ZANU PF factionalism has spilled into Parliament as rival camps position themselves ahead of the long-awaited restructuring exercise to elect new provincial structures and district coordinating committees.

The fights have particularly turned ugly in Mashonaland Central where some Zanu PF provincial executive members are accusing their chairperson and Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe of trying to use Parliament in his fight against one of his main political foes, businessman Tafadzwa Musarara.

Musarara, who is the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) boss, has been in and out of Parliament before the Justice Mayor Wadyajena- led Agriculture committee to explain how the group used the money it allegedly received from government.

The GMAZ boss will be back in Parliament on Tuesday after clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda, in a letter addressed to “all and each of the members of the police force”, directed them to summon Musarara to appear before Wadyajena’s committee.

“You are hereby required and directed by Parliament of Zimbabwe on the sight hereto to summon Mr T Musarara that he appears personally before the Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement that is inquiring into support services by the government of Zimbabwe into grain and wheat millers and the financing of silo repairs,” read Chokuda’s letter dated February14.

But Zanu PF Mashonaland Central executive members alleged provincial factional wars were now being fought in Parliament.

They claimed Kazembe was using his friendship with Wadyajena to fight his political wars with Musarara, who challenged him for the Mazowe West constituency primary elections in the 2018 general polls.

Kazembe won, but Musarara’s backers stormed the Zanu PF headquarters in Harare accusing him of abusing his chairmanship to rig the polls by failing to deploy ballot papers in the GMAZ boss’ strongholds.

“We believe Kazembe is behind the wars between Wadyajena and Musarara. Wadyajena and Kazembe are known allies.

“District coordinating committee elections and provincial elections are due any time and Kazembe is likely to be challenged by businessman James Makamba,” one of the provincial officials, who requested anonymity fearing reprisals, said.

“He believes Musarara is backing Makamba and, therefore, there is a strong belief that he is using Parliament to get at Musarara.

“Remember last year, Kazembe touched off a storm when he declared that he would deal ruthlessly with anyone who wanted to challenge him for the position of provincial chairmanship, which he said he still wanted.”

The official was referring to an address by Kazembe during Muzarabani North legislator Zhemu Soda’s victory celebrations at Utete business centre in August last year.

Kazembe declared he would not leave his party position because he still loved it and those who tried to disturb his duties would suffer the consequences.
Kazembe said he was fed up with the lies.

“My friend, listen, I don’t have time for that nonsense, I have nothing to do with the portfolio committee,” he said.

“ I am not in the committee; I am not in any committee. I don’t know where my name is coming in. I am sick and tired of that nonsense.”

Musarara was not picking calls and GMAZ spokesperson Garikai Chaunza said he could not comment on the political issues.

A SOLDIER based in Hwange went berserk and randomly assaulted patrons at two nightclubs after his love proposals were turned down by female revellers.

As if that was not enough, Philani Nyoni (34) of 356 Empumalanga in Hwange who is employed by the Zimbabwe National Army also attacked and overpowered four policemen who were trying to arrest him. He was only subdued when reinforcements arrived.

Trouble started when Nyoni went haywire when his love advances were spurned by two female patrons he was stalking before he turned on them and three other patrons for daring to deny his proposals. Before going on the rampage, he stole as punishment a cellphone from one of the revellers whose girlfriend had turned him down.

Nyoni appeared before Hwange provincial magistrate, Mrs Ailenne Munamati facing a count of theft, three counts of assault, a count of malicious damage to property, escaping from lawful custody and resisting arrest or assaulting a peace officer. He denied all charges claiming that he was the victim of assault after patrons had ganged up on him for an unknown reason.

Mrs Munamati, however, convicted him on the assault, malicious damage to property and escape from lawful custody charges while she acquitted him on that of theft and resisting arrest.

The assault, malicious damage to property and escape from lawful custody counts were treated as one for the purposes of sentence resulting in a 24-month jail term of which eight months were conditionally suspended. On the charge of escaping from lawful custody he was sentenced to three months imprisonment which was wholly suspended for five years on condition he does not commit a similar offence.

It is the State’s case that on 8 December 2019 at about 3am and near Thulani Night Club, Nyoni approached Mr Munyaradzi Moyo’s girlfriend, Ms Sitali Nasile and proposed love to her but she turned him down. He continued to accost Ms Nasile and at one point tried to drag her into the dark resulting in Mr Moyo intervening before telling Nyoni to stop harassing her.

Nyoni then snatched Mr Moyo’s cellphone which he was holding in his hand and fled. A report was made to the police and investigations were carried out leading to his arrest. The value of the phone was $250 and it was not recovered.

On the same day at around 5am, Nyoni approached Ms Marvelous Neshavi who was dancing to music inside Cricket Club with her female friends. He asked her to befriend him but she refused. However, Nyoni continued to stalk her resulting in another patron, Mr Janah Zacharia Murasiki intervening. Neshavi went outside the club and Nyoni told Mr Murasiki not to worry as she was a prostitute. He went on to strike Mr Neshavi with sharp pieces of an empty beer bottle on the left shoulder once.

He was stopped by Mr James Muyambiri from further assaulting Neshavi. She managed to run away but she sustained a dislocation on the left ankle after she fell down during her escape. She also sustained bruises on the left shoulder.

Afterwards Nyoni approached Mr Murasiki and hit him once with a broken piece of bottle on the right side of the chest and shoulder. After attacking Mr Murasiki he approached the club owner, Mr Fanuel Mutasa who was seated in his car and started to converse with him. Mr Mutasa pleaded with Nyoni to stop assaulting and destroying property at his premise. This was after a row Nyoni had with another patron, Mr Tichaona Muyambiri before picking up a chair and hitting him with it resulting in it being damaged.

He went on to remove the leg of the club’s table and used it to hit an unknown reveller resulting in it getting broken. The value of damaged property is $1 500. However, this only served to agitate Nyoni as he reacted by striking Mr Mutasa with a sharp object once on the chest.

Fearing for his life, Mr Mutasa ran away with Nyoni in hot pursuit before he managed to outpace him after the aggressor ran into a fence wire with his chest and fell to the ground. Mr Mutasa sustained laceration on the chest.

At around 7am Nyoni was arrested and taken to Hwange ZRP where he was charged with disorderly conduct and assault cases with regards to the Cricket Club incidents.

Nyoni was ordered by the police officers to sit down while they processed initial documentation and he complied. However, he suddenly stood up and ran out of the charge office towards the exit gate before police officers managed to catch up with him after he had lost his balance and fell on the ground on his face. While he was being informed of his arrest for escaping from lawful custody, Nyoni refused to be arrested and kicked away four police officers. Reinforcements were called in to subdue Nyoni who was subsequently re-arrested.

State Media|THE Registrar-General’s office will start issuing Identity Cards and birth certificates at large church gatherings as it moves to decentralise the process to ensure people have access to key documents.

Registrar-General Mr Clemence Masango said recently that church organisations should request his office to attend their gatherings and issue the documents. Most church organisations hold large gatherings during the Easter Holidays and this year the holiday is between 10 and 13 April.

“For the first time we have started decentralising this mobile registration to provinces and districts who are now required to carry out at least one outreach in every two months at district level. We also respond to special events, if churches are meeting in large groups usually, they can organise and call us to bring our services to where they will be.

“We do this especially with the Apostolic and Zion churches, we are always available if invited for these big gatherings and we help the people access documents. We also respond to natural disaster events where people lost those documents and we replace them,” he said.

Mr Masango said bringing such services closer to the people was a way of ensuring that people who live far away from the issuing offices can still access the key documents. He said access to birth certificates was an issue of great importance to the department as it is the primary document necessary for citizens to access a variety of services in the country.

He said one needed to have a birth certificate in order to access education, a national identity document, a passport, employment and many more national activities.

Mr Masango further said the department was also represented from every district and beyond and has sub-offices to make sure that its services are available to everyone.

“But despite this there are areas that are still far away from our offices and that is why we embark on mobile registrations. Again, as part of our outreaches we are doing targeted outreach exercises in Tsholotsho in consultation with local leadership and communities. We also have Plumtree and Gwanda, the provincial offices are working with the local leadership to do those outreaches,” added Mr Masango.

Turning to the issue of passports, he acknowledged that there was rampant corruption at some passport offices, which his office was working hard to stop.

The Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Cde Kazembe Kazembe, also said they were investigating the issue of corruption raised over the issuance of passports.

“The issue of corruption at the passport offices we have heard about. I am sure you have seen teams including the Registrar- General going around the country to see for ourselves what is really happening on the ground and we have already taken some measures and one of them that we feel can work to deal with the issue is to ensure that the passports are there in the first place.

To deal with corruption we need to work together, we need collective responsibility as citizens of this country to ensure that we deal with this disease,” he said.

Minister Kazembe urged people to come forward with evidence of corruption within the department so that culprits are brought to book. Last week the Government announced new prices for ordinary and emergency passports. It also announced that Fidelity Printers will provide the material to the RG’s office in order to clear a backlog of almost 400 000 passports. An ordinary passport now costs $150 from $53, while the emergency passport fee was increased from $253 to $600.

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to convene a consensus-building meeting with Matabeleland traditional leaders soon to co-ordinate and fast-track exhumations and reburials of victims of post-independence civil disturbances that rocked Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands province.

Exhumations and reburials of Gukurahundi victims was one of the key resolutions agreed between Government and Matabeleland civil groups and traditional leaders when they met with the President in March last year. A follow-up meeting held on 14 February in Bulawayo established that progress on implementing last year’s resolutions — which include the issuance of civil documents to surviving children of victims of the disturbances and ceding the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project to locals — was being held up by funding constraints and bureaucracy.

President Mnangagwa, has since undertaken to superintend over the implementation process.

On Friday, the Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Kazembe Kazembe, led a Government delegation that included Registrar-General Clemence Masango and Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Permanent Secretary Mrs Virginia Mabhiza to lay the ground for the commencement of issuance of civil documents to surviving spouses and the victims’ children.

Mrs Mabhiza, who is head of secretariat in the engagement and dialogue with Matabeleland civil society organisations, said that the delegation “shall mostly deal with the logistics for providing birth certificates”.

“Most of the issues that are outstanding are to do with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Registrar-General, and that is to do with the issuance of birth and death certificates,” she said.

The team will also meet with the civil society leadership. Ceding of the Zambezi Matabeleland Water Project, she added, was already at an advanced stage.

“We have also been acting on some of the socio-economic needs such as the provision of water through drilling boreholes.”

She said President Mnangagwa will soon preside over a consensus-building meeting to prepare for commencement of exhumations and reburials. Government is reportedly exploring ways to facilitate legally and culturally acceptable processes.

Mrs Mabhiza said: “On the other difficult issues such as exhumations and reburials, we will soon have a consensus-building meeting with the chiefs, the civil society groupings and other stakeholders, including the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission, to plan the way forward. After the consensus-building exercise, we will then craft a way forward in terms of how to facilitate the exhumations.

“This will also bring on board our development partners and any interested funders to bankroll the exercise.”

All the processes will reportedly be done within the confines of the law, which also entails drafting legal statutes to facilitate implementation. However, the guidance would come out of the planned indaba.

“The consensus-building meeting shall involve His Excellency, but we do not have a date yet, but it is going to be very soon.

You may be aware that we were expecting the chiefs to attend the meeting that was held in Bulawayo, but unfortunately, due to some budgetary and other logistical challenges the Ministry of Local Government (and Public Works) was not ready to sponsor the chiefs to be on board during that meeting.”

The law provides only for the Minister of Home Affairs to grant an order for exhumation. Government has expanded the scope of the engagements to include other civic organisations outside the ambit of the Matabeleland Collective.

President Mnangagwa, has opened up discussions on Gukurahundi, which claimed thousands of lives after violence flared up in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces soon after independence.

At this month’s meeting with civic society leaders at State House in Bulawayo, the President, however, indicated that restorative justice could only be achieved through dialogue.

“We must resist the urge to elevate any differences that arise out of discussions aimed at resolving the issues in Matabeleland to a level where they become permanent barriers that prevent meaningful dialogue amongst us. Let me assure you that, as I have demonstrated by convening this meeting today, I shall continue to monitor this dialogue very closely and hold all my officials accountable for the successful implementation of issues discussed here. . .I reiterate that, as Zimbabweans, we are one. Together we can overcome any challenges that confront us.”

letter by Local Government minister July Moyo directing the Harare City Council to pay the state-linked Chemplex a staggering $78 million for water treatment chemicals has sent tongues wagging with city fathers questioning his interest in the deal.

Moyo last year ordered Harare to source all its water treatment chemicals through Chemplex.

The local authority, however, has been struggling to pay for the chemicals because the minister is yet to approve the city’s budget for 2020, which means council is still charging last year’s rates.

In a letter dated January 21, 2020, Moyo ordered council to settle the Chemplex debt without fail and blocked the local authority from engaging alternative water treatment chemicals suppliers.

“I am gravely concerned that despite requesting you to improve the management of the water account so that Harare would not fall behind with the payment for water treatment chemicals, your council has accumulated a debt of $78 million with Chemplex Corporation, which is your prime chemical supplier,” reads Moyo’s letter obtained by The Standard.

“I am further concerned that your officials are asking to be permitted to purchase chemicals from other suppliers instead of simply paying the Chemplex account.

“As stated previously, the non-payment of a debt to Chemplex Corporation has an impact on all other water authorities in Zimbabwe who purchase their chemicals from Chemplex.”

Moyo said of interest was that most councils were purchasing their chemicals on cash basis yet Harare was failing to pay.

“In line of this, I hereby order you in terms of the Urban Councils Act, to immediately negotiate a payment plan with Chemplex that will cover the clearing of arrears and allow for the continued supply of the current chemical needs,” he added.

“ You are to submit details of the payment plan to me before the end of this week and, thereafter, I will require a weekly update on the progress made to adhere to the payment plan.”More in Home

Council spokesperson Michael Chideme said the local authority was struggling financially and had agreed a payment plan with Chemplex.

“Yes, I can confirm we owe Chemplex. We have done a payment arrangement with them.

“We are failing to pay at once because of cashflow problems,” he said.

“We are owed in excess of $900 million by our customers. More so, our 2020 budget is yet to be approved.

“We are still charging 2019 rates fees, which are way below market rates.”

The Zanu PF party, where Moyo is a politburo member, is failing to pay more than $1.2 million owed to Harare while government also owes the local authority millions of dollars.

State-owned entities such as the National Social Security Authority, National Railways of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company, among others are also failing to pay their debts to council, but Moyo has not intervened, council officials said.

The city is owed more than $1 billion by government, residents and businesses.

Harare Metropolitan Residents Forum chairman Marvellous Khumalo said Moyo’s letter showed that government was interfering in the affairs of local authorities.

“Devolution will remove all this undue interference by central government in running of local affairs of local authorities,” he said.

“The tone of the letter does not show a central government that is committed to implementing devolution and it shows that the minister or central government has vested interests in this company called Chemplex.

“We then wonder what those interests are, who owns Chemplex and we become suspicious.”

MDC local government deputy secretary Clifford Hlatshwayo said they were shocked by Moyo’s letter.

“They are not clear on what is their intention, but this is interference in day-to-day running of local authorities,” he said.

“We do not expect that from a whole minister to direct council to make a payment, that is an administrative role and it is up to the city of Harare to see how much they have in coffers and that is interference and we do not encourage that,” he said.

“We have been very clear that this move is meant to take ratepayers’ money.

“That is corruption to force council to buy from Chemplex. They must do due diligence and that was not done.”

Kudzanai Kadzombe, the chairperson of Harare council’s environment committee, said Moyo must first approve the local authority’s budget before trying to force it to pay debts.

