EXPELLED FORMER VICE PRESIDENT Joice Mujuru has followed Morgan Tsvangirai’s trail by branching out of the ruling party and forming her own party, an insider has cast-all.
Tsvangirai used to be a powerful ZANU PF commissar but in 1999 decided to desert Robert Mugabe and form the MDC party together with a crawl of academics and  activists all disgruntled with ZANU PF’s perversion of the political pool.
Mrs Mujuru’s latest move likely was revealed by her top lieutenant Didymus Mutasa who said the party will bw called ZANU (People First). Mutasa who is popularly known under the nickname, “Gamatox,” said members of the “original and genuine Zanu PF which was formed on August 8, 1963” had decided to form “People First“ after the ruling party was taken over by a bunch of mafikizolos at the December 2014 congress.
Mutasa warned that the proposed new party would rock the ruling party since it had the backing of key figures in the security establishment as well as former Zipra and Zanla commanders.
“We want to have a party, but we are still talking about it. We are with Mai Mujuru, Rugare Gumbo and all those who were removed from the party,” he told a privately-owned radio station.
“It is many of us from different oppositional parties such as Simba Makoni, Dumiso Dabengwa and a lot of others who were no longer supporting Zanu PF.
“Our membership is composed of the original and seasoned politicians, commanders of the Zimbabwe African National Army (Zanla), Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (Zipra) and Zimbabwe People’s Army (Zipa) forces who are now being marginalised,” he said.
 
Mutasa hinted that many big names of disgruntled former Mugabe loyalists are warming up to the move.
Margaret Dongo, who left Zanu PF in the 1990s to stand as an independent candidate also appeared to warm up to the idea of a new party yesterday.
“A Zanu PF returning to the ideals of the liberation struggle is long overdue. It will attract war veterans, nationalists and all those who were wrongly expelled from the party. The generation that waged the liberation war is still there and should lead the party not these mafikizolos.
“Fortunately, these guys have seen the light and there are a lot of war veterans who have been looking for shelter,” Dongo said.
And despite the public bravado after expelling Mujuru and her allies, it is widely known that the People First movement has rattled the ruling party, amid fears that party hardliners may resort to extreme violence to thwart their opponents.
But Mutasa and team are not deterred.
“We should all converge to save our country from the corrupt and selfish leadership of the illegal 2014 Zanu PF. We will accept as members all Zimbabweans from all walks of life who are determined to work for a new Zimbabwe.
“We envisage a Zimbabwe where every member of society matters. Hence we shall require that in all considerations people must come first. Hence our slogan People First,” he said.
Gumbo said yesterday that the expulsion of Mujuru from the post-congress Zanu PF was a blessing in disguise as it would open the door for “like-minded persons” to work together towards a common objective.
“The expulsion of Mai Mujuru just shows vindictiveness on the part of those who are in the party’s politburo, but they have also played into our hands,” he said cryptically.
 
“Just a money-faction” – Prof Moyo
Commenting on the development ZANU PF spin doctor Jonathan Moyo scoffed at the move.
“Media dreams of a split will come to grief not least because the nefarious pursuits of expelled malcontents in the wilderness cannot be rationally described as a split,” Moyo said.
Dumiso Dabengwa’s 2008 foray into the political wilderness was not a split in Zanu PF nor was Simba Makoni’s Mavambo in the same year which ended up as Magumo in 2013.”
He continued, “it is also notable that the expelled Mujuru-Mutasa-Rugare cabal was widely seen as the money-faction before its long overdue expulsion because money was, as it still is, more important to the threesome than ideology.”
 

The MDC-T  youth have staged a protest in Bulawayo’s  Mpopoma -Pelandaba constituency citing that the ruling party is preparing to rig the parliamentary by- elections set for the 10th  of June .
As the country  prepares for elections after MDC-T recalled at least 21 MPs aligned to MDC-Renewal led by Sekai Holland last month, tension is rising between the two parties Zanu PF and MDC-T.
Five of the constituencies are in Bulawayo and Zanu PF has declared its intention to reclaim the seats lost in 2000 to the then newly-formed MDC.
MDC-T youth secretary for Mpopoma-Pelandaba constituency Mthokozisi Ncube said yesterday’s protest was sparked by a Zanu PF door-to-door campaign to recruit potential voters.
He claimed the party had embarked on a door-to-door campaign where it was recording names of unregistered voters and trying to intimidate them into voting for Zanu PF.
“We staged protests today (yesterday) against Zanu PF in the constituency. We noted that Zanu PF members have begun their door-to-door visits registering children aged between 15 and 17,” he claimed.
“They are told they would vote in the by-elections. We totally condemn such moves of forcing people to vote against their will.”
Ncube said the demonstrations targeted potential Zanu PF candidates Sikhanyiso Ndlovu and Joe Tshuma.
“Although we never saw Tshuma and Ndlovu, our message was clear, they should stop forcing people especially, children to vote,” he said.
“Tshuma should tell his other central committee members in their next meeting to stop it.”
However, Ndlovu who last week declared that he was interested in representing Zanu PF in the polls said he was not aware of the demonstration.
“No one has told me about the protests. In any case, I am in Harare now,” he said.
MDC-T has threatened to boycott the by-elections demanding electoral reforms. Zanu PF has scoffed at the boycott threats saying the opposition is afraid of certain defeat. -southen eye

A 28-year-old Harare man allegedly stabbed his ex-wife more than 10 times, killing her instantly following a dispute over the custody of their two minor children. Sydney Mudiro later drank poison in a bid to end his life, but was rushed to hospital.
According to the State Mudiro, of No. 3 Hopley Zone 5 Waterfalls, last week followed his ex-wife (name not given) of nine years to her new lodgings at house Number 308 Ushewokunze Phase 1 and demanded to have custody of their kids aged six and three.
The now deceased is said to have refused to give Mudiro the children and in a fit of rage he fatally stabbed the woman. Witnesses who saw the scene say there was blood all over the place.
Mudiro appeared in court last Thursday before magistrate Mr Vakayi Chikwekwe, charged with murder.
He was not asked to plead to the charge. Mr Chikwekwe remanded him in custody to May 16 and advised him to apply for bail at the High Court due to the gravity of the offence.
Mr Chikwekwe told him that the lower court had no jurisdiction to entertain bail issues in such cases.
The State, led by Mrs Leonellah Chitanda-Matowa, alleges that on April 1 at around midday, Mudiro went to his ex-wife’s house in Hopley.
It is alleged Mudiro tried to take their two minor children from her by force.
An altercation ensued between Mudiro and his ex-wife, the court heard.
It is the State’s case that Mudiro told the mother of his children that he wanted to have custody of the children, but the woman refused to give him the children. She allegedly told Mudiro that according to the law she was entitled to have custody of the kids.
This did not go down well with Mudiro, who then produced an okapi knife and stabbed the woman several times all over her body. The court heard that Mudiro went on to drink poison in an attempt to take his own life.
Neighbours made a report to the police and Mudiro was rushed to hospital. It is further alleged that Mudiro, who was under police custody in hospital, attempted to escape but was apprehended.-Herald

A male police officer kombi operators allege is notorious for bribery in the Highfield area, was last month knocked down by a passing kombi at a roadblock in the afternoon of the 22nd March.
The cop (name withheld) who survived the accident, is still recovering from the injuries sustained medics say are serious.
A 39-year-old man appeared in court last Thursday for allegedly knocking the policeman.
Lloyd Chirombo appeared before Mbare magistrate Ms Anita Tshuma charged with negligent driving.Ms Tshuma remanded Chirombo in custody to April 16. Prosecutor Ms Miriam Chiba said Chirombo was not a proper candidate for bail because he was likely to abscond as it took the police two weeks to apprehend him.
“Chirombo is not fit to be granted bail because he was on the run and our fear is that if he is remanded out of custody he might not come to court. More so, he committed a very serious offence considering that he knocked down a police officer who was clad in his uniform and was on duty,” she said.
Chirombo told the court that he was denying the allegations on the basis that he was not the one who was driving the motor vehicle on the day in question.
“I was off duty on the day in question. I was not running away from the police because I did not even know that the police were after me,” he said.
Allegations are that on March 22 this year at a roadblock in Highfield, Chirombo was driving a commuter omnibus.
The court heard that he knocked down a police officer in uniform who was carrying out traffic duties but he did not stop.

Public relations manager of  National Railways of Zimbabwe, Fanuel Masikati has expressed concern over the increase in cases of people committing suicide by throwing themselves in front of on-coming trains.
According to the NRZ, 147 people died between January 2007 and February 2015 on the country’s railway lines after throwing themselves in front of on-coming trains.
In a statement, NRZ Public relations manager  said many of the suicide cases involve women carrying young children.
Masikati did not, however provide figures for this year alone.
“Suicidal cases involving people who throw themselves in front of on-coming trains and those that seat on the railway lines are on the increase, a scenario which is of major concern to the NRZ and the public at large. People should seek counselling when confronted with challenges and seemingly difficult situations,” said Masikati.
“Some children and adults have been seen lying and sitting on railway lines, which is dangerous. These practices should be discouraged as they may result in people losing their lives. We’re appealing to the general public to desist from such retrogressive acts and report such cases to the nearest police or railway security stations.”
He said statistics show a trend where many people committ suicide in January, September and December, a situation he attributed to the so called “January disease” and school fees dilemma among other social challenges.
“It is common knowledge that many people are faced with hardships and social problems, but it is not an option or solution to commit suicide,” said Masikati.
He said rejection, negligence and societal stigma were also contributing to prevalence of suicide cases.
Masikati also said between January 2007 and February 2015, 167 people died and 581 were injured in accidents at rail level crossings.
He appealed to all motorists and public transport drivers to exercise extreme caution, when approaching rail level crossings.
“There are many people dying or being injured at rail level crossings as well as those involved in suicidal cases. Let’s all be responsible when driving on our roads. Remember, you cannot win an argument with a train,” said Masikati.
He said there were also people who were digging for gold along the railway lines as well as under the railway lines while others have been seen ploughing along the railway lines.
“This is risky to the movement of both passenger and freight trains throughout the country, particularly during the rainy season as it causes wash aways that have resulted in the derailment of trains,” he said. -chronicle

A diaspora group has splashed a liquid reward offer of $10,000 for information leading to the rescue of Itai Dzamara who was abducted on the 9th March in Glen View, Harare.
Suspected CIO agents pretending to be police officers took Dzamara in March after saying they were arresting him on the grounds of stealing a cow. He was abducted following his civic action calling on Robert Mugabe to step down as he is now too old.
The ZDA group led by Australia based Frank Dube called on Zimbabweans to call in (Harare number 0772889217) with “credible information” on the kidnapping.
The statement said a reward will be handed to anyone who “volunteers credible information that will lead to Dzamara’s location.
The statement came as the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition NGO also announced they are set to make a handsome offer for Dzamara’s find.
“We are putting together something and will be introducing a reward to anyone with information pointing to Dzamara’s whereabouts, and the person will be protected because we know that people might be afraid of disclosing who took him,” said the NGO’s Coordinator Nixon Nyikadzino.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit was in the way at the time of writing as Human Rights lawyers said they are dragging the CIO to court for failing to cooperate for the Dzamara’s release.

Touts and rank marshals captured performing press ups on top of a grave during the burial of the late Mbongeni, a local Bulawayo Hwindi/Tout.

A MAN from Mvuma allegedly raped and strangled a 22-year-old milk vendor and struck her head with an unknown object before raping the dead body, police have confirmed.
The unidentified man in his mid 30s and believed to be a serial rapist in Mvuma who preys on travellers waiting for transport along Masvingo-Harare near Chicken Slice allegedly went on to attempt to rape another woman who was coming from Chicken Slice Mvuma on her way home.
The incident occurred last week Tuesday when the victim, Privilege Mutara of Chivhu resettlement area was found dead by a passerby who sought to rescue yet another rape victim who had escaped death by a whisker from the same assailant.
Acting Midlands police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende confirmed the tragic incidents saying the police had launched a manhunt for the suspect who is believed to be behind a spate of rape cases in Mvuma town.
“I can confirm that we are investigating a case of attempted rape and murder after a woman was allegedly sexually harassed by an unknown male adult and another brutally murdered after being raped.
It is alleged that a female adult from Mvuma was walking towards Shayamavhudzi Township in Mvuma town using a bushy path coming from Chicken Slice. While on her way, she met the suspect and he tripped her to the ground and attempted to rape her. The complainant screamed but the suspect tried to gag her by pouring a handful of soil into her mouth,” she said.
However, luck ran out for the suspect when a passerby heard the complainant crying out for help and ran towards the bush where he found the suspect attempting to rape the complainant.
“The passerby chased after the suspect but came across Matara’s body which had been stripped naked. The passerby reported the matter to the police who attended the scene and discovered that Matara had been sexually abused,” said Asst Insp Mukwende.
She said the suspect was still at large.
“We are appealing to the members of the public who might have information pertaining to the whereabouts of the suspect to report to any nearest police station.
“We want to warn Mvuma residents to be wary of the suspect as he has reportedly raped many women in the area using the same method,” said Ass Insp Mukwende.
Meanwhile, Matara’s parents were up in arms with her husband after she went missing for three days but he did not make a follow-up on the matter.
Sunday News is reliably informed that the parents are demanding money from her husband and have reportedly vowed not to bury her if he fails to pay the money. – State Media

TWO Bulawayo men who were allegedly caught pants down while masturbating inside their parked car at a secluded place earlier this year have been acquitted.
Bulawayo magistrate Sibongile Msipa-Marondedze said the State had failed to prove its case beyond any reasonable doubt against Rodney Joseph (36), of Northend suburb and William Chimunhu (36) of Westgate.
Joseph and Chimunhu, who were being charged with public indecency, had pleaded not guilty arguing that they were only relaxing in their car.
“If indeed Joseph wanted to do the act I am sure he was going to switch off the light inside the car and go to the back seat where Chimunhu was. From the evidence given, I don’t think the State has a case against these two men and as such I retain a verdict of not guilty and accordingly they are acquitted,” ruled Msipa-Marondedze.
Allegations against Joseph and Chimunhu were that on January 22, shortly after 3AM, Sergeant Dominic Takawira of ZRP Westgate was on night patrol when he spotted a car parked at a secluded place near Sizinda Clinic in Westgate.
Takawira became suspicious and went close to the vehicle to investigate.
“Takawira peeped through a window of the car and found Joseph and Chimunhu inside.
“He saw Chimunhu lying on his back on the car seat and he was half naked while Joseph was busy fondling his erect manhood,” said Nkathazo Dlodlo, prosecuting.
The two men allegedly sprang to their feet when they realised that they had been spotted.
Takawira arrested them. chronicle

