A HARARE woman has left her matrimonial home in shame after the alleged leakage of her love affairs with 16 men.

Munashe Charlene Ncube, 24, of Damofalls allegedly bedded the 16 men and her husband to make them 17.

She also spent three days with a boyfriend when her husband was out on duty during Christmas holiday.

Ncube has since gone into hiding after jumping over the precast wall after her husband Erkridice Makomo leaked chats revealing unprotected sexcapades, sleep overs and nude images sent to boyfriends.
H-Metro is in possession of pictures of the alleged boyfriends and other graphic photos of the lady.

Makomo is bitter, from information in the chats, that Ncube had been denying him conjugal rights saying she had stomach cramps and was even spoiling her boyfriends with goodies as well as fuel for their meets.

Makomo says he has been insulted over the phone by some boyfriends after he took his wife’s phone.

They have been married for the past four years.
“I got the shock of my life to see chats of over 16 boyfriends some of which are hidden in GB WhatsApp version.

“I also found out that in December last year she went to sleep at one of the boyfriends named Kudakwashe Masoka’s place during the Christmas period while I was out working for three days.

“She no longer wanted to have sex with me and she gave all sorts of silly excuses achiti ane mudumbu.

“Ndaimupa mari iye achinotengera petrol ma boyfriends nekudya ne zvikomba zvake mari yandaishandira,” he said.

Makomo said Ncube stole his US$40 and he suspected from the chats that she is now staying with Kudakwashe.

He said he took his estranged wife Munashe to a nursing school and recently bought a brand new stove and a refrigerator worth ZW$14900 for their household.

He would also give her money which she spent on boyfriends buying them fuel.

Another alleged boyfriend named Simbarashe called on Munashe’s mobile phone which is in possession of the husband and hurled insults at Makomo.

“Iwe, ndikuda kutaura na Munashe, ukutaura zvekuti mukadzi wako ko mukadzi wako haataurwe naye kuti zviite sei?
“Ndikuda kutaura nemukadzi wako kwete nemi, mupei phone,” said Gwese.
Makomo further explained his ordeal saying they had not sired a child for the four years they have lived together with his wife.

“I would come back after two days and find dirty dishes and when I ask her she would say siyanai ne zvinhu zvemu kitchen.

“There is a Doctor in Norton named Obed whom she is also flirting with and this guy had been asking for sex from my wife,” he said showing this publication the chats.

Makomo and his uncle have since created a WhatsApp group including the 16 boyfriends to shame his wife and the boyfriends have been sharing moments they had with Munashe.

H-Metro caught up with one of the boyfriends in Norton, Ranganai Forichi who said he met Munashe in September last year.

“Ndakamuona akadhakawa ndikamutengera mvura pandai taura naye akati ndiri single mother ndikabva ndaita attack.
“Munhu we vanhu and ndewe ma sports saka hapana hapana,” said Forichi.

Another alleged boyfriend Floyd, according to the chats, refused to speak saying he was busy at work while one Tawanda Mapako said Munashe was just a friend.

“I saw her last week in Damofalls and we have known each other since high school in Mabvuku.

“She is my friend’s girlfriend not mine,” said Tawanda.H-Metro

With China’s help, a new city is taking shape on the outskirts of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, as Beijing deepens its influence in Africa.

A US$140 million six-storey parliament building being constructed on Mount Hampden, about 18km (11 miles) northwest of Harare, is the linchpin of a move by the southern African country to ease congestion in the crowded capital.

Sitting on the top of a hill, the imposing circular complex being erected by China’s Shanghai Construction Group is fully paid by Beijing, which regards the gesture as a donation.

The 33,000 square metre (355,209 square foot) complex will replace the current 100-seat, colonial-era building which Zimbabwean officials consider too small for the country’s 350 legislators.

Besides the parliament, the Zimbabwean government also plans to relocate some of its administrative units, including its judiciary and executive branches, to the site, where a state house and official residences for the speaker of the House of Assembly and president of the Senate also will be built.

The new city will also become home to the country’s reserve bank, upmarket suburbs, hotels and shopping malls.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has made three visits to the site since its groundbreaking last year. During his latest visit on November 27, Mnangagwa expressed appreciation to China for the donation.

“The building is important in the decolonisation of Zimbabwe,” he said. It is expected to be completed by March 2021.

Paying for the construction of grandiose symbols of the state, such as presidential palaces and parliamentary buildings, through grants or interest-free loans, has been one of Beijing’s major diplomatic strategies on the continent.

When China first started establishing diplomatic relations with Africa between the 1950s and 1970s, it used offers of financial help and interest-free loans and sent over medical teams to endear itself to African countries.

In return, those nations helped Beijing secure a seat on the United Nations Security Council in 1971. Until then the seat had been occupied by the Republic of China government seated in Taiwan.

But it was the construction of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (Tazara), Beijing’s most ambitious and expensive project, that did the most to boost China’s political capital on the continent.

The railway, which was built between 1970 and 1975 for US$500 million via an interest-free loan to be repaid over 30 years, necessitated the deployment of 25,000 Chinese workers. Once completed, the line stretched almost 1,870km from Dar es Salaam Port to the Zambian town of Kapiri Mposhi, where the country’s coal mines are situated.

Beijing has since funded several projects, including soccer stadiums, in nations such as Cameroon, Mozambique, Malawi, Ghana, Angola and Zambia. It has also paid for parliamentary buildings in the Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique and Sierra Leone. Further, China has gifted presidential palaces to countries such as Togo, Sudan, Burundi and Guinea-Bissau.

The trend has picked up recently with Beijing bankrolling the building of the US$200 million African Union headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Also, last year, Beijing said it would fund the building of the new headquarters for the Economic Community of West African States in Abuja, Nigeria, for US$31.6 million.

Meanwhile, China is building a US$58 million parliamentary complex in the Republic of Congo and rebuilding the burnt parliament in Gabon.

Two weeks ago, Zambia announced that China has agreed to fund construction of a new international conference centre that will be used to host the African Union Heads of State Summit in 2022.

During the 2018 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to extend US$60 billion in financing to Africa over three years.

That will include US$15 billion in grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans, US$20 billion in credit lines, the setting up of a US$10 billion special fund for development financing and a US$5 billion special fund for financing imports from Africa.

China is the continent’s largest bilateral lender, pouring billions of dollars into African countries for the building of motorways, dams and railways under the Belt and Road Initiative, the multibillion-dollar plan to link Asian and European economies to a China-centred trading network.

China advanced more than US$143 billion between 2000 and 2017, according to figures from the China Africa Research Initiative at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. Chinese aid to Africa stood at US$29.4 billion between 2003 and 2017, the figures showed.

Dr Obert Hodzi, an international relations scholar at the University of Liverpool, said these infrastructure “gifts” were meant to show China’s benevolence, its willingness to share its prosperity with other developing countries and its sacrificial giving that has endeared it to African leaders since the Tazara railway.

These gifts, he said, also allowed Beijing to re-emphasise the tangible and much-needed infrastructure benefits it provided to African economies – differentiating it from Western powers that focus on “intangible issues of governance and human rights” widely seen as disruptive by the ruling elites in Uganda, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

“Currently, the strategy is working,” Hodzi said. “[President Yoweri] Museveni has recently praised the Chinese for not being jealous of Uganda and caring about its development. Beijing also hopes that recipient governments will reciprocate by favouring Chinese businesses.”

David Shinn, an American diplomat and adjunct professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, said China’s practice of building, at no charge, the African Union headquarters, regional African organisation headquarters, presidential palaces, military headquarters, public stadiums and political party headquarters was “brilliant public relations and probably buys a great deal of influence with African governments, regional organisations and the general public”.

But he questioned whether African leaders really believed the projects involved no quid pro quo, as Chinese diplomats often claim. If so, they were mistaken, he said.

“African leaders can be excused for taking no interest in Chinese internal issues such as human rights, the treatment of Uygurs in Xinjiang, the situation in Tibet, the building of islands in the South China Sea and the status of Hong Kong,” Shinn said.

“But a surprising number of African governments are supporting China’s position on these policies. That is where the quid pro quo comes into play.”

Stephen Chan, a professor of world politics at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, said China built prestige projects internationally.

“They sit alongside the infrastructure projects – roads, railways – for which China is well known,” he said.

“But they are not as expensive. In a way, it is visibility for less outlay. It also gives exposure to Chinese construction firms. For China, it is a win-win situation.”

But critics have questioned the motives behind China’s largesse. Last year, a French newspaper Le Monde claimed Beijing was spying on the African Union (AU), saying it had installed hidden microphones in the building and was taping sensitive information.

Beijing dismissed the report’s “groundless accusations”, while the AU called them “baseless”Analysts say China’s efforts to gift imposing projects is part of its broader chequebook diplomacy programme in Africa to win the affection and allegiance of its elite.

Bradley Parks, executive director of AidData, a research lab at the College of William and Mary in the US state of Virginia, said Beijing often plied African leaders with lavish spending on projects, such as stadiums, theatres, museums and parliamentary buildings, that disproportionately benefited urban elites.

Beijing’s purpose was partly to secure African countries’ support for its policy positions such as its opposition to the South China Sea arbitration process at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and its adherence to a “one-China” policy on Taiwan, he said.

Parks was part of a team that recently published an AidData paper showing that Chinese aid was used either to buy African governments’ support for its foreign policy or as a reward for them providing it.

“Across the continent, we find that there is a strong, positive, and statistically significant relationship between Chinese aid provision and voting with China in the UN General Assembly [UNGA],” he said.

