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ZAA Canada and USA go virtual as WorldRemit is announced as partner

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ZAA chairman Conrad Mwanza (Picture by Felix Moyo Photography)

The Zimbabwe Achievers Awards (ZAA) has announced a combined virtual awards event for the ZAA USA and Canada editions in partnership with WorldRemit  on 12 December 2020.

ZAA chairman Conrad Mwanza (Picture by Felix Moyo Photography)

The ZAA USA edition is in its 5th year running, whilst Canada mark their second event after their successful inaugural awards dinner gala last year. This year the two will hold a combined virtual event and nominations are now open on www.zimachievers.com.

The announcement sees ZAA revisiting their tried and tested partnership with the global fintech company, WorldRemit in celebration of Zimbabwean achievers who are based in the diaspora.

The money transfer company has sponsored ZAA editions in recent years and is regularly involved in community projects and promotions.

“We are excited to announce the event, nomination and voting dates for the special virtual combined ZAA Canada and USA editions. Nominations are open until the 15th November and voting will begin on the 23rd November 2020. 

“The circumstances of this year are different from the previous one, but our diaspora community has continued achieving remarkable feats. It is our pleasure to announce WorldRemit as our sponsors for this year’s event,” said Conrad Mwanza, ZAA International Chairman.

“ZAA is all about celebrating and honoring high achievement from all our people around the world. This year will be no different and we invite everyone to join us on our joint Awards Virtual Event. We will be streaming the event live across various online platforms due to the prevailing situations around the world.”

The ZAA were founded in 2010 to celebrate and recognize the remarkable work by Zimbabweans in the diaspora and comprise of annual editions in the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa and Botswana.

Now in their 10th year of existence, ZAA is involved in various activities throughout the year and culminate in annual Awards Dinner Gala in their respective country chapters.

Nominations are now open for ZAA USA:  http://www.zimachievers.com/usa/nominate/ 

For ZAA Canada: http://www.zimachievers.com/canada/nominations/ 

‘In a lonely, dark place’: Kyrgios reveals depression battle

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Polarising Australian Nick Kyrgios on Sunday admitted to being in a “lonely, dark place” in recent years as he battled depression sparked by the relentless grind of the tennis tour.

Tennis: WTA tour 2020 - Acapulco Open: Day 3
Tennis: WTA tour 2020 – Acapulco Open: Day 3

The temperamental star is one of the sport’s biggest drawcards, but has also faced intense criticism for his combustible antics on court, with a long list of misdemeanours to his name.

They include an explosive racquet-smashing and expletive-ridden meltdown at last year’s Cincinnati Masters that saw him put on probation by the ATP and ordered to seek professional help.

“I don’t think people understand how lonely tennis can be,” he told Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph magazine.

“You’re out there on the court on your own. You can’t really talk to anyone. You have to figure things out for yourself. I did struggle with that.”

Kyrgios said he had always been emotional and found it tough spending so long away from his Canberra home and family while on tour, admitting there were times when he was “seriously depressed.”

“I remember waking up in Shanghai one year and it was 4pm and I was still in bed, curtains closed. I didn’t want to see the light of day,” he said.

“I felt like no one wanted to know me as a person, they just wanted to get a hold of me as a tennis player and use me. I didn’t feel like I could trust anyone. It was a lonely, dark place. And things came from that.

“A lot of people were putting pressure on me, I put a lot of pressure on myself. I just lost joy in the game and I was spiralling out of control,” he added.

“I fell into depression because of the things I thought I had to be.”

But the 25-year-old gained new respect by spearheading fundraising efforts for Australia’s deadly bushfires last summer, a crisis which he said gave him a new perspective.

He has also been hailed as a voice of reason during the coronavirus pandemic, calling out fellow players — notably Novak Djokovic — for not taking it seriously enough.

Kyrgios opted out of this year’s US Open and French Open this year due to Covid-19, with the break allowing him to reconnect with family and live a more stable lifestyle.

“Nothing beats playing in some of the best parts of the world against tough opponents and doing all the work off the court to have success. I’m definitely missing it. I don’t live and breathe tennis,” he said.

“I love being at home with my family and my girlfriend, and working with my foundation (for underprivileged children) and helping the community. There are plenty of other things I love doing.” AFP

Kamala Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff to be first ‘second gentleman’

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Nehanda Radio
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When Kamala Harris makes history as the first woman and first black US vice president, her husband Doug Emhoff will break his own new ground: as the original “second husband.”

