Eleven Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officers were injured last night when the driver of the bus they were travelling in lost control as it descended a slope near Kuwadzana 6 and veered off the road before landing on its side.
Speaking to The Herald from the scene of the accident last night, deputy director military police Lieutenant Colonel Velancio Gotami said the bus which was on its way from Inkomo Barracks, via town to Norton, had around 30 passengers on board.
No fatalities were reported as of last night.
Lt Col Gotami said five of the injured were critical.
He said the injured were taken to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and others to Josiah Magama Tongogara Barracks (formerly KG VI).
“We were fortunate that most passengers had dropped in town and others along the way before the accident occurred. By the time the bus got here, it had about 30 passengers on board,” said Lt Col Gotami.
By A Correspondent- A Nkomo family in Bulawayo is seeking help after its house was burnt recently leaving them with nothing.
Tragedy struck the Nkomo family recently when their house at no. 99 Cardwell Rd, Next to Southern Comfort Lodge, Matshamhlope was gutted by fire.
“Zesa and Byo Fire brigade attended to the scene. Unfortunately the fire brigade could not save the situation because water pressure in the nearest hydrant was very low,” said a source.
“The fire burnt the house, furniture, clothing, food and other household goods to ashes. The family is in a desperate situation.”
Donations in any form will go a long way to help the family.
Any assistance can be sent directly to the head of the family Mrs Thandiwe Nkomo and she can be reached on her mobile number +263 775364226.
As armed detachments of the Police Support Unit are flung into the battle to crush machete gangs, Parliament has launched an investigation to unearth the origins of the gangs, how they operate, their impact and how they can be tamed by police action and legal changes.
Machete gangs’ have wreaked havoc at gold mining sites across the country, causing deaths and injuries and threatening the entire gold mining industry, and have been moving into other violent crime in towns, cities and rural business centres.
While police deploy the muscle to crush the gangs, rounding up one major gang in Mazowe yesterday, legislators want longer-term solutions including the formalisation of the small-scale gold sectors and legal changes to bring in tougher penalties for those who operate outside the law.
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development held an emergency meeting yesterday and decided on the probe with the preliminary list of those to be summoned to give evidence and advice including the Ministers of Mines and Mining Development (Winston Chitando), Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage (Kazembe Kazembe), Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs (Ziyambi Ziyambi), Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga and Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi.
Others expected to appear before the same committee include media executives and editors, traditional chiefs, civil society organisations, the Zimbabwe Miners Federation and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission.
Yesterday, enhanced police operations scored a major success when the gang that has been occupying Jumbo Mine in Mazowe was rounded up with its explosives and equipment and the police promised more of these well-manned raids on gangs with armed detachments of the Police Support Unit deployed across Zimbabwe to back operations at provincial and district level against machete gangs.
In yesterday’s joint operation, 14 illegal miners were arrested at Jumbo Mine, with 11 machetes seized along with 423 sticks of explosives, four rows of copper wire and nine hammer mills.
The gang is believed to be one of those involved in the spate of increasingly violent criminal activities which rocked Mashonaland Central Province recently.
By A Correspondent- Lady Storm says she almost met her Maker on New Year’s Day after she suffered a severe alcohol-induced stomach bug.
The 26-year-old, who was struggling to walk in pain, was treated at a local clinic where she appeared to have lost some kilos.
Speaking to the state media, the mother of one who made a name for herself in one of Jah Prayzah’s videos as Eriza, blamed it on excess alcohol intake during the festive season.
“I almost died on New Year’s Day after bingeing with my husband and relatives during the festive season.
“I was so excited after meeting my relatives that we partied excessively and it did not end well for me,” she said.
The Swagga Band leader, who was spotted in a wheel-chair on the day she was admitted, said she was now fit.
“The situation was bad when I was admitted, ndaichaya zvisingaite nekuti nyonó yacho yanga yandibata rough.
“When I used the wheel-chair, I wanted to jump the queue contrary to claims that I could hardly walk.
“As I said earlier on, I had a running stomach and I didn’t want to soil myself by walking since the condition was bad.
“I’m glad that I have recovered and I don’t think I will taste alcohol again.
“For the greater part of the festive season, we hopped from pub to pub and ended up at Mashwede on New Year’s Eve where I downed whisky tots and ciders along with my husband Mukanya and other relatives,” she said.
Asked what was on her mind when she was admitted, Lady Storm said:
“Obviously I was thinking of my only daughter Chloe.
“I was just praying that the Maker gives more time to live and raise my child.
“I couldn’t imagine myself leaving my daughter to be raised by other people; it was just a harrowing experience to say the least.”
When further quizzed why she was bingeing irresponsibly, Lady Storm continued:
“Festive season is just time to merry-make and for ladies like us who work hard but end up being fleeced, we needed to refresh.
“I was just partying like anyone else but from today onwards, I don’t want to see booze; I don’t know when I will take alcohol again because I have learnt a lesson.”
By A Correspondent- A daring group of fifty machete-wielding gold panners (MaShurugwi) on Tuesday stormed a Gokwe North police base intending to free their arrested colleagues.
Police responded by firing live ammunition towards the group and managed to subdue and arrest the assailants after some of them were injured.
The attempted invasion of the police station came after police had arrested nine illegal gold panners on charges of robbing 80kg of gold ore from a local miner the previous day.
The 50-man gang had hired two kombis in Kadoma to take them to Zenda, almost 300km away, where their colleagues had been detained.
The attack happened before police could transfer the nine to Gokwe North’s Nembudziya Police Station.
After the gang had been subdued, the injured were ferried to Nembudziya and Gweru General hospitals where they are admitted under police guard, while their hired kombis were impounded together with a Toyota Wish used by their colleagues.
Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga has come under fire from his subordinates after he allegedly ordered the closure of a Zimbabwe Republic Police-run college on January 2 this year without prior notice, leaving about 140 pupils stranded.
Matanga is alleged to have initially recommended regularisation of Support Unit Independent College at Chikurubi, Harare, before he ordered its closure last week without giving prior notice to both the pupils and their parents.
The parents have since roped in Alex F and Associates Attorneys to challenge the decision in court.
The institution, which was registered with the Primary and Secondary Education ministry, but was yet to be formally regularised since its launch over a decade ago, mainly served children of junior police officers.
“The central planning committee recommended and the commissioner-general approved that the proposal for regularisation of the Support Unit Independent College be held in abeyance for want of skilled and adequate teaching staff, sufficient ablution facilities and a qualified principal,” a circular by one Assistant Commissioner RM Basera (acting director for legal services to the Commissioner-General), read.
“The Support Unit Independent College is to cease operations at the end of this current term to enable parents to find other alternatives for children enrolled thereat.”
The circular added: “Teaching and non-teaching staff members at the Support Unit Independent College to be re-deployed.”
Through their lawyers, the parents claim they were only told of the decision on January 2 when they were called for a meeting.
“The decision to close the said college was made without any consultations with the parents or advising the pupils,” part of the letter dated January 3 read.
“Practically, no notice was given to enable pupils or parents to find alternative schools, thus making the directive spurious, arbitrary, unlawful and in violation of our clients’ constitutional rights.”
The lawyers added: “For a greater reason, the decision to shut down the school was effectively made without affording them an opportunity to make any representations. This is despite the fact that, the closure of the college brings unbearable consequences to the future educational development of the children enrolled at the school, and borders on violating their constitutional right to education in that some may not even afford to change schools on such a sketchy notice.”
The lawyers said the decision to close the college was reached on December 30, 2019 and “our clients were only informed on January 2, 2020. By that time it was not possible for parents to reasonably find alternative places for their children in terms of time and financial resources”.
The college was opened more than a decade ago as an initiative of Kuyedza Club, targeting wives of police officers.
By A Correspondent- The initiative by the government to clear the passport backlog and revert to the Passport offices normal operations which seeks to have all citizens getting the document within stipulated times has created major corruption loopholes within the system.
A day in the life of a passport seeker at Harare’s Central Registry revealed to this reporter that getting the precious document has become even more difficult and pricey.
Many citizens have been stuck for months without accessing the document while many others in the diaspora have been left stranded after the expiration of their passports, hence, the passport office in Harare is always packed with desperate citizens.
Since government authorised the Civil Registry Department to charge US$318 for passport applicants in the Diaspora while local charges remained unchanged, it has opened blind spots in the system as most people are willing to get the important document at any cost.
Addressing members of the media in December last year, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe said:
“Citizens in the Diaspora need to have valid passports to regularise their stay in the host countries. As a way of assisting the department to attend to requirements for passports by citizens in the Diaspora, Government has therefore authorised the Civil Registry Department to charge US$318 for passports, in respect of those in the Diaspora. The applications will be prioritised on an urgent basis.” The passport is in turn issued after 24 hours.
Following this move by the government to address the passport challenge, social media has been employed as a tool of advertising quick access methods to getting passports to Zimbabweans with no papers to support their stay in foreign countries while exploiting the system put in place by the government.
WhatsApp groups have been created and contact details of individuals who have ‘links’ and ‘connections’ to fast-track the process of getting passports have been shared and the services are rendered while the price is tagged in US Dollars ranging from US$100 to as much as US$600 plus the US$318 which is paid to the Civil Registry Department.
One lady, Nyasha (not real) was one of the beneficiaries of the ongoing scam currently taking place at the passport offices.
Nyasha (24) has no passport and no workers permit to ‘justify’ her need for her passport urgently as required as she had jumped one of the country’s borders illegally to a neighbouring country together with her husband who unlike her, has a passport. She gave birth to her son while in the foreign country and could not get him a birth certificate as she is living there illegally and she had to cross the border illegally again to return home and try to fix the situation and this time, she is accompanied by her three-year-old son whom she fears may not get identification papers as well.
She is desperate and ‘has no option.’
While she queued to get her passport after a long struggle, an elderly man probably in his sixties who later identified himself as Mazviita Chivero approached her on the bench where she was waiting to get in the cashiers’ office to pay the US$318.
Nyasha who had inked the name Mugwambi (an employee at the passport office) on her right hand received a folded small paper and verbal instructions from Chivero to the effect that she should say Taffie had referred her. Like the many other anxious applicants who had been waiting for their turn to be served since morning, we shared a packet of Maputi and began our small talk. It was at this point that Nyasha opened up that she had got assistance from the elderly guy who had said he had an inside person, in this case, a lady identified as Linda Mugwambi.
Mugwambi works from office 100 at the premises, one of the offices where applicants go through to have their papers signed to finalise the passport process.
Having had empathy for the reporter’s predicament after a sob story had been shared, Nyasha who later approached Chivero who was sitting with her husband and child, promised to arrange for a meeting but warned that US$150 was required for the deal to be processed. She approached Chivero who is generally over-cautious and was told off with instructions that the person who did the transactions was not around.
After the reporter approached the white-headed Chivero who has long since retired on grounds of old age, he denied any allegations of having assisted and or linked Nyasha to get a passport even without having a work permit to prove that she was indeed living abroad.
It became apparent that Chivero engages his clients and gets as much information about them so he can claim to be related to them when push comes to shove, in this instance, he alleged to be their uncle but the couple refuted this saying they had got his contact details from a friend on WhatsApp. Chivero also claimed to be related to Mugwambi who he said was married to his relative before he fled from the scene.
When Mugwambi was approached for a comment, she dismissed the allegations as she went on to indicate that allegations were being raised of corruption and that she had nothing to do with it.
“You know what, today Mr Nyamande (one of her co-workers) was called to the accounts department by the transport officer from the accounts department saying twenty people had demanded their passports alleging that one Mr Makiwa was getting money for them and Makiwa had no knowledge of this. I do not know anyone named Taffie or Chivero,” she said.
“I am the one doing the emergency, super express passports together with another lady who is not in at the moment, I authorise and she records. The system is not strict as to the owner of the passport, people just come with receipts (for processing) and whatever happens outside, one would not know. I collect receipts in the morning and if there are any persons receiving money (outside of those formerly charged) I have no idea.”
Cases of many other individuals either from the passport office or elsewhere with links inside the offices demanding foreign currency for passports are rampant and have become the normal thing.
This, however, is not the only scam happening at the passport offices as, the queues drag on for days at times and many faces have become quite common and this as we discovered, is because the cashiers have to note down the serial numbers of all the money they process manually which becomes a taxing and long process.
The cashiers also come in their offices with monies which they cash in at the expense of everyone waiting in line to be served and no one seems to know who they are paying for and how much it costs to get that premium package which exonerates some citizens to the scorching heat at Makombe and the not so friendly customer service rendered.
Cashiers also do not have US$2 change and they serve those with monies that do not require changing and often than not, the desperate seekers leave behind the US$2 out of frustration and no one seems to have an idea where this money goes.
All external applicants who had already paid the initial ZWL$53 for their applications before the government announced that they can now pay US$318 are also not getting a refund for the money they had paid, and it is not deducted from the US$318 which also raises eyebrow
ZACC has arrested ZDF director of procurement, Peter Muchakadzi, and two other officers on fraud allegations. Do you think justice will prevail or this is another catch and release gimmick?
By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Anti-corruption Commission (ZACC) has confirmed the arrest of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces director of procurement, Peter Muchakadzi, and two other officers on fraud allegations.
Muchakadzi was arrested following repeated calls for the arrest of military barons alleged to have looted foodstuffs, fuel and accessories at military barracks. ZACC spokesperson John Makamure said:
I can confirm that Zacc has arrested the ZDF director of procurement and two of his officers.
NewsDay reports that Muchakadzi was last night being held at Mabelreign Police Station and is expected to appear in court this Thursday, where the full charges will be presented.
The arrests come as reports are claiming that 30 tonnes of beef meant for Mbalabala Recruitment and Training Depot had gone missing, while a Brigadier General is alleged to have stolen a newly-acquired army bus.
By A Correspondent- Passport prices have shot up with immediate effect, it has emerged.
In an unconfirmed audio that is circulating on the social media, an official from the Registrar General’s office tells passport seekers gathered at the RG’s office that passports prices have shot up.
Citizens queuing for the passports however protest the announcement.
The development comes barely a month after the RG’s office revealed that the department was engaging government over the possibility of increasing passport fees.
Speaking during a tour of the Central Registry by Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe recently, Registrar-General Clemence Masango said his department was talking to government to increase fees for ordinary passports to the equivalent of US$53 on the interbank rate, which could see application fees for an ordinary passport costing $901.
“US$53 is what was approved and that is what can easily enable us to provide a service, bearing in mind that not every applicant paid US$53. We have seen people who require their passport in three days and they paid US$253 at that time; and those who want it within 24 hours US$318.
So these two will help meet us halfway and achieve a win-win with those paying US$53. So if we are to get a review, we must get a review of not less than US$53 equivalent at the prevailing bank rate,” he said.
At the prevailing bank rate of around US$1 to $17, an ordinary passport will cost $901, while a three-day passport will cost $4 301 and an emergency 24-hour passport will ask for $5 406.
According to Masango, even these fees will not allow government to recover all costs related to production of passports.
This is a developing story. More details to follow
ZANU PF leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa has not left Zimbabwe for over 6 weeks since the day his deputy Constantino Chiwenga secretly flew into Zimbabwe and was welcomed by the Chinese embassy at RGM airport.
Is Charamba telling truth when he says ED isn't trapped?
He has rushed to strip his deputy Constantino Chiwenga of powers of usurpation.
He has rushed to dilute the Human Rights Commission.
He feels unsettled by the opposition, MDC, the only party trusted and recognised by the economy as the legitimate winners of the 2018 polls. He fears opposition could use simple legal means, aided by the will of the masses buttressed by the will of desperate abused institutions, ligaments of government, to win a clean revolution.
His panicking is boldly reflected through his threats to repeat a military crackdown similar to the January 2019 one.
He has not left Zimbabwe for over 6 weeks ever since the day Chiwenga secretly flew into Zimbabwe and was welcomed by the Chinese embassy at RGM airport on the 23rd November.
Farai Dziva| ZANU PF leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesman George Charamba has said there is nothing unusual, as his boss went on annual leave in the country amid speculation there is rising tension between Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.
“Where should he be for his holidays?? And how does remaining in the country – his country – amount to entrapment?,” said Charamba.
He continued by asking, “anyway, which vacation has he ever spent outside the country since?”
According to Acting Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba, Mnangagwa has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end January.
“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to advise that His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of the month.
During this period, Honourable Vice Presidents General (Rid) Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga and Colonel (Rid) Cde K.C.D. Mohadi, will take turns to act in his place, starting with Honourable Vice President Chiwenga.
The President will spend his vacation in the country,” said Charamba.
This follows a long period stretching more than a month the Zanu PF leader, has been caught on camera on several occasions, making loud visual-noises while holding his waist tight. The first time was on the day when his deputy general Constantino Chiwenga secretly flew into Zimbabwe. This was on the anniversary of his (Mnangagwa’s) coup presidency, the 23rd November after a mystery ridden 4 month medical sabbatical in China.
Mnangagwa has remained ‘trapped’ in the country. What is going on and what is he planning? This short documentary details the man’s survival plans between 2019 and 2020.
The following were some factual findings so far.
The government spokesman Nick Mangwana last month told ZimEye: “When HE leaves the country, you complain that he travels too much, he doesn’t stay at home. He stays at home you complain that he is not leaving the country. He is damned when he does and damned when he doesn’t. But being President, he always exercises his executive judgement.”
When is ED going for his annual leave, and why has he remained 'trapped' in Zimbabwe, spending his longest ever home stay period (since Nov coup) here since VP Chiwenga returned on 23rd Nov @Jamwanda2@nickmangwana ? When is he leaving the country in the hands of his deputies? pic.twitter.com/J7vVAR0Hoe
When HE leaves the country, you complain that he travels too much, he doesn't stay at home. He stays at home you complain that he is not leaving the country. He is damned when he does and damned when he doesn't. But being President, he always exercises his executive judgement
ANOTHER ROUND OF LIVE AMMUNITION AGAINST CIVILIANS…
Speaking at his party’s Goromonzi conference mid December, 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 crackdown. Last January when soldiers protested against the fuel price rise, (even criticised by pro ZANU countries such as Russia), his security minister 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 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 is planning a repeat of the same operation this January.
SHUTTING OUT CHIWENGA, MDC FROM ALL OPPORTUNITIES OF TAKING OVER.
Another very clear plot by the zanu-pf leader is that of shutting out his deputy from the coup days, Constantino Chiwenga from ever taking over power. It has already been discussed he has put in place a mechanism to ensure that the opposition MDC party never gets a legal advantange to take over from him, and this by heaping the blame, legal and penal, for the killings on them.
RETWEET! – Mnangagwa in Mwenezi clearly threatened brutality against doctors and lawyers also threatening to shorten the lives of people who make noise. pic.twitter.com/fJx5dOemL5
When Chiwenga returned to Zimbabwe from his sabbatical, Mnangagwa’s spokeman George Charamba did not at all celebrate the miraculous return. Instead he splashed litres of ink attacking China’s deputy ambassador for conducting a welcoming ceremony for the vice president at the RGM International Airport ahead of of senior government officials. Chiwenga had secretly flown into the country, aboard a Chinese jet paid for by the Asian nation’s government. To this Charamba complained against the Chinese envoy saying, itsitsi dzei? – what kind of sympathy is that?
A Mubaiwa (Chiwenga wife) uncle has described Chiwenga’s jetting into the country as treasonous, alluding that he invaded Zim airspace without informing aviation authorities in advance.
