CHECHECHE – An illicit brew called Mukozodo, one of whose ingredients is understood to be ethanol has taken Checheche Growth Point and its environs by storm.
The Officer Commanding Chipinge District, Chief Superintendent Trustworthy Makunike confirmed the issue and said he is investigating suspects in the brew of the beer.
“The beer is illegal but I am yet to see where the brew and consumption is taking place. I went to the homestead of one of the suspected brewers and all I found were empty drums,” said Makunike.
The alcohol content in Mukozodo is too high because of the ethanol content. Sources said that the ethanol was coming from Chisumbanje.
What worries the community is that many underage boys are now into consumption of Mukozodo and the issue was raised by several secondary school heads in the area, said Thulani Thondhlana a villager from the area.
“At the last AGM held at Checheche High School, the head complained against some students who attended classes while drunk from the illicit beer, ” added Thondhlana.
A former CID in the area is said to be the major culprit in the brew and selling of Mukozodo.
Correspondent|DETHRONED Ntabazinduna Chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni has lashed out at the Zanu PF led government for allegedly abusing public funds to fuel divisions within MDC through financing an opposition faction.
The outspoken traditional leader said the scarce resources could be directed towards fighting Covid-19.
This follows reports government was planning to disburse $7,5 million into the hands of MDC faction leader Thokozani Khupe who recently won a Supreme Court battle for control of the main opposition.
The court ordered the MDC to revert back to its 2014 structures and call for an extra-ordinary congress to choose a new leader to replace late former president Morgan Tsvangirai within three months.
The funds are being disbursed under the Political Parties (Finance) Act.
In a statement Tuesday, the outspoken Ndiweni slammed government for misplaced priorities.
Ndiweni said the funds could have been used to complete the refurbishment and equipping of Ekusileni Joshua Nkomo Hospital.
“Today we read with shock and horror that the administration has $7.5 million to give away to the MDC congress.
“…The administration can choose to play partisan politics on one hand or choose to save lives in the face of Covid-19?
“The administration has chosen to play partisan politics rather than to save lives in the face of Covid-19.
“The $7.5 million is going to partisan politics. This choice that the administration has made is against the spirit of Ubuntu.
“It is against the nations Christian values. It is against the spirit and intent of the constitution of this country, in that this administration is charged with the responsibility for protecting The Right to Life, and protecting The Right to Health,” said Ndiweni.
Ndiweni was removed as traditional leader for Ntabazinduna following a family wrangle for the chieftainship few months ago.
His removal was quickly linked to attempts by the Emmerson Mnangagwa led government to silence one of its most outspoken and fearless critics who has not hidden his allegiance to MDC.
UN warns against ‘excessive force’ in Covid-19 response
The United Nations Human Rights Office has warned countries against using excessive force during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The agency urged governments to “recognize that the threat is a virus, not people”.
South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda are among countries where security forces have used repressive measures to enforce restrictions to movement.
The UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said countries should not use emergency powers as a weapon to quash dissent and control the population.
She said shooting, detaining or abusing people for breaking curfew because they are desperately searching for food is unacceptable and unlawful.
The UN body she heads said more than 17,000 South Africans have been arrested as a result of Covid-19 restrictions.
In Kenya, 27 human rights organisations have written an open letter to the government demanding that it stops punishing curfew offenders by forcefully sending them into quarantine centres.
About 32,100 coronavirus cases have been reported in 52 African countries, with 1,428 deaths and 9,741 recoveries.
After schools were closed for a month due to coronavirus pandemic, Madagascar has reopened its schools. School children, according to New York Times, were given face masks and a small bottle of herbal extract to drink to protect from COVID-19.
As WHO still insists that there is no proven cure for CoronaVirus the president of Madagascar Andry Rajoelina, has been pushing for the herbal medicine named Covid Organics to be used by his country people.
Photo: Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina taking the medicine.
Many Western medias have criticized the medicine as unproven and calls it “controversial” but Madagascar’s President said on national television that it will “change the cause of history.”
If the medicine didn’t work the schools would still be closed. Madagascar has not reported any death due to coronavirus thanks to the herbal tea, which is being distributed free in schools and poor neighborhoods.
While US President Donald Trump, according to a CNN report, has been pushing for hydroxychloroquine and disinfectants to be used to treat Covid-19, which are potentially dangerous. The medicine from Madagascar has not been reported to be toxic.
MDC-T leader Thokozani Khuper has mobilized Members of Parliament to disown statement by MDC-T Secretary-General Mao Nyikadzino who announced the expulsion of Khupe on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Nyikadzino told journalists that Khupe has expelled herself by associating with the Supreme court judgment.
However, the leader of the MDC-T Parliamentary caucus Mildred Dube said the two legislators (Including Priscilla Misihairabwi) were firmly behind the leadership of Thokozani Khupe.
Read her full press statement below:
We have noted with concern some misleading and disgusting statements attributed to the former MDC-T Secretary General Mr Nickson ‘Mao’ Nyikadzino wherein he masquerades as the new MDC-T Acting President.
For the avoidance of doubt, we want to make it unequivocally clear to all and sundry that all MDC-T legislators remain loyal to the party as led by Dr Thokozani Khuphe and the leadership collective elected at the party’s 4th Congress.
Mr Nyikadzino makes baseless and unfounded allegations that the MDC-T had an inaugural congress in 2018. This is wholly untrue, the fact of the matter is that a dispute within the party arose soon after the death of our founding father Dr Morgan Tsvangirai on the procedure to fill his vacancy.
Informed by a legal opinion from Adv Matinenga, the party held an extra ordinary congress at Stanley square in Bulawayo as provided for in the MDC constitution clause 9.21.1. This extra ordinary congress was attended by more than 5000 eligible delegates drawn from our party structures and at no point did we invite non-members to that Extra Ordinary Congress.
We want to further put it on record that we did not register as a new party with ZEC, it is on record that our party was already registered before the death of our late leader, what we only did was to remove the face of our late icon from the open palm & contested under the MDC-T brand.
We want to remind Mr Nyikadzino that that the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe handed down a landmark judgment on the 30th of March 2020 that effectively put Dr Khuphe firmly in charge of the party that was left by Dr Tsvangirai and ordered her to convene an Extra Ordinary Congress within 90days. All decisions and actions done after the 14th February 2018 are thus null and void. The net effect of the Supreme Court ruling is that the two warring MDC-T formations i.e. the MDC-T component in an electoral pact called the MDC Alliance and the original MDCT led by Dr Khupe are now ONE thing.
Furthermore, the ruling is clear on what must be done to return the party to its founding values of internal democracy, constitutionalism and collective leadership. We have no doubt whatsoever that the leadership collective as elected at the party’s 4th Congress in Harare led by our Acting President Dr Thokozani Khuphe is capable of convening the much awaited Extra Ordinary Congress to elect a successor to our late President Dr Morgan Tsvangirai.
As MDCT legislators we took an oath of office to uphold, defend and protect the Constitution of the Republic and therefore we associate ourselves fully with the Supreme Court judgment. We want to warn Mr Nyikadzino that his infantile and illogical statements are directly in contempt of court and if he continues with such actions we will not hesitate to seek legal recourse.
Government has sent a condolence message to the Johns family following the passing on of one of the country’s finest radio and television presenters, Peter Johns, popularly known as “The Radio Driver”.
The former Radio 3 (now Power FM) DJ died at a hospital in London on Monday, after battling three strokes and a heart operation.
In a statement yesterday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said: “It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing on of one of the country’s prolific radio presenters, DJ Peter Johns ‘The Radio Driver’.
“On behalf of the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, I want to express heartfelt condolences to the Johns family, friends, and media fraternity at large during this difficult time. DJ Peter Johns’ mark on Zimbabwe’s radio will forever be etched in the annals of history. May his soul rest in peace.”
Johns joined the ZBC’s Radio 3 in 1981 and acquitted himself brilliantly until he left the corporation in 2002.
During his career at Radio 3, he pioneered interactive radio and was famous for programmes such as Coca-Cola on the Beat and Weekend Love.
He later relocated to the United Kingdom, where he pursued studies in digital radio broadcasting and packaging and continued with his passion as a club DJ, Internet radio broadcaster and events host.
Schools should reopen when it is safe for pupils and teachers and in the meantime e-learning needs to be tailored so that children can benefit, chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education, Mrs Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, said yesterday.
She felt that e-learning needed to be available regardless of the Covid-19 pandemic, to help children who find it difficult or impossible to attend school.
Her committee was engaging the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education on the appropriate time to reopen schools for the second term, with the gazetted date being the second week of May.
Recommendations would be made to the ministry once all had been consulted.
Schools were closed on March 24, almost a week before the closing date, as a precaution against infection by Covid-19.
The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe recently wrote to Government calling for a delay in the reopening of schools, with the union’s secretary general, Mr Raymond Majongwe, stating that reopening schools early could put learners, teachers and stakeholders at risk, and proposing mid-July.
Mrs Misihairabwi-Mushonga confirmed that teachers’ unions had proffered scientific reasons on why reopening of schools early was discouraged.
Stakeholders had been discussing other available options such as e-learning so that children continue to learn at home.
“At the moment, it is premature for anyone to take any position,” said Mrs Misihairabwi-Mushonga. “We should ensure there is safety for both the children and teachers. Parliament has not been sitting, but we are organising to meet with support from Unicef so we can have an oversight on the issue. Parliament committees should not stop because of Covid-19.
“The closure of schools came from the debate we had in Parliament with the ministry and it was felt that it was not safe for children. Let us have consultations.”
A number of people have raised concerns over e-learning, considering that pupils in remote areas may not access computers and other e-learning requirements, and some parents have said data costs are too high.
Many organisations have come up with e-learning platforms and recommendations will be made.
Expressing her opinions, Ms Misihairabwi-Mushonga said: “There are other gadgets that can be used for learning. Most people are thinking of e-learning considering platforms that involve use of videos whereby the teachers and students can see each other, but there are other basic learning opportunities available.
“With a simple gadget or phone that has WhatsApp, a parent can help the children follow through educational modules. We should also look at the opportunities brought by e-learning with or without Covid-19. If we invest in information technology, it will help children even those who have been walking long distances to school.”
Mrs Misihairabwi-Mushonga said some parents had passed responsibilities to nurseries and schools and were now faced with helping their children learn at home.
“Now we are going into winter and if we allow schools to open, what is likely to happen?
“We are also having a pilot project with girls who fall pregnant in schools.
“This girl is at home and wants to continue learning,” she said, in support of extending e-learning regardless of Covid-19 requirements.
Kenyan police patrol the streets of Nairobi to enforce the curfew.
Own Correspondent|Police have killed 12 people and injured 30 people after President Uhuru Kenyatta’s curfew directive.
The curfew from 7 pm to 5 am was meant to stop the spread of Covid-19 but the number of those killed by police has turned to be slightly lower than 19 people who have died of Coronavirus.
The Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) said that 41 people have also been tortured by the police during the same period.
“During this period, we have monitored and documented 41 cases of police torture, cruel and inhumane degrading treatment perpetrated by law enforcement agencies and an Assistant Chief.. Out of the 41 cases, 11 were deaths and 30 injuries from torture and ill treatment,” IMLU said in its report.
The Unit expressed grave concern following growing death and injuries incidences by police who have used the lethal force in the country during the initial 30 days curfew that ran between March 27 and April 26 this year.
“Out of the 41 cases that we have documented, 33 are male and 8 female aged between 13 and 65 years; 34 cases were perpetrated by police officers and 7 by an assistant chief,” IMLU said.
The Non governmental organization said that the curfew started off with police across the country using excessive force, thrashing and tear-gassing crowds of people on their way home from work.
“This is regrettable especially at a time when the country is fighting a global pandemic,” the NGO said.
They called on the police to uphold human rights standards while enforcing the dusk to dawn curfew in the fight against Covid-19.
IMLU commended police officers who have worked tirelessly, often in difficult circumstances to enforce the various preventive measures under the public Order Act and Public Health Act.
Human rights groups have condemned the “unnecessary and excessive use of force” by Kenyan police as the country imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew amid efforts to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.
On Friday, police fired tear gas at a crowd of ferry commuters in the port city of Mombasa before the 7pm to 5am curfew came into force, 20 human rights groups, including Amnesty International, said in a statement on Saturday.
This forced hundreds of people to touch their faces as they vomited, spat and wiped away tears, increasing the chance of the virus’s spread, the statement added.
Some health workers even reported being intimidated by police officers as they tried to provide services after the curfew, according to the rights groups.
Elsewhere, officers were captured in mobile phone footage beating people with batons, causing uproar in the country.
“We continue to receive testimonies from victims, eyewitnesses and video footage showing police gleefully assaulting members of the public in other parts of the country,” the rights groups said.
Kenya’s interior ministry on Saturday replied to the criticism in a statement saying the curfew “is meant to guard against an apparent threat to public health. Breaking it is not only irresponsible but also puts others in harm’s way”.
The guidelines issued to security forces on the curfew say that police can use “proportionate force where non-violent means are inadequate to achieve the objectives of the curfew”.
The government has not said how many people have been arrested. Because courts are also affected by the virus prevention measures, all but serious cases will now be dealt with at police stations, the government has said.
That means anyone detained for violating curfew faces time in crowded cells.
Kenya has so far confirmed 38 cases of the new coronavirus, which causes a highly infectious respiratory disease called COVID-19. The country has taken a series of measures to stop its spread, including shutting borders and banning most air travel.
The Law Society of Kenya will go to court to challenge the curfew on the grounds that it is “unconstitutional” and has been abused by police, President Nelson Havi said in a statement.
The penalty for breaking a curfew is not corporal punishment, he added.
“It is evident that COVID-19 will be spread more by actions of police than of those claimed to have contravened the curfew,” Havi said.
Mhondoro villager Mr Christopher Chitemere, who tested positive for Covid-19 and is in self-isolation, insists he is not sick. Here, he harvests maize at his homestead yesterday
State Media|The death of Gogo Nguni, nee Chitemere, has left the community in her village in Mhondoro puzzled, with some denying she succumbed to Covid-19, despite the positive test made when she was taken to Harare.
Most insist Gogo Nguni died of old age as she could no longer walk beyond her gated homestead. She moved about with the aid of a walker.
However, there are three positive tests in the area, with health authorities puzzled as to where the source could be, hence a mass test of all villagers.
Village speculation and other obvious gaps in local knowledge systems have led community leaders to call for better dissemination of information in rural areas, where many rely on word of mouth rather than getting correct facts from the media.
Gogo Nguni spent much of her time indoors as her health was failing, with two house helpers and two herders at the homestead.
Her way of life did not change with the lockdown as she was already almost totally isolated.
Both herders stayed within the compound, but have tested negative for Covid-19, while the helpers worked on two-week shifts, with one of them testing positive when mass testing of those in the area was conducted.
But the helper’s family, where she would go during her off days, are said to have tested negative, leaving health authorities puzzled.
The other helper and her family, where she went during off days, are said to have tested negative. The helpers are from Chegutu and Chinhoyi.
The nurse who had been attending to Gogo Nguni before she was evacuated to Harare has also been tested. Her results were pending at time of going to print.
Following Gogo Nguni’s death, two of her contacts tested positive — the helper and a nephew who stayed a stone’s throw away from her homestead.
In an interview yesterday, the nephew, Mr Christopher Chitemere, said he was shocked to hear that his aunt succumbed to Covid-19.
He was self-isolating because he was advised to do so by health workers, but he was neither exhibiting signs nor symptoms of any ailment.
“Well, yes, they told me that I tested positive and they advised me to self-isolate and practise good personal hygiene, which is what I am doing,” said Mr Chitemere.
“However, I am feeling all right. I do not have any sign or symptom of any disease. As for my aunt, we all know she was old and because of her age she was repeatedly falling ill.”
Mr Chitemere said apart from her two sons and daughter-in-law, no one else was visiting Gogo Nguni since the lockdown.
He was concerned over social media reports that a certain Christopher Chitemere, who was in the United Kingdom, had met his aunt.
“I am Christopher Chitemere and I was never in the UK,” he said. “We are hearing all this through social media. In fact, what we now hear is that there is another Christopher Chitemere who recently came back from the UK, but we are not related in any way. “
Mr Sylvester Nguni, one of the late Gogo Nguni’s children, has since revealed that he, together with his wife, have tested negative for Covid-19.
Mr Orevero Chauruka, one of the two herders, said they still can’t believe that Gogo Nguni succumbed to Covid-19.
“We are also keen to know what could have happened, but what I know is that for the past five months that I have been working here, Gogo never left this place,” he said. “She always stayed indoors.”
Mr Chauruka quashed speculation that they could have picked up the virus from other villagers during cattle herding, saying they do not mix with other herders for fear of having their cattle infected.
Other villagers interviewed were still in denial that Gogo Nguni could have died of Covid-19, attributing her demise to old age.
MP for Mhondoro-Mubaira Constituency, Freddy Kapuya, who has taken it upon himself to disseminate basic information on Covid-19, as well as hygiene materials such as masks, sanitisers and soaps, said there was need for health education and mass testing of people, not only in Mhondoro, but all rural areas.
He said although results of the health worker who was attending to Gogo Nguni before she was transferred to Harare were still pending, the community has begun labelling and discriminating against her, contributing to stigma around the disease.
“People lack knowledge,” said Cde Kapuya. “Unlike in urban areas where information is readily available through different media platforms, here it is directly the opposite.
“Information is usually disseminated by way of mouth and village heads are the key persons when it comes to information dissemination, but you will find that most of them do not know anything about the disease.”
Kapuya said health authorities should investigate all community deaths, arguing that the number of elderly people dying seems to have gone up of late.
The area’s traditional leader, Chief Nyamweda, buttressed the need for health education, saying most people were relying on hearsay.
“In the absence of official communication, hearsay carries the day and this is what is happening here,” he said.
No immediate comment could be obtained from Health and Child Care Ministry officials on progress regarding mass testing, as well as health education in the community, but unconfirmed statistics indicated that about 300 people have so far been tested in Gogo Nguni’s community.
Gogo Nguni became the 4th person to die of Covid-19 in Zimbabwe.
A fifty-Two-year-old man from Murehwa, who had been admitted at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, last Friday suffering from malaria, has tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the country’s 32nd patient.
The hospital confirmed the case in a statement yesterday, saying measures were being taken to ensure the safety of staff and other patients.
“As part of the escalated mitigatory measures against Covid-19 which include active case finding through mandatory testing of frontline staff and admitted patients, a Covid-19 positive case which had been admitted for management of slide positive malaria on April 24, 2020 was identified at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals,” said the hospital. “The patient had responded well to malaria treatment and was due for discharge.”
The hospital said the patient had been isolated in a private room while awaiting discharge formalities, and would continue his recovery at home where he will be followed up.
The hospital pledged to continue ensuring the safety of staff and other patients through strengthened infection prevention and control measures.
Exposed staff would be counselled, tested and managed accordingly.
The hospital said decontamination would be done in line with set guidelines, while exposed staff would be given psychological support.
“Testing of frontline staff and admitted patients will continue and appropriate support rendered to those in need,” the hospital said.
The refurbishment of the hospital to enable it to admit Covid-19 patients is at an advanced stage.
