BY Everson Mushava

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa was yesterday left red-faced after only 7 000 people turned up for his much-hyped anti-sanctions march.

Zimbabweans, battling skyrocketing prices, rising inflation and low pay, snubbed the march against the West to remove sanctions imposed in 2001.

The giant National Sports Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 60 000, was sparsely occupied as even some of the people bussed from outside Harare opted to fight over freebies, which included T-shirts and food, which were being dished outside the venue.

In the run up to the march, Zanu PF party and government officials demanded that schoolchildren be released to take part in the march, while Mnangagwa declared a national holiday to facilitate attendance.

Mnangagwa is struggling to deal with Zimbabwe’s worst economic crisis in a decade, with the country enduring rolling power cuts of up to 18 hours daily and shortages of foreign exchange, fuel and medicines.

The European Union (EU) and United States imposed financial and travel bans on top Zanu PF and top figures for alleged human rights abuses and electoral fraud in 2001. The EU has since removed the embargo.

In the days leading to the march, most government workers were being threatened to attend and that registers would be marked at the protest.

Some buses deployed to pick up participants from various areas across the country came back empty after people snubbed them, with one 75-seater bus coming with seven passengers from Mvurwi in Mashonaland Central.

“We were 32 passengers on the bus from Mvurwi, but the second bus only had seven people on board,” said one participant who requested anonymity.

“We were being threatened with being denied inputs for this year’s agricultural season if we failed to come to Harare for the anti-sanctions march.”

Addressing the participants, who marched from Robert Mugabe Square to the stadium, Mnangagwa thanked people “from all walks of life who came in such large numbers to mark this important day.”

He said the sanctions had caused untold suffering to the ordinary people and were perpetuating the cycle of poverty in the country.

“Thank you Sadc by standing by us and for speaking with one voice at the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly. We also say thank you to the African Union and progressive world, for supporting us during these difficult years in the history of our economy,” Mnangagwa said.

He claimed that the sanctions were a reaction to the land reform programme.

“Ours was a fight to reunite the people with their land and the land with its people, which promise we fulfilled during the land reform exercise. However, this had dire consequences, and led to the imposition of the illegal and unjustified sanctions by the European Union and the United States of America.”

He said the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, passed in 2001, prohibits Zimbabwean entities from doing business with the US and denies the country access to international lines of credit from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank as well development finance.

“Zidera has blocked Zimbabwe’s access to international credit markets, leading to the drying up of traditional sources of external finance,” he said, adding that the negative perception created by the embargoes denied the country foreign inflows.

Mnangagwa claimed that his government had taken deliberate steps to make political and economic reforms.

“The far-reaching implications on Sadc’s ability to achieve its collective targets in the social, economic and financial spheres cannot be ignored. This is the reality of these sanctions. No amount of propaganda can spin or sugar-coat this gruesome truth.”

He said government programmes such as Command Agriculture, which is at the centre of a US$3 billion scandal, would be used to mitigate the impact of sanctions.

But the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has accused Mnangagwa’s regime of trying to hide its failures by hiding behind sanctions.

The committee’s chairman, Senator Jim Risch said Mnangagwa’s government should instead focus on improving its governance record.

“Responsibility for the current political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe falls solely on the ruling regime that has governed the country for decades. If Zimbabwe’s leaders put as much time, financial resources, and effort into delivering on their long-promised reforms as they have in distorting facts and organising ‘anti-sanctions’ campaigns, Zimbabweans would not continue to suffer under the dire economic and humanitarian conditions they face today. The US does not sanction people without just cause — sanctions are a response to malign activity,” said Risch in a Press release on Thursday night.

In Gweru, businesses and informal traders yesterday operated as usual while at Kudzanai long-distance bus terminus, traders completely ignored the march which was led by Midlands Provincial Affairs minister Larry Mavhima.

A crowd of people bussed from mainly Chiwundura, Lower Gweru, Mkoba and peri-urban areas surrounding the city constituted the majority of the marchers.

Riot police maintained heavy presence during the march.

Traffic police had a torrid time trying to stop motorists from moving into the central business district ahead of the march as the drivers insisted they wanted to carry out their daily business operations.

