By Own Correspondent| United States of America President Donald Trump has warned the Islamic Republic of Iran that he will “HIT VERY FAST AND HARD” on Iranian targets if it dares attack America.
President Trump said the US has identified 52 Iranian sites, some “at a very high level and important to Iran and the Iranian culture” that will be targeted for attack.
Trump issued the threats through microblogging site Twitter, at a time when there is simmering tension between the two rivals.
On Saturday, a huge funeral procession for General Soleimani was held in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, where he was killed in a targeted drone strike on Friday as he left the airport in a convoy.
Mourners waved Iraqi and militia flags and chanted “death to America”.
The US killed the 62-year-old Soleimani because he was the head of Iran’s Middle East operations as head of the elite Quds Force.
The US had branded the commander and the Quds Force terrorists, holding them responsible for the deaths of hundreds of US personnel.
At the time of his death, General Soleimani was widely seen as the second most powerful figure in Iran, behind Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
-BBC
The United States Africa Command (Africom) has confirmed that an attack was carried out on its Manda Bay Airfield in Kenya, with Islamist militant organisation Al-Shabaab claiming responsibility.
In a statement on Twitter, Africom did not provide details on the attack but promised to do so “as facts and details emerge”.
The post read:
U.S. Africa Command acknowledges there was an attack at Manda Bay Airfield, Kenya and is monitoring the situation. Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the incident. As facts and details emerge, we will provide an update.
On Friday, a US airstrike killed the Iranian Quds Force commander, General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq. He was the head of Iran’s Middle East operations as head of the elite Quds Force.
Meanwhile, there are fears that Iran will avenge Soleiman’s death by attacking US targets in Africa with some reports suggesting that the elite Quds Force has active cells in Sudan, Chad, Ghana, Niger, The Gambia and the Central African Republic. @USAfricaCommand
VIDEO LOADING BELOW…
By Own Correspondent| Zimbabwean traders are reportedly trading using the banned foreign currency citing the rapid rate at which the local currency is shedding value against other currencies.
A local pubpication reported that most businesses in Manicaland were trading in the South African Rand although saying most of the residents had the Rand from their beloved ones in South Africa.
The publication further reports that businesses, however, give their customers the local currency as change.
One trader in Chisumbanje who spoke to the Standard said:
We don’t have an option here. We get rand from our customers and we give them change in Zimbabwe dollar. Ecocash or mobile money transactions are not popular here.
In June last year, the government introduced Statutory Instrument 142 which banned the use of all foreign currencies for domestic transactions.
Through the same SI, the Zimbabwe dollar was reintroduced and was made the sole legal tender. The move was castigated by several analysts who observed that authorities had not created a conducive environment first.
-Standard
Correspondent|Kwekwe ZANU PF losing candidate for Mbizo Constituency, in the 2018 elections, Vongaishe Mupereri has in the video below threatened to unleash “the famous boys” if residents snub a ZANU PF meeting.
It is believed that Mupereri referred to Mashurugwi and or Al Shabab, who are notorious machete gangs operating mostly in the area.
There have been rumors suggesting that these machete gangs have strong links with prominent people hence their arrogance and impunity.
Pindula
News of The South|The high number of plant breakdowns at South Africa’s power utility Eskom are likely going to result in load-shedding by mid-January, energy commentator Chris Yelland has forecasted.
With demand at about 4 000MW lower than normal, Eskom has got by without the need to drop customers from the grid since mid-December.
However, unplanned breakdowns have been far higher than Eskom’s desirable threshold of 9 500MW, with the result that when demand rises, there will be little power.
“The risk of load-shedding remains high as the level of plant breakdowns has been trending above the low-risk level of below 10 500MW,” read a statement from Eskom.
Over the holiday period, unplanned breakdowns ranged between 12 500MW and 14 500MW. On Friday, unplanned breakdowns were at 14 096MW.
“The short and tall of it is that from the low demand at the end of December 2019, one can expect an increase in demand of about 4 000 MW in week three and four of January,” said Yelland.
On most days over the holiday period, Eskom had less than 30 000MW of dispatchable energy at its disposal.
Honorable Job Sikhala is currently facing a spurious trumped up treason charge for exercising his right of freedom of expression under Section 61 of the Zimbabwe Constitution and as a member of Parliament and National Vice Chairperson of the Movement for Democratic Change.
We are calling upon democracy-loving and freedom believing Zimbabweans to assist generously towards the January 27 to 30, 2020 trial which requires an immense amount of logistical and legal fees for both the advocacy and defence programs. A number of lawyers will be assisting in this historical trial and myriads of supporters will be converging in Masvingo in solidarity. Transport, food and a massive media campaign will be needed. In the spirit of freedom, justice, and solidarity lets show the authorities that the constitution of Zimbabwe is sacrosanct and defend our fundamental human rights enshrined therein.
Posterity will remain forever indebted to those who will donate in defence of fundamental rights and end this abuse of the constitution by those controlling the levers of state power. Honorable Job Sikhala will continue to speak for the voiceless and confront injustice in Zimbabwe within the legislature and outside that august house.
To Donate kindly visit the GoFund link below:
Thank you.
Friends of Job Sikhala Solidarity Trust
GWANDA-BASED mining concern, Blanket Mine, has introduced monthly and quarterly bonuses for its employees to keep them motivated during the prevailing harsh economic conditions.
Zimbabwe is reeling under economic hardships characterised by hyperinflation, low salaries, excessive power cuts, dire shortage of maize meal and low production of virtually everything among a plethora of other economic problems that have condemned citizens to abject poverty.
However, in a bid to boost employee morale and improve production, Blanket Mine — a subsidiary of the Caledonia Mining Corporation (Caledonia)— has come up with a new bonus structure for its production teams.
“Employee morale has improved following the introduction of a new bonus structure at Blanket: production teams now receive a monthly or quarterly bonus (depending on the worker’s grade) which reflects the specific performance of their team and keeps the productive teams motivated during difficult periods,” the company said in its management discussion and analysis of the consolidated operating and financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2019.
Previously, production bonuses were awarded annually based on the performance of the entire mine.
“The improved morale has contributed to improved daily production tonnage in the later part of the quarter (third quarter of 2019); this improvement has continued into October and November (2019),” the report reads.
Gold production in the period under review stood at 13 646 ounces, an increase of 7.3% on gold produced in the second quarter of the year taking production for the first nine months of 2019 to 38 306 ounces.
Blanket continued to deliver strong cash generation with after-tax operating cash flow for the third quarter of $4.9 million and net cash on hand at the end of the quarter of $8 million.
Revenue in the quarter was 20% higher than in the third quarter of 2018 due to a 23% increase in the average realised price of gold and a 2% reduction in the quantity of gold sold.
The company said the high incidence of lost shifts due to unauthorised employee absences and employee desertions which adversely affected production in previous quarters had reduced after management adjusted Zimbabwe-dollar denominated wages and salaries to reflect the devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar against the US dollar.
The Zimbabwe dollar weakened from parity with the US dollar in February 2019 to a rate of $15.09: US$1 at the end of the third quarter last year and has contributed to high inflation in Zimbabwe dollar terms.
Currently, it is hovering at around $16,8 to the greenback.
“By adjusting wages and salaries to reflect the devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar, Blanket has shielded its workforce from most of the effects of inflation and reduced the loss of key personnel whilst maintaining the cost of labour stable in US dollar terms,” the company said.
Caledonia is an exploration, development and mining corporation focused on Zimbabwe.
Following the implementation of indigenisation at Blanket Mine in September 2012, its primary asset is a 49% legal ownership in Blanket, an operating gold mine in Zimbabwe.
Pursuant to the signing of an agreement announced on November 6, 2018, Caledonia intends to purchase a further 15% of Blanket from one of the mine’s indigenous shareholders.
The transaction remains subject to approvals from various Zimbabwean regulatory authorities.
Standard
Standard|While government remains adamant on the use of the local currency, signals on the ground show the Zimbabwe dollar is not popular among traders, including those in rural areas.
In June last year, government made a surprise announcement of the return of the Zimbabwe dollar as the sole legal tender, albeit, with inadequate foreign currency, market confidence and mineral backing causing the currency to lose value within a short period of its introduction.
Standardbusiness visited Chipinge over the just-ended holidays and observed that most shops owners and individuals in this part of the country as is generally the case everywhere else around the country, prefer trading in the South African rand or the United States dollar.
Shop owners in Manzvire and Chisumbanje located in Chipinge district told this paper that apart from the Zimbabwe dollar’s continuous loss of value, they were taking advantage of the fact that most residents in the district have relatives based in neighbouring South Africa who remit the rand to sustain their families.
“Look, these guys bring rand when purchasing goods here. So basically we sell our goods in that currency which they get from South Africa. So we have decided to price our goods in rand,” a shop owner at Manzvire shopping centre said.
A two-litre bottle of cooking oil was trading at R40 while a packet of 2kg sugar was going for R36.
Individuals were selling chicken at R100 and a goat was being sold for R500.
However, despite the fact that all products were priced in the rand, shoppers could be given their change in local currency.
“We don’t have an option here. We get rand from our customers and we give them change in Zimbabwe dollar. Ecocash or mobile money transactions are not popular here,” said another trader in Chisumbanje.
Zimbabwe has an estimated 3 million citizens based in South Africa.
In major towns and cities around the country, the US dollar is the most popular trading currency.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Denford Mutashu said the appetite to trade in forex was high in the market and this was a vote of no confidence in the local currency.
“The appetite to trade in forex is high in the informal sector. With the informal sector occupying almost 70% of the economy, sustainability of the local currency is threatened until we fix the structure of the economy. As a country, we have not done enough to restore banking sector confidence which was obliterated in 2008,” Mutashu said.
Economist Persistence Gwanyanya said the authorities must allow the market forces to drive the economy.
“The economy will naturally dedollarise instead of redollarising. However, from the look of things, this can only happen after 2020. But the key advice to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya is for him to let the market speak. Respect market forces and don’t overregulate and change goalposts in the middle of the game. It saps away the confidence in the economy. In fact, we need to respect the belief that in their imperfections, the principles of free market economy and good governance are the best drivers of modern-day successful economies,” Gwanyanya said.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube last November told a post-budget meeting that authorities were enduring de-dollarising headaches.
‘It’s very difficult to de-dollarise. Very few countries have managed to do that, but I think we will manage to do that. How many countries have de-dollarised in the past 30 years? None,” Ncube said then.
Mvuma residents have lost confidence with police at Mvuma Police Station after the police is covering up and protecting one of their surbodinates who committed Robbery Case despite having recieved a formal report. On one occasion which has been described by many as high level of corruption by police bosses, On December 27.
2019 at 10am Cst Musikiri who is well known for abusing the his office taking advantage of unprotected civilians, forced himself in one of the shops at Mvuma locations and looted grocery amounting to $3500 on a broad day light. A formal report was then made bt the police failed to make an arrest and recover the lost goods or even to send the docket to court.
However both the complaint and the witnesses were then threatened with unspecified action if they continues to push for Musikiri’s arrest. According to over 20 eye witness Musikiri, unlawfully stormed looted goods in to the shop and even declared that , “ini ndiri gaffa mashefu todya nawo and hatina chatinoona.”
It has become a habit that residents in Mvuma are harrassed or even victimized by those with authority if they ever attempt to take action against them. Until today Musikiri is walking scort free and *NO Action* has been taken.
Pindula|The police officer investigating the case involving Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife, Marry Chiwenga (nee Mubaiwa), had his WhatsApp account allegedly hacked resulting in his profile picture showing p_rnographic material.
Detective Assistant Inspector Luxon Saurowe’s WhatsApp account is alleged to have been hacked on Wednesday, and on Thursday he issued an apology to his contacts on his Facebook timeline. He wrote:
An apology to all my Econet WhatsApp contacts and family members and friends. My account is hacked and is displaying pornographic material on the profile picture. I am unable to access the account such that I may delete the account.
National Police Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed that indeed Saurowe’s account had been hacked but said the hacking has nothing to do with the Marry Chiwenga case.
Marry Chiwenga is accused of attempting to kill her husband, fraud, money laundering and externalisation of foreign currency and has been in custody since she was arrested in mid-December last year.
By Eddie Cross|How much more can we take? I was talking to a Zimbabwean of Asian extraction over the break and he told me that his father came here from India in 1958.
I remarked to him that we were doing pretty well then – we had peace, a rapidly growing economy, we were part of the wider world and it seemed that our politics was going in the right direction.
Then the Federation broke up, the white population rejected change and the first shots with live ammunition were fired after more than 60 years of no violence.
The Nationalists launched their armed struggle for change and from 1965 onwards we were increasingly isolated from the world around us.
What followed was 15 years of mandatory UN backed sanctions and an armed conflict that drew in all our neighbours and in which we killed each other with enthusiasm.
The Rhodesians won all the battles and lost the war leading to 37 years of dominance by Robert Mugabe and his liberation war colleagues.
They never really settled down and by 2000 we were again locked into a toxic mix of international isolation, stagnant or declining economic output and domestic conflict and violence.
International and regional intervention hardly helped but did change the course of our history at key moments – the break-up of the Federation, the intervention of the Americans in 1976, then Lancaster House and finally the Mbeki managed South African initiative that brought us 4 years of recovery and compromise from 2009 to 2013. But for the most part we mismanaged our political, economic and social situation ourselves and as a result we brought down on ourselves political instability and increasing poverty and disparity.
During the 90 years of white settler control and government the whole country worked for the welfare and interests of a small white community. After 1980 the whole country worked for a tiny minority of politically connected individuals who supported the systems that kept the Mugabe Government in power and control. All other concerns were secondary. Whatever the system, the effect was the same – the majority suffered and experienced marginalisation and poverty.
Then came November 2017, the first time we took action as a people to rid ourselves of a regime that had run out of time and space. Like the decision in 1923 when we decided to stay out of the new Union of South Africa, this event was not in any way sponsored or engineered by outside forces and for the first time found almost universal support among all Zimbabweans.
It was assisted by the Military who overnight became heroes of the people. However, it did not change the centre of real power which had become the small group of people who ran the Joint Operations Command under the leadership of Mr. Mnangagwa and General Chiwenga.
The first post November Government was drawn from this group and was dominated by elements linked to the Military. Then the elections in 2018 when Zanu PF engineered a convincing victory with three quarters of all Council seats and two thirds of the Parliament.
Mr. Mnangagwa could then claim, for the first time, to be the legitimate leader of Government, even though his victory was with a tiny majority. It was only at that moment that we saw a new dispensation of sorts emerge in the form of the first really Mnangagwa controlled Cabinet.
The President broke with the past at two crucial moments – after the MAT in November and then after the elections. In both cases he clearly committed himself and his new Government to fundamental changes and to re-establishing a working relationship with the international Community after decades of isolation and hostility.
The response to these clear indications of intent was immediate, and the international Community responded saying that if we followed through on these undertakings, they would support our economic recovery and re-engagement efforts. It seemed at last that the world was at our feet again.
But it was not to be. We quickly appreciated that the President did not have the unfettered power that Mugabe had exercised over the country for 37 years. The first Cabinet was a divided house and little was achieved in respect to the reform agenda in the first 7 months.
This changed significantly with the elections but again there was evidence of conflict in the corridors of power where key decisions are made and executed. Then towards the end of 2019, the President restructured his Cabinet and made a number of key appointments.
And so we came to the end of a disastrous year in many respects. The Transitional Stabilisation Program had required savage cuts in Government expenditure, a controlled devaluation of unmanageable domestic debt accumulated in the past five years and a restructuring of costs in the economy to bring them more into line with regional realities.
It has been a tough year for everyone, except a few individuals who seem to thrive no matter what happens to the rest of us. One young Zimbabwean, drives around Harare in a Bugatti – perhaps the most expensive car in the world. His friends all boast luxury cars with brand names that put them in a similar bracket. Wealth with no visible means of support.
But we must look beyond these disparities and problems and recognise that our pain as a Nation has borne significant fruit: our domestic debt is now a tiny fraction of what it was and is manageable, our international debt has only increased marginally and is now being serviced to some extent.
Our civil service was costing us 100 percent of all our taxes a year ago, it now consumes 35 per cent, our fiscal deficit was massive and equal to 40 per cent of the entire budget of Government, is now positive and we ended 2019 with nearly Z$2 billion in the bank.
We have liberalised our foreign exchange market and restored the viability of our export industries which are now expanding rapidly with the result that we now have nearly US$1 billion in our bank accounts and Government has a small surplus in the Treasury in hard currency.
These are not small achievements and what annoys me is that so little recognition has been given to the Government and the President for their stance on these issues which have been very tough on the entire nation.
I am pleased that at least the International Monetary Fund found sufficient reason at the year end to give us a cautious thumb up for what we achieved last year despite some serious deviations.
So where are we going in the next decade? Is it more of the same? We just cannot handle that plus the changes now being inflicted on us by climate change. Everyone, and I mean everyone, not just those in power, must accept and acknowledge this – we have to start doing things differently.
For me 2019 has set the stage – now we must move on and decisively. I hear that the MDC is planning a series of large scale demonstrations in early 2020. Is that really the answer? Will it really bring change or simply lead to more street violence.
I agree with S B Moyo when he called for the Police to escort demonstrations through the streets of our towns and make sure they do not spill over into looting and violence. But we all know that these events can only be managed so far.
Rather I think we need to work together to get things right in our country. Is that so difficult to understand and accept? But it will only happen if we put the country first in all that we do – and not the pursuit of power or wealth.
Eddie Cross is a former opposition MDC MP for Bulawayo South and a respected economist. You can follow his blog African Herd
US based Zimbabwean music legend Thomas Mapfumo had a disastrous festive season after Eugene (Oregon, USA) based Tracktown Studios claimed they lost his entire 15 track album.
Tracktown Studios owned by Fernando Bispo told the Chimurenga music legend that their computer hard drive had ‘burnt’ and they were only able to recover 2 tracks.
Speaking to Nehanda Radio, Mapfumo said he was meant to have released the album before Christmas but now there was no way of recovering the album which was lost.
