Norton legislator Temba Mliswa has urged government to declare drug abuse a national disaster and institute measures that can curb the problem.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Norton MP Temba Mliswa (Independent)
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Mliswa said the high unemployment rate in Zimbabwe was also the reason why young people are abusing drugs.
He added that his constituency, Norton, had become a hotspot and urged the government to declare drug abuse a national disaster.
“On a point of national importance Madam Speaker. There is excessive drug abuse across the country. It would be good for us to understand the measures the government is taking to curb that while there is unemployment and many other reasons that it has gotten to a level where it has become a way of life. My Constituency itself is a hotspot.
“Out of the three youths you come across, each of them is intoxicated and I am wondering what we should do. I am hoping that it must be declared a national disaster. It has to be declared a national disaster so that government comes up with measures of ensuring that there are rehabilitation centres and hospitals to start taking care of them to see how best they can get out of this situation.
Mliswa added: “I see a situation, if Government does not move up the ladder with what is going on, we have no nation to talk about, no generation to talk about and it is costly. It is expensive and when they are intoxicated, they can do anything.
“They are stealing and you cannot report your child for stealing. So crime rate increases and abuse as well with other parties and so forth. So Madam Speaker, it is important that it is declared a national disaster and the government comes up with measures to curb it, or else the situation as I have said, is totally out of hand. Thank you Madam Speaker.”
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Tsitsi Gezi responded to Mliswa saying the responsible Minister should come with a ministerial statement on the issue.
“Thank you Hon. Mliswa. Your point of national interest is valid. Sure, the issue of drug abuse has become a pandemic.
“I think we can ask the responsible Minister to come to this House with a Ministerial Statement so that Hon. Members of Parliament can have chances to interrogate the Minister on how the Government is intending to deal with this issue of drug abuse.” Nehanda Radio
Emirates airline posted a $1.6 billion loss in the first half of the financial year, the Dubai-based carrier said Wednesday, as it remains in the red due to the Covid pandemic.
Emirates airline posted a $1.6 billion loss in the first half of the financial year (Getty Images)
However, revenue was up 86 percent to $5.9 billion and the loss compares to $3.4 billion during the same period last year, the company said in a statement.
“Across the group, we saw operations and demand pick up as countries started to ease travel restrictions,” CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said.
“This momentum accelerated over the summer and continues to grow steadily into the winter season and beyond.
“While there’s still some way to go before we restore our operations to pre-pandemic levels and return to profitability, we are well on the recovery path,” he added.
In June Emirates, the biggest airline in the Middle East, announced its first annual loss in more than three decades after the pandemic threw the aviation industry into crisis.
The carrier said then that it had received a capital injection of $3.1 billion from its owner, the government of Dubai, to help it survive the crisis. AFP
Leo Kanyimo (38) allegedly went into a trance and axed his wife and two children to death.
By Patrick Chitumba
A man described as a “prayer warrior” by his family was buried yesterday together with his two children he killed in cold blood last week together with their mother, leaving unanswered questions as to what could have driven him to commit the multiple murders.
Leo Kanyimo (38) allegedly went into a trance and axed his wife and two children to death.
A sombre atmosphere engulfed Mutasa Cemetery in Gweru when the Woodlands suburb vendor who collapsed and died at Gweru Magistrates Courts was buried together with his children.
Leo Kanyimo (30) allegedly murdered his wife Chipo Shava (30) and their two children, Innocent (4) and one-year-old Tadisa, in cold blood using an axe and a knife on Tuesday last week.
He died two days later at Gweru Magistrates Courts while waiting to be arraigned before a magistrate for initial remand.
Leo, Innocent and Tadisa were buried at Mutasa Cemetery yesterday afternoon, while Chipo will be buried on a date to be announced at her rural home in Mberengwa.
Government came to the aid of the family assisting with the four coffins, blankets, transport and food.
The Gweru community led by mayor Councillor Josiah Makombe came in numbers to pay their last respects to Leo and his children.
Chipo’s relatives allegedly snubbed the burial of their son-in-law and their grandchildren, amid indications that Leo’s father had sent emissaries to Mberengwa to bring the two families to the negotiating table.
Leo’s other child, a six-year-old boy, who survived after he was rescued by a neighbour, also attended the funeral.
First to be buried was Leo in the adult section of the cemetery before Tadisa and finally Innocent were buried in the children’s section.
