By A Correspondent- The family of Zimbabwe’s founding President, the late Robert Mugabe, has failed to locate an inheritance will for the distribution of the national hero’s estate, a development that has prompted the Master of High Court to call for an edict meeting this week to appoint an executor.
Mugabe died in Singapore on September 6 this year after battling prostate cancer for at least 13 years.
His daughter, Mrs Bona Nyepudzai Mutsahuni-Chikore, notified the Master’s Office on October 21 and disclosed that her father had US$10 million in a CBZ Bank nostro account and a number of immovable and movable properties.
The properties declared by Mrs Mutsahuni-Chikore are:
House Number 129 Forbes Road, Waterfalls
Villa Number 65, Gunhill
Number 27 Quorn Avenue, Mt Pleasant
Lot GB Helensvale and
Lot 1 of subdivision B of Sub G of Helensvale
Highfield Farm
Zvimba rural farming plot (about 5 acres)
Zvimba rural home (one hectare)
Zvimba orchard (about five acres)
10 cars
Mrs Grace Mugabe was listed as the sole surviving spouse while Bona, Robert, Bellarmine and Russel Goreraza were listed as Mugabe’s surviving children.
The Mugabe family lawyer Mr Terrence Hussein of Hussein Ranchod & Company wrote to the Master of High Court Mr Eldard Mutasa asking him to register the death of Mugabe.
Mr Hussein indicated that no will had been found and messages had already been sent to other law firms in town to establish if the late former President had not left a will.
“Kindly register the estate. Thus far, we have not been able to locate a will, but have sent out enquiries to other law firms, although the family members are not aware of any.
“In this regard, perhaps the estate may be treated as intestate for now,” reads the letter.
To that end, the Master’s Office has invited the Mugabe family members and their lawyers to an edict meeting on Thursday to discuss the appointment of an executor.
Legal experts said the initial inventory by the informant at the registration of the estate can be amended at any stage in the event that the informant would have either deliberately or mistakenly left out some assets relevant to the estate.
Mr Wellington Pasipanodya of Manase & Manase Legal Practitioners said deliberately leaving out some assets in the inventory was criminal.
“If the assets are left out intentionally, that is fraud and it is imperative upon any of the beneficiaries to bring that information to the attention of the Master.
“The fraudster will be liable for criminal prosecution. Further, in terms of Section 13 of the Administration of Estates Act, the culprit will forfeit all benefits arising from the omitted assets,” said Mr Pasipanodya.
Another expert, Mr Caleb Mucheche of Caleb Mucheche & Partners Law Chambers, explained the procedure that is followed when handling an estate that does not have a will.
“The Master of High Court convenes an edict meeting for the relatives of the deceased to appoint an executor.
“If they fail to agree on an executor of their own, the Master will choose a neutral professional executor from a list kept at his office,” he said.
Mr Mucheche said siblings of the deceased or any other members of the extended family have no legal right to claim a share of the estate in the absence of a will including them as beneficiaries.
“An estate of a person who dies without a will is distributed to beneficiaries made up of his or her children and surviving spouse, under a monogamous civil marriage or surviving spouses if he was in a polygamous marriage under customary law.
“Brothers or sisters are not legally entitled to inherit if a person dies without a valid written will,” said Mr Mucheche.
He added: “Brothers and sisters can only inherit under a third tier if a person dies without a wife or children (primary beneficiaries) and his or her father or mother (secondary beneficiaries) are also late.
By A Correspondent- Form Ones are being asked to fork out between $10 000 and $12 000 at some boarding schools.
A parent whose child is starting Form One at St Dominic’s Chishawasha said the fees had been set at $12 200.
“Of that amount, $8 400 is for boarding and tuition fees, a deposit of $3 000 and $800 for the School Development Committee levy.
“For uniforms, we will pay US$300,” the parent said.
Other boarding schools like Sandringham have pegged fees for Form One at $11 896 inclusive of uniforms.
“Apart from the fees we will also have to buy stationery groceries and other necessities which are also very expensive, meaning one needs over $15 000 for the coming term,” said a parent whose child will attend Sandringham.
Rusununguko High School in Bromley has set its fees at $9 660 while Murehwa Mission and Msengezi are charging $3 500 and $2 500 respectively. The Murehwa Mission and Msengezi fees do not include uniforms.
A parent looking for a Form One place at Waddilove Mission said the school did not divulge the fees structure when they inquired.
“I called to inquire on the fees structure and the authorities declined to discuss the matter over the phone but invited me to the school for a meeting next week when the issue will be discussed,” said the parent.
Apart from the rising fees, parents are also facing challenges in securing places for Form One pupils with some resorting to paying bribes to corrupt school officials to secure places.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Cain Mathema told The Herald yesterday that Government was yet to approve any new fees structure for next year.
“As a ministry we have not decided on any proposals for next year’s fees adjustments,” said Minister Mathema.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Mr Patrick Zumbo, said the regulations were clear on how schools could increase their fees and levies.
“Schools know the recommended procedures very well in adjusting levies. They convene meetings with parents and submit the outcome of what they agreed with parents to the ministry for approval. We haven’t received any proposal from schools concerning fees adjustment for next year,” said Mr Zumbo.
Since the beginning of the year, schools have been raising their fees arguing that the prevailing economic environment required constant reviews to ensure they were adequately resourced in terms of supplies, furniture and food.
Government has advised schools to be reasonable when increasing their fees and levies, taking into consideration that parents were also facing challenges.
Parents with children looking for Form One boarding places are forced to pay the fees demanded because they will be desperate to secure places for their children.
Most boarding schools have not held meetings to discuss and vote for fees for the first term in 2020 but are just sending parents invoices with the new figures.
Parents prefer boarding schools because their children have more time to study without the hassles of catching transport or walking to and from school as well as helping with household chores at home.
Some private high schools have, however, held School Development Committee meetings and agreed to set fees for first term 2020.
One such school is the Dominican Convent High School in Bulawayo which is charging $12 500 for Forms One up to Four and $15 000 for Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth. The school said the fees should be paid by December 31 2019 in view of the inflationary pressures in the economy.
Parents were required to pay the first instalment of $3 600 by November 29 2019 and the balance of $8 900 by December 31.
“Should you find that you will be unable to continue with us, please let us know by 6 December 2019 so that we offer those who are on the waiting list. Failure to pay the initial $3 600 by the stated date will be taken to mean that you have declined the offer,” school head Sister Rose Rushwaya wrote in a letter to parents.
By A Correspondent- Bakers have hiked the price of bread for the seventh time this year by 2,7 percent from $14,75 to $18,45 for a standard loaf.
The new prices are applicable to Baker’s Inn and Lobels bread only, while prices for Proton bread have remained unchanged.
National Bakers Association of Zimbabwe (NBAZ) chairperson Mr Dennis Wala could not be drawn into commenting, saying he was in a meeting for the better part of the day.
The Confederation of Retailers Association of Zimbabwe chief executive Mr Denford Mutashu said the continuous increase in bread prices was worrying. He called on Government to intervene to come up with a solution to contain the increases.
“As Retailers Association, we are really concerned about the continued rise of bread price in the wake of production constraints and constrained foreign currency supply,” said Mr Mutashu.
“It is very disheartening that bread prices are continuously going up. I think what needs to be done is for government to intervene, they need to sit down with bakers, millers and importers of wheat in order to find ways to contain these bread price increases.”
Mr Mutashu said there was need for a universal approach to ensure that both consumers and bakers were sustained.
“There is need for a holistic approach because we cannot just say that bakers should reduce bread prices, yet they are incurring costs that need to be covered,” he said.
Mr Mutashu said mealie-meal prices should now come down following President Mnangagwa’s directive that the subsidy of maize should be restored.
President Mnangagwa said basic goods should be cheap so that everyone could afford them.
“I want to say this here, the issue of mealie-meal affects a lot of people and we cannot remove the subsidy,” he said.
“So, I am restoring it so that the price of mealie-meal is also reduced.
“We have a cheap food policy that we are creating to ensure that basic foods are affordable.”
By A Correspondent- Kwekwe MP Masango “Blackman” Matambanadzo was airlifted to China on a medical emergency due to suspected food poisoning.
Matambanadzo once grabbed the headlines following a rally he conducted whilst perched on the shoulders of his bodyguard/bouncer.
The former Zanu PF member is also the only legislator to have won an election under the National Patriotic Front (NPF) , a G40 political project.
There has been speculation late over the whereabouts of “Blackman” (the name he earned due to his dark complexion).
Mr Matambanadzo’s secretary Ms Angela Nyathi confirmed her boss flew to China to seek medication attention following suspected food poisoning.
“The MP is not here, he is out of the country where he is seeking treatment, you can get more details from his secretary at the constituency offices,” said a relative at the legislator’s Amaveni house, who declined to be named.
He has not been well of late following what doctors suspected to be food poisoning,” she said.
“The condition deteriorated recently and he flew to China to seek specialist attention.”
She said Mr Matambanadzo was still admitted at a hospital in China, but was in a stable condition.
“He is still in hospital, but we continue to pray for his recovery,” she said.
By Wilbert Mukori- “If you see a frog hoping in the midday heat, you can be certain something is amiss!” so goes the adage.
Zimbabwe’s economic situation is getting worse and worse. Unemployment still 90% plus; 3/4 of the population now living on US$40 per month or less; inflation is set to reach the 1000% mark soon, if it has not done so already; doctors on their 92 day on strike and all public hospitals closed; etc. The economic meltdown has the politicians hopping in the midday heat; they know the situation is socially, politically and morally unsustainable!
“President Mnangagwa today met members of the Inter-Denominational Council of Churches at State House to discuss various issues affecting the country,” reported the Herald.
“The churches were led by the patron of the organisation Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi of the Zion Christian Church.
“They stressed that any political dialogue in the country should be premised on the acknowledgement of President Mnangagwa as the elected Head of State and Government.”
The tragedy is the church leaders are telling Mnangagwa what he wants to hear, the same regurgitated nonsense, that will do nothing to get the nation out of the economic mess we are in.
Zimbabwe is in this economic mess because the country has been stuck with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF regime for the last 39 years. The nation has failed to remove Zanu PF from office all these years because the party rigged elections.
Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous tyrants. The country’s economy has been in trouble for donkeys years because it is notoriously difficult to do business in a pariah state. As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state, there will never ever be any meaningful economic recovery. NEVER EVER!
By blatantly rigging last year’s elections, failing to stamp out corruption, etc. Mnangagwa confirm that Zimbabwe is still a pariah state. International election observers like the EU, the Americans, the Commonwealth, etc. all know the elections were rigged and stated the same in their reports. Zimbabwe’s corrupt and incompetent opposition gave the elections some credibility by participating in the flawed elections knowing fully well Zanu PF was rigging the elections.
Even with all the evidence of the elections lacked “transparency, traceability and verifiability”, as EU Observer Team stated in their report; the opposition idiots still endorse the elections as free, fair and credible. Chamisa is cherry picking; he endorsed the parliamentary results but would not do the same with presidential result. He wants to be declared the winner even though, like ZEC, he too has failed to verify where he got his figures.
But even if Mutendi and his friends can get Chamisa to endorse Mnangagwa as the winner, this will not change the reality on the ground. Zimbabwe will still be a pariah state ruled by corrupt, incompetent, vote rigging and murderous thugs; Mnangagwa himself wrote that in stone by blatantly rigging last year’s elections.
Burying our heads in the sand and pretending Zimbabwe is a healthy and functional democracy, we have done this for the last 39 years, has not change the reality. Zimbabwe has remained a pariah state and will remain a pariah state until we finally cure ourselves of this curse of rigged elections.
Nehemiah Mutendi and his friends must tell Mnangagwa the truth because the truth will set him and the nation free.
The truth is last year’s elections were flawed and illegal, Zanu PF blatantly rigged the elections, and the regime (not just Mnangagwa) is illegitimate. Zanu PF be step down to allow the nation to implement the necessary democratic reforms to guarantee free, fair and credible elections.
Only by holding free, fair and credible elections will this nation finally cure itself of the curse of rigged elections and pariah state label!
If Nehemiah Mutendi and his friends cannot stand the political heat of speaking truth to power then they must get out of the kitchen!
By A Correspondent- Namibian media have announced that the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) has upheld its decision to beef up security to its highest level until further notice.
This it says has been necessitated by serious threats that continue to be made following the announcement of the official election results.
Commenting on the matter one Charl Coetee said:
“Is this not a police matter? Why are the army used against their own people. Are we now the enemy. Is this now like Zimbabwe were many citizens were killed by the government? Is SWAPO’s new struggle now against the people of Namibia. Now they are showing their true colour like North Korea and Zimbabwe.”
By A Correspondent- Main opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has failed God by not accepting the 2018 presidential election results and the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) ruling, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.
Mnangagwa lampooned Chamisa for refusing to accept the 2018 presidential results, saying God was a God of order and, therefore, the refusal by the MDC and its leadership to accept the results, which were reaffirmed by the ConCourt, was a clear act of defiance against God.
The Zanu PF leader, whose victory in the July 30, 2018 poll has been disputed by the MDC, was addressing leaders of local Christian denominations at State House, at a meeting meant to find a home-grown solution to the country’s deteriorating political and economic crises.
“For structures to work, those of us who put them should respect them, especially when they pass a ruling. I am now going to politics: We had our elections, after those elections, you don’t tell yourself that you have won. Other people are the ones who name the winner.
If you enter a race … and you run the race and you get to the finish line, you don’t go there and say it’s me who won, there are other people who announce the winner … these are the institutions that regulate how people live in the country. Now when you can’t listen to the institutions, you will have disobeyed God, because he is a God of order,” Mnangagwa said.
Chamisa has refused to recognise Mnangagwa’s presidency, with his party legislators also walking out on the Zanu PF leader each time he enters Parliament Building.
The youthful opposition leader claims his victory was stolen by Mnangagwa in connivance with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) and the ConCourt.
The MDC has insisted that Mnangagwa’s illegitimacy was behind the country’s political and economic mess, saying only genuine dialogue between Chamisa and the Zanu PF leader would unlock the current political logjam.
KWEKWE Central Member of Parliament Mr Masango “Blackman” Matambanadzo has been flown to China on a medical emergency due to suspected food poisoning.
A popular figure in Kwekwe, Mr Matambanadzo is the only MP to have won national elections on the National Patriotic Front (NPF) ticket after he beat both the ruling Zanu-PF party and opposition MDC candidates in the 2018 harmonised elections.
There has been speculation of late within and around Kwekwe over the whereabouts of “Blackman” (the name he earned due to his extremely dark complexion).
Mr Matambanadzo is a former artisanal miner and self-trained street photographer, and is often seen on the streets meeting and chatting with his former peers in those trades.
The Herald news crew yesterday visited Mr Matambanadzo’s house in Amaveni and later his constituency office in the same suburb to inquire on his whereabouts.
“The MP is not here, he is out of the country where he is seeking treatment, you can get more details from his secretary at the constituency offices,” said a relative at the legislator’s Amaveni house, who declined to be named.
Mr Matambanadzo’s secretary Ms Angela Nyathi confirmed her boss flew to China to seek medication attention following suspected food poisoning.
“He has not been well of late following what doctors suspected to be food poisoning,” she said.
“The condition deteriorated recently and he flew to China to seek specialist attention.”
Ms Nyathi said Mr Matambanadzo was still admitted at a hospital in China, but was in a stable condition.
“He is still in hospital, but we continue to pray for his recovery,” she said.
“We know the people in his constituency are very worried and their prayers everyday are very important, he is a man of the people and everyone is wishing him a quick recovery.”
Own Correspondent|A young music fan is in trouble for striking a police officer with a beer bottle during a music gala organised by Makomo resources company in Hwange.
The police officer was on duty during a music gala as Makomo Resources was celebrating its 9th anniversary.
Simisani Shoko (19) is appearing before Hwange court for assaulting Rangarirai Rusere (38) of Victoria Falls Canine Station.
On October 5, Rusere was duty controlling crowds at Hwange Colliery Stadium during the gala when Shoko who was part of the crowd picked an empty beer bottle and struck him above the right eye injuring him in the process.
Grace Mugabe with late former President Robert Mugabe
Grace Mugabe who is set to be appointed by the Master’s Office as executor to late former President Robert Mugabe’s Estate has included her own son from her previous marriage in the list of children to benefit from the late statesman’s estate.
Mrs Mugabe was listed as the sole surviving spouse while Bona, Robert Junior and Bellarmine Chatunga, Mugabe’s known children and Russel Goreraza her son from outside Mugabe’s marriage were listed as Mugabe’s surviving children.
THE family failed to locate an inheritance will for the distribution of the national hero’s estate, a development that has prompted the Master of High Court to call for an edict meeting this week to appoint an executor.
Mugabe died in Singapore on September 6 this year after battling prostate cancer for at least 13 years.
His daughter, Mrs Bona Nyepudzai Mutsahuni-Chikore, notified the Master’s Office on October 21 and disclosed that her father had US$10 million in a CBZ Bank nostro account and a number of immovable and movable properties.
The properties declared by Mrs Mutsahuni-Chikore are:
l House Number 129 Forbes
Road, Waterfalls
l Villa Number 65, Gunhill
l Number 27 Quorn Avenue,
Mt Pleasant
l Lot GB Helensvale and
Lot 1 of subdivision B of
Sub G of Helensvale
l Highfield Farm
l Zvimba rural farming plot
(about 5 acres)
l Zvimba rural home (one hectare)
l Zvimba orchard (about five
acres)
l 10 cars
To that end, the Master’s Office has invited the Mugabe family members and their lawyers to an edict meeting on Thursday to discuss the appointment of an executor.
Legal expert, Mr Caleb Mucheche of Caleb Mucheche & Partners Law Chambers, explained the procedure that is followed when handling an estate that does not have a will.
“The Master of High Court convenes an edict meeting for the relatives of the deceased to appoint an executor.
“If they fail to agree on an executor of their own, the Master will choose a neutral professional executor from a list kept at his office,” he said.
Mr Mucheche said siblings of the deceased or any other members of the extended family have no legal right to claim a share of the estate in the absence of a will including them as beneficiaries.
“An estate of a person who dies without a will is distributed to beneficiaries made up of his or her children and surviving spouse, under a monogamous civil marriage or surviving spouses if he was in a polygamous marriage under customary law.
“Brothers or sisters are not legally entitled to inherit if a person dies without a valid written will,” said Mr Mucheche.
He added: “Brothers and sisters can only inherit under a third tier if a person dies without a wife or children (primary beneficiaries) and his or her father or mother (secondary beneficiaries) are also late.”a
Correspondent|ROYAL EXPERT has rubbished an allegation that Queen Elizabeth II has died, saying that the British monarch is still alive.