“To give you a sense of the magnitude of this effect, our statistical model indicates that a 10 per cent increase in UNGA voting similarity with China yields an 86 per cent increase in Chinese aid, on average,” he said.

As an example, he said, the model predicted that if Rwanda moved from its 67 per cent level of voting alignment with China in the UN General Assembly to Egypt’s level – 93 per cent, the maximum level of UN voting alignment with China in their Africa sample – it would see a 289 per cent increase in aid from China.

Conversely, if Egypt’s 93 per cent level of voting alignment with China in the UN General Assembly fell to Equatorial Guinea’s level (65 per cent), “our statistical model predicts that Egypt would see an 87 per cent reduction in aid from China”, Parks said.

-South China Morning Post

Politics must always be an instrument used to build rather than destroy people’s lives.I was sent this video by a fellow citizen. This has really touched me. pic.twitter.com/1vZN7BKQ0r

— nelson chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) January 8, 2020

By Lloyd Mupfudze| In his 2020 national budget statement on November 14, 2019 the Minister of finance and economic development professor Mthuli Ncube correctly states that corruption causes economic malaise, wastage of public resources, jeopardises the environment for domestic and foreign investment and reinforces political instability. Minister Ncube listed various strategies the government will take to curb corruption in Zimbabwe.

Whilst some of the strategies are key in the fight against corruption, government stand accused of taking it too long to come up with legislation to enforce chapter 9 of the constitution. Section 194 talks about the basic values and principles governing public administration. Section 198 states that, “An act of Parliament must provide measures to enforce the provisions of this chapter, including measures requiring public officers to make regular disclosures of their assets, (b) establishing codes of conduct to be observed by public officers….”

Why is it taking so long for the government to introduce the legislation given the magnitude of the problem? The government’s reluctance to come up with the legislation shows the government’s lack of political will to lead by example and to combat the endemic and grand corruption which has continued to have corrosive effects on the socio and economic rights of millions of Zimbabweans.

I have repeatedly heard from different segments of society that the government anti-corruption drive is nothing but just “a catch and release strategy”. The government cannot be said to be taking a strong stance in the fight against corruption and impunity if it is failing or neglecting the implementation of chapter 9 of the constitution.

There have been efforts to combat corruption but have been concentrated at national level by the anti-corruption commission. There is not much that have been happening at local level. Efforts to control corruption at local government level are dealt with by local government minister who have been accused of taking a partisan approach when it comes to dealing with corruption.

Declaration or disclosure of assets is now part of the constitution what is now left is for the government to enact an enabling law as provided for in the supreme law. Requiring public officials to provide lists of their assets and interests is one of the most effective means of preventing and identifying corruption. According to a 2012 publication by the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Public Office, Private Interests: Accountability through Income and Asset Disclosure, it has been noted that addressing corruption needs to be done on two simultaneous fronts: prevention and enforcement. Income and asset disclosure systems are recognised as an anti-corruption tool that can potentially support both prevention and enforcement. According to this publication, there are three main benefits of financial disclosure: detecting and preventing corrupt behaviour and conflicts of interests; building integrity in public service; and enhancing public confidence in the integrity of government.

There is need for an entity that manages the register of assets. In many parts of the world the issue of asset declaration has become key in the fight against corruption. Rwanda introduced it and have an online system every citizen can go online and see what their leaders or public officials owns. South Africa have also implemented a declaration of assets. Even in South Sudan, the world’s youngest country asset disclosure has become a focal point in the fight against corruption.

Declaration of asset and financial disclosure is a sign of commitment to transparency and accountability. It also promotes public trust in government.

Farai Dziva|Health experts in Masvingo have warned members of public against buying bread from Zanu PF initiated bakeries.

Speaking to ZimEye.com on Wednesday health experts expressed concern at the safety of the bread – for human consumption.

The health experts argue the bread has not been properly certified fit for human consumption.

“We are concerned about the safety of the bread -for human consumption.

This is a political project that is being controlled by politicians.They have not followed the proper procedure of seeking permission to operate such projects,” said one health officer.

However Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information Nick Mangwana claimed:

“Community bakeries have started producing high quality confectionery products at less than half the price charged by conventional bakers in Masvingo.

A loaf of bread in parts of rural Masvingo is selling at $8,50 compared to $18,50 in urban outlets”

Dear Gideon Chitanga

“The consequent illegitimacy facing President Mnangagwa after the rejection of his election victory by Chamisa has triggered political and economic uncertainty which has blighted his government’s efforts of reengagement with the international community and prospects of financial support from International Financial Institutions(IFIs), multilateral and bilateral aid from Western countries, which imposed sanctions on ZANU PF elites, resulting in concerning socio-economic meltdown, nudging sub-regional leaders to push for dialogue,” you said in Zimeye.

“The United Nations has already indicated that Zimbabwe is at the mercy of a disastrous man-made disaster as the country faces drought which may worsen emigration into already economically pressed neighbours, especially South Africa.”

This is just nonsense devoid of logic! 

President Mnangagwa is not illegitimate because Chamisa “rejected his election victory”. Mnagagwa is illegitimate because the July 2018 elections were flawed and illegal and therefore null and void. A null and void elections process cannot produce a legitimate result and government. What Chamisa said and did is as inconsequential as me commanding the sun to rise tomorrow – it will rise regardless. 

The Americans, the EU, the Commonwealth and many other international nations and organisations were in Zimbabwe and had first hand witness accounts of how Zanu PF had blatantly rigged the July 2018 elections. 

“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 Mission final report.

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

So you think the EU, the Americans, etc. were going to rewrite their reports just because Chamisa accept the flawed and illegal process. 

Indeed, Chamisa is the one taking advantage of the West’s condemnation of the elections to push his own selfish agenda. He claim to have the key to unlock the economy; it is just grandstanding, he has no keys to change the reality of Zimbabwe being a pariah state.  

Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent and vote rigging thugs. No investors wants to do business with these crooks! As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state, there will be no meaningful economic recovery. 

The UN is spot on, Zimbabwe’s seemingly intractable economic and political crisis is “a man-made disaster”. The root cause of the crisis is the failure to hold free, fair and democratic elections – Zanu PF is responsible for that bit. 

The second bit, is allowing Zanu PF to get away with rigged elections – MDC leaders, the ordinary Zimbabweans and, to a lesser extend, SADC leaders are responsible for this. All this talk of dialogue with Zanu PF is just another way of avoiding telling Zanu PF thugs the truth – that they rigged the elections – and holding them to account!  

The key, the only key, to end Zimbabwe’s pariah state is for everyone to acknowledge the July 2018 elections were flawed and illegal and the country has no legitimate government. We need an interim government to implement the reforms necessary for free, fair and credible elections! Nothing else will suffice!

The solution to Zimbabwe’s man-made crisis must address the elephant in the room or it is just a waste of time! Given the seriousness of the mess in Zimbabwe today; the country does not have time to waste.

SOURCE: zsdemocrats.blogspot.com

By Nomusa Garikai

By CHRA|Mabvuku residents have resorted to open defecation after Council fail to attend to sewer blockages.

“We are now using maize fields and storm water drains as toilets, as you can see my daughter was having a bath in our maize garden because toilets are no longer accessible.” Said an angry women who resides in Chizhanje Road New Mabvuku.

The worst affected houses are numbers 1,3,5,7,9 and 11 Chizhanje Road.

Residents reported the sewer chokes in October 2019 but no tangible action was taken to address the issue.

“This year we had a stinking Christmas with these sewer bursts you can’t even enjoy a meal or cooking because of the stench.” Charged a lady known as Mai Banda.

A snap survey by CHRA has established that unrepaired sewer bursts have become a common feature in Mabvuku especially at Corner Chizhanje and Chinyika, New Stands Opposite Lafarge and at the gate of ZAOGA Church opposite Tafara High school.

The constitution of Zimbabwe gives citizens the right to a clean environment but this has not been enjoyable in Harare due to poor sanitation.

Video loading below…

By Own Correspondent| An unconfirmed number of minors reportedly died amid allegations that the city of Masvingo is pumping untreated water to residents.

One Mr Wakurawarerwa made the revelations of Twitter alleging that a number of ECD children from Rujeko C and Sisk areas had died due to diarrhoea after consuming sewage contaminated water which was being pumped by the city fathers.

He said:

“I texted about ECD children who were dying and they (City of Masvingo) ignored but they knew they were pumping untreated water….Now, even councilors i talk to confirmed that Engineer Gozo must be fired…the people will demonstrate.”

By A Correspondent- A 47-year-old Chivi man allegedly sat on top of his sleeping 101-year-old grandfather and suffocated him for refusing to pray for him, police have confirmed.

David Chokureva of Mhosva Village under Headman Chipindu allegedly forced open the door to Maribha Chaka’s bedroom in the wee hours of the night. He attempted to wake the elderly man up who was fast asleep, together with his wife but he did not respond.

This angered Chokureva and he allegedly sat on top of his victim, weighing heavily on the centenarian leading to his death by suffocation.

-StateMedia

By A Correspondent- Opposition MDC President Nelson Chamisa has been honoured by a Chinese university for being the most influential person in Zimbabwe.

ZimEye interviews a student at Shanghai Lixin University who saw the placation poster

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

By A Correspondent- Former President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s advisor, Petina Gappah, who is an international lawyer and investment expert, has criticised the Zimbabwean government for proposing to amend the Constitution.

