Hundreds of people who braved the blazing heat to march to the National Sports Stadium on Friday morning seemed to have had their hearts set on food rather than the anti-sanctions programme.

A crowd stayed outside the giant stadium to get food handouts even after the presidential motorcade had arrived. An elderly woman, who received fried chips, chicken and Pepsi as the rest of the marchers, said:

This is a great day, I last ate Chicken Slice many years ago because of the cost, but today, because the President has called us to march against sanctions, we are eating the meat. Everything is good now.

A Harare South resident who identified himself as Munyaradzi Chitima said sanctions mean high fuel prices since Zimbabwe has to buy fuel at higher prices than other countries.

American Ambassador Brian Nichols might soon find himself being disciplined by the Zimbabwean government after his vocal stance that Zimbabwe was suffering because of corruption that being allegedly implemented by the officials in Harare.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information said, “I have a warm and friendly relationship with all diplomats accredited to Zimbabwean I have had interactions with and I don’t go personal on anyone. But I think some of the diplomats we host in this country have lost diplomatic etiquette and have become political activists.”

Mangwana’s statements attracted backlash from former G40 members Beauty Zhuwao and Walter Mzembi who told him that the ZANU PF strategy towards sanctions was wrong.

“A whole bira outside the American embassy, is that diplomatic? How do you expect them to respond?” Zhuwao said.

Mzembi told Mangwana to styudy sanctions in Cuba first: “Quiet state diplomacy and vuvuzela public diplomacy Nick Mangwana attract different responses. You contracted lobbyists for sanctions review and decided to march at the same time, there was serious backfiring. Understudy Cuba sanctions and responses first.”

A member of Presidential Advisory Council Trevor Ncube said the caliber of western diplomats was worrying.

“I have recently been concerned about the caliber of western diplomats posted to Zimbabwe. Today’s tweeting from some diplomatic missions reminded me the current crop is no different from cub reporters. No nuance, diplomacy or etiquette all.”

Source – Byo24

Public Designation of Owen Ncube, Due to Involvement in Gross Violations of Human Rights, under Section 7031(c) of the FY 2019 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act
PRESS STATEMENT

MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE

Today, the Department designates Owen Ncube under Section 7031(c) of the FY 2019 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act (Div. F, P.L. 116-6), as carried forward by the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020 (Div. A, P.L. 116-59) due to his involvement in gross violations of human rights.

Section 7031(c) provides that, in cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that foreign officials have been involved in significant corruption or a gross violation of human rights, those individuals are ineligible for entry into the United States and may be publically or privately designated as such by the Secretary of State.

The Department has credible information that Owen Ncube was involved in gross violations of human rights in his capacity as Zimbabwe’s Minister of State for National Security.

We are deeply troubled by the Zimbabwean government’s use of state-sanctioned violence against peaceful protestors, and civil society, as well as against labour leaders and members of the opposition leaders in Zimbabwe.

We urge the government to stop the violence, investigate, and hold accountable officials responsible for human rights violations and abuses in Zimbabwe.

U.S. sanctions target those who engage in corruption, violate human rights, and undermine democratic institutions or processes.

State-sanctioned violence creates a culture of impunity for human rights abusers. The United States continues to support the Zimbabwean people in need, especially through humanitarian and health assistance.

We will continue to press the Government of Zimbabwe to implement necessary political and economic reforms to provide Zimbabwean citizens with the prosperity, security, and well-being they deserve.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa risk facing a spontaneous mass uprising from the people of Zimbabwe if he does not deal with the escalating price of electricity a political analyst has said.

In the recent past Zimbabweans have taken to social media to express their displeasure at the way that the electricity tariffs have increased.

Social activist Thandeka Moyo posted on Twitter saying, “I’m traumatised beyond measure, the 48 units of power I bought on Tuesday at a whopping $200 just ran out. What’s your ZESA situation like guys? How are you managing? You all seem unbothered. Could this be a unique problem or targeted sanctions against me maybe?”

One Wonder Bhaku said, “Some of us have since stopped using our stoves. We are only using ZESA for pressing, lights and fridges. Power is now beyond the reach of many! We are bothered and we could be demonstrating if they don’t shoot protestors to kill!”

Political analyst Shephard Dube said these kind of situations were a breeding ground for mass uprisings.

Said Dube, “What you are seeing now happening is what happens when a spontaneous genuine mass uprising is about to take place. People in urban areas are now complaining about the electricity tariffs which are affecting their homes and their business since most of them are self-employed.

“Remember the recent uprising in Sudan was because of the price of bread. So Mnangagwa must be aware lest an un coordinated no- partisan uprising takes place and he won’t be able to shoot them all as he did in January. The MDC has been failing to organise people because there is to attain a political gain but when the masses rise up to demand electricity and their livelihoods you will see soon an unstoppable incessant wave that will topple the regime in Harare.”

An average family now uses an electricity of about $200 yet civil servants earn a salary of $500.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe’s state security minister over what it says is credible information of his involvement in “gross violations of human rights”.

The State Department said on Friday it would deny entry into the US to Owen Ncube. 

“We are deeply troubled by the Zimbabwean government’s use of state-sanctioned violence against peaceful protestors, and civil society, as well as against labour leaders and members of the opposition leaders in Zimbabwe,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

“We urge the government to stop the violence, investigate and hold accountable officials responsible for human rights violations and abuses in Zimbabwe,” he said.

Zimbabwe has seen numerous anti-government protests this year, mostly brought about by the failing economy which has rendered about 5 million citizens dependent on aid.

There have been a number of reports of torture and abductions as authorities try to crack down on such insurgence.

The United Nations special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association expressed concern about “excessive military force” in Zimbabwe, in a report released late in September. 

Last month, doctors took to the streets after Peter Magombeyi, their union leader and one of the organizers of an effort to demand higher wages for state doctors, went missing.

Ncube said at the time that Magombeyi’s case was being treated as a disappearance, not an abduction, as his colleagues have alleged.

Human rights groups say they have recorded more than 20 cases of abductions of activists by state security agents since January. The government denies any involvement.

The US’s move against Ncube came as thousands of Zimbabweans rallied in the country’s capital, Harare, in support of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s call on the US and the European Union to lift sanctions imposed against him and other officials over alleged electoral fraud human rights abuses.

Mnangagwa blames the sanctions imposed by the US and European Union since 2001 for Zimbabwe’s economic ills and says they are intended to remove his party from power.

Two years after Zimbabwe’s longtime ruler Robert Mugabe was forced out, people are still grappling with triple-digit inflation and shortages of basic goods like fuel.

Former ZANU PF Youth leader William Mutumanje said, “If Mnangagwa does not fire his political commissar NOW he will not last 6 months. He has turned into political embarrassment home and away. Imagine world leaders listening to that comical speech and taking him seriously.”

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been urged to fire his National Political Commissar Victor Matemadanda due to his failure to organise the much-hyped anti-sanctions march. The nationwide demonstrations were organised by government and ZANU PF structures were organised all over the country to attend the Provincial events.

The events were marked with low attendance with the main one held at the National Sports attracting less than half of its capacity. Social media users compared Matemadanda with the exiled Saviour Kasukuwere who used to fill up all the stadiums during his time as Commissar.

Norton Member of Parliament blamed some ZANU PF Officials for the confusion that led to the low turnout.

“This sanctions march is turning out to be a ZANU PF march; there’s confusion. People from ZANU PF have been given fuel coupons and not the sitting MPs to organise the logistics.” Said Mliswa. “They’re already fighting for those coupons. People like Nduna were given 9k litres. There’s no accountability. There’s just a cartel of people in ZANU PF in there for their own selfish gains.”

Source – Bulawayo24 News

BBC and Al Jazeera have both differed with local media over the turnout at yesterday’s demonstration against US and EU imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe.

While local media labelled the rally a big flop, western media were singing from a different hymn book as they all gave a thumps up to the march that since been condemned as a waste of resources.

ZimEye carried out it’s own investigation using LIVE drone footage and below were our findings.

Below are screenshots from the the BBC and Al Jazeera reports on the anti-sanctions march.

On the 25th of October 2019, a group of Zimbabweans began marching across the capital city Harare. It was a rally march in protest against the said sanctions against the nation of Zimbabwe by Western Nations of the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

The scene for SADC’s Day Against Sanctions was perfect: Africa’s best city with the highest literacy the whole continent, Harare.

Over 60,000 people are expected to crowd up in Harare to complain about restrictive measures slapped against Emmerson Mnangagwa and members of his close clique. The people are not at all the 60,000 but they truly marched in support of Mnangagwa.

Watch video- At anti sanctions March. Why did Zimbabweans snub the event? pic.twitter.com/jbpJT38PcU

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) October 25, 2019

But how many are they?

And of those who were present, how many did it out of conviction? ZimEye followed the crowd all the way to the national sports stadium, by air and road.

ZimEye found a tiny fraction of the envisaged crowd marching into the stadium function which however turned out to be the lowest attended government function since 1980. But why?

Those who attended were given a box each of chicken Slice and a drink free of charge in what appeared like an incentive to attend.

Many of those who attended soon began running away from Mnangagwa while he was speaking and police officers began threatening them so they remain at the premises. But why?

Could the reason be simply this one, which is that the politicians demanding to be removed from the sanctions list are the same criminals who were filmed on ZBC television announcing the use of the army to kill civilians just so to alter the 2018 national election results?

Could it be that these are the same criminals who soon after removing Robert Mugabe in 2017 looted over USD5,9 billion from the central bank, RBZ, in less than 5 months of the November coup?

Could it be that the people knew very well that the natiom of Zimbabwe lost a further USD16billion due to the military operation run to change election results in Aug 2018?

Could it be that the people knew that even the motive to deploy the army to kill people so to change election results was broadcast on ZBC LIVE by Emmerson Mnangagwa’s own office, right in his presence while smiling? Let us not forget that as late as October 2019, a criminal prosecution file was opened in Serbia under international law over the same matter.

Could it be that the citizens of Zimbabwe do not find any sense in recognising a “president” who as late as October 2019 told a business trade meeting in Bulawayo he will kill people who do not agree with him?

The lack of motivation could it be in that the people who are currently running the country are not at all politicians they are a bunch of criminals who according to local and international standards do not belong anywhere but maximum prison? Could it be? Could it be? Could it be? And if it is not, what else is it? All replies to ZimEye –

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

By A Correspondent- There is common wisdom that “change” is the only constant in life and nothing else.

