Lungile Tshuma Sunday News Correspondent
POLITICIANS in the Matabeleland region are to blame for the under-development of the region as they are clueless and coward individuals who are bent on pursuing selfish interests at the expense of the people, a senior traditional leader has said. In an interview at his homestead in Insiza last week, Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu of Filabusi said the region no longer has fearless leaders who can advocate for the cause of people in Matabeleland.

“We no longer have real men and women,” thundered Chief Maduna, adding: “How can we say we have leaders when they spend most of their time asleep and mum in Parliament? “We long for our old days where we had the likes of Sydney Malunga who could speak fearlessly and fight for our plight.”

Chief Maduna who is also former a Senator said the economic hardship which people are experiencing needed politicians who will fight for their people not only concentrating on enriching themselves.

He said; “We never fought this war so that people can suffer or few elected individuals can become richer. For the past years we have been crying for attention from the Government yet the problem is that people are electing mum and empty vessels to Parliament. We are going through difficult times which need real men and women to champion people’s causes.”

The majority of the legislators in the region are yet to push a motion in Parliament. Lwazi Sibanda, the MDC-T MP for Tsholotsho (proportional representation) has not pushed a single motion on behalf of her constituency since her appointment.

This was the same case with former Tsholotsho North MP, Roselyn Nkomo who never uttered a single word during her 18 months in Parliament.

However, Chief Maduna implored people to give Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko whom he said was following in the footsteps of the late Vice- President Joshua Nkomo a chance.

“We have to be united as a nation and support each other. Mphoko is doing well and people should support him. He is a brave man who needs our support and without our support he cannot fulfil his mandate of serving us,” he said.

Vusumuzi Dube Sunday News Reporter
AS the beleaguered opposition MDC-T continues to be hit by internal strife, the party is reportedly making strides at further weakening the powers of one of its deputy president, Ms Thokozani Khupe (pictured) amid revelations that the party will be holding their 17th birthday celebrations in Bulawayo. Ms Khupe who has been the party’s only deputy president, had a rude awakening recently when their leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai appointed two more deputy presidents; Mr Nelson Chamisa and Engineer Elias Mudzuri.

According to impeccable party sources, the decision to hold the celebrations in Bulawayo was mainly meant to unveil the two new deputy presidents a move they alleged was aimed at showing the province, which has largely been aligned to Ms Khupe, that her powers had been drastically reduced.

The celebrations will be held at a yet to be confirmed venue in the city on 10 September.

The latest revelations in the backdrop of reports that Ms Khupe allegedly plotted to oust party leader Mr Tsvangirai by trying to “steal” his medical files and present them to the opposition’s financiers mostly European envoys to prove that he was now “so sick and likely to be killed by cancer by 2017” hence the need to give him a retirement package.

Party sources have revealed that the party is now aiming to counter a move by the Khupe-led faction in the province of reneging from any instruction tabled by the two deputy presidents, especially Mr Chamisa who is understood of also having a big following in the province.

“Khupe is now viewed to be a threat to the presidency hence, Tsvangirai decided to hold this year’s celebrations in the city, to show, to what is considered her strong hold that her powers have been effectively reduced.

“This time around, Ms Khupe will seemingly play a minor role in the celebrations, with Mr Chamisa being given a leading role, something which will be a clear statement to Ms Khupe and her faction,” said the source.

Contacted for comment the party’s secretary-general Mr Douglas Mwonzora confirmed the impending celebrations but said there were no ulterior motives in holding the celebrations in Bulawayo.

“It will just be a celebration where we will be looking back at where we came from, what we have achieved and where we are headed. We expect all our members to be with us during this wondrous occasion.

“MDC-T is a big party and a big party has to have a big birthday party which is what we are organising in Bulawayo. There is no ulterior motive, it is just a birthday celebration being held in the city,” said Mr Mwonzora.

Since Mr Tsvangirai made the new deputy presidential appointments, Ms Khupe has continually refused to comment on her new colleagues in office, instead alleging that Mr Tsvangirai was the only one who could comment on the matter.

A couple of weeks ago media reports revealed that Ms Khupe allegedly met Mr Jesse Louis Jackson, one time a Democratic presidential nomination candidate and an American civil rights activist in Morocco where she told him that Mr Tsvangirai was sick and could not lead the party.

From Tendai Mugabe in Nairobi, Kenya
ZIMBABWE has done its best to keep its economy afloat over the 15 years it has been under illegal Western sanctions, President Mugabe has said. Contributing to discussions at the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development here yesterday, President Mugabe said Harare had introduced various mitigation measures, among them Zim Asset.

“In spite of sanctions, we in Zimbabwe have tried our best to grapple with our economy, and we have adopted a home-grown economic development blueprint, which we call the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio Economic Transformation (Zim Asset) which runs up to 2018,” said President Mugabe.

“Under this framework, we envisage attaining accelerated and sustainable economic growth and development by empowering our people through judicious exploitation and beneficiation of our natural resources, and we hope this also is currently the position in the rest of Africa.”

President Mugabe said Sadc had an economic blueprint focused on industrialisation running from 2015 to 2030.

He hailed Afro-Japanese relations, saying: “Let me conclude by once again emphasising that this partnership between Africa and Japan is of intrinsic importance to both sides and is both our duty to ensure that this forum flourishes. It’s my sincere hope that this historical summit held on African soil will set new heights for Japan and Africa co-operation.

“We need Japanese help and I am sure Japan also needs resources from us so long our union, long live our development agenda. We hope that Japan in its aid programme will take account of these initiatives and these programmes that have been adopted by countries individually and by regions together and also by our African continent.”

President Mugabe said the Ticad VI theme, “Advancing Africa’s Sustainable Development Agenda — Ticad Partnership for Prosperity”, resonated with Africa’s development agenda.

“It captures the great aspirations and goals of our continent with our Japanese partners. Also, of equal importance is its symbiotic relationship with the continental agenda 2063 which is Africa’s cornerstone development effort.

“Let me, on the onset, point out that structural economic transformation is a painful process through which any country seeks transformation change to its economic model. Such economic transformation is intended to achieve growth and development.”

Ticad VI was organised by the government of Japan, the United Nations Office of the Special Advisor on Africa, the UN Development Programme, the African Union and the World Bank.

Focus is on promoting structural economic transformation through diversification and industrialisation, resilient health systems for quality life and social stability for shared prosperity.

Tinomuda Chakanyuka/Walter Mswazie Sunday News Reporters—
MORE than 17 000 Early Childhood Education (ECD) teachers are needed across the country to address teacher staff shortages in primary schools at a time when the Government has reiterated that it will absorb all teachers that are graduating from the country’s teacher training colleges despite a freeze on civil servants by the Civil Service Commission. Speaking during a graduation ceremony at Masvingo Teachers College on Friday, Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo said each primary teacher training college must churn out 300 ECD graduates per year for the next five years to meet national demand.

The ceremony saw 476 graduating with teacher training diplomas of which 379 were in general course while 97 were in the ECD course. In the general course category, 280 were females while 99 were males. In the ECD category, nine were males and 88 females.