STRIPPING CHIWENGA OF POWERS TO REPLACE HIM.
In less than 30 days of Chiwenga’s return, Mnangagwa rushed to accelerate a bill that reduces his deputy to a mere apppointee who will never be able to replace him.
This is detailed in the following legal advisory by the Law Society which has complained that there is now a breakdown of Law and Order, as Mnangagwa gathers to himself more powers than his predecessor Robert Mugabe possessed.
MAKING VP, PROSECUTOR GENERAL, AND JUDGES MNANGAGWA’S OWN APPOINTEES SERVING AT HIS (PERSONAL) PLEASURE.
FULL TEXT- On the 17th of December 2019, Cabinet at its 45th meeting approved several amendments to the Constitution. Some of the notable proposed amendments relate to the appointments of Vice Presidents, the Prosecutor General, Public Protector, promotion of judges and the terms of office of judges. The other notable proposed amendments relate to the composition of the provincial councils and the extension of the provision on the women’s quota which was scheduled to end in 2023.
The Constitution provides for its amendment. Although amendments to the Constitution are allowed these ought to be necessary for the promotion of the rule of law and protection of the principles of democracy. Our Constitution is a democratic document which came out of extensive consultations. It is a national document which should be enduring. Amendments to the Constitution must be necessary for the enhancement of enshrined rights, accountability and good governance. Amendments must not be retrogressive.
In terms of Section 92 of the Constitution a presidential candidate chooses running mates who upon election become the national Vice Presidents. The rationale for these provision was to introduce non-disruptive succession planning whilst ensuring that in the event of a Vice President taking over the office of President he would be having the people’s mandate. The effect of the proposed amendment to Section 94 means that Vice Presidents will no longer be elected but appointed by the President. This removes the transparency and democratic process sought to be achieved by Section 92 in relation to the assumption of these important offices. In addition, the Vice President’s tenure will be at the pleasure of the President. An amendment is expected to cure a problem or mischief. This is not apparent in the present case. The proposed amendments further seek to change the procedures for the appointment of the Prosecutor General. The current procedure for the appointment of the Prosecutor General is similar to that of the judges. This is a transparent way of appointing this important office, which like the judiciary ought to enjoy prosecutorial independence. The proposed amendment whereby the President appoints the Prosecutor General upon consultation with the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) is reverting to the old constitution. The current provisions promote transparency in the appointment process. This will not be achieved under the proposed amendment. It is not clear what mischief the proposed amendment seeks to address. The fact of the matter though is that the amendment is retrogressive. It emasculates a position that is pivotal to our criminal justice. The amendment will remove the Prosecutor General’s independence. The appointment system also does not guarantee meritocracy as the basis for appointment. This cannot be achieved by simply consulting the JSC. In any case in terms of section 339, such consultation may not be binding on the President.
Section 180 sets out the conditions that must be met in relation to the appointment of judges. The proposed amendment seeks to provide for the President to appoint a sitting judge to a higher court upon consultation with JSC. This approach seeks to reverse the elaborate, and transparent system currently in place. It is not clear why we should depart from the current system. The proposed changes will take us back to the pre 2013 era where judicial appointments were shrouded in a veil of secrecy. The proposed extension of the tenure of judges albeit on a contract basis and subject to medical certification on fitness, is not desirable in a country with a vibrant legal profession. There are many legal practitioners who are fit to hold the office of judges. The introduction of the office of the Public Protector should be based on a true desire to achieve administrative justice especially by public offices. The 2013 Constitution deliberately omitted this institution on the basis that the functions could be effectively undertaken by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission. The Ministry of Justice was recently lamenting that this commission is under resourced. Instead of properly funding the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, the Cabinet is creating another institution which will have its own resource chewing bureaucracy. On the other hand, the present Constitution already provides for the establishment of an independent complaints mechanism to deal with misconduct by members of the security sector. This has not been instituted and yet Cabinet finds it necessary to create the public protector’s office. The Executive is failing to diligently and without delay perform all constitutional obligations as provided in Section 324.
The proposal to remove MPs and Senators from provincial councils also appear ill conceived. The presence of these members was supposed to bring the nexus between national and local development. The prosed amendments will perpetuate the disconnect between the national Programmes and the local/Provincial Programmes thus creating development inertia.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe reiterates that the provisions to the Constitution ought to be guarded jealously. Any proposed amendments to the Constitution should be for the people and by the people.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe further reiterates its position that the Constitution of Zimbabwe should be jealously guarded and protected in pursuance of the supremacy of the rule of law. The proposed amendments to the Constitution in the most, are unnecessary, retrogressive and are not in the interest of transparency, good governance and respect for the rule of law. Accordingly, the LSZ categorically denounces them.
Law Society of Zimbabwe “Committed to Justice and the Rule of Law.”
Correspondent|A daring group of fifty machete-wielding gold panners (MaShurugwi) on Tuesday stormed a Gokwe North police base intending to free their arrested colleagues.
Police responded by firing live ammunition towards the group and managed to subdue and arrest the assailants after some of them were injured.
The attempted invasion of the police station came after police had arrested nine illegal gold panners on charges of robbing 80kg of gold ore from a local miner the previous day.
The 50-man gang had hired two kombis in Kadoma to take them to Zenda, almost 300km away, where their colleagues had been detained.
The attack happened before police could transfer the nine to Gokwe North’s Nembudziya Police Station.
After the gang had been subdued, the injured were ferried to Nembudziya and Gweru General hospitals where they are admitted under police guard, while their hired kombis were impounded together with a Toyota Wish used by their colleagues.
Chippa United scored a last-minute winner against Black Leopards to return to winning ways on Wednesday.
The Norman Mapeza-coached side took the lead through Thabo Rakhale in the first minute before the host equalised in the 55th minute courtesy of Lesedi Kapinga’s effort.
However, Mapeza’s side were not to be denied maximum points with Silas Maziya grabbing the winner in the final kick of the game.
The result sees Chippa United on 10th with 20 points.
Here is how Norman Mapeza reacted to the winning goal.
Former Zanu PF MP for Muzarabani South, Edward Raradza and his son, Matthew, will face trial on February 18 on charges of defrauding the Zimbabwe Farmers’ Development Company (ZFDC) of US$494 423 meant for farming implements. Raradza is the former chairperson of the company.
Former Zanu PF MP for Muzarabani South, Edward Raradza and his son, Matthew, will face trial on February 18 on charges of defrauding the Zimbabwe Farmers’ Development Company (ZFDC) of US$494 423 meant for farming implements. Raradza is the former chairperson of the company.
The trial was supposed to open yesterday, but the State, led by Mr Clemence Chimbare, applied for the matter to be deferred to February 18 after it failed to furnish the two with some documents they had requested.
Harare magistrate Hosea Mujaya then set the new date.
Allegations are that on July 9, 2009, Finwood Investments received farming implements worth US$497 649 through a credit facility from ZFDC.
On June 11, 2012, Raradza and Matthew allegedly acting in common purpose and without the company’s resolution, reduced Finwood Investment debt to US$500 000 after it had ballooned to US$597 844 due to interest and penalties.
On June 16 of the same year, Raradza allegedly deposited the US$500 000 into ZFDC’s BancABC account.
Further allegations are that on the same day, the two allegedly took US$494 423 and transferred it into Coachcard Investments’ account to clear their private company’s debt with BancABC.
Coachcard Investments is said to be owned by Raradza and his wife Julie.
The offence came to light in March 2014 after the Auditor- General’s report. Investigations led to Raradza and Mathew’s arrest.
In a related matter, the two appeared in court after they allegedly defrauded ZFDC of $10 million which was meant for farming implements from China for the company’s members.
It is alleged that sometime in 2005, ZFDC was tasked to source agricultural equipment from China on behalf of eligible farmers through a credit facility.
Each farmer was supposed to pay 10 percent deposit to the company.
Between 2005 and 2010, ZFDC received farming equipment on credit through China Export and Import Bank valued at $60 million.
Allegations against the pair were that after receiving the equipment, which was guaranteed by Government, they stole it from ZFDC.
Among the equipment stolen were tractors valued at $9,74 million.
A WOMAN from Famona, Bulawayo has appeared in court for allegedly teaching her employer’s son (4) to caress buttocks, breasts and private parts.
Princess Mpofu (21) was not asked to plead to a charge of performing indecent acts with a young person when she appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Mr Lizwe Jamela.
She was remanded to January 21 on $100 bail.
Prosecuting, Mr Denmark Chihombe said sometime in October last year the minor caressed his grandmother’s friend and went on to touch her privates.
“When the complainant was scolded for his behaviour, he said the accused person had taught him to act in such a manner,” he said.
“Sometime in November in the same year, the boy’s mother was lying on the floor facing upwards when the complainant got on top of her and started performing sexual moves. When the complainant was asked what he was doing he said the accused person had taught him.”
The boy allegedly left his mother and went to the kitchen where he found the accused person and he started touching her buttocks but she made no effort to reprimand him.
Mr Chihombe said the boy allegedly also tried to touch the private parts of another woman (name withheld) by inserting his hands into her skirt.
The woman asked the boy what he was doing, he told her that the accused person had taught him to touch her buttocks, breasts and kiss private parts.
The matter was reported to the police leading to the arrest of the accused person.
He has rushed to strip his deputy Constantino Chiwenga of powers of usurpation.
He has rushed to dilute the Human Rights Commission.
He feels unsettled by the opposition, MDC, the only party trusted and recognised by the economy as the legitimate winners of the 2018 polls. He fears opposition could use simple legal means, aided by the will of the masses buttressed by the will of desperate abused institutions, ligaments of government, to win a clean revolution.
His panicking is boldly reflected through his threats to repeat a military crackdown similar to the January 2019 one.
He has not left Zimbabwe for over 6 weeks ever since Chiwenga secretly flew into Zimbabwe and was welcomed by the Chinese embassy at RGM airport on 23rd November.
Farai Dziva| Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesman George Charamba has said there is nothing unusual, as his boss went on annual leave in the country amid speculation there is rising tension between Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.
“Where should he be for his holidays?? And how does remaining in the country – his country – amount to entrapment?,” said Charamba.
He continued by asking, “anyway, which vacation has he ever spent outside the country since?”
According to Acting Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba, Mnangagwa has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end January.
“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to advise that His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of the month.
During this period, Honourable Vice Presidents General (Rid) Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga and Colonel (Rid) Cde K.C.D. Mohadi, will take turns to act in his place, starting with Honourable Vice President Chiwenga.
The President will spend his vacation in the country,” said Charamba.
This follows a long period stretching more than a month the Zanu PF leader, has been caught on camera on several occasions, making loud visual-noises while holding his waist tight. The first time was on the day when his deputy general Constantino Chiwenga secretly flew into Zimbabwe. This was on the anniversary of his (Mnangagwa’s) coup presidency, the 23rd November after a mystery ridden 4 month medical sabbatical in China.
Mnangagwa has remained ‘trapped’ in the country. What is going on and what is he planning? This short documentary details the man’s survival plans between 2019 and 2020.
The following were some factual findings so far.
The government spokesman Nick Mangwana last month told ZimEye: “When HE leaves the country, you complain that he travels too much, he doesn’t stay at home. He stays at home you complain that he is not leaving the country. He is damned when he does and damned when he doesn’t. But being President, he always exercises his executive judgement.”
When is ED going for his annual leave, and why has he remained 'trapped' in Zimbabwe, spending his longest ever home stay period (since Nov coup) here since VP Chiwenga returned on 23rd Nov @Jamwanda2@nickmangwana ? When is he leaving the country in the hands of his deputies? pic.twitter.com/J7vVAR0Hoe
When HE leaves the country, you complain that he travels too much, he doesn't stay at home. He stays at home you complain that he is not leaving the country. He is damned when he does and damned when he doesn't. But being President, he always exercises his executive judgement
ANOTHER ROUND OF LIVE AMMUNITION AGAINST CIVILIANS…
Speaking at his party’s Goromonzi conference mid December, 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 crackdown. Last January when soldiers protested against the fuel price rise, (even criticised by pro ZANU countries such as Russia), his security minister 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 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 is planning a repeat of the same operation this January.
SHUTTING OUT CHIWENGA, MDC FROM ALL OPPORTUNITIES OF TAKING OVER.
Another very clear plot by the zanu-pf leader is that of shutting out his deputy from the coup days, Constantino Chiwenga from ever taking over power. It has already been discussed he has put in place a mechanism to ensure that the opposition MDC party never gets a legal advantange to take over from him, and this by heaping the blame, legal and penal, for the killings on them.
RETWEET! – Mnangagwa in Mwenezi clearly threatened brutality against doctors and lawyers also threatening to shorten the lives of people who make noise. pic.twitter.com/fJx5dOemL5
When Chiwenga returned to Zimbabwe from his sabbatical, Mnangagwa’s spokeman George Charamba did not at all celebrate the miraculous return. Instead he splashed litres of ink attacking China’s deputy ambassador for conducting a welcoming ceremony for the vice president at the RGM International Airport ahead of of senior government officials. Chiwenga had secretly flown into the country, aboard a Chinese jet paid for by the Asian nation’s government. To this Charamba complained against the Chinese envoy saying, itsitsi dzei? – what kind of sympathy is that?
A Mubaiwa (Chiwenga wife) uncle has described Chiwenga’s jetting into the country as treasonous, alluding that he invaded Zim airspace without informing aviation authorities in advance.
STRIPPING CHIWENGA OF POWERS TO REPLACE HIM.
In less than 30 days of Chiwenga’s return, Mnangagwa rushed to accelerate a bill that reduces his deputy to a mere apppointee who will never be able to replace him.
This is detailed in the following legal advisory by the Law Society which has complained that there is now a breakdown of Law and Order, as Mnangagwa gathers to himself more powers than his predecessor Robert Mugabe possessed.
MAKING VP, PROSECUTOR GENERAL, AND JUDGES MNANGAGWA’S OWN APPOINTEES SERVING AT HIS (PERSONAL) PLEASURE.
FULL TEXT- On the 17th of December 2019, Cabinet at its 45th meeting approved several amendments to the Constitution. Some of the notable proposed amendments relate to the appointments of Vice Presidents, the Prosecutor General, Public Protector, promotion of judges and the terms of office of judges. The other notable proposed amendments relate to the composition of the provincial councils and the extension of the provision on the women’s quota which was scheduled to end in 2023.
The Constitution provides for its amendment. Although amendments to the Constitution are allowed these ought to be necessary for the promotion of the rule of law and protection of the principles of democracy. Our Constitution is a democratic document which came out of extensive consultations. It is a national document which should be enduring. Amendments to the Constitution must be necessary for the enhancement of enshrined rights, accountability and good governance. Amendments must not be retrogressive.
In terms of Section 92 of the Constitution a presidential candidate chooses running mates who upon election become the national Vice Presidents. The rationale for these provision was to introduce non-disruptive succession planning whilst ensuring that in the event of a Vice President taking over the office of President he would be having the people’s mandate. The effect of the proposed amendment to Section 94 means that Vice Presidents will no longer be elected but appointed by the President. This removes the transparency and democratic process sought to be achieved by Section 92 in relation to the assumption of these important offices. In addition, the Vice President’s tenure will be at the pleasure of the President. An amendment is expected to cure a problem or mischief. This is not apparent in the present case. The proposed amendments further seek to change the procedures for the appointment of the Prosecutor General. The current procedure for the appointment of the Prosecutor General is similar to that of the judges. This is a transparent way of appointing this important office, which like the judiciary ought to enjoy prosecutorial independence. The proposed amendment whereby the President appoints the Prosecutor General upon consultation with the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) is reverting to the old constitution. The current provisions promote transparency in the appointment process. This will not be achieved under the proposed amendment. It is not clear what mischief the proposed amendment seeks to address. The fact of the matter though is that the amendment is retrogressive. It emasculates a position that is pivotal to our criminal justice. The amendment will remove the Prosecutor General’s independence. The appointment system also does not guarantee meritocracy as the basis for appointment. This cannot be achieved by simply consulting the JSC. In any case in terms of section 339, such consultation may not be binding on the President.
Section 180 sets out the conditions that must be met in relation to the appointment of judges. The proposed amendment seeks to provide for the President to appoint a sitting judge to a higher court upon consultation with JSC. This approach seeks to reverse the elaborate, and transparent system currently in place. It is not clear why we should depart from the current system. The proposed changes will take us back to the pre 2013 era where judicial appointments were shrouded in a veil of secrecy. The proposed extension of the tenure of judges albeit on a contract basis and subject to medical certification on fitness, is not desirable in a country with a vibrant legal profession. There are many legal practitioners who are fit to hold the office of judges. The introduction of the office of the Public Protector should be based on a true desire to achieve administrative justice especially by public offices. The 2013 Constitution deliberately omitted this institution on the basis that the functions could be effectively undertaken by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission. The Ministry of Justice was recently lamenting that this commission is under resourced. Instead of properly funding the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, the Cabinet is creating another institution which will have its own resource chewing bureaucracy. On the other hand, the present Constitution already provides for the establishment of an independent complaints mechanism to deal with misconduct by members of the security sector. This has not been instituted and yet Cabinet finds it necessary to create the public protector’s office. The Executive is failing to diligently and without delay perform all constitutional obligations as provided in Section 324.
The proposal to remove MPs and Senators from provincial councils also appear ill conceived. The presence of these members was supposed to bring the nexus between national and local development. The prosed amendments will perpetuate the disconnect between the national Programmes and the local/Provincial Programmes thus creating development inertia.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe reiterates that the provisions to the Constitution ought to be guarded jealously. Any proposed amendments to the Constitution should be for the people and by the people.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe further reiterates its position that the Constitution of Zimbabwe should be jealously guarded and protected in pursuance of the supremacy of the rule of law. The proposed amendments to the Constitution in the most, are unnecessary, retrogressive and are not in the interest of transparency, good governance and respect for the rule of law. Accordingly, the LSZ categorically denounces them.
Law Society of Zimbabwe “Committed to Justice and the Rule of Law.”
State Media|GOVERNMENT has directed the National Railways of Zimbabwe to expeditiously flight adverts for fresh tenders for its recapitalisation project.
The directive follows the recent decision by Cabinet to revoke the US$400 million NRZ/ Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG)-Transnet Consortium recapitalisation deal.
Speaking during the parastatal’s strategic workshop in Matopos this week, Transport and Infrastructural Development Permanent Secretary Engineer Amos Marawa said it was sad to note the lack of progress on the NRZ recapitalisation project.
“I urge you to urgently finalise the matter and proceed as directed by Cabinet. As I indicated earlier, our guiding blueprint for this period is the Transitional Stabilisation Programme. It is thus critical to point out Government’s view and the need to continue addressing the challenges at NRZ,” he said.
The DIDG/Transnet Consortium was awarded the tender by the then State Procurement Board in August 2017 for the revival of NRZ’s operations.
Eng Marawa said the development of the rail sector was critical to Zimbabwe as it provided cheap transport for industry and commerce.
He said with an improved rail sector, industry and commerce are guaranteed cheap and efficient transport for goods and services.
“Recognising the interest in the sector, it is important that we consider the key policy interventions as defined in the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (October 2019 to December 2020) and the succeeding National Development Plan for the period 2021-2025,” he said.
Eng Marawa said it was Government’s view that through contributions from sectors such as the rail sector, the country would be able to attain the goals and aspirations of achieving an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
He said the past two decades had seen an increase in road traffic density as industry and commerce as well as people used road transport due to NRZ’s limited capacity to move freight and passengers.
