I would like to dispel rumours that I am in discussions with @DrThoko_Khupe branch of the MDC. These reports aren't true. The events taking within the MDC are a sore point for the whole nation. My hope is the we the people can rise above petty politics in this very crucial hour.

— Jacob Ngarivhume (@jngarivhume) June 23, 2020

1] Ever since the Supreme Court Judgement, there have been so many lies it is difficult to catch up. The Leaders of the old new MDC-T have been lying with straight faces, it’s a thing of beauty. Inevitably, the state media has jumped to the train and has been lying in their name.

2] Mwonzora lied about some “smooth handover takeover of MRT House”. He further lied that state security was not involved. To this day, Mwonzora lies that the police are not guarding HH. Whereas Mwonzora claims ZRP was at HH by chance, Sen Morgen Komichi had a different version.

3] In their attempt to push Adv Chamisa away from the MDC name, Mwonzora lied about meeting Ngaribvume and other ALLIANCE partners. Seeing that their ownership of MDC-T carries no electoral weight, Mwonzora is now gunning for the MDC-A. Today, Ngaribvume has exposed the lies.

4] Mwonzora has been lying about having had held virtual National Council meetings. No registers! Mwonzora lied about holding National Standing Committee meetings yet his faction only had 3 of the previous 15 members. How can 3 people legally constitute a 15 members structure?

5] MaKhupe has been lying about being in charge of 103 MPs. Mwonzora lies about having the majority of MPs. Reality is, even armed with the ability to recall them, the MPs have continued to defy him. Risking recalls, MDC-A MPs still recognize Adv Chamisa as their Leader.

6] Shakespeare has exposed the long-held lie that Nelson Chamisa sent youths to burn MaKhupe and other MDC-T Leaders in Humanikwa. Without exposing what he apologized for to MaKhupe, Shakespeare CATEGORICALLY says that Adv Chamisa personally sent him to address those threatening violence.

7] State media continues to label Chamisa as an illegitimate Leader. Illegitimate Leader of what? Chamisa now leads a distinct political formation recognized even by those who recalled MPs. There is no Leadership question in the MDC-A but the resurrected MDC-T.

8] There is the lie that through the MDC-A, Chamisa has moved away from the MDC of 1999. That movement has historically taken different shapes. In fact, in the MDC-A, Chamisa is MRT’s successor. Tsvangirai was the first Leader of the BIG TENT MDC-A Chamisa succeeded him.

9] Those who support the MDC are not bothered by the name it uses. They embraced MRT when he employed the moniker “T”. They unequivocally knew which MDC they wanted. Thinking the magic was in the “T”, MaKhupe ran away with it & achieved nothing. MDC supporters are rational.

10] Dr Mashakada lies that ZCTU transformed into a party. Balance me here: How did ZCTU transform into something else & yet remain in its original state? How & when did Student Leaders hijack a party they helped form? How can Prof Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti, Adv Chamisa be labelled Mafikizolo?

11] And now State media has been helping Dr Mashakada lie that Dr Magombeyi & the MDC3 faked their abduction. You can only hope that he has enough data bundles to do short videos dispelling ZBC lies. By the time they are done doing damage in his name, he won’t know what hit him.

12] And now they have postponed their ill-fated EOC. In the meantime, they are coopting each other whilst pretending they have gone back to their original state as between 2014 and 2016. Varume vakuru nevakadzi vakuru kuita kuchinjana kunyepa. THESE ARE VERIFIED LIES.

Twitter- Davis Laque

State Media

TWO more people, believed to be Malawians escaped yesterday from a quarantine centre at NSSA Hotel in Beitbridge after testing positive to Covid-19, bringing the total number of those that have so far escaped to 184 countrywide.

Last week, a Harare man escaped from a quarantine centre at Harare Polytechnic after testing positive to Covid-19 and police have launched a manhunt for all the suspects to prevent the spread of the virus.

Police are also looking for another man who escaped at the same centre before knowing his Covid-19 status.

In a statement national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi appealed to relatives and friends of the escapee to report the whereabouts these men.

He said the two Malawians escaped on Sunday.

“Two Malawians escaped from NSSA Hotel, Beitbridge after testing positive for the Covid-19 virus. The cumulative number of escapees is now 184 while those arrested remain at 28.

“We continue to urge members of the public to report suspected cases or those who are entering the country through undesignated entry points evading the Covid-19 screening process at their nearest police station of telephone 0242 703631/WhatsApp number +263712800197,” Asst Comm Nyathi said.

He said on Sunday alone 914 people were arrested countrywide for various offences related to contravening the national lockdown regulations, bringing the total number to 75 134 arrested so far.

State Media

MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzai Mahere has apologised to the people of Bulawayo for pronouncing the City’s Ndebele name in a twisted way this after an uproar by forces against her elevation to be the party spokesperson.

In her apology written in perfect Ndebele, Mahere says she has been learning the language for two months and hopes to learn quickly.

Below is he tweet.

Salibonani Bulawayo omuhle!

Sengilenyanga ezimbili ngifunda isiNdebele. Ngiya xolisa ngendlela engibize ngayo uBulawayo, ngisa funda. Libe lelanga elihle.❤

— Fadzayi Mahere?? (@advocatemahere) June 23, 2020

State Media

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is also the current chairperson of the SADC Organ of Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation, has urged stakeholders in today’s Malawi presidential elections to be politically tolerant and channel any grievances arising from the polls to relevant bodies.

Almost a year after Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika’s disputed election victory that was annulled in February by the country’s Constitutional Court, Malawians are casting their votes again to choose a new President.

President Mutharika, who is vying for a second term is up against opposition coalition leader Mr Lazarus Chakwera in an election high on emotions.

Although the opposition embraced the February annulment of the presidential results, President Mutharika described it as a “serious subversion of justice” which marked the death of the country’s democracy leading to the building of tensions ahead of today’s polls.

In a statement issued on Monday President Mnangagwa said as Malawians vote, SADC stands in solidarity with its people and remains engaged with all stakeholders in that country.

“SADC also urges stakeholders to remain politically tolerant and peaceful in the remaining campaign period, and to exercise calm and restraint during and after election-day.

“Furthermore, SADC encourages all candidates, their supporters and other stakeholders to channel any grievances regarding the electoral process and its final outcomes through the appropriate legal channels,” the President said.

Malawians have gone to vote under the dark cloud of Covid-19, a global pandemic that has not spared Africa. To curb the spread of the highly contagious disease, nations have introduced a raft of measures such as social distancing, limits on the number of people in public gatherings, regular washing of hands and also wearing face masks.

President Mnangagwa called on stakeholders in Malawi to thus embrace innovative voting measures in the wake of the highly contagious Covid-19 pandemic.

“SADC remains engaged with stakeholders in Malawi, and reaffirms its solidarity with the people of Malawi in this period of uncertainty and risk caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In this regard, SADC commends all stakeholders for their efforts in ensuring that the people of Malawi exercise their democratic right to vote in the face of challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. SADC encourages all stakeholders to apply innovative election campaign and voting measures that minimise chances of the spread of the virus”.

There have been concerns in some circles over how Malawi will manage logistical and safety challenges of conducting an election in the throes of a worldwide pandemic.

Own Correspondent

Following the introduction of a Foreign Exchange Auction Trading system by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) which came into effect this Tuesday, the official Zimbabwe dollar exchange rate to the US dollar is now $57.36.

According to the RBZ, bids totalling over USD11 million were received with the highest rate at $100 while the lowest rate was $26.

This exchange rate will run for one week until next Tuesday when the next auction is held. In terms of the new system, the auctions will be held every Tuesday

This means that we will have a new rate every week – provided it changes.

See picture below:

Own Correspondent

The MDC Alliance has condemned the recall of nine of its MPs as announced by the Speaker of Parliament on Tuesday.

The party says this recall is a violent onslaught on the will of the people who elected MDC Alliance MPs into Parliament.

Watch ZimEye.com live discussion on the recalls initiated by Douglas Mwonzora with Thokozani Khupe.

Watch the video downloading below. Please be patient as the video downloads.

Own Correspondent

The High Court postponed judgement in a bail application by the MDC activists arrested for allegedly taking an abduction by state agents.

The judge said he will give a ruling on Friday 27 June 2020.

MDC Alliance MP, Joanna Mamombe and two party activists have been in person for the last two weeks to face charges of faking their abduction.

Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova in May claimed they were abducted by state security agents who later drove them out of Harare to subject them to acts of both physical and sexual abuse.

They later spent weeks under police and prisons guard while recovering for injuries sustained, at a Harare private hospital.

The three also face charges of violating the country’s lockdown regulations through a flash anti-government demonstration they staged in Harare’s Warren Park suburb earlier on the day of their alleged abductions.

Remarks by the Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe

FinX

Cabinet has directed the national statistics agency to conduct the national census next year instead of the planned 2022, which would have been held close to the general elections in 2023.

The population census is set to gobble US$85.5m.

ZimStat general manager Taguma Mahonde confirmed that the census would be conducted next year and that the statistics agency had already re-aligned its activities in accordance with the new dates by increasing the number of teams currently involved in the mapping exercise.

“The mapping programme is the foundation of the enumeration programme and we have had to re-adjust our work on this programme hence when we started we had 14 teams covering the whole country and these have been increased to 42 teams,” he said.

The national population census is census is a constitutionally mandated procedure, which occurs after every ten years. The last one was held in 2012. Oftentimes, individuals do not think of a census having a direct effect on elections, but it does. At its most basic level, a population census is needed simply to determine how many people there are in the country and where they live. Secondly a census, especially with information on demographics, provides an important statistical snapshot of the population that can be used for planning purposes. However, for election purposes it provides the context for events such as redistricting and voter targeting.

University of Zimbabwe lecturer and political scientist Eldred Masunungure said while results of any census would not be available with two years, bringing the exercise forward could be a political decision made with the 2023 harmonised elections in mind.

“While all cabinet decisions are political in nature, there are also political because there are made by and for people who wield political power and for their interests.

“A census is a technical process which is often preceded by a political decision whose implications can never be under-estimated.”

In a not so recent chat Zimstat chair Doug Hoto said that there is a general lack of understanding of the country’s population patterns and it is only through an organised structure from a cell level that political parties would be able to understand the dynamics.

He said the Zimbabwe election landscape consists of 68,4 percent rural and 31,6 percent urban voters and the population figures should ideally assist in election targeting. It is the rural dynamics mostly that the political parties need to understand.

“One interesting thing that happened in 2018 unlike the previous years, Uzumba Maramba-Pfungwe (UMP) was not the top voter and UMP used to be one constituency but its divided into two and the votes there were around 21 000 and the biggest single vote for the President was in Chiredzi North at 33 000 against 3 000 for the rest of the opposition.

