By A Correspondent- A Harare family allegedly lost US$49 000, R9 000, $7 000 and a Toyota Mark X vehicle to nine armed robbers who pounced on them at their house pretending to be customers.
The robbers also went away with 10 mobile phones, two laptops, clothes, bags and toiletries.
Two members of the gang, Sydney Chimiti (27) and Prince Gawe (25), were arrested and appeared in court charged with armed robbery.
They were remanded in custody to May 14.
It is the State’s case that the gang went to Mr Chari’s house driving a Toyota Raum, pretending being potential clients for detergent chemicals.
They suddenly pulled pistols and force-marched Mrs Chari back into the house and one of them fired a gunshot at Mr Chari, but missed.
The gang used cables to tie hands and legs of those who were in the house before ransacking it.
They loaded their loot into one of Mr Chari’s vehicles and also took keys for two other cars and drove away.
Chimiti and Gawe were arrested two days after the robbery.-StateMedia
Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) board members have resigned en-masse in alleged protest over government’s decision to award part of Chiadzwa diamond fields to Chinese firm, Anjin, citing lack of consultation.
Anjin Investments, jointly owned by Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Company Ltd of China and Matt Bronze, an investment vehicle controlled by the army is expected to resume diamond extraction in July this year after being controversially barred from operating in the resource-rich Chiadzwa area in 2016.
Business Times is reliably informed that the decision to award Portal B (rich in resource), which is part of Chiadzwa diamond fields, was communicated through Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando.
In protest to the decision by the Ministry, the ZCDC board members led by chairman Killian Ukama tendered their resignations citing lack of consultation.
They said the unilateral action undermined the authority of the board.
“ZCDC board members resigned recently registering their displeasure over the parcelling out of Portal B in Marange to Chinese Anjin.
The directive is said to have come from President Mnangagwa through Mines Minister Chitando after his trip to China in 2018,” the source said.
The ZCDC board consisted of Ukama (chairman), Ellah Muchemwa, Elizabeth Nerwande Chibanda, Zenzo Nsimbi, Esau Chiadzwa, Alexander Mukwekwezeke and Niya Mtombeni.
Ukama referred all questions to the Mines and Mining Development Ministry.
“I cannot comment on that issue because the appointment of boards is the prerogative of the ministry through the minister,” Ukama said.
Mines and Mining Development minister Winston Chitando told Business Times that the Ministry was currently reviewing board composition in all its parastatals and companies under its wing, adding that a “statement will be issued when the process is complete”.
Asked whether the resignation of the board relates to the awarding of mining concession to the Chinese firm, Chitando said: “There is a section in the mining concession which will be developed with a share scheme involving the Chiadzwa community.
This was approved by Cabinet and announced last year so there is no relationship between the two.”
Business Times is informed that a new interim board for the statediamond miner will be announced soon.
Last year, villagers complained that they have been observing in dismay unregistered diamond mining activities taking place in Chiadzwa by Anjin Diamond Company, particularly in Ward 30.
The affected villages in the Portal Q were Chiadzwa, Mwaora, Makotame, Tinoingana and Vimbai.
The recent resignation of board members comes after they had ordered a probe into the operations of the state-controlled diamond miner as they wanted to ascertain the correct standing of the company.
The state diamond miner has been running under stewardship of Roberto De Pretto in an acting capacity while the board was in the process of searching for a new chief executive.
This came after the diamond producers last year fired seven executives including then CEO Moris Mpofu as it moved to rebuild public and market confidence following allegations of rampant corruption and abuse of office by the executive team.
The debt ridden state controlled enterprise has been haunted by scandals and under-performance ever since its formation leading to perennial loses of more than US$50m in the period between April 2015 and May 2016 alone. According to the AMG Global audit report on the diamond firm, the company has been operating at a loss since its inception in 2015.
At its peak in 2012, Zimbabwe produced 12m carats, but in 2018 production was low as 2.8m carats. Zimbabwe is believed to have the potential to account for 25% of the global diamond production and it is targeting to expand its diamond industry to 10m carats by 2023.
By A Correspondent- A defective getaway vehicle led to the arrest of two of four robbers that allegedly robbed a Hatfield man of US$200 and a cellphone while he was walking home.
After robbing the man, the four were forced to flee on foot after their car failed to start. One of the robbers, Nelson Ndakawadini Mawoyo (24) of Budiriro, later returned to collect the car and was arrested. He then implicated Mike Chimombe (20).
The two appeared before magistrate Mr Richard Ramaboa on Tuesday charged with robbery. They were granted $1 000 bail and ordered to report to the police once a week, not to interfere with witnesses and to reside at their given addresses until the matter is finalised.
Prosecuting, Mr Lawrence Gangarahwe alleged that on April 26, at around 10pm Mr Daniel Ngawambe was walking home from work along Kilwinning Road in Hatfield, Harare, when he saw a VW Jetta parked in the middle of the road with flashing lights just after passing Kilwinning shops.
Mr Ngawambe then saw two people walking towards him while two others were coming up from behind. When they got to him Mawoyo, Chimombe and their alleged accomplices that are still at large, threatened to stab the complainant with knives if he did not surrender his money and cellphone.
Mr Ngawambe handed over US$200 and a Samsung A10 cellphone. The gang the dashed back to their vehicle but it failed to start, prompting the four to abandon it and flee on foot.
It is alleged Mawoyo later returned to collect the vehicle, leading to his arrest. -Statemedia
In more developed countries whose economies are better off than most in sub-Saharan Africa, a strong safety net of social programmes, unemployment insurance and direct payments will make all the difference in the depth of the current COVID-19 induced downturn, and will speed up economic recovery.
But for poorer countries, and in the short to medium term, remittances are the most important buffer for immediate livelihoods needs and unexpected life expenses, according to the World Bank’s Global Director, Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation Global Practice, Alfonso Garcia Mora.
Given the scale and importance of remittances for people surviving on just a few dollars per day, actions to reduce the cost of transactions and make it easier to send and receive remittances can immediately improve the lives.
Mora pointed out that during the mobility restrictions of a pandemic – such as the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, sending cash remittances can become mission impossible when digital alternatives are lacking, or if people are unfamiliar with them.
“In many countries, agents are closed without any specific provisions recognizing them as essential services,” said Mora and his colleague Michal Rutkowski, Global Director for Social Protection and Jobs, World Bank.
But in Zimbabwe such barriers and inconveniences should be of little consequence as Cassava Remit has stepped in, in a big way to close that gap. The international remittance company provides a secure, instant and quick online remittance service with guaranteed US dollar cash pick up in Zimbabwe.
While Mora and colleagues raised concerns that elsewhere clients often face long queues, due to the lower number of agents and the shorter operating hours, in Zimbabwe Cassava Remit does not have such problems as it offers has a wide footprint of outlets where its remittance customers get prioritized service when picking up their US dollar cash.
The service provider also offers other convenient channels of receiving the money from the diaspora, such as EcoCash mobile money wallets and bank account transfer into Steward Bank, as well as cash pick up.
The partnership with EcoCash and Steward Bank further gives Cassava Remit the largest distribution footprint in the country, as remittance cash pick up points are as many and as widespread as the EcoCash and Steward Bank customer touchpoint channels throughout the country.
While Mora and Rutkowski worried about the high costs of transferring money which stood at global average cost of 6.82% or $13.64 for remitting US$200, Cassava Remit has reduced its fees to 2.5% , and, in addition it is currently running a promotion where its customers get free EcoCash value of Z$100 plus airtime as appreciation for using the service over and above US$ cash received.
Cassava Remit and Ecocash Remit are also accessible on Sasai App, the all-in-one super App from Cassava Fintech International, where diaspora family members can send money at fees that are way lower than those obtaining across the industry.
By A Correspondent- Some residents of Chipangali district in Zambia are reportedly using a locally brewed alcoholic spirit commonly known as Kachasu, as a hand sanitizer to protect themselves from coronavirus (COVID-19).
This came to light when the department of health held a COVID-19 sensitization meeting at Kasenga rural health centre in Chipangali on Friday.
The villagers said they had no access to recommended hand sanitizers hence decided to use Kachasu as a hand sanitizer. They have since requested government to distribute hand sanitizers to rural areas.
Kachasu, also known as Lutuku, is an illegal traditional distilled beverage from Zambia, Zimbabwe, DR Congo and Malawi consumed mainly in rural parts and poor urban suburbs.
It is normally brewed from maize though finger millet and various fruits like banana peels can also be used. The process involves adding brewers’ yeast together with the carbohydrate sources such as maize husks to warm water and heating the mixture for a few minutes. The product is then distilled after it has fully fermented.
Kachasu’s alcoholic content can vary significantly, depending on the strength of the brew and a research on the composition and safety of it conducted in 2001 by the University of Zambia – UNZA academics, found that it contained about 20 to 30% ethanol. Other studies on the beverage have found alcohol contents as high as 70%.
Chipangali District Senior Environmental Health Officer, Agripa Zulu urged those who own shops in rural areas should stock hand sanitizers so that residents could buy.
Mr. Zulu encouraged communities to observe high hygiene measures and all directives given by government. He said they should work with the Environmental Health Technologists (EHTs) to help domesticate actions put in place by government.
Mr. Zulu further encouraged villagers to report suspects who could have been in contact with people infected with the disease or had just come from high risk countries.
The community thanked the department of health for sensitisation them about the disease and providing Information Education and Communication (IEC) materials which have helped them acquire more knowledge about COVID-19.-Online
Today is Workers Day and the MDC Alliance takes this occasion to salute ordinary Zimbabweans for their unstinting effort in bringing food and dignity to their homes under very difficult circumstances.
Indeed, this year’s May Day commemorations are taking place under a global lockdown which has meant dislocated livelihoods and massive starvation in the homes, particularly for the majority of Zimbabweans who live by hustling and sweating it out in this highly informalised economy.
The government has cared little about the millions of starving families that are locked down inside their homes. The government has given no support whatsoever in terms of food rations and other basics during this lockdown as other countries are doing. . Some citizens have been bashed and brutalised for breaking down the lockdown rules by daring to go out of their homes in a legitimate quest to fend for their hungry kids.
As a party borne out of the sweat, blood and tears of labour, we take this day to reflect on our genesis as a working people’s movement and the unwavering support we continue to get from all the working people of this country. We salute both the few still in formal employment and the millions eking out a living on the streets and the country’s pavements which have become zones of high transactional activity in this informal economy . To Zimbabweans in the informal sector whose vending stalls have been demolished by this uncaring regime, we salute you. We know you are being punished for choosing a life of honesty under these trying times.
To the country’s civil servants and our uniformed forces sweating it out without adequate remuneration, we salute you. To the country’s dedicated health personnel working on the frontline in this pandemic to save lives without the requisite protective clothing, we doff our cap to you.
To all those Zimbabweans in the villages, on the mines and on the farms, we salute you. To the artisanal miners burrowing the dangerous earth for a living, this is your day as well.
All Zimbabweans across the length and breadth of the country; the ordinary women working hard in the rural areas to bring food on the table, this is your day. All those children looking after their siblings in our child – headed families, we salute your dedication.Today, we pay tribute to all Zimbabweans slugging it out in foreign lands. Your hard work has brought a modicum of dignity to the families back home while your remittances have given some breath to our otherwise comatose economy. Your contribution deserves mention and indeed, we salute you today.
This is a special day to you Zimbabwe. As a party, we appreciate the sweat and toil that you expend every day to feed families and to send children to school. We know it takes courage, resilience and unmatched fortitude to simply wake up alive in this punishing economy.
Let us just remind each other that there is just one momentous task still to be done by all of us this year. Together, we have agreed that 2020 is the year of action. Together, we must and we will deliver on that collective pledge. Indeed, we take the occasion of this year’s Workers’ Day to remind each other of this outstanding work that we still have to do in our overwhelming numbers this year. That one task is to express our displeasure at the deteriorating situation in the country and to call for a people’s government, for reforms and for a return to legitimacy. The crisis of legitimacy is at the core of our collective predicament and together, we have pledged to express ourselves in a big way around that major national grievance.
We urge every Zimbabwean to stay safe and to take the requisite precautionary measures in order to stay alive in the wake of this global pandemic.
By A Correspondent- The leader of opposition National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Professor Lovemore Madhuku has hailed workers saying they make the world revolve.
In his May Day message that was posted on social media via his twitter handle, Madhuku said:
Today is a special day to honour the working class. On workers day, we say: “Thank you, without your labour, the world is nothing”.
We dedicate 2020 to our health workers as they lead the fight against Covid-19. In return, we must give adequate pay and maximum safety at work.
NCA was once a political non-governmental organisation that pushed for constitutional reforms before it was transformed into a political party.
Back then, the organisation was closely associated with labour movements including the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union.
It also had good relations with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party that emerged from workers’ trade unions.
By A Correspondent- Residents from Mutare’s Sakubva suburb have cried out for help saying they are being tormented by unseen assailants who use invisible objects.
Residents from the OTS section revealed that the mysterious happenings have terrorized them for the past three years.
The victims of the mysterious happenings have approached the authorities for help on numerous occasions but it has all been in vain. Residents of about 10 households get pelted with unseen objects by unseen assailants usually at night. Some of the houses in the area, as well as properties such as cars, have been damaged as a result.
One of the residents who spoke to The Weekender said:
“Yesterday I was sitting in the kitchen when I heard the sound of a stone hitting the roof hard. It was around 7 pm. I had heard about these issues before so I panicked and ran out of the house.
“I could not see anyone outside. I am renting this house and I have heard about this issue, but all along I had never encountered it.”
Another resident confirmed the mysterious occurrences saying:
“We have been experiencing this for close to three years now. It all started at Number 311, where occupants of that house would actually see fire being lit by an invisible person.
“Later on, they would hear sounds of stones being thrown onto the roof. The owner of the place (name supplied) has since relocated to Chinyausunzi, here in Sakubva.
“Then we also started experiencing the same mysterious incidents at our apartments. More than 10 households are experienced this and it is scary,”
Another resident also revealed how the had consulted a traditional leader after realising that the authorities were not helping.
“My husband would go out to try and investigate but he would find no one. The objects continue raining on us. Our car’s windscreen was smashed by those things.
“We went to council and approached the police, but we are yet to get any assistance.”
“After [consulting a traditional healer], the attacks stopped for about six months, before resuming again,”
Residents have called on the government to intervene in the matter because they are being traumatized by mysterious beings.
“We are passionately appealing to Government and Mutare City Council to help us find a solution, otherwise we will continue living in fear. Our children will be traumatised as long as this thing persists.”
However, the Zimbabwe Traditional Healers’ Association (Zinatha) president, George Kandiero said that the matter can be resolved by a spiritually gifted person without the need for government intervention.
It is now difficult for most people to access cheap but quality clothing in Zimbabwe. Boutiques and clothing shops are charging an arm and a leg for clothes.
Dresses are going for as much as 200 bond which is beyond the reach of many. In light of these developments people have been left reminiscing on the days when the popular mabhero were still available.
After a clean up campaign by government and city council to rid the city of clothes vendors, most mabhero hot spots such as the copacabbana market were demolished.
Second hand clothes and shoes were very cheap and affordable in these places. A lot of people used to frequent these places and could get unique clothes. Moreover with mabhero you could get durable and good quality clothing that you could never find in Chinese shops and boutiques.
Those with relatives in the rural areas could buy clothes for everyone as they were affordable. Even the slay queens were constant visitors to the mabhero markets. There has been a huge outcry over the exorbitant prices of clothes being charged in shops. People have bemoaned the demise of mabhero.
Although second hand clothes can be seen in one or two isolated places, it is difficult for one to access them as in the old days. Although people are trying to come to terms with the economic situation, there is still that desire to look good and dress nicely.
2,337,614 Coronavirus cases have been confirmed globally where 598,298 have recovered, with 161,015 deaths.
The number of cases from the new coronavirus in south Africa increased by additional 291 as of Thursday. South Africa is one of the most heavily affected countries by the coronavirus in Africa, the country now has seen 5,647 cases, while 2,073 people have recovered, with 103 deaths.
Top three most affected provinces are the Western Cape the epicenter of COVID – 19 now has an estimated 2,342 cases, Guateng 1,446 cases, while the cases in KwaZulu-Natal nears 1,000 with a total number of 980 confirmed cases. The province with the least number of COVID – 19 confirmed cases is Northern Cape with only 17 cases since the beginning of the outbreak.
Deaths statistics also indicated that, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Guateng, with 42, 32 and and 11 deaths respectively from the total number of 103 fatalities reported till date.
The country has now maintained the highest number of cases in Africa, since the first case of the virus was confirmed at Egypt in February, however, the rate of recoveries is high, and the death rate is relatively low.
The head of Lesotho’s ruling party turned down Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s demands for immunity from prosecution in connection with the shooting death of his former wife in the southern African kingdom.
The decision by the leader of the All Basotho Convention (ABC) party is the latest in a week of setbacks for the 80-year-old embattled leader, who is facing pressure to resign before the end of July, as he promised.
Earlier this week, a magistrate ruled that Lesotho’s high court will decide if Thabane can claim immunity from a charge that he murdered his former wife.
Also this week, the Senate modified the constitution, limiting the prime minister’s powers to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.
A leader of the opposition party, the Democratic Congress (DC), Motlalentoa Letsosa, told the French News Agency (AFP ) that Thabane has run out of options and the only thing that’s left for him is to leave.
Thabane recently rejected an offer by Lesotho’s coalition government and South African mediators to step down with a dignified retirement.
Police charged Thabane’s wife, first lady Maesaiah Thabane, with the murder of his previous wife, Lipolelo Thabane, outside her home in Maseru, Lesotho’s capital, just before his June 2017 inauguration.
The United States recorded 2,502 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the latest real-time tally on Wednesday reported by Johns Hopkins University.
After two days of a relative easing in the toll on Sunday and Monday, the numbers have spiked again the past two days.
At least 60,853 people have now died in the country, according to the Baltimore-based university.
President Donald Trump s itching to put the country in full swing by April ending.
Tanzania’s Minister of Constitutional and Legal Affairs Augustine Mahiga has died suddenly today morning aged 72, President Magufuli says he succumbed while being rushed to hospital from his Dodoma home.
Sources indicate that 50 people died yesterday in Dar es salaam, Tanzania as a result of being infected with Covid-19. Tanzania’s leader President John Pombe Magufuli has been bashed by the country’s opposition for continuing to defy social distancing rules by encouraging normality in the country.
Yesterday, Tanzania suspended Parliament sittings following the mysterious death of another Member of Parliament Richard Ndassa on Wednesday in Dodoma.
Ndassa’s death comes 10 days after the ruling party CCM lost another MP Reverend Gartrude Rwakatare who died in Dar es Salaam.
On Saturday April 25, former Mafia MP Abdul Karim Shah who served between 2005 and 2010 also died in Dare Salaam after a short illness and he was buried the following day according to local media.
Tanzania’s covid-19 infections had now reached a scaring 480 with 196 cases reported in a single day.
Zimbabwe’s central bank said on Wednesday it would cut its main lending rate to 15% from 25%, effective May 1, as part of measures to help the economy deal with the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.
The country’s economy was already experiencing its worst crisis in a decade, with fast rising inflation and shortages of food and other basic goods.
The central bank said in a statement it had cut rates “with the expectations that banks will do the same to provide affordable financial facilities to their customers during these challenging times”.
It said it had set aside 3 billion Zimbabwe dollars ($120 million), which banks could borrow at 10% per annum for on-lending to clients.
Last month, the central bank set a fixed exchange rate and allowed the use of foreign currencies in domestic transactions as part of measures to support the economy against the coronavirus pandemic.
Zimbabwe has recorded 40 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and four deaths.
One of the two church structures belonging to the Seventh Day Adventist was among the demolished illegal structures in Cold Comfort yesterday.
City Council demolished the structure on the ground that it was erected away from where they have applied for.
Team leaders, who were on the ground, debated about it before demolishing the place of worship saying the Seventh Day Adventist exceeded from the boundary of their legal stand.
Residents had no kind words over the church demolition and the grinding mill close to the place.
“We heard that Mayor of Harare ordered the team to spare places of worship following the demolition of Prophet Freddy’s church but these guys are too carnal to respect God and people’s spiritual and material food,” one of the residents was heard saying as watched the bulldozer destroying the church structure.
The City of Harare team did not entertain residents for leaving some of the illegal structures describing them as corrupt.
Residents also expressed their displeasure by celebrating the mechanical fault that developed on one of the bulldozers after it demolished a cabin where an older man was awakened from sleep.
“Yea our God answers with fire that is why your bulldozer stopped to work,” one of the residents was heard shouting on top of his voice.
“How can you awaken such an old man from sleeping in order to destroy his cabin which is at a house under construction, that is being more zealous and lawlessness.
“From destroying our place of worship, you destroyed our grinding mill, our tuckshop but sparing Mai Daka’s salon because you know each other!
“If City of Harare is demolishing illegal structures according to law, they must not leave any of such in every suburb.
“Corruption will never end if not nipped from the bud,” said the resident.
Meanwhile, demolishers could not continue following the mechanical fault of one of their bulldozers.
The team had to drive to Kuwadzana and passed through Sekuru Mambojena warning residents to remove their illegal structures since they are expected to resume demolitions in the suburb today.
Demolitions are expected to reach to various suburbs and City of Harare is expected to end the demolitions on Sunday.