Secretary for Health and Child Care, Dr Agnes Mahomva, said the patient had a history of international travel and hosting international guests.
“By the end of day yesterday we had tested 6 834 and of that we have 32 who are positive,” she said. “The 32nd case is a 52-year-old man who is very much involved in foreign travel and entertaining guests from outside.”
Dr Mahomva said the patient was already recovering when the tests results came out and would be quarantined at home.
Cabinet yesterday recommended Presidential Regulations imposing a moratorium on evictions of tenants delaying rent payments during the lockdown and staying legal action against their landlords delaying mortgage instalments as a result.
Presenting the outcome of the 13th Cabinet meeting in Harare yesterday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said: “Further measures taken include the following, that His Excellency the President consider promulgation of Presidential Regulations to give relief to both tenants and landlords during the lockdown period.
“That both residential and commercial properties be afforded a moratorium on evictions in respect of applicable lease obligations due for the period from April to the end of the lockdown including payment of rentals due for those months.”
“Rent deferrals should be free of any interest or penalties of whatever nature,” continued the recommendation. Home owners and landlords who, as a result of delayed rent, had to delay repayments of mortgage obligations would be entitled to the same relief under the same conditions.
“Cabinet resolved that any unpaid rentals due for the period from April to end of the lockdown be paid in equal instalments after the declaration of the end of the lockdown period together with the rental payments due for those months,” she said.
“That all rent deferrals shall be free of any interest charges or penalties of whatever nature and that homeowners or landlords obliged to relief mutatis mutandis which will apply to tenants in respect of their mortgage obligations.”
Other measures adopted by Cabinet as part of the Covid-19 preparedness response included testing security personnel and their families, all medical staff and patients at all central hospitals, all returning residents from abroad in designated mandatory quarantine facilities, and all contacts of confirmed cases regardless of whether they showed symptoms.
All in the community around a cluster of cases had to be tested as well as and immigration officials at Robert Gabriel Mugabe, Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo and Victoria Falls international airports plus those at Beitbridge and Forbes border posts.
Minister Mutsvangwa said Cabinet approved the disbursement of $100 million by Treasury towards buying all available local stock of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joel Biggie Matiza should now identify strategic truck stops along the country’s regional corridors to be gazetted as SADC Transit Truck Stops for use by regional transit traffic when trucks cross Zimbabwe during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Minister Mutsvangwa said Cabinet approved the setting up of isolation facilities at Rowa Training Centre for those entering Zimbabwe through Forbes Border Post and at Vhuti High School for those entering through Kariba and Chirundu borderposts.
Cabinet approved the drilling of 13 boreholes at priority centres identified by the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, including one at Wilkins Hospital and two at Beatrice Road Infections Diseases Hospital in Harare.
Disbursement by Treasury of $667 million of the budgeted $758 million towards the fight against Covid-19 was also approved.
Minister Mutsvangwa said several ministers presented progress reports on the 100-day priority projects.
AT least 148 more people from villages in Mhondoro-Mubaira are being tested for Covid-19 after a cluster of three known cases in the area.
The Mhondoro samples are still being processed to determine the level of exposure of villagers who came into contact with the late Gogo Nguni nee Chitemere, who succumbed to Covid-19 last week.
Two people in the area already tested positive for Covid-19, but one had never been in contact with Gogo Nguni, so there is mass testing to try and find the source of the cluster of infections.
Mashonaland West provincial medical director, Dr Wenceslaus Nyamayaro confirmed that a significant number of samples had been collected by yesterday.
“We have collected a significant number of samples in Mhondoro-Mubaira. We first collected 75 samples and then a further 73 other samples. We now await the results.”
BULAWAYO continues to top the number of people arrested for lockdown defiance with a total of 3 775 people having been arrested in the city since the commencement of the lockdown period on March 30.
A total of 15 545 people had been arrested countrywide by late afternoon yesterday for violating Covid-19 stay-at-home regulations.
Statistics obtained from the Police General Headquarters show that Manicaland follows Bulawayo closely with 3 137 arrests followed by Harare with 1 973.
In Midlands 1 693 people have been arrested while in Mashonaland West Province 1 396 people were arrested. In Masvingo 649 people were arrested while 530 were arrested in Mashonaland Central.
Matabeleland South has recorded 1 057 arrests while Matabeleland North province has 733. In Mashonaland East Province 549 people have been arrested while the Support Unit separately arrested 107 people countrywide.-State media
GIANTS Dynamos have become the latest high-profile local football club to join the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Glamour Boys have chosen to drive awareness campaigns.
Zimbabwe, along with most of the countries across the world, is in a national lockdown as authorities battle to contain the spread of the epidemic.
Several football clubs, including those in South Africa, have since launched initiatives aimed at fighting the pandemic.
And Dynamos have seen it fit to join forces with other international partners to battle the pandemic. Team spokesperson, Tinashe Farawo, yesterday told The Herald they were due to release a coronavirus awareness video next week.
“The coronavirus epidemic is real and ought to be given the special treatment it deserves,” Farawo said.
“The fight against the disease is everybody’s responsibility. People have to support the authorities in fighting the epidemic.’’
“As Dynamos Football Club, we know that our business is solely dependent on a healthy society.’’ ‘‘Our business has been impacted upon big time and we know that the sooner this is contained, the better for our business.’’
“This is one of the many reasons why we have decided to join hands with some partners to spread awareness about the epidemic.’’
“As we speak, we have already done a video jingle, which will be released next week. Our players, as well as other stakeholders, feature in that video. It’s all about awareness.”
Farawo said the team wouldn’t rush into doing any fund-raising initiatives but, instead, saw it fit to use their influence to spread the word.
“Our power is in numbers and, since we are one of the biggest teams in the world, this has driven us to choose the awareness route.’’
‘‘We are urging every member of society to play their role in complementing authorities’ efforts to stop the spread of the virus.’’ “Depending on the time the coronavirus scourge will be upon us, we will always revise our intervention strategies but, certainly, we have to play a role in the fight against the ailment.”
The Glamour Boys join rivals Highlanders, who have since launched a crowd-funding initiative aimed at raising funds for one of the coronavirus isolation centres in Bulawayo.
Bosso have already raised a significant amount. “The crowd-funding initiative is aimed at raising money to be given to one of Bulawayo’s coronavirus isolation centres.
‘‘We call upon people, and other football clubs, to join hands with us. Together, we will win the war against this pandemic,” said club spokesperson Ronald Moyo.-State media
Government has sent a condolence message to the Johns family following the passing on of one of the country’s finest radio and television presenters, Peter Johns, popularly known as “The Radio Driver”.
The former Radio 3 (now Power FM) DJ died at a hospital in London on Monday, after battling three strokes and a heart operation.
In a statement yesterday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said: “It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing on of one of the country’s prolific radio presenters, DJ Peter Johns ‘The Radio Driver’.
“On behalf of the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, I want to express heartfelt condolences to the Johns family, friends, and media fraternity at large during this difficult time. DJ Peter Johns’ mark on Zimbabwe’s radio will forever be etched in the annals of history.
May his soul rest in peace.” Johns joined the ZBC’s Radio 3 in 1981 and acquitted himself brilliantly until he left the corporation in 2002.
During his career at Radio 3, he pioneered interactive radio and was famous for programmes such as Coca-Cola on the Beat and Weekend Love.
He later relocated to the United Kingdom, where he pursued studies in digital radio broadcasting and packaging and continued with his passion as a club DJ, Internet radio broadcaster and events host.-State media
Cabinet yesterday recommended Presidential Regulations imposing a moratorium on evictions of tenants delaying rent payments during the lockdown and staying legal action against their landlords delaying mortgage instalments as a result.
Presenting the outcome of the 13th Cabinet meeting in Harare yesterday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said:
“Further measures taken include the following, that His Excellency the President consider promulgation of Presidential Regulations to give relief to both tenants and landlords during the lockdown period.
“That both residential and commercial properties be afforded a moratorium on evictions in respect of applicable lease obligations due for the period from April to the end of the lockdown including payment of rentals due for those months.” “Rent deferrals should be free of any interest or penalties of whatever nature,” continued the recommendation.
Home owners and landlords who, as a result of delayed rent, had to delay repayments of mortgage obligations would be entitled to the same relief under the same conditions.
Other measures adopted by Cabinet as part of the Covid-19 preparedness response included testing security personnel and their families, all medical staff and patients at all central hospitals, all returning residents from abroad in designated mandatory quarantine facilities, and all contacts of confirmed cases regardless of whether they showed symptoms.-State media
A TOTAL of 14 774 people were arrested countrywide for violating Covid-19 orders since the beginning of the lockdown period on March 31.
Statistics obtained from the Police General Headquarters show that Bulawayo still tops the numbers with 3 578 people arrested so far, followed by Manicaland Province at 2 990 arrests.
Harare comes third in arrests at 1 866 while 1 589 people have been arrested so far in Midlands Province.
In Mashonaland West Province, 1 321 people were arrested while 487 were arrested in in Mashonaland Central.
Matabeleland South has so far recorded 1 035 arrests while Matabeleland North province has 667.
In Mashonaland East Province, 529 people have been arrested while the support unit separately arrested 107 people countrywide.
In a telephone interview, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said police were concerned with continued violation of lockdown orders and the increasing number of pirate taxis, popularly known as mushikashika, illegally transporting commuters during this period.
“We continue to make arrests and Bulawayo still tops the statistics chart in terms of arrests of violators, with Manicaland Province following closely.
We are now also worried by the number of pirating taxis that are operating during the lockdown and we warn offenders that they will be arrested.
We also have a problem of people roaming aimlessly in residential suburbs after 6pm and we also warn them strongly that they will be arrested under section 4 of S.I 83 of 2020,” said Assistant Commissioner Nyathi.
In Bulawayo 25 members of the group of 48 Christ Apostolic Church Worldwide Revelation group who were arrested on Sunday while holding a church service in Tshabalala suburb have since paid $500 fines while the rest of the church members were released to look for the money as police considered that keeping them in cells would put them at risk of contracting the Covid-19 virus.-State media
By Dr Masimba Mavaza| Zimbabwe counts for over 30% of the total number of health workers who have died in the U.K. The Health Secretary has said over a hundred health workers have died in the frontline in UK.
The risks taken daily by the armies of British doctors, nurses and healthcare workers treating coronavirus patients have been starkly illustrated by a growing number of deaths.
The rising tally comes amid mounting concerns over the testing crisis, with ministers under increasing pressure to explain when NHS workers are to be tested and why Britain lags behind other nations in testing. Zimbabwean nurses based in the United Kingdom (UK) have taken the toll position in the number of those who have died in the fight against the Corona virus.
Nurses and other health care workers are particularly vulnerable to contracting the coronavirus as they work on the frontlines in combating the disease. The number of Zimbabweans working in the health sector is over 60.000. This figure could be more considering that most Zimbabweans came to the United Kingdom on Malawian, South African and Tswana passports, so if they die, they are counted as the nationals of the country they hold passports of. Being that as it may, the number of Zimbabweans officially counted is thirty percent of the whole number of the dead workers in the United Kingdom. May God Bless their Souls and may they rest in peace.
The ZANU PF Commissar Cde Victor Matemadanda describes these as double heroes who are heroes in the U.K. and heroes in their own country Zimbabwe. They deserve medals they laid down their lives for the lives of others. Such unlimited love create heroes and indeed these are unsung heroes. If someone lays down his life for another person, he died so that the other person can live.
One can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. Such was the bravery shown by the Zimbabwean nurses in the U.K. Nursing is a profession of care love and passion and bound by Nightingale’s pledge which says
“I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practise my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping, and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavour to aid the physician in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.
The Nightingale Pledge is a statement of the ethics and principles of the nursing profession. But when pushed to the point to chose between their lives or that of their patients they opt to die in the place of the sick. The Zimbabwean nurses have laid their lives down in the difficult situations without considerations to colour or nationality. The Corona virus situation proved that nurses are autonomous professionals on whom patients can rely. By laying their lives for others to live nurses have shown that they are modern science professionals who protect and advocate for patients and strive very hard to meet those challenges. The sacrifices made by these nurses brought about the care environment and assuring patients and the nation at large that nurses are there to fend for them.
But why Zimbabwean nurses are the ones who are taking the fall in the U.K. Most Zimbabweans almost 75% of Zimbabweans in the U.K. are nurses or health care workers. Most Zimbabweans work in the NHS from Cleaners to Executive officers they grace the NHS with their services. Despite NHS some work in the care homes and some private hospitals. Some Zimbabweans work in a one on one basis staying at the home of the service user commonly known as leave In.
In that scenario Zimbabweans have flooded the health and care industry. This then justifies why are Zimbabweans easy targets of the Corona’s evil bullet.
The other problem with Zimbabwean nurses is that they work very hard. Zimbabwean nurses most of them work three jobs a day. This wearies them and they then make mistakes in their last job of the day. They then will have their guards down and sometimes forget to use the Protective Equipment.
This they become victims in the process of their work. They are highly blinded by money and as a result they will contract the diseases in the wake of their service. Another problem is that the nurses at work do work to impress their bosses and want to be on the side of the manager. The reality is Zimbabweans sometimes become good boys do everything impression management actors. This then sees them being asked to Doris my jobs. In the quest to be good girls they come back with the virus. Because of our soft culture we stand today morning our friends our mothers our children. Zimbabweans in most cases will only stand up for their rights when it’s too late. The amount of abuse our friends get to get used with is disposable.
Many Zimbabwean nurses got the virus because they did not believe the virus was real. This was our most downfall. We have lost many brothers many countrymen because of impression management.
Even though the government has pledged sixty thousand pounds to every family which lost a member this does not give a life back.
Most if not all these nurses went to work with the hope of coming back with money. They sadly come back home with a virus. Some have taken the whole family down with Corona. Our thoughts are with the families left and indeed the families still waiting for the sick in hospital who are supposed to come back home. They put their faith in God and hope that they will come back.
Please stay safe. This virus is real. We have lost enough relatives.
Farai Dziva|The Movement for Democratic Change has dismissed Zanu PF MP for Chivi South, Killer Zivhu’s claims that the opposition is finished.
Writing on twitter, the cornered Zanu PF politician claimed the ruling party would win the 2023 elections by a huge margin.
“In 2023 Zanu PF will win elections with big margins -more than the1980 gap, mark my words. Kana uchida (if you love) politics just join Zanu PF now, the opposition party is finished.
Responding to Zivhu’s remarks, MDC Youth Assembly National Spokesperson, Stephen Sarkozy Chuma said:
“Killer Zivhu is daydreaming and must be smoking palm leaves.
Before hitting a dog maybe let us identify its owner!
Killer Zivhu is a ZANU PF Member of Parliament (MP) and the very same MP who was suspended by his party for calling for dialogue between Emmerson Mnangagwa and Advocate Nelson Chamisa political sometime last year.
This is a man in a tight corner and he is clearly singing for his supper and political survival!
Zivhu by his own admission knows Mnangagwa is illegitimate and was outsmarted by Advocate Chamisa in 2018 polls and the trend is set to continue in 2023 until maybe such a time when ZANU PF fields an electable candidate.
Of which as it stands there is none from ZANU PF circles who can compete against the People’s President, Nelson Chamisa.
Zivhu should learn table manners and enjoy his fair share of cross borders loot without making noise to those that he prejudice of their hard earned monies.”
“Winning an election is different from wearing a scarf in humid heat!
In this 4th Industrial Revolution Age no one is going to vote for ZANU PF leaders who are still cast in Stone Age mode.
Maybe by claiming victory before 2023, Zivhu is acknowledging the rigging machinery is already in motion but this time around there is not going to be another 2018 in 2023.”
State Media-A fifty-Two-year-old man from Murehwa, who had been admitted at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, last Friday suffering from malaria, has tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the country’s 32nd patient.
The hospital confirmed the case in a statement yesterday, saying measures were being taken to ensure the safety of staff and other patients.
“As part of the escalated mitigatory measures against Covid-19 which include active case finding through mandatory testing of frontline staff and admitted patients, a Covid-19 positive case which had been admitted for management of slide positive malaria on April 24, 2020 was identified at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals,” said the hospital. “The patient had responded well to malaria treatment and was due for discharge.”
The hospital said the patient had been isolated in a private room while awaiting discharge formalities, and would continue his recovery at home where he will be followed up.
The hospital pledged to continue ensuring the safety of staff and other patients through strengthened infection prevention and control measures.
Exposed staff would be counselled, tested and managed accordingly.
The hospital said decontamination would be done in line with set guidelines, while exposed staff would be given psychological support.
“Testing of frontline staff and admitted patients will continue and appropriate support rendered to those in need,” the hospital said.
The refurbishment of the hospital to enable it to admit Covid-19 patients is at an advanced stage.
Secretary for Health and Child Care, Dr Agnes Mahomva, said the patient had a history of international travel and hosting international guests.
“By the end of day yesterday we had tested 6 834 and of that we have 32 who are positive,” she said. “The 32nd case is a 52-year-old man who is very much involved in foreign travel and entertaining guests from outside.”
Dr Mahomva said the patient was already recovering when the tests results came out and would be quarantined at home.
Schools should reopen when it is safe for pupils and teachers and in the meantime e-learning needs to be tailored so that children can benefit, chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education, Mrs Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, said yesterday.
She felt that e-learning needed to be available regardless of the Covid-19 pandemic, to help children who find it difficult or impossible to attend school.
Her committee was engaging the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education on the appropriate time to reopen schools for the second term, with the gazetted date being the second week of May.
Recommendations would be made to the ministry once all had been consulted.
Schools were closed on March 24, almost a week before the closing date, as a precaution against infection by Covid-19.
The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe recently wrote to Government calling for a delay in the reopening of schools, with the union’s secretary general, Mr Raymond Majongwe, stating that reopening schools early could put learners, teachers and stakeholders at risk, and proposing mid-July.
Mrs Misihairabwi-Mushonga confirmed that teachers’ unions had proffered scientific reasons on why reopening of schools early was discouraged.
Stakeholders had been discussing other available options such as e-learning so that children continue to learn at home.
“At the moment, it is premature for anyone to take any position,” said Mrs Misihairabwi-Mushonga. “We should ensure there is safety for both the children and teachers. Parliament has not been sitting, but we are organising to meet with support from Unicef so we can have an oversight on the issue. Parliament committees should not stop because of Covid-19.
“The closure of schools came from the debate we had in Parliament with the ministry and it was felt that it was not safe for children. Let us have consultations.”
A number of people have raised concerns over e-learning, considering that pupils in remote areas may not access computers and other e-learning requirements, and some parents have said data costs are too high.
Many organisations have come up with e-learning platforms and recommendations will be made.
Expressing her opinions, Ms Misihairabwi-Mushonga said: “There are other gadgets that can be used for learning. Most people are thinking of e-learning considering platforms that involve use of videos whereby the teachers and students can see each other, but there are other basic learning opportunities available.
“With a simple gadget or phone that has WhatsApp, a parent can help the children follow through educational modules. We should also look at the opportunities brought by e-learning with or without Covid-19. If we invest in information technology, it will help children even those who have been walking long distances to school.”
Mrs Misihairabwi-Mushonga said some parents had passed responsibilities to nurseries and schools and were now faced with helping their children learn at home.
“Now we are going into winter and if we allow schools to open, what is likely to happen?
