PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has fired party spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo and replaced him with politburo secretary for legal affairs Paul Mangwana.
Khaya-Moyo has hardly said a word as the ruling party is savaged by the opposition for allegedly trying to rig the July 30 elections.
Former Zanu PF politburo member and ex-higher education minister Professor Jonathan Moyo claimed that Khaya Moyo was “accused of collapsing ZanuPF’s propaganda ahead of the July 30 poll”.
Mangwana, a lawyer, confirmed he was now the ruling party’s spokesperson.
“Yes I am acting spokesperson. I will be speaking generally on issues concerning the party,” said Mangwana.
In a statement, the ruling party’s director of administration Dickson Dzora said Mangwana would be the party’s spokesperson until further notice.
“This communication serves to notify members of the media and other stakeholders that Cde Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana is the Acting ZANU PF spokesperson until further notice.
“This is due to the fact that the Secretary for Information and Publicity, Cde Simon Khaya Moyo is currently seized with campaigning for the Bulilima-Mangwe Senatorial seat,” Dzora said.
Professor Moyo dismissed the explanation, saying on Twitter;
“Anyone who believes that SK has been dropped as Zanu PF spokesman to give him time to campaign for a “Senatorial seat” in Bulilima Mangwe will believe anything. 1) There’s no Bulilima Mangwe senatorial seat & 2) SK Moyo is not the only PB member contesting in the July 30 poll!”
Sources claimed that Zanu PF might be preparing for “long winter ahead; with elections just over a week away, a lawyer will serve the ruling party better in the spokesperson’s position given possible legal wrangles likely to arise.”
Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has already raised a red flag over the way the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is handling the election process, raising fears he will reject the poll outcome which could trigger another dispute.
Khaya Moyo serves as energy minister and has also been acting information minister after Mnangagwa’s bid to appoint war veterans chairperson Christopher Mutsvangwa in the latter job failed over a constitutional quota.-NewZimbabwe
A picture of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa taking medication in front of his Zanu-PF supporters at a rally has kept social media abuzz.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa taking medication
In the picture, Mnangagwa is seen taking tablets for an undisclosed medical condition at a rally in Mashonaland West.
See the picture below
According to New Zimbabwe.com, the 75-year-old leader has no ailment known to the public although unconfirmed reports have linked him to regular hospital visits.
Social media users were quick to air their views, with some saying that taking of tablets at the president’s age was “normal and only those who have not taken medications would be alarmed”.
Mnangagwa’s supporters said at the time that he had been deliberately poisoned by ice-cream from Grace’s dairy, a claim that infuriated the former first family.
According to NewsDay, sources close to Mnangagwa also said that the doctors discovered that Mnangagwa had consumed non-radioactive which required a systems flush.
A bizarre picture from Kadoma.Maybe he is taking antidepressants, what else could it be. Chamisa is giving him sleepless nights. Whatever pills he is taking, I can only wish him a speedy recovery as much as I would also want anyone to wish me well. pic.twitter.com/r1kRfpjPP4
PHOTO: ‘Sick’ Mnangagwa takes pills on stage – Bulawayo24 News https://t.co/IQCfHUJfAl Taking of tablets of some of ED age is normal, generally after 25 yrs every person metabolism and gears of life get tired, who has not taken tablets in this life can be alarmed by ED 75yrs
The president is not feeling okay, Mnangagwa it taking medication to relieve high levels of stress.Surely Chamisa is giving Mnangagwa headaches, the junta is restless. pic.twitter.com/AjwcLSC6g2
ZEC Commissioner Qhubani Moyo has sensationally disowned the voters’ roll that ZEC availed to political parties and foreign embassies. After being quizzed on social media about the anomalies that an anonymous group calling itself Pachedu unearthed, Qhubani had no defense except to claim that the voters roll that Pachedu used was not the one ZEC had.
The credibility and impartiality of the electoral body has increasingly been questioned especially after the group produced a damning report that claims to have unearthed over 250 000 ghost voters.
The report points to statistically improbable combinations,
“Since ID numbers are issued sequentially across all districts, only 61 people should share the middle digits that are sandwiched by the district code and the validation. There is a very low statistical probability that people who share the same last name would share the same set of middle numbers across districts. In our analysis we found 122,788 cases like this”
The same voters roll also has age anomalies where two people who could arguably be the oldest people in the world are also registered to vote. Sihle and Phidas are 134 and 140 years old respectively. ZEC has since claimed it was a data entry mistake.
ZEC chairperson Priscilla Chigumba has also sensationally revealed that ZEC database was hacked probably resulting in the leaking of phone numbers that were later used by the ruling ZANU PF to send SMSes campaigning for its candidates. Voters are however skeptical as they believe ZEC availed the numbers to ZANU PF.
Robert Mugabe, the former Zimbabwe president who ruled the Southern African nation with an iron fist freely and voluntarily stepped down from power in November 2017 after 37 years, the Chief Justice Luke Malaba has ruled.
Robert Mugabe,
Mugabe stepped down last year as the country’s president after the military mounted pressure in what many believe was a coup.
But it emerged yesterday that Mr Mugabe carefully applied his mind and decided to step down without the embarrassment of impeachment.
“The former President’s written notice of resignation speaks for itself.
“It sets the context in which it was written.
“He candidly reveals the fact that he had communicated with the Speaker of Parliament at 1353 hours. In the communication, the former President expressed to the Speaker his desire to resign from the office of President.
“The Speaker must have advised him that for the resignation to have the legal effect of bringing his presidency to an end, it had to be communicated to him by means of a written notice.
“A written notice of resignation addressed to the Speaker and signed by the President, on the face of it, meets the first requirement of constitutional validity,” said the Chief Justice.
The Liberal Democrats and Revolutionary Freedom Fighters, as well as activists Bongani Nyathi, Linda Masarira and Vusumuzi Sibanda, sought the green light to contest the legality of the President Mnangagwa-led Government.
They argued that Mr Mugabe tendered the resignation under duress and that the assumption of office by President Mnangagwa was unconstitutional.
MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa on Tuesday morning held a press conference in which he discussed issues concerning the upcoming July 30 harmonised elections as well as the conduct of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) and its chairperson, Justice Priscilla Chigumba.
Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association (ZNLWVA) spokesperson Douglas Mahiya has said that the war veterans will never allow MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa to rule the country if he wins the election.
Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association spokesperson and publicity secretary, Douglas Mahiya.
Mahiya also went on to say that Chamisa will is not going to win the July 30 harmonised elections. Addressing a Zanu-PF rally in Highfield on Monday, Mahiya said,
I heard a small boy talking about winning elections, saying he is taking over the country, this country will never be ruled by small boys and we will never allow that, isn’t it true people? I believe no one will vote for him, Chamisa and I can see you are so many here and these numbers will never go to Chamisa, go and tell those whom you left at home to vote for ZANU PF on the 30 of July.
The war veterans have never hidden their preference for Chamisa’s rival President Emmerson Mnangagwa.-263Chat
HWANGE — MDC Alliance spokesperson, Welshman Ncube on Friday last week insinuated that some politicians in the country were suffering from cannabis effects.
Ncube was speaking in reference to Alliance for People’s Agenda leader Nkosana Moyo whom he said was contesting for the presidency without a single aspiring House of Assembly candidate.
Ncube made the remarks while addressing supporters in Hwange.
“To give you examples so that you see that in Zimbabwe we have a problem of mbanje, there is Nkosana. He wants to be a president. He is alone. He has no other candidate,” he said.
“Where will he appoint ministers from? In Parliament, who will vote for your laws? If you go to Parliament without MPs they will chase you away.”
He said it would be a waste of votes for the electorate to vote for such people and they should be wary of them
The people from Matabeleland have been called upon to stop shying away from government programmes as this is tantamount to self marginalisation.
Addressing Zanu PF supporters in Cowdray Park, Bulawayo today, Retired Colonel George Nare, who is one of the directors in the Zanu PF Commissariat Department, bemoaned the self exclusion of the people of Matabeleland from government development programmes.
He challenged the community of Bulawayo and Matabeleland region to put aside the differences of the past and focus on development by embracing government programmes.
He added that the government is working on regularising the Cowdray Park housing challenges to ensure that water, sewerage and roads are put in place to support this community.
Earlier in Nketa constituency, Zanu PF Bulawayo Provincial Chairperson, Callistus Ndlovu called on the people of Matabeleland to dialogue, forgive and look ahead for the good of the region.
The Minister of State for Bulawayo, Angeline Masuku urged the electorate to vote for Zanu PF in the July 30 elections, saying President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s led party is a renewed political outfit that has the country at heart.
Zimbabwe Defences Forces Commander General Phillip Valerio Sibanda helped in the safe escape of President Mnangagwa when he was fired as Vice President last year, Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga disclosed yesterday.
