Own Correspondent|MDC Alliance secretary for external affairs Gladys Hlatshwayo has hit headlines on allegations that she was evicted from her lodgings at a cottage in Mabelreign after failing to settle utility bills.

Hlatshwayo was residing at Number 7, 12th Avenue, Mabelreign, as a tenant occupying a three-roomed cottage.

She owes Mrs Memory Matiyenga, the owner of the property $377 in council bills and an additional amount for 660,40 units of electricity.

Her actions forced Mrs Matiyenga to serve her with a termination of the lease agreement on September 11, 2019, and was expected to vacate the premises on December 31, but failed to do so.

According to Mrs Matiyenga, her tenant was not forthcoming thereby forcing her to seek legal recourse.

Mrs Matiyenga is reported to have at one time engaged MDC leader Nelson Chamisa to intervene in the issue but nothing came out of it.

Ms Hlatshwayo occupied the cottage in January last year.

“I unknowingly leased my cottage to Ms Hlatshwayo, who is an MDC executive member, as of January last year. She has been giving me a torrid time to get monthly rentals, water and electricity bills.

“I have tried to deal with the case in a civil way but I am now at the receiving end. I have reached out to his superiors but it didn’t yield any results.

“I engaged MDC leader Chamisa over the matter, who promised to solve the issue, but nothing has materialised.

“I issued her with a three-months’ notice of termination of tenancy on September 11, 2019 which expired on December 31. She paid her rentals as and when she felt like,” said Mrs Matiyenga.

On December 22, she left her goods locked inside and only pitched up on January 2 this year.

“In the process, I approached the Civil Court as a legal route. I was advised to issue her with summons. I followed all the legal processes and she was served with summons which she never responded to.

“A default judgment was handed down and she was served with a warrant of eviction on January 24, giving her 48 hours to vacate my cottage. She had January 27 and 28 to respond. Yesterday at 7.45 pm she sent her relatives to collect her goods, but later locked the doors and vanished with the keys,” she said.

Hlatshwayo accused Matiyenga of having a “hidden agenda.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about, I think she has an agenda I do not know. Its best you talk to her because I do not know what you are talking about,” said Hlatshwayo.

Matiyenga said Hlatshwayo was paying $2000 a month but had still to pay her rent for January.

“She was paying $2000 and she went without paying January rentals, she went on to drop the keys at my brother’s house 3:10pm on Wednesday, hours after we had broken into the house,” said Matiyenga.

State Media|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.

GOVERNMENT and civil servants’ representatives yesterday agreed on a salary increment ranging between 133 percent and 172 percent, which will see the lowest-paid worker earning $2 500 per month starting next month with the highest paid getting $4 631.

The Apex Council said the package was a mere 31 percent of what they had tabled.

The increment would be backdated to January 1.

There will also be a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) based on the total package, also to be paid starting February and backdated to January.

Since civil servants had received their January salaries, the workers will be paid the difference in four equal instalments starting February until the end of April, when another salary review is expected.

Negotiating parties under the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) signed the agreement in the early hours of yesterday.

Speaking at a Press conference, Apex Council president Mrs Cecilia Alexander said the deal was a provisional agreement while negotiations continued.

“We wish to advise our members that as NJNC we have reached a provisional agreement as we continue with negotiations,” she said.

“Having taken note of the challenges being faced by our members due to (the) rising cost of living and the state of the economy.

“In our wisdom we agreed that let’s continue to negotiate, but at least let’s reach some point where we can say for now we sign for something so that our members can get something to live on.”

Mrs Alexander said they had pressured Government to consider paying the January shortfalls over three months after failing to agree on a once-off payment.

She said their initial position was based on the October 2018 salaries, which they wanted matched with the interbank rate.

Mrs Alexander said the decision was a compromise for the sake of incapacitated workers.

The Apex Council, which had earlier declined to sign the agreement, said they were motivated by the commitment made by Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Professor Paul Mavima on behalf of Government.

Prof Mavima had earlier told the NJNC workshop that Government was committed to social dialogue and that he would personally engage Treasury for better salaries.

He said the agreement was a critical moment for the country and will help restore normalcy in the civil service.

Government team leader on the Health Service Bipartite Negotiating Panel, Dr Maxwell Mareza Hove, said as negotiators they were elated to have struck a balance between workers’ needs and the national cake.

The Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association advised its members to do everything possible to deliver public service as required.

State Media|Government has advised local farmers not to panic over the desert locusts that have invaded East Africa, as systems have been put in place to monitor their movement.

The invasion by the migratory pests poses a threat to food security in the sub region.

The locusts have so far affected Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Zimbabwe is a member of the International Red Locust Control Organisation for Central and Southern Africa (IRLCO-CSA).

The IRLCO-CSA promotes and undertakes effective control of significant populations of red locusts in recognised outbreak areas in the territories of contracting governments.

The organisation also offers services within limits of resources in the coordination and reinforcement of national action in the region against red locust swarms, which escape from recognised outbreak areas.

The IRLCO-CSA also undertakes control of migrant pests in member countries, including armyworm, grain-eating birds and tsetse fly.

When one of the member states is attacked by locusts, the organisation dispatches planes and pesticides.

Department of the Plant Quarantine and Plant Protection Services Institute (PQPPSI) under the Department of Research and Specialist Services entomologist, Mr Shingirayi Nyamutukwa, said they were working with IRLCO-CSA in monitoring the movement of the pest.

If there are any indications they may come to Zimbabwe, farmers will be advised accordingly.

“We are monitoring the movement of locusts regionally to see which directions they are taking,” he said.

“We also receive reports and updates on the pests.

“We will be checking on the migration pattern of the swarms.

“If we see that they are coming, we will alert farmers.

“Mr Nyamutukwa said the outbreak of the locusts was a result of favourable breeding conditions.

“As they eat, they will be laying eggs and moving,” he said.

Own Correspondent|THE National Prosecution Authority (NPA) has finally removed all police, army and prison officers who have been working as prosecutors at the country’s courts.

The prosecutors seconded to the NPA by the uniformed forces have since returned to their work stations following last year’s Constitutional Court ruling that employment of serving members of security services was unconstitutional.

A period of 24 months was given to the NPA and Prosecutor-General Mr Kumbirai Hodzi to disengage all serving members of the security forces.

In an interview on the sidelines of the ongoing training of NPA, Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers by Ugandan anti-corruption judge, Justice Lawrence Gidudu in Harare yesterday, Mr Hodzi, said his organisation adheres to court rulings.

“In relation to the judgment you are alluding to, I met the Minister of Finance and Economic Development (Professor Mthuli Ncube) on Monday and we were given authority to recruit as many officers.

“They will be seconded to the NPA and the Special Anti-Corruption Unit (SACU) will have a pick,” he said.

“Other officers who were seconded from sister agencies will go back to their respective stations. It was a national emergency when they were recruited at the time. A lot of them have already reported back to their respective stations.”

Correspondent|Zimbabwe opposition leader Nelson Chamisa is in South Africa on a diplomatic offensive to pressure President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene in Zimbabwean affairs, to prevent further economic decline.

Chamisa, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has made several appeals to Ramaphosa to facilitate dialogue between him and President Emmerson Mnangagwa, to break the political impasse.

Chamisa has challenged Mnangagwa’s legitimacy, and accused him of stealing the 2018 elections.

While Mnangagwa has started dialogue with some of the opposition parties that contested the 2018 election, Chamisa and leaders of three other political parties, have refused to meet with him, insisting on a neutral mediator.

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who mediated talks between former late President Robert Mugabe and late MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and other MDC formations after a violent and disputed 2008 election, has expressed willingness to assist in talks, and has even been to Harare to meet with concerned parties.

Chamisa told VOA Zimbabwe Service that he wants Pretoria to intervene because the political temperatures in Harare are rising.

Reacting to Chamisa’s regional initiative, ruling Zanu-PF party secretary for administration, Paul Mangwana, said there is no crisis in Zimbabwe that calls for regional intervention.

Mnangagwa has not warmed to regional intervention, opting for internal dialogue and has initiated his own domestic talks under the banner of the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD), a forum that brings together about 17 opposition parties that participated in the 2018 elections.

State Media|VICE President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife, Ms Marry Mubaiwa, on Tuesday allegedly assaulted the family maid at Hellenic School in Borrowdale following an altercation over the custody of children.

Ms Delight Munyoro had gone to the school to pick up the children, but clashed with Ms Mubaiwa at the school.

She reportedly wanted access to the children.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed Borrowdale Police Station was handling the matter.

“I confirm that the police have received a report made by one Delight Munyoro (36) to the effect that Marry Mubaiwa has assaulted her.

“The incident is said to have occurred at Hellenic School at around 12.05pm.

“We have instituted investigations into the matter and so far no arrests have been made. We are yet to locate the accused person,” he said.

