BY BRENNA MATENDERE

MKOBA legislator and MDC party national organising secretary, Amos Chibaya, on Sunday dished out food hampers to the elderly and threw an end of year party for the constituency.
At least 100 senior citizens received hampers comprising basic commodities such as rice, cooking oil, sugar and soap.

People from lower age groups drawn from all the wards in Mkoba also thronged Mkoba 1 Secondary School, where they were treated to freebies at the end of year party, where a beast was slaughtered.

Several MDC standing committee members who included secretary for elections, Jacob Mafume, party national youth chairperson Obey Sithole, transport secretary Settlement Chikwinya, deputy-treasurer general Lillian Timveous and Midlands provincial chairperson Josiah Makombe attended the festivities.

In a short address to the gathering, Chibaya said the year had been tough for everyone due to the worsening economic crisis, but he emphasised that there is need for people to sacrifice and bring smiles on faces of the most hard-hit citizens.

“It is not like I am someone who has a lot of money. We are all struggling to make ends meet. However, I had to sacrifice and ensure that at least our elders have something to put on the table on Christmas day. It was important that we also gather as a constituency to make merry so that we remain hopeful of better days,” he said.

Chikwinya told the gathering that as MPs, there was need to be constantly touching base with the grassroots supporters.

“We have had cases of MPs who just disappear from the constituency once they are elected. Today, it has been a reminder that an MP must find special time for his people. I am happy MP Chibaya has led by example. Things are hard due to economic challenges, but we must be optimistic of change. As the MDC, it is that change which delivers that we are fighting for,” he said.

Gogo Hardlife (71), from Mkoba 12, told Southern Eye that all her children had relocated to South Africa in search of greener pastures, and she had not heard from them in the past five years, which made the handouts significant for her.

“It has not been easy for me and my six grandchildren. Sometimes we survive on one meal a day. The food hampers will be very useful to us,” she said, almost breaking down into tears.

BY STAFF REPORTERS

THE opposition MDC says it is committed to “real dialogue” to solve the political and economic crises in the country, but will not be part of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Political Actors Dialogue (Polad).

Mnangagwa has been holding talks with leaders of fringe political parties that took part in last year’s elections to try to resolve the country’s political and soci-economic crisis, which continue to worsen.

MDC deputy spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka told NewsDay: “Polad is a political graveyard judging by the paltry votes garnered by all of its members, starting with Mnangagwa himself, whose votes Zec (the Zimbawbe Electoral Commission) whittled down a record three times.

“The collective position of all sane Zimbabweans is the position taken by president (Nelson) Chamisa, which is to snub such comedies at a time citizens are suffering. That Mnangagwa continues to talk about Chamisa betrays the real character that Zimbabwe needs for the country to move forward.”

Zanu PF and MDC leaders appear to be taking positions ahead of the expected return of former South African President Thabo Mbeki before the end of the year to push for talks to end the economic crisis.

Mbeki in his visit last week in Harare held meetings with the two protagonists in Harare as well as other political, civic society and church leaders.

However, Mnangagwa at the weekend told a meeting of his Polad partners at his farm in Kwekwe that he would not dialogue outside the forum.

“Mnangagwa cannot be the convener of an honest and sincere and credible dialogue. That gathering at his farm is a charade. We are talking here of unity of the people and not the unity of leaders over a bottle of whisky,” Tamborinyoka said.

“The people are suffering and this Polad political soliloquy has been on-going endlessly with no respite on the lives of the people. It is a self-serving charade. With that troop of political nonentities, Polad is akin to whistling in a political graveyard.”

MDC spokesperson Daniel Molokele weighed in, saying: “We are not interested in joining Polad. We are very clear that Polad is not a credible process. Chamisa is not in any political wilderness. He is the most relevant politician right now and is taking a principled stance in the interest of the people of Zimbabwe. The MDC itself is very happy not to be associated with Polad.”

Analysts who spoke to NewsDay yesterday called Mnangagwa’s dialogue platform a waste of time and resources if it does not involve Chamisa, the leader of the largest opposition party.
Political analyst Alexander Rusero also described Polad as a charade that Mnangagwa created.

“You can’t sit around with a bunch of electoral losers and pretend to be talking and in the process, leave out your main rival,” Rusero said.

“For starters, it is Mnangagwa who is setting the pace, agenda and at times venue to conduct the ‘dialogue’ meetings. That must not be the case. Real dialogue with real players will come, only after Zimbabwe has reached the mutually hurting stalemate like what happened in 2008.”

United Kingdom-based Zimbabwean lawyer and political analyst Alex Magaisa said attempts to trivialise Chamisa’s consent to dialogue were futile.

