A Maphisa woman has shocked villagers in the area after her two male lovers settled to stay with her in the same house for two months since neither of them could let her go.

At first Pretty Mangwende and her two lovers, Simbarashe Mukupe and the other only identified as Oliver seemed to be living peacefully in a section of the growth point, commonly known as Garikai.

However, it is reported that trouble began when Mangwende got a job at Velakuhle Bar. What had seemed to be a mutual arrangement between the two men turned to a battle ground.

Oliver and Mukupe reportedly quarrelled incessantly over who should continue to stay with Mangwende until Oliver decided to go and report at Mangwende’s workplace that she was staying with him and Mukupe and this resulted in Mangwende being fired.

When B-Metro contacted Mangwende she opened up about the issue before dropping the phone.
“Yes, I was dating the two men and I was living with both of them. The thing is they had different rooms but we lived in the same house and so I don’t see anything wrong with that”, raged Mangwende.

She added: “What I can tell you is that at the moment I am no longer living with them because things did not just work out. It is not true that we had any misunderstandings or quarrelling. I was not even fired at work because of that issue. I cannot tell you more because I have never seen you and you have no business asking about my life”.

Efforts to get a comment from Oliver and Mukupe were fruitless. However, residents of the area are still shocked at Mangwende’s guts.

“We just cannot believe that a woman can stay with two men in the same house. It is our first time to hear about it and we do not know how she managed to do that, maybe she used juju ”, said a bewildered man who only identified himself as Sibanda.

A source close to this issue spoke on condition of anonymity: “I used to live close to them and it was just weird to witness Mangwende staying with the two men. I cannot even say they were desperate for shelter because they both work.”

The Maphisa woman’s case comes hot on the heels of another similar case in which a woman from Lupane left her community shocked last month after it emerged she was married to two men and had children with both of them.State media

Interim Warriors coach Rahman Gumbo has made two changes to the Warriors squad that will face Mauritius in the CHAN 2020 qualifiers return leg at Barbourfields  on Sunday.

The Warriors carry a 4-0 lead going into the return leg and Gumbo has made two changes -Kelvin Madzongwe and Aubriel Chirinda in place of Byron Madzokere and Brian Chikwenya.

Here is the full squad;

Talbert Shumba

Ariel Sibanda 

Ian Nekati 

Xolani Ndlovu

Nqobizitha Masuku

Partson Jaure 

Peter Muduwa 

Kelvin Madzongwe 

Phenias Bhamusi 

Richard Hachiro 

Leeroy Mavunga

Ralph Kawondera 

Never Tigere

Aubriel Chirinda

Clive Augusto

Evans Katema 

Prince Dube

Malvin Gaki-Soccer24

Zimbabwe welcomes foreign investors into the country but will not accept investments that come with conditions attached.

This was said by President Mnangagwa after taking part in the ninth edition of the National Environment Cleaning Day at Ashbrittle Shopping Centre yesterday.
He also said there must be unity and peace among Zimbabweans if the country is to develop.

“We want a better future, we want the next generation to live a better life than ourselves and to do so the current generation should be united as a country, as a people and we must put our heads together and shoulders on the wheel to develop, to modernise, to industrialise our country,” President Mnangagwa said.

“We can do that and achieve that on our own, depending on our resources but alas, the pace at which we develop would be very slow. That’s why we have said ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’ in order to attract foreign direct investment into the country and assist us to develop the various sectors of the economy: agriculture, mining, tourism, manufacturing, infrastructure development and ICTs.

“But when FDIs come into the country, they must come at the dictates of ourselves; no political ties, no conditions. The conditions should only be those which we want and this can only be achieved if we remain united, when we remain peaceful, when each one of us strives to do one’s best in whatever they are doing.”

President Mnangagwa said Government had embarked on the re-engagement process so that the country re-joins the community of nations.State media

GOVERNMENT yesterday summoned the United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe Brian Nichols over the placement on sanctions of Zimbabwe’s Ambassador-designate to Tanzania, Anselem Sanyatwe and his wife, Ms Chido Machona on allegations that the former violated human rights.

Ambassador Sanyatwe is a former Commander of the Presidential Guard.

