Masanga did not respond to a request for a comment from The Sunday Mail.

Mrs Mabhiza said security sector reforms were taking place through retraining programmes for the Zimbabwe Republic Police.

“In terms of security sector reforms, you can see that there is a lot of training and retraining in the key security institutions. As the Justice Ministry we are also sharing with them on what the Constitution provides.”

The Motlanthe Commission concluded that the death of six people: Brian Zhuwawo, Challenge Tauro, Jealous Chikandira, Gavin Dean Charles, Ishmael Kumire and Silvia Maphosa and the injuries sustained by 35 others arose from the actions of the security services.

The commission also nailed several senior officials from the MDC Alliance for incendiary rhetoric during the campaigns which resulted in the street riots.

watch the live video loading below….

By A Correspondent- Embattled former police boss Augustine Chihuri who is on the verge of losing his $30+ Million empire as his assets could be forfeited by the state, has reportedly claimed that the president harbours a grudge against him dating back to the war when President Mnangagwa allegedly forced himself on Chihuri’s wife.

This was revealed by journalist Brezh Malaba who tweeted:

Former police boss Augustine Chihuri, whose US$30m real estate empire could soon be forfeited to the state, alleges that President Mnangagwa harbours a vendetta against him dating back to the liberation struggle when ED allegedly forced himself upon Chihuri’s wife.

Chihuri is accused of siphoning public funds amounting to over $32 Million and awarding ZRP tenders to companies owned by his relatives while he was still the ZRP Commissioner-General.

Source: Twitter 

By A Correspondent- The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) yesterday issued a watered-down ban on some services offered by mobile money transfer (MMT) platforms, a day after government announced a blanket suspension.

RBZ governor John Mangudya said people could still do certain transactions as he moved in to correct a statement by Information ministry permanent secretary Nick Mangwana that had ordered the freezing of all mobile money services.

Mangudya said money agents were banned from facilitating mobile financial transactions and that merchant transactions were suspended except for receiving payments for goods and services with a $5 000 daily limit.

He described the measures as unprecedented and necessitated by the need to protect consumers on mobile money platforms.

“Following the government press release on the suspension of monetary transactions on mobile-based money platforms (One Money, MyCash, Ecocash and Telecash) dated 26 June 2020, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe wishes to advise the public as follows: All mobile money agents are suspended from facilitating mobile financial transactions with immediate effect,” Mangudya said.

“All merchant transactions are suspended except for receiving payments for goods and services as well as payment of utilities (water, power and airtime), which have been limited up to ZW$5 000 per day for the convenience of the transacting public.”

He added:

“All mobile money liquidations should be done through the banking system (and) all bulk payer transactions have been suspended with immediate effect.

“These unprecedented measures have been necessitated by the need to protect consumers on mobile money platforms which have been abused by unscrupulous and unpatriotic individuals and entities to create instability and indiscipline in the economy.”

He said bona-fide transactions would be processed normally.

Payments to utilities and the purchase of airtime are not affected. Similarly, person-to-person transfers are not affected. Analysts also noted that the statement was conspicuously silent on bank-to-wallet and wallet-to-bank transfers, meaning they have not been affected.

Mangwana’s Friday statement also banned trading on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

A senior executive at one of the affected mobile phone operators, however, said the RBZ directive was a huge climbdown from Mangwana’s shock Friday announcement.

“What happened is that a secretary for information and publicity, the government propagandist, wrote a statement — attributed to himself — directing a whole financial services sector to shut down. He does not have the authority to do that as that is the responsibility of the respective regulators, such as the RBZ [for MMT companies] and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe (for the ZSE),” the official told The Standard last night.

“The statement, announcing a blanket ban or suspension of all MMTs, was littered with unsubstantiated allegations, which sounded like a charge sheet. These again can only be levelled by bodies such as the Financial Intelligence Unit which has already been doing this.”

Other analysts reached for comment yesterday said neither the RBZ nor the SEC were aware of Mangwana’s statement, suggesting it had not originated from them.

-Online

ZANU-PF youth in Bulawayo have put greedy fuel stations and retailers on notice, saying they would soon be moving against businesses that were inflaming public opinion against Government through unethical practices.

Speaking to Sunday News yesterday, the Zanu-PF Bulawayo Central Youth chairperson, Cde Mayibongwe Zvigadza, said they had taken note of businesses that seemed hellbent on tarnishing the image of the Government and would thus be soon moving to rectify the situation.

“The main thrust is that we have been tasked to fight corruption and make sure that every business operates within the bounds of the law and they observe honest business ethics.

“We can’t sit back as the youth and let the President fight corruption on his own because the country is ours too. It is now time to stand up and make sure that the people behind these artificial shortages are dealt with once and for all,” Cde Zvigadza said.

He said they were particularly concerned by actions of major retailers and fuel stations that did not seem interested in doing business in a manner that was above board.

“We have taken on this task because Bulawayo Central is the main part of the province where all of this is happening. We can’t have a situation where 20 000 litres is delivered to a fuel station, yet a person who is number 50 in the queue, a person who has been queuing the whole day, is told that there is no longer any fuel remaining. These are people that are trying to fight Government by frustrating the people.

We have a situation in retail outlets where sugar disappears off the shelves and yet we see people moving out with it through back doors. That is what we want to fight,” he said.

When the youth starts moving against errant retailers, Cde Zvigadza said, even businesspeople hiding behind the party’s banner would not be spared.

“This is why as the youth in the party we are saying we are putting all these fuel stations and big retailers on notice. We are saying this to even those businesspeople that come to the party and try to hide behind it, knowing that they’re unscrupulous.

“We implore the youth everywhere to take charge and not allow corruption to happen in their presence. It is now abundantly clear that these people are doing this deliberately because I can assure you that there is no Government in the world that wants its people to starve,” he said.

With President Mnangagwa fighting the battle against corruption on other fronts, it was a duty of the youth to handle local corruption, Cde Zvigadza said.

-State Media

Zimbabwe recorded six more COVID-19 cases to take the country total to 567, according to ministry of health and child care daily update shared yesterday.

The country also recorded seven new recoveries to take the total to 142.

Below is the full update;

Government has fully complied with recommendations of the Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry into the August 1, 2018 post-election violence, a senior official has shockingly said.

The Commission of Inquiry —which was chaired by former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe — gave four broad recommendations which included compensation of the victims’ families, electoral reforms, political co-existence and security sector reforms.

President Mnangagwa immediately set up a high-level Inter-Ministerial Committee on Political and Electoral reforms to facilitate the implementation of the recommendations.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Permanent Secretary Mrs Virginia Mabhiza, who was also the Commission’s secretary, told The Sunday Mail that the commission’s recommendations had been implemented.

“Four key issues ranging from compensation of the victims’ families, electoral reforms, political dialogue and security sector reforms came out as the key recommendations from the Motlanthe Commission,” said Mrs Mabhiza.

“There has been a lot of compliance. We have complied fully with the Motlanthe Commission, but some of the processes are still ongoing. Though the Covid-19 lockdown has delayed implementation of some of the recommendations, we have covered a lot of ground.

“To a large extent, we have complied with recommendations of the commission though some of the issues remain work in progress.”

She said the establishment of the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) was in fulfilment of the recommendation on initiating civil political co-existence, adding that several parties outside the dialogue platform were requesting to be included.

“For political co-existence you can see that POLAD is very much on the ground,” Mrs Mabhiza said.

“One major recommendation from the Motlanthe Commission was that political parties should dialogue. All political parties have converged and are dialoguing progressively. Only a few are not part of the dialogue.

“POLAD is also getting a lot of applications from other parties that want to be part of the platform, which means on the ground dialogue is taking place.”

She said in terms of legislative reforms, laws such as the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) have already been repealed while others that were considered undemocratic are in theprocess of being dismantled.

These include the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), whose successor laws are at different stages of legislation in Parliament.

“In terms of laws, Parliament is working on a number of issues that are pertinent, especially for electoral processes.”

Mrs Mabhiza said on compensation, some of the victims’ families had not approached the Department of Social Welfare for assistance.

Compensation for the families of the victims of the violence includes school fees support for minor children and medical bills. Some of the businesses that were damaged have received financial support from Government.

“When the report came out we had physical communication with the victims’ relatives and families whom we told of the procedures to follow through social welfare in order to get compensation,” said Mrs Mabhiza.

“As the Ministry of Justice we are not responsible for payments; payments are processed through (Ministry of Public Service, Labour and) Social Welfare. What has happened is that we have not really received much feedback from the families to ascertain the sort of assistance they have received.

“We had planned for assistance with payment of school fees for minor children and handouts to assist other elderly dependants with ordinary expenses.”

Secretary for the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Mr Simon Masanga did not respond to a request for a comment from The Sunday Mail.

Mrs Mabhiza said security sector reforms were taking place through retraining programmes for the Zimbabwe Republic Police.

“In terms of security sector reforms, you can see that there is a lot of training and retraining in the key security institutions. As the Justice Ministry we are also sharing with them on what the Constitution provides.”

The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) is investigating reports that soldiers indiscriminately assaulted residents of Harare’s Warren Park suburb and looted their goods on Wednesday night.

This was said by ZNA deputy public relations director, Alex Zuva, during an interview with the Daily News.

“We are investigating the issue and this also requires that we check with Harare Central Police Station records.

“Currently, our people are in Warren Park carrying out investigations and once we are through we will advise all relevant parties,” said Zuva.

Reports claim that the soldiers assaulted residents and looted goods from vendors, including potatoes and vegetables.

Two journalists, Tinashe Chokodza and Leopold Munhende were also assaulted and injured while on their way home from work.

