By NQOBANI NDLOVU

A BULAWAYO-BASED Tyson Wabantu activist appeared in court on Monday charged with illegal distribution of the movement’s campaign fliers in the city.

Andifasi Banda, the Bulawayo Tyson WaBantu interim provincial mobilisation and recruitment secretary appeared before magistrate Lizwe Jamela facing a charge of contravening section 8(11) of the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act.

Banda, alongside former Zanu PF members, particularly from the G40 faction, last month unveiled the Tyson Wabantu movement in Bulawayo during roadshows held in the city’s high-density suburbs.

According to the State, Banda, who applied for police clearance on behalf of the movement to hold the roadshow allegedly failed to comply with the directive or condition under which the procession or public demonstration was authorised.

He allegedly went on to organise the procession of persons and vehicles where fliers written #Tyson Wabantu for My Hope, My Choice, My Voice were distributed in pursuit of a common purpose of demonstrating support for a political organisation namely National Patriotic Front (NPF), the State alleges.

Banda was remanded out of custody and advised that the matter would proceed by way of summons.

Banda, who is also the national commander of the Zimbabwe National Service Graduates Association, an association of the National Youth Service graduates, was represented by human rights lawyer Mehluli Dube.

Exiled former minister Saviour Kasukuwere, who is reportedly behind the Tyson Wabantu movement, did not hide his interest in leading the political project in an interview with a South Africa television station in December last year.

The movement, that draws its members mainly from Zanu PF’s G40, NYS members and expelled G40 members has set its sights on dislodging the ruling Zanu PF party from power in the 2023 elections.

BY Garikai Mafirakureva

MDC Bikita East ward 15 councillor Samson Dzinodya and his Zanu PF ward 19 counterpart Easeburn Chivasa are embroiled in a nasty wrangle over the distribution of government agricultural inputs.

Dzinodya is accusing Chivasa of roping in Zanu PF militia to usurp his authority and distribute inputs in his area to ruling party supporters without proper paperwork.

The MDC councillor said he had to write to the district development co-ordinator for Bikita, Bernard Hadzirabwi, complaining about the politicisation of government inputs.

He said Hadzirabwi had not responded to his complaints, resulting in the problem persisting.

Hadzirabwi confirmed receiving a letter from Dzinodya, but said government officials who were present during the distribution exercise told him everything was done above board.

“As far as I am concerned, everything went well, but after receiving the letter I cannot rule out that there might be some grey areas which need to be dealt with. So I have invited him to my office so that we can talk about the issue and map the way forward so that such incidents are never repeated again,” Hadzirabwi said.

Chivasa, however, played down the issue, saying he only participated in the distribution of the inputs in Dzinodya’s ward because he is a Zanu PF provincial member in the security department.

“Yes, I can confirm that I was present in Dzinodya’s ward during distribution of inputs. I feel he overreacted because as a fellow councillor, I was not supposed to be there, but I only attended the distribution exercise as a Zanu PF provincial member in the security department and not as a councillor,” Chivasa said.

“He just didn’t know that I and my fellow colleagues from Zanu PF were supposed to oversee every distribution process in the district. That is why he coerced heads to sign that false petition.”

Isaac Mashanda, a well-known Zanu PF member, who used to man the party’s district co-ordinating committee (DCC) officer before they (DCCs) were disbanded in June 2012, also confirmed that he was present, but was quick to say everything was done properly.

However, Dzinodya maintained that the distribution exercise was done fraudulently with several signatures being forged.

This led to 52 of the 75 village heads in ward 15 signing a petition which was copied to the DDC and Bikita Rural Council chief executive officer Peter Chibi in which they denounced the way the distribution process was conducted.

According to the village heads, women, the elderly, people living with disabilities as well as orphans and vulnerable children were left out during the distribution exercise as the inputs were looted by the Zanu PF militia.

Efforts to get a comment from Chibi were fruitless as his mobile was not reachable.

By NQOBANI NDLOVU

THE MDC-led Bulawayo City Council recently turned down the opposition party’s provincial structures’ request for free use of Stanley Square in Makokoba, Southern Eye has learnt.

The councillors argued that allowing the MDC to use the facility for free was tantamount to abuse of office and would set a bad precedence.

According to a recent council report, MDC Bulawayo provincial administrator Sithabile Moyo wrote to council on December 4, 2019 requesting the free use of Stanley Square for an event scheduled for December 21 where party leader Nelson Chamisa was expected to be the guest of honour.

Council normally grants free use of its stadia and other facilities for charity and national events such as Independence, Heroes and Defence Forces Day, among others. Special needs groups are also eligible to use council facilities for free upon application.

The councillors said acceding to the MDC request would open floodgates for abuse of council facilities by political parties.

“Normally there were costs involved and council did not want to set a precedence. Zanu PF recently paid for the use of Stanley Square. Alderman Clayton Zana wanted to know if other parties were paying. Alderman Monicah Lubimbi suggested that if other parties were paying, MDC should also pay,” read the minutes.

Councillors Donaldson Mabuto, Frank Javangwe and Joyce Ndlovu concurred.

“Councillor Silas Chigora said the party should pay even though Zanu PF usually abused council facilities. Councillor Arnold Batirai and Tawanda Ruzive proposed to pay for the party,” the minutes read.

Thereafter, it was resolved that the request for free use by MDC Bulawayo province of Stanley Square by Chamisa should not be acceded to.

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association director Emmanuel Ndlovu yesterday hailed the councillors’ decision.