“We are also having a pilot project with girls who fall pregnant in schools.
“This girl is at home and wants to continue learning,” she said, in support of extending e-learning regardless of Covid-19 requirements. – state media/Herald
Four people narrowly escaped death in Hwange when a five-year-old boy allegedly set fire to his elder sister’s clothes in a wardrobe before the fire spread through the eight-roomed house and burnt all property.
The incident occurred on Friday afternoon at a house in Empumalanga suburb.
The boy confessed that he started the fire with matches in the main bedroom while his 16-year-old sister and maid (30) were in the kitchen. A 10-year-old sibling was in a separate room and all escaped unscathed.
The siblings’ mother who was not at home when the fire broke out around 1pm, was rushed to Hwange Colliery Hospital where she was admitted with shock after she collapsed upon hearing about the fire.
Hwange Local Board chief executive Mr Ndumiso Mdlalose confirmed the inferno but said he was still waiting for a detailed report from the fire brigade.
“Yes, there was a fire but I have to get a report from the fire brigade before I can comment,” he said.
Circumstances around the matter are that on Friday around 1pm, the boy who cannot be named because of his age, allegedly set fire to the family’s eight roomed house which was completely burnt.
His sister and the house maid were in the kitchen when they smelt some smoke in the house. They discovered that there was fire coming out of the main bedroom and alerted neighbours who phoned the Local Board fire brigade.
The fire fighters arrived at the house at 2pm and put out the fire but the entire house had been burnt.
Only three sofas and a kitchen table were salvaged.
Chronicle was told that the boy later told the family members that he started the fire when he used matches to burn his sister’s clothes which were in wardrobe in the main bedroom.
Matabeleland North police spokesperson Chief Inspector Siphiwe Makonese encouraged members of the public to always monitor minors and ensure that offensive objects are always out of their reach. The value of the burnt property, she said, is yet to be ascertained.- state media
Farai Dziva|The Movement for Democratic Change has dismissed Zanu PF MP for Chivi South, Killer Zivhu’s claims that the opposition is finished.
Writing on twitter, the cornered Zanu PF politician claimed the ruling party would win the 2023 elections by a huge margin.
“In 2023 Zanu PF will win elections with big margins -more than the1980 gap, mark my words. Kana uchida (if you love) politics just join Zanu PF now, the opposition party is finished.
Responding to Zivhu’s remarks, MDC Youth Assembly National Spokesperson, Stephen Sarkozy Chuma said:
“Killer Zivhu is daydreaming and must be smoking palm leaves.
Before hitting a dog maybe let us identify its owner!
Killer Zivhu is a ZANU PF Member of Parliament (MP) and the very same MP who was suspended by his party for calling for dialogue between Emmerson Mnangagwa and Advocate Nelson Chamisa political sometime last year.
This is a man in a tight corner and he is clearly singing for his supper and political survival!
Zivhu by his own admission knows Mnangagwa is illegitimate and was outsmarted by Advocate Chamisa in 2018 polls and the trend is set to continue in 2023 until maybe such a time when ZANU PF fields an electable candidate.
Of which as it stands there is none from ZANU PF circles who can compete against the People’s President, Nelson Chamisa.
Zivhu should learn table manners and enjoy his fair share of cross borders loot without making noise to those that he prejudice of their hard earned monies.”
“Winning an election is different from wearing a scarf in humid heat!
In this 4th Industrial Revolution Age no one is going to vote for ZANU PF leaders who are still cast in Stone Age mode.
Maybe by claiming victory before 2023, Zivhu is acknowledging the rigging machinery is already in motion but this time around there is not going to be another 2018 in 2023.”
Farai Dziva|Youthful Harare West MP Joana Ruvimbo Mamombe has donated sanitizers to police stations and clinics in her constituency as part of efforts to combat the spread of Covid-19.
Below is Mamombe’s statement :
Zimbabwe has 31 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 4 deaths of which 2 cases are from the Constituency I represent, Harare West.
Among the 4 deaths, we lost one man from Bluffhill, Westgate.
It’s really been a tough time for us the local representatives to provide leadership during this crisis.
Thank God for the strength, we are managing!
Under JoKuDe, referring to myself as the MP, Clr Kudzai Kadzombe Ward 41 & Clr Denford Ngadziore Ward 16, we donated sanitisers to our local clinics and police stations in both Marlborough and Mabelreign.
Last week, we facilitated a delivery of subsidised Roller meal into different supermarkets in our constituency including OK Mabelreign, Spar Greencroft and Pick n Pay Westgate.
And this week we are expecting another delivery by Friday.
When Lockdown started, we donated food hampers to different vulnerable groups and we are still appealing to well wishers to help us in this regard so that we can help those families living in compounds.
No one has ever become poor by giving! Instead, blessed is the hand that gives than the one that receives.
We also took time to dialogue with management at the most crowded place in our constituency, the N Richards Wholesale market where we agreed that police force must be deployed at all times to ensure social distancing.
Together we can We shall Overcome! For those who would like to assist, kindly get in touch.
Farai Dziva|MDC president Nelson Chamisa believes the wave of freedom will sweep across Africa.
According to Chamisa, the wave of freedom is unstoppable.
Today (Monday) is Freedom day in South Africa. May the breeze of freedom blow across Africa esp north of Limpopo to shake all the pillars of tyranny &roots of injustice.
Let the wave of freedom engulf the African continent for the eternal joy of its people!Happy freedom day South Africa.”
“I’ve just been following online a prayer for revival project led by South Africa’s Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng in conversation with Christian leaders in SA on hope,healing & restoration.
I love it when faith flows in the veins and heart of justice. Africa,this is your time…”
Farai Dziva|MDC president Nelson Chamisa believes the wave of freedom will sweep across Africa.
According to Chamisa, the wave of freedom is unstoppable.
Today (Monday) is Freedom day in South Africa. May the breeze of freedom blow across Africa esp north of Limpopo to shake all the pillars of tyranny &roots of injustice.
Let the wave of freedom engulf the African continent for the eternal joy of its people!Happy freedom day South Africa.”
“I’ve just been following online a prayer for revival project led by South Africa’s Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng in conversation with Christian leaders in SA on hope,healing & restoration.
I love it when faith flows in the veins and heart of justice. Africa,this is your time…”
By Showbiz Reporter| A woman caught in the act hiding a man she says is a fellow colleague at work, has announced to her father-in-law claiming that she is an intelligence officer who must be allowed to continue her “work.”
Her red-tracksuited “male work colleague” has refused to reveal his identity saying he is an intelligence officer, this will put him in trouble with his bosses. VIDEO LOADING BELOW….
The couple was pounced on while inside the house and told by a Mr Matenga’s wife [ the woman at the centre of the scandal] to rush into a room and hide in there.
Soon after being caught, the man was filmed as he was grilled by a large team led by the woman’s father in law. The development as ZimEye reveals, comes at a time when the husband is away on a trip.
The video footage begins right in the middle of the confrontation with the father inlaw saying: No, it”s very simple shamwari, you yourself if you leave here and go to your house in Chishawasha Hills, where you are building a house…”
The accused then quips in screaming, ” I don’t stay in Chishawasha Hills,” to which the father continues –
“Either in Chishawasha or in Zengeza Four, in Nehanda road, at No 10760, if you go there and see your wife and there is another man inside, surely you would ask questions, you are inside my house, if this is a work issue, what are you doing here? “
An elderly woman jumps in saying: Besides, it is an illegal meeting. He said it himself that it is an illegal meeting, why are you coming to hold an illegal with somebody’s wife inside their house?
The father continues saying:
“Because here in this house, this lady has got a husband, he is not here. And this morning you came picked her up, you went and came back again to be inside this house.
“Today, this is the third time, and three or four days ago, you came in with a car, ADU 8581, you came here on Tuesday or on Monday, you slept here and left at 9am the following day, so why shouldnt we ask you questions?
“We have no problem with you. Actually if you had replied us, we would have opened the gate for you to leave, and we would have let you off.”
To this, the woman, then pleads with her father in law asking if the accused man can be allowed out of the house. She says, ” is it okay if I can excuse him, because I feel like those other things don’t actually concern him because he is just purely coming here for my work?”
The father in law, however appears unperturbed, and shoots in saying: “yeah, we are a little bit baffled because this is the Matenga home, and we don’t appreciate to see a person coming here, a man, and then he rushes to hide inside one of the rooms. “
Another Matemga family man says” it still feels strange for me and hard to believe that this man he doesn’t want to give identification, to which the muroora says it’s:
“because of the nature of our work.”
But if he is caught by the police who does he say he is?
The confrontation continues with more details being revealed.
Towards the end the father in law appears as if pulling back to say:
“That’s fine shamwari, I think what we just want you to do – to realise and accept is we as The Matenga family, and where her husband comes from, we are deeply upset with your presence, and it’s probably you are not the only person who comes here . I think there is quite a few guys , if you are not Linos, then it means it is now you, Kwaramba, and there is Linos, there is Chinyani and all sorts of people who have been coming in and out, whether it is the kind of work this Amai does or not, …”
Is this your first time to be here?, a female family member asks.
No it is my second time, he answers.
When was your first time?
He then answers saying, “I think it was three weeks ago.”
So when Mr Matenga is here do you come here?, he is questioned, to which he replies saying, “I don’t even know that there is a Mr Matenga, he says.”
VIDEO LOADING BELOW
Efforts to get a comment from the accused woman’s husband were fruitless at the time of writing.
THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY-
ANNOUNCEMENT: Mr Matenga, please urgently get in touch with ZimEye concerning the leaked family video currently doing rounds. We have battled reaching you for a comment to guide us. Thank you – [PLEASE NOTE – WE CHOSE TO WITHHOLD MATENGA'S FIRSTNAME ON ETHICAL GROUNDS]
As part of the escalated mitigatory measures against COVID- 19 which include active case finding through mandatory testing of frontline staff and admitted patients, a COVID-I 9 positive case which had been admitted for management of slide positive malaria on 24 April 2020 was identified at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.
The patient had responded well to the malaria treatment and was due for discharge.
As management, we have since activated the COVID-I9 Rapid Response Team and we are taking the following measures:
Continued isolation of the confirmed case in his private room while awaiting for discharge formalities and recovery at home where he will be followed up.
Ensuring safety of staff and other patients through strengthened Infection Prevention and Control measures. Exposed staff will be counselled, tested and managed accordingly.
Giving psychosocial support to the exposed staff.
Decontamination will be done in accordance with national guidelines.
Testing of frontline staff and admitted patients will continue and appropriate support rendered to those A need.
Refurbishment of the Premier COVID-19 Treatment Centre A Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals is almost complete. As such, the hospital will soon be able to admit COVID-19 patients.- Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals
As part of the escalated mitigatory measures against COVID- 19 which include active case finding through mandatory testing of frontline staff and admitted patients, a COVID-I 9 positive case which had been admitted for management of slide positive malaria on 24 April 2020 was identified at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.
The patient had responded well to the malaria treatment and was due for discharge.
As management, we have since activated the COVID-I9 Rapid Response Team and we are taking the following measures:
Continued isolation of the confirmed case in his private room while awaiting for discharge formalities and recovery at home where he will be followed up.
Ensuring safety of staff and other patients through strengthened Infection Prevention and Control measures. Exposed staff will be counselled, tested and managed accordingly.
Giving psychosocial support to the exposed staff.
Decontamination will be done in accordance with national guidelines.
Testing of frontline staff and admitted patients will continue and appropriate support rendered to those A need.
Refurbishment of the Premier COVID-19 Treatment Centre A Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals is almost complete. As such, the hospital will soon be able to admit COVID-19 patients.- Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals
PTUZ SUBMISSIONS ON EDUCATION RE LOCKDOWN AND POST-LOCKDOWN SCENARIOS
The PTUZ wishes to make the following submissions on what we believe should be the way forward in relation to Covid-19 and the education sector.
Background As we are all aware, schools were closed on 24 March 2020 in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, which was just making inroads into the African continent. At the time schools were shut, we were exactly nine working days away from the planned closing date. The country had barely registered a case and there was palpable fear and apprehension in the country towards the virus, which was wreaking havoc in Europe and China.
South Africa had closed down schools and engaged in a lockdown, which Zimbabwe also declared on 29 March 2020. Developments since then Since the lockdown that was declared on 29 March, Zimbabwe has officially registered 31 cases, 4 deaths and two recoveries to date.The country has also tested a bit more than 5 thousand people for the virus. Our major fear is that winter is also kicking in, with cases expected to soar as a result of the cold conditions that will be prevailing. That being the case, we are presenting our document under two broad categories, best case scenario and worst-case scenario respectively.
There is talk that the Ministry expects to get permission to re-open schools, without specifying when exactly that could happen. Our submission is that at the moment, it would be grossly irresponsible for the government to re-open schools at a time when it is not clear whether we are moving forward, backwards or stationary in terms of managing the novel disease. We are actually in a worse position than we were when we closed schools. There are also many people returning from abroad, and we do not know what danger they pose or whether they do carry the Coronavirusornot. Granted, some may have been tested, but the fact that the number of asymptomatic cases is rising elsewhere in the world works glaringly against early and haphazard opening of schools without taking a systematic, empirical, realistic and informative environmental scan.
We cannot put learners, teachers and stakeholders at risk of contracting the disease by opening schools now. We should wait at least until mid-July and review the situation then, in view of the fact that winter is a time of flu and other respiratory illnesses and it is easy to conflate the ordinary flus with Covid-19. We need to be careful about the timing of the opening of schools. There is no prize for exhibiting Dutch courage against a disease that has brought even countries with the best health care systems to their knees. In fact, in the worst-case scenario, it may even be necessary to re-open schools post-winter, possibly in August going forward.
In relation to the usual ZIMSEC examination schedule, which is meant to start towards end of May, we again suggest an extreme cautionary approach. It is, therefore, prudent that we learn from regional and international jurisdictions on how other Education ministries and examination boards have done. As you may be aware, some countries such as Britain have deferred the scheduled examinations as the full impact of the pandemic is yet to be assessed, analysed and felt. In the worst-case scenario, it may be necessary for us to do the same until there is clarity and certainty on the scale of danger posed by this coronavirus within our borders. In the best-case scenario, examinations may continue later on as indicated by the latest Zimsec statement, but only subject to the following rigorous conditions, interalia, being met: a) There should be no other activity at a centre on a day exams are being written, including learning, in order to minimise the possibility of cross-infections and to ensure the efficacy of the social distance operational matrix; b) Exam rooms should be fumigated before and after every examination session at govt or Zimsec cost; c) All candidates and invigilators must be provided with PPEs by the government at zero cost. ZIMSEC should, therefore, ensure both candidates and invigilators are provided with PPEs during the duration of the exam; d) There should be a health inspector at each centre to ensure the right procedures are adhered to including the use of sanitisers at gates to the school as well as into the examination rooms; e) All invigilators should be provided with all PPEs such as work suits, gloves and masks by ZIMSEC and/or the government; f) All those involved in the administration of examinations must be paid a meaningful COVID-19 risk allowance by ZIMSEC given the risk they take in running these examinations; and g) all centres administering examinations must have running water or copious amounts of water to enable the necessary hygienic conditions to prevail.
It is our fortified view and conviction that schools should be opened in phases rather than at once. For this reason, it may be prudent to start with only examination classes given the absolute necessity of social distance and the existence of over-crowding in the generality of our schools.
That way, these examination candidates would be spread as much as possible in the whole school so that the concept of social distance is observed and takes premium.
After a full month the situation can be reviewed to see the possibility and feasibility of admitting other grades and forms.
We want to reiterate that our emphasis as a country should be meeting the criteria set by WHO as a precondition for re-opening schools before trusting our instincts as well as personal and national egos.
We have 9159 schools on the country,6.5 million students covering ECDA to Upper Sixth,135000 teachers and more than 60000 ancillary staff. As you can see this is more than half the country and thus endangering them by opening schools without following the necessary WHO regulations would beak into mass murder of Hitlerian proportions.
The govt should endeavor to meet the following WHO guidelines for removing the lockdown before we start entertaining the idea of reopening schools for all;
Disease transmission is under control
Health systems are able to”detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact”
Hot spot risks are minimized in vulnerable places, such as nursing homes 4Schools, workplaces and other essential places have established preventive measures
The risk of importing new cases “can be managed”
Communities are fully educated, engaged and empowered to live under a new normal.
Furthermore, we are calling on the government to take full responsibility of the payment of salaries and allowances of all School Development Committee/School Development Association workers in the interim given that schools will be unable to pay them if schools do not open soon as there is no payment of fees during this period and schools are running or have already run out of financial reserves.
When schools finally open It is a fact that sooner or later, schools are going to open. We are, therefore, proposing the following minimum conditions to be in place as much as is practically possible when schools reopen:
The Ministry should ensure that all teachers and learners have all necessary PPEs of the very minimal standard such as disposable gloves and reusable masks. There should also be adequate test kits for all school no matter how remote they are from urban centres;
Before schools open, teachers should be trained on handling and managing learners and other stakeholders during the course of their duties with a view to eradicating the possibility of transmission of the disease;
All schools to be compelled to have sanitisers and thermometers at entry points to the school, every classroom and staffroom;
The government should pay a meaningful risk allowance to teachers in view of the fact that they are frontline workers in the fight against the disease since it is an uncontestable fact that teachers interact with thousands of children from a diversity of backgrounds per day;
Classes to be immediately de-congested through splitting and lowering the current high teacher-pupil ratios in schools to 1:15 at most so as to reduce the possibility of infections. This can be done through the employment of more teachers since we already have a low hanging fruit of a pool of unemployed qualified teachers; We want to state without any equivocation that our members are not prepared to take the risk of teaching classes with more than 20 learners for nothing as the consequences are dire.
As a union, it would be an abdication of responsibility if we sacrifice the lives of our members at the altar of national expediency;
The government should subsidise the fees of all learners by at least 50% in view of the fact that most parents were unable to scrounge for money during the lockdown. This should be done for at least one term;
There should be an ad Infinitum suspension of learner seminars, sporting activities, school assemblies, prize-giving ceremonies and Annual General Meetings in respect of social distance and also to minimise the possibility of infections from outside;
We also demand an immediate review, de-bunching and regrading of our salaries and education sector-specific allowances so that they are commensurate with our experience, qualifications and responsibilities;
For the avoidance of doubt, we demand the payment of our salaries at the prevailing interbank rate in view of the fact that the government has presided over inordinate price increases. Zimstats figures supported by the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe indicate that the consumer basket is now well above ZWL$6680 as was highlighted at the latest government Price Moratorium presser recently held;
The government should set up quarantine centres for learners affected by the disease;
The usual behaviour of Ministry officials where they move around schools under the guise of supervision should be stopped in order to avoid the possibility of them carrying the virus from one station to another. In fact, movements should for now be restricted to the ritual of home station-home until it is safe to wade out of that schedule;
We have also noted that some schools such as Mosi High, Plumtree and others have been used as quarantine centres for those returning from the diaspora. There should be fumigation of these centres before they can be used by learners again; and
There is need to monitor school buses so that they are fumigated as per regulations, whenever they are used to transport learners and teachers to and from schools.
In fact, it is imperative that the govt reserves some buses strictly for learners and teachers so that they reduce mingling with ordinary people during the course of moving to and from schools.