Addressing mourners at the burial of Gogo Yowana Kubvoruno, mother to General Sibanda, in Gokwe’s Dera area yesterday, VP Chiwenga said he first got the information about the President’s dismissal from Government from Gen Sibanda.
VP Chiwenga said acting on his instruction, Gen Sibanda played a pivotal role in orchestrating the President’s escape to Mozambique until he got safe temporary shelter in that country.
“Today I want to tell you something I had never told anyone, a secret that has been between me and General Sibanda whose mother we are burying today.
“At the height of the madness that had rocked the country in November last year with senior officials in Government being rebuked in public places, a development which culminated in the dismissal of President Mnangagwa from Government and his then position as Vice-President of the Republic. I was out of the country in China on duty.
“General Sibanda then phoned to deliver to me the sad developments and I asked him what we were supposed to do.
“We then had a discussion and I said to him, this man’s life is in danger. He might be killed, please do everything possible to make sure that he (President Mnangagwa) gets out of the country safe and alive. Gen Sibanda acted on that instruction and the President was taken out safely,” he said.
VP Chiwenga said Gen Sibanda dispatched three security details who escorted President Mnangagwa out of the country before they returned into Zimbabwe through the Mozambique border despite the fact that one of them had no passport.
“General Sibanda managed to take out President Mnangagwa safely. One of the three security details who took the President out had no passport but they managed to return home through the Mozambique border without passports.
“This man did a sterling job which I thought he would not accomplish,” said the Vice-President.
“After taking the President out, the army under the leadership of General Sibanda remained calm, maintaining peace while the country was at a standstill until I returned.
“I returned some few days later and, we had an emergency meeting and decided to launch an operation, again when we were deliberating on the name of the operation, General Sibanda was the one who came up with the name Operation Restore Legacy, which became a huge success.”
VP Chiwenga described Gen Sibanda as a gallant hero who left some indelible marks in the country’s liberation struggle and in neighbouring countries where he operated.
He said the general’s mother was resting in peace knowing well that she bore the country a true hero.
Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Phillip Valerio Sibanda and wife Mercy pay their last respects to the Commander’s mother, Mrs Yowana Kubvoruno Sibanda, during her burial in Gokwe yesterday.
“Gogo MaDube (Kubvoruno) played her part. She is a heroine in her own right. From her womb came out heroes like Gen Sibanda.
“Gen Sibanda operated in Mozambique and Angola and today Angola cannot talk of its history without mentioning the name of Gen Sibanda,” he said.
Speaking at the same ceremony, Gen Sibanda thanked mourners for coming in numbers to mourn with him.
“I want to thank you for coming to my mother’s burial. We know this is everyone’s way and everyone has where to stop in life,” he said.
Born on August 18 1920, Gogo Yowana Kubvoruno died on Friday morning at Gokwe District Hospital after a short illness.
The Johane Marange Apostolic Church yesterday prophesied that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s victory in the July 30 polls is not only certain, but guaranteed.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa at VaPostori Shrine
The prophecy was announced at the Mafararikwa Shrine in Bocha, Marange, where more than 250 000 members of the church gathered for the annual Passover Feast. President Mnangagwa was invited by the church’s leader, Mutumwa Noah Taguta, to attend the 17-day event that ends on Tuesday.
Thousands of congregants from several African countries also turned up for the Passover event. More than six evangelists who ministered during a church service held before the Passover said President Mnangagwa would romp to victory with ease.
In his remarks, President Mnangagwa welcomed the prophecy and said his Government would do everything possible to ensure freedom of worship in the country.
“I want to thank Baba Mutumwa Taguta. He has extended his benevolence to me and shown me the way. He said, ‘my son, this is the correct path to follow and if I fail, that will be my own fault.’ As the leader of the country, I preach day and night the gospel of peace and unity. Yes, we are approaching elections and you have assured me victory. What God has written with his hand is final. My victory has been prophesied here and nothing is going to stand in the way of that prophecy. I thank you all for that.”
President Mnangagwa reiterated his message of peace and unity ahead of the polls. He said peace is important for the development of the country.
“It is my hope and hope of the new Government that we should have peace and unity in our country. God cherishes to see his people united and working together in harmony. We want peace among Christians, we want peace among Zimbabweans for our country to develop. Receiving blessings from God is easy if you are united. The last time I met Mutumwa Taguta he requested if Government can provide the church with a farm to do projects and we have honoured that request.
“They also requested tractors and I said as Government we will do our best depending on the availability of funds. You also requested that we sink boreholes here for people to have safe drinking water and I am sure work is underway to address that.
We do that as Government because the people that we lead are from the church. Church has a role to prepare for our future life. Everything that we do as human beings will come to an end, but the word of God that you preach will be there forever.”
President Mnangagwa said members of the Johane Marange Apostolic Church were blessed to have a leader like Mutumwa Taguta. He said he was enchanted by the huge turnout at the Shrine, where hundreds of thousands of congregants volunteered to attend.
“When we do our political meetings, we do door-to-door mobilisation. What I have seen here is amazing and it shows us the power of God. Here, we don’t say your victory is certain, but that your victory is guaranteed. This is a holy place and you need not to fear anything. What you only need to have is faith. Clothes that are donned today are not ordinary. The hand of Mutumwa Noah that blessed you today is not also ordinary.”
Other evangelists said former President Mugabe failed to follow instructions he got from Mutumwa Noah and that marked his downfall. Mr Mugabe, they said, surrendered his power to his wife Mrs Grace Mugabe — a move that was against Mutumwa Noah’s instructions.
The gathering was also attended by Manicaland Minister of State for Provincial Affairs Mrs Monica Mutsvangwa and Zanu-PF members who included Manicaland chair Cde Mike Madiro and Buhera North legislator Cde William Mutomba.
VICE-President Constantino Chiwenga yesterday promised residents of Harare’s oldest suburb modern apartments with swimming pools as Zanu PF stepped up its campaign to wrestle control of the capital from the opposition.
Chiwenga told a campaign rally in Mbare that the dilapidated hostels in the poor neighbourhood would be transformed after the elections.
Zanu PF supporters, who first fought for T-shirts before Chiwenga arrived, cheered as the VP also promised that the entire infrastructure in Mbare would be modernised.
He said those that had relocated to affluent suburbs like Borrowdale would flock back to Mbare.
“We have a comprehensive master plan for the home industries and the Mbare hostels to the extent that wherever we reconstruct a block of flats, there will be swimming pools for children and kindergartens,” Chiwenga said.
“Mbare will be the first place that we are going to develop in Harare, and those that had relocated to Borrowdale and Mount Pleasant will come back to Mbare.”
Chiwenga blamed the MDC-T-run council for the poor state of Mbare. He said residents were staying in dilapidated buildings with broken windows, potholed roads, and dirty surroundings with uncollected litter because of the incompetence of the council.
“The [Zanu PF] Mbare National Assembly candidate Tendai Savanhu asked if I was aware of the conditions at the hostels and I told him that I have visited the place in disguise,” he claimed.
“After noticing the poor living conditions, we then came up with the master plan for Mbare and Harare.
“There are serious health issues like cholera and typhoid because of the MDC-T-led council.
“The water pipes and sewer reticulation systems are archaic and they failed to replace them.”
The VP said he would make sure that all houses that Mbare residents rented for more than 30 years would be given to tenants.
Zanu PF provincial commissar Douglas Mahiya chided party supporters who fought for T-shirts saying they were rogues that did not belong to the party.-Standard
Former Zimbabwe government minister Professor Jonathan Moyo has revealed key name linked to the abduction and disappearance rights activist Itai Dzamara.
Moyo said the following via his social blog column:
Let me state upfront that I have no first hand information on what happened to Itai Dzamara. But I have what I believe is useful information that I’ll share here, based on what I came to know & found reliable in the course of my duty as a government minister then!
Let me further state upfront that while the public presumption is that decisions of & by the government of Zimbabwe are made by Cabinet, this is far from fact. MDC members who served in the GNU would attest to knowing of many key “government” decisions not made by Cabinet!
Big General Mike Sango was Commander Defense Intelligence officer-CDI
After founding Occupy Africa Unity Square in October 2014, Itai was arrested more than 20 times & abducted four times before the fateful 9th of March 2015 when he was last seen alive. A High Court order compelling ZRP to search for him yielded zilch under AssCom Makedenge!
What is particularly painful for me is the realization that Itai Dzamara’s abduction & disappearance is now surrounded by silence & inaction; reduced to an unforgettable issue for his family alone; yet the matter is a serious national tragedy against the new Constitution!
In the spirit & letter of the new Constitution & the Second Republic that is crying for a new generation of leadership with a new ethos, I wish to disclose privileged information I got about what happened to Itai Dzamara & why. I share this as a potentially useful detail!
After the controversial dismissal of Emmerson Mnangagwa on 6 Nov 2017, a lot of credible informants came forward with tones of information implicating Mnangagwa & his cohorts in unspeakable atrocities. Really. This is a fact that not even an earthquake will ever destroy!