Corporate and communications manager Mr Michael Chideme
Most of Harare will have dry taps today, as the city’s major water treatment plant, Morton Jaffary, was shut down yesterday to fit a new pump, valve and repair major leaks.
Corporate and communications manager Mr Michael Chideme yesterday issued a statement saying there was going to be a partial shutdown of the Morton Jaffray water Treatment Plant from 4pm yesterday until 6pm today.
But pumping to Lochnivar water reservoirs that supply water to the western suburbs would continue.
“The shutdown is to allow for the installation of a pump at Warren Control Pump Station to match the improved water delivery capacity that is now averaging 300 million litres a day,” reads the statement.
Other outstanding work that includes the repair of leaks at Warren Control Pump Station and installation of a main delivery valve on pump number 8 at Morton Jaffray will also be done.
Harare says it needs at least US$2,3 billion to address acute water shortages in the city through construction of new dams, new water treatment plants and refurbishing the existing infrastructure including the water distribution network.
State Media|Zimbabweans must seek medical attention from approved health facilities if they suspect contracting Covid-19 infection, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa, urged yesterday.
In her Covid-19 daily briefing at her Munhumutapa offices yesterday, Minister Mutsvangwa said there were unscrupulous individuals selling unapproved medical equipment to “cure” Covid-19.
“It has been noted that some unapproved individuals are attempting to take advantage of the global pandemic (by) selling unfit medical equipment and claiming to provide medical services.
“Citizens, we urge you to seek services from registered health institutions. Where and when you are in doubt you should contact the national help lines 2019 for clinical issues and 2023 for non-clinical issues,” she said.
Minister Mutsvangwa said the Ministry of Health and Child Care was assessing private facilities across the country to gauge their suitability to attend to Covid-19 cases.
“Once this is completed the approved facilities will be publicised.”
She paid tribute to Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, especially medical professionals that had succumbed to be the illness.
“I pass my condolences to all bereaved families, special condolences to the scores of dutiful and valiant Zimbabwean nurses and health workers in the Diaspora, particularly in the UK,” she said.
As of last week, 12 Zimbabweans were confirmed to have died in the UK from Covid-19, most of them nurses in the large group of Zimbabwean medical professionals working there.
The minister said more Zimbabweans were returning from abroad and would be quarantined on arrival.
Zimbabwe has so far recorded 40 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 7 642 people having been tested.
POLICE in Bulawayo have arrested four suspects in connection with theft of household property worth more than $500 000 in Cowdray Park suburb during the lockdown period.
Police arrested Amon Moyo (21), Nqobizitha Sithole (25), Nkanyiso Baloyi (40) and Lloyd Majaji (45), all from Cowdray Park, in connection with a series of house break-in incidents in the same suburb.
The cops said the thefts occurred between March 30 when Government imposed a national lockdown to Tuesday.
The recovered stolen property includes beds, gas cylinders, gas stoves, solar batteries, solar panels, television sets and blankets among other things.
The criminals believed to be part of a syndicate, were burying some of their stolen property to conceal their crimes.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said the culprits were arrested as a result of community policing.
“We have arrested four people in connection with a series of house breakings in Cowdray Park suburb. The suspect were targeting houses that were not occupied. Some of the houses they were targeting belong to occupants who left their homes for their rural homes when lockdown was announced on March 30.
They were even stealing in homes whose occupants are around. The property that was stolen includes gas cylinders, stoves, blankets, beds. The property is valued at approximately more than $500 000,” said Insp Ncube.
“We want to commend the good community policing initiatives that led to the arrest of the four suspects. Members of the public provided police with information that led to the arrest one of the suspects who then informed us about his accomplices leading to their arrest as well.”
He said they recovered property worth more than $100 000 and the suspects were assisting police in identifying more items.
Insp Ncube said Majaji, who was keeping the stolen property, was arrested as he tried to hide some of the items when police pounced on his home.
“Apparently we are looking at clearing up to about 10 to 15 cases of unlawful entry and theft in Cowdray Park. Most of the property was unbelievably recovered hidden underground. Those suspects have the guts to dig pits in the suburb just to hide their loot. Some of the pits were in residential homes while others in the bush. But through police interviews the arrested suspects, led the investigating officers to where they had hidden some of these properties. We believe more recoveries are still to be made,” he said.
Insp Ncube said while most residents have been cooperating with cops to arrest the suspected thieves, it is worrying that some of them are actually buying some of the stolen properties.
He said residents should take advantage of the police’s house under supervision scheme.
Under this scheme, travelling residents report to the Officer-in-Charge of any police station so that their house is put under surveillance.
Insp Ncube said those who have lost their properties should visit Cowdray Park Police Base to identify stolen properties.
Standard|Zimbabwean doctors has expressed concern over the government’s decision to reduce the number of days returning residents are spending in mandatory quarantine from 14 to eight, which they say is contrary to scientific evidence.
The government had been putting hundreds of residents returning from the United Kingdom, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zambia, among other countries, in mandatory quarantine for two weeks to slow down the spread of coronavirus since the country went into a lockdown on March 30.
Obadiah Moyo, the Health and Child Care minister, however, announced last week that the quarantine period had since been reduced to eight days as the government did not have enough resources.
The Senior Hospital Doctors Association (SHDA) said although it welcomed the mandatory testing and quarantining of all returnees coming from coronavirus hotspots, it was worried about Zimbabwe’s deviation from World Health Organisation standards.
“We are concerned with the reduction of the quarantine period to an effective eight days, which is contrary to the scientific evidence and is outside the World Health Organisation recommendations,” the SHDA said in a letter to Vice President Kembo Mohadi, who chairs the Covid-19 Taskforce dated April 29.
“The quarantine period is clearly guided by the incubation period of the virus, which has been proven scientifically to between two and 14 days,” the SHDA added.
The doctor said regionally the mandatory quarantine for travellers from Covid-19 hotspot countries ranges between 14 to 21 days.
South Africa, which has the highest coronavirus cases in Africa, has a 21 day mandatory quarantine period.
A number of Zimbabweans returning from the United Kingdom have tested positive for the flu-like disease that was first detected in China late last year and has since spread to almost every country in the world.
The government has said it expects hundreds of Zimbabweans to return from neighbours such as South Africa and Botswana in coming days as they struggle to survive under lockdowns in their host countries.
As of Thursday Zimbabwe had recorded 40 coronavirus with four deaths and five recoveries.
Chitungwiza Municipality nurses have downed tools citing lack of remuneration and personal protective equipment to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic as well as poor working conditions.
St Mary’s clinic doors were closed at the main entrance with a poster inscribed “Feel for the health worker.”
The poster inscribed at the closed door read, “No PPE-no work, no covid allowances-no work, no lockdown allowances-no work, no food-no work, no pay-no work, no training on covid-no work, no covid consumables-no work,” reads the post.
The clinic’s staff were seated outside and turning away patients.
Some the patients were still hopeful that operations would resume as at least 50 were seated at the gate in anticipation that the situation will improve.
Acting Health Director Hebert Chirowodza said he was yet to get details of the strike.
A disgruntled nurse said that they would not go back to work until they were paid their allowances and salary arrears.
“Government and other health institutions are paying their workers COVID-19 allowances, but we are not receiving anything and you expect us to report for duty?” she said.
“The council owes us in salary arrears.
“We have been waiting but no action is being taken. How do they expect us to feed our families?” she added.
“For the past seven months, we have not been getting transport allowances but they expect us to report for work.
“Where would I find the money for bus fare?” she said.
Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) board members have resigned en-masse in alleged protest over government’s decision to award part of Chiadzwa diamond fields to Chinese firm, Anjin, citing lack of consultation.
Anjin Investments, jointly owned by Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Company Ltd of China and Matt Bronze, an investment vehicle controlled by the army is expected to resume diamond extraction in July this year after being controversially barred from operating in the resource-rich Chiadzwa area in 2016.
Business Times is reliably informed that the decision to award Portal B (rich in resource), which is part of Chiadzwa diamond fields, was communicated through Mines and Mining Development Minister Winston Chitando.
In protest to the decision by the Ministry, the ZCDC board members led by chairman Killian Ukama tendered their resignations citing lack of consultation.
They said the unilateral action undermined the authority of the board.
“ZCDC board members resigned recently registering their displeasure over the parcelling out of Portal B in Marange to Chinese Anjin.
The directive is said to have come from President Mnangagwa through Mines Minister Chitando after his trip to China in 2018,” the source said.
The ZCDC board consisted of Ukama (chairman), Ellah Muchemwa, Elizabeth Nerwande Chibanda, Zenzo Nsimbi, Esau Chiadzwa, Alexander Mukwekwezeke and Niya Mtombeni.
Ukama referred all questions to the Mines and Mining Development Ministry.
“I cannot comment on that issue because the appointment of boards is the prerogative of the ministry through the minister,” Ukama said.
Mines and Mining Development minister Winston Chitando told Business Times that the Ministry was currently reviewing board composition in all its parastatals and companies under its wing, adding that a “statement will be issued when the process is complete”.
Asked whether the resignation of the board relates to the awarding of mining concession to the Chinese firm, Chitando said: “There is a section in the mining concession which will be developed with a share scheme involving the Chiadzwa community.
This was approved by Cabinet and announced last year so there is no relationship between the two.”
Business Times is informed that a new interim board for the state diamond miner will be announced soon.
Last year, villagers complained that they have been observing in dismay unregistered diamond mining activities taking place in Chiadzwa by Anjin Diamond Company, particularly in Ward 30.
The affected villages in the Portal Q were Chiadzwa, Mwaora, Makotame, Tinoingana and Vimbai.
The recent resignation of board members comes after they had ordered a probe into the operations of the state-controlled diamond miner as they wanted to ascertain the correct standing of the company.
The state diamond miner has been running under the stewardship of Roberto De Pretto in an acting capacity while the board was in the process of searching for a new chief executive.
This came after the diamond producers last year fired seven executives including then CEO Moris Mpofu as it moved to rebuild public and market confidence following allegations of rampant corruption and abuse of office by the executive team.
The debt-ridden state-controlled enterprise has been haunted by scandals and under-performance ever since its formation leading to perennial loses of more than US$50m in the period between April 2015 and May 2016 alone. According to the AMG Global audit report on the diamond firm, the company has been operating at a loss since its inception in 2015.
At its peak in 2012, Zimbabwe produced 12m carats, but in 2018 production was low as 2.8m carats. Zimbabwe is believed to have the potential to account for 25% of the global diamond production and it is targeting to expand its diamond industry to 10m carats by 2023.
ZCDC was formed in March 2015 after a government decree to consolidate all diamond mining companies in Zimbabwe to form a wholly-owned State firm.
We commend you and your government for the public health measures you have taken this far to respond to the global Covid-19 pandemic. We also welcome measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on people’s livelihood. If these measures are implemented in an open and accountable manner, they have the potential to protect lives and protect livelihoods for millions of Zimbabweans.
Protecting lives and protecting livelihoods are the twin pillars of the global response to Covid-19. The response requires large-scale social and economic interventions that place citizens at the center. The Fiscal Mitigation Measures announced by the Treasury require transparency to bolster trust between all levels of government, business and citizens. It has the potential to usher structural reforms to the economy and society that can strengthen Zimbabwe’s resilience to Covid-19 for the long-term. To achieve openness and accountability here are some thoughts:
Fiscal Resource Mobilization and Spending: The pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on Zimbabwe’s health system, which requires massive injection of resources. The financial resources from the fiscus including the ZWL$500 million for response, ZWL$50 million to PSMAS announced by Treasury will be effective if implemented through transparent processes to citizens and the international community using open budget principles. Transparent implementation will ensure resources go to their intended beneficiaries, minimize inefficiency and corruption. As Treasury plans to reprioritize the budget to respond to Covid-19 it is vital that the process responds to the social relief of citizens and encourages civic oversight of these funds. Lessons from countries like Brazil and South Africa prove that transparency and tracking expenditures ensures that essential public services are delivered to the people that need it the most. Brazil created a page on its transparency portal to show resource mobilization, track planned and actual government spending on coronavirus relief efforts. Zimbabwe could follow such examples to publish in real-time all resources mobilized for Covid-19 and share all expenditures within three weeks of disbursement in easily readable formats.
Procurement of Medical Supplies: The pandemic has shown that rapid response is critical as also highlighted by Treasury and the PRAZ regulatory arrangement. However, there is evidence that countries are struggling with over-pricing, collapsing supply chains and corruption in health procurement and other needed supplies. Zimbabwe is not immune to these challenges and this risks trust in government efforts. The PRAZ regulatory arrangement needs to be embedded in transparency, monitoring and accountability to ensure that individuals and/or organizations do not take advantage of the emergency and consequent relaxation of procurement rules. For example, in Ukraine the government is publishing all emergency contracts in open data formats. This has empowered civil society to develop a business intelligence tool to monitor medical procurement and emergency spending. Ukraine’s open contracting reforms have saved the government US$1 billion in two years. PRAZ could follow such an example to make all emergency contracts public, building on the procurement portal and publishing them in a single, online registry.
Development Aid Support: Zimbabwe is working with development partners to complement the government’s efforts to respond to Covid-19. According to the IMF, Zimbabwe is looking to raise US$220 million to respond to the pandemic and for humanitarian assistance through engagement with development partners. It is vital for the government to put in place transparency and accountability measures to ensure that this assistance truly reaches the intended beneficiaries. Enhancing openness, oversight and accountability can help in building trust with development partners and citizens alike. We encourage the government to publish in real-time budget and non-budget support from development partners, as well as debt relief savings such as that provided by G20 countries. In Kaduna, Nigeria, the state government partnered with citizens to become the eyes and ears. Using a mobile app, citizens upload photos and provide feedback on projects like schools and health clinics. In just two years, Kaduna reported a record completion of 450 schools, 250 health clinics, and a 20 percent reduction in maternal mortality.
Stimulus for Local Companies: We applaud the government’s commitment to assist local SMEs through programmes such as the Youth Relief Support. To make this effective, internal controls must be observed by keeping audit trails and ensure the Auditor General’s office has real-time oversight. This requires transparency over who gets the bailouts and subsidies, how the decisions were made, and whether the money is fairly distributed, including to women and informal businesses. A clearly defined criterion for beneficiaries should be developed and widely published; the application and adjudication process should be made public. The Treasury – working with the Financial Intelligence Centre – will need to collect information on the ultimate beneficial owners of companies receiving bailouts to guard against the funds being used to reward political networks. For instance, countries like Nigeria and Ghana are opening up who really owns and controls companies – allowing journalists and civil society to follow the money, report political and illicit dealings. For the stimulus to be effective it is vital for the government using the new Companies Act to collect and publish in open formats company ownership information to guard against political influence.
Providing Citizens with timely and accurate Information: Access to information is central to achieve effective response and recovery from Covid-19. Lessons from the early stages of the virus’ global spread have shown the devastating effects of disinformation and limiting information to citizens. Some governments downplayed or hid the seriousness of the pandemic, delayed disclosure of risks and threats to citizens, jeopardizing citizens’ lives that could have been saved with proactive disclosure. Access to timely and accurate information enables citizens to trust the government’s measures to respond to Covid-19, encouraging citizens to be active participants in supporting government efforts. For instance, Taiwan managed to maintain remarkably low levels of infections and deaths not through top-down control, but through government transparency, which built public trust and empowered social coordination. Through the Face Mask Map, the government disseminated real-time, location-specific data to the public on mask availability, empowering citizens to collaborate and reallocate rations through trades and donations to those who most needed them.
Mr President, there is an opportunity for Zimbabwe to become one of the regional leaders with a post-Covid recovery approach that is driven by openness and accountability, which has dividends for government, business and citizens. At the core of government’s response and recovery approach should be citizens in order to gain their trust and that of the international community. It is citizens that are being affected by the pandemic, it is the same citizens that should become central to the government’s response and recovery measures.
Opposition MDC senior official and former Education Minister in the Unity Government, Senator David Coltart has ridiculed the government’s warning against private schools’ demands for term two fees.
Coltart queried how the schools will raise funds to pay teachers if they were not allowed to demand fees.
This warning is utterly ridiculous. Where does this regime expect private schools to get money to pay teachers if schools can’t demand payment of school fees? Furthermore schools cannot remain closed indefinitely & at the very least should be teaching online. #Zimbabwehttps://t.co/kRgJiBoA7u
On Wednesday, the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Cain Mathema said schools should follow normal procedures before increasing fees.
Speaking during the launch of the Schools’ Covid-19 Response programme at Chikangwe High School in Mashonaland West, Mathema said:
“No increase will be permitted that is effected outside the laid down procedures which require the written approval of the Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education.
“Schools that continue to flout the regulations stand warned; the Ministry will not hesitate to deregister schools that purport to be educational institutions and yet indulge in unlawful activities.”
All the returnees from Plumtree Holding Centre have been moved to their respective homes. For Harare, ZUPCO bus is being used and for various Provinces. All returnees at ZIPAM are now gone and the place has now been disinfected and ready to take other returnees. #Covid19Zim
Comrades and Friends and All the working class in Zimbabwe.
We have this May Day today under very difficult conditions facing workers in the country and where for the first time in 130 years workers around the world will not be able to celebrate May Day in the streets and stadiums but under lockdown.
Where workers of the world that are classified as essential services are in the frontline sweating it out to combat the deadly pandemic Covid-19.Some are loosing their lives serving their communities and their own beloved ones. Workers are doing this despite poor and in adequate health and safety standards,lack of testing facilities for themselves and those they are taking care of,poor working conditionns,no testing kits and poor contact tracing strategies. We salute all these frontline workers.
Comrades, it would be a disservice if we fail to mention those that are not in essential services that are locked up in their homes and dwellings with their families,relatives and all their beloved ones facing loss of incomes,retrenchments, casualisation of labour and non renewal of fixed term contracts.
These workers are facing a bleak future which if rescue packages are not put in place there will be chaos which will lead to destabilisation of family lives and society at large and the nation might be faced with suicides,many divorcees and many other societal ills.
To avert all these challenges mentioned above, there should be a people’s Government which should therefore : 1.improve conditions of work for all frontline workers that are taking care of the sick. 2 Purchase adequate equipment to fight the Covid pandemic 3 Improve occupational safety and health standards for frontline workers and 4 establish testing facilities for workers and the general public
5.Immediate removal of the 2% tax 6.Offer tax exemption for frontline workers such as nurses and doctors, security agents, key administration staff in Government. 7.Raise and expand the tax bracket by 300% with a view to leave workers with more income since the poverty datum line has risen to $5300 for a family of five per month. 8.Pay workers in hard currency( $US) 9.Introduce comprehensive political and economic reforms to resolve the governance crisis in Zimbabwe.
The people’s government would also create a conducive environment that should be able to ameliorate the situation of those workers that were affected by retrenchments, closures of factories and industries,and loss of wages during the Lockdown period and those that are in the informal sector.
The informal sector workers are facing a bleak future as their livelyhoods were destroyed during the Second Murambatsvina where their wares were destroyed and their shelters were raised down. The people’s government would therefore need to put strong safety nets to cater for a wide range of informal workers.
We urge workers in the formal and informal sectors to organize and unite in order to face this bleak and imminent threat in Unison. Aluta continua.
As a worker-conscious people’s party, we urgently call for the scaling up social protection and dialogue, saving of jobs and paying of a living wage.
In our Agenda 2020 statement, we put forward the five fights that we, the working people of Zimbabwe must pursue this year.They are as follows; • The fight for a people’s government, reforms and return to legitimacy. • The fight for a better life, dignity and livelihoods. • The fight against corruption. • The fight for rights, freedoms, security of persons and rule of law. • The fight in defence of the constitution and constitutionalism.
The above mentioned shall form the core of all working people struggles this 2020.We stand with all workers in these struggles.
Workers of the world unite.Workers shall triumph.Victory is certain!
Aluta continua.
Gideon Shoko MDC-Alliance Secretary Labour and Social Security
BBC|Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has gone to hospital after he was diagnosed with coronavirus.
His positive test came on the same day that Russia recorded a record 7,099 cases, taking the total number of infections above 100,000.
Mishustin was given the role of prime minister in January and has been actively involved in Russia’s handling of the epidemic.
Russian TV showed him telling President Vladimir Putin of his diagnosis.
“I have just learned that the test on the coronavirus I took was positive,” the prime minister said during the video call.
Mishustin suggested that First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov should take his place and Mr Putin agreed. Mishustin will now go into self-isolation.
“What’s happening to you can happen to anyone, and I’ve always been saying this,” Putin told him.
“You are a very active person. I would like to thank you for the work that has been done so far.”
Despite the sharp rise in cases, the Moscow-based coronavirus headquarters says 1,073 people in Russia have now died of coronavirus, a relatively low number for Russia’s size.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Russia’s reaction to the pandemic has enabled it to avoid an “Italian scenario”.
But President Putin warned this week that Russia did not have enough protective equipment for health workers and medics have complained in several regions of having insufficient protective suits.
Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe.
POLICE have arrested over 17 000 people countrywide for breaches of lockdown regulations, says Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe.
He told a Press conference in Harare yesterday that arrests had reached 17 171 and expressed dismay over people still organising parties and operating and visiting shebeens.
“Besides the arrests, security agents are conducting awareness campaigns in all parts of the country to conscientise people on the need to comply with Covid-19 safety measures,” Minister Kazembe said.
“Let us take note that the movement restrictions under Covid-19 lockdown are meant to ensure that Zimbabweans are safe, healthy and protected from the coronavirus.
