By Simba Chikanza | A video has emerged of ZANU PF President Emmerson Mnangagwa boasting that he is better than the Harare City Council. The clip was released by the Information Ministry which has blamed the capital city’s water problems on the MDC run Harare City Council.

The Information Ministry says Mnangagwa’s government has moved swiftly to address the water crisis. In their advertorial they said: for long residents of the city struggled to get clean consistent running water, the problem seems to be a result of Council’s failure to provide a solution. Action was desperately needed and the government has moved swiftly to address this challenge.

In the older clip, the ZANU PF president is seen saying, “we want this problem to be behind us. And for it to be behind us all the stakeholders have been at the meeting so each stakeholder will do his or her part and government will do its part in terms of financing. Isu ve hurumende, tisu tichabvisa mari kuti zvigadzikwe vigogadzikwa! – we are the government shall do the fixing of everything by releasing all the funds needed, ” he said.

Harare City Council’s water problem began in the 1990s when the government squandered money meant for the construction of Kunzvi dam expansion works. Compounded with this was the government’s destructive work of stripping local councils of their autonomy to effectively run all operations from government.

“All these years (24), Kunzvi has had notice placards announcing that works are in progress,” the Harare mayor His Worship Herbert Gomba told ZimEye in an interview.

To this day, councils are run from the ZANU PF headquarters.

Added to the water issue, the government back in the 1980s also stripped the Harare city council of its bus network, Harare United, as well as the local council’s electricity authority, to form separate companies run along party lines. Meanwhile, the ZANU PF creations – ZUPCO, and ZESA have since been run down amid massive corruption, since the 1990s.

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Own Correspondent|A video has emerged of ZANU PF President Emmerson Mnangagwa boasting that he is better than the Harare City Council.

The clip which ZimEye.com has shared at the bottom of this article, was released by the Information Ministry which has blamed the capital city’s water problems on the MDC run Harare City Council.

The Information Ministry says Mnangagwa’s government has moved swiftly to address the water crisis. In their advertorial they said: for long residents of the city struggled to get clean consistent running water, the problem seems to be a result of Council’s failure to provide a solution. Action was desperately needed and the government has moved swiftly to address this challenge.

In the older clip, the ZANU PF president is seen saying, “we want this problem to be behind us. And for it to be behind us all the stakeholderrs have been at the meeting so each stakeholder will do his or her part and government will do its part in terms of financing. Isu ve hurumende, tisu tichabvisa mari kuti zvigadzikwe vigogadzikwa! – we are the government shall do the fixing of everything by releasing all the funds needed, ” he said.

Watch video downloading below:

https://www.facebook.com/ZimEye/3060454370846975/

The ruling party youths are set to launch a massive campaign against the Vice President Constantino Chiwenga under the fight against corruption and cartels. Speaking on Friday Lewis Matutu promised to name and shame certain individuals on Monday.

This is not the first time the party youths have threatened to name and shame corrupt officials in the party. Last time the youth league named a few less powerful leaders and one major ommission was the former Minister of Mines and Energy Obert Mpofu. The latest campaign is set to include figures linked to the VP Guveya Chiwenga. An insider in the party believes the youths are being used by the other faction. ‘While it is true that we have corruption in the land this should not be used to fight the other faction. We are seeing the current President using the same template that Robert Mugabe used to fire Mujuru and Mnangagwa, this campaign will target faces behind Chiwenga’. 

Top on the list of looters in Zimbabwe is Kudakwashe Tagwirei of Sakunda Holdings. Although it is not so clear which side Mr Tagwire belongs to many youths in the party said he is the one behind Chiwenga. Tagwirei was mentioned in court papers involving Mary and Chiwenga divorce. He donated a Toyota Lexus SUV to the Vice President for use in matters involving Command agriculture. Although the youth members remained tight lipped some say Tagwire has benefited from a lot of corrupt deals not only in command agriculture and fuel but diamond mining also.

If the youths gather enough evidence and courage they promised to directly link VP Chiwenga to corruption and the missing $15 billlion from diamond mines. Speaking to Dangwe News one member said they were not linked to any faction but to cleanse the party and country of corruption but when pressed if they would mention Mnangagwe and his sons the gentleman become angry telling us to leave the Mnangagwas out.

Dangwe Media

Farai Dziva| A Zimbabwean bishop has urged MDC leader Nelson Chamisa to accept the outcome of the 2018 polls because “God approved Emmerson Mnangagwa’s victory.

Bishop Roderick Makusha of Deeper Life Ministries inferred that God “may have approved the rigging.”

“Sometimes even if you lose after being rigged you have to be realistic and accept the result because God would have given his stamp of approval.

You have to accept the results so that the nation can move forward.

You have to focus on the future because one day if you are still alive you will rule Zimbabwe,” said Bishop Makusha.

The Best African Pop Song Award:
Ishan Featuring Ti Gonz – Kure
Tamy Moyo – Kwandinobva
Tamy Moyo – Zviroto
Fusion 5 Mangwiro – African Woman
_____________________________________________
The Best Zimdancehall Song Award:
Nutty O – Vroom
Bazooka – Bodo
Seh Calaz featuring Mambo Dhuterere – Reurura
_____________________________________________
The Best Hiphop Song Award:
Ti Gonz – Mabazooka
Takura – Noise
Junior Brown – Loud
P. D. Ghost Featuring Gze – 5 Pm
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The Best RnB Song Award:
Hilzy, Gary Mapanzure – TV Room
Brian Nhira – Love love
Nyasha David featuring Prosper – Die In Your Arms
Brian K – Mai Vevana
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The Best House Song Award:
Novuyo Sea Girl – Bambelela
Lloyd Soul – Lavida loca
DJ Stavo Featuring Gemma – Bad News
Sam Music – Vuka
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The Best Song by Zimbabwean in the Diaspora Award:
Brian Nhira – Love love
Norman Masamba – Chihera
Vimbai Zimuto – Kurunga
Nox Guni – I’m In Love
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The Best Gospel Song Award:
Janet Manyowa – Ndimi
Joyful Praise – Ngoro Yeminana
Jonah Chivasa – Ndozvinoita Nyasha
Seh Calaz featuring Mambo Dhuterere – Reurura
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The Best Newcomer Award:
Ishan featuring Ti Gonz – Kure
Mambo Dhuterere – Mweya
Fusion Five Mangwiro – African Woman
Joyful Praise – Ngoro Yeminana
_____________________________________________
The Best Female Artist Award:
Tamy Moyo
Janet Manyowa
Ammara Brown
Novuyo Sea Girl
_____________________________________________
The Best Male Artist Award:
Ishan
Freeman
Mambo Dhuterere
Ti Gonz
_____________________________________________
The Best Duo/Group Award:
Fusion 5 Mangwiro – African Woman
Fusion 5 Mangwiro – Katarina
Ngoma Ingoma – Malobolo
Joyful Praise – Ngoro Yeminana
_____________________________________________
The Best Collaboration Award:
Ishan featuring T Gonz – Kure
Freeman featuring Alick Macheso – Ngaibake
Seh Calaz featuring Mambo Dhuterere – Reurura
Hilzy featuring Gary Mapanzure – TV Room
_____________________________________________
The Best Producer Award:
Cymplex
DJ Tamuka
Rodney Beats
Chiweddar
_____________________________________________
The Song of the Year Award:
Ishan featuring Ti Gonz – Kure
Freeman featuring Alick Macheso – Ngaibake
Nutty O – Vroom
Takura – Noise
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The Album of the Year Award:
Freeman – Gango
Joyful Praise – Season 2
King 98 – Francesca
Asaph – The Peeps Rapper

Correspondent|Former Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation employees have died of stress and depression related illnesses, media activist Busi Bhebhe has said.

Posting an obituary of the late former Spot FM Boss Maureen Khumalo on Facebook  Bhebhe said, “I just wish to say that there are too too many former ZBC (media) employees who have died following the turmoil of the 2000s that brought sudden drastic changes to the media landscape in Zimbabwe. The government has dragged its feet in compensating hundreds of them. Dozens have died in poverty from stress and depression related complications.”

Bhebhe added that she hoped the stories of the unfortunate former employees will be chronicled.

“I hope someday someone will be interested and brave enough to tell their stories. Rest in Peace MaKhumalo omuhle.

“Many of you will remember her from her ZBC TV days during ZITF or on radio she was called Maureen “The Voice” Khumalo on SFM before she became station manager. Later she joined the ZITF marketing team. Thanks to everyone that offered their support emotionally and otherwise to the work of laying her to rest.”

The late Khumalo, who was once the head of the Bulawayo-based Spot FM radio station, resigned in 2003 amid allegations of nepotism levelled against her.

During the days of her resignation Khumalo refused to respond to the allegations of nepotism.

“Yes, I have resigned, but on the issue of nepotism you are talking about, I am afraid I will not comment. All I can confirm is that I have resigned.” She told the media then.

Farai Dziva| A Zimbabwean bishop has urged MDC leader Nelson Chamisa to accept the outcome of the 2018 polls because God “approved” Emmerson Mnangagwa’s victory.

Bishop Roderick Makusha of Deeper Life Ministries suggested that God “may have approved the rigging.”

“Sometimes even if you lose after being rigged you have to be realistic and accept the result because God would have given his stamp of approval.

You have to accept the results so that the nation can move forward.

You have to focus on the future because one day if you are still alive you will rule Zimbabwe,” said Bishop Makusha.

HARARE City Council has most of its fleet grounded because of minor faults and theft of vehicle parts by workers.

The capital’s city fathers are angry and demanding immediate disciplinary action against its workers for sleeping on duty and theft of vehicle parts.

Most city refuse collection trucks are currently grounded due to minor faults. Environment Management Committee chairperson Kudzai Kanzombe said it was shocking that the local authority was being accused of failure to collect refuse and exposing residents to health hazards because of minor faults that had grounded trucks at workshops across the city.

She said there were also reports of theft by workers of new spares parts bought for the trucks.

“We did a tour as the Environmental Management Committee after noticing discrepancies in reports we received. We made a resolution to have our waste management fleet repaired and increased from the 22 that we had to 46. We later noticed that despite all the financial commitments we were investing in the fleet, it was actually decreasing,” Kanzombe said after the tour.

Ordinarily, council should have 46 trucks, one for each ward.

After touring workshops in Highfield, Kopje, Mugombe automobile workshops and Nenyere, the committee heard that some trucks were down out of neglect.

“That is unacceptable,” said Kanzombe. “There are refuse compactors that were down for simple things such as ATF oil, batteries and springs. A payment was then made to procure and fix the vehicles with a highly monitored programme, and equipment requesting procedure that makes it possible for the increase of our fleet to ensure better service delivery for our residents.”

Council has been under fire over failure to collect refuse, exposing millions of residents to water-borne diseases.

“We have now received reports of newly-purchased vehicle parts being stolen and swapped for reconditioned parts. There has been a tender that was awarded for CCTV two years ago to minimise the thefts, but up to now there has been no delivery,” Kanzombe said.

