Former Cabinet minister Walter Mzembi reportedly sold one of his Vainona houses to a Harare businessman (name withheld) to fund his political party, The Zimbabwe Sun can exclusively reveal.
Mzembi, one of the G-40 kingpins, was deposed in November 2017 in a military operation code-named Operation Restore Legacy.
“His business empire has crumbled and now he has sold his house to fund his political party. He has not been in the country since 2018 and things are falling apart,” a source revealed.
The former tourism minister, ensconced in exile, launched his political outfit People’s Party in January this year.
Already some of its members have resigned citing irregularities in the party.
“The party had no direction because of monetary issues, forcing some members to resign. Now he had to sell some of his properties to fund party activities,” he added.
Yesterday outspoken Gokwe-Nembudziya MP Justice Mayor Wadyajena sensationally claimed that Mzembi received US$1 million, though he could not divulge where it came from.
The exposure was inadvertently made while he was urging another exiled politician Professor Jonathan Moyo to move on.
“I hear you Prof. In the humble opinion of a concerned youngster, you took politics way too personally. Your allies are (at)home; Chipanga, Chombo, Grace…Kasukuwere invested, Mzembi recently received US$1 million yet life’s still unfair to you. You have young girls (and) they need their dad,” he tweeted.
Party treasurer-general Agrippa Bopela Masiyakurima, however, claimed on twitter no such funds had found their way into party accounts.
“As The Treasurer General @PeoplesPartyZim,i never received money from @zanupf patriots as @JusticeMayorW is waffling about.We just know that Zanu Pf tried to infiltrate us thru @TysonWabantu coming in thru back door.If @waltermzembi received money,it was for his personal use,” Masiyakurima said.
By A Correspondent- The government will enforce price reductions as some shops were not adhering to the price moratorium which they had committed to following a multi-sectoral stakeholders agreement last month.
This was said by Vice President Kembo Mohadi on Friday at Gwanda Provincial Hospital during a visit to monitor progress in fighting Covid-19. He said:
We had a moratorium where we agreed that prices had to revert to the prices of 25 March.
Some have observed that and some haven’t but since it’s something that we didn’t coerce anyone into as they signed voluntarily, we will have to enforce it to see that it’s done.
It’s not price control, it was a mutual understanding that we need to help people.
The price moratorium seeks to reverse recent steep increases in prices of basic goods including bread, super-refined maize meal, cooking oil, flour and sugar to March 25.
Some retailers have not only failed to reduce the prices but have actually increased them.-statemedia
We shall shortly approach the Zim military for them to explain why Zimbabweans in quarantine are being physically abused amid women in Bulawayo being detained since 7th April 2020.- Follow https://t.co/RMz9FsvEJW / this handle for the updates.
African remittance company, Mukuru, has pledged to support the relatives of a Zimbabwean National Health Service (NHS) mental health worker who died from Covid-19 – leaving her 12-year-old daughter orphaned in the United Kingdom with no family.
According to the Daily Mail, Rutendo Mukotsanjera, a 45-year-old single mother, who lived in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, passed away from coronavirus on April 10 after a two week battle with the infection.
Rutendo left her 12-year-old daughter Cheidza, known as Chichi, alone in Britain where she is now being cared for by members of the Renew Church in Uttoxeter, where her mother worshipped.
Rutendo used to work weekends and evenings to regularly send money back home to Zimbabwe through Mukuru, to help her loved ones including her 22-year-old son Shungu Shaun and her mother.
According to her sister Rumbidzai, Rutendo was helping her son by renting him a place in the country’s capital Harare and paying his school fees so he could complete his Secondary education.
Mukuru has now pledged to continue supporting her son and mother by matching her monthly sends from the past year for the next 12 months – roughly £2,300.
The company’s CEO Andy Jury said:
Miss Mukotsanjera was the very embodiment of a Mukuru customer – hardworking, selfless, and the backbone of the family she supported.
We were so saddened to hear of Miss Mukotsanjera’s passing.
We would like to continue to support her son in Zimbabwe over the next 12 months, to ensure he is able to continue along the path his mother paved for him. -Daily Mail
By A Correspondent- The Government is set to increase the cost of cheaper electricity a household can buy per month.
This was reportedly revealed by the Energy Minister Fortune Chasi who said;
We are going to review and increase the amount soon. It is true the allocation may not be enough but we are looking into it
This means the 200 units that were going for $186 dollar will cost consumers more adding fuel to the fact that households require over $1000 for electricity only these days which is beyond the reach of many.-Standard
By A Correspondent- Children in Gweru are reportedly using masks and gloves picked from a local dumpsite in Woodlands Park.
This was confirmed by Obert Rupanga, the Woodlands Park suburb’s ward development committee chairperson who relayed his discomfort about the whole scenario.
Rupanga said:
Actually, some children pick up used personal protective equipment like face masks and gloves dumped from hospitals.
They wear these when playing and take them to their homes. We need help because we are at a great risk of the Covid-19 pandemic.
We have approached the Gweru City Council and they said money to relocate the dumpsite is on this year’s budget but we are concerned that, in the meantime, people may easily perish.
The poor waste disposal mechanism had left households in Gweru at risk of contracting the deadly virus. However, the province has so far not recorded a single case of COVID-19.-Standard
By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe tested a record 1 436 people for the coronavirus bringing the total of people tested so far to 10 727 but it failed to publish the results saying they will be released today.
No reasons were given, but last week the Ministry of Health said six people in Harare had tested positive but later retested them and they all turned negative.
The number of positive cases that had risen to 40 was revised downwards to 34.
Tests for Harare and Bulawayo for 1 May whose results were pending all tested negative.
Zimbabwe has declared a seven week lockdown though it has eased some of the restrictions from tomorrow.
By A Correspondent- COVID-19 has claimed yet another Zimbabwean based in the United Kingdom.
Popular broadcaster Ezra Tshisa Sibanda, who is also based in the UK, announced the death of Irvin Fantie Moyo in Chelmsford through coronavirus.
He described the late Moyo as “one of the nicest Zimbabweans” based in the UK.
Moyo’s death follows those of many other UK based Zimbabweans, the majority being professionals employed in the British health sector and have been part of the frontline staff battling the world pandemic.
While there has been no deliberate tracing of Zimbabweans dying of coronavirus in the UK by authorities, the Zimbabwean embassy to the rich European country announced over a week ago that at least 29 citizens had succumbed to Covid-19.
UK remains one of the world countries worst affected by the pandemic.
By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Republic Police will arrest everyone leaving their homes without wearing masks starting tomorrow.
This was revealed by the Information Ministry’s secretary Nick Mangwana.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Mr Nick Mangwana told Sunday News that wearing face masks in public was now law, after a Statutory Instrument was gazetted by the President yesterday.
This was after the president extended the lockdown by 2 weeks but downgraded it to stage 2 and allowed the industry to operate between 8 AM and 3 PM.
By A Correspondent- A Mazowe man is in trouble for allegedly trying to kill his sister-in-law using a machete after she attempted to stop him from beating his wife.
Samuel Manyuchi (38) of Amatora Farm, appeared before Bindura magistrate Moreblessing Makati yesterday facing attempted murder charges and was remanded in custody to June 11.
Prosecutor Vincent Marunya told the court that on April 23 Manyuchi had a misunderstanding with his wife Shupikai Sande.
The complaint Esther Sande (24) tried to intervene, but Manyuchi took a machete from his hut, which he used to strike the complainant twice on the head.
Sande sustained two deep cuts and filed a police report leading to the arrest of the accused.
By A Correspondent- A Gwanda man has been arrested on charges of killing a fellow imbiber following a dispute over beer.
Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrest of Vusa Mathuthu on murder charges while his three accomplices are still at large.
He said the body of the deceased, Victor Dube (25) was discovered near Thandabantu general dealer shop at Mtshabezi turn off in Gwanda under chief Masuku on April 25.
“One suspect has been arrested in connection with the murder case, which occurred near Mtshabezi turn off. The other three alleged accomplices, who are still at large were identified as Mthandazo Ndlovu, Gift Bhiyana known as Mtshana and Blessing Maseko,” Nyathi said.
“The now deceased Dube and Maseko went aside to talk which resulted in an argument and they came back to join others they were drinking with.
“Maseko reported their dispute to the colleagues and they ganged up on Dube assaulting him with stones.”-Standard
By A Correspondent- A Madziva man allegedly struck his wife twice with an axe following a misunderstanding over money before committing suicide.
Robert Sirani (25) of Musenga village Chief Nyamaropa, drank a pesticide after striking his wife, Memory Kanyera (22) with an axe in the face and ribs.
Mashonaland Central police spokesperson Inspector Milton Mundembe said Sirani savagely attacked the complainant over the misuse of $50 and US$1.
He tried to poison his wife by sprinkling temik poison in her relish, but she saw it and did not eat the food. Sirani then struck her twice with an axe, breaking two of her teeth in the process.
Sirani disappeared into the dark after the attack.
His wife was rushed to Madziva Hospital and a police report was filed. But Sirani was found unconscious in the bush and was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead upon admission.-Standard
Zimbabwe yesterday tested a record 1 436 people for the coronavirus bringing the total of people tested so far to 10 727 but it failed to publish the results saying they will be released today.
No reasons were given, but last week the Ministry of Health said six people in Harare had tested positive but later retested them and they all turned negative.
The number of positive cases that had risen to 40 was revised downwards to 34.
Tests for Harare and Bulawayo for 1 May whose results were pending all tested negative.
Zimbabwe has declared a seven week lockdown though it has eased some of the restrictions from tomorrow.
POOR communication by the government has caused confusion over the next phase of the countrywide lockdown to control the spread of the coronavirus that kicks in tomorrow with conflicting statements on the use of clearance letters.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday extended the lockdown that began on March 30 by two more weeks, but said big businesses will reopen under supervision.
Informal markets will remain closed and the majority of transport operators are still barred from operating.
Explaining the measures announced by Mnangagwa, the government spokesperson Nick Mangwana initially said exemption letters for movement of people were no longer needed.
When he was asked to elaborate, Mangwana said “from Monday you no longer need to be carrying an exemption letter to go into town or be in public, but you need to put on a mask.”
After he was put to task, he said “administratively authorities policing the measures may ask for evidence of your right to be up and about or be going where you are going, that can be anything from death certificates for a funeral to exemption letters.”
Mangwana yesterday insisted that exemption letters were no longer necessary.
“Exemption letters work when a few are exempted from going to work,” he told The Standard in an interview.
“But as we move to level two, the majority will be going to work. Banks will be open, all industry will be open, so writing letters would be a mammoth task.
“What will be there is an administrative issue of police manning roadblocks to satisfy themselves with whether one has to be where they say they are supposed to be.”
Japhet Moyo, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary-general, feared that there would be chaos tomorrow as government had not properly communicated the new measures.
“What we are missing at the moment are the details, do we have or has anyone put in place mechanism to supervise resumption of business?” Moyo asked.
“Would the security checkpoints be friendly to allow workers passage to work, because last weeks, it was a nightmare for many workers?
“Police had their own understanding of the relaxation and people with special permit letters found themselves unable to report to work.”
The ZCTU said it would also be dangerous for workers to report for work tomorrow without proper screening.
“Workers were not screened,” Moyo said.
“There were no inspections and to some employers, it became business as usual.
“No social distancing at work, no masks, just nothing different and that might be dangerous.”
MDC leader Nelson Chamisa said the new measures were introduced without any consultation, hence the confusion.
“It was ill thought out, lacked national consensus and did not stand on solid ground,” Chamisa said in an interview.
“Any decisions of that magnitude should have been on solid ground, guided by science and methodology.
“It should have been a product of national consensus, after wide consultations with business, workers, the informal sectors and the alternative like us.”
Chamisa said the first phases of the lockdown should have been used to improve surveillance for the disease with intensified testing.
He said at the moment the government had no credible data to make sound decisions on efforts to control the spread of the highly infectious disease.
“We should have used the first 21 days for mass testing, isolation and preparing for a time when we would need to reopen, but after close to two months we have arrested more people, than we have tested,” he said.
“We are just relaxing and extending the lockdown without any plan in place.
“One can’t just say stay in Mbare or Mabvuku without a plan on how these people will survive, where they will get food and how workers will be cushioned.”
Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers Association president Denford Mutashu said the country should remain on high alert despite the relaxation of the lockdown.
“The country should remain on high alert and all companies opening should comply with government and World Health Organisation guidelines,” he said.
“It is a contentious balance between the health of the nation and the economy.
“We are between a hard place and a rock and it remains a catch 22 situations.
Israel Murefu, the Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe president, said they were happy with the relaxed conditions of the lockdown, but needed more clarity on some of Mnangagwa’s pronouncements.
“The partial lockdown is a positive development for both business and the economy as it will save many jobs and support spending by consumers as they will have some income,” Murefu said.
“We also welcome the $18 billion stimulus package and would want government to be open about the funding and distribution of the funds to borrowers.
“A clear criteria and procedure for accessing the funds is necessary to avoid what may be viewed as favouritism or unfairness.
“So we keenly await the details so that businesses can start now to access the funds for working capital and generally coming back to life.”
As of Friday, Zimbabwe had recorded 34 Covid-19 cases with four deaths and five recoveries.
VICE-President Kembo Mohadi says Zimbabwe has to avoid cross border infections at all costs as it is poorly equipped to handle infections.
Mohadi, who chairs the Covid-19 national taskforce, made the remarks on Friday during a tour of the Beitbridge isolation centre, which is expected to receive thousands of Zimbabweans returning from South Africa in the coming days.
“Get the people to understand this disease is real and we will all die if we allow people through the porous border line from Shashi to Chikwarakwara,” he warned.
“As a country, we are not equipped to fight the scourge, which has even failed the likes of advanced countries with trillions of dollars in their economies like the United States of America.
“Having realised we had no capacity, we resorted to prevention and that is what we must do or we will all perish,” he said, adding that his observation had nothing to do with politics.
There are reports of a surge in the number of Zimbabweans crossing into South Africa using a number of illegal crossing points along the Limpopo River.
The locals allegedly sneak into the South African border town of Musina where they buy basic commodities that are in short supply in Zimbabwe.
They also smuggle contraband such as cigarettes and alcohol, which is banned in the neighbouring country as one of the ways to control the spread of the coronavirus.
In March, South Africa started constructing a 40km border fence in Beitbridge, to control the spread of the virus through illegal migration.
The fence, however, has since been vandalised with scores of Beitbridge residents allegedly crossing into South Africa to smuggle groceries.
South Africans allegedly also sneak into Zimbabwe to buy alcohol.
Mohadi said more tests would be done countrywide following the delivery of test kits.
Meanwhile, last week the Zimbabwe embassy in South Africa said 2 191 Zimbabwean nationals in the neighbouring country had registered to be repatriated back home.
They will be quarantined in Beitbridge for 21 days before they are allowed to go home.
South Africa imposed a lockdown at the end of March to control the spread of the coronavirus, leaving thousands of Zimbabweans that rely on informal jobs stranded.
Parliament has been petitioned to reject government’s fresh bid to amend the constitution following the gazetting of Constitutional Amendment Bill No 2 that seeks 27 changes to the country’s supreme law.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum submitted a petition to speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda pleading with him to exercise his powers and throw away the proposed amendments.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government approved the changes to the constitution, which among other proposals, seek to remove the clause on the presidential running mate and consolidate power in the president’s office.
The proposals also seek to whittle down the powers of Parliament by limiting the executive’s accountability to legislators, among others issues.
But The Forum, a coalition of 20 human rights groups, said the amendments were retrogressive and would erode the tenets of democracy.
The rights lobby groups argued that it would be morally wrong for government to propose changes for the second time to the 2013 constitution, which has not yet been fully implemented.
The Constitutional Court last month ruled that Constitutional Amendment No 1 of 2017, which sought to give Mnangagwa more powers in the appointment of the chief justice and his deputy, was unconstitutional.
“Noting that the constitution has an enduring characteristic in terms of which it is made for posterity,” the forum wrote in a letter to Mudenda dated April 30.
“It is unlike ordinary legislation that can be amended to suit existing circumstances.
“Further noting that, while the constitution has a provision allowing for its amendment in section 328; the section betrays a rigid constitution such that it should not be resorted to easily and can only be amended in the event of absolute necessity.”
The Forum said government had not been confronted with any pressing need to justify amendment of the constitution.
“As an enduring piece of law, which reflects the basic values of the society of Zimbabwe as a whole, and enacted at great public expense, it is self-evident that the constitution should be amended only when it is absolutely necessary to do so,” the Forum added.
“Absent absolute necessity, the constitution should not be changed with munificent abandon.
“Great care and consideration should be taken before any decision to amend it is taken.
“Consequently, the petitioners pray that you exercise your powers and turn down any proposals by the government to amend the constitution of Zimbabwe.”
The Forum noted with concern that despite the significance of the changes being sought through the Constitutional Amendment Bill, there had been no attempts by the government to explain why it was a necessity to tinker with the constitution.
“Some of the provisions being amended have not even seen the light of the day,” The Forum added “The people of Zimbabwe have not been given the opportunity to experience fully the constitution, which they adopted through a decisive referendum in 2013. “This move by the government disregards the wishes and aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe.
“Parliamentarians and the executive must hold sacrosanct the will of the people and not undermine it.”
The human rights lobby groups said the constitution was a reflection of the wishes of majority of the people of Zimbabwe, which made it necessary to consult them before any changes to the supreme law were made.
Zambian Inspector General of Police, Kakoma Kanganja, has directed traffic police officers to resume foot and motorised patrols and ensure that there is sanity on the road.
The officers will however, for the time being, not enforce the provisions of the law relating to Road Tax and Road Service Licences (identity certificate).
The Inspector General has also directed all traffic police officers to observe all measures that have been spelt out by authorities as a response to Covid-19. He has further directed them to enforce the regulation of mandatory wearing of masks on public transport motor vehicles in line with Statutory Instrument number 21 and 22 of 2020.
Any public transport motor vehicle where a passenger or passengers will be found without wearing a mask shall be impounded by law enforcement officers and will only be released once unmasked occupants mask up. He has appealed to all road users to cooperate with the law enforcement officers.
The permanent secretary in the Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Nich Mangwana has said the government has not deployed the army to Mozambique.
Writing on Twitter Mangwana said;
Zimbabwe has not deployed the Zimbabwe Defence Forces(ZDF) in Mozambique.