I got to know from a high level source with access to the information; that ZDF’s Military Intelligence Department (MID) abducted Itai Dzamara & subjected him to extreme torture like in the gukurahundi & State of Emergency days. Mnangagwa, Chiwenga & Mohadi know about this!
The MID officer who oversaw this is Brigadier General Mike Sango who was then CID & is now Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Russia. Why did they do this? To build a case against President Mugabe; as they did on 7 March 2007 with their savage attack on the late Morgan Tsvangirai!
P.S. (Technical) Brig General Mike Sango was CDI, not CID, but CDI, Commander Defense Intelligence. Also note that whereas in Gukurahundi & State of Emergency days CIO was the most notorious state organ in abductions, disappearances, torture & murder; MID now has that notoriety!
MUTARE – MDC Alliance yesterday pulled the biggest crowd in Mutare since its formation by packing Sakubva Stadium to the rafters, with close to 20 000 supporters turning up.
Nelson Chamisa said in his stump speech they had to turn way some people to allow the programme to commence without disturbances.
With the terraces packed, more people were channelled onto the pitch but the gates had to be shut to allow the programme to go on without risking crowd trouble.
“What overwhelmed me today is that from the formation of the party, we have never addressed such a packed stadium such that we start the programme with people still streaming in.
“I’m told the gates had to be closed. I wish my father and mentor . . . Morgan Richard Tsvangirai was here. It’s sad that he did not live to witness this although he is the one who set us up to this day…
“You did something that is amazing…I know we did not bring anyone from outside Mutare. I went to Chipinge, Chimanimani, Mutasa DC and Hauna. The people I saw there showed me that Zanu PF is the former ruling party and we are the ruling party,” Chamisa said.
The surprisingly huge turn-out was also acknowledged as historical by MDC Alliance principal Tendai Biti.
“I want to thank you for this statement you have made today. I’ve come here many times with (the late) president Tsvangirai but this is the biggest statement ever,” Biti said.
Biti said this was a clear message to the ruling party that the people were fed up with it.
“It’s a statement against authoritarianism, against joblessness, against poverty…everywhere we have gone Zimbabwe is sending out a loud and clear statement that it no longer wants Zanu PF,” Biti said.
The People’s Democratic Party leader said Zanu PF was now in panic mode after seeing the mammoth crowds and alleged it was now attempting to manipulate the electoral process.
Biti said he would once again announce the election results on August 1 — a crime he was arrested for in the 2008 poll when he declared the late MDC leader Tsvangirai the winner.
During his own address, Chamisa queried the ballot printing. Zec completed printing presidential ballots on Wednesday, with postal voting now under way.
“We are not sure if the ballot papers were printed in Zimbabwe. We do not have any evidence that they were printed here.
“We feel it’s the ghost ballot papers that we are not in agreement with. We will not agree to go for an election under such circumstances,” Chamisa said as the opposition digs in.
The opposition leader said the Zanu PF administration was gambling with the notion that it had the backing of the military, saying it faced the spectre of fierce resistance from an angry populace.
“Soldiers are ours. I want to warn Mnangagwa that they should not play with fire. I want to warn Mnangagwa, he should not assume that everyone is his.
“He should know that the youth of this country will not tolerate any nonsense. I’m going to be leading them.
“Any funny thing to rig the election; we are going to announce a programme next week. We are going to resist any attempt to rig an election in Zimbabwe,” Chamisa said.
He said his party was not going to be cheated and would secure consensus on the electoral process first.
“We will not boycott this election. Winners never quit. We will agree on how to conduct this election,” Chamisa said.
He scoffed at criticism being levelled against him over his youthful age saying what mattered was his vision and not his age.
“They do not understand where we are going and their mistake is to talk about my age. What matters is not my age, but the depth of my vision,” he said.-Dailynews
President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday admitted that Zanu PF was drawing huge crowds at rallies by bussing people, moving door-to-door and luring participants with T-shirts and other goodies.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa at VaPostori Shrine
Addressing members of the Noah Taguta-led Johane Marange apostolic church at Mafararikwa in Marange, Mnangagwa said he had never seen such a huge crowd gathered freely without being coerced or lured by goodies.
“I have never seen such a gathering in my entire life, a huge gathering of people who have freely come here on their own,” he said.
“When we hold our party rallies we normally mobilise people door-to-door, some come to receive T-shirts and so on, but you came freely, I am happy.
“As the church, you have a role to play in our nation building.”
The Zanu Pf presidential candidate has been visiting the apostolic sects, especially the Marange community. He was told by Taguta that he would win the elections on July 30.
“A lot of people yearn to have a prophet like Mutumwa Taguta in their midst, I am privileged to have been invited by him,” Mnangagwa said.
He promised to assist the church in improving its environment as well as other needs before he pleaded for them to pray for him and for peaceful elections.
Taguta described former president Robert Mugabe as Samson who allowed a Delilah (Grace) to overpower him resulting in his downfall.
In the build-up to the 2013 elections, Mugabe addressed the same gathering and was assured of an election victory by the same cleric.
ZIMBABWE’S military, enforcing a government order, has forcibly evicted President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s elderly cleric neighbour — at gunpoint — from a well-developed and equipped 250-hectare farm on the outskirts of Kwekwe in the Midlands region, the Zimbabwe Independent has established.
By Tinashe Kairiza
Mnangagwa, who rose to power through a military coup which toppled former president Robert Mugabe last November, owns the vast Precabe Farm in Sherwood, Kwekwe, which borders with 82-year-old Reverend Isaac Tititi Moyo’s Victory Farm.
Brandishing an offer letter signed by Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement minister Perrence Shiri — a former air force commander — a platoon consisting of about 30 soldiers last Saturday besieged the farm, also known as Delvillewood, armed with assault rifles in armoured trucks with concealed number plates.
The platoon commander, a lieutenant, ordered his troops to occupy strategic positions around the property, before advancing and disrupting farm operations during the military-style takeover. The soldiers then gave Moyo, who leads the Christ Apostolic Church Worldwide Revelation, four days to vacate the property, although Shiri had instructed that he should leave the farm within 90 days.
It was not immediately clear why Moyo was evicted, but the Independent has established Shiri allocated the property to the Zimbabwe National Army’s Headquarters 5 Brigade on June 20. Shiri was in charge of 5 Brigade during the Gukurahundi massacres in which 20 000 civilians in the Midlands and Matabeleland regions, including women and children, were killed in the 1980s. The army unit is based in Kwekwe.
Checks showed that the military cited security reasons for their brutal action.
An Independent news crew which visited the farm on Monday counted more than 30 soldiers on the property. The soldiers were wielding assault rifles and had erected make-shift structures around the farm.
Documents obtained from the Lands ministry during an investigation into the issue show Moyo was allocated the farm on November 25, 2005 through an offer letter signed by the then National Security minister Didymus Mutasa, who was also in charge of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement.
After the coup which brought in Mnangagwa, Shiri wrote to Moyo on January 9 notifying him that his ministry intended to seize the farm. The minister indicated Moyo would be allocated another one, but that was not done.
Shiri told Moyo “to make any presentations” he might have on the matter to him in writing within seven days. He also wrote another letter on June 5, demanding that the cleric must vacate the property within 90 days. “Following the notice to withdraw your offer letter and the representations which you made to that effect, please be advised that the Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement is withdrawing the offer letter of land made to you in respect of subdivision 1 measuring 250.00 (hectares) of Delvillewood (Victory farm),” Shiri wrote.
“You are required to cease all or any operations that you may have been undertaking thereof and vacate the piece of land within 90 days.”
After seizing the farm from Moyo, Shiri then allocated the property to the army, documents say. “I am pleased to offer to the Headquarters of 5 Brigade the following farm (Delvillewood Sub division 1), which was compulsorily acquired in Kwekwe District, Midlands Province for use by the Headquarters 5 Brigade,” he wrote.
“Please note that the land in question is for institutional use by Headquarters 5 Brigade, Kwekwe, Midlands Province and shall remain state land on which terms and conditions for state land apply.”
Asked for a comment, Shiri said he did not remember grabbing Moyo’s farm. “It would make sense if you speak to the army. But the army is responsible for many projects in agriculture including livestock and banana plantations,” Shiri said. “I do not remember signing that letter (withdrawal letter). Are you able to prove the authenticity of my signature?”
Zimbabwe Defence Forces spokesperson Colonel Overson Mugwisi said he would seek clarification from officers responsible for managing army projects.
“Send an email, and I will direct the concerns to the people responsible for projects,” he said.
Prior to the seizure of his farm, the cleric, whose commercial farming operations also supported his philanthropic work, wrote to the minister, arguing he should keep the property because he was an “exemplary black A2 farmer.”