At the venue of the anti-sanctions march, affiliates of Zanu PF like war veterans gave solidarity messages and Mavhima later read Mnangagwa’s speech.

In Manicaland, very few people took to the streets for the march despite reports of some shops being forced to close by suspected Zanu PF activists to mobilise demonstrators.

The march started late after a vain wait for participants.

However, addressing journalists after the gathering, Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister Ellen Gwaradzimba defended the low turnout, saying people were still learning the importance of the day.

“It is not a bad start, it (demonstrations) started late. People are still in the process of learning the importance of the day. It was quite a sizeable crowd, but it started late. At the same time, I can’t really complain,” she said.

The march in Bulawayo was a non-event, with very few people bothering to turn up at White City Stadium despite the provision of cheap transport to the venue.

Bulawayo Metropolitan Affairs minister Judith Ncube read Mnangagwa’s speech, which was attended by Industry deputy minister Raj Modi, Zanu PF central committee member Angeline Masuku, Zanu PF politburo member Absalom Sikhosana and former Makokoba legislator Tshinga Dube, among others.

The regional Southern African Development Community rallied behind Zimbabwe’s call for an end to sanctions.

Attendance was much better at the South African side of the Beitbridge border post, where African National Congress secretary-general Ace Magashule.

He addressed about 1 000 members of the party from the Limpopo province who braved the heat for the march.

Magashule said sanctions against Zimbabwe were hurting the entire region and liberation movements ruling Sadc countries would rally behind the country to have them removed.

He said his country had started educating its nationals against xenophobia, which was a direct result of the sanctions.

The ANC stalwart also said Africans were one people and must unite against imperialism and US-led sanctions against Zimbabwe which despite being targeted hurt everyone.

— Additional reporting by Tapiwa Zivira, Rex Mphisa, Kenneth Nyangani, Praisemore Sithole, Brenna Matendere

BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA

A VISIT by First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa to Mugodhi Apostolic Faith Church in Wedza on a cancer screening awareness programme has divided the church, with one faction accusing the late founder Tandewu Mugodhi’s sympathisers of disrespecting their religious beliefs.

This was revealed on Saturday at the burial of Tandewu by the faction which is fighting to wrest control of the church from Mugodhi’s family. The faction accused its rivals of inviting the First Lady for cancer screening, a medical process which they claim was against their beliefs.

The First Lady visited the shrine in April last year alongside government officials from the
Health ministry as part of her nationwide awareness campaign on free cancer screening.

Zimbabwe Amalgamated Churches Council patron Jimaya Muduvuri, who also attended the burial at the weekend, confirmed the matter yesterday, saying the cancer screening exercise had brought divisions within the sect.

“I am aware of the issue and it is being propped up by one Mangoma. The First Lady is a national figure, not a political one. She is doing a national duty, hence the invite by the apostolic members. We heard that some of them are questioning why the First Lady visited the church. This is dividing the sect, of which it is not good,” he said.

Some of the country’s white garment-donning apostolic churches have been abandoning their archaic religious beliefs and embracing modern medical treatment.

However, others are still deeply rooted in their religious beliefs that shun medical assistance.

The Mugodhi apostolic sect is currently embroiled in a nasty leadership wrangle that has resulted in factionalism breaking out.

Tandewu died last week and was buried at the church headquarters at Chitope in Wedza.

He was succeeded by his son Washington, a move that has, however, angered his rivals.

BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE

REIGNING Chibuku Super Cup champions Triangle will be looking to put one step into the group stages of the Caf Confederation Cup when they take on Mauritanian champions FC Nouadhibou in a play-off first leg tie away tomorrow.

The match will be played at the Stade Municipal in the country’s second largest city Nouadhibou.

FC Nouadhibou were initially competing in the Caf Champions League before they were booted out 6-1 on aggregate in the first round of the competition by Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca.

The Zimbabwean side, on the other hand, has been in superb form on the African safari this year and have one hurdle to clear ahead of the lucrative group stages.

Triangle beat Rukinzo from Burundi 5- 0 on aggregate in the preliminary stages before accounting for Tanzanians Azam, recording identical 1-0 scorelines in both legs in the last round.