“However, the increase in road traffic density has resulted in the deterioration of the state of the country’s road network as well as increased accidents leading to loss of lives and freight. This calls for interventions to ensure the implementation of the NRZ recapitalisation programme,” said Eng Marawa.
He said Government acknowledges the challenges NRZ is facing and was doing all within its powers to address them.
Eng Marawa said Government wanted the bulk of the goods for both commerce and industry to be moved by NRZ as opposed to road transport which was not only expensive but damaged the roads.
State Media|Parliament has instituted a probe to unearth the origins of machete gangs, how they are operating, the impact of their actions and what can be done to halt their activities that have had a devastating effect on the lucrative mining sector, one of the major foreign currency earners.
The machete wielding gangs’ criminal activities have wreaked havoc at gold mining sites across the country, causing several deaths and injuries.
The Parliament investigation, which will begin next week, will be carried out by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development.
The Committee yesterday held an emergency meeting where it resolved to carry out the probe.
The Ministers of Mines and Mining Development (Winston Chitando), Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage (Kazembe Kazembe), Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs (Ziyambi Ziyambi), Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga and Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi will be summoned to appear before the committee.
Other stakeholders expected to appear before the same committee include media executives and editors, traditional chiefs, civil society organisations, the Zimbabwe Miners Federation and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission.
Addressing a media conference after the meeting, the Committee’s Chairperson Edmond Mukaratigwa said they wanted to find out how the gangs came into being and how their activities had impacted on the gold sector, among other objectives.
“We acknowledge the efforts by different Government departments and the Committee has keenly discussed this issue today (yesterday) and resolved to conduct an inquiry into the matter in order to identify and trace the foundation and development of the gold panning gangs; to find out the impact of their activities on gold production in light of the $12 billion target set for the mining industry by 2023; to establish what Government is doing to end the perpetuity of the terrorism against gold producers by the gold panning gangs,” he said.
“The Committee further resolved that Government kick-starts legislative procedures to allow for stiffer penalties with regards to such perpetrators as was done in the case of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act regarding the vandalism of railway and electrical material among others.”
Mukaratigwa said the Committee resolved to engage Government to expedite the formalisation of artisanal miners to ensure accountability of their activities.
It was necessary to identify the challenges being faced by Government and stakeholders in quelling the challenges bedevilling the gold sector and the society at large and to compile and present a comprehensive report to Parliament with findings and recommendations, he said.
Cde Mukaratigwa said the Committee urged Government to intensify efforts to stamp out the gangs permanently and increase police presence in known hotspots.
He said it was their duty as representatives of the people to act against the lawlessness being perpetuated by the gangs.
“The Committee is perplexed by the rampant killings going on in the mining sector and as elected representatives of the people, Parliament will not remain silent on the issue,” said Cde Mukaratigwa.
“Within its mandate, Parliament and Government shall work to ensure that punitive measures are put in place as it affects our major resource and reduces the market space by tainting our minerals,” Mukaratigwa said.
“They are a danger to society taking into consideration the impact these gold panning gangs have on the social, cultural and economic spheres of Zimbabwe. The committee, through its constitutional obligation, is re-affirming fully its participation against the illegal activities being carried out by the gold panning gangs.”
Zimbabwe has always been a civilised Republic regulated by the laws enacted by Parliament and unruly elements need to be dealt with, said Cde Mukaratigwa.
The gangs murdered Constable Wonder Hokoyo in Battlefields just before New Year and a gold buyer, Marko Dube, was also killed in Mvuma a few days later.
Police have since arrested a number of people belonging to the machete gangs in Kadoma, Mt Darwin, Mazowe, Gweru and Bubi in Matabeleland North province.
A PROMINENT Mberengwa businessman has been jailed 20 years for raping one of his employees.
Praymore Ndlela (52) who runs a chain of grocery shops and a bar at Maranda Business centre, appeared before Gweru regional magistrate Mrs Phathekile Msipa facing one count of indecent assault and another of rape.
He pleaded not guilty to both counts but was convicted due to overwhelming evidence.
Ndlela will serve an effective jail term of 17 years and six months after part of the sentence was conditionally suspended.
In delivering sentence Mrs Msipa said Ndlela committed serious offences and there was need to send a deterrent message to other employers who would want to abuse their workers.
It was the State’s case as presented by prosecutor, Mr Kelvin Guvheya that on February 20 last year Ndlela unlawfully and with indecent intent, grabbed the complainant` by the waist and molested her without her consent.
The court further heard that on the same date, Ndlela instructed the complainant who was the bar lady to load empty crates which were in a store room into his vehicle.
The court heard that Ndlela followed the complainant into the storeroom, grabbed her by the waist, she tripped to the ground and he raped her.
News Agents|President Donald Trump pulled back from the brink of war with Iran on Wednesday, saying that Tehran appeared to be “standing down” after firing missiles — without causing casualties — at US troops based in Iraq.
In a televised address to the nation from the White House, Trump emphasised there were “no Americans harmed” in the ballistic missile salvo aimed at two bases.
While he promised to immediately impose “punishing” new economic sanctions on Tehran, Trump welcomed signs the Islamic republic “appears to be standing down” in the tit-for-tat confrontation.
The comments cooled what threatened to become an uncontrolled boiling over of tensions after Trump ordered the killing last Friday of a top Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani.
In New York, the Nasdaq stock market index surged to a record high of 9,129.24.
However, the US president, facing both an impeachment trial in Congress and a tough reelection in November, defended his targeting of a man seen by many as Iran’s second most influential official.
Soleimani, a national hero at home, was “the world’s top terrorist” and “should have been terminated long ago,” Trump said.
And although Trump ended his remarks with a call for peace, he opened by stating that he would never allow Iran to procure a nuclear weapon.
It was Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from a multinational agreement aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and the reimposition of crippling economic sanctions against Tehran, which began an intensification of tensions between the two countries.
Iran’s missiles targeted the sprawling Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and a base in Arbil, both housing American and other foreign troops from a US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State jihadist group.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who earlier promised “revenge” for Soleimani, called the missiles a “slap in the face” against the United States. He indicated there was more to come.
“The question of revenge is another issue,” Khamenei said in a televised speech.
Iraq’s military said it also sustained no casualties. But the strike highlighted the difficult position of Iraq, caught in an ever-deepening conflict between Trump and Iran.
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, dismissed suggestions that Iran did not mean to kill Americans with the missile barrage.
“I believe, based on what I saw and what I know, is that they were intended to cause structural damage, destroy vehicles and equipment and aircraft and to kill personnel. That’s my own personal assessment,” Milley told reporters.
Iraqi President Barham Saleh rejected Iraq being a “battlefield for warring sides.”
At the United Nations, Iran’s ambassador said in a letter to Secretary General Antonio Guterres that despite the missile firing, Iran respects Iraq’s territorial integrity.
Iran has powerful militia allies in Iraq and they said they intended to take revenge for Friday’s US drone attack, in which top Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis died alongside Soleimani.
Muhandis was the deputy head of Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi, a military network incorporated into the Iraqi state whose factions are backed by Tehran.
Late Wednesday two rockets, fired by unidentified forces, landed in the supposedly high-security Green Zone, where US and other embassies are located, security sources said.
AFP correspondents heard two loud detonations.
The brazenness of Iran’s ballistic missile strike was unusual.
But as the dust settled, it appeared that Iran’s attack — coming soon after the burial of Soleimani at a funeral in front of vast crowds — might have been more symbolic than anything.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif indicated Iran was satisfied for now.
“Iran took and concluded proportionate measures in self-defense,” Zarif said on Twitter.
Reflecting deep concerns among Trump’s domestic opponents, the Democratic-led US House of Representatives scheduled a vote for Thursday on limiting the Republican president’s ability to wage war against Iran without congressional approval.
“The president has made clear that he does not have a coherent strategy to keep the American people safe, achieve de-escalation with Iran and ensure stability in the region,” House speaker Nancy Pelosi said. But US Defense Secretary Mark Esper insisted the United States has restored some deterrence against Iran in the wake of the Soleimani killing. “But we will see. Time will tell,” Esper said.
The apparent de-escalation in Iran did not remove pressure from approximately 5,200 US troops stationed across Iraq, where they face pro-Iranian Shiite militias and political opposition.
Paramilitary chief Qais al-Khazali — blacklisted as a “terrorist” by the US — said his side’s response to the United States “will be no less than the size of the Iranian response.”
But US Vice President Mike Pence told the CBS Evening News that “we’re receiving some encouraging intelligence that Iran is sending messages to those very same militias not to move against American targets or civilians.”
Angered at the US drone strike, the Iraqi parliament has called for expulsion of American troops, sparking embarrassing confusion at the Pentagon over how to respond.
Separately, a Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 crashed just outside Tehran after taking off bound for Kiev, killing all 176 people on board shortly after Iran launched its missiles towards Iraq.
There was no immediate suggestion of any link with the strikes but carriers including Air France, Royal Dutch Airlines and Lufthansa announced they were suspending flying though Iranian and Iraqi airspace as a precaution.
The US aviation regulator banned civil flights over Iraq, Iran and the Gulf, citing the potential for “misidentification” of aircraft.
An anti-riot police man in Zimbabwe tackles a woman with his boot as they dispersed a crowd gathered to hear an address by leader of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) Alliance, Nelson Chamisa at Morgan Tsvangirai House, the party headquarters, in Harare.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is topping the list of public violence perpetrators in the southern African nation closely followed by the ruling Zanu PF party, according to the latest report of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP).
In the report released Wednesday, ZPP said intimidation and harassment were the most noted human rights violations in December last year despite a sharp decrease in such cases.
“As has been the trend in the past, intimidation and harassment formed the majority of the violations at 60. The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) dominated the list of perpetrators, followed by Zanu PF. The dominance by the police reveals a state where there is use of the security apparatus to stifle dissent. This trend is a shift from the former government of the late Robert Mugabe where Zanu PF almost always dominated the list of perpetrators.
“Mashonaland and Harare provinces recorded the highest number of violations with Mashonaland Central recording 22 violations, Harare with 21 violations and Mashonaland East 19 violations. Matabeleland provinces recorded the lowest violations as usual.”
ZPP recorded a total of 119 human rights violations in the month of December. “This is a sharp decrease from the 209 recorded in November 2019. December has always recorded lower numbers of human rights violations probably because focus will be on the farming season and tending to fields.
Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi was unavailable for comment as he was not responding to calls on his mobile phone.
ZPP said, “Police brutality and harassment is disturbing as it presents a scenario where the supposed citizens’ protectors become a threat to the same citizens.”
It cited several cases of alleged police brutality, including an incident that happened on December 12, 2019, in which anti- riot police officers assaulted and apprehended vendors and members of the public in Harare central business district at Market Square.
“In the midst of street battles with vendors, police assaulted labour rights activist, Nation Mudzitirwa whom they spotted disembarking from renowned human rights lawyer, Douglas Coltart’s vehicle. Mudzitirwa sustained serious injuries on the face, back and knees. Among the victims who were apprehended were six males and seven females.
“The police also forced Mudzitirwa into their vehicle and later released him without any charge, before getting to Harare Central Police Station.”
In another case, ZPP said, on 24 December 2019, Abel Karowangoro, a Zimbabwe Media Commission-accredited journalist working for the Zimbabwe Morning Post, was arrested in Harare’s central business district.
“Karowangoro was apprehended by five anti-riot police officers while filming queues of pensioners battling to withdraw their money from banks. The police details took him to Harare Central Police Station where they interrogated and detained him before his release.
“In a related incident, Blessing Chidakwa, a journalist with the Herald and accredited with the ZMC was detained by police officers on 25 December 2019 and was forced to delete footage he had recorded of police officers smashing windscreens of commuter omnibuses. Chidakwa was manhandled by three police officers at Roadport bus terminus on Christmas Day. The officers dragged him to where their vehicle was parked and forced him to delete all the pictures he had taken. He did not resist for fear of being assaulted with baton sticks that the police were wielding. He was only released after he threatened to notify the National police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi of the incident.”
ZPP said politicians were not spared from police harassment as anti-riot police officers harassed Movement for Democratic Change Ward 43 councillor, Norman Makondo, at Budiriro 5 Shopping Centre on 29 December 2019.
“The officers who were raiding vendors harassed Makondo for confronting them at the shopping centre. They took Makondo to Budiriro police station charging him with inciting public violence, by condemning their operation. Makondo was detained and interrogated for hours before being released.”
Several other incidents of alleged police harassment were cited, including a case in which police are said to have demanded a bribe after they found MDC youth having a party in Harare.
They were accused of holding an illegal gathering.
State Media|Citizens Protection Council of Zimbabwe (CPCZ), an affiliate of the Zimbabwe Liberation and War Collaborators’ Association (ZILIWACO), has called on relevant authorities to ensure Harare’s Sunshine City status is restored by 2025.
Speaking in an interview with state media yesterday, CPCZ empowerment director Rex Chikoti said the restoration of Harare’s Sunshine City status required the combined efforts of councillors, council staff and other stakeholders.
He said citizens’ rights should be protected, hence they were embarking on awareness campaigns to ensure people were aware of their rights.
“As we aim to have a Sunshine City by 2025 and an upper-middle income economy by 2030, council should seek to do its job effectively in line with the (two blueprints),” said Chikoti.
“We want our citizens to know their rights so that in turn they know who to vote for to get proper service delivery in both urban and rural settings.
“As citizens we should be protected by Government through local authorities, safeguarding citizens’ rights like the right to water, right to shelter and a safe and clean environment.”
Mr Chikoti urged Harare City Council to put in place effective transport management techniques to deal with unruly kombi operators and touts.
“Council should protect transport operators and there should be proper transport management because we have unruly touts that are making money at the expense of council.
“The HCC should protect people’s rights and say no to profiteering activities because we have unruly touts and those mushikashika operators carrying out illegal activities and this negatively affects council operations,” said Mr Chikoti.
He said dealing with illegal vendors disrupting the free flow of vehicular and human traffic was also a priority as they were not paying for the spaces they occupied.
“Right now we have so many places in Harare that are inhabitable, including the CBD. For example, Town House is now a very dirty area and the people operating around that area, like vendors (and Bindura-Mt Darwin kombis) are not paying for the services,” he said.
The ZANU PF bakeries that cost the nation $2 million.
Own Correspondent|Government has disbursed over $2 million towards the hopeless medieval ZANU PF initiated community bakeries programme.
Deputy Minister of finance revealed that the funds from government were disbursed by the Women’s Bank through the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development.
Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development Clemence Chiduwa and Zaka East legislator said the community bakeries programme empowered villagers.
He said food security was guaranteed if production was done at village level.
“The opening up of community bakeries has resulted in the creation of employment for the youths and women,” he said.
He said it was important for people to consider healthy eating habits, as the country strived to have an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
“We want to destroy the cartels and bring the prices down,” he said.
In Zaka Central, the community-led bakeries project was officially launched last week, with the local MP Cde Davison Svuure urging the youths to take the project seriously.
“The project is going to empower our youths and women and I am very sure it is going to transform our lives,” he said.
A survey last week established that more than 400 community bakeries were now operating in the province.
Women and youths from all seven wards were trained in making confectionery, petroleum jelly and shoe and floor polish.
A number of women said they were happy with the community bakeries as they can now generate income for their families.
“As women, we are very happy that income generating projects have come to our doorsteps,” said Mrs Ellen Moyo. “We sell a loaf of bread for $8,50 and buns are going for $1 for two.
“We are now able to raise money for our families and paying school fees for our children has been made easier. We are being encouraged to work hard so that we can grow our economy to achieve Vision 2030.”
Mrs Moyo said her group pocketed more than $1 200 per week.
Own Correspondent|President Emmerson Mnangagwa has finally seen it proper to consoled the Norman family following the death of the first Minister of Agriculture in independent Zimbabwe, Denis Norman.
Mr Norman died two weeks ago in Oxfordshire,United Kingdom, after a long battle with cancer.
ZimEye.com broke the news of Norman’s death last week but President Mnangagwa and the government remained silent on the issue.
He was 88.
In his condolences, Mnangagwa did not accord any national honour to the former minister, who has been described by many as a bridge between the colonial regime and the new Government of majority rule.
Norman was arguably the brains behind the country’s huge agriculture growth in the early years into independence.
In his condolence message, the President described Mr Norman as a long-time leader of the agriculture sector before independence in 1980.
“Mr Norman was among a few handful of white leaders who offered to serve under a black majority Government at independence, thus validating our policy of national reconciliation following 15 years of our armed struggle against white settler colonialism.
“This was a bold gesture which ended racial polarisation and laid a lasting basis for racial amity and peace in the country. Leaders like Norman, David Smith, Chris Anderson and Dr Timothy Stamps all late will be remembered in our country’s history for playing a salutary role in the formative years of our Nation,” he said.
As Minister of Government, the President said Mr Norman worked hard towards a unified, non-racial agricultural sector where farmers related to each other and collaborated on grounds of their calling and not along the racial divide of colonial times.
“On behalf of the Nation of Zimbabwe which he loyally served, its Government of which he was part for so long and on my own behalf, I wish to express my heartfelt condolences to the Norman family on their saddest loss. May they derive comfort from the deep respect and regard which our nation continues to give him. May his soul rest in eternal peace,” he said.
It was through his efforts that the Grain Marketing Board, Cotton Marketing Board (now Cotton Company of Zimbabwe) and Dairy Marketing Board (now Dairibord Zimbabwe Limited) among other entities were formed to benefit farmers after independence.
Mr Norman was part of the initiation of the Beira Corridor Development and also served as Minister of Transport.
State Media|Eleven Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officers were injured last night when the driver of the bus they were travelling in lost control as it descended a slope near Kuwadzana 6 and veered off the road before landing on its side.
The bus which was on its way from Inkomo Barracks, via town to Norton, had around 30 passengers on board.
No fatalities were reported as of last night.
Five of the injured were critical.
“We were fortunate that most passengers had dropped in town and others along the way before the accident occurred. By the time the bus got here, it had about 30 passengers on board,” said Lt Col Gotami.
People should be cautious during thunderstorms and heavy rainfall as localised flash flooding remains possible, the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) said yesterday.
In an interview, MSD meteorologist Ms Charity Denhere said while the lighter rains falling this week had produced no floods, the recent heat made hail, lightning and flash flooding probable going forward.
Ms Denhere said isolated thunderstorms on Tuesday saw Victoria Falls receiving 30mm of rain, whilst Mhondoro received 25mm, Karoi and Kariba 15mm and the rest of the country 10mm or less.
Rain forecast for tomorrow should see Manicaland, Matabeleland South, Masvingo and southern areas of Midlands having heavier storms and drains may fail to cope in urban or built-up settings, while visibility may be compromised, especially for drivers, during heavy downpours.
She said insecure home roofs, schools and shopping centres could be blown off by strong winds, while asbestos roofing could be perforated by hailstones in some instances, potentially endangering occupants.
“The department will continue monitoring the conditions and update the public accordingly,” said Ms Denhere.
“The public is also being requested to provide feedback or information on disasters.”
Eleven Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officers were injured last night when the driver of the bus they were travelling in lost control as it descended a slope near Kuwadzana 6 and veered off the road before landing on its side.
Speaking to The Herald from the scene of the accident last night, deputy director military police Lieutenant Colonel Velancio Gotami said the bus which was on its way from Inkomo Barracks, via town to Norton, had around 30 passengers on board.