Last week, Mubaiwa won her High Court appeal for custody of the couple’s three minor children and access to the matrimonial home, but VP Chiwenga filed a notice of appeal at the Supreme Court.

Justice Christopher Dube-Banda ordered that the custody of the children be restored to Mubaiwa and barred the Vice President from interfering with her access to the Borrowdale Brooke house.

State Media|State universities could end up charging up to $15 000 a semester once all ancillary fees, accommodation and meals have been factored in.

The Government set maximum tuition fees between $3 500 and $5 000 per semester for universities, depending on course, while tuition at colleges was set at between $500 and $1 500.

Ancillary fees, accommodation and meals were left to the institutions to determine.

The ancillary charges include registration, examination, maintenance, medical aid, technology, students union, sports levy, laboratory, travel, student development, fieldwork and graduation fees and can total $3 660.

The Herald’s investigations have shown that universities are trying to go back to their proposed high charges by hiking ancillary and accommodation fees.

At the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), where tuition for a medical student was set at $4 995, the total including ancillary fees is $8 655.

Students staying on campus will also have to pay accommodation fees, which has not been invoiced but is said to be between $8 000 and $10 000.

Those from outside Harare who opt to rent rooms in Mount Pleasant and Vainona near campus, will probably have to pay their landlords anything between $1 200 and $1 800, often demanded in foreign currency.

Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation and Technology Development Minister Professor Amon Murwira has, however, encouraged parents and guardians to take advantage of the student loan scheme, saying Government had no jurisdiction over ancillary fees.

“People should take loans because they are meant to be used,” he said.

“The loan scheme is meant to be used because we can see that our fees are still lower than that of high schools. There is no way a student can go to a university without chemicals, equipment and stuff meant for

Parents should capitalise on the loan scheme and they have to understand that this is not a cash economy hence we encourage them to take loans.

“We want our students to have access to education and we have agreed that students on attachment should pay 60 percent of the tuition fees. They should access these loans because they are guaranteed by the Government.”

Parents and guardians said these were private loans which they were expected to immediately start paying back.

“The repayment is set to commence the next month after the loan application is approved. So a student with no one to guarantee the ability to pay won’t get the loan,” a disgruntled parent said.

“In the case of the UZ, the loan applications are processed via the University of Zimbabwe Cadetship Office, but the ultimate decision-maker is CBZ (Bank), and repayment is by debiting a salary at not more than 40 percent of applicant’s net income.

“At the end of the day the parent is left with nothing. Government is forgetting that we already have other loans and stop orders.”

Responding to the high cost of ancillary fees, Prof Murwira said the Government was assisting university operations by giving each university $6 million for operational costs such as water and electricity.

“We are now helping universities on their operations and each university has received $6 million for operational costs. This was last done in 2009, but we have restarted it; supporting universities budget wise.

“We also encouraged universities to increase agricultural programmes to ensure that their food is coming from their farms. Our main aim is never to have students outside the class, but to make sure that they are in class. Levies are normally a function of how the economy functions,” he said.

UZ director of information and public relations Mr Daniel Chihombori said the final accommodation fees will be given on February 24 to allow parents and guardians time to look for the money.

Last semester, UZ students paid $1 200 as accommodation fees.

Harare Institute of Technology communications officer Mr Jefry Makumbe said the institution was reviewing accommodation fees and these would be published as soon as they are approved.

At Harare Polytechnic, students paid $1 540 for accommodation but the figure is reportedly under review.

Bindura University of Science Education director of public relations Mr James Gutura said they proposed their fee structure last week and it is yet to be approved by the parent ministry.

Mutare Polytechnic College students staying on campus will have to fork out $6 990.

At Kwekwe and Gweru Polytechnic colleges, students said they paid $3 500 for food and $730 for accommodation over and above $1 300 for tuition.

At Masvingo Polytechnic, resident students are paying $3 500 per semester for accommodation but sources said the figure would be reviewed soon, while at Masvingo Teachers’ College resident students are paying $3 500.

A source at Bondolfi Teachers’ College said many students were going for off-campus accommodation because of the $4 000 being charged by the institution per semester.

Great Zimbabwe University director of information Mr Anderson Chipatiso said campus accommodation fees for the forthcoming semester will be decided after consultation with the institution’s students representative body.

At Midlands State University, authorities said they were yet to come up with a food and accommodation fee structure with the new semester expected to start mid-February.

However, students at the two institutions said they were told to budget for between $8 000 and $10 000.

The Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) is the right platform for Zimbabweans to dialogue and the opposition MDC-A is missing out on an opportunity to purposefully impact on the governance of the country, former MDC-T vice president Obert Gutu has said.

Speaking in a wide ranging interview with The Herald, Mr Gutu said there was no onus in criticising the platform without fully understanding what it is intended to achieve.

Mr Gutu said Nelson Chamisa should at least join the platform and speak from a well informed point of view .

“I think they are missing a huge opportunity to impact purposefully in the governance of this country because if you just lambast and trash POLAD without you understanding what it is about, it does not make sense to me and for any right thinking person.

We are saying POLAD is for those political parties that had a Presidential candidate in the 2018 harmonised elections.

“I believe the best thing you have to do is say okay I am not happy with POLAD but I want to join then use that opportunity to say I am not happy with it because of A, B, C, and D. Don’t just throw tantrums, no one will listen to you,” he said.

“I believe POLAD can be improved upon but conceptually it is a brilliant opportunity for Zimbabwe to come together.”

He said it was important for Zimbabweans to be conscientised about the platform so that they familiarise with it and get to know exactly what its mandate and purpose is.

Mr Gutu called for the broadening of POLAD to accommodate all key drivers in the country’s economic revival in the near future.
“I believe there is still a lot to be done to make POLAD known.

People have to know what is POLAD, what is it about, people want to know and deserve to know; what is POLAD’s main thrust, what its main mission.
“Why don’t we broaden POLAD.

Right now it is just political actors but why don’t we have a POLAD that will have even the media, business, the church, women’s organisations, the youth because there are so many sectoral interests in this country. Then you make POLAD a colossal multi-faceted forum,” said Mr Gutu.

He dismissed notions by the MDC that dialogue should only be between the ruling Zanu PF party and themselves, saying: “The good thing about multi-party democracy is that the majority will have their way while the minority have their say, that is the fundamental guiding principle of a functional and authentic multi-party democracy.

All I am saying is if you exclusively say POLAD should be between Zanu PF and MDC you are totally off course.”

Mr Gutu said although he had resigned as MDC-T vice president it did not mean that he was against it as a constructive way to take the country forward.

“At POLAD I was one of the representatives of the MDC-T but let me put this clear, I am one of the people who passionately believe that if POLAD is restructured, if it is properly repackaged it is actually a game changer,” he said.-State media

VICE President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife, Ms Marry Mubaiwa, on Tuesday allegedly assaulted the family housemaid at Hellenic School in Borrowdale following an altercation over custody of children.

Ms Delight Munyoro (36) had gone to the school to pick up the children but clashed with Ms Mubaiwa at the school.
She reportedly wanted access to the children.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed receiving an assault report saying Borrowdale Police Station was handling the matter.
“I confirm that the police have received a report made by one Delight Munyoro (36) to the effect that Mary Mubaiwa assaulted her.

“The incident is said to have occurred at Hellenic School at around 12:05 (on Tuesday).

“We have instituted investigations into the matter and so far no arrests have been made. We are yet to locate the accused person,” he said.
Last week Ms Mubaiwa won her 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.

Justice Christopher Dube-Banda ordered that the custody of children be restored to Mubaiwa and barred the Vice President from interfering with her access to the Borrowdale Brooke house.

Mubaiwa had sought the intervention of the High Court after she was barred from the matrimonial home and custody of the children taken from her following the couple’s fallout.

Meanwhile, VP Chiwenga has filed an urgent chamber application at the Supreme Court to have his appeal in the custody case treated with urgency.
The lawyers want an urgent hearing of the appeal.

“It is apparent from the applicant’s founding affidavit, the papers filed in the High Court, the judgment of the High Court and the notice of appeal that the appeal concerns the immediate and urgent welfare of minor children, the administration of State protected properties and the security of a sitting Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

“The matters to which the appeal relate are in my opinion, of such an urgent nature that the application must be heard on an urgent basis for the determination of whether or not the appeal ought to be heard on an urgent basis,” reads the certificate of urgency.-State media

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The Zimbabwe Republic Police is hunting down Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife, Ms Marry Mubaiwa, over a report the says she allegedly assaulted the family maid at Hellenic School in Borrowdale.

This was following an altercation over the custody of children, the police said. Ms Delight Munyoro had gone to the school to pick up the children, but clashed with Marry at the school.

She reportedly wanted access to the children.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed Borrowdale Police Station was handling the matter.

“I confirm that the police have received a report made by one Delight Munyoro (36) to the effect that Marry Mubaiwa has assaulted her.

