Farai Dziva|MDC spokesperson Daniel Molokele has said the party is introducing a strict appraisal system that demands efficiency.

He said :”We have put in place a performance appraisal system for mayors, councillors, senators and MPs.

And we will have quarterly reviews. We have introduced performance scorecards for each and every one of these deployed who will go through a process of training and ideological development.

They will sign some performance commitments and we will regularly share updates regarding their progress.

Where the party feels that our deployee is not performing according to party’s expecta- tions, we will recommend that they be recalled.

Where necessary, we will not hesitate to call for a by-election to replace one of our own who is not rep- resenting the social democratic values and principles of the MDC.”

Watch video below. ..

Zanu PF Youth League Secretary Lewis Matutu has been taken to court by one Onisimo Zhavairo for allegedly invading his farm that he was allocated by government during the land reform exercise. The farm is located in Kwekwe.

Zvavairo is being represented by Tendai Biti Law. The application lodged at the High Court cites Matutu as the first responded and Ministry of Lands as the second respondent.

In the High Court application Onisimo Zvavairo alleges that Lewis Matutu invaded his farm on 19 December 2019 without an offer letter from Ministry of Lands.

Judge Kwenda has granted an interim relief in favor of Zvavairo requiring Lewis Matutu to leave the farm.

The court heard Matutu and his colleagues were armed with guns and had already slaughterd 15 goats and pigs while at the farm.

Matutu didn’t come to court and was also not represented by a lawyer. Source: Vantunews

Farai Dziva|Justice Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi’ s remarks indicating that government has authorized the police to shoot machete gangs have ignited widespread debate.

Ziyambi has been criticised for his remarks which indicated that the government has given the police authority to shoot machete gangs popularly known as Mashurugwi.

The Minister in an audio-recorded interview with VOA said the killing of terrorists was common worldwide.

He said:
Even in America terrorists are killed, machete criminals are terrorists, I talked to the Minister of Homes Affairs for the police to shoot them.

The people called Mashurugwi will be arrested, we will deny them bail because they would threaten their victims after bail application.”

EFF leader Julius Malema made a call to former Zimbabwean ministers currently in exile in South Africa to put aside their differences and join the Red Berets in a move that would consolidate their efforts and give them a fighting chance in their quest to overthrow the current administration led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Just days after Malema made this call, former Zimbabwean minister of public service, labour and social welfare, Patrick Zhuwao, has applied to join the EFF.

“Consequently, I have applied to join EFF as a fighter and ordinary card carrying member in a branch within Gauteng Province. I am happy to work as a ground fighter. I do not seek elected office; as a refugee I am not eligible anyway,” Zhuwao told City Press.

“I have already served in senior leadership positions within Zanu-PF from the time I was elected district secretary (similar to subregion) in 1995 and rose through region, province and national levels to the Zanu-PF politburo. I am putting aside my ego to help Africa develop a political culture that detracts from the entitlement mantra that has become so pervasive in liberation movements. We must fix the continent,” said Zhuwao.

Explaining his decision, Zhuwao said all Zimbabweans were adversely affected by the manner in which the current administration had taken power.

“It’s not just exiled [former president Robert] Mugabe ministers who are affected but other economic and political refugees from Zimbabwe who are scattered throughout South Africa, the continent and the whole orld,” said Zhuwao.

A cocktail of corruption, abuse of office, sanctions, drought and the shortages of foreign currency has left half of Zimbabwe’s population facing hunger.

The shortage of power and fuel has also left the country at an annual inflation estimated at 440%, the second-highest in the world.

The differences between Mnangagwa and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa have also contributed to the country’s economic crisis as it is sharply divided along partisan lines, with institutions polarised and the international community not warming to the current administration.

Speaking to City Press, Zhuwao said the militarised nature of the Zimbabwean state meant that “the Zanu-PF junta would never allow anyone who is not their puppet or stooge to assume power”, hence the need for those in exile to pursue different avenues to unseat the administration.

He said in the absence of reforms from those planning to contest the 2023 elections, their actions would be an exercise in futility.

“It boggles the mind why anyone in their right state of mind would expect to contest elections in 2023 and expect to be allowed to dislodge the military controlled Zanu-PF in the absence of reforms,” said the former minister.

At its recent national people’s assembly, the EFF announced a resolution take by delegates to establish a consolidated EFF across the continent.

Malema said it was imperative for the party to establish a continental structure – to be headed by its former secretary-general Godrich Gardee – so that the united front would disrupt the air of entitlement with which most liberation parties were now going about their leadership.

He also said the administrations of Mnangagwa and eSwatini’s King Mswati III could only be overcome by a united show of force from his party’s envisioned continental structure.

“I agree with CIC Malema’s view that Mnangagwa can be defeated. Chamisa won the 2018 presidential election which was stolen as proven in Professor Jonathan Moyo’s Excelgate book. Whilst I am not a member of MDC, I however respect the democratic expression of Zimbabweans who electorally expressed their wish for Chamisa to be president of Zimbabwe,” Zhuwao said.

The EFF already had parties who appropriated the Red Berets’ name in Namibia, Liberia, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

EFF Namibia recently gained two parliamentary seats in the country’s Parliament.

-Citizen

Jane Mlambo| Motor-mouth Norton legislator, Temba Mliswa has said that ZIFA president Felton Kamambo and his deputy Philemon Machana will not overcome the now COSAFA President Philip Chiyangwa following his hosting of UEFA President who is currently in the country on a 10-day visit.

Kamambo and Machana are currently engaged in a bitter war with Chiyangwa whom they accuse of abusing his office during his tenure.

Posting on Twitter, Mliswa said;

“Phillip Chiyangwa hosting UEFA boss Ceferin is indeed a great occurrence and shows how Fidza is well connected. Kamambo and Machana are indeed small boys who can’t do him anything. Well done Fidza for promoting tourism through football.”

“Kamambo and his pals should read the writing on the wall, Fidza is connected and dethroning him is a waste. He should now help us remove these guys. He has been given this task together with the SRC i don’t know why he has not started, investigations on them should start,” said Mliswa.

Jane Mlambo| MDC President Nelson Chamisa has posted pictures taken during his visit to Gutu, his rural home.

Chamisa said the visit was refreshing as it allowed him to tap into the wisdom of village elders.

“Taking time to visit, listen to and interact with kith and kin this holiday in Gutu..Enjoying every moment here at my rural village.The deep wisdom of the elders is so amazing. The outpouring of the love is humbling.I always find these engagements refreshing and grounding,” said Chamisa.

A popular Kadoma prophet and leader of the Royal Family International Ministries had an extra marital affair with one of his congregants whom he reportedly dumped after having his child.

Prophet Charles Pintec had the illicit affair with one Grace whom he then decided to neglect after having his child prompting her to expose the secret affair she had with the man of God.

Charles Pintec with Grace

According to a source who spoke to H-Metro, Prophet Pintec fell madly in love with Grace to the extent of impregnating her but when the woman gave birth, the man of God decided to dump her.

Out of anger and bitterness, the woman is said to have started spreading pictures of her and Pintec during their good days on social media so as to expose Pintec to his congregants and the whole world.

“Prophet Pintec of Royal Family Church is a well-respected man by his congregants but his actions have proved otherwise.

“He had secret extra marital affair with one of his congregants Grace to the extent of siring a child with her and he decided to quit the relationship after the birth of the child.

“This did not go down well with Grace so she started exposing the Prophet by sending pictures of her and the man of God during the subsistence of their relationship so the man is now the talk of the town,” said the source.

When H-Metro contacted Pintec to get his side of the story, he pleaded guilty to the accusations and apologised to everyone who might have stumbled upon the pictures of him and Grace during their good days.

“What you heard is very true but it is part of my past and it was a moment of madness which I regret a lot as a man of God.

“It is a regrettable past and I would like to apologise to everyone who came across those pictures.

“It has been seven months now since I parted ways with the lady in question and it is also true that I had a child with her but it is past now and I do not know why people would want to bring this up now.

“I know people just want to tarnish my image and the image of the Ministry because of things that happened a long time ago,” said Pintec.

CHITUNGWIZA based Zim dancehall chanter, Champz Mativi – real name Epilogue Mutunya – was recently bashed by thugs while coming from a studio around midnight.

Champz Mativi, who could not identify the hooligans who attacked him, suspects foul play from his former colleagues who used to be in his music clan called Big Mero.

He also believes that envy and jealous could be others causes of his recent attack.

The chanter narrated how he was attacked.

“I was coming from the studio around midnight when I got attacked.

“The producer walked to a certain spot and left me alone as he went to his place.

“While I was alone, three thugs that I could not identify attacked me violently.

-State Media

“They bashed me, took my iPhone 10k, soundcard, pants and shoes.

“I, however, recovered my iPhone 10k in Zengeza 2 at shops since it has a tracker,” said Champz Mativi.

While sunny and hot conditions will prevail over most of Zimbabwe, isolated thundershowers are expected in some parts of the country today, with the weather expected to be cooler and windy by the weekend.

In a statement yesterday, the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) said all areas should continue to be mostly sunny and hot with brief cloudy periods that may be coupled with thundershowers in some places.

Towards evening, the MSD said a cool breeze is expected to start attenuating the heat over the south eastern provinces of Masvingo, Matabeleland South and Manicaland.

“Such thundery phenomenon is usually superseded by lightning. This poses a potential threat to persons in an open field as well as the tallest objects such as trees and                                                                              poles. Household electrical gadgets are also not spared. Gusts of wind pose a danger of unsecure roof tops being blown off,” said MSD in the statement.

It further urged people to avoid standing next to tall objects or being in an open field during a thunderstorm, adding that where possible people must switch off all electrical gadgets to safeguard life and property.

“In the event of strong winds, make an effort to seek shelter in a house or structure that can withstand strong winds.

“Noting that isolated shades are not safe as they are also prone to lightning strikes.

“Children need to be kept in-doors when a thunderstorm approaches or when there is strong wind as they are at risk of lightning or flying objects such as blown off roof sheets,” further reads the statement.

According to the MSD, some places such as Matabeleland North and Mashonaland West received light showers yesterday with Hwange receiving 9mm and Kariba 4mm by yesterday morning.

The department forecasted a normal to above normal rains during the first half of the season (October, November, December).