By Ibbo Mandaza|Since 2016 the Platform for Concerned Citizens (PCC) has argued consistently for a process leading to the establishment of a National Transitional Authority (NTA). We have done this for no ulterior motive, despite the insinuations that there was a political motivation behind the PCC, but in the realisation that the national crisis then, and even more so now in the Covid-19 crisis, required a broad national effort to avoid what we termed a “hard landing”.
Zimbabwe has landed harder than anyone could have imagined in 2016, or in any subsequent year. We now live in a “broken” country, with a regime collapsing in on it, and political parties more concerned with the struggle for power and internecine conflicts than addressing a national crisis. We even see Finance minister Mthuli Ncube going with the begging bowl to the international finance institutions, admitting the complete failure of the government’s economic policies. Even captains of industry are asking for international bailouts, seemingly oblivious of the main problem, the broken politics, as Alex Magaisa put so succinctly recently.
Covid-19 may be a unique problem being faced by the country, but it is superimposed on all the problems that existed prior to the epidemic. It is a moot point whether Zimbabwe was fragile or failed prior to Covid-19: what is unarguable is that the state was broken already, reeling from, an absence of visionary leadership, incoherent policies (even admitted by the Finance minister), a broken economy, broken state services, and the spectre of mass hunger and starvation. Zimbabwe was in the deepest trouble it could be, even before Covid-19.
Behind all the problems lies the failure of governance and political leadership, and the latter is not exclusive to Zanu PF, but bedevils all political parties without exception. It is this realisation that prompted the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHCoD) call for the Sabbath, the establishment of the National Convergence Platform (NCP) last year, and the call for political settlement, national dialogue and a transitional arrangement. This call is now more urgent than ever in the face of the apparent inability of the government to address the Covid-19 crisis. The contrast between South Africa and Zimbabwe in managing this new crisis is stark in the extreme, not explained by sanctions, but by bad governance.
The call for an NTA has had many critics. Politicians and diplomats have argued that this kind of arrangement only follows revolutions, forgetting the local precedent of Lancaster House. It is not true that transitional arrangements only follow military conflict or revolution. Since 1998, and across the world, 58% of transitions and transitional arrangements have been negotiated, either led by the ruling regime or an opposition: only 15% emerged from civil war or the collapse of the state. This trend is no different for Africa. It is the political and economic problems that can no longer be managed by the state, and the loss of consensual support from citizens that determine the move to a transition: we merely need to point to South Africa and Zimbabwe itself to make this point.
We do not labour the extent of the current crisis, or the inability of the government and the political parties to address the problems. This is evident to every single Zimbabwean, but what is the solution?
We reject any suggestion that a government of national unity is a realistic solution. The previous experience was an exercise only in temporary stabilisation, but mostly a respite to allow the political parties to position themselves for elections. The only outcome was a short period of lessening the hardship for the ordinary people, but followed by sustained economic decline, vicious political infighting in the main political parties, a coup and the consolidation of the securocrat state, a flawed election, and the re-emergence of political violence. There is no reason to believe that a new government of national unity will be any different.
The partial solutions to previous crises — Lancaster House, the Unity Accord, the Global Political Agreement and the coup — did not address the fundamental problem: the politics and the lack of a genuine, people-centred social contract. National crises require National solutions, which is the reason for the continual demand by the PCC for an NTA.
We submit that it is a matter of the greatest urgency that the country adopt the following strategy:
l Mediated negotiations between the political parties leading to a political settlement;
l In parallel, a national dialogue of the kind suggested by the NCP with all stakeholders outside the political parties to determine the nature of a genuine social contract and the new rules of the game for politics;
l A mediated engagement between the representatives of the national dialogue and the political parties to determine the structure and function of the NTA; l The establishment of the NTA for a defined period of existence, and undertaking the reforms necessary for political, economic, social stability, and bona fide, uncontestable elections.
The PCC has stressed throughout that the driving force behind the NTA must be a non-partisan council, establishing a technocratic executive capable of running the day-to-day affairs of the state, but a particular emphasis upon the following:
l Managing the health crisis;
l A political and economic reform agenda: the restoration of constitutional rule;
l The restoration of national institutions, including the return of the soldiers to the barracks, reform of the public service, and the restoration of independence in the judiciary;
l Regional and international scaffolding in the form of an international rescue plan; namely, the establishment of a US$10 billion sovereign/rescue fund, to be held in London or New York, but with the objective of stabilising the economy, engendering international confidence and investment, and securing a national currency;
l A social development fund: to attend to the urgent needs in education and healthcare; revival of agriculture, industry, and employment creation; and the establishment of programmes designed to rescue the population from the scourge of poverty, as well as the re-institution of rural development;
l The engagement of the diaspora, as both investors (in such programmes as the privatisation of parastatals) and joint venture partners with external factors Today Zimbabwe stands on the edge of the precipice, and it is no time for prevaricating, but one for action. The political crisis must be addressed with urgency, and we can see no other way than the steps we have outlined.
l Ibbo Mandaza and Tony Reeler are co-convenors of the Platform for Concerned Citizens.
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has launched an internal investigation into the conduct of some of its senior officials following a tip-off from a whistleblower at alleged underhand dealings regarding the issuance of bureaux de change licences, according to top central bank sources.
This comes in the wake of recent swoops on seven bureaux de change suspected to be involved in illicit foreign currency transactions.
RBZ governor John Mangudya on Thursday last week announced that the operating licences of two private companies, Shons Finance Services and Superdeal Enterprises, which trades as Kwik Forex, had been suspended on allegations that they have not been declaring, or have been under-declaring their foreign currency transactions in breach of the law.
This came after the suspension of bureau de change licences of two other companies, Cash Twenty-Four and Crediconnect, earlier this month. The financial institutions had their bank accounts frozen on similar allegations a fortnight ago. Cash Twenty-Four has since admitted to the offence and paid an administrative fine of ZW$2,5 million.
The central bank also swooped on three other bureaux de change companies, namely Stallion Financial Services, Forbes Financial Services and Juso Global, which were allegedly operating without the required licences.
The RBZ and financial services sector sources said the central bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) were investigating how the institutions’ licences were issued since February last year when the government liberalised the exchange rate.
According to the sources, a whistleblower alerted the RBZ to possible corruption by central bank officials, which could have resulted in some companies that did not qualify, being allegedly licenced.
The sources said questions were also being raised about the lack of due diligence on the part of those charged with granting licences.
“There was an anonymous correspondence to the FIU early this month alleging that some RBZ officials could have had their palms greased in exchange for these bureau de change licences, which explains why there is this mess. So, in addition to investigating these companies’ operations, the FIU is also interrogating the processes of issuance of licences,” a source at the bank said.
In written responses to the Zimbabwe Independent, Mangudya said the so-called whistleblower should come forward with this information so that they can institute investigations into the matter.
He also said he had not been alerted of the whistleblower’s correspondence.
The central bank boss, however, said the bank had sufficient mechanisms to deal with any corrupt officials.
“If there is anyone involved in corrupt activities, the bank takes very stern measures against such malpractice and the socalled informer should approach the bank with the necessary information,” Mangudya said.
He also dismissed allegations that the central bank does not carry out proper due diligence exercises when granting bureau de change operating licences, saying the RBZ sticks to stringent procedures laid down by the law. He said the current cases were a result of market indiscipline.
“Bureaux de change are licenced in terms of the Exchange Control (Authorised Dealer with Limited Authority) Order published in the Statutory Instrument 104 of 2015 which is complemented by Operational Guidelines for Bureaux de Change. The Operational Guidelines for Bureaux de Change provide for specific requirements and incorporates operational improvements to the framework that is done through Exchange Control Directives and Circulars,” Mangudya said.
“The operational guidelines detail the licensing framework and include an application form which guides the applicant as to the information required to enable Exchange Control to assess the suitability of the applicant for a Bureau de Change licence. Any applicant who meets the set minimum licencing criteria is eligible for a bureau de change licence.
“We should not confuse market indiscipline with the method of granting operating licences. The bank’s surveillance team is seized with the matter to ensure total compliance with rules and regulations and will not hesitate to deal with unscrupulous behaviour of some bureau de change,” he added.
The minimum criteria include a probity test where the applicant is required to provide: Zimbabwe Republic Police clearance of directors and officers of bureaux de change; Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) tax clearance certificate; antimoney money laundering certificate and declarations by the shareholders/directors of the bureau de change that they have not received any criminal or regulatory penalty on matters relating any financial activity.
Corruption allegations related to foreign currency dealings have stalked the RBZ for a long time now.
The late Jabu Khanyile’s first born son, Nkanyiso has died.
The founder of music group Muzart, died on Friday night.
According to a source close to the musician, Nkanyiso suffered from an undisclosed illness and died in hospital. Some sources indicated that it could have been a Coronavirus infection though confirmation is still to be made.
Tributes poured on social media for the young music producer as news of his death broke.
Musawenkosi Mahlangu, a close friend, took to Facebook and wrote: “When they say life is too short, akudlalwa (its no joke). Just 2 weeks ago we were talking and now he is no more! He was one of the coolest friends I had. Never judged, always wanted the best for me, taught me alot and now he is gone.
“Jabu Khanyile Junior, first born, son, brother and a friend to many. Founder of the Muzart group and a producer. I remember when you were so excited of recording your new project and even wanted to feature me in one of your tracks. Those were the good times. RIP Nkanyiso Khanyile. May your soul rest in peace buddy. Will love and miss you always,” said Mahlangu.
Dumisani Mkhangaza wrote: “Lala ngoxolo ntwana yami (rest in peace my friend). Having your life cut short is a tragedy we won’t soon forget. Forever jolly, friendly with everybody and bowunga pheli moya is how we will always remember you… ngiyaku ncanywa njayami. Lala ngoxolo Nka.”
In 2015 the pop group, Muzart disbanded and regrouped. This after two of its members, Jabu Jnr and guitarist Sol Stringer, broke away to form a new group called Smiley Freaks.
The remaining members include Metro FM radio presenter, Rorisang Thandekiso, Refentse ‘Vic’ Chauke and Tazzy Lehutso.
Former President Jacob Zuma has finally spoken out on his long-awaited Arms Deal trial.
Zuma spoke exclusively to Independent Media on the trial which was set to resume on May 6 but has now been postponed to June 23. Insiders say this move has little to do with the Covid-19 pandemic but the courts’ “last minute hustle to remove KPMG from with witness list”. Zuma has told Independent Media that he is ready to show South Africans the real thieves.
“I’ve always said I wanted my day in court. It is time for South Africans to hear the truth. It is time. My silence has always been to keep unity but it is now time,” Zuma said.
On Wednesday, the Jacob Zuma Foundation confirmed to Independent Media that the Constitutional Court had approved Zuma’s withdrawal of his bid for a permanent stay of prosecution. According to Zuma’s foundation, Zuma had not wanted a stay from prosecution, even though his previous lawyer pushed for one.
“The former president wants to air his part. The court should allow him to do that. This case has been pending for the last 20 years. There shouldn’t be these delaying tactics against him. This case can no longer be politicised, as it has been from the very beginning. What we want is a fair and just process”, the foundation said.
The withdrawal of the bid for a permanent stay of prosecution happened after Zuma axed his long time attorney Daniel Mantsha and replaced him with Eric Mabuza attorneys – an attorney in close links to Advocate and EFF member, Dali Mpofu.
According to insiders, Zuma’s family was aggrieved, feeling that Mantsha had “dropped the ball”. The sources also revealed that the National Prosecuting Authority had ‘silently’ instituted an investigation into accounting firm KPMG. It is believed that KPMG was going to take the witness stand against Zuma but may face Mabuza’s brunt in court since the firm’s grave reputational damage in the recent years.
In a letter Independent Media is in possession of, Mabuza Attorneys wrote to the court to seek clarity on why the state has instituted an investigation into KPMG in the eve of the trial.
The letter reads:
“1. Our client was naturally taken aback to learn that some 15 years later and more so on the eve of the trial the State is still gathering or putting together evidence to be used in the trial. This literally means that despite what it previously communicated to our client and the public the State is nowhere near ready for the trial.
2. The fact that we have not been given all the evidence which will be used in the trial is gravely prejudicial against our client in that our client cannot finalise his request for further particulars let alone start preparing for the trial. In our respectful view this will have a material bearing on the pre-trial activities which may need to be finalisedbefore the next court appearance on 23 June 2020. In this regard our client reserves his rights.
3. Be that as it may, now that the State has formally admitted on record that it is compiling new forensic report(s) to be used in the trial we accordingly request the State to explain and/or provide the following information:
– Will the new forensic report(s) have any bearing or relevance on the case against our client? If so Why were we not formally notified that the State is compiling new forensic report(s)? A full and proper explanation is required.
– Does the State intend to abandon or withdraw or supplement the KPMG Forensic Investigation Report dated 2 September 2006? If so, why and what are the reasons for doing so? We need a full and proper explanation in this regard.
– We need a copy of the request for particulars filed by Thales which allegedly prompted the State to consider preparing new forensic report(s) including any response thereto, if any. Mabuza’s letter to the court has thrown a spanner in works, arguing that the court is proving prejudice to Zuma.
While Zuma’s new lawyer is pushing for his day in court, his relationship with Mantsha is said to have gone sour after the Pietermaritzburg High Court issued a warrant of arrest for Zuma after missing a court appearance.
Zuma missed the January court appearance when receiving medical treatment in Cuba for a recurring chest condition. The rift between Zuma and Mantsha is said to also been exaggerated by comments made by EFF leader Julius Malema when he said “it was not the responsibility of Zuma’s lawyers to defend the sick note but it was the responsibility of his doctors”.
Zuma’s foundation declined to answer on whether some of the witnesses had also withdrawn their statements. “We can’t speak for anyone. That is not our place. If other witnesses have suddenly withdrawn their statement, the court must be very concerned about that”. KPMG has not responded to questions.
Sun|North Korea fired multiple gunshots towards South Korea early Sunday morning, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staffs (JCS) said in a statement.
A series of gunshots were fired from North Korea at 7:41 am local time towards a guard post in South Korea that borders the North, the JCS said.
News of the attack came just one day after North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un resurfaced amid escalating reports he had died.
South Korea responded by firing two shots back towards North Korea, the JCS said.
The South is taking action to try to ‘grasp the detailed situation’, it said.
‘We are taking actions via inter-Korean communication lines to grasp the detailed situation and to prevent any further incidents,’ the JCS statement read.
‘And we also maintain a necessary readiness posture.’
No injuries have been reported on either side.
Tensions between the two nations comes as Kim Jong-Un was seen for the first time in three weeks on Friday.
Speculation concerning the controversial leader’s health began to gain momentum after he failed to turn up at the celebration of his grandfather’s birthday on April 13, one of the country’s biggest calendar events.
Rumours and reports grew that he had died.
But North Korea’s supreme leader then emerged alive, as he was pictured cutting the ribbon at the opening of a fertilizer factory Friday.
He ‘attended the ceremony’ on Friday and ‘all the participants broke into thunderous cheers of ‘hurrah!” when he appeared, the Korean Central News Agency said.
There continues to be speculation over why he has not been seen in such a long time, including that he had complications after heart surgery or was suffering from the coronavirus.
By Eddie Cross|Every time you think you have seen everything that the world can throw at you along comes something else, completely unexpected. For the past 5 weeks I, like billions of others, have been in lock down at home.
Former BULAWAYO South MDC-T legislator, Eddie Cross
Not a great sacrifice for someone like me whose life comprises talking and meeting others and planning the way forward, I can do all of that from my home office. Thanks to Skype and Zoom and the glorious internet.
Like others around the world I have never seen anything like this – I am a news fanatic and watch several news services on a continuous basis, but there is no news – just one subject, this damned virus. And then this eerie atmosphere – no traffic sounds, silent roads and empty buildings, no sport, no school functions, no Church meetings. It is almost as if life itself is at a standstill.
Like others I am fed up with news and advice about the thing, everyone is an expert and yet no one seems to know what exactly it is or how things will pan out. But right now my main concern is that our reaction to the pandemic is going to be much worse than the disease itself.
It’s not that we have not been here before. Our history is littered with new diseases that seemed overwhelming at the time but were eventually dealt with and with which we learned to live. I do not think that this new virus is any different and we need to urgently revise our approach to dealing with it as a new health threat – joining all the other diseases we still have to contend with.
I am old enough to remember Polio and Tuberculosis. Diseases that loomed large and affected millions. When I was born my parents took me to a clinic where I was given an inoculation against TB and then at school I was treated for Polio by a drop of something on my tongue.
But in their day they were terrifying. So what is different about Covid 19 We will eventually get a medical response, but this global panic These sweeping decisions and the enforced shut down of everything that actually makes this world work (to some extent).
We have, in the past 200 years been able to reduce poverty on a scale never seen in history, we have created a world economy that enables us to live longer than at any other time, eat better, enjoy things that were unimaginable for even my parents.
It is all now under threat from a bug we cannot see or control. We have reached for the skies and beyond, we have gone to places where man has never been and we hold in our hands weapons so powerful that they could destroy the world, but we are running from a bug so vulnerable it cannot survive heat or common soap. Come on world, wake up!
I live in Africa, in Zimbabwe, and we have almost zero capacity to deal with the virus and its side effects in any significant way for the majority. If you present yourself here with Covid symptoms, they will send you home – you are much more of a threat to the health workers themselves and they can do little to help you. We are mostly on our own in this hand to hand fight with the virus.
We cannot even test on any sort of scale so here we are fighting a disease which our leaders say has killed 4 people with 23 cases confirmed!! Our death rate from normal things is probably several hundred people a day, but we die from Aids or Aids related problems, Tuberculosis, Malaria, Cholera, Diabetes, Cancer and even poverty and malnutrition. We need perspective.
Intensive care for someone who cannot breathe because of the virus costs thousands of dollars every day – we cannot afford that for anyone except the wealthy or the powerful, the rest of us must fight this battle at home. Most of our people have no savings, they live from hand to mouth, hunger is a daily problem, many only eating once a day.
Tens of thousands sleep rough or in crowded accommodation where whole families live in a single room. Water is a problem everywhere, let alone clean water. Our State schools, when they open, have over 50 kids per classroom – I have seen classes so crowded they sit on the floor because we cannot get furniture and kids into the space available.