“There has to be a complete change of work culture in the city of Harare if we ever are to attain the smart city status by 2025. As policymakers, it is our mandate to ensure that residents get value of their money as we are the people’s councillors.”

-The Standard

Own Correspondent|Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has announced that it will review Data and SMS bundle prices with effect from Tuesday 4 February 2020.

Econet, however, has not revealed the new prices for Data and SMS bundles.  Econet last hiked data tariffs several months ago.

The announcement comes after Zimbabwe’s major Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) lobbied the Postal & Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ) to increase the price on voice calls as well as Data and SMS bundles.

Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown constitutes the biggest threat to Zanu PF’s continued hold on power, the ruling party has admitted.

The country is going through one of the worst economic crises since 2013 characterised by severe currency shortages, scarce fuel supplies and galloping inflation.

A United Nations expert last month said Zimbabwe was on the brink of a man made starvation.

Hilal Elver, the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food, made the observation after an 11-day assessment.

She attributed the crisis to hyperinflation, poverty, natural disasters and economic sanctions, among other things.

The government, however, described Elver’s findings as exaggerations but the admission by Zanu PF in a central committee report tabled at the ruling party’s just-ended annual conference in Goromonzi showed that the authorities are having sleepless nights over the crisis.

In the report, Zanu PF commissar Victor Matemadanda said the crisis threatened the party’s own existence. Zanu PF does not take responsibility for the chaos in the economy.

“The most latent security threat that has great consequences is the unstable economy, which is largely propelled by the parallel market (black market),” reads part of the report.

“Formal trading prices are determined by the parallel market exchange rate, which has been sharply rising on a daily basis.

“Prices of all commodities and services have followed suit to unsustainable levels.

“Most people are failing to make ends meet, so are poverty levels that are rising very much throughout the country.

“As a result, anger is brewing among the citizens while there is loss of confidence on the direction the economy is taking.”

In January a steep increase in the price of fuel led to violent protests across the country, which were ruthlessly put down by the army and police.

Human rights groups said as many as 17 people were killed when security forces fired live ammunition during the three days of demonstrations.

At least several women were allegedly raped by soldiers. Since then the government has been refusing to give the main opposition MDC clearance to hold protests, saying the situation in the country remained volatile.

The central committee report recommended that Zanu PF should prioritise programmes aimed at resuscitating the economy for its survival.

“As the party continues to prioritise the resuscitation of the economy, the national security (organs) need to maintain a peaceful environment around the country to enable unperturbed economic growth,” the report added.

Zanu PF also describes the MDC and civil society groups as a security threat as they are allegedly working together in efforts to topple Mnangagwa.

“The opposition, together with their international allies, have attempted to put pressure on President Mnangagwa to start a separate dialogue with opposition leader Nelson Chamisa,” the report added.

“It is interesting to note that some NGOs, civil society organisations and some western countries continue to fight in the opposition’s corner by morally supporting their acts of destabilisation.

“The same organisations have been urging America and its European allies to maintain the illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe citing alleged human rights violations by security services.”

The party accused the organisations of “staging” abductions of their members “to ensure that the country is viewed in political bad light”.

MDC, the report claims, is working with some community based organisations that organise cultural, sporting and arts festivals as well as sexual reproductive education programmes to recruit supporters ahead of the 2023 general election.

“These programmes are being done as campaign strategies by MDC ahead of the 2023 harmonised elections,” Zanu PF claimed.

Chamisa and the MDC refused to recognise Mnangagwa’s election victory in last year’s elections citing alleged vote rigging.

The opposition party has been pushing for dialogue between the two leaders to resolve the crisis, but Zanu PF insists that there is no need for the talks.

Instead Mnangagwa set up a dialogue forum of fringe political parties that took part in the July 2018 presidential elections, which the MDC has dismissed as a farce.

Churches have also been pushing for dialogue between Mnangagwa and Chamisa to resolve Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis, which has left millions on the brink of starvation.

According to the UN, 60% of Zimbabwe’s population is food insecure due to a severe drought during the 2018/19 farming season.

Mnangagwa, who took over from Mugabe in 2017 following a military coup, has been struggling to deliver on his promise of a quick economic turnaround.

Foreign investors continue to stay away from Zimbabwe due to the unstable political situation in the country and unpredictable economic policies.

In June Zimbabwe dumped the multi-currency regime that had helped stabilise the economy for over a decade and reverted back to its own currency.

The Zimbabwe dollar, however, has been losing value rapidly due to low economic activity in the country.

-The Standard

Harare, Zimbabwe – At 2 months-old, Max would normally be reliant on breast milk only. Yet it has been weeks since he last breast fed and is compelled to eat unsweetened maize-meal porridge as is his daily diet.

It’s a sign of how Zimbabwe’s worsening food and broader economic troubles are taking a devastating effect on children.

For the nurses attending to Max at Rutsanana Polyclinic in Glen Norah suburb in the capital, Harare, such a diet is a “a big no”. But with the baby’s mother failing to produce enough milk due to the stress caused by her economic situation, maize porridge is the only available option.

The results are distressing: Max is so severely emaciated that he weighs less than a new born baby.

“Even if I try, Max refuses. He knows that nothing comes out of there, I can only manage a few drops and that’s it” said his mother, 23-year-old Chiedza, pointing at her breasts.

Max’s situation is part of a broader nutrition challenge faced by children in a country battling its worst economic predicament in a decade amid one of the worst droughts in four decades.

Nearly 1 in 3 children under five are suffering from malnutrition, while 93 per cent of children between 6 months and 2 years of age are not consuming the minimum acceptable diet and cases of Pellagra, a deadly disease linked to micro-nutrient deficiency are also on the increase.

To mitigate the health crisis, UNICEF with the contribution of the UN Central Emergency Relief Fund (UNCERF) and UKAID is working to provide life-saving and preventative treatment to around 650,000 children and women who are at risk of malnutrition by supplying therapeutic food (RUTF), micro-nutrients and vitamin A supplementation.

UNICEF is also supporting Harare City Council health facilities screen and identify children with signs of malnutrition and put them on the therapeutic feeding programme.

Nurses at Rutsanana Polyclinic discovered Max and his malnutrition, when his mother, Chiedza, visited the clinic for a routine check up in December.

Chiedza has not been eating adequate food to produce enough milk for her baby, said Jenipher Mudani, a nurse at the clinic.

“He is not growing, we call it ‘failure to thrive’ and as you can see he has a ‘moon face’,” said Mudanhi.

She added, “This is about malnutrition resulting from poverty. We can’t do much because at his age, we recommend exclusive breastfeeding in Zimbabwe but the mother can only express 5mls at best. They are too poor to buy their own food so forget about alternative feed for the baby,” said Mudani.

Seemingly hungry and dehydrated, Max is always on alert and cries frequently. He constantly puts his fingers in his mouth, a sign of hunger, said the nurse.  It’s almost impossible to identify any muscle growth on him. His sagging skin responds to even the tenderest touch by forming little pockets.

“I give him porridge in the morning, porridge in the afternoon and porridge in the evening. I try to make the porridge as watery as possible. When I have money I buy him mahewu (sorghum drink),” the mother said.

Because of his weight, my son is missing out on the clinic’s UNICEF-supported immunisation programme, putting him at more risk.

Nurse Mudani said for safety reasons, nurses only administer immunisation injections to children weighing at least 2.8kgs. This leaves Max exposed to preventable diseases.

“His immunity is very low, he is a high risk patient,” she said, standing outside the family’s dwelling in the densely populated Stoneridge suburb on the outskirts of the city.

The conspicuous wooden shack is what Chiedza and her husband, Munyaradzi (42), call home in a suburb where most houses are made from brick. A few burnt out twigs hardly enough to start a fire stood at the centre of a makeshift brick fireplace outside the shack. A plastic bag with baby clothes lay abandoned next to the fireplace.

Inside the stuffy shack supported by a pole and mud, the only sign of food was a pot of tea. Munyaradzi said the tea had been his only “meal” that day. As for his wife and the baby, the sorghum drinks she received from charitable nurses at the clinic would suffice.

“We sometimes go for two days without eating a proper meal. Sometimes we just eat mangoes and save the mealie-meal for Max’s porridge,” he said, putting his hands on his cheeks and emptily starring at his small field of a stunted, drought-affected maize crop.

He sometimes does odd jobs such as fetching water for neighbours and said he gets US$5 on a good week.

Such poverty is putting a strain on children, said Nurse Mudani.  “Cases of malnutrition are increasing.  Because of the economic hardships some families go for days without eating a proper meal,” she said.

Malnutrition on the rise but help is on the way

In October last year, this local health institution admitted four children with malnutrition but has already recorded 8 cases in the first week of January alone, said Mudani.

Zimbabwe is battling its worst economic hardships in a decade, highlighted by spikes of hyperinflation, currency instability, widespread electricity shortages and fuel and food scarcity. One of the worst droughts in decades, heightened by climate change, has worsened the situation in a country heavily reliant on rain-fed agriculture resulting in over 7.7 million people living with food insecurity.

Nearly 100,000 children under five are suffering from acute malnutrition and over 1 million young children are not eating well enough to thrive. In response, UNICEF has prioritized the prevention and treatment of malnutrition among children, pregnant and breastfeeding women in 25 priority districts in Zimbabwe.

UNICEF provides nutritional support including early detection and treatment of infants and children under 5 suffering from severe acute malnutrition and preventative nutrition services for young children and pregnant women and lactating mothers.

There are fears that the situation could deteriorate further, and that increased donor support is much needed, said Mathieu Joyeux, the UNICEF Zimbabwe Nutrition Manager.

“What we see is this kind of double burden where people are waiting for their new harvest and then people can’t afford to buy food. People are defaulting back to low quality food. So we are supporting volunteers in the communities that are doing door to door screening – checking the situation of children and women,” said Mathieu.

“We are in the process of scaling up interventions but that needs more support. More outreach, more scale up means more resources are needed,” he said.

If picked up early enough and children have access to timely treatment, they can recover quite quickly. For underweight baby Max and many other children facing potential malnutrition and food insecurity, lifesaving interventions at UNICEF-supported clinics could see him back to health in a matter of months.

*Names have been changed

-Unicef

CLOSE to 300 doctors and nurses left Zimbabwe’s public health sector in 2019 to join private practice locally and in neighbouring countries as a result of poor working conditions.

This was said by Health Services Board (HLB) chairperson Dr Paulinus Sikosana while addressing stakeholders at the ongoing National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) and Health Service Bipartite Negotiating Panel workshop here.

The HSB is a negotiating partner at the NJNC as it represents the health sector particularly doctors.

Dr Sikosana said the brain drain, which almost crippled the country’s health delivery system, is a result of economic challenges.

“Public health continues to lose its workforce to the private sector locally and abroad. While the situation was a bit stable between 2010 and 2016, between January and June 2019, about 51 nurses and 14 doctors left the public health sector in search of greener pastures. The numbers increased between June and December when 155 nurses and 43 doctors also left,” said Dr Sikosana.