Gappah said the Constitutional Amendment Bill sets a dangerous precedent of changing a constitution before it has been implemented. Writing on Twitter, she said:

The problem of the proposed constitutional amendments is not that “ED will have greater powers than Mugabe”. This is hyperbolic propaganda.

The real problem is that it sets a dangerous precedent of changing a constitution that’s barely been implemented since it was approved.

It’s also a spectacular own goal. For 2 years, the government has done nothing about constitutional/political reforms they promised.

And yet they’ve speedily approved this. They’ve set themselves back on foreign policy aims, e.g. rejoining the Commonwealth, deepening reengagement

The Chief Justice clause is unintentionally funny in what it says about our judiciary. It is a public vote of no confidence.

It sends a clear message that no one is good enough to be Chief Justice so the current one has to have the constitution amended to allow him to stay.

This I believe is the most unfortunate aspect of the proposed changes. Our institutions urgently need strengthening to make them independent of political control.

But they are willfully making changes to weaken the judiciary. I sincerely hope these changes do not go through

Eleven Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officers were injured last night when the driver of the bus they were travelling in lost control as it descended a slope near Kuwadzana 6 and veered off the road before landing on its side.

Speaking to The Herald from the scene of the accident last night, deputy director military police Lieutenant Colonel Velancio Gotami said the bus which was on its way from Inkomo Barracks, via town to Norton, had around 30 passengers on board.

No fatalities were reported as of last night.

Lt Col Gotami said five of the injured were critical.

He said the injured were taken to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and others to Josiah Magama Tongogara Barracks (formerly KG VI).

“We were fortunate that most passengers had dropped in town and others along the way before the accident occurred. By the time the bus got here, it had about 30 passengers on board,” said Lt Col Gotami.

-State Media

By A Correspondent- A Nkomo family in Bulawayo is seeking help after its house was burnt recently leaving them with nothing.

Tragedy struck the Nkomo family recently when their house at no. 99 Cardwell Rd, Next to Southern Comfort Lodge, Matshamhlope was gutted by fire.

“Zesa and Byo Fire brigade attended to the scene. Unfortunately the fire brigade could not save the situation because water pressure in the nearest hydrant was very low,” said a source.

“The fire burnt the house, furniture, clothing, food and other household goods to ashes. The family is in a desperate situation.”

Donations in any form will go a long way to help the family.

Any assistance can be sent directly to the head of the family Mrs Thandiwe Nkomo and she can be reached on her mobile number +263 775364226.

As armed detachments of the Police Support Unit are flung into the battle to crush machete gangs, Parliament has launched an investigation to unearth the origins of the gangs, how they operate, their impact and how they can be tamed by police action and legal changes.

Machete gangs’ have wreaked havoc at gold mining sites across the country, causing deaths and injuries and threatening the entire gold mining industry, and have been moving into other violent crime in towns, cities and rural business centres.

While police deploy the muscle to crush the gangs, rounding up one major gang in Mazowe yesterday, legislators want longer-term solutions including the formalisation of the small-scale gold sectors and legal changes to bring in tougher penalties for those who operate outside the law.

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development held an emergency meeting yesterday and decided on the probe with the preliminary list of those to be summoned to give evidence and advice including the Ministers of Mines and Mining Development (Winston Chitando), Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage (Kazembe Kazembe), Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs (Ziyambi Ziyambi), Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga and Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi.

Others expected to appear before the same committee include media executives and editors, traditional chiefs, civil society organisations, the Zimbabwe Miners Federation and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission.

Yesterday, enhanced police operations scored a major success when the gang that has been occupying Jumbo Mine in Mazowe was rounded up with its explosives and equipment and the police promised more of these well-manned raids on gangs with armed detachments of the Police Support Unit deployed across Zimbabwe to back operations at provincial and district level against machete gangs.

In yesterday’s joint operation, 14 illegal miners were arrested at Jumbo Mine, with 11 machetes seized along with 423 sticks of explosives, four rows of copper wire and nine hammer mills.

The gang is believed to be one of those involved in the spate of increasingly violent criminal activities which rocked Mashonaland Central Province recently.

-State Media

By A Correspondent- Lady Storm says she almost met her Maker on New Year’s Day after she suffered a severe alcohol-induced stomach bug.

The 26-year-old, who was struggling to walk in pain, was treated at a local clinic where she appeared to have lost some kilos.

Speaking to the state media, the mother of one who made a name for herself in one of Jah Prayzah’s videos as Eriza, blamed it on excess alcohol intake during the festive season.

“I almost died on New Year’s Day after bingeing with my husband and relatives during the festive season.

“I was so excited after meeting my relatives that we partied excessively and it did not end well for me,” she said.

The Swagga Band leader, who was spotted in a wheel-chair on the day she was admitted, said she was now fit.

“The situation was bad when I was admitted, ndaichaya zvisingaite nekuti nyonó yacho yanga yandibata rough.

“When I used the wheel-chair, I wanted to jump the queue contrary to claims that I could hardly walk.

“As I said earlier on, I had a running stomach and I didn’t want to soil myself by walking since the condition was bad.

“I’m glad that I have recovered and I don’t think I will taste alcohol again.

“For the greater part of the festive season, we hopped from pub to pub and ended up at Mashwede on New Year’s Eve where I downed whisky tots and ciders along with my husband Mukanya and other relatives,” she said.

Asked what was on her mind when she was admitted, Lady Storm said:

“Obviously I was thinking of my only daughter Chloe.

“I was just praying that the Maker gives more time to live and raise my child.

“I couldn’t imagine myself leaving my daughter to be raised by other people; it was just a harrowing experience to say the least.”

When further quizzed why she was bingeing irresponsibly, Lady Storm continued:

“Festive season is just time to merry-make and for ladies like us who work hard but end up being fleeced, we needed to refresh.

“I was just partying like anyone else but from today onwards, I don’t want to see booze; I don’t know when I will take alcohol again because I have learnt a lesson.”

-StateMedia

By A Correspondent- A daring group of fifty machete-wielding gold panners (MaShurugwi) on Tuesday stormed a Gokwe North police base intending to free their arrested colleagues.

Police responded by firing live ammunition towards the group and managed to subdue and arrest the assailants after some of them were injured.

The attempted invasion of the police station came after police had arrested nine illegal gold panners on charges of robbing 80kg of gold ore from a local miner the previous day.

The 50-man gang had hired two kombis in Kadoma to take them to Zenda, almost 300km away, where their colleagues had been detained.

The attack happened before police could transfer the nine to Gokwe North’s Nembudziya Police Station.

After the gang had been subdued, the injured were ferried to Nembudziya and Gweru General hospitals where they are admitted under police guard, while their hired kombis were impounded together with a Toyota Wish used by their colleagues.

-Newsday

Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga has come under fire from his subordinates after he allegedly ordered the closure of a Zimbabwe Republic Police-run college on January 2 this year without prior notice, leaving about 140 pupils stranded.

Matanga is alleged to have initially recommended regularisation of Support Unit Independent College at Chikurubi, Harare, before he ordered its closure last week without giving prior notice to both the pupils and their parents.

The parents have since roped in Alex F and Associates Attorneys to challenge the decision in court.

The institution, which was registered with the Primary and Secondary Education ministry, but was yet to be formally regularised since its launch over a decade ago, mainly served children of junior police officers.

“The central planning committee recommended and the commissioner-general approved that the proposal for regularisation of the Support Unit Independent College be held in abeyance for want of skilled and adequate teaching staff, sufficient ablution facilities and a qualified principal,” a circular by one Assistant Commissioner RM Basera (acting director for legal services to the Commissioner-General), read.

“The Support Unit Independent College is to cease operations at the end of this current term to enable parents to find other alternatives for children enrolled thereat.”

The circular added: “Teaching and non-teaching staff members at the Support Unit Independent College to be re-deployed.”

Through their lawyers, the parents claim they were only told of the decision on January 2 when they were called for a meeting.

“The decision to close the said college was made without any consultations with the parents or advising the pupils,” part of the letter dated January 3 read.

“Practically, no notice was given to enable pupils or parents to find alternative schools, thus making the directive spurious, arbitrary, unlawful and in violation of our clients’ constitutional rights.”

The lawyers added: “For a greater reason, the decision to shut down the school was effectively made without affording them an opportunity to make any representations. This is despite the fact that, the closure of the college brings unbearable consequences to the future educational development of the children enrolled at the school, and borders on violating their constitutional right to education in that some may not even afford to change schools on such a sketchy notice.”

The lawyers said the decision to close the college was reached on December 30, 2019 and “our clients were only informed on January 2, 2020. By that time it was not possible for parents to reasonably find alternative places for their children in terms of time and financial resources”.

The college was opened more than a decade ago as an initiative of Kuyedza Club, targeting wives of police officers.

-Newsday

By A Correspondent- The initiative by the government to clear the passport backlog and revert to the Passport offices normal operations which seeks to have all citizens getting the document within stipulated times has created major corruption loopholes within the system.

A day in the life of a passport seeker at Harare’s Central Registry revealed to this reporter that getting the precious document has become even more difficult and pricey.

Many citizens have been stuck for months without accessing the document while many others in the diaspora have been left stranded after the expiration of their passports, hence, the passport office in Harare is always packed with desperate citizens.

Since government authorised the Civil Registry Department to charge US$318 for passport applicants in the Diaspora while local charges remained unchanged, it has opened blind spots in the system as most people are willing to get the important document at any cost.