Did you see the millions trying to leave the urban areas in India, not because they fear infection, but because the shutdown has denied them the only way they can make a living! After registering the lowest rate of unemployment in recent history in the USA, tens of millions in the States are unemployed and unable to even feed themselves. For these people the Covid 19 threat is the least of their problems.
Our next deadline for a decision on the lockdown in the 4th May. We have to start thinking about how we get back to work and school. Schools are due to reopen on the 5th May and personally I see no way in which we can sustain the lockdown for much longer. I do not really think we have any choice but to start to gradually go back to work.
Clearly everyone has to alter their personal habits – no hand shaking, no direct contact, regular hand washing, sit in the sunshine for half an hour every day, eat the right foods, increase your vitamin c intake and wear a mask when in public and meeting people you do not know.
If you get the bug, go home and deal with the side effects and rest, self-isolate. At school all I can see us doing is to get the kids to wash hands and faces regularly and take their temperature on arrival and if they have a spike in temperature, send them home until the all clear.
We have little choice but to rely on our own defence mechanisms and the capacity of our bodies to fight back, perhaps with a bit of help from the medical cabinet. For 95 percent of us this should be adequate. Of course we will see deaths but that is part of life and all of us have to prepare for that day. If we think otherwise we delude ourselves.
I was astonished, for example, to read last week that the overall death rate in the UK at about 12 000 a week has not increased to any extent. The virus is an accelerator and we need to understand that this new challenge once again reminds us of our vulnerability and not to take our health for granted. Exercise, eat properly, avoid excesses, stop smoking.
If we do, it may actually help us to avoid many health challenges that have become so common it is scary. The next issue is post Covid recovery. I think that given the situation in almost every major economy around the world, that it is going to be at least until the end of 2020 before we can really expect things to start to get back to ‘normal’, whatever that represents.
It is clear that major damage to our global economic system is unavoidable. I doubt if we can get away with less than a ten per cent decline in our formal GDP.
But the situation sector by sector is very different – the tourism industry is going to be hardest hit, the travel industry even more so. It now looks as if SAA is going to go to the wall, something that seemed impossible until recently. Many other companies in this sector will follow.
But we have many things in our favour. First is that we are a very resilient country. We have been to hell and back in recent years – economic collapse is something we have all seen and experienced.
I look back on 2000 to 2008 and ask myself how on earth did we survive So we know how to white water raft in economic terms. Then we have little personal debt. Our homes and cars are all owned without bond liabilities or lease charges. Our National Debt has not been serviced for years and no one expects us to start anytime soon.
We do not have the resources to help anyone in trouble, so we all know we have to ‘make a plan’ and when things do start to recover, we will be in a good position to take advantage. But it is going to be tough.
Eddie Cross is a former opposition MDC MP for Bulawayo South and an economist. You can follow his blog African Herd
While the greater part of the country is battling to get Covid-19 equipment and interventions, some senior civil servant have been claiming as much as $400 in terms of daily risk allowances on unwarranted errands on Coronavirus business.
Junior staff members working on the programme on the ground have only been receiving lunches in the form of pieces of chicken and portions of chips.
In an internal memo sent to all secretaries in line ministries Friday, Treasury expressed, “concern over increase in an unauthorised payment of COVID-19 domestic allowances by line ministries”.
Finance Ministry secretary, George Guvamatanga said all transactions processed already must be reversed.
“Treasury has noted with concern an increase in payment runs request for funding for processing domestic allowances narrated as COVID-19 payments for staff on duty during the lockdown period,” Guvamatanga said in correspondence also copied to the chief secretary to the President and Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda.
“As you are aware, the pronouncement of the lockdown through Statutory Instrument 81 and 82 clearly called for mitigatory measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus and involve limited or no movement across cities and towns, and hence reduce domestic travel expenses.
“Whilst Treasury appreciates the need to incentivise staff who are reporting for duty and risking their health through infection by Coronavirus, payment of such allowances should be guided by the Committee on the Harmonisation of Conditions of Service and approved by Treasury.
“However, line Ministries are now prioritising payment of allowances despite the call by Treasury in its letter dated 20 March 2020, requesting Accounting Officers to identify non-wage savings (operations and capital) from their respective Votes to be ring-fenced towards COVID-19 pandemic interventions.
“In this regard, Treasury is directing all line Ministries to stop processing of domestic allowances and to reverse all transactions processed in the PFM system and redirect such towards COVID-19 interventions.”
Gweru residents have raised an alarm after reports that children are retrieving used face masks and other surgical waste from a dumpsite close to the new Woodlands Park suburb in the City.
Obert Rupanga, the Woodlands Park suburb’s ward development committee chairperson said that children stray into the dumpsite and pick materials to play with.
“Actually, some children pick up used personal protective equipment like face masks and gloves dumped from hospitals,” Rupanga said.
“They wear these when playing and take them to their homes.
“We need help because we are at a great risk of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have approached the Gweru City Council and they said money to relocate the dumpsite is on this year’s budget but we are concerned that, in the meantime, people may easily perish.”
It is possible that waste from homes occupied by those in self-isolation is finding its way to the dumpsite, a popular playground for children and hunting ground for informal traders specialising in waste recycling, Rupanga added.
The Gweru municipality has been demolishing unapproved structures at the popular Kudzanayi bus terminus and green market and dump the rubbish at the Woodlands site, also raising fears that the virus could be on the rubble.
Plans to relocate the dumpsite to a farm along Lower Gweru was stalled after the ouster of former president Robert Mugabe in a coup in 2017.
Council reportedly wants to set up a new suburb known as Mkoba 21 where the Woodlands dumpsite is located.
Chiundura constituency Member of Parliament, Livingston Chimina said he was aware of the Covid-19 risk in Woodlands Park.
“I have been there to witness the challenges and I am going to take the matter up with relevant authorities,” Chiundura said.
“There is too much hunger there so people are failing to observe social distancing and are not staying at home as they have to earn a living.”
One of Zimbabwe’s largest listed companies, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe’s business viability is under threat because of the free-falling local currency and effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has emerged.
Econet last week pleaded with its suppliers to reduce their costs by 20% citing the unfavourable operating environment that had been worsened by the outbreak of Covid-19.
A senior official from the telecoms giant said the plea to suppliers was motivated by a realisation that the economic situation had become a threat to the business.
“The whole slowdown that has been caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a business slow down,” the official said.
“During the lockdown, the cities were quiet and the usage of phones went down.
“Most of the phone usage business we get is from people doing business and these were mostly on WhatsApp.
“We can see that as long as most sectors of the economy are not firing, it also affects people’s usage of phones, so never mind about us talking about how we need an-economic tariff and so on.
“It will get to a point where people are not able to call because they have been laid off and that will affect us.
“In that regard, if the economy’s size, for example, was say US$10 billion and reduces to US$4 billion, it also means that our potential income will come down by that factor”.
A memo to Econet suppliers that was leaked on social media last week showed that the company was pleading with its suppliers to reduce their charges by at least 20% starting from May 1.
“As Econet we operate in a regulated industry where our tariffs are significantly trailing the upward movement in our operational costs, threatening the viability of our business,” wrote Econet chief supply chain officer, Sharon Marufu in the memo.
“We, therefore, need to take drastic measures now to safeguard the business and ensure we remain viable so that we are able to continue offering our services to our customers and to retain our suppliers.”
It is understood that the suppliers targeted in the memo provide fuel, trucks, shop space for retail outlets, and land for base stations.
The official, who spoke to Standardbusiness, said if the suppliers refused to reduce their prices, Econet might choose not to renew their contracts once they expired.
Econet is pushing for mobile operators to be allowed to charge tariffs pegged to the United States dollar.
“Our biggest concern is that some of the guys do not even get it in this government,” said the official.
“They do not understand the extent of how much trouble they are in.
“Since last year, although the local currency has been devalued by up to 25 times our tariffs have not increased by the same rate.
“Even inflation has gone up and they are currently talking about nearly 680%, but our tariffs are regulated and have not tracked the exchange rate while costs from the suppliers keep going up.”
Farai Dziva|A Non Governmental Organisation, ICOD Zimbabwe has written a petition to the Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda, expressing concerns about “gross abuse of human rights by the police force.”
ZRP Cops have been accused of assaulting civilians during the lockdown.
See part of the petition written by ICOD Zim:
ACKNOWLEDGING that the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act, 2013 (Constitution) mandates Parliament of Zimbabwe to make laws, carry out executive oversight and discharge a representative role, as well as protect the Constitution and democratic governance in Zimbabwe;
COGNISANT that in the exercise of its legislative function and authority Parliament can in fact initiate, prepare, consider or reject any legislation; RECOGNISING that the State and all institutions and agencies of government at every level are accountable to Parliament; AWARE that Section 210 (Independent complaints mechanism) of the Constitution peremptorily requires:
An Act of Parliament must provide an effective and independent mechanism for receiving and investigating complaints from members of the public about misconduct on the part of members of the security services, and for remedying any harm caused by such misconduct; MINDFUL of the following peremptory provisions of the Constitution [t]he national security of Zimbabwe must be secured in compliance with this Constitution and the law.
Section 206(2) (National Security) [i]n particular, the protection of national security must be pursued with the utmost respect for (a) the fundamental rights and freedoms and the democratic values and principles enshrined in this Constitution; and (b) the rule of law. Section 206(3) (National Security); [t]he security services are subject to the authority of this Constitution, the President and Cabinet and are subject to parliamentary oversight. Section 207(2) (Security Services); [m]embers of the security services must act in accordance with this Constitution and the law.
Section 208(1) (Conduct of members of security services); and [n]either the security services nor any of their members may, in the exercise of their functions violate the fundamental rights or freedoms of any person.
Section 208(2)(d) (Conduct of members of security services) CONCERNED that close to seven years since the adoption of the Constitution in 2013, no tangible action has been taken towards realising the constitutional imperative of an effective and independent mechanism for receiving and investigating complaints from members of the public about misconduct on the part of members of the security services, and for remedying any harm caused by such misconduct; DISTURBED by reports of assault, corruption and other misconduct by members of the security services during the national lockdown that was announced by H.E. the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and provided for in Statutory Instrument 83 of 2020 – Public Health (COVID-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) Order, 2020 from 30th of March, 2020, to the 19th of April, 2020;
AWARE that although the High Court of Zimbabwe, on April 16, 2020, granted an interim order – in a case that challenged torture, inhumane and degrading conduct, disregard of human dignity and violation of the Constitution by members of the Police Service and the Zimbabwe National Army – requiring members the security services to respect human rights, dignity and fundamental freedoms when enforcing the National Lockdown regulations, such an order does not provide for the investigation of complaints against misconduct and the remedying harm caused by such misconduct.
WORRIED that the absence of an effective and independent mechanism envisaged under Section 210 deprives members of the public a constitutionally prescribed avenue for redress; MINDFUL that asking members of the public to report complaints about misconduct on the part of members of the security services and expect remedies any harm caused by such misconduct to internal mechanism provided by the security services is woefully inadequate to satisfy the dictates of Section 210 which requires an effective and independent mechanism.
NOW THEREFORE your petitioner beseeches the Parliament of Zimbabwe to exercise its constitutional role and address the following issues of public concern:
Ensure the promulgation of an Act of Parliament envisaged by Section 210 of the Constitution to provide an effective and independent mechanism for receiving and investigating complaints from members of the public about misconduct on the part of members of the security services, and for remedying any harm caused by such misconduct; Ensure the protection of the public through Parliament’s oversight functions vis-à-vis the aforesaid mechanism; Subject the relevant mechanism to such oversight as may be provided in the relevant Act of Parliament; and Inquire, using its constitutionally provided oversight function, into reports of assault and other misconduct by members of the security services during the national lockdown.
PETITIONER’S PLEA AND PRAYER:
The petitioners beseech the Parliament of Zimbabwe to exercise its constitutional mandate to give effect to Section 210 of the Constitution and inquire into reports of assault and other misconduct by members of the security services during the national lockdown.
WHEREFORE, we pray that your Honourable House will be pleased to take this case into favourable consideration, and grant any other such relief as it may deem fit,
AND your petitioner, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
By A Correspondent| Marondera Central MP, Caston Matewu, who was involved in a terrible accident on Friday night has indicated that he is recovering well in hospital.
“I am recovering well in hospital thanks for all your prayers,”Matewu posted on Facebook.
Focus is on the murder-accused ZANU PF strongman and UMA institute’s Cleopas Kundiona after the horrific accident that left the youthful Marondera West broken ribs last night.
Kundiona who lost to Matewu in the 2018 polls, has a history of murder trials that goes back to over 20 years ago, in 2000.
He once appeared before the High Court after the Zanu-PF candidate for Marondera West, the late Rufaro Gwanzura’s campaign manager, was shot during the race for the June 2000 parliamentary elections.
Kundiona also appeared on trial for allegedly murdering Mr Musekiwa Mufakwadziya.
More than 103 MDC supporters were killed between the years 2000 and 2002.
On Friday, his competitor, Matewu was involved in a highly suspicious accident while on a short 7 km journey to Marondera town centre.
His vehicle suddenly veered off the road and uprooted a tree, injuring all passengers inside the vehicle.
On the spot witness statements say it veered off the road on its own.
A side report submitted on Friday night says there were gunshots fired at Matewu’s car resulting in the accident.
A vehicle carrying soldiers and an unnamed Intelligence Officer was first to arrive at the scene. They assisted in getting MP Matewu to hospital, a family source told ZimEye.
THE Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) and Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) have called on the country’s leadership to engage in inclusive and broad-based dialogue in efforts to address the country’s socio-economic crisis, in wake of the deadly coronavirus (Covid-19).
This comes as the Covid-19 pandemic has further deteriorated the country’s ailing economy, with many companies facing closure, many people losing their jobs and sources of income while others are currently facing starvation.
In his May 1 Workers’ Day address yesterday, ZCTU president Peter Mutasa said government had failed to address workers’ plight which has been worsened by the national lockdown introduced to curb the deadly Covid-19, hence the need for the leadership to come together and dialogue.
“The government has failed to address the plight of the worker whose wages and buying power were already eroded before Covid-19 and have further deteriorated as a result of the pandemic and measures introduced to curb its spread.
“In light of all of this, there is nothing stopping President Emmerson Mnangagwa and MDC leader Nelson Chamisa from sitting down and engaging in inclusive dialogue.
“There is no substitute to dialogue if we are to solve our political problems. But it must not be just dialogue, but inclusive dialogue and we believe the current political ‘dialogue’ is inadequate and not inclusive enough,” Mutasa said.
Mutasa further said that the government had failed to avail social security nets for the vulnerable, to ensure that frontline workers are availed with adequate personal protective equipment and curbing price increases.
“Our assessment is that despite these suggestions, the government did very little to ameliorate the plight of Zimbabweans.
“Many citizens are starving in their homes and many are literally scavenging. There is so much talk without action, for example, when it comes to price hikes, the government gazetted a moratorium but we have not seen the prices go down instead they are increasing.
“Citizens are forced to choose between Covid-19 deaths or starvation. The government has forsaken the people,” Mutasa said.
He called on workers across various sectors and political divide to come together and enforce a new social order post-Covid-19, which will see their plight addressed if the government continues to turn a blind eye.
“This is not a time for us to be looking at whether we are from the informal or formal sector or from Zanu-PF or MDC. MDC supporters are struggling to purchase basic commodities and the same goes for Zanu-PF supporters.
“So, what is the basis of the division? The working class has one struggle that of destroying capitalism, corruption, cartels, nepotism, inequalities, gender and other forms of discrimination, State repression and dictatorship that have caused untold suffering to the worker,” Mutasa said.
ZCC secretary-general, Kenneth Mtata said given the challenges the country has had to deal with as a result of Covid-19, Zimbabwe desperately needs national consensus to effectively deal with the post-Covid-19 situation.
“The pandemic has exposed our fragile health service system and the failure of our politicians across the divide to close ranks against the pandemic.
“It has also awakened the latent regional tensions regarding the balance of allocation of resources for pandemic preparedness.
“At the heart of everything, it has exposed the deep divide regarding a mutually acceptable solution to the national question.
“We can either choose to continue in the same old path of paralysis and pain or take advantage of the Covid-19 to chat a new trajectory towards lasting peace, justice and sustainable prosperity for all Zimbabweans,” Mtata said.
Mtata added that this position, largely held by the churches and other sectors of civil society, sees a nation that is
stuck in mutually exclusive visions of the future that can only be extricated by a national renewal process through comprehensive and broad-based national dialogue processes.
“This position envisions a three-tier dialogue processes resulting, at the local foundational level, in an activated critical consciousness and agency among the citizens.
“At the second level of organised society, it must result in convergence of opinion leadership and agenda setting shaped by connection and articulation and representation of the key interests of broader society.
“At the third level, political and policy consensus must be reached, leading to a national settlement that will transform purely competitive and mutually exclusive visions to a shared national vision in which everyone feels included,” Mtata said.
He further said that Covid-19 had already laid a foundation for citizens, non-State and State actors to work together, adding that a consensual national dialogue approach could solve the country’s long-standing problems in the post Covid-19 era.
A grouping of informal traders, Bulawayo Upcoming Traders’ Association (Buta) is resisting relocation by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) from operating at a section of the Central Business District (CBD) as the local authority moves to decongest the city centre in the wake of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).
Buta secretary-general Mr Dumisani Ncube said the informal traders operating along 5th Avenue have taken a position to move back to their spaces of trading after the national lockdown, which was extended for another two weeks by President Mnangagwa on Friday. He said they risk losing business if they relocate to other areas.
“The position of vendors is that they won’t move from the 5th Avenue marketplace. The council must just re-arrange the vending bays to maintain social distancing. If we move, we will lose business. This part of town is easily accessible to our customers,” he said.
The association has vowed to take the local authority to court should it close 5th Avenue for informal trading or relocate its members.
“We are trying to avoid a situation which happened in 2005 where we ended up taking the council to court, since we are legally trading with licences expiring on the 31st December 2020 and some of our members have paid their rentals in advance. The issue of social distancing can be rectified amicably,” Mr Ncube.
A letter by the association addressed to the Town Clerk, Mr Christopher Dube, shown to Sunday News Business indicates the unwillingness of the informal traders to move from their trading area.