“The incident is said to have occurred at Hellenic School at around 12.05pm.

“We have instituted investigations into the matter and so far no arrests have been made. We are yet to locate the accused person,” he said.

Last week, Mubaiwa won her High Court appeal for custody of the couple’s three minor children and access to the matrimonial home, but VP Chiwenga filed a notice of appeal at the Supreme Court.

Justice Christopher Dube-Banda ordered that the custody of the children be restored to Mubaiwa and barred the Vice President from interfering with her access to the Borrowdale Brooke house.

Meanwhile, VP Chiwenga has filed an urgent chamber application at the Supreme Court to have his appeal in the custody case treated with urgency.

“It is apparent from the applicant’s founding affidavit, the papers filed in the High Court, the judgment of the High Court and the notice of appeal that the appeal concerns the immediate and urgent welfare of minor children, the administration of State protected properties and the security of a sitting Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

“The matters to which the appeal relate are in my opinion, of such an urgent nature that the application must be heard on an urgent basis for the determination of whether or not the appeal ought to be heard on an urgent basis,” reads the certificate of urgency. – state media/additional reporting

Farai Dziva|The country’s main opposition party, MDC there is fresh evidence of how how the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission rigged the elections in favour of Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Below is part of the contents of a document compiled under the party’s Agenda 2020:

While the Constitutional Court made its determination of the application I initiated challenging the controversial ZEC declaration and announcement of Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa as the winner of the 2018 presidential election, and while we respected that decision as we disagreed with it, there is now a new development after the case.

The development is coming from ZEC itself, which shows beyond any argument or doubt that the results of the 2018 presidential election were transmitted, captured and collated unlawfully, improperly and irregularly as to void the election and invalidate any result that was declared and announced following the unlawful, improper and irregular transmission, capture and collation of the results from the country’s 1,985 ward centres to ZEC’s national command centre in Harare.

The compelling evidence of how the presidential election was rigged by ZEC, is enough for anyone and all of the 2,6 million voters who cast their vote for us to go to court on grounds that their political rights enshrined in s67(1) of the Constitution were violated.

There’s also now a clear and present basis for taking the matter of the 2018 presidential election to the African Court on Human and People’s Rights.

Such actions would be well within the BBI, as an expression of the people’s action to restore legality and legitimacy under the MDC’s Agenda 2020.

Those who say the 2018 presidential election should be forgotten about, and focus should now be on 2023, ain’t seen nothing yet. It’s them who should forget about covering up the giant 2018 election fraud.

Especially now that ZEC itself has, perhaps inadvertently or even mischievously, came out with incontrovertible evidence that election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the law.

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Farai Dziva|The entire Rusape community has been stunned by an incident in which a drunk man crushed his mother’s head.

Read the ZBC version of the story below:

A 44-year-old Rusape man from Chigwedere village is in police custody after he allegedly pounded his 77-year-old mother to death.
ZBC News reports that on Monday, Muzowaka who was under the influence of alcohol pounded his unsuspecting mother, Monika Mucheke, with a granite stone in the head and she died instantly.
The incident was confirmed to the ZBC News by Manicaland police spokesperson, Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa who added that the accused is already in police custody assisting with investigations. Kakohwa said:

“Semapurisa tiri kuferefeta nyaya yemwana mukomana akatsonda mai vake nedombo mushure mekunge anwa doro kunonzi kwaStella, (as the police we are investigationg a case in which a son crushed his mother with a stone after he had consumed alcohol at a place called Stella) .

We encourage members of the public to try and solve issues amicably saying that the law will take its course on all offenders.”

By A Correspondent- The fight over control of Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) properties in Marondera has spilled into the courts, with a faction aligned to Cossum Chiangwa applying for a peace order against a rival group led by Amon Madawo.

On January 5 this year, Marondera police had to intervene when violence broke out at the church’s Divine Truth Revival Centre in Cherima high-density suburb after Madawo’s followers were accused of invading the premises and disrupting a prayer session led by local cleric Milton Gwizo.

Gwizo yesterday approached the civil court seeking a peace order against his rivals Frank Magume, Akedias Tigere, Christopher Ringisai and Tinashe Moyo.

The court ordered both parties to go back and draft a peace agreement to be signed by the magistrate on February 5.

There was wild jubilation at Marondera Civil Court as members of the Madawo faction celebrated the ruling that will see them sharing the premises with their rivals.

The AFM church split into two factions in 2018 as Chiangwa and Madawo fought over leadership of one of the country’s biggest Pentecostal denominations

By A Correspondent- Home Affairs Minister, Kazembe Kazembe has said that the passport backlog which dates back to 2018 needs to be cleared this year.

Kazembe proposed the computerisation of the system to allow passport seekers to apply online. Speaking in Chinhoyi where he toured provincial registry offices, Kazembe said:

We have a backlog of 355 thousand passports, they need to be processed and that backlog has to be cleared before year-end. The major challenge is the lack of consumables. Decentralisation is an ongoing process. The solution is computerisation. There is no decentralisation that beats applications via online.

Kazembe also proposed that Registrar General’s offices have to be solar-powered to avoid delays due to power cuts. His remarks come when there are reports suggesting that the government intends to allow local citizens with “free funds” to apply for passports using foreign currency, particularly the United States dollar.

The biting economy has forced a number of Zimbabweans to contemplate going abroad to search for greener pastures and as a result, the RG’s office is overwhelmed by the demand when it already had insufficient resources for printing passports.

-Statemedia

By A Correspondent- A man from Nyamandlovu in Matabeleland North has appeared in court facing charges of raping a minor after enticing her with an offer of sweet reeds.

The accused (23) was not asked to plead to rape when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Lizwe Jamela on Monday.

He was remanded in custody to January 31.

The court was told that on April 2017, the girl (name withheld for ethical reasons) visited her grandfather in Nyamandlovu, where the accused was employed as a domestic worker.

It is alleged that during the same month, the accused asked the girl if she likes sweet reeds and she expressed interest.

He then took the minor to the fields under the pretext that they were going to harvest some sweet reeds and raped her.
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He allegedly threatened to kill the minor’s grandmother if she ever revealed the abuse.

The girl did not tell anyone until November 2018 when her aunt, who is a traditional healer asked her if she was hiding something from her. That was when the girl revealed the rape. They reported the matter the minor’s mother.

The court was told that on January 21 this year, the girl’s mother escorted her to the police and filed a report which led to accused’s arrest.

The girl was referred to Nyamandlovu Hospital for medical examination.

-Newsday

By A Correspondent- According to a local daily, authorities have put 94 people who travelled from countries affected by the coronavirus to Zimbabwe on a monitoring program.

The publication reported that so far, none of the people on the 21-day monitoring program is exuding any worrying signs.

This was revealed by  epidemiology and disease control director, Portia Manangazira, who spoke to the publication and said:

We are following up on those people by checking … symptoms daily. However, none of those monitored are showing any worrying signs at the moment.

Speaking about the govt’s preparedness to deal with Coronavirus, the Health Minister, Obadiah Moyo said:

There is a drug called Kaletra which has been found to be effective, although it’s not a permanent treatment.

For now, the quantities of the medicines that we have are adequate for the task. We are ready … it’s just now an issue of monitoring at our ports of entry,

Coronavirus has up to date killed 132 people in China and over 4500 people have been affected worldwide.

-DailyNews

By A Correspondent- Mealie meal shortages have reached worrying levels across the country, as residents in the capital endure long queues to acquire strictly one packet of the scarce commodity, amid indications the situation will get worse in the coming weeks.

There were long winding queues in the few shops that had mealie meal since last week, with retailers battling to contain the swelling queues.

It also emerged that some licensed retailers were taking the commodity to the black market, where they were selling clandestinely in foreign currency which many cannot afford to get hold of.

At one major retail outlet, consumers were restricted to one 10kg bag of the commodity, while names, identity document numbers and other personal details were noted to block people from buying more than one pack.

The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) yesterday conceded the crisis, but said the organisation was bringing in more than 50 000 tonnes of maize by the weekend.

“We are importing maize and we have lorries coming through and by weekend, I am sure they will be in Harare. Bulawayo received last week and that is part of the 50 000 metric tonnes of maize from South Africa,” GMAZ spokesperson Garikai Chaunza said.

“We expect another delivery of 50 000 metric tonnes. Most of the trucks are at the border now and if everything goes on well logistically, by weekend, they will be in Harare.”
Chaunza said the imports were by private players to augment government efforts.

Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Denford Mutashu said the mealie meal crisis may soon be over after promises by millers that several tonnes were making their way into the country.

“Mealie meal is on the way. We met millers a few days ago and they have maize already in the country and government is running around to secure maize. As an association, we have made a resolution that mealie meal should go to accredited retailers,” he said.

“In the short to medium-term, we will have lots of mealie meal, but currently, demand is very high after the subsidy. That made it difficult to have mealie meal at one place at the same time as a truckload would be finished within 30 minutes upon being offloaded.

