State Media|FORTY-TWO local fuel companies have been asked to explain their dealings as the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), in conjunction with foreign law enforcement agencies, investigate the smuggling of fuel from Zimbabwe to South Africa, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The companies were given up to January 24 to submit all papers relating to the importation of petrol and diesel between January 2018 and December 2019.

Complex cartels are reportedly importing fuel from Mozambique at prices in the region of US50 cents per litre before taking it to neighbouring countries using forged export documents.

Big names are being implicated in the smuggling racket though the value of fuel smuggled out of Zimbabwe is yet to be established.

ZACC chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo yesterday said the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) was also assisting to unearth evidence of fuel smuggling.

“ZACC and ZIMRA have been conducting an investigation into reports received, indicating that there has been a massive and expansive operation involving smuggling of significant volumes of fuel, mainly diesel and petrol through a number of our ports of entry.

“Investigations carried out thus far reveal the existence of a criminal fuel smuggling syndicate involving entities that are registered in Zimbabwe and in a neighbouring country.

“This criminal project has been in operation for a period of two years and its activities have caused financial prejudice to the Government of Zimbabwe and that of the neighbouring country,” said Justice Matanda-Moyo.

Fuel prices in Zimbabwe are arguably the lowest in the region, making unscrupulous dealers divert diesel and petrol to foreign markets where they fetch more.

Some of the fuel is sold locally, but strictly in foreign currency.

ZACC has instituted the investigation at a time when over 25 million litres of fuel smuggled from Zimbabwe was being held by the police in South Africa.

ZACC has since asked 42 companies registered in Zimbabwe to furnish investigators with documentation relating to their fuel dealings.

The companies are: Global Oil, Com Oil Petrol, Victoria Falls Truck, Unique Jay, Nansane (Rosmitrick), Bankable Resources, Silver Air, Timkase Investments, Dexfueld Pvt Ltd, Chilota Mine, Mann Aggregates, Matriflex Oils, Bresville Investments, Fastlane Petroleum, Couderay Oil, Outrech Comm, Plulixey Petroleum, Bantu Africa Mining, Valley Field Holdings, Takunda Fuel Services, Musa Petroleum, Einstein Energy, Kinsey Mining, Emirates Valley, Afrifor, Megabest, Nelich Investments, BOL Supplies, Traderose Investments, Coalvart Enterprises, Kit Kat Enterprises, Skybuild Construction, Elkrus Pvt Limited, Getmack Fuels, Falika Pvt Ltd, Bustque, Talebrant Investments, Peritus, Downtown Fuel, Valbazen Enterprises, Quick Gases and Roomi Truckshop.

“The companies listed above should submit documents relating to their importation of diesel and petrol for the period stretching from January 2018 to December 2019.

“The papers are to be submitted to the chairperson of ZACC Justice Matanda Moyo’s office at Mt Pleasant Business Park by Friday next week.”

ZACC appealed for cooperation from people with information relevant to the investigation.

“ZACC is appealing to the public to come forward with any information that they might have pertaining to the smuggling of fuel into and out of Zimbabwe.

“The success of the investigation in question and the prosecution of the smuggling culprits will depend, to a large extent, on the cooperation of the public in this matter,” said Justice Matanda-Moyo.

ZIMRA recently cornered fuel dealers who used to divert fuel to the black market by adopting the Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) which tracks fuel tankers to their indicated destinations.

This resulted in some of the dealers chickening out, leading to the National Oil Infrastructure Company of Zimbabwe (NOIC) recording declining figures on those requesting the product.

ECTS managed to reduce cases of diversion of fuel from NOIC depots, transit fraud and the dumping of illegal fuel imports on the domestic market.

Two Zimbabweans were recently arrested in South Africa for allegedly stealing fuel worth more than R3 million at a Transnet station in Warden, Free State.

A Hawks team arrested the pair, aged 38 and 43 after a tip-off that four tankers were reportedly transporting the fuel to Gauteng.

Four tankers laden with stolen diesel and petrol were intercepted near a farm in Presentkraal Street.

They were charged with theft and damaging essential infrastructure.

The dispute over custody of children and access to a matrimonial home pitting Marry Mubaiwa and her ex-husband Acting President Constantino Chiwenga was yesterday deferred to next week to allow the parties to negotiate a settlement.

Justice Christopher Dube-Banda deferred to Tuesday the matter in which Mubaiwa is seeking an order compelling Acting President Chiwenga to allow her access to their three children and matrimonial home in Harare’s Borrowdale Suburb.

Both parties’ lawyers, Mr Taona Nyamakura acting for Mubaiwa and Advocate Lewis Uriri representing Acting President Chiwenga, agreed to the postponement of the matter.

Briefing journalists outside the High Court, Mr Nyamakura confirmed the latest development.

“The matter has been deferred to Tuesday 21 January for possible argument or confirmation of settlement,” he said.

“We exchanged positions as legal practitioners acting for both sides in the matter. The tentative position is that this matter should be settled and not argued.”

Mr Nyamakura added that it would be in the best interest of the children that the parties find each other and the law is followed.

“But it is a tentative position, if we cannot reach a settlement by Monday then it means that we proceed with oral arguments on Tuesday as directed by the judge,” he said.State media

THE number of illegal miners arrested countrywide in a police operation to restore law and order in mining communities has risen to 1 536, with 191 of them having been jailed for various offences including prospecting for gold without a licence, trespassing and possessing dagga.

Among the arrested miners was Phelandaba Tshuma (32), the man suspected to be the ringleader of a machete gang that hacked to death a policeman at Good Hope Mine in Battlefields recently.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said a total of 257 suspects appeared at Shamva Circuit Court on Wednesday.

The court jailed 77 of them two years each after they pleaded guilty to illegal mining.

The court slapped the other 112 with 50-day prison terms each for criminal trespassing while one was fined $80, failing which he will spend 30 days in prison for possessing dagga.

Another one was jailed five months with an option to pay a $500 fine for possessing dagga.
The court remanded 66 others in custody pending trial.
Some of the suspects are likely to appear in court today.

Tshuma, suspected to be the ringleader of a machete gang called Ziga, was arrested at his hideout in Rushinga, after he attempted to flee from the police and he was shot in the right leg.

Eight suspects who belong to a Kwekwe-based group called the Maketo Brothers were also arrested and police recovered several machetes, home-made knives and a sack with a sword, bow and three arrows.
Asst Comm Nyathi confirmed the arrests.

“With reference to the murder of a police officer (Constable Wonder Hokoyo) in Battlefields, Kadoma, on 28 December 2019, police have arrested Pelandaba Tshuma at his hideout in Rushinga, Mt Darwin. The accused was on the police wanted list for several cases of attempted murder and assault involving the use of machetes,” he said.

When police raided his hideout, Tshuma attempted to flee, resulting in police firing warning shots but he did not take heed. He was then shot on the right leg leading to his arrest.

Tshuma, who is currently admitted at Kadoma General Hospital under police guard, is facing charges of murdering Cst Hokoyo and attempting to murder Detective Sergeant Munyoro and Detective Assistant Inspector Chikandiwa.-State media

Farai Dziva|The Movement for Democratic Change says police details are planning to plant machetes at Morgan Tsvangirai House in a bid to portray the party as a violent entity.

See full statement :
We have gathered from impeccable sources within the regime that the police intend to siege Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House in a desperate bid to plant machetes and justify their unwarranted crackdown on the party’s legitimate activities.

They are on a desperate witch-hunt and are frantically seeking to portray the MDC, the people’s party, as a rogue organization.

The police have been illegally cracking down on the party’s legitimate programmes, proscribing innocent party activities, arresting the party leadership and stopping Zimbabweans from peacefully expressing themselves in line with the country’s Constitution.

We understand the police are seeking a search warrant in order to use their presence at the headquarters of the people’s party so as to plant machetes and portray the MDC as a criminal organization.

The desperate attempts will not wash.

The people shall govern.

Luke Tamborinyoka
Deputy National Spokesperson

pic.twitter.com/ea4uFs60ue

— nelson chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) January 17, 2020

By A Correspondent- A Zimbabwean court on Friday 17 January 2020 acquitted Doubt Asima, a freelance journalist, who had been on trial on charges of committing public violence after he was arrested when he tried to rescue an elderly woman, who had been assaulted by some Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers during an anti-government protest held in August last year.