Despite struggling on the domestic scene where they sit on 10th position in the 18-team league, the Taurai Mangwiro-coached side are yet to concede a goal in the Confederations Cup in four matches so far.

Powered by Warriors midfielder Ralph Kawondera, who was part of the Chan squad as well as Zimbabwe Under-23 star Delic Murimba and Allan Tavarwisa, Triangle are capable of grabbing a positive result in Mauritania.

FC Nouadhibou, who have won the Mauritanian championship seven times, are no pushovers, having knocked Ivory Coast representatives SO de l’Armée out of the Champion League in the preliminary round this season.

The second leg of the play-off encounter is slated for next weekend and will probably be played at Barbourfields in Bulawayo, where Triangle have been playing their home matches.

Qualification to the group stage of the Caf Confederations Cup could brighten Zimbabwe’s chances of having two teams in each of the continental club competitions next year.

By Everson Mushava

VICE-PRESIDENT Kembo Mohadi’s estranged wife Tambudzani Mohadi (nee Muleya) has accused the Beitbridge police of being afraid of investigating her powerful former husband after she made a complaint of assault in April this year.

Muleya made the claim in a letter to the officer commanding police in Beitbridge, where she demanded to see the docket the police compiled on Mohadi after she reported her case.

She claimed the police was dragging its feet in handling the Mohadi case after she filed her complaint against her former husband way back in April and nothing has been done.

“The (Zanu PF) Senator advises that she faced serious challenges in reporting the matter and obtaining the status of the police investigation. Since April 2019, the senator has requested for updates on the police investigation to no avail,” part of the letter from Muleya’s lawyers, Scanlen and Holderness read.

Muleya and Mohandi are divorcing before the courts over what the VP claims to be irreconcilable differences.

A fight over property forced Mohadi to allegedly use an axe to open doors, threaten to shoot his former wife, and get away with three vehicles.

Muleya claimed that about 25 local police officers and aides witnessed the drama, where the VP also reportedly used a steel bar to poke his ex-wife before threatening to kill her.

The lawyers are now demanding to see Mohadi’s docket or to have the police open it against the VP.

“We now seek your assistance in establishing whether a docket was opened with regards to the complaint made by our client,” the lawyers wrote.

“As a responsible authority, we seek clarification on whether any appropriate criminal investigations into the conduct of the Vice-President’s behaviour have been conducted and whether any appropriate criminal charges have been or will be levelled against him.”

Obert Chari

BY FREEMAN MAKOPA

AWARD-WINNING musician Obert Chari has collaborated with an Australian music outfit, Diversity Music Collective, in a song titled Mugidhi, in which they encourage children to enjoy their freedom responsibly without resorting to drugs.

The ZCC Hakireni frontman, who rose to fame with his chart-topper Mebo, told NewsDay Weekender Life & Style that he hoped the collaboration would help to increase his fan base and export his music to other nations.

Chari said the deal shaped up after he had met Diversity Music Collective founder Jaison Midzi, an Australian of Zimbabwean origin.

“He liked my idea and the message that the song portrays and then we decided that we should do the song Mugidhi, which encourages children to enjoy themselves responsibility as there is nothing bad about it, the danger only comes when they decide to do drugs,” he said.

“Mugidhi is a word that we use in our church ZCC which means all night worship service, so I am trying to urge youths to at least spend time at church or anywhere, but without doing drugs or drinking alcohol.”

The musician said he discovered that collaborations pull together a collection of ideas and help people to understand and learn new things as they share ideas.

“Collaborations are all about sharing ideas and learning new things from others and this means there are high chances of increasing one’s fan base,” he said.

He disclosed that the song will also come as a birthday present to his son, Obert Chari Junior, who was born on October 11.

Diversity Music Collective is made up of people from different cultural backgrounds and includes Carolyn Omenda (band co-founder, singer and dancer originally from Kenya), George Will (band manager, lead guitarist and singer, Maarlee De Jong (rhythm guitarist) and Jeff Seraphin (bass guitarist) originally from the Congo.

