GWANDA – Police in Zimbabwe on Thursday raided the offices of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party in Gwanda and seized 10 motorbikes according to officials who spoke to Nehanda Radio.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
Mthokozisi Bhebhe the Secretary for Information and Publicity for the party in Matabeleland South Province told us the police are claiming the motorbikes were smuggled into the country even though the paper work was in order.
The raid was carried out by some six policemen led by an Assistant Inspector Mukanyi and a Sergeant Mpofu. No arrests had been made at the time of writing. The party said the seizure of the bikes was meant to hamper their campaign efforts ahead of elections this year.
The raid comes after a similar raid on the same provincial offices on Monday in which plain clothes police harassed employees over motorbikes stored in the provincial offices.
The police quizzed staff over the acquisition of motorbikes and threatened the Gwanda Provincial Administrator Mduduzi Tshuma with death if he does not reveal the source of the motorbikes.
The Matabeleland South MDC Provincial Chairperson Mr Watchy Sibanda said the escalating intimidation of MDC staff and members by security agents is clear testimony of the need for security sector reforms in the country.
Mr Sibanda said this incident is a clear sign of the lack of rule of law and selective application of the law.
Only last year, Zanu PF acquired 550 vehicles at a cost of about US$14 million for its election campaigns, despite failing to pay party workers for months. Local business mogul John Moxon was reported to have helped secure the cars.
‘It is unacceptable in a democracy to politicise the military, as it is to militarise political and civilian affairs and institutions. While the political leadership of the military is overtly partisan towards ZANU-PF, many soldiers in the rank and file are professional and non-partisan, aspiring to faithfully serve their country. It is a classical proverbial case of a fish with a rotting head. Major challenges of partisanship and political interference are with the military leadership and not with the bulk of the low ranking members.’
Mcdonald Lewanika
In June of 2011, The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition released a seminal report on the ‘Military and Political Affairs in Zimbabwe’.
In that report there are several things that were highlighted, not least the above cited statement which argues, correctly, that the military is not homogenous, and that there is a clear disconnect between those who lead it, and those who make it up – a case of the fish with a rotting head.
After hearing out The Police Commissioner General, Augustine Chihuri, and the Zimbabwe Defense Forces Commander General, Constantine Chiwenga, over the last two weeks, the report immediately came to mind, amid reflections of the conundrum that has been the Inclusive Government and GPA Epoch.
The pronouncements, which were brought on by media reports of a “meeting” or meetings between “the Generals” and a representative of the MDC T, and Minister of Government, degenerated into a competition in expletives between the Commissioner General of Police and the ZDF Commander General.
Ministers of Government were called, ‘Malcontents’, and a whole Prime Minister of the country was called a ‘Psychiatric patient’. The Commissioner General of Police vowed that they were “too busy to engage confused malcontents”, while the ZDF Commander quipped “We have no time to meet a sellout. Clearly Tsvangirai is a psychiatric patient who needs a competent psychiatrist”.
The vitriolic responses by these two generals, served as a timely reminder that where the security sector is concerned – its respect, let alone subordination to civilian authority, is non-existent.
It showed that indeed, the more things change, the more they remain the same, and brought out in full color, the conflictual manifestations of change and continuity in Zimbabwe’s political narrative. But this is an easy conclusion to make, which in itself may not be accurate.
It has taken a great deal of courage for me to put these reflections in writing, because I am writing from Zimbabwe, and Zimbabwe is not a country where you can easily stand up to question, ponder for more than a moment, what the security sector does or says. It is “dangerous”.
But why should it be? The very same generals are quick to remind us of the Freedom and Democracy that they brought us through the liberation struggle, for which, as the Commissioner General of Police puts it correctly, a lot of Zimbabweans “dead and alive fought for”.
I am baffled by the fact that the Generals ‘meeting’ the Prime Minister of the country, can be construed as (in the words of General Chiwenga), “a mockery to the thousands of people who sacrificed their lives fighting for the country’s independence.”
One wonders what this means for the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe who meets Tsvangirai, almost every Monday, and all the ZANU PF Ministers who meet their MDC Counterparts almost every Tuesday.