“ECD teacher vacancies in 2016 are 17 000. This means every primary teachers college should produce 300 teachers per year until 2021 in order to fill the vacancies,” said Prof Moyo. “Today’s 97 ECD graduates constitutes only 32,3 percent of the annual expected output of at least 300 teachers (per college),” said Prof Moyo.

He noted that while the country has made strides in improving literacy levels, there was a need to give priority to programmes that enhance numeracy in teachers colleges through the strengthening of the training of Science and Mathematics teachers in line with the new STEM policy.

“Where the country’s primary education has achieved literacy, secondary education must achieve numeracy. “In his regard the ministry is considering converting Masvingo Teachers’ College into a secondary teacher training college for STEM teachers ,’’ said Prof Moyo .

Under the initiative, Prof Moyo said, the college will be expected to adopt both the three-year post Ordinary Level and two Advanced Level programmes as offered by Hillside and Mutare teachers’ colleges.

He also said eventually the college will be expected to develop and train degreed teachers to teach A-level Science and Mathematics. The graduation ceremony was held under the theme, “Education for Self-Reliance and Sustainability”

Meanwhile, in an interview on the sidelines of the graduation ceremony at Hillside Teachers College on Thursday, Prof Moyo assured teachers who are graduating they would be absorbed into the system despite the freeze on civil servants recruitment.

“Our country is in need of secondary school teachers. Yes there is the general civil service freeze but we cannot do things that are cast in stone or that are like a ruler or rule that does not break.

“The fact of the matter is there are vacancies in designated areas and there is serious shortage of STEM teachers in general, a serious shortage of Physics teachers in particular secondary schools across the country.

“We don’t want our teachers colleges, of all institutions, to train teachers who fail to get jobs when we know that there are classrooms without teachers, when we know that there was an exodus of teachers not so long ago and there are vacancies,” he said.

Prof Moyo acknowledged that there could be delays in employing the teachers being churned out from various training institutions, but gave assurance that the teachers would get jobs.

Added Prof Moyo: “What might happen that would be a challenge for them (graduating teachers) is that, it’s not as if today you graduate and then tomorrow you are dirtying your hands with a chalk.

“There is a transition period to do with deployment and so on, but then it just becomes not whether they will get the jobs but when, relative to their date of graduation.”

He said the country’s education would be of no value without teachers.

“It would be a serious contradiction in terms, to put a premium value on our education without teachers. The whole notion of education without teachers is just nonsensical.

“So we are engaged with Civil Service Commission and Treasury to shine a spotlight on this as an exception but also as a very important area. Teachers produce everyone else, every skill that our country ends up utilising must be produced by teachers. No teachers, no education. So we cannot play ping pong with this,” said Prof Moyo.

Prof Moyo said the new education curriculum introduced by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education also placed a need for more teachers to be recruited, while those already in service would need to be retrained in the new areas that come with the reviewed curriculum.

“We are also aware that there is a new curriculum that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has come up with which includes new learning areas which require teachers.

“As we have been saying, because of the policy thrust on industralisation and mechanisation we have the need not only to ensure that the pre-service students who come straight from the secondary school system into colleges get the jobs that they trained for but also retrain and upgrade the in-service teachers to give them new the skills in light of the new curriculum and also in light of the need for STEM,” he said.

The Government placed a freeze recruitment into the civil service as well as all promotions, as part of its staff rationalisation exercise, in line with recommendations of the Civil Service Report of 2015.

The freeze, among other measures, is meant to contain Government’s bloated labour bill which accounted for about 83 percent of the 2015 National Budget.

Dumisani Nsingo and Sandra Tekere Sunday News Reporters—
AN elderly woman and her granddaughter died in a horrendous accident when they were struck by an uncontrolled trailer that had disengaged from a moving vehicle before hitting them and sending some body parts onto the tarmac along Nketa Drive in Bulawayo on Friday evening. Sineta Agnes Ncube (71) who was in the company of her 13-year-old granddaughter, Loretta Ncube were struck by a trailer of a South Africa-registered Toyota Quantum just after crossing Nketa Drive on their way home from Mpopoma high-density suburb.

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The now deceased and her granddaughter lived in Mabuthweni, a high-density suburb adjacent to Mpopoma. Loretta was a Form One pupil at Njube High School.

A vendor who sells her wares by the roadside said the two were hit by the trailer, which sent the young girl sprawling and crashing on the tarmac while it struck her grandmother and trapped her body in a nearby drainage.“I was looking at the other side and suddenly heard a loud bang and when I checked I saw a young girl sprawling by the roadside while a trailer had hit a sign post and lodged into the drainage,” said the vendor who preferred to be identified as MaKhumalo.

She said as they rushed to the scene of the accident in the company of other residents living close to the road they saw a disembodied head on the tarmac and later found out that its body was trapped underneath the trailer. The driver of the vehicle is said to have driven for about two kilometres without noticing that the trailer had hitched off and struck the two pedestrians.

When Sunday News visited the bereaved family at their home in Mabuthweni the now deceased’s grandson, Mr Moses Moyo detailed the horrendous ordeal he went through as police officers who attended the scene allegedly made him to pick his grandmother’s head and pieces of flesh and place them into a metal coffin.

“When I arrived at the scene, a huge crowd had gathered around and some police officers were recording details of what had transpired from an eye witnesses. I learnt that my younger sister was already dead and my grandmother’s head was still on the road. Upon identifying myself the police officers who were attending to the scene instructed me to pick the head and pieces of flesh into the coffin,” said Mr Moyo.

Other family members condemned the police’s actions as “disgusting” and “grossly unprofessional”. Bulawayo acting police spokesperson Abedinico Ncube confirmed the incident and warned motorists to desist from speeding especially in densely populated areas. “I confirm the incident, motorists should avoid speeding especially in suburbs they should drive cautiously in that way more lives will be saved,” he said.

ZANU-PF Politburo member Professor Jonathan Moyo has dismissed as political fallacy allegations that Generation 40 (G40) is a political faction within the revolutionary party angling itself in the succession matrix.

Addressing journalists at the Bulawayo Press Club on Friday evening, Prof Moyo said G40 was not a faction but a purely demographic issue that seeks to describe the generation from where the political future of the country is expected to derive its shape.

He said it was laughable that if one was to ask those that call G40 a political faction within Zanu-PF who the members of the faction were they would say: “Professor Moyo, Kasukuwere (Saviour) and Zhuwao (Patrick).”

Prof Moyo further quizzed: “How can a political faction have three people?”

He said the myth that G40 was a political faction within Zanu-PF tussling to succeed President Mugabe with the alleged Lacoste faction was a product of successionists’ political imagination that has no place in modern day politics.

Prof Moyo, who is the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development and Tsholotsho North legislator said when he coined the term G40, in an article, he was far from making it a political faction.

He said the term was simply a generational term that spoke to the demographic structure and the essentiality of the age group 18 years to 40 years in determining the election outcome and the direction of the country’s politics.

