BY CHARLES LAITON

HIGH Court judge Justice Phildah Muzofa has ordered Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi to respond, within seven days of receiving the court’s order, to Intratek Zimbabwe director Wicknell Chivayo’s request to have his South African lawyer granted an exemption certificate.

The businessman, whose acquittal on a US$5,6 million fraud charge has been challenged by the Prosecutor General (PG) Kumbirai Hodzi, approached the High Court seeking an order to compel Ziyambi to respond to his request for an exemption certificate to enable Advocate Zacharius Joubert SC, to represent him in the appeal set for February 10.

Chivayo’s application came after the Registrar of the Supreme Court indicated to his lawyers, Musunga and Associates that the PG’s appeal had been set down for hearing.

However, Chivayo, who was previously represented by Advocate Adrian de Bourbon said, his lawyer of choice, Advocate Joubert SC, had not yet been granted authority to appear before the Zimbabwean judges.

Chivayo said his efforts to secure a lawyer of choice, however, had been hampered by Ministry of Justice permanent secretary Virginia Mabhiza, who on behalf of Ziyambi, denied his (Chivayo) application “on the basis that South Africa is not a reciprocating country as such advocates from that country could not be allowed to participate in Zimbabwe”.

But, after deliberating on the matter Justice Muzofa ruled in Chivayo’s favour.

“The first respondent (Minister of Justice) be and is hereby directed to make a decision on applicant’s (Chivayo) application dated September 6, 2019 within seven days of notification of this order. Leave be and is hereby granted to the applicant’s legal practitioners to effect service of this provisional order upon the respondents or their legal practitioners,” the judge said.

BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA

MY recent trip to Lome, the capital of the West African country, Togo, was memorable for my encounter with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, in the bog.

The smell of the fresh waters from the South Atlantic Ocean and the serene surroundings of dancing palm trees were nothing short of breath taking.

I made sure to take in everything I was seeing during my stay at the Sarakawa Hotel where I would be lodged for four nights from January 16 to 20.

I had gone to Togo for the landmark two-day summit on counterfeit drugs set for January 17 and 18, which saw seven western African nations sign an agreement to combat the sale of fake medicines in their respective countries. These were Niger, Gambia, Senegal, Ghana, Uganda, Congo-Brazzaville, and the host nation of Togo.

So big was the initiative that Museveni, President Macky Sall (Senegal) and Faure Gnassingbé (Togo) were in attendance.

Such high level presidential presence attracts tight security. So much such that a radius of about a kilometre around the hotel where the summit was taking place was cordoned off. Inside the hotel, it was no different as it was bustling with security.

Arriving for the signing of the agreement, I had to disembark from the bus I was on and get another some few hundred metres away from the hotel. From there, we stopped at the gate of the hotel and walked the rest of the way through vigorous security checks.

Following these checks, we entered the hotel were the ushers and security quickly showed us into the main conference room where we sat and waited for the arrival of the heads of State. It was only after an hour that they arrived and the summit officially kicked off.

Some time into the summit, a few minutes after Gnassingbé gave his opening remarks, I left the conference room to use ablution facilities. The gentlemen’s rest room was about 20 metres away. Upon entering it, I headed for one of the urinals to relieve myself.

But, moments later, three burly security agents burst into the facility, quickly checked all the cubicles before one of them rushed back outside and later returned with more security aides accompanying President Museveni.

At that point, while I was watching all the drama unfold with fascination, a towering, dark figure with the build of a wrestler tore off from the group and walked briskly towards me.

The security agent told me to leave, pee or no pee. His terrifying appearance brooked no nonsense.

I could not protest although I was not done with my business yet. So, I quickly complied, zipped my trousers and rushed out of the facility. On my way out, I noticed Museveni entering one of the cubicles, seemingly pressed as well, while the rest of the security team remained outside, alert and ready.

The ushers directed me to another facility up a flight of stairs to finish off my business.
As soon as I sat down, Museveni zoomed by heading back to the high table. In my mind I thought “so this is what power feels like”, no wonder he has a tight grip on it.

BY HENRY MHARA

OLYMPIQUE Lyonnais coach Rudi Garcia is excited that his club managed to gazump other European teams to secure the signature of Warriors star striker Tino Kadewere who he believes has a long bright future ahead of him.

The 24-year-old Kadewere was yesterday expected to have his medical at the Ligue 1 side before completing a €15 million switch from Ligue 2 team Le Havre on a four-and-half-year contract.

The huge fee that the French giants agreed to pay for Kadewere is the biggest transfer fee ever paid for a Zimbabwean footballer.

Kadewere will remain at Le Havre on loan until the end of this campaign, and will only join his new paymasters at the start of the next season.

