The below statement has been issued after kombi owners complained describing as “nonsense” and “childish” the move by Harare City Council to remove kombis from the CBD:

PASSENGERS ASSOCIATION OF ZIMBABWE OBJECTS TO PREMATURE BARING OF COMMUTER OMNIBUSES (KOMBIS) TO ENTER CBD.

The Passengers Association of Zimbabwe strongly condemns the unilateral decision taken by the City of Harare to bar commuter omnibuses from entering the CBD.

1. Whilst PAZ supports initiatives to decongest the City we strongly feel that this decision was taken without proper consultation and implemented in a hasty manner. No proper notices were made.

2. This decision greatly affects workers and all commuters at large. They now have to fork out an extra 30c per trip on bus fares which are already overcharged. Consequently, a number of commuters are likely to walk long distances from drop-off points to their work places, greatly affecting productivity and in turn economic recovery. It also exposes them to criminals, especially during the night. Why should commuters pay for the council’s lack of proper planning.

3. This decision is going to promote mishika-shika (pirate taxis) and a number of commutters are going to prefer the use of private vehicles as these can take them in and out of the CBD. Use of pirate taxis and private vehicles exposes commutters to robberies and in the event of an accident they will not be covered by passenger insurance.

4. Construction of facilities at these sites is not complete. A good example is the Coca Cola station. Tar was only put a few days ago on a small patch. The larger part is still muddy and under construction. We are in the middle of the rainy season but there are no shelters at these points. That’s gross violation of commuters’ rights.

4. We also hear that there will be shuttle buses. Whose shuttle buses? Who did the selection of those shuttle buses operators, and what criteria were used to select the shuttle services providers? We smell corruption here. Why does the council think these shuttle buses will not congest the city, as they will be carrying the same number of passengers from drop-off points to CBD?

5. We urge the Government of Zimbabwe to protect its citizens’ rights and immediately stop this ill-conceived decision and madness by the City of Harare. We also urge the government to start working on revival of the public transport system as a long term solution to these challenges.

6. We urge the City of Harare to first put up proper infrastructure at these stations before forcing commuters to use them. We demand proper terminus shelters. We also urge the council to fully consult before taking hasteydecisions. Poor planning by the council has seen our city’s standards falling daily.

7. We urge the Zimbabwe Repulic Police to protect its image and not be used by the City of Harare to enforce this poorly conceived program. The police force must not be used to wipe City of Harare’s mess at the expense of its integrity.

8. Unless and until our demands are met, we urge commuters and commuter omnibuses to defy this directive. As the government is urging, let’s reconstruct Zimbabwe, let’s re-engage each other, let’s work for the betterment of our people not our pockets.

The privately owned Herentals College has been caught in the act spreading litter around the capital. Below was an account by the Harare mayor on how it happened:

By Ben Manyenyeni|  A very different day in the office today – it was high drama, speed-chase in Hatcliffe suburb.

Social media has been awash with a group of private colleges called HERENTALS which is deploying a minimum of two 76-seater buses and some pick -up trucks every day FULL of young MERCHANTS of LITTER, dishing out thousands of flyers city-wide (you think?).

Count 41 jumping out of the back of this small truck

Health and Childcare minister David Parirenyatwa left the Zimbabwe Private Sector HIV/Aids and Wellness board (Zipshaw) launch in stitches on Tuesday after revealing Zimbabweans’ complained about the ‘dwarfish’ Chinese con_doms.

He said private sector should manufacture con_doms not only for Zimbabweans but for export.

Zimbabwe according to UNFPA tops con_dom distribution in Africa but uptake remaining low.

“We used to manufacture syringes, Mazongororo syringes if you remember years ago. We import con_doms from China and some people complain they are too small,” he said with a raucous laughter following thereafter from the attendants

He also reminisced on Zimbabwe’s pharmaceutical heydays.

“We had very big companies in Zimbabwe,CAPS it used to export 48 products and it shrunk. We are now looking for partners We have Datlabs, Varichem, this could be expanded,” said the minister.

Parirenyatwa also said youth fancy certain con_doms which could be a selling point for the private sector should these condoms be manufactured for the region.

“But you know in this region the Southern African region, we have the highest incidence of HIV and AID and we are promoting con_doms. Con_doms both male and female. And the youths have a particular type of con_dom that they like. But we don’t manufacture them. So Mr Manyakara, you want to be a big business, please manufacture con_doms for the region. For the region, and its not beyond us,” he said.

Source: Online

Dr Tapiwa Mashakada | Up until the National Council meeting that put Nelson Chamisa at the helm of the party in an acting capacity as MDC leader, there had been serious contestation regarding the question who is Acting President. The National Council put to rest that lacuna. The party now has a legal Acting President called Nelson Chamisa. This is according to the MDC constitution which says that in between Congresses the National Council is the decision making body and its resolutions are binding.