This view is borrowed from an ancient Greek philosopher and means that there is nothing in life which is stationary or will remain the same throughout one’s life.

Even the Bible has it that Saul who was sworn to persecute Christians changed to Paul in Damascus, arguably one of the greatest preachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Baron Dube (44), a popular gold miner who has been involved in numerous deadly turf wars was recently baptised at the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church in Habane, Esigodini. 

For years, Baron’s dark side has graced the media, as one alleged scandal after another painted a picture of him as the type of “sinner” who should be struck with lightning, brimstone and fire. 

However, the soft spoken gold miner has opened a new chapter in his life and turned his heart to God. Dube, who has hogged the limelight for wrong reasons revealed that he got his Damascus moment while he was sleeping about three months ago. He said he heard a small voice whispering in his ear saying he must turn to God.

At first he ignored the voice but he heard  it for the second time and it would not leave his mind even when he was awake. After careful thought, he said, he decided to turn to God. He said turning to God was not an easy decision.

“At first I thought I was making a wrong decision but I summoned courage and went to church. After attending church services for two weeks I accepted Jesus as the Lord and saviour of my  life,” he says.

He says he feels he made a proper decision. “I have no regrets about the decision that I made. Many people were shocked when they  saw me going to church. In the first days   they thought it was just a gimmick to win people’s sympathy since they know me for  wrong reasons. But they had to believe me after they saw me changing from my usual habits of drinking beer to quitting it,” he says.

He said besides hearing the voice pointing him to God, he had often seen the grace  of  God in his  life.

“There are countless incidents I reflect on and see that this was only God. One incident which comes  into my mind is when a nine-member gang   which was armed with spears, machetes and iron bars besieged my  shop with an intention to finish me off. They tried to spear   me but I managed to dodge those weapons and phoned police.  Police came but were overpowered. I had to act in self-defence and hit two who got injured. I was arrested but after a full   trial I was acquitted. In that   incident I suffered a scar in the head and fractured a rib on my left side,” he said. 

His late father, who was a Christian, seems to   have left clear footprints, as a result 11 of  Baron’s siblings have followed in his path.  Now Baron has joined the trek to make it 12 of his father’s children who worship God.

He is hopeful that the mighty hand of the  Lord will touch the two who are still “in the  wilderness”.

“For them it is a matter of time. God’s  time  is the best and they will turn to God ,”he says. 

The married father of 11 children wants  to be a perfect example and symbol of inspiration to his children.

“I want to try to live according to God’s  ways so that my children will follow my footsteps and draw inspiration from my life,” he  said.

Baron lifted the lid about how he was christened. “There was a sangoma popularly known as Sikanga. So, apparently it happened  that when my mother was pregnant, she   experienced intense pains. She consulted Sikanga and he told her that she will give  birth to me and that sangoma named me Baron when I was born on 11 July 1975 in Sanali, Filabusi. 

When all that was happening my   father had gone  to war to liberate our  country from colonial white rule. Sikanga told my mother that I would be big and true to his prediction I weighed 7,9 kg when I was born,” he said. What is in a name?

It seems being born big and overweight has had a bearing in his life. In  the mining industry he is known as a gold  baron because wherever there is a gold rush  his name leads the rest and in most cases where there is a battle for gold claims his  name makes headlines.

“In most cases I target gold rushes where there would be illegal miners (omakorokoza) from different parts of the country. Before I register the claims, the illegal miners would be mining unlawfully. I win because I take the legal route to own the claim,” he said.

He said after registering the mine he works with anyone who wants to mine.

“I do not discriminate on tribal or regional background. I work with artisanal miners  from Nkayi known as amaNkayi, also artisanal miners from Shurugwi, Filabusi, Kezi, Kwekwe, Esigodini, Mbembesi, Marondera and other places,” he said.

He has lived true to his name as he is widely   known as a gold baron because he owns  mine claims in many places, in Inyathi, Filabusi, Esigodini just to mention a few. 

Baron is a very busy man if the number of business-related calls he received during our interview is anything to go by. 

In fact, the interview took two days after he had to dash off to one of his businesses on the first day. Baron has made a living out of mining and is now a businessman.

“I have invested in farming and property and grocery shops. This will be my fall back after I retire from this trade,” he said. 

He advised artisanal miners to invest.

“It is wise for one to invest his earnings. I‘m happy to say there are some who have invested in shops and houses. But there are  some who squander their monies when they  get it. To such miners I would like to advise them to invest either in farming or buy properties,” he said.

“However, the greatest advice I can give anyone is that they should turn to God,” he said.

-StateMedia

By A Correspondent-More than 60 cops bussed all the way from Marondera to Mucheke Suburb in Masvingo were chased away from a colleague’s funeral after the deceased’s parents accused some senior officers of complicity in the alleged murder of their daughter.

The cops who were led by Superitendent Ndifana were ordered to leave the late Detective Constable Antonate Silopa (32)’s funeral soon after their arrival in a bus and a truck on Thursday evening last week.

The Police officers had to park their bus and sleep at Chikato Police Station after being ejected from the funeral. There was an attempt by senior officers from both Masvingo and Marondera to negotiate with the family the next day so that officers could perform the usual gun salutes at the burial but this was adamantly rejected by Antonate’s relatives.

Antonate died at Marondera Hospital on Monday last week allegedly after she drank poison.

Superintendent Ndifana declined to comment and referred all questions to Chief Superintended Chikuma from Masvingo Central who in turn pleaded with The Mirror not to publish the story.

The late Antonate’s father Nephat Silopa who is an interpreter at Zaka Magistrate Courts accused senior Police officers of behaving in a queer manner that shows that they were either involved in the death of the late or that they were hiding something.

He told the bus full of cops that they can only attend the funeral after explaining the death of his daughter.

Two post-mortems carried out at Chitungwiza and Parirenyatwa Hospital both failed to establish the cause of Antonate’s death. The family ordered a third post mortem whose results will be out in a month’s time.

There are several theories that have emerged and Police are saying that Anonate died at her boyfriend’s house while another version says that she drank poison.

However, what baffles the deceased’s parents most is that Police has allegedly not opened any docket on the mysterious death of their colleague.

“There is queer behaviour by the Police. We as the deceased’s family suspect that Antonate was probably murdered for a sensitive case that she was investigating but whatever the issue is, we believe that there are senior officers involved and there is a lot of determination to sweep the matter under the carpet,” said the deceased’s mother Florence.

Speaking in an interview with The Mirror, Florence totally rejected that her daughter died at her boyfriend’s place.

“If she did why did the Police not bring forward the boyfriend? Why did they not open a docket? Why are they not investigating the matter?” asked an emotional Florence.

She said even the way that the death was announced to her was unprofessional. “Somebody just called while I was asleep at 3am and told me bluntly that Antonate had drunk poison and was dead. She then instructed me not to talk to anyone else at the station about the issue except her named superior,” said the mother.

She told The Mirror that her daughter was brought to hospital by one Artwell Mafukidze and two others who claimed that they didn’t know her and they picked her on the streets. The family has not had a chance to meet Mafukidze. She also said that her daughter had no bra or blouse when she was brought to hospital but these were later found thrown into the deceased’s house well after her death.

“We found Antoneta’s house turned upside down. There was missing money. Her phone was being used by an officer who claimed to be her friend but she never came forward to give her story. The same cop was driving our daughter’s vehicle long after she had died and we don’t know how she got the car keys or her phone. It puzzles us that senior officers are not doing anything about all these unusual and illegal happenings,” said Florence.

She said she was not amused that senior officers were trying to stop the family from getting an independent post-mortems.

“When we said we wanted to get an independent post-mortem, a senior officer called and told us that it was unnecessary. When we eventually got the post-mortem at Chitungwiza Hospital, there were hordes of detectives all around the place.

“The same also happened when we went to Parirenyatwa for another post-mortem,” said Florence.

Antoneta was buried at Mangwandi Cemetery without Police honours as the family totally rejected that procedure.

— Mirror

By A Correspondent- Zvishavane residents were shocked after the body of a Grade 1 pupil, Elohim Ziwanza (6) who went missing for two days was recovered bundled in a sack dumped in a bush.

The sack was discovered by a curious passerby on Tuesday evening after the boy left home for school at around 6am this week on Monday.

The body was found in a bushy area near Highlands residential area.

Elohim went to Makwasha Primary school.

Chief Supretendant Albert Ncube confirmed the incident and advised parents to jealously guard the safety of their children.

Sources told The Mirror that the boy’s mother returned from work to find her son had not returned from school.

She enquired his whereabouts from neighbours, her child’s schoolmates and the teacher and discovered her son did not make it to school that day.

She went to report the matter to the Police and a missing person’s report was filed.

On Tuesday evening an unidentified man who was on his way to Zvishavane CBD from Chief Masunda area noticed a suspicious looking sack and upon approaching it saw the body of the deceased and reported the matter to Police.

The body now awaits postmortem.

By A Correspondent- A visit by First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa to Mugodhi Apostolic Faith Church in Wedza on a cancer screening awareness programme has divided the church, with one faction accusing the late founder Tandewu Mugodhi’s sympathisers of disrespecting their religious beliefs.

This was revealed on Saturday at the burial of Tandewu by the faction which is fighting to wrest control of the church from Mugodhi’s family. The faction accused its rivals of inviting the First Lady for cancer screening, a medical process which they claim was against their beliefs.

The First Lady visited the shrine in April last year alongside government officials from the Health ministry as part of her nationwide awareness campaign on free cancer screening.

Zimbabwe Amalgamated Churches Council patron Jimayi Muduvuri, who also attended the burial at the weekend, confirmed the matter yesterday, saying the cancer screening exercise had brought divisions within the sect.

“I am aware of the issue and it is being propped up by one Mangoma. The First Lady is a national figure, not a political one. She is doing a national duty, hence the invite by the apostolic members. We heard that some of them are questioning why the First Lady visited the church. This is dividing the sect, of which it is not good,” he said.

Some of the country’s white garment-donning apostolic churches have been abandoning their archaic religious beliefs and embracing modern medical treatment.

However, others are still deeply rooted in their religious beliefs that shun medical assistance.

The Mugodhi apostolic sect is currently embroiled in a nasty leadership wrangle that has resulted in factionalism breaking out.

Tandewu died last week and was buried at the church headquarters at Chitope in Wedza.

He was succeeded by his son Washington, a move that has, however, angered his rivals.

— NewsDay

Watch video below. ..

