Life writes its own stories September 29, 2022

MNANGAGWA PROMISE
LEAVES BOXER EXPOSED
President publicly committed to fund
Chiwandire’s title defence.
ALL THE NEWS YOU NEED IN YOUR POCKET

At a glance. Markets.
NORTON, KNOWE. Eddies Forex Black Market Z$820
Pfugari heir says Innscor in-store Z$650
council playing dirty.
Chicken Slice Z$750
ZRP BORROWDALE. Elitist
police seize ‘bike too KFC Z$800
good for a gardener’. Eat’n’Lick Z$1,000
GENIUS. Top medical Forex RBZ Z$614
journal publishes
Annual inflation 403%
study by persecuted
Zimbabwe doctor. Thought of the Day…
RECENT HISTORY. Mugabe “In a room
and pub talk on Susan where people
Tsvangiri’s death unanimously
KUKURIGO COMMENT. Why maintain a
Kukurigo is betting on conspiracy of
WhatsApp. silence, one word
PUBLIC POLL. Who will of truth sounds
be in power after the like a pistol shot.”
2023 elections? Czesław Miłosz

Empty promises: President Mnangagwa with

Kudakwashe Chiwandire

Sport.
Mnangagwa promise leaves boxer
exposed
Mnangagwa publicly committed to funding
Chiwandire’s title defence
CHAMPION boxer Kudakwashe “Takemoney’’
Chiwandire’s dream of defending the World Boxing
Council (WBC) title is on the verge of collapse after
President Emmerson Mnangagwa failed to keep his
word.
In August, Mnangagwa publicly committed
to support Chiwandire’s title defence but has
apparently not done so.
The star sportswoman’s promoter, Clyde Musonda
of Delta Force Boxing Academy, is financially hard
pressed and failed to secure a venue as well as airline
tickets for her opponent, Mexican Zulina Munoz,
among other requirements which also include purse
money.
Ironically, Chiwandire’s fate now appears out of
her capable boxing hands as she now risks being
stripped of the title without throwing a single punch.
In a letter to her promoter, WBC had already warned
that “no further delays or postponements” would
be accepted beyond October 1. The fight was initially
pencilled for August 20, before being postponed to
August 27 which the promoter also failed to meet.
Mnangagwa, an apparent fan of the brutal sport,
showered the pugilist with effusive praise at an
August reception after she won the WBC Interim
Super-Bantamweight title in February.
With that title victory, Chiwandire rose to the top
of female boxer rankings in Africa across all weight
categories, becoming the only female boxer holding
a World Boxing Council title on the African continent.
At the reception, also attended by Sport minister
Kirsty Coventry, the delighted ex-spymaster gifted
Chiwandire US$15,000 and promised more.
“Government stands ready to support
Kudakwashe’s title defence,” Mnangagwa said,
adding that the fist exchange would “market our
country as a favourable destination”.
Government appears to have done nothing.
Insiders blame Chiwandire’s promoter, accusing
him of incompetence and dishonesty, alleging the
budget of US$174,000 had been inflated.
“Ministry of Sport equiries found US$50,000 was
more than enough to meet all their needs, the
promoter’s budget was attempted fraud” said
an official who declined to be named. Musonda
previously told Kukurigo Sport that the US$174,000
budget was based on extensive consultations.
Chiwandire’s fate remains uncertain.
Boxing and Wrestling Control Board CEO Lawrence
Zimbudzana declined Kukurigo Sport’s invitation to
comment on the pugilist’s predicament, saying he
was awaiting communication from WBC.
Courts & Crime.
Norton is playing dirty, Eddie
Pfugari heir tells Supreme Court
‘Norton is abusing its authority’
EDWARD Nyanyiwa (Jnr) has approached the courts
to compel Norton Town Council to issue him with a
compliance certificate, as he battles to end one of
Zimbabwe’s highest profile land disputes, whose
tortuous journey began in 2007 after residents
secured a High Court order against the company.
The heir to property tycoon Edward Nyanyiwa
(known as Eddie Pfugari) inherited the 15-year-old
legal trouble when his father died in February of 2019.
At the time, Justice Antonia Guvava sided with
residents of the town’s affluent Knowe suburb,
ordering Eddies Pfugari Properties to attend to
outstanding development issues.
The order designated Norton as overseer of
compliance. The local authority, if satisfied that
outstanding works had been completed, was
required to issue a compliance certificate.
Nyanyiwa, who has a suspended prison sentence
hanging over his head, accuses Norton of setting him
up for imprisonment by unreasonably withholding
the compliance certificate.
In papers filed with the Supreme Court in August,
Nyanyiwa accuses Norton of acting in bad faith by
shifting goalposts.
He asserts that the non-issuance of a compliance
certificate is premised on “repairs” to already
compliant works, yet repairs are routine and not part
of the respective court order.
“The judgement of this court, just like that of Foroma
J, vests much power and discretion in the second
respondent (Norton). That authority has now been
abused and, in the least, become the source of a
major dispute…” Nyanyiwa avers in papers seen by
Kukurigo.
Norton insists it is not refusing to issue the
compliance certificate, instead claiming that Eddies
Pfugari has to comply with requirements set by the
Town’s engineering department.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a lawyer
familiar with the matter said Norton had no interest
in the matter.
“Norton Town Council is just a party that has no
interest in the dispute. All that it did was to highlight
certain aspects that Eddie Pfugari was stating as
acts of holding it ransom. It has rightly left the
matter between the Knowe Residents Association
and Eddies Pfugari regarding whether that order can
be discharged,” she said.
Kukurigo is yet to have sight of the papers but
understands that Knowe Residents Association filed
its notice of opposition yesterday.

