The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) has further reduced the allocation of water for power generation at Kariba hydro-power station for 2020, which will result in suppressed electricity supplies from the power station.

At least 22 billion cubic metres have been allocated for power generation at the Kariba South and North power stations, which are currently providing over 50 percent of power needs in Zimbabwe and Zambia, respectively.

Lake Kariba has a capacity of 180,6 billion cubic metres of water and of that, 65 billion cubic metres can be used for power generation.

Average yearly inflows are around 40 billion cubic metres, but only 18,84 billion cubic metres of water flowed into Lake Kariba in 2019.

The 2020 allocation is in response to reduced inflows into the lake owing to successive droughts.

According to ZRA, reduction of water allocation means reduced outflow from the turbines during power generation, while allowing the lake to fill up.

Permutations are that with average power generation of around 550MW at a volume cap of 22 billion cubic metres of water, it would take three years for the lake to fill up to maximum retention levels with average inflows.

Speaking at a media briefing in Zambia over the weekend, ZRA chief executive Engineer Munyaradzi Munodawafa said the move was based on the Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum of the SADC Climate Services Centre.

“Based on this forecast, the authority (ZRA) allocated 22 billion cubic metres for power generation at Kariba for the period January to December 2020,” he said.

To date, the lake has received inflows of 3,15 billion cubic metres, which compares favourably against inflows of 1,7 billion cubic metres received during the same period in 2019.

Water is flowing into the lake at an average of 663 cubic metres per second compared to the long term average of 931 cubic metres per second.

Eng Munodawafa said lake levels dropped by one centimetre following increased turbine outflows in the last three days.

He said ZRA would be giving out status updates fortnightly to ensure that people have an appreciation of the impact of depressed rainfall on power generation.

The authority, he said, relied on data gathered at 13 stations in the Kariba catchment area, with Victoria Falls and Chavuma stations providing key performance indicators of the Zambezi River which contributes 75 percent of flows into the lake.

Flows at Victoria Falls have continued to rise by about 25 percent since last year’s readings.

“The flows in the Zambezi River at Chavuma shot up by 73 cubic metres per second between the 5th and 6th February, indicating intense run-off on the Zambezi headwaters,” said Eng Munodawafa.

“The flow is still soaring above the long term average by 41 percent and last year’s flows by 189 percent. The flows have also far exceeded those of 2014/15 at this time, giving a ray of hope for better run-off at this station this year than both last year and 2014/15.”

Flows at Victoria Falls are expected to also rise by the end of this month because of a four-week time lag between upstream Chavuma station and Victoria Falls.

Although inflows are comparatively increasing, they are still within the range of the third worst year on record.

Eng Munodawafa said improved power generation was tied to improved water inflows and consequently lake levels.

The total outflow for 2019, including turbine discharge (36,02 billion cubic metres) and evaporation (9,79 billion cubic metres), was 45,81 billion cubic metres.

Eng Munodawafa said the relatively high inflows upstream of the Zambezi River could not result in high lake levels because it is absorbed by the Barotse and Chobe flood plains.

“With the lower catchment continuing to be practically dry since mid-January 2020, and Victoria Falls flows marking up rather sluggishly, turbine outflows continue to command the Lake level situation at Kariba,” he said.

“The relatively high flows monitored on the Upper Zambezi Catchment remain heavily weakened by the rather thirsty Barotse and Chobe flood plains, resulting in the paltry daily increments of about 6 to 12 billion cubic metres per second per day at Victoria Falls.”

Zimbabwe and Zambia have had to introduce load shedding and rely on imports to meet electricity demand.

Kariba South Power station was recently upgraded to churn out 1 050MW of electricity, which makes up about half of the country’s daily electricity needs.

Farai Dziva|Controversial Deputy Information Minister Energy Mutodi has sparked social media war after describing the late legendary MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as a “sellout who reversed the gains of the liberation struggle.”

Mutodi stunned all and sundry when he claimed in a tweet on Saturday “Tsvangirai invited sanctions.”

The late MDC leader is regarded by many as a doyen of democracy and a veteran of the struggle for democratic change.

“As we reflect on the life of Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, we believe he was a sell-out who fought to reverse the gains of the liberation struggle. For inviting sanctions, we view him as really a sell-out and a coward who believed whites are a better race than blacks,”claimed Mutodi.

Mutodi’ s remarks have attracted the wrath of hundreds of social media users who described the former rhumba musician as a man who has gone out of his way in a desperate bid to please his handlers.

Farai Dziva|Morgan Tsvangirai’s legacy cannot not be taken away by anyone, MDC president Nelson Chamisa has said.

In a tweet Chamisa paid tribute to the late legendary MDC founding president.

“THANK YOU DR MRT OUR ICON.They will criticize us, attack us and even plot attempts on our lives but we are unstoppable.

We keep playing the song until final victory. We keep the fire burning!!”

Own Correspondent|Police have issued a warning on Twitter saying motorists should not buy fish in Chikuti along the Harare-Chirundu highway as they are suspected to have died because of cyanide poisoning.

ZRP Tweeted:

There are reports that unscrupulous people at or near Chikuti along Harare – Chirundu road are selling fish that died as a result of cyanide poisoning from a nearby river. We are warning the public against buying fish from the area or any other unknown source.

— Zimbabwe Republic Police (@PoliceZimbabwe) February 14, 2020

By A Correspondent| Africa University’s founding chancellor Professor John Wesley Zvamunondiita Kurewa has died.

The news of his death was posted on the university’s Facebook Page.

Prof Kurewa died in Harare yesterday according to the university. He was still teaching at the University at the time of his death.

Africa University posted:

THE MOUNTAIN HAS FALLEN:
The Africa University community has learnt with great shock and sadness the passing on of the university’s Founding Father Professor John Wesley Zvamunondiita Kurewa who passed on in Harare this morning.

Professor Kurewa is credited for having worked tirelessly to obtain the Africa University Charter which led to the establishment of the first private university in Zimbabwe at a time when the idea of private universities was not readily acceptable.

He served as the first Vice Chancellor of the university and then continued to serve as a lecturer in the Institute of Theology and Religious Studies until his untimely death. Professor Kurewa will be greatly missed by those across the continent and the world whose lives were impacted in many ways by his selfless service and sacrifice. May his dear soul rest in eternal peace!

Burial arrangements are still to be published

By A Correspondent| Deputy Information Minister Energy Mutodi has torched a social media storm over his statements describing the late legendary MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as a “sellout who reversed the gains of the liberation struggle.”

Mutodi stunned all and sundry when he claimed in a tweet on Saturday “Tsvangirai invited sanctions.”

The late MDC leader is regarded by many as a doyen of democracy and a veteran of the struggle for democratic change.

“As we reflect on the life of Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, we believe he was a sell-out who fought to reverse the gains of the liberation struggle. For inviting sanctions, we view him as really a sell-out and a coward who believed whites are a better race than blacks,”claimed Mutodi.

Mutodi’ s remarks have attracted the wrath of hundreds of social media users who described the former rhumba musician as a man who has gone out of his way in a desperate bid to please his handlers.

VIDEO LOADING BELOW….

By Own Correspondent Matabeleland North Zanu-PF youth chairman Tamuka Nyoni escaped death by a whisker in Lupane after a fuming resident chased after him with an axe for allegedly having an affair with his wife.

A source said Lizwe Clinton Mpofu, a former police officer, stumbled on nudes of Tamuka and of his wife Virginia Moyo (36) on her phone.

As if that was not enough he also got shocked after he saw sexually explicit messages that the pair exchanged.

The message that seemed to have irked Mpofu was the one where his wife commented on Tamuka’s manhood.

“The two were in the habit of exchanging raunchy pictures. Through WhatsApp Tamuka sent Moyo an image of his manhood and she commented saying it’s big and that angered Mpofu,” said the source.

The source said the issue tormented Mpofu and he wanted to mete instant justice on Tamuka.

“He did not know him (Tamuka) so he inquired around and was told  the guy who pokes his wife is a Zanu-PF  youth chairperson. He was waiting for an opportunity to meet up with Tamuka and by coincidence he met him at a burial of a child of a fellow villager at King Lobengula township cemetery in Lupane,” said the source.

Speaking on condition of anonymity a resident said drama ensued after a vote of thanks.

“So it happened that when Monica Ngwenya who is a member of the  Lupane Local Board was giving a vote of thanks she mentioned all  the important people who were in attendance,” said the reliable source.

 The source added: “Before she sat down we were shocked to see Mpofu manhandling Tamuka while wanting to axe him. He managed to break free and took to his heels. Mpofu followed in hot pursuit wielding an axe and vowing to finish him off.”

The resident said it was a scary sight that took the intervention of men who were in attendance that included  Matshiya Ward 15 Councillor June Mpofu and Member of the House of Assembly for Lupane East Mbongeni Dube and other men who swiftly intervened and grabbed Mpofu.

“He was fuming, declaring that he wants to axe him. They grabbed him while others escorted the terrified Tamuka to his car and drove away.

“If it was not for the swift intervention of those men we could be talking of something bad because Mpofu was fuming while accusing Tamuka of bedding his wife,” said the source.

Contacted for a comment Tamuka said: “He wanted to kill me for something that I did not do. He wanted to tarnish my reputation; that is politics at play. I reported the matter to the police.”

Mpofu would not be drawn into commenting on the incident, choosing to say “I do not discuss my personal issues with the media,” before terminating the call.

Virginia said: “Yes, we were once in love sometime back and we broke up. Tell me who told you about that, if you tell me the person who told you I will disclose a lot of information,” she said and stuck to her words as this reporter refused to reveal his source.

MP Dube confirmed the incident: “What happened is very worrying because a person who wanted to axe Tamuka is someone who is well versed with the law and that unbecoming behaviour is not expected from him! It’s a sign of disrespect to the dead. People should not come to such sacred places while begrudging others because anything bad could happen.”-Statemedia

By A Correspondent| Former Zanu PF  Cabinet Minister Walter Mzembi has opened up that he is working on an article that will expose how Zanu PF has been rigging elections in the country.

Mzembi who denied that rigging is done on voting day said:

“I am doing an article on what happens inside a Zanu PF cell from pre independence to date which keeps our people voting for Zanu PF. There is no rigging on voting day or after. The minds of our people have been rigged for over 40 years, get it?”

Commenting on the move by the Finance Minister to avail coupons for roller meal Mzembi said Zanu PF was implementing a silent election rigging strategy through patronage system.

Said one twimbo:

“Be clear shefu, just tell us exactly how used to rig elections during your time. A thread will be very useful.

Said Mzembi:

I am doing an article on what happens inside a Zanu PF cell from pre independence to date which keeps our people voting for Zanu PF. There is no rigging on voting day or after . The minds of our people have been rigged for over 40 years , get it ?

“Beware of clientelism. This database is an exercise in smart vote-buying and patronage. Vote rigging in Zimbabwe is a process, not an event, this is the real V11 in the making that cannot be presented to the Constitutional Court but very deadly act!”

The agreement between Government through the National Oil Infrastructure Company and Trafigura does not permit the commodities firm to exceed 40% market share. This has resulted in capacity utilization of the pipeline averaging around 65% over the past six years.

It has also emerged that Government owes Trafigura US$174 million for fuel not yet paid for under a US$224 million credit arrangement.

According to statistics obtained from the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, the country has over the past six years failed to fully utilise the Feruka pipeline which has an annual pump capacity of 2.16 billion litres. Yet Trafigura, the global commodities trader, has faced sustained accusations that it used Sakunda Holdings connections to ZANU PF to gain an unfair advantage in the supply of fuel to the country.

Figures indicate that in 2014, Trafigura used 39.44% of the pipeline after pumping 852 million litres of fuel while other players pumped 540 million litres leaving an unutilised gap of 35.56%.  In 2015, the company channelled 924 million litres through the pipeline while other oil companies pumped 605 million litres. This left the pipeline unutilised by 29%.

The trend continued in 2016 and 2017 with Trafigura pumping 717 million and 639 million respectively. Other players pumped 591 million litres and 535 million litres for the two years. In 2018, Trafigura put through 768 million litres while other players pumped 842 million litres. That year the pipeline was not utilized by 25%.

In 2019 Trafigura pumped 889 million litres of fuel through the pipeline while other players pumped 575 million litres of fuel leaving underutilised capacity of 32.22%.