No fatalities were reported as of last night.
Lt Col Gotami said five of the injured were critical.
He said the injured were taken to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and others to Josiah Magama Tongogara Barracks (formerly KG VI).
“We were fortunate that most passengers had dropped in town and others along the way before the accident occurred. By the time the bus got here, it had about 30 passengers on board,” said Lt Col Gotami.State media
As armed detachments of the Police Support Unit are flung into the battle to crush machete gangs, Parliament has launched an investigation to unearth the origins of the gangs, how they operate, their impact and how they can be tamed by police action and legal changes.
Machete gangs’ have wreaked havoc at gold mining sites across the country, causing deaths and injuries and threatening the entire gold mining industry, and have been moving into other violent crime in towns, cities and rural business centres.
While police deploy the muscle to crush the gangs, rounding up one major gang in Mazowe yesterday, legislators want longer-term solutions including the formalisation of the small-scale gold sectors and legal changes to bring in tougher penalties for those who operate outside the law.
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development held an emergency meeting yesterday and decided on the probe with the preliminary list of those to be summoned to give evidence and advice including the Ministers of Mines and Mining Development (Winston Chitando), Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage (Kazembe Kazembe), Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs (Ziyambi Ziyambi), Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga and Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi.
Others expected to appear before the same committee include media executives and editors, traditional chiefs, civil society organisations, the Zimbabwe Miners Federation and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission.
Yesterday, enhanced police operations scored a major success when the gang that has been occupying Jumbo Mine in Mazowe was rounded up with its explosives and equipment and the police promised more of these well-manned raids on gangs with armed detachments of the Police Support Unit deployed across Zimbabwe to back operations at provincial and district level against machete gangs.
In yesterday’s joint operation, 14 illegal miners were arrested at Jumbo Mine, with 11 machetes seized along with 423 sticks of explosives, four rows of copper wire and nine hammer mills.State media
Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa will spend his annual in the country amid speculation there is rising tension between him and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.
According to Acting Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba, Mnangagwa has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end January.
“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to advise that His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of the month.
During this period, Honourable Vice Presidents General (Rid) Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga and Colonel (Rid) Cde K.C.D. Mohadi, will take turns to act in his place, starting with Honourable Vice President Chiwenga.
The President will spend his vacation in the country,” said Charamba.
Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa will spend his annual in the country amid speculation there is rising tension between him and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.
According to Acting Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba, Mnangagwa has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end January.
“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to advise that His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of the month.
During this period, Honourable Vice Presidents General (Rid) Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga and Colonel (Rid) Cde K.C.D. Mohadi, will take turns to act in his place, starting with Honourable Vice President Chiwenga.
The President will spend his vacation in the country,” said Charamba.
Politics must always be an instrument used to build rather than destroy people’s lives.I was sent this video by a fellow citizen. This has really touched me. pic.twitter.com/1vZN7BKQ0r
Politics must always be an instrument used to build rather than destroy people’s lives.I was sent this video by a fellow citizen. This has really touched me. pic.twitter.com/1vZN7BKQ0r
Politics must always be an instrument used to build rather than destroy people’s lives.I was sent this video by a fellow citizen. This has really touched me. pic.twitter.com/1vZN7BKQ0r
A Kenyan pastor killed himself after murdering his wife over their leadership positions in the church.
Pastor Elijah Misiko of the Ground for God’s Gospel Ministry in Mombasa, Kenya stabbed his wife with a knife twice during a Sunday service.
Misiko then used the same knife to slit his throat, dying immediately. His wife Ann Mughoi, succumbed to her injuries a while late in a hospital.
Kisauni Sub County Police Commander Julius Kiragu explained in a video that Misiko was frustrated with his wife and place in the church. Said Kiragu:
The fact of the matter is the wife was a senior pastor in that church. That’s why she was pushing away the husband.
Before the murder-suicide, Misiko wrote a 17-page suicide note explaining that he killed his wife over church relations.
Reports indicate that Elijah and Ann had been separated at the time over leadership and church ownership disagreements.
The now-deceased couple started Ground for God’s Gospel Ministry together, with Anne being a senior pastor while Elijah was an assistant pastor, but they had been arguing over church ownership since 2017.
More: CHVn Radio
A Kenyan pastor killed himself after murdering his wife over their leadership positions in the church.
Pastor Elijah Misiko of the Ground for God’s Gospel Ministry in Mombasa, Kenya stabbed his wife with a knife twice during a Sunday service.
Misiko then used the same knife to slit his throat, dying immediately. His wife Ann Mughoi, succumbed to her injuries a while late in a hospital.
Kisauni Sub County Police Commander Julius Kiragu explained in a video that Misiko was frustrated with his wife and place in the church. Said Kiragu:
The fact of the matter is the wife was a senior pastor in that church. That’s why she was pushing away the husband.
Before the murder-suicide, Misiko wrote a 17-page suicide note explaining that he killed his wife over church relations.
Reports indicate that Elijah and Ann had been separated at the time over leadership and church ownership disagreements.
The now-deceased couple started Ground for God’s Gospel Ministry together, with Anne being a senior pastor while Elijah was an assistant pastor, but they had been arguing over church ownership since 2017.
More: CHVn Radio
By A Correspondent- The president has expressed his sadness over the passing on of Zimbabwe’s first Agricultural Minister Denis Norman.
In his condolence statement, the President described Norman as a unifier and said:
A long time leader of the agriculture sector before our independence in 1980, Mr Norman was among a handful of white leaders who offered to serve under a black-majority government at independence, thus validating our policy of national reconciliation following 15 years of our armed struggle against white settler colonialism
This was a bold gesture which ended racial polarisation and laid a lasting basis for racial amity and peace in the country
As a Minister in government, Mr Norman worked hard towards a unified, non racial agricultural sector where farmers related to each other and collaborated on grounds of their calling, and not along the racial divide of colonial times
Denis succumbed to cancer on 20 December 2019. He was the first agricultural minister and was later moved to the transport ministry where he was part of the Beira Corridor initiative.
By A Correspondent- The ruling party’s youth league has issued a stern warning to a cleric who warned the govt about an impending revolt if they don’t work towards solving the socio-economic crisis.
The warning was issued by the Zanu Pf youth league’s Pupurai Togarepi who said:
As the vanguard of the party, we would like to draw a line in the sand and warn naysayers and misguided prophets of doom to stop forthwith inciting the people of Zimbabwe, otherwise they will face the full wrath of the people’s party
Togarepi was responding to ZCC Clesir Bishop Mtata who was quoted to have said the government by not listening to the cries of masses was creating an inevitable condition for a revolution.
By A Correspondent- The government is reportedly trying to avoid a mega strike by inviting civil servants for a further dialogue.
This was revealed by Apex Council’s Gibson Mashangu who reportedly said Civil Servants have temporarily shelved their plans to organise a strike till they hear what the govt has to offer:
We understand government has called for a meeting to deliberate on Cost of Living Adjustment on Friday. We are going to attend and hear what they are offering.
If there is nothing of substance, then our position that we are incapacitated has not changed and … is going to be exemplified by the failure of schools to open next week because teachers left their stations for the holidays and … cannot come back now.
Civil Servants have said the government is not being truthful in negotiating with them hance they are planning a mega strike in the near future.
By A Correspondent- Seven million Zimbabweans residing in both rural and urban areas have reportedly registered for food aid.
The state media reports that a third of the vulnerable population, which is 2.2 million people, resides in the urban areas.
Public Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister, Lovemore Matuke on Wednesday said that the government, together with its partners had started assisting the vulnerable people.
Matuke said:
We have started extending food aid and cash assistance to some of them, but we are yet to cover all the affected people.
Zimbabwe is facing severe starvation due to El Nino induced drought, Tropical Cyclone Idai which destroyed crops which were weeks away from harvest and the deteriorating economic situation.
-StateMedia
This is happening when the Public Accounts Committee is alleging that more than US$3 billion meant for Command Agriculture was abused by the scheme runners, Sakunda Holdings which is owned by Kuda Tagwirei.
By A Correspondent- The National Consumer Rights Association (Nacora) has bemoaned the uncertainty among parents amid indications that many schools will increase fees by at least 1 000% despite a government directive to cap increments by 20%.
Several schools in Matabeleland met parents last month and proposed fees and levy hikes with most private boarding schools demanding between $3 000 and $16 000 per term.
Nacora advocacy and campaign manager Effie Ncube said the skyrocketing cost of education will further marginalise children with disadvantaged backgrounds and render education a preserve of a rich few.
“The misgovernance of the country is now costing children their future. In the past year, we saw many children dropping out of school due to deepening poverty and rising cost of living,” Ncube said.
He said a research by Nacora indicated that many children will not enrol for school this year due to astronomical fees and high cost of uniforms and learning aides.
“We, therefore, call upon government to place its priorities to ensure that no child is left behind. Otherwise literacy will go down exponentially over the coming years,” Ncube said.
“Also, we call upon the government to ensure full secondary education enrolment and that no child drops out due to poverty. The same applies to tertiary education.”
By A Correspondent| Prominent businessman Frank Buyanga was blessed with a baby girl in the early hours of yesterday morning and announced the news on social media platform Facebook on his personal account.
The African Medallion Group supremo welcomed his second child named Ariella Deborah and was showered with congratulatory messages by many followers and friends on his post which read;
“Thank you Lord for an amazing delivery this morning. Welcome Ariella Deborah. I love you. 7/1/2020. A big thank you to the men and women of God who continue to pray for my two children. Isaiah 54:13 – All your children will be taught by the Lord and great will be their peace.”
The beaming father starts the year well on the back of another successful year in business for the enterprising businessman. Buyanga is also the founder of Hamilton Foundation which assists people who lack basic needs and is widely viewed as an icon of youth empowerment and inspiration.
A regular guest of various prominent people including heads of state, theSouth African based businessman is said to be one of the wealthiest people and among the youngest millionaires in Africa and rarely shares details into his private life but is often involved in philanthropic and social initiatives and widely popular in business circles.
By A Correspondent- Masvingo province in the last 5 months lost a total of 13 000 cattle due to the drought that was experienced in 2019, it has emerged.
This was revealed by Masvingo Acting Agritex Provincial Officer, Mr Aron Muchazivepi who spoke to the state media and said:
We have had too much of a dry spell, there is no grazing land anymore and so cattle are dying. Some of the deaths are forced slaughters after farmers realize that there is no alternative.
Matabeleland also lost over 21000 beasts due to the drought and over 115 elephants died in Hwange due to the drought that left half the country in need of food aid.
By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) has urged government to deal with the numerous reports of partisan food aid distribution and ensure that every deserving citizen does not go hungry as the country faces one of its worst droughts in decades.
In its December 2019 Monthly Monitoring Report just released, ZPP, a local organisation that aims at building peace and promoting peaceful conflict resolution, documents several cases where people were denied food aid on political affiliation basis.
“Discrimination in the distribution of food and other aid remained problematic in the month of December 2019 with a 22.7% contribution to the total recorded violations. The violations also affected citizens’ other rights and freedoms such as the freedom of association,” reads part of the report.
“Communities have been receiving food aid and agricultural inputs as the rainy season has started. Unfortunately, the aid has been manipulated in many cases for political mileage and as a retribution tool. Supporters and perceived supporters of the MDC continued to be targeted with this form of discrimination as they were being punished for their political affiliation.”
One of the cases recorded by ZPP implicates a Zanu PF official in ward 14, Gokwe Gumunyu.
“Villagers gathered at Nyamhara Business Centre to receive rice which had been disbursed by the government and was meant for every villager. The Zanu PF chairperson in the area, Joe Madzana informed the villagers that all the aid which is delivered in the area passes through Zanu PF structures as the ruling party and that those not in Zanu PF structures would never receive aid from the government.
He then proceeded to force the villagers to sing Zanu PF songs and chant the party’s slogans. He dared those who had been aggrieved to report anywhere they wanted as nothing would happen to him,” reports ZPP.
In its report, ZPP point out that legislators were among the perpetrators of politicisation of aid.
“On 29 December 2019 where close to 500 villagers from Mudzi North convened at Nyamuyaruka Business Centre to receive drought relief rice from the government.
The rice was distributed in a partisan manner by a Zanu PF Mudzi North ward chairperson Gilbert Makazhu with the guidance of Mudzi North Legislator.
Three MDC supporters were denied the rice and the legislator told villagers that MDC supporters would never benefit from government aid and inputs since their legislators do not recognize President Mnangagwa as the constitutionally elected President of the Republic of Zimbabwe in Parliament.”
ZPP urged lawmakers ‘to act in a manner that unifies communities as they represent every member of their constituency in Parliament.’
By A Correspondent- Two people died on the spot, while four others were seriously injured after a Harare bound bus collided with a Toyota fun cargo near the 320 kilometre peg along the Harare-Bulawayo highway this Wednesday morning.
Two people who died in the accident were travelling in the Toyota Fun Cargo whose driver was seriously injured.
The bus was travelling from Botswana to Harare while the Toyota Fun cargo was travelling in the opposite direction when the accident occurred.
Midlands provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Joel Goko says they are investigating a possible culpable homicide case against the bus driver.
Initial police investigations show that the bus driver tried to overtake near a curve before encroaching into the opposite lane resulting in the head-on collision.
The injured who include some foreign nationals were taken to Gweru central hospital for medical attention.
Inspector Goko appealed to drivers to exercise caution and avoid speeding on the roads to preserve lives.
This follows another road accident which occurred yesterday at Tshipangali area in Esigodini in which three people died while others were injured in a Zupco bus accident. The bus was travelling from Beitbridge to Bulawayo.
According to Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Matabeleland South Provincial Spokesperson, Chief Inspector Philisani Ndebele, the driver of the bus was speeding and failed to adjust following rains which fell in the area yesterday, he then failed to control the bus which veered off the road and overturned, killing three victims on the spot.
Politics must always be an instrument used to build rather than destroy people’s lives.I was sent this video by a fellow citizen. This has really touched me. pic.twitter.com/1vZN7BKQ0r
SUBJECT : SHOOTING INCIDENT WHICH OCCURRED AT GOODHOPE CLAIM BROMPTON MINE, BATTLEFIELDS
This memorandum serves to put on record circumstances surrounding the above captioned matter.
Date and Time : 07/01/2020 at around 2100 hours
Place : Goodhope Claim, Brompton Mine, Kadoma
Reference : ZRP Battlefields RRB 4129553
CIRUMSTANCES.
On the 7th day of January 2020 and at about 1200 hours, three Excop security guards namely Lyton Takunda Marozva, Constantine Makore and Onward Zinzombe of Kadoma were deployed to mann Good Hope claim, Brompton mine, Battlefields.
They were armed with a shot gun serial number A56360E, A32441E and a Revolver serial number 4448 with 05 rounds, respectively
On the same date at around 1900 hours, taking advantage of the darkness, illegal gold miners started gathering around the perimeter fence of the gold rush site but they were denied entry by the security guards.
At around 2100 hours on the same date, the now deceased Kudakwashe Hoko accompanied by the above five accused arrived at the site aboard a grey Toyota Raum Motor vehicle with Registration number AEV 3680 which was being driven by accused number 1 who is the owner of the vehicle. They were all dressed in civilian attire.
The accused disembarked from their vehicle and forcibly entered the fenced gold rush site.
They were challenged to stop by the security guards but they continued advancing being led by the now deceased who was armed with an axe.
The security guards fired three warning shots but the accused were not deterred which forced one of the security guards to shoot the now deceased once on the right side of the chest at a close range and he died on the spot.
The other accused persons tried to disarm Lyton Takunda Marozva and in the process accused 1 was shot once on the left knee.
The security guards managed to take charge of the situation and arrested all the accused persons.
The security guards advised the informant who in turn notified ZRP Battlefields about the matter.
INVESTIGATIONS CARRIED OUT ZRP Battlefields, PRG, Kadoma CID Kadoma Canine and Officer Commanding Police Kadoma District attended the scene and made the following observations.
The deceased was lying with his face facing downwards dressed in a grey T-Shirt and a blue worksuit trousers.
The body was inspected and had pellet gun wounds on the right side of the chest.
The accused’s vehicle a Toyota Raum was seen parked at the gold rush site, was searched and 02 pairs of Zimbabwe National Army Camouflage Uniform were recovered. The vehicle was impounded and was taken to ZRP Kadoma Central.
A small axe, Colombian knife and 04 Emulates explosives were recovered.
The shot gun serial number A32441E which was used to shoot the now deceased was taken as an exhibit.
The deceased was conveyed to Kadoma General Hospital mortuary awaiting post-mortem.
The injured accused was referred to Kadoma General Hospital where he is admitted under police guard and his condition is stable.
Preliminary investigations have established that the now deceased and accused number 2 are members of the Zimbabwe National Army based at Zimbabwe National Army HQ, Harare and ZNA Kutanga Range, Kwekwe respectively whilst accused 1 is a General hand at Josiah Tungamirai Airforce Base, Gweru.
The accused person are being charged with contravening section 132(1)(a) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9.23, ‘Criminal Trespass,’
By A Correspondent- A 26 year old Binga man has been slapped with an effective 16-year jail term for raping his ex-wife.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the complainant, was yesterday convicted on three counts of rape when he appeared before Hwange regional magistrate Collet Ncube.
The court heard that the 23-year-old victim had been customarily married to the man before their marriage broke down.
On July 26 last year, the woman, who stays in Siabuwa, Binga, was coming from a local clinic in the company of a friend when they met the convict who asked her to accompany him to his home, but she refused. The man forcibly dragged her to his home, tearing her clothes in the process.
The court heard that when they got home, he raped her three times before she escaped and filed a police report.
By Lloyd Mupfudze- In his 2020 national budget statement on November 14,2019 the Minister of finance and economic development professor Mthuli Ncube correctly states that corruption causes economic malaise, wastage of public resources, jeopardises the environment for domestic and foreign investment and reinforces political instability.
Minister Ncube listed various strategies the government will take to curb corruption in Zimbabwe.
Whilst some of the strategies are key in the fight against corruption, government stand accused of taking it too long to come up with legislation to enforce chapter 9 of the constitution.
Section 194 talks about the basic values and principles governing public administration. Section 198 states that, “An act of Parliament must provide measures to enforce the provisions of this chapter, including measures requiring public officers to make regular disclosures of their assets, (b) establishing codes of conduct to be observed by public officers….”
Why is it taking so long for
the government to introduce the legislation given the magnitude of the problem?
The government’s reluctance to come up with the legislation
shows the government’s lack of political will to lead by example and to combat
the endemic and grand corruption which has continued to have corrosive effects
on the socio and economic rights of millions of Zimbabweans.
I have repeatedly heard from different segments of
society that the government anti-corruption drive is nothing but just “a catch
and release strategy”. The government cannot be said to be taking a strong
stance in the fight against corruption and impunity if it is failing or neglecting
the implementation of chapter 9 of the constitution.
There have been efforts to combat corruption but have been concentrated at national level by the anti-corruption commission. There is not much that have been happening at local level.
Efforts to control corruption at local government level are dealt with by local government minister who have been accused of taking a partisan approach when it comes to dealing with corruption.
Declaration or disclosure of assets is now part of the constitution what is now left is for the government to enact an enabling law as provided for in the supreme law. Requiring public officials to provide lists of their assets and interests is one of the most effective means of preventing and identifying corruption.
