CHIEFS in the three Matebeleland provinces are piling pressure on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to allow the exhumation and reburial of victims of the 1983-1987 Gukurahundi genocide as families demand a truth-telling process, it has emerged.

Government last year acceded to requests by families of the victims to be allowed to grant their relatives decent burials. However, the exhumations were later halted at the instruction of top government officials who felt there was a need for legislation to be put in place first officialising the exhumations and reburials.

The National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) chairperson, Retired Justice Selo Nare, told the Zimbabwe Independent this week traditional chiefs were keen to have the reburials resumed.

“We have engaged with chiefs in the three provinces of Matebeleland. They have been very clear that the Gukurahundi question is still far from being concluded,” Nare said. “The chiefs have told the commission that closure to the Gukurahundi issue will be realised when there is a process where families of the victims will be allowed to exhume the remains and afford them a decent burial.

“It is very clear that the chiefs are keen on this (exhumation and reburials) and we will, as part of our recommendations to the President and government, also highlight on this matter so that government can then see how best the matter can be dealt with.”

He said his commission had rolled out consultative processes throughout the country to afford Zimbabweans an opportunity to contribute to the Gukurahundi report which the commission is expected to submit to Mnangagwa.

“People have said a lot of things on the Gukurahundi issue,” Nare said. “One of the issues that have been key in the discussions we have had is that of the truth on what happened. The sentiment is that besides exhumations and reburials, there ought to be an opportunity for people to speak out about what happened and to also deal with the issues of who was involved.

“Once that truth telling process has been done, coupled with the exhumations and reburials as per the request of the affected families, we will have been able to nip the entire problem in the bud. This is when we can be assured, as a nation, that we can find closure to the Gukurahundi issue.”

The NPRC, Nare said, will soon meet the leadership of the country’s security sector to hear their input.

“We have lined up meetings with the leadership of the police and other security organs so that we can also hear their views on the Gukurahundi issue. They are part of the process. Once that is done, we will engage with the Vice-President responsible for the Gukurahundi issue (Kembo Mohadi) to also appraise him on what has been coming through,” Nare said. “These are all key institutions and people who will contribute to a wholesome picture and we are of the belief that their sentiments will be of value to the entire process.”

Asked whether there was enough government will and cooperation given that some senior government and military officials are implicated in the Gukurahundi atrocities, Nare said all government officials had expressed commitment towards the process that the NPRC had rolled out.

“We have been told that there are some (government officials) who are edgy when it comes to Gukurahundi. From our experience as a commission, we want to believe that all our government officials are, at present, committed to the process and its outcomes,” Nare said.

“We have had cooperation from all those that we have engaged with and I am sure they all want to play a role in ensuring that this matter is effectively addressed.”

The remains of thousands of Gukurahundi victims remain in shallow graves across the three Matebeleland provinces. According to civil society reports on Gukurahundi, about 20 000 civilians were killed by the North Korea-trained 5 Brigade in the Matebeleland and Midlands provinces as the then Robert Mugabe-led administration tried to crush what it called insurgents who were reportedly harboured by the predominantly Ndebele-speaking population in the three provinces.

-Zim Independent

Prime Minister Boris Johnson left intensive care on Thursday evening as he continues to recover from COVID-19, but he remains under close observation in hospital, his office said on Thursday.

Johnson, 55, was admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital on Sunday evening with a persistent high temperature and cough, and was rushed to intensive care on Monday where he spent three nights receiving treatment.

“The prime minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery,” a spokesman from his office said in an emailed statement.

“He is in extremely good spirits.”

Johnson was the first world leader to be hospitalised with the coronavirus, forcing him to hand control of the world’s fifth-largest economy to foreign minister Dominic Raab just as Britain’s outbreak approaches its most deadly peak.

Raab tweeted that the improvement in Johnson’s condition was “the news we all wanted to hear”. U.S. President Donald Trump described it as “great news”.

Johnson’s ongoing recovery prompted a small rise in the value of sterling against the dollar.

However, the government statement did not give any details on when Johnson may be able to resume leadership, and Raab – speaking before the latest announcement – had stressed the importance of allowing the prime minister to focus on recovery.

No further updates on Johnson’s health were expected on Thursday.

Raab is deputising for Johnson during the most stringent shutdown in Britain’s peacetime history.

Earlier he told a news conference it was too early to end the lockdown because Britain had not reached the peak of the outbreak yet.

The UK death toll in hospitals from coronavirus now stands at 7,978, a rise of 881 on the day but a smaller increase than the 938 seen in Wednesday’s data.

With Johnson absent and the death toll still mounting, the British government is wrestling with two major issues – how to finance a vast increase in state spending to support the shuttered economy, and when to start easing lockdown measures.

With the economy facing potentially the worst hit since World War Two, the government said it had expanded its overdraft facility with the Bank of England.

The central bank has agreed temporarily to finance government borrowing in response to COVID-19 if funds cannot immediately be raised from debt markets, reviving a measure last widely used during the 2008 financial crisis.

The BoE said it was a short-term measure and both it and government said any borrowing from the Ways and Means facility – effectively the government’s overdraft with the Bank – would be repaid by the end of the year.

The government has made pledges costing tens of billions of pounds to support businesses and workers hit by the virus. On Thursday, the government said an additional 1.2 million claims for welfare payments had been filed since March 16.

Raab said the peak of the virus outbreak had yet to be reached and that the government would not be able to say more about the duration of the lockdown until late next week, once experts have had chance to analyse data on how well it is working. It was introduced last month.

“The measures will have to stay in place until we’ve got the evidence that clearly shows we’ve moved beyond the peak,” he said.

While Johnson’s condition was improving, the likely length of his recovery remained unknown, with some political commentators saying there was a power vacuum in his absence.

Raab said on Thursday he had the power to make “necessary decisions” in the prime minister’s absence and that government will continue to follow the strategy set out by Johnson. He said cabinet could take decisions collectively.

The United Kingdom is entering what scientists say is the deadliest phase of the outbreak, with deaths expected to continue to rise over the Easter weekend.

But in a sign the shutdown measures were working, health officials have said the number of coronavirus infections and hospital admissions had begun to show signs of flattening.

Police said they would be taking tougher action to do just that before the four-day Easter holiday weekend because many people were continuing to ignore the ban on social gatherings.

Source: Reuters

Zimbabwe has moved into a potentially defining moment in terms of enforcement of the 21-day lockdown, with a heavy police and army presence on all roads leading into Central Business District (CBD) of Harare today, following worryingly large numbers of people this week.

All passengers were asked to produce letters from employers indicating they are part of the skeletal staff manning offices and/ or factories during this period.

The town was literally deserted with a few people on the streets and some getting into supermarkets. Pick n Pay (Jason Moyo Branch) is one of the few shops open in the CBD.

So serious were the security forces’ operation that for the first time since the lockdown started 12 days ago, there are officers at Cnr Herbert Chitepo  and Leopold Takawira Street.

The decision to man all routes into town follows reports that some citizens were using uncommon routes to sidestep security checkpoints.

There were reports early morning that some Zimpapers newspaper vendors were asked to vacate their selling points at Cnr Simon Muzenda Street and Samora Machel Avenue, and Rotten Row Street and Simon Mazorodze.

Refreshingly, security officers manning the checkpoints have face masks and gloves after concerns that they were being exposed to the deadly virus by engaging people without protective clothing.

This reporter was stopped by friendly police in anti-riot gear at NetOne Building and asked to explain his business in the  CBD.

The surge in numbers of security details come on the back of concerns by Government and experts yesterday that Zimbabwe risked reversing the gains recorded last week when many citizens largely heeded the lockdown directive.

Health experts fear there could be an explosion of fresh Covid-19 cases in the next few weeks if people continued to flood the streets.

Updating journalists on the post-Covid-19 Taskforce daily meeting at State House in Harare last night, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa expressed concern over the high number of people violating the lockdown regulations.

As at yesterday, 3 251 people had been arrested for violating lockdown measures.

“It is disheartening to note that some citizens are willing to put themselves and those around them at risk by flouting the lockdown regulations,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

By Dumisani Muleya|The sad death of prominent Zimbabwe clergyman Mike Auret in Ireland this morning is a significant event in the history of human rights in the country and its predecessor Rhodesia.

Auret fought tooth and nail during the Rhodesian colonial era and after Zimbabwe’s independence for human rights; he was always on the frontline to defend the masses, the subaltern or marginalised in society, the downtrodden and oppressed when it mattered the most.

But his most significant role on the human rights front was at the height of the Gukurahundi massacres in Matabeleland, where, together with other bishops in Zimbabwe, churches,
civil society activists, diplomats, humanitarian groups and some journalists, exposed the biggest and most vicious post-colonial killings of black people by a black government in the region led by the late President Robert Mugabe.

Auret was part of a Catholic delegation which met Mugabe, a Catholic himself educated by Jesuits, on March 16, 1983 at State House in Harare to discuss the horror killings which had
taken place when the ethno-political crack military unit formed and trained in Nyanga by North Koreans (later assisted by operators from Tanzania) outside the formal structures of
the Zimbabwe National Army, Fifth Brigade, was deployed in Matabeleland North on January 20, 1983, starting in the Lupane areas, before spreading to Tsholotsho, Nkayo and
other surrounding districts.

Soon after that the army unit, which was purged of all ex-Zipras before deployment, rampaged through the region within three months, aggressively intimidating, beating, attacking, slaughtering, raping, maiming and torturing thousands.

The cruelty was far worse than what even colonial security forces had ever meted out on black people in Rhodesia and many other places.Alarmed and shocked by the barbarism and cruelty of the Zanu regime, Auret and other priests confronted Mugabe over the wave of killings sweeping across the south-western region like a ferocious tsunami.

Auret, the chairman of the Catholic Commisson for Justice and Peace (CCJP), was accompanied to that meeting by the other outspoken bishops Ersnt Karlen, Patrick Mutume
and Helmut Reckter.

It was the second time that the bishops were meeting Mugabe over the massacres after they had delivered a report to him on November 5, 1982. Mugabe had initially responded, with the paranoia and fear he always exhibited during that time, saying that his government was “new and vulnerable”, and faced an existential threat from Zapu and Zipra, which had been integrated into the army after demobilisation, as well as the aggressive apartheid South African regime, that he ironically later ended up collaborating with. Mugabe adopted brinksmanship with apartheid; he denounced it when it suited him and collaborated with it against the ANC/Zapu alliance when it was also politically expedient. Mkhonto weSizwe guerrillas were expelled (first from Zezani Camp in
Beitbridge back to Zambia) and hounded in Zimbabwe as Mugabe took a cowardly approach to avoid confrontation with apartheid leaders PW Botha and later FW De Klerk.
And Mkhonto commander in Zimbabewe Joe Gqabi was killed by apartheid agents in Avondale in Harare under circumstances of collaboration by Mugabe. Just before that he
had nee under surveillance by Mugabe’s intelligence services, not for his protection but to make sure MK did not have bases and fight from Zimbabwe.