News.

Happier times: Madungwe poses with cherished

Raleigh now held as a police exhibit.

Borrowdale police seize Raleigh

bike, ‘Garden Boy’ cries foul
“They believed her because she is
rich and I am just a garden boy.”
A GREYSTONE Park gardener is crying foul
after CID detectives seized his premium Raleigh
mountain bike as an exhibit, alleging it was stolen
in a 2020 break-in linked to a series of burglaries in
the Borrowdale area.
Trouble started for Chamunorwa Madungwe
(42) after Highlands resident Ms Ntombizodwa
Nyabereka saw him riding, in his modest overalls,
the British cycle which boasts front and rear alloy
suspension and mechanical disk brakes.
“She stopped her car and said it was her bicycle,
which was stolen from her house,” Madungwe said.
“She instructed me to load it into her car but I
refused and told her to follow me to the house
to meet my boss who gave me the bicycle on 21
March 2019. I remember the date because I was
very happy because I never thought I would just be
given such a bicycle.”
Madungwe’s employer is said to have been
sleeping when Nyabereke arrived; she reportedly
met his wife instead, and left her number.
“He sent her a WhatsApp message the next day
with pictures of the bike from 2016 and told her
not to harass me again,” Madungwe said, before
accusing Borrowdale police of disrespecting him
in Nyabereka’s favour after they seized the bicycle
some four weeks later.
“I have more than 20 witnesses who know that I
was riding that bicycle as early as 2017 until it was
given to me in 2019. The police have refused to
interview anyone at the Helensvale shops or at our
complex; they just believed Nyabereka because
she is rich and I am just a garden boy.”
A source inside Borrowdale police station said
the officer-in-charge, an Inspector Tatiwa, had
privately conceded the bicycle was not linked to
the 2020 break-in but was allowing Detective
Sergeant Edmore Semwayo (right inset), who
seized the bicycle before conducting any
investigations, to save face.
Madungwe has since been charged with the 2020
break-in despite his employer confirming that
he gave him the bicycle and offering the police
several witness affidavits attesting to the bicycle’s
ownership.
“Tatiwa (officer-in-charge) knows the bicycle
was not stolen but Semwayo wants to teach
Madungwe’s boss a lesson for insulting him
on the phone, calling him an overzealous and
incompetent detective. Semwayo was fuming,”
the insider said.
“He took four officers, rushed to the house in
Greystone park and detained the gardener,
confiscating the bike as an exhibit. Semwayo was
emotional when he seized the bicycle but everyone
quickly realised that it was merely the same colour
and brand; there was no evidence it was not stolen.
His friend, Detective Sergeant Mwetela, is now
handling the case with the help of a junior, Detective
Constable Mabika (left inset), who also knows there
is no case but he cannot refuse orders.”
Meanwhile, Madungwe accuses police of elitism as
they continue to hold the bicycle which was seized
some six weeks ago:
”Why are they refusing to interview residents at
the complex? Why are they refusing to interview
my witnesses at Helensvale shops? Is the word of
one rich woman enough for me to lose my bicycle
without evidence. I want my bicycle back.”
Have you suffered an injustice at the hands of the
police, big business or anyone else in a position of
power? Kukurigo wants to tell your story; email us
now on injustice@kukurigo.co.zw
Healthcare.
Top journal publishes persecuted
Covid pioneering Zim doctor
Zimbabwe’s Medical Council in political bind
after instigating Dr Stone’s arrest
A PIONEERING medical doctor who established the
first Covid-19 treatment protocol in Zimbabwe has been
vindicated after top medical journal Biologics published
her ‘Combination Treatment’ study, almost two years
after the Medical Council instigated her arrest over the
treatments.