Media and entertainment lawyer Douglas Emhoff is seen here with his wife Kamala Harris after she took part in the vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 27, 2020; he will make history as America's first "second husband"
Media and entertainment lawyer Douglas Emhoff is seen here with his wife Kamala Harris after she took part in the vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 27, 2020; he will make history as America’s first “second husband.”

Harris and Emhoff, who married in 2014 — she for the first time, he for the second — will also be the first mixed-race couple to occupy their positions. He is white while she is the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants. Both are 56.

The contours of Emhoff’s new role as the nation’s “second husband” — some prefer a “second gentleman” — have yet to be determined; he has been vague about his plans so far.

Traditionally, the spouses of presidents and vice presidents have been expected to forge a careful balance of supportiveness and independence. Many pick a charitable cause to promote.

Emhoff, who was credited as a “secret weapon” on the campaign trail for his wife — even earning his own following on social media — is an accomplished lawyer specializing in media, sports and entertainment law.

He took leave in August from the multinational DLA Piper, which has lobbying offices in Washington. That could raise prickly conflicts of interest with Harris’s work.

Emhoff has been publicly vague about whether he will stay with the firm, though he has told interviewers he might want to pursue pro bono legal work.

Emhoff marks another milestone: he would be the first Jew to be part of America’s first or second families.

Friends have described him as a less-than-observant Jew but one who identifies strongly with, and is deeply shaped by, Judaism.

Jewish publication Forward embraced him as the “Second Mensch.” When its reporter asked Emhoff’s mother Barbara about his religious upbringing, she was coy, but offered: “He was bar mitzvahed in New Jersey, I can tell you that.”

Born in Brooklyn and raised in New Jersey, he is said to have happy memories of Jewish summer camp, where he won athletic awards.

While in high school, his father moved the family to Los Angeles. Emhoff earned a law degree at the University of Southern California, then worked at other law firms before reaching DLA Piper.

When Emhoff met Harris on a blind date arranged by friends, it was “love at first sight,” he later said.

His children from his first marriage — Cole, named after John Coltrane, and Ella, named after Ella Fitzgerald — have embraced their stepmother as “Momala.”

Emhoff’s ex-wife Kerstin Mackin remains friendly and even joins the family on Thanksgiving.

The “second husband-elect,” incidentally, shares one thing with Donald Trump: both are avid golfers. AFP

What next for Trump? Golf, Twitter and maybe another run?

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Nehanda Radio
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When networks projected he had lost his bid for reelection to Joe Biden, President Donald Trump was playing golf. He’ll soon have plenty more time to enjoy the links if he so desires.

President Donald Trump

But if there’s one constant for Trump, it’s his love of the limelight, and few expect this most unusual of presidents to pursue a traditional post-White House life of public reticence, reflective memoir-writing and occasional charitable events.

He will lose the keys to the White House, but not his login on Twitter, where Trump and his itchy fingers could still wield powerful control over his Republican Party.

Some allies have already spoken of Trump planning a rematch in 2024. Only one other president, Grover Cleveland, has served non-consecutive terms, winning in 1892 after narrowly losing reelection four years earlier.

Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said with understatement that Trump — who has refused to concede and made unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud — “doesn’t like losing.”

“I would absolutely expect the president to stay involved in politics and would absolutely put him on the shortlist of people who are likely to run in 2024,” he told an Irish think tank.

“He’s a very high-energy 74-year-old.”

Trump’s children have made clear that they are still demanding loyalty from Republicans.

“The total lack of action from virtually all of the ‘2024 GOP hopefuls’ is pretty amazing,” Donald Trump Jr. tweeted on Thursday.

He called out by name Senator Lindsey Graham, a former Trump critic turned supporter who coasted to reelection. Hours afterward, Graham was on Trump’s favorite Fox News show pledging money for the president’s legal defense and repeating unsubstantiated accusations of election irregularities.

– Trump TV? –

The thrice-married New York-born hotel developer and television celebrity has made no secret that he longs for some comfort in his pre-White House days.

“I had a nice life. I had the greatest life,” Trump said in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at his final campaign rally.

His main product to fund that lifestyle has been his own name. According to his disgraced former lawyer Michael Cohen, the 2016 presidential run itself was conceived as a “branding opportunity” — until he unexpectedly won.