Addressing members of the media in December last year, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe said:

“Citizens in the Diaspora need to have valid passports to regularise their stay in the host countries. As a way of assisting the department to attend to requirements for passports by citizens in the Diaspora, Government has therefore authorised the Civil Registry Department to charge US$318 for passports, in respect of those in the Diaspora. The applications will be prioritised on an urgent basis.”
The passport is in turn issued after 24 hours.

Following this move by the government to address the passport challenge, social media has been employed as a tool of advertising quick access methods to getting passports to Zimbabweans with no papers to support their stay in foreign countries while exploiting the system put in place by the government.

WhatsApp groups have been created and contact details of individuals who have ‘links’ and ‘connections’ to fast-track the process of getting passports have been shared and the services are rendered while the price is tagged in US Dollars ranging from US$100 to as much as US$600 plus the US$318 which is paid to the Civil Registry Department.

One lady, Nyasha (not real) was one of the beneficiaries of the ongoing scam currently taking place at the passport offices.

Nyasha (24) has no passport and no workers permit to ‘justify’ her need for her passport urgently as required as she had jumped one of the country’s borders illegally to a neighbouring country together with her husband who unlike her, has a passport. She gave birth to her son while in the foreign country and could not get him a birth certificate as she is living there illegally and she had to cross the border illegally again to return home and try to fix the situation and this time, she is accompanied by her three-year-old son whom she fears may not get identification papers as well.

She is desperate and ‘has no option.’

While she queued to get her passport after a long struggle, an elderly man probably in his sixties who later identified himself as Mazviita Chivero approached her on the bench where she was waiting to get in the cashiers’ office to pay the US$318.

Nyasha who had inked the name Mugwambi (an employee at the passport office) on her right hand received a folded small paper and verbal instructions from Chivero to the effect that she should say Taffie had referred her. Like the many other anxious applicants who had been waiting for their turn to be served since morning, we shared a packet of Maputi and began our small talk. It was at this point that Nyasha opened up that she had got assistance from the elderly guy who had said he had an inside person, in this case, a lady identified as Linda Mugwambi.

Mugwambi works from office 100 at the premises, one of the offices where applicants go through to have their papers signed to finalise the passport process.

Having had empathy for the reporter’s predicament after a sob story had been shared, Nyasha who later approached Chivero who was sitting with her husband and child, promised to arrange for a meeting but warned that US$150 was required for the deal to be processed. She approached Chivero who is generally over-cautious and was told off with instructions that the person who did the transactions was not around.

After the reporter approached the white-headed Chivero who has long since retired on grounds of old age, he denied any allegations of having assisted and or linked Nyasha to get a passport even without having a work permit to prove that she was indeed living abroad.

It became apparent that Chivero engages his clients and gets as much information about them so he can claim to be related to them when push comes to shove, in this instance, he alleged to be their uncle but the couple refuted this saying they had got his contact details from a friend on WhatsApp.
Chivero also claimed to be related to Mugwambi who he said was married to his relative before he fled from the scene.

When Mugwambi was approached for a comment, she dismissed the allegations as she went on to indicate that allegations were being raised of corruption and that she had nothing to do with it.

“You know what, today Mr Nyamande (one of her co-workers) was called to the accounts department by the transport officer from the accounts department saying twenty people had demanded their passports alleging that one Mr Makiwa was getting money for them and Makiwa had no knowledge of this. I do not know anyone named Taffie or Chivero,” she said.

“I am the one doing the emergency, super express passports together with another lady who is not in at the moment, I authorise and she records. The system is not strict as to the owner of the passport, people just come with receipts (for processing) and whatever happens outside, one would not know. I collect receipts in the morning and if there are any persons receiving money (outside of those formerly charged) I have no idea.”

Cases of many other individuals either from the passport office or elsewhere with links inside the offices demanding foreign currency for passports are rampant and have become the normal thing.

This, however, is not the only scam happening at the passport offices as, the queues drag on for days at times and many faces have become quite common and this as we discovered, is because the cashiers have to note down the serial numbers of all the money they process manually which becomes a taxing and long process.

The cashiers also come in their offices with monies which they cash in at the expense of everyone waiting in line to be served and no one seems to know who they are paying for and how much it costs to get that premium package which exonerates some citizens to the scorching heat at Makombe and the not so friendly customer service rendered.

Cashiers also do not have US$2 change and they serve those with monies that do not require changing and often than not, the desperate seekers leave behind the US$2 out of frustration and no one seems to have an idea where this money goes.

All external applicants who had already paid the initial ZWL$53 for their applications before the government announced that they can now pay US$318 are also not getting a refund for the money they had paid, and it is not deducted from the US$318 which also raises eyebrow

-StateMedia

ZACC has arrested ZDF director of procurement, Peter Muchakadzi, and two other officers on fraud allegations. Do you think justice will prevail or this is another catch and release gimmick?

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) January 9, 2020

By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Anti-corruption Commission (ZACC) has confirmed the arrest of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces director of procurement, Peter Muchakadzi, and two other officers on fraud allegations.

Muchakadzi was arrested following repeated calls for the arrest of military barons alleged to have looted foodstuffs, fuel and accessories at military barracks. ZACC spokesperson John Makamure said:

I can confirm that Zacc has arrested the ZDF director of procurement and two of his officers.

NewsDay reports that Muchakadzi was last night being held at Mabelreign Police Station and is expected to appear in court this Thursday, where the full charges will be presented.

The arrests come as reports are claiming that 30 tonnes of beef meant for Mbalabala Recruitment and Training Depot had gone missing, while a Brigadier General is alleged to have stolen a newly-acquired army bus.

-Newsday

By A Correspondent- Passport prices have shot up with immediate effect, it has emerged.

In an unconfirmed audio that is circulating on the social media, an official from the Registrar General’s office tells passport seekers gathered at the RG’s office that passports prices have shot up.

Citizens queuing for the passports however protest the announcement.

The development comes barely a month after the RG’s office revealed that the department was engaging government over the possibility of increasing passport fees.

Speaking during a tour of the Central Registry by Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe recently, Registrar-General Clemence Masango said his department was talking to government to increase fees for ordinary passports to the equivalent of US$53 on the interbank rate, which could see application fees for an ordinary passport costing $901.

“US$53 is what was approved and that is what can easily enable us to provide a service, bearing in mind that not every applicant paid US$53. We have seen people who require their passport in three days and they paid US$253 at that time; and those who want it within 24 hours US$318.

So these two will help meet us halfway and achieve a win-win with those paying US$53. So if we are to get a review, we must get a review of not less than US$53 equivalent at the prevailing bank rate,” he said.

At the prevailing bank rate of around US$1 to $17, an ordinary passport will cost $901, while a three-day passport will cost $4 301 and an emergency 24-hour passport will ask for $5 406.

According to Masango, even these fees will not allow government to recover all costs related to production of passports.

This is a developing story. More details to follow

ZANU PF leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa has not left Zimbabwe for over 6 weeks since the day his deputy Constantino Chiwenga secretly flew into Zimbabwe and was welcomed by the Chinese embassy at RGM airport.

Is Charamba telling truth when he says ED isn't trapped?

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) January 9, 2020

Emmerson Mnangagwa clearly unsettled:

• He has rushed to strip his deputy Constantino Chiwenga of powers of usurpation.
• He has rushed to dilute the Human Rights Commission.
• He feels unsettled by the opposition, MDC, the only party trusted and recognised by the economy as the legitimate winners of the 2018 polls. He fears opposition could use simple legal means, aided by the will of the masses buttressed by the will of desperate abused institutions, ligaments of government, to win a clean revolution.
• His panicking is boldly reflected through his threats to repeat a military crackdown similar to the January 2019 one.
• He has not left Zimbabwe for over 6 weeks ever since the day Chiwenga secretly flew into Zimbabwe and was welcomed by the Chinese embassy at RGM airport on the 23rd November.

Farai Dziva| ZANU PF leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesman George Charamba has said there is nothing unusual, as his boss went on annual leave in the country amid speculation there is rising tension between Mnangagwa and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.

“Where should he be for his holidays?? And how does remaining in the country – his country – amount to entrapment?,” said Charamba.

He continued by asking, “anyway, which vacation has he ever spent outside the country since?”

According to Acting Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba, Mnangagwa has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end January.

“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to advise that His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of the month.

During this period, Honourable Vice Presidents General (Rid) Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga and Colonel (Rid) Cde K.C.D. Mohadi, will take turns to act in his place, starting with Honourable Vice President Chiwenga.

The President will spend his vacation in the country,” said Charamba.

This follows a long period stretching more than a month the Zanu PF leader, has been caught on camera on several occasions, making loud visual-noises while holding his waist tight. The first time was on the day when his deputy general Constantino Chiwenga secretly flew into Zimbabwe. This was on the anniversary of his (Mnangagwa’s) coup presidency, the 23rd November after a mystery ridden 4 month medical sabbatical in China.

Mnangagwa has remained ‘trapped’ in the country. What is going on and what is he planning? This short documentary details the man’s survival plans between 2019 and 2020.

The following were some factual findings so far.

The government spokesman Nick Mangwana last month told ZimEye:  “When HE leaves the country, you complain that he travels too much, he doesn’t stay at home. He stays at home you complain that he is not leaving the country. He is damned when he does and damned when he doesn’t. But being President, he always exercises his executive judgement.”