“Going forward, we should have lots of maize and have lots of mealie meal. We must not focus on importing. We must put effort on production of maize.”

Mutashu said a few supermarkets were getting mealie meal, while a large number of those in the informal market, which he said constituted 70%, were not getting anything.

He said they had trained monitors to ensure there were no illicit deals in the purchasing of mealie meal.

“We had situations where some would sell a few packets of mealie meal, then reserve the rest for small shops, where they sell in foreign currency. With the monitors in place, that should be a thing of the past,” Mutashu said.

Government has been criticised for not doing enough to acquire adequate maize for the nation with the opposition MDC party accusing Finance minister Mthuli Ncube of lying in Davos, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum where he told the international media that no one would starve.

-newsday

By A Correspondent- Machete gangs, otherwise known as MaShurugwi, have reportedly gone underground following a nationwide police blitz which has seen nearly 2 000 illegal gold miners caged for terrorising communities in gold-rich parts of the country.

A source close to the Zimbabwe Republic Police’s crack team tasked to flush out the rogue miners yesterday said they had managed to restore sanity in most mining areas although there were isolated cases being reported.

“It’s quiet now. We have not encountered the machete gangs since the arrest of some of the gang leaders. Most of them have run away from the mining areas,” a source close to the crack team said.

“Yes, there could be some isolated cases, but the menace has since gone. We will remain on the ground so that we totally comb the mining areas and rid them of the machete gangs even those isolated reports.”

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the police will continue to maintain a heavy presence in the identified hotspots to ensure all trouble causers are accounted for.

“We are going to continue working with stakeholders to see that the peace which we have established is maintained. We will continue being on the ground to combat crime in the long run,” Nyathi said.

Over 1 800 illegal miners and gang members have so far been nabbed under operation Chikorokoza Ngachipere/No to Machete Gangs.

Last week, the crack teams arrested the Ziga gang members and Macheto brothers who had terrorised miners in Kadoma and Kwekwe.

The leader of the Ziga gang, which is believed to be behind the murder of Constable Wonder Hokoyo in December, Phelandaba Tshuma was arrested in Mt Darwin while trying to jump the border into Mozambique.

His vehicle, a Toyota Hiace, was found laden with an assortment of machetes and explosives.

The police have also raided underground machete suppliers in Mbare, Harare leading to the arrest of seven suspects and recovery of 31 machetes.

The Judiciary Service Commission has also set up special courts to specifically deal with machete gangs amid calls for imposition of stiffer and mandatory jail sentences.

-Newsday

By A Correspondent- LEAD president Linda Masarira has urged the government to set up a quarantine centre for people coming into the country from areas near the Wuhan region in China where the Coronavirus originated.

In a Twitter thread, Masarira said the country was not ready to deal with an epidemic of this magnitude in case it hits Zimbabwe.

Here is a full thread of Linda’s twitter warning:

1/ Seems like we are underestimating this virus in Zimbabwe. Look at what is happening in Wuhan. The facts are there to see why is this part of the world on lockdown because they know how dangerous the virus is. If we are not careful this will wipe out the human race. @MoHCCZim

2/ We need to urgently push for a quarantine Centre for everyone coming from that China region. Zimbabwe is not equipped to deal with an epidemic of that magnitude. If only one person enters with country with it we are in trouble

3/ I have gathered that there are no longer any people coming from the epi center as China has already instituted massive state wide quarantine. Reports state that there are 22 already in Zim who are under medical surveillance rather than quarantine

4/ So people are just following them up and waiting to intervene if they develop symptoms. We know that this type of virus often spreads before symptoms develop so that’s a potential gap. There is need for precautionary measures to be in place to save lives.

5/ Just next door in South Africa, “Port health professionals routinely conduct temperature screening for all international travellers. Fortunately, OR Tambo International Airport is the only port of entry for all flights from Asia

Kenya and Ethiopia have recorded the first cases of the virus in Africa.

By A Correspondent- Civil servants this morning finally agreed to take the improved salary offered by their paymaster at the JNNC workshop in Vic Falls, the state media reported.

Speaking at the sidelines of the workshop, Public Service Minister Paul Mavima said:

We are so excited that the parties have finally managed to reach an agreement and resolved all the sticking issues. The nation is now assured of continued service delivery and we would like to make it clear that we will continue to improve the condition of service for the workers.

The negotiations had been going on for close to a month and the civil servants had rejected both offers offered by the government.

It is still not clear if the government offered the civil servants more money or they are going to honour their second offer which will see civil servants earning between ZWL$2200 and $3500

-statemedia

By A Correspondent- Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has given Judge President George Chiweshe a 48-hour ultimatum to explain how the judgment on child custody was allegedly leaked before it was officially handed down in court.

Chiwenga suggests that the judgment was leaked to his estranged wife, Marry Mubaiwa-Chiwenga and a local newspaper. Through his lawyers, Manase & Manase Legal Practitioners, the former army boss said:

The purpose of our writing is to register our client’s complaint in the manner in which the judgment in the above matter has been handled…

The applicant in this matter attended the parties’ children’s school at 8am today (Friday January 24) armed with an order of this court and stated to the school authorities that she had been granted an order by the High Court to have access to the children…

We also wonder why the said judgment, before it was handed down, got publicised in the Independent newspaper advising the public that Marry Mubaiwa had won the case she had filed.

Chiwenga claimed in the letter that the former model is related to Justice Chiweshe adding that their relationship could have influenced the court’s decision on the matter.

VP Chiwenga lost the case but has since appealed against the ruling at the Supreme Court.

By A Correspondent- Dethroned Chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni of Ntabazinduna, Matabeleland North, has left the country for the United Kingdom for a cataract operation.

Cataract surgery is a procedure to remove the eye lens and, in most cases, replace it with an artificial or a clear synthetic version.

The operation is carried out to clear the clouding of the lens inside the eye which causes blurred vision.

Ndiweni, who recently underwent eye surgery in Bulawayo, left for the UK on Saturday on the advice of doctors, his spokesperson Nothiwani Dlodlo said yesterday.

“Yes, he left for the UK on medical grounds. His doctors said he needs an urgent cataract surgery,” Dlodlo said.

In earlier tweets, Ndiweni confirmed undergoing surgery in the city last week, adding he will also use the time to write President Emmerson Mnangagwa a short letter.

“Thank you all for the prayers and support! As I lay in surgery and grappled with the likelihood of losing my sight, I thought of all the things I should have done with it. One of those things, which, thanks to God’s mercy, I will do now is write a short letter to @edmnangagwa,” Ndiweni tweeted.

“Yes, recently my doctors advised that there is nothing more they can do for my sight in http://Byo. At the insistence and expense of some Ntabazinduna villagers and colleagues I am en-route to UK for an emergency operation.”

Ndiweni is challenging his removal as Ntabazinduna Chief by the Local Government ministry which has claimed that his chieftainship was being contested by his elder brother, Joram who says he is the heir apparent.

The ministry also stripped Ndiweni of all benefits accruing to him.

The government, through Local Government permanent secretary Zvinechimwe Ruvinga Churu, has filed a notice of opposition challenging Ndiweni’s application, arguing that his removal was lawful.

The matter has not yet been set down for hearing.

-SouthernEye

By Patrick Guramatunhu- The Americans continue to exert maximum pressure on SADC leaders to abandon their folly of supporting the Zanu PF anti-sanctions propaganda and embrace the drive for democratic reforms in Zimbabwe. 

“The United States Ambassador to Botswana Craig Lewis Cloud has defended sanctions against Zimbabwe saying they were targeted at officials abusing human rights and the rule of law,” reported Byo24News.

“In a meeting with SADC executive secretary Dr Stergomena Tax on Tuesday to discuss the sanctions against Zimbabwe, Cloud said his country is one of the biggest supporters of Zimbabwe in terms of aid, contributing well over US$2 billion, since its Independence.

“Today Ambassador Cloud and Dr Tax discussed the root causes of U.S. sanctions in Zimbabwe, namely human rights abuses and anti-democratic efforts,” said the US Embassy in Botswana.

It is bad enough that we are having to deal with this Zanu PF government that has no respect for the truth, reality and reason and instead, uses its absolute power, to corrupt and distort the truth, reason and reality and impose them on everyone. 

There is a mountain of evidence, for example, to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that corruption and mismanagement are the root causes of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown. Whatever economic hardships are caused by sanctions, they are a tiny fraction compared to those caused by the mismanagement and corruptions. 

Zanu PF has blown the effects of sanctions out of all proportion for it selfish propaganda purposes. It is disappointing that outsiders like SA President Cyril Ramaphosa and other SADC leaders have been conned into believing Zanu PF propaganda and lies. 

President Mnangagwa blatantly rigged the July 2018 elections. He denied 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora a vote (he claimed victory with 2.4 million votes) only to assure them they will vote next time. ZEC failed to produce something as basic as a verified voters’ roll, a legal and common sense require. 