Leo, who is said to have been extremely violent at the time he was arrested by the police with the assistance of members of the public, could have succumbed to injuries sustained when he was apprehended.
Police sources said he met instant justice during his arrest “because he was extremely violent”.
Leo’s aunt Ms Kedina Kanyimo said she knew him as a quiet, peace-loving person and a prayer warrior, adding that the family was still in shock after learning that he had murdered his family in cold blood. “We are still in shock and so is everyone around here because this is very unusual and uncalled for. Leo is my sister’s son and he was born in Chiweshe. After the separation of his parents, my sister moved back with him and soon she remarried and we grew up with Leo,” said Ms Kanyimo.
“He was a quiet and peace-loving person and was a prayer warrior. He attended AFM church and I started hearing about the alleged murder from social media. It came as a shocker because we know him as a peacemaker and a hard worker.”
She said Chipo was Leo’s second wife after his first wife abandoned him for another man saying he was poor.
“He then married Chipo and they have been together for seven years. During those years, I knew them as greatly in love and that is why this is shocking. Since I was not there on the day of the murder, I wouldn’t comment on it but I believe it’s the work of the devil,” she said.
Ms Kanyimo said Leo’s father had gone to Mberengwa to join Chipo’s family so that the families could work together.
“Chipo’s relatives are not here, yes. But so is Leo’s father who has gone to Mberengwa with some emissaries. We want her to be buried by the two families. We are sorry about what happened and unfortunately we were not there and will never know what drove Leo to commit this heinous crime on his wife and children,” she said.
Said Leo’s brother, Precious: “After all has been said and done, I just want to thank the Government for providing the State assisted funeral. We had nowhere to start financially and the Government has made it possible. Leo and his children have been buried here and Chipo will be buried in Mberengwa thanks to the Government intervention.”
A friend, Mike Nyabeza, said Leo was always busy with his vending business.
“On the day of the murder, Leo suddenly decided to go back home. After some minutes, we were called by his neighbours for help. We tried to open the door but it was locked. We managed to break the window only to find his wife dead on the bed while one of his children was in a pool of blood. We don’t know what really transpired, but on the sad day Leo was too quiet showing that something was bothering him,” he said.
Gweru assistant district development coordinator Mr Tarisai Mudadigwa said Government had assisted the family to bury Leo, his wife and children.
“This is a State-assisted funeral after it was noticed that the burial of these people might be difficult for the remaining family members,” he said.
Cllr Makombe said there is need to consider counselling people who have not been able to provide for their families due to Covid-19 induced lockdowns which cause mental stress.
“We need to have the people counselled because there is this mental health stress. We might call it evil spirits but we need to bring our heads together,” he said.
At around 14.30 PM on Tuesday last week, Leo murdered his wife Chipo who was also a vendor at the shopping centre, his son Innocent and Tadisa.
Chipo’s body lay on the bed and she had a deep cut on the chin and on the head.
Blood had dripped from her onto the floor.
Innocent was lying down on the floor naked with a stab wound on the left side of the chest.
Furniture in the room was all over the place, an indication that Chipo and Innocent tried to fight off their killer. A bloody wooden hoe handle was near Chipo and a kitchen knife near Innocent.
Tadisa’s body lay on the road about 200 metres away from the house. She had a deep cut on the head. The Chronicle
A technical fault at Hwange Power Station has cut power supplies, hence the heavy load-shedding, with Zambia and South Africa also facing load-shedding and so unable to export.
The Hwange Thermal Power Station
In a statement yesterday, Zesa Holdings said work was in progress at Hwange to fix the fault.
“The technical fault has resulted in depressed generation of electricity at Hwange Power Station. Restoration of service is underway and customers are advised to use the available power sparingly.”
Zambia is facing its own serious fault.
A spokeperson for Zambian power utility ZESCO, Ms Hazel Zulu, said the country’s power utility had experienced a disturbance following the loss of significant generation in the Zambian system, which resulted in the separation of the entire Zambian power system from the rest of the Southern African interconnected power system.
This caused a nationwide blackout. Preliminary investigations indicate that the cause of the disturbance was external to the Zambian interconnected power system, she said.
ZESCO immediately began power restoration, which is still ongoing, with power restored in parts of Lusaka, southern, western and central provinces.