The letter was copied to Mnangagwa, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga and Vice-President Kembo Mohadi.
Moyo said he had consistently delivered key cash crops to various Grain Marketing Board (GMB) depots in the Midlands and Mashonaland West since being allocated the farm. “I have worked extremely hard (despite my old, advanced age) and have been farming each and every year since 2005,” Moyo wrote on January 15.
“I have been delivering maize, wheat and soyabeans every year to the GMB while developing the farm. I have been an exemplary black A2 farmer often used as a success story in the entire Midlands region . . . Many have visited my farm from as far as Harare just to witness for themselves the massive crop production, animal husbandry and maximum land utilisation on Victory Farm.
“When I started back in 2005, I was using traditional farming implements like hoes. After having worked so hard, investing in Victory Farm, I was able to purchase modern, state-of-the-art farming equipment.”
Moyo said to show he was a serious and successful farmer, he had constructed silos, dams, canals, sheds, houses, kraals, wells and fowl runs on the farm.
“The movable property that I purchased includes tractors, planters, combine harvesters, haulage trucks, lorries, shellers, ploughs, ridgers, vicon sprays. Disk harrows, pumps, irrigation pipes, sprinklers, livestock etc,” Moyo said.
When the Independent crew visited the farm, it found armed soldiers all over and in charge, chatting about football.
Some of the troops were camouflaged in the dense thickets surrounding the farm. About 10 soldiers, whose AK-47 assault rifles were resting on tree trunks, were sitting outside the farmhouse eating from plastic plates.
Farmworkers were loading farm equipment into a truck before taking it to a ramshackle industrial property owned by Moyo, about five kilometres from Kwekwe central business district. A sizeable crop of maize, which was due to be delivered to the GMB, also lay scattered among the motley implements at the industrial stand. Some farmworkers were busy harvesting a crop of maize. Sources who witnessed the troops seizing the farm say when they first arrived, the soldiers were in a belligerent mood and bulldozed their way in, although they later became friendly to farmworkers.
A week before the takeover, sources said, two millitary helicopters flying at low altitude had menacingly circled over the farmhouse before landing on Mnangagwa’s farm.
The Independent crew contacted Moyo who, however, refused to comment.
“I have nothing to say about this matter because those in authority have spoken. It is for you to make sense of what you saw at my farm,” Moyo said.
Workers at the farm said although Moyo was a good and progressive farmer, he was vulnerable and unable to defend himself. “There is nothing we can do,” one farmworker said.
Zimbabwe Defence Force’s Military Intelligence Department (MID) abducted Itai Dzamara and subjected him to extreme torture like in the Gukurahundi and State of Emergency days, ex-Information Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo has sensationally claimed.
File:Jeff Monson and Ambassador of Zimbabwe to Russia Mike Nicholas Sango
Professor Moyo was a key member of ousted long-serving president Mugabe until November 2017. In a detailed account, he used microblogging site Twitter to name the men involved in Dzamara’s abduction and disappearance on 9 March 2015.
Kembo Mohadi, then Home Affairs minister, got me as then Information Minister to believe & think that there had been an opposition & foreign inspired plot to stage manage Itai Dzamara’s abduction to put pressure on President Mugabe who had been the target of Dzamara’s demos!”, Moyo said.
He named president Mnangagwa, Mohadi , Chiwenga and Charamba as conspirators .
READ FULL THREAD BELOW
1/24 I undertook to do a thread on my take on Itai Dzamara’s abduction & disappearance in response to a question I was recently asked by @Mapfupa. I respectfully engaged @PatsonDzamara on this & got his understanding that Itai’s abduction is a serious, unresolved national matter! pic.twitter.com/4113VaRHL4
2/24 The abduction & disappearance of Itai Dzamara on 9 March 2015, and the 15 November 2017 military coup, are thus far the worst blights on the 2013 Constitution that are reminiscent of the hideous evils of the First Republic under the Lancaster Constitution from 1980 to 2013!
3/24 Let me state upfront that I have no first hand information on what happened to Itai Dzamara. But I have what I believe is useful information that I’ll share here, based on what I came to know & found reliable in the course of my duty as a government minister then!
3/24 Let me state upfront that I have no first hand information on what happened to Itai Dzamara. But I have what I believe is useful information that I’ll share here, based on what I came to know & found reliable in the course of my duty as a government minister then!
4/24 Let me further state upfront that while the public presumption is that decisions of & by the government of Zimbabwe are made by Cabinet, this is far from fact. MDC members who served in the GNU would attest to knowing of many key “government” decisions not made by Cabinet!
5/24 As a footnote, the structure of the agenda has remained embarrassingly Rhodesian. Its key & regular pillar is security; featuring reports from ministries of home affairs, state security & defence. Besides this, matters arising from security reports top the agenda & the time!
6/24 Rhodesians used this approach to resist the liberation struggle. Everything was war. The retention of the approach after Independence was influenced by the retention of the Rhodesian State of Emergency from 1980 to 1990, superintendent by Mnangagwa up to 1988. A disaster!
7/8 Anyhow, I often wondered whether Cabinet’s preoccupation with security issues explained why the likes of Abednico Ncube never opened their mouths to make any contribution except when correcting the spelling of their names in the minutes of the last meeting or when eating!
9/24 Kembo Mohadi, then Home Affairs minister, got me as then Information Minister to believe & think that there had been an opposition & foreign inspired plot to stage manage Itai Dzamara’s abduction to put pressure on President Mugabe who had been the target of Dzamara’s demos!
10/24 As already intimated, key decisions in the government of Zimbabwe are not made in or by Cabinet. The key decision organs are JOC & the President’s Mondays meeting with key officials headed by the Chief Secretary to the President & Cabinet including heads of security organs!
11/24 Members of the President’s Mondays meeting & JOC have the highest security clearance & constitute a closed WhatsApp group. One of the members & a very key one, is George Charamba– permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information. He used to try in vain to misinform me!
12/24 A lot of what I later discovered was misinformation & disinformation about Itai Dzamara’s abduction & disappearance came from JOC & the President’s Mondays meeting with senior staff & it spilled into Cabinet through security reports. The endgame was to misinform the public!
13/24 Based on briefings from JOC, the President’s Mondays meeting & security reports to Cabinet I made my comments in good but mistaken faith on @BBCHARDtalk in May 2015 & tweeted on 15 July 2015 about Itai Dzamara in the manner I did, as shown in the attachments herewith! pic.twitter.com/WChtP2MGBb
14/24 In May 2016, I tweeted I had come to know that Itai Dzamara was abducted; I condemned the abduction & regretted the comments I made in 2015 as Information Minister. On 2 June 2016 #NewsDay published my regrets!
bbnhttps://www.newsday.co.zw/2016/06/dzamara-abducted-moyo pic.twitter.com/klbizVzere
15/24 I later got to know that @PatsonDzamara & the Dzamara family had done a lot with the help of lawyers, human rights organisations, individuals & even countries to find out what happened to Itai. My exposure to their pain & hitherto vain efforts deeply troubled me to my core!
17/24 What is particularly painful for me is the realization that Itai Dzamara’s abduction & disappearance is now surrounded by silence & inaction; reduced to an unforgettable issue for his family alone; yet the matter is a serious national tragedy against the new Constitution!
18/24 Zimbabwe has an insidious culture of impunity, claimed & asserted by a violent & corrupt clique that views the country as its property. Dastardly acts have been committed with impunity by this clique. The new Constitution & Second Republic require a new look at impunity!
19/24 Who abducted Rashiwe Guzha & what happened to her? Who abducted Patrick Nabanyama & what happened to him? Who abducted & murdered Cain Nkala & why? Many other compatriots were abducted & murdered in the First Republic between 1980 & 2013 with nobody held to account. Nobody! pic.twitter.com/kFaNfpq8JR
20/24 As already mentioned, whereas abductions & disappearances were a characteristic feature of the First Republic, the new Constitution, that is the foundation of the Second Republic, was supposed to banish that. Yet Itai Dzamara’s abduction happened under the new Constitution!
21/24 In the spirit & letter of the new Constitution & the Second Republic that is crying for a new generation of leadership with a new ethos, I wish to disclose privileged information I got about what happened to Itai Dzamara & why. I share this as a potentially useful detail!
22/24 After the controversial dismissal of Emmerson Mnangagwa on 6 Nov 2017, a lot of credible informants came forward with tones of information implicating Mnangagwa & his cohorts in unspeakable atrocities. Really. This is a fact that not even an earthquake will ever destroy!
THE late Johane Masowe eChishanu Vadzidzi VaJesu Church leader Aaron Mhukuta Gomo, popularly known as Mudzidzi Wimbo, was laid to rest at his church shrine in Shamva yesterday.
Hundreds of church members, Zanu PF officials and others from different walks of life paid their last respects to Wimbo, who died at Arundel Hospital in Harare on Thursday at the age of 96.