Perhaps, I have a romantic notion about what the struggle for independence was about, because, as I am sure the ‘Generals’ and others in their ilk will be quick to point out, I was not there when the struggle was fought.
But I would like to believe the Commissioner General of Police, that the struggle was for Freedom and Democracy – of which the latter inevitably dictates that the security sector must subordinate itself to civilian authority and pay allegiance not to individuals but to the nation, the flag and the constitution.
Because of the major misunderstanding, between people like myself, a ‘Born Free’, and my fathers and liberators, as represented by the 2 Generals, clearly when they talk, they do not do so for me. There is a clear, generational disparity in thought and understanding of what freedom and democracy is about.
For me freedom is about liberty, and a sense of living devoid of fear and subjugation by anyone. For me democracy, is about freedom, self governance, respect for human rights, civility and supremacy of the people ( civilians).
I can see that we can use the same words, but judging from the conduct of the ‘generals’ we mean different things. So who do they speak for, and in such a callous and disrespectful manner?
On Thursday the 2nd of May 2013, a generational mate of mine, one Solomon Madzore who (unfortunately for him) is also the President of the Youth Assembly of the MDC led by the Prime Minister, was incarcerated for insulting the President. He is accused of having likened President Mugabe to a “limping donkey”.
Our Zimbabwean culture is rich with imagery, and any sane person can tell, that such a remark (if uttered) was meant to draw a likeness, and not necessary to call one such – as in, “ he is like a limping donkey” as opposed to “he is a limping donkey”.
But that is besides the point, the Army Commander actually said “Tsvangirai is a Psychiatric Patient” and the Commissioner of Police actually referred to a Minister as a “malcontent”.
I can guarantee that nothing will come to these two gentlemen, who unlike Solomon, with all his wisdom and clever attempts to simplify his narratives using imagery and likenesses, is paying with his freedom.
Those who wrote the story about the meeting, Journalists from the independent, Dumisani Muleya (editor) and Owen Gagare (reporter) – both of The Standard newspaper, spent almost a full day, detained and being questioned by Police over the story at Harare Central Police Station, on the 7th of May 2013.
But, I digress, the question, I had posed was who do the generals represent. It is easy to conclude that, they speak for the institutions they lead. It’s easy, but it may not necessarily be correct.
The security sector is made up of people, and indeed people from different generations, and in spite of whatever drilling may be attempted, people of varying political thoughts and inclinations.
The military and security establishment does not live a world apart from civilians, at distant army bases or isolated police camps. They live among the people.
The extent to which they are influenced by occasional visits by these “Generals”, and are constantly being drilled by their immediate superiors, maybe equaled by the extent to which they are influenced by their lived reality in society, the stories of their neighbors, and the experiences of their relatives.
The generals need to understand that, now more than ever before, the security establishment, are indeed like fish in water – they being the fish and the people being the water.
The fish is less likely to be influenced by the captain on a boat sitting on top of them and the water, than they are to be influenced by the very water itself from whence they derive shelter, food, company and camaraderie.
It brings to mind the words of Robert Oppenheimer, a leading American scientist, who during World War 2 led a refusal by scientists to make hydrogen bombs. His retort, is relevant for members of our security services today, and I am sure more than one are likely to think in the same way.
“We are not only scientists, WE ARE MEN TOO. We cannot forget our dependence on fellow men…These are the strongest bonds in the world, stronger than those that even bind us to one another, these are the deepest bonds that bind us to our fellow men.”
The generals may fail to see it, or may see it but decide to overplay their influence and control, but the reality, is that more than being the rotting head of an otherwise good fish, they may actually be a leadership that is less and less in control and influential on the bodies that they are supposed to be leading.
The disconnect between the Generals and those they lead, are not only a matter of conjecture, but are also reflected economically, generationally, and perhaps even politically.
There is very little doubt that the elites in the security sector, have secured their economic security, while the bulk of those they lead, live in the throes of poverty, barely getting by – a case which many have argued, is the reason behind rampant corruption in the police service.