Now the Secretary General is suggesting that we must follow the constitution by going to a Congress to resolve what he conceives as a leadership dispute. I hereby argue that between Now and elections in July it is not possible to hold a Congress in terms of the Constitution. The Constitution provides timelines for the cascading of pre-congress restructuring of party organs. Congresses must be held from branch ward district up to provincial levels and a mandatory notice time line of 2 months is provided for all these mini-congresses of party structures.. I therefore argue that a normal congress can only be constitutionally convened in December 2018 at the very earliest.
Now I come to the Extra Ordinary Congress. It is only the National Council which can resolve that an extra-ordinary Comgress be held. Now the same National Council resolved that Neslson Chamisa will act for 12 months and this is constitutional. In the circumstances, it is only Nelson Chamisa who can summon National Council and request for an extra-ordinary Congress citing whatever reasons he may deem fit. As it stands no other person can constitutionally call for a congress. In this regard this is why National Standing Committee members must cooperate and not confront Nelson Chamisa inorder to appeal to Chamisa to call for an extraordinary congress ( of course through National Council). This is necessary because at present Chamisa is backed by the MDC Constitution which through the National Council, vested powers in him to act as President of the MDC for 12 months. The implication is that any national election eg General Election that the party decides to contest Nelson Chamisa shall stand as the candidate unless National Council revokes its earlier decision.

Statement | National People’s Party wishes to dismiss the mischievous claim that it has joined MDC alliance. For the record the Twitter account being used to post the falsehoods is fictitious and ;  in any event NPP is a solid member of People’s Rainbow Coalition  in  which Dr J.T.R Mujuru is the chosen Presidential Candidate for the progressive People’s coalition. Any assertion to the contrary is nothing but lies of the highest order.

Above everything else NPP remains committed to the formation of a genuine and progressive grand coalition that is people driven and not Twitter negotiated.  Such coalition is not negotiated through fictitious  Twitter accounts but is  done through proper democratic channels which respect rules of mutual engagement.
# Mother Zimbabwe for President 2018.

Adv Gift Nyandoro
NPP Secretary General

Terrence Mawawa, Mberengwa
A local traditional leader has accused two former Government Ministers of looting funds meant for the rehabilitation of roads in the area.

Addressing villagers here last week Chief Mahlebadza Mudavanhu made a scathing attack on former Ministers Saviour Kasukuwere(Local Government) and Sydney Sekeramayi(Defence) for allegedly looting $ 6,8 million meant for the rehabilitation of roads in Mberengwa District.

According to Chief Mudavanhu the money was donated by the United Nations towards the construction of Jeka Bridge and the rehabilitation of dilapidated roads in the area.

“Kasukuwere and Sekeramayi came here last year in the company of some United Officials who pledged to give us $ 6,8 million towards the refurbishment of roads.The two were then asked to collect the funds on behalf of our community but they never came back,” said Chief Mudavanhu.

Chief Mudavanhu further alleged that Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister, Joram Gumbo was aware of the scam.

Terrence Mawawa
FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza has said his players worked very hard despite losing 2-1 to the Angolan side Primeiro de Agosto in the second leg of the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League tie at Mandava Stadium on Wednesday.

Agosto won the tie 5-1 on aggregate and will face Bidvest Wits of South Africa in the next round.

Mapeza said his charges got punished after missing several chances.

“We just have to give credit to the boys. I think they worked very hard, the pitch was very heavy because of the rains.

We created several opportunities, but we couldn’t score.  We got punished, they hit us on the counter and we lost possession in the final third,” said Mapeza.

The government has at last released bonus payment dates for civil servants.

Government had earlier announced that 2017 bonuses would be staggered this year, starting with the army, doctors and nurses being paid first, then the police and lastly teachers.

However, the delay in announcing payment dates was causing much anxiety among unions.

“We suspect that government will pay us bonuses when they see fit, probably towards elections to use that as a campaign tool because they know that with the current leadership at the Apex Council, they will not be under any pressure,” Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general Raymond Majongwe told the local Daily News.

Former Apex Council deputy president Ladistous Zunde also accused Alexander of being too soft with government during negotiations.

“During negotiations with government before they threw me out clandestinely, our colleagues were more of a hindrance than help as they took sides with government and even ganged up against me saying I was undermining the chairperson’s authority by being too vocal,” Zunde said.

“They wanted me to use diplomacy but I insisted that diplomacy does not work in trade unionism because negotiations without arms are like music without instruments.

“Now that they are running the show on their own, I doubt if they will be brave enough to confront government over bonuses.”

While Alexander was not immediately available for comment, George Mushipe, the Apex Council secretary, denied that the union had been teeth-clipped.

“I do not think that position is correct because we have been making frantic efforts to engage government on the issue of bonus but sadly they have not been able to give us exact dates apart from the commitment to pay,” Mushipe said.

“We have, for your own information, engaged the highest office in the land where we have been referred to the Labour minister.

“We are also going to hold a meeting of the Apex Council to deliberate on issues to do with dates of payment so that we move away from mere promises to tangible action. That can only come from an organisation that is not captured by anyone,” he said.

This comes as there is confusion in government over whether civil servants are still under the Labour ministry or President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s office.