Diaspora No to Mugabe – Zimbabwe Vigil Diary: 4th April 2015
If further evidence was needed that Mugabe is crazy it came with his appeal to the diaspora to give him more money – presumably for his non-stop travels in search of eternal life.
Whatever Zanu PF in the UK says, no sane Zimbabwean here would dream of putting their money anywhere within Zanu PF’s grasp. The party’s UK spokesperson says Zimbabwe is a ‘victim’ of a vicious depression as well of course as ‘illegal’ sanctions but he happily proclaims that ‘the economic renaissance (is) already in motion’ (see: Zimbabwe Herald article: http://allafrica.com/stories/201504040103.html – Zimbabwe: Zim-Diaspora Policy Needed As Soon As Yesterday).
We don’t see any sign of an economic renaissance in Zimbabwe. Sure the UK diaspora supports our families at home – otherwise they would starve, die of preventable diseases or drop out of school. But Mugabe’s deluded hope of financial help from the diaspora only shows how out of touch he is with reality. Zimbabwe is a basket case and the diaspora doesn’t have any spare coins to toss in the begging bowls of crooks and con men.
Even genocidal maniac Mutasa (‘we only need 6 million people so long as they all support Zanu PF’) has now seen the light and tells the BBC he fears for his life. ‘You see people disappearing . . . so will they spare my life or send a sniper to shoot at me?’ he asked, adding that the fighting in Zanu-PF was worse than the situation under former white minority leader Ian Smith. ‘The Smith regime was not as bad as the current regime – it’s really terrible,’ Mr Mutasa said (.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32176164 – Zimbabwe ruling party expels Mugabe rival Joyce Mujuru 3 April 2015).
We at the Vigil ask who will invest in a country where a high profile human rights activist like Itai Dzamara can be ‘disappeared’ by the intelligence service? Or, for that matter, where the boss of the State Procurement Board – a plum rip-off job – owes more than a million dollars in unpaid tax on his earnings – let alone his bribes! The brazen Charles Kuwaza sees no need to pay taxes because ‘my contract is with the President’ (see: SPB boss racks up $1m tax arrears – http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/zimsit_w_spb-boss-racks-up-1m-tax-arrears-the-herald/).
We note that Zanu PF has expelled Joice Mujuru, describing her as ‘the Godmother of all the corruption, including that which has brought strategic parastatals like Air Zimbabwe, ZBC, NRZ, IDC and GMB to their knees’. (What about Mr Kuwaza’s SPB?) Apart from engaging in witchcraft and sorcery in her attempts to render the President unfit to govern, Mujuru is apparently the leader of fifth columnists. We wonder if they are talking about the fifth-rate columnists on the Herald? (See: http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/zanu-pf-expels-joice-mujuru%e2%80%a2-slew-allegations-cited-%e2%80%a2-plots-traced-far-back-2004/ – Zanu-PF expels Joice Mujuru – Slew of allegations cited – Plots traced as far back as 2004).
A meeting of the Zimbabwe Action Forum after the Vigil decided to ask for police permission to present a petition to the Zimbabwe Embassy at 11 am on Friday 17th April 2015 – the day before Zimbabwe Independence Day. The petition will focus on the abduction of Itai Dzamara. The protest follows a series of approaches to the Embassy by concerned Zimbabweans hoping to present a letter asking for an explanation of the abduction. In the latest protest, on Tuesday 31st March, Martin Chinyanga of Diaspora Feels It was taken into police custody for some hours and told not to approach within a yard of the Embassy after a complaint to the police by the Zimbabwean Ambassador.
Others taking part in the Tuesday protest were: Mary Muteyerwa, David Kadzutu, Noobukhosi Moyo, Hilda Gwesele, Tafadzwa Mushakwe, Enniah Dube, Rhoda Majoni, Mavis Chisvo, Linton Magume, Clever Manjoro, Epiphania Phiri, Danny Kadiki, Arthur Molife and Tendai Dlamani.
We are preparing a letter to the police detailing the concerns which prompt our approaches to the Embassy.
Other points
· The Zimbabwe Association is holding an exhibition ‘12 Years: Zimbabwe Association Exhibition Launch’ on Tuesday 5th May from 6 – 8 pm. The project is funded by the Heritage Lottery and shares the oral histories of Zimbabwean asylum seekers’ experiences in the UK from 2001 to the present. This exhibition contains material from the Zimbabwe Association archive, an extensive collection of records of individual cases, legal documents, press cuttings, reports, correspondence, and TV and radio recordings. For more details of the event check ‘Events and Notices’.
· For a short documentary by fellow journalists and activists on the abduction of Itai Dzamara check: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Pn3UKA5UY.
· Tendai Kwari of Occupy Africa Unity Square UK advises us that one of our supporters, Epiphania Phiri, has raised £50 which she has sent to the Dzamara family. He thanks her for her dedicated work.
· Thanks to those who came early to help set up: Eunice Mucherechedzo, Charles Dhumisani Ndlovu, Danny Kadiki, Piyo Choga, David Kadzutu, Mary Muteyerwa, Bridget Mupotsa and Fungayi Mabhunu.

A suspected South African poacher and his Zimbabwean accomplice were shot dead in Zimbabwe’s most exclusive wildlife sanctuary.
The two suspects died during a shoot-out with game scouts at Malilangwe, in south-eastern Zimbabwe.
The dead South African hasn’t yet been named, but he was working with a 28-year-old Zimbabwean from the southern town of Gwanda.
Police told the state-run Chronicle newspaper on Thursday that they wanted to first inform his next of kin.
The pair reportedly snuck into Malilangwe before dawn on Saturday.
But the private conservancy, which has hosted high-profile visitors like Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas, is tightly patrolled by rangers, who spotted the intruders.
They were killed in a gunfight and their bodies are at the local hospital in Chiredzi.

Expelled former ZANU PF Mash West boss and ex-legislator Temba Mliswa, has vowed to destroy President Robert Mugabe’s authority in his constituency and before the 2018 elections, to form a powerful union with MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s party.
Mliswa who has declared that ZANU PF will be finished by the year 2018 and a grand coalition of parties will ground his former boss Mugabe’s stranglehold for good, staked his blood against Mugabe’s government saying, “It is the state versus Temba Mliswa in the upcoming Hurungwe West by-election,” speaking of the upcoming by-elections in Hurungwe West following his ouster from ZANU PF.
 
“Reconciling with Mugabe”
Ironically however this came at a time when he was also seeking to meet President Robert Mugabe in order to reconcile. “I would like to meet the President. That’s the truth of the matter because he is the centre of power,”
“In terms of the (ZANU-PF) constitution, everyone has the right to meet the President  the party and give their side of the story but that opportunity has not been accorded to me. I have utmost respect for the President. I have spoken to him before. He has given me time and has listened to issues that I have brought to his attention and he has acted timeously and professionally,” he said.
 
Accusing Mugabe of abusing power
But Mliswa has also spoken out hinting at Mugabe’s alleged abuse of state powers to crush opposition politicians. He blasted his boss’ party saying, “Zanu PF has no capacity to mobilise and that is why they have always resorted to assistance from the state apparatus to force people to attend their rallies and vote for them. But even with rigging they will lose in Hurungwe West,” he said.
He continued,  “I will not be campaigning in Hurungwe for fear that people will be victimised, there will be terror and we know that despite their intimidation tactics they have been failing to get people to buy into their preferred candidates. There will be no t-shirts because people will be victimised.”
“Zanu PF has forgotten that Hurungwe West rejected both the party and president in 2008 and I had to persuade people to vote for me in 2013.
“I had to persuade them that the president is the right person to lead this country. I had to preach non-violence and people were actually shocked that a Zanu PF member preaches anti-violence ahead of elections.”
 
ZANU PF splitting in 2018.
The spit-firing politician blasted his former party saying it will split before 2018.
“Zanu PF will split; it is a split organisation anyway but the MDC will remain. There will be a coalition of opposition forces. I am for change and if the opportunity comes I will be willing to grab it, he said.
He added that he will work with Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T. He said, “I would like to work with young people, like Chamisa (Nelson former MDC-T organising secretary) and Jessie Majome (Harare West lawmaker). They have brilliant ideas for the country, for the governance of the country which what we lack now,” he said.
He continued saying “there will not be a single party majority and, in any case, most of the Zanu PF MPs are on their way out because they do not work.”

The Mujuru family has been gripped by a grid of fear after the ZANU PF politburo’s latest statement upon booting former Vice President Joice Mujuru struck a direct link between the mysterious death of her husband General Solomon Mujuru and Joice’s expulsion.
As a Mujuru daughter spoke to a local weekly, another Mujuru relative and aunt of the deceased’s children told ZimEye.com the whole family is now daily in fear.
The development has been confirmed by ZANU PF Politburo member Cephas Msipa who last year rushed to stop a war veteran Zanu PF Kwekwe DCC chairman and war veteran George Valentine Makombe from revealing intimate details of a conversation he made with the late retired General Solomon Mujuru, three years ago, which revelation blows open the fact that a day before Mujuru perished in an unexplained inferno at his Beatrice Farm on August 15 2011, Msipa travelled to the Midlands where he met Makombe and informed him that some Zanu PF vultures were plotting to remove his wife, Joice from the Vice-Presidency. Mujuru returned to Harare that Saturday, and the following night his house was gutted by a fire that killed him.
Speaking to ZimEye.com, Mrs (Name Withheld) has revealed she is haunted by visions of her cousin brother Solomon Mujuru’s death five years since his body was found brutalised and burnt up at his Chegutu farm.
“No relative should ever have to bury their own but the nature of Solo’s death was so violent that I can barely sleep at night, haunted by the images of him alone, attacked by his own bodyguards, and then burnt up alive.
“Whenever I close my eyes I see Solo covered in blood and then ashes afterwards.
“When I later fall asleep I have horror nightmares in which I am running to the farm try and save him,” she said.
General Mujuru died in a mysterious inferno at his Ruzambu Farm in August 2011 and the State opposed attempts by the family for an independent autopsy to determine the cause of his death.
The Mujuru family was suspicious of the manner of his death and was not satisfied with the findings of the government sanctioned inquest which ruled out foul play.
In separate interviews with Independent journalists yesterday, Mujuru’s family members and close associates added weight saying the vicious attack on the Mujuru family has rekindled their suspicions that General Mujuru had been murdered and now raised the possibility that they too could be targeted.
Mujuru was one of the most powerful people in Zanu PF and was said to be the only person who could look President Robert Mugabe in the face and speak his mind.
There was little doubt that he was the kingmaker in Zimbabwean politics and historians and politicians agreed Mugabe owed his acceptance as leader in Zanu PF to the late general who convinced liberation fighters to accept him in 1976.
Mujuru family members, close associates and friends said following the former VP’s expulsion from Zanu PF on Thursday and the labelling of the late decorated army commander as a coup plotter, they now feared for the worst.
One of Mujuru’s children told The Standard yesterday on condition of anonymity that they now lived in fear, as the claims by the party’s national disciplinary committee could be used by enemies of the Mujuru family as justification to harm them.
She said the way her mother was treated had left her traumatised. Joice has been vilified as a coup plotter, a dishonest person, a witch and morally loose by President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace.
Mugabe has not relented on his attacks on her, even though the former Vice-President has retreated to her farm where she is engaged in full-time farming.
“She [former VP Mujuru] has gone through a lot in the short period. He [the late General Mujuru] died in 2011 under mysterious circumstances and before we could fully recover, we are unjustifiably hit this hard again. I think the best way for her is to remain quiet and give all to God,” she said.
Mujuru’s daughter said the allegations by the politburo that her father wanted to remove Mugabe could explain why he was killed in the inferno.
“We then begin to suspect whether that was the reason he [Mujuru] died such a painful death. She [Joice] is spending Easter with her grandchildren probably at the farm but news of her expulsion from the party has aroused fears for her life and our lives too. We do not feel safe anymore.”
The Zanu PF disciplinary report presented by legal secretary Patrick Chinamasa to the politburo on Thursday claimed that Mujuru and her husband started plotting against Mugabe in 2004 and were instrumental in the 2008 “Bhora Musango” project which Zanu PF claims cost it elections that year.
“As way back as 2009 the government and the party was aware that Joice Mujuru and her late husband, the late Rex Nhongo Mujuru, were plotting to remove President Mugabe,” the report said.
It was known to the party that they plotted to block the nomination of President Mugabe as the party’s leader at the 5th people’s congress working in collusion with provisional chairmen.”
The report does not however say why no action was taken while General Mujuru was still alive.
Joice was yesterday said to be too busy with numerous Easter programmes at her Salvation Army church to respond to her sacking.
The Standard was however told by people close to her that she could draft a statement that could be released after the holidays.
Commenting on Mujuru’s expulsion from Zanu PF, former party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said: “They [Zanu PF politburo] want to destroy roots, trunk, branches and leaves, but I tell you that we have very strong roots and will win in any election. We will continue to support our leader [Mujuru] and the expulsion will definitely have no effect on our support base.”
Analysts said the firing of Mujuru from Zanu PF was clear indication of the fear in the rival camp who felt Mujuru remained a threat for as long as she was in the party.
Academic Ibbo Mandaza said: “For me, it’s a self-obituary on Mugabe PF. That has nothing to do with the Zanu we know. It’s interesting to see that latter day lawyers like [Patrick] Chinamasa are preparing the charge sheet against Mujuru. It’s a bunch of outsiders passing judgements on liberation heroes.”
Another analyst Charles Mangongera said: “This is the calculation on the part of Machiavellian schemers in the Mnangagwa camp. They see her [Joice Mujuru] as a threat to their ambitions and had to make sure she is out of the picture because if Mugabe is gone either naturally or otherwise, she would have a legitimate claim that her removal from office was illegal.” ZimEye/ Additional Reporting Standard

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is suing the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation, CIO, for refusing to release social and human rights activist Itai Dzamara.
Dzamara was abducted by members of the Central Intelligence Organisation, CIO, in Glenview last month.
Dzamara was challenging President Robert Mugabe to step down ‘because he has failed the country’.
Rights lawyers had earlier approached the High Court seeking for his release and on 13 March an order for his intensified search was given to the CIO.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights at the weekend said they were frustrated by government’s arrogance and continued abduction of Dzamara.
They said they were preparing some contempt of court papers against the state security.
“While others are enjoying the holiday break, in Zimbabwe, human rights lawyers have commenced Contempt of Court proceedings against Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi, Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri, Central Intelligence Organisation Director-General Happyton Bonyongwe and State Security Minister for failing to comply with a High Court order issued on Friday 13 March 2015 by Justice David Mangota which obliges them to report after every two weeks on progress they have made in searching for the missing Dzamara”, said Kumbirai Mafunda the ZLHR publicist.
 

