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Source: ED opens up on past | Daily News

President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday gave a rare personal insight into his early life, during which he was involved in subversive activities after seeing his dreams of becoming a pilot frustrated by the racial politics of the time.

The 76-year-old Zanu PF leader also told  youths who attended a two-day conference in Harare how his family had subsequently been banished from Zimbabwe by the minority Rhodesian government that was in power then — which saw them settling in Zambia.

“That’s when I changed from wanting to be a pilot and joined Unip (the United National Independence Party) of Kenneth Kaunda in 1959.“ Yes I am a lawyer, but I never designed to become a lawyer, circumstances forced me to become a lawyer.

“I do not say it’s good to be expelled, but I was expelled from college in 1960 because we had burnt a house of one of the lecturers.
“So, I became a political activist at that age and my desire was to become a soldier and indeed (this happened) in 1962,” Mnangagwa said.

“I was taken by Zapu to go to Tanganyika, Tanzania now, where we were sent for training in Egypt and subsequently China, and then graduated in 1964. “So, that was my desire to be a soldier and I achieved that … Down the line I got arrested … sentenced to death, survived because of technicalities in terms of age.

“At the time, the legal age of majority was 21 … and at the time I was under 21. So, I was saved from hanging and my colleagues were executed,” Mnangagwa added. He later joined other nationalists such as ousted former president Robert Mugabe in the liberation struggle, which led to Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain in April 1980.

During this latter period, the Zanu PF leader was a personal assistant to Mugabe in Mozambique. And until the increasingly frail nonagenarian fell from power through a military coup in November 2017, Mnangagwa had known and worked with him for nearly 55 years.

Mnangagwa also told the gathered youths yesterday that his government was working hard to create opportunities for them to play prominent roles in the government’s ambitious 2030 vision, which would see the creation of a thriving middle class in the country.

During the meeting, which was attended by Finance minister Mthuli Ncube and vice president Constantino Chiwenga, Mnangagwa also said the government was alive to the many needs and challenges facing the youths. “Since the advent of the Second Republic, I have pronounced that I am a listening president and that I am open for dialogue.

“I continuously encourage us to live in harmony, peace, unity, love and tolerance … no matter our differences or our persuasions.
“In addition, one of the values under vision 2030 and also enshrined in the Constitution is participatory decision-making, where citizens participate on issues that affect them,” the president said.

Mnangagwa also said the establishment of the Empowerment Bank and the Zimbabwe Women’s Microfinance Bank was meant to achieve a “jobs revolution” in the country. He further referred to the recently launched India-Africa Incubation Centre as being aimed at equipping young people with entrepreneurial skills to start their own companies.

“My administration is revamping vocational training centres, which together with polytechnic colleges must be the engine rooms for artisans who will practically drive industrialisation in our country.
“This will further ensure that school leavers and graduates of tertiary institutions acquire appropriate entrepreneurial skills.

“Those young people in our universities should also fully utilise incubation hubs established in these institutions to nurture and grow innovative ideas,” Mnangagwa said. Zimbabwe is currently in the throes of a debilitating economic crisis which has deepened poverty levels and also limited employment opportunities, particularly for first time job seekers.

Since winning the country’s hotly-contested elections last year, Mnangagwa and his government have battled to put the economy back on track. The frustrations of long-suffering Zimbabweans boiled over in January this year when tens of thousands of people flooded the streets after heeding calls for a stay-away by labour unions.

As a result, police and soldiers engaged in running battles with protesters, which saw up to 20 people being killed in the ensuing mayhem. Property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars was also destroyed and looted in the chaos.

At the same time, security forces subsequently unleashed a brutal crackdown against the protesters, the opposition and civil society leaders, in a move which received wide condemnation in the country and around the world.

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Source: Chamisa's rivals cry foul | Daily News

MDC leader Nelson Chamisa’s opponents claim they will not be able to freely exercise their voting rights at the party’s forthcoming congress, alleging the incumbent is employing unorthodox tactics to cow rivals.

This is the first congress since the death of the MDC’s founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai who died of colon cancer on February 14, last year. Tsvangirai’s death saw Chamisa emerge as the party leader under controversial circumstances and is currently tipped to retain the post.

He is, however, likely to be challenged by the party’s secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora and one of his three deputies, Elias Mudzuri. MDC members who claim to be backing Mwonzora told the Daily News yesterday that party processes and structures are being manipulated to create a one centre of power built around Chamisa.

MDC organising secretary Amos Chibaya — a staunch Chamisa ally — is being accused of tampering with party structures in order to sieve out cadres who are not supportive of the youthful party leader.
Chibaya dismissed the claims yesterday as outrageous and without merit.

“Ahead of the congress, everyone in the party has a position and everyone is working in their current capacities — is that not (a form of) campaigning?  “People are chosen according to merit and people are going to vote for leaders according to their performance; so the fact that there is no level playing field falls away.

