Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

MDC National Spokesperson Jacob Mafume has been confined at ZRP Law and Order section for the whole day in the company of his attorney Advocate Bhatasara of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

Source: Fresh arrests as Ramaphosa jets in – The Zimbabwean March 11, 2019

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Source: Intratek tender aboveboard — ZPC | The Herald March 11, 2019

Mr Chivayo

Tendai Rupapa Senior Reporter
The trial of Intratrek Zimbabwe managing director Wicknell Chivayo continued on Friday with Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) financial director Mr Eubert Chiwara confirming that the businessman was awarded the tender after recommendations by the ZPC evaluation committee and the then State Procurement Board.

Chivayo and his company are facing charges of defrauding ZPC of over $5,6 million he received for the Gwanda solar project.

The State witness, Mr Chiwara, was back on the witness stand being cross-examined by Chivayo’s lawyer, Advocate Lewis Uriri, instructed by Mr Wilson Manase.

Advocate Uriri asked Mr Chiwara to confirm if Intratrek was one of the three companies out of six whose bids were compliant with the law and he confirmed it.

Mr Chiwara confirmed that ZPC and the board did evaluations and awarded the contract adding that the ZPC chain manager was more privy to how the evaluation was done.

Advocate Uriri said it was incorrect for the State to allege Chivayo prejudiced ZPC of $5,6 million when work valued at $3,6 million was done at the site.

He referred to an evaluation report by ZPC engineers which he said indicated ill-performance of $1,8 million.

“It is alleged accused was paid without an advance payment guarantee, but for some of the payments made, there was no need for advance payment guarantee because it was not an advance payment. ZPC was paying for work already done not which was to be done,” he said.

He said though Chivayo did some of the work at the site, it was not complete.

Advocate Uriri said Chivayo did most of the pre-commencement work at the site, but could not finish after ZPC failed to obtain an Environment Impact Assessment certificate from EMA.

“ZPC had the obligation to secure EMA certificate within those 24 months. Accused could not do some of the work because at law you cannot do any project without being certified by EMA,” he said.

Advocate Uriri said if there was malperformance, ZPC should seek remedy through civil route or arbitration.

Magistrate Mr Lazini Ncube remanded the matter to March 28 when the State is expected to call its second witness.

Mr Zivanai Macharaga prosecuted.

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Source: Machaya trial postponed | The Herald March 11, 2019

Jason Machaya

Patrick Chitumba Midlands Bureau Chief
THE trial of former Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister Jason Machaya, Mashonaland West provincial administrator Cecilia Chitiyo and six other senior Government officials facing allegations of illegally allocating State land has been postponed to March 14.

Machaya (65), Chitiyo (50), who is also the former PA for the Midlands province, Matilda Manhambo (59), Sherpard Marweyi (48), Sifelani Moyo (59), Ethel Mlalazi (65), Chisainyerwa Chibhururu (47) and Everest Nyamadzawo (33) appeared before Bulawayo Regional Magistrate Mrs Sibongile Msipa-Marondedze facing charges of illegally allocating more than 11 000 stands to land developers.

They are also facing criminal abuse of office charges.
Mrs Msipa-Marondedze deferred the matter to March 14.

She said the period was to allow the High Court to make a determination on the application for review of a ruling against permanent stay of prosecution she made which had been made by defence lawyers when the matter commenced on Monday.
“The defence on Monday made an application for permanent stay of prosecution which the court ruled against.

“The defence then applied for postponement of the matter to another date to make an application for review of the court’s ruling at the High Court and subsequently a Chamber application for stay of proceedings pending determination of application for review. The matter is therefore remanded to March 14,” she said.

Ruling against the application of permanent stay of prosecution made by the defence lawyers, Mrs Msipa-Marondedze said it was frivolous and vexatious.

“The defence applied for stay of prosecution and the application is frivolous and vexatious. Some of the charges are from 2004 to 2015 and the only time which can be said to be too long for accused to go on trial is from the period they are arrested to the time they appear in court.

“In this case they were arrested in February last year and brought to court in December. So the court ruled against the application,” she said.

However, Machaya’s lawyer, Mr Alec Muchadehama, representing all the other defence lawyers, accused the court of being biased and gross incompetence, allegations the State refuted.

“The court ignored pertinent issues with regard to the application of stay of prosecution and fell for the State trap to disregard the pre-charging or pre- arrest period of the accused people.

“The ruling by the court shows bias and gross irregularity in justice system,” he said.
Mr Muchadehama then applied for referral of the matter to the Constitutional Court, arguing that there were constitutional issues arising from the matter, more particularly a right to a fair hearing allegedly being infringed as a result of delay taken by the State in arresting the accused persons and charging them for matters which were allegedly in the public domain since 2004.
Mr Andrew Kumire, for the State, said they were ready for trial which, however, failed to take place.

Machaya is out on $1 000 bail while Chitiyo, Manhambo, Marweyi, Moyo, Mlalazi, Chibhururu and Nyamadzawo are out on $200 bail each.

It is the State’s case that Chitiyo, who was employed as the PA for Midlands province, allegedly intentionally allocated State land totalling 4 469 stands to land developers by co-signing offer letters for the State land with Machaya.

Manhambo, who was employed as the provincial projects officer by the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, allegedly allocated 2 000 stands to land developers and entities working in cahoots with Machaya.

Similarly, Marweyi, who is the district administrator for Gweru, allegedly allocated 5 199 stands to land developers also working in cahoots with Machaya.

