FORMER First Lady Grace Mugabe and her son, Russell Goreraza, have both been ordered to pay US$278 304 to a local law firm which represented them in several court cases, one of which involved a botched $1,4 million diamond ring deal.

BY CHARLES LAITON

The order by the High Court, issued on November 15, 2019, followed an application for rescission of a default judgment that was filed by Mugabe and her son in April this year seeking to overturn the judgment on the basis that it had been issued in error.

According to court papers, the legal firm, Manase and Manase Legal Practitioners is said to have acted for Grace in her cases against a Lebanese national Jamal Ahmed, who she accused of duping her.

In a bid to recover her money, Mugabe is alleged to have “grabbed” three properties namely stand number 409 Harare Drive, Pomona; 18 Cambridge Road, Avondale and 75 King George, Avondale, all owned by Ahmed, but the latter later approached the courts and successfully retained his properties.

On January 15, 2019 High Court judge Justice Felistus Chatukuta ruled in favour of the law firm and ordered Grace and her son to pay the legal fees, before the duo filed for rescission which was recently determined by High Court judge Justice Edith Mushore.

The order by Justice Mushore simply said: “Application is dismissed with costs”.

Prior to Justice Mushore’s order, Justice Alpheus Chitakunye had ordered the duo to pay the law firm’s legal fees with costs as well.

According to Manase and Manase Legal Practitioners, Grace and her son approached them in December 2016 seeking legal services in respect of a number of cases linked to the diamond ring saga.

The firm said the pair also wanted to be legally represented in an urgent chamber application that was before the High Court under case number HC 12497/16. The legal services rendered included attending to all litigation procedures and hearings, the drafting of court processes, consultations, round table meetings over a two-year period.

The post Grace Mugabe loses US$280k legal fees fight appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.

South African football giants Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp has expressed anger over Zimbabwe’s use of Khama Billiat in two Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Botswana and Zambia while he carried an injury.

BY FORTUNE MBELE

Billiat failed a fitness test on Saturday and could not play for Amakhosi who lost 2-1 to Maritzburg United in the semi-final of the Telkom Knock-Out Cup at Mombela Stadium on Sunday.

Judas Mosemaesdi powered Maritzburg United (home to Zimbabweans Clive Augusto and Gabriel Nyoni) to the Telkom Knock-Out final with a brace, scoring in either half, while Kaizer Chiefs got their consolation goal in the second half through Yagan Sasman. Augusto and Nyoni did not play in that match.

The Warriors’ talisman Billiat starred for the Zimbabwe senior men’s national team, notching a brace in the 2-1 win over Zambia’s Chipolopolo at the National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka last Tuesday.

He had also featured in the goalless draw against The Zebras of Botswana on November 15 at the National Sports Stadium in Harare and Midderndop asserts Billiat was nursing a hamstring injury that could have aggravated while he was on national duty.

The German mentor is upset he could not use the attacker against Maritzburg United.

“It’s upsetting. He definitely went already with a tight hamstring into two national team games, but there is nothing we can do. He played against Botswana and was already playing with pain,” Midderndop told South African media.

Billiat failed a late fitness test on Saturday and was ruled out of the Telkom semi-final.

“He came back despite this and played in Zambia and it was not possible (to get him ready to play against Maritzburg United). We tried on Saturday afternoon with a late (fitness) test, but it was impossible to bring him in,” Middendorp said.

Kaizer Chiefs lead the pack in Absa Premier Soccer League with 28 points in 11 games, 10 points ahead of Mamelodi Sundowns and tonight they take on Stellenbosch at Cape Town Stadium and the Zimbabwean might also miss that game.

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FC PLATINUM gaffer Lizwe Sweswe has now set his sights on the Caf Champions League group stage where they are set to start their Group B flirtation with an away trip to Sudan for a date with Al Hilal.

BY TERRY MADYAUTA

Sweswe says the bruising Castle Lager Premier Soccer League race has given them a perfect warm-up as they prepare to plunge into an unfamiliar Sudanese terrain.