Speaking in Parliament in response to opposition legislators a day before the Warren Park incidents, Defence and War Veterans Affairs Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri called on members of the public to report abuses by armed forces during the course of their work.

“If there are such cases (of abuse), we will be more than happy to investigate them. I am hoping and also appealing to you to bring forward or to report such individuals if you know them or if some of your informers have information.

“Everyone is free to come forward to our offices. We will definitely investigate the cases,” said Muchinguri.

Zanu PF has re-admitted Rugare Gumbo into the party following recommendations by the party’s Midlands Province.

Gumbo who is a founding member of the Dare reChimurenga War Command was expelled from Zanu PF in 2013 together with Didymus Mutasa and Joice Mujuru among others.

His re-admission follows Mutasa’s move back into the party sometime last year.

More to follow…

TESTS done at private laboratories to ascertain the cause of 12 deaths and illness to more than 1 500 residents of Luveve in Bulawayo have revealed that they suffered from typhoid and dysentery.

The revelations come after the city council last week said patients suffered from gastrointestinal diseases. Gastrointestinal disease is a broad term that refers to diseases involving the gastrointestinal tract, namely the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and rectum, and the accessory organs of digestion, the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas.

Residents have already filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court compelling council to release key information relating to the outbreak and further allow residents to engage independent experts to assess the situation. City Health Director Dr Edwin Sibanda said stool tests that were done at a Cimas laboratory came out positive for salmonella typhi, the bacteria that causes typhoid and shigella which causes dysentery.

He said council initially did random sampling of testing one in five cases but as the number of cases grew, they resorted to only collecting one in 20 infected people. Dr Sibanda said it would be difficult to pinpoint the exact source of the disease as water tests also done at the same laboratory did not have any traces of the two bacteria.

“We had tests done at a Cimas lab and National University of Science and Technology for both water quality and rectal swabs. While the stool samples came out positive for salmonella typhi and shigella, the six water samples from various sources that include tap water, home containers, wells and streams came out negative. The patients were exhibiting different symptoms with some vomiting while others had bloody diarrhoea,” he said.

Dr Sibanda said with the source yet to be pinpointed it was critical for people to wash hands frequently with soap to reduce chances of infection.

“The two diseases have different incubation periods, with shigella’s being 12-96 hours while salmonella typhi is between eight to 14 days. A person could have been infected elsewhere only to show symptoms here and start spreading the disease. Again, maybe the water source could have been infected before we tested and then the bacteria were washed out by the time we were doing tests,” said Dr Sibanda.

Meanwhile, Bulawayo residents under the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) have filed an urgent chamber application compelling the local authority to release key information relating to the outbreak. The residents in their application note that the information is vital as they intend on embarking on a class action civil suit against the local authority, alleging that further delays in the release of the information will result in the local authority concealing key evidence. According to court papers the application is set to be heard at the High Court tomorrow.

The residents, through BPRA co-ordinator, Mr Emmanuel Ndlovu and Mr Chrispen Ngulube, a Luveve resident who is among those that have been affected by the outbreak, also seek to have an independent expert appointed to collect samples of the water and pipe system to determine the cause of the outbreak.

The residents accuse BCC of attempting to cover their tracks by embarking on a rushed exercise to lay new polyvinyl chloride (PVC) water pipes in Luveve hence their request to have the court grant them access to take samples at the old pipes.

“Most residents reported falling ill after drinking tap water provided by the respondent. Without exception, all affected residents collected, and most used the water after one of the regulation five days of water cuts imposed on most of the city by the respondent. Most people began falling sick two days after the return, as it were, of the water.

“They reported that the water, when pumped from the tape, was discoloured, with particles of solid matter, greyish brownish, dark green in colour. Residents also reported that the water was odoriferous with a suggestion of raw sewer in the odour,” reads part of the application.
BPRA further accused the local authority of denying responsibility for the outbreak, declaring instead that their water was satisfactory, with the city’s Mayor, Councillor Solomon Mguni announcing that they had found bacterial presence in containers some residents used to store water.

“The respondent did not reveal to the public the nature of the bacteria found in the water and did not particularise what standards were used to pass the tap water as satisfactory. The respondent has reported repeatedly that it tested water held by residents and found bacterial presence. The respondent has not disclosed what bacteria was found in this potted water.

“The diagnosis published by the Mayor, according to advice from medical personnel advising our legal team, and according to internet sources simply points to some other underlying problems of bacterial infection in the affected patients. It seems to be a life-threatening condition resulting from some bacterial infection,” reads the application.

The residents justify the urgency of the matter, adding the local authority may destroy or conceal the evidence relating to their responsibility of the outbreak.

“Further the Applicant requests urgent access to the routine plumbing maintenance schedule for any part of Luveve for the past six months. It is our belief that the respondent carries out, or should, routine maintenance and inspection of its water infrastructure. The application is made without notice on the grounds of fear of adverse action by the respondent. I verily entertain a fear that the respondent will destroy or conceal the evidence. The fear arises out of the combative and denialist attitude that has been exhibited by the respondent thus far. The respondent may conceal or do away with evidence to perpetuate its denial,” read the application.

TESTS done at private laboratories to ascertain the cause of 12 deaths and illness to more than 1 500 residents of Luveve in Bulawayo have revealed that they suffered from typhoid and dysentery.

The revelations come after the city council last week said patients suffered from gastrointestinal diseases.

Gastrointestinal disease is a broad term that refers to diseases involving the gastrointestinal tract, namely the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and rectum, and the accessory organs of digestion, the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas.

Residents have already filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court compelling council to release key information relating to the outbreak and further allow residents to engage independent experts to assess the situation.

City Health Director Dr Edwin Sibanda said stool tests that were done at a Cimas laboratory came out positive for salmonella typhi, the bacteria that causes typhoid and shigella which causes dysentery.

He said council initially did random sampling of testing one in five cases but as the number of cases grew, they resorted to only collecting one in 20 infected people. Dr Sibanda said it would be difficult to pinpoint the exact source of the disease as water tests also done at the same laboratory did not have any traces of the two bacteria.

“We had tests done at a Cimas lab and National University of Science and Technology for both water quality and rectal swabs. While the stool samples came out positive for salmonella typhi and shigella, the six water samples from various sources that include tap water, home containers, wells and streams came out negative.

The patients were exhibiting different symptoms with some vomiting while others had bloody diarrhoea,” he said.

Dr Sibanda said with the source yet to be pinpointed it was critical for people to wash hands frequently with soap to reduce chances of infection.

“The two diseases have different incubation periods, with shigella’s being 12-96 hours while salmonella typhi is between eight to 14 days.

A person could have been infected elsewhere only to show symptoms here and start spreading the disease. Again, maybe the water source could have been infected before we tested and then the bacteria were washed out by the time we were doing tests,” said Dr Sibanda.

Meanwhile, Bulawayo residents under the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) have filed an urgent chamber application compelling the local authority to release key information relating to the outbreak.

The residents in their application note that the information is vital as they intend on embarking on a class action civil suit against the local authority, alleging that further delays in the release of the information will result in the local authority concealing key evidence.

According to court papers the application is set to be heard at the High Court-The Sunday News

BOARDING schools will open today to receive pupils who will be writing June/ July examinations that start on Tuesday.

As part of ensuring the smooth running of examinations, the Government has also directed that leave applications for teachers have been suspended in preparation for the examinations and subsequent re-opening of schools. As of yesterday, provinces were also making last minute attempts to ensure that adequate preventive measures were put in place at all the centres.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister Cain Mathema told Sunday News yesterday that most schools that will be used as examination centres have already put in place measures to ensure the process runs smoothly.

“As a ministry we are preparing as normal for the examinations, we are putting in place the preventive measures as guided by the World Health Organisation and we are confident that all will be in place by the time the examinations start. Our main aim is not to expose our learners and invigilators to Covid-19 hence our commitment to adhering to the High Court order,” said Minister Mathema.

Asked on the modalities to be followed for learners at boarding schools, the Minister said Government had given ample time to schools to make the necessary arrangements for the sitting of the examinations.

“This is an issue that was not announced overnight, instead the President made the proclamation about a month ago and this caters for all schools be it public, private or boarding schools, so school authorities were thus expected to have made the necessary arrangements for their learners,” said Minister Mathema.

Minister Mathema’s assertions come at a time when the Permanent Secretary in his ministry, Mrs Tumisang Thabela, has also directed all provincial offices to suspend leave applications for teachers. In a letter dispatched to provincial education directors (PEDs), Mrs Thabela said leave applications will only be entertained after 28 July.

“Please be advised that no leave applications shall be entertained during this period as we prepare to conduct the June/July Zimsec examinations and re-open schools. If members have emergencies they have to attend to, they can discuss with the Permanent Secretary.

Otherwise all critical staff are expected to be on duty and leave applications can be considered after 28 July 2020,” she said.

Provincial education directors in the Matabeleland region also reiterated that they were making last minute checks to ensure that the examinations run as expected. Matabeleland North provincial education director Mr Jabulani Mpofu said so far, all the 42 Zimsec centres for the June examinations have been disinfected as per the guidelines to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

“All the centres have been disinfected using chemicals donated by the National University of Science and Technology, while Lupane State University provided us with 1 000 litres of sanitisers,” said Mr Mpofu.

He said most of the June candidates were private candidates with pupils who are borders expected to be at the centres by today (Sunday). Bulawayo PED, Mrs Olicah Kaira and her Matabeleland South counterpart, Mr Bernard Mazambane also concurred saying they were on the ground overseeing preparations. Matabeleland South has 81 examination centres while Bulawayo has 47. However, teacher representatives said they were waiting to see weekend preparations and will have a proper position by tomorrow.

Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta) chief executive officer Dr Sifiso Ndlovu said while teachers commend the efforts that were being put in place by the Government, they were concerned about the poorly resourced schools especially in rural schools. He said it was unfortunate that the schools were being told to produce and provide their own face masks, a huge task especially for schools in rural areas.

“We appreciate the role played by universities that have provided sanitisers to all examination centres but that is just a fraction of what is required. I must, however, commend the Government for the commitment that they are showing, this weekend will be very critical and by Monday (tomorrow) we will have a clearer picture. There is a major concern relating to face masks and infrared thermometers, with schools being asked to provide their own face masks, we risk a situation where come examination day schools would have not been able to provide these,” said Dr Ndlovu.

He said in the last feedback reports from around the country there were some headmasters raising concern that they may not meet the set standards.

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Dr Takavafira Zhou said teachers were consulting their members over concerns on the actual fulfillment of commitment to ensure adherence to the World Health Organisation regulations.

He said it was critical for the Government and all relevant stakeholders to have first established a taskforce to oversee the June/July examinations rather than leaving it to the Government alone.

“The main concern is the provision that headmasters are supposed to ensure the availability of the face masks, which in some cases, mainly in the rural schools this might not be possible. We have seen in some cases headmasters now transferring the burden to learners to bring these Personal Protective Equipment, which is in itself a concern. As teachers we are maintaining that our safety comes first, if we realise that nothing has been done we will call for the further postponement of the exams, we will therefore be making a final decision on Monday (tomorrow),” said Dr Zhou.

Schools closed early as the country went into lockdown that started on 30 March to combat the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Normal lessons are expected to resume at the end of July for final year examination writing classes. University final year students went back to class three weeks ago.

The Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) said it is ready for the start of exams on Tuesday.

Zimsec Director Dr Lazarus Nembaware said they were prepared for the examinations.

“Everything is now in place and we are ready for the June examinations,” he said.

“There has been a delay in the writing of this year’s June examinations as we all know but we’re fully prepared,” he said.

The June exams will run from June 30 to July 23 with 66 000 students expected to sit for the examinations while being invigilated by 10 000 teachers.

-State Media

Farai Dziva|CIO operatives attempted to abduct MDC Alliance Youth Assembly National Chairperson Obey Sithole, Youth Assembly National Organising Secretary Godfrey Kurauone and one Mutombeni on Friday night in Masvingo.

Sithole, Kurauone and Mutombeni were chased by CIOs driving a white Toyota Prado without registration plates and they were forced to abandon their vehicle in the process.

Sithole said:
Last night they attempted to abduct us once again in Masvingo.

In Zimbabwe, even clapping using our hands can be considered a crime that warrants an abduction.

However, we remain resolute in our quest to bring a new Zimbabwe.

One day Zimbabwe shall be free and never again shall Zimbabweans be subjected to degrading treatment for their political choices.

I lost my phones in the process so I am currently not available on WhatsApp.

Many thanks to some brave Mucheke residents who facilitated our safe escape from the scene. Action is the only solution to the Zimbabwean equation.
ZanupfMustGo…

By Nomusa Garikai- In Christian legend the wandering Jew is a character doomed to live until the end of the world because he taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion.

He is doomed to wander, looking for something he is doomed never to find because he does not know what it is he is looking for.

Nelson Chamisa is the “wandering Jew” of Zimbabwe politics.

“Going forward, as we alluded to in our independence speech, 40 is a sacred number – life begins at 40, the children of Israel took 40 years to cross into Canaan and Jesus Christ spent 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness. Zimbabwe turned 40 this year! Hope is our portion!” said Chamisa in his latest epistle.

“Let us prepare for the new independence as we claim back all that was stolen and demand a people’s government through citizens’ peaceful protests per section 59 of the constitution. People of Zimbabwe deserve a legitimate capable state. The change we demand! None but ourselves!”

This is just nonsense! MDC has had many golden opportunities to implement the democratic reforms necessary to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections. The party has failed to implement even one reform. Not one! To make matters worse, MDC has continued to participate in these flawed and illegal elections, ignoring the repeated advice not to, and giving Zanu PF legitimacy.

Is Chamisa suggesting MDC did not implementing reforms, etc. to end the Zanu PF dictatorship deliberately because the nation was waiting to reach this magic number – 40 years. Now the nation has reached the magic age we can finally enter our Promised Land – a healthy and functioning democratic Zimbabwe!

Except that Zimbabwe is still a pariah state, a Banana Republic, ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs and not a democratic country. Chamisa, who envisages himself as the Biblical Joshua, has failed to lead the nation across the imaginary River Jordan! Indeed, the people of Zimbabwe will be very foolish to continue to follow this wandering Jew!

Chamisa and his MDC friends are corrupt, incompetent and sell-outs. The people of Zimbabwe have risked life and limb to elect these MDC leaders to implement the democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections. Instead of implementing the reforms the MDC leaders have sold-out big time and are now Zanu PF acolytes. They are running with the hare and hunting with the hounds.

The only way out of this economic and political mess is for Zimbabwe to find someone who will implement the democratic reforms since MDC have failed to do it.

As long as MDC continues to give Zanu PF political legitimacy by participating in flawed elections; Zanu PF thugs use this ill-gotten legitimacy to resist pressure for the regime to step down. The solution is to expose MDC leaders for what they are – corrupt, incompetent and sell-outs with no political credibility.

By failing to implement any reform in 20 years, participating in flawed elections and now by denying Chamisa’s unconstitutional succession was anything but MDC leaders have but stripped themselves of all political credibility. Zanu PF will now find the party cannot derive political legitimacy from a discredited opposition party. Zanu PF will be compelled to step down.

Nelson Chamisa and his corrupt, incompetent and sell-out MDC friends have no clue what the democratic reforms needed to dismantle the Zanu PF dictatorship are much less how they are to be implemented.

It is therefore no surprise that they have failed to implement even one reform in 20 years. All these Zimbabweans out there who continue to follow and support MDC, no questions asked, must know in Chamisa they have the wandering Jew personified.

“Zimbabwean must protest to demand legitimate state!” But it was your participation in the flawed elections against repeated warning not to that gave vote rigging Zanu PF legitimacy!

By A Correspondent- Small scale gold miners in Gwanda have arrested suspected robbers who attacked Muzenda Mine near Coleen Bawn, 20km south of the Matabeleland South provincial capital.

The suspected robbers, travelling in a small Honda Fit car, raided the mine wielding an assortment of weapons.

Provincial police spokesman Chief Inspector Philisani Ndebele confirmed the incident, but distanced the police from the robbers following the recovery of a truncheon, mostly used by the police.

“We are holding two men who are assisting with investigations. We are charging them with unlawful entry. Two others are still at large. The four are suspected of having broken into Muzenda Mine, but they did not use machetes,” Ndebele said.

Police recovered a truncheon, a knife and a small axe in the suspects’ getaway vehicle.

One of the small-scale miners alleged yesterday the suspects were using a vehicle registered in the name of a police officer stationed in Bulawayo.

“We apprehended the suspects and took them to the police station before 8pm on Tuesday, but police took their time recording the details and almost released the suspects. Being the only incident, we don’t see why we had to leave the police station at 2am. This raised our suspicions,” the official said.

The two were expected to appear in court yesterday. The hunt for the outstanding two is still on.

-Newsday

By A Correspondent- Authorities are probing cases of alleged army brutality in Harare and at the country’s borders, after soldiers are said to have gone on a rampage on Wednesday night – assaulting people and looting their goods.

This comes as the country’s security forces have been accused by human rights groups and ordinary Zimbabweans of cracking down on citizens using excessive force, to enforce the current coronavirus national lockdown.

Zimbabwe National Army deputy public relations director, Alex Zuva, confirmed to the Daily News yesterday that they were investigating reports that soldiers had indiscriminately assaulted residents of Harare’s Warren Park suburb on Wednesday night.

“We are investigating the issue and this also requires that we check with Harare Central Police Station records.

“Currently, our people are in Warren Park carrying out investigations and once we are through we will advise all relevant parties,” he said.

According to eye-witnesses who spoke to the Daily News, the soldiers descended on Warren Park 1 on the day and allegedly assaulted residents and looted goods from vendors, including potatoes and vegetables.

Two journalists, Munashe Chokodza and Leopold Munhende — who were in the area — were caught in the melee and injured by the soldiers.

Chokodza and Munhende’s lawyer, Chris Mhike, also said yesterday that his clients had been assaulted by the soldiers.

“I confirm that the two journalists were assaulted by persons who appeared to be members of the armed forces.

“We filed a report at Warren Park Police Station and we were referred to Harare Central Police Station,” Mhike told the Daily News.

“We could not complete the process as my clients had to seek medical attention. They were treated at a local hospital and this treatment continues.

“Since the matter is still under investigation, we are not — at this stage — able to give a more comprehensive statement,” he added.

The Warren Park incidents happened a day after opposition legislators had quizzed Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri on what the government was doing regarding reports that soldiers at the country’s ports of entry were involved in human rights abuses.

In response, Muchinguri-Kashiri said that authorities were investigating the claims.

“This is a very serious allegation which requires that we undertake some serious investigations. We expect our forces to be very professional and disciplined,” she said.

The minister further called on members of the public to come forward and report abuses by armed forces during the course of their work.

“When it comes to disciplinary issues, the army is home to martial courts, where we do thorough investigations and we do not leave any stone unturned.

“There is high discipline when you consider our responsibility and duty to protect the people of Zimbabwe and also to protect Zimbabwean assets.

“If there are such cases, we will be more than happy to investigate them,” Muchinguri-Kashiri said.