Charlie Proctor, the editor-in-chief of the news website Royal Central, described claims circulating on social media about the Queen’s demise as “vicious rumours”.
The news began to circulate after a screenshot from a Whatsapp messaging group went viral over the weekend.
In it, an individual nicknamed ‘Gibbo’ forwarded a message – purportedly from a royal guards’ group – which claimed that the 93-year-old died from a heart attack on Sunday morning and that her death would be announced at 9.30am on Monday.
But in a post on Royal Central, Proctor dismissed the rumour as a hoax and said the Queen is “alive and well”.
“Vicious rumours claiming that The Queen died on Sunday morning are being shared on social media,” he said.
“In this latest ‘fake news’ pandemic, an anonymous account claimed that the 93-year-old monarch died on Sunday morning, with a media blackout being in place until Monday morning.
“In actual fact, Her Majesty is enjoying a good night of sleep in anticipation of her next big engagement on Tuesday where she will host President Trump and other world leaders at Buckingham Palace for a NATO reception.”
The hoax saw tens of thousands of humorous tweets sent overnight, with ‘The Queen’ and ‘Gibbo’ both trending on Twitter for a time.
According to a 2017 piece in The Guardian, which describes what will happen in the event of the Queen’s death, plans have been in place for such an event since the 1960s.
An organising committee is said to meet up to three times a year to plan for the Queen’s funeral and a period of mourning as part of a plan known as ‘London Bridge’.
Prime minister Boris Johnson would be informed first, before news was sent to the other 15 governments where the Queen is the head of state, as well as those of the 36 countries in the Commonwealth.
However, the public would likely find out through a newsflash to the Press Association and the world’s other media organisations – and not through a social media rumour.
Part of the Victoria Falls in the ongoing dry season.
Own Correspondent|Tour operators in Zimbabwe have started the promotion hashtag Victoria Falls Is Not Dry to counter recent press reports claiming the falls have dried up.
The Zimbabwe side of the falls never fully dry up, even during the height of the dry season, but fears are rising that climate change could wreak havoc on this huge tourist attraction.
Several Zimbabwean tour operators have visited the Victoria Falls and posed for pictures at one of the viewing points.
Other photos they posted to Facebook show water definitely flowing over the falls.
In a statement released over the weekend, one of the operators, Africa Conservation Travel, said recent media reports weren’t presenting a full picture.
It said the level of the Zambezi has not yet dropped below that of the 1995 drought, and that water levels in the Zambezi have in fact risen in the past week.
The falls stretch over a 1.7 km-long expanse of rock spanning Zimbabwe and Zambia and part of the water curtain dries up each dry season.
ZANU PF will soon be going bank to its old days habit of firing members suspected to be members of the indispensable G40 faction.
The party chairman for Mashonaland West Ziyambi Ziyambi has warned the G40 members who are allegedly conducting overnight meetings trying to destabilise the ruling party that they will be dismissed from the party.
The members are allegedly being funded by their exiled leaders such as Saviour Kasukuwere, Jonathan Moyo, Patrick Zhuwao, Mandiitawepi Chimene, among others.
The G40 cabal was a faction within Zanu-PF that had coalesced around former First Lady Grace Mugabe in an attempt to use her proximity to the late former President Robert Mugabe to grab power.
Ziyambi warned the G40 remnants that they should either toe the party line or risk being expelled from the party.
“Going forward we will detail everything that these people are doing and recommend that they be expelled.
“While our desire is to ensure that we maintain our support base and recruit more we can’t allow forces that will destroy the party to persist,” said Ziyambi.
In addition, he said time shall come when the party will name and shame them.
“At this juncture we can’t name them. We want to give everyone a chance to repent,” he said.
He urged members to be loyal to the party and its leadership.
COAL MINERS Hwange now have one leg in Division One after losing 3-2 to Triangle United in a rearranged Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match played at Gibbo Stadium on Sunday.
A brace by Collins Dhuwa and a strike by Soccer Star of the Year finalist Ralph Kawondera enabled Triangle to bag maximum points, while Hwange scored through Alton Ndlovu and Nomore Chinyerere.
The defeat left the coal miners, who fired coach Nation Dube in the build-up to the weekend game, needing divine intervention to survive the PSL axe, as they remain stuck second from bottom on the 18-team table with 33 points from 32 games, with two games left before the season ends.
With Mushowani Stars already relegated, Hwange are likely to become the second team to be axed after the next round of games should they lose to survival fighters TelOne in their next game.
Hwange can only end the season with 39 points, and for them to survive the chop, they have to pray that Yadah, who are on 35 points, Harare City on 37 and Bulawayo Chiefs, who are tied on 38 points with Herentals, lose their next two games while they win against TelOne and ZPC Kariba on the last day of the season.
After the elimination of Mushowani, chances of Hwange joining them in the unfashionable Division One league now look high.
Yadah, Harare City, Bulawayo Chiefs, Herentals, TelOne and Chapungu are also fighting relegation.
Chapungu and TelOne need at least five points in their last two games to survive. Chapungu will play their last two games against Manica Diamonds and Highlanders, while TelOne can seal the fate of Hwange in Gweru before travelling to Chicken Inn for their final match of the season.
Harare City, who occupy the last relegation spot, are on 37 points and should they win their last two games, they will take their points’ tally to 43. Harare City were relegated from the Premiership in 2017 only to bounce back at the beginning of 2018 following the collapse of How Mine FC. They’re now left with tricky games against Dynamos and Ngezi Platinum Stars.
Third from the bottom Yadah will hope to extend their dramatic survival battle by claiming the scalps of Triangle and Mushowani, while Herentals’ road to safety involves clearing the inconsistent Chicken Inn hurdle and the decider against Bulawayo Chiefs on the final day.
Chiefs, bubbling with confidence after stunning Chicken Inn 3-1 in their previous encounter, are targeting Highlanders as their next victims. Victory over Bosso, who Chiefs hope will still be “drunk” from the Chibuku Super Cup success, will enhance their survival chances.
State Media|The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) says it will take measures to counter the threat of high and potentially inflationary money supply growth from the 2020 growth-oriented budget by maintaining a stranglehold on reserve money control.
Reserve money is also called central bank money, base money, high-powered money, and sometimes narrow money; essentially it is total money in circulation and with the central bank.
The RBZ indicated that it was targeting money supply growth of 10 percent by the end of this year, but noted money supply growth had already vaulted 80 percent in the eight months to October this year.
The planned measures come against the backdrop of a highly inflationary environment with monthly inflation rate quickening from 17,72 percent in September to 38,75 percent in October 2019, but projected to slow down in November 2019.
Through austerity measures, Government instituted drastic public expenditure rationalisation, including desisting from using the RBZ overdraft window and Treasury Bills to fund significant budget deficits.
For 2019, the Government expects that the austerity measures (fiscal consolidation and revenue enhancements interventions) will allow Treasury to contain public expenditures within the target of 4 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In 2020, Government expects to spend $63,6 billion budget, which is where the expansionary fears emanate, and budget deficit to come down to about 1,5 percent of GDP. Zimbabwe has projected expenditure of $26 billion by end of 2019.
But the central bank thinks, after a year of chastening austerity measures that saw inflation bolting out from a lowly 5,39 percent in September last year to 175,6 percent by June 2019, that the 2020 growth oriented budget may fester conditions for higher inflation.
RBZ governor Dr John Mangudya said, after the central bank’s third consecutive meeting of the monetary policy committee meeting on Friday last week, that the MPC had noted the potential expansionary impact of the 2020 National Budget.
“The committee met and deliberated on a number of issues including the potential monetary implications of the 2020 National Budget and the liquidity situation in the economy.
“The committee noted that the 2020 National Budget has a potential expansionary impact on money supply, which limits the scope for tightening of monetary policy as required under the Bank’s disinflation programme.
“In this regard, the Committee directed the Bank to re-calibrate the reserve money targeting framework,” Dr Mangudya said.
The committee noted that the monthly inflation for November 2019 is projected to decline further and therefore resolved to maintain the overnight policy rate at the current level of 35 percent from 70 percent.
Players in the financial services sector, however, said the reduction of the overnight rates does not mean the bank interest rates were also supposed to follow suit.
Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube’s target to see monthly inflation at 10 percent by December appears a bit ambitious given that the monthly rate will need to drop by more than 20 percent.
Previous efforts to manage money supply growth have entailed sterilising free funds from Treasury Bills maturities to suppress reserve money, which saw idle funds being invested in Government bonds.
The central bank also increased the policy rate; following the introduction of local currency in June, first from 15 to 50 percent, then 70 percent; before the rate was cut down to 35 percent last month.
By using of this monetary policy instrument the RBZ sought to discourage speculative borrowing, which has the effect of increasing inflationary pressures; already under pressure from rising exchange rate.
The committee noted the positive developments following the recent introduction of additional bank notes into the system, which in particular has culminated in significant decline in cash premiums.
The committee also welcomed the progress made towards the re-introduction and refinement of the Reuters System for foreign exchange trading following extensive stakeholder consultation and looks forward to its imminent operationalisation.
NewsDay|THE ruling Zanu PF party is one of City of Harare’s biggest debtors and owes the MDC-dominated local authority more than $1,2 million in unpaid rates, NewsDay has learnt.
Other debtors who owe the local authority huge amounts are the Walter Magaya-led Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries Church, which is yet to pay close to $400 million, the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport ($101 250 000), the National Social Security Authority (NSSA), Norton Town Council, Chitungwiza Urban Council and the National Railways of Zimbabwe — whose total debt adds up to more than $2 million.
A debtors’ list seen by NewsDay shows that Zanu PF’s holding company M&S Syndicate (Pvt) Limited, owed the local authority $1 189 768,30 in unpaid water bills at the 15-storey building located in the capital.
Zanu PF national secretary for administration Obert Mpofu said just like any other utility, the party was bound to have debts and urged council to “remind the party” of its obligations.
“They should approach the party. Like any other utility, we have to meet our obligations, but if we are not reminded about that, it is difficult to do anything. We are just users of their services like any other utility and if they want to be paid, they should approach us,” he said.
Ironically, Zanu PF has been at the forefront of accusing the local authority of failing to provide services that include potable water, quality roads and refuse collection, among others.
Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga recently castigated the MDC-dominated council of failure, saying it had done nothing for the people since coming into office.
His comments last week drew the ire of the MDC, who accused the Vice-President of being out of touch with reality.
Among the 500 debtors is Chitungwiza Town Council, which owes the local authority $414 292 856,77, with Norton Town Council coming third, owing the local authority close to $4 million. Government entities which include NSSA and NRZ and Telecel are also owing the city millions of dollars.
Other firms that owe the local authority include Zupco, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, Crest Breeders, Irvine’s Day-Old Chicks, Simon Muzenda Housing Co-operative and Caps (Pvt) Ltd.
The District Development Fund is also part of the debtors, together with the Forestry Commission, Amalgamated Motor Corporation, TN Harlequin Luxaire t/a TN Bank Mall Nelson Mandela.
Harare is owed more than $1 billion by business, government and residents and has been battling to deliver services in the city due to the ballooning debt.
Ahead of the 2013 harmonised elections and as part Zanu PF’s political campaign strategy, the then President, the late Robert Mugabe, instructed then Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo to write off millions of dollars in debt owed to local authorities.
The move was widely viewed as populist and crippled the country’s local authorities, which have since failed to recover from that heavy knock.
Own Correspondent|Former ZANU PF strongman now Independent Norton member of Parliament Temba Mliswa has claimed that he founded the G40 project together with exiled former Ministers Patrick Zhuwao and Saviour Kasukuwere.
He says Professor Jonathan Moyo hijacked the project.
Read the full statement below:
The Generational Consensus Founders: Hon_Kasukuwere Patrick Zhuwao T. Kasukuwere and myself
Place: Mt. Darwin Vision: Generational Consensus – to empower young people through indigenisation in order to capacitate them for political strength & avoid compromise
Kasukuwere was to lead, Patrick Zhuwao was to be the Secretary and myself the Political Commissair. We planned to motivate youth in the structures to be leaders when the time was constitutionally and procedurally right.
Unfortunately however this didn’t come to pass and instead of supporting politicians Kasukuwere gave benefit to non politicians and as such didn’t receive the political clout & support as intended.
A generational shift was long overdue in ZANUPF with the baton having already skipped some generations. Prof Moyo saw the potential in this strategy and proceeded to hijack the project at which point I left as I felt he was not of the envisioned generation bracket.
As we stand, ZANUPF faces the danger of skipping a generation as Lewis Matutu and co come of age. The party must accommodate generational consensus. A phenomenal wave of youth are coming through. I’ve spoken about election demographics before, & any Party unable to accommodate the youth are doomed to fail.
Capturing First Family Power isn’t adequate. Being in exile doesn’t improve chances and is this a bid in or outside ZANUPF? Oh well, at least the bid is bound to raise welcome financial relief whilst outside. The time was there then; it’s gone now.
By A Correspondent- A Gweru based trio has been sentenced to three years in prison for defrauding a local land developing firm of six thousand United States dollars.
Gweru magistrate, Mr Edwin Machera sent Emmanuel Matondoro aged 41, Brighton Ndlovu (30) and Thabiso Mpofu (28) to prison for three years while suspending one year on condition they restitute River Valley Properties six thousand United States dollars before the 26th of this month.
The State led by prosecutor, Mr Bernard Nyoni proved that the trio sold a residential stand in Woodlands Park 2 in Gweru to Mr Lazarus Vhengere in May last year without authority from the company after lying to the buyer that they owned the piece of land.
The matter came to light in August this year when the company discovered that there was a structure built on the stand without authority.
A report was made to the police and investigations revealed that Mr Vhengere had a forged copy of a Memorandum of Agreement of Sale and had fake receipts.
Further investigations revealed that Matondoro originated a manual card and purchase offer form on which he forged Mr Vhengere’s signature, purporting that he paid for the stand in monthly instalments of $75 and $100 while in actual fact he had made a once off payment of six thousand US dollars for the stand.
The court also heard that the trio have other pending cases of fraud after people approached the land developer following their arrest and discovered they had been duped using the same modus operandi.
Paul Nyathi|The price of bread has shot up just when President Emmerson Mnangagwa is busy making a commitment to affordable basic commodities pricing through his infamous Cheap Food Policy.
Bakers hiked the price of bread for the seventh time this year by 2,7 percent from $14,75 to $18,45 for a standard loaf.
Introducing his policy recently, President Mnangagwa said basic goods should be cheap so that everyone could afford them.
“I want to say this here, the issue of mealie-meal affects a lot of people and we cannot remove the subsidy,” he said.
“So, I am restoring it so that the price of mealie-meal is also reduced.
“We have a cheap food policy that we are creating to ensure that basic foods are affordable.”
Own Correspondent|Namibia media have announced that the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) has upheld its decision to beef up security to its highest level until further notice.
This it says is necessitated by serious threats that continue to be made following the announcement of the official election results.
Commenting on the matter one Charl Coetee said, “Is this not a police matter? Why are the army used against their own people. Are we now the enemy. Is this now like Zimbabwe were mane citizens will killed by the government? Is SWAPO’s new struggle now against the people of Namibia. Now they are showing their true colour like North Korea and Zimbabwe.” Watch the video below:
State Media|Form Ones are being asked to fork out between $10 000 and $12 000 at some boarding schools.
A parent whose child is starting Form One at St Dominic’s Chishawasha said the fees had been set at $12 200.
“Of that amount, $8 400 is for boarding and tuition fees, a deposit of $3 000 and $800 for the School Development Committee levy.
“For uniforms, we will pay US$300,” the parent said.
Other boarding schools like Sandringham have pegged fees for Form One at $11 896 inclusive of uniforms.
“Apart from the fees we will also have to buy stationery groceries and other necessities which are also very expensive, meaning one needs over $15 000 for the coming term,” said a parent whose child will attend Sandringham.
Rusununguko High School in Bromley has set its fees at $9 660 while Murehwa Mission and Msengezi are charging $3 500 and $2 500 respectively. The Murehwa Mission and Msengezi fees do not include uniforms.
A parent looking for a Form One place at Waddilove Mission said the school did not divulge the fees structure when they inquired.
“I called to inquire on the fees structure and the authorities declined to discuss the matter over the phone but invited me to the school for a meeting next week when the issue will be discussed,” said the parent.
Apart from the rising fees, parents are also facing challenges in securing places for Form One pupils with some resorting to paying bribes to corrupt school officials to secure places.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Cain Mathema told The Herald yesterday that Government was yet to approve any new fees structure for next year.
“As a ministry we have not decided on any proposals for next year’s fees adjustments,” said Minister Mathema.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Mr Patrick Zumbo, said the regulations were clear on how schools could increase their fees and levies.
“Schools know the recommended procedures very well in adjusting levies. They convene meetings with parents and submit the outcome of what they agreed with parents to the ministry for approval. We haven’t received any proposal from schools concerning fees adjustment for next year,” said Mr Zumbo.
Since the beginning of the year, schools have been raising their fees arguing that the prevailing economic environment required constant reviews to ensure they were adequately resourced in terms of supplies, furniture and food.
Government has advised schools to be reasonable when increasing their fees and levies, taking into consideration that parents were also facing challenges.
Parents with children looking for Form One boarding places are forced to pay the fees demanded because they will be desperate to secure places for their children.
Most boarding schools have not held meetings to discuss and vote for fees for the first term in 2020 but are just sending parents invoices with the new figures.
Parents prefer boarding schools because their children have more time to study without the hassles of catching transport or walking to and from school as well as helping with household chores at home.
Some private high schools have, however, held School Development Committee meetings and agreed to set fees for first term 2020.
One such school is the Dominican Convent High School in Bulawayo which is charging $12 500 for Forms One up to Four and $15 000 for Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth. The school said the fees should be paid by December 31 2019 in view of the inflationary pressures in the economy.
Parents were required to pay the first instalment of $3 600 by November 29 2019 and the balance of $8 900 by December 31.
“Should you find that you will be unable to continue with us, please let us know by 6 December 2019 so that we offer those who are on the waiting list. Failure to pay the initial $3 600 by the stated date will be taken to mean that you have declined the offer,” school head Sister Rose Rushwaya wrote in a letter to parents.
State Media|THE family of Zimbabwe’s founding President, the late Robert Mugabe, has failed to locate an inheritance will for the distribution of the national hero’s estate, a development that has prompted the Master of High Court to call for an edict meeting this week to appoint an executor.
Mugabe died in Singapore on September 6 this year after battling prostate cancer for at least 13 years.
His daughter, Mrs Bona Nyepudzai Mutsahuni-Chikore, notified the Master’s Office on October 21 and disclosed that her father had US$10 million in a CBZ Bank nostro account and a number of immovable and movable properties.