Information obtained shows that in 2017, Trafigura was requested by government to bring fuel into the country under a credit arrangement where Zimbabwe would receive 12 months of fuel, which would be paid over 24 months. This was meant to ease pressure on foreign currency shortages and give Government ample time to rebuild its export receivables over 18 months to cover the loans. Other players in the fuel sector have similar arrangements though structured at small scale.

The deal was fulfilled but by December last year Trafigura was owed US$224 million which was to be paid against future government receivables as there was anticipation of an economic boom. However because the economy failed to take off as anticipated, government agreed to pay Trafigura US$22.5 million monthly while the parties renegotiated the deal to give government breathing space as there were other needs for foreign currency.

“Of the US$224 million, US$50 million was paid in cash by Afreximbank while it was agreed that the balance would be paid in US$3 million instalments over five years such that government would have latitude to use $19 million foreign currency for the importation of maize and paying for imported electricity,” said a source privy to the arrangement.

Own Correspondent|Police have issued a warning on Twitter saying motorists should not buy fish in Chikuti along the Harare-Chirundu highway as they are suspected to have died because of cyanide poisoning.

ZRP Tweeted:

There are reports that unscrupulous people at or near Chikuti along Harare – Chirundu road are selling fish that died as a result of cyanide poisoning from a nearby river. We are warning the public against buying fish from the area or any other unknown source.

— Zimbabwe Republic Police (@PoliceZimbabwe) February 14, 2020

Correspondent|THE Gukurahundi genocide, in which an estimated 20 000 Zimbabwean citizens were killed by a crack parallel army unit, the Fifth Brigade, in the early 1980s, was carefully planned, well before dissident fighters surfaced in the Matabeleland and Midlands regions, investigations have shown.

Former president Robert Mugabe — then prime minister in the newly independent country — was the architect of the atrocities.

His successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa — who at the time served in Mugabe’s office as minister of state for security — was the enforcer-in-chief. There were also executioners in the Fifth Brigade.

Months after taking office in 1980, Mugabe went to Pyongyang in North Korea to meet Kim Il-sung and signed a deal on military training. After that he formed the Fifth Brigade in 1981 following their drills in Nyanga from August 1981 to June 1982. He then deployed the troops in January 1983, which went on to commit mass killings.

However, over the decades, none of the perpetrators have owned up to the atrocities and the little that Mugabe has said since the 1980s has been a mixture of mystification and denial. The closest he has come to admitting official responsibility was after the death of Zapu leader Joshua Nkomo in 1999 when he described the early 1980s as a “moment of madness” — an ambivalent statement not since repeated.

In the wake of the Mnangagwa government’s decision to open the Pandora’s Box over which Mugabe had maintained a tight lid, critics have come out guns blazing, saying unless there is a truth-telling process, justice and personal criminal accountability on the part of perpetrators, his appeasement drive would ultimately fail.

Asked if senior government officials at the time, accused of being architects of the atrocities are ready to speak about what really happened during Gukurahundi in an interview with our sister paper The Standard at the weekend, presidential spokesperson George Charamba said there was no question of liability since the Gukurahundi was a war.

“Guns were shooting from both sides, which is why it was a conflict, you don’t have a one-sided conflict, which means culpability doesn’t just rest on one side. The only difference is that others were in government while others were an insurgency. By its very nature, insurgency dissolves, but governments don’t dissolve, therefore, the issue of culpability, truth or accountability is shared,” he said, blaming apartheid South Africa for fomenting unrest as part of its wide programme to destabilise the southern African region through funding of dissidents and armed bandits.

However, information at hand shows Mugabe signed secret deals with Apartheid leaders to manage their relations and the Gukurahundi project. Details also show that one of the first foreign trips Mugabe made soon after taking the oath of office as prime minister in 1980 was to North Korea, where he signed a military pact with the hermit nation’s founding dictator, Kim Il-sung in the same year as he prepared his killing machine, which was to be unleashed in 1983. This was well before there were dissidents.

Under the pact, Mugabe agreed with Kim Il-sung that Pyongyang would train a wing of Zimbabwe’s army, known as the Fifth Brigade, which would be under the direct control of Mugabe himself as he sought to consolidate and maintain power.

The following year in 1981, a total of 106 Korean military trainers arrived in the country to set up the military wing and were lodged at Jameson Hotel in Harare at government’s expense. This was long before the emergence of either the dissidents or agent provocateurs sponsored by South Africa known as Super Zapu.

This, according to some narratives, implies that the mass killings were systematically planned by Mugabe for the specific purpose of annihilating Nkomo and Zapu.

According to a story by a government-controlled news agency, New Ziana, the North Koreans arrived in the country in August 1981 and had their bills footed by government. The story was published in the Herald issue of September 17, 1981.

“The hotel and entertainment bill for the 106 Korean military advisors who arrived last month to help the Ministry of Defence establish the Fifth Brigade came to $12 983,17,” the Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office told the House of Assembly yesterday.

“The minister was answering Mr Donald Goddard (RF) Lundi during private members’ question time. Mr Goddard noted in his question, asking for details of the Koreans’ stay, that they were accommodated at Salisbury’s Jameson Hotel.
“Mr Mnangagwa did not specify how long the advisors stayed at the hotel. The minister also said he understood a further account for an as yet unspecified amount was expected for the advisors’ transit accommodation during the weekend of September 11 (1981),” the story reads.

Dissidents, who were ill-equipped former Zipra fighters, deserted the new army around 1981-1983 following tensions in the military demobilisation camps and integration, most notably after Entumbane in Bulawayo and Hwedza clashes between former Zanla and Zipra fighters. They also clashed in places like Ntabazinduna, Glenville and Connemara.

Mugabe set up the Dumbutshena Commission to investigate the clashes. He did not make the report public, just the Chihambakwe Commission report on Gukurahundi.

In his 1983 autobiography, Nkomo says he persistently asked Mugabe to explain the purpose of the Fifth Brigade — “a partisan military force” — which he was including in official government meetings and in one such meeting, Mugabe retorted: “(It is being put in place) to deal with people like you!”

After the Entumbane and other clashes, which saw the about 400 people dying, some of the ex-Zipra fighters deserted the camps and began roaming the forests and villages.

Apartheid South Africa then took advantage of the uprisings to sponsor separate groups which morphed into dissidents, according to a report by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe titled Breaking the Silence, Building True Peace: Report on the Disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands 1980 to 1988.

“We had information of South African military assistance to the dissidents (Super Zapu) in Matabeleland, South Africans were not shy about issuing weapons either. They gave former Zipra guerillas (not Zipra, but dissidents) rockets, 60mm mortars, RPD machine guns with thousands of ammunition enough to carry on a small war, which they did,” the report reads.

These started killing white farmers and tourists in the region. During this period, South Africa was involved in many secret operations in southern Africa, including in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, where they sponsored Renamo, as well as in Angola and Namibia.

A TEACHER who allegedly led a strike by students at Njube High School in Bulawayo has broken his silence from Namibia where he is hiding.

Speaking from Namibia after fleeing the country’s law enforcement agents who want him for inciting demonstrations, he said he yearned to return home but could not do so right now.

The former Biology teacher fled Zimbabwe last month after he had led disgruntled students at Njube High School in a march through the streets of Zimbabwe’s second capital city as they registered disquiet over the perilous state of the country’s education sector.

Now ensconced in what he deems to be a safe country, Brian Mutsiba, pictured, recounted how he walked for more than 30km fleeing the country’s feared security personnel.

“I escaped the country after lying low for four days since the police and security agencies had instigated a manhunt for me. I gave the impression that I had headed for Zambia on social circles but moved in the opposite direction and headed for Botswana.

“I walked a total distance of 30km deep into Plumtree before jumping the border then eventually made it to Gaborone. I lay low once again. When security details were close I skipped another border into Namibia and for now I am safe,” he said.

As he fled the authorities who were in hot pursuit, he left behind his wife and three children.

“I am a father of three. My family was left behind in Zimbabwe under the upkeep of relatives. My eldest daughter is a 6th form student at Njube High School and did take part in the demonstration. So she was harassed for a while by the police so as to coerce her into revealing my whereabouts,” he said.

On January 20, Mutsiba led students at Njube in extraordinary protests where they demanded better salaries for their teachers as well as raised concerns with the school fees hike that has resulted in school drop-outs.
Residents of Njube suburb were greeted by the unusual scenes of students from Form 1 to 4 holding a protest over the unavailability of their teachers and the recently hiked school fees.

They marched from the high density suburb to a garage in Entumbane, before they were intercepted by their headmaster who ordered them to go back to school.

The students said they had mounted the protest because they were not happy with the recent school fees increases — which went up from $92 to $492 a term.

During their march, the Njube High learners waved placards in which they asked for help from the representative of the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) in the country.

“Where is Unicef? This is for every Zimbabwean child,” some of their placards read.
Others hoisted the Zimbabwe flag together with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s official portrait — while singing: “We do not like what you are doing”.

At one point, the students knelt down as they sang Nkosi sikelel’ iAfrica (God bless Africa), before shouting the slogan “Amatitsha ngawethu” (Teachers belong to us).

The students claimed that their teachers had deserted classes to harvest amacimbi (mopani worms) on the outskirts of Bulawayo because they could not make ends meet.

“We are protesting because since we opened schools last Tuesday, teachers are not reporting for duty.
“We have not started learning because teachers are not coming to class. They are harvesting amacimbi,” said one Form 3 student.

Hundreds of Bulawayo residents have been flocking to Umguza District on the outskirts of Bulawayo to harvest amacimbi.

Another student said the country’s worsening economic rot was destroying schools and the government needed to act urgently to mitigate the situation.

“We are concerned about what is happening to the education sector. Our teachers are not properly remunerated and are not reporting for duty.

“This will have a bearing on our results when we sit for national examinations,” the student said.
A teacher at the school who refused to be identified applauded the learners for registering their disapproval through a peaceful demonstration.

This comes after the government recently gave public schools the green light to increase their levies and boarding fees.

This was despite its pronouncements that no school would be allowed to hike its fees by more than 20 percent without its approval — in statements that came to be proven as hollow.

“Concerning boarding fees, food fees, those are subject to market forces … Schools have been given guidelines on how to proceed (on this).
“There is a circular that stipulates how parents meet, consider their expenses and agree on a fee they think can feed their children.

“Government does not own grocery shops. So, if 20 percent of the parents meet … and if they agree on what they can pay, who are we to say no?” Acting Primary and Secondary Education minister Amon Murwira said then.
Regarding tuition fees, he warned that public schools that defied the directive not to increase their fees by more than the stipulated amounts would face disciplinary action.

“Provincial education directors, district schools inspectors and heads of public schools should stand guided by the circular which has been dispatched to them,” he said adding that private schools that were charging their fees in foreign currency also risked being deregistered.

Murwira also revealed that the government had little control on private schools that charged exorbitant fees — saying as long as parents agreed on a figure, this would be in order.

“All I said is that it is illegal to charge in foreign currency and the punishment for that is deregistration of the school,” he said.

Unsurprisingly, therefore, many parents and their children were facing a double whammy of sky-high school fees and a severe national shortage of affordable boarding places for students starting Form 1 this year.

This threw preparations for the start of the 2020 learning calendar into disarray, particularly as this came as both schools and families were already reeling from the country’s worst economic crisis in a decade.

Authorities paid civil servants their outstanding cost of living allowances (Cola), although they are still facing difficulties in placating the restive government workers who are mulling a national strike.

This comes as Mnangagwa and his misfiring Cabinet are coming under growing pressure from increasingly despondent citizens, as poverty levels, prices and the cost of living in the country keep shooting up — creating social unrest.

For Mutsiba the call was clarion clear, he had to take the fight to the authorities or a whole generation will be condemned to emptiness and nothingness.

“The current situation in terms of observing children’s rights is dire and at most pathetic. If compared to the situation of 2008, the current scenario has escalated to catastrophic levels.

“Due to meagre salaries teachers are currently incapacitated to attend for duty let alone lessons. The situation is further made grave by the mere fact that most government schools increased their fees by between 300-500 percent, putting the reach of education beyond the ordinary parents.

“The situation is worsened by the high costs of uniforms, books and educational accessories. With the paymasters adamant to maintain the status quo, millions of children in Zimbabwean government schools are continually bound to suffer from the pangs of this education genocide.

