ALEXANDRIA - CAPS United are taking a cautious approach when they take on Egyptian giants Zamalek in their African Champions League Group B opening encounter this evening at Borg El Arab Stadium.

The match kicks off at 9pm local time.

The Green Machine arrived in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, in the wee hours of yesterday before travelling to Alexandria where the match is being played.

Following their arrival in Alexandria just after 6am, coach Lloyd Chitembwe gave his players the whole of yesterday afternoon to rest ahead of their scheduled evening training session at the match venue last night.

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Speaking ahead of tonight’s blockbuster fixture, Chitembwe revealed that they would not throw caution to the wind in as much as they want a positive start but would rather be pragmatic in their approach.

“It has been a long journey from Harare to Cairo and finally to Alexandria but so far so good. The reception has been okay, the Egyptians are very hospitable people. I think you can’t complain on that aspect,” Chitembwe said.

“There is no difference really in our approach from the local matches but what we want is to try and compete away from home. We want to try and get something in away fixtures and try and get maximum points in our home matches and this how we are approaching these games.

“We want to be responsible and don’t want to give away what we have. We know what we want and we know what we have to do to get what we want so we will go there and try to be as hardworking and also very sensible.

“It’s one game that you have to play with your mind as well as the physical application.”

Makepekepe are playing in this stage of the competition for the first time while Zamalek are one of the aristocrats of African football, having won the CAF Champions League five times.

“One thing for sure is that they are a very good team with a lot of credentials and unbelievable resources but all the same in football there is more to that and we have proved it last year,” Chitembwe said.

“What matters most is the desire and if you show the right kind of desire you stand a very good chance of competing against very resourceful clubs.

“I think I saw something in these boys since last year and I even said it before the season started that this group is a very special group of players.

“They are players that have the potential to re-write history books and I am happy that they are fulfilling my dream and I think it’s only good for them individually and collectively as a group.”

Chitembwe added: “I am happy with how some of these boys have handled the pressure for instance you look at a player like Phineas (Bhamusi), he has been playing like a seasoned campaigner and I think it goes down to the amount of work the coaches have put in the player and also how the player responds to instructions.”

Makepekepe will be without midfielder Tafadzwa Rusike for tonight’s game after the technical team decided to give him a rest as he is still recovering from an injury.

This means Chitembwe will be with only six players on the bench since they had travelled with a squad of only 18.

CAPS United Squad in Egypt: Edmore Sibanda, Jorum Muchambo, Hardlife Zvirekwi, Valentine Musarurwa, Devon Chafa, Justice Jangano, Kudzanai Nyamupfukudza, Carlton Mudzambwa, Moses Muchenje, Dominic Chungwa, Phineas Bhamusi, Ronald Pfumbidzai, Ronald Chitiyo, Tafadzwa Rusike, Abbas Amidu, Cabby Kapamha, Dennis Dauda, Joel Ngodzo.

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HARARE - Zimbabwe's largest cigarette manufacturer, British American Tobacco (BAT), is failing to pay over $8 million in dividend to its offshore major shareholder, due to foreign payment delays.

BAT finance director, Lucas Francisco, yesterday told the businessdaily that the cigarette manufacturer was presently in discussions with the shareholder mapping a way forward, while also engaging banks locally for the transaction to go through.

The cigarette maker’s major shareholder is British American Plc, which holds a 42,98 percent shareholding and over 8,8 million shares in the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed counter.

“Basically, the final dividend for 2015 and the 2016 final dividend are outstanding. To date, I can say we are holding about $8 million that is yet to go through.

“We have been engaging, but despite the dividends being on the priority list the fact is there is no money. So, the little cash that the country is generating is used to prioritise the key inputs that are required for production,” Francisco said.

He also pointed out that the shareholder was “concerned” with the remittance situation given the unpredictability of the country’s cash situation.

Zimbabwe has been battling an acute cash shortage on the back of depleted nostro balances, leading to multi- national companies with shareholders outside the country failing to remit dividend to their respective shareholders.

While the country trades using a multi- currency system dominated by the United States Dollar, the greenback has disappeared from the market along with government’s surrogate currency — bond notes — introduced late last year to assault the cash shortages.

This has prompted fears as some offshore shareholders are now apprehensive.

Figures recently released by the central bank indicated that the apex bank had managed to reduce the country’s foreign payments backlog by more than 50 percent to the current level of $185 million that transactions.

However, most of these are just for raw material creditors and not dividend remittances for companies with offshore shareholders.

BAT managing director, Clara Mlambo, also pointed out that the company was failing to pay for its raw materials on the back of the foreign payment delays.

“We import about 90 percent of our packaging raw materials and given the present situation, payments to suppliers have been difficult,” she said, pointing out that while the company valued paying dividend to its shareholder, raw material payments also had priority in terms of how the group allocated foreign payments.

Meanwhile, Mlambo also pointed out that the group’s performance in the first quarter had remained flat as consumers battled cash shortages.

“The situation stabilised in December with the bond notes as the liquidity situation improved. However, the first quarter performance was flat largely due to the cash shortages, so that affected disposable incomes leaving performance largely flat,” she said.

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HARARE - Every Zimbabwean is, or must be equal before the law, and as such the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) must do everything in its power to ensure that health workers, who have been denied their right to vote before enjoy their rights too.

Just like those in the security establishment who have special voting setups, the same should be set up for on-duty medical practitioners who have all along been treated as second class citizens yet they should be free to make their choices regarding their leadership preferences.

With the country hurtling towards make or break elections next year — it is crucial that all the necessary electoral reforms are put in place so as to ensure a free and fair election that will be reflective of the will of the people.

Thousands of Zimbabweans are employed in the vital health sector and like soldiers and police officers they must be allowed to vote at their workstations if they are on duty.

Although doctors and nurses must be placed in the essential services category just as is the case with security forces, that is not presently the case and Zec — the body mandated with conducting elections in the country — must address these grey areas.

Ahead of next year’s elections, and in line with electoral reform demands proposed by the country’s opposition parties, Zec should assure health workers that they will be able to vote through establishing special facilities such as stations at hospitals, something that is granted to the security forces.

Such polling stations should be placed at central and provincial hospitals for the 2018 elections as these facilities host a large proportion of the health workforce at a given time.