The properties declared by Mrs Mutsahuni-Chikore are:
l House Number 129 Forbes Road, Waterfalls
l Villa Number 65, Gunhill
l Number 27 Quorn Avenue, Mt Pleasant
l Lot GB Helensvale and
Lot 1 of subdivision B of
Sub G of Helensvale
l Highfield Farm
l Zvimba rural farming plot (about 5 acres)
l Zvimba rural home (one hectare)
l Zvimba orchard (about five acres)
l 10 cars
Mrs Grace Mugabe was listed as the sole surviving spouse while Bona, Robert, Bellarmine and Russel Goreraza were listed as Cde Mugabe’s surviving children.
The Mugabe family lawyer Mr Terrence Hussein of Hussein Ranchod & Company wrote to the Master of High Court Mr Eldard Mutasa asking him to register the death of Mugabe.
Mr Hussein indicated that no will had been found and messages had already been sent to other law firms in town to establish if the late former President had not left a will.
“Kindly register the estate. Thus far, we have not been able to locate a will, but have sent out enquiries to other law firms, although the family members are not aware of any.
“In this regard, perhaps the estate may be treated as intestate for now,” reads the letter.
To that end, the Master’s Office has invited the Mugabe family members and their lawyers to an edict meeting on Thursday to discuss the appointment of an executor.
Legal experts said the initial inventory by the informant at the registration of the estate can be amended at any stage in the event that the informant would have either deliberately or mistakenly left out some assets relevant to the estate.
Mr Wellington Pasipanodya of Manase & Manase Legal Practitioners said deliberately leaving out some assets in the inventory was criminal.
“If the assets are left out intentionally, that is fraud and it is imperative upon any of the beneficiaries to bring that information to the attention of the Master.
“The fraudster will be liable for criminal prosecution. Further, in terms of Section 13 of the Administration of Estates Act, the culprit will forfeit all benefits arising from the omitted assets,” said Mr Pasipanodya.
Another expert, Mr Caleb Mucheche of Caleb Mucheche & Partners Law Chambers, explained the procedure that is followed when handling an estate that does not have a will.
“The Master of High Court convenes an edict meeting for the relatives of the deceased to appoint an executor.
“If they fail to agree on an executor of their own, the Master will choose a neutral professional executor from a list kept at his office,” he said.
Mr Mucheche said siblings of the deceased or any other members of the extended family have no legal right to claim a share of the estate in the absence of a will including them as beneficiaries.
“An estate of a person who dies without a will is distributed to beneficiaries made up of his or her children and surviving spouse, under a monogamous civil marriage or surviving spouses if he was in a polygamous marriage under customary law.
“Brothers or sisters are not legally entitled to inherit if a person dies without a valid written will,” said Mr Mucheche.
He added: “Brothers and sisters can only inherit under a third tier if a person dies without a wife or children (primary beneficiaries) and his or her father or mother (secondary beneficiaries) are also late.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s reported suggestion that prisoners should be made to do hard labour is both unconstitutional and populist, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday.
Ramaphosa is reported to have told mourners at the funeral of Precious Ramabulana that “government would work to change the justice system to ensure that people convicted of crimes against women and children remain behind bars for life and under the harshest conditions.”
He was quoted as adding: “They should not be in jail and enjoy life there, they should be subjected to hard labour – the harshest of labour,” and to have called for the state having “active record” of all offenders found guilty of crimes against women and children.
Ramabulana was found in her residence near the Capricorn TVET college in Limpopo last week after being stabbed 52 times
DA justice spokeswoman Glynnis Breytenbach said the president’s remarks were cause for concern and of a similar nature to those by Justice Minister Ronald Lamola last week. He suggested that Cabinet should discuss a return of the death penalty.
“These types of statements are unfortunate, emotional and coming from the president of a Constitutional democracy, frankly deeply disappointing. It is cheap talk, speaking to placate the general population, but which can never be delivered. The tragedy which befell Precious Ramabulana happens all too often in South Africa, and now, on an almost weekly basis.”
Breytenbach said fighting gender-based violence required a multi-faceted approach.
“This will, unfortunately, require a much more comprehensive approach than the frankly unconstitutional suggestions offered by President Ramaphosa. It will also require a lot of hard work and commitment, and the political will to address the problem,” Breytenbach said.
She said the prison system was so compromised that there was no hope of rehabilitation in jail.
“Increasing sentences and then throwing away the key is no solution to what is largely a societal and socio-economic problem. To suggest that hard labour or the death sentence will solve the problem is to bury one’s head in the sand, and the president will have to do so much better if we are to begin to solve the problem of GBV (gender-based violence).”
She said government would have to spend money on solving the problem, including recapacitating the entire criminal justice system.
Businessman Alfred Zulu and his partner Danny Mwale going to prison after court sentenced them to 15 years for being gay.
BBC|The US ambassador to Zambia has said he has been threatened over his comments on the sentencing of a gay couple, deepening a diplomatic row.
Daniel Foote said he was “horrified” by the jailing of Japhet Chataba and Steven Samba.
A judge quashed an appeal against their conviction last week, sentencing them both to 15 years in prison.
Same-sex relationships are outlawed in Zambia, where British colonial-era laws on homosexuality still apply.
Mr Foote implored the Zambian government to review the case and its homosexuality laws, but has since faced a backlash for doing so.
On Monday Zambian President Edgar Lungu rebuked the ambassador, saying his government will complain to the Trump administration.
The president’s outrage was echoed by Zambian Foreign Minister Joseph Malanji, who said Mr Foote’s remarks were “tantamount to questioning the Zambian constitution”.
Mr Foote, US ambassador to the southern African country since December 2017, responded to the furore in a press statement on Monday.
The career diplomat said he had cancelled scheduled appearances at World Aids Day events on Tuesday “because of threats made against me” on social media.
“I was shocked at the venom and hate directed at me and my country, largely in the name of ‘Christian’ values, by a small minority of Zambians,” Mr Foote said.
He denied accusations that his comments amounted to interference in Zambia’s judiciary and constitutional affairs.
“It is up to Zambian citizens and the courts to decide if your laws correspond to your constitution, but your constitution itself provides every person the right to freedom and expression of conscience and belief,” he said.
“I expressed my belief about a law and a harsh sentencing I don’t agree with. I didn’t interfere in internal affairs.”
In turn, Mr Foote accused President Lungu of interfering in judicial affairs through statements “rejecting homosexual rights”.
In an interview with Sky News, Mr Lungu mounted a combative defence of Zambia’s homosexuality laws.
“Even animals don’t do it, so why should we be forced to do it?… because we want to be seen to be smart, civilised and advanced and so on,” he said.
Own Correspondent|Daughter to the late great musician, national hero, Oliver Mtukudzi has declared she has had enough of scoreless footballer Tinashe Nengomasha.
Samantha Mtukudzi has filed for divorce from football the legendary footballer who she accuses of failing intimacy for over two years.
Samantha, says in her court papers that they have been living apart for over two years after their relationship broke down.
“The plaintiff (Samantha) avers that the marriage relationship between the parties has so irretrievably broken down that there are no prospects of restoration of a normal marriage relationship, more particularly in that the parties have lost all love and affection for each other and the parties have not lived together as a husband and wife for a continuous period exceeding 24 months,” her lawyers said.
The couple had two children together aged 12 and 14. Samantha said she wants custody of the two minors.
She is also asking the High Court to order their houses in South Africa and Zimbabwe sold, with the money being shared equally.
“It would be fair and equitable, in the event that this Honourable Court grants a decree of divorce, that the immovable property between the parties be sold and the proceeds be divided with each party being awarded 50 percent of the net proceeds. Either party would be free to buy the other out,” her lawyers pleaded.
Divorce … Samantha Mtukudzi says she has been living apart from Nengomasha for 2 years
Samantha is, however, asking a court to allow her to hang on to the furniture.
“It would be fair and equitable in the event of this Honourable Court granting a decree of divorce that an order be made that the plaintiff be awarded furniture which furnishes the Zimbabwe Hillside house and the plaintiff be awarded the furniture which furnished the South African house,” read the summons.
Nengomasha is yet to respond.
This is Nengomasha’s second divorce after the footballer hurriedly divorced his first wife Farai Victoria Mlotshwa in 2011 shortly before marrying Samantha.
Samantha was banished from their family home by Oliver Mtukudzi for getting pregnant to Nengomasha out of wedlock.
THE Zanu-PF 18th Annual People’s conference to be held at Goromonzi High School, Mashonaland East next week is expected to address bread and butter issues in line with Vision 2030.
The party’s national chairperson Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said the main thrust of discussions at the conference will centre on the state of the economy, with mining being a pivotal industry in this regard and food security as it relates to the modernisation and mechanisation of agriculture.
The conference will be held from the 10th-15th of December under the theme “Modernise, Mechanise and Grow the Economy towards Vision 2030”.
More than 7 000 delegates are expected to grace the annual indaba with 2 000 foreign delegates confirming their participation.
Speaking soon after assessing progress at the conference venue, Muchinguri-Kashiri said preparations for the annual conference are almost complete.
“We are very happy that all the tents are ready and accommodation for all delegates is available.
The conference is an opportunity to discuss the programmes which Government has been undertaking as a follow up to our manifesto.
“The conference is also a platform where the President outlines our success stories.
He will tell our story as Zanu-PF and the progress we have made since we were voted into power last year.”
She added: “The President will talk on engagement and re-engagement programmes that he has undertaken since he was voted into power. He will also send out a message to unite the people of Zimbabwe.”State media
Leaders of indigenous churches yesterday praised President Mnangagwa for initiating political dialogue with his opponents, but stressed that the discussions should be pursued on the basis of respect and recognition of his legitimacy and the country’s institutions.
Further, the churches said they represented the majority of people in Zimbabwe, as such, their voice should be heard and respected on matters of national interest.
The churches, under the banner of Inter-Denominational Council of Churches, made the remarks when they met President Mnangagwa and his two deputies, Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi, at State House yesterday.
The council represents over 110 churches with a membership running into millions.
In his address while introducing other members of the organisation, founder of Family of God Church, Reverend Andrew Wutaunashe said opposition leaders, particularly MDC-Alliance leader Mr Nelson Chamisa, should recognise and respect President Mnangagwa as the elected leader of Zimbabwe.
“We would like to emphasise as the Church that we seek dialogue that begins from the recognition that our State, our nation of Zimbabwe and all its institutions must be preserved and respected.
“To this end, we as the indigenous (church) leaders, we are also saying there cannot be genuine dialogue based on trying to determine whether or not you are the President of Zimbabwe; you are the President of Zimbabwe.”
Rev Wutaunashe said President Mnangagwa won the elections and was confirmed by the Constitutional Court (Concourt) and it would be foolhardy to start any dialogue surrounding his legitimacy.
“We also call upon opposition parties, particularly the MDC, not on political partisan basis, but on concern as citizens of Zimbabwe and on concern as church leaders who represent millions of people, to recognise the President of Zimbabwe openly, to accept the findings of the Constitutional Court as a respect for our Constitution and institutions and on top of that, if dialogue is wanted, let it proceed from a place that respects our institutions.
“That being provided, Your Excellency, we encourage that you continue to pursue with all the energy you can, dialogue in our nation so that our nation can come to a place of soundness and participation by everybody.”State media
Leaders of indigenous churches yesterday praised President Mnangagwa for initiating political dialogue with his opponents, but stressed that the discussions should be pursued on the basis of respect and recognition of his legitimacy and the country’s institutions.
Further, the churches said they represented the majority of people in Zimbabwe, as such, their voice should be heard and respected on matters of national interest.
The churches, under the banner of Inter-Denominational Council of Churches, made the remarks when they met President Mnangagwa and his two deputies, Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi, at State House yesterday.
The council represents over 110 churches with a membership running into millions.
In his address while introducing other members of the organisation, founder of Family of God Church, Reverend Andrew Wutaunashe said opposition leaders, particularly MDC-Alliance leader Mr Nelson Chamisa, should recognise and respect President Mnangagwa as the elected leader of Zimbabwe.
“We would like to emphasise as the Church that we seek dialogue that begins from the recognition that our State, our nation of Zimbabwe and all its institutions must be preserved and respected.
“To this end, we as the indigenous (church) leaders, we are also saying there cannot be genuine dialogue based on trying to determine whether or not you are the President of Zimbabwe; you are the President of Zimbabwe.”
Rev Wutaunashe said President Mnangagwa won the elections and was confirmed by the Constitutional Court (Concourt) and it would be foolhardy to start any dialogue surrounding his legitimacy.
“We also call upon opposition parties, particularly the MDC, not on political partisan basis, but on concern as citizens of Zimbabwe and on concern as church leaders who represent millions of people, to recognise the President of Zimbabwe openly, to accept the findings of the Constitutional Court as a respect for our Constitution and institutions and on top of that, if dialogue is wanted, let it proceed from a place that respects our institutions.
“That being provided, Your Excellency, we encourage that you continue to pursue with all the energy you can, dialogue in our nation so that our nation can come to a place of soundness and participation by everybody.”State media
Veteran actress Rhoda Mtembe, popularly known as Mai Sorobhi in yesteryear drama “Paraffin”, who suffered a stroke early this year, got a shot in the arm when a well-wisher donated foodstuffs and facilitated physiotherapy sessions for her.
Mai Sorobhi is now handicapped and can hardly walk. After the stroke, Mai Sorobhi made an appeal to get physiotherapy assistance so that she could regain her movement abilities andpursue a dream to revive her acting career.
Last week, Mai Sorobhi received groceries and physiotherapy session assistance from well-wishers who felt it was necessary to help the veteran actress pursue her dream.
Group Chief Executive Officer for Nduhukire Holdings and Mathiaga Auctioneers Dr Thomas Rashamira said giving back to the community was part of their social corporate responsibility.
“We heard Mai Sorobhi’s plea and we were touched. We decided to provide foodstuffs for her so that her daughter won’t have to do everything on her own,” Dr Rashamira said.
“We have given her foodstuffs; we are also working on providing her with physiotherapy sessions from time to time.”
“We understand how it feels like when one cannot provide for themself.”
“During our teenage years we would go to the grocery stores in the rural area to watch Mai Sorobhi on television,” said Dr Rashamira.State media
SOUTH African Premiership side Bidvest Wits are reportedly tracking Highlanders’ right-back McClive Phiri and dispatched scouts to watch the player in the Chibuku Super Cup final against Ngezi Platinum Stars on Saturday.
A source said the scouts are expected to report to Wits director of football Roy Limongelli about their sojourn after Phiri put up a flawless display, as Highlanders beat Ngezi 1-0 to lift the Chibuku Super Cup.
Should Phiri impress the Students, Bosso could lose out on transfer fees, as the player’s contract expires at the end of the month.
“Wits scouts have been following the Highlanders’ right-back for a while now and were in Bulawayo to make their final assessment.
They’ll report back to the club’s director of football and decide on what course of action to take. Wits are keen on the right-back. They will not make attempts to get striker Prince Dube because they want a big built striker,” said the source.
Phiri, who has four national team caps earned from Zimbabwe’s World Cup qualifiers against Somalia in Djibouti and Harare, as well as the two legs of the Chan final qualifier against Lesotho, has been a consistent performer for Bosso.
His ability to overlap and deliver good crosses into the box adds to his team’s attacking options and that has also made him one of the best right-backs in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League.
Phiri is one of three players, including midfielders Nqobizitha Masuku and Denzel Khumalo, whose contracts with Highlanders expire at the end of the month.
Highlanders’ spokesperson Ronald Moyo said the club was not aware of the presence of Wits scouts at the final.
“It’s only natural that when you’re playing well and you reach a final of a major tournament, your players tend to attract interest from other teams, especially from the region. We didn’t know that there were scouts tracking the player, but that really doesn’t come as a shock because of the way Highlanders have been performing,” said Moyo.
Renowned football agent with strong links to South African clubs Gibson Mahachi was part of the crowd that watched the epic final.
Mahachi is credited with facilitating South African moves for a number of Zimbabwean players, who include Divine Lunga, Knox M’tizwa, Danny Phiri and Teenage Hadebe.
Moyo said negotiations for Phiri’s contract extension were underway.
“It’s public knowledge that Phiri’s contract expires at the end of December and as a club we have notified the player that he is in our plans for next season, hence commencement of contract negotiations,” Moyo said.State
Following the solidarity meeting we had today, it was agreed that we should STOP applying because HLF is trying to arm-twist us into accepting.
We have received information that members are now being forced to sign assumption of duty, which is now forcing our members back to work, also the government is asking for a list of those who applied which shows their finger in this HLF plan.
So we are advising our members to withhold the HLF application processes with immediate effect
We will patiently wait in the trenches until there is a reasonable offer from the government.
ALUTA
Farai Dziva|The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association has indicated that its members are being forced to sign assumption of duty forms.
See statement below:
02/12/19 URGENT ZHDA UPDATE
RE: HIGHERLIFE FOUNDATION OFFER
Following the solidarity meeting we had today, it was agreed that we should STOP applying because HLF is trying to arm-twist us into accepting.
We have received information that members are now being forced to sign assumption of duty, which is now forcing our members back to work, also the government is asking for a list of those who applied which shows their finger in this HLF plan.
So we are advising our members to withhold the HLF application processes with immediate effect
We will patiently wait in the trenches until there is a reasonable offer from the government.
ALUTA
Former Health and Child Care Minister David Parirenyatwa yesterday accused police of dictating what ex-NatPharm board chair Dr George Washaya should say when giving statements during investigations in the case in which the former minister is facing charges of criminal abuse of office.
Parirenyatwa made the accusation when his trial resumed at the Harare magistrates court.
The trial continued after Prosecutor-General Mr Kumbirai Hodzi gave the State the green light to continue with the matter after halting the case some five months ago. Through his lawyer, Advocate Depak Mehta, Parirenyatwa accused Dr Washaya of failing to be an independent man, as ‘there was an objective with certain set of results, which were to be achieved’.
He said this after two statements bearing Dr Washaya’s signatures and signed on different dates were produced when he was testifying in court. The court had to adjourn to allow Dr Washaya to drive to Kambuzuma to retrieve one of the statements, which was not among the State papers. In his testimony, Dr Washaya acknowledged that the two statements carried his signatures and that they were signed on two separate dates and places.
“The signatures are all mine,” he said. “The police called me to their headquarters at the CID offices where I signed the first one. I later signed the other one a few weeks later at my surgery.”
Asked if he would have signed the letters had he known that they were, at some stage, going to incriminate Parirenyatwa and that the police dictated what he should add in the statement, Dr Washaya said: “I signed the letters without knowing that they will result in him being prosecuted. If I had known I would have taken them to the lawyer first.
“The police phoned me and I assumed that they had discussed the matter first. They were simply asking me questions and I was only confirming what I knew.