“But to start with, you need to see how many people are in Chiredzi District as a whole. Many people think this district is a small place and they think Triangle is in Chiredzi District and yet the District starts from where Bikita ends, up to the Malipati Barder post and up to Ngundu to Save River. Chiredzi had 301 000 people at the last census count, so if you divide it into four constituencies it means a constituency has an average 75 000 and if you take adults who are about 50 percent of the people then you know you have at least 37 000 voters in a constituency,” said Hoto.

He noted that despite the excellent performance by Chiredzi District, Hurungwe remains the biggest district in terms of population in Zimbabwe with 350 000 people.

Meanwhile, Magonde said that Zimstat was undergoing a restructuring exercise, which has resulted in some of the directors and managers being stripped off their titles. This had heightened reports of low morale among staff at a time the organisation has to carry out a key programme such as the national census.

Mahonde said low morale among Zimstat workers was expected although the restructuring exercise was part of recommendations the council made to Treasury.

“Any organisation needs to restructure in order to achieve its goals but this is just a pending proposal which has yet to be approved by Treasury.

“The fact that workers are concerned about the restructuring is not a problem because it is a positive move that is meant to attain certain goals within the organisation.

“We cannot not celebrate that morale is high among the workers because of decadence hence the need to go through the restructuring programme,” he said.

I would like to dispel rumours that I am in discussions with @DrThoko_Khupe branch of the MDC. These reports aren't true. The events taking within the MDC are a sore point for the whole nation. My hope is the we the people can rise above petty politics in this very crucial hour.

— Jacob Ngarivhume (@jngarivhume) June 23, 2020

Former Zanu Pf stalwart who was shown the exit door for being in the “wrong basket” before he openly joined the opposition Kudakwashe Bhasikiti has said the intimidatory tactics against citizens should stop revealing that he woke up to a bullet hole at his house in Borrowdale Harare.

Said Bhasikiti:

“Woke up today to bullet hole on my house in Borrowdale.This intimidatory tactics should end.Citizens are not a threat to anyone.Address Economic&Social needs of the populace.NOT ME.”

Woke up today to bullet hole on my house in Borrowdale.This intimidatory tactics should end.Citizens are not a threat to anyone.Address Economic&Social needs of the populace.NOT ME.

— Dr.K.Bhasikiti. (@KbhasikitiGmai1) June 23, 2020

ZBC

THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has re-assured the nation that bond notes are still legal tender.

This follows recent reports that some retail outlets and business entities are not accepting bond notes.

In an exclusive interview with ZBC News, RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya dismissed social media reports that bond notes are no longer acceptable.

“People should have trust with our money, it is disheartening for some people to spread such lies and misinforming the public, I have seen some women circulating information that the bonds notes are no longer acceptable, this is fake news which should not be accepted because the notes still have its value,’’ said the Governor.

Dr Mangudya advised people who have been holding onto large amounts of bond notes to deposit them or use them for buying goods.

“My assurance is that the bond notes are still legal tender, the two, five, ten and twenty notes are still legal tender which can be used interchangeably, i am aware the money is acceptable in all big shops, while those who are nearer to the banks can go and deposit and get new notes,” the RBZ boss said.

The issue of bond notes also came under the spotlight in parliament recently, with Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube assuring the nation that bond notes remain a medium of exchange but will be phased out gradually and replaced by the new notes.

1] Ever since the Supreme Court Judgement, there have been so many lies it is difficult to catch up. The Leaders of the old new MDC-T have been lying with straight faces, it’s a thing of beauty. Inevitably, the state media has jumped to the train and has been lying in their name.

2] Mwonzora lied about some “smooth handover takeover of MRT House”. He further lied that state security was not involved. To this day, Mwonzora lies that the police are not guarding HH. Whereas Mwonzora claims ZRP was at HH by chance, Sen Morgen Komichi had a different version.

3] In their attempt to push Adv Chamisa away from the MDC name, Mwonzora lied about meeting Ngaribvume and other ALLIANCE partners. Seeing that their ownership of MDC-T carries no electoral weight, Mwonzora is now gunning for the MDC-A. Today, Ngaribvume has exposed the lies.

4] Mwonzora has been lying about having had held virtual National Council meetings. No registers! Mwonzora lied about holding National Standing Committee meetings yet his faction only had 3 of the previous 15 members. How can 3 people legally constitute a 15 members structure?

5] MaKhupe has been lying about being in charge of 103 MPs. Mwonzora lies about having the majority of MPs. Reality is, even armed with the ability to recall them, the MPs have continued to defy him. Risking recalls, MDC-A MPs still recognize Adv Chamisa as their Leader.

6] Shakespeare has exposed the long-held lie that Nelson Chamisa sent youths to burn MaKhupe and other MDC-T Leaders in Humanikwa. Without exposing what he apologized for to MaKhupe, Shakespeare CATEGORICALLY says that Adv Chamisa personally sent him to address those threatening violence.

7] State media continues to label Chamisa as an illegitimate Leader. Illegitimate Leader of what? Chamisa now leads a distinct political formation recognized even by those who recalled MPs. There is no Leadership question in the MDC-A but the resurrected MDC-T.

8] There is the lie that through the MDC-A, Chamisa has moved away from the MDC of 1999. That movement has historically taken different shapes. In fact, in the MDC-A, Chamisa is MRT’s successor. Tsvangirai was the first Leader of the BIG TENT MDC-A Chamisa succeeded him.

9] Those who support the MDC are not bothered by the name it uses. They embraced MRT when he employed the moniker “T”. They unequivocally knew which MDC they wanted. Thinking the magic was in the “T”, MaKhupe ran away with it & achieved nothing. MDC supporters are rational.

10] Dr Mashakada lies that ZCTU transformed into a party. Balance me here: How did ZCTU transform into something else & yet remain in its original state? How & when did Student Leaders hijack a party they helped form? How can Prof Welshman Ncube, Tendai Biti, Adv Chamisa be labelled Mafikizolo?

11] And now State media has been helping Dr Mashakada lie that Dr Magombeyi & the MDC3 faked their abduction. You can only hope that he has enough data bundles to do short videos dispelling ZBC lies. By the time they are done doing damage in his name, he won’t know what hit him.

12] And now they have postponed their ill-fated EOC. In the meantime, they are coopting each other whilst pretending they have gone back to their original state as between 2014 and 2016. Varume vakuru nevakadzi vakuru kuita kuchinjana kunyepa. THESE ARE VERIFIED LIES.

Twitter- Davis Laque

By A Correspondent- Following the introduction of a Foreign Exchange Auction Trading system by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) which came into effect this Tuesday, the official Zimbabwe dollar exchange rate to the US dollar is now $57.36.

According to the RBZ, bids totalling over USD11 million were received with the highest rate at $100 while the lowest rate was $26.

The weighted average rate was, therefore, $57.36.

This exchange rate will run for one week until next Tuesday when the next auction is held. In terms of the new system, the auctions will be held every Tuesday

This means that we will have a new rate every week – provided it changes.

See picture below:

263Chat

Doctors have added their voices on calls by nurses for government to offer better salaries and are in the process of engaging all members on the course of action following a strike by the nurses.

The medical practitioners have also condemned the looting of funds meant for the betterment of service provision in the medical field citing the Covid-gate saga.

The government recently increased salaries by 50% and also put a US $75 allowances for all civil servants but the nurses rejected the offer demanding more as they feel the amount does not resonate with soaring inflation which stood at 785,55% as of May.

Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association spokesperson, Tawanda Zvakada in an interview said the association is still engaging its members on action to take contrary to reports in some media publications that the doctors were going on strike.

“We are receiving salaries in Zimdollar which is loosing value everyday as prices are going up. We recently got an increment and an allowance of US $75 which which is failing to meet our day to day demands,” said Dr Zvakada.

Nurses say they will not return to work until their demands are met, a position confirmed by Mpilo Central Hospital acting clinical director Xolani Ndlovu yesterday.

“Most of the qualified nurses are at home, they did not report for duty. They vowed that they will not come back until government addresses their demands. We only have a skeleton staff most of them being nurses on probation. We also have doctors and some have already started threatening to join the strike soon,” Ndlovu said,

Mpilo Hospital is dealing with emergencies only.

Ministry of Health and Child Care Acting Permanent Secretary Gibson Mhlanga has since written to defense of the ministry requesting support for the paralyzed health institutions.

In a letter addressed to Defence secretary Mark Grey Marongwe, Mhlanga said medical personnel from the Zimbabwe Defence Forces would augment coverage for emergencies and provision of patient care during the absence of nurses.

“We will be calling upon your health services personnel to assist in the hotspots at the central hospitals as requested by the chief executive officers and provincial medical directors of the affected institutions. Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated,” he wrote.

The Senior Hospital Doctors Association also said its members were overwhelmed and pleaded with the government to act.

“The situation at the hospitals is now dire. There is no care available as health workers cannot afford to come to work anymore,” a senior doctor said.

“As senior doctors, we condemn the looting of funds meant for the COVID-19 fight and for capacitating our hospitals. We call upon the government to act,” he said.

Own Correspondent

MDC-T secretary-general, Douglas Mwonzora has recalled nine MDC Alliance legislators from Parliament.

Speaker of National Assembly, Advocate Jacob Mudenda on Tuesday announced the recalling of the nine MDC legislators who have been accused of supporting Nelson Chamisa.

The recalled MPs are Amos Chibaya (Mkoba, Happymore Chidziva (Highfield West), Basilia Majaya (Proportinal Representative) and Mutarairwa Mugido

Others also recalled include Virginia Muradzikwa, Anna Muyambo (Proportional Representative), Francesica Ncube, Nomathemba Ndlovu and Murisi Zvidzai (Harare Central).

The lawmakers were recalled following the recent Supreme Court ruling which nullified the election Chamisa as the MDC-T leader, instructing the opposition to revert back to the 2014 party structures where Thokozani Khupe was the party’s deputy to Morgan Tsvangirai.

Watch video downloading below:

By A Correspondent- MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa has taken the battle to control the heart and soul of the opposition to party structures, dispatching his top leadership to conduct branch meetings across the country in an effort to outfox his rivals.

Chamisa himself was in Mbare, Chitungwiza and Mabvuku from Friday to Sunday where he met party members, danced to local dancehall music with ghetto youths and was mobbed by hundreds of supporters as the MDC Alliance said it was mobilising for mass action against President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.

Chamisa’s presidential affairs secretary, Jameson Timba confirmed that the party was gearing to demand living wages for the people, a stop to corruption and a better Zimbabwe.

“The president has been about meeting the people, listening to their challenges and offering direction. If you remember our plan and strategy was to have action, to confront the evils of corruption and poverty caused by the Zanu-PF government. We were supposed to have gone across the country and dealt with these things by May, but the plans were scuttled by COVID-19,”Timba said.

Chamisa, ousted from party headquarters, Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House and fired by acting MDC-T president Thokozani Khupe from the party, drew cheers as he met ordinary party members.