Garcia yesterday spoke about the new arrivals at Olympique Lyonnais, popularly known as Lyon at the club’s press conference ahead of their match against Toulouse tomorrow.

He heaped praise on Kadewere and Karl Toko-Ekambi who joined on loan from Spanish side Villarreal.

Asked about Kadewere, Garcia said, “He should commit to the club in the next few hours. He is a good player with great potential. He must continue like this at Le Havre. Kadewere, this is the future. I insisted that we take an attacking player. We didn’t need two. It’s a wise decision to leave him (at Le Havre) until the end of the season.”

Le Havre reportedly insisted on taking the player back on loan for the remainder of the season during the transfer negotiations because they are fighting for promotion to Ligue 1 and they fear that losing their star striker would disrupt their season target.

Kadewere becomes the fourth Zimbabwean who has joined a team playing in one of the top European leagues.

Others include Marvelous Nakamba who plays for English Premiership side Aston Villa, Marshal Munetsi who turns out for Stade Reims in the French Ligue 1 and Warriors striker Knowledge Musona, who just joined Belgian league side CAS Eupen on loan from Anderlecht.

This development is good news for Warriors fans who want to see more Zimbabweans playing at a higher level in world football.

Kadewere is hot property in France at the moment after his impressive goal-scoring record this season for Le Havre, where he has netted an impressive 18 goals in 20 games as well as providing four assists to lead the goal-scoring chats in Ligue 2.

Opposition defenders in the Ligue 2 fear him, with AC Ajaccio defender Jérémy Choplin recently likening the former Harare City forward to Arsenal superstar Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Reports suggest that top European teams were jostling for Kadewere, including EPL teams Tottenham, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Southampton.

Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt and Turkish giants Galatasaray and Besiktas, as well as Spanish league side Real Valladolid are some of the major clubs that also reportedly inquired about Kadewere.

It is Lyon though who managed to outbid their rivals after reportedly tabling a salary offer of US$43 000 a week.

BY HENRY MHARA

COSAFA’S duplicity in banning Zifa from attending the regional football governing body’s annual general meeting (AGM) set for today has been exposed, revealing its dishonesty and vindictiveness.

Investigations by NewsDay Sport have revealed that while Zifa is indebted to Cosafa, the two bodies reached an agreement on December 31, 2019 that Fifa would pay the Zimbabwe football mother body’s debt by the end of this month.

But Cosafa attempted to ban Zifa from attending the AGM when the mother body said it would move a motion to remove Philip Chiyangwa as the head of the regional football body alleging corruption and fraud.

A defiant Zifa delegation led by its president Felton Kamambo left the country yesterday afternoon for South Africa where they intend to gate-crash into the meeting.

The AGM, which gathers all 14 member associations from the region gets underway this morning at the Southern Sun OR Tambo Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Information gathered by this publication show that on December 18, 2019, Cosafa wrote to Zifa demanding a balance payment of US$18 250 from a US$25 000 loan that was advanced to them two years ago, failure of which Zimbabwe would be barred from attending today’s meeting.

“We refer to the debt of US$18 250 which has been owing to Cosafa since 2018 and has been reflected in regular statements of account sent to the association.

“Despite ongoing correspondence and phone calls from Cosafa to the association in an attempt to recover this amount and to ensure that the association is in good standing, the amount remains unpaid.

“We are, therefore, requested to demand, as we hereby do, payment of US$18 250 in full, by deadline 30th December 2019 failing which we shall have no alternative but to invoke Article 27.6 of the Cosafa statutes.”

Zifa responded to Cosafa, informing them that they had asked Fifa to settle the debt on their behalf since they were having problems in transferring the money from Zimbabwe due to local monetary laws.

“We are in receipt of your demand letter on a loan you extended to Zifa at the behest of the then Zifa president and Cosafa president Chiyangwa.

“While it is a fact that this is an inherited bill, the association remain committed to clear (sic) it at the most opportune time.

“Previous joint efforts to have the money from Zimbabwe failed to yield any joy after the local Reserve Bank refused to sanction the payment and such was communicated to your office.

“You will, however, note [that] we have through our Cosafa prize money paid off part of the US$25 000 loan hence the reason the bill now stands at US$18 250.

“This letter seeks to inform your office that we have now requested for Fifa to deduct from our grant pencilled for January 2020 the amount due to you of US$18 250 and pay the same directly to Cosafa so that this matter is settled. We hope this request will meet your favourable consideration.”

In the letter, Zifa said they were worried about Cosafa’s tone, which already inferred that they were plotting punitive measures, which includes membership suspension.