According to Auret, Mugabe then perused through the dossier of killings, while current President Emmerson Mnangagwa, then State Security minister, and Sydney Sekeramayi,
then assistant Defence minister (Mugabe was in charge of Defence), who were among many other senior Zanu leaders like Enos Nkala, Nathan Shamuyarira, Chris Ushewokunze, Morris
Nyagumbo, and Simbi Mubako spearheading the campaign, sat silent and grim-faced in a tense environment.

After joining Zanu, Callistus Ndlovu and Mark Dube, who was Zanla, and another Zapu defector John Mbedzi became notorious agitators. Nkala and these three, assisted by Nyagumbo, then Zanu commissar, became a menace in Matabeleland.

Karlen was very straight with Mugabe in the meeting: your security forces are killing people on a massive scale and have committed grisly atrocities.

Because Mugabe’s pretext for deploying the Fifth Brigade was to fight the “dissidents” (a reference to ex-Zipra fighters who had deserted infighting in the army), Karlen asked him:
“Why is the army killing civilians, not going after the dissidents?”

Mugabe said his government was very committed and would not retreat from hunting down dissidents, a line he that was to repeat many times, especially when dissidents killed people
as well.

Dissidents also committed attacks and killings, although they were isolated cases. Most of their activities were acts of criminality for survival.

The dissidents later became an eclectic mix and motley group of discontents of ex-Zipras who had deserted the army fearing for their Iives, apartheid surrogate force Super-Zapu (which had nothing to do with Zapu/Zipra – it was led by Tafara Nkomo (Jack Moyo was his non de guerre) and Kaizer Makhurane) and remnants of Zimbabwe -Rhodesia auxiliaries.

Super-Zapu was the brainchild of apartheid Pretoria’s Directorate of Special Tasks – later under Directorate of of Covert Collections – run as Operation Mute. This department handled Renamo affairs in Mozambique and trained Supa-Zapu ar Entabeni, its headquarters at Southpansberg, 80km outside Musina. Apartheid also ran Operation Drama destabilise Zimbabwe.

Mugabe and his regime claimed these groups wanted to overthrow his government. He had also accused Nkomo, Zapu and ex-Zipra, as well as members of Rhodesian forces and MPs,
of plotting a coup against him, a charge to be standardised as a template down in later years

To be continued

Farai Dziva|Thokazani Khupe, Douglas Mwonzora and Morgen Komichi are trapped in a political dungeon, an MDC official has said.

MDC Youth Assembly national spokesperson, Stephen Sarkozy Chuma described the three politicians as “hopeless political misfits.”

Said Chuma: “Wisdom that has been tested over time teaches us that those who move nenhendeshure risk a dead end.

Kubondera chete! From 2020 we go to 2024 Congress not 2014!

Komichi, Khupe and Mwonzora have fallen into a deep, dark and dangerous political gorge.

In essence the three are trapped in a political dungeon.”

Zimbabwe’s confirmed cases for Covid-19 have risen to 13, after two cases tested positive today.

The other three have since died.

Today, 25 cases were tested and the two positive cases are 21 year old males from Harare who traveled to the United Kingdom together with case 10, a 21 year old female, also from Harare.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health and Child Care has said as part of contact tracing and follow-up, the local Covid-19 Rapid Response Team visited their homes and collected samples for testing, and the results came out positive.

They are both in a stable, with mild diseases and under self-isolation at home.-State media

Farai Dziva|MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa says his main objective is to strive for a better Zimbabwe for everyone.

“I want nothing except a better Zimbabwe for you and me.Thank you for believing and encouraging.

I see Bullet trains,Spaghetti roads,Motorways,Skyscrapers,Best hospitals and Schools,Smart agriculture, New cities, New jobs and wealth in this life.

This, we will achieve in no time.We are happypeople,” wrote Chamisa on Twitter.

A 67-year-old Gweru woman has been suspended from her Methodist Church after she chanted the slogan of the ruling ZANU PF when she was asked to pray at a funeral.

Gogo Magrette Maphosa (67) of Mkoba 13 Gweru told The Herald that it was no secret that she was a Zanu PF supporter adding that she would remain a member of the church and would serve the suspension with no regret.

She said:
I was at a funeral wake in Mkoba when I was asked to give a prayer.

I am a revolutionary and having participated in my own way in the liberation struggle, I use every platform to pray for my party and my leadership, but on the incident, I admit it was wrong for me to chant a political slogan before the mourners.

Gogo Maphosa also said that she has since appeared before a disciplinary committee held by church elders, where she was banned from putting on the church regalia during the time of suspension.

The suspension was confirmed by a Methodist Church elder, Mr Masvinure who said that the church was apolitical therefore Gogo Maphosa’s actions were misplaced.-State media

By A Correspondent|
A prominent Budiriro prophet only known as Madzibaba Enock is said to have prophesied about the coming of the deadly Coronavirus scourge in a 2018 video footage.

The video clip is currently trending on social media platforms.

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

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

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

Contacted for a comment Madzibaba Enock refused to talk to the media.

However, one of his congregants confirmed the incident happened on December 29, 2018 at the Budiriro shrine in Harare.

“Yes I can confirm it’s indeed the video of Madzibaba Enock at our Shrine in Budiriro on 29 December 2018. I was there and he prophesied exactly what we are seeing today. As congregants we know most of his prophesies come to pass.We are even prepared to fight Corona virus,” said Lameck Nyoni, a congregant.

One Zimbabwean who is based in South Africa has implored Africans to respect prophets.

Unconfirmed reports indicate health officials want to get in touch with Madzibaba Enock so that they can work with him in the battle against Coronavirus.

MATABELELAND South Province has this year recorded an increase in malaria cases with six deaths in Gwanda and Beitbridge districts.

In an interview, Matabeleland South provincial environmental health officer, Mr Notho Dube said 900 malaria cases were recorded throughout the province over the past two months.

Mr Dube said some communities were however attributing the six deaths to Covid-19 which was not true.

He said to fight malaria, they had distributed 92 000 mosquito nets in Gwanda and 82 000 in Beitbridge and the exercise was still ongoing.

“We have noted an upward trend in malaria cases that we have recorded this year as they are overshooting three-fold when compared to last year’s figures.

From February up to end of March we had recorded six malaria related deaths of which four were recorded in Beitbridge and two in Gwanda South.

“We recorded a total of 896 cases throughout the Province with Beitbridge recording 819 and Gwanda 60. These figures are roughly three-fold what we recorded last year.

Another worrisome development is that this year we recorded malaria cases in districts where we had never recorded any cases before such as Umzingwane where there are nine cases and Mangwe which has one case,” he said.

Mr Dube said Gwanda South and Beitbridge are malaria prone areas.

“One of the major causes of the increase this year is the persistent rains and flash floods we received in February which created breeding areas for mosquitoes thereby increasing the population of mosquitoes.

In Gwanda most cases have been recorded along Umzingwane River where we have people conducting a number of livelihood activities such as cattle ranching,” he said.-State media

By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe’s Poverty Datum Line(PDL) has soared to $5 293, in February from $4,492 reported the previous month, a 17% increase in one month. 

This means a family of 5 which needed $4492 to survive in January now need $5 293.

According to the publication, the jump in the PDL is reflective of the increase in prices of goods and services and the exchange rate volatility.

Zimstats shared the PDL statistics and said:The Food Poverty Line for one person in February 2020 was $419 while that for an average household of five persons stood at $2,097

The Total Consumption Poverty Line (also referred to as the Poverty datum line) for one person was $1,059 while for an average five person household it stood at $5,293 for the same period

The economy has not been performing better either since the turn of the new year due to a number of reasons.-StateMedia

By Elder Sydney Muyambi| At a time of crisis people look for leadership, comfort, assurance and vision and hope for the future.

If we are to look at biblical examples we see Joseph leading Egypt through a length period of famine.

Moses was able to keep the nation of Israel intact for forty years at a time when they were buffeted by a number of crisis situations.

If we come to our Zimbabwean situation we see heroes and heroines like Nehanda, Kaguvi, Mapondera, Lobengula and Mashayamombe of the first Chimurenga who not only led the people but also inspired them to rise against an oppressive administration.

We also see religion playing a central role in leading and guiding the people. The Mwari and Mhondoro all played a vital role during the revolution.

This also happened during the second Chimurenga period. In both examples (Biblical and Zimbabwean) we note that during crisis times the political and spiritual leadership worked in collaboration to cause the people to believe in the nation and move forward.

It is a time of Easter, a time when the Christian community commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

According to Christian tradition, the person of Jesus represents and embodies the hope of humanity in the wake of pressures of human subsistence. His death is said to be an assurance to humanity that there is life after death.

That despite problems we face as human beings natural death does not mean an end of life but a transition to a higher existence. His resurrection represented victory over death and the grave.

The clear message of Easter then becomes that whatever problems humanity faces does not mean we are doomed.

We may appear to be defeated in this life but there is the standing hope of an eternal kingdom of Christ.

This message resonates with the hope which Nehanda gave Zimbabwe in the face of an apparent defeat by the white settlers.

These are trying times for all of us. The secular world is faced with having to give assurance to humanity that there is life beyond the COVID – 19 crisis. Scientific and political leadership have been both exposed.

The voices that are still audible are only those of political leadership yet they sound hollow, muffled, heavy and desperate.

At this time the only voice that should rise and make sense is that of the spirit man; the man of God. In the wake of an apparent defeat by the coronavirus people are waiting to hear a message of hope from God.

While governments and scientists are busy trying to fashion a way out the people should be kept under restraint by an assuring message of the cross. A message of hope from those that commune with the creator of the universe.

Apparently we seem not to hear the voice of the man of God. The prophets are apparently silent. One wonders whether God has nothing to say about our current situation.

Are they silent because God is silent? Are they silent because they can no longer hear the voice of God?

Are they silent because they, like the rest of humanity are fear stricken in the wake of the coronavirus?

Are they silent because the politicians have usurped power even over the church or religion? Apparently the church stands exposed by this crisis.

The message from governments is clear. “Stay at home because your God has no solution to our problem.”

The entire leadership of LEAD stands with the church. LEAD would like to take this opportunity to challenge those in government to enlist the help of the man of God.

Whenever Jewish leaders, in biblical times, faced a challenge beyond political and scientific leadership they did not hesitate to consult the Seers.

Its time government swallows its pride and brings in the church to LEAD us during this crisis. When there is no vision people perish. They cast away restraint. They run wild.

We, in LEAD implore the church to rise up and take its position as torch bearers to show us the way out of this crisis.

Our message to the church is clear to the church and the man of God is clear.

If you keep quiet help will come for the people from somewhere else but the God of the universe will judge you. Who knows, God might have established you as the church for such a time like this.