“We as an association are of the opinion that there is urgent need for engagement among all stakeholders involved in this matter, as a means of arriving at an amicable agreement . . . May we state clearly that we seek co-operative engagement without unnecessary costs (lawsuits). Please bear in mind that 95 percent of the population is unemployed and therefore rely on vending for a livelihood. Making arbitrary decisions that deny such persons of their rights to work for a living may lead to unnecessary confrontation,” read part of the letter. Contacted for a comment, the town clerk said he was yet to receive such correspondence.
He, however, said the local authority would go ahead with plans to close 5th Avenue from all informal trading activities in accordance with its long-standing town planning programme.
“The closure of 5th Avenue is a town planning issue, which cannot be wished away, as we plan to be a Smart City by 2030, as per our vision. We’ve the Covid-19 pandemic and other commutable infectious diseases to control and we have to revolutionise the way we do business because what was happening at 5th Avenue was unsustainable,” said Mr Dube.
He, however, said the local authority would come up with a number of initiatives to ensure that all informal traders that would be affected are assisted with alternative working spaces.
“People will always resist change because of the risk factor or fear of the unknown. We’ll try our best as we can to mitigate the plight of traders who will be affected. In the end I believe everyone will buy into the policy shift,” said Mr Dube.
KUALA LUMPUR- Police have arrested 19 Chinese nationals including a woman for being allegedly involved in online gambling activities during separate raids at two luxury premises in Jalan Raja Chulan, here, on Tuesday.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim said all the suspects, aged between 20 and 45 years, were detained by a team from the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters’ Anti-Vice, Gambling and Secret Societies Division (D7).
Police also seized laptops and mobile phones of various brands worth RM200,000.
Mazlan said investigations revealed that the syndicate was promoting crypto-currency stock gambling activities targeting victims in China using the WeChat application.
“The syndicate can rake in up to RM150,000 a day, reaching RM4.5 million in a month,’’ he said.
‘’They had been carrying out their operation from the rented luxury premises for almost two months, ” he said in a statement here today.
Mazlan said all suspects had entered Malaysia as tourists using social visit passes and were remanded for 14 days under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Common Gaming Houses Act 1953.
Media houses have to improve the welfare of journalists through “life-rewarding salaries” and decent working conditions, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has said.
In a statement to mark World Press Freedom Day, which is commemorated on May 3 every year, Minister Mutsvangwa said Government was committed to ensuring a safe working environment for media personnel.
“Reporters and journalists are the agents of searching, processing and spreading information to the general public,” she said.
“It is, therefore, important that their ability to carry out this task is not tampered with.
“Safety of their working environment is very crucial.
“The threat of death or imprisonment of reporters and journalists has no place in civilised societies.
“It is also important to ensure that press workers’ welfare is improved upon through provision of decent working conditions and life-rewarding salaries.
“The Government of Zimbabwe is fully committed to the principles of press freedom and this is obtained in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights.”
Government’s commitment to fulfil regional and international human rights instruments, she added, was reinforced by the Constitution.
Sections 61 and 62 of the country’s supreme law provide for freedom of the media.
Journalists, however, have to stay clear of sensationalism in their work, she added.
“On their part, journalists have to improve on the standards of the profession.
“Report in an informative and analytical way. Avoid the temptation of tabloid sensationalism, this is why my ministry with cooperating partners carried out a number of training workshops for journalists to improve on their Covid-19 reporting skills.
“Government has adopted stringent policies against the spread of false information and it is our belief that the measures put in place provide good grounds for credible journalism to thrive.”
Employers in the media sector, Minister Mutsvangwa said, have to strive to provide workers with protective clothing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This year’s World Press Freedom Day commemorations come at time when Zimbabwe and the whole world are locked in a life-and-death combat against Covid-19,” she said.
“These are trying times and Government, through the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, has been consulting widely on how best to support this sector during and beyond Covid-19.
“The media plays a critical role in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Citizens depend on the media for information that empowers them to adequately respond and to implement the necessary measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.
“It is for this reason the Government has included journalists among the essential service providers and for them to be given the necessary support while carrying out their work.
“Government has also emphasised the need to ensure that journalists’ safety is guaranteed and that all media workers have access to protective clothing and equipment.”
Government is presently reforming the country’s media laws to ensure that media freedoms were respected in line with the Constitution.
“In pursuing Vision 2030 aptly articulated by our President, His Excellency President ED Mnangagwa, Government has been taking leadership in ensuring that it creates a conducive environment for the media sector,” she said.
Since last year, Government has sponsored three Bills that will repeal the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). One of the Bills, Freedom of Information Bill, which promotes access to information has since been passed by Parliament and awaits Presidential assent.
The other law, Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill, looks at the regulation of the media and maintenance of professional standards is at the second stage of reading in Parliament.
The Protection of Personal Information/Data Protection Bill is presently in the works.
In a bid to promote access to plural and diverse media services, the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) has since received applications for community radios and private television stations.
THIEVES took advantage of water shedding before raiding 60 houses in Njube, Bulawayo where they stole taps on Friday night.
The thieves were allegedly targeting brass taps in their midnight raid.
Although Bulawayo police spokesperson, Inspector Abednico Ncube said only eight residents had so far come forward to report the cases, residents told Sunday News yesterday that more than 60 houses in the suburb were raided.
“Investigations are in progress and we believe the thieves could be people who live within the community so we urge those that might have information which might assist the police solve the crimes to come forward,” Insp Ncube said.
One of the residents, Mr Morris Mukwiti, who stays in F Square said he woke up at 6am and was about to take a bath when he noticed his tap was missing. He said he immediately noticed that his neighbour’s tap was also missing and after enquiring from others, he realised several of the houses had their taps stolen.
“After realising that my tap and the neighbour’s were missing I alerted other residents through our area WhatsApp group to check their meters and that is when it emerged many houses had fallen victim to the thieves. From our count, more than 60 houses were raided,” said Mr Mukwiti.
Another F Square resident, Ms Nyaradzo Hoboya said no one heard the thieves at night but only discovered in the morning that the taps were stolen.
“My daughter was sweeping outside when she was alerted by our neighbour, Mukwiti that our tap was missing. As you can see the tap is close to 16 metres from the house so it would be difficult to hear the thieves when one is sleeping but we saw footprints around the toilet and we believe they belong to the thief,” she said.
Mr Antony Ndlovu of E Square said he also realised the tap was missing in the morning and had to replace it with a plastic tap which he was given by a neighbour.
Former cabinet minister Walter Mzembi has Slammed President Emmerson Mnangagwa for flying to Mozambique saying the same journey late former liberation war leaders Robert Mugabe and Edgar Tekere walked did not require him to hire an expensive jet from Dubai.
Mzembi added that Mnangagwa himself crossed into Mozambique on foot when he was running away from Mugabe before the November 2017 coup.
“If it is true that Mugabe & Tekere walked to Mozambique, and liberation fighters did the same & in 2017 @edmnangagwa escaped by car , and Ian Smith would despatch helicopters there , why do we need to charter an aeroplane from Dubai for the same?,” wrote Mzembi on Twitter.
Mnangagwa sneaked out of the country to Mozambique for yet tone known reasons but is related to his SADC role as the chairperson of the troika on politics and defence.
Opposition MDC vice president Tendai Biti argues that the reported unilateral deployment of Zimbabwean troops to fight terrorists in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado region is not only illegal but foolish and costly.
Biti says the Southern African Development Community (SADC) should be involved as a whole instead of Zimbabwe’s adventurism. Said Biti:
The reported deployment of Zimbabwean troops in Mozambique represents further reproduction of illegalities ill-thought actions by the regime. Assuming there is an urgent military situation in Cabo Delgado surely the region collectively must act. A meeting of SADC must be held.
The SADC Organ on Defense and Security should surely have met. This kind of unilateralism which we saw during the DRCcivil war is foolish and costly and against the basic tenets of international law.
Wars are protracted and costly. The involvement of the region as a precondition to any involvement.
Further, any involvement should only have been part of a SADCMission and nothing else. Parliament should be notified and the constitution should be followed.
But Zimbabwe is in COVID war (sic) and can’t even afford basic PCR Tests. This move is total madness. Zimbabwe can’t afford unilateralism nor a war.
Biti further contended that the same people who plunged the country into the DRC Civil War in order to loot the country’s mineral resources are at it again, now in Mozambique. Biti added:
History has now shown that Zimbabwe’s participation in the DRC war was not based on Pan Africanist solidarity but greed and avarice. UN Reports expose the massive looting of diamonds and bauxite that took place under cover of that war. Regrettably, the same characters are now in Mozambique.
THE Seventh Day Adventist Church, Zimbabwe West Union Conference (ZWUC) donated mealie-meal as well as sugar beans to the needy in Bulawayo targeted at the vulnerable members of society.
The donation consisted of 22 tonnes of mealie-meal and four tonnes of beans and was handed out at the church’s headquarters in the city.
Speaking during the donation last week, ZWUC president Dr Micah Choga, the said the church was aiming at alleviating the burden on the already vulnerable groups such as the elderly, disabled, widows and even the church’s literature evangelists who cannot earn a living because of restrictions put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19.
“We have 2 220, 10kg packs of mealie-meal that are meant for 2 220 households, we are not just sending mealie-meal, there is beans so that each pack is going with 1kg beans. We are targeting the elderly, the disabled, widows and widowers, child headed families and also our literature evangelists who are self-supporting and at this moment they can’t support themselves so that are the groups that we are targeting to assist,’’ Dr Choga said.
The mealie-meal and beans were divided between the two conferences under the ZWUC, that is the West Zimbabwe Conference and South Zimbabwe Conference. Dr Choga said the church has noted that even in the eastern suburbs, there are people in need of assistance, hence they would not be left out.
“Each conference is going to receive 1 110 hampers targeted for 1 110 households, it’s going to be the mealie-meal and also the beans for each family. We are targeting the whole of Bulawayo, we noticed that these days even in the low-density areas we have vulnerable people, in the high-density areas we also have those vulnerable people,’’ he said.
The funds for the mealie-meal and beans came from the allocations that were meant for travelling and meetings.
“What we have done as a church, we are the head office in this region, we have collaborated with two other offices and put our resources together, we did not have a pre-planned budget so what we have done, we have said to each entity look at your travel budgets, look at your seminar budgets and all those have been re-purposed to make this possible,” said Dr Choga.
To avoid having people gathered, Dr Choga indicated that they arranged for the donations to be taken directly to the identified beneficiaries.
“What is going to happen is that the districts have put in the number of people that they have identified in their area so these are going to be distributed, dropped at each church and they will take those to the beneficiaries because we also want to avoid bringing people together. Because of Covid-19, we are cognisant of the well-being and protection of the people. This is why we are not going to bring people together so that they receive, there will be people who will take these to the houses,’’ he said.
A donation of face masks was also made to the office of the Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs, Cde Judith Ncube.
AN employee of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) in Bulawayo, who was in self-isolation pending her coronavirus test results reportedly violated the regulations and travelled to Gweru with four other people in her car.
This was after a 27-year-old Zimra male employee tested positive to Covid-19 (coronavirus) in Bulawayo on 29 April prompting Zimra to close its Bulawayo offices and send 52 of its workers who might have been exposed to the virus for testing and mandatory self-isolation. It has since emerged that one of the 52 workers from the Bulawayo office disregarded self-isolation regulations and travelled to Gweru where her family is based. She has since been traced and put under isolation with her family in the Midlands town while officials are waiting for her results.
It is understood that the woman who resides in Senga high-density suburb in Gweru but works in Bulawayo was told by officials from the Ministry of Health and Child Care to go under self-isolation and avoid interacting with other people but failed to comply and travelled to Gweru with four other unknown passengers. The passengers could not be immediately traced.
Her trip to Gweru was discovered after the Bulawayo Provincial Covid-19 Response Team visited her place of residence for routine check-ups. The team was then advised that she had left for Gweru, prompting it to advise the Midlands Provincial Covid-19 Rapid Response Team to look for her at the Senga family home.
Midlands Provincial Medical Director Dr Reginald Mhene confirmed the development saying the province was awaiting test results of the woman.
“This woman came from Bulawayo despite having been tested and placed under isolation. Our team has visited her and quarantined her together with her family while we wait for the results. We are, however, still to record a single positive case in the province,” he said. Zimra Commissioner General Faith Mazani had earlier issued a statement confirming that 52 people from the revenue authority’s Bulawayo offices have been subjected to testing and self-isolation after one of the workers tested positive.
“We were notified by the Health and Child Care Ministry that a frontline staff member of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority tested positive for coronavirus on 29 April. As Zimra we wish to inform our valued clients and members of the public that our Bulawayo port offices have been immediately closed pending comprehensive disinfection as well as receipt of results of 52 officers who may have been exposed to the virus. All the tested individuals have since been put under mandatory self-isolation for at least 14 days,” she said.
Said Ms Mazani; “Zimra shall continue to offer essential services to its valued Bulawayo clients from home as far as possible since our online services remain uninterrupted. Zimra would want to assure the nation and all its valued clients that it continues to be dedicated in its mission to promote economic development through efficient revenue generation facilitation of legitimate trade and travel. In line with our mandate of protecting the civil society, the authority is asking for patience and tolerance as we join the nation in dealing with the devastating effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic.”
CASH-strapped Gweru City Council has announced that it is left with water treatment chemicals that can only last until tomorrow.
The local authority did not renew its contract with its supplier whom it owes more than $1 million in outstanding payment.
The dire situation has been exacerbated by the supplier who is now demanding payment upfront in addition to the balance before they could supply chemicals to the local authorities.
Gweru City Council needs more than $2 million to procure the chemicals and clear the outstanding payment, council said.
This is despite the local authority collecting a paltry $1,2 million after billing residents $36 million, part of which was used to pay salaries.
Mayor Councillor Josiah Makombe was furious during an urgent meeting held last Thursday where the management informed the council that they had run out of chemicals to treat water and that chemicals could only last up to Monday.
Clr Makombe has demanded a report from acting Town Clerk Mr Douglas Chikwekwe on why management informed councillors late on the eve of the 1 May holiday which is followed by a weekend making it difficult for the local authority to mobilise resources on time to procure the chemicals.
In an interview after the meeting, Clr Makombe attributed the crisis to poor planning by the council management.
“I received a call from the Acting Town Clerk (Douglas Chikwekwe) around 3pm on Thursday requesting an urgent meeting. I was then informed in the meeting that ‘we’ are left with four days of water chemicals. We then called all chairpersons of committees and informed them that we have no money to procure the chemicals to treat our water. This is poor management by the council management. I’m tempted to believe what came out in the skills audit report that the majority of the management have no capacity to hold the positions they have,” he said.
Clr Makombe said council coffers had run dry after failing to generate enough revenue to pay its employees.
“We do not have money as council at the moment. We managed to pay some of our employees their salaries while the management has not yet received their money. We collected $1,2 million last month from a potential $36 million which we had billed people. Our monthly demand for chemicals is $800 000. We also owe our supplier more than $1 million. We are also paying our workers from that same amount.
It’s a crisis now. I am in Harare trying to mobilise resources and talk to our suppliers. If nothing materialises it means we might not have water,” he said.
GOVERNMENT yesterday gazetted Statutory Instrument 99 of 2020 to comprehensively give clarity to the Level Two national lockdown announced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday.
The measures show a balancing act that allows reopening of some formal businesses coupled with extra caution and enhanced testing to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The new law prescribes hefty penalties of up to $36 000 or a year in jail for individuals and companies who fail to comply.
SI 99 says: “Any person who fails to comply with an order of an enforcement officer given under this section, or who hinders or obstructs an enforcement officer from having the access referred to in subsection (6), shall be guilty of an offence and liable to fine not exceeding level twelve or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or to both such fine and such imprisonment.”
SI 99 of 2020 prescribes that every individual must wear a mask “whether improvised or manufactured” when leaving home.
The new regulations also give clarity to businesses that are expected to open during Level 2 of the national lockdown.
“. . . business in the formal commercial and industrial sector means any business, industry, trade or occupation . . . in goods or services for the generation of income or the making of profits, the formalisation of which is evidenced in any one or more of the following ways — (a) the holding of a shop or other licence from a local authority enabling it to operate the business in question from a specified premises; or (b) being the lessee of premises governed by the Commercial Premises (Lease Control) Act [Chapter 14:04]; or (c) being a registered operator for the purposes of the Value Added Tax Act; or (d) being a registered as an employer for the purpose of paying employees’ tax under the Income Tax Public Health (Covid-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) (Amendment) Order, 2020 (No. 5) 554 Act, or otherwise making a regular return of income for the purposes of that Act; (e) being a party to a collective bargaining agreement negotiated through an Employment Council governing the business in question.”
In relation to transport services the new law states that “every vehicle used by the transport service must be disinfected against Covid-19 by or at the direction of an enforcement officer at least twice daily.”
It also stipulates that every individual must be temperature-tested and have his or her hands sanitised before being allowed to board buses while further reinforcing the decree that any public gathering should not exceed 50 people.
The S1 also prescribes that workers who are going to benefit from the relaxed lockdown must undergo rapid or Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing “before resuming work for the first time during the national lockdown, every person . . . must at the direction of an enforcement officer submit to screening and testing for the Covid-19 disease, whether by use of the rapid results diagnostic test or other test approved by the Minister of Health. (3) Employers of the persons referred to in subsection (1) must arrange with enforcement officers for the testing contemplated by subsection (2) to take place at an agreed time at the workplace or at any other place agreed between them, for which purpose they may contact the Ministry of Health Call Centre or the Ministry of Information Call Centre.”
SI 99 says all business are also expected to operate from 8am to 3pm “except for good cause” that can be proved to law enforcement agents. Speaking to journalists in Harare yesterday, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo said a massive testing programme will be rolled out around the country soon, including both rapid testing and the more comprehensive PCR tests.
“Rapid testing will allow us to carry out a surveillance screening, which will enable us to have a general picture of the country’s Covid-19 status while we continue with the PCR diagnostic testing in order to establish the definitive Covid-19 status of the country.”
Dr Moyo said the massive testing programme will see mandatory PCR tests being undertaken on “all admitted patients, all health care workers, security service employees as well as all clients testing positive following rapid screening”.
He said under the enhanced testing programmes, selected public and private health centres will conduct PCR and rapid testing, while outreach teams will also be deployed to various parts of the country.
Outreach teams will be deployed with support from some of our partners to facilitate testing of employees at their respective workplaces.
“The ministry will expedite testing both at designated facilities and their respective workplaces.”