Asima, a 29 year-old freelance journalist had been on trial after he
was arrested on Friday 16 August 2019 and charged with participating
in a gathering with intent to promote public violence, breaches of
peace or bigotry as defined in section 37(1)(a) of the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act.

During trial before Harare Magistrate Richard Ramaboea, prosecutors
claimed that Asima and his co-accused Fabian Mushunga, aged 29 years,
forcibly disturbed the peace, security, or order of the public by
participating in a public demonstration held on Friday 16 August 2019
in Harare.

Prosecutors claimed that Asima and Mushunga, who were represented by
Jeremiah Bamu and Tinomuda Shoko of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, allegedly engaged in acts of public violence by barricading some
streets in central Harare with stones and boulders and also threw
stones at some police officers thereby disturbing the free movement of
members of the public and some vehicles.

In his defence, Asima argued that his arrest and prosecution stems
from malice and was a result of a desire by ZRP officers to conceal
evidence of their wanton assaults and brutality against innocent
citizens as one of them had approached and ordered him to stop taking
photographs.

The freelance journalist stated that as a journalist, he was acting in
the scope of his professional trade, gathering newsworthy photographs
and he took pictures of some ZRP officers assaulting civilians at
Africa Unity Square in Harare.

Asima said he noticed an elderly woman who had fallen down in the
resultant stampede and rendered her assistance before continuing with
his job. It was at this point that police officers approached him and
ordered him to delete the photographs he was taking.

However, when Asima refused to delete the photographs, he was
immediately arrested by ZRP officers and his protestations that he was
a photo-journalist accredited by Zimbabwe Media Commission was not
entertained by the law enforcement agents.

In his defence, Mushunga said he was arrested by ZRP officers when he
was on his way to his place of residence in Cranborne suburb after
collecting various mobile phone handsets from his relative in
Belvedere suburb for repair.

Mushunga said he had no knowledge of any demonstration scheduled for
Friday 16 August 2019 and was subjected to a stop and seizure by ZRP
officers who asked him to produce his national identity document,
which he did not have on person.

Thereafter, Mushunga was asked to sit down as he had no copy of his national identity document on person and was bundled into a police truck with other persons whom he did not know and taken to Harare Central Police Station, where he was subsequently advised of his charge.

On Friday 17 January 2020, Magistrate Ramaboea acquitted Asima and
Mushunga after granting their application for discharge at the close
of the prosecution case, which had been lodged by their lawyers, who
had argued that their clients had not committed any offence and must
not be put to their defence.

-ZLHR

By A Correspondent- One Bulawayo woman approached the court to voice her horror after her seemingly bitter ex-lover visited her house and demanded underwear he supposedly bought her during the course of their relationship.

Thulisani Ncube from Pumula East decided to approach the courts after her ex-lover Martin Dube employed at Phezulu Farm in Shangani threatened to stab her with a knife if she didn’t comply with his weird demands.

Ncube, who is a vendor begged the court to grant her a protection order against Dube saying she was now living in fear as he (Dube) was also in the habit of stalking her and coming to her workplace.

“I was in a relationship with Martin Dube and he left me in 2015 after he impreg_nated me. After he deserted me, I looked after the child alone for three years. He then came to my house sometime in November last year and said we should go and buy the child’s uniforms since she is now going to school. I agreed and when we went to town together, he shocked me when he later told me that he didn’t have the money.

“He again came back to my house on 16 December and threatened me with a knife while ordering me to give him one of my panties or hats. He ran away after the children I lived with entered the room,” said Ncube.

She however, didn’t tell the court what her ex-lover wanted to do with the items — panty and hat. She further said Dube was also disturbing her peace by constantly coming to her workplace.

Dube who is apparently struggling with Ncube’s decision, that she was no longer interested in him said the latter misrepresented facts to the court by referring to him as his ex-lover as their relationship was still in existence.

“I am surprised that she is calling me her ex-lover. She is in fact my wife and we have been staying together for four years. Of late she has however, been showing signs that she is no longer interested in me. I once phoned her and her boyfriend was the one who answered the phone and insulted me,” responded Dube.

In her ruling the presiding magistrate Adelaide Mbeure ordered Dube not to verbally and physically abuse Ncube or threaten her in any way.

— StateMedia

By A Correspondent- A top EU diplomat has revealed the two major drivers of food shortages in Zimbabwe.

Timo Olkkonen, who is the EU ambassador to Zimbabwe said corruption and mismanagement of the agricultural sector are the major drivers of food shortages in Zimbabwe, where over 7,7 million people urgently require food.

Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday soon after the release of an additional US$18,7 million kitty to help alleviate hunger in Zimbabwe, ambassador Olkkonen said this could not have been necessary if the government had properly managed its business.

“Obviously there is this link to the climate change phenomena and the drought that has been induced in southern Africa, but it has been shown also very clearly in the report by the UN rapporteur on the right to food that the situation that makes food insecurity such a grave issue in Zimbabwe is the mismanagement of the agricultural sector in recent years,” he said.

“So large areas are lying fallow. There is no much investment coming into farming and this is related to the issues around governance and how the agricultural sector is performing. So, these issues, for example the subsidy system, has caused a lot of problems, like Command Agriculture. We have read issue about mismanagement around it and these are compounding issues around it.”

The statements by the EU come just days after Acting President Constantino Chiwenga revealed in court papers that he was allocated a luxurious Lexus vehicle through Command Agriculture.

The EU, which has proved to be a thorn in the flesh for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, said the economic crisis would worsen life for Zimbabweans in 2020.

“We also have the current economic crisis, which is also linked to previous mismanagement. Issues around inflation, currency and lack of foreign currency are compounding the current crisis around food,” Olkkonen said.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP), which has secured US$205 million of the US$489 million required to provide assistance to 8,3 million people in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Namibia, Lesotho, eSwatini and Malawi, said Zimbabwe was the worst hit.

“Zimbabwe is in the throes of its worst hunger emergency in a decade, with 7,7 million people — half the population — seriously food insecure,” WFP said in a statement.

“So too are 22% of people in Zambia, a long time regional breadbasket now having to restrict cereal exports and accept outside assistance. Twenty percent of the population of drought-stricken Lesotho are also now severely hungry, as are 10% of Namibians.”

Zimbabwe faces surging food prices, poor medical infrastructure and malnutrition in rural areas, putting a heavy burden on the food aid.

“In a context of already high rates of malnutrition, population growth, inequality, and HIV and Aids, the hunger crisis is being aggravated by surging food prices, large-scale livestock losses and mounting joblessness,” WFP said.

“Families across the region are eating less, skipping meals, taking children out of school, selling off precious assets and falling into debt

-Newsday

Own Correspondent|The opposition MDC said it was aware of police intentions to raid its headquarters in central Harare in search for “machete”.

In a statement earlier on Friday, MDC deputy national spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka accused the police of planning to plant machetes at Morgan Tsvangirai House.

Below is the statement in full:

Police intend to siege MDC headquarters, plant machetes

We have gathered from impeccable sources within the regime that the police intend to siege Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House today in a desperate bid to plant machetes and justify their unwarranted crackdown on the party’s legitimate activities.

They are on a desperate witch-hunt and are frantically seeking to portray the MDC, the people’s party, as a rogue organization.

The police have been illegally cracking down on the party’s legitimate programmes, proscribing innocent party activities, arresting the party leadership and stopping Zimbabweans from peacefully expressing themselves in line with the country’s Constitution.

We understand the police are seeking a search warrant in order to use their presence at the headquarters of the people’s party so as to plant machetes and portray the MDC as a criminal organization.

The desperate attempts will not wash.

The people shall govern.

Luke Tamborinyoka
Deputy National Spokesperson

Zanu PF is currently compiling a list of graduate teachers who will undergo the Herbert Chitepo Ideological School training before deployment, a move that is meant to instil patriotism as well as avoid future job actions.

According to a letter dated December 19, 2019 addressed to all provincial chairpersons and signed by Chitepo Ideological School principal, Munyaradzi Machacha, all graduate teachers who are members of the party are set to undergo a “basic orientation course”.

“You are directed to submit a list of names of all party members who have completed teacher training and are awaiting employment by the Public Service Commission. The list must specify the year each candidate completed teacher’s training. Chitepo School of Ideology intends to run a basic orientation course for the trained teachers,” Machacha wrote in the letter, gleaned by NewsDay.

