Roger Mayweather, uncle and trainer of Floyd Mayweather, has died at the age of 58.
Before becoming a trainer, Roger was a world champion in his own right, holding titles at featherweight and welterweight in the 1980s.
He began working with Floyd in the late 1990s, with the nephew going on to be unbeaten in 50 fights and earning a reputation as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of all time.
No cause of death has been confirmed.
Mayweather Promotions said on Twitter: “We are saddened with the recent news of Roger Mayweather’s passing.
“Our hearts go out to the Mayweather family and we will keep you in our thoughts and prayers. We thank you all for the outpouring of love and support during this time. Roger’s spirit lives on with us forever.”
It is the second tragedy to hit Floyd Mayweather this month after Josie Harris, the mother to three of boxing superstar Floyds children, was found dead in her car in California on 11 March.-BBC
Commissioner Cressida Dick speaks about the coronavirus:
Commissioner Cressida Dick
The spread of COVID-19 is of huge concern to everyone, causing fear and uncertainty – none of us know quite how it will affect our families and our lives. The new Government advice yesterday underlined the gravity of the challenge and the need for everyone to behave responsibly and look after ourselves and each other.
At the Metropolitan Police Service we are responding, planning ahead and – as ever – working around the clock to help keep Londoners safe.
The fast-moving nature of this pandemic presents many challenges that are new. But I want to reassure you that much also remains the same. Our brave, dedicated and professional officers are, and will be, out there on our streets and supporting your community.
We are here to support people and to continue to perform our primary function – to protect lives and prevent crime wherever we can.
We are working closely with Government at the highest level to respond to the outbreak and to ensure our policing work supports wider efforts in what is a rapidly-evolving and difficult to predict picture. Everyone within the Met is absolutely determined to continue to provide the best possible public service.
I have appointed one of the country’s most experienced police officers, Assistant Commissioner Mark Simmons, who has been a police officer in London for more than 37 years, to oversee our response.
He is working with a team of senior officers to assess how we stretch and flex the organisation to prioritise demand, support our officers and staff and continue to focus on my number one priority – bearing down on violent crime.
We will also continue to do everything we can to keep our staff fit and well, following the public health guidance and equipping them with protective equipment where we should and can.
Londoners can help us by looking out for each other, supporting us and our fellow emergency services and keeping up-to-date on the latest advice from the Government and health authorities.
You should familiarise yourself with the many different ways you can contact us in non-emergency situations, such as using our website. This will help free officers and call handlers to attend to those who need us the most.
Policing has always been about responding to risk and balancing priorities with finite resources – and doing so as safely as possible.
The men and women of the Met joined “the Job” to help people and that is what we will always do. Like the city itself, the Met is deeply resilient. We have many challenges facing us but we will meet them with our usual positivity.
This is not the first time that London has faced a crisis and I think back to the response to the terrible terrorist atrocities of 2017. In the darkest of times the values of tolerance, unity and kindness shone through. They will serve us well now.
Farai Dziva|The leader of Calvary Prayer Group, Prophet Isaac Makomichi says he is intending to invite President Emmerson Mnangagwa and MDC leader Nelson Chamisa to a three-day prayer and fasting programme at “a holy mountain.”
This, he says is a biblical revelation as the nation needs divine intervention.
Makomichi said while he was impressed by the efforts made by the two politicians to combat the deadly Coronavirus scourge, there was need to seek divine intervention.
“I am humbly inviting His Excellency, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and MDC president Nelson Chamisa to a sacred mountain for prayers.
The main objective of the three day programme is to pray for the nation.
As you know the nation is grappling with economic challenges and above all we have to pray against Coronavirus.
If the two leaders take the initiative to pray for the nation, then we will be delivered.
Remember Elijah would go to the mountain to pray, that is what our leaders are supposed to do,” said .
“I can leave them at prayer mountain or I can spend three days with them . Zimbabwe requires divine intervention.”
However, political observers have indicated that it is practically impossible for the two to meet at the said prayer mountain.
“That is impossible, the two cannot spend three days and three nights together.They have to meet and resolve outstanding issues before going to the prayer mountain.
I don’t think they will even agree to go there,” said one political analyst.
Zanu PF members who spoke to ZimEye.com said it can be possible if proper channels are followed.
By Farai D Hove| As many countries including neighbouring South Africa shut their borders, Emmerson Mnangagwa has kept Zimbabwe’s ports open not so much for business, but for COVID-19.
Experts say the chances of Zimbabwe being hit by Coronavirus are at their extreme and the Health Minister Obadiah Moyo yesterday said the pandemic was so near that it could spread within seconds right inside the parliament building in Harare.
3 days ago, South Africa announced it is closing over 32 of its borders. The following day instead of doing the same the Defence Minister in this country was busy celebrating as she said that the pandemic is God’s punishment against nations that put sanctions on her party.
Yesterday the Health Minister Obadiah Moyo was asked about shutting the borders and he skirted over the matter only talking about shutting down schools and parliament.
So far:
The total number of global cases has surpassed 200,000, including more than 8,000 fatalities. Over 80,000 patients are reported to have recovered.
– US-Canada have agreed to close down border. – Australia raises travel ban to the highest level in history – Iran’s death toll nears 1,000 – Nigeria imposes a travel ban from high-risk countries – The Eurovision Song Contest and Glastonbury Festival called off
UK: As of 9am on 18 March 2020, 56,221 people have been tested in the UK, of which 53,595 were confirmed negative and 2,626 were confirmed positive. 103 patients in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) have died.
Farai Dziva|The leader of Calvary Prayer Group, Prophet Isaac Makomichi says he is intending to invite President Emmerson Mnangagwa and MDC leader Nelson Chamisa to a three-day prayer and fasting programme at “a holy mountain.”
This, he says is a biblical revelation as the nation needs divine intervention.
Makomichi said while he was impressed by the efforts made by the two politicians to combat the deadly Coronavirus scourge, there was need to seek divine intervention.
“I am humbly inviting His Excellency, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and MDC president Nelson Chamisa to a sacred mountain for prayers.
The main objective of the three day programme is to pray for the nation.
As you know the nation is grappling with economic challenges and above all we have to pray against Coronavirus.
If the two leaders take the initiative to pray for the nation, then we will be delivered.
Remember Elijah would go to the mountain to pray, that is what our leaders are supposed to do,” said .
“I can leave them at prayer mountain or I can spend three days with them . Zimbabwe requires divine intervention.”
However, political observers have indicated that it is practically impossible for the two to meet at the said prayer mountain.
“That is impossible, the two cannot spend three days and three nights together.They have to meet and resolve outstanding issues before going to the prayer mountain.
I don’t think they will even agree to go there,” said one political analyst.
Zanu PF members who spoke to ZimEye.com said it can be possible if proper channels are followed.
the lion soon after it had been shot and killed having itself earlier on devoured the victim.
Other pictures can not be displayed due to their gruesome nature.
Dear Editor.
A man in his early 30s from Mola ward 3, was attacked and killed by marauding lions along Bumi Hills Mola road. It is believed that Butcher Kapandura, the man in question, had been hired by Bumi Hills employees to take him to the hotel by a motor bike since the whole Omay area has no public transport plying the routes. However, on his way back that’s when he met the unfortunate incident. – More details to follow…
By Nomazulu Thata | Miriam Majome: Barely 36 hours of hearing about medieval traditions and cultural “beliefs” in our communities, we read today once more about a classic case of the power of Sangomas and cultural beliefs. It is reported in Murewa, 3 days ago, a Sangoma woman drowned while in a ritual supposed to take place in a mountain called Domborembudzi. Having been declined this ritual on this hill by the local chief, because they did not follow correct procedures to gain access, the group rolled down the hill to perform their rituals by the River Nyaguwe.
It is said the entire village Murewa is in shock about the drowning of the female villager, on the other hand, the 16-member group are jovial, convivial, blissfully waiting for her resurrection that is supposed to take place in 3 days: 3 DAYS!!! Dear Miriam Majome, what does this number “3 DAYS” remind you of in Christian religion? Do Sangomas and the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ in 3 DAYS have something in common nowadays? Have these African beliefs turned Christian anyhow to even pick a Christian time event of the resurrection of Jesus with their rituals otherwise known as heathen and backward by all Christians in the Christian fraternity?
This river is known to be crocodiles infested. How does the 16-member group still hope that their own will come back in three days and alive: they believe, this to be exact to the point, the miracle is to come, is to happen: When she threw herself into the river, it is said she waved goodbye: what Njuzus are always believed to do in river-waters and underground wells like Chinhoyi caves. This is a narrative we have been told ever since we were children that Mermaids perform by waving at their audiences either Hallo or Goodbye.
This is what this lady Sangoma was choreographing, emulating Njuzu: According to her mindset, I think, she had to do this live performance to be like a Njuzu in this crocodile-infested River: it is hoped by all in the group of 16 Sangomas that she will come back presumably with higher spiritual powers: having lived under the water for three days, the crocodiles will not dare touch her because she is special, she is spiritual, crocodiles will not see her at all and the swollen river will not bundle her body upside down with water currents running at a very high speed.
Now that she will not come back alive as they had hoped, this case has been reported to the police for searching the remains; reasons for her failure to come back alive will be hatched, they will be many of them. Sangomas as the group already are, will cast their “bones” and determine what will have happened that she “died”. Culprits will be found. But because there was an evil spell that devoured their own on her way to get more wisdom and spiritual powers, she did not come.
It is good for their wellbeing by maintaining a false narrative that “it was not alone” “hazvisi zvega izvi, kune huroyi mukati” In our African societies there is no natural death. Any death means or is defined as; somebody cast an evil spell on the victim and that lead to death: It can be illness, accident, suicide or any simple death, always a culprit is found and is identified Not long ago, a woman in Dete was told by Sangoma who lived near Victoria Falls to go to the Zambezi River to cleanse herself of bad-luck and other illnesses. The woman obediently went to cleanse herself in the Zambezi River. We should all know what happened to her because we are literate but gullible to trust a mere Sangoma with our lives. She was swept by the Zambezi River high currents; parts of her body were recovered days later. These Sangomas that give ill-advice to our citizens appear to get away with murder and homicide in most cases.
Such high-powered ignorance takes rounds in Zimbabwe and people do not learn from most recent incidences that inform us to think rationally and learn to think outside the box. No spirit-medium or powerful herbs will save this woman from crocodile River-infested and high current Nyaguwe. If at all our societies should have learnt from is the incident that took place in 2009, a woman called Rotina Mavinga told the Zanu PF cabinet that she can perform miracles or cast a spell that will produce diesel fuel from the rock. Did we not see Mugabe’s half cabinet: Didymus Mutasa, Kembo Mohadi including a learned Defence Minister, Sekeramayi: a medical doctor by profession, taking their shoes off because they had entered a sacred place. In private, this woman was ushered with a lot of money, a car, and a piece of land. .
Instead of invoking the spirits to produce diesel fuel from the rocks, the woman clandestinely went to Zambia to buy clean and refined diesel fuel that she piped it into the rocks. The Ministers and the most educated were mesmerised by the spiritual powers of this woman. Are we still to believe that Zimbabwe is the highest literacy rate in the entire African continent with this kind of medieval thinking that runs deep into all aspects of our class societies, from the less educated right up to the distinguished academics from decent global universities.
It was 2018 just before the harmonized elections in July that year. Advocate Chamisa was ordained pastor. He travelled to Israel to see the path Jesus took from Jerusalem until he was to be crucified in the city of Golgotha. According to Chamisa, this pilgrimage to Israel was an empowerment journey to 2018 election victory and his subsequent rise to power as President. Did we see the pics he took in the holy land with awe and wonder and we sang it loud: Chamisa chete chete? Did we gullible believe that when he comes, he will just sweep the elections and elegantly, defeat Mnangagwa and will be the Third President of Zimbabwe. Chamisa was wearing “white garments” not black; magemenzi machena: a “sign of purity” black is not a sign of purity but curse!!! Chamisa together with Advocate Biti with his red headdress thrown to the ground in reverence of the sort-out holy place in Zimbabwe wilderness. They were choreographed or photographed in absolute deep prayer and that was shot before the elections took place. That had to be done, to be photographed to show us that our leader is indeed God-fearing one.
When MDC-Alliance lost the elections, Advocate Chamisa still believed in the power of the prayer: The case of rigged elections had gone to the high court, was going to be elegantly won by MDC-Alliance without much preparations for the court case on the part of the Lawyer Thabane Mpofu. But the V-11 forms were missing and there was insufficient evidence to make a case for rigged elections. How much amount of prayer was going to assist legal evidence that was poorly prepared by MDC-Alliance lawyers? Ten lawyers in the echelons of MDC-Alliance power failed to sit down and bring forward a case of evident rigged elections. But Advocate Chamisa strongly believed in the power of the prayer and not the power of arithmetic as scientific evidence that would have turned around the elections as rigged. Zimbabwe is still having the highest literacy rate the whole of Africa.
Zimbabwe today has men who think that if they are HIV/AIDS positive, they need to sleep with a virgin to heal from the disease: This information or advice or treatment suggestions come from Sangomas. Sangomas are revered, believed to the letter in our societies, hence even their cruel and excruciating advice is taken on board. These sick with HIV/AIDS men will target young women and girls, rape them in the hope of getting the incurable disease cured. When they go for a test to establish if the disease is healed having bedded virgins, surely bedding a girl, girl-children and even babies because they are still the ones who are virgins, does not cure HIV/IADS: they are told by the testing clinics that they are HIV-AIDS positive. So, they will go for many other girl-children, rape them, de-vaginate whoever is thought to be virgin in their eyes or on their way; to get the cure of the incurable disease. This is how the spread of HIV/AIDS has spread in Zimbabwe. Which country with high literacy rate will believe that a rape with a virgin can cure HIV/AIDS? In Zimbabwe they do believe this, and they do this to this day in year 2020 dear Miriam Majome.
Marriage in Zimbabwe is still an institution that is revered by all societies rightly so. But the cases of infidelity are still intact. What does infidelity in Zimbabwe mean in the first place? Our societies are patriarchal and this marriage of one woman is not Zimbabwean or African to this day. Days of yester year, men could have as many women as they can afford to get. Because of Christianity, men marry only one woman: It is for this reason we find men with one wife at home and several “small houses” scattered around the country. The power of the man is confirmed by having many women as small houses who are set to compete with the married wife in the reproduction process. In the process of competition between the wife and the small houses, Sangomas are consulted to give the wives and small houses those love-potions to treat the husband infidelity and womanising.
We have lost men because of these “Mupfuwhira” in Shona or Isawudho in Ndebele. We have lost brothers, sons, uncles because of these medications that can be very lethal and unhygienic practices, and to this day women do consult Sangomas to get that “stay soft” to pacify the man’s sex drive so that the man just thinks and trust her and her alone. But other women of the same man, even the wife of the man: its competition like no other to win the love of this man. According to me, this is pure madness on the part of women.
One would think that if the economy of our country was healthy, women would learn to stand on their own and learn to give value to themselves and not to think that to be valued is when you are married only. It is this dependence on men economically that make women cope with madness in the marriages. Women put up with unimaginable to maintain marriages that are not supposed to be nurtured. A marriage that could be stressful and dangerous should never be nurtured by smart thinking women out there. We have lost thousands of smart women in these dysfunctional marriages some due to undisclosed illnesses.
The sexually transmitted diseases are sometimes not taken into consideration by competing parties. How many of our women are suffering from HIV/AIDS transmitted to them by their husbands? How many women have succumbed to sexually transmitted diseases infected by their spouses? A good woman is a woman who will stand by the man, the husband and father who will have infected her with such a deadly disease for life. What precedence are we teaching our growing up girl-children? Girl-child empowerment has not reached the shores of Zimbabwe yet, but the rate of literacy remains Zimbabwe has 90% of the people educated than any other country in Africa. We have, not so long ago, seen and witnessed the death of Robert Mugabe whose body was supposed to be on guard 24/7 by his wife Grace until he is buried. What does that inform us about the beliefs and the power of Juju and witchcraft in our societies? For Mugabe to give such orders before he died, what does he know or privy of the rituals that could take place from his dead body. Has he been part of rituals that used body parts of deceased people prior to burial, and he was scared post humus that it could happen to him too? We know all these answers because the societies are ours and we have grown up in them to know the length and breadth of our deep-seated fears about death and the subsequent rituals that can be used for other purposes after the late has been buried. The worst insult one can inflict in a Zimbabwean to tell her/him that he/she is a witch: uyaloya/unoroya. This insult is very effective because we believe in evil practices very deeply in our psyche to this day. It could be for this reason that witchcraft is enshrined in our constitution to this day because in the event of a citizen calling another as a witch or wizard, the state must be seen to be punishing such cases at magistrate levels and not only at headman’s courts. Globally every society has at a time in their development, believed in witches and wizards and that they believed existed. The industrial revolution must have been a wake-up call whereby they began to develop investigative minds and questioned beliefs that had no proof scientifically. Hardly anyone in the western world, even in countries like eastern bloc still believe in the power of witchcraft mostly elaborated in Shakespeare literature books and several books in other disciplines that inform us how other cultures think about witchcraft and it has faded away as unfounded fears used to psychologically control their societies back then.
With all the global enlightenment we have around us, it will not be easy for African nations to move away from these medieval thinking of witchcraft and unscientific rituals that retards any meaningful social and economic development in our societies. We must realize that we are a global village immersed with competition of various kinds, whether we want it or not we are automatically forced to be part of this competitiveness. President Nyerere once said: while an African is learning how to cross the road, other nations are heading for mars in as far as development is concerned.