“The hardest hit are the rural children who are at the end point of the margin and this also correlates with the situation of the rural teachers who are at the apex of incapacitation. At the end of the day, education is near to nonexistent in government schools.

“Slowly but surely this young generation is being academically slaughtered. This comes as no surprise as the children of politicians opt for educational opportunities abroad,” he said.
Now an outcast in his country, the former prison warder is holed in Namibia and living on the benevolence of well-wishers.

“I am not working but have support of the humanitarian community. To be honest, I did not organise the demonstration, I only supported the children in their quest for a reasonable cause, their right to education,” he said.

A wanted man in Zimbabwe Mutsiba says time always comes where the only option that one have is to put up a fight and fight for what is right.

He believes he has a moral obligation to highlight the suffering of teachers and give a voice to children who are usually the silent victims of underfunding of the critical education sector by the central government.

“There is a famous adage that says ‘Life begins where fear ends’. If the cause is worthy, at times we are compelled to make that sacrifice. The fight for freedoms and rights therefore demands some who are willing to defy the odds and make such sacrifices,” he said.

However, he is not yet ready to come back to Zimbabwe and take the fight to the government that stands accused of destroying the country education sector which was once the region’s envy.

“As long as I still fear for my life I do not see myself coming back. The growing concern is that I may first face a court marshal before I appear a civilian court as I have served under the corrections department before I joined the Ministry of Education.

“A court marshal by any standards is ruthless. However I aim to keep talking on the rights of the voiceless, the children,” he said.

Journalist Edmund Kudzayi has said the struggle to defeat Zanu-PF is “for as many are willing to fight in it” and there are no “super citizens” suitable for that.
On Sunday the fearless investigative journalist, who once linked to the faceless Facebook charater Baba Jukwa twitted:

1/3 These are the people MDC stockholders say are unwelcome in the pro-democracy movement. In 2018 Dr Godfrey Gandawa, who stood as an Independent, told his supporters not to vote for Mnangagwa. Chamisa won the constituency which had gone to Mugabe in 2013. His rebellion… pic.twitter.com/MYD0c8KzFp

— Edmund Kudzayi (@EdmundKudzayi) February 16, 2020

2/3 …was not in a bid to find accommodation. He had rejected an offer to join the MDC Alliance and also resisted Mugabe’s prodding to join NPF, but still helped fight ED as an Independent.

Should Chamisa have phoned him and said don’t support me, I don’t want your votes? pic.twitter.com/pcXjJ3KaXR

— Edmund Kudzayi (@EdmundKudzayi) February 16, 2020

3/3 For his rebellion, the regime attempted to take his life, forcing him to flee to into exile.

The struggle is for as many are willing to fight in it. There are no super citizens who can appropriate. pic.twitter.com/w7QaAji9gY

— Edmund Kudzayi (@EdmundKudzayi) February 16, 2020

Own Correspondent|President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reportedly intervened to stop the eviction of residents from Joshua Nkomo Housing Cooperative.

The development was revealed by Norton legislator, Temba Mliswa who has been fighting in the residents’ corner against local businessman Billy Rautenbach, also known as Muller Conrad Rautenbach.

Posting on Twitter, Mliswa said:

Good news for Joshua Nkomo Housing Cooperative members as @edmnangagwa has reassured them that they will not be evicted from their stands. What's left is for the Ministry of Local Gvt to process the necessary paperwork to regulate& legalise the position. God has his time indeed. pic.twitter.com/AjiGLvtiLi

— Sabhuku Temba P. Mliswa (@TembaMliswa) February 16, 2020

The thousands of residents residing in Lochinvar have been facing displacement after the controversial businessman, Rautenbach through his company Marimba Properties claimed ownership of the area.

The residents occupied the area in 2009 under the Joshua Nkomo and Leopold Takawira Housing Cooperatives.

The area was gazette for settlement by the government in 2010 after which the cooperatives received offer letters for the area.

In December 2015, the then Minister of Local Government, Saviour Kasukuwere toured the area in the company of senior officials from his ministry.

The area in question is Stand Number 48, 49 and the remainder of Salisbury Park of Lochinvar.

Representatives form Marimba Properties, including Rautenbach, who is the company’s Chairperson were in attendance. Other representatives from Marimba Properties who were present include Colonel R. Matonhodze (Rtd) who is the company’s Director and Derrick Elliot, who is also the firm’s legal advisor.

During the 2015 site visit, former Minister Kasukuwere conceded that the area had been fully developed and evictions or demolitions must be stopped and the area should be regularized.

It was agreed that Marimba residential Properties will, therefore, surrender the stands to the government and in return, the government and council would identify suitable of equivalent value to compensate the company.

Documents in CHRA’s possession indicate that Mr Rautenbach accepted the proposal as the Chairman of Marimba Residential Properties.

It was also agreed that council would take over the administration of Stands 48 ad the remainder of Salisbury Park of Lochinvar.

However, in March 2018, the Ministry of Local Government wrote to the Chairpersons of Joshua Nkomo, Leopold Takawira, Wadzanai, Mydek and Dzapasi housing cooperatives informing them of the cancellation of offer letters that had been issued to their members.

Read part of the letter signed by E. Mlalazi (Secretary for Local Government, Public Works and National Housing), “The Ministry had issued those offers believing that the land had been acquired for use by the State. Regrettably, the acquisition process was abandoned by the Acquiring Authority after unsuccessful legal contestations on the part of the Ministry.

“The owners of the company, in whose name the land is registered, have nonetheless been engaged by the Ministry to discuss the way forward on the future of your irregular settlement. They have expressed interest to work with your beneficiaries to regularize the scheme on terms agreeable to both parties.”

Following the purported cancellation of the offer letters, legal practitioners representing the housing cooperatives wrote to the Ministry of Local Government arguing that its position was ‘unlawful, unreasonable, disproportionate and substantively and procedurally unfair’.

Zimbabweans do not need to panic as authorities are taking precautionary measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) into the country, while authorities in China have the situation under control, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.

This comes as China’s chief envoy to Zimbabwe, Ambassador Guo Shaochun, made assurances that trade and economic trade between the two countries would only be temporarily affected by the virus, which has killed more than 1 000 people in mainland China.

To date, the virus has not been detected in Zimbabwe and no Zimbabweans living in China have contracted the disease.

Speaking at a press briefing after meeting with Ambassador Guo at his Munhumutapa offices yesterday, President Mnangagwa said the country’s adherence to World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines was likely to be complemented by travel restrictions imposed by China between Harare and Beijing.

“From the time of the breakout, there are conditions by the World Health Organisation, universal conditions which require that we take measures, and we have taken those measures and we have been able to acquire some of the necessary equipment to do the checking; and so far in Zimbabwe, we have not recorded any positive cases and we are happy that this is happening,” he said.

“Also the authorities in China have restricted the travel of people from China to Zimbabwe or Zimbabwe to China.

“So these things, again, have been implemented and they are contributing to the status which is there now, which is positive (for us) and we believe that we are in control of the situation.”

President Mnangagwa said it was encouraging that fatalities and new infections of the disease were declining.

“The current indications are that new cases are declining, as the facts now show. Earlier on, the deaths were rising, but now there is an indication of the deaths declining.

Also, the volume of the number of people leaving the hospital after being cured is also increasing, which is indicative of the success the authorities in China are achieving to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

“Then, of course, worldwide we have very few new cases that come up. The few that have been reported are not increasing.”

Authorities would remain vigilant to prevent the disease from spreading into the country, he said.

President Mnangagwa said Ambassador Guo was also “thankful” for the letter that he had sent to his counterpart, President Xi Jinping, to express solidarity and sympathy over COVID-19.

“The ambassador was thankful that I wrote to my counterpart, the President of the People of China, giving Zimbabwe’s support to the challenges arising from the outbreak of the virus.
“He was conveying to me that gratitude.

“When the coronavirus outbreak happened in China, we were extremely concerned about it and I, as President, sent a letter of support to my brother President Xi Jinping and to the people of China that the people of Zimbabwe sympathise with you and we expect that everything possible would be done and we are happy with what the leadership of China have done so far.”-State media

Farai Dziva|Morgan Tsvangirai’s legacy cannot not be taken away by anyone, MDC president Nelson Chamisa has said.

In a tweet Chamisa paid tribute to the late legendary MDC founding president.

“THANK YOU DR MRT OUR ICON.They will criticize us, attack us and even plot attempts on our lives but we are unstoppable.

We keep playing the song until final victory. We keep the fire burning!!”

CIVIC society organisations operating under the Matabeleland Collective banner yesterday told President Emmerson Mnangagwa that people in the region did not believe he was sincere about addressing the Gukurahundi issue.

The CSOs made the remarks during a meeting with Mnangagwa at State House in Bulawayo to discuss measures needed to address the emotive issue.

Matabeleland Collective member Maqeda Ngwenya said the government and securocrats involved in Gukurahundi killings should apologise for the atrocities, which left 20 000 civilians dead in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces between 1983 and 1987.

He also said the issue of Zipra properties seized by the government after independence had still not been addressed, despite Mnangagwa’s promise to return them to the rightful owners.

Women of Zimbabwe Arise leader Jenni Williams said Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe had not yet engaged the community since the meeting last year on the issue of birth and death certificates.

She also said Registrar-General Clemence Masango had not met Matabeleland Collective members, claiming they only see him on television.

“Birth and death certificates are rights. People want documents and they are told their parents died in the crossfire. People are demanding that their parents died in Gukurahundi (and) it should be written on their death certificates,” Williams said.

She said special commissioners should be appointed to deal with Gukurahundi.

Zipra Veterans Association Trust spokesperson Buster Magwizi demanded the publication of the Dumbuchena and Chihambakwe Commissions of Inquiry into Gukurahundi which were not made public by the late former President Robert Mugabe.

Mnangagwa said the country had demonstrated before that it was capable of resolving amicably even the most acrimonious disputes among its people through internal dialogue and negotiations.

-Newsday

SOUTH African authorities have intensified measures to curb the illegal movement of goods across the Limpopo River and last week arrested two Zimbabwean women with explosives worth R1,2 million and also recovered smuggled cigarettes worth R800 000.

The arrests were made by the neighbouring country’s serious organised crime unit, the Hawks between Tuesday and Thursday in Thohoyandou and Makhado towns. Hawks spokesperson for Limpopo, Captain Matimba Maluleke said  they arrested two women last Tuesday who were travelling from Thohoyandou to Gauteng with an assortment of explosives.

“The two women were arrested following a tip-off as they were about to board a bus to Thohoyandou. 

“They have since appeared at the local magistrate court where their case was postponed to 9 March and they were remanded in custody pending further investigations,” said Capt Maluleke.

He said on Thursday they made another breakthrough after intercepting cigarettes which were being transported from Zimbabwe to South Africa in a Nissan NP300. Capt Maluleke said the arrest was made in Makhado Town.

“We gathered information about a vehicle that was reportedly transporting illicit cigarettes from Zimbabwe into South Africa. The vehicle was spotted driving along the N1 highway and an attempt by the police to stop it was made but it sped off. The suspects reportedly jumped off the vehicle and evaded arrest, abandoning the vehicle in the process,” he said.

He said they later found the abandoned vehicle, a Nissan NP300 that was reportedly stolen in Honeydew, Gauteng loaded with illicit cigarettes. 

Capt Maluleke said the car was loaded with boxes of Remington Gold cigarettes with an estimated street value of over R800 000 and were seized.

“The Hawks are still hunting down the suspects and appeal to anyone with information that can lead to their arrest to contact the nearest police station,” he said.

 It is understood that almost 30 percent of the cigarettes on the South African market are from Zimbabwe.  

Statistics from the South African Revenue Services (SARS) show that a total 82 689 043kg of tobacco were imported from Zimbabwe between January 2010 and March 2015. 

These include imports of Cigars, Cheroots, Cigarillos and Cigarettes, of Tobacco or of Tobacco Substitutes. Duty charged by South African authorities ranges from R6,21 per 10 cigarettes to R278,82/kg, depending on the type of cigarettes.

-State media

MDC leader Nelson Chamisa says he has given up on dialogue with President Emmerson Mnangagwa over disputed elections and the opposition party is changing tack in its efforts to force concessions from the ruling party.

Chamisa has consistently refused to recognise Mnangagwa’s 2018 poll victory, accusing the Zanu PF leader of rigging the polls with the help of the military.