ZIMBABWE international Marvelous Nakamba will face his sternest test since his breakthrough move to the Premier League when Aston Villa travel to the Etihad Stadium to play against English champions Manchester City this afternoon in arguably their toughest match of the season so far.

Nakamba, who joined the Premier League side from Belgian outfit Club Brugge for a reported £11 million fee, has been receiving rave reviews after starting and impressing in each of the club’s last five Premier League matches since making his English Premiership debut against West Ham United last month.

The former Bantu Rovers prodigy has turned himself into a darling of the Villa fans, who have been impressed with his great awareness and combative style of play, which has provided the team’s attackers the freedom to venture forward knowing they are covered.

Since Nakamba broke into the first 11, his more attacking teammates such as John McGinn, Conor Hourihane and Jack Grealish have been flourishing leaving the Zimbabwean to do most of the dirty work in front of the defence.

According to whoscored.com, Nakamba has recorded an average of 6,2 tackles per 90 minutes, earning himself an average rating of 7,09 out of 10 in his five Premier League appearances.

Nakamba is expected to play a similar defensive role when Aston Villa play against a strong Manchester City which will be looking to reduce the six-point gap between them and Liverpool, who play tomorrow.

The Guardian newspaper’s football writer Daniel Harris identified Nakamba as a key player for Aston Villa in his preview for today’s encounter.

“There’s a lot to like about Dean Smith’s Aston Villa, in particular their midfield axis of Marvelous Nakamba, Jack Grealish and John McGinn. Nakamba’s calm intelligence provides the perfect balance to his more energetic partners, who play with the perfect combination of entitlement and desire, McGinn a tenacious tempo-setter and Grealish an intuitive improviser.

Against City, they will be extended like never before, but will know that if they can compete, there are goals to be taken from a vulnerable home defence. Of course, the likelihood is that City will be too good for them, but do not be surprised if Villa give them a run for their money,” Harris wrote.

MDC Youth Assembly Gives A Chilling Warning to Mnangagwa

It is not surprising that the ZANU PF so-called Anti sanctions march flopped. Zimbabweans are faced with genuine problems like electricity outages, high prices and water shortages hence they chose to stay away from this non event.

It is clear that the anti sanctions rhetoric is just a pie in the sky which was meant to chlorinate Emmerson Mnangagwa’s failed leadership and unfortunately it did not yield desired results.

The end is nigh!

The illegitimate, failed and ConCourt proclaimed President’s days are numbered and rightly so Mnangagwa is sensing danger hence the anti sanctions smokescreen.

Clearly Emmerson Mnangagwa is behaving like a timid dog that barks at its own dark shadow of human rights abuses and bold leadership failure.

Mnangagwa knows very well the terrific and gigantic proportions of corruption, thievery and violence that underlines his short reign and is afraid of consequences of such if citizens are to draw a line.

Like a timid dog barking at its own ugly shadow, Mnangagwa knows very well the ugly nature of his unredeemable and unforgivable sins.

As expected of any failed dictatorship, the failed septuagenarian is running around circles selling a blame shifting anti-sanctions narrative.

Fortunately for Zimbabwe and unfortunately for Mnangagwa there are no takers of his blue lies both locally, regionally and internationally!

The anti sanctions flop non event was symbolic and clearly laid bare fingerprints of failed leadership by this military dictatorship.

Typical of Mnangagwa’s trailblazing path of mediocrity and failure, once again the man in scarf did not only fail to convince hungry Zimbabweans that sanctions are responsible for their misery but even abundantly convinced some doubting Thomases in SADC that he lacks endorsement from masses.

Simply put people chose to ignore all the ZANU PF madness and ZBC anti sanctions jingles and stayed in their empty homes!

This was a classic act of defiance by citizens exhibited by simply staying away from Mnangagwa’s tomfoolery and pathetic drama!

In a week the major news highlight was police brutality on innocent vendors that ultimately resulted in the gruesome murder of Hilton Tafadzwa Tamangani, Zimbabweans instead chose to pay their last respects to the slain vendor in Murehwa than wasting time congregating at Mnangagwa’s anti sanctions charade.

The message from citizens is very clear!

Only that in ZANU PF circles common sense is not common and unfortunately such ignorance oftentimes ends in deleterious circumstances.

As the MDC Youth Assembly our honest and genuine advice to Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa is that he should resign and save himself from further humiliation.

It will not work, simple!

Stephen Sarkozy Chuma_
MDC Youth Assembly National Spokesperson_

By A Correspondent- Parents of pupils at Kwekwe High School are mulling transferring their children from the school following reports of gang violence and indiscipline that have reached alarming levels at the school.

Located in the mining town’s central business district, the school has witnessed rival gangs clashing at the school leaving several pupils injured.

Lately the gangs have also taken the violence outside the school with rival gangs having reportedly clashed at the bus terminus leaving several pupils nursing injuries.

Other reports suggest that there is a six-member gang of Form 4 pupils who are sitting for their final examinations that goes around terrorising fellow pupils.

More than three cases have been reported so far with one being that of a woman who turned down a love proposal.

Kwekwe Central Police station was also overwhelmed with reports of violent cases coming from the school.

Parents who spoke to this reporter said they were contemplating transferring their children who had fallen victim to the said gang adding their lives were in danger.

“My child who is in Form 3 was beaten up for no apparent reason by a gang that is going around bullying other pupils. My child is reserved but he was beaten at the toilets by this gang for no reason.

I made a police report but police begged that we solve the matter out of court as one of the gang leaders (name supplied), was still at school,” said Kudakwashe Zvarai whose son fell victim to the gang.

Another parent who declined identification said her daughter was hit with a chair after she turned down a love proposal from the said gang leader.

“My daughter received stitches at Kwekwe General Hospital after she was hit with a chair near the toilets. I don’t think the headmaster is doing enough to stamp his authority at the school. Discipline has been lacking at the school lately.

Teachers are also seen in bars during working hours and some students are seen loitering in the cbd during the day. The school head should do something, “ said the parent on condition of anonymity.

School head Nelson Shumba confirmed that indeed cases of indiscipline had risen at the boarding school.

“We have had problems lately with cases of indiscipline. We are still carrying out investigations but I am reliably informed that there is a cold war that has been declared between Form 3s and Form 4s,” said Shumba.

He said the school always had problems with groups of Form 4s who would be sitting for examinations as they cause all sorts of problems.

“This is the reason why we reject some pupils to come for Advanced Level because they would have caused problems in their last days. We are currently engaging some parents over the cases of indiscipline. We have called them and we will not hesitate to deal decisively with unruly elements,” he said.

He also said they had roped in law enforcement agencies to help in the cases.
“Of course we have brought in the police to assist in such cases.

There would be some cases of a criminal nature that would need the police to intervene, but those that we can solve on our own we do so,” said Shumba.

-Statemedia

By A Correspondent- The Hospital Service Board (HSB) has said disciplinary hearings for doctors will still go ahead despite the fact that the doctors were in no show.

This was revealed by the HSB Chairmain Dr Sikhosana who said:

What you have to understand is the Health Services Board is following the right procedure and the procedure stipulates that the disciplinary hearings have to go ahead whether the doctors are present or not. So, even if they decide not to come, like they have said, we are still going ahead with the hearings and the outcome will determine their fate.

Doctors were called for disciplinary hearings this week and they refused, saying they were not doing anything wrong by demanding a fair wage and didn’t show up for the disciplinary.

-DailyNews

By A Correspondent- Calls for those who allegedly called for sanctions to be arrested have resurfaced again this time in parliament where Zanu PF MPs are calling for the arrest of the MDC bigwigs they accuse of calling for sanctions.

The fresh calls for the arrest of MDC bigwigs were made by Zanu PF MP Kindness Paradza who said:

Whether you are opposition or not, we are all affected by sanctions, for the past 18 years, we have been affected by sanctions.

It is unfortunate that some of those who called for these sanctions are brilliant lawyers who are here; one of them is here, a very brilliant lawyer, a Zimbabwean, an honourable Member of this Parliament.

I am also proposing that Parliament must come up with a law to say any Zimbabwean who calls for sanctions on his motherland must be prosecuted, let us have a law to that effect, he must be pros- ecuted.

This is very dangerous  as I said earlier, let us all have a national vision as Zimbabweans

Zanu PF has maintained that the MDC called for sanctions in 2017, an allegation the MDC has always denied.  Sanctions or trade and travel embargos as some would like to call them were imposed on some individuals and entities by the EU and the US for various reasons.

-DailyNews

By A Correspondent- The Zambian leader tweeted a photo and wished Zimbabwe well as the country geared to march against imposed sanctions.

The Zambian leader tweeted:

“#Zambia in solidarity with other countries in the SADC region and beyond calls for the immediate lifting of sanctions imposed on the Republic of Zimbabwe to allow the country to succeed on their path to social and economic development. @edmnangagwa”

Maputo — The Nampula City court, in northern Mozambique, on Wednesday sentenced two people to nine months imprisonment for attempting to slip extra votes into ballot boxes at a Nampula polling station during the general and provincial elections held on 15 October.

According to a report carried by the independent television station STV, judge Mohamed Khalide found it proven that the two men, Luis Florindo and Ivandro Manuel, had practiced an electoral crime and attempted to manipulate the results.

In addition to the nine month prison sentence, Khalide fined the two accused four months of the minimum wage (totalling 14,568 meticais – about 235 US dollars, at current exchange). They must also pay legal costs of 1,100 meticais.

Neither Florindo nor Manuel were in court to hear the sentence. The previous week they had been granted, and paid, bail of 100,000 meticais each. The fact that they could raise such a sum – very large by Mozambican standards – almost instantly, suggests that they were not working alone.

The main opposition party, Renamo, had brought the case to court, and was satisfied at the outcome. Local Renamo election agent, Issufo Alane, told STV the case was clear proof of the accusations that the ruling Frelimo Party had committed fraud.

“This sentence is unequivocal proof that Renamo is right and that there was indeed ballot box stuffing”, said Alane. “That’s what interested us, and I, as an election agent, am happy to know that justice has been done”.

The two men’s defence lawyer, however, announced that they are appealing against the sentence, which has the effect of suspending it.

By A Correspondent- The government of Zimbabwe has announced its intentions to convert the commercial farmers’ 5-year leases into 99-year leases.

This was revealed by the minister of Land and Agriculture, Retired Air Chief Marshal Perrance Shiri on Thursday at the 76^th Annual Commercial Farmers Union Congress in Harare where he said that the government was eager to formalise white commercial farmers’ operations to boost productivity in the agricultural sector.

