MASVINGO — The Minister of State for Masvingo’s office at Benjamin Burombo House is being moved from the second to the ground floor because the new incumbent, Shuvai Mahofa, cannot climb the stairs owing to ill health and old age.
Government will incur unplanned costs to renovate the new office while civil servants will bear inconveniences as the office of the provincial administrator (PA) will now be a distance from the Minister of State’s office.
Renovations were already underway on the ground floor when a Mirror news crew visited the building on Wednesday this week.
Efforts to get a comment from Mahofa were fruitless as she kept on saying that she was in meetings.
Sources told the Mirror that that the minister had difficulty in climbing the stairs since she replaced Kudakwashe Bhasikiti in that position on February 23 this year.
Mahofa, who is 74 years old, is supported as she walks out of the official car and is also assisted as she negotiates the stairs to the office.
Inconveniences in the operations of the department will be experienced between the PA and the minister’s office as these two are supposed to operate next to each other.
The PA acts as the permanent secretary to the minister’s office.
Sources said the renovations were bringing in unbudgeted costs to the ministry.
Efforts by the Mirror to get the amount of the costs were fruitless.
“I am in a meeting right now, I cannot answer your questions,” said Mahofa.
Mahofa, who is a close ally of First Lady Grace Mugabe, was elevated to the post after Bhasikiti, who is linked to embattled former Vice-President Joice Mujuru, was booted out for allegedly planning to assassinate President Robert Mugabe. — Masvingo Mirror

The Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) which was supposed to run between the 21st and the 25th of April will now take place from the 28th of April to the 2nd of May this year.
The change of dates has been attributed to unforeseen circumstances and the ZITF said exhibitors have been notified of the development.
ZITF Board Chairman, Mr Bekithemba Nkomo said circumstances beyond control have necessitated the postponement of the trade fair by a week.
Mr Nkomo said they have since communicated with the exhibitors who have indicated that they will still come for the fair, adding that he change in dates will not affect the quality of the trade showcase.
To date, 300 direct exhibitors have confirmed participation, an increase from the 283 that had registered by the same period last year.
20 direct foreign exhibitors have booked space to date.
The highlights of the five-day exhibition include the International Business Conference, the Ultimate Home Improvement Expo as well as Scholastica for the education sector.
Exhibitors from Germany, Kenya, South Africa, the United States and Namibia have confirmed their participation.

EXPELLED ZANU PF SECRETARY for administration Didymus Mutasa has made sensational claims that his former colleagues intend to kill him before a by-election is held in his former Headlands constituency, which he intends to contest.
Mutasa yesterday told Southern Eye he had got wind that there were some party members who were planning to kill him in the run-up to the election, as Zanu PF was running scared he would defeat their candidate in the polls.
“I hear that there is a plan to kill me during the campaign for the by-election in Headlands,” he said.
“That must be exposed.”
In statements that could reveal Zanu PF’s tactics in past elections, Mutasa claimed the party had already deployed soldiers and State security agents in the constituency to intimidate him and the electorate.
“Soldiers should be removed from rural areas,” he said.
“They are being misused to campaign for the illegal party candidates. Those party candidates should campaign for themselves without misusing State institutions like the army, police, the Central Intelligence Organisation and other civil servants.”
The unrelenting Mutasa said he was aware that there was a member of the Air Force in Headlands constituency who was harassing people believed to be supporting him.
“We know that Chiganze of the Air Force is in Headlands constituency harassing people who are believed to support me,” he said.
“That is evil and should be stopped immediately.
“Unfortunately, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission cannot do much to ensure fair play.”
Mutasa’s claims could be an indication that the heat is being cranked up in the war of attrition between factions in Zanu PF — one aligned to axed Vice-President Joice Mujuru and another to her successor Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mutasa, who was expelled from Zanu PF together with his nephew Temba Mliswa, has filed a lawsuit challenging the party’s congress last year, firmly taking President Robert Mugabe head-on.
This could be the first legal challenge to Mugabe’s legitimacy from a member of his own party and is bound to reveal some uncomfortable Zanu PF secrets.
Mutasa’s assassination claims echo those of former Copac co-chairman Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana, who was filmed in a BBC documentary claiming there had been an order to take him out as he had sold out.
“So when I visited the general and put my cards on the table. . . he grouped all the people who were involved in the plot — it was a powerful team,” he was recorded saying.
“Those who are in the know in my own party are saying we do not know how you survived.” – SouthernEye

PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE has claimed he was bearing the brunt of the economic hardships in the country, but inadvertently revealed that his salary had increased by a whopping 300% from $4 000 last year to $12 000 per month this year, at a time a majority of civil servants are paid less than $300, well below the poverty datum line.
Mugabe, who last year claimed his salary was $4 000 a month, did not reveal how his salary has multiplied threefold in less than 12 months without it being gazetted by the government.
Speaking at Harare General Hospital during the commissioning of medical equipment bought through a $100 million Export-Import Bank of China loan facility, Mugabe described his $12 000 mega salary as meagre and not in line with salaries of other leaders in the region.
The 91-year-old leader said he earned a sacrificial salary of $10 000 and allowances amounting to $2 000.
“We should all just be grateful that we have food on our tables,” he said.
“If there’s isitshwala and meat — that’s it.
“I am suffering just like you.”
Mugabe’s new revelations are in sharp contrast with the figure that he mentioned last year when he said he only earned $4 000.
The First Family controls a multi-million dollar empire in Zimbabwe, including farms, a dairy business and exclusive schools.
Mugabe’s expenses are largely footed by the government, including his numerous foreign travels, food, medical bills, accommodation, security and transportation.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been on a decline for more than a decade, with firms operating below capacity because of lack of capital, high unemployment and dilapidated road and rail networks.
Thousands of civil servants in the country are wallowing in abject poverty and are not being paid on time, while corrupt activities by senior government officials have reached unprecedented levels.
The 91-year-old leader yesterday blamed Zimbabwe’s economic problems on Western sanctions, most of which have since been relaxed.
Mugabe said the United States was now thumping its nose at China and yet they benefited from loans advanced by the country.
“I want (US President Barack) Obama to hear this, China sustained them during their economic crisis and they were never made to pay back those loans, but now they are snubbing China,” he said.
Mugabe praised China for standing by Zimbabwe even during the liberation war struggle. Commenting on the collapsed health delivery system, dogged by drug shortages and a mass exodus of skilled personnel, Mugabe said morale had remained low, as staff worked with obsolete and inadequate equipment.
“This new equipment will produce high quality services and instead of us trying to reinvent the wheel we will copy technology that is already there,” he said.
Health and Child Care minister David Parirenyatwa said the equipment, some of which had already been sent to other hospitals in the country, would go a long way in boosting staff morale.
“Health professionals were increasingly becoming frustrated because they now lacked these tools of the trade,” he said.
Parirenyatwa said effective health delivery service was only possible if the required tools were made available. Part of the equipment included theatre tables, blood pressure monitoring machines and others.
Harare Hospital clinical director George Vera said that they had to devise ways and means to manage the constant drug supplies.
This follows recent reports that drugs including Betadine were in short supply at one of the oldest hospitals in the country.
“What should never be out of stock are emergency drugs like those used in the theatre,” he said.
“We aspire to keep our drug supply in acceptable levels.” – SouthernEye

Disgraced musician Energy Mutodi says he has discovered a ritual site he says was used by former Vice President Joice Mujuru “in her bid to cause misfortune, death or illness to her enemies among them President Robert Mugabe”.
But pictures the musician has put on display (which are 4 days old) have fresh blood on them meaning the chicken could were killed on or just after the same day President Robert Mugabe spoke of the Mujuru witchraft plot to kill him.

 
Reported Mutodi,
“A ritual site used by the disgraced former Vice President Joice Mujuru in her bid to cause misfortune, death or illness to her enemies among them President Robert Mugabe has been unearthed. Fresh images of the site showing at least ten beheaded chickens, arrows, clay pots and mudhombo snuf among other artifacts used in the rituals have been revealed and they are said to have been captured by a member of the Mujuru security team a day after the rituals had been partaken.
“The site whose exact location is reportedly in Mashonaland Central along the Dande river shows small, medium and large sized red and black strips of fine cloth some of which is tied into at least ten knots each enclosing different names of people, soil samples, some beads, snuff and blood believed to have been extracted from the chickens that lie lifelessly on bare ground and some on a traditional reed-made mate locally known as rukukwe or mhasa.
It is not yet ascertained if security details have already visited the said ritual site. The names of those whose names remain stuck on a flying red cloth strip pulverized with human waste are as follows:
1. Robert Gabriel Mugabe
2. Grace Marufu Mugabe
3. Emerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa
4. Ignatius Chombo
5. Saviour Kasukuwere
6. Jonathan Moyo
7. Godwin Gomwe
8. Energy Mutodi
9. Noah Taguta
10. Ezekiel Guti
11. Constantine Chiwenga
12. Alfred Nhepera
13. Chris Mutsvangwa
14. Patrick Nyaruwata
15. Shuvai Mahofa
“The discovery which confirms last year pronouncements by a Malawian self styled prophet who said that President Mugabe would not survive beyond the year 2015 has send shock waves among government officials and party members. President Mugabe first announced the plot recently at his 91st birthday televised speech and repeated it in Victoria Falls before a crowd of more than 20 000 on February 28. He said that his former second in command had hired two Nigerians who performed rituals to kill him, his wife Grace, Vice President Mnangagwa among others; adding that the rituals were being done while Amai Mujuru was half-naked. The next day, the private media was awash with reports that Mujuru had refuted the claims. They quoted her saying, “Handiite zvakadaro ini” (I do not do such things). Mujuru added that she grew up in an Appstolic Faith Church and was taught to believe in Christ always.
“However, it is common knowledge that liberation war fighters like herself depended on an African Traditional Religion which involves the use of black magic, animal sacrifices as well as spirit mediums to deal with day to day problems including predicting the future. Mujuru was simply trying to hide behind a finger when she completely dissociated herself from the ritual practices. Mujuru left school as a teenager to join other countrymen and women in Mozambique. While there, she got married to Zimbabwe’s most decorated soldier Solomon Mujuru whose war tag name was Rex Nhongo. She certainly witnessed many people lose their lives in the war and is not moved if someone was to die by whatever cause because she was trained to kill. At the peak of Diamond discoveries in Chiyadwa between the years 2009-11, several jobless youths were killed when they were mauled by police dogs or shot by police for trespassing into the former Vice President’s diamond fields by then known as ‘Mutaka waMai Mujuru’. “

The tempo in Parliament was raised to vibrating levels during this week’s questions without notice session when female parliamentarians took controversial Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa to task on some sanitary-wear lessons.
The question posed to Mnangagwa, who is also the Vice President, was on female prisoners failing to access sanitary-wear.
“What is government policy on availing sanitary-wear to female prisoners,” asked Ms Priscilla Misirahirabwi Mushonga.
Mnangagwa did agree and alluded to the fact that while he understood the necessity of availing sanitary-wear to female prisoners, his macho side might not really comprehend the matter.
“If it is a necessity, it must be provided,” said Mnangagwa.
The highlight moment came when the female parliamentarians displayed a sample of a sanitary pad and when the minister also hit back on how it can be used, the whole august house collapsed in laughter.
Mnangagwa had taken the pad and vocalised saying: “I am grateful to the MPs who managed to show me panty pads. However, what they failed to do was to demonstrate how they are used.”
Meanwhile, Mnangagwa also told parliament that his ministry has finished realigning the new Electoral Act, adding that 11 bills are set to be tabled before the house this Thursday.
A leading NGO has been coordinating efforts to provide women from disadvantaged backgrounds with sanitary wear and they have invented a cheap underwear device for the purpose.[READ MORE – Zimbabwean Women Rescued with Sanitary Pad Device]

A Standard Chartered bank Mutoko branch teller Rudo Chawatama who is alleged to have stolen $5000 from the bank in June 2013, appeared for trial at Magistrate court and was further remanded for continuation of trial. ZimEye.com in an earlier expose exclusively revealed how a top magistrate last year threw a party for the main suspect during the ongoing trial[ READ MORE– Drama as Magistrate Parties With Man Charged US$40,000 Theft Just Before Acquitting Him]

Ironically, the two witness who testified in the court were former teller Clemence Nkalimo and Branch manager Tafara Ben Maunze who are on bail pending appeal after being convicted for the “disappearing” of $40,000 from the bank in December the same year.
 
During trial proceedings it surfaced that teller Effort Chimhamba, who was the chief suspect in the $40000 theft offence but walked scot free in a mysterious circumstance, had his name largely mentioned during the trial proceeding. One of the chief evidence that is believed to be still with the CID investigation is that at the time of the investigation of the $5000 theft, Clemence Chimhamba is said to have deposited $3800 into a girlfriend’s bank account at a time he was earning not more than $350.
 
The then Mutoko magistrates court Edwin Marecha who has since been transfered to Chivi, mysteriously “joined hands” with lawyer Allan Moyo and found Effort Chimhamba not guilty and acquitted.

