THE creative sector seems to be under siege if reports of the arrest of Bustop TV’s comediennes Gonyeti and Magi is anything to go by.
The two were fined $20 each for allegedly wearing clothes resembling police uniforms in a 2016 skit titled Order and Law Special Unity which centred on alleged police brutality in the country.

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Police spokesperson Charity Charamba denied that they were arrested for a challenge that was done in her name #CharityCharambaChallenge but for wearing outfits resembling police uniforms. They were charged and fined for criminal nuisance.

Their arrest comes after fellow comedian Prosper Ngomashi better known as Comic Pastor was early this year called for questioning for a skit he had done before being released without charge.
He was called to the police after a skit with United States-based Alfred Kainga, which seemingly feasts on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s stunt of cutting short his leave  ostensibly to help solve the doctors’ strike.

On Wednesday, rising comedienne Lorraine Guyo of the Ndinyengeiwo fame was on the police radar. The latest crackdown has been widely condemned by several high profile people online, including politicians and lawyers calling for creative freedom saying such developments risk taking the country back to the Mugabe era.

Comedians usually tackle socioeconomic and political matters affecting people in a comic way and it seems this is making authorities uncomfortable hence raising questions over the independence of arts practitioners in exercising their art.

Some have called on the comedians to respect and operate within the confines of the law to avoid arrests.

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Rising musician Tongai Gwaze better known as Greatman in music circles is not stopping in pursuing his career, defying disability.
Having featured Suluman Chimbetu in one of his popular song Pandakazvarwa, he is back again with another beautiful video Gegede featuring music producer and guitarist Maselo and Lorraine Guyo of the ndinyengeiwo fame.

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The latest video is being embraced by music lovers judged by reviews on social media, with over 52 000 views on YouTube in two days. Gegede video was produced by Naxo Films whose fame in video production is growing by the day, cutting across genres with Maselo producing the song.

Greatman rose to prominence with the Sulu project which has seen several people coming in to support him and the latest production shows that he is versatile to work with any artiste. “I’m living positively with my disability. However, I have accepted what I am and who I am. I’m very proud of myself and happy with the way I am. No matter what you go through, laugh and be happy,” he wrote on YouTube.

He was born with congenital malformations and is unable to use his legs and hands and moves in a wheelchair but that has not stopped him from pursuing his career. Sulu featured on his album Cheziya, which carries eight tracks among them the title track, Mwanangu, Mwanakomana and Pandakazvarwa.

The song touched the hearts of many, judging by comments of people on social media who continue to encourage him to pursue his career. He has appeared on some occasions and charmed many notably during the late Oliver Mtukudzi’s tribute concert at the National Sports Stadium.

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BRYN Mteki aka Sekurutau is making history for himself as he participates in the on-going national dialogue talks being spearheaded by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mteki says all those who were laughing at him when he declared his interest in running for the presidency in 2018 should realise that things are happening for him politically.

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“Those people who thought Sekurutau was there in elections to add numbers should be ashamed of themselves. I think they should now start to rethink and take me as a serious political leader given that I represent the youths of today.

“Zimbabweans should embrace young people like me who do not just sit and relax while our country is in a serious economic mess but have the guts to challenge for the office of the President at elections. And I last year did put up a brave fight.

“The least people expected was zero votes for me but that was not to be and I made a mark. I encourage the youths to stand up and be counted,” said Mteki. Sekurutau says he agrees with Mnangagwa that all the presidential candidates that contested have the title president. 

“The only difference is that Mnangagwa is the sitting president; mandated by the majority of people who voted for him. “I am a proud owner of 0,1 votes in the presidential race and one day by God’s grace I will rule Zimbabwe. We have examples of young presidents today, in France and look at former footballer George Weah who is now President of Liberia.”

A singer, stone sculptor, businessman and politician, Mteki seems to have a bundle of energy as he has to juggle all these professions at the same time. When he recently returned to Zimbabwe after living and working in America and Germany, he quickly went into business including opening one of the oldest nightclubs in Harare, Saratoga at Machipisa Shopping Centre.

Sekurutau says while in the recent past years he has been living and doing business abroad, it didn’t take him time to warm-up to the president’s “Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra.
“After the president’s call I came back from America and Germany and opened some businesses although I have since closed some if not most of them while some of them where casualties of still birth due to poor economy.

“I do hope and I have confidence that this dialogue currently happening in which I am a participant will set more emphasis on economy, so that all these problems and unrests which the country and our people are experiencing shall be a thing of the past when we achieve a middle class economy status,” said Mteki.

He added that he wanted to whole-heartedly thank the president for conferring hero status to the late icon, Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi.
“I would like to thank the president for thinking outside the box, hence showing the whole world that we are now a democratic State by declaring Mtukudzi national hero.

“I also would like to let the president know that I for one would humbly accept the honour to be buried at the shrine because it is symbolic,” said the stylish and dreadlocked artist.
He says while he made his name and money through arts, he also had romance with politics dating back to 2004 when he contested as an MP for Highfield in Harare. 

I then paved the way for Joseph Chinotimba because of my obligations back in America. ”And Sekurutau brags that he is among the “money people” in Zimbabwe. “Yes, I am among the finest business moguls; multi-millionaires and billionaires-to-be. Talk of Philip Chiyangwa of Native Investments and myself leading BrynBrands Group of Companies. You know that birds of the same feather flock together!”

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Expecting mother and Zimbabwe Sports minister Kirsty Coventry, on Friday gave the biggest hint yet that the country could be warming up to another lady swimming sensation.

The swimming legend let the cat out of the bag during the Special Olympics of Zimbabwe send-off ceremony at Harare’s Chapman Golf club where she was the guest of honour.