There is nothing like being too careful. We have to protect the lives of these learners and teachers.
Hope you will seriously consider these views gathered from the PTUZ members scattered around the country.
Yours faithfully RAYMOND MAJONGWE (PTUZSecretaryGeneral)
PTUZ SUBMISSIONS ON EDUCATION RE LOCKDOWN AND POST-LOCKDOWN SCENARIOS
The PTUZ wishes to make the following submissions on what we believe should be the way forward in relation to Covid-19 and the education sector.
Background As we are all aware, schools were closed on 24 March 2020 in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, which was just making inroads into the African continent. At the time schools were shut, we were exactly nine working days away from the planned closing date. The country had barely registered a case and there was palpable fear and apprehension in the country towards the virus, which was wreaking havoc in Europe and China.
South Africa had closed down schools and engaged in a lockdown, which Zimbabwe also declared on 29 March 2020. Developments since then Since the lockdown that was declared on 29 March, Zimbabwe has officially registered 31 cases, 4 deaths and two recoveries to date.The country has also tested a bit more than 5 thousand people for the virus. Our major fear is that winter is also kicking in, with cases expected to soar as a result of the cold conditions that will be prevailing. That being the case, we are presenting our document under two broad categories, best case scenario and worst-case scenario respectively.
There is talk that the Ministry expects to get permission to re-open schools, without specifying when exactly that could happen. Our submission is that at the moment, it would be grossly irresponsible for the government to re-open schools at a time when it is not clear whether we are moving forward, backwards or stationary in terms of managing the novel disease. We are actually in a worse position than we were when we closed schools. There are also many people returning from abroad, and we do not know what danger they pose or whether they do carry the Coronavirusornot. Granted, some may have been tested, but the fact that the number of asymptomatic cases is rising elsewhere in the world works glaringly against early and haphazard opening of schools without taking a systematic, empirical, realistic and informative environmental scan.
We cannot put learners, teachers and stakeholders at risk of contracting the disease by opening schools now. We should wait at least until mid-July and review the situation then, in view of the fact that winter is a time of flu and other respiratory illnesses and it is easy to conflate the ordinary flus with Covid-19. We need to be careful about the timing of the opening of schools. There is no prize for exhibiting Dutch courage against a disease that has brought even countries with the best health care systems to their knees. In fact, in the worst-case scenario, it may even be necessary to re-open schools post-winter, possibly in August going forward.
In relation to the usual ZIMSEC examination schedule, which is meant to start towards end of May, we again suggest an extreme cautionary approach. It is, therefore, prudent that we learn from regional and international jurisdictions on how other Education ministries and examination boards have done. As you may be aware, some countries such as Britain have deferred the scheduled examinations as the full impact of the pandemic is yet to be assessed, analysed and felt. In the worst-case scenario, it may be necessary for us to do the same until there is clarity and certainty on the scale of danger posed by this coronavirus within our borders. In the best-case scenario, examinations may continue later on as indicated by the latest Zimsec statement, but only subject to the following rigorous conditions, interalia, being met: a) There should be no other activity at a centre on a day exams are being written, including learning, in order to minimise the possibility of cross-infections and to ensure the efficacy of the social distance operational matrix; b) Exam rooms should be fumigated before and after every examination session at govt or Zimsec cost; c) All candidates and invigilators must be provided with PPEs by the government at zero cost. ZIMSEC should, therefore, ensure both candidates and invigilators are provided with PPEs during the duration of the exam; d) There should be a health inspector at each centre to ensure the right procedures are adhered to including the use of sanitisers at gates to the school as well as into the examination rooms; e) All invigilators should be provided with all PPEs such as work suits, gloves and masks by ZIMSEC and/or the government; f) All those involved in the administration of examinations must be paid a meaningful COVID-19 risk allowance by ZIMSEC given the risk they take in running these examinations; and g) all centres administering examinations must have running water or copious amounts of water to enable the necessary hygienic conditions to prevail.
It is our fortified view and conviction that schools should be opened in phases rather than at once. For this reason, it may be prudent to start with only examination classes given the absolute necessity of social distance and the existence of over-crowding in the generality of our schools.
That way, these examination candidates would be spread as much as possible in the whole school so that the concept of social distance is observed and takes premium.
After a full month the situation can be reviewed to see the possibility and feasibility of admitting other grades and forms.
We want to reiterate that our emphasis as a country should be meeting the criteria set by WHO as a precondition for re-opening schools before trusting our instincts as well as personal and national egos.
We have 9159 schools on the country,6.5 million students covering ECDA to Upper Sixth,135000 teachers and more than 60000 ancillary staff. As you can see this is more than half the country and thus endangering them by opening schools without following the necessary WHO regulations would beak into mass murder of Hitlerian proportions.
The govt should endeavor to meet the following WHO guidelines for removing the lockdown before we start entertaining the idea of reopening schools for all;
Disease transmission is under control
Health systems are able to”detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact”
Hot spot risks are minimized in vulnerable places, such as nursing homes 4Schools, workplaces and other essential places have established preventive measures
The risk of importing new cases “can be managed”
Communities are fully educated, engaged and empowered to live under a new normal.
Furthermore, we are calling on the government to take full responsibility of the payment of salaries and allowances of all School Development Committee/School Development Association workers in the interim given that schools will be unable to pay them if schools do not open soon as there is no payment of fees during this period and schools are running or have already run out of financial reserves.
When schools finally open It is a fact that sooner or later, schools are going to open. We are, therefore, proposing the following minimum conditions to be in place as much as is practically possible when schools reopen:
The Ministry should ensure that all teachers and learners have all necessary PPEs of the very minimal standard such as disposable gloves and reusable masks. There should also be adequate test kits for all school no matter how remote they are from urban centres;
Before schools open, teachers should be trained on handling and managing learners and other stakeholders during the course of their duties with a view to eradicating the possibility of transmission of the disease;
All schools to be compelled to have sanitisers and thermometers at entry points to the school, every classroom and staffroom;
The government should pay a meaningful risk allowance to teachers in view of the fact that they are frontline workers in the fight against the disease since it is an uncontestable fact that teachers interact with thousands of children from a diversity of backgrounds per day;
Classes to be immediately de-congested through splitting and lowering the current high teacher-pupil ratios in schools to 1:15 at most so as to reduce the possibility of infections. This can be done through the employment of more teachers since we already have a low hanging fruit of a pool of unemployed qualified teachers; We want to state without any equivocation that our members are not prepared to take the risk of teaching classes with more than 20 learners for nothing as the consequences are dire.
As a union, it would be an abdication of responsibility if we sacrifice the lives of our members at the altar of national expediency;
The government should subsidise the fees of all learners by at least 50% in view of the fact that most parents were unable to scrounge for money during the lockdown. This should be done for at least one term;
There should be an ad Infinitum suspension of learner seminars, sporting activities, school assemblies, prize-giving ceremonies and Annual General Meetings in respect of social distance and also to minimise the possibility of infections from outside;
We also demand an immediate review, de-bunching and regrading of our salaries and education sector-specific allowances so that they are commensurate with our experience, qualifications and responsibilities;
For the avoidance of doubt, we demand the payment of our salaries at the prevailing interbank rate in view of the fact that the government has presided over inordinate price increases. Zimstats figures supported by the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe indicate that the consumer basket is now well above ZWL$6680 as was highlighted at the latest government Price Moratorium presser recently held;
The government should set up quarantine centres for learners affected by the disease;
The usual behaviour of Ministry officials where they move around schools under the guise of supervision should be stopped in order to avoid the possibility of them carrying the virus from one station to another. In fact, movements should for now be restricted to the ritual of home station-home until it is safe to wade out of that schedule;
We have also noted that some schools such as Mosi High, Plumtree and others have been used as quarantine centres for those returning from the diaspora. There should be fumigation of these centres before they can be used by learners again; and
There is need to monitor school buses so that they are fumigated as per regulations, whenever they are used to transport learners and teachers to and from schools.
In fact, it is imperative that the govt reserves some buses strictly for learners and teachers so that they reduce mingling with ordinary people during the course of moving to and from schools.
There is nothing like being too careful. We have to protect the lives of these learners and teachers.
Hope you will seriously consider these views gathered from the PTUZ members scattered around the country.
Yours faithfully RAYMOND MAJONGWE (PTUZSecretaryGeneral)
THE State has made a dramatic U-turn in the case of a Chitungwiza man who is accused of generating a fake press statement in the name of President Emmerson Mnangagwa announcing a 13-day extension of the current national coronavirus lockdown.
After prosecutors had initially consented to Lovemore Zvokusekwa’s bail at magistrate’s court, the State yesterday opposed his bail at the High Court.
The 36-year-old, who is facing charges of publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State, through his lawyer Thomas Machinga, was forced to approach the High Court after Harare magistrate Judith Taruvinga denied him bail.
The State argued it had a strong case against Zvokusekwa and that there was overwhelming evidence, showing that he was the one who originated the fake statement. While the matter had been set down for hearing yesterday, High Court judge Jacob Manzunzu deferred it to today, saying he needed time to go through the record of proceedings.
MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has sourced for equipment to assist Bulawayo’s Thorngrove Hospital to fight the deadly Coronavirus that has infected about 31 people in the country.
An MDC news alert message released on Tuesday said, “Today at 2PM the MDC will handover COVID-19 preparedness equipment to the Bulawayo City Council for use at Thorngrove Hospital.
“The equipment was sourced by President Nelson Chamisa. We hope that this will go a long way towards prevention, management, and possible treatment of the virus.”
Chamisa is on record calling for families affected by the deadly virus to be given money to assist them during the trying times.
“Those who are tested and confirmed positive must get a form of financial support for a month while they fight and the deceased family a government relief fund for their beneficiaries,” said the opposition leader during a live broadcast recently.
“Bereaved families need a Government Relief Fund for the beneficiaries so that we are able to create a social safety net.
“Cushioning citizens from economic distress and speed up roll out of humanitarian support is vital. We must put in place social protection nets.”
Zimbabwe will fail to meet its ambitious target of collecting 40 000 samples for Covid-19 testing because of the delayed of personal protective equipment (PPE), health minister Obadiah Moyo has said.
The Zimbabwean government had announced that it would test 40 000 samples by the end of April but by Tuesday, had tested just over 5 000 samples.
Moyo said the PPEs had since been delivered and going forward they were targeting 2 000 samples per day.
He said they had trained samplers who will collect samples across the country.
“We had challenges with PPE but they have been delivered and are there. We have put a system to test 2000 samples a day and have come out with composite teams to go out to collect as many samples as possible,” he said.
He said with everything in place, the exercise should be smooth flowing.
“PPEs have been distributed to all centres right round the provinces in Zimbabwe so the programme is proceeding with ease. We will see how much we will be able to collect, we want to see how much we will be able to collect on a daily basis,” said Moyo.
Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa announced that government has resolved that there be a moratorium on both commercial and residential evictions due to applicable lease obligations from April to end of #LockdownZim, including payment of rentals for those months.
She also said government resolved that unpaid rentals from April to end of #LockdownZim be paid in equal instalments after the declaration of the end lockdown period together with rentals due for those months.
HEALTH Services Board (HSB) bigwigs have controversially awarded themselves hefty additional allowances, at a time that frontline health workers are getting measly salaries and incentives despite the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic.
An HSB payment schedule that is in the possession of the Daily News shows that its top office bearers recently got huge added “coronavirus” allowances for just two weeks of work.
For example, HSB chairperson Paulinus Sikhosana received a further 480 litres of petrol for his use, despite him already having a monthly allocation of 600 litres a month.
He also got $800 worth of airtime, $2 250 for data bundles and $3 050 for transport.
Sikhosana confirmed to the Daily News yesterday that he had approved the hefty allowances, adding that these were not enough as he worked in Harare while his home was in Bulawayo.
“It is actually not enough because we do a lot of travelling. I am sometimes with the minister (Obadiah Moyo) when he visits institutions.
“At times we will be working online. So, we need data … there is nothing unusual about the allowances. The officers have less because they do not come to work every day because of the lockdown shifts.
“You can get more from (Ruth) Kaseke (HSB executive director) because she has more information than I have,” Sikhosana said.
Meanwhile, his deputy Auxilia Chideme-Munodawafa was also given an additional 360 litres of fuel, on top of her monthly 600 litres.
In addition, she received $750 for airtime, $2 250 for data bundles and $3 000 for transport.
Other board members who are full time got 280 litres of fuel, $700 for airtime and $2 250 for data, while their part-time colleagues received 130 litres for fuel, $350 for airtime and $1125 for data.
Kaseke was allocated an additional 360 litres of fuel, over and above her usual monthly allocation.
She was also allocated $650 for airtime and $2 250 for data bundles — while general manager Englebert Mbengwa and four others, who have monthly fuel allowances of 200 litres, were each given 200 more litres, $380 for airtime and $1 500 for data bundles.
Their deputies got allowances ranging between 40 and 80 litres of fuel, between $150 and $300 for airtime, and between $400 and $900 for data bundles — depending on the number of days they were on duty during the two weeks.
The allowances come hard on the heels of deliveries to HSB bosses and other high ranking government officials of top-of-the-range vehicles.
The hefty allowances also come at a time the government has been ordered by the High Court to provide health workers with personal protective equipment (PPE) among other essentials, in the fight against Covid-19.
Aggrieved health workers told the Daily News yesterday that they were receiving $100 for airtime and the same for data bundles.
“They (HSB bosses) have these fat allowances yet all they do is seat in their plush offices while we take the risk on the ground.
“As you can see from the schedule, the foot soldiers have nothing except the $290 for transport, which is not even enough for a week. We call upon the ministry to intervene in this blatant abuse of resources,” one of the workers said.
Five soldiers, who were critically injured in an accident along the Kariba-Makuti Road on Sunday, have been airlifted to Harare for more advanced treatment.
Four are now being treated at Josiah Magama Tongogara Barracks, while the most critically injured is at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.
The rest of the 21 injured officers have been released from Kariba District Hospital and are back in Harare.
One solider was killed in the accident.
Director Army public relations Lieutenant Colonel Alphios Makotore yesterday said: “Initially, the injured were evacuated to Kariba District Hospital to receive medical assistance. Five of the seriously injured were then airlifted by an Air Force of Zimbabwe helicopter to Harare.
“One member who has serious head injuries has been admitted at Parirenyatwa Hospital for specialist attention and his condition is stable,” said Lt-Col Makotore.
The rest of the injured soldiers remained at Kariba District Hospital until being moved to Harare and are all in satisfactory condition.
Lt-Col Makotore said preliminary investigations into the cause of the accident have established that the driver lost control of the vehicle while on a sharp and steep curve.
It is suspected the vehicle must have developed a mechanical fault.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s, they do not reflect the views of Opera News.
Outspoken South African Palamentarian and a senior member of the Economic Freedom Fighters, the third largest political party in South Africa , has once again come ok come on the spotlight with his strong remarks.
This time around he was stamping his party’s stance on the issue of foreign nationals in the country , how they should be treated.
It comes after to Economic Freedom Fighters’s made a controversial freedom day speech yesterday were he called for inclusive policies that enable foreigners to receive food parcels as well.
The party which is famous for Africanism saw it’s leader Julius Malema saying in his speech that he advocated for one Africa State, with one leader and one currency as a feasable way of solving Africa’s woes.
His statements caused a stir on social media with many saying that the party was pro foreigners at the expense of South Africans.
Ndlozi then responded in a tweet saying ” We will never apologize for asking South Africans to be human. To treat visitors among them with dignity. We refuse to spread the message of hate & Afro-phobia.'”
He went on to say “We have an obligation to our neighbors, in particular black people. This is who we are & we will NEVER change!”
He was stamping his party’s stance on the treatment of non South Africans during this difficult times that the nation and the world have found themselves as a result of the coronavirus.
Many South Africans though still stand with their opinions of the fact that South Africa is not a government of Africa.
Over the past 24 hours, some materials in the form of campaign posters have been posted on the social media suggesting that various leaders are campaigning for the office of president at the Extraordinary Congress of the party to be held soon.
In particular portraits of Senator Komichi, Senator Mudzuri and myself have been used.
These materials are not coming from us nor were they ever authorized by us. We urge our members to ignore them.
It is coming from those people who want to disturb the people’s congress by sowing the seeds of division and confusion among our ranks.
They want to paint a picture of a leadership that is divided and that is obsessed with political office.
To the contrary we are a united and focused leadership preoccupied with the single objective of returning our party to its founding values.
Currently, we are busy with the logistical and financial arrangements for the Extraordinary Congress in line with our party constitution.
We are very happy at the level of enthusiasm that our structures have shown towards returning our party to the path to Democracy, Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law.
While our detractors had predicted that the Congress would not form a quorum, indications so far are that it will be fully attended by the eligible delegates.
More than 3000 delegates contacted so far have confirmed that they will attend. We also notice that there is a lot of propaganda and hate language being churned out against our leaders.
Unfortunately, for the people engaging in this propaganda we shall never engage them in the race to the bottom.
Lastly, we wish to reiterate that it is only the people who will decide on which particular office each leader will run for when the time comes and nominations are opened. We are a party of rules and values!
Yesterday, government reported that 20 more Zimbabweans had arrived in the country aboard an Ethiopian Airways with two indicating elevated temperatures while the rest were taken to Belvedere Teachers College for mandatory quarantine.
Most of the recorded COVID-19 cases in Zimbabwe have been imported with only a few local transmissions.
Recently, among a group of Zimbabweans who returned from the United Kingdom, more than three people have tested positive for the virus which has killed four in the country and more 200 000 around the world.
In a statement, Permanent Secretary in the Information Ministry, Nick Mangwana said another batch of 20 was received yesterday aboard Ethiopian Airways.
“Today we received 20 Returnees aboard Ethiopian Airways from different places. 2 indicated elevated temperatures and were taken to a health facility. The other 18 have been taken to Belvedere Teachers’ College. If a different placement is procured then they may be moved there,” Mangwana said.
He also noted that other returnees in Victoria Falls were put in at a designated quarantine centre in the resort town.
“The number of returnees at Mosi oa Tunya High School Quarantine Centre has gone up to 60. There is one person with disabilities and two minors among the returnees. There was one late arrival from Botswana last night. Today they received 8 eight from Namibia, two (20 from Botswana and one from Zambia,” Mangwana added.
FOUR people narrowly escaped death in Hwange when a five-year-old boy allegedly set fire to his elder sister’s clothes in a wardrobe before the fire spread through the eight-roomed house and burnt all property.
The incident occurred on Friday afternoon at a house in Empumalanga suburb.
The boy confessed that he started the fire with matches in the main bedroom while his 16-year-old sister and maid (30) were in the kitchen. A 10-year-old sibling was in a separate room and all escaped unscathed.
The siblings’ mother who was not at home when the fire broke out around 1pm, was rushed to Hwange Colliery Hospital where she was admitted with shock after she collapsed upon hearing about the fire.
Hwange Local Board chief executive Mr Ndumiso Mdlalose confirmed the inferno but said he was still waiting for a detailed report from the fire brigade.
“Yes, there was a fire but I have to get a report from the fire brigade before I can comment,” he said.