“The two statements are not materially different.” The State alleges that on June 4, 2018, Parirenyatwa ordered Dr Washaya to terminate Ms Flora Nancy Sifeku’s contract as managing director, saying that he required her services at the ministry’s headquarters in Harare. He allegedly directed Mr Washaya to appoint Mr Newman Madzikwa as acting managing director of NatPharm with effect from June 1, 2018. The board complied and the two were given six-months contracts with effect from June to November 30, 2018.
The prosecution said the two ended up receiving salaries for the same job, thereby prejudicing NatPharm of $30 000. Parirenyatwa is expected to be back in court today for trial continuation.
Mr Elijah Makomo presided over the matter, while Mr Brian Vito prosecuted. – Herald
In another act of provocation the police yesterday fired live shots aimed at the People’s President Advocate Nelson Chamisa.
The action by police in the past weeks have shown that Mnangagwa is worse than Ian Douglas Smith and Robert Mugabe.
The continuous use of force by the police shows that Zimbabwe is far away from implementing the much needed reforms.
And instead of giving peace a chance the government is pushing the citizenry to retaliate and defend themselves.
As a province we feel Mr Mnangagwa’s government is attacking the people’s president to trigger social unrest.
Retaliation is what the Gukurahundi architect is waiting for so that he can justify another Gukurahundi.
The attack on the president shows a government that is in panic mode, a government that thrives on cannibalism, a government that wants threaten the citizenry.
What they are not realising is that by joining the democratic struggle shows that we are ready to pay the ultimate price. No amount of intimidation, maiming, torturing and subjugation of our rights will deter us.
We will definitely not retreat nor surrender till the fruition of our goal, which is the achievement of an egalitarian society.
The family of Zimbabwe’s late founding President, Robert Mugabe, have failed to locate an inheritance will for the distribution of the national hero’s estate, a development that has prompted the Master of High Court to call for an edict meeting this week to appoint an executor.
Mugabe died in Singapore on September 6 this year after battling prostate cancer for at least 13 years.
His daughter, Mrs Bona Nyepudzai Mutsahuni-Chikore, notified the Master’s Office on October 21 and disclosed that her late father had US$10 million in a CBZ Bank Nostro account and a number of immovable and movable properties.
The properties declared by Mrs Mutsahuni-Chikore are:
· House Number 129 Forbes Road, Waterfalls
· Villa Number 65 Gunhill
· Number 27 Quorn Avenue Mt Pleasant
· Lot GB Helensvale and Lot 1 of subdivision B of Sub G of Helensvale
· Highfield Farm
· Zvimba rural farming plot (about 5 acres)
· Zvimba rural home (one hectare)
· Zvimba orchard (about five acres)
· 10 cars
Mrs Grace Mugabe was listed as the sole surviving spouse while Bona, Robert, Bellarmine and Russel Goreraza were listed as Mugabe’s surviving children.
The Mugabe family lawyer Mr Terrence Hussein of Hussein Ranchod & Company wrote to the Master of High Court Mr Eldard Mutasa asking him to register the death of Mugabe.
Mr Hussein indicated that no will had been found and messages had already been sent to other law firms in town to establish if the late former President had not left a will.
“Kindly register the estate.
“Thus far, we have not been able to locate a will but have sent out inquiries to other law firms, although the family members are not aware of any.
“In this regard, perhaps the estate may be treated as intestate for now,” reads the letter.
To that end, the Master’s Office has invited the Mugabe family members and their lawyers to an edict meeting on Thursday to discuss the appointment of an executor.
Legal experts said the initial inventory by the informant at the registration of the estate can be amended at any stage, in the event that the informant would have either deliberately or mistakenly left out some assets relevant to the estate.
Mr Wellington Pasipanodya of Manase & Manase Legal Practitioners said deliberately leaving out some assets in the inventory was criminal.
“If the assets are left out intentionally, that is fraud and it is imperative upon any of the beneficiaries to bring that information to the attention of the Master.
“The fraudster will be liable for criminal prosecution. Further, in terms of Section 13 of the Administration of Estates Act, the culprit will forfeit all benefits arising from the omitted assets,” said Mr Pasipanodya.
Another expert Mr Caleb Mucheche of Caleb Mucheche & Partners Law Chambers explained the procedure that is followed when handling an estate that does not have a will.
“The Master of High Court convenes an edict meeting for the relatives of the deceased to appoint an executor.
“If they fail to agree on an executor of their own, the Master will choose a neutral professional executor from a list kept at his office,” he said.
Mr Mucheche said siblings of the deceased or any other members of the extended family have no legal right to claim a share of the estate in the absence of a will including them as beneficiaries.
“An estate of a person who dies without a will is distributed to beneficiaries made up of his or her children and surviving spouse, under a monogamous civil marriage or surviving spouses if he was in a polygamous marriage under customary law.
“Brothers or sisters are not legally entitled to inherit if a person dies without a valid written will,” said Mr Mucheche.
He added: “Brothers and sisters can only inherit under a third tier if a person dies without a wife or children (primary beneficiaries) and his or her father or mother (secondary beneficiaries) are also late.” – Herald
By Farai D Hove| The man who has killed more blacks than apartheid South Africa and continues to annihilate more, Emmerson Mnangagwa has taken a swipe at the man he usurped power from on 1 August 2018 by killing 6 people, Nelson Chamisa, saying he is going against God Almighty.
The ZANU PF leader also said Chamisa is not respecting the country’s institutions and laws.
He said: “When we have our elections, you don’t declare yourself the winner. No! It is the duty of other institutions.
“If you fail to listen to those institutions, you are going against God. The role of the church is to ensure that people humble themselves and respect the country’s laws and institutions. In our Constitution, we gave space to the Church; that is freedom of worship for all religions. We guarantee the freedom of worship.
“We expect (that) if our nation becomes a Christian nation, our people will live a Christian life. If our people live a Christian life, then our people will live in harmony because Christianity exudes peace, love, humility and harmony.”
Emmerson Mnangagwa said even though Zanu-PF got two thirds majority in Parliament, it initiated a political party dialogue process in the spirit of inclusivity.
He said several parties joined the dialogue and it was encouraging that out of the 23 political parties that participated in last year’s general elections, 20 were taking part in the dialogue.
Mnangagwa said the difference between the churches operating in Zimbabwe was that there were indigenous churches founded locally while others were head-quartered in other countries.
Mnangagwa said as an indigenous Government, it was important for his administration to dialogue with leaders of indigenous churches who also make decisions without consulting their external head offices. – Additional Reporting, Herald
Kwekwe Central Member of Parliament Mr Masango “Blackman” Matambanadzo has been flown to China on a medical emergency due to suspected food poisoning.
A popular figure in Kwekwe, Mr Matambanadzo is the only MP to have won national elections on the National Patriotic Front (NPF) ticket after he beat both the opposition MDC-T and the ruling Zanu-PF party candidates in the 2018 harmonised elections.
There has been speculation of late within and around Kwekwe over the whereabouts of “Blackman” (the name he earned due to his extremely dark complexion).
Mr Matambanadzo is a former artisanal miner and self-trained street photographer, and is often seen on the streets meeting and chatting with his former peers in those trades.
The Herald news crew yesterday visited Mr Matambanadzo’s house in Amaveni and later his constituency office in the same suburb to inquire on his whereabouts.
“The MP is not here, he is out of the country where he is seeking treatment, you can get more details from his secretary at the constituency offices,” said a relative at the legislator’s Amaveni house, who declined to be named.
Mr Matambanadzo’s secretary Ms Angela Nyathi confirmed her boss flew to China to seek medication attention following suspected food poisoning.
“He has not been well of late following what doctors suspected to be food poisoning,” she said.
“The condition deteriorated recently and he flew to China to seek specialist attention.”
Ms Nyathi said Mr Matambanadzo was still admitted at a hospital in China, but was in a stable condition.
“He is still in hospital, but we continue to pray for his recovery,” she said.
“We know the people in his constituency are very worried and their prayers everyday are very important, he is a man of the people and everyone is wishing him a quick recovery.”- Herald
Walter Magaya’s birthday jacket was on Saturday auctioned for US$12 000.
Congregants at Prophetic Healing and Deliverance bid for his birthday party attire at his belated birthday party that was held at Yadah Hotel on Saturday.
Shocked by the pledge, prophet Magaya donated the money to a group of women to buy their sanitary wear saying many were failing to afford the sanitary wear due to economic hardships.Credit H-Metro
By A Correspondent- The Zanu-PF 18th Annual People’s conference to be held at Goromonzi High School, Mashonaland East next week is expected to address bread and butter issues in line with Vision 2030.
The party’s national chairperson Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said the main thrust of discussions at the conference will centre on the state of the economy, with mining being a pivotal industry in this regard and food security as it relates to the modernisation and mechanisation of agriculture.
The conference will be held from the 10th-15th of December under the theme “Modernise, Mechanise and Grow the Economy towards Vision 2030”.
More than 7 000 delegates are expected to grace the annual indaba with 2 000 foreign delegates confirming their participation.
Speaking soon after assessing progress at the conference venue, Muchinguri-Kashiri said preparations for the annual conference are almost complete.
“We are very happy that all the tents are ready and accommodation for all delegates is available. The conference is an opportunity to discuss the programmes which Government has been undertaking as a follow up to our manifesto.
“The conference is also a platform where the President outlines our success stories. He will tell our story as Zanu-PF and the progress we have made since we were voted into power last year.”
She added: “The President will talk on engagement and re-engagement programmes that he has undertaken since he was voted into power. He will also send out a message to unite the people of Zimbabwe.”
In addition, Muchinguri-Kashiri said it is important for people to realise that elections come and go.
“We are no longer in the elections mood so the President will highlight the need to move together as one people so that together we pull all our energies towards developing this country.
“United we stand and divided we fall. So we hope that during the three days we are going to be here, we will be sending out strong messages that Zanu-PF remains very strong and stays resolute around the President’s agenda of moving forward,” she added.
Farai Dziva| Government functionaries have been stunned by the decision by a Chinese company, R and F to pull out of a deal to acquire a stake in ZISCO.
According to the Herald, the government wanted to renegotiate the deal, agreed on under the previous administration.
“R and F wrote to the Government advising that it was no longer interested. The parties could not agree after the new dispensation ordered the deal to be re-looked into.
There are several issues the Government was not happy with. It is not like the Government wanted to side line the investor, but wanted a win-win situation.
Under the deal, R and F would have acquired ZISCO’s majority shareholding, thus paving the way for the resuscitation of the iron and steel plant at a cost of US$1 billion,” a source told the state run publication.
By A Correspondent- Government has extended nurses e-recruitment deadline to December 8 after the process hit a snag last week as the payment portal was down.
The deadline, which was initially set for November 30 has been extended after it was noted that network glitches left thousands of prospective applicants stranded and in panic mode.
The public relations officer in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Mr Donald Mujiri, in a telephone interview yesterday, confirmed that the ministry had extended the deadline after realising that many people had failed to submit applications due to problems with the payment portal.
“We have extended the deadline to 8 December and prospective applicants can visit our website for more information on the application process,” he said
The application fee is $10, which is payable via Ecocash.
In a statement, the Health Ministry said interviews will be held at specified interview venues and will be sent through the ministry e-recruitment platform.
It said there is no school of nursing in the country that will recruit directly and no third parties have been requested to recruit on behalf of the health ministry.
“Applications must be submitted not later than 8 December 2019 using the following MOHCC Electronic Platform; www.mohcc.gov.zw and click on the e-nurse link which will take you to the registration page,” said the Ministry in a statement.
“The Ministry said successful candidates will be deployed anywhere where training posts are available across the country.
“Only candidates who meet the recruitment will be shortlisted for interviews.
“Successful candidates will be informed via the MOHCC Electronic Platform and are required to have a satisfactory Medical Examination conducted by a Government medical officer.
“Accepted candidates will be deployed to where training posts exist throughout the country. Unsuccessful applicants will be advised through the MOHCC Recruitment platform,” said the Ministry.
Farai Dziva| Government functionaries have been stunned by the decision by a Chinese company, R and F to pull out of a deal to acquire a stake in ZISCO.
According to the Herald, the government wanted to renegotiate the deal, agreed on under the previous administration.
“R and F wrote to the Government advising that it was no longer interested. The parties could not agree after the new dispensation ordered the deal to be re-looked into.
There are several issues the Government was not happy with. It is not like the Government wanted to side line the investor, but wanted a win-win situation.
Under the deal, R and F would have acquired ZISCO’s majority shareholding, thus paving the way for the resuscitation of the iron and steel plant at a cost of US$1 billion,” a source told the state run publication.
(Office of the Provincial Communications Secretary)
The MDC SA Province condemns the acts of babarism exihibited by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police,acting on instructions from the Mnangagwa regime.
We condemn the firing of bullets at the people’s presidential choice President Nelson Chamisa in Marondera.
We want to warn these Zanu pf thugs against injuring the anointed one.There is noone with monopoly over violence.We are a social democratic and non violent people,but we will never tolerate seeing ourselves always at the receiving end of the Zanu pf brutality for over two decades now.Enough is enough.
The attempted assassination of our president is a slap in our face and a provocation which we will never tolerate at all.
Mnangagwa be warned.
On behalf of MDC SA COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
Innocent Nsingo
(MDC SA COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY)
+27731355093
Farai Dziva|The country’s main opposition party, MDC, has described the firing of bullets at Nelson Chamisa as a desperate attempt by Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to cow the youthful leader into submission.
See statement below:
MDC SA PROVINCE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
(Office of the Provincial Communications Secretary)
The MDC SA Province condemns the acts of babarism exihibited by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police,acting on instructions from the Mnangagwa regime.
We condemn the firing of bullets at the people’s presidential choice President Nelson Chamisa in Marondera.
We want to warn these Zanu pf thugs against injuring the anointed one.There is noone with monopoly over violence.We are a social democratic and non violent people,but we will never tolerate seeing ourselves always at the receiving end of the Zanu pf brutality for over two decades now.Enough is enough.
The attempted assassination of our president is a slap in our face and a provocation which we will never tolerate at all.
Mnangagwa be warned.
On behalf of MDC SA COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
Innocent Nsingo
(MDC SA COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY)
+27731355093
It has been said before and i will say it now. Infiltration is not too far from you.
You infiltrate yourselves.In this day and age of this kind of regime, big opposition figures who sit in the top committees of their parties take girls to their love nests and the girls send location updates.
Sometimes a live location broadcast coming your state of the art Prados showing all places you are going with these girls. Its that simple.
The system works with people you say good morning to everyday. And when something happens you look for the devil elsewhere. The devil is right there. This is one such.
Following the solidarity meeting we had today, it was agreed that we should STOP applying because HLF is trying to arm-twist us into accepting.
We have received information that members are now being forced to sign assumption of duty, which is now forcing our members back to work, also the government is asking for a list of those who applied which shows their finger in this HLF plan.
So we are advising our members to withhold the HLF application processes with immediate effect.
We will patiently wait in the trenches until there is a reasonable offer from the government. ALUTA
By A Correspondent| A 24-year-old man hoodwinked the Mamelodi Hospital into accepting him to work as a student doctor while he did not have qualifications.
For a full month, the man carried a stethoscope and reported for duty at Mamelodi Hospital daily as a student doctor from one of the SA’s medical schools.
The man, identified as Richard Phumlani Magudulela, is now wanted by police for impersonating a student doctor after using what was later discovered to be a fraudulent letter bearing the letterheads of the University of KwaZulu-Natal to convince the hospital to take him in.
Dr Naing Soe, CEO of the hospital, said Magudulela started on September 29 and was last seen on October 31 as the hospital had been doing background checks on him.
Soe said when Magudulela first came to the hospital he found a manager “who was generous and kind” and wanted to help him secure space as a student doctor.
Magudulela’s letter “from UKZN” was later discovered to be fake.
“As the hospital’s CEO I’m appealing to the public to help the police arrest this man because he must face law for what he did,” said Soe
The hospital and the provincial department of health have since launched an investigation into the matter.
Soe said student doctors always worked under supervision of highly qualified doctors and were not allowed to attend to patients on their own.
“So far the hospital have not received complaints from patients about getting wrong treatment [by the fake medic].
“Since 1 November when the hospital discovered the truth about the young man, he has never shown his face at the hospital… the man has been barred from entering the premises but I’m afraid the man can still dupe unsuspecting community members as he always carries fraudulent documents and a stethoscope.”
The hospital is now on a campaign to warn all its patients against Magudulela.
A patient at the hospital who didn’t want to be named said: “I’m glad the bogus doctor was [exposed] before he could ruin people’s lives.”
Mamelodi East police spokesperson Const Lethabo Mashiloane confirmed that a case of impersonating a medical doctor has been opened.
An American academic has given a graphic account of the moment the London Bridge stabbing attack began, saying it “felt like a warzone”.
Bryonn Bain told the BBC that victim Jack Merritt had been the first person to confront Usman Khan when he launched his knife assault during a prisoner rehabilitation conference on Friday.
“I saw people die, I saw things that I will never be able to unsee,” he said.
Vigils have taken place for Mr Merritt, 25, and second victim Saskia Jones, 23.
Three other people were also injured in the attack before Khan was shot dead by armed officers on London Bridge – two are still in hospital in a stable condition.
Prof Bain said former offenders attending the University of Cambridge-linked conference “stepped up and intervened” to tackle Khan, and people at Fishmongers’ Hall owed their lives to the actions of those who had previously spent time in jail.
He said two men from his performance poetry workshop immediately ran towards shouts from elsewhere in Fishmongers’ Hall in the City of London as the attack began, and as shouts grew louder he also went to assist.
“That’s when I ran down and saw the scene unfolding there,” he said. “I was able to see the attacker.”
He added: “It felt like a warzone… it felt like total chaos.”
Prof Bain said course co-ordinator Mr Merritt was “the first line of defence”.
“I want to honour him,” Prof Bain said of Mr Merritt. “I want to honour his father’s wishes which have been explicit to not have his life be used for political purposes to ramp up draconian policies, because that’s not what he was about.”
Mr Merritt’s father criticised newspaper coverage of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s pledge to review the early release of convicted terrorists.
Writing in the Guardian, David Merritt says his son “would be seething at his death, and his life, being used to perpetuate an agenda of hate that he gave his everything fighting against”.
The article calls for a justice system that focuses on rehabilitation, rather than revenge, and criticises indeterminate sentences, saying his son worked for “a world where we do not lock up and throw away the key”.
Prof Bain added: “I want to make sure that as much as possible that we uphold the heroes of the day, were formerly incarcerated people, some of the folks who are often easiest to dehumanise.
“They stepped up and many of the folks in that space would not be here today if it weren’t for these guys who did time in prison and literally saved lives.”