As has been the case since Thursday, Wimbo’s close family members including children and two wives did not attend the burial due to their deep-rooted differences with the church elders.
Wimbo rose to fame in the 1950s when he reportedly prophesied the ascendency of former President Robert Mugabe as the country’s first leader at independence. His followers claim he made another prophecy some years ago predicting the rise of Mugabe’s successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The church secretary and one of the appointed leaders, Shephard Chingwena said Wimbo’s followers must religiously adhere to his teachings.
“On behalf of President Mnangagwa, he is sending his condolences on the passing on of his friend. Before he became President, Mnangagwa always came here and even after his ascendency, this is one of the areas that he visited first. This showed his respect for his departed friend,” Shiri said.
“From independence, this church has always been supporting Zanu PF. Wimbo has always told his congregates that Zimbabwe’s solution lies in Zanu PF,” he said.
“We will remember Mudzidzi Wimbo as one of our heroes. The party cannot talk of its heroes without mentioning him.”
Shiri urged Wimbo’s followers to vote for Zanu PF in the upcoming elections, claiming the ruling party and the church leader’s relationship was inseparable.
Government donated food items including 30 tonnes of rice at the funeral.-NEWSDAY
Hundreds of Zimbabwean police cast their special votes in the country’s second largest city, Bulawayo, on Thursday, raising the ire of opposition parties, which ordered the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to stop the process saying it violates some national laws.
ZEC dismissed as “hogwash and very stupid propaganda” reports that the electoral body is conducting postal voting for police officers expected to be deployed in several regions ahead of the July 30th general elections.
According to Senior Assistant Police Commissioner Charity Charamba, the postal voting was conducted in the city’s Rose Camp as some provisions of Zimbabwe’s Electoral Act.
“Yes there are police who are voting who are using the postal votes which is provided for under the Electoral Act, Section 72 Chapter 2:13 which entitles especially those from the disciplined forces who will be on duty during the voting days to vote prior to the elections.
“This is done because some of the police officers are going to be deployed at polling stations which are very far away from their polling stations.”
Asked about reports that there were no ZEC officials at the polling station in the city, Charamba said she needed to verify that with relevant information but noted that some observers were monitoring the process.
“There are election observers there who are right there and the officer commanding province for Bulawayo where this complaint has emanated from is on the ground with election observers.”
However, the national electoral body said it was unaware of any postal voting in Zimbabwe.
In a statement, ZEC acting chief elections officer Utloile Silaigwana said they are still processing postal vote applications “and malcontents purporting that members of the uniformed forces voted today are bent on causing alarm and despondency ahead of the July 30 harmonised elections.
“This is hogwash and very stupid propaganda because in the first place they (social media) have photos of a police officer standing near a ballot box yet with postal voting a voter doesn’t use a ballot box. Postal is an individual who says I am applying for postal voting and he or she is given a ballot paper in an envelope and he returns it sealed.
“This is cheap propaganda without substance at all. This is coming from a person who doesn’t even understand the process. The pictures they put have nothing to do with postal vote and these people just want cause despondency in the country.”
Charamba said they need to verify the number of police officers expected to do postal voting.
Almost 8,000 people, including diplomats, have applied for postal voting.-voa
IN the euphoria of Robert Mugabe’s fall, Zimbabweans would have done anything Emmerson Mnangagwa would have asked.
At his inauguration, over 60 000 people in the National Sports Stadium lapped up his speech.
He delivered it well, even acknowledging that he wasn’t much of a speaker, but a doer. The crowd loved it.
And, in the days after his ascent to power, the hope was visible. On the streets, people waved placards calling “ED” a hero. Abroad, investors were, for the first time in decades, looking at Zimbabwe seriously.
“Within 24 hours of the military seizing control in Harare, investment firms say their phones have been ringing with client inquiries about the chances of a turnaround in Zimbabwe from decades of decline and bouts of financial chaos under Mugabe,” a Reuters report said in November.
Mnangagwa had the goodwill. Why not; he had just replaced a man reviled at home and abroad, whose very name had become synonymous with Zimbabwe’s failure.
Mnangagwa had one job; ride on that goodwill and do the right thing.
For a while, it seemed like he was doing just that. He met investors, reached out to opponents, mended fences with once hostile governments and announced economic measures that looked to be setting a course away from Mugabe’s path.
But things started turning and, somehow, he began chipping away at all the goodwill.
Here is how.
Poor Cabinet choices
(AP/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Within a week of his inauguration, Mnangagwa announced a new Cabinet. He retained the likes of Obert Mpofu, tainted by allegations of corruption, to head the police. He also retained known underachievers such as Mike Bimha, Sithembiso Nyoni, Jorum Gumbo, Christopher Mushohwe, Chris Mutsvangwa and others.
There were a few bright spots, such as the new Mines Minister Winston Chitando, but the Cabinet reeked of tried and tested failure.
Some said a wholesale clear-out of old allies would have rocked the boat too much, going into an election year. But all Zimbabweans saw, justifiably, was a leader promising to do things radically differently, but using the same team.
Many of these Ministers are stuck in their ways and can never change course, however much he cracks the whip.
Being soft on corruption
Reuters/Phil Bulawayo
There is nothing Zimbabweans would love more than to see a few corrupt kingpins in prison khakis. Mugabe’s protection of corrupt officials was a major source of our beef with him. He simply refused to jail them, as long as they paid homage to him.
And so, when SB Moyo appeared on TV that November 15 morning, threatening to target “criminals” around Mugabe, there was hope that the corrupt were about to get their just rewards.
Ignatius Chombo, a poster-boy of corruption named in deals from land to bus contracts, was arrested. He awaits trial, months later. There were no other major arrests.
In March, Mnangagwa set up anti-corruption courts, but these are yet to take off. The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission is not just toothless, but its investigations committee is led by a man who repeatedly shows he doesn’t have the mental stability for the job.
An externalisation list released in March matched neither Government’s own hype nor the public’s expectations, and this hurt ED’s credibility further.
Had ED thrown the public a bone or two, in the form of quick prosecution of a couple of top level crooks, he would have kept some goodwill.
Failure to deal with cash crunch
REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo
Few rational people believed the cash shortages would be solved overnight. The crisis is part of a deep crisis; billions in deficits, poor exports and years of Government overspending.
The solution is only long term, and, unlike what rally crowds are fed, cannot be solved within days. But the public expected some sort of resolution, or at least an improvement. It never came. Instead, repeatedly, the Government admitted to the public that it has no short-term solution, a harsh reality too hard to take for a population that has suffered for far too long.
The miracle they expected from ED never came.
Breaking promises on economy
Government has run up a wider budget deficit in the first quarter of 2018
The first budget statement of Mnangagwa’s leadership gave hope that he was indeed committed to changing things.
Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, in his budget presentation early December, announced he had turned down $169 million worth of requests for new cars.
Chinamasa also announced a range of new measures; no more business travel for officials, fewer embassies, and even cuts on new furniture and mobile phone airtime.
So we all thought the time for austerity was here. Mugabe’s overspending era was at last gone.
But it didn’t take long. Within months of Chinamasa’s announcement that he had declined a $14 million bill for chiefs’ cars, Mnangagwa was handing over new 4X4s to chiefs in Gweru.
Government tried to justify the about-turn: “The issue of cars for traditional chiefs is also in line with the new government’s initiative to ensure it can have a concerted stakeholder input on the implementation of key socio- economic developmental policies.”
Chinamasa had also announced he was turning down a $21 million request for MPs’ cars, but he soon announced that the scheme would continue, to cheers from both sides of the aisle.
Treasury’s first quarter 2018 numbers paint the picture best. Government managed to keep payroll costs in check in the first quarter of 2018, with employment costs accounted for 60.4 percent of total expenditure and 75.9 percent of recurrent expenditure, improving from 66.5 percent and 79.6 percent, respectively, in the same period of 2017.
But the Q1 budget deficit widened to $225 million this year, from $183 million in the corresponding period last year.
The government wage bill is definitely going to exceed the budgeted $3.27 billion after Government bowed down to industrial action by doctors and nurses as well as threats of similar action from teachers.
Mishandling nurses’ strike
In April, nurses went on strike for higher pay and allowances outstanding from 2010. After weeks of negotiation, in which the nurses’ union took a hard stance and held public protests, VP Constantino Chiwenga sacked all striking nurses.
They were all rehired eventually, but it showed the public a ruthlessness that many may have imagined had gone with Mugabe.
The rise of Chamisa
AFP
One of the factors that drained ED’s goodwill was not of his making. One of the reasons that many had looked to Mnangagwa for hope was the decline of the opposition MDC under Morgan Tsvangirai.
The MDC had always been an outlet for many Zimbabweans, until Tsvangirai was slowed down by illness. His party’s divisions had widened and it had gone stale on strategy and low on energy.