In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade spokesperson Mr Shepherd Gwenzi said the Ministry’s permanent secretary Ambassador James Manzou met Ambassador Nichols yesterday.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on 2 August 2019 summoned the Ambassador of the United States of America to Zimbabwe, His Excellency Brian Nichols. He met the Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ambassador James Manzou and the purpose of the summons was to express displeasure of the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe over the public designation of His Excellency Lieutenant-General (Rtd) Anselem Sanyatwe, currently Zimbabwe’s Ambassador-designate to the United Republic of Tanzania and former commander of the Zimbabwe National Army’s presidential Guard Brigade, by the US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo under section 7031(c) FY 2019, Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programme, Appropriations Act (Div.F.P.I.116.6), allegedly for gross violations of human rights related to the August 1, 2018 post-election incident,” he said.State media

ZIMBABWE is among the top six countries in Africa with a high HIV drug resistance rate especially among women, the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2019 Drug Resistance report has revealed.

South Africa tops the list with a 23.6 percent Pretreatment Drug Resistance (PDR) to Efavirenz or Nevirapine — components of antiretroviral drugs followed by Namibia which has a 13.8 percent while Zimbabwe has 10.9 percent PDR to EDF/NVP.

Globally there are 18 countries including Swaziland, Cameroon, Namibia, Uganda, Nepal, Cuba, Vietnam, Brazil and Mexico whose rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest threats to global health.

“About 12 of 18 countries that reported survey findings to WHO, PDR to nevirapine/efavirenz in populations initiating first-line ART had reached levels above 10 percent and these include Swaziland, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

In the Ssdc region, South Africa tops the list with a 23.6 percent Pretreatment Drug Resistance (PDR) to efavirenz/nevirapine followed by Namibia which has a 13.8 percent PDR to EFV/NVP while Zimbabwe has 10.9 percent PDR to EDF/NVP,” read the report.

The rise in drug resistant cases according to WHO, if not urgently addressed, may result in millions of deaths, an increase in new and hard-to-treat infections and increased health-care costs.

“As a result, combating AMR, including the threat posed by drug-resistant HIV, is a major goal for the global community. Prevention, monitoring and timely response to population levels of HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) is critical to achieving the WHO/UNAIDS 90–90–90 targets for 2020,” read the report.State media

State Media|Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira is a flight risk who holds two passports and has properties in the United Kingdom, a High Court judge heard.

Mupfumira, who was arrested by the recently-constituted Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), will spend the weekend in remand prison after Justice Erica Ndewere yesterday deferred her bail application to Monday.

Justice Ndewere postponed the matter to allow the State to call the investigating officer to give evidence during the bail application. Mupfumira is facing criminal abuse of public office charges involving US$95 million.

She was detained last week after the State invoked Section 32 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, which allows it to seek the further detention of a suspect up to 21 days to conduct further investigations.

The State led by Mrs Sharon Fero challenged Mupfumira’s bail application at the High Court yesterday, arguing that there was already a certificate which was tendered to the Prosecutor-General that bars any court from entertaining her before the stipulated 21 days lapsed.

“An aggrieved part can only approach this court when an inferior court had made a determination in relation to bail,” said Mrs Fero.

“I submit that the magistrate did not entertain the issue of bail. He was never asked to make a determination. He did not refuse to grant the applicant bail, so, for that reason the appeal ought to be struck off the roll.”

Mrs Fero accused Mupfumira of trying to take her bail application to the High Court through the back door.

“This court has no right to hear a case which is being brought via the back door,” she said.

Mupfumira, through her lawyer Advocate Lewis Uriri, who is acting on the instructions of Mr Charles Chinyama, said they had a right to be heard, arguing that they were rightly before the court.

Justice Ndewere ruled that the court had jurisdiction to hear Mupfumira’s bail application.

The State then opposed that Mupfumira be granted bail, arguing that investigations into the matter were still in progress.

Mrs Fero said Mupfumira had two passports and properties in the United Kingdom, leaving room for her to abscond trial. She said there was need for the investigating officer to testify to that effect.

Adv Uriri denied that Mupfumira had properties in the United Kingdom, saying being a holder of two passports did not mean that she will not stand trial.

He said Mupfumira had once travelled out of the country late in July and returned with full knowledge of the allegations she is facing.

Justice Ndewere deferred the matter to Monday for continuation of the bail application where the investigating officer is expected to testify before the court.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) has impounded two Kwekwe City Council ambulances for circumventing import tax, as investigations into the tax fraud involving former Director State Residences in the Office of the President and Cabinet Douglas Tapfuma deepen.

The ambulances, which were donated to the local authority by Vongaishe Mpereri during his tenure as a Member of Parliament for Mbizo, were brought in from South Africa, and ZIMRA has queries on clearance of the vehicles upon entry into the country.

Tapfuma was allegedly involved in importing the ambulances together with 81 other vehicles without paying tax.

Mpereri said the ZIMRA officers had some investigations to make regarding the clearance of the vehicles.