Dear Miriam Majome, I am deeply concerned about the unfettered culture and traditions we shall leave behind us when we depart from this earth. We have done very little or nothing to impart our growing children with “search for the scientifically proven and reliable truth minds” those minds that should be investigative so that they move beyond these medieval practices that have retarded progress in most African communities continentally. We seem to have conditioned our children to just believe blindly without giving them the space to say “WHY, HOW WHEN, WHICH, WHO”. We know from our own growing up time that such questions were not tolerated by any adult. We listened to what they said, it did not matter how stupid the statements were.
If our duties as Tete/babakazi, mothers and gogos/ambuya is to groom our girl-children to use mupfuwhira (love potions) in hard times in their marriages or to “tighten” their private body parts, then we have failed our societies. We shall have failed the most important niche in the societies: the girl-child. We did not rise to the global challenges and developments so that our girl-children can take the fight for self-love, self-appreciation, self-empowerment at a much higher level than ourselves.
The reason why Africans still believe in these medieval stories of witches going by the night with spiritual powers to destroy lives, it is the same deep sense of believing in Christianity. To believe in witchcraft and believing in Christianity is a coin with two sides. The strength of belief is the same no less. Who today can tell her African society that Christianity is the flip side of colonialism and no less? Who is going to tell an African that Christianity was meant to colonize our minds and our lands without much fight because an African was told, they do not have souls and they believed? The kingdom is in heaven and not here on earth, an African believed this to this day.
The African was told your Gods are satanic and evil, Christianity is civilization; the African believed this without question to this day. (Africans were told to close their eyes and pray and when they opened their eyes the land Africa and its resources were gone) Have you ever seen Africans going to churches of all kinds like Zombies? Everything has been taken away even the dignity of the African is gone and let go for the sake for the Kingdom of God and not of this Earth. This robed and robs an African of his/her continent and the continental heritage and resources. We see and watch helplessly how our continents wealth is plundered and the African is told to pray harder.
To have a soul is to Christianise fully without questioning the Christian roots and how as an African you can be part of a foreign Christian doctrine. Do I know one European who took African religion as the religion that determines their lives after death? But how many millions of Africans are Christians to the point of becoming mad? They speak in tongues in as much as the Sangomas do. It is the same set of stuff and nonsense without intellectual backup. I rest my case.
Miriam Majome: It so happens that I am not yet over with your articles that took and shook me to write once more about these issues so extensively. I confess your articles fired something in me. Glad am not critiquing but complimenting what you have already provoked in your previous articles. Please keep up the good work. You may be Christian, I do not know but these are my own scatter shots, we can agree to disagree.
UK: As of 9am on 18 March 2020, 56,221 people have been tested in the UK, of which 53,595 were confirmed negative and 2,626 were confirmed positive. 103 patients in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) have died.
As of 9am on 18 March 2020, 56,221 people have been tested in the UK, of which 53,595 were confirmed negative and 2,626 were confirmed positive. 103 patients in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) have died.
UK: As of 9am on 18 March 2020, 56,221 people have been tested in the UK, of which 53,595 were confirmed negative and 2,626 were confirmed positive. 103 patients in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) have died.
What to do if you have symptoms
Stay at home for 7 days if you have either:
a high temperature
a new continuous cough
if you live with other people, they should stay at home for 14 days from the day the first person got symptoms.
This will help to protect others in your community while you are infectious.
Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.
You do not need to contact NHS 111 to tell them you’re staying at home.
Testing for coronavirus is not needed if you’re staying at home.
As of 9am on 18 March 2020, 56,221 people have been tested in the UK, of which 53,595 were confirmed negative and 2,626 were confirmed positive. 103 patients in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) have died.
A 60-YEAR-OLD man from Bulawayo has been arrested for allegedly raping his 19-year-old maid.
The man from North End suburb whose name has been withheld to protect the identity of the victim, allegedly raped the girl in the morning when she was doing her house chores.
The accused person was not asked to plead to rape when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Adelaide Mbeure.
He was remanded on $500 bail to March 30.
The prosecutor, Mr Denmark Chihombe, said on Friday last week at around 7AM, the complainant was approached by the accused person from behind.
“The complainant was doing her household chores when she was grabbed on the waist by the accused person.
He threw her onto a sofa in the sitting room facing upwards before undressing her.
The accused person then raped the complainant once while using a condom,” he said.
It is alleged that the girl narrated her ordeal to an unidentified neighbour.
The matter was reported to the police leading to the accused person’s arrest.-State media
A 60-YEAR-OLD man from Bulawayo has been arrested for allegedly raping his 19-year-old maid.
The man from North End suburb whose name has been withheld to protect the identity of the victim, allegedly raped the girl in the morning when she was doing her house chores.
The accused person was not asked to plead to rape when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Adelaide Mbeure.
He was remanded on $500 bail to March 30.
The prosecutor, Mr Denmark Chihombe, said on Friday last week at around 7AM, the complainant was approached by the accused person from behind.
“The complainant was doing her household chores when she was grabbed on the waist by the accused person.
He threw her onto a sofa in the sitting room facing upwards before undressing her.
The accused person then raped the complainant once while using a condom,” he said.
It is alleged that the girl narrated her ordeal to an unidentified neighbour.
The matter was reported to the police leading to the accused person’s arrest.-State media
Beitbridge hospital has admitted a COVID19 suspect after she tested positive this afternoon.
A tent has since been pitched for all suspected COVID19 patients to be attended and it has been located outside ordinary perimeter of the entire medical facility.
Analysts have questioned whether our medical services are doing enough to detect the infectious disease from crossing over from our neighboring nation whose statistics has reached its peak at an alarming rate.
Beitbridge border is currently the busiest inland port in the southern Africa and operates on 24hr clock, seeing goods and human movement from offshore points.
It is the commercial link between Durban port to other northern parts of the SADC region.
Zimbabwean government and its leadership has spent their effort on other less alarming programs exposing its citizens to this highly fatality and infectious disease.
Regardless, the country’s president declared the disease a national disaster, he has spent his day gathering a rally of over hundreds followers against his decree of shunning of social gathering of such numbers.
The incident depicted an arrogant leader who has nothing to raise his head up to but endure his time on futile schedules.
“Officials manning Beitbridge border are working protective masks yet their counterparts across the bridge are well safeguarded” said one border town resident.
Efforts to contact Dr L Samhere were useless as his mobile went on ringing unanswered as our investigative beaureu attempted to ascertain the status quo.
Beitbridge Resident Association president, Mr T Mahachi was quick to react to considering that the entire district was highly exposed to this pandemic disease which was yet to be curable.
“I have witnessed a few if not two health personnel practicing tests on visitors and returning residents on port of entry side but we adamantly advocate that much need to be done as the system has lope holes where some immigrant could pass without getting tested” reiterated Mr Mahachi
‘We have the most porous border line where numbers of illegal immigrants getting into our country is unbelievably high and such infection is undetected’, he added
There is need for robust action to safeguard not only Beitbridge residents but the travelers plying for northern countries, DRC and Zambia.
Sources close to the medical superintendent of Beitbridge hospital has pointed to lack of quarantine equipment and expertise in dealing with this dangerous incurable disease.
“We are not ready to deal with the quarantine exercise owing to inadequate training and equipment for COVID19” the source pointed.
By Prince Njagu- -Utterances by Defense Minister, Oppah Muchinguri on the COVID-19 death has left Zimbabweans and the international community in dismay. The ZANU PF top-dog uttered the most inhumane sentiments whilst addressing a Zimbabwe National Liberation War Collaborators Association meeting in Chinhoyi on Friday.
Remarks by Muchinguri, who is one of
ZANU PF’s top-rated leaders leaves nothing to be desired, especially of a
political party that has been oppressing and violating human rights for more
than four decades.
Zimbabwean hospitals are in unprecedented
crisis, dilapidated infrastructure, clashes between the ZANU PF led government
and doctors over poor working conditions beings the talk of the day.
A global pandemic like the COVID-19
will leave thousands’ if not hundreds of thousands dead in the country.
In the wake of a global pandemic, Oppah
Muchinguri described the coronavirus outbreak as God’s way of punishing western
countries and the United States for imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe.
Such utterances from a top-brass, ZANU
PF leader paints a true picture of how inhumane ZANU PF as a political party
is.
A ministerial position is one of the
highest political offices in a country and to hear a bearer of such an office
utter such inconsiderate words is shocking.
In her statement, Oppah Muchinguri
appeared to be mocking western countries and seemed very much unfazed of what
was going on worldwide.
The country is already hit by high inflations
rates, drought, corruption and now the coronavirus slowly creeping in. The Zimbabwe
populace will suffer even more.
“This coronavirus that has come are
sanctions against the countries that have imposed sanctions on us. God is punishing
them now and they are staying indoors now while their economy is screaming like
what they did to ours by imposing sanctions on us,” said Muchinguri.
The same European Union, Britain and the
United States which the ZANU PF minister was scornful about continue to be the
top aid givers to the troubled Southern African country.
The severity of the pandemic is no
laughing matter, lives have been lost and people are still dying.
As it stands the death count stands
at 7991 with over 198,959 infections and these figures are anticipated to be on
the upsurge.
An office bearer of such a high office
makes such scornful remarks about a global pandemic and the ZANU PF party does
not take action to address the issue tells a lot about the political party and
its leadership.
Muchinguri’s utterances impelled criticism
from other Zimbabweans, and humanitarian organizations, but the ZANU PF party
has remained silent about the entire incident.
ZANU PF as a political party has been
known for its ruthlessness and uncalled for human rights abuses; but publicly taking
scorn at the fact that people are dying as a result of a global pandemic was a
new low for the party.
Neither the defense minister nor the ZANU
PF President, Emmerson Mnagagwa has issued a statement apologising for the inhumane
remarks.
On Monday Mnagagwa only restated his
government’s commitment to fighting COVID-19 but did not make direct reference
to utterances by his comrade, Oppah.
In Mnagagwa address he only said that
there was a scientific explanation for COVID-19, and it cannot be blamed on
anyone. The ZANU PF leader remarks have been interpreted as a bid to cushion Minister
Muchinguri sentiments.
Mnagagwa is widely regarded as the
newer version of Mugabe has seen the Zimbabwean economy hit an all-time low
since before the formation of the Government of National Unity in 2009.
The healthcare sector is already dilapidated
and the likelihood of spikes in cases of infected people in the country is also
increasing.
The ZANU PF led administration has
not yet put any concrete measures to curb its widespread.
A few cases have so far been reported
in the capital of Harare and one tourist tested positive after having flew from
Victoria Falls.
Mnagagwa and his ZANU PF government
remain steadfast about the impact that an outbreak of COVID-19 will have on the country and they have not
shown any signs of taking action to try an cushion the widespread of the
pandemic since neighbouring countries are reporting an increase in the number of
infections.
Zimbabweans are seating on a time bomb,
and it is only a matter of time before more COVID-19 cases start sprouting.
COVID-19 will have devastating
impacts on Zimbabwe as a whole and this will further worsen the countries already
critical healthcare.
This very same government which is
known for plundering and diverting donor funds into party projects whilst the
people of Zimbabwe continue to suffer will turn to the same Western countries that
their Minister was mocking for assistance.
As it stands, they are only two quarantine
centers which have been set up in a country with more than 16 million
inhabitants.
These two centers have 45 beds and an
outbreak would be disastrous as most hospitals in the county are short staffed
and have already been closed.
Neighbouring country, South Africa has
reported 62, with no fatalities, but it has enforced travel restrictions on severely
affected countries and Mnagagwa has not taken any action.
The case of former Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo has collapsed after the State indicated that the critical policy document that forms the basis of his criminal abuse of office charge went missing during the November 2017 military coup which toppled the late President Robert Mugabe.
Chombo, accused of facilitating the sale of a Government house in Mutare without following due process, was yesterday removed from remand after the State failed to produce a policy document crucial to his defence.
Chombo is jointly charged with former valuations and estate management director Lazarus Chimba. Regional magistrate Mr Hoseah Mujaya removed the pair from remand to allow the State to put its house in order, adding that the State would not suffer any prejudice.
The State will proceed by way of summons. On the last remand, the State was given a last chance to provide the document to the defence and the matter was remanded to yesterday. When Chombo and Chimba appeared in court yesterday, prosecutor Mr George Manokore told the court that they were failing to get the said document from the relevant ministry.
“Your worship, we have made efforts through the investigating officer, but we could not secure the said document,” he said.
“The police approached the permanent secretary for the ministry in question and were told it would require some time for them to get the document. They were told that the ministry had gone through some changes, hence the handover and takeover was yet to be done. This is beyond our control and I am proposing that we have a round-table meeting with all the relevant parties so that we map the way forward on how to get the document.”
Mr Manokore applied for the postponement of the matter to April 17 while they make efforts to obtain the document. The pair’s lawyers Professor Lovemore Madhuku and Mr Joel Mambara maintained that the State would not suffer any prejudice if their clients were removed from remand.
Prof Madhuku said, “Your worship, the State is confirming that the document does not exist and that document is at the centre of the charge the accused is facing. That document will determine whether or not they were acting in the confines of their duties.
“How did they even arrest him without that document? This clearly shows that the State is not ready for trial. We apply that they be removed from remand until the State puts its house in order, considering that they have been religiously coming to court.”
After hearing submissions from both parties, the court ruled in favour of the defence. It is the State’s case that Chombo, acting in common purpose with Chimba, entered into an agreement of sale with Fred Kanzama, a former Member of Parliament for Mutare South constituency, as the purchaser of the Government house at a cost of ZW70 trillion.
According to the State, Chombo and Chimba, being public officers, unlawfully and intentionally acted contrary to or inconsistent with their duties by showing favour to Kanzama – DailyNews
A Japanese anti-viral drug appears to be effective in treating coronavirus patients, Chinese medical officials have found.
Favipiravir, also known as Avigan, was approved for use in Japan in 2014 and is active against a range of illnesses, including influenza strains, yellow fever, Ebola and foot-and-mouth disease.
Now it has shown encouraging results in treating patients with Covid-19 in clinical trials involving 320 people in Shenzhen and Wuhan.
“It has a high degree of safety and is clearly effective in treatment,” Zhang Xinmin, an official at China’s science and technology ministry, told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.
The 35 patients who received the drug in Shenzhen appeared to test negative for coronavirus in a median of four days, compared to 11 days for the 45 who did not receive it.in
X-rays also showed improved lung conditions in some 91 per cent of Shenzhen patients given the drug, compared to 62 per cent of those who did not receive it, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported.
In Wuhan, trials reported to involve 240 people found patients’ temperatures returned to normal and their coughs subsided more quickly than those in the control group, Mr Zhang said.
The drug has been recommended to Chinese medical teams and should be included in their treatment plans for Covid-19 as soon as possible, state media reported Mr Zhang as saying.
A Chinese pharmaceutical company is also expected to mass-produce the drug and ensure stable supply, he said.
Japan, meanwhile, has a stockpile of some two million Avigan pills, The Mainichi reported.
The country has been clinically testing the drug on coronavirus patients with mild to moderate symptoms since March.
“We’ve given Avigan to 70 to 80 people, but it doesn’t seem to work that well when the virus has already multiplied,” the paper reported an official at Japan’s Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare as saying.
president of the Progressive Teachers Unions of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) Dr Takavafira Zhou
The president of the Progressive Teachers Unions of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) Dr Takavafira Zhou has criticised President Emmerson Mnangagwa for opting to keep schools open even at the backdrop of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
We present Dr Zhou’s statement in full below.
The Decision to Keep Schools Open in the Wake of Corona Virus Pandemic, Insensitive, Illogical and Oxymoronic
18 March 2020
In his address to the Nation yesterday, President Mnangagwa announced a raft of measures in response to the corona virus pandemic. Such measures include, among other things, restriction of movements and gatherings; banning of gatherings of more than 100 people; postponement of public events such as ZITF and Independence Celebrations.
It was, however, the enunciation that since schools are only two weeks away from the end of term they will remain open, that baffled logic and common sense. By implication does the President posits that corona virus cannot spread in two weeks? Worse still does he imply enrolments in schools are less than 100? It is Oxymoronic and illogical to ban gatherings everywhere except in schools as if teachers and pupils do not gather and are immune to the Coronavirus. Schools are the most dangerous places for the spread of any pandemic more so given the fact that some schools have an enrolment of more than 2000 pupils and in the event of a single person getting infected with the virus, the vector spread effect could be so swift given the number of students and various families from which they come from. Not surprisingly various countries abroad, continentally and regionally have closed schools in their comprehensive response strategies. For Zimbabwe, therefore, to respond otherwise is not only vogue, vapid and vacuous, but also callous and monumental injustice against teachers and pupils. Many schools dotted across the country, located in tourists areas and bordering other countries that have confirmed cases of Corona virus infection are far detached from quarantine centres or health facilities so that they pose a great danger if they remain open. Is it because Zimbabwean leaders have no children learning in Zimbabwe and no relative in the teaching fraternity so much that they have adopted an intransigent and irresponsible approach to corona virus pandemic in the education sector?