Dr Moyo implored companies that have been granted the greenlight to open to enforce preventive measures as well as ensure that all staff are tested.
The President said only public buses will be the mode of public transport while kombis and smaller taxis are still not permitted to operate.
Churches, gyms, bottle stores, bars, beer halls, leisure and recreational facilities remain closed, said the President.
Meanwhile, Dr Moyo yesterday also explained the anomaly regarding the six cases that had initially tested positive before a retest provided negative results last week.
“Yes, the six cases came out initially positive but then tested negative. As part of quality assurance, we needed to have a retest because that was a sudden jump because previously we would have one or two positive cases. So it was a retest to ensure that all the high numbers were correct. Because of this quality assurance, people should not worry too much about our accuracy. I can assure the public that the quality of our results remains credible, if it had problems, these retests would not have given us accurate results,” he said, adding that the testing process was a complex procedure.”
PEOPLE who will get out of their homes without face masks will from tomorrow be arrested as part of a raft of measures meant to ensure that the country conforms to Covid-19 lockdown Level Two guidelines announced by President Mnangagwa on Friday.
President Mnangagwa announced that the country will extend the national lockdown which was meant to end at midnight today by a further 14 days but downgraded it to Level Two, which entails among other guidelines that all people must wear face masks of any type, even home-made cloth ones, in all public spaces and when they are outside of their homes.
President Mnangagwa also announced the reopening of industry and commerce provided that the companies ensure mandatory screening and testing and operate from 8am to 3pm.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Mr Nick Mangwana told Sunday News that wearing face masks in public was now law, after a Statutory Instrument was gazetted by the President yesterday.
On the monitoring of companies to ensure that they adhere to the 8am to 3pm operating hours, Mr Mangwana said the police would be in full force to ensure the adherence, revealing that companies will be heavily fined or lose their licences in the event they are caught on the wrong side of the law.
Mr Mangwana said while exemption letters were not policy, administratively authorities would require people to present evidence that they were part of the bracket of people that were required to go to work as per the provisions of the lockdown.
“The exemption letters were not part of law as such but what will prevail is that the police will ask people just to produce proof of where they are going. For example, when people are going to a funeral, the police may ask for the proof, which is for administrative purposes but the policy will then be the number of people meant to attend a funeral.
The police may ask people to prove that they work under the category of industry and commerce.
People can then produce these exemption letters, in some cases, this can take the form of company identification documents,” said Mr Mangwana.
He said what is important to highlight was that the informal sector remained closed hence those in the informal sector were not exempted from the lockdown.
Writing on his twitter handle, Mr Mangwana added that “restaurants and other eateries can sell food but people should not eat on the premises.
The MDC Alliance Assembly of Women today met the North America Province structures in a virtual meeting to console them, showing solidarity during the Covid -19 outbreak.
The leadership comprised the National Chair, Hon Paurina Mpariwa, Vice Chair Hon Mugido, Acting Secretary Monica Mukwada, Organising Secretary Hon Muradzikwa and the Communications Secretary Barbara Tanyanyiwa.
They gave messages of condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased Zimbabweans in America who succumbed to covid 19. A total number of 15 Zimbabweans have died so far.
She also gave a message of hope to the survivors of the pandemic and all frontline workers, majority of whom are Zimbabweans.
The meeting was the first of its kind to be done under lockdown as virtual meetings are now the order of the day.
She concluded by thanking the ladies for helping the hungry Zimbabweans with food packs and donations of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to local hospitals.
Mai Mpariwa thanked the organisers of the meeting and said more meetings of that nature would be done with other External Assemblies in order for them to stay connected to the National leadership.
Barbara Tanyanyiwa MDC Alliance Assembly of Women Spokesperson
German sportswear manufacturer, Adidas, said in a statement that its first-quarter net income was 26 million euros (US$28,2 million), down 96 percent from the same period last year.
Its first-quarter net sales fell by 19 percent year on year to 4,75 billion euros.
“Coronavirus causes standstill of majority of Adidas’ business after a good start to 2020. More than 70 percent of the company’s global store base still closed” as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the company said.
“Our results for the first quarter speak to the serious challenges that the global outbreak of the coronavirus poses even for healthy companies,” Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted said in the statement.
Adidas’ e-commerce was the only channel that had remained fully operational in most parts of the world and continued to grow revenues by 35 percent in the first quarter.
However, e-commerce had “only partially” compensated for the loss of wholesale and retail revenues. “At the moment, we are focused on managing the current challenges and doubling down on the recovery in China and the opportunities we see in e-com,” Mr Rorsted said.
Business in China had continued to “sequentially recover” in the first three weeks of April while global e-commerce revenues in March had increased by 55 percent and showed a “significant acceleration,” the company said.
For the second quarter of 2020, Adidas is expecting an even more pronounced decline in revenues and profits than in the first quarter. — Xinhua
Close to 4 000 Zimbabweans are trooping back home from countries all over the world to escape lockdown-induced hardships and inconveniences in their adopted home countries, it has been learnt.
According to various official tallies, the numbers could be more. However, there are fears the influx could lead to more imported cases of the coronavirus. About 2 000 returnees have been recorded since the lockdown began on March 30.
Overall, an estimated 3 500 citizens are expected from neighbouring South Africa and Mozambique, respectively, over the next few weeks.
Further, more than 200 Zimbabweans in China have expressed interest to be repatriated back home.
Embassies in countries such as South Africa and China have reportedly been inundated by requests from citizens asking to be assisted to come back home for various reasons.
An additional 1 400 nationals “marooned” in South Africa have since asked for food assistance from Government.
Zimbabweans who were working on cruise ships around the world also constitute a significant number of nationals who are retracing their footsteps.
In separate interviews, Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Lovemore Matuke, and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Deputy Minister David Musabayana gave detailed breakdowns.
Said Deputy Minister Matuke: “So far, we have received 1 835 returning citizens during the lockdown period. We are expecting big numbers from South Africa, around 3 000. We are also expecting around 500 from Mozambique, these are people who worked on cruise ships. So there is going to be an influx of people coming in.”
Zimbabwe has over the past few weeks been receiving citizens from all over the world and placing them in quarantine centres across the country.
The first group that came from Botswana and was quarantined in Plumtree has already been released after mandatory testing and observation.
Deputy Minister Musabayana said Zimbabwean embassies have been flooded with requests for assistance.
“We have citizens who are facing challenges in foreign countries and they are going to our embassies where we offer them assistance with repatriation,” he said.
“We have those who worked in cruise ships that are also returning. There is one (cruise ship) that was supposed to dock in Beira this week (last week) but the ship did not have the rights to dock there. So they rerouted and will now possibly dock in South Africa, then we will be able to assist from there.
“Then we have about 200 people in China who have expressed their interest to come back home and the Government is working out the best way possible to evacuate them.”
He said the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Covid-19 was considering all options of assisting stranded locals in China.
“We are thinking of chartering a plane to bring them home. That issue is now before the taskforce together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (and International Trade) to work out modalities on how those people can be evacuated. We have some (citizens) in South Africa who have registered for repatriation and the Government is working on how best they can come back home. Then we have about 1 600 who have registered for assistance in terms of food in South Africa and the Government is working on how we can assist those as well.”
The latest contingent, he added, arrived from Namibia sometime last week and are being quarantined in Victoria Falls. Government says it is ready to receive all returning citizens.
“In terms of preparedness and the budget, we are okay because we are using universities, schools and other educational facilities, which are owned by Government. What we need to plan for is the eventuality of schools being reopened, so we need to look around for alternative accommodation and that may cost us a bit. When they come we test them, provide accommodation, bedding and we also feed them. When they leave, Government pays for transportation to their destinations and we give them a small out-of-pocket allowance,” Deputy Minister Matuke said.
On Friday, President Mnangagwa reiterated that mandatory quarantine protocols will be maintained in line with regional and international best practice.
He said all returning residents and international travellers will be put on a 21-day mandatory quarantine with full testing on Day 1, Day 8 and Day 21.
“In our case, the lockdown has proved to be an effective strategy to curtail proliferation of the disease in the country. In addition, measures such as mandatory quarantine and isolation of all returnees have been key in achieving low figures. Due to the high rate of imported cases from returnees from the UK, we must scale up public awareness on the danger posed by our returnees from the UK and other hotspots.” -Sunday Mai/state media
The Ministry would like to report that results of the Quality Assurance process instituted following an unusual clustering of six cases that were reported as positive from Harare on the 29th of April 2020 have confirmed that all of them were negative for COVID-19.
Additionally, all the PCR tests done in Harare yesterday were negative for COVID-19.
Therefore, to date. Zimbabwe still has thirty-four confirmed cases and not forty as previously reported.
The Ministry would like to reassure the nation that we continue to be guided by the key values and principles of professionalism, transparency and accountability and that, the systems we have in place will assure continued reporting of accurate and reliable test results in line with our Quality Management System.
In the meantime, today, a total of 977 tests were done as shown in table 1 below, giving a total of 9 291 screening and diagnostic tests done to date. Results for all the PCR tests done in Harare and Bulawayo today were still pending at the time of print.
Mat. South – 12 Mat. North – 153 Bulawayo – 170 Mash Central – 130 Midlands – 13 Manicaland – 155 Harare – 344 Total – 977 Therefore, to date, Zimbabwe has thirty-four confirmed ease, including five recoveries and four deaths.
Mat North – 1 Bulawayo – 12 Harare – 13 Mash East – 5 Mash West – 3 Total – 34
The Ministry continuos to be on HIGH alert to the COVID-19 pandemic and would like to remind the nation that, the most effective ways to protect yourself and others against COVID-I9 are to practise good personal hygiene and exercise social distancing.
Schools that have unilaterally hiked fees and those charging foreign currency without approval risk deregistration, Government has warned.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Ambassador Cain Mathema yesterday said schools should strictly adhere to current regulations.
The second term was supposed to begin this week but Emmerson Mnangagwa indicated that conditions are not yet conducive for a safe learning environment, especially in the wake of growing coronavirus cases.
Despite being closed, most private schools are demanding upwardly reviewed fees, which have raised the ire of parents and guardians, who view them as exorbitant.
Minister Mathema said schools that intend to hike their fees should seek approval first, while those demanding foreign currency should stop the practice forthwith.
“I must warn them that I will not hesitate to deregister those out of line. We need as many schools open as possible, but regulations must be adhered to,” he said.
“Some schools even have the guts to charge in US dollars, openly, in broad daylight — we are saying that is not good. It must stop!”
Amb Mathema said the Education Act provides for the approval of any changes in school fees for both private and public institutions.
“I have seen some invoices but as Government, we don’t think this is the right time for people to be asking about money when everyone else is worried about human life.
“Having said that, I would like to emphasise that all fees increases have to be approved by the Permanent Secretary (Mrs Thabela Tumisang) and there are no such applications at the ministry yet.”
Some schools are reportedly demanding between US$800 and US$2 000. Some of the invoices seen by The Sunday Mail include St George’s College, which is demanding US$1 850 for learners enrolled for secondary school, while its primary school — Hartmann House — wants between US$930 and US$1 335 for the new term.
St John’s College is charging between US$900 and US$1 650, while Heritage School is demanding US$1 300.
Chisipite School is asking parents to stump up US$1 500 or $90 000 per term, while Dominican Convent is demanding US$800 or ZWL$22 500. St Michael’s Preparatory School fees are pegged at US$890.
Parents complained that the fees were punitive and a “rip-off” given the current situation where business is subdued due to the national lockdown.
In their letters to parents and guardians, most schools said demand for school fees payment was justified as they will soon be transitioning to online lessons until normalcy returns.
“It is ridiculous for schools to be charging that much for online education. The question is what are the costs for all that money, say US$1 500 at Chisipite Senior School? Students are not going to school and teachers might as well be operating from their homes if they have good internet connection. This craziness must stop,” said a parent who preferred not to be named to protect his school-going children.
Another parent pleaded for Government intervention to stop the new fees frombeing effected.
She said: “Private schools have gone crazy. They are charging school fees using black market rates. Government should do something about this.”
A parent at Heritage School in Borrowdale was not amused by the new fees.
“Heritage is charging more than US$1 300 for online learning. They do not consider WIFI internet connection charges and gadgets. Charging exorbitant fees in such an environment?” he said.
Association of Trust Schools chair Mr Tim Middleton was not available to comment as he is believed to be away.
But Dominican Convent School headmistress Sister Kudzai Mutsure said they reduced the fees from US$1 000 to US$800 because “when kids are not in school, money is saved on other budget lines”.
“The major added cost is data for teachers because they need it for teaching, uploading students’ work, downloading work for marking and sending it back after,” she said.
In a letter, Watershed College reminded parents of fixed costs that still need to be paid whether the students are present or not.
Veteran educationist, Dr Caiphus Nziramasanga, said parents were expected to pay the new fees since schools have salaries and other conditions of service that need to be paid for.
“Whatever the case, they (schools) still have to pay the teachers, there is no option,” said Dr Nziramasanga.
“Teachers will do overtime when normalcy returns so that students are back on track. I understand the concern over the fees, but, look, this is an unfamiliar situation. The economic problems are not peculiar to Zimbabwe, but it is a global issue.”
Turning to online learning, Ambassador Mathema said Government was making efforts to ensure that no student was either left out or left behind.
“We understand that some schools are not equipped to run such classes. However, we have partnerships with broadcasters to conduct classes on radio, television and other broadcasting channels accessible to many.
“We are working on ensuring that the environment is safe for our children to return to school. Once we reach that stage, we will make an announcement on the opening dates.”
Dr Nziramasanga said the success of e-learning will depend on availability of internet in both schools and for students at home. He said the programme was likely to be a challenge for most rural schools where some do not have electricity, let alone internet access.
“Are the teachers skilled to do online teaching, and are the students able to access gadgets and internet?” Dr Nziramasanga queried.
“For other schools, a postal system could have been used in open-distance learning but due to the coronavirus, movement is restricted.
“Our postal system is not functioning; therefore, it is a challenge. Government is doing well to resolve these matters. We have to appreciate the efforts. – Sunday Mail/herald
Law enforcement agents have launched an investigation into suspected criminal abuse of office by NetOne acting chairperson, Ms Susan Mutangadura, after she reportedly appointed her suspected business acquaintance — a retired judge — to preside over a disciplinary hearing of suspended CEO Lazarus Muchenje.
The appointment of the judge had already raised eyebrows given that Ms Mutangadura, the complainant against Mr Muchenje — who is on suspension facing various allegations, including incompetence — is a panellist at Africa Institute of Mediation and Arbitration (AIMA), a company founded by the judge (name supplied).
It, however, emerged last week that NetOne has filed an urgent chamber application seeking to bar investigators — who had obtained a search-and-seize order — from accessing relevant documents citing confidentiality.
The date for hearing the case had not been determined at the High Court.
However, Ms Mutangadura could not comment on Thursday. “Unfortunately, I cannot comment at the moment for professional reasons,” said Ms Mutangadura.
NetOne, a wholly State-owned enterprise, was formed in 1996 as the first cellular network provider in Zimbabwe.
With more than three million subscribers, it is the country’s second-largest mobile operator after Econet.
Mr Muchenje was suspended on February 20 this year, alongside acting chief finance officer Mr Tinashe Severa.
He subsequently approached the court seeking nullification of the suspension, after which an interim relief order was granted.
On March 12, NetOne appealed the order to interdict the hearing process at the Supreme Court and used that as the basis to proceed with the hearing.
However, the hearing failed to take place after Mr Muchenje insisted that any proceedings would be illegal since there was an interim relief order barring the hearing.
Last week some investigators from the Criminal Investigations Department (Serious Frauds) launched a probe into potential abuse of office by Ms Mutangadura for appointing her “business associate”.
“The police got the order to search and seize relevant documents, which they needed for their investigations,” said a source, who requested not to be named because the matter is now under judicial consideration.
“However, NetOne made an urgent chamber application seeking to interdict the investigators from accessing the documents.”
Ms Mutangadura was authorised by the NetOne board to appoint a disciplinary hearing authority to preside over proceedings of cases involving Mr Muchenje and Mr Severa through a resolution dated February 20 2019.
She then used powers granted to her by the resolution to appoint the judge to preside over the hearing.
A notification letter addressed to Mr Muchenje in March announced the development.
It is believed that the appointment of the judge was in violation of Section 34 of the Public Entities and Governance Act, which states that where a board member or a senior staff member of a public entity knows or has any reason to believe that any of his or her public associates has acquired or holds direct or indirect pecuniary interests in any matter that is under the consideration by the board or that is or, to his or her knowledge, is likely to be the subject matter of a contract between the public entity and any other person, the board member or senior staff shall forthwith disclose to the entity’s board.
Ms Mutangadura took over from former board chairperson Mr James Mutizwa, who alongside two other directors resigned early February this year after allegedly being pressured to do.
Further, two other board members, including Dr Douglas Mamvura, are understood to be in the firing line.
Dr Mamvura, a renowned marketing executive and entrepreneur, is accused of not attending meetings despite not having been invited for a single meeting since his appointment in October last year.
Recent reports claimed that the resignation of the board members were due to poor performance.
It was alleged that according to the assessment report done for the entire board, those who resigned scored very low and failed to produce a viable turnaround strategy to the Ministry of Information Communication Technology and Courier Services, which forced them to quit.
But there are also counter claims that suggest that no board member was “ever independently” assessed or evaluated according to their performance contracts.
The only purported assessments done were for the full board and the chairperson who was independently evaluated, “and this was done very unprofessionally”, added the sources.
A former board member told The Sunday Mail Business that the former chair actually had a 3,5 score, which was above average.
“We have never been individually assessed as board members, we noted the weakness of the whole board and if it is true that the board deserved to be fired by identifying its weakness, then it also raises eyebrows why the other board members are not being fired,” said the former board member, who requested not to be named.
Police national spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi had promised to comment after getting a brief from the CID, but follow-up calls were not responded to. -Sunday Mail
Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa has today extended the lockdown by two weeks, though under level 2.
The relaxation of the lockdown comprises the following aspects :
All people must wear masks (including homemade) outside homes.
The reopening of industry and commerce, provided employers provide rapid testing, social distance and sanitisation Operating hours from 8 am to 3 pm.
Informal sector remains closed except agriculture and food supply taxis and combis are still not permitted. Buses will operate, but with social distancing, sanitisation, masks and temperature checks.