He said:

“The government’s position is very clear we have noticed that there are a number of commercial farmers without any documentation of which we are now ready to regularise their activities.”

Mr Andrew Pasco who is the President of the Commercial Farmers Union commended the government for the decision saying that white farmers are ready to work with the government for the turn-around of the country’s economy.

The development has for years been topping discussions to do with the land question with the farmers arguing that the 99-year leases would assist them in securing lines of credit from banks who were rejecting the 5-year leases.

-StateMedia

Others saw the empty stadium, inini hangu I saw the scarf ?. I honestly can’t get over the fact that in this heat, mavapfekedza scarf, munhu akadayi ahabvisirwe ma sanctions. CIO ine hutsinye amana. At least mapa vauya ma t-shirts ????

— #ThePeoplesChampion???✊? (@acielumumba) October 25, 2019

By A Correspondent- National Assembly Speaker Jacob Mudenda is considering reversing his decision to bar MDC Alliance MPs from debating in Parliament as punishment for refusing to recognise President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the legitimate Head of State.

Mudenda revealed this after Norton MP, Temba Mliswa (Independent) questioned the wisdom of punishing MPs for an offence that was committed on a different day.

Said Mudenda:

“I shall review my decision and I need time to think about it very deeply so that I can come back and see what needs to be done in terms of the implications of our processes here in Parliament and outside Parliament when we are embarking on our committee processes.

Last week Mudenda ruled that MDC Alliance MPs have no right to direct questions to cabinet ministers appointed by Mnangagwa when they refused to recognise the appointing authority.

He made the ruling in concurrence with the leader of government business, Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, who had raised a point of order during a question and answer session.

-DailyNews

By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), a subsidiary of ZESA Holdings has warned its defaulting customers that they will be disconnected.

In a statement, ZESA Public Relations Manager Fullard Gwasira said the power utility will cut off power supplies to defaulters who have not made an effort to clear their debts or make payment plans with ZESA. He said:

The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) would like to advise all defaulting customers who are on the post-paid system to settle their electricity bills without any further delay to avoid the inconvenience associated with power being disconnected.

In the interest of quality service provision, ZETDC is implementing its full complement of credit control measures to defaulters who did not make an effort to clear their debts or engage the power utility for payment plans.

Gwasira called upon consumers to settle their bills to enable ZESA to efficiently provide service as the funds will be used to import power, pay for coal for local generation, and buy spares for network maintenance, among other uses.

-StateMedia

Have your say:

“Today (yesterday), we arise and collectively say enough is enough. The illegal sanctions are an albatross to the development, well-being and prosperity of the people of Zimbabwe.”

Do you think Mnangagwa's march did have an impact on the call to remove sanctions

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) October 26, 2019

By A Correspondent- The much-hyped anti-sanctions march was a huge failure if the number of people who took part is to be used as the yardstick.

People in Mashonaland Central province were reportedly threatened with sanctions if they did not board free buses to travel to Harare for the march. A Mvurwi resident who spoke to a local publication had this to say:

We were 32 passengers on the bus from Mvurwi, but the second bus only had seven people on board.

We were being threatened with being denied inputs for this year’s agricultural season if we failed to come to Harare for the anti-sanctions march.

The 25th of October was set aside by regional organisation, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to collectively call for the removal of economic restrictions imposed on several Zimbabwean government officials and entities by Western powers.

In Beitbridge, about 1 000 members of South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC) gathered in Beitbridge for a solidarity rally.

-Newsday

Paul Nyathi|According to reports on social media, Leftover Food from the recent anti-sanctions march has been allegedly dumped at the University of Zimbabwe for students..

However, the student’s joy has been shortlived as the Chicken and chips are already rotting owing to the high temperatures being experienced.

The Zimbabwe government held an anti-sanctions demo which was poorly attendedleading to food being left over..

Below are pictures shared by students at the University of Zimbabwe.

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iharare

Paul Nyathi|So called illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West have brought untold suffering to ordinary people and their impact has also affected neighbouring countries, President Mnangagwa has said. He said this while addressing people who thronged the National Sports Stadium in Harare to mark the SADC-initiated day against sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.

The day was adopted by SADC Heads of State and Government at their summit in Tanzania in August.

“On 18 August 2019, the SADC Heads of State and Government, meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, took a bold and historic decision to declare October 25, as the day on which the entire SADC region would collectively voice its disapproval and condemnation of the illegal sanctions imposed on our country, Zimbabwe,” he said.

“The unjustified and oppressive illegal sanctions continue to cause untold suffering to the ordinary people of our great country.

“Their direct and indirect debilitating impacts have equally been felt by our neighbours. Today, we arise and collectively say enough is enough. The illegal sanctions are an albatross to the development, well-being and prosperity of the people of Zimbabwe.”

President Mnangagwa thanked SADC for standing by Zimbabwe and its condemnation of the sanctions at the 74th Ordinary Session of the UN General Assembly.

He also commended Zimbabweans for speaking out against the embargo, as evidenced by the turnout at yesterday’s protest march.

While Mnangagwa was busy mourning the sanctions, the United States of America added one of his top righthand men to the list of people on the targeted sanctions.

The United States has said that it would refuse entry to Zimbabwe’s security minister as it voiced alarm over the government’s crackdown on protests and the opposition.

The US said it would deny a visa to Owen Ncube, the minister of public security, under a sanctions law that targets “gross violations of human rights.”

“We are deeply troubled by the Zimbabwean government’s use of state-sanctioned violence against peaceful protesters and civil society, as well as against labour leaders and members of the opposition leaders in Zimbabwe,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

“We urge the government to stop the violence, investigate and hold accountable officials responsible for human rights violations and abuses in Zimbabwe,” he said.

Western powers had tense relations for years with Zimbabwe’s veteran ruler Robert Mugabe, but hopes for a thaw after the military ousted him in November 2017 were short-lived.

Post-election violence last year after allegations of fraud claimed six lives, while at least 17 people died in anti-government protests in January after a fuel price hike.

The US announcement came the same day that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration organized a mass protest in Harare to demand the lifting of sanctions.

Mnangagwa has struggled to revive Zimbabwe’s troubled economy, with inflation still skyrocketing and shortages of basic goods.

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa was yesterday left red-faced after only 7 000 people turned up for his much-hyped anti-sanctions march.

Zimbabweans, battling skyrocketing prices, rising inflation and low pay, snubbed the march against the West to remove sanctions imposed in 2001.

The giant National Sports Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 60 000, was sparsely occupied as even some of the people bussed from outside Harare opted to fight over freebies, which included T-shirts and food, which were being dished outside the venue.

In the run up to the march, Zanu PF party and government officials demanded that schoolchildren be released to take part in the march, while Mnangagwa declared a national holiday to facilitate attendance.

Mnangagwa is struggling to deal with Zimbabwe’s worst economic crisis in a decade, with the country enduring rolling power cuts of up to 18 hours daily and shortages of foreign exchange, fuel and medicines.

The European Union (EU) and United States imposed financial and travel bans on top Zanu PF and top figures for alleged human rights abuses and electoral fraud in 2001. The EU has since removed the embargo.

In the days leading to the march, most government workers were being threatened to attend and that registers would be marked at the protest.

Some buses deployed to pick up participants from various areas across the country came back empty after people snubbed them, with one 75-seater bus coming with seven passengers from Mvurwi in Mashonaland Central.

“We were 32 passengers on the bus from Mvurwi, but the second bus only had seven people on board,” said one participant who requested anonymity.

“We were being threatened with being denied inputs for this year’s agricultural season if we failed to come to Harare for the anti-sanctions march.”

Addressing the participants, who marched from Robert Mugabe Square to the stadium, Mnangagwa thanked people “from all walks of life who came in such large numbers to mark this important day.”

He said the sanctions had caused untold suffering to the ordinary people and were perpetuating the cycle of poverty in the country.

“Thank you Sadc by standing by us and for speaking with one voice at the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly. We also say thank you to the African Union and progressive world, for supporting us during these difficult years in the history of our economy,” Mnangagwa said.

He claimed that the sanctions were a reaction to the land reform programme.

“Ours was a fight to reunite the people with their land and the land with its people, which promise we fulfilled during the land reform exercise. However, this had dire consequences, and led to the imposition of the illegal and unjustified sanctions by the European Union and the United States of America.”

He said the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, passed in 2001, prohibits Zimbabwean entities from doing business with the US and denies the country access to international lines of credit from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank as well development finance.

“Zidera has blocked Zimbabwe’s access to international credit markets, leading to the drying up of traditional sources of external finance,” he said, adding that the negative perception created by the embargoes denied the country foreign inflows.

Mnangagwa claimed that his government had taken deliberate steps to make political and economic reforms.

“The far-reaching implications on Sadc’s ability to achieve its collective targets in the social, economic and financial spheres cannot be ignored. This is the reality of these sanctions. No amount of propaganda can spin or sugar-coat this gruesome truth.”

He said government programmes such as Command Agriculture, which is at the centre of a US$3 billion scandal, would be used to mitigate the impact of sanctions.

But the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has accused Mnangagwa’s regime of trying to hide its failures by hiding behind sanctions.

The committee’s chairman, Senator Jim Risch said Mnangagwa’s government should instead focus on improving its governance record.

“Responsibility for the current political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe falls solely on the ruling regime that has governed the country for decades. If Zimbabwe’s leaders put as much time, financial resources, and effort into delivering on their long-promised reforms as they have in distorting facts and organising ‘anti-sanctions’ campaigns, Zimbabweans would not continue to suffer under the dire economic and humanitarian conditions they face today. The US does not sanction people without just cause — sanctions are a response to malign activity,” said Risch in a Press release on Thursday night.

In Gweru, businesses and informal traders yesterday operated as usual while at Kudzanai long-distance bus terminus, traders completely ignored the march which was led by Midlands Provincial Affairs minister Larry Mavhima.

A crowd of people bussed from mainly Chiwundura, Lower Gweru, Mkoba and peri-urban areas surrounding the city constituted the majority of the marchers.

Riot police maintained heavy presence during the march.

Traffic police had a torrid time trying to stop motorists from moving into the central business district ahead of the march as the drivers insisted they wanted to carry out their daily business operations.

At the venue of the anti-sanctions march, affiliates of Zanu PF like war veterans gave solidarity messages and Mavhima later read Mnangagwa’s speech.

In Manicaland, very few people took to the streets for the march despite reports of some shops being forced to close by suspected Zanu PF activists to mobilise demonstrators.