Nyamadzawo, who is an administrative officer, is accused of unlawfully writing a survey instruction letter to the Surveyor-General, instructing his office to nominate a surveyor for the State land, knowing fully well that Government had not allocated that land.

Survey instructions, the State argues, can only be written in respect of State land allocated to persons and entities by the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.

Chibhururu, Moyo and Mlalazi are facing abuse of office charges.

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Source: Concourt throws out Nyagura challenge | The Herald March 11, 2019

Prof Nyagura

Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Court Reporter
FORMER University of Zimbabwe (UZ) Vice-Chancellor Levi Nyagura, accused of illegally awarding former First Lady Grace Mugabe a PhD, will now stand trial at the Harare Magistrates’ Court after the Constitutional Court threw out his challenge.

Nyagura was challenging a decision by the Prosecutor-General to delegate his prosecutorial powers to Mr Tapuwa Godzi and Mr Michael Chakandida of the Presidential Special Anti-Corruption Unit.

Last year, Nyagura argued before a Harare magistrate that the decision by the PG’s decision was unconstitutional to that end, he sought the matter to be referred to the Constitutional Court.

Based on the arguments presented before him, the magistrate ruled on the merits of the case and decided that the PG had acted lawfully.

Nyagura, through his lawyers, instead of appealing the decision, filed a chamber application for direct access to the Constitutional Court.

Chief Justice Luke Malaba dismissed the request, saying Nyagura had adopted the wrong procedure.
“The applicant invoked a wrong remedy in a bid to redress the decision of the court a quo on the constitutional questions he raised in the criminal proceedings in that court,” he said.

“If the applicant was of the view that the decision by the court a quo was wrong, he had the remedy of appeal for the redress of the decision.

“A wrong judicial decision does not, however, give rise to a ground for an alleged violation of the right to equal protection of the law.”

Chief Justice Malaba said once a subordinate court renders a decision on the constitutional question, the dispute arising therefrom can only be resolved by way of appeal.

The trial will proceed at the magistrates’ court with Mr Godzi and Mr Chakandida representing the PG.
Advocate Lewis Uriri, instructed by Muzangaza Mandaza and Tomana Legal Practitioners, on behalf of Nyagura, had cited infringement of constitutional rights to a fair trial in the failed Constitutional Court application.

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Source: Contest of the bizarre  in the spiritual world | Daily News

THE “resurrection” miracle performed by popular Congolese pastor — Alph Lukau — on a “dead” Zimbabwean man about a fortnight ago in South Africa has raised a lot of questions.

The video showed Lukau of Alleluia International Ministries in Kramerville, Sandton, in Johannesburg, performing the stunt, sending social media abuzz while leaving many who watched it in awe.

In no time, the parish in question was exposed while the funeral palour said to have transported the corpse distanced itself, forcing the pastor and his church to retract their earlier claim, saying the man was actually alive but the pastor had just woken him up.

The same pastor claimed to have previously healed people on their death beds without using any hospital equipment, not even an intravenous drips. Charismatic churches have been sprouting all over, especially in developing economies where poverty and strife are the order of the day.

Zimbabwe has not been an exception as some of these churches have become safe havens for people in need of divine intervention in their lives.

Some of these churches have been famed for creating and performing miracles to show the strength and divine power of the pastors to lure the naive and vulnerable. it is not only the poor who are attracted to these churches, but also the rich, politicians and academics are not spared either.

Zimbabweans have heard about one pastor telling his congregates to pay him money along with a list of prayer requests on it, claiming he would take these to Jerusalem and lay them out on the Wailing Wall and leave them there in Israel or would hand over the backpack to God at Golgotha or the garden of Gethsemane.

One pastor made a video of “miraculous” weight loss performed on an overweight woman in a red dress with a balloon you could see clearly being deflated by another woman standing behind her.Why this has not been to assist obesity sufferers boggles the mind. Clearly, one can see a woman standing behind the alleged afflicted woman with a swollen belly pull a string to deflate a balloon giving the viewer an illusion of the swelling belly reducing.

These men of cloth take advantage of the naive and desperate. Their aim will be to convert a fellow human being who is out there to make a quick buck have seen the need to prey on those in need who feel their salvation is in the hands of these fake prophets.
Some of these have made millions by pretending to assist desperate people.

In the western world, the church is dying among the people as compared to those in the Third World with massive populations of impoverished and desperate. A survey has shown that the church is no longer as popular in the United States as the majority only go on holidays like Easter and Christmas.

There is no Good Friday like we have here in Africa, they only celebrate Easter Sunday because for them, production is a top priority as compared to closing business for religious reasons.
Certain western churches have now realised there is more money to be made through touring the Third World where they are likely to find those in need of such miracles.

It is not just Christianity that has suffered from these charlatans but traditional beliefs as witnessed some years ago when an entourage of top government officials were made to sit on their laurels, barefoot in praise of a woman who claimed to have discovered diesel in rocks in the Mashonaland West provincial capital of Chinhoyi.
It was clear the diesel had been stored and piped, causing it to ooze out of the rock. I am not advocating for people to stop believing in miracles, but let us be wary of  the deceiver who is on the prowl — he will come and take away your soul and hard-earned money.

What has happened to the religion that preached, sang four hymns and a prayer and you all went home filled with the spirit for just being enriched in the word of God from the Bible without the need to preach prosperity when the mere power of prayer and our strong faith could be enough for our loving Father in Heaven?

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