While it is clear that the recent statements by the Generals are partisan and meant to shore up ZANU PF. In the same way that the Generals statements and positions may not be representative of security establishment in toto, they may also not be representative of ZANU PF, in toto.
In the Report alluded to at the beginning, Dr. Martin Rupiya, a security sector specialist, and former Colonel in Zimbabwean Army argues:
“In Zimbabwe’s dynamic political and electoral affairs since 2000, it is difficult to see the wood for the trees as it relates to the role of the military? And yet, we must remain clear, the use of violence–manifest through the role of the military in politics — is but a reflection of the dominance of an aggressive faction within ZANU (PF), one that has always had the propensity to kill, maim and torture political opponents and is now able to do so using armed state organs.”
So even in ZANU PF, these “generals” may actually represent, a faction and not ZANU PF itself.
What ever the case maybe, as we heard towards elections, it is clear that we will get into them with a partisan, unrepentant, and patently unprofessional security sector leadership.
In the final analysis, I believe that this is a security sector leadership that is smart enough to understand that ultimately it is the people, civilians, who will choose, who becomes the next President of this country.
They have made their preference clear, and should President Mugabe not be reelected, the good thing is that they are not forced to salute or serve a Tsvangirai, Ncube or Madhuku.
If the foregoing should prevail, I believe the affected Generals have already served their notice, and will retire to their business and farming concerns, which contrary to the popular narrative that they peddle, I am sure none will do much to interfere with.
Then, perhaps, we will get back to the pre-2002 security sector days, where professional security sector leaders could say, as did then Army Spokesperson, Major (now Brigadier General in charge of 4 Brigade) Chancellor Diye who in 2000, announced that;
“the Military was apolitical and would support any victor emerging from the electoral context.”
Three days after MDC-T youth leader Solomon Madzore was arrested for allegedly likening President Robert Mugabe to a ‘limping donkey’ it was reported Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General Constantine Chiwenga had called Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai a ‘psychiatric patient’.
Lance Guma
“We have no time to meet a sellout. Clearly Tsvangirai is a psychiatric patient who needs a competent psychiatrist,” Chiwenga told the Zanu PF controlled Sunday Mail newspaper. It would be “a mockery to the thousands of people who sacrificed their lives fighting for the country’s independence,” he said.
Apart from the obvious ‘animal farm’ scenario where some animals are more equal than others, a messy divorce pitting General Chiwenga and his wife of 14 years, Jocelyn Chiwenga, exposed the fact (by Chiwenga’s own testimony in court) that it was actually his wife who needed a ‘competent psychiatrist’.
Interestingly it was only last year that Mugabe’s acid-tongued spokesman George Charamba admitted writing speeches for Chiwenga after being asked about his frequent visits to the army headquarters. You can see why there is merit in concluding that Charamba probably wrote Chiwenga’s latest speech.
It’s known even in army circles that Chiwenga is not very bright. In fact several years ago, he attempted suicide after failing a military exam that had a bearing on whether he would be promoted or not. Even disclosures by the WikiLeaks website exposed the damning appraisal of Chiwenga by his peers in the army.
Brigadier General Herbert Chingono (Inspector General of the Zimbabwe National Army) and Major General Fidelis Satuku (ZDF Director General for Policy and Personnel) who in a January 5 and 6, 2010 meeting with US ambassador Charles Ray, spoke disrespectfully about their commander.
“Chiwenga is a political general who works hard, but who has very little practical military experience or expertise. Given a choice between a military and a political issue, Chiwenga will always choose the political, because he doesn’t know enough about the military to be comfortable discussing it.”
But back to Chiwenga and his 14 year marriage to Jocelyn. Last year the High Court barred the media from reporting details of the high profile divorce case. The scary details of their two affidavits were leaked to the media somehow and the contents were enough to use for a blockbuster Nollywood movie.
Chiwenga claimed he was driven away from their matrimonial home because she subjected him to ‘violent beatings’. The army general admitted to constantly being beaten and says she once violently attacked him while he was sedated and she also pushed him off the bed.