Governments can and may lockdown the people and established institutions but they cannot lockdown God.

In one of His teachings Jesus said men should not fear him that can only kill the flesh but not the soul.

They instead should fear Him that can kill both the body and the soul. COVID – 19 kills. Yes it’s a scientific fact but there is a God in heaven.

Nothing happens to humanity without a God ordained cause. May the God of the universe inspire the man of God to provide us with both counsel and leadership?

We are waiting for the church say “thus says the Lord God Almighty.” And we will all yield and fall in line.

God bless us all.

(Muyambi is the Secretary General for LEAD)

A ZIMBABWEAN woman is suing government, police officers and soldiers after she was bitten by dogs as the enforcement officers acted outside their mandate when they were enforcing the National Lockdown regulations.

In an urgent chamber application filed at the High Court in Harare on Thursday 9 April 2020, Lucia Masvondo of Karoi in Mashonaland West province and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) asked the High Court to issue an order protecting the 26 year-old woman against the conduct of some Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) members and some Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officers, who on Friday 3 April 2020 assaulted her as she was cooking food on an open fire outside her house.

The 26 year-old Masvondo said she is worried that as a result of the police and army officers’ conduct, who invaded her home, the security officers may have brought the deadly coronavirus to her home as she does not know where they have been to, where they were coming from or whether or not anyone of them carried the deadly virus.

Masvondo and ZLHR, who listed Defence and War Veterans Affairs Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, Health and Child Care Minister Obadiah Moyo, Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister July Moyo, Home Affairs Minister Kazembe, Commissioner-General of Police Godwin Matanga, Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe and the National Prosecuting Authority as respondents, argued that the army has no business patrolling the streets and purporting to enforce the National Lockdown regulations and that ZRP members and ZNA officers are not allowed to take the law into their hands and punish people by beating them up and asking them to lie prone on the ground.

The woman protested that the ZRP members and ZNA officers, who also assaulted some people, who reside at her residence using truncheons, were not observing or practicing social distancing guidelines as they were not sitting one-metre apart from each other in a truck in which they were moving around in.

Masvondo and ZLHR also want the High Court to issue an order declaring as unconstitutional the proclamation of the National Lockdown Order by Moyo.

In exercising powers granted to him under the Regulations, Moyo on 28 March 2020 published Statutory Instrument 83 of 2020-the Public Health (COVID-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) Order, 2020 declaring a National Lockdown to last 21 days and which commenced on 30 March 2020 and ending on 19 April 2020.

In their application, ZLHR and Masvondo argued that Moyo can only make Statutory Instruments pursuant to powers delegated to him by the Legislature in the parent Act of Parliament. By sub-delegating to himself the powers to make subsidiary legislation through section 8 of the Public Health (COVID-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) Regulations, 2020, S1 77 of 2020, the Health and Child Care Minister had acted ultra vires the Public Health Act and therefore unconstitutionally hence the National Lockdown is null and void. ZLHR and Masvondo argued that the National Lockdown is being enforced following the issuance of an Order that is a nullity.

ZRP members, ZNA officers and some municipal officers, Masvondo and ZLHR said, had committed some acts in the name of enforcing the National Lockdown Order that impinge upon the rights and fundamental freedoms.

In an affidavit accompanying the urgent chamber application, ZLHR Executive Director Roselyn Hanzi said enforcement officers must discharge their mandates according to the law and at all times act within the confines of the law.

Hanzi charged that Moyo failed in his constitutional duty to respect and uphold the Constitution by enacting section 8 of Regulations thereby arrogating to himself the powers to publish certain orders.

Hanzi protested against the confiscation and destruction of some farmers’ produce by law enforcement officers in Mutare early this week, saying such conduct is unlawful as it is not sanctioned by any of the Statutory Instruments that have been promulgated by Moyo.

The human rights lawyer said the National Lockdown regulations do not suggest that fresh farm produce spreads coronavirus and hence the ZRP members’ act of destroying people’s farm produce is criminal and constitutes malicious damage to property.

Hanzi also argued that the ZRP members were breaching the National Lockdown measures by arresting large numbers of people from different households and crowding them in trucks and holding centres, actions which facilitate the passing on of coronavirus by putting them in close proximity of each other without providing them with any forms of protective clothing.

As frontline enforcement officers, ZRP members and municipal officers were putting not only their lives in danger but those of their families and the greater people that they will come into contact with.

Hanzi argued that there are some rights that may not be limited at all as provided in section 86(3), which include the right to human dignity and freedom from torture, or cruel and inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment.

The matter is yet to be set down for hearing.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

The Ministry of Health on Thursday night announced that an individual who was in contact with a Bulawayo man who recently succumbed to coronavirus was found exhibiting symptoms of the deadly pandemic.

This was revealed in a coronavirus update. The update read in part:

Active contact tracing for case #11 from Bulawayo is in progress and to date, we have identified 47 primary contacts of this case. One of these had symptoms suggestive of COVID-19. In line with our intensified surveillance and expanded testing strategy these will be followed up for 21-days and tested accordingly. The Ministry will update the nation on the outcome of these tests.

The Ministry released results of the coronavirus tests for deceased on the 7th of April when he had passed away in hospital on Saturday 4th April 2020.

The man initially presented to a General Practitioner on the 23rd of March 2020 with a history of cough, sore throat and fever but did not improve on oral antibiotic treatment, went to a local hospital on the 2 April 2020 where he was admitted and eventually died.

What is frightening is that the deceased’s contacts had their own contacts who also had a chain of contacts making it difficult to track, test and quarantine them.

By A Correspondent- A former cabinet minister Walter Mzembi has urged the army to enforce lockdown compliance on loitering President Emmerson Mnangagwa adding that the country’s first citizen had become “the epicentre of deliquency and defiance”.

Said Mzembi in a series of tweets suggesting what should be done to curb the spread of coronavirus:

“SECURITY FORCES should go & enforce lockdown compliance at STATEHOUSE first , that is the epicentre of DELINQUECY & DEFIANCE. After that Security forces must deliver door to door MEALIE MEAL, WATER , COOKING OIL , SUGAR , SALT, BREAD & MEAT.”

I further propose that the 300 000++ Beneficiaries of the Land Reform pay a special " Black Tax " of ONE BEAST, ONE GOAT , THREE CHICKENS AND THREE TONNES of GRAIN towards a NATIONAL COVID NUTRITION PROGRAM for the VULNERABLE already identified by WFP

— Dr Walter Mzembi (@waltermzembi) April 10, 2020

Daily News|THE government has launched an urgent local and global appeal for financial and material aid to combat the spread of coronavirus in the country, amid the rising death toll from the pandemic, the Daily News reports.

This comes as the Harare City Council revealed yesterday that its Wilkins-run hospital had taken in four people suspected to be infected by the lethal virus.

At the same time, doctors who met President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday implored him and the government to urgently embark on an expanded testing programme of citizens to avoid many people dying from the pandemic.

This came as Finance minister Mthuli Ncube announced yesterday that the government had launched the National Disaster Fund (NDF), admitting in the process that Covid-19 was likely to be “one of the worst natural disasters to befall our nation in recent times”.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is undoubtedly very likely to be one of the worst natural disasters to befall our nation in recent times.

“Government has, in response, set aside significant resources towards efforts to mitigate the immediate, medium and long term effects of this global pandemic on our people and the broader economy.

“However, the scale and seriousness of this epidemic calls upon all of us as Zimbabweans to put our best foot forward and I, therefore, wish to call upon … all stakeholders that have the capacity and wish to assist in any way to come forward with their contribution to … combat the Covid-19 pandemic,” Ncube said.

The launch of the NDF comes as Zimbabwe registered its third death from coronavirus this week, from the 11 people who have so far tested positive for the deadly disease — a development which has made the country’s Covid-19 mortality rate among the highest in the world, at 27 percent.

There are growing fears that the absence of enough rapid testing kits in the country places Zimbabwe’s ability to contain the virulent disease in jeopardy.

On its part, the government has admitted candidly that it is facing challenges with its coronavirus testing kits, with most of its stocks defective.

“We received some kits which we are not using because we found that they were defective.
“We are, therefore, waiting to receive definitive testing kits because some of the rapid results testing kits we have give defective results.

“This way, one person can test negative when one is positive, and a positive person can test negative when that is not the case. So, those tests are not reliable,” Health and Child Care minister, Obadiah Moyo told our sister publication the Daily News On Sunday, earlier this week.

“The only reliable testing that is taking place in the country is being carried by the government and not private hospitals.

“As government, we are using the golden standard which is definitive, although this takes five hours for results to show.

“We hope to get more testing kits so that we come up with results early,” Moyo further told the Daily News on Sunday.

Meanwhile, yesterday’s news that Wilkins Hospital — the only certified hospital in the country for the treatment of Covid-19 patients — had taken in four suspected coranavirus patients, will likely add to fears that have gripped the nation regarding the disease.

“Initially, we had one star patient at the hospital that unfortunately passed away last night (Wednesday). Right now, we have four people that are suspected of having the virus.

“These four people came into the country from a cruise ship from the United States, and we have tested them and are waiting for their results,” Harare’s director for health, Prosper Chonzi, revealed.

He also said following the renovations that were made at the hospital, the facility now had the capacity to accommodate up to 70 patients.

“We are in a better space now and we can accommodate more people than we were able to do before the outbreak started.

“We are now able to manage some of the critically-ill patients although we are not hundred percent there.
“We can at least ventilate others and also manage those that need to be nebulised. Those that need oxygen, face masks and nasal prongs, we can now manage them,” Chonzi said further.

“We are happy that we now have ICU beds and proper state-of-the-art ventilators. They are not in the numbers that we would want, but we have some and we can now save lives.

“We can now comfortably take 10 into critical care, while the rest of the 60 beds will be made up of stable and moderately ill patients,” he added.

However, and despite the improvements, health experts say the rising death toll from the few cases of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 point to worse things to come — unless the government acts quickly to avert a disaster of epic proportions.

The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) has warned that all three patients who had died so far merely needed respiratory support, which the government had proved incapable of providing.

“Apart from the rising death toll whose percentage could be misleading, given that the number of coronavirus positive cases could be more than the 11 that have officially been confirmed owing to limited testing, what is more worrisome are the circumstances around the deaths which suggest that all the three only needed respiratory support.

“One therefore wonders what will happen when we have more cases if we cannot manage only three.
“That thought sends a chill down the spine and we have said government should up its game,” ZAHDR secretary Norman Matara told the Daily News.

Government spokesperson Nick Mangwana urged people not to flout the 21-day lockdown measures that were announced by Mnangagwa to help combat the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

“Stay home Zimbabwe. We are not hiding numbers, but certainly we are not yet testing enough,” Mangwana said on Twitter yesterday.