“The studio is saying we have to re-record the album but this comes with added expenses. We have to raise over USD$1600 to rehire the session musicians we used,” Mapfumo told Nehanda Radio.
The outspoken musician relocated to the United States in 2004 alleging intimidation and persecution by the regime of the late President Robert Mugabe.
He eventually went back to perform in Zimbabwe after the 2017 military coup that toppled Mugabe and which saw his former Vice President and long time enforcer Emmerson Mnangagwa take over.
Mapfumo was all smiles when he landed at the Robert Mugabe International Airport in April 2018. Crowds waited for more than an hour to see their hero coming back after a 14 year absence.
He performed on several shows across the country much to delight of his fans.
On his return to the US, Mukanya as he is affectionately known, was scathing of Mnangagwa’s government saying it missed a chance to form a unity government with the opposition that could have built political and economic confidence in the country after the coup that toppled Mugabe.
Mapfumo also bemoaned the deteriorating living standards in the country.
Nehanda Radio
Free agent Emmanuel Adebayor has offered himself to injury-hit Aston Villa.
The former Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal star is seen as a shock option to fire the club to safety.
Villa boss Dean Smith has been left short of choices after seeing striker Wesley and keeper Tom Heaton ruled out for the season with knee injuries.
It means the club now have to spread their shoestring transfer budget across two key positions — and consider free transfers or loans to bolster their squad, says The Sun.
Adebayor’s camp know this — and have spotted what they believe is an unlikely opportunity for him to return to the Premier League at a late stage in his career.
The Togolese frontman, 36 next month, is a free agent after leaving Turkish side Kayserispor last month, meaning he would be available to come in immediately without a fee.
His advisers hope that fact — and his Premier League experience — might be enough for Villa to take a gamble on him as a cheap option, allowing them to also target another forward in a loan or small cash deal in the transfer window.
A drunken man who allegedly fell asleep on a railway line on New Year’s Day was crushed to death by a train coming from Bulawayo in Figtree. The now deceased was identified as Thembani Sibanda of Irene Farm in Westgate area.
It is alleged that Sibanda had been drinking beer all day and he later fell asleep on the railway line.
National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) Public Relations Manager Mr Nyasha Maravanyika confirmed the incident.
“There was a train accident involving our train 813 which was coming from Bulawayo. It hit and killed a male adult of Irene Farm Village 5 Westgate on January 1, 2020, at around 9PM at the 30km peg between Figtree and West acre.
“The deceased was lying across the track and he ignored the sound of the train’s horn which resulted in him being crushed. Police officers from Figtree attended the scene and the deceased’s next of kin was advised,” he said. Sibanda’s body was taken to the United Bulawayo
Hospitals (UBH) mortuary. Mr Maravanyika urged members of the public to desist from loitering around the railway line.
“We continue to advise the public that it is very dangerous to loiter around the track. We are also appealing to communities and families to be very much aware of the whereabouts of their relatives especially those who have impairments especially hearing impairments or if they are blind,” he said.
A source who preferred anonymity said: “On the day he died, Sibanda had told his friends that they were seeing him for the last time.” Recently, a man was found dead at a railway line in Sauerstown suburb in another suspected suicide. The reasons for his death could not be established. Sources said it was not the first time Sibanda had fallen asleep on the track and he often talked about killing himself.
By Own Correspondent| Zimbabwe Republic Police have reported that they arrested two men in connection with the murder of a 32-year-old man who was stabbed to death in Chiredzi
Below is the police’s twitter thread which reveals how everything transpired.
A 32-year-old man died after he was stabbed on the right thigh with a knife by his girlfriend’s ex-husband at Nodi Compound, Mkwasine, Chiredzi on 29/12/19 at about 2200 hrs.
The accused who was accompanied by a friend found the victim inside his ex-wife’s bedroom and broke the door where he confronted the victim for having a relationship with her.
The accused drew a knife from his accomplice’s satchel and stabbed the victim, who tried to flee but collapsed and died a few metres from the scene.
Police attended the scene and recovered the murder weapon, both suspects were arr4ested on 02/01/20 in Triangle and they will appear in court soon. No to murder cases.
Correspondent|Media, social groups and opinion leaders have been called upon to desist from labelling criminal gangs in a way that creates tribal tensions like calling all machete wielding criminals Mashurugwi.
The call was made by Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister, Kazembe Kazembe.
Zimbabweans have adopted a belief that all machete thugs in the mining sector are from Shurugwi following the formation of a the MaShurugwi gang in the Midlands informal mining sector.
As the thugs get arrested, information on the arrested culprits suggests that they come from different parts of the country and none of them were from Shurugwi.
Minister Kazembe says the repeated labelling has the potential to create tension, not only among artisanal miners but Zimbabweans at large.
“People must stop the use of the word Mashurugwi referring to criminals. These are criminals and have nothing to do with Shurugwi. This practice promotes unnecessary divisions. Let us be responsible citizens. We are a peace-loving nation,” Minister Kazembe urged.
Artisanal miners say such criminal elements have tarnished their image and called on the government to take the necessary measures.
“They come to terrorise us and what we are asking for is for the authorities to arrest these criminals. We are genuine people and we do not want criminals to soil our operations. I was attacked last week,” one of the miners said.
Meanwhile, Minister Kazembe assured citizens that all the criminals will be brought to book.
“We are still pursuing these criminals and we will not tire until we arrest all of them. Small Scale miners are important in the growth of the economy and we will protect them,” Minister Kazembe assured.
Last week some machete-wielding criminals killed a police officer in Kadoma. The police have managed to arrest some of the culprits and none among them is from Shurugwi.
Shurugwi is a beautiful town located about 40 kilometres outside Gweru. The town is home to the scenic Boterekwa Mountains, one of the most beautiful places in Zimbabwe and a potential tourist attraction.
Former Vice-President (VP) Joice Mujuru has been ordered by the High Court to compensate a United Arab Emirates-based company, Suzane General Trading JLT (Pvt) Ltd, US$70 000 following the collapse of a joint venture agreement signed between the parties over eight years ago.
High Court judge Justice Amie Tsanga also issued Mujuru with an ultimatum to ensure the settlement of the debt within a seven-day period counting from the date of the granting of the court order being December 4, 2019. Further, the former VP, who was in default when the matter was finalised, was again slapped with costs on attorney and client scale.
In the lawsuit, Mujuru was cited as the second defendant together with International Travel Shops Africa (Pvt) Ltd, and one Tirivanhu Mudariki.
“Whereupon after reading documents filed of record and hearing counsel, it is ordered that the second defendant (Mujuru) be and is hereby ordered to pay the plaintiff (Suzane General Trading) the sum of $70 000 together with interest at the prescribed rate from the date of the issuance of summons to the date of full payment,” Justice Tsanga said.
“The said above sum in clause 1, shall be paid by the second defendant within seven days from the granting of this order and the second defendant shall pay costs of this suit on attorney and client scale.”
According to court papers, the facts giving rise to the lawsuit were that on November 16, 2011 the Dubai firm entered into an agreement with International Travel Shops Africa (Pvt) Ltd, Mujuru and Mudariki which they termed a share sale and management agreement.
Subsequent to the principal agreement, the court heard an addendum was entered into by the parties on December 25, 2011 following which on execution; Mudariki specifically represented International Travel Shops Africa (Pvt) Ltd, while both Mujuru and Mudariki appended their signatures to the agreement.
“Pursuant to the agreement the plaintiff paid among other monies the sum of US$150 000 for the purchase of goodwill and advanced a loan of US$50 000 to both second and third defendants (Mujuru and Mudariki),” the firm told the court.
“While the agreement did not specify that the second and third defendants were shareholders and the seller of the shares, the addendum purports that the second and third defendants were either the shareholders who were disposing their shares to the plaintiff or were the vendors or sellers of such shares.”
The Dubai firm said following a breach of clause 7 of the principal agreement by International Travel Shops Africa (Pvt) Ltd, the purported joint venture between the parties collapsed and same agreed in principle that the envisaged joint venture had irretrievably broken down.
The matter was subsequently referred to arbitration where Mujuru was ordered to compensate the Dubai-based firm.
“Subsequent to the arbitral proceedings before Arbitrator Innocent Chagonda, an award was subsequently issued on November 17, 2015. The arbitrator ordered the refund of US$50 000 in lieu of loans that were paid to the second and third defendants,” the firm said, adding the US$150 000 that was paid for goodwill remained due and owing.
-The Standard
BY ZIFISO MASIYE|Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all Zimbabweans on this, our stolen Christmas Day! The desolate mood, empty fridges and forlorn faces in a festive season every Zimbabwean will wish to forget, invites the question from my curious granddaughter…What if this is the first of 10 really dead Christmases, Khulu?
We all broke into spontaneous laughter at the child’s question around the tiny nkukhu-makhaya we were de-feathering, but soon, we were all quiet, realising she might have a serious point to ponder.
The combined competence of experience, history and literature suggests, rather consistently, that the basic assurance and reliable guarantee of sustainable change in any social entity, organisation, group or society is effective ADKAR.
ADKAR is a generic change management anchor and model for effecting change.
It is a simple change implementation framework and model that directs and guides humans in some sort of quagmire like ourselves on what fundamental steps to take, in what depth and sequence, if we are to extricate ourselves from our collective misery, to a Zimbabwe whose identity every citizen can be proud of.
Effective change management is basically a function of Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement (ADKAR) in that order.
To generate an effective appetite for change, a distinct collective discontent with status quo or revulsion with our current living conditions is a prerequisite, the collective awareness that our living conditions are wrong, bad, abnormal, unconscionable and unsustainable is a starting point that must not be in doubt.
Knowing that your situation is bad and committing to change that situation are two different things. General awareness of the need for change in a country is insufficient to guarantee the change. It is possible for a people to feel uncomfortable with their living conditions, to be keenly aware of the injustices, social deficits, governance abuses and less than human conditions surrounding them, and yet for the same people to feel numb and to lack any demonstrable desire and commitment to change their situation.
So often, you hear intense and increasingly annoyed conversations about the degenerate and unbearable social, political, economic living conditions of the country in every kombi, hair salon, church, family lounge and watering hole. The awareness and discontent is palpable.
However, where unhappy citizens routinely distance themselves from personal and collective agency for resolving their discomfort and instead seek to transfer responsibility for change to a select few, to a limping government, to incapacitated political formations, to shady political careerists and agencies outside the political body of Zimbabwe, this must suggest that the levels of desire for change remain very low and inadequate to deliver any meaningful change. We have observed with increasing interest and shock, many cadres purportedly committed to change do an inexplicable political somersault and quickly ingratiate themselves and curry favour with a status quo they are otherwise sworn to uproot.
Yet awareness and desire alone cannot, even when complete, achieve the change we dream of. The acquisition of knowledge and skills and tools and techniques for effecting change and the experience and ability to apply these is a primary prerequisite for change.
Desire without skills amounts to zero! From day one, these very basic and fundamental questions have been important barometers for measuring the commitment and readiness for change in the Zimbabwean psyche.
It is Dr Nkosana Moyo who has asked us consistently whether or not, and to what extent citizens were ready to sacrifice and to commit their personal and collective energy to a distinctly re-engineered social order, economic agenda and cohesive political vision. Whether it be a readiness and national commitment to the vision of the third Republic or a citizen commitment to an entirely new social and political order, the narrative that ordinary Zimbabweans are in hell, but not ready to commit themselves to exit and explore a new path seems to be more compelling.
Awareness: The average Zimbabwean holds extremely dim view of his or her country today. They already did for decades that side of November 2017, but the high hopes occasioned by that date have only served to seal the painful awareness of the inexorable misery of the citizen. Where, in the past, the case for change may have been in some doubt, the consuming conditions of fear, food insecurity, currency failure, personal insecurity, service delivery collapse have mobilised the collective awareness of unprecedented governance failure.
Desire: There appears neither the correct levels of trust, confidence and respect for the primary purveyors of the 2030 Vision, nor sufficient leadership sacrifice, commitment and exemplars to generate sufficient citizen buy-in and inspire hope and a compelling appetite for a desired future state. On the other hand the scary insecurity and imminent all round negative consequences of sustained status quo, surprisingly fail to boil over public discontent to effective desire for change. All regional and global barometers of citizen tolerance of governance abuse would seem to have hit record tipping point and the world is united in the question: What will it take a Zimbabwean frog to jump and reject boiling water? While some have isolated the apparent lack of a compelling alternative leadership proposition with a distinct binding vision for the future, others moan the fact that the idea of a collective onslaught has been compromised by an increasing resort to individual coping mechanisms and the pursuit of personal benefit.
Knowledge of ability: Yet, as Dr Nkosana Moyo warned our citizens right up to the ballot day, our awareness and desire for change must necessarily be informed by basic leadership competence and deference to the primacy of meritocracy. Elsewhere in the advanced economies we aspire to become, political leaders that drive infrastructure development, industry and technology change are talented, proven, deliberately identified and trained individuals… not popular thugs and gangster barons. Investing political change in a crop of “leaders” who have neither technical knowledge, economic competence nor demonstrable capacity individually or collectively to drive change is an exercise in futility.
l Zii Masiye ([email protected]) writes elsewhere on social media as Balancing Rocks.
Standard
By Jane Mlambo| A member of the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) and National Constitutional Aseembly (NCA) leader Professor Lovemore Madhuku has insisted that they will use the dialogue platform to push electoral reforms that will ensure President Emmerson Mnangagwa does not continue to appoint the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) commissioners.
Madhuku torched storm last year when he said POLAD will ensure ZEC Chairperson Priscilla Chigumba is removed and replaced by someone agreed by all political parties.
In an interview with ZimEye yesterday, Madhuku said they would want amendment relating to how ZEC commissioners are appointed.
“For example why would we have an amendment in regarding those things that have been tabled when we would want a situation where we amend the provisions relating to the appointment of members of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
“We don’t want a situation which is there at the moment where the president appoints the chairperson of ZEC and other commissioners ….we would want those provisions amended by the time we reach 2023, in fact as soon as possible so that we have a new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
“That has been ignored so the provisions that are being amended, are provisions that ZANU PF wants to amend. The provisions that anyone else wants to amend they are not even on the table that is something that will make clear that it is wrong so even when we are in Polad we will say that, outside Polad we will say it again, so we are going to expand the framework within which we will be contributing to this,” said Madhuku.
A senior police officer in Bulawayo in a fit of rage drew an Okapi knife which he used to stab a man he accused of threatening to kill his son.
Chief Inspector Justice Rabson (48), the officer-in charge of Luveve Police Station, allegedly ran amok and assaulted Max Mupungu (31), while wielding an Okapi knife which he later used to stab his right middle finger after pounding him several times on the face.
Rabson appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Miss Nomasiko Ndlovu recently facing a charge of assault as defined in Section 89 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23.
The State, as presented by Mr Denmark Chihombe, is that on 30 November last year at about 6.45pm Rabson proceeded to Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Donnington Charge Office and picked up two police officers who were not identified.
After picking up the two police officers they proceeded to 19 Spencer Road in West Somerton where he advised the two police officers that there was a man who was threatening to kill his son identified as Ardonie.
It was the State’s case that on arrival at the scene, Rabson jumped out of his vehicle armed with an Okapi knife. He approached Mupungu whom he started accusing of threatening to kill his son.
They started arguing and, in the melee, Rabson assaulted Mupungu several times on the face.
The court was further told that it was during the scuffle that he used the Okapi knife to stab him on the right middle finger before he returned to the car and drove away.
Rabson was not asked to plead to the charge and was remanded out of custody to 16 January this year after he pleaded with the court to give him time to communicate with his lawyer so that he could get legal representation.
“Your Worship, I was just called by the police and I wasn’t aware that I would be appearing in court today. I therefore didn’t get the time to talk to my lawyer. However, I have communicated with him and he said he will be available on 16 January,” pleaded Rabson.
Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has condemned the POLAD platform saying it cannot derail constitutional amendments to heap more power on President Emmerson Mnangagwa as government moves the scrap the running mate clause in the constitution.
Speaking to Studio 7 yesterday, Ziyambi said POLAD is a bunch of people without the people’s mandate hence cannot demand to be given the power to determine what the ruling government decides to do.
Ziyambi was responding to NCA leader Professor Lovemore Madhuku who said he was worried about cabinet disregarding his request to allow POLAD to have its take on the proposed amendments.
“I am surprised that they want a constitutional process so that they cannot be consulted. They have the privilege to participate through writing to Clerk of Parliament or during public consultations so I dont see where they have been left out,” said Ziyambi.
He added that Zanu PF has the mandate of the people which POLAD does not have.
“As government we cannot be running to them to say we want to do our budget or change this law, we would have failed to follow the constitution,” added Ziyambi.
A Harare-based woman has approached the civil court claiming a monthly maintenance of $11 000 from her ex-husband who is a cell phone dealer.
The 28-year-old woman defended the claim arguing that she needed to take care of their three children.
Appearing before magistrate Nyasha Marufu, the estrangedAbigail Mutetwa said her former husband, Louis Machira, had the capacity to pay $11 000 per month.
“Your Worship I have three children with this man (Machira) and now l cannot afford to look after them,” she said.
“I am claiming this amount because my ex-husband has a table full of phones; so l know he can afford it.
“I want Machira to pay $11 000 as maintenance because school fees and school uniforms are now expensive.
“Our first born child is now 14 years old and is enrolling for his secondary education and I cannot afford to pay school fees.”
Mutetwa told the Harare civil court that she was earning a meagre income from her vending business.
In response, Machira pleaded with the court that he could not afford the $11 000 monthly maintenance fee.
“I cannot afford what she is asking for Your Worship. It is way above my monthly income,” he said.
“I do not sell phones; l fit shatter-proof glasses on cellphones which give me about $25 per day.
“I also use the money to meet my other needs. In her ruling, Marufu ordered Machira to pay $300 per month to cater for his three children.
Own Correspondent|Zimbabwe’s state run media will always go out of the ordinary to attack and seek to tarnish the image of opposition parties and civil society leaders who they perceive to be against the ruling ZANU PF party.
In a shocking article in The Sunday Mail of today, the ZANU PF mouthpiece claims that opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa at one time went to the United States of America and invited the superpower to deploy its army to run over Zimbabwe and remove ZANU PF from power.