Labour minister Petronella Kagonye told the Daily News last week she had been informed that civil servants now fall directly under Mnangagwa’s office.

“Until recently, I thought that civil servants were under my purview until I was corrected that in fact they are under the president’s office,” Kagonye said after a meeting with the country’s labour unions last month.

The civil service used to be under the ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, which has since been reconfigured to the ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.

Government pronounced on Monday that it will announce the dates shortly. Secretary for Finance and Economic Planning ministry Willard Manungo said: “Minister (Patrick) Chinamasa will shortly be communicating the payment dates.

“We’re yet to set the date for the announcement, but it will be soon. The payment of bonuses will be staggered as we have said before.”

Chinamasa last year assured civil servants that they would be paid their 2017 bonuses, and claimed he had set aside $176 million for their 13th cheque.-

Vimbai Midzi |Robert Mugabe’s face was a common feature in our household. To this day there’s an election sticker of Mugabe’s once youthful face (despite it having been used for the 2013 elections), stuck onto the side of our garage door. I peel a little of it off every time I go home, but it won’t come off without leaving a bit of a mess. It seems as stubborn as Mugabe was, in power from 1980 to December 2017.

Mugabe’s face was also boldly printed on the hideous shirts that my late father, Amos Midzi, a top official, wore to every major party event. He served as a senior government minister and as Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the United States and, earlier, Cuba.

My father’s favorite response to questions on when exactly things would change for the better for Zimbabwe was, “let’s wait and see.” His default sentiment was that at its core, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) was a revolutionary party that had the people at heart and was worth fighting for.

President Mugabe left behind a legacy of negligent leadership, and cyclical political, economic and social violence. Emmerson Mnangagwa, sacked as Mugabe’s deputy only weeks before, took over as the new president before Christmas 2017. While I’m always hopeful for a better future, I’m acutely aware of the collective pain we all need to heal from.

Appearance in my father’s party was everything. The party spent a great deal of time and resources on regalia, media coverage and creating a narrative that depicted them, particularly Mugabe, as visionaries and the only sensible choice for leadership of any office, public institution or electoral position. But the cosmetic has always been their specialty – billows of seemingly successful smokescreens hid years of incompetence and violence. My shame about this particular part of my father’s life never goes away.

Membership cards were a way to keep track of Zanu-PF members and often acted as an access card to patronage and other benefits. From being prioritized during food aid distributions in drought-stricken areas of the country, to being allowed to sell your produce at some of the informal markets in the city, to being physically assaulted during election season by hired Zanu thugs for not having one – the card giveth and taketh away, all the while working in the favor of those who possess it.  

Ironically, my father was reduced to what was called an ordinary card-carrying member before his death. In early 2015, he was suspended from the party, accused of supporting former Vice President Joice Mujuru in planning to overthrow Mugabe. Former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo once said, “It’s cold outside Zanu” – he was right. So cold, that Zanu members my father had known for years refused to attend his funeral for fear of being associated with the outsiders who had been kicked out of the party. Our new president was one of them. So deep were the divisions in Zanu-PF, that even the funeral of a close and generally well-liked top official wasn’t enough to bring them together. In state where patronage links ran deeper than the Zambezi, Amos was the ordinary card-carrying member whose life and sacrifices for the party suddenly meant nothing.  

Zanu’s internal violence spilled over into the state, and Mugabe’s regime will forever be remembered for it: there was the rounding up of unaccompanied women accused of prostitution in 1983, named Operation Chinyavada; the Gukurahundi massacre of an estimated 20,000 largely isiNdebele speaking people also suspected supporters of the opposition ZAPU that was led by Joshua Nkomo in the western and southern regions of the country. Then, one of the more shameful memories associated with my father, there was the demolition of informal housing and businesses in Murambatsvina; followed by the election violence in 2008; and what has become the systematic forced removal of vendors in city centers year after year. Murambatsvina, depicted as a way of “cleaning up” the “filth” of informality in urban areas, was swift and brutal; carried out in the height of the winter cold, rendering hundreds of thousands homeless and desperate. Amos was pictured in one of the local newspapers in a white dust-coat, holding a broom and sweeping away the remains of people’s make-shift structures. I remember staring at the picture of him sweeping away the livelihoods of the people him and his colleagues implied were “filth.” The opposition party, MDC, argued that the operation was an intimidation tactic to rid urban cities of its supporters at a time when more and more Zimbabweans were looking to an alternative political leadership. I believe them.  

To date, millions of dollars have been lost to corruption and mismanagement – resulting in a failing healthcare system, a struggling education system, a cash shortage and a leadership unbothered by the plight of our people. It is these collective memories that many of us revert to when thinking of our future.  

But as we end an era of repression and poor leadership, we enter one led by the very same people who served alongside the man that so many feared and loathed for so long. Recently, Mnangagwa has spoken of “a New Dispensation” – signaling his desire to break from Mugabe’s style of leadership. But as the dust settled after my people danced in the streets when Mugabe stepped down, it is apparent that the fight for true transformation has only just begun.  