The whole election process lacked transparency, could not be traced and verified, etc. And yet Mnangagwa maintained the elections were “free, fair and credible”! Sadly, SADC leaders, once again, believed the Zanu PF lies. 

Zimbabwe’s failure to hold free, fair and credible elections is at the very heart of the country’s worsening economic meltdown because the nation was stuck with the corrupt and incompetent Zanu PF. 40 years of gross mismanagement and rampant corruptions have destroyed the country’s once upon a time robust and vibrant economy. 

Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and murderous thugs who have rigged elections to secure their long stay in power. As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state, ravished by mismanagement, corruption and lawlessness, there will be no meaningful economic recovery. None!

Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown has pushed unemployment rate into the nauseating heights of 90%, a recent WB report revealed that 90% of the population now live in poverty and 34% in abject poverty. The World Food Programme, USA and EU have stepped in to source food to feed 8 million Zimbabweans who would be starving, otherwise. 

After decades of neglect, Zimbabwe’s public education and health care have all but collapsed. Teachers, doctors and nurses have stopped going to work because their wages do not cover their transport costs let alone food, accommodation, etc. 

There is no denying that Zimbabwe is a failed state and, more pointedly, in serious, serious economic trouble and the danger of social and political instability is real and immediate. 

Zimbabwe’s economic and political mess is a man-made problem – chronic bad governance born out of the country’s failure to hold free, fair and credible elections. The solution is self-evident – hold free, fair and credible elections. 

Zanu PF has usurped the people’s democratic freedoms and rights to impose the de facto one-party dictatorship complete with its carte blanche powers to rig elections. It is sad that even now with Zimbabwe’s very survival at stake, SADC leaders should continue to believe Zanu PF lies and propaganda at the expense of truth, reason and reality. 

The solution is for the illegitimate Zanu PF regime to step down so the people of Zimbabwe can implement the democratic reforms necessary for free, fair and credible elections. Zanu PF cannot be trust to implement the reforms because no tyrannical regime will ever reform itself out of office. 

Besides, SADC made that mistake of entrusting Zanu PF to implement the reforms, or be it together with MDC, during the 2008 to 2013 GNU and not even one reform was implemented. Not one!

“Thank you, Your Excellency Ambassador Cloud, for visiting the Secretariat and for the extensive discussion on impacts of sanction on the economy of Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans; and the need to walk the talk in supporting the ongoing political and economic reforms in Zimbabwe,” SADC executive secretary, Dr Stergomena Tax answered. 

This is so infuriating! What “ongoing political and economic reforms”  is she wittering about when Mnangagwa has said the last elections were free, fair and credible and SADC itself agreed with him!

The sanctions are helping to highlight Zanu PF’s failure to hold free, fair and credible elections and hence the reason they must stay. 

Indeed, after nearly two decades of the sanctions, the Americans must review the sanctions to make them tougher and far reaching. People like Professor Mthuli Ncube, Minister Kirsty Coventry and opposition leaders like Nelson Chamisa and Tendai Biti must be added to the sanctions list for working with Zanu PF knowing fully well the regime rigged elections. 

The West must seriously consider imposing sanctions on some of the SADC leaders. By believing Mnangagwa’s lies and propaganda, these leaders are closing their eyes to the truth, reason and reality and it is the ordinary people of Zimbabwe and of the whole SADC region who are paying dearly for the folly. Something to force these leaders to open their eyes will not be amiss!

What Zimbabwe needs is to implement reforms and a chance to elect competent leaders – that is not too much to ask.

By A Correspondent- Home Affairs Minister, Kazembe Kazembe has said that the passport backlog which dates back to 2018 needs to be cleared this year.

Kazembe proposed the computerisation of the system to allow passport seekers to apply online. Speaking in Chinhoyi where he toured provincial registry offices, Kazembe said:

We have a backlog of 355 thousand passports, they need to be processed and that backlog has to be cleared before year-end. The major challenge is the lack of consumables. Decentralisation is an ongoing process. The solution is computerisation. There is no decentralisation that beats applications via online.

Kazembe also proposed that Registrar General’s offices have to be solar-powered to avoid delays due to power cuts. His remarks come when there are reports suggesting that the government intends to allow local citizens with “free funds” to apply for passports using foreign currency, particularly the United States dollar.

The biting economy has forced a number of Zimbabweans to contemplate going abroad to search for greener pastures and as a result, the RG’s office is overwhelmed by the demand when it already had insufficient resources for printing passports.

-Statemedia

Strive Masiyiwa’s daughter Elizabeth Tanya Masiyiwa took to Twitter to celebrate her latest achievement the opening of her international school in Domboshava.

Masiyiwa tweeted:

We did it! A year ago I sat with my team and I told them I wanted to build an international school in an area people would least expect. We opened our doors this week and it is beyond what we could’ve dreamt or imagined. 

The school opening was confirmed by Higherlife Foundation which also tweeted:

It was all smiles and excitement yesterday(14 January 2020) at the opening of @Simba_Edu Prep School- a first of its kind early years learning centre in the heart of #Dombashava Congratulations to team Simba on the successful opening of the school. More on Simba here:simbaeducation.com

According to Simba Education Website:

Simba Education is an early years services company with innovation at its core. We design technology solutions, learning experiences and other products that lower the barriers of accessing an affordable early years education

GOVERNMENT is working on modalities to clear the passport backlog which has gone beyond 350 thousand.

Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage minister, Kazembe Kazembe who was in Chinhoyi where he toured provincial registry offices says government is working flat to clear the passport backlog which has been attributed to the shortage of foreign currency for procuring consumables.

On whether there are plans to decentralise passport issuing offices to district level, minister Kazembe said the most effective way is going digital and allow applicants to apply online.

“We have a backlog of 355 thousand passports, they need to be processed and that backlog has to be cleared before year-end. The major challenge is the lack of consumables. Decentralisation is an ongoing process. The solution is computerisation. There is no decentralisation that beats applications via online,” he said.

He stressed that the registry offices should all be solar powered as there have been delays in the processing of identity documents due to power cuts.

Several applicants who had an interface with the minister during his tour expressed concern over the slow pace with which they were being served.

Minister Kazembe’s tour of Mashonaland West provincial registry offices is the third leg of his national tour. Earlier this week he visited Gweru registry.

The government last year pegged passport fees for diasporans at US$318 to allow those living in the diaspora to speedily access the document as the local cost of getting a passport, ZWL$58, is not enough to meet production costs. However, there has been an outcry from the general public alleging that corrupt registry staff are now charging everyone who need to acquire a passport in US dollars. Government has promised to look into the allegations of corruption.

The People’s Republic of China has pledged to help Zimbabwe prevent the spread of the Coronavirus adding that in the event that symptoms of the virus are detected in Zimbabwe, the Asia giant will help contain it.

VICE President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife Marry, pictured, has filed an application seeking to implement a High Court order allowing her access to her children, matrimonial home and cars pending the hearing of an appeal filed by her husband.

Marry and Chiwenga are embroiled in an acrimonious divorce that has seen the two trading accusations and counter-accusations, among them, drug abuse and witchcraft.

Marry – who is facing fraud, attempted murder, externalisation and money laundering charges – was recently released on $50 000 bail and was denied access to the matrimonial home, cars and children by Chiwenga.

She approached the court and access was granted to her last Friday.

However, the Vice President wasted no time in filing an appeal at the Supreme Court challenging the ruling, rendering the ruling in favour of Marry useless.

Marry in her application yesterday accused Chiwenga of abusing court processes for personal gains.
She insisted that Chiwenga’s appeal had no prospects  of success as it was “vexatious and mala fide”.  

“The respondent filed a notice of appeal immediately after the handing down of judgement in HH127/2020.
“Its effect was that I could no longer be able to enforce the judgement and more specifically I could … spend time with my minor children at the matrimonial home.

“There is need to protect the honourable court from the respondent’s unholy abuse of court processes.

“I maintain that I will suffer severe and irreparable prejudice if leave to execute is to be refused and I aver that the respondent does not have any prospects of success on appeal whatsoever, in any event, there is no irreparable harm to be suffered by him if leave to execute pending appeal is granted.

“To achieve substantial justice, I pray that the application should be allowed,” Marry said in her court papers.
She said Chiwenga was using the appeal as a strategy to buy time.

Marry also highlighted that her legal practitioners wrote a letter to all state security officials concerning the abuse of State powers by Chiwenga, which he has not challenged in his affidavit.

“It stands to reason that respondent cannot be allowed to continue having custody of the children on the basis that he unlawfully awarded himself the custody of children and it comes down to a question of what is in the best interests of the minor children.

“I aver that it is not good for the children to be separated from their mother and their siblings, until such a time when the appeal is determined.”

Marry also added that no harm would be occasioned on Chiwenga if she was permitted to continue staying at their matrimonial home.

