BY KENNETH NYANGANI

A SOMBRE atmosphere engulfed Jori village in Buhera on Sunday during the burial of Terrence Masendeke, who was shot dead while allegedly panning for diamonds in a protected area at Chiadzwa last month.

A post-mortem report released by government pathologists last week showed that three bullets were plucked out from his body.

In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, the deceased’s uncle Richard Masendeke said they avoided body viewing as the body was now in an advanced state of decomposition.

“He was finally buried on Sunday in Buhera. We financed the funeral, but police helped by transporting the body from Harare,” he said “

Masendeke said his family was worried that no officials from the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company were present, neither did they send a condolence message.

The family recently took Home Affairs minister Cain Mathema and Commissioner-General of Police Godwin Matanga to the High Court, demanding an urgent autopsy and release of the body for burial.

Police had reportedly earlier indicated that the post-mortem would only be conducted on June 25 due to the shortage of pathologists in the country.

The family expressed fears that further delays in carrying out the post-mortem would compromise evidence.

According to the court papers, Masendeke was fatally shot on May 15 by ex-policeman Dulula Chinamano in full view of his colleagues.

BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE

The trial of former Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) board chairperson, Albert Mugabe, on criminal abuse of office charges, was yesterday postponed to a later date after the chief witness and complainant in the matter resigned, making it difficult for him to represent the State.

The court yesterday heard that Zinara ex-acting board chair Wilfred Ramwi had tendered his resignation and the State asked to be given more time to allow the new board to be appointed and then second another person to represent the company.

Prosecutor Nyikadzino Machingura also told the court that the company secretary Mathlene Mujokoro, who was also expected to represent the company, had tendered her resignation as well, making it difficult to commence trial.

But Mugabe’s defence team led by Admire Rubaya opposed the postponement, arguing that changing complainants and witnesses at this stage constitutes new investigations because the statements needed to be changed.

The matter was, however, stood down for the State to confirm with the company the time it will take for the postponement to be effected.

Mugabe, who is accused of writing a false letter to CBZ Bank, advising them that the board had agreed to set off a $300 000 mortgage loan to former chief executive Nancy Chamisa-Masiyiwa.

Mugabe last week requested further particulars which include the agreement documents of the mortgage between Zinara and CBZ Bank and the minutes of a meeting that was held in 2017 that gave birth to the mortgage agreement.

It is the State’s case that on March 30, 2017, the Zinara human resources committee deliberated through a round robin resolution, the acquisition of a mortgage loan from CBZ Bank in respect of Chamisa-Masiyiwa and the six-member human resources committee unanimously resolved to recommend to the Zinara board to approve the security of a mortgage loan scheme not exceeding $300 000 with CBZ Bank for the purpose of housing loan benefit as per Zinara human resources policy manual.

The State alleges that on April 5, 2017, Mugabe wrote a letter of undertaking for the mortgage loan in respect of Chamisa-Masiyiwa to CBZ, advising them that the Zinara board had authorised her to enter into a housing loan scheme with CBZ Bank and that Zinara had undertaken to pay off the mortgage facility if her contract expires with the mortgage loan still existing, knowing that the Zinara board had not approved the loan facility.

On April 6, 2017, Mugabe wrote another letter to CBZ Bank, advising them that the Zinara board had agreed to set off the $300 000 mortgage loan facility in the event that Chamisa-Masiyiwa accrued arrears and termination of her contract of employment, when, in fact, Mugabe knew fully well that the board had not authorised the setting off of Chamisa-Masiyiwa mortgage loan.

It is averred that on April 20, 2017, CBZ Bank approved a $300 000 mortgage loan facility in respect of Chamisa-Masiyiwa and released the mortgage loan on the strength of the false letters of undertaking and set-off authored and tendered to financial institution by Mugabe.

The State further alleges that Mugabe acted contrary or inconsistent with his duties as a public officer by authoring and tendering false letters of undertaking and set off a mortgage loan facility to CBZ without the approval of the Zinara board for the purpose of showing favour to Chamisa-Masiyiwa.

Machingura and Mercy Ndingadini appeared for the State.

The matter was heard by magistrate Lazini Ncube.

BY SHARON SIBINDI

BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has decommissioned the Upper Ncema Dam as the city’s water supply dam levels continue to drop, leaving it with five out of six major supply dams.

This comes after city engineer Dumisani Gwethe recently warned that the local authority would experience more water cuts unless it secured US$4,6 million to refurbish its ageing water infrastructure.

“There is potential of 176 megalitres when pumps are redesigned and currently, the total water abstraction is 156 megalitres,” Gwethe said.

In a statement yesterday, council spokesperson Bongiwe Ngwenya advised residents and stakeholders in the city that Upper Ncema Dam was decommissioned on Saturday due to low water levels.