“On the other hand, I have directed the Commissioner-General of Police (Godwin Matanga)to ensure that security officers on deployment observe the tenets of human rights and tighten security at isolation centres,” he said.
Minister Kazembe said Government was aware of the need to provide personal protective clothing to police officers working on the frontline.
“May I take this opportunity to express the ministry’s appreciation to various partners and stakeholders who have availed PPEs and other resources to the security services.
“My office is currently seized with the acquisition of the relevant tools of the trade to enable police officers and other security services to perform their duties under Covid-19 lockdown effectively,” he said.
Minister Kazembe urged Zimbabweans to continue observing lockdown guidelines that include movement restrictions and social distancing to curb the spread of the virus.
Veteran South African anti-apartheid activist Denis Goldberg, who was tried alongside Nelson Mandela, has died at the age of 87.
As a member of the ANC’s military wing, he was convicted of armed resistance to white-minority rule and sentenced to four life terms in 1964.
He was imprisoned for 22 years.
Confirming the news of his death on local media, Mr Goldberg’s niece, Joy Noero, said he had been suffering from lung cancer.
He “died peacefully” at his home in Hout Bay, near Cape Town, just before midnight on Wednesday, she added, saying that he “never stopped believing in his ideals”.
Apartheid was a legalised form of racism in which white people were privileged above all others. It governed every aspect of life in South Africa, and only white people were able to vote until the first democratic elections in 1994 when Mandela was elected president.
Mr Goldberg was a lifelong supporter of the African National Congress and became a member of the armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, when it was formed in 1961.
Two years later, he was among the ANC officials arrested at a hideout in Johannesburg.
On trial with Mandela, they were convicted of sabotage, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The black prisoners were sent to Robben Island. But as the only white person to be found guilty in the case, Mr Goldberg was separated from the others, and spent 22 years in prison in Pretoria.
On his release in 1985, he went into exile in the UK, but returned home to South Africa after the abolition of apartheid.
In later years he was a critic of the alleged corruption which came to define much of Jacob Zuma’s presidency of South Africa, reports the BBC’s Nick Ericsson.
South Africa ‘like Nazi Germany’ Mr Goldberg’s parents, who were both communists, had migrated from England before he was born, he said in a film made by the University of Cape Town last year .
He recalled that he was attacked at school because of his parents’ politics and the fact that he was Jewish.
“I understood that what was happening in South Africa with its racism was like the racism in Nazi Germany that we were supposed to be fighting against,” he said.
“You have to be involved one way or another. That’s what I grew up with.”
Reflecting on his activism, he said that he “came from a generation who were prepared to put our lives on the line for freedom. Freedom is more important than your own life.”
ByAlex T. Magaisa|A leaked letter written by Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance and Economic Development to international financial institutions details of which were first revealed by respected continental journal, Africa Confidential reveals a desperate government which has run out of both cash and ideas.
The message is that unless there is an urgent rescue plan from the international community, the long-ailing economy is facing a risk of imminent collapse, resulting in serious social consequences.
The letter was written at the beginning of April 2010, in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and the plea for debt relief and assistance packaged as a response to that catastrophe. However, given Zimbabwe’s longstanding problems, the government is using the pandemic as an opportunity to make a case that has otherwise been on the table for more than a decade.
The letter makes several significant revelations. Even if they are not, strictly speaking, revelations, they are nonetheless, confirmations of things that the Zimbabwean regime has previously refused to openly acknowledge. Ordinary Zimbabweans can, for the first time, read the truth from the horse’s mouth. There are not things propagated by the country’s detractors or saboteurs, as the regime is fond of alleging, but admissions made by a government minister.
Economic calamity
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube confirms that Zimbabwe’s economy “contracted sharply in 2019” and forecasts that, as a result of the current pandemic, it could “contract by between 15 to 20 per cent in 2020.
This would be, by his admission, “a massive contraction with very serious social consequences”. He advises that with 8.5 million people already food insecure, and an inadequate health system, natural disasters and rising poverty levels, these “indicators are expected to worsen” in 2020. It is against this background that he pleads that “Zimbabwe desperately needs urgent international support”.
While claiming to have developed a “comprehensive response strategy” to the COVID-19 pandemic, he says the government “is short on the resources required to implement this strategy”. Indeed, the government’s response to the pandemic has been slow, erratic and incompetent. While it has copied measures used in other countries, such as lockdowns, it has lacked the means and willpower to enforce the lockdown and to do tests on a wider scale. Social distancing in high-density urban areas has been illusionary as people gather in large crowds queuing for food and water.
Admitting that there is “very limited fiscal space” for more spending, the Minister says without external funding, the government will have to resort to domestic financing. By this, he is referring to printing money which will have drastic consequences. He does not mention that they have been printing money anyway, by generating billions of electronic RTGS dollars. The Minister officially conforms that annual inflation is currently over 500%, an indicator of the already dire state of the economy. In recent weeks, the government has resorted to old methods by announcing price controls.
In short, the minister paints a dark picture of looming health and economic catastrophe. That was at the beginning of April, a long time ago in light of the pandemic and the economic crisis.
Admission of “policy missteps”
While the government usually likes to sugar-coat its performance, painting a deceptively bright picture, in the letter the Minister admits that they committed “policy missteps during late 2019” and that these are a cause for concern for the IFIs. This point is reiterated when the Minister says “The Zimbabwean authorities duly acknowledge their responsibility for the recent policy missteps during late 2019”.
In truth, the Minister had little choice but to accept these so-called “policy missteps” since they were raised as a matter of concern by the IMF at the end of its last Staff-Monitored Programme. This admission makes remarkable reading for Zimbabweans who are otherwise accustomed to their government habitually painting a rosy and unblemished picture of its performance. These so-called policy missteps include inconsistencies, where a policy is announced one day and reversed the next day. This has been the disconcerting pattern concerning the currency policy since 2016 when Zimbabwe adopted the bond note.
Of note is that there is not a single mention of “surplus” in the letter, even though the Minister regularly drops it in his speeches to the local audience. He probably knows that no one at the IFIs would take him seriously if he tried.
Arrears, not sanctions
The Minister acknowledges that the “policy missteps” are “rightfully a cause for concern” among the IFIs as he pleads for a rescue plan. But more significantly, he confirms that Zimbabwe’s exclusion from debt relief that has been offered to other Low-Income Countries (LICs) so far is not sanctions but its arrears status. “Despite its needs and low-income country status, Zimbabwe is not eligible to benefit from these initiatives because of its official external debt arrears,” admits the Minister.
This is the stark reality that is often ignored by ZANU PF politicians and their supporters who use the sanctions the same way a person armed with a hammer sees every problem as a nail. Surprisingly, even those who should know better believe the propaganda. In this letter Minister Ncube makes it clear that the cause of ineligibility for these debt relief schemes is “external debt arrears”.
So what does the government propose to do in return for the emergency rescue package?
The government makes the usual pledges to implement economic and political reforms. However, these proposals bear the hallmark of the broken-record syndrome. They have been mentioned so many times, without any seriousness and without any implementation to the point that no one takes them seriously anymore.
What dialogue?
For example, concerning political reforms, the letter says the government will “continue with the process of engaging in National Dialogue”. But this no more than empty political rhetoric. No serious actor takes its Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) seriously beyond the participants and a few gullible parties. The political impotence of POLAD makes Minister Ncube’s undertaking vacuous and insincere. It smacks of a statement written as a box-ticking exercise. Far better would be a show of enhanced efforts to engage the main political opposition party, the MDC Alliance.
Legislative changes aren’t the only reforms
The Minister also refers to legislative changes to security and information legislation as well as the realignment of other legislation to the 2013 Constitution. The government still erroneously equates political reforms to changes to legislation. Legislative changes may be part of political reforms but political reforms are far more than changes to legislation.
Instead, political reforms include implementation of the legislation and the reform of institutions which play a critical role in the political space. The conduct of these institutions such as ZEC and the ZBC, for example, has shown that it is not enough to amend the Electoral Law and tick the box of political reforms. Legislative reforms without reforming the “human factor” in those institutions are meaningless.
Anti-corruption gimmick
In one more hollow claim, the Minister says the government will “adopt an ambitious Governance and Anti-Corruption Strategy, with time-framed reforms to address the Governance vulnerabilities” in various areas including public procurement and central bank operations. What ambitious anti-corruption strategy? This is yet another gimmick from Minister Ncube and the regime’s anti-corruption strategy has been a total farce.
From the day that President Mnangagwa took over after the coup in November 2017, he has been making grand promises concerning anti-corruption. He even set up an anti-corruption prosecution unit in his office. He sacked members of the old Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and replaced them. He also replaced the Prosecutor General with his preferred candidate. He announced an asset-declaration policy. However, there is nothing to show for all these changes. They have all been political stunts.
The current Prosecutor General, Kumbirai Hodzi, who was brought in to do what his predecessor had allegedly failed to do recently expressed exasperation with the incorrigibly corrupt system, claiming the key players in the anti-corruption drive were themselves captured by cartels. These cartels are backed by politicians who run the government. So what “ambitious governance and anti-corruption strategy” is Minister Ncube talking about?
Same old problems
The Minister’s letter confirms that old problems persist, despite the rhetoric. In promising to “eliminate discretion in the allocation of foreign exchange by selling to the highest public bid rate” Ncube is simply confirming that the government still control the foreign exchange market and that the RBZ is still using elite-driven allocation methods, a practice that has fed grand corruption schemes involving political elites and their associates.
In undertaking to eliminate quasi-fiscal operations of the RBZ and its direct lending schemes, the Minister is merely confirming that the central bank continues to behave imprudently by engaging in matters beyond its legal remit. The involvement of the central bank in direct lending schemes seriously distorts the markets and fuels corruption. It is often the government, state-owned entities, political elites and businesses associated with them that benefit from such direct lending schemes and quasi-fiscal schemes. Confirming that the government does not learn from past misdeeds, this is precisely what was happening just over a decade ago when the country was plunged into record hyperinflation.
Indeed, Minister Ncube confirms that Command Agriculture continues to impose serious costs on public funds with nothing to show for it considering how the nation is facing food shortages. The government reforms will “limit the fiscal costs of the financing of agriculture, ensuring transparency and resolve all the related governance issues”. Ncube knows Command Agriculture has been an economic disaster, what with the looting by elites and the capture of the state by Sakunda Holdings, whose relationship with government is mired in opacity and dubiousness.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the Finance Minister’s letter paints a gloomy picture of a broken nation facing desperate times. This is not the picture that he or the government often presents to the nation.
The admissions of missteps are a far cry from the self-adulatory statements of surplus and other phantom successes during the course of 2019. The government may fool its supporters and the gullible, but it can’t maintain this show in front of experts who can easily tell when someone is waffling.
Nevertheless, the insincerity and sugarcoating continue, with high-sounding promises of reforms. It sounds as if the government is asking for a bribe from the international community to carry out reforms. The experts can see through the cheap use of the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunistic attempt to plead for a rescue package for weaknesses that pre-date the pandemic.
Nevertheless, the failures of the Zimbabwean regime should not stand in the way of humanitarian assistance for ordinary citizens who are facing a bleak future in light of the Minister’s letter. This is why the proposal by telecommunications billionaire Strive Masiyiwa for an independently-run humanitarian fund deserves serious consideration.
He, more than most, has a fair idea of the desperate state of the country’s health-care system. A charity that he runs with his wife Tsitsi Masiyiwa, Higher Life Foundation, has already been paying wages of healthcare staff before the pandemic struck. They intervened in 2019 when doctors and nurses went on a prolonged strike which paralysed the public healthcare system.
As for Zimbabwe itself, it’s time to give serious consideration to a radical transitional bridge between the broken present and an uncertain future. That bridge more than anything is what the country needs.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa reportedly chartered a jet from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates to perform a 30-minute flight to Mozambique this Thursday.
The Jet is known to be associated with Vice President Constantine Chiwenga as his preferred flight. Baba Jukwa once reported that it is normally used to transport the diamond loot.
After the coup on former President Robert Mugabe, Mnangagwa told a movie like episode on how he escaped the country and travelled into Mozambique on feet after he was dismissed from government by Mugabe.
On Thursday, Mnangagwa visited Chimoio, which was the headquarters of ZANU’s military wing, ZANLA, during the 1970s war of independence against the racist settler regime.
Mnangagwa met Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi during his short visit, with the two leaders condemning acts of banditry and terrorism being perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists in the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Manila and Sofala.
The two leaders also reviewed bilateral economic relations and compared notes on the world-wide fight against Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Mozambique has recorded 76 positive cases of Covid-19 as of Wednesday and no deaths, while Zimbabwe has recorded 40 positive cases, 5 recoveries and four deaths.
President Mnangagwa chairs the SADC organ on politics, defence and security cooperation while President Nyusi is the deputy chairperson of SADC.
The Zimbabwean President was accompanied by his Minister of Defence and War Veterans Affairs Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri and were joined in the meeting by Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Mozambique Douglas Nyikayaramba and staff from the president’s office.
The clemency order issued in March has been amended by President Mnangagwa to allow more prisoners to go home almost immediately with a broadening of the clemency provisions to cut sentences, generally for non-violent crimes, to time served.
All juveniles, all bed-ridden prisoners, all who have served at least 20 years of a life sentence, all blind prisoners and all who are so seriously disabled that they cannot be properly looked after in jail can be released immediately, with sentences cut to time served.
Those serving life sentences include those originally sentenced to death with the sentence commuted to life imprisonment, and the time spent on death row counts towards the 20 years.
Bed-ridden, blind and seriously disabled prisoners need to be seen by a correctional medical officer or Government medical officer and be certified that they fall within the categories.
All women prisoners can now be released with sentences cut to time served unless they were convicted of specified offences, in general of committing violent crimes, and all men over 60 unless they are in jail for the same specified offences or have been sentenced to life imprisonment or death.
Finally, prisoners serving effective sentences of 36 months or less and who have completed at least a quarter of their sentence by yesterday can now be released with the rest of their term remitted, unless they are excluded by the sort of offence they committed or because they were previously released on an amnesty, were sentenced by a court martial, have a record of escaping.
Under the original amnesty order, women had to have served at least half their sentence and juveniles at least a third before being released, lifers had to have served 25 years, the old age benefit for men was set at 70, and even then they had to have served at least half their sentence, and those with shorter sentences of 36 months or less had to have served half.
Those convicted of specified offences, unless they are juveniles, lifers, bed-ridden, blind or disabled cannot benefit from a shorter sentence and have to serve their full term. The specified offences are murder, treason, rape or any sexual offence, car-jacking, robbery, stock theft or public violence.
The broadening of the clemency action is expected to release a far larger batch of prisoners than the 1 680 of the original order, with more trickling out since as they meet the conditions of how much of their sentences they have served.
Prison authorities were hoping the original amnesty would have allowed the immediate release of 5 000 to bring the prison population down to below 17 000, the designed capacity of the system, with the health dangers of overcrowding being of special concern during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The released prisoners have not been pardoned and their criminal convictions are still on record and if they had a part of their original sentence suspended, that portion can still be added to any new sentence if they are re-convicted.
What the President has done is to use the lesser power given to him by the constitution to reduce a court sentence, while still retaining the conviction.
Today is MAY DAY, a day which we, alongside the United Nations, have dedicated to honouring workers. The United Nations set aside this day out of a recognition of the critical role which the workforce plays worldwide, be it in families, in our communities and in our nation.
Indeed outside what God created in the beginning, all things great and small, come from human creativity, labour and effort. At the centre of that universal creative effort is the worker: those men and women we today honour and celebrate.
Happy Workers’ Day, Dear Zimbabweans!
I address you at a time when labour relations and labour protection have assumed grave, life-threatening dimensions worldwide. Whereas in the past we used to worry about fair wages for a day’s work, or worry about skills and unemployment; yes, worry about the life of a worker beyond its active, productive phase, that is, in retirement, today we face a menace of unimaginable proportions.
We face an overbearing global threat from a highly infectious, contagious disease we now know as coronavirus. The pandemic continues to blight millions of lives, claiming hundreds of thousands worldwide. As I address you, more than 3,2 million cases have been reported worldwide; and of these, over 225 000 have since succumbed. Recoveries stand at slightly over 1 million worldwide. What breaks my heart is that many from these staggering numbers of infections and deaths draw from the global workforce, prominently our workers in the health sector.
In our case, infections now stand at 40, with four deaths recorded since the outbreak, and five recoveries so far. By global comparison, we are still fortunate, even though the pain from lost loved ones is great and as acute as anywhere in the affected world. The pandemic is real, and its spread is extremely rapid. We therefore are at great risk.
As your President, I wake up every morning, agonising over the daunting prospect of an ailing workforce, or to a frightful, yet real grim chance of one more worker, having succumbed to the pandemic.
We have to avoid this at all cost. We cannot afford any more loss of life than we have already borne. This is why your Government has had to take very tough, yet unavoidable measures, to safeguard life. Those measures may have brought our nation to a complete standstill, and our economy to virtual shutdown. The challenges for you, our workers, and for your families, have grown bigger and harsher. You have had to endure them with utmost pain.
There is more to the virus in relation to the worker. Not only has it stolen more lives, but daily threatens your jobs and thus your livelihoods. Families are in distress, as is also our entire economy.
The greater part of the workforce stays at home, often without income. By extension, social life has been on total lockdown, making life very difficult for everyone. I empathise greatly, but dread the inevitable horror of any let-up. We have to stay the course until we flatten the curve, slow down the spread, and eventually overtake the pandemic.
Today, no one can plausibly argue that capital alone creates wealth or that technology alone manufactures wealth.Indeed that natural resources, important as they may be, cannot alone pass for wealth.
That, too, means at the heart of national policy must be the sustenance of this key cog in the social production of life itself, namely the worker. The worker must be able to reproduce his and her life so he continues to work for humanity. That means giving him a living wage, one by which he can sustain himself and his family. This has to be the primary goal of any government, including our own. True, we often come short of this key goal, but the commitment to support and sustain the worker should and must always be there.
Since last year, Government has continued to adjust your earnings, with a view to making them living wages. Yet the goal of taming inflation and the general cost of living, has largely remained elusive, an ungraspable mirage. Elusive, because of the successive droughts which continue to visit us, making our nation a net importer of food. Elusive because of punitive, illegal sanctions which continue to beset us, closing possibilities for our economy. And now, even more elusive, because of the global Covid-19 pandemic which has thrown us and the rest of the world, off rail, into a severe recession. Predictably, our economy will close the year in the negative territory. So, too, will economies of the world, including the strongest ones.
For us, agriculture, which is the mainstay of our economy, and the biggest employer of our workforce, must recover and be sustained, to make us a food-secure nation. Government continues to unveil a number of initiatives, including Smart Agriculture, Presidential Input Support Scheme and a greater thrust on irrigation development, to ensure precious jobs in the agricultural sector are secured and expanded. We must step up irrigation, both small and large-scale, for climate-proofed agriculture, and thus create jobs. We have targeted 80 000 hectares for irrigation under A2, and another 20 000 hectares under A1 and for communal areas.
In the interim, and in view of the successive lean years we have had, Government continues to import more food for distribution to all our people, including to workers and their families, be they in rural or urban areas. We have expanded food distribution into urban areas to take care of our workforce especially in these distressful times. The silver lining is that the prices of maize on the global grain market continue to soften, with some of our neighbours who had better rains than us, reporting significant surpluses.
Apart from agriculture, the mining sector is key to overall job creation. Even at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, we shielded this critical sector which kept many families going, and our economy afloat. As with agriculture, there is lots of self-employment, principally in the subsector of artisanal mining. Now that security concerns in that sub-sector have been stabilised, Government will move resolutely to ensure clearer claims and mining rights, and to support artisanal miners financially, technologically and by way of better marketing mechanisms, especially in the area of gold production.
I am happy that while platinum prices have softened, those of iridium, rhodium and palladium continue to firm up, with the last two trading at about US$8 000 and US$1 962 per ounce, respectively. This means what we lose on the swings of low prices for gold and platinum, we regain on the roundabouts of firming prices of other PMG metals. The message is thus clear: production, production, production for more jobs, better earnings, and for the rapid recovery of our economy.
Mindful of the need to ensure safety of our workers from Covid-19 infections, we have now cleared the way for the opening of our tobacco floors. The measures we have taken to safeguard the safety of our workforce, include a decentralised marketing mechanism, enforcement of screening and observance of social distance during trading. We have also put in place bookings and deliveries which limit the numbers that gather around our floors on any one trading day. However important tobacco is to our economy, we should put the life of the worker above profit.
While the global focus may be on workers in formal employment, our own peculiar economic circumstances require that we place greater focus on small-to-medium enterprises, and on the broad informal sector. These subsectors have sustained the greater number of national livelihoods as our nation battles myriad adversities, whether natural or man-made. This means our programmes aimed at defending and sustaining worker welfare must put these two subsectors at the heart of our policies. Already, Government has decided to include special, well-tailored packages for SMEs and the informal sector in its overall Post-Covid-19 Stimulus Recovery Measures which I shall announce shortly.
The Covid-19 global pandemic has been a wake-up call, which has shaken us all out of complacency. As a long-term measure against any such pandemics in future, we have to reorganise our SMEs and informal markets, large and small, so that both are public health-compliant. That means spacing units and markets in line with requirements of public health standards which must become a mandatory part of all our human activity and settlements. This is one big take-away from the pandemic, and one with a direct bearing on the worker.