Zifa argued they previously owed Cosafa R800 000 but were never threatened with suspension as the money would be deducted from prize monies each time Zimbabwe qualified for such money.

“It is [a] common secret that we are not in good books with the current Cosafa president (Chiyangwa) and we begin to wonder if the suggested punitive measures and deadlines are really divorced from our issues with Chiyangwa.

“This is so, especially when one considers that the loan was taken when Chiyangwa was Zifa president but no undue pressure was exerted on his administration to repay before he left office.

“One wonders whether the threat to suspend, if we do not settle by 31 December 2019, is not linked to the upcoming Cosafa AGM, where Zifa has requested that the Cosafa president’s interferences with our football be included in the agenda. We sincerely hope this is not another of the Cosafa president’s attempts to take away our voice.”

On the same day, Zifa wrote to Fifa requesting them to deduct the money from a grant that the local association receives annually.

Fifa, through its senior development manager Africa and Caribbean Region Subdivision member associations Solomon Mudege on December 31, 2019 responded: “We have taken note of Zifa’s request for Fifa to pay US$18 250 to Cosafa. This funds transfer would be deducted from Zifa’s operational costs funding.

“In Cosafa’s letter to Zifa, a deadline of 30 December 2019 is indicated. However, I assume that both Zifa and Cosafa will wait for Fifa’s response before any further action is taken.”
On January 9, Fifa confirmed that they would pay

BY FREEMAN MAKOPA

CHANTER Seh Calaz, born Tawanda Mumanyi, is one of the golden picks of the country’s dancehall movement, having sung his way to fame since 2013, picking up a number of controversies along the way.

Although the song Mabhanditi appeared to remain an underground track, the release of Mumota Murikubvira — which glorifies the use of marijuana — saw him dominating the airwaves.

He was voted the Best Male Dancehall Artiste at the King of the Dancehall Contest held in December 2013, where he pocketed R10 000.

A keen fashionista, the 29-year-old launched his own clothing label, Mabhanditi, which produces his stage costumes.

In May 2018, he was fined $100 by a Harare magistrate for recording the controversial song, Kurova Hohwa, which was classified as “obscene”.

On weed and smoking

I have sung a lot about weed, but I don’t smoke it.

Sexual innuendo

No comment. I got into trouble the last time over the same issue. People choose what they want to hear from it so I can’t keep explaining.

Dealing with fame

It’s only an issue when you are starting. In essence, it is a cycle of some sort. When you have passed the first phase of unknown to famous, you go back to being the person everyone knew before the fame. Humility is key because it’s the same people who made you famous so you have to still relate with them the same way every day.

Other interests outside music?

I am not at liberty to disclose other interests suffice to say that they are there and would ensure a bright future post-music career if that ever happens.

I spend time watching movies, especially Nigerian movies. I find them funny. Here and there I do find time to watch soccer.

Music choices

I listen to all music. You don’t know what you will learn and from who. I can’t pinpoint exactly but I’m fond of old timers who always had that genuine touch about them.

Best kept-secret

I’m a disciple of mastery. So I mastered music and that is my life.

Controversial love life

I don’t comment on such issues.

By Everson Mushava

A FIVE-MEMBER integrity panel set up by MDC leader Nelson Chamisa last year to probe corrupt activities involving party deployees in local authorities will target Harare City Council as its first assignment, investigating all the deals entered into by the opposition-run municipality.

Addressing journalists yesterday, the integrity and accountability panel chairman, Advocate Thabani Mpofu said his panel would recommend prosecution for criminal conduct not only in the MDC-run councils, but all tiers of government the party members are deployed.

Mpofu said his panel would not be averse to co-operation with government institutions such as the police, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission and the National Prosecuting Authority, but where those institutions would have failed to co-operate the panel would consider other legal means provided by the law.

“We will, in the coming weeks, turn our attention to the City of Harare. We intend to deal in the first instance with all the contracts, running contracts, unclosed contract, to which the City of Harare is part,” he said.

“We will look at the nature and number of contracts to which the City of Harare is part to, the identities of the contractors, the numbers by value, both in US dollar terms and in local dollar terms of the amounts involved in the contracts, the manner the contracts were awarded and the efficiency with which they are being performed, including the standard of work discharged by the contracted companies.

“We want to establish whether the people of Harare are receiving the benefits of those contracts.”
Last year, Chamisa formed the panel, which he said would investigate allegations of corruption within MDC-run councils to foster a culture of accountability and integrity.

The MDC controls the majority of urban local authorities in the country.

The councils have been accused of corruption, with Zanu PF using the allegations to discredit the opposition party’s ability to run the affairs of the country. But last year, Chamisa said he would weed out corrupt elements from the MDC.

