Tee Mak and Enzo Ishall [Pic by Ronald Magweta]

BY CHENGETO CHIDI

ZIMDANCEHALL chanter Kudzanai Mamhare, popularly known as Enzo Ishall in entertainment circles, has said there is no bad blood between him and his former promoter, Passion Java.

Addressing the press at a Harare Hotel this morning, where the Kanjiva hitmaker signed a three-year contract with 23-year-old Malaysia-based millionaire Teemak, Enzo Isall cleared the air over his alleged fallout with the UK-based promoter Java.

“Nothing happened between me and Java. He came and helped me,” he said.

This comes after social media had been awash with news of the fallout, which also sucked in Mbare-based studio Chillspot Records.

Enzo Ishall however said he has cut ties with Chillspot, where Java is believed to hold a stake.

“Chillspot Records is my home. We were taught things like loyalty and respect. Wherever I am going to go, I will carry that with me,” he said.

The musician, who recently deleted his previous Instagram post and started afresh, expressed gratitude over the assistance he received from Java, whom he however said had officially signed him on.

“I was not signed by Prophet Passion but he helped me…we really appreciate his role in Zimdancehall,” he said.

The three-year contract they signed today comes with monthly allowances with room for increase, a five-figure United States dollar amount, international tours as well as local and international collaborations.

Enzo Ishall hinted on an upcoming album which will include production with Chillspot Records, Oskid and DJ Tamuka.

As the journey with Teemak Promotions has begun, the musician said he was eager to learn from his mistakes and did not blame Java for his Highest Score video which was considered a flop by his fans. 

“When I get disappointed, I take it as a lesson,” he said.

Teemak, who started off as an artiste himself and worked with international musicians including Boity, Nasty C and Tekno said he had a vision of nurturing local talent.

“I am not here for money, I want to inspire the youth,” he said.

BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE

Zimbabwe 358 & 30/0 * (17 ov), Sri Lanka
515/9d. Zimbabwe trail by 127 runs with 10 wickets remaining
Veteran batsman Angelo Matthews starred with the bat for visiting Sri Lanka after he struck an unbeaten double ton to give his side an edge over hosts Zimbabwe on the fourth day of their first Test at Harare Sports Club yesterday.

Sri Lanka managed to post a huge first innings total which saw them declare on 515 for the loss of nine wickets, with a 157 run lead.

The hosts, dismissed for 358 in their first innings, were 30 without loss at stumps and reduced Sri Lanka’s lead to 127.

But the star of the day was Matthews who began the day on 92 and went on to reach 200 in the last session of the day which prompted the team to declare after posting a plus 500 total.

Matthews has been struggling for runs in recent months and could only manage a high score of 30 runs in the two-match Test series against Pakistan last month.

The all-rounder, who has 84 Tests under his belt, spent 10 hours on the crease and reached the milestone in 468 balls.

For Zimbabwe, it was Sikandar Raza who was the most successful bowler on a wicket that gave little and nothing at all.

Raza had a chance for a hattrick when he accounted for Suranga Lakmal (27) and Lasith Embuldeniya (0) in successive balls late in the Sri Lanka innings.

Having earlier claimed the big wicket of Niroshan Dickwella (63), leg before wicket, Raza finished with figures of 3 for 62.

Sri Lanka began the day trailing the hosts by 63 runs and were pegged back in the first session when debutant Victor Nyauchi got the wicket of Dhananjaya de Silva early on.

His replacement Dickwella went on to share a sixth wicket partnership of 136 runs with Matthews.

Nyauchi finished impressive bowling figures of three for 69 in his first Test innings while captain Sean William managed two for 104.

After an unfortunate incident in which opener Kevin Kasuza was hit by as ball on the head while fielding he had to be replaced by another debutant Brian Mudzinganyama.

Mudzinganyama (15) opened the batting with Prince Masvaure (9) as Zimbabwe began their second innings and both batsmen managed to preserve their wickets at stumps.