According to a 2012 publication by the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Public Office, Private Interests: Accountability through Income and Asset Disclosure, it has been noted that addressing corruption needs to be done on two simultaneous fronts: prevention and enforcement.
Income and asset disclosure systems are recognised as an anti-corruption tool that can potentially support both prevention and enforcement.
According to this publication, there are three main benefits of financial disclosure: detecting and preventing corrupt behaviour and conflicts of interests; building integrity in public service; and enhancing public confidence in the integrity of government.
There is need for an entity that manages the register of assets. In many parts of the world the issue of asset declaration has become key in the fight against corruption. Rwanda introduced it and have an online system every citizen can go online and see what their leaders or public officials owns. South Africa have also implemented a declaration of assets.
Even in South Sudan, the world’s youngest country asset disclosure has become a focal point in the fight against corruption.
Declaration
of asset and financial disclosure is a sign of commitment to transparency and accountability.
It also promotes public trust in government.
By A Correspondent- An artisanal miner in Umguza district who allegedly sodomised a 14-year-old boy in a bushy area has been released by the High Court on $200 bail.
Levison Mwale (24) is facing aggravated indecent assault charges.
He allegedly sexually attacked the complainant while he was on his way home from Springs Farm in Umguza district.
Mwale, through his lawyers Mathonsi Ncube Law Chambers, applied for bail pending trial at the Bulawayo High Court citing the State as a respondent.
Justice Evangelista Kabasa granted Mwale bail and ordered him to continue residing at his given address until the matter is finalised.
She also ordered him to report once a fortnight at Springs Police Station as part of the bail conditions.
In his bail statement, Mwale is denying the charges, arguing that he was nowhere near the scene of the alleged crime on that particular day.
He further argued that there were no compelling reasons warranting his continued detention.
Mwale also disputed the assertion by investigating officers that if released on bail, he would abscond or likely to interfere with State witnesses.
“The applicant does not own a valid passport neither has he been out of the country in his entire life. There is no reason to believe he would abscond if released on bail. It therefore follows that the applicant is a suitable candidate for bail,” argued Mwale’s lawyers.
The State, which was represented by Mr Kudakwashe Jaravaza did not oppose the bail application.
According to court papers, on October 31 last year, Mwale went to the complainant’s home where he wanted to collect his change after buying a t-shirt from the boy’s mother.
Before he left the complainant’s home, Mwale advised the boy’s mother to consider taking her clothes which she was selling to Springs Farm mine, saying there was a ready market.
On November 2, the complainant was sent by his mother to sell the clothes at Springs Farm Mine where he was spotted by Mwale.
Soon after selling the clothes, the complainant left the mine and went back home. Mwale followed the boy and upon reaching a secluded area, he allegedly pounced on the boy.
He grabbed the complainant’s hand and dragged him to a nearby bush where he forcibly removed his pair of trousers and underwear.
Mwale allegedly forced the boy to lie down before he had unprotected anal sex with him.
Soon after committing the offence, Mwale fled from the scene.
The boy proceeded home where he narrated his ordeal to his mother. A report was made to the police leading to Mwale’s arrest
By A Correspondent- A British judge has sentenced a serial r_pist to life in jail after he was convicted of 159 s_x offences, including 136 r_pes.
Reynhard Sinaga (36), was found guilty of luring 48 men from outside Manchester clubs to his flat, where he drugged and assaulted them – filming the attacks.
According to British police, Sinaga is thought to have abused at least 195 men over two and a half years after luring them to his flat under the guise of being a “good samaritan”.
Sentencing him at Manchester crown court on Monday, Judge Suzanne Goddard QC said:
In my judgment, you are a highly dangerous, cunning and deceitful individual who will never be safe to be released.
You are an evil serial s_xual offender who preyed on young men who came into the city centre wanting nothing more than a good night with their friends.
One of the victims in their victim personal statement described you as a monster. The scale and enormity of your offending establish that is an accurate description.
Sinaga is believed to have used GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid) to drug his victims before assaulting them.
He is already serving 88 concurrent life sentences with a minimum of 20 years before he can be considered for parole after his first two trials, which related to 25 victims and were heard between 2018 and 2019.
Iran is refusing to hand over the black box of the doomed Ukrainian airliner to Boeing amid an investigation into what caused the crash that killed all 176 people aboard the flight out of Tehran early Wednesday, according to a report.
Ali Abedzadeh, the head of Tehran’s civil aviation organization, told Mehr news agency in Tehran that Iran has not made a decision on which country or international authority it would send the black box to for its data to be analyzed, Reuters reported.
The Boeing Company is an American aerospace company headquartered out of Chicago. It is the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial jet transports. Boeing also designs, manufactures and sells military aircraft, helicopters, space vehicles, missiles and communication equipment worldwide.
The crash of the Ukraine International Airlines flight came hours after Iran fired as many as 15 ballistic missiles on Iraqi bases housing U.S. soldiers in a major retaliation by the rogue regime after the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani last week.
No Americans were aboard the flight. Three Britons, three Germans, 63 Canadians, 10 Swedes, 11 Ukrainians, 82 Iranians and four Afghans died in the crash, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry Vadym Prystaiko said.
The timing of the crash fueled speculation on social media that the earlier missile strike played a role in the crash shortly after takeoff from the Imam Khomeini International Airport, but authorities have pointed to a mechanical issue.
Qassem Biniaz, a spokesman for Iran’s Road and Transportation Ministry, said one of the plane’s engines caught fire, causing the pilot to lose control of the aircraft, sending it crashing to the ground.
By A Correspondent- A Kenyan pastor killed himself after murdering his wife over their leadership positions in the church.
Pastor Elijah Misiko of the Ground for God’s Gospel Ministry in Mombasa, Kenya stabbed his wife with a knife twice during a Sunday service.
Misiko then used the same knife to slit his throat, dying immediately. His wife Ann Mughoi, succumbed to her injuries a while late in a hospital.
Kisauni Sub County Police Commander Julius Kiragu explained in a video that Misiko was frustrated with his wife and place in the church.
Said Kiragu:
The fact of the matter is the wife was a senior pastor in that church. That’s why she was pushing away the husband.
Before the murder-suicide, Misiko wrote a 17-page suicide note explaining that he killed his wife over church relations.
Reports indicate that Elijah and Ann had been separated at the time over leadership and church ownership disagreements.
The now-deceased couple started Ground for God’s Gospel Ministry together, with Anne being a senior pastor while Elijah was an assistant pastor, but they had been arguing over church ownership since 2017.
By A Correspondent- Acting Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba announced that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of January.
In Mnangagwa’s absence Vice Presidents, Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi will take turns to act in his capacity.
Charamba said in a press statement:
“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to advise that His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of the month.
“During this period, Honourable Vice Presidents General (Rtd) Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga and Colonel (Rtd) Cde K.C.D. Mohadi, will take turns to act in his place, starting with Honourable Vice President Chiwenga.
“The President will spend his vacation in the country.”
By A Correspondent- As tensions rise in the Middle East following the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, more than 3,000 US troops are preparing to deploy to the region — leaving behind thousands of family members and loved ones.
The city of Fayetteville, North Carolina, is home to many of these families — it’s close to the Fort Bragg military installation, which houses more than 53,000 troops.
One woman told CNN her husband was already deployed for training. He had been due to train in Africa, then go to the Mediterranean to be stationed in European countries — but they found out today that he’s being rerouted to the Middle East.
Thousands of people are mourning Qasem Soleimani in the Iran capital of Tehran — but they are also visibly angry.
Many in the crowd have been there for hours, since before sunrise, grieving for one of the country’s top military leaders. These past few days, there have also been furious anti-US protests, both in Iran and the Iraq capital of Baghdad.
“They want what they call hard revenge,” said CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen, who is in Tehran. “I don’t know if you can hear the chants coming from behind me — a lot of them say, ‘Down with the USA,’ also ‘Death to the USA.’”
“As they keep pointing out, he’s one of the people that fought against ISIS. They believe that he was someone that made this country safer. Of course, the international reputation that he has is very different, but for these folks here he is no less than a hero,” Pleitgen added.
Unlike the 1970s when children came from South Africa, Zambia and Malawi for better education, more and more Zimbabwean parents now look across the Limpopo for schools which seem to promise a brighter educational future for their children.
Thokhzani Ncube (37) from Emganwini in Bulawayo says her three children are now going to stay with her sister at Hobhouse in the South African Free State province where they are going to continue with their primary education.
“Although I miss my children, I am pleased they managed to secure admission to a school in South Africa because I was worried about their future in Zimbabwe,” she said.
“The previous school they were attending here is did not do well last term. They attended lessons for eight weeks only, teachers were not attending school, this affected them so much and I thought this year things should be different,” she said.
Ncube is not the only parent sending her children to the neighboring country, as hundreds of other parents are sending both documented and undocumented children across the border by Omalayisthsa (official couriers). A snap survey at the Beitbridge border post reveled that hundreds of school going children were entering South Africa despite the fact that schools were opening in less than five days in Zimbabwe.
“I cannot afford the outrageous demands the schools are making, they want books stationery, and tissue paper soap school fees in cash, the amounts are just too high and inflated. To make matters worse we are not sure whether they are going to attend lessons as the teachers are always threatening to go on strike,” said Ncube.
Already government has warned of a sharp school fee increase as it already has asked for applications for fee increases.
A senior official in the ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Peter Muzavazi, said school should justify the increase, but some schools had already started implementing the unapproved new school fee structure.
This has already triggered an exodus of children from some schools.
Although the government has assured parents that the school term will start on a normal schedule, the economic meltdown coupled with drought and a general low morale amongst the teachers. Political analysts have predicted a gloomy term.
Unconfirmed reports from Teachers’ Associations say there is likely to be a general strike after two weeks of opening schools, as the schools can no longer afford to operate without resources. The government maintained that there would be no school fees increases, but some schools have trebled their fess and setting stringent entry conditions for new comers leaving most parents with no choice but to send their children to neighboring South Africa for better education.
In the early 1980 and 1990s, Zimbabwe prided itself for a higher literacy rate of about 90 percent the highest then in Africa, but the percentage has been going down due to a number of factors that include incapacitation of schools, low morale amongst the teachers, poor educational infrastructure and red tape within the ministry responsible for education.
A snap survey at most primary schools in Bulawayo painted a gloomy picture over the state of affairs as most schools feared that they might have lost a considerable number of children who are either going to relocate to rural areas or go to neighboring countries.
“We are not sure what is going to happen when we open, the situation has been reversing over the years. We used to register children coming from South Africa but this time it is different, we are losing our children and something should be done to harness this mass exodus. Government should ensure that we are fully capacitated to run our schools,” said a teacher at Mhali primary school in Magwegwe.
Prices of school stationery have skyrocketed, with parents now opting to buy books and other related equipment from South Africa and Botswana.
Educators have also blamed government for allowing a free for all state of affairs in the country where some institutions of learning and retail shops were allowed to increase prices at will, while some schools were not allowed to charge sustainable fees that would enable them to function normally.
Political commentators say the only solution for Zimbabwe to pull itself out of this economic malaise was through political dialogue between the ruling party and the MDC Alliance.
“Wheels have come off in almost every sector, education and health have suffered the most, children no longer go to school, hospitals have no medical equipment and medicines, and yet government still promises people that everything is going to be alright,”said Thomas Moyo a political commentator from Bulawayo.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has also been gallivanting calling for the removal of targeted sanctions by the west which he said was hurting the economy and affecting his people.
The western countries however set conditions and gave him a raft of measures and reforms that Harare should implement in exchange for engagement and financial bailout.
Among some reforms are economic, political, human rights and good governance.
However of concern to the western countries has been the snail pace at which these reforms have been taking place, casting doubts on whether the country was committed to help its poverty weary citizenry or not.
Own Correspondent|President Donald Trump addressed the nation Wednesday hours after Iran launched missile strikes on two bases in Iraq where U.S. forces were stationed, de-escalating the crisis by threatening additional “punishing” sanctions on Iran but not immediate military retaliation.
“Iran appears to be standing down which is a good thing for all parties concerned,” Trump said, as Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and the Joint Chiefs stood behind him.
“I’m pleased to inform you the American people should be extremely grateful and happy,” he said. “No Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime.”
Only minimal damage was sustained, he said, thanks to “an early warning system that worked very well.”
Saying Iran will not be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, Trump struck a conciliatory tone about new negotiations over a nuclear deal, saying, “we must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place.”
He ended by saying “the United States is ready to embrace peace with all who seek it.”
The president spoke after Iran’s supreme leader said his country’s missile strikes had “slapped” the U.S.
Own Correspondent|Members of the Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa (ZAOGA) in Gweru were in the early hours of New Year’s Day left stunned after a gang of five machete-wielding thugs wearing masks raided them during an all night prayer session.
Mrs Nyarai Gozho who is a caretaker at the church, said five masked machete-wielding men, ambushed worshippers who were having a prayer session at around 1am and ordered everyone to lie on the floor with one of the team manning the door of the church.
The gang is said to have moved around searching valuables from the church members as they lay on the ground, stealing three cell phones and cash amounting to one thousand five hundred Zimbabwean dollars.
She said the machete gang then force-marched her to the church house where they stole 20 United States dollars.
Zimbabwe Republic Police Midlands’ Provincial Spokesperson, Inspector Joel Goko confirmed the incident and said that police have since launched a manhunt for the thugs.
Tehran: Iran’s aviation authority said it would not hand over to Americans the recovered black boxes of a Boeing 737 that crashed on Wednesday, killing all 176 passengers and crew.
“We will not give the black boxes to the manufacturer (Boeing) and the Americans,” Iran Civil Aviation Organisation head Ali Abedzadeh said, quoted by Mehr news agency.
“It’s not yet clear which country the black box will go to for the investigation,” he added.
Following the crash of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 shortly after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday, Iran said it had recovered the Boeing 737’s two black boxes.
Abedzadeh said that based on global aviation rules, it was the right of the country where air crashes occur to carry out the investigation.
“This accident will be investigated by Iran’s aviation organisation but the Ukrainians can also be present during the incident’s investigation,” he added.
Under the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization, of which Iran, Ukraine and the United States are all members, air crash investigations are led by the country where the accident occurred.
However, according to aviation experts, the countries that are capable of analysing black boxes are few — notably Britain, France, Germany and the United States.
France’s Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA), which handles air crash investigations, said it had not received any request for help from the Iranian authorities after Wednesday’s crash.
ZIMBABWE Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) has strongly refuted claims that they have sold newly promoted Castle Lager Premiership outfit Tenax FC franchise to TelOne as baseless, malicious and mischievous.
Football fans in Manicaland were riled by news that TelOne will bounce back into the top flight league for this year’s edition after successfully acquiring a topflight franchise from Tenax FC who won promotion from the Zifa Eastern region last year.
ZPCS national sports officer Richard Tarangeyi said, “I am equally shocked by news circulating to the effect that the organization (ZPCS) has sold the Tenax FC franchise. At a time that Tenax FC are busy preparing for the oncoming season some sections, for unknown reasons, found it prudent to destabilise the team by circulating falsehoods.
“All I know is that Tenax FC are going to play in the top flight league. That is the position that I have. If anything latest comes from management we will duly and professionally inform the public not through rumours. All I can say the two teams Tenax and Whahwa are going to play. No franchise is on sale.”
The article, which quotes unnamed sources and published by a local private newspaper, alleges that lack of resources has driven the ZPCS to sell off one of their two franchises in the topflight after Whawha was also promoted from the Zifa Central Region.
The article further purports that the correctional services institution would still have been forced to relinquish one spot in the top division as rules do not allow them to own two teams in the same league.
However, not so long ago in 2015, Flame Lily played in the same top flight season with fellow correctional services side Whawha.
In fact, towards the end of that season, Flame Lilly became the latest side to be relegated when they were restricted by WhaWha at Ascot Stadium when Flame Lilly needed nothing short of victory to enhance their mathematical chance of remaining in the Premiership.
Army teams either Chapungu, Buffaloes or Black Rhinos have played in the top flight league during the same season on numerous occasions, including last year when Chapungu and Rhinos were part of the Premiership.
Correspondent|Sean Williams has been named Zimbabwe’s new Test captain while Chamu Chibhabha will be leading the national team in ODIs and T20Is on an “interim” basis.
Zimbabwe Cricket, in a media release, said the appointments were recommended by former captain and current director of cricket Hamilton Masakadza, who were then “unanimously endorsed” by the ZC Board at a meeting in Harare on Tuesday.
Williams has played 179 international matches, while Chibhabha, with 139 international games to his name, will lead in international cricket for the first time. Chibhabha, however, hasn’t played international cricket in more than a year, having last featured in a T20I against South Africa in October 2018.
Masakadza had retired in September last year and took up his new position in the board a month later as Zimbabwe Cricket restructured its management.
Zimbabwe Cricket also announced a new selection panel to be led by former international quick bowler David Mutendera, and Gavin Ewing, Shepherd Makunura and Prosper Utseya the other members.
The cricket board further said that it will announce a fielding coach and a mental strength coach in “due course”, and confirmed the other support staff members as follows: Lalchand Rajput (head coach), Dilip Chouhan (manager), Stuart Matsikenyeri (batting coach), Douglas Hondo (bowling coach), Walter Karimanzira (strength and conditioning trainer), Lovemore Banda (logistics manager) and Darlington Majonga (media manager).
Zimbabwe will be hosting Ireland, India and Netherlands while they are scheduled to travel to Bangladesh, Australia and Sri Lanka.
By Herbert Gomba| It has come to me that a video is circulating of the municipal police confiscating and disposing vendor’s wares in a manner not consistent to our human beliefs and the need to treat others humanly ….I have taken note and will ensure the Town clerk addresses these concerns immediately ,because it’s not part of our culture, it’s barbaric and of the past
I also ask our vending community to respect our by laws whenever they are doing business
NewsDay|HARARE football giants Caps United are set to dump “bad apples” in a major reshuffle ahead of the new season with several senior players, among them midfielder Dominic Mukandi, goalkeeper Prosper Chigumba and Valentine Musarurwa, targeted as victims.
Caps captain Hardlife Zvirekwi, defender Godwin Goriyati and striker Dominic Chungwa are also among several players reported to be on their way out.
The players who the club wants out were identified as the trouble causers towards the end of last term which led to the squad striking ahead of the penultimate match against Ngezi Platinum Stars to press for payment of their dues.
Caps went on to lose the match 3-2, surrendering the top spot to FC Platinum who also went on to win against the Green Machine in the last match of the season to retain the league title.
With four matches to go in the campaign, Caps seemed to have a firm grip of the league title, but they collapsed in spectacular fashion. Ahead of the match against Ngezi, Caps missed two days of training due to players’ industrial action.
For 2020, the Green Machine have decided not to offer contracts to some of the “ring leaders” in the strike, while those also identified as trouble causers but still with running contracts such as Goriati, will also be shipped out.
Zvirekwi has, however, not hidden his loyalty to the club and told NewsDay Sport last week that he still wants to play for at least two more years.
The Green Machine are set to kick-off preparations for the new season on January 20 and reports suggest that they could start the campaign with a virtually new-look squad.
Some of the targeted senior players still have running contracts, but the club hierarchy is understood to be unhappy with the conduct of some senior players, especially in the dying moments of the championship race last term where they disrupted training, demanding outstanding payments.
Informed sources said the events leading up to the Ngezi match, in particular, did not go down well with the club management, who have decided to ship out players who were fingered to have influenced others into boycotting training.
