BULAWAYO – Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa will, for the first time, appear at an MDC Alliance rally to be addressed by party president Nelson Chamisa today.
Dumiso Dabengwa
The rally has been set for White City Stadium, the venue of last month’s ugly incident where a bomb blast killed two people, while injuring several others.
Dabengwa pulled out of the presidential race last month and declared Zapu’s full support for Chamisa.
The two opposition leaders had laid a foundation for their working relationship when they appended their signatures to a pact, on June 12, that sought to build a solid relationship to unseat the ruling Zanu PF in the forthcoming plebiscite.
But unlike other alliance partners, Zapu had not been attending the on-going MDC Alliance rallies.
Today’s rally, dubbed the presidential star and crossover rally will therefore see the former Home Affairs minister being officially unveiled to the people of the second city.
“Zapu will indeed be guests at MDC Alliance rally in Bulawayo tomorrow (Saturday),” Zapu spokesperson Iphithule Maphosa told the Daily News.
“This is after we accepted the invitation to grace the meeting, obviously in line with the political cooperation between our parties. Our president Dabengwa will address the meeting. He will be accompanied by members of his national executive and other party structures,” he said.
“It’s the first time we are holding meetings together. It will be the first time for president Dabengwa to address the combined gatherings, also the first time for MDC Alliance’s Chamisa,” Maphosa said.
The Zapu spokesperson said this was a sign that the agreement between the two leaders was no child’s play.
“This means there is movement on the cooperation agreement.
“These are signs both parties are seriously considering the benefits a united front has for the suffering Zimbabwean masses. It’s positive movement.”
“The rally is on and the president (Chamisa) is coming unless something earth-shuttering happens. As for Dabengwa yes just like all our Alliance partners he will be there,” Khumalo said. Daily News
ZANU PF says contrary to earlier reports that party spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo had been replaced as its official mouthpiece with politburo secretary for legal affairs Paul Mangwana, the situation has not changed.
Zanu-PF spokesman Simon Khaya Moyo
In a statement on Thursday the ruling party’s director of administration Dickson Dzora had announced that Mangwana would be the party’s spokesperson until further notice.
Dzora said the decision to replace Khaya Moyo was reached ostensibly to allow him to campaign “for the Bulilima-Mangwe Senatorial seat.”
However, in a sudden turn of events Dzora reversed his announcement yesterday saying he had “erroneously” issued the statement.
“This communication seeks to correct the press statement that I issued yesterday (Thursday) on behalf of the ruling party Zanu PF in which I inadvertently ascribed the role of party spokesperson Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana in an acting capacity until further notice,” Dzora said.
“That was not the case and the miscommunication is regretted… Khaya Moyo is the Zanu PF secretary for information and publicity and party spokesperson…Mangwana is the party’s secretary for legal affairs and a member of the multi-party liaison committee during the harmonised elections.
“In that capacity he is the party’s point person on matters relating to the electoral processes and interface with election observers.” Daily News
MDC Alliance President Nelson Chamisa met with Mr Koffi Annan, Mary Robinson and Lakhdar Brahimi
By Blessings Mashaya
A group of prominent Elders yesterday met President Emmerson Mnangagwa, MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) to iron out serious disagreements over a raft of electoral reform issues.
MDC Alliance President Nelson Chamisa met with Mr Koffi Annan, Mary Robinson and Lakhdar Brahimi
The Elders who arrived in the country on Thursday and will be in Zimbabwe until today include former US President Jimmy Carter, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former Ireland president Mary Robinson.
Speaking after meeting the Elders who use their collective experience and influence to try and achieve peace and justice around the world, Mnangagwa said he had briefed them of the current situation in the country.
“It was an excellent meeting with the Elders, they wanted a brief of the current situation in the country and I was able to tell them that we are going through a process of the general elections.
“This time around most of the political parties have been created as a result of opened up democratic space in Zimbabwe.
“We have 133 political parties in Zimbabwe, out of the 133, 55 are contesting elections.
“Out of 55, 23 are contesting for the office of the president.
“We are happy that up to now our people, political parties included have heeded our call for non-violence.
“Yes there was an incident in Bulawayo but that was intended to assassinate me not democracy, so it was very clear that this is what we are having and we are moving forward.”
Mnangagwa added that government does not interfere with the operations of Zec.
“We have the Zec which is an independent electoral commission of this country.
“Government has no role in controlling or influencing Zec at all.