“They have already tried it with the Political Actors’ Dialogue. Without the biggest opposition leader, Polad was a sham from the beginning,” Magaisa wrote on his blog on Saturday.

“It has since proved to be no more than a group of enablers desperate to align with Mnangagwa and using attacks on Chamisa and the MDC Alliance to buy their way onto the gravy train.

Polad was presented as an inclusive dialogue, but for Mnangagwa, it is just a platform to trivialise and dilute his main rival, Chamisa.”

He added that Chamisa would lose credibility among his party’s followers if he joins Polad, adding even if they gave it a new name, it would still be foul.

Notwithstanding the criticism, Polad on Sunday presented a list of what they termed the successes of the platform, which observers described as shameful.

Polad listed, among its success stories, a visit to the Cyclone Idai-ravaged Manicaland province, where together with Mnangagwa they toured affected areas.

Manicaland was early this year hit hard by Cyclone Idai, which left 634 people dead and 257 missing.

Polad only visited together with Mnangagwa to witness the handover of donations and listing that as an achievement was largely criticised by observers.

“The visit to Cyclone Idai by Polad delegates led to conscientisation of the nation about the problem and the need for urgent intervention by different stakeholders,” the report to Mnangagwa by Polad read.

“The coming together of political actors under one banner and the official launch symbolised unity of purpose,” Polad said.

The dialogue platform also listed an interface it had with the Finance and Industry and Commerce ministers as well as Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor and other government officials as a success.

Among other “success stories” mentioned by Polad was its participation in the anti-sanctions march in Harare.

Magaisa, however, criticised the so-called achievements, saying: “Mnangagwa’s Polad lists its ‘achievements’ in 2019. They even claim credit for ‘conscientisation of the nation about (Cyclone Idai)’ apparently because of their ‘visit to Cyclone Idai’. They obviously have an exceedingly generous estimate of their role and relevance. Deluded!”

Also listed as a success was the participation by Polad members in Mnangagwa’s clean-up campaign held every first Friday of every month.

— (Everson Mushava, Moses Matenga, Brenna Matendere, Nqobani Ndlovu)

BY KENNETH NYANGANI

RUSAPE residents have raised concern over the cruel manner in which the local authority is putting down stray dogs, that council is saying are a health threat.

Rusape Town Council (RTC) mayor Lyton Sithole confirmed the operation to NewsDay yesterday, saying they would not stop until residents comply with by-laws.

However, some residents claim that they have lost their vaccinated dogs in the operation.

“Currently, I don’t have a figure of how many dogs have been shot, but the operation of eliminating stray dogs is ongoing until we are satisfied that all our residents are complying with the laws,” Sithole said
“Currently, I am yet to receive a complaint from any dog owner. Maybe they will come.”

Rusape Concerned Residents Trust member Godfrey Mufuranhewe said dogs were being killed in an inhumane manner.

“(The) operation of killing stray dogs is going ahead. Yesterday (Saturday), they killed my dog at the gate. It was very unfortunate my dog died a painful death. I think the method of elimination is inhuman. They are supposed to use traps not bullets,” he said
“My dog Blackie was vaccinated a few months ago. It was a good dog, they killed a pet with good communication skills, friendly to my children. The method of elimination lacks accuracy.

How can you shot a dog three times? It affected me, even my neighbours. Why shoot my dog less than a metre from my gate.”

Another resident said council should change the way it is putting down dogs.

But another resident, Resident Tapiwa Murombo, welcomed the move, saying his wife was once attacked by a stray dog.

“I welcome the move by RTC because recently my wife was bitten by a dog while she was coming from work. So keep your dogs inside your fence or security walls,” he said.

BY REX MPHISA

BEITBRIDGE police at the weekend busted a syndicate that manufactured fake border process documents, denying the government substantial revenue.
A security guard employed by National Eye Security intercepted a tout providing a traveller with a fake temporary import permit (TIP) documents, leading to the arrest of some bogus shipping agents who manufactured the fraudulent papers.

The officer commanding Beitbridge Police District, Superintendent Tichaona Nyongo confirmed the arrest.

“I can confirm I heard about that and our CID team is investigating the case,” Nyongo said.

Taking advantage of holiday crowding, scores of unemployed youths descend on the border post at this time of the year posing as clearing agents.

They sell fake documents to unsuspecting motorists.

On Friday, one such youth was caught red-handed and led a combined team of border officials who included the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) and police to his handlers.

Meanwhile, some stakeholders at the border post have said eradication of touts, pickpockets, beggars and other undesirables from the area will remain a challenge.

