HARARE – At least 1 500 young business people from around the country have received training in the 2017 edition of Youth Entrepreneurs Programme (Yep) which is now in its second phase with 20 participants set to receive seed funding.

The programme which is sponsored by CBZ Holdings and managed by Youth Empowered Life Trust (ELT), a nonprofit organisation that works with young people to “enhance” their entrepreneurial skills, is described by the organisers as a “practical and results-based initiative to produce growth-oriented profitable businesses that are run professionally by youth from all 10 provinces in Zimbabwe”.

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The programme is in its second year running and has been revamped this year to cater for more participants. In 2016 the programme targeted 100 participants per province from all of the countries’ 10 provinces, this year the programme initially shortlisted at least 150 participants per province.

The programme is currently in its second phase in which the top 10 from each province go through workshops and assignments. The top two from each province will go through to the third phase where they will each get $250 in seed funding.  

CBZ put in $48 000 for the programme in 2016, this year it has increased its financial commitment to $110 000. The funds are channelled towards the facilitation of programme activities as well as to provide seed funding for some of the participants and for the prizes given to the top performers.

ELT co-founder Jonah Mungoshi, said prizes given to the top performers have been raised from last year’s edition of the programme.       

“This year we are doing the same programme with a few changes, we have enhanced it, there is more money that has been put in, CBZ put in $110 000 this year. The highest price last year was $3 500 this year its $10 000,” said Mungoshi.

The top ten best performing participants will receive cash prizes. The best performer will walk away with $10 000, the first runner-up will get $7 500, the second runner-up is set to receive $5 000 and seven participants completing the top ten will get $1 000 each.

CBZ holdings senior manager group marketing Joel Gombera said the programme is mainly focussed on developing the young entrepreneurs intellectually adding that the prizes were just an added bonus. 

“At the end of the day it’s not about the competition, it’s about impacting the young people with the success nuggets they need to be able to accomplish their objectives and to be able to grow profitable businesses that will also employ other people,” said Gombera.

Mungoshi, who is also a success coach, said the programme is structured in a way that offers the young business people practical skills that will make them better entrepreneurs.

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HARARE - Zimbabwe Agriculture Society (Zas) is in the process of constructing a $20 million state-of-the-art shopping mall at the Exhibition Grounds in Harare.

Zas chief executive Anxious Masuka said his organisation came up with an idea to set up the mall to cater for exhibitors and visitors who frequent the exhibition grounds throughout the year.

“Zas conducted a survey and census that indicated that we have over one million visitors annually. And the visitors demanded that we provide virtual convenience.

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“What has been missing is the shopping experience, added entertainment and some upmarket restaurants,” he said.

The oldest convener and host of agricultural, commercial and industrial shows in Zimbabwe has partnered with private investors to construct the one-stop shopping mall within the next eight to 12 months.

“What we intend to do here is to build on a build-operate-and transfer basis a state-of-the-art shopping mall together with convenience shops that allows exhibition park visitors to come in and enjoy,” Masuka said.

He added that the organisation, which was established in 1895 and operates as voluntary member-based organisation, has also secured $1,5 million from a local investor to construct a fuel service station within the exhibition grounds.

“We are excited that this upmarket development will enable us to provide that all round service that exhibitors and show goers have been looking for,” he said.

Zas transitioned from a show theme to an annual theme in 2015, to rally additional support for the cause of accelerated agricultural development.

This transition has afforded the organisation and other like-mined stakeholders, an opportunity to periodically discuss various pertinent aspects of the value chain relevant to the theme under its now popular Leadership for Enhanced Agricultural Development Series (Leads).

Leads has become a platform that uses a value chain approach to bring key stakeholders to interrogate, highlight, discuss, distil, synthesise and communicate practical policy interventions for the advancement of agriculture.

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HARARE – The week, Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world in commemorating Human Rights Day at an opportune time for the nation.

The day is observed on the 10th of this month, being the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This year, the day kicks off a year-long campaign to mark the upcoming 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — a milestone document that proclaimed the inalienable rights, which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being — regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

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President Emmerson Mnangagwa has the unique opportunity to shame his critics by defining himself as a leader who respects human rights, not just in word but in deed.

While he did not say anything on this emotive matter in his inaugural speech, by pledging to uphold the Constitution, Mnangagwa has committed himself to observing human rights since these are also protected by the law.

Zimbabwe has had a terrible human rights record that has earned it a pariah status. Mnangagwa’s predecessor was notorious for his oppressive methods and abhorrence for dissent. Under his rule, freedoms were severely curtailed.

Robert Mugabe’s government had no respect for democratic reforms. Even after agreeing to a new Constitution in 2013 that allowed for these, his regime simply refused to harmonise the various laws to the new charter.

Anything that was seen threatening his hold on power was ruthlessly crushed. In his party, he would only uphold the Constitution to the extent it enabled him to achieve his power-retention agenda.

According to human rights activists, Zimbabwe has a long and reprehensible history of gross human rights violations abetted by a political culture of impunity.

“The use of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment appears as a central element of State agents’ treatment of citizens perceived as being in opposition to the ruling Zanu PF party and those attempting to exercise their fundamental freedoms, that is the freedom to demonstrate and petition, freedom of association, assembly and expression,” opined the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum.

A lot has been said about Mnangagwa in the past.

He has been accused of being the chief architect behind the Gukurahundi massacres that resulted in the deaths of more than 20 000 people. Others say he was behind the violence that killed more than 200 MDC supporters and officials in the run-up to the 2008 presidential run-off. These are damning allegations.

Mnangagwa should take advantage of his ascendancy to prove his critics wrong and salvage his legacy.