Returning residents and international travellers will be put on 21-day mandatory quarantine with full testing on day 1, day 8 and day 21.
Churches, gyms, bars, bottle stores and other recreational facilities remain closed. Schools and tertiary institutions will remain closed for now, with an announcement for their reopening expected to be made in due course.
Mnangagwa has maintained saving lives should be prioritised although measures have been put in place to revive the struggling economy.
Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa has today extended the lockdown by two weeks, though under level 2.
The relaxation of the lockdown comprises the following aspects :
All people must wear masks (including homemade) outside homes.
The reopening of industry and commerce, provided employers provide rapid testing, social distance and sanitisation Operating hours from 8 am to 3 pm.
Informal sector remains closed except agriculture and food supply taxis and combis are still not permitted. Buses will operate, but with social distancing, sanitisation, masks and temperature checks.
Returning residents and international travellers will be put on 21-day mandatory quarantine with full testing on day 1, day 8 and day 21.
Churches, gyms, bars, bottle stores and other recreational facilities remain closed. Schools and tertiary institutions will remain closed for now, with an announcement for their reopening expected to be made in due course.
Mnangagwa has maintained saving lives should be prioritised although measures have been put in place to revive the struggling economy.
On May 2 every year, the MDC family and Zimbabwean workers in general remember a man who dedicated his life to their emancipation and democratic change in Zimbabwe.
This is the day when Zimbabwe lost one of the most charismatic leaders in the history of this country- Isaac Matongo.
Isaac Matongo was known in the trade union circles for his fearlessness.
In 1999 when the MDC was formed that’s when he emerged as a gifted strategist in organising and building the opposition party’s structures to challenge Zanu PF hegemony.
The heavily built Isaac Matongo was tasked to craft strategies of building structures for the MDC and he excelled.
In less than five months, the MDC shocked Zanu PF In Parliamentary elections in March 2000.
Isaac Matongo was the first MDC National Chairman.
Matongo was known for his song “Mukandituma handirambe ndinomanya sekacheche …!”
President Tsvangirai had a loyal soldier whom he banked on for pushing party activities.
The growth of the MDC cannot be chronicled without mentioning Matongo.
The current MDC Alliance President Advocate Nelson Chamisa was the National Youth Chairman at that time.
He was a chairman par excellence, a true democrat, a father and founder of the struggle for democratic change in Zimbabwe.
We will only rest when we have accomplished his hopes of attaining real change.
On May 2 every year, the MDC family and Zimbabwean workers in general remember a man who dedicated his life to their emancipation and democratic change in Zimbabwe.
This is the day when Zimbabwe lost one of the most charismatic leaders in the history of this country- Isaac Matongo.
Isaac Matongo was known in the trade union circles for his fearlessness.
In 1999 when the MDC was formed that’s when he emerged as a gifted strategist in organising and building the opposition party’s structures to challenge Zanu PF hegemony.
The heavily built Isaac Matongo was tasked to craft strategies of building structures for the MDC and he excelled.
In less than five months, the MDC shocked Zanu PF In Parliamentary elections in March 2000.
Isaac Matongo was the first MDC National Chairman.
Matongo was known for his song “Mukandituma handirambe ndinomanya sekacheche …!”
President Tsvangirai had a loyal soldier whom he banked on for pushing party activities.
The growth of the MDC cannot be chronicled without mentioning Matongo.
The current MDC Alliance President Advocate Nelson Chamisa was the National Youth Chairman at that time.
He was a chairman par excellence, a true democrat, a father and founder of the struggle for democratic change in Zimbabwe.
We will only rest when we have accomplished his hopes of attaining real change.
Farai Dziva|Marondera Central MP, Caston Matewu, who was involved in a terrible accident on Friday night has indicated that he is recovering well in hospital.
“I am recovering well in hospital thanks for all your prayers,”Matewu posted on Facebook.
Focus is on the murder-accused ZANU PF strongman and UMA institute’s Cleopas Kundiona after the horrific accident that left the youthful Marondera West broken ribs last night.
Kundiona who lost to Matewu in the 2018 polls, has a history of murder trials that goes back to over 20 years ago, in 2000.
He once appeared before the High Court after the Zanu-PF candidate for Marondera West, the late Rufaro Gwanzura’s campaign manager, was shot during the race for the June 2000 parliamentary elections.
Kundiona also appeared on trial for allegedly murdering Mr Musekiwa Mufakwadziya.
More than 103 MDC supporters were killed between the years 2000 and 2002.
On Friday, his competitor, Matewu was involved in a highly suspicious accident while on a short 7 km journey to Marondera town centre.
His vehicle suddenly veered off the road and uprooted a tree, injuring all passengers inside the vehicle.
On the spot witness statements say it veered off the road on its own.
A side report submitted on Friday night says there were gunshots fired at Matewu’s car resulting in the accident.
A vehicle carrying soldiers and an unnamed Intelligence Officer was first to arrive at the scene. They assisted in getting MP Matewu to hospital, a family source told ZimEye.
Farai Dziva|Marondera Central MP, Caston Matewu, who was involved in a terrible accident on Friday night has indicated that he is recovering well in hospital.
“I am recovering well in hospital thanks for all your prayers,”Matewu posted on Facebook.
Focus is on the murder-accused ZANU PF strongman and UMA institute’s Cleopas Kundiona after the horrific accident that left the youthful Marondera West broken ribs last night.
Kundiona who lost to Matewu in the 2018 polls, has a history of murder trials that goes back to over 20 years ago, in 2000.
He once appeared before the High Court after the Zanu-PF candidate for Marondera West, the late Rufaro Gwanzura’s campaign manager, was shot during the race for the June 2000 parliamentary elections.
Kundiona also appeared on trial for allegedly murdering Mr Musekiwa Mufakwadziya.
More than 103 MDC supporters were killed between the years 2000 and 2002.
On Friday, his competitor, Matewu was involved in a highly suspicious accident while on a short 7 km journey to Marondera town centre.
His vehicle suddenly veered off the road and uprooted a tree, injuring all passengers inside the vehicle.
On the spot witness statements say it veered off the road on its own.
A side report submitted on Friday night says there were gunshots fired at Matewu’s car resulting in the accident.
A vehicle carrying soldiers and an unnamed Intelligence Officer was first to arrive at the scene. They assisted in getting MP Matewu to hospital, a family source told ZimEye.
Farai Dziva|Marondera Central MP, Caston Matewu, who was involved in a terrible accident on Friday night has indicated that he is recovering well in hospital.
“I am recovering well in hospital thanks for all your prayers,”Matewu posted on Facebook.
Focus is on the murder-accused ZANU PF strongman and UMA institute’s Cleopas Kundiona after the horrific accident that left the youthful Marondera West broken ribs last night.
Kundiona who lost to Matewu in the 2018 polls, has a history of murder trials that goes back to over 20 years ago, in 2000.
He once appeared before the High Court after the Zanu-PF candidate for Marondera West, the late Rufaro Gwanzura’s campaign manager, was shot during the race for the June 2000 parliamentary elections.
Kundiona also appeared on trial for allegedly murdering Mr Musekiwa Mufakwadziya.
More than 103 MDC supporters were killed between the years 2000 and 2002.
On Friday, his competitor, Matewu was involved in a highly suspicious accident while on a short 7 km journey to Marondera town centre.
His vehicle suddenly veered off the road and uprooted a tree, injuring all passengers inside the vehicle.
On the spot witness statements say it veered off the road on its own.
A side report submitted on Friday night says there were gunshots fired at Matewu’s car resulting in the accident.
A vehicle carrying soldiers and an unnamed Intelligence Officer was first to arrive at the scene. They assisted in getting MP Matewu to hospital, a family source told ZimEye.
By A Correspondent- Police details from the CID Drugs and the Canine Unit recently staged a dramatic arrest of suspected drug cartels leaders in Harare recently.
A law officer who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity said the carlet involves one Freddy Mabheka, Kenneth Takundiswa Jasi, his son Fungai Michael Tyron Jasi and another person known as Farai Gwatidzo who is on the police wanted list.
The source said:
“These are the kingpins of the cocaine market in Harare and their clients are mostly white people and kids from the rich and affluent suburbs. Jasi on the 30th of March was arrested by CID drugs and appeared in court today (Saturday) charged with possession and trafficking of a dangerous substance.
“On 31 October last year Fungai was arrested in possession of 169 grams of cocaine and his pending case is recorded under CRB 15769-19. This cartel operates like a mafia outfit and they supply white people and those that fail to pay lose properties and they confiscate title deeds of houses. Their white clients are incurring debts of up to US$300 000 for cocaine and other substances.”
The source added that the cartel uses young women who are pushers of the dangerous substance and they supply the white clients.
Kenneth Jasi appeared at Rotten row court on Saturday and was remanded to 19 May.
In 2019, Bulawayo Crime Prevention Officer, Chief Superintendent Manuel Usiku led an operation that raided the drug dens in Bulawayo.
“We want to urge members of the public to desist from taking drugs because drugs have long term health effects. Besides that, when one is under the influence of such drugs, their mental faculties are also affected. They would not be able to think straight. So they are likely to commit offences and can be victims of crime as well.” Usiku told the media after the operation.-Online
By A Correspondent- Nurses have demanded that the government allows them to work for one week and rest the following two weeks in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) in health facilities.
This comes amid reports that two nurses and a doctor recently tested positive for Covid-19 at Sally Mugabe Hospital on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe Professional Nurses Union (ZPNU) secretary-general Douglas Chikobvu told the Daily News that the two weeks’ rest should be in self-isolation, in case they were exposed to the pandemic during working hours.
“The Health Apex Council met and submitted to government that we want to work a week in and two weeks off while in self-isolation. This will create time to monitor health workers for any signs and symptoms they may develop as the incubation period for the virus is 14 days,” Chikobvu said.
Currently, nurses are working between two and three days a week under a flexi-hours system introduced by the government through a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that was influenced by the nurses’ incapacitation.
By A Correspondent- This emotional appeal to the public to observe the national lockdown as a measure to fight the spread of Covid-19, seems to have no meaning for a Bulawayo woman. The woman caused an action-packed drama when she was busted after she sneaked out of her house at night, leaving her drunken husband “fast asleep”, to have sex with her lover in a maize field.
The incident which happened on Saturday last week is still the talk of Esigodweni area in Cowdray Park suburb.
It is reported that the seemingly sex-starved woman only identified as NaCynthia was shamed after she invited her lover, Elvis Moyo, a kombi driver to her house for trysts before they were busted by their neighbours.
B-Metro gathered that NaCynthia suggested that Moyo should come to her house since her husband Mthulisi Ncube was dead drunk. Upon Moyo’s arrival, she tiptoed from the house to have a quickie with him in a nearby maize field leaving her snoring husband enjoying the warmth of the blankets alone.
According to a source the cheating couple was caught at around 11 pm after their noisy act coming from the maize field caught the attention of neighbours. After suspicions got the better of them, the neighbours, went to investigate and couldn’t believe their eyes when they found NaCynthia and her lover busy like rabbits.
“We were shocked why NaCythia had to do this to her husband. The husband is still struggling to come terms with her cheating. What happened is that when her husband who was so drunk fell asleep, she tiptoed from the house going to a nearby maize field where she met her lover and had sex.
“Their luck, however, ran out when neighbours who had been attracted by funny noises coming from the maize field went to see what was happening. They couldn’t believe their eyes when they found that it was NaCythia who was busy in the act with her lover,” said a source who refused to be named for fear of victimisation.
The randy lovebirds were reportedly attacked while naked before NaCynthia’s husband was called to witness the incident. Moyo, who was still in his birthday suit, however, made good his escape before Ncube arrived. Upon questioning, NaCynthia, a mother of two, revealed that it was the third time she was having sex with her lover at the spot.
When reached for comment Ncube was hostile to B-Metro.
“What you heard is none of your business. Why are you always after exposing other people’s lives?” he asked before he hung up his mobile phone.
Meanwhile, NaCynthia who is reported to have been “red-carded” after the embarrassing incident could not be reached for comment together with her alleged lover.
By A Correspondent- Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Professor Paul Mavima has said it is illegal to force workers to go on unpaid leave during the Covid-19 lockdown unless this is done through collective bargaining and is agreed by the concerned employees.
Measures contrary to the agreed terms of employment should be mutually agreed, he said in a statement to mark Workers’ Day, yesterday.
“There should be no unlawful terminations or procedural retrenchments during the lockdown period,” said Minister Mavima.
“My ministry stands to provide technical advice on issues regarding workplace measures to cope with Covid-19.”
The ministry has dispatched officers to upgrade joint inspections across the country with representatives of the workers and employers to ensure that fair labour standards are observed during the lockdown and that general compliance with Covid-19 measures are adhered to at all workplaces operating during the lockdown.
“We welcome information from stakeholders on specific establishments, sectors and issues that our inspectorate should focus on as they perform their duties,” said Minister Mavima.
“The stakeholders have a role to perform by being ears and eyes of our inspectorate and we will respond swiftly to any such reports. I also expect my officers to execute their duties professionally. Any acts of corruption must be reported for the law to take its course.
“Let us point out that works councils and the national employment councils (NEC) remain effective engagement platforms for workers and employers to engage and agree on measures that take into consideration respective peculiarities of establishments and NECs as we craft workplace measures to mitigate the effects of Covid-19.
“We should in these engagements, keep at the back of our minds the dictates of fundamental principles and rights at the work place as enshrined in our Labour Act as they are sacrosanct and should be respected at all times.’’
The Tripartite Negotiating Forum, said Minister Mavima, is expected to engage and review the situation regarding the period of May and beyond as the Covid-19 situation evolves.
“Indeed, we need to engage in conversation to ensure that we are ready for the future of work and the demands of the 4th Industrial Revolution.”
Minister Mavima noted that industrial performance in the country remained depressed.-StateMedia
By A Correspondent- An unlicensed gold miner at Fort Rixon in Matabeleland South allegedly stabbed a colleague with a knife following a dispute over a gold detector.
This was heard by Bulawayo magistrate Shepherd Mjanja on Thursday when Mike Tshwane (20) appeared before him charged with attempted murder.
He was not asked to plead and was remanded in custody to June 4.
The court was told that on March 20, Compton Ncube (30) was prospecting for gold using a metal gold detector at a plot in Shangani, Fort Rixon area.
Tshwane’s friends approached Ncube intending to take away the detector.
It is alleged that while they were wrangling, Tshwane stabbed Ncube in the back.
Ncube was rushed to the United Bulawayo Hospital for medication.
A report was made to the police, leading to Tshwane’s arrest.-Statemedia
By A Correspondent- Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has said Government must pay workers in US dollars, saying the country’s workforce is facing a double tragedy of coronavirus and poor salaries which were not sufficient to cover basics such as transport to and from work, rentals and purchase of food.
“Our doctors earn close to $5 000, an equivalent of US$100; this does not happen anywhere else in the world, our soldiers and police are earning less than US$20. The poverty levels they face every day are so heart wrenching,” said Chamisa.
He said the MDC Alliance had written to Government urging President Mnangagwa to pay workers in US dollars to arrest inflation and restore value to their earnings.
“We hope in the coming days, they will listen to the advice which given them and start paying workers in US$. We should shelve the local currency until such a time we have corrected the economic fundamentals in the country,” he said.
Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic crisis in a decade characterised by hyperinflation and government reintroduced the Zim dollar in February last year and floated it but did not adjust salaries.
Chamisa said while Zimbabwe continued to use the local currency, he urged government to widen the income tax bands by over 300 percent to allow workers to take home more money. He also called for more tax exemptions.
However, Chamisa himself this week admitted that his own party was failing to pay workers, saying they had not paid workers since February.
Without elaborating how the pandemic stopped the MDC from paying its workers, Chamisa said “MDC workers haven’t been paid during the coronavirus period.”
He was responding to a party supporter who asked him on social media if it was true that his party’s workers have been struggling to get their salaries.
“Mr President I heard, MDC workers haven’t been paid, can you please tell us what are the challenges the party is facing for it to fail to pay it’s workers or is it propaganda from those who are against the party,” Chamsia was asked by a supporter.
“MDC workers have been paid every month except for this coronavirus period,” Chamisa responded.
MDC Alliance workers earn in local Zimbabwe currency.
Turning to demolitions that were carried out by councils around the country during the coronavirus induced lockdown, Chamisa said the MDC was opposed to it and was demanding that councillors sponsored by his party explain their stance.
“If you believe the vending stalls are illegal, you go there and talk to the vendors and get consensus, if that does not come, then you go to the courts and get court orders.
“Our councillors have to account on why and how they ended up joining this bandwagon of destroying people’s livelihoods,” Chamisa said
As ZimEye’s Simba Chikanza pushes to interview Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Asian country’s deputy ambassador has made an initial response on the thorny subject of the country’s alleged colonisation of Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa.
(Readers please note that ambassador Zhao has in the last 2 days asked to have this interview briefer kept from the public eye as he threatened saying its disclosure would amount to what he termed a breaking of journalism rules.)
We however release it for both public safety as well as legal reasons seeing the ongoing COVID-19 health risks that have seen Chinese visitors (potentially infected with coronavirus) being unleashed into the community without medical safety procedures such as quarantining. Another worry is the death of nearly 200 people from what the government claims is malaria, one of which is of a 7 year old COVID female patient of whom the state on Wednesday instructed doctors to certify as of malaria.
Furthermore the embassy has been given ample time since Sunday evening.
“….do we do it by force? Do we come here to take over the land? Do we kill people? Okay? Anyway, I think you should have your standards to make the judgement.”
ZB: – “Do you know how Zimbabwe is colonised?”
SC – Errm, are you saying is colonised or was colonised?
ZB: – “Errm, I mean do you know how Zimbabwe was colonised by the UK or by the Rhodes’ forces?”
SC – Oh, that was by force, that was definitely by both force and coercion. So it was a combination of force.
ZB: – “They killed. A lot of Zimbabweans were killed, and in the first Chimurenga, right? And, so I have several standards to judge whether it is colonisation or not, first do we do it by force? Do we come here to take over the land? Do we kill people? Okay? Anyway, I think you should have your standards to make the judgement, anyway, so we can set another date.”