“The challenge is we are being forced to act in this manner with the old budget,” Kadzombe said.

MDC leader Nelson Chamisa last week bemoaned government’s interference in the affairs of local authorities that are being run by his party.

-Standard

MDC vice-chairman Job Sikhala is demanding US$3 million from Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe following his arrest for treason last year, which he says was unlawful.

Sikhala, who was recently acquitted by the Masvingo High Court on charges of plotting to stage a coup against President Emmerson Mnanagwa, is also suing police commissioner-general Godwin Matanga and a superintendent Daniel Joseph over the same matter.

According to the summons, the vibrant opposition leader said he was exposed to shock, pain and suffering at the hands of police who blindfolded, insulted and subjected him to pain as they transported him from Harare to Masvingo in July last year.

“Shockingly and unethically despite the fact that a consent to prosecute the matter in Harare had been obtained, the police officers proceeded to transfer Sikhala to Bikita,” reads part of the summons.

“This was done in a barbaric, inhuman and degrading manner. Matanga and Joseph locked Sikhala’s lawyers inside the cells of Harare Central (Police Station) and refused to give them access to Sikhala.”

The Zengeza West MP said the police officers dragged him out of the Harare Central Police Station without informing him about where he was being taken to.

“The plaintiff was taken to the Harare Central car park and shuffled into a Toyota Hilux motor vehicle sandwiched by two armed riot police officers whilst his legal practitioners remained locked in cells,” the lawyers submitted.

Sikhala said as a result of the illegal actions he wanted US$2 million, and a further US$1 million for the pain caused by the “illegal and unlawful actions by the police”.

The lawyers said the MP was denied medication for hypertension while in custody.

“It should be noted that the plaintiff suffers from hypertension and as such must constantly take his medications,” they lawyers added.

“However, in this case the plaintiff was refused access to his medicine.

“This was clearly a violation of the plaintiff’s constitutional right to health and human dignity.”

They accused the police of trying to induce “fear and anguish” by ill-treating Sikhala.

“The treatment he was exposed to was intended to induce fear and anguish,” reads the summons.

“The feelings of fear and anguish generated in him by the treatment had the intended effect of debasing him.”

-Standard

By Hon Job Wiwa Sikhala| Sometimes people do not understand my straightforward sentiments on the governance of Emmerson Mnangagwa primarily because of fear of the unknown. Fear of the unknown is fear grounded on harm visiting upon someone or falling on someone if you voice against the injustice perpetrated by the powers that be. It is planted in the pysche of the public and it leads citizens into resignation to fate. Those in power love it because they will reap the fruits of that fear and do whatever they want with the nation and its people because to them, beholden the power of fear.

It is on this background, that I want to share with many people how the Zimbabwe State, is currently under the grip of a sophisticated system that portrays itself different from what it is. This deception had takers in the initial stages soon after the coup on November 17,2018, until the period we slowly exposed it for what it is. People didn’t understand the kind of a person that they were dealing with. Some of us who had an opportunity to understand how people with intelligence backgrounds can be dangerous to be given power knew from the beginning that Mnangagwa was going to be a dangerous albatross around the freedom neck of the people of Zimbabwe. The power of the State is constructed around a powerful intelligence system that becomes its source of survival. This is the Israeli theorem. Military strength come as a complimentary and supplementary source of security. That’s why all Arab states can not do anything against the State of Israel. Israel would know what their adversaries think in advance and the toilets their enemies use.

Mnangagwa, since the coming into being of the State of Zimbabwe has been the power behind the late Robert Mugabe since independence. He created one of the most feared intelligence systems in our country in the form of the CIO. The CIO became the source of fear through its overt and covert operations, in the assassination and murder, abductions and disappearances of political opponents, in the poisoning using chemicals imported from Russia and North Korea of government adversaries. In dealing with political opponents, they always took a leading role. The first experiment was done against Father Zimbabwe, Joshua Nkomo and ZAPU soon after independence. The operation became overt and covert to extinguish ZAPU from the face of the earth.

The role of the CIO which was created in the image of Mnangagwa can not be overemphasized, but we all know the role they played in Zimbabwe against opponents of the system up to present. How from 2000, when the MDC was formed became the source of assassination against many leaders of our party from those in lower structures to those who were in senior party positions. That’s why it is my belief that an organization without a polished, sophisticated intelligence system will not dethrone a system whose foundation is based on the use and manipulation of the state institutions.

Mnangagwa, like Vladimir Putin, is well acquainted with the sophistry of how to manipulate systems to his maximum advantage. Since Putin took over from Boris Yeltsin in 2002, the people of Russia Federation have been tossed upside down by the former KGB Director of External Intelligence. He uses purging, fear and manipulation to remain unshaken in power. His use and manipulation of the intelligence system is felt and feared even in far foreign lands. Some Americans today strongly believed that Putin intelligence manipulated its electoral system and rigged Donald Trump to power. This is not a simple allegation. It somehow demonstrate the danger of people whose background is fostered in intelligence. Today, Putin alternates from President to Prime Minister in the process manipulating the Russia Federation constitution, and the nation is stuck with him until 2024, despite huge and widespread disenchantment and discontent against his rule.

All his long run Emmerson Mnangagwa was always dreaming to succeed his master Robert Mugabe. The first thing he deviced was fight and keep Mugabe in power under whatever circumstances. Would it be through rigging elections using the intelligence system like what he did in 2002, 2013 or 2018, or brazen murder and assassination of opponents like what he did against ZAPU from 1980-87, or in 2008, he would not care as long as he has returned power. The video of him speaking after, the ZANU PF and Robert Mugabe defeat in 2008, where he said that he phoned looking for Didymus Mutasa who had already packed his goods to Rusape after Mugabe’s clear defeat by the icon of democracy Morgan Tsvangirai, and his hunting for Elliot Manyika who was the Political Commissar of the party who was not answering his phone, should tell any normal Zimbabwean the evil man we are dealing with. Clearly, the intention was to subvert the will of the people, which he successfully did. The unexplained death of General Solomon Mujuru, who was his political nemesis rings something in my head. All his internal rivalries died in circumstances that leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Edison Zvobgo, Josiah Tungamirai. The car accidents that eliminated Sydney Malunga, Chris Ushewekunze, Moven Mahachi and many more.

Knowing very well that CIO, as I earlier pointed out is not enough without the compliment of military power, the man had to find ways and means to manipulate the military to his side as it has its own intelligence system that does not report to the Minister of Intelligence. He duped Mugabe to accept the idea of forming an organ outside the control of the State or party. It reports to its own commanders and the Minister of Defense direct to the President. The opportunity was gracingly presented to him when Mugabe chose him as the trusted lieutenant to chair an unconstitutional body created to serve the interests of the party and not the nation called the Joint Operations Council (JOC). It presented him with an opportunity to interact with all the service chiefs of security sector. Unbeknown to Mugabe, the man was building his fortress that will come to bite him to death. JOC is not a creation of the constitution or any statute in our country. It’s a security coordination club that governs itself and is not answerable to any constitutive organ of the State. It is used as a platform to plan and plot against opponents of the system. It established decentralized structures down to district levels. That is to mean, there are provincial JOC meetings chaired by the Provincial Ministers that involves provincial heads of CIO, Army, Police, Prison Services and a provincial ZANU PF Chairman. The District JOC is chaired by the District Administrator of the designated district with the district heads of the same above institutions in attendance. They forward reports to the JOC centre which Mnangagwa was chairing. Mnangagwa with few chosen commanders would then go and report to Mugabe. Manipulation of intelligence details and reports along the way would be the order of the day because murume akanga oumba chinhu chake.

Thats why you realised that when the red line was drawn on the succession battle, Mnangagwa would clap, smile and feel unmoved when he was insulted, demeaned, decampaigned right on his face during the ZANU PF Youth interface Rallies. That is the deception only unique to evil schemers. Grace Mugabe would rant all day long finger pointing him, he would not be moved. Even people like Sarah Mahoka and Mandi Chimene would call him “dhakisi”, on his face but he would respond to it by a smile. You people, that smile was not a love smile. It was an evil smile and you wouldn’t see that he was feigning stupidity. Despite the other group having thoroughly brained people like Prof Jonathan Moyo, the last you would see of them was when when he mounted a scooter in the forests of Mozambique into safety. That smile of idiocy is what it ended up doing. With all those brains he made them flee in terror into the land of the aliens.

This is a man who does not need to be apologetic when you resolve to deal with. His stupid rantings that “nyangwe 2030 ndinenge ndiripo”, should not be taken lightly. He shouts stupid, talks like an overdosed mariajuana smoker, looks like the worst empty vessel ever to be around. In such deceptive demeanor he needs to be treated with committed toughness. He needs to be treated with utmost sophistry, bravery and commitment.

Whatever I say is informed from the knowledge of how to deal with these kind of evil people. They know they can not be voted by the most insane of mind. They resort to elections which they know, they have already predetermine. Zimbabweans shouted about NIKUV hoarses out after 2013 elections but it just died a natural death. No one talks about NIKUV today. Resorting to play the game to his tune is suicidal. 2030 tino svika varipo. They need shock and aware. They need to be surprised by the people. The people own everything. Thats why I have got a strong belief in people. We owe it to our country. Together we will break this barrier. And let me reassure you, the man is living in the illusion of his intelligence sphere. We will bring him down to the people and the people will ask him questions to answer.

Freedom is coming.

About 800 Zimbabweans are among the 60 million people that are living in Hubei province — the epicentre of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak — but all of them are currently safe from the respiratory disease, the Zimbabwe Embassy in China has confirmed.

Chinese authorities put the expansive province, which has nearly three-quarters of the 75 000-plus confirmed cases, under total lockdown on January 23 to slow down the spread of the disease.

Responding to e-mailed questions from The Sunday Mail, Zimbabwe’s chief envoy to China, Ambassador Martin Chedondo, said the embassy is continuously providing information to Zimbabweans in China on how best to avoid infection.

“The embassy is not aware of any Zimbabwean citizen that has been infected,” said Ambassador Chedondo.

“The approximate number of Zimbabweans in Hubei province is between 600 and 800. The embassy is also providing updated information as and when we get it from the relevant authorities; assisting in relaying extension of visa requests from our nationals to the Foreign Affairs Offices of the province, as well as providing general advice and answering any other queries.”

The province, Ambassador Chedondo said, was under complete lockdown “which makes entry and exit not only impossible but also discouraged by the authorities”.

China has gradually ramped up sweeping quarantine measures in the province, whose capital city — Wuhan — was most affected by the disease.

Under the ongoing interventions, apartment compounds only allow people to go in and out through one gate, while each household could only send one person out once every three days to purchase groceries and other supplies.

Last week, the Hubei government ordered community officials to enforce strict, around-the-clock closed management of all residential complexes.

It also banned the private use of cars and forbade residents from leaving their apartments without permission.

As of Friday, 2 236 deaths had been recorded in China, while 1 109 new cases of the disease were confirmed.

Mainland China recorded 118 more deaths on Friday alone, but cases of new infections are declining.

In a statement last week, Ambassador Chedondo said: “We are particularly aware of the anxieties of the Zimbabwean community in China and those at home, hence we continue to urge all not to panic, as well as encourage them to follow all the measures put in place by the Chinese government to ensure their health and safety.

“We wish to point out that currently no Zimbabwean has been reported to have been infected by the virus; hence our insistence for our nationals to keep on following the measures put in place.”

Universities in China are also under lockdown, where students in campuses are encouraged to stay indoors as a preventative measure for their health safety.

Students that have travelled to their countries for the winter break are presently being advised to stay put.

The Zimbabwe Embassy is also encouraging students who are in the country to be in constant contact with their respective universities, as well as the Chinese Embassy in Harare to get accurate information on the situation.

Universities in China have begun online lessons so that students can raduate on time.

Last week, a Zimbabwean woman returning from Wuhan was placed under quarantine for tests for coronavirus at Wilkins Hospital in Harare.

She was later released after testing negative to the virus.

-State Media

TWENTY-SEVEN passengers aboard an MB Transport bus heading for Beitbridge were early yesterday robbed of money and valuables worth thousands of dollars by three gunmen, some 20 kilometres before the border town.

The incident occurred soon after the Lutumba tollgate along the Beitbridge-Masvingo highway. The bus was reportedly travelling from Harare with 33 people on board including the bus crew and the three suspects.

MB Transport proprietor Mr Brian Mungofa confirmed the incident yesterday.

“The robbers boarded the bus in Harare on Friday along with other 27 passengers at the Mbudzi traffic circle. They then attacked the passengers early in the morning at Lutumba area.

They were three suspects and have gone into hiding. The matter has been reported to the police,” said Mr Mungofa.
It could not be readily verified how much was stolen from the passengers.

National Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the matter was under investigation.

“I can confirm that we are investigating a case of three suspects who robbed some passengers in a bus they had boarded from Harare and travelling to Beitbridge,” he said.

The incident occurred a few hours after 58 Zimbabweans travelling to Harare from South Africa were robbed of valuables by two gunmen who had followed them from Johannesburg.

The bus driver, Mr Thembane Ngwenya survived death by a whisker after two bullets narrowly missed his head when one of the robbers shot at him at close range.

According to Mr Ngwenya, the suspects shot at the bus inducing a mechanical fault resulting in him stopping after struggling to engage gears.

“They demanded R40 000 which they alleged had been given to the bus crew by one client in Johannesburg.

They searched everyone and took away phones and money and left after they were convinced we had no money,” said Mr Ngwenya.

Of late there has been an increase in cases where armed robbers target Zimbabwean cross-border buses in South Africa.

After boarding the buses mainly in Pretoria they then attack the passengers in bushes between Hamanskraal and Polokwane.

Over 15 buses have been attacked by armed gangs in the last 12 months.

In addition, more than six buses have been attacked by armed robbers between Lutumba and Beitbridge town by armed robbers who pretend to be passengers but later attack their victims especially those travelling from Harare to South Africa for shopping.-State media

More than 150 000 drivers who passed road tests are yet to get their driver’s licence discs as the Central Vehicle Registry (CVR) is battling to secure consumables needed for their production.

The department is currently in the process of producing discs for learners who passed their tests in August 2018.

Most of the raw materials, which include metal photo plates, a special dye, a fixer and a developer, are all purchased in the United States.

The old manual machine that is used in the production process can only produce 48 driver’s licence discs at one go and frequently breaks down.

Photographs and signature sizes are also manually adjusted during the production, which makes the process laborious.

CVR Registrar Mr George Makoni told The Sunday Mail that foreign currency shortages were mainly causing the delays.

“As you may know, foreign currency is scarce and our Government has priority areas to disburse foreign currency to . . . It is not anyone’s fault, it is our situation as a country at the moment,” he said.

The challenges have been compounded by inadequate manpower.
“Our department has 85 approved posts countrywide.

Those 85 are responsible for making licences for all people in Zimbabwe, and not all of them are in production.

“All licences that we make are made using manual equipment. Our systems are not yet computerised. We are using old equipment which was acquired way back.

At any given time, we can only produce 48 licences, while Vehicle Inspection Department is churning out 9 000 drivers monthly. From September 2018 up to now those licences have not been made yet,” said Mr Makoni.-State media

FOUR people died on the spot while the driver of a Honda Fit, they were travelling in was seriously injured when his car collided head-on with a haulage truck as he tried to overtake at a bend just after Gweru on their way to Kwekwe on Friday evening.

When a Sunday News crew arrived at the scene around 6pm, Gweru city firefighters and military police were cutting the Honda Fit shell to retrieve the bodies which were still trapped under the haulage truck. The driver was still screaming for help but by the time he was finally retrieved, he had lost conscious with serious visible injuries.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi yesterday confirmed the accident. He said the bodies of the four were taken to Gweru Provincial Hospital while the Honda Fit driver was in critical condition.