In other developments on Monday:
Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his response to the attackafter Mr Merritt’s father criticised newspaper coverage of Mr Johnson’s pledge to review the early release of convicted terrorists
Mr Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attended a vigil at the Guildhall near London Bridge to honour those caught up in the attack
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the best way to defeat the hatred shown in the attack was to focus on the values of hope, unity and love
BBC News learned the attacker, Usman Khan, 28, had been under investigation by the security service MI5 since his release from prison last year, but given one of the lowest priorities. He had been convicted of a terrorism offence in 2012
As part of his release conditions, Khan was obliged to take part in the government’s desistance and disengagement programme – which aims to rehabilitate those involved in terrorism
Vigils for the victims of the attack were also held in Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University, which Ms Jones had previously attended.
Mr Merritt and Ms Jones both studied for masters degrees at the University of Cambridge’s institute of criminology and had been taking part in an event for its Learning Together programme – which focuses on education within the criminal justice system – when they were killed.
By A Correspondent- President Mnangagwa today met members of the Inter-Denominational Council of Churches at State House to discuss various issues affecting the country.
The churches were led by the patron of the organisation Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi of the Zion Christian Church.
They stressed that any political dialogue in the country should be premised on the acknowledgement of President Mnangagwa as the elected Head of State and Government.
By A Correspondent- A Correctional Officer at Chikurubi Maximum Prison committed suicide in a suspected stress induced act.
He was found hanging on a tree branch in the near bush at Chikurubi Prison. The reasons for committing suicide is not yet known, but some family members say he had told them earlier on that he wanted to commit suicide.
His family members said earlier that day, he threatened committing suicide when he took a small piece of wire at their home wanting to hang himself in the house.
His family members said when he left the house to commit suicide, they could not restrain him as he had changed and became uncontrollable.
By A Correspondent- A Kwekwe family was left homeless after their family house was destroyed by fire on Tuesday night.
The Moyce family of number 9 Grey Street Glenwood Kwekwe was left stranded without food, clothing or property after their house, worth a million dollars was destroyed by fire. They only retrieved two bibles still intact out of the ashes.
Vincent Moyce who witnessed the fire right from the start, narrated the tragedy which befell his family.
“It was on Tuesday night and there was no electricity so we were preparing to go to bed using candle as our source of light at around 11pm, so my kids were in the bedroom using candles and I was out of the bedroom helping one of my kids who was not feeling well.
“One of the kids who was in the bedroom then alerted me about the fire in the bedroom so I rushed in there and found the mattress and the curtain burning I tried to put off the fire on the mattress but my efforts were in vain as the ceiling of the house also caught fire.
“I awakened everyone in the house because the situation was getting out of hand; things started to explode in the house and sounded like gunshots such that our neighbours thought that someone was firing gunshots.
“We connected the hosepipe and tried to put off the fire whilst our neighbors also tried to get in touch with fire brigade which arrived late because the fire had already destroyed our property,” said Moyce.
Vincent’s brother Thomas Moyce who is still coming to terms with what happened appealed for help from well-wishers in cash or kind to rebuild their house and clothe the children since everything was burnt to ashes.
“The tragedy has been a huge setback on us because we lost some things of sentimental value which we cannot recover because everything was burnt; our property was burnt we did not retrieve anything except two bibles.
“We are kindly appealing to well wishers to help us with building materials so that we can rebuild our house because right now we are homeless.
“We need clothes, food, blankets and every basic commodity that is needed for a person to live because we just came out of the house empty handed,” said Thomas.
Everyone came out of the house alive and no one was injured, however, the family lost valuable documents such as certificates and children’s birth certificates.
By A Correspondent- The Central Africa Building Society (CABS) plans to close four more branches in Harare and Norton.
The development comes after the bank announced in August that it was closing four branches, one in Nkulumane Bulawayo, Mt Pleasant in Harare as well as Dangamvura and CA House branches in Mutare.
In a short statement to customers, CABS managing director Simon Hammond said:
All services will be available at the nearest branches, or any other CABS branch nationwide.
CABS is a subsidiary of Old Mutual Zimbabwe Limited, Zimbabwe’s largest life assurance organization.
It offers a diverse range of financial products and services that includes transaction and savings accounts, mobile banking, mortgage loans, money market investments, term deposits and payroll loans.
By A Correspondent- Former Zanu PF politburo member, Jonathan Moyo, says he will never rejoin the ruling party as he believes it to be Zimbabwe’s number one existential threat.
Writing on Twitter on Monday, Moyo said:
This is an emphatic message that it’s finally over. There’s no going back. It’s time to move on. ZanuPF is Zimbabwe’s number [one] existential threat. Association with it is toxic, by definition!
I kept hoping that ZanuPF was reformable until the 15 November military coup that gave me a rude awakening!
Moyo fled from Zimbabwe during the military coup that overthrew the late former President Robert Mugabe in November 2017.
He has been living in exile in an East African country ever since he fled from Zimbabwe.
PRESIDENT EDGAR CHAGWA LUNGU has frowned upon anyone who calls Zambia premitive for refusing to accept gay rights which he said was not the order of nature adding that it is unbiblical.
“We are saying no to homosexuality, why should you be saying we are only going to be civilized if we allow it, are you saying we are very premitive because we are frowning upon homosexuality?” President Lungu asked Sky News Reporter Alex Crowford yesterday.
President Lungu went on to observe the order of nature, “Even animals do not do it so why should we be forced to do it because we want to be seen to be smart, to be seen to be civilized and advanced.”
A noise on homosexuality arose when a judge sentenced two gentlemen to fifteen years imprisonment for crime against the order of nature.
American Diplomat added his voice ordering Zambia to rethink the law in a rather undiplomatic manner threatening Zambia’s sovereignty.
Some opposition chancers opted to support the diplomat but went mute after many Zambians stood on the platform of being a Christian Nation on social media.
However, President Lungu has been unequivocal about his position on the matter as Zambia’s leader.
He has observed that unlike other leaders who seemingly would bend at the monetary advantage of accepting gay rights he would rather stick to biblical principles.
“If you want to be tying your aid to homosexuality… If that is how you will bring your aid then I am afraid the Western can leave us alone in our poverty and we will continue scrounging and struggling and see how we can get going,” President Lungu said.
President Lungu added that he is of the personal view that gay people can be counseled adding that he may look at a shorter punishment but will not accept to repeal the law.
By A Correspondent- Initially, Hwangwa had intended to urinate on Chivaura to have him released after the latter confessed but chose to fart on him so that the car could be lifted to release his trapped leg.
Hwangwa claimed that one of the wheels had been stolen and wanted Chivaura to call his accomplice to return it before urinating on him for freedom.
He neither confirmed nor denied using juju to trap thieves saying what he wanted was the items he lost to thieves from Chivaura.
“What I want is my wheel and the jack from him before I free him,” said Hwangwa.
“As for using juju or not using juju that has nothing to do with me ngaadzose zvinhu zvangu chete,” he said.
Chivaura claimed that he was in the company of one Almeda who fled the scene leaving him stuck and had to cry for help.
He was trapped around 5am only to be released after 8am.
One of the security guards Claud Usai manning the place said they heard calls for help from Chivaura who claimed that his leg had been trapped.
Residents came to the scene, not to rescue him but to assault him. They splashed him with used engine oil accusing him of stealing vehicle wheel caps, batteries and other accessories.
“We are losing our car accessories that include batteries, wheel caps and other things left in cars daily. You (Chivaura) and your partners in crime are reaping where you did not sow,” one of the residents said.
“People are being attacked during the night at corner Hebert Chitepo Avenue and Third Street every week, we want to believe that you are involved,” the resident added as he assaulted Chivaura.
A police officer who arrived at the scene rescued him from further beatings and took him to Harare Central Police Station.
NewsDay|A ZANU PF legislator has urged people in his constituency to put aside sloganeering and focus on national development.
Beitbridge East MP Albert Nguluvhe on Saturday said national development knows no tribe, political affiliation or race and Zimbabweans should tackle it as a united people to achieve real results.
“Let us leave slogans for 2023 and for now concentrate on developing our country. We are a people together and national development is a common goal we should aim at,” he said.
Nguluvhe was speaking during a fundraising dinner for Beitbridge Government Primary School.
The dinner, called “Stretching the Walls of Beitbridge Government Primary School”, was meant to raise funds for a double-storey classroom block at the school with a 15-classroom deficit.
Just like the Beitbridge Mission, St Joseph’s, Dulivhadzimo and several other schools in the border town, the institution has inadequate classroom blocks for the 1 548 students, with some of them taking classes under trees.
Children at these schools have insufficient toilet facilities apart from a host of other factors affecting proper education.
Nguluvhe, who was addressing Beitbridge urban residents who voted for an MDC local authority in the 2018 elections, said infrastructure development in schools, hospitals and roads should be everyone’s common goal.
“Those are the core areas we should look at. Not for us, but for our children,” said Nguluvhe, who for the first time shared his liberation war history and told people how he was trained by the KGB of Russia.
A former bodyguard of the late former President Robert Mugabe, Nguluvhe became legislator for Beitbridge East after narrowly beating MDC candidate Patricia Ndlovu, who also attended the fundraising event.
“We must change our mentality about tribes, ethnicity and political groupings when we speak development. As for education, let us nurture children who will be employers rather than workers,” he said.
School head, Faith Siyoka Moyo, said despite the challenges the school faced, their pass rate remained high.
“This year, we have an average pass rate of 94% despite these obtaining challenges. Our children have poor toilets and we have turned what should be their playgrounds into classrooms under trees,” she said.
The school, the pioneer learning centre then reserved for whites in 1971 with only 13 students, needs 35 000 standard bricks and other material inputs such as concrete, sand and 1 200 bags of cement to complete the block, which will end open-air learning.
Thousands of dollars were raised from ticket sales and several other activities during the function held at the disused giant former Rainbow Hotel, now just a white elephant.
Moyo’s remarks exposed the dire need of schools in the border town, where the local authority has failed to build new schools.
Apart from deputy mayor Munyaradzi Chitsunge, council officials were conspicuously absent.
Correspondent|Tension between Zambia and the United States has deepened following the sentencing of a homosexual couple to 15 years in prison by a central district court.
Amid choice words being exchanged between the US ambassador to Zambia Daniel Foote and Zambia’s Foreign minister Joseph Malanji, the envoy described the relations between the two countries as “decaying.”
“Let us stop the facade that our governments enjoy ‘warm and cordial’ relations. The current government of Zambia wants foreign diplomats to be compliant, with open pocketbooks and closed mouths,” Mr Foote said.
The sentencing of the couple, which Mr Foote called “harsh and barbaric”, appeared to be the trigger for undiplomatic release of frustrations including over access to President Edgar Lungu and implementation of a US-led reform of the country’s energy sector.
“Discriminatory and homophobic laws, under the false flags of Christianity and culture, continue to kill innocent Zambians, many of whom were born with the virus. Your citizens are terrified of being outed as HIV-positive, because of the inaccurate and archaic associations between HIV and homosexuality,” Mr Foote said. He added he had been threatened over his stance without disclosing by who.
Mr Malanji said Lusaka had complained to Washington over what it viewed as the envoy’s interference in its internal affairs.
Amid threats of severance of ties by the US, President Lungu told Sky News that his government was ready to forfeit aid if it was tied to acceptance of homosexuality in a predominantly Christian nation. The US says it has spent more than $4 billion in the last 15 years in HIV/Aids support.
More than one million Zambians are on anti-retroviral medicine.
Mr Foote appeared to threaten a US aid cut as he complained about corruption. “I hope the government of Zambia commits to improve its decaying relationship with the United States but that is a decision for it to make.”
He accused critics of his and the US position on homosexuality of hiding behind Christian values.
“Targeting and marginalising minorities, especially homosexuals, has been a warning signal of future atrocities by governments in many countries. In my heart, I know that real Zambian values don’t merit your country’s inclusion on that list, ever.”
He said Zambia’s Constitution protected the fundamental rights of all Zambians regardless of their sexual orientation, and criticised the government for high handedness in dealing with dissent.
He blamed “domestic politics” for delays in implementing energy sector reforms jointly developed by Zambia and US energy experts by 2018 that would have ensured better access to electricity.
“This plan has been dormant for over a year, because of domestic politics,” said Mr Foote. Zambia is undergoing lengthy power rationing after a prolonged drought that has seen the Kariba Dam, which it shares with Zimbabwe, shut in favour of imports from Mozambique.
He said he had, after much struggle, only managed to meet President Edgar Lungu five times during his two years in Lusaka as appointments kept being rescheduled.
MUTARE– A top human rights defender, Farai Maguwu has raised alarm over unclear circumstances surrounding a partnership deal between Vast Resources and Botswana Diamonds, which could leave the Chiadzwa community in the cold.
Botswana Diamonds reportedly concluded an agreement with Vast for the development of diamond concessions in Marange, with a separate agreement covering the joint development of diamond properties outside of the Marange Diamond Fields.
Previously, Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) entered into an agreement, which is under finalization, with Katanga Resources- a joint venture of Vast Resources and Chiadzwa Community Development Trust.
Katanga Resources joint venture with ZCDC is for the purposes of exploring and mining at the Chiadzwa Community Diamond Concession and marketing the diamonds from the operation.
However, Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) director Farai Maguwu said the recent signing of a deal between Vast Resources and Botswana Diamonds paradises community interests in gem extraction.
Maguwu said Zimbabwe was being robbed of her natural resource wealth through intricate syndicates linked to powerful politicians which are using the community as a smokes screen to cover rampant corruption.
He said the public has been misled to believe that the community will benefit from the deal through a company owned by one Newman Chiadzwa, who is working in cahoots with a powerful politician.
“The agreement is as opaque as other previous agreements that saw Zimbabwe being robbed of more than $15 billion within six years of continuous pillaging. The involvement of Chiadzwa Mineral Resources is a smokescreen to cover up for corruption.
“CMR is owned by Newman Chiadzwa and it is not owned by the Marange community. Newman will be co-benefiting with the son of a very powerful politician without whom he wasn’t going to get the concession.
“So, corruption is written all over the agreement and any self-respecting government would not mortgage such a precious resource for close to nothing as we are witnessing,” he said.
In a social media post, Maguwu castigated the move to have an agreement of a joint venture between Vast Resources and Botswana Diamonds to form a new entity called Newco without parliamentary approval which he said will see more diamonds leaving the country in unorthodox ways.
Maguwu said the new development puts the givernment under scrutuny for signing numerous mining contracts and warned that the country’s general populace will not benefit anything at all if politicians are left to push unclear mining deals.
“So, London listed African Consolidated Resources (ACR) has changed its name to Vast Resources, formed a joint venture with a Consultancy Partner, Botswana Diamonds to form Newco, in which Vast has 97.5 percent shareholding whilst Botswana Diamonds has 2.5 percent they have secretly returned to Marange.
“This JV looks 100 percent foreign. So, where is the Zimbabwe national interest in all this? Who is responsible for these deals? I know for real parliament is not involved. Government ministries and departments in Mutare are in the dark,” said Maguwu.
He added, “As long as the country is run like this, when politicians sell national assets for personal gain, when unpatriotic leaders invite foreign syndicates to loot whilst they collect resource rents, forget about economic recovery.”
Under the new agreement which replaces the Heritage Concession Agreement, Vast Resources and BOD joint venture vehicle Newco will hold the interests of Vast in the Chiadzwa Community JV and Katanga.
When the agreement between Katanga and ZCDC becomes effective, Botswana Diamonds will be issued with new shares representing 2.5 percent of Newco, while Vast will provide all capital requirements for the project commencement on a loan account to Newco, up to a maximum of US$10 million.
Own Correspondent | Former minister and Zanu PF politburo member, Professor Jonathan Moyo, has publicly thrown away his ZANU PF membership card into the trash.
The exiled academic, who spends long hours on social media, dedicated to attacking the person of ZANU PF leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa, went public in a dramatic act this afternoon, declaring, “This is an emphatic message that it’s finally over. There’s no going back. It’s time to move on. ZanuPF is Zimbabwe’s number [one] existential threat. Association with it is toxic, by definition!”
“I kept hoping that ZanuPF was reformable until the 15 November military coup that gave me a rude awakening!”
Curiously though, the card Moyo publicly trashed is an old ZANU PF one with the late former President Robert Mugabe’s face on it, a suiting souvenir, given the support the exiled academic received from him when he fled the country in 2017.
It was not clear what triggered this public ritual of cutting soul ties, with a party Zanu PF, just two years ago, he was ready to die even kill for.
Moyo is also rumoured to be among Advocate Nelson Chamisa’s close team of advisors, though he told a Twitter user yesterday, that he is not a member of the MDC, but supports that Chamisa won the 2018 Presidential election.
Gold producer Caledonia Mining Corporation has successfully completed the shaft sinking phase of its Central Shaft project at its 49%-owned Blanket mine in Zimbabwe.
It is well on track to increase gold production to 80 000 ounces per annum from 2022 and onwards following completion of the project in 2020.
The central shaft, at a depth of 1 208 m at shaft bottom, will now be equipped and commissioned over the next 12 months, Caledonia CEO Steve Curtis said.
The central shaft project is the largest investment in a series of investments at the Matabeleland South-based mine in a bid to increase production, improve operating efficiency and extend the life of the 113-year old mine even further.
It will also deliver significant increases in the company’s profit and distributable cash, the company believes.
The Central Shaft project, as part of the company’s life of mine extension plan at Blanket, has been in progress since early 2015 and the company has spent approximately US$44 million sinking the new shaft to unlock additional resources from deep underground.
Currently in the equipping phase, prior to commissioning (expected during the second quarter of 2020), gold production from Blanket mine is expected to progressively increase to the 80 000 ozpa of gold by increasing its production from the 50 000 oz to 53 000 oz of gold as per its 2019 production guidance.
Prior to the execution of the Central Shaft project, Blanket mine operated to a depth of 750 m, accessed via No.4 Shaft (the only operational shaft).
The Central Shaft project will extend this depth to just over 1 200 m, allowing the addition of three new production levels to the mine below the current 750 m level – on 26 (870 m), 30 (990 m) and 34 (1 110 m) levels.
The latest mine plan also allows for the development of a fourth production level on 38 level (1 230 m below surface) which will be accessed via a decline shaft.
The mine, although operated from the single No.4 shaft, comprises five significantly independent near vertical ore bodies.
The brainchild of COO Dana Roets, the Central Shaft – aptly named so because of its central location in relation to the five ore bodies – will enable the access of deeper ore bodies more efficiently.
“Because the current shaft is located on the extremity of the ore bodies, we only mine in one direction, but the centrality of the Central Shaft will allow us to mine more efficiently in both directions along the 3 km strike on all three levels.
“This will allow us to access the mining areas in approximately half the time and also reducing worker’s traveling time significantly,” Curtis explained.