“I do not have any place to go, I have been a squatter in other people’s houses and this jeopardises my freedom in light of my bail conditions and it is convenient for me to continue residing at our matrimonial home,” she said.

State Media|CMED (Private) Limited has finally dragged Croco Motors to court for failing to deliver two outstanding vehicles bought in 2018.

CMED, a State-owned enterprise, has approached the High Court claiming the supply and delivery of two Datsun Go 1.2 vehicles.

It is also claiming $416 000 in damages for loss of business calculated from December 2018 to January 2020, together with interest at the rate of five percent per annum from the date of summons to date of full payment.

The damages are for breach of contract, to be paid in the sum equivalent to the current market value of the two vehicles.

Reads the summons: “Plaintiff (CMED) operates a driving school business and on average each car does 350 lessons a month at $40 a lesson. The car also gets hired for VID road tests and gets hired on average every month ten times at $200 per each car hire.

“A combination of the car hires and lessons meant that the two cars were supposed to generate $460 000 from the date that the defendant was supposed to have delivered the cars in December 2018 to date, which period is now 13 months.”

In the summons, CMED said in September 2018, it entered into an agreement with Croco Motors for the supply of six Datsun Go 1.2 vehicles at an agreed purchase price of US$113 400, including value added tax and customs and excise duty.

The agreement stipulated that delivery was supposed to be done within six to eight weeks.

CMED completed the payment on September 13, 2018, but Croco Motors only delivered four vehicles and to date has refused to deliver the remainder.

CMED is demanding that the automotive company pays the cost of the suit.More in Home

Croco Motors is yet to respond to the claims.

A Murewa man facing a murder charge after stabbing his father to death claims he killed him for causing poverty in their family.

Elliot Rewu, who stabbed his father Chamunorwa Makumborenga three times on the head in April last year, told the High Court yesterday that he suspected that his late father’s hand in witchcraft which he claimed was hindering his progress and that of his siblings.

Soon after committing the crime, Elliot told his mother Varaidzo Makumborenga that he had done the job for his siblings and no one would bewitch them ever again.

According to the agreed facts with the State, Elliot confessed to killing his father on a morning the deceased had planned to seek a protection order against him.

“I attacked him because I couldn’t understand why he was pursuing a court order against me.
“He never told me what I had done to deserve such treatment,” Elliot told the court.
He said he always suspected his late father of practicing witchcraft.

“I came home one day and met unfamiliar visitors in our living room, greeted them before asking my mother who the people in the kitchen were.
“To my surprise my mother was not seeing the people physically but I did.

“My late father’s hand in witchcraft was also evident by how some of my siblings and I would struggle with life, nothing that we did seemed to have life in it,” claimed Elliot.

The matter has been set for judgment next Monday before High Court Judge Tawanda Chitapi.-H-Metro

A Murewa man facing a murder charge after stabbing his father to death claims he killed him for causing poverty in their family.
Elliot Rewu, who stabbed his father Chamunorwa Makumborenga three times on the head in April last year, told the High Court yesterday that he suspected that his late father’s hand in witchcraft which he claimed was hindering his progress and that of his siblings.

Soon after committing the crime, Elliot told his mother Varaidzo Makumborenga that he had done the job for his siblings and no one would bewitch them ever again.

According to the agreed facts with the State, Elliot confessed to killing his father on a morning the deceased had planned to seek a protection order against him.

“I attacked him because I couldn’t understand why he was pursuing a court order against me.
“He never told me what I had done to deserve such treatment,” Elliot told the court.
He said he always suspected his late father of practicing witchcraft.

“I came home one day and met unfamiliar visitors in our living room, greeted them before asking my mother who the people in the kitchen were.
“To my surprise my mother was not seeing the people physically but I did.

“My late father’s hand in witchcraft was also evident by how some of my siblings and I would struggle with life, nothing that we did seemed to have life in it,” claimed Elliot.

The matter has been set for judgment next Monday before High Court Judge Tawanda Chitapi.-H-Metro

Farai Dziva|The country’s main opposition party, MDC there is fresh evidence of how how the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission rigged the elections in favour of Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Below is part of the contents of a document compiled under the party’s Agenda 2020:

While the Constitutional Court made its determination of the application I initiated challenging the controversial ZEC declaration and announcement of Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa as the winner of the 2018 presidential election, and while we respected that decision as we disagreed with it, there is now a new development after the case.

The development is coming from ZEC itself, which shows beyond any argument or doubt that the results of the 2018 presidential election were transmitted, captured and collated unlawfully, improperly and irregularly as to void the election and invalidate any result that was declared and announced following the unlawful, improper and irregular transmission, capture and collation of the results from the country’s 1,985 ward centres to ZEC’s national command centre in Harare.

The compelling evidence of how the presidential election was rigged by ZEC, is enough for anyone and all of the 2,6 million voters who cast their vote for us to go to court on grounds that their political rights enshrined in s67(1) of the Constitution were violated.

There’s also now a clear and present basis for taking the matter of the 2018 presidential election to the African Court on Human and People’s Rights.

Such actions would be well within the BBI, as an expression of the people’s action to restore legality and legitimacy under the MDC’s Agenda 2020.

Those who say the 2018 presidential election should be forgotten about, and focus should now be on 2023, ain’t seen nothing yet. It’s them who should forget about covering up the giant 2018 election fraud.

Especially now that ZEC itself has, perhaps inadvertently or even mischievously, came out with incontrovertible evidence that election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the law.

Farai Dziva|The entire Rusape community has been stunned by an incident in which a drunk man crushed his mother’s head.

Read the ZBC version of the story below:

A 44-year-old Rusape man from Chigwedere village is in police custody after he allegedly pounded his 77-year-old mother to death.
ZBC News reports that on Monday, Muzowaka who was under the influence of alcohol pounded his unsuspecting mother, Monika Mucheke, with a granite stone in the head and she died instantly.
The incident was confirmed to the ZBC News by Manicaland police spokesperson, Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa who added that the accused is already in police custody assisting with investigations. Kakohwa said:

“Semapurisa tiri kuferefeta nyaya yemwana mukomana akatsonda mai vake nedombo mushure mekunge anwa doro kunonzi kwaStella, (as the police we are investigationg a case in which a son crushed his mother with a stone after he had consumed alcohol at a place called Stella) .

We encourage members of the public to try and solve issues amicably saying that the law will take its course on all offenders.”

The current bank exchange rates for the ZWL$ today are as follows:

USD = ZWL$17.3114
ZWL$ = RAND0.8405
Data according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe

Black Market Rates:

USD = ZWL$24.70 zimrates
USD = ZWL$24.50 zwl365
USD = ZWL$24.20 bluemari
USD = BOND19.20 zimrates

– Marketwatch

By A Correspondent- Three City of Harare housing officials yesterday appeared in court for allegedly selling 150 stands in Kuwadzana worth US$765 000 without council approval.

Believer Mupawaenda (46), Rudo Chigocha (45) and Magret George (31) were charged with fraud. They were not asked to plead when they appeared before magistrate Ms Rumbidzai Mugwagwa, who remanded them out of custody to March 3 on $1 000 bail each.

Prosecutor Mr Sebastian Mutizirwa alleged that during 2017 and 2018, the three identified open spaces in Kuwadzana 3, 4, 5 and 6 high- density suburb and created fictitious paying schemes.

They are alleged to have originated fake layout plans before fraudulently connecting water for the purposes of selling the land to unsuspecting home-seekers.

It is said Mupawaenda, Chigocha and George sold 150 stands without council’s approval. In a bid to conceal their offence, they allegedly manufactured provisional allocation letters and fliers for each stand.

Duplicate letters were found in Chigocha’s possession, the court heard.

Mr Mutizirwa alleged that the three were using old cancelled stand numbers to illegally allocate the fake stands where George would connect water.

The offence came to light following a tip-off leading to the arrest of the three

-Statemedia

This is Luke Mundopa and he is a Zimbabwean man currently in South Africa where he is seeking medical attention.

He is my friend’s father whom we have tried to assist but the situation has now gone beyond what we can comprehend.

Mr Mundopa is in South Africa and is very sick because he cannot sit or sleep properly.

He is suffering from lipoma according to doctors and he has been to hospital. The doctors have however told him to come back on March 24 2020 and he is kindly looking for assistance in cash or in kind.

My friend is struggling to provide him with food and other basic medical care and is kindly asking for assistance.

They are currently in Cape Town and Mr Mundopa can be contacted on 00263775965483. You can call or send a whatsapp message to him.

Thanking you in advance.

By A Correspondent- There was chaos in Kuwadzana Extention after a dog meat selling syndicate that hoodwinked local residents into thinking that it was game meat, was apprehended and brutally assaulted. 

The two Zanu-Pf affiliated youths only identified by their monikers GI Joe and Bhunu were brutally assaulted by angry residents over the weekend after news of their dastardly deeds came to light. The duo was then forced to eat their loot which they had been selling to unsuspecting residents.