Going to congress, we have a template, with provisions to be followed. We are going to hold caucuses at different levels where people who are competing for various positions will present their manifestos in the presence of everyone.  “The template also provides for the campaigning period but the longest campaigning period, if one is to put it that way, is the effectiveness or lack thereof that an individual has been while holding a position in the party,” Chibaya said.

The Mkoba Member of Parliament said positions will be contested for in terms of the party’s constitution and any variations can only be made by the national council. But sources in Mwonzora’s camp accuse the organising department of purging supporters of the secretary-general ahead of congress.

“Chamisa wants only four people to be elected and the other 13 to be appointees and that was resisted during the last national council meeting because people felt that this would be akin to taking the party backwards. We are even going backwards to where the likes of (former president Robert) Mugabe took us.

“He (Chamisa) wants to introduce a one centre of power; he wants to remove provincial and ward structures and remain with branches only. The reason for that is that it becomes easier for him to control such an amorphous structure because these people would hardly know him,” an MDC source told the Daily News yesterday, while speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation.

The source further said even before the nominations which are expected to be done by end of this month, Chamisa has already started campaigning for his position through his proxies at rallies, giving him leverage ahead of the other candidates, who have not yet been accorded a chance to do so.

In as much as Chamisa claims that the whole process will be conducted in a fair manner, insiders say, there were activities that were being carried out to intimidate some of his potential contenders, citing Mwonzora’s booing in Mutare last weekend.

“There are various dirty tactics that are being used to muddy the potential competitors like Mwonzora, who has been accused of working with Zanu PF so that people would view him as a sell-out and bar him from getting support ahead of the congress,” the source said.

Chamisa’s spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda dismissed the allegations saying Chamisa was the victim. He said Chamisa has also not yet declared his candidacy and that he has been forced to restrain his supporters from campaigning for him because it’s not yet campaign period. “What else do you want him to do? He is actually the real victim,” he said.

Sibanda said it was unfortunate that his boss was being blamed for things that have nothing to do with him.
“The claim that he has an added advantage because he is president and can campaign at rallies is oxymoronic. What do these people want? They want him to resign first?” he said.

“That claim is absurd to say the least. He has nothing to do with the advantage, it’s like (saying) trees in the equator have an added advantage to trees in other areas —  they did not choose to be there.”

The post Chamisa’s rivals cry foul appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: MDC youths regret Khupe split | Daily News

THE MDC Youth Assembly this week said it regrets the departure of the party’s former deputy president Thokozani Khupe and others early last year. Following the death of the party’s founding father Morgan Tsvangirai in February last year, there were serious ructions in the MDC over his succession.

While each of Tsvangirai’s three deputies — Khupe, Nelson Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri — claimed to be the rightful heir to the throne, in the end it was Chamisa who emerged triumphant. Khupe found that unexpected outcome too difficult to accept, leading to her breaking away to form another political outfit — the MDC-T.

She left the party along with organising secretary Abednico Bhebhe and national chairperson Lovemore Moyo and several other officials. With the main MDC heading towards a potentially divisive elective congress on May 24, with all top positions up for grabs, the party’s youth secretary, Lovemore Chinoputsa is rallying youths to ensure the movement does not split again.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Daily News, he regretted that when Khupe left the MDC, the youth assembly did not do enough to keep the party intact. “Our biggest regret was to allow comrades we had walked along with in the struggle to ditch the movement at a critical juncture as we were going for elections last year,” Chinoputsa said.

After the 2014 congress, the MDC youths had resolved to work towards ensuring that the party would not be torn apart again. This followed the 2005 and 2014 splits engineered by former secretary-generals Welshman Ncube and Tendai Biti, respectively.

“It was our conviction that the youth should play a critical role in managing elite internal contradictions… as a youth leadership, we had made it a point that we would not allow the party to split again.
“We had done our best not to be swayed by people bent on destroying the people’s struggle.

Our regret is maybe we didn’t do enough to call our leaders to order, we didn’t do enough to convince and present an atmosphere that all leaders were still important in the struggle, we didn’t do enough to reach out to fellow comrades.

“We could have done better to ensure our leaders stayed together and understand that the best foot forward with regards to the task at hand was none other than Advocate Chamisa,” he said.
* For full interview, don’t miss tomorrow’s issue of the Daily News on Sunday.

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President Emmerson Mnangagwa is in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on a 3-day working visit at the invitation of the Emir. He was met at the Abu Dhabi International Airport by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheik Mohammed bin Zaed bin Sultan Al Nahyam and Zimbabwe’s Minister Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Dr Sibusiso […]

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) notes with great concern government’s continued crackdown on Non-Governmental Organizations.

Source: CiZC condemns Closure of Democratic Space – The Zimbabwean

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The post CiZC condemns Closure of Democratic Space  appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.