When is ED going for his annual leave, and why has he remained 'trapped' in Zimbabwe, spending his longest ever home stay period (since Nov coup) here since VP Chiwenga returned on 23rd Nov @Jamwanda2 @nickmangwana ? When is he leaving the country in the hands of his deputies? pic.twitter.com/J7vVAR0Hoe

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) December 27, 2019

When HE leaves the country, you complain that he travels too much, he doesn't stay at home. He stays at home you complain that he is not leaving the country. He is damned when he does and damned when he doesn't. But being President, he always exercises his executive judgement

— Nick Mangwana (@nickmangwana) December 27, 2019

ANOTHER ROUND OF LIVE AMMUNITION AGAINST CIVILIANS…

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

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

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

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

From his own words, it is without guessing that the Zanu-PF leader is planning a repeat of the same operation this January.

SHUTTING OUT CHIWENGA, MDC FROM ALL OPPORTUNITIES OF TAKING OVER.

Another very clear plot by the zanu-pf leader is that of shutting out his deputy from the coup days, Constantino Chiwenga from ever taking over power. It has already been discussed he has put in place a mechanism to ensure that the opposition MDC party never gets a legal advantange to take over from him, and this by heaping the blame, legal and penal, for the killings on them.

RETWEET! – Mnangagwa in Mwenezi clearly threatened brutality against doctors and lawyers also threatening to shorten the lives of people who make noise. pic.twitter.com/fJx5dOemL5

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) September 17, 2019

When Chiwenga returned to Zimbabwe from his sabbatical, Mnangagwa’s spokeman George Charamba did not at all celebrate the miraculous return. Instead he splashed litres of ink attacking China’s deputy ambassador for conducting a welcoming ceremony for the vice president at the RGM International Airport ahead of of senior government officials. Chiwenga had secretly flown into the country, aboard a Chinese jet paid for by the Asian nation’s government. To this Charamba complained against the Chinese envoy saying, itsitsi dzei? – what kind of sympathy is that?

A Mubaiwa (Chiwenga wife) uncle has described Chiwenga’s jetting into the country as treasonous, alluding that he invaded Zim airspace without informing aviation authorities in advance.

STRIPPING CHIWENGA OF POWERS TO REPLACE HIM.

In less than 30 days of Chiwenga’s return, Mnangagwa rushed to accelerate a bill that reduces his deputy to a mere apppointee who will never be able to replace him.

This is detailed in the following legal advisory by the Law Society which has complained that there is now a breakdown of Law and Order, as Mnangagwa gathers to himself more powers than his predecessor Robert Mugabe possessed.

MAKING VP, PROSECUTOR GENERAL, AND JUDGES MNANGAGWA’S OWN APPOINTEES SERVING AT HIS (PERSONAL) PLEASURE.

FULL TEXT- On the 17th of December 2019, Cabinet at its 45th meeting approved several amendments to the Constitution. Some of the notable proposed amendments relate to the appointments of Vice Presidents, the Prosecutor General, Public Protector, promotion of judges and the terms of office of judges. The other notable proposed amendments relate to the composition of the provincial councils and the extension of the provision on the women’s quota which was scheduled to end in 2023.

The Constitution provides for its amendment. Although amendments to the Constitution are allowed these ought to be necessary for the promotion of the rule of law and protection of the principles of democracy. Our Constitution is a democratic document which came out of extensive consultations. It is a national document which should be enduring. Amendments to the Constitution must be necessary for the enhancement of enshrined rights, accountability and good governance. Amendments must not be retrogressive.

In terms of Section 92 of the Constitution a presidential candidate chooses running mates who upon election become the national Vice Presidents. The rationale for these provision was to introduce non-disruptive succession planning whilst ensuring that in the event of a Vice President taking over the office of President he would be having the people’s mandate. The effect of the proposed amendment to Section 94 means that Vice Presidents will no longer be elected but appointed by the President. This removes the transparency and democratic process sought to be achieved by Section 92 in relation to the assumption of these important offices. In addition, the Vice President’s tenure will be at the pleasure of the President. An amendment is expected to cure a problem or mischief. This is not apparent in the present case. The proposed amendments further seek to change the procedures for the appointment of the Prosecutor General. The current procedure for the appointment of the Prosecutor General is similar to that of the judges. This is a transparent way of appointing this important office, which like the judiciary ought to enjoy prosecutorial independence. The proposed amendment whereby the President appoints the Prosecutor General upon consultation with the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) is reverting to the old constitution. The current provisions promote transparency in the appointment process. This will not be achieved under the proposed amendment. It is not clear what mischief the proposed amendment seeks to address. The fact of the matter though is that the amendment is retrogressive. It emasculates a position that is pivotal to our criminal justice. The amendment will remove the Prosecutor General’s independence. The appointment system also does not guarantee meritocracy as the basis for appointment. This cannot be achieved by simply consulting the JSC. In any case in terms of section 339, such consultation may not be binding on the President.

Section 180 sets out the conditions that must be met in relation to the appointment of judges. The proposed amendment seeks to provide for the President to appoint a sitting judge to a higher court upon consultation with JSC. This approach seeks to reverse the elaborate, and transparent system currently in place. It is not clear why we should depart from the current system. The proposed changes will take us back to the pre 2013 era where judicial appointments were shrouded in a veil of secrecy.
The proposed extension of the tenure of judges albeit on a contract basis and subject to medical certification on fitness, is not desirable in a country with a vibrant legal profession. There are many legal practitioners who are fit to hold the office of judges.
The introduction of the office of the Public Protector should be based on a true desire to achieve administrative justice especially by public offices. The 2013 Constitution deliberately omitted this institution on the basis that the functions could be effectively undertaken by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission. The Ministry of Justice was recently lamenting that this commission is under resourced. Instead of properly funding the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, the Cabinet is creating another institution which will have its own resource chewing bureaucracy. On the other hand, the present Constitution already provides for the establishment of an independent complaints mechanism to deal with misconduct by members of the security sector. This has not been instituted and yet Cabinet finds it necessary to create the public protector’s office. The Executive is failing to diligently and without delay perform all constitutional obligations as provided in Section 324.

The proposal to remove MPs and Senators from provincial councils also appear ill conceived. The presence of these members was supposed to bring the nexus between national and local development. The prosed amendments will perpetuate the disconnect between the national Programmes and the local/Provincial Programmes thus creating development inertia.

The Law Society of Zimbabwe reiterates that the provisions to the Constitution ought to be guarded jealously. Any proposed amendments to the Constitution should be for the people and by the people.

The Law Society of Zimbabwe further reiterates its position that the Constitution of Zimbabwe should be jealously guarded and protected in pursuance of the supremacy of the rule of law. The proposed amendments to the Constitution in the most, are unnecessary, retrogressive and are not in the interest of transparency, good governance and respect for the rule of law. Accordingly, the LSZ categorically denounces them.

Law Society of Zimbabwe
“Committed to Justice and the Rule of Law.”

Correspondent|A daring group of fifty machete-wielding gold panners (MaShurugwi) on Tuesday stormed a Gokwe North police base intending to free their arrested colleagues.

Police responded by firing live ammunition towards the group and managed to subdue and arrest the assailants after some of them were injured.

The attempted invasion of the police station came after police had arrested nine illegal gold panners on charges of robbing 80kg of gold ore from a local miner the previous day.

The 50-man gang had hired two kombis in Kadoma to take them to Zenda, almost 300km away, where their colleagues had been detained.

The attack happened before police could transfer the nine to Gokwe North’s Nembudziya Police Station.

After the gang had been subdued, the injured were ferried to Nembudziya and Gweru General hospitals where they are admitted under police guard, while their hired kombis were impounded together with a Toyota Wish used by their colleagues.

State Media|GOVERNMENT has directed the National Railways of Zimbabwe to expeditiously flight adverts for fresh tenders for its recapitalisation project.

The directive follows the recent decision by Cabinet to revoke the US$400 million NRZ/ Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG)-Transnet Consortium recapitalisation deal.

Speaking during the parastatal’s strategic workshop in Matopos this week, Transport and Infrastructural Development Permanent Secretary Engineer Amos Marawa said it was sad to note the lack of progress on the NRZ recapitalisation project.

“I urge you to urgently finalise the matter and proceed as directed by Cabinet. As I indicated earlier, our guiding blueprint for this period is the Transitional Stabilisation Programme. It is thus critical to point out Government’s view and the need to continue addressing the challenges at NRZ,” he said.

The DIDG/Transnet Consortium was awarded the tender by the then State Procurement Board in August 2017 for the revival of NRZ’s operations.

Eng Marawa said the development of the rail sector was critical to Zimbabwe as it provided cheap transport for industry and commerce.

He said with an improved rail sector, industry and commerce are guaranteed cheap and efficient transport for goods and services.

“Recognising the interest in the sector, it is important that we consider the key policy interventions as defined in the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (October 2019 to December 2020) and the succeeding National Development Plan for the period 2021-2025,” he said.

Eng Marawa said it was Government’s view that through contributions from sectors such as the rail sector, the country would be able to attain the goals and aspirations of achieving an upper middle-income economy by 2030.

He said the past two decades had seen an increase in road traffic density as industry and commerce as well as people used road transport due to NRZ’s limited capacity to move freight and passengers.

“However, the increase in road traffic density has resulted in the deterioration of the state of the country’s road network as well as increased accidents leading to loss of lives and freight. This calls for interventions to ensure the implementation of the NRZ recapitalisation programme,” said Eng Marawa.

He said Government acknowledges the challenges NRZ is facing and was doing all within its powers to address them.

Eng Marawa said Government wanted the bulk of the goods for both commerce and industry to be moved by NRZ as opposed to road transport which was not only expensive but damaged the roads.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is topping the list of public violence perpetrators in the southern African nation closely followed by the ruling Zanu PF party, according to the latest report of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP).