The Chitepo Ideological School is currently housed at Zanu PF headquarters in Harare but its tutors sometimes travel to various provinces conducting indoctrination lessons.

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Takavafira Zhou recently accused Zanu PF of attempting to interfere with the teaching profession.

“Zanu PF is contemplating on Hitlerisation and Zanunisation of the teaching profession by demanding that prospective teachers should first go through the Chitepo School of Ideology,” Zhou claimed during the union’s fourth congress held in Harare.

The current economic meltdown has resulted in teachers threatening job action demanding fair salaries.
During the last national conference, the Zanu PF youth league recommended that every civil servant should undergo the National Youth Service (NYS), popularly known as Border Gezi, as the revolutionary party tries to avoid a revolt from the masses.

The Border Gezi youth programme was introduced in 2000 by the late Zanu PF national commissar, Border Gezi, with the first camp established at Mt Darwin in 2001.

The NYS programme churned out thousands of graduates throughout the country. Some of the graduates were then placed in various government departments after being sent either to teaching or nursing colleges.

NewsDay

7 trucks with over 400 armed riot police details have besieged MDC party HQ to search for weapons of war.They are searching all offices and corridors.They will find nothing except the resolve for change. You cannot stop the winds of change whose time has come.Freedom is coming!

— nelson chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) January 17, 2020

7 trucks with over 400 armed riot police details have besieged MDC party HQ to search for weapons of war.They are searching all offices and corridors.They will find nothing except the resolve for change. You cannot stop the winds of change whose time has come.Freedom is coming!

— nelson chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) January 17, 2020

Own Correspondent|Heavily armed anti riot police have ransacked the MDC offices and searched computers in search of machetes allegedly kept at the opposition party’s offices.

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

AP|Black magic, drug addiction, attempted murder and a wrestling match over luxury cars and overseas properties.

Zimbabwe is riveted by the explosive charges being made in the divorce of First Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and his wife Marry.

A glimpse of the luxurious lives of Zimbabwe’s ruling elite, as the rest of the country grapples with economic collapse, hyperinflation and hunger, is emerging in the divorce papers filed in court.

Chiwenga, who as Commander of the Zimbabwe Defense Forces led a coup against former president Robert Mugabe in 2017, is seeking to divorce his wife, a former model, and gain custody of their three children. His wife is also facing charges of trying to kill him when he was in a South African hospital last year.

“Marrying her was the worst mistake I made,” said Chiwenga in court papers lodged this week. He accused her of using “cunning behavior” to “secure a place in my life” and claimed she used “black magic” and was an abusive and violent “addict” who could not be trusted to take care of their children.

“I took them on holiday abroad and initially they had signs of trauma as they explained the black magic rituals they were subjected to … The various tools of trade by the witchdoctors, which were unexpectedly left behind by the applicant (Marry) after a her arrest, told a horror story,” said Chiwenga.

Chiwenga spent four months in China for medical treatment last year and claimed his wife tried to kill him while he was on a hospital bed in South Africa before he was airlifted to the Asian country.

He is also refusing to give her the Mercedes Benz and Lexus vehicles she is demanding, claiming they belong to the government, while one was given to him by a local businessman who has lucrative government contracts.

In her papers, Marry accused Chiwenga of suffering from “acute paranoia brought about by his poor health” and “his being under heavy doses of drugs, including un-prescribed opiates.”

She is demanding close to $50,000 a month for living expenses and to take care of the children, while claiming the vice president had registered his properties locally and abroad in the names of his relatives to circumvent United States sanctions.

Marry is on bail after being charged with attempted murder, fraud and money laundering last year. She said Chiwenga has used soldiers to deny her access to their luxury matrimonial home where she was ordered by the court to reside as part of her bail conditions.

Over 200 armed police officers in riot gear have descended on the MDC headquarters in Harare. As we speak these running dogs of the illegitimate ZANU PF government are ransacking party offices. This is an act of provocation by a paranoid regime.@BBCWorld@CNN @zimlive @ZimEye pic.twitter.com/X0SyMawKbc

— CCC Harare Province (@CCCHarare) January 17, 2020

Own Correspondent|Police are currently ransacking the MDC Headquarters Harvest House predictably with a warrant to search for Machetes.

See below the search warrant whose motive was known way before they stormed the offices.

Correspondent|In latest developments, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and his wife Marry may eventually settle out of court their feud over access to the couple’s minor children, family home, vehicles and other possessions.

Vice President Chiwenga locked his wife out of their Borrowdale home when she came out of remand prison on a host of charges he personally raised against her through the Anti Corruption Commission. She also found Chiwenga in custody of their minor children and has been denied access to them for the two weeks she has been released from prison.

She incidentally filed an urgent chamber application at the High Court seeking an order compelling the VP to allow her access to the home and children.

At the High Court hearing before judge, Justice Dube Banda, the parties indicated that they wanted the matter to be settled out of court.

The matter was postponed to Tuesday after both parties exchanged arguments and agreed that the matter should be settled and not argued on Tuesday.

“If we don’t reach an agreement on Monday, it means we continue with oral submissions on Tuesday,” Marry Chiwenga’s lawyer Taona Nyamakura told journalists.

He said his client was unable to have access to personal belongings and properties within the home including clothes and vehicles following her release from remand prison after being granted bail of $50 000.

Chiwenga allegedly deployed soldiers to stop Marry from accessing the residence.

Her lawyers argue the home she was barred from returning to is the same the High Court has ordered her to reside at while awaiting trial.

DEVELOPING STORY: 3 truckloads of riot police have now stormed the MDC Zimbabwe headquarters, the party’s secretary general Charlton Hwende reports.

They are beating up our security personnel and confiscating party documents and computers, he adds.

ZimEye correspondents were heading to the offices at the time of writing

Paul Nyathi|A new political outfit has been added to an already ballooning Zimbabwe basket of political parties.

The new party is led by South African based Zimbabwean businessman Herbert Chamuka who has already declared that he will be part of the expected huge entourage that will challenge incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa in elections set for March 2023.

If Mnangagwa wins the election again and adopts his Political Actors Dialogue, POLAD, idea he has a new member in his team and one from his rural home in Zvishavane.

The party known as the Ideas Party of Democracy has already been entered on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commision (Zec)’s database.

A letter signed by Zec’s chief elections officer, Utoile Silaigwana, reads: “Your organisation has been included on Zec’s stakeholder database and mailing list for notification when appropriate meetings that require your input arise.”

Speaking to journalists on his new party, Chamuka said that he formed the party after being frustrated by the economic crisis in the country.

“We will definitely participate in the 2023 general elections and currently we are planning to roll out countrywide door-to-door meetings to drum up support. So far we have structures in all provinces, but we need to penetrate districts and wards to set up structures there too,” the 41-year-old ambitious politician said.

He said his party’s ideology would be a fusion of capitalist and socialist ideas considering the need to revive industry while also taking cognisance of the plight of the majority poor who need social safety nets.

“Our main aim is to rebuild the country. Zanu-PF has failed to develop the country and it is known mainly for violating citizens’ rights as evidenced by its long history of abductions. It’s the most undemocratic party you can find anywhere on earth. So when we win the election in 2023, our first task is to rebuild the country and ensure that industry is revived because the productive sector is a key economic driver.”

He also said his government will undertake a land audit to correct the imbalances created by the post-independence land reform programme.

THE story of a man who was being seduced by his mother-in-law has taken a new twist as he claims his wife not only knew about her mother’s antics, but was actually encouraging him to have sex with her in order for them to get rich.

Manfred Nhemachena recently left many people disconcerted after he sensationally claimed that his estranged wife’s mother Beatrice Marabwa allegedly demanded to have sex with him because her husband was sexually starving her.

This was revealed at the Bulawayo Civil Court where his estranged wife, Tariro Nhemachena, had sought a protection order against him claiming he was abusing her.

Manfred and Tariro got married on 10 April 2010 and were blessed with a four-year-old son. Their marriage is still subsisting but they are now living separately.

B-Metro tracked Manfred to Nyamandlovu for more details of what was transpiring in his home and he spilled more beans than expected.

He claims his wife wanted him to poke her mother!
“It was not only traumatising but shameful, I have since lost my respect for her and I can no longer look at her the same way.

Thank God I didn’t give into her devilish demands,” said Manfred.

“I started noticing something unusual in 2015 when she came and briefly stayed with us.

I definitely didn’t have problem with that until she started demanding to sleep in my matrimonial bedroom.