While there are those who use the memories of violence to hold our new(ish) leaders to account, there are others who weaponize them against anyone who is seen to be critical of Mnangagwa. The new president has recently been on a charm offensive, conducting multiple interviews with western media organizations – “re-engaging the world” after Zimbabwe’s isolation from world powers under Mugabe.  

From interviews with the Financial Times, to Mnangagwa’s appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos 2018, the message is the same: perhaps we should give him a chance. Mnangagwa’s favorite phrase has been: “Zimbabwe is open for business.” Its target audience isn’t Zimbabweans, however, but foreign investors. He has spoken boldly about the need for economic recovery, his commitment to seeing it through, and a much-needed shift in the way government operates. Before anyone could say “asante sana” (Mugabe’s infamous parting shot during his aborted resignation speech), Mnangagwa has threatened corrupt officials with jail time and demanded that members of Cabinet and heads of parastatals declare their assets publicly. It is no doubt that he is working hard to counter the incompetence and mediocrity that had engulfed Zanu’s leadership, but is it enough?

There are glaring social issues that Mnangagwa has yet to address, one of the biggest being an apology for his complicity in Gukurahundi – the “moment of madness” (as said by his predecessor) that has left deep wounds on our society. While he has acknowledged the need for healing and has tasked his deputy to head a commission regarding this, his role in carrying out the horrific violent crimes against what were called “dissidents” at the time, requires more action.  

Mnangagwa has also kept many a minister in government who has been accused of corruption, violence and other crimes, casting doubt on the chance for a “clean slate” for Zimbabwe. Minister Obert Mpofu has been accused of, amongst other crimes, taking a $10 million bribe in return for mining concessions during his time as Mines minister; Health Minister David Parirenyatwa was accused of entertaining a conflict of interest by accepting a $100,000 payment from a health insurance company that was struggling to stay afloat, affecting its members’ ability to access the most basic health services. The changes needed for true transformation include an overhaul of the kind of leadership that has landed Zimbabwe here in the first place, and this is unlikely to happen now.  

Unlike my father, my default sentiment is this: there is a continued violence that Zanu-PF seems to never stop engaging in; a refusal to fully and truly engage with their culpability. I recognized it in my father, and I recognize it in our president and leaders now. Some people might say that we need to give Mnangagwa a chance – give him the benefit of the doubt and stop being so quick to criticiz.

Former President Robert Mugabe yesterday reportedly turned down a public birthday bash organised for him by the Zanu PF youth league, opting to privately celebrate his 94th anniversary with his close family members.
The Zanu PF youth league had approached his family with a proposal to have a mini-party for its former leader, who was removed from power in November last year following a military intervention.

According to sources, Mugabe refused to be treated to a mini-bash by the Zanu PF youth league due to the manner his party and the military treated him before his resignation.

“He wants to be with his family and those who love him genuinely and not those who want to abuse his name for political gains,” a close family member, said.

“The family would want to hold the birthday party for our old man, as a private event. But critically, what business does the party have for a man they removed in the manner they did?”

Born on February 21, 1924, Mugabe trained as a teacher and taught in then Rhodesia and Ghana before returning home to join the guerrilla war against white-minority rule.
He became prime minister after Zimbabwe attained independence from Britain in 1980. He later became president in 1987.

Zanu PF youth secretary, Pupurai Togarepi, confirmed yesterday that there was no bash at Mugabe’s residence, as they had anticipated. Togarepi said instead, the youth would still celebrate their former leaders’ legacy through charitable works.

“We are only celebrating Robert Mugabe Youth Day. As for a birthday celebration, it’s a private function, which is confidential for me to give you a programme,” he said. The youth league last week indicated a delegation would visit Mugabe at his private residence in Borrowdale Brooke to give a birthday treat to the 94-year-old icon.

Had it not been for the military action in November, this year’s birthday bash for Mugabe would have been held in Nyanga, hosted under the auspices of the 21st February Movement.

The Zanu PF youth league, then under the leadership of Kudzanayi Chipanga, who has since been expelled, was already mobilising resources when Mugabe was forced to resign. Newsday

Bushes in Humanikwa Village, Buhera became an eyesore on Tuesday morning with used condoms strewn all over following an invasion of the area ahead of Morgan Tsvangirai’s burial.

The former Prime Minister died in South Africa last week and was laid to rest at his rural home – next to wife Susan – on Tuesday afternoon.

The invasion of Buhera by mourners, consisting of mainly MDC-T supporters, late on Monday had its ugly results.

A number of the ‘mourners’ turned the bushes around the Tsvangirai homestead into sex havens, something that riled the elders in the area.

In his graveside speech, Chief Makumbe condemned the mourners who violated traditional rules of the area.

“It is very sad to learn that some people violate our traditional beliefs and customs. Vazhinji venyu munobva kuvanhu itaiwo tsika dzakanaka kwese kwamunoenda.

“When others were mourning some people were busy doing evil things and committing adultery. It is not good,” said Chief Makumbe.

On Tuesday morning, a villager only identified as Tinashe was seen distributing condoms to gleeful mourners.