He said the brain drain was a huge blow to the country’s health sector.

“This is a wake-up call to us as public health and we have sought to interrogate this with the Sadc region. What is certain is that the economic downturn dealt the country a huge blow in its efforts to address the challenges,” Dr Sikosana said.

He said the HSB, which was established in 2005, will continue to engage its workers for a win-win situation and improvement of their working conditions.

Dr Sikosana said Government remains committed to forging synergies in the NJNC for holistic frameworks because workers representation is fundamental.

He said plans are underway to reintroduce the health worker retention scheme for all health workers.

“There is a need for adequate financial rewards in the health sector while we should also make sure the tools of trade such as medicines and equipment are readily available for members,” said Dr Sikosana.

He said the HSB was also investing in technology as a long-term remedy for brain drain where part of the clinical work can be done electronically and digitally.

Last year, the HSB summoned hundreds of doctors to a disciplinary hearing for violating some labour provisions with 448 of them eventually being fired for failing to report for duty.

— Chronicle

Correspondent|Money released by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to local authorities under the devolution programme last year is reportedly being abused, with the Minister of Local Government Public Works and National Housing July Moyo being called to explain.

Presenting some of the Ministry of Finance’s to do list at the Zanu PF Masvingo Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) meeting on Sunday, January 19, Finance deputy minister Clemence Chiduwa said the money had fomented chaos among recipients as most do not know how the funds should be used.

Chiduwa said that his ministry had now decided to summon Moyo to help him with the guidelines on how local authorities should use their shares of the money.
“On devolution, we have a lot of challenges. Here in Masvingo it is better compared to other provinces. There are a lot of people who come to our offices to complain about how the devolution funds are being used.

“Early this week, we are summoning the Minister of Local Government to give him guidance on how devolution funds should be used,” said Chiduwa.

He said some people had devious intentions of abusing the money to further their own selfish political agendas.

“When devolution started, there were people with hidden ulterior motives who wanted to use the funds for campaigning purposes at the expense of our people. Let’s be weary of such individuals. Devolution funds should help our people,” said Chiduwa.

He said the Finance Ministry will soon be asking all the recipients of the funds to explain how they used the funds because abuse will not be tolerated.

“We are coming to see how the devolution funds have been used. The guidelines are coming when we meet with the minister this week.

“This move have been informed by what we hear and the input which is put by our legislators. We are going to make sure that the devolution funds are used appropriately, and are not abused by people who build houses or offices and buy cars,” said Chiduwa.

Local authorities are battling nonpayment of bills by residents, forcing some of them to misdirect the money to such non-critical areas as vehicle purchases, office furniture and construction of administration blocks.

ZimEye is carrying out live updates on Zimbabweans stranded in China following the coronavirus attacks there.

As the number of affected reached 14,000 Sunday morning, Zimbabweans predominantly students have told ZimEye they would like to fly back home but they are stranded as they do not have enough money to make thee multiple trips.

It gets worse – by Sunday morning, one based in Liaocheng told ZimEye there is no more drinking water and those able to bring in stocks are now afraid for fear of contracting the virus.

Our first update was on Friday evening in the Shanghai Province The latest feedback is from Liaocheng:

https://youtu.be/S0JZuV6GJTs

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By Own Correspondent| Cancer patient Lydia Gondora has died at Parirenyatwa Hospital.

Watch the live video loading below…….

VIDEO LOADING BELOW.

UPDATED: ZimEye has received sad news from the Zimbabwe Cancer Support Network that the Domboshawa mother many diasporans donated to her hospital needs in November last year, Lydia Gondoro has passed away at Pari Hospital.

This was after her Karanda Hospital doctor, a British surgeon, had returned to the UK for an emergency and she had been referred to Pari early Sunday. She passed away just after midnight.

Exact details of how she passed away had not been established at the time of publishing.

It happened “just after midnight…we found out the news at 11 O clock this morning UK time,” a representative, one Mai Liam, told ZimEye.

VIDEO UPDATE BELOW…

Happy birthday cde President, consolidate the ground for a peaceful and prosperous Zimbabwe. Enjoy your day????????

— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) February 2, 2020

By A Correspondent| Political analyst Pedzisayi Ruhanya has blasted church leaders in Zimbabwe who have remained mum when the Emmerson Mnangagwa led adminstration committed atrocities against innocent civilians labelling their events as bogus prayer meetings.

Ruhanya said this following the recently held prayer meeting held in the capital Harare where Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga were guests.

Said Ruhanya:

Zanu Pf since Mugabe has been holding the so called prayer meetings with these fake prophets but evil adminstration has not stopped in Zimbabwe. So many people have been killed by Zanu Pf and these churches never said anything against Zanu Pf murders. BOGUS PRAYERS!!

ZANU PF since Mugabe has been holding the so-called prayer meetings with these fake prophets but evil administration has not stopped in Zimbabwe. So many people have been killed by ZANU PF and these churches never said anything against ZANU PF murders. BOGUS PRAYERS!!!

— Pedzisai Ruhanya (@PedzisaiRuhanya) February 2, 2020

Detained undocumented Zimbabweans cry for help from Hillbrow police cells in South Africa so that the can be deported back home. @SAHRCommission @unhcr @SAPoliceService @MoFA_ZW pic.twitter.com/oP5Zh8IpeP

— Charega (@Charega1) January 29, 2020

By Own Correspondent| Marry Chiwenga’s mother Helga Mubaiwa cried uncontrollably when her daughter was denied bail and sent to prison over assaulting the family maid Delight Munyoro.

Presenting her arguments before a Harare magistrate, Bianca Makwande, her lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa reportedly told the court that Marry was being dumped for a “newer and modern” woman.

Mtetwa further told the court that it must not ignore that the maid was the one who was looking after the children before Marry and her husband VP Constantino Chiwenga were embroiled in their current nasty divorce, therefore, she could not have assaulted the maid as alleged.

She added that Marry could not have assaulted Munyoro with her hands as alleged as the accused’s hands were visibly swollen and showing injuries.

Meanwhile, four senior prosecutors who were dispatched to oppose Marry’s bail application convinced the court that Marry had the potential to commit similar offences and it would be wrong to free her.

They also recommended that she be examined by government doctors as they suspected that she could have a mental problem.

A Matabeleland-based pressure group, Ibhetshu likaZulu, on Thursday remembered 11 Silobela villagers who were abducted by State security agents at the height of Gukurahundi on January 30 and 31, 1985.

Thursday last week marked the 35th anniversary since the men disappeared without trace.

The list of those who were abducted and still missing are Kefasi Ndebele, Clement Baleni, who was a teacher at St Dominic’s School, Enoch Tshuma, Simon Siginya Bhuzo Dube, Dennis Mabhikwa, Mbulani Mnkandla, Lambart Ncube, Milton Ndlangamandla, Velile Hlongwane, Mika Cephas Ndebele and Patrick Mthethwa.

In 1993, relatives of the abductees filed an application to the High Court seeking an order compelling the police, Prisons Services, Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and the army to furnish them information which might lead to their discovery.

The applicants submitted that their missing relatives were taken from their homes on the night of January 30 and 31, 1985 by men using a vehicle similar to the type used by police or CIO.

They said they were driven away and have never been seen to date. A check with the police established that they were not in police custody while the army, prisons commissioner-general and CIO director-general also distanced themselves from the matter.

“We are asking former State Security minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, former Defence minister Sydney Sekeramai, former Fifth Brigade leader Retired Air Marshal Perrence Shiri and the former director-general of the CIO to help the families with the bones if they are dead or if they are alive to bring them as their families are still painfully searching for answers,” Ibhetshu likaZulu’s secretary-general Mbuso Fuzwayo said in a statement.

Fuzwayo said they were concerned that “the failure to find answers of the dark cloud of the past will give rain of unrest in the future.”

By A Correspondent| Energy and Power Development Minister Fortune Chasi has said that efforts are underway to make sure the power situation has changed within two months.

His remarks come when water levels have continued to dwindle at Kariba Dam a development that hamstrings power generation at the Kariba Hydropower plant. Chasi said Mozambique was an alternative.

He said:

There are efforts that are underway to mitigate the low power generation at Kariba and the one I can safely say is in the pipeline is the Mozambique deal.

We are expecting the deal with Mozambique to come through by March or April. Right now, I wouldn’t want to divulge much as the negotiation teams are still liaising but I can promise the nation that in one or two months, the power situation would have changed.

Meanwhile, reports suggest that the deal which is set to revive a 30-year agreement between Zimbabwe and Mozambique is dependent upon Zimbabwe clearing its arrears through a US$100-million facility it secured from Afreximbank.

The imports Zimbabwe is currently getting from Eskom of South Africa and Hydroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) of Mozambique are not enough due to a debt overhang that the country has battled to clear over the years.

-Statemedia

WATER levels at Kariba Dam, home to the country’s biggest and only hydro-electric power station, have started going down.

 the dam is left with power generation water that is at one metre level, it has been learnt.

Over the past few weeks, there has been hope that water inflows into Kariba, which is fed from the Zambezi River, had started rising, but latest statistics from the Zambezi River Authority which manages the dam on behalf of Zambia and Zimbabwe, showed that levels had started going down, further dampening hopes of adequate power generation.

According to the statistics, water level in the Kariba Dam was at 476,75 metres translating to 8,64 percent of the dam capacity on Thursday last week. 

The water level was 1,25 metres above the minimum 475,50m recommended for power generation.

“The Kariba Lake is designed to operate between levels 475,50m and 488,50m (with 0,70m freeboard) for hydro-power generation. The lake level has been decreasing due to reduced rainfall activities around and on the lake to close the period under review at 476,75m (8,64 percent usable storage) on 30 January 2020. Last year on the same date, the lake level was 481,73m (44,83 percent usable storage),” Zambezi River Authority said in the update. 

According to the figures, inflows into the dam increased from 476,67m (8,09 percent full) from 17 January to 476,82m (9,18 percent full) on 25 January. 

However, since 26 January levels started going down, dropping to 476,75 metres by Thursday.

Compared to last year, the water levels are a massive 36 percent apart. 

Kariba has the capacity to produce 1 050MW of electricity but on Friday it was only generating 306 MW, according to the Zimbabwe Power Company. 

Energy and Power Development Minister Fortune Chasi told Sunday News yesterday that it was unfortunate that the country and others in the region that feed into the Zambezi River have not received significant rains that have brought notable changes to the water levels in the lake.

“Of course, the rains that we have been receiving have not brought much change to the levels in Kariba Dam so we still do not have enough water to improve power generation at Kariba. We are still hopeful but remember the issue of rain is also beyond our control.”

According to the Zambian Meteorological Department, in the period between December and this month, no meaningful rainfall is expected in the country. Zambia also feeds water into Kariba.