President Robert Mugabe has been slapped with a round of US sanctions set to keep him isolated despite being elected African Union chairoperson.
The United States of America has announced it is from tomorrow renewing sanctions on Mugabe for another year.
In extending the restrictive measures, Washington said that President Mugabe was a threat to US foreign policy,  a development that has irked both the President’s office and ZANU PF diplomats.
In a notice titled “Continuation of the national emergency with respect to Zimbabwe” published by the White House on March 03, US president Barrack Obama, said that the actions of the Government of Zimbabwe “contributed to deliberate breakdown of political and economic instability in the southern African region’’.
“The actions and policies of these persons continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States,” said Mr Obama. “For this reason, the national emergency declared on March 6, 2003, and the measures adopted on that date, on November 22, 2005, and on July 25, 2008, to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond March 6, 2015.
“Therefore in accordance with section 202 (d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d), I am continuing for one year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13288.”
Meanwhile the Dean of African Diplomats Mawampanga Mwanananga, quoted by the State Media reacted saying that Africa should not dignify retrogressive moves by reading much in such statements from Washington.
“The reality is that those statements do not make sense,” he said. “It is their problem and do not read much into them. I call them meaningless and senseless.”
Ambassador Mwanananga said the Americans had pushed themselves into a corner by imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe and they were now finding it difficult to rectify that. He said there was a clique of former Rhodies that continued to lobby the US Congress to continue the sanctions regime on Zimbabwe.
Cuban Ambassador to Zimbabwe Elio Savon Oliva, also quoted by the State Broadsheet, spoke out against the US hard line stance on Zimbabwe saying the world over sanctions had proven to be a wrong tool of resolving differences.
He challenged the US government to explain why it considered President Mugabe and Zimbabwe threats to US foreign policy and the world at large.
“Why is he (President Mugabe) a threat? I will rather agree with 54 African countries that elected President Mugabe as African Union chairman. If he is a threat, he could not have been elected to lead the continent. “I had received so many messages about President Mugabe made by African leaders and I would rather believe them than statements made by people far away afield from Africa,” he said.

Dear Editor,
There are fraudsters at the South African embassy in Harare and people should be beware! Two men are prowling the place daily claiming to be employed or connected to employees in the building. They pretend as if they are employees at the embassy or have connections with the people in the embassy. If entertained, they then dish out to people fake permits. They are using the following names: Mr Moyo and Mr Wasu, and they use the numbers +263 737061622 ,+263 771822952,078 312 4930.
Forewarned is forearmed!
Anonymous,
Harare

MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, says he has the means to repay the loan he got from the government for the Highlands mansion but will not pay yet as there are conditions that need to be met.
Tsvangirai, has been dragged into a controversial $1.35 billion Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe debt after a Zanu-PF member of parliament last week claimed that the acquisition of the former prime ministers plush villa, which is located in Harare’s leafy Highlands suburb, helped increase the debt the government is now trying to force ordinary Zimbabweans to pay.
Tsvangirai has also vowed to continue pressing the ruling Zanu-PF government to institute democratic reforms ahead of the 2018 presidential election. He talks to Studio 7 VOA in an interview, audio:

 
– VOA/Additional Reporting

SNV, a Netherlands developmental organisation has devised a new way of assisting disadvantaged Zimbabwean women with affordable sanitary wear to cater for their menstruation periods.
The new sanitary pad was revealed at Cillas Conference centre, to equip media practitioners with correct information on how the organisation is fighting for the dignity of the disadvantaged community.
According to SNV’s Lindile Ndebele, most of the rural women have been silently using newspapers and dumped rags to help them during their menstruation periods, thereby exposing them to cancers and other diseases.
“We have been around to disadvantaged community to introduce this low costing device that has seen more women accepting it and also extending a helping hand to their fellow habitants. We have been touched by school girls who have to stop attending lessons during their menstruation period, due to lack of sanitary wear,” said Ndebele addressing both male and female journalists.
SNV implemented this IGATE program aimed at addressing factors that limit access to educational opportunities for girl children.
SNV has since commissioned studies in Binga, Lupane, Chivi, Mangwe, Insiza, Gokwe North, Gokwe South Nkayi, Beitbridge, Mberengwa & Masvingo Districts, to inform interventions.
According to SNV, about 20% of all primary school girls in rural areas do not receive any education and information on menstrual hygiene, before they start menstruating, 72% of rural primary school girls who menstruate, do not use sanitary pads but instead rely on reusable pieces of cloth, cotton wool and tissue.
SNV further revealed that 20% of rural primary school girls who menstruate, do not attend school while they are on their periods and the explanations they give to their parents and teachers are that they are sick with a headache, stomach ache or some other ailment.
The SNV presentation also reveals the rural sanitary pad market in Zimbabwe as worth more than $9 million annually. The rural school girls, sanitary pad market alone, is potentially worth $915 840 annually, as 30 million sanitary pads are sold in Zimbabwe annually.
Absenteeism leading to poor performance (528 days lost during entire schooling and lack of adequate support from the family and school, led to increased absenteeism reported by 57%.

Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri is under fire after two CIO agents were at the weekend arrested at ousted vice-president Joice Mujuru’s Ruzambo Farm ‘for straying into’ her private property.
The development has seen pro Mnangagwa officials targeting alleging that Chihuri is acting against the wishes of the First Lady Grace Mugabe after her husband launched an intelligence reconnaissance on Mujuru and the agents were said to be on official duty.
Mujuru, fired last December on allegations of plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe, has retreated back to her Ruzambo farm in Mashonaland East where she is concentrating on tobacco and cattle ranching.
The ex-second in command to President Mugabe for the past ten years, yesterday confirmed the arrest of the two state spies but quickly referred the matter to the police.
“Yes, we arrested some people for trespassing but after interrogations, we discovered that they are state agents. The matter is being handled by police,” Mujuru said.
However, police spokesperson Charity Charamba said she was not in office to confirm or deny the case before referring questions to her deputy, Paul Nyathi, who also said he had no authority to talk on such issues before referring the issue back to his boss.
The former VP has been under a barrage of attacks from President Mugabe for allegedly plotting to kill him and during his birthday celebrations held last Saturday, the president claimed that Mujuru hired Nigerians n’angas to perform witchcraft acts so that the Zanu PF leader and his wife, Grace, would die.
Mujuru, on Monday, issued a direct response to President Mugabe’s weekend utterances, saying the veteran Zanu PF leader was being misled and wasting time on trivial issues at the expense of national development.
Mujuru’s close allies told The Zimbabwe Mail that the arrest of the suspected state agents raises security issues and exposes the state’s desire to snoop on the former VP, even to the extent of using unorthodox means.
“These are the people who have been misleading the president, feeding him with lies because they are busy snooping on her, even getting wrong information which they are unable to verify,” said a Mujuru close ally.
Mujuru lost her government post after First Lady, Grace Mugabe entered into mainstream politics and led a campaign against her. The First Lady revealed sensitive dealings of the former VP which included corruption and extortionist, among others.
But Mujuru has denied any wrong doing, declaring that she was innocent before challenging the authorities to drag her to court or arraign her before a party disciplinary hearing. The ex-VP was removed from both party and government posts, leaving her an ordinary Zanu PF member. (Agencies/Additional Reporting)

A single mum from Masvingo allegedly threw her two minor children in a well after failing to take care of them.
In a related incident, a 16-year-old Mangwe girl drowned while trying to flee from her abusive father after she attempted to cross a flooded river in the middle of the night.
Police confirmed both incidents yesterday.
In the Masvingo incident, Judith Taruvinga, 24, of Nemamwa area in Mashaya village under Chief Charumbira, allegedly took away her two children against her mother and stepfather’s pleas.
She proceeded to throw the children down a six- metre deep well, police said.
The two children’s bodies were later discovered floating in the well.
Police identified the drowned children as Tanaka, 5, and Ronica Zvemari, aged one-and-a- half years.
Their bodies were taken to Masvingo Provincial Hospital mortuary for post-mortem.
Masvingo police spokesperson Inspector Charity Mazula said the incident happened on Sunday at around 6AM.
“I can confirm receiving a report to that effect. The suspect was arrested a day after the children went missing. She will appear in court soon facing charges of murder.
“We suspect the woman threw her children in the well before attempting to flee.
“She was arrested in Masvingo’s Central Business District a day after committing the alleged crime,” she said.
Sources said Judith got home drunk on Sunday after spending the day at a local bottle store drinking beer with her friends.
Judith’s parents told her to look after her children instead of spending most of her time drinking beer.
“Taruvinga arrived home at around 6PM visibly drunk as she was staggering.
“She found her mother, Juliet Taruvinga, 45, stepfather, Chamasi Chirikufawo, 51, and her two children, Tanaka and Ronica at home. Juliet is said to have raised concern over the way Judith was neglecting her kids by spending too much time frequenting bottle stores. This could’ve incensed her,” said Memory Mupanduki, a relative.
Mupanduki said Judith indicated to her parents that she wanted to take the children to their father who lived in the same village.
She said Judith told her mother that she could no longer afford to take care of the children.
“Her parents realised that Judith was drunk and refused to let her take the children away. Judith was adamant and forcibly dragged the two minors away. She never returned home that night,” said Mupanduki.
She said on the following day at around 6AM a fellow villager, Ratidzai Zimanyiwa, went to fetch water from a nearby well.
Mupanduki said Zimanyiwa found Ronica’s body floating in the well.
“She rushed to report the matter to Juliet. A formal report was then made at Nemamwa Police Base. Police attended the scene and managed to retrieve the body from the well. After conducting further searches, they discovered Tanaka’s body in the same well,” she said.
Sometime last year, a woman from Headman Nemarundwi in Zimuto area, killed her three children by poisoning them following a dispute with her mother who accused her of having loose morals.
In Mangwe District, police said a 16-year-old girl drowned while trying to cross a flooded river in the middle of the night.
Lizneth Mpofu of Matshongwana South Village in Sanzukwi area drowned on Sunday around 11PM in the Sanzukwi River and her body was discovered on the following morning by a passerby.
The girl was reportedly on her way to her grandmother’s homestead after running away from her father who had beaten her up.
Chief Sangulube confirmed the incident.
“There’s a young girl from my area who drowned in Sanzukwi River. The river was full and she attempted to get across in the middle of the night. Her body was discovered by a passerby who alerted villagers and the body was ferried to Brunapeg Hospital Mortuary,” he said.
The village head of the area, Charles Ncube, said according to reports he got, the girl had a misunderstanding with her father, Marko Mpofu.
He said Mpofu accused his daughter of arriving late from church services.“It appears that the argument became intense and Mpofu started beating up the girl who in turn fled from the homestead. She dashed out of the house and revealed that she was going to her grandmother’s house. She shouted that she would never return to her father’s homestead,” said Ncube.
He said his area had received heavy rains over the weekend and most of the rivers were flooded.
Ncube said the girl attempted to cross the flooded river in the middle of the night and was swept away.
“One of the villagers from the area found the girl’s body by the river and alerted others. The water had swept the girl for a distance of about a kilometre and the villagers who attended the scene immediately identified her,” he said.
Ncube, who described the incident as a tragedy, said mourners were gathered at Mpofu’s homestead.
He said Lizneth, who was staying with her father, had reportedly run away from home on several occasions to stay with her grandmother after reporting that her father constantly beat her up.
Matabeleland South acting provincial police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Nkosilathi Sibanda confirmed the incident.
He said a postmortem had been waived by Plumtree magistrate, Gideon Ruvetsa.
Ass Insp Sibanda urged members of the public to desist from crossing flooded rivers especially during the rainy season.- chronicle

President Robert Mugabe has opened up and explained how he selected Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko among a number of contenders who were vying for the job.
In an interview on ZTV’s programme “Reflections at 91” to mark his 91st birthday, President Mugabe said he engaged in wide consultations before reaching the decision to appoint VP Mphoko.
He said he always consults before making decisions.
VP Mphoko was appointed along with VP Emmerson Mnangagwa as the two Vice-Presidents after the 6th Zanu-PF national People’s Congress in December last year.
In the run up to the congress, there were a number of senior party officials who had shown interest in the Vice-Presidency post reserved for former PF-Zapu cadres.
Among the contenders were VP Mphoko, former Zanu-PF national chairman and now secretary for information and publicity Mr Simon Khaya Moyo, Home Affairs Minister Mr Kembo Mohadi and retired Brigadier General Ambrose Mutinhiri.
“When Mphoko finally got hitched and when we appointed him, I had listened to lots of views from the people. Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North, I was asking them and making comparisons,” said President Mugabe.
“Some thought Khaya was going to get it, others said Khaya has no real history of the struggle. Some came in saying Mohadi, I talked to Mohadi, I talked to Mphoko, I talked to SK, I talked to Msipa, all those from the Zapu side and finally to me the man who had a good record in the past and a record which sustained his drive up to the end was Mphoko.”
President Mugabe said after talking to the contenders and wide consultations, the race was narrowed down to Cde Mohadi and VP Mphoko.
“It was Mphoko versus Mohadi. Mohadi when I asked him, he said Mphoko yes I agree, his instructor at one time but he said now he is Ambassador and I’m a Minister who has more experience, it’s what he said,” said the President.
“I told Khaya that no he was viewed by many as part of the gamatox thing, that he was very close to Mutasa and Mai Mujuru but we couldn’t just dump everybody, others we want to give a chance, we gave them a chance but we abolished the chairmanship as it was.
“One of the Vice-Presidents will be chairman of the party and that’s how we used to have it in the past anyway, we then brought the chairmanship at the time we signed our December 1987 Agreement, Unity Agreement when we said (the late Dr Joshua) Nkomo was now Vice-President.”
President Mugabe said it was decided that the late Vice-President Mr Joseph Msika who at the time deputised Dr Nkomo in PF-Zapu, was made chairperson of the united Zanu-PF, a post which did not exist before the Unity Accord.
“Although when we found it, Zanu-PF, we had made (the late Herbert) Chitepo the chairman of the party, but we lost it in 1977 when we discussed in Chimoio the restructuring and revival of the party after the boys who had been arrested in Zambia were released”. -chronicle