Tinashe told H-Metro that his fears were that there will be a number of unwanted pregnancies and infections based on what he witnessed around the place including the nearby school yard.

“When other people were gathered at the Tsvangirai homestead some were taking turns to use the bush and classroom blocks for sex,” said Tinashe.

“Rains forced some to look for accommodation and some ended up booking at lodges in Murambinda but most of the lodges were booked by MDC senior officials.

“Besides the condoms found scattered in the bush, I want to believe few mourners had taken condoms with them.

“If there are those, who carried condoms it means they had already planned to abominate our community.

“I am distributing these condoms for free but some are feeling shy to collect them day light pakaipa mukoma,” said Tinashe.

However, one mourner felt the offer came too late.

“Hatichamada macondom ako tirikudzokera nhasi wakadii kutipa nezuro wacho,” said the mourner.- state media

Ndaba Nhuku |  Of Obert Mpofu and Zimdiamonds!!

Folks how can you be so naive and foolish? Do you think ( President Emmerson Mnangagwa) ED was a fool to appoint Mpofu a minister when we were all saying he is corrupt? Don’t you know ED had done his homework before appointing the guy? Do you really think Obert Mpofu, a Ndebele, stole diamonds and became a multimillionaire in Harare without the involvement of any senior minister or deputy president?

Don’t you know who had shared diamond mines? If you think Obert Mpofu stole alone, you are naive. The junta listed in the UN corruption report was also involved in plundering Zimbabwe’s minerals. The junta is protecting Obert and gang because they are all entangled in the $15 billion saga!!! Being naive and not knowing how the world operates is what led to your celebrating the junta that is today advising Obert Mpofu not to answer questions about the disappeared diamonds. Obert Mpofu was minister in the portfolio five years ago, what happened thereafter? How much did we get?
Our ignorance will not help the country

Wilbert Mukori | “Outgoing Swiss envoy to Zimbabwe and Malawi Ms Ruth Huber is confident of enhanced investment ties between her nation and Zimbabwe building on the crucial engagements held between the two countries’ leaders at the Davos meeting last month,” reported Zimeye.

“Swiss investors are ready to invest in Zimbabwe, was the massage from outgoing Swiss Ambassador to Zimbabwe and Malawi after she bade farewell to President Emmerson Mnangagwa at his Munhumutapa offices in Harare today.”

Swiss investors may be ready to invest in Zimbabwe but that does not mean Zimbabwe is ready for foreign investors. Whilst the country remains a pariah state ruled by corrupt and vote rigging thugs; foreign and local investors will continue to shy away.

President Mnangagwa has travelled far and wide ever since he assumed the presidency following the coup that ousted Robert Mugabe from office. “Zimbabwe is ready to do business!” he was shouted at every opportunity he had. Sadly, without doing something concrete to end the country’s reputation as a corrupt and lawless nation ruled by thugs, the country will not be ready for local or foreign investors.

Switzerland must wait to see if Zimbabwe has changed and will hold free, fair and credible elections as President Mnangagwa has promised. One does not need to remind the Swiss that President Mnangagwa has said a lot about free and fair elections and yet has done nothing on the ground to make this happen. We have been asking the regime to implement the reforms Zanu PF signed up to in 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA).

The 2008 GPA was drawn with the help of SADC leaders following Zimbabwe’s 2008 rigged elections. Not even SADC and the AU, known for approving some dodgy elections in Africa, would endorse the Zanu PF victory as a free and fair electoral process. It was agreed that Zimbabwe’s GNU must implement a raft of democratic reforms designed to stop a repeat of the blatant vote rigging and wanton violence of 2008. As a senior Zanu PF minister in Mugabe’s government before, during and after the GNU, President Mnangagwa knows only too well that not even one reform was implemented during or after the GNU.

President Mnangagwa knows that all talk of free, fair and credible election in Zimbabwe without first implementing the reforms is just that – talk! If he was serious about holding free and fair elections he would have hit the ground running on implementing the reforms. He has done nothing!

Indeed, President Mnangagwa has contemptuously dismissed those calling for the reforms as nothing more that barking dogs.

“Zanu PF ichatonga igotonga! Imi muchigohukura! Nokuhukura!” (Zanu PF will rule! And rule! Whilst you (demanding reforms) bark! And bark!) Was Mnangagwa’s first words of assurance to his fellow Zanu PF hardliners on his return from SA following the November 2017 coup.

The Zanu PF hardliners, led by none other than Mnangagwa and Mugabe, have rigged elections and used violence including mass murder to ensure there is no regime-change in Zimbabwe. They nicknamed the November 2017 coup, Operation Restore Legacy; the no-regime-change mantra is at the very heart of that legacy!

Many Zimbabweans are determined to see the country hold its first free, fair and credible elections. They not only see free and fair elections as an inalienable right; they also know this is the basis for good, democratic and accountable government. The country is in a serious political and economic mess following four decades of corrupt and tyrannical rule by this de facto one-party, Zanu PF, dictatorship; holding free, fair and credible elections is the nation’s ticket out of this hell.