The march started late after a vain wait for participants.

However, addressing journalists after the gathering, Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister Ellen Gwaradzimba defended the low turnout, saying people were still learning the importance of the day.

“It is not a bad start, it (demonstrations) started late. People are still in the process of learning the importance of the day. It was quite a sizeable crowd, but it started late. At the same time, I can’t really complain,” she said.

The march in Bulawayo was a non-event, with very few people bothering to turn up at White City Stadium despite the provision of cheap transport to the venue.

Bulawayo Metropolitan Affairs minister Judith Ncube read Mnangagwa’s speech, which was attended by Industry deputy minister Raj Modi, Zanu PF central committee member Angeline Masuku, Zanu PF politburo member Absalom Sikhosana and former Makokoba legislator Tshinga Dube, among others.

The regional Southern African Development Community rallied behind Zimbabwe’s call for an end to sanctions.

Attendance was much better at the South African side of the Beitbridge border post, where African National Congress secretary-general Ace Magashule.

He addressed about 1 000 members of the party from the Limpopo province who braved the heat for the march.

Magashule said sanctions against Zimbabwe were hurting the entire region and liberation movements ruling Sadc countries would rally behind the country to have them removed.

He said his country had started educating its nationals against xenophobia, which was a direct result of the sanctions.

The ANC stalwart also said Africans were one people and must unite against imperialism and US-led sanctions against Zimbabwe which despite being targeted hurt everyone.

Zim Daily

THE Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) has identified Gukurahundi, corruption, poverty and negative attitudes from officials as some of the reasons contributing to people in Matabeleland region failing to access national documents.

This emerged yesterday at the end of a five-day ZHRC hearing into why members of the public were failing to access national documents such as birth certificates, national identity cards, passports, and death certificates.

Addressing a media briefing after the completion of the public hearings at a city hotel, ZHRC chairperson Dr Elasto Mugwadi said negative attitudes from civil servants were also contributing to members of the public failing to obtain the requisite national documents.

He said children born outside the country and those taken outside the country using cross border transporters (omalayitsha) are among the worst affected by lack of documentation.

Dr Mugwadi said not having a birth certificate was the most prevalent challenge.

“The main challenges people are facing in accessing national documents are as follows: challenges related to the Gukurahundi disturbances evident in the deliberate withholding of vital information, poverty which results in lack of money to travel to obtain identity documents and pay registration fees and prohibitive citizenship fees pegged at $5 000, negative attitudes and lack of customer care or human rights based service delivery by staff at Government departments such as the Registrar General’s Office and Department of Social Welfare which discourages people from accessing services/documents when they need them,” said Dr Mugwadi.

“We’ve children born outside the country, mostly in South Africa and sent with ‘omalayitsha’ without birth confirmation records. For some children, the problem is exacerbated by the fact that parents would have assumed different local names for easy residence in South Africa and parents’ whereabouts are unknown, which is closely related to the migration of many Zimbabweans into the diaspora.”

He said inconsistencies at the Registrar General’s Office on requirements to be brought forward by applicants was another factor resulting in some people giving up on getting documentation.

Dr Mugwadi said some laws were too rigid and some cases need to be attended in their peculiarity as brought forward by applicants.

He said the commission during its five-day hearings received 624 submissions from people and organisations resident in Matabeleland region.

Dr Mugwadi said women are the worst affected by the national documents issue.

“The total number of witnesses who appeared before the inquiry panel from 21 October 2019 to the end of the public hearings in Bulawayo Metropolitan Province is 107 constituted as follows female 79,4 percent, males 20,6 percent and persons with disabilities 1,2 percent. The documents in regard to which the submissions were made were as follows birth certificates 62 percent, national identity, 23,2 percent, passports 6,5 percent, death certificates 6,3 percent and citizenship 1,9 percent,” said Dr Mugwadi.

He said the commission which conducted hearings in the presence of officials from the Registrar General’s Office managed to score some immediate successes as 28 people obtained birth certificates and IDS during the public hearings.

The ZHRC chairperson said the national documentation issue was also becoming cross generational for some families as it affects grandparents, parents and their children.

Dr Mugwadi said this leads to victims failing to access national social services which is an infringement of their rights.

“The impact of the lack of documentation on the enjoyment of the human rights by people in Bulawayo Metropolitan Province includes but not limited to the following; failure to continue education, lack of access to social services such as food aid, employment, Government aid and failure to open bank accounts, failure to access health services, rising of statelessness and people at risk of being stateless which has a negative effect on self-esteem and dignity,” said Dr Mugwadi.

He said the commission will continue working to address the national documentation problem so that it achieves its targets that by 2020 the country would not be having any “stateless citizen.”

Jane Mlambo| A United States of America (USA) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has drafted State Security minister Owen Ncube for inclusion on the sanction list over his involvement in state sanctioned violence against citizens.

This comes just on the day President Emmerson Mnangagwa led the country to march and denounce the sanctions imposed on the country by USA and the European Union.

Posting on Twitter, Pompeo urged Zimbabwe to end state sactioned violence and bring to book all those involved in rights violations.

“Today, I publicly designated Owen Ncube for his involvement in a gross violation of #HumanRights in #Zimbabwe. State-sanctioned violence in Zimbabwe must end now and those responsible for human rights violations must be held accountable,” said Pompeo.

Paul Nyathi|Zimbabwean social media critics have lampooned President Emmerson Mnangagwa for the way he spoke against sanctions during his address at the National Sports Stadium on Friday.

The critics claimed Mnangagwa did not speak like a President wishing for the removal of the sanctions from a superpower like the United States of America and the European Union.

In a widely circulated clip on social media platforms, Mnangagwa is captured in a humorless moment declaring for the sanctions to go from which one critic compared him to old time Zimbabwean television comedian, Paraffin.

Watch video of Mnangagwa humiliating himself downloading below:

Paul Nyathi|FIRST Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa was on Friday back to her eccentrics after she broke down on national television claiming that the United States and European Union targeted sanctions on ZANU PF elites were the reason why some rural young girls are failing to access healthy sanitary pads.

Mrs Mnangagwa made the claim on ZBC TV’s News Hour after she dramatically led from the front during yesterday’s march to mark the SADC-initiated anti-sanctions day in Harare.

The First Lady and her huge entourage of security guards were part of the bussed group of ZANU PF supporters who walked from the open space behind the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) — to the National Sports Stadium singing and denouncing Sanctions imposed on top Zanu PF officials by the US and EU countries.

She said the illegal economic embargo was hitting hard, women and children, both living and unborn.

The dramatic First Lady shed tears while narrating how some rural girls were making do with cow dung as a substitute for sanitary pads owing to sanctions which have pushed prices beyond their reach.

“Zvirwere zvichabva mundove iyi no one knows, the girl child is suffering. I have been to various communities around the country, the challenges these communities are experiencing makes my heart bleed.

“What kind of life is this, where are we heading to as a country with this kind of life? We have suffered enough, sanctions must go now,” she said, while holding back her tears.

“The people of Zimbabwe have suffered, what wrong did we do to deserve this, if we committed a crime, then they should say it out. Pachivanhu chedu inga tinoti ngozi inopera nekuripwa. We are not fighting with America, but we are saying enough is enough, remove these illegal sanctions.”

“This has affected our working experiences, making the majority of us full-time housewives, performing mostly household chores.

“Our children have nothing to do, putting to waste our investment in their education and literally killing their potential contribution to economic development.”

She described sanctions as a direct assault on the country, saying those who put the embargo wanted to invade the country and take away its resources to enrich themselves.

Amai Mnangagwa said as a result of sanctions, women were now giving birth in shacks, with untrained midwives, no equipment in hospitals and no medicines.

On Thursday, Mrs Mnangagwa left the nation stunned when yet again she broke down on tears while praying during a prayer session against sanctions she held at the State House with women from ZANU PF loyal churches.

Watch Mrs Mnangagwa breakdown on lack of sanitary pads in the video downloading below:

The United States of America has slapped CIO minister Owen Mudha Ncube with sanctions. Below was their full statement:

Today, the Department designates Owen Ncube under Section 7031(c) of the FY 2019 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act (Div. F, P.L. 116-6), as carded forward by the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020 (Div. A, P.L. 116-59) due to his involvement in gross violations of human rights. Section 7031(c) provides that, in cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that foreign officials have been involved in significant corruption or a gross violation of human rights, those individuals are ineligible for entry into the United States and may be publically or privately designated as such by the Secretary of State. The Department has credible information that Owen Ncube was involved in gross violations of human rights in his capacity as Zimbabwe’s Minister of State for National Security.

We are deeply troubled by the Zimbabwean government’s use of state-sanctioned violence against peaceful
protestors, and civil society, as well as against labor leaders and members of the opposition leaders in
Zimbabwe. We urge the government to stop the violence, investigate, and hold accountable officials
responsible for human rights violations and abuses in Zimbabwe.

U.S. sanctions target those who engage in corruption, violate human rights, and undermine democratic institutions or processes. State-sanctioned violence creates a culture of impunity for human rights abusers. The United States continues to support the Zimbabwean people in need, especially through humanitarian and health assistance. We will continue to press the Govemment of Zimbabwe to implement necessary political and economic reforms to provide Zimbabwean citizens the prosperity, security, and well-being they deserve.

A team of negotiators dispatched to South Africa by Air Zimbabwe, has brokered a deal that saw the release of the Boeing 767-200 yesterday which had been impounded by the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) over debt.

The Air Zimbabwe aircraft was impounded at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday.

The national flag carrier was blocked from using the airport due to debt over parking, landing and passenger services for flights into Johannesburg.

The size of the debt could not be immediately established as it remains a closely guarded secret by both ACSA and Air Zimbabwe.

AirZim’s corporate services manager Mr Tafadzwa Mazonde confirmed yesterday that the aircraft had been released after thrashing a payment plan.

“We are resuming our flights this (yesterday) evening. We have been cleared and we are taking off in the evening,” said Mr Mazonde.

“We got all the clearances and we have been allowed to resume operations. Of course, there were payment plans and everything.”

He declined to reveal the details of the payment plan and the extent of AirZim’s obligations to ACSA, saying it was strategic that the figures be concealed.

“We can’t divulge at the moment,” said Mr Mazonde in terse response.

A source close to the development said that many airlines landing at OR Tambo International were also in arrears, some owing more than AirZim, and were due to suffer the same fate.

“There are some airlines which they want to ground too, which have higher figures than Air Zimbabwe,” said the source.