Prof Moyo said it was absurd and “absolutely stupid” for anyone serious in politics to ignore the generation which comprises the 18 to 40 age group as it was an integral part of the voting constituency and the country’s demographic structure in general.

“G40 is a term that I introduced not to mean a political party faction as has been interpreted and reported. I introduced the term as a political scientist. In fact that is the vocation I am most comfortable with. I introduced it not under any political pressure from anyone. It is a generational term and it’s purely demographic. And if anyone does not look at it that way then they are stupid.

“Demographic issues ought to speak for themselves. It is a term that I arrived at after analysing the demographic structure and it showed that the elections are going to be decided by the G40,” said Prof Moyo.

He added that political factions were not an easy thing to form as they needed a lot of time.

“A political faction is not something that one can wake up one day and say I now have a faction. It’s not that easy. It needs a lot of time to form one, it’s a process. It is not surprising that those who are calling G40 a faction are the real factionalists.”

He said he was happy that there was a connection between President Mugabe and the youths, adding that the business of demonising the President should be condemned in the strongest terms because it was an affront to the legacy of the founding leader and the Republic.

“The connection between the President and the youths is very important because it is a legacy issue. It’s unfortunate that we have people who are dull and want to extend that to other people. Our media has not been helping the situation either. We have seen the media aligning themselves to political parties and individuals who dish out whisky,” said Prof Moyo.

Prof Moyo said Zanu-PF was the only coherent and cohesive party in Zimbabwe that was not looking at joining hands with any other party and called on all other party members to rally behind President Mugabe as he was the leader who won the elections.

He said efforts to malign him were supposed to be exposed and condemned, adding that not rallying behind the President was not only bad but dangerous for the country.

“Zanu-PF is the only coherent and cohesive party in Zimbabwe. No political party is as strong as Zanu-PF and that explains why we are not seeking to join hands with any other party. It is only when you are weak that you seek to consolidate your weakness by joining hands with others. We have a serious political commissar who has not lost any by-election in the land. We are a grounded party,” said Prof Moyo.

Prof Moyo said the party was ready to deliver its promise as espoused in the election manifesto that won the elections in 2013 adding that implementing development was delayed by the constrained policy space due to internal dynamics in the party as well as the recent disturbances that have been supported by the West.

“There has not been enough policy space for the Government to implement its pledges to the electorate. There has not been the necessary constructive space but that the Government was able to come up with the Zim Asset economic blueprint within 30 days is something that shows how serious the Government is in terms of delivering its pledges,” he said.

However, he said the party was geared to deliver on its election promises and a lot of work had been done in various spheres of life. Prof Moyo said housing, Small to Medium Enterprises, agriculture and innovations in science and technology were expected to create the promised jobs and boost the economy.

• Use plastic money to pay fees: Minister

• Schools introduce water levy, ban tissues

WITH schools opening on Tuesday a majority of parents are feeling the heat of cash shortages that has disrupted their preparations for the new school term as yesterday hundreds of them were stuck in long queues at banks trying to make last minute withdrawals to pay fees and meet other obligations.

However, the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Lazarus Dokora yesterday afternoon urged parents to make use of plastic money to pay fees. While most banks had long queues since Thursday as parents were trying to withdraw money, banks have also reduced withdrawal limits to $100 per day as the cash crisis continues.

In separate interviews, parents with children at boarding schools said they were afraid that their children would not be able to travel to their respective schools tomorrow and if they travelled they would not have paid the full amounts. A majority of Government and missionary schools with boarding facilities charge between $420 and $470 per term.

Ms Samatha Bhebhe who was queuing at a bank to get money for her Form Four son at Umzingwane High School said although she understood the issue of plastic money children in boarding schools also needed cash to take care of their needs and in cases of emergency.

“I have been reading about the use of plastic money but the reality is that these children which we are sending to boarding schools will need cash to buy a few goods while at school. In case of emergency, will they use plastic money to board buses returning home?”

Another parent, Mr Isaac Moyo said he does not support the use of plastic money because he will want to properly budget his cash while at hand. He however, said due to the cash crisis, he has been persuaded to adopt plastic money.

“Plastic money is foreign to me and to many people I have interacted with. I want to take my money and keep it in my wallet so that I can properly budget it, not this tendency where the card will keep me guessing. My eldest daughter has actually advised me to follow suit and I will try to do so,” he said.

However, in an interview, Minister Dokora said the shortage of money should not affect the opening of the schools as parents should use plastic money.

“Parents should use bank transfers which are easier and are the modern way of doing business. We are in an era where plastic money is the practice. I wonder what they are queuing for because with RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement systems) they don’t have to queue, they just do their paper work and leave their forms at the bank where they will finish up the process. More so, with cash transfers there are no transfer limits unlike withdrawal where they will risk taking many days trying to get cash,” said Dr Dokora.

Cash problems come at time where teachers were the last civil servants to receive their salaries last Friday. The rest of the civil servants will be paid on 5 September while pensioners will receive their payments on 9 September. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya said people should change their mindset and embrace plastic money to perform any transactions.

“It really amazes me why people would queue in banks when they can use plastic money to pay fees and to buy groceries. The problem is that people now have a culture of wanting to feel their hard cash,” said Dr Mangudya.

“Parents can use money transfers instead of going to long queues to withdraw cash and then queue again to pay fees, they can just transfer the school fees to the school account. Parents can also use plastic money to buy groceries, people should adjust to the new technology and stop complaining that the country does not have cash while they are the ones who are making their lives hard and complicated.”

He added that people may now use mobile banking and even online banking in the comfort of their homes instead of going to banks. Some headmasters also urged parents to use bank transfers in paying schools fees because the transfers are easy to administer.

George Silundika High School head Mr Banda Ncube said the school was encouraging all parents to use RTGS when paying school fees. He said the majority of pupils at his school were paying their fees through RTGS which the school highly recommends for ease of doing business. Mr Ncube added that cash transfer was also safe.

Gloag High School head Mr Gamulude Ncube said a number of parents were already using RTGS to pay school fees.

“There is no room for parents to be complaining that they cannot withdraw money from the bank to pay school fees because RTGS is open for them to use it,” he said.

Zimbabwe Schools Development Association and Committees (ZSDA/C) president, Mr Xolisani Dlamini said it was a noble idea for parents to use plastic money because companies were no longer transacting in cash.

“We highly support the idea that parents should use bank transfers in paying schools fees. Hard cash is in short supply hence the viable option is to use plastic money which schools also use when purchasing goods,” said Mr Dlamini.

Meanwhile, Gloag High school has introduced a $20 water levy where all pupils are expected to pay the money before the schools open. Mr Ncube confirmed the development adding that the school has been facing water challenges.

“The water from the borehole hardly reaches the dormitories, we have a serious problem and that is why the School Development Commit (SDC) came up with the issue of the water levy,” he said.