On the other hand, the president refuses to hold talks with his main rival outside a platform he created with fringe political parties that took part in the controversial polls.

Chamisa said Mnangagwa stood to benefit from the proposed talks, but had spurned his overtures.

“Mnangagwa refused talks,” he said on Friday in Masvingo where he attended a memorial service for MDC founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

“ I tried to bring him to the negotiating table.

“We all know every conflict ends with talking. “We wanted to give peace a chance.

“But we won’t reach the 2023 elections before the 2018 elections deadlock is sorted.

“We are very clear about what we are saying. “He won’t govern this country.”

Last year security forces crushed MDC protests across that country that were meant to force Mnangagwa to the negotiating table.

In January last year, the army was accused of killing over 17 people after protests erupted over a steep increase in the price of fuel.

Chamisa said by calling for dialogue, he was trying to help Mnangagwa stop the country from descending into chaos.

“I am trying to help him to stop the country from burning,” he said.

“We have nothing to lose. Zanu PF has everything — the farms, banks, big stomachs among others. If things come to a head, ED and Zanu PF will lose more.

“We are organising. He refused talks, what should I do with him? We are organising in whispers.”

Chamisa said his supporters must be prepared for “action”.

“We are delayed, but we will not be stopped,” he said. “Others say you should lead from the front. You do not teach me the struggle. I have been in it for too long.

“Revolutionary action is a creature of revolutionary moments.

“We will do anything at the right time, when the time comes and permits. The darkest hour is near dawn. We will get there.”

Chamisa said there was fear in the region that Zimbabwe’s situation was deteriorating.

“Well, generally there is a shared view that a burning Zimbabwe will set ablaze the entire region, there is fear that the situation has reached very dangerous levels and proportions and it has to be resolved,” he said in an interview in Bulawayo.

“What is not clear yet is how to resolve it, but we have given an alternative platform of dialogue because we have to give peace a chance. We have to give an amicable solution an opportunity.

“We believe that in all contestations, in all disputes, disagreements, dialogue becomes the natural entry point.”

Chamisa has refused to join Mnangagwa’s Political Actors Dialogue.

Chamisa insists on a neutral convener. The clergy have also spoken on the need for a broad-based dialogue involving a cross-section of stakeholders and not only political parties.  

The church once suggested that elections be shelved for a period of seven years to allow the country to heal and achieve a common goal.

“If we are to fight whether on the streets, on the ground, in the air, wherever, you have to come to some understanding as Zimbabweans.

“We share a country, a history, a future and we have a common identity as Zimbabwean people, so dialogue is not something that you can wish away,” Chamisa added, noting the 2018 election dispute should also be resolved.

“I know a lot of people have said that. That is what South Africa has also said about dialogue. “That has always been my insistence…You can’t have a 2023, or 2022 or any future election without resolving the disputed elections of the past because elections have been emptied of their meaning.

“They have become rituals. They are just on the calendar but have no significant value in transforming a nation. “

Meawhile, Chamisa’s spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda dismissed speculation that there was friction between the MDC leader and the party’s chairperson Tabitha Khumalo.

“I need to deal with the rumours that seem to suggest that a president’s exercise of powers to appoint individuals to specific roles is or can be subjected to anything other than his own considerations of what is in the best interest of the party, the country and the world,” he said.

“There is no issue at all, the rumours are baseless and external.

“The sources of the rumours are external to the party and they have two objectives — the first one is to divide the party — since Zanu PF is at war.

“The second one is to try and control the president’s appointments through the abuse of the media.”

-State media

Former higher education minister Professor Jonathan Moyo has snubbed his G40 allies Saviour Kasukuwere and Walter Mzembi who have formed separate parties choosing to side with MDC led by Nelson Chamisa.

Moyo who is in self imposed exile in Kenya was responding to story published by an online news portal which reported that the political science professor supported Chamisa.

In his response, Moyo said he supports Chamisa because the ruling Zanu PF had changed for the worse while the MDC had become a better movement post the November 2017 coup.

The senior judge who was pressured to arrest Constantino Chiwenga’s wife, Marry has flown to the UK.

Justice Loice Matanda Moyo is the current Chair of the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission.

She is set to be in UK for several days.

VIDEO LOADING BELOW….

@ZACConline chairperson Justice @matandamoyo has flown to UK.

Zimbabweans in UK, EU send in your questions for her in advance. pic.twitter.com/MAK0B2eg3g

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) February 16, 2020

MDC leader Nelson Chamisa says he has given up on dialogue with President Emmerson Mnangagwa over disputed elections and the opposition party is changing tack in its efforts to force concessions from the ruling party.

Chamisa has consistently refused to recognise Mnangagwa’s 2018 poll victory, accusing the Zanu PF leader of rigging the polls with the help of the military.

On the other hand, the president refuses to hold talks with his main rival outside a platform he created with fringe political parties that took part in the controversial polls.

Chamisa said Mnangagwa stood to benefit from the proposed talks, but had spurned his overtures.

“Mnangagwa refused talks,” he said on Friday in Masvingo where he attended a memorial service for MDC founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

“ I tried to bring him to the negotiating table.

“We all know every conflict ends with talking. “We wanted to give peace a chance.

“But we won’t reach the 2023 elections before the 2018 elections deadlock is sorted.

“We are very clear about what we are saying. “He won’t govern this country.”

Last year security forces crushed MDC protests across that country that were meant to force Mnangagwa to the negotiating table.

In January last year, the army was accused of killing over 17 people after protests erupted over a steep increase in the price of fuel.

Chamisa said by calling for dialogue, he was trying to help Mnangagwa stop the country from descending into chaos.

“I am trying to help him to stop the country from burning,” he said.

“We have nothing to lose. Zanu PF has everything — the farms, banks, big stomachs among others. If things come to a head, ED and Zanu PF will lose more.

“We are organising. He refused talks, what should I do with him? We are organising in whispers.”

Chamisa said his supporters must be prepared for “action”.

“We are delayed, but we will not be stopped,” he said. “Others say you should lead from the front. You do not teach me the struggle. I have been in it for too long.

“Revolutionary action is a creature of revolutionary moments.

“We will do anything at the right time, when the time comes and permits. The darkest hour is near dawn. We will get there.”

Chamisa said there was fear in the region that Zimbabwe’s situation was deteriorating.

“Well, generally there is a shared view that a burning Zimbabwe will set ablaze the entire region, there is fear that the situation has reached very dangerous levels and proportions and it has to be resolved,” he said in an interview in Bulawayo.

“What is not clear yet is how to resolve it, but we have given an alternative platform of dialogue because we have to give peace a chance. We have to give an amicable solution an opportunity.

“We believe that in all contestations, in all disputes, disagreements, dialogue becomes the natural entry point.”

Chamisa has refused to join Mnangagwa’s Political Actors Dialogue.

Chamisa insists on a neutral convener. The clergy have also spoken on the need for a broad-based dialogue involving a cross-section of stakeholders and not only political parties.  

The church once suggested that elections be shelved for a period of seven years to allow the country to heal and achieve a common goal.

“If we are to fight whether on the streets, on the ground, in the air, wherever, you have to come to some understanding as Zimbabweans.

“We share a country, a history, a future and we have a common identity as Zimbabwean people, so dialogue is not something that you can wish away,” Chamisa added, noting the 2018 election dispute should also be resolved.

“I know a lot of people have said that. That is what South Africa has also said about dialogue. “That has always been my insistence…You can’t have a 2023, or 2022 or any future election without resolving the disputed elections of the past because elections have been emptied of their meaning.

“They have become rituals. They are just on the calendar but have no significant value in transforming a nation. “

Meawhile, Chamisa’s spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda dismissed speculation that there was friction between the MDC leader and the party’s chairperson Tabitha Khumalo.

“I need to deal with the rumours that seem to suggest that a president’s exercise of powers to appoint individuals to specific roles is or can be subjected to anything other than his own considerations of what is in the best interest of the party, the country and the world,” he said.

“There is no issue at all, the rumours are baseless and external.

“The sources of the rumours are external to the party and they have two objectives — the first one is to divide the party — since Zanu PF is at war.

“The second one is to try and control the president’s appointments through the abuse of the media.”

-Standard

United Kingdom-based constitutional law expert and political analyst Alex Magaisa has warned that the mealie meal coupon system set to be introduced by the government to control the allocation of the product is open to abuse by politically exposed persons (PEPs).

He describes the PEPs as business elites who are close to the ruling establishment and have access to the largesse that the state provides and take advantage of it for personal gain.

Writing on his blog, Big Saturday Read, Magaisa says:

… coupons are set to become a new tradable currency. Without a name or mark identifying a specific holder, roller meal coupons will be like bearer cheques or shares.

All you need with a bearer instrument is possession. Whoever possesses it is entitled to what the bearer instrument represents, be it shares or money and in this case, roller meal.

In short, a roller meal coupon is a form of money backed by the promise to pay roller meal, rather like it were a piece of paper money backed by gold.

Given the scarcity of roller meal, the maize meal coupon is set to become one of the most coveted currencies – far more valuable than the Zimbabwe dollar introduced last year.

Magaisa urged the government to come up with a way to prevent the negotiability of roller meal coupons so as to keep them out of the hands of the corrupt elite.

More: Big Saturday Read

Only the husband, Constantino was flown to China and is now healed.

WHAT SHOULD MARRY CHIWENGA DO NOW?

• 

• 

• 

• 

https://youtu.be/ox3gZENNQlM

https://youtu.be/xEnxJEpAPuE

A Bulawayo man who feels trapped in an unhappy marriage made a claim which is too extraordinary to be explained when he accused his wife of conspiring with her church elders and tricking him into marrying her.

Benjamin Ncube said he made a mistake when he signed his life to Charlet Ncube after she allegedly connived with her church elders and arranged a wedding which was not even attended by their relatives.

A regretful Benjamin said what his wife and her church elders did to him was like kidnapping a drunk man from a bar and making him read to them aloud from the Bible.

“I do not agree with her claims that I’m her husband. What happened is that she organised a wedding with her church elders without my knowledge. On the day she bought me a suit and took me to her church where her elders pushed me to marry her. Our relatives were not even there. What they did to me is just like kidnapping a drunk man from a bar and making him to read aloud from the Bible,” lamented Benjamin.

He was responding to claims by his wife that for the 38 years they had been married he had been constantly verbally and physically abusing her. The claims were made at the Bulawayo Civil Court where she was seeking a protection order against him.

“Benjamin Ncube is my husband for 38 years. However, he is a very violent man as he always beats me up. He is also threatening to kill me and always insults me while accusing me of cheating on him. He chased me away from our matrimonial home and I am now staying with relatives. My life is not at peace. Despite the fact that he is abusing me, he is still my husband and I still love him,” said Charlet.

Turning to claims that she connived with her church elders and tricked her husband into marrying her, Charlet said: “It is not true that I forced him into the marriage. He is the one who came and told me that at his workplace they wanted a marriage certificate and that is when we arranged with one of our church pastors who was also a marriage officer to formalise our marriage.”

Meanwhile, Benjamin said their problems started after he caught his wife with another man in their matrimonial house.

“It is not true that I chased her away. She left on her own after I found her with another man in our house. After I caught her, she reported me to the police saying I had assaulted her. She said she cannot stay with me. This was despite the fact that when we got married, she had a daughter and I raised her until she got married,” responded Benjamin.

Charlet, who also accused her husband of cheating, insisted that she still loved him and wanted to come back to their matrimonial home.

When he was asked by the presiding magistrate Adelaide Mbeure, if he still loved his wife Benjamin said: “It’s almost two years since we separated and we can’t say we are still married when I do all things like cooking and washing on my own. I feel that I made a mistake by agreeing to marry her.”

For the purpose of keeping peace between the two estranged parties the magistrate ordered Benjamin not to verbally and physically abuse his wife or threaten her in any way.

The magistrate also advised him that if he was no longer interested in the marriage, he should file for divorce at the High Court.

— BMetro

Herald Says MDC Members Threw Teargas Into High Court Building, But LIVE Video Evidence Proves What?

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) February 16, 2020

VIDEO LOADING BELOW….

Hatidi kuti mapurisa edu ashandiswe zvisirizvo. Mupurisa is a badge of honour… Mupurisa apedza kundidira teargas, kumba haana sugar, bag of tea, underwear – @nelsonchamisa @DrNkuSibanda @mdczimbabwe pic.twitter.com/ll0uglxurv

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) February 16, 2020

PROMINENT Bulawayo businessman Ismail Moosa Lunat, who is accused of fuelling the forex black market, money laundering and externalisation of more than US$2,2 million, has approached the High Court challenging the lower court’s decision to deny him bail.  