“When I asked her why she wanted to join us in our bedroom she said her husband (his father in-law) was no longer sleeping with her”.

Shocked by his mother-in-law’s candidness, Manfred suggested that she go and see his relatives.

She reportedly rubbished the idea saying she was going to forcibly sleep with him in his matrimonial bedroom.

“Living true to her demands she moved into our matrimonial bedroom and out of fear I moved to another spare bedroom.

“The following day while dressed skimpily, she followed me to the spare bedroom where she found me sleeping and she tenderly sat on my legs. From that day she was the one who was now preparing breakfast and supper for me and ironing my clothes”.

Manfred said he was also disturbed seeing his mother in-law’s private parts.

“What was also happening was that when I came home late, she was the one who was always opening the door for me and she would be in a see-through night dress exposing all her vital parts.”

When he told his wife about her mother’s taboo demands and seduction moves, Manfield said he was shocked by her response.B-Metro

Farai Dziva|The Movement for Democratic Change says police details are planning to plant machetes at Morgan Tsvangirai House in a bid to portray the party as a violent entity.

See full statement :
We have gathered from impeccable sources within the regime that the police intend to siege Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House in a desperate bid to plant machetes and justify their unwarranted crackdown on the party’s legitimate activities.

They are on a desperate witch-hunt and are frantically seeking to portray the MDC, the people’s party, as a rogue organization.

The police have been illegally cracking down on the party’s legitimate programmes, proscribing innocent party activities, arresting the party leadership and stopping Zimbabweans from peacefully expressing themselves in line with the country’s Constitution.

We understand the police are seeking a search warrant in order to use their presence at the headquarters of the people’s party so as to plant machetes and portray the MDC as a criminal organization.

The desperate attempts will not wash.

The people shall govern.

Luke Tamborinyoka
Deputy National Spokesperson

By A Correspondent- The beauty queen representing Zimbabwe at Miss Global in Mexico, Tania Aaron, was on Wednesday evening crowned the evening gown category first runner up at the preliminaries, the state media reports.

In an interview, Miss Aaron (24) spoke about winning and the competition as a whole and said:

It came as a shock to me considering that the competition was tough. I am happy that I represented my country well and want to thank my designer Abiot Malawa of Nandi fame label, who made that white dress.

I am keeping my fingers crossed ahead of the announcement of the winner of the Miss Global 2020 tomorrow. It has been a great opportunity for me and I have already made new friends, learning a lot from other contestants their cultures and traditions. I am ready for the crown.

According to Aaron, the gown was designed by a local designer Jasper Mandizera. The finals will be held tomorrow January 18, at Guelaguetza Auditorium, Oaxaca in Mexico.

-StateMedia

Farai Dziva|Former Harare City Council Mayor, Councillor Bernard Manyenyeni says those running the affairs of the capital city must be given the full mandate to do so.

See Manyenyeni’s argument below :

1. Problems are not “emerging”!

There have been there since March 2013 when the Minister approved unsustainable salaries to HCC employees and 4 months later in July 2013 wrote off over 2 years’ worth of revenue.

The sum total of the two crippling decisions was over 800m USD.

(Chisi hachiyeri musi wacharimwa!)

We stepped into council in September 2013 served until July 2018.

1. Harare City Council- like any other public institution- operates on what I termed ‘SERVICE DECEIVERY’ basis.

It is the promise or expectation of service delivery when the factors on the ground clearly point otherwise.

1. Most service delivery demands, promises and analyses are defective, uninformed and illiterate.

I have always said if Council does not fix big things it will be embarrassed by (or celebrated for) small things.

1. Council must provide a clear indication of just SIX figures:

The total monthly revenue amount AND just the (CORRECT) top 5 monthly expenditure items.

That will be clear enough to tell where the adult demands and promises are.

1. The salary debate will not go far because both management and councillors are compromised in the matter.

In search of governance excellence only those whose relatives are not employed in Council can make objective decisions about council employment costs.

1. The unfinished political debate about who RUNS urban councils rings on.

In part answer to that debate I plead:

“The MDCA must LEAD the MDCA-HELD councils and CONTROL them and be answerable”.

STATE MEDIA– Traditional leaders have denied food aid was being given to the needy on partisan lines with their active involvement.

The opposition, particularly the MDC-T, has for long time accused traditional leaders of allegedly conniving with Zanu-PF to give food aid to only ruling party supporters.

No evidence has, however, been provided to support the claims.

In an interview on Wednesday on the sidelines of the ongoing National Council of Chiefs strategic planning workshop in Mutare, the council’s president, Chief Fortune Charumbira, said traditional leaders were not involved in the distribution of food aid.

“Most of the allegations that we hear about partisanship in food distribution are falsehoods. As traditional leaders we do not distribute food aid. Whoever says chiefs are partisan in the distribution of food aid does not know how food aid is distributed in this country,” he said.

Chief Charumbira said United Nations agencies, working with non-governmental organisations, and the Department of Social Welfare, were responsible for the distribution of food aid.

“Like now, you have World Food Programme, a United Nations organisation which appoints what they call implementing agencies, mainly non-governmental organisations. The NGOs come to the village themselves. They interview the villagers in that particular village and from their interviews they say this family is needy. The village or chief has no role in selecting a person to be given food,” said Chief Charumbira.

Beneficiaries of Government food aid, he added, were handled by the Department of Social Welfare.

The country suffered a drought last year after it did not receive adequate rains owing to the effects of  climate change.

The majority of people are in need of food assistance until the next harvest around May.

Government is on record as stating that no one would starve.

It has since started importing grain from the Sadc region and beyond.

-STATE MEDIA

By A Correspondent- Corruption and mismanagement of the agricultural sector are the major drivers of food shortages in Zimbabwe, where over 7,7 million people urgently require food, a top European Union (EU) diplomat has said.

Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday soon after the release of an additional US$18,7 million kitty to help alleviate hunger in Zimbabwe, EU ambassador to Zimbabwe, Timo Olkkonen said this could not have been necessary if the government had properly managed its business.

“Obviously there is this link to the climate change phenomena and the drought that has been induced in southern Africa, but it has been shown also very clearly in the report by the UN rapporteur on the right to food that the situation that makes food insecurity such a grave issue in Zimbabwe is the mismanagement of the agricultural sector in recent years,” he said.

“So large areas are lying fallow. There is no much investment coming into farming and this is related to the issues around governance and how the agricultural sector is performing. So, these issues, for example the subsidy system, has caused a lot of problems, like Command Agriculture. We have read issue about mismanagement around it and these are compounding issues around it.”

The statements by the EU come just days after Acting President Constantino Chiwenga revealed in court papers that he was allocated a luxurious Lexus vehicle through Command Agriculture.

The EU, which has proved to be a thorn in the flesh for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, said the economic crisis would worsen life for Zimbabweans in 2020.

“We also have the current economic crisis, which is also linked to previous mismanagement. Issues around inflation, currency and lack of foreign currency are compounding the current crisis around food,” Olkkonen said.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP), which has secured US$205 million of the US$489 million required to provide assistance to 8,3 million people in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Namibia, Lesotho, eSwatini and Malawi, said Zimbabwe was the worst hit.

“Zimbabwe is in the throes of its worst hunger emergency in a decade, with 7,7 million people — half the population — seriously food insecure,” WFP said in a statement.

“So too are 22% of people in Zambia, a long time regional breadbasket now having to restrict cereal exports and accept outside assistance. Twenty percent of the population of drought-stricken Lesotho are also now severely hungry, as are 10% of Namibians.”

Zimbabwe faces surging food prices, poor medical infrastructure and malnutrition in rural areas, putting a heavy burden on the food aid.

“In a context of already high rates of malnutrition, population growth, inequality, and HIV and Aids, the hunger crisis is being aggravated by surging food prices, large-scale livestock losses and mounting joblessness,” WFP said.

“Families across the region are eating less, skipping meals, taking children out of school, selling off precious assets and falling into debt

-Newsday

By A Correspondent- Former Finance and Economic Development deputy minister Terrence Mukupe reportedly lost about 390 000 rand being payment for a luxurious  Rover Range Rover vehicle which was never delivered.

Mukupe is said to have been approached by Honest Nigel Shumba, who said the car was in South Africa and he showed the former deputy minister some pictures.

For the alleged botched deal, Shumba appeared before Harare Magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa on fraud charges. He was not asked to plead to the charges.