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HARARE – A Harare magistrate yesterday granted $200 bail to businessman Mike Harris Divaris Chiyangwa who is facing multiple counts of fraud.

Chiyangwa appeared before Harare magistrate Josephine Sande.

As part of bail conditions, he was ordered to continue residing at his present address and not interfere with witnesses and investigations.

Prosecutor Sabastian Mutizirwa alleged that on September 8, Chiyangwa approached the first complainant who is a car dealer and indicated that he could assist him acquire United States (US) dollars.

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It was alleged that the two met at Harare Main Post Office and Chiyangwa showed the complainant the money.

The court heard that Chiyangwa advised the car dealer to transfer $2 000 into his account and he complied.

Chiyangwa then claimed he had not received a notification confirming successful transfer of the money and promised to honour his part of the deal after seeing the message.

After parting ways, the court heard, Chiyangwa became evasive, prompting the complainant to file a police report on October 29.

On the second count, Chiyangwa purported to be Chris Ngodzo and told the complainant that he wanted to make payment to a company in Harare and would pay the equivalent in rands to the complainant’s South African company.

The two agreed and the complainant transferred $2 600 to a Stewart Bank account belonging to Raymond T Chiyangwa. He then sent Chiyangwa proof of payment and advised him to transfer his share to First National Bank, the court heard.

That day, Chiyangwa allegedly sent an ABSA bank confirmation as proof of payment of R75 000 which was more than the agreed R41 184.

It was further alleged that Chiyangwa then asked complainant to transfer $1 500 to Delney Karidza using EcoCash but he only managed to send $140.

When the complainant realised that Chiyangwa had not sent him any money, he confronted him but he claimed there was a network problem and asked for a different bank account to instantly perform the transfer.

Chiyangwa sent another fake proof of payment purporting he had paid the full amount.

The matter was reported to the police, with the complainant suffering $2 740 prejudice.

According to State papers, Chiyangwa further used cloned debit and credit cards before going for shopping at various retail outlets.

The offence came to light after legitimate card owners began receiving notifications on their mobile phones that their accounts were being debited.

This prompted them to make police reports. Chiyangwa was then arrested after allegedly blowing $10 295,36 from the complainants’ accounts.

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BULAWAYO – Gweru residents have taken aim at the city fathers who they accuse of running down the local authority through the implementation of poor policies and decision-making.

This, they said was as a result of the calibre of the councillors the local authority has.

Gweru Residence Forum (GRF) director Charles Mazorodze had no kind words for the councillors whom he went to an extent of describing as uneducated.

“We are generally failing to have an honest and accountable councillorship,” Mazorodze told the Southern News.

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“Most Gweru councillors are not working for the betterment of the lives of the residence. You can see by the kind of policies that they make. The policy-making framework is quite dubious. They take residents for granted.”

The GRF boss said he was convinced that the level education among the local authority policy makers was low.

“As for the calibre of councillors that we have there is difficulty in comprehending council or policy issues.

“Most of them, their educational levels are quite low. I recall the current finance chairperson of Gweru, she could not even read the budget.

“She couldn’t present the budget to Gweru residents; it ended up being presented by the director of finance,” he said.

Mazorodze added: “This shows the lack of skills and capacity within the councillors to comprehend policy issues. Given such a scenario it means the finance chairperson does not know what the budget entails.

“She can’t understand what the budget is all about yet she is purporting to be representing the people.”

He said it was unfortunate that education was not one of the tenets of choosing councillors.

As if that is not enough, Mazorodze also accused council management of also behaving in the same manner like the councillors.

“The current crop of council management and councillors that we have they basically don’t take residents issues serious, there is serious poor planning.

“They don’t do their things according to laid out rules but it’s just a haphazard kind of system,” he said adding that he was convinced that Gweru could rank as one of the worst poorly managed cities in the country.

“For example if you look at even their recruitment, go to city parking there is chaos. Harare is big but it is actually better than Gweru because you take political party activists and say go and be there without proper training, without even a system in place. In fact in Gweru there are no systems, there are no governance and administrative systems,” he said.

Gweru mayor Charles Chikozho turned the heat on Mazorodze saying he was the one who was uneducated.

It is a matter of someone trying to take the job of a councillor,” Chikozho told Southern News.

“When we made a strategic planning meeting we invited all the stakeholders, the residents included which means all the policies that we come up with are informed by the stakeholders.

“We believe in addressing issues through engagement and if the residents have a problem they should come forward we engage.”

Chikozho further accused Mazorodze of being a newcomer who was misguided on how the local authority acts.

He said it was unfortunate that he could only see the negatives yet council was lately engaged in a massive project where the city’s roads are being rehabilitated.

“I am saying let’s be realistic, let’s put facts as they are when dealing with issues of service delivery rather than fuelling unnecessary tension,” he said adding that residents must not be blind to the efforts of the city in a tough economic environment.

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BULAWAYO – Popular pressure group Ibhetshu Likazulu, which for years has been fighting a somewhat losing battle to have the Gukurahundi atrocities nationally recognised under former president Robert Mugabe’s regime, has pinned hope on new President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Ibhetshu’s secretary-general Mbuso Fuzwayo told the Southern News recently that while they are embracing a new political dispensation under Mnangagwa, who is also perceived to have had an influential role during the Gukurahundi era, they cannot rush to expect a bunch of roses from him.

“What I am not sure about is when Mnangagwa said let bygones be bygones during his maiden speech, what did he mean?,” Fuzwayo said.

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“I hope he was not referring to Gukurahundi because unfortunately, it’s something that cannot be wished away. I am sure he was referring to their internal factional fights,” he said.