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“Waal, this is so nice, she’s going to be so, so happy,” Coventry said as she received gifts from Soz that included a white branded baby T-shirt and a red scarf.
Coventry, 35, who got married to her Chinhoyi-born husband Tyrone Seward in January 2013, broke the news of her pregnancy in September.
“We are going to be parents in May 2019! What a week, what a blessing!” Coventry exclaimed in September last year.
Coventry is a seven-time Olympic medallist winning back- to-back gold medals in the 200m backstroke at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Officiating as guest of honour at the Soz send-off, Coventry urged the athletes to give their maximum effort and not to be intimidated by the World Games environment.
“I know for my first Olympics and even through to my fifth Olympics that was always quite scary the first time when you walk out and at the opening ceremony for your first race and you see so many people when you not really used to all of that attention,” Coventry said.
“So sometimes it could be overwhelming but just know that all those people are there because they love you and they’re there to support you they’re there to cheer you on and they just wanna see you do well. 
“So allow yourself to really take in the environment and take some time to be really proud of yourselves and to pat yourselves on the back and say I have made it here and now I’m gonna give it everything that I have in my race.”
A 16-member athlete delegation is set to represent the country in three disciplines namely golf, athletics and bocce. 
Bocce is a competitive game of strategy, skill and finesse that is a popular feature of the Special Olympics World Games programme. Consisting of singles, traditional doubles and unified doubles events, Bocce is a closely contested sport that first appeared on the Special Olympics World Games programme in 1991.
The team, together with officials are set to leave for United Arab Emirates on Wednesday. 
The games are scheduled to run from March 14 to 21.
Soz director Viola Musariri said she is expecting medals from this year’s quality-laden side.
“We are very happy with the team that we are taking this time around one of the golfers is actually a nominee for the Ansa awards tonight (last night he placed third) he’s also a golf ambassador for the Soz Special Olympics 2019 World Games his name is Munyaradzi Musariri.

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A CRIPPLING stand-off between the Warriors and Zifa looms large over allowances amid revelations the players are set to demand as much as US$3 000 a day for their seven-day camp for the crucial 2019 Afcon qualifier against Congo-Brazzaville later this month.

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The Warriors, who need, at least, a draw in that match, have all along been getting $50, in bond notes transferred into their various accounts, as their daily allowances during this 2019 Africa Cup of Nations campaign.  But things changed dramatically last week when it emerged Zifa board members and some regional leaders of the association pocketed an average US$700 during their trip to South Africa. 

The money was withdrawn from the funds which Zifa receive from Fifa and the players now feel they also deserve to be paid handsomely since the money appears to be there in the association’s accounts. The Daily News has been informed that the regular members of the Warriors have been caucusing in recent days and, as of Saturday, had settled for US$3 000 a day in allowances during their forthcoming camp. 

The Warriors believe they have been receiving a raw deal from the association, especially after revelations that the board members have been getting rich pickings, in US dollars, for their daily allowances. The likely impasse is certain to derail the team’s preparations for the do-or-die showdown against the Congolese Red Devils.

 Zifa spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela refused to comment on the matter arguing that player allowance was a confidential issue that is not meant for public consumption. “I am not aware of any standoff. Contractual issues are confidential. We don’t publicise players’ allowances,” Gwesela said. However, the Daily News is reliably informed by sources in the Warriors’ camp that players are livid that they are not being appreciated for all the hard work they put on the field of play yet the executives spoil themselves with lucrative allowances.

 “The players are arguing that it does not make sense for them to be given such a raw deal by the football aristocrats when they are the real owners of the game, who do all the difficult work on the field of play,” said the insider.
“The whole situation has now made life difficult for the technical team hence the delay in announcing the team. ”Zifa president Felton Kamambo, knows they need to act swiftly to thwart any rift and avoid a repeat of the Philip Chiyangwa-led executive when the Warriors snubbed a send-off dinner ahead of their participation at the 2017 Africa Cup Nations finals.

Sunday Chidzambwa’s charges need at least a draw to seal their qualification as a defeat against Congo at home will see the Warriors being booted out on head to head basis should the other match between Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Liberia produce a winner. 

All the four teams in Group G — Zimbabwe, Liberia, DRC and Congo — still have a chance of qualifying for the tournament.
 Currently, Warriors top the group with eight points while Liberia are second with seven points. DRC are third with six points while Congo anchors the group with five points from five matches.

In picking his squad, Chidzambwa is largely expected to retain the bulk of the players who have been doing duty lately although a few surprises may spring up. England-based defender Tendai Darikwa is likely to retain into the fold after missing the trip to Liberia because of suspension. Giant goalkeeper George Chigova, Ronald Pfumbidzayi, Devine Lunga, Teenage Hadebe are doing well for their respective clubs and should be in line for call-up.
 

Skipper Knowledge Musona has also been seeing regular action of late and should come as huge boost to the team.
 Zifa has already put the tickets for the crucial tie on sale with fans intending to watch the Warriors’ tie having to dig deep into their pockets for as much as $200 for the VVIP ticket. 

The VVIP ticket rose four-fold from the previous price of $50 when Zimbabwe hosted Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the last home match in October last year. 
Entrance fees to the bays 15-18 also rose from $10 to $50, while the cheapest ticket for the rest of the ground will be $10.Zifa,

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HARARE - Another showdown is looming between doctors and government as the Health ministry has not yet addressed doctors’ demands agreed in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) which saw the medical practitioners ending their industrial action.

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In December the doctors embarked on a 40-day industrial action that ended in January this year, protesting the severe shortages of pharmaceutical drugs and equipment at public hospitals, among a host of other grievances.

In a letter seen by the Daily News, addressed to the Health Service Board Health and Health minister Obadiah Moyo, the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) said their members were swamped with “anxiety and worry” after government had been sluggish in addressing their genuine demands.

“Most of the matters in the CBA have not been fully implemented as agreed upon. This has created an impression that the ministry has entirely abandoned its workers and is failing in its duty to honour legally binding agreements,” ZHDA secretary-general Mthabisi Bhebhe said.