“They are guided by the Electoral Act of the country as well as the Constitution and those who feel that Zec has not complied with the law or the Constitution our courts are open to deal with such issues
“They (Elders) said that they had opportunity of meeting many political party leaders and organisations and they feel that this time around there is freedom in the country and doing political campaigns.
They have few issues they raised against Zec.”
Chamisa said he managed to raise his concerns with the Elders. The opposition parties are expecting the Elders to resolve the concerns they raised with Zec which include the availability of the voters’ roll and ballot printing.
“Just had a great meeting with the Elders on the election stalemate in Zimbabwe. We want the ballot to be transparent and authentic.
“One-man one-vote is our mantra! We are committed to peace upon free and fair election,” Chamisa tweeted.
The respected Annan is leading the delegation.
Annan told the Citizens Manifesto’s National Citizens Convention in Harare yesterday that while Zimbabwe went through difficulties in previous years because of poor governance, the situation changed in November last year.
“Ten days before the elections, the fact that opposition parties are able to campaign and observers are allowed in the country — all are signs that from Limpopo to Zambezi freedom is in the air.
“I feel the excitement in the city…catch the wave and move forward.” Daily News
Civic society groups and the main opposition coalition — the MDC Alliance — are protesting the presidential ballot paper outline, which has been designed in a manner that gives President Emmerson Mnangagwa a prime position ahead of his main rival.
Nelson Chamisa and Priscilla Chigumba
An unprecedented 23 candidates are running in the country’s historic election on July 30, the highest number of candidates since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980.
Mnangagwa, who took power in November last year after despot Robert Mugabe was ousted in a de-facto coup faces stiff competition from MDC Alliance leader, Nelson Chamisa, aged 40.
While the 75-year-old Zanu PF presidential candidate has pledged that the vote will be free and fair, opposition political parties have poked holes into the management of the poll process by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec).
In the latest furore, Zec faces a barrage of criticism after it apparently allowed Mnangagwa to occupy the prime spot on the ballot paper instead of strictly adhering to the alphabetical order in what critics say undermines the fairness of elections.
Instead of using the traditional single column for all 23 presidential candidates, which would have resulted in Mnangagwa’s name appearing somewhere in the middle, Zec opted to use two columns, with the first column with 14 candidates, resulting in the Zanu PF leader appearing at the top in the second column which contains only nine candidates.
Provisions of the Electoral Act and Regulations envisaged that the names of candidates should be printed one below the other, “in alphabetical order of surnames” and that the form V.10 or ballot paper must have “vertical segments.”
Zec has indicated that this design was done on the advice of the printers — Fidelity Printers — with the chairperson of the under-fire commission Priscilla Chigumba citing section 236(g) of the Constitution which states that one of its functions is “to design, print and distribute ballot papers…”.
Fidelity Printers is a unit of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Chigumba has said her commission alone retains the sole discretion to deal with the issue, and demands by the MDC Alliance were meant to usurp Zec’s powers.
Zanu PF’s main rival, the MDC Alliance, alleges that the design is artfully meant to boost the electoral prospects of Mnangagwa.
This view is shared by all the major opposition political parties namely MDC Alliance, Joice Mujuru’s People’s Rainbow Coalition (PRC), Elton Mangoma’s Coalition of Democrats (Code), Nkosana Moyo’s Alliance for the People’s Agenda (APA), Noah Manyika’s Build Zimbabwe Alliance (BZA) and Thokozani Khupe’s MDC.
At their meeting held on July 9 in Kadoma, the opposition political parties drafted a document titled “Common position of the opposition political parties and candidates”, which stated that the parties resolved “the design and printing of the presidential ballot paper must show fairness based on uniformly applied principles founded on common sense.”
They also resolved that printing of the ballot must be carried out afresh in a transparent manner.
Chamisa’s chief election agent Jameson Timba told the Daily News yesterday that Zec was putting them at a disadvantage to Mnangagwa.
“The design of the ballot is embarrassingly discriminatory and biased in favour of ED to give him some remote psychological advantage. If Zec wanted to show favour to him, they should have been more circumspect. Notwithstanding that, ED remains charisma-free and unelectable. Cyclone Chamisa is unstoppable,” Timba said.
Presidential spokesperson George Charamba yesterday told the Daily News: “My good comment is that ED the candidate has no opinion on decisions of a constitutional body, still less on impressions of fellow contestants who must learn to bear the burdens of their self-sought fight without hoping for a shoulder from their opponents.”
