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OPPOSITION MDC secretary general Douglas Mwonzora is not ruling out a challenge for party presidency at an elective congress which is now set for May this year. Reports have linked Mwonzora, along with co-vice president [...]

Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, has received an early boost ahead of what could turn out to be a bruising contest when the MDC congress gets underway in three months’ time, after several party structures moved to endorse his candidature at the weekend. The Nelson Chamisa-led MDC has announced that its elective congress will be held […]

Source: Chibaya application dismissed | Newsday (News)

BY BRENNA MATENDERE

MIDLANDS provincial magistrate, Charity Maphosa yesterday dismissed an application by MDC national organising secretary, Amos Chibaya to have his passport released by the court so that he travels abroad on parliamentary business.

The Mkoba legislator’s passport is being held at the courts as part of his bail conditions in a case where he is accused of subverting a constitutionally-elected government.
Charges emanate from an interview he allegedly granted to Daily News and was quoted as having said: “… 2019 is the year that we are going to send [President Emmerson] Mnangagwa packing… We are not going to go on the streets to toyi-toyi, but go straight to State House, because that is where there is the person who stole the elections.”

He denies the charge.

Through his lawyer, Tonderai Chitere, Chibaya applied for the release of his passport so that he can travel to Doha, Qatar, on Parliament business. However, Maphosa dismissed the application saying she needed consent from the Prosecutor-General, Kumbirai Hodzi to grant an order for release of the travel document.

“At law I am not allowed to accede to the application without the personal consent of the Prosecutor-General, because the accused is facing a third schedule offence. Section 116 of the Criminal Law and Codification Act is clear that where an accused is facing a third schedule offence, a magistrate cannot relax bail conditions set already without a personal consent for the same coming from the PG. Accordingly, the application for release of the passport is dismissed,” she said.

Earlier on, public prosecutor Namatirai Chipere told the court that the State’s hands were tied on whether or not to accede to the application by Chibaya, citing the same requirement of consent by the PG.

After the proceedings, Chibaya’s lawyer said he will be taking the application to the High Court, adding that there is no reason why his client should be denied access to the passport when he has proven he wants to use it on Parliament business.

The post Chibaya application dismissed appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.

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The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority says it will continue charging duty in foreign currency on goods designated to pay in forex despite the liberalisation of trading of the United States dollar exchange rate against Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) Dollars and all other currencies in the multi-currency basket. Last week, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe floated […]

Source: Call for MDC congress to uplift women – NewsDay Zimbabwe February 26, 2019

BY SILAS NKALA

WOMEN’S Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (Walpe) has called on the Nelson Chamisa-led MDC to give women fair opportunities to take up top leadership positions at its congress pencilled for May 24 to 26.

Chamisa, during the party’s thank you rally in Gweru on Sunday, indicated that during the upcoming congress every position will be contested including the presidency.

In a statement yesterday, Walpe said it was necessary for the main opposition party to consider placing women in influential positions.

The organisation quoted remarks by a former Head of the United Nations Women, Michelle Bachelet, who is also former President and Defence minister of Chile, who said: “For me, a better democracy is a democracy where women do not only have the right to vote and to elect, but to be elected.”

Walpe called for a level playing field for all contestants and said the MDC should guarantee a violence-free environment.

“Women’s political empowerment and access to leadership positions, at all levels, are fundamental to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the United Nations Women 50/50 gender representation agenda,” the Walpe statement said.

“As the MDC goes on a leadership renewal exercise, Walpe appeals for a level playing field for all contestants. The party must guarantee an environment that is free of violence, harassment and victimisation of women contesters, name-calling, body-shaming and cyber-bullying of female candidates. Further, the party must outlaw vote buying which creates an imbalance for women who are traditionally under-resourced.”

Walpe urged the party to set up an independent disciplinary and dispute resolution committee to adequately deal with potential cases of violence against women and/or infringement of ethical codes of conduct and those found guilty must be held accountable.

The organisation also called upon the opposition party to ensure that all congress-related processes are done during friendly hours to allow women to freely participate.

“Elections that run well into the night curtails women’s participation as they have other important social responsibilities to attend to. Therefore, all programming related to congress must be gender sensitive,” Walpe said.

“Women’s participation is important for internal party democracy and for broader development of national democracy as such, it is critical to ensure women compete for leadership positions at all levels of party structures instead of second tier positions such as deputies, welfare or portfolio secretaries.

“Going forward, Walpe will closely monitor and report on leadership renewal processes of all political parties to inform national and international opinion on how individual parties are faring in promoting women political participation and leadership,” it added.

In response, MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume said: “We actually have two areas where women can participate, which is the women’s assembly and the main wing.

“The women assembly is wholly for them, but it doesn’t end there. They can also compete in the main wing of the party if they manage to secure the nomination. We have created a conducive environment for their participation.”

Zimbabwe currently has just above 30% female representation in the National Assembly.

Violence and intimidation during elections in local politics has been identified as a major contributing factor to failure by women to participate in politics.

The post Call for MDC congress to uplift women appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.