As I conclude my address, let me share with you my thoughts on ensuring greater security and satisfaction to our workforce. Both because of Covid-19 and because of the sheer instability of our economy for the foreseeable future, a paradigm shift in respect of worker welfare has become more than necessary and urgent. We must think beyond wages.
FIRST, we must ensure our workplaces meet WHO public health standards. No sector or sub-sector must be exempt from this requirement which must be enforced both in the interest of workers, and that of greater society. Going forward, public heath yardstick will be foremost in the way we organise our business, all business premises and work stations.
SECOND, we must ensure proper personal protection equipment and facilities at all workstations. Again, this must be in line with WHO standards which our health inspectors must enforce vigorously. The health inspector shall be a key persona in industrial relations, and at all places of work which must be repurposed towards public health exigencies and goals.
THIRD, we must include in the workman and woman package issues of healthcare giving. That makes the issue of disease and virus containment and cure much more than a private, family affair. It is as much an issue for the employee as it is for employer and Government. Our issue together! All our health facilities must match the demand for health services by our nation, both by way of numbers and by way of capabilities. Again this puts the worker at the centre.
FOURTH, a well-housed workforce is a bulwark against epidemics and pandemics. Good, well-spaced residential housing schemes are the best panacea against diseases. In saying this, I am not shooting down high-rise residential projects; rather, I am emphasising that such housing schemes should not translate into untidy, overcrowded and unhygienic settlements devoid of proper public spaces, adequate amenities and recreational spaces and facilities.
FIFTH, delivery of public utilities and services in both urban and rural areas must match up and meet public health standards. To that end, our planned urban renewal programmes I mooted in Mbare, and subsequently launched in Mutare’s Sakubva high-density suburb, should henceforth receive attention and matching resources. They are, after all, habitats of our workforce, which deserve nothing short of liveable conditions which approximate the wealth they create for our society. A broad, multifaceted, all-encompassingsocial programme must be put on the table, with the private sector involvement being enlisted and encouraged through various incentives. Above all, our municipalities and rural authorities must rise to the occasion, so we make our built-up environments liveable.
SIXTH AND LAST, from a consolidation of all of the above,every employer, in whatever sector of our economy, must and should think beyond the weekly or monthly wage. Over the years, we have realised how easily erodible wages are, especially in times of economic shocks, destabilisations and instability. Now we have this new, dreadful factor of a global viral pandemic. Clearly, the years ahead show all these as the conditioning norm for global businesses, in which case we are best advised to cushion the worker through a more resilient, shock-proof system of reward and resilience. The bottom-line is that the worker must have food, shelter, and must be able to afford health services, while being able to send his/her children to school. This, dear compatriots, must be the new thrust and ethic for us all, whatever sector we play in.
Before I conclude, let me say a word or two regarding one sector we have barely paid attention to. Sometime last year I held an indaba in Bulawayo with players in our creative industry — the artists. Generally, this is an industry which thrives on crowds: by way of musical shows, performances, markets, etc, etc. Expectedly, the extended national lockdown has denied this vital sector the crowds which are its lifeline. I am therefore instructing Minister Kirsty Coventry to make a proposal to Government on how best this sector can be helped, post-Covid-19.
Let me conclude by again thanking our workforce for producing and sweating for our nation. Without your dedication to work, our economy can never recover. In the same vein, I want to thank you all for abiding by the very difficult measures we put in place to safeguard our nation and, with it, your families which were at great risk from the Covid-19 pandemic. The battle is not yet won and we should not lower our guard.
Let me also heartily thank all our employers for standing by, and supporting our entire workforce during the national lockdowns. This makes for good industrial relations, indeed for stability at workplaces. Above all, to thank employers most heartily for generously contributing to the national response to the Covid-19 challenge. You rose to the occasion in a true Zimbabwean fashion, thus making the load a lot lighter for our Government.
Let the lot of the worker continue to receive our utmost attention and support.
I thank you and once more, Happy Workers Day Zimbabweans!
State Media|Workers should be given a living wage, while employers should think of other sustainable ways of supporting employees that are not easily eroded, and those in the informal sector must be included in economic recovery plans, President Mnangagwa has said.
In his message to mark this year’s Workers Day celebrations, President Mnangagwa said the Covid-19 pandemic was a wake-up call, and one that stressed the need to include small and medium enterprises and the informal sector in all economic recovery measures and plans to proceed after the emergency.
Since last year, the Government had been adjusting workers’ earnings with a view to making them living wages.
Although it might come short of this key goal, the President said, the commitment to support and sustain the worker should and must always be there.
“Government has continued to adjust your earnings, with a view to making them living wages. Yet the goal of taming inflation, and the general cost of living, has largely remained elusive, an ungraspable mirage. Elusive, because of the successive droughts which continue to visit us, making our nation a net importer of food.
“Elusive because of punitive, illegal sanctions which continue to beset us, closing possibilities for our economy. And now, even more elusive, because of the global Covid-19 pandemic which has thrown us and the rest of the world off rail, into a severe recession. Predictably, our economy will close the year in the negative territory. So, too, will the economies of the world, including the strongest ones,” said the President.
This year’s Workers Day celebrations, he said, came in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Government could not afford any more loss of life to the virus than the country had already borne.
So Government took tough yet unavoidable measures to safeguard life, although these might have brought the nation to a complete standstill and the economy virtually to a shutdown.
“From a consolidation of all this, every employer, in whatever sector of our economy, must and should think beyond the weekly or monthly wage.
“Over the years, we have realised how easily erodible wages are, especially in times of economic shocks, destabilisations and instability. Now we have this new, dreadful factor of a global viral pandemic.
“Clearly, the years ahead show all these as the conditioning norm for global businesses, in which case we are best advised to cushion the worker through a more resilient, shock-proof system of reward and resilience.”
President Mnangagwa underlined that the bottom-line was that the worker must have food, shelter, and must be able to afford health services, while being able to send children to school.
“This, dear compatriots, must be the new thrust and ethic for us all, whatever sector we play in,” he said.
In view of the successive difficult years the country had experienced, the President added, Government continued to import more food for distribution to all the people, including to workers and their families in rural and urban areas.
Government expanded food distribution into urban areas to take care of the workforce especially in these distressful times.
While the global focus might be on workers in formal employment, Zimbabwe’s situation required the country to place greater focus on small-to-medium enterprises and on the broad informal sector.
“These subsectors have sustained the greater number of national livelihoods as our nation battles myriad adversities, whether natural or man-made.
“This means our programmes aimed at defending and sustaining worker welfare must put these two sub-sectors at the heart of our policies.
“Already, Government has decided to include special, well-tailored packages for SMEs and the informal sector in its overall Post-Covid-19 Stimulus Recovery Measures which I shall announce shortly,” said thePresident.
He said the Covid-19 pandemic had been a wake-up call, which had shaken all out of complacency.
As a long-term measure against any such pandemics in future, President Mnangagwa said, the Government had to reorganise SMEs and informal markets so that both were compliant with public healthneeds.
MR. VILKAS: Thank you very much. Now, maybe we will go to the questions on different countries.
So, we will touch upon on Zimbabwe, and Simba Chikanza from ZimEye news network is asking, does the IMF now uphold Zimbabwe’s credit worthiness seeing that it has cleared its arrears, or it still needs to work on it?
MR. SELASSIE: So, unfortunately, Zimbabwe continues to have arrears to the World Bank and African Development Bank, which is a constraint on our abilities to lend to the country.
This hasn’t stopped us, of course, from engaging on policy dialogue, and we are also actually having discussions on other means in which Zimbabwe can be helped by development partners, including grant support.
We’ve been very much highlighting the complexity of the policy environment and the tremendous policy constraints that the government has in terms of being able to mount the kind of response that other countries, to whom we will be able to lend, can.
So, it is a case which we worry about and are doing our utmost to get the support that Zimbabwe needs from development partners.
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN have been awarded the Ligue 1 title after the season was ended amid the coronavirus pandemic.
PSG, who have now won their seventh French title in the last eight years, held a 12-point lead over second-placed Marseille when the season was suspended in March.
The French Professional Football League (LFP) ratified the decision at a meeting yesterday, two days after French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe suspended sport in the country until at least September.
A points-per-game system, taking into account the performance of clubs in the matches already played, was used to determine the final standings in the Ligue 1 table.
Marseille have qualified directly for the Champions League while third-place Rennes will enter the qualifying rounds, with Toulouse and Amiens relegated.
The LFP have also crowned Lorient, who led Lens by just one point, as Ligue 2 champions with both clubs earning promotion.
“There might be appeals but our decisions are solid,” Didier Quillot, the chief executive of the French League, said.
As the third-tier Championnat National is under French Football Federation (FFF) jurisdiction, they will decide the fate of the promoted teams in that competition with the LFP, as two must come down.
Orleans are seven points adrift at the bottom but 18th-placed Niort and 19th-placed Le Mans are both on 26 points.
The LFP also confirmed their intention to begin the 2020/21 Ligue 1 and 2 seasons on the weekend of August 22-23 at the latest.
The Eredivisie in Netherlands also opted to bring their season to a premature conclusion last week, without champions or relegation, while on Monday Belgian clubs postponed a vote on confirming the cancellation of their top flight until next week.
A club statement read: “This 9th league championship title in the club’s history is dedicated by Paris Saint-Germain to all healthcare staff and to the thousands of front-line professionals working every day to keep the country running.”-State media
LONDON. — Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson says resuming the Premier League is a “non-starter”, and he fears a “farcical” situation with fans congregating outside Anfield — even if Liverpool clinch the title at a neutral venue.
The Premier League has told its clubs only “approved venues” will be used, raising the possibility of matches being played at neutral grounds.
Liverpool, chasing their first title for 30 years, lead the table by 25 points with nine games remaining, while the league hopes to restart on 8 June.
The league’s “Project Restart” envisages the season resuming behind closed doors because of social distancing measures in place to battle the coronavirus pandemic. Liverpool say they are “disappointed” with Anderson’s comments.
The national lead for football policing said on Wednesday that playing all remaining Premier League and EFL fixtures at their original venues would “present challenges” to the emergency services. Deputy chief constable, Mark Roberts, said “options” need to be looked at. Anderson, Liverpool’s first directly elected mayor, told BBC Sport:
“Even if it was behind closed doors, there’d be many thousands of people who would turn up outside Anfield.’’ —-BBC Sport
Musician Tongai Gwaze, better known as Greatman, has received a timely boost after Chivi South legislator Killer Zivhu donated $2 000 and 40kg maize-meal on Wednesday to cushion him from the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown.
Zivhu, through his Killer Zivhu Foundation, pledged to give the “Pandakazvarwa” hitmaker $2 000 weekly, and other necessary supplies for his upkeep until the end of the lockdown.
The donation followed signs of distress shown by Greatman when he posted pictures on social media showing how he was trying to raise money through selling tomatoes along a road in his suburb.
Zivhu, who has helped Greatman before, said he was touched by the musician’s plight and decided to chip in through his foundation.
“In these times of Covid-19, the best way is to stay indoors so that one avoids being infected, and it is not proper that Greatman is seen at that table out there selling tomatoes,” he said. “He is a well-known musician and a celebrity in his own right.
This means many people will throng to his stall, not to buy tomatoes, but to just see him and sometimes demand selfies with him. There is no way he would deny his fans such an opportunity, and in the process he will end up being infected with Covid-19.”
Zivhu said he understood the plight of musicians during the lockdown period when they cannot book shows, which are the major source of their income.
He said he would continue helping Greatman in different ways to ensure he concentrates on his musical career without other distractions.
Greatman thanked Zivhu, who last year helped him shoot a video, for his timely intervention.
“My wife and I are very grateful to you Sir for chipping in at a time we needed some help.
I was being forced by the circumstances to sell those tomatoes. But now there will be no need for me to be out there. This gesture will help me pull through this Covid-19 lockdown.”
Greatman criticised some musical promoters for discriminating against him when it comes to show performances.-State media
POLICE have arrested over 17 000 people countrywide for breaches of lockdown regulations, says Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe.
He told a Press conference in Harare yesterday that arrests had reached 17 171 and expressed dismay over people still organising parties and operating and visiting shebeens.
“Besides the arrests, security agents are conducting awareness campaigns in all parts of the country to conscientise people on the need to comply with Covid-19 safety measures,” Minister Kazembe said.
“Let us take note that the movement restrictions under Covid-19 lockdown are meant to ensure that Zimbabweans are safe, healthy and protected from the coronavirus.
“On the other hand, I have directed the Commissioner-General of Police (Godwin Matanga)to ensure that security officers on deployment observe the tenets of human rights and tighten security at isolation centres,” he said.
Minister Kazembe said Government was aware of the need to provide personal protective clothing to police officers working on the frontline.
“May I take this opportunity to express the ministry’s appreciation to various partners and stakeholders who have availed PPEs and other resources to the security services.
“My office is currently seized with the acquisition of the relevant tools of the trade to enable police officers and other security services to perform their duties under Covid-19 lockdown effectively,” he said.-State media
By Lloyd Msipa | A country draws its legitimacy through legitimate processes carried out transparently through its institutions. Robert Mugabe had indeed overstayed his welcome as the President of the republic of Zimbabwe. That is not in contention. What is in contention is the methods employed to remove him.
On the 6th of November 2017 the then Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Simon Khaya Moyo at a press conference in Harare announced the dismissal of Emmerson Mnangagwa from the position of Vice President of the country for, among various reasons, disloyalty and conduct inconsistent with his official duties.
“In accordance with the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number 20 Act of 2013, Section 329, 6th Schedule, Paragraph 14, Sub-paragraph 2, His Excellency the President Cde R.G. Mugabe has exercised his powers to relieve Honourable Vice President E.D. Mnangagwa, of his position as Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe with immediate effect.
Before he was expelled, Emmerson Mnangagwa was one of two Vice Presidents, one of two second secretaries of the political party -ZANU PF. The other vice President and second secretary was Phekelezela Mphoko.
On the 8th of November 2017 following his dismissal Emmerson Mnangagwa was invited to the Politburo to make presentations in his defence over his dismissal, if he had any. He instead decided to skip the country crossing the border into Mozambique and subsequently into South Africa. The Politburo was left with no option but to recommend his expulsion. The Central Committee met thereafter and endorsed the Politburo decision. Emmerson Mnangagwa didn’t challenge or appeal his expulsion from the party in any way.
The expulsion of Emmerson Mnangagwa was consistent with the Zanu PF party Constitution and the National Constitution.The party now remained with one Secretary and the nation one Vice President. This therefore meant that when President Robert Mugabe was incapacitated in whatever shape or form, Phekelezela Mphoko became the acting President. This is informed by Article 9, section 46 of the Zanu PF Constitution.
Amidst the chaos and confusion created by the military intervention an extraordinary meeting of the Central Committee was convened and presided over by Patrick Chinamasa the secretary for Finance in ZANU PF at the time. His functions and responsibilities are spelt out in Article 9, Section 49 of the party Constitution. He had no authority whatsoever to convene, let alone preside or chair a meeting of the Central Committee.
The party Constitution is clear that in terms of Article 7, Section 38, only three people are allowed to preside over the meeting of the Central Committee. The President, or any one of the vice Presidents or the National chairperson.
The provisions read as follows:
“Sessions of Central Committee
38.The President and First Secretary of the party, or, in his absence, one of the Vice Presidents and Second Secretary or the National Chairperson shall preside over the meeting of the Central Committee and at such meeting;
(1) decisions of the Central Committee shall be a simple majority; and
(2) a majority of the total membership shall form a quorum” (the underlining is mine).
“The President and First Secretary of the party, or, in his absence, one of the Vice Presidents and Second Secretary or the National Chairperson shall preside over the meeting of the Central Committee and at such meeting.”
The wording of these provisions are final and not subject to challenge.
What this means is that by convening and presiding over the Central Committee meeting of 17th November 2017 Patrick Chinamasa acted illegally and ultra vires the Constitution of the party and consequently all the decisions and resolutions were null and void ab initio.
Some of the resolutions are so glaringly audacious in their illegality, for instance, the illegal Central Committee purported to summarily expel members from the party. The party’s Constitution doesn’t allow for summary dismissal. In fact, the Central Committee acts as a court of appeal in the event that a member is aggrieved by a decision taken after a disciplinary process. It is not the organ of first instance when it comes to disciplinary issues or issues related to expulsion of members.
Furthermore the central committee does not have the power to reinstate a member expelled from the party without that member following due process. It was illegal and scandalous for that central committee to purport to reinstate Emmerson Mnangagwa.
As a self respecting nation, these illegalities must not be allowed to stand, the Supreme Court Judgement on the leadership dispute in the MDC is instructive.
The conduct of the architects of these illegalities not only robbed ZANU PF members from choosing their own first secretary, they robbed the Zimbabwean citizens of an opportunity to freely choose their own president. An objective look at all that transpired, it is clear the Emmerson Mnangagwa was handpicked by no more than 201 party members. The Congress that followed was merely to rubber stamp the decision of these few men and women who had acted illegally.
The extent of the illegality saw several members who had been expelled like Chris Mutswangwa, Victor Matematanda attend the meeting to push the illegal agenda. War Veterans who were not members of the central committee also attended and elbowed out legitimate members of the central committee.
The passage of time should never be any excuse to not correct this grave injustice on the people of Zimbabwe. If our courts can go back into the passage of time with other political parties, why not this one.
The independence and fairness of the judiciary is sacrosanct. The legitimacy of all public officials must all be tested fairly and robustly. Choosing our leaders fairly and legitimately must be the rallying point for all Zimbabweans.
People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus.
The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales.
These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person.
Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
People can also catch COVID-19 if they breathe in droplets from a person with COVID-19 who coughs out or exhales droplets. This is why it is important to stay more than 1 meter (3 feet) away from a person who is sick.
WHO is assessing ongoing research on the ways COVID-19 is spread and will continue to share updated findings.
Can the virus that causes COVID-19 be transmitted through the air?
Studies to date suggest that the virus that causes COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through contact with respiratory droplets rather than through the air.
Can COVID-19 be caught from a person who has no symptoms?
The main way the disease spreads is through respiratory droplets expelled by someone who is coughing. The risk of catching COVID-19 from someone with no symptoms at all is very low. However, many people with COVID-19 experience only mild symptoms.
This is particularly true at the early stages of the disease. It is therefore possible to catch COVID-19 from someone who has, for example, just a mild cough and does not feel ill.
WHO is assessing ongoing research on the period of transmission of COVID-19 and will continue to share updated findings.
Credit:WHO
Inserted by Zimbabwe Online Health Centre
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Farai Dziva|Social media users are deeply sceptical of Zanu PF MP Killer Zivhu’ s recent donation to popular musician Greatman.
Social media users attacked Zivhu for using the donation to a person living with disability to score political marks.
Zivhu donated mealie-meal to Greatman and pledged to pay him RTGS $ 2000 per week.
Zivhu has pointed out that the donation is meant to ensure the musician is not exposed to COVID-19.Greatman is reportedly selling vegetables to eke out a living.
Commenting on Zivhu’s donation, Erick Zvirevo said : It’s sad that Killer Zivhu a man heavily linked to the system that has brought misery to our nation can target a popular disabled person to gain mileage in his quest to rise on the party and political ladder, when there should be a system in the country for social care.
He should just go to all people selling tomatoes and offer them $ 2000. What will happen to those disabled or the rural poor who do not have a chance to appear on social media or who are not appealing to Killer’s ego?
Murikuuraya Nyika to make people destitutes …
Danisa Ngwenya argued: While it is a worthwhile and refreshing cause and greatly appreciated, maybe it could also be noble if only a productive hands-on approach to a project he will manage for life is initiated .”
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga yesterday said COVID-19 and lockdowns being implemented by most countries across the globe should be used as a wake-up call for governments to focus on home-grown solutions to build their economies.
He said it was inevitable most economies won’t be the same in the post-COVID-19 era and that the time to plan forward was now.
VP Chiwenga made the remarks while launching the 360-hectares Command Winter Wheat project at Zhovhe Farm in Beitbridge West.
He said the Government, through the assistance of its partners, had set a budget of $3,2 billion to capacitate farmers to plant a targeted 80 000ha of wheat, with a targeted yield of 416 000 tonnes, to cut the import bill.
VP Chiwenga said it was not sustainable for the Government to continue importing wheat and grain when production could be maximised with effective use of the land and plenty of water bodies that enhance irrigation-based farming.
“This pandemic and the lockdowns throughout the world should be a wake-up call to all in developing countries to depend more on ourselves,” said VP Chiwenga.
“Just as our clarion call during the struggle to free ourselves from political bondage was that we are our own liberators, so it is with our economic survival in this area where the proponents of globalisation have been proved wrong.
“I, therefore, urge the private sector once again to embrace the national quest for self-sufficiency by providing a market for small grains to encourage their increased production.
“To this end, they may engage more in contract farming and I wish to commend the Nare Family (TopPick Investments) for processing sorghum into mealie-meal, thereby making it more accessible and affordable to local communities”.
VP Chiwenga said the Government had introduced the traditional grains and the winter wheat programmes to enhance its capacity to deal with food and nutrition security nationally.
He encouraged more communal and commercial farmers to register for the two programmes as a way of contributing to the agriculture development initiative.
“The Presidential Inputs Scheme distributed 15 000 tonnes of planting material from the Grain Marketing Board stocks in addition to 2 000 tonnes of certified seed,” said VP Chiwenga.