Some farmers are, however, concerned with the persistent hot and dry conditions which are beginning to affect some crops in different parts of the country.

-State Media

By Nomusa Garikai|”We cannot allow isolated voices, which have no platforms, speaking more than us (Polad) who are a collective. Collective voices should be heard more than isolated voices in the jungle,” said Mnangagwa.

“I am happy that we all accept that peace is critical … harmony is equally important. If we all preach peace, unity and harmony in the country, then we expose those who have brought suffering (in the country). If it is my party which has brought suffering or violence, it must be condemned and also any other party, whether in Polad or in the wilderness.”

“I see that with the spirit of Polad, we can sustain this conversation, this dialogue. But we need to be more vocal, to be heard, to pronounce ourselves on all issues, to show that we are alive, vibrant. We need to show that we are working on all issues that affect this country.” 

Mnangagwa is just a village thug who is too clever by half! He thinks he can continue to claim the moral high ground of the peacemaker by hold high the olive branch and yet the dagga in his other hand is dripping with the blood of more of his wanton violence victims. 

“If it is my party which has brought suffering or violence, it must be condemned!” 

Anyone who is anyone condemned last year’s elections as a farce. 

“The electoral commission lacked full independence and appeared to not always act in an impartial manner. The final results as announced by the Electoral Commission contained numerous errors and lacked adequate traceability, transparency and verifiability,” stated the EU Election Observer Mission final report. 

“As such, many aspects of the 2018 elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet international standards.”

Zanu PF blatantly denied 3 million Zimbabweans in the diaspora a vote, for Pete’s sake! How are Zimbabweans supposed to judge you when you deny them a democratic voice!

As much as you, President Mnangagwa would like to claim that last year’s elections were free, fair and credible the truth is they were not. 

As much as you want to claim the ZEC results were “the voice of the people, the voice of God!” the truth with with no verified voters’ roll no one could ever verified whether those people were real or fake! 

Today Zimbabwe is facing a real and immediate existential threat, the economic meltdown is cause serious human suffering and unnecessary lose of lives. The country’s health care, for example, has all but completely collapsed and hundreds of people are dying of easily treatable ailments. The situation cannot be allowed to continue. The country needs a way out.

The only way out is for Zanu PF to accept that the party rigged last year’s elections, step down and allow the nation to reset its failed political system. Step down now, with each day this corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical regime remains in power hundreds of innocent lives are lost and the nation is being dragged closer and close to the edge of the precipitous abyss. 

After 39 years of gross mismanagement, rampant corruption and tyrannical lawlessness; Zanu PF must go now. Enough is enough, Zimbabwe has had enough of these Zanu PF thugs!

SOURCE: zsdemocrats.blogspot.com

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has expressed her grief after the passing of Mr Francis Sonny Mapingire who was Head of Cabinet Secretariat in the Office of the President and Cabinet.

Mr Mapingire succumbed to cancer of the colon at a private hospital in Harare on Christmas Day. Minister Mutsvangwa, who worked with him on the weekly Cabinet briefings, said he was a true patriot who worked tirelessly to ensure the Cabinet system was efficient.

“I had the privilege to work with Mr Mapingire on the weekly cabinet briefings, a governance innovation tool of the Second Republic of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. A high minded public servant, Mapingire’s work was marked by keen sense of patriotic duty, and an intense work ethic,” she said.

“The attributes above came out of a sharp and judicious intellect that helped the public follow, appreciate and understand the direction, challenges and achievements of Government at work.”

The Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare has an obligation to provide social protection services to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in Zimbabwe through social transfer programmes.

This includes among other interventions the provision of food relief to vulnerable households during times of drought And emergencies.

Further to this, there are a number of social protection programmes and strategies being implemented to ensure that all the vulnerable groups in society are reached, assisted and supported with social protection services.

The 2018/2019 Caroling season produced low yields duc to elnino-induccd drought leaving commtmities in dire need of food aid and our agricultural output was further ravaged by Cyclone Idai.

Pursuant to this, His Excellency, the President of the Second Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde ED. Mnangagwa has made a generous donation of 15 tons of Chinese rice to each rural constituency to feed rural populace during the festive season.

The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare guarantees that the donated rice will be distributed during the festive season.

In addition, distribution of grain will also continue to ensure that no one starves in Zimbabwe during this festive season and beyond.

Hon. Prof. Paul V. Mavima (Mp) Minister Of Public Service, Labour And Social Welfare

Roller meal supplies are set to improve after today’s meeting between the Government and millers.

Millers and representatives of five ministries and State agencies are expected to fix the long delays in registering millers and speed up the distribution of subsidised roller meal.

Government early this month scrapped general maize subsidies and replaced them with a specific and targeted subsidy on roller meal produced by approved and registered millers.

However, there have been delays in getting the subsidised product to the market in sufficient quantities, largely because of time taken to register millers.

Millers are expected to meet today the representatives from the Ministries of Industry and Commerce, Finance and Economic Development and Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement, plus the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra).

The switch from a general grain subsidy to a particular product subsidy was meant to ensure that market prices prevailed throughout the system, except on the wholesale and retail prices of the actual subsidised product, thus removing market distortions that led to widespread cheating and inefficiencies.

The switch also ensured that the full budget for the subsidy was applied to just the product eaten by the most vulnerable households.

Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sekai Nzeza said her officers were working flat out to resolve problems in the registration of millers to ensure adequate supplies are delivered to the market.

“I am surprised that the process is taking long as the team is working hard to register millers,” she said.

“However, we need to resolve this matter quickly and there should be no shortages at all,” she said.

The Finance and Economic Development Ministry ordered the registration of millers on December 13.

Some millers have expressed concern over the slow registration process.

They are now withholding stocks fearing that they may not be registered at all.

Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) media and public relations manager Mr Garikai Chaunza confirmed today’s meeting.

“We have more than 60 millers who are yet to be registered and we are glad that the authorities have called them all to attend the meeting to discuss and iron out all sticking issues.

“Millers have roller meal in their stocks and they are holding on to it pending the registration process by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, whose process they are saying is not moving.

“They are saying they are being taken from one office to another for the past two weeks, but without getting any assistance and it is our hope that Government moves the process so that millers release their stocks,” he said.

Government has committed to provide 40 000 tonnes of maize to millers for subsidised roller meal production each month, starting this month.

This should satisfy the projected demand of 32 000 tonnes of roller meal a month.

-State Media

President Mnangagwa has described the late Head of Cabinet Secretariat in the Office of the President and Cabinet Mr Francis Sonny Mapingire as a dignified, humble and dedicated cadre.

Mr Francis Sonny Mapingire succumbed to cancer of the colon at a private hospital in Harare on Christmas Day. He was 57.

In a speech read on his behalf by Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration and Finance in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Mr Martin Rushwaya during a funeral service held at ZAOGA Braeside Christian Centre International, President Mnangagwa said it was unfortunate that Mr Mapingire died on Christmas Day, when families get together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

“It was with great sense of shock and sadness that I learnt yesterday of the untimely death of Head of Cabinet Secretariat in the Office of the President and Cabinet Mr Francis Sonny Mapingire who succumbed to cancer of the colon at a private hospital in Harare on Christmas Day,” he said.

-State Media

President Emmerson Mnangagwa (in scarf) during the weekend tour of his Sherwood Farm in Kwekwe, where he showed off his prowess to his Political Actors Dialogue members.

OPPOSITION MDC leader Nelson Chamisa yesterday took a swipe at President Emmerson Mnangagwa over a video that went viral on social media of him feeding his fish at his Kwekwe farm at the weekend, saying the Zanu PF leader had misplaced priorities at a time millions of Zimbabweans are in urgent need of food aid.

The United Nations estimates that 7,7 million citizens are in urgent need of food aid, while US$300 million is required to supply some 240 000 tonnes of handouts.

The MDC president said he was going into the Christmas holiday depressed knowing that millions of Zimbabweans will be without food, fuel, power and freedom.

“Any serious and credible leader’s core business is the well-being and interest of the people they lead. On that score, I walk into the Christmas holiday depressed, challenged and burdened because my thoughts, mind and conscience are with the people of Zimbabwe who are suffering. They are suffering because we have deprived them of happiness and merrymaking. They are without cash, without fuel, without electricity, without water and even without freedom,” Chamisa said.

He said it was a difficult period for Zimbabweans, and he hoped that “this will be a vivid reminder of the urgency of our situation, the extraordinary circumstances”.

“I wish I could have the luxury of feeding my fish at the farm with my friends, but I can’t. It is just impossible. We must feed the people not the fish,” Chamisa said, in apparent reference to a video that featured Mnangagwa, MDC leader Thokozani Khupe and other Political Actors’ Dialogue (Polad) platform leaders at Mnangagwa’s farm.

Mnangagwa met Polad members at his farm at the weekend.

Chamisa said he sympathised with the people of Zimbabwe who will miss the usual delicacies usually associated with the festive season.

“I sympathise with the people and feel with them, the definition of a sensitive leader. The way Zimbabwe is suffering, high school fees, dysfunctional hospitals; in other countries, people are busy having their best meals, their delicacies on Christmas and visiting best places. But in Zimbabwe, the situation is different. I was in Germany, I could feel the sense of Christmas, but that is not the situation in Zimbabwe. (A) sad indictment of those in leadership. Instead of dispensing love, they are dispensing agony and sorrow,” Chamisa added.

Fish symbolise rebirth, transformation, health, abundance, serenity, intelligence, happiness, strength, and endurance, they represent the deeper awareness of the unconsciousness. President @edmnangagwa feeds fish at his water reservoir as he commemorates National Unity Day pic.twitter.com/pcBsLbEsrx

— Nick Mangwana (@nickmangwana) December 22, 2019

NewsDay

The estranged wife to Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, Marry Mubaiwa’s application for bail and appeal hearings has been deferred to Tuesday next week.

Marry is facing multiple charges that include attempted murder on VP Chiwenga, illegally externalising US$1 033 000, laundering US$990 000 and fraudulently seeking to upgrade her union to a civil marriage without her husband’s consent.

Marry spent her Christmas in custody after High Court Judge Webster Chi­namora last week postponed her bail and appeal hearings to December 27  to allow the prosecution to file its response.