As is being demanded by health professionals, it is only essential that the needs of every Zimbabwean are met ahead of elections.

And they are several compelling reasons to establish polling stations at hospitals, as rightfully noted by Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights.

For instance, establishing polling stations at hospitals will ensure participation of health personnel while also ensuring there will be minimal interruptions to service delivery by health professionals in their quest to exercise their right to vote.

Worryingly, only 30 percent of health workers were able to vote in previous elections and in the present setup, patients and key staff manning hospitals and clinics whether inside or outside Zimbabwe, cannot vote because they cannot get postal votes.

This is despite the fact that under Zimbabwe’s relatively progressive Constitution, everyone is eligible to vote, meaning all laws should be aligned to the Constitution before next year’s elections.

HARARE - Zimbabwe's economy is growing, despite the myriad problems — including a deepening cash crisis — dogging the country, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa told the National Assembly on Wednesday.

He said the growth is driven by a better than expected agriculture season and a boost in mining activity.

“The growth of the economy is not determined by the length of queues in towns, although, that could also be indicative of constraints and problems in an economy,” Mnangagwa said, in reference to a cash shortage that has that has forced masses to spend hours on end in long bank queues.

“What determines the growth of an economy are the statistics that are gathered in relation to various sectors of the economy as they grow.

“In this particular incident, the major growth was registered in agriculture and mining. These two sectors of the economy have been able to drive the growth of the economy,” he said.

However, Mnangagwa’s remarks drew criticism from MDC vice president Thokozani Khupe who questioned his optimism given that the Global Competitiveness Index report ranked Zimbabwe at 126 out of 139.

“Vice President, you also spoke about agriculture yet there are several other pillars of the economy which determine whether an economy is performing or not like the technological, infrastructural development, health and primary education,” she said.

“So, how then are you saying this economy is performing without looking at all these pillars of the economy?” Khupe questioned.

Mnangagwa retorted: “ . . . the issues that the honourable member is raising are issues of fact that we have challenges in all those sub-sectors of the economy.

“I have not said that every sector of the economy is registering growth — I have not said so.  I indicated the areas which have registered growth and impacted on the overall picture of the economy in a positive manner — that is what I stated.”

BULAWAYO - Former Industry minister Nkosana Moyo has hinted at challenging President Robert Mugabe in the forthcoming 2018 election, as an independent candidate.

The former banker — famed for publicly speaking out against attacks on businesses and factories by war veterans and later uncharacteristically resigning from Mugabe’s Cabinet about a year after his appointment — said there was need for a paradigm shift in the country’s politics.

He recently turned down two separate offers by the Dumiso Dabengwa-led Zapu and Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) to lead the opposition outfits.

“When you look at the facts on the ground and beyond just Zimbabwe like sub-Saharan Africa, you notice there is one thing common in all our countries, the government of the day runs the country for the party and not for the citizens,” Moyo told journalists here on the side-lines of National Youth Development Trust (NYDT) public debate on Wednesday.

“The government of the day runs the country for the benefit of party members as opposed to the benefit of all citizens,” he said.

“My view is that if I get involved in politics, I am going to run as an independent because when you think about it, what type of a president do you want? You want a president who has got responsibility and accepts responsibility for all citizens and not for some citizens.

“A president is a president of a country not of a party. He or she should be capable of being a president even for those who did not vote for him or her. We don’t seem to have that maturity,” Moyo said.

He said “my own view and conclusion is that for the time being, we need to try the idea of citizens being persuaded to vote for somebody who does not belong to a party.”

Moyo said he was “seriously considering standing as an independent candidate”.

On the other hand, Moyo explained why he resigned from Mugabe’s Cabinet, a move that saw the miffed leader describe him as lacking the qualities of a real man.

“There are now 16 years since I left the Cabinet. And when I left, most people don’t know that a day before, I spent about one and half hours with the president telling him I was resigning. The press said I resigned from South Africa, which is not true,” he said.

He further noted that he left because he was not prepared to be acculturated into the corrupt Zanu PF way of doing things.

“I left because I realised that what I believed in the rest of the team didn’t believe in. I left because I did not view my job as an opportunity to loot money. Because I didn’t believe that being a minister is about looting money but about serving the nation.”

Moyo said he was not a member of the ruling party when he was appointed minister, but was handpicked as a technocrat to give credence to the party’s economic policies.

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HARARE - President Robert Mugabe — like the majority of Zimbabweans who told pollsters that they fear criticising him — is also scared of the future, former Finance minister Simba Makoni has said.

This comes after the Mass Public Opinion Institute (Mpoi) revealed in its latest survey that 62 percent of Zimbabweans are not free to critic the long-time Zimbabwe ruler.

Makoni — brought in as Finance minister in 2000 to restore donor relations but was sacked 18 months later after calling for a devaluation of the subdued Zimbabwe dollar — said on Twitter: “Everybody, including Mugabe himself, lives in fear”.

“The country abandoned its own currency, and now has run completely out of money,” he said, as he responded to Mugabe’s recent outlandish claim that Zimbabwe is not a fragile State.

The nonagenarian claimed at the World Economic Forum in SA last week that in terms of development, Zimbabwe is second only to South Africa on the continent.

“By contrast, we are now the poorest in Africa, with $200/capita/year income, 90 percent + formal unemployment,” Makoni argued.

He said the economy was collapsing.

“Government can’t pay its workers. Hospitals and schools are sustained by donors. We have the highest ratio of graduate informal traders in the world,” Makoni tweeted.

“Up to 1/3 (one third) of the population are economic refugees.”

It is estimated that approximately three million Zimbabweans are living in South Africa, many of them illegally.

“Public infrastructure is decrepit and dysfunctional. National roads are pot-holed. For nearly 20 years, people who fed themselves before, have survived on food aid. The economy shrank to 40 percent of its size in 10 years,” he said.

With a PhD in chemistry, Makoni said Zimbabweans have to collectively share the blame for allowing one man to determine their future.

“However, we, the people, need to accept our share of responsibility for this situation, letting Mugabe and his henchmen to destroy our country.

“Those, like me, who shared, and those still sharing leadership with him, must accept greater responsibility, for complicity or acquiescence . . .We must resolve to ‘liberate ourselves’. Let’s ride out of the fear Mugabe and his system have instilled in us.