“I also want to implore on seed houses to produce more certified seed to cover the current deficit on the local market. We also welcome development partners who have embraced our programmes.”
VP Chiwenga said in the last few years, wheat yields had been low, resulting in heavy dependence by the country on imports.
This scenario, VP Chiwenga said, had seen the diversion of the much-needed foreign currency to imports at the expense of other programmes.
He said Government was calling upon those with irrigation infrastructure, water, and free land to take up the winter wheat initiative.
“Registration and contracting for the winter wheat programme is in progress in all provinces and I want to urge the CBZ, which is one of our major implementing partners, to quickly deliver inputs to all the farmers so that we achieve our set target,” he said.
“Power supply is one of the major ingredients to a successful farming season and it is pleasing to note that ZESA has promised us uninterrupted supplies throughout the farming season.”
VP Chiwenga said resources were being mobilised to create a greenbelt between Zhovhe Dam and Beitbridge town (63km), where 10 000 hectares were being opened up for irrigation farming.
Under this model, the Vice President said commercial farmers and the private sector will farm on 7 000 hectares with communal farmers taking up 3 000 hectares.-state media/Herald
A Chitungwiza man accused of generating and peddling fake news on social media platform WhatsApp, was yesterday granted $1 000 bail coupled with stringent conditions after spending 10 days in remand prison. Lovemore Zvekusekwa (36), a civil engineer with High Range Resources, allegedly created and shared a false and unsigned press statement purportedly issued by President Mnangagwa headlined: “Extension of lockdown period by 13 days only”. He is facing charges of allegedly “publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State”. He was denied bail at the magistrates’ courts despite the prosecution consenting to granting him bail. Through his lawyer, Mr Jeremiah Bhamu, Zvekusekwa appealed to the High Court for bail pending trial. Justice Jacob Manzunzu allowed the appeal for bail saying the lower court had misdirected itself in denying Zvokusekwa bail where the State had correctly consented to the relief sought. The judge did not give full reasons of his judgment saying this would be made available in due course. In the lower court, the trial magistrate, Ms Judith Taruvinga, denied Zvekusekwa bail saying while the statements attributed to the suspect were not in the best interest of public policy, the court was not addressed on Zvekusekwa’s propensity to commit further crimes if granted bail. Ms Taruvinga also refused to grant Zvekusekwa bail on the grounds that the likely sentence upon conviction could induce him to flee the country. In addition, the magistrate held a strong view that the State’s concession to bail was absolutely misplaced considering the circumstances of the matter. If convicted, Zvekusekwa faces 20 years’ imprisonment. In his appeal, Zvekusekwa wanted to have the magistrate’s decision set aside, arguing it constituted a gross mis-direction. He appeared at the magistrate’s court for initial remand on April 20 and was remanded in custody to May 13 pending completion of investigations. The State had consented to Zvekusekwa being granted bail in terms of certain provisions of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, which the magistrate turned down.Mr Edmore Mavuto from the Prosecutor-General’s Office appeared for the State. -Herald/ZimEye
By Stephen Chuma As a party that was born out of a workers movement, we cherish and commemorate the Workers Day.
Not only is it a day that reminds us of our umbilical ties to the working fraternity, but we remember those who toil day and night to make our country great again.
The Workers Day also brings with it a flood of sad memories of a nation that once had a thriving economy, best railway in Southern Africa and booming industry yet all that was destroyed by greedy, corruption and mismanagement. In essence, the day reminds us of the decimation at the hands of ZANU PF of everything that represents, signify and dignify workers and the economy.
Talk of the once booming Zisco Steel Company, Kadoma Textile industry, Bulawayo railway hub, Cold Storage Commission, Bata…. the list is infinite. That tells you how far we have gone as nation when it comes to destroying everything that represents workers.
As the MDC Alliance Youth Assembly, we however cherish all those toil day and night to save their families through menial and informal jobs like vending.
Indeed they are heroes of our time!
Figures, statistics and facts do not lie and the astronomical levels of unemployment is a marker that both public and private sectors are overwhelmed as far as creating employment for the vast majority is concerned.
This is particularly because we have a government whose economic policies are stinging hence there is fear to invest in such a volatile environment like ours.
Sadly those who control corridors of power in the public sector are the same familiar faces that you see in the private sector.
The same politicians who fail to run government owned businesses are the ones who grabbed private businesses hence failure is written all over.
Expecting both sectors to create enough employment for the bulging unemployed youths is tantamount to expecting flies to produce honey.
No matter the bigger the number, it will not work. Simple!
Besides the hollow and shallow political mantras like “Zimbabwe Is Open For Business”, the country needs a genuine, robust and sound economic blue print like MDC’s SMART document to attract direct foreign investment while at the same benefiting the locals.
We demand policies that are pro-poor and not just for the benefit of a few politically connected elites and cabals like Kuda Tagwirei, Billy Rautenbach and the looting lot.
Only until such a time when we have businesses that make profit while at the same time benefiting the majority and not a few individuals can we talk of growing our workforce.
Otherwise our best brains continue to flock and flood foreign labour markets and not our unfriendly labour shores.
As Youth Assembly, our message to workers is clear, short and simple.
Let us unite and dismantle ZANU PF dictatorship!
Stephen Sarkozy Chuma MDCYouthAssemblyNationalSpokesperson
The Ministry would like to report that two of the PCR tests done in Bulawayo on the 28th of April 2020 were positive for COVID-19.
Today, a total of 355 tests were done as shown in table 1 below, giving a total of 7 642 screening and diagnostic tests done to date. All the PCR tests done in Bulawayo today were negative for COVID-19. Of the PCR tests done in Harare today, six were positive for COVID-19. More details on these cases will be given in tomorrow’s update.
Distribution of tests done today Mat. South – 25 Mat North – 10 Bulawayo – 98 Mash. Central – 11
Harare – 211 Total – 355 Therefore, to date, Zimbabwe now has forty confirmed cases including five recoveries and four deaths. Matebeleland Noth – 1 Bulawayo – 12 Harare – 19 Mashonaland East 5 Mashonaland West – 3 Total – 40 Case #33 is a 70-year-old male resident of Bulawayo, who returned from the United Kingdom on 18 March 2020. He was tested for COVID-19 as a contact to Case #14. Currently, he is stable, with mild disease.
Case #34 is a 27-year-old male resident of Bulawayo, with no recent history of travel. He was tested for COVID-19 as a contact to Case 33. Currently, he is also stable, with mild disease.
Both cases arc recovering under self-isolation at home.
The Ministry continues to be on HIGH alert to the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to be guided by the COVID-I9 containment strategy which is based on intensified active surveillance, timely use detection, testing, isolation and management of all COVID-19 cases.
Further, the the Ministry would like to remind the nation, that the most effective wats to protect yourself and others against COVID-19 are to practise good personal hygiene and exercise social distancing.
Farai Dziva|Harare West MP Joana Mamombe has accused government of ignoring the plight of suffering citizens.
In response, Mamombe has launched a platform to assist residents in her constituency.
See full statement below :
Dear Harare West Community
JoKuDe, an initiative referring to Harare West Constituency Representatives led by Hon MP Joana Mamombe, Kudzai Kadzombe Councillor Ward 41 and Denford Ngadziore Councillor Ward 16.
This platform is there to answer to various challenges bedevilling the people within our Constituency.
JoKuDe is a well wisher’s Community funded & public run Platform.
We are advising all residents and Stakeholders that Central Government through the Ministry of Social Welfare is yet to commit to the pledge of assisting the vulnerable families during the current Covid-19 National Lockdown.
As stated before, we submitted the compiled lists of all residents who sent their names & information for assistance.
Apparently, the money is meant to assist Citizens during Covid-19 lockdown BUT to date, we haven’t received any positive feedback from the Ministry.
We are getting towards the end of the second phase of National Lockdown & we would like to urge the Gvt to honour its promise to its struggling Citizens.
As JoKuDe we could not fold our hands and watch, we started a fundraising platform to assist the vulnerable families in our a Constituency.
This came after we visited various places around the Constituency majority of the people are living in compounds, plots, and they are the elderly, pensioners and infomal traders who are failing to get a decent meal a day since the National Lockdown started.
Today, We are glad to announce that so far we have received donations comprising of the following food items : 1) 5 tonnes of roller meal 2) 200 * 500ml lacto packets.
We are expecting about 2tonnes more of mealie meal as well as heads of cabbages from another well wisher by tomorrow Thursday 29 April 2020
We have a target of 30tonnes of mealie meal so that we donate to more families. On Friday we expect to assist a 1000 families and local City of Harare workers in essential departments in dire need of food aid.
We are still appealing to all Stakeholders, churches, businesses, individuals and the cooperate world to assist our community with what ever you have in your disposal. The donations can come in the form of money, food, mealie meal, vegetables, clothes, blankets or any other donations that can be beneficial to these communities in need.
Those who want to drop in donations can do so at the Salvation Army Church in Haig Park, Mabelreign along Clevering road. Or get in touch with Colen Mawere on 0777648080 who is helping us to pick some donations
This program is being run by JoKuDe in partnership with the Harare West Pastors Fraternity (HAWEPAF)
Covid19 virus is real:::
-Wash your hands Regularly -Always maintain the required social distance -Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth -Practice respiratory hygiene -Use of approved face masks where possible
Farai Dziva|Harare West MP Joana Mamombe has accused government of ignoring the plight of suffering citizens.
In response, Mamombe has launched a platform to assist residents in her constituency.
See full statement below :
Dear Harare West Community
JoKuDe, an initiative referring to Harare West Constituency Representatives led by Hon MP Joana Mamombe, Kudzai Kadzombe Councillor Ward 41 and Denford Ngadziore Councillor Ward 16.
This platform is there to answer to various challenges bedevilling the people within our Constituency.
JoKuDe is a well wisher’s Community funded & public run Platform.
We are advising all residents and Stakeholders that Central Government through the Ministry of Social Welfare is yet to commit to the pledge of assisting the vulnerable families during the current Covid-19 National Lockdown.
As stated before, we submitted the compiled lists of all residents who sent their names & information for assistance.
Apparently, the money is meant to assist Citizens during Covid-19 lockdown BUT to date, we haven’t received any positive feedback from the Ministry.
We are getting towards the end of the second phase of National Lockdown & we would like to urge the Gvt to honour its promise to its struggling Citizens.
As JoKuDe we could not fold our hands and watch, we started a fundraising platform to assist the vulnerable families in our a Constituency.
This came after we visited various places around the Constituency majority of the people are living in compounds, plots, and they are the elderly, pensioners and infomal traders who are failing to get a decent meal a day since the National Lockdown started.
Today, We are glad to announce that so far we have received donations comprising of the following food items : 1) 5 tonnes of roller meal 2) 200 * 500ml lacto packets.
We are expecting about 2tonnes more of mealie meal as well as heads of cabbages from another well wisher by tomorrow Thursday 29 April 2020
We have a target of 30tonnes of mealie meal so that we donate to more families. On Friday we expect to assist a 1000 families and local City of Harare workers in essential departments in dire need of food aid.
We are still appealing to all Stakeholders, churches, businesses, individuals and the cooperate world to assist our community with what ever you have in your disposal. The donations can come in the form of money, food, mealie meal, vegetables, clothes, blankets or any other donations that can be beneficial to these communities in need.
Those who want to drop in donations can do so at the Salvation Army Church in Haig Park, Mabelreign along Clevering road. Or get in touch with Colen Mawere on 0777648080 who is helping us to pick some donations
This program is being run by JoKuDe in partnership with the Harare West Pastors Fraternity (HAWEPAF)
Covid19 virus is real:::
-Wash your hands Regularly -Always maintain the required social distance -Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth -Practice respiratory hygiene -Use of approved face masks where possible
A lecturer with a university in Harare yesterday escaped death by a whisker after he attempted to commit suicide by drinking an unknown poisonous substance after mixing it with Two Keys whisky.
Dr Mbereko who is believed to be a lecturer at Women in Africa University yesterday allegedly tried to commit suicide at Chinhoyi Council Head offices and was found lying down haplessly.
H-METRO was at the scene of the incident where Dr Mbereko was lying down with a cellphone on his hand. Some witnesses who saw Mbereko said that they had seen him with a bottle of Two Keys whisky and a plastic bag which had the unknown poisonous substance.
” He came from the direction of Edgar’s and he was mumbling to himself saying that nyaya dzevakadzi dzinonetsa,” ” A little while I heard a small noise and realized that he had fallen down and we rushed to the scene to see what had happened,” said the eye witness who preferred not to be identified.
Another eye witness said that the Doctor mentioned something to do with marital problems .
” He looked dejected and down to earth but and was talking to himself about having marital problems at home, ” he said.
He said that it was very saddening that such an educated man tried to take his own life.
” I was shocked when I heard that he was a doctor at a university,” ” I thought these people are the ones who are supposed to offer social- phycological support to us the weak. ,” Said an eye witness. He added.
” He is a coward. Whatever problems he was facing in life , he could have consulted other people for advice than to end his life by taking poison.”
A senior citizen who alerted H-METRO about the attempted suicide said that the doctor was a shame to both colleagues at work and his family.
” He is a shame to both his family and work. How can he be such a coward to an extent of wanting to die in a public place like an animal,,” said the senior citizen.
A passerby who was coming from shopping said that he had seen the doctor in town with his whisky but never thought that he was contemplating to end his life by taking poison diluted in whisky.
” Haana kutaridzika semunhu ange achida kudambudzira hupenyu hwake munzira,” ” Pandamuona ndatoti inga havo vane Mari kumukirira mangwanani kutenga doro nyambe he had an ulterior motive of his own. It’s a shame and very saddening indeed,” she said.
Dr Olga Laiza Kupika from the Chinhoyi University of Technology’s Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department refused to comment about the issue.
” Hapana zvandiri kuziva nenyaya iyoyi. Wanting to find out what happened. ” Ini zvokutaura nevatapi venhau handizvikwanise.
Hazvizvoita zvakanaka kubasa nokuti imi munenge muchida publicity and boosting your sales,” she said before hanging her cellphone. Credit :H-Metro
A lecturer with a university in Harare yesterday escaped death by a whisker after he attempted to commit suicide by drinking an unknown poisonous substance after mixing it with Two Keys whisky.
Dr Mbereko who is believed to be a lecturer at Women in Africa University yesterday allegedly tried to commit suicide at Chinhoyi Council Head offices and was found lying down haplessly.
H-METRO was at the scene of the incident where Dr Mbereko was lying down with a cellphone on his hand. Some witnesses who saw Mbereko said that they had seen him with a bottle of Two Keys whisky and a plastic bag which had the unknown poisonous substance.
” He came from the direction of Edgar’s and he was mumbling to himself saying that nyaya dzevakadzi dzinonetsa,” ” A little while I heard a small noise and realized that he had fallen down and we rushed to the scene to see what had happened,” said the eye witness who preferred not to be identified.
Another eye witness said that the Doctor mentioned something to do with marital problems .
” He looked dejected and down to earth but and was talking to himself about having marital problems at home, ” he said.
He said that it was very saddening that such an educated man tried to take his own life.
” I was shocked when I heard that he was a doctor at a university,” ” I thought these people are the ones who are supposed to offer social- phycological support to us the weak. ,” Said an eye witness. He added.
” He is a coward. Whatever problems he was facing in life , he could have consulted other people for advice than to end his life by taking poison.”
A senior citizen who alerted H-METRO about the attempted suicide said that the doctor was a shame to both colleagues at work and his family.
” He is a shame to both his family and work. How can he be such a coward to an extent of wanting to die in a public place like an animal,,” said the senior citizen.
A passerby who was coming from shopping said that he had seen the doctor in town with his whisky but never thought that he was contemplating to end his life by taking poison diluted in whisky.
” Haana kutaridzika semunhu ange achida kudambudzira hupenyu hwake munzira,” ” Pandamuona ndatoti inga havo vane Mari kumukirira mangwanani kutenga doro nyambe he had an ulterior motive of his own. It’s a shame and very saddening indeed,” she said.
Dr Olga Laiza Kupika from the Chinhoyi University of Technology’s Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department refused to comment about the issue.
” Hapana zvandiri kuziva nenyaya iyoyi. Wanting to find out what happened. ” Ini zvokutaura nevatapi venhau handizvikwanise.
Hazvizvoita zvakanaka kubasa nokuti imi munenge muchida publicity and boosting your sales,” she said before hanging her cellphone. Credit :H-Metro
Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa has openly conceded he is finding it difficult to make a decision on the way forward as the lockdown ends on May 3.
Mnangagwa told members of the business community at State House on Wednesday saving people’s lives was a priority since the economy would be resuscitated at the appropriate time.
Cases of confirmed Coronavirus cases have risen to forty in Zimbabwe.
“I was thinking about what happens after this one (extended lockdown) ends.
I am still working on that, but the primary objective is to give priority to saving lives. I have been studying events worldwide, how governments are reacting to this. Some border on the line of carelessness, some border on the line of over-cautiousness.
So, we must find a way where, in my view, we err on the side of caution rather than err on the side of recklessness,”said Mnangagwa.
Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa has openly conceded he is finding it difficult to make a decision on the way forward as the lockdown ends on May 3.
Mnangagwa told members of the business community at State House on Wednesday saving people’s lives was a priority since the economy would be resuscitated at the appropriate time.
Cases of confirmed Coronavirus cases have risen to forty in Zimbabwe.
“I was thinking about what happens after this one (extended lockdown) ends.
I am still working on that, but the primary objective is to give priority to saving lives. I have been studying events worldwide, how governments are reacting to this. Some border on the line of carelessness, some border on the line of over-cautiousness.
So, we must find a way where, in my view, we err on the side of caution rather than err on the side of recklessness,”said Mnangagwa.
By A Correspondent- The late former President Robert Mugabe’s son, Chatunga Bellarmine Mugabe says MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa is a force to reckon with.
In a Twitter post on Thursday, Chatunga said if anyone wants to bring trouble to themselves they must insult Chamisa or Zim dancehall music icon Winky D.
Said Bellamine:
“Wanzira Chamisa kana Winky D kana uchida kuona kuti upenyu hwako hwepa Sosho media hunounyana seshizha rabva pana mai varo,” Chatunga wrote in the Shona language.
JoKuDe is an initiative referring to Harare West Constituency Representatives led by Hon MP Joana Mamombe, Kudzai Kadzombe Councillor Ward 41 and Denford Ngadziore Councillor Ward 16.
This platform is there to answer to various challenges bedevilling the people within our Constituency.
JoKuDe is a well wisher’s Community funded & public run Platform.
Tomorrow, Friday 1st of May 2020 we will be distributing roller meal to vulnerable groups in our Constituency.
We shall start with Mkushi Compound in Ward 16 along Kirkman Drive behind Sanganai Inn.
Then proceed to Tom farm and Chichera Plot in ward 41.
The effects of the coronavirus on football are escalating on the African continent as 3 countries announced that they had cancelled their respective leagues due to the pandemic.
Kenya, Angola and Guinea have all made a uniform decision to cancel their leagues due to lockdown restrictions ushered-in by various governments in Africa to flatten the curve of the disease.
The president of the Kenyan FA, Nick Mwendwa, confirmed that owing to the stoppage of the leagues due to the effects of Covid-19, Gor Mahia, having led the standings at the midseason point, and with the league having not been played up to 75%, will be crowned winners, while City Stars are promoted.
Guinea football authorities cancelled the 2019-20 Ligue 1 season without even communicating on which team would represent the country in the next edition of the CAF Champions League.
MORE than 300 needy households from Mzilikazi surbub in Bulawayo will this week get free mealie meal and other grocery items courtesy of football legend Esrom Nyandoro who hails from the suburb.
The items will be purchased using funds from the one million masks and sanitisers for Zim campaign that had also organised the Nyandoro football memorabilia auction which however was eventually underwritten by a bidder for an undisclosed amount.
The bidder, who donated the items back to the football star, chose to remain anonymous.
The auction was set to be held on Monday via Nyandoro’s Instagram page. According to the organisers the anonymous bidder returned the items to Nyandoro because of their sentimental value to the ex Warriors, Amazulu and Mamelodi Sundowns box to box midfielder.
The items can be used for further fundraising activities should the movement require more financial assistance, said the organisers.
“The campaign has immediately moved to purchase mealie meal and other basic supplies that will be distributed to 300 needy homes in Mzilikazi,” Vimbai Musvaburi, one of the campaign organisers and spokesperson said.
Madagascar – There has been only 128 COVID 19 confirmed cases and this number hasn’t moved up since Monday morning when only one case was reported.
Even better news for Madagascar as the tally of recoveries goes up from 82 to 90 within a week, which is remarkable and more positive signs that their “miracle tea” could be the worlds solution.
This was Monday Afternoon. 27th April 2020.
As off today, here is where they stand 92 recovered still no reported deaths. This also comes after the President Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar deployed soldiers to hand out the herbal tea to each household.
The production manufacturing of the “miracle tea” is still continuing in Madagascar, as more African countries show interest in the COVID19 Organics.
Nigeria (1728 cases, 51 deaths, 328 recovered), recently showed their interest into getting the product into their country, but hasn’t yet confirmed. If Nigeria does approve the shipment of COVID19 Organics, they will join Senegal (882 cases, 9 deaths 315 recovered) and (1351 cases, 7 deaths, 313 recovered).
The COVID Organics might still have a long way to go, especially in mass production if the product is proven efficient.