Bhebhe added that the Health ministry has remained unresponsive to calls made for the need to procure hospital equipment that is required to diagnose and operate patients. “Hospitals remain in a dire state with no basic medical supplies. Most basic and lifesaving medicines remain unavailable and there has not been any form of communication on what the ministry is doing to address this challenge.”

Bhebhe further noted that State hospitals were also grappling with lack of proper working equipment, causing the public hospitals health delivery system to diminish dismally. “It has been observed with grave concern, cases of fatally ill patients being deprived lifesaving services because the diagnostic and theatre equipment is not fully functional.”

The doctors put government to task demanding them to urgently respond to the letter and to be sincere in its dealings with doctors.
Among the agreements in the CBA included a $6 million vehicle loan scheme, duty-free facility and accommodation and housing scheme and government is yet to address these.

Raising concerns on behalf of the distraught doctors, Bhebhe said the agreed deadlines have already passed. “Informed and guided by the CBA, which is a legally enforceable document, we request the ministry to respond why it has willingly opted to delay and violate this particular area of the agreement,” he added referring to the duty-free facility.

To add on, all of the monetary promises have already been eroded erratically by the new 2,5 percent Monetary Policy exchange rate.
The disgruntled doctors further stated that they also want their employer to review their salaries upwards above the poverty datum line they estimate now to be over $800.

With a basic salary of $329, on-call allowance of $288, $49 medical allowance and $70 housing allowance, Zimbabwean doctors remain one of the lowest paid doctors in the world. Meanwhile both doctors and teachers have suffered the same fate, as the cash-strapped government is also struggling to keep the country awake.

Government has been vexed with headaches from civil servants in particular teachers who have also been demanding a salary increment after the economy has degraded both their pensions and their monthly incomes. Apart from this, fuel queues have also resurfaced and foreign currency remains out of reach.

“We were given assurance that the ministry had intervened to improve transport to work by procuring fuel for doctors who are working in government hospitals. In good faith, we believed it was the case.

However, facts on the ground are that, there has not been any intervention or improvement on this regard. Fuel is now expensive, in short supply and doctors continue sleeping in fuel queues,” said Bhebhe.

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HARARE - Government has denied allegations that it has devised a plan to infiltrate MDC structures ahead of its congress saying none of the opposition presidential candidates could be a match to President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is set to contest the 2023 elections on a Zanu PF ticket.

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This comes as MDC’s senior leadership has openly accused the ruling party of working frantically to destabilise the opposition party, ahead of its May 24-26 congress where secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora and vice president Elias Mudzuri are expected to contest the incumbent Nelson Chamisa.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services deputy minister Energy Mutodi has rubbished claims that the State is making arrangements to use security agents to weaken the opposition.
“Government is not worried who emerges the winner at the MDC congress be it Chamisa or Mwonzora. None of the two is capable of overcoming our 2023 Zanu PF candidate…Mnangagwa.

We have started reviving the economy and the gains are open for everyone to see,” Mutodi said. The MDC youth assembly has however, insisted that Zanu PF wants a “weaker candidate” to emerge as the party’s leader in May “for obvious reasons” — vowing that this would not happen.

“It is saddening that Zanu PF wants to give us a leader and we know why. We are, however, clear as youths and other organs of the party that we have Chamisa as our leader and the decision is ours not Zanu PF’s,” said Lovemore Chinoputsa, the MDC youth assembly secretary-general.

Mwonzora recently declared that he has rights including contesting the sitting leader since he is a “full member of the MDC.”
As a result, a lot of flak has been directed at him particularly following a mischievous tweet by Zanu PF deputy youth leader Lewis Matutu, who “predicted” the fall of Chamisa come May.

MDC vice chairperson Tendai Biti has angrily reacted to the suggestions that Mwonzora was likely to emerge as the new party leader after the May congress. He said the party would not accept to be led by “a ruling party chosen half-wit”. “We will reject any nincompoop given to us by Zanu PF. We already have a candidate in … Chamisa. So, we will not tolerate that.

“Our duty is to protect the legacy of our dear leader Morgan Tsvangirai and we know with Chamisa we will be able to do that,” Biti thundered. A senior member of the MDC national standing committee, who refused to be named for fear of victimisation, also told the Daily News recently that Mwonzora was likely to be rejected by party supporters as perceptions grew that he was allegedly a Zanu PF “Trojan Horse”.

“This does not augur well for our SG (secretary-general) because he will now find it difficult to campaign in the structures as he is now being viewed as a Zanu PF project, which is very sad,” he said.

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HARARE - The Harare City Council (HCC) is set to give its councillors residential stands, barely six months into the job. According to minutes of council’s housing committee, the residential stands will be availed to the city fathers subject to their availability in their respective wards.

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The availing of residential stands was made effective by a ministerial directive issued in 2011 which allowed sitting chairperson and mayors to access residential stands in their or adjacent wards.
“The director of housing and community services reported that the circular provided that councillors shall access residential stands in the same local authority at 40 percent of cost of price of the stand for those serving the first term irrespective of whether or not one owns such property prior to assuming public office,” reads part of the minutes.

Councillors who are serving a second term in the city would get residential properties at 35 percent of the cost price, provided such a facility was not extended to them before. The minutes indicated that councillors who have been elected for a third term in Harare are eligible for the scheme with stands being sold to them for 30 percent of their cost price.

Housing committee chairperson Hammy Madzingira said the facility shall be restricted to councillors’ wards and would only be extended to other areas if there is no available land in a ward.
“The director of housing is supposed to have started the process last month. Councillors had also felt that city officials without residential stands should also be considered for allocation of residential stands,” Madzingira said.

The move to give councillors stands comes as Harare is yet to give employees residential stands in lieu of outstanding salaries.
Employees of the city were promised the properties in 2016 but to-date they have not received anything.

Council had set aside part of Eyestone for the facility but a land dispute that is still in the courts has stalled the allocation of the stands. Meanwhile, HCC will float another tender to beef up its fleet of refuse collection trucks that are constantly breaking down.