It is understood that other airlines such as South African Express were also grounded last week by ACSA.

But it was the impounding of Air Zimbabwe, which has one operational aircraft, which threw the travel arrangements for many passengers into turmoil.

Both domestic and regional routes were affected since Wednesday, with some passengers having been accommodated on other airlines.

Those that had emergency meetings in South Africa, reportedly ended up cancelling the trip.

Air Zimbabwe continues to struggle with its sole aircraft and inconveniences passengers from time to time when it develops challenges.

Recently, it was grounded after developing a technical fault in Bulawayo.

State Media|A specialist neurosurgeon and senior lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) who administered anaesthesia to a patient whose life was at risk, has taken Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals to the High Court for instituting disciplinary proceedings.

Parirenyatwa Hospital accused Aaron Musara of misconduct, saying he acted in an unprocedural and inappropriate manner.

Musara is seeking a High Court order declaring that Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and its acting clinical director, Aspect Jacob Maunganidze, have no disciplinary powers over him.

He also wants a memo in his file dated August 2, 2019 to be declared null and void.

“The habitual suspension and cancellation of surgical operations by Parirenyatwa between 1pm and 4pm to be declared unconstitutional,” read the draft order.

“Respondent shall take all necessary steps and measures to avoid absurd cancellation of surgical operations booked for each day.

“Parirenyatwa Hospital to furnish the applicant with a copy of its Standard Operating Procedures within seven days of the order.”

Musara is a senior lecturer in the UZ’s Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Surgery in College of Health Sciences, which is based at Parirenyatwa.

“The internal medicine and outpatient clinics of the hospital are inter alia, staffed by UZ’s lecturers and students studying for master’s degrees in medicine,” read the application.

“I have access to the hospital’s patients and medical facilities and entitled to conduct surgical operations upon the hospital’s willing patients using its facilities.”

Musara says on June 4 this year, his team attended to Shadreck Musekiwa, who needed urgent laminectomy decompression of the spine and a team decided to operate him the same day.

The patient was at risk of losing his life, the hospitals anaesthetic team refused to anaesthetise the patient citing other urgent cases.

The operation was scheduled for the following day.

“Unfortunately, the doctor who was anaesthetising patients on this day refused to put Musekiwa to sleep citing that he and his team wanted to go for lectures,” said Musara.

“The operation was cancelled. I took the bold decision to administer general anaesthesia upon the patient. The operation was carried out successfully and the patient recovered well.”

Resultantly, Musara was accused of misconduct.

“I was served with a letter on August 8, where Maunganidze ruled that I acted unprocedurally and inappropriately. The communication was to be kept in my personal file for future reference,” said Musara.

The letter mars my disciplinary record, say Musara.

“I am not employed by the hospital. Thus, the hospital or Maunganidze do not have jurisdiction to conduct any disciplinary action against me or to pronounce any penalty against me,” he says.

“Surgeons are not completely prohibited from administering general anaesthesia upon patients at the hospital in casu. Any practitioner can administer anaesthesia where it would be a life saving measure.”

The lady whose boyfriend committed suicide at her doorstep following a dispute, has broken her silence giving a detailed account of what transpired on the night.

It is suspected that Byron Nyevera hanged himself at his lover, Nothando Hlongwane’s gate in Mbizo 8 in Kwekwe and his body was found on Monday morning.

While the family accepted the news of Byron taking his own life with a pinch of salt, they said they were not ruling out foul play. Hlongwane who has been seeing the deceased for more than a year, said on the night, the two had an argument after he received a call from another girl.

“He visited at my friend’s place in Mbizo 8 where I am currently staying. He received a call from a girl called Ivy who asked him to visit her.

This angered me as he had the audacity to talk to another girl in my presence,” revealed Hlongwane.
Out of anger, she then ordered Byron to leave the house and go to where he was being called.

“He begged me to stay but I refused. He told me he would rather die as he loved me but I just thought he was joking. Because I was angry, I continued chucking him out of the house,” she said, fighting back tears.
Byron sent messages to Hlongwane informing her that he was hanging himself, but she didn’t buy it.

“He started sending messages threatening to hang himself. He told me he loved me so much but what I had done to him had left him with no option.

I slept hoping that by the next day I would have recovered but little did I know that my Byron would be no more,” further narrated Hlongwane.

Asked if she regretted causing Byron’s death, Hlongwane said: “I loved him, I wish I could turn back the hands of time. People always have squabbles but I never knew it would come to this. I was so jealous and I didn’t want to see him with another lady so naturally I was angered.”

She said it was unfortunate that the Nyevera family were angry at her and for that reason she was not attending her lover’s burial.
“It’s unfortunate that the family jumped to conclusions and blamed me for everything. No one gave me the opportunity to give my side of the story.

I would have loved to attend his burial but under the circumstances I can’t,” she said.
Byron was buried yesterday in Kwekwe.
— BMetro

Watch video below. ..

A man from Mvuma has appeared in court charged with indecent assault after he fondled a woman while she breastfed her baby, before threatening to rape her if she tried stopping him.

The matter came to light when Shepard Tafirenyika (25) of Kwesi Village in Mvuma appeared before Mvuma resident magistrate Tafadzwa Mhlanga.

He pleaded not guilty but he was found guilty following a full trial.
In his mitigation, Tafirenyika told the court that on the day in question, he was drunk and as such he could not remember anything that transpired.
“Your Worship, on that particular day l was drunk so l don’t remember what transpired,” he said.

Magistrate Mhlanga slapped him with a 12-month jail sentence. Three months were suspended on condition of good behaviour.

The case against Tafirenyika was that on October 8, the complainant Natasha Mahufa (21) was seated on her doorstep with her two housemates Pamela Chimvemve and Evelynn Manyumbu.

Tafirenyika arrived and proceeded to Mahufa who was breast-feeding her baby while talking to Chimvemve and Manyumbu.

He then started caressing Mahufa’s thighs, threatening to rape her if she dared to stop him.

Mahufa’s housemates ran off and hid inside the house leaving Mahufa at Tafirenyika’s mercy.
Out of fear, the complainant complied. She then managed to escape, ran to her bedroom and locked herself inside.

Tafirenyika followed her to the house saying ndikakubata ndoda kukuk**ra meaning “If l manage to catch you, I will rape you”.

While inside her bedroom, Mahufa then called her friend Tinovonga Tongogara, who together with other men apprehended Tafirenyika and handed him to the police.
Mr Michael Kazomba prosecuted.B-Metro

By A Correspondent| President Emmerson Mnangagwa has called for an end to sanctions adding that Zimbabwe is held to disproportinate standards like no other nation in a development hampering every sector of the economy.

Mnangagwa, who this afternoon addressed a paltry fraction of the expected 60 000 people at the National Sports Stadium in Harare said his government had opened up the political space, strengthened the rule of law and enhanced the corruption fight among others.

He said:

“Despite opening up the political space, strengthening the rule of law, transparency, accountability and ramping up the war against corruption, crippling sanctions remain, Zimbabwe is simply held to disproportionate standards like no other country. Enough is enough.

Sanctions, and their negative effect on FDI, have hampered every single sector of our economy. The claim they are targeted is simply not true when banks and entire sectors are cut off from funding. The average Zimbabwean pays the heaviest price.

So we will fight the sanctions just as we continue to engage in the spirit of peaceful coexistence with all nations off the world. This is now the key pillar of our foreign policy. It’s time to end the sanctions. It’s time for Zimbabwe to re-join the family of nations.”

Watch another video as Zanu of supporters are in near fist fight over t-shirts at the anti sanctions march pic.twitter.com/2q4gW7EkxY

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) October 25, 2019

President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday evening took to social media to rally Zimbabweans behind the fight against economic restrictions imposed by Western countries. He wrote:

Despite opening up the political space, strengthening the rule of law, transparency, accountability and ramping up the war against corruption, crippling sanctions remain. Zimbabwe is simply held to disproportionate standards like no other country. Enough is enough.

Sanctions and their negative effect on FDI have hampered every single sector of our economy. The claim they are targeted is simply not true when banks and entire sectors are cut off from funding. The average Zimbabwean pays the heaviest price.

So we will fight the sanctions just as we continue to engage in the spirit of peaceful coexistence with all nations of the world. This is now the key pillar of our foreign policy. It’s time to end the sanctions. It’s time for Zimbabwe to re-join the family of nations.

NewsDay Guest column: Brian Nichols

Blessed with abundant mineral resources, rich farmlands, ideal weather, stunning national parks, and a well-educated, industrious people, Zimbabwe should be the economic powerhouse and the breadbasket of southern Africa, and even more popular as a tourist destination and business investment opportunity, as it once was.

What then, is holding Zimbabwe back? It’s not sanctions. There are only 141 Zimbabwean people and companies on the United States sanctions’ list. That’s right, just 141, in a country of 16 million. They are on the list for good reason. These are people who have engaged in corruption, committed human rights abuses, and undermined Zimbabwe’s democratic process. Blaming sanctions is a convenient scapegoat to distract the public from the real reasons behind Zimbabwe’s economic challenges —corruption, economic mismanagement, and failure to respect human rights and uphold the rule of law.

There is no United States trade embargo on Zimbabwe. American companies are interested in investing in Zimbabwe but are deterred by the massive levels of corruption, economic uncertainty, and weak rule of law. So, investors turn to other promising opportunities in the region and wait for the country to embrace the political and economic reforms that would make it a more attractive destination.

The greatest sanctions on Zimbabwe are the limitations the country imposes on itself. Zimbabwe is ranked 160 out of 175 nations on Transparency International’s corruption list. Zimbabwe loses more than US$1 billion per year to corruption. That’s huge compared to the size of Zimbabwe’s entire economy — around US$26 billion. The government says fighting corruption is a priority but have government and government-connected perpetrators been held accountable? No. If the country’s laws were evenly applied and enforced, government coffers would be full and the economy would be humming; tax revenue and foreign exchange would not leak from the Treasury, and government would recover some of the money that has made a privileged few extremely wealthy. It’s not sanctions, it’s corruption.

The most conspicuous example is the more than US$2,8 billion missing from command agricultural subsidies. Who has benefited? Where is the accountability? Up to 50% of the population faces food insecurity and hospitals lack basic supplies, life-saving medicine, and medical equipment. The money missing from the agricultural subsidies could help many Zimbabweans in need. The government should be working to get this money back into its coffers. It’s not sanctions, it’s graft.