“While we wish him to be different from Mugabe on the matter, for now we can’t tell because we are not sure that it was Mugabe’s position or a Zanu PF position.”

In expressing his hope to the leadership of Mnangagwa — who has since pledged servant leadership to the people of Zimbabwe, Fuzwayo said: “Mnangagwa said he is now a Christian and what that means to us is that he has repented. So in that regard, if he is a true Christian he should give room to national healing and reconciliation.”

The Ibhetshu activist said it was not for the new president to address the past by himself but he should set up an independent commission that will be mandated to look into the issue.

The former president refused to apologise for the atrocities, preferring to say “it was a moment of madness”.

“The issue of Gukurahundi is not about individuals, therefore we don’t expect Mnangagwa to be the one doing it, but his office must facilitate for a National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) to be functional. While politicians are stakeholders, they should not be key stakeholders of this peace and reconciliation process, we need churches, civic society, traditional leaders and former freedom fighters to be involved in this whole process,” Fuzwayo explained.

Under Mugabe, Ibhetshu clashed with the law enforcers on several occasions as they sought to conduct commemorations of the victims of Gukurahundi.

The latest was last month when hundreds of activists, led by Zapu president Dumiso Dabengwa, were blocked by heavily-armed police from visiting Bhalagwe in Kezi where thousands were said to have been thrown in a disused mine.

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BULAWAYO – Opposition party Zapu says the fall of former president Robert Mugabe was a reason to celebrate but removing Zanu PF at next year’s elections remains the goal of ordinary citizens and progressive movements.

Zapu is lead by former Home Affairs minister Dumiso Dabengwa who was tipped to be part of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government which many analysts thought was going to be inclusive.

The party’s national spokesperson Iphithule Maphosa said the former revolutionary party was never caught up in the euphoria that swept the country following Mugabe’s fall.

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“Zapu was never caught up in the euphoria that followed the deposing of Mugabe some weeks ago.

“We celebrated the first of the steps of dismantling the dictatorship Mugabe led, but we remain alive to the bigger job ahead, that of freeing Zimbabweans from Zanu PF mismanagement of the economy and oppressive tendencies by the party,” Maphosa said.

He said the solution was removing the system altogether as keeping it in place would continue worsening the plight of the long-suffering citizens.

“Zapu has always been consistently calling for the dismantling of the governance system that Zimbabwe inherited from the colonialists in 1980, a system that was designed to suppress, oppress and marginalise certain sections of our greater society,” said Maphosa.

Maphosa added that as subscribers to equality and equity they will continue to advocate for devolution of power to replace the current central governance system.

In the new dispensation, he said they anticipate wholesome electoral reforms to level the playing field.

Mnangagwa, 75, a long-time Mugabe aide, was inaugurated as the second Executive president on November 24, following the resignation of Mugabe ahead of a planned parliamentary impeachment vote on November 21.

The long-serving Mugabe had earlier been placed under house arrest by the military whose intervention led to the detention and fleeing of a cabal of ministers whom it accused of being criminals.

Mnangagwa had been earlier fired from both government and Zanu PF to pave way for Mugabe’s own preferred successor who many suspected was his wife, Grace.

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BULAWAYO – Esigodini magistrate Tawanda Muchemwa has freed a suspected Mberengwa gold dealer who was allegedly beaten by police while in custody at Esigodini police base.

Muchemwa last month ordered the accused, Siziba Bvute, 35, to be taken to hospital after police had brought him to court while struggling to walk and he could not sit during the court session.

He, however, reportedly spent weeks admitted at Bulawayo United Hospitals before he was released.

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The accused person was facing three counts, driving without a driver’s licence, malicious damage to property and assaulting a peace officer.

Bvute pleaded not guilty to all charges. The State, however, withdrew the first count after it failed to produce substantiated evidence. On the other two remaining counts, the accused person was found not guilty and acquitted.

Magistrate Muchemwa took aim at the police accusing them of trying to cover up their misdemeanour using the accused.

“The three counts were just but a cover up by the police given that they had butchered the defenceless accused person. As a result, the accused person has been found not guilty and acquitted on both counts,” he ruled.

This was not the first time when Muchemwa had complained about the conduct of the law enforcers who brought Bvute to court. On the initial appearance, the magistrate could not hide his disdain at the alleged act by the police.

According to State papers, Bvute was caught by police while driving without a licence at Mawabeni Business Centre.

The accused was reportedly taken to Esigodini police base where he was left in the custody of one constable Jakarasi, after which he started demanding his release.

He allegedly assaulted him with clenched fists and stones, resulting in Jakarasi fleeing the scene to seek reinforcement from his colleague, one constable Mawire.

It is further alleged that when the two arrived, Bvute went for Mawire whom he also attacked, resulting in a police radio being damaged.

According to the charge sheet, the two cops were later sent to Esigodini District Hospital for treatment.

The accused was arrested at the scene of the crime. His vehicle was impounded.

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BULAWAYO - A former employee of Bulk Cash and Carry Wholesale (BCCW) involved in a dispute with his employers has petitioned President Emmerson Mnangagwa to launch a probe into alleged cases of externalisation at the firm.

The allegations, constitute a serious crime in Zimbabwe under the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act (Chapter 9:24).

Oga Chafausipo, 51, worked at BCCW as operations manager before he was suspended from the company early this year.

Previously, he implicated former vice president Phelekezela Mphoko and war veteran George Mlala in his dispute with BCCW.

In his letter to Mnangagwa, Chafausipo who had been employed by the company for 16 years, asked his office to look in the allegations he raised in an affidavit he deposed with the police which contained allegations of externalisation against BCCW director, Imran Shahzad.