Another boarding school in Umguza District, John Tallach High School has banned pupils from coming with tissue paper, with school authorities arguing that this was a way of curbing litter at the school. The school has said instead parents must buy their children handkerchiefs.

Matabeleland North Provincial Education Director Mrs Boithatelo Mguni confirmed the development saying the school will now be providing tissues for their pupils.

“Yes, it was approved that pupils should now bring two handkerchiefs and they must not get into the dining hall with tissue papers since after dining they will be throwing the tissues outside the dining hall and it becomes litter,” said Mrs Mguni.

Tissues become the latest banned commodities after the school banned groceries in 2009.

Meanwhile, following the ban on Form One entrance tests, schools will start online enrolment for the classes using Grade Seven results soon, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Lazarus Dokora has said.

The ministry will monitor schools enrolments via an Education Management Information System to ensure that school administrators adhere to the policy. Government directed schools to enrol Form One students using the Grade Seven results as a way of combating corruption by some unscrupulous school administrators who were charging exorbitant entrance fees.

Dr Dokora said the system of writing entrance tests was haphazard and some school authorities were milking desperate parents.

“Why would a parent travel to, say Kutama, yet he or she can still find a place for his or her child online? We have put mechanisms in place to ensure that our system is efficient and there will be no more travels or entrance tests; those were not being marked anyway. Most of these schools were inviting thousands of pupils for entrance tests yet they only need less than 100, so this system had become a conduit for corruption,” he said.

Levi Mukarati
JUDGES who sanction political demonstrations in the face of strong evidence that the protests will generate into violence are negligent and reckless, President Mugabe has said.

Speaking on opposition-led violence that occurred in Harare on 26 August 2016 after the High Court allowed the demonstrators to take to the streets, the President said the judiciary should have treaded carefully following disturbances witnessed two days earlier.

He was addressing the Zanu-PF Youth League National Assembly at the ruling party’s headquarters in Harare yesterday.

Present at the meeting were Vice-Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko, and Zanu-PF Politburo members Cdes Ignatius Chombo, Saviour Kasukuwere and Patrick Zhuwao.

President Mugabe said: “We are happy that you managed to control yourselves in the face of real provocation by the so-called protesters who had gone about burning property, and looting, and engaging in acts of violence. But, of course, we can’t allow that to continue, (to have) these violent demonstrations unimpeded. No. Enough is enough. I would want to say we all have, all the people of Zimbabwe have, the duty and obligation to ensure that there is peace. It is not just we the ordinary people who should have the understanding (of the need for peace). Our courts, our justice system, our judges should be the ones who understand even better than the ordinary citizens.

“They dare not be negligent in their decisions when requests are made by people who want to demonstrate, to hold these demonstrations. In light of the violence that we had earlier on, surely they should have taken note to the fact that when permission was given four days ago, there was violence; when it was given two days ago, there was violence.

“To give permission again when they (judges) are to the full knowledge that it is going to be violent or (there is a) probability that there is going to be violence is to pay reckless disregard to the peace of this country. We hope now they have learnt a lesson, ivo ma-judges.”

President Mugabe said Zimbabwe’s detractors were using money to destabilise Government, adding that opposition parties calling for early elections could go hang.

“They say let’s have elections now; ko 2018 yadii? Even if you have them now, can you win? They say they want a Government of National Unity which we left. They want us to go back again and want elections. That can not be. We also know that the regime change agenda is a broader agenda that they are pursuing. Our enemies are using money and opposition parties to invoke internal opposition forces.”

On social media abuse, President Mugabe said, “We all have a role to play in promoting brand Zimbabwe, the image of Zimbabwe, a Zimbabwe that is democratic, hardworking and peaceful.

“Branding, that is the image, that image of Zimbabwe which we should promote and also defend from its detractors. Our youths should learn from youths in China, Cuba and Russia that economic success stories have resulted from proper and constructive use of ICTs.

“Social media should never be used negatively. You have quarrelled with someone (and) you want to take it up on the Internet. Tsvina idzodzo dzatinonzwa . . . get out of it.”

We should not be part of it. We should remain clean, clean, clean. I am happy that the Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services is crafting a law to guide the proper use of social media.”

President Mugabe had returned home in the morning from a visit to the United Arab Emirates, laughing off speculation on his health and rumours about “his death”.

The President who was in high spirits touched down at Harare International Airport just before 8am and fielded questions from journalists following claims by some media houses and opposition political functionaries that he was dead.

President Mugabe drew laughter when he said, “Yes, I was dead. It’s true, I was dead. I resurrected like I always do. Once I get back to my country, I am real.”

President Mugabe said he had gone to Dubai to check on his son, Robert Jr, who is studying there.

Last week, the private media wildly speculated that President Mugabe had collapsed and had been rushed to Singapore, with some people even claiming — without providing a shred of proof — that the Head of State and Government had passed away.

Back in 2010, faced with similar unsubstantiated claims from the same quarters, President Mugabe said: “I don’t know how many times I die but nobody has ever talked about my resurrection. I suppose they don’t want to, because it would mean they would mention my resurrection several times and that would be quite divine, an achievement for an individual who is not divine. Jesus died once, and resurrected only once, and poor Mugabe several times.”

Meanwhile, the President has appointed Cde Kudzanayi Chipanga as Zanu-PF National Secretary for Youth Affairs, saying he is impressed by his work in the party.

Cde Chipanga replaces Pupurai Togarepi whom he deputised and then replaced in an acting capacity after a no confidence vote was passed on him early this year. President Mugabe announced the elevation at the Zanu-PF Youth League National Assembly in Harare yesterday.

“I want to say to Chipanga, ‘Come and let me shake your hand for being able to organise this gathering and leading the youth. Come, let me shake you.’

“Now I am not just shaking his hand, but informing him that as from now on, you are not acting, but Cde Kudzanayi Chipanga is now Secretary for Youth Affairs,” said the President to wild cheers from the youths.

President Mugabe said Zanu-PF will address issues affecting young people.

“We are going ahead to meet the needs of our people in general and in particular those of our youth, who constitute majority of the population. We are also aware that the youths need farming land. Responsible ministries are working tirelessly to ensure that land for agriculture is made available to them. I would like to implore you, as the youth leaders, to ensure that once the land is allocated, it is properly and fully utilised in order to ensure massive production.

“In the mining sector, I am aware that the youth are trying to make ends meet through small-scale mining. We support your initiatives in this sector, but do not encourage illegal activities. The youths should work well with the Ministry of Mines, avoiding being caught on the wrong side of the law. All gold mined should be sold to Fidelity, not on the black market. The land from which we extract resources needs to be protected for future generations.”

ZIMBABWE needs to employ an additional 10 000 nurses at all the country’s hospitals if the health institutions are to operate at optimal capacity, an official has said.

In an interview on the sidelines of a public review meeting in Harare last week, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Gerald Gwinji said nurses were critical in the health sector.

“When we made our estimates in terms of burden of disease and gaps that we have we need close to 10 000 new nurses in our institutions. Care has become very intense and nursing is a one profession that needs to be complemented by the nurses,” he said.