During the tours Chamisa told NewsDay that he remained in control of the party and its structures and would not be deterred by his opponents.

“I can’t be told that I don’t have a party by people whom I defeated at polls using that party. Go and check the records. The MDC Alliance is the party that won elections. The leader of the MDC Alliance beat Emmerson Mnangagwa in the rigged elections. He can’t forgive us over that drubbing,” he said.

Chamisa contested the final presidential results announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission insisting that he had garnered 2,6 million votes to win the presidency although he lost the challenge in court.

Khupe, who assumed leadership, through a Supreme Court ruling, also ran as a presidential candidate and got an official tally of 45 000 votes.

In an effort to win the hearts of supporters, the underfire Chamisa, who has been suffering crucial court defeats, dispatched secretary for rural mobilisation Happymore Chidziva to mobilise structures and close out Khupe’s team.

Chidziva said he had been holding branch meetings and was enjoying massive support from the business community and party members at home and abroad who were funding his outreach programme.

“The party is not stopping, it’s going ahead and I can tell you we are solid, over 200 branch meetings have taken place. We are getting support from our members and there is no doubt that they know where they stand,” Chidziva said.

Last week, MDC Alliance secretary-general Chalton Hwende announced that they had received close to $210 000 for rural structures from a South African businessman.

Meanwhile, Khupe’s MDC-T said it was planning to recall 20 MPs who got into Parliament on an MDC Alliance ticket with close sources revealing that a batch of 12 would be booted out of the august House as early as this afternoon.

Impeccable sources yesterday told NewsDay that four top Chamisa loyalists including his deputy Lynette Karenyi-Kore, who is women’s quota proportional representation MP for Manicaland and organising secretary Amos Chibaya (Mkoba MP) would also face recall.

“Firstly, you need to realise that last week the MDC-T made replacements in the standing committee which existed in 2014 and was reinstated by the Supreme Court ruling. Among some people who were replaced are Karenyi-Kore, Chibaya, Murisi Zwizwai and Happymore Chidziva, who are all current MPs. These, therefore, are obviously going to be on the first list of MPs to be recalled today,” the source said.

On Thursday last week, a senior staff member in acting secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora’s office, Norest Marara, posted on his Facebook page hinting on the imminent purge.

“Tuesday 23/06/2020. Someone will cease to be honourable and will be dishonourable,” he wrote.

Contacted for comment, MDC-T deputy spokesperson Khalipani Phungeni said: “Yes, indeed we have replaced about four members in the standing committee who have since joined another political party. You will appreciate that our constitution says if you join another party you have dismissed yourself (from the party).”

“So someone who has dismissed himself or herself from the party can no longer represent us in Parliament. So yes, I can confirm that members who have fired themselves from the party have no business representing our interests in Parliament. Only members of MDC-T can represent MDC-T in Parliament.”

Phungeni could not be drawn into revealing the actual date on which the MDC Alliance MPs would be recalled from Parliament.

MDC Alliance deputy spokesperson Clifford Hlatshwayo said the party’s reaction on the possible recalls would be guided by recommendations of their national council.

“What we have always said is that MDCT and MDC Alliance are two different parties which even went to congresses separately. So it will be illegal for Khupe to recall our MPs. Their call for sticking to 2014 structures is like a reverse jive song which people now want to enjoy as a freshly-released hit music. The 2014 structures were overtaken by events. However, we will be guided by recommendations of our national council if they continue to recall our MPs,” he said.

-Newsday

By A Correspondent- The MDC-T led by Thokozani Khupe has recalled nine more MDC Alliance legislators from parliament.

This brings to 13 the total number of recalled legislators.

Speaker of the National Assembly, Jacob Mudenda, announced the recalling of the MDC legislators – Amos Chibaya (Mkoba) Happymore Chidziva (Highfield), Basilia Majaya, Mutarairwa Mugido, Virginia Muradzikwa, Anna Muyambo, Francesca Ncube, Nomathemba Ndlovu and Murisi Zwizwai (Harare Central).

Last month, acting MDC-T secretary-general, Douglas Mwonzora wrote to Mudenda and Senate President Mabel Chonomona, informing them that certain MDC Alliance MPs had ceased being members of the party.

The legislators that were recalled in May were Kuwadzana East MP Chalton Hwende, Chikanga-Dangamvura MP Prosper Mutseyami, Bulawayo East MP Thabitha Khumalo and Senator Lillian Timveos.

This is a developing story. Refresh this page for latest updates.

By A Correspondent- The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) John Panonetsa Mangudya has reiterated that bond coins and notes are still legal following numerous reports that some traders are no longer accepting them.

In an exclusive interview with ZBC News, Mangudya urged members of the public to treat as fake news social media reports claiming that bond notes are no longer acceptable.

He said:

People should have trust with our money, it is disheartening for some people to spread such lies and misinforming the public, I have seen some women circulating information that the bonds notes are no longer acceptable, this is fake news which should not be accepted because the notes still have its value.

My assurance is that the bond notes are still legal tender, the two, five, ten and twenty notes are still legal tender which can be used interchangeably.

I am aware the money is acceptable in all big shops, while those who are nearer to the banks can go and deposit and get new notes.

Finance and Economic Development Minister, Mthuli Ncube recently told Parliament that bond notes remain a medium of exchange but will be phased out gradually and replaced by the new notes.

The rejection of bond notes and coins by shops and businesses gathered pace after the government announced measures to partially redollarise the economy.

-StateMedia

By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwean government has reiterated that all returning citizens, without exception, will undergo the mandatory quarantine period as a way of preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus.

Citizens who return home in order to attend funerals of their loved ones, or to renew their travel documents will not be exempted from being sent to quarantine centres.

Posting on his Twitter account, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting services, Ndavaningi Nick Mangwana said:

There are a number of enquiries from bereaved foreign-based Zimbabweans wanting to bring the remains of dearly departed relatives home and attend the sending offs.

Public Health Regulations in place to protect communities are such that you can’t be exempted from being quarantined.

Mangwana also said the production of passports has been negatively affected by lockdown measures and the government is working on solutions.

He said:

The lockdown measures in place to protect lives affected a lot of services. One such disturbed service is the production of passports.

This has affected some of our nationals in the Diaspora seeking to renew their documents. Govt is aware of the problem and working on solutions.

-StateMedia

By A Correspondent- Ailing ‘street theatre’ actor Charles “Marabha” Mapalume collapsed on Sunday night, giving his family quite a scare.

Marabha has been unwell in the recently weeks and it took wellwishwers locally and internationally to help him finance his bills and general welfare.

He sustained head injuries after he was attacked by thugs  and  he has been developing fits amid fears he has an internal wound on the head.

In an interview with H-Metro, Marabha’s brother Paradzai Mapalume who has been looking after the actor ever since his health deteriorated begged Mahwindo and her partners to continue rendering support to his younger brother.

“As a family we are grateful to well-wishers and people like Mahwindo who have been supportive when my brother got seriously ill.

“When Marabha’s condition was shared on social media, we were shocked by the response he received from wellwishers.”

Alert! Harare East Youth Assembly Chairman Arrested!

Harare East MDC Alliance Youth Assembly Chairman, Prince Mutebuka has been arrested.

He is currently at Harare Central Police Station Law and Order Section in company of his lawyer and Vice National Chairman Hon Job Sikhala.

Prince is being charged with allegedly participating in an unsanctioned demonstration in Mabvuku sometime in March this year.

His arrest adds up to the number of MDC Alliance activists who have been arrested in an illegal blitzkrieg by ZRP whose sinister agenda is to silence the opposition from questioning Emmerson Mnangagwa’s corrupt and illegitimate regime.

We maintain that the arrests are clear cases of persecution by prosecution.

It is shameful that the regime is letting real criminals like Obadiah Moyo who fraudulently awarded millions to Gulen Movement terrorists walk scot free while at the same time persecuting innocent civilians.

Stephen Sarkozy Chuma
_MDC_Alliance
Youth Assembly National Spokesperson

ZLHR on the frontline; @ZLHRLawyers Kudzai Choga is now at Chinhoyi Magistrates Court representing 8 Chinhoyi University of Technology students arrested Monday & charged for allegedly protesting against detention of @mdczimbabwe trio & police brutality. pic.twitter.com/vLxDcNYene

— ZLHR (@ZLHRLawyers) June 23, 2020

“Is Zimbabwe waiting for 2023 to implement media reforms?“

Said Pearl, one of the panelists in a video conferencing call held under the topic “Media reforms and Press freedom under Covid-19 lockdown in Zimbabwe —challenges, impact on freedom of expression” (Time: Jun 23, 2020 12:00 PM Harare, Pretoria Hosted by @Newsday)

“…. We are so slow to implement the recommendations made by the international community regarding media reforms. Are we also waiting for 2023 to implement these?”

Watch the discussive live video loading below………..

“….The current situation in Zimbabwe points to more of a semi authoritarian state….”

Watch the live video loading below….

By A Correspondent- War veterans leader, Christopher Mutsvangwa has disowned a Twitter handle registered in his name saying he never had an account on the microblogging site.

He speaks when the handle in his name has been used to exchange insults with fellow ZANU PF official, Victor Matemadanda. Mutsvangwa said:

I do not have a Twitter account now and never had one. The Twitter account bearing my name and my picture is a creation of G40 Jonathan Moyo. He feels entitled to the ZANLA wing of the historical national liberation movement by hereditary writ.

He views his Christopher Mutsvangwa as his nemesis as in the November 2017 Operation Restore Legacy. This stems from my role as Chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association-(ZNLWA). We spearheaded the drive to thwart his treacherous G40 antics at power grab by this traitor of long practice since he absconded from Mgagau Camp ZANLA ranks in 1975-6.

The conversation that was circulated on social media said:

Victor Matemadanda: Joana Mamombe mwana mudiki panhau dzepolitics, dai ari munhu anofunga asiyana nazvo nekuti anofa ari mwana mudiki. Ndapedza zvangu [Joana Mamombe – MDC Alliance MP- is too young for politics, she must shun politics if she is level headed.]

@cmutsvangwa: Do you forget comrade that when we went to war as teenagers, these are some of the grievances we had against the Settler regime. Even as we rise from taxi drivers to ministers, let us spare a thought for the suffering masses!

Last year, Mutsvangwa was also forced to disown the account or another one after the handle proposed a dialogue between Nelson Chamisa and President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

-StateMedia

By A Correspondent- The Chinese Embassy in Harare on Monday said the Chinese national who shot two employees in Gweru over a salary dispute must be openly investigated according to the law of Zimbabwe.

Reports suggest that on Sunday, Zhang Xuelin (41) allegedly shot two of his former workers Wendy Chikwaira (31) and Kennedy Tachiona (39) after the duo demanded their dues after being fired.

The incident sparked public outrage with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) demanding justice for the duo.