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“My message to the new president is that innocent Zimbabweans have been suffering because of a few greedy and corrupt elements in the country.

“Ever since I raised all these allegations they at least should have been taken to court to prove their innocence.

“The police have failed to handle this matter, I am willing to provide names of all the officers who were involved if need be and possibly be prosecuted and fired,” Chafausipo said.

Chafausipo’s petition comes as Mnangagwa has issued a three-month amnesty to all individuals and corporates that externalised money to repatriate it back failure of which they would be prosecuted.

Previously, Chafausipo claimed that Mphoko and Mlala were protecting Shahzad from prosecution.

Mphoko was expelled from both government and Zanu PF following the fall of former president Robert Mugabe last month.

He temporarily stayed in Botswana at the height of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces-led Operation Restore Legacy before he returned home last Friday.

“The departure of Mphoko and Mlala has left Imran exposed.

“Now that the politicians have been removed from the picture we want the real truth to come out and these people brought to book in the courts,” said Chafausipo.

In his signed affidavit submitted to investigating officers at Bulawayo Central Headquarters on February 17, 2017, Chafausipo made serious allegations of externalisation against BCCW, which is in the business of repackaging basic commodities such as rice, flour and cooking oil before reselling them to retailers in Zimbabwe’s second city.

He claimed the company, which dismissed the allegations in their entirety when the Daily News first broke the story, is involved in externalisation of funds, smuggling of goods, tax evasion and sale of substandard or expired goods.

Police confirmed to the Daily News this year that they had received an affidavit from Chafausipo and were investigating his allegations.

“The matter is still under investigation. It is being handled by the fraud department. The police need to be thorough in their investigations as we need to build a case that is beyond reasonable doubt.

“We heard the Pakistani (businessman) was out of the country but the investigations are continuing. Investigations take time; when you investigate you need to be smart (about) the areas to get information. And we will also be expecting Chafausipo to present himself to the police,” ZRP spokesperson Charity Charamba told the Daily News then.

Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson, Precious Simango, also confirmed receiving the affidavit from Chafausipo in February although he could not give details.

“I can confirm that we received the affidavit but unfortunately, I cannot give you details,” Simango said.

Chafausipo, who alleged to have been suspended from BCCW after he questioned why his salary had been cut, alleged, however, that he witnessed firsthand on two separate occasions how over $8 million was separately externalised.

“...I had a trip to Botswana with...on 14/10/14 on the pretext that we were travelling for business . . . while at the border, I was shocked to see the guy declaring $4 million which was stashed in clothes that were in a monarch,” he claimed.

Chafausipo further claimed that in November 2014 and February 2016, using the same modus operandi they took out of the country $2,7 million and $2 million respectively, the money which was said to be then banked at an Islamic financial institution.

“The company has been ably assisted to continue its illicit activities after successfully recruiting some government officials into the play,” Chafausipo said, while giving names of officials from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and the Criminal Investigations Department officials.

Shahzad dismissed the allegations which he said had been made out of malice by a jilted employee.

He said he had lodged a complaint for criminal defamation against Chafausipo.

“He is a bitter man after he lost his job. These are all lies. I have cases against him that I have since opened with the police. I opened a criminal defamation (case) against him two months ago with the police fraud section,” Shahzad told the Daily News when it first reported on the allegations.

“It’s all a joke. Honestly, how can someone carry all that kind of money as he claims? If so, what mode of transport can one use to carry such an amount of money, it’s never easy.

“Besides, do you think Botswana will allow me to carry all that money he is talking about? That’s impossible.

“But anyway, since he is bitter he is just doing all that to soil my image and my business that is why I have decided to make it a police case so that they can deal with him,” he added.

Former War Veterans minister Tshinga Dube was the first to make the sensational claims against Mlala at the time he was still minister.

Dube then, accused Mlala of working with an unnamed Pakistani businessman to externalise foreign currency and that he had evidence to support his claims.

Mlala dismissed the allegations.

“I have heard of such nonsense and I have since instructed my lawyers to attend to those allegations.

“If Chafausipo is the one who is raising such allegations in an affidavit that he has signed himself mentioning my name in it, so it means I also have to include his name on the list of those who should face the lawsuit that is being prepared by my lawyers,” Mlala said then.

“Those are just baseless and misleading allegations but let’s leave it to the courts.”

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HARARE - Zimbabwe consumer prices are surging as basics mark their fastest rise this year, with experts blaming the rise on profiteering by retailers.

The price of beef soared month-on-month to $7,50 per kg this month from an average of $4,50 in October 2016.

The price of table eggs surged from $5 to $6,40 this month,  pushing up the overall price gains of food costs.

Core inflation was 2,24 percent in October, compared to the 0,78 percent y-o-y reading in the previous month.

The prices of toothpaste, soaps and hair products have also significantly increased.

According to the latest consumer price index (CPI) data, inflation spiked the highest this year in October. Inflation levels in many salient sub-indices remained stagnant during mid-2017, compelling the government to introduce an additional $300m worth of bond notes under a stand-by liquidity support facility in September — with the aim of stimulating forex liquidity.

In addition, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) secured an $600m nostro stabilisation facility in September in a move to address the forex shortage situation amid a growing backlog of foreign payments.

Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) president, Denford Mutashu said: “While there is still a shortage of foreign currency, we also notice that there is a bit of indiscipline which is still deep rooted in businesses.”

“Labour has not gone up but production cost is going up. Our call as we approach the festive season is that players should desist from price increases based on profiteering. We hope that even the unregistered business don’t continue to take advantage of the consumer.