Egyptian giants Al Ahly and Etoile Du Sahel of Tunisia are also part of the group.

On paper, FC Platinum appear like the minnows of this group, but Sweswe is not concerned about that rating.

“The race has been nervous, but enough to give us a motivation to do better on the continent,” Sweswe said.

“We are in a tough group, but we are not reading too much into history and big names. We are just focusing on our games so that we also improve on our previous performance in this tournament.

“This trip will obviously be tough, considering that we are going to play in an unfamiliar terrain in terms of weather, but we are just hoping for a positive result.”

Their first appearance in the group stages, then under the tutelage of Norman Mapeza, was grim after they only managed a meagre two points with two goals under their belt.

However, having scored seven goals in their preliminaries against UD Songo and Big Nyasa Bullets, the former Tsholotsho mentor is confident of improvement this time around.

The platinum miners have also been boosted by the return of midfield workhorse Kelvin Madzongwe from injury, although the duo of Lameck Nhamo, Perfect Chikwende remain on the treatment bed ahead of the Al Hilal encounter.

The post FC Platinum shift focus appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe had a crazy weekend, a really wild one. Retired General Costantino Chiwenga, the chief architect of the November 2017 coup that toppled the now late long-time ruler, Robert Mugabe, stealthily came back from China, sending social media speculations into over-drive.

Chiwenga, the man, who swapped the camouflage for a civilian suit, spent four months at a high-security military hospital in China battling an undisclosed illness and many speculated about his demise or being shoved down the pecking order in Zanu PF power echelons.

On the other hand, the economy had been on a southward dive, driving many into abject poverty to the extent of imagining another coup. A coup many believed could be led once again by Chiwenga. He is the only man, many perceive to have the spine, to stand up to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Scenarios were drawn and redrawn as his return was said to be imminent. Zanu PF provincial structures had started rooting for Mnangagwa to run again in 2023, against the speculation that started in 2017 that he would be a one-term President, handing the reins to Chiwenga after a cooling off period from donning the military fatigues.

Chiwenga’s return was dramatic. No prior announcement, no senior government officials to welcome him back, except Chinese embassy officials. When the 2017 coup happened, Chiwenga had just returned from China and many saw this as a second coming.

Is it that Mark Zuckerberg’s social media platforms, Facebook and WhatsApp, have changed the way people relate, debate or communicate on serious issues? The fact that people can hide behind anonymity has spurned a whole new media category for click-baiting and fake news.

Some scholars in new media technology have come up with the theory of echo chamber which is defined as: “A metaphorical description of a situation in which beliefs are amplified or reinforced by communication and repetition inside a closed system”.

Scholars Seth Freeman, Sharad Goel and Justin M Rao in the journal Public Opinion Quarterly wrote: “Social networks and search engines are associated with an increase in the mean ideological distance between individuals.

“However, somewhat counter-intuitively, these same channels also are associated with an increase in an individual’s exposure to material from his or her less preferred side of the political spectrum.”

They more importantly noted: “The vast majority of online news consumption is accounted for by individuals simply visiting the home pages of their favourite, typically mainstream, news outlets, tempering the consequences — both positive and negative — of recent technological changes.”

This may ring true to many Zimbabweans. People are always glued to their favourite WhatsApp groups, Facebook pages and some online news sites. Zimbabwe has become a textbook echo chamber example. Another media scholar, Grant Blank said: “It turns out, if you look at media generally and you ask people what media do you trust, and then you rank the media in terms of trust, social media is at the very bottom of trustworthiness in terms of news.”

However, Zimbabweans have placed their faith in social media just as they did with charismatic prophets and celebrity politicians, without having grounded beliefs or ideological prisms from which they look at issues, simply because of desperation.

Over the months, I have seen many people retweet, like and share even an “Amen” on social media.

Probably it’s time the country goes back to basics and the mainstream media start rendering a better service to the paying public, verifying information and publishing facts than editorialised news. It is surprising that Zimbabwe, with so many people earning Doctor of Philosophy degrees (PhDs), the majority are still afraid to become public intellectuals, writing their views in public, because of polarisation or simply for the reason that they don’t care or are imbedded in certain political parties.