One hopes that the people of Switzerland, with their own well-known tradition of good and democratic governance going back generations, will understand why the people of Zimbabwe are yarning for democratic change. And, more significantly, the Swiss will help pressure this Zanu PF regime to honour its promise hold free, fair and credible elections.

Switzerland must hold back all economic re-engagements and investments in Zimbabwe until the Zanu PF regime implemented all the democratic reforms and the country is finally put on a firm footing to hold free, fair and credible elections this year and from henceforth. 

Chamisa handle Khuphe’s issue carefully or you will never again address a rally in Matebeleland.

I have been a loyal MDC-T member for almost two decades. In these two decades, I have noted that Ndebele people are treated like nothing and they are compelled to play second fiddle to the Shona brothers and sisters. What is painful is the reality that the people of Matebeleland have been very loyal to MDC-T.

We have heard enough of these MDC-T leaders who are committed to using our people to gunner for support in Matebeleland. Today we are saying to hell with Chamisa and his dirty dozen. We will never allow him to treat our very own Thokozani Khuphe like trash. If Chamisa doesn’t handle the Khuphe saga with great care, then he will never address a rally in Matebeleland. We are committed to making sure that his rallies amount to nothing. Violence is not an MDC-T Shona monopoly capital. No one has a monopoly on violence, mind you, we can employ violence better than anyone else. This is a stern warning to Chamisa and his globins.

Thokozani Khuphe has been there for Tsvangirai when Welshman and Biti left the party. Today unhonourable Chamisa you have the audacity to throw her under the bus because you think she is a threat to your self- imposed Kingship. We have had enough of being used by you comrades and we are saying today in 2018 you will never use Matebeleland as your playing ground.

Your foot-soldiers have the audacity to call Khuphe a dissident who must go back to Matebeleland. If our people are no longer supposed to attend events in Mashonaland, you also shall never attend a rally in Matebeleland. What you have given the people of Matebeleland is what you are going to get back. Its now tit for tat situation. We will never keep up with tribalism of this disappointing nature. In 2018, Matebeleland will never be your bedroom Chamisa and your politically blank thugs.

If you want the votes of Matebeland, treat our comrade and sister with the dignity she deserves. You know very well that your rise to power is unconstitutional, hence illegal. You were never voted but appointed by Tsvangirai on his deathbed, worse still, on a tribal ticket. You might be a charismatic leader to others but truth be told, you are a mere empty vessel. You are ideologically bankrupt. If you are not careful, the Khuphe saga might stagger the final nail on your political coffin. You cant even see that you are moving from blunder to blunder as though led by blind fate. Read the Matebeleland political atmosphere carefully, and stop allowing ill-gotten power to cloud your judgement.

To our dear sister Thabitha Khumalo who has allegedly positioned herself to fill in Thokazani Khuphe’s position once she is pushed off the bus, we are warning you to sit down and stop volunteering to be used. Stop acting like a desperate student who campaigns ceaselessly for being a class-monitor. The Matebeleland people will never continue playing second fiddle to the MDC-T Shona thugs. MaKhumalo if you want to see the anger of the Matebeleland youth being vented on you, take that position. We will treat that as the highest act of defiance and you,  as a sell-out.

We are therefore calling the Matebeleland youth to unite against MDC-T politics of tribe. We have had enough of being treated as nothing by MDC-T leadership. In 2018 if Chamisa does not correct his wrongs, let us reject MDC-T and punish it severely in the ballot box. We have been quietly watching from the sidelines, but we are saying today, enough is enough. We don’t want tribalist leaders in Matebeleland anymore. Chamisa uzokubona okukhulu eMatebeleland lonyaka, sikhathele ngokuphathwa okwezinja. Lungisa indaba kaKhuphe ngendlela esemthethweni or else ngeke ulubeke eMatebeleland.

Olendlebe uzwile

Disgruntled Matebeleland MDC-T youth.

A farmer reportedly chewed off a snake’s head in revenge after the reptile bit him, with his attending doctors saying they had never come across such a bizarre case.

The incident took place in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state in Hardoi district at the weekend, when the man identified only by his first name, Sonelal – was rushed to a government health centre after locals found him unconscious.

The man told villagers that he was grazing his cattle in the fields when the snake bit him, which however made him so angry he chewed off its hood before spitting it out.

“The snake bit me, so I held its head and chewed it off, it died, then I brought it back to the village. I tore off its head again,’’ Sonelal told the ANI news agency.

Sanjay Kumar, a doctor who treated him said he was amazed that the man survived after biting the hood, which could have contained venom, assuming it was a poisonous snake.

However, the local media said that the doctors failed to find any marks of snakebite on his body.

“I’ve never seen such a case in my life. The man was all right even after biting a snake,’’ Kumar said.

Witnesses who claimed they saw him ingest part of the snake said they suspected the man was addicted to drugs.

Medical officials believe that the man’s abnormal reaction could only be explained if he was under the influence of drugs.