Zimbabwe will be looking to bat the whole day today as they seek to save the tie while Sri Lanka are hoping that the hosts capitulate in the chase to give them an unlikely victory.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Under-19 side crushed out of the ICC World Cup after losing to Pakistan by 38 runs at the Witrand Oval, Potchefstroom yesterday in their second game at the tournament.

Pakistan ensured their qualification to Super League quarter-finals while Zimbabwe will now compete in the Plate League as they can no longer finish among the top two teams in Group C.

Zimbabwe lost to Bangladesh by nine wickets in their first match and are scheduled to play Scotland in their final group match on Saturday.

BY HENRY MHARA

Zifa have said they will attend the Cosafa annual general meeting set for South Africa at the weekend, despite the regional football governing body earlier this week barring the association from attending the congress.

Cosafa on Tuesday wrote to Zifa advising them that they will not be allowed to attend the meeting set for Saturday at the Southern Sun OR Tambo Hotel in Johannesburg, because they are not in good standing due to non-payment of annual subscriptions.

Cosafa secretary-general Sue Destombes said in the letter that she had been advised by the body’s emergency committee that Zifa owed some monies, and as such they were not eligible for the indaba.

However, the Felton Kamambo-led Zifa are adamant that they will attend the meeting. In their response to Cosafa, the local football mother body claimed that the statutes that Cosafa are using to bar them are non-existent.

“The decision is alleged to have been made by the Emergency Committee of Cosafa. A reading of the Cosafa statutes will reveal that such a committee is non-existent. Article 10 and Article 11 provide for the establishment of the executive committee and the duties and powers of the executive committee. There is no provision creating the emergency committee of Cosafa. As such the alleged decision was made by a non-existent committee of Cosafa. It is a nullity and will accordingly be ignored with the contempt it deserves,” read part of the letter by Zifa general secretary Joseph Mamutse.

The association claims that they made a payment plan to service the debt, after they asked Fifa to pay the money direct to Cosafa from the annual grant due to Zimbabwe.

“The said arrangement was approved by Fifa and communication to yourselves was made in that regard. It must be noted that Cosafa concurred with the arrangement. It is therefore misleading to state that Zifa failed to pay its subscription fees to Cosafa. It is further a travesty of justice to seek to suspend Zifa for failure to pay subscriptions while Cosafa is aware that the payment is to be done and that Fifa has made a commitment to pay the required amount.”

Zifa claims that their suspension had nothing to do with the debt, but it is part of a spirited campaign by Cosafa boss Philip Chiyangwa to exclude Zimbabwe from the meeting after they threatened to move a motion to recall him from his position on corruption allegations.

Zifa said the decision to bar or suspend a member association could only be made by the executive committee, which is set to sit on Friday, and needs ratification by the general assembly.

They said even if they had refused to pay the subscription, the Cosafa constitution (article 25.7), allows them to attend the general assembly, but will have their right to vote forfeited in the event that the suspension has been ratified.

“We are of the firm view that the letter of the 20th was motivated by a desire to bar us from attending the general assembly simply on the basis that we have our own issues with the incumbent president (Chiyangwa). The timing of your letter exposes this desire. All along, no demand was ever made to us for the payment alleged. We, therefore, believe that the nature of the letter is just to harass us as an association. We, therefore, advise that we are prepared to make good any payment which is legally due to you. Advise us by return post of such a fee so as to enable us to make arrangements with Fifa that same be remitted to yourself. We, therefore, advise that we shall be attending the general assembly as per our constitutional right.”

BY BRENNA MATENDERE

GWERU council management and councillors have clashed over the $1,8 billion 2020 budget — a 3 900% hike from 2019’s $46 million — sent for approval to Local Government minister July Moyo without consensus, council minutes reveal.

Already some services have been hiked with burial fees going from $80 to $1 097.

Rentals for council-owned two-roomed houses in Mkoba where tenants were paying $40 have been raised to $600 a month.

Home-seekers wishing to settle in Gweru by way of building houses will also have to dig deeper into their pockets. Occupation certificate fees have been raised from $30 to $5 000 while beacon relocation which was previously $150 now costs $9 000.