The conduct of these players is seen as one of the contributing factors for their failure to win the championship last term.
Efforts to get a comment from Caps management were fruitless yesterday.
Caps have been very active in the transfer market after coach Darlington Dodo was asked to push the refresh button.
The Harare giants have so far signed Leeroy Mavhunga from Yadah FC and Harare City forward Tatenda Tumba and are also reportedly still very active on the market targeting several stars as they prepare for the new season.
Caps will, however, find it difficult to fill the void left by Soccer Star of the Year Joel Ngodzo who departed for Zambia to join Buildcon following the expiry of his contract on December 31.
He has rushed to strip his deputy Constantino Chiwenga of powers of usurpation.
He has rushed to dilute the Human Rights Commission.
He feels unsettled by the opposition, MDC, the only party trusted and recognised by the economy as the legitimate winners of the 2018 polls. He fears opposition could use simple legal means, aided by the will of the masses buttressed by the will of desperate abused institutions, ligaments of government, to win a clean revolution.
His panicking is boldly reflected through his threats to repeat a military crackdown similar to the January 2019 one.
Farai Dziva| Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesman George Charamba has said there is nothing unusual, as his boss went on annual leave in the country amid speculation there is rising tension between Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.
“Where should he be for his holidays?? And how does remaining in the country – his country – amount to entrapment?,” said Charamba.
He continued by asking, “anyway, which vacation has he ever spent outside the country since?”
According to Acting Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba, Mnangagwa has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end January.
“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to advise that His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of the month.
During this period, Honourable Vice Presidents General (Rid) Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga and Colonel (Rid) Cde K.C.D. Mohadi, will take turns to act in his place, starting with Honourable Vice President Chiwenga.
The President will spend his vacation in the country,” said Charamba.
This follows a long period stretching more than a month the Zanu PF leader, has been caught on camera on several occasions, making loud visual-noises while holding his waist tight. The first time was on the day when his deputy general Constantino Chiwenga secretly flew into Zimbabwe. This was on the anniversary of his (Mnangagwa’s) coup presidency, the 23rd November after a mystery ridden 4 month medical sabbatical in China.
Mnangagwa has remained ‘trapped’ in the country. What is going on and what is he planning? This short documentary details the man’s survival plans between 2019 and 2020.
The following were some factual findings so far.
The government spokesman Nick Mangwana last month told ZimEye: “When HE leaves the country, you complain that he travels too much, he doesn’t stay at home. He stays at home you complain that he is not leaving the country. He is damned when he does and damned when he doesn’t. But being President, he always exercises his executive judgement.”
When is ED going for his annual leave, and why has he remained 'trapped' in Zimbabwe, spending his longest ever home stay period (since Nov coup) here since VP Chiwenga returned on 23rd Nov @Jamwanda2@nickmangwana ? When is he leaving the country in the hands of his deputies? pic.twitter.com/J7vVAR0Hoe
When HE leaves the country, you complain that he travels too much, he doesn't stay at home. He stays at home you complain that he is not leaving the country. He is damned when he does and damned when he doesn't. But being President, he always exercises his executive judgement
ANOTHER ROUND OF LIVE AMMUNITION AGAINST CIVILIANS…
Speaking at his party’s Goromonzi conference mid December, 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 crackdown. Last January when soldiers protested against the fuel price rise, (even criticised by pro ZANU countries such as Russia), his security minister 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 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 is planning a repeat of the same operation this January.
SHUTTING OUT CHIWENGA, MDC FROM ALL OPPORTUNITIES OF TAKING OVER.
Another very clear plot by the zanu-pf leader is that of shutting out his deputy from the coup days, Constantino Chiwenga from ever taking over power. It has already been discussed he has put in place a mechanism to ensure that the opposition MDC party never gets a legal advantange to take over from him, and this by heaping the blame, legal and penal, for the killings on them.
RETWEET! – Mnangagwa in Mwenezi clearly threatened brutality against doctors and lawyers also threatening to shorten the lives of people who make noise. pic.twitter.com/fJx5dOemL5
When Chiwenga returned to Zimbabwe from his sabbatical, Mnangagwa’s spokeman George Charamba did not at all celebrate the miraculous return. Instead he splashed litres of ink attacking China’s deputy ambassador for conducting a welcoming ceremony for the vice president at the RGM International Airport ahead of of senior government officials. Chiwenga had secretly flown into the country, aboard a Chinese jet paid for by the Asian nation’s government. To this Charamba complained against the Chinese envoy saying, itsitsi dzei? – what kind of sympathy is that?
A Mubaiwa (Chiwenga wife) uncle has described Chiwenga’s jetting into the country as treasonous, alluding that he invaded Zim airspace without informing aviation authorities in advance.
STRIPPING CHIWENGA OF POWERS TO REPLACE HIM.
In less than 30 days of Chiwenga’s return, Mnangagwa rushed to accelerate a bill that reduces his deputy to a mere apppointee who will never be able to replace him.
This is detailed in the following legal advisory by the Law Society which has complained that there is now a breakdown of Law and Order, as Mnangagwa gathers to himself more powers than his predecessor Robert Mugabe possessed.
MAKING VP, PROSECUTOR GENERAL, AND JUDGES MNANGAGWA’S OWN APPOINTEES SERVING AT HIS (PERSONAL) PLEASURE.
FULL TEXT- On the 17th of December 2019, Cabinet at its 45th meeting approved several amendments to the Constitution. Some of the notable proposed amendments relate to the appointments of Vice Presidents, the Prosecutor General, Public Protector, promotion of judges and the terms of office of judges. The other notable proposed amendments relate to the composition of the provincial councils and the extension of the provision on the women’s quota which was scheduled to end in 2023.
The Constitution provides for its amendment. Although amendments to the Constitution are allowed these ought to be necessary for the promotion of the rule of law and protection of the principles of democracy. Our Constitution is a democratic document which came out of extensive consultations. It is a national document which should be enduring. Amendments to the Constitution must be necessary for the enhancement of enshrined rights, accountability and good governance. Amendments must not be retrogressive.
In terms of Section 92 of the Constitution a presidential candidate chooses running mates who upon election become the national Vice Presidents. The rationale for these provision was to introduce non-disruptive succession planning whilst ensuring that in the event of a Vice President taking over the office of President he would be having the people’s mandate. The effect of the proposed amendment to Section 94 means that Vice Presidents will no longer be elected but appointed by the President. This removes the transparency and democratic process sought to be achieved by Section 92 in relation to the assumption of these important offices. In addition, the Vice President’s tenure will be at the pleasure of the President. An amendment is expected to cure a problem or mischief. This is not apparent in the present case. The proposed amendments further seek to change the procedures for the appointment of the Prosecutor General. The current procedure for the appointment of the Prosecutor General is similar to that of the judges. This is a transparent way of appointing this important office, which like the judiciary ought to enjoy prosecutorial independence. The proposed amendment whereby the President appoints the Prosecutor General upon consultation with the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) is reverting to the old constitution. The current provisions promote transparency in the appointment process. This will not be achieved under the proposed amendment. It is not clear what mischief the proposed amendment seeks to address. The fact of the matter though is that the amendment is retrogressive. It emasculates a position that is pivotal to our criminal justice. The amendment will remove the Prosecutor General’s independence. The appointment system also does not guarantee meritocracy as the basis for appointment. This cannot be achieved by simply consulting the JSC. In any case in terms of section 339, such consultation may not be binding on the President.
Section 180 sets out the conditions that must be met in relation to the appointment of judges. The proposed amendment seeks to provide for the President to appoint a sitting judge to a higher court upon consultation with JSC. This approach seeks to reverse the elaborate, and transparent system currently in place. It is not clear why we should depart from the current system. The proposed changes will take us back to the pre 2013 era where judicial appointments were shrouded in a veil of secrecy. The proposed extension of the tenure of judges albeit on a contract basis and subject to medical certification on fitness, is not desirable in a country with a vibrant legal profession. There are many legal practitioners who are fit to hold the office of judges. The introduction of the office of the Public Protector should be based on a true desire to achieve administrative justice especially by public offices. The 2013 Constitution deliberately omitted this institution on the basis that the functions could be effectively undertaken by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission. The Ministry of Justice was recently lamenting that this commission is under resourced. Instead of properly funding the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, the Cabinet is creating another institution which will have its own resource chewing bureaucracy. On the other hand, the present Constitution already provides for the establishment of an independent complaints mechanism to deal with misconduct by members of the security sector. This has not been instituted and yet Cabinet finds it necessary to create the public protector’s office. The Executive is failing to diligently and without delay perform all constitutional obligations as provided in Section 324.
The proposal to remove MPs and Senators from provincial councils also appear ill conceived. The presence of these members was supposed to bring the nexus between national and local development. The prosed amendments will perpetuate the disconnect between the national Programmes and the local/Provincial Programmes thus creating development inertia.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe reiterates that the provisions to the Constitution ought to be guarded jealously. Any proposed amendments to the Constitution should be for the people and by the people.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe further reiterates its position that the Constitution of Zimbabwe should be jealously guarded and protected in pursuance of the supremacy of the rule of law. The proposed amendments to the Constitution in the most, are unnecessary, retrogressive and are not in the interest of transparency, good governance and respect for the rule of law. Accordingly, the LSZ categorically denounces them.
Law Society of Zimbabwe “Committed to Justice and the Rule of Law.”
Heal Zimbabwe is gravely concerned by the escalation of cases of violence involving machete killings by artisan miners across the country. During the festive season, there were reports of one police officer who was hacked to death by the machete-wielding gangs at Good Hope Mine in Battlefields. On Christmas eve, a gold buyer suffered the same fate in Mvuma. Reports on machete violence shows that at least 105 people have been hacked to death in machete gang violence between August and October 2019 yet the violence continues escalating.
The ongoing killings come against a backdrop where there has not been adequate response by law enforcement agents. Heal Zimbabwe expresses concern that although the police have only issued warnings against machete killings and conduct investigations, machete gang killings and embarrassments remain rampant across the country. Heal Zimbabwe continues to receive widespread cases of machete gangs terrorizing villagers in areas such as Mazowe, Glendale, Chegutu, Kwekwe and Kadoma. To date, machete gangs continue to pose a serious threat to the prevalence of peace and social cohesion life in local communities. More worrying is that there are reports that there are some gangs that remain untouchable even by law enforcement agents due to their link to political elites. The culture of violence being perpetrated by the machete-wielding gangs is inimical to the promotion of social cohesion, peace, healing and reconciliation.
Heal Zimbabwe applauds the government for having formalized the operation of small-scale miners when it branded them artisanal miners. However, such a process was not followed up by robust conflict prevention and rehabilitation mechanisms to heal them of the violent culture that is associated with the sector. Quite worrying is that the conduct of artisanal miners lack cohesion, accountability, consistency and character modification, which form the nucleus of mining ethical codes of conduct, which include issues of safety etc.
In light of the above, Heal Zimbabwe implores the government to take punitive measures to ensure that sanity prevails in the extractive industry. This includes apprehending all artisan miners implicated in the killings and ensuring that the measures to quell violence in mining communities are put in place. Some of these mechanisms involve a multi-stakeholder engagement between government, and other responsible authorities where miners are trained and educated on policies and regulations that they must adhere to.
President Mnangagwa receives the first draft of The Africa Factbook, a much-awaited publication which seeks to change global perceptions about Africa from the Institute of African Knowledge chairperson Ambassador Simbi Mubako (second from right) while board members Pritchard Zhou (right), Baffour Ankomah (second from left) and CEO Kwame Tapiwa Muzawazi look on in Harare last Friday
State Media|The Institute of African Knowledge (IAK) last week presented to President Mnangagwa the first draft of The Africa Factbook, a publication which seeks to change global perceptions about the continent.
IAK is a Zimbabwe-based publishing house focusing on Pan-African content.
The draft was presented to the President at his Munhumutapa Offices by IAK board chairperson Ambassador Simbi Mubako, who was accompanied by board members Mr Baffour Ankomah and Mr Pritchard Zhou and chief executive officer Mr Kwame Tapiwa Muzawazi.
The inaugural edition would be published under the theme, “Busting the myths” meant to correct wrong information that over the last 500 years has negatively impacted on Africa’s image.
The Africa Factbook will contain useful facts about Africa and African peoples for the purpose of information dissemination, education, entertainment, reference, statistics and documentation.
Ambassador Mubako said it was about time Africans dispelled the notion that the continent had no history.
“There are too many myths about Africa that have actually made it to textbooks in world schools,” he said. “Myths such as that Africa has no history or that there are no inventors and discoverers from Africa.
“The Africa Factbook will show that Africa was and remains the backbone of world civilisation and it’s about time we unapologetically push for our right place in the annals of world history.”
In a statement yesterday, the IAK said President Mnangagwa had said the project would fly the national flag high.
“During the courtesy call, both President Mnangagwa and Ambassador Mubako said the project would fly the national flag high and was also endowed with diplomatic prestige, investment-boosting data and would consolidate Zimbabwe’s stature as an educational power house globally.”
The African Factbook was compiled by 45 researchers from across the world that gathered in Zimbabwe for 10 weeks between October and December last year.
It was born out of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the African Union Commission, the Government of Zimbabwe and IAK in April 2018. The Government agreed to host and support the production of the first edition.
“It is expected that upon publication, The Africa Factbook will become an official source of reference and facts about Africa,” said the IAK.
“President Mnangagwa is expected to contribute a foreword alongside President Ramaphosa of South Africa, who will be the 2020 Chairperson of the African Union.”
The African Union Commission has said the project is in line with the AU Pan African Vision of Agenda 2063 and Aspiration Five, which seeks to enhance the strong cultural identity, common heritage, values and ethics of Africa.
The book is expected to be published by the end of the month once member states complete the validation of the information it contains.
Vice President Kembo Mohadi’s estranged wife, Tambudzani, has vowed to attach her former husband’s property to enable her to get an equal share of the couple’s matrimonial property following the dissolution of their marriage in March last year.
This came after Mohadi approached the High Court in November last year seeking an order to nullify the two writs of execution obtained by his ex-wife against his movable and immovable properties.
But Tambudzani has challenged the application on the basis that it is fatally defective, wrong and bad at law.
“This application for review of a writ and draft order is fatally defective. Only a decision or proceedings of the court may be reviewed. A writ of execution is compiled by the register pursuant to a decision of the court and therefore the writ cannot be reviewed. The application as a whole is wrong and bad at law. The application is seeking to review a document, which is neither a decision nor proceedings,” Tambudzani said in her opposing affidavit.
She claimed Mohadi had failed to comply with a consent paper agreement which he signed and was registered as a court order by High Court judge Justice David Mangota on March 1, 2019.
But Mohadi accused Tambudzani of misinterpreting the terms of the consent paper.
He said the two writs of execution issued by the Registrar of the High Court on October 14, 2019 were grossly irregular, misleading and misrepresented the facts of the matter.
However, in her opposing affidavit, Tambudzani dismissed Mohadi’s claims, saying: “The parties have not failed to reach a consensus on how the consent paper should be interpreted and enforced.
The applicant (Mohadi) has failed to adhere to the terms of the consent paper which he willingly signed. The first respondent (Tambudzani) is proceeding to enforce the consent paper via the execution process provided by law. The writs issued are neither misleading nor a misrepresentation, but are in accordance with the consent paper.
“The first respondent conceded to this error and it has subsequently withdrawn the incorrect writ and the first respondent has issued out a new one as per the consent paper.”
By Ntokozo Msipa|As 2020 begins it drags with it a nagging pertinent question which 2019 posed to our national politics; one we must reflect upon with all the hopes and aspirations a new year inspires. Why not Saviour Kasukuwere?
It is an important consideration within our national pursuit for sustainable socio-economic development. Yet such reflection is made complex by the tragedy of our politics wherein Zimbabweans dictate that we must see only in black and white, Zanu PF or MDC, Lacoste or G40, all the while denying our future any flirtation with shades of grey best suited for the national interest.
Those daring to entertain the question are already condemned “enemies of the state”, a state beholden to the exclusive privilege of spent political elites that would rather see Zimbabwe wither and die with them, vindictively deny its inheritors. It has been the death of the political innovation Zimbabwe so desperately needs for the transformation we have had hope for.
Yes, Hope! It drove hysterical souls into the streets of November 2017 in misinformed celebration of a coup. That hope afforded President Mnangagwa goodwill and benefit of the doubt from Zimbabweans prepared to tolerate a reforming Zanu PF and state. I dare say even MDC would have had supporters rooting for a repentant Zanu PF. If that moment revealed anything it must be that politicians are weighed more by their ability to inspire hope into the future and less by their past misdeeds. Yet come 2020 the so called “new dispensation” has proved a farce presiding over the devaluation of hope. It justifies consideration for an alternative, hence “Why not Saviour Kasukuwere?”.
At 49 years old he has had nearly three decades of experience at the heart beat of Zimbabwe’s politics, rising from within Zanu PF’s youth league to an elected member of parliament and appointment to executive government.
After playing a key intelligence role during Zimbabwe’s fight against brutal Mozambiquean rebels along our Manicaland border Kasukuwere was amoung a generation of young politicians that broke into and navigated Zimbabwe’s post-independence exclusive politics. He became an ever present force of energy, boldness and determination, a political “Tyson”.
His drive to implement government’s indigenization and empowerment programe, in the face of systematic resistance, led to youth and local communities becoming the beneficiaries of programmes and funds created to support their economic participation.
The nation saw millions of dollars become available for empowerment and enterprise development within local communities long marginalized from opportunities for wealth creation. The bold initiatives were outdone by a hesitant and unsupportive government that failed to establish institutional frameworks to sustain them.
He remained undaunted by the systematic resistance and vilification of indigenization, including attacks from his ZANU PF party’s representatives in government. Saviour Kasukuwere is said to have once told the late Robert Mugabe that the President did not have support on indigenization from within his own government.
For his efforts that were clearly calculated to benefit ordinary Zimbabweans he was removed from that indigenization ministry post the 2013 elections. It was most likely due to pressure from within Zanu PF ranks in government concerned that his achievement in executing a government mandate would have become a powerful political platform for him.
The national impact could not be wished away. To this day our hope for economic growth based on broad participation remains simmering beneath the post-coup government policies favoring otherwise unwilling and uneasy foreigners at the exclusion of local more committed to our own economic transformation and equity.
Tyson’s political brawling was instrumental in inculcating the promise of empowerment into the economic DNA of ordinary Zimbabweans. The 2013 election convincingly won by Zanu PF was upon the gains of economic empowerment achieved under his watch.
Empowerment has remained the hope of local communities across the country, however much this “new dispensation” has sought to make it second class to foreign economic interests.
When he was moved to the “politically quieter” environment and climate ministry many thought his political presence would diminish. Yet Kasukuwere retained the public gaze, most notably as he rallied the government and international community in the fight against poaching and the wanton killing of elephants. That fight saw the judiciary imposing harsher sentences against poachers.
As local government minister he captured the headlines when he confidently took the fight to land barons ripping off desperate home seekers. It led to the establishment, by Cabinet, of the Land Commission of Inquiry into urban land allocations. He did it notwithstanding the financial muscle and political reach of the land barons that was indeed brought to bear upon him.
True, Kasukuwere’s time in government was not without allegations of corruption. Expectedly, the “new dispensation” government pursued his criminal prosecution. Knowing this Tyson still chose to return into the country to face the law and clear his name.