A HONDE-VALLEY man was fined $60 for kissing and fondling a 13-year-old’s breasts last week. Taurai Zindi Chemutsanga (21) of Marekera Village, Zindi, pleaded guilty to the offence of kissing and fondling a 13-year-old’s breasts.
Presiding over the matter was Mutare senior magistrate Mrs Sekai Chiundura and prosecuting was Mr Douglas Matiure. The court heard that on March 8, Chemutsanga and the minor, who were lovers, were in the kitchen when the accused began kissing her. Chemutsanga proceeded to fondle her breasts.
“The minor’s mother entered the kitchen and caught the accused red-handed and a police report was made which led to Chemutsanga’s arrest,” said Mr Matiure.
In his defence, Chemutsanga told the court that the complainant was his girlfriend and therefore he thought there was nothing wrong in kissing her as well as fondling her breasts.
“She consented to my actions, Your Worship, and by the look of it, she was also enjoying as well as I was,” he told the court.
Mrs Chiundura, however, told him that it was an offence to act in such a manner even with a consenting minor.
“She is a minor and does not know the consequences of what she was doing. The law does not even permit you to be in a love relationship moreover a sexual relationship with someone who is under the age of 16.”
He was also warned to stay away from young children. – Manica Post

AN INJIVA who disappeared for 18 years, only to return early this year threatening to shoot his former girlfriend for falling in love with another man, has appeared in court.
Maria Ncube said she started dating Sihlobo Ndlovu in 1994 and he disappeared without a word in 1997, only to return early this year when she had moved on with her life.
Ncube and Ndlovu both reside in Gwabalanda and the woman said her ex-boyfriend had threatened to shoot her as well as her new lover on several occasions.
She told magistrate Evelyn Mashavakure that Ndlovu harasses her when he sees her with her new boyfriend who promised to marry her.
“Your Worship, I’ve reported him to the police several times but he still comes back threatening to shoot me. I’m no longer free to be with my boyfriend at my place because he banned him from coming to visit me and threatened to kill him,” she said.
Magistrate Mashavakure granted the protection order and ordered Ndlovu to stop abusing Ncube.
Ndlovu told the court that for the past 18 years he was in jail in South Africa but did not state for what crime.
He said he did not understand why Ncube wanted a protection order after they were intimate when he came back from the neighbouring country.
Ndlovu told the court that when he came back from South Africa this year, he was welcomed in the city by Ncube who took him to her place.
“Your Worship, I’m surprised because everything was well when I came back. I told her the reason why I was not communicating with her and we even made love,” Ndlovu said.
Ndlovu said he now wanted all his belongings that he left at Ncube’s place but Ncube said she did not have anything that belongs to him because all she had was what he gave her as gifts. -Chronicle

Zanu PF’s senior decision making body, the Politburo, has accused the late general Solomon Mujuru for plotting to violently remove Mugabe from power. A report produced at the Politburo meeting on Friday confirms the suspicions which led to the elimination of the late retired general, Solomon Mujuruas the Mugabe-controlled politburo now reveals.
The late Solomon Mujuru and her widow Joice are fingered as the chief plotters of a plan to kill or remove Mugabe from power through unorthodox means dating back from the time Joice was appointed Vice President. The couple are accused of attempting to carry out their plan during the party’s 2009 congress.
Solomon Mujuru met his fate in 2011, in a house inferno which produced unusual blue flames, nearly 2 years after the acrimonious 2009 congress. His body was burnt beyond recognition.
But on Friday, ZANU PF spokesperson Simon Khaya-Moyo announced the decision of the politburo to expel the late general’s widow Joice Mujuru from ZANU PF on accusationa of plotting with her late husband to annihilate president Mugabe.
The Politburo accuses Joice Mujuru of pushing her late husband’s agenda to eliminate Mugabe stating that ‘her actions after his demise in December 2011 have certainly been consistent with her husband’s strategic objectives, which sought to oust President Mugabe from power.’
This pronouncement confirms earlier reports that the relationship between Mugabe and the late general had hit rock bottom after Solomon directly told Mugabe to step down resulting in a stand-off between the two men during a politburo meeting.
According to the National Disciplinary Committee report to the Politburo, Dr Mujuru began working against the party’s interests and President Mugabe together with her late husband General Solomon Mujuru ever since she was elected VP in 2004.
“From as far back as the 5th National People’s Congress, the party and Government was aware that Joice Mujuru was either leading or complicit in a plot to oust the President. She, then with the help of her late husband had plotted to thwart the President’s nomination at the 5th National People’s Congress, mainly through the agency of her cabal’s handpicked or imposed provincial chairmen,” reads part of the report.
The report said Dr Mujuru manipulated internal party primary elections, replacing provincial chairpersons with members of her faction, resulting in the abolition of the District Coordinating Committees in 2012.
The report added that the former Vice President had also hatched plans to illegally remove President Mugabe at the 6th National People’s Congress and/or have him assassinated.
“During the run up to the 6th National People’s Congress, multi-sourced intelligence exposed a plot to boo the incumbent First Secretary and President of the Party and therefore, purport to oust him by acclaim of the gathered delegates at Congress.
“Intelligence at hand also pointed to a subplot to assassinate the President in case the approach failed to oust him,” added the report.
Dr Mujuru was also accused of engaging in witchcraft and sorcery in her attempts to render the President unfit to govern.
The report also said Dr Mujuru together with the late General Mujuru was instrumental in the “bhora musango” phenomenon that saw Dumiso Dabengwa leaving Zanu-PF to form Zapu while Simba Makoni formed Mavambo-Kusile-Dawn, resulting in the revolutionary party nearly losing the 2008 harmonised elections, and leading to the formation of the inclusive Government.
“Much as Joice Mujuru claims she cannot be held accountable for the actions of her late husband, her actions after his demise in December 2011 have certainly been consistent with her husband’s strategic objectives, which sought to oust President Mugabe from power,” the report reads.
The NDC also said Dr Mujuru was at the fore of creating a competing centre of power and was systematically usurping President Mugabe’s power and arrogating them to herself.
“On more than one occasion, she and her cabal attempted to convene Cabinet and the Politburo in order to fast track their divisive putschist agenda while the President was out of the country. Quite often, she insisted that ministers and other functionaries of Government and the party must report to her whenever they received directives from the President.
“With increasing brazenness in the run-up to the 6th Congress, she would order the same ministers and functionaries to ignore the President’s directives and counsel even, at times, issuing her own countermanding directives,” the report added.

As the deadly factional and succession wars within President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu PF get uglier, the defiant former Presidential Affairs minister, Didymus Mutasa, says his political enemies have organised a hit squad to kill him in a desperate bid to silence him once and for all.
Speaking in an interview in Harare yesterday, Mutasa said the plot to kill him had similarities to the way “the system has silenced” journalist turned pro-democracy activist Itai Dzamara — who was abducted in Glen View in broad daylight by suspected State security agents a month ago, and has not been seen since then.
He also announced yesterday that he had decided not to contest the Headlands by-elections slated for June because of the uneven political playing field and the “frightening presence of soldiers, intelligence officers and the police” in many ofSays he has the names of hired assassinsFROM P1 the areas where the poll will be taking place.
Mutasa, who has intimate knowledge of the ruthless modus operandi of the ruling party having been in charge of the country’s spooks and having worked as Mugabe’s confidante for many decades, said he was aware of the “nefarious plot” to assassinate him.
“I am not going to be abducted as they did to Dzamara, but that does not mean I am scared, I am not,” Mutasa said.
Through his open defiance of Mugabe and Zanu PF hardliners, Mutasa has created many enemies within the ruling party — and readily admits himself that, “there are a lot of people who want to silence me”.
With Zimbabwe set to hold by-elections in at least 16 constituencies countrywide in June, many critics of Zanu PF accuse the ruling party of employing dirty tactics, including irregularly deploying the army and unleashing operatives of the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in the areas where polling will take place, to coerce voters.
Mutasa said yesterday that it was “sad that Zec (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) is silent and yet they are aware of the presence of soldiers in different constituencies. They are aware of their presence but they are not saying anything”.
Quizzed by the Daily News whether the security establishment had played a part in previous polls while he was still a top Cabinet minister, Mutasa said although he was aware of “such shenanigans”, he could not “speak out” because he did not want to antagonise his former comrades even more.
“I can now complain because I could not complain in the past since I was part of the system. There was a time in the 1990s when I complained about Esap (Economic Structural Adjustment Programme, the government’s then economic blueprint) and I was kicked out, so I could not risk that again by raising such sensitive topics,” he said.
The diminutive politician, who has morphed from being an obsequious loyalist of Mugabe to one of the nonagenarian’s most unflinching critics, said he had been informed by insiders of the sinister plot to “silence me”.
“I can actually name the people who have been set on me. They are investigating me and when I want to die I will go to Rusape because that is where they want to kill me.
“I can say who wants to kill me because I know the system very well,” the former State security minister said almost nonchalantly.
Mutasa said he was also ready to confront a former subordinate of his, CIO boss Happyton Bonyongwe, with the alleged list of names of people who were out to eliminate him.
Opposition parties and human rights organisations have blamed Zanu PF for Dzamara’s disappearance last month, with the government being recently compelled by the High Court to search for him.
Although foreign governments such as those of the United States of America, Canada, Australia and France have been cranking up the pressure on Harare to locate the missing activist, the country’s security apparatus, that is very “efficient” when dealing with Zanu PF opponents, is still to find him.
Still, Mutasa said he was not afraid of being killed.
“Those who took Dzamara cannot produce him now because he is either not in the state in which they took him from his home, or simply because he is no longer there and that is a very bad Zimbabwe where people just disappear,” Mutasa said. – DailyNews

A BULAWAYO pastor allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl after claiming her family was haunted by evil spirits and also that his manhood drives out demons.
Greatness Tapfuma (33) of Kingdom Rulers International Church appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Willard Mafios Moyo on Wednesday facing rape charges. Prosecutor Mufaro Mageza told the court that in October last year, Tapfuma proposed love to the victim who was a member of his church, but was turned down.
During the same month, Tapfuma invited the girl to his Cowdray Park house and told her of a “prophecy” claiming her family was being attacked by demons and needed cleansing. She told the victim that part of the cleansing would involve her sleeping with him.
“He told me that if I did not sleep with him my father was going to die and I be turned into a Satanist,” the girl said in court. Tapfuma allegedly grabbed the girl and had sex with her three times without her consent.
The man of cloth was not asked to plead and was remanded out of custody on $300 bail.
Last year, Tapfuma was acquitted of rape charges after two members of his church accused him of sexually abusing them.
It was alleged that he raped the women aged 25 and 22 respectively, after inviting them to his house for prayers.

A Harare woman who ganged up with her friends and humiliated her husband’s lover by undressing her and inserting their fingers into her private parts while recording the act appeared in court yesterday facing charges of indecent assault. However the husband, a ZRP officer who watched as his lover was tortured, has not been charged as ZimEye.com reveals.
The video recording went viral on social media last week, thereby catching the attention of the police who arrested Moreblessing Ngome (29) and her alleged accomplices. Ngome, who is employed by Innscor, is jointly charged with Judith Muchenje (23) and Diana Chibanda (32).
They are facing assault and aggravated indecent assault charges. Magistrate Mr Vakayi Chikwekwe remanded the three to April 9 on $100 bail each. In his bail ruling, Mr Chikwekwe noted that there was provocation.
“It is the court’s view that there was gross provocation and the accused persons are not likely to abscond hence they are suitable candidates for bail,” he said. Prosecutor Mrs Leonella Chitanda-Matowa had opposed bail arguing that there was overwhelming evidence against the trio.
“Your Worship, it won’t be in the interest of justice to grant the accused persons bail considering the seriousness of the offence they are facing. The State’s case is strong for there is a video footage in which the three were caught in the act. They are likely to abscond if granted bail,” she said.
The three, who were not represented, argued that they were proper candidates for bail as they never tried to abscond. Muchenje said if they had wanted to abscond, they would have done so when the media was awash with news that police were looking for them.
Ngome distanced herself from inserting fingers into Nyachowe’s private parts, saying she only punched and slapped her before handing her over to her accomplices as she went to pray in the house.
Chibanda denied all the allegations against her while Muchenje told the court that she only fondled Nyachowe’s breasts and mocked her.
“Mambo wangu zvimwe zvirikutaurwa nedare ndakazviita asi zvimwe handini ndakazviita nekuti taive takawanda saka mumwe nemumwe ane zvake zvaakaita. Naizvozvo tokumbirawo kutongwa tichibva kumba hatimbotize,” Muchenje said.
Mr Chikwekwe ruled in favour of the trio. According to the State, Nyachowe (24) of 542 Komboniyatsva in Epworth, is a girlfriend of Ngome’s husband, Brian Moyo, a ZRP officer based a Braeside Police Station. It is the State’s case that sometime last month Moyo took Nyachowe to his house and sneaked her into his bedroom while his wife was sleeping in the kitchen.
Ngome woke up the following morning and went to the bedroom where she saw her husband in bed with Nyachowe. It is alleged Ngome teamed up with her accomplices Muchenje and Chibanda and assaulted Nyachowe.
They slapped and punched her and later used sticks to beat her. They stripped her naked and wore plastics on their hands before inserting their fingers into her private parts. They forced her to dance while naked, the court heard.
But Moreblessing Ngome’s ZRP officer husband who watched as his lover was tortured will not be charged as ZimEye.com reveals. Contacted yesterday officers said they were not going to charge Mr. Brian Moyo despite him being complicit to the attacks. In the video Moyo appears at the door of the house communicating to the women.
” He did not participate in the attack so we cannot charge him,” said Constable Sibanda. ZimEye.com in an earlier expose revealed that Moyo was of a truth complicit in the attack. [READ MORE – Stripped Naked Prostitute In ZRP Cop’s Custody, VIDEO ] 

