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One of the reasons former why Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) chief executive officer Adelaide Chikurungu was pushed out was because she allegedly acquired a Starlink internet kit for the state broadcaster despite the government position that it is illegal, it has been revealed. Starlink is a satellite internet service operated by American aerospace company Spacex, […]

The post Why ZBC CEO Adelaide Chikurungu was pushed out: Shocking details emerge first appeared on My Zimbabwe News.

Source: Starlink scandal exposes ZBC rot – The Standard

One of the reasons former Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) chief executive officer Adelaide Chikurungu was pushed out was because she allegedly acquired a Starlink internet kit for the state broadcaster despite the government position that it is illegal, it has been revealed.

Starlink is a satellite internet service operated by American aerospace company Spacex, which is owned by Elon Musk.

Zimbabwe has not licenced  Starlink and last month a Chinese firm was charged for using the service illegally.

Images of a ZBC outside broadcast van with a Starlink kit on top surfaced on the internet and there were attempts to deny that the state controlled broadcaster was using the service, but this publication can now reveal that one of the reasons Chikurungu was being dragged into a disciplinary hearing related to the kit.

She resigned a few days after she was suspended in a humiliating manner as ZBC immediately took away her service car and cell phones.

Chikurungu was also ordered not to set foot at ZBC premises and to stop using her work email in order for investigations against her to run smoothly.

To avoid a disciplinary hearing, the former ZBC boss threw in the towel on Friday.

One of the charges she was facing was that she presided over the purchase of the Starlink internet device from former Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa’s son Neville.

Previously, ZBC used Live View, and Aviworth internet services for live streaming in rural areas where connectivity from local mobile network operators was non-existent.

ZBC failed to honour its contractual obligations with LiveView and Aviwest Streamhub, which saw the broadcaster being cut off and the executives are said to have latched onto Starlink as a stop gap measure.

The ZBC board  felt Chikunguru exposed the national broadcaster to a serious security threat by engaging a company whose data policies local authorities were not very familiar with.

“The board feels the purchase of a Starlink kit, which is not registered in Zimbabwe was a violation of the law and posed a very serious national security threat,” said a senior ZBC manager on condition of anonymity.

“Since it’s not registered in the country, it also posed a serious reputational risk to ZBC.”

Chikunguru is also accused of forcing ZBC to pay US$150 000 annually to Azam TV, a satellite TV provider launched in the country by Monica Mutsvangwa in January 2022.

Without committing any resources to production, ZBC paid US$150 000 annually to Azam to carry an entertainment channel Jive TV.

Chikunguru is said to have presided over the deal, which was given the green light by Mutsvangwa.

ZBC did not fund a single production for the channel despite the huge monies that were being paid to Azam.

She is also accused of failing to prepare for the coverage of last year’s elections where the broadcaster did not have radio presenters and news and current affairs reporters  operating without vehicles for journalists.

Chikunguru was also being investigated for “purchasing” controversial awards using ZBC money.

ZBC forked out US$5 939.98 for several awards from Perfection Media, MegaFest Holdings, Zimbabwe Corporate Trust, Marketers Association of Zimbabwe, the CSR Network Zimbabwe and The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) Responsible Business & Environmental Stewardship Awards from November 2021 to end of 2023, information obtained by The Standard shows.

The national broadcaster was forced to buy pricy tables at the award ceremonies where Chikunguru’s was feted.

Sources said  Chikunguru  was accused of causing the payment of US$15 000 to a company, African Leadership (UK) Limited that is registered in England and the Wales under the guise that it was for advertising ZBC in the magazine owned by the company.

The firm curiously gave an African Female Leadership Award to Chikunguru.

She is also being investigated for various financial and corporate malpractices that included travelling outside the country without board approval and  claiming amounts that were beyond  those stippled in ZBC policies for accommodation, airtime and taxi fares.

A fortnight ago, this publication exposed serious clashes  between Chikunguru’s management and ZBC  workers over poor working conditions.

In a letter to the ZBC board, the workers accused Chikunguru of making decisions that made their conditions of service unbearable.

The workers accused Chikunguru, human resource director Julius Toringepi, and corporate secretary Patricia Muchengwa of undermining the ZBC board.

The workers  accused the trio of deliberately delaying  processes to have workers’ salaries increased as a way of sabotaging Helliate Rushwaya’s new  board.

In a letter to Information minister Jenfan Muswere dated November 14, 2023, the workers also complained about travel and subsistence allowances, which they said were below what was set in ZBC policies.

“Whilst all this has been happening, reports have it that ZBC executives have been submitting budgets to the Office of the President and Cabinet indicating that they are paying employees around US$135 for every day spent out when in essence they have been paying an equivalent of US$25 at interbank,” the letter to Muswere reads.

“This has left employees frustrated and thus contemplating to take a rest from outside broadcast coverages till the issue has been resolved.”