The undesirables blend in with large numbers of plain clothes members of the anti-smuggling unit detectives and several officers from government employed at the border post, causing problems.

Unlike the South African side of the border post, where only uniformed staff work there, the Zimbabwean side has plenty of officers who have been accused of duplicating the roles of Zimra officers.

BY NHAU MANGIRAZI

Karoi Town Council will soon embark on a skills audit to ensure it has the right workforce to manage its affairs.

Council chairperson Abel Matsika confirmed to NewsDay that the skills audit would help the local authority place employees where they are competent to realise better outcomes.

“As part of the skills audit due to be carried early next year, we need to identify our depth of skills from our workforce and place people where they belong so that we get the best out of them,” he said.

“A lot of our officials have upgraded themselves academically and professionally and we hope the newly-acquired skills will effectively help us in our turnaround strategies. We also intend to map the way forward through proper skills training so that we do the best as an institution.”

Karoi Residents Trust (Karest) director Travo Chiwanga, however, called on council to prioritise policy and regulations formulation.

“The skills audit is necessary and welcome as a positive move by our council, that we applaud. However, council must have policies and regulations first that bind those who are promoted or demoted, according to the Labour Act. Council must formulate guidelines in every department so that there is no victimisation of few individuals after the audit,” Chiwanga said.

“These policies will include how residential stands and commercial stands, among others, are kept in a formulated data base. Furthermore, it helps to know council properties, including cars and machinery, and who can drive council cars and when should they occupy a particular house, for what purposes. We need something tangible and binding for workers.”

He added that basic education qualifications were the hallmark of an institution’s development.

“Skills audit will help solve governance issues affecting our council and assist in staff retention drive,” Chiwanga said.

Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs minister Mary Mliswa-Chikoka is on record calling for transparency by both government and public institutions in the province.

Mliswa-Chikoka told NewsDay that skills audits were the benchmarks to improve service delivery by councils.

“As government, we want councils in the province to do skills audits that justify service delivery as citizens have a right to a better environment from service providers including councils, municipalities among others,” she said.

Auditor-General Mildred Chiri exposed some councils that were operating without policies and guidelines.

Chiri cited Karoi Town Council as one of those councils with poor corporate governance.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has revealed that he fired the previous Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) chaired by Job Wabira because the commissioners were corrupt.
Mnangagwa said this on Friday last week during a no-holds barred anti-corruption event organised by the African Parliamentarians Network against Corruption (APNAC), in conjunction with Zacc and the Transparency International Zimbabwe (TI-Z) to commemorate the Anti-Corruption Day symposium.

“Corruption did not begin in Zimbabwe. Even during the time of Jesus, corruption was there and they fought it, and so we will also continue fighting corruption,” he said.

“I dismantled the previous Zacc because the public did not have confidence any more in that commission because it was a corrupt commission and how could they have dealt with corruption when they were corrupt themselves?

“I then created a new commission and at the helm is a lady, Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo, who has a good history with a strict background in terms of administration, is a former judge and a no-nonsense person and so we now have a commission that can fight corruption.”

He did not say why the “corrupt” commissioners were still walking free.

But APNAC chairperson Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga told Mnangagwa that even if he had changed commissioners, the staff employed by the previous commission was still at Zacc.

APNAC secretary-general Tatenda Mavetera then played Mnangagwa a satirical video circulating on social media which depicted government taking a “catch and release” stance towards bigwigs alleged to be involved in corruption crimes.

The video sent Mnangagwa into stitches as it showed a President ordering his subordinates to write down names of all corrupt people to be arrested for graft, except his name and the first lady’s.

He was then grilled on issues of corruption by youthful business executives Munenyasha Hove, managing director of Hollard Logistics, Rumbidzai Muzite, the director of Brand Advocate, and Domingo Samu, a chief executive officer of a security company.

The young businesspersons raised issues of corruption in the transport sector and services sector like the passport offices.

“There are cameras at the Registrar-General’s Offices, but a lot of bribes take place in closed doors and Zimbabweans are denied rights to passports. Land ownership must be a basic right and each family must have a stand, but people are asked to pay bribes in order to get land,” Muzite said.

“Health is also a basic right, but people who do not have connections at hospitals are dying because they cannot access treatment. People fail to get blood at hospitals after being told that it is in short supply, but when those who are connected come to get it, they only spend 10 minutes and they are treated. Medicines are also stolen from hospitals and sold on the streets.”

Mavetera said there was massive corruption at Zesa, where transformers were being stolen, while the country is experiencing electricity shortages.