The full story which certainly will never be believed by any level headed person reads as follows:
BETWEEN July 2004 and 2007 Nelson Chamisa, the now president of the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC-A) is reported to have begged the US government to invade Zimbabwe with special forces and topple the Zanu-PF-led Government.
Chamisa also pleaded with the US government to impose sanctions on Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe so as to heighten the MDC’s chances of taking power.
He further asked for certain key Government officials to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which in turn was established to prosecute persons accused of committing serious crimes such as crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes.
Chamisa’s pleas were in response to the then US Ambassador to Harare, Christopher Dell, asking him what he needed the US to do to secure his ascendency to power.
Chamisa was at the relevant time the MDC youth leader and Kuwadzana legislator.
WikiLeaks cables sent from Harare (via the US Embassy) to Washington’s State Department suggest that Chamisa told Dell that the “Mugabe must go” campaign was counter-productive to the opposition party’s agenda as it strengthened Zanu-PF’s resolve to fight the MDC which was then led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
Chamisa is further reported to have canvassed the Eastern European countries, during his trip there to impose more sanctions on Zimbabwe.
State Media|SOME entertainment joints and liquor outlets are allegedly selling counterfeit distilled beverages — mainly whisky, brandy, gin and vodka — exposing imbibers to serious health risks, even death, The Sunday Mail can reveal.
Until recently, counterfeit distilled beverages were only available on the streets, but investigations show that popular nightclubs, bottles stores, pubs and even supermarkets are dispensing the same.
It has been further gathered that a well-knit cartel including staff at some ports of entry, business people, transporters and “runners” are behind this seemingly lucrative business.
The prices of the counterfeits range between US$5 and US$40.
Among some of the premium alcoholic beverages that are being counterfeited are Jameson, Johnnie Walker Red Label, Best and Grant’s.
Some business people running entertainment joints are also alleged to be engaging middlemen to smuggle the counterfeits into Zimbabwe from Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.
Locals are also distilling the alcohol which is packaged as Best, Two Keys, Russian Bear and Viceroy among other brands popular in the country.
Social media was recently awash with allegations that some of the people that unknowingly consumed the counterfeits had died of suspected alcohol poisoning.
This came after a patron is alleged to have died of alcohol poisoning outside the premises of an upmarket nightclub in Borrowdale during the Christmas holiday.
Officials from the upmarket joint, however, distanced themselves from the unfortunate incident.
When The Sunday Mail visited the nightclub, officials from the Ministry of Health and Child Care were collecting samples of the suspected counterfeit beverages for analysis.
Who supplies the fake booze?
Sources told The Sunday Mail that the counterfeits that are finding their way into Zimbabwe are mostly manufactured in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, United States and Brazil.
Apart from restaurants and nightclubs, the fake beverages have become popular outside bottles stores, street corners and open-air entertainment joints, where they are sold from vehicles boots.
As part of the investigations, The Sunday Mail witnessed some of the fakes being packaged in Mbare.
The bottles were then carefully sealed to make them appear genuine.
A man who introduced himself only as Isaac said he has been in “this business” for two years.
“I get the alcohol in bulk from my source who is based in Mutare and I then repackage it for a profit. I only deal with those that buy from me in bulk,” Isaac said.
According to Isaac, some prominent businesspeople are also actively involved in this kind of business.
Isaac said he is supplied with alcoholic concentrates which are then mixed with methanol, an alcoholic chemical far more toxic than ethanol, before flavouring and colouring
Empty bottles from which genuine whisky has been consumed are collected from rubbish dumps, cleaned and packaged before fake seals are pasted on them.
According to Brian Maregedza, a whisky connoisseur, genuine whisky should have a “charcoal flavour” and it should not be hard on the throat.
Maregedza gave tips on how the general public could differentiate a fake from genuine whisky.
“Consumers should buy their whiskies from established liquor centres. They should also look out for the shape of the bottle and the branding. High-end whiskies can also be authenticated using smartphones by scanning bar codes,” Maregedza said.
Health effects
Gibson Kawa said he collapsed and nearly died after consuming what he now suspects was fake whisky.
“It was not my first time to drink this particular brand of whisky. However, on that particularly day, I became dizzy and the next thing I woke up to see myself sleeping on the pavement,” Kawa said.
“In my eight years of drinking, I never came across something like that. I actually drank myself into a stupor, which is unusual. Something was wrong with that whisky.” Dr Admore Muringisi, a drugs and narcotics consultant, said commonly used substitutes for ethanol included chemicals used in cleaning fluids, nail polish removers and automobile screen wash.
Methanol and isopropanol, which are used in anti-freeze and some fuels, are some of the substitutes.
“These other types of alcohol can produce similar effects to ethanol in terms of making you feel tipsy. But they are also potentially very dangerous,” said Dr Muringisi.
He said drinking alcohol containing such chemicals could cause nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, drowsiness, dizziness and can also lead to permanent kidney or liver damage.
Methanol, which, according to Dr Muringisi, can be used to produce fake vodka, may also cause permanent blindness.
Consumer activist and executive director of the Consumer Council of
Zimbabwe (CCZ) Ms Rosemary Siyachitema urged consumers to desist from buying products from unregistered businesses.
Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the police were embarking on an operation to flush out those behind the counterfeit beverages.
“Recently, a man was arrested in Ardbennie, Harare, after he was caught illegally adding potent ethanol into alcohol. Anybody found on the wrong side of the law will be punished,” he said.
Assistant Commissioner Nyathi urged drinkers to buy liquor from registered and established retail outlets.
Efforts to get a comment from Dr Eve Gadzikwa, the Standards Association of Zimbabwe director-general, were fruitless as she was not picking up her phone.
Basing on our investigations, it is clear that there is a thriving market for counterfeit distilled beverages.
State Media|Zimbabweans will enjoy expanded social protection in 2020 with one million students receiving free education under the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) while food aid, health assistance and cash transfers to vulnerable families will also be enhanced.
The improved assistance, to the low-income end members of society, comes as the country is reeling from the ravaging effects of last year’s drought, the worst in 40 years.
So severe was the impact of the 2018-2019 drought that the World Food Programme (WFP) has listed Zimbabwe as one of the 15 hotspots in the world in need of food aid, to rally donor funding for the vulnerable groups.
In a special report last week, the WFP rallied for donor support to Zimbabwe to mitigate the crisis caused by last year’s drought.
“Sub-Saharan Africa dominates WFP’s analysis, with Zimbabwe, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central Sahel region all needing immediate attention, given the urgent needs of children, women and men,” announced the WPF.
WFP said the country was facing a humanitarian emergency owing to the climate change-driven drought, and general economic challenges.
While international donors are ratcheting up support to Zimbabwe, Government has taken a proactive stance to expand assistance programmes on its own.
In a document availed to The Sunday Mail, the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare said it will expand social protection measures in 2020 to assist vulnerable groups.
Education
The BEAM programme, which provides fees assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children will increase beneficiaries to one million from 415 000 who benefited last year.
BEAM covers primary, second and tertiary education.
“A total 415 000 orphans and other vulnerable children countrywide benefited from the BEAM programme through the payment of school fees and examination fees for those that wrote examinations in 2019.
“For 2020 financial year, a total $450 million has been budgeted for and it is expected to cover school fees for more beneficiaries hence a scale-up of beneficiaries from 415 000 to one million is expected,”said the ministry.
Currently, Government has no overdue amounts under BEAM as it disbursed $140 million in 2019 to clear all arrears which had accumulated since 2014.
To further capacitate pupils, BEAM will closely monitor selection committees at district and provincial levels to ensure that the programme is implemented according to set procedures.
Grain Distribution
As a result of the 2018-19 drought, the Government noted that most parts of the country and communities were in dire need of food aid, including those that had never received the food handouts before.
The situation will see the Food Assistance Programme extend 50kg of maize to vulnerable households monthly.
Unlike previous years, food distribution is being conducted in both rural and urban areas.
Last week, the Ministry of Finance released $10 million for the transportation of grain to vulnerable families around the country.
The ministry said part of the food being distributed currently includes a consignment of rice donated by China to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has directed it to benefit all rural constituencies.
“Pursuant to this His Excellency, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa has made a donation of 15 tonnes of Chinese rice for each rural constituency to be given to the rural populace during the festive season,” reads part of the Government action plan document.
“The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare will ensure that the donated rice is distributed during the festive season.
“This rice supplements the already existing food deficit mitigation strategy being implemented in all rural provinces; and Harare and Bulawayo urban areas. The programme caters for the food poor and labour constrained households who include the destitute elderly, the chronically ill, people with disabilities and child- headed households.”
Health and child protection
The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare said it was working with counterparts in the Ministry of Health and Child Care to facilitate waivers for low-end members of society at public health institutions.
“This is a health fee waiver for vulnerable people who seek treatment at Government district and provincial hospitals, mission and major referral hospitals and are unable to meet the health costs,” the plan document reveals.
“In 2019, a total 25 000 beneficiaries and arrears of over $8 million were cleared during the year and the budget for 2020 is $40 million.”
In addition, $150 million had been set aside for child protection this year.
The amount will see $20 million being targeted to assist children living on the streets.
Cash transfers and public assistance
In 2019, at least 65 000 vulnerable households in 23 districts benefited from cash assistance by Government with families being paid $20 monthly. However, the beneficiaries will this month get a windfall after the amount was increased to $100 a month, backdated to January 2019.
“In 2020, the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare intends to scale up Harmonised Social Cash Transfer to 33 districts while the remaining districts will be covered under the Public Assistance Programme.
“A total $500 million has been allocated towards payment of beneficiary households under Public Assistance and Harmonized Social Cash Transfers in the whole country.”
Disabled persons
This year, Government plans to offer assistive devices to 600 people compared to 194 that benefited last year.
In addition, 3 700 persons with disabilities will be placed under institutional care.
There are also 6 500 disabled students expected to benefit from BEAM.
It is anticipated that by year end, the National Disability Policy and the Disabled Persons Act, which will fully address concerns of persons with disabilities, will be in place.
The government has gone ahead to gazette the Constitution Amendment Bill which paves way for restructuring of the supreme law.
ALSO READ THE PROFESSOR LOVEMORE MADHUKU 25 MIN INTERVIEW ON SATURDAY.
The amendments include repealing the running mate clause meaning the Vice President will no longer have powers of succeeding or taking over from the President.
Also, the Bill proposes that the Prosecutor-General be appointed by the President on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission without public interviews.
The tenures of the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court judges will also be extended after reaching the age of 70, for up to five years subject to a favourable medical report.
The changes also include clauses permitting the President to appoint at least two more non-constituency Cabinet ministers and also extending the women’s quota in Parliament by another two terms. The women’s quota was set to expire during the current Parliament.
In addition, the amendments will include a provision for the introduction of 10 extra seats in the National Assembly reserved for youths — one from each province.
Furthermore, the Bill seeks to terminate the joint election of the President and his deputies through removal of the “running mate” clause.
Joint election of the country’s top leadership was set to commence in 2023.
Parliament will soon initiate nationwide public hearings into the Bill to ensure inclusivity in the law-making process.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the Bill will now be tabled for debate in the National Assembly early April, at least 90 days after its gazetting.
“During this period, public consultations will commence with written submissions to the Clerk of Parliament, while relevant committees will conduct public hearings across the country and produce a report after the consultations,”said Minister Ziyambi.
“After that, the Bill is introduced in the House and given its first reading after which a committee report is presented and the parliamentarians debate it.
“After that second reading and winding up of debates, if issues arise after consultations we then go into the committee stage where if there is need, relevant amendments and changes are made.
The Bill will then go through the third House before the vote. A two thirds majority of the vote is required for the bill to pass. It is then ent to the Senate where similar procedures are done before it is sent to the President for assent.
“So the 90 day period will likely come around the end of March so we expect to introduce it in the House early April.”
Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda said Parliament would commence sittings on February 11.
“Committees resume earlier to deal with petitions and public hearings on Bills.
“Yes, we have to do public hearings on all Bills (including the Constitution Amendment Bill).”
Currently, the Constitution allows for the President to appoint only five Cabinet ministers from outside Parliament, but once the amendment Bill is passed, the President will be empowered to appoint two more.
Reads the Bill in part: “Section 104 (“Appointment of Ministers and Deputy Ministers”) (3) of the Constitution is amended by the deletion of “up to five” and the substitution of “up to seven”.
The composition of the National Assembly will also be changed to include 10 more parliamentarians elected through proportional representation.
In a development to facilitate implementation of one of the resolutions from the Zanu-PF National People’s Conference held last month, the women’s quota clause will also be extended.
In addition, Section 161 of the Constitution is also being amended to allow for the decoupling of the drawing of constituency boundaries and the national census.
Currently, the Constitution obligates the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to draw up new electoral boundaries every 10 years, immediately after a national population census. The next one is due in 2022.
On devolution, the Bill proposes to “remove Members of Parliament from membership of provincial councils, merge the provisions relating to provincial and metropolitan councils by removing the special provision relating to the latter (they will no longer be chaired by mayors, but be elected in terms of Section 272 like provincial councils), and provide for the election of 10 members of Metropolitan Councils by a system of party list proportional representation.”
Other proposed changes include the establishment of the Public Protector’s Office, the establishment of the Office of the Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet and renaming of the Civil Service Commission back to the Public Service Commission. – State Media / Additional Reporting
Own Correspondent|Government recently gazetted 27 proposed amendments to the Constitution, so what happens next?
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the Bill will now be tabled for debate in the National Assembly early April, at least 90 days after its gazetting.
“During this period, public consultations will commence with written submissions to the Clerk of Parliament, while relevant committees will conduct public hearings across the country and produce a report after the consultations,”said Minister Ziyambi.
“After that, the Bill is introduced in the House and given its first reading after which a committee report is presented and the parliamentarians debate it.
“After that second reading and winding up of debates, if issues arise after consultations we then go into the committee stage where if there is need, relevant amendments and changes are made.
The Bill will then go through the third House before the vote. A two thirds majority of the vote is required for the bill to pass. It is then ent to the Senate where similar procedures are done before it is sent to the President for assent.
“So the 90 day period will likely come around the end of March so we expect to introduce it in the House early April.”
Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda said Parliament would commence sittings on February 11.
“Committees resume earlier to deal with petitions and public hearings on Bills.
“Yes, we have to do public hearings on all Bills (including the Constitution Amendment Bill).”
Source: State Media
Own Correspondent|Government recently gazetted 27 proposed amendments to the Constitution which will bring about a nearly completely new looking constitution.
We give you below a summary of the closes that the ZANU PF government is pushing through.
Currently, the Constitution allows for the President to appoint only five Cabinet ministers from outside Parliament, but once the amendment Bill is passed, the President will be empowered to appoint two more.
Reads the Bill in part: “Section 104 (“Appointment of Ministers and Deputy Ministers”) (3) of the Constitution is amended by the deletion of “up to five” and the substitution of “up to seven”.
The composition of the National Assembly will also be changed to include 10 more parliamentarians elected through proportional representation.
In a development to facilitate implementation of one of the resolutions from the Zanu-PF National People’s Conference held last month, the women’s quota clause will also be extended.
In addition, Section 161 of the Constitution is also being amended to allow for the decoupling of the drawing of constituency boundaries and the national census.
Currently, the Constitution obligates the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to draw up new electoral boundaries every 10 years, immediately after a national population census. The next one is due in 2022.
On devolution, the Bill proposes to “remove Members of Parliament from membership of provincial councils, merge the provisions relating to provincial and metropolitan councils by removing the special provision relating to the latter (they will no longer be chaired by mayors, but be elected in terms of Section 272 like provincial councils), and provide for the election of 10 members of Metropolitan Councils by a system of party list proportional representation.”
Other proposed changes include the establishment of the Public Protector’s Office, the establishment of the Office of the Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet and renaming of the Civil Service Commission back to the Public Service Commission.
Also, the Bill proposes that the Prosecutor-General be appointed by the President on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission without public interviews.
The tenures of the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court judges will also be extended after reaching the age of 70, for up to five years subject to a favourable medical report.
The amendments also include clauses permitting the President to appoint at least two more non-constituency Cabinet ministers and also extending the women’s quota in Parliament by another two terms.
The women’s quota was set to expire during the current Parliament.
In addition, the amendments will include a provision for the introduction of 10 extra seats in the National Assembly reserved for youths — one from each province.
Furthermore, the Bill seeks to terminate the joint election of the President and his deputies through removal of the “running mate” clause.
Joint election of the country’s top leadership was set to commence in 2023.
Government has assured parents and students in higher learning institutions that it will not approve massive fee increases during a review process scheduled for this month.
While the academic institutions have made proposals ranging from $9 000 to $16 000 for various levels of degrees per semester, Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Amon Murwira maintained the fees would be pegged at “sensible” levels.
The Midlands State University (MSU) has since advised some of its returning students of proposed new fees-structure for the semester beginning February.
Fees for undergraduate degrees are ranging from $9 000 to $12 500 while master students have been advised that they might pay amounts between $12 750 and $16 500 per semester.
Some doctoral students at the institution might have to fork out a massive $51 000 per semester.
Last month, a proposal for Great Zimbabwe University undergraduate fees circulated with fees pegged at $12 600.
But Professor Murwira said Government would not allow a situation where universities hike fees to ‘ridiculous rates beyond the reach of many’.
Speaking to The Sunday Mail, the minister said: “None of what is being circulated on social media is true. As we promised, I said there will be no fees review in 2019, but in 2020.
“The review has not yet been done, but it will be this January. Fees will be reviewed to a sensible rate.”
Minister Murwira said Treasury had poured funds to the pool of Government student loans to ensure Zimbabweans had access to tertiary education.
“We are offering loans for those students who cannot afford.
We were given an extra $25 million from the fiscus to fund Government loans,” he said.State media
By A Correspondent | Also see reader reactions following ZANU PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa’s speech at Kuwadzana on Friday.
Original story- The people of Kuwadzana, Harare are some of the worst brutalised by soldiers in August 2018 when Emmerson Mnangagwa deployed the army to kill many while changing election results, and on the 4th August local clinics told ZimEye.com of how military trucks would arrive at night and officers begin assaulting residents. Being reminded of these atrocities could not be any more hurting.