A fuel service station licence that is renewed annually has risen from $3 000 to $84 000, while, yearly licence fees for surgeries are now $40 000.

Minutes of a closed-door full council meeting held on December 6 last year show that councillors threw brickbats at acting finance director Owen Masimba for sending the $1,8 billion budget to Moyo without consensus between management and the city fathers.

The minutes show that councillors Albert Chirawu and Trust Chineni berated management and insinuated that it conducted a “coup d’etat” on the councillors.

“The budget for 2020 for Gweru was supposed to be multiplied with that of 2019 using the interbank rate which was at $16 per US$1. This means that since our budget of 2019 was $46 million so if we multiplied that by 16 we were supposed to get about $734 million. This figure of $1,8 billion is unjustified,” Chirawu said then.

According to the minutes, other councillors concurred with Chirawu.

Gweru Residents Forum director, Charles Mazorodze, yesterday said it was absurd for council to increase its budget to such high levels considering that people struggled to pay for services even when they were still cheaper.

“Last year residents of Gweru were failing to pay for services pegged at the $46 million budget. Now that the budget will have fees that are pegged using the $1,8 billion budget, it is difficult to believe that they will afford,” he said.

“At the moment council is owed millions by the residents who failed to pay last year, so it just indicates that the situation will be worse this year given the new higher fees,” Mazorodze said.

Council spokesperson Vimbai Chingwaramusee said the $1,8 billion figure was arrived at after factoring in the prevailing economic climate. She said minister Moyo was yet to approve the budget.

“It has not yet been approved. We adjusted the budget in line with the prevailing economic situation. The local authority will consider the complaints from residents as it remains sensitive to their plight,” she said.

Deputy mayor Cleopas Shiri told Southern Eye that the councillors agreed to have an implementation matrix of the budget in which charges will be increased every three months instead of once off.

“There is a standing resolution that council will come up with an implementation matrix of the proposed budget,” he said.

editorial comment

FOR 40 years, Zimbabwe has produced real talent such as Bruce Grobbelaar and Peter Ndlovu on the soccer field, who went on to be snapped up by foreign clubs and did the country much proud. Unfortunately, that talent has failed to shore up the country’s performances at the international level, with the southern African nation making feeble attempts at continental and World Cup titles.

And again this year, Zimbabwe is on the field attempting to yet again prove its worth in the footballing fraternity. This week, the country’s senior men’s soccer team was drawn into Group G for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, a group in which many believe the country has a real chance of, for the first time, reaching the global soccer showcase. The group has three others, giants Ghana, perennial chancers South Africa and minnows Ethiopia.

While, indeed, Zimbabwe has a real chance of qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar, everything will boil down to how the country’s soccer administrators approach the challenge ahead.

Past experience has shown that even with the best talent in its team the country has floundered and left citizens heart-broken, with many suspecting foul play in the form of match-fixing. To prove this allegation at one time, the country was embroiled in a messy match-fixing saga, albeit the matches having been mere friendly matches. The matter left our image blemished.

For the Warriors team to break the jinx that has denied them and the country soccer glory, those at Zifa and the players themselves need to keep remembering that such opportunities should never be missed because they open up opportunities for them as individuals and raise the country’s profile.

It is undeniable that in the past, egos and selfish agendas betrayed us as a nation. And we do hope that this time around the players and Zifa keep the nation at heart. This is a perfect opportunity to shake off the whipping boys status. This is the chance to club with the giants.

We also hope that government will come on board in a big way in terms of availing adequate financial support so that our lads banish the thoughts of selling games to feed their families.

If the country adequately awards the Warriors for their efforts, we are sure this match-fixing scourge and poor performances at the critical moment will never visit our camp again. Good luck Warriors!

BY PRAISEMORE SITHOLE

NATIONAL Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has revealed that it has lost US$3 663 725 to theft and vandalism of rail infrastructure between 2018 and 2019.

