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Source: Chivayo formalises acquittal | Daily News

Controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo appeared in court yesterday to finalise his acquittal with the lower courts.

Chivayo, who was jointly charged with his company, Intratek, was last week acquitted by the High Court for allegedly defrauding the Zimbabwe Power Company of $5,6 million in a Gwanda solar project.

Chivayo was also acquitted of violating the Exchange and Money Laundering Act.

Through his lawyer Advocate Sylvester Hashiti, he said he was appearing as a courtesy after the “High Court disposed of the matter.”

“We were remanded to this date and this matter needs to be completed and formally closed,” Hashiti said.
“We are here to be formally excused… Instead of waiting for the registrar and the clerk of court, we are here to hand over the High Court order as courtesy,” Hashiti said.

Chivayo was acquitted after he lodged an appeal with the upper court after magistrate Lazini Ncube dismissed his exception application.

High Court judge Owen Tagu ruled in Chivayo’s favour and said the State’s case was weak.
Tagu said even if the charges and outline were to be proven, no criminal offence would have been proven.

“…Reading of the whole outline of the State Case shows that this is purely a civil rather than a criminal matter. The criminal charges stand on a frail footing and cannot be sustained at law before any court reasonably exercising its legal mind,” Tagu ruled.

Regional magistrate Lazini Ncube quashed all charges against Chivayo yesterday and declared him a free man.

The post Chivayo formalises acquittal appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: 'Zim was not adequately prepared for cyclone' | Daily News

INDUSTRY and Commerce minister Mangaliso Ndlovu has conceded that Zimbabwe was not adequately prepared for Cyclone Idai — which left over 170 people dead and hundreds others homeless.

Speaking at an event organised by the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (Gmaz) to deliberate on drought assessment and the association’s contribution towards the victims of the cyclone, Ndlovu said he was caught off guard by the magnitude of the cyclone.

“While the cyclone’s movements were monitored and experts advised of its impending drift into Zimbabwe, we were nevertheless caught not adequately prepared for the kind of magnitude we experienced. Experts also noted that this was the worst cyclone in sub-Saharan Africa,” Ndlovu said.

He added that the cyclone’s advent on the back of the El Nino weather phenomenon has impacted negatively on Zimbabwe.

“Coming on the back of the El Nino weather phenomenon and the resultant poor harvests that it caused this agricultural season, this presented us with added challenges which will affect the whole country, requiring our collective efforts to pro-actively deal with such alterations in our weather patterns,” he said, adding that government is putting in place necessary measures to ensure adequate grain supply.

The tropical cyclone, which reached the country from Mozambique, knocked down trees and destroyed key infrastructure and hundreds of homes in the process, mainly in Manicaland province.

Government declared Cyclone Idai a national disaster prompting several local and international organisations, countries like the UK, US and ordinary people to donate various items such as tents, clothes and food.

Ndlovu bemoaned the untold damage businesses suffered as a result of the cyclone.
“It is also important during this time, and in fact, any other time for that matter, to continue to uphold basic business ethics.

We unfortunately need to make this call against the tendency by some insensitive people among us who want to profiteer at the expense of the very people that we are setting out to serve and save,” he said. The meeting was attended by senior government officials, business leaders and millers.

The post ‘Zim was not adequately prepared for cyclone’ appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Zera calls for low taxes on energy products | Daily News

THE ZIMBABWE Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) says it is lobbying government to lower taxes on energy products as a way of boosting the sector.

Zera senior engineer Samuel Zaranyika said local manufacturers of electrical products had lodged complaints with the regulator highlighting that it was becoming more profitable to import finished electrical goods as punitive duty was making local manufacturing too costly.

“We are lobbying government to reduce or remove duty for  importing components which are used to manufacture energy-efficient household appliances which include light emit diode (Led) bulbs as we want to do away with lights and electrical appliances that use a lot of electricity,” he said.

“We also want to double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency and facilitate access to clean energy research, renewable energy and advanced cleaner fossil-fuel technology as well as promoting investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology,”

A removal of duty on energy inputs is anticipated to make locally-produced electrical products competitive on the local market.
This comes as Kango Private Limited (Kango) — the sole maker of gas stoves in the country — recently mounted a campaign lobbying government to increase duty on gas stove imports.

According to a Competition and Tariff Commission report, Kango believes the duty increases on the product will contribute to import substitution giving the country room to save foreign currency for some other commitments.

“The commission received an application from Kango products for an upward review of customs duty on complete gas stoves from 0-40 percent under the Sadc and Comesa trading arrangement. Kango alleges that tariff protection would safeguard and create more employment, conserve foreign currency through import substitution and generate more foreign currency.

“The company is facing stiff competition from imported gas stoves as research shows that major imports source countries are China, Egypt and South Africa,” read part of the report.
Local retail outlets have, however, expressed concern on the high likelihood of monopoly on pricing if duty increase on imported energy products is awarded.

Evidence provided by distributors reveals that Kango and some local energy product suppliers have been failing to fulfil some orders from retailers and are of the opinion that duty increase should be delayed until such time when the local manufacturer is able to adequately supply the market with energy products.

The post Zera calls for low taxes on energy products appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

FORMER MDC official Eddie Cross has triggered a storm following reports that he supported President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s penchant for flying in luxurious jets. Opinion is sharply divided over Mnangagwa’s costly foreign trips at a time the country is mourning the death of over 300 Cyclone Idai victims. In the midst of efforts to locate missing persons in Chimanimani, Mnangagwa left for a day’s