But ZANU PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday said he will re-deploy the army to assault the people of Kuwadzana upon discovering they have bad wishes of the nation’s rainfall (loosely translated to mean anyone stopping the rain).
Addressing Kuwadzana residents yesterday, Mnangagwa said, “Asi deno taiziva kuti vanhu vekuKuwadzana vasingade kuti mvura inaye taingoti army kombai tirove.” – once we discover that it is the people of Kuwadzana who wish the rain not to fall, we would (or will) deploy the army to surround them so we assault them.” Directly translated VIDEO LOADING BELOW….
THE race for the Warriors coaching job could now turn out to be a battle of Dutch mentors after former Highlanders gaffer Hendrikus Pieter de Jongh reportedly threw in his name in the hat just before the New Year.
His countryman and also n ex-Bosso employee, Erol Akbay, is amongst those that are eyeing the Warriors hot seat which has attracted interest from a number of European coaches.
Spanish coach Manuel “Manolo” Marquez Roca, Hans Michael Weiss of Germany, Kosta Papic of Serbia and Zdravko Logarusic of Croatia are the other European coaches vying for the Warriors post.
Former national team coach Joey “Mafero” Antipas is also in the race.
Former Orlando Pirates, Rwanda and Uganda national teams coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic has also been linked with the Warriors post, although a source said the gaffer never applied for the job.
The Zimbabwe Football Association’s technical team, headed by board member Brighton Malandule, has already begun vetting the CVs and the announcement of the new Warriors coach is expected before the end of January.
“It’s work in progress, Malandule and team are in charge at this stage,” ZIFA acting vice president Philemon Machana told The Sunday Mail
Sport yesterday.
ZIFA have to act fast, though, as the national team has the 2022 World Cup qualifiers coming up in March and the African Nations Championships (CHAN) kicking off in April.
The World Cup group stage draw for African national teams will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Cairo, Egypt, on January 21.
Zimbabwe are in Pot 3 and will be drawn against any of Senegal, Tunisia, Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco, Ghana, Egypt, Cameroon, Mali, and DR Congo, who are the seeded teams.
However, aspiring Warriors coach Akbay feels Zimbabwe is now ripe for the World Cup and believes he is the right man to take the country to the finals in Qatar.
“Zimbabwe has good players playing in Africa and Europe.
That’s why I think the country is now ripe to qualify for the World Cup,” Akbay told The Sunday Mail Sport from his base in Netherlands last week.
“I think I am the right man for the job right now because I know Zimbabwean players and I know what Zimbabwean people want.
“My job is just to come up with a good team that plays good football and scores many goals. We also have to do better at the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
“What I want is for people to come to the stadium in numbers.
Honestly, I have no idea what chance I have of landing this job but I hope ZIFA will give me the chance so that I can give the people what they want.
“I am ready for it,” declared Akbay, a former Ngezi Platinum Stars coach, who was sacked by the Mhondoro side on September 17, 2019, after registering eight wins, eight draws and seven losses.
Akbay’s counterpart, De Jongh, who has also been linked with the FC Platinum job, might also sway ZIFA’s mind, following a highly successful short stint with Highlanders.
The nomadic De Jongh, who has coached in the Netherlands, Moldova, Hungary, Kenya and South Africa amongst other nations, transformed an ailing Highlanders into a formidable force after he was appointed in September 2019.
By August 2019, Glendale in Mazoe was under siege. The whole city had a 6 Oclock curfew. 6 women were found murdered in the once serene Glendale Country club, within a month.
Mainly, the dismembered body parts, decapitated heads and 1 woman had a beer bottle embeded in her genitals.
The Shurugwis had come home. They marched along unimpeded, fearless, blazen and the law never caught up with them. They were and are invincible.
It was around 2 am , 2 weeks before Christmas,when my phone went off.
My Mum was calling. I feared for my Dad.
My heart sank when I heard my Mum screaming and saying some Mambo Jumbo gibberish into the phone.
I drove as fast as I could, I found her dressed, my father by her side. Confused. She said we needed to rush to Glendale. Nyasha, my cousin, had been slashed with a Machete by a Mushurugwi at Jumbo mine.
She wasnt done. 2 of my cousins were missing. Feared dead. My Uncle had phoned.
My Uncle had been resettled at one of the farms. The hut where everyone had congregated, was poorly lit.
Blood welcomed us from the door to a heap of blankets where my aunt was trying to apply some medical aid. One look at Nyasha, I felt sick. How could a human being have inflicted such to another human being.
Half his face was gone. You could see some dangling teeth. A bone was protruding from his right arm. His left eye spoke to us. Death was imminent.
Before I could talk to anyone, a rundown Honda fit screeched outside. Some Korokozas had picked the 2nd victim. An orphan that my Uncle took care of from birth, had just been brought home. He was with Nyasha when disaster struck.
He was completely butchered. The boys kept bringing some body parts from the car. He was put next to Nyasha.
Concession hospital had no ambulances. Bindura was packed, ambulances would take hours. We drove to Howard Hospital.
We met the 3rd victim, Tonde there. Thank God, he suffered a few lacerations.
He narrated the harrowing story. They were underground for 5 days mining. They were supposed to come out of the tunnel that day when MaBhudhi arrived shouting Murudo Murudo.
Allow me to explain.
MaBhudhi are the most feared group of MaShurugwis. Untouchable and invincible. The police are scared of them. They are the leaders.
Although the Army’s Support Unit mann the entrances and search for any weapons and confiscate them, Mabhudhis somehow roam around freely with their Machetes called Colombias. Purchased in Msasa Harare. They cost about USD40 each. Razor Blade sharp, that one slash decapitates one’s head without effort.
Its a well known fact that when Mabhudhi approaches you, listen to their lingo.
If they say Murudo Murudo or Murudho Murudho( Ndebele Shurugwis), all they are saying is “Give us all you have mined, even if you have been down here for a month, we mean no harm, its all done with love, mine some more and handover to us, and no harm will come your way.”
Murudo murudo is welcome. For one is willing to spare your life.
You resist, you are a goner. Simple.
Every miner understands this. Except Nyasha and his cousins. They were virgins in this field and were ill-prepared.
The love for money drove them, without fully researching the trade.
That is how Mabhudhi’s approached them. But they thought they would put up a fight, without any weapon.
He was shaking as he narrated the events of the night.
One Bhudhi turned to Nyasha and said, ” Zvino iwe chinun’una zvowohoramba nemahwe, unoti Maiguru vako vanohodleyi kumba?” Nyasha said he didnt care. Those were his last words. For he wasnt prepared for the disciplinary action that followed.
The Dr walked in, looking sombre and lethargic. Nyasha had closed his eyes indefinitely.
30mins later, death claimed the 2nd victim.
I was in a daze. It was a nightmare in a slow motion. The wailing.
They were both aged 17. Nyasha was waiting for his O level results. They are still not out.
Tonde described how Mabhudhi went around slashing people indiscriminatly. More bodies layed unclaimed underground..
A week later, I visited the place in Jumbo.
The place was a metropolis marinated with some bedlumic clamour. Kids below 20, speaking some funny language, dirty. They rushed to the car checking if I had brought some Musombodhiya or Weed. Some exhibited some fine tremors typical of drug abuse.
I realised if I so much as ventured outside my car, I would be gone in less than no time. There were thousands of people around, miners and traders alike, adding to the concert.
Before I could say Jack Robinson, there was a stampede of Biblical proportions.
Some Mabhudhis had gone on a revenge killing rampage on the other Mabhudhis. Likely the ones that killed my cousins.
1 Mabhudhi was brought from underground. His head was chopped 3 times with an axe.
I saw a glimpse of his limpy body for people were vying for his blood.
2 bodies were rushed to the hospital, but sadly died enroute.
I knew it was tim
Boris Johnson exclaimed ‘F***’ upon first learning of Donald Trump‘s drone strike on the top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, reports say.
The Prime Minister is on holiday in Mustique with girlfriend Carrie Symonds and was informed of the killing over the phone on Friday.
Britain, unlike Israel, was not given prior warning of the attack which has already threatened to destabilise the Middle East and provoke a retaliation to the West.
Mr Johnson had the four-letter outburst after British troops first learned of the airstrike from their US counterparts stationed together in Baghdad, The Mirror reported.
He has been criticised for not cutting short his Caribbean break or speaking out about the seismic event but he is now due to fly home tomorrow.
Furious British security officials have now accused No 10 of allowing a ‘political vacuum’ to open up while Mr Johnson was on holiday, during which he failed to make any comment on the incident.
Downing Street insisted that Mr Johnson would be briefed in full on the situation once he returns to work, including on the possibility of retaliatory actions Iran might take against the UK.
He will likely be greeted by Sir Mark Sedwill, the National Security Adviser, who has been locked in meetings today with the heads of the UK intelligence agencies on potential risks to ships and citizens in the Middle East.
Number 10 declined to comment on Mr Johnson’s reaction to the news of the killing.
Jeremy Corbyn, known for his pacifism, says he would have immediately left his holiday to help defuse a situation which ‘could have grave consequences for the UK and the world.’
Similarly, Labour’s Angela Rayner said Mr Johnson must return and leaving diplomacy in the hands of Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was unwise.
The Prime Minister and Carrie Symonds have been staying in a £20,000-per-week villa on the luxury private island of Mustique.
But a break from geopolitical conflict he did not receive and he is now being whisked back to the UK.
When he was Mayor of London, Mr Johnson refused to cut short a family holiday to Canada in 2011 when the riots broke out, and faced angry heckles when he returned. – Dailymail.co.uk
VIDEO LOADING BELOW….
https://youtu.be/4Wxg6HceEjY
The government has gone ahead to gazette the Constitution Amendment Bill which paves way for restructuring of the supreme law.
ALSO READ THE PROFESSOR LOVEMORE MADHUKU 25 MIN INTERVIEW ON SATURDAY.
The amendments include repealing the running mate clause meaning the Vice President will no longer have powers of succeeding or taking over from the President.
Also, the Bill proposes that the Prosecutor-General be appointed by the President on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission without public interviews.
The tenures of the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court judges will also be extended after reaching the age of 70, for up to five years subject to a favourable medical report.
The changes also include clauses permitting the President to appoint at least two more non-constituency Cabinet ministers and also extending the women’s quota in Parliament by another two terms. The women’s quota was set to expire during the current Parliament.
In addition, the amendments will include a provision for the introduction of 10 extra seats in the National Assembly reserved for youths — one from each province.
Furthermore, the Bill seeks to terminate the joint election of the President and his deputies through removal of the “running mate” clause.
Joint election of the country’s top leadership was set to commence in 2023.
Parliament will soon initiate nationwide public hearings into the Bill to ensure inclusivity in the law-making process.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the Bill will now be tabled for debate in the National Assembly early April, at least 90 days after its gazetting.
“During this period, public consultations will commence with written submissions to the Clerk of Parliament, while relevant committees will conduct public hearings across the country and produce a report after the consultations,”said Minister Ziyambi.
“After that, the Bill is introduced in the House and given its first reading after which a committee report is presented and the parliamentarians debate it.
“After that second reading and winding up of debates, if issues arise after consultations we then go into the committee stage where if there is need, relevant amendments and changes are made.
The Bill will then go through the third House before the vote. A two thirds majority of the vote is required for the bill to pass. It is then ent to the Senate where similar procedures are done before it is sent to the President for assent.
“So the 90 day period will likely come around the end of March so we expect to introduce it in the House early April.”
Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda said Parliament would commence sittings on February 11.
“Committees resume earlier to deal with petitions and public hearings on Bills.
“Yes, we have to do public hearings on all Bills (including the Constitution Amendment Bill).”
Currently, the Constitution allows for the President to appoint only five Cabinet ministers from outside Parliament, but once the amendment Bill is passed, the President will be empowered to appoint two more.
Reads the Bill in part: “Section 104 (“Appointment of Ministers and Deputy Ministers”) (3) of the Constitution is amended by the deletion of “up to five” and the substitution of “up to seven”.
The composition of the National Assembly will also be changed to include 10 more parliamentarians elected through proportional representation.
In a development to facilitate implementation of one of the resolutions from the Zanu-PF National People’s Conference held last month, the women’s quota clause will also be extended.
In addition, Section 161 of the Constitution is also being amended to allow for the decoupling of the drawing of constituency boundaries and the national census.
Currently, the Constitution obligates the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to draw up new electoral boundaries every 10 years, immediately after a national population census. The next one is due in 2022.
On devolution, the Bill proposes to “remove Members of Parliament from membership of provincial councils, merge the provisions relating to provincial and metropolitan councils by removing the special provision relating to the latter (they will no longer be chaired by mayors, but be elected in terms of Section 272 like provincial councils), and provide for the election of 10 members of Metropolitan Councils by a system of party list proportional representation.”
Other proposed changes include the establishment of the Public Protector’s Office, the establishment of the Office of the Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet and renaming of the Civil Service Commission back to the Public Service Commission.
Lydia Banda-Ndethi has reportedly been demoted for not attending an event that the VP Chiwenga officiated, the Southern Eye established.
Banda, who was the Binga DDC and is now deputy director local governance in the provincial development co-ordinator’s office, Matabeleland North, allegedly violated the Public Service Regulations act when she chose to attend an event facilitated by an NGO over an event the VP was officiating.
According to Newsday, Banda was told in writing:
You allegedly prematurely left the function that the Vice-President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Chiwenga was officiating in July 2018 at the Manjolo Business Centre opting to attend to a NGO programme. You had lopsided priorities to the extent that the activities of NGOs were taking precedence ahead of government business.NewsDay
By Jeffryson Murisi David Chitando
Zanu PF must reign in on MaShurungwi.
Zanu PF is known to create militia groups during election times.
When elections are over the ruling party fails to disband and force the militia groups into civilian communities.
History has it that Zanu PF has had Chipangano in Harare,Alshababa in Kwekwe ,Top Six in Chinhoyi and many others throughout the country. These militia groupswere above the law.
The former militia groups were disbanded as they were led by G40 members like Jim Kunaka.Zanu PF created MaShurungwi for election purposes but have no use for them at the moment…they have become a financial burden to the party.
MaShurungwi like Moneychangers are controlled by Zanu PF big guns.The government, if it wanted to disarm MaShurungwi, it could have deployed the army but it’s impossible for Zanu PF to deploy soldiers against itself.
It’s like Zanu PF setting a coup against itself.
Will Zanu PF order soldiers to fire at Shake-Shake Building?The Pope will never play golf or go partying while Rome is burning.
Why is Zanu PF silent while citizens are being butchered by MaShurungwi?
Zanu PF has the obligation and powers to disband its militia MaShurungwi groups.The gold collected by MaShurungwis ends up in ZanuPF hands.
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s carefree, patronizing and condescending attitude towards the economically hard hit masses was at full glare in Kuwadzana during his routine monthly publicity stunt disguised as clean up campaign.
While the poverty stricken masses clearly tried to drive their point home that prices of basic commodities has gone beyond reach of many, Mnangagwa chose to pull a Marie Antoinette on the suffering citizens.
Just as Marie Antoinette, the infamous French Queen triggered the 1789 French Revolution by mockingly telling the Paris mob to substitute bread for cakes, Mnangagwa condescendingly bragged to the Kuwadzana gathering that they should instead substitute meat for vegetables.
It is not mendacious that the country has become a hellhole to ordinary citizens due to Mnangagwa’s elitist and anti people austerity policies.
What is ironic and more piercing is the fact that the very same man who ridiculously shocked the whole nation by munching ‘mazondo’ in a hired luxurious plane want us to believe meat is a luxury.
Only last week, the austerity king hosted an expensive banquet at his Sherwood farm with his POLAD acolytes where five course meals were on parade yet the very same man want us to be full blown grazers.
If anything, Mnangagwa’s carefree utterances in Kuwadzana should never be taken lightly especially if citizens are to borrow a leaf from the Paris mob’s reaction to Marie Antoinette utterances.
Simply put, Mnangagwa’s Kuwadzana utterances are a cause for concern as far as issues of national peace and security are concerned.
If Mnangagwa is a national leader as he claims, then he should understand that leadership comes with responsibility.
A good leader does not feast amidst poverty as was the case in Sherwood last week but should be able to feel what those in the periphery of periphery feel.
Stephen Sarkozy Chuma
MDC Youth Assembly National Spokesperson
Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa stunned all and sundry when he announced that meat is not good for people’s health.
Addressing citizens in Kuwadzana Harare soon after his monthly clean up campaign, Mnangagwa said he had no power to regulate the prices of meat promising to ensure that school fees was affordable to the majority of citizens.
Said Mnangagwa:
“I know that in government school, fees have not been hiked. That is what I have been told. I have heard your two grievances, on meat and school. Alleluyah.
We will go and look into the two. But on meat, I do not have much power. But on school fees, there i can fix. Yes.
On council rates, the local authorities have been pleading with me to increase them, but i will refuse to have them effect the raise on rates.
It is well. Let us now go back to our homes. My final words which i am giving you is on unity, respect. we want peace, peace and peace.”
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s carefree, patronizing and condescending attitude towards the economically hard hit masses was at full glare in Kuwadzana during his routine monthly publicity stunt disguised as clean up campaign.
While the poverty stricken masses clearly tried to drive their point home that prices of basic commodities has gone beyond reach of many, Mnangagwa chose to pull a Marie Antoinette on the suffering citizens.
Just as Marie Antoinette, the infamous French Queen triggered the 1789 French Revolution by mockingly telling the Paris mob to substitute bread for cakes, Mnangagwa condescendingly bragged to the Kuwadzana gathering that they should instead substitute meat for vegetables.
It is not mendacious that the country has become a hellhole to ordinary citizens due to Mnangagwa’s elitist and anti people austerity policies.
What is ironic and more piercing is the fact that the very same man who ridiculously shocked the whole nation by munching ‘mazondo’ in a hired luxurious plane want us to believe meat is a luxury.
Only last week, the austerity king hosted an expensive banquet at his Sherwood farm with his POLAD acolytes where five course meals were on parade yet the very same man want us to be full blown grazers.