“Yesterday when we were doing a survey, we discovered that some unregistered as well as registered businesses are refusing to accept mobile money, some claim not to have swipe facilities and others are putting a maximum of $2 bond coins and the rest has to be of higher denominations. This is happening even at the Chinese shops and Indian shops.”

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HARARE - A chairperson of Parliament’s Transport and Infrastructure committee has warned Austrian firm Geiger International to appear in front of his select committee within days or face the prospect of being held to be guilty of contempt of Parliament.

Dexter Nduna said the Geiger officials needed to explain themselves to MPs after failing to commence work to upgrade and add more lanes to the 900km highway from Beitbridge on the border with South Africa to Chirundu on the Zambian border.

Government signed a 25-year long $3 billion build-operate-transfer deal for the construction of the highway; one of southern Africa’s busiest highways.

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The deal was signed between government and a contractor, Chinese firm China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd, with Geiger as the financier.

Nduna expressed fury that Geiger has failed to appear before the parliamentary portfolio committee on Transport and Infrastructure on Monday. He warned Geiger it faced the possibility of a contempt motion.

“They did not appear before the committee. We have asked the clerk of Parliament (Kennedy Chokuda) to interrogate why they did not appear today because our next step was going to put together Standing Rules and Orders section 25 which mandates that everybody is accountable to Parliament in particular the committee on Transport and Infrastructure,” Nduna said.

“We are of the opinion that Geiger is supposed to have written to Parliament to give reasons why they have not appeared. If they don’t put it into writing, we will be left with no option but to invoke those sections and charge them with contempt of Parliament.”

The deal is being touted as one of the country’s biggest road projects since independence 37 years ago. Government has granted national project status to the highway dualisation project following months of protracted negotiations.

The dispensation, approved last month, paves way for the project’s financier, Geiger, to start moving equipment into the country duty free. But work is yet to start amid reports the firm is stil undertaking surveying.

“The Beitbridge-Chirunndu highway is a very key conduit to the county’s economic development,” Nduna said.

“We have come today at the expense of innocent tax payers. If I have to give you expenses that Parliament goes through if there is no-show like this, the magnitude is far bigger. We have also heard that they are going to put in writing the reason why did they do not appear but the little information we heard from the clerk is ... Mashanda, who is the (Geiger) country representative, is currently in Hong Kong and is coming back on the 10th (of December).”

Nduna said they have made a resolution to give them another chance.

“If they fail, it will be a done deal, we are going to charge them with contempt of Parliament. The ground breaking ceremony was done long back and we are not seeing any action.”

In May, former President Robert Mugabe officiated at a ground-breaking ceremony for the road, but construction work is yet to kick off due to bureaucratic issues.

The road, which has now been reduced by the elements into a narrow, deadly strip riddled with potholes and sharp edges that claim hundreds of lives every year, is part of the North-South Corridor that directly links landlocked Zimbabwe and Zambia with access to the Indian Ocean ports of Durban and Richards Bay in South Africa, making it the country’s most important commercial connection.

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HARARE - Chitungwiza residents have called on the new Local Government minister July Moyo to urgently dissolve the Madzudzo Pawadyira-led commission.

Moyo —  who was sworn in on Monday  — has been asked to probe the “unsubstantiated” allegations of gross abuse of office and corruption that former minister Saviour Kasukuwere levelled against the town’s dozens of councillors.

Chitungwiza was the worst hit by Kasukuwere’s purge of opposition-run local authorities as he suspended the entire 26-member council on corruption allegations.

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Chitungwiza Residents Trust (Chitrest) acting director Alice Kuveya said now there was a new minister, the approach to the town’s affairs should be more consultative.

“Our first impression of him is that he is a diligent and conscientious character. It is our hope that he will execute his new responsibilities with utmost probity and that his performance will not be impaired by narrow-minded personal or political interests as was the case with his predecessor.

“As the new minister, we ask that he immediately dissolve the caretaker council appointed by his predecessor to run the affairs of Chitungwiza on behalf the elected councillors. It came to office without well-defined terms of reference and was always doomed to fail. At the moment all they have managed to do is to frustrate residents by looting from depleted council coffers,” she said.

Kuveya added that the issue of the suspended councillors should be swiftly resolved as it had dragged on for too long and the town could not carry on without proper direction. Chitrest’s acting director said the minister also has to address issues of service delivery which the commission was tasked with.

She said it was unconstitutional for the town which has a population of more than 1 million people to have taps than run dry six days of the week despite residents paying for the service.

“Alternative and sustainable ways of providing water to Chitungwiza residents should be initiated as soon as possible. Council workers have also gone for several months without being paid their monthly salaries.

“The ministry should assist council to come up with a strategy to pay all outstanding salary arrears to workers so that they can perform their duties efficiently in order to enhance service delivery.

“The issue of rationalising the council workforce should also be concluded without any further delay,” Kuveya said.

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HARARE - Parliamentarians yesterday castigated President Emmerson Mnangagwa for dropping two of his Cabinet ministers barely 48 hours after their appointment.

At the weekend,  Mnangagwa dropped two men he had originally named to his Cabinet in the face of public opposition: Lazarus Dokora, the very unpopular Primary and Secondary Education minister, whom he had originally intended to retain from former President Robert Mugabe’s Cabinet, and Clever Nyathi, who was replaced with Petronella Kagonye apparently to improve women’s representation and to conform to the constitutional requirement that all but five ministers must be members of Parliament.

In terms of section 104 (3) of the Constitution, the president can only appoint a maximum of five Cabinet ministers outside Parliament, based on their special skill.