In another hair raising incident, Jocelyn allegedly arrived at the army headquarters and demanded US$300 000 from Chiwenga. When the army boss could not fork out the amount she went into a fit of rage and trashed his office destroying picture frames, vases and ornaments in front of his junior officers.
Chiwenga in his court affidavit says he left the office and sought refuge at their family home in Borrowdale Brooke. The army chief says because he was “feeling sick” he called his physician, Dr Paul Chimedza, who attended to him and administered some sleeping medication.
While Dr Chimedza watched over his drowsy patient, Jocelyn allegedly burst into the room shouting at the top of her voice. “She jumped into General Chiwenga’s bed and beat him up on his face with clenched fists. As he was sedated, he could not defend himself,” his lawyers claimed.
“Dr Chimedza pulled Jocelyn away from General Chiwenga and pleaded with her that General Chiwenga was genuinely ill and she should not continue assaulting him.
“When Dr Chimedza thought he had calmed Jocelyn down, she then pushed General Chiwenga off the bed. He fell to the floor and hit his head against the step of the platform on which the bed rests.
“As a result of the fall he injured the right side of his head. General Chiwenga was bruised and swollen from assaults. Owing to sedation, he was helpless,” the affidavit claimed.
Chiwenga’s problems did not end there. When he eventually sat on the bed, Jocelyn charged at him again threatening to kill him with a spear and axe.
The Love Triangle Wars: Jocelyn Chiwenga, General Constantine Chiwenga and former supermodel Mary Mubaiwa.
Jocelyn demanded $40 million from Chiwenga’s new wife as damages for allegedly offending her feelings and cohabitating with her partner. The army chief married Mary Mubaiwa, a former supermodel and ex-wife of former Zimbabwe soccer international player, Shingirai Kawondera.
In November 2011, Jocelyn Chiwenga, claimed her marriage involved periods of physical and emotional abuse by her husband. She claimed that her husband used to beat her up and then send her to Malaysia for treatment.
Jocelyn said Chiwenga also threatened to shoot her if she ever reported the assaults to the police. “If anything happens to me after the publication of this story, the nation should know it came from Chiwenga,” Jocelyn said at the time.
According to court documents, on the 23rd of May 2002, Jocelyn arrived at Shepherd Hall Farm outside Harare with a gang armed with AK47 rifles and ordered the farm’s white owner, Roger Staunton, to turn over his property to her or be killed. “I have not tasted white blood for 20 years,” she yelled at him.
When Staunton offered a handshake “she told me she had no intention of shaking hands with a white pig,” the farmer said. “She stated that she had not tasted white blood since 1980 (independence) and missed the experience, and that she needed just the slightest excuse to kill somebody,” said Staunton.
“She ordered one of her guards to ‘kill the white bastards’,” he said. The gunman cocked his weapon, but did not open fire, one report says.
In 2003 Jocelyn Chiwenga beat up Daily News lawyer Gugulethu Moyo, at a police station in Glen View. The lawyer had gone there to represent the paper’s photographer who had been arrested while covering a planned mass action. Jocelyn slapped Moyo in the face and twisted her arm.
The assault continued outside the police station, carried out by both Jocelyn and one Kelvin Chadenyika. Moyo was punched, kicked and hit many times. Police officers present witnessed the attack but did not intervene. “Your paper wants to encourage anarchy in this country,” Jocelyn yelled at the lawyer.
In 2008 Jocelyn harangued and harassed Tsvangirai and journalists who had accompanied the MDC-T leader on a tour of supermarkets in Harare after Mugabe’s scorched earth policy of price freezes left shop shelves empty.
She caused a scene at Makro Wholesalers in Harare, where she threatened to ‘take away’ Tsvangirai’s ‘manhood.’ In a fit of rage, she also slapped freelance photographer Tsvangirai Mukwazhi, while two other journalists, including Kumbirai Mafunda, sustained minor injuries in the ensuing fracas.
If General Chiwenga is looking for “a psychiatric patient who needs a competent psychiatrist” then he need not look further than his wife of 14 years, Jocelyn Mauchaza-Chiwenga, the former waitress at Jobs Nightspot.