“Then, let’s unite honestly around the common purpose and common good, to restore our dignity, esteem, freedoms and self- reliance,” said Makoni.

Despite his years of service in Zanu PF, Makoni is now described as a “traitor” and “western puppet” by Mugabe and his allies.

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HARARE - Zimbabwe's general elections must be held by August 21 2018, when the national legislative assembly’s five-year term expires, according to the new Constitution.

Section 158 of the new Constitution states that “a general election must be held so that polling takes place not more than  . . . 30 days before the expiry of the five-year period specified in section 143”.

President Robert Mugabe must set an election date before the current Parliament expires.

“The president must by proclamation call and set dates for a general election to be held within the period prescribed in section 158,” the Constitution says.

This means the election would have to be held at the earliest on July 23, 2018 and the latest on August 21, 2018.

The polls will be the second under a new Constitution, approved in a referendum in 2013, that curbed Mugabe’s wide-sweeping powers.

The new charter sets a maximum of two five-year terms for the president, with Mugabe currently serving the first term after his controversial re-election in the disputed 2013 vote.

The nonagenarian, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has been endorsed by his party as its candidate for election, when he will be 94, and could still theoretically rule for one more term.

Section 143 (1) of the new Constitution states: “Parliament is elected for a five-year term which runs from the date on which the president-elect is sworn in and assumes office.”

Mugabe, Africa’s oldest leader, was sworn in on August 22, 2013, amid condemnation from opponents and the West that the vote was stolen.

This means the five-year term of Parliament ends at midnight on August 21, 2018.

The long-time ruler has expressed confidence that his party will win the proposed elections, telling his central committee last month that the opposition was in disarray — and that Zanu PF was enjoying the squabbling within the opposition ranks.

“The opposition is in a quagmire . . . they have tried this and that to get together . . . talking about a grand coalition, but they will be in for a grand defeat as they continue to split,” Mugabe said.

According to the latest     findings of an Afrobarometer survey, the prospect of a grand coalition finds support among a plurality of Zimbabweans at 45 percent.

The opposition has been at its feeblest since its heavy, albeit controversial, defeat in the 2013 elections, when Zanu PF achieved a more than two-thirds parliamentary majority, which it has increased via by-elections boycotted by the mainstream MDC.

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HARARE - Zimbabwe’s escalating crises point to disaster, with a majority of the long-suffering masses saying the country’s economy is now in a “very bad” state, analysts have warned.

They said the lurching from one crisis to another proves that authorities could “play tricks with politics, but no tricks work when it comes to the economy”.

This comes as the troubled country’s liquidity crisis is deepening by the day, with banks now disbursing coins after running out of the bond notes — a currency surrogate to the United States dollar introduced last year to mitigate the cash shortages.

So bad is the situation such that restive tobacco farmers — who besieged banks last week demanding their cash after crop sales — clashed with police who ended up tear-gassing and bashing them to restore order at the auction floors.

Apart from the crippling cash crisis, the bond notes have fuelled the parallel currency market, as desperate traders seek foreign currency to fund imports, a move which has stoked inflation. 

This week, equities firm IH Securities warned that the country’s inflation will continue to rise, resulting in rising food prices because of the retailers turning to the thriving black market, where they pay steep mark-ups.

In relation to that, the International Monetary Fund has also cautioned that Zimbabwe’s annual inflation could hit a dollar-era record high of 6,6 percent next year, due to rising food prices and election expenditure.

On the back of all this, the country’s moribund economy is dogged by massive unemployment, dwindling national revenue collections and a collapsed service delivery system.

“It shows a dying economy,” Maxwell Saungweme, an analyst, said.

He said government is so far implementing stop-gap measures in solving the country’s challenges.

“It shows that bond notes were a short-sighted attempt at quick-fixing an economy without addressing fundamentals,” he told the Daily News.

“It’s a clear sign you play tricks with politics, but no tricks work with economy,” he said, adding that Zimbabwe “needs drastic measures to inject life into its dying economy”.

Another respected economic analyst, Witness Chinyama, said the protest by frustrated tobacco farmers was only a tip of the iceberg, and a sign of long-running and unaddressed problems.

“The rioting of tobacco farmers is a reflection of cash shortages the country has been experiencing since the introduction of bond notes last year,” he said.

Instead, Chinyama said; “a lot of production is needed in the country to ensure that basic commodities and other things are found locally”.

“This will help reduce Zimbabwe’s dependency on imports,” he said, adding that the government imposed protectionist Statutory Instrument 64 — which barred the importation of many basic commodities, including cereals, rice and cooking oil — “helped stoke inflation”.

He however, said the instrument may “in the long term . . . help with the preservation of foreign currency as most products will be available locally”.

In its latest report, pan-African think tank Afrobarometer said “almost two-thirds (63 percent) of Zimbabweans consider the present economic condition of the country . . . very bad while only one in five (20 percent) see it as “fairly good”.

“In fact, almost half (48 percent) of the population think that economic conditions have gotten “worse” or “much worse” compared to 12 months ago,” the research organisation — which measures public attitudes on economic, political, and social matters in sub-Saharan Africa — said.

Afrobarometer said while negative assessments of the country’s present economic condition are the majority view in almost all socio-demographic groups, they are especially common among urban residents and better-educated respondents.

“City dwellers are far more likely to describe the economy as fairly/very bad (73 percent) than rural residents (56 percent). Negative assessments increase consistently with educational attainment, from 39 percent

of respondents with no formal schooling to 71 percent of those with post-secondary qualifications.

Older respondents (above age 55) are less negative in their assessments of the economy than their younger counterparts. Perceptions of the country’s economic condition also seem to vary greatly by province. Three fourths of residents in Harare (75 percent) and Manicaland (74 percent) see economic conditions as very bad.”

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HARARE - In a move that has been roundly criticised by the opposition as “2018 bribes”, President Robert Mugabe’s stone-broke government is to splurge millions of scarce United States dollars on new vehicles for traditional leaders.

This comes as Zimbabwe has just been officially ranked as the poorest country in Africa, at a time that the nation is also experiencing a severe shortage of cash.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Rural Development minister Abedinico Ncube revealed that the government would be buying new cars for the country’s 226 chiefs, as part of the fulfilment of promises that Zanu PF made in the aftermath of the 2013 elections.