Expelled former Zanu-PF provincial chairman for Mashonaland West Temba Mliswa has confirmed working with MDC functionaries to form a “grand coalition” to stand against Zanu-PF in 2018 harmonised polls.Mliswa, who was recalled from Parliament after his expulsion from Zanu PF, said he would contest his former seat, Hurungwe West, as an independent candidate on June 10.
Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday, Mliswa claimed Zanu-PF would split in 2018 because of deep rooted factional fights, while declaring the opposition MDC would be much alive.
“I’m young and I think the future is for the young . . . There will be a paradigm shift in 2018. Wait and see. I do not see a legislator coming in who is over 60. I’m not talking of regime change but a paradigm shift that will usher in a new era of politics . . .
“I would want to see (Nelson) Chamisa, (Jessie) Majome. I like Chamisa. They (Chamisa and Majome) have great brains good for our country.
“I know the young boys as I said; there will be a grand coalition. If there was something like that I would advocate for it. It makes sense. I want to be in it.”
Mliswa made another claim that the Young Turks in Zimbabwe were being let down by the older generation.
He said he would fight for his generation to put hands on the levers of State power.
“I want to fight for my generation,” he said.
“Our generation has more voters than any other generation. I like change and this fight is not about me but my generation. So if we are united, why can we not win?
“I think we have been let down by generations before us. These guys are supposed to pass the baton stick to us but they do not even have the stick.”
Mliswa alleged that people were still hesitant to buy his idea, adding that he would use the Hurungwe West by-election as a launch pad for his proposed coalition.
He claimed that he would win the by-election and that would work as a precedent for others to stand as independent candidates too.
“It has to start with someone,” he said.
“People are a bit shaky and the real by-election is in Hurungwe West. I’m going to stand as an independent candidate and I’m going to win resoundingly.
“Even if they rig, I’ll still win,” he said.
As has become his character, Mliswa went on a rampage, denouncing the Zanu-PF leadership saying his expulsion from the party was a blessing.
Mliswa made claims of corruption against several Zanu-PF officials including Cdes Obert Mpofu, Ignatius Chombo, Saviour Kasukuwere and Professor Jonathan Moyo.
He said he was pained that his uncle Didymus Mutasa, together with other members of the Mujuru cabal that include Ray Kaukonde, John Mvundura and Luke Mushore, had been booted from their posts on the basis of falsehoods.
State media
 

The Global Fund has urged Zimbabwe to prioritize gays and sex workers in its HIV and AIDS programming if she is to be considered for funding. 
Zimbabwe gets 35% of its AIDS funding from the Global Fund, which is  a pool of international AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria donors.
Sex workers, prisoners and the gays are discriminated against by the when it talks about HIV and AIDS management and programming because of politics and moral issues which are always raised against them.
There are also laws which criminalize gay activities and prostitution which make it difficult for those engaging in such activities to approach health care centres seeking for services if they become sick.
In an interview  with Zimeye,French Ambassador for HIV/Aids, TB, Malaria and transmittable diseases,  Philippe Meunier,  and   Global Fund board member ,said  they (Global Fund) were going to consider funding for nations which prioritize  these marginalized groups  in their  health programmes.
“It is a key priority that what we want to reach out is the marginalized populations. If we do not do it we won’t be efficient .It is also a question of investing in human health so it is really a high priority,’ he said. 
“The question is equal access to health and this means we must have a level playing field around, and we cannot have stigma discrimination and things like that. We mean normal access to health”.
France is the second largest contributor to the pool.

Another sex video rocks Midlands State University
Kwacha Mahachi|Gweru | There are serious concerns from Gweru residents on why the Midlands State University (MSU) students in the city of progress are continuously caught offside, producing pornographic videos that circulate among students.

The latest recording is a 30 –second clip of shameful deeds. In the latest yet still fresh video is an incident where the University’s a level 2.1 Human Resources Student , Dephine N****** ******(Name Withheld)’s footage leaked and is still circulating among students in Whatsapp groups.
The scandalous video shows  Miss Mazara and her unidentified boyfriend in the very act of bedroom games.
More concern was raised after it emerged from an impeccable source the boyfriend spread the video after a misunderstanding when he discovered that the girlfriend had dumped him and was now going out with a sugar daddy, a well known Gweru businessman .
“Having been dumped for a sugar daddy, the dejected guy went on to circulate the video among Whatsapp group mates on social networks. I am informed the young lady was subsequently suspended,” they said.
Leaking of sex-videos is not a new phenomenon as in 2011 and 2012 other sex tapes found their way out of the Pandora’s Box somewhat signaling that the leaks will continue unabated.

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Government has increased Ordinary Level examination fees with immediate effect from $13 to $15 per subject.
In a move likely to bring reprieve to parents and guardians, the government however approved that candidates in both examination and non – examination classes be allowed to do part payment of their examination fees.
Government has, however, not adjusted examination fees for all Advanced Level subjects that have remained at $26 per subject.
Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Lazarus Dokora, said Cabinet’s decision, which came after “a thorough process of consideration,” would enable the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (Zimsec) to put in place a robust and watertight examination security system.
Government last set examination fees in 2013 and there was a two-year moratorium.
Practical subjects and oral subjects’ fees have also been increased to $15, up from $13.
“This Cabinet decision on the examination fees always comes after a through process of consideration. I’m happy to state that it was a necessary process, which led to a decision with a balance on affordability and the need to secure system credibility.
“At Ordinary Level, there is a modest rise in examination fees. This upward review of Ordinary Level examination fees comes on the back of two years of a moratorium when the fees remained pegged at $13 per subject. The years concerned were 2013 and 2014,” he said.
Minister Dokora said government policy had been always to make education accessible to all and it was in that regard that Cabinet approved the principle of allowing candidates from both examination and non-examination classes to do part payment towards their examination fees.
He said this would be done at specified rates per subject, while spreading payments until they were fully paid up by the beginning of the second term of every examination year.
Minister Dokora said Cabinet also approved a contribution by parents towards the cost of Grade Seven examinations and modalities were being worked out on how this could be achieved.
“While examination costs are unavoidable, the desire is that Zimsec holds fees within manageable limits as possible so that the disadvantaged of our society are not unduly penalised. Our system of education is one of the best in the world.
“Our qualifications are internationally recognised and Zimbabweans enroll at institutions of higher learning with the greatest ease. Unfortunately, the excellence of our system has attracted the attention of criminals who seek to reap where they did not sow,” he said.
Minister Dokora said many have sought to fraudulently obtain the O-Level Certificate and people were prepared to pay huge amounts of money to obtain free knowledge of the content of question papers and unduly increase their chances of passing.
He said school heads; particularly the acting ones have leaked question paper content to prospective candidates or in some way given them undue assistance.
“While the law enforcement agencies have their role, it is incumbent on Zimsec to put in a robust and watertight examination security system.
“To do this, they need to be adequately resourced. It is in this context that Cabinet has allowed a modest increase in fees at O-Level to help cushion Zimsec on costs of achieving a tamper-proof examination delivery monitoring system,” he said. -chronicle

A man from Chirumanzu employed as a herdboy allegedly assaulted a 68-year-old woman with a switch after she advised him not to milk cows because of deteriorating pastures.
Ajay Bopani (27) of Masiiwa village yesterday appeared before Gweru magistrate Judith Taruvinga facing assault charges.
Prosecutors said on March 22, Bopani was advised by his employer’s mother Maria Gwinyai not to milk cows because they were facing starvation.
However, the herdboy insisted he would not stop because he needed the milk for relish. The following day Gwinyai found Bopani preparing to milk the cows at her son’s homestead and an argument ensued.
Bopani allegedly used a switch to assault the hapless old woman on the head and hands.
Gwinyai sustained multiple injuries on her arms and suffered headaches as a result of the assault.
She was referred to St Theresa Hospital before making a police report that led to Bopani’s arrest.
Taruvinga remanded Bopani out of custody on $10 bail to April 9 for trial.-southen eye

A rape and robbery suspect allegedly committed suicide by hanging using his T-shirt while in police custody at Masvingo Central Police Station, police have confirmed. Nevison Tapesana of Tapesana Village under Chief Shumba area was found hanging from the arm of a window frame in police cells on Saturday at around 7 AM.
Tapesana is alleged to have admitted to raping his brother’s daughter, impregnating her as well as infecting her with HIV. He is suspected to have been behind the rape and subsequent gruesome murder of Masvingo Teachers’ College female student Zvikomborero Chingarandi last month.
Chingarandi was allegedly raped and murdered on her way to church and her body was found by security guards a few metres from the college’s perimeter fence along a footpath.
Acting Masvingo police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Nkululeko Nduna said Tapesana’s body was taken to Masvingo General Hospital for post-mortem.
“I can confirm the sudden death by hanging of a rape and robbery suspect, Nevison Tapesana in police cells at Masvingo Central Police.
“He was in custody in connection with a number of rape and robbery incidents committed in and around Masvingo. He admitted to raping his brother’s daughter who he impregnated and infected with HIV”, said Asst Insp Nduna.
Police said the suspect was apprehended by members of the public on Friday last week after he was spotted loitering suspiciously in a bushy area near Rujeko suburb.
He was taken to Rujeko Police base and was handed over to Masvingo Central Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for questioning.
“After questioning he was put in custody but was found hanging from the arm of a window frame in the police cell the following morning,” he said.
Tapesana was facing serious charges that could have attracted a lengthy sentence if he had been convicted and it is suspected that could be the reason he decided to take his own life, police said.

There was commotion at Large City Hall when hundreds of people who failed to gain entry into the venue for Prophet Walter Magaya’s PHD Ministries crusade, camped outside the venue on Tuesday.
The crusade was meant for card-carrying PHD ministries partnership members only but the charismatic preacher’s followers in Bulawayo would not accept that.
Some people camped outside vowed not to leave claiming that being within the vicinity of the “prophet”, was enough to solve their problems.
The crowd gathered at the hall as early as 9am for the crusade scheduled to start at 4pm ending at 8pm.
When Magaya finally arrived at around 5pm, police had a tough time controlling the crowd outside. There was total chaos when he started his healing and deliverance session.
The PHD leader had no choice but to give a special deliverance to the people outside but all hell broke loose as people jostled to get closer to him.
So serious was the stampede that sensing danger, Magaya quickly retreated back into the building as the situation was about to get out of hand.
He only came back after order had been restored by the police, PHD ushers and security details.
During his sermon, Magaya reiterated that his life was under threat.
“Last week, I told people that my car brakes were tampered with but only three days ago my car was tampered with again,” said Magaya.
“They tampered with a certain wire on my vehicle so that I get involved in an accident. Only yesterday, one of my members was almost abducted so that they would go public claiming Magaya akachekeresa (used human sacrifice). What kind of behaviour is that?
The PHD Ministries founder said his enemies were working tirelessly to ensure his demise and that of his ministry.
Magaya also took the opportunity to announce the ministry’s first international tour which will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa in May.
“From 26 to 29, we will be going to South Africa. Preparations are already underway for the crusade. I will be going there next week to assess the open space we can use,” Magaya said.
“It will be the first crusade outside Zimbabwe and it will be very big. We want all the thousands of South Africans to be surprised that who is this, what is this and how come a house of carpenter is producing such great things. What good can come out of Zimbabwe? We want to show them that we are alive and there is life in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Magaya said this will be the beginning of many international tours to follow. He also reiterated the prophesy of a million people crusade which he said was certainly going to take place in the capital despite the disbelief by the naysayers.- DailyNews

The Zanu PF Politburo has expelled former Vice President Joice Mujuru from the party for several allegations bordering around indiscipline and dishonesty.
The Politburo meeting, which ended this evening at the Zanu PF headquarters in Harare, resolved to expel Dr Mujuru and to uphold the votes of no confidence handed to some party members prior to last year’s congress.
10 allegations were raised against the former Vice President, among them plotting to unconstitutionally unseat President Robert Mugabe and orchestrating the 2008 ‘Bhora Musango Campaign,’ to the detriment of the party.
The Politburo also accused Dr Mujuru of fanning factionalism in the party by abusing her office to create competing centres of power, behaviour that was described as unbecoming for a Vice President and Second Secretary of the party.
She is also accused of collaborating and colluding with the enemy and providing leadership to the regime change agenda.
Dr Mujuru, who was fired from government last year, will now follow on the doldrums of politics other party members, among them Didymus Mutasa, Rugare Gumbo, Jabulani Sibanda and Themba Mliswa, who have since been expelled from Zanu PF.
In another development, the Politburo resolved to uphold the votes of no confidence passed against some senior members of the party in 2014 and banned those affected from holding senior positions for a period of two years.
Relating to the primary elections in Headlands, the party has directed that only the five shortlisted candidates: Tinaye Chigudu, Christopher Chingosho, Chiripamberi Sheilah, Mahere Nyagumbo and Elizabeth Mukungatu should contest.

MDC Renewal Secretary General and one of Zimbabwe’s best barristers, Tendai Biti has left Zimbabwe for the United States.
Mr Biti’s departure for the US came within two days after ZANU PF Commissar Saviour Kasukuwere sensationally charged that Biti is quitting Zimbabwe and politics altogether.
Impeccable sources told ZimEye.com Mr Biti is no longer in Zimbabwe.
“He skipped the country yesterday to America,” one of the sources said.
The claims were confirmed by Renewal Team Spokesperson Jacob Mafume who told ZimEye.com of a truth Mr Biti is on his way to the US. Said Mafume,
“He flew out of the country. He will go to the US on party business,” he said without shedding further light on the duration of his stay there.
According to ZANU PF’s Kasukuwere, Biti is relocating to the United States and will not return.
But Mr Biti told a close friend who has requested to remain anonymous that he is returning after four weeks.
It was not clear at the time of writing what his trip to the US is for, while speculation was rife that he may have relocated for good.
“For one to settle in the USA, apart from being granted asylum as a refugee, normally, outstanding talent in politics, sport, arts or the scientific field are great catalysts with which to earn a settlement visa in the USA. Since Mr Biti is a barrister and politician of repute, assumption has been forwarded that he may be seeking to “externalise” his profession.