BULAWAYO dancing queen, Sandra Ndebele, will still form part of the ensemble of artistes set to perform at this year’s Bulawayo Comes Alive music concert despite the fact that she is billed to perform at the inaugural Zimbabwe International Carnival.
Raunchy dancer Sandra Ndebele
Last week, organiser of Bulawayo Comes Alive which takes place on 24 May, Jeys Marabini said Ndebele would miss the fest, which is billed for 24 May at Masina Sports Bar as it clashed with the carnival which runs from 22 May to 29 May.
In an interview Marabini said they had cleared things up with Ndebele who will perform at both events.
“We have managed to clear things up with Sandra and I am happy to say that she will be performing at the concert and at the carnival as well,” he said.
Marabini said Ndebele said she could not miss the BulAwayo event which she felt was very important. The festival, which was last held in 2007 will bring togehter more than over 40 city artistes including dance groups.
Some of the artistes that are set grace the event include Black Umfolosi, Marabini, Chase Skuza, Khuxxman, Iyasa, Ndolwane Super Sounds, Willis Watafi, Cool Crooners, Ndux Junior, Umdumo Wesizwe, Tukuye Super Sounds, Isizukulwane, Otis Ngwabi, Impumelelo Shining Stars, Obadia Matulana, Siyaya, Djembe Monks, Gabz Fire, Mchez’nana and Hudson Simbarashe.
Marabini said the preparations for the event were on track and that they were looking to rope in the national broadcaster, ZBC to beam the event live. He however said this was only possible if the business community supports the event through advertising.
“We saw what happened recently with Hifa and we would also like to get the same television coverage. This event is even more unique because it’s something that is strictly for and by locals.
“However, the city’s business community has to come to our rescue and buy advertising space because it’s expensive for ZBC to cover these events that are outside Harare,” he said.
Member of legendary Imbube group, Black UMfolosi, Sotsha Moyo said that he was looking forward to the fest as he believed that it would be one of the biggest shows held in the city in a long time.
“This will be a big day for Bulawayo, one of the biggest in the history of music in the city in fact. All preparations are on course and if things go according to plan, on the day of the event we will hold a procession from somewhere in the city right to the stage at Masina where artistes will be performing,” he said.
BULAWAYO – A disciplinary measure by a woman from Bulawayo’s Pumula South suburb ended in tragedy when she allegedly killed her 15-year-old daughter for going out with “boyfriends”.
Bulawayo Map | Zimbabwe Google Satellite Maps
Bulawayo provincial spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo confirmed the incident, which occurred on Saturday, saying the girl could have died from injuries she sustained after a beating by her mother.
“We are handling a case where a Pumula South girl died after sustaining injuries after being beaten up by her mother. We cannot ascertain the exact time she died but we suspect that it could have been moments after the assault,” said Insp Moyo.
The body of the girl was discovered more than 24 hours later after the woman turned herself to the police. Neighbours of the woman identified her as Mrs Cecilia Gurwe.
According to the neighbours, trouble started at about 4pm on Saturday when Mrs Gurwe spotted her daughter with “friends” at the family’s gate.
“It seems the mother did not understand the nature of friends that were in the company of Natasha and summoned her into their house. Moments later we heard her screams coming from the house, as her mother was beating her up,” said a neighbour who declined to be identified.
He said the girl, who was a Form Three pupil at Pumula High School, was screaming and neighbours in surrounding houses got worried.
“We suspect that she was beating up Natasha with a sjambok. Since this was happening in someone else’s house it was difficult for the neighbours to intervene and save the girl from the beating,” said the neighbour.
He said due to their concerns from the screams they had heard coming from the house the previous day, they were worried about the wellbeing of the girl.
“On Sunday we had to keep an eye on the happenings in that yard hoping to see Natasha, but sadly we did not see her the whole day,” said the neighbour.
He said the neighbours became more worried after they saw her mother in the company of three unfamiliar women whispering on the other side of the yard.