Lunat (57) of Kumalo suburb was recently arrested by officials from the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC). He was last week denied bail by Bulawayo magistrate Mr Tinashe Tashaya who argued that he wanted the public to have faith and trust in the justice delivery system in the country.

Lunat is facing money laundering charges and was remanded in custody to February 28. He filed an application at the Bulawayo High Court challenging the lower court’s refusal to admit him to bail pending trial, citing the State as a respondent.

In his grounds of appeal, Lunat, through his lawyer Mr Nqobani Sithole of Ncube Attorneys, said the magistrate misused his discretion and misdirected himself when he dismissed his application.

“The learned presiding magistrate held against the appellant (Lunat) that the public will lack confidence in the justice delivery system when my client is admitted to bail. The mere fact that allegations have been raised does not justify his pre-trial incarceration,” said Mr Sithole.

He said there were no compelling and sufficient reasons warranting Lunat’s continued detention.

“While the court a quo was at liberty to, in the interests of justice, deny appellant bail for good and sufficient reasons at law, it is respectfully submitted that there are no good and sufficient reasons either arising from the facts or the law to deny appellant bail. Trite law holds that an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent and impartial tribunal,” said Mr Sithole.

Lunat offered to pay $10 000 bail as well as continue to reside at his given address until the matter is finalised.  

In his bail application at the lower court, Lunat’s lawyer Mr Sithole sensationally claimed that ZACC was captured by a city businessman who externalised money. He accused the anti-graft body of tampering with evidence to protect the said businessman who had dealt with his client.  

Mr Sithole said Lunat is diabetic and had gone for days without taking his medication and his Muslim culture only allows him to eat particular foods.

He said there has been a deliberate ploy by ZACC to mutilate the record of transactions to remove transactions done by Mr Zacharia Patel of Toppers uniforms.  

“In any event, Zacharia controls these institutions. It becomes very interesting how a whole commission set up to deal with corruption will tamper with evidence. How are transactions to Patel missing when my client made over a million transactions? How can they not be indicated in ‘overwhelming evidence? We have evidence that Zacharia Patel externalised money, but Patel is able to muscle and arm twist these institutions. These institutions are captured. We want a court order so that we can table what we are talking about,” said Mr Sithole.

The State is yet to respond to Lunat’s application.

According to court papers, it was stated that at some point in December 2018, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe raised a red flag over Lunat’s use of his company bank account to engage in illicit transactions.  The court heard that the actual amount which was externalised amounts to US$2,2 million and not the $1,3 million that was initially presented by ZACC.

The State alleged that Lunat is one of the businesspeople who have been under scrutiny by the central bank for fuelling the foreign currency black market, a move which has contributed to the spiralling of rates on the parallel market.

FORMER MDC-T Vice President Obert Gutu says he believes the results of the 2023 elections are already clear, as one particular party will have a landslide victory.

“According to my humble prognosis, 2023 is already done and dusted. There’s NO contest, actually. Ask me later,” Gutu said, implying that Zanu-PF will have a crushing victory.

According to my humble prognosis, 2023 is already done and dusted.
There’s NO contest, actually.
Ask me later.

— Obert Gutu (@GutuObert) February 14, 2020

Gutu has apparently written off the Nelson Chamisa-led MDC as it continues to lose rural by-elections by increasingly shocking margins, while Zanu-PF is closing the gap in urban wards.

He proceeded to warn the MDC that its house was on fire and needed a mend, but worried that the hardcore Chamisa supporters were in denial about the true state of the opposition movement.

Said Gutu: “Denial mode is some form of psychosis. When your house is crumbling and/or burning, you don’t ululate and declare that you’re the BEST thing to happen on mother Earth! Instead, you should promptly save your house from crumbling and stop the raging fire!”

Last week, Chamisa expressed frustration with the voting process, warning that his party might boycott the 2023 elections if “the issues about the 2018 elections are not resolved.”

Observers say the Nelson Chamisa-led outfit has no clear structures in rural areas, where 71 percent of the voting population resides, according to World Bank data.

Chamisa has recently been holding rallies across the country, but strategically avoided going into deep rural areas amid speculations he fears the turnout would expose his lack of popularity in Zanu-PF strongholds.

In the past weeks, Chamisa has had rallies in Mutare urban, Gwanda urban, as well as met party structures in Masvingo urban, Gweru urban and Bulawayo urban.

Speaking Friday to hundreds of party supporters at Mucheke Hall in Masvingo where the party was celebrating two years since the death of founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai, Chamisa suggested his party may boycott the 2023 elections.

“Zanu PF should accept they rigged the 2018 harmonised elections. If they don’t accept that, we might not take part in the 2023 elections until the 2018 elections dispute is resolved,” he said.

He also ruled out any prospects of dialogue between his party and Zanu PF, and instead, called for unity among Zimbabweans to fight the Mnangagwa administration.

“We need hope in this country, Mnangagwa has no hope in the direction the country is taking. Tsvangirai left a legacy of love, he was a unifier and before he died, he told me to incorporate the likes of Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube back into the party for it to succeed.

“We will ensure we lead the people properly until we deliver real independence to the people. That is what I was taught by Tsvangirai,” he said.

Chamisa told his supporters that he was anointed by Tsvangirai to lead the party and he carries the vision of the party and expects the entire MDC leadership to be disciplined in following the vision of the party.

— Zimbabwe Voice

Matabeleland North Zanu-PF youth chairman Tamuka Nyoni escaped death by a whisker in Lupane after a fuming resident chased after him with an axe for allegedly having an affair with his wife.

Wife says it’s big!

A source said Lizwe Clinton Mpofu, a former police officer, stumbled on nudes of Tamuka and of his wife Virginia Moyo (36) on her phone.

As if that was not enough he also got shocked after he saw sexually explicit messages that the pair exchanged.

The message that seemed to have irked Mpofu was the one where his wife commented on Tamuka’s manhood.

“The two were in the habit of exchanging raunchy pictures. Through WhatsApp Tamuka sent Moyo an image of his manhood and she commented saying it’s big and that angered Mpofu,” said the source.

The source said the issue tormented Mpofu and he wanted to mete instant justice on Tamuka.

“He did not know him (Tamuka) so he inquired around and was told the guy who pokes his wife is a Zanu-PF youth chairperson. He was waiting for an opportunity to meet up with Tamuka and by coincidence he met him at a burial of a child of a fellow villager at King Lobengula township cemetery in Lupane,” said the source.

Speaking on condition of anonymity a resident said drama ensued after a vote of thanks.

“So it happened that when Monica Ngwenya who is a member of the Lupane Local Board was giving a vote of thanks she mentioned all the important people who were in attendance,” said the reliable source.

The source added: “Before she sat down we were shocked to see Mpofu manhandling Tamuka while wanting to axe him. He managed to break free and took to his heels. Mpofu followed in hot pursuit wielding an axe and vowing to finish him off.”

The resident said it was a scary sight that took the intervention of men who were in attendance that included Matshiya Ward 15 Councillor June Mpofu and Member of the House of Assembly for Lupane East Mbongeni Dube and other men who swiftly intervened and grabbed Mpofu.

“He was fuming, declaring that he wants to axe him. They grabbed him while others escorted the terrified Tamuka to his car and drove away.

“If it was not for the swift intervention of those men we could be talking of something bad because Mpofu was fuming while accusing Tamuka of bedding his wife,” said the source.

Contacted for a comment Tamuka said: “He wanted to kill me for something that I did not do. He wanted to tarnish my reputation; that is politics at play. I reported the matter to the police.”

Mpofu would not be drawn into commenting on the incident, choosing to say “I do not discuss my personal issues with the media,” before terminating the call.

Virginia said: “Yes, we were once in love sometime back and we broke up. Tell me who told you about that, if you tell me the person who told you I will disclose a lot of information,” she said and stuck to her words as this reporter refused to reveal his source.

MP Dube confirmed the incident: “What happened is very worrying because a person who wanted to axe Tamuka is someone who is well versed with the law and that unbecoming behaviour is not expected from him! It’s a sign of disrespect to the dead. People should not come to such sacred places while begrudging others because anything bad could happen.”

– Bulawayo24

Where just about everything is going nowhere very fast — as is the case in Zimbabwe — even a badly scripted drama series is not a bad idea.

There was that time when we were kept glued to the screen as VicePresident Constantino Chiwenga and his estranged wife, Marry Mubaiwa, punched and clawed in public. As that was slipping into a yawn, some people pulled out a new one. Two boys, Lewis Matutu and Godfrey Tsenengamu, were hired to diss Kuda Tagwirei, Billy Rautenbach and Tafadzwa Musarara.

The three businessmen, according to the two former Zanu PF youth leaders, but as we have been hearing for years, are corrupt monopolists. A current term for that is “cartelists”. Billy, the youths said, is manipulating the blended fuel business, and almost all the oil into the country is passing through Tagwirei’s bedroom, while Musarara is playing funny games with grain imports and distribution.

We can’t let these greedy bastards continue bleeding us like that, the two youths concluded at two separate press conferences just under two weeks ago. It is said they are part of the Queen Bee syndicate that has captured politicians and the State.

The Zanu PF politburo wasted no time, sat and suspended Matutu and Tsenengamu, together with their boss, Pupurai Togarepi, for talking like they did. But just in case the plot might die too soon, Patrick Chinamasa, the party secretary for administration, gave an interview to The Herald last week. In trying to justify the action taken against the three, Chinamasa — typical of him and his cohorts — fibbed like his life would always depend on it.

Here is a summary of the lies. One, it’s never been Zanu PF policy to name and shame corrupt people in public. Well, he said it in quite a roundabout way, but that’s what he was saying. Two. naming and shaming other people was also bad because it was likely to scare those people and force them to flee into exile and leave the country without anyone to run business and employ people.

Three, naming and shaming corrupt people like what the small boys did was also going to discourage foreign investors.

Then, four, the two boys must not have named and shamed the three “perceived successful businessmen” in public but taken their case to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, the police and the prosecutor general, but didn’t do that.

Well, it’s not clear what it is about Chinamasa that makes him keep bouncing back in Zanu PF, but maybe it’s because the circus can’t be a circus without a consistent clown. Remember those many years ago, after the Tsholotsho Declaration, when Chinamasa wept like a baby before ex-president Robert Mugabe for participating in a plot to grab power from the almighty leader. He didn’t mind what his wife and kids were going to think about a grown man like that growling and grovelling before another man. Then, in 2018, he got busy commissioning big rubbish bins to win votes, when he was not lying about how good bond notes were. Fortunately, he lost his parliamentary seat and couldn’t make it back into Cabinet.

Back to Chinamasa’s Zanu PF lies. It’s clearly not true that Zanu PF doesn’t have a naming and shaming policy. Wind back to 2017. Remember the military and the Lacoste faction justified the coup against Mugabe on the basis that they were targeting the criminals surrounding the then president. They identified these “criminals”, inter alia, as Jonathan Moyo, Saviour Kasukuwere, Patrick Zhuwao, Ignatius Chombo and Shadreck Mashayamombe.

They even took out heavy machine guns and blew up some of these named and shamed corrupt people’s residences.

Don’t say that was the work of the army and the army is not Zanu PF. The military is the fourth, and probably the consistently most useful wing of the ruling party. Call it the commissariat if you want. It strategises for the party or, as it were, a faction of the party. It mobilises resources, helps fix election results, cows the opposition and makes the kings in Zanu PF. That’s why, after taking out the tanks in 2017 and the coup was done, it got involved in choosing a new party leadership in which its former commander, Chiwenga, was made the first second secretary, whatever that says. That’s why quite a number of the generals were conscripted into the government after November 2017.

Put that aside and fast-forward to 2019. Matutu and other youths named and shamed a whole range of powerful Zanu PF members and their proxies in business as well as public entities, as corrupt. This they did direct from the Zanu PF headquarters. It’s not clear where Chinamasa was then, but no one from Zanu PF came out to tell people that it wasn’t the party’s policy to name and shame individuals in public.