“I am hoping and also appealing to you to bring forward or to report such individuals if you know them or if some of your informers have information.

“Everyone is free to come forward to our offices. We will definitely investigate the cases,” she added.

This comes as the Speaker of the National Assembly, Jacob Mudenda, is to make a ruling on a point raised in the august House demanding that President Emmerson Mnangagwa comes to Parliament to explain the deployment of soldiers throughout the country to enforce the national corona lockdown, which was imposed to curb the spread of the disease in the country.

It also comes as Mnangagwa’s administration has been accused by critics of mimicking the previous one of the late former president Robert Mugabe, which was notorious for clamping down savagely on dissenting voices.

Among other things, Mnangagwa’s government has courted serious criticism for the August 2018 and January 2019 killings of civilians by security forces — following violent demonstrations by agitated citizens.

Recently, the government’s commitment to observing and upholding human rights in the country was also brought into sharp focus following allegations of repression — including the alleged abduction and torture of opponents.

Zimbabwe is currently under level two of the national coronavirus lockdown, which was first introduced by Mnangagwa at the end of March, as part of the government’s efforts to combat the local spread of the virus.

As part of further efforts to fortify the lockdown, the government has put in place several new regulations which — among other things — criminalise public gatherings and the non-wearing of face masks in public.

Recently Mnangagwa eased the lockdown further, allowing more sectors of the economy to resume business.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the coronavirus comes from a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases.

Its symptoms include pneumonia, high fever, flu, shortness of breath and diarrhoea — and the precautions that have to be taken include covering the mouth when coughing and sneezing, and continuously washing one’s hands.

-DailyNews

By A Correspondent- A woman who claimed to be sex starved because her husband is advanced in age will soon appear in court after she allegedly forced a farm labourer to have sex with her.

State papers seen by The Mirror show that Maidei Mugwagwa (43) begged for sex from Brighton Hohodza (29) who stays at Stand 3, Eyrie Farm in Chatsworth but the complainant turned down the offer.

After turning down the offer, Hohodza allegedly moved away leaving the accused in the yard while he went away into his living room.

The State says Mugwagwa who is from Ripley Farm, Chatsworth followed the complainant into the living room, closed the door behind her before stripping naked in front of the complainant.

She allegedly grabbed Hohodza (29)’s manhood and caressed it until it was erect.  She laid the complainant on the ground, mounted herself on top of him and had sex with the complainant without a condom or his consent.

The incident happened on 6 May, 2020 at around 10am.

The State says the complainant was at his homestead where he resides and employed as a caretaker and the accused approached him to have sexual intercourse with her.

The accused is expected to appear before Magistrate Dambudzo Malunga.

– masvingomirror

By A Correspondent- An attempt to bribe police detectives by four armed robbers landed them in soup.

The matter came to light at Guruve magistrates courts on Friday where Never Zendelani (34), Patson Doro (33),Paul Baison (21) and Robson Doro all from Chiwaridzo,Bindura appeared before magistrate Shingirai Mutiro facing robbery charges.

They were remanded in custody to July 2.

The state led by Albert Mazhindu alleged on June 9 at Beris post the quartet armed with pistols pounced on three homesteads fired warning shots and robbed them of their money, two motor vehicle and a cell phone.

Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Mvurwi arm bushed the suspects and arrested them before recovering the stolen vehicles.

Upon their arrest the suspects tried to bribe the cops with US$15 and the police turned the bribe down.

Further investigations revealed that the suspects had evaded a police road block using an unregistered motor vehicle.

-StateMedia

By A Correspondent- Matabeleland North stakeholders have called for the further suspension of the opening of schools and postponement of June examinations until it is safe to do so.

They threatened to withhold their children if the government continues to open the schools.

Stakeholders made the remarks during a virtual dialogue organised by the Rural Communities Empowerment Trust (Rucet).

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) representatives were guest speakers.

The meeting was moderated by Rucet Coordinator Vumani Ndlovu.

PTUZ Matabeleland North Secretary for Young Teachers Thabani Tshuma said it was proper to ensure safety of both learners and teachers before schools are opened.

“PTUZ therefore urges the government to desist from an impulse opening of schools without ensuring that it is very safe to do so,” he said.

“The government should ensure that Coronavirus is under control before opening schools.”

ARTUZ Matabeleland North Chairperson Sukoluhle Ndlovu said it is a risk for  to open schools  when  Covid 19 cases are still increasing.

“Schools are not yet safely prepared now and government must suspend their opening for now,” she said.

Bayanda Moyo said  the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Tumisang Thabela said $20 billion is needed to open schools and provide with most of the materials needed.

Mthokozisi Mbuyazwe said it was sad that the government is currently failing to cater for the quarantine centres and how will it be able to cater for thousands of school children and teachers.

Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) on Tuesday announced that the June examinations will begin on June 30 and end on July 23.

Zimsec board chair Eddie Mwenje said the revised examination timetable was done in accordance with COVID-19 mitigatory measures.

-statemedia

By A Correspondent- Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) president Obert Masaraure was arrested in Harare on Friday and immediately transferred to Masvingo, where he was granted $500 bail by a magistrate this Saturday.

ARTUZ spokesperson Nation Mudzitirwa said human rights lawyer Tonderai Bhatasara would represent him in Masvingo.

He said:

The arrest follows the June 22 demonstration by Artuz members in Masvingo, demanding US dollar salaries.

It’s shocking that the State would criminalise genuine union activities guaranteed by the law and basic labour rights.

We maintain that president Obert Masaraure is not a criminal, but unionist fighting for labour justice.

FORMER Zanu PF legislator Goodwills Masimirembwa has been dragged to court over a botched residential stand sale involving US$72 500.

In an application, Donald and Sharon Makanyanga want the High Court to order Divine Homes to transfer all rights and title of the stand and sign the documents for the transfer and alternatively for the sheriff to be empowered to sign all documents necessary to effect transfer of rights and title of the said property.

The court heard that Masimirembwa bought number 826 Gletwyn Township from Divine Homes and an agreement of sale was signed to that effect.

However, Masimirembwa had nominated Divine Homes to process transfer of the property but before that was done, the land was also sold to Makanyanga and an agreement of sale was signed with Charles, Tadiwanashe and Cleopas Chibhanguza on September 5, 2018.
Makanyanga paid

US$72 500 only for the respondents to refuse to sign the documents for the transfer of the rights.

“It is a settled position in terms of the law of contract that if parties enter into an agreement of sale, if obligations and rights arise, parties have to fulfil their obligations,” reads the application.

“Further, the agreement becomes binding on the parties and the court can be approached to enforce it. The court can thus compel the performance of contractual obligations by a party in default.

“I have fulfilled my obligation to pay the purchase price; however, the respondents have neglected their obligation to deliver the same.

“They are withholding the transfer in which case this court is petitioned to compel them to transfer the property and all rights as agreed.”

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Standard

Traditional musician Last Chiangwa, aka Tambaoga, has distanced himself from the Twitter account handle @Tambaoga7, which recently posted an apology for his yesteryear affiliation to Zanu PF.

Tambaoga wants the account to be “taken down” despite partially agreeing that he regrets some of the politically-charged lyrics in his music then.

In an interview, the Rambai Makashinga singer, who recently signalled a return to the music scene through a solid set on the NASH TV Facebook live show, admitted that associating with the ruling party had affected his work immensely.

“The biggest problem we have is that our everyday lives are intertwined with politics, for one to put food on the table it’s politics and so to turn a blind eye to what guarantees survival is very hard,” he told Standard Style.

“However, it is wrong to lean towards one side as I had done, but we all know that is freedom of expression.”

At the turn of the millennium, Tambaoga gained popularity for his songs that were filled with pro-Zanu PF propaganda and praises for the late former president Robert Mugabe.

As a result, he enjoyed lots of airplay at state-run broadcasters and slots to perform at national events while his fan base shrank considerably beyond the opportunities, particularly in urban areas.

But, describing musicians as vessels of a message from the spiritual realm, Tambaoga said the next generation of musicians should strive to chant the truth.

“I would like to advise young musicians that it is not wise to be inclined to political parties. As an influencer, one should be neutral,” he said.

“If musicians do not sing about what is happening in the country or what is being shown, they would have diverted from the truth and if anyone stops them, it is an injustice as such prophecy can help better our lives on earth.”

Tambaoga pledged to release more music this year, starting with a single titled Mutemo Wavirima that was produced by Hanif Bhika at HB Studios in Belvedere, Harare.

“Albums are being prepared from this studio as well as from Chill Spot. We are also looking forward to work with Nash TV and come up with a live album from their stable,” he said.

It remains to be seen if he will win the hearts of fans or continue to languish like other individuals and groups blacklisted for associating with political parties over the years.

A HIGH Court Judge on Friday 26 June 2020 set free three victims of abduction and torture, who had been languishing in prison for close to two weeks, after they were denied bail by Harare Magistrate Bianca Makwande on Monday 15 June 2020.

High Court Judge Justice Davison Foroma ordered the release from Chikurubi Maximum Prison of Harare West legislator Hon. Joana Mamombe aged 27 years, Cecelia Chimbiri aged 31 years and Netsai Marova aged 25 years, after presiding over the hearing and determination of a bail appeal filed by their lawyers Alec Muchadehama, Jeremiah Bamu, Tinomuda Shoko and Roselyn Hanzi of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

Hon. Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marova were arrested by Zimbabwe Republic Police members on 11 June 2020 and charged with publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state as defined in section 31(a)(ii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state as defined in section 31(a)(iii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. The trio was also charged with defeating or obstructing the course of justice as defined in section 184(1)(f) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

The trio’s freedom bid had been dismissed by Magistrate Makwande who on 15 June 2020 told Hon. Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marova that she vetoed their bail application after being convinced that there were compelling reasons not to admit them to bail as they were likely to abscond from trial.