As Ptuz, we want to convey our greatest anger and disillusionment at the health and professional insult by President Mnangagwa, let alone gambling with teachers and pupils’ lives. His enunciation is unacceptable, provocative and insensitive to the threat posed by corona virus to humanity. The measures enunciated in his address are in all earnest and honest with respect to schools, a high sounding nothing, if not a tissue of misrepresentation and insult to the education sector. Such a health threat to pupils and teachers can never be tolerated. Worse still the pronunciation is not a product of engagement with educators, but unilateral decision of the President and dangerous. As the pronunciation to keep schools open is a question of life and death, teachers will not accept it. We hope govt will urgently review this as a matter of urgency. If nothing is forthcoming from the government by the end of this week, teachers would not be held responsible for closing schools. We urge teachers across the union divide, to urgently pass district and provincial resolutions that should shape teachers’ urgent nation response in case there is no urgent response from govt. There is certainly no life after death for teachers and pupils. We cannot be treated in a discriminatory, degrading and servitude manner in comparison to other citizens. We are managers of the nation and world’s greatest resource, viz, children, and therefore our health and security of the resource must be guaranteed, and not exposed to the vagaries of virus and decimation.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mthuli Ncube, on Sunday banned Zimbabweans from selling Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed Old Mutual Limited, PPC Limited and Seed Co International Limited shares ostensibly to stop capital outflows.
Commenting on Ncube’s latest measure using microblogging site Twitter, constitutional law expert and political commentator, Alex Magaisa wrote:
Another day, another forex-related decree. Gen Notice 583/2020 means shares of 3 companies listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and foreign stock exchanges can no longer be bought and sold on both exchanges as was the case before. You could buy an Old Mutual share on the ZSE and sell it on the LSE.
The government thinks this fungibility of shares is fuelling the parallel market rate. It is certainly an exit route for investors whose money is otherwise trapped in Zimbabwe’s financial system. They could buy shares in a dual-listed company and sell them on the foreign market.
Think of fungibility as a fire escape door in a smouldering building. The decree gives a couple of days to get out. Effect? A stampede for the fire escape. Some will be trapped inside. Fewer people will venture into a building without a fire escape. Most will stay well away.
Mthuli has closed 3 fire escape doors. But they aren’t the only doors. Investors will switch doors. So he might shut them too. Last year a government decree restricted the fungibility of shares by placing a 90-day limit. But it was of general application. This is selective.
This selective application opens the decree to a legal challenge. As is now the norm, Mthuli is merely copying from history. In 2008, authorities closed these fire escape doors. But that did nothing to stop the runaway hyperinflation rate and it certainly didn’t save the dollar.
FORMER Cabinet Minister, Nicholas Goche’s has been sucked in the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA) saga that saw the parastatal losing millions of dollars through corporate governance malpractices between 2010 and 2014.
The names of former ZINARA CEO, Frank Chitukutuku and former Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Nicholas Goche featured prominently during the parastatal’s public hearing before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Development in Harare this Monday.
Zinara is said to have lost over US$40 million in dubious payments approved by Chitukutuku. The payments were for substandard work, overpayment for projects without board approval, flouting tender procedures, hand-picking firms, payment for incomplete work and awarding projects to companies linked to a specific individual. The former Chief Executive Officer is alleged to have unilaterally paid contractors without board approval.
Chairperson of the committee, Honourable Oscar Gorerino interrogated a lot of issues surrounding the working relationship between Chitukutuku and Goche, amid suspicion that the former Minister could have been aware of the alleged corporate governance malpractices at the parastatal. ZINARA Board Chairperson, Engineer Michael Madanha said there is a possibility that Chitukutuku might have had the blessings of the former cabinet minister.
“Zinara is interested to know the power behind these shenanigans committed by the already fired Zinara executive headed by the then CEO, Mr Frank Chitukutuku, who was the accounting officer,” said Eng Madanha.
It emerged during the hearing that some contractors were paid for work which was never done, while some companies were paid more than the quoted figures. The committee also questioned why the parastatal continues to deal with companies which were fingered in the Grant Thornton audit report.
“We no longer deal directly with these contractors because we have now reverted to our core mandate of collecting and disbursement of funds,” said Eng Madanha.
The Grant Thornton audit report revealed that more than half of the contracts valued at 71 million United States dollars were not honoured.
Of particular note is the fact that one of the contractors, Twalumba, was operating under different names which were not properly registered.
FORMER Local Government minister, Ignatius Chombo, was yesterday removed from remand in a case he is accused of illegally facilitating the sale of a government house in Mutare to ex-Zanu PF legislator Fred Kanzama. This comes after the State failed to secure a requisite policy document.
Chombo, who is jointly charged with former valuations and estate management director Lazarus Chimba, appeared before Harare regional magistrate Hosea Mujaya, who ordered the State to proceed by way of summons.
“I am not going to grant the postponement and I am not saying the accused persons have been discharged. Further remand is hereby refused,’ Mujaya ruled.
This was after prosecutor George Manokore had asked for a month’s postponement because the investigating officer had failed to secure the document.
He said officials in the Housing ministry failed to secure the policy document mainly because the ministry previously run by Chombo had been split into two in the new dispensation.
“They cannot trace it to any of their offices. We thought that it could be with other departments, but that was not fruitful and the bottom line is the document is not there.
“We appreciate that we are to blame in a way, but this is beyond our control and ask for an opportunity to make a follow-up,” Manokore said.
Chombo’s lawyer, Lovemore Madhuku, said Manokore’s submissions confirmed that the document did not exist yet it was at the centre of the allegations his client was facing.
Churches have complied with the Government’s directive to suspend mass gatherings as part of measures to control and prevent the transmission of Covid-19.
At least 418 cases of the highly infectious disease have been recorded in 30 countries across Africa including neighbouring South Africa.
In a statement, Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) general secretary Reverend Dr Kenneth Mtata said all mass gatherings have been suspended and all meetings will be held virtually.
“Although there have been no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Zimbabwe, the old adage “prevention is better than cure” is important in curbing an outbreak of this pandemic.
“ZCC planned mass gatherings have all been suspended in the interest of public health until further notice. Where possible, virtual meetings will replace physical meetings,” he said.
General Council of the Assemblies of God has cancelled Easter conferences and big Sundays.
“We as the General Council of the Assemblies of God in Zimbabwe will comply with the Government’s directives. Easter conferences are cancelled and all big Sundays are postponed till the 60 days of the ban are over. The Kwekwe crusade with Greg Hubbard is cancelled.
“Our Sunday services will go on as usual. However, those with members or gatherings that exceed 100 people are to either have two or three or even more services with a maximum of 100 people in attendance or have cell services,” reads the statement.
In the same light, Apostolic Faith Mission(AFM) Reverend Cossum Chiangwa said pastors and their leadership at assembly level, depending on their assembly dynamics, will devise ways and means of ensuring that their services meet the stipulated standards. He encouraged all members to take necessary precautions and steps as advised from time to time by the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
Meanwhile, AFM South Africa National Leadership Forum president George Mahlobo said liturgical practices such as serving of the Lord’s Communion, water baptism, dedication of children and praying for the sick had been affected.
“Liturgical services are to be done without physical contact. Parents are to hold their own babies whilst the pastor stretches his or her hand and when conducting prayers for the sick, the person praying must just pray with their hands stretched out,” he said.
Own Correspondent|The south African president Cyril Ramaphosa seems to be caught up between a rock and a hard place with his attempts to combat the spread of the Corona Virus in South Africa.
Christianity being one of the biggest religions in the country, some of its leaders are showing signs of defiance towards one of the safety measures imposed by the president to help fight against the spread of the virus in the country.
The president advised that people should use elbow salutes instead of hand shakes, and hand sanitizers are also to be issues at public spaces where money or goods may be exchanged by hand.
But the most heat seems to be aimed at the quantity measure by which the president has ordered people to avoid any ensemble that will entail hundred or more characters.
Church leaders say that Ramaphosa isn’t a deity and therefore should not be given the power to halt the masses from going to their churches regardless of the risks that may impose on the entire country.
South African citizens have a constitutional right to go or worship as they please but what’s to be done when that right puts the entire nation in the risk of accelerated spread of the Corona Virus.
Daily News|DEFENCE minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri’s unfortunate statements over the weekend that the coronavirus is punishment from God to America and her allies for imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe were ill-timed politicking.
The remarks have gone viral as news outlets throughout the world picked the rather insensitive and embarrassing remarks and blew them up.
It is unfortunate that Muchinguri-Kashiri’s pronouncements are being viewed as government’s official position on coronavirus, especially as it came from its minister of Defence, who also happens to be a top Zanu PF official.
According to Johns Hopkins University, coronavirus has infected more than 182 000 people and killed over 7 000 worldwide, hence we can’t have a senior government official celebrating the pain of all these people. It is naïve and misplaced for Muchinguri-Kashiri to conclude that this virus is targeting those countries that imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe because countries like China, Iran and South Korea, for example, have registered deaths although they are not part of the punitive measures against Harare.
China and Iran have in actual fact stood with Zimbabwe as they have over the years denounced sanctions on our country. There are also several countries, including in Africa, that have been affected; nations that have stood with Zimbabwe as it fights the sanctions.
Muchinguri-Kashiri’s scientific thinking in all this is baffling; how can sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe for human rights abuses trigger such a deadly virus on innocent people? We have to remind the government that the United States and European countries that imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe are actually our biggest donors when it comes to health issues, especially in areas of HIV/Aids, TB and other infectious diseases.
If the coronavirus hits us today, a probability which is very high, we would need donor support from these countries we are chiding; but with such insensitive comments coming from a senior cabinet official, such funding can be withheld.
We should not forget that not so long ago we had the Cyclone Idai disaster that killed and displaced thousands of people in Manicaland and it was these aforementioned Western governments that sprang to our rescue by providing humanitarian aid.
In future, President Emmerson Mnangagwa should censure such recklessness from his top officials as it tarnishes the image of the whole country.
While the president has distanced himself from Muchinguri-Kashiri’s utterances by issuing a statement in which he says coronavirus is purely a natural phenomenon that needs scientific solutions and that it was no one’s fault; he should apologise on behalf of his Defence minister and indeed on behalf of Zimbabweans.
Pics: Joshua Sacco’ collapsing sawmill in ward 13 close to his home while he spends time fighting gold panners; This is also an office covered with grass on his pole treatment plant; The twisted gate at the main entrance to the pole plant…
NewsDay|The main opposition MDC led by Nelson Chamisa has begun preparations to hold a “final push” which the party says will force President Emmerson Mnangagwa to step down from power.
The opposition say Mnangagwa’s departure would usher in a national transitional authority that will be seized with electoral reforms that will eventually usher in a legitimate government.
The party’s youth assembly is leading the preparations for the protests by conducting provincial conferences across the country to activate its structures ahead of what it says will be a mega demonstration.
The first MDC provincial youth conference was held in Mashonaland East a fortnight ago and the second took place at Maboleni Business Centre in the Midlands province on Sunday where national leaders of the youth assembly, led by chairperson Obey Sithole, addressed bumper crowds.
The other youth leaders who were present include secretary-general Gift Ostalos Siziba, who is battling treason charges at the courts and vice-chairperson Cecilia Chimbiri.
MDC national organising secretary Amos Chibya told NewsDay on the sidelines of the gathering that the final push protests will be led by the “young people who are the future of this country”.
“We are organising for the final push (demonstrations) because it is now clear that Mnangagwa has failed this country and he must step down,” Chibaya said.
“We have our constitutional rights to demonstrate and the final push will be very peaceful and non-violent. It will be the mother of all demonstrations to send a clear message to the illegal government and show the anger of people against the regime that has (condemned) the generality of citizens into abject poverty never seen in a functional country.”
Two decades ago, the MDC under the leadership of its late founder Morgan Tsvangirai, staged a final push demonstration to force long-time ruler Robert Mugabe to step down, but without success.
Chibaya said his party was telling the young people that they were their own liberators.
Sithole echoed Chibaya’s sentiments and reiterated that their nationwide tour to send a message on the protests will be wrapped up in a few weeks.
“Our thrust is that of budgeting for a revolution. We are currently a gear up in organising and mobilising our members for the demonstration. We are saying let’s come together and break the barriers,” he said.
“We now know our source of trouble that has caused this harsh economic climate. It is ED (President Mnangagwa) and his Zanu-PF party. We are ready to join hands and confront the source of our suffering,” Sithole said.
But Zanu-PF national commissar Victor Matemadanda said Mnangagwa will not bow to any pressure.
“The MDC has been holding these demonstrations (in the past). Their agenda is to cause an economic meltdown. President Mnangagwa is going nowhere. He has been saying this is time for production and the country is on the mend,” Matemadanda said.
“What I know is that the planned demonstration will be illegal. They must come clear on why they are planning such things.”
While MDC demonstrations have been crashed violently by the police and the army in the past, Chibaya said the final push will be a success.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions last week also said it was mobilising to stage mass protests over the deteriorating economic situation that has caused workers to suffer.
Emirates Airlines has suspended flights to and from Harare and Lusaka for 60 days.
An advisory release said:
Trade Update – Flight
Cancellation EK713 & EK714
Dear Travel Trade
We wish to advise the travel trade that due to the current challenging global conditions ,Emirates Airline is compelled to suspend flights EK 713/714 (LUN/HRE) for the period 20 March to 20 May 2020.
As such flightsEKZ14) and Dubai -Lusaka- Harare ( EK713) will be cancelled effective 20th March 2020 up to 20 May 2020. Our last flights to and from Harare will be EK713/4 19th March 2020.
Zambia announced its first two cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday while Zimbabwe is still yet to confirm any.
HIGHLANDERS’ supporters have called for the arrest and naming of unruly elements responsible for disturbances that rocked Barbourfields Stadium on Saturday during the Castle Challenge Cup between Bosso and FC Platinum.
The game, which FC Platinum won 2-0, was marred by violence, adding to Bosso’s financial woes after the Premier Soccer League moved to charge the Bulawayo giants.
Every season Bosso has to budget for fines due to some of the club’s wayward fans that resort to hooliganism when the team loses.
Fans that have grown tired of hooliganism took to Facebook to vent their frustrations.
“The police, PSL and Zifa must work together and take action against identified hooligans. We are trying to make Barbourfields an international venue only for hooligans to ruin those endeavours,” said one fan Sineke Maseko.
Mandidi Mushavi Horanzi said those photographed on the pitch must be brought to book, as they were all over the place.
Another fan Nkoe Ndlovu said the few troublemakers “are killing our beautiful game and costing our team bigtime”.
Highlanders life member Ezra ‘Tshisa’ Sibanda urged those with information about the hooligans that threw stones, metal objects and invaded the pitch, endangering players, law enforcement other fans should take it to the Bosso offices.
All hell broke loose in the first minute of stoppage time when angry Bosso fans at the Soweto stand threw missiles and invaded the pitch in frustration after their team had failed to record a single shot on target for 90 minutes.
They first threw an assortment of missiles, ranging from bottles to canes, before invading the pitch and hurling watering pipes at the police, forcing players and officials to retreat to the dressing rooms.
HIGHLANDERS’ legend Barry Daka, who died at his Barbourfields home last Thursday morning after a short illness, was buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery yesterday.
His last-born daughter Marcelene, a qualified medical doctor, “officially certified” her father dead in an emotionally charged tribute to him at a funeral service held at the Amphitheater yesterday.
The service was attended by the who is who of football from the Southern Region and thousands of mourners.
“I might be a medical doctor, but it never occurred to me that one day I will certify my own parent dead. I did just that last Thursday to my own father, who is lying motionless in front of us today,” said Marcelene
“I am young, not married and have no children of my own, and wanted dad to be part of all that when it finally happens, but he decided to leave us. The pain I felt seeing that he was indeed gone that day was excruciating as you may all imagine and so personally, I am angry at Barry. I am angry that he could just go before he could see his own grandchildren mature,” he said sobbing.
Her eulogy touched a number of mourners, who also started sobbing as she spoke.
The service went on for more than four hours, as speaker after speaker spoke glowingly about the man, who won a massive 23 trophies with Highlanders.
Speaking earlier, Highlanders’ president Ndumiso Gumede said Daka was a mentor to many people in football.
“He was soft-spoken, highly unlikely of a football coach, but one thing I know about him is that he was a mentor to many of these boys you call legends today, not only at Highlanders, but everywhere he went.
At Bosso I feel sad that someone with the club’s institutional memory is gone,” said Gumede.
Armed men, believed to be from the self-styled “Renamo Military Junta” killed a Mozambican woman and injured a Zimbabwean driver in an ambush yesterday morning on the main road from Beira to the Zimbabwe border.
The ambush took place in the Nharichonga area, Nhamatanda district, in the central province of Sofala, when a bus and three long-distance trucks came under fire.
The woman who lost her life was a passenger in the bus. The injured Zimbabwean was driving one of the trucks and is now receiving medical care at Nhamatanda Rural Hospital.
The vehicles were extensively damaged and one of the trucks was completely destroyed after the attackers looted it before setting it on fire.
Speaking from his hospital bed, the truck driver Moses Chingizi said: “I left Nhamatanda at 5am, and when I reached here I heard the first shot, which was against one of my front tyres. The truck began to swerve, and I heard two other shots which hit the cabin.
“I was hit by three bullets in my arm and legs. I heard shots and I tried to accelerate my truck. I felt that I had been hit. I lost control, but I managed to bring the truck to a halt. I then ran into the bush and from where I was I saw them attack two other trucks and a bus. By that time, the front of my truck was on fire. They took all my goods and left.” From the bush, Chingizi saw the attackers, wearing uniform and brandishing guns. Shortly afterwards the police arrived and began to fire.
“It was then that I came out of the bush and I showed myself to the police and they took me to the hospital,” he said.
Clinical director of Nhamatanda Hospital, Miquitaio Torres, said despite multiple gunshot wounds, Chingizi was out of danger. He also confirmed that a woman aged about 50 had died in the attack. This was the fourth ambush against civilian vehicles in Sofala in the space of a week. — AIM.