“I confirm the accident which occurred just outside Gweru, killing four on the spot this (Friday) evening, the details are still sketchy at the moment but the driver of the Honda Fit car is said to be in a critical condition,” he said.

The driver of the haulage truck who was unscathed said he saw the Honda Fit over-taking and he tried to move further left to give the driver room.

“It happened within a twinkle of an eye, it’s a sharp bent so I saw the car when it was about 50m away. He had already passed one vehicle and was trying to overtake yet another one. There was not enough space to manoeuvre so as I tried to push a little bit far left, and as fate would have it, he decided to also go further right resulting in the head on collision,” he said.

The driver said he quickly got out of his truck to see the impact when he discovered that the Honda Fit had been reduced to a shell while trapped under the haulage truck engine.

“The car was speeding, you know the overtaking speed so the impact was just heavy, the occupants died instantly, we did not even hear any screams, only the driver was screaming but we could do nothing to save him until firefighters came with bolt cutters,” he said.

ZimEye interviews the Tagwirei of ZUPCO (Tito Chirau) concerning massive looting under Mnangagwa's nose. Jump onto https://t.co/RMz9FsvEJW Sunday morning to read. @ZACConline @PoliceZimbabwe @nickmangwana @Jamwanda2 pic.twitter.com/FJEqTNTnRt

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) February 23, 2020

readers advised – there were frantic efforts from many quarters in both Zimbabwe and UK to stop this report from being published.

By Simba Chikanza | PART 1 | Within 3 days of Emmerson Mnangagwa striking a deal with the Belarusian government on the 17th Jan 2019, revenue money had already started disappearing from the transport company, ZUPCO, an exclusive ZimEye investigation based on the latest internal risk audit reveals.

In this documentary, several offices are probed by ZimEye and they include [see the satellite map below], the company’s Willowvale, and Belvedere buildings. 

 – military taskforce

 –embarrassing cash leaks detected

-shortfalls on scan machines

-machine discovered inside a toilet with no ID number

-Zupco’s Tagwirei speaks to ZimEye [interview]

 

Fearing rising protests, Mnangagwa had launched the “noble” venture of purchasing hundreds of buses in order to lower the burden of transport costs. This would have worked well and the quality of life improved. But the multi million dollar investment is now set for another disappointment, as an embarrassing audit in ZimEye’s possession reveals that more than $22,000 missing, the looting beginning right within 72 hours of the Belarus meeting. The conclusion from the snap audit are that the company policy on the timing of banking revenue receipts was violated.

At the centre of Zupco’s scandal, is the notorious collusion of two directors, the CEO and the Director of Operations:

– The Acting CEO – [substantive post, Financial Director], Mr Everisto Madangwa.

– The Marketing (Acting Divisions Operations Manager) Tito Chirau … he is Madangwa’s enforcer of corruption.

Chirau has gained the reputation of being the ZUPCO Tagwirei, as it were, – a man who has taken over operations, marketing, and accounting, and the 5th department he is now in charge of is the HR department.

Military led taskforce

There is a task force team in ZUPCO appointed early last year by the minister of Defence through the Ministry of Local Government. The taskforce oversees the safety of buses, and it comprises, the ZDF, the police, and the CIO. The head of the taskforce delegation is Col Richard Mapanda, and he is deputised by Ass Comm Moyo, and DIO Ndabezihle Ndoro. This team was generally effective in the first few weeks of 2019, but from around April time they were rendered inept by a systematic cartel comprising at least three bigwigs: The chairman of ZUPCO, Dr Talon Garikai, is the Vice Chancellor of Harare Institute Of Technology. Everything happening in ZUPCO is now being run from the HIT. The tap card system came from HIT. Stationery supplies are coming HIT. The booking of Intercity buses system, is being run by the HIT, which means that ZUPCO is now literally operating from HIT.

Embarrassing Cash leaks detected

The cash amount of leaks detected from the snap audit are:
– RTGS 19267.00, ZAR 2070.00 and RTGS 378.

In a summary, the report says: “the Accountant and Cashier were invited to explain and justify the departure from the company’s policy regarding the timing of banking revenue receipts. In their written responses, they attributed this departure to the temporary shift of the cash office from Willowvale Depot to Belvedere Depot as well as transport problems to transmit the cash receipts to the bank.

“It was however established that the temporary shift took place on 20 January 2019. Willowvale cash office resumed its operations on 12 February 2019. Their explanation does not hold water as the delays in banking continued beyond the 12 February 2019 when CIT – cash in transit services were available to the Depot.”

When a decision was passed to bring in the police and the anti-corruption commission, ZACC, to investigate, an accountant was then used to make some diversionary responses, on the 15th October 2019.

• shortfalls on scan machines

• machine which was discovered inside a toilet with no ID number inside it

Further to all this, there was last year a scandal of shortfalls on scan machines, which resulted in machine number 8 which leaked thousands to an unknown receiving account. This happened in October 2019. There is machine number 8 which was stationed at Willowvale Depot, it caused shortages running up to the thousands. That machine was tracked by IT, it was found the machine was not sending money to accounts, it was sending somewhere else. When the audit was being conducted Chirau blocked that investigations. There is a machine which was discovered inside a toilet, and was found without an identification number, and no sim card in it, but found inside a toilet. The identification number and the sim card would have made it easy to track the operator and the account number where the money is being routed.

Zupco has since fired its Risk, & Audit Control Manager, a Mr Chimbanda in the first week of February. Mr Chimbanda who had been appointed Risk Manager on the 1st August 2019, was suddenly fired within 6 months just before commencing a human resources audit. Impeccable sources revealed to ZimEye, he had at the time attempted to do an indepth risk audit, following several scandals in the human resources department, that have seen unqualified drivers being employed. This comes amid the rising spate of accidents. The CEO and the Operations Division blocked the audit and rushed to remove Chimbanda from the post.

The audit comes as it is revealed Chirau drafts what he terms a non renewal list through which long serving employees are randomly lined up for dismissal, and in their place, his own personal handpicks are given the jobs.

After Chimbanda was removed, he raised a complaint with the Task Force, but they did nothing at all.

Hot Questions the two ZUPCO bosses must answer are as follows:

– Has the more than $22,000 bankage shortage between Jan and June 2019 been finally restored?

– How come this shortage was not publicly declared?

– Why did you fire the Risk Control manager, Mr Chimbanda at a time when the June audit findings are still to be addressed?

– Why did you block the HR audit when it was needed seeing the number of non qualified drivers and rising number of accidents?

– Why did you block the HR audit and then you start firing people using your own non renewal list not based on an audit?

– Why have you allowed Eng, Talon Garikai to continue holding multiple posts without declaring his asset s according to the Companies Act ?

– In your estimation how many weeks does Zupco have before it requires capital injection from government?

– Why haven’t you addressed the conflict of interest in the TapCard system managed by the ZUPCO Board chairman’s other organisation, HIT ?

– Why did you reject the task force member from the CIO was appointed to work with the HR officer… and investigate allegations of job seekers being made to pay bribes of 20 USD to get jobs?

– In October 2019, Mr Chirawu and Madangwa you promised the sacked Lewis Matutu that you were going to fire 100 conductors to replace them with 100 Zanu PF youths. Why have you continued in this course of action and is this not abuse of office?

– To Mr Chirau, records show that you on the 22nd January 2020, you telephoned HR department to reinstate Mr Liberty Masomere, (work ID 9083), who is colonel Richard Mapanda’s secretary’s brother, was that not abuse of office?

Zupco’s Tagwirei speaks to ZimEye [interview]

While efforts to get a comment from the demoted Risk Manager were fruitless, ZimEye managed to get a hold of the Operations Director, Mr Tito Chirau who briefly spoke to ZimEye. He at first denied the existence of the audit report, saying the only persons who can be called auditors are external auditors. He also said the Risk & Audit Control Department does not conduct any audits. Towards the end of the interview, he once again discredited the audit report this time however acknowledging its existence saying it was truly prepared by the Risk Department.

Will this money which leaked, the $22,000 be returned?, he was questioned. He replied saying,
“Eeeeh, please speak to the CEO,” he said.

He continued loudly charging, “ you can call the CEO and speak to him.”

But you are the Operations Director Mr Chirau, he was asked, and he went on to reply saying:
“What I can tell you right now is that there is nothing factual from all that you are saying, but anyway, I will just refer you to the CEO.”

The audit is not factual?, he was asked. He said, “yes it’s not factual, everything that you have there it’s people who don’t want to see ZUPCO succeeding, and the funny thing is you are just being verbose and loud, but when we speak about numbers, numbers don’t lie.

“And I can tell you right now that all those things that you are speaking about, if you are humble enough to speak to the CEO and gather facts, then you are going to see that it’s just people who are just trying to smear ZUPCO for their nefarious means.

“ZUPCO is one of the most successful government initiatives and a lot of people don’t like it, and you can tell that from your tone, you seem to have just believed those people who don’t want to see ZUPCO succeed.

“So please go speak to the CEO and I am sure if there is merit at what you are asking, he will be able to prove to you that it is all lies, the bunch of people who are probably aggrieved for wrong reasons, who are peddling these things they are all over the place. Speak to the CEO, and he will help,” he ended.

So the copy of the June audit that you have which one is it?, he was asked.

He answered saying, “the problem that you have is you are trying to be high sounding and clever for nothing. Eeh, what is an audit report? What is an audit report?

“An audit is done by approved auditors and the auditors they produce a report and this is a public company; those reports are there for government they are there for everyone to see.

“So when you speak of an audit, you see … you are trying to fight a battle for people who are aggrieved, and I am shocked I don’t know which country you are living in. ZUPCO is the biggest success story of the government; buses are on the road, and more buses are coming. So when you begin to say these things I wonder what agenda you are trying to drive at.”

Why do you say so? This is an audit by your Risk department, he was asked.

He replied:
“So you see in this conversation all you are mentioning is the Risk department, and the Risk department is the one that has been featuring in all those articles that you are talking about. So you guys are fighting the battle of one aggrieved department, or one aggrieved worker without probably going directly to ZUPCO,” he said.
I am not fighting any battle for a worker, ZimEye’s Simba Chikanza said. To this he hit back saying,
“You are, the thing that you are raising you are trying to be high sounding, but I think you didn’t take time to go through the questions that you want to ask, for example you are talking about an audit, an audit, an annual audit is done by big companies that went to tender and was chosen that’s the company that does audits for ZUPCO. So if you are talking about an internal audit report that was generated by someone, and you are saying that the Risk department generates audit report, which company has got a Risk department that generates audit reports?

“No I am telling you now, I am calling you now, audit reports are done by the office of the auditor, the Risk department does not do audits. So if you come to ZUPCO,” he concluded just before putting the phone down.

Efforts to get a comment from the CEO, and the Zupco board Chair were fruitless up to the time of publishing.

– THIS ARTICLE IS ONLY PART 1 OF THIS SERIES: EXPOSING CRIMINALS STATIONED AT ZESA. JUMP ONTO ZIMEYE.COM FOR MORE

For the full interview:
AUDIO LOADING BELOW – ZIMEYE.COM

By A Correspondent| State-owned Mobile Network Operator (MNO), NetOne has suspended its Chief Executive Officer Lazarus Muchenje and Chief Finance Officer.

The board instituted 6 separate audits against the company’s executives, with both internal and external audits, being concurrently undertaken, resulting in the resignation of the chairman and three other board members a fortnight ago.

The ministry of ICT Postal and courier services confirmed that the board has suspended the two but did not give reasons for the move.-TechnoMag

Muchenje’s recent suspension is not the first time it has happened, as this once happened when Supa Mandiwanzira was in charge of the ministry

By A Correspondent| Police in  partnership with the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) and the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) have warned motorists that they will  conducting a joint blitz operation country wide on unlicenced and all de registered vehicles.

“VID  will be clamping non-compliant vehicles. To avoid any inconveniences, we appeal to our valued motoring public to regularise  their vehicles licences before embarking on any trip,” reads the joint notice.

Tough-talking MDC vice-chairperson Job Sikhala said he is ready to call the people of Zimbabwe to action if there is procrastination in dealing with the current crises head-on.

Sikhala asserted that the people of Zimbabwe cannot afford the current regime anymore as it is causing them untold suffering.

He said:
I am going to call the people of Zimbabwe if I see that they are unnecessary dilatory tactics not to deal with this situation decisively within a short period.

Zimbabweans cannot afford a Zanu PF government anymore, people are suffering, children are not able to go to school, and parents are struggling to feed their children.

There is no struggle anywhere else in the world where you fight against a dictator where there has been no bloodbath.

The Zengeza West legislator rhetorically asked which is better to die demonstrating in the street and being killed while sitting at home.

Sikhala made the remarks during an exclusive interview to be aired on Alpha Media Holdings (AMH)’s Heart and Soul TV on Tuesday.- NewsDay

By A Correspondent- A police officer based in Kezi has been arrested for allegedly assaulting his workmate with a sjambok after accusing him of proposing love to his wife.

James Madovi (31) of ZRP Kezi Staff Quarters was not asked to plead when he appeared before Gwanda magistrate, Mrs Nomagugu Sibanda, facing an assault charge.  He was remanded out of custody to March 4 on his own cognisance.

Prosecuting, Miss Faith Mutukwa said Madovi allegedly sjamboked Constable Peter Makape , who is also stationed in Kezi, on December 23, last year.

“On 23 December 2019 at around 10PM, Madovi went to Constable Peter Makape’s house at the ZRP Kezi staff quarters and called him outside as he wanted to talk to him. Cst Makape went out of the house to meet Madovi and found him holding a sjambok.

“Madovi struck Cst Makape twice on the head, four times on the back, two times on the belly and once on the right elbow with the sjambok. Cst Makape called out for help and their workmate, Cst Eric Mukombwe, rushed out of his house and rescued Cst Makape. He questioned Madovi who indicated that Cst Makape had proposed love to his wife,” she said.

Miss Mutukwa said they went to the house of their superior also within the ZRP Kezi staff quarters and when they got there Madovi punched Cst Makape once on the left ear. She said Madovi drew a knife and threatened to stab the complainant but he was restrained by his workmates.   

Madovi however, further assaulted Cst Makape and in the process damaged his cellphone. Miss Mutukwa said the matter was reported to the police resulting in Madovi’s arrest and Cst Makape was referred to Maphisa District Hospital for treatment.-statemedia

By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Republic Police have issued a stern warning to MDC leader Nelson Chamisa saying they would descend heavily on him if he incited opposition party supporters to engage in street protests and cause chaos in the country.

Nicknamed ”Wamba Dia Wamba” after a Congolese warlord, Chamisa on Wednesday indicated that he was now ready to confront President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government on the streets, despite the threat of bloodshed from State security agents.

Hours after his statement, suspected MDC youths staged flash demonstrations in central Harare, taking shoppers and motorists by surprise.

However, national police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said if the opposition party engaged in acts which would disturb peace, they would have themselves to blame when the law enforcement agents descend heavily on them.

“If there are unruly elements who will want to disturb the peace and order and attack the police and civilians going about their business, they have themselves to blame,” Nyathi said.

“ZRP will ensure that law and order is maintained and we will not divulge what we are doing right now as that’s a security issue. Issues of security are not divulged to the public. I want to assure the public that (it) should be free do (its) activities without any fear.”

The spokesperson said if Chamisa wanted his views to be heard, he should engage lawmakers so that they can be considered.