The issue of how ill-prepared Zimbabwe has been to deal with Covid-19 was brought to the fore last month following the death of broadcaster Zororo Makamba — after he apparently contracted the lethal virus in the United States of America (USA).

His death and the family’s subsequent exclusive interview with the Daily News touched the hearts of many Zimbabweans and foreigners alike, generating wide debate about the government’s lack of capacity to deal with the disease.

By A Correspondent- A Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services officer is battling for life after he downed poison following a domestic dispute.

The unidentified officer was among three patients visited by ZPCS Commissioner-General Paradzai Zimondi yesterday at Zimbabwe Prison Staff Hospital in Chikurubi.

Comm-Gen Zimondi wished the three officers a speedy recovery as the sister-in charge explained to him the condition of each patient.

“This one attempted to commit suicide by downing pesticide following a domestic violence dispute but is responding well to treatment,” she was heard talking to Comm-Gen Zimondi Comm-Gen Zimondi urged business community and churches to come on board and assist them saying the hospital is in dire need of medicines and medical equipment for it to remain fully functional.

“The role played by our prison office is crucial and they need a collective responsibility in assisting them so that they discharge their duties well; said Comm-Gen Zimondi.

“With the number of inmates increasing by the day, the officers face challenges in managing the overpopulated prisons especially this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is a need for churches, business community and individuals to partner us in addressing the inmate’s and officers’ needs,” said Comm-Gen Zimondi.

Founding MDC MP for Harare Central Mike Auret has died. MDC leader Nelson Chamisa posted a message on Twitter mourning his passing away.

Said Chamisa, “I’m deeply saddened to receive news about Mike Auret’s death. We shared trenches in the struggle in the then NCA in 1999. Mike was elected as MDC MP for Harare Central in 2000. A gallant fighter, an indefatigable defender of human rights. A great guy. Consistent. RIP Our HERO!”

Auret served on the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) which documented the ethnic Gukurahundi genocide.

His family circulated a moving eulogy on social media:

The passing of our Father on Good Friday

A light that shone so brightly with the humility and gentleness of the Saints he so faithfully followed, has finally dimmed. Our much-loved husband, father, grandfather, uncle and brother has gone forward to light the way for us in the dark journey ahead. While our hearts are torn asunder as we face the devastation of his leaving, we celebrate a life lived with such great compassion, activism, meaning, wisdom and above all – with such great love.

Dad was never just ours. We shared him with the Zimbabwe he so loved and fought all his life for, and ultimately with all those whose lives he touched and raised up through the power of his love.

Michael Theodore Hayes Auret was meant to be a catholic priest until he met our mum, Diana, and everything changed. Catholicism, his heroes, Pope John Paul II, Pope Francis and Father Patrick Galvin were the inspiration for his transition from young white farmer trying to make sense of the Rhodesian Civil War to human rights activist. He began by holding the Rhodesian police accountable for the torture of our farm workers, thereafter joining the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP)to expose the atrocities of the senseless war. He also began to oppose the Rhodesian Front politically by standing unsuccessfully as an opposition MP in Bulawayo.

While on a CCJP trip to Rome to discuss peace efforts with the Pope, he was called up to the Rhodesian army. Knowing he could not fight for the Rhodesians he arranged for us to leave the country as refugees and he led us from Rome, through Switzerland and finally to England.

Returning to Zimbabwe at Independence, he threw himself into rebuilding the country with the church and continued his work with CCJP which led him to the work he participated in, with other great Zimbabweans, in the cataloguing of the massacres in Matabeleland contained in the book “Breaking the Silence: Building True Peace.”

Throughout his life in Zimbabwe, he continued to serve and when constitutional discussions took place he was part of the founding of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and served as its vice-chairperson in the first committee under Morgan Tsvangirai. The NCA went on to defeat Mugabe in the only democratic process the opposition was ever allowed to win, the constitutional referendum, pushing back Mugabe’s constitution in 2000.

In the same year, he stood for the opposition MDC in the 2000 elections and won his seat in Parliament for Harare Central.

After his retirement, he continued his love and service to the Catholic church in Ireland where he settled with our mum and his family. He often dwelled on the fight for Zimbabwe and wrote: “From Liberator to Dictator: An insiders account of Robert Mugabe’s descent into tyranny”.

He was always a gentleman, always loving, compassionate and humble. Married to our mum for 63 years, we are all devastated by his passing, but thank God that he chose to take him home after a long and sometimes painful journey, on this day of such significance.

Diana, Peter, Margaret, Stephen and Michael Auret and all our children

State Media|Zimbabwe has moved into a potentially defining moment in terms of enforcement of the 21-day lockdown, with a heavy police and army presence on all roads leading into central Harare today, following worryingly large numbers of people this week.

All passengers are asked to produce letters from employers indicating they are part of the skeletal staff manning offices and/ or factories during this period.

The town is literally deserted with a few people seen walking on to the streets and some getting into supermarkets. Pick n Pay (Jason Moyo Branch) is one of the few shops open in the CBD.

The popular Simon Vengayi Muzenda Bus Terminus (formerly Fourth Street), which services residents from the eastern parts of Harare, is virtually empty.

A deserted southern view of Same Nujoma Avenue on Good Friday.

So serious is the security forces’ operation that for the first time since the lockdown started 12 days ago, there are officers at Cnr Herbert Chitepo/ Leopold Takawira Street.

The decision to man all routes into town follows reports that some citizens were using uncommon routes to sidestep security checkpoints.

There were reports early morning that some Zimpapers newspaper vendors were asked to leave their selling points at Cnr Simon Muzenda Street/ Samora Machel Avenue, and Rotten Row Street/ Simon Mazorodze.

A visit by The Herald news crew to the selling points revealed that the vendors were indeed not there.

However, other newspaper vendors were at their selling points.

Along Cameroon Street towards Mbare, a military vehicle is blocking two lanes, with vehicles and people being screened there.

Current situation on Good Friday in Harare as Government ups the game to ensure covid19 lockdown compliance.

Refreshingly, security officers manning the checkpoints have face masks and gloves after concerns they were exposed to the deadly virus by engaging people without protective clothing.

This reporter was stopped by friendly police in anti riot gear at NetOne Building and asked to demonstrate why he was driving into town.

The surge in numbers of security details come on the back of concerns by Government and experts yesterday that Zimbabwe risked reversing the gains recorded last week when many citizens largely heeded the lockdown directive.

Health experts fear there could be an explosion of fresh Covid-19 cases in the next few weeks if people continued to flood the streets.

Updating journalists on the post-Covid-19 Taskforce daily meeting at State House in Harare last night, Information, Publicity and

Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa expressed concern over the high number of people violating the lockdown regulations.

As at yesterday, 3 251 people had been arrested for violating lockdown measures.

“It is disheartening to note that some citizens are willing to put themselves and those around them at risk by flouting the lockdown regulations,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

A 67-year-old Gweru woman has been suspended from her Methodist Church after she chanted the slogan of the ruling ZANU PF when she was asked to pray at a funeral.

Gogo Magrette Maphosa (67) of Mkoba 13 Gweru told The Herald that it was no secret that she was a Zanu PF supporter adding that she would remain a member of the church and would serve the suspension with no regret.

She said:
I was at a funeral wake in Mkoba when I was asked to give a prayer.

I am a revolutionary and having participated in my own way in the liberation struggle, I use every platform to pray for my party and my leadership, but on the incident, I admit it was wrong for me to chant a political slogan before the mourners.

Gogo Maphosa also said that she has since appeared before a disciplinary committee held by church elders, where she was banned from putting on the church regalia during the time of suspension.

The suspension was confirmed by a Methodist Church elder, Mr Masvinure who said that the church was apolitical therefore Gogo Maphosa’s actions were misplaced.-State media

The decision to extend South Africa’s lockdown until the end of April will create an economic disaster, the main opposition party has warned.

The country has already been under lockdown for two weeks and it was due to be lifted in a week.

The president has said it will be extended because evidence suggested it was already limiting Covid-19’s spread.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said it was a “great mistake to think in terms of lives versus livelihoods”.

“Each death resulting from the virus is a tragedy. But so is each death resulting from caged citizens and frustrated law enforcers, and so is each victim of home violence. And each malnourished child. And each newly unemployed South African,” the party said in a statement.

In a televised address to the nation on Thursday evening, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the decision to extend the strict restrictions had not been taken lightly.

“I have to ask you to make even greater sacrifices so that our country may survive this crisis and so that tens of thousands of lives may be saved,” he said.

He also announced that senior politicians would donate a third of their salaries to help those worst affected by the pandemic and urged business leaders to do the same.

South Africa has recorded 1,934 confirmed cases of Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by coronavirus, including 18 deaths.

The country has some of the most stringent lockdown restrictions in the world – no jogging outside, no sales of alcohol or cigarettes, no dog-walking, no leaving home except for essential trips and prison or heavy fines for law-breaking.

-BBC

By A Correspondent- The Christian based civic organisation, Habakkuk Trust has expressed concerns over citizens failure to maintain social distancing requirement as one of the measures to prevent the spread of Covid 19.

In its report the trust said social distancing measures have been disregarded in most supermarkets as starving citizens queue for basic commodities.

“While some shops have instituted preventative measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, including sanitizing hands, reducing the number of people inside the shop at a given time and checking temperature for every customer at the entrance; little is being done to ensure social distancing is practiced,” said the trust.

“The presence of law enforcement officers has been noted in some shops and their role has largely involved maintenance of public order especially in mealie meal queues with limited efforts in enforcing social distancing.”  

Habakkuk Trust said it has been monitoring the COVID-19 lockdown period since it began.  

“The organization continues to monitor government and citizen actions during this period and has noted the following issues as requiring urgent redress:

Daily queues in nearly every suburb of Bulawayo as residents scramble and jostle to buy mealie meal. Some of the queues have over 100 people and social distancing is not practiced,” said the trust.

“Police may be present in these queues but their major role is maintaining peace and order while social distancing is not being enforced. Habakkuk Trust notes with grave concern that these mealie meal queues expose thousands of residents to the risk of Coronavirus infection.”

The trust said this concern also comes at a time when government authorities have confirmed that the nation has very few testing centres and health institutions set aside for infectious diseases in Bulawayo are not adequately equipped to deal with any COVID-19 cases.

“In light of the recent COVID-19 fatality recorded in the City of Bulawayo this week, Habakkuk Trust is calling for coordinated efforts between the police, shop owners and the public health officials to ensure social distancing is practiced in queues for essential commodities as this will assist to minimize the community spread of COVID-19. The organization is also calling for the speeding up of provision of food for the vulnerable groups and availability of subsidized mealie meal,” said the trust.

“The prevailing situation in queues around the city is threatening to undermine the worth of social distancing thus rendering the lockdown useless while sparking a public health disaster.”

South Africa health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has provided a midday update on the Covid-19 situation with the country recording 23 deaths from the 2003 confirmed cases.