Own Correspondent|Zambia’s Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya on Wednesday announced that Zambia has recorded two cases of coronavirus (COVID-19). Chilufya said the two had recently travelled to France.
The two have since been quarantined.
Zambia’s government immediately decided to shut down all educational institutions later this week.
Health Chilufya said the decision, which takes effect Friday, is a measure to prevent the global outbreak spreading.
Chilufya said precautions include training more than 500 health care workers to treat the virus known as COVID-19, restrictions on foreign travel, including rescheduling all avoidable travel, setting two to14-day quarantine for travelers coming from “high-risk” nations if symptomatic, as well as health screenings at all entry points to the country, according to the website.
The deadly virus has hit 27 African nations.
The virus emerged in Wuhan, China last December, and has spread to nearly 150 countries and territories. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic.
Out of 189,233 confirmed cases, the death toll now exceeds 7,500, while more than 80,000 patients have recovered, according to Worldometer, a website that compiles new case numbers.
Reuters|The official exchange rate for Zimbabwe’s dollar fell 32% on Wednesday against the greenback, its biggest daily fall since the minister of finance announced last week that the country would adopt a “managed float” to fend off a currency crisis.
Mthuli Ncube said Zimbabwe was abandoning strict control of foreign exchange by the central bank at a time when prices are soaring and the local currency is fast losing value on the black market. Annual inflation hit 540.16% last month.
The Zimbabwe dollar ZWL was trading at 24.3266 to the U.S. dollar from 18.4283 at the start of trade, according to Refinitiv data.
The fall moves the official rate substantially closer to the price on the black market, where it trades above 41 to the dollar.
Traders said the rate movement was the first step by the central bank in freeing currency trading, although banks were still struggling to get dollars to sell to clients amid a severe shortage of foreign exchange.
The central bank had sold dollars to the banks on Wednesday to fund fuel imports, a trader at one commercial bank said, a move that could still influence the exchange rate.
“Ultimately the rate will determine whether more money will flow into the official forex market,” the trader said.
Exporters in Zimbabwe are allowed to retain a portion of their sales with the central bank taking the rest, which it says is used to import medicines, electricity and fuel.
On Sunday, Zimbabwe suspended the transfer of local shares in dual-listed companies to foreign bourses, a form of transaction that had provided one of the main ways for citizens and businesses to obtain dollars.
Agnes Masuku Ndiweni mother to Ntabazinduna Chief Nhlanhla Ndiweni has died.
She was 96.
The Ndiweni family announced her death through a statement on Wednesday morning.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Indlovukazi yethu, uMadlenya, uZikode, uMasuku. Gogo uMasuku passed on in her sleep in the early hours of today after a short illness. She was 96 years old. A prayerful woman whose faith and labour had nourished society in Ntabazinduna and further afield,” read the statement.
The family said burial arrangements will be made public in due course as her children are abroad.
“May we pass our thanks and appreciation to those who assisted during her illness and all those mourning this sad loss with us. Siyabonga bakwethu (we thank you),” reads the statement.
Farai Dziva|European football governing body UEFA has postponed Euro 2020 to the summer of 2021 owing the escalation of Coronavirus.
The event was slated for June this year but will now take place between June 11 and July 11 2021 as the world struggles to contain the dangerous epidemic.
Football activity worldwide has come to a standstill, with domestic championships Serie A, English Premier League, and LaLiga put on hold on account of it.
The disease has already had its first football victim, claiming the live Spanish caoch Fransisco Garcia while high profile football personnel like Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta have tested possitive for it.
The Castle Lager Premier Soccer League’s 2020 season could be delayed by at least eight weeks from now.
This comes after the government suspended all public events and gatherings for 60 days as part of the efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
The league campaign was scheduled to start in the coming weeks after the announcement of a new sponsorship package by Delta Beverages. The kickoff date is now expected to be around end of May provided the deadly virus is sufficiently contained during that time.
It’s, however, unclear at this point whether clubs will continue with their pre-season camps or they will break for a little time.
PSL, on their part, are yet to give a statement on the issue.
The coronavirus has so far infected over 168 000 people and about 6 500 deaths have been confirmed.-Soccer 24
Mnangagwa explains why he gathered crowd of thousands today despite the anti #COVID19 measures barring gathering of 100 people – says: "if you meet today you've not broken my law because I said it will be effective from Friday. " @InfoMinZWhttps://t.co/5rU91Sfx72pic.twitter.com/VaTNsSzEWI
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has postponed the 2020 Total African Nations Championships (CHAN), set for Cameroon next month.
In a statement, CAF said the decision was made in order to avoid risking the health of players, officials, partners and fans. The statement read in part:
A delegation made up of members of the Caf Medical Committee carried out an inspection visit to Cameroon for an update of the preventive measures being taken, as part of the preparations for the Total African Nations Championship (Chan), in light of the evolving nature of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) across the world.
They also had discussions with the World Health Organisation representative in Cameroon during their mission which lasted 14-15 March 2020.
… in order to avoid risking the health of players, officials, partners and fans, Caf in consultation with the relevant Cameroonian authorities (Local Organising Committee) has decided by mutual agreement, to postpone the Chan initially planned for 4-25 April 2020 to a later date.-State media
South Africa’s Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa has given the ABSA Premiership the go ahead to continue amid coronavirus fears after confirming that matches can be played behind closed doors.
61 cases of the diseas were announced by the country’s head of state Cyril Ramaphosa during his address to the nation on Sunday, in which he also prohibited gatherings of at least 100 people.
“They will finish their matches but without spectators til the end of the season,” Mthethwa told reporters.-Soccer 24
Zanu PF MPs have gone all out to disrupt Parliament business by seeking to ensure that all committees chaired by MDC legislators do not conduct meetings until the party accepts the illegitimate Mr Dambudzo Emerson Mnangagwa as the duly elected President of Zimbabwe.
Yesterday, various committee meetings were disrupted that included the Environment committee chaired by Hon. Concilia Chinanzvavana, the ICT Committee chaired by Hon Charlton Hwende while there was also an attempt to disrupt the Higher Education Committee chaired by Hon. Daniel Molokele.
On Friday, rowdy Zanu PF MPs disturbed the Public Accounts committee chaired Hon Tendai Biti as well as the thematic committee chaired by Sen Spiwe Ncube and the one chaired by Sen Morgan Femai.
These rowdy MPs insist that for the committee meetings to proceed uninterrupted, the MDC MPs must first recognize Mr Mnangagwa, who stole the 2018 elections.
In a desperate bid to coerce us to endorse illegitimacy, they have since set up the Privileges committee to investigate us and they said the probe team will release its findings in May. In addition before setting up the committee they actually docked our six months outstanding allowances for our right to protest the illegitimacy of Mr E D. Mnangagwa. We are therefore disturbed as to why committee meetings should be disrupted when our so-called unbecoming conduct is still under investigation.
As the Chief Whip of the MDC party in parliament, I will today raise a point of privilege as the Speaker certainly needs to respond to this needless drama of disrupting the legitimate business of Parliament while investigations are still underway.
As a country, we are faced with mammoth challenges for which the people are awaiting cogent and robust responses.
But Zanu PF is busy playing kindergarten games in the people’s House while the country is in a huge mess.
As the MDC parliamentary caucus, we are very much disturbed by government’s lack of prudent action on COVID-19, which other countries across the globe and in Africa are taking seriously. When the people’s lives are under threat, it is no time for games. To this end, we also express our utter revulsion at the reckless utterances by one Oppah Muchinguri who appears to be playing cheap political games by publicly celebrating the loss of innocent lives in other countries.
Zanu PF is simply not serious about the lives of the people as well as the business of Parliament, which is the true theatre of the people’s business. We will not relent until government begins to take the nation’s concerns seriously.
Hon. Prosper Chapfiwa Mutseyami
Chief Whip
Movement For Democratic Change
Farai Dziva|Zimbabwe Online Health Centre, a digital platform for health awareness, has urged the nation to remain watchful as COVID-19 continues to ravage the world.
Cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in South Africa.
See below a statement compiled by Zimbabwe Online Health Centre director, Dr Ellane Simon:
The COVID-19 virus is crown shaped.
It affects both animals and humans and can be transmitted from animals to humans. Anyone anywhere can be infected by the virus. It infects people through coughing and sneezing, touching an infected person’s hands or face or touching infected objects an infected person has touched.
It is like all the other viruses that cause common cold and is common in winter.
Symptoms include a runny nose, headache, cough, sore throat, fever and a feeling of being unwell. In people with an immunocompromised immune system such as children, elderly, those with heart diseases they might develop respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia or bronchitis.
There are ways one can protect themselves from catching the virus. Prevention methods include: washing hands with soap and water or using a hand rub always. Avoid touching the eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.
Avoid close contact with infected people. Those infected should also cover their nose, mouth when coughing.
However, if infected one needs plenty of rest, lots of fluids and management of symptoms such as sore throat, fever.
If there is pneumonia or bronchitis one should also receive appropriate treatment for that respiratory tract infection.
Because this is a communicable virus it spreads fast therefore always protect yourself and your community.
Prevention is always better than cure.
Compiled by Zimbabwe Online Health Centre
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By Dorrothy Moyo| Chief Felix Ndiweni’s Mother has passed away.
She was 96.
A family announcement was made Wednesday morning saying: “Our mother has left us May Her Soul Rest in Peace.”
In their statement following the death of ugogo uMasuku Chief Felix Nhlanhla Ndiweni’s mother, the family further said:
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Indlovukazi yethu,uMadlenya, uZikode,uMasuku.Gogo uMasuku passed on in her sleep in the early hours of today after a short illness. She was 96 years old.
A prayerful woman whose faith and labor had nourished society in Ntabazinduna and further afield.Since her children are abroad arrangements will be made known made known once they have been put in place.
May we pass our thanx and appreciation to those who assisted during her illness and all those mourning this sad loss with us.
Siyabonga bakwethu”
EFF ZIMBABWE DEMANDS OPPAH MUCHINGURI KASHIRI TO STEP DOWN AND GOVERNMENT TO TAKE ACTION ON THE CORONA PANDEMIC IMMEDIATELY
EFF Zimbabwe is appalled by the recent statements on CoronaVirus by the Zimbabwe Minister of Defence and Security, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri.
Oppah Muchinguri’s insinuation on Covid 19 reveals her arrogance, cluelessness and incompetence.
She failed to consider the impact of her utterances in the event the virus hits us tomorrow.
She has disgraced this country with her incompetent behaviour and EFF Zimbabwe calls upon
Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri to immediately step down and pave way for leaders who will put urgent emergency measures in place to protect our people from the global pandemic, the only way to redeem ourselves from the international embarrassment invited to us by the so-called Minister.
COVID-19 is an international concern and for such a highly placed member of the Zimbabwe government to utter such reckless statements is shameful, to say the least. It is also very alarming given that cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in our neighbouring country where most Zimbabweans reside as economic refugees.
Instead of commiserating with those affected by the virus and stepping up health measures against this virus, a whole Minister makes a bad joke of it.
This habit of taking serious matters lightly has been the hallmark of the not so new dispensation and as EFF Zimbabwe we find it alarming and disturbing.
Only recently Joseph Chinotimba was on social media claiming Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed by fire but by CoronaVirus, yet another disgusting example of how lightly the government is taking this international pandemic.
These are the jokers we have in the driving seat of a country with more porous borders than any other known African country along with a collapsed health system that cannot even provide basic health services for simple ailments yet the leaders are joking about a deadly pandemic that has claimed human life across the globe.
As EFF Zimbabwe we call on the government to release its Minister immediately and issue a public apology on such shameful, cold recklessness by one of its own.
In addition, we demand under no uncertain terms that the government swiftly take steps on information dissemination and protect our people from COVID-19.
At this point, people do not feel safe in our country because of a lack of factual information and a lack of faith in the capacity of our health system to deal with the virus effectively.
Only recently a suspected bearer of the virus escaped Wilkins Hospital, the only one in the country with some capacity to test the virus and this has resulted in widespread agitation amongst our countrymen.
It is clear we do not have the facilities and equipment to deal with COVID-19 and the least our government can do is to stop making such reckless statements and find how best to mobilise resources towards the efficient functioning of our health system so that lost confidence can be restored and our people are safe in their own homeland.
WE DEMAND ACTION RIGHT NOW!!!!
ISSUED BY ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS ZIMBABWE
Vimbai Mupunga (National Spokesperson)
Oppah Muchinguri missing in parliament.. MDC's Gonese demands that ministers who bunk parliament must be arrested/charged …. pic.twitter.com/POPejx1Bj1
Zimbabwe is on autopilot, the people are on their own!!! The so-called leaders dont care. Barely 24 hours after declaring A STATE OF NATIONAL DISASTER, the rules have since been breached already. Realising that they have been caught offside @HeraldZimbabwe have deleted the post. pic.twitter.com/CwMMZmp27i
Farai Dziva|Opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters has slammed Zanu PF for joking with sensitive matters.
See full statement below :
EFF ZIMBABWE DEMANDS OPPAH MUCHINGURI KASHIRI TO STEP DOWN AND GOVERNMENT TO TAKE ACTION ON THE CORONA PANDEMIC IMMEDIATELY
EFF Zimbabwe is appalled by the recent statements on CoronaVirus by the Zimbabwe Minister of Defence and Security, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri.
Oppah Muchinguri’s insinuation on Covid 19 reveals her arrogance, cluelessness and incompetence.
She failed to consider the impact of her utterances in the event the virus hits us tomorrow.
She has disgraced this country with her incompetent behaviour and EFF Zimbabwe calls upon
Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri to immediately step down and pave way for leaders who will put urgent emergency measures in place to protect our people from the global pandemic, the only way to redeem ourselves from the international embarrassment invited to us by the so-called Minister.
COVID-19 is an international concern and for such a highly placed member of the Zimbabwe government to utter such reckless statements is shameful, to say the least. It is also very alarming given that cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in our neighbouring country where most Zimbabweans reside as economic refugees.
Instead of commiserating with those affected by the virus and stepping up health measures against this virus, a whole Minister makes a bad joke of it.
This habit of taking serious matters lightly has been the hallmark of the not so new dispensation and as EFF Zimbabwe we find it alarming and disturbing.
Only recently Joseph Chinotimba was on social media claiming Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed by fire but by CoronaVirus, yet another disgusting example of how lightly the government is taking this international pandemic.
These are the jokers we have in the driving seat of a country with more porous borders than any other known African country along with a collapsed health system that cannot even provide basic health services for simple ailments yet the leaders are joking about a deadly pandemic that has claimed human life across the globe.
As EFF Zimbabwe we call on the government to release its Minister immediately and issue a public apology on such shameful, cold recklessness by one of its own.
In addition, we demand under no uncertain terms that the government swiftly take steps on information dissemination and protect our people from COVID-19.
At this point, people do not feel safe in our country because of a lack of factual information and a lack of faith in the capacity of our health system to deal with the virus effectively.
Only recently a suspected bearer of the virus escaped Wilkins Hospital, the only one in the country with some capacity to test the virus and this has resulted in widespread agitation amongst our countrymen.
It is clear we do not have the facilities and equipment to deal with COVID-19 and the least our government can do is to stop making such reckless statements and find how best to mobilise resources towards the efficient functioning of our health system so that lost confidence can be restored and our people are safe in their own homeland.
WE DEMAND ACTION RIGHT NOW!!!!
ISSUED BY ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS ZIMBABWE
Vimbai Mupunga (National Spokesperson)
Zanu PF MPs have gone all out to disrupt Parliament business by seeking to ensure that all committees chaired by MDC legislators do not conduct meetings until the party accepts the illegitimate Mr Dambudzo Emerson Mnangagwa as the duly elected President of Zimbabwe.
Yesterday, various committee meetings were disrupted that included the Environment committee chaired by Hon. Concilia Chinanzvavana, the ICT Committee chaired by Hon Charlton Hwende while there was also an attempt to disrupt the Higher Education Committee chaired by Hon. Daniel Molokele.
On Friday, rowdy Zanu PF MPs disturbed the Public Accounts committee chaired Hon Tendai Biti as well as the thematic committee chaired by Sen Spiwe Ncube and the one chaired by Sen Morgan Femai.
These rowdy MPs insist that for the committee meetings to proceed uninterrupted, the MDC MPs must first recognize Mr Mnangagwa, who stole the 2018 elections.
In a desperate bid to coerce us to endorse illegitimacy, they have since set up the Privileges committee to investigate us and they said the probe team will release its findings in May. In addition before setting up the committee they actually docked our six months outstanding allowances for our right to protest the illegitimacy of Mr E D. Mnangagwa. We are therefore disturbed as to why committee meetings should be disrupted when our so-called unbecoming conduct is still under investigation.
As the Chief Whip of the MDC party in parliament, I will today raise a point of privilege as the Speaker certainly needs to respond to this needless drama of disrupting the legitimate business of Parliament while investigations are still underway.
As a country, we are faced with mammoth challenges for which the people are awaiting cogent and robust responses.
But Zanu PF is busy playing kindergarten games in the people’s House while the country is in a huge mess.
As the MDC parliamentary caucus, we are very much disturbed by government’s lack of prudent action on COVID-19, which other countries across the globe and in Africa are taking seriously. When the people’s lives are under threat, it is no time for games. To this end, we also express our utter revulsion at the reckless utterances by one Oppah Muchinguri who appears to be playing cheap political games by publicly celebrating the loss of innocent lives in other countries.