“It (buying new cars) is something we are working on.  We are going to give them (chiefs) very shortly… all 226 registered chiefs will get the cars,” Ncube said, responding to questions on how much the government had budgeted for chiefs’ to have vehicles before the expiry of the current parliamentary term.

Apart from splurging on new cars for the traditional leaders, the stone-broke government will also continue to pay village heads $25 in monthly allowances.

“They are not given salaries, but this is an allowance. Every village head is entitled to be given an allowance.

“For those who are not receiving their allowances, they must approach the relevant authorities  . . . those who are not registered they must also do the same for them to get their allowances,” Ncube said.

Traditional leaders have often been accused by the opposition and rights groups of aiding Zanu PF to retain power through terror campaigns and partisan food distribution in rural areas.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai recently warned that Mugabe and his warring ruling Zanu PF — fearful of receiving an even bigger poll shellacking than they got in 2008 — were already working feverishly to steal next year’s eagerly-anticipated elections.

Tsvangirai’s concerns emerged as the MDC president was concluding his tour of Mashonaland East, where he interacted with traditional leaders — who opened up to him on how they were already being roped in by Zanu PF to become part of the apparatus to ensure victory for the ruling party in 2018.

Traditional chief after traditional chief had apparently told Tsvangirai during his tour of the restive Mashonaland East Province, which is traditionally a Zanu PF stronghold, that they were being forced to not only join the ruling party, but to also lead its cells and wards — and to actively work to help rig next year’s polls.

“There is a plan by Zanu PF to steal next year’s elections. We have been on the ground here in Mashonaland East and what we are seeing and hearing is that Zanu PF wants to steal the next elections again, after they took over the BVR (biometric voter registration) process, in addition to commandeering chiefs, village heads and headmen on board this devious scheme.

“The fearful village heads all said they were forced to be chairpersons of Zanu PF’s cells. That way, Zanu PF will coerce them to frog-march people to vote for the ruling party.

“So, the sum total of Zanu PF’s ploy is that it is assimilating traditional leaders into its partisan structures, abusing them in the process

“However, we will do all that we can to ensure that traditional leaders are not abused and absorbed into Zanu PF structures? Indeed, the rights of traditional leaders must and will be observed,” Tsvangirai said then.

Zimbabwe is deep in the throes of a huge economic crisis which has led to horrendous company closures and the consequent loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs.

At the same time, economists have said that poverty levels in the country are skyrocketing, with average incomes now at their lowest levels in more than 60 years — with more than 76 percent of the country’s families now having to make do with pitiful incomes that are well below the poverty datum line.

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HARARE - Former Presidential Affairs minister Didymus Mutasa says the country’s security chiefs have no issues with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, and will readily accept him if he wins next year’s eagerly-anticipated national elections.

Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, amid lingering citizen anxiety that securocrats will once again intervene in the country’s politics next year, Mutasa — who for long was a close confidante of President Robert Mugabe, and superintended over the much-feared Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) — said the fear was misplaced.

He also revealed that contrary to public perceptions, security chiefs had allegedly accepted Mugabe’s stunning defeat by Tsvangirai in the hotly-disputed 2008 polls — adding, for emphasis, that “nothing has changed”.

“When Tsvangirai won the elections in 2008, he left the country soon after, even though the military had accepted his win. I am sure that the military will accept his victory again this time.

“The military respect and will respect the will of the people. In 2008, people spoke and Tsvangirai disappeared. At that time, I was the head of the security establishment and I am quite sure that nothing would have happened to Tsvangirai had he stayed.

“We have rules and the security will not change our laws. Our Constitution is very clear on this,” Mutasa said.

Nevertheless, there is a latent fear among both ordinary Zimbabweans and the opposition that the military will never accept anyone who does not have liberation war credentials as the country’s leader.

This fear follows the controversial move by the late General Vitalis Zvinavashe, who addressed a media conference just before the 2002 presidential elections — while in the company of other security chiefs — and threatened opposition leaders.

“We wish to make it very clear to all Zimbabwean citizens that the security organisations will only stand in support of those political leaders that will pursue Zimbabwean values, traditions and beliefs for which thousands of lives were lost …

“Let it be known that the highest office in the land is a straightjacket whose occupant is expected to observe the objectives of the liberation struggle.

“We will therefore not accept, let alone support or salute anyone with a different agenda that threatens the very existence of our sovereignty, our country and our people,” he thundered ominously then.

Some serving military chiefs have also, since then, expressed similar views, stoking fears that even if the opposition was to win the watershed 2018 elections, the security establishment would subvert the will of the people.

But Mutasa insisted that such views were not universally-held within the security establishment — whose members were also feeling the pinch of the country’s economic meltdown.

He also said recent remarks by Defence Forces commander Constantino Chiwenga who referred to Zanu PF as “our party” last month — in a statement which drew heavy fire from the opposition — did not “mean much”.

“There are so many people who may vote against his (Chiwenga’s) preferred candidate and he will do nothing because the army respects the will of the people,” Mutasa said.

In recent months, Tsvangirai has repeatedly gone out of his way to assure security chiefs that nothing will happen to them if he wins the watershed 2018 elections.

“I have a message to those who have in the past resisted change and who remain keen to subvert the people’s will because of their uncertainty due to the prospect of political change in the country.

“I wish to assure everyone that there is nothing to fear in the change that we seek. We have no intention to engage in retribution, and we are only driven by the genuine patriotic spirit to ensure peace, stability and growth.

“Change will be good for everyone. Change will allow everyone to pursue and live their dreams under the protection of the State,” Tsvangirai has said.

Mutasa also warned Tsvangirai yesterday that he did not need to hurry the formation of the mooted grand opposition alliance, as there was the possibility of this alliance being infiltrated by the ruling Zanu PF.

“The way that they want to go about forming a coalition zvakadhakwa (it is a big problem). They should stand as separate parties and then only form a coalition after the elections,” he said.

Two years ago, Mutasa also made stunning revelations that he and other Zanu PF officials had been left numbed after Tsvangirai’s swept to victory in the 2008 elections.

“I immediately drove, at speed and alone, from my home in Rusape, to State House in Harare. I was terrified, I had to go and protect the president (Mugabe) from harm as we were frightened Tsvangirai would do what he said he would do and march to State House. If he had, no policeman would have stopped him.