Having reached shaft bottom at 1 208 m in July, the bottom and mid shaft loading stations have already been established and development work from the Central Shaft to the ore bodies is advancing well – with one of the production levels having already reached the ore body.
This development work has allowed for the simultaneous establishment of the ventilation shaft and ore raises via raisebore drilling.
“With 12 months to go from an equipping perspective, we are in a very good space to ramp up production to approximately 75 000 oz in 2021 until Blanket reaches the 80 000 ozpa target in 2022 and onwards,” said Curtis.
The company has lost some momentum at Blanket as a result of electricity supply interruptions experienced at the mine resulting from the broader unstable electricity supply challenges in Zimbabwe.
Caledoni has resultantly had to revise its production guidance downward from between 53 000 and 56 000 oz to between 50 000 oz and 53 000 oz of gold for 2019.
Curtis admitted that the electricity supply challenges in past 12 months have been particularly disruptive to the project, particularly during the month of July and in early August.
“This resulted in the heavy reliance on the 12 MW installed diesel generator back-up capacity at the mine – sufficient to run the entire mine at full capacity but insufficient to sustain both the mine and the Central Shaft project,” he explained.
The power situation has, however, improved substantially in late August and September thanks largely to a timely and coordinated response from the Chamber of Mines, the Ministry of Mines, the Ministry of Energy and Power Development and the Zimbabwean Energy Regulatory Authority, which introduced a new United States dollar-based electricity pricing structure for the mining industry to support the funding of imported electricity which is used exclusively to supply participating mining companies.
The electricity supply authorities have also implemented an uninterrupted power supply agreement for the mining industry in an effort to support the sector and electricity supply has stabilised following these changes.
Despite the improved electricity situation in Zimbabwe’s mining industry, Blanket has purchased an additional 6 MW of diesel generator capacity, taking its diesel generation capacity up to approximately 18 MW of total installed capacity.
While cognisant of the cost and availability of diesel in Zimbabwe, Curtis saied Blanket will be cautious in the way it uses this generation capacity.
With generators ranging in size from 1 MW to 2.5 MW, all of which have been synchronised into the mine’s electricity usage grid, Blanket has a significant amount of flexibility in that it will be able to switch on only what is needed when it is needed.
“The additional generators are on site and are currently being installed after which Blanket’s operations will be fully protected from the risk of unstable electricity supply and will ensure future reliability in the face of a potentially difficult electricity supply situation in the southern African region in the medium to long-term,” Curtis noted
PRESS STATEMENT ON FAKE NEWS ARTICLE CIRCULATING ON SOCIAL MEDIA
The Parliament of Zimbabwe has noted with grave concern, the flagrant and irresponsible abuse of social media by one person supposedly writing under the moniker, Monica Mashinda, in a brazen attempt to impugn the integrity of individual Members of Parliament and the institution of Parliament collectively.
The shameless author of the ‘fake news’ article circulating on Whatsapp, makes patently untrue and malicious allegations against named Hon. Members of Parliament under the headline “Legislators Caught Pants Down in Parly Toilet.”
The said allegations attempt to sully the image of Parliament and the characters of Parliamentarians by giving the impression of an institution devoid of morality and the decorum associated with what is rightly termed an august institution.
The Parliament of Zimbabwe would like to categorically dismiss this fake news article with the contempt that it deserves and to reassure the public that nothing of the sort has ever happened, nor, indeed, will it ever happen in Parliament.
The nature of the security and traffic of persons within Parliament Building is such that the alleged trysts would not happen.
Despite any misgivings that the public may have, Members of Parliament are guided by strict rules of decorum in their conduct which they earnestly endeavour to follow in and outside Parliament.
It is unfortunate and regrettable though that any right-thinking person, regardless of the fertility of their imagination, would unashamedly circulate news they know to be fake without any pangs of conscience particularly as it casts aspersions on the characters and standing of Honourable Members of Parliament or any other person for that matter.
It is our hope that the public can see through this malicious vendetta of vilification and character assassination for what it is.
Own Correspondent | MDC Alliance politician, lawyer Advocate Fadzai Mahere, has rubbished calls by the church for dialogue between party presidents, Emmerson Mnangagwa and Nelson Chamisa.
Wrote Mahere on her Twitter portal, “If everything is well & good, why is there need for dialogue? Why can’t the President just govern & solve the nation’s problems in accordance with his “mandate”? Why does he need Chamisa? What does he hope to achieve from this dialogue that he can’t achieve alone?”
The churches urged Chamisa, to drop the legitimacy demand as it was ‘foolhardy’ during a meeting with Mnangagwa.
He was meeting the Inter-Denominational Council of Churches at State House, earlier today.
Continued Mahere, “No talk about corruption by govt?
No condemning police brutality?
No mention of military killings?
No mention of public health crisis?
No talk about looming food crisis?
Nothing on abductions?
What values are guiding this section of the Church? Why does it smell of capture?”
GABORONE – Botswana on Monday hanged a 44-year-old man for murdering his boss, prisons services announced, despite mounting criticism from rights groups and the European Union.
Mooketsi Kgosibodiba was hanged at Gaborone Central Prison “in the early morning hours”, the prison said, in the first execution since President Mokgweetsi Masisi was elected to office in October.
In 2017, Kgosibodiba received a death sentence for the 2012 murder of his employer and his appeal was dismissed last year.
Two other people were hanged last year in the face of global condemnation, Amnesty International describing Botswana as the “only country in Southern Africa that consistently executes people”.
“There is no space for the death penalty in a country like Botswana,” said Amnesty International’s Deprose Muchena after Masisi’s election.
Muchena praised Botswana’s “great leadership role” in “denouncing impunity for human rights violations on the African continent” and encouraged the new government to change course on executions.
Masisi’s predecessor Ian Khama said last year that the death penalty was one tool to combat a rising murder rate and added that the government had “no plans to either abolish the death penalty or impose a moratorium”.
Executions across the world dropped by almost one-third in 2018 to the lowest figure in a decade, said Amnesty.
The death penalty in Botswana has been enforced since independence in 1966.
Amnesty says executions are often undertaken without prior notice — with even family members of the condemned notified only after the execution.
Vice.com|The end of Robert Mugabe’s brutal 37-year dictatorship over Zimbabwe in 2017 was greeted by scenes of wild jubilation on the streets of Harare by people who’d seen their dream of independence from minority white rule turned into tyranny under the aging dictator’s leadership.
But it was on social media that Zimbabweans first found their voice to rise up against the 93-year-old strongman, with platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter proving to be vital in mobilizing and coordinating countrywide protests.
Now, just two years later, activists say the government that replaced Mugabe’s is trying to silence those same social media accounts with legislation that bears all the hallmarks of China’s dystopian censorship and surveillance system.
“It is a terrifying piece of legislation”
Zimbabwe’s Parliament is weighing legislation that would authorize the use of surveillance technologies, grant sweeping powers to crack down on social media users, and allow the government to snoop on citizens’ private communications. The latest version of the bill — known as the Cyber Crime, Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill of 2019 — was passed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Cabinet last month and is currently being drafted for publication and approval by Parliament, where it’s expected to easily pass under Mnangagwa’s Zanu-PF party majority.
Activists warn things could get ugly soon after that.
“It is a terrifying piece of legislation,” Bekezela Gumbo, a researcher at the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute, told VICE News. “It has everything it needs to give the ruling Zanu-PF party and its agents in government the legal basis to imprison opponents using the internet.”
Although the public still doesn’t know exactly what the final version of the bill will contain, activists say it’ll likely be overly broad and lacking the sort of necessary protections that rights groups have called for in the past.
“The definitions of crimes were described in such broad terms that they could arrest people because they have said something on a social media platform to criticize the government or say something that is unfair to government,” Kuda Hove, a legal expert with the Media Institute of Southern Africa, told VICE News, referring to a previous draft of the bill he’d seen.
From Twitter to the streets
Zimbabwean medical staff march on the streets of Harare, Thursday Sept, 19, 2019. Zimbabwean doctors protesting the alleged abduction of a union leader won a High court ruling allowing them to march and handover a petition to the parliament.The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association has said its president, Peter Magombeyi, was abducted on Saturday after calling for a pay strike, and members say they will not return to work until he is found. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Back in 2016, social media was the spark for the protests that would ultimately lead to Mugabe’s ouster in 2017. It was on Facebook, Twitter, and critically WhatsApp that the genesis of the protest movement began to take shape.
At the time, WhatsApp accounted for over one-third of all mobile data used in Zimbabwe as citizens shared anti-government news and information about demonstrations.
Officials were powerless at the time to stop the surge in online dissent, and they began exploring ways to curb it. It was during that period, as Mugabe was losing his grip on power, that the first version of the Computer Crime and Cyber Crime Bill was drafted.
Since Mugabe’s departure, the bill has seen a number of revisions. The most recent version remains shrouded in mystery, but it includes a vague mandate to protect “cyberspace,” according to Mnangagwa.
The president’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the latest bill approved by the Cabinet. The only official who would speak was Ivanhoe Gurira, the principal director at the Ministry of Information, who denied the bill was meant to promote censorship, claiming Zimbabwe has other laws that help protect access to information and freedom of speech.
When asked about the criticism from activists about the new law, Gurira said: “Only those people that want to operate outside the law would say so.”
But Mnangagwa’s government has already shown its willingness to restrict online speech.
In January, the government partially shut off internet access and blocked access to social media platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, and Tinder. The move came as the government struggled to contain protests over a sharp spike in fuel prices and generally deteriorating economic conditions. The internet shutdown was soon followed by a brutal military crackdown that left a dozen people dead and over 170 more injured.
Access to the internet was restored a week later, but only after the High Court ruled the government’s order was illegal. Free speech activists say the new cybercrime bill would essentially make another shutdown legal.
“With such precedent, it is indubitable that the underlying intention of the proposed law is to curtail citizens’ fundamental political and civil liberties, especially as government battles to contain the tanking economy and rising citizens agitation,” Nhlanhla Ngwenya, program director at the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, told VICE News.
The government has also arrested numerous individuals for online activities since Mnangagwa came to power, including Evan Mawarire, a pastor who was charged with inciting public violence after he posted messages in support of the labor protests on Facebook and Twitter.
“We’re in a country where the basic freedoms that are provided for in the constitution for citizens are being blatantly violated. People are not allowed to speak freely. The amount of arrests that have taken place of people who have spoken out or against the government is shocking,” Mawarire told CNN this week.
Now, under Mnangagwa’s rule, the government is hoping to expand its crackdown on free speech online — and to do that it’s taking its lead from the world’s worst abuser of the internet: China.
China’s deep ties
China and Zimbabwe have long and deep ties that stretch back decades and run to the very highest levels of government.
Many of Zimbabwe’s senior leaders, including Mnangagwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, received military training in China back in the early 1960s.
“You can’t overstate how deep the ties go between these two governments,” Eric Olander, managing editor of the nonpartisan China Africa Project, told VICE News. “They go back a long way together and there’s no indication either side is wavering in their mutual commitment to one another.”
“You can’t overstate how deep the ties go between these two governments”
On the technology front, China is already helping the Zimbabwe government keep a closer eye on its citizens. As part of Beijing’s $71 million Belt and Road investment in the country, the Zimbabwe government has partnered with Chinese facial recognition company CloudWalk Technology to create a surveillance network similar to the one deployed to monitor Uighurs in Xinjiang.
The deal sees CloudWalk technology monitoring major transport hubs and using the data to build a national facial recognition database. The deal also gives the Chinese company access to a rich trove of data on African faces.
Critics worry the new cybersecurity law would augment this nascent surveillance network by monitoring citizens’ online activities as well as their offline movements. And while China’s involvement in Zimbabwe’s surveillance plans remain far from clear, experts expect Harare to lean heavily on Beijing’s expertise to roll it out.
“We probably don’t need a lot of evidence to draw the conclusion that China will likely lend its expertise to building this kind of digital surveillance, given the trust that exists between these two governments and China’s expertise in this area,” Olander said. “Plus, the Chinese have an entire mechanism in place to provide the financing, implementation, and training on how to use technology like this.”
In fact, the Zimbabwean government may have already been inspired by China during the drafting of the new legislation. Officials from the Zimbabwean government were among representatives from three dozen countries who travelled to China in recent years to for weeks-long seminars on information management, according to Sarah Cook, a senior China researcher with Freedom House.
With China’s expertise, Mnangagwa’s government could get closer to stemming the sort of upheaval that toppled his predecessor before it even begins.
“This law is a response to the use of social media by activists, citizen journalists, and researchers during protests, accountability monitoring, and political mobilization,” Gumbo said. “This is what the government doesn’t want, and the bill is a mechanism to avoid public scrutiny. It is meant to curtail freedom of expression.”
Own Correspondent | Zion Christian Church (ZCC) leader, Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi, has been caught lying to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, after he publicly disowned the statement by the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations which called for a 7-year period without elections in the country.
Mutendi is quoted saying, surprisingly invoking the spirit of Nehanda at the church gathering, hosted by Mnangagwa, “the spirit of God has always been present ever since Mbuya Nehanda prophesied the revolution that would liberate the country, ‘tigare murunyararo. No to violence.”
ZimEye can reveal that Mutendi was neither present nor represented when the call for a 7 year Sabbatical was made, with LIVE Video evidence to prove this.
A national debate, was sparked after the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations, a group made up of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, and the Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe, called for a for a seven-year political sabbath under which there will be no political contestation.
The churches made the recommendation in a bid to unlock the impasse between Mnangagwa and MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa, as part of a solution to the multiple crisis, political and economic the country is faced with.
ZANU PF leader, Mnangagwa, is currently meeting the Inter-Denominational Council of Churches at State House, where MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa, is under pressure once again to accept his legitimacy.
Mnangagwa, told the gathering that the Constitution guarantees freedom of worship, this way people can live a Christian life, which exudes love Peace and Harmony.
Kaizer Chiefs and Warriors talismanic winger Khama Billiat has made another donation to a primary school, this time Nellmapius Primary in South Africa, today.
Through his Khama Billiat Foundation, the 29-year-old also donated a football kit and sanitary wear to his former school, Gwinyiro Primary in Mufakose last month.
Today’s donation is the second for the foundation since its inception.
“The Khama Billiat foundation embarked on its second project today… Nellmapius ext 6 Primary School in South africa…we are here to donate sporting kits,school shoes and sanitary pads. #inGodwetrust,” posted the Warriors star on his Facebook page.
By A Correspondent- Deputy Information Minister Energy Mutodi has trashed report that he was caught pants down with a fellow legislator in a toilet at parliament.
According to the report, Mutodi and Tatenda Mavetera, who is the Zanu-PF Seke-Chikomba women’s quota member of parliament who played role of Tendai Jari on the popular Studio 263 were allegedly caught having s_e_x in one of the toilets at parliament.
The reports alleged that a complaint was lodged with the Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda.
Mutodi however refuted the claims attributing the report to his foes.
Said Mutodi:
“No matter how much appetite there is to assassinate and destroy characters, attempts to vilify Parliament as a sex haven by enemies of the government will not be tolerated.”
PRESS STATEMENT ON FAKE NEWS ARTICLE CIRCULATING ON SOCIAL MEDIA
The Parliament of Zimbabwe has noted with grave concern, the flagrant and irresponsible abuse of social media by one person supposedly writing under the moniker, Monica Mashinda, in a brazen attempt to impugn the integrity of individual Members of Parliament and the institution of Parliament collectively.
The shameless author of the ‘fake news’ article circulating on Whatsapp, makes patently untrue and malicious allegations against named Hon. Members of Parliament under the headline “Legislators Caught Pants Down in Parly Toilet.”
The said allegations attempt to sully the image of Parliament and the characters of Parliamentarians by giving the impression of an institution devoid of morality and the decorum associated with what is rightly termed an august institution.
The Parliament of Zimbabwe would like to categorically dismiss this fake news article with the contempt that it deserves and to reassure the public that nothing of the sort has ever happened, nor, indeed, will it ever happen in Parliament.
The nature of the security and traffic of persons within Parliament Building is such that the alleged trysts would not happen.
Despite any misgivings that the public may have, Members of Parliament are guided by strict rules of decorum in their conduct which they earnestly endeavour to follow in and outside Parliament.
It is unfortunate and regrettable though that any right-thinking person, regardless of the fertility of their imagination, would unashamedly circulate news they know to be fake without any pangs of conscience particularly as it casts aspersions on the characters and standing of Honourable Members of Parliament or any other person for that matter.
It is our hope that the public can see through this malicious vendetta of vilification and character assassination for what it is.
K.M. Chokuda CLERK OF PARLIAMENT OFFICE OF THE CLERK PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE 02 DEC 220 P. O. BOX CY298. CAUSEWAY HARARE, ZIMBABWE
263chat|Sungura music maestro Alick Macheso was yesterday honoured by local paint company, Nash Paints with a whopping ZWL$200 000 as appreciation of the singer’s talent and input towards the massive growth of Nash Paints brand.
Receiving the gift on behalf of her husband, Mai Shero was on cloud nine hailing Macheso for maintaining good relations from the initial day he was appointed Nash Paints brand ambassador.
“I’m very happy and thankful for what God has done for us. Too bad he is not here but this gesture by Nash Paints is just testimony to the good rapport that exists between my husband and Nash.
“From the day Macheso was announced as Nash Paints brand ambassador there were never challenges or disagreements. May God add more blessings to Mr and Mrs Mutarisi,” she said.
Nash Paints also unveiled a new product in their stock called Carvello, a German car paint.
Own Correspondent |ZANU PF leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is currently meeting the Inter-Denominational Council of Churches at State House, where MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa, is under pressure once again to accept his legitimacy.
Mnangagwa, told the gathering that the Constitution guarantees freedom of worship, this way people can live a Christian life, which exudes love, Peace and Harmony.
He goes on to quote from Acts 17v28, “nokuti maari ndimo matinorararama ,munyika yandakakupai ndimo matigere”.
Indigenous churches are important as they relate with the land.
Chamisa has refused to join other political parties, under the banner of Polad (an acronym for Political Actors Dialogue), arguing that sticky issues have to be dealt with first, through the facilitation of an independent mediator, endorsed by the international community. Among the key issues raised by Chamisa, is Mnangagwa’s legitimacy based on the 2018 disputed Presidential elections.
A close ally of Mnangagwa’s ,Reverend Andrew Wutaunashe,used the platform to implore Chamisa to accept Mnangagwa’s legitimacy. Another church leader Reverend Mutendi is reported to have disowned a widely circulated statement attributed to the churches which called for a seven year sabbatical, under which it was proposed no fresh elections would be held.
State media reports that some of the churches in attendance are ZAOGA, ZCC,Johanne Masowe, Jekemisheni, Bethsaida, African Apostolic Church (Mwazha), Johanne Marange amongst others. In total 110 indigenous churches are represented.