President Rafael Correa of Ecuador yesterday sent a special message to President Robert Mugabe, inviting him to the fourth Africa-South America Summit to be held in Quito next year.
The message was delivered by Mr Jose Maria Guijarro Garcia, who is the Ecuadorian Under Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The ASA Summit provided a platform for the two continents to discuss issues of mutual interest as they are almost on the same stage of development.
Mr Garcia said his government also wanted to strengthen ties with progressive countries that had stood firm defending their independence such as Zimbabwe.
“I came here as a Special Envoy of President Correa to deliver a special message to President Mugabe,” he said. “Basically, our main goal is to promote the ASA Summit to be held in Ecuador next year.”
At that Summit, Mr Garcia said, leaders of the two continents would discuss the framework under which they could put into practice some of the issues that had been theorised for long.
He said it was time for Southern countries to enter a new phase in terms of development especially in the area of technology.
“We need to work together,” he said. “As you know most of the technology used in the world is developed in Northern countries, I think it is time now that Southern countries also develop the technology, skills and move forward on the basis of respect to our independence, our people and our nations.
“That is something that needs to be put on top of the table. That is something that needs to be strengthened and enhanced from this South-South point of view otherwise its going to be difficult.
“Whenever you talk to Europe or North Africa, you find it difficult for this relationship to develop in that direction. We believe that when Southern countries get together, we will win and we will make sure that history depends on us and not the North. For that, South America needs Africa and Africa also needs South America.”
Mr Garcia saluted President Mugabe for his uncompromised stance on Zimbabwe’s resources and independence adding that Quito wanted to strengthen relations with Harare.
He said Ecuador had several things to learn from Zimbabwe and President Mugabe’s leadership.
“The other reason why I am here is that we are also trying to strengthen our relations with those progressive countries that have had strong stance in defending the interests of their people,” he said.
“In that sense, we have been following the recent history in Zimbabwe and we believe that it has been most inspiring in a number of ways. I was telling His Excellency that we have a lot to learn from what has been happening here over the past years.
“I was telling him that our revolution is quite a young revolution so we feel it is very much inspiring to get close to leaders of such a quality and historical meaning such as President Mugabe.”
The last ASA Summit was held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea in 2013 under the theme “Strategies and Mechanisms for Strengthening South-South Co-operation”.-herald

VOA|Headlands and Hurungwe West parliamentary constituencies were on Tuesday declared vacant following a recall of former Zanu PF secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa, and former Mashonaland West chairman, Temba Mliswa, who were expelled from the party last month.
Some lawmakers burst into laughter when Mliswa bolted out of the chamber as Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda, announced his expulsion from the House. Mutasa was not in the chamber.
Mudenda said he received communication from the Zanu PF secretary for administration stating that Mutasa and Mliswa were no longer representing Zanu PF interests.
He said the two seats fell vacant in terms of Section 129 of the country’s constitution which states that a seat of a Member of Parliament becomes vacant if a member has ceased to belong to a party of which he or she was a member when elected to parliament.
Mudenda said though Mutasa had written to him that his expulsion was unwarranted and illegal, all that was required of him to declare the seats vacant was the notification from the political party concerned.
He added that the president and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission would be notified of the two vacancies.
Mliswa said he had no comment for now while Mutawa was unreachable. University of Zimbabwe Law Professor, Lovemore Madhuku, said the two have two options – either to accept the Speaker’s ruling or to challenge it.
He said the two should be given an opportunity to challenge the ruling. – VOA

STATE MEDIA:A police officer, Nansel Chikwati, allegedly terrorised Masowe eChishanu apostolic leaders in Budiriro demanding cash at gunpoint. Chikwati (37) also stole $370 he was entrusted with by a civilian to pay at the Harare Civil Court.
He appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Adonia Masawi, facing armed robbery, robbery, assault and theft of trust property charges. He is expected back in court on April 16. The prosecutor Mr Liberty Gono alleged that in February last year, Everisto Dzaka was attending a church service at Masowe eChishanu Apostolic Sect in Budiriro when Chikwati arrived.Chikwati was in the company of his accomplice who is still at large and they ordered Dzaka to produce a prophesying licence. Dzaka refused and Chikwati forced him into his vehicle after showing his police identity card.
He drove to Budiriro 4 where Chikwati withdrew a black pistol, demanding cash. Fearing for his life, Dzaka gave them $300. The court heard that on May 15 around 3pm, Chikwati and two others, still at large, went to Masowe eChishanu apostolic sect in Budiriro 4.
It is alleged that Kudzionera Gudo was prophesying to the congregants when the trio approached him. They ordered him into their blue Mazda 323 vehicle and drove to Mufakose.

It is alleged that on December 17 around 11am, Agnes Munangati went to Harare Civil Court to pay fees for attachment of property.
Munangati met Chikwati at the court and after realising that he is a police officer, she handed him $370. She was advised to come back later for her receipt but she never located Chikwati afterwards. It is further alleged that on December 28, at Budiriro 5 Masowe eChishanu shrine, Chikwati approached Ignatius Nenzou. Using the same modus operandi they ordered him into their vehicle and assaulted him after realising that he had no money. herald

Headlands MP Didymus Mutasa and his Hurungwe West counterpart Temba Mliswa have been stripped of their parliamentary seats by Speaker of the House of Assembly Jacob Mudenda following a request by Zanu PF.
Both Mutasa and Mliswa were recently fired from Zanu PF on charges of indiscipline.This means by-elections will soon be held in the two constituencies to fill the seats. Meanwhile, Mutasa and Rugare Gumbo have lodged a court challenge against President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF challenging the decision to expel them from the party.The court challenge comes soon after Mudenda’s ruling.
The two believe the congress held between the 2nd and 7th of the December last year was not held in accordance with the constitution of Zanu PF. Mutasa and Gumbo believe the constitutional amendments were adopted in a manner that was ultra vires and inconsistent with the Zanu PF’s constitution.
The two through their lawyers are of the opinion that any appointments made in relation to the adopted constitution are illegal and ultra vires the Zanu PF constitution.Mutasa and Gumbo argue that the lawful constitution must be the one which was adopted in 2005 saying all the votes of no confidence effected against individuals and structures between October and December last year were inconsistency with the party’s constitution and breach Section 68 of the constitution of Zimbabwe.
They are praying that the court declares that the lawful structures be those which were in place as at 30th of September last year.Mutasa and Gumbo believe the denial, refusal and removal of certain individuals from the central committee were in breach of Section 67 of the constitution of Zimbabwe.They also claimed the failure by Zanu PF to hold elections for the post of vice president, second secretaries and the national chairperson was unlawful.

A Bulawayo family from the “Suburbs” low density area escaped death by a whisker after an old big tree fell on their house, damaging the precast wall that protects them and another neighbour’s homestead.
The two families the Hunt and the Bickles, cheated death when the giant tree said to be President Robert Mugabe’s age, broke into half before falling with a bang that attracted attention of the neighbouring community as well aspassers-by.
The tree which was in the Bickle family’s yard just cracked with a loud sound and before anything could be done, it broke into three parts just before falling on top of the demarcating wall and cottages
No one was hurt.
It all happened in the owner of 61 Clark road Mrs Hunt’s eyes, but she was not hurt. Asked to comment on the situation, Mrs Hunt could not shed more light to ZimEye.com, as she was still in a shock.
Her neighbour at 59 Clark road where the tree broke from, was not available, but the tenant and caretaker Philip Manyange and his wife Mildred could not comment further as he was also shaking in shock since he watched the whole incident as it occurred.
“We are lucky because no one is hurt and we thank God for this. I am now worried about the other trees which we have, and we have asked the tree cutters to come and pull them down,” he said before concentrating on negotiating with the neighbour whose cottage was still covered with the other part of the broken tree.

A WOMAN from Jambezi in Victoria Falls killed a 67-year-old convicted rapist who had attacked her with a spear.
Ntombizodwa Ncube (55) overpowered Phineas Moyo and pressed him to the ground until he died.
Moyo had allegedly threatened to kill Ncube and her 13-year-old niece he had been convicted of raping on February 24 at the Hwange Regional Court. Moyo is a younger brother to Ncube’s husband and had been remanded out of custody to February 25 for sentencing.
He, however, absconded and sought to kill Ncube and her niece by spearing them, but met his death instead. Ncube yesterday appeared before Victoria Falls magistrate Sharon Rosemani facing a culpable homicide charge.
Prosecutor Listen Nare told the court that on February 26 in the Jambezi area, Moyo armed himself with two spears and attacked Ncube injuring her on her right palm.
However, Ncube overpowered Moyo and pinned him to the ground pressing his head against the ground face down resulting in him suffocating to death. Ncube was arrested and Moyo’s body taken to hospital for a post mortem.
She was granted $100 bail and remanded to March 13. southern eye

The villagers of Fincham area in Inyathi witnessed a gruesome incident when a man axed his neighbour who accused him of having an extra-marital affair with his wife.
Dumisani Moyo 29 was convicted on his own plea of guilty to a charge of attempted murder by regional magistrate Chrispen Mberewere.He was sentenced to five year,but will only spend three years behind bars as two years were suspended on condition that he does not engage in a similar offence within that period.
Migistrate Mberewere described Moyo as a first offender who never wasted time but quickly pleaded guilty saying,
“You’re a first offender who is remorseful and did not waste the court’s time. However, despite that you committed a serious crime, a sentence excluding imprisonment would certainly trivialise the seriousness of the crime. You therefore deserve a custodial sentence.”
Prosecutor Trust Muduma,told the court that on September 14, 2014 just after midnight,the complainant Mkulunyewa Mpunzi went to Moyo’s homestead after he heard rumours that his wife and Moyo were having an affair.
Mpunzi confronted Moyo and accused him of cheating with his wife.
The court heard that Mpunzi confronted Moyo and forced himself into his bedroom, this angered Moyo who fought back.
“Moyo got angry and struck Mpunzi on the head with an axe three times until he fell down and lost consciousness,” said Muduma.
Mpunzi was taken to Mpilo Hospital. The matter was reported to the police and Moyo was arrest.

State Media:A traffic cop shot himself on his left leg when his service pistol accidentally discharged while chasing a fleeing commuter omnibus along Plymouth Road in the Southerton industrial area of the capital last Friday.
The incident occurred near Olivine Industries when the cop and his workmate were on a motorbike in pursuit of the fleeing kombi.
Workers in the industrial area panicked when they heard gunshots as the cops pursued the kombi crew which had fled from a roadblock. Onlookers were shocked to see one of the cops disembarking from the motor bike limping with blood flowing from below the knee.
When state media journalists arrived at the scene, the cop had already been taken to hospital. “The cop was assisted by a man who rushed him to hospital,” said Mr Elias Chishaya, who works at Olivine Industries. “The cop shot himself on the leg and he was badly injured.” Cat-and-mouse battles between the police, kombi and pirate taxi operators have claimed the lives of a number of cops and passengers in recent years.

Zanu-PF Secretary for the Youth Affairs Mr Pupurai Togarepi has said President Mugabe’s 91st birthday celebrations held in Victoria Falls at the weekend were a resounding success and thanked him and the First Family for finding time to celebrate the occasion with the nation.
Mr Togarepi also thanked the President for tackling issues affecting youths during his address to the over 20 000 people who attended the main event on Saturday.
“We would want to thank the President and the First Family for finding time to come and celebrate with us,” he said. “We suggested the date for the celebrations and the President never had any problems and accepted it.
“We also thank him for addressing on various issues affecting youths in his speech, especially on the National Youth Service training programme, that it would be revived and Government was working on it.
“President Mugabe also encouraged youths to be diligent and always be ready to defend their party Zanu-PF and the country and also not to be afraid to name and shame all the corrupt people that are destroying the country. This will strengthen us as we go forward in building our nation.”
Togarepi expressed gratitude to the Zanu-PF Youth League executive for working tirelessly to ensure that all the logistical arrangements were in place for the celebrations.
“I would also like to thank the Youth League executive for working round the clock to ensure that everything was in place and I am happy that all the guests were well fed and that for the first time everyone also managed to get a piece of cake,” Mr Togarepi said.
This year’s 21st Movement Celebrations were held under the theme, “Celebrating the birth of Gushungo, the icon of Zimbabwe’s revolution and champion of youth empowerment” and also coincided with the 29th anniversary of 21st February Movement. -herald

Former Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo says he is embarrassed for President Robert Mugabe for focusing on naked lies and pub talk instead of working to fix the country’s comatose economy to alleviate the suffering of millions of Zimbabweans.
Reacting to Mugabe’s rumbling birthday speech in Victoria Falls on Saturday where the nonagenarian got very personal against his Zanu PF political foes, Gumbo said that as the leader of the country, the president should focus on important national issues than be occupied with “lies that everyone wants to remove him from power illegally”.
The no-nonsense liberation struggle pioneer also told the Daily News that he sometimes feels sorry for Mugabe because the nonagenarian was “behaving strangely” since his wife, Grace, allegedly grabbed power from him.
He further advised Mugabe to “stop making laughable public statements” like the allegation that Mujuru had allegedly consulted Nigerian witchdoctors half-naked to try and topple the 91-year-old from power.
“There are critical issues that we have to talk about like the economy. So, why would a whole head of State dwell on pub talk? “Is it really necessary to do that?
“Should we have a whole head of State talking of such trivial issues as sangomas? Are we being serious as a nation?” Gumbo asked rhetorically.
Gumbo and other senior party bigwigs, including Mujuru, were brutally purged before, during and after Zanu PF’s damp squib “elective” congress that was held in Harare in December last year, on allegations that they wanted to illegally topple and assassinate Mugabe.
However, Gumbo said yesterday that all the allegations that had been raised against him and the others were based on lies.
As such, Gumbo expressed the worry that Mugabe was ruling “basing his decisions on lies created by people he has chosen to be close as opposed to those who were elected by the people and who were with him during the struggle”.
He said this was a strategy Mugabe was using to remain in power, adding that it was a shame that the 91-year-old was doing this “to cling on to power”, in addition to “raising non-existent coup allegations”.
He said the coup allegations themselves were nothing new, as Mugabe had raised such “spurious claims” before and after Zimbabwe’s independence against a number of liberation war icons such as Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa, as well as others that included opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the late Ndabaningi Sithole when they disagreed with him intellectually and politically.
He said, every time Mugabe was cornered over governance issues, he would raise “frivolous coup allegations against his perceived opponents”.
“It’s all lies and it really is ridiculous,” Gumbo said.
He added that it was allegedly “clear” that Mugabe was now taking orders from Grace when making decisions both within Zanu PF and the government.
He said “every single wish” of Grace had come to pass, giving as an example, the fall of Mujuru and the subsequent rise of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to power.
“You can’t run away from the fact that the wife is now in charge. Everything that she has said has materialised.
“Who doesn’t see kuti mudzimai wake ndiye anoita izvozvo (that his wife is behind all this),” Gumbo said.
He said Zanu PF was as a result in “a state of chaos” since the entrance of Grace into the political arena.
Gumbo joins many other prominent figures who have recently said that Grace is now the power behind the throne.
Only a few days after her return from the Far East, where she was receiving treatment following a minor medical operation, former secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa and his nephew Temba Mliswa were expelled from the party.
Many analysts believe the decision to expel the two was dictated by Grace.
However, all the affected people including Gumbo have vowed to soldier on and are in the process of lodging a court application, seeking to nullify decisions made at the party’s disputed December congress.
Mutasa last week formally wrote to the Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda advising him that the Mugabe-led Zanu PF was illegal and as such had no mandate to fire him or anyone else from the party.
He also said he remained the legitimate Zanu PF secretary for administration. – DailyNews

Six people died while 39 were injured when a Trip-Trans bus was involved in an accident near Kushinga Phikelela Polytechnic on the 87km peg along Harare Mutare highway.
According to reliable sources the bus veered off the road and overturned landing on its side killing five on the sport while one died on way to hospital.
Police are yet to confirm the circumstances leading to the accident.
 