Johannesburg – Zimbabweans on Wednesday reacted enviously on social media to news that Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan had conceded defeat in the country’s landslide elections.
Some Zimbabweans made reference to their own president Robert Mugabe, now 91, who lost the first round of presidential elections in March 2008. Results were delayed for five weeks.
When it was finally confirmed that opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai had won more votes than Mugabe, supporters of the president, backed by the military, embarked on a campaign of retribution. At least 200 MDC supporters were killed.
According to the official 2008 tally, Tsvangirai’s first round lead over Mugabe was not enough for him to be declared an outright winner. There were strong suspicions however that the figures had been manipulated to deny the MDC leader outright victory. Tsvangirai pulled out of a second round of voting, citing violence against his supporters. Mugabe was eventually pushed by the regional SADC grouping into a power-sharing government that lasted four years.
In contrast, Nigeria’s Jonathan on Tuesday swiftly conceded defeat to Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler. Buhari promised Nigerians that “change has come”.
“Well done Nigeria. Well done Goodluck. Zimbabwe do take note,” tweeted user @LiyaJemima.
“If the Nigerian election had been in Zimbabwe the results would have taken five weeks or more to announce,” said @gidi_gabriel.
The state-owned Herald newspaper, which is the voice of the Mugabe government, carried an agency story on Jonathan’s defeat without comment.
Tsvangirai decided to contest presidential elections in July 2013, even though many electoral reforms he had called for had not been implemented and his party did not have access to the electoral roll. The MDC leader lost to Mugabe, who has been in power in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. – M&G

There was drama at Makokoba main bus terminus, when a toddler who was on her mother’s back foiled the thief who had opened the zip of a handbag in a move to fish out money which was meant for traveling expenses.
A two and a half year old Sasha Mabhena opened a more than lightning slap across the thief’s face who had opened the handbag, leaving the long fingered man to seek refuge at the nearby Mzilikazi police station, as the travellers temporarily shelved their jostle to enter the bus, to mete instant justice to the crook.
While the mob was shouting for the capture of the fleeing crook, rank marshals were outpaced before the robber stormed into the nearby Mzilikazi police camp for safety from the marauding crowd that was in pursuit, baying for his head.
Hundreds of people who were at the main bus terminus to travel for holiday to their respective destinations , stormed Mzilikazi police station in hot pursuit of the mugger, but were restrained by the officers who were manning the station, from assaulting him
“Bring him out here, we want him for stealing our bus fares, come on you corrupt police officers handover that robber to us for a strong action and we will give him back to you soon after thoroughly dealing with him,” shouted the angry mob.
Riot police had to be called to quell  the situation as more and more people were thronging the police station in search of the crook.
Last month, a cell phone thief was nearly killed by the mob after he snatched a handset from a woman who was on  her way  shopping.

As the issue regarding the sickness of the First Lady Dr. Amai Grace Marufu Mugabe continues to unravel, there are unsettling reports about her rapidly deteriorating condition emerging from the inner circles.
As a Central Intelligence Office agent spoke out yesterday, President Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba was seen admitting that indeed Grace earlier on in March was secretly flown out of the country to Dubai to receive emergency treatment.
Since last Christmas, Dr. Mugabe has been reported to be battling incurable colon cancer. That was the problem that saw the first family remain in Asia for almost two months as the first lady was reportedly receiving chemotherapy. This problem comes in the wake of some of the famous miracle prophets in Zimbabwe who have failed to heal the Mother. All three are nowhere near the issue and have been evasive as they have all sugar coated their failings by praising President Mugabe.
The red flag after the holiday was the first lady’s absence from the national picture. Some papers were insinuating that she had issues with a daughter that was reported to be on Mugabe ‘ s will as a child between Mugabe and Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri. Later the notorious doctor emerged but had calmed down on her loud speeches due to her illness. But it was during her absence that some overzealous ZANU PF activists evicted innocent peasants from Manzou farm in Mazowe to pave way for Grace Mugabe ‘ s animal farm.
Now the latest report from inner circles has it on record that the first lady could possibly meet her creator before this coming independence day. So frail is her reported condition that her family has been depressed and anxious. The remission process has not been impressive and her body continues to suffer from pain as the colon cancer eats her up.
Yesterday a Central Intelligence Office agent told ZimEye.com in Harare, the First Lady will likely not be breathing in 14 days’ time.
“Amai may not be with us after the next two weeks, it is very sad”, the man who cannot be named for his protection said.
More to follow….
More to follow. …

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission yesterday announced that preparations for the 2018 harmonised elections are underway and that it would soon embark on a nationwide voter registration exercise to capture names of prospective voters.
Justice Rita Makarau Zec chairperson said during a feed-back meeting with various stakeholders and political parties that the organisation was working on logistical arrangements to kick off the massive exercise.
The feedback meeting involved Zec updating the stakeholders on the pilot voter registration exercises that were carried out in Mt Darwin West and Chirumanzu-Zibagwe constituencies recently as a precursor to the national registration of voters.
“All that we are doing now is in preparation for 2018,” said Justice Makarau. “I thought one of you would stand up and say “Zec, stop registering voters” and I did not hear that, so I will record it as an emerging consensus that yes, Zec should proceed with the pilot exercise and register as many voters as it possibly can.
“Again, an emerging consensus is that we must continue with the dialogue…at the end of the day if the product is good it belongs to you and if it is bad, Zec will take responsibility for the product.
“Because you have given us a vote of confidence that what we are doing appear to be good, we appear to be in the right direction, I will venture now to say we have been given the green light to pilot this on a national level and we will start registering voters nationally as soon as logistical arrangements are put in place.”
The new Constitution empowers Zec to compile and maintain the voters’ roll and the electoral body has carried out pilot registration exercises to test its systems in constituencies where by-elections have been conducted.
Justice Makarau took the opportunity to explain why Zec had changed from its initial stance that it would not carry out registration of new voters unless enabling legislation had been put in place.
“There are two schools of thought on this one,” she said. “One says in the absence of the legislative framework Zec cannot rely on the constitutional provisions alone (to register voters). The other one says no, the constitutional provision is adequate and you read the other laws that are in existence to be in conformity with the Constitution and where those laws contradict the Constitution you read them as pro non scripto (as if they were not written).
“We have those two positions confronting Zec and we are saying one of them is correct. But before a determination is made, we in Zec, we don’t know which one is correct and we will proceed to register voters until we are stopped by a court order that explains our U-turn.”
Justice Makarau said Zec was consulting other electoral management bodies in the region to adopt appropriate technologies in the compilation of the voters’ roll.
“Are we going to come up with a new compilation? Yes, we are,” she said. “We are looking into the Sadc region to see what technology our sister EMBs are employing and we are trying to borrow some of that technology and expertise again on a pilot basis to see which one suits us.”
Justice Makarau reiterated that Zec would continue using the old voters’ roll as the basis for its registration exercise.
“Are we coming with a new voters roll? I have an ambiguous answer to that, yes and no,” she said. “Yes, in the sense that the voters’ roll that is coming is new to Zec, Zec has never had a voters’ roll of its own.
“So, it’s new to us, it’s new to Zec. Zec has never had a voters’ roll before, all the faults in that voters’ roll should you find ghost workers or ghost voters on that voters’ roll, the faults will now be Zec’s faults and not the Registrar General’s. In that sense it’s a new voters’ roll, it’s coming from a new body.
“Is it a new voters’ roll? No, it can’t be. Zimbabweans have not changed. We can’t create new people to put on the voters’ roll, so St Mary’s voters’ roll will still have Job Sikhala on it and to that it’s not a new voters’ roll. It’s just a voters’ roll that is being maintained or compiled by Zec.”
Justice Makarau said they would not adopt a new model of voter registration as it was clearly spelt out in the law.
“We are using the model that vaMudede (Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede) used to use,” she said. “The model of voter registration is laid out in the law. The law mandates us to carry out a continuous voter registration system.”
Justice Makarau defended the use of national identity cards to register voters, saying the document had proved reliable and challenged anyone with a better alternative to proffer it.
She urged people not to use their differences with Mudede to besmirch the document.
“I don’t know if there is anyone without a national identity card, one that enables us to transact in a number of commercial activities,” said Justice Makarau. “It is a reliable document.
“The reason I’m saying so is because most transactions that bind us as Zimbabweans are based on the ID and we have had very few complaints about the security and integrity of the ID. Why I’m raising this issue is because our voter registration system is also based on that document.
“Yes, we may not like vaMudede, but most of us flash the ID left, right and centre and it’s actually the document that gives us our identity and we in Zec thought it is the document we could use as the basis for starting our voter registration exercise.
“We are using the ID number because we are told it’s unique, it’s yours and yours alone and we are saying it’s a good basis to give you a voter registration identity. But you can come back and tell us that there is another document we can use, let’s use our degree certificates those who have them and those who don’t have them, our clinic cards. We have to come up with a document that all Zimbabweans agree on.” -chronicle S

Hundreds of teachers and other civil servants who had gone on study leave at various school and universities throughout the country at the beginning of the current semester have been ordered to go back to their workstations because Government has no money to pay relief staff.
This order is despite the fact that the civil servants had paid fees ranging from $525 to $800 for the semester depending on the programme. The civil servants were also irked by the fact that the fees they paid was not reimbursed and some of them had moved their properties from their workstations to other places.
Shattered civil servants left the universities just days after they had settled and some actually cried when the news was broken to them, said sources at the Great Zimbabwe University in Masvingo where about 60 students were forced to leave.
“It is not all civil servants who were ordered to go back but there is a large number which was said to have had no study leave clearance letters from the employer,” said a source.
The Mirror is reliably informed that teachers who had joined various universities were phoned by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education last week and ordered to go back to their workstations.
The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Lazarus Dokora said the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare was the best to comment on the matter as they were the employer. The Minister of Public Service, Prisca Mupfumira said she can only comment after a week.
“I need to verify this information so please get hold me after a week,” said Mupfumira.
The Mirror is informed that Government had to withdraw the civil servants because the bill to pay salaries to the relief workers threatened to balloon the wage bill. In addition to paying the salaries for the relief workers, Government would also pay half salaries to get comments from the Universities were fruitless. -Mirror

The MDC Renewal Team has reiterated it will not contest in the forthcoming 14 by-elections following the recall of 21 MPs by MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, saying Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda erred in interpreting the Constitution when he declared the seats vacant.
The Renewal Team joins the MDC-T which has also said it will not participate in any elections before so-called reforms are carried out.
The 14 seats, together with seven others won by the MDC-T on proportional representation in the July 31, 2013 harmonised elections, were declared vacant after MDC-T wrote to Adv Mudenda indicating the legislators were no longer representing its interests in both the National Assembly and the Senate after they joined the MDC Renewal Team.
The 21 legislators first joined the Renewal Team led by Tendai Biti before a merger with the MDC faction led by Professor Welshman Ncube to form United Movement for Democratic Change.
President Mugabe has since proclaimed April 16 as the date when the Nomination Court will sit in five provincial capitals to receive names of those who intend to contest in the 14 by-elections set for June 10.
The Renewal Team has since gone to court contesting the expulsion of the legislators and its urgent application is set to be heard on April 14.
Renewal Team spokesperson Jacob Mafume on Tuesday said there was no need to contest in the by-elections since they believed the legislators were unfairly treated because they never crossed the floor.
“The true position is that we did not form a new party, we expelled a few leaders from MDC-T,” he said. “We believe that the Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda erred in his ruling, so the question of by-elections does not arise.
“We believe the economy has bigger problems to solve than by-elections. The money that is being used to fund the by-elections could be used to avert the hunger following the incessant rains.”
Zanu-PF is getting ready for the by-elections, with a number of its prospective candidates having submitted their curriculum vitae which are now awaiting vetting before primary elections are held.
Of the 21 vacant seats, MDC-T will nominate people to fill seven of them won through proportional representation using the party’s share of the vote in the July 31, 2013 harmonised elections.
The 14 by-elections will be held on the same day with those of Headlands and Hurungwe West to replace expelled Zanu-PF legislators Didymus Mutasa and his nephew Temba Mliswa, respectively.

A total of 10 prisoners were sentenced to death in 2014 pushing the number of inmates on death sentence to 95.
Amnesty International Zimbabwe (AIZ) on Wednesday disclosed the rise in the number of prisoners on death row as it launched worldwide report on death sentences and executions carried in 2014.
AIZ executive director Cousin Zilala told journalists at a media briefing held in Harare that 10 prisoners were sentenced to death in 2014 as Zimbabwean authorities resorted to capital punishment to combat crime.
The 10 prisoners include a Mozambican national identified Isaac Mlambo. Zilala said figures obtained by Amnesty from the government showed that a total of 95 prisoners were under sentence as at the end of December last year. -State Media
Four prisoners who were under sentence for death had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment while no prisoner under sentence for death were pardoned in 2014. In 2014, only one prisoner was exonerated from death sentence, Zilala said.
Zilala, whose organisation has been advocating for the abolishment of the death sentence and for a moratorium on executions said the death penalty is “cruel, inhuman and degrading.”
Globally, Amnesty International opposes the death penalty at all times – regardless of who is accused, the crime, guilt or innocence or method of execution.
Amnesty International has been working to end executions since 1977, when only nine countries had abolished the death penalty. Today, the number has risen to 140.

