BY FIDELITY MHLANGA

STATE-OWNED telecommunications company, NetOne has entered into a partnership with Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) that will allow corporates and individuals to use the mobile financial services firm payment platform, OneMoney when remitting taxes.

Officiating at the launch, NetOne chief executive officer Lazarus Muchenje expressed excitement about the agreement between the two entities that is expected to drive change.

“We, as NetOne, together with our partners at Zimra, are very excited about the innovation we have gathered here to unveil, and I will tell you why. The world is changing, and the pace of that change is approaching light-speed. Innovation is now, undeniably, the driver of that change; and within the DNA of NetOne, the philosophy of “World Class”, a desire to achieve excellence in our every endeavour, has taken root,” Muchenje said.

“We know that our success as an organisation is tied to our ability to create solutions that dissolve the problems of our customers, and this is why I say today is an exciting day. Our mobile financial services arm, OneMoney, together with our esteemed sister company Zimra, have created a ground-breaking innovation under the code *554#.”

The NetOne boss said the new innovation would bring about payment convenience for businesses.

“Aimed at our shared customers, the OneMoney-Zimra payment solution, allows both corporate and individual importers to pay for their business partner and assessment numbers. What makes this ground breaking?” You may ask, for the first time, you can meet these obligations on the go. By adding this functionality to the OneMoney platform, NetOne and Zimra have made it so that you can now, for the first time, tackle this vital aspect of your business, from wherever you are,” he said.

Zimra commissioner-general Faith Mazani said Zimra was proud to collaborate with NetOne, saying the partnership would yield business solutions.

“Today, we are unveiling the product of collaboration with NetOne through their mobile payment platform OneMoney, which has given us the solution to put those days behind us. With that in mind, and with a view to creating value not only for our shareholders but for our customers, the OneMoney-Zimra payment solution was born. Now our shared clients, among them business owners, private importers and so many others, can enjoy an unprecedented level of convenience because paying Zimra obligations is now as simple as dialling *554#,” she said.

Mazani added that the move would also mitigate tax evasion and avoidance among citizens.

“More than tax evasion or tax avoidance, I’m speaking here about the ordinary honest citizen who does not own up, not because of a lack willpower, but a lack of know-how. People discover that they owe an obligation to Zimra at the point where we come to collect, while, in other cases, the knowledge was available but a convenient method of meeting the obligation was not, until now,” Mazani said.

BY PRAISEMORE SITHOLE

OPPOSITION MDC vice-president Welshman Ncube has lamented the government’s failure to implement devolution.

Ncube made the remarks on Wednesday in Bulawayo at a meeting to enlighten residents on the Constitutional Amendment Bill.

He said the government and the Local Government minister, responsible for its implementation, seem not to understand the devolution clause in the Constitution (section 264) and what the concept entails or they deliberately do not want to implement it.

Ncube said one of the reasons the late former President Robert Mugabe was deposed was his failure to implement devolution.

“If you remember well when people were jumping in the streets saying Mugabe must be impeached, kissing the generals as cruel as they are, one of the charges against Mugabe was that from 2013 to 2017, he fully refused to implement devolution,” Ncube said.

“Not a single clause in the 2013 Constitution was implemented. To this day, they are amending the Constitution and not a single clause has been implemented. Those elected in 2018 have not done anything, so there is no devolution to talk about. Up to now, they are failing to implement devolution.”

Government last year disbursed funds to local authorities in the absence of laws to operationalise devolution.

Section 265(3) of the Constitution requires an Act of Parliament to provide appropriate mechanisms and procedures to facilitate co-ordination from central government, provincial, metropolitan and local councils, laws which have not been crafted.

Devolution is anchored on the principle of empowering provincial and metropolitan government councils to spearhead economic and social development projects in their jurisdiction leveraging on local resources.

It was adopted as a key component of the 2013 Constitution and is one of the founding values and principles of the Constitution.

Speaking at the same occasion, former State Enterprises and Parastatals minister Gorden Moyo said they had not seen devolution as wished by the public in the Constitution.

“The people who are trying to implement devolution on their own do not understand the concept. They do not understand it at all. To them, devolution is just decentralisation. We have not seen devolution (that was) wished for by the public in the Constitution,” he said.

“The day devolution is really implemented, many things will be done in the local communities. At the moment, we still rely on central government. I don’t think the minister responsible for devolution really understands the concept.”

Devolution is meant to ensure the preservation of national unity, democratic participation in government by all citizens and communities and the equitable allocation of national resources and the participation of local communities in the determination of development priorities within their areas.