Zanu PF is simply not serious about the lives of the people as well as the business of Parliament, which is the true theatre of the people’s business. We will not relent until government begins to take the nation’s concerns seriously.
Hon. Prosper Chapfiwa Mutseyami
Chief Whip
Movement For Democratic Change
Farai Dziva|Zanu PF MPs have declared that no MDC MP shall chair Parliamentary Portfolio Committee meetings until the opposition party recognizes Emmerson Mnangagwa as the legitimate President of Zimbabwe.
See the Movement for Democratic Change statement below :
Zanu PF MPs have gone all out to disrupt Parliament business by seeking to ensure that all committees chaired by MDC legislators do not conduct meetings until the party accepts the illegitimate Mr Dambudzo Emerson Mnangagwa as the duly elected President of Zimbabwe.
Yesterday, various committee meetings were disrupted that included the Environment committee chaired by Hon. Concilia Chinanzvavana, the ICT Committee chaired by Hon Charlton Hwende while there was also an attempt to disrupt the Higher Education Committee chaired by Hon. Daniel Molokele.
On Friday, rowdy Zanu PF MPs disturbed the Public Accounts committee chaired Hon Tendai Biti as well as the thematic committee chaired by Sen Spiwe Ncube and the one chaired by Sen Morgan Femai.
These rowdy MPs insist that for the committee meetings to proceed uninterrupted, the MDC MPs must first recognize Mr Mnangagwa, who stole the 2018 elections.
In a desperate bid to coerce us to endorse illegitimacy, they have since set up the Privileges committee to investigate us and they said the probe team will release its findings in May. In addition before setting up the committee they actually docked our six months outstanding allowances for our right to protest the illegitimacy of Mr E D. Mnangagwa. We are therefore disturbed as to why committee meetings should be disrupted when our so-called unbecoming conduct is still under investigation.
As the Chief Whip of the MDC party in parliament, I will today raise a point of privilege as the Speaker certainly needs to respond to this needless drama of disrupting the legitimate business of Parliament while investigations are still underway.
As a country, we are faced with mammoth challenges for which the people are awaiting cogent and robust responses.
But Zanu PF is busy playing kindergarten games in the people’s House while the country is in a huge mess.
As the MDC parliamentary caucus, we are very much disturbed by government’s lack of prudent action on COVID-19, which other countries across the globe and in Africa are taking seriously. When the people’s lives are under threat, it is no time for games. To this end, we also express our utter revulsion at the reckless utterances by one Oppah Muchinguri who appears to be playing cheap political games by publicly celebrating the loss of innocent lives in other countries.
Zanu PF is simply not serious about the lives of the people as well as the business of Parliament, which is the true theatre of the people’s business. We will not relent until government begins to take the nation’s concerns seriously.
Hon. Prosper Chapfiwa Mutseyami
Chief Whip
Movement For Democratic Change
Roger Mayweather, uncle and trainer of Floyd Mayweather, has died at the age of 58.
Before becoming a trainer, Roger was a world champion in his own right, holding titles at featherweight and welterweight in the 1980s.
He began working with Floyd in the late 1990s, with the nephew going on to be unbeaten in 50 fights and earning a reputation as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of all time.
No cause of death has been confirmed.
Mayweather Promotions said on Twitter: “We are saddened with the recent news of Roger Mayweather’s passing.
“Our hearts go out to the Mayweather family and we will keep you in our thoughts and prayers. We thank you all for the outpouring of love and support during this time. Roger’s spirit lives on with us forever.”
It is the second tragedy to hit Floyd Mayweather this month after Josie Harris, the mother to three of boxing superstar Floyds children, was found dead in her car in California on 11 March.-BBC
Roger Mayweather, uncle and trainer of Floyd Mayweather, has died at the age of 58.
Before becoming a trainer, Roger was a world champion in his own right, holding titles at featherweight and welterweight in the 1980s.
He began working with Floyd in the late 1990s, with the nephew going on to be unbeaten in 50 fights and earning a reputation as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of all time.
No cause of death has been confirmed.
Mayweather Promotions said on Twitter: “We are saddened with the recent news of Roger Mayweather’s passing.
“Our hearts go out to the Mayweather family and we will keep you in our thoughts and prayers. We thank you all for the outpouring of love and support during this time. Roger’s spirit lives on with us forever.”
It is the second tragedy to hit Floyd Mayweather this month after Josie Harris, the mother to three of boxing superstar Floyds children, was found dead in her car in California on 11 March.-BBC
ZANU PF MPs today disrupted a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee meeting chaired by MDC Secretary-General Chalton Hwende looking into the alleged corruption at the state company, NetOne.
There was chaos when Emmerson Mnangagwa’s MPs began violently banging tables.
While it was alleged that ZANU PF MPs did this to protest against the Committee on Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) chairperson Chalton Hwende and his party for refusing to recognise Emmerson Mnangagwa as the legitimate president of Zimbabwe, the latest development appeared unique in that the agitation was more towards defending the alleged NetOne misuse of public funds.
The committee is hearing oral evidence from NetOne bosses. – video credit – OpenParly
The embattled President Peter Mutharika who is refusing to fire electoral commission officials, has however fired the Commander of the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) General Vincent Nundwe, and has shaken up the military.
Nundwe has been replaced with Major General Peter Andrew Lapken Namathanga who has also been promoted to the rank of full General.
The Malawi leader has also fired Deputy Commander of the Malawi Defence Force, Lieutenant General Clement Namangale. He has replaced Namangale with Major General Davis Sesatino Mtachi who has also been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General.
Mutharika has further appointed Brigadier General Elias Mpaso as Army Commander (Land Forces) and Brigadier General Ian Macleod Chirwa as Air Force Commander while Brigadier Francis Blessings Kakhuta-Banda remains Maritime Force Commander but has been promoted to the rank of Major General.
Mpaso and Chirwa have also been promoted to the rank of Major General.
In other appointments, Colonel Harrison Kandula is now Air Force Deputy Commander while Colonel Desmond Chawanda has been appointed Deputy Army Commander (Land Forces).
According to a statement from the Office of President and Cabinet (OPC), the appointments and promotions are with immediate effect.
The OPC has further said that General Nundwe (Rtd) and Lieutenant General Clement Namangale (Rtd) will be assigned other duties in the Public Service.
The shakeup in the military comes after Mutharika ordered the MDF to use force against protesters who plan to March to the State House on March 25. – Malawi24
By Jane Mlambo| Barely a day after banning public gatherings of over 100 people due to the coronavirus pandemic, President Emmerson Mnangagwa is currently in Manicaland where he is set to address thousands of party supporters in what shows his lack of seriousness in tackling the virus that has claimed thousands of lives worldwide.
According to the Herald, Mnangagwa is in Manicaland where he just commissioned a new pump house for the Nyakomba irrigation Scheme, Nyanga.
He will proceed to address a Zanu-Pf rally at Bumhira Secondary School where thousands of supporters are already gathered.
Mnangagwa was accompanied by Defence Minister Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Cde Monica Mutsvangwa, Agriculture Minister Cde Perrance Shiri and Manicaland Minister of State for Provincial Affairs Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba.
Suspiciously the Japanese Ambassador who was expected to also address the Nyanga North community did not show up with Shiri reading his speech.
By A Correspondent- The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 have reached 116 in South Africa – an increase of 31 new cases since Tuesday.
This was announced by Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize on Wednesday morning. He added that a further six local transmission cases had been reported.
He said:
As part of tracking and tracing, we have collated background information on how these patients were infected. We will provide information to the public, so as to give a sense of how these local transmissions occur. We will however not disclose full details, as this information is subject to patient confidentiality which we are bound by.-News24
President Cyril Ramaphosa and party leaders are expected to address the media after the meeting which is taking place at Tuynhuys in Cape Town.
Meanwhile, schools have been closed until 14 April and, while no travel ban is in place, South Africans have been advised to limit their movements.
By A Correspondent- A Female traditional healer who was part of a 16-member group that visited Murewa to perform rituals at the weekend jumped into Nyaguwe River and drowned, but her fellow sangomas have camped at the river claiming she would resurface in three days.
In an incident that has left villagers shocked, the traditional healers are currently camped at the scene of the incident, singing and dancing, saying they were communicating with the lady who they say will today “return” to the land of the living.
The matter was reported at Musami Police Station. According to witnesses, the traditional healers were not moved by the incident as they claim they were in constant contact with their colleague, a female who is believed to be from Dzivarasekwa in Harare.
Mashonaland East provincial police spokesperson Inspector Tendai Mwanza yesterday said he was yet to receive the report.
Murewa West legislator Phillip Sewera confirmed the incident, saying he visited the scene before filing a police report.
“A group of traditional healers or spirit mediums invaded Domborembudzi Hills near Cross on Friday. However, this did not go down with local traditional leaders who asked them to follow proper channels if they wanted to perform some rituals in the hills,” Sewera said.
“The team, numbering 16 then trooped down the hill on Sunday towards Nyaguwe River, singing and beating their traditional drums. Upon arrival, one of them, a woman jumped into the water and waved goodbye to her colleagues. The sangomas have since camped at the scene saying one of theirs will come back after three days.”
He added that the sangomas pleaded with people not to involve the police in the matter since they were communicating with the drowned woman.
“I attended the scene and found them camped, performing some rituals while waiting for their colleague to emerge from the water. We filed a police report at Musami and we are expecting them to visit the area today (yesterday).
The river is also known for being infested with crocodiles.
Blessingmiles Tendi| When I was there, the Zimbabwean army was good. They were disciplined. There was no hint of the army being political. I wrote regular reports for the UK government and do not recall ever writing anything particularly negative about the Zimbabwean army. I do not understand how the Zimbabwean army just changed. We especially liked Philip Sibanda [current commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces]. He was very professional, not political at all, and had been to the British Army’s Staff College.”
These are the disenchanted reflections of Major General Garry Barnett, commander of the British Military Advisory Training Team in Zimbabwe from 1991 to 1993. Barnett made these comments in 2013, when I interviewed him about former Zimbabwean army commander Solomon Mujuru (nom de guerre, Rex Nhongo), the subject of my recently published biography. Barnett felt let down by some members of the Zimbabwean army because of their increasingly political conduct.
For example, when former president Robert Mugabe lost the first round of the 2008 presidential election to Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwean army generals stepped in to support Mugabe’s re-election bid through a campaign of political violence. Today, the Zimbabwean army looks even less like the force Barnett helped to professionalise. In 2017, the army staged a coup d’état that removed Mugabe from power. Sibanda, once regarded as an apolitical and professional soldier, was one of the key players in effecting the coup.
The British Military Advisory Training Team (BMatt) began integrating, training and professionalising Zimbabwe’s two liberation armies (Zipra and Zanla) and the colonial army in 1980. A year later, Nhongo, a hero of Zimbabwe’s liberation war, became the first black commander of independent Zimbabwe’s national army. Nhongo is the Zimbabwean general who supported BMatt’s work the most. Nhongo “let me just get on with my work. He wanted a more professional army. He would ask how things were going at the Staff College. He was very interested in building up highly capable officers,” Barnett remembers.
After the construction of the Zimbabwean army’s Staff College in 1985 Nhongo insisted, against the preferences of the then minister of defence, that the BMatt commander (1985 to 1987) Major General Bob Hodges become the inaugural commandant because he believed the professional Hodges would instil a high standard in the Zimbabwe National Army officer corps.
After Hodges left Zimbabwe, Nhongo continued his practice of appointing professional BMMatt commanders as commandants of the Staff College. Only at the close of the 1980s did Nhongo finally overturn this tradition by appointing Sibanda, then a professional soldier, as the first Zimbabwean commandant of the Staff College. When Nhongo retired in 1992, the Zimbabwean army had attained a high degree of conventional training, education, discipline and fighting effectiveness. It was the second-best conventional combat force in Southern Africa, only because the South African army was better resourced.
However, towards the end of the 1990s, Zimbabwe staged a military intervention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Zimbabwe was embroiled in the DRC war for years, at great cost to the national economy. The Zimbabwean army incurred considerable losses in military hardware, some of which was never replaced. The DRC war was a watershed moment in the decline of the Zimbabwean army’s operational capacity. Moreover, a United Nations panel of experts released a report on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the DRC, in which it identified some top Zimbabwean army officers as being involved in the looting of Congolese natural resources, further undermining the army’s professional ethos. The retired Nhongo advised Mugabe against involving the Zimbabwean army in the DRC war but by the late 1990s, he had lost his influence with the president.
The rise of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as a potent challenge, from 1999 onwards, to the governing Zanu-PF party’s incumbency saw Mugabe increasingly politicise the army to protect his rule. Army officers had agency in this politicisation process. For instance, many soldiers with experience in the 1970s liberation war believed they were duty-bound to offer political support to Zanu-PF, the party of independence.
Others subscribed to politicisation in exchange for patronage, with many commanders benefiting from land reform, alluvial diamond mining in eastern Zimbabwe and the government’s command agriculture scheme. When the 2017 coup occurred, some of these beneficiaries in the army were motivated by the need to shield themselves from possible prosecution for corrupt commercial activities.
Unlike his successors in the army, Nhongo never sought political leadership when he was a serving army general. Nhongo saw himself essentially as a soldier and believed that his limited education and speech impediment made him unsuited for high political office. He had none of the hubris that incited politically ambitious soldiers to stage coups d’état in a range of independent African countries — Zimbabwe included.
Consequently, this is an opportune time for my biography of Nhongo to be published, as Zimbabwe contends with the reality that its army set a coup precedent in 2017. At the same time, the prospect of additional coups and civil strife lingers because of worsening socioeconomic conditions and the ruling civilian-military coalition government’s poor performance.
Nhongo appears to his successors in the army as a looking glass. His successors need to recover the professional ethos Nhongo tried to forge in the national army’s formative years. They need to relearn the first commandment of a professional army’s training — that the army does not act against its own government. After retirement, Nhongo entered active politics as an MP until 2000.
During his time in Parliament, Nhongo stood against partisanship and its accompanying enmity politics. The coming together of deeply partisan Zimbabwean politicians to mourn Nhongo when he died in a suspicious fire in 2011, underlined that he had been above partisanship. With Zimbabwe in crisis once again and solutions in short supply, the moment calls for nonpartisanship and a meeting of progressive minds to chart a way out of the present crisis.
Blessing-Miles Tendi is an associate professor of African politics at Oxford University and the author of The Army and Politics in Zimbabwe: Mujuru, the Liberation Fighter and Kingmaker (Cambridge University Press)
By A Correspondent- ZimRights says the situation in the country has become dire and there was compelling need for all stakeholders to come together outside the political actors to address the crisis which it claims has reached boiling point.
The national director of the human rights defender Dzikamai Bere yesterday told journalists on the sidelines of the media thematic training by Cultural Information Trust in Harare that the situation was out of hand and needed everyone’s involvement to ensure a lasting solution is found.
He said millions of Zimbabweans were affected by the economic crisis that needs immediate attention.
“The dire situation for the people of Zimbabwe currently is the economic situation and the failure by the leadership to resolve the issue of dialogue,” he said.
“I think we have reached a very desperate stage where we continue to call for national dialogue, an inclusive national dialogue and not just dialogue that involves certain political actors of a certain political persuasion. We need everyone involved including those who are directly affected by the crisis in the country.”
Mnangagwa set up the Political Actors Dialogue platform that has been snubbed by main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa who said he would not be part of a “monologue”.
Chamisa is pressing for inclusive dialogue with neutral and trusted mediation, a position supported by Western diplomats who have advised that former South African President Thabo Mbeki should come in as mediator.
Mbeki was in Harare last December and met Mnangagwa and Chamisa separately to try and bring them together. He had promised to return for further engagements before year end, but failed.
Bere said the imposition of sanctions on State Security minister Owen Ncube and Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Tanzania, Anselem Sanyatwe, who is a former army commander was a no-confidence vote by the West in Mnangagwa’s administration’s reform claims.
Bere said sanctions were not the solution and urged the Zanu PF regime to respect human rights.
“It is certainly not a solution, but also is a vote-of-no-confidence on whatever measures being put in place and you know that the US delivered its human rights report last week.
“It paints a very bad picture and is corroborated by other reports coming from other civic society organisations like the Zimbabwe Peace Project and the NGO Forum. What we are recording from the communities is the increasing state of desperation,” Bere said.
The US released the state of human rights report on Zimbabwe last week and accused the Mnangagwa administration of failure to respect people’s rights as well as account for those involved in shootings of civilians in August 1 2018 and January 2019.-Newsday
By Court Correspondent| There was drama at the Harare Magistrates Court when the prolific MDC President Nelson Chamisa’s lawyer, Thabani Mpofu turned up to represent a fraudster who allegedly forged a birth certificate and national identity documents to acquire a residency permit in Zimbabwe.
The late property mogul Edward Pfugari’s son who only came to Zimbabwe when he was a grown up man known as Edward Bayiti Rwendela is being represented by Adv Mpofu.
Rwendela, who in South Africa uses the knickname, Foreman allegedly forged a birth certificate and created a fake educational profile so that he can obtain a residency permit in Zimbabwe.
The South African Pfugari sibling only turned up after 39 years when his father was old and not well to begin claiming 50 percent shares of his father’s properties appeared at court with his co accused, one Daniso Jamu who acted as his agent.
Property mogul and businessman Edward Pfugari passed away last year in February.
Rwendela was however hauled to court after it was discovered that he forged a birth certificate and national identity document and other educational certificates to acquire a residency permit.
ZimEye however can authoritatively reveal that Rwendela was born and bred in South African and never acquired his education in Zimbabwe as he is alleging.