“We would like to commend the councillors for that move coming at a time when resources and office abuse is the dominant form of corruption. What is needed is consistency, policy consistency right through and right across so that Bulawayo can regain its status as the best-run local authority,” he said.

BY Brenna Matendere

Police in the Midlands province have banned the possession of machetes in public places as cases of violence involving gangs wielding the weapons escalate.

Last month, Kwekwe police issued a three-month prohibition order against possession of machetes, but in a statement yesterday the force extended the ban to the other four main districts that have been hotbeds of criminal activity. These are Gweru Urban, Gweru Rural, Gokwe and Zvishavane.

“Due to the increase in cases of violence using machetes, knobkerries, swords, knives, spears or daggers, catapults and other offensive weapons the possession of such whether by openly carrying or concealment in public is likely to occasion public disorder or a breach of peace,” Midlands police spokesperson Inspector Joel Goko said in a statement.

He said people who disregard the ban would face the full wrath of the law.

“The police in the province shall be visible in residential areas, central business districts, industrial, mining and rural communities. We shall be conducting patrols and traffic enforcement activities as a deterrent measure against the commission of crimes using these dangerous weapons,” Goko said.

This comes as the judiciary has also threatened tough action on machete gangsters. Yesterday, a 49-member machete gang, which last week invaded a police base in Gokwe North in an attempt to rescue its arrested counterparts, was denied bail. Gokwe magistrate Musaiona Shortgame remanded the gang to January 22 for trial. Shortgame said the gang members were facing a serious crime and were a flight risk if released on bail.

BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA

ZIMBABWE’s liberation war fighters, long feared for leading a terror campaign against opposition party activists in previous elections, are likely to spearhead Zanu PF’s 2023 election campaign, NewsDay has learnt.

Zanu PF Mashonaland East provincial chair, Joel Biggie Matiza told a provincial co-ordinating committee meeting at the weekend that war veterans had been incorporated into the main party structures to reinforce the ruling party’s mobilisation exercise ahead of 2023 general elections.

“We are happy that the war veterans are now a wing. They used to be an affiliate, but the current set-up is good for the party as they play an important role in mobilising supporters as well as safeguarding the ethos of the party. We will be working closely with them as well as appointing some of them in influential positions to strengthen our party,” he said.

During the party’s national annual conference in Goromonzi last month, Zanu PF resolved to incorporate war veterans into the main party structures as it seeks to consolidate power ahead of the elections.

The war veterans have previously played a pivotal role in Zanu PF through leading violent election campaigns against the opposition, invading white farms as well as instilling war ideologies among party supporters.

They have, however, often clashed with the party’s top leadership after they demanded preferential treatment and improvement of their welfare.

By Richard Muponde

A FOUR-MAN machete gang has been arrested in Norton after it ambushed a miner on Monday and robbed him of 40 kilogrammes of gold ore and $300 before axing his colleague who tried to effect a citizen’s arrest.

National police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Blessmore Chishaka confirmed the arrests.

“The quartet of Privilege Damson (29), Casper Karuru (42) Stephen Mazambani (24) and Godwell Mukune (31) ambushed the complainant, who was going to the stamp mill to process his gold ore. They were armed with two machetes and an axe. After instilling fear in him they robbed him of 40kg and $300 and disappeared,” Chishaka said.

He said the robbers processed the gold, sold it and shared the proceeds.

“However, the complainant teamed up with his friends and made a follow-up of the robbers. They managed to find them and tried to effect a citizen’s arrest but one of them was axed on the head. He was taken to hospital where he was treated and discharged,” Chishaka said.

He said police were called to the scene and managed to arrest the gang members.

“We recovered two machetes, an axe and two logs which they used in committing the offence. They are currently being held in custody at Norton Police Station and will appear in court soon,” Chishaka said.

The arrest came after the courts have tightened the noose on machete gangs to bring sanity to the mining sector.

Chief Justice Luke Malaba on Monday announced the setting up of special courts to deal with the marauding machete gangs wreaking havoc in most parts of the country, warning that the courts would not have mercy on those who terrorise communities.

According to statistics, machete gangs have in the past few months killed over 100 people in gold wars countrywide.

BY PRECIOUS CHIDA

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has disowned the Judicial Employees Union of Zimbabwe, saying the union’s leaders were not part of its employees.

In a circular to heads of departments which was copied to Chief Justice Luke Malaba, JSC secretary Walter Chikwana said the union was a “phantom organisation”.

He said Percy Mcijo, who is the secretary-general of the union was not employed in any capacity by the JSC and could not be a member of any staff association representing workers of the commission.

“In September 2019, Percy Mcijo wrote to the JSC requesting the commission to recognise his union.

“He was requested to provide proof of his employment status, the register of JSC
employees in that union and proof of compliance with the registration requirements for all staff associations in terms of section 13 of the Judicial Services Act,” the circular read.
“To date, that information has not been provided.”

In a statement yesterday, JSC spokesperson Brian Nkiwane said investigations have revealed that Mcijo was not employed by the commission in any capacity.

“The JSC further wishes to warn Percy Mcijo to desist from masquerading as a member of the JSC and to desist from misrepresenting to our members of staff that he can represent them in their employment
matters,” Nkiwane said.

“The commission is proceeding to lodge a report with the Zimbabwe Republic Police against him on the basis of apprehension that his actions may end up financially prejudicing bona fide JSC members of staff.”

Mcijo could not be reached for comment.