“The northern half of the country has a high chance of receiving normal to above normal rainfall while the southern half is likely to receive normal to below normal rainfall. This part of the season will be characterised by reduced rainfall due to dry spells around February,” the department announced in its forecast for the December to February period.

However, Minister Chasi said the Government will not sit and mourn about Kariba as it has put in place alternatives to improve power generation in the country.

“There are efforts that are underway to mitigate the low power generation at Kariba and the one I can safely say is in the pipeline is the Mozambique deal.”

Zimbabwe is importing power from Eskom of South Africa and Hydroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) of Mozambique to mitigate challenges. However, the imports are not enough due to a debt overhang that the country has battled to clear over the years.

“We are expecting the deal with Mozambique to come through by March or April. Right now, I wouldn’t want to divulge much as the negotiation teams are still liaising but I can promise the nation that in one or two months, the power situation would have changed,” he said.

It has also been reported that the deal between Zimbabwe and Mozambique is hinging on Harare clearing its arrears through a US$100-million facility it secured from Afreximbank. 

The deal is set to revive a 30-year agreement between the two neighbouring countries as part of immediate-term solutions to stabilise local power supplies. 

President Mnangagwa discussed the matter with his Mozambican counterpart, President Filipe Nyusi, during his visit to Maputo last month.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube last week added that Government has set aside $8,5 billion to support electricity generation and imports, as part of efforts to ease load shedding.

SCHOOLS in Hwange and Victoria Falls are reportedly demanding an extra US$1 from each learner per week for teachers to attend class despite the learners having paid fees in full.

The development which authorities say is illegal and an extortion of parents, resembles the banned extra lessons and is reportedly happening in most primary schools with parents divided over the issue.

A snap survey conducted by Sunday News during the week showed that a majority of Government and council schools in Victoria Falls as well as some in Hwange have adopted the trend. Pupils confirmed that those who do not pay were sometimes not given work to do or their school work was not marked.

In some cases, it was the parents who mooted the idea after noticing that their children were spending time without learning at school. Parents are divided with those who cannot afford US$1 per week siding with the Government while those who can are pushing for the sustenance of the development.

“We paid school fees and we are now being made to pay extra money for teachers. We understand that they are incapacitated but how is their situation different from everyone else’s? We also don’t earn much and why should we subsidise their salaries as if we get better pay,” said an angry parent.

Another parent said: “Those working in the tourism industry are the ones pushing for this because they earn forex yet most of us are paid in local currency meaning we have to buy that money from the black market.”

This means that a teacher with an average class of 40 learners gets US$40 per week which translates to US$160 per month extra money outside the conventional salary from Government.

Some private institutions in the resort town are reportedly demanding US$5 per pupil per week while some have pegged their school fees in United States dollars and are not accepting local currency.

Contacted for comment, Matabeleland North provincial education director Mr Jabulani Mpofu warned teachers against demanding payment from parents.

“If ever that is happening they should know that it is not allowed. It’s like paying incentives which were stopped. I am being told that in some cases it’s the parents who initiated the idea and that should stop forthwith,” said Mr Mpofu.

Speaking on the sidelines of the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) and Health Service Bipartite Negotiating Panel workshop during the week after striking a salary deal with Government, Apex Council president Mrs Cecilia Alexander said no civil servant, no matter how incapacitated they were, should demand payment from parents.

Zimbabwe Teachers Association chief executive Dr Sifiso Ndlovu condemned the practice as unorthodox and bordering on corruption which was against the ethical conduct of the profession.

“It’s outside the law for educators to ask children to pay extra fees and we urge our members to avoid this as much as possible because it’s corruption, illegal and a criminal way of getting paid,” he said. 

THE recently constituted mealie-meal task force, whose mandate is to ensure transparent and equitable distribution of the product, has unearthed serious irregularities throughout the entire supply chain.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Mail Society, chairman of the taskforce, who is also Deputy Minister of Industry of Commerce Raj Modi, said they had identified syndicates causing “artificial” mealie-meal shortages.

“The situation is so disheartening. I’m so disturbed by what we are discovering. Some of the culprits responsible for creating supply and distribution anomalies have been identified. Sadly, the rot is at every level, which is from the grassroots going up.

“We are in the process of piecing together evidence so that we present a solid case in the coming days when we make public our findings,” revealed Deputy Minister Modi last Thursday.

The task force is making follow-ups with major suppliers and retailers of mealie-meal. This follows critical shortages of the commodity on the official market after Government re-introduced a subsidy programme to ensure that maize-meal, roller meal in particular, is available at an affordable price of $50 per 10kg packet to consumers.

Officials from the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Standards Association of Zimbabwe, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Grain Marketing Board, Confederation of Retailers’ Association and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority are some of the members of the task force.

So much is expected by disgruntled members of public from the team.

And Deputy Minister Modi opines positive results are set to be achieved.

However, he highlighted that the rot is so grave and has been ongoing for some time.

“I’m personally on the ground in Bulawayo, addressing some of the challenges. Some of the cases have taken us time to unpack as one person directs you to the next and you end up going around in circles. We are not deterred though as we are close to cracking this.

“However, I can’t tell you much at the moment. I would have preferred you interview me after we conclude our investigations at least four or five days from now,” said Deputy Minister Modi.

Millers under the new mealie-meal subsidy programme can source their maize from all possible sources, imports included.

Upon producing proof that they have milled and delivered the product, the subsidy is paid directly to millers by Government.

But the task force has identified disturbing trends.

For instance, some of the maize is disappearing before reaching the millers. Furthermore, the millers themselves, after getting supply, are channelling a huge chunk of the mealie-meal to the black market, not retailers.

Retailers are also equally guilty of “feeding” the parallel market.

“In Bulawayo we have the Silo mealie-meal displayed and being sold on the black market, in front of the Silo shop. It is partly through these illegal vendors that we are conducting investigations and tracing it back to the source of the crime,” Deputy Minister Modi said.

The task force chairman said a change of approach in maize and mealie-meal distribution systems is one of the many ways to deal with the ongoing crisis.

Smuggling of mealie-meal

Late last year, our sister paper The Sunday News, reported that there was a cartel of retailers and vendors who were hoarding mealie-meal in Victoria Falls and selling it in hard currency to Zambian cross-border vendors on the black market.

The report identified a popular spot known as “Emaplankeni” as the major market for the illegal trade.

The trend has not stopped thus far!

In fact, the situation has moved to another level. Truckloads of mealie-meal are illegally finding their way into neighbouring countries.

Zambian media reports indicate that mealie-meal brands from Zimbabwe have flooded the Livingstone market.

The Zimbabwean products are sold at relatively lower prices when compared to the Zambian products due to the subsidy programme.

“The rot is so severe to the extent that unimaginable things are happening. We are investigating everything, borders included. Our routine involves checking what the suppliers get and from who, names of retailers that received the product and the customers that bought the mealie-meal,” said Deputy Minister Modi.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube recently revealed through the Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN) that smuggling of mealie-meal had become rampant.

“Roller meal is finding its way across borders. I am aware that some people are buying it and getting it across (borders), making a margin by selling at a higher price. We frown upon that,” said Minister Mthuli.

Besides mealie-meal, a variety of other products such as sugar, rice and juices are smuggled out of the country using both legal and illegal exit points.

According to investigations, some Government officials are said to be heavily involved in the scam.

They are alleged to operate through foot soldiers and proxies that they quickly bail out the moment they get arrested by law enforcement agencies.

Tracing the decay

Investigations by The Sunday Mail Society last week revealed that the mealie-meal crisis was far from over.

Both roller meal and the refined version of the product are currently not readily available on the official market. Scores of customers are still moving from one supermarket to another in search of the precious commodity.

However, when one visits pricey downtown tuckshops and the black market, they have access to the product.

The unscrupulous and often illegal traders charge the mealie-meal in United States dollars or bond notes (cash).

Backyard shops/traders that we visited in Mbare as we tried to unpack the supply chain mystery were busy repackaging mealie-meal from clearly labelled brands like Maworesa, Red Seal and Silo, into smaller and unbranded packs.

But what is the logic behind repackaging?

“We are repacking so that people buy what they can afford,” explained one vendor only identified as Silo Diva, pretending to care.

He gave a cheeky smile before his colleague bluntly added: “We heard that police are after people who are reselling mealie-meal being sold for $50, that is why we change bags.”

By the time of going to print, defiant traders pegged mealie-meal prices as follows — $75 to $130 for the 10kg packet, while 5kg was going for $65, a 2kg sachet was pegged at $20, while a 500g pack required one to fork out $11.

In hard currency, they were charging US$4 or equivalent in bond notes for a 10kg packet of Silo roller meal or any other unbranded packets.

Prices for refined mealie-meal depend on the brand but the cheapest was pegged at US$5 for a 10kg bag.

The unscrupulous traders have vowed to carry on with the illegal practice despite Government warnings.

“You will never find anyone selling mealie-meal at that $50 price. Wakamboona kupi sadza re $50 iwe? (Where have you seen $50 sadza?). I sell my product in United States dollars or bond notes equivalent.

“It’s not my fault that things are hard. You will still find me selling mealie-meal here no matter what. Tine mukoto wedu une ngweshe-ngweshe dzacho (We have the support of bigwigs). Customers are free to buy elsewhere. I don’t force anyone,” said one arrogant female shop- keeper.

Drastic measures

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) has resolved that blacklisting members that are found guilty of supplying the black market with mealie-meal was the best way to go.

They also recommend that the Government should withdraw the licences of unscrupulous traders.

“As CZR, we’ll also take action against shops involved in inside marketing. One of the actions we will take involves blacklisting them from accessing the Government’s subsidised products. We will ask the millers to cease supplying them,” said CZR president Denford Mutashu.

He added that they will soon be monitoring mealie-meal distribution and selling in all the country’s 10 provinces.

The Grain Millers Association spokesman Garikai Chaunza weighed in: “We used to monitor how our products were distributed and sold but the Competitions and Tariff Commission wrote to us saying we should stop and we complied in July last year.

“It used to be our role to monitor but we are no longer allowed to do so. Given back our powers, we will bring back the situation to normal,” argued Chaunza.

Annual maize requirement

Zimbabwe’s annual maize consumption stands at 1,8 million tonnes.

By October this year, the country needed 800 000 tonnes to cover a gap in maize supplies until the next harvest.

In September last year, the country took delivery of the first consignment of 17 000 tonnes out of the 100 000 tonnes bought from Tanzania. Government paid for the maize as part of efforts to alleviate food shortages brought about by the drought.

MDC leader Mr Nelson Chamisa should accept that he was defeated by President Mnangagwa during the 2018 Presidential elections and embrace the inclusive Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) platform, chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, Ambassador Chris Mutsvangwa has said.

Ambassador Mutsvangwa urged Mr Chamisa to swallow his pride and desist from seeking exceptional inclusiveness through bilateral talks with the Head of State and Government.