The matter came to light after a fallout between the two sent skeletons tumbling out of the closet. GI Joe and Bhunu are reported to have had an argument over splitting their spoils after selling a carcase for US$15 Forcing the former to spill the beans.

One of the residents who witnessed the fall-out told the publication that GI Joe-irked over their dispute-went telling their customers telling that them that they had been selling them dog meat.

People discovered they had been eating dog meat when GI Joe spilled the beans, irked by a US$ 3 dispute. The residents told him to come and collect the balance later, but GI Joe became angry and told them, ndosaka murikudya nyama yeimbwa.

Vakapfuura vaine saga raive rakazara nyama yeimbwa vachiti igame meat GI Joe achiti inyama yemhembwe. Pane vakaswera vachitoita braai then mudhara umwe akatodyawo liver yacho mukadzi wake aiti nerice zvainaka. Mudhara Komboni akatouya achimhanya achiti kana irimhembwe anotoda iriliver yacho nekuti ndiyo inonaka.

GI Joe is said to be critically injured and admitted at a local hospital after thrashing from residents while Bhunu gas since gone into hiding.

Ironically, this comes after President Emmerson Mnangagwa is on record telling Kuwadzana residents to eat vegetables and potatoes as an alternative to meat after they complaining against the skyrocketing price of meat which has gone beyond their reach.

-StateMedia

I am tuned in. We are all very worried about the situation in Zimbabwe and South Africa has to play a bigger role in fixing this crisis. https://t.co/QM92NhGYD3

— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) January 29, 2020

By A Correspondent- Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans, the virus causes respiratory infections which are typically mild including the common cold but rarer forms like SARS and MERS can be lethal.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that the new virus is a family of viruses that include the common cold, and viruses such as SARS and MERS. This new virus was temporarily named “2019-nCoV.”

WHO On 31 December 2019 was alerted to several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China and has been working with Chinese authorities and global experts from that day forward.

Coronavirus usually causes respiratory illness and WHO has advised people on how to protect themselves and those around them from getting the disease.

Below is the list of countries where coronavirus cases have been confirmed:

1. – China
2. – United States
3. – France
4. – Japan
5. – South Korea
6. – Taiwan
7. – Singapore
8. – Thailand
9. – Australia
10. – Nepal
11. – Vietnam
12. – Hong Kong
13. – Macau
14. – Malaysia
15. – Canada
16. – Cambodia
17. – Sri Lanka
18. – Germany
19. – UAE

By Jane Mlambo| Vice President Constantino Chiwenga whose nasty divorce to former model Marry Mubaiwa has hogged the limelight since the new year has refused to bow down, accusing Judge President George Chiweshe of influencing court decision in favor of his estranged wife.

Chiwenga accused Chiweshe of leaking judgements to Marry before they are officially handed down.

While the constitution is clear on the independence of the three arms of state i.e Executive, Judiciary and Legislature, it must be stressed that no-one including those in higher echelons of power should be allowed to temper with any of the arms of state.

This means Chiwenga’s remarks against Judge President Chiweshe must be condemned by any right thinking Zimbabwe as it is likely to compromise the independence of the judiciary which is a critical pillar in enforcing constitutionalism and justice for all citizens.

The judiciary should remain independent to enable anyone aggrieved by individuals, corporates or the state itself to seek justice.

Now looking at the implications of this particular case, Chiwenga is the vice President of Zimbabwe which makes him the second powerful citizen.

Chiwenga is also powerful politically based on his central role in the November 2017 military coup that displaced the late former President Robert Mugabe.

Chiwenga is even more powerful than his counterpart Kembo Mohadi and in many instances, those in very key positions do not want to cross paths with him for fear of being freezed out.

The political power wielded by Chiwenga and his remarks against Chiweshe is likely to turn tables in his divorce case considering that the man he is challenging is a senior judge and if this can be done to a senior what more other junior officers.

It must be stressed that the ruling Chiwenga is challenging had helped in boosting confidence in the judiciary in many ways. First that the judiciary can still rule against powerful people like Chiwenga and secondly that there was no interference in the outcome which appeared to have been based on the merits of submissions made by both parties.

Now with these threats, we are likely to see the judiciary making concessionary rulings to salvage the embarassment or possibly out of fear of Zimbabwe’s number two.

Judiciary should always remain independent- PLEASE.

National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Daniel Garwe has said that the government is working on introducing legislation which would make it illegal for home-seekers to buy land from illegal land barons.

He made the remarks whilst touring Mabvazuva Housing Scheme under Goromonzi Rural District Council, Housing and Social Amenities. He said:

Gone are the days where people are going to be buying stands from illegal dealers or land barons; that is a thing of the past.

Anyone who is going to be seen or if we hear that there is a transaction between a home-seeker and an illegal land developer, both of them will go to jail because the home-seeker would have participated in an illegal deal knowing very well that he or she is being fleeced.

He said that concerted efforts from all stakeholders will stop illegal land barons whom he accused of leaving the residential areas they sell undeveloped.

Garwe also said that the government shall intervene but will not demolish the already built houses but “will chip in to assist in regularisation, specifically in the provision of the required services like roads and water network systems.”

EWN|Following concerns of high levels of crime in Diepsloot, Police Minister Bheki Cele deployed a special operations team last Friday.

Since detective Oupa Matjie was fatally shot during a police operation in the area earlier this month, there have been heightened tensions over safety concerns in the area.

Protesting residents have blamed undocumented migrants for Matjie’s murder and for the crime in the area.

Bongani Bingwa shines the spotlight on Diepsloot in finding out whether what is happening there is xenophobia or just criminality.

He chats to the area’s African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) chairperson Loyiso Toyiya, community activist Sicelo Shezi and Wits University associate professor Loren Landau.

There has been a lot of crime issues in Diepsloot and as a result, the community decided to go to the streets and raise its concerns. The concerns raised by the community are genuine concerns as we cannot fold our arms when people are no longer safe in Diepsloot.— 

Sicelo Shezi, Community activist – Diepsloot

Toyiya says people from the outside don’t understand the frustrations that the community is facing with undocumented migrants.

When a crime is reported, you hear that people cannot be traced as those committing these crimes are in the country illegally.— 

Loyiso Toyiya, Diepsloot chairperson – ANCYL

Many of these concerns are real, not only in Diepsloot but in other areas in South Africa, Landau explains.

Listen below to the full conversation:

Sowatan|A top achiever in the 2019 National Senior Certificate examinations in the North West may not get to university for lack of funds.

Triphin Mudzvengi, 18, obtained distinctions in seven subjects but her parents are battling to raise her tuition fees to study at Wits University.

Mudzvengi is Zimbabwean and does not qualify for National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding. She came to South Africa with her parents in 2010.

Mudzvengi cannot approach the Zimbabwean embassy for any assistance either, because the Refugees Amendment Act forbids refugees and asylum seekers to visit, seek aid or communicate with their governments.

Mudzvengi has been a top achiever at Golf View Park secondary school in Mahikeng since grade 8. In matric she got 85% in English Home Language, 80% in Afrikaans First Additional Language, 86% in Mathematics, 89% in Life Orientation, 86% in Computer Application Technique, 94% in Life Sciences and 88% in Physical Sciences.

She hoped to study civil engineering at Wits, where the annual tuition fee is R149,370. Though she qualifies for a R15,000 bursary as a top performer, the university demands 75% of the fee upfront before she registers.

One social media commentator called on businessman Strive Masiyiwa who has helped several under privileged Zimbabweans to come to the student’s help and take her through university.

By Own Correspondent| The police have cleared a planned demonstration by parents against Highlands Primary School head whom they accused abusing school funds and running the school down, ZimEye can exclusively report.

According to one of the parents who spoke on condition of anonymity, the school is in a mess and now a health hazard due to neglect.

“Electricity was cut off over non-payment, no water in toilets, children in boarding do not have adequate food, grass at the school has not been cut since the beginning of the rains, the school is in total mess and now a health hazard to pupils,” said the parent.

Click this link to view the petition signed by parents against the Highlands Primary School head.

The parent added that the head was confronted by parents in the last meeting but remained quite.

“This is on top of a damning audit report which revealed that the head had abused school funds,” added the parent.

Parents have since rejected a fees review until there is clarity on administration of money, further crippling the school considering inflationary pressures.

Bulawayo police are hunting for thieves who broke into one of First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa’s vehicles in Bulawayo at the weekend.

The First Lady visited different parts of Matabeleland last week handing over donations.

Police sources said the thieves broke into the vehicle while it was parked in the Central Business District.

“The car was driven by one of the First Lady’s aides, he parked it in the CBD and got into a popular restaurant to have lunch,” said the police source.

“When he came out, the car had been broken into and the thieves stole a number of things including clothes and some documents.”