“There is no one in the country who has the preserve to disturb the peace of other people. ZRP has a constitutional mandate to maintain law and order. People who conduct their various activities should do so in a peaceful manner. Police are there to protect peace and laws of the country,” Nyathi said.

Chamisa, who was on a whirlwind tour of provinces visiting party provincial structures earlier this month, told journalists on Wednesday that the general sentiment was that people were angry and ready to confront Mnangagwa’s government on the streets over his handling of the economy, alleged incompetence, arrogance and ignorance in the face of “humanitarian and political crises”.

However, Chamisa’s spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda said they were unperturbed by the police threats.

“They should not think they are law unto themselves. They should not think that they are invincible. They should follow the law,” Sibanda said.

Mnangagwa has refused to meet Chamisa for talks to end the economic and political crises in the country, insisting that the opposition leader should join his Political Actors Dialogue (Polad), comprising fringe political parties, among them Thokozani Khupe’s MDC-T and Lovemore Madhuku’s NCA.

Chamisa has dismissed Polad as a Zanu PF “choir” and demanded dialogue convened by a neutral convener.Newsday

Midlands Senator Lillian Timveos ( MDC Alliance) was on Thursday further remanded to March 16 by a Zvishavane magistrate in a case where she is accused of threatening to destroy Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)’s offices.

Timveos appeared before Magistrate Evra Matura facing two counts of violating the Electoral Act.

According to State prosecutor Fiona Mukwena, Timveos reportedly had a confrontation with ZEC officials at their Zvishavane office on July 15, 2018.

Timevous allegedly obstructed ZEC Zvishavane district elections officer Regressa Dube from distributing ballot papers to voters who had applied for postal voting on the day.

She is also accused of disrupting operations at ZEC’s Zvishavane offices, even threatening to use violence to destroy the premises.

If convicted, she faces five years in prison or a $30 000
Timveos denies the charges.-NewsDay

By A Correspondent- The officer-in-charge of CID Gweru, Detective Inspector Leonard Gwandu, has appeared in court facing criminal abuse of office charges for allegedly releasing a vehicle stolen from South Africa that was being held by the police as an exhibit.

Gwandu appeared before Gweru Regional Magistrate Mrs Phathekile Msipa on charges of criminal abuse of office. The accused, through his lawyer Mr Nomore Hlabano, pleaded not guilty to the charge and was remanded to March 17 on $1 000 bail.

State witness, Detective Sergeant Mlabeni Sibanda said Gwandu released the stolen Toyota Hilux double cab valued at US$27 000 to Kwekwe businessman Shepherd Tundiya who had bought it from a Harare car dealer.

Det Sgt Sibanda said it was communicated to Gwandu that there were 10 such stolen South African registered vehicles and Toyota South Africa and its clients were making follow ups. Of the 10 vehicles, Det Sgt Sibanda said two were in Gweru including the one which was released to Mr Tundiya by Gwandu.

The court heard that releasing the stolen vehicle showed favour to Tundiya since Gwandu had information to the effect that the vehicle had been stolen and smuggled into the country.

Det Sgt Sibanda said: “There are 10 such vehicles stolen in South Africa which are being tracked by Toyota South Africa. Two of these vehicles are in Gweru and the others are scattered around the country.  

“We had made an appointment with Toyota South Africa together with its customers whose vehicles were stolen from them so that they come and identify the vehicles for possible repatriation to South Africa. This vehicle in question was supposed to be released to Toyota South Africa instead of Tundiya.”

Mr Hlabano argued that his client might have erred administratively — which should have been an internal matter and not a criminal matter which is now before the court.

The State alleges that on December 14, last year, Gwandu released a Toyota Hilux valued at US$27 000, which was confiscated from Mr Tundiya after it was discovered that it had been stolen from South Africa.

Allegations are that Mr Tundiya, who had been arrested on October 16 last year in connection with the motor vehicle, was acquitted at the Gweru Magistrates Court on December 13. The following day Gwandu allegedly released the stolen vehicle to the businessman without following due procedure.

The State further alleges that the car was stolen in South Africa from one Thomas Blom of CMH Toyota and was being investigated by Alberton Police Station in South Africa under case number 233/11/2017.

The State said the vehicle was supposed to be handed to South African police but the accused person handed it to Mr Tundiya. It is alleged that Gwandu and other junior police officers checked the vehicle on the Interpol database which is installed in his office.

Mr Tundiya was subsequently charged with theft of a motor vehicle and was acquitted on December 13 last year, but no order was made as to the disposal of the vehicle. Mr Tundiya told the court that he bought the vehicle from a car dealer, Mr Patrick Mutodi, in Harare. He said he was also a victim in the event that the car was stolen.-StateMedia

By A Correspondent- A 25 year old man from Gokwe man has been arrested for bestiality after he was caught se_xually assaulting his friend’s dog.

Matthew Makoni of Bamha village under Chief Sayi appeared before Shurugwi magistrate Percy Mukumba facing charges of bestiality.

Makoni, who works at Nyathi Mine in Shurugwi, will face trial next Wednesday.

The State case is that on February 11 at around 11pm at Nyathi village in Shurugwi, Makoni visited Nicholas Simeon at his homestead where the two engaged in a chat.

Simeon, however, indicated that they bade each other goodnight and he retired to bed.

While outside, the accused allegedly forced himself on his friend’s dog.

The pet allegedly made loud noise, which awoke Simeon.

Simeon then went outside to investigate and allegedly caught his friend pants down, after which he reported the matter to the police.-Newsday

By A Correspondent- A 23 year old man from Victoria Falls was arrested and appeared in court for assaulting a police officer with a brick in a bar.

Enock Ndlovu of Mkhosana suburb hit Kudakwashe Ndonga (47), a sergeant stationed at Victoria Falls Criminal Intelligence Unit, with a brick on the back of the head before running away from the scene at Chinotimba Old Bar.

This was heard by Victoria Falls magistrate Ms Rangarirai Gakanje. Ndonga pleaded guilty to the assault charge and was sentenced to four months in prison.

Two months were suspended on condition of good behaviour while a further two months were brought into effect for a previous assault conviction. Ndlovu will serve an effective four months in prison.

Asked why he committed the offence, Ndonga told the court that he was drunk and did not know what happened.

“I was drunk and failed to control myself. I don’t know what was happening to me. It just happened,” he said as he pleaded with the magistrate for leniency.

“Your Worship, may you give me a lesser sentence so that I will be able to take care of my child as she goes to school. I’m the family’s sole bread winner because my wife does not work,” said Ndlovu.

Ms Gakanje told Ndlovu that he committed a serious crime and was a danger to society as he occasionally assaults people.

For the State, the prosecutor Mr Jacob Kuzipa said on June 16, last year, at around 8PM at Chinotimba Old Bar, the accused hit the complainant with a brick when the latter tried to restore order where people were playing pool.

“On the 16th day of June 2019 at around 2000hrs at Chinotimba Old Bar where there was violence while people were playing pool, the complainant started cooling down the violence by talking to the pool players to play the game peacefully. The accused suddenly hit the complainant with a brick and ran away,” said Mr Kuzipa.-statemedia

By A Correspondent- A Chitungwiza woman who claims to be a spirit medium was on Wednesday arrested for storming Munhumutapa Building – Office of the President and Cabinet – demanding an audience with the President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Asinuta Dendere was arraigned before Harare Magistrates Rumbidzai Mugwagwa charged with unlawful entry.

Dendere who claimed to be possessed by the spirit of Mbuya Nehanda said she will not stop until she delivers a “message from the spirits to Mnangagwa.”

“The spirits keep tormenting me they are not happy with how the government is running the country’s affairs,” she claimed.

“I am not a dog and the citizens of Zimbabweans are not dogs. Nobody should treat us like dogs.”

Dendere stopped the reading of allegations, saying she is only violent because of government’s deficiencies.

The complainant is the state represented by Simbarashe Mangezi who is an employee at Munhumutapa Building.

Prosecutors alleged that on February 19 around 10am at Munhumutapa Building, Dendere stormed the entrance and started to behave mischievously saying she is a spirit medium and she wanted to enter into the building.

Mangezi apprehended the accused and reported the case which led to her arrest.

She was then taken to Harare Central Police station.

Harare magistrate Mugwagwa ordered that Dendere be examined by a psychiatrist.

She was remanded to March 4 and placed in the custody of her daughter-in-law.-ZimMorningPost

By A Correspondent| Tragedy has hit the ZANU PF aligned civic society leader Abigail Mupambi, who is currently hospitalised after her husband committed suicide yesterday.

Mupambi is the civil society leader known for appearing in a state media documentary while defaming former Hospital Doctors Association President Dr Peter Magombeyi saying he was never abducted in September last year.

While fuller details of the incident were sketchy at the time of writing, Mupambi’s relatives confirmed to ZimEye of a truth her husband is no more.

She is currently hospitalised at Westview Clinic where she had to be sedated last night, an impeccable source revealed to ZimEye on Saturday morning.

It could not be established what pushed the man to end his life, and family members had not at the time of writing disclosed how he did it.

Mupambi’s children were on Saturday requiring counselling following the disturbing mishap. One of them was saying, “Daddy vanga vangori restless” before this. – Daddy was just restless before all this.

This is a developing story- refresh this page for the updates.

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

Thousands rush after President @nelsonchamisa in Bindura today pic.twitter.com/gWlpUT5zo6

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) February 22, 2020

By A Correspondent- Botswana has hanged a 29-year old man for murdering his employer, prison services announced, despite mounting calls by rights groups to abolish the death penalty.

Mmika Michael Mpe is the second convict to be executed since President Mokgweetsi Masisi took office in October.

He was sentenced to death in 2018 for the 2014 murder of his employer and his appeal was dismissed last year.

The Botswana Prison Service confirmed the execution in a statement on Friday.

It follows the December hanging of 44-year old bricklayer Mooketsi Kgosibodiba, who was also handed capital punishment for murdering his employer.

Amnesty International called on Masisi to abolish the practice after two other people were hanged in 2018.

It described Botswana as the only southern African country that “consistently executes people” and said the sentence was often carried out without prior notice.

The death penalty has been enforced in Botswana since its independence from Britain in 1966.

Masisi’s predecessor Ian Khama has previously defended it as a tool to combat rising murder rates.

-AFP

By A Correspondent- Three police officers, Happymore Gwande (35) of Nyabira ZRP, Ronald Masendeke (29) of ZRP Southerton, Mupfugami Govai (35) of ZRP Southerton and ex-police members Francis Takura (32) and Tozivepi Chirara (28) were arrested on charges of robbing a Guruve miner of 92 grammes of gold and US$2 700 at gunpoint.

The gang appeared before Harare magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa charged with armed robbery and was remanded in custody.

The gang allegedly hatched a plan to rob the complainant, who is the owner of Zembere Pinda Mining Syndicate in Kachuta, Guruve, after he had asked a former Masvingo Fidelity Refineries employee, Hamilton Nyoka, to help him to sell 92,5 grammes of gold.

Nyoka, who is still at large, instructed the complainant to meet them at Jameson Hotel in Harare where he met two men whom he introduced as gold buyers.

The man then went to to a flat along Josiah Chinamano Avenue, a place the “buyers” claimed to be their office.

When they arrived at the flat, Gwande, Masendeke and Govai and another man only identified as Jonso, who is also at large, accosted the complainant and introduced themselves as detectives from CID Minerals.

They took away the complainant’s US$2 700, a Samsung J12 Core, a Samsung A2 Core and a Techno mobile phone.

The following day (February 14), the complainant reported the matter to the police, leading to the arrest of the accused persons.-Newsday

By A Correspondent- A Hwange man drowned in Deka River during the week while fishing with friends, police have confirmed.

Matabeleland North police spokesperson Chief Inspector Siphiwe Makonese said the body of Effart Tshuma whose age was not given was retrieved on Thursday afternoon.

“Effart Tshuma left home around 9AM going fishing in Lalakolwe area in Hwange in the company of Messrs Best Dube and Richard Tembo. At around 3PM, the three decided to cross to the other side of the river upon which Tshuma fell into the deeper part of the river and drowned,” said Chief Insp Makonese.

She said seeing that Tshuma who resided in Number 2 Village was drowning, Mr Tembo jumped towards him in an effort to rescue him to no avail. Mr Tembo alerted Mr Dube who had already crossed and the two searched for Tshuma’s body but could not locate it.

The two reported the matter to the police and also advised Tshuma’s brother about what had happened.  

A search team was dispatched and Tshuma’s body was retrieved about seven metres deep in the river on Thursday, Chief Insp Makonese said.

She said the matter is being treated as sudden death by drowning but investigations are underway to ascertain circumstances around the incident.

Chief Insp Makonese said police and rangers from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority have been carrying out campaigns for people to be wary of water bodies.  

“We would want to encourage people to stay away from water bodies and not to cross deep rivers especially during the rainy season. Last week we were carrying out an awareness campaign with Zimparks in schools and villages around Hwange to encourage people to stay away from water bodies because this is the time when crocodiles invade small pools and rivers.  

“We usually have cases of drowning and attacks by crocodiles and it’s part of our Constitutional mandate as police to save lives hence we want everyone to be cautious,” she said.

Chief Insp Makonese urged people to quickly alert police or Zimparks rangers if they spot any crocodile in any water body near human settlements. -Statemedia

SMALL and Medium Enterprises Association of Zimbabwe’s (SMEZ) executive director Farai Mutambanengwe yesterday chided government’s economic policies which he said are turning citizens into criminals.His sentiments come as the local Zimbabwe dollar has continued to tumble against major trading currencies of the world, reviving appetite to use the United States dollar (USD) to store value.

Both citizens and businesses have also turned to the black market for foreign currency – which is currently at 27 against the USD – leaving the depressed interbank market, which is fetching a lower premium of around 18.

During his remarks at the Financial Gazette Annual Tax Review Forum yesterday, Mutambanengwe said the current economic crisis is also pushing businesses to informalise their activities in a bid to remain afloat.

“You ask why non-compliance? The simple reason is bad growth. There are glaring inconsistencies in the macro-economy.

“The deputy minister of Finance mentioned it himself that formal businesses are informalising and the question is why?

“And everyone including the deputy minister is transacting on the parallel market.

“Every single one of us transacts on the parallel market, and one way or the other we are breaking the law.

“We just have to be honest. All of us, it’s either we transact on the parallel market or we purchase goods using US dollars because that is what the country has become.

“The issue is if you issue bad law, everyone becomes a criminal. We must make the economy conducive for formalisation (of business).

“If the informal sector is informalising, it means the environment is not working,” he said

Mutambanengwe also urged the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to simplify the tax regime, including the registration processes which he said are complicated for most small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The informal traders are expected to pay presumptive tax.

He highlighted that some distortions are due to regulations for revenue as opposed to regulation for growth, thereby encouraging capitalisation.

“Together with the Small and Medium Enterprises ministry and , we worked on a proposal to say let the presumptive tax be three percent, and it was rejected by the Finance ministry.

“We were saying at least cross-border traders will be paying something.

“So, it’s not like we (SMEs) don’t want to participate in tax systems, but it’s being made impossible for us to do so,” Mutambanengwe said.

-Online

NATIONAL Constitutional Assembly (NCA) leader, Lovemore Madhuku says the country should do away with a constitutional clause that allows a sitting president’s party to appoint a successor in the event of the death or removal of the incumbent under any circumstances.

He was joined in his call by one-time spokesperson to late former President Robert Mugabe’s spokesperson Jealousy Mawarire.

The two were co-panellists at a Heal Zimbabwe Trust organised public discussion on the controversial Constitutional Amendment No. 2 which seeks to scrap provisions which make it compulsory for presidential candidates to appoint their running mates.

