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Source: Mzembi faces extradition | Herald (Africa)

Tendai Rupapa Senior Reporter
The State is starting the extradition process on fugitive former Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Walter Mzembi, who is believed to be holed up in South Africa, to bring him to trial on charges of theft of trust property. The allegations against Mzembi, who is on an outstanding warrant of arrest, arose during the time he was a Cabinet minister.

Harare regional magistrate Mr Hoseah Mujaya yesterday granted the State a longer remand period to May 7, following an application premised on the extradition process.

Prosecutor Mr Brian Vito sought for the longer remand period, saying it will allow the State to start and finish the extradition process.

In January, Mzembi’s lawyer, Mr Job Sikhala, claimed in court that his client was critically ill and unfit to stand trial.

The case was deferred several times on grounds that the former minister was too sick to stand trial. Contrary to claims by Mr Sikhala, Mzembi was recently caught on camera fit and jovial in a video believed to have been shot soon after the claims of illness.

This prompted the prosecution to successfully apply for a warrant of arrest. Mzembi is facing $1,6 million theft of trust property charges and another involving $184 336.

He is said to have connived with two others and seized vehicles which, according to the State, should have been surrendered after the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly held in Victoria Falls in 2013.

On the other charge, Mzembi is jointly charged with Margaret Sangarwe and Aaron Mushoriwa. When the alleged accomplices appeared in court yesterday, they successfully applied to have their reporting conditions scrapped.

Through their lawyers, Messrs Farai Mushoriwa and Tapiwa Mudambanuki, they argued that it was not their fault that the State was failing to put its house in order.

But they failed in their bid for refusal of further remand, despite arguing vigorously that they had been on remand for a long time without going to trial.

Mr Mujaya said he was giving the State one last chance to put its house in order.

The State alleges Mzembi obtained $2 million from Treasury to buy 40 LED PVA screens in 2010. The money was paid to suppliers, Shanghai Linso Digital Technology Company, and the screens were recorded in the ministry’s asset register upon delivery.

Mzembi allegedly abused his office criminally by intentionally disposing of 16 screens via donations and loaning or hiring them out to various institutions without Treasury’s approval.

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MDC Secretary-General Douglas Mwonzora has told the veterans of the 1970s liberation war to not stick their noses into MDC business as the party heads to Congress. Mwonzora said the Congress is an internal MDC affair which will be decided only by delegates who are bona fide MDC members. “The war veterans and their party […]

Source: 2 000 Norton settlers share 4 blair toilets | Newsday (News)

BY Chris Mahove/Simbarashe Sithole

Almost 2 000 inhabitants at Lydiate Farm, outside Norton, are sharing just four blair toilets, posing a serious risk of an outbreak of communicable diseases to the farming community.

Zimbabwe has been grappling with cholera and typhoid outbreaks over the past few months, with a number of people succumbing to the medieval diseases in various parts of the country.

Speaking during the commission of a $15 000 solar-powered borehole drilled by Turkish organisation, Turkye Diyanet Foundation, Islamic Society chairperson for the area, Elvis Matambo said the situation was dire and needed urgent attention.

“We have a total of eight toilets here, but the other four collapsed and we are left with only four, which were constructed by Temba Mliswa, the legislator for the area,” he said.

Matambo said some of the inhabitants had to use toilets at the nearby Mboma Bar.

Farai Nhokwe, who represented Mliswa, said the local legislator was ready to assist the community, but insisted that they should also take the initiative first.

“If they come and tell us they have moulded some bricks for the toilets project, we will chip in with cement. They have to show they are ready to participate in the development of their own area,” he said.

Matambo applauded the Turkish Foundation and the Islamic Association led by Sheh Adam Wadi, saying they were the first organisation to bring tangible projects to the area.

Turkye Diyanet Foundation expert for humanitarian affairs, Selman Actash said they would continue to support Zimbabwe.

“We have decided to increase the number of boreholes in the country to provide clean water and help prevent contagious diseases,” he said.

The foundation has drilled more than 100 boreholes in the country, 31 of them last year alone.

Diyanet Foundation also commissioned another $15 000 solar-powered taped water scheme, which is set to alleviate water challenges in the dry Dotito area, Mount Darwin.

The piped water system was constructed in conjunction with the Islamic Society at Mupfunganzira village.

Speaking at the commissioning of the water scheme, Mount Darwin assistant district administrator Darlington Chokera said the water scheme will go a long way in mitigating cholera outbreaks.

“The biggest problem we have as a district is water supply, hence we are very happy with such a project. The burden of water-borne diseases will decrease because of this borehole we have commissioned at a time we are recovering from cholera in Mt Darwin,” Chokera said.

Chokera implored villagers to properly manage the water since they had been saved from walking long distances in search of the precious liquid.

“We implore everyone in the community to properly manage the water by forming a committee that will deal with water issues. It is not for the Islamic community alone, but for everyone. Now we can heave a sigh of relief from walking long distances in search of safe water,” he said.

The post 2 000 Norton settlers share 4 blair toilets appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.

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FRAUD accused former tourism minister Walter Mzembi failed to attend court for the umpteenth time Tuesday to face trial on alleged offences linked to his time as a top government official. A Harare magistrate presiding [...]

Source: Econet addresses network challenges | The Herald March 6, 2019

Herald Reporter
Econet Wireless has attributed the challenges experienced across its network on Monday to serious network fault in Masvingo.

In a statement released last night, the mobile giant said the fault initially resulted in call failures in the Masvingo region only, but later escalated to a nation-wide problem following an abnormal surge in traffic, which led to instability on its key network systems. “The instability on our key network systems resulted in intermittent failure by customers to make calls, send SMSes (messages), browse mobile data or to use USSD for services such as EcoCash and to purchase product bundles across the network,” the company said.

Econet controls 65 percent of the country’s data traffic market share and a further 97 percent market share in the mobile money market share. “Mobile financial services transactional activities went up by 145 percent to US$44 billion from US$18 billion, while volumes increased by 121 percent to 1,7 billion from 755 million in 2017,” the firm said.

The company said while its network systems and infrastructure included redundancy (or back-up systems) the current foreign currency shortages in Zimbabwe made it difficult for the network to support its systems “to levels which cater for unusual challenges”. “We are confident of our back-up systems, but access to foreign currency would certainly enhance the robustness of these systems,” the company said. The company regretted the inconvenience the network challenges caused its customers.

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