Council’s environmental committee chairperson Kudzai Kadzombe  said in order to deal with the backlog of refuse collection, council has to hire refuse equipment as an interim measure while the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe is being requested to run a special tender.

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HARARE - The arrest of MDC MP for Harare West Joana Mamombe during a parliamentary workshop in Nyanga at the weekend was above board as she was taken by police well after  the august House’s business, National Assembly Speaker Jacob Mudenda has said.

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Mamombe was driven back to Harare where she was detained.
She stands accused of addressing a press conference at Civic Centre in Malborough, Harare on January 14 where she called on citizens to engage in acts of civil disobedience with the intention to remove a sitting government through unconstitutional means.
The Nelson Chamisa-led MDC and rights groups have described the arrests as a perpetuation of former President Robert Mugabe’s brutal clampdown of dissenting voices.

Following Mamombe’s arrest, MDC chief whip in the National Assembly Prosper Mutseyami immediately slammed Mudenda for not doing enough to protect MPs. But Mudenda insisted Mamombe’s case was handled with utmost respect. “It is not true that she was arrested (while) on parliamentary business,” Mudenda told the Daily News yesterday adding that “we were actually on our way back home”.

Pressed to say if the protection of Parliament ends as soon as one leaves the room where the legislative business was taking place, Mudenda said; “they are overstretching the protection”.
“The people who arrested her were very civil…they actually approached me and I reminded them to observe the law which they did,” Mudenda said.

Mamombe joins a growing list of MDC activists and civil society leaders that have been arrested and charged for allegedly instigating violence during the January protests which coincided with a stay-away called by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and citizen movements.

According to the MDC “a team of about eight henchmen snatched Mamombe Boko Haram style” while claiming to be from police’s law and order section. “This is a result of Zanu PF military political settlement which has seen them create vigilante groups and vested powers of the State into these killer units resulting in deaths of at least 17 people in January and 7 others on August 1, 2018,” Mutseyami said, adding that “an MP has privileges they must enjoy while on parliamentary business”.

This comes as another MDC MP, Godfrey Sithole (Chitungwiza North) was also arrested at the weekend after he surrendered himself to the police. Mutseyami accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government of being “barbaric” and disdainful towards upholding fundamental human rights.

“Mamombe was led to a Toyota Fortuner ACI 4582 and the car sped off along the Harare highway. The manner the operation was done sends shivers down the spine of the ordinary civilians. 
“It is a sad incident reflecting retrogression in our constitutional democracy ...,” he lamented

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HARARE - A War veteran based in Mashonaland Central is in soup with the authorities after he went berserk late last year and savagely assaulted 116 pupils at a local primary school for alleged indiscipline.

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As a result, Solomon Samu will appear in court today, after he was recently arrested for the merciless attacks on the pupils of Nyamuti Primary School — following months of dithering by local police officers who had been told of the incident which occurred on October 3 last year.

Samu, who hails from Kanyemba Village under Chief Dotito in Mount Darwin, is alleged to have confronted the school’s deputy headmaster, Paddington Musake, demanding the “right” to beat up all the children at the school because they had “ill-discipline”.

It is alleged that when Samu made the bizarre demand, a fearful Musake felt powerless to stop him, as the seemingly deranged war veteran moved quickly to beat the learners, beginning with Grace Seven pupils who were about to write their final exams.

After beating the Grade Seven pupils in the full view of their stunned teachers, he allegedly called on the Grade six and five learners, whereupon he meted on them the same punishment.
Samu only stopped the beatings when Musake and the other teachers eventually gathered the courage to threaten to call police to deal with him.

Despite the incident happening in October last year, and school authorities immediately filing a formal complaint with police against the war veteran, he was only arrested last week after the intervention of parents and the Social Welfare department.

One of the social welfare officials who intervened, Willie Chideya, told the Daily News yesterday that a team led by the officer-in-charge of CID in Mount Darwin, Trymore Makunya, had been deployed to the school to gather all relevant information, leading to Samu’s arrest.
“What we did as the Social Welfare department was to go to the school in the company of law enforcement agents, to gather information.

“We realised that the children’s rights had been seriously violated and thus called on the police to do their work.
“We also went on to lecture the learners on their rights ... that they must not allow people to beat them up and that they are protected by the law.
“We tried to assure them that nothing of that sort will ever happen again,” Chideya said.
Samu will appear before Mount Darwin magistrate Rutendo Muchena today, after he was given bail last week

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THE curious case in which opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has been accused of raping a 39-year-old woman (name withheld for ethical reasons) is floundering after police confirmed yesterday that the complainant may indeed be suffering from mental health problems, the Daily News can report.

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As a result, authorities are waiting for direction from psychiatric experts, before they decide on what course of action they should take on the case — which opposition supporters claim is part of a sinister plot by the ruling Zanu PF to destabilise the MDC ahead of its crucial congress in May.
Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga told the Daily News yesterday that although they had received the rape complaint from the woman based in Norton, they had moved to demand medical reports on her mental condition, after relatives said her behaviour was erratic.

However, this did not mean that police had dismissed the case — but neither had they contacted Chamisa because “everything was now hinged on the requested medical report”.
“Yes, we received a complaint which we are investigating, but we have also been told that the woman who made the complaint has mental problems.

“We have requested for official papers confirming that she indeed has mental problems. We should be getting those papers sometime tomorrow (today). Check with us by the end of day then,” Matanga said. It is known that the complainant — who was once based overseas — left her home in Norton on Thursday saying that she was going to Harare.

But along the way, she went to Norton Police Station and filed a report of rape against Chamisa, making sensational claims that she had been sexually abused by him in November last year at around 10pm, when she was returning from an evening jog.

She also claimed that Chamisa had accosted her at her residential gate, before he allegedly proceeded to rape her inside the house.
In the meantime, it has also since emerged that the woman is married to a State security agent who is based in Canada.
It is also claimed that the complainant has previously and unsuccessfully filed rape allegations against her husband while they stayed together in Canada.