Trump rebuilt his public profile in the 2000s as the host of reality TV series “Celebrity Apprentice” following a string of bankruptcies.

The president has hinted about seeking to start a “Trump TV” brand as he has increasingly complained about Fox News, accusing the channel that helped fuel his rise of being insufficiently right-wing.

Viewers, he tweeted, “want an alternative now. So do I!”

No one can deny Trump has the gift of the gab.

At his innumerable rallies, he held large crowds to a kind of mesmerized attention, with stream-of-consciousness shifts from conspiracy theories to jokes to pet peeves, like his peculiarly passionate criticism of feeble water pressure in bathroom faucets.

He also has a potential readymade vehicle for the project in the form of openly Trump-supporting cable channels One America News and NewsMax TV — the current minnows of which a Trump takeover could turn into giants.

– Prison, or a road trip? –

No less plausible is a scenario where Trump is embroiled in serious legal problems.

Prosecutors in New York are already probing Trump’s hush money payment to a porn star, his tangled business dealings and mysterious accounting practices. Then there are those old rape and other sexual assault allegations.

As president, Trump is largely protected from prosecution. Some have speculated that he may again challenge accepted norms by trying to issue a pre-emptive pardon to himself.

Eight Trump associates, including men who served as his campaign managers, lawyers and national security advisors, have already been indicted or imprisoned for serious crimes, including over the 2016 campaign’s links to Russia.

Or, just maybe, Trump will want to get away from it all.

However implausible this sounds, he has dropped a few hints.

In June at the White House he mused about taking a road trip in an RV with his former model wife Melania.

Less romantic but equally heartfelt, he paused mid-speech during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania to admire parked trucks.

“Nice trucks,” the president said. “You think I could hop into one of them and drive it away? I’d love to do it, just drive the hell out of here. Just get the hell out of this.” AFP

Socialite Genius “Ginimbi” Kadungure killed in tragic car accident

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Nehanda Radio
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The wreckage of the Rolls Royce
The wreckage of the Rolls Royce

Flamboyant socialite Genius Kadungure, affectionately known as Ginimbi, has tragically died after a head on collision in the Borrowdale area around 5:20 am this morning.

The wreckage of the Rolls Royce
The wreckage of the Rolls Royce

Police and his family have since confirmed the sad news. He was thrown off the vehicle which burst into flames after the crash, according to witnesses

Ginimbi’s manager Ms Shally used his twitter account to post the following tweet;

“I feel like hell, I don’t even know which words to even use, Genius Kadungure has been called by God, he is no more. He was in a terrible accident around 5am, he died on the spot with 3 of his friends in the car, Karim, Elisha and Moana – Ms Shally.”

Genius "Ginimbi" Kadungure
Ginimbi

Former cabinet minister Saviour Kasukuwere tweeted Sunday morning;

“Genius Kadungure~ This is unbearable. A youngman who worked hard and enjoyed hard is no more! The flower has wilted! Go well Boss Ginimbi. MHDSRIP.”

Joe Biden vows to unite America after ‘convincing’ victory

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Nehanda Radio
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US President-elect Joe Biden promised Saturday to unite Americans and seek to heal divisions after what he called a “convincing” victory over Donald Trump.

US President-elect Joe Biden calls for unity in a victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware
US President-elect Joe Biden calls for unity in a victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware

“This is the time to heal in America,” an ebullient Biden told supporters at an outdoor rally in his home city of Wilmington, Delaware.

“I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but unify,” Biden said, drawing sharp contrast to nearly four polarizing years of Trump.

Acknowledging the disappointment of Trump supporters, Biden said of them: “They are not our enemies. They are Americans.”

“Let this era of demonization in America begin to end here,” Biden said.

“I sought this office to restore the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of this nation and the middle class, and to make America respected around the world again,” Biden said.

Barack Obama’s vice president paid particular tribute to the African-American community, pointing to its role in selecting him as the Democratic nominee to challenge Trump.

Biden was visibly upbeat as he addressed the socially distanced crowd, racing to the podium after an introduction by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to the sound of Bruce Springsteen’s “We Take Care of Our Own.”