Dr Mkhize says 73 028 tests have been conducted. A total of 410 people have recovered. 

More to follow…

By A Correspondent- Zanu PF activist in Glenview Harare reportedly recorded the names of the party members only to get get subsidised mealie meal while sidelining members of the MDC Alliance.

This is contained in the Zimbabwe Peace Project latest report.

“In a report received from GlenView 1 on 29 March, Zanu PF youth political commissar Archford Mavhima went around Glenview 1 and 2 areas recording names of residents in ward 32 and informing them that Zanu PF had purchased mealie meal to cater for its supporters only during the 21 days Lockdown period,” reads the report.

“A crisis knows no political party affiliation and communities must instead come together to win the fight against a crisis like COVID19.”

By A Correspondent- The national airline Air Zimbabwe has told its workers that it has halted all the works due to the closure of airspace by the governments to avert the spread of the deadly Coronavirus.

In a Staff notice written on Thursday the company said majority of staffers will be placed on indefinite unpaid leave from the 23rd of April 2020.

The staff will be paid their full April salaries and thereafter wait for the situation to be fine.

Read the full statement below:

 On the 27″ of March 2020, the Head of State. His Excellency, President E.D. Mnangagwa announced a 21 day National Lockdown as a preventive measure against the spread of COVID- 19 pandemic. Details of the National Lockdown measures are articulated in Statutory Instrument 83 of 2020. Consequently, the Airline operations have ground to a halt as most of the passenger travel destinations are on lockdown with travel restrictions, implying NIL revenue inflows.

 While other revenue initiatives are being pursued. staff remuneration remains one of the largest cost drivers within the Airline and without revenue inflows and external interventions, it will be a challenge to continue funding the salaries.

Resultantly, our staff compliment shall be reduced and a skeletal team identified by the Heads  of departments will be in place to ensure adhoc operations, airworthiness compliance, safety, security of aircraft and associated equipment within the Airline. Therefore, some of us will be placed on indefinite unpaid leave effective 23 April 2020 until operations normalise. However, April 2020 salaries will be paid to all staff members in full.

This decision has been made after evaluating all the available and possible options. However, : the COVID-19 pandemic seemingly appears to have far reaching consequences on the overall economy and our way of living. Nonetheless, we look forward to resuming our normal operations with the deployment of our B737 and ERJ 145 once they are available and travel restrictions have been lifted.

MATABELELAND South Province has this year recorded an increase in malaria cases with six deaths reported in Gwanda and Beitbridge districts.

Matabeleland South provincial environmental health officer Mr Notho Dube said 900 malaria cases were recorded throughout the province in the past two months.

He said some communities were attributing the six deaths to Covid-19, which was not true.

Mr Dube said under an ongoing exercise to fight malaria, they had distributed 92 000 mosquito nets in Gwanda and 82 000 in Beitbridge.

“We have noted an upward trend in malaria cases that we have recorded this year as they are overshooting three-fold when compared to last year’s figures.”

“From February up to end of March, we had recorded six malaria-related deaths four of which were recorded in Beitbridge and two in Gwanda South. We recorded a total of 896 cases throughout the province with Beitbridge recording 819 and Gwanda 60.

“These figures are roughly three-fold what we recorded last year.

“Another worrisome development is that this year we recorded malaria cases in districts where we had never recorded any cases before such as Umzingwane where there are nine cases and Mangwe which has one case,” said Mr Dube.

-State Media

By A Correspondent- Opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa says his main objective is to strive for a better Zimbabwe for everyone.

“I want nothing except a better Zimbabwe for you and me.Thank you for believing and encouraging.

I see Bullet trains,Spaghetti roads,Motorways,Skyscrapers,Best hospitals and Schools,Smart agriculture, New cities, New jobs and wealth in this life.

This, we will achieve in no time.We are happypeople,” wrote Chamisa on Twitter.

Farai Dziva|MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa says his main objective is to strive for a better Zimbabwe for everyone.

“I want nothing except a better Zimbabwe for you and me.Thank you for believing and encouraging.

I see Bullet trains,Spaghetti roads,Motorways,Skyscrapers,Best hospitals and Schools,Smart agriculture, New cities, New jobs and wealth in this life.

This, we will achieve in no time.We are happypeople,” wrote Chamisa on Twitter.

Media Institute of Southern Africa has filed two urgent court applications compelling government to disseminate comprehensive information on COVID 19 and another seeking a court interdict to stop police from harrassing journalists using the 2019 press cards.

The body tasked with accrediting journalists, the Zimbabwe Media Commission has not commenced the process of issuing the 2020 press cards, a move that continues to affect journalists who have reported countless cases of being harassed or denied access to certain functions.

More to follow…

A 67-year-old Gweru woman has been suspended from her Methodist Church after she chanted the slogan of the ruling ZANU PF when she was asked to pray at a funeral.

Gogo Magrette Maphosa (67) of Mkoba 13 Gweru told The Herald that it was no secret that she was a Zanu PF supporter adding that she would remain a member of the church and would serve the suspension with no regret.

She said:
I was at a funeral wake in Mkoba when I was asked to give a prayer.

I am a revolutionary and having participated in my own way in the liberation struggle, I use every platform to pray for my party and my leadership, but on the incident, I admit it was wrong for me to chant a political slogan before the mourners.

Gogo Maphosa also said that she has since appeared before a disciplinary committee held by church elders, where she was banned from putting on the church regalia during the time of suspension.

The suspension was confirmed by a Methodist Church elder, Mr Masvinure who said that the church was apolitical therefore Gogo Maphosa’s actions were misplaced.-State media

Warren Park residents were pictured observing the social distancing order while queueing to fetch water at a community source.

View pictures below…

By A Correspondent- The Minister of Local Government and Public Works, July Moyo, has directed all local government authorities (councils) to handover health institutions under their jurisdiction to the Ministry of Health and Child Care for the purposes of fighting Covid-19.

In a letter addressed to all mayors, town council and chairpersons of rural local authorities, the minister said that the decision was in consideration of the intensity and magnitude of the coronavirus pandemic. He said:

Given the magnitude and intensity posed by Covid-19 pandemic on public health and the economy at large, I am invoking Section 23 of the Civil Protection Act Chapter 10:06 of 1989 to empower all Provincial Development Coordinators to requisition all designated health facilities within their areas of jurisdiction for immediate use by the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

Minister Moyo said the exercise should be done immediately. Zimbabwe has recorded 11 coronavirus cases including 3 deaths amid reports that some cases are being concealed by authorities.

Observers say that Zimbabwe is unprepared to combat the virus that emerged in China in December last year. The renovation of Wilkins Hospital, the major institution designated for infectious diseases in the country was completed a few days ago.-StateMedia

WATCH VIDEO- Citizens defy social distancing as they queue for subsided mealie meal in Harare. Share your videos with us for publishing on our whatsapp number +447426863301 pic.twitter.com/UEzibeWvIt

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) April 10, 2020

By A Correspondent|
A prominent Budiriro prophet only known as Madzibaba Enock is said to have prophesied about the coming of the deadly Coronavirus scourge in a 2018 video footage.

The video clip is currently trending on social media platforms.

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

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

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

Contacted for a comment Madzibaba Enock refused to talk to the media.

However, one of his congregants confirmed the incident happened on December 29, 2018 at the Budiriro shrine in Harare.

“Yes I can confirm it’s indeed the video of Madzibaba Enock at our Shrine in Budiriro on 29 December 2018. I was there and he prophesied exactly what we are seeing today. As congregants we know most of his prophesies come to pass.We are even prepared to fight Corona virus,” said Lameck Nyoni, a congregant.

One Zimbabwean who is based in South Africa has implored Africans to respect prophets.

Unconfirmed reports indicate health officials want to get in touch with Madzibaba Enock so that they can work with him in the battle against Coronavirus.

By A Correspondent- Top Rwandan officials will not get their April salaries in one of the drastic measures the government has enforced to raise funds for social protection programmes aimed for the most vulnerable in the community.

Rwanda has implemented a strict lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus, which has forced many low-income earners and unemployed people to struggle to get food and other basic necessities.

The country has confirmed 104 coronavirus infections to date, the second-highest number in the region after Kenya which has 158 cases. Four patients were released from hospital on Sunday.

“In the context of the fight against Covid-19, and in solidarity with the most affected Rwandans, the Government of Rwanda has decided, over and above ongoing social protection initiatives, that all Cabinet Members, Permanent Secretaries, Heads of Public Institutions and other senior officials shall forfeit one month’s salary (April),” Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente said in a statement released on Sunday.

Those who will not get their April pay are 34 Cabinet members, 26 senators, 106 members of Parliament, and hundreds of heads of public institutions – who earn an average of Rwf2 million (about $2140) per month.

This is likely to generate close to $1 million to be used to combat effects of coronavirus on the vulnerable.

Rwanda’s ministry of Local Government is already distributing food to households and individuals most hit by the Covid19 lockdown.

The number of those needing government assistance has been rising since the food distribution began as many have lost jobs or been unable to make a living due to the lockdown.

In Kigali alone, the number of households eligible for food distribution grew from 26,572 to more than 50,000 in a matter of days, with more people expected to be identified.

The government is providing relief to households where individuals depended on daily income such as casual jobs workers and those whose work was suspended over the lockdown measures.-StateMedia

A legal expert here has advised Senator Douglas Mwonzora that no one can register a coalition to contest an election.

Writing on Friday morning, legal expert Dr Tapiwa Shumba brought out guidelines from the country’s electoral act. Dr Shumba was responding to Mwonzora ‘s claim that Nelson Chamisa’s MPs are under deployed to parliament under distinct groups of parties. (AUDIO LOADING BELOW).

Below was Dr Shumba’s rendition:

By Dr Tapiwa Shumba | The recall of MDC Alliance MPs and Councillors by the MDC-T is legally and procedurally impossible.

All the MPs and Councillors who contested under the MDC Alliance belong to the MDC Alliance, in total. There is no such a thing such as that there are MPs under the jurisdiction of some distinct political parties that don’t exist at ZEC or in Parliament.

Our electoral law does not provide for the system of coalitions. No one can register a coalition to contest an election. ZEC only registers political parties. Which is the same reason why the MDC Alliance had to be a political party and not a coalition in order to register at ZEC, that is, the MDC-T alone would not be able to recall a member of the Alliance. All they would do is to make a resolution and ask the Alliance to write to parliament recalling a deployee.

@Welshman_Ncube cannot report to touch MPs who belong to my party, the MDC, the main MDC in the Alliance, so in terms of the alliance agreement the alliance itself is not a party, says @DMwonzora pic.twitter.com/rGrk41HpUp

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) April 10, 2020

For example, there are only ANC MPs in the South African Parliament. Parliament doesn’t listen to COSATU or SACP because they all contest under the ANC. The SACP cannot recall Hon Blade Mzimande from Parliament. Only the ANC (coalition) leadership can do so.