But Justice Foroma on Friday 26 June 2020 set free Hon. Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marova after ruling that Magistrate Makwande had misdirected herself when she denied bail to Hon. Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marova.

The Judge ordered the trio to pay RTGS$10 000 each as bail money, to report at the Criminal Investigations Department’s Law and Order Section at Harare Central Police Station on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays, to continue residing at their given residential addresses, not to interfere with state witnesses and to keep their passports in the possession and custody of the Clerk of Court at Harare Magistrates Court until their matter is finalised.

Justice Foroma also barred the trio from communicating whether directly or otherwise with any of the public and or private media including on social media in connection with their matter.

Hon. Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marova went missing on 13 May 2020, when they were abducted in Harare by some unidentified people and were later found on 15 May 2020 after being dumped in Bindura in Mashonaland Central province.

They have already been charged with committing public violence after they were arrested on 26 May 2020 for allegedly participating in an anti-government protest against hunger during the national lockdown period as defined in section 37 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and for contravening section 5(3) (a) as read with section 5(1) of Statutory Instrument 99 of 2020 of Public Health (COVID-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) Order, 2020 and will stand trial in August.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

Own Correspondent

Expelled Zanu PF national youth political Commissar, Godfrey Tsenengamu said that his pressure group, the Front for Economic Emancipation in Zimbabwe (FEEZ) is ready to take action against economic injustices, especially corruption.

Tsenengamu accused Zimbabwe’s rulers of allowing their children to grab mines across the country at the expense of the general citizenry.

He said that unlike the late former President Robert Mugabe’s sons, Robert Jr and Chatunga, the children of Zimbabwe’s current rulers are very corrupt.

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The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has clarified which mobile money transactions have been suspended following yesterday’s government statement.

It said:

1. All mobile money agents are suspended from facilitating mobile fi­nancial transactions with immediate effect;
2. All merchant transactions are suspended except for receiving payments for goods and services as well as payment of utilities (water, power and airtime), which have been limited up to $5000 per day for the convenience of the transacting public;
3. All mobile money liquidations should be done through the banking system;
4. All bulk payer transactions have been suspended with immediate effect.

Central bank governor John Mangudya said : “These unprecedented measures have been necessitated by the need to protect consumers on mobile money platforms which have been abused by unscrupulous and unpartisan individuals and entities to create instability and inefficiencies in the economy.”

He assured members of the pubic that their bona-­de transactions will be processed normally.

There had been an outcry on why the directive had come from the government instead of the central bank.

The statement reads:

Following the Government Press Release on the Suspension of Monetary Transactions on Mobile Based Money Platforms (One Money, MyCash, Ecocash and Telecash) dated 26 June 2020, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (the Bank) wishes to advise the public as follows:

a) All mobile money agents are suspended from facilitating mobile financial transactions with immediate effect.

b) All merchant transactions are suspended except for receiving payments for goods and services as well as payment of utilities (water, power and airtime), which have been limited up to ZW$5000 per day for the

convenience of the transacting public.

c) All mobile money liquidations should be done through the banking system.

d) All bulk payer transactions have been suspended with immediate effect.

These unprecedented measures have been necessitated by the need to protect consumers on mobile money platforms which have been abused by unscrupulous and nonpartisan individuals and entities to create instability and inefficiencies in the economy.

Members of the public are assured that their bonafide transactions will be processed normally.

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe

Farai Dziva|Zimbabwe’s biggest mobile telecommunications operator, which runs, EcoCash, has hit back at the government following the ban on mobile money operations.

On Friday government unilaterally banned mobile phone based transactions.

Below is the full statement from Ecocash to its customers:

We are aware of a statement purporting to have been issues by the Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services that purports to ban all mobile money transactions.

However, Ecocash is regulated by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and would naturally expect a directive of that nature and significance to be communicated by the Reserve bank of Zimbabwe.

We urge all our Ecocash users who exceed 10 million Zimbabweans, the majority of whom do not have bank accounts to remain calm and to continue to do your lawful transactions as usual.

Should there be changes, we shall give you adequate notice as required by law.

Traders in the city of Masvingo say there is confusion on whether they should accept or reject Ecocash transactions.

ZANU-PF central committee member and former senator Clemence Makwarimba last week pulled all bootlicking stops and went on an unhinged praising spree of President Emmerson Mnangawa, describing him as God-sent as proven by his ‘remarkable’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Makwarimba said that God knew that coronavirus will come to Zimbabwe and send President Mnangagwa to fight it and protect the people.

Makwarimba, who was given a platform to give a vote of thanks after Vice President Mohadi’s visit to Masvingo, said Mnangagwa’s government was anointed by God, adding that the coronavirus will not devastate the country as it did to others.
“God sent us President Mnangagwa.

It was God’s will that he is in power and people did as God wanted. If you look at the number of our Covid-19 cases, they show that President Mnangagwa has conquered.

“Most cases are imported and we have only recorded four deaths which were all a result of imported cases. There are very few local transmissions and that is not by chance but by wisdom from the man that God sent us.

“We should thank this government because if it were not for them, we would have all perished,” said Makwarimba.

He said President Mnangagwa will not campaign for the 2023 elections as his efforts in the fight against Covid-19 had already earned him clean victory.

Makwarimba once served as Masvingo Rural District Council (RDC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
— TellZim

One person has died and almost 30 others have been injured in two separate taxi accidents on Friday night.

In Potchefstroom, a man in his 20s died during a collision between a taxi and a light motor vehicle in Ikageng Road. ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene at shortly after 19:20, along with local emergency personnel.

“A young man in his 20s who had suffered fatal injuries and showed no signs of life was found in the light motor vehicle. He was unfortunately, declared dead on arrival, said ER24 spokesperson Ross Campbell.

A 32-year-old man was also found trapped in the same vehicle.

He has serious injuries and the fire department extracted him from the wreckage. He was taken to Potchefstroom Provincial Hospital for further care, according to Campbell.

Several taxi occupants were treated on the scene – four by ER24 personnel and eight by provincial emergency services officials– and transported to local hospitals.

In another incident on Friday night at around the same time, 15 people had critical to minor injuries after the taxi they were travelling in collided with a delivery truck close to Ladysmith.

The accident took place close to the intersection of the R103 and Harrismith Road.

“All the injured were found to be from the taxi and all were adults. Three passengers were found to have suffered critical injuries, four others moderate injuries and the remainder suffered minor injuries,” Campbell said.

The driver was found in his seat and had to be extracted.

“He had luckily only suffered moderate injuries and was transported through to Ladysmith Provincial Hospital for further care,” Campbell added.

Police officers were at both scenes for further investigations.

-News24

The MDC Alliance is concerned by the government’s unlawful decree issued on Friday 26 June 2020 by the Permanent Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services banning mobile money operations and suspending trading on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

This is an arbitrary measure that violates the rule of law, due process and basic principles of administrative law. The Permanent Secretary does not have the authority to issue such a ban on regulated entities, which authority is held by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the securities regulator. None of these authorities have backed the decree.

Indeed, we expect statements of such gravity on economic matters to come from competent authorities that are mandated by law to manage monetary policy. Their silence indicates dissonance with the regime which points to dysfunctionality which has characterized state operations in recent months. At a practical level, the ban will have serious and negative implications on the day-to-day lives of the people, in both urban and rural areas. More than 90% of daily transactions in our retail economy are conducted through mobile money platforms. Mobile money platforms are inclusive and have brought in the previously unbanked meal population.

The arbitrary measure affects millions of Zimbabweans who rely on mobile money services at a time when there are serious cash shortages. Shutting it down arbitrarily is a gross violation of people’s way of life.

The MDC Alliance is also concerned at the impact of this arbitrary measure on investment in the country. The country already has a negative image among foreign investors. Shutting down the ZSE arbitrarily not only affects economy to others on the market but violates property rights. Capital does not stay where it is unsafe. It is grossly irrational for a government that claims to be open for business to arbitrarily shut down the country’s stock market unilaterally.

As the MDC Alliance, we believe in the rule of law, the protection of property rights and due process.

We demand the immediate reversal of this unlawful decree.

Fadzayi Mahere

MINES and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando yesterday said time is up for mining title holders whose concessions have been lying idle or underutilised as Government will in the next four months repossess the claims.

Recently, Government proclaimed the “use-it-or lose it” policy after noting that some prospective investors awarded the Special Grants (SG) in different mining sub-sectors of the economy were holding onto the claims for speculative purposes.

Such behaviour, he said, was retrogressive as the country was being deprived of its potential to exploit its vast mineral resource base.

Speaking during a tour of some colliery firms in Hwange, Matabeleland North province, Minister Chitando who was accompanied by his Finance portfolio counterpart, Professor Mthuli Ncube, said Government was also looking forward to re-sizing some of the concessions with huge resource base and inordinate life spans and allocate them to potential investors.

“So, the use-it-or lose-it policy is being implemented and I can certainly assure you that by end of August or September, there will be a number of which will be realised. But I think more importantly, in terms of the use-it or lose-it policy, we have people who have got the mining concessions, which concessions in terms of the resources, it will take them 500 years to mine.

“It may be a gold, platinum asset or it maybe coal asset, so we will be cutting all the concessions so that we allocate to others,” said Minister Chitando.

The impending decision by Government to resize some of the concessions held by investors who are already on the ground comes in the wake of the realisation that some of the potential investors in the coal sector, for example, were failing to realise their full potential as well as beneficiate the mineral due to shortage of raw materials.