Responding to a story published on a discredited online publication alleging that the war veteran leader met Mr Chamisa, Cde Mutsvangwa said the online publication was hell bent on makiing a meal out of an inconvenient chance encounter at an airport departure lounge.

He said in terms of the law, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court are the two sacrosanct institutions that can confer electoral legitimacy.

“Nelson Chamisa cannot have his cake and eat it at the same time,” said Ambassador Mutsvangwa.  He seeks exceptional inclusiveness that is akin to squaring the circle.

“His record since the 2018 harmonised elections paints him as a rejectionist.

“He refuses the verdict of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court, the two sacrosanct institutions of conferring electoral legitimacy.

“He instead seeks legitimacy from the President of the Republic who has no locus standi on this electoral issue. President Mnangagwa was just another contesting candidate in the 2018 harmonised elections.”

Last week, Mr Chamisa was in South Africa where he was reportedly soliciting Sadc’s intervention in Zimbabwe’s domestic affairs.

His efforts, however, came to naught as no senior South African government official obliged to meet him.

Ambassador Mutsvangwa said Mr Chamisa will find no joy in his pursuit of reversing his crushing electoral defeat because Sadc does not acquiesce to interfering in domestic matters.

“Sadc will not set a precedent whereby competent constitutional bodies are countermanded by opposition parties sulking from electoral loss.

“This is a sure recipe for anarchy.

“I appeal to him to do the right thing first — recognise the full and undivided outcome of the 2018 harmonised elections.

“Chamisa has finally discovered Sadc as a diplomatic force worthy of attention. In the past, his favourites were Washington, London, Brussels, etcetera.

“The Sadc Summit anti-sanctions resolution jolted Chamisa into realising that Zimbabwe’s future lies with the unshakable solidarity of its neighbours.

-State media

OPPOSITION leader Nelson Chamisa said yesterday that South Africa and the rest of Sadc now fully appreciated the scale of Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis – necessitating urgent intervention.

This comes after Chamisa visited South Africa this week where he updated the country’s former president Thabo Mbeki and senior government officials in Pretoria about the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe, and how this is increasingly threatening regional stability.

“I am back from South Africa where I met many key political stakeholders. I am glad that there is now an appreciation of the grave problems that we have in Zimbabwe across the region.

“They also appreciate the urgency that is needed to find solutions on Zimbabwe … and there is now a shared view on the continent that there is a big crisis in Zimbabwe, which is a good starting point.

“On our part … we are going to embark on several initiatives to ensure that we resolve the crises in Zimbabwe,” Chamisa told the Daily News yesterday.

He revealed that he had told the South African leadership that the situation in Zimbabwe was threatening to degenerate into complete chaos unless there was immediate intervention.

This comes as the European Union (EU), the United States of America (USA) and the church in Zimbabwe — among others — have implored President Emmerson Mnangagwa to engage Chamisa in direct talks to help foster progress and development in the country.

“The situation in the country is unsustainable because it is those in government who are making it ungovernable where in other countries it is those who are outside government who foment conflict.

“When you deny people their freedoms, when you actively foment anarchy and chaos, you become an enemy of the people.
“President Mbeki told me that there is shared concern and shared anxiety in the region and on the continent (about Zim) … and he should be coming back here anytime soon,” Chamisa added.

This comes as hardliners within both Zanu-PF and the MDC are said to be working hard to scupper Mbeki’s Zim mission — including stopping the retired statesman from returning to the country to continue with his valiant efforts to get Mnangagwa and Chamisa to end their political bickering.

Mbeki — who helped to broker the stability-inducing 2008 government of national unity between opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and ex-president Robert Mugabe, who are both late — was in the country last December to try and nudge Mnangagwa and Chamisa to hold talks.

Earlier this week, Chamisa’s aides had confirmed to the Daily News that the MDC boss was in Johannesburg to meet Mbeki and senior SA government officials — in a bid to unlock the country’s political logjam which had worsened the dire economic plight of ordinary Zimbabweans.

“We were expecting that Mbeki would come back, but it seems that this is taking long. So, a decision was made at the highest level that the president (Chamisa) travels to South Africa and appraise the political leadership there of the country’s situation,” one of the aides said.

This view was later buttressed by Chamisa himself during an interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), in which he said he was in that country to remind Pretoria on the urgency of Zimbabwe’s dire political and economic situation.

“I have not met with President Mnangagwa since when we were in Parliament … I think it is now almost two years which is quite sad because people compete in an election and are supposed to have a conversation post-election to find a way forward for the nation.

“This is one sad part for me that you just go into an election … meet through the ballot, beyond the ballot you are not able to converse or communicate.

“In Africa, wherever there is a negotiation … there has to be a negotiator because that is our nature as a people,” Chamisa said.
“For us to be able to deal with the acrimony … disharmony and disagreement between us and … Mnangagwa, there is need to have a credible negotiator.

“We think that the avenue and platform created by President Mbeki will go a long way to creating this conversation.

“It is now more urgent than ever before because the situation in the country has really taken a nosedive. Things are going down south in many ways,” Chamisa told the SA public broadcaster further.

He also said he would use his visit to South Africa to implore President Cyril Ramaphosa to take decisive action on the Zimbabwean crisis, which he warned could engulf the whole region.

“We now have fresh evidence after the Constitutional Court determination of the dispute between us and … Mnangagwa, particularly in the Zec (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) report that was tabled in Parliament, wherein the commission is indicating that they flouted the law and the procedures of elections in announcing the elections of 2018.

“That evidence has to be at the doorstep of Sadc, the African Union (AU) and of course … President Ramaphosa to show and validate the fact that indeed elections in Zimbabwe were rigged and stolen.

“We will not be able to have a credible 2023 election until we … resolve the … disputed election so that we prevent future disputes,” Chamisa said.

“We don’t want to have a recycling of the same old problems. This is a vicious cycle that has to be curbed so that we will have credible elections,” he said further.

This comes as Zimbabwe is in the grip of a huge economic crisis which has stirred anger and restlessness among long-suffering ordinary people.

Previously, both Mnangagwa and Chamisa have said that they are interested in dialogue, although nothing concrete has developed despite those encouraging statements.
On his part, Mnangagwa has remained resolute in his demands that any talks with Chamisa should be held under the platform of the political actors’ dialogue (Polad) — where he regularly holds meetings with leaders of fringe opposition parties, who a large cross-section of Zimbabweans has dismissed as tokens, particularly as the youthful MDC boss is not part of this structure.

Chamisa himself has repeatedly ruled out joining Polad — demanding instead direct dialogue with Mnangagwa.

In 2009, Mugabe was forced into forming a government of national unity (GNU) with Tsvangirai after the hotly-disputed 2008 polls.

Tsvangirai was widely believed to have beaten Mugabe hands down in those polls.

However, the results of the elections were withheld for six long weeks by stunned authorities — amid widespread allegations of ballot tampering and fraud, which were later confirmed by former bigwigs of the ruling Zanu-PF.

In the ensuing sham presidential run-off, which authorities claimed was needed to determine the winner, Zanu-PF apparatchiks engaged in an orgy of violence in which hundreds of Tsvangirai’s supporters were killed — forcing the former prime minister in the inclusive government to withdraw from the discredited race altogether.

In the meantime, to add to the country’s woes, Zimbabwe is experiencing acute shortages of the staple maize-meal, amid massive hunger which has affected more than 8,5 million people.

State Media|President Emmerson Mnangagwa has officially declared that his government now needs divine intervention to get things right.

Mnangagwa, who was accompanied by First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, was speaking at the launch of the Zimbabwe Indigenous International Council of Churches (ZIICC) National Day of Prayer at the National Sports Stadium.

Addressing about 30 000 congregants at the convention, President Mnangagwa said the initiatives being undertaken by the Government to transform the country’s economy needed to be complemented by the churches’ support.

President Mnangagwa, who based much of his speech on biblical scriptures, implored the nation to commit its aspirations to God.

“However, as a country, we must pray for divine protection, economic prosperity and peace without ceasing. The Bible commands us to pray and to give thanks in whatever circumstances we may find ourselves.

“1 Thessalonians 5 verse 17-18: ‘Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.’

“We must always commit all our national aspirations to the Almighty God; casting our burdens to him for surely he shall sustain us,” said the President.

President Mnangagwa urged church leaders to encourage their members to be productive, in line with Government’s theme for 2020.

“I have declared the year 2020 as a year of productivity and trade. I, therefore, call upon the leadership of all churches in Zimbabwe to engage, teach and encourage their congregants to be hardworking and productive. God has given us abundant natural resources throughout the country,” he said.

“We must harness these natural endowments to improve the quality of life for our people.”

He implored churches to “be visible and relevant to Government development initiatives” such as the devolution programme.

The President pledged to immediately address grievances raised by indigenous churches, in particular access to land for worship.

“Turning to your genuine concerns you have raised, in particular, the possible special consideration in accessing land for worship in both rural and urban areas, let me assure you that responsible authorities will look into the matter with the urgency it deserves.

“Equally, we have established institutions to deal with the youths, women, people living with disabilities and SMEs, among others,” he said.

The President applauded indigenous churches for standing behind Government in calling for the removal of sanctions imposed on the country.

“I want to thank you indigenous churches for mobilising your congregants to support and unite the Government and the SADC region in our call for the urgent removal of economic sanctions against our country. We commend that collective, loud and audible voice,” said President Mnangagwa.

In his remarks, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga applauded President Mnangagwa for offering the indigenous churches a platform for dialogue, which was part of his promise to be a listening President.

“Since assuming the leadership role of the Second Republic, His Excellency President Mnangagwa has indeed lived up to his promise that he is a listening President who welcomes ideas and dialogue from all walks of life,” he said.

The Vice President said the work being done by ZIICC clears the road to the “Promised Land” for Zimbabwe to become an Upper Middle Income Economy by 2030 adding that churches played a complementary role in fighting current scourges such as the machete-wielding gangsters.

In his remarks, ZIICC patron Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi said churches were not involved in politics, but had a God-given mandate to pray for the nation and its leaders.

“We have thought to take our place as the church of Zimbabwe, but not focusing on politics but on our God-given mandate to be God’s intermediaries to his people,” he said.

“We are only here to pray for the leaders and pray for the country and to help work together and do all we can to maintain peace.”

VP Chiwenga said President Mnangagwa remained “at the top of our agenda in terms of our prayers because he is driving a big bus, which is our country Zimbabwe. To the shock or surprise of our detractors, Zimbabwe is still going strong. This is because Zimbabwe is a prayerful nation,” he said.

Bishop Roderick Makusha of Deeper Life Ministries urged MDC-Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa to move on beyond the 2018 elections.

“You can claim that you were rigged, but at times you have to accept the result because God would have given his stamp of approval. You have to accept so that the nation goes forward,” he said.

“You should let bygones be bygones; you never know, maybe one day, you can be the winner.”

Prophet Andrew Wutawunashe of the Family of God church commended President Mnangagwa’s administration for upholding freedom of worship and supporting indigenous churches that had for a long time played second fiddle to foreign denominations.