ZESCO will continue to keep customers and the public informed on this matter. The inconvenience this has caused is deeply regretted.
Meanwhile, South African’s Eskom has said that their stage 4 load-shedding was being implemented from 1pm on Monday until 5am on Friday, thereafter Stage 2 load-shedding will be implemented as previously communicated until 5am on Saturday.
While Eskom regrets the escalation in load-shedding, it said it was necessary to ration the remaining emergency generation reserves, which have been utilised extensively as they are not getting the reduction in demand as expected from the implementation of Stage 2 load-shedding.
It was anticipated that an additional seven units would have returned to service by Monday, and this has not materialised. The Herald
The Government has denied reports that it was contemplating adopting cryptocurrency as a legal tender saying the Zimbabwe dollar will remain the only local currency.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube
Cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, is a digital medium of exchange and uses encryption techniques to control the creation of monetary units and to verify transfer of funds.
Speaking after the Cabinet meeting yesterday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said cryptocurrency would not be a local currency.
“Government would like to assure the nation that it is not considering introducing another currency in the economy as reported in some sections of the media. Our local currency is the Zimbabwe dollar, and not cryptocurrency. Like most countries in the world, the Government of Zimbabwe, through its Financial Technology Group, is studying Central Banking Digital Currency as opposed to cryptocurrencies, bitcoins or any form of derivatives,” she said.
Worldwide, cryptocurrency is used in some private transactions but no central bank has adopted one of these private currencies and no central bank will support it. Values of cryptocurrencies tend to fluctuate wildly.
Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube has already openly said cryptocurrency would not be used as a currency in Zimbabwe.
Speaking at the Zimbabwe Global Investor Road Show in New York in September, Prof Ncube said the Government was looking at how cryptocurrency and digital assets could be classified as another asset class.
He said the Treasury saw nothing wrong in exploring how cryptocurrencies could be useful in future as an asset class but said it would not be used as a transaction currency due to its volatile nature.
“The intention is not to have it as a transaction currency but as an investment asset class, and even then once we have made a decision we will ring-fence this in the offshore financial centre so that it does not circulate locally.
“I am seeing the excitement about cryptocurrency and a digital asset so I think we should continue to watch the space and do more research so that we move with the rest of the world,” Prof Ncube told investors then. The Herald
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), yesterday amended Foreign Currency Auction bidding rules, bringing a new provision that bidders should submit their bids through banks four working days before the auction date as a way to give the apex bank time to sift through requests.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya
Banks are also now required to submit bids received from their clients to the apex bank within three working days, and any bids not supplied within that timeframe will be disqualified forthwith.
The new changes have been effected to deal with bidders who have been taking advantage of the weak auction and banking systems in the country to manipulate processes.
The RBZ now sees this as the opportunity to ascertain authenticity of the bids on time and allot foreign currency to deserving companies and individuals.
“The bank wishes to advise the public that with immediate effect, all bids for foreign exchange shall be submitted through bidders’ respective bankers at least four business days before the date of the auction.
“The bankers shall in turn submit the bids to the bank, the auction administrator, at least three business days before the date of the auction.
“There has been a significant increase in the number of bids being submitted through the auction system, averaging 2 000 per week, and thus the change in bid submission timelines will give banks ample time to carry out the necessary due diligence processes and assess their customers’ bids,” the statement released yesterday in the morning read.
Seventy-seven people were blacklisted by the RBZ for operating on the foreign currency black market, whose bank and mobile money accounts have now been frozen and who are barred from operating any others for two years.
The freezing of bank and mobile money accounts and the blacklisting for two years are part of the RBZ’s efforts to clamp down on the black market by removing the middlemen.
The black market is seen as subject to manipulation and profiteering by those who operate it with the rates generated each day having very little to do with actual market forces.
The first group of 30 were listed on September 28, 2021.
The Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe has since barred all those listed from operating mobile lines. The Herald
Warriors posterboy Khama Billiat has been appointed to skipper the national squad in the remaining two 2022 World Cup football qualifiers against South Africa and Ethiopia.
Khama Billiat and Knowledge Musona
Captain Knowledge Musona and his vice Tendayi Darikwa are both out with the former injured while the latter is attending to family issues.
And Billiat has been given the responsibility to lead the team against Bafana Bafana at the FNB Stadium here tomorrow night and he will also take the armband in the tie against Ethiopia at home on Sunday.