She is represented by Taona Nyamakura of Mtetwa and Nyambirai Legal Practitioners.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has arrived in the country for a ten-day private visit which will see him explore some of the country’s unique attractions and engage COSAFA on areas of cooperation.

The Slovenian who arrived at the Victoria Falls International Airport, Friday midday is being accompanied by his family.
In an interview upon arrival, the UEFA boss expressed optimism of a wonderful tour and highlighted that he will make use of the visit to engage local and regional football authorities on areas of cooperation.

COSAFA President, Philip Chiyangwa, said he is looking forward to a fruitful engagement with the EUFA boss on how best to develop soccer not only in Zimbabwe but the entire region.

During his tour, Ceferin is expected to visit Binga, Hwange National Park, Matopos, Great Zimbabwe and the Eastern Highlands.

-State Media

Marry Mubaiwa, the estranged wife of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, will spend another weekend in custody after the High Court deferred her application for bail and appeal hearings to Tuesday next week.

Marry is in remand prison on charges of attempted murder, fraud, and currency externalisation. She is facing charges of attempting to murder VP Chiwenga, illegally externalising US$1 033Advertisement000, laundering US$990 000 and fraudulently seeking to upgrade her customary union to a civil marriage without her husband’s consent.

She is facing six counts of exporting foreign currency in breach of the Exchange Control Act and five counts of concealing transactions involving proceeds of crime in violation of the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act.

More to follow…

Own Correspondent|Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has expressed her grief after the passing of Mr Francis Sonny Mapingire who was Head of Cabinet Secretariat in the Office of the President and Cabinet.

Mr Mapingire succumbed to cancer of the colon at a private hospital in Harare on Christmas Day. Minister Mutsvangwa, who worked with him on the weekly Cabinet briefings, said he was a true patriot who worked tirelessly to ensure the Cabinet system was efficient.

“I had the privilege to work with Mr Mapingire on the weekly cabinet briefings, a governance innovation tool of the Second Republic of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. A high minded public servant, Mapingire’s work was marked by keen sense of patriotic duty, and an intense work ethic,” she said.

“The attributes above came out of a sharp and judicious intellect that helped the public follow, appreciate and understand the direction, challenges and achievements of Government at work.”

She passed her condolences to the Mapingire family saying he will be missed.

“He will be solely missed. MHSRIP. My deepest condolences to the family as well as his workmates at OPC,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

Family spokesperson and brother, Mr Munyaradzi Mapingire said he will be buried today at his rural home in Zaka, Masvingo.

Mr Mapingire started off his professional career as a teacher at Highfield High 1 from June to July 1987 before he joined the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare as an Admin officer in August of the same year.

In December 1989 he joined the Department of National Scholarships as a senior Administration officer and then moved to the Office of the President and Cabinet in 1994 before rising through the ranks to head of Cabinet Secretariat in 2009. He was studying towards a Doctor of Philosophy Degree with the Midlands State University.

He is survived by his wife Josephine and two sons, Kudzwaishe (24) and Anozivaishe (19).

Mourners are gathered at number 6103 Bloomingdale, Harare.

While sunny and hot conditions will prevail over most of Zimbabwe, isolated thundershowers are expected in some parts of the country today, with the weather expected to be cooler and windy by the weekend.

In a statement yesterday, the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) said all areas should continue to be mostly sunny and hot with brief cloudy periods that may be coupled with thundershowers in some places.

Towards evening, the MSD said a cool breeze is expected to start attenuating the heat over the south eastern provinces of Masvingo, Matabeleland South and Manicaland.

“Such thundery phenomenon is usually superseded by lightning. This poses a potential threat to persons in an open field as well as the tallest objects such as trees and                                                                              poles. Household electrical gadgets are also not spared. Gusts of wind pose a danger of unsecure roof tops being blown off,” said MSD in the statement.

It further urged people to avoid standing next to tall objects or being in an open field during a thunderstorm, adding that where possible people must switch off all electrical gadgets to safeguard life and property.

“In the event of strong winds, make an effort to seek shelter in a house or structure that can withstand strong winds.

“Noting that isolated shades are not safe as they are also prone to lightning strikes.

“Children need to be kept in-doors when a thunderstorm approaches or when there is strong wind as they are at risk of lightning or flying objects such as blown off roof sheets,” further reads the statement.

According to the MSD, some places such as Matabeleland North and Mashonaland West received light showers yesterday with Hwange receiving 9mm and Kariba 4mm by yesterday morning.

The department forecasted a normal to above normal rains during the first half of the season (October, November, December).

Some farmers are, however, concerned with the persistent hot and dry conditions which are beginning to affect some crops in different parts of the country.

by TaboolaSponsored LinksYou May Like7 New Cars You Could Buy Cheap in ZimbabweRelocation TargetNever Eat These 7 Prediabetes Foods Again in ZimbabweHealth & Human Research Unmute

Zimbabwean businessman Frank Buyanga has been dragged into the messy divorce between that country’s 63-year-old vice president Constantino Chiwenga and his jailed wife, Marry.

A report in the Zimbabwe Morning Post alleges that the South African-based Buyanga had been “scouting for properties” in South Africa on behalf of Chiwenga’s estranged wife.

The story in the online publication surfaced a few days after Marry was arrested and charged for allegedly taking huge sums of US dollars out of Zimbabwe.

The former model is also accused of trying to poison her husband.

Chiwenga, the former army general who deposed long time strongman Robert Mugabe, spent four months in China, where he received extensive treatment for a condition allegedly caused by poisoning.

Upon Chiwenga’s return a few weeks ago, he began divorce proceedings against Marry. She was arrested on December 15 and remains behind bars awaiting a bail hearing, which is scheduled for Friday.

However, Buyanga’s lawyer Estee Maman was quoted in the Post as denying that his client had any business or other relationship with Marry.

“I am fully acquainted with details of Mr Buyanga’s properties and the purchases made and can verify that this statement and claim made is false and completely baseless,” Maman said.

Zimbabwean sources suggest the report linking Marry Chiwenga and Buyanga may be part of moves by the Zimbabwean presidential couple to “get back” at Buyanga.

Although 40-year-old Buyanga recently complained that his former partner had sought president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s intervention in the matter, he would not be drawn to comment on the latest reports.

Until recently it was common cause that Buyanga and Mnangagwa’s son Emmerson Jr were friends. However, with the former pals now at loggerheads, secret dealings reportedly involving massive payments in US dollars the pair allegedly pocketed were coming to the fore.

Meanwhile, fresh reports from Zimbabwe claim that Buyanga and Mnangagwa Jr received over USD1 billion from Morocco and the prince of Saudi Arabia to lobby support for the latter’s inclusion into the African Union. 

–African News Agency (ANA)

Zanu PF Youth League Secretary Lewis Matutu has been taken to court by one Onisimo Zhavairo for allegedly invading his farm that he was allocated by government during the land reform exercise. The farm is located in Kwekwe.

Zvavairo is being represented by Tendai Biti Law. The application lodged at the High Court cites Matutu as the first responded and Ministry of Lands as the second respondent.

In the High Court application Onisimo Zvavairo alleges that Lewis Matutu invaded his farm on 19 December 2019 without an offer letter from Ministry of Lands.

Judge Kwenda has granted an interim relief in favor of Zvavairo requiring Lewis Matutu to leave the farm.

The court heard Matutu and his colleagues were armed with guns and had already slaughterd 15 goats and pigs while at the farm.

Matutu didn’t come to court and was also not represented by a lawyer. Source: Vantunews

Own Correspondent|The New Zealand Government has banned visits from people involved in the killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

It will also not grant visas to the wife of former President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe.

The restrictions came into place at the start of December.

The instructions sent to Immigration New Zealand staff do not name those the Government has banned, but it says it holds a list of them.

The United Nations special rapporteur has said there is credible evidence that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other high-level officials are liable for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

Saudi authorities insist they were not acting on Prince Mohammed’s orders.

The Gulf kingdom put 11 unidentified people on trial behind closed doors for Khashoggi’s murder.

Earlier this week, a court in Saudi Arabia sentenced five people to death and jailed three others over the murder of Khashoggi.

The 58-year-old journalist, a US-based columnist for the Washington Post and prominent critic of Prince Mohammed, was last seen entering the Saudi consulate on October 2 last year to obtain papers he needed to marry his fiancée Hatice Cengiz.

The travel bans follow a similar move by the United States in April, when it issued restrictions against 16 Saudi Arabians, including a former aide to the prince.

Mohammed bin Salman himself was not on the US state department’s list.

Meanwhile, Grace Mugabe has also been added to the list of those under New Zealand visa restrictions.

She married Robert Mugabe, 41 years her senior, in 1996.

He ruled Zimbabwe for nearly 40 years before he was ousted in a military takeover in 2017 and died in September, aged 95.

She has been accused of assaulting a South African model, Gabriella Engels, and was named head of Zanu-PF women’s league in 2014.

Head of Cabinet Secretariat in the Office of the President and Cabinet Mr Francis Sonny Mapingire has died.

He was 57.

Mr Mapingire succumbed to cancer of the colon at a private hospital in Harare on Christmas Day.

In a condolence message read on his behalf by Acting chief secretary, Ambassador Nicholas Dhlamini Kitikiti, the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda described Mr Mapingire as one of the most dependable officers who worked tirelessly and diligently to make the Cabinet system efficient and productive.

Dr Sibanda said they were looking forward to launching the e-Cabinet system with him in the New Year.

“It is with a deep sense of loss and sorrow at the untimely loss of a pillar of your family after a short illness. We had hoped that he was going to recover soon and join us back at work, but it was not so. His loss is not only to you but to all of us in the Office of the President and Cabinet and indeed the nation,” he said.

“We will all continue to cherish his contribution in the area of the Cabinet administration and indeed in other critical areas. May his family be comforted that he played his part in this whole process.”

His widow, Josephine, said he fell sick in 2017, had an operation and went through treatment before he fell sick again in September this year. He had a scan that confirmed his condition was recurring and he started deteriorating.

“He was a kind and generous man of God who was loved by a lot of people. He was a great father. He loved to talk to his children, mentor and teach them the values of life,” she said.

Family spokesperson and young brother, Mr Munyaradzi Mapingire said he will be buried tomorrow at his rural home in Zaka, Masvingo.