In a statement, the Embassy said lawbreakers should not be protected. Read the statement in part:

Although this is an isolated incident and the embassy has no law enforcement authority over the enterprise, we firmly support Zimbabwe’s law enforcement agencies to transparently and openly investigate and handle the case in accordance with the law of Zimbabwe.

Any possible illegal acts and persons who violate the law should not be shielded.

It is reported that after misunderstandings, Zhang withdrew a 9mm pistol, shot and injured the two who were taken to a local private hospital where Tachiona is still admitted while Chikwaira was treated and released.

Reports suggest the accused was later arrested and is awaiting to appear in court on attempted murder charges.

-StateMedia

By A Correspondent- MDC officials, who were members of the party’s national council under the late Morgan Tsvangirai, are reportedly piling pressure on acting MDC-T president Thokozani Khupe to hold a national council meeting so they could use the event to scuttle her planned extraordinary congress (EOC).

Sesel Zvidzai, who was part of the national council as Tsvangirai’s chief-of-staff, said Khupe and acting secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora were avoiding the allimportant national council meeting despite a legitimate and constitutional demand for such.

“A petition was made in May 2020 by the national council which was in office as at February 14, 2018 for a meeting of that party organ and it is being avoided. Those who claim to be abiding by the constitution are now denying organs of the party the rights provided to them by the constitution,” he said.

A total of 93 members of the national council signed a petition demanding that members of the Tsvangirai-led MDC standing committee present themselves before them.

“We, the undersigned individuals who were members of the MDC-T national council as at February 14, 2018, having noted the Supreme Court judgment in the matter Mashavire vs MDC-T and others and subsequent events, acting in terms of article 6.4.2.6 of the MDC-T constitution as it was on the same date, hereby petition for convening of a lawful meeting of the national council as constituted on that date,” the petition read.

The petition also demanded that all members of the then national council, including the fired Chalton Hwende, Nelson Chamisa, and those who left the party after February 14, 2018, be invited to attend the council meeting.

Mwonzora acknowledged receipt of the petition and said it was discussed in the MDC-T standing committee, adding that the party leadership was not in a hurry to hold the meeting.

“The attitude of the party leadership is that it is not in a hurry to hold the national council meeting because we held a virtual meeting of council recently and also because of the COVID-19 regulations. The leadership will hold a meeting of the council as soon as conditions permit,” he said.

Another party official Jameson Timba said: “They are afraid of the people. How do you talk of a standing committee that only has three people out of the possible 15? The rest they now have are coopted, they are just trying to run away from the organs of the party.”

This came as insiders say members of the national council aligned to Chamisa were plotting to use the meeting to veto the holding of the EOC and put a stop to the Khupe leadership.

“Mwonzora knows this plan, so he is bidding his time so that he meets with council members and win their hearts ahead of the meeting, the delay is strategic to give them a counter,” a source said.

-Newsday

ZACC offices have been shut down over a COVID- 19 scare.

Said a source privy to the development:

“The ZACC offices have been shut down. I am not yet sure of who is suspected to be infected, but the offices have been closed.”

This is a developing story. Refresh this page for latst updates.

By A Correspondent- MDC officials, who were members of the party’s national council under the late Morgan Tsvangirai, are reportedly piling pressure on acting MDC-T president Thokozani Khupe to hold a national council meeting so they could use the event to scuttle her planned extraordinary congress (EOC).

Sesel Zvidzai, who was part of the national council as Tsvangirai’s chief-of-staff, said Khupe and acting secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora were avoiding the all important national council meeting despite a legitimate and constitutional demand for such.

“A petition was made in May 2020 by the national council which was in office as at February 14, 2018 for a meeting of that party organ and it is being avoided. Those who claim to be abiding by the constitution are now denying organs of the party the rights provided to them by the constitution,” he said.

A total of 93 members of the national council signed a petition demanding that members of the Tsvangirai-led MDC standing committee present themselves before them.

“We, the undersigned individuals who were members of the MDC-T national council as at February 14, 2018, having noted the Supreme Court judgment in the matter Mashavire vs MDC-T and others and subsequent events, acting in terms of article 6.4.2.6 of the MDC-T constitution as it was on the same date, hereby petition for convening of a lawful meeting of the national council as constituted on that date,” the petition read.

The petition also demanded that all members of the then national council, including the fired Chalton Hwende, Nelson Chamisa, and those who left the party after February 14, 2018, be invited to attend the council meeting.

Mwonzora acknowledged receipt of the petition and said it was discussed in the MDC-T standing committee, adding that the party leadership was not in a hurry to hold the meeting.

“The attitude of the party leadership is that it is not in a hurry to hold the national council meeting because we held a virtual meeting of council recently and also because of the COVID-19 regulations. The leadership will hold a meeting of the council as soon as conditions permit,” he said.

Another party official Jameson Timba said:

“They are afraid of the people. How do you talk of a standing committee that only has three people out of the possible 15? The rest they now have are coopted, they are just trying to run away from the organs of the party.”

This came as insiders say members of the national council aligned to Chamisa were plotting to use the meeting to veto the holding of the EOC and put a stop to the Khupe leadership.

“Mwonzora knows this plan, so he is bidding his time so that he meets with council members and win their hearts ahead of the meeting, the delay is strategic to give them a counter,” a source said.

-Newsday

By A Correspondent- MDC interim president Thokozani Khupe has postponed the party’s court-directed extra-ordinary congress slated for July 31, 2020 to ensure public safety during the coronavirus pandemic.

Khupe, through her spokesperson, said that the party was looking at different ways to stay within the legal parameters of both the lockdown and of the Supreme Court ruling.

Secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora, however, said that the court had allowed them a six-week extension, which means the congress will be held before September 15, 2020.

Meanwhile, MDC officials, who were members of the party’s national council under the late Morgan Tsvangirai, are reportedly piling pressure on acting MDC-T president Thokozani Khupe to hold a national council meeting so they could use the event to scuttle her planned extraordinary congress (EOC).

Sesel Zvidzai, who was part of the national council as Tsvangirai’s chief-of-staff, said Khupe and acting secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora were avoiding the all-important national council meeting despite a legitimate and constitutional demand for such.

-DailyNews

By A Correspondent- The government of Zimbabwe has entered into an agreement with local banks with regards to Foreign Currency Accounts (FCA) for civil servants and pensioners.

Banks agreed to open the accounts free of charge and also to lower banking and transaction costs so that the US$75 allowance allocated to workers recently is not demeaned by costs.

The development was confirmed by George Charamba the Presidential spokesperson who claimed that President Mnangagwa President directed the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the Reserve Bank to make sure measures are put in place to minimise costs.

He said:

I happen to know that quite a number of banks have already offered a zero cost FCA facility to civil servants, but also offered to say the FCAs can be opened online, so you don’t have to go to the nearest town and thirdly to link those accounts with the employment numbers of every civil servants and the bank he or she uses.

Workers had expressed concern over the costs associated with opening the accounts since it costs between US$10 and US$20, depending on the bank, to open an FCA in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, banks have already started notifying clients about the development.

Siyabonga @dvocatemahere well done. Siyawamukela ngenhlonipho amazwi akho amahle, njalo siwathatha njengophawu lobukhokheli obuqotho against colonial stereotypes. Qhubeka ngomsebenzi omuhle ukuze abantu bakusekele ngobunengi babo. Ubelosukoluhle sikhulumeli senhlanganiso yabantu! https://t.co/IHNrVkLAsV

— Prof Jonathan Moyo (@ProfJNMoyo) June 23, 2020

By A Correspondent- Opposition MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa has embarked on a “meet the structures” interface premised at getting feedback from grassroots.

Chamisa’s presidential affairs secretary, Jameson Timba confirmed the development adding Chamisa himself was in Mbare, Chitungwiza and Mabvuku from Friday to Sunday meeting party members. He said:

The president (Chamisa) has been about meeting the people, listening to their challenges and offering direction. If you remember our plan and strategy was to have action, to confront the evils of corruption and poverty caused by the Zanu PF government. We were supposed to have gone across the country and dealt with these things by May, but the plans were scuttled by COVID-19.

The development is in line with the party’s strategic plan announced last year which shall also see the party working to increase its rural support base which is currently insignificant.

This also comes amid a leadership crisis in the MDC that has resulted in the division of the party into two factions -one led by Chamisa and the other by Thokozani Khupe.

The MDC Alliance has since started recruiting new members in preparation of the 2023 elections.

-Newsday

By A Correspondent- On 23 June 2018, there was an assassination attempt at a ZANU PF rally held at the White City Stadium in Bulawayo where President Emmerson Mnangagwa was campaigning for his party ahead of that year’s harmonised elections.

There was a blast a few yards from the president who was stepping off the stage to make way to his motorcade.

Dozens of people including Vice President Kembo Mohadi, Minister of Defence Oppah Muchinguri and then-wife of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga sustained injuries while Mnangagwa’s guard was blown completely dead.

In an endeavour to get to the bottom of the matter, the government roped in bomb experts from Belarus to join the country’s Criminal Investigation Department.

The team’s investigation concluded that the explosive device was an offensive fragmentation grenade made in Russia adding that it had been lobbed in Mnangagwa’s direction from a distance of about 17 to 20 meters.

Two men, described as drifters who sometimes worked as commuter omnibus touts, were arrested and later released after it was established they were not connected to the explosion

To date, the identity of the perpetrator(s) is not known, something that was described 17 months later by former War Veterans Minister, Tshinga Dube, as concerning since the perpetrators can repeat it knowing that they can get away with it.

Immediately after the blast, President Mnangagwa reshuffled his security detail.

-Online

What’s going on in Zimbabwe today, in the MDC Alliance especially: Chamisa’s party is mocked for turning into a Salad Party and this is portrayed in the following emotional graphic, quoting the Twitter fame-flame, Fadzai Mahere who calls Bulawayo, “Bhuluweyo,” and Harare, “Harari.” It is said Chamisa’s MDC has been reduced to a Salad party and an artiste describes it on top of a bottle of Heinz Salad cream.

And now suddenly Mahere’s own campaign manager ‘confirms’ it in a tweet mocking the strategist, Dr Nkululeko Sibanda on a mere accent, saying Chamisa wants to remove him and appoint him, Musasiwa, in his place ‘because’he has a fake British accent. So far, Prof Jonathan Moyo has tagged Mahere’s Bhuluweyo video under the catchphrase, “ZANU PF must go,” somewhat suggesting that the MDC Alliance has become captured.  

….

By A Correspondent | The MDC Alliance spokesperson, Fadzai Mahere’s 2018 election campaign manager, Kuda Musasiwa, has announced saying MDC President Nelson Chamisa wants to replace the top expert Dr Nkululeko Sibanda as his Presidential spokesperson.