Marvelous Nakamba

BY DANIEL NHAKANISO

ZIMBABWE international Marvelous Nakamba will face his sternest test since his breakthrough move to the Premier League when Aston Villa travel to the Etihad Stadium to play against English champions Manchester City this afternoon in arguably their toughest match of the season so far.

Nakamba, who joined the Premier League side from Belgian outfit Club Brugge for a reported £11 million fee, has been receiving rave reviews after starting and impressing in each of the club’s last five Premier League matches since making his English Premiership debut against West Ham United last month.

The former Bantu Rovers prodigy has turned himself into a darling of the Villa fans, who have been impressed with his great awareness and combative style of play, which has provided the team’s attackers the freedom to venture forward knowing they are covered.

Since Nakamba broke into the first 11, his more attacking teammates such as John McGinn, Conor Hourihane and Jack Grealish have been flourishing leaving the Zimbabwean to do most of the dirty work in front of the defence.

According to whoscored.com, Nakamba has recorded an average of 6,2 tackles per 90 minutes, earning himself an average rating of 7,09 out of 10 in his five Premier League appearances.

Nakamba is expected to play a similar defensive role when Aston Villa play against a strong Manchester City which will be looking to reduce the six-point gap between them and Liverpool, who play tomorrow.

The Guardian newspaper’s football writer Daniel Harris identified Nakamba as a key player for Aston Villa in his preview for today’s encounter.

“There’s a lot to like about Dean Smith’s Aston Villa, in particular their midfield axis of Marvelous Nakamba, Jack Grealish and John McGinn. Nakamba’s calm intelligence provides the perfect balance to his more energetic partners, who play with the perfect combination of entitlement and desire, McGinn a tenacious tempo-setter and Grealish an intuitive improviser.

Against City, they will be extended like never before, but will know that if they can compete, there are goals to be taken from a vulnerable home defence. Of course, the likelihood is that City will be too good for them, but do not be surprised if Villa give them a run for their money,” Harris wrote.

The Birmingham Mail’s Aston Villa correspondent, Ashley Preece also speculated that Nakamba could be given the role of man-marking City’s midfield magician Kevin de Bruyne, who is set to feature for the Citizens against Villa.

Nakamba will also have his hands full as he attempts to keep the likes of Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero in check.

In the lead up to the City match, Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has been waxing lyrical about Nakamba following his impressive start to life in the English Premier League.
Smith, who is set to name Nakamba in his starting line-up, said he has been impressed by how the Zimbabwean star conducted himself on and off the pitch since his move.

“He is a wonderful player. He is got such an enthusiasm that, when you meet him, straight away you are endeared to him,” Smith beamed.

“He wanted to come and play in the Premier League and believes he is good enough and we believed that. He is the sort of player that we felt could improve us as a team. The dressing room has helped him settle in, he has got Bjorn Engels and Wesley who he has played with at Brugge.”

The Villa boss admitted his side faces a daunting task against Pep Guardiola’s side, but said his players have the belief they can do well.

“It’s a tough place to go, we know that, but we have great belief in ourselves. My final message when we go over the white line will be ‘listen they are not superhuman, they are human just like yourselves, if you run harder than them and you are mentally stronger than them, you have got a good chance’.”

Smith added: “It’s 11 versus 11. The mental side of going into games like this is so important – ‘don’t fear them, respect them by all means because they are top players.”

Editorial Comment

IT is indicative of the polarisation in Zimbabwe politics that on a rather unusual holiday, specifically created to voice the country’s disquiet about sanctions imposed by the United States of America, the two prominent political players in the land are spinning narratives that are poles apart.

The US and the European Union imposed financial and travel bans on top Zanu PF and military figures from 2001 over alleged human rights abuses and electoral fraud.

While the EU removed the blanket sanctions in 2014, it now only maintains the embargo on former President, the late Robert Mugabe, his wife Grace and Zimbabwe Defence Industries.

The US on the other hand, has tightened the screws, accusing President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration of going back on its promise to open up democratic space and institute wide ranging reforms.

In March this year, it extended the sanctions on 141 individuals and firms linked to the ruling elite, including Mnangagwa and his deputies.

But the opposition MDC party accuses Mnangagwa and his party of using sanctions as a convenient excuse to mask its failure to deal with the worst economic crisis facing the country in a decade.