“Instead,” Mutasa laughed, “Tsvangirai went to Botswana.”

“I don’t know how much cheating there was in those elections, but I do know that in 2013 (Finance minister) Patrick Chinamasa cheated to win. He bussed people in (to vote for him.) I protested to him and to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

“We will never know how many people voted for Zanu PF out of fear. I didn’t know there was fear in those days. I now see it myself. And there is a lot of fear. And I must say, again, I am very, very sorry. That I must stand up to be counted,” he added then.

“Secrecy still binds me, from when I was minister. But, of course, you know that some waiters in hotels work for the CIO. Your phones are listened to a lot. The CIO is huge,” Mutasa added.

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HARARE - President Robert Mugabe’s government said the controversial statutory Instrument 64 (SI 64) of 2016 has helped boost local industry capacity utilisation, a government official has said.

Deputy Industry minister Chiratidzo Mabuwa last week said the legislative piece — which was introduced in June last year restricting importation of locally available basic goods — had started yielding results.

“May I also highlight that the implementation of various Statutory Instruments among them the famous SI 64 of 2016 . . . have played a key role in meeting these objectives.

“The agro-processing sector has generally performed above expectations and $154 million has so far been invested within that sector and edible oil sub-sector has increased capacity utilisation from about 10 percent to an average of 90 percent — this industry has also attracted $60 million in investment,” Mabuwa said.

This follows a recent survey by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries highlighting that the average capacity utilisation for local manufacturers had significantly increased from 34,3 percent in 2015 to 47,4 percent in 2016, on the back of SI 64.

The deputy minister also said the upgrades in utilisation had also created a combined increase in employment from 2 663 to 3 423 workers.

“The cooking oil industry has also witnessed the entrance of new players that have invested to produce edible oils and other related products.

“In addition, the yeast industry that almost closed managed to attract new investment and is now operating at 90 percent capacity utilisation.

“The biscuit manufacturing sector has gone up from 35 to 75 percent. The detergent industry has increased capacity utilisation from 30 to 60 percent, largely as a result of increased investment especially in new technology,” she said.

Mabuwa also pointed out that the personal care products sector had also seen an improvement in capacity utilisation from around 30 to an average of 50 percent, with local personal care manufacturer, Medichem, experiencing an increase in demand of over 300 percent.

“The pharmaceutical sector has witnessed growth from around 30 to now 65 percent.  A variety of drugs are now being produced locally and some players have increased their drug production.

“The furniture sector has also witnessed increases in the production of bedding and related goods, with capacity utilisation improving from 45 percent to the current 70 percent,” the deputy minister said.

She also noted that one of the local furniture companies had also commenced exports of bedding within the region and has increased working hours in order to meet demand for the products.

“Downstream industries such as label and plastic packaging suppliers have also realised positive results from the improvements in the production levels of various companies.

“As a result, capacity utilisation in the plastics packaging industry has increased from 37 percent to 60 percent.  These companies are also investing in new technologies in order to meet the required standards,” she said.

Mabuwa also said following SI 64, new investment in the chemicals and plastic sector totalling around $3,5 million had been realised.

“Nelspot Investments, Pro-plastics and General Belting invested in  a bottle-blowing, PVC and high pressure pump machinery respectively.

“The cement manufacturing industry invested nearly $200 million whilst the dairy sector mobilised a total of $746 000 and out of that, about $520 000 was used to purchase 400 heifers in September 2016 to boost local milk production,” she said.

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HARARE - Government plans to build a new hospital to replace all functions of the old and overwhelmed Harare Central Hospital (HCH), Health minister David Parirenyatwa (pictured) said.

HCH was commissioned in 1958 to cater for approximately 630 black African patients.

“We agreed with the president (Robert Mugabe) and others that when you look at Harare (Central) Hospital, it’s an exact replica of Mpilo (Central) Hospital, both of them are very old. If you walk in the corridors, you realise how dilapidated they are, nothing to do with the staff that’s there, but it’s just the infrastructure,” Parirenyatwa said while receiving a $350 000 fund for Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals cardiology department from the National Oil Infrastructure Company of Zimbabwe (Noic).

“They were built for Africans. This one (Parirenyatwa) was a European hospital and Harare was for Africans. United Bulawayo Hospitals was for Europeans while Mpilo was for Africans. When Independence came, the first Health minister was Herbert Ushewokunze, he said this was nonsense and there was no longer that segregation.

“So we agreed that Harare (Central) Hospital should be built anew, as Harare Hospital, a modern one, with wide corridors and larger windows. And when doctors walk with their stethoscope, it’s really respectable, but we must do the same for Mpilo.”

The total construction value of the new hospital was not disclosed.

He said the project was part of economic blueprint Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset), which proposes procuring essential drugs and medicines and basic infrastructural services for referral, provincial and district hospitals.

“But this is a project that we must do. Others have accepted that we must have two district hospitals in Harare, the other one in Budiriro and the other one in Harare South, that’s another development. ZimAsset requires us to build more clinics. Why more clinics? Because we will be able to bring primary health care to get people nearer to health care services,” Parirenyatwa said adding his ministry was “largely underfunded”

“Very much underfunded, but it’s the most important ministry in terms of looking after your health. So whatever you do, be it mining, be it energy, the most important thing is you must feel you are healthy,” Parirenyatwa said.

“When we have these innovations like Noic and others, we are happy. It is not possible that government can completely fund the health sector, but it is possible to persuade government to look at the most disadvantaged . . . to be able to pay for those most vulnerable people, so that they also get care.”

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HARARE - Traffic cops manning rob blocks are free to urinate in public as there is no law to prohibiting the practice, Home Affairs deputy minister Obedingwa Mguni told the National Assembly on Thursday.

Responding to a question from Matabeleland South MDC senator Sithembile Mlotshwa on what government was doing to enforce the law against police urinating in the public, Mguni said they would only implement the Act after it has been availed to them.

“According to the Constitution, police are bringing peace, investigating crime, preventing crimes and they are also doing it on behalf of every ministry that is in Zimbabwe.

“So, if there is an Act that is being provided by the ministry heading the environment, saying no one should urinate behind a tree, police will enforce that one,” he said.

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“That is the duty and we do not enforce anything which is not lawful and where we do, not have an Act to act upon it, we will act only when there is an Act that has been passed and is given to us to make the people act lawfully.