If anything, Mnangagwa’s carefree utterances in Kuwadzana should never be taken lightly especially if citizens are to borrow a leaf from the Paris mob’s reaction to Marie Antoinette utterances.
Simply put, Mnangagwa’s Kuwadzana utterances are a cause for concern as far as issues of national peace and security are concerned.
If Mnangagwa is a national leader as he claims, then he should understand that leadership comes with responsibility.
A good leader does not feast amidst poverty as was the case in Sherwood last week but should be able to feel what those in the periphery of periphery feel.
Stephen Sarkozy Chuma
MDC Youth Assembly National Spokesperson
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s carefree, patronizing and condescending attitude towards the economically hard hit masses was at full glare in Kuwadzana during his routine monthly publicity stunt disguised as clean up campaign.
While the poverty stricken masses clearly tried to drive their point home that prices of basic commodities has gone beyond reach of many, Mnangagwa chose to pull a Marie Antoinette on the suffering citizens.
Just as Marie Antoinette, the infamous French Queen triggered the 1789 French Revolution by mockingly telling the Paris mob to substitute bread for cakes, Mnangagwa condescendingly bragged to the Kuwadzana gathering that they should instead substitute meat for vegetables.
It is not mendacious that the country has become a hellhole to ordinary citizens due to Mnangagwa’s elitist and anti people austerity policies.
What is ironic and more piercing is the fact that the very same man who ridiculously shocked the whole nation by munching ‘mazondo’ in a hired luxurious plane want us to believe meat is a luxury.
Only last week, the austerity king hosted an expensive banquet at his Sherwood farm with his POLAD acolytes where five course meals were on parade yet the very same man want us to be full blown grazers.
If anything, Mnangagwa’s carefree utterances in Kuwadzana should never be taken lightly especially if citizens are to borrow a leaf from the Paris mob’s reaction to Marie Antoinette utterances.
Simply put, Mnangagwa’s Kuwadzana utterances are a cause for concern as far as issues of national peace and security are concerned.
If Mnangagwa is a national leader as he claims, then he should understand that leadership comes with responsibility.
A good leader does not feast amidst poverty as was the case in Sherwood last week but should be able to feel what those in the periphery of periphery feel.
Stephen Sarkozy Chuma
MDC Youth Assembly National Spokesperson
Former Liverpool player, Steve Nicol has claimed that forward, Sadio Mane could leave the club for Real Madrid if the whole ‘Real Madrid thing’ come up with the money for his signature.
DAILY POST had reported that Real Madrid have reportedly made contact with Mane’s representatives over a potential summer transfer deal for the forward at the end of the season.
Real Madrid manager, Zinedine Zidane is a huge admirer of Mane and he is keen to link the winger up with Karim Benzema in the Los Blancos’ attack line next season.
Speaking on reports linking Mane with a move to Real Madrid, Nicol told ESPN: “When it comes to Real Madrid, anything’s possible.
“Players when they’re linked with Real Madrid, their eyes light up.
“The question is – what’s this guy all about?
“If he’s thinking about his career on the field of play, he’s staying with Liverpool because Liverpool will win the Premier League title this year and could do for some years to come.
“They’re certainly going to be challenging in the Champions League.
“If that’s what he’s all about then he stays but if it’s the whole ‘Real Madrid thing’ then it’s possible.
“If they, as they normally do when they want something they come up with the money, I don’t think this is beyond the realm of possibility.
“It’s not happening in the summer but after that I wouldn’t count it out.”
Mane has enjoyed a fine 2019, scoring 54 goals for club and country last season, as he helped Jurgen Klopp’s side to win the 2018/2019 UEFA Champions League.
The 27-year-old finished in fourth behind Lionel Messi, Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo during the 2019 Ballon D’ Or award in France.
Mane also led Senegal to second place at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, in Egypt.
The former Southampton star has scored 15 goals and registered 14 assists for Liverpool so far this season in all competitions.Ghana News
Defending ABSA Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns have reportedly joined the race to sign unsettled Zimbabwean star striker Knowledge Musona.
The Warriors captain has had a nightmarish tenure at his current club, Belgian side RSC Anderlecht and is reportedly on his way out.
With many offers on the table for the 29-year-old former Kaizer Chiefs man, including some Belgian clubs, Masandawana are said to be pursuing him too.
According to South African publication Times Live, the Pretoria-based outfit are chasing the striker in a bid to lure him back to South African, where he was a household name in the gold and black of Amakhosi.
The publication even claims that Musona is apparently keen to join Sundowns‚ who are sure to have made an attractive offer to the star striker.Soccer 24
AT least 54 Zimbabweans travelling without valid passports were arrested in Polokwane, South Africa this week as they returned from Zimbabwe after spending their festive season with family and friends.
Three buses they were travelling in were impounded at a police road block.
“At the roadblocks, we experienced two or three buses from Zimbabwe. They can’t continue with their journey, unfortunately,” South African Deputy Minister of Police, Cassel Mathale said.
Millions of Zimbabweans living in neighbouring countries are now trooping back to their countries of stay and work after spending the long holiday period with their loved ones.
They fled the country seeking better economic and employment opportunities as over 80% of the population in Zimbabwe is unemployed.
However, a high number of them have no passports, as it is no longer easy to get an ordinary passport in Zimbabwe and the fortune seekers use undesignated entry points or pay bribes to travel.
South Africa Police Services (SAPS) said they had this week also impounded a truck travelling from Zimbabwe with a contraband of cigarettes worth over R1 million.
The president of the Chiefs Council of Zimbabwe Fortune Charumbira should be prosecuted for defying a court order, prominent political analyst Jeffryson Chitando has said.
Read Chitando’s argument below :
Chief Charumbira is in trouble again!
The Election Resource Centre has approached the High Court indicating that Masvingo traditional leader should be punished for defying a court order order that instructed him to apologize for encouraging chiefs to campaign for Zanu PF in 2017.
Chief Charumbira has arrogantly defied a court order instructing him to apologize.
This is a test case for the independence of the judiciary. The Constitution of Zimbabwe indicates that traditional leaders should be apolitical but Council of Chiefs president has openly acted in a partisan manner.
The Election Resource Centre case against Chief Charumbira will be a milestone in trying to “deZanunise” the traditional leaders in the county.
Papa JC speaks when things are not good
Writer and former advisor to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Petina Gappah has urged Zimbabweans not to buy her book which she said was being sold at an exorbitant price by a local shop.
She posted on Twitter saying:
I’m told that my most recent book is being sold at Innov8 bookshop in Harare. I’d normally be very happy but it is retailing for USD50. As it is not a hardcover, a picture book or printed on glossy paper, this is unjustifiable. Please spend your money wisely. Don’t buy it.
When the UK edition is launched in February, I will make arrangements with my publisher to sell it in Zim for no more than the ZWL equivalent of USD20. I will distribute it myself, as I have done in the past. Books are not luxury products and should not be priced as such.
I take great exception to this pricing because my books are not subject to the 40% book tax that I have been fighting against. They are covered by Zim’s EU tariff, so there is no duty to pay. There is this no justification for selling it in Zim at almost 3 times the normal price.
Legitimate bookshops and other distributors know that they can order directly from my publisher, and get a discount that can go as high as 70%. I am committed to my books being affordable in my own country. And my publishers share the same values.
I’ve agreed with my publisher that any books sold in Zimbabwe will not count towards my royalties. I don’t want my books sold in Zimbabwe to make money: I want them to be read. I am happy for them to make money for bookshops and other distributors. But kwete kutsvaga mari nedemo.
By A Correspondent- Former Masvingo Provincial minister, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti was reportedly robbed in Polokwane, South Africa on the 31st of December 2019, losing his phones and money in the process.
Posting on Twitter, Bhasikiti who is now a member of the MDC Alliance said God saved his life from from the daring thieves in South Africa.
“I thank God for saving my life from daring thieves who got away with money &my phones in Polokwane SA on 31st December 2019,making a Victorious 2020,” said Bhasikiti.
Losing 2018 Presidential candidate, Egypt Dzinemunhenzva has scoffed at POLAD adding that the platform is for “actors”.
He was responding to the Secretary-General of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), Raymond Majongwe who was inquiring on why Dzinemunhenzva was not part of the forum.
Dzinemunhenzva responded sarcastically saying:
Iye munhu akawhina anoda kubatsirwa kutonga here? Ndakanzwa kuti kunoenda maActors. (If a person won the elections, will they need assistance to govern and execute their mandate? I heard (POLAD) is for Actors.)
Dzinemunhenzva is among a few other losing presidential candidates in the 2018 elections who snubbed the forum.
Prominent among them is Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the opposition MDC who describes the forum as a circus and resource-wasting endeavour.
The forum was launched by President Mnangagwa in a bid to dissolve the impasse and tension that is existing amongst citizens. The forum was also premised at finding solutions to socio-economic challenges bedevilling the country.
Meanwhile, whilst participants in the forum argue that it has achieved a lot already, critics believe the forum is tantamount to pouring resources into a drain.
Belvedere Teachers’ college
4 January 2020
Our case for world Class EDUCATION in our lifetime!
OUR Vision is to set Zimbabwe as the hub of education in the world starting with the establishing our country as the giant in the region and on the continent.
The IRONY is that Zimbabweans are running the world but seem to be struggling to run our own country.
THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHERS
Teachers are the custodians of the greatest resource.
Teachers are pillars and citadels nation building
Teachers are opinion leaders and opinion makers
Teachers have the respect of community
Teachers are role models of society
THE UTILITY OF EDUCATION
Education is critical foundation upon which nations are built. we will have to rebuild the nation through education. Education defines the character and civilization of a nation.
Neglecting education is jeopardizing the future of the nation. Education remains a key component of national development, transformation and must be prioritized as such.We are in the National transformation Revolution, a struggle to revolutionize our economies.
Without an earnest look at what and how we are teaching our children we run the risk of squandering the future.
The education crisis cannot be divorced from the national crisis
Bad governance and the state of the economy have led us to a place where teacher remuneration is low yet school fees are high. The system is not working for the teachers who cannot afford to live on their meagre wages not for parents who mostly cannot access education at the current fee levels.
The starting point is to deal with the root cause of the crisis ie bad governance and the broken economy
Thereafter, there needs to increase funding to the education sector
There needs to be more capital investment in school infrastructure including the refurbishment of buildings, providing adequate learning materials and textbooks to ensure that quality education is being provided
The restoration of the DIGNITY, Glitter and Glamour of the Teaching profession and education practitioners. There needs to be a restoration of the Govt and society’s respect for the teaching profession and improved teacher remuneration.Teaching should be a noble profession and honorable profession.OUR Teachers must be proud after retirement.
There needs to be a review of the new curriculum to evaluate whether it is achieving the objectives that were set out for it, whether it is well-funded and whether it is meeting the needs of industry and the 4th industrial revolution
In this regard, the MDC government, being a People’s government, pledges the following:
1. Provision of free primary school education.
2. The construction of new schools to reduce walking distances of travelling students.
3. Construction of new classrooms to reduce teacher to pupil ratio.
4. Ensuring adequate textbooks to all students at a ratio of 1:1
5. Ensuring e learning and the total transformation of Zimbabwe’s education system to
ICT based system. Ensuring that every child has an access to a computer.COMPUTER PER SCHOOL PER CHILD
6. Ensuring the modernisation of schools with up to date libraries, laboratories and
facilities for modern education.
7. Abandoning the out of context curriculum and adopting a new modern curriculum that prepares the country and make it competitive for the Information Age, the digital 21st century and beyond with an emphasis on machine Learning, the internet of things, Artificial Intelligence, nanotechnology and fourth Industrial Revolution.A new curriculum with a bias towards entrepreneurship, leadership
8. Ensuring that, teachers are adequately remunerated and that they have access to housing loans and decent housing facilities to teachers particularly in rural areas.
9. Encourage the twinning up of rural schools with international schools or urban schools.
10. Re-Introduction of loans and grants at tertiary institutions.
11. Introduction of Centres of excellence.
12. Emphasizing in the curriculum to make it multi-dimensional and more vocational.
13. Encouraging learning of sciences and technological sciences.
14. Encouraging the teaching of sports, arts and culture in schools.
15. Promote and support centres of vocational training in specialised foods and agriculture such as Gweru, Black Forby, and Chivero.
16. Transform Zimbabwean Universities into world class institutions leveraging on the talent and academic prowess of Zimbabweans.
17. Produce excess specialised skills in the field of medicine, sciences with a deliberate aim of exporting such skills.
18. Establish a framework for a modern democratic, functional model for early childhood development.
19. Roll out vocational skills and entrepreneurial training for youth empowerment.
20. Promote a reading culture in Zimbabwe.
21. Provision of adequate learning and teaching materials.
22. Filling of critical vacancies to improve the teacher to pupil ratio.
23. Rehabilitating and expanding education facilities.
24. Strengthening school supervision.
25. Merit-based promotions
26. Teachers’ rights shall be fully recognized.
Two people died on the spot while several others were injured when a Harare-bound Trip Trans bus coming from Nyanga burst its front tyre resulting in the driver losing control and the bus rolling several times before landing on its side.
The accident occurred around 1 pm near Macheke.
According to an eye witness Tinashe Nyambuya, the bus which had standing passengers was speeding and overloaded.
The injured were taken to Marondera Hospital.
By Patrick Guramatunhu| The Zanu PF dictatorship is imploding, the regime was rotten to the core and the centre can not hold. 40 years of this corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical misrule has left the country in economic ruins and the Zanu PF thugs are fighting each other to the death over the ever shrinking national cake.
The nation has good reason to worry about how the Zanu PF dictatorship will end, as things stand the party is sinking into the abyss but still retains’ strangle hold on the nation. The danger of Zanu PF dragging the nation into the abyss with it is real.
We must find ways of implementing the democratic reforms, end the curse of rigged elections and thus price free of Zanu PF’s political strangle hold. A serious and urgent challenge!
We must also think of what kind of Zimbabwe we want post the Zanu PF dictatorship. The 1980 independence took us from the frying pan of white colonial oppression into the fire of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. We must learn from that mistake and taking every precaution to avoid repeating the same mistake.
“I agree and support my compatriots who say Mat provinces are marginalized. Let’s speak against this and promote equal opportunities for all regions without ambiguity and let’s desist from defending stupid things. Why should people come to Harare for nursing interviews!!!” said political commentator Pedzisai Ruhanya.
This is just the type of cheap but very dangerous divide and rule politicking that, if not slammed down forcefully, could see post Zanu PF Zimbabwe ending up like post Gaddafi Libya.
In a country where unemployment has soared to 90%, there is no water and electricity and health care has all but collapsed, schools are closing, etc.; are we expected to believe that there are some region(s) in Zimbabwe that are prospering and none of these problems exist? If there are, then Mr Ruhanya must name them and not just make insinuating but unfounded comments.
How is holding nursing job interviews in Harare singling out and “marginalising” Mat provinces and is not doing the same to all the other remaining seven provinces?
Four decades of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF misrule have left the nation in economic ruins and traumatised, everyone is angry and mistrustful. The last thing the country wants is some village idiot like Ruhanya stoking the anger and mistrust with falsehoods of one region or tribe being “marginalised”.
The Zanu PF dictatorship is imploding and the task of rebuilding the nation from the ruins will be tough enough without making it mission impossible by wasting the nation’s time, resources and, God forbid, human lives fighting regional and tribal rivalries.
Look at what has happened to Libya since the death of that country’s tyrant, Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi. The dictator was cornered and killed in 2011 and yet, nearly decade latter, the country is still at war!
No doubt, many Libyans think they are settling old scores, not knowing they are in fact making complete fools of themselves. They were all victims of the Gaddafi dictatorship and by making sure the post Gaddafi Libya enjoyed peace, justice and economic prosperity for all should have been their number one priority. Of course, it is folly to let themselves be dragged into this futile regional conflict that has left the country in a worse economic and political state than it was during Gaddafi!
Post Zanu PF dictatorship Zimbabwe must be spared the fate that has befallen post Gaddafi Libya. And to be certain of that goal, we must not spare the whip and spoil village idiots like Ruhanya whose blabbering knows no bonds!
– SOURCE: zimbabwelight.blogspot.com
NEWSDAY_- TOTAL cattle slaughters in Zimbabwe declined by 11% to 185 853 head for the nine months to September 2019, due to drought and disease quarantine, a new report has revealed.
In its latest report, Livestock and Meat Advisory Council (Lmac) noted that cumulative slaughters for the third quarter of 2019 were 63 233 head, a decrease of 11% and 3% over the same period in 2018 and the third quarter of 2019, respectively.
“Drought conditions have not yet had the expected impact of increased head at cattle sales as reluctance by farmers to sell their animals and quarantine orders following disease outbreaks have had a negative effect on cattle movements,” the report reads in part.
Lmac said large variations in monthly slaughters populate the months from January to September 2019, with the highest slaughter figure recorded in May of 23 970 head, while the lowest was in February of 17 962 head.
“For the first nine months of the year, Mashonaland West province recorded the highest number of slaughters at monitored abattoirs, accounting for 19% of the national slaughter. Masvingo, Midlands and Matabeleland South were second, third and fourth with 15, 14 and 13%, respectively,” it says.
Manicaland had the lowest slaughters, accounting for just 1%, which may be reflective of the lack of monitoring at abattoirs and not the absence of cattle slaughters, the report notes.
“Slaughters in Bulawayo have been on a significant downward trend in recent months.”
The report notes that in September, the breakdown of slaughter quality shows that manufacturing and economy grades account for 50% of slaughters. Economy grade continues to dominate the carcasses slaughtered, making up 39% of all slaughters, reflecting an increase of 2% over the same period in 2018.
“Typically, as the year progresses and pastures dry up, commercial farmers and feedlot operators normally resort to feedlotting. However, the economics of this practice are under huge pressure due to the cost of stockfeed. As slaughter stock is predominantly drawn from communal cattle producers, they will be most affected by the drought as producers rely on natural pastures,” says the report.
The quality composition of slaughtered cattle over the period under review shows manufacturing and economy accounting for 45% while super grade accounts for 18%.