In the report released Wednesday, ZPP said intimidation and harassment were the most noted human rights violations in December last year despite a sharp decrease in such cases.

“As has been the trend in the past, intimidation and harassment formed the majority of the violations at 60. The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) dominated the list of perpetrators, followed by Zanu PF. The dominance by the police reveals a state where there is use of the security apparatus to stifle dissent. This trend is a shift from the former government of the late Robert Mugabe where Zanu PF almost always dominated the list of perpetrators.

“Mashonaland and Harare provinces recorded the highest number of violations with Mashonaland Central recording 22 violations, Harare with 21 violations and Mashonaland East 19 violations. Matabeleland provinces recorded the lowest violations as usual.”

ZPP recorded a total of 119 human rights violations in the month of December. “This is a sharp decrease from the 209 recorded in November 2019. December has always recorded lower numbers of human rights violations probably because focus will be on the farming season and tending to fields.

Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi was unavailable for comment as he was not responding to calls on his mobile phone.

ZPP said, “Police brutality and harassment is disturbing as it presents a scenario where the supposed citizens’ protectors become a threat to the same citizens.”

It cited several cases of alleged police brutality, including an incident that happened on December 12, 2019, in which anti- riot police officers assaulted and apprehended vendors and members of the public in Harare central business district at Market Square.

“In the midst of street battles with vendors, police assaulted labour rights activist, Nation Mudzitirwa whom they spotted disembarking from renowned human rights lawyer, Douglas Coltart’s vehicle. Mudzitirwa sustained serious injuries on the face, back and knees. Among the victims who were apprehended were six males and seven females.

“The police also forced Mudzitirwa into their vehicle and later released him without any charge, before getting to Harare Central Police Station.”

In another case, ZPP said, on 24 December 2019, Abel Karowangoro, a Zimbabwe Media Commission-accredited journalist working for the Zimbabwe Morning Post, was arrested in Harare’s central business district.

“Karowangoro was apprehended by five anti-riot police officers while filming queues of pensioners battling to withdraw their money from banks. The police details took him to Harare Central Police Station where they interrogated and detained him before his release.

“In a related incident, Blessing Chidakwa, a journalist with the Herald and accredited with the ZMC was detained by police officers on 25 December 2019 and was forced to delete footage he had recorded of police officers smashing windscreens of commuter omnibuses. Chidakwa was manhandled by three police officers at Roadport bus terminus on Christmas Day. The officers dragged him to where their vehicle was parked and forced him to delete all the pictures he had taken. He did not resist for fear of being assaulted with baton sticks that the police were wielding. He was only released after he threatened to notify the National police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi of the incident.”

ZPP said politicians were not spared from police harassment as anti-riot police officers harassed Movement for Democratic Change Ward 43 councillor, Norman Makondo, at Budiriro 5 Shopping Centre on 29 December 2019.

“The officers who were raiding vendors harassed Makondo for confronting them at the shopping centre. They took Makondo to Budiriro police station charging him with inciting public violence, by condemning their operation. Makondo was detained and interrogated for hours before being released.”

Several other incidents of alleged police harassment were cited, including a case in which police are said to have demanded a bribe after they found MDC youth having a party in Harare.

They were accused of holding an illegal gathering.

VOA

Own Correspondent|Government has disbursed over $2 million towards the hopeless medieval ZANU PF initiated community bakeries programme.

Deputy Minister of finance revealed that the funds from government were disbursed by the Women’s Bank through the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development.

Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development Clemence Chiduwa and Zaka East legislator said the community bakeries programme empowered villagers.

He said food security was guaranteed if production was done at village level.

“The opening up of community bakeries has resulted in the creation of employment for the youths and women,” he said.

He said it was important for people to consider healthy eating habits, as the country strived to have an upper middle-income economy by 2030.

“We want to destroy the cartels and bring the prices down,” he said.

In Zaka Central, the community-led bakeries project was officially launched last week, with the local MP Cde Davison Svuure urging the youths to take the project seriously.

“The project is going to empower our youths and women and I am very sure it is going to transform our lives,” he said.

A survey last week established that more than 400 community bakeries were now operating in the province.

Women and youths from all seven wards were trained in making confectionery, petroleum jelly and shoe and floor polish.

A number of women said they were happy with the community bakeries as they can now generate income for their families.

“As women, we are very happy that income generating projects have come to our doorsteps,” said Mrs Ellen Moyo. “We sell a loaf of bread for $8,50 and buns are going for $1 for two.

“We are now able to raise money for our families and paying school fees for our children has been made easier. We are being encouraged to work hard so that we can grow our economy to achieve Vision 2030.”

Mrs Moyo said her group pocketed more than $1 200 per week.

Own Correspondent|President Emmerson Mnangagwa has finally seen it proper to consoled the Norman family following the death of the first Minister of Agriculture in independent Zimbabwe, Denis Norman.

Mr Norman died two weeks ago in Oxfordshire,United Kingdom, after a long battle with cancer.

ZimEye.com broke the news of Norman’s death last week but President Mnangagwa and the government remained silent on the issue.

He was 88.

In his condolences, Mnangagwa did not accord any national honour to the former minister, who has been described by many as a bridge between the colonial regime and the new Government of majority rule.

Norman was arguably the brains behind the country’s huge agriculture growth in the early years into independence.

In his condolence message, the President described Mr Norman as a long-time leader of the agriculture sector before independence in 1980.

“Mr Norman was among a few handful of white leaders who offered to serve under a black majority Government at independence, thus validating our policy of national reconciliation following 15 years of our armed struggle against white settler colonialism.

“This was a bold gesture which ended racial polarisation and laid a lasting basis for racial amity and peace in the country. Leaders like Norman, David Smith, Chris Anderson and Dr Timothy Stamps all late will be remembered in our country’s history for playing a salutary role in the formative years of our Nation,” he said.

As Minister of Government, the President said Mr Norman worked hard towards a unified, non-racial agricultural sector where farmers related to each other and collaborated on grounds of their calling and not along the racial divide of colonial times.

“On behalf of the Nation of Zimbabwe which he loyally served, its Government of which he was part for so long and on my own behalf, I wish to express my heartfelt condolences to the Norman family on their saddest loss. May they derive comfort from the deep respect and regard which our nation continues to give him. May his soul rest in eternal peace,” he said.

It was through his efforts that the Grain Marketing Board, Cotton Marketing Board (now Cotton Company of Zimbabwe) and Dairy Marketing Board (now Dairibord Zimbabwe Limited) among other entities were formed to benefit farmers after independence.

Mr Norman was part of the initiation of the Beira Corridor Development and also served as Minister of Transport.

Source: State Media

State Media|Eleven Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officers were injured last night when the driver of the bus they were travelling in lost control as it descended a slope near Kuwadzana 6 and veered off the road before landing on its side.

The bus which was on its way from Inkomo Barracks, via town to Norton, had around 30 passengers on board.

No fatalities were reported as of last night.

Five of the injured were critical.

“We were fortunate that most passengers had dropped in town and others along the way before the accident occurred. By the time the bus got here, it had about 30 passengers on board,” said Lt Col Gotami.

Eleven Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officers were injured last night when the driver of the bus they were travelling in lost control as it descended a slope near Kuwadzana 6 and veered off the road before landing on its side.

Speaking to The Herald from the scene of the accident last night, deputy director military police Lieutenant Colonel Velancio Gotami said the bus which was on its way from Inkomo Barracks, via town to Norton, had around 30 passengers on board.

No fatalities were reported as of last night.
Lt Col Gotami said five of the injured were critical.

He said the injured were taken to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and others to Josiah Magama Tongogara Barracks (formerly KG VI).

“We were fortunate that most passengers had dropped in town and others along the way before the accident occurred. By the time the bus got here, it had about 30 passengers on board,” said Lt Col Gotami.State media

As armed detachments of the Police Support Unit are flung into the battle to crush machete gangs, Parliament has launched an investigation to unearth the origins of the gangs, how they operate, their impact and how they can be tamed by police action and legal changes.

Machete gangs’ have wreaked havoc at gold mining sites across the country, causing deaths and injuries and threatening the entire gold mining industry, and have been moving into other violent crime in towns, cities and rural business centres.

While police deploy the muscle to crush the gangs, rounding up one major gang in Mazowe yesterday, legislators want longer-term solutions including the formalisation of the small-scale gold sectors and legal changes to bring in tougher penalties for those who operate outside the law.

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development held an emergency meeting yesterday and decided on the probe with the preliminary list of those to be summoned to give evidence and advice including the Ministers of Mines and Mining Development (Winston Chitando), Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage (Kazembe Kazembe), Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs (Ziyambi Ziyambi), Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga and Prosecutor-General Kumbirai Hodzi.

Others expected to appear before the same committee include media executives and editors, traditional chiefs, civil society organisations, the Zimbabwe Miners Federation and the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission.

Yesterday, enhanced police operations scored a major success when the gang that has been occupying Jumbo Mine in Mazowe was rounded up with its explosives and equipment and the police promised more of these well-manned raids on gangs with armed detachments of the Police Support Unit deployed across Zimbabwe to back operations at provincial and district level against machete gangs.

In yesterday’s joint operation, 14 illegal miners were arrested at Jumbo Mine, with 11 machetes seized along with 423 sticks of explosives, four rows of copper wire and nine hammer mills.State media

Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa will spend his annual in the country amid speculation there is rising tension between him and his deputy Constantino Chiwenga.