Rushwaya could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The post Starlink scandal exposes ZBC rot  appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Police crackdown on border smugglers – The Standard

ZIMBABWEAN and South African police have destroyed apparatuses found on the Limpopo River  that are used for smuggling and human trafficking between the two countries.

The gadgets that were destroyed during last week’s joint operation were built in the vicinity of Zimbabwe’s 24-hour security checkpoints.

 

The apparatuses included a hand-made wooden bridge across the wide Limpopo River and two rafts paddled through the same river, the physical boundary between Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Police spokesman senior assistant commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the developments, saying 18 people were also arrested during the operation.

“Those arrested were illegally in the protected areas without valid reasons,” Nyathi told The Standard.

 

“I also confirm the destruction of a wooden bridge and home-made rafts that were used for smuggling and ferrying people from both countries.”

Adventurous and desperate Zimbabweans have been using different ways to avoid the official border post to evade paying duty or cross into the neighbouring illegally to search for a better life, in the process risking being attacked by hippos and crocodiles in the river.

Although Nyathi did not comment, it is known in Beitbridge circles that security agents will be present when these structures are being built.

 

“Some unscrupulous officials actually demand payment from operators of these apparatuses and in particular the rafts docking and operating near the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority camp on the banks of the Limpopo River,” a source said.

 

“The place is a security checkpoint where uniformed personnel are always present.”

In a related case, a South African policeman based at the Beitbridge Border Post has been jailed four years after he was caught with smuggled Zimbabwe cigarettes worth R350 000.

Sergeant Hezekiel Mailula Maimela (45) was given an option to pay a R200 000 fine.

His Toyota Hilux vehicle that was used to commit the crime was forfeited  to the State.

According to a press statement from the South African Police Service (SAPS) Limpopo Province, a Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Polokwane convicted and sentenced Maimela on Tuesday, 27 February 2024.

“The court noted that on Thursday 30, June 2022 the accused, wearing a police uniform, driving his own Toyota Hilux bakkie blue in colour, was stopped by Limpopo Flying Squad while patrolling,” said the statement signed by Limpopo SAPS spokesman Colonel Malesela Ledwaba.

“The police requested to search the vehicle, and found illicit cigarettes worth R350 000.”

The post Police crackdown on border smugglers appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Zanu PF youths in violent clashes – The Standard

Zanu PF supporters were left nursing injuries after a violent encounter over a residential stand owned by a deceased party supporter in Grobly Park, Waterfalls in Harare.

Zanu PF shadow councillor for Ward 35, Leonard Gono, was severely injured after he tried to fend off an invasion of his late brother Antony Gono’s residential stand by a group of people led by one Justice Taruva, a suspected land baron last Saturday.

Antony,  who was a Zanu PF provincial member from 2013 to 2017, died in 2021.

The rival groups were sent scattering after a police officer, in support of Taruva, produced a gun and threatened to shoot Gono.

The police officer, Learnmore Masawi has since been arrested and charged with possession of a firearm.

According to witnesses, before the fights, two men were languishing in remand prison after Gono reported them to the police for occupying the stand illegally.

Gono had found them working on the stand on the orders of Taruva.

The stand is on a piece of land owned by former Harare South MP Shadreck Mashayamombe through his company, Tanaka Development Group.

Mashayamombe has secured three court orders barring Taruva from the land.

The orders were obtained after Taruva tried to invade the land at a time Mashayamombe was fired from the party.

Taruva also has three dockets on land invasion pending over him.

“So,  (last) Saturday, Taruva came with a mob and ordered Antony’s widow off,” a source said.

“She called Leonard for help and when he arrived, fights ensued.

“Leonard was attacked by a machete. “Taruva also got injured when a group of people from the neighbouring area came to support Leonard.”

The source added: “This is when Musasiwa produced a gun to scare away the charging people.

‘The police later came and arrested the youths. Leonard and Taruva were allowed to seek medical attention first.

“They were summoned to come to court over public fighting. Only Leonard went to court, but Taruva snubbed.”

Contacted for comment, Gono accused Taruva of ignoring President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s call to stop illegal land grabs.

“The president is very clear about land invasion, but they are continuing to invade our properties,” Gono said.

He said Taruva stays in Chitungwiza, but has been falsely claiming to be a ward 35 resident.

“What is worrying us more now is the involvement of armed police officers in these crimes,” Gono said.

“Taruva has more than three warrants of arrest and a lot of contempt of court cases, but he is roaming around here free.

 “He was evicted lawfully and was ordered not to come here again, but he is here defying all those high court orders.”

He accused Taruva of duping the people by selling them stands that belong to Mashayamombe, lying that he was given the authority by the former MP when he was fired from the party.

But Taruva denied assaulting anyone, claiming he was the one who was beaten up.

He also denied that the fights were about the stand belonging to Antony, who he said was Mashayamombe’s right-hand man.