The crisis, it argues, stems from the fact that Zimbabweans lack confidence in the current political leadership of the country after a disputed election last year.

The lack of good governance, legitimate and accountable leadership as evidenced by rigged or stolen elections; State-sanctioned gross human rights violations; rampant corruption; police brutality; arbitrary arrests and persecution of opposition politicians and civil society activists; abductions and forced disappearances; abuse of food aid as a political weapon; suppression of rural communities; cartels or state capture; among other vices that militate against the people of Zimbabwe, wrote its spokesperson Daniel Molokele yesterday.

So, yesterday, around 7 000 Zanu PF supporters marched to the National Sports Stadium to condemn the sanctions, which government argues are punishment for its seizure of white-owned farms at the turn of the millennium.

The attendance numbers tell of a country weary of the circus and tired of the daily grind and are still unable to provide for their families. Indeed, a video which was widely circulated on social media showing a group of women fighting over a box of fast food at the stadium sums up the desperation Zimbabweans face.

Despite the prospect of the two biggest clubs Dynamos and Highlanders providing football fun, Zimbabweans just could not be bothered to turn up to hear Mnangagwa’s pitch and the giant stadium, which has a sitting capacity of 60 000, was largely empty.

Zimbabweans have had enough and need a way out of this mess. Our political leaders are not providing it. Or if they just turn around, face each other and talk, there maybe light at the end of the tunnel.

BY ALLIEWAY NYONI

Zvishavane magistrate Achy Wochiunga refused to grant bail pending appeal for a Mandava High School upper six pupil who was on Tuesday slapped with a three-year jail term together with three accomplices for robbery.

Tamuka Chekai Hove (19) was convicted together with Stanly Zhou (26), Luckman Nyathi (21) and Steward Kabango (18) for striking Christopher Nsingo (48) with a stone on the head before robbing him of cash and cellphones on Monday night.

Hove, through his lawyer Grace Nyabawa of Nyabawa Legal Practitioners, applied for bail while awaiting High Court response for an appeal seeking the court to allow their client to finish his exams from home.

However, Wochiunga turned down the application, saying their High Court application’s chances of success were next to zero and the sentence was fair.

“Robbery is a serious offence and prospects for success of an appeal are next to zero. Robbery invariably attracts a prison sentence,” Wochiunga said.

Prosecutor Tinashe Maponde told the court that Nsingo was walking on his way home from a public joint when he encountered the quartet in Mandava high-density suburb.

They took a cellphone, $570 and US$2 from his trousers. Nsingo tried to escape, but the convicts stripped him before dumping him.

During the same night, Zhou bumped into police officers on patrol and confessed, implicating his accomplices, leading to their arrest.

By Phyllis Mbanje

ZIMBABWE is among several countries battling early and unintended pregnancies (EUP) among adolescents.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation official Masimba Nyamucheta said statistics indicate that over 21% of girls aged between 15 and 19 were already getting pregnant.

He said the trend was problematic in that many of the girls dropped out of school as a result, while some faced challenges and complications during birth.

“Mashonaland Central has the highest rates of teen pregnancies with one in every three girls (aged 15 to 19) likely to become pregnant,” Nyamucheta said.

Last year, 411 primary school-going girls dropped out of school across the country as result of early pregnancies, the official said.

Nyamucheta said there were some cultural practices that were perpetuating this vice. The prevailing economic challenges have also forced young girls to marry early.

Some religious groups like the ultra-conservative apostolic faith sects also continue to marry off young girls to older men.

“The young girls cannot negotiate for safe sex, a situation which exposes them to HIV and Aids,” Nyamucheta said.

To counter this social scourge, countries in eastern and southern Africa came together and signed a pact aimed at scaling up comprehensive sexuality education and sexual reproductive health services for adolescents and young people in the region.

Health and Education ministers from the respective countries, which include Zimbabwe, committed to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies by 75%, as well as HIV infection by 95% among adolescents.

Nyamucheta urged the media to play its role in disseminating information on the problem and also engage communities in tackling it, saying it might reverse gains made in reducing HIV prevalence rate.