Prophet Wutawunashe said opposition politicians should not focus on political battles at the expense of the general people.

“If we continue in the futile, adversarial and power-seeking politicking, which is solely based on the destructive opposition whose sole end is political power, we will abort the path to our own God-given prosperity,” he said.

“Let us, as we pray, heed the clarion call to unite and address our differences and work together for the agenda of strengthening and building our nation, which holds great dividends for our people.

“While our nation, just like other nations, has its own fair share of problems, the answer does not lie in cannibalising our own nation and the future of our own children by bowing to foreign powers.”

Several Cabinet ministers and senior Government officials attended the event.

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife, Marry Mubaiwa, was yesterday denied bail for allegedly assaulting the family’s housemaid at Hellenic School in Borrowdale following an altercation over the custody of children last week.

She was remanded in custody to February 14. In passing the ruling, Harare regional magistrate Mrs Bianca Makwande said although the case was one of common assault, the accused had a propensity for violence since she committed the crime while on bail for another case.

The State was represented by prosecutors Clemence Chimbare, Michael Reza, and George and Tinashe Manokore.

The four argued that granting Mubaiwa bail would undermine the bail system as her actions showed she was “unrepented and had total disregard of the judiciary system”.

It is the State’s case that on Tuesday last week, Mubaiwa slapped Delight Munyoro (38) using the back of her hand resulting in the complainant sustaining a cut on the cheek and a loose tooth.

According to court papers: “On the 28th of January 2020 at around 12.05 hours, the complainant (Munyoro) proceeded to Hellenic Primary School, Borrowdale, Harare, to collect Michael Chiwenga, son of the accused person and Vice President Chiwenga.

“When it was time to collect the child, Batsirai Furukiya — the driver (of VP Chiwenga) — went to collect the child and the complainant (Munyoro) remained seated in the vehicle.

“When the driver was walking with the child, going to where the vehicle was parked, the accused person followed behind.

“When she arrived at the vehicle, where the complainant was seated, she started shouting at Munyoro accusing her of being a witch.

“The complainant remained quiet whilst in the car and the accused struck her once on her left cheek,” reads part of the court papers.

Mubaiwa is being represented by Harare lawyer Ms Beatrice Mtetwa.

Last week, Ms Mubaiwa won a High Court appeal for custody of the couple’s three minor children and access to the matrimonial home.

But her joy was short-lived after VP. Chiwenga filed a notice of appeal at the Supreme Court, challenging the lower court’s decision.

The filing of a notice of appeal effectively suspends the court ruling until determination of the appeal.

Ms Mubaiwa was last month granted $50 000 bail for attempting to murder VP Chiwenga, illegally externalising US$1 033 000, laundering US$990 000 and fraudulently seeking to upgrade her customary union to a civil marriage without her husband’s consent.

– state media

Farai Dziva| A Zimbabwean bishop has urged MDC leader Nelson Chamisa to accept the outcome of the 2018 polls because “God approved Emmerson Mnangagwa’s victory.

Bishop Roderick Makusha of Deeper Life Ministries suggested that God “approved the rigging.”

“Sometimes even if you lose after being rigged you have to be realistic and accept the result because God would have given his stamp of approval.

You have to accept the results so that the nation can move forward.

You have to focus on the future because one day if you are still alive you will rule Zimbabwe,” said Bishop Makusha.

By Nelson Chamisa| Back in 1978, this day marked my introduction to this world. 42 years ago, in 1978 and in the ‘am’ hours on a Thursday. To be precise, at 3am, the journey started.

The world was waiting. I was overdue and had to be delivered to this world at Silveira mission in Bikita of Masvingo.

Two years before the birth of Zimbabwe in 1980, my journey had begun. I am two years older than the beautiful Zimbabwe, our country. As the nation turns 40 this year I turn 42.

I have sworn to dutifully and loyally serve my beloved country, Zimbabwe. I have been an MP and a Cabinet Minister (inclusive government) and an advocate in the superior courts of Zimbabwe.I have served in the three arms of the state.I have served my country to the best of my ability in the legislature, executive and the judiciary.I have also served internationally through representing Zimbabwe in the ACP-EU in Brussels, Belgium.I thank God’s Grace in all this.

It is my humble desire and cherished pledge to build, create and lead a New Zimbabwe before I ultimately retire from active public life. I have this strong vision and drive to make Zimbabwe great. We will make Zimbabwe a powerful, successful and wonderful nation.

But I have a confession to make ..I am a perfectionist.I’m difficult to please.I even hardly please and satisfy myself. I keep trying to be better.Excellence is my goal. I carry this infinite craving for knowledge and insatiable curiosity for wisdom. I love learning and books. I cherish knowledge, information and education. I love the Bible and the word of God. I love peace and bringing people together. I love gathering rather than scattering.I cherish uniting.

I often ask myself ..what’s next and why? who next and why ? When next and why? When I die, what next ?? I care about the ‘hereafter’ and the ‘henceforth’. For the next decade, God willing, I hope to be serving my country and the wonderful people of God in Zimbabwe before finally exiting national duty and the public space.

Thereafter, I settle to focus on leadership coaching & youth mentoring, philanthropy and winning souls for the Kingdom. I believe leaders must lead and leave. Leaders must leave and live.

I have already begun building a foundation, the The Nelson Chamisa Foundation and writing books. I have written four books yet to be published and released.

My rural home in Gutu shall be my retirement home. Where I was born, there I shall retire and there I shall finally rest. We must all be our best then rest.I must retire before I tire and get tired.

I thank and love God, the Overseer of the universe, the Master and Judge of this world. God is my creator and I am HIS. I am a composition of God’s grace and a fine definition of HIS infinite mercies. I believe in The Lord Jesus Christ as the King and saviour of my life and indeed all lives. I thank Jehovah for giving me the chance of life and yet showing me the best and greatest of life. Before we all go back to the maker, we must strive to make the world a better place and the human life worthwhile. All this, for God’s glory.

For the journey thus far, I thank Thoko my wife, Ashlee my son, my parents and the entire for their magnanimity to share me with the world.

I also profoundly salute all of you friends, my earth-mates in this world. Leadership is no easy enterprise.You encourage and support me.You continue to make me the person I am. You perfect my imperfections, you polish my blemishes, you correct my mistakes, you subsidize my inadequacies. More importantly, and in all circumstances, you cover up my shortcomings. Friends, the best is yet to come.Better days are coming!!

To Whom Much is Given, Much Will Be Required. To whom much is given, much will be expected (Luke 12:48)

God bless you.

Excellence, Difference, Brilliance!

Godisinit

pamabvihatibvi

nelson chamisa,
Under my hand, this 2nd February 2020.

Jane Mlambo| Firebrand Norton legislator, Temba Mliswa yesterday met sex workers from his constituency whom he said requested for a meeting with him to highlight the challenges they are encountering in their chosen trade.

After meeting the ladies of the night who numbered nearly 100, Mliswa said he will be looking at dealing with their social plight through introducing empowerment projects and alternative jobs.

“Meeting with commercial sex workers from the Norton community. They have sought me for assistance in various challenges they are facing in their trade.

“Most of the commercial sex workers are in it due to other pressing social issues thus we shall be looking at dealing with those through initiatives such as empowerment and providing alternative jobs.”

Yesterday, Marry Mubaiwa Chiwenga was denied bail by the Harare Magistrates on the grounds that she has propensity to commit violence.

She had been arrested on charges of assaulting her maid, the lady in the picture below.

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife, Marry Mubaiwa, was yesterday denied bail for allegedly assaulting the family’s housemaid at Hellenic School in Borrowdale following an altercation over the custody of children last week.

She was remanded in custody to February 14. In passing the ruling, Harare regional magistrate Mrs Bianca Makwande said although the case was one of common assault, the accused had a propensity for violence since she committed the crime while on bail for another case.

The State was represented by prosecutors Clemence Chimbare, Michael Reza, and George and Tinashe Manokore.

The four argued that granting Mubaiwa bail would undermine the bail system as her actions showed she was “unrepented and had total disregard of the judiciary system”.

It is the State’s case that on Tuesday last week, Mubaiwa slapped Delight Munyoro (38) using the back of her hand resulting in the complainant sustaining a cut on the cheek and a loose tooth.

According to court papers: “On the 28th of January 2020 at around 12.05 hours, the complainant (Munyoro) proceeded to Hellenic Primary School, Borrowdale, Harare, to collect Michael Chiwenga, son of the accused person and Vice President Chiwenga.

“When it was time to collect the child, Batsirai Furukiya — the driver (of VP Chiwenga) — went to collect the child and the complainant (Munyoro) remained seated in the vehicle.

“When the driver was walking with the child, going to where the vehicle was parked, the accused person followed behind.

“When she arrived at the vehicle, where the complainant was seated, she started shouting at Munyoro accusing her of being a witch.

“The complainant remained quiet whilst in the car and the accused struck her once on her left cheek,” reads part of the court papers.

Mubaiwa is being represented by Harare lawyer Ms Beatrice Mtetwa.

Last week, Ms Mubaiwa won a High Court appeal for custody of the couple’s three minor children and access to the matrimonial home.

But her joy was short-lived after VP. Chiwenga filed a notice of appeal at the Supreme Court, challenging the lower court’s decision.

The filing of a notice of appeal effectively suspends the court ruling until determination of the appeal.

Ms Mubaiwa was last month granted $50 000 bail for attempting to murder VP Chiwenga, illegally externalising US$1 033 000, laundering US$990 000 and fraudulently seeking to upgrade her customary union to a civil marriage without her husband’s consent.- state media

Farai Dziva|They say there are no permanent friends in politics.

Barely two years after playing an influential role in propelling Emmerson Mnangagwa to the highest office in the land, Ezra Chadzamira has now become an enemy of the First Family, particularly Auxillia, who is reportedly pushing for the expulsion of the Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs.

Zanu PF insiders say Auxillia Mnangagwa is using Killer Zivhu and disgruntled party stalwarts in the province to push for the removal of Chadzamira from office.Chadzamira was taunted and ridiculed by Grace Mugabe as he fought in Mnangagwa’s corner.

Zivhu who ironically was Mrs Mugabe’s blue -eyed boy at the height of the Dr Amai Rallies, has also managed to win Mrs Mnangagwa’s sympathy, according to ruling party sources.

“The First Lady is pushing for the expulsion of Chadzamira because she feels he is neglecting the old guard.

She is working with Zivhu, Oppah Muchinguri and Josiah Hungwe to push Chadzamira out of office,” said a ruling party source.

Zivhu is also reportedly seeking Mrs Mnangagwa’s protection as he is facing expulsion for “abusing social media platforms.”

Zivhu was not available for a comment at the time of writing.

Three people had a close shave with death in Chinhoyi’s high-density suburb of Chikonohono when tanks filled with liquid petroleum (LP) gas caught fire and exploded on Thursday.