Circumstances around the matter are that on Friday around 1pm, the boy who cannot be named because of his age, allegedly set fire to the family’s eight roomed house which was completely burnt.
His sister and the house maid were in the kitchen when they smelt some smoke in the house. They discovered that there was fire coming out of the main bedroom and alerted neighbours who phoned the Local Board fire brigade.
The fire fighters arrived at the house at 2pm and put out the fire but the entire house had been burnt.
Only three sofas and a kitchen table were salvaged.
Chronicle was told that the boy later told the family members that he started the fire when he used matches to burn his sister’s clothes which were in wardrobe in the main bedroom.
Matabeleland North police spokesperson Chief Inspector Siphiwe Makonese encouraged members of the public to always monitor minors and ensure that offensive objects are always out of their reach. The value of the burnt property, she said, is yet to be ascertained.
Seventy-seven high profile corruption cases, with a potential prejudice of US$500 million, are being investigated by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) as it deepens its fight against the vice.
ZACC chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo said this today while giving a lecture at the Zimbabwe National Defence University.
She said there have been attempts by some political forces to scuttle investigations into corruption cases, but stressed that ZACC will remain committed to fighting the scourge with fear or favour.
The city first recorded a positive case on April 8 and by April 15 the cases had risen to 10.
Five of the cases were recorded in a single day on April 15, a time when Bulawayo had the most cases in the country followed by Harare which then had eight cases.
As of yesterday morning, the city still remained with 10 positive cases, going for 12 days with no recorded positive case.
Harare was topping the list with 13 positive cases out of the 31 cases recorded nationally.
Although the country’s first case was confirmed on March 20, 2020 and involved a 38-year-old male from Victoria Falls who had returned from the United Kingdom, he self-isolated at home and so far, none of his contacts have tested positive. That patient is among the country’s five recovered cases, with four others from Mashonaland East Province.
Eight of Bulawayo’s cases could be traced to patient 11, the late Ian Hyslop (79) who lived at Qalisa Retirement Village before his death at Mater Dei Hospital, making him the first person to succumb to the virus in the city after being in contact with a United Kingdom tourist. The other positive case at Qalisa, a 79-year-old woman is said to have also met the UK tourist.
For now, the city appears to have managed to prevent further local transmissions which were threatening efforts to flatten the curve to ensure that cases remain at manageable levels to avoid overwhelming local health facilities and personnel.
Health officials say contact tracing and the lockdown has helped the city “forestall a disaster for now”.
Also, police in Bulawayo have been arresting those violating the lockdown and the city has the highest number of those arrested so far.
Council has also been pulling down vending stalls and clamping vehicles whose owners have no authority to be in the central business district as part of efforts to prevent large gatherings in the city.
In a telephone interview, acting Bulawayo provincial medical director Dr Welcome Mlilo yesterday commended Bulawayo City Council’s contact tracing team for a sterling job which he said was critical in controlling the spread of the virus.
He said the number of confirmed Covid-19 positive cases in Bulawayo remained at 10.
“In terms of contact tracing, Bulawayo City health is doing a great job and is tracing the contacts of the cases that have been diagnosed to date. Contact tracing is an ongoing process and the Rapid Response Teams are going about this on a daily basis,” said Dr Mlilo.
“All Covid-19 cases in Bulawayo are now being managed at home. These cases are being followed up and managed at home until recovery. They’re all stable and doing well. Health care workers are making follow up visits to ensure that self-isolation protocols are adhered to. Health Education is being provided to the patients which improves adherence to self-isolation protocols. We are also working closely with the relevant government authorities in this regard.”
He said to ensure that Covid-19 is not discovered after death, the Ministry of Health and Child Care was stepping up screening and training of health workers.
“The Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) has stepped up screening and testing for Covid-19. Once we have enough data, then we can appreciate how well we are doing in terms of performance in managing the pandemic. This will also give guidance on the next steps and measures to be taken,” he said.
He said the ministry’s thrust on training was focused on health care worker trainings on surveillance and contact tracing, case management, infection prevention and control.
Dr Mlilo said the training is ongoing with more training scheduled this week and support was being rendered by multiple partners in the private sector.
“A number of different organisations like WHO, Save the children, MSF are partnering with MOHCC and the local authority to cascade these trainings to health workers. ZITF management under the leadership of the chairman Busisa Moyo has supported the MOHCC through availing the ZITF facilities for these trainings,” said Dr Mlilo.
Mpilo Central Hospital acting chief executive officer Dr Solwayo Ngwenya said Bulawayo’s Covid-19 cases remain subdued due to the lockdown.
He warned that Bulawayo is not out of the woods yet.
Dr Ngwenya said if it were not for the lockdown announced by President Mnangagwa, positive cases in Bulawayo could be spiralling out of control.
“Remember we recorded our first case when we already had implemented the national lockdown. So, this has enabled the city’s rapid response team to effectively trace suspected cases and contain them.
“They have managed to test cases containing local transmission. If we were not on lockdown, we could have recorded thousands of cases as most of our people are not observing social distancing,” said Dr Ngwenya.
Botswana has extended locked down by another week until May 7, with the view of easing restrictions thereafter.
The diamond-rich nation went on a 28-day lockdown to keep the spread off the coronavirus in check. Botswana has 22 infections confirmed and one death so far.
Botswana leader, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said in the second week of May they would start introducing relaxed phases.
“As government our strategic focus as advised by the Covid-19 Presidential Task Force is the containment of the spread and transmission of the pandemic in the country. Therefore, the discovery of locally transmitted cases has prompted us to ramp up our testing through contact tracing,” he said in a televised national address broadcast on Btv.
He added a new cluster of Covid-19 outbreak was being investigated in Metsimotlhabe, just outside the capital Gaborone, where a total of seven Batswana tested positive for Covid-19.
The seven cases were reportedly exposed to Covid-19 prior to the national lockdown. Masisi said the outbreak in the small village has forced them to treat several surrounding public and private areas as infectious.
“It’s important to inform you that the extended lockdown also involves an exit plan which is based on the success we anticipate. The extension of the current 28 days lockdown period will be implemented in phases,” he said.
Phase one is merely a continuation of the 28-day lockdown in which all travel, schools, liquor stores and non-essential businesses were closed. He said government would develop and finalise regulations for a phased lifting lockdown rules in low risk sectors.
Phase two will start on May 8 to 14 while phased three from May 15 to 22.
Masisi said the plan to relax the lockdown would depend on the Covid-19 level remaining low and if it grows a hard lockdown would be implemented.
Botswana’s parliament okayed a six-month long state of emergency earlier this month in a bid to limit the spread of Covid-19. Masisi said 21 people were recovering and would soon be released from quarantine.
Own Correspondent|For over a month, ZimEye.com has been running a concern that Zimbabweans are dying of a rather unusual infection which the Ministry of Health and Child Care insisted to be ordinary Malaria.
In its latest reports, the Ministry disclosed that since February, 152 people have succumbed to the unusual malaria throughout the country.
What has been of major concern is that the Ministry has only been testing the concerned patients for malaria only and ignoring extending test to Coronavirus as the two diseases somehow are of extremely similar characteristics.
Communities have been up in arms with government demanding for Coronavirus testing to clear their fears and all this has been falling on deaf ears.
Government has now been caught napping after the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, Zimbabwe’s biggest referral hospital revealed on Monday morning that they discovered that one of the patients who was being treated for malaria was actually Covid-19 positive.
Below is the statement that the hospital released on Tuesday morning on the issue.
As part of the escalated mitigatory measures against COVID- 19 which include active case finding through mandatory testing of frontline staff and admitted patients, a COVID-19 positive case which had been admitted for management of slide positive malaria on 24 April 2020 was identified at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.
The patient had responded well to the malaria treatment and was due for discharge. As management, we have since activated the COVID-19 Rapid Response Team and we are taking the following measures:
1. Continued isolation of the confirmed case in his private room while awaiting for discharge formalities and recovery at home where he will be followed up.
2. Ensuring safety of staff and other patients through strengthened Infection Prevention and Control measures. Exposed staff will be counselled, tested and managed accordingly.
3. Giving psychosocial support to the exposed staff.
4. Decontamination will be done in accordance with national guidelines.
5. Testing of frontline staff and admitted patients will continue and appropriate support rendered to those A need.
6. Refurbishment of the Premier COVID-19 Treatment Centre A Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals is almost complete. As such, the hospital will soon be able to admit COVID-19 patients.
By Own Correspondent|Informal traders and residents have filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court seeking an order to stop local and central government from demolishing their vending stalls and tuckshops across the country.
In an application filed on Sunday 26 April 2020 by Dr Tarisai Mutangi and Moses Nkomo of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, the informal traders and residents together with some residents associations, protested that the widespread demolition of tuckshops, vending stalls and other property belonging to or used by small and medium enterprises and informal traders by local and central government personnel was unlawful and should be stopped immediately.
The informal traders, residents and residential associations represented by Chitungwiza Residents Trust and Kushinga Epworth Residents Association, which have some members, who are individual owners and users of tuckshops and vending stalls, want the High Court to interdict local authorities and central government from demolishing any tuckshops and vending stalls.
Local and central government authorities have been demolishing informal traders’ market stalls and tuckshops across the country after Moyo issued Circular Minute 3 of 2020 addressed to leaders of local authorities advising them of a recent Cabinet resolution and instructing them to “take advantage of the national lockdown to clean up and renovate small and medium enterprises and informal traders’ workspaces” and implored them “to make every effort to comply with the resolution”.
In purported compliance with Moyo’s circular, local authorities and their associations by way of random verbal announcement, supposedly notified owners and users of tuckshops and vending stalls to pull down their tuckshops and vending stalls or face demolition and immediately commenced destruction of properties.
The informal traders and residents argued that Moyo’s circular is unlawful as it was not issued in terms of any provision of the law and that there is no law which requires local authorities to execute Cabinet resolutions outside the provisions of the applicable laws. The unlawful instruction, the residents and informal traders charged, appears to have been taken seriously by some local authorities which commenced demolitions in an apparent compliance with Moyo’s circular.
Informal traders and residents argued that the demolition of tuckshops and vending stalls by local authorities amounts to compulsory deprivation of property in violation of the fundamental right to property enshrined in section 71 of the Constitution to the extent that the affected owners and users of tuckshops and vending stalls pay fees and levies to local authorities and had not consented to the pulling down of their properties.
Local authorities, the informal traders and residents said, have been indiscriminately demolishing tuckshops and vending stalls without any consultation with the affected citizens including those who have been paying fees and levies to councils. By demanding such fees and rates, local authorities do acknowledge the legal existence of the affected vending stalls and tuckshops and cannot suddenly deem them illegal structures, the informal traders charged.
The informal traders and residents said local councils have not complied with section 199(3) of the Urban Councils Act, which requires proper notice of any proposed demolition of illegal structure to be given to the owner of such a structure, a provision which provides for an appeal against the notice to be filed with the Administrative Court within 28 days, during which period no action may be taken on the basis of the notice until the appeal is either determined or abandoned.
Moyo’s circular, the residents and informal traders charged, is a blatant violation of the lockdown measures announced by government through Statutory Instrument 83 of 2020 as it necessitates the congregation of people among them vendors and local authorities’ personnel at the vending stalls and tuckshop sites to carry out the instructions issued by local councils thus exposing citizens to infection by the deadly coronavirus.
Furthermore, local authority employees deployed to carry out the illegal demolitions of vending stalls and tuckshops, the residents and informal traders argued, were doing so in their regular workplace attires contrary to the instruction in Moyo’s circular and World Health Organisation Guidelines that they ought to put on personal protective equipment to prevent contracting and spreading coronavirus.
Residents and informal traders noted that the workers conducting the demolitions have not been declared as essential service employees as required by the law and that the demolition of citizens’ only source of legitimate livelihood, especially as government is struggling to provide social support to those in need of it due to resource constraints exacerbated by inability of people to work during the national lockdown, does not meet the definition of essential service and can wait.
The informal traders said the state, with all its might and resources, can always clear up and renovate workspaces without violating the fundamental rights of its citizens and moreover, Moyo’s circular did not mandate local authorities to demolish any structures, but simply requires them to clear and renovate and hence it is possible for them to rearrange small to medium enterprises’ workspaces without demolitions.
Farai Dziva|Four Ghanaian soccer players were reportedly swindled by a Cameroonian man masquerading as an agent and are still stuck in the sugar producing town of Chiredzi amid the extended lockdown.
The four Adjetey, Peter Tibila (24), John Adu Poku (22) and Nelson Adenyo (23) sold their valuables in Ghana for air tickets to try their luck with a Zimbabwean team they were told was named Khaya Africa Football Club and according to the fake agent, only identified as Oliver, the so called outfit would pay them signing on fees of up to $US10 000 each plus winning bonuses of US$2000, only for the four to realize upon arrival that the team doesn’t even exist.
One of the them, 23 year-old Francis Adjetey, opened up on how a said to be promising and lucrative move to Zimbabwe has now turned into a nightmare.
“When we arrived in Zimbabwe, we discovered that there was no such team as Khaya Africa FC. After we touched down at the airport we met Gomba and Energy Zava and we were told that we should imme- diately pay US$250 each for logis- tics which included work permits. They managed to collect a total of US$800 from all of us,” he told NewsDay.
“They went on to tell us that we are going to a nice club house with free WiFi. They bought us soft drinks and chips.
That was all we got for that day. What surprised us was that they were stopping to buy beer at every bottlestore along the way until we got to Chiredzi.
We were taken to a local lodge where we were left for the night with- out food despite our pleas, only for them to come back at about mid- day the following day.”
“We want the whole world to know that these guys are just conmen. The authorities should investigate this issue because I feel there is an element of human trafficking. We are the third batch of Ghanaian players who went through this kind of ordeal and some have since returned home.
Only a few are here. One is playing for Green Fuel FC while the other is at Chiredzi Stars FC,” said Adjetey.
By A Correspondent| Workers at a Chinese Gold mine in Sanyati are updating ZimEye following a police investigation over how they were subjected to dodgy Coronavirus tests that have left some of them totally blind.
The incidents investigated by ZimEye.com earlier in the month, also drew attention of Ministry of Health officials who traveled to the mine 2 weeks ago and ordered the practice to stop. While the act was initially reported to ZimEye as involving infra-red light machines, other workers the following week updated saying it was more than that, one of them endured bleeding fingers, saying he almost lost them.
Update comments from the police and the ministry of Health were awaited at the time of writing, but not forthcoming.
Others however are complaining about itching eyes, while others say they can no longer see. One of them narrates the matter in the below voice note:
“Chinese people are too clever gogo, the machine they brought to test Corona. It has now affected people, we are now asking them why their machine affects people, causing blindness.
CHINESE GOLD MINE SANYATI SUBJECTED US TO DODGY COVID TESTS THAT HAVE LEFT SOME OF US BLIND https://t.co/E8ISdubTMc
“We shall see how far this goes, right now I am waiting for the doctor.
“Right now, one of them is Sepo and many others they are the ones who were affected. It was two weeks ago.
“They were affected for over 2 to 3 days, but others the problem has continued.
“Others we recovered.
“So this is the problem we have. This is the story, we will tell you later how it goes.”
“So right now I have come to the Chinese company we were working. How it all happened – they came with a machine saying they wanted to test Coronavirus, so the machine began affecting people.
“Others got affected, and the company was reported to the police, so today we have come to Kadoma, so we get assessed.”
Former Warriors striker Tendai Ndoro has said he does not mind not being paid for months provided the money goes towards the fight against Covid-19.
Ndoro plies his trade for Highlands Park in the South African top flight where many clubs have taken the stance of pay cuts for their players and employees, a suggestion which has generated a lot of debate but Ndoro has taken a radical attitude competely, suggesting that even not get anything is still fine.
“I don’t mind if Highlands Park can go 4 months without paying my salary, aslong they use that money to help on Covid19. Stay home, save lives,” wrote the former Orlando Pirates man on Twitter.-Soccer 24
Rampant corruption, maladministration, lack of accountability in form of missing money, flawed or non-existent accounts, forged transfers and registration documents, rigged elections, age manipulation, match-fixing, gambling, violence and intolerance among other ills, are the order of the day in African football in general and Zimbabwean football in particular. In Zimbabwe, these negative practices are very evident in both primary and secondary schools in the administration and practice of the games.This clearly shows that there is overwhelming evidence of absence of Ubuntu in African soccer today.
For millions of people in Africa, poverty is their daily bread and for these, the importance of beautiful game cannot be underestimated.
Football has the power to create riches from rugs, unity out of division, joy from sadness and bring welcome to a continent bursting with problems. The fact that soccer is followed by millions of people in Africa and the world makes it a potentially fertile ground for for impacting positively upon the people by embracing Ubuntu values.
The missing link is that Ubuntu is absent in the administration and practices of football in Africa in general and Zimbabwe in particular.
Shutte(2001) explains that Ubuntu is an African philosophy which states that being human is to be able to live with others.It emphasizes on relatedness and inclusion of others and thus considers group success above the individual.
The philosophy of Ubuntu is best captured in aphorism; ubuntu ngumuntu ngabantu(Ndebele/Zulu) or kunzi munhu vanhu(Shona) translated, ” a person is a person through other persons”.
Shutte(1993) adds that to be human is to affirm one’s humanity by recognizing the humanity of others in it’s infinity variety of content and form.
The current state of football administration and practice in Africa in general and Zimbabwe in particular clearly highlights the erosion of Ubuntu both at junior and senior levels.
Samkange and Samkange (1980) explain that emphasis in traditional African societies was on the transmission of Ubuntu values, which aimed at producing products that fitted well into a well-organized social and political system, developing social cohesion and human relations.
On the contrary, as a result of colonization, the thrust on Ubuntu among Africans was heavily compromised as Carlin in Sichermann(1995) observès that “colonial education was a day in day out practice which was true subversion of the African mind, the breaking down of mental tissues, their reconstruction in western mode, re-ordering of thoughts, feelings, habits, responses, of every aspect of the mind and personality.”
Kanu(2007) further observes that since independence, education in Africa has been the characterized by the same western instrumental, technical and human capital approach which rests on the assumption that formal education is highly instrumental in improving productive capacity of population without putting emphasis on Ubuntu philosophy.
The columnist, therefore argues that the rain started beating us in African football where we abandoned the Ubuntu philosophy.
The challenges being faced in football administration and practice at both junior and senior levels in Zimbabwe and Africa such as corruption, maladministration, age-manipulation and violence among ills, are a result of the exclusion of Ubuntu in administration and practice.
The columnist Mugova Benjamin Makanyire is a football enthusiast, football junior and top flight coach, Fifa grassroots coaching ambassador,sports medicine practitioner, educationist.
Fifa has proposed that teams should be allowed to make up to five substitutions per match, instead of the usual three, to help cope with the return to action amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The substitutions will be allowed at a maximum of three slots plus the half-time interval to avoid unnecessary stoppages.
The idea will help teams to counter fatigue due to possible fixture congestion coming after the restart of the campaign.
Fifa confirmed this on Monday in a press release which read: “Each team would now be given the possibility to use up to five substitutions during the match, with the possibility of an additional substitution remaining during extra time, where relevant.”
Meanwhile, the proposal will have to be approved by soccer’s rule-making body IFAB and the final decision would rest with competition organisers.-Soccer 24
The MDC Alliance notes with great concern the precarious situation concerning Zimbabwean citizens in foreign countries during this time when the Covid-19 pandemic is causing havoc around the world.