He said he was leading a group of youths who were allocated stands by Mashayamombe’s Tanaka Development Group, but were being repossessed by the same.

Taruva said the court orders against him were instigated by a company contracted by Mashayamombe to develop roads.

However, court papers show the dispute was between him and Takana Development Group.

Tanaka Group secured a court order dated January 8, 2024 to evict the remaining people on its land.

 

The post Zanu PF youths in violent clashes  appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Zanu PF fissures widen over Mnangagwa term – The Standard

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa is battling to prop up waning support in his ruling Zanu PF party and  disloyal party cadres are facing the axe as power battles take centre stage while the economy implodes and ordinary citizens sink into poverty.

Party members aligned to Mnangagwa ‘sdeputy Constantino Chiwenga are said to be manoeuvring to disrupt Mnangagwa’s push for a third term bid.

This pubication is reliably informed that Zanu PF factionalism had cascaded down to the lower echelons of the party, the cells, ahead of a restructuring exercise.

As the factional wars spiral out of control, the Zanu PF commissariat was forced to stop the district coordinating committee elections which are due this year amid reports that members aligned to Chiwenga were strategically positioning themselves for influential party posts and to stop Mnangagwa’s third term bid.

Zanu PF enjoys a two-thirds majority in Parliament to railroad legislation, but Mnangagwa would still need a national referendum to make constitutional changes to allow a third term.

Mnangagwa has this year alone fired two of his lieutenants — former War Veterans minister Christopher Mutsvangwa and Airforce of Zimbabwe boss Elson Moyo – reportedly over their questioned loyalty to him.

Moyo was fired on Friday after Mnangagwa aborted his trip to Victoria Falls following a bomb scare at the resort city’s airports.

Moyo’s dismissal raised eyebrows as Mnangagwa was quick to name his successor Air Vice Marshal John Jacob Nzvede on the same day he announced that he was retiring.

 

Mnangagwa last week rallied party organs to step up and emulate the youth league that pledged their allegiance to the Zanu PF leader for his third term bid during the National Youth Day celebrations held in Masvingo last month.

 

The youth uexposed  Mnangagwa’s third term bid through the slogan, ‘2030 VaMnangagwa vanenge vachipo (Mnangagwa will still be in office by 2030).

Addressing the Zanu PF politburo last Thursday, Mnangagwa showered praises on the youth for their “clarity of intentions”.

He told the senior party members that he was looking forward to officiating at events by party organs where they would be expected to follow in the footsteps of the youth league.

“I was pleased to receive and address the multitudes of our youths in Masvingo province as we celebrated the National Youth Day,” Mnangagwa said.

He also urged senior party leaders to guide the youth in accordance with the party constitution.

“I also remind the youth of our party to be alive to the founding provisions of the party constitution, values of hard work, honesty, discipline, patriotism and loyalty,” Mnangagwa said.

 “I am now looking forward to officiating at programmes by the women’s league, veterans of the liberation struggle and affiliates.

“Where are they … [war veterans league secretary] Mahiya? Have you seen how others performed in excellence?” Mnangagwa said, to which war veterans secretary Douglas Mahiya responded by pledging not to disappoint.

Close Mnangagwa allies told The Standard that the president was increasingly becoming suspicious of acts to sabotage against him  and they cited incidents where he has shown agitation in public.

Last Thursday, an angry Mnangagwa chastised his aides over a bad national anthem recording during an event where he was handing over vehicles to chiefs.

Later on the same day, Mnangagwa could not hide his frustration against his lieutenants over an omitted word in his speech during a politburo meeting.

“I think I have left something here? Hey, imi vapfana imi (you young men),” he said after he had noted the error  in his speech.

As factional fights within the party threaten to rip the party apart, elected   Zanu PF representatives aligned to Mnangagwa have also scaled up campaigns in their constituencies to strengthen support towards the Zanu PF leader.

His allies are handing out goodies to party supporters, mainly basic commodities such as mealie meal, cooking oil, flour and rice which are branded with Mnangagwa’s face as they strive to prove their loyalty to the Zanu PF leader.

Analysts yesterday accused Mnangagwa of plotting a constitutional coup.

Political analyst Sydicks Muradzikwa said concentrating power in the hands of a single individual was undermining democratic processes.

“This is weakening the democratic institutions and further eroding checks and balances, and stifling political pluralism and dissent,” Muradzikwa said.

“This bid barely six months after the elections, much of the political energy should be directed on realising the manifesto subjects and not the 2028 bid.

“Such actions might provoke public unrest; the economic impact of political instability resulting from attempts to extend term limits can be severe, with investors becoming hesitant to commit resources to a country embroiled in political uncertainty.”

Muradzikwa said Mnangagwa risked pushing Zimbabwe into international isolation.

“International condemnation and diplomatic isolation often might follow such attempts, as the global community tends to support democratic norms and principles,” he said.

The post Zanu PF fissures widen over Mnangagwa term appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.