Punch.com

Morgan Tsvangirai’s widow Elizabeth was forced to leave Humanikwa Village in Buhera soon after the burial of her husband, unable to attend post-burial ceremonies after suffering relentless abuse at the hands of her late spouse’s family members.

The torment endured by Tsvangirai’s wife has been roundly condemned as “nothing short of a disgrace”.

The widow built the courage to make a public appearance at the burial, even after the family had severed all ties with their vivacious daughter-in-law.

According to Shona tradition, soon after burial of the deceased, precautionary rituals are usually performed to purify those concerned with the funeral, especially the wife, ostensibly to prevent the spirit from returning from the grave to torment those left behind.

Elizabeth did not participate at all in any core-funeral and post-burial ceremonies.

She was kept in the dark about the parameters on how death, funeral and post-death ceremonies should be held, and any other funeral arrangements.

She was also left out of the programme, arrangements how the proper burial rituals would be done, and all logistical issues, protocol included. No one consoled her as the bereaved.

The funeral ceremonies became a strictly Tsvangirai family activity, where family power was exercised to ostracise her, without any sense of remorse.

He role ended as soon as she brought back her husband’s remains back to Zimbabwe from South Africa where Tsvangirai died in a private hospital.

There was an earlier attempt to ban her from her husband’s funeral by her unforgiving mother-in-law Gogo Lydia Chibwe Tsvangirai, who was captured on State TV during the main news bulletin on Saturday night threatening to commit suicide if Elizabeth was allowed to mourn her husband at the Highlands home.

In a no-holds-barred sermon at the Mabelreign Methodist Church during a requiem service for Tsvangirai, forthright Reverend Jimmy Dube slammed the family for abusing their daughter-in-law.

“Vekwa Makuvise, nevekwa Tsvangirai (The Makuvises and the Tsvangirais) we have travelled together the ups and downs of life. Zvekutaura pa public zvemumusha siyanai nazvo (Stop washing your dirty linen in public).  Gogo Tsvangirai vane bhachi re red (Tsvangirai’s mum is an esteemed member of the church)  and we raised you well zvekutaura pa public siyanai nazvo (don’t air your family disputes in public).”

Elizabeth was also barred from accompanying her husband’s body, which was airlifted just after the Harare farewell to Buhera in an Agusta 412 bell helicopter. The helicopter took off from One Commando barracks with Tsvangirai’s mum.

The inconsolable Elizabeth was forced to proceed to her hubby’s burial in a road trip.

Tsvangirai’s brother, Manase, claimed in State media that Elizabeth was happy with how the family treated her.

“We have to treat all these wives equally,” Manase said.

“Maiguru Elizabeth was with the body from South Africa to Harare, naturally one has to give others a chance.

“When we were preparing to depart from One Commando to Buhera for the burial, we were asked to provide four people to accompany the body and it followed that she had to give others a chance and that is why she travelled by road. It had nothing to do with allegations of ill-treating her.

“When she came here last night, we gave her a room to sleep in and what better recognition do you expect, and she was quite happy.

“If you have three wives, for example, and even if one dies, that symbolic union cannot be taken away, particularly when there are children and when lobola (bride price) was paid. If you do not agree with my interpretation we can ask any elder around.”

Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s role as Tsvangirai’s caregiver was not acknowledged at all throughout the time the grieving widow paid tribute to her husband.

There was no mention of her at his burial, with the family choosing to  acknowledge relatives of Tsvangirai’s first wife, Susan, who died in a car crash in 2009 shortly after Zimbabwe’s inclusive government was sworn into power.

Throughout this abuse, Elizabeth wore that Catholic uniform with grace, behaved with decorum in the face of relentless abuse, cast out into an unkind, unfriendly world of misunderstanding in-laws and her late husband’s overbearing relatives.

Throughout the ordeal, she maintained her silence, never retaliating.

However, she felt embraced by her family circle, especially her dad, Zanu PF member and former Chitungwiza mayor Joseph Macheka, who tended to his daughter during the difficult grieving process, amid domination of oppressive traditional practices and customary codes.

The Daily News understands Elizabeth left Humanikwa the morning-after the burial, headed back to Harare.

Her departure reportedly caused rancour in the family, but was a bold statement against dictatorial tendencies by the Tsvangirai family, where her exclusivism became the tone of the funeral, and it was apparent she was being systematically sidelined.

She returned to her Highlands matrimonial home, where she has been confined since.

The only time she left her home was on Wednesday when she was invited to escort Kenya opposition leader Raila Odinga to the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.

Odinga, one of Tsvangirai’s best friends, travelled to Humanikwa Village to lay the former prime minister to rest.

Odinga — who is at the centre of controversy in Kenya after he declared himself the “people’s president” at a controversial “swearing-in” ceremony in the capital, Nairobi three weeks ago after his unsuccessful bid for the presidency — met with MDC acting president Nelson Chamisa at the Meikles Hotel on Wednesday.

Chamisa travelled with Odinga to Buhera and back to Harare, where they convened the meeting.

The Daily News understands the meeting discussed “future cooperation, party-to-party cooperation, and carrying forward the legacy of Tsvangirai,” Chamisa told the Daily News in a telephone conversation yesterday.