A sizeable crowd braved the angry sky to attend the unity marriage between Welshmen Ncube led MDC green and Sekai Holland led MDC orange, amid applause from the roaring crowd that was in mixed green and orange regalia.
Speaking from Stanley Square, Samuel Siphepha Nkomo, current chairman of the MDC renewal led by Sekai Holland, called for a strong united relationship between their supporters and also to work hand in hand for the success of their marriage, which he said was now the only way to force ZANU PF out of power.
“We are now tired of being ruled with a heavy hand, without employment, food on the table and descent living standards. We are gathered here today to unite and become one strong party that will win elections in 2018 come elections. Let’s be one family that will fight the autocratic old leadership of a first lady who move around the whole country shouting abusive words to a suffering nation. How can Grace Mugabe call herself mother of a nation with the guts to speak unprintable words in a national radio and television? This must end during the coming elections in 2018,” said Nkomo.
His sentiments concurred with those of Welshman Ncube and Sekai Holland.
Ncube accused Zanu PF of having selfish tendencies, at the expense of the people, pointing out the party has failed to govern and follow peoples’ wishes.
“We are going to rebuild our once vibrant Zimbabwe which has been torn into pieces by the current greedy leadership of Robert Mugabe and his cronies. The Mugabe regime destroyed every infrastructure, and has been busy squandering resources. They are now fighting for the last bone from the steak they stole from the masses, that’s why they are now at each other’s throat,” said Ncube.
Holland echoed: “Let’s build our industry through voting for the United MDC and get our jobs back. Tsvangirai has reneged on our original plan of freeing the people from the bondage of poverty they were put in by Robert Mugabe. We need healing from the 2008 violence and muggings from ZANU PF and also Gukurahundi issue must be resolved by the government, as it was involved in the death of more than 20 000 innocent people.”
David Coltart who has been MDC green’s secretary for legal affairs applauded the unity between the two, and said that he long waited for this. “I am glad today to see this important day of this very special moment of my life. I was longing for this unity, and God has answered my prayers. I was born in Zimbabwe and I was educated in Zimbabwe, so this is the country where my heart is,” he said amid whistles and ululation from the crowd.

“Robert Mugabe, Emerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko are the crafters of the deadly Gukurahundi that saw the massacre of innocent and unarmed people of Matabeleland for reasons known to themselves,” said Samuel Sipepa Nkomo in his address to the gathering at the Stanley Square for the launch of the merger between MDC renewal and MDC green.
The MDC renewal Chairman came out guns blazing on the man who was celebrating his 91st birthday in Victoria Falls, and what he labelled his accomplices.
“Mphoko is not qualified to be the vice president, as he doesn’t represent the Matabeleland community, who he massacred after reneging from the ZAPU struggle principles, by joining ZANU PF. He also dined with the devil and drafted the slaughtering of his own tribesmen and their families. He must also resign from this post and also desist from calling himself a ZIPPRA cadre because he sold out,” said Nkomo who was spitting venom on the current government setup.
Co-Vice President Mnangagwa is also under fire from the Matabeleland community for his failure to come out in the open and declare Gukurahundi a national disaster that was caused by the government deliberately. “Mnangagwa and Mpoko are just evil and with the blessing of their leader Mugabe are not ashamed of what they did to innocent souls they murdered. They are now at each other’s throat because of these souls they swept under their dirty carpets,” Nkomo said before a cheering crowd.
Welshman Ncube who is the leader of MDC green opened more fire to the already blazing blast furnace by saying, “Why can’t Mugabe and his cronies apologise and do the proper procedure of resigning from suffocating people, by impoverishing them? He is blaming his travel ban to Britain as the cause of our suffering, which in actual fact is not true. Mugabe must just do the honorary thing of resigning, because he has failed Zimbabwe and has brought misery to the people. He has been running down the country for 35 years and never developed anything, other than invading farms and milking the country of its wealth. Factories have been closing since he came to power,” said Ncube.

President Robert Mugabe is plotting to arrest his formerly trusted ally Didymus Mutasa, an investigation has revealed.
The development comes shortly after Mugabe at his 91^st birthday celebrations in Victoria Falls, attacked Mutasa saying the latter’s group currently disgruntled over their ouster, wanted to kill him. Said Mugabe, “We are today saying Gamatox group (Mutasa and friends) wanted to overthrow the President, wanted even to kill him. You will remember that meeting of the youths.”
The plot, according to intelligence sources, involves four named party officials (names provided) who are reportedly working with members of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).
Their work involves constructing evidence from life files stored at the CIO headquarters.
Also in the alleged plot are other members of the secret service said to have infiltrated Mutasa’s so called Gamatox group.
The scheme involves planting incriminating documents in Mutasa’s files, a source said. Some of the incriminating material would also be planted at the offices of senior government officials believed to be still sympathetic to Mutasa and expelled Vice President Joice Mujuru.
A cyclonic raid is now said to be scheduled to take place in the next seven days, the source added.
Meanwhile Mugabe at the weekend went deeper to reveal his said ‘disgust’ of Mutasa.
He said Mutasa is part and parcel of a massive fraud by Mujuru allies.
“They had not prepared for it; they had not bought any food and now we discover lots of money had been given towards congress. Where did it go? Those are the things we are now discovering and once we discover that in fact that money was misused, vanofira mujeri (they will die in prison).”
He continued further alleging criminal diversion of funds,
“..cheating and cheating and cheating and even cheating at high level of members of the politburo who divert funds in order to create their own strength somewhere,” he said,
“Some of the funds were given by Tongat and Hullet through some of the people we expelled, to give the Gamatox group to strengthen their camp. This is what we are now told happened,” Mugabe said.

…….Disturbing pictures of the deceased man who was stabbed by his wife in Chitungwiza have emerged. The murder scene is disturbing and readers of nervous disposition are warned not to view the pictures.
This picture has been released in the public interest to expose corruption because of the manner in which the police have dragged investigations to date despite the insurmountable evidence of first degree manslaughter.
Below is first picture of the Chitungwiza woman who stabbed her husband last week. READ MORE – Woman Stabs Husband to Death|

Below is first picture of the Chitungwiza woman who stabbed her husband last week. READ MORE – Woman Stabs Husband to Death|

READ MORE – Woman Stabs Husband to Death|

Megachurch preacher Uebert Angel Mudzanire’s lawyer Wellington Pasipanodya was on Friday blocked from testifying in the ongoing $300 000 fraud trial of Anderson Tagara.
Pasipanodya was in the hope to testify on Mudzanire’s behalf in the case of a suspected $300 000 scam involving a Bentley continental sedan which Angel has been charged for unjustly enriching himself with the vehicle after promising that it would exponentially multiply miraculously failure which he would return it.
Tagara is accused of being an accessory to the cleric.
Presiding magistrate Noel Mupeiwa ruled that if Pasipanodya testified, it would “breach the privilege of attorney-client confidentiality”.
Pasipanodya was represented by Tinashe Tanyanyiwa when he refused to testify in the current case because it would be in breach of lawyer-client confidentiality. “Seeking legal representation cannot be construed to seeking help to commit a crime otherwise all lawyers could have been imprisoned for their clients’ crimes,” concurred magistrate Mupeiwa.
“Whatever Pasipanodya will say today might be used against him in future,” he said.
Mavuto subsequently closed the State case and the matter will proceed to defence on Monday.
It is the State’s case that Uebert Angel Mudzanire, convinced Harare businessman Mr Ndabazinengi Shava, the director of Faith Age Holdings Zimbabwe, to surrender his Bentley as a way of sowing a seed into his life, but the “man of God” immediately sold the vehicle just after receiving it despite having promised to return it to the Uebert Angel Mudzanire, convinced a Harare businessman to surrender his Bentley as a way of sowing a seed into his life, but the “man of God” immediately sold the vehicle just after receiving it despite having promised to return it to the owner if he failed to reap the promised harvest within the stipulated period, the court heard.
Between May and October 2013, Tagara connived with Angel and signed a fake agreement of sale to the effect that Benjamin Mudzanire had bought the said vehicle from Tagara for $76 000.
Mudzanire went on to deposit the fake documents to Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, police and Central Vehicle Registry who acted upon the misrepresentation and registered the vehicle in Angel’s name.
Tagara was subsequently arrested.
Shava has told the court that Prophet Angel after selling his vehicle to one Phebion, relocated to the United Kingdom and blocked any communication with him. if he failed to reap the promised harvest within the stipulated period. Mr Ndabazinengi Shava, the director of Faith Age Holdings Zimbabwe, has told the court that Prophet Angel after selling his vehicle to one Phebion, relocated to the United Kingdom and blocked any communication with him.

Ministers involved in corruption or caught abusing Government funds will not be spared jail, as they deprive Zimbabweans large benefits, President Mugabe said.
Mugabe said this at the 29th edition of the 21st February Movement which coincided with his 91st birthday celebrations here yesterday.
In remarks directed at officials who allegedly diverted developmental funds from the Ministry of Finance to personal use, the President said society should not tolerate such malcontents.
“Isu tiri kuti basa riripo. Iyi migodhi iyi put yourselves together and Government will help you to get the equipment. We will do our best to help you get the necessary technology, but what do we get?
“You put people together even as they work in parastatals, they begin to steal. Ndozvavanongoda. Wovaisa pamwe chete even mumabanks avanoti vakaita, mari dzevanhu vavakuba.
“Are universities and institutions of learning training thieves?
“Kubira vanhu vavo. Maisa mari dzenyu mumabanks vanotora vakugovana. Iye zvino tiri kutambudzika, takabata vanosevenzera VaChinamasa (Minister of Finance). Mr Chinamasa is struggling to mobilise finances for agriculture or resuscitate our factories.”
He added: “The money is put in banks for distribution, but those under him create fraudulent companies behind Mr Chinamasa’s back. They then direct the government to transfer the money to those companies.
“Ava vekubank varikungoti tirikuita zvirikudiwa neministry. Uyu ndirector arikutiti transfer our money havarambe voisa mari ikoko. Yaenda mari ikoko vakunogovana. Ndovamwe vatakabata musiuno. Ndovamwe chete, ko vamwe vatisati tabata, baba iwe-e?
“So what kind of people should we appoint?
“A director in the Ministry of Finance who must exercise utmost honesty? If you are an accountant you are not taught those skills in order for you to go out and steal and if you are not honest, if you are a liar, then you are anti-revolutionary.
“You are just not a people’s leader or even a good neighbour to the ordinary people. So what people are we if as we are given jobs we try to look for chances of cheating?
“If that job is one which makes you manage some money, finance, you must be absolutely honest.”
The President said there were also indications that funds raised for the 2014 Zanu-PF youth and women’s conferences had been abused.
“We are today saying the ‘Gamatox’ wanted to overthrow the President, wanted even to kill. You remember at the meeting of the youth they had not even prepared for it. They had not bought any food and now we discover that money that had been given towards Congress . . .where did it go?
“Those are some of the things that we are now discovering and once we discover that the money was misused, vanofira mujeri. You are not there to be cheating and cheating and cheating and even cheating at the highest level of the Politburo, vanoita divert funds.”
President Mugabe said Zanu-PF’s former Secretary for Administration Didymus Mutasa failed to answer satisfactorily when he questioned him over how funds for the youth and women’s conferences were handled.
“Ndakati ndiratidzei mari, takaita committee imi (vaMutasa) makange muri mucommitee yefinance, organising for women’s and youth conference and congress. What money did you get? ‘Ahh handina kunyatsoziva bvunzai ngana nangana’, but you were aware, our secretary for administration and for that matter not only secretary for administration but the person in the office of the President in charge of intelligence and security.
“Ndichivanzirwa zvakare ndichivakwa. Ndoyakave intelligence and security iyoyo? Zvino ndakati aiwa ndombozvionera.”-sunday mail

A small house was bashed when she was found in bed with her lover by his wife.
She has now gone to court seeking a protection order to stop further beatings. Sarudzai Mutsi of Lobengula yesterday dragged her lover’s wife, Thokozile Mpala, of the same suburb to court to stop the woman from physically and verbally abusing her.
She made the application after she was found nude under the sheets after her best friend tipped Mpala about her husband’s extra marital affair. Mutsi told Bulawayo magistrate Evelyn Mashavakure that she had dated Mpala’s husband unaware that he was a married man.
She added that after she discovered that he was cheating on his wife, she ended the relationship.
“Your worship, I ended the relationship with Mpala’s husband but she keeps coming to my residence threatening to beat me up. Two weeks back she arrived with an iron bar intending to assault me but I ran away,” said Mutsi.
“I ‘m applying for a protection order so that she will be barred from physically, verbally abusing me and coming to my residence.” She said Mpala even pounced on her recently and assaulted her on the shoulder.
Mashavakure granted her the protection order and told both parties to maintain peace with each other and cautioned them against going to each other’s residences. Mpala said Mutsi was aware that she was committing adultery when she pounced on her.
“Your worship, Mutsi’s best friend is the one who told me about my husband’s affair with her and when I got the address I went to her house. I was traumatised when I found my husband naked in her blankets and I left them without a word,” said Mpala.
“I went back to the residence three hours later and my husband had disappeared. I confronted Mutsi and asked her why she dated my husband yet knowing he was married to me but she sneered at me. We started fighting because she said they had been having the affair for seven years and she even got pregnant and aborted.”
She told the court that Mutsi was lying that she had ended the relationship with her husband as she still communicates with him. Chronicle