“Folks, the people of this nation have spoken. They’ve delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory,” Biden said. AFP

Making history, VP-elect Harris tells women she won’t be last

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Nehanda Radio
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Kamala Harris on Saturday shattered barriers to become the first female vice president and, in a symbolism-heavy victory speech, told girls she would not be the last.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris speaks at a victory rally with President-elect Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris speaks at a victory rally with President-elect Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware

Introducing President-elect Joe Biden at an optimism-fueled outdoor rally, Harris — also the first black woman and Indian-American to be vice president — sported a white suit in recognition of the suffragist movement that fought to give US women the vote a century ago.

“While I may be the first woman in this office, I won’t be the last,” she said to cheers and honks from the crowd gathered in socially distanced cars.

“Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”

Harris vowed to fight to “root out systematic racism” but, like Biden, made a broad appeal for unity, saying that Americans “have elected a president who represents the best in us.”

The California senator’s speech was in itself a sign of the prominent role she has been given by Biden, with newly elected presidents historically keeping the spotlight on themselves rather than sharing the podium with their number twos.

A beaming Harris raised her hands in celebration as she entered the energetic beat of Mary J. Blige’s song “Work That,” an ode to black women’s self-confidence.

She opened immediately by hailing John Lewis, the civil rights icon turned congressman who died in July — and whose state of Georgia startled pundits with its sharp swing in Tuesday’s election toward their Democratic Party.

Harris also paid tribute to her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who emigrated from India when she was 19 and died in 2009.

“Maybe she didn’t quite imagine this moment,” Harris said.

“But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible.

“So I’m thinking about her and about the generations of women — Black Women, Asian, White, Latina, and Native American women throughout our nation’s history who have paved the way for this moment tonight.” AFP

Chigumbura retires from international cricket

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Nehanda Radio
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By Mehluli Sibanda

Former Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura is calling time on his international career at the conclusion of the on-going Pakistan tour.

Elton Chigumbura
Elton Chigumbura

The 34-year-old all-rounder is part of the side taking on Pakistan in three T20I matches in Rawalpindi.

A veteran of many battles over the past 16 years, during which he served as Zimbabwe’s limited-overs captain from August 2014 before stepping down in January 2016, Chigumbura made the decision to bring the curtain down on his career as injuries had continued to take a toll on him as well as to pave the way for young blood in the national side.

His international career started off on 20 April 2004 when, at the age of 18, he faced Sri Lanka in an ODI match played in Harare.

As he bows out, he has made 213 ODI and 14 Test appearances for Zimbabwe, with 54 T20I matches under his belt before the start of his farewell series against Pakistan.

Chigumbura is one of Zimbabwe’s most-capped players, having played 281 international matches, excluding the current series against Pakistan in which he made 5 761 runs and took 138 wickets.

Renowned as an explosive finisher during his prime, he has to date scored two centuries and 26 fifties across all formats. The Sunday News

Shabanie workers approach Zacc over assets

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Nehanda Radio
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Abandoned wagons at the railway line which used to transport products to and from the main plant
Abandoned wagons at the railway line which used to transport products to and from the main plant at Shabanie Mine

By Munyaradzi Musiiwa

Shabanie Mashava Mine (SMM) workers, who are owed more than US$2,8 million by the asbestos mining company, have approached the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) to investigate its administrator and top management over alleged corruption in asset disposal of the company.

Abandoned wagons at the railway line which used to transport products to and from the main plant
Abandoned wagons on the railway line used to transport products to and from the main plant at Shabanie Mine

Zimbabwe Diamonds and Allied Workers Union executive member (Zidawu) Mr Justice Chinhema said the disgruntled Shabanie Mashava Mine employees had approached Zacc, the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the company’s top management over alleged mistreatment of workers.

Mr Chinhema said the company has failed to pay the employees’ outstanding salaries but has been disposing properties as well as selling houses.

“We are representing more than 800 Shabanie Mashava Mine employees. They have many concerns over the way things have been run by the administrator, Mr Arafas Gwaradzimba. They are owed more than US$2,8 million by the company in outstanding salaries. The administrator has been disposing of the company properties where he is claiming two percent of the proceeds. He has failed to resuscitate the company and now he is stripping the assets. The employees have approached Zacc to investigate the administrator and the top management.

We have also approached the Ministry of Justice who is the appointing authority of company administrator,” he said.

In a letter seen by the publication, some of the concerns raised by the workers are that Shabanie Mashava Mine administrator, Mr Gwaradzimba had allegedly hired his own private company, AMG Global Accountants, to audit the finances and financial transactions at the Zvishavane-based company.