Shumba who is being represented by Arthur Gurira, was granted $200 bail, warned to reside at the address he gave to the court, to report every last Friday of the month and not to interfere with witnesses.

He will be back in court on March 31.

Prosecutor Lancelot Mutsokoti alleges that sometime in June last year, Shumba approached Mukupe at his work place and misrepresented that he was selling a black Range Rover which was in South Africa through a lease purchase agreement.

It is alleged Shumba showed Mukupe pictures of the vehicle with the former minister expressing interest in buying it 390 000 Rand.

Further allegations are that on June 11 last year, Mukupe gave Shumba 70 000 Rand and he promised to deliver the car upon settlement of the balance of 320 000 Rand.

On June 13, Mukupe is said to have been instructed by Shumba to make a bank transfer of 320 000 rand into a South African FNB bank account which belonged to Dzidzi Chapfuwa.

After Mukupe made the full payment, Shumba never delivered the vehicle but became evasive prompting the former to make a police report.

Police investigations led to the arrest of Shumba.

-Wires

By Artwell Sithole| Chipinge’s Rimbi village and its surrounding communities have hailed a free medical treatment initiative which saw more 200 people with different ailments being attended to by medical practitioners free of charge.

The initiative dubbed Citizwean Mobile clinic has also been taken to Binga among other areas.

Rimbi Health committee chairperson, Samuel Matembudze was all smiles as he saluted the people who donated various amounts of money to make the initiative a reality.

“I am humbled by the free medical service offered to us today. It’s a relief as most of people can no-longer afford to buy medication owing to the harsh economic situation prevailing in our country,” said Matembudze.

He begged the Citizwean Mobile clinic team to make the initiative a routine activity while also appealing for resources to repair roof at the local Rimbi clinic.

One of the beneficiaries, Emily Sithole thanked the team for free medication assistance.

“I am happy to be a beneficiary of this clinic. The citizen clinic came at the right time as if they were send by God to assist me I was stressed on how I will buy my medicines after spending so much during back to school preparations,” she said.

Thomas Muyambo also expressed gratitude to the Citizwean Mobile clinic team for assisting him free of charge.

“With the economic situation, its now rare to see someone who can assist you for free. I thank everyone behind the scenes for creating such an important initiative. I have been sick for months and had to rely on traditional remedies since I didn’t have money to seek medical attention from doctors but today I am relieved.
Citizwean Clinic is a campaign under the Citizwean Initiative which is providing a relief to vulnerable groups to access basic health care. The campaign cushions citizens from high cost of healthcare. The initiative is well timed considering that most major health centres are incapacitated due to the crippling strike by doctors as well as shortage of drugs.

We have gathered from impeccable sources within the regime that the police intend to siege Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House today in a desperate bid to plant machetes and justify their unwarranted crackdown on the party’s legitimate activities.

They are on a desperate witch-hunt and are frantically seeking to portray the MDC, the people’s party, as a rogue organization.

The police have been illegally cracking down on the party’s legitimate programmes, proscribing innocent party activities, arresting the party leadership and stopping Zimbabweans from peacefully expressing themselves in line with the country’s Constitution.

We understand the police are seeking a search warrant in order to use their presence at the headquarters of the people’s party so as to plant machetes and portray the MDC as a criminal organization.

The desperate attempts will not wash.

The people shall govern.

Luke Tamborinyoka
Deputy National Spokesperson

READ FULL STATEMENT FROM LEAD BELOW…

Mashurugwi originally are gold panning gangs. The objective of them carrying machetes is to protect themselves against rival gangs and because the machete is an all purpose tool usable even underground. ED during his gold panning days had to rely on these gangs to get maximum gold yield and dominate the gold panning areas.

Today the issue of Mashurugwi has taken a new twist showing that it’s fast being adulterated and used for political reasons.

Its sad to note that MDCA has taken over the Mashurugwi in a bid to discredit ED.

The Vanguard has infiltrated the Mashurugwi and brought them to Harare and continue to spread propaganda that it’s Zanu pf.

This dirty tactic being used by MDCA in it’s desperate bid to gain power by force will result in bloodshed and leave us affected but will never remove Zanu pf. Its clear that to take this path MDCA is just following a script provided by its funders.

We as LEAD would like to plead with the MDCA leadership to spare us a day of mourning. We all want Zanu pf out but not through the loss of life. We have suffered enough as it is as a result of mismanagement by Zanu pf and bringing war and bloodshed on us will surely destroy us.

Sydney Muyambi
LEAD Secretary General

By A Correspondent- Former cabinet minister Prisca Mupfumira’s trial failed to start Thursday morning after the State failed to provide documents requested for by the defendant’s defence team.

Mupfumira, who is jointly charged with former Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare secretary Ngoni Masoka, is facing charges of criminal abuse of duty and concealing a transaction from a principal.

Prosecutor Clemence Chimbari said that they had faced challenges in acquiring all the documents required by Mupfumira and Masoka for their trial.

He said they could only provide the conditions of service document while the defence requested for more time to go through it.

Advocate Thembinkosi Magwaliba who is representing Mupfumira on instructions from Zivanai Makwanya, however, argued that the State had provided inadequate documents for the defence to prepare for trial.

Magwaliba submitted that the State had defaulted on providing the audited financial reports of 2016 to 2018, a 2010 Cabinet Circular 4, cabinet handbook which was in operation when Mupfumira was minister and Masoka’s scope of duties.

Masoka’s lawyer, Farai Mushoriwa, also submitted that he had got most of the documents he had requested, but the parameters of his client’s duties and the 2010 Cabinet Circular 4 were still outstanding.

Magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi postponed the matter to February 5 for commencement of trial and the state was ordered to have provided the necessary documents needed by the defence.

Allegations are that sometime between March 2015 and July the same year, Mupfumira and Masoka took a US$90 000 loan from NSSA without Treasury approval to buy a Toyota Land Cruiser VX-L200 for the former minister.

Mupfumira was entitled to a Mercedes Benz E300.

On the other charge, it is alleged that from October 2016 to December of the same year, the two authorised the payment of US$10 215 and Rand 113 539 from the ministry’s drought fund account to pay for air tickets, hotel accommodation and taxi services for ministry officials and Mupfumira’s relatives who attended her daughter’s wedding in Cape Town, South Africa.

It is further alleged that the duo corruptly concealed a transaction from a principal when in June 2017, they failed to reveal that the Toyota Land Cruiser had been bought by NSSA funds on behalf of the ministry.

Mupfumira allegedly ended up having three official cars instead of two.

-theancher

By A Correspondent- According to the Ministry of Information’s official twitter handle, the Zimbabwean plane B777 that is in Malaysia is coming home on Monday.

The ministry tweeted:

Hon Minister JB Matiza is bringing home the planes that were in Malaysia. The B777 is expected to land on Monday 20 January 2020 at 12:30 PM. The other is scheduled to arrive in the following weeks

The Ministry did not shed more light on the aircraft being ready to be used by Air Zimbabwe. The aircraft is part of the 2 Zimbabwe Airways aircraft that sparked a storm after the 2017 coup.

Source: Twitter 

“Problems Emerge At City of Harare As Management Quadruple Their Salaries Without Approval of Council” -reads a Zimeye Headline.

1. Problems are not “emerging”!

There have been there since March 2013 when the Minister approved unsustainable salaries to HCC employees and 4 months later in July 2013 wrote off over 2 years’ worth of revenue.

The sum total of the two crippling decisions was over 800m USD.

(Chisi hachiyeri musi wacharimwa!)

We stepped into council in September 2013 served until July 2018.

2. Harare City Council like other public institutions operate on what I termed ‘SERVICE DECEIVERY’ basis.

It is the promise or expectation of service delivery when the factors on the ground clearly point otherwise.

3. Most service delivery demands, promises and analyses are defective, uninformed and illiterate.

I have always said if Council does not fix big things it will be embarrassed by (or celebrated for) small things.

4. Council must provide a clear indication of just SIX figures:

The total monthly revenue amount AND just the (CORRECT) top 5 monthly expenditure items.

That will be clear enough to tell where the adult demands and promises are.

5. The salary debate will not go far because both management and councillors are compromised in the matter.

In search of governance excellence only those whose relatives are not employed in Council can make objective decisions about council employment costs.

6. The unfinished political debate about who RUNS urban councils rings on.

In part answer to that debate I plead:

“The MDCA must LEAD the MDCA-HELD councils and CONTROL them and be answerable”.