Asked what Elizabeth was doing at the meeting, Chamisa said: “She was called by Odinga to accompany the family to the airport.”

Odinga came to Zimbabwe with his family, his two daughters and sisters.

The Odinga family was being hosted by Elizabeth.-Daily News

PRESS STATEMENT
23 February 2018

The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council Board and Management would like to advise the nation of the release of the November 2017 ZIMSEC’ Ordinary Level results.

Candidates who sat for this examination will be able to collect their results from their respective schools/centres from Monday, 26 February 2018.

In the analysis candidates are described in two parts,
one being ‘school candidates’, the second being the ‘private candidates’. Private candidates are non-formal students who entered for this examination. The total number of candidates who sat for the November 2017 0 Level examination was 332 473. This is 14,25% higher than the November 2016 entry. Total candidates who wrote five or more subjects were 189 684 and 49 982 obtained Grade C or better in 5 or more subjects, yielding a 26.35 % pass rate. There is a slight decrease on the performance of 2016 which was at 27.92%.

Of the 187 606 school candidates, 162 920 wrote 5 subjects and above resulting in 46 755 passing 5 or more subjects with a grade C or better. This translates to a pass rate of 28, 69% as compared to 29.96 % for 2016. For private candidates, out of the 144 867 candidates, a total of 3 227 passed at least 5 subjects, yielding a pass rate of 12,05% at grade C, or better as compared to 13.40% for 2016.

English language was graded on one paper as ruled by the High Court. The quality of work on the paper showed that the candidates who wrote the paper were of a better quality than those of 2016 resulting in a slight increase of 5%.

There are four categories of Special Needs Candidates. The highest performance by these candidates was in the Enlarged print category where 36,4% of the 68 candidates passed five or more subjects with a grade C or better. In the Hard of Hearing, Braille and Physical impairment categories candidates achieved 10%, 16,67% and 31,25% respectively.

We would like to extend our gratitude to all those who were involved in the November 2017 examinations process.

ZIMSEC hereby takes this opportunity to wish all the candidates the best of luck in their future studies and endeavours.

The registration deadline for the June 2018 examination is 23 March 2018. There will be no late entry facility for this examination session.

Professor E. Mwenje
CHAIRPERSON: ZIMBABWE SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL BOARD

A popular gold dealer from Kwekwe died on the spot while three others were seriously injured on Wednesday when a car they were travelling in hit a cow and veered off the road before overturning along the Kwekwe-Gweru highway.

Mr Talent Mapanga died on the spot while his young brother Langelihle, their friends Ms Anna Manamana and Mr Arthur Zakeo who was driving the vehicle, were injured. Another passenger, only identified as Ashley escaped unhurt.

The five socialites were travelling to Kwekwe from Redcliff where they had attended Manamana’s birthday party. Mr Mapanga’s brother, Mr Munashe Mapanga said the accident happened in the wee hours of Wednesday.

He said his brothers and their friends were coming from a birthday party in Redcliff town.
“As they approached the 10km peg, the vehicle ahead of them reduced speed to avoid a cow but their driver instead overtook the vehicle and then hit the cow,” he said.

Mr Mapanga said after hitting the cow, the vehicle veered off the road, overturned and in the process Talent was thrown out through the window and he died on the spot.

Acting Midlands provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende said she was yet to receive the accident report. Herald 

President Cyril Ramaphosa has withdrawn the president’s appeal against a judgment of the North Gauteng High Court that NPA boss Shaun Abrahams should vacate his position.

This is the clearest indication yet that Ramaphosa plans to fire Abrahams and appoint a new head of the prosecuting authority.

Former president Jacob Zuma previously appealed the ruling by a full Bench of judges of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria that found he was conflicted to appoint the National Director of Public Prosecutions. The case is scheduled to be heard on Wednesday. Abrahams is still appealing the matter.

In a letter delivered to the registrar of the Constitutional Court on Friday afternoon, the state attorney informed the court of Ramaphosa’s decision.

“With the current regime change and after consultation with the current President of the Republic of South Africa, we are instructed to inform this court, that the first respondent (Ramaphosa) is no longer prosecuting its appeal and therefore will not be present to argue the matter on 28 February 2018.

“To the extent that the former President (Zuma) may want to pursue argument on matters affecting him personally, he may do so through his legal representatives,” the letter reads.

It is unclear whether the state will continue to fund Zuma’s legal representation if he chooses to make personal representations. – News24

Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo
There is pandemonium at Masvingo Polytechnic as students are protesting at the gross abuse of ZIMDEF Funds by college authorities.

The students have refused to attend lectures demanding that they be allocated relief funds under the ZIMDEF scheme.

The students have detained the college provincial and administration staff as the melee continues.

Police have been called to restore sanity but the cops are fighting running battles with the irate students.

“We want our money! Stop abusing the ZIMDEF Funds, we will not attend lectures until you release our money,” shouted the disgruntled students.

College authorities could not be reached for a comment on the matter.