“The City of Bulawayo would like to advise members of the public that Upper Ncema Dam was decommissioned, with effect from Saturday June 8. The city remains with five out of six dams (Lower Ncema, Umzingwane, Insiza, Mtshabezi, and Inyankuni) as available sources of surface water supply,” she said.

“BCC further advises consumers that the current 48-hour water rationing programme remains unchanged, and residents are urged to conserve and use water sparingly.”

Currently, residents are enduring a 48-hour water-rationing programme that was introduced at the beginning of the year after water levels in the city dams dropped significantly.

BY OBEY MANAYITI/VENERANDA LANGA

THE late MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s daughter Vimbai Tsvangirai-Java, has died.

She died yesterday afternoon after being hospitalised for close to a month at a private hospital in Harare following her involvement in a horrific accident while coming from an MDC caucus meeting in Bulawayo on May 14.

Her husband, Grace Ministries leader Apostle Batsirai Java confirmed the development.

“My wife is gone,” Java said.

Vimbai, who was also Glen View South legislator, is the eldest daughter of the late MDC founding president and one of the Tsvangirais’ offspring who was active in politics.

She was involved in a head-on vehicle collision that claimed two other party members, her campaign manager and organising secretary for her constituency Paul Rukanda, and Tafadzwa
Mundwa, her late mother, Susan’s cousin.

The driver of the Mazda vehicle that was involved in the head-on collision with Vimbai’s car was being driven by one Staff Sergeant Lunga of army ordinances.

Zimbabwe National Army spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Alphios Makotore last month confirmed that the soldier died two weeks later from injuries sustained from the accident.

However, sources told NewsDay’s sister paper, The Standard that the Mazda vehicle had four people in civilian clothes, including the driver, but military uniforms were discovered at the
back of the vehicles during police searches.

Three of the passengers were from the military intelligence department, as shown by the identity documents, while one did not produce the ID, but only said he was a retired soldier.
The soldiers reportedly allowed a Honda Fit that encroached Vimbai’s lane, also driven by a soldier to leave the accident scene before the police arrived.

Vimbai suffered a broken collar bone and had big lacerations on the head, apart from fractured ribs.

She was rushed to Harare, where six specialists attended to her, performing four surgeries by the end of last month, with the husband forking out in excess of US$10 000 and more in RTGS
for her treatment.

There were also reports of an unidentified man caught trying to sneak into the intensive care unit where Tsvangrai-Java was being treated.

The family said the man kept giving different reasons why he wanted to see the MP after first claiming that he was her relative from Botswana, then a friend to the husband, a party
member sent by the women’s assembly to check on her health and finally, a well-wisher who wanted to pray for her.

When the news of her passing-on broke out yesterday afternoon, there was an outpouring of condolences from the MDC family and beyond.
Manase Tsvangirai, brother to the late Prime Minister, who is the family spokesperson, yesterday said they were shocked with the passing on of Vimbai. He said they had hopes that she
would survive the accident after doctors had indicated that she was stable and recovering.

“This is devastating, it’s horrific. Vimbai was a promising politician and she even won an MDC secretary-general position at the just-ended congress and she seemed okay all along,” he
said. “It is only in the early hours of today (Monday) that we were told to pray for her. The next thing we hear was that she had passed on around past 2pm. This is so sad.”

He, however, said it was disheartening that some family members only learnt about the passing on Vimbai through social media.

In a statement, the MDC said it was in shock.

“The MDC has learnt with shock the sad passing on of Hon Vimbai Tsvangirai-Java this afternoon. The eldest daughter of our late icon Dr Morgan Tsvangirai, Hon Java, was the recently
elected women’s assembly secretary-general and a Member of Parliament for Glen View South.”

Manicaland senator Christine Rambanepasi, who is mother-in-law to Vimbai, yesterday fainted in Parliament after receiving a message that she had passed on.

Mourners are gathered at Tsvangirai’s Strathaven house in Harare.

BY VENERANDA LANGA

THE public yesterday expressed mixed views over the proposed Maintenance of Order and Peace Bill (MOPA), with the majority saying lawmakers should remove clause (18), which will allow the Home Affairs minister to request the President to deploy the army to quell protests.

Members said the army should be nowhere near demonstrators as their presence was tantamount to a declaration of war.

The views on MOPA were expressed during a live radio programme by joint sittings of Parliamentary Portfolio Committees on Defence and Home Affairs and the Parliamentary Thematic
Committee on Peace and Security in conjunction with the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust (Sapst) and Star FM.

The majority of members were also against the use of said live ammunition to disperse crowds during protests because life was sacrosanct.

MOPA seeks to repeal the oppressive Public Order and Security Act (POSA), and chairperson of the Defence committee, Levi Mayihlome, said the MOPA Bill was brought before Parliament because POSA was found to be unconstitutional and needed to be aligned to the Constitution.