I am a 29-year-old mother of two boys. I wish to make it public that I am extremely appalled with a case of impersonification and misrepresentation of my baby boy LaMaine by Yolanda “Tinodaa” Mpofu, real name Yollendah Mpofu from Zimbabwe based in South Africa and currently in Nigeria. (NB she deleted her facebook photos after I confronted her) Yollandah Tinodaa Mampofu and Yollandah Tino are her other facebook accounts…

The summary of the sad story is, Yolanda Mpofu was in a relationship with a Jeff. Yolanda is alleged to have fallen pregnant to Jeff but they did not stay together since 2017 after they had a fall out.

Fast forward, Yoland Mpofu then abstracted my child’s photos on social platforms which she used to masquerade LaMaine as her child with Jeff who apparently she was not staying with.

Naturally, Jeffy having known that he parted ways with Yolanda Mpofu when she was pregnant, he believed that the photos of the purported child was real and his.

This was all a lie – Yolanda Mpofu impersonified my baby for self-enrichment. It is alleged that Yolanda started receiving “child support/ maintenance” money from 2017 and according to the claims and some bank deposits, she was getting around R3000 for child support.

I am made to understand she further received extra several thousands of Rands for child care and support from Jeff as and when she demands.

The matter came to light when Jeffy saw the pictures of my child on my Instagram and he sent me a message to ask about what he called “Temi’s photo (implying my child LaMaine).

He then confronted me alleging that I was being presented to her as the baby minder (cousin) by Yolanda Mpofu, yet I am the mother of LaMaine and not Temi as Jeffy claims.

He further sent me all new born baby photos that I used to post since LaMaine was still a baby, claiming he had received them from Yolanda and that he had grown a strong bond with the baby though she didn’t want him to see the baby.

The matter is horrendous. It has disturbed not only my peace but poses huge security threats to my child and myself. I want it to be known that if my child has been used for extortions as is the case by this woman, the world should be worry and know about this girl called Yolanda Mpofu.

It is my plea that if there are many who have been scammed by the legendary pretends of this lady, please take note that she is dangerously continuing with her shenanigans and the society should be worried by this person.

I am making it public for the rest of the world to know in case something happens to me and my child.

I feel very insecure as I do not know how much my child’s photos were used and the ultimate intention of this woman by the name Yolanda Mpofu.

I have also received further disturbing information about her which I will also expose.

Pray for me and my child.

A mining venture involving the army and a Chinese firm, Wanbao Rexco, has failed to take off amid claims the Asian company is siphoning resources from the mine, Business Times heard this week.

The military and Wanbao Rexco are partners in Global Platinum Resources (GPR) which was established in 2004 and sits on over 520 million ounces of platinum resources along the Great Dyke.

Wanbao Rexco has spent over US$80m in exploration and feasibility studies and the dispute centres on allegations that the company only employed Chinese explorers to carry out pre-feasibility and feasibility studies at inflated prices. A recent audit also stoked suspicions after US$20m was unaccounted for.

The Chinese company postponed operations at GPR in 2018 and is understood to be spending US$1m yearly in care and maintenance.

Business Times understands that the government of Zimbabwe through Zimbabwe Defence Forces entered an agreement to get fire arms in 2008 with the Chinese government through Wanbao Rexco in exchange of platinum resources.

Harare is now mulling cancelling the deal and looking for another joint venture partner. GPR technical manager, Retired Brigadier General Livingstone Chineka, told Business Times that there are fed up by the antics of the Chinese firm.

“We are fed up with Wanbao Rexco since they came here in 2004 employing their own people and exploiting the country’s platinum resources for absolutely nothing, we can’t accept that,” Chineka said.

“It has suspended the operations until now [2020, a year which it said it will begin real mining] because we refused them to continue more feasibility studies after we realised that the prefeasibility study they carried out cost US$25m against our feasibility study which cost US$15m which mainly comprised of local personnel.”

He added: “As GPR we have stopped operations; we now want to meet Vice-President Chiwenga to map the way forward.”

The deal was consummated when Chiwenga was still in charge of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. GPR is said to have untapped platinum claims of 86,7km2 which is way bigger than those controlled by Ngezi, Mimosa and Unki mines combined. Chineka said their partners have suspended operations based on false interpretation of the feasibility study.

“We are convinced that the argument about the project is not based on the economic viability of the project but completely driven by financial difficulties on the part of our partners or that they don’t want us to be the part of the operations at GPR as they have realised that we can do the same or better job at reduced costs,” he said.

He said the problems arose after Wanbao Rexco failed to respect and honour the local community as all personnel and materials came from China without any benefit to the local population.

Chineka said exercise books, tissues and all stationery material came from China. Efforts to get comment from Wanbao Rexco were fruitless as calls to their numbers went unanswered.

Zimbabwe holds the world’s largest deposits of platinum after South Africa and has been pushing mining firms operating in the country to build refineries to stop the export of raw platinum ore to earn more foreign currency.

Zimbabwe sees China as an all-weather friend after it looked East at the turn of the millennium due to problems with the western countries. Chinese companies are accused of allegedly ill-treating locals, a charge Beijing has refuted.

Business Times

Below is a statement from the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office;

The Presidency can confirm that President Cyril Ramaphosa will not attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, from 21 to 24 January 2020, and the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London on Monday 20 January 2020.

The President has taken this decision to give attention to pressing domestic priorities and preparations for the governing party and Cabinet Makgotla.

The President is further currently engaged with preparations towards South Africa’s assumption of the Chairship of the African Union at the 33rd African Union Summit on 9-10 February 2020.

South Africa will be represented in Davos and London by senior government and civil society representatives led by Minister of Finance Mr Tito Mboweni and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Dr Naledi Pandor respectively.

The President is confident that the nation will benefit from the participation of the government and civil society delegations in the Davos and London events.

STATE MEDIA– Subsidised roller meal is being diverted to the black market by buyers who grab consignments as they reach the shop shelves.

The buyers then offload the roller meal to informal traders who often repack it into smaller bags, with these two sets of middlemen more than doubling the $50 price of the original 10kg bag.

In addition, black market informal traders demand cash only, which many needing mealie-meal have to get from another set of informal traders, mobile money vendors, who gouge a premium of between 25 percent and 35 percent.

This comes amid concerns that some people were panic-buying the roller meal in the face of shortages.

The Government is fighting back by increasing supplies, with a freer flow of maize-meal expected from next week.

It will work with the Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) to monitor shopkeepers to ensure the maize-meal is distributed fairly and that shops take precautions to stop the middlemen from grabbing bulk of deliveries.

It is understood that many of the “professional buyers” have connections to retailers who sell it as it arrives.

The middlemen take it to the parallel market and sell the full 10kg packets, or repackage into anything from 500g, popularly known as “tsaona” (emergency), to 5kg.

A 10kg pack of roller meal is then sold, for cash, for between $75 and $110, while 5kg is sold for $55, a 2kg pack costs $15, while 500g costs $9.

Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza yesterday assured consumers that supplies of the subsidised roller meal will soon improve.

“During the course of the holidays, there were some challenges where some companies failed to deliver, which induced panic-buying and hoarding,” she said. “However, this has since been resolved as Government is augmenting local production with maize grain imports.

“As of yesterday, the ministry verified with GMB that maize grain is available. The import deliveries have been coming on a daily basis and are expected to alleviate the mealie-meal shortage.”

Minister Nzenza said her ministry was working with CZR, which has promised to institute measures to at protect consumers.

“The president of CZR Mr (Denford) Mutashu has assured that in order to protect the consumer, they are monitoring the retail shops so that mealie-meal is not only available, but is also sold at the subsidised price of $50 per 10kg and is distributed to all Zimbabweans fairly,” she said.

Mr Mutashu said the supply of roller meal remained constrained, but millers had assured retailers that supplies would improve next week.

“Current supply is still constrained as millers require more maize to meet demand, but I have just had a meeting with the millers and they have assured me that from next week, there will be mealie meal in the supermarkets,” said Mr Mutashu.

The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) said it was using “free funds” and had since procured 50 000 tonnes of maize from South Africa.

A consignment is expected to arrive next week.

“This is to complement what GMB has and we are also going to prioritise roller meal production from the privately sourced maize,” said GMAZ spokesperson Mr Garikai Chaunza.

Efforts to get the list of millers working with Government were fruitless.