ZANU-PF will hold primary elections to select a candidate for the Headlands constituency by-election set for June 10.
The constituency was left vacant following the expulsion of former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa.Zanu-PF national political commissar Mr Saviour Kasukuwere announced the date in a statement yesterday.
He said deputy secretary for administration  Mr Douglas Mombeshora, would lead the team seconded by the national commissariat to conduct the polls.
“The Zanu-PF secretary for commissariat, Mr Saviour Kasukuwere wishes to announce that the Zanu-PF primary election for Headlands constituency is going to be held on Sunday, April 5, 2015,” reads part of the statement.
“Party members will go to vote at their usual polling stations. The polling stations will open at 0700 hours and will close at 1900 hours.”
The voting, Mr Kasukuwere said, would be done according to cells and members would be required to produce national identity cards or valid passports as proof of identity.
Twelve candidates have been approved to contest in the elections.
Those approved are  Christopher Chingosho, William Taurai Chiripamberi, Sheila Mahere (Nyagumbo), Tinaye Chigudu, Elizabeth Mukungatu, Tedius Nyikayaramba, Albert Nyakuyedzwa, Nathaniel Mhiripiri, Timon Tandi, Moses Chikwariro, Ndakaitei Mandangu and Dakarai Mapuranga.
Mapuranga’s CV was initially rejected on the grounds that he was not in provincial structures for the minimum five years.
Mutasa was expelled from Zanu-PF together with his nephew Temba Mliswa for bringing the name of the party into disrepute.
The two were part of a putchist cabal led by former Vice President Joice Mujuru that wanted to illegally topple and/or assassinate President Mugabe.
The duo was recalled from Parliament following their expulsion from Zanu-PF. -chronicle

Masvingo Provincial minister Shuvai Mahofa has blocked the overzealous Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi on his tracks to grab a productive farm that supplies poultry products to the whole province and beyond.
It is suspected greedy Mzembi owns two more farms in the province as Shuvai Mahofa pronounced that investigations will start to establish the farms in questions. Mahofa’s stance to resist the greedy takeover of farms by Zanu PF officials comes after Matebeleland villagers successfully blocked CIO agent Rodrick Mashingaidze from taking over Maleme farm.
Walter Mzembi lost the battle to take over part of Barquest Farm which houses the biggest chicken hatchery project here after the provincial lands committee recommended the withdrawal of his offer letter.
The minister was early this year issued with an offer letter to take over about 367 hectares of Barquest Farm owned by Mrs Hellen Mitchell.
The farm is located 20km east of Masvingo city on the shores of Lake Mutirikwi and houses a hatchery project that produces 100 000 day-old chicks per week.
Besides supplying day-old chicks to Masvingo, Barquest Farm also supplies Manicaland and Midlands provinces.
This forced the Masvingo provincial leadership, led by Provincial Affairs Minister Senator Shuvai Mahofa, to bar Eng Mzembi from taking over the farm, arguing that it was strategic to the economy of the province.
Eng Mzembi defended his plans to move into Barquest Farm, saying he would not interfere with Mrs Mitchell’s chicken hatchery project but intended to partner her.
He said the portion of land allocated to him had been gazetted for compulsory acquisition under the land reform programme.
Sen Mahofa yesterday said the provincial lands committee turned down Eng Mzembi’s plans.
She said investigations were underway to establish how many farms Eng Mzembi owned in Masvingo.
“The Masvingo provincial lands committee met and agreed that Minister Mzembi should not move into Barquest Farm and a letter recommending the withdrawal of his offer letter for the land in question is being prepared and will be sent to the Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement Dr Douglas Mombeshora,’’ she said.
“The only thing we can do for Minister Mzembi is to look for another farm for him but we are first investigating reports that he already has two farms with one of them said to be a conservancy on the outskirts of Masvingo.’’
Senator Mahofa said they wanted to know what happened to Minister Mzembi’s chicken farming operations at Standard A1 Farm near Stop Over business centre.
Minister Mzembi claims that he bought the farm before the start of the land redistribution exercise.
Acting Masvingo provincial chief lands officer Mr Fortune Chimbishi refused to shed light on Minister Mzembi’s future at Barquest Farm only saying they were going to look for another farm in Masvingo for allocation to the Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister.
A few years ago, Zimbabwe chiefs’ council president Chief Fortune Charumbira attempted to take over Barquest Farm but was stopped after the provincial leadership said the property was of strategic importance to Masvingo province.

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa colluded with the army and Chinese mining company Anjin Investments to steal diamonds from Marange, according to Didymus Mutasa.
In an interview with The Zimbabwean, the Zanu (PF) former secretary for administration, who was recently fired from the party for “breaching protocol”, confirmed the widely shared views that Marange diamonds were looted by senior ruling party officials.
Mutasa has for a long time supported Joice Mujuru, Mnangagwa’s rival in the battle to succeed President Robert Mugabe, and has filed a Constitutional Court application to challenge the Zanu (PF) December congress, which he insists was unconstitutional.
“Those who benefitted from diamonds in Chiadzwa are (VP Emmerson) Mnangagwa and others from the army including a company called Anjin,” said Mutasa.
A 2004 United Nations report also named Mnangagwa as one of the many officials, military figures and international corporate agents who had looted diamonds and other precious minerals from war-ravaged Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Zimbabwe had sent troops to the DRC in 1998 to rescue the government of the late Laurent Kabila from a rebel onslaught, and high ranking officials from government, including army generals, were reported to have amassed overnight riches through the minerals smuggling.
Mnangagwa has also been linked to an underground illegal gold mining syndicate in the Midlands province but he has denied the reports.
There are three shareholders in Anjin – the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (10 percent), Chinese firm Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Company (50 percent) and The Zimbabwe National Army (40 percent). The defence forces commander, Constantine Chiwenga, is believed to be a strong Mnangagwa ally.
In 2013, former ZMDC board chair Goodwills Masimirembwa confirmed that the army owned shares in Anjin when he addressed journalist in Mutare.
As a result of the massive diamond looting, the treasury failed to realise taxes and royalties, said Mutasa. “When we still had the government of national unity, (Finance Minister Tendai) Biti kept asking where the diamond money was going as it was not finding its way to treasury,” he said.
Biti was at loggerheads with Zanu (PF) cabinet ministers then, as he boldly declared that diamonds revenue was not coming to the national fiscus in 2011 and 2012 and hinted at large-scale looting.
Civil society organisations have also raised concerns over massive looting in Chiadzwa.
Mutasa further indicated that former Manicaland Provincial State Minister Chris Mushohwe was also part of the cartel that benefitted from the diamond loot at the expense of the entire nation.
During his tenure as Zanu (PF) secretary of administration, Mutasa blew the whistle against former party members who were accused of siphoning diamond funds from Marange firms. This resulted in the suspension of provincial chairperson Mike Madiro, his deputy Dorothy Mabika, provincial youth chairperson Tawanda Mukodza, youth secretary for security Admire Mahachi, youth secretary for information and publicity Masimba Kangai and former District Coordinating Committee chairperson for Mutare Urban Clever Muparutsa.
The members allegedly received a combined $700,000 from Chiadzwa firms. Mutasa also hinted that he had gathered documented evidence that other party stalwarts from the Women’s League were extorting funds from Chiadzwa.
He was dislodged from his position in a nasty factional war threatening to split Zanu (PF) before he could deal with the matter.
In 2012, Global Witness released an investigative report that revealed the intricate link between Zanu (PF) and the military elite in shadowy joint venture companies that were used to loot diamonds in 2008, with part of the proceeds being used to fund human rights abuses.
“Research by Global Witness suggests that links between diamond companies in the controversial Marange diamond fields and military, police and intelligence organisations loyal to President Mugabe may be continuing to fund repression.
“These groups were implicated in widespread and systematic violence during the 2008 elections, during which at least 200 people were killed whilst thousands were tortured and beaten. Human rights abuses in Marange have continued since the army’s seizure of the diamond fields in 2008,” said the report.
“Our investigations reveal how opaque company structures can hide who benefits from diamond revenues and provide cover for the military and secret police. State-owned diamond mining entity ZMDC is the nominal joint venture partner in Marange’s main diamond companies. However our findings indicate that the true beneficiaries of some Marange concessions, are often obscured but include members of the security forces and individuals linked to the Zanu (PF) leadership,” added the researchers.
The report also identified a Hong Kong-based Chinese national, Sam Pa, as an international agent who had financed the secret police in return for diamonds and other business opportunities. zimbabwean

There was drama Wednesday morning at Falkirk magistrates court in Scotland, when journalists were set upon by a mob belonging to Agape for all Nations Church.
The incident happened on the first day of the trial of the church’s leader Masocha who stands accused of child molestation charges.
In an incident that came with threats, the mob attempted to rid journalists of their cameras, notepads and recording devices at the end of the first session of the trial. The journalists were photographing Masocha as he was walking out of court when the mob descended on them.
The drama heightened when a Masocha bodyguard took off his suit jacket and covered the preacher’s face and upper body. The group numbering twelve visibly emotional Africans covered the preacher’s body like a swarm of bees on a hive.
Two women, one of them a Tswi speaking Ghanaian would rush bulge into journalists trying to smash their cameras.
Scotland’s laws on press freedoms are unlike in Zimbabwe where most of Masocha’s followers are from.
Journalists were only saved by the presence of police officials who allowed them to continue with their work.‎ ZimEye’s correspondent escaped the mêlée to file this report with HQ.
Full court report to follow…

Yesterday hundreds of people were turned away from Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD) Ministries leader Walter Magaya’s meeting at the Bulawayo City Hall after they failed to pay $20 to attend a fund-raising event.Members of his security team barred those who did not have what they referred to as “partnership cards” from gaining entry. The “partnership” is used to raise money for Magaya’s Yadah TV, which broadcasts his sermons across Africa.
Annoyed congregants became hostile as more than 15 police officers tried to restore order.
“If you don’t have money to purchase the partnership card just leave this place now!,” shouted a member of the PHD security team. “It’s of no use for you people to crowd the place when you aren’t members and worse you don’t have money to join.”
A large group of Magaya followers, numbering a few hundred people, insisted that they had not been told they would need to pay. They eventually sat themselves outside the City Hall, waiting for the preacher to finish his programme inside the hall and meet them.
“This service is actually meant for those who support the vision of the prophet. If you watch Yadah TV, then you would know that the money is used to take care of the underprivileged and day-to-day running of the church,” one PHD security guard told a woman turned away at the door.
A weeping Magaya follower, Duduzile Sibanda, told The Chronicle that she was having difficulties in conceiving but failed to see the prophet as she could not afford to pay the $20.
“I’m just stranded and don’t know what to do. I came here declaring an end to my problems but now my spirit is down. I wish I had been aware that I was supposed to bring $20 dollars,” Sibanda said.
The Chronicle was denied entry into the hall.
Last year, 11 people died during a stampede at Mbizo Stadium in Kwekwe as an estimated 30,000 people attempted to leave the venue.
Prophet Magaya’s visit to Bulawayo came two days after Eagle Life Assembly leader Prophet Blessing Chiza held a “mega anointing service” on Sunday at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.
A majority of the people at the service failed to get his “anointing oil” as they could not pay the $10 price. -chronicle

A prostitute who was stripped naked and tortured by at least three women and recorded in a seven minute video, was actually with a ZRP police officer at the time, ZimEye.com can reveal in a development that may likely prove a massive cover-up by officers.
ZimEye.com broke the story way back in February (SEE Woman Stripped Naked, Sexually Assaulted as Harare Policeman Watches ).
This reporter can reveal the name of the police officer who is stationed at the Braeside Police outpost. ZimEye.com can also reveal his exact address where the incident took place which is 12A Nirvana Road Hatfield. He is heard in the recording vocalising from within the house as he somewhat pacifies with the suspects.

The cop early in February allowed his wife and her friends to attack his girlfriend discovered sleeping in his house.
The violence occurred after the ZRP officer’s wife charged at the woman accusing her of cheating with her husband.
Some witnesses have suggested that the victim furthermore is a minor since in the clip, one of the women calls her a child “nhanha”.
Several witnesses have told ZimEye.com  how the man also caused the fracas after he had allegedly squandered $1600.00 on the girlfriend.
Meanwhile the Chief police spokesperson Commissioner Charity Charamba has said the victim has not yet approached the police to file a torture report.
“We are still waiting for the complainant to come and make a report and also waiting for anyone who has any leads to the women who were abusing her to come forth with the information,” Charamba said.
“The video is disturbing and shocking that other women would actually do that to another woman — that is not acceptable at all. If there is anyone who knows the victim, please advise her to come to the police and report the matter. Some unruly female hooligans are being shown torturing and indecently exposing and impinging on a certain woman’s body.”

The Zimbabwean embassy in London was Tuesday morning invaded by heavy-booted angry activists demanding the release of their Zim based colleague Itai Dzamara who was abducted in Harare on the 9th of March.
The activists led by Martin Chinyanga, marched into the posh Central London property armed with heavy boots, loudly stomping them and emotionally waving their placards while singing war-cries until the building became besieged under their noise. “It really looked like the whole building has been taken,” an onlooker attempted to describe the scene. It was at that point the embassy diplomats rushed to telephone for help and in a matter of minutes British Police armed with rifles descended onto the place.
Upon entering, police officers did not find difficulty handling the activists as the latter did not resist and were all thus force-marched to the nearby police station at Charing Cross Tube Station.
It was at the police station that Martin Chinyanga began to question the police action hinting that British Police cannot legally arrest for a crime committed in a foreign embassy, what has been the case with the Wikileaks whistleblower Julian Assange case. Assange has for more than two years been domiciled in the Ecuadorian embassy not far from the Zimbabwean embassy.

 
Charged for trespassing
But Assange’s case is different from Chinyanga’s since the former is under the full protection of the Ecuadorian laws whereas Chinyanga has breached the foreign nation (Zimbabwe)’s laws, and he was yesterday slapped with preliminary British charges of trespassing into the embassy.

He told ZimEye.com  soon after his release at 11 PM, the police have ordered him to return in May for routine reporting on the charges once the required evidence has been gathered. “They told me to come back in May,” he said.
Meanwhile the search for Dzamara continued in Zimbabwe with the MDC-T reportedly putting together a team of experts to surf around the country. He has been missing since his abduction on March 9, 2015. It is believed that the Mugabe government performed the act with the intention of demoralising his growing activism. READ MORE – ITAI DZAMARA: Demo Turns Nasty as Chinyanga is Arrested.

A serial rapist separately lured six women into the bush with claims that he had prophetic visions about their lives, prosecutors said.
Ephias Ndlovu, 42, of Trenance suburb in Bulawayo, allegedly kept his victims – including two high school girls – in the bush overnight after his promises to “cleanse” them turned into a living nightmare.
Ndlovu will appear in court on April 10 after his trial failed to kick off before senior Bulawayo regional magistrate Mark Dzira yesterday due to a mix-up in the prison documentation.
He has been charged with five counts of rape and one count of kidnapping.
An outline of the charges prepared by prosecutors says Ndlovu’s first victim was a Form 1 pupil whom he approached while she was selling potatoes at Entumbane Complex just after 2PM on April 1 last year.
Ndlovu, prosecutors say, produced a $100 note but the girl indicated that she did not have change. He asked her to follow him to his house so that he could get change.
On arrival at his home in Lobengula, Ndlovu instructed the pupil to wait for him outside. He emerged after a few minutes and told her he could not find a smaller denomination, and suggested that they continue walking around looking for change.
At around 6PM, they got to a bushy area where the girl insisted on going back home. Ndlovu told the girl that the Holy Spirit wanted her to remove her panties, warning her she could die for failing to comply, it is alleged.
Ndlovu, say prosecutors, lifted his victim and placed her on a rock and raped her once. He detained her the entire night and raped her four times.
His second victim was a domestic worker aged 20 who met Ndlovu on her way to Cowdray Park on April 6 the same year at around 1PM.
As they walked, Ndlovu told the woman that the Holy Spirit had showed him that she would suffer abdominal pains and that she had something on her chest, it is alleged.
He told her that he could provide the spiritual solution.
He warned the woman that she was going to choke to her death if she refused to go with him to his home for a “healing session”. The woman followed Ndlovu.
The trial will hear that he led her to a wooded pathway and sat her down, claiming his wife would come and give him keys to the house.
Seven hours after they had first met, Ndlovu grabbed the victim by her jacket, struck her with a stone on the forehead and pushed her to the ground.
He raped her twice while holding the same stone and kept her for the whole night, it is alleged.
He met his third victim at a bus stop in Pumula South, a 17-year-old girl to whom he introduced himself as a prophet.
He told her he would give her a red rose which, when placed in vinegar, would cleanse her of bad luck.
He told the teenager the flower could only be found in the bush, and the girl followed her, it is alleged.
Once in a secluded spot, he demanded sex but the girl refused.
Ndlovu detained her for the whole night saying there were thugs in the bush and released her the following morning unharmed.
The fourth victim, 21, met Ndlovu and he asked her for directions to Emganwini after which he immediately told her that he was a prophet.He “prophesied” that the woman ate human flesh mixed with hair. From that moment, the woman became confused and found herself sleeping in a bush, covered with a brown blanket the next day.
She noticed that her panties and tights that she had been putting on were beside Ndlovu’s bag, but he was nowhere to be seen.
A Form 3 pupil from Lobengula West was Ndlovu’s next target. She found him sitting under a tree on her way from Nkulumane Complex.
He identified himself as a prophet and told the girl that she was bewitched by an old woman from the suburb. Ndlovu insisted that he could heal her with a herb called Dhuba mixed with vinegar. The girl was deceived into following Ndlovu into the bush where she was raped and detained for the whole night.
Ndlovu, it is alleged, sold his sixth victim the same story about eating human flesh and told her she needed a herb only found in the bush to cleanse her. Once there, he raped her and released her the following morning.
He was arrested on May 19 last year and all six women picked him out at an identification parade. -chronicle