His claims, contained in a tweet that remained unchallenged by Chamisa 3 days later, comes 3 weeks after Chamisa replaced Hon Daniel Molokele with Mahere in what some say was a good move, while others complain saying her rise to influence in the MDC Alliance is too sudden, and could turn disastrous.

Musasiwa ran Mahere’s entire 2018 election campaign, when Mahere thought she would defeat the MDC Alliance in Harare’s Mt Pleasant surbub.

Musasiwa is also known for plotting to rid the MDC Alliance of the capital city, Harare, having ganged up with Acie Lumumba (Gerald Mutumanje), Evan Mawarire, and a small group of zealots before the 2018 elections.

During that time Musasiwa would clash with the MDC stalwart Jameson Timba, who would in turn swear saying Fadzai Mahere prides herself in mere Twittership. Both Mahere and Musasiwa would regularly clash with the MDC Alliance until the day when she was given the heavy slap of reality that the MDC Alliance rules the city.

Fast forward, to June 2020, Musasiwa’s boss, the same Mahere, has risen to the post of running the entire information engine of the party she planned to crush (she has taken the shoes of the last most powerful spokesperson of the MDC Alliance, Obert Gutu, who had presidential ambitions, and remains a thorn in the flesh in the side of the MDC Alliance to this day.)

Her rise is clearly sudden, and it is at this time, that Musasiwa is seen announcing that he has been contacted by Chamisa for to replace Dr Sibanda, a claim that has remained unchallenged up to the time of the publication of this article.

While efforts to get a comment from Chamisa were fruitless at first (he later on dismissed the claim saying it is all false, there’s no truth at all in it), Musasiwa had openly published his tweet saying, ” even the president said to me that he (Nkululeko Sibanda)’s a clown and offered me his job. “

He also mocked Dr Sibanda saying he has a fake British accent. He said, “haiwawo Blaz uye ibaranzi..

“Aigija with a BriS**t accent yefeja. Nxa.”

Dr Sibanda has for more than 20 years proved to be not only an MDC loyale since his student union days when he was tortured by the CIO in the Midlands area, but worked hard to shape the MDC Alliance’s political strategy, and had Morgan Tsvangirai listened to him at the time of the coup, Mnangagwa would have been subdued during the very military takeover that removed Robert Mugabe. He supplied strategic intelligence that the MDC must not march to remove Mugabe or participate in impeachment drives until securing a state reform deal underwritten by the United Nations.

On the other hand, both Mahere and Musasiwa have no history of sacrifice to the struggle for democracy apart from participating in ED-Lacoste protests before the 2017 coup.

COMMENT – Meanwhile, should the development be true, firing Dr Sibanda especially at this time, will be disastrous for Nelson Chamisa and the entire party, while giving political ammunition to his nemesis, Douglas Mwonzora. Subsequently the person to gain out of all this is Emmerson Mnangagwa, there perhaps won’t be any need for ZANU PF to use state security against Chamisa, he will have finished himself.

State Media

HEALTH workers, especially nurses, are at a high risk of contracting Covid-19 pandemic due to the careless behaviour of members of the public who violate lock down rules and regulations.

This comes amid reports that 13 more Mpilo Central Hospital nurses have tested positive to Covid-19 and are part of the 60 cases which have been reported in Bulawayo.

Earlier this month, a nurse from the same institution tested positive to the global pandemic which led to Mpilo testing 197 health workers who were in contact with her and three patients who were positive.

The nurses have been put on isolation and Mpilo is yet to test more health workers who were in contact with the 13 as there are test kit challenges.

The world over, at least 90 000 health care workers had been infected by Covid-19 and more than 260 nurses had died by the end of May according to the International Council of Nurses (ICN).

As of Sunday, Bulawayo had 60 Covid-19 cases and two deaths while the national cumulative figure stood at 489 with six deaths.

According to the Bulawayo City Council, 26 of the cases that had been recorded in the city were from Hillcrest, Hillside, Kumalo, Emakhandeni, Cowdray Park, Pumula South, Nkulumane, Barbourfields, Lobengula West and Magwegwe suburbs.

The infected nurses are in isolation at their homes and Elangeni Training Centre and they are all constantly being followed up by the city health department.

In an interview, Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs Cde Judith Ncube said it was worrying to note that health workers testing positive for Covid-19 were on the increase.

Minister Ncube said members of the public were deliberately exposing health workers to Covid-19 by illegally coming into the country without going through quarantine centres.

She urged members of the public to adhere to rules and regulations that had been laid down to control the spread of Covid-19.

“Thirteen of our nurses tested positive to Covid-19 and it’s mostly because of our reckless behaviour as residents. I know there are people who are sneaking into the country and by-passing quarantine measures that have been laid down and that exposes our health care workers,” said Minister Ncube.

“We should not allow anyone into our homes who would not have gone through quarantine as they will fall sick and end up in hospitals thereby endangering the lives of our health care workers.”

Minister Ncube said residents were reluctant to practise social distancing, which puts everyone at risk.

“I even appeal to supermarkets that they sanitise trolleys after every use because none of us is safe,” she said.

Minister Ncube appealed to the business community and private players to help the city source test kits which are in short supply.

“I appeal to our blessed business people and private companies to help us source test kits as we are having shortages. It is very important that we test as many people as possible so that we have a clear idea of where we stand as a city in terms of cases,” said Minister Ncube.

Medical practitioner Dr Khayelitsha Dube said nurses were more at risk to Covid-19 due to the longer periods they spend with members of the public in their day to day duties.

“We are more at risk because of the concentration of sick people that we interact with in our duties. What makes it more dangerous is the fact that most people may have Covid-19 but they do not know as they have not yet tested,” said Dr Dube.

He said doctors were also exposed but nurses were at a higher risk as they spent more time with patients compared to other health workers.

Mpilo acting chief executive officer Dr Solwayo Ngwenya said health workers were at higher risk of contracting Covid-19.

“We are intensifying our surveillance system by testing contacts here at the hospital and we will make sure that we will make PPE widely available for use by health workers,” said Dr Ngwenya.

“We have a peculiar situation where we have to warn people about the dangers of Covid-19 yet every morning we have to wake up and go care for patients some of whom have the virus.”

He said people must desist from treating Covid-19 as if its non-existent.

“I urge the public to be wary of the dangerous pandemic as cases may go up since we are in winter. People who have no serious business should remain at home at least until after the cold weather. Social distancing is necessary because we are witnessing worrying trends of people wearing masks but not practising social distancing,” he said.

Bulawayo Mayor Councillor Solomon Mguni said the city health department had managed to trace over 1 358 people who were in contact with 26 of the infected.

He said primary sources were tested and secondary sources were observed for Covid-19 symptoms.

By A Correspondent- MDC Alliance VP Tendai Biti has said president Emmerson Mnangagwa is desperate to destroy the party led by Nelson Chamisa but his project has failed.

Said Biti in a tweet:

“Emmerson has gotten more desperate as the #CUP agenda has spectacularly collapsed .A moronic project to destroy the Movement using all levers of the State was always bound to fail . The people are clear .We are #MDCAlliance led by one leader @nelsonchamisa . #TogetherToTheEnd “.

Emmerson has gotten more desperate as the #CUP agenda has spectacularly collapsed .A moronic project to destroy the Movement using all levers of the State was always bound to fail . The people are clear .We are #MDCAlliance led by one leader @nelsonchamisa . #TogetherToTheEnd . https://t.co/dpNTAD74N8

— TENDAI BITI (@BitiTendai) June 23, 2020

Zimlive

HARARE – A magistrate who denied bail to three female MDC Alliance activists accused of staging their own abduction has been promoted.

Bianca Makwande refused bail for Harare West MP Joana Mamombe, Netsai Marova and Cecilia Chimbiri after endorsing prosecution claims that they had harmed Zimbabwe’s economy after news of their abduction was reported around the world.

On Monday, she was promoted to Deputy Chief Magistrate following he resignation of Chrispen Mberewere on June 18.

The appointment was made by Chief Magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi.

The MDC trio have appealed to the High Court for bail. They deny staging their own abduction on May 13, when they say they were arrested while returning from an anti-government protest and taken to a police station. They told journalists they were driven away from the police station by suspected state security agents who brutally tortured and sexually assaulted them for two days. They were dumped from a moving vehicle in Bindura.

In November 2018, Makwande was blasted by a High Court judge for “prejudging” socialite Genius Kadungure before denying him bail based on her “perceptions”.

“The magistrate prejudged the matter and misdirected herself in her approach to bail as she should have invited submissions from both counsels. Courts should be impartial, it’s wrong for judicial officers to refer to matters that are not before them, as she referred to another fraud matter the accused is facing. She based her decision on her perceptions,” Justice Tawanda Chitapi commented.

Own Correspondent

High Court judge, Joseph Musakwa has made a shock decision releasing five police officers who were jailed in 2017 after gouging out a Harare man’s eye accusing him of standing at an intersection they were manning.

The five police officers, gouged a civilian’s right eye after assaulting him with batons at the intersection of Kenneth Kaunda Avenue and Julius Nyerere Way in March 2017 and were jailed for an effective one year and three months each in prison.

Livingstone Zvimba, Tendai Musungambira, Sunday Nyaude, Khululekani Dale and Evans Mashonganyika assaulted Washington Gezana (32)’s wife Yvonne Magora (26).

They were convicted of two counts of assault after a full trial. The then magistrate, Mr Farai Gwitima, sentenced them to 18 months each behind bars before setting aside three months each on condition of good behaviour.

He then effected 15 months. In passing the sentence, Mr Gwitima castigated the behaviour of the five, saying they brought the name of the police force into disrepute. He said assault at the hands of the police constituted violation of one’s rights.

In the latest move, Musakwa ruled that Harare magistrate, Gwitima erred in convicting and sentencing the officers.

“The evidence presented before the court a quo leaves a lot to be desired.

“Evidence led by the State was largely desultory. It does not show any diligence in systematically piercing together the crucial pieces on the part of the prosecutor,” Musakwa ruled.

He added, “That lack of alertness on the part of the prosecutor migrated to the trial magistrate in as far as assessment of evidence went.

“The trial court made an erroneous finding regarding who actually assaulted the complainants.

“The case was compounded by the fact that fellow police officers decided to shield the perpetrators of the assault. They preferred to see no evil in the whole process.

“The trial prosecutor made a mess of it by not seeking particulars that would have exposed the culprits.

“This renders the conviction unsafe. In the result, the conviction and sentence is hereby set aside.”

ZIMBABWEAN universities and colleges are set to reopen July 13 following three months of continuous closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This was revealed Monday by Higher and Tertiary Education minister Amon Murwira while giving oral evidence before parliament’s Higher and Tertiary Education committee.

Murwira expressed worry over the country’s escalating numbers of Covid-19 cases but remained confident over government strategies to curb the spread of the disease.

The minister told MPs students would be safe after government has taken steps to ensure masks and sanitisers were accessible to learners.