The process of auditing the civil service salary bill by the government is underway as part of an initiative to find strategies on how to reduce it, Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Prisca Mupfumira has said.Minister Mupfumira said the government continued to face financial challenges, forcing it to revisit the civil service wage bill, which is taking 80 percent of the national budget.
“My ministry, together with the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Commission (PSC) will on Monday start discussing how we can reduce the salary bill. We’re still working on an audit of the civil service wage bill and this should be able to help us in mapping the way forward.
The government is facing serious financial challenges and it’s not a secret. We’ve to revisit the size of the civil servants’ salary bill, which is taking 80 percent of the budget.” said Minister Mupfumira
While on a tour of Bulawayo’s social security facilities on Thursday, the minister said negotiations with civil servants over salaries will continue, as the government strives for a win-win situation.
“Negotiations with the Apex Council will continue. We’ve just started revamping the Tripartite Negotiating Forum as well as the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) as we try to improve relations between the government and the workers.
This is witnessed by the selection of the new chairman of the negotiating forum and the alternate chairperson. Negotiations will therefore start soon and I hope that communication will improve between government and the workers.” she said.
The minister said so far she has held meetings with representatives from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU) to get their position on the issue of salaries.
Minister Mupfumira said the government was sticking to its promise to provide non-monetary benefits, which include houses to all the country’s civil servants.
“The government still remains committed to improving the welfare of its workers. I’m happy that we managed to pay the 2014 bonus despite the existing challenges. We’re conscious of our workers’ welfare and we want people to be paid accordingly.” said the minister.
Last week, she ruled out the possibility of a salary increase, saying there was little productivity in the economy to justify higher pay.
In his Monetary Policy Statement recently, Reserve Bank Governor, John Mangudya called for a salary freeze this year saying the country’s economy cannot sustain any increases.
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) boss Commissioner General Gershom Pasi also called for a wage cut for government employees, arguing that the state erred when it made the initial salary adjustments after the adoption of multi-currencies in 2009.
He said the figures were “artificially high” to be sustained by the struggling economy.
The ZCTU has, however rejected the proposal and alleged that there was a conspiracy among top government officials to trample on workers’ rights.-chronicle

United MDC yesterday poured cold water on the possibility of joining hands with the disgruntled ZANU PF members and also closed doors for their former boss Tsvangirai.

Addressing journalists in Bulawayo during a press conference yesterday, the two formations of MDC renewal, led by Sekai Holland and the other led by Welshman Ncube cleared the air on speculation of a possible coalition with the expelled Gamatox members of the disgruntled former vice President Joyce Mujuru’s camp.

MDC spokesperson, Nhlanhla Bahlangene Dube said, “We are not going to join hands with corrupt people, whose corruption level was exposed by their own party which they served for 35 years. We are democrats with the aim of uniting to revive the fortunes of the onetime bread basket of Africa, now turned into a poverty bin. Zimbabwe is a rich country with all mineral resources, but lacks professional administration and implementation of policies,” he said.

His sentiments were echoed by those of MDC renewal’s deputy information secretary, Mrs Dewa. “We are not going to join hands with a rubbish system bent on abusing fellow citizens. We want to be practical and serve our Zimbabwe from total collapse,” she added.

The joint presser which was addressed by the two formations that broke away from the Tsvangirai led MDC in 2005 and 2014 respectively, vowed to bring sanity to Zimbabweans and will be officially launching their unity at Stanley Square in Bulawayo on the 1^st of March this year.

The United MDC also told journalists in Bulawayo yesterday that they can only accept individuals who will join them as per their principles of democracy free from corruption and nepotism.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has given interested people 14 days to object the nomination of Zanu-PF member Mr Tongesayi Shadreck Chipanga as Senator for Manicaland.
Mr Chipanga was nominated to fill the vacancy in the Senate following the death of national hero and Senator Mr Kumbirai Manyika Kangai.
In a notice in the Government gazette published on February 23, ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau said people with objections should approach the commission.
“It is hereby notified in terms of section 39 (6) of the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:3) that Zimbabwe African Union Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) party has nominated Tongesayi Shadreck Chipanga, a registered voter in ward 8 of Makoni District, residing at Mukonyora Farm, Rusape, Manicaland, to fill the vacancy in the Senate that occurred following the death of Kumbirai Manyika Kangai,” she said.
“Any voter wishing to object to the nomination of Tongesayi Shadreck Chipanga may, within a period of 14 days from the date of publication of this notice, lodge a written objection with the Commission setting forth the reasons for the objection.”
Mr Chipanga was nominated for the senatorial after former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono failed to make it because he was not a registered voter in Manicaland province.
Zanu-PF Manicaland province had recommended Dr Gono’s appointment to fill the seat left vacant following the death of Mr Kangai in August last year.
The recommendation was endorsed by the Politburo.
Dr Gono was eventually disqualified because he had not been registered in any ward in Manicaland province as a voter.
An attempt by Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede to transfer Dr Gono from his ward in Harare in December last year to Manicaland was deemed constitutionally unsustainable since he no longer had such powers.
According to ZEC, Dr Gono could not be registered or transferred as a voter to Manicaland since the voters roll had been closed on July 10 for the July 31, 2013 harmonised elections and any power to register or transfer voters became the preserve of the electoral body after that date.-herald

Jabulani Sibanda,former war veterans leader who is accused of insulting President Mugabe, yesterday was given a longer remand period pending determination of his application at the Constitutional Court.He appeared before magistrate Mr Milton Serima his routine remand.
Initially,Sibanda on his first appearance, through his lawyer Mr Sobusa Gula-Ndebele — successfully applied to have the case referred to the Constitutional Court after raising constitutional grounds.
Mr Gula-Ndebele insisted that the charge was ultra-vires Sibanda’s constitutional right to freedom of thought, opinion, religion and belief among others.
He was, however, given a longer remand period to May 29 after the State, led by Miss Sharon Mashavira, told the court that they were still waiting for the outcome of his application at the Constitutional Court.
Sibanda successfully made an application for relaxation of his bail conditions particularly reporting conditions from reporting once a week to reporting once a fortnight.
Sibanda is being accused of contravening section 33 (2) (b) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.
It is alleged that on October 27 last year at Herbert Mine in Mutasa — Sibanda addressed an illegal gathering of war veterans at a mine shaft.
The gathering was for the reburial of exhumed liberation war fighters’ bodies, despite the reburial being rescheduled to a later date by the Minister of Home Affairs Cde Kembo Mohadi.
Sibanda allegedly delivered a lengthy speech and said President Mugabe and his wife were plotting a “bedroom coup” to remove Vice President Joice Mujuru and replace her with First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe.
He said she was not prepared for that and that power was “not sexually transmitted”.-herald

A FIGHT has erupted in the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC-T after the party treasurer Theresa Makone reportedly failed to account for US$500 000 disbursed to the party by government in October last year under the Political Parties Finance Act, the Zimbabwe Independent has learnt.
Sources in the MDC-T said this week the US$500 000 issue became contentious at the party’s retreat from Friday to Sunday last week where the National Executive met to strategise the way forward for the party.
“Top of the agenda was the issue of the money, then the Veterans’ Association (MDCVA) which some members wanted disbanded, as well as strategies for the party’s survival ahead of the 2018 elections,” said a close source.
“Party officials spent much of their time discussing the money which the treasurer (Theresa Makone) failed to account for and this resulted in accusations and counter-accusations as fingers were pointed at each other, especially on those alleged to have benefitted from it illegally.”
In October last year, government disbursed US$500 000 from the Political Fund Act to the MDC-T following the 2013 general elections. The funds were shared between Tsvangirai’s MDC-T and the break-away MDC Renewal led by former secretary general Tendai Biti. However, sources in the MDC-T said the national executive wanted to know how the funds were used by the party treasury and that some senior officials (names withheld) were given large sums of money which they converted to their own use.
“Makone failed to account how the funds were used and some officials are said to have been paid for services they did not render to the party,” the source said. In the same meeting MDC-T vice-president Thokozani Khupe reportedly accused Tsvangirai of trying to stir party activities through the MDCVA — formed in 2008 to address social welfare issues of victims of political violence. This came after Tsvangirai donated to flood victims recently in the company of some members of the association instead of the party leadership.
“Khupe and her group are of the opinion that Tsvangirai is now using the association to gain mileage as well as to get their support yet in the past he neglected them,” said the source. In an interview this week, MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu confirmed the retreat took place last weekend.
“The MDC national executive retreat was held in Harare from Friday, February 20 until Sunday, February 22, 2015. It was a highly successful retreat that culminated in the adoption of a roadmap to the next elections,” Gutu said.
“The party deliberated on and then adopted realistic, achievable and measurable objectives. For instance, 2015 has been themed The Year of Planning.
This is the year during which the party will plan its strategies and programmes. And 2016 has been themed The Year of Building. This is the year in which the party will galvanise and strengthen its various organs and structures.”
“After that 2017 has been themed The Year of Party Power. This is the year in which the party will sharpen its various organs and tools as it prepares to take over power and form the next government. Finally, 2018 has been themed Gore rekutonga. This is the year in which the suffering, oppressed and downtrodden people of Zimbabwe will ultimately reclaim their power.”-Independent

SUNDAY Mail editor Edmund Kudzayi and his brother Phillip yesterday made a fourth bid for freedom arguing that the State was infringing on their constitutional right to be tried within a reasonable time.

Edmund and Philip, who are accused of being the main characters behind the shadowy Facebook blog Baba Jukwa, are facing charges of attempting to subvert a constitutionally-elected Government and undermining the authority of the President.
The brothers, through their lawyer Mr Admire Rubaya, accused the State of always postponing the matter under the guise of conducting extra territorial investigations.
Prosecutor Miss Sharon Mashavira sought a further postponement of the matter to March 30 on the basis that there were some extra territorial investigations that were yet to be conducted.
However, Mr Rubaya objected to the postponement of the matter and made an application for further remand refusal. He said the State would not suffer any prejudice if they are made to proceed by a way of summons.
“The State’s indication that there are extra territorial investigations yet to be done is a tired submission. “Your Worship, you will note from the record that they have been proffering the same reason since last year when we started making these applications,” he said.
He added; “The State is alleging that they have applied for mutual legal assistance from the United States of America, but it is not a secret that USA and Zimbabwe’s relations are frosty. I would want to live to see that response, probably the State will get the response when we are all gone.”
He argued that the State was not doing anything rather than trampling on the accused persons’ right to be tried within a reasonable period. Magistrate Mr Milton Serima, will pass his ruling on Monday next week.
It is the State’s case that sometime in April 2013, Edmund hatched a plan with Philip to overthrow the Government through unconstitutional means. It is alleged he created a Gmail account, [email protected], using a mobile phone line registered in Philip’s name, but used by Edmund.
The two allegedly formed two separate groups called the Gunda Nleya Brigade and the Zimbabwe Revolutionary Army with the purposes of overthrowing the Government.
Edmund allegedly posted articles on the Baba Jukwa Facebook page, which encouraged rebellion against Government if the July 31, 2013 general election “were stolen”.

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has admitted “disastrous” failures in the country’s controversial land reform program meant to transform thousands of blacks into master farmers.
“I think the farms we gave to people are too large. They can’t manage them,” the 91-year-old leader said in unusually candid comments. “You find that most of them are just using one third of the land,” he said.
In the past he has tended to blame poor agricultural productivity on the weather and Western sanctions. The seizure of land from white farmers is seen as a key factor in Zimbabwe’s economic collapse since 2000.
The BBC’s Brian Hungwe in the capital, Harare, says it is not the first time President Mugabe has criticised new black farmers – but his comments are surprisingly frank.
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They point to continuous problems in accounting for low production levels and the under-utilisation of farms, which reflect badly thought-out land policies, he says.
Mr Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, was interviewed on the state broadcaster ZBC to mark his 91st birthday, which he celebrated last weekend.
He said he wanted to encourage farmers to go into wheat farming, and blamed low productivity on the new commercial farmers for failing to utilise all their land.
“You find that most of them are just using one third of the land,” Zimbabwe’s state-owned Herald newspaper quotes him as saying.
In the interview, he also denied pushing his wife Grace to enter politics.
Last year, she became head of the women’s league and in the ruling Zanu-PF party, and embarked on a nationwide tour, in which she denounced party rivals.