Why now, then, are we being told that Zanu PF is not in the habit of naming and shaming people? The answer can be found here. The 2019 list authored by the youth league excluded two important names. That’s Rautenbach and Tagwirei. It didn’t matter as long as the list didn’t include those two. So, Zanu PF had a name and shame policy for as long as it didn’t include these two omnipotent individuals. The youths touched a raw nerve when they revised their list and involved the two. You will also remember that, last year, questions were asked why the youths had excluded Tagwirei, but the youths ducked the question.

So, forget Chinamasa’s gook about having no naming and shaming policy. What he was saying last week is that Zanu PF musn’t name and shame corrupt people who matter to very important people. If you do that, your fingers get burnt. And it’s not as though the two naughty boys didn’t know that. Their sponsors had warned them about what would happen to them the moment they started yapping about Rautenbach and Tagwirei. For the record, Tagwirei is that bloke who donated top-of-the-range cars to Chiwenga at a date yet to be established. And rumourmongers have in the past said Chiwenga has interests in Sakunda. If that were true, it would mean Chiwenga has interests in Zimbabwe’s foreign currency black market where Sakunda seems to be the big don. Its bank accounts were frozen by RBZ over this last year.

So, whoever sent Tsenengamu and Matutu seems to hate Chiwenga with a passion. That could be big business and its proxies with interests in the fuel sector.
That could also be Chiwenga’s political foes in the party. Or both.

It gets particularly bizarre when Chinamasa claims that naming and shaming corrupt people drives away direct foreign investment. For him, and a part of Zanu PF, exposing the corrupt habits of Rautenbach and Tagwirei will discourage outside investors. That’s self-defeating nonsense. One of the reasons why Zimbabwe is failing to attract meaningful investment is the pervasiveness of corruption. No sane investor would want to come into country where tenders are fixed out of habit, contracts can be cancelled any time for any or no reason, some commercial sectors are no-go areas, and people are punished for talking against corruption.

And it’s also awkward for him to say naming and shaming people will force those hoodlums flee the country. It was never going to worry us here, because corrupt people don’t bring any value to us. It does the opposite, taking away whatever little value was left. But why would Chinamasa and Zanu PF want to keep corrupt people? Because, as the cliché goes, corruption is to Zanu PF what water is to fish. That party quakes at the prospect of corrupt people running into exile because nothing would be left of Zanu PF in the short term.

The Standard

Bulawayo City Council will next month be forced to cancel the multi-million dollar Egodini Bus Terminus rehabilitation tender as it is highly unlikely that the contractor, Terracotta Trading Company would have completed the first phase as agreed, Sunday News can reveal.

South African company Terracota was awarded the tender for the project, touted as a game changer in the city, but has failed to develop the area within the set deadlines. 

The company was supposed to complete the first phase in November last year but failed and requested that the deadline be moved to the end of next month. 

However, with a few weeks before end of the second deadline, authorities in Bulawayo have indicated that they will be left with no option but to terminate the contract and restart the process of getting another contractor. 

The contractors started work in March 2018. Upon completion, the mall will have 50 shops, a bus terminus, commuter omnibus bays and modern informal trader bays with storage counters as well as taxi association offices.

“The first phase of the Egodini Project was meant to have been completed by November 2019 of which we all know that the contractor missed that deadline. They then requested that the deadline be extended until the end of the first quarter of 2020 and with what is on the ground, I do not see them meeting that deadline.

“As it stands we have a lot of pressure from our stakeholders regarding that very project, we are also under pressure from a town planning perspective in terms of our vendors and commuter omnibuses, therefore we will be forced to exercise our powers of terminating the contract if need be, of which we will be guided by the terms and conditions of the contract,” said Bulawayo Town Clerk Mr Christopher Dube.

The project has experienced a number of false starts since Terracotta won the tender in September 2012. It was expected to gobble close to $60 million, with the company also awarded with a 99-year lease to the terminus. Mr Dube said  when the local authority sets  parameters for projects, there is a clear provision on the necessary steps that could be taken whenever a company fails to meet contractual obligations. Since the closure of Egodini, Bulawayo has experienced chaos in vending and commuter omnibus operations. Vendors who used to operate from Egodini have set base in the Central Business District blocking pavements and entrances to business premises. 

Most of them have also refused to be relocated to new bases outside the Central Business District, arguing that business was low in the periphery of the city centre. Commuter omnibuses which used to pick up passengers at the terminus are now picking and dropping them off in the city centre. 

The Egodini Project is not the only project which has fallen behind time in the city. Mr Dube said the local authority was also sweating over the US$150 million solid waste to energy project by Pragma Leaf Consulting Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd. 

The project was initiated through the support of the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa) in 2012. 

In May last year, the project developers said they were in the process of completing the front-end engineering design (FEED) study that will include acquisition of all required land and licensing, a process which was anticipated to be complete by the end of last year with construction commencing at the beginning of this year, and production of bio-fuels expected to follow thereafter. 

Mr Dube also revealed that the local authority was fast losing patience with the investor as they were already in breach of the  contract signed with the local authority.

“Same as Terracotta, there is nothing happening on the ground with Pragma Leaf, they just give us updates, claiming that they are still mobilising resources. As a local authority we are now becoming impatient as when you look at the contract and set timelines, Pragma Leaf is already in breach. We will soon be forced to sit down and review all these contracts so that we derive a way forward because it is the local authority that is found to be on the losing end,” he said.

According to Pragma Leaf, up to US$150 million was expected to be channelled into the project while more than 300 jobs were to be created at the plant and about 2 000 jobs downstream. In addition, a number of housing projects that were awarded to private companies have stalled in the city, drawing ire from beneficiaries. 

Some beneficiaries had paid in full for their residential stands. Affected areas include Mqabuko Heights, Cowdray Park Hlalani Kuhle Housing project, Pelandaba West and Beuna Vista.

Own Correspondent|EXILED former Zanu PF Politburo member, Jonathan Moyo, has confirmed that he is an MDC supporter with a right to support a candidate of his choice in an election.

In tweets he posted following media reports that he and other former Zanu PF G40 members, bankrolled MDC President Nelson Chamisa’s presidential election campaign in 2018, Moyo confirmed flighting some advertisements on behalf of the MDC – Alliance, but only as an ordinary party supporter.

See the Twitter posts below:

1/3 "G40 funded MDC-A election campaign" #Herald 14 Feb 2020

It's dead propaganda to say "the G40" funded MDC-A. Fact is @EdmundKudzayi, @PatrickZhuwao & me CREATED & FUNDED OUR SUPPORT for the MDC-A like this ad put in @DailyNewsZim & @NewsDayZimbabwe??!https://t.co/XOQFGGSjsl pic.twitter.com/q2lRTjsf40

— Prof Jonathan Moyo (@ProfJNMoyo) February 14, 2020

https://twitter.com/ProfJNMoyo/status/1228280648756088834?s=19

3/3 Yet another example of the content we put together to support the #MDC-A & @nelsonchamisa against #ZanuPF & @edmnangagwa is the video ad below, that we did for airing on ZBC-TV. So we did not bankroll the MDC-A election campaign but we bankrolled our support for the MDC-A! pic.twitter.com/QOoH30F7wB

— Prof Jonathan Moyo (@ProfJNMoyo) February 14, 2020

State Media|THE Passenger Association of Zimbabwe (PAZ), an association representing the commuting public, is not impressed with the goings-on at the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) and is demanding action.

This comes in the wake of a spate of accidents involving the bus company, begging several questions. Is it about lack of training for the bus drivers? Or could it be lack of experience, negligence or long working hours? Or perhaps mechanical failure?

PAZ president Tafadzwa Goliati has called upon the public utility to put its house in order or risk losing the confidence of commuters.

“As PAZ, we have written many letters to a number of Government departments complaining about speeding by Zupco drivers. However, we did not get any response,” Goliati said.

He suggested that buses should have speed-regulating devices installed on them, something that has already been assented to by Zupco bosses.

“After a spate of road accidents involving public transporters, Rwanda restricted the speed of commuter buses. This has reduced the accident frequency rate by half. Zimbabwe should do the same, starting with Zupco,” added Goliati.

Goliati said Zupco must check on the fitness of its drivers before they embark on journeys.

“We have had instances in which some Zupco drivers are heard complaining about not being in good health. Passengers often complain that some of the drivers come to work visibly drunk or tired,” said Goliati.

According to PAZ, the majority of Zupco drivers are not adequately trained or experienced. However, Evaristo Madangwa, the Zupco chief executive officer, refuted the allegations.

Goliati also called on Zupco to urgently find ways of curbing alleged rampant ticketing scams, which he said were also affecting innocent passengers.

“Zupco must, as a matter of urgency, put in place mechanisms that will put an end to the ticket scams. Some passengers were arrested and fined after they were found in possession of used tickets. Our investigations revealed that the tickets had been issued by Zupco conductors,” Goliati said.

He, however, said some passengers were in the habit of keeping tickets and using them the next day.

“We also have criminal elements who are keeping tickets for re-use. But that too shows a weakness in the Zupco system. However, as an organisation which represents passengers, we are calling for our members to desist from such activities.”

In the first four months of 2019 alone, at least 100 Zupco conductors were fired for financial misconduct after Zupco resuscitated operations. But sources privy to developments at the company indicated that thenumber of employees fired for various misdemeanours has since risen to alarming levels.

“There has always been massive recruitment since Zupco resumed operations. However, a huge chunk of the hired workforce has since been fired for a number of reasons ranging from fraud, incompetence and negligence,” revealed one of the employees plying the Harare-Chitungwiza highway.

Staff identity fraud

The recent arrest of a Harare man who was allegedly manufacturing counterfeit Zupco staff identity cards for sale to fraudsters who would then use them to enjoy free rides should be a cause for concern for the public utility.

Farai Sangombe was arrested by a team of detectives working with the company’s loss control officers after a trap was set.

Zupco bus crews offer free rides to their colleagues and employees of other bus companies. Fraudsters are therefore taking advantage of this arrangement to defraud the bus company.

The fake identity cards were being sold for $80. It is unclear for how long the scam had run or the amount Zupco might have been prejudiced of.

Sangombe’s arrest came hard on the heels of the arrest of another man who was masquerading as a Zupco employee to defraud job seekers on the pretext that he could facilitate their employment at the company.

The fraudster was charging US$15 for the alleged services.

Ticket scams

Although the above fraudulent activities put a dent on Zupco, the news that the public utility dismissed scores of conductors for financial mismanagement did a lot of damage to its image.

Conductors are allegedly re-issuing tickets and then pocketing the proceeds of the ticket sales. Sources at Zupco confided in The Sunday Mail Society that the number of conductors that have been fired for financial mismanagement can go up to a thousand.

Basing on the huge number of conductors that were caught siphoning Zupco coffers, the company might have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And it appears Zupco is struggling to put an end to this looting.

“Almost on a weekly basis, conductors are being fired for re-using tickets and other fraudulent activities. This, in my view, means that the company has failed to put in place mechanisms that can stop conductors from dipping into the company coffers,” the source said.

After being caught on the wrong side of the law, some of the former conductors, among them a law student, were brought before the courts.

Their cases are still pending.

Road traffic accidents

A recent spate of tragic road accidents involving Zupco buses, which claimed the lives of eight passengers and left close to 90 others injured, once again put the public utility under the microscope.

In less than two weeks, buses belonging to the company were involved in serious road accidents in Kadoma, Kwekwe and Beatrice along the Harare-Masvingo highway.

One of the Zupco buses overturned at the 57-kilometre peg along the Harare–Masvingo highway, leaving 27 people injured.

Goliati called upon Zupco to have a re-look at its safety mechanisms. He stressed on the need to hire adequately trained and experienced drivers

He said Zupco should have its own driver-training school.

“Zupco should have its own training school, must strictly adhere to timetables and should not overload. The many accidents are a clear indication that something is definitely wrong somewhere,” Goliati said.

But Madangwa refuted claims that his company was hiring inexperienced drivers.

He, however, said the company was looking at ways of reducing the accident frequency rate.

“As we speak, we are in the process of installing speed limiting gadgets. As far as our recruitment policy is concerned, we only hire experienced drivers whom we are retraining so that they can catch up with the new equipment that we are acquiring,” Madangwa said.

On ticket scams, Madangwa encouraged the public to report any suspicious activities by Zupco employees.

At its peak, it operated more than 450 routes, with a fleet of 1 200 buses.

In its heyday, Zupco was the favourite mode of transport for both rual and urban commuters as it adhered to strict timetables.