ZANU PF’s Secretary for Administration the controversial Dr Ignatius Chombo has made claim that the United States Embassy is pouring in undisclosed amounts of money to bankroll sacked Zanu-PF legislator for Hurungwe West Mr Temba Mliswa.
This came as Mliswa who was booted from the party vowed to humiliate Chombo as he announced he is contesting the upcoming June by elections as an independent.
Chombo at the weekend voiced saying “despite the involvement of the Americans through their spy agent Mr Eric Little” who was funding Mr Mliswa, Zanu-PF was confident of retaining the seat.
Speaking after a meeting with traditional leaders including chiefs, headmen and kraal heads from Hurungwe at Zvipani Business Centre at the weekend, Chombo said Zanu-PF and Government were aware of US activities in the area.
“We are aware that an official with one of the embassies in Harare called Eric Little travelled throughout the area funding certain projects and yet this individual is an enemy of Zimbabwe,” he said.
“He is in the country to promote regime change.”
Chombo warned aspiring Zanu-PF candidates against associating with regime change agents and using their funds, saying they risked being expelled from the party.
“So, if there are any individuals or any members of the party wanting to replace Temba (Mliswa) and they are going to use these funds from sources that are illegal and illegitimate, we will consider them to be enemies of the party and enemies of the State and they will be appropriately disqualified,” he said.
Nine candidates are vying to represent Zanu-PF in the Hurungwe West constituency by-election on June 10.
Chombo said the party should move quickly to hold primary elections to choose a candidate to represent the party so that all efforts would be channelled towards one candidate.
He said people in Hurungwe West should be allowed to choose a candidate of their choice and any attempt to impose a candidate would not be tolerated.
Chombo later addressed members of the Johanne Marange apostolic sect at their Kemureza Shrine where he explained the reasons why Mr Mliswa was expelled from the party and why elections have to be held.
Church representative Mr Isaac Tivakudze said anyone who rebelled against President Mugabe was not fit to lead the people.
“We stand resolutely behind President Mugabe and anyone who has other ideas is not with us,” he said.
Mr Mliswa together with his uncle and former Zanu-PF secretary for Administration Mr Didymus Mutasa were expelled from Parliament in February after the party wrote disowning them for allegedly going against party dictates, a move seen to have only been a purging of all perceived allies of expelled Vice President Joice Mujuru who was going to replace Mugabe anytime soon.

The Constitutional Court has ruled in favour of Tendai Biti and his group of expelled legislators, so far.
The court ruled saying the application filed by the 14 members challenging their expulsion from parliament should be heard on an urgent basis.
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku ruled Tuesday that the application filed by MDC Renewal Team secretary general Tendai Biti and 13 others challenging their expulsion should be heard urgently because President Robert Mugabe has already proclaimed the date of by-elections in constituencies that were represented by the applicants in the august house.
In a notice published in the government gazette on Friday, President Mugabe announced that the nomination court will sit on April 16th while by-elections in the affected constituencies would be held on June 10th.
In view of this, the chief justice said the application to set aside Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda’s ruling expelling Biti and his colleagues, should be heard on April 14th before the nomination court sits two days later.
Lawyers representing Mudenda also consented that the matter was urgent.
The expulsion of the MDC Renewal Team members from parliament followed a request by the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC formation, which argued that Biti and his colleagues were no longer representing the interests of their party.
PARTY SQUABBLES
This followed in-house squabbles last year that resulted in Biti leading a group of senior MDC-T officials in breaking away from the main opposition party.
Subsequently, Biti and his team suspended Tsvangirai and the opposition’s national chairperson Lovemore Moyo but the Tsvangirai camp re-grouped and instead expelled Biti from the party.
In papers filed in the courts, Biti and others contend that there is a leadership dispute in the MDC-T and this was a matter that should have been dealt with by the courts and not by the speaker of parliament.
Meanwhile, the application filed by former Zanu PF secretary for administration and Headlands legislator Didymas Mutasa and former Hurungwe West parliamentarian Temba Mliswa challenging their expulsion from parliament, is set to be heard Wednesday.
Mudenda expelled Mutasa and Mliswa from parliament following a written request by Zanu PF secretary for administration Ignatius Chombo. Both Mutasa and Mliswa have since been expelled from Zanu PF for allegedly bringing the name of the party into disrepute.
However, Mutasa insists that no one in Zanu PF has the right to expel him as he does not recognize the new leadership following the ruling party’s congress held last December.
VOA

President Mugabe has challenged Zimbabweans in the Diaspora to take an active role in turning around the economy by working closely with the Government.
Addressing Zimbabweans based in Ethopia on Sunday, the President said economic revival required the participation of all Zimbabweans regardless of political affiliation.
Zimbabweans living in  Addis Ababa hosted a dinner in honour of President Mugabe’s achievements.
The African Union and Sadc chairman was attending the 18th Comesa Summit.
“Ethiopia has managed to do a lot of construction and improvement because a lot of its people are in the Diaspora. It is also happening in other countries like Cape Verde Islands and I want to urge our people to come together,’’ President Mugabe said.
“A Zimbabwean is a Zimbabwean whether Zanu-PF or MDC. This is one area we cannot be separated from each other; an area where we are Zimbabweans together.”
President Mugabe said the leadership was ready to get ideas and advice from fellow citizens in the Diaspora.
“Let us try to utilise our resources to the best of our ability. We must also have good roads. We need power and that is what we are trying to produce in Kariba,” he said.
“All this can happen in an environment with peace where people can interact easily, where people are not afraid and can talk as friends and allies and as ama Zimbabweans.”
President Mugabe urged Zimbabweans to cherish the peace prevailing in the country.
“We protect that environment and cherish it, that environment of peace where we support one another. You may be Gushungo, Shoko or Khumalo, but what comes first is peace. The fact that we fought together created Zimbabwe as our home.”
He challenged Zimbabweans to embrace the five-year economic blueprint, Zim-Asset.
“Zim-Asset has a meaning to the people and they must know the meaning.
“Industrial planners and experts in the economy must explain to the people what Zim-Asset means and make them understand its objectives to the entire nation,” President Mugabe said.
“We need front-runners who will lead the nation in implementing programmes that will bring development to the country. We must also be educated about the struggle so that we know where we are coming from and where we are going.
“As a nation, we have adopted principles and we will never sacrifice them,” President Mugabe said.
The event was attended by Zimbabwean Ambassador to Ethiopia Albert Chimbindi, Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha, Presidential spokesperson Mr George Charamba, senior Government officials and Zimbabweans living in Ethiopia. -herald

Beitbridge Senator Tambudzani Mohadi has raised concern over the rising number of cases of murder and corruption across the district.
She made the remarks during the police annual merit awards held at Lutumba Business Centre recently.
“It is sad to note that the rate of murder cases continues to rise in Beitbridge District where in 2013 we recorded eight cases and had 12 reports last year, this is really sad,” she said.
“People need to respect the sanctity of life.”
Sen Mohadi said in some cases, crime was being fuelled by corrupt members of the public and rogue police officers.
Official figures from the police show that 133 robbery cases were recorded in 2013 in the district in comparison with 132 last year, while those of stocktheft, rape, assaults and housebreaking were on the decline.
Sen Mohadi called for increased community participation in crime-related matters.
“We are worried at the rate at which some members of the community are hiding some of the known dangerous criminals in their homes,” she said.
“It is of paramount importance that we complement the police in their quest to curb crime rather than playing hard ball or giving them bribes.”
Speaking during the same event, police officer responsible for administration in Matabeleland South Assistant Commissioner Mildred Muzzah said police should not be swayed by resource constraints to engage in corrupt activities.
“We will not tolerate corruption in the force,” she said. “Let’s work with what we have and ensure that we live within the confines of the law.”
Beitbridge Crime Consultative Committee chairman Mr Willard Mateveke said the fight against crime and corruption needs an integrated approach. herald

London -Protests calling for the release of abducted activist Itai Dzamara turned nasty on Tuesday when London protester Martin Chinyanga was arrested by British Police.
Charges against him were not clear at the time of writing apart from them being verbalised as tresspassing. The below was an account sent in by ZAPU’s Thulani Nkala:
 
Mr Arthur Molife, ZAPU Vice Chair who was part to the demonstrations at the Zimbabwe Embassy today in London sent a distress call after the arrest of the fellow demonstrator, Mr Martin Chinyanga. Mr Martin Chinyanga is known for his fiery opposition to Mr Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF regime. He has advocated for its democratic deposition. Like thousands of other Zimbabweans Mr Chinyanga is very angry at the state of governance in Zimbabwe, which has turned everyone to a beggar or a vendor.
Mr Chinyanga on many instances in the demonstrations has squared up with the law enforcement agents, reasoning with them to let people peacefully demonstrate against the evil regime of Robert Mugabe. He was particularly riled by the abduction of Mr Itai Dzamara.
Mr Molife wrote as follows: Cdes, I and other Demonstrators at Zimbabwe Embassy are safe and free. However and unfortunately, our Cde Martin Chinyanga has been arrested and detained at London’s Charing Cross Police Station.
We were asked as a group to walk to the Police Station, which we all did. On arrival, the Police approached Cde Chinyanga and asked him to enter into the Police Station, which he voluntarily did, whilst the rest of us were asked to remain gathered outside. But five minutes later we were told that Chinyanga had been arrested, but not charged yet. He was being questioned about trespassing by illegally entering Zimbabwe embassy twice/thrice in less than three months. We have a feeling that there could be multiple of frivolous charges against Cde Chinyanga, possibly including him resisting arrest as we could hear him (loud and clear) outside the Police Station shouting, “…am I being arrested now…”. The rest, after his disappearing shout, we do not know. Cde Chinyanga, may be detained for up to 12hrs or 24hrs. The Police told us. I shall be going back there between 5pm and 6pm to check on him and for more information from the Police then give a brief after that visit.
In the meantime, there is very little information to give until after my going there. I hope our broad alliance of demonstrators will have the courage enough to take up Cde Chinyanga’s case and defend his right to freely express his democratic right. It may appear that his arrest by the British Police is at the instigation of the Government of Zimbabwe. There is more to come. Cde Chinyanga, should not be left to walk alone. Never Cdes. Double standards of the British law enforcement shall be exposed, how on earth they can defend a man who has killed more than 30 000 of his citizens. A man who continues to steal elections without care? Zimbabweans from all walks of life shall stand up and continue demonstrations and if need be they are prepared to fill all the British prisons.
The man who should be arrested is Robert Mugabe not Mr Chinyanga. Mr Chinyanga did not kill anyone. Mr Chinyanga was exercising his democratic rights.
By Arthur Molife (ZAPU).

HARARE – A deadly cocktail of uncertainty, panic and fear has gripped many notable Zanu PF officials who either rose up their party structures or clung onto their positions at the height of the ruling party’s ugly infighting last year, riding on the coat-tails of influential but now ailing First Lady Grace Mugabe (pictured).

 
This comes as Grace’s withdrawal from the public domain over the past four weeks, as well as the unexplained extent of her illness, continues to set tongues wagging — with Zimbabweans speculating furiously about her well-being and what this means for President Robert Mugabe, Zanu PF and the country.
 
Mugabe’s normally publicity-mad wife has not been seen in public since early this month,  and was recently reported to be unwell by her top ally and politburo member Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri — who, however, did not give details about the extent of Grace’s illness.
 
The first lady also underwent what her husband said was an appendix operation in Singapore late last year — even though this supposedly minor procedure kept her away from the country for more than two months, recuperating.
 
Well-placed Youth and Women’s League sources who spoke to the Daily News yesterday said many officials in the two structures who were close to Grace were now allegedly being bullied and victimised by their more powerful colleagues who had not benefitted from the first lady’s combative politics of the past few months.
 
In the meantime, Grace herself apparently returned to Zimbabwe from Dubai on Friday aboard an Emirates flight, but did not — once again, accompany her globe-trotting husband who left the country on Saturday, first for Tanzania, and then for Ethiopia — choosing instead to retreat to the First Family’s “Blue Roof” Borrowdale mansion.
 
“Many of us who are close to Dr Amai (Grace) and others who benefitted from her dramatic entry into formal politics last year are reeling at the moment in her absence. We fear that things could get worse for everyone if Dr Amai does not return to her (Women’s League) duties soon,” a Youth League official said.
 
Analysts also concurred yesterday that her continuing failure to attend to her duties would not bode well for her Zanu PF faction, with Maxwell Saungweme saying her dramatic entry into formal politics last year had created another centre of power in the ruling party, thereby weakening it.
 
“To some extent, this undermined the power that her husband wielded in the eyes of many,” Saungweme said, adding that her prominent role in the ouster of former Vice President Joice Mujuru had created more problems for Mugabe and heightened factionalism in Zanu PF.
 
“Grace became a centre of power, her husband is another, the Gang of Four is another, (Vice President Emmerson) Mnangagwa is another and Mujuru and her Gamatox crew are another centre of power.
 
“Her absence really deals a blow to her own centre of power and her hangers-on such as (newly-appointed minister of State for Masvingo Shuvai) Mahofa.
 
“She created a lot of confusion which she can no longer properly manage during her extended absence. The more she is out of the picture, the more the confusion is for her followers, the party and the country,” Saungweme said.
 
