Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

MDC MP for Kuwadzana East and deputy treasurer-general Chalton Hwende has been granted bail at the High Court. He was arrested on Tuesday morning aboard an Air Namibia plane that had just landed at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe international airport. As part of the bail conditions, Hwende has been barred from addressing public gatherings and […]

THE United Kingdom says it is following closely how the Zimbabwean government is handling the various cases of opposition legislators and pro-democracy defenders arrested and charged for participating in January protests over fuel price hikes. [...]

Source: Boka wins USD$50 000 adultery damages | Newsday (News)

BY CHARLES LAITON

Harare businesswoman Rudo Boka Mutambanengwe has been granted a USD$50 000 adultery damages compensation after a woman who snatched her husband failed to defend the litigation.

Through her lawyer, Advocate Thabani Mpofu, Boka filed summons on October 26, 2018, in a bid to compel Lorraine Chitereka to compensate her and at the same time desist from continuing with her adulterous relationship with her husband, Noah Mutambanengwe.

In her declaration filed alongside the summons, Boka insisted Chitereka, had been living “in open adultery as husband and wife” with Mutambanengwe, whom she said she wedded on August 8, 2015 in Harare.

However, on February 19, 2019, after realising that Chitereka had not bothered to defend the claim, which initially was for USD100 000, Boka again petitioned the High Court, seeking a default judgment against Chitereka and the matter was heard before Justice Clement Phiri.

“Whereupon after reading documents filed of record and hearing counsel, it is ordered that: defendant (Chitereka) shall pay to plaintiff (Boka) the sum of US$25 000 for contumelia, US$25 000 for loss of comfort, companionship and services of her spouse,” the judge ruled.

“The defendant shall pay interest on the sums set out in paragraph one and two above at the prescribed rate calculated from date of judgment and defendant shall pay costs of suit on a higher scale of legal practitioner and client.”

In her declaration, Boka said on diverse occasions and places since August 2017, Chitereka and Mutambanengwe went into an adulterous relationship and lived as husband and wife.

Boka said Chitereka had ignored her pleas to stop the relationship.

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Source: UK takes interest in Zim opposition court cases | Newsday (News)

BY Everson Mushava

THE United Kingdom says it is following closely how the Zimbabwean government is handling the various cases of opposition legislators and pro-democracy defenders arrested and charged for participating in January protests over fuel price hikes.

This was disclosed by Britain’s minister for Africa, Harriett Baldwin, on social media on Wednesday after the arrest of another MDC official Charlton Hwende for attempting to overthrow a constitutionally-elected government.

“It is essential that Zimbabwe upholds the rule of law and human rights,” Baldwin wrote on microblogging site, Twitter.

“We are watching closely in Harare how cases against opposition MPs and human rights defenders are progressing, including attending court hearings.”

Several MDC legislators and councillors were arrested after the January protests turned violent, leaving a trail of destruction and loss of life after the military stepped in.

MPs Settlement Chikwinya, Amos Chibaya, Joanna Mamombe and Hwende, among others, have already appeared before the courts facing various charges that include treason and concern has been raised over the way their cases have been handled.

Several human rights campaigners, including Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions leaders and social movement leaders such as Evan Mawarire, have also been arrested and appeared before the courts.

Lawyers have demonstrated against the alleged denial of justice through fast-tracked trials for hundreds of people apprehended in a violent crackdown on protests that shut down the country in January.

The United States and European Union have already raised concern over the way the arrested activists were treated and tried and implored Harare to respect human rights.

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Source: Fuel shortages to ease by month-end: Mangudya | Newsday (News)

BY VENERANDA LANGA

RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya yesterday said the current fuel shortages will ease by end of the month, attributing the problem to delays in the processing of lines of credit (LCs) and the lack of working capital by oil companies.

Mangudya had appeared before the Joel Gabbuza-led Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Energy, where Energy minister Joram Gumbo also testified.

The governor said fuel shortages were not caused by lack of foreign currency, but the long time it takes (two weeks) for LCs to be processed, creating gaps in the supply and distribution of the product on the market.

He said in January, government paid $91,9 million for 150 million litres and in February $80,6 million was released for 135 million litres, but out of those litres only 104 million litres were delivered for both months, leaving the gap which caused the shortages.

“The LCs go to three different banks and the third bank then advises the supplier that the fuel has been paid for and that it should be released by the National Oil and Infrastructure Company from Msasa, where the fuel will be bonded,” Mangudya said.

“What happened was that capital of oil companies was based on old retail prices, but now that it is real time gross settlement dollar they do not have working capital and fuel dealers do not have enough cash to purchase from the oil suppliers, and what we are seeing are queues caused by lack of cashflows and LCs.”

He said the gap where the US$ rate suddenly changed from 1:1 to 1:2,5 meant that service stations were now spending more money on fuel for their consumers.

Finance ministry secretary George Guvamatanga also appeared before the committee to speak on the excise duty refund framework to transporters, miners and others in terms of rebates in order to curb price increases.

“One of the conditions of qualification for the rebate is that you should not have increased prices due to the review of fuel because this is taxpayers’ money we will use to refund. If you decide to self-compensate by increasing prices you will be disqualified and there are penalties for that,” Guvamatanga said.

Gumbo said the fuel situation in the country has been constrained for a long time dating back to the pre-July 30 2018 elections where consumption rose from about two million litres diesel per day and one million litres of petrol per day to 4,3 million litres diesel and 3,3 million litres petrol.

“Pronouncements by the President in January, which saw changes in pricing of both diesel and petrol, have seen savings and we have noticed in the last two months of January and February that consumption is going down and we believe it is because of the prices,” Gumbo said.

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