The firms, which the two ministers visited are Afrochine’s coking plant project, Zimbabwe ZhongXin Colliery Company, Jinan Coking Coal Project and South Mining Coking Coal Project.

In separate briefings to the ministers, officials from some of the firms highlighted that they were not adequately supplied with coal by the local producers to feed into their coking plants.

It was against this background that some of the companies with coking plants have applied to Government for coal concessions.

The tour of the collieries by the two ministers is a precursor to President Mnangagwa’s visit of mines in Hwange district tentatively within the next four weeks.

Minister Chitando said their visit with Prof Ncube was also a fact finding mission of the challenges bedevilling the firms in the coal sector as well as to apprise Prof Ncube about the mining sector.

In an interview with journalists, Prof Ncube said:

“My office being in charge of the taxes as you can imagine, I am always trying to see where we can fine tune the tax incentives for investment.

“Like what we did in the diamond sector by making sure that the royalties are tax deductive, so whatever we can do with the tax fund was to support the mining sector looking at issues like export incentives.”

Last year, President Mnangagwa launched a mining industry strategic road map to build a US$12 billion sector by 2023.

The strategic road map, which is anchored on beneficiation recognises the coal sub-sector as one of the minerals, which Zimbabwe can leverage on as the country also targets an upper middle income economy by 2030.

Under the road map, coal, chrome, diamond, iron and steel are envisaged to contributed US$1 billion. The projected increase represents a 344 percent jump from US$2,7 billion achieved in 2017.

Government has also identified mining houses undertaking various projects towards the attainment of the target while negotiations with others are in progress.

Already, the mining sector is critical in generating foreign currency, contributing about 70 percent of the country’s forex earnings.

A combination of picking low-hanging fruits or quick-win projects with a medium-term impact as well as a longer-term impact means Zimbabwe could see the lift soon.

State Media

HIGH Court judge Justice Pisirayi Kwenda yesterday said the infamous Drax International COVID-19 tender scam, which has led to the arrest of Health minister Obadiah Moyo for criminal abuse of office, was too hazy and suspected the company’s local representative Delish Nguwaya was withholding critical information on how he clinched the deal without following formal tender procedures.

Justice Kwenda made the remarks during Nguwaya’s bail hearing following his arrest two weeks ago on charges of fraudulently getting the US$60 million COVID-19 medical and equipment supply deal.
Before he deferred bail ruling to next Wednesday, Justice Kwenda said the way the controversial deal was concluded was opaque.

Nguwaya was arrested a fortnight ago after he allegedly misled government into believing that his company Drax International, also known as Drax Consult SAGL, was a medical firm and could supply COVID-19 equipment to the Health ministry.

During the bail hearing, Justice Kwenda asked Nguwaya’s lawyer Tafadzwa Hungwe to enlighten the court on how the government ended up signing a contract with Nguwaya’s firm well knowing that his company was simply a consultancy firm.

The judge said the whole Drax International issue was not being clearly examined because there were signs of interference with key witnesses in the matter.

“This case is clouded by mist, I cannot properly follow. The circumstances of this matter speak to some interference with information … Something is wrong, but again, it is not clear,” Justice Kwenda said.

“The facts tend to speak to hesitation by key witnesses to make some disclosures … The State says if it had known that Drax International was not a drug manufacturing company, it would have not signed a contract agreement … You see, something is not clear, the whole thing is hazy.”

He added: “We know what procurement procedures were supposed to be followed, that is clear according to the Constitution.

“But there was lack of adherence to what the Constitution says … the witnesses are reluctant to deal with real issues, which is already an interference … Why would government officials fail to follow procurement procedures?

“The key witnesses themselves are not telling us what is wrong. Some information is being withheld and I can only assume that it is him who is withholding the information.”

Hungwe defended Nguwaya’s position saying he simply followed what he was ordered to do by government officials involved in the signing of the deal.

“If there is anyone hiding information in this matter, it is not my client, but the government employees especially the permanent secretary for Health,” said Hungwe, who was being assisted by Ashiel Mugiya.

He said his client was a suitable candidate for bail, adding he had disclosed that his firm was into consultancy, and not a drug manufacturer as alleged by the State.

The State alleges that Nguwaya lied that Drax International was a Swiss-based medical firm, whereas it later emerged that it was only a consulting company with no experience in the manufacture of medicines.

State representative Tapiwa Mapfuwa, who was being assisted by Lancelot Mutsokoti, urged the court to deny Nguwaya bail, saying extra-territorial investigations were still ongoing. They expressed fear that Nguwaya could interfere with investigations if granted bail.

But Nguwaya’s lawyers challenged the State’s assertion, saying the government did not lose anything in monetary value since the drugs were supplied and the other contract cancelled.

-Newsday

By Robert Sigauke- Besides pulling down an outdated calendar and hanging up another on the wall each year in Zimbabwe, has anybody ever asked themselves if really we are going anywhere as a country? I say this with every sense of paradox because to each person, in high place or low, the more things change the more they stay the same, and it seems nobody rises any wiser from each cycle.

Zanu PF has seen from the epicentre how toxic politics and corruption, amongst the biggest of culprit cancers, have taken the economy to casualty status.

Zimbabweans need to ask themselves if Zanu PF’s case is either that of whipping through everyone through a painful, Pan-African, neo-colonianist economic emancipation revolution, or it is a text book case of selfish stone-cold resolve of benefiting from chaos and disorder. That question is fundamental to history and politics, there has to be something engraved about it for future generations.  

From Willow-gate, Zisco Steel Blast Furnace saga of 1987, ZESA- Soltran, GMB saga of Kangai, the Chikowore hands in the NOCZIM scandal, the Marange $15B loot, the Command Agriculture smoke, to the recent Zesa-Intratek saga.

In most if not all of these and others far too many or too under the carpet to mention, the underlying denominator has been that the closer you are to the authorities the better chances you stand to walk away with hands dripping of soup or oil.

Let us not be tempted to think nobody in the opposite political basket has not had their hands soiled at one point or another, and still walk away in full glare of the authorities. This is political dirty advantage, the trump card for game change, the politician’s favourite check-mate in a corrupt system, this is capital for control.

Did we really expect anything better from the disgraced Obadiah Moyo? This is the same Moyo who then and still now presides over a critical ministry under international spotlight and condemnation due to the terrible infrastructural state of hospitals, drug shortages and persistent industrial action by critical staff.

At such height of infamy, Moyo aborted a tour of Parirenyatwa, Harare and Chitungwiza hospitals halfway a few months ago, just because, I will quote his own words to the shock of the world, “Yes, we heard that you (media) were gone and there was no point for us to come, we are very sorry,” the former Chitungwiza Hospital CEO said at the time.

My question and everyone’s still is, was the hospital tour meant to fact find the state of affairs on the ground, or it was a mere charade to look good in the news bulletin? Did Moyo think through before he uttered these words? Shame on him. In sane working democracies one is booted for such reckless utter.

Mugabe’s political patronage craft and thirst for control and power could only survive on such travesties, and the tragedy of it all is that the cronies around him were paying attention very well along the trudge.

This is the same system of rule that the government of the day inherited, perfected, continued, and is harvesting on since the transition.

The carpets in the corridors of power hold much of this political capital. So much of ZACC’s mantra of uprooting and prosecuting corruption, there is neither political will nor the capacity from the system itself.

The loyalty exchange burden on ZACC is too great to be betrayed, its officers tread on a thin line, on tight leash. A mere 77 high profile cases in their active dockets do not measure up to the rot that has crippled Zimbabwe in memorable history, with even the criminals still roaming the streets and doing more.

Courts have been used as intimidation battlegrounds for political opponents with zero will to hold anybody to account, but to appear as if something is being done. This is more so further, because the comrades still in power and the has-beens now in the cold, broke bread together in these shady deals.

Shame on our opposition too, they have played in the hands of Zanu PF’s glaring tactics far too long. Is it not surprising how they call each other names and make accusations of being agents of the ruling party, whenever someone seems not to agree with the crowd.

Alas, the same Zanu implant will be welcomed back and blessed with a lofty post in the top echelons when he or she speaks correctly, politically that is. So what we have is an opposition full of sell-outs who keep going into bed with Zanu PF and coming back to get more info, then go back to feed Zanu and then come back again.

The truth at the end of the day then is, the people are on their own, they love their movement, they believe in their movement, but they are without sincere leadership fully dedicated and ready to die for the cause.

Khupe herself let words precede the mind in UK when she admitted that most of “us” are in it for a killing. In any case, nobody will remember not to curse the constitution if oil and soup really run dry.

The 2005, 2014, and now 2018 splits are said to be as a result of Zanu’s meddling in the opposition. While this may not be dismissed entirely, it is politically embarrassing to keep playing defensive on such mantra.

How many punches must a whole organisation take from the regime on the same chin to know when to change tact and bundle themselves in one corner to pull a knockout when the regime least expects it? 2009 to 2013 were wasted years in hindsight, Zanu used the opportunity to regain momentum and traction, while the super ministers of the MDC popped champagne in fanfare.

The sheer numbers could not, and did not overwhelm any rigging mechanism in 2013, if ever there was. While Khupe and Chamisa trade political and legal barbs at each other, Zanu’s propaganda machine is being oiled.

This is already in full swing since last year, the media is awash and pre-occupied with stories of “widening rifts” in the regime’s cockpit, and this comforts the opposition leadership. If this is what they are counting on, seeing that it has become so predictable that each election year the MDC is led sheepishly to the guillotine only for them to cry foul soon thereafter, 2023 will be another bigger bloodbath.