Madhuku, a constitutional expert who also contested the 2018 presidential election, said it was improper for political parties to determine who should become the next president outside a national poll.

Precedent was set when then President Emmerson Mnangagwa was allowed to become state leader after the military ouster of then President Robert Mugabe.

Madhuku felt there was everything wrong with the practice.

“What we did in November is we got Mnangagwa from nowhere as a nation; he came from Zanu PF…we must not put in the constitution of the country, a provision that is dependent on what happens in a political party,” said Madhuku.

“We must never put in the constitution of Zimbabwe that if a sitting president dies or resigns, we will wait to hear what the political party of that president is saying. No, that is not the best way to run a country.

“A country is run on the basis of either an election or you have parliament aided institutions sitting as an electoral college…but never to allow a political party to sit there and say we are giving you a president.”

Mawarire, on his part, said drafters of Zimbabwe’s supreme law were wrong when they gave political parties power to forward names of a replacement president in the event of incapacitation or death of an incumbent.

“The drafters of the constitution assumed that it is not the individual who was elected by the people but the party that he represents,” said the one time journalist.

“That is why we do not have a by-election when the president resigns as what happened on 21 November 2017.

“So, there is that contradiction. If the president was directly elected by the people, if that president is no longer there, give the people a chance to elect a person who comes after that president.

“Do we have a by-election that will involve the whole country, or do we have parliament sitting and electing a president.”

In the current set-up, Zimbabwean by-elections are called only when an MP or councillor leaves the seat.

-Online

POLICE yesterday warned MDC leader Nelson Chamisa that they would descend heavily on him if he incited opposition party supporters to engage in street protests and cause chaos in the country.

Nicknamed ”Wamba Dia Wamba” after a Congolese warlord, Chamisa on Wednesday indicated that he was now ready to confront President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government on the streets, despite the threat of bloodshed from State security agents.

Hours after his statement, suspected MDC youths staged flash demonstrations in central Harare, taking shoppers and motorists by surprise.

However, national police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said if the opposition party engaged in acts which would disturb peace, they would have themselves to blame when the law enforcement agents descend heavily on them.

“If there are unruly elements who will want to disturb the peace and order and attack the police and civilians going about their business, they have themselves to blame,” Nyathi said.

“ZRP will ensure that law and order is maintained and we will not divulge what we are doing right now as that’s a security issue. Issues of security are not divulged to the public. I want to assure the public that (it) should be free do (its) activities without any fear.”

The spokesperson said if Chamisa wanted his views to be heard, he should engage lawmakers so that they can be considered.

“There is no one in the country who has the preserve to disturb the peace of other people. ZRP has a constitutional mandate to maintain law and order. People who conduct their various activities should do so in a peaceful manner. Police are there to protect peace and laws of the country,” Nyathi said.

Chamisa, who was on a whirlwind tour of provinces visiting party provincial structures earlier this month, told journalists on Wednesday that the general sentiment was that people were angry and ready to confront Mnangagwa’s government on the streets over his handling of the economy, alleged incompetence, arrogance and ignorance in the face of “humanitarian and political crises”.

However, Chamisa’s spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda said they were unperturbed by the police threats.

“They should not think they are law unto themselves. They should not think that they are invincible. They should follow the law,” Sibanda said.

Mnangagwa has refused to meet Chamisa for talks to end the economic and political crises in the country, insisting that the opposition leader should join his Political Actors Dialogue (Polad), comprising fringe political parties, among them Thokozani Khupe’s MDC-T and Lovemore Madhuku’s NCA.

Chamisa has dismissed Polad as a Zanu PF “choir” and demanded dialogue convened by a neutral convener.

-Newsday

Zimbabwe intends to build a second fuel pipeline in partnership with three other Southern African countries in a deal that will be funded by the Russian Government to the tune of US$1, 5 billion.

The deal puts a lid on the much talked about Mining, Oil and Gas Services (MOGS) deal which some politicians principally Christopher Mutsvangwa (Zanu-PF) and Tendai Biti (MDC) have been pushing for over five years without success.

The US$1.5billion Russian deal involves Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana and was mooted at last year’s Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi city with the blessings of all the respective Presidents.

A delegation from Russia is expected in Zimbabwe in March to fine tune the deal.

Construction of the second pipeline was rejected as an unviable business venture by Mozambique owing to failure by Zimbabwean oil companies to fully utilise the existing pipeline which has capacity to pump 180 million litres monthly.

About 40 percent of the existing pipeline is not being utilized.

“Russians hinted their interest in funding the second pipeline at last year’s summit in Sochi city as a government to government transaction for the southern region at a very nominal rate. If there is a second pipeline to be build then it is this one by the Russians because this is what the four Governments prefer than having it as a one nation project considering that 40 percent of the current pipeline is underutilised,” said a government source involved in the negotiations.

“Negotiations are now at an advanced stage and a team from the Russian government will be in the country next month.”

MOGS had attempted to build a second pipeline in the past years but Government rejected the deal after discovering that the project was meant to bankroll the opposition MDC party.

The South African firm has continously tried without success to use Christopher Mutsvangwa, Tendai Biti and Eddie Cross to land the deal.
The trio has been at the front of smeering Trafigura and Sakunda Holdings which they believe have been blocking them from landing the billion dollar project.

Sources highlighted that before agreeing on the second pipeline Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Botswana first discussed the upgrading of the Beira-Harare pipeline.

“The current pipeline can be upgraded up to 240 million litres monthly which can be expanded to 320 million litres hence continuous engagement at Presidential level to have volumes of scale,” said the source.

“However after deliberations the Russian deal was agreed on.”
The Government source also scoffed at media reports that Zimbabwe was losing US$400 million due to alleged Trafigura monopoly of the pipeline.

The existing pipeline has a capacity to pump 180 million litres monthly at a pipeline fee of 0.0789 cents per litre from Beira.

“Total revenue of the pipeline is USD$14 million monthly and multiplied by 12 months, it gives a revenue of US$170million annually hence assertions in the media that we are losing US$400million is mere fallacy,” said the source.

A NOIC insider indicated that 40 percent of the underutilised capacity of the pipeline at the going rate of 0.0789 cents per litre can amount to US$68million dollars which does not even tally with figures being thrown around.

“There are more than 20 companies which signed agreements with NOIC to pump fuel via pipeline and about six companies pump fuel on a regular basis thus Glencore, IPG, Trafigura, Praise Petroleum, Vivo and BP and one wonders how this can translate to monopoly.

“The pumping fees from Beira to Feruka are not set by Zimbabwe but by CPM of Mozambique as Zimbabwe doesnt own the pipeline. Government of Zimbabwe sets pipeline fees from Feruka to Harare meaning no other company can do that except government,” said the source.

Information ministry permanent secretary Nick Mangwana dismissed reports that Sakunda enjoys a monopoly over the pipeline, saying the company was only recouping its investment for rehabilitating the infrastructure.

Sakunda in 2014 invested millions into the refurbishment of the Beira-Feruka pipeline, and is recouping its investment.

“Trafigura assisted in refurbishing the pipeline and they are recouping their money from the use. The seven (US) cents applies to Zambia and DRC because they would be collecting the fuel from here.

Suppose we contract an energy company to help us build infrastructure, when they have finished they will say ‘from your power tariffs, add the two cents per kilowatt hour which we will use to recoup the costs’ and it will be done, but it doesn’t speak to a monopoly, it speaks to a PPP (public-private partnership). It’s a variant of the BOT (build, operate and transfer). Definitely, they don’t have the monopoly,” he said.

By A Correspondent- Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Zimbabwe’s (SMEZ) executive director Farai Mutambanengwe yesterday chided government’s economic policies which he said are turning citizens into criminals.

His sentiments come as the local Zimbabwe dollar has continued to tumble against major trading currencies of the world, reviving appetite to use the United States dollar (USD) to store value.

Both citizens and businesses have also turned to the black market for foreign currency – which is currently at 27 against the USD – leaving the depressed interbank market, which is fetching a lower premium of around 18.

During his remarks at the Financial Gazette Annual Tax Review Forum yesterday, Mutambanengwe said the current economic crisis is also pushing businesses to informalise their activities in a bid to remain afloat.

“You ask why non-compliance? The simple reason is bad growth. There are glaring inconsistencies in the macro-economy.

“The deputy minister of Finance mentioned it himself that formal businesses are informalising and the question is why?

“And everyone including the deputy minister is transacting on the parallel market.

“Every single one of us transacts on the parallel market, and one way or the other we are breaking the law.

“We just have to be honest. All of us, it’s either we transact on the parallel market or we purchase goods using US dollars because that is what the country has become.

“The issue is if you issue bad law, everyone becomes a criminal. We must make the economy conducive for formalisation (of business).

“If the informal sector is informalising, it means the environment is not working,” he said

Mutambanengwe also urged the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to simplify the tax regime, including the registration processes which he said are complicated for most small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The informal traders are expected to pay presumptive tax.

He highlighted that some distortions are due to regulations for revenue as opposed to regulation for growth, thereby encouraging capitalisation.

“Together with the Small and Medium Enterprises ministry and , we worked on a proposal to say let the presumptive tax be three percent, and it was rejected by the Finance ministry.

“We were saying at least cross-border traders will be paying something.

“So, it’s not like we (SMEs) don’t want to participate in tax systems, but it’s being made impossible for us to do so,” Mutambanengwe said.

-DailyNews

Own Correspondent| Zimbabwean authorities have stepped up their onslaught against dissent after arresting a total of 47 people in one day for allegedly participating in anti-government protests over the country’s worsening political and economic crisis.

In Harare, Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers first arrested 7 students at Allan Wilson High School, whom they detained at Harare Central Police Station after accusing them of participating in an illegal demonstration which was held in the capital city early this month.

But when the students’ lawyer Tinashe Chinopfukutwa of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) arrived at Harare Central Police Station, where law enforcement agents were taking finger prints from them, challenged the treatment of his clients as accused persons, ZRP officers then indicated that they were now treating them as state witnesses in a matter in which a yet to be identified person will be brought to court charged with participating in a gathering with intent to promote public violence, breaches of the peace or bigotry as defined in section 37 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

The seven students were later released after the recording of the witness statements.

The ZRP officers also arrested 34 people including pro-democracy campaigner Makomborero Haruzivishe and charged them with participating in a gathering with intent to promote public violence, breaches of the peace or bigotry as defined in section 37 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

Police officers claimed that the 34 people, who were represented by Obey Shava of ZLHR, participated in a demonstration allegedly staged by some MDC Alliance party youths on Wednesday 19 February 2020 in Harare.

However, 32 of the people were released from police custody and only Haruzivishe and Allan Moyo were detained overnight and are expected to appear in court on Saturday 22 February 2020.

In Mutoko in Mashonaland East province, ZRP officers also arrested seven women including a six month-old baby and charged them with participating in a gathering with intent to promote public violence, breaches of the peace or bigotry as defined in section 37 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

In court, prosecutors alleged that the seven women, who were represented by Nontokozo Tachiona-Dube of ZLHR, staged a demonstration on Thursday 20 February 2020, where they handed over a petition at Mutoko District Council protesting against the country’s poor education standards.

The seven women were set free on $100 bail after Tachiona-Dube applied for their release and were remanded to Thursday 5 March 2020.

Tachiona-Dube also secured freedom for four Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe officials including Secretary-General Robson Chere, who had been summoned to appear at Mutoko Police Station in connection with the demonstration allegedly held on Thursday 20 February 2020 in Mutoko.

ZRP officers advised the four people that they will be summoned to appear in court if they intend to proceed with prosecuting them for allegedly failing to notify police officers about the demonstration.

Opposition MDC parliamentarians this week mocked and humiliated Vice President Constantino Chiwenga calling him a senior bachelor and the source of coronavirus in Zimbabwe.

Chiwenga was in parliament for the Wednesday session of the question and answer session.

MPs shouted at Chiwenga demanding to know the whereabouts of his wife while others accused him of bringing the deadly coronavirus in the country.

The VP is currently embroiled in a messy divorce with wife, Mary Mubaiwa and has also been to China until late last year for treatment.

He kept his cool but independent Norton MP Temba Mliswa did not take the issue lightly as he immediately stood up on a point of order.

“Mr. Speaker Sir, I think it is important as members of this august House to give respect to the Honourable Vice President.

“The issue of coronavirus when it was asked by Honourable Kwaramba, Honourable Chikwinya shouted and said yes, we must know the condition of coronavirus because of the Honourable Vice President.

“What Honourable Chikwinya was implying was that Vice President came with coronavirus in Zimbabwe.

“These (MDC) are inhumane people with no human dignity whatsoever and we shall not allow that here. They must respect the Vice President.

“It is them who go outside the country who bring the virus, it is unacceptable.

“You must respect the Honourable Vice President, he (Chikwinya) cannot do that. He must withdraw his statement, they are inhumane,” Mliswa fumed as MDC members jeered at him.

Chikwinya denied disrespecting the VP and responded: “Vice President Honourable Chiwenga is a respectable Member of this House.

“The Vice President went through his difficult times which you (Speaker) announced at the beginning of this session.

“To insinuate that a matter regarding the Coronavirus which emanates from China is being discussed in Parliament and therefore since he was treated in China, therefore he brought that disease is an indictment and a show of disrespect by Honourable Mliswa to Honourable Chiwenga.

“I challenge the Clerk to refer to the Hansard. If there was any time that I raised the name of Honourable Vice President Chiwenga in relation to the Coronavirus, I am prepared to face any consequences.”

Speaker Jacob Mudenda promised to go by the record of the Hansard adding that a determination would be made accordingly.

Mliswa was asked to approach the chair and as he stood, MDC MPs blocked him on his return to take his seat on the opposition bench.

“Mr Speaker Sir, I was addressing you in terms of the issue that I brought up on the Honourable Vice President, I then went back to try and sit. Visibly, they blocked me.

“As somebody who is trained, I managed to find myself in there and in the process, I tore my suit and I am more than happy to be able to get it repaired but at the same time, as I am going back, they have equally occupied my seat,” Mliswa said, addressing his complaint to Mudenda.

The issue turned chaotic as Mliswa and MDC MPs almost turned the house into a boxing arena.

Mliswa told the opposition parliamentarians off and sat on the bench after Kuwadzana East MP and party secretary general Charlton Hwende gave up his own seat for him.

CLEARING and forwarding agents at the Forbes Border Post in Mutare are reeling under the effects of the Coronavirus Covid-19) in China that has caused a drastic decline in trade volumes as importers have reduced business dealings with the Asian country.

Zimbabwe enjoys fruitful trade relations with China that has seen the country posting a trade surplus of US$445 million in 2018.

The Forbes Border Post handles a big chunk of the imports and exports due to its proximity to the port of Beira in Mozambique.

When Business Post visited the border yesterday morning there was little activity.

“We are handling few clients these days because of the coronavirus.

“A lot of companies import goods from China and they use the port of Beira.

“China has suspended trade until the virus is contained, which means that there is less activity at the port of Beira. This entails low business for us since this border is the closest point of entry into the country.

“As you can see we are doing nothing here and we hope that the situation will be contained quickly,” said a clearing agent, Shingai Chahwanda.

A Zimra official who requested anonymity citing protocol said trade volumes were now low at the border.

“Zimbabwe exports a lot of things to China including tobacco and various other products. The Forbes Border Post is the closest gateway to the sea and most of these products pass through here. At the same time our local companies, including the Government, import plenty of things from the Asian country. For example, in recent months both the Government and local business people were importing buses from China.

The bulk of these buses came through via the port of Beira and they entered the country through here.