Date: 26 April 2020
TRANSCRIPT BRIEF WITH CHINESE AMBASSADOR ZHAO BAOGANG
Simba Chikanza (SC) with ambassador Zhao Baogang (ZB) at 6pm
SC – My interview with President Xi Jinping seeks to look into the future and the welfare of both Zimbabwean and Chinese citizens, locally and internationally. SC – Are you happy with the general treatment of Chinese citizens by the government of Zimbabwe? I am looking into the future of both Zimbabweans and Chinese people, as currently Chinese citizens are being allowed into the country while locals are subjected to mandatory quarantining.
SC – Do the Self quarantine luxuries currently guaranteed Chinese citizens by the Zim govt, not create a looming-disaster against both the people and the government of China in the future?
ZB: – “Can we do it this way, you can send me a list of questions then I will think about it, then we could have some appointment, then we answer your questions, is that okay?”
SC – How much in value are the repayable loans that China has given Zimbabwe since the 2017 coup?
ZB: – “You can write down the questions and if I am in a position to answer the questions I will answer you then you have to check with others, that would be the most appropriate thing to do.
SC – Is China colonising Zimbabwe and Africa at large?
ZB: – “Eh, I think, all these are noted, and then I will think about it and how to answer your question. And do you know what is colonisation?”
SC – Colonisation is the takeover of a country by a foreign government whether that is done by force or done by coercion.
ZB: – “Do you know how Zimbabwe is colonised?”
SC – Errm, are you saying is colonised or was colonised?
ZB: – “Errm, I mean do you know how Zimbabwe was colonised by the UK or by the Rhodes’ forces?”
SC – Oh, that was by force, that was definitely by both force and coercion. So it was a combination of force.
ZB: – “They killed. A lot of Zimbabweans were killed, and in the first Chimurenga, right? And, so I have several standards to judge whether it is colonisation or not, first do we do it by force? Do we come here to take over the land? Do we kill people? Okay? Anyway, I think you should have your standards to make the judgement, anyway, so we can set another date.”
SC – There is also one which comes from a group of our community that is interested in wildlife and tourism. They are asking about – What measures President Jinping has taken to stop illegal trade of Wild animals between China and Zimbabwe. And amid allegations that the Chinese government is involved in this illegal trade.
ZB: – “It is already, no trade in wildlife between Zimbabwe and China now, no wildlife trade. So then anyway, you can send me the list of questions and we can set another date for the interview. Okay?
SC – There is one extremely crucial one – there is a Chinese doctor based in your country, China, who I conversed with myself and he sells poison to African politicians including those in Zimbabwe, and he also sells an antidote for it. What are you doing to stop that?
ZB: – “Oh well, this is total rumour, you know.”
SC- I have evidence, he has even sent me a quotation for one of his antidotes, and he has confirmed fully via phone that he has an antidote; That he sells politicians across Africa. He sells politicians this poison, as well as the antidote. His number is 0086159******* this is not an allegation, this is something that I have actually proven myself and I have…
ZB: – “Can you share the telephone number.”
SC – This was in November last year, and this is quite major, and this if I could tell you ambassador, this poison is the one that was used on Chiwenga.
By A Correspondent- Commercial sex workers in Bulawayo have devised news ways of survival by taking call-in clients during the lockdown period.
Since the country was locked down to contain the coronavirus most sex workers have moved from the streets and are operating from their homes.
In separate interviews sex workers said although they were not making much their new method of survival was paying dividends as they were able to pay rent and buy food.
Nothando Moyo, a mother of two children aged five and seven, who has been in the sex trade for six years said they had since adopted other means to lure their clients to make ends meet under the difficult times.
“A client phones to alert me that he is coming to my place then I offer him sexual service. At times my client would come to my lodgings and pick me up to his private rented place in town where we would have sex and after that he would take me back to my place,” she said.
Another sex worker who only identified herself as Nomsa (25) said she had also been operating from home.
“Life has never been the same for me since the lockdown started because from the streets I used to make more than R2 000 because I charge most of my clients in forex but now I make a little bit. I make in the region of R500 to R800. I thank my God because I can manage to settle my bills, do my hair and buy food,” said Moyo.
Asked on how they protect themselves against the Coronavirus which as of Thursday the country had recorded 40 positive cases, five recoveries and four deaths, they said they had to face it head-on so as to survive.
Nomsa said:
“There is no way we can protect ourselves because a guy would touch me and would demand a kiss before we engage in sex.
When we indulge there is body contact. Although we are afraid of death we don’t want to face grinding poverty because this is our only way to survive.”
Transport arrangement for self-funded repatriation from SA to Zimbabwe. Book directly with Eagleliner/Intercity Bus Company Demand driven departure on Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays pic.twitter.com/OwxzW2qt4W
— The Embassy of Zimbabwe in South Africa (@zimpretoria) May 2, 2020
Nurses in Zimbabwe’s public health system have requested that the government allow them to work for one week and rest the following two weeks in self-isolation to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Zimbabwe Professional Nurses Union (ZPNU) secretary-general Douglas Chikobvu told the Daily News on Friday that it will allow for the monitoring of nurses in case they were exposed to the coronavirus during their working shifts. Said Chikobvu:
“The Health Apex Council met and submitted to the government that we want to work a week in and two weeks off while in self-isolation.
“This will create time to monitor health workers for any signs and symptoms they may develop as the incubation period for the virus is 14 days.”
Nurses are currently working between two and three days a week under a flexi-hours system introduced by the government to alleviate their incapacitation due to poor remuneration.
An estimated 3 460 Zimbabweans living in South Africa are in need of food assistance, while 2 191 are requesting repatriation back home.
These figures were revealed by the
These figures were revealed by the Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa in their latest update on how Zimbabweans in the country are faring in this Covid-19 pandemic.
In the update, the embassy says more numbers are expected.
“As of April 19, 2020, 839 people had registered for assisted repatriation back to Zimbabwe, while 2 249 people signalled their desire to receive food packs instead,” said the embassy.
“As of April 30, 2020, an additional 1 352 and 1 391 people had requested for repatriation and food parcels respectively. This brings the total number of people in need of assistance to 5 831.”
The embassy said it was seized with the plight of those who have reached out and are taking measures to provide recourse.
“The embassy and two consulates are currently engaging the South African Government to obtain the necessary clearances and authorisation to undertake the repatriation process in compliance with the lockdown regulations of the country,” it said.
Some restive Zimbabweans have been constantly pressuring authorities for a quick response, something the embassy said was difficult to guarantee in the face of protocols.
“Consultations are underway with regards to the logistical arrangements for the assisted repatriation, including funding, reception and quarantine facilities upon crossing into Zimbabwe,” said embassy.
“While it is normal for people to have expected quick finalisation of the process, this has not been possible due to broad-based consultations and careful considerations being taken at every stage of the planning process.”
Zimbabwe is already making plans to accommodate citizens whose return is imminent.
Those who return will be screened at Beitbridge Border Post before being transported to quarantine centres across the country.
Initially, Government had planned to keep them in Beitbridge at various proposed centres, but changes were made this week following stakeholder consultations.
NSSA Hotel, which is being used as a quarantine and isolation centre for Beitbridge can accommodate only 400 people, while the two boarding schools, Zezani and Tongwe, which had been proposed to take the other immigrants can accommodate 250 and 280 each.
Beitbridge district medical officer, Dr Lenos Samhere recently said: “The returnees coming from South Africa will now be screened and documented in Beitbridge before being escorted to their provinces as they come.”
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister Lovemore Matuke said Government was mobilising resources to cater for the returnees from South Africa.
“Treasury has allocated resources to look after those people who are coming from other countries,” he said.
“Since the number is increasing we definitely need to increase the amount of resources to look after a more returnees.
“We need food, toiletries and even money to pay for bills such as water and electricity at the facilities where the returnees will be housed.”
Deputy Minister Matuke said accommodation would not be a problem since colleges in Masvingo can be used to house returnees. He revealed that Government made arrangements with South African authorities to allow even those without the requisite papers to pass through.
Zimbabwe has over the past few weeks been receiving citizens from all over the world and placing them in quarantine centres across the country.
The first group that came from Botswana and were quarantined in Plumtree has already been released to their families after observation as well as testing.
Some have been coming back from countries like Britain and the United States, countries that have been hard hit by Covid-19.
Some of those coming from these countries are part of the numbers testing positive to Covid-19.
Self-funded repatriation from South Africa during the lockdown has been made available for Zimbabweans in that country.
The repatriation is by road from Johannesburg/Tshwane to Beitbridge during the lockdown.
Key things to note as communicated by the Zimbabwean Embassy in SA:
You will pay for this yourself
Intercity/Eagle are one of the transporters who have been engaged
It is demand-driven and will run weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. So if there is no demand, no ride.
First date of departure is pencilled for 6 May depending on approval on the SA side where intercity travel is still prohibited.
Pickup points in Johannesburg are Lenasia, Starbus and Park station while in Tshwane it is Bosman.
Departure times in Johannesburg 10:00 and 15:00hrs
Ticket cost is R600 per person and payments can be made on computickettravel online from 1 May Passenger manifests will be handed to the Embassy for compliance on both sides of the border.
Bus capacity will be limited to 70%
You need legitimate travel documents and if you dont have them, contact the consulate.
Consultations are taking place for people who are not in Gauteng All travelers will be subjected to a mandatory 21-day quarantine at Beitbridge upon crossing the border. All the best kids.
Police officers and other authorities enforcing the coronavirus lockdown measures can still demand exemption letters from citizens even under Level 2, a government official has said.
Nick Mangwana, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services said that police officers have the right to ask citizens for proof on where they will be going, for example, a death certificate when someone is travelling for a funeral.
“We are still in lockdown but at a scaled-down level. Administratively, authorities policing the measures may ask for evidence of your right to be up and about or be going where you are going. That can be anything from death certificates for a funeral to exemption letters.”
Mangwana’s statement, however, contradicts his earlier assertion that exemption letters are no longer needed under the relaxed measures.
In his special address to the nation on Friday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced that businesses may reopen provided employers provide rapid testing for their employees and social distance and sanitisation at their premises.
Clubs could resume training next week in small groups, but starting the 2020 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season anytime soon remains impossible.
Players were forced to train at home for the past six weeks after the government restricted any movement as part of the efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Several teams were almost wrapping up their pre-season preparations when the regulations came to effect. Highlanders and FC Platinum had already played in the campaigner opener – the Castle Challenge Cup – when all football activities were put on hold and the league was set to start in the following few weeks.
Announcing on Friday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the national lockdown will remain in place for the next two weeks but moves to stage two.
However, this puts any chance of starting the league season this month in doubt. The PSL is now likely going to consider taking the August-May calendar since starting the games from June will be too late.
Meanwhile, other African countries such as Kenya, Guinea and Angola have already cancelled their respective seasons.-Soccer 24
The Premier League have announced that they are willing to continue with the 2019-20 season should government allow it.
92 matches remain pending in the English top flight, which was temporarily put on hold in March owing to the escalation of the Covid-19 pandemic and despite other leagues in Europe being cancelled, the League officials announced on Friday that they are willing to continue with the seaon if given the green light to do so.
“At a meeting of Premier League Shareholders today, clubs discussed possible steps towards planning to resume the 2019/20 season, when it is safe and appropriate to do so.
It was reiterated that the thoughts of all are with those directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, the Premier League’s priority is the health and safety of players, coaches, managers, club staff, supporters and the wider community.
The League and clubs are considering the first tentative moves forward and will only return to training and playing with Government guidance, under expert medical advice and after consultation with players and managers.
The League welcomed the creation of the Government medical working group for a return of elite sport, which met for the first time this morning.
No decisions were taken at today’s Shareholders’ meeting and clubs exchanged views on the information provided regarding “Project Restart”.
It was agreed that the PFA, LMA, players and managers are key to this process and will be further consulted.
The clubs reconfirmed their commitment to finishing the 2019/20 season, maintaining integrity of the competition and welcomed the Government’s support,” read a statement on the Premier League website.-Soccer 24
Bundesliga club FC Cologne has reported three cases of coronavirus but will not halt any training.
The German top-flight side tested the entire squad, coaching staff and the backroom staff on Thursday, and three people were found positive of the virus.
“Three people tested positive, all are symptom-free,” the club statement said. “After an assessment of the cases by the responsible health authorities, the three people who tested positive will go into a 14-day quarantine at home.”
Cologne said they would not confirm any names out of respect for the privacy of the individuals involved. The affected people are now in quarantine and the group training will continue as scheduled.
Meanwhile, the German top-flight season looks set to become the first major league to return to action with a mid-May resumption on the card . -Soccer 24
The Ministry would like to report that results of the Quality Assurance process instituted following an unusual clustering of six cases that were reported as positive from Harare on the 29th of April 2020 have confirmed that all of them were negative for COVID-19.
Additionally, all the PCR tests done in Harare yesterday were negative for COVID-19.
Therefore, to date. Zimbabwe still has thirty-four confirmed cases and not forty as previously reported.
The Ministry would like to reassure the nation that we continue to be guided by the key values and principles of professionalism, transparency and accountability and that, the systems we have in place will assure continued reporting of accurate and reliable test results in line with our Quality Management System.
In the meantime, today, a total of 977 tests were done as shown in table 1 below, giving a total of 9 291 screening and diagnostic tests done to date. Results for all the PCR tests done in Harare and Bulawayo today were still pending at the time of print.
Mat. South – 12 Mat. North – 153 Bulawayo – 170 Mash Central – 130 Midlands – 13 Manicaland – 155 Harare – 344 Total – 977 Therefore, to date, Zimbabwe has thirty-four confirmed ease, including five recoveries and four deaths.
Mat North – 1 Bulawayo – 12 Harare – 13 Mash East – 5 Mash West – 3 Total – 34
The Ministry continuos to be on HIGH alert to the COVID-19 pandemic and would like to remind the nation that, the most effective ways to protect yourself and others against COVID-I9 are to practise good personal hygiene and exercise social distancing.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which may cause illness in animals or humans.
In humans, several coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
The most recently discovered coronavirus causes the COVID-19 disease.
Anyone anywhere can be infected by the virus.
It infects people through coughing and sneezing, touching an infected person’s hands or face or touching infected objects an infected person has touched. It is like all the other viruses that cause common cold and is common in winter.
Main symptoms of Covid-19 are cough, sore throat, fever shortness of breath.
In people with an immunocompromised immune system such as children, elderly, those with heart diseases they might develop respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia or bronchitis.
There are ways one can protect themselves from catching the virus. Prevention methods include: washing hands with soap and running water or using a hand rub always.
Avoid touching the eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands. One must also remember to sanitize door handles at one’s house, office or shop.
Avoid close contact with infected people. Those infected should also cover their nose, mouth when coughing.
According to WHO, washing your hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses that may be on your hands.
You need to take note of social distancing…
When someone coughs or sneezes he or she sprays small liquid droplets from his or her nose or mouth which may contain virus.
If you are too close, you can breathe in the droplets, including the COVID-19 virus if the person coughing has the disease.
However, if infected one needs plenty of rest, lots of fluids and manage the symptoms such as sore throat and fever. If there is a pneumonia or bronchitis one should also receive appropriate treatment for that respiratory tract infection.
Currently there outbreak is causing havoc across the globe and in Zimbabwe 28 cases have been confirmed.
Because this is a communicable virus it spreads rapidly therefore always protect yourself and your community.
Prevention is always better than cure.
Statement jointly produced by Community Tolerance Reconciliation And Development (COTRAD) and Zimbabwe Online Health Centre
Farai Dziva| Focus is on the murder-accused ZANU PF strongman, and UMA institute, Cleopas Kundiona after the horrific accident that left Marondera West MP Caston Matewu with broken ribs last night.
Kundiona who lost to Matewu in the 2018 polls, has a history of murder trials that goes back to over 20 years ago, in 2000.
He once appeared before the High Court after the Zanu-PF candidate for Marondera West, the late Rufaro Gwanzura’s campaign manager, was shot during the race for the June 2000 parliamentary elections.
Kundiona also appeared on trial for allegedly murdering Mr Musekiwa Mufakwadziya.
More than 103 MDC supporters were killed between the years 2000 and 2002.
On Friday, his competitor, Matewu was involved in a highly suspicious accident while on a short 7 km journey to Marondera town centre.
His vehicle suddenly veered off the road and uprooted a tree, injuring all passengers inside the vehicle.
On the spot witness statements say it veered off the road on its own.
A side report submitted on Friday night says there were gunshots fired at Matewu’s car resulting in the accident.
A vehicle carrying soldiers and an unnamed Intelligence Officer was first to arrive at the scene. They assisted in getting MP Matewu to hospital, a family source told ZimEye.
Farai Dziva| Focus is on the murder-accused ZANU PF strongman, and UMA institute, Cleopas Kundiona after the horrific accident that left Marondera West MP Caston Matewu with broken ribs last night.
Kundiona who lost to Matewu in the 2018 polls, has a history of murder trials that goes back to over 20 years ago, in 2000.
He once appeared before the High Court after the Zanu-PF candidate for Marondera West, the late Rufaro Gwanzura’s campaign manager, was shot during the race for the June 2000 parliamentary elections.
Kundiona also appeared on trial for allegedly murdering Mr Musekiwa Mufakwadziya.
More than 103 MDC supporters were killed between the years 2000 and 2002.
On Friday, his competitor, Matewu was involved in a highly suspicious accident while on a short 7 km journey to Marondera town centre.
His vehicle suddenly veered off the road and uprooted a tree, injuring all passengers inside the vehicle.
On the spot witness statements say it veered off the road on its own.
A side report submitted on Friday night says there were gunshots fired at Matewu’s car resulting in the accident.
A vehicle carrying soldiers and an unnamed Intelligence Officer was first to arrive at the scene. They assisted in getting MP Matewu to hospital, a family source told ZimEye.
An estimated 3 460 Zimbabweans living in South Africa are in need of food assistance, while 2 191 are requesting repatriation back home.
These figures were revealed by the Zimbabwean Embassy in South Africa in their latest update on how Zimbabweans in the country are faring in this Covid-19 pandemic.
In the update, the embassy says more numbers are expected.
“As of April 19, 2020, 839 people had registered for assisted repatriation back to Zimbabwe, while 2 249 people signalled their desire to receive food packs instead,” said the embassy.
“As of April 30, 2020, an additional 1 352 and 1 391 people had requested for repatriation and food parcels respectively. This brings the total number of people in need of assistance to 5 831.”
The embassy said it was seized with the plight of those who have reached out and are taking measures to provide recourse.