However Madagascar is on the right track in terms of trying to flatten the curve of cases and if they continue being consistent, history just might be made by this African country.
Zimbabwe reported its highest daily increase in Covid-19 cases on Wednesday after eight people tested positive for the respiratory illness.
The eight cases – six from the laboratory in Harare and two from the testing facility in Bulawayo – brought the national case total to 40.
The ministry of health provided details for only two of the eight cases, both from Bulawayo. One is a 27-year-old man, a customs officer from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), and a 70-year-old man who returned from the United Kingdom on March 18.
The UK returnee is believed to be the source of the ZIMRA employee’s infection, the ministry said.
Both men are stable and self-isolating at home, according to health officials.
“Today, a total of 355 tests were done giving a total of 7,642 screening and diagnostic tests done to date. Of the PCR done in Harare, six were positive for Covid-19. More details will be given in tomorrow’s (Thursday) update,” said the ministry.
Officials say four people have died of Covid-19 in Zimbabwe, the youngest 30 and the oldest 82. Five people, including four members of the same family, have recovered.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced a 35-day national lockdown to arrest the spread of the virus, starting March 30.
The regulations are due to expire on May 3, and Mnangagwa – whose government is accused of failing to provide relief to millions of Zimbabweans in need of food aid – is under pressure to re-open the economy.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mnangagwa said they would listen to scientific advice before taking the next steps.
“As government, our responsibility is to look after the living. So, I believe that it is necessary that we do everything in our power to preserve life,” he said. “In relation to our own situation, the spike is going up, it is not going down so we have to take more measures until we reach a stage where there are more recoveries than there are positive cases coming up, then we know we are succeeding, but for now we believe that we have not reached the peak of attack by the pandemic, so this is indicative of measures that shall continue to help us save lives.”
He said they would review the lockdown measures with a view to getting the economy functioning, but this would not be at the expense of human life.
“We as government and I as President decided that on this challenge, what do we do to balance the need for economic growth and the lives of the people? I came to the conclusion that if our people die, we cannot resuscitate them, (but) the economy can die and it can be resuscitated now or in future. It does not matter, as long as people are alive we can always have conferences to say how do we resuscitate the economy but I have never seen a conference where people are discussing how to resuscitate the dead,” Mnangagwa said, speaking at State House where his government received donations from various companies.
“So, our bias is towards the preservation of life and this, why you are here, is demonstrative of your understanding that it is necessary to preserve life. I have been studying events worldwide, how governments are reacting to this thing, some (reactions) border on the line of carelessness, some border on the line of over cautiousness so we must find a way where in my view we err on the side of cautiousness than err on the side of recklessness.”
The department of basic education says that its primary concern is ensuring the safety of pupils.
Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga / Photo GCIS
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has confirmed that schools will reopen, for Grade 7 and 12 pupils, on 1 June 2020.
Motshekga announced the revised 2020 school calendar during a long-awaited media briefing which sought to finalise the contentious debate surrounding the curriculum. Following fierce public criticism aimed at the Director-General of Basic Education, Hubert Mweli, who presented a proposal many deemed premature and dangerous, Motshekga revealed the finalised school programme which differed slightly from the plans issued by the Portfolio Committee.
Here’s when will South African schools will reopen
Before announcing the proposed school calendar, Motshekga stressed that the final call regarding the reopening of schools would be made in conjunction with National Command Council (NCC). The minister added that the sector would open on 4 May to prepare for the eventual return of pupils.
It’s proposed that teachers return to work on 18 May to prepare for the remaining curriculum.
While the initial presentation by the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education recommended that pupils return to school as early as 6 May, Motshekga, noting the concerns of pupils, teachers and parents adjusted the calendar as follows:
Education sector reopens on 4 May
School management returns on 11 May
Teachers return on 18 May
Grade 12 and 7 pupils return on 1 June
With regards to the revised school calendar, the DBE minister noted that risk assessments in each province, district and school would inform decisions to reopen institutions.
May/June exams postponed, merged with December
During her address, Motshekga noted that, because of the disruptive nature of lockdown, exams initially scheduled to take place in May and June had been postponed until December 2020.
The disruptive impact of COVID-19 and lockdown
Motshekga elaborated on the virus’ disruptive, and potentially dangerous, impact on the nation’s education system, saying:
“We have experienced major problems – there has been an increase in anxiety. We serve more than 13 million learners – we are in every household. The anxiety is highly understandable.
Members of the community have been very concerned… when are learners going to go back?”
Motshekga reiterated that the department of basic education’s (DBE) primary concern was the health and safety of all pupils and, as such, staunch social distancing measures would be implemented in schools upon pupils’ return.
The DBE minister was joined by Higher Education Minister, Blade Nzimande, who clarified contingency plans concerning universities and colleges.
Nzimande said the focus of continued-learning would centre on remote learning initiatives. Until then, most physical campuses would remain closed until the Risk Level was lowered to an ‘appropriate level’.
MEDIA BRIEF BY MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING SERVICES, HON MONICA MUTSVANGWA
My fellow Zimbabweans
We have come to the end of yet another day, as we say good bye to the month of April, we take the time to reflect and re-evaluate. The road continues to be bumpy as we all had to change our lifestyles and habits in order to prevent and protect ourselves from this global pandemic, COVID19.
Zimbabwe has not been spared by the COVID 19 pandemic as we have lost loved ones at home and abroad. I pass my condolences to all bereaved families, special condolences to the scores of dutiful and valiant Zimbabwean nurses and health workers in the Diaspora, particularly in the United Kingdom.
Painful as it is, their loss has wrote an indelible page of Zimbabwean medical prowess on the global stage.
May their Souls Rest In Peace and may those left behind find comfort in the memories of their loved ones. Let us continue to take all the necessary measures to protect ourselves and prevent the further spread of this virus. We are each other’s keeper.
Today marks Day 31 of the lockdown, and Government once again commends citizens for adhering to the lockdown regulations and working smoothly with those implementing and enforcing the lockdown. His Excellency, President ED Mnangagwa has said that Government’s top priority is to save and preserve lives. and saving lives during this period. We can resuscitate the economy, but we cannot resuscitate the dead. So let us continue to practice protective and preventative measures. With winter fast approaching, the setting up and the rehabilitation and capacitation of medical facilities has to be accelerated across the whole country. Government welcomes all those who have come on board to support this initiative with donations of medical equipment and supplies for the treatment of coronavirus symptoms.
It has been noted that some unapproved individuals are attempting to take advantage of the global pandemic selling unfit medical equipment and claiming to provide medical services. Citizens, we urge you to seek services from registered health institutions; where and when you are in doubt, you should contact the national help lines, 2019 for clinical issues and 2023 for non-clinical issues. Where you are assured of receiving the correct information and assistance.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care is in the process of validating and assessing private facilities across the country and once this is completed the approved facilities will be publicized.
We continue to witness an upsurge in the number of returning residents at our border posts. His Excellency, the President has said that Zimbabweans are free to come home. However, they have to be quarantined for 21 days with testing on Day 1, Day 8 and Day 21. We urge returnees to adhere to the set regulations which are there to protect them and their loved ones here at home.
It is in times of adversity that the spirit of a nation is realized. Zimbabweans have once again proved that the tie that binds us together as a people is our Ubuntu. The understanding that we accomplish great feats as a collective has been brought to life by individuals, corporations and various organisations that are daily playing their part in Zimbabwe’s response and preparedness action plan. Equally, developmental partners are standing with us as part of the global campaign to curb the spread of COVID19.
Let each and every one of us play their part by ensuring that they practice protective and preventive behavior. As President ED Mnangagwa said, we can resuscitate the economy, but we cannot resuscitate the dead.
Please stay home, practice good hygiene and stay safe.
MDC founding politician and councillor Kadoma Ward 13 Councillor Thembiso Gobo has died.
She was aged 50.
Gobo who was a personal aide to party president Nelson Chamisa died at Kadoma Hospital on Wednesday after a long battle with cervical cancer.
She is survived by four children, three boys and a girl. One of her children is Believe Guta a motivational author from Kadoma.
Announcing the death of his mother, Guta said, “It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing away of my biological mother Councillor Thembiso Gobo. It is really a great loss, i have lost a mother, a mentor, a role model. You have fought a good fight mum and may you rest in power until we meet again.”
MDC Alliance in a statement mourning Guta said she was a victim of Zanu PF violence.
“Her commitment to democracy is beyond doubt. She survived Zanu PF violence in 2001 at Gokwe Town Office at the funeral of Vusimuzi Mukwela. She was arrested and detained several times in both the Midlands and Mashonaland West provinces,” said the opposition.
She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in June 2019.
A Harare man has appeared in court facing charges of unlawfully intending to cause contempt, ridicule and hatred towards President Emmerson Mnangagwa after allegedly insulting the President and his mother and threatening to cut the testicles of his supporters.
Allegations against Abraham Baison, a 30-year-old from Mount Hampden are that on Sunday he insulted Mnangagwa by shouting expletives about the President’s private parts and those of his mother.
The state, led by George Manokore argued that Baison was aware that there was a real risk that the statement was false and could engender feelings of hostility towards Mnangagwa.
It was the state’s case that on Monday at about 10pm, Baison stood at his door and started shouting obscenities aimed at Mnangagwa.
Baison’s neighbour, Dorcas Chivavaya reportedly heard the insults and alerted Petros Kasiya, who confronted the accused.
The accused allegedly repeated his insults leading to Kasiya, who reported the case at Marlborough Police Station the following day.
Baison, who was represented by Kossam Ncube of Kossam Ncube and Partners, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Magistrate, Vongai Muchuchuti-Gurira granted Baison $300 bail and remanded the case to June 3.
As part of his bail conditions, Baison was ordered not to interfere with witnesses and report every Friday to Marlborough Police Station between 6am and 6pm.
The number of cases of people accused of insulting Mnangagwa continue to stack up.
Just recently, a Chipinge man was accused of insulting Mnangagwa after he allegedly said the Zimbabwe leader did not measure up against his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.
MDC Alliance legislator Joel Gabbuza, is one of the high profile people that have been arrested on allegations of insulting Mnangagwa.
Last year, three people were dragged to court and charged with insulting Mnangagwa after they allegedly said the President had failed to revive the country’s political and economic fortunes and should, therefore, hand over power to opposition MDC leader, Nelson Chamisa.
Africa Confidential|In an extended mea culpa on behalf of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has written to the international financial institutions (IFIs) in Washington saying it takes ‘responsibility for the recent policy missteps during late 2019’ which have led to inflation currently running at an annual rate of over 500% year.
Ncube then writes that the government and economy are near to collapse, with the coronavirus pandemic dealing the final blow. The letter, dated 2 April, came a few days after reports of a coup plot against Mnangagwa had been circulating. A security source said the authorities had delayed the lockdown in Harare for fear that dissident officers might exploit conditions to move against the president and his circle.
In the letter, a copy of which has been seen by Africa Confidential, the usually upbeat Ncube paints a relentlessly grim picture. ‘Zimbabwe’s economy could contract by 15-20% during 2020 – with very serious social consequences. Already 8.5 million Zimbabweans (half the population) are food insecure,’ he writes.
So bad is the situation, says Ncube, that it could cause an implosion of the state and threaten security in neighbouring states. ‘The global pandemic will take a heavy toll on the health sector, with many lives being lost and raise poverty to levels not seen in recent times, including worsening food security. A domestic collapse also would have potentially adverse regional effects, where spillovers are significant.’
Concerns in southern Africa about conditions in Zimbabwe are deepening. They might explain a call by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, at an African Union teleconference on 28 April, for Western states and the IFIs to lift sanctions against the Mnangagwa government.
Strive’s plan On the previous day, Zimbabwean telecoms magnate Strive Masiyiwa called for urgent aid for his country to fight the pandemic. His Econet cellphone and money transfer companies have been a lifeline for many Zimbabweans.
Masiyiwa said the World Bank, the IMF and other multilateral institutions should create humanitarian trusts for Zimbabwe and Sudan, both under United States sanctions, to be managed by third parties to ensure a fair distribution of life-saving aid.
‘For the avoidance of doubt; this is not an appeal for the lifting of sanctions,’ said Masiyiwa. ‘I don’t want to get into the issues around how and why there are sanctions. Everyone knows I had to flee my country because of persecution 20 years ago.’
The state media in Harare covers every donation from business supporters of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) to the government’s coronavirus campaign but is more reticent about contributions from non-partisan donors such as Masiyiwa’s Higher Life Foundation. Earlier this year, Higher Life paid health workers’ salaries after the government said it had exhausted the budget.
Ncube’s letter is addressed to David Malpass, President of the World Bank, Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, and Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank. He asks them to support the rescheduling or cancellation of all Zimbabwe’s foreign bilateral debt arrears and help in clearing all its multilateral arrears (AC Vol 60 No 6, Ncube wins foreign fans).
The government also needs $200 million, says Ncube, for unplanned spending to fight the pandemic, referring to World Bank estimates that the country’s financing gap is nudging $1 billion for health, education, food security and social protection.
Without those funds, Ncube says, the government will have no choice but to revert to printing money, risking a return to hyperinflation and the crash of the local currency.
In exchange for the Bank and the IMF agreeing to an emergency debt rescheduling, the government promises a ‘time-bound programme’ of economic, political and governance reforms. Ncube, who has been at odds with Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya, pledges the government will introduce a market-determined exchange rate and end what he calls the reserve bank’s ‘quasi-fiscal operations’ and its direct lending programme. It will also include all state subsidies in the budget documents presented to parliament and scrutinised by the Public Accounts Committee, he adds.
This, according to finance officials in Washington, is code for saying conditions are so horrendous that Ncube has been the given the political cover to promise a crackdown on grand corruption at the heart of the government. They add that it is well-known among banks and business people as well as foreign diplomats that RBZ subsidies to gold-mining companies have directly benefited President Mnangagwa’s inner circle.
This group and senior army officers have also benefited from preferential access to foreign exchange and schemes that profit from arbitrage between the official and parallel rates of the Zimbabwe dollar, the officials add. Even if he wanted to, there is no way that Mangudya could have stood up to those factions.
Promises Ncube’s letter also promises to ‘limit the fiscal costs of the financing of agriculture, ensure transparency, and resolve all the related governance issues’. This would deal with another big leakage of state funds: the financing with zero accountability of Mnangagwa’s favoured Command Agriculture scheme (AC Vol 60 No 18, Cash at the generals’ command).
Apart from failing to boost productivity substantially – due to poor distribution of seeds and fertiliser as much as the latest regional drought – the Command Agriculture Programme has become a formidable source of patronage for Mnangagwa’s ally Kudakwashe Tagwirei, owner of the Sakunda group of companies working with Swiss-based Trafigura to import fuel, and well as running its own agricultural projects (AC Vol 60 No 23, Cashing in on the crisis).
One of Zimbabwe’s canniest operators, Tagwirei, who financed ZANU-PF’s election campaign in 2018, has evaded any attempt to limit his sprawling empire, and maintains close ties to both Mnangagwa and Vice-President General Constantino Chiwenga even though they are bitter rivals (AC Vol 61 No 8, Rule by rivalry).
Against this, Ncube’s promise of an ‘ambitious anti-corruption strategy’ rings hollow to finance officials. Neither do they take seriously his promises of political reform, most of whose elements have been on the government’s agenda for the past five years. Ncube’s final pledge to continue with ‘engaging in National Dialogue’ elicited the response of ‘what dialogue?’ from an official in Washington.
We hear that neither the World Bank nor the IMF have responded formally to Ncube’s letter, nor do they intend to, despite him following up with phone calls over the past week. ‘Zimbabwe is in a political, not an economic policy, crisis …without credible change on that level, nothing else will move,’ concluded the official.
Failing that, the country’s best hope might be for an international organisation to work with Masiyiwa’s plan for an independent humanitarian trust to distribute food and medicine to the most threatened people.
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday signed into law the deferment of payment of rentals and mortgages during lockdown to assist people that have lost income in honouring these obligations.
Statutory Instrument (SI) 96 of 2020 Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Deferral of Rent and Mortgage Payments During National Lockdown) Regulations, 2020 promulgated yesterday, comes a day after Cabinet’s recommendation to give relief to tenants and landlords during the lockdown.
“Whereas on account of the national lockdown many persons are on forced leave from employment and therefore unable to earn the income necessary to pay for, among other things, rental for residential accommodation and mortgage repayments; now, therefore His Excellency the President, in terms of Section 2 of the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act [Chapter 10:20], hereby makes the following regulations…” reads the decree.
The SI 96 of 2020 defers payment of rentals and mortgages without the risk of being evicted, disposed from land or sued from May until the end of the lockdown.
The new law allows tenants and those with mortgage debts to pay their landlords and creditors in a staggered manner.
Tenants and mortgagors are allowed to pay rentals, without interest staggered in equal instalments over three months for each month under lockdown. Due to the national lockdown, most residents have not generated income to enable them to pay May rentals that are due as from tomorrow.
The lockdown period began on March 30 and is set to end on Sunday.
Residents said the Cabinet’s resolution was realistic considering the economic impact caused by Covid-19 on the country and individuals.
Tenants who spoke to the news crew yesterday said unpaid rentals have become a source of conflict in their lodgings.
Mrs Sikhathazile Nyathi from Mzilikazi said if the moratorium is declared, it would protect her family from being tormented by a landlord.
“It is something that we hope could be implemented because already I’m facing challenges with my landlord. I live in one room with my husband and children. But because we had not cleared April rentals, the landlord in protest is now sleeping in our room, on our sofa. He is saying he will only vacate the room once we pay up the R300 rent but we don’t have the money. He is threatening us with evictions,” said Mrs Nyathi.
She said she was a vendor who operated at Renkini Bus Terminus but due to lockdown, she has been grounded struggling to even put food on the table.
Mrs Nyathi said she was even contemplating deserting city life after lockdown and relocate to rural areas where they are no demands for monthly rentals.
Another resident, Ms Sukoluhle Dube from Nkulumane suburb said the Cabinet’s decision was very noble as most people have not generated any income this month.
Ms Dube said moral suasion between landlords and tenants would be more effective than Government’s decrees.
“I had already come to an agreement with my landlord over payment of rentals. Due to the lockdown that saw me not working all along, my landlord said once the lockdown has ended, I can pay the rental in instalments. I think such decision largely depends on the existing relations between the landlords and their tenants. I have a very good relationship with my landlord. I have stayed in the house for seven years,” said Ms Dube.
Another tenant, Mr Celestine Mafuka, said delayed payments of rentals have both positive and negative impacts.
“Imagine we agree with the landlord that I will pay rentals when I get the money after lockdown. But I stay in a house of an elderly person largely depending on rentals payments for livelihood. In case I buy groceries do you think the landlord would be comfortable with me seemingly eating lavishly in their house when they won’t be having anything while I claim that I do not have money to pay rentals. We should aim to strike a balance,” said Mr Mafuka.
Landlords who spoke to the news crew said most of them depended on rental money for survival.
They argued that while Government proposes a moratorium on rental payments, local authorities still demand payment of rates.
Others said while the idea is good, most tenants cannot be trusted.
Mr Bernard Sibanda from Nkulumane suburb said some tenants may decide to leave their rented homes to evade paying delayed rentals.
“What will happen then when the tenant decides to run away. But as a parent with a child who is also a tenant somewhere, I believe bringing relief to lodgers will be good but if they also commit to being honest. We live with them they have not being working so their realities are very clear to us. Government in coming up with the law, should create a legal framework that will make it punishable if a lodger escapes from lodgings,” said Mr Sibanda.
A landlord who only identified herself as Mrs Moyo said tenants should find ways of paying rentals even during lockdown.
“The same way council expects us to pay rates, is the same way we want our tenants to pay rent. Some of us have been depending on these monthly rental payments for over 20 years. That is how we feed our families,” said Mrs Moyo.
Six people at Harare hospital have tested positive for COVID-19. The infections were discovered at the maternity hospital purely by chance during swab testing training where patients and workers were all routinely tested.
The breakdown is as follows: Two patients, one doctor and three nurses.
The development comes after a 7y old girl who the government says has Malaria (but tested COVID positive) dropped dead at Mapiravana Clinic over in Midlands. She has no travel history but had physical contact with a Malaria patient at St Theresa. Her symptoms were: abdominal pains, fever, general weakness for over 3 weeks.
Ministry Of Health officials have instructed practitioners to register the death as that of Malaria.
VIDEO LOADING BELOW ….
She was given the below prescription drugs:
A 7y old girl who govt says has Malaria but tested COVID + has dropped dead at Mapiravana Clinic. She has no travel history but had physical contact with a Malaria death at St Theresa. Her symptoms: abdominal pains, fever, gen weakness for 3 wks. @WHO_Zimbabwe@MuzvareBettypic.twitter.com/YK017T3UUk
Efforts to obtain a comment from Health Minister, Obadiah Moyo were fruitless at the time of publishing as his phone was ringing without being answered.
The Harare Hospital update was posted by former SundayMail editor Edmund Kudzayi. ZimEye is following up on the development.
HIGH Court Judge Justice Jacob Manzunzu on Thursday 30 April 2020 ended the detention of Lovemore Zvokusekwa by granting him RTGS$1 000 bail after he was detained in prison for allegedly peddling falsehoods about President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s extension of the duration of the national lockdown period to May.