Mnangagwa’s opposition to Mugabe became that outlet. He wasn’t the change they wanted, but they were willing to compromise, as long as the MDC was this bad.
But, tragically, Tsvangirai passed away. But in that mourning, the MDC renewed itself. The emergence of Nelson Chamisa as party leader galvanised the opposition. Once again, ZanuPF opponents had their outlet back.
The MDC was once again recapturing the support of those outside its core and radical base.
PR fail
Government’s media complex failed Mnangagwa.
From The Herald’s poor handling of foreign investment interest, to the ZBC’s often comic partisan coverage, those in charge of Mnangagwa’s communication believed they were doing him a favour. In reality, they were hurting him, and badly.
On foreign policy, and in engagement with foreign media, Mnangagwa’s PR strategists were on point. They did what needed to be done; casting Mnangagwa as the pro-business, calm and steady hand that Zimbabwe needed to steer the country from crisis.
But state media, in contrast, were not as nuanced. They were overexcited. In their rush to please, and showing little appreciation for how investments work, the state press again tried to sell “mega deals” to an already sceptical public.
There were many headlines screaming “billions”, as if cash was being deposited into bank accounts.
As a result, when real progress was indeed being made on the investment front, especially in mining, it was waved away by the public as mere propaganda.
Added to this was poor communication by Mnangagwa’s PR on his “100 day cycles”. The message sent, wrong and unchallenged, was that Mnangagwa had promised to solve all the nation’s problems in 100 days.
Meanwhile, on ZBC, old tired voices repeated the same praise-singing tropes of the Mugabe era, while shutting out even token opposition opinion. Where state media could have been used cleverly to portray a “New Dispensation”, it was instead used to show loyalty to the new leader, hurting him in the process.
IN the euphoria of Robert Mugabe’s fall, Zimbabweans would have done anything Emmerson Mnangagwa would have asked.
At his inauguration, over 60 000 people in the National Sports Stadium lapped up his speech.
He delivered it well, even acknowledging that he wasn’t much of a speaker, but a doer. The crowd loved it.
And, in the days after his ascent to power, the hope was visible. On the streets, people waved placards calling “ED” a hero. Abroad, investors were, for the first time in decades, looking at Zimbabwe seriously.
“Within 24 hours of the military seizing control in Harare, investment firms say their phones have been ringing with client inquiries about the chances of a turnaround in Zimbabwe from decades of decline and bouts of financial chaos under Mugabe,” a Reuters report said in November.
Mnangagwa had the goodwill. Why not; he had just replaced a man reviled at home and abroad, whose very name had become synonymous with Zimbabwe’s failure.
Mnangagwa had one job; ride on that goodwill and do the right thing.
For a while, it seemed like he was doing just that. He met investors, reached out to opponents, mended fences with once hostile governments and announced economic measures that looked to be setting a course away from Mugabe’s path.
But things started turning and, somehow, he began chipping away at all the goodwill.
Here is how.
Poor Cabinet choices
(AP/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Within a week of his inauguration, Mnangagwa announced a new Cabinet. He retained the likes of Obert Mpofu, tainted by allegations of corruption, to head the police. He also retained known underachievers such as Mike Bimha, Sithembiso Nyoni, Jorum Gumbo, Christopher Mushohwe, Chris Mutsvangwa and others.
There were a few bright spots, such as the new Mines Minister Winston Chitando, but the Cabinet reeked of tried and tested failure.
Some said a wholesale clear-out of old allies would have rocked the boat too much, going into an election year. But all Zimbabweans saw, justifiably, was a leader promising to do things radically differently, but using the same team.
Many of these Ministers are stuck in their ways and can never change course, however much he cracks the whip.
Being soft on corruption
Reuters/Phil Bulawayo
There is nothing Zimbabweans would love more than to see a few corrupt kingpins in prison khakis. Mugabe’s protection of corrupt officials was a major source of our beef with him. He simply refused to jail them, as long as they paid homage to him.
And so, when SB Moyo appeared on TV that November 15 morning, threatening to target “criminals” around Mugabe, there was hope that the corrupt were about to get their just rewards.
Ignatius Chombo, a poster-boy of corruption named in deals from land to bus contracts, was arrested. He awaits trial, months later. There were no other major arrests.
In March, Mnangagwa set up anti-corruption courts, but these are yet to take off. The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission is not just toothless, but its investigations committee is led by a man who repeatedly shows he doesn’t have the mental stability for the job.
An externalisation list released in March matched neither Government’s own hype nor the public’s expectations, and this hurt ED’s credibility further.
Had ED thrown the public a bone or two, in the form of quick prosecution of a couple of top level crooks, he would have kept some goodwill.
Failure to deal with cash crunch
REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo
Few rational people believed the cash shortages would be solved overnight. The crisis is part of a deep crisis; billions in deficits, poor exports and years of Government overspending.
The solution is only long term, and, unlike what rally crowds are fed, cannot be solved within days. But the public expected some sort of resolution, or at least an improvement. It never came. Instead, repeatedly, the Government admitted to the public that it has no short-term solution, a harsh reality too hard to take for a population that has suffered for far too long.
The miracle they expected from ED never came.
Breaking promises on economy
Government has run up a wider budget deficit in the first quarter of 2018
The first budget statement of Mnangagwa’s leadership gave hope that he was indeed committed to changing things.
Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, in his budget presentation early December, announced he had turned down $169 million worth of requests for new cars.
Chinamasa also announced a range of new measures; no more business travel for officials, fewer embassies, and even cuts on new furniture and mobile phone airtime.
So we all thought the time for austerity was here. Mugabe’s overspending era was at last gone.
But it didn’t take long. Within months of Chinamasa’s announcement that he had declined a $14 million bill for chiefs’ cars, Mnangagwa was handing over new 4X4s to chiefs in Gweru.
Government tried to justify the about-turn: “The issue of cars for traditional chiefs is also in line with the new government’s initiative to ensure it can have a concerted stakeholder input on the implementation of key socio- economic developmental policies.”
Chinamasa had also announced he was turning down a $21 million request for MPs’ cars, but he soon announced that the scheme would continue, to cheers from both sides of the aisle.
Treasury’s first quarter 2018 numbers paint the picture best. Government managed to keep payroll costs in check in the first quarter of 2018, with employment costs accounted for 60.4 percent of total expenditure and 75.9 percent of recurrent expenditure, improving from 66.5 percent and 79.6 percent, respectively, in the same period of 2017.
But the Q1 budget deficit widened to $225 million this year, from $183 million in the corresponding period last year.
The government wage bill is definitely going to exceed the budgeted $3.27 billion after Government bowed down to industrial action by doctors and nurses as well as threats of similar action from teachers.
Mishandling nurses’ strike
In April, nurses went on strike for higher pay and allowances outstanding from 2010. After weeks of negotiation, in which the nurses’ union took a hard stance and held public protests, VP Constantino Chiwenga sacked all striking nurses.
They were all rehired eventually, but it showed the public a ruthlessness that many may have imagined had gone with Mugabe.
The rise of Chamisa
AFP
One of the factors that drained ED’s goodwill was not of his making. One of the reasons that many had looked to Mnangagwa for hope was the decline of the opposition MDC under Morgan Tsvangirai.
The MDC had always been an outlet for many Zimbabweans, until Tsvangirai was slowed down by illness. His party’s divisions had widened and it had gone stale on strategy and low on energy.
Mnangagwa’s opposition to Mugabe became that outlet. He wasn’t the change they wanted, but they were willing to compromise, as long as the MDC was this bad.
But, tragically, Tsvangirai passed away. But in that mourning, the MDC renewed itself. The emergence of Nelson Chamisa as party leader galvanised the opposition. Once again, ZanuPF opponents had their outlet back.
The MDC was once again recapturing the support of those outside its core and radical base.
PR fail
Government’s media complex failed Mnangagwa.
From The Herald’s poor handling of foreign investment interest, to the ZBC’s often comic partisan coverage, those in charge of Mnangagwa’s communication believed they were doing him a favour. In reality, they were hurting him, and badly.
On foreign policy, and in engagement with foreign media, Mnangagwa’s PR strategists were on point. They did what needed to be done; casting Mnangagwa as the pro-business, calm and steady hand that Zimbabwe needed to steer the country from crisis.
But state media, in contrast, were not as nuanced. They were overexcited. In their rush to please, and showing little appreciation for how investments work, the state press again tried to sell “mega deals” to an already sceptical public.
There were many headlines screaming “billions”, as if cash was being deposited into bank accounts.
As a result, when real progress was indeed being made on the investment front, especially in mining, it was waved away by the public as mere propaganda.
Added to this was poor communication by Mnangagwa’s PR on his “100 day cycles”. The message sent, wrong and unchallenged, was that Mnangagwa had promised to solve all the nation’s problems in 100 days.