He also forged company documents to demand a 50% stake in the late property mogul’s entire business empire, pushing away 4 other surviving children.
Adv Mpofu was once billed to represent the same Pfugari siblings he is now opposing, on the same case. Having adulterated his robe, as it were, Adv Mpofu today told the court Edward Bayiti might have committed fraud but he remains the son of the late businessman.
He asked the court to throw out the case on the basis that it had no merit.
He said:
“For the purposes of the trial… the allegations are crafted, based on a story top and they do not and cannot disclose an offence….
Like my friend (prosecutor) has said…i am asking that we consider the matter ….under the circumstances as an application for exception… and we will be moving that the matter be moved as an application for exception which will be filed by 26 March 2020.”
By A Correspondent- Two police officers from Chikurubi Support Unit were last week arrested for abuse of office after escorting a team of illegal miners to prospect for gold at Stories Mine in Mazowe.
Tawanda Kokera and Festan Mutangirwa pleaded not guilty to the charge before Concession magistrate Ruth Moyo, who remanded them in custody to March 23.
The State alleges that on March 9, the pair were manning a roadblock on Masamba Road to Jumbo Mine where they intercepted a team of illegal miners abode a Toyota Hiace registration number AEU3193.
The leader of the illegal miners, Mandlenkosi Siziba, took Kokera’s mobile number and arranged to be escorted to Stories Mine to carryout their mining activities.
Siziba and his crew picked the police officers the following day at Jumbo Mine and went to Stories Mine where they were illegally mining.
On the same day, a team of senior cops was doing routine checks around Jumbo Mine and found the duo at the mine, guarding the illegal miners.
They were immediately arrested and taken to court.
By A Correspondent- Sakunda Holdings which is owned by Kudakwashe Tagwirei, an alleged ally of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, has denied receiving US$3 billion for the Command Agriculture Programme between 2016 and 2019.
Appearing before the Tendai Biti-led Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to answer to allegations that his organisation could not account for US$3 billion it received from the central bank, Sakunda Holdings chief operations officer Charles Chitambo said:
We only got US$1,010 billion between June 2016 and May 2019 and it did not come in one instalment. The US$3 billion was for other programmes including the presidential input scheme.
There were reports suggesting that the company misused the money. This comes when the country has a huge shortage in mealie-meal prompting others to say that the US$3 billion could have helped the country head off starvation.
The 2019/20 rainy season was also poor causing and that means starvation will linger for a little longer unless there are some interventions.
Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector, like other sectors, has been underperforming since the turn of the millennium when the country embarked on the fast track land reform programme.
The programme coincided with climate change which has resulted in natural disasters including floods, cyclones and droughts.-Newsday
By A Correspondent- The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) has dismissed as fake a message circulating on social media advising students and lecturers that the university shall be on recess from Friday the 20th of March to the 14th of April.
In a statement, UZ Acting Director for Information and Public Relations Mrs Ndai. I. Nyamakura urged stakeholders to ignore the message. She said:
We are advising all University of Zimbabwe Students, Staff, Partners and the general public, that the currently circulating messages on social media on COVID-19 (Coronavirus), purportedly written by (1) the SRC Secretary-General and (2) the Registrar, Dr N.A. Mutongoreni, are falsehood. They should, therefore, be ignored as with all fake news.
The University has, to date, not recorded any cases and measures have been put in place for surveillance in line with national efforts.
One of the messages that circulated widely on social media reads:
UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE
NOTICE TO ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF
The University of Zimbabwe wishes to inform all Uz students and staff that the university shall be on recess from Friday the 20th of March to the 14th of April, as a precautionary measure to curb the spread of Coronavirus (COVID19). This comes after one student and a staff member who had flue like symptoms tested positive to coronavirus. The two have since been quarantined and everyone they came across on campus.
Please note that:
Lectures will end at 1700 hours on Thursday the 19th of March and resume on the 14th of April 2020.
All students in university accommodation are expected to have checked out of their residence by 1000 hours on Friday, the 20th of March 2020.
Resident students are expected back on campus on Monday, the 13th of April 2020, starting at 1400 hours.
However, all staff members are still expected to report for duty.
1. This statement is issued by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (“ZIMRA/the Authority”) and seeks to correct the false article published in the Standard Newspaper on 15 March 2020, on page 12, written by Tawanda Majoni, titled “Zimra bosses are fuelling corruption” (“the Article”).
2. Article flagrantly states that: “While the rank and file is getting paltry RIGS packs, the executives are helping themselves to the good money, the US dollar. Far thousands in forex paid as salaries and allowances.”
3. ZIMRA is not paying any of its employees (executives included) salaries and/or allowances denominated in United States Dollars or any other foreign currency as alleged or at all. The current compensation and remuneration for ALL ZIMRA staff is all in Zimbabwean dollars.
4. The Article is not only untrue but also malicious and is calculated to harm and damage the integrity and esteem of ZEMRA, its Board Executives and general staff.
5. The failure by the writer of the article to seek commentary from ZIMRA goes against basic ethical, editorial and journalistic principles, which afford the subject of a story the opportunity to respond before a story is published.
6. The Authority wishes to put the record straight and will pursue other remedies to cleanse its reputation
7. It has become necessary to publish this Statement for the benefit of our stakeholders, the taxpayers and the general public.
By A Correspondent- There was pandemonium in South Africa after a coronavirus infected family fled from a hospital and refused to be quarantined.
The Independent reports that A Gauteng family who tested positive for Covid-19 and fled from the hospital has been nabbed by the police after the provincial health department approached the courts to quarantine the family.
The family had refused to be quarantined after they were confirmed to be have been infected with the coronavirus.
Kwara Kekana, a spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Health, said the department approached the court on Monday night to ensure that the family was forced into quarantine.
“The department approached the court on Monday night requesting an urgent order to ensure that we don’t interfere with the constitutional rights of the patients without a court order. The court order was granted around 1am this morning in favour of the department,” said Kekana.
The department then alerted the police to trace the family and on Tuesday just after midday, the police located the family.
“We are pleased that the family was found around 12h30 this afternoon and is currently being attended to at a designated health facility,” said Kekana.
Health authorities are appealing with South Africans to co-operate with health workers as the country grapples with containing the coronavirus outbreak.
More than 190 000 people around the world have been infected with coronavirus, with more than 7500 deaths around the world.
More than 80 000 people have recovered from the virus.
Kekana said the family, a wife and her daughter, had tested positive and the husband had refused to be tested, leaving the hospital without swabs being retrieved from him.
“We wish to commend the South African Police Service for swiftly attending to the matter.
“As stated by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday we need to work together to fight this pandemic,” said Kekana
Fellow South Africans, I wish to announce that as of today, South Africa now has 85 confirmed cases of COVID-19. This means there has been an increase of 23 from yesterday’s announcement.
The breakdown per province is as follows:
GAUTENG: 14 -A 45-year-old male who had travelled to Belgium, UK, France and the US -A 37-year-old male who had travelled to the UK -A 54-year-old female who had travelled to the USA -A 52-year-old male who had travelled to the UK -A 25-year-old male who travelled to the UK -A 52-year-old female who had travelled to Italy -A 59-year-old male who travelled to the UK and Dubai -A 57-year-old male who travelled to the USA -A 60-year-old male who travelled to the USA -A 37-year-old female who travelled to Italy and Dubai -A 21-year-old female with no travel history -A 34-year-old male with no international travel history -A 26-year-old female with no international travel history -A 32-year-old female with no international travel history
KWAZULU-NATAL: 4 -A 48-year-old male who travelled to Dubai -A 59-year-old female with no international travel history -A 5-year-old male with no international travel history -A 3year old male with no international travel history
WESTERN CAPE: 5 -A 3-year-old male who travelled to the UK -A 58-year-old male who travelled to the UK and Austria -A 2-year-old male with no international travel -A 62-year-old female who travelled to the UK and Ethiopia -A 71-year-old female who travelled to the UK
It is notable that there are 6 cases of local transmission. I must inform the public that there was a debate with clinicians, epidemiologists, virologists on when we, as government must release results to the public. These experts raised an issue of an ethical obligation to immediately alert patients as soon as the results become available.
This, therefore, means that by the time a confirmation test is conducted in public laboratories, patients would have been notified of their initial results.
This clarification is important because as government, we had announced to the public that all positive results will be verified through our public laboratories and the NICD.
In our efforts to ensure transparency, we have decided to release results as they are submitted by both public and private labs.
In instances where our confirmation tests give contrary results, we will inform the public, make reference to that specific result previously announced and give the outcome of the confirmation results.
Whilst we respect that private laboratories have the capacity to test and on their own issue results, our intention and approach is to ensure that there is credibility in the information and results given to the public.
Whilst we appreciate the importance of being transparent with South Africans, we will not do so irresponsibly and not take into account all clinical and any other broader implications of the information we give to you.
TEST RESULTS OF CITIZENS REPATRIATED FROM WUHAN It gives us great pleasure to also announce to South Africans that all the citizens from Wuhan were tested and their results came back negative for COVID-19.
We continue to keep them in quarantine for the prescribed period and will thereafter initiate the process of reunifying them with the community
President Emmerson Mnangagwa told travellers from coronavirus hotspots to stop coming to Zimbabwe. Do you think his move is timely or already too late?
By A Correspondent- President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday told travellers from coronavirus hotspots to stay away from Zimbabwe for a month and cancelled independence celebrations and the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair as part of measures to prevent the outbreak of the disease.
He also banned gatherings of more than 100 people and suspended sporting events until further notice, but schools, scheduled to close in a fortnight, will remain open for now.
Borders will also remain open along with the airports without restrictions, but Mnangagwa ordered tighter screening.
“Government has curtailed unnecessary travel outside the country, especially to destinations in countries affected by the virus,” Mnangagwa said yesterday in his address to the nation, where he also declared the virus a national disaster.
“That position remains in force. Travellers from high-risk countries are encouraged to postpone their travel arrangements to Zimbabwe for the next 30 days, starting from March 20, 2020.”
Globally, the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has killed more than 7 000 and infected almost 182 000 others, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
WHO last week declared the deadly novel virus a global pandemic after spreading to over 140 countries, 26 of them in Africa.
Neighbouring South Africa has 62 confirmed cases, but no fatalities, and President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster on Sunday.
Zimbabwe has not yet recorded confirmed cases of COVID-19 and so far, all suspected cases have been negative, but the country’s porous borders and lackadaisical screening have triggered fears the virus could easily find its way into the country with a health system compromised by years of neglect, lack of medicine and equipment and regular strikes by doctors and nurses.
It is also still tracing contacts after a United Kingdom tourist who visited Victoria Falls between March 7 and 10 tested positive for coronavirus on return to their home country.
Mnangagwa’s ban on all public gatherings will affect churches and sporting activities, and puts paid to plans by the opposition MDC party, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and civic organisations for a mega protest over his handling of the economy.
“Equally, Zimbabweans are discouraged from travelling to, through and from high-risk countries during the same period. All designated small border crossings will stand closed from now until further notice,” Mnangagwa said. “With immediate effect and for a unified and co-ordinated effort, I have directed that the national disaster management machinery extends its mandate and focus to dealing with the pandemic, with the Ministry of Health and Child Care as the lead agency.”
Mnangagwa said key bilateral projects in many sectors, mostly transport and infrastructures, have either been slowed down or coming to a complete halt.
“Travel and tourism has taken a knock from curtailed human movements, in our case on the back of two successive droughts. While we have not recorded cases as yet, the economic impact of the pandemic is already being felt, threatening our vision 2030,” he said.
“We have worked out a comprehensive response strategy, buttressed by strong measures which ensure we remain protected and secure as a nation and in step with appropriate measures being taken by the rest of the world.”
“To reduce the likelihood of infections and spread of the coronavirus, government has decided to postpone, curtail or cancel public events, gatherings and activities. In that respect, government has postponed the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, all national independence celebrations previously planned, and pending international sporting fixtures until the threat of coronavirus recedes.”
Added Mnangagwa: “Government has now put all hospitals and health facilities on high alert for COVID-19. Kits and other accessories for screening, handling, testing and treatment continue to be availed. More isolation and treatment centres are being identified, designated and equipped appropriately.
“With immediate effect, all government premises must be equipped for screening procedures. In view that schools are only two weeks away from the end of the first term, government has decided to keep them open, with standard screening precautions being taken daily. Dates for reopening of all schools will be announced, taking into account realities on the ground.”
Mnangagwa said a national communication taskforce on the virus and for disseminating accurate information and raising general national awareness on the pandemic would be immediately constituted.
“Should the situation escalate, government will not hesitate to take further and even more drastic measures for our common good,” he said.-Newsday
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesperson has celebrated that the corona virus outbreak will prevent MDC-Alliance and he Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions from holding political demonstrations.
MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa is on record accusing the Zanu-PF government of blocking their planned demonstrations in 2019 and 2020 protesting what they say is Mnangagwa’s mismanagement of the country’s failing economy.
The police blocked the demonstrations on the basis that Chamisa’s party wanted to overthrow Mnangagwa’s government.
A day before Mnangagwa’s government banned public gatherings of more than 100 people for the next two months as part of preventive measures against corona virus, Charamba posted on Twitter celebrating that the opposition will no longer be holding demonstrations.
“CORONA VIRUS LOCKDOWN: No more political demonstrations/marches/protests!!! MDC-ZCTU muriko hereeeee!!!!!”
Peter Moyo said the demos were not about MDC and Zctu but about the people of Zimbabwe.
Charamba responded, “Which is why demonstrations for foreign interests must come under lockdown.”
Stacey Fadzayi said it was stupid for Charamba to celebrate the corona virus outbreak.
“Celebrating suppression of our humans right with the outbreak of such a medical pandemic that will bring catastrophic results to the whole. Is definitely beyond stupidity,” she said.
Charamba was adamant, “What rights surpass that of being alive and thus human?? How come you look clever??? Nxa!!!”
Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Member of Parliament for Glen View south, Vincent Tsvangirai has moved away from his party position after admitting that economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the west are hurting ordinary people.
The MDC has insisted on corruption and not sanctions as the reason behind the country’s economic crisis.
Responding to oral evidence presented by an organisation named Broad Alliance Against Sanctions who petitioned parliament over the western embargo, Tsvangirai said whilst there may be proposals for the Patriotic Act there was need to protect citizens.
The group has been campaigning for a Patriotic Act to deal with those perceived to have invited the restrictive measures but Tsvangirai said it was not necessary to go that route.
“My fear is that it (Patriotic Act) may sound good to put an act like that, for one, I am a patriotic person who believes that sanctions do hurt ordinary persons but at the same time making an act like that I believe sometimes you may end up opening citizens to further harm.
“There are other ways like you said they are targeted sanctions correct, we want to find out who are the targeted people on those sanctions. Then are they economic sanctions and what are they dealing with those economic sanctions (sic). I believe they should go in this day and age they don’t help anything if you look at every other countries out there in the world. Look at all the statistics that are out there they don’t help with anything, you may target one person but that person is never targeted and that person will continue with their lives,” said Tsvangirai
He was however, quick to say whilst sanctions must go there are multiple wrongs happening in the country.
“At the same time there are multiple wrongs happening in this country and those cannot be avoided as well. I do feel for the ordinary people that are getting hurt at the same time let us not rush as if things are not happening in the country” he said
Tsvangirai is son to founding president of the country’s main opposition MDC.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Professor Paul Mavima
The Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) yesterday reached a deadlock over salaries and wages, for the third time in two months.
Government and labour are on the same side regarding the position of a minimum wage, but business continues to reject the proposal.
TNF chairperson and Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Professor Paul Mavima could not be drawn into comment.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary-general Mr Japhet Moyo confirmed there was a stalemate.
“There is nothing that came out of the meeting,” he said.
“There is a dispute that was there in our last meeting, which was referred to Cabinet and the same issues have been brought back today (yesterday), but nothing has materialised.”
Mr Moyo said the matter had since been referred to Cabinet for further deliberations.
“We are going to meet again after Cabinet meets hoping that this will break the impasse,” he said.
A source from the meeting said business remained firm on its own side.
“Finance and Economic Minister Mthuli Ncube and the labour side were very clear on what they want and they are agreed to the same position, but business is disputing,” said the source.
West End Hospital has announced the suspension of elective theatre procedures due to the unavailability of adequate stocks and sundries in their theatre and hospital.
EIGHT villagers have been arrested in Tsholotsho after they allegedly fatally assaulted a 60-year-old man accusing him of stealing 20 litres of fuel.
Matabeleland North police spokesperson Chief Inspector Siphiwe Makonese confirmed the arrest of Bismarck Nkomo (30), Bhekimpilo Ncube (24), Mthokozisi Mlotshwa (21), Bekezela Moyo (18), Mthokozisi Ndlovu (22), Mthetheli Moyo (19), Mthulisi Moyo (19) and Tafana Ncube (22), all from Mkhono line under Chief Gampu.
She said the eight were arrested over the weekend after allegedly assaulting Thuku Moyo of Delele line in Malila area on Saturday.
Chief Insp Makonese said investigations are underway while the accused persons will appear in court for murder.
“I can confirm that we received a report about some villagers who teamed up to assault a fellow villager in a bushy area in Mkhono line. On 14 March at around 6AM Bismarck Nkomo noticed that his petrol which was in a 20-litre container had been stolen and alerted the co-accused. They all traced footprints of the suspect which led them to the now deceased’s homestead,” said Chief Insp Makonese.
MDC top official Tapiwa Mashakada has questioned the rational of the government bringing in Chinese engineers to construct bridges when the country has expert engineers to do the same.