Indeed even the then Alliance coalition MOU was alert to this reality. Parliament has no business involving itself in electoral pacts that are not provided for under our law.

In fact apart from the record at ZEC which culmimates into the Parliamentary register after election results, Parliament has no other means of identifying which of the many parties in a coalition, an MP belongs. Such means just don’t exist because they are not needed.

Secondly, in other jurisdictions there is a parliamentary system called FLOOR-CROSSING where Mps are allowed to move with their seats from the political party they contested under to another party. The Zimbabwe Constitution abhors that system.

The purpose of s129 (1) (k) & (l) of the Zimbabwe Constitution is to specifically prohibit floor-crossing. Even a person who won as an independent is prohibited from crossing the floor. (Hon Themba Mliswa probably wants to rejoin ZANU-PF but he can’t, he will lose his seat).

Anyone who contested for a seat under MDC Alliance but claims to now belong to another party and relinquishes their membership of the Alliance floor-crosses and therefore offends the Constitution.

It also follows that no MP can claim to belong to two different political parties. In parliament, you cannot say I ran under the ANC but I am a SACP Mp. i.e You cannot say I ran under the MDC Alliance but I’m a PDP or MDC-T Mp. That’s just nonsense in Parliamentary terms. – CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW DR SHUMBA

For the entire electoral cycle, an MP must belong to the political Party he contested under. The party whose manifesto you sold to the electorate. If you don’t belong to the MDC Alliance anymore, its you who has crossed the floor and you must recalled immediately.

Again, this is deliberate under our Constitution to protect the electorate who elected members believing that they will carry the mandate and manifesto of the MDC Alliance they sold to them. This protection should be respected.

In truth, only the MDC Alliance will have jurisdiction over Mps who ran under the MDC Alliance. You risk embarrassing yourself and any Speaker of Parliament who listens to you if you write to Parliament and say I am the MDC-T leader, I want to recall an MDC Alliance MP.

No parliament should entertain such a letter, that is, currently, only the leadership of the MDC Alliance, through its Secretary Hon Chalton Hwende can legally, procedurally and officially converse with Parliament on matters concerning MDC Alliance MPs.

Lastly, I am sorry but this is the reality of the coronaboys and all flies that follow their corpses to the grave.

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW DR SHUMBA

By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Independent has revealed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa last year when the country was in need of a bailout and going through an economic collapse bought a lot of weapons because he was afraid of a protest due to the economic collapse.

According to the publication:

Fearing potential mass protests that could be triggered by the deteriorating economy, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration which came to power through a military coup in 2017 in June last year bought 50 000 mortar bombs and 58 500 grenades

At that time, the Independent also revealed that government reinforced its arsenal through the acquisition of 3 343 AK47 assault rifles, 2 000 CZ pistols, 500 P1 pistols, 500 Steyr-223 rifles,500 Uzi submachineguns, 500 Moseberg guns, 500 RPT guns,300 mortar tubes, 1 500 Tokarev guns,100 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and 22 943 AK47 magazines.

Although Zimbabwe has spent heavily on boosting its arsenal, the country desperately needs a substantial financial bailout package to rescue the troubled economy.

The economy has nosedived over the last 18 months with inflation soaring to over 450% and the people’s purchasing power eroding every single day.

Nick Mangwana shared pictures of a COVID 19 Isolation centre in Gweru. Looking at the pictures on the link below.. https://t.co/4XsAfWHoKd
Do you think that the Health Minister Obediah Moyo told the truth when he told MPs that Zimbabwe was ready for the coronavirus fight?

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) April 10, 2020

Gweru District Taskforce inspect a temporary isolation centre at Gweru Hospital. #stayhomezim pic.twitter.com/GOvTWKSQSU

— Nick Mangwana (@nickmangwana) April 10, 2020

Gweru District Taskforce inspect a temporary isolation centre at Gweru Hospital. #stayhomezim pic.twitter.com/GOvTWKSQSU

— Nick Mangwana (@nickmangwana) April 10, 2020

A Zimbabwean female journalist was this Friday forced to toyi-toyi by soldiers and a police officer manning a checkpoint at Corner. Samora Machel and 4th Street in Harare.

The journalist, Mary Taruvinga is with New Zimbabwe.

Said the Young Journalist Association on twitter

@NewZimbabweCom reporter Mary Taruvinga was this Friday morning forced to “toyi toyi” by soldiers & a police officer manning a checkpoint at Cnr. Samora Machel & 4th Street.”

The incident happens when Zimbabwe is on a 21-day lockdown that was imposed by the government as a measure to stop the spread of coronavirus.

This is also happening when Zimbabwe is claiming to be amending legislation to ensure media freedom. Taruvinga is not the first journalist to clash with security officers during this lockdown.

Nunurai Jena a freelance journalist was on 2 April arrested accused of breaching Section 41 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act which deals with disorderly conduct in a public place, which is the main charge.

He was on 3 April 2020 remanded out of custody on free bail to 7 May 2020 when he appeared in court in Chinhoyi charged with disorderly conduct in a public place.

Another freelance journalist, Kudzanai Musengi was on 30 March arrested for taking photos in the Central District (CBD) while covering the 21-day COVID-19 lockdown.

By Own Correspondent| According to the Young Journalists Association (YOJA), a female journalist Mary Taruvinand who works for New Zimbabwe was this morning forced to toyi-toyi by soldiers enforcing lockdown in Harare Central Business District.

This is against the fact that journalists are classified as part of essential services and have been cleared to work.

“Journalist forced to “toyi toyi” by soldiers, police officers

@NewZimbabweCom reporter Mary Taruvinga was this Friday morning forced to “toyi toyi” by soldiers & a police officer manning a checkpoint at Cnr. Samora Machel & 4th Street,” said YOJA on Twitter.

Police yesterday warned people to stay at home during the easter holidays.

This follows concerns from the security forces that people were not observing lockdown orders amid increase in traffic and human movement in the CBD of Harare.

By A Correspondent- A police clampdown on motorists and pedestrians loitering in the country’s cities in violation of lockdown regulations yesterday netted 205 offenders, bringing the total number of people arrested for various misdemeanours since last week to 3 251.

Yesterday’s offenders were arrested for violating Statutory Instrument 83 of 2020.

Police are seeking to de-congest major urban centres following a notable increase in traffic flow in the second week of the national lockdown.

Statistics from the police show that police in Manicaland recorded 94 arrests on that particular day, while 40 were arrested in Harare.

In Midlands, police arrested 36 offenders, while Mashonaland East and Matabeleland North recorded eight arrests each.

Police in Mashonaland West, Masvingo and Mashonaland Central arrested five people each, while four were arrested in Matabeleland South.

In an interview, national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said authorities would not rest until people complied with the lockdown measures.

“We noticed that more people were loitering in cities and towns throughout the country and deployed our officers to arrest the defiant individuals,” he said.

“On the first day of our blitz, we arrested a total of 205 motorists and pedestrians who were loitering in the urban centres in our provinces.

We will continue arresting them until there is compliance.”

Asst Comm Nyathi said most of the offenders were fined, while some were sent to court depending on their personal circumstances.

“Some have been taken to court and it is encouraging that the courts have convicted and sentenced others,” he said.

Asst Comm Nyathi said police managed to arrest 102 people for other offences related to the lockdown.

Six were arrested over unsanctioned gatherings, five for illegally opening bars and drinking in public while 34 were arrested over traffic offences.

Police arrested 57 others for miscellaneous offences.-StateMedia

Below is the message from the opposition MDC and party Treasurer General David Coltart following the death of former Harare Central legislator Mike Auret who passed away in Ireland.

MDC :We offer our deepest condolences to the Auret family on the passing of Michael Auret. Mike served on the Catholic Commission for Justice & Peace from 1978 to 1999. From 2000 to 2002, he served as an MP for the MDC. Our prayers are with Diana, Peter, Margaret, Stephen & Michael.

David Coltart: I am deeply saddened to report that Mike Auret died this morning in Ireland. Mike’s work in promoting human rights in both Rhodesia & Zimbabwe was unparalleled. If ever there was a true Zimbabwean hero it was Mike. Rest In Peace good friend.

By A Correspondent- Jackie du Preez, the Zimbabwean who played two Tests for South Africa in the 1966-67 season, has died in Harare at the age of 77. du Preez was suffering from a long-standing heart condition.

du Preez played in pre-independent Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) and was one of several of his countrymen, including Mike Procter, to go on to represent South Africa. He was a legspinner, unusual in the country at the time, and forced his way into the South African national side with a haul of 6 for 95 in a three-day tour match between Australia and Rhodesia prior to their five-Test series in South Africa.

With the series 2-1 in South Africa’s favour, du Preez played in the fourth and fifth matches in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth. The Johannesburg Test was drawn, leaving the series finale as a must-win for Australia, but South Africa were victors by seven wickets to take the series 3-1.

Though du Preez did not make a major impression with the ball or bat in the series, he did in the field. Together with Eddie Barlow, he combined to run out Bill Lawry before the Australian had faced a ball in the fifth Test, putting South Africa on the front foot early on.

He bowled in only the second innings at the Wanderers where he took 2 for 22, took a wicket without conceding any runs in two overs in the first innings at St George’s Park and went wicketless in the second innings. He also registered a duck on each of the two occasions that he batted.

After that series, du Preez went on to have a long and successful first-class career, scoring more than 4,000 runs and falling four short of 300 wickets. Post-retirement, he served on Zimbabwe Cricket’s selection panel.-Online

By A Correspondent- Michael Theodore Hayes Auret, the former MP for the MDC for Harare Central in the early 2000s, has died.

Auret died this Friday morning in the United Kingdom where he was now living.

Mike Auret joined the MDC then led by Morgan Tsvangirai at its formation in 1999, after having been part of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) which unearthed atrocities committed during the Gukurahundi in the early 1980s.

Writing on social media, MDC Senator David Coltart, who worked with Auret in the CCJP, described the late as a devout Catholic and human rights activist who fearlessly stood for justice.

“I am deeply saddened to hear that Mike Auret died this morning in Ireland. Mike was one of the most inspirational figures in my life. It was Mike who engaged me as a young lawyer in December 1983 to record statements from Gukurahundi victims and we worked closely together on the Breaking the Silence Report published in 1997.

“We both were elected as MDC MPs in 2000.

“Mike was one of the true heroes of Zimbabwe . His consistent battle over many decades to promote human rights both in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe is unparalleled. He was a man of the utmost integrity and courage – a fearless man who always spoke up for what he knew to be right. He was also a compassionate man with a lovely warm sense of humour.

“I will deeply miss Mike even though he hasn’t lived in Zimbabwe for many years. My deepest condolences are extended to Diana and the entire family.”

Mike Auret Jnr, the deceased’s son, said his dad lived a long life filled with great compassion, activism, meaning, wisdom and above all – with such great love.