Mnangagwa said he should, instead, be congratulated for solving the land corruption issues in the country.

“You should congratulate us because as soon as we took over, we set up the Urban Land Commission and a lot of things have been happening. We now know who the land barons are and the bigwigs in government and the private sector that are involved. We must now use legislation to deal with the culprits,” he said.

“The video by Mavetera was interesting. However, we must let Zacc investigate first and when there is a prima facie case, arrests must be made. We have no authority to say to magistrates that one person is guilty and the other is not. It is true that people are arrested and let go and I am very angry with that. You see a person taken to court and they are granted bail and then the case is postponed and postponed.”

Mnangagwa said there were corruption cases that came to the courts and surprisingly, the prosecution then promotes the weakest point and the entire case is lost.

“So there are weaknesses, but my administration will continue to tighten and tighten, and those with sins will continue kuunyana (to shrink),” he said.

BY MOSES MATENGA

SADC executive secretary Stergomena Tax torched a storm over the weekend after making reference to a story that irked the MDC and left many questioning her impartiality in trying to resolve the Zimbabwean crisis.

Tax posted on Twitter quoting an opinion piece in the State media that seemed to attack opposition leader Nelson Chamisa on his stance regarding dialogue with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a comment that drew the attention of MDC secretary for international relations, Gladys Hlatywayo, who expressed her concern on the matter.

“The story that you quote is so disdainful of MDC,” Hlatywayo wrote to Tax.

“(I am) not surprised that a paper that is supposed to reflect the diversity of society, given that it is public media, chooses to be a Zanu PF extension. I am concerned that you seem not to find fault with such reporting Your Excellency.”

In her response, which apparently angered most people, Tax said: “Presentation may seem unpleasant, but my appeal is all to support national and regional efforts that are aimed at enhancing peace, stability and prosperity and that enhanced people’s welfare, including on-going reforms. Reforms require among others, stakeholders engagement and resources.”

One reader hit back at Tax, saying: “You are not informed about the happenings in Zimbabwe. Harare is not instituting any reforms. Instead, the regime is even banning the launch of books.”

This was in reference to a violent disruption of the launch of exiled former Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo’s book Excelgate at Sapes Trust in Harare last week.
The book exposes how elections were allegedly rigged in favour of Mnangagwa last year.

Others took time to remind Tax of the challenges Zimbabwe is facing and tried to convince her that there were no reforms to talk about, citing the closure of democratic space for the opposition and the police attacks on civilians, among others.

Others accused Sadc of protecting the elite while leaving the ordinary people at the mercy of those with State power.

The article that Tax was quoting heavily criticised Chamisa’s attitude against joining the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) platform, saying the MDC leader must remove the “special one tag” and join others.

“This has generally gone on very well, except for MDC Alliance leaders who have sought to project themselves as special and above everyone else,” the article quoted by Tax read in part.

“They have been making unreasonable demands for no valid reason. When people take entrenched positions, they become blind to the fact that some of those positions are not sustainable.

“The position taken by MDC Alliance leader Mr Nelson Chamisa of disputing the 2018 presidential election results in which he lost to President Mnangagwa is extreme and untenable. He desperately needs to climb down and face the truth that the 2018 elections are history. He just needs to take off the ‘special one’ jacket and show respect to other political leaders — big and small.”

Chamisa maintained in an interview with NewsDay that he would never join Polad, saying what Zimbabwe needs now was genuine dialogue and not involvement of those meant to spoil the process.

“That is a sideshow. We don’t want a political rally, we need a political dialogue. We don’t want sideshows to settle some other secondary or primary scores,” Chamisa said.

BY GARIKAI MAFIRAKUREVA

FARAI Chauke, a senior partner at Chauke and Associates, is set to appear at Chiredzi Magistrates’ Court on February 4, 2020 facing a disorderly conduct charge after he staged a one-man demonstration at a function organised by Green Safari Africa in Nyangambe last week.

Chauke, who claims to represent the Nyangambe community, is also facing 22 counts of forging signatures of community members of a thriving community wildlife conservancy, Nyangambe Wildlife Project, being run by local people in Chiredzi in partnership with Green Safari Africa.

Chauke is accused of disrupting the event, where Green Africa Safari was handing over Christmas food hampers to beneficiaries of the project.

Stray animals from the Save Valley Conservancy forced 181 families from Nyangambe, who settled around the conservancy during the 2000 fast-track land reform programme, to start the project in 2006 in a bid to end human-wildlife conflict.

In 2016, an ecologist approved Nyangambe Wildlife Project after assessment and they immediately acquired an ownership clearance from Chiredzi Rural District Council.