According to Acting Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba, Mnangagwa has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end January.

“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to advise that His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of the month.

During this period, Honourable Vice Presidents General (Rid) Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga and Colonel (Rid) Cde K.C.D. Mohadi, will take turns to act in his place, starting with Honourable Vice President Chiwenga.

The President will spend his vacation in the country,” said Charamba.

Politics must always be an instrument used to build rather than destroy people’s lives.I was sent this video by a fellow citizen. This has really touched me. pic.twitter.com/1vZN7BKQ0r

— nelson chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) January 8, 2020

There was jubilation in Chivi North as they turned the First Lady's visit into a Muroora Welcome Party pic.twitter.com/Xx5yrn2nmS

— Nick Mangwana (@nickmangwana) January 8, 2020

By A Correspondent- The president has expressed his sadness over the passing on of Zimbabwe’s first Agricultural Minister Denis Norman.

In his condolence statement, the President described Norman as a unifier and said:

A long time leader of the agriculture sector before our independence in 1980, Mr Norman was among a handful of white leaders who offered to serve under a black-majority government at independence, thus validating our policy of national reconciliation following 15 years of our armed struggle against white settler colonialism

This was a bold gesture which ended racial polarisation and laid a lasting basis for racial amity and peace in the country

As a Minister in government, Mr Norman worked hard towards a unified, non racial agricultural sector where farmers related to each other and collaborated on grounds of their calling, and not along the racial divide of colonial times

Denis succumbed to cancer on 20 December 2019. He was the first agricultural minister and was later moved to the transport ministry where he was part of the Beira Corridor initiative.

-StateMedia

There was jubilation in Chivi North as they turned the First Lady's visit into a Muroora Welcome Party pic.twitter.com/Xx5yrn2nmS

— Nick Mangwana (@nickmangwana) January 8, 2020

By A Correspondent- The ruling party’s youth league has issued a stern warning to a cleric who warned the govt about an impending revolt if they don’t work towards solving the socio-economic crisis.

The warning was issued by the Zanu Pf youth league’s Pupurai Togarepi who said:

As the vanguard of the party, we would like to draw a line in the sand and warn naysayers and misguided prophets of doom to stop forthwith inciting the people of Zimbabwe, otherwise they will face the full wrath of the people’s party

Togarepi was responding to ZCC Clesir Bishop Mtata who was quoted to have said the government by not listening to the cries of masses was creating an inevitable condition for a revolution. 

-DailyNews

By A Correspondent- The government is reportedly trying to avoid a mega strike by inviting civil servants for a further dialogue.

This was revealed by Apex Council’s Gibson Mashangu who reportedly said Civil Servants have temporarily shelved their plans to organise a strike till they hear what the govt has to offer:

We understand government has called for a meeting to deliberate on Cost of Living Adjustment on Friday. We are going to attend and hear what they are offering.

If there is nothing of substance, then our position that we are incapacitated has not changed and … is going to be exemplified by the failure of schools to open next week because teachers left their stations for the holidays and … cannot come back now.

Civil Servants have said the government is not being truthful in negotiating with them hance they are planning a mega strike in the near future. 

-DailyNews

By A Correspondent- Seven million Zimbabweans residing in both rural and urban areas have reportedly registered for food aid.

The state media reports that a third of the vulnerable population, which is 2.2 million people, resides in the urban areas.

Public Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister, Lovemore Matuke on Wednesday said that the government, together with its partners had started assisting the vulnerable people.

Matuke said:

We have started extending food aid and cash assistance to some of them, but we are yet to cover all the affected people.

Zimbabwe is facing severe starvation due to El Nino induced drought, Tropical Cyclone Idai which destroyed crops which were weeks away from harvest and the deteriorating economic situation.

-StateMedia

This is happening when the Public Accounts Committee is alleging that more than US$3 billion meant for Command Agriculture was abused by the scheme runners, Sakunda Holdings which is owned by Kuda Tagwirei.

-StateMedia

By A Correspondent- The National Consumer Rights Association (Nacora) has bemoaned the uncertainty among parents amid indications that many schools will increase fees by at least 1 000% despite a government directive to cap increments by 20%.

Several schools in Matabeleland met parents last month and proposed fees and levy hikes with most private boarding schools demanding between $3 000 and $16 000 per term.

Nacora advocacy and campaign manager Effie Ncube said the skyrocketing cost of education will further marginalise children with disadvantaged backgrounds and render education a preserve of a rich few.

“The misgovernance of the country is now costing children their future. In the past year, we saw many children dropping out of school due to deepening poverty and rising cost of living,” Ncube said.

He said a research by Nacora indicated that many children will not enrol for school this year due to astronomical fees and high cost of uniforms and learning aides.

“We, therefore, call upon government to place its priorities to ensure that no child is left behind. Otherwise literacy will go down exponentially over the coming years,” Ncube said.

“Also, we call upon the government to ensure full secondary education enrolment and that no child drops out due to poverty. The same applies to tertiary education.”

-Newsday

By A Correspondent- Masvingo province in the last 5 months lost a total of 13 000 cattle due to the drought that was experienced in 2019, it has emerged.

This was revealed by Masvingo Acting Agritex Provincial Officer, Mr Aron Muchazivepi who spoke to the state media and said:

We have had too much of a dry spell, there is no grazing land anymore and so cattle are dying. Some of the deaths are forced slaughters after farmers realize that there is no alternative.

Matabeleland also lost over 21000 beasts due to the drought and over 115 elephants died in Hwange due to the drought that left half the country in need of food aid.

By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) has urged government to deal with the numerous reports of partisan food aid distribution and ensure that every deserving citizen does not go hungry as the country faces one of its worst droughts in decades.

In its December 2019 Monthly Monitoring Report just released, ZPP, a local organisation that aims at building peace and promoting peaceful conflict resolution, documents several cases where people were denied food aid on political affiliation basis.

“Discrimination in the distribution of food and other aid remained problematic in the month of December 2019 with a 22.7% contribution to the total recorded violations. The violations also affected citizens’ other rights and freedoms such as the freedom of association,” reads part of the report.

“Communities have been receiving food aid and agricultural inputs as the rainy season has started. Unfortunately, the aid has been manipulated in many cases for political mileage and as a retribution tool. Supporters and perceived supporters of the MDC continued to be targeted with this form of discrimination as they were being punished for their political affiliation.”

One of the cases recorded by ZPP implicates a Zanu PF official in ward 14, Gokwe Gumunyu.

“Villagers gathered at Nyamhara Business Centre to receive rice which had been disbursed by the government and was meant for every villager. The Zanu PF chairperson in the area, Joe Madzana informed the villagers that all the aid which is delivered in the area passes through Zanu PF structures as the ruling party and that those not in Zanu PF structures would never receive aid from the government.

He then proceeded to force the villagers to sing Zanu PF songs and chant the party’s slogans. He dared those who had been aggrieved to report anywhere they wanted as nothing would happen to him,” reports ZPP.

In its report, ZPP point out that legislators were among the perpetrators of politicisation of aid.

“On 29 December 2019 where close to 500 villagers from Mudzi North convened at Nyamuyaruka Business Centre to receive drought relief rice from the government.

The rice was distributed in a partisan manner by a Zanu PF Mudzi North ward chairperson Gilbert Makazhu with the guidance of Mudzi North Legislator.

Three MDC supporters were denied the rice and the legislator told villagers that MDC supporters would never benefit from government aid and inputs since their legislators do not recognize President Mnangagwa as the constitutionally elected President of the Republic of Zimbabwe in Parliament.”


ZPP urged lawmakers ‘to act in a manner that unifies communities as they represent every member of their constituency in Parliament.’

-Newsday

Politics must always be an instrument used to build rather than destroy people’s lives.I was sent this video by a fellow citizen. This has really touched me. pic.twitter.com/1vZN7BKQ0r

— nelson chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) January 8, 2020

M E M O R A N D U M

SUBJECT : SHOOTING INCIDENT WHICH OCCURRED AT GOODHOPE CLAIM BROMPTON MINE, BATTLEFIELDS

This memorandum serves to put on record circumstances surrounding the above captioned matter.

Date and Time : 07/01/2020 at around 2100 hours

Place : Goodhope Claim, Brompton Mine, Kadoma

Reference : ZRP Battlefields RRB 4129553

CIRUMSTANCES.

On the 7th day of January 2020 and at about 1200 hours, three Excop security guards namely Lyton Takunda Marozva, Constantine Makore and Onward Zinzombe of Kadoma were deployed to mann Good Hope claim, Brompton mine, Battlefields.

They were armed with a shot gun serial number A56360E, A32441E and a Revolver serial number 4448 with 05 rounds, respectively

On the same date at around 1900 hours, taking advantage of the darkness, illegal gold miners started gathering around the perimeter fence of the gold rush site but they were denied entry by the security guards.

At around 2100 hours on the same date, the now deceased Kudakwashe Hoko accompanied by the above five accused arrived at the site aboard a grey Toyota Raum Motor vehicle with Registration number AEV 3680 which was being driven by accused number 1 who is the owner of the vehicle. They were all dressed in civilian attire.

The accused disembarked from their vehicle and forcibly entered the fenced gold rush site.

They were challenged to stop by the security guards but they continued advancing being led by the now deceased who was armed with an axe.

The security guards fired three warning shots but the accused were not deterred which forced one of the security guards to shoot the now deceased once on the right side of the chest at a close range and he died on the spot.