A funeral service will be held at 9am today at ZAOGA Braeside Christian Centre International before the body is taken to Zaka.

He started off his professional career as a teacher at Highfield High 1 from June to July 1987 before he joined the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare as an Admin officer in August of the same year.

In December 1989 he joined the Department of National Scholarships as a senior Admin officer and then moved to the Office of the President and Cabinet in 1994 before rising through the ranks to head of Cabinet Secretariat in 2009. He was studying towards a Doctor of Philosophy Degree with the Midlands State University.

He is survived by his widow Josephine and two sons — Kudzwaishe (24) and Anozivaishe (19).Mourners are gathered at number 6103 Bloomingdale, Harare.

— Herald

A BULAWAYO woman is suing Matabeleland North provincial development coordinator Ms Latiso Dlamini for $500 000 in damages for allegedly engaging in an adulterous relationship with her husband of 21 years.

The aggrieved woman, Mrs Siboniso Lesley Maseko (nee Gumede) is accusing her rival Ms Dlamini of Khumalo suburb in Bulawayo, of having a love affair with her husband Brigadier-General Simo Maseko.

Mrs Maseko said their marriage was solemnised in terms of Chapter 5:11 of the Marriages Act on December 20 in 1998.

Mrs Maseko, through her lawyer Mr Godfrey Nyoni of Moyo and Nyoni Law Firm, filed summons at the Bulawayo High Court citing Ms Dlamini as a defendant.

In papers before the court, Mrs Maseko said she discovered that Ms Dlamini and Brig-Gen Maseko have been seeing each other since 2017.

She said the two suspected lovers would meet at the defendant’s house among other secluded places.

“On diverse occasions and at various places including but not limited to Ms Dlamini’s place of residence, the defendant committed and still continues to commit adultery with my husband, Simo Maseko,” said Mrs Maseko.

She said despite Ms Dlamini being aware of their marriage, she remains defiant.

“I have further demanded that the defendant desists from continuing with her adulterous affair with my husband. Despite such demands, the defendant has continued with her actions,” said Mrs Maseko.

Mr Nyoni said as a result of Ms Dlamini’s actions, his client has suffered damages amounting to $500 000.

“As a result of the defendant’s actions, plaintiff has suffered damages for contumelia in the sum of $300 000. My client has furthermore suffered damages for loss of comfort, society, companionship and services of her husband in the sum of $200 000,” he said.

Mr Nyoni said Mrs Maseko wants the $500 000 to be paid with an interest of five percent calculated from the date of issue of summons to the date of full payment.

She also wants the court to order Ms Dlamini to pay the legal costs she incurred.

Ms Dlamini is yet to respond.

“There are complex challenges in Zimbabwe … We know there are serious and seemingly intractable political factors that might need attention, in fact, that needs attention if solutions are to be effective or implementable.

The political formations in Zimbabwe remain at loggerheads and have apparent deep antipathy toward each other which makes joint decision-making and planning extremely difficult,” said South Africa International Relations and Co-operation minister Naledi Pandor on November 18, 2019 at a symposium on the Best Path Towards a Prosperous Zimbabwe at the University of South Africa in Pretoria.

Pandor’s message came exactly two years after Emmerson Mnangagwa assumed power as President in November 2017 following a military coup that deposed long time ruler, the late Robert Mugabe.

Upon assuming power, Mnangagwa premised his message on rebuilding Zimbabwe, insisting on the need to “let bygones be bygones” and his swearing in was attended by Mugabe’s long-time nemesis, Morgan Tsvangirai (the late MDC leader), a clear sign that Mnangagwa meant well.

Two years down the line, all hope is slowly fading, and Mnangagwa is leading a deeply divided nation, plagued with economic challenges that observers insist, require a political solution.

Mugabe’s loyalists, better known as the G40 cabal, including former ministers, Saviour Kasukuwere, Jonathan Moyo, Patrick Zhuwao and Walter Mzembi, among others, remain exiled, fleeing possible persecution and prosecution at the hands of Mnangagwa.

Chamisa is on record describing Mnangagwa as having betrayed Tsvangirai after having earlier agreed to a “transitional mechanism” with him as part of the transition.
“Tsvangirai told me that ‘Chamisa, we are now going to help remove the poverty caused by Mugabe, but the assurance I have is that we are going to have a transitional authority’,” Chamisa was quoted as saying.

“I said to him, this was a good thing, but asked him if he was sure about the people he was dealing with and he said ‘let us give them time’. We gave them time and they betrayed my old man.”

According to a leaked intelligence report in early 2017, Mnangagwa and Tsvangirai allegedly engaged in secret talks to form an arrangement post-Mugabe, with Tsvangirai telling Reuters in June of that year that he would not rule out a coalition with political opponents, such as Mnangagwa, and wanted white farmers to come back into a “positive role”.

Tsvangirai supported the military intervention and Mnangagwa’s takeover, even rallying his supporters for the action at Parliament in the days Mugabe was about to be impeached.

Mnangagwa acted as if he meant well even by visiting an incapacitated Tsvangirai later on at his Highlands mansion, a sign that made many believe, the unifier was in town.

But alas, Mnangagwa pushed for polls and opted to go it alone, and it is that decision observers say which led to the prevailing socio-economic crisis that was to be born out of the unresolved July 2018 elections, and there is no hope for Zimbabwe as it stands.

In Chamisa’s words, had Mnangagwa not betrayed Tsvangirai and implemented the agreed transitional mechanism, the story would have been different.

Mnangagwa’s woes started after the July 30 harmonised elections, where the Zanu PF leader narrowly won, but his victory was challenged.

Moyo, a former government spin-doctor, claims Mnangagwa lost to Chamisa and evidence is supposedly contained in his book Excelgate, which was set to be launched last week before suspected Zanu PF supporters interrupted it, chasing out guests, including diplomats.

As Zimbabwe waited for results of the delayed presidential election results, soldiers shot and killed six people in Harare, injuring scores in the process after opposition supporters took to the streets protesting the delay.

A commission of inquiry into the killings led by former South African President Kgalema Monthlante called for unity among political actors and up to now, this and other recommendations are yet to be fulfilled.

Another huge dent on Mnangagwa’s administration was to come on January 14, hours after he sparked a fire that would lead to at least 17 deaths, more than 80 sustaining gunshot injuries, with more than 300 cases of torture at the hands of the police, the military and Central Intelligence Organisation operatives.

Mnangagwa made a surprise announcement of a 150% hike in fuel prices that led to violent protests across the country.
Shortly after making the announcement, Mnangagwa flew to Russia, but had to cut short the trip following the widely condemned attacks on civilians.

The January shootings were to be the beginning of a tough year for Zimbabweans, characterised by week-in, week-out price hikes of fuel, cash shortages, doctors’ and nurses’ strikes and hospital closures, among other challenges.

Over half the population is facing starvation caused by drought and a wobbly economy, with ordinary citizens evidently losing faith in the ruling party’s ability to resolve the crisis.

In its latest central committee report, Zanu PF stated that the economy remains a “latent security” threat, but blamed the United States, the MDC, some civic society organisations and even drought for its failure.

“The most latent security threat that has grave consequences is the unstable economy which is largely propelled by the thriving parallel market (black market),” the report by the party’s national security department read.

The report further stated that ordinary Zimbabweans have lost confidence in the direction the economy was going and were “angry”, while government also took to blaming natural disasters for the crisis.

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

This has resulted in inflation also rising to unprecedented levels. Prices of all commodities and services have followed suit to unsustainable levels. Most people are failing to make ends meet, so are poverty levels that are rising very much throughout the country. As a result, anger is brewing among the citizens, while there is loss of confidence on the direction the economy is taking,” the Zanu PF central committee report said.

“Owing to the incessant price hikes of commodities, food security situation is exacerbated by the fact that there were poor harvests experienced due to the El-nino induced drought.”

Zanu PF lamented the high unemployment in the formal sector due to company closures, and raised fears that unemployed graduates can be used by detractors to work against the ruling party.

The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition blamed all this on the incumbent leadership that focuses on pettiness, giving the much-publicised divorce of Mnangagwa’s lieutenants, Vice-Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi as examples
“The most unfortunate thing that we are lacking as a country is leadership,” Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition spokesperson Marvellous Khumalo said.

“Instead of the national leadership to focus on addressing the economic challenges that we have, the social, political and other related challenges that are bedevilling the country at the moment, we are witnessing a host of the sideshows taking place. The arrest of Marry Chiwenga, all this is being done and is raking attention from the leadership and the country at large yet we have important things, bread and butter issues to attend to,” he said.
“It is sad.”

Chiwenga is embroiled in a nasty divorce with his wife of eight years, Marry, and so far, a lot has been exposed and the VP is likely to be kept busy at the courts in 2020, joining Mohadi who has had violent confrontations with his estranged wife, Tambudzani, including an incident whereby the Vice-President chased after her at their Beitbridge home, armed with an axe and threatening to kill her.

Chiwenga accuses his wife of wanting to kill him while he was hospitalised in South Africa.

Marry, who is also accused of fraud and money-laundering involving close to US$2 million, was remanded in custody to December 30, but has made a High Court application for bail.

This comes after a lengthy absence from the political scene by Chiwenga, who was receiving treatment in China following suspected poisoning.

In Mnangagwa’s short reign, the police and military have launched a massive crackdown across the country, which has also seen MDC supporters being violently dispersed during gatherings in what the opposition party describe as “an unofficial ban” of the party and closure of the democratic space.

Several people, most of them ordinary Zimbabweans, were injured, while others were arrested last month ahead of Chamisa’s Hope of the Nation Address that was quashed by the police.

Chamisa was to survive an incident in which he claimed to have had gunshots targeted at him last month during a tree planting event in Marondera, although the police claimed otherwise.

But in the entire crisis, Chamisa yesterday said he would push for change in 2020.
Recently, he was also quoted as saying something would happen to change the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans by May 2020.

“My biggest Christmas gift is the hope I see in 2020. Change will come, if it doesn’t come, we go and get it for the people,” Chamisa said.

His statement also comes as former South African President Thabo Mbeki jetted into Harare last week to meet almost all political actors who included Mnangagwa, Chamisa, Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) and also with the churches on a “listening exercise” to understand the challenges affecting Zimbabwe.

