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Source: Empowering war vets carries on spirit of sacrifice – herald

President Mnangagwa

MacDenias Moyo

AT Zanu PF Headquarters in Harare, the 4th National Assembly of the War Veterans League convened under the leadership of His Excellency President Mnangagwa.

This assembly was not a routine gathering of party structures. It was a profound reaffirmation of Zimbabwe’s revolutionary covenant, a continuation of the struggle that began with the First Chimurenga and now advances in the Fourth Chimurenga through Vision 2030 and CAB3.

The theme, “Empowering War Veterans: Securing Land Title for a Lasting Legacy and Prosperity”, captured the essence of this moment — the binding of past sacrifice to present empowerment and future sovereignty.

The war veterans are not a constituency to be placated. They are the living custodians of Zimbabwe’s freedom. From the First Chimurenga, where Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi consecrated the soil with their blood, through the Second Chimurenga, which delivered independence in 1980 and the Third Chimurenga, which reclaimed land from colonial dispossession, the veterans have been the compass of our destiny. Today, in the Fourth Chimurenga, defined by economic sovereignty, technological modernization and institutional renewal, they remain the vanguard. Their welfare is not charity. It is sovereignty itself.

President Mnangagwa’s words at the Assembly were clear and binding as he said, “By securing land title for our veterans and the rest of our communities, we are cementing the foundation of our sovereignty. Under the Second Republic, we are a listening party and Government, we will never neglect the liberators of this great country.” This is not ornamental language. It is a covenant that the liberation struggle continues in economic form and the veterans are both beneficiaries and drivers of this revolution.

The Assembly announced Presidential Empowerment Schemes that expand the arsenal of economic tools for veterans. The War Veterans Wealth Fund, capitalised with USD 1.5 million, finances provincial projects and ensures veterans are not passive recipients but active entrepreneurs. A further US$2 million allocation for borehole drilling rigs ensures veterans will own rigs, drill at their residences and subcontract to government contractors under the Presidential Rural Development Programme. This transforms infrastructure into enterprise, sovereignty into income. Scholarship schemes and enterprise development projects secure the future of veterans’ children, ensuring generational continuity. Land title deeds secure ownership, dignity and permanence, the very essence of sovereignty. These measures are recognition that the veterans’ welfare is inseparable from national welfare. As the President emphasized, “The welfare of our veterans is inseparable from that of their families. These include comprehensively updating the Registry of missing revolutionary fighters and speeding up the exhumation and reburial exercise.”

Zimbabwe’s path is acknowledged beyond its borders. The African union has hailed the empowerment of liberation movements as central to continental sovereignty. The Southern African Development Community has recognised Zimbabwe’s stabilisation under the Second Republic. The United Nations Development Programme has testified to the strides in rural development. The African Development Bank has acknowledged the infrastructure modernisation that underpins empowerment. Domestically, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries has lauded the empowerment schemes as catalysts for enterprise. The Zimbabwe Council of Churches has recognised the inclusivity of reforms that bind communities together. War veterans, through their League, are not passive recipients. They are active participants in governance, enterprise and social renewal. Their Assembly is a compass for the Party and the nation, reminding Zimbabweans that sovereignty is defended not only with arms but with enterprise, land and dignity.

The welfare of war veterans is not a peripheral issue. It is the heart of national stability. Neglecting them would mean neglecting the very foundation of independence. By empowering them, Zimbabwe empowers itself. Their children and widows, their enterprises and land, their dignity and recognition — all are pillars of national cohesion. As President Mnangagwa declared, “Land is the birthright of all Zimbabweans and the sacred inheritance for which many fought and sacrificed.” This inheritance is now secured with title deeds, wealth funds and empowerment schemes that bind the veterans to the economic revolution.

The Fourth Chimurenga is not fought with rifles. It is fought with policies, institutions and enterprise. Vision 2030 is the battlefield and CAB3 is the arsenal. War veterans are the generals of this economic war. Their empowerment schemes are not isolated projects. They are strategic deployments in the war for sovereignty. The issuance of land title deeds is the consolidation of the Third Chimurenga. The wealth funds are the ammunition of economic sovereignty. The borehole rigs are the infrastructure of empowerment. Together, they constitute the arsenal of the Fourth Chimurenga.

The 4th National Assembly of the War Veterans League is not just a gathering.

It is a declaration that the liberation struggle continues in economic form, under the stewardship of President Mnangagwa.

The veterans remain the compass of Zimbabwe’s destiny, their welfare inseparable from the nation’s sovereignty. Vision 2030 and CAB3 are not abstract policies. They are the Fourth Chimurenga and the veterans are its vanguard.