“I am one person who believes that Zimbabwean Engineers can build our roads and low cost bridges thereby creating jobs. Why do we need Chinese to do our roads and airports?” he said.
“Zimbos are building airports in other countries. The OR Rambo airport was designed and built by Zimbabwe engineers and other engineers. We have trained engineers so let us utilize them. I see the Beitbridge Chirundu road was parcelled to various construction companies some of whom do not have wheel barrows.”
He said it will take ages to build that road and corruption will gobble huge resources without progress.
“Look at the works after Chichi, I do not see any progress. I hope I am wrong. Recently I drove along the Harare Beitbridge road it’s all potholes and dangerous. That road is a death trap but where is the sense of urgency by authorities. In some countries that road can cost a party election victory,” he said.
Exiled former minister Professor Jonathan Moyo has congratulated President Emmerson Mnangagwa for declaring coronavirus a national disaster along with strategies to prevent its spread in Zimbabwe.
The message from Prof Moyo, one of Mnangagwa’s fiercest critics, came as a surprise and shock to many including the Presidents’ spokesperson George Charamba.
Prof Moyo however, insists that cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Zimbabwe contrary to claims by government that they have zero infections so far.
Well done @edmnangagwa. Better late than never. Declaring the #coronavirus a national disaster is the way to go to stem the pandemic & save lives. Actions must now speak louder than words. The #coromavirus is already in the country but authorities are in denial & incapacitated! https://t.co/nzKf1j1Vfh
Charamba retweeted Moyo’s message and commenting “Huu???”
Tapiwa Mkurazhizha asked Charamba if Prof Moyo’s account could have been hacked to which he responded: “No, he is a reasonable critic/opponent.”
Mnangagwa on Tuesday announced that the independence celebrations and the Zimbabwe international trade fair had been cancelled due to the coronavirus. He also said public gatherings had been banned.
Reuters| Zimbabwe has suspended the transfer of local shares in dual-listed companies to foreign bourses, one of the main ways citizens and businesses have been able to obtain dollars as inflation wipes out the local currency.
Zimbabwe reintroduced a currency, the Zimbabwe dollar, last June, ending a decade of dollarization. But with no foreign or gold reserves to back it up, its value has plunged while inflation soared to an annual rate of 540.16% in February.
Foreign and Zimbabwean investors aiming to obtain foreign currency have been buying shares in Old Mutual (OMUJ.J), Pretoria Portland Cement (PPCJ.J) and SeedCo (SEED.ZI) (SCIL.BT) on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and selling them on foreign exchanges.
Old Mutual and PPC are listed in Johannesburg while SeedCo is also listed in Botswana.
In a government notice on Sunday, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said the practice had been suspended for 12 months. The national treasury said this was “part of broad and bold measures to weed out some of the visible sources of currency instability.”
The Zimbabwe dollar was officially trading at 18.4283 to the U.S. dollar on Monday and at 40 on the black market. Many investors use what is known as the Old Mutual Implied Rate (OMIR) to asses what they say is the true value of the local currency.
This compares share prices of Old Mutual in Harare and in Johannesburg to determine the exchange rate. The OMIR was at 60.77 on Friday, according to currency tracking website MarketWatch.
In 2008 at the height of hyperinflation, Zimbabwe also suspended the transfer of dual-listed shares but this did not stem the crash of the local currency.
State Media|The Freedom of Information Bill and the International Treaties Bill sailed through their final stages in Parliament yesterday and now await the assent of the President before they become law.
The two Bills went through their third readings in the Senate yesterday, the final steps in the Parliamentary process that began with their first readings in the National Assembly.
The Freedom of Information Bill is one of the three laws drafted in a lengthy process that involved consultation with a wide range of opinions and significant input from the relevant Parliamentary portfolio committee, one of the committees chaired by an opposition MP.
The three proposed laws are to replace the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, generally regarded as seriously deficient, so giving impetus to the media reforms that the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa have embarked upon.
Other Bills in the pipeline are the Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill and the Broadcasting Services Amendment Bill.
Once all three are law the old law will be totally repealed.
The International Treaties Bill will establish a uniform procedure for the consideration and approval of international treaties by the Cabinet and Parliament before their ratification by the President.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi steered the International Treaties Bill and did the same with respect to Freedom of Information Bill, while standing in for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa.
Speaking soon after its passage, Minister Ziyambi said the Bill was one of the legal instruments that were subjected to wide consultations by stakeholders.
“If there is a Bill that has gone through wide consultation, it is the Freedom of Information Bill,” said Minister Ziyambi.
He commended Parliament for passing the Bill in unison.
“We had problems with AIPPA,” said Minister Ziyambi. “This day has been historic. This Senate will go into the history of our country for having given effect to the right to information.”
Minister Ziyambi said it was critical to note that the National Assembly had acceded to some amendments that were moved by Parliament’s portfolio committee on Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services chaired by a member of the opposition, MDC Alliance to show unity of purpose.
Binga North MP Mr Prince Dubeko Sibanda chairs the committee.
Acting Senate president Chief Fortune Charumbira said the new dispensation had gone a long way in repealing contentious pieces of legislation such as the Public Order and Security Act and it was doing away with AIPPA.
“This Bill is linked to good governance, democracy and human rights. The passage has been unanimous. So we should congratulate ourselves as a country,” said Chief Charumbira.
Freedom of Information Bill seeks to give effect to Section 62 of the Constitution which provides for the right to access to information as enshrined in the Declaration of Rights.
The drafting process involved, at an early stage, input from the relevant Parliamentary portfolio committee.
Chief Charumbira
The Bill sets out the procedure of access to information held by public institutions or information held by any person, which is necessary for the exercise or protection of a right.
It also sets out considerations for making available, on a voluntary basis by entities, certain categories of information thereby removing the need for formal requests for such information.
The Bill also sets out the scope of limitations on the right of access to information, the rights of third parties, the role of principal officers of entities and information officers in its implementation, procedures for internal and court appeals in respect to requests for access to information and the time limits within which these processes must be carried out.
State Media|Russia has cancelled an international business conference set for June in Moscow, where a Zimbabwean delegation comprising legislators was expected to attend, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Local businessmen ranging from engineers, scientists, researchers and academics were due to converge in Moscow to explore opportunities.
The conference was supposed to take place between June 3 and 6.
Russia Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Nikolai Krasilnikov yesterday paid a courtesy call on Senate President Mabel Chinomona to advise her of the cancellation of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“We discussed a lot of bilateral issues with our Russian Ambassador, but he also brought communication about the cancellation of a business conference that we were supposed to attend. I had actually gathered a team comprising businessperson who include Members of Parliament. The cancellation is due to the coronavirus pandemic and it was done as a precautionary measure,” said Cde Chinomona.
“During our meeting, we also discussed bilateral relations between our two countries as you know Russia and China as permanent members in the United Nations Security Council have stood by us.”
Cde Chinomona said while the cancellation of the conference was unfortunate, it was necessary, given the effect of the pandemic. She said the Russia diplomat had expressed satisfaction about several measures being taken by Zimbabwean authorities to deal with the pandemic.
Mr Krasilnikov said Russia was encouraged by several measures the Government was taking to contain the disease.
“We exchange views during our meeting as the international community take necessary measures to contain the spread of the disease. We are also impressed by the measures being taken by the Government of Zimbabwe in this regard,” said Mr Krasilnikov.
He hailed the bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and Russia.
“We had a wonderful meeting with Senate President. We discussed development in various fields of our bilateral relations. You know that the relation is deep-rooted. We are happy with the state of our interaction. We stand by the Republic of Zimbabwe in many instances and we support each other in United Nations, International Parliamentary Union and other platforms,” said Mr Krasilnikov.
The pandemic has seen several people from Asia, Europe and Africa testing positive to the disease.
Zimbabwe has not recorded cases of the pandemic and continue to take precautionary measures.
State Media|POLICE in Bulawayo have arrested more than 150 illegal forex dealers in a blitz aimed at restoring sanity in the CBD including the area surrounding Tredgold Buildings which has been dubbed the “World Bank’’.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube yesterday said police were acting on the warning they issued on Monday that they would pounce on illegal forex dealers.
There was mayhem and chaos at the area surrounding Tredgold yesterday at around noon when police officers arrived in a number of vehicles into which they bundled Osiphatheleni caught in the act.
“As promised, we are working to restore sanity in the city and today we have arrested more than 150 people for illegal forex dealing. This is an operation by a team under the command of Chief Superintendent Marshal Dube, of Bulawayo Central District. The team arrested more than 150 Osiphatheleni and many others who were blocking the pavement,” he said. “We are going to sustain our raids. We believe Bulawayo people are reasonable and we hope that the message will be heard. We want to protect property and life. We must all make Bulawayo a better place. Such levels of lawlessness cannot be tolerated.”
Illegal forex dealers nabbed in a police raid and a story published by Chronicle yesterday in which police warned the illegal forex dealers
During a tour of Tredgold Buildings last week, Chief Justice Luke Malaba warned Osiphatheleni and other people involved in illegal activities around the building which houses the Bulawayo Magistrates Courts, saying there was an urgent need for them to be permanently flushed out of the area.
In 2018, Chief Justice Malaba also bemoaned the illegal foreign currency exchange activities around the environs of Tredgold Buildings while commissioning three additional courtrooms at the Bulawayo High Court resulting in police clamping down on the money changers.
At that time, police sealed off the parking area around the building but the operation was short-lived and illegal forex dealers made a triumphant return.
Correspondent|President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement to close most border crossings has been met with disappointment from neighbouring ESwatini.
While South Africans commend the move, giving credit to the president for acting swiftly at a time that needs decisiveness, the countries bordering the rainbow nation, however, seem to be taking a major economic blow from the border closures.
ESwatini, a country surrounded by South Africa, an MP questioned the strength of the relationship between the kingdom and South Africa. The MP voiced his concern over the inconsiderate closing of borders without giving warning.
The kingdom of eSwatini has hundreds of students studying in South Africa and the issue of their safety was also raised in parliament. It was suggested by one parliamentarian that all emaSwati studying in South Africa should be brought home by the authorities.
Some emaSwati travel to SA for medical reasons as the kingdom lacks certain medical facilities and professionals. These people are at a great risk because their physical livelihood depends on travelling to the Republic. Business is also at a limbo in the constitutional kingdom as emaSwati employed in the Republic are not able to attend work. Retailers in the kingdom are also devastated because some of them stock up in SA where prices are more reasonable.
Those living close to the borders are suffering from hunger as they rely on getting cheap food from neighboring SA. Mealie-meal, a staple food among emaSwati, is no longer accessible to them at the affordable price they are used to and they might have to start making their own.
Between the Gege, Sicunusa and Nsalitje borders, which are all trapped in SA, there are about 14, 000 travellers crossing on a daily basis. Most of these are businesspeople that have employees counting on their success for survival.
Travel is a fundamental freedom enshrined in the constitutional values that SA stands for. It will be interesting to see how national security stands side-by-side with virtues like compassion and empathy. How will these be balanced? How can SA nurse itself back to health without breastfeeding? We’ll just have to see how it all plays out, won’t we?
The Gauteng Department of Health was forced to turn to a court of law when a mother and daughter refused to be quarantined after testing positive for Covid-19.
The pair, who could not be identified, tested positive after undergoing tests. The woman’s husband refused to be tested.
The woman, her husband and daughter were traced by police in the afternoon after the department obtained a court order in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Health Department spokesperson Kwara Kekana confirmed that the family refused to be quarantined.
“They left the hospital without swabs being taken. The department then approached the court last night on an urgent basis in order to ensure that we didn’t interfere with the constitutional rights of the patients without a court order. A court order was granted around 01:00 on Tuesday in favour of the department.
“The matter was reported to SAPS to trace the family. We are pleased that the family was found around 12:30 and is currently being attended to at a designated health facility,” Kekana said.
The department pleaded with the public to cooperate with healthcare workers during this difficult period of dealing with the coronavirus.
The Roman Catholic church in Zimbabwe has outoaced protestants in the fight against COVID 19 to cancel all mass and begin holding church via the internet.
The development is revealed in the below public statement. FULL TEXT:
In the wake of the global outbreak of Covid-19, we wish to add our voice to the many other voices, including WHO, our own Government and, in particular, the President and Ministry of Health, on the pandemic. Prevention is better than cure. ZCBC fully supports the various calls to take serious and drastic measures to prevent the spread of Corona Virus in the country, whose urgency cannot be overemphasized. At present, prevention proves to be a fundamental weapon to fight the virus and it is even more essential in our country where hospital structures are not fully-equipped to support the influx of a great number of seriously ill people.
Attendance of Sunday Masses/Services
a) The Sunday obligation to attend Mass for the elderly, children, the sick and the vulnerable is lifted until further notice. Vulnerable faithful should not feel guilty for failing to attend Sunday Mass.
b) Where possible, the vulnerable faithful are encouraged to follow live streaming of Mass through various media of social communications.
The current situation offers an opportunity for us to renew our appreciation of the value of Prayer at Home and in private — this has as we know a particular relevance in Lent where we are encouraged “when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret, will reward you.” (Matt 6: 6) We are encouraged to read our Bibles and to hold
Services of the Word; we are able to be in “spiritual communion” with our Lord in the Eucharist and in our Neighbour.
General Guidelines
The Catholic Church is addressing and dealing with the following concerns in its public worship and liturgical services:
Reception of the Precious Blood by Concelebrants and the Congregation has been suspended;
Reception of Holy Communion must only be on the hand, not on the tongue;
Sign of peace during the Holy Mass has been suspended;
CJ Holy Water fonts at the entrance of the Church should be drained;
Safe measures must be upheld in visiting and anointing of the sick.
All Clergy, including extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion should practise good hygiene by washing their hands both before and after liturgical services
All faithful are encouraged to wash their hands with soap or use hand sanitizers as frequently as possible.
Celebration of Sacraments:
O Care and prudence should be taken in administering, celebrating and attending the Sacraments of Baptism, First Holy Communion, Confirmation, Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders.
Safer measures are to be taken in administering the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. Individual confessions are not to be done in the confessional box but in an open space that, while preserving privacy, allows for the recommended distance in a time of corona virus.
Necessary permission is granted for general absolution during a penitential service for the duration of the pandemic.
All blessings by placing of hands must be suspended.
Easter Celebrations
Nearer the time, we will once again assess the situation, with the help of health experts to propose safe alternatives for the Triduum Rituals, for example, the washing of the feet, Veneration of the Cross on Good Friday, Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night, etc.
Conclusion:
Any matters and situations not covered by these guidelines are left at the discretion ofthe Parish Priest and the Parish Council, always keeping in mind the safety and the well being of the community. Let us promote the common good. Let us familiarize ourselves with the public education on the coronavirus issued by various Health Agencies and take the necessary precautionary measures. We encourage all faith communities to share widely the WHO guidelines on how to prevent the spread of COVID- 19. We implore you to adhere to the information and warning by the Ministry of Health and WHO on regular basis.
Let us continue to unite and pray fervently for a speedy end to this pandemic, for the recovery of those infected and for the repose of the souls of those who have died as a result of this pandemic.
Own Correspondent|South Africa has 23 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the total to 85, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced in a statement late on Tuesday night.
This as the country takes drastic steps to curb a possible coronavirus outbreak with travel restrictions set to be implemented on Wednesday, as well as school and university closures.
“It is notable that there are 8 cases of local transmissions,” said Mkhize.
Gauteng recorded four local transmissions, followed by three in KwaZulu-Natal and one in the Western Cape.
In total, Gauteng has 45 cases, the Western Cape has 21, KZN has 16, Mpumalanga has 2 and Limpopo has 1 recorded case.
Citizens from Wuhan gets the clear
He also added that all of the South Africans who returned from Wuhan tested negative for Covid-19.
“We continue to keep them in quarantine for the prescribed period and will thereafter initiate the process of reunifying them with the community.”
The 104 South Africans are in quarantine at The Ranch Resort in Polokwane where they will be monitored for up to 21 days.President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a state of disaster in light of the coronavirus pandemic, which has already claimed about 7 300 lives worldwide.
Correspondent|Stores like Woolworths in Durban KwaZulu Natal have already shut down.
Following the President Cyril Ramamphosa announcement to declare coronavirus a national disaster some stores in Durban have already shut down, more are expected to follow.
The President announced that gatherings of more than 100 people are now prohibited across the country in light of the escalation of coronavirus.
” The South African government has put measures in place to treat those infected.” Ramamphosa said.
As it is said that there should be no gatherings of more than 100 people and people should also limit contact between person. In the retail environment it is impossible to do so and that endangers the workers and customers lives.
The infection count today is 62 but on the message doing rounds on social media, it is said that the South African government is not telling the people the truth about the infection count.
Apparently many people are infected which will lead to a total shutdown. Retail stores will have to operate once a week for three months.
This might be the reason whites South Africans have been buying food in bulks since yesterday.
MDC President Nelson Chamisa on a recent visit to Coronavirus quarantine centre in Harare.
Nelson Chamisa|As the world battles the #COVID19 pandemic,our prayers and sympathies are with the victims,families and their loved ones.We wish strength to the health &social services workers on the frontlines.Thank you world leaders for your efforts and leadership in these trying times!Zimbabweans let us do our best to inform, educate and act to defeat this pandemic!
Zanu PF has appointed Tafadzwa Mugwadi as director of Information and Publicity.
He takes over from Danny Musukuma, who was relieved of his duties sometime last year.
Zanu PF secretary for Finance Patrick Chinamasa confirmed the appointment yesterday.