“We bought the ambulances in South Africa using the CDF funds, so the officers have questions on the clearance of the vehicles,” he said. “But I am told that the investigations are almost complete and the vehicles will be returned to council in a few days. We are not there to block the authorities from carrying out their duties.”

Contacted for comment, ZIMRA head of corporate communications Mr Francis Chimanda confirmed the probe, but declined to give more details citing secrecy provisions.

“Please note that the query relates to an individual’s clearance and in terms of the secrecy provisions in both the Revenue Authority Section 34A and the Customs and Excise Act, Section 210, we are not in a position to provide a response,” wrote Mr Chimanda in response to e-mailed questions.

Acting Kwekwe Town Clerk Dr Lucia Mnkandla said council officials were in the dark over the seizure of the ambulances.

“I can confirm that ZIMRA took away two of the ambulances that were handed over to council by Mpereri,” she said. “We are, however, not aware of the reasons behind the seizure of the vehicles.”

Dr Mnkandla said the local authority’s ambulance fleet had been left depleted and only one ambulance was functional.

“We have been left in dire straits as we are left with only one ambulance that is up and running,” she said. “Two others are down, so the ambulances had helped to ease the situation in the town.”

ABOUT 15 Chivhu war veterans on Tuesday demonstrated against alleged maladministration by the district development co-ordinator Michael Mariga and locked him out of his office.

The war veterans accused Mariga of allocating land without following proper procedures, which had caused some misunderstandings among land owners in the district.

They also accused Mariga of disrespecting them and sidelining them from the affairs of the district.

The war veterans gathered at Mariga’s office at the Range offices, some 15km from Chivhu town, waving placards, singing and chanting slogans.

They then put key blockers on his office locks.

“The office is ours. Chivhu is ours. You are a mere employee, so you can’t disrespect us. You must go,” they sang.

Some of the placards were written, “Mariga, why do you hate war vets that much?”, “Why don’t you want war vets in lands meetings?”, “You wrote a letter to the political commissar lying that war vets were selling State land. Prove it.”

Mariga could not be reached for a comment as he continuously dropped calls from NewsDay Weekender.

Chikomba War Veterans Association chairperson Joachim Chivandire said he was attending meetings in Marondera and could not comment.

“I am in Marondera for some meetings. I will get in touch when I get back to Chivhu,” he said.

A war veteran, who participated in the demonstration and agreed to comment on condition of anonymity, said there was bad blood between the freedom fighters and Mariga which had been derailing development in the district, hence they had to organise a demonstration to alert higher authorities.

“We tried several means to amicably resolve our differences with Mariga, but to no avail. We couldn’t let the situation continue like that, so we had to lock him out of his office,” she said.

Early this year, a war veteran, Justice Munhapa, was fined $30 at the Chivhu Magistrates’ Courts for insulting Mariga and calling him a liar during a lands meeting.

-Newsday

Zodwa is sticking by her decision to call off her wedding and vowed to “never go back” to her former bae Ntobeko.

The couple were set to tie the knot this past weekend but cancelled the ceremony at the 11th hour. Zodwa told TshisaLIVE earlier this week that the wedding is off “for good” and she had broken up with Ntobeko.

Although she was shy to share what caused the split, she hinted that fame had driven a wedge between them and claimed Ntobeko did not “fight” for her.

Ntobeko refused to comment on the couple’s relationship and said Zodwa knew the reasons for the split

The couple’s relationship was on and off several times in the build-up to the wedding but speaking to TshisaLIVE again on Wednesday, Zodwa shut down suggestions that the couple could get back together.

“I will never get back to Ntobeko. Never.”

Zodwa added that she was “bored and tired” of the whole relationship and had been working hard.

Despite the heartbreak, Zodwa said she still believed in love and would fall in love again, given the chance.

“I still believe in love and will be in a relationship in the future, but not with Ntobeko.”

-timeslive

GOVERNMENT has come to the rescue of about 600 farmers at Mt Olympus in Goromonzi who were being threatened with eviction by former Finance deputy minister Terence Mukupe to pave way for residential developments.

The farmers, more than half of whom have government-issued offer letters, have been living at the farm since 2000 until this year when Mukupe, through his company Farmtel Investments, claimed that he was offered the same piece of land by the Local Government ministry then led by Saviour Kasukuwere.

On Thursday, Mashonaland East Provincial Affairs minister Aplonia Munzverengi, who was accompanied by top officials from the Lands ministry visited the farmers and assured them that they would be spared eviction while authorities try to find a lasting solution to the impasse.

Munzverengi said the land in question falls under Mashonaland East province and that those seeking to allocate residential stands should look somewhere else for land.