Contacted for comment yesterday about the whereabouts and state of health of Grace, Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said, “I am in a meeting and I will send a statement later”.
 
Senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, Dewa Mavhinga, said Grace should leave politics and rest, “instead of creating confusion”.
 
“She has immense influence in the party and there is a perception that she is a centre of power and clearly her allies are worried about her prolonged absence.
 
“However, this has no major political implications. Given that she is unwell, the best decision for her when she comes back would be to leave politics altogether and concentrate on her well-being and that of her family,” Mavhinga said. -Daily News

AS NINE inmates at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, suspected of organising the fatal food riots that occurred at the correctional centre appeared at the Harare Magistrates’ Courts yesterday on charges of attempting to escape from lawful custody, malicious damage to property and negligence, it emerged that rapist pastor Robert Martin Gumbura, charged for allegedly inciting the rioting, was falsely blamed for the incident.
ZimEye.com which closely followed the riots having also broken the news as it happened, for a whole 5 day period aftrerwards found no single accusation or even suspicion from the officers involved in the incident and entire quelling of the riots, journalists having taken priority interest in the man’s affairs during the whole commotion.
As five prisoners made a successful exit, Pastor Gumbura (currently serving a half a century jail term for rape), was also far away from the area where guards were overpowered.
Three impeccable prison officials interviewed into the weekend of the incident occurring, have revealed that apart from the random beating up of prisoners, there was no investigation conducted that would credibly point to the preacher’s alleged conduct. Mr Gumbura’s cell is also in the B hall area and the riot took place in the C and D halls which are too far away for any coordination to have been conducted by the accused. Guards also said that the accused has never intermingled as claimed.
This revelation also came as there was a massive cover up on the numbers of prisoners who have been shot dead as punishment for having rioted. ZimEye.com has revealed that 15 people have been murdered as punishment.
Revelations into the cover up are further confirmed by inconsistencies and shocking contradictions between what was announced by the Prisons spokesperson, Mrs Elizabeth Banda and later was claimed by the minister of justice who is also vice president of the country, Emmerson Mnangagwa. Banda claimed that no one was shot and that blank bullets were used, also saying that only one person died, while Mnangagwa made the admission that several prisoners were shot dead in cold blood, speaking to parliament a week later.
 
ZimEye.com journos contend with evidence that the prison authorities and the Minister of Justice are not credible witnesses and they have compromised facts in the case.
 
The whole commotion was started when prisoners protested the inhumane treatment at the hands of prison guards and the sadza they were being constantly fed with which has nothing else besides soup.
Gumbura who guards reveal was nowhere close to the riots, is now being charged together with notorious armed robbers Lucky Matambanadzo and Lucky Mhungu, among others.
But the State alleges that in February this year, Gumbura incited inmates in B Cell, urging them to revolt against prison authorities for giving them a poor diet. After the alleged address, the prisoners allegedly spent the night singing in protest state papers say.
On March 13, Matambanadzo, Mhungu and their alleged accomplices addressed inmates in C and D cells, influencing them to join the protests.
Hell broke loose the following day, when the prisoners went wild, climbing up the walls, breaking asbestos sheets, windows and water pipes, among other infrastructure.
Prison officers opened fire on the striking inmates, killing five of them while several wardens were left injured in the skirmishes.
The suspects have been remanded to mid-April for trial.
 

ZANU PF leader President Robert Mugabe has filed his opposing affidavit to the court challenge filed by former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa and ex-spokesperson Rugare Gumbo, saying the duo had no locus standi to challenge their expulsion from the ruling party as they were no longer bona fide members.
In papers filed on his behalf by Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa on March 18, Mugabe said Gumbo and Mutasa should have exhausted internal remedies to contest their expulsion before taking the matter to the High Court if they respected the party’s constitution as they so claimed.
Mutasa and Gumbo approached the High Court last month seeking an order compelling Mugabe to reverse their expulsion and the outcome of the party’s December congress.
The pair claimed that the congress was held in violation of the party’s constitution.
“The fact that they are not members of the first respondent (Zanu PF) immediately strips them of their rights as members of the first respondent as enshrined in clause 17 of the former Constitution or clause 20 of the new Constitution,” Mugabe said.
“The applicants have not had the expulsion set aside whether by first respondent (Zanu PF) or by any court. They therefore would not be able to establish their legal basis for challenging the goings-on within the first respondent.”
Mugabe also said Mutasa and Gumbo have no locus standi to represent “unnamed” people “they allegedly seek an order on behalf of”.
He also said the High Court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the matter before it is set for by Zanu PF as required by the party’s constitution.
“As the applicants themselves concede they did not file the application within the prescribed eight weeks, the application is not properly before the court unless and until a proper application for condonation has been made and granted,” Mugabe argued.
The Zanu PF leader accused Mutasa and Gumbo of failing to even engage the central committee to register their grievances.
“If this honourable court were to determine this matter, it would be talking away the central committee’s powers which as per the first respondent’s constitution, is final arbitrator on these questions.”
In his court papers, Mutasa claimed that he wrote to Mugabe seeking an internal remedy which he ignored, forcing him to approach the courts for redress.
But Mugabe said Mutasa could have written to the central committee, not to him, claiming the letter was not a genuine appeal for redress, as it was the applicants’ ill-fated manoeuvres against the due electoral process.
He said the reference to First Lady Grace Mugabe when she is not cited in the papers was a show of cowardice to attack someone without giving them the right to respond. Mutasa, in his papers, described Grace’s entry into politics as toxic and the origins of intolerance in the party.

THREE members of the Zimbabwe National Army died on the spot and several others were injured yesterday when their luxury coach was involved in a road accident at the 300km peg along the Harare-Chirundu Road.
Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Alphios Makotore said the bus was carrying recruits for a training exercise in the Zambezi Valley and Makuti area.
“Two officer cadets and a member of staff died on the spot and several were injured. Names of the deceased will be announced when the next of kin have been informed,” Makotore said.
“The injured have been airlifted to Karoi and Kariba hospitals respectively and seven of those with life-threatening injuries were airlifted to Harare.”
Meanwhile, two gold panners are feared dead after a disused mineshaft they were working in at Falcon Gold Mine in Chakari collapsed and buried them alive yesterday morning.
Sources said four panners were underground when the tragedy occurred, trapping three of them underground. One escaped and reported the case to the local councillor who immediately alerted the police.
Mashonaland West police spokesperson Inspector Clemence Mabgweazara confirmed the incident and said two panners were rescued while the third one was yet to be accounted for. – Newsday

VIOLENCE broke out in the Movement for Democratic Change Renewal Team in a power struggle between party Secretary General Tendai Biti and, Treasurer Elton Mangoma supporters over party leadership at the weekend, ZimEye.com can reveal.
 
Two Mangoma supporters were landed bloody bashes on their bodies right in the middle of saying prayers during a rally at the large CJ Hall in Highfields.
 
One of the attacked Jabulani Munyanyi popularly known as Greyhound told ZimEye.com he was assaulted solely as punishment for supporting Mangoma during a time when popularity was fast growing in Mangoma’s favour against Biti following the recalling of the party’s MPs this month.
 
“I was even warned a day before by the provincial chairperson Dumisani Makwanya that this was going to happen to me,” he said almost in tears.
“They also attacked my colleague, Friday Nleya,” he added, hinting also that the group of youths also took his cellphone. “They also took my Samsung Galaxy S4,” he said.
When quizzed by ZimEye.com on the possibility of the attack being caused by real thugs who may have taken advantage of the tension, Munyanyi replied saying he was absolutely sure of the political motive behind the attack since he had been warned a day before by the chairperson Dumisani Makwanya.
He also added saying: “I personally know these boys and their motive,” he said.
 
No Police Report
But there is no police report yet and Munyanyi said Secretary General Tendai Biti allegedly told him not report to the police yet until a full report is written down.
 
Biti and Mangoma in fist fight (near).
Meanwhile, the weekend violence came at a time when Biti and Mangoma themselves were caught in a near fist fight against each other, while some cadres say they actually did exchanged blows during a meeting at the weekend.
The meeting, party sources said, later resolved to hold an early national elective congress to end the simmering factional fights.

The opposition party has been under the caretaker leadership of its guardian council headed by chairperson Sekai Holland since last year when its leaders broke ranks with the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC-T.
However, the membership still believes that the de facto leaders were Biti and Mangoma.
The leadership fights allegedly intensified with the expulsion of Biti and 20 others from Parliament a fortnight ago and members now view this as an opportunity to deal with the leadership question decisively.
“The fight between Biti and Mangoma for leadership came again under the spotlight at Thursday’s meeting where some Biti allies accused Mangoma of campaigning for the presidency ahead of the congress to the detriment of the party,” an insider said.
“It was then agreed that a congress should be held soon, between end of June and early October this year, to bring to finality the question of leadership.”
Biti and Mangoma could not be reached for comment yesterday.
MDC Renewal Team spokesman Jacob Mafume yesterday confirmed plans for an early congress.
“We agreed that we should have our own congress and policy conference as soon as possible so that we have substantive leadership,” Mafume said.
He, however, said the congress was not being held to end the hostilities between Biti and Mangoma.
“This is not about political contestation, but most of the leadership today is made up of people in acting capacities except Biti, Mangoma and Solomon Madzore. The scenario affects execution of programmes especially to those who are in acting capacity,” he added.
But another insider said the leadership question was bordering on who can give the party greater traction as the country moves towards the 2018 elections.
“Most in the party think Biti will give them traction because he is more popular and has more gravitas than Mangoma. However, Mangoma has done a lot of groundwork thereby having more supporters on the grassroots thus setting a stage for a bruising fight,” the source said.
Mafume said the meeting also endorsed the court challenge to the recall of its MPs from Parliament and reiterated the party’s position to continue boycotting future elections until electoral reforms have been implemented. ZimEye.com /Additional Reporting – Newsday

President Robert Mugabe caused a scene last week when he invaded a young peoples’ meeting which even youthful ministers like Saviour Kasukuwere half his age were unwanted guests.
The Arusha, Tanzania based meeting intended for young people, none of his age – the third Africa-China Young People’s Forum, cracked into confusion when hoardes of heavily built CIOs and Mugabe body guards marched into the building much to the amazement of the attendants. The invited were mostly teenagers of ages 13 and up to the 30 age mark. Apart from 91 year old Mugabe, the only other elderly man and a Head of State present, was none other than the host President Jakaya Kikwete.
Soon after the meeting, instead of flying back home after a Tanzania scene, Mugabe decided to go to Ethiopia to a meeting any of his ambassadors on full government salary could attend.
As over 200,000 litres of jet fuel are blown up in less than (2) two weeks, the alway-globe trotting Robert Mugabe has flown away once again this time to Ethiopia after spending government money attending a forum meant for youths younger than his own children.
Analysts and medical experts claim that the reason why Mugabe is making such obvious blunders is his advanced age which inhibits youthfulness and productivity.
“Akurisa – He is too old and so he shoud really rest”, said political analyst Paradzai Jumba.
Meanwhile the summit where Mugabe usually dozes off a quarter way into the meeting, is the 18th Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) Summit which begins today.
ZimEye.com readers propose that millions of dollars every month could be saved as Mugabe makes use of government staff who could easily represent the State in these foreign lands.

It is disaster for MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai who this week sits down his National Council to consider a By-Elections Snub U-Turn concept paper Tsvangirai has rushed to prepare revealed by ZimEye.com last week.
ZimEye.com  last week exclusively revealed Tsvangirai is boiling in confusion over whether to participate in the upcoming by elections which are set to give ZANU PF a parliamentary presence and allow Mugabe to take over strategic urban areas MDC-T party enjoyed.
The constituencies were left vacant after the so called ‘rebels’ – Tendai Biti and his Renewal Team, were booted from parliament under Tsvangirai’s bidding.
If MDC-T at the end of the week decides to boycott the by-elections, it will be a walkover for ZANU PF, something the revolutionary party has begun celebrating in editorial overtones in its broadsheet, The Herald.
The MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu speaking at the weekend revealed his party had in recent days been troubled over whether to boycott and allow Zanu-PF to sweep all the seats or go into the race and fight to retain the constituencies.
Gutu said the national council will now convene and make a determination.
“In view of the fact that the dates have been proclaimed, the national council will have to meet earlier to make a decision. This is because it is the only organ mandated to amend, alter or even uphold a decision of congress. Not even the president of the party, secretary general or myself has such powers,” said Mr Gutu.
“We have a standing position of congress not to participate in any elections. That cannot be overturned unilaterally. The national council is the highest decision making body in between congress.”
Gutu did not comment substantively on impeccable reports that there were some in the opposition party advocating participation.
“It is difficult to get into people’s minds and hearts. I wish if I was a prophet I would have known,” said Gutu. ALSO READ –  Tsvangirai In U-Turn Spin Over By Elections—

The law firm of MDC-T secretary-general Mr Douglas Mwonzora had property attached over outstanding rent arrears to the tune of $34 000.
Mwonzora and Associates also faces eviction from Fidelity Life Centre along Raleigh Street in Harare after defaulting on rent due to Zimre Properties.
The Sheriff of the High Court on February 20 this year attached office furniture on the instructions of Zimre’s lawyers Mhishi Legal Practice.
Last week, officers from the Sheriff stormed Mwonzora and Associates’ offices to remove the attached property and to eject the law firm but the process was stopped by Zimre’s lawyers to allow for a settlement.
Some of the property had been taken outside the building when the process was put on hold. The attached property includes, a desktop computer, five desks, Fridge Master refrigerator, two filing cabinets and a set of four blue reception sofas.
The Sheriff is also armed with a writ to eject Mwonzora and associates from the 4th floor of the building.
The ejection and attachment process was effected after High Court judge Justice Amy Tsanga issued a consent order to that effect.
Justice Tsanga’s order dated January 13 2015 reads:“It is ordered by consent that the lease agreement between the parties be and is hereby terminated and to this end, the first defendant (Mwonzora and Associates) shall vacate immovable property, 4th Floor, Fidelity Life Centre, Number 5 Raleigh Street on February 28 2015, failing which the deputy sheriff be and is hereby authorised to eject the first defendant.
“First defendant be and is hereby ordered to pay plaintiff the sum of $33 294,43 . . . ”
In terms of the order, Mwonzora and Associates was supposed to pay $5 000 by February 28.
Thereafter monthly instalments of $2 500 until clearance of the debt. Payment, according to Justice Tsanga, should have been paid at the first day of every month.
However, the law firm did not comply with the order resulting in Mhishi Legal Practice through Mr Harrison Nkomo obtaining a writ of execution and a writ of eviction. -State Media