The parastatal complained that despite the arrest of some criminals, it was disappointing that they were given short sentences which are not deterrent.

NRZ spokesperson Nyasha Maravanyika on Friday said vandalism and theft were a major drawback to the efficient running of the rail company.

“From 2018 to 2109 we have lost infrastructure worth US$3 663 725,” he said.

“We have experienced theft and vandalism of copper, point machines, interlocking equipment accessories, telegraphic poles and copper cables worth US$1 144 403.”

Maravanyika said theft and vandalism was experienced nationally, but mostly in secluded areas where lighting was poor and areas close to settlements both rural and urban.

“Some of the infrastructure that have been vandalised include Saw Mills along the Victoria Falls-Bulawayo rail line, Mpopoma, Masasa in Harare, Kwekwe, Gweru, Shamwari and Dabuka,” he said.

He said NRZ had replaced infrastructure worth US$200 000 which was not enough to bring it back to its feet.

“Vandalism and theft have had a serious impact on NRZ as it affects service delivery, the safety and security of both the passengers and their goods. There are also delays on routes due to manual cranking of point machines to set the route among other problems,” Maravanyika said.

“People need to know that infrastructure does not belong to NRZ or any institution. The infrastructure belongs to us as Zimbabweans, therefore, let us all cooperate because maize, cooking oil are transported through the rail.”

Maravanyika said they had taken various measures including awareness campaigns to alleviate the challenges, which include rewarding whilstleblowers.

He, however, called for deterrent sentences to be imposed on vandals.

“The judiciary and the police are not hitting hard on the criminals, they are being given six months in prison and sometimes there are serious delays in courts to finalise the matters,” Maravanyika said.

BY EVERSON MUSHAVA

TUESDAY’S Supreme Court ruling declaring that debts owed in United States dollars (US$) incurred on or before February 22, 2019 should be settled using the Zimdollar at a 1:1 parity will further deepen investor mistrust and complicate the prospects of economic revival, analysts have said.

The court upheld a government decree introduced in February last year through Statutory Instrument 33/2019 that converted debts accumulated in US$ to the local RTGS currency.

The ruling came after Zambezi Gas Zimbabwe Pvt Ltd appealed against two judgments of the High Court in June 2018 and May 2019 ordering the company to pay coal and chrome mining company, NR Barber Pvt Ltd, over US$3,8 million in debts.

Economist Godfrey Kanyenze said the ruling had thrown the country on the edge of an economic precipice exacerbated by worsening investor confidence, thereby jeopardising the country’s prospects of economic revival.

“We have regularised the abnormal and now, in terms of prospects of economic revival, the year 2020 will be complex due to the deepening mistrust and lack of investor confidence in the government,” Kanyenze said.

“No investor will want to keep money in the country. This is the second time assets have been transferred from the creditors to the borrowers.”

Kanyenze said the financial services and real estate sectors will be the worst hit.

“The people in debt will celebrate, creditors will mourn, which destroys the basis of the sanctity of lending and borrowing. This destroys the basis of the society, store of value and medium of exchange,” he said.

Kanyenze said government was the biggest beneficiary of SI 33/19 which eroded salaries as well as consumer buying power.

Another economic analyst John Robertson said there was need for government to change its policies and attitudes if ever it was to entertain prospects of economic recovery. He said Chief Justice Luke Malaba’s ruling maintained the 1:1 parity but at the same time mentioned the issue of value, which is at the core of the problems in Zimbabwe.

“The value of a Zimbabwe dollar today is between one seventeenth and one twenty-fifth of its value a year ago,” Robertson said.

“Unfortunately, government appears to be determined to pay back only a fraction of the amount they borrowed by selling Treasury Bills to our pension funds and banks. Even more unfortunately, they borrowed billions of US dollars and they don’t have, and never did have billions of US dollars to settle the debts.

“Creating and then devaluing the RTGS dollars was government’s only way out of debt because they now want to pay six US cents-worth of Zimbabwe money for every US dollar they borrowed. Once again, our bank balances and pension fund savings have been almost wiped out.