Dr Gwinji revealed that the establishment that is being used was done in 1980 and has not been reviewed despite the growing population and the demand that is being brought by HIV and Aids.

“It hasn’t been revised, disease burden has increased and the population of Zimbabwe has grown greatly over the past three decades which does not tally with the establishment,” he said.

However, he noted that the Government has improved on health delivery over the years.

“We have since 1980 built new hospitals, clinics and many other facilities we are spreading ourselves thinner and thinner in terms of nursing staff. So an additional 10 000 nurses is welcome and we have the capacity to train them too,” said Dr Gwinji.

It is anticipated that the revising upwards of the nurses establishment will see thousands of nurses also benefiting as some have not being employed after Government froze recruitment. An estimated 3 500 nurses are unemployed in Zimbabwe.

Dr Gwinji said the ideal nurse to patient ratio in Zimbabwe was one nurse per every four patients but at the moment it was one nurse to 15 patients, a situation that is compromising the quality of health care to patients. The country is also in need of a number of midwives to reduce maternal related complications and mortality.

According to United Nations Fund for Population Activities, midwives assist in curbing almost 90 percent of maternal deaths.

In Zimbabwe statistics show that an average of 610 women die each year from maternal related complications.

Commenting on cases of negligence at hospitals being reported in the media, the Permanent Secretary said mistakes do happen.

“There are mistakes and oversights that happen in this profession and there is a way of dealing with those people. We promptly respond to issues that border on negligence and dereliction of duty in the particular cases. But our nurses are highly trained who are sellable all over but we also don’t condone such practices and glitches on duty,” he said.

In Zimbabwe the shortage of nursing staff is particularly dire in rural institutions where very few nurses are manning hospitals and clinics and the workload is overwhelming.

Brian Chitemba
CIVIL Service Commission chairperson Dr Mariyawanda Nzuwah racked up a cellphone bill of US$200 000 while on a month-long foreign trip, it has emerged.

Documents seen by our Harare Bureau last week show the figure accumulated from calls and data use on his NetOne and Econet contract lines whose bills are met by Treasury. Dr Nzuwah declined discussing the matter when this paper caught up with him.

“What has that got to do with The Sunday Mail? I don’t want to comment because that is a Government account and I am not an accounting officer . . . Why (then) do you want to base the story on rumours?”

Dr Nzuwah insisted the account in question belonged to the Government. The NetOne bill for July 2016 shows that Dr Nzuwah had a balance of US$8 116,14, and the bill ballooned to US$161 002,36 due to calls and data use worth US$149 617,12.

Out of the US$149 617,12, the exact airtime usage for July stood at US$123 871,38 while exercise duty and Value Added Tax accounted for US$25 708,85.

In addition, as of 14 August 2016, Dr Nzuwah’s NetOne mobile number had already accumulated a staggering US$48 431,85, of which US$25 506,83 accounted for tax charges. Of the US$49 617,12 accumulated by the Civil Service Commission, Dr Nzuwah topped the list at US$48 431,85. Our Harare Bureau also gleaned Dr Nzuwah’s Econet contract line (account number 1.00021422) bill that shows the civil servants boss blew US$19 975,01. Of this amount, US$15 452 accumulated through use of roaming data while outgoing roaming calls accounted for US$1 703,50. Roaming incoming calls accounted for a paltry US$19,32.

Details gathered by our Harare Bureau showed that Dr Nzuwah’s bill could have skyrocketed during the time he visited Europe where he reportedly was doing work on foreign missions. The US$200 000 phone bill means that Dr Nzuwah could have been gobbling about US$6 000 worth of airtime per day. This comes as it emerged that Zimbabweans spend over US$500 million on prepaid cellular phone airtime yearly. A Zimbabwe Statistics Agency ICT Household Survey Report for June 2013-June 2014 noted that over US$2 million went towards contract line usage. A bigger economy such as South Africa spends about US$600 million on airtime annually, while Zambia, with 11 million cellphone users, spends about US$430 million.

Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls
FINANCE and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa is the new Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) president as Zimbabwe takes over leadership of the regional organisation.

ESAAMLG was established in 2009 by nations from East and Southern Africa with the mandate of capacitating member states to fight laundering and financing of terrorism as well as related vices in the region.

Minister Chinamasa took over the reins at the 16th ESAAMLG meeting which ended in Victoria Falls yesterday, succeeding South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Finance Mr Mcebisi Jonasi who has been president since last year.

The presidency is rotational on a one-year term. Handing over the presidency, Mr Jonasi said he was leaving the organisation in safe hands.

“South Africa took over from Angola in 2015 and our priorities were to continue with developing capacities and assessing risks as well as sustain post evaluation and deepen anti-money laundering systems,” said Mr Jonasi.

“As I hand over the presidency to Zimbabwe, I am proud to highlight some of the key achievements from last year where we managed to achieve a lot as evidenced by finalisation of assessment of Uganda and Zimbabwe,” he said

Mr Jonasi said ESAAMLG was assessing Botswana and Mauritius, in a bid to establish the extent of money laundering and related criminal activities, which have been identified as detrimental to economic development.

“This is a clear sign of commitment of our member countries in fighting crime. We have made good progress in holding each other to account because assessment of risk for money laundering and financing of terrorism isn’t an easy task,” he said.

He added: “As South Africa hands over the presidency, I would want to thank the council for honouring South Africa and wish my colleagues and incoming president success throughout his term.”

Speaking after taking over the presidency, Minister Chinamasa implored member countries to co-operate for effective combating of criminal activity in the region.

“I want to thank the outgoing president for his leadership. ESAAMLG made significant achievements but South Africa is handing over the stick because this is like a relay race . . . it’s about teamwork and we are pleased to take over the presidency for the second time since 2006,” said Minister Chinamasa.

He said Zimbabwe hosted the same meeting in 2006 in Harare where Minister of State Security Kembo Mohadi was elected president.

“We look forward to working together in curbing money laundering. We are assuming this post at a time when the group is undertaking a second round of assessment and I am happy to note that most countries have been making good progress in identifying efficiencies. This will help the country to strengthen its anti-money laundering initiatives,” said Minister Chinamasa.

He said the region was moving in the right direction as countries were aligning their laws to combat money laundering, which he said required sustained efforts.

The week-long meeting which started on Sunday last week, comprised closed door meetings of Council of Ministers, 32nd Taskforce of Senior Officials and the 3rd Public-Private sector dialogue meetings.

Twitter:@ncubeleon

Amanda Ncube, Sunday News Reporter
PENTECOSTAL churches have installed Point of Sale machines at their premises to allow congregants to pay their tithes, offerings and settle other church-related services using plastic money as a way of countering cash shortages.

Traditionally congregants have been paying tithes using cash. In Christianity, a tithe is one-tenth of someone’s earnings which goes to support the church and their leaders, mostly pastors.

Church leaders told Sunday News that they have installed the POS machines while some are in the process of implementing the system. The Government has been encouraging various organisations to embrace the use of plastic money as cash shortages continue to worsen.