Dr Jackie Stone’s study (download link) was co-
authored with Professor Ndarukwa, the national
coordinator of the Ivermectin Research team under the
ministry of health, together with distinguished clinical
researchers including Dr David Scheim.
They measured the increase in oxygen saturations
(Sp02) in Covid patients, after the administration of a
multi-drug cocktail based on ivermectin and inhalation
of nanosilver particles.
“While the increases in Sp02 for most of these 34
patients occurred less rapidly, over 48 hours, several
other patients had Sp02 increases of 12% or more within
12 hours after the first IVM dose,” according to the study
which found 62% normalisation within 24 Hours.
“SpO2 76% to 88% for a 38-year-old female; 83% to
96% for a 45-year-old male; 66% to 90% for a 49-year-
old female, and 80% to 92% for a 75-year-old male.”
The publication of the leaves the Council in a political
bind after it instigated Dr Stone’s arrest and imposed
punitive restrictions on her practising licence, including
requiring her to undergo psychiatric evaluation.
The 57-year-old unsung hero was last week convicted
of practising from an unlicensed premises, which
prosecutors erroneously claimed was in contravention
of Section 99 of Health Practitioners Act.
Section 99 does not, in fact, refer to unlicensed
premises rather “unlicensed medical institutions”.
A Harare lawyer familiar with the matter said the
presiding magistrate, Dennis Mangizo, was “either
shamelessly corrupt or grossly incompetent”, as that
reading had the “absurd effect of making it illegal to
render medical help outside a licensed premise”.
Dr Stone was also convicted of practising without a
licence. The case arose after the Council filed a criminal
complaint against her after she was three weeks late in
paying her yearly subscription during lockdown.
Curiously, the Council was still encouraging doctors to
renew their subscriptions as late as July 2022. None
have been similarly charged.
Dr Stone was acquitted on two charges, being use of
specified (illegal) substances and advertising.

Business.

Tax collector revs up engines

‘The planned aggressions would come as
little suprise after the tax collector recently
raided the account of a mining company’
ZIMBABWE’s unforgiving revenue authority
(ZIMRA) has increased its efforts to pursue
corporate tax dodgers, which are estimated to
be more than 60% of the country’s registered
taxpayers. This is in an effort to recover close to
Z$5bn in unpaid taxes by several companies.
The Business Times reported on Thursday, citing
sources within ZIMRA, that the tax collector was
expanding the tax dragnet to catch tax evaders
and would be implementing a strategy of strict
enforcement to bring the businesses into the
tax net.
A source reporetdly told the paper, “there is
a resolution to aggressively implement many
methods,” including stepping up tax audits,
robbing businesses’ bank accounts through
garnishee orders, and pursuing third parties like
taxpayer debtors”.
Business Times said it was unable to elicit a
response from ZIMRA commissioner Regina
Chinamasa.
The planned aggressions would come as little
suprise after the tax collector recently raided
the account of a mining company.
Unki Mines, the Zimbabwean division of Anglo
American Platinum, has requested the High
Court to get involved in a dispute over royalties
where the tax authority is trying to seize $24
million.
Its lawyers lodged an urgent court application
against the ZIMRA, which has sought to garnish
funds from the company’s account at the local
unit of Standard Bank.
Unki Mines claimed in an urgent plea to
the High Court that “the garnishing of the
applicants account threatens its very survival
since it has been left unable to do its normal
business.”
The company claims Zimra’s actions were
illegal. The dispute dates back to 2018 when
Unki was underpaying mining royalties.
Email business press releases to
chipo@kukurigo.co.zw