Doing away with the centralised system would improve service delivery, which collapsed in the past two decades.

On constitutional amendments, Moyo said government had misplaced priorities.

“The problem of the government is their priority. They are busy saying they want to gain public confidence and public trust, but when you come up with a controversial programme like the constitutional amendment, you lose on national confidence and trust including your international friends,” he said, adding that government should not interfere with the Judiciary.

Moyo said the government could legally amend the Constitution, but morally, it was wrong as they must respect citizens’ views.

Letrica Mumba, one of the guests, said the Constitutional Amendment Bill was retrogressive and inimical to the progress achieved in 2013.

“We are going back to the time when we had one centre of power, where the President would hire and fire someone and that is shown by most of the clauses,” Mumba said.

“The clause clearly states that the President can appoint a public protector; the President can appoint judges in consultation with so and so. Let’s take into account that consultation does not mean agreement.”

Mumba said the President can consult, but the final decision was his. The meeting was attended by residents, civic society organisations and political party representatives.

By SIMBARASHE SITHOLE

THREE Harare men will spend 40 days in jail for trespassing into Jumbo Mine area, Mazowe, which has since been declared a no-go area for artisanal miners.

Alfred Chikwadze (35) from Waterfalls, Obvious Nyamutukwa (24) and Samuel Sithole (26) both from Chitungwiza pleaded guilty to trespassing when they appeared before Concession magistrate Nyasha Machirori.

Machirori slapped the trio with 40 days in prison.

Prosecutor Kumbirai Nyamvura told the court that on January 21, police officers were conducting an operation dubbed Chikorokoza Ngachipere at Jumbo Mine where they came across the trio and asked for their travel passes which they failed to produce.

The police officers subsequently arrested the trio and charged them with criminal trespass.

In another case, magistrate Machiriori sentenced a Chiweshe man to 20 months in jail for stealing an elderly man’s groceries.

Peter Mushayi (27) pleaded not guilty to the charge, but was convicted after full trial.

The magistrate suspended 12 months of the sentence on condition the convict does not committee a similar offence for the next five years.

The court heard that on January 11, the convict took advantage of the absence of the complainant Samuel Hondoyedzomba (72) and broke into his kitchen.

Mushayi stole groceries valued at $3 275.

When Hondoyedzomba returned home, he discovered that his groceries were missing and was informed by neighbours that Mushayi had stolen them.

He filed a police report, leading to Mushayi’s arrest and goods worth $60 were recovered.

Nyamvura prosecuted.

BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA

MDC top official Tracy Mutinhiri has quit politics ending her long political career that saw her flirting with both the ruling Zanu PF party and the main opposition movement.

The firebrand politician, who once served as Labour minister, joined the MDC when it was still led by the late founder Morgan Tsvangirai after being expelled from Zanu PF in August 2011 on allegations of going against party policies and directives.

Mutinhiri announced her decision to leave the MDC and political arena in a letter dated February 5 and addressed to party leader Nelson Chamisa.

“This letter serves to inform you that I am tendering my resignation from your party with immediate effect. I would like to take this opportunity to thank most sincerely the late Morgan Tsvangirai who accepted me and accommodated me when I was expelled from Zanu PF and indeed yourself in the MDC family. I wish your party the best luck in its endeavours,” the letter read.

After crossing the floor, Mutinhiri faced criticism from the MDC family who accused her of being a spy sent to destroy the party from within.

She, however, held different posts including being a member of the national executive council which she held until her resignation.

“I confirm that I am no longer with the MDC. I am now concentrating on my farming business,” she told NewsDay yesterday.

She owns a farm outside Marondera. Mutinhiri is not the first to leave the opposition party from the province.

Her departure follows that of another stalwart and former Marondera Central MP Ian Kay who left the opposition party a few years ago in protest over Tsvangirai’s long stay as MDC leader.

BY BRENNA MATENDERE

NURSES at the Midlands General Hospital in Gweru on Wednesday declared incapacitation and agreed with authorities that they would now embark on flexi hours, whereby they report for duty twice a week.

Earlier, the nurses had staged a demonstration and marched around the hospital complaining over poor salaries and working conditions.

Robert Chiduku, president of the Zimbabwe Professional Nurses Union confirmed the development.

Chiduku is also a nurse at the Midlands General Hospital in Gweru.

“We held a meeting on Wednesday with the acting medical superintendent, Dr Tendai Chandaengerwa, and we formally informed them that nurses at the hospital would only be reporting to work two days in a week because of incapacitation,” he said.