Being away from home is hard enough; it is far worse during conditions of unprecedented crisis.
We would like to pay tribute to fellow citizens who have lost their lives to the pandemic. Each day, we receive distressing news of yet more deaths.
This is a terrible time for families, losing their loved ones and breadwinners to the pandemic. The majority, as we understand it, are frontline healthcare staff. As in war, they are dying in the line of duty.
They are being described quite rightly as heroes in the family of humankind. We honour them.
Their untimely departure is a great loss to our nation for they are not just breadwinners for their families. They are community champions too who never forgot where they came from.
The remittances they send from the Diaspora have been a great lifeline for our economy.
In the spirit of ubuntu, every time one of us dies, we are left poorer as a community.
We are also aware that hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens find themselves stuck and stranded in neighbouring countries.
With countries enforcing lockdowns around the world, many of our fellow citizens find themselves without jobs, incomes and access to food.
Being foreigners, some of them undocumented, they are excluded from the support being given to citizens in those countries.
These are terrible conditions at any given time, made far worse during a pandemic. We empathise with them and call upon fellow citizens who are better-placed to extend a hand of assistance where possible.
We also call upon our sister countries to exercise compassion and empathy and to treat foreigners in distress the same way they would treat their own citizens.
It is a time of crisis and again, in the time-honoured spirit of ubuntu, it is right to treat others humanely, their circumstances notwithstanding.
Even in war, humankind has established rules and norms to protect those who find themselves in positions of vulnerability.
That said, we must face our harsh reality as a nation.
Our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora are not there and facing these challenges out of free choice.
If they had an easy choice, they would never have left home in the first place.
It is common knowledge that they were forced by our home-grown crisis to leave the country and eke out a living in foreign lands.
If they are not political refugees, they are certainly economic refugees.
There was a time when an average Zimbabwean did not need to have a passport. This was because the country was generally able to provide for its citizens.
Now it is an essential possession and getting one is a struggle. This is because of the broken state of our economy and the accompanying political crisis.
They have made conditions unbearable, forcing many to flee away leaving their families behind not out of choice, but out of necessity.
Their loss and their predicament may be on account of the COVID19 pandemic, but the real cause is the political and economic crises authored by the ZANU PF regime.
They are victims of a catalogue of greed, corruption and incompetence which has reduced our country to a farcical state.
As we mourn and bury our fellow citizens, and as we seek to help those who are stuck and stranded in foreign lands, let us not forget that they never needed to be out there but for the gross mismanagement, callousness and misrule of the ZANU PF regime.
As Zimbabweans, we indeed face a double pandemic – one caused by COVID19 and another authored by ZANU PF. Both pose an existential threat to our nation. We have to remain steadfast and escalate the struggle.
As long as the current clueless regime is in charge of national affairs, we will remain in a political and economic morass.
May God bless and protect you all in these challenging times.
Please do not forget to wash your hands; to practice social distancing and to stay at home. Be thy brother’s and sister’s keeper.
Politics can only be transacted where there is human life and as a party, we are putting a premium on the sanctity of human life in the wake of this pandemic.
Gladys Hlatywayo MDC Alliance Secretary for International Relations
By A Correspondent| Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals recently discovered that a malaria patient is COVID-19 positive forcing the hospital to activate the COVID-19 rapid response team as well as taking several precautionary measures.
In a statement, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals said the COVID-19 rapid response team was activated as part of the mitigatory measures to curb the spread of the virus.
“As part of the escalated mitigatory measures against COVID-19 which include active case finding through mandatory testing of frontline staff and admitted patients, a COVID-19 positive case which had been admitted for management of slide positive malaria on the 24th of April 2020 was identified at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals. the patient had responded well to malaria treatment and was due for discharge,” said the hospital.
The hospital revealed that it had undertaken several measures after this development which include continued isolation of the confirmed case in his private room while awaiting for discharge formalities.
The state media reported that the patient will be discharged and taken to his home where he will be followed, ensuring the safety of staff and other patients through strengthened infection prevention and control measures.
“Exposed staff will be counselled, tested and managed accordingly. Giving psychosocial support to the exposed staff, decontamination will be done in accordance with national guidelines, testing of frontline staff and admitted patients will continue and appropriate support rendered to those in need, refurbishment of the Premier COVID-19 treatment centre at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals is almost complete. as such, the hospital will soon be able to admit covid19 patients,” said the hospital.-Statemedia
Ngezi Platinum captain Frank Makarati has revealed they are doing online training sessions which are being monitored by the technical staff.
Makarati said every player is required to send videos to a platform for a review by the coaches.
“In line with social distancing we are training from home. We have accepted that this is the situation we surviving in so it should not stop us from training.
“Every player got their individual training from the coaches, programmes are set online all we do is to comply.
We are doing visual trainings. Players are sending video of what they are tasked to do to show that they are following instructions.
“We are doing online sessions for us to stay fit because it’s important for an athlete to stay in shape also there’s no one who knows when the virus is going to end, anytime anything can happen games can start.
“Those sessions are the same with what we do together in the field, the only difference there is that it’s done individually from home.”
He said they have adapted and embraced life under lockdown. The lockdown was extended with further 14 days after the lapse of 21 days last Sunday.
“Covid-19 has affected everyone in the world but we are following the Presidential directive as a team to stop the spread of the virus.”
Makarati, however, said the situation is hurting them financially as most players depend on winning bonuses and allowances “I can say the lockdown has affected us financially as players.
When things are normal we get winning bonuses and some other allowances which add up to the salary. If there are no games those allowances does not exist of which the salary alone is not enough, but for now we only focusing on basics.
Things are not balancing but there is nothing we can do except to adjust and meet the budget,” he added.- H-Metro
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
For more information like/ follow our Facebook page:
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
For more information like/ follow our Facebook page:
By Stephen Sarkozy Chuma News that ZANU PF youths are making sanitizers and masks seems like a good gesture at face value but underneath this is cheap political grandstanding that should be treated with contempt it deserves.
It is devoid of logic, mind boggling and useless for ZANU PF Youths to go to town telling everyone who cares to listen that they are helping government in the fight against Covid-19 by making substandard sanitizers and masks that fall short of WHO requirements whilst the masses are dying of hunger.
Yes Covid-19 is real, but thousands of our countrymen are dying of hunger and starvation en-mass during this lockdown.
A damning recent UN Report puts at 4 million the number of people facing acute food shortages and starvation in Zimbabwe.
Clearly, food distribution to the masses dying of hunger should be a priority more than anything else.
Common sense and hierarchy of needs philosophy tell us that it is senseless and useless to sanitize and face mask dead bodies – victims of starvation!
Clearly these fellows from a party that embezzled US$3 billion meant for food security through Command Agriculture are taking us for a ride.
Can Zimbabwe trust these unprofessional ‘youthies’ to produce WHO standard masks and sanitizers given the track record of unfulfilled promises by their dwindling party?
Remember Emmerson Mnangagwa’s electoral promises on those expensive 2018 election campaign billboards?
Food for All, Health for All, Housing for All….the list of lies is infinite!
Before we even think of the said masks and sanitizers, Zimbabweans must ask what happened to Stone Age bakeries initiative by the very same Youth League that was meant to ease bread shortages?
ZANU PF are masters of deception, lies and cheap propaganda and nothing good comes from Shake-Shake building!
Simply put ZANU PF should spare the long suffering masses fighting both hunger and Covid-19 from their disinteresting jokes.
ZANU PF youths making masks and sanitizers is akin to treating citizens with scorn, ridicule, mockery and derision.
This is no time for toi-toing and cheap sloganeering, the country is facing starvation and a deadly pandemic!
Thumps up to the MDC Alliance Youth Assembly for fronting a realistic #SaveThePoor campaign.
Human lives and survival precedes everything else.
That is leadership!
Stephen Sarkozy Chuma MDCYouthAssemblyNationalSpokesperson
Greetings to you all, the long awaited Marondera Urban Relief Fund has been launched, this is a coming together of Marondera Municipality and the Marondera MP supported by our resident MPs and Senator.
This fund will be administered by the Council with both the Mayor and MP as the oversight.
We are ambitious and believe in the spirit and courage of the people of Marondera.
We have set up this fund to ensure that no one from Marondera dies with hunger, this fund will assist our most vulnerable residents and beyond.
I want to urge every Marondera resident and business to play their part by chipping in as little or as much as you can. P.S every little helps…
All donations will be published on a daily basis and those who donate over $1000 will get a person thank you letter from the Mayor and MP. I know in times like these we come together as the people of Marondera. This is not political and we will not tolerate politicking when it comes to people’s lives.
Pleas send your donation to Ecocash merchant code 018763 that is 15122018763*AMOUNT#.
I urge all those in the Diaspora to play their part we will do a letter for all Diasporians donating above $2000. The donation list will be updated daily.
A TOTAL of 14 774 people were arrested countrywide for violating Covid-19 orders since the beginning of the lockdown period on March 31.
Statistics obtained from the Police General Headquarters show that Bulawayo still tops the numbers with 3 578 people arrested so far, followed by Manicaland Province at 2 990 arrests.
Harare comes third in arrests at 1 866 while 1 589 people have been arrested so far in Midlands Province.
In Mashonaland West Province, 1 321 people were arrested while 487 were arrested in in Mashonaland Central.
Matabeleland South has so far recorded 1 035 arrests while Matabeleland North province has 667.
In Mashonaland East Province, 529 people have been arrested while the support unit separately arrested 107 people countrywide.
In a telephone interview, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said police were concerned with continued violation of lockdown orders and the increasing number of pirate taxis, popularly known as mushikashika, illegally transporting commuters during this period.
“We continue to make arrests and Bulawayo still tops the statistics chart in terms of arrests of violators, with Manicaland Province following closely.
We are now also worried by the number of pirating taxis that are operating during the lockdown and we warn offenders that they will be arrested.
We also have a problem of people roaming aimlessly in residential suburbs after 6pm and we also warn them strongly that they will be arrested under section 4 of S.I 83 of 2020,” said Assistant Commissioner Nyathi.
In Bulawayo 25 members of the group of 48 Christ Apostolic Church Worldwide Revelation group who were arrested on Sunday while holding a church service in Tshabalala suburb have since paid $500 fines while the rest of the church members were released to look for the money as police considered that keeping them in cells would put them at risk of contracting the Covid-19 virus.-State media
Farai Dziva|The Movement for Democratic Change has dismissed Zanu PF MP for Chivi South, Killer Zivhu’s claims that the opposition is finished.
Writing on twitter, the cornered Zanu PF politician claimed the ruling party would win the 2023 elections by a huge margin.
“In 2023 Zanu PF will win elections with big margins -more than the1980 gap, mark my words. Kana uchida (if you love) politics just join Zanu PF now, the opposition party is finished.
Responding to Zivhu’s remarks, MDC Youth Assembly National Spokesperson, Stephen Sarkozy Chuma said:
“Killer Zivhu is daydreaming and must be smoking palm leaves.
Before hitting a dog maybe let us identify its owner!
Killer Zivhu is a ZANU PF Member of Parliament (MP) and the very same MP who was suspended by his party for calling for dialogue between Emmerson Mnangagwa and Advocate Nelson Chamisa political sometime last year.
This is a man in a tight corner and he is clearly singing for his supper and political survival!
Zivhu by his own admission knows Mnangagwa is illegitimate and was outsmarted by Advocate Chamisa in 2018 polls and the trend is set to continue in 2023 until maybe such a time when ZANU PF fields an electable candidate.
Of which as it stands there is none from ZANU PF circles who can compete against the People’s President, Nelson Chamisa.
Zivhu should learn table manners and enjoy his fair share of cross borders loot without making noise to those that he prejudice of their hard earned monies.”
“Winning an election is different from wearing a scarf in humid heat!
In this 4th Industrial Revolution Age no one is going to vote for ZANU PF leaders who are still cast in Stone Age mode.
Maybe by claiming victory before 2023, Zivhu is acknowledging the rigging machinery is already in motion but this time around there is not going to be another 2018 in 2023.”
By Own Correspondent| Several informal traders and residents have filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court seeking an order to stop local and central government from demolishing their vending stalls and tuckshops across the country.
In an application filed on Sunday 26 April 2020 by Dr Tarisai Mutangi and Moses Nkomo of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, the informal traders and residents together with some residents associations, protested that the widespread demolition of tuckshops, vending stalls and other property belonging to or used by small and medium enterprises and informal traders by local and central government personnel was unlawful and should be stopped immediately.
The informal traders, residents and residential associations represented by Chitungwiza Residents Trust and Kushinga Epworth Residents Association, which have some members, who are individual owners and users of tuckshops and vending stalls, want the High Court to interdict local authorities and central government from demolishing any tuckshops and vending stalls.
Local and central government authorities have been demolishing informal traders’ market stalls and tuckshops across the country after Moyo issued Circular Minute 3 of 2020 addressed to leaders of local authorities advising them of a recent Cabinet resolution and instructing them to “take advantage of the national lockdown to clean up and renovate small and medium enterprises and informal traders’ workspaces” and implored them “to make every effort to comply with the resolution”.
In purported compliance with Moyo’s circular, local authorities and their associations by way of random verbal announcement, supposedly notified owners and users of tuckshops and vending stalls to pull down their tuckshops and vending stalls or face demolition and immediately commenced destruction of properties.
The informal traders and residents argued that Moyo’s circular is unlawful as it was not issued in terms of any provision of the law and that there is no law which requires local authorities to execute Cabinet resolutions outside the provisions of the applicable laws. The unlawful instruction, the residents and informal traders charged, appears to have been taken seriously by some local authorities which commenced demolitions in an apparent compliance with Moyo’s circular.
Informal traders and residents argued that the demolition of tuckshops and vending stalls by local authorities amounts to compulsory deprivation of property in violation of the fundamental right to property enshrined in section 71 of the Constitution to the extent that the affected owners and users of tuckshops and vending stalls pay fees and levies to local authorities and had not consented to the pulling down of their properties.
Local authorities, the informal traders and residents said, have been indiscriminately demolishing tuckshops and vending stalls without any consultation with the affected citizens including those who have been paying fees and levies to councils. By demanding such fees and rates, local authorities do acknowledge the legal existence of the affected vending stalls and tuckshops and cannot suddenly deem them illegal structures, the informal traders charged.
The informal traders and residents said local councils have not complied with section 199(3) of the Urban Councils Act, which requires proper notice of any proposed demolition of illegal structure to be given to the owner of such a structure, a provision which provides for an appeal against the notice to be filed with the Administrative Court within 28 days, during which period no action may be taken on the basis of the notice until the appeal is either determined or abandoned.
Moyo’s circular, the residents and informal traders charged, is a blatant violation of the lockdown measures announced by government through Statutory Instrument 83 of 2020 as it necessitates the congregation of people among them vendors and local authorities’ personnel at the vending stalls and tuckshop sites to carry out the instructions issued by local councils thus exposing citizens to infection by the deadly coronavirus.
Furthermore, local authority employees deployed to carry out the illegal demolitions of vending stalls and tuckshops, the residents and informal traders argued, were doing so in their regular workplace attires contrary to the instruction in Moyo’s circular and World Health Organisation Guidelines that they ought to put on personal protective equipment to prevent contracting and spreading coronavirus.
Residents and informal traders noted that the workers conducting the demolitions have not been declared as essential service employees as required by the law and that the demolition of citizens’ only source of legitimate livelihood, especially as government is struggling to provide social support to those in need of it due to resource constraints exacerbated by inability of people to work during the national lockdown, does not meet the definition of essential service and can wait.
The informal traders said the state, with all its might and resources, can always clear up and renovate workspaces without violating the fundamental rights of its citizens and moreover, Moyo’s circular did not mandate local authorities to demolish any structures, but simply requires them to clear and renovate and hence it is possible for them to rearrange small to medium enterprises’ workspaces without demolitions.
By A Correspondent| Mpilo Clinical Director Solwayo Ngwenya has revealed that the institution has started testing its health care workers and patients for COVID-19.
Said Dr Ngwenya:
“Corona virus: first to go! We have started testing health workers and patients at Mpilo Central Hospital today after receiving the necessary kits from the government @MoHCCZim @InfoMinZW @nickmangwana mass testing with lockdowns is critical in fighting the deadly virus.”
Farai Dziva|The Movement for Democratic Change has dismissed Zanu PF MP for Chivi South, Killer Zivhu’s claims that the opposition is finished.
Writing on twitter, the cornered Zanu PF politician claimed the ruling party would win the 2023 elections by a huge margin.
“In 2023 Zanu PF will win elections with big margins -more than the1980 gap, mark my words. Kana uchida (if you love) politics just join Zanu PF now, the opposition party is finished.
Responding to Zivhu’s remarks, MDC Youth Assembly National Spokesperson, Stephen Sarkozy Chuma said:
“Killer Zivhu is daydreaming and must be smoking palm leaves.
Before hitting a dog maybe let us identify its owner!
Killer Zivhu is a ZANU PF Member of Parliament (MP) and the very same MP who was suspended by his party for calling for dialogue between Emmerson Mnangagwa and Advocate Nelson Chamisa political sometime last year.
This is a man in a tight corner and he is clearly singing for his supper and political survival!
Zivhu by his own admission knows Mnangagwa is illegitimate and was outsmarted by Advocate Chamisa in 2018 polls and the trend is set to continue in 2023 until maybe such a time when ZANU PF fields an electable candidate.
Of which as it stands there is none from ZANU PF circles who can compete against the People’s President, Nelson Chamisa.
Zivhu should learn table manners and enjoy his fair share of cross borders loot without making noise to those that he prejudice of their hard earned monies.”
“Winning an election is different from wearing a scarf in humid heat!
In this 4th Industrial Revolution Age no one is going to vote for ZANU PF leaders who are still cast in Stone Age mode.
Maybe by claiming victory before 2023, Zivhu is acknowledging the rigging machinery is already in motion but this time around there is not going to be another 2018 in 2023.”
Farai Dziva|Youthful Harare West MP Joana Ruvimbo Mamombe has donated sanitizers to police stations and clinics in her constituency as part of efforts to combat the spread of Covid-19.
Below is Mamombe’s statement :
Zimbabwe has 31 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 4 deaths of which 2 cases are from the Constituency I represent, Harare West.
Among the 4 deaths, we lost one man from Bluffhill, Westgate.
It’s really been a tough time for us the local representatives to provide leadership during this crisis.
Thank God for the strength, we are managing!
Under JoKuDe, referring to myself as the MP, Clr Kudzai Kadzombe Ward 41 & Clr Denford Ngadziore Ward 16, we donated sanitisers to our local clinics and police stations in both Marlborough and Mabelreign.
Last week, we facilitated a delivery of subsidised Roller meal into different supermarkets in our constituency including OK Mabelreign, Spar Greencroft and Pick n Pay Westgate.
And this week we are expecting another delivery by Friday.
When Lockdown started, we donated food hampers to different vulnerable groups and we are still appealing to well wishers to help us in this regard so that we can help those families living in compounds.
No one has ever become poor by giving! Instead, blessed is the hand that gives than the one that receives.