Mbeki has promised to come back for more talks before year end.

While Mbeki has brought renewed hope to suffering Zimbabweans, with Chamisa warming up to possible dialogue with his nemesis convened by a neutral interlocutor, Mnangagwa dashed the hope by insisting that there would be no talks outside Polad, a grouping the main opposition party has sworn never to join.

Political analyst Eldred Masunungure thinks it is too early to celebrate.

Mbeki was at the centre of talks between Mugabe and Tsvangirai that led to the Global Political Agreement of 2009 that saw Tsvangirai becoming Prime Minister in Mugabe’s government, an arrangement that led to some brief stability before it ended in 2013.
Meanwhile, Kasukuwere has thrown his hat into the opposition political ring, vowing to challenge Mnangagwa if he chooses to answer to calls by a movement dubbed “Tyson Wabantu” that is pushing for him to lead.

Said Kasukuwere of the situation in the country: “It is not hatred of each other that will take our country out of this challenge, but a need to collectively confront the elephant in the room.

The pain in our society is deep and sharp. Let’s accept our failings and correct our steps. It’s the economy and politics.”
— NewsDay

Farai Dziva|MDC spokesperson Daniel Molokele has said the party is introducing a strict appraisal system that demands efficiency.

He said :”We have put in place a performance appraisal system for mayors, councillors, senators and MPs.

And we will have quarterly reviews. We have introduced performance scorecards for each and every one of these deployed who will go through a process of training and ideological development.

They will sign some performance commitments and we will regularly share updates regarding their progress.

Where the party feels that our deployee is not performing according to party’s expecta- tions, we will recommend that they be recalled.

Where necessary, we will not hesitate to call for a by-election to replace one of our own who is not rep- resenting the social democratic values and principles of the MDC.”

Police have named the victims of the fatal road accident which occurred at the 178km peg along the Harare-Nyamapanda Road on December 20 with a village in Mudzi district, losing 10 people.

William Chikowe, Erica Chikowe, Mandi Chikowe, Francis Chikowe, Erica Chari, Evelyn Kambizi, Christine Dawaka, Leeroy Kanetsa (1), Lenny Tsuro and Douglas Tsuro all from Tapfuma Village in Nyamukoko, Mudzi, have since been buried.

The other two killed in the accident were Aaron Matthew Mutepfa (20) of Kotwa and Tashia Chapinduka (5) of Stoneridge, Harare.

Victims of another fatal road accident that occurred along the Masvingo-Beitbridge Road on Sunday were named as Zindava Tabonashe (23) of Mutare, Trevory Fungai Nyakuvanikwa (33) and Musiza Rose Nobuhle (25).

“Police will remain firm on the ground for the rest of the holiday to ensure a crime free atmosphere is provided to all Zimbabweans.

“We are appealing to all road users to be cautious and to consider the safety of others.

“Drivers are urged to be observant, alert and consider the conditions of the road particularly potholes,” said Assistant Commissioner Nyathi.

“They should avoid speeding and be on the lookout of pedestrians, animals and the effects of the current weather on tyres as they travel either on highways or feeder roads.

“This includes residential areas and other built up areas. Let’s play our part to make roads safe and not death traps.”
— State media

Watch video below. ..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=LUVLp4sFBOw

Watch video below. ..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=LUVLp4sFBOw

Farai Dziva|Justice Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi’ s remarks indicating that government has authorized the police to shoot machete gangs have ignited widespread debate.

Ziyambi has been criticised for his remarks which indicated that the government has given the police authority to shoot machete gangs popularly known as Mashurugwi.

The Minister in an audio-recorded interview with VOA said the killing of terrorists was common worldwide.

He said:
Even in America terrorists are killed, machete criminals are terrorists, I talked to the Minister of Homes Affairs for the police to shoot them.

The people called Mashurugwi will be arrested, we will deny them bail because they would threaten their victims after bail application.”

AN OK Supermarket shop assistant parking trolleys on the retail chain’s pavement was on Monday fatally hit by a speeding car which veered off the road after side swiping another vehicle, police have confirmed.

Mr Joseph Mugarwe (23) of Mucheke met his death when he was about to knock off from work.

Masvingo police spokesperson Chief Inspector Charity Mazula said the incident occurred at about 11:40 pm.

She said Mr Mugarwe, who was seriously injured, was rushed to Makurira Memorial Clinic but died a few hours after admission.

His body was taken to Masvingo General Hospital for postmortem. “I can confirm receiving an accident report which claimed the life of a shop assistant at OK Supermarket here in town. The man was fatally hit by one of the cars which had been involved in a side swipe,” said Chief Insp Mazula. 

She said on the fateful day, a man identified as Victor Takaindisa (27) of Mucheke was driving his vehicle from Harare direction along Josiah Tongogara while another motorist, Mr Munashe Bukuta (21) of Mucheke D was coming from Masvingo General Hospital along Robertson Street. 

Upon arriving at corner Josiah Tongogara Street and Robertson Street, she said, Takaindisa ignored a red robot and side swiped Mr Bukuta’s vehicle.

She said Takaindisa’s car veered off the road and hit Mr Mugarwe.

Chief Insp Mazula said the two cars sustained minor damages and were both taken to Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) for inspection. She encouraged motorists to be cautious when driving on the country’s roads during Christmas and New Year holidays.

-State media

The festive holiday death toll has reached 24, with 59 injured after three more people were killed in road accidents on Christmas Day.

Four people died on Christmas Day last year.

Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi attributed the accidents to speeding and human error.

The number of accidents recorded on Christmas Day this year declined from 131 last year to 94.

Police arrested 128 touts in a blitz on Christmas Day, while 165 vehicles were impounded for various defects and 797 tickets were issued.

Meanwhile, police have named the victims of the fatal road accident which occurred at the 178km peg along the Harare-Nyamapanda Road on December 20 with a village in Mudzi district, losing 10 people.

William Chikowe, Erica Chikowe, Mandi Chikowe, Francis Chikowe, Erica Chari, Evelyn Kambizi, Christine Dawaka, Leeroy Kanetsa (1), Lenny Tsuro and Douglas Tsuro all from Tapfuma Village in Nyamukoko, Mudzi, have since been buried.

The other two killed in the accident were Aaron Matthew Mutepfa (20) of Kotwa and Tashia Chapinduka (5) of Stoneridge, Harare.

Victims of another fatal road accident that occurred along the Masvingo-Beitbridge Road on Sunday were named as Zindava Tabonashe (23) of Mutare, Trevory Fungai Nyakuvanikwa (33) and Musiza Rose Nobuhle (25).

“Police will remain firm on the ground for the rest of the holiday to ensure a crime free atmosphere is provided to all Zimbabweans.

“We are appealing to all road users to be cautious and to consider the safety of others.More in Home

“Drivers are urged to be observant, alert and consider the conditions of the road particularly potholes,” said Assistant Commissioner Nyathi.

“They should avoid speeding and be on the lookout of pedestrians, animals and the effects of the current weather on tyres as they travel either on highways or feeder roads.

“This includes residential areas and other built up areas. Let’s play our part to make roads safe and not death traps.”

-State Media

By Own Correspondent| A 20-year-old lady was in hot soup last month after she allegedly exchanged fake $US40 notes for bond notes with a vendor at Bulawayo centre. 

According to records, it is said that Kelly Gugulethu Ngwenya, with two unknown man, approached Rufaro Changachirere (20) at her vending stand asking for an exchange of her $US40 into bond notes.

Changachirere reportedly agreed to make an exchange with her using the rate of the day which was $US10-$150 bond at the time.

Changachirere allegedly handed Ngwenya the $600 which Ngwenya allegedly gave to one of the unknown man that was in her company.

“Soon after they left, I showed my workmate Mai Tari the money and she said it was fake money. They were still at a distant so we chased them. When they saw that we were following them they ran away in different directions,” stated Changachirere.

State papers stated that Ngwenya was captured and battered by the duo while the two men were able to escape. Changachirere and her workmate reportedly recovered a fake US$20 in Ngwenya’s custody.

The young girl was handed over to the Bulawayo Central Police. 

Ngwenya appeared before Bulawayo Magistrate Ulukile Ndlovu where she pleaded not guilty and denied ever being in contact with Changachirere except for when they apprehended her.

She was acquitted by Ndlovu due to lack of enough evidence presented against her.

The stolen $600 was never recovered.

-StateMedia

I have never met Marry Mubaiwa Chiwenga. I don’t know her from a bar of blue soap. She has become the latest victim of selective application of the law and weak compromised/national institutions. What she is going through can happen to any of us. pic.twitter.com/dH0POqg6Pb

— Trevor Ncube (@TrevorNcube) December 16, 2019

Good news everyone!

Interim rankings show that our #QueenofChivhu, Grace Zvarebwa, who started the tournament ranked #20 is currently ranked #2. She's 7 years old! Let's send her good vibes as the African Youth Chess Championships continue! #TeamZimbabwe?? pic.twitter.com/M0gDHQOuaN

— Fadzayi Mahere?? (@advocatemahere) December 21, 2019

By Own Correspondent| A 20-year-old lady was in hot soup last month after she allegedly exchanged fake $US40 notes for bond notes with a vendor at Bulawayo centre. 

According to records, it is said that Kelly Gugulethu Ngwenya, with two unknown man, approached Rufaro Changachirere (20) at her vending stand asking for an exchange of her $US40 into bond notes.

Changachirere reportedly agreed to make an exchange with her using the rate of the day which was $US10-$150 bond at the time.

Changachirere allegedly handed Ngwenya the $600 which Ngwenya allegedly gave to one of the unknown man that was in her company.

“Soon after they left, I showed my workmate Mai Tari the money and she said it was fake money. They were still at a distant so we chased them. When they saw that we were following them they ran away in different directions,” stated Changachirere.

State papers stated that Ngwenya was captured and battered by the duo while the two men were able to escape. Changachirere and her workmate reportedly recovered a fake US$20 in Ngwenya’s custody.

The young girl was handed over to the Bulawayo Central Police. 

Ngwenya appeared before Bulawayo Magistrate Ulukile Ndlovu where she pleaded not guilty and denied ever being in contact with Changachirere except for when they apprehended her.

