Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

PROMINENT businessman Mr James Makamba’s empire seems to be crumbling after the High Court placed his Kestrel Corporation under provisional judicial management as Mr George Manyere fights to recover his US$2,7 million. Mr Manyere through his firm Ecsponent Zimbabwe, entered into an agreement with Mr Makamba’s Kestrel Corporation over sale of Telecel shares. However, the transaction did not

Hie Aunty Lisa I am 52 years old and I am having a problem. I used to drive trucks, but I am not driving anymore. When I was driving, I met a young woman, and she would travel with me sometimes. Unfortunately, I got careless, and I got her pregnant. She was 30 years old. […]

Source: Mwonzora, Chamisa duel good for fair competition | Daily News

A LOT of Zimbabweans still believe in the power of fair competition. Douglas Mwonzora has thrown down the gauntlet and is running for MDC presidency, meaning Nelson Chamisa faces a congress challenge.

Most of the ambitious senior MDC politicians, even those who have strong objections to Chamisa, have been inhibited by the conventional wisdom that running against the 41-year-old would be a suicide mission. True, Chamisa appears in a very strong position to win.

But the truth is that the risks of challenging Chamisa are greatly overestimated. Mwonzora is doing himself a world of good by running against Chamisa. It keeps the youthful president on his toes, and propels him to work for his win unlike being elected unopposed.

Even if Mwonzora loses, he would establish himself as a top contender for the leadership of a post-Chamisa MDC party, even in 2024, if the incumbent loses the 2023 general election.

Mwonzora would also give a boost to the influence of his ideas within the party. Given, Mwonzora’s campaign against the re-election of a sitting president is a first.

Chamisa’s predecessor, Morgan Tsvangirai never faced such a challenge. Mwonzora, who has previously beaten Chamisa in elections, poses a threat of harming the incumbent president.

Chamisa has drawn a serious congress challenger in Mwonzora.
The rising power of the Chamisa presidency has probably played a role in the perception of increased risk. It’s unsurprising Mwonzora’s bid against Chamisa has spawned all sorts of accusations, including that the secretary-general is a Trojan Horse for Zanu PF. This is gobbledygook.

Mwonzora must be commended for this bold move. If Chamisa wins re-election, destroying Mwonzora’s political future will also be, we can be fairly confident, a high priority for the re-elected president.

It may be that partisans are wrong to be so concerned about the damage a vigorous Chamisa-Mwonzora duel can do to the party’s standing.

A paradox may be at work here: Negative partisanship makes voters reluctant to back challenges against incumbent presidents, but also means the challenges cannot have the impact they fear.

But to say that the fear of a contest is overblown is not to say that the fear is politically unimportant. Like it or not, ambitious senior MDC cadres have good reasons to think that Mwonzora’s campaign against Chamisa would end their political careers if the current president loses. Mwonzora’s challenge to the conventional wisdom is invigorating.

The post Mwonzora, Chamisa duel good for fair competition appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

A girl from Gweru, Tariro Shumba (21) was stabbed and killed with a knife by her stepfather while trying to persuade the latter from assaulting her mother. The incident happened at Mataga area at around 9pm on Sunday and Police are looking for the suspect who is at large. Midlands Province Acting Police Spokesperson Assistant […]

Source: Caaz boss hit with another graft charge | Daily News

SUSPENDED Civil Aviation authority of Zimbabwe (Caaz) chief executive officer David Chawota has been hit with fresh allegations of corruptly concealing his personal interest in a transaction from his superiors.

Chawota is jointly charged with Angeline Karonga who is the director of legal services in the Transport ministry.

The two are accused of failing to declare their interests in a company that was contracted by the Zimbabwe National Road Authority (Zinara) to supply road construction material.
They were not asked to plead when they appeared before provincial magistrate Learnmore Mapiye who remanded them in custody to Monday for full bail application.

Chawota is already on remand after another magistrate denied him bail in another criminal abuse of office charge where he is accused of fraudulently awarding a €27 900 000 contract to a Spanish company, Indra Sistemus.
The State alleges that Karonga and Chawota are registered co-directors and shareholders at Akodac Consultancy Services.

Sometime in January 2012, the two allegedly made an application to the then State Procurement Board (SPB) for their company to be on the approved list of suppliers of bulk and drummed bitumen so as to participate in government tenders and the SPB duly approved the application.

The court heard they proceeded to register Akodac Consultancy Services with (Zinara) as a bitumen supplier.
It is alleged that Chawota and Karonga went on to carry out transactions for the supply of cat mix and stable 60 which are products for the manufacture of bitumen on 24 occasions from January 2012 till August 2013.

The State alleges that the duo failed to disclose their personal interest to their principal, the Transport ministry.
It is the State’s case that Chawota and Karonga were paid
$1 234 004 and shared proceeds without disclosing their personal interests in the transactions with the intention of deceiving the Transport ministry.

In the separate charge, Chawota is accused of criminal abuse of office after he fraudulently awarded a €27 900 000 contract to a Spanish company, Indra Sistemus, which did not meet minimum mandatory requirements in a previous bid.

Chawota reportedly engaged the company after the Supreme Court nullified the tender previously awarded to it in January 2016.
Harare provincial magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa denied Chawota bail, saying he is abusing the bail institution by violating his existing bail conditions.

Last month, Chawota was admitted to bail in another corruption-related charge after he allegedly authorised payment of $56 042,76 for promotional material to a company he had interests in without doing a comparative analysis.

Mugwagwa said Chawota is also threatening and interfering with State witnesses and was therefore not a proper candidate for bail.
Mashawi had been threatening senior employees against cooperating with investigations on the current matter and workers fear that Chawota will terminate their contracts if they cooperate with investigations.

He testified that in 2016, Chawota terminated contracts of executives after they cooperated with police in a matter involving him.
Allegations are that sometime in May 2013, Chawota floated tenders for air traffic control systems.

It is alleged that one of the bidders which had submitted bids for the Radar Surveillance Systems, Selex Es, challenged the award to Indra Sistemas resulting in the cancellation of the award by the Supreme Court in January 2016.

The State alleges that Chawota persisted in requesting the direct appointment on Indra Sistemas, defying the Supreme Court ruling that nullified the previous award to the same company.

The post Caaz boss hit with another graft charge appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.