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday stood against President Robert Mugabe when he told western diplomats that Zimbabwe wished to re-engage with the West after more than a decade of isolation which he said had cost the country 15 years of under-development.
President Mugabe has consistently said that the country does not need the “evil West”.
The aged leader has vociferously attacked the West for years to date saying Zimbabwe can do it without what he calls “imperialists”
However yesterday Mnangagwa made the first public opposite when he spoke under the support by Water minister Savior Kasukuwere, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa and the minister of Local government Ignatius Chombo.
Speaking at Queens Hall in Mutare, at the commissioning of a Zimfund sewage rehabilitation project and the completion of a 10 million metric litre water tank to supply more than 100 000 people with water, Mnangagwa, said it was time for Zimbabwe to bury the hatchet and fully rejoin the international community.
“We wish to bury the past and walk into the future with our co-operating partners. We cannot continue to remain isolated.
“We wish to engage the international community and to be part and parcel of the forward moving members of the international community,” Mnangagwa (pictured) said to a loud applause.
Zimfund is a multi-donor trust fund launched in 2009 in the face of a debilitating cholera epidemic that erupted on poor water and sanitation service.
The fund enjoys financial support from the United Kingdom, Australia, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Germany through the African Development Bank (AfDB).
All the representatives of the donor countries were present at yesterday’s well-attended function.
Mnangagwa’s views yesterday also appeared to mark a significant departure from the government’s Look East policy in the face of criticism from Zimbabweans who have not seen any tangible benefits from the controversial outlook of the past 15 years.
The VP said the country had suffered between 14 and 15 years of stagnation in its stand-off with the West following Zimbabwe’s much-criticised fast track land reform programme.
“We have lost not less than 14 to 15 years of stagnation in this country,” the VP said.
Speaking at the same function, Chinamasa, who is Zimfund’s co-chairperson, concurred with Mnangagwa on the urgent need to re-engage the West, noting that the country had lost 20 years of development, in the face of its chaotic land redistribution programme.
“We need to catch up 20 years because of problems we faced in addressing the land question,” Chinamasa said, adding that the government welcomed the continued channelling of developmental aid through AfDB from countries still averse to directly funding Zimbabwe.
He said given the country’s current economic challenges, the government was “unable to meet its service delivery obligations from our budget” and would appreciate a continuation of the aid through the bank.
“The funds have been well managed,” Chinamasa assured the gathered dignitaries.
He said the support that the government got from the seven western countries was benefitting six urban councils — Mutare, Harare, Masvingo, Chegutu, Chitungwiza, Gweru and Kwekwe — which had to date received $140 million worth of aid.
Not to be outdone, Kasukuwere unexpectedly asked the gathered crowd to give a round of applause for the United Kingdom in particular, as the senior Zanu PF officials moved to show their appreciation for donor aid.
The Water minister said the next phase of the programme was going to incorporate Ruwa and Redcliff due to their proximity to Harare and Kwekwe respectively.
He implored Mutare City Council not to allow the infrastructure to dilapidate again going forward.
Head of AfDB in Zimbabwe, Mathius Magala, said the project which was proposed to the bank by the donor countries in the face of the devastating cholera epidemic of 2008, which killed about 4 000 people, had also recently approved a $104 million fund for this year.
Magala said the funding would cover basic infrastructure rehabilitation, public and private sector development, gender mainstreaming, debt management programmes and support to parliamentarians among other things.
Meanwhile, Chombo announced that he had donated a stand for AfDB to construct its head office in Harare “on condition construction begins this year”.
Chinamasa had earlier in the meeting indicated that the bank had made a request for a stand through his office.
In announcing the donation, Chombo said the decision had been okayed by Mnangagwa. (DailyNews; Additional Reporting)

A Woman stabbed her husband to death last night.
The incident occurred just after midnight and crowds are currently swamping the couple’s residence which is in Unit L, Seke.
The house is located behind Seke 3 High School.

The suspect is now facing police custody and a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Police also said 3 adults and three children live at the residence.
Meanwhile witnesses said the three children were inside the house during the stabbing but they were not injured. More to follow as events unravel.
 

PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE has spoken for the first time since his fall at the airport earlier in the month following his return from Ethiopia. He admitted falling several times confirming social network rumours of his failing health.
STATE MEDIA REPORT: President Robert Mugabe yesterday said his recent fall at the Harare International Airport was not surprising since falling occurs on several occasions and challenged anyone who has not fallen in their lives.
Speaking on the fall which happened when he was returning from the African Union summit held in Ethiopia early this month, President Mugabe said it was nothing unusual and people should not read much into it.
President Mugabe said this in an interview with ZBC’s “Reflections at 91” that will be broadcast on ZTV1 today.
“It was just a slight fall, just missing the step,” he said. “I have fallen many times in the house, you have a carpet that is misplaced or you hit against something, the corner of a table and you tumble. Haven’t you fallen down yourself?
“I would like to see a person who has not fallen down because they don’t live in this world. So, I don’t see the reason why anyone should be surprised that the President has fallen.
“Anyway, it wasn’t a dangerous fall, but just a slight fall, just missing a step.”
President Mugabe tripped over a poorly laid-out carpet, but remarkably managed to break the fall before walking to his car, evidently unscathed.
The African Union chairman had just addressed thousands of jubilant party supporters who gathered to welcome him and celebrate his election as AU chairman.
After speaking off the cuff for slightly over 43 minutes following a four-hour flight from Addis Ababa where he spent a busy week chairing AU plenary meetings in addition to meeting African leaders, President Mugabe turned to leave the podium and was walking down a flight of steps when he tripped over.
Remarkably, the President broke the fall and landed on his knees and aides helped him to his feet before he walked to his car.
The incident attracted excited headlines around the world, with many linking it to his age and alleged poor health.
Ironically, just seconds earlier, the President had admonished the media for making issues out of non-issues.

A house maid who assaulted a 10-month-old baby until he bled from the nose as punishment for attempting to go outside has been told she faces jail. Vimbai Machokoto, 20, pleaded guilty to child abuse before a Kwekwe magistrate yesterday and will be sentenced on March 3.
Kwekwe resident magistrate Taurai Manwere is weighing a custodial sentence for Machokoto, who was employed by Gertrude Mugore, the wife of a police officer based at ZRP Camp Silobela.
Machokoto, asked by the magistrate why she abused the toddler, said she assaulted the baby to stop him from going outside the house.
“He wanted to go out of the house to play but I’d been instructed by his mother not to let him go out since there was an inspection in the police camp,” said Machokoto.
“So I beat him up because if he had gone outside he was going to soil the veranda and the yard which I’d cleaned.”
A visibly shocked Manwere asked the maid if she was “normal” to assault a 10-month-old baby over such a trivial matter.
Fortunate Mbizvo, prosecuting, told the court that on Tuesday this week, at a house in ZRP Camp Silobela, Machokoto was left with the baby by her employers.
When Mugore returned home around 1PM, she was told that her son was asleep.
“Mugore then waited for her son to wake up as she normally finds him asleep,” said Mbizvo.
At around 2PM, Mugore became suspicious why the child was still asleep and went to investigate.
She opened the blanket that was covering her son’s face and discovered that he was swollen and blood was coming out of his nose. “Mugore questioned Machokoto about what had happened to her son and she lied that he had fallen,” the prosecutor said.
Mbizvo said Mugore took her son to the police where it was observed that he had been beaten, leading to Machokoto’s arrest and the baby was taken to hospital.
In an interview outside the court, Mugore advised parents and guardians to carefully select their maids.
She said Machokoto’s conviction was not going to remove the scars left on her son.
“I didn’t think that it could happen in my own home. I saw a video clip of a housemaid from Uganda abusing a child and I never thought that it could happen to my child. I’m so depressed,” she said.
In December last year, a Ugandan maid was sentenced to four years in jail for assaulting a toddler, in a case which sparked outrage across the world after a video of the incident was released.
Jolly Tumuhiirwe, 22, was filmed by CCTV beating, kicking and stamping on the 18-month-old child.-chronicle

Plans to construct a tollgate between the city centre and the Harare International Airport are underway to raise more funds for road rehabilitation and construction.The Zimbabwe National Road Administration collects about $3 million monthly from tollgates, a figure that it argues is not enough for road infrastructure construction and rehabilitation.
Officially opening the Aviation Ground Services’ new cargo warehouse at Harare International Airport on Wednesday, Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Dr Obert Mpofu said infrastructure was one of the key areas of focus under the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio Economic Transformation blueprint.
“My ministry is working tirelessly to put together sound infrastructure in the form of roads and airports and has immediate plans for the expansion of Harare International Airport to become a regional hub,” he said.
“That is also the reason why we want to put a toll plaza between Harare town and Harare International Airport. If Zimra (Zimbabwe Revenue Authority) is doing it, why can’t we do it?”
The ministry is also working on a programme to introduce more toll points on our highways, which are not being tolled and most of these roads are primary roads like Chivhu-Nyazura, Rusape-Nyanga and Bindura-Mt Darwin.
Government embarked on a massive road infrastructure development programme by courting foreign investors to work on the projects under a build operate and transfer basis.
Dr Mpofu urged private organisations to complement Government efforts.
He said he was grateful to AGS for the structural development at Harare International Airport.
“Infrastructure is a key enabler of trade and economic integration as it enables commercial activities,” said Dr Mpofu.
“In that view, it is my greatest appreciation to see this kind of development that AGS has done, that complements Government efforts in turning around our aviation industry and I also believe that it’s not only going to end here, but will spread to other airports.”-herald

Zanu-PF will stop at nothing in firing errant Members of Parliament as the party is ready and on solid ground to win any by-election, national political commissar Mr Saviour Kasukuwere has said. Kasukuwere told The Herald recently that the revolutionary party would not be blackmailed by people who think that if certain legislators were fired from the party, then the party would lose those seats.
This comes amid ‘misguided and unsubstantiated’ claims that people in Hurungwe West, whose representative in the National Assembly Temba Mliswa was fired from the party last week, were fully behind him.
He was sent packing on an array of charges ranging from insubordination, extortionist behaviour, denigrating party leadership and disruption of party meetings.
Also expelled was Headlands legislator Mr Didymus Mutasa, who was also Zanu-PF former secretary for administration. Their expulsion rendered their seats vacant and by-elections would be conducted in the two constituencies.
Mr Kasukuwere said the party was not afraid of by-elections and as such would not entertain unruly and defiant members.
“We do not accept arrogance in the party. We will not be blackmailed by people who say if you remove so and so in our constituency we will dump the party or we will not vote for the party.
We cannot have the party image damaged like that. We will continue to defend our territory and we will win any election that come our way.” he said.
Mr Kasukuwere said disciplinary proceedings would be instituted against anyone who violated the party constitution regardless of position.
“We have disciplinary channels that are followed to clean the party of any rot,” he said.
“If we keep undisciplined and unrepentant cadres in the party then we are doomed for disaster. We want a leadership that instills discipline and thus to say we are not going to hesitate to remove anyone who thinks that it is his or her right to misbehave.”
Mr Mliswa was the first provincial chairman to receive a no-confidence vote in the run up to the 6th National People’s Congress for aligning himself with former Vice President Joice Mujuru faction that was plotting to unseat President Mugabe. He remained remorseless and disrupted two Zanu-PF meetings in Chinhoyi and Karoi in the past three weeks.
Mr Mutasa was part of the same small group and has threatened to take Zanu-PF to court, challenging the outcome of last year’s December Congress which left him in the cold.
He dismally lost Central Committee elections in his Makoni Central district and subsequently failed to make it into the Politburo.
In dismissing him, the Politburo described him as unrepentant as he continued issuing statements that denigrated the party and its leadership.-herald

A jilted man allegedly took explosives to his ex-wife’s work place in a bid to blow her up, the Harare Civil Court heard on Tuesday.
Tariro Unganai told the court that Wilson Ngezi was in the habit of threatening her with death each time they met.Unganai was seeking a protection order against Ngezi whom she said was breaching her peace.
“He was once arrested and jailed after he came to my work place with some explosives, which he uses at a mine threatening to kill me,” she said. Unganai told magistrate Ms Ruth Kamangira that Ngezi was in the habit of coming to her work place causing violence.
“I am now scared of going to my work place because each time he comes he verbally abuses me in front of my workmates. I want him barred from coming to my work place because he is embarrassing me,” said Unganai.
She claimed Ngezi was in the habit of coming to her house where he verbally insulted her in front of neighbours. “My life is in danger because each time he calls me he will be threatening to kill me,” she said.
Unganai pleaded with Ms Kamangira to bar Ngezi from coming to her house and to stop calling her or texting her. Ngezi told the court that he was not opposed to Unganai’s application.
“I am not opposed to her application you can go ahead and grant her,” he said.
Ms Kamangira granted the order in Unganai’s favour which barred Ngezi from verbally or physically abusing her.
She also ordered Ngezi to keep peace towards Unganai at all times. – State Media

Controversial break dancer the aged Shuvai Mahofa, crept into power on Friday.
President Robert Mugabe swore Mahofa in at a ceremony held at State House today. First to be sworn in was Shuvai Mahofa who becomes the Minister of State for Masvingo Province, taking over from Kudakwashe Bhasikiti who was fired from government last week.
Second to take the oath of office was Cde Monica Mutsvangwa who becomes the Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services.
Mutsvangwa takes over from Supa Mandiwanzira who was recently promoted to be Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services.
Mutsvangwa is not new to government as at the end of the inclusive government she was appointed Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, replacing Tracy Mutinhiri who had joined MDC-T. – State Media

A 38-year-old man allegedly thrashed his wife with a belt on Valentine’s Day resulting in her death four days later, a magistrate heard.
Victoria Falls magistrate Sharon Rosemani heard this when Collen Munkuli of Aerodrome appeared in court recently charged with murder.
Munkuli was remanded in custody to March 6, as investigations are still in progress.
It is yet to be established why Munkuli assaulted his wife Samantha Mpala who died at Victoria Falls General Hospital four days later.
Prosecuting, Takunda Ndovorwi said Munkuli assaulted Mpala with a belt all over the body and failed to take her to hospital until her condition deteriorated.
“On February 14 the accused was at home with his wife when he assaulted her with a belt all over the body,” said the prosecutor.
“Mpala sustained a cut on the right eye and bruises on the hands.
“She also sustained stomach side pains and had difficulty in breathing and the accused did not bother to take her to hospital until her condition deteriorated on February 17,” Ndovorwi said.
Mpala was rushed to Victoria Falls General Hospital where she was admitted but died the following morning due to the injuries she sustained as a result of the attack, the court was told.
Munkuli was arrested on Thursday last week.