Life.
Don’t shower during a
thunderstorm
You’re at risk from lightning during a
thunderstorm
SINCE lightning can travel through plumbing, “it
is best to avoid all water during a thunderstorm.
Do not shower, bathe, wash dishes, or wash your
hands,” CNN reported the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention as saying.
“The risk of lightning travelling through plumbing
might be less with plastic pipes than with metal
pipes. However, it is best to avoid any contact
with plumbing and running water during a
lightning storm to reduce your risk of being
struck,” the CDC added.
That’s not the only danger when you’re inside.
Stay off porches and balconies, don’t go near
windows and doors, and do “NOT lie down on
concrete floors or lean against concrete walls,”
the agency said.
Also, do “NOT use anything connected to an
electrical outlet, such as computers or other
electronic equipment,” the CDC said. “Stay off
corded phones. Cell phones and cordless phones
are safe … if they are not connected to an outlet
through a charger.”
 Comment.
Edmund Kudzayi, Editor

FREE TRANSPORT: INSIDE

THE VIOLENT POWER OF
WHATSAPP COMMUNICATIONS
THE LARGEST daily newspaper in Zimbabwe, the
state-owned Herald, now prints less than 12,000
copies daily.
Information transfer plays a central role in the
development of society and a dramatic fall in print
news readership should, all things being equal, be
cause for alarm. Maybe all things are not equal.
Perhaps a growing preference for inexpensive
online news services explains the decline?
This is certainly not the case.
Only 12 percent of respondents in the 2021 ZAMPS
survey had read a hard copy daily newspaper in the
preceding four weeks. Only 13 percent had read an
online paper and 14 percent had used social media
platforms to access ‘latest news’.
ZBC News fared much better with 51 percent of
respondents admitting to having watched the
state-owned broadcast.
In contrast, 99 percent had used WhatsApp.
Though many people clearly use social media,
it is mostly for leisure activities. This is not by
the design of social media companies or the
preferences of their users, but by the actions of
economic actors who view it as a trivial plaything,
which is included in decision-making only as a by
the way.
These attitudes are unsurprising given that decision
making power in Zimbabwe resides in the old
guard, across all aspects of social, economic and
political activity.
News consumption via social media platforms
remains low simply because no services have been
developed to exploit the opportunity. Instead,
there is a focus on exploiting social media to “drive
traffic” to other platforms (websites, phone lines or
even physical locations) as opposed to providing a
complete experience tailored to the peculiarities of
those social media platforms.
There is an economic reason for WhatsApp’s
dominance in Zimbabwe. Few can afford full
internet access given the prohibitive cost relative
incomes. Many rely on data bundles that limit
access to specific services.
This reliance on data bundles, which limit access
to the broader web, explains why, despite the
multiplicity of online newspapers, only 13%
reported reading them as per ZAMPS. Many could
not read them even if they wanted to.
Kukurigo started out as an Android and iOS app,
but we never deployed after realising that they
would never succeed as mass communication
services due to the structural issues described
above.
Beyond the economic considerations peculiar to
Zimbabwe, WhatsApp also distinguishes itself from
other social media and online communication tools
through its forwarding feature which allows media
to flow through the ecosystem without being
connected to a username or number. In this way,
WhatsApp allows content to take a life of its own,
enjoying free transport whose speed and reach is
based on the extent to which it motivates a user to
share with others.
In this way, WhatsApp can serve as a low-cost
distribution channel, if you can produce material
that users find interesting enough to share with
others.
An example will make my point:
Imagine South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa
is caught on video in a compromising position with
mistress. Assume the ANC has gone full gangster
and radio, television and print newspapers were
long ago banned. How long would it take for a video
of this nature to become public knowledge in South
Africa?
Less than a day, in my view, and the person with
the career-ending video would only have to share it
with a few friends on WhatsApp, perhaps even just
one. Content remains king.
A few years back you could forward content
without restriction. This changed following fake
news incidents in India where people were killed
as a result of viral messages. WhatsApp continues
to place limits on the forwarding of “highly
forwarded” messages in an attempt to reduce
the speed with which information moves through
WhatsApp.
Everything shared on WhatsApp has an equal
amount of viral potential, the only difference is the
quality of the content, being the extent to which
it lends itself to being shared with others. This is
not true on any service with a timeline where the
platform algorithmically determines what content
gets seen and by who.
Indeed, the majority of those who will read this
editorial are not Kukurigo subscribers but recipients
of a forwarded message which they too might
forward onwards as this piece of content travels its
journey.
This PDF is the first of a series of WhatsApp
optimised products that we will be releasing over
the next six months with the aim of improving the
user experience and advertising potential of the
platform. We hope you enjoy the content and will
share it with your friends and family.