“To rescue the country, we have to start now to behave in ways that persuade investors that we are deserving of their trust. That will call for a complete change in government policies and attitudes.”

UK-based Zimbabwean lawyer, Alex Magaisa, in his legal opinion released on Tuesday, described the ruling as a “greatest heist” by government, saddled by an US$11 million domestic debt, adding it was “hard to make sense of the reasoning” of the judges.

“A reduction in an asset from US$3,8 million to US$144 000 is, by all accounts, a serious erosion and violation of one’s private property rights,” he said, adding the judges’ argument showed that there was erosion of private property rights.

“The government has reduced its domestic debt by theft. All those who are owed by the government must count their losses,” he said.

“One thing for sure though is that this judgment brings to the fore the hazardous nature of the Zimbabwean economic terrain for those engaged in trade and commerce. Just a simple decree can have devastating consequences.”

Lawyer Tawanda Nyambirai said the ruling was simply confirming what had been in place since February last year when SI 33 was introduced. “The effect was that all balances except foreign debts would be converted to local currency,” Nyambirai said.

“All our balances that were in US$ were converted using the 1:1 exchange rate. The effects, we started feeling them last year. The effects were devastating on employees, Zimbabwe dollar loosing value on fixed salaries pegged on US$. Consumers were affected and so were retailers who benchmarked their prices to the parallel rate where consumer spending had been cut. People were impoverished.”

He added: “This is why I applied to the High Court challenging SI 33 because it constitutes compulsory acquisition or deprivation of property without compensation.”

Nyambirai filed an urgent chamber application in July last year challenging SI 33, which now constitutes Financial Amendment No 7. The court, however, ruled that the application was not urgent and had to give the opposing part time to file heads of argument, which they have now done and await a court date.

BY RICHARD MUPONDE

LATE notorious armed robber Edmund Edgar Masendeke’s two siblings have been arrested by the police crack team targeting machete gang leaders after they allegedly assaulted and robbed a motorist of US$300 in Kwekwe last week .

The Masendeke brothers — Edward, Kudzai and two accomplices were arrested over the weekend after robbing a motorist (not named in police records) along the Kwekwe-Harare Highway.

They produced machetes, dragged the motorist out of the car before assaulting and robbing him of hard currency.

National police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi yesterday said he would get back to NewsDay after getting details of the case.

The case was reported at Kwekwe Central Police Station under RRB 4031491.

Allegations against the Masendeke brothers, Edward (42) of 449 B Section 6 and his sibling, Kudzai (26) of 180 Section 5 Mbizo suburb and their two accomplices, Lovemore Magorimbo (28) of Riffle Range Road Chegutu, Nesbert Banda (39) of Flat 4 D, Amaveni, Kwekwe, are that on January 11 at around 11:30am they followed the complainant who was driving a Honda Fit vehicle along the Kwekwe-Harare Highway.

He parked his vehicle at a truck inn. Before he disembarked, the robbers arrived in a Mercedes Benz with South African registration numbers.

They produced machetes and dragged the motorist out of the car, assaulted him and robbed him.

On Saturday, a police crack team hunting machete gang leaders received information that the four were involved in the armed robbery.

Acting on the tip-off they arrested Magorimbo who admitted that he, indeed, robbed the complainant and implicated Banda, leading to his arrest.

Banda also implicated Magorimbo and Edward.

He then led detectives to Edward’s hideout who also reportedly admitted committing the offence.

It was also discovered that all the suspects had been released from remand prison on bail last year on charges of murder and armed robbery.

It has emerged that Edward is on bail pending murder trial.

He had been on the run since 2013 and was arrested in September 2018 after he resurfaced at his elder brother Elson’s funeral.

Edward, together with accomplices Walter Mahofa and Justice Mukarati, allegedly assaulted Jonathan Mpofu and his siblings Ernest and the late Elson following a misunderstanding in a bar in 2013.

Mpofu died on the spot from the assault.