She was acquitted by Ndlovu due to lack of enough evidence presented against her.

The stolen $600 was never recovered.

-StateMedia

By Own Correspondent| The advice came following an incident in which a Zvishavane man reportedly passed out after his enraged wife lunged at him and grabbed his testicles in a vice-like grip after finding out he had impregnated their maid.

It is reported that on Saturday last week, during a heated argument at their home, Emily Svondo flew into rage and gave her husband Amos Mangoma a real piece of her mind when she forcibly grabbed his genitals and repeatedly squeezed them until he fainted. 

According to a source when Svondo from Makwasha suburb latched on to her husband’s balls, she screamed saying he will never have sex again. 

Svondo, the source said, was angry that her husband had relegated her by making her share his magic stick with their maid who was later sent packing.

“Trouble started after the seemingly suspicious Svondo asked their pregnant maid the man who was responsible for her pregnancy. When the maid revealed that it was her husband who had impregnated her, she (Svondo) repeatedly assaulted her with open hands before she bolted out of the house to confront her husband who was sitting at the verandah,” said the source who preferred anonymity.

The source further said the couple started quarrelling before the argument got physical as they exchanged blows.

“During that furious row the wife violently grabbed her husband’s genitals and squeezed them while shouting that he was not going to have sex again. The man who possibly could not bear the pain was writhing in agony thereby attracting the attention of their quick-witted neighbours who rushed to the house and rescued him by rendering first aid,” said the source.

Mangoma, who was overcome  with giult for having wronged his wife, refused to report her to the police.

After the near tragic incident, Mangoma’s parents who apparently felt their son was no longer safe at the hands of his wife took him to their rural home in Mazvihwa.

According to a source it was not the first time that Mangoma had been attacked on his groin by his wife as she once did it sometime last year after she found love text messages in his mobile phone.

When contacted for comment a hostile Svondo said she was not at liberty to share her marital problems with the Press. Mangoma’s comment could also not be obtained as his mobile phone was unreachable by the time of going to print.

-HMetro

By Own Correspondent| A four months pregnant married woman drank poison and her stomach exploded leading to her death, after she was caught having sex with another man from her village.

The incident happened last week on Monday at Mairosi Village, Chisina 3, Ward 25 in Gokwe South.

A family source who requested  anonymity said:

“Reuben Mutemarinda (42) came home from a beer binge and  found his wife Ruth Kaurosi (34) having sex with Everisto Dzivarepasi. He tried to grab him, but he fled in boxer shorts and left his trousers and a shirt.”

A villager, Trynos Mataruka, said the deceased apologised before she killed herself.

“She apologised to her husband. But later on, she went to a nearby bush where she drank a cotton pesticide. She vomited and her stomach started to bulge. It burst while she was being ferried to Gokwe District Hospital where she died,” said Mataruka.

Mataruka added:

“Initially her husband refused to collect the corpse, saying Ruth must be buried at Dzivarepasi’s place. Some family elders tried to reason with him, but he stood his ground.

They had to report the matter to Chief Chisina who intervened by ordering Mutemarinda to collect the corpse and bury it. The burial was done last week on Thursday at Mairosi Village after the body had spent four days at the mortuary.”

Contacted for a comment Chief Chisina confirmed the incident.

“I can confirm that a woman Ruth Kaurosi (34) from Mairosi Village drank poison and later died at a hospital. Her stomach burst. But what worried us as community leadership is that Reuben Mutemarinda (42) was refusing to collect the remains of his wife from the mortuary.

He was saying she must be buried at Dzivarepasi’s place as he feels she disrespected him by sleeping with someone on their matrimonial bed,” he said.

Chief Chisina added: “I had to order Mutemarinda and his family to bury the deceased and I told them that any issue will be discussed after the burial.”

Chief Chisina said as of now he cannot comment on how Dzivarepasi will be punished.

“As for now I cannot comment on Dzivarepasi, I will wait for a report from Mutemarinda, after that I will be in a position to comment,” he said.

Ward 25 councillor, Chisina 3, Shungu Maruza said: “This is a shocking incident and I would like to advise members of the public to seek counselling whenever they encounter problems in their marital lives or at home in general.”

Mutemarinda said he would consult his family before formally reporting the adultery matter to the chief.

“I have to consult elders and kraal head Mairosi, after that I will make an official report to the chief because what Dzivarepasi did has lowered my dignity in the society and it’s the reason behind my wife’s death,” he said.

Efforts to get a comment from Dzivarepasi were fruitless

-StateMedia

https://youtu.be/ox3gZENNQlM

By Own Correspondent| A popular Kadoma prophet and leader of the Royal Family International Ministries had an extra marital affair with one of his congregants whom he reportedly dumped after having his child.

Prophet Charles Pintec reportedly had the illicit affair with one Grace whom he then decided to neglect after having his child prompting her to expose the secret affair she had with the man of God.

According to a source, Prophet Pintec fell madly in love with Grace to the extent of impregnating her but when the woman gave birth, the man of God decided to dump her.

Out of anger and bitterness, the woman is said to have started spreading pictures of her and Pintec during their good days on social media so as to expose Pintec to his congregants and the whole world.

“Prophet Pintec of Royal Family Church is a well-respected man by his congregants but his actions have proved otherwise.

“He had secret extra marital affair with one of his congregants Grace to the extent of siring a child with her and he decided to quit the relationship after the birth of the child.

“This did not go down well with Grace so she started exposing the Prophet by sending pictures of her and the man of God during the subsistence of their relationship so the man is now the talk of the town,” said the source.

When a local publication contacted Pintec to get his side of the story, he pleaded guilty to the accusations and apologised to everyone who might have stumbled upon the pictures of him and Grace during their good days.

-StateMedia

By A Correspondent| Miners in Norton have given President Emmerson Mnangagwa a gift of a stone sculpture which symbolises their appreciation for his support to the mining sector, achievements they have made and challenges they faced as miners.

Handing over the gift to the president on Friday, Norton Miners Association chairperson Privilege Moyo and women’s affairs executive, Pamela Muringai said:

Wherever the president will place that stone gift he will always see an image of all artisanal and small scale miners across the country, the challenges they face every day, in remembrance of various comrades in mining who died due to machetes gangs, mine accidents and sickness related to mining.

Machete gangs, popularly known as Mashurugwi and or Al Shabab have this year allegedly killed several miners and villagers and have also been forcefully taking mines claims.

Moyo added that the gift was also meant to show that the miners were prepared to support the country’s vision 2030 notes that the mining sector will play a pivotal role in transforming Zimbabwe into a middle-class economy.

-MiningZimbabwe

State Media|The festive holiday death toll has reached 24, with 59 injured after three more people were killed in road accidents on Christmas Day.

Four people died on Christmas Day last year.

Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi attributed the accidents to speeding and human error.

The number of accidents recorded on Christmas Day this year declined from 131 last year to 94.

Police arrested 128 touts in a blitz on Christmas Day, while 165 vehicles were impounded for various defects and 797 tickets were issued.

Meanwhile, police have named the victims of the fatal road accident which occurred at the 178km peg along the Harare-Nyamapanda Road on December 20 with a village in Mudzi district, losing 10 people.

William Chikowe, Erica Chikowe, Mandi Chikowe, Francis Chikowe, Erica Chari, Evelyn Kambizi, Christine Dawaka, Leeroy Kanetsa (1), Lenny Tsuro and Douglas Tsuro all from Tapfuma Village in Nyamukoko, Mudzi, have since been buried.

The other two killed in the accident were Aaron Matthew Mutepfa (20) of Kotwa and Tashia Chapinduka (5) of Stoneridge, Harare.

Victims of another fatal road accident that occurred along the Masvingo-Beitbridge Road on Sunday were named as Zindava Tabonashe (23) of Mutare, Trevory Fungai Nyakuvanikwa (33) and Musiza Rose Nobuhle (25).

“Police will remain firm on the ground for the rest of the holiday to ensure a crime free atmosphere is provided to all Zimbabweans.

“We are appealing to all road users to be cautious and to consider the safety of others.

“Drivers are urged to be observant, alert and consider the conditions of the road particularly potholes,” said Assistant Commissioner Nyathi.

“They should avoid speeding and be on the lookout of pedestrians, animals and the effects of the current weather on tyres as they travel either on highways or feeder roads.

“This includes residential areas and other built up areas. Let’s play our part to make roads safe and not death traps.”

Farai Dziva|MDC vice chairperson Job Sikhala believes his political rivals plotted last night’s accident.

In an interview with ZimEye.com Sikhala said:
“I was travelling to my rural home in Gutu for Christmas when the accident happened last night.

I was approaching Featherstone when the accident happened.To be precise the accident happened at the 30 km peg to Featherstone.

Some suspicious looking individuals drove a herd of cattle straight into my vehicle resulting in the accident.”

He added:”I was travelling with my family but I am relieved to say my children are safe and out of danger.

I am still in hospital because I sustained internal injuries.

As you know we are always under threat and there are people who trail us – that is a known fact so we cannot rule out foul play. By the look of things everything was planned by my political opponents.

These things happen as a way of trying to intimidate us but we will remain resolute.”

Own Correspondent |Zimbabweans will always remember how international visitors were taken on tour of former President Robert Mugabe’s Gushungo Dairies, the tide has moved from Mazowe to Kwekwe.

While Zimbabweans were having a gloom Christmas on Wednesday, the First Family was busy at its Pricabe Farm in Sherwood on the outskirts of Kwekwe, hosting a Chinese delegation that wants to invest in the agriculture sector.

The delegation from the China Lesso Group is here at the invitation of First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa following her recent visit to the Asian country.

The firm deals in agriculture, home equipment and PVC products and is interested in investing in irrigation technology.

Speaking to journalists during the tour of the farm where there are thriving maize and soya bean crops, the President said his family was playing its part in producing for the country.

“No, no I am not (getting my hands dirty). This is life. This is what God said in Genesis, idyai zveziya (enjoy the fruits of your sweat) and that is what we are doing,” President Mnangagwa said.

“These (China Lesso Group) are some of the companies that she met in China who have come and have a bias towards agriculture and they are looking around to see the type of soils, the type of climate and the type of crops that we grow in Zimbabwe so that they can adjust their plans in order to invest in the agricultural field in Zimbabwe and I am saying we will offer them land and they can grow crops here both for domestic consumption as well as in the area of citrus fruits for exports.”