He was quick to say government would not hesitate to close the institutions again if problems arose.

“Tertiary education institutions that include polytechnic colleges, teachers’ colleges and industrial training colleges will open on the 13th of July, 2020 starting with final year students.

“Numbers (Covid-19 cases) are increasing yes but statistics have shown that most of these are imported and are in quarantine centres.

“I am less worried because cases are contained but all we are doing is to make sure preventive measures are followed,” said Murwira.

The minister added, “Our strategy as a country is working. We have to be careful, we cannot stick to one strategy. We should be prepared to close colleges if anything goes wrong. We are however confident of what we are doing right now.

“We are not sticking to one goal as we are also planning to continue if our strategy works.”

The minister gave credit to students who have taken the initiative to produce sanitisers and some Covid-19 materials in 16 languages for the whole country.

According to Murwira, Midlands State University produced Covid-19 material in the form of booklets (700 000) in less than two weeks through government assistance whilst Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) has so far made three ventilators.

Own Correspondent

Norton legislator, Temba Mliswa has clashed with former President Robert Mugabe’s Son, Chatunga Bellarmine after he made public demands for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to seize farms which are still in the hands of the late leader’s widow, Grace.

Mliswa tweeted it was unfair for the current Zanu PF led administration to seize Robert Zhuwao’s only farm while allowing Grace to keep possession of 15 of them.

Grace Mugabe is still seating on about 15 farms but we are still going after Robert Zhuwao, a guy who is not just sick but owns a single farm. The government policy is one man one farm, so why are we avoiding Grace? What are we scared of instead of just implementing the policy?

— Sabhuku Temba P. Mliswa (@TembaMliswa) June 20, 2020

An unamused Bellarmine Chatunga, was quick hit back exposing Mliswa’s own transgressions during the height of the country’s violent farm grab period.

Wakadzosera zvinhu zva Paul Westwood here iwe ?

— CHATUNGA (@bellagushaz) June 20, 2020

British investor Paul Westwood, who has made claims that his companies were “illegally” grabbed by Mliswa in 2009. Mliswa was still a member of the ruling Zanu PF party and its provincial chairperson for Mashonaland West.

Nhai Gushungo makadzosawo here zvamakabira nyika namai venyu whilst using the former President's name? We know about it& you are only surviving on the generosity of @edmnangagwa. Musadhakwe necocaine kusvika ipapo.

— Sabhuku Temba P. Mliswa (@TembaMliswa) June 21, 2020

He asked the late leader’s son if the family has ever thought of returning wealth it allegedly plundered from the country during Mugabe’s rule.

“Nhai Gushungo makadzoserawo here zvamakabira nyika namai venyu whilst using former President’s name? We know about it and you are only surviving on the generosity of @edmnangagwa. Musadhakwe necocaine kusvika ipapo,” Mliswa told Chatunga.

Good evening my fellow Zimbabweans
Today the National Taskforce on COVID-19 met and received reports from its Subcommittees and also to deliberate on the following matters:

• COVID19 TESTING AND TREATMENT
The National Taskforce was given an update on the COVID-19 confirmed cases as reported on 21 June 2020. Positive cases stand at 489, of these 417 are imported cases, with South Africa, Botswana and the UK being the major contributors, while 72 are local cases.
In light of the increase in COVID19 cases, awareness campaigns in communities on the epidemic have been intensified, with reinforcement of WHO guidelines underway.
Additionally, we have strengthened our surveillance, management and treatment plans and the COVID19 response plan is being fine-tuned. We are paying particular attention to prevalence, areas of high concentration, management of quarantines, treatment and isolation centres.
Presently, all the District, Provincial and Infectious diseases hospitals are now ready to admit COVID19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms that cannot self-isolate in their homes.
Our stocks of drugs and medicines used in the treatment of COVID19 symptoms continue to increase. Presently our stocks include 27.6 million of paracetamol tablets, paracetamol syrup and 2.1 million Vitamin C tablets.
Some of our local pharmaceutical companies have in stock some drugs that are being used to manage COVID19 cases internationally such as dexamethasone which is now being used in UK, ramsidivir which is being used in USA and hydroxchloroquine.

• QUARANTINE CENTRES
The National Taskforce noted that presently active quarantine facilities under Government sponsorship across the country stand at 43; while there are 37 private quarantine centres with the majority being in Harare. To date, a total of 9735 persons have been housed at these quarantine facilities, 6801 have been discharged and current enrolment is at 1944.
Government continues to enhance systems in order to better manage quarantine facilities and ensure the safety of both returnees and staff. It has been noted that some returnees are failing to adhere to protective and preventative measures that have been put in place to curb in-house transmission. The purpose of quarantine centres is to screen all those who are coming from outside so that we contain the spread of the virus. Government urges returnees to be responsible citizens as they risk infecting each other if they do not adhere to the protective and preventative measures, within the quarantine facilities.
The Taskforce noted that cases of quarantine absconders have gone down with seven returnees absconding last week. The decrease in the number of absconders is attributed to increased security at quarantine centres and implementation of the Cabinet Directive to withhold returnees’ travel documents upon arrival at ports of entry.
As for diplomats, foreign envoys enjoy diplomatic immunity and are only subjected to normal screening in accordance to health protocols upon arrival to the country. They are then allowed to proceed home for self-quarantine at their private residences under the supervision of their respective Heads of Mission. However, Zimbabwean diplomats, upon return are treated as ordinary returning citizens and are expected to comply with quarantine protocols.
• RETURNEES AND REPATRIATION
Government continues to facilitate the repatriation of our citizens in South Africa from the 2600 who initially registered for repatriation. In this regard, 137 Zimbabwean nationals were repatriated from Durban and KZN on 19 June 2020.
In regards to the repatriation of students from foreign countries, it has been established that there are no students on Government scholarships who have signaled a desire to be repatriated back home. However, the only exceptions were 5 students from India, who have since arrived in the country.
Negotiations are underway with financial institutions to set up an ad-hoc ticket loan facility that could enable the purchase of tickets by families who wish to repatriate students who have been self-funding their studies abroad. Families in Zimbabwe would be able to borrow money from such a facility to purchase one-way tickets. The terms and conditions of such a loan facility would be subject to the financial institutions’ internal policies.
Government wishes to commend our staff at our embassies and consulates abroad that have been working and liaising with citizens and students to ensure that their smooth repatriation back home.
On a sad note, the nation is informed that the Consulate in Johannesburg has temporarily closed after two confirmed cases of COVID19 were recorded among the officers. The officers who tested positive had been to Limpopo and Lindela Detention Centre to screen and assist Zimbabweans who were being repatriated home. The total number of recorded positive cases among Consulate staff and dependents now stands at six.
The Consulate is now offering most of its services online to reduce the exposure of officers to contact with those seeking consular services. Meanwhile, two of those who tested positive have been checked into an isolation lodge away from their families.
• FOOD AND WATER SUSTAINABILITY
It can be recalled that when Zimbabwe went into a total lockdown at the end of March 2020, places of safety were established to house children and adults living and working on the streets. The National Taskforce received an update from the Food and Water Sustainability Subcommittee on the five main places of safety in Harare, Midlands, Manicaland and Bulawayo Provinces. It was reported that significant progress has been made in rehabilitating and reuniting inhabitants with their families. There are some 55 inhabitants whose families are still being trained and we hope they will also be reunited with their families soon.
• Transport and Logistics
Following reports on erratic hours of operation by some fuel retail outlets, The Attorney General has clarified that fuel retail outlets are classified as an essential service under the lockdown regulations. As such, retail outlets are allowed to conduct trade during their normal hours of operation. Their hours of operation are not confined to 8am to 4.30pm which applies to some other exempted categories of business.
(Conclusion)
My fellow Zimbabweans, ours is a war against an enemy which cannot be identified by the naked eye, and so it requires us to be vigilant at all times. Protective and preventative measures are not suggestions, but requirements which have been put in place to prevent the spread and transmission of COVID19.
There are some among us who are relaxing and this puts not only themselves, but those around them and the nation at risk. Our law enforcement agents will continue to be at hand to assist those who forget that we are still under lockdown, albeit an eased lockdown and as such we should act accordingly.
Let us stay safe out there.

Good night

Zimbabwe’s coronavirus cases have surpassed the 500 mark after 23 new infections were recorded on Monday.

The latest information was announced by the Ministry of Health and Child Care in its COVID-19 update which notes that of the twenty-three (23) new cases, twenty-one (21) are returnees from South Africa while two (2) are local cases. and are all isolated.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 512. Meanwhile, recoveries are at 64, active cases 442 and 6 deaths.

The country’s Covid-19 chief coordinator in the Office of the President and Cabinet Dr Agnes Mahomva has said the recent record jump in confirmed Covid-19 cases was more because of a spike in testing after more kits were procured, rather than an increase in infection rates. In an interview with the Herald on Friday, Dr Mahomva said:

“We have since started contact tracing of the local transmissions as we always do with any confirmed case and we are hoping to get finer details once that process is complete.”

“This process is bound to increase the number of people being tested and the more the people are tested, the more the cases we are also bound to confirm.”

Most of the cases recorded recently were returnees in quarantine centres prompting some to believe that some were getting infected in quarantine centres.

The government has however allayed the fears saying inmates are tested upon arrival which means those who test positive would be positive before the quarantine.

As of a week ago, a total of 26 451 antigen based, or PCR, tests have been done in the country from which 486 tested positive. A further, 35 946 other tests were conducted through rapid diagnostic testing.

However, PCR is the test used to confirm infection, recovery or lack of infection while the rapid testing is used to screen large groups to find out who needs the more complex test to confirm infection or to confirm that the screening test was a false positive.

Own Correspondent

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr Sibusiso Moyo has refuted claims by former Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi that arrested businessman Delish Nguwaya holds a diplomatic passport.

Moyo told state media that the claims were false and baseless.

Mzembi last week demanded President Emmerson Mnangagwa to explain how Nguwaya managed to acquire a diplomatic passport when during his (Mzembi) tenure as tourism minister, he struggled but failed to facilitate one for world-acclaimed Zimbabwean musician, the late Oliver Mtukudzi. The musician, popularly, known as Tuku, died last year and was declared a national hero.

“Mr. President! Please explain why this thief holds a diplomatic passport?” Mzembi asked.

“Despite repeated pleas and submissions for Oliver Mtukudzi to the then Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mmbengegwi to consider a diplomatic passport for this cultural icon (Mtukudzi), my ministry and ZTA (Zimbabwe Tourism Authority), were given a flat NO. Uyu (Nguwaya) akazokosha kupfura Tuku nhai? (So, Nguwaya is more important than Tuku!”

Mzembi is now in self-imposed exile after a nasty fall-out with the Mnangagwa administration following the November 2017 military-backed coup to remove the now late President Mugabe from office.