Statement from Gwanda Residents Association on the water and housing crisis in the town
On Saturday 21 February 2015, the Municipality of Gwanda invited residents to a public meeting purportedly to discuss the water crisis faced by the town for the last 18 months.
We would like to start by thanking the few residents who saw it prudent that they attend this meeting and like to urge all the residents of the town to attend any such future meetings as they are for the good of the residents and the development of the town. We would also like to thank Council for convening the meeting as this is a step in the right direction towards collective governance of our town well in line with Chapter 14 of our new constitution. We would also like to applaud the residents who contributed to the deliberations and expressed their concerns in the most constructive and progressive way possible.
However, as Residents Representation, we noted a few concerns from both the process and outcome of the meeting.
Firstly, the meeting due to the nature of its call was highly expected to come out with a progressive way forward and lasting solution to address the water pandemic in the town but sadly no feasible way forward or solution was achieved from the meeting.
Over the years, it has been common knowledge spread by council itself, that the town was faced with a water crisis as a result of strained relations between council and ZINWA with ZINWA identified as the main culprit in that regard. It was therefore a shocker to the residents when the Mayor came out to absolve ZINWA of the blame for the water crisis and instead throwing the blame at the residents and the Water Affairs parent Ministry.
The sudden turn of the tide suggests that the town is in the crisis because the general residents are not paying their water bills, which makes it difficult for ZINWA to provide adequate water to the town. The Association has however, ably established contrary to Council position, that the general residents of the town despite the huge unemployment and harsh economic conditions they are faced with, are indeed battling through and paying the bulk of their dues. It is fact that 90% of the council debt on water and other services is not due from the general residents but from the various government departments and the commercial sector. We view the sudden accusation of the residents as the main culprits in the debt owed to ZINWA as nothing but an unfortunate scapegoat excuse by council to throw the blame on the weaker and most vulnerable of the parties involved in the problem.
Rightfully so, the meeting was advised as has been the case over the years, that the ultimate solution to the water problem is to have ZINWA hand over the water treatment plant to Council. Difficult as it may be to understand, Council advised residents that this pertinent move is being delayed by the Minister responsible for water supplies Hon Saviour Kasukuwere. The residents were made to believe that the Honourable Minister rejected a recommendation he found in place that Gwanda was ready and capable to run the water treatment plant from ZINWA saying that he would like to make his own research and findings. This has left us as residents confused as to how a government recently elected on the basis of a pro poor manifesto can in the same regard turn around and allow a situation which exposes the poor to the difficulties that the generality of the residency of Gwanda are going through.
The Association has as an immediate way forward added to its 2015 strategic plan the “Pay your bills” campaign which will be delivered to the residents to encourage ALL residents to work towards payment of their bills so that we have a better standing in engaging council. The Association will further extend this exercise to tackle head on all the government departments and commercial undertakings which are not settling their bills with council to make sure that council has funds to provide us with the much needed services.
Further to that we would like to state it to council that the settlement of civic dues is retrospect to value for the money paid. It is unfortunate that where as council wants to make the residents believe that services can only be improved or provided if residents pay, we the residents stand at a point where we say we cannot pay for a service which is not being provided. 
 We would like to categorically state that while we go out to settle our bills with council particularly the water bills, we will not be under any obligation to pay for non available services like public lighting or poor refuse collection until council has proven to us serious commitment towards providing those services.
The Association has also taken a stance that with immediate effect we will be approaching directly the Minister response for Water Affairs Hon Kasukuwere to seek his side of the accusation that his office is responsible for the delay in ZINWA handing over the water treatment plant to Council thereby ensuring reliable provision of water to the people of Gwanda. We will seek to understand how and why, if true, the Minister rejected a report made by engineers seconded to assess the preparedness of Gwanda to run its water affairs by the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe. As far as we are advised the report was made by engineers from all the other major cities in the country that are already administering their own water affairs and approved by the last Minister in charge for Water Affairs Hon Samuel Siphepha Nkomo. We were further advised that ZINWA and Council were already in the process of finalising the handover of the plant only to be stalled by the Minister’s directive, of which we need clarity on.
Secondly, it is with great regret that Council reported in the meeting that a resolution has been passed at Council that in the process of building new houses under the Jahunda Redevelopment Program, residents occupying the old One Room houses due for demolition will be housed in council storerooms at MaNkomo Beer Garden. This arrangement besides being very unfortunate is the most absurd arrangement that can be expected from a council in this day and age.
The current phase of the Jahunda Redevelopment Program is nothing new. The process has been ongoing for years now and no such absurd move has ever been hinted before. The process has always been clear that new houses are built and people moved into the new houses before their old ones are demolished. It is disappointing that council does report having completed several new housing units under the program and instead of moving families resident in the units due for demolition, council prefers to bring in new occupants to the completed houses and see it fit to house people in a beer hall. What is further disturbing is that, the people that are earmarked to go and reside in the beer hall are mostly very old people most of whom are taking care of orphans and the sick. These people are expected to expose young children to the ills of drunkards and all sorts of mongers who patron the town’s largest beer hall.
The Association views this move as yet again another move by council to take advantage of the poorest of our community and most vulnerable who they put under their mercy knowing they will not be able to resist the move especially enticed with prospect of eventually living in a new house. We would like to advise council and all concerned, that the Residents Association will not take this move lying down and will go flat out to make the residents aware that they deserve better than the treatment council is exposing them to. The Association will without prejudice make sure that this very absurd move by council does not come to fruition.
Inserted by Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo Spokesperson of the Gwanda Residents Association. Gwanda Residents Association can be reached at [email protected] or via Facebook.

Birthwell Sibanda, a notoriuos thug known as an ‘Underwear Robber’ because of stealing his victims’ clothes then forcing them to walk naked has been sentenced for 25-years in prison. Sibanda 22 of Pumula South in Bulawayo,also faces murder charges.
He has also been charged with three counts of rape, but these were dropped after the magistrate ruled that the evidence against him was insufficient.
Appearing before a Bulawayo magistrate yesterday, Sibanda pleaded guilty to 10 counts of armed robbery and was jailed for 35 years,of which 10 were suspended conditionally.
Senior regional magistrate Trynos Utahwashe told Sibanda: “You’re a youthful first offender who didn’t waste the courts time and you should be rewarded for that.
You’re sentenced to a total of 35 years imprisonment of which 10 years will be suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.”
He said Sibanda humiliated his victims in committing the crimes with two accomplices who are still at large. Most victims, the court heard, were robbed of their clothing, including underwears, and then made to walk away stark naked.
Testifying, one of the victims, a woman, told the court that Sibanda with two other men gang-raped her on March 27.
She said Sibanda and his accomplices ambushed a taxi that she had hired with her friends at about 2AM in Old Pumula.
The court heard Sibanda’s vehicle blocked the taxi as the woman and her friends were disembarking.
“Three men came out armed with knives, one stuck a knife to my neck and the other stuck a knife onto the driver’s neck. They asked us to surrender our belongings threatening to kill us,” she said.
“I tried to run away but one of them caught me and dragged me into the car. They took turns rape me from behind and it was only Sibanda who raped me with a condom.
“They then talked about pouring petrol on my body and setting me alight. I begged them to let me go and they decided not to kill me.”
Prosecuting Robin Mukura told the court that on March 20 last year, Sibanda also pounced on Obert Mabaya who was in the company of his girlfriend.
The couple was in their Nissan Sunny car which was parked at a secluded spot in the Hyde Park area of Pumula.
The court heard Sibanda pulled out a knife and threatened to kill them.
He took a Nokia 5230 cellphone, $20, a black wallet belonging to Mabaya and $3 from his girlfriend,
Using the same method, Sibanda robbed Eliah Zvimba and took away a Compaq laptop, charger, satchel, I-pad, LG and Samsung cellphones as well as $35 at knifepoint.
On March 26, at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in New Lobengula, Sibanda robbed Zephaniah Mlawuzi of his Mazda Demio vehicle, two cellphones and $60 at knifepoint. He thereafter ordered Mlawuzi to undress and told him to walk away naked.
On March 27, Sibanda stole from three different people. He took away five cellphones, a laptop, R600, $15 and car keys from Raymond Shonhiwa, Ngonidzashe Kangani and a woman he allegedly raped before robbing her.
He allegedly raped the woman in a bushy area between Old Pumula and Robert Sinyoka.
On April 24, Sibanda met Movias Ngwenya who was driving a Nissan Caravan vehicle. He robbed him of the vehicle, two Samsung cellphones, $22 and R30, his shorts and underwear. He told him to go home naked.
Ngwenya made a report at Luveve Police Station and the vehicle was later recovered. On the same day, Sibanda robbed Leviticus Jambawa of his Honda Ballade motor vehicle, a G-Tel cellphone, and $30 and took his clothes leaving him naked in Njube.
Sibanda denied raping his victims, and was acquitted owing to weak evidence.
Sibanda and two accomplices, Webster Ndlovu, 26, of Mabusela Flats and Thabani Lunga, 27, of Mpopoma will stand trial for allegedly killing two lovers and dumping their bodies in a trench in Nkulumane last year.
Sibanda, a single father of two, reportedly connived with his two friends, killing then robbing Mthabisi Dube before taking turns to rape his girlfriend Lokukhanya Ncube in April last year.
The couple’s bodies were found in an advanced state of decomposition in a grass-filled trench at the corner of Intemba and Rangemore Roads in Nkulumane 12.-chronicle

Gideon Gono, former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor is faced with legal action after he failed to pay $1,3 million for numerous vehicles he bought on credit from Oasis Motors, six years ago.
Oasis Motors filed summons for provisional sentence at the High Court on the strength of an acknowledgement of debt signed by Gono on January 31, 2009 when he bought the vehicles.
Yesterday, Justice Lavender Makoni, had to refer the matter to the opposed cases roll, after learning that Gono had filed his opposing papers a few days before the court day.
In the summons filed by Oasis Motors’ lawyers Chitewe Law Practice on January 27 this year, Oasis claimed $1, 319 million with interest.
Gono received vehicles for his staff and operations at his companies, including Lunar Chickens on credit.
The vehicles were valued at $1, 749 million but Gono partly paid the debt leaving a balance of $1, 319 million.
According to the agreement, Gono was supposed to pay the debt in full by January 31, 2010, but failed.
Despite demand, Gono did not settle the debt, resulting in Oasis Motors instituting legal proceedings at the High Court.
In his opposing affidavit dated February 17, 2015, Gono argued that at the time when the agreement of sale was signed, charging in foreign currency was illegal hence the acknowledgement of debt relied upon by Oasis Motors should be dismissed as an illegality.
“I’m advised that the acknowledgement of debt relied upon by the plaintiff isn’t valid at law in that it’s illegal and unenforceable because at the time of its signature, that’s January 31, 2009, neither of the parties had authority to transact in United States dollars, it having been illegal to do so without the authorisation of the Exchange Control Authority of Zimbabwe.
“If the transaction is found to be tainted with illegality, it will be necessary to consider the relevant facts surrounding its conclusion as well as the respective degrees of turpitude to the parties in order to determine the extent of its illegality and its enforceability. “I’m further advised that it is the settled position at law that where the court is faced with an agreement that is tainted by illegality, the Honourable Court may allow the loss to lie where it falls…” reads part of Gono’s opposing affidavit.
Gono also argues that the acknowledgement of debt relied upon is dated January 31, 2009, hence the suit must fail because it was filed outside the three-year period permitted in terms of the Prescription Act.
“Further, I’m advised that plaintiff’s claim, being founded upon the said acknowledgement of debt attached to the summons, is prescribed in terms of Section 15 ( d) of the Prescription Act in that the sum said to be due hasn’t been claimed for more than three years since the date it became due, that is, January 31, 2010,” he said.
Thompson Stevenson and Associates are representing Gono in the civil matter.-chronicle

THE maid who wrapped a 10-month-old baby in a blanket and stashed him in a drawer for making “too much” noise yesterday told the court that she got engrossed in an “exciting” African movie and forgot that she had put the toddler in a drawer.
Violet Moyo, 22, of Bulawayo’s Cowdray Park, who was pregnant when she allegedly committed the crime, yesterday took to the witness stand blaming her two-month old pregnancy for her action.
She told the court that on that particular day she was feeling “moody” and was irritated by the toddler’s cries.
“During that time I was two-months pregnant such that on that particular day I was feeling moody and didn’t even want to see the baby. I tried to calm the baby but he continued crying and that worsened my condition such that I felt so irritated. The only thing that came to my mind was to muffle the baby through putting him in a drawer so that he could cry until he slept,” said Moyo.
“My intention wasn’t to kill the baby, but to get him to sleep, but sadly I got too preoccupied with the movie and forgot about the baby. I’m a rural girl who loves watching movies since where I grew up there was no television,” she said.
Moyo also told the court that the baby was disturbing her from doing other household chores.
“I wanted to do other duties and finish early so that I could travel to my rural home in Plumtree, but the baby kept disturbing me. I really want to apologise to the parents of the baby because it wasn’t my intention to kill him,” she said.
Moyo’s evidence corroborated with that of Faith Natasha Mlalazi, a state witness, who testified on Tuesday. Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Lawrence Kamocha remanded Moyo to today for judgment.
Prosecuting, Angeline Munyeriwa said on February 1 shortly after 7AM, Moyo was left in custody of Ethan Muthabisi Phiri, a 10-month-old child by his parents. The court heard that Moyo fed the baby before she went to the bedroom and put the baby to sleep.
“After about five hours, the baby woke up and started crying and Moyo tried to calm him but her efforts were in vain,” said Munyeriwa.
Incensed by the baby’s cries, the court heard that Moyo allegedly wrapped the baby in a blanket and put him in a drawer and closed it, leaving the baby to suffocate.
Moyo allegedly went to the lounge where she switched on the television and started watching movies on television.
The baby suffocated and after about three hours Moyo reportedly went back to check on the baby. The court heard that Moyo, in a terrified voice, informed neighbours and lied to them that the baby had fallen off the bed.
Moyo, who claimed that she was possessed by an evil spirit, confessed in her police warned and cautioned statement that she was responsible for the baby’s death.
Moyo through her lawyer, Prayer Muzvuzvu of Muzvuzvu and Mguni Law, told the court that it was not her intention to kill the baby.
The child minder told the court that she intended to stifle the baby’s cries so that he would not attract the attention of neighbours fearing that they would report her to her employers. chronicle