Some members of the public that participated in the phone-in public hearing said while demonstrations were a right enshrined in the Constitution, hooliganism must be curbed by police
accompanying demonstrators from destroying people’s properties.

“Demonstrations are a right, but what we have noticed is that whenever the police come to disperse demonstrators, it becomes like a war zone,” one of the participants said.

“Live ammunition should never be used to disperse crowds, and if there is noise during demonstrations, the police must only deal with the hooligans and arrest them, and there is no
need for soldiers to be deployed because people that are demonstrating are not enemies.

People suggested that it would be better for the MOPA Bill to stipulate that police should be equipped and trained to effectively deal with demonstrations, and that only teargas, rubber
bullets or water cannons must be used to disperse crowds if the demonstration becomes nasty.

MOPA has retained some clauses in POSA, for example clause 8(3) of MOPA is the same as clause 26 of POSA which stipulates that conveners of public gatherings must give at least seven
days’ notice to the regulating authority.

However, public gatherings that may be exempt from provisions of MOPA include weddings, funerals, musical shows, and agricultural shows among others.

POSA provisions that have been removed from MOPA include section 27 of POSA on temporary prohibition of public demonstrations after the Constitutional Court ruled that the section was unconstitutional.

BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA

VETERAN Zimbabwe coach Cosmas “Tsano” Zulu has given a brutal and what could turn out to be a controversial assessment of the Zimbabwe Warriors senior team’s performance at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals, saying they lack the spirit to die for their motherland.

The former Highlanders player and coach, who is currently in the Ngezi Platinum technical team set-up, is one of the longest-serving coaches in domestic football, with an uninterrupted career in football spanning 52 years, including 36 as coach.

He has presided over several Premier Soccer League clubs, and has also been part of the national team set-up, where he led the Under-17 side in 1999.

Zulu has been following the performance of the Warriors over the years, including their participation at the Afcon finals, with keen interest.

The Warriors have played in three Afcon finals, but a quarter-final berth has been stubbornly elusive as at one time they bowed out in the first round of the prestigious tournament.
The next edition that will be hosted in Egypt later this month will mark the fourth appearance by Zimbabwe at the finals and they have set themselves a target of at least reaching the
quarterfinal stage.

Zulu, however, said he had not seen any improvement in the way the Warriors apply themselves at these big stages and suggested it would be difficult for them to go beyond the first
round.

The veteran coach insisted the Warriors lacked the intrinsic motivation needed when playing for the national team.

“I have been watching them (the Warriors) over the years and while we are happy that they have qualified for the tournament four times now, they lack a fundamental requirement — the
desire to die for the country,” Zulu opined.

“Some countries go far and even win these tournaments not necessarily because they have talented players, but they are prepared to die for the national team shirt and I haven’t seen
that in these Warriors; that fighting spirit, which was there at Highlanders during our time. This is the reason why we have failed to go beyond the group stages all these years we have
participated at the Afcon finals. Unless we have that spirit in our Warriors, I don’t see them going beyond the first round in Egypt.”

The Warriors have played three matches as part of their preparations for the Afcon finals, which kick off in Egypt on June 21 and won 2-0 against Comoros at the Cosafa tournament in
South Africa. Afterwards, the Warriors crashed out of the tournament at the semi-final stage at the hands of Zambia.
They went on to play the Super Eagles of Nigeria in a high- profile friendly last Saturday and shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw. Although Zulu is less impressed, Warriors coach Sunday
Chidzambga, who holds the record of being the first coach to lead them to Tunisia in 2004, is pleased with his charges’ performance, especially after their brave show against Nigeria.

“You don’t stop a good team like Nigeria from scoring if you are not good yourself. This shows that we are going to the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt with high hopes,” Chidzambga said
in his post-match interview.

Zimbabwe get their campaign under way with a clash against hosts Egypt on June 21 before they face off Uganda on June 26. They will then finish their group matches against the
Democratic Republic of Congo on June 30.

BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE

Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya took a swipe at the club’s senior players for not stepping up to the plate following the team’s lackluster performance against Manica Diamonds on Sunday.

The Harare giants, currently recovering from a stuttering start to the league, failed to build on last weeks’ big win away to champions FC Platinum as they were held to a goalless draw by the top league’s new comers.

Since Ndiraya took over the team ahead of week 5 fixtures, Dynamos have blown hot and cold, with three wins, three draws and a loss.

Dembare has also scored just four goals during the same period, with 21-year-old winger Junior Selemani, scoring two, while Vincent Mbega and Arnold Mawadza also appeared on the score
sheet.

Ndiraya vented his frustration on the senior players following the lethargic Manica Diamonds show.
“We have young players who are very inconsistent and you feel for them. But at the same, I thought the experience that we have in the team is not turning up,” Ndiraya lamented after
the match.