One of the churches, Abundant Life Revival Mission International (ALRMI) has installed the machines and said since then payment of tithes has improved. ALRMI spokesperson Mrs Fadziso Kanyayi said they have been using POS system for two months and it has been helping them to also pay for rentals.

“We have decided to use the swiping system since there is no hard cash in the country and the coffers had gone down, people were no longer paying their tithes not because they didn’t want, but because they couldn’t access money in the banks,” said Mrs Kanyayi.

“People pay their tithe and offering through the swiping machine since its hard these days to get money from the banks and it goes straight into the church account.”

Church congregants welcomed the development.

“I am happy with the system because I do not need to queue for money to pay tithes. There are no more excuses not to pay tithes,” said Ms Esther Linje, a member of the church.

Another member of the church who identified himself as Mr Dzinoreva said the innovation has greatly assisted the church.

Although officials from some of the churches could not readily comment, Sunday News also learnt that Word of Life and Harvest House have also installed the POS machines to improve money collection. Other churches said they were also in the process of implementing the system.

Pastor Ernest of Eagle Life Assembly Faith in God Ministries said his church was also planning to implement the swipe machine payment system in the next two months.

“We would be implementing this swiping system in two months as it will help us in dealing with cash crisis in the country. This system is also a security measure as we are running away from the process whereby ushers move around carrying money.”

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya has been on the crusade encouraging individuals and organisations to embrace the use of plastic money to deal with the continued shortage of cash.

Most banks are failing to meet daily cash requirements for their customers and this has resulted in the financial institutions limiting withdrawals to as low as $100 per day.

“There is no need for people to be in long queues because they should just use plastic money. Through their cards, they can buy anything they want so that they cannot stand in queues,” said Dr Mangudya.

Harare Bureau
THE United States has set in motion a plan to “collapse the Zimbabwean economy overnight” by restricting US dollar imports into the country, our Harare Bureau has gathered.

Part of this plot involves violent street protests against the scheduled introduction of bond notes aimed at easing US dollar cash shortages that began in April 2016. However, US Zimbabwe Embassy spokesperson Ms Karen Kelly could not be reached for comment yesterday.

But Finance and Economic Development Ministry and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe officials told our Harare Bureau they had received information that the protests were tailored to force the RBZ to abandon bond notes.

And once the bond notes are shelved, the sources said, Washington would impose restrictions on greenbacks finding their way into Zimbabwe.

In 2015, the Bank of America stopped supplying currency to Angola and South Africa, arguing lax regulations there provided fertile ground for money laundering. This shook Angola’s economy, which, however, quickly absorbed the shock with its currency, the kwanza.

A source said, “All these demonstrations calling on authorities to abandon the bond note idea are part of a calculated plot to collapse the economy overnight. They envisage a situation where Zimbabwe will just wake up one morning and the US would have banned importation of US dollars into Zimbabwe.

“Those Western-sponsored protests against bond notes over the past two months were aimed at derailing Government efforts to have a fall-back currency. In the event that we do not have a fall-back currency in circulation and the West puts restrictions on exporting its currency to Zimbabwe, there will be total anarchy.”

Another added, “We could wake up without a currency to do trade (with). Bond notes will act as a cushion to avoid such a scenario if we are economically sabotaged. They have tried to propagate the anti-bond notes stance by purporting that by introducing bond notes, Government will be bringing back the Zimbabwe dollar through the backdoor.

“This is all because the West understands that once we have a fall-back currency, they cannot cripple the economy overnight. Bond notes will act as a cushioning currency if their intended plan to restrict exportation of the US dollar to Zimbabwe (goes ahead). The agenda is known.”

Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa could not be reached for comment, while RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya would only say, “Preparation for introduction of the bond notes is progressing well and remains work in progress.”

University of Zimbabwe Economics lecturer Mr Edgar Muhoyi said: “The ban will be a major blow to the economy and will serve to worsen the liquidity crisis. Most transactions in Zimbabwe are carried out in hard cash, so we will clearly spiral into a crisis.

“Taken against the background that Zimbabwe is not exporting much, we would have no avenue of bringing in hard currency into the economy. The restrictions can be managed if we were exporting a lot, but that is not the case as it stands. Our financial sector will collapse as a result of the shortage of liquidity in the economy.”

Zimbabwe introduced the multi-currency system in January 2009 following the collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar which had been pummelled by hyperinflation in 2007-8.

That currency basket has the South African rand, British pound, US dollar, Chinese yuan, euro, Botswana pula, Indian rupee, Japanese yen and Australian dollar. However, the US dollar, being the globe’s dominant medium of exchange, attracts the greatest demand both domestically and regionally. This and externalisation, a high trade deficit and a diminishing savings culture have precipitated US dollar cash shortages. The RBZ is importing at least US$10 million weekly and wants to introduce bond notes to help ease the shortages.

Harare Bureau
GOVERNMENT has begun restructuring the civil service on a large scale, with several ministries directed to shed thousands of posts immediately.

A manpower survey is also underway to determine the skill sets of civil servants earmarked for re-deployment, while a foreign service headcount has started. Once this is complete, Zimbabwe’s civil service will be structured along the lines of Malaysia’s which is renowned for efficiency and innovation.

A Government team that included Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda has been to the Asian country to study its systems. A 2015 probe unearthed thousands of redundant employees who were milking Zimbabwe’s Treasury of millions of dollars monthly.

The restructuring will shed 25 000 posts, with salaries and allowances of seniors officials such as Cabinet ministers being cut to bring the salary-revenue ratio to 30:70. The latest figures show that 97 percent of Government revenue is going to salaries.

In an interview with our Harare Bureau, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira said authorities would fully implement the 2015 Civil Service Audit Report recommendations on redeployments and abolishing certain posts. Minister Mupfumira said she and Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa were leading a Cabinet Committee superintending implementation of those recommendations.

“We are going ahead with implementing all the recommendations in the report. Obviously, when we are implementing, some ministries will raise complaints. Therefore, if this happens, that particular ministry should approach our committee, which will, in turn, assess their appeal.

“For now, however, we are implementing. The Civil Service Commission is not going to entertain requests that have not gone through our committee. They are going ahead as per the report. We have had one such request from the Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Ministry over the number of extension workers required for Command Agriculture.

“The programme requires plenty of extension workers; that is why we have asked the Agriculture Ministry to sit down with the Civil Service Commission and review the structure so that the programme succeeds. The Transport and Infrastructure Development Ministry has also made a similar request. Further, you have seen that the recruitment freeze on some essential service ministries has been lifted. The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is recruiting.”

Regarding the skills audit, Minister Mupfumira said, “The audit is being carried out to ascertain the exact skills of everyone working in the Civil Service. It’s all part of the (staff) rationalisation programme, and will witness some employees being redeployed.

“When we carried out the (2015 Civil Service Audit), we did not cover the foreign service. Therefore, we have started in that area and should have the report by month-end. It will detail the exact number of people in our (foreign) missions and what they are doing there.”