The community then put aside more than 5 000 hectares of their grazing area, which they fenced to minimise human-wildlife conflict.

Addressing the community at the event attended by Chiredzi district development co-ordinator Lovemore Chisema, managing director and Safari operator at Green Safari Africa Company, Phillip Mafuta, said they recently received a hunting permit from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.

“We partnered with a new investor, Tomas Kjellson, who is from South Africa and is also chief executive officer of Green Safari Africa. We are going to hunt in Nyangambe and Massapas Ranch, which is in Save Valley Conservancy,” Chisema said.

Sakala Mukwena, a villager from Nyangambe, said: “We are happy to have an investor. We hope Green Safari Africa is going to pay us better money as promised because since 2006, we have never hunted independently. We used to do it in collaboration with other partners who are within the Save Valley Conservancy, but we got little money out of the deals.

“We are happy and we welcome the investor because now we are going to be able to pay game scouts who are manning our conservancy just like other projects similar to ours.”

However, Chauke who felt Green Africa Safari was duping the elderly people in the community, staged a one-man demonstration, raising a banner denouncing Green Africa Safari describing them as poachers, shouting expletives and disrupting the event in the process.

He was subsequently arrested and taken to Mkwasine Police Station.

BY FORTUNE MBELE

HERENTALS Football Club is likely to appear for a hearing on another case of alleged match-fixing after the holidays as the Premier Soccer League (PSL) is investigating the club following an official complaint made by Bulawayo Chiefs to the Premiership body.

PSL chief executive officer Kenny Ndebele yesterday confirmed receiving correspondence from Bulawayo Chiefs.

“We have received a letter of complaint from Bulawayo Chiefs alleging attempted match-fixing on Match 34 between them and Herentals,” he said.

“Bulawayo Chiefs named a Bulawayo City FC official (name supplied) who is linked to the case. We are investigating the matter and hope to have completed our investigations by the first week of January 2020.”

The letter was written to PSL by Bulawayo Chiefs chief executive officer Dumisani Mantula Sibanda.

Part of allegations from the letter are that on the night before the game that was played on December 14, there were some people who allegedly called Bulawayo Chiefs players in their hotel rooms in Bulawayo.

Bulawayo Chiefs coach Thulani Sibanda was allegedly contacted by an Econet number (also supplied).

Players contacted informed Sibanda and hotel staff were alerted that Chiefs’ players were being called from within the hotel.

Herentals, owned by Innocent Benza (pictured below), have appeared before a PSL disciplinary committee on another case of alleged match-fixing in their game against Black Rhinos, which awaits judgement.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

TRANSPORT minister Joel Matiza says there will be a 24-hour traffic blitz by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) to minimise road carnage during the holidays.

Matiza said this on Wednesday last week in the National Assembly after Magunje MP Cecil Kashiri (Zanu PF) asked him to explain to Parliament the measures that his ministry will take to curb road carnage during the festive season and to ensure that traffic laws are observed.

Last year 122 road accidents were recorded during the festive season.

“There will be a 24-hour traffic blitz involving enforcement agencies such as the ZRP and VID a week before and during the festive season,” Matiza said.

“The enforcement agencies will be checking on vehicle road worthiness, drivers’ licences and driver behaviour to ensure that drivers observe all the traffic laws and those found on the wrong side of the law will be prosecuted, while vehicles found to be unroadworthy will be impounded,” he said.

Matiza said the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, in conjunction with ZRP, has deployed 20 educational road-block campaign teams across the country’s major highways since December 15, 2019.

“The Road Safety Campaign will end on January 5, 2020. This intensified road safety campaign along the major highways is aiming to encourage motorists to reduce speed and to drive with due care and attention so as to reduce carnage during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday. They will also be encouraging drivers not to drink and drive. Drivers are also expected to take breaks and/or rest so that they do not drive continuously for more than eight hours,” he said.

Matiza also told Parliament that the country does not have enough breathalysers to test driver’s alcohol intake.

“We do not have enough breathalysers in the country due to foreign currency shortages, but alternative measures will be taken by the police to make sure that the drivers do not drive while they are drunk through educational campaigns,” he said.

Asked to explain how his ministry will deal with motorists who break traffic rules Matiza said: “My ministry is cognisant of the fact that there is rampant recklessness in driving with our local drivers. We have put in place mechanisms that will make sure that this will come to an end. We will start with the driver training schools. There are programmes that are there to make sure they meet the standards that are required for them to be operating and that they have qualified staff.”

On dilapidated roads, Matiza said his ministry was ensuring that roads are continuously repaired during the rainy season.