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 Taking leave: Former
boxer Diana Makumbe

Sport.

Offended Makumbe
throws in towel
REFEREE and former boxer Diana
Makumbe has quit the Zimbabwe National
Boxing and Wrestling Control Board barely
two months after taking up the role.
Individuals close to Makumbe say she was
offended after she was treated without due
deference during a recent trip to Chivhu.
It proved to be the final nail as Makumbe
was also under pressure to resign from
critics of the new board, insiders said.
The board’s chairman Vee Chibanda refused
to confirm or deny Makumbe’s resignation,
claiming the question “requires an internal
process to first take place. I cannot give a
comment before we do due diligence. It
would be unfair to you and your readers to
just jump and answer questions without
first properly looking into the issues.”
Makumbe was appointed in July, among
the new board of directors, after two years
had passed without a board overseeing
combat sport.

Kukurigo Poll.
ELECTION OUTCOME POLL. CLOSES OCTOBER 4TH, 2022
CCC v ZANU PF
LIVE VOTE: 5 2% CCC,
35% ZANU PF,
13% DON’T CARE
CLICK HERE AND HAVE YOUR SAY!
Recent History.

Mugabe’s face betrayed fear

“I required no persuasion. It was clear to my
mind that Mugabe was not involved.”
MORGAN Tsvangirai was Prime Minister when
his wife was killed after their vehicle collided
with a truck that was transporting AIDS medicine
donated by the U.S. government. The driver was a
Zimbabwean contractor.
Despite Tsvangirai calling the tragic incident an
accident, pub talk of a state security operation
targeting Tsvangirai remains alive 13 years after the
2009 accident.
Even before Tsvangirai dismissed rumours of foul
play, it was already clear to me and everyone else
who had gathered at the Avenues Clinic, where
Tsvangirai was being treated, that then President
Robert Mugabe was not involved.
I was among the activist class that rushed to the
Avenues fearing the worst. Mugabe was our prime
suspect; speculation flowed freely, uninterrupted by
reason or restraint.
It would not last very long as Mugabe’s motorcade
arrived. He briskly exited his Mercedes Pullman
Limousine as the Director General of the Central
Intelligence Organisation, Happyton Bonyongwe,
ran up toward him.
“What happened?” Mugabe asked. His tone was
forceful, demeanour unfamiliar.
It was at that moment that my opinion, and that of
the crowd gathered, changed.
Mugabe was not involved.
I have often thought back to this day, and
remember vividly the look on Mugabe’s face and
what almost sounded like anger in his tone. He
looked afraid and sounded genuinely concerned,
almost alarmed.
I required no persuasion. It was clear to my mind
that Mugabe was not involved. What was not clear,
and has possibly become clearer with time, is what
he was afraid of.
These were the early days of the Government of
National Unity, brought about by the discredited
2008 run-off election in which over 200 opposition
supporters were killed. Even friendly countries had
condemned the outrage.
Mugabe knew he would be blamed if Tsvangirai
died. Indeed, those gathered believed precisely that.
Did he fear his security men may have done the
unthinkable? Perhaps. – Terrence Mutema, Harare
Email your Recent History ideas to
history@kukurigo.co.zw