The 36 year-old Zvokusekwa of Chitungwiza petitioned the High Court after he was denied bail by a Harare Magistrate on Monday 20 April 2020, when he appeared in court facing charges of publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state as defined in section 31(a)(i) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
Zvokusekwa, who was represented by Jeremiah Bamu of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Thomas Machinga and Cecil Mutsvandiani, was arrested on Saturday 18 April 2020 by Zimbabwe Republic Police members, who accused him of peddling falsehoods when he reportedly circulated a false and unsigned press statement purportedly written and issued by President Mnangagwa titled “EXTENSION OF LOCKDOWN PERIOD BY 13 DAYS ONLY” advising people that he had extended the national lockdown period by 13 days from 20 April 2020 to 3 May 2020.
Zvokusekwa allegedly disseminated the false press statement on different WhatsApp groups using his Huawei mobile phone handset and yet President Mnangagwa had not written or signed the purported press statement.
Apart from ordering Zvokusekwa to pay RTGS$1 000 as bail money, Justice Manzunzu also ordered him to report once a week on Fridays at Chitungwiza Police Station and to continue residing at his given residential address.
Late President Robert Mugabe’s son Chatunga Bellarmine Mugabe say MDC leader Nelson Chamisa is one of the most influential persons on social media.
In a Twitter post on Thursday, Chatunga said if anyone wants to bring trouble to themselves they must insult Chamisa or music icon Winky D.
“Wanzira Chamisa kana Winky D kana uchida kuona kuti upenyu hwako hwepa Sosho media hunounyana seshizha rabva pana mai varo.” Chatunga wrote in Shona language.
The tweet reached Chamsia who acknowledged it by retweeting itwith a caption, “Oh this one is another level!!”
On the eve on the 2018 elections, the late Mugabe said he could not vote for those who tormented him, implored Zimbabweans to vote for Chamisa to return the country to legality, democracy and constitutionality.
“I won’t vote for people who have tormented me. I’ll make my choice among the other 22,” said Mugabe. “Let them (Zimbabweans) decide. There should be a big no to guns. Never again experience a situation where the army is used to thrust one man (Mnangagwa) into power.”
When Ramaphosa announced that the country will enter level 4 of the lockdown on the 1st of May, he also said that cigarettes sale would be allowed during the level. Following the announcement, Mzansi was not pleased, accusing him of succumbing to “white pressure”
On Wednesday, The co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the sale of cigarettes was opposed by about 2,000 people who engaged the government on the lockdown regulations, therefore it remains banned.
Dlamini-Zuma’s statement left smokers fuming, seeing them accusing president Ramaphosa of misleading the nation.
The same Cyril Ramaphosa who was the most adorable president just a few days ago was immediately downgraded to public enemy number one over cigarettes.
As soon as it was announced that the ban on the sale of tobacco products was to be extended on Wednesday night, hundreds of thousands of South African smokers took to social media and petition platforms to put a stop to the decision.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma confirmed that after receiving opposition from over 2,000 people regarding lifting the prohibition of tobacco sales, and had since the weekend decided to keep the ban.
Dlamini-Zuma said smoking was not just unhealthy, but was concerned about sharing cigarettes, which increases the risk of contracting Covid-19.
Over 300,000 people from across the country have signed a petition on Change.org, with petition creator Bev Maclean saying that smokers were only given one days’ notice, “which is really unfair and spiteful”.
Maclean added that smokers experiencing withdrawal causes depression and anxiety, “and because we are in lockdown, most people will lash out and maybe even hurt loved ones unintentionally”.
Extending the ban of tobacco products has also reignited the legal battle that was to take place by the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita).
Fita confirmed on Wednesday evening that it would be reinstating its legal bid to overturn the ongoing ban.
The court action was suspended after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last week that tobacco products would be allowed to be sold.
The company ran a loss of 61.2million. Throughput has fallen down to 20% from 68%.
Challenges leading to this poor performance were; -sub-economic tariffs-exhaustion of PSMAS, global limits, inadequate stocking and unbudgeted PPE for Covid 19
Salary Update
Company not in a position to adjust salary as promised as the cashflows are bad and the tariff adjustment and subscription review from expected subscribers including government to PSMAS has been stalled by the Covid 19 pandemic. The company won’t be able to pay the cushion allowance as throughput and cashflows have gone down.
In mitigating staff against these challenges the Company at group level will roll out a grocery basket to replace the cushion allowance with the lowest grade B1-B4 getting the following items in their basket;
-10kg mealie meal
-4kg rice-4L
-cooking oil
-6kg sugar
-3tabs bath soap
-2bars washing soap
The grocery basket is calculated as equivalent of the cushion allowance and will differ by grade category. The grocery basket will be delivered through Gains Supermarket but where they can be able to deliver to your workstations you will collect it from there.
Rationalisation of Services
The following essential services will be operating;
-clinics in strategic locations
-pharmacies to complement clinics and cater for chronics
-hospitals
-emras
-diagnostics
-inpatient rehab
The following units will he shutdown;
-dental
– optometry
-outpatient rehab
– shared services operating at 50%
Closed units to provide backup service to open units so as to eliminate locums entirely.
Removal of transport and fuel allowances for those whose units are closed
All contracts to be terminated this month
Leave liability reduction with all those with days above 30 going on leave immediately
Units to operate with skeleton staff which is complimentary to their throughput
Risk Allowance
Currently cashflows do not allow the roll out of this gesture to all frontline staff. Nonetheless the company recognised the need for such and persues other cashflows such as PSMAS legacy debt to fund this allowance.
In the meantime the company relies on an indemnity insurance which is payable upon getting sick from Covid 19 or succumbing to the virus
Wayforward
Introduction of telemedicine facility at 186Fife avenue
Protection of the going concern of the company now and post Covid 19 through aggressive cost containment measures to ensure job protection for all permanent staff members.
It could however not be immediately established if the above published memo is indeed from PSMAS. Efforts to get a comment from the organisation were futile by the time of publishing.
This is however a developing story. Refresh this page for latest updates.
The National Prosecuting Authority’s bid for High Court judge Justice Garainesu Mawadze’s son, Munyaradzi’s bail application be heard by a none sitting judge of the High Court has been rejected.
Munyaradzi is being jointly charged with Elvin Dongo Saungweme (22) and Dellon David Balani (22) on allegations of killing Million Ncube by slitting his throat with a knife after robbing him of three iPhone Promax 11 cellphones in March this year.
The prosecution had demanded that Munyaradzi’s bail application must not be heard by any sitting judge of the High Court, but rather by a retired judge who has no links with the suspect’s father.
But Justice Webster Chinamora ruled that the position advocated by the NPA was untenable.
THE Joshua Nkomo National Foundation (JNNF) says it plans to celebrate the late Father Zimbabwe Joshua Nkomo’s birthday with a rare political party leaders’ get-together bringing among others President Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa to share a meal of cow hooves.
Nkomo, born on June 19, 1917 passed away on July 1, 1999 at the age of 82.
The JNNF, a trust formed to celebrate the life of the late Vice-President, has been holding annual events in June and July in remembrance of the former liberation war giant.
A fortnight ago, the JNNF held a virtual memorial lecture that was delivered by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (Osisa) executive director Siphosami Malunga.
The lecture was held under the theme Celebrating 40 Years of Independence – Back to the Future. JNNF director-general Tapela Mmillili said the get-together had nothing to do with trying to lay the groundwork for political dialogue between Chamisa and Mnangagwa following the disputed 2018 polls.
“Traditionally, leaders will come together and share a meal of amangqina (cow hooves) while having a conversation about many different issues not necessarily politics. We want to bring the elders of Zipra, Zanla and most importantly those of Zapu and Zanu PF and other political party leaders in that context,” he said.
“For us, it is also a birthday, but in the context of having the elders coming together to have a conversation and should anything come out of it, good for the country but for us it’s just about offering a platform for dialogue.”
Mnangagwa and Chamisa — while noting the need for dialogue to move Zimbabwe forward — have adopted diametrically different and rigid positions, frustrating any prospects for the holding of talks in the foreseeable future.
Mnangagwa is currently having talks with fringe opposition parties under the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) forum, a platform Chamisa dismisses as a Zanu PF choir.
“I am sure you are aware of the formation of the Polad and in general the views of the people in society are that this must be inclusive. We know Chamisa has his own reasons for not attending Polad and wanting a different platform; and the same goes for other leaders,” Mmillili added.
“However, the Joshua Nkomo Museum and Centre for Dialogue hosts a number of dialogue sessions, offering a platform for dialogue, be they political or economical and in this case it is about bringing our leaders to have a conversation in that traditional sense.”
Analysts and the clergy emphasise the need for dialogue to find a lasting solution to the country’s socio-economic crisis.
“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,” Zimbabwe Council of Churches general-secretary Kenneth Mtata said yesterday.
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration is expected to ease further the Covid-19 lockdown measures as from Monday next week, senior government officials have revealed.
However, most of the restrictions will remain.This follows a cabinet resolution on Tuesday to re-open the economy following a five-week freeze.
Mnangagwa extended the initial three-week-long lockdown on April 19.
He is expected to unveil a detailed plan, that includes the country re-opening some sectors of the economy, before the expiry of the lockdown at midnight on Sunday.
Official sources said cabinet, at its Tuesday meeting, asked the National Covid-19 Taskforce chaired by Vice-President Kembo Mohadi to come up, by the end of today, with a detailed programme on the easing of the lockdown.
Mnangagwa, who is expected to address the nation on Workers’ Day on May 1, is said to have given in to demands by the military and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), which warned him against extending the stringent lockdown measures further given the state of the economy.
As the Zimbabwe Independent reported last week, Mnangagwa also buckled under pressure and disregarded the advice of health experts who had recommended a 21-day Covid-19 lockdown extension, preferring instead to listen to his Zanu PF and Cabinet colleagues who argued that a prolonged shutdown could spark civil unrest on account of the fragile economy and a restless population.
Government officials told the Independent that ministers unanimously agreed to significantly ease the lockdown beginning Monday with the main consideration being that the current arrangement was not economically sustainable. Fears of civil unrest were also raised in the meeting.
This is despite the fact that confirmed coronavirus cases had as of yesterday increased to 32 from the 25 total recorded when Mnangagwa announced the extension. The virus has also spread to rural parts of the country like Mhondoro and Murehwa during the same period.
Mohadi reportedly assured the meeting that the country is now better prepared to deal with an upsurge of cases because it has more admission facilities and has increased its testing capacity.
“The vice-president said his taskforce had evaluated the country’s state of preparedness and was satisfied by the progress made so far as most provinces and districts now have admission facilities while sufficient quarantine centres had been identified,” an official said.
“It was then unanimously agreed that the lockdown should be significantly eased to jumpstart the economy which is already in a very bad state. The taskforce was then asked to come up with a polished programme through which the easing will be conducted but what I can tell you is that the manufacturing, construction, and other industries where there is a low risk of contagion will be allowed to re-open from May 4,” the source said.
“Retailers will be allowed to re-open during the course of the coming week while restaurants and bars, which are considered high-risk areas, will remain closed and can only be allowed to open after a week or so under strict health measures. These were proposals given to the taskforce by Cabinet members during the discussions.
“It was also proposed that schools and tertiary institutions will stay closed until satisfactory levels of containment were achieved. It was also resolved that all schools and tertiary institutions have to be thoroughly disinfected before they open and this will certainly take a long time.”
Another official said Cabinet also decided that all of the country’s ports of entry will remain closed while Mnangagwa engages his counterparts in Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Mozambique, with which Zimbabwe shares borders, to agree on a common position regarding the re-opening of ports of entry.
The government, sources said, will maintain restrictions on public gatherings of people exceeding 50 while encouraging the continuation of other control measures such as social distancing, self-isolation of confirmed cases and quarantine of returning citizens.
“What this means is that the lockdown remains very much in place but with relaxed conditions. For instance, large gatherings will remain banned and social distancing will be observed while those coming from outside the country will be subjected to the mandatory 21-day quarantine period,” the official said. “It was also agreed in the meeting that as part of the measures to contain the virus, all security sector and health workers operating on the frontline will be compulsorily tested along with members of their families. This includes those in the army, the police, the intelligence and municipal police officers in addition to nurses, doctors and everyone working on the Covid-19 frontline.”
Addressing a gathering at State House, where he was receiving Covid-19 donations from various corporates yesterday, Mnangagwa ruled out the possibility of an outright lifting of the lockdown, saying he preferred a cautious approach whereby a delicate balance is struck between saving lives and opening the economy.
“We had the first lockdown, which I extended by 14 days. When you came, I was thinking about what happens after the lockdown ends. We had been with this challenge, what do we do? Balancing the need for economic growth or saving the lives of the people?” Mnangagwa said.
“I came to the conclusion that if citizens die, if our people die, we cannot resuscitate them. Economy can die, it can be resuscitated, now or in the future, as long as people are alive. There can always be conferences on how we can resuscitate our economy, but I have never seen a conference where people will be discussing how they could resuscitate the dead. So, our bias is towards preservation of life.
“I have been studying the events worldwide, how governments handled the pandemic, some border on the lines of carelessness, some on over-cautiousness. So, we must find a way, a way, in my view, to err on the side of caution than err on the side of carelessness,” he added.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been urging countries to carefully consider their lockdown, easing strategies to prevent the possibility of fresh outbreaks, as was the case with Ghana which, according to media reports, recorded a total of 271 new coronavirus infections just 24 hours after lifting the lockdown in the capital Accra and Kumasi on Tuesday.
In total, the West African country had as of Tuesday recorded 506 new cases in the week the lockdown was lifted.
Reports from China, where the virus originated, have also suggested that the country had become vulnerable to a second wave of coronavirus infections after significantly easing the lockdown measures.
Spanish president Pedro Sanchez on Tuesday announced that LaLiga players can resume individual training sessions on May 4, activities which are allowed under “Phase 0.”
The development is a huge step towards resuming football in the country following the indefinite suspension of the sport in March due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The date for resuming the Spanish league has however not been met as the country continues to struggle to contain the virus.
After Phase 0 is completed, training sessions at club centres will then be allowed in Phase 1, which will get underway on May 11.
Spain is one of the most hit countries with 236 899 confirmed cases and 24 275 deaths as of April 30, 2020, 05:08 GMT.
Meanwhile, France has dismissed possibilities of resuming football in the near future in that country with that the French prime minister banning football until September, either with or without fans.- Daily Mail
UK Home Office efforts to deport an HIV-positive Zimbabwean man because of his lengthy criminal record have been blocked after the supreme court ruled removing him would breach his human rights.
Sending the 33-year-old man, identified only as AM, back to Zimbabwe would deny him access to life-saving treatment with the anti-retroviral medication Eviplera, the court unanimously accepted. The drug is not available there.
The case has been sent back to the lower courts for reconsideration.
AM was born in Zimbabwe in 1987 and came to the UK in 2000. He and his mother, who had already been living in Britain, were granted indefinite leave to remain in 2004.Advertisement
In the following years, he accumulated convictions for battery, assault, receiving stolen goods and twice for possession of a blade in public. In 2006, the Home Office first made an order to deport him. He has since married and had a son.
Three years later, he was convicted of further serious offences including possession of a firearm and heroin with intent to supply. He was jailed for nine years.
In 2012 his lawyers challenged the Home Office deportation order, submitting evidence that he had first been diagnosed with HIV in 2003 but that he had not become seriously ill until later.
The first anti-retroviral drug produced severe side effects. When he was switched to Eviplera his blood count increased and he recovered.
Opening the judgment, Lord Wilson said: “This appeal requires the court again to consider one of the most controversial questions which the law of human rights can generate.
“It relates to the ability of the UK to deport a foreign citizen who, while lawfully resident here, has committed a string of serious crimes. The reaction of many British citizens is likely to be: ‘We don’t want this man here.’ His response is: ‘But I need to remain here.’.”
AM originally appealed against removal on the grounds that it would breach article 8 of the European convention on human rights, which guarantees the right to private and family life.
A recent test case against Belgium at the European court of human Rights in Strasbourg established the principle that under article 3 of the convention, which outlaws torture and inhuman treatment, those with serious ill health cannot forcibly be removed to another country if they would suffer there a substantial reduction in life expectancy.
The appeal court was bound by legal precedent and could not permit the claim to switch from article 8 to article 3. The supreme court, however, can do so.
Delivering judgment, Wilson said: “This is not one of those highly exceptional situations in which we should decline to follow a decision of the Strasbourg court.
“We therefore allow the appeal and remit the appellant’s proposed claim under article 3 for consideration by an immigration tribunal, which will no doubt seek to conduct a full inquiry into (among other things) the adequacy of the medical treatment likely to be available to the appellant in Zimbabwe.”
Juventus’ Argentine winger Paulo Dybala has for the ‘fouth time in six weeks’, tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The 26-year-old was confirmed on March 21 that he and his girlfriend Oriana Sabatini had contracted the global pandemic after his first test came positive for the disease.
Spanish radio El Chiringuito, has now revealed that he has had a total of four tests in six weeks as a result of his initial diagnosis, with the latest one coming back positive, though he is said to be in “good spirits” while under isolation at home.
Dybala’s Old Lady teammates Daniel Rugani and Blaise Matuidi also tested positive for the virus but the club confirmed on the 15 of April that they had recovered.-Soccer 24
HIGH Court Judge Justice Jacob Manzunzu on Thursday 30 April 2020 ended the detention of Lovemore Zvokusekwa by granting him RTGS$1 000 bail after he was detained in prison for allegedly peddling falsehoods about President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s extension of the duration of the national lockdown period to May.
The 36 year-old Zvokusekwa of Chitungwiza petitioned the High Court after he was denied bail by a Harare Magistrate on Monday 20 April 2020, when he appeared in court facing charges of publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state as defined in section 31(a)(i) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
Zvokusekwa, who was represented by Jeremiah Bamu of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Thomas Machinga and Cecil Mutsvandiani, was arrested on Saturday 18 April 2020 by Zimbabwe Republic Police members, who accused him of peddling falsehoods when he reportedly circulated a false and unsigned press statement purportedly written and issued by President Mnangagwa titled “EXTENSION OF LOCKDOWN PERIOD BY 13 DAYS ONLY” advising people that he had extended the national lockdown period by 13 days from 20 April 2020 to 3 May 2020.
Zvokusekwa allegedly disseminated the false press statement on different WhatsApp groups using his Huawei mobile phone handset and yet President Mnangagwa had not written or signed the purported press statement.
Apart from ordering Zvokusekwa to pay RTGS$1 000 as bail money, Justice Manzunzu also ordered him to report once a week on Fridays at Chitungwiza Police Station and to continue residing at his given residential address.
By A Correspondent- A Zimbabwe Republic Police boss, Assistant Inspector Calisto Mutero who is stationed at Nyabira Police Station, 34km north-west of Harare, was shot in the back on Monday night after being found stealing maize cobs at Gwebi College of Agriculture.
Officer Mutero who is reportedly battling for life at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals was with his son and general worker, both juveniles when he was shot.
A security guard saw them and fired a warning shot that triggered the trio to run towards their getaway car.
The guard then shot towards the car in a bid to shoot the front wheel but he shot Mutero in the back.
Mutero and his accomplices, however, managed to flee from the scene. Detectives from Manyame district headquarters Criminal Investigations Department revisited the scene after Mutero’s car was found with a shattered driver’s window a kilometer from the scene.
The investigations led to the arrest of Mutero’s son who admitted to the theft and implicated his father.online
Farai Dziva|Warriors defender Teenage Hadebe is set to return to Zimbabwe for two weeks after his Turkish club Yeni Malatyaspor granted him two weeks compassionate leave.
Speaking to Chronicle, Hadebe said: “I can’t wait to hold my children in my hands. I’m super excited to be coming home to see my family. The club has organised that I travel for two weeks.”
The former Highlanders centre-back will, however, is likely to be quarantined for eight days upon touching down in Zimbabwe.
He has been under strict lockdown at his base, spending his time indoors as the Turkish season has been suspended since mid-March.
“We were told to stay indoors and we did that. I only go out maybe once a week going to the clubhouse which is closer to my apartment to do some personal training,” he added.
“Balancing the need for economic growth or saving the lives of the people?” you said.
“I came to the conclusion that if citizens die, if our people die, we cannot resuscitate them.
“The economy can die, it can be resuscitated now or in the future, as long as people are alive.”
The tragedy here is Zimbabweans will die in their hundreds of thousands whether you extend the lockdown or not.
You have handled the whole corona virus outbreak with your trademark blundering incompetence and the consequences are the virus has spread far and wide. You have been advised to test, track, isolate and treat. You have only done 7 000 tests, far short of the 30 000 you promised. Without accurate test data all your decisions have been guess work, just shooting in the dark.
Zimbabwe has done very little of the other activities, tracking, isolating and treating.
Whilst it is true that easing the lockdown when the number of corona virus cases are set to increase was clearly unthinkable. Still there is no empirical evidence to show the chaotic lockdown of the last five weeks is having any notable effect in slowing down the spread of the virus.
The lockdown is yet another one of your overrated ; “a dog’s puny fart that will never put out the furnace fire”, a the Chinua Achebe would aptly put it!
As for resuscitating the economy, the Zimbabwe economy was already in total meltdown after 40 years of unrelenting decline. When you seized power from Mugabe following the November 2017 military coup you were cocksure of reviving the economy and proclaimed “Zimbabwe is open for business!” No one answered the call, the flood of investors never materialised.