Matabeleland North boasted the highest average carcass size, averaging 232kg over the third quarter of 2019.
Bulawayo and Masvingo were second and third, averaging 191 and 190kg, respectively. Manicaland had the lowest carcass weight of 161kg.
The wholesale price of economy grade increased by 510% in the period under review from $7,63 to $46,83 per kg. The highest increase of 656% was for choice grade, increasing from $9 to $68/kg. Supers continue to be in short supply on the market.
“Stockfeed prices continue to be driven by inflationary pressures of raw materials. It is anticipated that as supply bottlenecks of key raw materials increase, this reality will be reflected in the price. Disposable consumer income is being eroded by inflation and as a result, dietary changes that will reduce demand for animal protein are inevitable,” the report reads in part.
Buying conditions have been characterised by prices being quoted in United States dollar and paid in ZWL at the prevailing exchange rate, a situation that has increased prices in ZWL terms.
-Newsday
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has dissuaded Zimbabweans from eating meat saying it was unhealthy for them, but should turn to vegetables instead.
He was responding to grievances in an interactive session with a rented crowd which was raising its concerns over the exorbitant prices of basic commodities, including meat, at a national clean-up campaign at Kuwadzana 2 shopping centre in Harare yesterday.
Mnangagwa in his response said people should not worry about the escalating price of meat because the product was unhealthy for them to consume.
“You should eat vegetables, they are recommended by doctors. Doctors want you to eat vegetables so that you stay healthy. Meat is not good at all. We have differed there; I listen to doctors, so I eat vegetables. They said vitamins are found in vegetables and potatoes. You see,” he said amid grumbling from the crowd.
Mnangagwa also said the government would make sure that prices of basic commodities would remain affordable to the public.
“I was advised that there are seven basic commodities which should not be scarce. We are going to make sure that these are found at affordable prices for our people. We are working on that, be patient. These things are being rolled out, we have the money to do that,” he said.
-Newsday
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has dissuaded Zimbabweans from eating meat saying it was unhealthy for them, but should turn to vegetables instead.
He was responding to grievances in an interactive session with a rented crowd which was raising its concerns over the exorbitant prices of basic commodities, including meat, at a national clean-up campaign at Kuwadzana 2 shopping centre in Harare yesterday.
Mnangagwa in his response said people should not worry about the escalating price of meat because the product was unhealthy for them to consume.
“You should eat vegetables, they are recommended by doctors. Doctors want you to eat vegetables so that you stay healthy. Meat is not good at all. We have differed there; I listen to doctors, so I eat vegetables. They said vitamins are found in vegetables and potatoes. You see,” he said amid grumbling from the crowd.
Mnangagwa also said the government would make sure that prices of basic commodities would remain affordable to the public.
“I was advised that there are seven basic commodities which should not be scarce. We are going to make sure that these are found at affordable prices for our people. We are working on that, be patient. These things are being rolled out, we have the money to do that,” he said.
-Newsday
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s carefree, patronizing and condescending attitude towards the economically hard hit masses was at full glare in Kuwadzana during his routine monthly publicity stunt disguised as clean up campaign.
While the poverty stricken masses clearly tried to drive their point home that prices of basic commodities has gone beyond reach of many, Mnangagwa chose to pull a Marie Antoinette on the suffering citizens.
Just as Marie Antoinette, the infamous French Queen triggered the 1789 French Revolution by mockingly telling the Paris mob to substitute bread for cakes, Mnangagwa condescendingly bragged to the Kuwadzana gathering that they should instead substitute meat for vegetables.
It is not mendacious that the country has become a hellhole to ordinary citizens due to Mnangagwa’s elitist and anti people austerity policies.
What is ironic and more piercing is the fact that the very same man who ridiculously shocked the whole nation by munching ‘mazondo’ in a hired luxurious plane want us to believe meat is a luxury.
Only last week, the austerity king hosted an expensive banquet at his Sherwood farm with his POLAD acolytes where five course meals were on parade yet the very same man want us to be full blown grazers.
If anything, Mnangagwa’s carefree utterances in Kuwadzana should never be taken lightly especially if citizens are to borrow a leaf from the Paris mob’s reaction to Marie Antoinette utterances.
Simply put, Mnangagwa’s Kuwadzana utterances are a cause for concern as far as issues of national peace and security are concerned.
If Mnangagwa is a national leader as he claims, then he should understand that leadership comes with responsibility.
A good leader does not feast amidst poverty as was the case in Sherwood last week but should be able to feel what those in the periphery of periphery feel.
Stephen Sarkozy Chuma
MDC Youth Assembly National Spokesperson
By Jeffryson Murisi David Chitando
Zanu PF must reign in on MaShurungwi.
Zanu PF is known to create militia groups during election times.
When elections are over the ruling party fails to disband and force the militia groups into civilian communities.
History has it that Zanu PF has had Chipangano in Harare,Alshababa in Kwekwe ,Top Six in Chinhoyi and many others throughout the country. These militia groupswere above the law.
The former militia groups were disbanded as they were led by G40 members like Jim Kunaka.Zanu PF created MaShurungwi for election purposes but have no use for them at the moment…they have become a financial burden to the party.
MaShurungwi like Moneychangers are controlled by Zanu PF big guns.The government, if it wanted to disarm MaShurungwi, it could have deployed the army but it’s impossible for Zanu PF to deploy soldiers against itself.
It’s like Zanu PF setting a coup against itself.
Will Zanu PF order soldiers to fire at Shake-Shake Building?The Pope will never play golf or go partying while Rome is burning.
Why is Zanu PF silent while citizens are being butchered by MaShurungwi?
Zanu PF has the obligation and powers to disband its militia MaShurungwi groups.The gold collected by MaShurungwis ends up in ZanuPF hands.
LOZWI King and direct descendant of King Mambo, Mike Moyo,has thrown his weight behind the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) and urged political parties to put their differences aside and dialogue for the good of the country.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has refused to have any dialogue outside of Polad. The main opposition MDC led by Nelson Chamisa has refused to participate in Polad meetings held by Mnangagwa and fringe opposition parties, saying it is not a genuine platform for any meaningful dialogue, while also demanding a neutral interlocutor and venue.
Moyo, however, said dialogue was necessary to alleviate widespread suffering faced by millions at a time when hunger is stalking the country.
“Next year we are expecting a turnaround for Zimbabwe. We know that there will be political negotiations through Polad and I am expecting that political parties would put people first.
“Ordinary Zimbabweans are feeling the heat through sanctions. We would continue to pray for peace and stability,” Moyo said in his end of year message.
But most civic and political groups from Matabeleland said Polad was a waste of resources by presidential losers in the July 2018 polls.
MDC Bulawayo provincial chairperson James Sithole told Southern Eye that the political actors participating in Polad were “acting in a boring movie”.
“Bulawayo province as part of the greater national MDC family is committed and supports the party’s leadership guided by its resolution to participate in dialogue and dialogue for the people and not individuals, only when the dialogue involves the representative of the 2-5 million people can be genuine,” Sithole said.
“The current dialogue (Polad) is not genuine because it’s presided over by a conflicted person who is at the centre of an election dispute. (Nelson) Chamisa’s MDC wants real and effective dialogue, the kind that will bring electoral reforms, peace and stability and improve the life of the suffering masses of this country.”
Human rights activist and political commentator Effie Ncube said if it was true that some in Polad were demanding cars and allowances, then it would be a serious indictment of the platform.
“Polad is a conversation between political parties as non- State entities. To give allowances and vehicles to participants from the national fiscus would constitute a colossal scandal and an evil abuse of trust and office,” he said.
Habakkuk Trust chief executive officer Dumisani Nkomo said Polad’s demands to government were ridiculous.
“Polad itself is a questionable process that excludes key political and social factors. These demands are preposterous, nefarious, callous and careless. They border on mischief and a flagrant disregard of the bulk of the citizenry who continue to grovel in grinding poverty while others in Polad wine at the altar of political expediency in a glorified talk show,” Nkomo said.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Takavafira Zhou said Polad members were showing their true colours and were a liability to national development.
National Peace and Reconciliation Commission chairperson Selo Nare on Sunday said Polad has been a success, citing the response by Sadc to Polad in solidarity with the government on the unconditional removal of sanctions as a major success
By Jeffryson Murisi David Chitando
Zanu PF must reign in on MaShurungwi.
Zanu PF is known to create militia groups during election times.
When elections are over the ruling party fails to disband and force the militia groups into civilian communities.
History has it that Zanu PF has had Chipangano in Harare,Alshababa in Kwekwe ,Top Six in Chinhoyi and many others throughout the country. These militia groupswere above the law.
The former militia groups were disbanded as they were led by G40 members like Jim Kunaka.Zanu PF created MaShurungwi for election purposes but have no use for them at the moment…they have become a financial burden to the party.
MaShurungwi like Moneychangers are controlled by Zanu PF big guns.The government, if it wanted to disarm MaShurungwi, it could have deployed the army but it’s impossible for Zanu PF to deploy soldiers against itself.
It’s like Zanu PF setting a coup against itself.
Will Zanu PF order soldiers to fire at Shake-Shake Building?The Pope will never play golf or go partying while Rome is burning.
Why is Zanu PF silent while citizens are being butchered by MaShurungwi?
Zanu PF has the obligation and powers to disband its militia MaShurungwi groups.The gold collected by MaShurungwis ends up in ZanuPF hands.
Chippa United coach Norman Mapeza’s quest to bolster his squad for the remaining ABSA Premiership season continues following the arrival of two new signings today.
The Chilli Boys’ resurgence under the Zimbabwean coach has been met with praise, after they leaped from bottom on the table to 10th going into the new year.
They announced the two signings, Thokozani Sekotlong and Thabiso Lebitso.
Sekotlong is a striker, who was once with Mamelodi Sundowns while Lebisto, a winger, joins from Tswane University of Technology.Soccer 24
CINCINNATI —
An agreement will essentially split the United Methodist Church over a decades-old debate.
It all centers around a ban on performing same sex marriages and gay clergy with penalties starting on Jan. 1.
Pastors at two churches said now, with what happened Friday, the church can heal and start to move forward.
The Rev. David Meredith, pastor with Clifton United Methodist has been waiting for this moment. As a gay pastor, he was facing penalties.
“This agreement is truly a watershed moment for the United Methodist Church,” Meredith said.
Traditionalist Methodists will separate and can keep the ban on same sex marriages and having LGBTQ clergy, while progressives can end those limits for the first time in the church’s history.
“Persons may decide, congregations may decide that their conscience and their theology is better served and advanced in a separate denomination,” said Meredith.
The Rev. David Grout, senior pastor with Florence United Methodist said churches in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky will feel this differently, with Ohio being more progressive. For each church, decisions will be made.
“These are going to be hard days, but I hope that in a few years, it won’t be next week. But in a few years we’ll look back and see the church has blessed the world,” said Grout.
And Grout said the churches will remain strong no matter where they stand on human sexuality.
“Maybe our greatest witness will be perhaps in years to come. That we did form different groups. We did I’ll put in quotation marks ‘separate’ but we continued to move forward,” said Grout.
Meredith said he looks forward to a Sunday service with his congregation he’s never felt before.
“The news broke that those are all put in a drawer and will collect dust and they will not effect me or us and there will be great joy,” said Meredith.
Grout said separations like this for the church are not new. Free Methodists, Wesleyans, Nazarenes and others have broken away from the church in the past.
The agreement still needs to be voted on at the general conference this May in Minneapolis.
South African Airways (SAA) has extended the cancellation of all domestic and regional flights and has re-introduced international flights.
“SAA has extended the cancellation of all domestic and regional flights scheduled [to include] Sunday and Monday. This operational decision is aimed at minimising the impact of disruptions for the airline’s customers,” SAA said in a statement on Friday.
The extension of cancellations is a result of ongoing industrial action by the South African Cabin Crew Association (SACCA) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA).
The airline has announced that it is aiming to operate all international flights with effect from Sunday and customers should report to the airport as normal.
“SAA has further worked with its sister airline, Mango Airlines, to re-accommodate as many customers as possible travelling on domestic services. This may mean changes in timing and aircraft types, but aims to ensure that SAA’s customers reach their intended destination with minimal disruption,” the airline said.
SAA said customers travelling to destinations in the regional market (points on the African continent) will be re-accommodated on Airlink, a partner airline of SAA, and other airlines where possible.
It will not be possible to re-accommodate all customers.
“Passengers are advised to follow the commercial policies SAA has put in place, which can be found on www.flysaa.com. Customers are requested not to travel to their departure airports unless in possession of a rebooked itinerary, as SAA will not be able to provide any assistance,” SAA Chief Commercial Officer Philip Saunders said.
In order to minimise the impact on customers, SAA is proactively rebooking customers and providing various options.
The call centre hours have been extended from 6am to midnight, South African time.
“As call volumes are very high, we urge customers only to contact SAA in the event they wish to rebook on another airline for immediate travel.
“Customers seeking a refund or wishing to rebook their travel on a future SAA service have until 30 November 2019 to finalise their arrangements,” SAA said.
The Call Centre numbers are 0861 606 606 or 011 978 1111. Customers can also visit www.flysaa.com for the latest information.
Passengers will be assisted as follows:
· Where possible, passengers will be rebooked onto flights operated by any of SAA’s Star Alliance partners or other airlines to travel to their final destination with minimal disruption; and
· Passengers can be rebooked onto another South African Airways flight for any flight on the same routing until 31 October 2020 at no extra charge and subject to availability in the same booking class.
allafrica.com
Own Correspondent|A ZimEye.com reader has called on Zimbabweans to be “patient” with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s wayward speeches as he is not a Zimbabwean and could be battling to find proper Shona words to use when he speaks.
The comment came after Mnangagwa was heavily criticised on social media for his “musoro vabo” utterance on traders who have not adhered to his Mealie Meal price reduction order.
Mnangagwa called “fools” traders who are defying his non implementable instruction to reduce the price of Mealie Meal.
Speaking to residents from Kuwadzana in Harare on Friday where he carried out a clean up campaign, Mnangagwa threatened to revoke trading licences from retailers.
Last month, the government ordered a blanket reduction in roller-meal prices to $50 per 10kg bag of the staple after promising to give subsidised grain to millers a subsidy which the Millers have not received from him.
“Roller-meal is now pegged at $105 as I heard, but we said mealie-meal prices must go down to $50,” Mnangagwa told residents.
“If there are crooks, businessmen who don’t listen to the government because we give them subsidies and they can’t benefit twice, misoro yavo. We will have laws that deal with fools who don’t listen.
“We will reach a stage where we will withdraw licences of those who do not listen and they stay at home,” said Mnangagwa.
“We will have laws which deal with fools who don’t listen. Basic commodities like sugar, mealie meal, salt, soap, cooking oil, bread, must be cheap. We have reintroduced a subsidy on roller meal so it means if the price had risen to $100 it would cost you $50 and we will pay the other $50,” he said.
“If there are unscrupulous businesses that are still overcharging, we will revoke their licences. We have seven products that we have identified and will also be subsidised and these include cooking oil, salt, sugar, rice, maize meal, bread and soap. We will soon be rolling out these under the Silo brand.”
By A Correspondent- Losing 2018 Presidential candidate, Egypt Dzinemunhenzva (the real ED) has scoffed at POLAD adding that the platform is for “actors”.
He was responding to the Secretary-General of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), Raymond Majongwe who was inquiring on why Dzinemunhenzva was not part of the forum.
Dzinemunhenzva responded sarcastically saying:
Iye munhu akawhina anoda kubatsirwa kutonga here? Ndakanzwa kuti kunoenda maActors. (If a person won the elections, will they need assistance to govern and execute their mandate? I heard (POLAD) is for Actors.)
Dzinemunhenzva is among a few other losing presidential candidates in the 2018 elections who snubbed the forum.
Prominent among them is Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the opposition MDC who describes the forum as a circus and resource-wasting endeavour.
The forum was launched by President Mnangagwa in a bid to dissolve the impasse and tension that is existing amongst citizens. The forum was also premised at finding solutions to socio-economic challenges bedevilling the country.
Meanwhile, whilst participants in the forum argue that it has achieved a lot already, critics believe the forum is tantamount to pouring resources into a drain.
Own Correspondent|The Zimbabwe Republic Police’s Criminal Investigations Department has started an exercise in which it will profile all firearm holders.
The process which began on 2 January 2020 affects new and current owners. That means if you are getting a new license and have never owned a gun or are renewing your current one.
Said the circular:
The new development by the Criminal Investigations Department is aimed at profiling and accounting for all firearms in the country.
Firearm Holders are to bring their firearms together with three live rounds for the process to the ballistics section at which is situated at CID Headquarters along Josiah Chinamano Ave in Harare. The process is being done free of charge.
Own Correspondent|The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has issued a statement indicating that they have arrested six more thugs who were part of the machete gang which killed a police officer.
Amongst the arrested is a minor aged 14.
According to the police the arrest was effected after a brief shootout with the thugs as they heavily resisted arrest.
Below is the full statement from the police:
Former Liverpool player, Steve Nicol has claimed that forward, Sadio Mane could leave the club for Real Madrid if the whole ‘Real Madrid thing’ come up with the money for his signature.
DAILY POST had reported that Real Madrid have reportedly made contact with Mane’s representatives over a potential summer transfer deal for the forward at the end of the season.
Real Madrid manager, Zinedine Zidane is a huge admirer of Mane and he is keen to link the winger up with Karim Benzema in the Los Blancos’ attack line next season.
Speaking on reports linking Mane with a move to Real Madrid, Nicol told ESPN: “When it comes to Real Madrid, anything’s possible.
“Players when they’re linked with Real Madrid, their eyes light up.
“The question is – what’s this guy all about?
“If he’s thinking about his career on the field of play, he’s staying with Liverpool because Liverpool will win the Premier League title this year and could do for some years to come.
“They’re certainly going to be challenging in the Champions League.
“If that’s what he’s all about then he stays but if it’s the whole ‘Real Madrid thing’ then it’s possible.
“If they, as they normally do when they want something they come up with the money, I don’t think this is beyond the realm of possibility.