She was apparently subsequently forced to return to Zimbabwe due to her erratic behaviour linked to mental health problems.
Meanwhile, the MDC said yesterday that it suspected that Zanu PF and the government were involved in the rape claims to “decapitate Chamisa politically”.

“We have, surprisingly, not been informed of this investigation. These accusations against our president are thus a dime a dozen (of little value). “In any event, we hope someone is not trying to stigmatise mental illness to cover up a botched and hare-brained smear campaign.

We are focused on the task at hand to conduct congress and to get national dialogue going, to reclaim the people’s victory in the presidential election,” MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume said.
Last week, the MDC claimed that Zanu PF was trying to destabilise the party ahead of its crucial elective congress in May — where a new substantive party leader will be chosen to lead the country’s largest opposition outfit for the next five years.

This was after mischievous Zanu PF “agents provocateurs” backed the party’s well-regarded secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora to beat the popular Chamisa in the fast-approaching polls.
This, in turn, saw paranoid MDC senior leaders openly accusing the ruling party of working frantically to destabilise the opposition party again — following a tweet by Zanu PF deputy youth leader Lewis Matutu, who “predicted” the fall of Chamisa come May.

MDC vice chairperson Tendai Biti, whom many are tipping to contest for one of the party’s vice president posts, angrily reacted to suggestions that Mwonzora may emerge as the new party leader after the elective congress. He said the party would not accept to be led by “a ruling party chosen half-wit”.

“We will reject any nincompoop given to us by Zanu PF. We already have a candidate in … Chamisa. So, we will not tolerate that.
“Our duty is to protect the legacy of our dear leader Morgan Tsvangirai and we know with Chamisa we will be able to do that,” Biti thundered.

The MDC youth assembly also claimed that Zanu PF wanted a “weaker candidate” to emerge as the party’s leader in May “for obvious reasons” — vowing that this would not happen.
“It is saddening that Zanu PF wants to give us a leader and we know why.

We are however, clear as youths and other organs of the party that we have Chamisa as our leader and the decision is ours not Zanu PF’s,” Lovemore Chinoputsa, the MDC youth assembly secretary-general, said. Matutu had earlier thrown the cat among the pigeons when he poisonously said Chamisa would receive a heavy shellacking from Mwonzora at the May congress, because “he did not have support in the MDC party structures”.

“Mwonzora is likely to become the new MDC … president because the majority of Chamisa’s hooligans are not in the structures of their party and they don’t form part of the congress delegates,” Matutu said in his controversial tweet.

The charismatic Chamisa took over the party’s reins in hotly-disputed circumstances in February last year, following the death of the MDC’s revered founding president Tsvangirai — who lost his valiant battle against colon cancer on Valentine’s Day, and soon after he had elevated the youthful politician to the party’s presidium.

The 41-year-old was accused of having allegedly used his then assumed closeness to Tsvangirai’s widow, Elizabeth, to torpedo the ambitions of the likes of Elias Mudzuri and Thokozani Khupe.
A titanic leadership battle subsequently ensued in the party, which eventually led to Khupe forming a breakaway faction which went on to perform dismally in last year’s elections.

Chamisa ultimately prevailed over his party competitors after a consultative meeting of the MDC, which was held at its Harare headquarters — and which was attended by 639 delegates from 210 party districts — endorsed him as Tsvangirai’s successor and the party’s presidential candidate in the 2018 polls

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Work at RioZim’s $2,2 billion Sengwa thermal power plant has kicked off in earnest amid indications that at least four key feasibility studies are expected to be completed this month.

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RioZim has engaged PowerChina for the construction of the 2 000 megawatt (MW) thermal power station in Gokwe North, which has been in the pipeline for more than 30 years.
Power China subsidiaries Sino Hydro recently completed Kariba South expansion project, which added 300MW into the national grid and has commenced work at Hwange 7 and 8 that is expected to generate additional 600MW. 

Timeline documents seen by this publication show that officials from the Chinese State-owned firm were in Zimbabwe last month to sign exclusivity agreement with RioZim and both agreed that an equipment, procurement contract (EPC) and operations maintenance agreement should be sealed by May 2019.

This will be followed by the construction of a 700 megawatt (MW) plant under the project’s first phase. The document further indicated that a power plant feasibility report, coal mine feasibility study report, and a water pipeline feasibility study and bill of quantities should be completed by March 20, this year.

“A shareholders agreement will be signed between the two companies in the third quarter of this year and we also expect the project’s financing model to be completed by October 30, 2019,” said people familiar with the matter.

“By this time next year PowerChina would have significantly covered a lot of ground on this project,” the sources added.
RioZim is being advised by CDF Trust and Consulting BV on the mega project while PowerChina is being advised by Transfrontier Investments and AMG Global.

The Sengwa power project has been in the pipeline since the 1990s and has an attractive option, with guaranteed supply of coal from RioZim’s concession, which has in excess of two billion tonnes of the fossil fuel. Feasibility studies conducted in 1997 revealed that about two billion tonnes of the coal are proven reserves expected to feed the thermal power station.

Market experts believe that if the project, which entails development of a coal mine, power station, water pipeline to the power station and a power transmission line to the national grid, comes to fruition it would help Zimbabwe to deal with its intermittent power cuts, with excess electricity being exported.

The southern African country, which has seen power consumption fall on the closure of fertiliser plants and chrome smelters, still imports electricity from neighbours like Mozambique and South Africa to avoid outages that plagued industry for over a decade between 2007 and 2017.

Zimbabwe currently produces just above 1 000MW against demand of 2 200MW. Several international firms from India, China, Namibia and South Africa among other countries expressed interest to develop the thermal power plant after 2009, but nothing concrete was achieved.

The latest development also comes at a time when construction of the $1,4 billion Hwange Expansion Project for Unit 7 and 8 has started in earnest, after Energy minister Joram Gumbo laid the foundation stone in Hwange on Friday.