Meanwhile, on ZBC, old tired voices repeated the same praise-singing tropes of the Mugabe era, while shutting out even token opposition opinion. Where state media could have been used cleverly to portray a “New Dispensation”, it was instead used to show loyalty to the new leader, hurting him in the process.
Vice President Kembo Mohadi’s brother Steven Dugish Mohadi died on Saturday at Trauma Centre Hospital in Borrowdale, Harare after some illness. He is survived by his wife Emma, six children and five grandchildren. Burial arrangements are yet to be announced. Mourners were gathered at Number 8 Victory Avenue, Greendale.
President Mnangagwa yesterday offered his condolences to the Mohadi family. Mnangagwa who was accompanied by Vice Presidsent Constantino Chiwenga, visited the Mohadi family home and offered a State-assisted funeral to the Mohadi family. He consoled the family, encouraging them to be strong during the time of mourning. He also offered to assist the family left behind.
President said he had to stop Mohadi, who is still receiving treatment in South Africa, from coming to mourn his brother as a way of allowing him to recover. Said Mnangagwa:
We had to stop him from coming. Since the late Steven is also our brother, we decided to assist him from this end while he recovers.
A 31-YEAR-OLD Harare man who allegedly stormed into President Emerson Mnangagwa’s residence claiming to be his biological son was yesterday fined $20 by magistrate Josephine Sande
Brian Chitembeya was charged with disorderly conduct, but insisted during trial that Mnangagwa was his father and that he wanted to engage him for financial support.
But Sande told him to use proper channels to settle the matter instead of trespassing into Mnangagwa’s residence without appointment.
“You don’t refuse the presidential security personnel orders, but you must use proper channels or to approach your elders to settle your matter,” Sande said.
The court heard that on Monday, Chitembeya went to Mnangagwa’s residence, but was stopped at the gate by security personnel. Chitembeya vowed to remain put at the entrance, leading to his arrest. Francisca Mukumbiri appeared for the State.
MEMBERS of the opposition MDC Alliance women’s assembly are currently fasting to ensure their presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa emerges victorious on July 30 when the nation goes to the polls.
BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA
Chamisa is seen as posing the greatest challenge to Zanu PF’s near four-decade rule and will face off with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and 21 other candidates in general elections later this month.
Addressing thousands of people at Rudhaka Stadium in Marondera on Sunday, MDC-T national women chairperson Lynette Karenyi called for more women to join in the fasting programme.
“As women in the MDC Alliance, every Friday we are fasting for president Chamisa, asking for God to be with him. I call upon all the women in our country to join us in fasting. We want victory on July 30,” she said.
Karenyi added that on July 30 women would camp close to polling stations until Chamisa has been given keys to State House.
“I say to women, the battle is in our hands. On election day, the men will go back home and sleep, but we are not going to leave the polling stations. We want to accompany our president to State House,” she said.
Meanwhile, Chamisa who was in the company of his wife Sithokozile, said it was wrong for leaders’ wives to get involved in politics like their husbands.
“Today, I brought my family. They are supporting me in their own way. We have wives of these other leaders, they are everywhere. It is their husbands who were elected into leadership, not them. It is a misappropriation of the people’s mandate,” he said. Chamisa’s wife first appeared in public during the #RunForChange marathon held in Harare a few months ago.-Newsday
HIGH Court judge Justice Hlekani Mwayera has ordered top army officer, Colonel Never Makuyana, to vacate former Zanu PF Manicaland youth leader Mubuso Chinguno’s Chipinge West Farm.
Deputy Chief Justice, Justice Like Malaba(centre) yesterday arrive at the Bulawayo High Court accompanied by the Bulawayo Judges for the official opening of the 2017 Legal Year.(Picture by Eliah Saushoma)
Makuyana invaded the 100-hectare farm in June this year with the help of armed soldiers taking advantage of the absence of Chinguno who had fled the country following last November’s ‘soft coup’ on former President Robert Mugabe.
On July 3, Justice Mwayera ordered Makuyana to immediately vacate the property and stop disrupting Chinguno’s farm operations.
“The fourth respondents or anyone acting through him or under his instructions be and are hereby ordered to stop immediately all evictions of the applicant and removal of his property of farm,’’ she ruled.
“The fourth respondent (Makuyana) or anyone acting through him or under his instructions in particular members from the Zimbabwe National Army be and hereby interdicted from entering any part of the applicant’s farm where he is presently occupying and staying.”
Chinguno’s lawyers Mareanadzo and Mvere Partners had cited Makuyana, Lands minister Perrance Shiri, Manicaland provincial and district lands officers as respondents in the matter.-Newsday
Former president Robert Mugabe who has lived a relatively quiet life since he was ousted in November last year, was on Thursday made to testify in a case in which he was duped by an aide of property worth $50 000.
To get him to give evidence, court records show that Harare magistrate Josephine Sande along with other court officials, descended on Mugabe’s Borrowdale home, to hear his testimony.
This was after the court had conducted an inspection in-loco at Zimbabwe House, where the stolen property was being kept.
Also present was prosecutor, Francesca Mukumbiri.
The court officials were in the company of Pepukai Zvakavapano, who is attached to the Presidential Guard, and is being accused of stealing over 100 laptops and computer accessories from the nonagenarian.
The complainant in the matter is one Wonder Enock Nyamurima, 52, a provincial intelligence officer in the President’s Office.
During his initial court hearing, Zvakavapano denied the theft charges and claimed Mugabe had given him the laptops and computer accessories as he was to flee the country.
Zvakavapano alleged that the accessories were a token of appreciation for good service rendered during his tenure as president.
However, Mugabe denied knowing Zvakavapano.
He also denied that he told Zvakavapano of alleged intentions to flee Zimbabwe, insisting Zimbabwe was his home.
After recording Mugabe’s testimony, Zvakavapano was supposed to appear in court for trial continuation but he never showed up and was issued with a warrant of arrest by presiding magistrate Josephine Sande.
According to State papers, it is alleged that sometime in March, Zimbabwe House was to undergo renovations.
In the State residence was Mugabe’s household goods, including a printer, computers and accessories.
The court heard that Nyamurima was instructed to transfer the goods from Zimbabwe House to Polloground where five shipping containers had been put to secure the goods.
The goods were transferred and secured in the containers.
Zvakavapano and Marega allegedly broke three padlocks on three of the containers and allegedly stole computer accessories, laptops, desk top computer sets and printers valued at $49 982.-Dailynews
An outgoing member of parliament for Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party has reportedly claimed that the southern African country cannot prosper “without the involvement of whites” in its “affairs”.
According to New Zimbabwe.com, Joseph Tshuma who was the MP for Mpopoma Pelandaba said this while speaking at a political parties discussion forum in Bulawayo over the weekend.
“We are coming from the era of Robert Mugabe. An era which closed us out from the rest of the world. We began to live in a vacuum. That was the most dangerous thing that was ever experienced by this country other than the bombings during the liberation struggle,” Tshuma was quoted as saying.
Tshuma said that Mugabe made a mistake when he told Tony Blair to “keep your England and I’ll keep my Zimbabwe”.
“Yes, we kept our Zimbabwe but what kind of Zimbabwe did we keep? One thing that I have been made to understand and agree strongly whether painful or not, we cannot do away with that person called umkhiwa (white).”
Isolation from the International world
At the height of land seizures in Zimbabwe in 2002, Mugabe denounced the then British prime minister Tony Blair, telling him: “Let me keep my Zimbabwe”.
A report by The Guardian said at the time that Mugabe made these utterances as he defended the seizures of white-owned farms during an earth summit in Johannesburg.
To a round of applause from the conference hall, the Zimbabwean leader declared: “So Blair, keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe,” said the Guardian.
Meanwhile, Mugabe’s successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, has promised to work towards ending Zimbabwe’s isolation from the international world.
Al Jazeera reported in January that Mnangagwa had vowed to introduce new policies to re-engage with the world community and attract foreign investment after decades of isolation under Mugabe.
Mnangagwa indicated that his priorities were to revive the southern African nation’s ailing economy and fight corruption.
“My government is committed to open Zimbabwe out to investment by building a free and transparent economy which benefits Zimbabweans and is welcoming to outsiders,” Mnangagwa was quoted as saying during his first state of the nation address.-News24
When Nelson Chamisa stated on 19th March 2018 in an SABC interview on that he suspected President Mugabe would vote for him in this 2018 election, my ego, arrogance and emotions refused to accept such a possibility. I have gradually had to swallow my pride and accept that what I considered an impossibility is a reality.
Let me state, right from the outset that I do not speak for President Mugabe. The views in this ZBR are my personal perspectives derived from my own rational analyses of events. My damascene moment, my turnaround that is similar to that of Saul on the road to Damascus, has been informed by my own knowledge of President Mugabe and my own numerous objective assessments of the current reality of Zimbabwean politics.