The Magistrates Court acquitted him of Initial charges of leaving the country illegally, ruling that he had to “run for his dear life” which was in danger following his home being riddled with bullets. The High Court of Zimbabwe subsequently quashed corruption charges against him, setting aside a magistrate’s earlier ruling which it determined was “outrageous” “biased” and made “under pressure from certain persons”. Tyson is a free man before the law, one forced into political exile.
What stands out from Saviour Kasukuwere’s service in government, that will likely play out most in the minds of Zimbabweans, is his passionate, bold and strong-willed brawling nature in furthering his mandate and the policies benefiting the people and nation. It is a record that demonstrates much probity in the exercise of his duties.
The Zimbabwean reality dictates that astute execution of government business is not enough to secure the condusive environment necessary for achieving the people’s aspirations? Political acumen and a tested resolve is critical to managing Zimbabwe’s complex adversarial political interests and engaging a disillusioned and divided people’s aspirations, while holding the nation’s centre together.
Kasukuwere was tried and tested in the exacting politics of Zanu PF, where he showed a talent for reading the political pulse and working with it. At his political heights as Zanu PF’s national political commissar we witnessed mobilization of the youth constituency in the “Million Man March” and subsequent youth rallies clearly calculated to redefine and renew Zanu PF.
His appointment as national political commissar seemed designed to have him at the heart of a Zanu PF party set on an inevitable path of political transformation. Robert Mugabe understood that it was a matter of transforming or dying for his party.
By the time the coup reversed a transformation well underway Zimbabwe had witness an old political guard outmaneuvered politically, only to have their political lifeline and its crippling entitlements now a threat to national interest restored militarily. Kasukuwere paid dearly for choosing to remain loyal to the Presidency than seek self-serving political expediency.
Even now we would have expected him to be spewing bitterness from the safety of exile, yet he seems to be exercising restraint. Zimbabwe is greater than the personal experience of one man. Rather, he has preferred to highlight mistakes of Zimbabwe’s government, past and current, calling upon shared responsibility and a new focus in the best interest of Zimbabweans.
It would not be a terrible bet that “Tyson” still holds some political cards to his chest. When, where and how he plays them remains his move in an increasingly restless environment, especially amoung socially and economically desperate Zimbabweans in communities that surely now remember Kasukuwere advocating for their economic empowerment.
These local constituencies had cultivated hope for economic opportunities to come their way. Such hope is a dying ember under the current austerity measures and policies advocating more for foreigners not providing any relief anyway. Ours is hope captured by a more ravenous entitlement and corruption.
It is hope fast faded within Zanu PF itself, where those tens of thousands of youth had been galvanized at youth rallies for the critical transformation of Zanu PF and, through its people centred policies, Zimbabwe. Then, they related to a new plan in which they were entrusted with forging their nation’s future. It’s a critical mass forced underground post the November 2017 coup and their captured party.
It is worth noting that this post-coup disenfranchised electoral mass has not seen joining the MDC as a political option. Their evident protest 2018 vote while embracing their Zanu PF party and its policies, rejected its presidency. They exist in a political vacuum, as if they wait for a signal to erupt back onto the political and economic scene decisively.
Their intent is apparent in the TysonWabantu movement picking up from the coup disrupted yet inevitable road toward political and socio-economic transformation. Kasukuwere’s ability to reengage this volcanic political mass will determine Zimbabwe’s political future.
It is not too far-fetched to imagine a 2023 election pitting Savior Kasukuwe leading a Zanu PF on the back of its 2018 two/thirds parliamentary majority, against Nelson Chamisa and his claim to a presidential victory that surely benefited from disgruntlement and apathy within Zanu PF’s post-coup vote.
So, Why not Saviour Kasukuwere? It is a question best answered on the political ground where the people’s memories and aspirations seek out hope and its promise of their Zimbabwe.
My parting biblical reflection is naturally on the spirituality of 40 and the hope associated with years of perseverance. Zimbabwe and its post-independence generation turn 40 this 2020. Could this be the true moment for a generation of 40 that must not to be condemned “enemies of the state” but whose aspirations and capacities shall have our Promised Land.
Hope inspired is a stubborn reality that shall make or destroy politicians.
Ukraine Airlines crashed under difficult to understand circumstances in Tehran.
News Agents|Iran launched a series of missiles at bases housing US troops in the early hours, officials in Washington and Tehran said.
A growing number of airlines said Wednesday they were avoiding Iranian and Iraqi airspace for flights to the region after Tehran fired ballistic missiles against bases housing US troops in Iraq.
“As a precautionary measure and following news of air strikes underway, Air France has decided to suspend until further notice all flights through Iranian and Iraqi airspace,” an Air France spokesman told AFP.
Iran launched a series of missiles at bases housing US troops in the early hours, officials in Washington and Tehran said.
Iran’s supreme leader called the attacks a “slap in the face” after a US drone strike killed Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani near Baghdad international airport last week.
Shortly after the missile attacks, the US Federal Aviation Administration said it was banning US-registered carriers from flying over Iraq, Iran and the Gulf.
Its Russian counterpart, the Federal Air Transport Agency, said it was recommending airlines avoid the air space over Iran, Iraq and the Persian and Oman Gulfs “due to information about current risks for safety of international passenger flights”.
The region is an important corridor for flights travelling between Europe and Asia, although planes can be rerouted.
A KLM spokesman told AFP: “Until further notice, KLM has no flights over Iranian or Iraqi airspace. All flights to different Southeast Asian destinations and other destinations in the Middle East will be flown through alternative routes.”
In Germany, Lufthansa said it had cancelled its daily flight to Tehran in addition to halting overflights of Iran and Iraq until further notice.
Own Correspondent|Acting Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba announced that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of January.
In Mnangagwa’s absence Vice Presidents, Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi will take turns to act in his capacity. Charamba said in a press statement:
The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to advise that His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of the month.
During this period, Honourable Vice Presidents General (Rid) Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga and Colonel (Rid) Cde K.C.D. Mohadi, will take turns to act in his place, starting with Honourable Vice President Chiwenga.
The President will spend his vacation in the country.
Farai Dziva| Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesman George Charamba has said there is nothing unusual, as his boss went on annual leave in the country amid speculation there is rising tension between Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.
“Where should he be for his holidays?? And how does remaining in the country – his country – amount to entrapment?,” said Charamba.
He continued by asking, “anyway, which vacation has he ever spent outside the country since?”
According to Acting Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba, Mnangagwa has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end January.
“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to advise that His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of the month.
During this period, Honourable Vice Presidents General (Rid) Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga and Colonel (Rid) Cde K.C.D. Mohadi, will take turns to act in his place, starting with Honourable Vice President Chiwenga.
The President will spend his vacation in the country,” said Charamba.
This follows a long period stretching more than a month the Zanu PF leader, has been caught on camera on several occasions, making loud visual-noises while holding his waist tight. The first time was on the day when his deputy general Constantino Chiwenga secretly flew into Zimbabwe. This was on the anniversary of his (Mnangagwa’s) coup presidency, the 23rd November after a mystery ridden 4 month medical sabbatical in China.
Mnangagwa has remained ‘trapped’ in the country. What is going on and what is he planning? This short documentary details the man’s survival plans between 2019 and 2020.
The following were some factual findings so far.
The government spokesman Nick Mangwana last month told ZimEye: “When HE leaves the country, you complain that he travels too much, he doesn’t stay at home. He stays at home you complain that he is not leaving the country. He is damned when he does and damned when he doesn’t. But being President, he always exercises his executive judgement.”
When is ED going for his annual leave, and why has he remained 'trapped' in Zimbabwe, spending his longest ever home stay period (since Nov coup) here since VP Chiwenga returned on 23rd Nov @Jamwanda2@nickmangwana ? When is he leaving the country in the hands of his deputies? pic.twitter.com/J7vVAR0Hoe
When HE leaves the country, you complain that he travels too much, he doesn't stay at home. He stays at home you complain that he is not leaving the country. He is damned when he does and damned when he doesn't. But being President, he always exercises his executive judgement
ANOTHER ROUND OF LIVE AMMUNITION AGAINST CIVILIANS…
Speaking at his party’s Goromonzi conference mid December, 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 crackdown. Last January when soldiers protested against the fuel price rise, (even criticised by pro ZANU countries such as Russia), his security minister 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 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 is planning a repeat of the same operation this January.
SHUTTING OUT CHIWENGA, MDC FROM ALL OPPORTUNITIES OF TAKING OVER.
Another very clear plot by the zanu-pf leader is that of shutting out his deputy from the coup days, Constantino Chiwenga from ever taking over power. It has already been discussed he has put in place a mechanism to ensure that the opposition MDC party never gets a legal advantange to take over from him, and this by heaping the blame, legal and penal, for the killings on them.
RETWEET! – Mnangagwa in Mwenezi clearly threatened brutality against doctors and lawyers also threatening to shorten the lives of people who make noise. pic.twitter.com/fJx5dOemL5
When Chiwenga returned to Zimbabwe from his sabbatical, Mnangagwa’s spokeman George Charamba did not at all celebrate the miraculous return. Instead he splashed litres of ink attacking China’s deputy ambassador for conducting a welcoming ceremony for the vice president at the RGM International Airport ahead of of senior government officials. Chiwenga had secretly flown into the country, aboard a Chinese jet paid for by the Asian nation’s government. To this Charamba complained against the Chinese envoy saying, itsitsi dzei? – what kind of sympathy is that?
A Mubaiwa (Chiwenga wife) uncle has described Chiwenga’s jetting into the country as treasonous, alluding that he invaded Zim airspace without informing aviation authorities in advance.
STRIPPING CHIWENGA OF POWERS TO REPLACE HIM.
In less than 30 days of Chiwenga’s return, Mnangagwa rushed to accelerate a bill that reduces his deputy to a mere apppointee who will never be able to replace him.
This is detailed in the following legal advisory by the Law Society which has complained that there is now a breakdown of Law and Order, as Mnangagwa gathers to himself more powers than his predecessor Robert Mugabe possessed.
MAKING VP, PROSECUTOR GENERAL, AND JUDGES MNANGAGWA’S OWN APPOINTEES SERVING AT HIS (PERSONAL) PLEASURE.
FULL TEXT- On the 17th of December 2019, Cabinet at its 45th meeting approved several amendments to the Constitution. Some of the notable proposed amendments relate to the appointments of Vice Presidents, the Prosecutor General, Public Protector, promotion of judges and the terms of office of judges. The other notable proposed amendments relate to the composition of the provincial councils and the extension of the provision on the women’s quota which was scheduled to end in 2023.
The Constitution provides for its amendment. Although amendments to the Constitution are allowed these ought to be necessary for the promotion of the rule of law and protection of the principles of democracy. Our Constitution is a democratic document which came out of extensive consultations. It is a national document which should be enduring. Amendments to the Constitution must be necessary for the enhancement of enshrined rights, accountability and good governance. Amendments must not be retrogressive.
In terms of Section 92 of the Constitution a presidential candidate chooses running mates who upon election become the national Vice Presidents. The rationale for these provision was to introduce non-disruptive succession planning whilst ensuring that in the event of a Vice President taking over the office of President he would be having the people’s mandate. The effect of the proposed amendment to Section 94 means that Vice Presidents will no longer be elected but appointed by the President. This removes the transparency and democratic process sought to be achieved by Section 92 in relation to the assumption of these important offices. In addition, the Vice President’s tenure will be at the pleasure of the President. An amendment is expected to cure a problem or mischief. This is not apparent in the present case. The proposed amendments further seek to change the procedures for the appointment of the Prosecutor General. The current procedure for the appointment of the Prosecutor General is similar to that of the judges. This is a transparent way of appointing this important office, which like the judiciary ought to enjoy prosecutorial independence. The proposed amendment whereby the President appoints the Prosecutor General upon consultation with the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) is reverting to the old constitution. The current provisions promote transparency in the appointment process. This will not be achieved under the proposed amendment. It is not clear what mischief the proposed amendment seeks to address. The fact of the matter though is that the amendment is retrogressive. It emasculates a position that is pivotal to our criminal justice. The amendment will remove the Prosecutor General’s independence. The appointment system also does not guarantee meritocracy as the basis for appointment. This cannot be achieved by simply consulting the JSC. In any case in terms of section 339, such consultation may not be binding on the President.
Section 180 sets out the conditions that must be met in relation to the appointment of judges. The proposed amendment seeks to provide for the President to appoint a sitting judge to a higher court upon consultation with JSC. This approach seeks to reverse the elaborate, and transparent system currently in place. It is not clear why we should depart from the current system. The proposed changes will take us back to the pre 2013 era where judicial appointments were shrouded in a veil of secrecy. The proposed extension of the tenure of judges albeit on a contract basis and subject to medical certification on fitness, is not desirable in a country with a vibrant legal profession. There are many legal practitioners who are fit to hold the office of judges. The introduction of the office of the Public Protector should be based on a true desire to achieve administrative justice especially by public offices. The 2013 Constitution deliberately omitted this institution on the basis that the functions could be effectively undertaken by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission. The Ministry of Justice was recently lamenting that this commission is under resourced. Instead of properly funding the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, the Cabinet is creating another institution which will have its own resource chewing bureaucracy. On the other hand, the present Constitution already provides for the establishment of an independent complaints mechanism to deal with misconduct by members of the security sector. This has not been instituted and yet Cabinet finds it necessary to create the public protector’s office. The Executive is failing to diligently and without delay perform all constitutional obligations as provided in Section 324.
The proposal to remove MPs and Senators from provincial councils also appear ill conceived. The presence of these members was supposed to bring the nexus between national and local development. The prosed amendments will perpetuate the disconnect between the national Programmes and the local/Provincial Programmes thus creating development inertia.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe reiterates that the provisions to the Constitution ought to be guarded jealously. Any proposed amendments to the Constitution should be for the people and by the people.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe further reiterates its position that the Constitution of Zimbabwe should be jealously guarded and protected in pursuance of the supremacy of the rule of law. The proposed amendments to the Constitution in the most, are unnecessary, retrogressive and are not in the interest of transparency, good governance and respect for the rule of law. Accordingly, the LSZ categorically denounces them.
Law Society of Zimbabwe “Committed to Justice and the Rule of Law.”
Correspondent|The Civil Protection Unit (CPU) says it is on high alert for any disasters, including floods or any unexpected eventuality.
This came after the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) warned of isolated thunderstorms, which may cause floods and damage to property in the coming week.
CPU director Mr Nathan Nkomo said they were ready to cope with any eventuality.
“All our committees are aware and on high alert, our committees in those respective areas mentioned have been activated,” he said.
“Provincial, District Development Coordinators are to ensure all civil protection structures at sub-national levels including schools are aware of this flooding alert,” said Mr Nkomo.
He said together with the MSD they will be closely monitoring the situation.
Mr Nkomo said the CPU was in the process of disbursing money to provincial committees.
He said drawing experiences from the destructive Cyclone Idai last year, they will be carrying out awareness programmes for people living in flood prone areas.
MSD deputy director Weather Forecasting, Mrs Linia Gopo warned people in Manicaland, Midlands and Matabeleland provinces to brace for thunderstorms in the coming days.
“Soon isolated thunderstorms may be experienced in Matabeleland North, Mashonaland, northern part of the Midlands and northern parts of Manicaland.
“These thunderstorms will not bring much rainfall, they will bring showers that will be thundering in some places, accompanied by lighting, hail and strong winds,” she said.
Mrs Gopo also warned that the strong winds might blow away roofs.
There has been confusion over Tenax’s Castle Lager Premiership franchise after media reports claimed that they have sold it to TelOne.
The Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services-owned club won the Eastern Region Division One championship but, according to the claims, they have been forced to sell it due to lack of resources.
The other reported reason for the sale of the franchise is that ZPCS already have another team – Whawha – in the top-flight.
But the club’s chairman Stefani Masina has dismissed that his side has sold its concession to TelOne.
Diamond FM sportscaster, Tafadzwa “Mr Tich” Tichawangana, confirmed the new developments.Soccer 24
By A Correspondent- The president Emmerson Mnangagwa has expressed his sadness over the passing on of Zimbabwe’s first Agricultural Minister Denis Norman.
In his condolence statement, the President described Norman as a unifier and said:
A long time leader of the agriculture sector before our independence in 1980, Mr Norman was among a handful of white leaders who offered to serve under a black-majority government at independence, thus validating our policy of national reconciliation following 15 years of our armed struggle against white settler colonialism
This was a bold gesture which ended racial polarisation and laid a lasting basis for racial amity and peace in the country
As a Minister in government, Mr Norman worked hard towards a unified, non racial agricultural sector where farmers related to each other and collaborated on grounds of their calling, and not along the racial divide of colonial times
Denis succumbed to cancer on 20 December 2019. He was the first agricultural minister and was later moved to the transport ministry where he was part of the Beira Corridor initiative.
Farai Dziva|The Zimbabwe Football Association Technical and Development Committee says the appointment of a new Warriors coach will be influenced by the football body’s financial ability.
The national team has not had a substantive mentor since the resignation of Sunday Chidzambwa in August this year.
Joey Antipas took over the reins on an interim basis in a contract which lasted until the end of 2019.
“Our appointment will be influenced by the association’s financial ability because it won’t make any sense for us to appoint someone that we will not be able to pay,” ZIFA said, according to Chronicle.
“It’s something we will avoid at all costs, especially when it comes to foreigners because FIFA doesn’t take kindly to ill-treatment of foreigners and we have a nasty experience as a country regarding that.”
Only one local coach Joey Antipas applied for the job while twelve foreign gaffers including Spaniard Manuel “Manolo” Márquez Roca, Serbian Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic, Dutchman Erol Akbay and German gaffer Hans Michael Weiss are said to have also forwarded their CVs.
Farai Dziva|Sadio Mane has won the 2019 African Player of the Year for the first time at the CAF Awards held on Tuesday in Cairo, Egypt.
The Senegalese forward beat the competition of his Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah and Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez to win the prize.
Other winners on the night include former Esperance winger Youcef Belaïli who won the Interclubs Player of the Year award while Achraf Hakimi took home the Youth Player of the Year gong.
Mahrez’s freekick against Nigeria in the 2019 Total AFCON semi-finals won the Best Goal award.
South Africa’s women national team coach Desiree Ellis is the only Southern African to win at the awards after she was named Women’s Coach of the Year.
Full list of winners at the CAF Awards 2019:
African Player of the Year
Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)
African Interclubs Player of the Year
Youcef Belaïli (Algeria & Esperance / Ahli Jeddah)
African Youth Player of the Year
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Borussia Dortmund)
African Men’s Coach of the Year
Djamel Belmadi (Algeria – Algeria)
African Men’s National Team of the Year
Algeria
African Women’s Player of the Year
Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Barcelona)
African Women’s Coach of the Year
Desiree Ellis (South Africa)
African Women’s National Team of the Year
Cameroon
Best FA Award
Egypt
Goal of the Year
Riyad Mahrez (vs Nigeria at AFCON 2019)
African Club President of the Year award
Moise Katumbi (TP Mazembe)
Special Award
Kodjovi Obilale, a former Togo goalkeeper who was injured in a terrorist attack on the team’s bus in 2010.
Africa Best XI: Andre Onana, Achraf Hakimi, Kalidou Koulibaly, Joel Matip, Serge Aurier, Riyad Mahrez, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Hakim Ziyech, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
By A Correspondent- Two people died on the spot, while four others were seriously injured after a Harare bound bus collided with a Toyota fun cargo near the 320 kilometre peg along the Harare-Bulawayo highway this Wednesday morning.