Minister Mupfumira said a delegation comprising Dr Sibanda, permanent secretaries and other senior Government officials was in Malaysia last month to study the Blue Ocean Strategy on Public Service Delivery Transformation.

The minister said Malaysia would provide Zimbabwe with technical assistance if it adopted the initiative that involves high impact planning and operations that deliver low-cost and rapidly executed prorgrammes.

However, Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Mr Raymond Majongwe said, “Our Government must learn to consult so as to avoid unnecessary confrontation. How can they throw 25 000 people onto the street overnight?”

Nonetheless, Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association secretary-general Mr John Mlilo said his constituency supported staff rationalisation. “Ghost workers are known and those must be removed; not the ordinary workers. Again, our problem is our Government did not consult us, though we are a key stakeholder,” he said.

Human resources and labour expert Mr Memory Nguwi said the Government should outline the retrenchment criteria.

“There is nothing new with the retrenchments, but it has created a lot of anxiety because it’s the first time it is happening in the sector. Government was supposed to consult stakeholders before retrenching.”

Walter Magaya

Prosper Dembedza Online Reporter
Harare magistrate Mr Vakayi Chikwekwe has today relaxed bail conditions for Prophetic, Healing and Deliverance Ministries leader Walter Magaya who is charged with raping a congregant.

Magaya was ordered to report once every Friday at CID (Law and Order) instead of three times weekly after his application for relaxation of reporting conditions.

Mr Chikwekwe granted the application citing the nature of Magaya’s work and ruled that church leader was not a flight risk.

Magaya was remanded to 28 September.

Details to follow…

Vice- President Emmerson Mnangagwa

Vincent Gono

ACTING President Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa who is also the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs said he will not tire in lobbying for the complete abolition of the death penalty.

Speaking at a constitutional outreach programme meant to sensitise the public about the constitution and alignment of laws at Bulawayo’s Large City Hall today, Cde Mnangagwa said he would remain so much against the law to hang.

He said the constitution states that women could not be hanged although men above the age of 18 and below the age of 70 could be hanged. He however, reaffirmed his commitment to have the death penalty struck off the statutes saying it was an evil law.

“I think we are now aware that the constitution says women cannot be hanged. There is no death penalty for women but for men above the age of majority which is 18 and below the age of 70 it applies. I for one however, will remain lobbying for the death penalty to be abolished completely.

“I feel it’s a law that we do not need in independent Zimbabwe. This however, is against strong views that are proffered by others who feel the law should remain. I am above 18 years and also above 70 years so the law does not apply to me,” he said, amid laughter from the gallery.

The Acting President said he was supposed to be hanged by the colonial regime for his involvement in politics had he not been found to be below the age of majority by then.

“I was supposed to be hanged but I was spared after it was found that I was below 18. Otherwise I could not have been here with you today,” he said.

He underscored the need for the country’s population to be well versed with the provisions of the constitution.

Cde Mnangagwa also said Government has so far managed to translate the national constitution into eight of the 16 national languages with more than 5 000 copies done in braille.

He added that efforts were being put in place to ensure that the supreme law of the country was translated and produced in all 16 languages.

He said it was important that the country’s populace have access to the constitution in languages that they understood, adding that it was his wish that every Zimbabwean have their copy of the constitution.

He outlined a few of the provisions of the new constitution before responding to questions from the gallery on issues pertaining to the supreme law of the land.

Cde Mnangagwa was celebrating his 70^th birthday today and the army band played him the “Happy birthday to you,” song with the gallery singing along amid cheers.

Dr Ignatius Chombo

Harare Bureau
THE British and United States governments have escalated their campaign to destabilise Zimbabwe as they seek to bring the country under United Nations scrutiny based on false claims that Zimbabwean authorities are quelling political demonstrations by shooting protesters.
As a build-up to this, two British operatives known for engineering violent street “protests” in North and West Africa were dispatched to Harare in early September, with Western media, led by the CNN following up with sustained coverage of purported “police brutality” and “human rights violations”.

Shadowy groups such as tajamuka are reportedly caucusing regularly in some Harare suburbs under the cover of darkness.

The co-ordinated onslaught is aimed at pummeling Zimbabwe’s economy with fresh European Union sanctions based on the same frivolous claims. Further, it is understood the US embassy in Harare funded career protester Partson Dzamara’s trip to New York to organise demonstrations against President Mugabe when the UN General Assembly opens.

Yesterday, opposition parties under the National Electoral Reform Agenda planned mass protests in the capital’s central business district despite a standing police ban.

Though the demonstrations ultimately did not take place, Nera representatives Mr Morgan Komichi (MDC-T) and Mr Jacob Ngaribvume (Transform Zimbabwe) later called a Press conference, claiming police had fired shots at protesters in Harare’s Dzivarasekwa and Kuwadzana suburbs.

This appeared to take a lead from a stage-managed interview that US news channel CNN had with a bogus police officer who claimed Zimbabwe’s law enforcement agents were under instructions to shoot protesters.

On Friday, Home Affairs Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo dismissed the spurious claims, as did national police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Nyathi yesterday.

Chief Supt Nyathi said there were no demonstrations countrywide yesterday, adding, “Nothing of that sort (the purported shooting) occurred. Those are complete falsehoods because our officers never fired shots at anyone. Generally, the security situation in the country was peaceful. As police, we want to thank the generality of Zimbabweans for not engaging in illegal demonstrations or acts of violence. Police will remain alert and would like to warn anyone who either instigates or engages in any form of violence or intimidation that they will be dealt with in terms of the law.”

Last week our Harare Bureau gathered information that British spies Samuel Hamilton Adamson and Gordon Donald Birnie arrived in Zimbabwe on September 5, 2016.

It is believed the two are members of a specialised unit trained to engineer civil unrest in nations where the British seek to depose sitting governments.

One of their major operations was in Liberia in 2003 when violent protests against Charles Taylor culminated in civil war and his ultimate deposition. The pair was also involved in the “Arab Spring” in North Africa in 2011.

Sources told The Sunday Mail that Adamson and Birnie were on a mission to review the civil disturbances that occurred in Harare, Bulawayo and Beitbridge in July/August.

According to the sources, they met officials from the British embassy in Gonarezhou, Victoria Falls and Zambia.

A British embassy official who preferred anonymity tried to downplay the visit by the two spies, saying the operatives were “UK officials”.

“Two UK officials from the Department for Transport visited Zimbabwe as part of a regional visit. Their role is to meet aviation stakeholders and to discuss aviation security,” the official said.

“This is part of the UK’s on-going commitment to work with international partners on aviation security. Any suggestion that the UK government supports violence in Zimbabwe is entirely untrue.”

However, reliable sources said the spies had posed as British government officials simply to gain entry into Zimbabwe.

“Eyebrows were raised when some of the embassy officials indicated that they wanted to travel out of Harare. According to diplomatic protocol, any visit by an embassy official outside Harare should be sanctioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“They only indicated that they wanted to go on holiday. Our intelligence then gathered that the two have a checkered past and have visited other countries such as Liberia where they are suspected to have been linked to civil disturbances in West Africa.”