This will not be the first time that Billiat has been appointed Warriors captain as he has previously led the team in the friendly against Malawi last year.
He has also worn the armband when he was still at Mamelodi Sundowns.
Zimbabwe are already out of the mix for next year’s World Cup to be hosted in Qatar but they will battle to restore their battered pride in these last two group ties.
The Warriors have picked a single point from four matches and are nine points behind leaders South Africa who are a point ahead of closest rivals Ghana. The Herald
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers said Wednesday that the threat posed by the Islamic State group in the country was “more or less under control” despite recent bloody attacks that have killed dozens.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid looks on as he addresses the first press conference in Kabul on August 17, 2021 following the Taliban stunning takeover of Afghanistan. (Photo by Hoshang Hashimi / AFP via Getty Images)
Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference that IS was “not a great threat”, adding that around 600 members or sympathisers had been arrested since the Taliban seized control of the country in mid-August.
He said there were even a few women among those captured, who would be questioned by other women.
“They are not many in Afghanistan, because they do not have the support of the people,” said Mujahid, adding that the Taliban were continuing operations against their Islamist foes.
A Sunni group like the Taliban, the Islamic State group is more extreme and advocates a “global jihad” rather than a national struggle.
The group came to prominence when it proclaimed a caliphate in Syria in 2014, inspiring a number of offshoots elsewhere including “Khorasan”, a historical region spanning parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Turkmenistan.
Mujahid said that unlike its counterpart in the Middle East, IS-Khorasan was mostly made up of local fighters, and that its presence in Afghanistan was not a threat to other countries.
Still, the group has claimed responsibility for a series of bloody attacks since the Taliban’s return to power.
One of the latest, in early November, saw IS fighters raid the Kabul National Military Hospital, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 50.
IS-K openly targets the Shiite minority — who they consider heretical — and in particular the Hazaras.
More than 120 people were killed in IS attacks earlier this year on two mosques popular with Hazaras. AFP
Zimbabwe Women's Cricket team dubbed the Lady Chevrons (Picture via Zimbabwe Women's Cricket team on Twitter)
By Eddie Chikamhi
Zimbabwe women’s national cricket team suffered a batting malfunction which led to a crashing eight-wicket defeat by Bangladesh in the first match of the One Day International series at Queens Sports Club today.
Zimbabwe Women’s Cricket team dubbed the Lady Chevrons (Picture via Zimbabwe Women’s Cricket team on Twitter)
The hosts were put in to bat first after losing the toss and were cleaned out for a meagre total of 48 runs. The visitors wrapped up the match well before lunch despite losing two wickets in the chase.
Fargana Hoque (11) and Rumana Ahmed took the tourists home in this easy chase.
Zimbabwe’s batters were overwhelmed by their more experienced opponents, with Precious Marange (17) the only one to score a double digit score earlier on.
The Bangladeshi bowlers had their job done in 23.2 overs. There were three wickets apiece for the bowling trio of Jahanara Alam, Salma Khatun and Nahida Akter.
Bangladesh lead the three-match series 1-0. Both teams are using the series as the final preparations for the upcoming ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2021 to be hosted in Harare. The Herald
Indeed, it was a bit of a shocker, but most certainly not particularly surprising at all. I have always maintained that the hatred, by the Zimbabwe ruling elite, of the main opposition MDC – ever since its formation in 1999 – went far beyond the emergence of a strongly formidable political rival, who posed a real threat to ZANU PF’s grip on power.
Tendai Ruben Mbofana
No, it was much more than that.
This was about jealousy. Pure, unadulterated jealousy and envy.
And, we all know what that can do to a person.
In fact, in some cultures, jealousy and envy are equated to witchcraft – since, someone consumed by this gnawing and vile vice can easy be driven to kill the object of his hatred.
Let us remember that, before falling out of favour with the United Kingdom – Zimbabwe’s ruling elite remained darlings and ‘blue-eyed boys’ of our erstwhile colonial masters – long after attaining political independence in 1980.
As a matter of fact, whilst the Zimbabwe regime was busy barbarously and brutally butchering tens of thousands of innocent civilians, as well as maiming, raping, orphaning, and displacing hundreds of thousands more, in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces – largely, based on their ethnicity – they were being welcomed with open arms in London, Washington, and several other Western capitals.