Two people who died in the accident were travelling in the Toyota Fun Cargo whose driver was seriously injured.
The bus was travelling from Botswana to Harare while the Toyota Fun cargo was travelling in the opposite direction when the accident occurred.
Midlands provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Joel Goko says they are investigating a possible culpable homicide case against the bus driver.
Initial police investigations show that the bus driver tried to overtake near a curve before encroaching into the opposite lane resulting in the head-on collision.
The injured who include some foreign nationals were taken to Gweru central hospital for medical attention.
Inspector Goko appealed to drivers to exercise caution and avoid speeding on the roads to preserve lives.
This follows another road accident which occurred yesterday at Tshipangali area in Esigodini in which three people died while others were injured in a Zupco bus accident. The bus was travelling from Beitbridge to Bulawayo.
According to Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Matabeleland South Provincial Spokesperson, Chief Inspector Philisani Ndebele, the driver of the bus was speeding and failed to adjust following rains which fell in the area yesterday, he then failed to control the bus which veered off the road and overturned, killing three victims on the spot. -StateMedia
SEH Calaz has denied imitating Winky D after he recently posted an image wearing a red and white jersey meant for Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZOCS) inmates.
Bigman recently wore the prisoners jersey at his Njema album launch held at HICC as the title track of his album has lyrics which metaphorically expresses mental imprisonment.
Winky D
A few days after the launch, the Mabhanditi boss posted an image on social media wearing the red and white stripped jersey with the caption “Ndini muridzi wejuzi Bhandit rine nharo”.
In an interview with H-Metro, Seh Calaz publicist George Damson refused the claims that Calaz was copying the Gafa.
Damson said Calaz was reassuring Zim dancehall fans that he owns the Mabhanditi tag.
“Calaz doesn’t need to imitate Winky D. Winky D is not a deity.
“The jersey is synonymous with prisoners as you know and Calaz has been long associated with prisoners from the start of his career, hence the Banditi moniker as you know that people euphemistically refer to prisoners as bandits,” he said.
“He has worked and continues to work with Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services by reaching out to inmates and supporting them materially and also emotionally.H-Metro
Politics must always be an instrument used to build rather than destroy people’s lives.I was sent this video by a fellow citizen. This has really touched me. pic.twitter.com/1vZN7BKQ0r
Politics must always be an instrument used to build rather than destroy people’s lives.I was sent this video by a fellow citizen. This has really touched me. pic.twitter.com/1vZN7BKQ0r
By Lloyd Mupfudze- In his 2020 national budget statement on November 14,2019 the Minister of finance and economic development professor Mthuli Ncube correctly states that corruption causes economic malaise, wastage of public resources, jeopardises the environment for domestic and foreign investment and reinforces political instability.
Minister Ncube listed various strategies the government will take to curb corruption in Zimbabwe.
Whilst some of the strategies are key in the fight against corruption, government stand accused of taking it too long to come up with legislation to enforce chapter 9 of the constitution.
Section 194 talks about the basic values and principles governing public administration. Section 198 states that, “An act of Parliament must provide measures to enforce the provisions of this chapter, including measures requiring public officers to make regular disclosures of their assets, (b) establishing codes of conduct to be observed by public officers….”
Why is it taking so long for
the government to introduce the legislation given the magnitude of the problem?
The government’s reluctance to come up with the legislation
shows the government’s lack of political will to lead by example and to combat
the endemic and grand corruption which has continued to have corrosive effects
on the socio and economic rights of millions of Zimbabweans.
I have repeatedly heard from different segments of
society that the government anti-corruption drive is nothing but just “a catch
and release strategy”. The government cannot be said to be taking a strong
stance in the fight against corruption and impunity if it is failing or neglecting
the implementation of chapter 9 of the constitution.
There have been efforts to combat corruption but have been concentrated at national level by the anti-corruption commission. There is not much that have been happening at local level.
Efforts to control corruption at local government level are dealt with by local government minister who have been accused of taking a partisan approach when it comes to dealing with corruption.
Declaration or disclosure of assets is now part of the constitution what is now left is for the government to enact an enabling law as provided for in the supreme law. Requiring public officials to provide lists of their assets and interests is one of the most effective means of preventing and identifying corruption.
According to a 2012 publication by the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Public Office, Private Interests: Accountability through Income and Asset Disclosure, it has been noted that addressing corruption needs to be done on two simultaneous fronts: prevention and enforcement.
Income and asset disclosure systems are recognised as an anti-corruption tool that can potentially support both prevention and enforcement.
According to this publication, there are three main benefits of financial disclosure: detecting and preventing corrupt behaviour and conflicts of interests; building integrity in public service; and enhancing public confidence in the integrity of government.
There is need for an entity that manages the register of assets. In many parts of the world the issue of asset declaration has become key in the fight against corruption. Rwanda introduced it and have an online system every citizen can go online and see what their leaders or public officials owns. South Africa have also implemented a declaration of assets.
Even in South Sudan, the world’s youngest country asset disclosure has become a focal point in the fight against corruption.
Declaration
of asset and financial disclosure is a sign of commitment to transparency and accountability.
It also promotes public trust in government.
Farai Dziva|Dancehall star Seh Calaz has said Winky D is not a deity.
Responding to claims the dancehall star is imitating Winky D, Seh Calaz’s publicist George Damsom vehemently dismissed the assertion.
See below an article published by H- Metro:
SEH Calaz has denied imitating Winky D after he recently posted an image wearing a red and white jersey meant for Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZOCS) inmates.
Bigman recently wore the prisoners jersey at his Njema album launch held at HICC as the title track of his album has lyrics which metaphorically expresses mental imprisonment.
Winky D
A few days after the launch, the Mabhanditi boss posted an image on social media wearing the red and white stripped jersey with the caption “Ndini muridzi wejuzi Bhandit rine nharo”.
In an interview with H-Metro, Seh Calaz publicist George Damson refused the claims that Calaz was copying the Gafa.
Damson said Calaz was reassuring Zim dancehall fans that he owns the Mabhanditi tag.
“Calaz doesn’t need to imitate Winky D. Winky D is not a deity.
“The jersey is synonymous with prisoners as you know and Calaz has been long associated with prisoners from the start of his career, hence the Banditi moniker as you know that people euphemistically refer to prisoners as bandits,” he said.
“He has worked and continues to work with Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services by reaching out to inmates and supporting them materially and also emotionally.
Farai Dziva|Dancehall star Seh Calaz has said Winky D is not a deity.
Responding to claims the dancehall star is imitating Winky D, Seh Calaz’s publicist George Damsom vehemently dismissed the assertion.
See below an article published by H- Metro:
SEH Calaz has denied imitating Winky D after he recently posted an image wearing a red and white jersey meant for Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZOCS) inmates.
Bigman recently wore the prisoners jersey at his Njema album launch held at HICC as the title track of his album has lyrics which metaphorically expresses mental imprisonment.
Winky D
A few days after the launch, the Mabhanditi boss posted an image on social media wearing the red and white stripped jersey with the caption “Ndini muridzi wejuzi Bhandit rine nharo”.
In an interview with H-Metro, Seh Calaz publicist George Damson refused the claims that Calaz was copying the Gafa.
Damson said Calaz was reassuring Zim dancehall fans that he owns the Mabhanditi tag.
“Calaz doesn’t need to imitate Winky D. Winky D is not a deity.
“The jersey is synonymous with prisoners as you know and Calaz has been long associated with prisoners from the start of his career, hence the Banditi moniker as you know that people euphemistically refer to prisoners as bandits,” he said.
“He has worked and continues to work with Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services by reaching out to inmates and supporting them materially and also emotionally.
Iran is refusing to hand over the black box of the doomed Ukrainian airliner to Boeing amid an investigation into what caused the crash that killed all 176 people aboard the flight out of Tehran early Wednesday, according to a report.
Ali Abedzadeh, the head of Tehran’s civil aviation organization, told Mehr news agency in Tehran that Iran has not made a decision on which country or international authority it would send the black box to for its data to be analyzed, Reuters reported.
The Boeing Company is an American aerospace company headquartered out of Chicago. It is the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial jet transports. Boeing also designs, manufactures and sells military aircraft, helicopters, space vehicles, missiles and communication equipment worldwide.
The crash of the Ukraine International Airlines flight came hours after Iran fired as many as 15 ballistic missiles on Iraqi bases housing U.S. soldiers in a major retaliation by the rogue regime after the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani last week.
No Americans were aboard the flight. Three Britons, three Germans, 63 Canadians, 10 Swedes, 11 Ukrainians, 82 Iranians and four Afghans died in the crash, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry Vadym Prystaiko said.
The timing of the crash fueled speculation on social media that the earlier missile strike played a role in the crash shortly after takeoff from the Imam Khomeini International Airport, but authorities have pointed to a mechanical issue.
Qassem Biniaz, a spokesman for Iran’s Road and Transportation Ministry, said one of the plane’s engines caught fire, causing the pilot to lose control of the aircraft, sending it crashing to the ground.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has dismissed social media reports that it has completed the recruitment of 5 000 teachers.
In a statement, Primary and Secondary Education Secretary Mrs Tumisang Thabela said Government is aware of a fake list of names of “successful candidates” circulating on social media.
“As the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education takes concrete steps to fill the approved 5 000 vacant teacher positions, it has come to our attention that social media users have generated a list of those who have been allegedly successful,” she said.
She said approved lists will be published through relevant channels and the Ministry does not use social media to share such information.
“The Ministry would like to inform the nation that the final approved lists will be issued through the formal channels of the Government and Ministry, under the signature of the Permanent Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education, advising of the approval by the Public Service Commission.
“Prospective teachers and the nation at large are urged to disregard the cooked up list on social media and await the authentic notification. The Ministry does not use the social media for such key information sharing,” she said.
Teacher organisations applauded the recruitment and said it will help a great deal in bridging the teacher deficit at schools.
They emphasised the need to engage qualified teachers for optimum lesson delivery.
Rural Teachers Association of Zimbabwe (RTUZ) president Mr Obert Masaraure said more still needs to be done so that the teacher to pupil ratio tallies.
“We welcome the move by Government as our schools are in desperate need of teaching staff.
However, the number falls short and will not bridge the deficit in our classrooms. There are still big gaps which need more teachers,” he said.
Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA) chief executive Mr Sifiso Ndlovu concurred.
“We would like the Government to increase the number of teachers to meet the demand of teacher to student ratio because the current teachers are less than 20 000,” he said.-state media
Farai Dziva|A team of health experts known as Zimbabwe Online Health Centre has launched an online platform for the provision of healthcare services.
Zimbabwe Online Health Centre’ s main objective is to provide healthcare to rural and urban communities via digital communication.
“We will interact with clients on the Facebook platform through – voice calls, video calls and chats…
We will also share videos and articles on health matters on the page.
This effectively means those seeking advice on health matters can chat with the doctor online.This is meant to reduce the distance between the client and the health team.For more information kindly follow and like our Facebook page: Zimbabwe Online Health Centre.
Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa will spend his annual in the country amid speculation there is rising tension between him and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.
According to Acting Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba, Mnangagwa has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end January.
“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to advise that His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of the month.
During this period, Honourable Vice Presidents General (Rid) Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga and Colonel (Rid) Cde K.C.D. Mohadi, will take turns to act in his place, starting with Honourable Vice President Chiwenga.
The President will spend his vacation in the country,” said Charamba.
This follows a long period stretching more than a month the Zanu PF leader, has been caught on camera on several occasions, making loud visual-noises while holding his waist tight. The first time was on the day when his deputy general Constantino Chiwenga secretly flew into Zimbabwe. This was on the anniversary of his (Mnangagwa’s) coup presidency, the 23rd November after a mystery ridden 4 month medical sabbatical in China.
Mnangagwa has remained ‘trapped’ in the country. What is going on and what is he planning? This short documentary details the man’s survival plans between 2019 and 2020.
The following were some factual findings so far.
The government spokesman Nick Mangwana last month told ZimEye: “When HE leaves the country, you complain that he travels too much, he doesn’t stay at home. He stays at home you complain that he is not leaving the country. He is damned when he does and damned when he doesn’t. But being President, he always exercises his executive judgement.”
When is ED going for his annual leave, and why has he remained 'trapped' in Zimbabwe, spending his longest ever home stay period (since Nov coup) here since VP Chiwenga returned on 23rd Nov @Jamwanda2@nickmangwana ? When is he leaving the country in the hands of his deputies? pic.twitter.com/J7vVAR0Hoe
When HE leaves the country, you complain that he travels too much, he doesn't stay at home. He stays at home you complain that he is not leaving the country. He is damned when he does and damned when he doesn't. But being President, he always exercises his executive judgement
ANOTHER ROUND OF LIVE AMMUNITION AGAINST CIVILIANS.
Speaking at his party’s Goromonzi conference mid December, 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 crackdown. Last January when soldiers protested against the fuel price rise, (even criticised by pro ZANU countries such as Russia), his security minister 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 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 is planning a repeat of the same operation this January.
SHUTTING OUT CHIWENGA, MDC FROM ALL OPPORTUNITIES OF TAKING OVER.
Another very clear plot by the zanu-pf leader is that of shutting out his deputy from the coup days, Constantino Chiwenga from ever taking over power. It has already been discussed he has put in place a mechanism to ensure that the opposition MDC party never gets a legal advantange to take over from him, and this by heaping the blame, legal and penal, for the killings on them.
RETWEET! – Mnangagwa in Mwenezi clearly threatened brutality against doctors and lawyers also threatening to shorten the lives of people who make noise. pic.twitter.com/fJx5dOemL5
When Chiwenga returned to Zimbabwe from his sabbatical, Mnangagwa’s spokeman George Charamba did not at all celebrate the miraculous return. Instead he splashed litres of ink attacking China’s deputy ambassador for conducting a welcoming ceremony for the vice president at the RGM International Airport ahead of of senior government officials. Chiwenga had secretly flown into the country, aboard a Chinese jet paid for by the Asian nation’s government. To this Charamba complained against the Chinese envoy saying, itsitsi dzei? – what kind of sympathy is that?
A Mubaiwa (Chiwenga wife) uncle has described Chiwenga’s jetting into the country as treasonous, alluding that he invaded Zim airspace without informing aviation authorities in advance.
STRIPPING CHIWENGA OF POWERS TO REPLACE HIM.
In less than 30 days of Chiwenga’s return, Mnangagwa rushed to accelerate a bill that reduces his deputy to a mere apppointee who will never be able to replace him.
This is detailed in the following legal advisory by the Law Society which has complained that there is now a breakdown of Law and Order, as Mnangagwa gathers to himself more powers than his predecessor Robert Mugabe possessed.
MAKING VP, PROSECUTOR GENERAL, AND JUDGES MNANGAGWA’S OWN APPOINTEES SERVING AT HIS (PERSONAL) PLEASURE.
FULL TEXT- On the 17th of December 2019, Cabinet at its 45th meeting approved several amendments to the Constitution. Some of the notable proposed amendments relate to the appointments of Vice Presidents, the Prosecutor General, Public Protector, promotion of judges and the terms of office of judges. The other notable proposed amendments relate to the composition of the provincial councils and the extension of the provision on the women’s quota which was scheduled to end in 2023.
The Constitution provides for its amendment. Although amendments to the Constitution are allowed these ought to be necessary for the promotion of the rule of law and protection of the principles of democracy. Our Constitution is a democratic document which came out of extensive consultations. It is a national document which should be enduring. Amendments to the Constitution must be necessary for the enhancement of enshrined rights, accountability and good governance. Amendments must not be retrogressive.
In terms of Section 92 of the Constitution a presidential candidate chooses running mates who upon election become the national Vice Presidents. The rationale for these provision was to introduce non-disruptive succession planning whilst ensuring that in the event of a Vice President taking over the office of President he would be having the people’s mandate. The effect of the proposed amendment to Section 94 means that Vice Presidents will no longer be elected but appointed by the President. This removes the transparency and democratic process sought to be achieved by Section 92 in relation to the assumption of these important offices. In addition, the Vice President’s tenure will be at the pleasure of the President. An amendment is expected to cure a problem or mischief. This is not apparent in the present case. The proposed amendments further seek to change the procedures for the appointment of the Prosecutor General. The current procedure for the appointment of the Prosecutor General is similar to that of the judges. This is a transparent way of appointing this important office, which like the judiciary ought to enjoy prosecutorial independence. The proposed amendment whereby the President appoints the Prosecutor General upon consultation with the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) is reverting to the old constitution. The current provisions promote transparency in the appointment process. This will not be achieved under the proposed amendment. It is not clear what mischief the proposed amendment seeks to address. The fact of the matter though is that the amendment is retrogressive. It emasculates a position that is pivotal to our criminal justice. The amendment will remove the Prosecutor General’s independence. The appointment system also does not guarantee meritocracy as the basis for appointment. This cannot be achieved by simply consulting the JSC. In any case in terms of section 339, such consultation may not be binding on the President.
Section 180 sets out the conditions that must be met in relation to the appointment of judges. The proposed amendment seeks to provide for the President to appoint a sitting judge to a higher court upon consultation with JSC. This approach seeks to reverse the elaborate, and transparent system currently in place. It is not clear why we should depart from the current system. The proposed changes will take us back to the pre 2013 era where judicial appointments were shrouded in a veil of secrecy.
The proposed extension of the tenure of judges albeit on a contract basis and subject to medical certification on fitness, is not desirable in a country with a vibrant legal profession. There are many legal practitioners who are fit to hold the office of judges.
The introduction of the office of the Public Protector should be based on a true desire to achieve administrative justice especially by public offices. The 2013 Constitution deliberately omitted this institution on the basis that the functions could be effectively undertaken by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission. The Ministry of Justice was recently lamenting that this commission is under resourced. Instead of properly funding the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, the Cabinet is creating another institution which will have its own resource chewing bureaucracy. On the other hand, the present Constitution already provides for the establishment of an independent complaints mechanism to deal with misconduct by members of the security sector. This has not been instituted and yet Cabinet finds it necessary to create the public protector’s office. The Executive is failing to diligently and without delay perform all constitutional obligations as provided in Section 324.
The proposal to remove MPs and Senators from provincial councils also appear ill conceived. The presence of these members was supposed to bring the nexus between national and local development. The prosed amendments will perpetuate the disconnect between the national Programmes and the local/Provincial Programmes thus creating development inertia.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe reiterates that the provisions to the Constitution ought to be guarded jealously. Any proposed amendments to the Constitution should be for the people and by the people.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe further reiterates its position that the Constitution of Zimbabwe should be jealously guarded and protected in pursuance of the supremacy of the rule of law. The proposed amendments to the Constitution in the most, are unnecessary, retrogressive and are not in the interest of transparency, good governance and respect for the rule of law. Accordingly, the LSZ categorically denounces them.
Law Society of Zimbabwe
“Committed to Justice and the Rule of Law.”
Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa will spend his annual in the country amid speculation there is rising tension between him and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.
According to Acting Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba, Mnangagwa has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end January.
“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to advise that His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of the month.
During this period, Honourable Vice Presidents General (Rid) Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga and Colonel (Rid) Cde K.C.D. Mohadi, will take turns to act in his place, starting with Honourable Vice President Chiwenga.
The President will spend his vacation in the country,” said Charamba.