President Mnangagwa has delivered and continues to deliver. Everything else is noise. The Assembly is proof that Zimbabwe is on a positive path, acknowledged by international organisations, affirmed by national institutions and sanctified by the veterans who embody our sovereignty.

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Source: CAB3 sails through . . . gets 216 votes, 29 more than two-thirds majority – herald

Legislators celebrate after the Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 sails through the House of Assembly following the announcement of results by Speaker Advocate Jacob Mudenda in Parliament yesterday. – Picture: Memory Mangombe.

Farirai Machivenyika and Nyore Madzianike

PARLIAMENT marked a historic moment yesterday when legislators overwhelmingly passed the proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 3 Bill with bipartisan support in the National Assembly.

The Bill secured 216 votes — 29, more than the two-thirds majority required to amend the Constitution.

Forty-two members of the CCC voted against the proposed legislation.

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Advocate Jacob Mudenda, presided over the voting process.

The Bill seeks to extend the presidential electoral cycle from five to seven years and change the method of electing the President from a direct public vote to an election by a joint sitting of Parliament.

Following the National Assembly’s endorsement, the Bill now moves to the Senate, where debate is expected to begin on Tuesday next week.

Speaking after Parliament adjourned, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi commended legislators for their unity in passing the Bill.

“The Bill went through the National Assembly with an overwhelming two-thirds majority,” he said.

“What was exciting is that some members across the divide decided to support the substantive content of the Bill, not support opposition lines — which is what must happen in progressive democracies, where all members converge on national issues.

“We believe that this is a historic moment for our country, a historic moment for this particular Parliament. It will go down in history as one Parliament that made significant changes to the constitutional democracy of this country.”

Minister Ziyambi said he does not expect lengthy debate in the Senate next week.

Minister Ziyambi

“We are going to the Senate next week, where we will start on Tuesday with the Second Reading speech.

Thereafter, senators will be able to debate the Bill in response.

“Once debate is exhausted, we respond and proceed to the committee stage, where we look at it clause by clause. Once that is done, we follow the process you witnessed in the National Assembly — voting to ensure we satisfy the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution.”

The Minister expressed confidence that the Bill would pass the Senate.

“We are very confident because the Bill has been widely debated. The majority of honourable members are fully up to speed with the contents and substance. So we are confident that we are going to sail through in the Senate,” said Minister Ziyambi.

Voting began with MPs in favour seated to the Speaker’s right and those opposed to his left.

After the House was divided into two, Parliament staff and MPs from both Zanu PF and the CCC conducted the counting and tallying.

The Bill was passed with amendments made during the Committee Stage.

After counting ended, Speaker Mudenda announced the results, while Minister Ziyambi thanked MPs for their contributions to the debate.

The National Assembly had been debating the Bill for the past two weeks, with more than 200 MPs contributing.

Among the amendments moved by Minister Ziyambi were the withdrawal of proposals to disband the Zimbabwe Gender Commission and merge its functions with the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, as well as a proposal to allow chiefs to participate in politics.

The Bill was passed after the House adopted the amendments and voted in line with constitutional requirements.

Any amendment to the Constitution must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the membership of the House.

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Source: Bulawayo man fined US$300 for keeping illegal firearm under bed – herald

An executor must act in good faith and with due care

Dalyn Chigwizura, dchigwizura8@gmail.com

A 32-YEAR-OLD Bulawayo man has been fined US$300 after he was found illegally keeping a firearm and ammunition under his bed at his Cowdray Park home.

Merit Moyo was convicted on his own plea of guilty to possessing a firearm and ammunition without a firearm certificate or permit by Western Commonage magistrate Mr Jeconia Prince Ncube.

He was given until July 17 to pay the fine, failure of which he will serve 12 months in prison.
Prosecuting, Ms Cathrine Kuzu told the court that on June 9 detectives from the Criminal Investigations

Department (CID) Minerals, Flora and Fauna Unit in Bulawayo received a tip-off that Moyo was keeping a firearm and ammunition at his house.
Acting on the information, detectives proceeded to Moyo’s residence in Cowdray Park where they identified themselves and requested to conduct a search.

“A search was conducted in the presence of the accused person and detectives recovered a Fabrique National rifle bearing serial number 17064, a 303 rifle barrel with Nitrol proof markings and five rounds of ammunition,” said Ms Kuzu.

The firearm components and ammunition were wrapped in a white sack and hidden under Moyo’s bed in his bedroom.