In her remarks, the First Lady said it was her duty as a citizen to market the country to investors.

“When I went there, I was just representing Angel of Hope Foundation and they had invited me on the foundation issues,” she said.

“But when I was there it changed to be a big project for Government and as a citizen I have been selling my country to them to come to Zimbabwe and do something with us. That’s what you are seeing.

“But I must say I am most interested in what they said today that they are also prepared to train our farmers and to take them to China to get more experience there.”

Head of delegation Mr Tang Hai Bo said there was room to improve the country’s agricultural sector.

“We have already visited six farms, but I want to say there is a lot of scope for cooperation and there is a lot of potential for us to improve agriculture and also the training of Zimbabwean farmers,” he said.

The delegation has visited farms in Harare, Mashonaland West, the Midlands and Matabeleland South.

Source: State Media

The Government has said that there is no going back on the 2018 election outcome, hence there cannot be a special dispensation – beyond the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) – to accommodate any political players.

This was said by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Dr Sibusiso Moyo, in a statement yesterday.

He said Sadc Executive Secretary, Dr Stergomena Tax’s recent comments in support of inclusive dialogue was on point and should be welcomed by all progressive Zimbabweans.

“Dr Tax is completely on target in her appeal to all political leaders to come together in support of this ongoing national dialogue, aimed at healing the toxic polarisation which continues to divide our nation and providing a viable platform for all to be heard and for all to contribute towards lasting solutions to the many challenges which confront our young nation,’’ he said.

“There can be no going back on the 2018 election outcome. There can be no special dispensation – beyond Polad – to accommodate any political players,’’ Dr Moyo said.

“Dr Tax was merely appealing to all such political players – MDC A included – to put the national interest first and to join the process.

‘’The Government of Zimbabwe fully subscribes to that appeal,’’ he said.

Recently the MDC- Alliance leadership took to social media to blast Dr Tax over her comments and interpreted it as her implied criticism of the MDC-A’s continued refusal to join Polad.

“It is unfortunate, but not surprising, that various MDC spokespersons have turned their sights and censure upon Sadc Executive Secretary, Dr Stergomena Tax, for her recent comments in support of inclusive dialogue between and amongst all national leaders in Zimbabwe,’’ Dr Moyo said.

He hailed the recent visit by former South African President Thabo Mbeki and said it resonates well with President Mnangagwa and Sadc’s call for an inclusive process of national dialogue.

“That is what is needed. That is what His Excellency (President Mnangagwa) has repeatedly called for. That is what the region would hope to see.

“Since Dr Tax made her perfectly reasonable comments, MDC A spokespersons have taken their public utterances and, it seems, their misconceptions surrounding President Mbeki’s efforts, to an altogether different level — perhaps intentionally seeking to undermine his well-intentioned efforts while also further exposing the opportunism which often characterises the MDC A and elements of its leadership,’’ he added.

Dr Moyo said the Government and Sadc will not be deterred by the unbecoming behaviour exhibited by the MDC-A by refusing to dialogue with other political parties that has derailed the Polad from achieving inclusivity.

‘’Neither Government nor our Sadc friends will be deterred by such immature antics. It is the stubbornness of the MDC A leadership — fixated, perhaps, on its 2018 electoral and judicial defeats, delivered in rapid succession — which has thus far prevented the Polad process from attaining the desired inclusivity. Their posturing is neither helpful, nor is it unsustainable.’’

Polad is a culmination of an engagement process that was initiated by President Mnangagwa when he invited for dialogue leaders of the 23 parties that took part in last year’s elections.

The process is meant to foster unity and enhance nation building and the parties held their inaugural meeting in February.

The dialogue is part of wider efforts to cement national healing and nation-building. This week President Mnangagwa had a successful meeting with leaders of political parties participating in the Polad on National Unity Day in Kwekwe .

Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa has been criticized for declaring that Zimbabweans should embrace the local currency- regardless of its strength.

Angry Zimbabweans expressed outrage on various social media platforms – accusing the Zanu PF leader of showing a carefree attitude towards suffering masses.

Mnangagwa made the remarks at the belated anti-corruption day commemorations.

“The Reserve Bank has been giving banks $30 million, up from $10-$14 million which they had been giving them after I spoke to the central bank governor.

We will take further measures if the situation does not improve,” said Mnangagwa.

“Mozambicans have their currency called Metical, Botswana has the Pula and South Africa has the Rand, in Malawi they have theirs and Zambia has the Kwacha. The citizens do not care whether their currency is strong or not, they take ownership of it,” he added.

Own Correspondent|THE seven Namibians who were shot dead in the Zambian capital at the beginning of this month were buried on Tuesday morning.

They were each buried in their respective villages in Ohangwena region.

The men were identified as Daniel Mbishi aged 32, Wilson Tetela (39) Haitembu Elifas (40) Elifas Ndeshikeya (29)David Mweuxwange (39), Samuel Kambonde age (42) Patrick Waandja age (34).

Their remains were repatriated from Zambia last week Thursday by road.

Winie Haihambo, a relative of one of the slain men, was the first family member to identify the deceased.

“Being a student in Zambia, I got the first chance to identify my brothers alone in the mortuary after the news broke.

“I must confess that it was a horrible and sad experience to go up and down the offices alone, yet in mourning,” she narrates her ordeal.

She expressed her gratitude to the Namibian High commission in Lusaka for the assistanced rendered to the families.

“My special thanks goes to Ms. Bernadette Shooka (acting high commissioner). It was not easy, but with her vast experience,” she said.

The seven were shot and killed by the Lusaka Police on 5 December after allegedly receiving a tip-off from members of the public about suspected criminals staging a robbery.

The international ministry’s acting executive director Rebecca P. Iyambo in a media statement this week said investigations into what happened on 5 December in Lusaka continue.

“The Namibian Police continues to engage their Zambian counterparts on the matter,” she said.

Iyambo reiterated the ministry’s call to Namibian citizens travelling abroad to always notify the nearest Namibian embassy or consulate.

Source : The Namibian

Own Correspondent|In his Christmas day message Zimbabwe’s president Emmerson Mnangagwa admitted that people in his country are suffering. Most Zimbabweans spent the holiday enduring shortages of cash, electricity and fuel.

The southern Africa country is in the grips of its worst economic crisis in a decade with the second highest inflation in the world. Close to half of its 14-million people face hunger after a ravaging drought.

The International Monetary Fund has said Zimbabwe’s economy will contract by 6.5% in 2019, its worst decline since 2008.

This is the worst holiday season since Mnangagwa wrested power from Robert Mugabe in November 2017. Prices of basic goods are beyond the reach of many while workers salaries have been eroded by inflation.

On Christmas Day residential suburbs in the capital Harare were without electricity for hours, while many motorists spent much of the day in fuel queues, dampening the festive mood. Doctors who have been on strike demanding higher wages, continued with the industrial action.

Some people who spoke to Business Day in Harare said they had failed to travel to their rural homes — as is the norm during holidays in the country — because of high costs of public transport.

Many Zimbabweans now say they were better off under Mugabe as Mnangagwa’s administration has been accused of mismanaging the economy and failing to clampdown on rampant corruption.

In a Christmas message to Zimbabweans, Mnangagwa said he understood people’s hardships.

“I know that many of you still suffer. I am not blind to your situation, nor am I deaf to your cries.

“I commit to you that we will continue to reform with an eye on the long term; for we must not reform only for ourselves, but for our children and our children’s children.”

Mnangagwa said his government was undertaking “deep, broad, and meaningful reforms” and has achieved some positives such as balancing the budget.

However critics accuse Mnangagwa of paying lip service to reforms as his administration continues to brutalise any opponents of government, in the same manner as Mugabe.

In January this year, at least 17 people were killed in a military crackdown on protests over a fuel hike.

Those who voice concern over government’s policies are frequently assaulted, detained or abducted by state security agents.

The leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change  Nelson Chamisa said Zimbabweans had suffered one of their worst Christmas holidays in living memory because Mnangagwa was not committed to the wellbeing of ordinary people.

He said “instead of dispensing love at Christmas, Mnangagwa was dispensing agony to his people”.

“The people are suffering because we have deprived them of happiness and merrymaking. They are without cash, without fuel, without electricity, without water and even without freedom,” Chamisa said.

MERRY CHRISTMAS … No Christmas break for vendors, whose business peaks during the festive season, as this vendor tries to sell a Christmas tree to motorists in central Harare yesterday

CHAOTIC scenes characterised Christmas Eve as thousands of people jostled to get cash from their banks to finance their travelling, food and other necessities, but were left disappointed.

A survey by NewsDay in Harare, Bulawayo and other cities witnessed the rush for cash, which however, was in short supply, making it one of the worst ever festive holidays in independent Zimbabwe.

While government ministers and officials took time to rest either at their farms or on holiday in foreign lands, long queues at the banks characterised the Christmas Eve, with many saying they were failing to travel to their home areas because they had no cash, while shopping in a hyper-inflationary environment was proving to be
difficult.

Motorists were queuing for fuel, which is in short supply across the country, while some workers had to endure the festive holidays without salaries.

Those who spoke to NewsDay said there was nothing to celebrate this Christmas because of the crises.

“We cannot say there is a festive season this Christmas because I cannot afford to buy anything. I am even struggling to buy basic commodities. Prices have been rising drastically and my salary is not tallying with the prices. I also have to be preparing and saving for school fees for my children, therefore, I am only buying few things and focusing on 2020 basic needs,” Nomsa Mapara, from Harare, said.

Spiwe Chuma, a vendor, also said she could not tell if it was Christmas or not because she was just trying to make ends meet.

“Hatina chatinacho (we have nothing). Things are not adding up. I’m only a vendor and there is no profit,” she said.

Small business and boutique operators said the festive season had been a let-down and were facing huge losses.

“Compared to last year, this year’s sales are low. Last year around the same time, we could not be entertaining anyone because this place would be packed with last-minute customers. Business is generally low and we are not expecting to make much profit. After today, we are not looking forward to making any profit,” Joachim Tamburai said.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions confirmed that a number of workers were going for Christmas empty-handed after their employers failed to pay salaries.