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Mnangagwa had however, appointed eight ministers who are not MPs.

Musikavanhu MDC MP Prosper Mutseyami yesterday blasted Mnangagwa’s advisors saying they slept on the job.

“The president must look thoroughly on the house of advisors he has. Last time, former president was given a wrong speech to read by these same advisors, so the president must be careful.

“Here we are looking at the Constitution. The president’s advisors failed to advise the president and as MPs we are worried that the president named almost 10 ministers out of Parliament. However, he managed to reverse the decision,” Mutseyami said.

Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda said: “Your point of order is noted …Mutseyami.”

Independent Norton MP Temba Mliswa said: “On the ground, people are disgruntled by Cabinet. If there are some people who are telling the president that his Cabinet is good, they are lying to the president. If you are facing allegations of corruption against,  if the president approaches you, you must do an honourable thing by telling the president that you can’t because of those allegations.”

Mnangagwa swore in his new Cabinet on December 4. There was much disappointment on the make-up of the team which also includes two military men.

Major General Sibusiso Moyo, who appeared on State television on the morning of November 15 to announce the military takeover with the memorable words “the situation in our country has moved to a new level,” is the new Foreign Affairs minister. Air Marshal Perrance Shiri, who heads the air force and who led the Fifth Brigade during the Gukurahundi massacres in Matabeleland in 1983-84, is now the Lands minister.

Chris Mutsvangwa, leader of the war veterans’ association, has been named special adviser to the president.

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HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa is yet to move into the residential side of State House as it is undergoing renovations, a top government official has said.

Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba told the Daily News yesterday that the State House had been deserted and left to degenerate after former President Robert Mugabe decamped to his Blue Roof mansion in Borrowdale.

“Is there a prescribed period in which the president should move in? When was Cabinet sworn in?” Charamba asked rhetorically, further inquiring why the Daily News was concerned over the moving in of Mnangagwa into the State House.

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“The State House is for offices and the Zimbabwe House is the boarding facility. That place has not been used for a long time, it’s undergoing renovations. That whole complex is being repainted.”

Charamba dismissed suggestions that Mnangagwa could be spurning occupation of State House for superstitious reasons. Some have claimed he wants a cleansing ceremony first.

“Do you know which office the president is using? He is using (former vice president Joice) Mujuru’s. Does that seem like a man who is superstitious?”

Special advisor to the president Christopher Mutsvangwa said Mnangagwa will depart from policies implemented by his predecessor.

“That’s where State power is,” Mutsvangwa said, adding the nonagenarian’s move to decamp from State House was among the reasons for his fall.

“That was part of his caprices which eventually made him lose power. The president (Mnangagwa) is going to move in. This is his designated place of rule. I wouldn’t know when he will move (in but) he will move in soon.”

While Mnangagwa has not custom made his own Mercedes — his predecessor had a Pullman — while he has a long motorcade comprising army and police escort as well an ambulance.

Mnangagwa — sworn in as Zimbabwe’s second executive president a fortnight ago — says his first days in office have “been hectic” but believes with his new Cabinet he will revive the economy.

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HARARE – Internet users suffered nearly six hours of downtime yesterday after service providers suffered a major fibre outage.

The country is estimated to have lost millions of United States dollars in revenue, as a result, since most of the communication is now being done through the Internet.

Liquid Telecom — a unit of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe — and TelOne, which is government-owned, are the two market players with equipped international Internet bandwidth.

TelOne issued a statement yesterday apologising for the Internet interruption.

“This is due to faults that occurred on our main links through South Africa and Botswana. Our back-up link through Botswana has since been restored and, together with the link through Mozambique, we are operating at 50 percent capacity,” said TelOne.

“Our partners in South Africa and TelOne engineers here in Zimbabwe are on the ground working to restore full service on the said major link”.

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Econet Wireless also issued a statement apologising for the outage.

Part of the statement reads: “Econet Wireless apologises to its valued customers for the data outage experienced today (December 5, 2017) resulting in customers being unable to access the Internet and related data services on our network . . . the outage was due to a technical fault which has since been resolved”.

Internet service went down at around 11:30hrs, only for normalcy to be restored well after 5pm.

This affected major providers of Internet services among them Liquid, ZOL, Econet and NetOne.

NetOne customers on OneFusion were not affected after the company switched to a backup link.

Telecel and TelOne were also not affected.

“The outage was a big deal because of the amount of users that ride on Liquid Telecom, over 75 percent when looking at just Econet alone. According to the Postal and  Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe Industry Performance Report for Quarter 2 2017, Liquid Telecoms Zimbabwe carries 81,4 percent market share of equipped international Internet bandwidth,” said TechZim, a news blog.

According to Cyber Security minister Supa Mandiwanzira, the Internet providers told him that their fibre cables had been damaged.

“To be honest, we are very upset as government. As the minister of Information Communication Technology, the country cannot experience a shutdown at a time when we actually should be focusing at enabling business. The Internet is key in enabling business and doing transactions,” he said.

“Soon after Cabinet, I have been receiving calls from those in the travel business who are unable to process tickets for their clients. The immigration department and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) are down because they rely on the Internet,” he added.

Mandiwanzira revealed calling TelOne managing director Chipo Mtasa to enquire about the development.

He was advised by Mtasa that their fibre cables which bring bandwidth via Beitbridge had been cut by city council officials who were working somewhere in Kuwadzana.

“I also called Wellington Makamure from Liquid Communications who said a tractor had ripped through their fibre cables 17 kilometres into South Africa from Beitbridge and that has created a problem,” Mandiwanzira said.

This led to an almost total shutdown of the Internet services, especially in Harare.