“The embassy and two consulates are currently engaging the South African Government to obtain the necessary clearances and authorisation to undertake the repatriation process in compliance with the lockdown regulations of the country,” it said.
Some restive Zimbabweans have been constantly pressuring authorities for a quick response, something the embassy said was difficult to guarantee in the face of protocols.
“Consultations are underway with regards to the logistical arrangements for the assisted repatriation, including funding, reception and quarantine facilities upon crossing into Zimbabwe,” said embassy.
“While it is normal for people to have expected quick finalisation of the process, this has not been possible due to broad-based consultations and careful considerations being taken at every stage of the planning process.”
Zimbabwe is already making plans to accommodate citizens whose return is imminent.
Those who return will be screened at Beitbridge Border Post before being transported to quarantine centres across the country.
Initially, Government had planned to keep them in Beitbridge at various proposed centres, but changes were made this week following stakeholder consultations.
NSSA Hotel, which is being used as a quarantine and isolation centre for Beitbridge can accommodate only 400 people, while the two boarding schools, Zezani and Tongwe, which had been proposed to take the other immigrants can accommodate 250 and 280 each.
Beitbridge district medical officer, Dr Lenos Samhere recently said: “The returnees coming from South Africa will now be screened and documented in Beitbridge before being escorted to their provinces as they come.”
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister Lovemore Matuke said Government was mobilising resources to cater for the returnees from South Africa.
“Treasury has allocated resources to look after those people who are coming from other countries,” he said.
“Since the number is increasing we definitely need to increase the amount of resources to look after a more returnees.
“We need food, toiletries and even money to pay for bills such as water and electricity at the facilities where the returnees will be housed.”
Deputy Minister Matuke said accommodation would not be a problem since colleges in Masvingo can be used to house returnees. He revealed that Government made arrangements with South African authorities to allow even those without the requisite papers to pass through.
Zimbabwe has over the past few weeks been receiving citizens from all over the world and placing them in quarantine centres across the country.
The first group that came from Botswana and were quarantined in Plumtree has already been released to their families after observation as well as testing.
Some have been coming back from countries like Britain and the United States, countries that have been hard hit by Covid-19.
Some of those coming from these countries are part of the numbers testing positive to Covid-19.
The Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) is appealing for another amnesty to decongest some of its prisons which are crowded.
Currently, Mandikisi Prison is home to more than 450 inmates against its maximum capacity of 350 hence the call to decongest the facility especially in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic and the social distancing requirement.
Safety precautions have been set up at the prison as evidenced by hand washing facilities at its entry and exit points.
Assessing the Covid-19 state of preparedness at the facility, ZPCS Officer Commanding Manicaland Province Assistant Commissioner Spetosomusa Chinobva appealed to the judiciary to avoid effective jail terms for minor crimes.
“Our appeal to the judiciary is if it could avoid effective and mandatory sentence for minor offenders as currently, our prisons are overpopulated. Another request, through the Commissioner-General, is a consideration for another amnesty to release more prisoners so that we are able to manage our population…,” she said.
Assistant Commissioner Chinobva said the prison has already identified an isolation cell at the facility which houses incoming inmates for 14 days as part of preventive measures against Covid-19.
“We have identified an isolation cell at the prison where we keep our new inmates for two weeks before they mix with fellow inmates. During that period we will be monitoring them if they have Covid-19 signs and symptoms…,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Chipinge Rural District Council pledged to construct a borehole at the facility to ensure an adequate supply of clean water and to maintain the road that leads to the prison. Mandikisi Prison also received sanitisers from Chipinge Central legislator, Honourable Raymore Machingura.
Police details from the CID Drugs and the Canine Unit recently staged a dramatic arrest of suspected drug cartels leaders in Harare recently.
A law officer who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity said the carlet involves one Freddy Mabheka, Kenneth Takundiswa Jasi, his son Fungai Michael Tyron Jasi and another person known as Farai Gwatidzo who is on the police wanted list.
The source said, “These are the kingpins of the cocaine market in Harare and their clients are mostly white people and kids from the rich and affluent suburbs. Jasi on the 30th of March was arrested by CID drugs and appeared in court today (Saturday) charged with possession and trafficking of a dangerous substance.
“On 31 October last year Fungai was arrested in possession of 169 grams of cocaine and his pending case is recorded under CRB 15769-19. This cartel operates like a mafia outfit and they supply white people and those that fail to pay lose properties and they confiscate title deeds of houses. Their white clients are incurring debts of up to US$300 000 for cocaine and other substances.”
The source added that the cartel uses young women who are pushers of the dangerous substance and they supply the white clients.
Kenneth Jasi appeared at Rotten row court on Saturday and was remanded to 19 May.
In 2019, Bulawayo Crime Prevention Officer, Chief Superintendent Manuel Usiku led an operation that raided the drug dens in Bulawayo.
“We want to urge members of the public to desist from taking drugs because drugs have long term health effects. Besides that, when one is under the influence of such drugs, their mental faculties are also affected. They would not be able to think straight. So they are likely to commit offences and can be victims of crime as well.” Usiku told the media after the operation.
A Mutare man hanged himself on Monday in the eastern border city over his wife’s alleged infidelity.
Manicaland police spokesperson Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa confirmed the suicide to NewsDay Weekender yesterday.
The now-deceased Leeroy James Marifiye (27) alleged committed suicide early in the morning of Monday.
His wife, Shamiso Magosvongo (24) woke up around 3am, only to find her husband hanging from a roof truss.
Kakohwa said Magosvongo rushed to inform her friend Silva Maudze (43) who went to report the matter at the Area 3 Dangamvura Complex Police Base.
Marifiye’s body was taken to Dangamvura Police Station for post-mortem.
Kakohwa said no suicide note was left and they are yet to know why he committed suicide, but sources in the neighbourhood told this publication that the pair had a misunderstanding over Magosvongo’s alleged infidelity.
One neighbour, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “What I know is that the now-deceased was not happy with his wife whom he accused of infidelity. Maybe that is the reason why he killed himself,” he said.
Another neighbour weighed in saying: “The pair had a misunderstanding, that is what we are aware of so we are positive that led the husband to kill himself.”
By A Correspondent| The daughter of a man who wept for ZANU PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa celebrating the November coup has been arrested and allegedly molested inside a police station in Norton.
ZimEye is going LIVE over the matter (the video will commence shortly) – REFRESH THIS PAGE TO WATCH –
On May 2 every year, the MDC family and Zimbabwean workers in general remember a man who dedicated his life to their emancipation and democratic change in Zimbabwe.
This is the day when Zimbabwe lost one of the most charismatic leaders in the history of this country- Isaac Matongo.
Isaac Matongo was known in the trade union circles for his fearlessness.
In 1999 when the MDC was formed that’s when he emerged as a gifted strategist in organising and building the opposition party’s structures to challenge Zanu PF hegemony.
The heavily built Isaac Matongo was tasked to craft strategies of building structures for the MDC and he excelled.
In less than five months, the MDC shocked Zanu PF In Parliamentary elections in March 2000.
Isaac Matongo was the first MDC National Chairman.
Matongo was known for his song “Mukandituma handirambe ndinomanya sekacheche …!”
President Tsvangirai had a loyal soldier whom he banked on for pushing party activities.
The growth of the MDC cannot be chronicled without mentioning Matongo.
The current MDC Alliance President Advocate Nelson Chamisa was the National Youth Chairman at that time.
He was a chairman par excellence, a true democrat, a father and founder of the struggle for democratic change in Zimbabwe.
We will only rest when we have accomplished his hopes of attaining real change.
By A Correspondent- A man from Lupane has been arrested after he severely battered his wife on the buttocks leading her to sustain swollen bums after he accused her of allegedly misusing cooking oil.
Thabani Nyoni, who is a carpenter and is from Lupaka area, reportedly fumed after his wife Hluphekile Nyoni told her that two litres of cooking oil which he bought a fortnight earlier was used up.
It is said Thabani who was intoxicated fumed at Hluphekile while accusing her of being spendthrift.
Hluphekile whose name literally means the suffering one told the court that she had suffered at the hands of her abusive husband.
She said her husband sternly ordered her to lie down and took a sjambok and thrashed her on the bums several times.
“I have been facing a nightmarish life at the hands of my husband. Whenever he is from a beer binge he would accuse me of petty things after that he would slap me in front of our kids saying I’m useless,” she said.
She added:
“Last week I gave him relish without cooking oil. He did not eat. He just checked the plate before pushing it to me while accusing me of being spendthrift. Soon after that he grabbed me by my hand while insulting me and ordered me to lie down while threatening to kill me. I had to lie down and he took a sjambok and thrashed me on the buttocks several times, I sustained lacerations on the buttocks and they got swollen.”
Hluphekile reported the matter to the police leading to the arrest of Thabani.
He appeared before Lupane magistrate Ndumo Masuku facing AN assault charge. He pleaded not guilty.
“Your worship I believe my wife misuses cooking oil and other basic commodities so as to fix me. That’s why I had to reprimand her. I believe it was my right to beat her because I want her to stop her ill tendencies of misusing things,” he said.
He was remanded out of custody to 6 June.-StateMedia
By A Correspondent- Leader of Johanne Masowe eChishanu, Andby Makururu, yesterday pleaded with President Emmerson Mnangagwa to allow church leaders to meet and pray in their respective churches in a bid to find spiritual solutions and divine intervention against the coronavirus pandemic.
He made the remarks yesterday in an interview with NewsDay Weekender in Mutare.
“We are fasting and praying that our god provide solutions in the fight against the deadly coronavirus,” Makururu said.
“Firstly, I want to thank Zimbabweans for following what our President Emmerson Mnangagwa said should be done in the current lockdown.
“Today, I am just pleading for a small request to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, to give us churches a role to play in the fight against the coronavirus.
“We are saying he (Mnangagwa) should give us a chance as church leaders to meet at our respective shrines or churches to meet and pray for a small period of time weekly be it 30 minutes or one hour.”
He added: “Each church has a spiritual place, so we are saying that we should meet, at least five or 10 people who are church leaders, while also observing social distancing and also wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).
“Sometimes, it is difficult to pray at home, so if we meet as leaders, we are able to give each other strength to pray for the country. We are already praying, but I am just pleading for only church leaders to meet.”
Mnangagwa yesterday extended the lockdown by a further two weeks to preserve lives as cases of COVID-19 continue to spike in the country and now stand at 40 confirmed, including four deaths.
Makururu last month donated personal protective equipment to Mutare Remand Prison and this week donated gloves, soap and sanitisers to the same institution to boost its capacity to mitigate a possible coronavirus outbreak.
He also donated food hampers to Mutare Farm Prison.
Through his Ruvheneko Rwenyenyedzi Trust (RRT), the prophet has been donating food items to impoverished families in Mutare during the current lockdown.
Meanwhile, one of the country’s oldest churches, the Africa Apostolic Church (AAC), with a following of one million locally and three million globally, has pledged to work with government in the fight against the deadly coronavirus.
The Mutumwa Paul Mwazha-led church said it was geared to fight COVID-19 through various ways including prayer.
“As a church, we really want to play our part in fighting COVID-19. We are aware of the influence that we have as a church and feel that it must be put to good use by promoting that which safeguards the well-being of all Zimbabwean citizens,” Paul Mwazha’s son, Israel, said.
The AAC leadership, represented by bishops Patrick Mahachi, Moses Mwagura, Tawanda Mwazha and Leonard Mukumba, the owner of Inter Africa buses, recently met Mnangagwa, where they pledged to support government efforts in the COVID-19 fight.-Newsday
By A Correspondent- The Ministry has reported that results of the Quality Assurance process instituted following an unusual clustering of six cases that were reported as positive from Harare on the 29 of April 2020 have confirmed that all of them were negative for COVID-19.
In a statement issued on Saturday the Ministry said:
“Additionally, all the PCR tests done in Harare yesterday were negative for COVID-19. Therefore, to date, Zimbabwe still has thirty-four confirmed cases and not forty as previously reported.
“We would like to reassure the nation that we continue to be guided by the key values and principles of professionalism, transparency and accountability and that, the systems we have in place will assure continued reporting of accurate and reliable test results in line with our Quality Management System.”
Commenting on the matter Senior journalist Brezhnev Malaba said, “An amateurish blunder. Zimbabwe’s ministry of Health says 6 cases were wrongly reported as having tested positive for Covid-19 on April 29. Therefore, the official tally is 34 cases and not 40. Yesterday, 977 tests were conducted, bringing to 9 291 the total tests conducted so far.”
By A Correspondent- Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Supreme leader Kim Jong-un made a dramatic public appearance at a fertilizer factory done in the capital city Pyongyang.
Kim was last seen in public on April 12, when the ruling party daily newspaper Rodong Sinmun showed him chairing a Politburo meeting.
Kim did not attend the 108th birthday of North Korea’s first ruler and his late grandfather, Kim Il-sung prompting global media to speculate that Kim might have died.
Chitungwiza Municipality has warned informal traders against resuming activities at undesignated places after the High Court ordered the local authority to stop the demolition of illegal vending structures.
In a statement, Chitungwiza acting town clerk Dr Tonderai Kasu said the interim relief granted to the vendors did not permit them to continue the illegal activities, as this could promote the spread of the coronavirus. He said:
It has been noted with concern that since the issuance of the court order, some informal traders have resumed their illegal operations at undesignated places, under the brazen and mistaken impression that the court order entitles them to do so.
The order does not sanitise, condone or accept continued acts of illegality by informal traders. In fact, the order specifically prohibits them from committing further offences with respect to conducting illegal operations.
The court order to halt the demolitions of illegal vending sites was granted by High Court Judge Justice Nyaradzo Munangati-Manongwa after the Trustees of the Chitungwiza Residents Trust, Kushinga Epworth Residents Association and four other applicants had filed an urgent chamber application with the court against the action.
Chitungwiza Municipality and Epworth Local Board argued that the demolition of illegal vending stalls and tuck shops was unlawful.-StateMedia
By A Correspondent| All eyes are set on the murder-accused ZANU PF strongman, and UMA institute, Cleopas Kundiona after the horrific accident that left Marondera West MP Caston Matewu with broken ribs last night.
Kundiona who lost to Matewu in the 2018 polls, has a history of murder trials that goes back to over 20 years ago, in 2000.
He once appeared before the High Court after the Zanu-PF candidate for Marondera West, the late Rufaro Gwanzura’s campaign manager, was shot during the race for the June 2000 parliamentary elections.
Kundiona also appeared on trial for allegedly murdering Mr Musekiwa Mufakwadziya. More than 103 MDC supporters were killed between the years 2000 and 2002.
Yesterday, his competitor, Matewu was involved in a highly suspicious accident while on a short 7 km journey to Marondera town centre. His vehicle suddenly veered off the road and uprooted a tree, injuring all passengers inside the vehicle. (See details below). On the spot witness statements say it veered off the road on its own.
He was traveling from Rufaro Dam to Marondera.
A side report submitted last night suggests there were gunshots fired at Matewu’s car resulting in the accident.
A vehicle carrying soldiers and an unnamed Intelligence Officer was first to arrive at the scene. They assisted in getting MP Matewu to hospital, a family source told ZimEye.
VIDEO LOADING BELOW…
Update from the hospital is that Hon. Caston Matewu has 2 broken ribs on the left, George, a broken arm and Mazambani Matewu's manager has suffered 3 broken ribs. pic.twitter.com/ZxwqADs1Cf
By A Correspondent| All eyes are set on the murder-accused ZANU PF strongman, and UMA institute, Cleopas Kundiona after the horrific accident that left Marondera West MP Caston Matewu with broken ribs last night.
Kundiona who lost to Matewu in the 2018 polls, has a history of murder trials that goes back to over 20 years ago, in 2000.
He once appeared before the High Court after the Zanu-PF candidate for Marondera West, the late Rufaro Gwanzura’s campaign manager, was shot during the race for the June 2000 parliamentary elections.
Kundiona also appeared on trial for allegedly murdering Mr Musekiwa Mufakwadziya. More than 103 MDC supporters were killed between the years 2000 and 2002.
Yesterday, his competitor, Matewu was involved in a highly suspicious accident while on a short 7 km journey to Marondera town centre. His vehicle suddenly veered off the road and uprooted a tree, injuring all passengers inside the vehicle. (See details below). On the spot witness statements say it veered off the road on its own.
He was traveling from Rufaro Dam to Marondera.
A side report submitted last night suggests there were gunshots fired at Matewu’s car resulting in the accident.
A vehicle carrying soldiers and an unnamed Intelligence Officer was first to arrive at the scene. They assisted in getting MP Matewu to hospital, a family source told ZimEye.
VIDEO LOADING BELOW…
Update from the hospital is that Hon. Caston Matewu has 2 broken ribs on the left, George, a broken arm and Mazambani Matewu's manager has suffered 3 broken ribs. pic.twitter.com/ZxwqADs1Cf
Mnangagwa yesterday flew to Mozambique at a time when the nation is in Lockdown overthe coronavirus pandemic. Should he be quarantined upon his return?
By A Correspondent| Some returnees from South Africa who are quarantined at the Rainbow COVID-19 quarantine centre in Beitbridge clashed with police on Wednesday, complaining of being treated as “convicts” after one of their colleagues escaped.
The 15 inmates, who all tested negative for COVID-19, were also demanding to be released from the facility as they have overstayed by three days.
Beitbridge district development co-ordinator Sikhangezile Mafu claimed that the delay was caused by transport challenges.
Said Mafu:
We have been held back by transport logistics. We are taking care of that.
One of the inmates told NewsDay that police cannot treat them like convicts because of their colleagues escaped from quarantine due to lax security. The inmate said:
We came here willingly because we are complying, but they cannot treat us like prisoners because one escaped their lax security.
Beitbridge residents are not happy that an isolation centre was established in the town as they are fearful that their health could be in danger if an infected inmate escapes from quarantine
It might take some time before schools re-open and normal educational activities return to normal.
Anticipating such a scenario, discussions have started between the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and the national broadcaster, ZBC.
The thinking is that ZBC should air government-approved educational programmes on its platforms so that children’s education does not suffer as a result of the nationwide lockdown.
The planned programmes would cover primary and secondary school lessons.
Before Independence, the national broadcaster used to offer lessons on radio and television. Other precedents of this form of delivering educational lessons to pupils and students have previously worked in Australia, for example.