It has become an effective political onslaught tool for Zanu to keep their erstwhile opposition divided amongst themselves, further keeping them in imaginary glee at the “divisions” within Zanu PF itself. Chiwenga was spot on when, last year, he told the media after his health woes that most people do not understand the relationship that binds him with ED.

The relationship these men want people to see, is exactly what they give to the media to disseminate and play in the public arena. If you corner Zanu PF such that it sees no way out, rest assured the only way out it will see and take is through you.

While Zanu moves in whole, with factions pieced together, the opposition moves in separate bits and pieces. The bold needs the beautiful, Chamisa needs Khuphe and Mwonzora. Baba Saungweme kwaMutare please tell them.

In case they forgot, the reforms agenda is not off the table. The media space must be fully opened and stand independent, the voters roll must be audited and made available in electronic format, the security complex must stay out and not influence the political order of the day from the barracks.

Vote count, equipment and procedures must be systematically monitored, political violence must be a despicable sin, ZEC and the arms of government must be independent and not owe each other political debts, constituency delimitation must be clear and sensible, repeal of fascist laws to open the democratic space.

Thereafter and collectively, the opposition must take the fight to Zanu PF’s backyards, to the rural areas. As a centre-left party, a fitting manifesto will be most appealing now than ever. This is political capital, lest history will only record the best opposition heads of state Zimbabwe never had.

Robert Sigauke is a Legal Manager, Political and Social commentator, Entrepreneur and Author. He writes from Johannesburg.

Email [email protected]  

By A Correspondent- An attempt to bribe police detectives by four armed robbers landed them in soup.

The matter came to light at Guruve magistrates courts on Friday where Never Zendelani (34), Patson Doro (33),Paul Baison (21) and Robson Doro all from Chiwaridzo,Bindura appeared before magistrate Shingirai Mutiro facing robbery charges.

They were remanded in custody to July 2.

The state led by Albert Mazhindu alleged on June 9 at Beris post the quartet armed with pistols pounced on three homesteads fired warning shots and robbed them of their money, two motor vehicle and a cell phone.

Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Mvurwi arm bushed the suspects and arrested them before recovering the stolen vehicles.

Upon their arrest the suspects tried to bribe the cops with US$15 and the police turned the bribe down.

Further investigations revealed that the suspects had evaded a police road block using an unregistered motor vehicle

The MDC Alliance is concerned by the government’s unlawful decree issued on Friday 26 June 2020 by the Permanent Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services banning mobile money operations and suspending trading on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

This is an arbitrary measure that violates the rule of law, due process and basic principles of administrative law.

The Permanent Secretary does not have the authority to issue such a ban on regulated entities, which authority is held by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the securities regulator. None of these authorities has backed the decree.

Indeed, we expect statements of such gravity on economic matters to come from competent authorities that are mandated by law to manage monetary policy.

Their silence indicates dissonance with the regime which points to dysfunctionality which has characterized state operations in recent months.

At a practical level, the ban will have serious and negative implications on the day-to-day lives of the people, in both urban and rural areas.

More than 90% of daily transactions in our retail economy are conducted through mobile money platforms.

Mobile money platforms are inclusive and have brought in the previously unbanked rural population.

The arbitrary measure affects millions of Zimbabweans who rely on mobile money services at a time when there are serious cash shortages. Shutting it down arbitrarily is a gross violation of people’s way of life.

The MDC Alliance is also concerned at the impact of this arbitrary measure on investment in the country.

The country already has a negative image among foreign investors. Shutting down the ZSE arbitrarily not only affects the economy to others on the market but violates property rights. Capital does not stay where it is unsafe.

It is grossly irrational for a government that claims to be open for business to arbitrarily shut down the country’s stock market unilaterally.

As the MDC Alliance, we believe in the rule of law, the protection of property rights and due process.

We demand the immediate reversal of this unlawful decree.

By A Correspondent- The late Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s son, Chatunga has accused the country’s current leader Emmerson Mnangagwa administration of running Zimbabwe like a tuckshop.

This follows the latest government move to suspend mobile money transactions after failing to control the runaway exchange rate that has caused untold suffering on the citizenry who now have to endure uncontrollable inflation.

Said Chatunga:

“Running the whole country like a tuckshop.”

A high Court Judge on Friday 26 June 2020 set free three victims of abduction and torture, who had been languishing in prison for close to two weeks, after they were denied bail by Harare Magistrate Bianca Makwande on Monday 15 June 2020.

High Court Judge Justice Davison Foroma ordered the release from Chikurubi Maximum Prison of Harare West legislator Hon. Joana Mamombe aged 27 years, Cecelia Chimbiri aged 31 years and Netsai Marova aged 25 years, after presiding over the hearing and determination of a bail appeal filed by their lawyers Alec Muchadehama, Jeremiah Bamu, Tinomuda Shoko and Roselyn Hanzi of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

Hon. Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marova were arrested by Zimbabwe Republic Police members on 11 June 2020 and charged with publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state as defined in section 31(a)(ii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state as defined in section 31(a)(iii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

The trio was also charged with defeating or obstructing the course of justice as defined in section 184(1)(f) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

The trio’s freedom bid had been dismissed by Magistrate Makwande who on 15 June 2020 told Hon. Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marova that she vetoed their bail application after being convinced that there were compelling reasons not to admit them to bail as they were likely to abscond from trial.

But Justice Foroma on Friday 26 June 2020 set free Hon. Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marova after ruling that Magistrate Makwande had misdirected herself when she denied bail to Hon. Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marova.

The Judge ordered the trio to pay RTGS$10 000 each as bail money, to report at the Criminal Investigations Department’s Law and Order Section at Harare Central Police Station on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays, to continue residing at their given residential addresses, not to interfere with state witnesses and to keep their passports in the possession and custody of the Clerk of Court at Harare Magistrates Court until their matter is finalised.

Justice Foroma also barred the trio from communicating whether directly or otherwise with any of the public and or private media including on social media in connection with their matter.

Hon. Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marova went missing on 13 May 2020, when they were abducted in Harare by some unidentified people and were later found on 15 May 2020 after being dumped in Bindura in Mashonaland Central province.

They have already been charged with committing public violence after they were arrested on 26 May 2020 for allegedly participating in an anti-government protest against hunger during the national lockdown period as defined in section 37 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and for contravening section 5(3) (a) as read with section 5(1) of Statutory Instrument 99 of 2020 of Public Health (COVID-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) Order, 2020 and will stand trial in August.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

Farai Dziva|CIO operatives attempted to abduct MDC Alliance Youth Assembly National Chairperson Obey Sithole, Youth Assembly National Organising Secretary Godfrey Kurauone and one Mutombeni on Friday night in Masvingo.

Sithole, Kurauone and Mutombeni were chased by CIOs driving a white Toyota Prado without registration plates and they were forced to abandon their vehicle in the process.

Sithole said:
Last night they attempted to abduct us once again in Masvingo.

In Zimbabwe, even clapping using our hands can be considered a crime that warrants an abduction.

However, we remain resolute in our quest to bring a new Zimbabwe.

One day Zimbabwe shall be free and never again shall Zimbabweans be subjected to degrading treatment for their political choices.

I lost my phones in the process so I am currently not available on WhatsApp.

Many thanks to some brave Mucheke residents who facilitated our safe escape from the scene. Action is the only solution to the Zimbabwean equation.
ZanupfMustGo…

By a Correspondent- Exiled former Cabinet Minister Jonathan Moyo who is the second republic’s fiercest critic has outlined the following 24 points and said they were the reasons why the ruling party Zanu PF must go and make way for better political leaders to take over.

While some may see ZanuPF as a political party, it has never been one. I did not have this view before 2000, but since then I have come to understand that ZanuPF is a system or culture steeped in the military; with a tainted history, a troubled present, with no future!The fact that ZanuPF is not, and I would say has never been, a political party, in the traditional sense of the term, has far reaching implications on why it must go. Before developing this further, some preliminaries on important assumptions underlying this intervention!

The bane of public discourse in Zimbabwe is that it’s impossible to know what’s going on from the media. There’s no investigative journalism. All there is are ocassional leaks, which are by definition incomplete stories. The advent of the social media has not improved this!The dearth of investigative journalism & the prevalence of uninformed generic commentary, explain why the discussion on why ZanuPF must go has not gone beyond a hashtag. It’s torture to get news or commentary that does not answer the what, who, where, how & when questions!

My two key assumptions: 1. It’s a fundamental sociological tenet that society does not wait to be interpreted: it always self-interprets; hence theory must follow practice and; 2. The narrative of what is to be done is best anchored on what is there, not what could be there!

When I reexamined the subtitle, “why ZanuPF must go”, on the back of the view of ZanuPF as a system & culture, it became clear that it should be: “why ZanuPF has gone”. The ZanuPF system or culture has disintegrated physically & hegemonically. What remains is its caricature!

The crisis in Zimbabwe today is from the fact that, while ZanuPF has physically & hegemonically collapsed, the military which was embedded in ZanuPF since the 1975 Mgagao Declaration, staged a coup in 2017 to seize ZanuPF; thinking it was a going concern when it was debris!

As shown below, from the military’s “coup minutes” written on 15 &16 Nov 2017, out of 7 coup demands made by General Chiwenga to President Mugabe 6 were about ZanuPF & the 7th was about tenure interests of the commanders. Nothing for the military, government or the people!

What has the 2017 military’s takeover of ZanuPF meant, politically? As I show in Excelgate, the first effect was for the military to grab @ZECzim& to run it from Defence House; and for ZDF’s Africom Zim to run ZEC & CIO’s election computers to win the 2018 poll as ZanuPF!

The second effect of the military’s control of @ZECzim from Defence House between Nov 2017 & Aug 2018, while also managing the ZanuPF Commissariat, was to render ZanuPF politicians superfluous & to emasculate party structures; as Defence House became the de facto ZanuPF HQ!