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Reporting.  N Mukuhle nothando@kukurigo.co.zw

M Ncube meluleki@kukurigo.co.zw
Editorial. E Kudzayi chief@kukurigo.co.zw
F Machamire managing@kukurigo.co.zw
J Davilliers roving@kukurigo.co.zw
Ombudsman. ancients@kukurigo.co.zw
©Kukurigo 2022. All rights reserved
A daily glance at what’s
happening around Zimbabwe

HIGHLIGHTS. INDUSTRY IN POWER OUTAGES

CRISIS MEETING, COST OF LIVING SURGES
263% INSIDE NINE MONTHS.

BUSINESS TIMES. The mining sector and captains

of industry yesterday held a power crisis meeting
with ZESA to find ways of mitigating the situation
from further deterioration. There are growing fears
there will be shortages of goods on retailers’ shelves
as industry reels from rolling unscheduled load
shedding. “Production is disrupted and there is a
likelihood of serious shortages of our local products
on the shelves,” the Zimbabwe National Chamber
of Commerce president Mike Kamungeremu told
Business Times.

NEWSDAY. Lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa yesterday

claimed that legislators Job Sikhala and Godfrey
Sithole were being persecuted to force the
opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party
to join the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad). Mtetwa
said they had gathered evidence that Sikhala and
Sithole were being punished for their party’s refusal
to join Polad. She made the statement as she
launched a fresh bail application yesterday.

THE HERALD. Former Public Service, Labour

and Social Welfare Minister Petronella Kagonye,
will remain in jail after the High Court yesterday
dismissed her bail pending appeal. Kangonye was
appealing against conviction and sentence for
stealing 20 laptops meant to benefit schools but
the court said she was unlikely to succeed. The
former minister was in June this year slapped with
an effective 16-month jail term.

BUSINESS TIMES. Zimbabwe’s cost of living for

a family of six surged 263% to Z$274 858.75 in
the month of August from Z$75 757.62 in January
following price hikes triggered by market jitters
stemming from currency volatility, official data from
the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) shows.
This has left many struggling to cope with the rising
cost of living. Although the civil servants recently
received a US$25 increment in allowances, the
salary of the majority of government workers are on
the margins on US$200 and Z$70,000 per month.

THE HERALD. The National Association of Show

Societies of Zimbabwe has dismissed the second
Kadoma Agriculture Show slated for this coming
weekend as a fraudulent event designed to swindle
public and stakeholders’ money. NAASSZ chairman,
Mr Godfrey Mavankeni has appealed to the police
for assistance in barring the show which is being
organised by one Patson Madera, from running this
Thursday to Saturday.

CHIPINGE TIMES. ZANU PF national political

commissar Mike Bimha has suspended former
acting Chief Chimombe and now the party’s district
chairman for Buhera North Causemore Chimombe
from the organisation for fomenting violence
in the party. The party’s Manicaland provincial
spokesperson, Sam Matema confirmed the move
in an interview with Chipinge Times and added that
Chimombe’s deputy Chamunorwa Mudzimu is
currently acting in that capacity.

NEWZIMBABWE. A Chinhoyi family has been

plunged into mourning after losing their newly-born
in the hands of an allegedly negligent nurse, who
ignored pleas from an expectant mother crying out
for help while in labour. A heavily pregnant Portia
(nee Dzinzi) was admitted at Chinhoyi Provincial
Hospital to deliver her new baby, who was to be
her third child however the 36-year-old mother
underwent a horrific experience at the referral
institution, with an unidentified female nurse
leaving her unattended while in excruciating labour
without rendering any professional assistance.

MASVINGO MIRROR. The Reserve Bank of

Zimbabwe (RBZ) says gold coins worth $9 billion
have been sold since July this year, with individuals
taking a significant chunk of the bullion, while the
Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept the
bank policy rate unchanged. The Mosi-oa-Tunya
Gold Coins are among a coterie of interventions
introduced by authorities to stabilise the economy,
including a sharp increase in the bank policy rate
from 80 to 200 percent.