Mandiwanzira said it was high time clients demand quality service from the Internet providers.

“People are failing to communicate via WhatsApp; they can’t talk on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites. I think we need to refocus on ensuring that our people get quality services. It’s high time we demand quality from these service providers,” said Mandiwanzira.

“In terms of the Internet provider’s application for licences, they should have what is called redundancy, which ensures that if one connection fails the other one will go up. Why don’t they have it when they gave assurance to the regulator that they have redundancy? I will meet with the regulator to crack the whip on the operators and possibly fine them”.

Mandiwanzira later addressed a press conference to update the media on the development.

He said government’s role was to promote business, adding that President Emmerson Mnangagwa was at the forefront of pushing for productivity and growth.

“We as government, we have no interest to shut down Internet that’s number one, number two, we are actually upset that Internet connectivity is not available or hasn’t been available for most of the day,” he said.

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HARARE - Mashonaland Eagles batsman Cephas Zhuwao finally ended his 10-year wait for a maiden First Class ton when he scored a double hundred in his side’s 167-run win over Mid West Rhinos at Harare Sports Club yesterday.

The left-handed batsman known as the “Bad Bully” in local cricket circles for his hard-hitting batting style made his First Class debut as a 22-year-old in May 2007 and has toiled helplessly in search of a hundred managing 11 half tons in the process.

However, he plundered with a commanding 256 runs in the Mash Eagles’ second innings before he was finally dismissed by Timycen Maruma. 

This is the third highest individual First Class score by a Zimbabwean batsman after Ray Gripper’s 279 not out against Free State in 1967/68 season and former captain and coach Dave Houghton’s 266 in a Test match against Sri Lanka in 1994/95.

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Zhuwao’s knock featured 25 boundaries and 12 maximums as he faced 318 balls and lasted seven hours 28 minutes.

“I really can’t explain the excitement I have after scoring a massive record breaking 265 in one inning; it has always been my wish to score big and break records...thanks to my family, friends and teammates for without them I wouldn’t be where I am now and I’m sure there’s more to come,” an ecstatic Zhuwao told the Daily News.

Mashonaland Eagles batsman - Cephas Zhuwao

Mash Eagles coach Stanley Timoni said he has always backed the 32-year-old to deliver by keeping faith in him at the top of the order.

“Quite a scintillating knock from an able performer, it is not surprising that Cephas went on to score his historic and maiden First class ton, it was always coming and I’m certain we haven’t seen the last of him yet,” Timoni said.

“We have given him the licence to play in a way he feels comfortable and that indeed has helped him grow in confidence.

“Credit also to the bowlers for complementing the work done by the batsmen.

“We are all focused on wrestling the championship from runaway leaders and defending champions Mountaineers and will see how it goes by the end of the season.”

Mash Eagles set 501 inside 107.1 overs with a healthy lead of 448 runs, a huge ask for the Rhinos who had earlier perished for 224 runs in their first innings in reply to Eagles’ 171 which saw the Kwekwe based franchise getting a bonus point for the first innings lead.

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HARARE – Harare giants CAPS United face a mammoth task to retain some of their key players amid indications that rival Premier Soccer League (PSL) clubs are ready to pounce.

A host of Makepekepe key players will be out of contract at the end of the month and according to football rules, they are allowed to negotiate with other clubs for possible moves away from the Green Machine.

The Green Machine, who finished fifth on the log table a distant 14 points behind eventual winners FC Platinum, find themselves in a fix as some of their key players like Dominic Chungwa, Devon Chafa, Moses Muchenje, Joel Ngodzo and Valentine Musarurwa among others could all leave for free during this off-season as their contracts are set to expire on December 31.

Soccer Star of the Year finalist Chafa is already being linked with a move to Ngezi Platinum Stars.

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The Daily News understands that Ngezi Platinum Stars have earmarked Chafa as their main target as they seek to assemble a strong squad that can fight for the title next season.

After surrendering the title fight to FC Platinum towards the end of the season, Ngezi coach Tonderai Ndiraya has since set his sights on winning the championship next season and is not leaving any stone unturned in a bid to achieve his set targets.

Chafa was one of the standout players for Makepekepe both in the league and the African Champions League where he put in some outstanding performances.

Chungwa has also been linked with a move outside the country after he bagged the Golden Boot award with 17 goals.

Striker John Zhuwawo, who showed a lot of potential after he was registered by the club in the second half of the season, is believed to be nearing a move to South Africa’s Absa Premiership side Ajax Cape Town.

However, CAPS United chief executive Cuthbert Chitima yesterday insisted the club has already agreed in principle with most of their players to renew their contracts.

“We have already spoken with the majority of players whose contracts are running out at the end of the season,” Chitima told the Daily News.

“We are actually expecting to finalise everything by Friday next week. We have already agreed in principle with most of these players and what is left is for them to sign. We are not worried at all, everything is under control.”

The Green Machine were left a rather weakened side following the departure of such players like Abbas Amidu, Ronald Chitiyo and Ronald Pfumbidzayi following their impressive performances in the champions league.

Defender Dennis Dauda was also sold to fellow Premiership side Yadah FC due to disciplinary reasons.

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HARARE – Popular South African socialite Zodwa Wabantu will arrive in the country this afternoon where she will finally showcase at Harare’s Private Lounge tonight for the first time after failing twice to perform in the capital city.

Zodwa, who abruptly called off her three-city tour of Zimbabwe early this month because of her fear of former president Robert Mugabe, is expected to meet her adoring fans who have been patiently waiting for her appearance at Private Lounge, the home of adult entertainment.