We also took time to dialogue with management at the most crowded place in our constituency, the N Richards Wholesale market where we agreed that police force must be deployed at all times to ensure social distancing.
Together we can We shall Overcome! For those who would like to assist, kindly get in touch, just DM
Farai Dziva|MDC president Nelson Chamisa believes the wave of freedom will sweep across Africa.
According to Chamisa, the wave of freedom is unstoppable.
Today (Monday) is Freedom day in South Africa. May the breeze of freedom blow across Africa esp north of Limpopo to shake all the pillars of tyranny &roots of injustice.
Let the wave of freedom engulf the African continent for the eternal joy of its people!Happy freedom day South Africa.”
“I’ve just been following online a prayer for revival project led by South Africa’s Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng in conversation with Christian leaders in SA on hope,healing & restoration.
I love it when faith flows in the veins and heart of justice. Africa,this is your time…”
As part of the escalated mitigatory measures against COVID- 19 which include active case finding through mandatory testing of frontline staff and admitted patients, a COVID-I 9 positive case which had been admitted for management of slide positive malaria on 24 April 2020 was identified at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.
The patient had responded well to the malaria treatment and was due for discharge.
As management, we have since activated the COVID-I9 Rapid Response Team and we are taking the following measures:
Continued isolation of the confirmed case in his private room while awaiting for discharge formalities and recovery at home where he will be followed up.
Ensuring safety of staff and other patients through strengthened Infection Prevention and Control measures. Exposed staff will be counselled, tested and managed accordingly.
Giving psychosocial support to the exposed staff.
Decontamination will be done in accordance with national guidelines.
Testing of frontline staff and admitted patients will continue and appropriate support rendered to those A need.
Refurbishment of the Premier COVID-19 Treatment Centre A Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals is almost complete. As such, the hospital will soon be able to admit COVID-19 patients.- Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals
Over the past 24 hours, some materials in the form of campaign posters have been posted on the social media suggesting that various leaders are campaigning for the office of president at the Extraordinary Congress of the party to be held soon.
In particular portraits of Senator Komichi, Senator Mudzuri and myself have been used.
These materials are not coming from us nor were they ever authorized by us. We urge our members to ignore them.
It is coming from those people who want to disturb the people’s congress by sowing the seeds of division and confusion among our ranks.
They want to paint a picture of a leadership that is divided and that is obsessed with political office.
To the contrary we are a united and focused leadership preoccupied with the single objective of returning our party to its founding values.
Currently, we are busy with the logistical and financial arrangements for the Extraordinary Congress in line with our party constitution.
We are very happy at the level of enthusiasm that our structures have shown towards returning our party to the path to Democracy, Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law.
While our detractors had predicted that the Congress would not form a quorum, indications so far are that it will be fully attended by the eligible delegates.
More than 3000 delegates contacted so far have confirmed that they will attend. We also notice that there is a lot of propaganda and hate language being churned out against our leaders.
Unfortunately, for the people engaging in this propaganda we shall never engage them in the race to the bottom.
Lastly, we wish to reiterate that it is only the people who will decide on which particular office each leader will run for when the time comes and nominations are opened. We are a party of rules and values!
THREE nurses in Mashonaland East province who recently tested positive for COVID-19, returned negative results, casting doubt over the accuracy of test kits used in the country as well as validity of statistics already publicised.
Two of the nurses are stationed at Mt St Mary’s Hospital in Wedza while the third works at Ruwa Rehabilitation Centre. This is according to a report produced by provincial medical director Simukai Zizhou on March 26.
NewsDay understands that the health workers tested positive with the rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and were immediately self-isolated before a second examination using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) produced negative results.
Provincial medical director Simukai Zizhou yesterday confirmed the development, saying the three nurses were now certified COVID-19 free.
“The three were confirmed negative of the COVID-19 virus after the PCR tests. The RDT (test) is not specific,” Zizhou said.
“It can pick some antibodies which at times are not infected by COVID-19. This RDT can only pick antibodies after a period of 14 to 21 days after infection. It is not really a good test. This is why we waited for PCR confirmation and confirm with the virus’ RNA (ribonucleic acid). These cases turned out to be negative; they have no COVID-19 virus.”
The latest development has left more questions than answers on the authenticity of COVID-19 tests being conducted across the country. Zimbabwe now has 31 COVID-19 confirmed cases including four deaths, the latest being the 82-year-old mother of former minister Sylvester Nguni who died of the deadly virus last week, triggering mass testing in Chitemere village, Mhondoro where she lived. Two people who had contact with her have tested positive, according to Information permanent secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana. Concerns have been raised that some of the test kits being used by the government to test for the coronavirus were defective.
Most of the COVID-19 test kits donated by Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma, are said to be causing headaches for health authorities as they are producing wrong results.
Last month, the Spanish government, among other countries, withdrew 58 000 Chinese-made coronavirus test kits, claiming they had an accurate detection rate of just 30%.
China, however, claimed the test kits were made by a company that did not appear on its list of authorised manufacturers.
At the weekend, Mangwana said government had banned the use of test kits other than the ones approved by the Health ministry.
“I am not aware of any particular case where there have been false or wrong results from PCR machines that are used in all instances where government is involved,” Mangwana said.
“Government has taken a position to say that test kits that are certified (by the ministry) are the ones that will be used. If there are others that are continuously giving false positives, then it is indeed a cause for concern.”
Mashonaland East was one of the first provinces to record COVID-19 cases after four people in Zimre Park tested positive. The four, who are members of the same family, have since recovered from the virus.
In a related development, government has expressed concern over the sprouting of private facilities operating as COVID-19 clinics.
Health ministry permanent secretary Agnes Mahomva said the private facilities were operating illegally without conforming to the Public Health Act standards.
“The ministry has learned and noticed that some private facilities that have not been officially assessed and registered are springing up as COVID-19 clinics,” Mahonva said in a statement. “These facilities are operating illegally, are a danger to the COVID-19 patients and communities around them and should stop operating with immediate effect until they have completed all registration processes.”
She added: “Since COVID-19 is an infectious disease that was declared a formidable epidemic disease, any private facility intending to manage the COVID-19 disease (including testing, isolation and treatment) should duly apply to the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care for assessment, approval and registration in line with the Public Health Act provisions.”
A gang of robbers, fed with information by an inside accomplice, robbed a Harare businessman of US$59 000, by pretending to be police officers enforcing lockdown regulations and then two of them squandered the money on Mercedes Benz vehicles, leaving the informer out.
Simba Kanyepi (24), an illegal foreign currency dealer who works for and stays with the victim, allegedly connived with Hemish Chagadama (32) and Shingai Mazviwanza (29) to rob Mr Luke Kwezera of his money, with Kanyepi keeping the robbery gang posted on Mr Kwezera’s movements with money.
The three appeared in court yesterday before magistrate Mr Richard Ramaboa charged with robbery. They were freed on $5 000 bail each and ordered to report to the police daily pending their next court appearance on May 27.
Representing the State, Messrs Hatizivo Chatikobo and Norman Karopi alleged that the three had planned to rob Mr Kwezera as soon as they knew he would be carrying a large sum away from home.
By Jane Mlambo| Government has been presented with a fresh headache after a malaria patient admitted at Parirenyatwa group of hospitals tested positive to COVID-19.
Zimbabwe witnessed malaria outbreak in low lying areas with over 150 people having succumbed to the disease from the more than 14 000 infected people.
There was never an effort to conduct COVID-19 tests on malaria patients but this latest development could present a new problem for the country.
In a Tuesday afternoon statement, the hospital made the blunder public exposing the weaknesses in the country’s Covid-19 treatment systems.
“As part of the escalated mitigatory measures against Covid-19 which include active case finding through mandatory testing of frontline staff and admitted patients, a Covid-19 positive case which had been admitted for management of slide positive malaria on 24 April 2020 was identified at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals,” the hospital said.
Politicians and senior Government officials bullying health officials to release their friends and relatives held in Covid-19 quarantine will be arrested, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has warned.
The commission is investigating reports of prominent people accused of facilitating the release of those being held in quarantine before being cleared by Covid-19 tests and undergoing the minimum quarantine in a designated centre.
The authorities have already shortened quarantine in centres so long as they can trust those who must be isolated will keep promises to stay at home, but even here they insist on a negative test before they allow home-quarantine for the rest of the 21 days.
ZACC chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo said using political muscle to release relatives and friends from quarantine was tantamount to corruption and those found on the wrong side of the law would be arrested.
“We strongly warn politicians, ministers and other Government officials against abusing their powers to remove people from quarantine in this Covid-19 era.
“As ZACC, we will not hesitate to arrest those who commit such a serious offence. That should never be done and we will arrest them without fear or favour,” said Justice Matanda-Moyo.
She said such public figures would be breaching the trust bestowed on them as leaders in communities.
“We expect those people to be protectors of the masses. This becomes serious in the sense that we haven’t yet found a cure for the pandemic and people are dying worldwide,” she said.
Meanwhile, Justice Matanda-Moyo said investigations were underway to establish the circumstances under which a person in Covid-19 quarantine who was reported to be a relative to a minister was released from quarantine.
“We gathered information that the person was corruptly released from quarantine after some intervention by a relative who is a minister. We are investigating the case and if anyone is found on the wrong side of the law, he or she will be prosecuted. Whose relatives should be quarantined? Does that mean patients related to ministers or other high-ranking officials cannot spread the virus?” said Justice Matanda-Moyo.
Her office wrote at the end of last week to the Ministry of Health and Child Care to get more details on the case but the Permanent Secretary Dr Agnes Mahomva was yet to respond.
By Patrick Guramatunhu-“While I don’t want to get into the issues around how and why there are sanctions, everyone knows that I personally had to flee my country, Zimbabwe, because of persecution 20 years ago,” said Strive Masiyiwa in a statement. “I have not been back since. For the avoidance of doubt; This is not an appeal for the lifting of sanctions.”
Masiyiwa has launched an appeal for help for Sudan and Zimbabwe to fight the coronavirus outbreak. The two countries are facing economic sanctions imposed by the West, particularly the USA and, to add insult to injury, they were singled out when other countries had their debts written by IMF and the other multilateral organizations.
In 2016 the then President Robert Mugabe admitted the country was “swindled of US$ 15 billion in diamond revenue alone”! He never arrested even one swindler or recovered one dollar.
The following year, 2017, Patrick Chinamasa, then Minister of Finance confirm in parliament that government was getting 1/6 of the expected diamond revenue. In other words the looting was still taking place. Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s successor following the 2017 military coup, promised “zero tolerance to corruption” and yet he too has yet to arrest one swindler and/or recover one dollar.
The Chinese helped Mnangagwa rig the July 2018 elections and they were back in Zimbabwe soon thereafter. Mugabe booted them out of Marange and Chiadzwa diamond fields, the only looters who had been singled out. They have since been back to pick up from where they left off!
So, writing off Zimbabwe’s US$ 8 billion debt would only have given the regime yet another source of money to loot! We need a deeper understanding of our nation’s problems and a wholistic solution!
Many Zimbabweans have avoid talking about gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and, most important of all, rigged elections and bad governance for the last 40 years. These problems have not gone away but have instead grown and spread like the deadly cancers they are.
Today Zimbabwe’s once promising economy is in ruins, 34% of our people live in extreme poverty, according to a recent WB report. Our political system is total dysfunctional because politics is now a dirty game so dirty only seasoned thugs are playing it.
Many Zimbabweans left the country and have played no role is helping find the solution to Zimbabwe’s economic and political problems. The corona virus crisis is forcing millions of Zimbabweans to go back to a country still ruled by the same corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs complete with the entourage of equally corrupt and useless opposition sell-outs.
Zimbabweans must now face the country’s teething problem of rigged elections and bad governance or there will be heart-breaking gnashing of teeth and countless deaths as Zanu PF’s blundering incompetence drag the nation deeper and deeper into the abyss.
We are masters of our own destiny and so far we have let clueless buffoon in charge and it shows. How much longer are we going to let this madness continue?
“I don’t want to get into the issues around how and why there are sanctions!” Why the hell not? If the country is ever going to get out of this hell-on-earth then it is time we had a hard long look at ourselves and have a no-hold-barred discussion of the nation’s problems!
A staff row at the Registrar-General’s Office has sucked in the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) after chief accountant, Mr Peter Bwanya, accused Registrar-General Mr Clement Masango of embezzlement over motor vehicles while the latter denies all wrongdoing and says Mr Bwanya is putting up a smokescreen since he is fighting disciplinary action over alleged incompetence and misbehaviour.
But ZACC has since impounded two vehicles — a Ford Ranger and an Isuzu KB250 — from the Central Registry and has launched investigations into allegations of abuse of office and unprocedural procurement of vehicles by Mr Masango.
ZACC’s action followed a complaint by Mr Bwanya, who accused Mr Masango of embezzlement of funds and the disappearance of six Isuzu KB250 single cab vehicles that he said the department had procured, but were not delivered
In his letter to Secretary for Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Mr Aaron Nhepera, Mr Bwanya said only five of 11 vehicles bought by the department had been delivered while mystery surrounded the whereabouts of a Toyota Land Cruiser that he said the Central Registry had bought.
However, Mr Masango has launched a scathing attack on Mr Bwanya and four officials from ZACC who impounded the vehicles.
In his response to Mr Nhepera, Mr Masango said Mr Bwanya was making the allegations to divert attention from pending disciplinary cases against him.
He accused the four ZACC officials of colluding with Mr Bwanya to embarrass him.
Mr Masango said his department bought only five vehicles out of the intended 11 after Treasury revoked the 1:1 parity between the Zimbabwe dollar to the United States dollar, while plans to procure the Land Cruiser were abandoned after the authority to buy it was rescinded.
He said there was paper trail for all the transactions and Mr Bwanya should have verified this if he was acting in good faith.
ZACC spokesperson, Commissioner John Makamure, said: “I can confirm that we are investigating that case, but cannot divulge details now.”
Contacted for comment, Mr Masango confirmed the development, but said the intervention of ZACC was “strange and unprecedented” since normally there was first an audit which would recommend a course of action.
He referred further questions to Mr Nhepera, who said he was aware of the case, but promised to comment substantively after meeting ZACC officials.
“Why don’t you wait because there is a likelihood that the involvement of ZACC was premature? I was dealing with this matter administratively and I do not know how ZACC came in. But I am going to meet them,” said Mr Nhepera.
In his letter dated February 13, Mr Bwanya said on September 14, 2018 payment of $596 037 to the Central Mechanical Equipment Department (CMED) for 11 vehicles was made, without procurement authority.
The sight of people moving around with packets of 10kg roller meal – and always with that tragic triumphalism – is a depressing spectacle. Our Government must be stopped from this mass pauperization of the populace. Shape up or ship out. No to mediocrity @edmnangagwa
By A Correspondent- The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has donated 380 tarpaulins to make tents and 50 family sets of non-food items to be used at the National Social Security Authority hotel in Beitbridge, which is being used as a quarantine centre for Zimbabweans returning from South Africa.
The hotel can accommodate 280 people and plans are underway to modify the attached casino to accommodate an additional 100 people.
Twenty-four people are presently being quarantined at the hotel and the Zimbabwe consulate in South Africa is working on how to help others who want to come home.
So far, 3 055 have registered with the consulate seeking food while others want to go home. IOM’s project assistant for Beitbridge, Mr Nhamo Muleya, said the donation was part of the organisation’s contribution to ongoing efforts to curtail the spread of Covid-19.
The kits include two pots, six plates, six mugs, one washing basin, two mosquito nets, one spoon, 30 aqua tabs for water purification, two packets of sanitary pads, one plastic bucket, four adult female pants, two child female panties, one laminated China bag and six bars of soap. IOM says it was aware that among the returnees, some will be short of resources, and the kits will be helpful.
Distribution of the kits will be done at the CPU’s discretion. Beitbridge CPU chairperson, Mrs Skhangazile Mafu-Moyo said: “We are grateful to IOM. This will enhance our capacity to professionally manage the quarantine centre.
‘‘It is also pleasing to note that some corporates, commercial farmers and non-governmental organisations are coming on board.
“Recently we received 44 beds, 10 mattresses and an assortment of groceries from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, fuel and groceries form local commercial farmers and TopPick Investments”.
Government had already procured food to feed 100 people at the quarantine centre.
Beitbridge is yet to record any positive case of Covid-19.
By A Correspondent- The Government’s policy on second-hand clothing has not changed and relevant ministries are meeting this week to map the way forward to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Zimbabwe’s textile and leather industry has been under siege from an influx of second-hand clothes, shoes and leather products that forced some players in the sector to close down.
Selling used clothes has become a viable source of livelihood for many in Zimbabweans but the outbreak of Covid-19 if forcing the Government to be more stringent. In an interview yesterday, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Dr Sekai Nzenza said that the Government policy on second-hand clothing has not changed.
“The Government does not allow second-hand clothing from anywhere. What is already in the country comes in illegally. We have to promote the local manufacturing of our own clothing industry rather than dwell on other people’s throwaways,” Dr Nzenza said.
Turning to the fight against Covid-19, Minister Nzenza said she is meeting with other relevant ministries this week, to put measures in place to curb the importation of second-hand clothing.
“We are meeting this week with the relevant ministries to come up with a way forward,” she said.
In Harare’s CBD, second-hand clothes are sold at Charge Office, Copacabana, Market Square, Mupedzanhamo among other areas. Areas surrounding Mbare Musika and some residential areas have been turned into open-air second-hand clothes flea market.
By A Correspondent- Three nurses in Mashonaland East province who recently tested positive for COVID-19, returned negative results, casting doubt over the accuracy of test kits used in the country as well as validity of statistics already publicised.
Two of the nurses are stationed at Mt St Mary’s Hospital in Wedza while the third works at Ruwa Rehabilitation Centre. This is according to a report produced by provincial medical director Simukai Zizhou on March 26.
The health workers tested positive with the rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and were immediately self-isolated before a second examination using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) produced negative results.
Provincial medical director Simukai Zizhou yesterday confirmed the development, saying the three nurses were now certified COVID-19 free.
“The three were confirmed negative of the COVID-19 virus after the PCR tests. The RDT (test) is not specific,” Zizhou said.
“It can pick some antibodies which at times are not infected by COVID-19. This RDT can only pick antibodies after a period of 14 to 21 days after infection. It is not really a good test. This is why we waited for PCR confirmation and confirm with the virus’ RNA (ribonucleic acid). These cases turned out to be negative; they have no COVID-19 virus.”
The latest development has left more questions than answers on the authenticity of COVID-19 tests being conducted across the country.
Zimbabwe now has 31 COVID-19 confirmed cases including four deaths, the latest being the 82-year-old mother of former minister Sylvester Nguni who died of the deadly virus last week, triggering mass testing in Chitemere village, Mhondoro where she lived.
Two people who had contact with her have tested positive, according to Information permanent secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana.
Concerns have been raised that some of the test kits being used by the government to test for the coronavirus were defective. Most of the COVID-19 test kits donated by a Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma, are said to be causing headaches for health authorities as they are producing wrong results.
Last month, the Spanish government, among other countries, withdrew 58 000 Chinese-made coronavirus test kits, claiming they had an accurate detection rate of just 30%. China, however, claimed the test kits were made by a company that did not appear on its list of authorised manufacturers.