Most parts of Harare were without water and electricity ahead of the holiday, killing the celebratory mood.

Harare’s ward 16 councillor, Denford Ngadziore, fumed at council management for failing to plan ahead of the festive season, a situation that has led to Harare’s taps running dry.

“Failure to have water in most suburbs in Harare during the festive season is a clear testimony of failure to plan by the council management. Heads must roll. Someone should be answerable and accountable,” he fumed.

“When we closed last week at the last full council meeting, we were promised that all was well, both workers’ salaries and the water situation. This is pure negligence and incompetence and what is surprising is there is no official statement explaining the situation to residents.”

Despite all the pessimism and lamentations, President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday claimed he was fully aware of the people’s suffering.

“I know that many of you still suffer. I am not blind to your situation, nor am I deaf to your cries. I commit to you that we will continue to reform with an eye on the long term; for we must not reform only for ourselves, but for our children and our children’s children,” he said in his Christmas message.

“We are undertaking deep, broad and meaningful reforms. We have put the economic fundamentals in place. We have balanced the budget. We are engaging the world. We are continuing to open up the political and media spaces. We are clamping down on corruption. And we are building a new Zimbabwe (in which) the people come first.”

Mnangagwa urged Zimbabweans to “look forward not backward, inwards not outwards”.

“Let us focus on how best we can look after our families, our communities and our nation. How we can make Zimbabwe a better place for all,”he said.

“I wish you all a peaceful and merry Christmas. God bless you all and God bless the nation of Zimbabwe.”

“There are complex challenges in Zimbabwe … We know there are serious and seemingly intractable political factors that might need attention, in fact, that needs attention if solutions are to be effective or implementable.

The political formations in Zimbabwe remain at loggerheads and have apparent deep antipathy toward each other which makes joint decision-making and planning extremely difficult,” said South Africa International Relations and Co-operation minister Naledi Pandor on November 18, 2019 at a symposium on the Best Path Towards a Prosperous Zimbabwe at the University of South Africa in Pretoria.

Pandor’s message came exactly two years after Emmerson Mnangagwa assumed power as President in November 2017 following a military coup that deposed long time ruler, the late Robert Mugabe.

Upon assuming power, Mnangagwa premised his message on rebuilding Zimbabwe, insisting on the need to “let bygones be bygones” and his swearing in was attended by Mugabe’s long-time nemesis, Morgan Tsvangirai (the late MDC leader), a clear sign that Mnangagwa meant well.

Two years down the line, all hope is slowly fading, and Mnangagwa is leading a deeply divided nation, plagued with economic challenges that observers insist, require a political solution.

Mugabe’s loyalists, better known as the G40 cabal, including former ministers, Saviour Kasukuwere, Jonathan Moyo, Patrick Zhuwao and Walter Mzembi, among others, remain exiled, fleeing possible persecution and prosecution at the hands of Mnangagwa.

Chamisa is on record describing Mnangagwa as having betrayed Tsvangirai after having earlier agreed to a “transitional mechanism” with him as part of the transition.
“Tsvangirai told me that ‘Chamisa, we are now going to help remove the poverty caused by Mugabe, but the assurance I have is that we are going to have a transitional authority’,” Chamisa was quoted as saying.

“I said to him, this was a good thing, but asked him if he was sure about the people he was dealing with and he said ‘let us give them time’. We gave them time and they betrayed my old man.”

According to a leaked intelligence report in early 2017, Mnangagwa and Tsvangirai allegedly engaged in secret talks to form an arrangement post-Mugabe, with Tsvangirai telling Reuters in June of that year that he would not rule out a coalition with political opponents, such as Mnangagwa, and wanted white farmers to come back into a “positive role”.

Tsvangirai supported the military intervention and Mnangagwa’s takeover, even rallying his supporters for the action at Parliament in the days Mugabe was about to be impeached.

Mnangagwa acted as if he meant well even by visiting an incapacitated Tsvangirai later on at his Highlands mansion, a sign that made many believe, the unifier was in town.

But alas, Mnangagwa pushed for polls and opted to go it alone, and it is that decision observers say which led to the prevailing socio-economic crisis that was to be born out of the unresolved July 2018 elections, and there is no hope for Zimbabwe as it stands.

In Chamisa’s words, had Mnangagwa not betrayed Tsvangirai and implemented the agreed transitional mechanism, the story would have been different.

Mnangagwa’s woes started after the July 30 harmonised elections, where the Zanu PF leader narrowly won, but his victory was challenged.

Moyo, a former government spin-doctor, claims Mnangagwa lost to Chamisa and evidence is supposedly contained in his book Excelgate, which was set to be launched last week before suspected Zanu PF supporters interrupted it, chasing out guests, including diplomats.

As Zimbabwe waited for results of the delayed presidential election results, soldiers shot and killed six people in Harare, injuring scores in the process after opposition supporters took to the streets protesting the delay.

A commission of inquiry into the killings led by former South African President Kgalema Monthlante called for unity among political actors and up to now, this and other recommendations are yet to be fulfilled.

Another huge dent on Mnangagwa’s administration was to come on January 14, hours after he sparked a fire that would lead to at least 17 deaths, more than 80 sustaining gunshot injuries, with more than 300 cases of torture at the hands of the police, the military and Central Intelligence Organisation operatives.

Mnangagwa made a surprise announcement of a 150% hike in fuel prices that led to violent protests across the country.
Shortly after making the announcement, Mnangagwa flew to Russia, but had to cut short the trip following the widely condemned attacks on civilians.

The January shootings were to be the beginning of a tough year for Zimbabweans, characterised by week-in, week-out price hikes of fuel, cash shortages, doctors’ and nurses’ strikes and hospital closures, among other challenges.

Over half the population is facing starvation caused by drought and a wobbly economy, with ordinary citizens evidently losing faith in the ruling party’s ability to resolve the crisis.

In its latest central committee report, Zanu PF stated that the economy remains a “latent security” threat, but blamed the United States, the MDC, some civic society organisations and even drought for its failure.

“The most latent security threat that has grave consequences is the unstable economy which is largely propelled by the thriving parallel market (black market),” the report by the party’s national security department read.

The report further stated that ordinary Zimbabweans have lost confidence in the direction the economy was going and were “angry”, while government also took to blaming natural disasters for the crisis.

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

This has resulted in inflation also rising to unprecedented levels. Prices of all commodities and services have followed suit to unsustainable levels. Most people are failing to make ends meet, so are poverty levels that are rising very much throughout the country. As a result, anger is brewing among the citizens, while there is loss of confidence on the direction the economy is taking,” the Zanu PF central committee report said.

“Owing to the incessant price hikes of commodities, food security situation is exacerbated by the fact that there were poor harvests experienced due to the El-nino induced drought.”

Zanu PF lamented the high unemployment in the formal sector due to company closures, and raised fears that unemployed graduates can be used by detractors to work against the ruling party.

The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition blamed all this on the incumbent leadership that focuses on pettiness, giving the much-publicised divorce of Mnangagwa’s lieutenants, Vice-Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi as examples
“The most unfortunate thing that we are lacking as a country is leadership,” Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition spokesperson Marvellous Khumalo said.

“Instead of the national leadership to focus on addressing the economic challenges that we have, the social, political and other related challenges that are bedevilling the country at the moment, we are witnessing a host of the sideshows taking place. The arrest of Marry Chiwenga, all this is being done and is raking attention from the leadership and the country at large yet we have important things, bread and butter issues to attend to,” he said.
“It is sad.”

Chiwenga is embroiled in a nasty divorce with his wife of eight years, Marry, and so far, a lot has been exposed and the VP is likely to be kept busy at the courts in 2020, joining Mohadi who has had violent confrontations with his estranged wife, Tambudzani, including an incident whereby the Vice-President chased after her at their Beitbridge home, armed with an axe and threatening to kill her.

Chiwenga accuses his wife of wanting to kill him while he was hospitalised in South Africa.

Marry, who is also accused of fraud and money-laundering involving close to US$2 million, was remanded in custody to December 30, but has made a High Court application for bail.

This comes after a lengthy absence from the political scene by Chiwenga, who was receiving treatment in China following suspected poisoning.

In Mnangagwa’s short reign, the police and military have launched a massive crackdown across the country, which has also seen MDC supporters being violently dispersed during gatherings in what the opposition party describe as “an unofficial ban” of the party and closure of the democratic space.

Several people, most of them ordinary Zimbabweans, were injured, while others were arrested last month ahead of Chamisa’s Hope of the Nation Address that was quashed by the police.

Chamisa was to survive an incident in which he claimed to have had gunshots targeted at him last month during a tree planting event in Marondera, although the police claimed otherwise.

But in the entire crisis, Chamisa yesterday said he would push for change in 2020.
Recently, he was also quoted as saying something would happen to change the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans by May 2020.

“My biggest Christmas gift is the hope I see in 2020. Change will come, if it doesn’t come, we go and get it for the people,” Chamisa said.

His statement also comes as former South African President Thabo Mbeki jetted into Harare last week to meet almost all political actors who included Mnangagwa, Chamisa, Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) and also with the churches on a “listening exercise” to understand the challenges affecting Zimbabwe.

Mbeki has promised to come back for more talks before year end.

While Mbeki has brought renewed hope to suffering Zimbabweans, with Chamisa warming up to possible dialogue with his nemesis convened by a neutral interlocutor, Mnangagwa dashed the hope by insisting that there would be no talks outside Polad, a grouping the main opposition party has sworn never to join.

Political analyst Eldred Masunungure thinks it is too early to celebrate.

Mbeki was at the centre of talks between Mugabe and Tsvangirai that led to the Global Political Agreement of 2009 that saw Tsvangirai becoming Prime Minister in Mugabe’s government, an arrangement that led to some brief stability before it ended in 2013.
Meanwhile, Kasukuwere has thrown his hat into the opposition political ring, vowing to challenge Mnangagwa if he chooses to answer to calls by a movement dubbed “Tyson Wabantu” that is pushing for him to lead.

Said Kasukuwere of the situation in the country: “It is not hatred of each other that will take our country out of this challenge, but a need to collectively confront the elephant in the room.

The pain in our society is deep and sharp. Let’s accept our failings and correct our steps. It’s the economy and politics.”
— NewsDay