“You want the senior players to push the youngsters, but it’s not the case. It looks like the youngsters are the ones that are pushing the team; the likes of Jarisson Selemani and
Emmanuel Jalayi, just to mention a few.

“I am quite happy about the central defence, they are doing well. But all the other guys were not really there today. Once you have junior players driving the team, it becomes a bit of
a concern. But frankly, our senior players are not turning up,” he said.

In the absence of veteran striker and team captain Edward Sadomba, Godfrey Mukambi, Jimmy Tigere, Mawadza and Ngandu Mangala were the senior players.

However, even Sadomba has failed to score a single goal for the team since the season started.
Little known livewire winger Jarrison Selemani has been a beacon for DeMbare in the quest to wriggle out of the early season doldrums, in addition to former Aces Youth Soccer Academy
player Emmanuel Jalai.

Other youngsters, such as Tawanda Chisi (19) and 18-year-old fullback Tinotenda Muringai, have been impressive in blue and white stripes.

Dynamos face Bulawayo giants Highlanders, whose woes are seemingly worse comparative to those of their Harare rivals as the two meet in a high stakes league encounter at Barbourfields Stadium this weekend.

BY CHARLES LAITON

FORMER Zanu PF youth leader Kudzanai Chipanga says Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga (pictured) should be charged with treason over his utterances on November 13, 2017 where he threatened army intervention to stop former President Robert Mugabe from firing him as the head of the army.

Chipanga made the remarks in his founding affidavit which he filed alongside his application at the High Court, where he is seeking a review of the ruling by Harare magistrate Edwin Marecha dismissing a demand for further particulars, including a statement made by Chiwenga on the eve of the coup that toppled army toppled Mugabe.

The former Makoni West MP is being charged with communicating falsehoods, causing dissatisfaction in the army and undermining public confidence in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF).
The charges emanated from a Press conference he gave at the Zanu PF headquarters where he was responding to Chiwenga’s threats.

Chiwenga was the commander of the defence forces on November 13, 2017 when he issued a written statement criticising Mugabe, a week after the then President had fired Mnangagwa as his deputy.

“The current purging and cleansing process in Zanu PF which so far is targeting mostly members associated with our liberation history is a serious cause for concern for us in the defence forces,” Chiwenga said at a Press conference held at the army’s KG IV (renamed Josiah Magama Tongogara) headquarters in Harare at the time.

“We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in. The current
purging of which is clearly targeting members of the party with a liberation background must stop forthwith.”
Chiwenga said the army could step in to “stop reckless utterances by politicians from the ruling party denigrating the military which is causing alarm and despondency within the rank
and file; that the current purging of which is clearly targeting members of the party with a liberation background must stop forthwith; that the known counter-revolutionary elements who
have fomented the current instability in the party must be exposed and fished out; and as the party goes for the extraordinary congress, members must go with equal opportunity to
exercise their democratic rights.”

He was flanked by the Zimbabwe National Army leadership.
Chipanga held a Press conference the following day responding to Chiwenga’s threats, daring the army and vowed that the youths would die for Mugabe, statements now constituting the
criminal charges against him.

Chipanga was abducted by the military during the coup and assaulted before being forced to apologise live on television.

Chipanga and his co-accused, Innocent Hamandishe and Rodney Dangarembizi, made an application before Marecha seeking an order to compel the State to avail to them a statement by Chiwenga which the State alleges was used by Chipanga to castigate the Vice-President.

However, Marecha is said to have dismissed Chipanga’s application on the basis that what the State had provided him and his colleagues was enough for them to draft their defence.

“For instance, the indictment alleged that I (Chipanga) gave a statement at a Press conference referring to an earlier statement by Commander, Defence Forces, Constantino Guvheya
Chiwenga. The statement by Chiwenga becomes self-evidently important to us. If for instance, the statement by Chiwenga was seditious, which it was, what Chiwenga then said was
criminal,” Chipanga said.

“That aspect would then absolve me of any wrong doing. This is because contrary to what the State alleges. It is in fact Chiwenga who is the complainant in this case. He cannot benefit
from his own wrong-doing. The same argument goes to the rest of the requested particulars. Once provided, they absolve us.
“The particulars then become necessary for our defences. The respondents (State and Marecha) must not be allowed to dictate how we conduct our defences or to decide for us which
information is necessary for our defences.”

In his application, Chipanga said on April, 1 2019, his lawyers wrote a letter to the Prosecutor-General (PG) requesting certain particulars to enable him to prepare for the trial but
the State failed to do so.

He said the investigating officer was called to give evidence and he told the court he was in a position to supply Chipanga with the information he needed but only if he was directed by
the court to do so.
Apparently, the magistrate did not do as such, arguing the requested particulars were not necessary.