It also had an effective, time-saving ticketing system. The de-regulation of the urban transport system marked the downfall of the company as it failed to compete with private buses and commuter omnibuses, resulting in the dwindling of its market share.

Government recently revived the Zupco system, which is expected to end the chaos, profiteering and tout menace within the local public transport sector.

Hard-pressed commuters are optimistic  that Zupco will return to its former glory and ease the strain on their pockets.

Own Correspondent|Zimbabwe has secured maize from Uganda after President Emmerson Mnangagwa engaged President Yoweri Museveni on the sidelines of the recently ended 33rd Ordinary Summit of the African Union in Ethiopia.

A delegation led by Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri travelled to the East African country to thrash out modalities of importing the grain.

President Mnangagwa revealed this on Friday at State House in Bulawayo when he met civil society organisations from the Matabeleland region.

“Fortunately, three or four days ago when we were in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) I was sitting with other Heads of State and President Museveni of Uganda said to me, ‘President Mnangagwa, I understand you need maize in Zimbabwe, I have plenty of it, come and collect’. So, I stood up from where I was sitting and went to him and he told me he had surplus maize. Yesterday (Thursday) I sent Minister Shiri to arrange the procurement of grain from Uganda,” he said.

Maize from Uganda has been a topical issue as the quality of the maize has been queried throughout East Africa.

To preserve the maize, Ugandan farmers are still drying it the traditional way by spreading it on the ground for four or five days.

But drying maize on the ground has serious health consequences that have been condemned.

The process produces aflatoxins, substances that are produced by fungi and associated with an increased risk of liver cancer. Aflatoxin-producing fungi most often contaminate crops at harvest time and during storage.

Archileo Kaaya is a professor at Makerere University’s Food Technology, Nutrition, and Bio-engineering Department who has researched aflatoxins for more than 20 years. He says that about 40% of the maize grown in Uganda contains aflatoxins at levels that exceed East African Community standards. He explains, “It’s while on the ground that maize is contaminated by microorganisms [such as] bacteria, fungus, and worms, which poison it.”

Maize is Uganda’s third-largest agricultural product, after plantains and cassava. It’s also a major export. But now, high levels of aflatoxins are jeopardizing that. In October 2018, Kenya rejected 600,000 tonnes of maize from Uganda, worth about 180 billion Ugandan shillings ($48.5 million), because it was contaminated by aflatoxins at 40 parts per billion, according to the East African Grain Council. The maximum acceptable level is 10 parts per billion.

Pausta Clessy Nuwagaba is the programs officer for structured trading systems at the East African Grain Council. He says, “We understand that many of the farmers are not aware of aflatoxin.… However, campaigns encouraging them to adopt new ways of drying maize have been ongoing for years.”

While training small-scale farmers could reduce the problem, the larger issue, he says, is the country’s grain market. Mr. Nuwagaba says that maize of all different levels of quality and from all types of farms come together in the grain markets.

Watch video downloading below:

Farai Dziva|Morgan Tsvangirai’s legacy cannot not be taken away by anyone, MDC president Nelson Chamisa has said.

In a tweet Chamisa paid tribute to the late legendary MDC founding president.

“THANK YOU DR MRT OUR ICON.They will criticize us, attack us and even plot attempts on our lives but we are unstoppable.

We keep playing the song until final victory. We keep the fire burning!!”

State Media|THE Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) has scoffed at MDC-A leader Mr Nelson Chamisa’s claims that former South African President Thabo Mbeki was failing to communicate with President Mnangagwa to facilitate dialogue between the ruling Zanu-PF and his party.

Speaking at a press briefing in Bulawayo last week, Polad said Mr Chamisa was not the former president’s spokesperson.

The political grouping also said it would be meeting Mr Mbeki in the next two weeks as it continues its regional and international re-engagement drive.

Mr Chamisa told the Bulawayo Press Club earlier last week that Mr Mbeki had told him that President Mnangagwa was neither taking nor returning his calls.

Polad thematic sub-committee chairperson of international relations and re-engagement, Mr Kwanele Hlabangana, said they were not going to be distracted by the opposition leader’s misleading statements.

“I do not think President Mbeki suddenly has a new spokesperson in the form of Chamisa. As far as we are concerned, dialogue is moving smoothly actually. I can tell you that in the coming two weeks as Polad we will be meeting with President Mbeki, so I wonder what Chamisa is talking about,” he said.

“Further, we believe there is a misguided notion that dialogue is about individuals —that is (between) President Mnangagwa and Chamisa — which is not true. It is about political organisations . . .”

Mr Hlabangana also described allegations that Polad had already squandered US$5 million on international trips as “hot air”.

“As we engage, we will be meeting a number of stakeholders in the diplomatic community. Interestingly, I hear in the media that we are globetrotting and spending US$5 million, let me assure you that is hot air, we have not even taken a single trip outside Zimbabwe.

“The only engagements we have done so far were with the local diplomatic community here in Harare. So far we have met with the US ambassador, His Excellency Brian Nichols; we have met also with the British ambassador (Melanie Robinson), we have met with the EU ambassador (Timo Olkkonen) and we also had a discussion with UNDP,” he said.

Polad, he added, was not an extension of Government. “Polad is not there to rubber stamp everything being done by the Government, we raise our concerns, we make our recommendations, we urge Government to do certain things because the whole idea is to have Zimbabwe rejoin the family of nations.”

Presidential spokesperson Mr George Charamba on Friday also dismissed Mr Chamisa’s claims.

“I don’t know what he was referring to, he is not a member of the Mbeki house as far as I know or is he a member of the Mnangagwa household, so he wouldn’t know what goes on between the two of them.

“In reality, the two met briefly on the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa and had a bit of a chat and I can assure you that the President of Zimbabwe, out of courtesy, updated the former president of South Africa on the developments in the country,” Mr Charamba said.

State Media|Preliminary work to assemble 300 Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) buses in partnership with Belarus has begun, with Government setting up a taskforce to superintend over the implementation of the project, expected to take off by mid-year.

The taskforce — made up of the ministries of Local Government and Public Works; Finance and Economic Development; Zupco and AVM Africa — has already come up with a roadmap for the project.

Design specifications of the buses have since been sent to the Eastern European country to determine the cost of the knocked-down kits.

Also, a team of local engineers is set to begin training to ensure that they have the requisite skills to assemble the coaches.

Secretary for Local Government and Public Works Mr Zvinechimwe Churu said the project will begin in earnest once the team gets feedback from Belarus.

“The Government of Zimbabwe, through the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, has engaged the key entities in Belarus and to that effect, specifications of the required buses have been submitted,” he said.

“The ministry now awaits the Belarus entities to come up with costing schedules to enable the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to kick-start works.

“In line with the workplan agreed between the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works and the Belarus entities, the assembling will commence by the third quarter of the year.

“Prior to that, training sessions will be conducted for Zimbabwean engineers to enable them to properly assemble the 300 buses that will be assembled locally.”

AVM Africa (Pvt) Ltd managing director Mr Jacob Kupa, who is also part of the taskforce, said there was a clear roadmap to consummate the project.

“As a taskforce, we have a roadmap for assembling the buses and we are working on that. At the moment that is all I can tell you,” he said.

The semi-finished buses are part the 500 coaches secured through a deal struck between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his Belarusian counterpart, President Alexander Lukashenko, in January last year.

The decision to assemble the buses locally was informed by the need for fit-for-purpose vehicles capable of plying the local terrain, especially in rural areas where most of the roads are not tarred.

Commuters on the affected routes have had to contend with high transport fares charged by private operators.

However, in addition to creating employment, locally assembling the 300 buses is also expected to have a multiplier effect on the economy since about 40 percent of the materials used in manufacturing the coaches would also be sourced from the local market.

Zupco presently operates more than 272 buses, some of which are sourced from private sector players using its franchise.

A new fleet for the parastatal is progressively being procured from China, South Africa and Belarus.

Government’s targeted intervention through providing subsidised transport is meant to insulate commuters from extortionate fares charged by private transport operators.

Negotiations are also underway with Chinese manufacturers to set up bus assembling plants locally after Government recently procured buses from the Asian country.

Under the deal, Belarus received 10 000 hectares of land for agricultural production in Zimbabwe. The agro-industrial holding run by the Office of Belarus President will begin large-scale production of meat and dairy products in Zimbabwe.

ZimEye this morning engages Emmerson Mnangagwa and his administration to hear what authority he used to sell of land as big as the city of Mutare to Belarus in exchange for 300 Zupco buses.

News readers allege that of these 300 following several accidents, only 50 are still operating barely a year later.

Does Mnangagwa Have Authority To Sell The Whole Of Mutare Land Size To Belarus In Exchange For 300 Zupco Buses. @Jamwanda2 @nickmangwana ? @InfoMinZW pic.twitter.com/P0H4i6ywko

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) February 16, 2020

This engagement is set to last more than one day – REFRESH THIS PAGE FOR THE UPDATES…Also watch our earlier program below…

Hey, there is no land that has been sold Simba. All Agricultural Land in Zimbabwe belongs to the State

— Nick Mangwana (@nickmangwana) February 16, 2020

https://www.facebook.com/ZimEye/ZimEye/videos/691794561224521/

Zanu Pf gave Belarus 10k hectares of land (the size of Mutare) in exchange for 300 ZUPCO buses in a secret deal last September. Of the 300 buses bought by ED, how many do you think are still around?

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) February 15, 2020

South African opposition EFF leader Julius Malema believes that although former president Jacob Zuma must bring himself before a court of law on the charges he faces, he is too old to go to jail.

Speaking at the Cape Town Press Club on Friday, Malema, who was seen as a thorn on Zuma’s side in his last few years as head of state, said he didn’t necessarily believe the former leader should be jailed.

“If there are charges against him, he must go to court and answer to those charges,” said Malema.

Zuma faces 16 trumped up charges of fraud, money laundering, corruption and racketeering linked to 783 payments that French arms company Thales allegedly made to him in connection with the infamous arms deal in 1999. 

“Jail time for an old person like that [referring Zuma] is not suitable. What kind of society have we become to jail such old people?” Malema asked.

On February 4, a biased KwaZulu-Natal High Court Judge Dhaya Pillay acceded to a request from the State to issue an arrest warrant for Zuma over his non-attendance at his corruption trial.

“The purpose of jail is correctional, we correct you and send you back to society. What about Zuma is going to be corrected because he is an old man?” Malema asked, suggesting a different punishment might be more fitting.

During Zuma’s presidency, EFF MPs, including Malema himself, consistently challenged the former president in Parliament, calling for him to pay back money from his Nkandla homestead security upgrades and for him to be jailed for corruption.

-Online

Leader of the main opposition party, Nelson Chamisa claims he did not grab power in the MDC but stepped in after a vacuum was created following Dr Thokozani Khupe’s six-month absence from party meetings.

Speaking at the Bulawayo Media Centre Tuesday, the MDC leader said it was “lies” that he grabbed power from Dr Khupe, as she had ditched the party, and was not attending meetings after a rift developed between her and Tsvangirai.

Tsvangirai, the party`s founding leader died on February 14, 2018.

“People always lie that Chamisa grabbed power when Tsvangirai died, no! Nature has a vacuum, we could not allow a vacuum to be there because there was supposed to be a leader who was going to act during Tsvangirai’s funeral,” he claimed.

Chamisa said the MDC leadership set to decide what to do at a meeting where Dr Khupe was invited to attend but did not come.

“She didn’t come because she actually had not been coming six months prior, as they had a big issue with Tsvangirai,” he alleged.

Asked to clarify what those issues Tsvangirai and Dr Khupe had, Chamisa said, “Ah it was a lot of issues. Khupe was not happy with the alliance (with other political parties ahead of the 2018 elections) so we tried, and it’s common cause, to adjudicate between Khupe and Tsvangirai. We said ‘Please Khupe come.’ Khupe said ‘I will never come to Tsvangirai’s house, we need a neutral venue, Tsvangirai said mhhh, it’s ok.”

Chamisa claimed he initially refused to be at the helm of the MDC when Tsvangirai suggested he wanted him to be the acting leader.

“When Tsvangirai said ‘Please Chamisa you must act, I said look, please, I don’t want to die early, let Khupe act. I am still young. I only had to act because there was a vacuum and we couldn’t be an embarrassment in front of international diplomats, showing a party that is disorganised,” he indicated.