“I came here to talk to you after learning of all the problems you are facing. This land falls under Mashonaland East; you have offer letters, meaning that you belong here. We looked into the matter and we are still on the table with relevant authorities for a permanent solution. However, you belong here and continue with your activities here. Do we have to turn each piece of land into residential stands? They should look elsewhere not here,” she said.

Mt Olympus Farm, also known as KwaProton, has a total hectarage of 5 700 hectares with more than 250 resettled farmers yet to get their offer letters.

Recently, Mukupe who had visited the farmers to distribute eviction notice, reportedly left in a huff as the angry farmers drove him off the farm.

The farmers’ spokesperson, one Musungo, said Mukupe had become a problem, threatening to take over the land despite most of the farmers being productive.

“We have been farming on this land since 2000 until this year when some land barons came to disturb our peace by claiming that the land is theirs. We have more than 324 farmers who were given offer letters in 2010 by the responsible ministry. This has been our home and we have been very productive. We participated in command agriculture and we did well among other projects,” he said.

Most of the farmers are currently on the command poultry programme that was launched by the local legislator Ozias Bvute last year.

According to government documents, in 2016 Mukupe’s company, Farmtel Investments was given 100ha in Chishawasha B, with other companies reportedly belonging to government heavyweights like Nettfields Investments (Pvt) Ltd and Mahlaba (Pvt) Ltd and Elephant Trust also getting pieces of the farm which lies along Arcturus Road.

Former Zanu-PF youth league boss Kudzanayi Chipanga was also one of the beneficiaries.

-Newsday

By Own Correspondent| President Emmerson Mnangagwa has appointed four new ambassadors to replace those who either retired or have been recalled.

Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, made the announcement in a notice in a Government Gazette published on Friday.

The appointments, as Sibanda indicated, were made in terms of Sections 110(2) (i) and 204 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) 2013 Act, 2013. Below are the appointments which the president made.

1. Dr Emmanuel Runganga Gumbo – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Sudan. He replaces Ms Hilda Mafudze, who had served in Khartoum from 2009 to date
2. Engineer Jetro Ndlovu – Inaugural ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.
3. Ms Mietani Chauke – Ambassador to the Republic of Italy, replacing career diplomat Mr Godfrey Magwenzi.
4. Air Marshal (Retired) Shebba Shumbayawonda – Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt, replacing Mr Christopher Mapanga

THE National Social Security Authority (NSSA) forensic audit report tabled in Parliament this week exposes shocking corruption, fraud, criminal abuse of office and theft that saw the authority being prejudiced of over US$175 million.

NSSA suffered actual financial prejudice to the tune of US$7 536 375, while investigators detected potential financial prejudice of US$167 713 756.

Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira and the authority’s former board chairman Mr Robin Vela feature prominently in the report.

Off-take housing contracts awarded to undeserving companies through corruption have potentially prejudiced NSSA of US$104 million.

According to the report, NSSA lost US$4 172 000 to one bank in a corrupt debt swap deal involving the bank’s property.

The bank also reportedly sold properties to NSSA at highly inflated prices, prejudicing the authority of US$2 055 000.

The executive management awarded themselves unapproved loans and benefits to the tune of US$306 195 while non-executive directors got US$86 322.

Unfair labour practices and the awarding of a golden handshake, resulted in NSSA losing US$598 718.

Prominent figures were fingered in the scandal that saw NSSA “blindly” releasing close to US$27 355 000 to three construction companies without going to tender, neither did the authority carry out a due diligence exercise.

NSSA also lost US$62 million through Treasury Bills and loans advanced to the named bank.More in Home

The report also exposed recruitment scandals that saw Mrs Elizabeth Chitiga, who was third in the interviews, being appointed chief executive ahead of the top two.

NSSA, according to the report, awarded tenders for the construction of 10 504 housing units, under off-take housing project, but not even a single unit was constructed despite releasing an advance deposit payment of US$27 355 000. All this was done with the approval of Minister Mupfumira and Mr Vela.

Two of the companies—Drawcard (Private) Limited and Metro Reality Private Limited—got special treatment in the awarding of the tender because they were linked to Goromonzi North legislator and the bank’s chief executive officer.

The bank’s chief executive and managing director own a real estate concern which, according to the report, contributed to the company’s favourable treatment which saw it being awarded two off-take housing contracts in one day.

The award of the two contracts, according to the report, was done at a meeting held in Mr Vela’s office in the presence of Minister Mupfumira and the bank’s officials.

Housing Corporation Zimbabwe, the third company, was awarded the US$304 million contract when it was a week old because of its with Mr Vela.