Mpofu said the panel’s work won’t be a witch-hunting exercise and will not be limited to councils only.

BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE

POLICE have intensified the search for a top Defence ministry official, Danison Muvandi, who is on the run after allegedly swindling government of $306 135 in a cleaning service scam.

Prosecutor George Manokore said this while remanding other top Defence ministry officials, Peter Muchakadzi and Kunofiwa Madondo, who are facing similar charges.

Manokore told magistrate Hosea Mujaya that the police had arrested three suspects, Muchakadzi, Madondo and Laxwell Ngara and their trial date would be decided after the arrest of Muvandi.

Allegations are that from March to June 2019, Ngara connived with Muvandi, Muchakazi and Madondo and misrepresented to their superiors that the Defence ministry had received cleaning services from Maids on Wheels (Pvt) Limited.

They allegedly manufactured receipts purporting Maids on Wheels rendered cleaning services on different dates and all the fake invoices added up to $306 135.

The State alleges the trio sourced five fake invoices with a total value of $306 135 and originated minutes dated June 19, 2019 addressed to the finance and human resources director, Muvandi, who is the owner and signatory to the Maids on Wheels bank account.

The accused persons then allegedly attached the five invoices to the minutes with instructions for the payment without attaching the required award-of-tender letter specifying the job done and signed by the chairman of the procurement management unit.

It is alleged on June 20, 2019, the trio then took a payment request form to the chief accountant, who processed the payment.

Investigations revealed that no requisition was raised by the procurement management unit for cleaning services and there was no tender awarded to Maids on Wheels.

BY MOSES MATENGA

THE MDC has claimed that State security agents have been rattled by party leader Nelson Chamisa’s address on Tuesday and have activated their machinery to silence the opposition countrywide.

MDC deputy spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka alleged that the party had it on good authority that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government had put in motion a campaign targeting MDC officials and supporters.

“As despondent Zimbabweans brace for action to consign poverty and end their suffering, the Mnangagwa regime is planning to engage in nationwide terror tactics and abductions in a vain attempt to cow and intimidate a determined people,” he said, citing alleged impeccable sources within the Joint Operations Command (JOC) in Harare.

“President Chamisa’s call for nationwide action has shaken the regime to the core. The regime is now planning violence, night abductions and an assortment of terror tactics against innocent Zimbabweans in a vain attempt to stop an idea whose time has come.

“The regime has now fallen into its default mode of violence. Impeccable sources said the meeting held by JOC early this week had put in place elaborate plans to abduct and torture MDC leaders and party youths in the various townships in Harare so as to engender fear in the country in a desperate bid to stop Zimbabweans from engaging in peaceful action to express their displeasure at the parlous economic situation.”

Tamborinyoka said intimidation and terror tactics would not work.

Chamisa addressed his party supporters on Tuesday, where he called for action and also real dialogue between his party and Zanu PF, including the military.

Information permanent secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana laughed off the MDC claims.

“Firstly, government does not plot any acts of terror against anyone. Our role is to protect those who operate legally within our borders,” he said.

“The MDC Alliance is an entity that has a legal right to operate in Zimbabwe without breaking the law. So they will be protected by the State.

“But some of their utterances and claims, like this particular one, reflect delusions of persecution and an exaggerated sense of self-importance. After Mr Chamisa’s forgettable speech to a paltry crowd, one can understand these attention-hogging efforts to draw some kind of traction from what proved to be a damp squib of an event.”

There was violence in Mbare on Wednesday as youths from Zanu PF and MDC fought for turf in one of the country’s most populous high-density suburbs.

Zanu PF claimed three of its party supporters were injured, while three MDC supporters were reportedly arrested.

According to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), the three who were arrested are Jonathan Taiziwei (25), Cleopas Chinodya (32), who both reside at Nenyere Flats, and Elia Mutsindi (28) of Budiriro high-density suburb.

ZLHR said the three were charged with assault.

“ZRP officers alleged that Taiziwei, Chinodya and Mutsindi, who are informal traders operating in Mbare, assaulted some Zanu PF supporters, who were clad in the ruling party’s regalia after they visited their stall, where they operate from claiming to be conducting a clean-up exercise in the high-density suburb,” the lawyers said.

MDC chairperson for Harare province, Wellington Chikombo called on his counterpart, Oliver Chidawu, the acting chairman for Zanu PF in the capital, to call for peace and rein in his youth.

“Thuggocracy and tomfoolery in Zanu PF has reached celestial levels. I implore on my counterpart to stop his unemployed and unemployable from charging like bulls in a China shop,” Chikombo said.