An American firm won the tender for the construction of the Dema Power plant in 2016, but the government cancelled the contract and awarded it to Sakunda Holdings, which had not even placed a bid. This type of corruption damages Zimbabwe’s reputation and drives away investors who want to be sure the rules apply to everyone. It’s not sanctions, it’s dishonest dealings. The Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) is unable to account for US$25 million. How many roads could Zinara have repaired with this money? How much clean water could have been provided? It’s not sanctions, it’s stunning mismanagement.

The Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company (ZETDC), a subsidiary of Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), paid US$4,9 million to Pito Investments for transformers in 2010.
The transformers were never delivered. Similarly, the Zimbabwe Power Company paid 196 064 South African rand to York Investments for gas that was never delivered, and US$67 000 for coal that was never delivered. Corruption is at the heart of why Zimbabweans are suffering through prolonged power outages. It’s not sanctions, it’s a betrayal of the public trust.

The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) paid US$3,1 million for a printing machine in 2016. Zimsec then failed to pay a balance of US$1,3 million, which delayed the machine’s delivery and commissioning. As a result, Zimsec had to later pay approximately US $2,2 million to outsource the printing of examinations in 2017. How many textbooks or computers could the Ministry of Education have purchased with the lost US$2,2 million and funds tied up in an incomplete purchase? It’s not sanctions; it’s dereliction of duty.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, which the Auditor-General’s report described as insolvent, paid for furniture at the JM Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo that was never delivered.

The list goes on.

The pattern is clear.

The government allocates taxpayer funds for goods and services that are never delivered because the very same funds are disbursed into someone’s private account.

There are people getting rich, many of them Zimbabwe’s political elites, as the economy continues to deteriorate around them and the Zimbabwean people suffer from crippling shortages of food, electricity, clean water and medicine. It’s not sanctions, it’s unmitigated greed.

Seventeen people died during mass protests in January. There were 17 reports of rape or sexual assault and police arrested more than 1 000 people in dragnet arrests in January and February. All of these reports allege police or military officers were the offenders. It’s not sanctions, it’s State-sanctioned violence.

The United States wants Zimbabwe to succeed. Since 1980, the United States has contributed US$3,2 billion in assistance to the Zimbabwean people, and is the country’s largest bilateral donor in health and humanitarian assistance to the population.

We will continue to support the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in Zimbabwe, which has brought the country to the cusp of HIV epidemic control, despite the aforementioned challenges. Thanks to United States government investments in PEPFAR and the Global Fund, over 1,1 million Zimbabweans are on life-saving HIV treatment. Our embassy will continue to work with partners in Zimbabwe to overcome the persistent threats of malaria, cholera, and tuberculosis affecting the Zimbabwean people, and step in and help them even if the government does not.

The United States is also the largest bilateral donor of emergency humanitarian assistance in Zimbabwe. The United States provided nearly US$8 million in Cyclone Idai relief. We contributed US$86,9 million in 2019-2020 lean season food assistance which is feeding more than a million food-insecure people. Today’s growing food need is a direct result of the government’s corruption and mismanagement, which turned the breadbasket of Africa into a country much of whose population requires international food aid.

But the United States government supports the Zimbabwean people and will continue to help ensure they do not starve.

The Zimbabwean government has set the goal of becoming a middle-income country.

To get there, the government should fulfil its promises of upholding the rule of law, fighting corruption, respecting human rights, and fully implementing Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution.
Progress on these goals is the path forward to prosperity and deeper engagement with the United States and the international community.

Our targeted sanctions are not responsible for Zimbabwe falling tragically short of its potential. The fault lies in catastrophic mismanagement by those in power and the government’s abuse of its own citizens.

 Brian Nichols is United States of America ambassador to Zimbabwe

As the people’s movement, the MDC has resolved to have nothing to do with any marches that do not seek to address the bread and butter issues that are affecting the majority of Zimbabweans today.

The long-standing crisis in Zimbabwe has been caused by the lack of confidence by our country’s citizens in the current political leadership of the country.

This is a result of the culture of bad governance and illegitimacy that rose out of a disputed stolen presidential elections results.

Indeed, the lack of good governance, legitimate and accountable leadership as evidenced by rigged or stolen elections; State-sanctioned gross human rights violations; rampant corruption; police brutality; arbitrary arrests and persecution of opposition politicians and civil society activists; abductions and forced disappearances; abuse of food aid as a political weapon; suppression of rural communities; cartels or state capture; among other vices that military against the people of Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is where it is today, largely due to the fact the country is being led by selfish and corrupt leaders who have no popular electoral mandate from the majority of Zimbabwean voters.

At the core of the national collapse are a crisis of leadership, a crisis of governance and a crisis of legitimacy.

Put simply, we have an illegitimate leadership that will never put first the interests of the long-suffering people of Zimbabwe.

It is the MDC’s view as aptly summarized by our RELOAD strategy, that unless and until the critical issues of political legitimacy and outstanding comprehensive reforms are fully resolved, Zimbabwe will remain in the doldrums, doomed as a country, without any hope of socio-economic recovery whatsoever.

As a people’s movement, the MDC will work with all progressive forces and indeed the broader people of Zimbabwe to mobilise and collectively express themselves, democratically and peacefully in public, against an illegitimate government that stole the result of the 2018 presidential elections and is not accountable to the people of Zimbabwe; Selfish and corrupt leaders that have captured the State and keep looting the country’s coffers at the expense of the masses; A visionless and unpopular government that has failed to provide a decent life for the Zimbabwean citizenry; and State-sanctioned gross human rights abuses and violations such as the recent callous murder of Hilton Tafadzwa Tamangani who will be laid to rest in Murehwa today.

MDC @ 20: Celebrating Courage, Growth and the People’s Victories.

Daniel Molokele
MDC National Spokesperson

Paul Nyathi|The European Union has declared that the highly expensive anti sanctions that were held in Zimbabwe on Friday will not at all influence the Union to change its position on sanctions imposed on some ZANU PF leaders and companies.

In an official Twitter post on Friday, the Union said sanctions decisions are reviewed once a year by a gathering of all member states or only when Zimbabwe has managed to adhere to set requirements.

Zimbabwe held countrywide demonstrations against sanctions on Friday hoping to pressure the Union and America to revisit the embargo.

#DidYouKnow? The restrictive measures are reviewed annually and changes can be made at any time, when Zimbabwe demonstrates that conditions that lead to their imposition have substantially changed – and once all EU Member States agree on that. pic.twitter.com/cNqkglWWnn

— EU Delegation to Zimbabwe ?? (@euinzim) October 25, 2019

Prosecutor General Kumbirai Hodzi has been petitioned to charge finance minister Mthuli Ncube with criminal abuse of office over a series of actions that have caused Zimbabweans financial losses in the billions of dollars.

Should he decline to prosecute the minister, activist Mfundo Mlilo – who in September won a court challenge to Ncube’s illegal imposition of a 2 percent tax on electronic transactions – says he has instructed prominent lawyer Advocate Thabani Mpofu to initiate a private prosecution.

Ncube unlawfully pilfered US$800 million from the public using an illegal tax and lulled Zimbabweans into suffering huge financial losses through misrepresenting that over $9 billion in RTGS balances would be converted into United States dollars, Mlilo says in a criminal complaint sent to Hodzi through his lawyers, Mafume Law Chambers.

The minister had also broken the law by attempting to hire William Mutumanje, also known as Acie Lumumba, as the chairman of the finance ministry’s Communications Task Force, Mlilo argues.

The complaint outlines four potential charges of criminal abuse of office against Ncube, including a failure to act on the abuse of the foreign currency allocation system at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

“As you are aware, our client obtained a judgement against the above-mentioned individual (Ncube) which judgment is extant. Our client is alarmed by the nonchalant response to the judgement by the said individual which has compelled him to file this criminal complaint. Our client has observed the behaviour of the said individual on many instances and he has noticed a palpable disregard of the law…,” Mlilo’s lawyers said in an October 24 letter to Hodzi.

The lawyers asked Hodzi to “perform your constitutional duty to prosecute the criminal complaints contained herein”, or in the event that he elects not to pursue the complaint to issue a ‘Certificate Nolle Prosequi’  – a declaration confirming he will not prosecute which would allow Mlilo to pursue a private prosecution.

The lawyers say the Zimbabwean public is “in great danger from the propensity by Ncube to implement measures outside the law, and then change the law to suit the criminality as an afterthought”, adding: “In a constitutional democracy, it is critical that everyone should understand that they are not above the law.”

In an affidavit accompanying his complaint, Mlilo outlined four counts of alleged corruption by Ncube, the centrepiece of which is the imposition of the tax which the High Court has already ruled was unlawful at the time when it was effected last October.

“In respect of count one, the allegations are that the accused person in breach of an extant law, being section 22G of the Finance Act (Chapter 23:04) as read together with section 36G of the Income Tax Act which regulated Intermediate Money Transfer Tax on electronic money transactions at the lawful 5 cents tax per transaction, sought to impose a punitive, unlawful and arbitrary 2 percent tax on all electronic transactions of US$10 and above. This he did on the 1st of October 2018 in terms of a Policy Statement,” Mlilo explains in his affidavit.

“On the 13th of October 2018, the accused person purported to promulgate Finance (Rate and Incidence of Intermediated Money Transfer Tax) Regulations S.I 205 of 2018 by which he sought to amend primary legislation being section 22G of the Finance Act (Chapter 23:04) as read together with section 36G of the Income Tax Act.

“Having made these unlawful interventions whose illegality he was well aware of, accused person pilfered from the people of Zimbabwe and to their irremediable prejudice, an average of USD$80,000,000-00 per month for a period of ten months.

“The accused person’s interventions were later declared unlawful by the High Court in terms of a written judgment of the High Court of Zimbabwe under judgment number HH-605-19.

“Arrogantly and in unbridled contempt of the High Court, the accused person authored a letter effectively advising the nation that the judgment was a brutum fulmen. The letter also reflects the fact that the accused person has always known and accepts the incorrectness of his position in the imposition of the 2 percent tax.

“The actions of the accused person in unlawfully imposing a financial burden on the people of Zimbabwe, in purporting to legislate as though he were Parliament and in making use of public power in giving effect to an illegality constitutes an abuse of power and disadvantages the people of Zimbabwe to a material extent. Making use of his illegal interventions which were primarily aimed at the poor, the accused person purloined from the people of Zimbabwe an average of USD$80,000,000-00 per month.

“Accused person had no lawful right to act in the way he did and to cause the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe in doing so.”