“Moments later they went out and in the act of suspicion that the ladies were up to no good, some neighbours advised tenants that lived in the same yard to lock the gate. When they came back in the middle of the night, they found the gate locked. She then immediately turned herself to the police,” said the neighbour.
Another neighbour said they were surprised to see Mrs Gurwe coming back in the company of police officers at about 1am.
“She came back in the company of police officers and led them into the house where they took Natasha’s body out,” said a neighbour who only identified herself as Mrs Moyo.
She said she was surprised by the fact that Mrs Gurwe went all the way to report the death without making an effort to at least alert her neighbours.
“Her actions are weird, there is something that she is hiding from us, and if it was a genuine accident that Natasha died while she was disciplining her, she should have then alerted us. Most people in the suburb are reading a lot into her actions,” said Mrs Moyo.
HARARE – Almost 30,000 new voters have registered to vote since the mobile registration exercise was launched two weeks ago, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson said on Wednesday.
Rita Makarau inspecting a police column
At a press conference Rita Makarau told journalists in Harare that 29,940 new voters registered since the campaign began on 29th April. She also said that in the same period 3,839 citizens used the exercise to transfer their votes from one ward to the other.
The former Judge of the High Court said ZEC is satisfied with the progress achieved from the exercise despite numerous complaints, mainly to do with the unfair distribution of voter registration centers in the country.
‘42,882 people have taken identification cards while 33,645 have used the occasion to inspect the voters roll,’ said Makarau who urged all Zimbabweans to take the opportunity to register as voters and at the same time inspect the voters roll.
‘If anyone has a complaint, they are invited to lodge the complaint with the district offices or the head office in Harare. They should be specific as to the nature of the actual complaint,’ Makarau added.
The ZEC chair explained that the commission has deployed two voter educators per district to educate people on who is eligible to vote and the type of documents that a person is required to submit, in order to register. SW Radio Africa
HARARE – Former State radio and TV personality Eric Knight, who is eyeing the Mbare Constituency, has fired warning shots, launching an election manifesto that could change the outlook of Harare’s oldest suburb.
Eric Knight
Knight wants to represent Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC in watershed elections expected later this year.
He claims to have been hounded out of his job at Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBC) by then minister of Information and Publicity Jonathan Moyo because of his MDC connections, and is now promising to change the face one of Harare’s poorest suburb as well as tame Zanu PF-aligned vigilante group Chipangano.
“ As a resident, I am driven by the passion to make my area a better place to live in by facilitating the refurbishment of existing structures as well as construction of new flats because as it is the conditions in Mbare are appalling.
“We have a situation whereby 15 people live in one room and there is no running water yet we concentrate on violence. We need to put in place mechanisms that ensure people co-exist in harmony without having to run away from Chipangano all the time,” said Knight while addressing close to 200 Mbare residents at Harvest House in Harare at the weekend.
The former DJ said he would use his connections in the Diaspora to mobilise resources for self-help projects that empower youths in the constituency in a nonpartisan manner.
“People in Mbare are economically active but they need support that ensures systematic nonpartisan allocation of tables at the market. I will use my connections with the outside world to ensure young people are assisted in doing relevant courses to run the projects.
Knight’s election manifesto comes at a time when he and other party cadres who have shown interest in representing the party in the forthcoming elections have been ridiculed by the party rank and file for “hijacking” the democratic struggle at the last minute.
But Knight has dismissed the allegations as machinations of people sent by Zanu PF to sow seeds of hatred in his party.
“It is a known fact that I was fired at the ZBC because of my connections to the MDC. At its formation in 1999 I used to hold meetings with the likes of the late Learnmore Jongwe and when my employers got the news I started receiving threats before I was fired.
“What many people including some in my party fail to understand is that the struggle has several stages and can be fought from various angles. We cannot all be throwing stones certainly,” he said.
However, Knight will have to battle it out against senior party members who include former legislator Tichaona Munyanyi, councillor Friday Muleya and activist Stan Zvorwadza.