“We also had representatives from the Zimbabwe Nurses Association in the meeting and we all spoke with one voice.”

The development will come as a major blow because the hospital is the biggest health institution in the province, catering for all emergency cases referred from 28 district hospitals.

“It is not something new in the country that nurses work two days in a week. Since last year, nurses in cities like Harare and Bulawayo have not been working for all days. It is only here where we were still reporting for duty all the days. However, due to incapacitation, we have now been left with no option, but to follow suit,” Chiduku said.

“Our demands are just like those of the other nurses countrywide, where we are saying we want salaries indexed to the interbank rate using those we were getting during the multi-currency era. We also want improved working conditions.”

Hospital spokesperson Clarence Pedzi refused to comment and referred questions to the institution’s medical superintendent, Fabian Mashingaidze.

However, he was said to be out of the country and was not reachable.

Midlands provincial medical director Solomon Nyadundu said: “I am not on the ground to provide finer details. Please get in touch with the hospital’s public relations officer.”

BY NQOBANI NDLOVU

MIDLANDS Senator Lillian Timveous (MDC Alliance) is set to appear in court today facing charges of threatening to destroy Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s (Zec) offices in Zvishavane ahead of the July 31, 2018 elections.

Timveous also faces charges of stopping a Zec Zvishavane district election officer, Regressa Dube, from distributing ballot papers to voters who had applied for postal voting on July 15, according to summons.

She also faces two charges of disrupting operations at Zec’s Zvishavane offices, even threatening to use violence, charges that MDC chairperson Thabitha Khumalo dismissed as ludicrous yesterday.

“… at the Zec (offices at) government complex in Zvishavane, Lillian Timveous, being a member of the MDC Alliance, unlawfully obstructed Regressa Dube, who is a Zvishavane district election officer, from issuing postal ballot papers to voters who had applied for postal voting, that is to say Lillian Timveous dispersed the postal ballot voters who were receiving their ballot envelopes containing postal ballot papers from Regressa Dube,” the summons read.

Zanu PF won the elections, but the opposition MDC has refused to recognise the ruling party’s victory, arguing that Zec manipulated the results.

“… Timveous, being a member of the MDC Alliance, unlawfully threatened to damage Zvishavane Zec offices where Regressa Dube, the Zvishavane district election officer, works from that is to say Lillian Timveous uttered that be guarded continuously or else she was going to break into Zvishavane Zec offices,” the second charge reads.

In an interview, the MDC chairperson said this was confirmation enough that the opposition party was under siege.

“It’s just political persecution of the party for daring to tell the truth that they (government) have failed. The charges do not make any sense at all. We are under siege,” Khumalo told NewsDay.

The MDC has complained over State-sponsored persecution of its members, charges government officials have on several occasions denied and, instead, accused the opposition party of wilfully violating the country’s laws.

BY FREEMAN MAKOPA

COMMUNITY Newspapers’ Association of Zimbabwe (CNAZ) chairperson Jasper Maposa has resigned in protest over irregularities and corruption allegedly dogging the organisation.

Maposa tendered his resignation letter on Monday alleging that the association had been marred by serious governance challenges, leading to coffers being turned into the board members’ feeding trough.

In a letter addressed to the association’s secretary-general Owen Matava, Maposa said: “I have given my resignation careful thought and I am convinced that with my age I have much to gain by leaving CNAZ and focus on other things than hold on to a forlorn dream. Leading an institution like CNAZ replete with open and latent internal contradictions has been for me nothing, but a puerile gesture in discontent.”

Maposa said he had found his job difficult in propelling the organisation to desired levels because of spanners being thrown into his works by people who were also eyeing his position.

“This is also a calculated ploy by those who want to occupy the position of the chairperson by abusing the national co-ordinator (Maggie Mzumara) for their personal gains. I can’t continue with an institution that has no clear separation of roles as conflict has become endemic to our every attempt to bring robust policy directions. I don’t desire to whittle down my chances of doing something better in life by holding on to an institutional carriage creaking on its hinges,” he said.

Maposa said CNAZ has to choose whether they want to have significant support from a broad spectrum of stakeholders or enjoy sustained mediocrity.

“It boggles my mind to see that we have dismally failed to be part of the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) and we appear like a nestling terminally incapable of flying. Remaining outside institutions like MAZ is indicative of our failure to match the governance benchmarks expected by such a mother body for the media in Zimbabwe ,” Maposa said
“I have also realised some board members abused donor funds in their other roles and their presence in the board remains a heavy albatross on CNAZ and scares away potential funding partners. The contents of this letter might attract vitriol and deep revulsion, but I stand firm on whatever I have said and I am unapologetic.”