“The passing of our Father on Good Friday. A light that shone so brightly with the humility and gentleness of the Saints he so faithfully followed, has finally dimmed.

“Our much-loved husband, father, grandfather, uncle and brother has gone forward to light the way for us in the dark journey ahead. While our hearts are torn asunder as we face the devastation of his leaving, we celebrate a life lived with such great compassion, activism, meaning, wisdom and above all – with such great love.

“Dad was never just ours. We shared him with the Zimbabwe he so loved and fought all his life for, and ultimately with all those whose lives he touched and raised up through the power of his love.

“Michael Theodore Hayes Auret was meant to be a catholic priest until he met our mum, Diana, and everything changed. Catholicism, his heroes, Pope John Paul II, Pope Francis and Father Patrick Galvin were the inspiration for his transition from young white farmer trying to make sense of the Rhodesian Civil War to human rights activist.-Online

Some Very Sad News! Mike Auret Snr Has Passed Away

The passing of our Father on Good Friday

A light that shone so brightly with the humility and gentleness of the Saints he so faithfully followed, has finally dimmed. Our much-loved husband, father, grandfather, uncle and brother has gone forward to light the way for us in the dark journey ahead. While our hearts are torn asunder as we face the devastation of his leaving, we celebrate a life lived with such great compassion, activism, meaning, wisdom and above all – with such great love.

Dad was never just ours. We shared him with the Zimbabwe he so loved and fought all his life for, and ultimately with all those whose lives he touched and raised up through the power of his love.

Michael Theodore Hayes Auret was meant to be a catholic priest until he met our mum, Diana, and everything changed. Catholicism, his heroes, Pope John Paul II, Pope Francis and Father Patrick Galvin were the inspiration for his transition from young white farmer trying to make sense of the Rhodesian Civil War to human rights activist. He began by holding the Rhodesian police accountable for the torture of our farm workers, thereafter joining the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP)to expose the atrocities of the senseless war. He also began to oppose the Rhodesian Front politically by standing unsuccessfully as an opposition MP in Bulawayo.

While on a CCJP trip to Rome to discuss peace efforts with the Pope, he was called up to the Rhodesian army. Knowing he could not fight for the Rhodesians he arranged for us to leave the country as refugees and he led us from Rome, through Switzerland and finally to England.

Returning to Zimbabwe at Independence, he threw himself into rebuilding the country with the church and continued his work with CCJP which led him to the work he participated in, with other great Zimbabweans, in the cataloguing of the massacres in Matabeleland contained in the book “Breaking the Silence: Building True Peace.”

Throughout his life in Zimbabwe, he continued to serve and when constitutional discussions took place he was part of the founding of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and served as its vice-chairperson in the first committee under Morgan Tsvangirai. The NCA went on to defeat Mugabe in the only democratic process the opposition was ever allowed to win, the constitutional referendum, pushing back Mugabe’s constitution in 2000.

In the same year, he stood for the opposition MDC in the 2000 elections and won his seat in Parliament for Harare Central.

After his retirement, he continued his love and service to the Catholic church in Ireland where he settled with our mum and his family. He often dwelled on the fight for Zimbabwe and wrote: “From Liberator to Dictator: An insiders account of Robert Mugabe’s descent into tyranny”.

He was always a gentleman, always loving, compassionate and humble. Married to our mum for 63 years, we are all devastated by his passing, but thank God that he chose to take him home after a long and sometimes painful journey, on this day of such significance.

Diana, Peter, Margaret, Stephen and Michael Auret and all our children

By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe’s military splurged vast amounts of money, exceeding US$90 million, on undeclared and opaque transactions to acquire new and refurbished armaments from 2000 to 2016 at a time the country was gripped by a debilitating economic crisis and political turmoil.

New data from international security think-tanks provide a rare glimpse into the spending patterns of the powerful and influential military in a country where even legislators are clueless about how the army budget is structured.

According to the Stockholm International Peace and Research Institute (Sipri) — a military intelligence think-tank — the defence forces spent US$92 million between 2000 and 2006 and a total of US$647 million from the country’s Independence in 1980 to date to acquire military hardware.

The Sipri report, titled Transfer of Major Weapons: Deals with Deliveries or Orders Made From 1995 to 2019, for the first-time sheds light on Harare’s acquisition of arms from Asia and Eastern Europe at a time of economic collapse, while neglecting social service delivery and clocking up massive debt.

Fearing potential mass protests that could be triggered by the deteriorating economy, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration — which came to power through a military coup in 2017 — in June last year bought 50 000 mortar bombs and 58 500 grenades.

At that time, the Independent also revealed that government reinforced its arsenal through the acquisition of 3 343 AK47 assault rifles, 2 000 CZ pistols, 500 P1 pistols, 500 Steyr-223 rifles,500 Uzi submachine

guns, 500 Moseberg guns, 500 RPT guns,300 mortar tubes, 1 500 Tokarev guns,100 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and 22 943 AK47 magazines.

Although Zimbabwe has spent heavily on boosting its arsenal, the country desperately needs a substantial financial bailout package to rescue the troubled economy.

In 2016, the country received 85 refurbished units of “large-calibre artillery” from neighbouring South Africa, the reports from the think-tanks shows.

While it is not standard practice for nations to disclose their armament acquisitions, Zimbabwe’s huge military spending – running into millions of US dollars in that period – is being disclosed for the first time by arms dealers, mostly from Eastern Europe. China, which upgraded its bilateral relations with Zimbabwe to “strategic partnership and cooperation” status in 2018, also sold an array of weaponry to Harare.

During the period when the country was experiencing catastrophic economic turbulence, which saw Zimbabwe’s inflation rising to 1 500% in 2008 before there was relative stability the following year on the back of a power-sharing agreement with the opposition parties, government spent huge amounts of money to fortify Harare’s arsenal.

According to Sipri, Zimbabwe ordered 60 units of M43 (120mm) mortar in 1999 from Bulgaria and took delivery of the shipment in 2000 at a cost of US$1 million.

Notably, the report shows that the United States has not exported arms to Zimbabwe since the country’s independence in 1980.

In that period, Zimbabwe’s economy suffered unprecedented decline, triggered by chaotic land seizures, unbudgeted disbursement of millions of dollars in compensation to veterans of the country’s liberation war and the costly foray into the Democratic Republic of Congo’s civil war.

In 2000, gross domestic product shrunk to a new low, while inflation quickened to 55,22% before peaking at 598,75% in 2003.

According to Sipri, Zimbabwe, isolated by Western governments, paid US$55 million between 2004 and 2006 to China to bolster its military arsenal. It bought a range of fighter aircraft and infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) in 2004 that included 10 units of Type 85 IFVs, five units of Type 89/ZSD 89 armoured personnel carriers and six K-8 Karakorum jet trainer aircraft. The purchases were made in 2004 at a time when the British government refused to sell crucial spare parts to Zimbabwe for the maintenance of Hawk fighter aircraft.

Zimbabwe had last received a shipment of military hardware from the United Kingdom (UK) in 1992 at a cost of US$22 million, Sipri reports.

It has also emerged that in 2000, Harare, battling to contain hyperinflationary pressures, bought six units of a self-propelled armament known as the Stalin Organ in military parlance — technical specifications RM-70 (122mm) — from Slovakia at a cost of US$1 million. A lot of this weaponry was deployed in the DRC to keep the beleaguered Laurent Kabila regime in power.

According to the report, the purchase of a fleet of six K-8 Karakorum jet trainer aircraft from China in 2006 cost Zimbabwe US$21 million.

Three years earlier, Harare had taken delivery of three Mig-230M aircraft for US$15 million from Libya during the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, who was later deposed.

According to Sipri, all the countries which sold arms to Zimbabwe declared the transactions, but Harare did not.Sipri also shows that Zimbabwe was active in the arms bazaars of Eastern Europe, where it bought a range of aircraft accessories from Ukraine in 2006. They included 12 units of AL-25 turbofan engines for the K-8 Karakorum aircraft. From 2001 to 2006, Harare shelled out US$17 million to Kiev for military hardware, Sipri reveals.

Before 2000, when Zimbabwe still enjoyed cordial relations with the West, the country purchased six SF.260 jet aircraft from Italy and 23 units of Almat APC (armoured personnel carriers) from France in 1998 and 1996 respectively at a cumulative cost of US$15 million.

In 2000, Harare took delivery of a fleet of six MI-24P combat helicopter gunships from Russia for US$22 million.Sipri’s disclosures follow revelations by the Independent in January that Zimbabwe was on the verge of taking delivery of new fighter jets from Moscow in an arms-for-minerals deal.

Under the murky deal, Zimbabwe would parcel out to Russia vast mineral claims that include lucrative platinum mining rights in exchange for Mig fighter jets.

Zimbabwe and a Russian conglomerate, including state-owned arms manufacturer Rosetec, entered into a joint platinum mining venture in a deal worth US$3 billion. This deal is not part of US$647 million purchases.

In 2014, the Zimbabwe National Army entered into a contract, which is still running, with Boomslang Logistics for the refurbishment of EE9 armoured vehicles, known as Cascavels in military parlance.

Boomslang Logistics, headquartered in Dubai with a presence in Zimbabwe and South Africa, has, according to its website, also sold armaments to Somalia, Senegal and the DRC, among a long list of clients.

At the time of going to print, both Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri and Army spokersperson Overson Mugwisi had not responded to questions sent to them on the vast arsenal acquired, mostly from Eastern Europe between 2000 and 2016.

A separate 2018 report by the International Institute of Strategic Studies titled Military Balance lists Harare’s armaments, including armoured vehicles, fighter jets, air-launched missiles and a paramilitary wing, three years after the military toppled the country’s then long-time leader, the late Robert Mugabe.

The report casts uncertainty on the future role of the military in Zimbabwe’s polity.The think-tank notes: “In an overnight operation, the army secured key operations in Harare and placed President Mugabe under house arrest.

“The future political role of the military was uncertain as of late November, though key officers were given ministerial positions. High inflation and economic problems continue to be potentially destabilising . . .”

Since Zimbabwe’s Independence in 1980, the military has enjoyed significant budgetary support, even as the fragile economy plunged into catastrophic decline due to deep-seated corruption and mismanagement.-Independent

Harare City Council is working on plans to decongest Mbare market by establishing other centres in Budiriro, Dzivarasekwa and Hatcliffe suburbs.

This was revealed by Ward 16 Councillor Denford Ngadziore who also sits in the Informal Market committee of the City of Harare.

Below is Ngadziore’s message to his ward residents…

Dear Ward 16 Residents and Stalkholders

There have been an outcry from residents through social media groups on overcrowding of the only biggest Mbare Green Market during this Covid19 lockdown.

Be advised that they was proposal from the City to completely closed down all Markets. Nevertheless they is a proposal for Council to open additional farmer’s markets in the following areas:

Budiriro 1 Community Centre (to serve Glen View, Budiriro Mufakose and probably Kambuzuma).