The curtain will fall on the 2019 season during the second weekend of December, the Premier Soccer League confirmed on Monday.
The league still has two games to play and Match-day 33 will commence Tuesday, next week with final fixture scheduled for the second weekend of December.
This means there will be no games this coming weekend.
“The Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Matchdays 33 and 34 fixtures shall be played from Tuesday 10 December 2019 to Sunday 15 December 2019,” the PSL said in a statement.
“The full fixtures will be released during the week.”
Meanwhile, Chicken Inn stand a little chance in the title race while CAPS United and FC Platinum are firmly in control with the former on top of the table with 58 points. The Platinum Boys are two behind in the second position.
Marvelous Nakamba was a notable absentee in the Aston Villa team which drew 2-2 in the league against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Zimbabwean midfielder had become a regular at the Birmingham-based outfit ever since he made his Premier League debut against West Ham in mid-September. He started in eight successive league games before he was dropped in the 2-0 victory over Newcastle on the weekend after the international break.
Nakamba, whom many people thought will return to the first XI for the Sunday’s game in Manchester, was again missing and sat out for the match.
His absence, however, has nothing to do with his form as the 25-year old has been getting high-performance ratings whenever he featured in the team.
As evidenced in Villa’s last two games, coach Dean Smith has shifted to an all-attacking midfield. Douglas Luiz who played wide in the past games took the central role while Conor Hourihane indirectly replaced the defensively-minded Nakamba by playing on the wing.
The tactical change has paid off with Hourihane doing the damage after bagging a goal and an assist in the game against Newcastle.
But this doesn’t mean the Warriors midfielder has fallen out of favour at the EPL side.
It’s similar to Willard Katsande’s situation when Ernst Middendorp took over at Kaizer Chiefs in December 2018.
There was a change in tactics and the former Warriors captain took some time to adapt. When he returned to the fold towards the end of last season, Katsande put some great performances which earned him praises from the coach.
Middendorp said: “He is absolutely an example of how you want to have it as a coach. Here and there it doesn’t work, but come back, train, working hard, discuss how to do better.
“I was always criticising his backward play and passing to the side, but if you see him now, that’s what he has taken into account to improve his forward-thinking, passing and even his movement.
“That was lacking in the beginning and we struggled to get it right, but he’s definitely on a good way as we saw.”
City of Johannesburg speaker Vasco Da Gama has satisfied himself with a legal opinion, after he postponed a special council meeting on Thursday in order to seek clarity.
Speaking to News24 on Monday, Da Gama said the election of a new mayor would now take place on Wednesday, following rules set out in the Municipal Structures Act.
Da Gama postponed the sitting last week, citing the need to seek a legal opinion on the interpretation of the Municipal Structures Act in relation to the council rules on what constituted a majority in the council.
Da Gama said council rules stipulate a 50% plus one majority rule during council elections, while claiming the Municipal Structures Act was ambiguous on the matter.
The council has a total of 270 seats. Only one councillor, who died, was absent during the council sitting.
“We got some clarity. The reason for the postponement was finding clarity on what majority constitutes. Majority constitutes 50 plus one, but we have got to explain the different arrangements and how it works. It can be a complicated,” he told News24.
Legal advice
Da Gama added that the explanation of the rules for Wednesday’s sitting would be sent to all 269 councillors before Tuesday.
He explained how Wednesday’s sitting would unfold, including the announcement of the three mayoral candidates – the ANC’s Geoff Makhubo, the DA’s Funzela Ngobeni and the EFF’s Musa Novala.
Council would then elect a new mayor, who would then address the sitting and indicate his readiness to appoint mayoral committee members.
Meanwhile, Da Gama also has to contend with frustrated Gauteng Cooperative Governance MEC Lebogang Maile, who wrote a sharply worded letter, criticising the reasons for the postponement.
In the letter, Maile said he would be seeking legal advice on the matter, accusing Da Gama of contravening the peremptory provisions of the Constitution and other applicable local government legislation.
Da Gama said he had received a letter from Maile’s office, adding that he would respond to it in due time.
Da Gama accused Maile of making the allegations in his letter to “confuse voters”.
Farai Dziva|Warriors forward Knox Mutizwa shot to the top of the ABSA Premiership goalscoring chart following a beautiful strike from 12 yards in Golden Arrows’ 1-2 defeat to Black Leopards.
The goal took Mutizwa’s tally for the campaign to eight.
Kuda Mahachi’s form in front of goal continued when he scored for SuperSport United in their 1-1 draw with Stellencbosch, after also scoring for Matsansansa against Maritzburg United in midweek.
Mahachi’s compatriot Onismo Bhasera was also in the starting eleven for the Pretoria-based outfit.
Own Correspondent | Ignoring the stinking poverty in the country, the ruling ZANU PF party is set to treat itself on a mega feast, for its annual conference, to be held in Goromonzi, next week.
Zimbabwe is on the brink of man-made starvation, with 60% of the population now considered food-insecure – UN expert @HilalElver, recently revealed in a damning report.
The report further states, “In rural areas, a staggering 5.5 million people are currently facing food insecurity, as poor rains and erratic weather patterns are impacting harvests and livelihoods”, she said. “In urban areas, an estimated 2.2 million people are food-insecure and lack access to minimum public services, including health and safe water”.
All this is nothing to the ruling party, with reports that it has secured, 67 of the 150 beasts to be slaughtered during the annual conference to be held in Goromonzi next week, where it expects to spend over $5 million to feed at least 7 000 delegates. The beasts sourced from party members — among them legislators, provincial members and supporting partners — will be kept at a paddock near the venue, Goromonzi High School. Zanu PF Mashonaland East provincial secretary for administration Kudzai Majuru said they had started collecting the cattle. “After all the pledges, we have started collecting 67 beasts that we are assured of getting. Starting from today (yesterday), the truck is already moving around collecting the cattle to be kept at a paddock near the conference venue. We are happy with the progress so far and we are well on course as far as the preparations are concerned,” he said recently. The Zanu PF provincial leadership recently said the party wanted to source 400 goats and5 000 chickens to feed the 7 000 delegates expected to grace the event. Zanu PF has a penchant for splashing huge amounts of money during its functions, with government departments such as Zesa Holdings, Zimbabwe National Water (Zinwa) and TelOne, among others, chipping in as well. Currently, the District Development Fund and Zinwa have drilled four boreholes at the venue, while roads have been graded and resurfaced bringing a new look in the district that has poor infrastructure despite its proximity to the capital city. Roads that link to schools providing accommodation like St Johns High have been worked on, while the one linking to Chinyika Clinic has been rehabilitated. Newsday
Farai Dziva|Marvelous Nakamba’s Aston Villa restricted Manchester United to a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford.
Dean Smith’s men arrived at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ oozing with confidence after dispatching Newcastle at Villa Park last Monday and dully took the lead in the 11th minute through an absolute stunner from skipper Jack Glealish.
They thought they had doubled their lead moments later but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) ruled out Trezeguet’s goal for offside.
On the stroke of half- time, Marcus Rashford headed home United’s equalizer. A goal apiece at the break.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men came back for the second stanza looking more dangerous and defender Victor Lindelof nodded them in front for the first time in the game with a header into the top corner.
Villa restored parity minutes later through Tyrone Mings and that would be the last goal of the game as the two sides settled for a share of the spoils.
Nakamba did not feature as he was was an unused substitute through out the game.
Walter Magaya’s birthday jacket was on Saturday auctioned for US$12 000.
Congregants at Prophetic Healing and Deliverance bid for his birthday party attire at his belated birthday party that was held at Yadah Hotel on Saturday.
Shocked by the pledge, prophet Magaya donated the money to a group of women to buy their sanitary wear saying many were failing to afford the sanitary wear due to economic hardships.Credit H-Metro
The MDC Youth Assembly detests state (mis) behavior whereby the police and military personnel connived to spray live bullets and chemical weapons on the People’s President, Nelson Chamisa and innocent civilians in Marondera yesterday.
It is devoid of logic that at a time when the nation is yearning for a Midas touch on health services and other basics, Emmerson Mnangagwa’s failed regime chose to provide bullets and teargas instead of the much needed health support.
In a week where UN Special Rapporteur on food security, Ms Hilal Elver thronged our shores and gave a damning assessment of a country facing starvation, Mr Mnangagwa’s police state sought to arrest hunger by spraying bullets on its own citizens.
Afforestation and reforestation have been sounded out as low cost remedies to climate change whose effects directly impact on food security and to their credit the MDC leadership chose to lead from the front by undertaking a tree planting program starting in Marondera on the International Tree Planting Day.
Overtly the Marondera program was a good cause but somehow this military regime in its wisdom or lack of it chose to exhibit its cowboy mentality by spraying live bullets on people working towards a noble cause.
Ironically Emmerson Mnangagwa and cabal held their own gathering in Kadoma in the very same week without any disturbances from security agents.
Save for noise pollution to the Kadoma neighborhood, the Mnangagwa gathering served no purpose nor benefit to the starving ordinary citizens!
It is no secret that our people are facing multi layered challenges ranging from ever rising prices of basic commodities, empty hospitals and power outages.
The last and worst thing our hungry people need right now are bullets and teargas!
It has become clear that this heartless regime instead of arresting hunger and poverty, has become an enzyme that aid in exterminating its own citizens through bullets and chemical weapons.
As the MDC Youth Assembly, we would like to warn the irresponsible state security agents that they are taking more than which they can chew!
From 01 August 2018 to Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House police violence, surely we have had enough of this nonsense!
We have been pushed too far and like any other normal beings we are forced to retaliate in the best suitable fashion!
Stephen Sarkozy Chuma MDCYouthAssemblyNationalSpokesperson
Farai Dziva| Government functionaries have been stunned by the decision by a Chinese company, R and F to pull out of a deal to acquire a stake in ZISCO.
According to the Herald, the government wanted to renegotiate the deal, agreed on under the previous administration.
“R and F wrote to the Government advising that it was no longer interested. The parties could not agree after the new dispensation ordered the deal to be re-looked into.
There are several issues the Government was not happy with. It is not like the Government wanted to side line the investor, but wanted a win-win situation.
Under the deal, R and F would have acquired ZISCO’s majority shareholding, thus paving the way for the resuscitation of the iron and steel plant at a cost of US$1 billion,” a source told the state run publication.
Farai Dziva|The Highlanders executive will meet today to decide whether the club will participate in the 2020/21 CAF Confederation Cup season.
The Bulawayo giants sealed their place at the inter-club tournament after beating Ngezi Platinum Stars 1-0 in the Chibuku Super Cup.
Bosso last took part in continental competitions in 2008, and in 2012 they withdrew just before the preliminary round started, a move that attracted with a three-year ban from CAF.
The suspension saw them barred from participating in the 2014 Confederation Cup after winning the Mbada Diamonds Cup.
Speaking to Chronicle, Highlanders chairman Kenneth Mhlophe said after their executive meeting they will forward the matter to the board, with the final decision expected at the end of this week.
“On Monday we will have a meeting as an executive to map the way forward,” said Mhlophe.
“Remember, playing in Africa needs adequate resources and planning, so we have to sit down, present the case to the board and come up with a decision that is good for the survival of the club.
“We will also engage our sponsors on the issue before making a decision. We don’t want to rush and confirm our participation before addressing key issues. We also don’t want to get the club sanctioned by Caf for failing to participate. I think by the end of the week, a decision would have been made.”
The leadership of ZAPU was defined by sharp age difference. The youth who were radical and the adults who were diplomatic. The youthful leaders realised that the old political methods had failed and that a new leadership had to be found to confront the enemy by force of arms led to the formation of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). From its inception, ZANU aimed at armed struggle as the main thrust of national effort. The only language which could be understood by the colonisers was a message from the gun. The barrel of the gun was the best way to achieve independence. The youth have understood that one needs violence to stop violence. It was only war which brings peace and the freedom of Zimbabwe is watered by the blood of the heros. Within a few months of its formation it began recruiting cadres for training in China and Ghana.
ZANU agitated for political change leading to majority rule based on one man, one vote. ZANU, however, went further by emphasizing that one man, one vote could only be gained by an armed revolutionary struggle. The unilateral declaration of independence in 1965 rendered the traditional political methods of struggle (strikes, demonstrations, noncollaboration, and appeals to Britain) impotent. In fact, both ZANU and the People’s Caretaker Council had been banned in August 1964, leaving them no option but to operate as underground movements. In those circumstances, external bases became necessary, and these were established in Zambia and Tanzania. As Mozambique became independent, another base area presented itself. In April 1966 ZANU engaged the enemy in what has become known as the Battle of Sinoia. That battle inspired many other encounters with the enemy during 1966–68. ZANU reckons that the second War of Liberation (Chimurenga II) began in April 1966. It became evident that the strategy of conventional battles was costly in terms of losses—human and material—because the enemy was stronger in manpower and equipment. A revision of strategy and tactics was called for, and a period of tutelage of ZANU cadres occurred in the Tete area of Mozambique between 1970 and 1972. ZANU then relaunched the struggle in December 1972, in the northeastern part of Zimbabwe, after having cultivated popular support over a period of nearly two years. Thenceforth, the struggle was sustained until the cease-fire arranged under the Lancaster House Agreement, save for a brief period in 1974–75 under a détente arrangement.
In the wake of the détente exercise, sharp contradictions developed in ZANLA, the armed wing of ZANU, as some commanders turned renegade after being infiltrated by the enemy. The enemy strategy was clearly to destroy the forces that now covered most of the northeastern zone. Thomas Nhari and Dakarai Badza, who became leaders of the rebellion, kidnapped some members of DARE (the Revolutionary Council) headed by Herbert Chitepo, and at the rear camp base of Chifombo, on the Zambian side near Tete, they assassinated scores of cadres, male and female, for refusing to join them. Nevertheless, the rebellion was crushed.
The enemy was not deterred by this failure. Within four months of the release of the detained nationalist leaders as a result of the détente, Herbert Chitepo was killed on March 18, 1975, when a bomb blew up his car. For most of 1975 the armed struggle made no progress and indeed suffered serious reversals, especially since the newly formed ANC umbrella organization, led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa, had neither direction nor set purpose other than that of stopping the war and negotiating with the Smith regime. The ZANU wing of the new composite body felt offended by the tactics employed against them by the front-line states (Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana, and Angola), which had coerced them into joining the ANC.
Following the shocking death of Herbert Chitepo, the ZANU Central Committee met in March 1975 to review the party’s strategy. It was decided at that meeting that the Robert Mugabe then secretary-general of the party, should leave the country immediately for Mozambique and Tanzania where he would undertake the reorganization of the party’s external wing and its fighting wing, ZANLA. Mugabe requested that a companion, Edgar Tekere, then secretary for youth in ZANU, accompany him. On April 4, 1975, they left for the eastern border where, at Nyafaro, they were joined by Chief Tangwena who led them into Mozambique.
The Conflict Intensifies
The failure of the Victoria Falls talks held between the Smith delegation and that of the ANC led by Bishop Muzorewa convinced the front-line states that Smith was still not amenable to political change. There was no alternative but the continuation of the liberation war, which was rekindled in January 1976 using Mozambique as a rear base. After some dissension the ZANLA commanders finally began to work in unison, expanding their military zones stage by stage and transforming many of them into liberated and semiliberated zones. By 1978 the armed struggle had had such remarkable progress that the collapse of the Smith regime was just a matter of time. But between the Victoria Falls conference in 1975 and the final constitutional conference at Lancaster House in 1979, two other constitutional conferences occurred: the 1976 Geneva Conference based on the Kissinger proposals and the meetings based on the Anglo-American proposals, held first in Malta in January 1978 and then in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, in March 1978.
As the idea of a conference to discuss the plan proposed by U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger—which aimed at stopping the war on the basis of ultimate majority rule—took shape, all the leaders of the nationalist groups were invited to a meeting with the front-line states. At this meeting ZANU stood as ZANU for the first time. The meeting had been called to provide a forum for reaching some modicum of unity on nationalist strategy for the prosecution of the struggle. As this could not be done with the ANC, now completely divorced from the war, Pres. Julius Nyerere of Tanzania took various nationalist leaders aside and advised them to form a political front so the political leadership could agree on a common political strategy for the proposed Geneva Conference. It was this idea that led to the formation of the Patriotic Front, which was to adopt a common position for all future constitutional conferences. The Geneva Conference, however, was a fiasco. Smith would not accept the British proposals and the Patriotic Front rejected the Kissinger plan completely.
ZANU strategy following the failure of the Geneva Conference was twofold. First, the ZANU leadership had to be restructured. Second, the liberation war had to be intensified, and more arms had to be procured from allies and friends. The political restructuring of ZANU affected mainly the composition of its Central Committee. At a meeting held at a ZANLA military rear base outside Chimoio which lasted for nearly two weeks, it was decided that the new Central Committee would consist of elected members chosen from various constituencies. It was at this meeting that the Mugabe was elected president of the party; Simon Muzenda, vice-president; Edgar Tekere, secretary-general; Josiah Tongogara, secretary of defense; Meya Urimbo, national political commissar; Teurai Ropa, secretary of women’s affairs; and several others to various positions. For the first time, several members of the ZANLA high command were now also members of the Central Committee so that they too could participate in the policymaking function of the party. The successful restructuring of the party marked a final phase in the protracted effort to save ZANU and establish it as the national vanguard movement.
At the end of 1977, Britain and the United States published their so-called Anglo-American proposals. The result was the Malta meeting between the Patriotic Front and an Anglo-American team at which the Patriotic Front emphasized the need for accepting certain fundamental democratic principles, such as universal adult suffrage, free elections, restructuring of public service, and the disbanding of the Smith regime’s illegal army. Negotiations on these principles failed.
In the absence of a political solution, armed struggle remained the only option open to ZANU. Formation of the Patriotic Front had resulted in the recruitment of many cadres for the military struggle, but these activities became confined to the northwest and western areas of Zimbabwe and never reached the magnitude of the more comprehensive and more effective ZANLA operations. They complemented the ZANLA operations, however, and by the end of 1979 martial law had been extended to 95% of the country. Between December 1972 and December 1979 (when a cease-fire was agreed to at Lancaster House) the death toll amounted to about 20,000 people. The “internal settlement” of 1978 that gave rise to the Muzorewa regime in what was called Zimbabwe-Rhodesia only worsened the situation and invited more daring raids from the guerrilla forces.
ZANU, having concentrated on party restructuring in 1977, termed 1978 the Year of the People, when the party and the people would be united so that ZANU and the people would be one. The following year, 1979, was designated Year of the People’s Storm (Gore regukurahundi), when the struggle would escalate and enemy bases and administrative centres would be stormed and destroyed. The collapse of the Muzorewa-Smith regime was inevitable. On Aug. 1, 1979, a few days before the Commonwealth heads of government meeting opened in Lusaka, Zambia, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher told the British Parliament that her government was “wholly committed to genuine majority rule in Rhodesia.” The Commonwealth meeting produced an agreement on Rhodesia that recognized the principle of new elections based on one man, one vote under British authority. Britain undertook to convene a constitutional conference to be attended by both the black and white leadership. A cease-fire also had to be established to create an atmosphere of peace for the nation.