“Yes, I can confirm that Mugwadi is now the party’s director of Information and Publicity,” he said. “He officially started his duties on Monday.”
Before his appointment, Mugwadi was part of the Zimpapers’ Knowledge Centre team. He resigned from Zimpapers this week and promises to revamp Zanu PF’s information department. Cde Mugwadi holds an BSc Honours Political Science and a Master of Science Degree in International Relations from the University of Zimbabwe.
He is also a PhD candidate.
Said Mugwadi: “It’s time to get down to serious business. It’s a position of trust and responsibility and yes, I will do my best to fulfil the expectations of the party leadership and our membership.
“There are seniors at the party to learn from.” Zanu PF Mashonaland West Youth League chairperson Vengai Musengi hailed the appointment.
He said it showed that Zanu PF had confidence in young blood. “We are happy because youths are now being given positions of trust,” said Musengi.
In the wake of the coronavirus which is now a global pandemic, and thus a concern for all nations and all peoples of the world, we as Zimbabwe have to play our part.
We have worked out a comprehensive response strategy, buttressed by strong measures which ensure we remain protected and secure as a nation, and in step with appropriate measures being taken by the rest of the world.
While we are relieved that our country is still free from this virus which continues to spread elsewhere across persons, communities, countries and continents, we stand in full solidarity with all peoples and nations of the world so far affected by the pandemic. Nations of the world have to stand together as one.
Already, many lives have been lost; many more people have succumbed or are unwell; precious resources are being diverted towards the control and containment of the pandemic.
We are under no illusion that what befalls our global neighbours today may eventually hit us and also affect our communities tomorrow. We thus must join hands with the rest of the world in tackling this pandemic collectively, even before it crosses our own border.
We have to take preventive steps and all precautions thatare necessary. We have to be ready with remedial interventions in case of actual outbreaks. Indeed, we have to have a National Response Plan for containing the pandemic once it reaches us.
Dear Zimbabweans,
What makes the problem even more challenging is that more still needs to be known about this virus whose spread within and between communities, countries, regions and continents, is proving very rapid and exponential.
Humanity is at risk and stands at hazardous crossroads.
Worldwide, the pandemic’s impact on national health systems has been enormous. Even developed health systems feel the strain; those of fragile, developing economies are struggling to cope. The trans-border trajectory of the virus thus makes us all neighbours, turn us all into each other’s keepers. Above all, it recommends global partnerships across old divides that may have set us apart. We now have to join hands against this global threat, while acting in unison within our immediate national neighbourhoods.
To date, national responses have been varied, with nations most affected or at greatest risk taking drastic, even draconian measures.
These include complete lock-down of communities, towns and cities, in order to contain and check the spread of the virus.
The social and psychological toll on communities has been unimaginable. Yet those measures are necessary.
Impact on national economies, on international relations, and on trade, has been severe and continue to escalate daily. Today signs of national and global economic recession and crises are already in evidence. We thus have to act decisively.
In our case, we have seen key bilateral projects in many sectors, most notably in transport and infrastructures, either being slowed down or coming to a complete halt. Travel and tourism has taken a knock from curtailed human movements, in our case on the back of two successive droughts. While we have no recorded cases as yet, the economic impact of the pandemic is already being felt, threatening our Vision 2030.
The key challenge we all face is balancing effective measures that are necessary and have to be taken, against the need to ensure our societies and economies continue to function optimally for common, collective good. This is no easy balance.
Government has been seized with this matter for quite some time and our response and state of readiness to date has included the following measures:
l Creating Systems for National Alertness and rapid response to any suspected cases of the virus;
l Strengthening screening and testing capacities both at various ports of entry, and inside the country for early detection and rapid responses;
l Creating isolation centres where suspected cases are examined and/or treated safely;
l Contact tracing and screening to guard against the spread through into-country infections and in-country transmissions;
l Reinforcing National Health Systems and institutional framework for an effective response;
l Improving community hygiene awareness and citizen action, including self-isolation and voluntary travel bans;
l Information dissemination and general national awareness;
l Creating a Special Fund to enhance measures against the pandemic;
l Transnational cooperation and collaboration in line with World Health Organisation rules, regulations and pronouncements;
l In our small way, encouraging interdisciplinary research into this pandemic for a more scientific understanding of the problem.
Dear Citizens, the pandemic has reached our region and we now have to escalate our national response. Above all, we must readjust our lives and behaviours, including foregoing certain fixtures, activities and practices we had grown accustomed to, in order to keep the pandemic at bay. This holds true at all levels: personal, community and national.
Today, Government deliberated on this looming threat, and has decided to take additional measures to ensure that our national response is effective, comprehensive and complete.
Government has decided that the coronavirus pandemic be declared a State of National Disaster.
This allows Government to mobilise resources and take necessary measures in dealing with the pandemic. With immediate effect and for a unified and coordinated effort, I have directed that our National Disaster Management Machinery extend its mandate and focus to deal with the pandemic, with the Ministry of Health and Child Care as the lead agency.
Weekly reports will have to be made to Cabinet. We thank our local, bilateral, international and multilateral partners for offering a helping hand, including additional funding, training, and the upgrading and equipping of designated Health Facilities for effective response.
As already announced, Government has curtailed unnecessary travel outside the country, especially to destinations in countries affected by the virus. That position remains in force.
Travellers from high risk countries are encouraged to postpone their travel arrangements to Zimbabwe for the next 30 days, starting from 20th March, 2020.
Equally, Zimbabweans are discouraged from travelling to, through and from high risk countries duringthe same period. Non essential travel must be avoided or discouraged by all of us;
While all our major entry ports into the country will remain operational, screening, testing and other WHO recommended measures will be enforced vigorously.
All designated small border crossings will stand closed from now until further notice;
Similarly, Government is working within WHO Guidelines in handling and treating guests from other countries as they come into our country to stay with us. We continue to review this as necessary, and strictly on the basis of available scientific evidence and information. Our response will neither be arbitrary nor reckless.
To reduce the likelihood of infections and the spread of the coronavirus, Government has now put all Hospitals and Health Facilities on High Alert for COVID-19. Kits and other accessories for screening, handling, testing and treatment continue to be availed. More isolation and treatment centres are being identified, designated and equipped appropriately;
Government has decided to postpone, curtail or cancel public events, gatherings and activities. In that respect, Government has postponed the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, ZITF, all National Independence celebrations previously planned, and pending international sporting fixtures until the threat of coronavirus recedes. All these activities will resume as soon as we are satisfied that our nation is no longer at risk. Resources originally earmarked for these events will now be redirected towards strengthening our defences against the coronavirus, and towards drought mitigation. Gatherings of more than 100 people, including those for purposes of worship and weddings stand suspended for the next 60 days after which the suspension will be reviewed;
We must continue to heighten our vigilance, always acting with care, consideration and compassion. Individuals presenting clinical symptoms of the virus must come forward for tests and attention, including embarking on voluntary social distancing and submitting to all other control measures deemed necessary, for the collective good;
With immediate effect, all Government premises must be equipped for screening procedures. In the same spirit, Government encourages businesses and other establishments to do the same so our response is total and effective. Personal hygiene and the use of alcohol based sanitisers must be encouraged in all situations. Luckily, we have capacity to manufacture these sanitisers locally.
In view of the fact that schools are only two weeks away from end of the first term, Government has decided to keep them open, withstandard screening precautions being taken daily.
Dates for reopening of all schools will be announced, taking into account realities on the ground;
A National Communication Taskforce on the virus, and for disseminating accurate information and raising general national awareness on the pandemic will be immediately constituted.
Should the situation escalate, Government will not hesitate to take further and even more drastic measures for our common good.
Going forward, our monthly National Clean-Up Exercise must, henceforth incorporate heightened awareness on the virus, including measures which experts recommend to ensure highest standards of public health.
Fellow Zimbabweans,
Now is the time to show unity and purpose in our nation. We have to reach out to one another in fighting this deadly pandemic.
It knows no political party; no ideological boundary; no colour; no creed, no nationality. We either unite in fighting it, or it forces us togetherin shared grief.
The choice is that stark, and ours to make.
That choice has to be made now while there is still time.
I count on your full supportso we work towardsa virus-freeZimbabwe.
Dr Masimba Mavaza| Zimbabwe will not survive the Corona virus if God allows it to ravage our beautiful country. It is painful that some idiots are literally hoping that the virus be found in Zimbabwe. We have insane people who actually think it’s fashionable to have the virus in Zimbabwe.
The president of MDC A Nelson Chamisa visited Wilkins hospital to see and assess the virus. He grabbed a chance to publicise his dying party through the Coronavirus. This is a contagious virus which cannot be used for political gains. It is however not a suprise that the drama queen Nelson Chamisa jumps to any thing for his own glory. Remember he highjacked Tsvangirai’s funeral to grab power. He tried to highjack Oliver Mutukudzi’s funeral for his own benefit. His last stance with the Corona virus is irresponsible. This is the man who rushed to Chimanimani during cyclone Idai and he never went back, to date. He just went with Mikoro to take photos and exploit the situation to his advantage. The time for acting is over, Corona virus is real. MDC A must find time to tame their wild cat in Chamisa. Chamisa is not the only one who is not taking the virus lightly. There are hoardes of people who are literally praying for the virus to settle in Zimbabwe. They are hoping to find some political gains from this epidemic. Some think that the failure to contain the virus will expose ZANU PF and show that it has failed. This disease is natural and not political. It does not respect gender or political affiliation. It is a disaster.
People must realise that after decades of sanctions, mismanagement and corruption, Zimbabwe is in economic trouble. It will not be able to stand the vicious effects of the Corona virus. We must cry loudly if that day comes.
Zimbabwe struggles with Cholera over five thousand people died of cholera in Zimbabwe. There was no family or street which was not touched by the cholera epidemic. This time Zimbabweans are groaning under economic curse. They are poor and hungry and can not make ends meet. In a country that was once among Africa’s most industrialised, electricity is a very rare occurrence if it comes it will be for only a few hours a night. Industries , companies factories and bakeries are only but the shadows of their former selves. Water has become a thing of the past life in Zimbabwe is a struggle and indeed the country is on its knees. With all this suffering in the country of plenty some people celebrate the problems of the nation by wishing that the Corona virus be found in Zimbabwe. Myopic people believe that the Zimbabwean government can be removed by a mere virus.
Countries with stronger economies are on their knees now so how can ZIMBABWE stand.
Zimbabweans are no longer enjoying the quality of life, their sleeping partner has changed. Now there is this virus hovering above the nation and we have some people who think Corona virus is meant for the elite. No it will touch all it will touch you and me. Every Zimbabwean has been turned to become a night worker people wake up in the middle of the night to cook or iron their shirts or just to charge their phones or other electric gadgets. What time would they wake up to cater for the stricken.
Water no longer runs down the water pipes. People have resorted to boreholes for fresh water.
We thank God for smiling over Zimbabwe. Most of the borehole waters are sixty percent row sewage. The boreholes are sunk in towns the ever blocking sewage always sips in the soil and finds its way in the water tables and finally the raw sewage is found in the kitchens of almost all Urban dwellers. The situation in Zimbabwe is best described as dog’s breakfast. Tendai Biti, an opposition MP and former finance minister, complains that life has gone back to colonial times: “I’m washing in a bucket, my friend, as if it is Southern Rhodesia in 1923.” But he forgot to say he is the one who made a trip of shame to America to beg for sanctions against Zimbabwe. Biti has the mentality that if its not him no one can have it. He is like a bully herding cattle. Who sets the cows in someone’s field because he has not been given his lunch.
Or the boy who runs away with the football because his team has lost. The opposition has played a greater role in the suffering of the ordinary Zimbabweans. Now with the remaining industries being forced to close down our fragile economy will be dragged down the drain. Zimbabwe will be doubly hit if this Corona ravages Zimbabwe we are doomed
To make things worse for Zimbabwe the country has faced a severe drought and the rains came very late. But the real problem is corruption and the failure to prosecute those suspected of corruption. Illicit money traders on the streets of Harare have substituted the banks. People will have no money for medical treatment.
There is no budget put aside for this Corona Virus. Measures which are announced can not be standing alone. Zimbabwe needs funding for this problem. Banking system has collapsed and the mattress bank has taken over. So stringent rules must be put in place in order to make the impact of the Corona Virus manageable.
Zimbabwe reached comic book levels of inflation in 2008, when hyperinflation became well established at a peak of 79.6 billion percent. After completely wiped out the value of the local currency, Zimbabwe effectively “dollarized” and switched to different currencies such as the dollar and the South African rand.
Corona virus will predictably exacerbate already existing shortages and further hastened Zimbabwe’s economic debacle.
Zimbabwe’s vaunted agricultural sector will experience a notable implosion, as food shortages will be worsened and will be a burden on agriculture.
The Corona virus road will not be a walk in the park given that rich countries are on their knees. Although Zimbabwe has left the realm of hyperinflation, it continues to have structural problems that impede market reforms.
This is often the case in developing countries, where the succeeding government despite all its promises and vows to break free from the preceding government’s corruption ends up breaking down because of incompetence and corruption in its ranks.
A large portion of high-ranking officials in Zimbabwe have been instructed in these schools of thought at Western universities abroad where strange ideas are being fully implemented to the detriment of the realistic economic policies. However, many developing countries are fertile soil for destructive policies and this has destroyed our economy.
Widespread wealth gaps between the politically connected haves and the disconnected have-nots, general ignorance about the implications of interventionism among the public, and a predatory political class that is shielded from popular backlash makes these countries susceptible to mass intervention. When the West can’t implement some of its economically illiterate ideas at home, it finds willing importers in the developing world.
Zimbabwe must from now on have a ministry dedicated to national disasters and set aside funds in times like this.
Suffice to say, nothing short of an economic darkness awaits us. Based on what President Mnangagwa has come out it does seem that Zimbabwe is actually serious about making tough measures to prevent or contain this virus. But the stubbornness of the opposition and the bankruptcy in reasoning will drag us dipper in the mud.
The country bleeds and both the opposition and ruling party members a busy fattening their pockets. Zimbabwe deserves better it can not remain in the doldrums of poverty for this long. We need a better country better policies better nation. We need to work together regardless of our political beliefs. We need to remain united against this disease. This is not the times to grand stand. We need marturity and reason. Zimbabwe needs that unity of purpose now. Italy is in morning. Zimbabwe must be very afraid. This is not the time to play politics. Oh Father God Forgive for Zimbabwe will not stand she is already weak and in serious pains.
The government is planning to lease out the jumbo jet (the Boeing 777-200ERs acquired from Malaysia) previously ascribed to the late President Robert Mugabe’s son in law as Simba Chikore’s jet.
The development was revealed in a state media interview citing Air Zimbabwe’s assistant administrator, Mr Tonderai Mukubvu of Grant Thornton.
The state report says nine airlines have shown interest in leasing Air Zimbabwe’s two long-haul jet in a deal expected to generate up to US$400 000 a month.
Ethiopian Airlines is said to be leading the pack in lease negotiations.
Mukubvu was yesterday quoted saying leasing the planes and using the revenue to acquire smaller aircraft to re-establish strong domestic and regional services made more sense at the moment than rushing to establish international routes that are expensive to develop.
Mr Mukubvu reportedly: “Government has not made any decision on the final lessee, but we have nine suitors that have shown interest. We are at advanced stages of discussions with all suitors and they all seem capable to lease the planes from a financial capacity perspective.”
Air Zimbabwe was placed under reconstruction on October 5, 2018, under reconstruction of State-Indebted Insolvent Companies Act.
The company is operating one plane, a Boeing 767 — servicing Harare-Bulawayo; Harare-Victoria Falls and the Harare-Johannesburg and Harare-Dar es Salaam routes.
A 60-YEAR-OLD man from Bulawayo has been arrested for allegedly raping his 19-year-old maid.
The man from North End suburb whose name has been withheld to protect the identity of the victim, allegedly raped the girl in the morning when she was doing her house chores.
The accused person was not asked to plead to rape when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Adelaide Mbeure.
He was remanded on $500 bail to March 30.
The prosecutor, Mr Denmark Chihombe, said on Friday last week at around 7AM, the complainant was approached by the accused person from behind.
“The complainant was doing her household chores when she was grabbed on the waist by the accused person.
He threw her onto a sofa in the sitting room facing upwards before undressing her.
The accused person then raped the complainant once while using a condom,” he said.
It is alleged that the girl narrated her ordeal to an unidentified neighbour.
The matter was reported to the police leading to the accused person’s arrest.-State media
A Gauteng family of three – two of whom had tested positive for coronavirus – had to be tracked down by police after refusing to be quarantined.
The husband refused to take the test after his wife and daughter tested positive for the novel Covid-19 yesterday and left the health facility.
It was not immediately clear whether they had recently travelled but the Gauteng health department obtained an urgent court order in the early hours of Tuesday morning to track down the family.
According to the department’s spokesperson Kwara Kekana, the court order was taken to the police who tracked down the family around midday today.
“We can confirm that there was a family that refused to be quarantined. The wife and daughter tested positive to the virus while the husband refused to be tested and left the hospital without swabs taken,” Kekana said.
“The department approached the court last night on an urgent basis… the court order was granted at 1am this morning. As a result the matter was reported to the SAPS to trace the family. We are pleased that the family was found around 12h30 this afternoon and is currently being attended to at a designated health facility.”
As it stands a total of 62 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the country, 31 of whom are Gauteng residents.
The highly contagious virus that is currently spreading across the country has been declared a national disaster by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Health minister Zweli Mkhize last week said that people who refused to be quarantined may be taken to court. – Sowetan