Dzivarasekwa- Dzivarasekwa Community Centre (to serve Dzivarasekwa, Kuwadzana, Warren Park and part of Kambuzuma),

Hatcliffe Market and Mabvuku to serve residents in those respective areas.

Another green market will be opened to serve Northern suburbs.

From our Farmers suppliers database we will advise the farmers of the new farmers markets. Mechanisms are to be employed to ensure there is uptake of usage of these new markets.

Selection of the sites will be informed by availability of sanitary facilities, space to ensure social distancing and spatial coverage of the city so that Mbare is decongested. Sanitizers will also be availed at these markets.

This set up has its attendant cost of deploying the requisite infrastructure, personnel (Market Officers, Security, Cleaners and Cashiers) garbage collection which will be weighed with advantages of decentralisation.

The proposal is to operationalise this latest by Sunday. We will keep you updated on progress as unconfirmed reports are saying Harare Minister of State for Provincial Affairs already made a decision to recommend completely ban all markets

Denford Ngadziore
Councillor ward 16
Deputy Chairperson
Infomal Sector /SMSs Committee
City of Harare

By A Correspondent- Opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader, Nelson Chamisa has expressed optimism about the Zimbabwean situation saying that good things are achievable in no time.

Posting on Twitter on Friday, Chamisa said:

Want nothing except a better Zimbabwe for you & me.Thank you for believing & encouraging.I see Bullet trains,Spaghetti roads, Motorways, Skyscrapers,Best hospitals & Schools,Smart agriculture, New cities, New jobs & Wealth in this life. This, we will achieve in no time.#happypeople

His remarks come when Zimbabwe is submerged under a huge economic and humanitarian crisis characterised by inflation, shortage of mealie-meal and fuel as almost all sectors in the country are on their knees.

Chamisa has just repeated the promises in the MDC manifesto that the party pledged to deliver if they get into power.

While some believe that the listed things can be achieved “in no time” as long the incumbent “corrupt” government is out of power, some say that Chamisa is being hyperbolic considering that issues in the country are deeply rooted.

By A Correspondent- Exiled former Cabinet Minister, Professor Jonathan Moyo has criticised President Mnangagwa for having “misplaced priorities” during critical times when the country is on lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Moyo posted on Twitter in response to a post by The Herald, a state-run publication and said:

Other presidents announced that govt will support the vulnerable; while well-remunerated health workers who’ve been tested for the #COVID19 will be out in full force, with personal protective equipment, to assist the general public to keep social distancing, get tested & treated!

Below is the tweet by The Herald he was responding to:

Security forces will increase patrols during the Easter holiday which starts tomorrow in order to assist members of the general public in complying with the demands of the ongoing lockdown meant to deal with the spread of COVID19, President Mnangagwa has announced.

President Mnangagwa’s remarks follow an announcement by the Zimbabwe National Army that they, in conjunction with the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) have launched Operation Abasha Corona which is meant to make sure the citizenry adheres to the lockdown regulations.

Meanwhile, some say starvation in the country puts the lockdown in jeopardy hence the need for humanitarian assistance and provision of safety nets to assist the general populace during the lockdown and yonder.

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday assured medical workers in the frontline that the Government will speed up the provision of adequate personal protective equipment (PPEs) and clothing as well as offer them training to ensure their safety in the wake of Covid-19.

In his Easter message last night, the President said Government will continue to scale up and improve the country’s health system in terms of preparedness to handle the Covid-19 threat and consolidating the gains made in keeping Zimbabwe safe from the global pandemic.

“We shall be moving with greater speed to provide the workers in the frontline with all the adequate PPEs and personal protective clothing as well as the requisite training to ensure safety in the wake of the Covid-19 threat,” said President Mnangagwa.

He commended various stakeholders from across the social spectrums who are giving generously towards the fight against Covid-19

“Together we are stronger. Going forward, these bonds and partnerships that are being created among our society must be nurtured and strengthened. We need each other and the answer to this crisis lies in our discipline and unity,” said the President.

He also reiterated his call for Zimbabweans to continue observing lockdown regulations by staying at home and practising good hygiene and observing social distancing to curb the spread of the deadly virus.

President Mnangagwa said security arms will continue to intensify their patrols to ensure compliance and curb the unnecessary movement of both pedestrians and vehicles.

He paid tribute to men and women constituting the essential services and keeping the country functional during the lockdown period.

The President urged the nation to trust in God in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“May Easter also remind us that the seemingly irresolvable human problems are not eternal. There is hope and this situation will not last forever, it will come to pass. Things will go back to normal, but in the meantime, we must be patient and responsible,” said President Mnangagwa.

The President wished the nation a happy Easter holiday.

“On behalf of the Government of Zimbabwe and on my own behalf, I would like to wish all Zimbabweans at home and abroad a joyous Easter filled with blessings, peace, love and hope of a brighter future,” he said.

“As we go through this year’s Easter holiday may we find hope and strength in the words of Jesus Christ in John 16 verse 33, who reminds us that in the world we shall have many tribulations and urges us to have peace, and be of good cheer, for he has overcome the world.

“In the midst of the darkness, may the light of Jesus Christ shine! I once again wish you all a peaceful, blessed, safe and happy Easter holiday. God bless you all, God bless Zimbabwe.”

-State Media

By A Correspondent- Fists flew after a prominent Masvingo businessman, Taurai Mudzwiti popularly known as ‘ Bucho ‘ was caught having a romp with another man’s fiancee, at a Gweru lodge.

The woman in question was identified as one Anele, who learns at Great Zimbabwe University.

The jilted man, identified as Tatenda Gwatidzo outed Bucho by putting him on social media.

He ranted:

“I also wanted to be married like you but I caught you f***ing my ex fiancee in Gweru at village lodge, Anele Daisy Makhiwa, a student GZU WHO I WAS SENDING TO SCHOOL I WITHOUT PROTECTION, WHAT’S SAD IS U HAVE A BEAUTIFUL WIFE U RUINED IT FOR ME

In a series of video clips which have gone viral on social media, an enraged Gwatidzo drives to the Gweru lodge where the rendezvous is alleged to have taken place.

As he approaches the lodge he starts to narrate what’s going on.

“Iyi imota yaBucho iyi, akarara na Anele mu lodge iyi.

This is Bucho’s car (indicating a black Merc), he’s having a romp with Anele in this lodge.

The clip cuts to Gwatidzo bellowing for Bucho to open the door so they can square off.

” Open this door right now , I caught you having s_ e_x with my girlfriend. What are you still doing inside

There were visible blood spots from the doorway to the porch, indicating that when the initial confrontation happened, there was a physical fight which resulted in injury.

An incensed Gwatidzo, who seemed like he was bleeding stormed to the window and started asking for Anele to come out of hiding.

“Come out now Anele and let’s deal with this. I know you are in there. I tried to reason with you in a rational manner but you treated me like an as**le.

The clearly devastated man continued with his rant asking Bucho to come out or he will be forced to start shooting at the door with his gun. He continued demanding for Anele to come out.

While it’s not known how the whole drama concluded, it is clear that Gwatidzo and Anele went on to part ways.

Meanwhile, Bucho posted a cryptic status on his social media account saying he won’t let all the negative publicity destroy him.-Online

By A Correspondent- The National University of Science and Technology (NUST) is working with local hospitals to repair ventilators that have been defunct for years, machines that are key in handling Covid-19 critically ill patients.

Ventilators are used in the Intensive Care Unit to assist critical patients to breathe. Covid-19 affects the respiratory systems of critical patients and the country has an acute shortage of the machines.

The university, which wants to live to its science and technology billing, has engaged United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) and Mpilo Central Hospital to repair the institutions’ damaged ventilators.

NUST has successfully fixed one of the ventilators at UBH but it has to be certified safe for usage by medical professionals. After independent verification, the university is ready to restore seven others that have not been working for a long time. All eight ventilators are from UBH and it could not be established yesterday how many will come from Mpilo Central Hospital.

NUST’s chairperson and senior lecturer in the Electronic Engineering Department, Dr Busiso Mtunzi said by initiating the repairing of the medical equipment, the university was addressing community challenges while enhancing students’ knowledge.

“There are some machines at the hospital that we are looking at. Some of the machines there have missing components that are supposed to be imported but of course with some machines we have managed to get some components locally. We have put together one machine that is ready for checking and certification by medical professionals,” said Dr Mtunzi.

He said once the ventilator is approved safe for usage, they will finalise on seven other machines that also need fixing.

“If it is tested and approved that it is working well, we will then finish working on the others. But there is the monetary aspect to be considered,” he said.

Dr Mtunzi said technicians at UBH who have experience in handling ventilators have been helping the engineers and students in fixing the machines. He said after completing work at UBH, they will proceed to Mpilo Central Hospital as they have identified some ventilators that also need repairs.

Dr Mtunzi said NUST was committed to fighting Covid-19 and utilise practical technology for a positive change.

“There is positive contribution that is coming from the university not only on the ventilators but NUST is contributing in terms of hand sanitisers and face masks as well as in terms of lab testing which is done at the DNA lab,” said Dr Mtunzi.

UBH clinical director Dr Narcisius Dzvanga said it was premature to celebrate the resuscitation of the ventilators and declined to comment.-StateMedia

By A Correspondent- A Gweru woman (67) is in soup after she reportedly chanted a political slogan and started castigating those opposed to the ruling party after being asked to pray at a funeral.

For chanting a Zanu PF slogan before starting her prayer and going on to criticise those opposed to the ruling Government in her short and emotional prayer at a funeral wake, Gogo Magrette Maphosa of Mkoba 13 Gweru, courted trouble for herself and was suspended from the Methodist Church.

Gogo Maphosa said it was no secret that she was a Zanu PF supporter.

She said she would remain a member of the church and would serve the suspension with no regret.

“I was at a funeral wake in Mkoba when I was asked to give a prayer,” said Gogo Maphosa. “I am a revolutionary and having participated in my own way in the liberation struggle, I use every platform to pray for my party and my leadership, but on the incident, I admit it was wrong for me to chant a political slogan before the mourners.”

Gogo Maphosa said she had since appeared before a disciplinary committee held by church elders, where she was handed a three months suspension.

“I was also banned from putting on the church regalia during the time of suspension and I gladly accepted the suspension because I deserve to be punished for my actions,” she said.

“It was a wrong platform. I am also a God fearing person, so I will abide by my church’s position because I am still a member of the church.”

Gogo Maphosa said she won’t go to other churches during her suspension, but will pray indoors.

“After all, we are on lockdown and people are not being allowed to gather, so am serving my suspension while home, praying at home,” she said.

A Methodist Church elder who only identified himself as Mr Masvinure confirmed the suspension.

He said the church was apolitical and Gogo Maphosa’s actions at the funeral wake were misplaced.-Online