The company was awarded a contract to construct 8 000 units when it was still green and without following the tender procedure.

It was paid a deposit of US$16 million in 2017 but not even a single unit was built.

On April 7 2016, NSSA held interviews for the post of general manager and Ms Elizabeth Chitiga, who was third with 83 percent got the job ahead of Ms Rachael Kupara and Mrs Tanya Chikanza who scored 90 percent and 85 percent, respectively.

One of the internal candidates Mr Henry Chikova who was shortlisted, was not interviewed for unclear reasons.

NSSA membership records were also found to be in shambles with a classic case of a teacher in Wedza whose monthly salary was recorded as $48 000.

-State Media

Below is a statement from the National Patriotic Front on recent pronouncements by Finance Minister Prof Mthuli Ncube which effectively ended the 51-49 ownership pattern in the mining sector.

The former President Robert Mugabe backed party said they believe the liberation struggle was fought in order to restore Zimbabweans rights to their God given resources which the new dispensation seeks to do away with to impress investors.

Jealousy Mawarire who released the statement said he believes the removal of the indigenization policy is a reversal of the gains of the liberation struggle.

Below is the full statement;

Ngezi Platinum 2 (Barnabus Mushunje 3′, Donald Teguru 18′)
Harare City 0
*46′ City penalty saved by Nelson Chadya
FC Platinum 0
CAPS United 0
Dynamos 1 (Godknows Murwira 39′)
Triangle 1 (Trevor Mavhunga 30′)
Manica Diamonds 0
Black Rhinos 1 (Wellington Taderera 47′ -penalty)

Sports minister Kirsty Coventry has promised to watch the English Premier League side Aston Villa play following their signing of Zimbabwean midfielder Marvellous Nakamba.

Nakamba was officially unveiled as an Aston Villa player this week and Zimbabweans have been ecstatic at the prospects of watching a warriors player rubbing shoulders with the world’s best players in England.

Coventry could not be left out of the celebrations saying she will be watching more of Aston Villa games in celebration of Nakamba.

Below is Coventry’s tweet in response to Aston Villa’s announcement of Nakamba as their player.

THE transfer of funds from mobile money transfer agents to recipients will now be subjected to taxation as Treasury moves to plug out rampant illegal foreign currency deals being conducted via the cash-in and cash-out facility.

Although Government has established the interbank foreign currency market to stabilise the financial services sector, illegal foreign currency deals remain stubborn with the parallel market still exerting pressure on the formal trading platform.

In his 2019 mid-year budget review statement presented in Parliament on Thursday, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube tracked the remnant illegal forex deals to the abuse of the cash-in and cash-out facility.

He said while legislation obliges financial institutions to deduct intermediated money transfer tax on the transfer of money by any means other than by cheque, mobile money transfers by agents to recipients were left out of the tax bracket. The existing regulations apply to taxation on money transfers between two persons, from one person to two or more persons or from two or more persons to one person.

“However, cash-in and cash-out transactions conducted through mobile money transfer platforms do not fall within the above criterion hence the tax is not deductible,” said Prof Ncube.

He said most illegal foreign currency transactions were being conducted through this platform thereby evading payment of tax and sustaining parallel market activities.

“I, therefore, propose to levy tax on the transfer of money from mobile money transfer agents to recipients,” said Minister Ncube.

Government introduced the intermediated money transfer tax (IMTT), popularly known as the ‘2c tax’ in October last year. The tax is pegged at 2c per every dollar transacted as part of measures to widen the revenue base. It replaced the previous tax of five cents per transaction.

Prof Ncube said the bulk of the revenue from this tax head was being used to finance critical infrastructure projects such as roads. Since its introduction, the tax head has performed very well and has become one of the top revenue head contributors, according to Zimra.

In his budget review statement, Prof Ncube announced a further review to the IMTT citing changes in the macro-economic conditions.

“I propose to review the tax-free threshold from the current ZWL$10 to ZW$20 and the maximum tax payable per transaction by corporates from the current ZWL$10 000 to ZW$15 000 for transactions with value exceeding ZWL$750 000. Furthermore, I propose to exempt additional transactions from IMTT in order to eliminate double taxation,” he said.

Individual tax payers and corporates have complained that the 2c tax has increased the cost of doing business and is draining consumers.

Prof Ncube has said the revenue enhancing measures are meant to boost domestic resources to support the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), a major building block towards attainment of an upper middle income economy by 2030.

“It is therefore time to really focus on production, productivity, growth, poverty reduction and development, given that the fiscal and monetary policy issues are under control,” said Prof Ncube.

— Chronicle

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