BUSINESS TIMES. Nearly half of the country’s

farmers will not access free agricultural inputs in
the forthcoming summer cropping season like in
previous years, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture,
Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Anxious
Masuka has warned.Government has over the
years provided farming inputs such as seed and
fertilizers, among other inputs under the Climate
proofed Presidential Inputs Scheme, popularly
known as Pfumvudza/Intwasa. “According to the
2022/2023 summer cropping season game plan, the
self-financed model (will) constitutes 48%,” Masuka
said at a recent Zimbabwe Farmers Union congress
held in the capital.

NEWSDAY. Zimbabwe’s polarised political

environment played out in New York last week at
the just-ended United Nations General Assembly
when pro- and anti-government protesters were
involved in a showdown. As democratic space
continues to shrink in the country in the wake
of systematic arrests of political activists, the
opposition CCC had hoped to use the UN grand
stage to highlight their displeasure at President
Mnangagwa’s policies, however Zanu PF also
organised its pro-Mnangagwa demonstration
denouncing the United States-imposed sanctions.

THE STANDARD. MDC-Alliance chairperson

Morgen Komichi has disagreed with party leader
Douglas Mwonzora’s proposition to engage Zanu
PF party leader President Emmerson Mnangagwa
through dialogue, saying the only language he
believed in is confrontation. Komichi went on to
say the Mnangagwa administration had shown
lack of desire to engage in meaningful dialogue
with opposition party leaders, especially on issues
pertaining to the Constitution.

THE HERALD. A Harare man yesterday appeared

in court facing six counts of fraud after he allegedly
duped people of their hard-earned money on
the pretext that he would train them as nurse
aides. Ngundu Zvirevo (52) flighted an advert on a
WhatsApp group purporting that he could assist
people seeking nurse aide training at Government
hospitals. The complainant then contacted Zvirevo,
who told her to send cash through Mukuru money
transfer agent and Zirevo confirmed receipt of
US$1,250. He however became evasive leading to a
report being made to the police.

H-METRO. Chitungwiza has become the capital

city of ‘ghost’ houses with more than 25,000
unregularised homes in the dormitory town, Harare
Metropolitan Provincial Affairs and Devolution
Permanent Secretary Tafadzwa Muguti has said.
Chitungwiza accounts for nearly 50 percent of the
52,000 illegal houses in Harare province, which
also covers Epworth and Ruwa. The Chitungwiza
Municipality has been operating without a
master plan since 1996. Chitungwiza Municipality
spokesperson, Lovemore Meya, said the Council
was working on rectifying the situation.

NEWZIMBABWE. Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition

has called on Non-Governmental Organisations
to escalate the fight against the Private Voluntary
Organisations bill as it nears enactment into
law and warned that all the post-independence
democracy gains risk being recalled. However,
government has defended the move to place the
NGOs under scrutiny, arguing that the majority
are meddling in the country’s politics and in some
instances diverting donor funds for personal use.

NEWZIMBABWE. The High Court has stopped

Chipinge Rural District Council from seizing
communal land belonging to Kondo villagers for
urbanisation. High Court Judge, Justice Jester
Helena Charewa ruled that council had not followed
due process as the villagers, through their lawyers –
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights argued that
council did not consult them before undertaking the
urbanisation process and their concerns were not
considered in violation of the Communal Lands Act.

HERALD. The legal row over the leadership of the

African Apostolic Church last year has left some
lawyers’ fees unpaid with two sons of church leader
and founder Archbishop Paul Mwazha, facing a
lawsuit for unpaid legal fees. The leadership dispute
that exploded last year pitted Archbishop Mwazha,
popularly known as Mudzidzi, against two of his
sons, Alfred and Ngoni Mwazha. Bishop Alfred
wanted to be the leader of the church and successor
of his father.

H-METRO. 21 Form four pupils were expelled from

Lower Gwelo Mission High School for allegedly
sneaking into the girls’ dormitories on the night
of September 21. A source told H-Metro that 13 of
the learners have since been reinstated following
interventions by their parents, while eight remain
suspended. The incident at the Seventh Day
Adventist (SDA) Church-run school triggered
mixed feelings, among the parents. The school’s
headmaster, Alex Mazula, said everything had been
referred to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary
Education.