A spokesperson for Private Lounge said this showcase will only be for adults and Zodwa will showcase after midnight. “There will be strict rules for this show as this is an adults only performance. So those below the age of 18 will not be allowed entry.”

After her performance tonight, tomorrow Zodwa flies to Bulawayo where she is expected to fill Club Connect to the rafters like what she did when she debuted there early this year.

If Zodwa finally makes an appearance in Harare tonight as scheduled, it will put an end to one of the most controversial tours in recent memory. The socialite has twice postponed her tour at the eleventh hour.

On the other hand, the equally controversial Bev who in the past has complained why promoters were crazy about Zodwa coming to Zimbabwe instead of hiring her has been given a slot to showcase at Harare’s City Sports Bar tonight by the same promoters for both events — Devine Assignments. There she will have to prove her pulling power.

Bev has also complained that Zimbos prefer to see the Brazilian Samba girls while she can dance even better than them.

Despite Bev’s bravado, Zodwa, is expected to draw capacity crowds both in Harare and Bulawayo.

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HARARE - Socialite Pokello Nare, who allegedly received a Toyota Hilux Vigo bought by her step father, ex-Finance minister Ignatius Chombo using State funds, is putting on a brave face.

This is despite the fact that the so-called queen of swagger’s marriage to Ghanaian Elikem Kumordzie is also reportedly on the rocks.

The two married in 2015 two years after meeting in the Big Brother Africa competition.

In a series of cryptic messages on social media this week, Pokello has tried her best to project a picture of calmness despite the raging storm in her paradise.

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“You will hear good things about me; you will hear bad things about me. Think what you want. I ain't clearing sh*t up,” she wrote donning an outfit from Cici Fashions who have just appointed her brand ambassador.

Socialite - Pokello Nare

In another picture on Instagram on which she is stylishly carrying firewood on her head, the former Big Brother Africa contestant defiantly writes:

“This picture is a reflection of the kind of woman I am, embedded in strength, the epitome of style and flair. I carry my trials and tribulations without missing a step. You are watching the memoirs of a journeyed woman.”

Next to another picture on Instagram on which she is on a bicycle, Pokello tellingly writes:

“Do you see the clouds hovering above my head? This is me with my designer shades on, always clad to the nines because I have learnt to navigate the terrain with the same composure and grace I travel with on the highway.

“This picture is a reminder that as an individual you must never lose the ability to self-actualise. Self-actualisation allows you to accept the truth and that will give you the strength to move on. One must always have a sense of self-awareness; you can lie to the world but always be completely honest to yourself.”

Even though her marriage remains clouded in mist while her stepfather is continually failing at the courts in his bid to be get bail, Pokello appears hopeful that her problems will be over by the end of the year.

She revealingly retweeted a message by one Sebebe:

“I refuse to step into 2018 with 2017 problems.”

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HARARE – Crisis weary Zimbabweans are expecting the newly sworn in Cabinet to move with speed and address the current liquidity crisis that has seen many people spending hours in bank queues while the value of bond notes has been significantly eroded.

The country’s worsening cash shortages have also resulted in retailers and hardware shops coming up with a five-tier pricing system — a separate price for consumers using either United States dollars, local bond notes, EcoCash, bank transfers (real time gross settlement balances) or bank cards to purchase goods.

Economic analysts told the businessdaily that it was important for the central bank to come up with sustainable solutions to stem the cash shortages in the country instead of playing the blame game at a time when millions of Zimbabweans are failing to access their money. 

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“The financial ecosystem is becoming dysfunctional. And as long as the fundamentals are not addressed we will continue to experience cash shortages. The RBZ must be brave enough and go for the jugular,” said an economic expert who preferred anonymity.

“Go to any hardware or some service providers — the question you get is — how are you paying? Cash, EcoCash, Swipe or RTGS? Why is the price not the same? So is it EcoCash?” the source queried.

“Admittedly, EcoCash has done a great job with the ubiquitous presence of agents. However, it is sinful, unfair, immoral, wrong and unjust to single them out! A call out to the powers that be. The challenge is not the EcoCash agent, nor the retailer either. Let’s accept it, the challenge is liquidity.

“Let’s not treat the symptoms, don’t target the weaker and vulnerable economic agent. Our esteemed colleagues at RBZ — it’s your call — of course with everyone’s support,” the economist said.

On its part, Econet has consistently warned the public against paying an extra fee on its mobile money platform. “Please be advised that EcoCash has no charges outside the ones on our tariff charts. Please do not accept to pay the extra fee as this is the only way to stop this practice,” the company said in a statement.

Another economist with a local bank said the economy cannot grow without adequate liquidity.

“RBZ governor John Mangudya should tell us how the challenge of cash is going to be addressed, and particularly what will happen with the bond notes. How are we going to end liquidity challenges?

“It’s more criminal to let people spend long hours in bank queues, sleeping on the tarmac, hopeful, optimistic only to get few grammes of coins than the premium charged by the poor EcoCash agent.

“Spare a thought for these entrepreneurs who have transformed Zimbabwe’s financial landscape by being at the forefront of financial inclusion and financial literacy,” she said.

Other analysts said it was also crucial for the government to deal with those fuelling the parallel market as well as those who are externalising money across the borders.

“The biggest or is busiest border post in Africa — Beitbridge — (between Zimbabwe and South Africa) has estimated 60 000 human traffic per day.

These people cross with either with rands or United States dollars. Where is the money coming from when your bank gives you nothing?

Just find any figure you want to use to estimate the amount each individual is carrying. The black market is live and active. Let’s open our eyes to a bigger and real challenge” said another economic commentator.

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