He joins a number of former media personalities who have declared their interest to represent MDC in this year’s parliamentary elections who include Grace Kwinjeh, Ezra Sibanda and James Maridadi. Daily News
Vice President Joice Mujuru with her late husband retired General Solomon Mujuru (Picture via John Cassim for Nehanda Radio)
By Fungai Kwaramba
HARARE – President Robert Mugabe’s loyalist and Vice President Joice Mujuru is walking with a spring as her faction is on a roll, cleansing provinces ahead of elections and positioning itself for an eventual takeover of Zanu PF.
Vice President Joice Mujuru seen here with her late husband retired General Solomon Mujuru (picture by John Cassim)
Mujuru, who is reportedly engaged in a fierce battle to succeed Mugabe with bitter rival Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, has her interests protected by the party’s secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa and national chairperson Simon Khaya-Moyo.
The two strongmen are leading a party restructuring exercise ahead of elections.
The former guerrilla movement is on fire with factional fights spreading across the country’s 10 provinces including the restive Masvingo province, where knives are drawn out for the incumbent chairperson Lovemore Matuke — reported to be a key member of the Mnangagwa faction.
Already the former guerrilla movement has been forced to reform its Manicaland and Bulawayo provinces as factional wars escalate ahead of an election which could be the 89-year-old Mugabe’s last due to advanced age.
Ousted Manicaland chairperson Mike Madiro — also fingered in the infamous Tsholotsho declaration of 2004 which sought to block the elevation of Mujuru to the vice presidency — was last month booted out for allegedly stealing Mugabe’s birthday party beasts and had been replaced by Dorothy Mabika.
Mabika has also been suspended.
In Bulawayo, Callistus Ndlovu has replaced Killian Sibanda as the Bulawayo Zanu PF provincial chairperson.
Both in Bulawayo and Manicaland province, Mujuru has emerged triumphant as individuals loyal to her faction are in the saddle.
The case is no different in Masvingo province.
In a letter seen by the Daily News, Zanu PF Masvingo political commissar Trainos Huruva has invited the party’s national chairperson — who heads a crack team formed by the politburo to “unite” the party ahead of polls — to visit the province on May 10.
“I am writing to confirm that Masvingo province is ready to receive you this Friday 10th of May 2013,” Huruva’s letter says.
“All arrangements are lined up in respect of the meeting. As the political commissar for the province, I strongly recommend that you come and lay the groundwork for an immediate change in leadership in the Masvingo Zanu PF provincial executive in line with the agreed roadmap.
“Mr Matuke, the current chairman of the province is resisting to co-operate with the VP’s views on the province’s new direction.”
Matuke said he was unaware of a plot to oust him, even though he confirmed that he was aware Khaya-Moyo was due in Masvingo province.
“Yes, they are coming but I don’t know their aim, however, they have been to other provinces,” he said.
Asked whether he knew his head was on the guillotine ostensibly because of failed leadership, Matuke retorted, “I am not aware of that, maybe it is his (Huruva) opinion.
“As far as I know, we are doing the right thing. It is just a letter from an individual and we cannot respond to that.”
Matuke is accused of having snubbed the Independence Day celebrations at Mucheke Stadium preferring to attend a low key meeting of an aspiring MP in Mashava.
The Mujuru faction, led in the province by politburo member Dzikamai Mavhaire, wants Mugabe to discipline their rivals for defying his calls for non-electioneering before primary elections dates and guidelines are set.
“In every province there could be factions but in Masvingo they are not that big. Factionalism had been suppressed but then it can arise anytime because people have their own interests,” Matuke said.
The factionalism rocking Masvingo presents a further headache to Mugabe whose party has failed to groom or anoint a successor.
Insiders say the chaotic scenes bedevilling the Masvingo, Bulawayo and Mutare provinces are replicated in all the 10 provinces, which are divided along factional lines and engaged in deadly combat. Daily News
A Harare businessman has filed a High Court application seeking an order barring Telecel Zimbabwe from running the popular Mega Promotion on the basis that it was a “stolen idea”.