As it is, Chamisa has rejected the presidential ballot papers that Zec finished printing at the central bank’s printing arm last week on Wednesday.
Legal experts have said the Electoral Act nor the regulations never envisaged that the number of presidential candidates will become so large that, if listed vertically, they will not fit on to a normal sheet of paper.
Legal and parliamentary watchdog Veritas said given the compelling reasons for listing the presidential candidates in two columns, then the dual columns were supposed to be of equal length, or as nearly equal as the numbers allow, so that the candidates who head each column get that advantage solely by virtue of the alphabetical order of their surnames.
“Instead, Zec’s columns, one with 14 names and one with nine, are artfully designed to ensure that the president has the advantage of heading the second column. There can be no legitimate reason for this,” Veritas said in a commentary.
Veritas warned that the design and layout of the presidential ballot paper does not conform to provisions of the Electoral Regulations of 2005 and Section 57(a)(1) of the Electoral Act which states the candidates should appear in one column in alphabetical order.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) said the split could have been done to ensure that there are 12 candidates on the one side and the remaining 11 on the other.
“The ballot paper, as it is, raises fears that it was designed to give the incumbent an unfair advantage,” the Andrew Makoni-led Zesn said in a statement to the Daily News.
“In designing the presidential ballot paper, Zec should have adhered to the 2005 regulations which prescribe the Form V.10 as the design for the ballot paper. Zesn believes that it is important for the Electoral Commission to engage key stakeholders on critical issues such as the design of the ballot papers in order to safeguard the integrity and credibility of the 2018 election.”
Zesn said it believes that Zec should have ensured that the ballot paper design was in conformity with the law to avoid fuelling allegations of partiality that could endanger the acceptance of the outcome of the election, reiterating its calls for Zec to adopt the Open Data Policy and transparency in order to allay fears and misconceptions around key electoral processes.
Piers Pigou, a senior consultant at the International Crisis Group said this once again demonstrates the failure of the Zec to properly consult and look at international best practice elsewhere.
“They seem to have once again set themselves up to be criticised. Unfortunately, this seems to be Zec’s modus operandi in that it carried on in a way that generates these controversies. And frankly, it could have been avoided if they had sat down and done this more robustly and more inclusively and had actually looked at best practices elsewhere in the world,” Pigou told the Daily News.
“We have seen that ballot papers can be done in single columns and they can be done in double columns in a fairer way. They have generated a ballot paper that does rather look as though it favours … Mnangagwa. It’s unfortunate that the Zec continues down this path but it seems to be determined to do so and to not generate conditions that actually contribute to building confidence, unfortunately quite the opposite.”
Political analyst and civil rights activist Gladys Hlatywayo said Chigumba and her Zec “have entered new and embarrassing horizons of institutional bias”.
“I will avoid the legal arguments because I am not a lawyer. But a look at that ballot paper clearly indicates that there was a deliberate ploy to strategically position the Zanu PF candidate at the top of the row.
“If the logic was to save paper and when you have 23 candidates, it is logical to balance the number of names on each side,” Hlatywayo told the Daily News.
She said this observation was further reinforced by other shenanigans that Zec has presided over that clearly shows bias in favour of Zanu PF.
“Such shenanigans include the scarf controversy and the ‘contacts gate’ scandal among others. Her explanation is therefore illogical and the only plausible explanation is that she is seriously compromised and trying to aid Mnangagwa’s bid.
“Zec must follow both the letter and spirit of the Constitution. In the interest of accountability and transparency, Chigumba must stop using the law to justify her clear bias. She must also know that Zec is one of the most mistrusted institutions and I therefore expect her to work hard to gain citizens’ and stakeholders’ trust. Intransigence and arrogance will worsen the situation,” she said.
Stephen Chan, a professor of world politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London told the Daily News “this is a storm in a tea-cup”.
“Zimbabweans have been going to the polls since 1980. There is certainly the longest field of presidential candidates in this election, but only a small number of names have voter recognition,” he said.
“It’s a highly literate society as well as one well used to voting — and this time everyone knows there is something worth voting for, either a slow walk away from the Mugabe years or a more sudden departure from those years. No one will be much phased by the ballot paper. I think everyone has either made up their minds now, or are close to doing so.” DailyNews
A soldier appeared before a Harare magistrate on Wednesday for reportedly using a service pistol to threaten his wife during a domestic dispute.