“The process of laying the foundation signifies the commencement of real construction works in a journey that will take us to the promised land of security of electricity supply as we set our sights towards the successful implementation of Vision 2030 which will transform

Zimbabwe into an upper middle class economy,” he said.
Gumbo noted that the expansion project is a key economic enabler as it would positively impact on the economy through the employment of in excess of 3 000 people and enhance skills transfer.
Already, 450 people from around Hwange have been employed.

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Amalgamated Regional Trading Holdings (Art) says its turnover dropped by 20 percent during the five months to February due to political instability in the country. Zimbabwe experienced violence demonstrations in January over fuel price hikes and deteriorating economic situation, which left at least 12 people dead and hundreds others injured. 

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Tension has been rising in the southern African country since October when government separated bank accounts for RTGS$ and major currencies resulting in official inflation surging to a post dollarisation high of 56 percent for January, from 5,4 percent in September.

“It has been a packed five months, starting off with the events in October, with the monetary and fiscal policy announcements affecting the business especially in terms of trading,” Art’s chief executive Milton Macheka said at the company’s 17th annual general meeting in Harare recently.

“Turnover for the period stood at $23 million after sales across the business softened by about 20 percent. We had some disturbances during the public unrest in January. Our trading was subdued during that period, in fact in other instances it completely stopped,” he said.
The group’s gross margins for the period were down to 41 percent against 44 percent in the previous comparable period. Macheka noted that challenges have continued in the environment especially with respect to access to foreign currency and the depressed demand.

The chief executive, however, noted Art’s toilet paper manufacturing unit did well during the period under review. “The business recorded some growth,” he said. Art manufactures and distributes products in three categories, namely paper products, stationary and batteries. 
Its product portfolio, which falls under the brand names Exide,

Eversharp, Softex and Chloride, ranges from tissue paper, sanitary ware and disposable napkins to writing pens and automotive, solar and standby batteries. Despite the decline in revenues, the company says it is confident of surpassing its revenue targets for the current trading year.

“We had initially budgeted to top $50 million in terms of turnover for the end of the year and we are confident that we will be able to do that,” Macheka said. He said exports remained strong during the period under review “especially in the battery business and paper at Kadoma Paper Mills”.  

Macheka said the company was still assessing the possible impact of the recent Monetary Policy Statement. “We are still monitoring the situation to be able to make a proper assessment of the impact as the year progresses but we are still hopeful that we should be able to better our forecasts,” he said.

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Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) is inviting bidders from suitable suppliers for semi luxury buses as it fails to meet transport demands. In an advertisement the bus company advised interested bidders to attach copies of certificate of incorporation, CR14 and administration.

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“Tenders must be enclosed in a sealed envelope and endorsed on the outside with the advertised tender number, the description, the closing date and must be posted in time,” Zupco said. The tender comes a month after government said the bus company was expecting a delivery of 500 buses from Belarus and South Africa following negotiations with the two countries.

Commenting on the tender, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting services permanent secretary Nick Mangwana said government was working towards eliminating public transport related challenges in the country. “Sustainable long term public transportation systems should generally make it better and cheaper to commute by public transport than driving.

“We are not yet there but plans are in place to resolve current public transport system challenges with Zupco being a big part of it,” Mangwana said. This comes as plans to revive the State-owned transport operator, are moving forward after the parastatal also embarked on a recruitment drive.

Zupco last week advertised several vacant positions including bus conductors, cashiers, analysis clerks, automobile electricians, workshop foremen and artisan-motor mechanics/diesel plant fitters.
The company re-introduced its buses while hiring others from private transporters after kombis increased commuter fares following the infamous fuel price hikes in January.

More than 140 buses were mobilised to carry passengers for $1 per trip in and around Harare as part of long-term interventions to modernise the mass public transport system in Zimbabwe.
Commuters from Chitungwiza and Norton pay $1,50 and $2 per trip, respectively while the rest of the routes are charged a dollar.

The buses were also introduced in Bulawayo where they brought relief to commuters who were being charged exorbitant fares for a rough ride in commuter omnibuses. This development saw commuter omnibus operators reducing their fares following the introduction of these buses.

Passengers in Harare and Bulawayo slammed kombi operators for exploiting them, with some people calling for their immediate ban.
However, over the past few weeks passengers have once again been left stranded as Zupco buses have reportedly disappeared from the roads in Bulawayo and some parts of Harare.

Government reportedly failed to settle debts with some of the contractors that have pulled out of the deal.
 

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ZANU PF Mashonaland West provincial coordinating committee has commenced a process that will lead to the suspension of provincial minister Mary Mliswa-Chikoka from her position in the party, the Daily News can report.

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This was after the Zanu PF national leadership directed the regional structure to follow proper procedures as opposed to passing a vote of no confidence. A vote of no confidence had been passed against Mliswa-Chikoka by the province last month over allegations of corruption and abuse of office and creating parallel structures in her Hurungwe West constituency, among a litany of other charges.

But provincial chairperson Ziyambi Ziyambi told the Daily News yesterday that the ruling party’s national disciplinary committee had directed that the executive desists from using votes of no confidence to discipline errant officials. “What will now happen is that those with complaints against her will bring them forward and I will ask the provincial secretary for administration, if we are satisfied that there is a prima facie case, to then start the process of generating a prohibition order against her pending the disciplinary hearing,” Ziyambi said.

“It was realised that the method of votes of no confidence does not accord an accused the right to also defend him/her-self which is undemocratic.” Sources who attended the Zanu PF PCC at the weekend said calls for Mliswa-Chikoka’s ouster grew louder amid calls for the prohibition order to be issued this week.

“She is also accused of creating parallel structures in Hurungwe East bringing on board opposition elements including those that used to work with his brother (Temba) so we all agreed that by Friday this week we should be done with the process that we were asked to follow,” said a provincial executive member who did not want to be named.