The subsidy is handled by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, which deals with individual grain millers.

Under the new subsidy scheme, maize is sold at market prices, but the subsidy is paid to millers who have to prove that the roller meal has been milled and delivered.

-State Media

Jane Mlambo| Respected academic Dr Pedzisai Ruhanya has suggested that any discussions to arrest the country’s problems should include the military which he said has been in a coalition arrangement with the ruling Zanu PF party.

Posting on Twitter this morning, Ruhanya said military partisanship was the biggest elephant in the room when it comes to addressing the political problems facing the country.

“Military has turned itself into a political party. Been in a coalition gov with ZANU PF since 1980. Any discussion to address the Zimbabwe problem must include the Military and its ZANU PF Coalition partners so that their demands. Military partisanship must be addressed,” said Ruhanya.

Ruhanya’s organisation the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute has been involved in a lot of research that laid bare the involvement of the security apparatus in the Zanu PF power equation.

The military was instrumental in toppling the late former President Robert Mugabe in November 2017 with the then Commander Constantino Chiwenga addressing a press conference where he said the military was justified in intervening in Zanu PF succession disputes.

They later replaced Mugabe with his then deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa who had to resign from the army to take up an executive position as vice President.

Former South African leader Thabo Mbeki will bring terms of reference for political dialogue between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and MDC’s Nelson Chamisa when he returns to Zimbabwe by month-end, Business Times heard this week.

Mbeki was in the country last month where he met Mnangagwa, Chamisa and leaders of other fringe parties that also make up the Political Actors Dialogue. The former South African President was expected to come back after Christmas holiday to bring to the table the warring parties.

Chwani Mtetwa, first secretary for political affairs at the South African Embassy in Harare, told Business Times that Mbeki is coming back to the country this month, although the working schedule has not been released.

“We know that former South Africa President Thabo Mbeki is supposed to be coming back at the end of this month to resume the political dialogue between Zanu PF and MDC leaders and we will let you know once we have information on the matter as we are in the process of communicating with him,” Mtetwa said.

“We are hearing from the corridors that the South Africa government is behind the talks and we are also communicating with the South Africa government to know what is happening.”

Churches under the ambit of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) have been ratcheting up pressure for Chamisa and Mnangagwa to dialogue which is billed to halt the economic freefall amid fears of unrest over the deteriorating environment. ZCC general secretary Kenneth Mtata said churches last month made presentations to Mbeki and is hopeful to meet the former South African leader when he returns to Zimbabwe this month.

“The political dialogue is a process and is not a one day event and it shall continue and we hope also to be included in the dialogue and we are glad that the dialogue process is starting to take shape and ready to take off and all the stakeholders must be involved,” Mtata said. “The way forward in the country is dialogue to resolve the problems we are facing as a country. We need each other to move the country forward.”

Writing on microblogging site early this month, Mtata said the currently proffered solution models to Zimbabwean challenges were maintenance model (maintain status quo until 2023), revolution model (force a replacement of current government by new leadership) and consensus model (find mutually agreed transitional process through dialogue. He said the choice of any model must be based on whether it produces lasting and sustainable results and whether it is possible to achieve with least risks to life.

“So while at face value a revolution promises permanent solution, in reality it can give you what you didn’t bargain for. Consensus demand exchange of ideas, outcomes may not be perfect but have broad ownership,” Mtata said.

He warned: “A nation that does not satisfactorily act on the cries of the vulnerable creates inevitable conditions for a revolution. Once its fires have been lit, no amount of ammunition can stop it.”

Mnangagwa and Chamisa have been haggling on the modalities of the talks. Mnangagwa wants the talks to be conducted under Polad.

Chamisa’s MDC is opposed to the participation under Polad arguing the bulk of the parties that constitute the grouping have no political relevance as they have no any representative in Parliament. This has seen Chamisa snubbing Polad meetings demanding to attend any dialogue convened by an international statesman as an arbitrator. While the parties haggle over the modalities of dialogue, the economy has taken a battering with rising prices which have eroded the purchasing of the local currency pushing the majority to the brink.

Last month, a UN agency said Zimbabwe is facing its worst hunger crisis in a decade with half of the population (7.7m) food insecure. World Food Programme spokesperson Bettina Luescher said that almost US$300m was needed urgently to supply some 240,000 tonnes of aid to avert hunger caused by a climate disaster and economic implosion.

Mbeki was midwife to the inclusive government that ran from 2009 to 2013. This came after Mbeki secured the Global Political Agreement in which Zanu PF and the two MDC formations agreed to work together after the disputed 2008 elections.

Recently, South Africa minister for International Relations and Co-operation Naledi Pandor said sustainable solutions to the country’s problems should emanate from Zimbabwe.

Pandor said Zimbabwe’s social, economic and political problems can be addressed by local people being helped by the international community, instead of having the Southern African Community (SADC) only focusing on targeted sanctions imposed by the West on some Zanu PF officials.

Speaking at a symposium in Pretoria focusing on problems bedevilling Zimbabwe, Pandor said solutions should come from Zimbabweans themselves.

“There are complex challenges in Zimbabwe to be resolved by people of Zimbabwe with nations of the SADC. Sustainable solutions to come from Zimbabwe … We know there are serious and seemingly intractable political factors that might need attention, in fact, that need attention if solutions are to be effective or implementable. The political formations in Zimbabwe remain at loggerheads and have apparent deep antipathy toward each other which makes joint decisionmaking and planning extremely difficult,” Pandor said.

Political analyst and University of Zimbabwe lecturer Lawrence Mhandara said both political parties need a third party to mediate. “MDC are talking of the legitimacy of President Mnangagwa arguing that he did not win the elections in a legitimate way and Zanu PF are saying we won the elections and MDC should accept them as the legitimate leaders of the country. This is a sticking problem that must be resolved by the third party and Mbeki knows that he has a lot of work to do and he has experience to break the impasse. MDC accepted him to break the ice but they will have problems with him because he is Pan African and does not want western world interference,” Mhandara said.

Mhandara also said the situation has not yet reached a mutual hurting stalemate as it is not similar to the 2008 situation. – More: Business Times

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT ??????

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” —JFK

Here's a little message from EcoCash's CEO – Natalie Jabangwe.#ABigThankYou #EcoCash pic.twitter.com/DyTDbv17if

— EcoCash Zimbabwe (@EcoCashZW) January 16, 2020

Own Correspondent|Security guards at Good Hope Mine in Kadoma have shot and killed a member of the notorious Team Barca Machetes Gang in Kadoma.

The 27 year old thug was part of a gang of over 60 machete wielding criminals that were attempting to force entry into the mine by disarming the mine security guards.

The deceased was gunned down whilst trying to disarm one of the three security guards who were guarding the mine.

Police confirmed the incident:

A 27 year old man was shot dead by a security guard at a mine in Battlefields, Kadoma. The deceased was part of about 60 illegal miners who raided a mine which was being manned by 3 guards. When they were challenged to leave, the deceased, armed with an axe and a knife menacingly

— Zimbabwe Republic Police (@PoliceZimbabwe) January 16, 2020

“A 27-year-old man was shot dead by a security guard at a mine in Battlefields, Kadoma. The deceased was part of about 60 illegal miners who raided a mine which was being manned by 3 guards. When they were challenged to leave, the deceased, armed with an axe and a knife menacingly.

“charged towards one of the guards intending to disarm him, he was shot by one of the guards who realised that his colleague’s life was in danger. The rest of the illegal miners fled from the scene after the incident” said the police.

The police also promised to descent heavily on machete-wielding criminals.

“Violence of any form will not be tolerated and likeminded elements are warned that the wrath of the law will be severely applied,” the police said.

Correspondent|Abuse of the media by practitioners has led to serious social and security problems in the country, says Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa.

Speaking during a lecture at Zimbabwe National Defence University on Thursday, Minister Mutsvangwa said the dominant West has sought to reconquer Zimbabwe through control of its national mindset.

Said Minister Mutsvangwa: “The Zimbabwe Government born of the democratic sacrifice of the majority is given to resist. This is the foundation of the epic fight for the control of the media space.”

She called on those who frequently use the social media to be responsible as they can be used by those with evil agendas to cause total mayhem in families and the country at large.

“Social media has been used to peddle falsehoods about individuals, Government and Government officials as well as about whole countries. Such stories, if they can be called stories at all, have negative effect on security.”