Members of the Zimbabwe National Army during the November 2017 coup that toppled President Robert Mugabe (Picture by EPA)
Conrad Magaiza, 37, who is attached to Josiah MagamaTongogara Army Headquarters, appeared before Harare magistrate, Milton Serima, charged with threats to commit murder.
According to State papers, on July 15 at 47-1 Avenue Waterfalls in Harare, Magaizawho was issued with a Zimbabwe National Army FN Browning service pistol with serial numbers ZA1860had a domestic dispute with his wife,LovenessMuuduri, around 1 am.
Prosecutor Linda Gadzikwa alleged that he began assaulting his wife with open hands and pressed her against the wall while pointing a pistol on her chest.
It was further alleged that Magaiza did so threatening to kill his wife over the undisclosed dispute.
Muuduri had to be rescued by Magaiza’s nephew, Panashe, who wrestled to disarm him.
According to State papers, the firearm was later recovered after being used to commit another crime of attempted murder against two juveniles who were seriously injured.
Gadzikwa, opposed bail on the basis that Magaiza was a flight risk given that he could be jailed since he had committed a serious offence.
“The seriousness of the offence coupled with the penal provisions could induce the accused person to abscond and the State submits that he be committed to custody until the case is finalised,” Gadzikwa said.
Magaiza’s lawyer,Bothwell Ndlovu, applied for his client’s release on bail arguing that bail was now a constitutional right and the State had failed to proffer compelling reasons to deprive his client freedom.
“People have been granted bail in more serious offences such as treason and murder by our courts. He is of fixed abode and gainfully employed such that it is guaranteed that he will attend court,” Ndlovu said. DailyNews
Rapper MC Chita, 35, real name Chitarisiro Chiketa has dismissed the view that he is now a spent force saying he remains relevant in the hip hop genre. MC Chita insists he is still one of the Local hip hop icons.
MC Chita
“That’s not the case at all. I had two hit songs last year and a year before, Uptown Totsi and No Dhiri.
“Granted they weren’t as big as Dandaro but still they charted and I was 2017’s most booked hip hop artist.
“So I don’t know where ‘spent’ would come in,” he said.
Some contenders in the genre and people in general have been sceptical about his local fan-base since he raps in English but it has never bothered the rapper who was born in Russia.
“Well there are three things involved.
“One, I feel that good music is good music no matter where you are from.
“People are big fans of Aka Da Les, Nasty C etc and they all rap in English.
“There has never been an issue why they don’t use their vernacular language. Take it further, we listen to music in languages we don’t even understand but people still have an issue with me rapping in English’” he said.
Secondly the rapper added that it is also a matter of numbers that listen to urban music.
“We are a population of 16 million and once you break down the numbers of people who have spending power and listen to urban music, it doesn’t make sense to make music strictly for the local market.
“Lastly I was born in Russia and grew up in the States. Shona is not my first language, so if I really want to tell my story it’s a lot easier to do it in English.”
Currently, Mc Chita is working on singles and released his first video last month for a song called Me, Myself, My God, My grind which seems to have quite a buzz and is expected to be on ZBC and DStv this month. H-Metro
Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries founder, Prophet Walter Magaya will next month host an ambitious “billion dollar” class whereby people spend a weekend exploring possible networks beyond Zimbabwean borders.
Prophet Walter Magaya’s Billion Dollar Class
The event runs between August 3-6 at Yadah Hotel in the capital and will be free of charge for participants.
Amid concerns that this might be a money-generating event, Prophet Magaya told H-Metro this week that the church will foot the bill.
“This event is free of charge, the expenses incurred will be met by the church. This is our commitment to the people of Zimbabwe and we believe we can play a part in grooming entrepreneurs who can help government efforts in reviving the economy.
“We want to groom a group of people who believe they can actually have a billion dollars in their bank account and this is a spirit that will help generate much-needed exports for Zimbabwe given that there is no way one can generate a billion dollars inside Zimbabwe.
“That kind of money is generated through exports and we want to try and help people establish networks beyond our borders. So we expect brilliant minds from Zimbabwe and other countries, including the United States to be represented at this gathering,” said Prophet Magaya.
In a message to prospective participants circulating on social media, Prophet Magaya said:
“If you dream of a billion you can at least handle a million but if you dream of a million you can never handle a billion. There is no one who has succeeded without proper mentorship and this a class of creating properly mentored entrepreneurs.
“Be part of the guest house visitors on 3 August…we register at the church and start at the hotel from 11am.”