In this article, I will recount President Mugabe’s public pronouncements on his views on how to cure the illegality of the 15 November 2017. As I associate myself to President Mugabe’s views, I must also acknowledge that I agree with Professor Jonathan Moyo’s take that Zimbabwe’s 2018 election is indeed a critical or realignment election. The term critical or realignment election is derived from political science and political history to describe the realignment of
political forces to cause dramatic changes in the political system.
The President Mugabe that I know is driven by principle. One of the most fundamental of those principles is that politics leads the gun and not the other way round. President Mugabe, during his interview with several media houses on 15th March 2018, described the military coup that Chiwenga and Mnangagwa engaged in on 15 November 2017 as a disgrace that needs to be corrected. See links to interview on ITV.
President Mugabe offered to assist Mnangagwa to address that coup illegality that is tarnishing Zimbabwe. When asked what he would do should Mnangagwa not take up the offer of assistance, President Mugabe indicated that the coup would be addressed at the 2018 election. President Mugabe’s offer to assist in returning Zimbabwe to legality and constitutionalism has been spurned by Mnangagwa.
This means that the disgrace visited upon the country by the 15 November 2017 coup must be addressed through the 2018 election. However, the fact that Mnangagwa is the primary culprit responsible for the 15 November 2017 coup means that President Mugabe will not vote for Mnangagwa. Voting for Mnangagwa is an endorsement of the violation of the time honoured principle that politics leads the gun and not the other way round.
Having concluded that Mnangagwa is not worthy or deserving of anyone’s vote, including President Mugabe’s vote, the question that arises is whom will President Mugabe vote for from the remaining 22 presidential candidates? The answer is derived from negative and positive determinants on that decision. The negative determinant is that President Mugabe will not vote for junta sponsored spoilers whose sole purpose is to perpetuate military rule by dividing the opposition vote; I will name and shame these spoilers in due course.
The determinants that impact positively on whom President Mugabe will vote for are influenced by the reality that there are significant realignments in Zimbabwe’s political forces. These realignments in Zimbabwe’s politics are underpinned by both the actual content of the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe, and the inclusive nature of how that constitution was developed by the two main political groupings then headed by President Mugabe and the late Prime Minister Tsvangirai respectively.
Two fundamental characteristics of the realignments of political forces are, firstly, the focus and orientation defining political perspectives on one hand, and, secondly, the demographic structure of Zimbabwe on the other hand. Most political forces are realigning according to focus and orientations that looks into the future whilst a few forces remain fixated on an entitlement mantra based on a past such as participation in the liberations struggle or having previously been Vice-President, Deputy Prime Minister, minister, legislator or councillor. Political forces are also realigning according to the demographic realities that recognise that only 23% of Zimbabwe’s population is over 35 years old, whilst 36% is between 15 and 35 years old and 46% is below 15 years old.
The realignments of political forces, which are in themselves going to result in having the 2018 election being a critical or realignment election, will definitely find resonance in President Mugabe’s inherently democratic disposition and his ability and capacity to embrace progress. Retrogressive notions and prejudices that existed previously no longer hold. It is not progressive to continue to hold onto the past and out dated rivalries that existed between the Mugabe led ZANU PF and the Tsvangirai led MDC.
It is therefore my considered view and opinion that President Mugabe will vote for Nelson Chamisa on the basis that the balance of forces are democratically leaning towards a futuristic focus and orientation driven by the demographic reality of a younger population. The retrogressive forces premised on the entitlement focus of people who seek to claim leadership on the basis of previous participation, past positions and former rivalries cannot be supported.
It would be remiss of me not to comment on the false narrative that is being peddled by junta proponents that the support for Chamisa’s presidential bid is part of some fictitious deal between President Mugabe and Chamisa. I know President Mugabe as a leader who is driven by principles. President Mugabe is DEFINITELY NOT a transactional leader; he will not participate in any arrangement on a quid pro quo basis.
Consequently, support for Chamisa’s presidential bid is unconditional. The narratives that Chamisa has a secret deal with NPF to give a Vice Presidency or any ministerial positions to NPF or any other person or entity is FALSE. The support for Chamisa’s presidential bid does place any obligation, none whatsoever, on Chamisa having to making any promises for government positions to NPF or any other person or entity that is not part of MDC Alliance.
Support for Chamisa is premised on the need to cure the coup that Mnangagwa and Chiwenga conducted on 15th November 2017. It is support that recognises that political forces in Zimbabwe are realigning towards a futuristic focus and orientation that is driven by the demographic reality of a younger population.
As I conclude this ZBR that has introduced the notion of the 2018 Zimbabwe election as a realignment election, it is important to note a defining characteristic of the nature of this realignment election is that it is a mass movement in which, according to tweet 15 of Professor Moyo’s 24 thread tweet on 26th June 2018, “the people should democratically rise up and assert their sovereignty at the polls!”
During this coming week, I will write instalments of the ZBR which will explain why key voting stakeholders will realign and vote for Chamisa. The voter stakeholders that will realign and vote for Chamisa to be President include the original ZANU PF members and supporters (both those remaining in ZANU PF and those marginalised and expelled during purges in 2014/15 and 2017/18, myself included), young people, beneficiaries of President Mugabe’s landmark empowerment policies of education, land reform and economic empowerment, and most importantly, all progressive Zimbabweans who subscribe to the constitutionalism that was ushered by the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe delivered by the GNU under the leadership of President Mugabe and the late Prime Minister Tsvangirai.
Zanu-PF is paying for political adverts being aired by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), while the MDC Alliance is crying wolf over unfair coverage by the national broadcaster because of failure to pay for the available political advertising space, Permanent Secretary for Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Mr George Charamba has said.
Mr George Charamba
According to Section 160 H of the Electoral Act (Political advertising in broadcasting and print media), all political parties should be accorded advertising space by the national broadcaster, but such ads should be paid for.
The act reads: “(1) …if the broadcaster or publisher is prepared to publish any such advertisement a) it shall offer the same terms and conditions of publication, without discrimination, to all the political parties and candidates contesting the election; and b) the price it charges for publication shall be at the lowest rate it offers to publishers of commercial advertisements; and c) every such publication shall be identified clearly as an advertisement.”
In an interview yesterday, Mr Charamba said the MDC Alliance should not blame the national broadcaster for its lack of funding to pay for the adverts.
“People must not confuse access and procurement issues. At law, all political parties have a right of access to the national broadcaster, but it’s up to the political players to translate that right into reality and that is a function of the means, which are the resources and not of the law.
“If you look at the MDC Alliance party, they have been clearly struggling to campaign properly, which is why they have been trying to fundraise and which is also why they have not been able to purchase decent platforms for their candidate,” he said in reference to the embarrassing incident that saw MDC Alliance president Mr Chamisa falling off the stage in Hwange last month.
Mr Charamba said the MDC Alliance’s financial woes are there for all to see, as the party has even failed to put up posters on trees.
He was responding to claims by former MDC-T Member of Parliament Mr Settlement Chikwinya who claimed that ZBC was charging prohibitive fees.
“Beyond that, what their talkative outgone MP forgot to remind himself is that there are no MDC Alliance adverts in newspapers, which are a lot cheaper. Much worse, there are no MDC posters on trees. Is he suggesting that even trees have hiked their prices?”
Mr Charamba added: “They should never be a sense in anyone’s head that merely because they are contesting elections, that in itself is a license to rundown the frames of ZBC as a broadcaster. We will not allow that.
“The business of politics is expensive and if you are not ready to meet the expenses, get out.”
He suggested that MDC Alliance members could be converting party funds to personal use in anticipation of electoral defeat.
“They are thinking of life after defeat. You cant lose the politics and lose the money also.”
In an interview with The Sunday Mail yesterday, ZBC chief executive Mr Patrick Mavura said the MDC Alliance was among the motley of parties that have failed to take up the national broadcaster’s call for paid-for political adverts.
“We have availed programmes which are for free and other programmes which are paid for through adverts.
“We have been having challenges with the paid for programmes because only Zanu-PF has been able to pay while the other parties are struggling.”
Mr Mavura said ZBC had reduced advertising rate for political parties by 30 percent.
It is believed the opposition party has been pushing for free coverage in order to compensate for their failure pay for ad space.
Last week, MDC Alliance spokesperson Mr Welshman Ncube told our Bulawayo Bureau that his party had not been able to print posters for its presidential candidate, Mr Chamisa.
He also revealed that the party had resorted to selling regalia as it could not give it for free.
Early this year, Mr Chamisa’s party received US$1,873 663.83 under the Political Parties Fund Act, but MDCT- president Dr Thokozani Khupe, who broke ranks with the MDC-Alliance, has been fighting to get a share of the funds, saying her party was the legitimate beneficiary.
It is believed that the decision by non-Governmental organisations to turn off the taps due to alleged abuse of funds and the ineptness of beneficiaries has compounded the opposition political parties’ challenges.-SUNDAYMAIL