“It’s not happening in the summer but after that I wouldn’t count it out.”
Mane has enjoyed a fine 2019, scoring 54 goals for club and country last season, as he helped Jurgen Klopp’s side to win the 2018/2019 UEFA Champions League.
The 27-year-old finished in fourth behind Lionel Messi, Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo during the 2019 Ballon D’ Or award in France.
Mane also led Senegal to second place at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, in Egypt.
The former Southampton star has scored 15 goals and registered 14 assists for Liverpool so far this season in all competitions.Ghana News
Media Statement|We would like to start year 2020 by congratulating our comrades in Ambazonia for successfully launching the “Ambazonian war of Independence”. Needless to say, the government of Cameroon is shaking.This, without any doubt, is proof that the sound of the gun is the only language that the oppressor hears.
It is also refreshing and inspiring to note that the international community is now seeing black to black oppression for what it is as the United States of America, Belgium and other Western countries have told President of Cameroon, Paul Biya to negotiate with Ambazonia.
We state here, and unambiguously so, that soon, and very soon Zimbabwe will take a bitter sip from the same cup of violence. That is if the arrogant Shona supremacist government continues to bury its head in the sand in ignorance of Matabeleland statehood restoration cause.
We remind them that the revolution wheel never turns backwards. To us in Matabeleland war is a necessary evil. We will never forgive nor forget the painful history of Matabeleland genocide and continuous tribal marginalisation, tribal hatred and tribal oppression.
We as MLO have made an effort to engage the Shona supremacist government of Zimbabwe in the most rational, respectful and peaceful manner. But we have learnt a bitter lesson that human rights abusers and tribal oppressors do not deserve any kind of respect.
Instead of doing the right thing, ie to respond to the Notice and arrange a neutral venue where we can sit around the table and discuss peaceful separation of Matabeleland and Zimbabwe, they send heavily armed state agents to raid Cde Paul Siwela’s house to harass and abuse his family. The Notice of Demand for the Restoration of Matabeleland State has been sent to them by the President of Matabeleland Liberation Organization, Cde Paul Siwela, not once, not twice but three times.
Perhaps the Shona supremacist government of Zimbabwe may view this move as a sign of weakness but make no mistake, the notice is not there as a decoration of the Zimbabwe President’s office.
Independence struggles have many formulas. No one issues the oppressed with a permit to start an armed struggle. It is upon the oppressed who are suffering under the heavy weight of oppression to take matters into their own hands and liberate themselves. There is time for reasoning and talking. We have done enough of this in Matabeleland. There is time for action and this is time. Izenzo kungemazwi! Ayihlome ihlasele!
Look up in the sky and around you, read the writing on the wall. The political climate in Matabeleland is changing very fast. If you are a politician or individual earning your salary, wage or commission through selling out the people of Matabeleland to the government of Zimbabwe one way or another, you are nothing but a traitor!
That means you are a danger to yourself, your children, your family and Matabele nation at large. The principle of the revolution demands that you must be taken out of the community as soon as possible because of the danger you pose. The only sentence for a traitor is death by necklace.
Izenzo kungemazwi!
Israel Dube
MLO Secretary for Information and Public Affairs
Own Correspondent|Writer and former advisor to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Petina Gappah has urged Zimbabweans not to buy her book which she said was being sold at an exorbitant price by a local shop.
She posted on Twitter saying:
I’m told that my most recent book is being sold at Innov8 bookshop in Harare. I’d normally be very happy but it is retailing for USD50. As it is not a hardcover, a picture book or printed on glossy paper, this is unjustifiable. Please spend your money wisely. Don’t buy it.
When the UK edition is launched in February, I will make arrangements with my publisher to sell it in Zim for no more than the ZWL equivalent of USD20. I will distribute it myself, as I have done in the past. Books are not luxury products and should not be priced as such.
I take great exception to this pricing because my books are not subject to the 40% book tax that I have been fighting against. They are covered by Zim’s EU tariff, so there is no duty to pay. There is this no justification for selling it in Zim at almost 3 times the normal price.
Legitimate bookshops and other distributors know that they can order directly from my publisher, and get a discount that can go as high as 70%. I am committed to my books being affordable in my own country. And my publishers share the same values.
I’ve agreed with my publisher that any books sold in Zimbabwe will not count towards my royalties. I don’t want my books sold in Zimbabwe to make money: I want them to be read. I am happy for them to make money for bookshops and other distributors. But kwete kutsvaga mari nedemo.
Farai Dziva|The president of the Chiefs Council of Zimbabwe Fortune Charumbira should be prosecuted for defying a court order, prominent political analyst Jeffryson Chitando has said.
Read Chitando’s argument below :
Chief Charumbira is in trouble again!
The Election Resource Centre has approached the High Court indicating that Masvingo traditional leader should be punished for defying a court order order that instructed him to apologize for encouraging chiefs to campaign for Zanu PF in 2017.
Chief Charumbira has arrogantly defied a court order instructing him to apologize.
This is a test case for the independence of the judiciary. The Constitution of Zimbabwe indicates that traditional leaders should be apolitical but Council of Chiefs president has openly acted in a partisan manner.
The Election Resource Centre case against Chief Charumbira will be a milestone in trying to “deZanunise” the traditional leaders in the county.
Papa JC speaks when things are not good
Defending ABSA Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns have reportedly joined the race to sign unsettled Zimbabwean star striker Knowledge Musona.
The Warriors captain has had a nightmarish tenure at his current club, Belgian side RSC Anderlecht and is reportedly on his way out.
With many offers on the table for the 29-year-old former Kaizer Chiefs man, including some Belgian clubs, Masandawana are said to be pursuing him too.
According to South African publication Times Live, the Pretoria-based outfit are chasing the striker in a bid to lure him back to South African, where he was a household name in the gold and black of Amakhosi.
The publication even claims that Musona is apparently keen to join Sundowns‚ who are sure to have made an attractive offer to the star striker.Soccer 24
Fare thee well, Hazel Chihota.
ZAPU has been thrown into yet another episode of mourning following the death of Hezel Chihota, South Aftica based former youth leader and ZAWU provincial executive member.
Chihota died after a protacted struggle with illness. Born on 17 February 1976, she attended her primary education at Magwegwe primary school in Bulawayo before moving to Mutare for her secondary studies.
She also did beautician and hairdressing courses before moving back to Bulawayo.
She became politically active and was part of ZAPU revival in 2008-9. She worked in South Africa where she became part of the provincial youth leadership of the party. She rose through the ranks and was at the time of her departure a member of the women executive in the province.
Chihota will be laid to rest on Sunday 5,January in Bulawayo. The only girl child in her family, Hazel is survived by her brothers.
Mourners are gathered at 7151/14 Phumula North.
Iphithule T. Maphosa
National Spokesperson
Zimbabwe African Peoples Union.
By A Correspondent- Two people died on the spot while several others were injured when a Harare-bound Trip Trans bus coming from Nyanga burst its front tyre resulting in the driver losing control and the bus rolling several times before landing on its side.
The accident occurred around 1 pm near Macheke.
According to an eye witness Tinashe Nyambuya, the bus which had standing passengers was speeding and overloaded.The injured were taken to Marondera Hospital.
More to follow……
Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa stunned all and sundry when he announced that meat is not good for people’s health.
Addressing citizens in Kuwadzana Harare soon after his monthly clean up campaign, Mnangagwa said he had no power to regulate the prices of meat promising to ensure that school fees was affordable to the majority of citizens.
Said Mnangagwa:
“I know that in government school, fees have not been hiked. That is what I have been told. I have heard your two grievances, on meat and school. Alleluyah.
We will go and look into the two. But on meat, I do not have much power. But on school fees, there i can fix. Yes.
On council rates, the local authorities have been pleading with me to increase them, but i will refuse to have them effect the raise on rates.
It is well. Let us now go back to our homes. My final words which i am giving you is on unity, respect. we want peace, peace and peace.”
By A Correspondent- Velvet Petroleum and Liquid Cargo have been sucked into the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service’s $1,2 million fuel scam, which has resulted in the arrest of former correctional services’ spokesperson, Elizabeth Banda, and Glow Trading Company supervisor Raymond Mazodze sometime in October last year.
The two companies are expected to appear in court today in connection with the same allegations, as investigations into the matter are still under way.
Banda and Mazodze have since appeared in court charged with fraud.
Prosecutor Sebastian Mutizirwa said this yesterday while opposing Banda’s application for refusal of further remand.
He said investigations into the matter were almost complete.
“Progress has been made in the investigations and the State is not just paying lip service, as police are doing their job. There is no inordinate delay in giving them their trial date since we are barely three months following their arrest,” he said. “They came to court on October 8. This is a complex matter and the police did not arrest them to investigate. This is the reason why the defence counsel did not challenge their placement on remand.
“To prove that this is a complex matter, there is a company called Blue Agric Marondera which was allocated fuel and it (fuel) went through five other hands before it reached that company. That proves the matter is a complex one.”
Speaking through her lawyer Mr Tinofara Hove, Banda applied for refusal of further remand saying the State should summon her to court after completing all its investigations. She said it appeared as if the State had arrested her to allow investigations to take place.
“Investigations are still in their infancy and we believe there are 20 to 30 witnesses to be called. We also believe there are three to four co-accused which are to be jointly charged with accused in this case and we have been notified of this.
“In essence, what happened is that police got excited and arrested the accused before they investigated. They are now investigating when the accused is on remand,” said Mr Hove.
Mazodze, through his lawyer, also made the same application saying he would not abscond and would avail himself if summoned back to court.
He said he wanted to clear his name after the matter was reported by the media.
“His business and name have been affected and he is keen to clear his name. He is not a flight risk as he has been religiously attending court and reporting to the police as part of his bail conditions,” he said.
Magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa dismissed Banda and Mazodze’s applications before deferring the matter to February 12 for their routine remand.
Circumstances leading to the duo’s arrest are that sometime in July 2017, Banda and Mazodze hatched a plan to evade paying duty on fuel imported from South Africa.
In August 2017, Mazodze representing Gloew, which was purported to be registered in South Africa, approached ZPCS offering a donation of four million litres of diesel.
The fuel was said to be in South Africa, prompting ZPCS to engage the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs requesting a duty-free certificate for the four million litres, which was issued by ZIMRA.
The certificate was handed over to Mazodze to facilitate importation of the fuel.
It is alleged that from May 2017 to August 2018, Mazodze connived with Banda and drew a total of 1 130 500 litres of diesel at NOIC Msasa through CMED.
The State alleged that instead of delivering the fuel to ZPCS, Banda and Mazodze delivered 77 010 litres and sold 1 053 490 litres to Afrifor (Pvt) Ltd without the knowledge of ZPCS, CMED or the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
In a bid to conceal their crime, the State alleged that Banda raised a fake acquittal on December 5, 2017 indicating that the fuel had been delivered to ZPCS yet they had sold it to private fuel stations.
-StateMedia
By Sindile Ncube | When I look at the old men who rule Zimbabwe I find nothing relatable about them, I see no warmth and no kindness towards the general public. I see no creativity, no entrepreneurial spirit, and no forward thinking that takes into consideration the youth of Zimbabwe. What I see are continuous and intentional human rights abuses by these men.
Mnangagwa is almost 80 years old, his stake in the future is short lived, but the damage he is leaving could last half a century. One would have thought at his age he would be attempting to correct the damage his party has done to the country, but alas, he is adding more calamities to that list at an unprecedented rate. At his age he should be imparting wisdom youth but he is bereft of both wisdom and warmth. He is the worst granddad anyone can have. If HELL had a face it would look like him. The man oozes coldness and cruelty. He says he is as soft as wool, but we all know that is a lie. There is nothing soft about him. And that scarf he wears everywhere is the biggest national embarrassment, second only to Zimbabwe’s sewage systems. To think the future of us youth lies in the crusty hands of this monster makes me shudder with fear. What did we do to deserve this? He has no regard for human life old or young. He has no plans for our future. He continues to torture our families and fellow citizens for his own ends.
In the light of this, those of us MDC Youth in the UK do not recognise Mnangagwa and his government. He is not our President, he is our abuser. As a way to show our dissent against his authority, we will continue to demonstrate against his regime and it’s human rights abuses – the murders, the abductions and the arrest of MDC members. We are going to make it our business to picket the pathetic emissaries he sends over here to the UK with a begging bowl. I urge all Zimbabwean youth in the diaspora to share intelligence on their whereabouts, and then organise and demonstrate against the wretched men. We need to make it clear to them that we do not recognise their authority. Moreover, as human rights abusers, they need to be stand trial at The Hague.
By Patrick Guramatunhu- “First, the year 2019 was one of the hardest for us as citizens. The socio economic situation deteriorated and life continued to be harder for ordinary Zimbabweans,” said Jacob Ngarivhume, President of Transformer Zimbabwe, in his New Year address to the nation.
You are 100% correct that the nation is in a serious economic mess and, since Zanu PF has no clue what to do to revive the economy, the situation is set to get worse. The party rigged the 2018 elections but has since discovered it cannot rig economic recovery too.
It must be stated here and now that Zanu PF would not have rigged the 2018 elections and, so far at least, get away with it; if it was not for the Zimbabwe’s corrupt and incompetent opposition. There is no denying that Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends had the golden opportunity to implement the democratic reforms during the 2008 to 2013 GNU which would have ended the Zanu PF dictatorial powers to rig elections. They failed to get even one reform implemented. Not one!
MDC leaders went on to participate in the 2013 elections knowing fully well that with no reforms in place Zanu PF would rig the elections. And, worst of all, they knew that by taking part in the flawed and illegal elections they were giving credibility to the flawed process, as one MDC leader, David Coltart admitted.
“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious – withdraw from the elections,” confessed Coltart in his book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of tyranny in Zimbabwe.
“The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility.”
Mr Jacob Ngarivhume and his Transform Zimbabwe party joined hands with four MDC factions and other opposition parties to form MDC Alliance (MDC A) to contest the 2018 elections. They all knew that Zanu PF was rigging the elections, which as we know happened, and that by participating they were giving the illegal process credibility and, thus, giving illegitimate Zanu PF regime some modicum of legitimacy.
“We must build a common vision for our nation. We must stand up to fight together. Indeed we are stronger together….” Prayed Ngarivhume.
“And of course we should not forget that our hope as a nation is in God. We must agree that we need to give GOD a chance. We have tried ALL we can as people but to no avail.
“Let 2020 be the year we give GOD a chance as a nation!”
What common vision did you and your fellow opposition members offer the nation by participating in an illegal 2018 elections and thus giving the illegitimate Zanu PF regime credibility?
The best MDC A can do for the nation right now is to publicly admit, by participating in the July 2018 elections, the party sold out big time. The party must then admit that both the parliamentary and presidential elections were rigged, both Zanu PF regime and Mnangagwa are illegitimate and must step down.
God helps those who help themselves and not those who shoot themselves in the leg by knowingly giving credibility to an illegal process out of selfishness and greed!
MDC leaders have not gone from hunting with the Zanu PF hounds to now sleeping with the enemy. The sooner the ordinary Zimbabweans wake up to this political reality and stop following these sell-out blindly like sheep, the sooner the nation hope to get quality leaders who will, finally, implement the reforms.
By A Correspondent- A man from Bulawayo’s high density suburb of Mabutweni regrets marrying a divorced woman as she is now in the habit of visiting her ex-husband to sleep with him.
Precious Ndlovu has been a troubled man ever since he moved in with his wife because every time he comes back from work his wife will be in Njabulo Nsingo’s house.
The issue resulted in Ndlovu insulting and assaulting Nsingo; as such Nsingo resorted to applying for a protection order so as to shield himself from Ndlovu.
“Ndlovu is now in love with my ex-wife and is assuming that I am still in love with her because she usually comes to my place of residence looking for one of my tenants. I am now scared for my life because Ndlovu comes to my home carrying weapons and threatens to stab me with a knife. I no longer want him to come to my place of residence,” said Nsingo.
In his response Ndlovu said he is angry because whenever he demanded to know where his wife spends her time she would lie and say she will be hanging with friends. He only discovered the truth after getting a tip off from neighbours who told him his wife spends her time at Nsingo’s house.
“I went to Nsingo’s house to look for my wife and to my surprise I found her there with Nsingo. I had to drag her out of his house. She gave me an excuse saying she will be talking to her friends who are Nsingo’s tenants but that is not true because I have caught her several times in Nsingo’s house,” said a teary Ndlovu.
Western Commonage Magistrate Urgent Vundla ordered Ndlovu to refrain from assaulting and threatening Nsingo. He also ordered Ndlovu to stay away from Nsingo’s house.
-BMetro
By A Correspondent | The man who usurped power from the late Robert Mugabe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, yesterday unwittingly exposed how he deploys the army to assault civilians. The people of Kuwadzana, Harare are some of the worst brutalised by soldiers in August 2018 when Emmerson Mnangagwa deployed the army to kill many while changing election results, and on the 4th August local clinics told ZimEye.com of how military trucks would arrive at night and officers begin assaulting residents. Being reminded of these atrocities could not be any more hurting.
But the ZANU PF leader, yesterday said he will re-deploy the army to assault the people of Kuwadzana upon discovering they have bad wishes of the nation’s rainfall (directly translated to mean anyone stopping the rain).
Addressing Kuwadzana residents yesterday, Mnangagwa said, “Asi deno taiziva kuti vanhu vekuKuwadzana vasingade kuti mvura inaye taingoti army kombai tirove.” – once we discover that it is the people of Kuwadzana who wish the rain not to fall, we would (or will) deploy the army to surround them so we assault them.” Directly translated VIDEO LOADING BELOW….
Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa stunned all and sundry when he announced that meat is not good for people’s health.
Addressing citizens in Kuwadzana Harare soon after his monthly clean up campaign, Mnangagwa said he had no power to regulate the prices of meat promising to ensure that school fees was affordable to the majority of citizens.
Said Mnangagwa:
“I know that in government school, fees have not been hiked. That is what I have been told. I have heard your two grievances, on meat and school. Alleluyah.
We will go and look into the two. But on meat, I do not have much power. But on school fees, there i can fix. Yes.