Minister Moyo said the circulation of the information was only meant to tarnish the good works of the new dispensation.

“Following social media reports of Sunday 21 June 2020 claiming that Mr Delish Nguwaya is a holder of a diplomatic passport, I wish to inform the nation that as the custodians of the diplomatic passports in Zimbabwe, my ministry has no record of our issuing a diplomatic passport to Mr Delish Nguwaya.”

Minister Moyo said if Nguwaya had a diplomatic passport, he could have acquired it fraudulently and whoever had evidence that Nguwaya was a holder of diplomatic passport was supposed to present it to relevant authorities.

Minister Moyo said according to the records from the Registrar-General’s Office, Nguwaya had an ordinary passport.

“I wish to confirm that from the Registrar-General’s Office records, Mr Nguwaya is a bona fide holder of an ordinary passport that was issued in Harare on 4 October 2011 and expires on 3 October 2021,’’ said the minister.

The 36-year-old businessman has appeared in court facing charges of defrauding the Government in the procurement of personal protective equipment for Covid-19 and the matter is pending.

Watch video downloading below.

https://twitter.com/TechMagTV/status/1275108273646194691?s=19

Own Correspondent

After yesterday’s meeting of the ad hoc Inter-ministerial Taskforce on Covid-19, the Government confirmed that filling stations, as a defined essential service, can remain open and sell fuel during the hours for which they were originally licensed and are not obliged to close at 4.30pm.

Regarding the transport subsector, particularly at a time fuel supplies are inconsistent countrywide with long queues becoming the order of the day at most filling stations, Minister Mutsvangwa clarified the legal position in terms of operating hours for fuel retailers.

“Following reports on erratic hours of operation by some fuel retail outlets, the Attorney-General has clarified that fuel retail outlets are classified as an essential service under the lockdown regulations,” she said, adding:

“As such, retail outlets are allowed to conduct trade during their normal hours of operation. Their hours of operation are not confined to 8am to 4.30pm which applies to some other exempted categories of business.”

In his Covid-19 update address at State House recently, President Mnangagwa said the threat posed by Covid-19 is still hanging over the nation, therefore, citizens should embrace the new normal that has been brought by the plague, which at present has no cure.

Under level two lockdown, the country is gradually returning to full economic activity, with an orderly reopening of the informal sector under the “new normal” spelt out by the President: of masks, registration with local authorities, high levels of personal hygiene, social distancing and minimum non-business travel.

Agriculture, food markets, tobacco marketing, and most of the formal sectors have already been allowed to reopen under set conditions.

State Media

Zimbabwean Consulate in Johannesburg has been temporarily closed after two more officials were confirmed positive for Covid-19.

The temporary closure of the Johannesburg consulate comes after two more cases among staff, bringing the total to six for staff and their families.

Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the infected officials “had been to Limpopo and Lindela Detention Centre to screen and assist Zimbabweans who were being repatriated home”.

To mitigate exposure of officials through contact with citizens seeking consular services, the consulate is now offering most of its services online.

“Meanwhile, two of those who tested positive have been checked into an isolation lodge away from their families,” the minister said.

The Government remains committed to the repatriation of citizens from South Africa, where initially 2 600 Zimbabweans registered for assistance. In that regard,

“137 Zimbabwean nationals were repatriated from Durban and KZN on 19 June 2020”.

South Africa is now easily the worst hit country in Africa with 97 302 confirmed cases and 1 930 deaths from Covid-19 by yesterday morning as the number of confirmed cases world wide rose to just over 9 million, with millions more likely as some countries do not test all suspected patients, and 469 220 deaths.

Most of Zimbabwe’s recorded cases are among those returning from South Africa.

To date Zimbabwe has received 9 735 returnees from 48 countries with the number of positive cases rising sharply in the past fortnight from 54 to 512, 438 of which being imported cases, mainly from South Africa, Botswana and the United Kingdom.

Concerning the repatriation of students from foreign lands, Minister Mutsvangwa said the position is that no students on Government scholarships, save for five from India who have since arrived in the country, have expressed the need to be repatriated.

Pertaining to those students who had been paying their own way and now might have to return, she said: “Negotiations are underway with financial institutions to set up an ad-hoc ticket loan facility that could enable the purchase of tickets by families who wish to repatriate students who have been self-funding their studies abroad.”

Families of such learners in Zimbabwe, she indicated, “would be able to borrow money from such a facility to purchase one-way tickets”, subject to the financial organisations’ terms and conditions.”

In a post-Cabinet briefing last week Minister Mutsvangwa said Government was exploring ways of assisting Zimbabwean students stranded in foreign lands, pointing out that these students had to be identified and their needs known to find out what sort of help they might need.

Minister Mutsvangwa urged Zimbabweans to remain consistent and vigilant in the fight against the global pandemic which she said “cannot be identified by the naked eye”.

State Media

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)today replaces the interbank market with weekly foreign exchange auctions to determine the Zimbabwe dollar exchange rate with those in industry and commerce cautiously optimistic that the platform will enhance transparency and efficient distribution of foreign exchange.

If the new system works as expected, it would help build market confidence, improve access to foreign currency and help stabilise the exchange rate while speculative activity on the black market could subside significantly.

The Tuesday auctions are to sell the foreign currency retained by exporters which must either be used or sold within 30 days at the discretion of the exporter or be subject to compulsory sale after 30 days.

It replaces the interbank market that came into operation in February last year, but with the exchange rate then temporarily fixed at $25:US$1 in late March this year in an attempt to stabilise prices following the outbreak of Covid-19.

However, the immediate effect was a drying up of sales in the official market and a forced movement to the black market for many seeking foreign currency for legitimate imports.

RBZ governor Dr John Mangudya said last week the auction system will operate on the Reuters Forex Trading platform, a real-time electronic trading system. The weekly auctions are designed to improve transparency and efficiency in trading of forex in Zimbabwe.

Under the foreign currency auction system, bids will be submitted to, allotted and evaluated by RBZ with the offers for foreign currency while bids from buyers are submitted in the morning every Tuesday.

Successful bidders will pay what they bid, with allotments moving down from the highest bid. Invoices have to be submitted with bids to ensure the allotted currency is sued for approved imports or payment of approved services.

The weighted average will then become the ruling rate, the official rate, for the next week.

Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) vice president Mr Joseph Gunda, said industry was highly expectant that the auction system would bring about transparency in trading of foreign currency, ensure market-led price discovery and improve availability.

“Principally, we look forward to stability so that as industry, we can be able to plan for the long term; without stability this is a chaotic situation.

“Our expectation as well is that there must be a check on money supply. We must be disciplined and the Government must not print money, otherwise it will put paid to the auction system,” Mr Gunda said.

He stressed the point that authorities should be “honest and sincere” in the way they operate the auction system by not interfering or tinkering to manipulate the system.

“The other concern is that the limits that have been set; you are aware that there is a requirement for minimum bids of US$50 000, that is a challenge. It means the discovery of the rate or price is going to be determined by big players at the exclusion of small players,” he said.

According to the Reserve Bank, the auction will only accept bids of a minimum of US$50 000 and a maximum of US$500 000 with individuals and firms required to make a single bid per week through an authorised dealer. However, the ruling rate established during the weekly auction will be the rate for smaller sales and purchases of foreign currency during the week before the next auction.

“It means whatever the big players decide goes and small players are just caught in between and we are saying no, going forward, there may be need to review that limit on the minimum bids.

“We are cautiously optimistic because we want things to work, we are complimenting Government efforts because some of the ideas that came through are our brainchild, so let us see how it turns out from tomorrow,” he said.

Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce chief executive Takunda Mugaga, said businesses were optimistic that if conducted properly and with little interference by authorities, the auction system will achieve the desired objectives, but pointed out that the system would expectedly experience a slow start.

“We expect it to have a slow start obviously; we are not going to be surprised by that and we do not think we should judge the auction after its first week or the next week; we need to give it a chance,” he said.

Mr Mugaga said it would not be possible for everyone who has faced challenges accessing foriegn currency to immediately start receiving it on the auction as the system needs time to develop and build stocks or accumulate capital.

The ZNCC chief executive, however, said there was need for adjustments to the auction system, especially regarding the issue of imports priority list, which he said might scare away some potential bidders or disrupt its effectiveness.

“As industry, we say we need priority to be on raw materials imports, but for people to import finished food products and other basics, which are in short supply, could be difficult.

“So, if authorities say ‘so and so’ must not get the foreign currency because they do not produce, they may cause market distortions and render the whole auction system useless.

“Authorities must also not panic over the movement of the exchange rate on the auction market because if they panic and start tampering with the rate to be affordable, the system will suffer a stillbirth,” he said.

Amid a huge appetite for imports due to constrained local production, which pushes the demand for forex, the local currency has kept depreciating against major currency, resulting in exponential price increases.

The auction will operate every Tuesday when banks will inform the central bank of the amount of foreign currency they intend to sell while authorised dealers will submit their offers.

Eddie Cross, an economist and member of the RBZ monetary policy committee said in an interview the auction will settle the highest bids first and slide down to the lowest depending on the availability of resources.

However, the central bank said bids will be settled at each bidder’s own bid rate with successful bids being allotted in full, but if funds are not enough allotment will be done on pro-rata basis.

The bank will advise the market by end of day after trading what the highest and lowest bid price were and then a midrate will be determined, which will guide trading for the next week.

A weighted average rate will be calculated based on allotments and the rate will be used as the market rate until the next auction. The ruling market rate would be used to serve importers and other users and sellers of foreign currency in between the auction days.

State Media

Government has dismissed a joint statement by five United Nations (UN) human rights experts, which concluded that three MDC-Alliance youth leaders were abducted as “premature and unreasonable” since investigations to get to the bottom of the matter are still ongoing.

In response to allegations by the five United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Special Procedures mandate holders who concluded that Joana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marowa had been tortured and subjected to degrading treatment, the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Pearson Chigidi said the “promotion and protection of human rights of all Zimbabweans was a primary responsibility of the Government of Zimbabwe working with national institutions, civil society and the people themselves”, and therefore the Government cannot abduct its own citizens.

“Generally, the Government of Zimbabwe expresses its concern that the five special procedures mandate holders fell short of the standards that they are expected to comply with in their work and failed to uphold their moral authority and credibility.

“Their joint communication and news release are punctuated by subjective language and are over prescriptive on matters still under investigation. Domestic remedies have not been exhausted in this matter, so it was unreasonable and premature for the five special procedures mandate holders to involve themselves at this stage,” he said.

Early this month, five UN human rights experts (special procedures mandate holders) called on Zimbabwean authorities to immediately put an end to the reported pattern of torture and disappearances, and this was not just before investigations had been carried out but also based on hearsay.

Ambassador Chigidi said the fact that Zimbabwe has in the past opened the doors for special procedures mechanisms is testimony that the Second Republic has nothing to hide and values constructive and honestengagement.