“Therefore, if urinating behind the tree is now illegal, the police will be informed by the Environment minister.”

This is despite the fact that police arrests people who urinate in public.

Recently, some cops were assaulted by a man — whom they were trying to arrest for public urination in Gwanda.

Martin Dube was later charged with two counts of public urinating.

Mlotshwa argued that it was illegal under the Environmental Management Act to urinate in the open, as the police would be polluting the environment.

“I want to know what the government policy is because your department is the one that deals with apprehending the wrong doers to maintain law and order.

“How do they manage to apprehend the air polluters since we see your officers at the roadblocks urinating and defecating in the open and affecting people by the nature’s smell? How do they apprehend the public?”

“There is the Environmental Management Act and I think it provides that all the waste be put in a toilet. So, if the police do not know that by now, we are in danger because we are going to be infected.”

On the other hand, Mguni admitted that the heavy presence of police on the country’s roads had not curbed lawlessness.

“As government, we remain conscious of the traffic congestion in our urban areas, particularly in Harare,” he told the Senate.

“We are also keeping an eye on the rowdy behaviour mainly by touts, commuter omnibus and taxi operators, including the notorious mushika-shika.”

Mguni said Zimbabwe lacked reliable and dependable urban public transport that has seen almost all cities flooded by private operators.

“Secondly, inadequate parking space and designated termini for our motoring public, greatly contribute to the traffic menace in our cities,” he said.

The rapid urbanisation and population growth, and increase in the number of vehicles has inadvertently caused a lot of strain to existing infrastructure such as roads, parking space and holding bays.

“I am, however, confident that senators are fully aware of the regular police and municipal deployments in and around the cities trying to bring sanity on our roads by reining-in errant motorists and apprehending offenders,” Mguni said.

“The ZRP has deployed motorised, bike and foot patrols that continue to arrest unruly motorists almost on a daily basis. Furthermore, the ZRP, together with other stakeholders such as the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe are continuously undertaking various strategies and putting to an end the lawlessness caused by unscrupulous road users.”

Some of the strategies Mguni noted were campaigns against irresponsible driving, arresting traffic offenders and clamping all vehicles parked or loading and offloading at undesignated points.

“To this end, the ministry of Home Affairs welcomes the recent upward review of traffic fines as this might serve as a deterrent to would-be traffic offenders,” Mguni said, referring to the March increase in traffic spot fines by nearly 100 percent, in a controversial move ostensibly meant to reduce road accidents.

“...as a forward-looking government, we have other long-term plans to ease congestion in urban areas which I am sure will be announced by relevant Cabinet ministers at the appropriate time.

“Suffice to say that as a ministry responsible for the maintenance of law and order, we will never allow errant motorists to break traffic rules with impunity. 

“We, however, continue to sincerely appeal to all road users to exercise sobriety and restraint on all our traffic bad habits and use our roads with dignity at all times,” he said.

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HARARE - Victims of floods in Mbare have filed a $100 000 law suit against Harare City Council (HCC) for damages.

The residents, who reside along Mbirimi, Chinamhora, Dumbutshena and Mwamuka streets, had their homes flooded twice after heavy rains hit the area.

In their lawsuit filed by their legal counsel Allen Moyo on May 10, the 43 residents seek compensation for loss of property valued at $57 556,70 and loss of sleep and alternative accommodation valued at $43 000.

The lawsuit comes months after the residents had pleaded with council to compensate them but to no avail.

HCC is accused of negligently allowing the continued construction of Gulf Sunshine Bazaar along Simon Mazorodze which the residents argued caused the flooding.

“The defendant through its spokesperson also admitted that there was negligence on their part as engineers did not do a proper job and were now trying to do corrective engineering to avoid further floods.

“The plaintiffs thus, contend that the defendant was negligent as said by its chief engineer Jonathan Mutimkulu that the defendant did not inspect clogged pipes caused by construction of the complex and had they noted the fault in time, they would have fixed it before any damage to property had been done.

“As a result of defendant’s negligence in properly assessing the construction of the said Sunshine Bazaar mall, the plaintiffs suffered loss and defendant has the obligation to compensate for the loss suffered by the plaintiffs,” read their suit.

Among some of the items that the residents want to be compensated are clothes, foodstuffs and furniture.

After the second floods, the complex contractors El Nour United Builders Group managing director Ali Ezzeddine said work was already underway to fix the drainage.

Ezzeddine said engineers were contracted to see what could be the best plausible solution so that both the residents and complex would benefit.

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HARARE - A South African woman suspected to have ingested cocaine and attempted to smuggle it into Zimbabwe is not pregnant as she claimed, a second scan has confirmed.

Isaura Masinga, 40, of Germistone, South Africa, is appearing before Harare magistrate Barbra Chimboza facing charges of possession of cocaine.

The first scan confirmed the presence of ingested “body packs” in her abdomen. She was asked to go a CT scan but her lawyer Nickiel Mushangwe had opposed it, arguing it would have serious health repercussions on his client and her unborn baby.

She was then sent for a pregnancy test.

Prosecutor Michael Reza advised the court that Masinga was not pregnant after all.

Mushangwe yesterday consented to a postponement of the case to May 17 for bail application.

“A second ultra scan has confirmed that the accused person is not pregnant hence a CT scan can now be done without any fear of tempering with her alleged baby,” Reza said.

When court proceedings commenced, Mushangwe challenged his client’s placement on remand on the basis that she had been charged on allegations of possessing a substance that the State had failed to recover from her.

He slammed the State for relying on an ultrasound scan at a time his client is pregnant. He argued the scan may have picked the foetus.

Reza sad detectives relied on intelligence received that there is a South African woman on an Emirates flight bringing in cocaine to Zimbabwe.

“They were further advised that if they failed to recover cocaine from her luggage or person, it would be because she preferred transporting it through her stomach.

“...that was when police checked on the plane’s passenger list and discovered that the accused person was on that flight,” he said.

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HARARE - Government will soon inject $15 million into the resuscitation of Shabanie Mashaba Mines (SMM), Mines and Mining Development minister Walter Chidakwa has said.

This comes after government secured asbestos markets in Russia and Kazakhstan.

Chidakwa told the Senate on Thursday a government delegation had also secured a new market in India for the supply of 50 000 tonnes of asbestos per year.