Tellingly, a key point of the European Parliament’s draft resolution of September 15, 2016 “expresses serious concern about the increase in violence against demonstrators in Zimbabwe in recent months”, something, analysts say, suggests the West was colluding to make Zimbabwe a UN agenda item.

Another line “urges the Zimbabwean authorities to investigate allegations of excessive use of force and other human rights abuses by elements within the Zimbabwe police, and to hold them to account”.

Western collusion, according to analysts, is also betrayed where the draft resolution “calls for a peaceful transition of power based on a free and fair electoral process” and “urges” Sadc to interfere with Zimbabwe’s domestic affairs — both lines parotted by the Group of Elders in the lead-up to last month’s 36th Sadc Summit of Heads of State and Government.

The draft resolution also advocates sanctions on Zimbabwe based on the false claims.

Mr Mureriwa also said, “Their strategy has failed and it will continue to fail because Zimbabwe is a democracy. Yes, we have challenges, but governments will never be changed by mobocracy but by elections.

VP Emmerson Mnangagwa

Vincent Gono, Features Editor
ACTING President Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa has challenged Zimbabweans to report high level corruption committed by people in high political offices and warned that the culture of having untouchables must not be tolerated.
He said no-one in the country was above the law. Speaking at a constitutional awareness campaign in Bulawayo on Thursday, Cde Mnangagwa who is also the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs said it was the duty of citizens to notify authorities whenever they felt something was not being done right by those in high public offices.

“We have heard reports of corruption committed by the so called ‘Big Fishes’ but I want to challenge all of you here not to remain quiet when you see such things happen. You should report any corrupt activities to the authorities. It does not matter who, even if it is me engaging in corrupt activities, report me. I am grateful some people here know those Big Fishes.

“No-one is above the law. If police do not take necessary action take the issue to other offices where you will get help. If there is any of you here who knows anything about any so called ‘Big Fish’ engaging in corruption let me know,” he said.

Cde Mnangagwa said corruption was endemic in both the public and private institutions and was eating heavily into the country’s moral fibre and should not be allowed to continue. Asked if reports that Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere sold stands to PHD founder Prophet Walter Magaya were true and what action was going to be taken, Cde Mnangagwa said police do not act on reports made in the Press. He said police carry out investigations and if they find enough evidence the person would be dragged to the courts of law.

“Police cannot just arrest anyone without enough evidence. Investigations have to be instituted first for an arrest to be made,” he said.

Cde Mnangagwa said the Government had scaled up efforts to fight corruption in both the public and private sector by streamlining the role of the anti-corruption watchdog under the oversight of the Office of the President and Cabinet. Cde Mnangagwa called on people to use the constitution that speaks glowingly against nepotism and corruption and promote the principles of good corporate governance.

Mpumelelo Mnkandla

Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
A Highlanders supporter Mpumelelo Mnkandla is regretting the day he engaged in acts of hooliganism after his team drew 1-1 with Chicken Inn in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League contest at Barbourfields Stadium as he was sentenced to carry out community service at Mahlathini Primary School in Cowdray Park.
Mnkandla, a vendor at Renkini Long Distance Bus Terminus said he was arrested on a Wednesday after the 14 August match at Barbourfields Stadium. He appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Merilyn Mutshina charged with public violence and was sentenced on 23 August before he started community service two days later. Mutshina sentenced Mnkandla, a first time offender to 24 months in prison, six of which were suspended for five years. A further 18 months were suspended on condition that Mnkandla he does 410 hours of community service.

The 34-year-old married father of four children, however, said that community service was hurting his source of income since he is a family man.

“It is really hurting when you have a family, this is really tough, I am here the whole day. I was told to serve my hours, I am finishing end of October. The police said they had a video of me invading the pitch but I did not agree to it being played in court but I did get on the pitch,’’ said Mnkandla.

He was arrested for the violence together with Lungani Nkala of Njube who was, however, set free due to lack evidence.

On that day, Highlanders fans turned violent when referee Nkosikhona Moyo blew the whistle to bring the match to an end as Chicken Inn midfielder Tafadzwa Kutinyu beat Ariel Sibanda with the goal not allowed to stand. The Bosso fans felt that Moyo had robbed them of two penalties, invaded the field of play where they attacked the police who were trying to maintain order.

Highlanders chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede represented the club during a Premier Soccer League convened disciplinary hearing to answer for the supporters’ behaviour on that day with the verdict yet to be released. Mnkandla’s conviction was used as an example during the hearing to show the efforts being made by police to curb cases of fans engaging in acts of violence during football matches.

Twitter: @Mdawini_29

Prisca Mupfumira

Vincent Gono, Features Editor
THE Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Prisca Mupfumira says there is no need for civil servants to panic and demand official communication as there are no changes to the Government’s communication regarding their salaries, salary dates and bonuses.
She reassured the public service workers that the Government was working on improving their conditions of service but appealed to pensioners to be patient as the Government was putting in place mechanisms to ensure they were also paid on time.

In an interview on Friday, Minister Mupfumira said the Government was not going to communicate in any other formal way other than the way it was engaging civil servants. Her comments come in the wake of demands by civil servants representatives for the Government to communicate its pledge not to cut their salaries as well as its commitment to pay their bonuses.

“We have always been communicating with the representatives of the civil servants in almost everything we do. They know our position very well and we have been engaging them. We do not want them to lag behind in information concerning them.

For now the position announced by the Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Dr Christopher Mushohwe is still unchanged.

“We are even working as Government to ensure their conditions of service are improved. They know everything, there is nothing really new to communicate to them either formally or informally as there is no change to the position recently announced,” she said.

Minister Mupfumira said she spoke the civil servants prior to Finance Minister Cde Patrick Chinamasa’s announcements in his Mid–Term Fiscal Policy Review statement that civil servants’ bonuses would be suspended for two years while their salaries and allowances would be reduced as part of a raft of measures to get back the national economy on track.

Minister Mupfumira said civil servants were aware of the Government’s position with regards to their welfare and salaries and there was no need to panic. As for the pensioners, she said Government was behind in paying them but said there was no deliberate policy to do so.

This was in response to concerns raised by some pensioners who told Sunday News that they have been asked to re-register for their pension benefits especially those who are getting pension benefits for their deceased spouses.

“I may not be aware of the nitty-gritties of what is going on with pensioners. I will need time to find out on that. What I can tell you confidently is that we are behind in terms of payments. You may be aware that there has not been any pension contribution since the introduction of dollarisation. We only started it in October last year. This means that the pensioners were being paid from the wage bill thereby constraining it.

“We have no money but we are beginning to boost the pension fund through pension contributions so that pensioners are removed from the civil service wage bill and get their money from the pension fund. We cannot, however, pay the traditional lump sum as there is currently no money for that. We urge the pensioners to be patient,” said Minister Mupfumira.