“The coronavirus has disrupted this trade and the economic and financial implications of this virus cannot be overemphasised. The few Chinese products that are still trickling into the country are coming from warehouses in Beira. If they get finished while China has not fully controlled the virus no imports will come our way,” he said.

-State Media

MDC vice-chairman Job Sikhala has threatened to initiate constitutional processes to push out President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government from power.

Speaking in an exclusive interview to be aired on Alpha Media Holdings (AMH)’s Heart and Soul TV on Tuesday, Sikhala said the economic turmoil and deteriorating social and political space in Zimbabwe could not be allowed to continue.

AMH are publishers of NewsDay, Zimbabwe Independent, The Standard in addition to an online radio/television station, Heart and Soul Television.

“I will not rest until justice and a people’s government is put in place. I will never rest until Zanu PF is extinguished from the face of the earth,” said Sikhala who was last week acquitted on a treason charge by a Masvingo High Court judge.

“These have been evil people, evil men and women who have been presiding over the people of Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans have lost hundreds of thousands of people through murder by the people who are in Zanu PF,” Sikhala said.

“Zanu PF has killed so many people in our country, we cannot allow this regime to continue existing anymore. This is a regime where I call upon every Zimbabwean of normal circumstances to join us in fighting,” he said.

“Why are people still limping today after being tortured just for opposing? It is better to die demonstrating than being killed while sitting at home. Even if that body is mine, so be it,” the tough-talking Sikhala said.

The opposition MDC has repeatedly refused to recognise Mnangagwa’s administration claiming the Zanu PF leader “stole” the 2018 elections.

He said the decision on which course of action to apply on Mnangagwa should be collective, but he would not hesitate to call the people of Zimbabwe to act.

“I am operating within the confines of an organisation. I cannot be just a one-man band, so decisions have to be taken collectively, but if I think that my own political thinking on how to deal with the situation is continually being derailed, I will not hesitate to call the people of Zimbabwe into action and I know they will respond and I am serious on this.”

“I am going to call the people of Zimbabwe if I see that they are unnecessary dilatory tactics not to deal with this situation decisively within a short period. Zimbabweans cannot afford a Zanu PF government anymore, people are suffering, children are not able to go to school, and parents are struggling to feed their children,” Sikhala said.

“There is no struggle anywhere else in the world where you fight against a dictator where there has been no bloodbath. How many people have been killed by this regime from 1980 to present not because they were demonstrating but only because they were opposed to the government? Why were more than 20 000 people killed during the period of Gukurahundi? Where those people demonstrating in the streets? Why were people who voted against (the late former President) Robert Mugabe in the year 2008 killed?

— NewsDay

Own Correspondent| Former Zanu PF National Political Commissar Saviour Kasukuwere has accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of protecting the country’s most brazen criminal cartels saying that was the reason he worked with his now deputy Constantino Chiwenga to remove the late Robert Mugabe from power.

In a statement released through his #tysonwabantu movement on the commemoration of Robert Gabriel Mugabe day on Friday, Kasukuwere said Mugabe’s removal from power on the pretext of targeting criminals around the President was a fake plan by Mnangagwa to protect his notorious criminal cartels.

“You (Mugabe) may have left us, but your vision becomes more glaring now.

“May your departed spirit give us a sign, how best our worsened state might reclaim the stolen MOVEMENT toward your vision for our “Ziiimbabwe”, as you called out to it? Dearly departed President, your vision is alive now more than ever within our disillusioned souls.”

“The real criminals have turned your (Mugabe) vision into a horror of an impoverished nation at the mercy of cartels that have corrupted the centre and kill off our hopes.

“There were never any ‘criminals around your Presidency’, were they? We realise now that they removed you because you kept their baser appetites at bay.

“You were the incorruptible barrier against the real narcissistic criminals and their cartels that have now captured Zimbabwe.

“It dawns upon us now that they removed you only so that their hardened criminal handlers could come close enough to capture the entire State’s value chain, from the ruling Party and its Politburo into government, cabinet, state institutions and agents paid off with cars and privatised salaries to allow and be complicit in the rap_e of our nation.”

“While their so-called New Dispensation has now done away with that empowering vision, their alternative preferring foreign economic interests is proving a disaster.

“It is reported that foreign direct investment has reduced by more than 60%.

“The economy goes deeper into recession despite preferred and prioritised Indian, white and foreign economic interests, to the exclusion of our black majority aspirations being condemned to being the ‘hewers of wood’ Robert Mugabe implored us to shun.

“Robert Mugabe had seen through their treacherous criminal intent on the eve of their betrayal, knew he sat at the table with those who would betray him and his vision for Zimbabwe, “Wandinodya nawo ndowachazondichera. Wana Judas Iscariot.” The 21st February Movement remembers.”

By A Correspondent- A 23 year old man from Victoria Falls was arrested and appeared in court for assaulting a police officer with a brick in a bar.

Enock Ndlovu of Mkhosana suburb hit Kudakwashe Ndonga (47), a sergeant stationed at Victoria Falls Criminal Intelligence Unit, with a brick on the back of the head before running away from the scene at Chinotimba Old Bar.

This was heard by Victoria Falls magistrate Ms Rangarirai Gakanje. Ndonga pleaded guilty to the assault charge and was sentenced to four months in prison.

Two months were suspended on condition of good behaviour while a further two months were brought into effect for a previous assault conviction. Ndlovu will serve an effective four months in prison.

Asked why he committed the offence, Ndonga told the court that he was drunk and did not know what happened.

“I was drunk and failed to control myself. I don’t know what was happening to me. It just happened,” he said as he pleaded with the magistrate for leniency.

“Your Worship, may you give me a lesser sentence so that I will be able to take care of my child as she goes to school. I’m the family’s sole bread winner because my wife does not work,” said Ndlovu.

Ms Gakanje told Ndlovu that he committed a serious crime and was a danger to society as he occasionally assaults people.

For the State, the prosecutor Mr Jacob Kuzipa said on June 16, last year, at around 8PM at Chinotimba Old Bar, the accused hit the complainant with a brick when the latter tried to restore order where people were playing pool.

“On the 16th day of June 2019 at around 2000hrs at Chinotimba Old Bar where there was violence while people were playing pool, the complainant started cooling down the violence by talking to the pool players to play the game peacefully. The accused suddenly hit the complainant with a brick and ran away,” said Mr Kuzipa.-statemedia

By A Correspondent- A Chitungwiza woman who claims to be a spirit medium was on Wednesday arrested for storming Munhumutapa Building – Office of the President and Cabinet – demanding an audience with the President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Asinuta Dendere was arraigned before Harare Magistrates Rumbidzai Mugwagwa charged with unlawful entry.

Dendere who claimed to be possessed by the spirit of Mbuya Nehanda said she will not stop until she delivers a “message from the spirits to Mnangagwa.”

“The spirits keep tormenting me they are not happy with how the government is running the country’s affairs,” she claimed.

“I am not a dog and the citizens of Zimbabweans are not dogs. Nobody should treat us like dogs.”

Dendere stopped the reading of allegations, saying she is only violent because of government’s deficiencies.

The complainant is the state represented by Simbarashe Mangezi who is an employee at Munhumutapa Building.

Prosecutors alleged that on February 19 around 10am at Munhumutapa Building, Dendere stormed the entrance and started to behave mischievously saying she is a spirit medium and she wanted to enter into the building.

Mangezi apprehended the accused and reported the case which led to her arrest.

She was then taken to Harare Central Police station.

Harare magistrate Mugwagwa ordered that Dendere be examined by a psychiatrist.

She was remanded to March 4 and placed in the custody of her daughter-in-law.-ZimMorningPost

By A Correspondent- The police have warned MDC leader Nelson Chamisa that they would descend heavily on him if he incited opposition party supporters to engage in street protests and cause chaos in the country.

Nicknamed ”Wamba Dia Wamba” after a Congolese warlord, Chamisa on Wednesday indicated that he was now ready to confront President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government on the streets, despite the threat of bloodshed from State security agents.

Hours after his statement, suspected MDC youths staged flash demonstrations in central Harare, taking shoppers and motorists by surprise.

However, national police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said if the opposition party engaged in acts which would disturb peace, they would have themselves to blame when the law enforcement agents descend heavily on them.

“If there are unruly elements who will want to disturb the peace and order and attack the police and civilians going about their business, they have themselves to blame,” Nyathi said.

“ZRP will ensure that law and order is maintained and we will not divulge what we are doing right now as that’s a security issue. Issues of security are not divulged to the public. I want to assure the public that (it) should be free do (its) activities without any fear.”

The spokesperson said if Chamisa wanted his views to be heard, he should engage lawmakers so that they can be considered.

“There is no one in the country who has the preserve to disturb the peace of other people. ZRP has a constitutional mandate to maintain law and order. People who conduct their various activities should do so in a peaceful manner. Police are there to protect peace and laws of the country,” Nyathi said.

Chamisa, who was on a whirlwind tour of provinces visiting party provincial structures earlier this month, told journalists on Wednesday that the general sentiment was that people were angry and ready to confront Mnangagwa’s government on the streets over his handling of the economy, alleged incompetence, arrogance and ignorance in the face of “humanitarian and political crises”.

However, Chamisa’s spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda said they were unperturbed by the police threats.

“They should not think they are law unto themselves. They should not think that they are invincible. They should follow the law,” Sibanda said.

Mnangagwa has refused to meet Chamisa for talks to end the economic and political crises in the country, insisting that the opposition leader should join his Political Actors Dialogue (Polad), comprising fringe political parties, among them Thokozani Khupe’s MDC-T and Lovemore Madhuku’s NCA.

Chamisa has dismissed Polad as a Zanu PF “choir” and demanded dialogue convened by a neutral convener.-Newsday

By A Correspondent- Lesotho’s 80-year-old Prime Minister, Thomas Thabane, has been granted sick leave until February 27 when he will have to appear in court on charges of murdering his wife.

This was revealed by the country’s Deputy Police Commissioner Paseka Mokete on Saturday.

He said:

New arrangements for him to appear before a court shall be made as he has to be fit for an appearance.

So there is no warrant of arrest issued as yet. His sick leave starts from yesterday and ends on 27 February.

Thabane was due to be charged on Friday, but he failed to appear in court and instead travelled to South Africa for what his aides said was a routine medical check-up.

Lesotho police had threatened to issue an arrest warrant for Thabane if he was trying to evade justice.

Thabane’s-then estranged wife Lilipelo, 58, was shot dead in June 2017, two days before he took office for a second stint as premier, and two months before he married his current wife Maesaiah.

Maesaiah Thabane, 42, has already been charged with arranging the hit squad but is currently out on bail. She has also denied involvement in the killing-Reuters

By A Correspondent- At least four people died while the driver of the Honda fit vehicle they travelling in suffered life-threatening injuries after a head-on collision with a haulage truck along Gweru-Harare Highway last night. 

The accident occurred after the haulage truck driver tried to overtake at a bend just outside Gweru city leading to the tragic collision. The driver of the haulage truck escaped the fatal accident unscathed.

When state media reporters arrived at the scene, firefighters from the Airforce were already at the scene removing the bodies of two females and two male adults from the back of the Honda Fit.

The driver of the Fit was still trapped in the wreckage screaming for help. He was rescued after about 20 minutes. He sustained serious head and leg injuries.

Police details at the scene confirmed the deaths.-Statemedia

By A Correspondent- A 63 year-old man from Makoni area in Manicaland Province was humiliated last week after he was caught red-handed with a married woman.

The incident reportedly took place on Valentine’s Day.

In videos and images that have been trending on social media, Mr Isaiah Brighton Chirongwe was paraded before a camera dressed only in a red underwear, and forced to confess that he had been bonking a married woman.

It was not immediately clear where the incident took place, with varying accounts from many people.

The white-haired man was also forced into writing a letter acknowledging that he had wronged the husband to his lover, who was not identified, and that he would compensate with four live cows.

Chirongwe, in accepting his crime, agreed to surrender his vehicle, a battered old sedan. He also agreed to bring four live cattle as payment for damages to the lover’s husband.

Police are yet to issue a statement on the matter, but previously, such cases have attracted arrests and even fine on the part of the perpetrators.

Police urge people not to take the law into their own hands if they feel aggrieved.

By A Correspondent- A 25 year old man from Gokwe man has been arrested for bestiality after he was caught se_xually assaulting his friend’s dog.

Matthew Makoni of Bamha village under Chief Sayi appeared before Shurugwi magistrate Percy Mukumba facing charges of bestiality.

Makoni, who works at Nyathi Mine in Shurugwi, will face trial next Wednesday.

The State case is that on February 11 at around 11pm at Nyathi village in Shurugwi, Makoni visited Nicholas Simeon at his homestead where the two engaged in a chat.

Simeon, however, indicated that they bade each other goodnight and he retired to bed.

While outside, the accused allegedly forced himself on his friend’s dog.

The pet allegedly made loud noise, which awoke Simeon.

Simeon then went outside to investigate and allegedly caught his friend pants down, after which he reported the matter to the police.-Newsday

By A Correspondent- Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Zimbabwe’s (SMEZ) executive director Farai Mutambanengwe yesterday chided government’s economic policies which he said are turning citizens into criminals.

His sentiments come as the local Zimbabwe dollar has continued to tumble against major trading currencies of the world, reviving appetite to use the United States dollar (USD) to store value.

Both citizens and businesses have also turned to the black market for foreign currency – which is currently at 27 against the USD – leaving the depressed interbank market, which is fetching a lower premium of around 18.

During his remarks at the Financial Gazette Annual Tax Review Forum yesterday, Mutambanengwe said the current economic crisis is also pushing businesses to informalise their activities in a bid to remain afloat.

“You ask why non-compliance? The simple reason is bad growth. There are glaring inconsistencies in the macro-economy.

“The deputy minister of Finance mentioned it himself that formal businesses are informalising and the question is why?

“And everyone including the deputy minister is transacting on the parallel market.

“Every single one of us transacts on the parallel market, and one way or the other we are breaking the law.

“We just have to be honest. All of us, it’s either we transact on the parallel market or we purchase goods using US dollars because that is what the country has become.

“The issue is if you issue bad law, everyone becomes a criminal. We must make the economy conducive for formalisation (of business).

“If the informal sector is informalising, it means the environment is not working,” he said

Mutambanengwe also urged the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to simplify the tax regime, including the registration processes which he said are complicated for most small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The informal traders are expected to pay presumptive tax.

He highlighted that some distortions are due to regulations for revenue as opposed to regulation for growth, thereby encouraging capitalisation.

“Together with the Small and Medium Enterprises ministry and , we worked on a proposal to say let the presumptive tax be three percent, and it was rejected by the Finance ministry.

“We were saying at least cross-border traders will be paying something.

“So, it’s not like we (SMEs) don’t want to participate in tax systems, but it’s being made impossible for us to do so,” Mutambanengwe said. -DailyNews

By A Correspondent- Two Chicken Matty Bindura employees were slapped with a jointly 420 hours of community service by a Bindura magistrate Maria Msika yesterday after stealing US $110 from their company.

The duo Elizabeth Tavengwa (28) and Moses Kanyenze will offer free service at Bindura magistrates courts

Prosecutor Joseph Munemo told the court that on January 24 the two hatched a plan to steal from their employer and Kanyenza sent RTGS $110 on the company’s merchant code.

Tavengwa subsquently stole the cash from the till which they equally shared.

By A Correspondent- MDC vice-chairperson Job Sikhala has vowed to continue the fight for the demise of the ruling ZANU PF party which he accuses of causing the suffering of Zimbabwean people.

Sikhala was speaking in an interview with a local publication and said:

I will not rest until justice and a people’s government is put in place. I will never rest until Zanu PF is extinguished from the face of the earth.