Shabanie Mine in Zvishavane and Gaths Mine in Mashaba closed in 2008, four years after government seized control of the mines from former shareholder Mutumwa Mawere.

Chidakwa said as far as equipment for the mines was concerned, the bill for the purchase of earth-moving equipment had been included under the ministry’s small scale mining equipment scheme.

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“So, there will be some money that will be outlaid from that small scale facility, but there will also be some $15 million that we are negotiating. 

“I will be finalising the details with the minister of Finance next week so that we can move forward,” Chidakwa said.

On the issue of Shabanie Mine workers receiving $50 salaries, Chidakwa admitted the paltry amount was not enough.

“I think the $50 is just an amount to give people so that they have something to use,” he said.

“It is not enough and it can never be enough.  I think that it is important, as you rightly said, to resuscitate the activities of SMM and the actions that I talked about, we will deal with those issues.”

“For a long time, SMM was under judicial management and we have received various proposals from the judicial manager as to how he saw the resuscitation of the mine.

“To a lot of the proposals, we did say no, but we did agree to a situation where the SMM would reduce some of its structures and be able to raise some money which would then be pumped into the revival of Gaths Mine initially,” Chidakwa said.

He said there was a strong lobby for adding chrysotile asbestos to a list of substances recognised as particularly hazardous. Chrysotile, mined by SMM, is the only type of asbestos that is still widely used, mainly in building products in developing countries.

“You are aware that there has been a very strong lobby against the use of asbestos and I am happy to say that a delegation arrived back home from Geneva, where the meetings were held.

“I have information that the asbestos lobby, the continuation of the use of asbestos got a reprieve and we will be able to continue, with the support of Russia, Kazakhstan and a few other countries.  That is the one side.”

He added: “A delegation that we sent to India, went to look for the markets and I am happy to say that we were able to establish a market of 50 000 tonnes per year, plus another 10 000 tonnes which ordinarily goes to Turnall for the manufacture of asbestos sheets and so on.

“From a marketing point of view, I feel comfortable that we can proceed perhaps not at the same level, because when the company closed, I am advised that it was on 80 000 but we may be able to start on 60 000 and see how we can move forward.”

Chidakwa said it has not been an easy walk.

“Not many people were keen to go into asbestos because of the big lobby, not even financiers were ready to come on the table because they were not so sure whether the company would be able to resuscitate and be able to repay back their money.

“I want to assure you that now we have reached a stage where I can confidently speak,” he said.

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HARARE - Three #Tajamuka leaders were yesterday acquitted of charges of mobilising against the introduction of bond notes last year.

The trio — #Tajamuka spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi, 35, Mehluli Dube, 35, and 23-year-old Kudakwashe Manjonjo — were facing charges of addressing a media briefing and participating in a gathering with the intention to promote public violence or criminal nuisance.

They were acquitted after a full trial before Harare magistrate Nomsa Sabarauta, who ruled that the State had failed to prove a prima facie case against the activists.

Sabarauta said that the witnesses and evidence produced in court was not tangible “hence no reasonable court would convict an accused person based on that information”.

The three were represented by Webster Jiti.

Prosecutor Audrey Chogumaira had alleged that on November 28 last year at Corner Rezende Street and Jason Moyo Avenue in Harare, Mkwananzi was in the company of other members of Tajamuka clad in T-shirts inscribed Tajamuka, Enough is Enough, No to bond notes, #hatichada, #hatichatya.

The court heard that accused persons took turns to address a gathering of about 25 people, allegedly inciting them to shun the introduction of bond notes and alleged corruption by senior government officials.

It was alleged that Mkwananzi and his team encouraged the gathered public to participate in violent demonstrations in which they allegedly vowed to attack police officers who stood in their way.

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HARARE - Hard-working Tourism minister Walter Mzembi came agonisingly close to winning elections to become secretary-general of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) which were held in Madrid, Spain yesterday — before losing in the run-off.

In the end, Zurab Pololikashvili of Georgia was elected to become the next UNWTO secretary-general, beating Mzembi by a mere three votes — and despite having lost to the Zimbabwean minister by a similar margin in the first round of voting.

Pololikashvili will replace Taleb Rifai, a Jordanian who is stepping down at the end of the year after serving two five-year terms.

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In the first round of voting, Mzembi polled 11 votes to Pololikashvili’s eight. But the little-known Georgian swept to the position after polling 18 votes to the Zimbabwean minister’s 15 in the runoff.

Speaking to the Daily News soon after the poll, a distraught Mzembi said he fully accepted the election result.

“I accept the verdict of the UNWTO’s global membership.

“Of course, I am still reconciling this African loss but it has been an immense and immeasurable branding gain for Zimbabwe, Africa and indeed myself.

“I concede defeat and will continue working for global tourism with the same passion, energy and humility which I exercised during my campaign. The best man won and I pledge my support to him.

“To all my supporters and intercessors, the Lord has spoken loudly . . . next time, another opportunity, not this one!  Thank you all and may God bless you immensely for your support,” he said.

No African has led the UNWTO since it came into being in 1975.

However, international media reported yesterday that Mzembi had lost the vote due to his background as a Zanu PF politician.

“Zimbabwe’s political reputation played a major role in the elections and he (Mzembi) simply could not gather the support from enough delegates from other continents to make his dream become reality.

“Whether this is right or wrong — I tend to believe Zimbabwe is wrongly bedevilled in the West and have often said so — it is a fact of life and a fact which must have been known and understood by a man of his intellect,” Wolfgang Thome, a correspondent for global travel and tourism news portal eTN Africa said of Mzembi’s loss.

President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF government have a rocky relationship with the West, although Harare has lately been on a re-engagement mission with the developed world in a bid to normalise ties.

The West accuses Mugabe’s administration of gross human rights and property violations, following documented cases of state-sponsored violence against the opposition and the seizures of white-owned land 18 years ago.

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HARARE - All eyes are on the brawling Zanu PF’s next politburo meeting, amid confirmation yesterday that the probe team appointed by President Robert Mugabe to investigate grave allegations against the party’s under-fire national political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, has completed its work.

This comes as Kasukuwere’s Zanu PF adversaries in his restive home province of Mashonaland Central are also insisting that the beleaguered Local Government minister is “a dead man walking” politically and that it is now “a matter of time” before he is relieved of his duties in the warring former liberation movement.