I remember frequently watching on television the then prime minister, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, being bestowed endless accolades – from honorary degrees, to being knighted by the queen of England – for his ‘exemplary leadership’, in spite of his hands dripping with the blood of innocent Zimbabweans.
So, what changed?
Well, a new darling came onto the scene in 1999…the MDC.
Yet, it was not the formation of the MDC that drove the UK, and her allies, into bed with them. No, not at all!
I honestly do not believe that the West had any hand in the opposition party’s creation – as ZANU PF was still pretty much the West’s favourite – but, then they did the unthinkable, which led to the huge acrimonious ‘divorce’.
The violent and chaotic fast track land reform program – which was an unplanned, but panicked reaction to the new MDC’s apparent huge following in the country, especially after the government-sponsored proposed new constitution was roundly rejected by the majority of Zimbabweans in a 12 and 13 February 2000 referendum.
ZANU PF feared a real possibility of losing the June 2000 general elections.
What the Zimbabwe regime had done by repossessing land from white commercial farmers was a huge betrayal to their long-standing agreement with the UK – to guard, protect, and serve Western interests in the country, a feat they had faithful carried out for twenty years.
Yet, by grabbing white-owned land, they had infuriated their masters – leading to the messy divorce, and the subsequent targeted punitive sanctions on certain individuals and entities (and, not the country as a whole, as had been the fallacy for two decades).
That is when a new ‘partner’ was found in the MDC.
When the so-called ‘Second Republic’ came into power, after the military coup d’etat in November 2017 – which is widely suspected to have received a tacit green light from the British, in order to remove the ‘main problem’, Mugabe – his predecessor (Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa) sought to reestablish the previous 1980 and 90s ‘horse and rider relationship’, whereby, ZANU PF would be restored as the darling, who would faithful do London’s bidding.
No wonder the swift signing of the so-called ‘Global Compensation Agreement’ on 29 July 2020 – which pledged to pay billions of dollars to displaced former white commercial farmers – despite the immense economic suffering faced by the majority of ordinary Zimbabweans.
This is the real ‘war’ between the Zimbabwe ruling elite and the main MDC opposition.
ZANU PF leadership’s intense hatred of the MDC – which borders on hysteria – was largely of a ‘jilted lover’ angry with the new younger ‘sweet sixteen’.
Which explains the shocking euphoria surrounding the visit by Mnangagwa to the UK – for the 26th UN (United Nations) Climate Change Conference (COP26), Glasgow, Scotland, running between 1 and 13 November 2021.
In spite of the fact that this is a UN summit – where every world leader should be invited, including sworn enemies of Western countries, such as Iran and Venezuela – that has, nonetheless, not deterred Zimbabwe’s ruling establishment from wild jubilation, with the president himself not hiding his excitement.
I even understand that a Gala would be hosted for Mnangagwa by the Zimbabwe (ZANU PF) community in Scotland.
What, however, took the last breath out of me was yesterday’s clearly enthusiastic declaration by the president that he was not only ‘invited by Boris Johnson (British prime minister)’, but also he (Johnson) had indicated that he ‘might meet’ with Mnangagwa.
Wow, I never thought our leaders would be so excited about the possibility (note that this was a ‘might’) of meeting the leader of our erstwhile colonizers.
I have never seen such anticipation, even when visiting South Africa, or Mozambique, or Namibia – but, the UK.
One would be excused for assuming that he had been invited to visit Heaven by our Almighty God Himself!
Is there any wonder why it is so easy for Western powers to simply ban these ‘rebellious’ rulers from travelling to their countries, as they know that this would be sufficient punishment – considering how our leaders regard these places as ‘Heaven on Earth’.
This should also explain the real push for the lifting of what are clearly targeted travel and financial restrictions on several top officials and their cartel friends – accused of human rights abuses and massive corruption – as it is all about the indescribable desire to be welcomed back into Western capitals.
It has never been about the suffering ordinary people – since, these sanctions were never targeted directly against us – a fact even intimated by the UN Special Rapporteur, Alena Douhan, who pointed to their ‘unintended consequences’.
In a nutshell, the ruling junta is seriously hoping to be ‘taken back’ by, and reconciled with, their former masters – so that, they can revert to the 1980 and 90 years, whereby they could massacre and brutalize their own citizens, whilst the West looked aside (and, even awarding them), as long as their interests in Zimbabwe were protected, guarded, and served by our leaders.