An eyewitness, Peter Virimo told The Herald that the fire was caused by gas leakages that were ignited by flames from a restaurant nearby.

One of the injured was the gas owner, who attempted to close the leaking cylinder valves after the fire had started.

Said Virimo:
When the guy realised that one of his tanks was leaking, he carried a toddler that was with him to safety before going back to close the valve.

A female bartender who came to witness the inferno and a physically challenged man who was also close to the accident site are said to have been the other casualties.

Chinhoyi Municipality town clerk Maxwell Kaitano told the publication that it was regrettable that the trader failed to be circumspect resulting in the accident.-State media

By A Correspondent| A Bulawayo teenager allegedly broke into Luveve High School premises and stole two laptops on Monday.

Luck Ncube (19), was arrested after he was caught charging the laptops directly from a Zesa substation through illegal connections.

The incident was confirmed by Bulawayo provincial spokesperson Inspector  Abednico Ncube on Friday.

He said:

A 19-year-old suspect has been arrested for theft and tampering with Zesa installations. The suspect was caught red-handed while charging two laptops from a Zesa power substation where he had connected an adapter directly to the power cable.

Further investigations revealed that the two laptops had been stolen by the suspect after he broke into Luveve High School premises.

Ncube is facing charges of tampering with Zesa installations, possession of an unlicensed firearm, unlawful entry and theft of property.

-Statemedia

By A Correspondent| The ZANU PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa has put security forces on high alert in the capital, Harare.

There is an ongoing stop and search on all truck going into Harare on all roads, ZimEye reveals.

Whispers were all over alleging that he (Mnangagwa) “fears” a coup; and stop and search operation is countrywide at the moment.

Most roads into the CBD are being manned by armed police at least 2 police officers with AK47 rifles and no motorist can run away because they already look like they can open fire.

Is the machete phenomenon a genuine concern to the ZANU PF government?

Top politicians aligned to the ZANU PF leader reveal with evidence that the machete chaos was started by Mnangagwa himself and he is on video in the last few months threatening to use machetes on citizens as a form of punishment.

He is also on video amid the machete phenomenon, telling party members on the 14th Dec 2019 that this year, all evidence implicating him for state violence must be “nipped in the bud ” before it reaches the United Nations.

Analysts say he will this year use a cover for violence to deal with political opponents.

While efforts to get a comment from the Joint Operations Command were fruitless at the time of writing, a latest JOC report says the security forces are targeting the opposition MDC party.

While the United Nations has fingered Mnangagwa’s administration for the 1 August 2018, and the January 2019 violence, the man has continued to state the opposite.

Earlier on the Norton legislator Temba Mliswa warned that marauding machete wielding gangs that have caused massive terror through murder, rape, robbery and other forms of anarchy in parts of the country’s mining areas could work against President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his Zanu-PF’s ambitions to remain the country’s governing authority.

He was speaking at the Information for Development (IDT) panel discussion forum at Sapes Trust in Harare on: “The Machete Militia: Origins, Responses and Implications.”

Mliswa said the gangs have morphed into a strong, rogue unit which enjoyed tacit army backing.

“These criminals are now working with law enforcement agents but the truth of the matter which you can take is that these guys will take them (Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF) out of power, remember this day,” said Mliswa.

“They have gone too far, they (senior Zanu-PF politicians) feel that they are helping them but they are doing more harm to the people of Zimbabwe.

“The people of Zimbabwe have a tendency to keep quiet, they have the patience to keep quiet for five years, when they vote and that is when they speak.”

Mliswa also questioned the government’s sincerity in dealing with the menace and implicated senior officials in Zanu-PF, army and police for bankrolling the terror gangs.

“He whoever controls gold, controls politics; the military is involved, the police is involved. Operation Restore Legacy happened and after that happened have we gone back to the institutions we were working with or we now have a situation where we have one institution in charge and that institution is the military at the end of the day?

“The police itself is weak because (Operation) Restore Legacy exposed the police, Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). We say that you are weak. We (Zimbabwe Defence Forces) are the people that have brought this new dispensation (and) as a result, we are in control’.

He said it was time that senior politicians including ministers and the State security agents became honest.

“It is about time we are honest, but if the army then becomes so involved in people being killed, in situations where the law enforcement agents who arrest like the police cannot do their job then we need to ask, who is in control?”

A police operation to flush out the Mashurugwi has netted hundreds of suspected members.

However, allegations continue swirling that senior Zanu-PF politicians, army generals and the police are protecting the armed gangs.

The MDC has also pointed fingers at Mnangagwa, Minister of State Security Owen Ncube, Minister of Justice Ziyambi Ziyambi and Local Government Minister July Moyo and Zanu-PF MP Dexter Nduna as being behind the terror groups.

“I have listened to our colleagues in Zanu-PF at a high level, nobody; none of them has condemned the crisis we have in the country of organised, commanded, initiated from the top violence, which is challenging to the security of persons,” opposition leader Nelson Chamisa said last month.

“If we don’t stand up together as a people to defend ourselves, we will go the Rwanda way. We have a soft genocide taking place,” he said referring to the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which over 800 00 people were massacred. – Byo24/Additional Reporting

• LIVE program follows on ZimEye.com

ZIMBABWE’s liberation war fighters have demanded that the proposed Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Board, set to take care of their welfare, should be chaired by ex-Zipra and ex-Zanla combatants on a rotational basis.

This came out during public hearings on the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle, 2019 Bill, which were held in the Midlands and Matabeleland North provinces this week. The Bill is currently before Parliament.

Among other provisions the Bill will establish the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Board and spell out its composition and functions. Presently, war veterans’ concerns are being championed by the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association.

Sonny Key Mguni (Bubi MP Zanu PF), who led a team of MPs from the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home Affairs who are gathering evidence from war veterans told Southern Eye that former Zipra fighters were demanding 50/50 representation on the board with their ex-Zanla counterparts.

“Everywhere the committee went in Matabeleland and Midlands, war veterans suggested there must be rotation of board chairpersonship by Zanla and Zipra,” Mguni said.

“They said if a chairperson of the board is Zanla, and their term expires, then the incoming term must be chaired by a person from Zipra,” he said. Mguni said former fighters also demanded that the title of Commander of the Defence Forces be changed to High Commander.

“Everywhere we went – and there was 100% attendance – the committee was told by war veterans that they now want the commander of the army to be a war veteran,” Mguni said.
“They said the term Commander of the Defence Forces must be changed to High Commander, adding that the person they want to command the army must be a very experienced person and not a mafikizolo (Johnny come lately),” he said.

If passed as is, the Bill will have a profound economic impact given that the former freedom fighters are pushing for their pensions to be at the same scale with a retired army major or lieutenant colonel.

“They were clear that they want their legacy respected in the same manner that World War II veterans are cherished and well taken care of. They said their children should benefit and be supported through scholarships, adding that the Bill should stipulate that their medical care should include access to hospitals outside the country,” Mguni said, adding that there were also calls for monthly stipends commensurate with the poverty datum line.Among other privileges, section 21 (1) of the Bill stipulates that war veterans are entitled to 20% of gazetted State land.

Vice President Chiwenga has for the second time refused to take food, drinks, wine, or water at public gatherings.

Sources said: “I have witnessed indications of the soaring tension between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga during the prayer meeting at the National Sports Stadium today.

After being offered a glass of water VP Chiwenga refused to take it for fear of being poisoned.”

Other sources claim that Chiwenga is not taking food in public as an operation done on him requires him to use specialised tubes to feed directly through the throat and not the normal way.

VP Chiwenga has since stopped taking food at public gatherings.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s office has reportedly decided to ignore the recently acquired AirZim Boeing 777.

Sources from the national airliner and Civil Aviation Authority (CAAZ) said the President’s office has not shown any interest in using the plane for the number 1 as was hoped. It is not clear why Mnangagwa will not use the plane.

The plane purchased from Malaysia is more than 10 years old and has bad safety history after one of them vanished from the skies.

Flight MH370 disappeared from Radar a few minutes after take off with 227 passengers on board in March 2014 a move which prompted the Malaysian airline to dispose entire Boeing 777 fleet.

One official with CAAZ said fear of the plane missing may have prompted the President to ditch the new jet.

‘I am sure it is more to do with safety issues as you are aware Boeing planes are not the safest at the moment the maker has issues the Max also.

Despite the challenges I still think the 777 is safe we are yet to hear of any issue since the 2014 one and there is no legit reason for our President to fear flying it’.

Millions of scarce foreign currency will be wasted on hiring private jet from Dubai. Since taking over from the late Robert Mugabe in a coup Emmerson Mnangagwa has been blowing millions on chartered flights. Comlux the owners of the luxury jet which Mnangagwa uses charge U$30,000.00 per hour and in 2019 alone the President blew over U$15 Million.

Source: Dangwe Media

Media Statement|Ahead of a municipal by-election in Kuwadzana, Zanu PF political commissar Victor Matemadanda has distributed 28 tonnes of maize meal in a crass act of vote-buying in violation of the Electoral Act.

As usual, the captured ZEC will turn a blind eye to this violation of the laws of the land. Elsewhere, especially in rural areas and those areas where there are pending by-elections, Zanu PF continues to illegally use food as a political weapon.

This is the reason why some in the country have lost faith in the electoral route. But those of us in the MDC are a democratic party and we have sought to use democratic means in the prosecution of our struggle. We will continue to fight for reforms to ensure the electoral route is vaccinated against Zanu PF’s piranha instincts.

As a party, we have unstinting faith in democracy and in the electoral route. That has always been the culture and character of the party and that is why a comprehensive reform agenda is one of our key demands.

We challenge ZEC to take action on Matemadanda but we are well aware that the captured election management body will do no such thing.

ZEC has shown that it is an extension of Zanu PF and we challenge them to take decisive action against the Zanu PF political commissar not only to prove their autonomy but also to show their teeth, assuming they have them.

A captured ZEC is one of the reasons why the MDC national executive yesterday adopted an alternative Electoral Bill that will, among other key tenets, ensure that ZEC is a truly independent and impartial institution.

Despite Victor’s vote-buying antics, we know Zanu PF will not be victors in Kuwadzana. What Victor has simply done is dare ZEC to take action.

ZEC must step up to the plate and if they don’t take action, and by the good heavens they will not, then Victor’s Kuwadzana antics provide glaring evidence why this country is always mired in this vicious cycle of disputed elections, which has bred the illegitimacy that is at the very heart of our current national crisis.

#thepeoplesgovernment.

Luke Tamborinyoka
MDC Deputy National Spokesperson

THE Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has foiled an attempt by 25 machete-wielding gang members to invade a mine in Chinhoyi, national police spokesperson Paul Nyathi has confirmed.

This comes at a time when the country is battling to contain the menace of machete-wielding gang members who have caused havoc in several mining towns across the country.

“Twenty-five illegal miners armed with iron bars, shovels, picks and machetes attempted to invade a mine in Makonde, Chinhoyi on January 26, 2020. Police moved in to disperse them using teargas and firing some warning shots,” Nyathi said.