Investors are a shrewd lot, they were never going to be fooled by Zanu PF musical chairs game and empty rhetoric. You promised to end corruption and corruption is still rampant to this day. But most important of all you promised to hold free, fair and credible elections only to blatantly rig the July 2018 elections.
You failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll. You claim that you received 2.6 million votes but none of the election observers could trace or verify claim with no verified voters’ roll.
Go ahead, extend the lockdown by another two weeks, make it three weeks if you wish. It is clear that you are not testing aggressively because you want to hide the true picture of the seriousness of the corona virus in Zimbabwe – cook the figures, the Chinese Wuhan covid-19 recipe. The Chinese did the tracking, isolation and treating; you are not. And hence the reason the virus has been spreading like wildfire.
You rigged the July 2018 elections and cheated Nelson Chamisa and his MDC friend. You have failed to rig economic recovery before the corona virus pandemic and you will not do so after the pandemic. And most important of immediate importance, you will never ever cheat covid-19!
As Zimbabwe moves into the cold winter days of May, June and July the number of corona virus cases and deaths will soar. Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans are going to suffer and die unnecessarily because of your repeated blundering incompetence, you will not resuscitate any of the died. Will you do the only honourable thing then – admit you failed and step down?
What Zimbabwe has needed for the last 40 years is a competent and accountable government and the country needs one such government now as matter of life and death. Even now a competent government will help save many Zimbabweans from unnecessary suffering and death. And only a competent government will revive Zimbabwe’s economy now.
If there is one thing the tragic events of the corona virus have proven beyond all reasonable doubt it is that Zanu PF does not have the monopoly of knowledge. Zimbabwe must now break with the past, end the curse of rigged elections, and restore all the individual freedoms and rights including the right to free, fair and credible elections and the right to life.
Zanu PF rigged the 2018 elections, the party is illegitimate and must step down! Mr President, this is not negotiable! Step down or you will be forced to do so.
By A Correspondent- The insinuation by Finance minister Mthuli Ncube that he used a sophisticated algorithm system to determine who should benefit from funds to be disbursed to vulnerable households once again exposes government’s aversion to transparency and accountability.
Ncube claimed he had used a “sophisticated algorithm” to choose beneficiaries of the ZW$180 per household Covid-19 “pocket money”, making a total departure from his earlier commitment to disperse the funds through the department of social welfare.
The money, which government said will benefit at least one million of the most impoverished Zimbabwean families is part of the ZW$600 million kitty availed by the government to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Initially, Ncube said beneficiaries would be identified by the Social Welfare Department, before making the dramatic summersault.
According to the Cambridge English dictionary, algorithms refer to a set of mathematical instructions or rules that, especially if given to a computer, will help to calculate an answer to a problem.
When the fund was announced it was claimed that the Ministry of Social Welfare would prepare the database of recipients who would qualify for funding, but cracks started showing when it became apparent that government initially planned on distributing these funds through a single mobile money service provider, OneMoney —operated by government-owned mobile operator NetOne, further highlighting the penchant for obscurity in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration.
Government, as usual, rushed to deny the claims.
Mthuli’s algorithms averments, thus, effectively, trashed statements by Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare deputy minister Lovemore Matuke, who in an interview with a local daily, on April 15, said disbursements would be under his ministry’s purview.
Given the government’s penchant for profligacy and the tendency to divert and abuse public funds especially for political expediency, concerns have been raised over whether the money would be used for its intended purposes once the confusion manifested.
Matuke claimed that 800 000 beneficiaries who will get support “were identified through the Econet platform”, while only 200 000 were identified by the Ministry of Social Welfare.
Public policy expert and University of Zimbabwe Political Science lecturer Tawanda Zinyama said such lack of coherence gives credence to suspicions that there could be no money at all and if there is, it was being distributed on partisan lines, with Zanu PF members being the foremost beneficiaries.
“Ncube’s claim that he used a complex algorithm to determine beneficiaries raises a stink. It points to chicanery in the corridors of power where so-called sophisticated mathematical concepts are used to obscure the controversial spending of public funds,” Zinyama said.
“This has raised doubts as to whether there is even a list of beneficiaries in the first place. Perhaps this is just a public relations exercise to create the impression that the government is doing something about people’s suffering. That is when you start seeing some people developing suspicions about the issue of impartiality.”
In addition to this, questions are also being raised about government’s lack of disaster preparedness and the ability to withstand socio-economic shocks brought about by either health emergencies — as is the case with the coronavirus — or some natural disasters — as was witnessed last year with Cyclone Idai.
At a time other governments around the world are offering their citizens adequate cover for social protection and job losses, the Zimbabwean government is seen scrapping the bottom of the barrel for meagre offerings.
Women’s University in Africa senior lecturer Albert Maipisi said where such mechanisms do not exist, transparency and accountability remains a pipedream as government would be fighting to save its face and cover up for its glaring deficiencies.
“From a disaster management perspective, the situation is likened to a time of uncertainty and plans made pre-disaster are usually implemented without challenges as opposed to those that are made during the disaster like in this case. So, criteria for selection of vulnerable groups should be pre-defined and, in our context, I am not sure if there is a national strategy for that in place to inform programming,” Maipisi said.
“Where that does not exist, the effects are like that and there is no mechanism for ensuring transparency and accountability. A comprehensive disaster management strategy should address those issues and it does not exist in the country as of now.”
To further highlight the lack of transparency in government, the registration of SMEs which were supposed to benefit from rescue packages to prevent them from collapsing, was shrouded in controversy after the inclusion of individuals who are not involved in the sector.
This came after the director of the Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation Samuel Wadzai said the list compiled included individuals who are not involved in SMEs sector.
“This was a hurried process and there was no clarity in terms of the requirements by the ministry. They bunched the social welfare element together with the informal sector facility. There is no clarity on who is doing the selection process and the vetting. We have been requested to update our databases, which we have done. We have submitted them, but we don’t know who is going to decide who gets money and who doesn’t,” Wadzai said.
A Harare man has appeared in court facing charges of unlawfully intending to cause contempt, ridicule and hatred towards President Emmerson Mnangagwa after allegedly insulting the President and his mother and threatening to cut the testicles of his supporters.
Allegations against Abraham Baison, a 30-year-old from Mount Hampden are that on Sunday he insulted Mnangagwa by shouting expletives about the President’s private parts and those of his mother.
The state, led by George Manokore argued that Baison was aware that there was a real risk that the statement was false and could engender feelings of hostility towards Mnangagwa.
It was the state’s case that on Monday at about 10pm, Baison stood at his door and started shouting obscenities aimed at Mnangagwa.
Baison’s neighbour, Dorcas Chivavaya reportedly heard the insults and alerted Petros Kasiya, who confronted the accused.
The accused allegedly repeated his insults leading to Kasiya, who reported the case at Marlborough Police Station the following day.
Baison, who was represented by Kossam Ncube of Kossam Ncube and Partners, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Magistrate, Vongai Muchuchuti-Gurira granted Baison $300 bail and remanded the case to June 3.
As part of his bail conditions, Baison was ordered not to interfere with witnesses and report every Friday to Marlborough Police Station between 6am and 6pm.
The number of cases of people accused of insulting Mnangagwa continue to stack up.
Just recently, a Chipinge man was accused of insulting Mnangagwa after he allegedly said the Zimbabwe leader did not measure up against his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.
MDC Alliance legislator Joel Gabbuza, is one of the high profile people that have been arrested on allegations of insulting Mnangagwa.
Last year, three people were dragged to court and charged with insulting Mnangagwa after they allegedly said the President had failed to revive the country’s political and economic fortunes and should, therefore, hand over power to opposition MDC leader, Nelson Chamisa.
Farai Dziva|Giants Highlanders and Caps United are reportedly set to lose NetOne sponsorship at the end of the coming season.
The telecoms giant has been sponsoring the two team for some time now and in 2019 the deal was extended by three years.
NetOne now wants to focus on fighting the coronavirus pandemic, and due to the impact of the epidemic on their operations, they are no longer in a position to continue with their football sponsorship programmes, according to The Herald.
Both Bosso and Makepekepe will be given enough notice for the termination of their partnership. The company will also part ways with Black Rhinos and Chapungu.
Dynamos who were sponsored by NetOne until 2018 recently renewed their contract with sponsor Gold Leaf Tobacco.
It is not certain how long the virus that causes COVID-19 survives on surfaces, but it seems to behave like other coronaviruses.
Studies suggest that coronaviruses (including preliminary information on the COVID-19 virus) may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days.
This may vary under different conditions (e.g. type of surface, temperature or humidity of the environment).
If you think a surface may be infected, clean it with simple disinfectant to kill the virus and protect yourself and others. Clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, or nose.
Is it safe to receive a package from any area where COVID-19 has been reported?
Yes. The likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package that has been moved, travelled, and exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low.
Credit :WHO
Inserted by Zimbabwe Online Health Centre
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People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus.
The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales.
These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person.
Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
People can also catch COVID-19 if they breathe in droplets from a person with COVID-19 who coughs out or exhales droplets. This is why it is important to stay more than 1 meter (3 feet) away from a person who is sick.
WHO is assessing ongoing research on the ways COVID-19 is spread and will continue to share updated findings.
Can the virus that causes COVID-19 be transmitted through the air?
Studies to date suggest that the virus that causes COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through contact with respiratory droplets rather than through the air.
Can COVID-19 be caught from a person who has no symptoms?
The main way the disease spreads is through respiratory droplets expelled by someone who is coughing. The risk of catching COVID-19 from someone with no symptoms at all is very low. However, many people with COVID-19 experience only mild symptoms.
This is particularly true at the early stages of the disease. It is therefore possible to catch COVID-19 from someone who has, for example, just a mild cough and does not feel ill.
WHO is assessing ongoing research on the period of transmission of COVID-19 and will continue to share updated findings.
Credit:WHO
Inserted by Zimbabwe Online Health Centre
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By A Correspondent- Opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has reacted to a comment by the late former President Robert Mugabe’s son, Chatunga Bellarmine Mugabe who said he is a force to reckon with.
In a Twitter post on Thursday, Chatunga said if anyone wants to bring trouble to themselves they must insult Chamisa or Zim dancehall music icon Winky D.
Said Bellamine:
“Wanzira Chamisa kana Winky D kana uchida kuona kuti upenyu hwako hwepa Sosho media hunounyana seshizha rabva pana mai varo,” Chatunga wrote in the Shona language.
City of Harare has announced the planned shutdown of Morton Jeffray Water Treatment plant from today until tomorrow to allow installation of a pump at Warren control station.
In a notice to residents, CoH said it will also take advantage of the shutdown to repair leaking pipes at its Warren Control pump station.
Below is the CoH full notice;
There is going to be a partial shutdown of the Morton Jaffray water Treatment Plant today from (1600hrs) to tomorrow (Friday 1 May 2020) (1800hrs).
During the shutdown pumping to Lonchivar Water Reservoirs that supply water to the western suburbs will continue.
The shutdown is to allow for the installation of a pump at Warren Control Pump Station to match the improved water delivery capacity that is now averaging 300 million litres a day.
Other outstanding works will be carried out during the shutdown. These include repair of leaks at Warren Control Pumpstation, installation of main delivery valve on pump number 8 at Morton Jaffray.
Water users are urged to use available water sparingly.
Farai Dziva|Social media users are deeply sceptical of Zanu PF MP Killer Zivhu’ s recent donation to popular musician Greatman.
Social media users attacked Zivhu for using the donation to a person living with disability to score political marks.
Zivhu donated mealie-meal to Greatman and pledged to pay him RTGS $ 2000 per week.
Zivhu has pointed out that the donation is meant to ensure the musician is not exposed to COVID-19.Greatman is reportedly selling vegetables to eke out a living.
Commenting on Zivhu’s donation, Erick Zvirevo said : It’s sad that Killer Zivhu a man heavily linked to the system that has brought misery to our nation can target a popular disabled person to gain mileage in his quest to rise on the party and political ladder, when there should be a system in the country for social care.
He should just go to all people selling tomatoes and offer them $ 2000. What will happen to those disabled or the rural poor who do not have a chance to appear on social media or who are not appealing to Killer’s ego?
Murikuuraya Nyika to make people destitutes …
Danisa Ngwenya argued: While it is a worthwhile and refreshing cause and greatly appreciated, maybe it could also be noble if only a productive hands-on approach to a project he will manage for life is initiated .”
By A Correspondent- A Harare man had been living with his dead wife for a number of days. Circumstances leading to death could not be established. Percy Njikizani from Glen Norah A never reported the death of his wife, Elar Mundembe to the police.
He was also never seen coming out of their flat for the past two weeks. Neighbours called the police after a stench from the flat raised their suspicions.
A neighbour said:
“This woman was not free to let anyone in her house or life. I stayed here for 11 years but I never got into her house, so she was that reserved that no one would get close to her. So when this unfortunate incident occurred, the best that we could do after that persistent bad smell was to call the Glen Norah police and to call their nephew called Edie who stays down there in Glen View 7 Extension. Edie is her nephew from her husband’s side.
“We had been suspecting this odour to be of a rotting rat for days. The neighbour said when the police arrived, they broke in and discovered the corpse on the sofa while the husband was in another room seated on the bed. It is not normal for one to stay in the same house with a dead person. It might be a sign that the husband maybe sick too,” the neighbour said.
Another neighbour, Byron Mujoko, said he was shocked that the woman had died.
“Momz vanga vari bho though vayisasasa na everyone, she was very reserved, she was my wife Memory Dhliwayo’ s good customer at her work at Ebony Hair Saloon at Machipisa. My wife did her hair in February, I knew Mai Njikizani since 1999 when I was working at Glen Norah Supermarket and she was working for Harare City Council. She was a very good neibhour to live with.
“There is a guy called Tanya from the back of this block who came to me saying Mai Njikizani asked him to pray for her because she was having continued challenges in breathing. She ordered people to pray for her from a distance, not inside her house,” said Mujoko. Mai Njikizani’ s friend Rudo Masomera said:
“Mai Njikizani was not a fancy woman but she is that kind of a reserved person who often wanted to live a lonely life. Imagine, she is the only person I would leave my children with whenever I was at work, so a person that you entrust your children with, that person will be a good person,” said Masomera. The late Njikizani is survived by a husband and 27-year-old child called Nyasha.-HMetro
By A Correspondent- The late former President Robert Mugabe’s son, Chatunga Bellarmine Mugabe says MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa is a force to reckon with.
In a Twitter post on Thursday, Chatunga said if anyone wants to bring trouble to themselves they must insult Chamisa or Zim dancehall music icon Winky D.
Said Bellamine:
“Wanzira Chamisa kana Winky D kana uchida kuona kuti upenyu hwako hwepa Sosho media hunounyana seshizha rabva pana mai varo,” Chatunga wrote in the Shona language.
This is Mvuti High School in Karoi where the government is quarantining people traveling from Zambia to Zimbabwe but the place is extremely dirty… People are now scared of contracting the same disease here.
Farai Dziva|Social media users are deeply sceptical of Zanu PF MP Killer Zivhu’ s recent donation to popular musician Greatman.
Social media users attacked Zivhu for using the donation to a person living with disability to score political marks.
Zivhu donated mealie-meal to Greatman and pledged to pay him RTGS $ 2000 per week.
Zivhu has pointed out that the donation is meant to ensure the musician is not exposed to COVID-19.Greatman is reportedly selling vegetables to eke out a living.
Commenting on Zivhu’s donation, Erick Zvirevo said : It’s sad that Killer Zivhu a man heavily linked to the system that has brought misery to our nation can target a popular disabled person to gain mileage in his quest to rise on the party and political ladder, when there should be a system in the country for social care.
He should just go to all people selling tomatoes and offer them $ 2000. What will happen to those disabled or the rural poor who do not have a chance to appear on social media or who are not appealing to Killer’s ego?
Murikuuraya Nyika to make people destitutes …
Danisa Ngwenya argued: While it is a worthwhile and refreshing cause and greatly appreciated, maybe it could also be noble if only a productive hands-on approach to a project he will manage for life is initiated .”
Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa has openly conceded he is finding it difficult to make a decision on the way forward as the lockdown ends on May 3.
Mnangagwa told members of the business community at State House on Wednesday saving people’s lives was a priority since the economy would be resuscitated at the appropriate time.
Cases of confirmed Coronavirus cases have risen to forty in Zimbabwe.
“I was thinking about what happens after this one (extended lockdown) ends.
I am still working on that, but the primary objective is to give priority to saving lives. I have been studying events worldwide, how governments are reacting to this. Some border on the line of carelessness, some border on the line of over-cautiousness.
So, we must find a way where, in my view, we err on the side of caution rather than err on the side of recklessness,”said Mnangagwa.
By A Correspondent- President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said it is important that government prioritises people’s lives ahead of the economy considering that the people are more important than the economy.
Said Mnangagwa according to the state media:
“I have been studying events worldwide, how governments are reacting to these things. Some border on the line of carelessness: some border on the line of over-cautiousness. So, we must find a way to err on the side of cautiousness rather than on the side of carelessness,
The economy can die and it can be resuscitated now or in future. It doesn’t matter, because as long as people are alive you can have conferences and discuss how do we resuscitate the economy’ but I have never seen a conference where people are discussing how to resuscitate the dead.
We as Government and as the President decided with this (Covid 19) challenge what do we do? Balancing the need for economic growth and the lives of people as well as saving lives, I came to the conclusion that if people die, we cannot resuscitate them,”
By Stephen Chuma As a party that was born out of a workers movement, we cherish and commemorate the Workers Day.
Not only is it a day that reminds us of our umbilical ties to the working fraternity, but we remember those who toil day and night to make our country great again.
The Workers Day also brings with it a flood of sad memories of a nation that once had a thriving economy, best railway in Southern Africa and booming industry yet all that was destroyed by greedy, corruption and mismanagement. In essence, the day reminds us of the decimation at the hands of ZANU PF of everything that represents, signify and dignify workers and the economy.
Talk of the once booming Zisco Steel Company, Kadoma Textile industry, Bulawayo railway hub, Cold Storage Commission, Bata…. the list is infinite. That tells you how far we have gone as nation when it comes to destroying everything that represents workers.
As the MDC Alliance Youth Assembly, we however cherish all those toil day and night to save their families through menial and informal jobs like vending.
Indeed they are heroes of our time!
Figures, statistics and facts do not lie and the astronomical levels of unemployment is a marker that both public and private sectors are overwhelmed as far as creating employment for the vast majority is concerned.
This is particularly because we have a government whose economic policies are stinging hence there is fear to invest in such a volatile environment like ours.
Sadly those who control corridors of power in the public sector are the same familiar faces that you see in the private sector.
The same politicians who fail to run government owned businesses are the ones who grabbed private businesses hence failure is written all over.
Expecting both sectors to create enough employment for the bulging unemployed youths is tantamount to expecting flies to produce honey.
No matter the bigger the number, it will not work. Simple!
Besides the hollow and shallow political mantras like “Zimbabwe Is Open For Business”, the country needs a genuine, robust and sound economic blue print like MDC’s SMART document to attract direct foreign investment while at the same benefiting the locals.
We demand policies that are pro-poor and not just for the benefit of a few politically connected elites and cabals like Kuda Tagwirei, Billy Rautenbach and the looting lot.
Only until such a time when we have businesses that make profit while at the same time benefiting the majority and not a few individuals can we talk of growing our workforce.
Otherwise our best brains continue to flock and flood foreign labour markets and not our unfriendly labour shores.
As Youth Assembly, our message to workers is clear, short and simple.
Let us unite and dismantle ZANU PF dictatorship!
Stephen Sarkozy Chuma MDCYouthAssemblyNationalSpokesperson
The Ministry would like to report that two of the PCR tests done in Bulawayo on the 28th of April 2020 were positive for COVID-19.
Today, a total of 355 tests were done as shown in table 1 below, giving a total of 7 642 screening and diagnostic tests done to date. All the PCR tests done in Bulawayo today were negative for COVID-19. Of the PCR tests done in Harare today, six were positive for COVID-19. More details on these cases will be given in tomorrow’s update.
Distribution of tests done today Mat. South – 25 Mat North – 10 Bulawayo – 98 Mash. Central – 11
Harare – 211 Total – 355 Therefore, to date, Zimbabwe now has forty confirmed cases including five recoveries and four deaths. Matebeleland Noth – 1 Bulawayo – 12 Harare – 19 Mashonaland East 5 Mashonaland West – 3 Total – 40 Case #33 is a 70-year-old male resident of Bulawayo, who returned from the United Kingdom on 18 March 2020. He was tested for COVID-19 as a contact to Case #14. Currently, he is stable, with mild disease.
Case #34 is a 27-year-old male resident of Bulawayo, with no recent history of travel. He was tested for COVID-19 as a contact to Case 33. Currently, he is also stable, with mild disease.
Both cases arc recovering under self-isolation at home.
The Ministry continues to be on HIGH alert to the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to be guided by the COVID-I9 containment strategy which is based on intensified active surveillance, timely use detection, testing, isolation and management of all COVID-19 cases.
Further, the the Ministry would like to remind the nation, that the most effective wats to protect yourself and others against COVID-19 are to practise good personal hygiene and exercise social distancing.
By A Correspondent- Six people at Harare hospital have tested positive for COVID-19. The infections were discovered at the maternity hospital purely by chance during swab testing training where patients and workers were all routinely tested.
The breakdown is as follows: Two patients, one doctor and three nurses.
The above update was posted by former SundayMail editor Edmund Kudzayi. ZimEye is following up on the development.