Expanding his message, Prophet Magaya said Zimbabweans need to realise that there cannot be shortcuts to success as those that try to cut corners end up in serious trouble with the law and top of the list are corruption and fraud.
“Even the more educated members of society end up in prison for trying to get rich quickly through fraud or corruption and it is probably because they do not get proper mentorship on how to achieve goals the legal way.
“Most of the billionaires in the world worked hard to be where they are and their life stories can provide lessons for the young ones. That is why I believe the billion dollar class might play a part in changing the thinking among our people. Let’s work hard to earn a billion dollars.” H-Metro
CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe believes his team is shaping up despite starting the second half of the Castle Lager Premiership season with two consecutive goalless draws.
CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe
Makepekepe, who are in sixth place on the log with 31 points, first fired blanks in the 0-0 draw with Harare City two weeks ago at Rufaro Stadium.
Last weekend, the Green Machine was held to another goalless draw by relegation-threatened Bulawayo Chiefs at the National Sports Stadium.
Chitembwe refused the notion that his team’s form is playing out in the same manner as how they started the 2018 campaign when they registered three consecutive draws against Harare City, Bulawayo Chiefs and FC Platinum.
“It hasn’t mirrored the way we started the season because as far as I’m concerned, we have only played about two games in the second half and there are still some 16 or so games to go,” Chitembwe said of his side’s recent form.
“We still have a long way to go and it’s very possible; it’s very doable in football to go on to win more games than we have drawn.
“As far as I’m concerned, we are OK but the only disappointing thing for me is that we are dropping points against teams that we are supposed to beat.”
Makepekepe forwards were able to get into good areas against Chiefs at the weekend but were unable to find the target.
Chitembwe is concerned with their conversion rate in front of goal but hopes the situation will improve going forward.
“It’s a process and it’s something that we are working on but it takes a bit of time to put everything into practice; I’m sure we will get it right,” he said.
“At the end of the day, it’s not only about conversion but there are a lot of football elements that we need to consider like the defending aspect, the creation of those chances and the execution of those chances so there are many aspects we need to work on.”
Chitembwe was also critical of his players’ performance and hopes for a change when they visit FC Platinum tomorrow.
“This is one game I didn’t see any positives; there were a lot of negatives and like I said, in most aspects of the game, I think technically the application was not so good, it wasn’t polished, even the passing was not as quick as I would have liked,” he said.
The Makepekepe gaffer singled out captain Hardlife Zvirekwi, defender Stephen Makatuka and midfielder Dominic Mukandi for special mention.
Zvirekwi, who made his comeback following a car crash that left him with an amputated right hand last weekend against City, was introduced in the 34th minute for a disappointing Joel Ngodzo.
“I’m very happy with Hardlife’s (Zvirekwi) contribution today, probably he was one of the shining light out there for us out there,” Chitembwe said.
“I thought him and Stephen (Makatuka) and to some extent…Mukandi to some extent; I’m sure just those three so if you have three players are doing well, chances are that you will struggle.
“It was the case today, most of our players were off today and it explains why we struggled.”
FIXTURES
Tomorrow: Harare City v Chapungu (Rufaro), Bulawayo Chiefs v Bulawayo City (Luveve), FC Platinum v CAPS United (Mandava), Black Rhinos v Yadah (NSS), Nichrut v Shabanie Mine (Ascot)
Sunday: Dynamos v Ngezi Platinum Stars (Rufaro), Herentals v ZPC Kariba (NSS), Triangle United v Highlanders (Gibbo), Mutare City Rovers v Chicken Inn (Vengere).
Dynamos coach Lloyd Mutasa is relishing the prospect of handing new signing Munashe Kaseke his debut for the Glamour Boys in Sunday’s potentially explosive Castle Lager Premiership clash against Ngezi Platinum Stars at Rufaro Stadium.
Lloyd Mutasa seen here with his players
Kaseke, a product of the famed Friendly Academy, joined the Glamour Boys during this mid-season transfer window having impressed the Harare giants’ technical team after a trial stint.
The 21-year-old is coming to the Harare giants from University of Northwestern Ohio in the United States where he recently completed his studies.
Kaseke was a member of the Young Warriors team that was knocked out of the Under-20 African Championships by Cameroon in June 2016.
The unheralded youngster spent two years at Spanish side Malaga between 2015 and 2017 having also had a stint at another La Liga side Espanyol.
The Glamour Boys, whose struggles this season are well chronicled, are now pinning their hopes on the youngster for goals.