Efforts to get an official comment from the police hit a brick wall.

However, police sources said the law enforcement bosses were under immense pressure to solve the crime.

Bulawayo has recorded an increase in cases of theft from vehicles with the police criticised for not doing enough to curb the crime.

“There have been a lot of complaints about theft from vehicles in the city, these criminals have become a nuisance but the bosses were not taking this seriously. With the First Lady incident, it is hoped that something can be done to end the crime,” said a police source.

Mrs Mnangagwa has not had it easy in Bulawayo. There was drama last July when an unidentified man was arrested for hurling stones at motorists and also obstructing First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa’s motorcade.

After a mini-scuffle, the man was arrested by police and whisked away.

The man, suspected to be mentally challenged, had forced the motorcade to come to a halt before he was pinned down by two police officers along Robert Mugabe Way.

By A Correspondent|ZANU PF has distanced itself from an advert circulating on social media, inviting prospective students to apply for this year’s presidential scholarships through the ruling party.

According to the advert, the said scholarships were targeting disadvantaged students in the country’s 10 provinces who intended to pursue undergraduate and Masters studies outside the country.

However, in a statement Tuesday, Zanu PF Acting Director for Information Chiratidzo Malinganisa said members of the public must guard against being duped by people purporting to be representing the party.

“Zanu PF has noted with concern the circulation of a fake call of applications for Presidential Scholarships that is purported to be submitted through an email address bearing a fake Zanu PF domain,” the statement reads.

“It must further be stated as a matter of fact that Zanu PF does not facilitate any kind of scholarships.

“Therefore, members of the public are advised to ignore the fake advert and guard against being duped by anyone purporting to represent Zanu PF,” Malinganisa said.

Zanu PF Youth League secretary for administration Tendai Chirau also warned the public to be careful of the fake messages being circulated on social media.

“Beware of fake news. The department of Presidential Scholarship is yet to advertise and when they advertise they do so through the main stream media. Applications are processed through their department,” said Chirau.

Malingisa warned people to be vigilant and not tarnish the image of the party.

“The general public is advised to be vigilant against the machinations of enemies of the State through proliferation of fake news. Anyone who wishes to apply for scholarships should enquire with the Executive Director Presidential and National Scholarships at Compensation House,” reads the statement.

AN 18-year-old man has been ordered to perform community service for having sex with a 13-year-old girl after she failed to repay $2,50 he had given her.

The teenager from Ezikwakweni Village in Esigodini who cannot be named for ethical reasons pleaded not guilty to a rape charge when he appeared before Gwanda regional magistrate, Mr Mark Dzira. He was found not guilty of rape but was convicted for having sexual intercourse with a young person.

This was after the girl told the court that she consented to sex.

The teenager was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and three months were suspended on condition that he does not commit a similar offence within the next five years. The remaining nine months were further suspended on condition that he performs 315 hours of community service at a local primary school.

Prosecuting, Mr Khumbulani Nyoni said in August last year the accused person gave the complainant $2,50 and later demanded his cash back.

When she failed to give him back the money, he demanded to have sexual intercourse with her.

“On an unknown date but in August 2019 the complainant was alone at her grandmother’s homestead in Esigodini when the accused person visited her. He gave her $2,50 and she bought some sweets and the following day he confronted her and demanded his money back,” he said.

“The complainant told the accused person that she had already used the money and he demanded to have sexual intercourse with her as a form of payment. The complainant refused and the accused person went on to rape her.’’

Mr Nyoni said on another day during the same month, the teenager went to the complainant’s home and found her alone. He again demanded his money back but she indicated that she did not have it.

He said the accused person raped the complainant and warned her against reporting the matter.

Mr Nyoni said in September the complainant’s mother noticed that her daughter had developed some ring worms on her face and questioned her after suspecting that she was pregnant. He said the complainant then revealed to her mother that the accused person had raped her.

The minor was however not pregnant.

The matter was reported to the police resulting in the arrest of the accused person.

In his defence the accused person said he did not rape the complainant as she had consented to having sexual intercourse with him. He said the complainant and his girlfriend are friends.

THE Cold Storage Company (CSC)-Boustead Beef Zimbabwe has dismissed messages circulating on social media suggesting that the firm has embarked on a massive job recruitment drive.

The country’s largest meat processor and marketer is planned for re-opening after Cabinet recently approved a joint venture agreement between CSC and a United Kingdom investor, Boustead Beef.

The arrangement will result in the new investor injecting US$400 million towards the revival of the firm that will re-open under a new name, CSC-Boustead Beef Zimbabwe.

An official from Boustead Beef Zimbabwe who declined to be named citing professional reasons said:

“The message circulating on social media suggesting that we have embarked on a massive job recruitment is fake news, it’s very untrue as there is nothing like that here at CSC-Boustead Beef.”

Efforts to get a comment from CSC-Boustead Beef Zimbabwe managing director Mr Nick Havercroft as well as the firm’s consultant Mr Reginald Shoko were fruitless as their mobile phone numbers were not going through by the time of going to print yesterday.

According to the job advert that was circulating on social media, CSC-Boustead Beef Zimbabwe was seeking to recruit over 400 workers and these included qualified and experienced beef handlers and 55 general workers for the company’s refurbished abattoirs in Bulawayo and Masvingo.

The said job advert also highlighted that the prospective workers should have a minimum of five years experience with traceable references and in return the company was offering a basic salary of ZW$3 800, accommodation allowance of ZW$700, paid overtime, and free transport to and from work.

Meanwhile, CSC-Boustead Beef Zimbabwe has announced that it has started refurbishing its infrastructure and ranches across the country as it prepares to resume full scale operations, which will create more than 600 jobs.

As part of its preparatory works to re-opening, the company plans to install a 3MW solar plant at its headquarters in Bulawayo to the tune of about US$9 million.

The company has taken delivery of the imported solar panels and the installation exercise is yet to begin.

By A Correspondent|A Zimbabwe National Army dog section team on Tuesday stormed into the Zanu PF headquarters in an apparent security operation that no-one in the offices expected.

Sources within the party said the army personnel swept through the entire 14 storey building.

“We are actually surprised, we have tried to come up with pointers as to what might have happened but there is nothing,” a source which declined to be named said.

“The president never visited the headquarters today, none of his deputies were here. So, we do not know what is happening.

“But, do not worry much, this building has ears and within a week we will know what was happening.”

The 14th floor houses President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s offices and his main boardroom while his deputies occupy the 12th floor.

Contacted for comment, Zanu PF secretary for administration Obert Mpofu said he was not aware of any security check at the party head office as he was on leave.

THREE armed robbers snatched US$180 000 from a man from Nketa 6 suburb, Bulawayo when he had visited his relatives in Killarney suburb.

Mr Farai Vengesai (27) lost the money and his Samsung S10 phone worth about US$1 000 to the armed robbers who fired shots before robbing him as he was about to close the gate shortly after arriving at his aunt’s house.

The incident occurred on Tuesday last week at about 7:30PM and the suspects are still on the run.

Police said the armed robbers fired once in the air but Mr Vengesai’s relatives said a number of shots were fired.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube yesterday confirmed the incident.

He said Mr Vengesai drove into the yard but was robbed as he was trying to close the gate.

“A Toyota Corolla emerged with three unknown adults who disembarked from the car and one of them was allegedly brandishing a revolver which he fired once in the air. The other one then smashed the window of the car and pointed a gun to the driver and they got away with US$180 000 and a Samsung S10 worth US$1 000,” said Insp Ncube. 

He said investigations are underway.

Insp Ncube appealed to anyone who may have information on the matter to come forward. 

He urged people to take the necessary safety measures when travelling with large sums of money.

“Apart from urging members of the public and the business community to avoid keeping or carrying large sums of money in their homes; if you happen to be carrying large sums of money consider hiring security escort. Even the police; a private person can seek the services of the police. You can arrange with the local police station that you would be carrying large sums of money so assist me or engage private security companies,” he said.

A comment could not be obtained from Mr Vengesai yesterday as he could not be located.

The family narrated how they were terrified when the gunmen pounced.

The victim’s aunt who declined to be named said Mr Vengesai had just paid them a visit when robbers attacked him.

She said a number of shots were fired.

“It happened on Tuesday last week at about 7:28PM when my nephew who lives in Nketa had just visited us. As he drove into the yard, he was followed by the armed robbers who started firing shots in the air. We were so terrified we locked ourselves in the house as the shots were fired. I don’t know how many times those guys shot in the air. 

“For a moment I felt like my heart had stopped. We were worried that once they were done with him, they would break into the house,” she said.

The aunt said after the robbers had left, Mr Vengesai told them that they had ordered him not to look at their faces as they pushed him to the ground.

She said she is still traumatised following the incident.

The aunt said they were just an ordinary family but knew that their nephew was involved in deals which saw him carrying a lot of money. She did not specify the nature of the deals.