“The President has made a clarion call that the anti-graft crusade will spare no one. He further exhorted the citizenry at all levels to report all forms/cases of corruption to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc). We hope your office will respond positively to this urgent appeal.

“We are appealing to your offices to come to the rescue of a systematic stripping expedition of the mines by the administrator (Arafas Gwaradzimba) and his hand-picked management team. This has contributed immensely to the failure of operation resumptions at the mines. The auditors from Gwaradzimba audit firm AMG Global Accountants are favoured for any auditing required,” reads the letter.

The workers alleged that management under Mr Gwaradzimba disposed gold mines among them Belvedere, Mukaradzi, Tebekwe, Mt Morgan,  Surprise intending to raise money to resuscitate the asbestos mine.

“We have noted with concern unclear circumstances in disposing of AA Mines gold claims. A number of AA Mines gold claims have been disposed of in unclear circumstances claiming ‘To Raise Money’ to resuscitate the mine operations. The following gold claims have been disposed off — Belvedere, Mukaradzi, Mt Morgan and Surprise, just to name but a few. The proceeds realised in those sales are not known but the fact of the matter is there for all to see as nothing happened in an effort to resuscitate the mine operations from the proceeds realized from the sales,” said the workers.

The employees further alleged that the company disposed of health care facilities to universities, leaving them and their dependants stranded.

“The employees’ management have been abusing their office by making unilateral decisions as they have sold off both hospitals at the mines, Shabanie Mine Hospital to Necta Care and Gaths Mine Hospital to Great Zimbabwe University which has led to employees and their dependants now failing to get medical care while management is catered for by Cimas,” alleged the employees.

SMM administrator Mr Gwaradzimba could not be reached for comment. The Sunday News

Relatives beat man to death over mubobobo

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Nehanda Radio
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By Sharon Chimenya
A man from Zaka District in Masvingo Province was last week beaten to death by his relatives on suspicions that he possessed mubobobo, a magical way of having sexual intercourse with women without their consent.

Masvingo assistant provincial police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa, confirmed the murder of 73-year-old Patrick Mhou of Mhou Village, Chief Nhema, on Tuesday last week. He died after being attacked by his brothers from the same village, Prosper Mhou (34), Evans Mhou (28), Solomon Mhou (38), Aaron Mhou (38), and Solomon Fushai, (62), of Village Chipinda in the same area, who was accompanied by his wife Emily Chekenyere (44).

“Patrick Mhou had a long outstanding dispute with his brothers who accused him of using mubobobo to have supernatural sex with women,” Asst Insp Dhewa said.

“On 27 October around 9PM, the five brothers and Chekenyere went to Patrick’s homestead where they woke him up and started beating him all over the body until he fell unconscious. They took him back into his bedroom hut and left him there. The following day, at around 6am, Menace Denhere, (38), of Matiza Village under Chief Nhema passed through Patrick’s house wanting to greet him and saw his bedroom door half open. He opened the door and saw Patrick sleeping with no sign of life.”

Police said Denhere told Fushai who later went and handed himself in to the police in Zaka. Patrick had bruises on his thighs, blisters on his feet, buttocks and backbone, deep cuts on his right eye and bruises on his forehead. He had swollen testicles and bruises above his ribs. His body was taken to Ndanga District Hospital for a post-mortem and investigations are in progress.

In a separate incident a 19-year-old woman committed suicide after she was turned away by her mother for coming back home in the evening from her boyfriend’s house.

Neighbours in Masvingo said on Saturday last week that Bertha Muchatsikwa, (19), of 2496 Save Street, ZBS, Masvingo, was in the company of her boyfriend, Stanford Madzivo, (20), who resides in the Majange area when she arrived home towards dusk.

When they arrived at Muchatsikwa’s place, the mother denied her entry and advised her to go back to where she had been since she had come home late. The two lovebirds are said to have waited outside the house for some time thinking that the mother would relent and open for Muchatsikwa but she did not.

The two later on went to Madzivo’s place where they engaged his relatives to intercede on behalf of the two lovers but to no avail resulting in Muchatsikwa spending the night at Madzivo’s place.

At around 6pm the following day, Madzivo escorted Muchatsikwa back to her house and left her there. The mother again chased Muchatsikwa away and she went back to her boyfriend’s place. When she arrived at the house she found that her boyfriend was not around and she hanged herself on a tree in the yard using a hosepipe. The Sunday News

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