Maposa added that it became increasingly difficult to offer guidance to a national co-ordinator who was also a publisher because of the dual nature of her roles.

Contacted for comment, Matava said: “Wait, let me talk to him (Maposa) because the letter will tarnish the association; I want to talk to your source because he was not supposed to do that because that will affect the association. As we are at our infancy, problems are encountered and the issues that he (Maposa) raised, if we blow them out of proportion we are not building the community media, people will actually celebrate and this will destroy the association.”

Mzumara could not be reached for a comment as her mobile phone went unanswered.

Repeated efforts for a comment failed as she did not respond to WhatsApp messages sent to her mobile phone since Wednesday.

BY Brenna Matendere

Two artisanal miners were confirmed dead, while 20 others were trapped underground following a mineshaft collapse at Globe and Phoenix Mine in Kwekwe yesterday.

Kwekwe district Department of Civil Protection head and district co-ordinator, Fortune Mpungu told NewsDay that the process of retrieving the bodies trapped underground was ongoing.

“I can confirm that a section of the mine collapsed. We are told that a huge boulder collapsed and it trapped the artisanal miners who were inside. So far we have retrieved two bodies and some are still trapped inside,” he said.

The mine is the oldest in Kwekwe having been pegged on the site of ancient gold workings in 1894 by prospectors Edward Thornton Pearson and Joseph Schukala.

It is located a few metres from the central business district westwards.

The mine has not been operating formally, having been shut down in 2017, but illegal miners have been clandestinely finding their way into the shafts during the night.

When NewsDay arrived at the scene yesterday, police and some artisanal miners were busy trying to retrieve the bodies and search for survivors. The bodies that had been retrieved were later ferried to Kwekwe General Hospital mortuary.

Mpungu said those trapped had trespassed into the shafts.

“Yes, no company has been operating at the mine lately, but the artisanal miners have just been sneaking into the underground shafts illegally. At this stage, we are not very sure of the numbers who are trapped in terms of the dead bodies, but we are working to retrieve all the dead bodies,” he said.

“What we have done is to use explosives to blast the huge boulder that is trapping the miners. That process is still ongoing and there is a big cloud of dust underground right now which makes us unable to see anything or count the bodies.”

Sources said the artisanal miners have been blasting the pillars that hold up the mine tunnels, resulting in the entire underground system weakening, which ultimately resulted in the mine collapse.

However, Mbizo MP Settlement Chikwinya (MDC) said some people indicated to him that about 15 people could be trapped underground.

“It is reported that the artisanal miners enter through a pit on the southern side of town and work on the old workings left by the previous mining company. This then weakens the roof of the tunnels resulting in the pillars falling and this is what happened in this case. There are four people confirmed to be under the boulder although the actual total figure is suspected to be about 15,” he said.

BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA

MDC-T legislator Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga (proportional representation) yesterday said the 2018 elections were handled better than previous elections and praised President Emmerson Mnangagwa as a reformer.

Speaking after meeting visiting Norwegian leader of the standing committee of foreign affairs and defence, Anniken Huitfeldt at Parliament Building, Misihairabwi-Mushonga, who was representing the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, said even election observers endorsed the 2018 polls as “better than before”.

“I speak from an opposition point of view and want to say this is the first time I had a peaceful election. In previous elections, I used to go into hiding because the situation was risky,” she said.

The MP, from the Thokozani Khupe-led MDC-T, said even international observers were allowed into the country during the 2018 elections.

However, the legislator said there were post-electoral problems like the August 1, 2018 violence, which resulted in the Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry being set up to investigate the shooting to death of six civilians by the
military.

She told Huitfeldt that some of the recommendations by the Motlanthe Commission were that there must be political reforms.

Misihairabwi-Mushonga then praised Mnangagwa as a reformer, adding that people must acknowledge him for the work that he was doing.

“The President is one of the reformers and if he moves in a particular direction and if there is no acknowledgement of the changes that he is making, then we are strengthening the hardliners also. The Foreign Affairs minister (Sibusiso Moyo) is one of the reformists we have and he has pushed for reforms,” she said.

Misihairabwi-Mushonga said the international community was hostile to Zimbabwe because they did not like the late former President Robert Mugabe.

“They had a problem with the individual and not the party,” she said.

Huitfeldt, who is in the country for three days to meet different political players and the European Union, told NewsDay that she wanted to learn more about Zimbabwe’s post-electoral environment after the developments of the 2018 general elections.