Mercy Murewa from Mutare struggles to hold back her tears when her name was announced as one of the winners of the Win Big Promo vehicles
Mr Peterson Tengende, who operates an information technology firm Trumbelt Computers is also claiming US$340 000 from the mobile network provider as damages after Telecel “hijacked” his idea to run the mega promotion.
Through his lawyer, Ms Tambudzayi Gonese of Gonese Attorneys and Ms Jacqueline Sande of Sande and Partners, Mr Tengende is seeking to stop the promotion and to be paid the damages.
According to papers filed at the High Court recently, Mr Tengende says early last year he met Telecel representatives seeking to provide consultancy services for the purpose of introducing marketing concepts for the company.
In the course of the engagement, Mr Tengende argues, he wrote a literary work in the form of a report in which he outlined a marketing strategy called “Mega Promo”. According to the report, Trumbelt and Telecel would partner in a mobile quiz programme.
“Defendant (Telecel) without plaintiff’s knowledge, assignment or permission, proceeded to copy and implement the report and its contents, thus infringing the plaintiff’s copyright.
Defendant has been unjustly enriched at the expense of the plaintiff and as a result of the defendant’’s infringement, plaintiffs have suffered damages in the sum of US$340 000, being a reasonable estimate of plaintiff’s project profit,” read part of the summons.
Mr Tengende says Telecel refused to rectify the infringement or to pay damages, prompting him to seek recourse at the High Court. In a defendant’s plea filed by Honey and Blanckenberg law firm, Telecel denied ever hijacking the project, saying when the company met Mr Tengende it already had the idea.
“During the defendant’s initial discussions with the first plaintiff, the defendant notified that it was already putting together a promotion with another company but nevertheless invited first plaintiff, if he was so inclined, to submit his proposals in writing for consideration and a possible agreement of engagement, subject to the terms and conditions to be agreed upon.
“Defendant has no knowledge of the plaintiff’s professed valid copyright. Defendant denies that copyright exists or vests in plaintiff and denied that an infringement of copyright has taken place,” read part of the plea.
Telecel also challenges the claimed US$340 000, saying the figure was unreasonable and that it did not know how Mr Tengende arrived at the figure. The Registrar of the High Court is yet to set the matter down for hearing.
An armed robber shot dead in Chitungwiza in this file photo from 2011
By Walter Nyamukondiwa
CHINHOYI – Four suspected armed robbers who have been terrorising travellers along the country’s major highways have been arrested leading to the recovery of various items, including the vehicles they were using in the robberies.
An armed robber shot dead in Chitungwiza in this file photo from 2011
The quartet’s names are being withheld to allow police to complete investigations into one of the most organised onslaughts on stranded travellers, especially along the Harare-Chirundu and Harare-Bulawayo roads.
The suspects would offer people lifts before attacking them and stripping them of their clothes and valuable items. One of the victims of the claw hammer attack was still admitted to Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital where his condition was reportedly stable.
District criminal investigations officer (Makonde-Hurungwe-Kariba district) Chief Superintendent Peter Machingura said the arrest and recovery of goods at a house in Glenara in Harare had so far led to the clearing of 13 cases of robbery.
“Working on information we received, we managed to track the suspects to their hideout where we managed to recover various items, including laptops, cellphones and clothes, among others, that people lost during the robbery spree,” he said.
He said the four suspects would pick up people using either a Toyota Altezza or a Toyota Corolla at undesignated pick-up points, especially at Greencroft and Westgate roundabout along the Harare-Chirundu highway.
They would drive to side roads just before or after the Mapinga Great Dyke Pass where they would produce either a knife, claw hammer and a knobkerrie, but police were still investigating the possibility of them using a gun.
“They pounced on desperate travellers at night around 8pm before attacking their victims and ordering them to strip naked and leave their valuable items before driving off leaving behind their naked victims,” he said.
Some of the people who have positively identified their valuables were from as far as Mutare, Bulawayo and Bindura where the group was operating. Detectives working on the information tracked the four to a house in Glenara where the loot which they had shared equally was recovered.
Police have called on people to use public transport to avoid being robbed after the cases escalated from March this year.