On the second count, Mlilo charges that Ncube broke the law by appointing Mutumanje acted contrary to his duty under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act[Cap 22:23] to ensure no person is appointed by the State outside the auspices of the Civil Service Commission.

“In doing so, accused person showed favour to William Mutumanje (Acie Lumumba) in that he accorded him a privilege which was not available to any other Zimbabwean and did so in breach of competitive standards set out under law. By the same token, the accused person showed disfavour to the generality of Zimbabweans who might have been interested in applying for that job,” Mlilo explains.

On the third count, Mlilo claims that Ncube appointed Mutumanje “for the purpose of naming and shaming certain officials of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and private individuals who were involved in corrupt activities particularly in the area of foreign currency allocation for purposes of fuel purchase and the acquisition of foreign currency on the parallel market.”

“Despite being obliged by law as minister of government responsible for Finance to report such malpractices to law enforcement officials, accused person in breach of his duties refrained from doing so and has not done so to date… Accused person by his omission acted contrary to the interests of the people of Zimbabwe and thus showed disfavour to them and at the same time showing favour to those implicated in criminality,” Mlilo adds.

The fourth and final complaint relates to the finance ministry’s repeated assurances that the RTGS balances and bond notes would be redeemable in United States dollars at a rate of 1:1 prior to any currency changes.

The government, in a surprise move in February, allowed the RTGS/bond note surrogate currency to float against the US dollar, beginning a hemorrhage on the bank balances of Zimbabweans which culminated in the relaunch of the Zimbabwe dollar in June as the sole legal tender, without the US dollar conversion taking place. Zimbabweans had billions in the value of their investments, bank balances and pensions wiped out as the new currency rapidly declined.

Mlilo says as the government minister responsible for finance, Ncube “is ultimately responsible for protecting the economy and the country’s currency and for building confidence in respect thereto.”

“The government of Zimbabwe had taken the position that the country’s surrogate currency, the bond note, was deemed to be at par with the United States dollar. It was however, accepted that there was need for the surrogate currency to be supported by the proper United States dollars and for Nostro accounts to be ring fenced and protected,” Mlilo says.

“The accused person understood that the position he publicly communicated on issues of currency had a direct impact on the confidence reposed by the public in the country’s currency of trade. Falsely, the accused person announced that the Afrexim bank had extended a facility which would have stabilised both the economy and the currency of trade. That meant that value held by the people of Zimbabwe would in the foreseeable future be protected and preserved unless there was a drastic change in economic policies. The assurance was one that people could and did legitimately rely on coming as it did from a public official heading the ministry of finance.

“As a result of the false assurance, the people of Zimbabwe took decisions which were based on the fact that the value of the surrogate currency would be preserved at par with the United States dollar. Contracts were concluded and obligations were incurred on that understanding and assurance. Further, many monetary investments were made.

“In giving this false assurance and news, the accused person intended the people of Zimbabwe to act on the misrepresentation to their prejudice. In the event they did and lost full value of all their investments and the contracts they concluded.

“The accused person’s actions were unlawful, fraudulent and he had no right to engage in their pursuit.”

Paul Nyathi|Zimbabwe’s economy continues on its downward spiral. After the infamous “coup-not-coup” of last year, which saw the ousting of former president Robert Mugabeafter almost a four decade-long rule, current president Emmerson Mnangagwa and his cabinet are yet to inspire any confidence in Zimbabweans.

A few days ago, the country embarked on an “anti-sanctions crusade” which included prayer sessions and the declaration of a public holiday.

On Friday, a few thousands of Zimbabweans participated in a nationwide march which hopes to see the economic sanctions imposed by America and the European Union lifted. However, both America and the European Union have been clear that sanctions will only be lifted following economic and political reforms.

Zimbabwe has been facing economic sanctions since Mugabe was in power. America, the European Union, Australia and several others have maintained that because of alleged human rights violations, rigged elections and the expropriation of land from White farmers, the sanctions will remain in place. American ambassador Brian Nichols said in an interview with Zimbabwe’s Trevor Ncube that, “The perception of the issues in Zimbabwe is driven by the actions of the government of Zimbabwe both in the run up to and in the wake of the elections in 2018.”

Some members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) reportedly also attended to show their support for the mass mobilization of Zimbabweans by the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF).

Each member country of SADC was set to individually call for the lifting of Zimbabwe’s sanctions as previously agreed upon at the 39th regional summit held in Tanzania this past August.

Last night, the Zanu-PF Youth League called on Zimbabweans to occupy the American embassy as part of what they’ve now dubbed “Sanctions Must Fall”.

Social media has through the day been very alive with images and video footage of the various anti-sanctions marches that took place across the country.

That brings an end to our updates. Thank you for joining us.

1424: President Mnangagwa has finished his address.

1421: “We have opened up both the economic and political space…the EU has started to gradually remove the sanctions they had imposed.”

The President urges foreign envoys to carry the message of goodwill to their capitals. He thanks Sadc, AU ambassadors and others from progressive nations. He says a Zimbabwe without sanctions is a better partner to other nations.

1413: “The sanctions have perpetuated the cycle of poverty in our country…no amount of propaganda can spin or sugarcoat this gruesome truth,”

1410: “Every part of our country has been affected by these sanctions like a cancer…it clear and undeniable that sanctions were a reaction to the just and necessary action of taking our land…for the avoidance of doubt that programme is not reversible. As the people of Zimbabwe we cannot continue to have our fundamental human rights and dignity trampled upon,”

1406: President Mnangagwa says for nearly 20 years the country has lived with the unbearable burden of sanctions.

“We know very well that sanctions are neither smart or targeted…many of our people have over the years lost loved ones in hospitals due to the impact of sanctions on our health services…our exporters are denied entry into some markets.”

1400: He says the sanctions’ direct and indirect devastating impact have been felt in the region. He says today is the day we say enough is enough. The President says the sanctions must go.

Let it be known that we are united in purpose..our friends and neighbours equally join our cause today. As a nation and as a people we say thank you to Sadc for standing by us…we also say thank you to the African Union and progressive world for supporting us during these difficult years in our nation,”

1352: President Mnangagwa is now on the podium.

1345: Vice President Kembo Mohadi is now on the podium to introduce President Mnangagwa.

1333: University of Zimbabwe Department of Business Studies Professor Albert Makochekanwa said a study they conducted showed that more than US$7billion has been lost in revenue for several firms owing to the existence of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.

1222: Chief Charumbira representing traditional leaders says the sanctions were imposed after Zimbabwe embarked on the land reform. He says the liberation war was fought for the land. Chief Charumbira demands that the sanctions be removed.

1203: Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Monica Mutsvangwa has called for solidarity messages. the first one is by a representative of Tanzania President and Sadc chairman Dr John Magufuli.

1132: Prof Murwira thanks the support Zimbabwe is receiving from Sadc nations in its quest to have sanctions against the country removed. He says by turning out in their numbers across the country Zimbabweans have shown that they stand behind their Government.

1127: Professor Murwira, as the Master of Ceremony, takes to the podium.

1108: The arrival of President Mnangagwa at the National Sports Stadium marks the beginning of the main proceedings. The National Anthem is now being sung.

1026: In Bulawayo, residents are marching from three points . The first and second groups have already arrived at White City Stadium

1025: Some of the placards read: “Sanctions violates youth Development. Youths are saying no to sanctions”

1021: In the Midlands province, scores of people gathered at Gweru Sports Club and are marching to Mkoba Stadium.

0948: In Beitbridge, Zanu PF secretary for administration Dr Obert Mpofu and Minister of State for Matabeleland South Abednico Ncube and local MPs for Beitbridge have crossed to SA to collect the ANC delegation led by secretary general Ace Magashule. Meanwhile, people are about to start marching from the DA’s office via border post and end at Dulivhadzimu stadium for speeches.

0920: The march has begun and will end at the National Sports Stadium

0908: Addressing the marchers Professor Amon Murwira, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology said, “Let’s march and declare to the world and show that sanctions are real, causing untold suffering to every Zimbabwean. We shall march and tell the world, enough is enough, sanctions must go. We have not come to insult anyone, we have come to demand just treatment. The people of Zimbabwe know that we can not eliminate the injust of sanctions by insulting.” Prof Murwira was speaking on behalf of the Minister of foreign affairs

0902: First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa has arrived at the Robert Mugabe Square for the march against sanctions. She will join other patriotic citizens and march to the National Sports stadium.First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa is amongst the marchers. Picture by Tendai Rupapa

0850: Thousands of people have gathered at Robert Mugabe Square as they prepare to march against the illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.

The Gwanda anti sanctions was a near flop on Friday as only a handful of students and senior government officials attended the event.

The low key event kicked off with a disappointingly low turn out to a march through the streets of the town to Pelindava Stadium where the gathering spent hours scorching in the heat with no entertainment arranged.

The Minister of State for Mat South province Abednico Ncube also snubbed the event in the provincial capital opting to rather attend a similar hurriedly organised event in Beitbridge where ANC of South Secretary General Ace Mahachule attended the event together with Obert Mpofu the ZANU PF Secretary for Administration

Watch video downloading below:

2 piecer and Pepsi cane for everyone at the Anti-Sanctions March: Pics. There were long queues at the National Sports Stadium today after every marcher who turned up to protest against the “American sanctions on Zimbabwe” received a Chicken Slice 2-Slicer meal box as well as a bottle of Pepsi Cola and Water.

However, this did not go down well with many who accused the government of having misplaced priorities by splashing out money on a public relations event while people are dying due to a collapsing health care system.

MDC Secretary for Public Service&Social Welfare Maureen Kademaunga wrote, Every marcher who turned up to protest against “American sanctions on Zimbabwe” is getting a Chicken Slice meal box + Pepsi Cola.

PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York.

iharare

WATCH VIDEO BELOW. ..

Police officers on horseback assaut people forcing them to stay at @edmnangagwa's event. The officers who also had police dogs blocked people from leaving the National Sports Stadium before the President had finished speaking, @DrTaxs @SADC_News pic.twitter.com/LwdBTQFeh9

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) October 25, 2019

UPCOMING-DRONE VIDEO -ANTI SANCTIONS MARCH- We're about to live stream our flight.From our body count, less than 460 pple're visible from street level, all the way to NSS.Crowd was offered 2 pizzas and a tarino (allegedly as an incentive). WHAT DID YOU OBSERVE?@MakomboreroH pic.twitter.com/kkpKhRmXY0

— ZimEye (@ZimEye) October 25, 2019