On council rates, the local authorities have been pleading with me to increase them, but i will refuse to have them effect the raise on rates.
It is well. Let us now go back to our homes. My final words which I am giving you is on unity, respect. we want peace, peace and peace.”
By A Correspondent- President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that the government has not approved any school fees increases ahead of the opening of schools on 14 January.
Responding to complaints from a crowd made up of mostly residents bussed in from different suburbs in Kuwadzana during the National Clean-up Campaign on Friday, President Mnangagwa said:
I have heard that you are complaining that school fees have been increased. We haven’t approved any fees hikes. All government schools haven’t increased school fees and the government has not approved any fees hike.
What I have are requests by local authorities that they want to increase rates and from what I have gathered here as your grievances, I am going to refuse those requests.
The first National Clean-up Campaign in 2013 was delayed by nearly two hours to allow Zupco and Zanu PF buses to bring in people from outside Kuwadzana.
NewsDay reports that police chased away vendors from Kuwadzana 2 shopping centre and forced small shops to close.
Belvedere Teachers’ college
4 January 2020
Our case for world Class EDUCATION in our lifetime!
OUR Vision is to set Zimbabwe as the hub of education in the world starting with the establishing our country as the giant in the region and on the continent.
The IRONY is that Zimbabweans are running the world but seem to be struggling to run our own country.
THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHERS
Teachers are the custodians of the greatest resource.
Teachers are pillars and citadels nation building
Teachers are opinion leaders and opinion makers
Teachers have the respect of community
Teachers are role models of society
THE UTILITY OF EDUCATION
▪Education is critical foundation upon which nations are built. we will have to rebuild the nation through education. Education defines the character and civilization of a nation.
▪Neglecting education is jeopardizing the future of the nation. Education remains a key component of national development, transformation and must be prioritized as such.We are in the National transformation Revolution, a struggle to revolutionize our economies.
▪Without an earnest look at what and how we are teaching our children we run the risk of squandering the future.
▪The education crisis cannot be divorced from the national crisis
▪Bad governance and the state of the economy have led us to a place where teacher remuneration is low yet school fees are high. The system is not working for the teachers who cannot afford to live on their meagre wages not for parents who mostly cannot access education at the current fee levels.
▪The starting point is to deal with the root cause of the crisis ie bad governance and the broken economy
▪Thereafter, there needs to increase funding to the education sector
▪There needs to be more capital investment in school infrastructure including the refurbishment of buildings, providing adequate learning materials and textbooks to ensure that quality education is being provided
▪The restoration of the DIGNITY, Glitter and Glamour of the Teaching profession and education practitioners. There needs to be a restoration of the Govt and society’s respect for the teaching profession and improved teacher remuneration.Teaching should be a noble profession and honorable profession.OUR Teachers must be proud after retirement.
▪There needs to be a review of the new curriculum to evaluate whether it is achieving the objectives that were set out for it, whether it is well-funded and whether it is meeting the needs of industry and the 4th industrial revolution
In this regard, the MDC government, being a People’s government, pledges the following:
1. Provision of free primary school education.
2. The construction of new schools to reduce walking distances of travelling students.
3. Construction of new classrooms to reduce teacher to pupil ratio.
4. Ensuring adequate textbooks to all students at a ratio of 1:1
5. Ensuring e learning and the total transformation of Zimbabwe’s education system to
ICT based system. Ensuring that every child has an access to a computer.COMPUTER PER SCHOOL PER CHILD
6. Ensuring the modernisation of schools with up to date libraries, laboratories and
facilities for modern education.
7. Abandoning the out of context curriculum and adopting a new modern curriculum that prepares the country and make it competitive for the Information Age, the digital 21st century and beyond with an emphasis on machine Learning, the internet of things, Artificial Intelligence, nanotechnology and fourth Industrial Revolution.A new curriculum with a bias towards entrepreneurship, leadership
8. Ensuring that, teachers are adequately remunerated and that they have access to housing loans and decent housing facilities to teachers particularly in rural areas.
9. Encourage the twinning up of rural schools with international schools or urban schools.
10. Re-Introduction of loans and grants at tertiary institutions.
11. Introduction of Centres of excellence.
12. Emphasizing in the curriculum to make it multi-dimensional and more vocational.
13. Encouraging learning of sciences and technological sciences.
14. Encouraging the teaching of sports, arts and culture in schools.
15. Promote and support centres of vocational training in specialised foods and agriculture such as Gweru, Black Forby, and Chivero.
16. Transform Zimbabwean Universities into world class institutions leveraging on the talent and academic prowess of Zimbabweans.
17. Produce excess specialised skills in the field of medicine, sciences with a deliberate aim of exporting such skills.
18. Establish a framework for a modern democratic, functional model for early childhood development.
19. Roll out vocational skills and entrepreneurial training for youth empowerment.
20. Promote a reading culture in Zimbabwe.
21. Provision of adequate learning and teaching materials.
22. Filling of critical vacancies to improve the teacher to pupil ratio.
23. Rehabilitating and expanding education facilities.
24. Strengthening school supervision.
25. Merit-based promotions
26. Teachers’ rights shall be fully recognized.
By A Correspondent- Former Masvingo Provincial minister, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti was reportedly robbed in Polokwane, South Africa on the 31st of December 2019, losing his phones and money in the process.
Posting on Twitter, Bhasikiti who is now a member of the MDC Alliance said God saved his life from from the daring thieves in South Africa.
“I thank God for saving my life from daring thieves who got away with money &my phones in Polokwane SA on 31st December2019,making a Victorious 2020,” said Bhasikiti
By A Correspondent- Losing 2018 Presidential candidate, Egypt Dzinemunhenzva has scoffed at POLAD adding that the platform is for “actors”.
He was responding to the Secretary-General of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), Raymond Majongwe who was inquiring on why Dzinemunhenzva was not part of the forum.
Dzinemunhenzva responded sarcastically saying:
Iye munhu akawhina anoda kubatsirwa kutonga here? Ndakanzwa kuti kunoenda maActors. (If a person won the elections, will they need assistance to govern and execute their mandate? I heard (POLAD) is for Actors.)
Dzinemunhenzva is among a few other losing presidential candidates in the 2018 elections who snubbed the forum.
Prominent among them is Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the opposition MDC who describes the forum as a circus and resource-wasting endeavour.
The forum was launched by President Mnangagwa in a bid to dissolve the impasse and tension that is existing amongst citizens. The forum was also premised at finding solutions to socio-economic challenges bedevilling the country.
Meanwhile, whilst participants in the forum argue that it has achieved a lot already, critics believe the forum is tantamount to pouring resources into a drain.
A man from Bulawayo’s Tshabalala suburb escaped death by a whisker after he was stabbed twice in the stomach for trying to restrain a man from bashing his girlfriend.
The incident, which left John Moyo (25) wriggling in agony in a pool of blood, happened on 27 December 2019 at corner 10 Avenue and Herbert Chitepo Street.
An onlooker Philani Dube told
B-Metro that John tried to restrain Gideon Mhlanga (25), who was accusing his girlfriend of being a sex worker, from kicking his girlfriend Nomatter Moyo in the private parts.
“The guy was shouting loudly saying ‘I will kill you’ while kicking his girlfriend who was rolling on the ground while crying for help.
He kicked her private parts saying ‘this is
what makes you sleep around and you will stop it,’” said Dube.
He added: “Seeing the woman lying on the ground wailing in agony, John intervened to restrain Gideon from pummelling his girlfriend. But Gideon stood his ground and warned him (John) to keep away from matters that do not concern him. But John did not listen.”
A source close to investigation said Gideon produced an Okapi knife and stabbed John in the stomach.
“He stabbed him twice and he fell down and bled profusely. Gideon ran away. A woman performed first aid on him and put the seemingly bad situation under control.
A police officer, who was on patrol, gave a chase and caught Gideon, and took him to Bulawayo Central Police Station, where a case of attempted murder was opened.
Gideon is also facing a disorderly conduct charge which he committed at Sixth Avenue and Herbert Chitepo Street. John and Nomatter were referred to United Bulawayo Hospitals for treatment,” said the source.
Bulawayo police spokesperson, Chief Inspector Precious Simango, confirmed the incident: “I can confirm that we arrested a man who stabbed another man who had tried to restrain him from beating a woman.
He is in custody.”
She warned members of the public to refrain from taking the law into their hands, but to seek counselling from either police, pastors or elders in the community.B-Metro
By A Correspondent- Opposition MDC vice national chairperson who is also Zengeza West legislator, Job “Wiwa” Sikhala has predicted doom and gloom for the new year 2020 adding that reflecting on what transpired in 2019, there was no room for optimism of a better year ahead.
Sikhala, who has a pending treason case which is set to continue this January said this in an exclusive interview with Chief Svosve on ZimEye, Friday evening.
He said:
“When we review how 2019 was, the first thing that we point out is that at the beginning of the year Zimbabweans lost their fundamental rights.
There was the gross violation of people’s rights… there was the total breakdown of people’s rights when soldiers were deployed in urban and the rural areas.
Tens were arrested, 17 people killed and women were raped during this period. There was the total breakdown of the fundamantal rights of citizens.
The political space was closed while there was a clampdown on civil society organisations.”
On dialogue and Thabo Mbeki as mediator of the Zimbabwean political crisis, Sikhala said:
“Thabo Mbeki does not have the panacea for Zimbabwe…”
Responding to a question on what he thought about his pending treason trial, he said:
“This is a Political Trial…”
“The Zimbabwean people will one day rise and say, Either way I’m going to die.”
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation, ZHRO said in a comment: “Apparently, the firebrand MDC Vice National Chair Person and Zimbabwean MP, could be sentenced to execution by hanging or to 23 years incarceration.
WATCH THE LOADING VIDEO BELOW…..
By Patrick Guramatunhu- The Zanu PF dictatorship is imploding, the regime was rotten to the core and the centre can not hold. 40 years of this corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical misrule has left the country in economic ruins and the Zanu PF thugs are fighting each other to the death over the ever shrinking national cake.
The nation has good reason to worry about how the Zanu PF dictatorship will end, as things stand the party is sinking into the abyss but still retains’ strangle hold on the nation. The danger of Zanu PF dragging the nation into the abyss with it is real.
We must find ways of implementing the democratic reforms, end the curse of rigged elections and thus price free of Zanu PF’s political strangle hold. A serious and urgent challenge!
We must also think of what kind of Zimbabwe we want post the Zanu PF dictatorship. The 1980 independence took us from the frying pan of white colonial oppression into the fire of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. We must learn from that mistake and taking every precaution to avoid repeating the same mistake.
“I agree and support my compatriots who say Mat provinces are marginalized. Let’s speak against this and promote equal opportunities for all regions without ambiguity and let’s desist from defending stupid things. Why should people come to Harare for nursing interviews!!!” said political commentator Pedzisai Ruhanya.
This is just the type of cheap but very dangerous divide and rule politicking that, if not slammed down forcefully, could see post Zanu PF Zimbabwe ending up like post Gaddafi Libya.
In a country where unemployment has soared to 90%, there is no water and electricity and health care has all but collapsed, schools are closing, etc.; are we expected to believe that there are some region(s) in Zimbabwe that are prospering and none of these problems exist? If there are, then Mr Ruhanya must name them and not just make insinuating but unfounded comments.
How is holding nursing job interviews in Harare singling out and “marginalising” Mat provinces and is not doing the same to all the other remaining seven provinces?
Four decades of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF misrule have left the nation in economic ruins and traumatised, everyone is angry and mistrustful. The last thing the country wants is some village idiot like Ruhanya stoking the anger and mistrust with falsehoods of one region or tribe being “marginalised”.
The Zanu PF dictatorship is imploding and the task of rebuilding the nation from the ruins will be tough enough without making it mission impossible by wasting the nation’s time, resources and, God forbid, human lives fighting regional and tribal rivalries.
Look at what has happened to Libya since the death of that country’s tyrant, Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi. The dictator was cornered and killed in 2011 and yet, nearly decade latter, the country is still at war!
No doubt, many Libyans think they are settling old scores, not knowing they are in fact making complete fools of themselves. They were all victims of the Gaddafi dictatorship and by making sure the post Gaddafi Libya enjoyed peace, justice and economic prosperity for all should have been their number one priority. Of course, it is folly to let themselves be dragged into this futile regional conflict that has left the country in a worse economic and political state than it was during Gaddafi!
Post Zanu PF dictatorship Zimbabwe must be spared the fate that has befallen post Gaddafi Libya. And to be certain of that goal, we must not spare the whip and spoil village idiots like Ruhanya whose blabbering knows no bonds!
By A Correspondent- The government is mulling installing solar systems at public health facilities across the country as solar has several advantages over other forms of energy.
This was said by Energy Minister Fortune Chasi while speaking at Chitungwiza Central Hospital on Tuesday.
He said:
As you can see solar installations are now everywhere, at residential, commercial and industrial establishments. Establishments like hospitals and other medical institutions have a high demand for power and as such installing solar panels is the way to go for such organisations.
The healthcare industry has a high requirement of power for running sophisticated machinery and equipment. Many of the medical machinery such as ventilators, MRI machines, and CT scanners hence solar system is vital in health centres.
Chasi further argued for the use of solar energy as the system will run for at least 25 years with little maintenance needed.
-StateMedia
By A Correspondent- A murder victim’s spirit testified about its own violent death and named the murderers!
The remarkable incident happened at Khami Prison Complex, where prison guards were left in untold fear and trembling, while some collapsed after a prison officer who is alleged to have drowned late last month during a solo fishing expedition at Khami Dam, reportedly “spoke” to them from beyond the grave, revealing a list of his alleged killers.
Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) spokesperson, chief correctional officer Meya Khanyezi had not responded by time of going to press.
According to sources at Khami Prison, the spirit of Lovemore Matonhodze (38), who was found dead on 24 November after having gone missing for two days, manifested through one of his alleged killers, the wife of a prison officer, demanding her to go to his rural home and confess to his relatives that she was the one who masterminded his death.
It is reported that while manifesting, the woman (name supplied) released a list of prison guards she is alleged to have worked with to kill Matonhodze as punishment for refusing to give them fish.
According to a source, the spirit which was also demanding to know why they killed him, reportedly threatened to cause countless deaths to the family of his assailants if not quickly appeased.
The source said there has been no peace at Khami Prison Complex since Matonhodze started “visiting” his assailants.
“What happened is that soon after his death, the woman in question, who is also a wife of a prison officer, while she was sitting outside her house, a butterfly landed on her hand and she tried to kill it, but it suddenly changed into a giant cat and went inside the house.
“When she pursued the cat, it mysteriously changed into something like a human being. Speaking and acting exactly like Matonhodze, that strange being demanded to know why she teamed up with her accomplices and killed him,” said a source who declined to be named.
The source said the woman is question is reportedly bed-ridden apparently as a result of repeated “torture” by the spirit of the dead man.
It is reported that out of fear, the woman’s husband quickly called one of the senior prison officers to come and see what was happening.
“Upon his arrival the woman slipped into a trance and started confessing that she was the one who masterminded the death of Matonhodze by lightning. She went on to release a list of prison officers whom she claimed assisted her to kill Matonhodze”.
It is alleged that the already stunned senior prison officer had to endure more shivers sent down his spine when the possessed woman revealed that they were also using his “spacious” office as their meeting place to plan their evil missions.
“While in that trance-like state the woman disclosed that she and her accomplices were always meeting at his offices when planning their evil missions.
Still in that state she went on to reveal that they were also using juju to have the matter swept under the carpet by prison authorities.
“As proof the spirit instructed the senior officer to send one of his subordinates to his office to see what was happening.
“When he obeyed the spirit and sent one of the prison guards to his office, he found the woman’s husband there busy sprinkling juju,” said the source.
It is reported that after the shocking discovery and out of fear, the senior prison officer in question has temporarily vacated his office. This was also after the woman reportedly confessed that she and her team were also responsible for some of the mysterious deaths that had occurred at Khami Prison Complex.
On the day Matonhodze met his fate, he left his home on a fishing expedition to Khami Dam but did not return. The following day his family got worried over his disappearance and reported the matter to the police.
The police conducted a search, but did not find him until the following day when his brother-in-law, who had reported the matter to the police, teamed up with several members of the public and went searching for him.
They discovered his decomposing body floating in the water and was taken to United Bulawayo Hospitals for post-mortem.
-StateMedia
By A Correspondent- South Africa’s Minister of home affairs Aaron Motsoaledi has gazetted tough new regulations to control the movements and activities of refugees and asylum seekers, including a ban on political activity and immediate detention on grounds of national security.
The regulations under the Refugees Act, which took effect from January 1, stipulate that “no refugee or asylum seeker may participate in any political activity or campaign in furtherance of any political party or political interests in the Republic”.
The refugee status of any person who engages in such activity can be withdrawn by the standing committee for refugee affairs, and they will be dealt with as an illegal foreigner in terms of the Immigration Act.
Under the act, a refugee or asylum seeker can be removed from the republic on grounds that they pose a threat to national security. The regulations allow for their immediate detention under these circumstances.
The past week has seen violent clashes between rival groups of refugees camped on Cape Town’s Greenmarket Square and in the nearby Central Methodist Mission. The group, which has split into factions, is demanding relocation to a safer country.
The regulations also make it more difficult for refugees and asylum seekers to enter SA in the first place, requiring, among other things, that they present a valid asylum transit visa from the country through which they traveled at the port of entry. They will also need to provide valid identification and submit biometric data.
All applications for asylum will have to be accompanied by a the transit visa or, in certain circumstances, a valid visa issued in terms of the Immigration Act. The asylum seeker visa will contain the conditions under which the asylum seeker will be able to temporarily reside in SA, seek employment and obtain basic education.
“Prior to issuing any right to seek employment to an asylum seeker, an assessment must be completed to establish such person’s ability to sustain himself or herself and any dependents,” the regulations say.
Refugee status can also be terminated if a refugee has “re-availed” themselves of the protection of the country of origin, such as by seeking consular services at any diplomatic mission representing the country of origin. This would include applying for any official document, such as a travel document or citizen-related document, at a diplomatic mission or presenting themselves on their premises.
-Sowetan