At the weekend, Mangwana said the government had banned the use of test kits other than the ones approved by the Health ministry. “I am not aware of any particular case where there have been false or wrong results from PCR machines that are used in all instances where the government is involved,” Mangwana said.
“Government has taken a position to say that test kits that are certified (by the ministry) are the ones that will be used. If there are others that are continuously giving false positives, then it is indeed a cause for concern.”
Mashonaland East was one of the first provinces to record COVID-19 cases after four people in Zimre Park tested positive. The four, who are members of the same family, have since recovered from the virus. In a related development, the government has expressed concern over the sprouting of private facilities operating as COVID-19 clinics.
Health ministry permanent secretary Agnes Mahomva said the private facilities were operating illegally without conforming to the Public Health Act standards. “The ministry has learned and noticed that some private facilities that have not been officially assessed and registered are springing up as COVID-19 clinics,” Mahonva said in a statement.
“These facilities are operating illegally, are a danger to the COVID-19 patients and communities around them and should stop operating with immediate effect until they have completed all registration processes.”
She added: “Since COVID-19 is an infectious disease that was declared a formidable epidemic disease, any private facility intending to manage the COVID-19 disease (including testing, isolation and treatment) should duly apply to the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care for assessment, approval and registration in line with the Public Health Act provisions.”-Newsday
By Patrick Guramatunhu-“While I don’t want to get into the issues around how and why there are sanctions, everyone knows that I personally had to flee my country, Zimbabwe, because of persecution 20 years ago,” said Strive Masiyiwa in a statement. “I have not been back since. For the avoidance of doubt; This is not an appeal for the lifting of sanctions.”
Masiyiwa has launched an appeal for help for Sudan and Zimbabwe to fight the coronavirus outbreak. The two countries are facing economic sanctions imposed by the West, particularly the USA and, to add insult to injury, they were singled out when other countries had their debts written by IMF and the other multilateral organizations.
In 2016 the then President Robert Mugabe admitted the country was “swindled of US$ 15 billion in diamond revenue alone”! He never arrested even one swindler or recovered one dollar.
The following year, 2017, Patrick Chinamasa, then Minister of Finance confirm in parliament that government was getting 1/6 of the expected diamond revenue. In other words the looting was still taking place. Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s successor following the 2017 military coup, promised “zero tolerance to corruption” and yet he too has yet to arrest one swindler and/or recover one dollar.
The Chinese helped Mnangagwa rig the July 2018 elections and they were back in Zimbabwe soon thereafter. Mugabe booted them out of Marange and Chiadzwa diamond fields, the only looters who had been singled out. They have since been back to pick up from where they left off!
So, writing off Zimbabwe’s US$ 8 billion debt would only have given the regime yet another source of money to loot! We need a deeper understanding of our nation’s problems and a wholistic solution!
Many Zimbabweans have avoid talking about gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and, most important of all, rigged elections and bad governance for the last 40 years. These problems have not gone away but have instead grown and spread like the deadly cancers they are.
Today Zimbabwe’s once promising economy is in ruins, 34% of our people live in extreme poverty, according to a recent WB report. Our political system is total dysfunctional because politics is now a dirty game so dirty only seasoned thugs are playing it.
Many Zimbabweans left the country and have played no role is helping find the solution to Zimbabwe’s economic and political problems. The corona virus crisis is forcing millions of Zimbabweans to go back to a country still ruled by the same corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs complete with the entourage of equally corrupt and useless opposition sell-outs.
Zimbabweans must now face the country’s teething problem of rigged elections and bad governance or there will be heart-breaking gnashing of teeth and countless deaths as Zanu PF’s blundering incompetence drag the nation deeper and deeper into the abyss.
We are masters of our own destiny and so far we have let clueless buffoon in charge and it shows. How much longer are we going to let this madness continue?
“I don’t want to get into the issues around how and why there are sanctions!” Why the hell not? If the country is ever going to get out of this hell-on-earth then it is time we had a hard long look at ourselves and have a no-hold-barred discussion of the nation’s problems!
By A Correspondent- A Gweru man and his brother-in-law allegedly teamed up and assaulted his wife’s suspected boyfriend for about five hours, leading to his death.
Darlington Chigagure (26) of Mkoba 17 suburb was charged with the murder of his sister’s alleged boyfriend Walter Mutombwera (36), popularly known as Japan and also from the same suburb.
Police have since launched a manhunt for his two co-accused; Brandy Sifanjani who is Chigagure’s sister’s husband and their friend Precious Moyo.
Chigagure appeared briefly before Gweru magistrate Mr Progress Murandu facing one count of murder. He was not asked to plead and was remanded in custody to May 28 when police are expected to have completed investigations and put together evidence from 12 expected witnesses.
According to papers presented to the court by prosecutor Ms Connie Madzudzu, Chigagure, Sifanjani and Moyo on March 11 allegedly connived to lure Mutombwera to visit their place of residence in Mkoba 17 suburb. The court heard that Moyo pretended to be Nyaradzo, the wife to Sifanjani who was allegedly having an affair with Mutombwera.
Moyo allegedly made a phone call to Mutombwera lying to him that Nyaradzo who is in South Africa was back in the country and wanted to spend some quality time with him. Mutombwera allegedly fell into the trap and went to the house around 11PM where Sifanjani and Chigagure were lying in wait.
The court heard that when Mutombwera got into the house, Sifanjani allegedly struck him with a hoe handle but he managed to fight back overpowering the woman’s husband and the fight continued outside the house.
Mutombwera allegedly tried to escape but Chigagure blocked him by the gate where Sifanjani hit him on the head and legs with the hoe handle and he fell. The duo allegedly pinned Mutombwera while assaulting him with the handle on the head and legs. Mutombwera allegedly called for help but no one came to his rescue.
The court heard that Chigagure and Sifanjani took electrical cords which they used to tie Mutombwera’s hands from the back and continued assaulting him with the hoe handle and a knife. Around 3AM after about five hours of assault at the hands of the two brothers in law, the court heard, Mutombwera was groaning in pain as he had sustained serious injuries all over his body.
Realising Mutombwera was seriously injured, Chigagure and Sifanjani allegedly bundled his body into their vehicle and drove for about 500m before dumping him in a grassy area.
Mutombwera who could no longer walk since both his legs were broken allegedly crawled on his stomach from the grassy area and was rescued by a taxi driver. He allegedly died on his way to the hospital. His body was taken to United Bulawayo Hospitals where a post-mortem was carried out and it was revealed that the cause of death was due to laceration of humeral artery and wounds on both legs, hypovolemic shock and stab wound.
Mutombwera is survived by a wife and two children.
By A Correspondent- The cost of a grave in the local authority cemeteries have shot up from a mere $80 to $1 096 as Gweru City Council starts implementing its 2020 budget bringing shock to residents as prices of everything spiral out of control.
The City’s public relations manager, Vimbai Chingwaramuse confirmed the implementation of the current budget hence the shooting up of the cost of staying in the city.
The budget has generally increased upwards of 400% and the increase in the cost of graves is a 1 270%.
“We have increased tariffs by 400% as per our approved 2020 budget,” said Chingwaramusee
Gweru residents have however, expressed shock as the increases are way above their incomes.
Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRA) Director Cornelia Selipiwe said the tariff increases have been effected at a bad time when the economy is on a downspin exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic which has resulted in a lockdown.
“The timing is bad because residents are even failing to get food. We are on a lockdown where Gweru City Council must actually be giving food hampers to residents as is happening in other countries like South Africa,” said Selipiwe.
The cost of a vending licence has gone up to $1 182 from $50. Buses and minibuses using the Kudzanayi bus terminus now pay $115 per hour from $10 last year.-MasvingoMirror
A TOTAL of 14 774 people were arrested countrywide for violating Covid-19 orders since the beginning of the lockdown period on March 31.
Statistics obtained from the Police General Headquarters show that Bulawayo still tops the numbers with 3 578 people arrested so far, followed by Manicaland Province at 2 990 arrests.
Harare comes third in arrests at 1 866 while 1 589 people have been arrested so far in Midlands Province. In Mashonaland West Province, 1 321 people were arrested while 487 were arrested in in Mashonaland Central.
Matabeleland South has so far recorded 1 035 arrests while Matabeleland North province has 667. In Mashonaland East Province, 529 people have been arrested while the support unit separately arrested 107 people countrywide.
In a telephone interview, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said police were concerned with continued violation of lockdown orders and the increasing number of pirate taxis, popularly known as mushikashika, illegally transporting commuters during this period.
“We continue to make arrests and Bulawayo still tops the statistics chart in terms of arrests of violators, with Manicaland Province following closely. We are now also worried by the number of pirating taxis that are operating during the lockdown and we warn offenders that they will be arrested. We also have a problem of people roaming aimlessly in residential suburbs after 6pm and we also warn them strongly that they will be arrested under section 4 of S.I 83 of 2020,” said Assistant Commissioner Nyathi.
In Bulawayo 25 members of the group of 48 Christ Apostolic Church Worldwide Revelation group that was arrested on Sunday while holding a church service in Tshabalala suburb have since paid $500 fines while the rest of the church members were released to look for the money as police considered that keeping them in cells would put them at risk of contracting the Covid-19 virus.
Speaking to Chronicle, Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said the congregants were given up to today to get the money.
Inspector Ncube said more than 800 vehicles had been impounded in the city, with 285 of them impounded under the Joint operation between Police, the Bulawayo City Council and Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra).
“BCC is checking parking tickets and other fines, while Zimra is checking if they were imported via the proper channels into the country and police are checking through VTS if these cars have not been reported as stolen. More than 800 have so far been impounded although some have been released as their owners would have paid outstanding fines and fees,” said Inspector Ncube.
By A Correspondent- Drama as 2 men pay maintenance for one child, DNA tests prove none of them is the father.
A Gweru woman who claimed maintenance for one child from two different men was recently arrested for fraud when the case was discovered.
DNA test – Image credit https://www.smarterhobby.com/genealogy/best-dna-test/
A paternity test then ordered by Gweru Magistrate Pathekile Msipa on the 13-year-old daughter late last year and whose results were opened on Tuesday proved that neither of the men Sindiso Siyapi (38) nor Ezekiel Chifamba (38) is the biological father although they had paid maintenance for at least three years each.
Siyapi, a clerk at CMED in Gweru has been paying $300 a month in maintenance after his obligation was reviewed by the courts three times from $50 to $100 and then to $300 currently and Chifamba, a Gokwe based welder was paying $50.
Othilia Mushipe (34) of Mkoba 17 skipped court on Tuesday and has since been issued with a warrant of arrest for two counts of fraud involving $4 200 for both men.
Police went to her place several times but could not find her. It is the State case that Chifamba and Mushipe once lived together as a married couple between 2003 and 2012 and then got divorced. In August 2013 Mushipe claimed maintenance and was granted $50.While receiving maintenance from Chifamba, Mushipe also filed maintenance claims against Siyapi in March 2016 and she was granted $50.
In July 2016 she applied for a review to $100 and it was granted and in November of the same year, she reapplied again for a review to $300 which was granted to her. However, in August 2017 Chifamba got wind that Siyapi was also paying maintenance for the same child. He made efforts and located Siyapi and the two made a Police report leading to the arrest of Mushipe.
The accused was dragged to court, and DNA tests were done to see who should continue paying maintenance but the results were negative for both men.-Online
News that ZANU PF youths are making sanitizers and masks seems like a good gesture at face value but underneath this is cheap political grandstanding that should be treated with contempt it deserves.
It is devoid of logic, mind -boggling and useless for ZANU PF Youths to go to town telling everyone who cares to listen that they are helping government in the fight against Covid-19 by making substandard sanitizers and masks that fall short of WHO requirements whilst the masses are dying of hunger.
Yes Covid-19 is real, but thousands of our countrymen are dying of hunger and starvation en-mass during this lockdown.
A damning recent UN Report puts at 4 million the number of people facing acute food shortages and starvation in Zimbabwe.
Clearly, food distribution to the masses dying of hunger should be a priority more than anything else.
Common sense and hierarchy of needs philosophy tell us that it is senseless and useless to sanitize and face mask dead bodies – victims of starvation!
Clearly these fellows from a party that embezzled US$3 billion meant for food security through Command Agriculture are taking us for a ride.
Can Zimbabwe trust these unprofessional ‘youthies’ to produce WHO standard masks and sanitizers given the track record of unfulfilled promises by their dwindling party?
Remember Emmerson Mnangagwa’s electoral promises on those expensive 2018 election campaign billboards?
Food for All, Health for All, Housing for All….the list of lies is infinite!
Before we even think of the said masks and sanitizers, Zimbabweans must ask what happened to Stone Age bakeries initiative by the very same Youth League that was meant to ease bread shortages?
ZANU PF are masters of deception, lies and cheap propaganda and nothing good comes from Shake-Shake building!
Simply put ZANU PF should spare the long suffering masses fighting both hunger and Covid-19 from their disinteresting jokes.
ZANU PF youths making masks and sanitizers is akin to treating citizens with scorn, ridicule, mockery and derision.
This is no time for toi-toing and cheap sloganeering, the country is facing starvation and a deadly pandemic!
Thumps up to the MDC Alliance Youth Assembly for fronting a realistic #SaveThePoor campaign.
Human lives and survival precedes everything else.
That is leadership!
Stephen Sarkozy Chuma MDCYouthAssemblyNationalSpokesperson
NewsDay|THREE nurses in Mashonaland East province who recently tested positive for COVID-19, returned negative results, casting doubt over the accuracy of test kits used in the country as well as validity of statistics already publicised.
Two of the nurses are stationed at Mt St Mary’s Hospital in Wedza while the third works at Ruwa Rehabilitation Centre. This is according to a report produced by provincial medical director Simukai Zizhou on March 26.
NewsDay understands that the health workers tested positive with the rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and were immediately self-isolated before a second examination using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) produced negative results.
Provincial medical director Simukai Zizhou yesterday confirmed the development, saying the three nurses were now certified COVID-19 free.
“The three were confirmed negative of the COVID-19 virus after the PCR tests. The RDT (test) is not specific,” Zizhou said.
“It can pick some antibodies which at times are not infected by COVID-19. This RDT can only pick antibodies after a period of 14 to 21 days after infection. It is not really a good test. This is why we waited for PCR confirmation and confirm with the virus’ RNA (ribonucleic acid). These cases turned out to be negative; they have no COVID-19 virus.”
The latest development has left more questions than answers on the authenticity of COVID-19 tests being conducted across the country.
Zimbabwe now has 31 COVID-19 confirmed cases including four deaths, the latest being the 82-year-old mother of former minister Sylvester Nguni who died of the deadly virus last week, triggering mass testing in Chitemere village, Mhondoro where she lived.
Two people who had contact with her have tested positive, according to Information permanent secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana.
Concerns have been raised that some of the test kits being used by the government to test for the coronavirus were defective.
Most of the COVID-19 test kits donated by Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma, are said to be causing headaches for health authorities as they are producing wrong results.
Last month, the Spanish government, among other countries, withdrew 58 000 Chinese-made coronavirus test kits, claiming they had an accurate detection rate of just 30%.
China, however, claimed the test kits were made by a company that did not appear on its list of authorised manufacturers.
At the weekend, Mangwana said government had banned the use of test kits other than the ones approved by the Health ministry.
“I am not aware of any particular case where there have been false or wrong results from PCR machines that are used in all instances where government is involved,” Mangwana said.
“Government has taken a position to say that test kits that are certified (by the ministry) are the ones that will be used. If there are others that are continuously giving false positives, then it is indeed a cause for concern.”
Mashonaland East was one of the first provinces to record COVID-19 cases after four people in Zimre Park tested positive. The four, who are members of the same family, have since recovered from the virus.
In a related development, government has expressed concern over the sprouting of private facilities operating as COVID-19 clinics.
Health ministry permanent secretary Agnes Mahomva said the private facilities were operating illegally without conforming to the Public Health Act standards.
“The ministry has learned and noticed that some private facilities that have not been officially assessed and registered are springing up as COVID-19 clinics,” Mahonva said in a statement.
“These facilities are operating illegally, are a danger to the COVID-19 patients and communities around them and should stop operating with immediate effect until they have completed all registration processes.”
She added: “Since COVID-19 is an infectious disease that was declared a formidable epidemic disease, any private facility intending to manage the COVID-19 disease (including testing, isolation and treatment) should duly apply to the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care for assessment, approval and registration in line with the Public Health Act provisions.”
Businessman Strive Masiyiwa has appealed to the World Bank, the IMF and other multilateral institutions for humanitarian support for Zimbabwe and Sudan in the wake of the economic devastation brought about by the COVID-19 Coronavirus epidemic.
Said Masiyiwa in his appeal:
As many of you on this platform know, I have been at the forefront, for several weeks, in asking for Debt Relief and Economic Impact Stimulus on behalf of the African continent.
In making these appeals, those of us who have called for these measures have used as our bench-marking measures that have been taken in the US, Europe, Asia, and China.
So far I am pleased that there has been growing support for these measures.
At the last World Bank, IMF and G20 meetings, many African countries secured debt relief by way of ‘standstills’ on interest payments, which are valued at over US$22bn.
More than half of that money has been disbursed already to countries in Africa, as it was sitting in debt service accounts.
These African countries can now urgently buy Medical Equipment, PPE, ventilators. They can also train and pay doctors and nurses.
Two countries were conspicuous in their omission from any form of relief: Zimbabwe and Sudan.
This is because they are under sanctions.
While I don’t want to get into the issues around how and why there are sanctions, everyone knows that I personally had to flee my country, Zimbabwe, because of persecution 20 years ago.
I have not been back since.
I am not a politician, just an entrepreneur working day and night to create wealth and jobs across many African nations.
I have not spoken to anyone in the governments of these countries, including that of Zimbabwe, with respect to this matter. I have no personal contact with the leaders of these governments.
For the avoidance of doubt; This is not an appeal for the lifting of sanctions.
People also know that my wife and I (through our small family foundation) continue to do everything we can to try and help the people of Zimbabwe, including making many preparations to help prepare for the catastrophic impact of this pandemic on the nation.
Alas, we are just private citizens, and it is not enough.
We are deeply concerned about the potential loss of life if international aid does not come quickly, specially to address the needs of this pandemic.
I would like to respectfully make the following suggestion:
#Creation of a Special Purpose Trust Vehicle, under the leadership of independent people, including global humanitarians:
I would like to appeal to the World Bank, IMF and other multilateral institutions, to create humanitarian Trusts for each country, which are managed by third parties, along the lines of the Global Fund.
I have consulted widely with experts and many told me of numerous precedences, at the level of the UN, IMF, World Bank, the EU or even the US government itself.
The more countries that can contribute, even from China, and our African brothers, the more credible it would be, as global compassion towards the people’s of these very poor nations.
I would urge them to consider seeding the Trusts with at least $500m and inviting others including private philanthropy to participate.
In the case of Zimbabwe, I will personally contribute in a Trust and encourage friends and partners to do the same.
The money would be used to provide urgently required medical supplies, training and remuneration for health care workers. We can also provide urgently needed repairs to hospitals and rural clinics across the country.
This is a humanitarian appeal.
Please help Sudan and Zimbabwe’s people.
In God’s name please help these nations, before it is too late.