Regional sources said Mliswa-Chikoka was being targeted for her allegiance to a faction aligned to Vice President Constantino Chiwenga. Contacted for comment, she laughed off the allegations saying she was being framed by her political rivals who are looking to tarnish her image.

“They have realised that I am not corrupt so they are trying to make up stories. They must be able to differentiate between party and government business. “Regarding my commitment to the party, my chairperson (Ziyambi Ziyambi) knows who I am and he is the one I follow,” Mliswa-Chikoka said inadvertently betraying the factional fights in the politically volatile province.

The Daily News can report that a number of Zanu PF officials now face an uncertain future over unproven charges that border on corruption and disloyalty to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
This is reminiscent of the Generation 40 (G40) versus Team Lacoste factional fights where the former was rallying behind former President Robert Mugabe’s continued stay in power while the latter itched for his replacement by Mnangagwa, then his deputy.

More than a year after G40 was decimated; Zanu PF officials are at each other’s throats again. Officials in various provinces accuse and counter-accuse each other of not doing enough to support Mnangagwa who has been under pressure from opposition forces ever since he controversially won the presidential election against MDC’s Nelson Chamisa in July last year.

The pressure has led to panic as senior officials blame each other for working with both internal and external foes to sabotage Mnangagwa’s efforts at reviving the economy.

The Zanu PF youth league opened the floodgates to votes of no confidence last week after they passed one against their leader Pupurai Togarepi and other national executive members including his deputy Lewis Matutu and secretary of administration Tendai Chirau.

The officials stand accused of stealing from the party, incompetence and treachery as well as not being up to the task of publicly defending Mnangagwa, who is under intense internal and international pressure over his government’s heavy-handed handling of fuel protests last month.

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Poor road network infrastructure and unavailability of water is chasing away investors who want to invest in Zimbabwe, District Development Fund (DDF) permanent secretary James Jonga has said.

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In an interview with the Daily News during a tour of road works in Harare and Bindura, Jonga said the progress on road repairs and maintenance was worryingly slow. Road engineers, however, said it was actually the price hikes and fuel shortages that were slowing down their projects.

“It is not a declaration of excess of capacity for use to address issues of an urban nature; it was more to do with a rescue operation. President Emmerson Mnangagwa came up with the business mantra ‘Zimbabwe is Open for Business’ and the offices where that business is conducted are Mukwati, Munhumutapa, Chaminuka and Kaguvi.

“If our visitors, the ones that we are actually inviting cannot access the buildings because of the chipped roads surely we will not get the millions that we are trying to attract. They will just be discouraged to come to those buildings where they cannot even park their cars and when they climb up the building they cannot find water. This is where DDF has had to come because of the interventionist nature of our operations,” Jonga said.

He added that the DDF as a department in the President’s Office intervenes in such instances and as soon as it becomes necessary.
Jonga, however, emphasised that DDF is not ignoring the communal areas but was trying to ensure that the business mantra being projected is actually softened in terms of its approach.

The DDF secretary said while there were road works being carried their pace was too slow and that was worrisome. “There is a bit of urgency that needs to be exerted; we are not so comfortable with the speed at which we are progressing but we are cognisant of the challenges in terms of material availability and maintenance of machinery, lack of spares and others; all which will be addressed by the taskforce,” he said.

Last week, secretary in the office of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s office, Godfrey Chanakira said government would look into all issues raised and see whether they would extend financial support.

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EDITOR — The mineral industry of Africa is the largest minerals industry in the world. Africa is the second largest continent, with 30 million km² of land, which implies large quantities of resources. 
For many African countries, mineral exploration and production constitute significant parts of their economies and remain key to economic growth. 

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Africa is richly endowed with mineral reserves and ranks first or second in quantity of world reserves of bauxite, cobalt, industrial diamond, phosphate rock, platinum-group metals (PGM), vermiculite, and zirconium. Gold mining is Africa’s main mining resource. Africa has the world’s richest concentration of minerals and gems.

In South Africa, the Bushveld Complex, one of the largest masses of igneous rock on Earth, contains major deposits of strategic metals such as platinum, chromium, and vanadium—metals that are indispensable in tool making and high tech industrial processes. The Bushveld complex is about two billion years old.

Another spectacular intrusion of magmatic rocks composed of olivine, augite, and hypersthene occurred in the Archean Eon over 2,5 billion years ago in Zimbabwe. Called the Great Dyke, it contains substantial deposits of chromium, asbestos, and nickel. 
Almost all of the world’s chromium reserves are found in Africa.

Chromium is used to harden alloys, to produce stainless steels, as an industrial catalyst, and to provide corrosion resistance.
Unique eruptions that occurred during the Cretaceous in southern and central Africa formed kimberlite pipes — vertical, near-cylindrical rock bodies caused by deep melting in the upper mantle. 

Kimberlite pipes are the main source of gem and industrial diamonds in Africa. Africa contains 40 percent of the world’s diamond reserves, which occur in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, and DRC.
In South Africa uranium is to be found side-by-side with gold, thus decreasing costs of production. 

Uranium deposits are also found in Niger, Gabon, DRC, and Namibia. South Africa alone contains half the world’s gold reserves. Mineral deposits of gold are also found in Zimbabwe, DRC, and Ghana. 

Alluvial gold (eroded from soils and rock strata by rivers) can be found in Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, and Gabon.
As for other minerals, half of the world’s cobalt is in DRC and a continuation into Zimbabwe of Congolese cobalt-bearing geological formations gives the former country sizable reserves of cobalt as well. 

One quarter of the world’s aluminium ore is found in a coastal belt of West Africa stretching 1,200 mi (1,920 km) from Guinea to Togo, with the largest reserves in Guinea.
Major coal deposits exist in southern Africa, North Africa, DRC, and Nigeria. And North Africa is awash in petroleum reserves, particularly in Libya, Algeria, Egypt, and Tunisia.