These have been evil people, evil men and women who have been presiding over the people of Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans have lost hundreds of thousands of people through murder by the people who are in Zanu PF.

Zanu PF has killed so many people in our country that we cannot allow this regime to continue existing anymore. This is a regime where I call upon every Zimbabwean of normal circumstances to join us in the fighting.

The combative Zengeza West legislator was recently acquited of a treason charge by a Masvingo High Court judge.

He had been arrested for saying President Emmerson Mnangagwa will be overthrown before he finishes his presidential term in 2023.-Newsday

By A Correspondent| An Advanced Level student who obtained 20 points in the November 2019 Examinations was awarded a car by her school for her excellence last Thursday.

Tinotenda Chidume (19) was a learner at Sandon Academy in Mupandawana, Gutu District, Masvingo and came up top of her class.

For her achievements, the school handed her the keys of a Toyota Fun Cargo at an inaugural awards ceremony held at the school.

She said:

I am still in shock that I won this car. I did not expect such a big prize.

I want to urge all learners at this school, across the country and the world over to always aim high because there is always a reward for hard work.

Other top-achieving students were awarded cash prizes, while their teachers walked away with television sets and bicycles.

The ceremony was attended by Information Communication Technol­ogy, Postal and Courier Services Minister Jenfan Muswere, who was the guest of honour.

Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Ezra Chadzamira was also in attendance and he praised Sandon Academy for its academic excellence.

I’m in Mashonaland Central today.We will leave no stone unturned until there is a national chorus for total change and a truly free Zimbabwe.This is the struggle of this moment.

— nelson chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) February 22, 2020

By A Correspondent| Tragedy has hit the ZANU PF aligned civic society leader Abigail Mupambi, who is currently hospitalised after her husband committed suicide yesterday.

Mupambi is the civil society leader known for appearing in a state media documentary while defaming former Hospital Doctors Association President Dr Peter Magombeyi saying he was never abducted in September last year.

While fuller details of the incident were sketchy at the time of writing, Mupambi’s relatives confirmed to ZimEye of a truth her husband is no more.

She is currently hospitalised at Westview Clinic where she had to be sedated last night, an impeccable source revealed to ZimEye on Saturday morning.

It could not be established what pushed the man to end his life, and family members had not at the time of writing disclosed how he did it.

Mupambi’s children were on Saturday requiring counselling following the disturbing mishap. One of them was saying, “Daddy vanga vangori restless” before this. – Daddy was just restless before all this.

This is a developing story- refresh this page for the updates.

FORMER cabinet minister and G40 kingpin Saviour Kasukuwere has showered glowing praises on late former state leader Robert Mugabe while reserving snide comments for his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa he accuses of protecting the country’s most brazen criminal cartels.

In a statement released through his #tysonwabantu movement on the commemoration of Robert Gabriel Mugabe day on Friday, the exiled former legislator said Mugabe’s removal from power on the ostensible attempt to “target criminals around the President” 2017 was a con as the Zimbabwe incumbent has been shown to be protecting notorious criminal cartels.

“You (Mugabe) may have left us, but your vision becomes more glaring now.

“May your departed spirit give us a sign, how best our worsened state might reclaim the stolen MOVEMENT toward your vision for our “Ziiimbabwe”, as you called out to it? Dearly departed President, your vision is alive now more than ever within our disillusioned souls.”

When the military put Mugabe under siege on the night of 14 November 2017, it made a televised statement Mugabe was “safe”, adding the operation was only aimed at flushing out “criminals” who were taking advantage of their closeness to the once feared leader to seek cover for their illegal acts.

The military, then led by the now Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, also accused Mugabe of failing to manage the national economy, a situation that placed the country on a constant danger of exploding into civil unrest.

The situation is now worse under Mnangagwa, who has also come under fire for allegedly protecting criminal syndicates that have bled the country of billions of dollars through illicit trade in fuel and foreign currency.

Said Kasukuwere, through his movement, “The real criminals have turned your (Mugabe) vision into a horror of an impoverished nation at the mercy of cartels that have corrupted the centre and kill off our hopes.

“There were never any ‘criminals around your Presidency’, were they? We realise now that they removed you because you kept their baser appetites at bay.

“You were the incorruptible barrier against the real narcissistic criminals and their cartels that have now captured Zimbabwe.

“It dawns upon us now that they removed you only so that their hardened criminal handlers could come close enough to capture the entire State’s value chain, from the ruling Party and its Politburo into government, cabinet, state institutions and agents paid off with cars and privatised salaries to allow and be complicit in the rape of our nation.”

#tysonwabantu movement went on to say that in the name of “Open for Business” and a “New Dispensation” they have reversed the gains of a “vision’s pursuit for the indigenisation of our country’s wealth and the economic empowerment of our majority”.

“While their so-called New Dispensation has now done away with that empowering vision, their alternative preferring foreign economic interests is proving a disaster.

“It is reported that foreign direct investment has reduced by more than 60%.

“The economy goes deeper into recession despite preferred and prioritised Indian, white and foreign economic interests, to the exclusion of our black majority aspirations being condemned to being the ‘hewers of wood’ Robert Mugabe implored us to shun.

“Robert Mugabe had seen through their treacherous criminal intent on the eve of their betrayal, knew he sat at the table with those who would betray him and his vision for Zimbabwe, “Wandinodya nawo ndowachazondichera. Wana Judas Iscariot.” The 21st February Movement remembers.”

The main opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC ) led by Nelson Chamisa is said to be divided on the best approach to confront the ruling Zanu PF party as the country’s economy continues to slide into the abyss.

The likes of Tendai Biti and Job Sikhala, party vice president and vice chairman respectively, are believed to be agitating for direct confrontation with ZANU PF while Chamisa favours a non-violent confrontational approach.

An unnamed senior MDC official who spoke to Zim Morning Post is quoted as saying that the soft-stance approach will not yield results and the party has been waiting for a signal from Chamisa.

A political analyst, Michael Dama told the publication that “the Biti faction” has proved to be very radical. He said:

If you take a close look in the MDC the Biti faction is very radical and he has people like Sikhala who was arrested last year and during his trial, the Masvingo court chambers were always filled to capacity and on the acquittal day, there was a massive demonstration.

The Zimbabwean government has always responded with brute force when citizens stage protests on the street, with the events of August 1, 2018, and January 2019 proving that demonstrators should be prepared to pay the ultimate price.

Meanwhile, MDC Youth Assembly spokesperson Stephen Chuma has refuted claims that there are divisions within the party over the best approach to confront the ruling ZANU PF party.

Chuma told Zim Morning Post that contrary to those claims, party members are fully behind party president Nelson Chamisa as they believe that he is the best person to take the party forward. Said Chuma:

We are very united and fully behind our President Nelson Chamisa, there are no divisions in the party and you already know that the President finished addressing all our provinces.

The message is people are fed up with Emmerson Mnangagwa regime and they are unanimous and unambiguous that only President Chamisa is our best foot forward.

Reports from some quarters had claimed that some MDC officials, among them vice president Tendai Biti and vice-chairman Job Sikhala favour a full-blown confrontation with ZANU PF while Chamisa prefers a non-violent approach.

Zim Morning Post

NATIONAL Constitutional Assembly (NCA) leader, Lovemore Madhuku says the country should do away with a constitutional clause that allows a sitting president’s party to appoint his or her successor in the event of the death or removal of the incumbent under any circumstances.

He was joined in his call by one-time spokesperson to late former President Robert Mugabe’s spokesperson Jealousy Mawarire.

The two were co-panellists at a Heal Zimbabwe Trust organised public discussion on the controversial Constitutional Amendment No. 2 which seeks to scrap provisions making it compulsory for presidential candidates to appoint their running mates.

Madhuku, a constitutional expert who also contested the 2018 presidential election, said it was improper for political parties to determine who should become the next president outside a national poll.

Precedent was set when then President Emmerson Mnangagwa was allowed to become state leader after the military ouster of then President Robert Mugabe in November 2017.

Madhuku felt there was everything wrong with the practice.

“What we did in November is we got Mnangagwa from nowhere as a nation; he came from Zanu-PF…we must not put in the constitution of the country, a provision that is dependent on what happens in a political party,” said Madhuku.

“We must never put in the constitution of Zimbabwe that if a sitting president dies or resigns, we will wait to hear what the political party of that president is saying. No, that is not the best way to run a country.

“A country is run on the basis of either an election or you have parliament aided institutions sitting as an electoral college…but never to allow a political party to sit there and say we are giving you a president.”

Mawarire, on his part, said drafters of Zimbabwe’s supreme law were wrong when they gave political parties power to forward names of a replacement president in the event of incapacitation or death of an incumbent.

“The drafters of the constitution assumed that it is not the individual who was elected by the people but the party that he represents,” said the one time journalist.

“That is why we do not have a by-election when the president resigns as what happened on 21 November 2017.

“So, there is that contradiction. If the president was directly elected by the people, if that president is no longer there, give the people a chance to elect a person who comes after that president.

“Do we have a by-election that will involve the whole country, or do we have parliament sitting and electing a president.”

In the current set-up, Zimbabwean by-elections are called only when an MP or councillor leaves the seat.

MDC MPs in parly this week mocked Vice President Chiwenga and referred to him as a senior bachelor and others accused him of bringing coronavirus to Zimbabwe.

The VP had attended parliament for a question and answer session when he became the subject of ridicule.

The MPs heckled the VP calling him a senior bachelor. Another MP shouted “mukadzi aripi” (where is your wife?) with another one yelling “you brought coronavirus to Zimbabwe”.

The Vice President was in China for 4 months last year and he is embroiled in a nasty divorce with his former model wife Marry who he is accusing of trying to kill him.

State Media|FUEL supplies started improving yesterday as more service stations received deliveries or were told they were scheduled for a delivery very soon after the Reserve Bank of Zimba­bwe (RBZ) released foreign currency to enable oil companies access fuel stocks that were already in the country.

In Harare, service stations started the day dry, with the minority that had received fuel over the last few days sold out, but deliveries were being made during the day and motorists were queueing from early morning at those stations that were expecting deliveries.

Most Direct Fuel Import (DFI) ser­vice stations around the city had fuel throughout the day.

In Matabeleland South, some motorists in Plumtree were crossing the border into Botswana to get sup­plies for resale in the town at a signif­icant mark-up. In Gwanda two of the four services stations had fuel while in Beitbridge more than half the 10 service stations received limited sup­plies although some motorists were still crossing into South Africa. Three service stations authorised to sell fuel in forex had supplies.

In Mutare, Total, Zuva and Petro­trade service stations received fuel on Thursday and yesterday, but deliveries were quickly sold out as demand was very high following the recent tight supplies.

The situation was the same in the Midlands where a few service stations received fuel, while some motorists were travelling to Chachacha Business Centre in Shurugwi rural to get fuel at a service station that sells fuel in foreign currency.

In Masvingo fuel deliveries had improved although most services station had long winding queues. But Engen, Exor, Total and Zuva garages had received petrol. A fuel attendant at one of the Zuva service stations in the city said they were expecting to get diesel by end of day yesterday.

“All the cars that are queueing here will get fuel as there are adequate sup­plies. For diesel, we are waiting for delivery later in the day and we want to assure motorists that it’s coming,” he said.

Some service stations in Masho­naland West started receiving fuel yesterday, easing the pressure on the few that had petrol and diesel over the last few days.

In Chinhoyi, fuel was available at Engen D and R and also at Petrotrade, resulting in queues becoming shorter.

The situation was the same in Che­gutu at service stations such as Tingle where there were no queues.

Kariba has been dry for the better part of the week, with Total and Zuva service stations expecting deliveries late yesterday.

While measures have been taken to improve deliveries of fuel bought with interbank funds and sold to motor­ists in Zimbabwe dollars, usually by swipe card or mobile banking transfer, steps are being taken to expand the number of service stations licensed to sell in foreign currency but under controls that will prevent cheating and ensure the higher forex duties are paid.

The RBZ has authorised the Zim­babwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) to register more fuel service stations that have proven free funds and wish to arrange their own imports to apply for forex licences.

RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya said the central bank had given exchange control approval for ZERA to receive applications from fuel com­panies that have free funds for direct imports to be sold in hard currency.

This could expand the number of stations licensed to import and sell fuel in forex.

The main requirement facing regu­lators is to ensure that fuel in the gen­eral supply system is not diverted to the forex service stations and that these stations do, in fact, have the free funds required to arrange their own imports.

Generally, a station has to sell exclusively in Zimbabwe dollars or exclusively in forex to avoid any diver­sions and to ensure that the fuel in a forex station is sourced outside the general system using legally-held free funds.

Secretary for Energy and Power Development Engineer Gloria Magombo said ZERA was work­ing on a watertight framework and licensing regime to curtail abuse and potential hazards from this arrangement.

Engineer Magombo said they will make sure they come up with fool­proof measures guided by terms and conditions including limits on the number of fuel stations and geograph­ical spread of service stations that sell in forex.

State Media|EMPOWER Bank will lend $60 mil­lion to 10 000 youths countrywide this year, the bank’s acting chief executive, Mr Shadreck Mhembere, has said.

Since last year, the newly-established bank has lent over $9 million, with 1 500 youths benefiting from the loan facility. The interest rate is 5 to 7 percent depending on the nature of business.

President Mnangagwa launched the Youth Empower Bank as part of Gov­ernment’s thrust to empower young people through a financial institution sensitive to their needs.

As a campaign move under former President Robert Mugabe, The Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment in 2006 unveiled the Youth Empowerment Fund established as part of the Old Mutual, Stanbic, Industrial Development Bank of Zimbabwe and CBZ Bank’s contribution to the country’s indigenisation and empowerment programme.

The facility was meant to support youth empowerment and development as a revolving loan facility for income generating projects, according to Old Mutual chief executive officer, Jonas Mushosho.

He noted that the youth fund was flexible and youth friendly in that there was no form of collateral required to access the funds.

CABS head of fund, Brian Mpofu, is on record stating that the fund was aimed at curtailing financial crisis and high rate of unemployment that had crippled the Zimbabwean youth.

Yet decades later, there are a few success stories recorded as the youth fund failed to effectively empower the youth, with an estimated $40 million having disappeared as a result of loosely-knit policies, lack of accountability and corruption.

“We have budgeted $60 million for the youths this year. We have to date disbursed just over $9 million and the total number of beneficiaries is just over 1 500. In terms of spread across the country, you will notice that Harare and Bulawayo are the provinces that got the biggest slices of the cake.”

Apart from Harare and Bula­wayo, the bank recently opened new branches in Masvingo and Mutare.

“With our new branches that have come up in Masvingo and Mutare, we are hoping to increase the num­ber of loans that are going to be dis­bursed in Masvingo and Manicaland provinces.

“We have come up with agencies that are travelling across the country to offer our products. The other provinces will also benefit from business develop­ments that we are going to do through our agencies. We are going to reach all the corners of the country with the loans for young people through our agencies,” he said.

He said the bank was flexible on collateral. “The topical issue has been collateral. We require some form of comfort. Our requirements for security are not rigid; we don’t look for tradi­tional forms of security. We accept any assets that you have as security,” he said.

“If you have a car you can make a pledge. You sign what we call a pledge document. You give us the registration book, but you remain with your car. If you fail to pay the loan we will take the car to recover the money.

“Our target for 2020 is to reach out to at least 10 000 youths. We expect 1 000 youths per province to bene­fit from the scheme. But, if funding allows, we want to do more than that.

“The value of money we give is determined by the project that one wants to do. Standard loans are US$5 000-US$10 000 equivalent. Those are the common applications that we accepted,” said Mr Mhembere.