The Lancaster House conference was attended by the Patriotic Front (ZANU and ZAPU) delegation, jointly led by the Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo, and by the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia delegation, with Bishop Muzorewa, Silas Mundawarara, Ian Smith, and Ndabaningi Sithole as the principal members. The British delegation was led by Lord Carrington, who chaired the conference. Lord Carrington’s diplomacy was characterized by a bias in favour of the Muzorewa group. Muzorewa’s strategy became one of refraining from opposing any of the British constitutional proposals, and the Patriotic Front poked fun at his delegation and referred to its members as “the yes men.” On the other hand, the Patriotic Front put up a firm and principled stand and won some useful concessions, although they too conceded ground. They refused to be driven into walking out of the conference, as desired by the Muzorewa group and some members of the British team. The proposals that caused serious debate were: 1. The composition of the House of Assembly and Senate which granted disproportionate racial representation to the white community. In the House of Assembly they have 20 out of 100 seats, and in the Senate 10 out of 40 seats. 2. The need to pay prompt and adequate compensation for the deprivation of property especially as this affected the right to acquire land for the resettlement of the peasants. The issue here was that Britain had to raise large funds for this purpose. 3. A constitutional amendment procedure requiring 100% concurrence of the total membership of the House of Assembly on certain issues.
4. The cease-fire arrangements and positioning of the warring forces during the cease-fire. 5. The status of the guerrilla forces which Lord Carrington finally accepted as “lawful forces,” while at the same time refusing to accord them an equal status with the white Rhodesian ones. The Zimbabwe constitution agreed at the Lancaster House conference and granted by Britain represents a hard-earned political victory achieved principally through a sustained and bitter armed struggle. It was far from perfect, but it contained more positive than negative aspects and, insofar as it granted independence within a democratic political order, it constituted a viable base on which political power could be built. It was basically this inherent potential that made it acceptable to the Patriotic Front.
The constitution is the supreme law of the country. There is also a formidable Declaration of Rights enshrining the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual and protecting the rights to life, personal liberty, and freedom from slavery, forced labour, and inhuman treatment. It grants protection against the arbitrary deprivation of property and arbitrary searches of persons or their property. It secures the protection of the law, the protection of the freedoms of conscience, of expression, of assembly, and of association. It also protects freedom of movement and forbids discrimination on the grounds of race, tribe, place of origin, political opinion, colour, or creed. The constitution creates the usual organs of government—Parliament, which consists of the Senate and a House of Assembly; the Executive, whose authority is vested in the president acting on the advice of the Cabinet; and the Judiciary. Elections to the House of Assembly are every five years and on the basis of adult suffrage (18 years and upward).
A New Nation is Born The first elections were held in early March 1980, and of the 80 common roll seats, ZANU (PF) won 57, PF (ZAPU) won 20, and the UANC 3. All the 20 white seats were won by the Rhodesia Front (now the Republican Front). The Senate, 14 of whose seats are filled by an electoral college of the common roll seat holders in the House of Assembly, is dominated by representatives of ZANU (PF).
The resounding ZANU (PF) electoral victory was undoubtedly an expression of the unity and solidarity built over many years between the party and the people through the instrumentality of the armed struggle. The Rhodesia public, for years fed on propaganda that Robert Mugabe was a rabid racist full of animosity and vindictiveness, was shocked to hear the new prime minister call, in his first post-election address to the nation, for national reconciliation so that those who had been enemies might recognize their inevitable oneness as dedicated Zimbabweans with a common destiny. The prime minister proceeded to demonstrate the meaning of national unity and reconciliation by including in his Cabinet four (now five) ZAPU members and two whites (one later resigned for reasons of health). ZAPU also has three deputy ministers. Another dimension of the prime minister’s policy of reconciliation was a request to Lord Soames, who administered the country during the three-month transitional period, to join hands with him in running the country until independence. Under a gentlemen’s agreement, Lord Soames remained governor until April 18, 1980, when the Union Jack gave way to the Zimbabwe flag. Confidence having been established, the most urgent tasks of the new government became the creation of greater peace, the unity of the people, the resettlement of refugees, the rehabilitation of communities affected by the war, and the rebuilding of the economy. Homes were quickly found for the refugees returning from Mozambique, Zambia, and Botswana, numbering a quarter million, and the internally displaced persons, numbering nearly two million, and they were given plots for cultivation.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, other international agencies, and friendly countries assisted generously with resettlement aid. The program went so smoothly that, despite the existing land hunger among the peasants, a bumper maize (corn) harvest has been realized. The manufacturing, commercial, and mining sectors also performed well during the first year of independence, and a growth rate of 14% was achieved, most of it due to the manufacturing sector. The need for new machinery and spare parts, however, stands in the way of greater expansion.
Zimbabwe’s mineral resources include gold, chrome, asbestos, nickel, iron ore, coal, copper, tin, and emeralds. Its major agricultural products are tobacco, maize, cotton, wheat, sugar, groundnuts (peanuts), soybeans, beef, and dairy products. The country’s infrastructure—its railway and road systems, hydroelectric and water systems—is very sound, despite a current railway locomotive shortage and a need for better roads in the rural areas.
The Task Ahead
In March 1981 the government convened a Zimbabwe Conference on Reconstruction and Development (Zimcord). During the Lancaster House conference, Britain had proposed that, since the resources it was able to give Zimbabwe would be inadequate, it could help Zimbabwe sponsor a donors’ conference to solicit aid for land development and reconstruction. The Zimbabwe Ministry of Economic Planning and Development took the proposal seriously, assessed the financial requirements needed over a three-year Transitional National Development Plan, and convened the conference in Salisbury. It had been estimated that Z$1.2 billion would be needed, but in reality about Z$1.3 billion was pledged by donor countries, the largest single amounts coming from Britain and the United States. Soon the Transitional National Development Plan will be announced. Its emphasis will be on raising the development in the peasant sector, neglected for decades by successive colonial regimes.
During the war years the Zimbabwe African National Union adopted a socialist philosophy based on Marxist-Leninist principles. Socialism is the guiding philosophy of the present government. Upon the attainment of independence, however, the government made it clear that its programs would occur in a socioeconomic context in which the historical, traditional, and objective circumstances of the country were recognized. Outright nationalization of the various sectors is not a feasible proposition, given the lack of technology, managerial skills, business experience, and even ideological consciousness among the majority of the people. The working class must first develop worker consciousness in terms of its roles, needs, and duties. Similarly, the workers’ technical and managerial skills must be substantially developed before any self-management programs can be undertaken.
Most of these aspects will be taken care of under the development plan, which is the formulation of the policy enunciated as “Growth with Equity” in preparation for Zimcord. To the extent that the promised funds become available, it should be possible to fulfill most of the objectives the government is setting for itself and for the people during the next three years.
Since its assumption of power the present government has taken some revolutionary steps in reforming the socioeconomic system. Primary education has been made free, and health care free for all those earning less than Z$150 dollars a month.
Secondary education is now available for every child who completes his or her primary education, although this is not yet free. Racial discrimination has been abolished. The public service is fast being africanized. The monthly minimum wage, starting at Z$75 in July 1980, went up to Z$85 in January 1981 and to Z$105 in January 1982 for industrial, mining, and commercial workers, although the monthly minimum wage for farm and domestic workers has risen only from Z$30 to Z$50 over the period. Zimbabwe has become a member of the Organization of African Unity, the United Nations and agencies, the Nonaligned Movement, and several other international organizations. It has, by joining the Nonaligned Movement, declared itself committed to the principles of that organization. Within the southern African region, Zimbabwe found itself, upon independence, within the brotherhood of the front-line states. It thus participates in discussions and consultations regularly held by these states on matters of mutual concern, especially on the problems posed by the system of apartheid in South Africa and that country’s continued illegal occupation of Namibia in defiance of the United Nations, as well as by its acts of unprovoked aggression and sabotage against neighbouring states. Alongside other front-line states, Zimbabwe insists that Namibia must be granted independence on the basis of the UN Security Council Resolution 435, which was passed in 1978.
Zimbabwe has also become a member of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference, whose inaugural meeting was held in Arusha, Tanzania, in 1979, followed by a conference held in Lusaka of heads of government of nine southern African states: Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Malawi. The objectives of SADCC are stated in the Lusaka Declaration of April 1, 1980: 1. The reduction of economic dependence, particularly, but not only, on the Republic of South Africa. 2. The forging of links to create a genuine and equitable regional integration. 3. The mobilization of resources to promote the implementation of national, interstate, and regional policies. 4. Concerted action to secure international cooperation within the framework of our strategy for economic liberation.
In July 1981 a summit meeting was held in Salisbury to appraise the work so far accomplished at the ministerial level of SADCC. Each of the members has been assigned a task. Zimbabwe is to develop a Southern African Food Security Plan. A simple coordinative machinery was also decided upon. The headquarters would be in Gaberones and the president of Botswana, Quett Masire, would remain as chairman of SADCC. Zimbabwe was chosen to provide an executive secretary. These two officials, assisted by a secretariat in Gaberones, will have the responsibility to steer, coordinate, and administer the work of SADCC.
Zimbabwe submitted its nominee for the post of executive secretary to SADCC and at the present writing approval is still being awaited. We should never take our independence for granted. There is no age limit in guarding our freedom. Blood flow in the bushes caves and villages. The freedom fighters were prepared to shed the last drop of blood in exchange of freedom.
Part of the article adopted from RG Mugabe writings.
Own Correspondent | As the Chinese government continues to openly show its hand in the volatile local politics, the country’s deputy ambassador to Zimbabwe, Zhao Baogang, has controversially called out ‘ chameleon’ Jonathan Moyo.
Baogang, was responding to Moyo’s assertions in a recent widely circulated interview that Zimbabwe was a puppet of the Chinese government. He took to Twitter, posting a curt response to the exiled academic and politician Moyo :“in the past decades he changed colors many time just for power.he is power thirsty and his words never believable.”
To which a visibly annoyed Moyo, attacked the diplomat back posting a response: “
Obviously democracy is alien to your communist self. It’s your coup colours that are now known to Zimbabweans. Just because you got away with murder in 2017, does not mean you’ll cross that river at the same place again. You’ll soon learn that Zimbabwe is not chicken business!”
Below is the interview, published in the local daily Newsday, in which Moyo gives his views on role of the Chinese government, that Baogang who was at the airport to welcome General Constantino Chiwenga, back from China, was forced to respond to. Jonathan Moyo | What happened has no precedence, save perhaps in banana republics. And the fact that it happened the way it did, has certified Zimbabwe as a banana republic. You cannot have the senior vice-president, who had been away critically ill and was receiving treatment in China for some five months, returning on a special Chinese plane to be received by China’s deputy ambassador in Harare, who was head of the welcoming party with no government or ruling party officials. That’s unheard of. The inescapable impression, if not reality, is that China was demonstrating its muscles and exposing Zimbabwe as a Chinese puppet.
While it is tempting to conclude that the Chinese did not give the Zimbabwean government flight arrival details, which is not sustainable because Chiwenga’s Zimbabwean security was there in numbers, this clearly means that things have fallen apart. There’s now a shell of a government with no centre.
Zanu PF bigwigs did not expect Chiwenga to return, looking brand new, with the Chinese calling the shots and Zimbabweans playing second fiddle. Mnangagwa was offering Joice Mujuru the vice-presidency held by Chiwenga, while Zanu PF bigwigs were busy jostling for the same position and harassing Chiwenga’s allies in the military, government and in Zanu PF; and hoping that the party’s Goromonzi conference would consign Chiwenga to the dustbin of political history.
So, the return of a well-made up and well-groomed Chiwenga, with a presidential look, has turned things upside down in the corridors of power. A different power matrix is definitely loading, and the question is not whether it will materialise, but how it will do so and when.
In another act of provocation the police yesterday fired live shots aimed at the People’s President Advocate Nelson Chamisa.
The action by police in the past weeks have shown that Mnangagwa is worse than Ian Douglas Smith and Robert Mugabe.
The continuous use of force by the police shows that Zimbabwe is far away from implementing the much needed reforms.
And instead of giving peace a chance the government is pushing the citizenry to retaliate and defend themselves.
As a province we feel Mr Mnangagwa’s government is attacking the people’s president to trigger social unrest.
Retaliation is what the Gukurahundi architect is waiting for so that he can justify another Gukurahundi.
The attack on the president shows a government that is in panic mode, a government that thrives on cannibalism, a government that wants threaten the citizenry.
What they are not realising is that by joining the democratic struggle shows that we are ready to pay the ultimate price. No amount of intimidation, maiming, torturing and subjugation of our rights will deter us.
We will definitely not retreat nor surrender till the fruition of our goal, which is the achievement of an egalitarian society.
Farai Dziva|The country’s main opposition party, MDC, has described the firing of bullets at Nelson Chamisa as a desperate attempt by Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to cow the youthful leader into submission.
See statement below:
MDC SA PROVINCE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
(Office of the Provincial Communications Secretary)
The MDC SA Province condemns the acts of babarism exihibited by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police,acting on instructions from the Mnangagwa regime.
We condemn the firing of bullets at the people’s presidential choice President Nelson Chamisa in Marondera.
We want to warn these Zanu pf thugs against injuring the anointed one.There is noone with monopoly over violence.We are a social democratic and non violent people,but we will never tolerate seeing ourselves always at the receiving end of the Zanu pf brutality for over two decades now.Enough is enough.
The attempted assassination of our president is a slap in our face and a provocation which we will never tolerate at all.
Mnangagwa be warned.
On behalf of MDC SA COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
Innocent Nsingo
(MDC SA COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY)
+27731355093
(Office of the Provincial Communications Secretary)
The MDC SA Province condemns the acts of terror exihibited by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, acting on instructions from the Mnangagwa regime.
We condemn the firing of bullets at the people’s presidential choice President Nelson Chamisa in Marondera.
We want to warn these Zanu pf thugs against injuring the anointed one.There is noone with monopoly over violence.We are a social democratic and non violent people,but we will never tolerate seeing ourselves always at the receiving end of the Zanu pf brutality for over two decades now.Enough is enough.
The attempted assassination of our president is a slap in our face and a provocation which we will never tolerate at all.
Mnangagwa be warned.
On behalf of MDC SA COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
Innocent Nsingo
(MDC SA COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY)
+27731355093
The shooting of live bullets, a confirmation of the state’s addiction to violence.
On Sunday the 1st of December, the violent regime unleashed yet another another section of the state apparatus in their desperate show of power.
The ZANU-PF led government has for long come to terms with the reality that they are unpopular and too weak to convince the nation hence they have mastered the regrettable art of coercion.
Yesterday was one such day of many others when madness superseded rationality resulting in the unjustified, unnecessary and uncalled for firing of live bullets.
The people’s President Advocate Nelson Chamisa was in Marondera for the tree planting day ceremony were he was to plant trees in selected areas within the municipal area. Just the knowledge that he will be stepping on the Marondera soil, as usual sent the state into panic which led to deployment of several heavily armed police officers. Shockingly, the activation of the police officers was directed to people who were only armed with tree seedlings to champion a sustainable green environment.
This was the state’s strategy to bar the people’s President from showing leadership to the nation, which he has always done even in the face of state sponsored multi-faceted prohibitions. Yesterday’s events led to the firing of live bullets in the direction of President Chamisa. This clearly shows that the idea was to shoot the people’s President, something which deserves utmost condemnation and action.
I have read some lame tweet from the state, which tried to justify and sanitize the evil act. We would like to categorically state that no amount of word weaving will transform such acts of madness into sense. The fundamental point to note is that, lives are precious and peace is priceless. We do not at any point as a nation deserve violence especially from the state which has a responsility to protect citizens. Those who were behind the acts must be brought to book because such is unacceptable from professional police officers.
We call upon the police commissioner to provide us with all the names of those who were on duty in Marondera at the particular time. This will help not only the nation but even the esteemed police services to know individuals with terroristic tendencies in their midst.
We may not be armed with guns and bullets; but we are armed with people and love. We will not tire in working with the people in showing our unconditional love for the nation. We shall unreservedly show love for the nation by working towards a new Zimbabwe, where all freedoms are upheld, where justice prevails and where solidarity defines us.
Obey Sithole
MDC Youth Chairperson
December 2, 2019.
Farai Dziva|A daring Chivi man forced himself on his former employer’s sister to recover unpaid wages.
According to New Ziana, Solomon Chikono, (25), of Mavuto Village, Headman Watungwa, Chief Chivi, was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment by Masvingo regional magistrate Dambudzo Malunga.
Chikono has previous rape convictions.
He raped his victim twice on the same night with each of the two counts attracting a sentence of nine years, with six months suspended for each count.
He will, however, serve an effective 16 years and six months after a further two years of the total sentence were conditionally suspended for five years.
Following the solidarity meeting we had today, it was agreed that we should STOP applying because HLF is trying to arm-twist us into accepting.
We have received information that members are now being forced to sign assumption of duty, which is now forcing our members back to work, also the government is asking for a list of those who applied which shows their finger in this HLF plan.
So we are advising our members to withhold the HLF application processes with immediate effect
We will patiently wait in the trenches until there is a reasonable offer from the government.
ALUTA
Farai Dziva|The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association has indicated that its members are being forced to sign assumption of duty forms.
See statement below:
02/12/19 URGENT ZHDA UPDATE
RE: HIGHERLIFE FOUNDATION OFFER
Following the solidarity meeting we had today, it was agreed that we should STOP applying because HLF is trying to arm-twist us into accepting.
We have received information that members are now being forced to sign assumption of duty, which is now forcing our members back to work, also the government is asking for a list of those who applied which shows their finger in this HLF plan.
So we are advising our members to withhold the HLF application processes with immediate effect
We will patiently wait in the trenches until there is a reasonable offer from the government.
ALUTA
Farai Dziva|The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA ) has indicated that its members are being forced to sign assumption of duty forms.
See statement below:
02/12/19 URGENT ZHDA UPDATE
RE: HIGHERLIFE FOUNDATION OFFER
Following the solidarity meeting we had today, it was agreed that we should STOP applying because HLF is trying to arm-twist us into accepting.
We have received information that members are now being forced to sign assumption of duty, which is now forcing our members back to work, also the government is asking for a list of those who applied which shows their finger in this HLF plan.
So we are advising our members to withhold the HLF application processes with immediate effect
We will patiently wait in the trenches until there is a reasonable offer from the government.
ALUTA