TURMOIL in the Professor Welshman Ncube-led MDC has deepened with the party’s deputy national chairperson Frank Chamunorwa resigning from his position in protest over allegations of being disloyal to the party leader.
Chamunorwa’s resignation comes barely two weeks after former party secretary-general Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga resigned following a fall out with Ncube over positions in the proposed new party to be formed when MDC and MDC Renewal merge.
The resignation also comes ahead of a joint rally between MDC and MDC Renewal at Stanley Square in Bulawayo on Sunday.
In his emotional resignation letter dated 24 February, Chamunorwa revealed that he had been fingered to be part of “a gang of four” comprising senior party members who have rebelled against Ncube.
In the alleged gang of four comprises Chamunorwa, former secretary-general Priscilla Misihairabwi Mushonga, party national chairperson Goodrich Chimbaira and spokesperson Nhlanhla Dube.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I humbly tender my letter of resignation. I have to reconcile the events that have taken place in the party in recent weeks and the inconsistencies that have bogged the party to the extent of leaving me with no other choice but resign from my vice chairman’s post henceforth,” wrote Chamunorwa.
He reminded Prof Ncube of an incident in 2005 when he was beaten up by MDC youths allegedly at the behest of Morgan Tsvangirai because of his allegiance to the Law Professor at the time of the split.
Chamunorwa in the letter said the “shallow insinuations of tribal inclination” Prof Ncube was accused of did not deter him from leaving the main MDC as Tsvangirai had failed to uphold the tenets of constitutionalism.
“You also know president that I remained a loyal cadre of our MDC under your stewardship and that loyalty remains sacrosanct to today. I have never doubted your leadership nor do I intend to do so now.
“To then learn after what we went through together more so the torture and beatings cum trauma I went through because I had chosen, and rightly so, to follow you with your leadership style that to me was impeccable that today you cast aspersions over my loyalty both to party and to you sir is heart-rending and unfortunate,” wrote Chamunorwa.
“You’re aware, sir, that I now have become embroiled in the so called gang of four which is being accused and or credited with plotting a coup against your leadership in the scenario of the unification currently raging on.
“The serious and dangerous insinuation that I could be party to a grand design to unseat you is not only absurd but ludicrous in mild terminology and renders my continued part of your team untenable.”
Chamunorwa said the “yoke” of mistrust placed on him had left him disillusioned and sad.
He said he would remain loyal to the party and pray that one day Prof Ncube will realise how wrong he was about his conduct.
Chamunorwa said as a result he was “grudgingly” relinquishing the post that he said Prof Ncube had fought so hard to bestow on him.
Dube yesterday declined to comment on the developments saying he had not seen Chamunorwa’s resignation letter.
On the alleged “gang of four,” Dube said, “I’ve never been in the habit of commenting on fiction.” Dube said his party was a serious one that dwelt on equally serious matters.

The High Court has quashed a default judgment in which Central Intelligence Organisation Director-General Retired Major-General Happyton Bonyongwe was awarded $10 million defamation damages against Africa Consolidated Resources boss Mr Andrew Cranswick.
Justice Happias Zhou described the $10 million as a strange award in Zimbabwe considering that most damages awarded since the introduction of the multi-currency system ranged from $2 000 to $7 000.
Rtd Maj-Gen Bonyongwe sued Mr Cranswick over a WikiLeaks report that linked him to alleged diamond looting in Chiadzwa. In 2012, High Court Judge Justice Ben Hlatshwayo granted a default judgment against Mr Cranswick and ordered him to pay costs of the suit.
The decision was made after Mr Cranswick’s defence papers were struck out of the record for failure to attend pre-trial conferences.
Mr Jonathan Samukange successfully challenged the default judgment on behalf of Mr Cranswick. Justice Happias Zhou, in a judgment delivered yesterday, set aside the default judgment and ordered the reinstatement of Mr Cranswick’s opposing papers.
He also directed the parties to go through the normal court process starting from the pre-trial conference.
“Taking into account all the relevant factors, I am convinced that good and sufficient cause has been established for this court to set aside the default judgment.
“The effect of my order is to reinstate the applicant’s defence which was struck out. In the result, it is ordered that the order granted in Case Number 275 /11 in default of the applicant on November 16, 2012 be and is hereby set aside.” herald

A 40 year old security guard who allegedly forced himself onto a 19 year old woman as “payment” over a five dollar debt has been dragged to court.
Ndodana Nyathi of Magwegwe North suburb appeared before magistrate Sibongile Msipa-Marondedze yesterday charged with rape. Nyathi, who was employed as a security officer at Archers Clothing Factory in Belmont was not asked to plead and was remanded in custody to March 17.
The state’s case is that on December 9, the complainant (name withheld) met Nyathi at Egodini Bus terminus where he then demanded his five dollars that she supposedly owed him.The complainant said she had no money at the time but promised to reimburse Nyathi at a later date, the court was told.
It is alleged that Nyathi indicated to the complainant that the money she owed belonged to his boss and since she had failed to repay, she had to accompany him to his boss and explain to him.
The complainant complied, then she and Nyathi boarded a commuter omnibus to his work place.Upon arrival, the complainant was told to remain in the guard room while the accused went to call the boss.
Minutes later, the complainant was led to another room by another security guard who told her she could wait for Nyathi there.Nyathi returned and ordered her to wait for him in a white Mazda 323 parked near the guard room.The complainant did so and sat at the back seat of the car where Nyathi followed, jumped inside the vehicle and locked all the doors.
The court was told Nyathi started fondling the complainant’s breasts and continued despite her pleas to stop.Nyathi forcibly removed her pants and raped her. Radio Dialogue

A Bulawayo woman has died of excessive bleeding after she allegedly had sex with a ghost she reportedly met at a city nightspot.
The woman, Sithandazile Mpofu from Pumula East, died on Monday last week. Before she met her death, she told her sister that she found herself stark naked on top of a grave at Luveve Cemetery.
While narrating her ghostly experience, she started frothing on her mouth and bleeding from her privates.
A close relative confirmed the incident saying Sithandazile died after she complained of having slept with a “man” who she suspected was a ghost.
The relative who refused to be named said following Sithandazile’s mysterious death the family was planning to hire an n’anga to perform some rituals on her grave so that she would not be turned into a “zombie”.
“The way Sithandazile died puzzled everyone. Before she died she claimed that she met a certain man at a city night club which she later suspected was a ghost before he asked her to go to his home for an all night sexual encounter. She agreed but was surprised to find herself stark-naked at Luveve Cemetery while on top of a grave.
“She said while on top of the grave, she was feeling that someone was touching her and his hands were pushing her against her will. She said she was feeling the weight of a man on top of her but she couldn’t see anybody. While narrating her ordeal she started frothing and bleeding from her privates and that is when her sister discovered that something mysterious had happened to her.
“She was taken to Esiphezini where her health deteriorated before she was taken to United Bulawayo Hospitals. She however, died two days later. We later thought that she was supposed to be taken to a prophet or inyanga since the problem looked supernatural,” said Sithandazile’s distraught relative. b metro

History has been struck as renowned Zimbabwean scientist, Professor Christopher Chetsanga published the first ever Shona Science Dictionary.
Prof Chetsanga has published the 378 page Shona Science Dictionary.
The book titled “English-Shona Science and Technology Dictionary” has earned praises nationwide. This huge contribution to the reclamation of Zim language in science and technology, took one of Zimbabwe’s leading scientists 10 years to complete the work.
The dictionary which is titled Duramazwi reSainzi neHumhizha reChirungu neChishona was by printed by College Press in December last year .
Prof Chetsanga told local Mirror in an interview that the project was a challenge as it was difficult to have English science words which mean the same in Shona and it took him about 10 years to compile the 378 paged book.
Gracion Muzenda, a  College Press Senior Education Representative said the dictionary was published in order to explain English science words in simpler terms which will help learners into a better understanding of the subject.
Muzenda said that this new dictionary is the beginning of a project to translate all science words into Shona to help in simplifying the subject.
He also said that the dictionary was being sold at all College Press outlets and book shops at US$18,95. Some teachers however, think that the dictionary would not add much value since pupils will still write their exams in English.

According to government records 187,000 children are living with HIV-AIDS and are in dire need of Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART). But thousands are dying while the drugs expire in store-rooms. Only 46% of these children are on ART, while many die of AIDS before being diagnosed.

Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa has laid bare core facts on how the 2013 elections were rigged including shocking details on how villagers were forced to place their “x” on ZANU PF candidates. Mnangagwa’s expose on what has also been termed “Nikuv rigging”, follows an earlier ZimEye.com article which revealed how headmen were being compelled to monitor voting trends by individual commoners.
Report by Newsday
Mnangagwa last weekend unwittingly exposed Zanu PF’s election-rigging strategies when he told party members in Midlands that they had devised a system where traditional leaders, ward chairpersons and councillors would closely monitor their subjects to ensure they voted for the ruling party’s candidates in the forthcoming by-elections slated for March 27.
 
Addressing Zanu PF members at the launch of his wife Auxilia’s election campaign for the Chirumanzu-Zibagwe constituency, Mnangagwa said they would monitor voting patterns, apply intimidatory tactics and trail voters so that they voted for the ruling party candidates in the Chirumanzu-Zibagwe and Mt Darwin West by-elections.
He warned that those who failed to vote for the ruling party would be effectively closed out of government programmes by what he termed ruzhowa [perimeter fence]. He also insinuated that those known to be against the party should not be given a chance to cast their vote.
“What has brought us together is an election which is coming
. . . Auxillia will be contesting with three other candidates which candidates do not have a history, and I don’t even know what these people have done in their lives,” Mnangagwa said.
“I therefore ask of all the 12 wards in Chief Chirumanzu’s area that you should go to the polls with the headman in front, district chairman following behind with the people and the councillor should also come, then go and vote.”
He added: “We know that each polling station has its own results, we will want to know from each polling station where the people would have come from and how did they get in. What we might fail to know is how death will come, but anyone who is voting we can trace the pattern because they have one.
“Nobody comes to vote in the same manner death comes, for death you cannot build a fence to keep it out, but a person who votes we can tell if they are for us or not with us and those who are not ours we will fence them out,” said Mnangagwa.
He said during the 2013 general elections he won his seat by
18 000 votes while the other two candidates failed to garner between them just 2 000 votes and he was expecting that this time around the votes would be tripled in favour of his wife.
Zanu PF after the 2013 elections engaged in a witch-hunting exercise to weed out perceived main opposition MDC-T supporters from farms in the Chirumanzu-Zibagwe constituency.
Mnangagwa confirmed that a similar purge could be applied if the electorate voted “wrongly” in the by-election.
“I don’t see how that can happen that here in Chief Chirumanzu’s area, here in Chief Samambwa’s area we can get lost votes. We just want correct votes on the day,” he said.
Mnangagwa’s admission validates the MDC-T’s accusations that previous elections have always unfairly favoured Zanu PF which relies on intimidating voters. The MDC-T, which has boycotted the by-elections, said the party was not surprised by Mnangagwa’s comments.
“They cannot be trusted with holding a free and fair election which passes the test of credibility and we are therefore not shocked that Mnangagwa and Zanu PF said that because they are perennial vote riggers who will stop at nothing in manipulating and bastardising the electoral process just to secure a win,” said MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu.
Gutu went further to say voters in any election should be given an unfettered right without any undue influence from anyone to vote for a candidate of their choice.
Zanu PF has been accused of using underhand tactics which included violence, constituency border tampering and manipulation of the voters’ roll just to win polls.
Gutu said his party boycotted the polls because it was clear that the process was already predetermined.
The only opposition parties that have confirmed participation in the two by-elections are little-known National Constitutional Assembly and Transform Zimbabwe.

Harare – Zim magistrate Mr Tendai Mahwe has defied United Nations charters on the protection of asylum seekers and ordered 179 Ethiopians, who illegally entered Zimbabwe through Nyamapanda Border Post, to return to their country.
The group aged between 15 and 28 pleaded guilty to contravening Section 29 (1) of the Immigration Act prohibiting unlawful entry into the country. Mr Mahwe warned and cautioned the group before handing them to the Immigration Department for immediate deportation.
The Ethiopians had to be dragged out of the courtroom by prison officers as they pleaded to be granted asylum. They said they were running away from political violence in Ethiopia which has killed their relatives and parents.
The Ethiopians said they heard that there is a refugee camp in Zimbabwe and want protection. Mr Mahwe advised the Ethiopians to seek proper documents first before coming to Zimbabwe.
Prosecutor Ms Francesca Mukumbiri said the Ethiopians sneaked into Zimbabwe last October. They were spotted in Seke by villagers who alerted the police. The Ethiopians had no permits.

A woman yesterday made stunning revelations in court when she exposed her son-in-law who demands to be intimate with her.
Chiwoniso Muzongondi claimed Virimai Karombe was in the habit of sending messages on her husband’s mobile phone demanding to sleep with her. Muzongondi made the revelations at the Harare Civil Court where she was seeking a protection order against Karombe who she was accusing of disturbing her peace.
“He divorced with my daughter and now he is in the habit of sending messages on my husband’s phone threatening to kill him if he fails to hand me over to him”, she said.
Muzongondi told magistrate Ms Ruth Kamangira that Karombe was in the habit of coming to her matrimonial house where he insults her with obscene words in front of her children and neighbours.
“In the text messages he sends on my husband’s mobile phone he will be demanding to have children with me. To make matters worse he is also threatening to kill me if I don’t meet his demands,” Muzongondi said.
She said they have been at Warren Park Police Station several times because of Karombe’s violent behaviour.
“He even has the guts to visit my children at their schools disturbing their education and my close friends are now scared of coming to my house because he always threatens to physically abuse them”, she said.
Karombe denied the allegations levelled against him by Muzongondi, but told the court that he was not opposed to Muzongondi’s application.
“I am not opposed to her application, you can go ahead and grant her as she pleases,” he said. Ms Kamangira granted the order in Muzongondi’s favour which barred Karombe from verbally or physically abusing her.
She also ordered Karombe to keep peace towards Muzongondi at all times.