For one to access a loan, Mr Mhem­bere said applicants should come up with a business proposal and a pro­jected cashflow.

“To get a loan, we basically want your business proposal, which details what you want to do, and how much you want in terms of the funding and your projected cashflows,” he said.

He expressed satisfaction with the rate of repayments.

“In terms of our non-performing loans, we have a very small book. We are currently assessing loan applica­tions valued at $4 million,” he said.

He challenged students in tertiary institutions to organise themselves into groups and to come up with business proposals so that they can secure loans.

State Media|Another consignment of 27 000 tonnes of drought relief maize imported by the Government arrived in Maputo, Mozambique, yesterday and is expected to be railed into Zimbabwe soon.

This comes as the Government steps up efforts to ease maize-meal shortages but amid shocking revelations of alleged smuggling of the government subsidized grain into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by organized cartels in the local milling industry.

The startling revelations came out of the Justice-Mayor Wadyajena chaired Parliamentary committee portfolio on Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement this morning where millers raised concerns over the rampant arbitrage activities happening in the country.

United Milling representative, Davis Muhambi while giving oral evidence went at lengths to describe how subsidized grain meant to cushion the vulnerable was being siphoned out of the country and some being used by processors for various other foodstuffs.

“We hear all sorts of stories that the maize is sold to bigger millers who then use that maize for other processes like stock feeds, porridge etc. This subsidized maize is cheap and in USD terms in regional parity that maize if you use any rate it cost about US$ 200 (tonne) so it then becomes maize that can be used to make other lines very profitable,”

The consignment brings to 42 000 tonnes, the volume of maize imported through Maputo after the initial 15 000 tonnes were received earlier and are already being brought into the country by rail.

The Government has stepped up the procurement of maize to cover harvest shortfalls caused by drought in the past two seasons.

National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) spokesman Mr Nyasha Maravanyika yesterday confirmed the delivery of the consignment.

“As we speak, there is a ship that will dock this afternoon (yesterday) in Maputo and the maize will be delivered into the country soon,” he said.

He said NRZ had so far brought in 8 369 tonnes.

“From the 15 000 tonnes that are in Maputo, we have railed 8 369 tonnes, leaving a balance of 6 631. We have 57 wagons that have arrived in Bulawayo, another 29 at Chicualacuala, 65 are at Rutenga while nine are at Dabuka,” he said.

Mr Maravanyika said nine wagons with maize that was imported from Tanzania were in Hwange.

The Government imported 100 000 tonnes of maize from Tanzania late last year.

Mr Maravanyika however, said the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) needed to speed up the offloading at its depots.

“The slow start at GMB has affected the turnaround of the wagons to go and bring in the maize that is at the port. Incessant rains that were experienced in Maputo have also affected the delivery of the grain,” Mr Maravanyika said.

Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Mozambique, Retired Lieutenant-General Douglas Nyikayaramba, voiced concern over delays in moving the maize.

“We are expecting more maize today (yesterday), but the slow turnaround of wagons is of concern to us because we fear that the grain could be affected by the rains we are receiving,” Lt-Gen (Retired) Nyikayaramba said.

During the 2018-19 summer cropping season, the country harvested 1 442 893 tonnes of maize, leaving the country with a deficit of 761 332 tonnes and imports were required to cover the deficit.

This year’s harvest is still to be calculated.

The Government has allowed private entities to import maize to augment its efforts to cover the grain deficit.

The bulk of the maize being imported is coming from countries in the Sadc region.

State Media|The African Development Bank (AfDB) has released US$24 million for the reconstruction of infrastructure damaged by Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani and Chipinge in March last year.

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is the project manager for work being done.

The funding by AfDB complements Government efforts and is centred on building new bridges, remaking roads and repairing and upgrading irrigation infrastructure.

The scheme involves permanent improvement rather than temporary repairs and there has been a lot of planning resulting in the actual civil engineering works starting now.

Chimanimani and Chipinge districts are rich in timber, tea, coffee and fruits, including pineapples, avocados and macadamia nuts.

Part of the funds will support the revival of irrigation schemes in the two districts.

On Wednesday, AfDB executive directors, among them Dr Judith Kateera and Mr Mbuyamu Matungulu, toured various areas in Chimanimani where the bank is funding four major bridges.

The tour was for board members to appreciate the scope of works.

They toured Nyahodi Bridge Number 3 to 5 and Kopa where the South African National Defence Forces and the Zimbabwe National Army constructed two Bailey bridges last year.

At Kopa, AfDB intends to construct two major bridges — one across Nyahode River and the other across Rusitu River linking Chimanimani East to Chipinge.

It is UNOPS’s view that the two Bailey Bridges are temporary.

The project has four phases, with construction of the bridges expected to start next year.

In an interview during the tour, UNOPS country manager Mr Djibrilla Mazin said funding was approved in September last year and funds were released in December of the same year.

Some quarters feel UNOPS is moving slowly in implementing the project.

Mr Mazin said there were a lot of pre-construction activities taking place.

He said UNOPS has to mobilise, recruit consulting firms, come up with detailed designs of the bridges, and recruit contractors.

“UNOPS is an agency that is mandated by the UN General Assembly for infrastructure, project management and procurement. We have been called here to support Government as well as the African Development Bank in response to the Cyclone Idai and the project is more than US$24 million that was dedicated and granted to Zimbabwe by the AfDB,” said Mr Mazin.

He said the project sought to improve agricultural productivity by ensuring construction of resilient infrastructure for easy movement of produce and inputs.

Mr Mazin explained why physical works have not started.

“We started with our inception phase. You must understand that this is not a humanitarian project. This is an infrastructural project and it has a lead time that is different from a humanitarian project. It’s not patching and rebuilding quickly. It is taking stock of the events ensuring that we understand the impact and the reasons why it happened and we build back better, meaning that we redesign with resilient criteria that will allow the infrastructure to last,” he said.

“We mobilised UNOPS in September last year. I think we have been pretty fast in analysing the needs, in detailing the different actions that we can propose to Government for them to come up with final list of priorities.”

Mr Mazin said needs surpassed available resources.

“You know the impact of Cyclone Idai is US$700 million to US$1,3 billion and we only have US$24 million. Obviously, we will need to prioritise and see how we can support the Government.

“These funds were dedicated to Chimanimani and Chipinge districts and purely to infrastructure which will enhance agricultural productivity and livelihoods of the population,” said Mr Mazin.

At the moment priority is on Chimanimani district.

“Mainly it is the bridges, but what is important to note again is we are not building what was there before. We are rebuilding with resilient criteria. We are rebuilding stronger and in some cases it requires realignment of roads and so that takes time.

“I know people are very anxious that after one year where is the physical construction, we cannot see it today?” he said.

Mr Mazin said UNOPS will not be rushed into action.

“I think it is also important to recognise that you do not want to rush and build something that will be destroyed by the next rains. The funds were released to UNOPS in December last year. We are looking at four main bridges,” he said.

UNOPS will also attend to irrigation schemes, water and sanitation improvements in Chipinge and Chimanimani.

https://twitter.com/BitiTendai/status/1230964842099617793?s=19

Two armed robbers ambushed a Harare-bound Croswell Logistics cross-border bus in northern South Africa at around 10am yesterday and robbed 58 passengers of cellphones and cash.

The driver, Mr Thembane Ngwenya, escaped death by a whisker after two bullets missed him.

The attack occurred when the bus stopped along the N1 Highway between Zebediella and Polokwane as the driver sought to check on a disturbing mechanical noise.

“This is a miracle. I survived by God’s grace. Two bullets missed my head at close range,” said Mr Ngwenya.

“We were travelling between Zebediella and Polokwane when I heard a disturbing sound while I was about to descend a slope. I asked the co-driver about the sound and he said he was not aware of where it was coming from. I then failed to engage into other gears. The door then swung open on its own. I stopped the bus after a few metres and as we were trying to investigate, one of the robbers shot at me.

“He tried again and missed. When he tried for the third time, the magazine fell out of the pistol. He told me that I was a very religious and pulled me out of the bus before he demanded R40 000 which I had been given by a client in Johannesburg. I insisted I had no money and he threatened to shoot me in the leg.”

Mr Ngwenya said when his colleague tried to find out what was happening, he was assaulted, pulled out of the bus and ordered to lie down before one of the robbers got onto the bus.

Co-driver Mr Pierson Zano said the robber ordered everyone off the bus and told them to surrender money and cellphones on their way out.

“They threatened to shoot anyone who resisted and after failing to get the money from Thembane (Mr Ngwenya), they came to me demanding the same money but failed to get anything. One of them searched all the passengers and took away a backpack (satchel) from one passenger and loaded money and cellphones. They searched the passengers twice,” he said.

Mr Zano said the pair vanished with his cellphone and R6000.

He said they suspected the robbers were working in cahoots with a passenger who had a fake passport who had tried to board the bus in Johannesburg.

One of the passengers, Mr Lloyd Zvorufura said: “I was seated near the front seat when they shot and dragged the driver outside. He is lucky to be alive. They insisted on him giving them R40 000 and they also took away money from everyone.

“Some passengers were assaulted with the butts of the guns for resisting. The criminals took my cellphone, R70 and US$100.”

Ms Kristle Moyo, who complained of pain in her legs, said she was injured after one of the robbers assaulted her repeatedly after suspecting that she had seen his face.

“He threatened to kill me while claiming that I had seen his face. He later ordered me to board the bus and not look back.”

Efforts to get a comment from South African police in Limpopo Province were fruitless yesterday.

Over 15 buses have been attacked by armed gangs on the N1 in the last 12 months.

-State Media

UNITED States ambassador to Zimbabwe Brian Nichols has chided government for failing to address rampant corruption in the agriculture sector which has undermined food security.

Nichols made the remarks in the wake of recent revelations that the current maize meal shortages were being worsened by widespread corruption at Grain Marketing Board (GMB) where some officials are allegedly involved in diverting grain to countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

“The allegations are very serious that subsidised grains are being diverted from the people who need it to the profit of small groups of individuals in this country and that’s why market-based policies, around cultivation of grains and the agriculture sector broadly, are crucial for value to the people of Zimbabwe,” said the American ambassador.

He said the yields in the country’s agricultural sector were not consistent with the huge investments the government has made in the sector.

“The amount of money that government spends on agriculture has gone up for five years but yields have gone down for five years so clearly something is out of work.

“And when you see that some people are taking mealie meal across borders to neighbouring countries, that you can’t find it in formal supermarkets but you find it in Mbare and Chitungwiza market, then you know that diversion is going on. What we saw yesterday (in Parliament) just confirmed what we knew in our hearts was going on.

“There is need to change those policies and move to market place-based policies which will deliver results for the people of Zimbabwe and value for their dollar,” Nichols said.

The diversion of mealie meal from the formal market, in a country where over eight million are in need of food assistance, has forced millions of hungry Zimbabweans to turn to the black market where the staple is highly priced.

“In my travels around the country, I have learned from rural Zimbabweans about how they are spending significantly more on food, while eating less in quantity and quality than last year.

“This is particularly worrisome given the already low levels of dietary diversity and high levels of stunting that we know exist in Zimbabwe.

“In order to end the cycle of privation, the government of Zimbabwe must implement a market-based agriculture policy, fully liberalise the trade of grains and pulses, pay local farmers on par with imported grain costs, put idle farmland on the market, speed resolution of claims owed to commercial farmers and transition from Vulnerable Inputs Support Scheme to more transparent supper to small holder farmers,” Nichols said.

Meanwhile, Nichols has urged government to speed up the payment of compensation to victims of the post-2018 elections violence in line with the Kgalema Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry.

“We have previously encouraged the government of Zimbabwe to fulfil its commitment to implement the Montlante Commission recommendations which include the payment of compensation to victims.

“The overall pace of reform is very important to the future of Zimbabwe. We hope that the government will move forward in that direction as soon as possible,” he said.

While Washington’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee has called for a review of the sanctions regime on Zimbabwe, Nichols said “at the appropriate time” there will be “action to maintain US policy and goals of encouraging reform, respect for human rights and fighting corruption”.

-Daily News

By Walter Mzembi | Zanu PF, and by extension its government, is held together by a culture of fear, intimidation, vengeance, retribution and violence …

The merchandising of fear and retribution is the central theme of the Zanu PF bible and there is ample evidence to attest to this over the last 50 years … There are thousands of Zanu PF members who for fear of losing farms or business opportunities, jobs and food aid, stay beholden to a system their inner souls have long rejected and which they cannot proudly stand up and defend.

Curiously, no matter how enlightened many of these people are, they believe the system has a way of telling how they would have voted. Emancipation from mental slavery is one of the tasks ahead of us.

Any successful strategy to dislodge Zanu PF from power must disrupt and destroy the DNA of violence and fear resident in every one of it is nearly 50 000 cells countrywide. Needless to mention that it will be a bloody exercise

Zanu PF polling model is based on giving everyone responsibility or a position in its structures starting with the cell where 21 office holders serve 29 members to make 50 members in a cell. Reality is there are 1 036 785 grassroots officeholders who defend their positions come every election apart from branch, district, provincial, national office holders.

When you add women and youth league positions, everyone in Zanu PF is an officeholder. These positions are an insurance policy to patronage benefits. Everyone from the president down to an ordinary member belongs to a cell and submits to the authority of the cell chairman who coincidentally may be the village headman.The village headman keeps a party membership exercise book that is also linked to food and inputs distribution and other freebies like party regalia.

This book is also linked to the voter registration master copy which every Zanu PF MP and councillor gets. With the introduction of roller meal committees and coupons and the imminent couponisation of the economy, village headmen can expect to dispense and be part of a food rationing chain.

As long as the State has monopoly over food distribution, Zanu PF’s hegemonic grip on the masses will remain intact. This grip is most firm during by-elections when the entire State machinery descends on a ward conflated with Zanu PF campaigns,” said Mzembi.

Shedding light on how the 2008 presidential elections were conducted, Mzembi said initially he was picked by Mugabe to be a member of a committee that was planning the campaign but was elbowed out by Mnangagwa who then took charge and launched a brutal campaign that led to the deaths of scores of opposition members and led the international community, including Sadc, to declare the elections a sham.

Zimbabwe’s election history is replete with violence. Whilst they are held timeously, there are also simultaneous cycles of violence and because I was already an adult in the 1985 elections, the country witnessed heinous violence against Joshua Nkomo’s Zapu , Edgar Tekere’s Zum (Zimbabwe Unity Movement) in 1990, Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC in the 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2013 elections all of which are in the public domain. The 2008 elections, which resulted in the GNU of 2009-2013, tops the bill because of its unprecedented violence.

Every Zanu PF senior member knows who collapsed Mugabe’s peaceful rerun committee in 2008 and took charge of one of the country’s most violent electoral episodes. I was in this committee of 15 later 22, leading a subcommittee on business and traditional leaders with Sthembiso Nyoni

… one day in May 2008, … Mnangagwa walked into our meeting and told everyone that he was now taking charge and these academic exercises we were engaged in were now over! Our rerun committee was sent packing and brutality of the highest order took over, Tsvangirai succumbed and the rest is history.

Clearly, ‘the most potent weapon in the mind of the Oppressor is the mind of the Oppressed’ but for Zanu PF it is the desperation of the people arising out of the poverty this party and its government preside over and seek to perpetuate.

Therefore, a Zanu PF government will never truly empower communities to be self-sufficient and self-sustaining because poverty is an instrument of control and line of credit to power retention.

To that extent as long as Zimbabweans are under a Zanu PF government the economy will not be revived, food insecurity will continue, health delivery will remain a mirage because these vulnerabilities are the ultimate instruments of mass control and mobilisation by the Junta government