The police have since launched Operation Chikorokoza Ngachipere, which has so far netted in over 2009 machete gang members across the country, as the police seek to end illegal activities in mining towns.

The on-going operation has also seen the arrest of illegal miners in Penhalonga and Matobo, according to Nyathi.
“On January 24, 2020, four men were arrested for illegal gold panning along Mutare River, Penhalonga. A 50kg bag of gold ore was recovered.  On January 25, 2020 ZRP Matobo arrested 15 people for illegal gold panning, one for possessing dagga in the on-going operation against illegal mining activities,” Nyathi said.

The High Court also this week denied bail to at least seven machete gang members, who were reportedly involved in the murder of Kadoma police constable Wonder Hokoyo in December last year.

High Court judge Amy Tsanga ruled that Lyton Panashe Tshuma, Obvious Mawire, Tonderai Musasa, Richwell Tshuma, Bornlight Mukute, Taurai Munetsi and Tinashe Demo, were not suitable candidates for bail.

The other suspect, a 14-year-old boy, has since been freed on bail.

The suspects are accused of having invaded Good Hope Mine in Kadoma on December 28 last year.

“The severity of the punishment they are likely to face in light of the crime having been committed under aggravating circumstances has been alluded to by the State and is likely to induce absconding. The strength of the State case in this instance is bolstered by the identification parade which was carried out, which unearthed two of the applicants.

“Weapons were recovered from two others. Moreover the applicants are said not to be permanently resident at the given address. It would not be in the interest of justice to release them on bail when they have tenuous ties to the place of residence,” Tsanga said, before dismissing the gang’s bail application.

MARRY Chiwenga, the estranged wife of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga
was Saturday remanded in custody by a Harare Magistrate after she was denied bail on fresh charges of assaulting a family maid last week.

Marry is facing charges of assaulting a family maid, Delight Munyoro who had accompanied the feuding couple’s minor children to Hellenic School in Borrowdale, Harare last Tuesday.

Denying her bail, the magistrate said Marry had a “propensity to commit crimes of violence”.

In December last year, Marry was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) officers on charges of attempting to murder her husband while he was receiving treatment at a private hospital in South Africa and spend three weeks in remand prison.

Farai Dziva|They say there are no permanent friends in politics.

Barely two years after playing an influential role in propelling Emmerson Mnangagwa to the highest office in the land, Ezra Chadzamira has now become an enemy of the First Family, particularly Auxillia, who is reportedly pushing for the expulsion of the Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs.

Zanu PF insiders say Auxillia Mnangagwa is using Killer Zivhu and disgruntled party stalwarts in the province to push for the removal of Chadzamira from office.Chadzamira was taunted and ridiculed by Grace Mugabe as he fought in Mnangagwa’s corner.

Zivhu who ironically was Mrs Mugabe’s blue -eyed boy at the height of the Dr Amai Rallies, has also managed to win Mrs Mnangagwa’s sympathy, according to ruling party sources.

“The First Lady is pushing for the expulsion of Chadzamira because she feels he is neglecting the old guard.

She is working with Zivhu, Oppah Muchinguri and Josiah Hungwe to push Chadzamira out of office,” said a ruling party source.

Zivhu is also reportedly seeking Mrs Mnangagwa’s protection as he is facing expulsion for “abusing social media platforms.”

Zivhu was not available for a comment at the time of writing.

Three people had a close shave with death in Chinhoyi’s high-density suburb of Chikonohono when tanks filled with liquid petroleum (LP) gas caught fire and exploded on Thursday.

An eyewitness, Peter Virimo told The Herald that the fire was caused by gas leakages that were ignited by flames from a restaurant nearby.

One of the injured was the gas owner, who attempted to close the leaking cylinder valves after the fire had started.

Said Virimo:
When the guy realised that one of his tanks was leaking, he carried a toddler that was with him to safety before going back to close the valve.

A female bartender who came to witness the inferno and a physically challenged man who was also close to the accident site are said to have been the other casualties.

Chinhoyi Municipality town clerk Maxwell Kaitano told the publication that it was regrettable that the trader failed to be circumspect resulting in the accident.-State media

By A Correspondent|At conventional prayer meetings, people display the holy scriptures on stage with a devotion to encounter God’s face (See examples below). People even wave the Bible – for it is all about the book and its author. You see the Bible standing out at the front or at least some scriptural extraction focusing on the Creator placated, the culture is portrayed in Exodus where Moses cried out, “show me your face Lord!” The whole purpose of prayer is thus for people to encounter the Creator’s face. But at the national sports stadium on Saturday morning people were made to encounter the face of Emmerson Mnangagwa. It was his portrait at the front and the Bible at the backside. See videos below

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Marry Mubaiwa-Chiwenga has appeared before the Magistrates Court today on charges of common assault on a maid; and has been remanded in custody after the Magistrate denied her bail on grounds that she has a “propensity to commit crimes of violence”.

More to follow….

Ahead of a municipal by-election in Kuwadzana, Zanu PF political commissar Victor Matemadanda has distributed 28 tonnes of maize meal in a crass act of vote-buying in violation of the Electoral Act.

As usual the captured ZEC will turn a blind eye to this violation of the laws of the land. Elsewhere, especially in rural areas and those areas where there are pending by-elections, Zanu PF continues to illegally use food as a political weapon.

This is the reason why some in the country have lost faith in the electoral route. But those of us in the MDC are a democratic party and we have sought to use democratic means in the prosecution of our struggle. We will continue to fight for reforms to ensure the electoral route is vaccinated against Zanu PF’s piranha instincts.

As a party, we have unstinting faith in democracy and in the electoral route. That has always been the culture and character of the party and that is why a comprehensive reform agenda is one of our key demands.

We challenge ZEC to take action on Matemadanda but we are well aware that the captured election management body will do no such thing. ZEC has shown that it is an extension of Zanu PF and we challenge them to take decisive action against the Zanu PF political commissar not only to prove their autonomy but also to show their teeth, assuming they have them.

A captured ZEC is one of the reasons why the MDC national executive yesterday adopted an alternative Electoral Bill that will, among other key tenets, ensure that ZEC is a truly independent and impartial institution.

Despite Victor’s vote-buying antics, we know Zanu PF will not be victors in Kuwadzana. What Victor has simply done is dare ZEC to take action.
ZEC must step up to the plate and if they don’t take action, and by the good heavens they will not, then Victor’s Kuwadzana antics provide  glaring evidence why this country is always mired in this vicious cycle of disputed elections, which has bred the illegitimacy that is at the very 
heart of our current national crisis.

Luke Tamborinyoka (MDC Deputy National Spokesperson)

By Jane Mlambo| A response to a post by South African News24 in which they reported about an Indonesian crocodile with a tyre stuck on its head for years, has become a source of ridicule after a Zimbabwean likened it to President Emmerson Mnangagwa affection for his scuff.

Find below screenshot to the post and @ChipsChaps’ reaction.

By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube has announced that an additional $500 million in notes and coins will be put into economy in the first six months of 2020.

Ncube said that the initiative is premised at easing the cash crisis that has lingered for years now. Zimbabwe has attempted a number of tricks including the introduction of the surrogate currency, the bond note to address the cash shortage issue but results have been frustrating, so far.

The minister added that the introduction of the additional $500 million will also address the money-laundering issue.

He said:

An additional $500 million in notes and coins will be put into the economy in the first six months of 2020. We expect this to ease the demand for physical cash and you won’t be ripped off by money dealers who sell cash.

His remarks come when parallel markets are now fully established and have become defacto sources of official foreign currency exchange rates.

Economists have warned that money-laundering will continue to be a dorminant threat to the government as long as the cash crisis is not addressed.

-Statemedia

35'
ZIM 0-0 Malawi
U20 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifier leg 2
1-1 aggregate
Chances to score on either end but none taken. Yet pic.twitter.com/JSEzj6udxZ

— Zimbabwe Football Association (@online_zifa) February 1, 2020

By A Correspondent- A picture of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and UFIC leader Emmanuel Makandiwa has hogged the limelight with netizens coming up with various “theories and guesses” on what the two men were discussing.

What do you think Makandiwa was telling VP Chiwenga?

Ahead of a municipal by-election in Kuwadzana, Zanu PF political commissar Victor Matemadanda has distributed 28 tonnes of maize meal in a crass act of vote-buying in violation of the Electoral Act.

As usual the captured ZEC will turn a blind eye to this violation of the laws of the land. Elsewhere, especially in rural areas and those areas where
there are pending by-elections, Zanu PF continues to illegally use food as a political weapon.

This is the reason why some in the country have lost faith in the electoral route. But those of us in the MDC are a democratic party and we have
sought to use democratic means in the prosecution of our struggle. We will continue to fight for reforms to ensure the electoral route is vaccinated
against Zanu PF’s piranha instincts.

As a party, we have unstinting faith in democracy and in the electoral route. That has always been the culture and character of the party and that
is why a comprehensive reform agenda is one of our key demands.

We challenge ZEC to take action on Matemadanda but we are well aware that the captured election management body will do no such thing. ZEC
has shown that it is an extension of Zanu PF and we challenge them to take decisive action against the Zanu PF political commissar not only to
prove their autonomy but also to show their teeth, assuming they have them.

A captured ZEC is one of the reasons why the MDC national executive yesterday adopted an alternative Electoral Bill that will, among other key
tenets, ensure that ZEC is a truly independent and impartial institution.

Despite Victor’s vote-buying antics, we know Zanu PF will not be victors in Kuwadzana. What Victor has simply done is dare ZEC to take action.
ZEC must step up to the plate and if they don’t take action, and by the good heavens they will not, then Victor’s Kuwadzana antics provide
glaring evidence why this country is always mired in this vicious cycle of disputed elections, which has bred the illegitimacy that is at the very
heart of our current national crisis.

Luke Tamborinyoka (MDC Deputy National Spokesperson)

Finance minister Mthuli Ncube is set to put into circulation an additional $500mil of notes and coins which he said will be pumped into the economy. Do you think that this move will ease the current cash crisis?

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) February 1, 2020

By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube has announced that an additional $500 million in notes and coins will be put into economy in the first six months of 2020.

Ncube said that the initiative is premised at easing the cash crisis that has lingered for years now. Zimbabwe has attempted a number of tricks including the introduction of the surrogate currency, the bond note to address the cash shortage issue but results have been frustrating, so far.

The minister added that the introduction of the additional $500 million will also address the money-laundering issue.

He said:

An additional $500 million in notes and coins will be put into the economy in the first six months of 2020. We expect this to ease the demand for physical cash and you won’t be ripped off by money dealers who sell cash.

His remarks come when parallel markets are now fully established and have become defacto sources of official foreign currency exchange rates.

Economists have warned that money-laundering will continue to be a dorminant threat to the government as long as the cash crisis is not addressed.

-Statemedia