Ms Kuzu said detectives asked Moyo to produce a firearm licence or permit authorising him to possess the weapon and ammunition. He failed to do so leading to his arrest. The firearm and ammunition were produced in court as exhibits.

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Source: High Court clears man accused of killing stepbrother – herald

Danisa Masuku, Danimasuku4455@gmail.com

A 25-YEAR-OLD man from Filabusi under Chief Maduna in Matabeleland South who was being accused of killing his 31-year- old stepbrother over a R200 debt, has been acquitted of murder by a Bulawayo High Court.

Polite Gumbo was acquitted by Justice Ngoni Nduna who ruled that there was no evidence linking him to the offence.

Gumbo’s lawyer, Mr Dereck Kosam presented a strong defence, arguing that his client was wrongly implicated.

“The accused was drinking beer with the now-deceased at Mandeveni Bush Park Mine, Collen Bawn. The accused person then left to a nearby toilet and came back only to find the now-deceased lying on the ground, and saw a man who was sitting next to them running away. The accused person then followed the unidentified man trying to find out what had happened, but could not catch up with him. He then went to his home,” Mr Kosam said.

He told the court that the accused only learnt of his stepbrother’s death later and was not aware of the developments immediately after the incident.

“On the 12th day of March 2025, the accused was informed by his mother that his step brother had passed on. That same week, he left for Bulawayo, where he stayed with his aunt in Bulawayo’s Makokoba suburb, and was informed from home that a story was cooked up by a man named Nkosinesisa claiming that the accused had assaulted the now-deceased, and that the police were looking for him. His mother then advised him to report to the nearest police station, and he handed himself to Mzilikazi Police Station, where he was arrested,” said Mr Kosam.

In his ruling, Justice Nduna said the State had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt hence he acquitted Gumbo of the murder charge.
Justice Nduna said there was no evidence linking the accused to the offence.

“There is no one who saw the accused committing the crime, and there is no eyewitness who was called by the State to testify to that effect. The investigating officer told the court that a key witness refused to come. The matter was poorly investigated, and there are glaring inconsistencies,” he said.
Justice Nduna said he had taken into account the defence’s claims that the accused was assaulted by the police in an attempt to force a confession. He said the argument was credible and as such the accused might have been coerced into admitting to a crime he did not commit.

The State represented by Ms Tarisai Mutarisi had alleged that there was a misunderstanding between the accused and the deceased over an R200 debt.
She told the court that on 7 March 2025, at around 7pm, the accused and the deceased were drinking beer together at Mandeveni Bush Park Mine compound in Collen Bawn.

“A misunderstanding arose between them over R200 that the deceased owed the accused. During the dispute, the accused allegedly picked up a log and struck the deceased once on the left side of his head. The deceased fell headlong to the ground and lost consciousness, after which the accused dropped the

log and fled the scene,” said Ms Mutarisi.
Following the incident, a case of assault was reported at ZRP Collen Bawn leading to the deceased being taken to Gwanda Hospital for treatment.

The court heard that his condition worsened the following day.

“On March 8, 2025, his condition deteriorated and he was transferred to Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo, where he later died,” said Ms Mutarisi.

A post-mortem examination conducted on 11 March 2025 confirmed that the cause of death was severe traumatic brain damage, multiple skull fractures, and intracranial haemorrhages.

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Source: School-run transporters put on notice – herald

Spokesperson, Mr Taungana Ndoro, said the education ministry will work in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development to develop and implement the regulatory framework.

Mukudzei Chingwere–Senior Reporter

ZIMBABWE’s education authorities have moved to tighten oversight of transporters ferrying learners, following a spate of fatal accidents that have reignited public debate about roadworthiness, overloading and the safety of children.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education said it is mulling a policy which will see it regulate transporters.

Spokesperson, Mr Taungana Ndoro, said the education ministry will work in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development to develop and implement the regulatory framework.

“The Ministry is concerned by the continued loss of life of learners on school transport routes and we believe this is worsened by the condition of vehicles plying these routes or negligent driving,” said Mr Ndoro.

“The urgency of the matter has been underlined by the Gweru disaster, where the President declared the incident a national disaster,” said Mr Ndoro.

“So, this is not yet policy, but what we are saying is that learners should be ferried by vehicles suitable to carry learners and the drivers should be licenced to drive learners, not a haphazard scenario.” 

The concern is not isolated to Gweru. In Chiredzi, residents and authorities were also forced to confront the dangers facing travellers, after an accident claimed the lives of children who were on their way to school early this week.

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