The other accused persons tried to disarm Lyton Takunda Marozva and in the process accused 1 was shot once on the left knee.

The security guards managed to take charge of the situation and arrested all the accused persons.

The security guards advised the informant who in turn notified ZRP Battlefields about the matter.

INVESTIGATIONS CARRIED OUT
ZRP Battlefields, PRG, Kadoma CID Kadoma Canine and Officer Commanding Police Kadoma District attended the scene and made the following observations.

The deceased was lying with his face facing downwards dressed in a grey T-Shirt and a blue worksuit trousers.

The body was inspected and had pellet gun wounds on the right side of the chest.

The accused’s vehicle a Toyota Raum was seen parked at the gold rush site, was searched and 02 pairs of Zimbabwe National Army Camouflage Uniform were recovered. The vehicle was impounded and was taken to ZRP Kadoma Central.

A small axe, Colombian knife and 04 Emulates explosives were recovered.

The shot gun serial number A32441E which was used to shoot the now deceased was taken as an exhibit.

The deceased was conveyed to Kadoma General Hospital mortuary awaiting post-mortem.

The injured accused was referred to Kadoma General Hospital where he is admitted under police guard and his condition is stable.

Preliminary investigations have established that the now deceased and accused number 2 are members of the Zimbabwe National Army based at Zimbabwe National Army HQ, Harare and ZNA Kutanga Range, Kwekwe respectively whilst accused 1 is a General hand at Josiah Tungamirai Airforce Base, Gweru.

The accused person are being charged with contravening section 132(1)(a) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9.23, ‘Criminal Trespass,’

By A Correspondent- A 26 year old Binga man has been slapped with an effective 16-year jail term for raping his ex-wife.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the complainant, was yesterday convicted on three counts of rape when he appeared before Hwange regional magistrate Collet Ncube.

The court heard that the 23-year-old victim had been customarily married to the man before their marriage broke down.

On July 26 last year, the woman, who stays in Siabuwa, Binga, was coming from a local clinic in the company of a friend when they met the convict who asked her to accompany him to his home, but she refused. The man forcibly dragged her to his home, tearing her clothes in the process.

The court heard that when they got home, he raped her three times before she escaped and filed a police report.

-Newsday

Lloyd Msipa sacked pic.twitter.com/24MJxk1qzP

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) January 8, 2020

By A Correspondent- An artisanal miner in Umguza district who allegedly sodomised a 14-year-old boy in a bushy area has been released by the High Court on $200 bail.

Levison Mwale (24) is facing aggravated indecent assault charges.

He allegedly sexually attacked the complainant while he was on his way home from Springs Farm in Umguza district.

Mwale, through his lawyers Mathonsi Ncube Law Chambers, applied for bail pending trial at the Bulawayo High Court citing the State as a respondent.

Justice Evangelista Kabasa granted Mwale bail and ordered him to continue residing at his given address until the matter is finalised.

She also ordered him to report once a fortnight at Springs Police Station as part of the bail conditions.

In his bail statement, Mwale is denying the charges, arguing that he was nowhere near the scene of the alleged crime on that particular day.

He further argued that there were no compelling reasons warranting his continued detention.

Mwale also disputed the assertion by investigating officers that if released on bail, he would abscond or likely to interfere with State witnesses.

“The applicant does not own a valid passport neither has he been out of the country in his entire life. There is no reason to believe he would abscond if released on bail. It therefore follows that the applicant is a suitable candidate for bail,” argued Mwale’s lawyers.

The State, which was represented by Mr Kudakwashe Jaravaza did not oppose the bail application.

According to court papers, on October 31 last year, Mwale went to the complainant’s home where he wanted to collect his change after buying a t-shirt from the boy’s mother.

Before he left the complainant’s home, Mwale advised the boy’s mother to consider taking her clothes which she was selling to Springs Farm mine, saying there was a ready market.

On November 2, the complainant was sent by his mother to sell the clothes at Springs Farm Mine where he was spotted by Mwale.

Soon after selling the clothes, the complainant left the mine and went back home. Mwale followed the boy and upon reaching a secluded area, he allegedly pounced on the boy.

He grabbed the complainant’s hand and dragged him to a nearby bush where he forcibly removed his pair of trousers and underwear.

Mwale allegedly forced the boy to lie down before he had unprotected anal sex with him.

Soon after committing the offence, Mwale fled from the scene.

The boy proceeded home where he narrated his ordeal to his mother. A report was made to the police leading to Mwale’s arrest

-StateMedia

By A Correspondent- A Kenyan pastor killed himself after murdering his wife over their leadership positions in the church.

Pastor Elijah Misiko of the Ground for God’s Gospel Ministry in Mombasa, Kenya stabbed his wife with a knife twice during a Sunday service.

Misiko then used the same knife to slit his throat, dying immediately. His wife Ann Mughoi, succumbed to her injuries a while late in a hospital.

Kisauni Sub County Police Commander Julius Kiragu explained in a video that Misiko was frustrated with his wife and place in the church.

Said Kiragu:

The fact of the matter is the wife was a senior pastor in that church. That’s why she was pushing away the husband.

Before the murder-suicide, Misiko wrote a 17-page suicide note explaining that he killed his wife over church relations.

Reports indicate that Elijah and Ann had been separated at the time over leadership and church ownership disagreements.

The now-deceased couple started Ground for God’s Gospel Ministry together, with Anne being a senior pastor while Elijah was an assistant pastor, but they had been arguing over church ownership since 2017.

-CHVn Radio

By A Correspondent- Acting Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba announced that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of January.

In Mnangagwa’s absence Vice Presidents, Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi will take turns to act in his capacity.

Charamba said in a press statement:

“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to advise that His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, has started his annual vacation which runs for the next three weeks until the end of the month.

“During this period, Honourable Vice Presidents General (Rtd) Dr C.G.D.N. Chiwenga and Colonel (Rtd) Cde K.C.D. Mohadi, will take turns to act in his place, starting with Honourable Vice President Chiwenga.

“The President will spend his vacation in the country.”

By A Correspondent- As tensions rise in the Middle East following the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, more than 3,000 US troops are preparing to deploy to the region — leaving behind thousands of family members and loved ones.

The city of Fayetteville, North Carolina, is home to many of these families — it’s close to the Fort Bragg military installation, which houses more than 53,000 troops.

One woman told CNN her husband was already deployed for training. He had been due to train in Africa, then go to the Mediterranean to be stationed in European countries — but they found out today that he’s being rerouted to the Middle East.

Thousands of people are mourning Qasem Soleimani in the Iran capital of Tehran — but they are also visibly angry.

Many in the crowd have been there for hours, since before sunrise, grieving for one of the country’s top military leaders. These past few days, there have also been furious anti-US protests, both in Iran and the Iraq capital of Baghdad.

“They want what they call hard revenge,” said CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen, who is in Tehran. “I don’t know if you can hear the chants coming from behind me — a lot of them say, ‘Down with the USA,’ also ‘Death to the USA.’”

“As they keep pointing out, he’s one of the people that fought against ISIS. They believe that he was someone that made this country safer. Of course, the international reputation that he has is very different, but for these folks here he is no less than a hero,” Pleitgen added.

By Herbert Gomba| It has come to me that a video is circulating of the municipal police confiscating and disposing vendor’s wares in a manner not consistent to our human beliefs and the need to treat others humanly ….I have taken note and will ensure the Town clerk addresses these concerns immediately ,because it’s not part of our culture, it’s barbaric and of the past

I also ask our vending community to respect our by laws whenever they are doing business

May the lord bless all of us in this new year @

2020

#Residents first

Heal Zimbabwe is gravely concerned by the escalation of cases of violence involving machete killings by artisan miners across the country. During the festive season, there were reports of one police officer who was hacked to death by the machete-wielding gangs at Good Hope Mine in Battlefields. On Christmas eve, a gold buyer suffered the same fate in Mvuma. Reports on machete violence shows that at least 105 people have been hacked to death in machete gang violence between August and October 2019 yet the violence continues escalating.

The ongoing killings come against a backdrop where there has not been adequate response by law enforcement agents. Heal Zimbabwe expresses concern that although the police have only issued warnings against machete killings and conduct investigations, machete gang killings and embarrassments remain rampant across the country. Heal Zimbabwe continues to receive widespread cases of machete gangs terrorizing villagers in areas such as Mazowe, Glendale, Chegutu, Kwekwe and Kadoma. To date, machete gangs continue to pose a serious threat to the prevalence of peace and social cohesion life in local communities. More worrying is that there are reports that there are some gangs that remain untouchable even by law enforcement agents due to their link to political elites. The culture of violence being perpetrated by the machete-wielding gangs is inimical to the promotion of social cohesion, peace, healing and reconciliation.

Heal Zimbabwe applauds the government for having formalized the operation of small-scale miners when it branded them artisanal miners. However, such a process was not followed up by robust conflict prevention and rehabilitation mechanisms to heal them of the violent culture that is associated with the sector. Quite worrying is that the conduct of artisanal miners lack cohesion, accountability, consistency and character modification, which form the nucleus of mining ethical codes of conduct, which include issues of safety etc.

In light of the above, Heal Zimbabwe implores the government to take punitive measures to ensure that sanity prevails in the extractive industry. This includes apprehending all artisan miners implicated in the killings and ensuring that the measures to quell violence in mining communities are put in place. Some of these mechanisms involve a multi-stakeholder engagement  between government, and other    responsible authorities where miners are  trained and educated  on policies and regulations that they must adhere to.