“I urge him as my brother to stand up for tolerance, moderation and respect for others.
Exclusionary politics will lead us to chaos and violence. Our tolerance is what makes Harare.”

BY CHARLES LAITON

VICE-PRESIDENT Constantino Chiwenga has been ordered by the High Court to allow his estranged wife, Marry, to access the couple’s Borrowdale matrimonial home after castigating his use of the military to settle a matrimonial dispute.

The ruling against the VP came about after Marry was denied access to number 614 Nick Prince Drive, Borrowdale Brooke, Harare, and her children taken away from her soon after she was released from prison on $50 000 bail following her detention on charges of externalisation, attempted murder and money-laundering.

Soon after being released from prison, Marry arrived home on January 6, 2020 only to discover that her residence had been cordoned by the military, which denied her access to the property.

High Court judge Justice Christopher Dube-Banda, however, castigated the move taken by the VP, saying he ought to have respected the rule of law rather than taking the law into his own hands.
“To my mind, she may move out of such a home either by her consent or after the conclusion of the due process. She cannot be refused entrance to the matrimonial home by the members of the military. In fact, it is unacceptable and anathema to the constitutional values of this jurisdiction that the military may be used to settle a matrimonial dispute,” Justice Dube-Banda said.

“This is frightening and undermines the values inherent in our Constitution, which are the rule of law, supremacy of the Constitution, gender equality, fundamental human rights and freedoms and good governance … I find that applicant had discharged the onus on her of showing, on balance of probabilities, that an act of spoliation was committed against her in respect of number 614 Nick Prince Drive, Borrowdale Brooke, Harare. She has shown a real right, entitling her to find a final order of spoliation.”

Chiwenga argued that he could not allow Marry to reside at their Borrowdale Brooke mansion given that she allegedly attempted to kill him and also that the house has a sentimental value to him.

But Justice Dube-Banda ruled in Marry’s favour, saying Chiwenga had flouted the law.

“To ascertain whether spoliation has occurred, it is irrelevant in this inquiry in whose name the property is registered. The fact that applicant (Marry) was in prison from December 14, 2019 to January 6, 2020 does not take away the fact that she was unlawfully dispossessed of the property.
It is not necessary for the applicant to show continuous physical presence at the property. As long as she proves intention of securing a benefit from the property, it is sufficient,” he said.

“… My view is that an act of spoliation was committed against the applicant on January 6, 2020 when she was denied or refused entry into the property. Respondent (Chiwenga) has no defence to this act of spoliation. The property might be registered in his name, it might be of sentimental value to him, and might have no other home. However, all these do not amount to a defence in a case of spoliation. Mandament van spolie is a possessory remedy. Ownership does not come into the enquiry.”

Justice Dube-Banda noted said section 74 of the Constitution provides that no person may be evicted from their home without an order of the court made after considering all the relevant circumstances.

“What happened to the applicant must be a cause of fear and concern to all law-abiding citizens, wherever they are and their station life. It is in such situations that this court must step in, without fear or favour, to defend the Constitution and to defend the rule of law. There cannot be, in a constitutional democracy, a law for the powerful and a law for the weak. It is in such instances that this court must stand firm and apply the law without fear or favour,” the Judge said.

Turning to the issue of custody of the three minor children, the judge said Chiwenga had no right to seize the minors from their mother without following the due process of the law.

“… in terms of the rule of law, government and its officials and agents as well as individuals and private persons are accountable under the same law. The rule of law expresses the principle that all people are equal under the law, no one is above the law, and no one is below it. The courts exist to ensure that everyone is accountable to the law. The role of the courts is to protect the rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution. When an individual can show that his or her rights have been violated, the courts will provide a remedy. Everyone, whatever his or her rank, is subject to the law,” he said, ordering Chiwenga to release the three minors to their mother within 24 hours of the court order.

“In the result, I order as follows: the respondent (Chiwenga) is, hereby, ordered to restore the custody of the minor children (names withheld) to the applicant within 24 hours of this order.”

The court also interdicted Chiwenga from barring Marry to access her business at Orchid Gardens in Domboshava, about 30km north of Harare, accessing or possessing her clothes and further interdicted him from barring Marry from using all the vehicles she claimed the VP had seized from her.

“The respondent is, hereby, interdicted and restrained from interfering with applicant’s access to, use and enjoyment of the property known as Orchid Gardens, Domboshava, Harare. The respondent is, hereby, interdicted and restrained from interfering with applicant’s access to, use and enjoyment of the motor vehicles, namely Toyota Lexus, Mercedes-Benz S400, and Mercedes-Benz E350 (black).”

Chiwenga has since lodged an appeal to the Supreme Court.