The third effect of the military’s 2017 takeover of ZanuPF was that General Chiwenga became the most influential politician in ZanuPF & in Zim. He campaigned for all ZanuPF parliamentary candidates; not by his eloquence but his feared presence as the man who ousted Mugabe!

Key to General Chiwenga’s political influence in ZanuPF & in Zim were neither ZanuPF politicians nor structures but exZanla commanders & excombatants such as General Martin Chedondo, General Engelbert Rugeje, General Anselem Sanyatwe & General Douglas Nyikayaramba & others!

Even with the rise of exZipra commanders to the apex of ZDF, the core of ZDF, the ZNA, is now not only under an exZanla commander but also a gukurahundist, Edzai Chimonyo, who infamously defended atrocities by saying: “Some call us murderers but our role is quite clear”!

The fourth & most concerning effect of ZanuPF’s takeover by the military is that its quest to seize ZanuPF without improving military, govt or public affairs, has enabled Mnangagwa, his family, clan & cronies to fill the void in govt by engaging in unprecedented corruption!The fifth & most significant effect of the Nov 2017 military takeover of ZanuPF is that for the first time since 1980, an exZipra commander & thus Zapu cadre, General PV Sibanda, assumed the command of ZDF as CDF. This feat would not have happened under President Mugabe!The rise of an exZipra commander General PV Sibanda, to be CDF of ZDF could trailblaze a new military trajectory with potentially positive spillovers for Zim politics. Notably, his rise was made possible by the fact that exZipra commanders led the military side of the coup.

The post military coup setup at ZDF is that its apex has two exZipra commanders: General PV Sibanda who heads ZDF and Air Marshal Elson Moyo, who heads the Air Force and who did not see eye to eye with former boss, Rt Air Marshal Perence Shiri. ExZanla has command of ZNA!With General Chiwenga having to contend with troubling health challenges, and doing so remarkably, military influence in politics has shifted from ZanuPF to government; with General @MinisterSBMoyo emerging as the power horse, notwithstanding his own health challenges!The most vocal agitators that have declared ZanuPF dead, like @ShingiMunyeza, one of@edmnangagwa ‘s advisors who says his boss is presiding over an evil system based on an occult, are inspired by @MinisterSBMoyo whom they see as the voice of reason in govt, outside ZanuPF!

Why must ZanuPF go? As I adumbrated upfront, it’s not so much that ZanuPF must go but that people must see that it has disintegrated physically & hegemonically as a system or culture; yet its caricature remains & the military is using it for bad things, disguised as ZanuPF!The five effects of ZanuPF’s takeover by the military necessitate ZanuPF to go & also confirm it’s gone but remains a caricature. ZanuPF is no longer viable to exZanla commanders; is not an option for exZipra now in charge of ZDF & was rejected by voters in the 2018 polls!What is to be done? The people & the military must find each other. The people embraced the military in Nov 2017. Now the military should make amends & embrace the people by respecting their 2 018 vote for @nelsonchamisa. It’s the people who must govern, not the military!

Son to the late President Robert Mugabe, Chatunga has accused the Emmerson Mnangagwa administration of running Zimbabwe like a Tuckshop.

This follows the latest government move to suspend mobile money transactions after failing to control the runaway exchange rate that has caused untold suffering on the citizenry who now have to endure uncontrollable inflation.

By A Correspondent- Authorities at Beitbridge Border Post have increased surveillance and anti-smuggling activities during the ongoing lockdown and 21 trucks and 22 other vehicles smuggling an assortment of goods worth millions of dollars have since been intercepted.

Zimbabwe remains the only viable transit route for countries that include Zambia, Malawi, DRC, Tanzania and Angola.

According to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), traffic volumes per day, both import and export, increased from an average of 450 daily in 2019 to 1 000 between March and June this year.

Prior to the lockdown, Zimra was clearing around 500 commercial trucks daily.

Zimra’s regional manager for Beitbridge, Mr Innocent Chikuni recently said the smuggling of groceries and related items remains the biggest challenge.

He was speaking during the tour of the border by the revenue authority’s senior managers and Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube.

“Working with other stakeholders we have been able to seize goods from 56 offenders and impounded 22 motor vehicles between April and May at undesignated entry points along the Limpopo River,” said Mr Chikuni.

“In addition, smuggling activities through the border post are surging because of the increased traffic. Between March and May we recorded 81 seizures including 21 commercial trucks and trailers. We are now looking at increased automation of most processes and concentration of staff to control the high-risk cargo to minimize smuggling through the main port of entry.”

Mr Chikuni said he believed that if they deploy more human and material resources to man or patrol undesignated entry points, they can reduce criminal activities at undesignated crossing point along the Limpopo river.

He said the border has become a Covid-19 hotspot in the country considering current infection figures and risks associated with the interface between various Government agencies and stakeholders operating within and outside of the border.

Mr Chikuni said they were working with stakeholders among them health officials to minimise risks of new infections.

“To speed up traffic movement we have introduced; mandatory pre- arrival clearance of all cargo – enforcement; use of risk management in the processing of the cargo – in place of 100% intervention. We also recommend the use of the pre-clearance facilities – online communication and clearances of groceries that come as consolidated (Omalaitsha),” he said.

“Additionally, we opened up more release lanes through the use of private vehicles/bus lane for low risk commercial cargo including Government maize and so far, 123,280,733 kgs have been imported in 3500 trucks since the beginning of the year. More importantly we are liaising and coordinating with other stakeholders on both the South African and Zimbabwean components of the border to address challenges as and when they arise.

-statemedia

By A Correspondent| The government has threatened to withdraw licences of shops rejecting $1 and $2 coins as well as $2 and $5 bond notes.

Businesses started rejecting the lower denominations as soon as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced $10 and $20 notes.

But while responding to questions from MPs in Parliament on Wednesday regarding the punitive measures that the government had put in place to force both businesses and individuals to accept the money as legal tender, Finance deputy minister Clemence Chiduwa urged citizens to report such cases to the police.

“What I would have wanted to say is that it is a comprehensive statement on that but on another note, in terms of the sanctions that have been given, especially to big wholesalers and retailers, in the event that they refuse the legal tender for Zimbabwe, under ministry of Industry and Commerce, we have got a section where we withdraw licences,” Chiduwa said.

The minister said for individuals rejecting the legal tender the case is however, treated as civil and not criminal.

“In terms of what we have done as intervention to make sure that people accept the bond notes and the bank notes as legal tender, we have issued a statement advising all stakeholders and the businesses informing them that the bond notes, bank notes and bond coins are still legal tender and it is illegal to refuse such in all our trading.

“For all those who have gone to shops where coins and notes have been rejected, they should report to the nearest police. At the moment, there are only civil sanctions not criminal.  I think I would need to provide a statement on that issue but not now,” he said.

This comes as police have also threatened informal traders rejecting the denominations leaving citizens stranded.

In a statement this week, police spokesperson Paul Nyathi urged the public to report people who are not accepting the local currency.

“The Zimbabwe Republic Police has noted with concern that some businesspeople, especially informal traders are refusing to accept local currency coins, $2 and $5 notes, which is illegal. The police will not hesitate to enforce the law on anyone found to be disregarding the country’s laws, especially during this lockdown period.

“The public is again urged to report such errant people for swift action to be taken,” Nyathi said.

-online

By A Correspondent| Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife, Marry, has been barred from accessing their children, cars and property – including their plush Borrowdale home – after the Supreme Court yesterday set aside a provisional order she had attained from the High Court.

The Supreme Court bench led by deputy chief justice Elizabeth Gwaunza and two other judges, Paddington Garwe and Chinembiri Bhunu, noted how Marry’s lawyers had misled her by making an improper application in the High Court matter.

Marry was represented by Mtetwa and Nyambirai Legal Practitioners, who had applied for a provisional spoliation order – after being denied access to her matrimonial home and was not aware of her children’s whereabouts – which was granted by High Court judge Christopher Dube-Banda.

Chiwenga, through his lawyers Wilson Manase of Manase and Manase – who instructed Lewis Uriri – then challenged the position and sought reprieve from the Supreme Court.

“The respondent (Marry) unfortunately did not get the benefit of sound legal advice in order to assert her rights. Regrettably, this is the sort of case where one cannot escape the consequences of the conduct of his or her legal practitioner,” Gwaunza said.

“The respondent’s conduct in presenting an incompetent claim and her unsubstantiated attack on the appellant’s (Chiwenga) character could have justified an order for punitive costs against her.

“However, in light of the fact that she did not get appropriate legal advice and representation from her lawyers, the court takes the view that an order of costs on the higher scale would be unduly harsh.”

Gwaunza noted how Dube-Banda had grossly erred by granting Marry’s request made through an application that was unjustified at law.

“The appeal succeeds in part with costs … the appeal against the finding of the court a quo on urgency be and is hereby dismissed. The matter be and hereby struck off the roll with costs,” Gwaunza ordered.

The apex court ruled that the custody issues would only be determined on the merits after hearing of evidence.

“… for no good reason and at the instance of her lawyers, the respondent claimed custody of her children under the nonexistent and inapplicable law of provisional spoliation.

“As already stated, the learned judge in the court a quo, presumably having realised that the respondent’s claim was incompetent and a nullity at law, improperly granted her a final interdict which she had not asked for. The order cannot stand.

“The court was at fault in that it determined a matter that was not before it and without hearing argument on the question of whether or not to grant the provisional spoliation order. The question of the final interdict was supposed to be argued and determined on the return day which, however, never saw the light of day.”

-DailyNews