At the same time, and with his back to the wall, Kasukuwere has carried through his threat to slap Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs minister, Martin Dinha, with a second lawsuit inside two weeks.

But Dinha, a lawyer, told the Daily News yesterday that Kasukuwere was “fighting a losing battle” as his political fate had allegedly been “sealed” after the ruling party’s 10 provinces passed a vote of no confidence against him.

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“He is already in the sewage pond and he cannot claim any loss of dignity or honour, or self-esteem because he is already in the gutters. I cherish the day I will cross-examine him and expose to the whole world what I know about him.

“He is running scared which is why he has thrown the $500 000 lawsuit against me. I am aware that my brother-in-law (Kasukuwere) is a part-time second year law student at the University of Zimbabwe.

“I am also aware that he is excited to put (his legal) theory into practice, but my advice to him is to stop all these litigations until he has fully studied the law on defamation.

“He is a public official and active politician who is subject to public scrutiny and accountability. The game of politics is a rough game which involves kicking, biting and screaming. This latest lawsuit shows how desperate a man he is.

“He wants to gag the press and intimidate me into silence, but I will not be intimidated by him . . . I am a lawyer by profession and law is my food,” Dinha told the Daily News.

Kasukuwere has been fighting to save his political career over the past few weeks, with angry Zanu PF supporters pushing for his ouster from both his party and government positions, over a raft of charges which include allegedly plotting to topple Mugabe from power.

Also under fire has been his brother Dickson Mafios, who is the acting Zanu PF chairperson for Mashonaland Central.

Amid the calls by Zanu PF supporters for him to be stripped of the party’s powerful post of national political commissar, the public spat between Kasukuwere and Dinha has escalated.

In his latest legal action, Kasukuwere is suing Dinha and State media on account of recent sensational claims that he was working with combative former African National Congress (ANC) youth leader and now South African opposition leader, Julius Malema, to remove Mugabe from power.

Both Kasukuwere and the erudite Malema have robustly pooh-poohed the claims.

In his latest defamation suit, Kasukuwere said Dinha’s claims “are untrue, wrongful and defamatory” and “were intended and were understood . . . to mean (Kasukuwere) is dishonest, violent, power hungry, pretentious and unworthy of leadership.

“The defendant’s said words were further understood to mean that the plaintiff is a criminal with intentions of toppling a constitutionally-elected president.

“As a result of the defamation, plaintiff has been damaged in his reputation and has suffered damages in the amount of $500 000,” he charged.

Dinha and Kasukuwere have been throwing brickbats at each other ever since Kasukuwere was put on political notice by his home province.

Later, Kasukuwere accused Dinha of working with his enemies in the party to have him axed from the former liberation movement.

“Dinha is an instrument to aid the regime change agenda. His activities in Mashonaland Central are clearly aimed at advancing a factional position.

“He has made himself the point man to advance a so-called alternative narrative and at the same time lying that he is close to the first family and abusing this theory.

“I will soon expose his hidden agenda of fast-tracking regime change, and I will dispose of all his allegations one by one.

“Besides the hidden agenda he is pushing at the behest of the real people who no longer want the president, he has a personal agenda where he asked me to help him lobby to be the minister of Justice.

“If he wants that job, he has to approach the appointing authority who is . . . Mugabe,” a fuming Kasukuwere told the Daily News then.

But Dinha, who claimed to have received death threats days after publicly backing the ouster of Kasukuwere, in turn parried the claims.

Zanu PF insiders have claimed that Kasukuwere and Higher and Tertiary Education minister Jonathan Moyo are two of the kingpins of the Generation 40 (G40) faction which is fiercely opposed to Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa succeeding Mugabe.

This faction has for some time now been described as being “at sixes and sevens”, following the growing pressure that has been brought to bear on its leading figures.

Sources have also previously told the Daily News that Zanu PF’s ever-fluid factional and succession politics were changing gear again, as there was now an apparent realignment of alliances within the warring former liberation movement — as Mnangagwa’s allies cranked up their assault on the G40.

Observers have also consistently said Mugabe’s failure to resolve Zanu PF’s thorny succession riddle is fuelling the ruling party’s deadly infighting, which is worsening by the day.

The 93-year-old has studiously refused to name a successor, insisting that the party’s congress has that mandate: to choose a person of their own

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HARARE - Organisers of the Harare International Festival of Arts (Hifa) deserve to be praised for managing to bring back Zimbabwe’s biggest arts event after an 18-month break despite the difficult economic environment.

But with 2017 edition of Hifa now out of the way, the time is ripe for the organisers to take stock and devise new strategies to make the next one even better.

In spite of serious challenges that continue to threaten the viability of Hifa, we believe organisers of the festival can still come up with a better event.

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Though official figures haven’t been released yet, the just-ended six-day arts event generally attracted smaller crowds compared to previous editions. We are convinced one of the reasons for the poor turnout was the failure by organisers to come up with compelling concerts that appeal to the majority.

If Hifa had included several local crowd pullers like Jah Prayzah and Soul Jah Love, many more fans could possibly have attended Zimbabwe’s biggest arts event. Every Hifa edition must try by all means to host concerts featuring the top local artistes of that particular year.

In light of this, Hifa organisers must head-hunt popular local artistes instead of waiting for them to submit applications. Considering only artistes who apply is very problematic because, over the last few years, many top local artistes have failed to apply for one reason or another.

One way of identifying local artistes that Hifa can host could be to ask members of the public to vote for their favourite acts. The uproar caused by the fact that Winky D played only three songs when he featured on music superstar Oliver Mtukudzi’s set definitely shows that there undoubtedly is a huge appetite for these kind of shows at Hifa.

The popular local artistes voted for by members of the public could be accommodated on the Zimgold Green stage or be allocated the 1pm gigs on Saturday and Sunday on the ZOL Mainstage.

The afternoon weekend shows are particularly important because they attract families. As such, these concerts must be given to proven artistes.

In 2015, the afternoon concert of the last Hifa day featured Victor Kunonga who is an established artiste. Not surprisingly, the show was a major success.

But this year, for some unknown reason, organisers opted for a rookie like ShaSha who dismally failed to connect with the crowd. Given the foregoing, handing over such a prime show to the young local songstress was misguided.

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