There are no public discussion forums that are simply for Zimbabweans to discuss their own issues without being prodded by donors. Of the few public discussions that are held in Harare, many degenerate into public mudslinging by the panellists.

Probably, Chiwenga’s return and the subsequent realignment of expectations by Zimbabweans after his first public statement will remind citizens of the false dawn of November 2017.

This would push the people to accept even begrudgingly that “revolutions shall not be televised” and that revolutions should be based on ideas, not simply hatred of people.

As life gets harder, Zimbabweans should remember that by staying in echo chambers they are simply trying to fit in, share a communal catharsis and at the end of the day they are worse off than yesterday.

Paidamoyo Muzulu is a journalist and writes here in his personal capacity. He can be contacted on muzulu.p@gmail.com

The post Chiwenga and Zim’s false hope appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.

REPORTS that the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) is busy signing deals behind the scenes with foreign-based stakeholders without the knowledge of key local players in the tourism industry are a serious cause for concern.

NewsDay Comment

ZimParks is the custodian of the country’s most critical resources, chiefly wildlife and the forests, plains and mountains they inhabit; and it is quite curious that the State department has the unfettered liberty to sign contracts involving the country’s national heritage behind closed doors.

While local tourism players are worried about the letter and spirit of the treaties and their implications to the survival and continued existence of mainly the hunting safari sector, many are wondering whether these arrangements are even being presented to Parliament for oversight.

Why is the nation not being fully informed about these arrangements which have a profound bearing on the State? Even more worrying are reports that government is bypassing Parliament and also fast-tracking other deals with foreigners without any due diligence.

The latest such move is government’s decision to fast-track unclear business arrangements with investors from the United Arab Emirates.

ZimParks director-general Fulton Upenyu Mangwanya seems geared to place the country’s wildlife in the hands of the greens – the animal-friendly organisations who have over the years tried and failed to get Zimbabwe to stop consumptive tourism or sport hunting. ZimParks as the regulator should know the impact of its unholy relationship with these so-called animal-friendly organisations. We have no doubt that in no time, with ZimParks advice, government will stop sport hunting industry in favour of filthy donations by the greens.

Yet Zimbabwe is endowed with a burgeoning population of elephants and other wildlife species. How can locals fail to sustainably utilise their animal resource? President Emmerson Mnangagwa during the Africa Wildlife Summit in Victoria Falls recently called for a mix of non-consumptive and consumptive tourism to allow communities to benefit. We believe that ZimParks has been infiltrated by money-mongers who have no idea what the mandate of the organisation is all about. We call for immediate action to investigate ZimParks top brass, otherwise Zimbabwe will soon burn its millions of dollars worth of ivory stockpiles, yet this money could be used for development.

We call on new Environment minister Mangaliso Ndlovu to meet all stakeholders and hear what they have to say immediately. The ZimParks directorate must not be spared if found wanting!

While it is understandable that Mnangagwa’s regime is desperate for Foreign Direct Investment to help meet its election promises, it would have been judicious for it to stitch these arrangements within the confines of the law and necessary oversight.

Hurriedly signing deals for political expediency will not augur well for a government that preaches good governance and does the opposite. It is things such as these that may seem small which, in the long run, can make or break the reputation of any government.

A government which is averse to abiding by its own rules cannot nurture trust in its subjects.

These secret arrangements outside the scrutiny of citizens through Parliament, are a serious indictment to any effort to rebuild the southern African nation’s battered economy.

These dodgy deals give credence to conspiracy theories doing the rounds that the country is being mortgaged and by the time Zimbabweans wake up there will be no country to talk about. What will be left are curved out pieces of territory owned by powerful cartels, organisations and individuals.

It is, however, hoped that Mnangagwa is astute enough not to mortgage a country which was birthed through extreme sacrifice that involved the spilling of blood. Zimbabwe can still achieve its goal of becoming a middle-income economy by 2030 without cutting corners.

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