“Unfortunately in the case at hand, instead of engaging all the relevant stakeholders, including the investigating authorities of the State, the five special procedures mandate holders rushed to draw conclusions after hearing only from one side, that is the alleged victims,” read the response in part.

So far investigators into the alleged abduction of the MDC Alliance trio of Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marowa have poked holes into their case.

Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe early this month indicated that a multi-agency investigation that is seeking to establish whether the alleged kidnappings did occur and to identify the alleged perpetrators, whether purporting to act on behalf of Government or other forces and bring them to justice is still ongoing.

And thus raising concerns with the manner in which the five special procedures mandate holders came to a conclusion on the alleged abduction of the three MDC-Alliance officials, Ambassador Chigidi said they disregarded their own code of conduct as detailed in Article 6 (a) of the code of conduct for special procedures mandate holders, which states that they should “always seek to establish the facts, based on objective, reliable information emanating from relevant credible sources, that they have duly cross-checked to the best extent possible”.

“Our expectation is that the special procedures mandate holders should discharge their mandates with due respect to the time-honoured and universally accepted principles of independence, transparency, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity”.

In their statement, they boldly stated that the charges against the three MDC- Alliance activists should be dropped in a prescriptive stance that also overreaches their mandate and ignores the fact that authorities in Zimbabwe are investigating the alleged abduction.

While addressing the media, Minister Kazembe said the ongoing investigations into the alleged abduction cannot be used to detract authorities from a separate investigation and due process currently underway concerning the trio’s alleged participation in an illegal demonstration in Warren Park, Harare, on May 13.

Authorities have also raised concern with the pattern of the numerous cases of so-called abductions, which are usually scripted to coincide with major regional and international events.

For instance, the alleged abduction of the three MDC Alliance officials coincided with the Sadc Troika Summit that was attended by regional leaders.

In September last year, just before the UN General Assembly and also when a high-ranking delegation was visiting Zimbabwe to assess the human rights situation, Dr Peter Magombeyi, a leader of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) was also allegedly abducted in yet another case that exposed machinations to soil the image of the Second Republic.

With the five Special Procedures mandate holders expressing a desire to visit Zimbabwe again, Ambassador Chigidi said they should come with an open mind and conduct proper and full investigations when granted such visits.

State Media

BANKS have agreed with the Government on the modalities of the opening Foreign Currency Accounts (FCAs) for civil servants at zero costs and also to charge minimal costs so that the US$75 is not demeaned by banking and transactions costs.

This comes as civil servants and pensioners are set to get US$75 and US$30 respectively in allowances to cushion them against inflation and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Apart from the cushioning allowances, Government also announced a 50 percent salary increment for its workers.

In order to ensure that civil servants get value for money, which will come in plastic form to prevent leakages onto the parallel market, President Mnangagwa last week directed that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, along with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) engage banks.

Under a facility that has been agreed between banks and Government, the FCAs can be opened online and in some cases free of charge, Presidential spokesperson Mr George Charamba said.

“I happen to know that quite a number of banks have already offered a zero cost FCA facility to civil servants, but also offered to say the FCAs can be opened online, so you don’t have to go to the nearest town and thirdly to link those accounts with the employment numbers of every civil servants and the bank he or she uses,” he said.

It costs anything between US$10 and US$20, depending on the bank, to open an FCA in Zimbabwe and many civil servants were worried that they might not be able to secure such accounts.

Determined to ensure that civil servants who have no other source of income, apart from their monthly salaries, get the best of the US$75 cushion allowance, which will run for three months subject to review, President Mnangagwa assigned the Ministry of Finance and RBZ to ensure that the implementation of the facility will be tailored to benefit the worker wholesomely.

“Some civil servants are asking how do we open Foreign Currency Accounts, how do we do this inexpensively, by way of the cost of opening an FCA and also by way of doing so. His Excellency the President gave a directive to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the Reserve Bank to say the execution or implementation of this facility of US$75 and US$30 should not have the unintended effect of demeaning the welfare threshold of civil servants.

“He said go and confer with the banks and retailers and come back with modalities of implementing this facility which is least onerous on the beneficiary, in this case the civil servant and the pensioner.

“I also happen to know that the Governor last week met with the bankers, the Governor met with retailers on the instruction of the Finance Minister who was responding to a directive from the President.

“The whole idea is to make sure that opening an FCA is at the least cost, the transaction is also at least costs and that it brings greater value and convenience to the civil servants,” said Mr Charamba.

To guard against the potential misuse of the US denominated cushion allowances, that come to a combined US$32 million per month for both civil servants and pensioners, the Government decided to secure the money through forms of FCA accounts.

Key considerations that the Government took include the market shocks implied in an increase on its wage bill from 30 percent of annual revenue to 40 percent.

Apart from having to contend with an increased wage bill, the Government, which is already stretched by the novel pandemic that entails lots of imports, also wanted to minimise the disruption on its balance sheet.

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Zimbabwe reached 512 yesterday, although 438 of these are among returning residents in quarantine with only 74 people being infected within Zimbabwe, including the two latest confirmed yesterday.

The Ministry of Health and Child Care announced 23 new positive cases yesterday with 21 among returnees in official quarantine and two within the community, with both of them contacts of known confirmed cases.

So far 63 347 Covid-19 tests have been done in Zimbabwe, counting both the rapid screening tests and the diagnostic PCR tests. The death toll remains at six.

After yesterday’s meeting of the ad hoc Inter-ministerial Taskforce on Covid-19, the Government confirmed that filling stations, as a defined essential service, can remain open and sell fuel during the hours for which they were originally licensed and are not obliged to close at 4.30pm.

At the same briefing yesterday Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the Zimbabwean Consulate in Johannesburg had been temporarily closed after two more officials were confirmed positive for Covid-19- The Herald

Farai Dziva|ZRP cops in the ancient city of Masvingo surprised all and sundry on Monday morning when they blocked roads into the city centre, forcing scores of people to return home.

Police officers at the Rujeko Footbridge accused residents of plotting to overthrow the government through mass protests.

“We don’t want to see your exemption letters, we are simply following instructions from our bosses.

We know what you are planning -you want to cause havoc in the Central Business District, go back home,” shouted a ZRP cop.

Masvingo Provincial Police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Charity Mazula was not immediately available for a comment on the matter.

Residents who spoke to ZimEye.com said they were forced to sit on bare ground for several hours, despite the chilly weather in the morning.

“They forced us to sit on bare ground and they accused us of denigrating the authorities.I wanted to buy medicine for my daughter but the cops would not allow me to get into town,” fumed one resident.

By Farai F Hove| The government has said the UN experts who announced that the MDC Trio was abducted, did not interview the Zimbabwe Republic Police. 

The development comes as clear evidence showed that the three activists were abducted from inside the Harare Police station after being arrested.

State personnel said this as they dismissed a joint statement by five United Nations (UN) human rights experts, which concluded that three MDC-Alliance youth leaders were abducted as “premature and unreasonable” since investigations to get to the bottom of the matter are still ongoing.

In response to allegations by the five United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Special Procedures mandate holders who concluded that Joana Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marowa had been tortured and subjected to degrading treatment, the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Pearson Chigidi said the “promotion and protection of human rights of all Zimbabweans was a primary responsibility of the Government of Zimbabwe working with national institutions, civil society and the people themselves”, and therefore the Government cannot abduct its own citizens.

“Generally, the Government of Zimbabwe expresses its concern that the five special procedures mandate holders fell short of the standards that they are expected to comply with in their work and failed to uphold their moral authority and credibility.

“Their joint communication and news release are punctuated by subjective language and are over prescriptive on matters still under investigation. Domestic remedies have not been exhausted in this matter, so it was unreasonable and premature for the five special procedures mandate holders to involve themselves at this stage,” he said.

Early this month, five UN human rights experts (special procedures mandate holders) called on Zimbabwean authorities to immediately put an end to the reported pattern of torture and disappearances, and this was not just before investigations had been carried out but also based on hearsay.

Ambassador Chigidi said the fact that Zimbabwe has in the past opened the doors for special procedures mechanisms is testimony that the Second Republic has nothing to hide and values constructive and honest engagement.

“Unfortunately in the case at hand, instead of engaging all the relevant stakeholders, including the investigating authorities of the State, the five special procedures mandate holders rushed to draw conclusions after hearing only from one side, that is the alleged victims,” read the response in part.

So far investigators into the alleged abduction of the MDC Alliance trio of Mamombe, Chimbiri and Marowa have poked holes into their case.

Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe early this month indicated that a multi-agency investigation that is seeking to establish whether the alleged kidnappings did occur and to identify the alleged perpetrators, whether purporting to act on behalf of Government or other forces and bring them to justice is still ongoing.

And thus raising concerns with the manner in which the five special procedures mandate holders came to a conclusion on the alleged abduction of the three MDC-Alliance officials, Ambassador Chigidi said they disregarded their own code of conduct as detailed in Article 6 (a) of the code of conduct for special procedures mandate holders, which states that they should “always seek to establish the facts, based on objective, reliable information emanating from relevant credible sources, that they have duly cross-checked to the best extent possible”.

“Our expectation is that the special procedures mandate holders should discharge their mandates with due respect to the time-honoured and universally accepted principles of independence, transparency, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity”.

In their statement, they boldly stated that the charges against the three MDC- Alliance activists should be dropped in a prescriptive stance that also overreaches their mandate and ignores the fact that authorities in Zimbabwe are investigating the alleged abduction. – Herald /state media

Farai Dziva|WELEAD Director, Namatai Kwekweza has urged Zimbabweans to reject the Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 2.

Kwekweza accused the Zanu PF government of trying to enforce the bill during the lockdown.

She challenged citizens to distance themselves from the whole process.Namatai and Vongai Zimudzi were arrested last week for merely expressing their views on the Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 2.
Watch video below :

Farai Dziva| Madzibaba Enoch of Budiriro, Harare, is about to release a prophetic message on the end of the deadly COVID-19 scourge, it has emerged.

Madzibaba Enoch is the leader of Nyenyedzi Nomwe Apostolic Church and he reportedly predicted the coming of the virus in a video footage in 2018.

In the video clip, Madzibaba Enoch is heard telling his congregants that there will be a strange disease which will be flue- like and the whole world will be affected.

“There will be a disease which will come from the oceans and will be flue- like. It will kill back and white people like fish from the sea.

I see the disease coming soon and people will be in trouble,” Madzibaba Enoch is heard saying in the video footage.

Although Madzibaba Enoch did not personally speak about the said prophecy, members of his sect have pointed out that the man is about to release a prophetic message on the end of the deadly scourge.

“There is no doubt that Madzibaba Enoch is the man of the moment.In 2018 he prophesied about the coming of the deadly scourge and he will release a prophetic message on the end of the scourge.

His prophecies are very accurate,” declared a member of his sect.