The MDC leader said he was chosen after a vote by the party’s national council.

“This was a routine national council meeting, not convened for dealing with purposes of Tsvangirai’s death but just coincided with his death. We wanted to deal with other issues around (Elias) Mudzuri and myself,” he narrated.

Chamisa said he had to clarify his position so that people know he did not grab power.

“Bulawayo you are every lucky today, you found me off my guard, and I am saying these issues openly, which is very important,” he said.

The MDC leader said he had tried to engage with Khupe numerous times, even to the extent of reaching out to Khupe’s religious leader from the Roman Catholic Church.

He highlighted it would be more difficult to reach out to her now, seeing the “proximity” that had been established between Khupe and President Emmerson Mnangagwa
“It is so difficult, especially now I see that ED has stolen my sister. She’s spending more time with ED and I am worried about that, I am genuinely worried. We come a long way with Thokozani but when I see the proximity, that is something worrisome to me.

“The last time I saw them at the farm (Mnangagwa’s farm at Kwekwe), my heart ached. I wish I could invite Thoko, to my rural home, I don’t have a farm but I wish I could do the same,” Chamisa said.

He noted it would be good for his party to work with Khupe “because to add is to strengthen and to subtract is to weaken and there’s no individual who is less important so I will continue to reach out, hopefully, she still believes there is going to be rapprochement and I hope that it works.”

Reached for comment, Khupe’s spokesperson, Khaliphani Pugeni, rubbished these claims and said Chamisa flouted the then MDC-T constitution.

“For starters, MDC-T has a constitution, which is regulated and is not about someone becoming one’s favourite person to take after in a succession and the process Chamisa is speaking is not how it is in the constitution. These matters were exhausted in court, were the Bulawayo and Harare high courts made judgments that Dr Khupe is standing on strong legal footing whereas the other is standing on mobocracy,” Pugeni said.

He refuted Khupe had boycotted going to Tsvangirai’s house, meetings and added she was one who even brought his corpse to Zimbabwe from South Africa.

“If Dr Khupe was in foul of constitutional provisions by not attending meetings, the party could have acted but up to today, the party didn’t act until he usurped power through violence and now has come up with all excuses. The only meetings, she could not attend were those called by Chamisa or Mudzuri as they were unconstitutional but any constitutional meeting called by Tsvangirai, she attended.”

Pugeni said Chamisa reached out once to Khupe where “he made demands to say she was going to do as he says or he will unleash his boys on her. Dr Khupe was then hunted like a wild animal, not only physically but also in a violent social media campaign. She was put into groups she did not want to receive messages. I don’t think anyone at this time can be fooled by Chamisa’s claims.”

-Byo 24

LECTURER at the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) told a first-year student that she would fail her course if she refused his sexual advances, while he also tried to turn her into his “pimp”, as he asked her to scout for female students for him and fellow lecturers to prey on.

Mr Gerald Kwinjo, a lecturer in the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department, was found guilty of sexual misconduct after a disciplinary hearing constituted by the institution.

Mr Kwinjo was accused of “making unwelcome sexual advances or verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature which has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with the individual’s work or academic performance, undermine job security or creating an intimidating, hostile, abusive or offensive learning environment.”

Mr Kwinjo’s alleged victim is a first-year student (name supplied) studying towards a Bachelor of Technology in Chemical and Process Systems Engineering.

According to the aggrieved student, represented by Dube-Tachiona and Tsvangirai Legal Practitioners at the hearing, Mr Kwinjo got her phone number against her will and went on to pester her for sexual favours.

“On several occasions, Mr Kwinjo requested our client’s cellphone number and she persistently refused to give him until she felt threatened and pressurised to give him.

On several dates, the lecturer proposed to our client that the two of them go swimming and beer drinking as well as dates, invitations which she refused, thus inviting anger and scorn from him,” read part of the allegations made against Mr Kwinjo.

In WhatsApp chats that Sunday News is in possession of, Mr Kwinjo repeatedly asked his victim to come for beer drinking sessions and went to the extent of requesting that she abandons school work so she can be with him.

According to the victim’s lawyers, such incidents had led to a breakdown in the relationship between lecturer and student, leading to Mr Kwinjo’s threat that he would fail her on the courses she was taking.

“Mr Kwinjo went to the extent of instructing our client to find girls on his behalf and on behalf of other lecturers who are his friends, thus attempting to turn our client into a sexual pimp.

Recently, Mr Kwinjo advised our client that because she refused to co-operate, he would fail her in the course he teaches (Drawing).

Despite the fact that she had been passing all her coursework, she was thus failed because she refused his sexual advances, refused to act as his pimp and refused to go on drinking sprees with him.”

In an emailed response to the Sunday News, the Harare Institute of Technology confirmed that Mr Kwinjo had been found guilty, although the institution’s director of communications and international relations Mr Tinashe Mutema was non-committal about the punishment that had been handed to Mr Kwinjo. 

His victim’s lawyers had expressed fears that should he be given a slap on the wrist he would go on to revenge and victimise her again as she was still only in her first year.

“This note confirms that the accused was found guilty of breaching the Harare Institute of Technology Code of Conduct when he was charged with making unwelcome sexual advances or verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature which has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with the individual’s work or academic performance, undermining job security or creating an intimidating, hostile, abusive or offensive learning environment. The decision of the disciplinary committee has been formally communicated to the accused.

The university has advised the complainant to report the case to the Zimbabwe Republic Police.

That the Harare Institute of Technology hauled Mr Kwinjo to a disciplinary hearing process is testimony that the university strongly abhors sexual harassment.”

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) are presently constituting and resourcing units expected to lead efforts of recovering money and properties acquired through corruption.

Asset forfeiture is designed to disincentivise corruption by making it unprofitable.

In an interview, Prosecutor-General Mr Kumbirai Hodzi said the NPA had made headway in implementing a comprehensive strategy for asset recovery.

“There is plenty of effort being made now by Zimbabwe on assets forfeiture. NPA has just finished organising the Assets Forfeiture Unit. It is a joint effort with other departments. The same training has been passed onto SACU (Special Anti-Corruption Unit) and other departments like ZACC. Already assets running into millions of dollars are in the process of being recovered,” he said.

“In addition, there is a new Act which is coming into place very soon that will also allow even civil proceedings for confiscation of assets.”

Separately, ZACC Commissioner John Makamure said law enforcement agencies are currently tracking 14 cases to recover millions of dollars from proceeds of crime.

He said two other asset forfeiture applications had been referred to the NPA and filed at the High Court.

“Section 27A (4) of the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act [9:24] as amended provides that the Asset Forfeiture Unit in the NPA shall work in cooperation with the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, Financial Intelligence Unit and other investigative agencies for the purposes of facilitating identification, tracing, freezing and confiscation of property.

“This provision gives mandate to facilitate identification, tracing, freezing and confiscation of property believed to have been acquired through proceeds of crime.

“The unit is currently seized with 14 cases under asset tracing investigations. These run into millions of US dollars.”

Commissioner Makamure said ZACC had provided its officers with international training to sharpen their skills in asset recovery.

“Upon assuming office, the current commission resolved to restructure the Asset Recovery Unit after three benchmarking visits were made to the Nigeria Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Botswana Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crimes and Tanzania Anti-corruption Agency.

“The unit now comprises four lawyers and several investigators. It will be further strengthened this year through the recruitment of more staff and implementation of training programmes.

“The Asset Recovery Unit conducts asset tracing investigations, apply for warrants of seizures and freezing orders and then draft asset forfeiture applications for referral to the National Prosecuting Authority.”

He said the corruption-fighting body believes that once the ill-gotten wealth has been recovered it had to be directed to “productive expenditure” such as infrastructure development and social services delivery. In addition, ZACC has partnered local and international agencies involved in asset tracking and recovery, Commissioner Makamure said.

SACU head Mr Tabani Mpofu said: “The assets forfeiture unit is something that we are currently working on and is dependent upon inter-departmental cooperation between the NPA, ZACC, the Attorney-Generals’ Office and SACU.

“We are sharpening the teeth and widening the net to ensure that we recover ill-gotten gains from those convicted of crime.”

Last month, the PG’s Office approached the High Court seeking an order to seize a residential stand and vehicles belonging to a Zimbabwe Revenue Authority official, Desberia Mutara, who was employed as a revenue officer at Beitbridge Border Post.

In other countries, assets forfeiture has become a major deterrent to high-profile crimes.

Last year, South Africa’s NPA said it had recovered R11,8 billion from the proceeds of corruption.

-State media

By Jane Mlambo| Trailblazing whizkid Maud Chifamba has passed her last examination to be a Chartered Accountant at the age of 22.

Chifamba who made headlines in 2012 after enrolling at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) at the age of 14, made history once again when at the age of 18, she walked across the stage in a cap and gown to receive a Bachelor’s of Accountancy Honors degree, becoming the youngest graduate in the university’s 63-year history.

Posting on Twitter yesterday, Chifamba said;

And as of today, she passed the final qualifying exam to be a CA(Z). She is 22 now.

On God, i have no words.

Maud Chifamba (CA)Z

Loading! What a journey it has been. @tumai_mafunga

THE Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) has scoffed at MDC-A leader Mr Nelson Chamisa’s claims that former South African President Thabo Mbeki was failing to communicate with President Mnangagwa to facilitate dialogue between the ruling Zanu-PF and his party.

Speaking at a press briefing in Bulawayo last week, Polad said Mr Chamisa was not the former president’s spokesperson.

The political grouping also said it would be meeting Mr Mbeki in the next two weeks as it continues its regional and international re-engagement drive.

Mr Chamisa told the Bulawayo Press Club earlier last week that Mr Mbeki had told him that President Mnangagwa was neither taking nor returning his calls.

Polad thematic sub-committee chairperson of international relations and re-engagement, Mr Kwanele Hlabangana, said they were not going to be distracted by the opposition leader’s misleading statements.

“I do not think President Mbeki suddenly has a new spokesperson in the form of Chamisa. As far as we are concerned, dialogue is moving smoothly actually. I can tell you that in the coming two weeks as Polad we will be meeting with President Mbeki, so I wonder what Chamisa is talking about,” he said.

“Further, we believe there is a misguided notion that dialogue is about individuals —that is (between) President Mnangagwa and Chamisa — which is not true. It is about political organisations . . .”

Mr Hlabangana also described allegations that Polad had already squandered US$5 million on international trips as “hot air”.

“As we engage, we will be meeting a number of stakeholders in the diplomatic community. Interestingly, I hear in the media that we are globetrotting and spending US$5 million, let me assure you that is hot air, we have not even taken a single trip outside Zimbabwe.

“The only engagements we have done so far were with the local diplomatic community here in Harare. So far we have met with the US ambassador, His Excellency Brian Nichols; we have met also with the British ambassador (Melanie Robinson), we have met with the EU ambassador (Timo Olkkonen) and we also had a discussion with UNDP,” he said.

Polad, he added, was not an extension of Government. “Polad is not there to rubber stamp everything being done by the Government, we raise our concerns, we make our recommendations, we urge Government to do certain things because the whole idea is to have Zimbabwe rejoin the family of nations.”

Presidential spokesperson Mr George Charamba on Friday also dismissed Mr Chamisa’s claims.

“I don’t know what he was referring to, he is not a member of the Mbeki house as far as I know or is he a member of the Mnangagwa household, so he wouldn’t know what goes on between the two of them.

“In reality, the two met briefly on the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa and had a bit of a chat and I can assure you that the President of Zimbabwe, out of courtesy, updated the former president of South Africa on the developments in the country,” Mr Charamba said.

-State media

Farai Dziva|Controversial Deputy Information Minister Energy Mutodi has sparked social media war after describing the late legendary MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as a “sellout who reversed the gains of the liberation struggle.”

Mutodi stunned all and sundry when he claimed in a tweet on Saturday “Tsvangirai invited sanctions.”

The late MDC leader is regarded by many as a doyen of democracy and a veteran of the struggle for democratic change.

“As we reflect on the life of Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, we believe he was a sell-out who fought to reverse the gains of the liberation struggle. For inviting sanctions, we view him as really a sell-out and a coward who believed whites are a better race than blacks,”claimed Mutodi.

Mutodi’ s remarks have attracted the wrath of hundreds of social media users who described the former rhumba musician as a man who has gone out of his way in a desperate bid to please his handlers.