Nigeria is the biggest petroleum producer in West Africa, but Cameroon, Gabon, and the Congo also contain oil reserves. There are also petroleum reserves in southern Africa, chiefly in Angola. Africa should make the most of its mineral resources.
Enos Denhere

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EDITOR — The looming showdown between doctors and the government over demands that have not been addressed since the bargaining agreement in January this year that saw doctors ending their industrial strike is worrisome.

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 What is more worrisome is that if the doctors down their tools again the ordinary citizens will be most affected. During doctors’ last year 40-day industrial action many lives were lost that could have been saved. Many patients were turned away from hospitals because the nurses also joined in the strike.

I would like to appeal to the government to make sure that they address the outstanding doctors’ demands before another strike begins. Government should just get its priorities right and consider citizens instead of spending money on commissions like the Gukurahundi and the Kgalema Motlanthe-led probes  that cannot bring back those lives lost.

Government should stop taking it’s citizens for granted.
Fed-up Citizen

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IN THE past two decades or so, ordinary Zimbabweans have had to contend with the political banter — a form of teasing either opponents or allies — which normally ends in a pleasant way, at least according to the dictionary.

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Political banter is deeply rooted in mature democracies where nothing is taken personal. Sadly, in these parts of the world political banter appears to have a different meaning and increasingly those who promote it are beginning to find that there is very little difference between hate speech and political banter.

Nothing ends in a pleasant manner along these shores where politicians and their supporters are averse to criticism. “Both Zanu PF and opposition politicians have apparently mutilated political banter to inflame emotions and deliberately, at least judging by so many incidents, raising unnecessary tensions in the communities.

Take for example the current attacks on MDC secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora who has been  accused of being an appendage of Zanu PF and working to destabilise the country’s largest opposition party ahead of its crucial elective congress set for May.

The accusations are coming from senior MDC officials who are angling for top positions at the congress and who view Mwonzora as a possible threat either to interim party leader Nelson Chamisa or those eyeing the vice presidents’ post. This is not the right way of enhancing democracy and certainly the allegations against Mwonzora are not only unpleasant — but are intended to characterise him as a snitch –— when all along colleagues were happy to have him as one of their leaders.

Mwonzora was last week “mischievously” backed by Zanu PF youth league deputy secretary Lewis Matutu to beat Chamisa at the congress and this statement was deliberately used to malign the Harare lawyer and accuse him of being a Zanu PF plant.

How ironic is this characterisation of Mwonzora and how curious is it that these allegations are always levelled against any official who appears to express independent opinion with regards to MDC elections?

Thokozani Khupe, Tendai Biti, Welshamn Ncube and Elton Mangoma have all been previously labelled Zanu PF for holding different views and challenging the party’s leadership on pertinent issues and procedures relating to internal polls?

History is repeating itself! The current attacks on Mwonzora serve to audition a bad culture being promoted in the MDC and surely this cannot pass off as political banter.

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LATE last month Air Zimbabwe (AirZim) confirmed its plane’s departure from the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International airport was delayed because it had developed a technical problem.

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Plane delays and postponements are not uncommon at AirZim as the airline has experienced numerous challenges over the past two decades.  Despite all their challenges, we must give the national airline credit in terms of continuing to operate in a very tough geo-political environment. 

Make no mistake, the African market demand overall is high in volume domestically and regionally, however, the core problem is the low yields in the face of increasing competition. This is especially true in the Visit Friends and Relatives (abbreviated VFR) markets.

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) has already forecasted that African Airlines are to make a loss of more than US$300 million in 2019, which is in stark contrast to the rest of the global airline industry that is forecasted to make a net profit of US$32,3 billion.

The region benefits from higher-than-average yields and lower operating costs in some categories. However, few airlines in the region are able to achieve adequate load factors to generate profits. 
In 2016 the African airline industry was recorded as having the safest year for flights in a decade. 

According to figures from the Iata, there were no passenger fatalities in sub-Saharan Africa in 2016 and no jet hull losses, with an accident rate of 2,30 per 1m departures, in comparison with an average of 9,73 over the previous five years. However, we cannot ignore the fact that safety concerns continue to be raised over specific African carriers within the continent.

In view of all of the above, the launch of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) by 23 African States in 2018 to open the African skies connectivity was welcome news to the African continent and has given hope to ensure that passenger growth can continue and the revenue loss of a number of national African flag carriers can be reversed.

Below are some ideas on how Zimbabwe can implement a quick fix solution for AirZim which will cost some money in the short term but will have long term cash saving benefits considerably:
Strengthen the regional and domestic market before contemplating flying long-haul

UM fleet of 767-200 ER and the 737-300 ER to be grounded by end of the Iata W20 i.e. 24 March 20. They can lease this aircraft or sell the fleet completely. A tender placed immediately to dry lease the A321 NEO.  This aircraft will deliver per seat fuel improvements of 20 percent along with the additional range of up to 500 nautical miles/900 km or 2 tonnes of extra pay load. In any disciplined airline environment, fleet standardisation is a key driver in reducing costs and increasing profits.

Review the schedules completely. There is no point in flying aircraft with low load factors. AirZim needs to work with other carriers on reciprocal arrangements to transfer passengers in case of cancellations. However, we cannot ignore that foreign carriers need to be assured on strong robust government policies on funds repatriation i.e. Airlines should be allowed to remit funds to their home markets and currencies should be freely convertible at market exchange rates.

AirZim must lobby the government to restrict access to competitors who have taken away a lot of the market demand by dumping too much capacity together with offering sometimes predatory low fares on key segments.

Look at successful business models such as the SwissAir model of completely shutting the airline and re-emerging under a new name and starting afresh with a clean balance sheet which has no legacy debt.

For this to happen the government must take the difficult decision and absorb all AirZim losses and debts. There are many other ideas that can be implemented by AirZim to clear their debt.

• Zimbabwe-born Mambara, who has a demonstrated history of working in the airlines/aviation industry, is currently the country manager (UK and Ireland) for Royal Brunei Airlines.

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