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

WHO IS BEHIND THE MACHETE GANGS? 

Speaking at his party’s Goromonzi conference on the 14th December 2019, Emmerson Mnangagwa revealed he is concerned about propaganda rather than human life losses. He clearly threatened to use the state apparatus to ensure secrecy when he carries out another military crackdown like the one in January 2019. Last January when soldiers protested against the fuel price rise, (even criticised by pro ZANU countries such as Russia), his security minister Owen Ncube switched off the internet for 3 days during which period 17 people were shot dead and several women raped. This time speaking at Goromonzi, Mnangagwa described the January 2019 protests where 17 people were killed by state agents as “nonsensical”.

“The January nonsense and periodic mischievous activities by the opposition elements such as those we witnessed this year must be nipped in the bud,” he said. “Never again shall we allow the loss of precious lives of our countrymen to feed the agenda of a notorious few.”

He repeated exactly what he told a French journalist earlier in the year, while blaming the MDC party for the mass murders which he did and while denying human loses saying no one was killed.

Show me the graves, said Mnangagwa in the below interview. He also announced that he is hunting down every woman who reported rape. 

From his own words, it is without guessing that the Zanu-PF leader has unleashed a repeat of the same operation this January but this time per his own words, using methods of disguise, so that he does not lose propaganda “reputation”. VIDEO BELOW…

State Media|Zimbabwe is now, for the first time, assembling computers and other technological gadgets locally following the establishment of Zimbabwe Technology Company (ZITCO).

ZITCO is a joint venture between TelOne, Chinese company Inspur and a Government-owned entity and is involved in the assembling of computers, laptops, tablets and other technological gadgets.

It is the first company in Zimbabwe to assemble computers locally and has the capacity to produce 150 000 gadgets annually at its plant in Msasa, Harare.

ZITCO products will go a long way in substituting the importation of technological gadgets that are draining the country of foreign currency.

President Mnangagwa toured the company yesterday and hailed the achievement.

He said the Government, under the Second Republic, will do everything possible to support the growth in technology to ensure Zimbabwe caught up with the rest of the world in terms of development.

Technology, the President said, was the way to go and Zimbabwe was partnering friendly countries to advance its technological capabilities.

“This has been an eye-opening event for me,” he said.

“I am on leave, but this man, Dr (Misheck) Sibanda (Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet), persuaded me to come, then I agreed to come.

“ICT is the way to go. We need to modernise our economy, we need to catch up with the rest of the world, the developing world, as well as the developed world.

“To do so, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel anymore. We need to access technology from those countries that are willing to engage and cooperate with us and China is one of such country. Fortunately, the Minister of

Finance (and Economic Development) Professor Mthuli Ncube is here. ‘Prof this is where you should put your money to preserve it’.”

President Mnangagwa said ZITCO required Government support to grow and supply both the domestic and international market.

“As this entity grows, it will deal with the domestic market and I see that in future it can also go in the external market, but for them to do so, they need to be supported by us.

“We have young people doing latest technology here. We always see those things in developed economies, now that is here in Msasa, Harare. Fantastic. This is what we want and let me assure you that as the Second Republic, we will support you and the ball is now in your court now that I know what is happening.

“The Chief Secretary has briefed me about this, but I never paid more attention to it until recently when he came back from leave. He went on leave, when he came back when I was on leave he phoned me and said Cde President, you need to see this establishment because they need to be supported and I am happy.

“I also informed the Vice President, Acting President now (General Constantino Chiwenga) last night that I wish you should come and I don’t think he is regretting that he has come because as we were walking around, he said this is what we should have done many years back, but as it is, once we have begun, we should do everything that we can to ensure that your vision is realised and it becomes our vision.”

Briefing journalists, TelOne projects executive Engineer Jeremia Munembe said: “We are in a partnership with various other stakeholders into this ICT assembly plant and we got this plant through the Office of the President and Cabinet.

“We are looking at assembling desktops, laptops, tablets and other ICT devices in this factory and the benefits of that are import-substitution and we will spend less and we will also be able to empower and create employment not only in this plant, but also to downstream industries.

“We are also looking at opportunities where we will work with other small to medium enterprises and innovation companies in terms of software components. We are looking at a number of products that feed into laptops, desktops and ICT devices.”

State Media|Harare City Council senior managers reportedly secretly quadrupled their salaries, instead of a proposed 50 percent increment, angering councillors who have called for the immediate reversal of this followed by negotiations for a uniform pay rise for all staff.

The least-paid municipal worker will be getting $1 100 a month, while the top bosses will be pocketing between $22 000 and $33 000 a month.

Following the new salary changes, Town Clerk Engineer Hosiah Chisango will be pocketing $33 000 a month, directors $28 000 and other managers $22 000.

According to a leaked document, Eng Chisango’s salary was increased to $32 912, including a stationery and education allowance of $2 904, while directors were in the range of $25 000 to $28 000.

Human resources and general purposes committee chairperson Councillor Jacob Mafume yesterday said councillors were taken aback to learn about the 300 percent salary hike that quadrupled the top brass’ pay.

“We have not been able to increase any salary,” he said. “There is a proposal from management which is nowhere near such a figure of 300 percent. The basic salary was to be increased by 50 percent.

“We can only adjust the salaries by providing cushioning for all council employees which we have been doing as per need. We will look at the proposals and see whether they make sense in the current environment.

“And like we have been doing with all employees where the lowest is now earning $1 100, we hope revenues are increasing so we can offer a living wage.”

Harare’s acting corporate communications manager Mr Innocent Ruwende refused to be drawn into the matter, instead referring all questions to Clr Mafume.

Association president Mr McSteven Nyabvure raised a red flag over senior managers’ decision to secretly increase their salaries without council approval.

“The managers should instead prioritise offering quality services, rather than salary hikes,” he said. “We understand things are hard, but the salary increases should be done across the board, not for selected individuals.”

Sources within council said the managers and councillors were now at loggerheads, with some councillors calling for Eng Chisango’s sacking.

“Some councillors want Eng Chisango fired as they allege that he is incompetent and undermining their authority,” said a source.

During the last full council meeting, councillors took a swipe at management for failing to improve service delivery.

They said management was toothless after failing to remove illegal pirate taxis that were operating in Town House’s backyard.

Meanwhile, the 15 refuse trucks bought by Harare City Council in South Africa are still stuck there almost three years on, as the council cannot raise over US$2 million required for their delivery.

But there are conflicting figures on the amount required for delivery of the trucks, with council claiming that US$3,3 million was needed, while the supplier says US$2,4 million is all that is required.

The 15 trucks holed up across the Limpopo River are part of the 30 compactors bought by the local authority from automotive manufacturer, FAW Group Corporation.

Harare’s indifferent approach in taking delivery of the trucks when it was facing a shortage has raised suspicions among some that there could be a deliberate ploy by some council officials to continue delaying the process so that companies they contracted to collect refuse in some areas continue to benefit.

Others question why council was not using the money it was collecting for refuse to source the foreign currency required to import the trucks.

The acquisition of the refuse trucks has been mired in controversy after revelations that council may have already been prejudiced of about US$228 000 after it took delivery of 10 single-skip trucks instead of double-skip trucks it had ordered from FAW Zimbabwe.

A standard single-skip truck in South Africa, where the trucks were sourced, costs about R400 000 (US$28 700), while a double-skip truck costs R800 000 (US$57 500).

Mr Ruwende yesterday said money billed for refuse collection was not meant for capital projects.

“The trucks are 15 and they are with the suppliers, not at the border,” he said. “In terms of capital projects, they are not funded by rates as there are huge figures involved.”

Mr Ruwende said council had enough Zimbabwean dollars to buy the required US dollars for delivery of the trucks which they paid to FAW Zimbabwe, but foreign currency challenges remained an issue.

“Government has been assisting us with various projects and we have been engaging it over the matter,” he said.

Asked if council was pinning their hopes on a customs rebate, Mr Ruwende said: “We will only get a rebate when the trucks are at the border.”

FAW Zimbabwe operations director Mr Patrick Masocha confirmed council’s position.

“The arrangement was that RBZ would avail forex, but so far we have only received $900 000, which was paid for the 20 trucks that were delivered,” he said. “The other 15 trucks are at our plant and we took council officials there to see them.”

Mr Masocha said there was no bad blood between them and Harare City Council due to the delays in the delivery of the trucks, as the situation was beyond both parties.