Speaking to the Daily News after the team’s training session yesterday; Mutasa revealed they are expecting Kaseke’s papers to be ready today — in time for their blockbuster clash against Ngezi Platinum Stars on Sunday.
“We are looking forward to handing him (Kaseke) his debut on Sunday. I’m sure his papers should be ready by tomorrow (today). He really showed up from the first day,” Mutasa told the Daily News.
“I hope he will be able to bring us that stability up-front. He is still a young lad and we don’t want to put him under a lot of pressure.”
Last season, DeMbare’s main source for goals was Cameroonian forward Christian Ntouba, who finished the campaign with 12 goals.
Ntouba, however, returned to Cameroon at the start of this year as he demanded his outstanding dues amounting to $16 000.
Without their top goal scorer from last season, the Glamour Boys have struggled in front of goal as they have netted just 17 times in 19 matches.
The poor return in front of goal has seen the Glamour Boys occupy a lowly 10th position on the log with 22 points.
Mutasa is also hoping the club can quickly conclude the negotiations for midfielders Brett Amidu and Tanaka Chinyahara before the close of the mid-season transfer window.
Chinyahara, who has been plying his trade in Denmark, has been training with DeMbare while Amidu has been frozen out at FC Platinum.
Speaking on their match against Ngezi Platinum, Mutasa insists his charges are ready for the match.
The Harare giants lost 0-1 in the reverse fixture.
“We have a team that is really itching to go. We have drawn in our previous two matches; the encouraging part is that we are managing to get goals and it’s high time we also focus on our defending. We are very much confident of getting a positive result this time around,” he said.
“They (Ngezi) are a good side, playing some good football and will definitely come here looking for maximum points.
“All the players are up and about and are ready to do duty.
“Ocean (Mushure) is part of the mix and has been giving everything at training. He is definitely in contention for a place on Sunday.”
In their last league match, the Glamour Boys had to twice come from behind to force a 2-2 draw against struggling and depleted Shabanie Mine at Maglas Stadium.
After losing four matches on the trot, Ngezi Platinum finally remembered how to win when they beat Triangle United 3-1 at Baobab Stadium last weekend.
Last weekend’s win reinvigorated Madamburo’s title challenge as they are now just four points behind log leaders FC Platinum.
Fixtures:
Tomorrow: Harare City v Chapungu (Rufaro), Bulawayo Chiefs v Bulawayo City (Luveve), FC Platinum v CAPS United (Mandava), Black Rhinos v Yadah (NSS), Nichrut v Shabanie Mine (Ascot)
Sunday: Dynamos v Ngezi Platinum Stars (Rufaro), Herentals v ZPC Kariba (NSS), Triangle United v Highlanders (Gibbo), Mutare City Rovers v Chicken Inn (Vengere)
Incacerated former Bikita West Member of Parliament Munyaradzi Kereke is helping the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) develop business proposals, ZPCS Commissioner-General Paradzai Zimondi has said.
Munyaradzi Kereke
Kereke, a former advisor to then Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono, was jailed two years ago after being convicted of raping an 11-year-old girl at gunpoint.
Speaking during a handover of an assortment of goods worth $50 000 donated by Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) at Chikurubi Maximum Prison yesterday, Zimondi revealed that ZPCS was tapping into the knowledge of the former Bikita West legislator.
“We have people with PHDs in prisons who are assisting us in coming up with business proposals and business plans. We are being assisted by assisted, I can mention by Dr (Munyaradzi) Kereke. That is why I was saying prisoners with degrees should continue to use these degrees while in prison here,” said Zimondi.
The ZPCS Commissioner-General said the business plans and proposals being developed by Kereke are part of efforts to make local prisons more self-reliant.
“We have got farms and workshops around the country. We would like to thank you very much giving us the fish (the donated goods) which we can finish today or tomorrow. Our passionate plea is to ask for fishing rods that will make sure that we continue catching the fish. Like I said we can make sanitary pads, soap and brooms in our workshops.
“Let me also make a passionate plea to you. Mataura mega kuti mwana asingachemi anofira mumbereko.There is a company that has approached us that wants to partner us in manufacturing sanitary pads. We also once discussed with companies so that they could assist us with material to make bars of soap. Please help us make things for ourselves,” he said.
The bearded Kereke, who was putting on all-white attire, attended yesterday’s handover of goods by ZCDC chief executive officer Moris Mpofu who was in the company of the diamond company’s chairperson Killian Ukama. DailyNews
