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SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Torrential rains and widespread flooding in Masvingo province have washed away roads and bridges and sent residents scurrying to safety. The government was forced to send in soldiers and helicopters to help people stranded by the water. Thousands of families downstream of the Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam wall, that partially collapsed due to the heavy rain, were relocated to higher ground. Some houses in the province have also been washed away, while a number of people have been injured and a huge percentage of crops in many of the districts have been damaged. Dr Takavafira Zhou, the President of the Progressive teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), took to Facebook on Tuesday to describe the trail of destruction in his area. ‘The incessant rains that pounded Mberengwa for the past weeks have heaped burning coals upon the heads of many people and greatly affected teaching and learning. The rudimentary dust roads are fast becoming rivers while the low lying bridges have been eroded.’ He added: ‘The York-Mataga or York-Danga road has been rendered dysfunctional and so are the York-Mabika road, Dholo-Keyara-Mutsime road, Mberengwa-Mnene-Vutika-Mataga road and Buchwa-Chemimwe-Mataga road or Buchwa-Chamakudo-Msume road. Many dilapidated classrooms, teachers’ houses and toilets have collapsed while many students who used to learn under a tree in the resettlement areas have been affected.’ Thousands of other people have been displaced across the province as rivers overflowed their banks and homes built with pole and dagga have been destroyed.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

A Bulawayo magistrate has acquitted entrepreneur and transgender activist Ricky Nathanson, who was arrested last month for entering a female toilet at a city hotel.

Ricky, who has been officially living as a female for 12 years was ‘arrested’ at the Palace Hotel gardens by ZANU PF youths who had tried to solicit money from her.

The youths, led by Farai Mteliso, then handed Ricky over to the police who detained her overnight and charged her with criminal nuisance.

Delivering his ruling Tuesday, Magistrate Abednico Ndebele said prosecutors had failed to prove a crime had been committed and set Ricky free.

“It appears the State is still yet to decide on the charge, and according to what’s in court, there’s no offence in anyone entering a female or male toilet,” Ndebele said.

The magistrate refused to place Ricky on further remand and said the State could proceed by way of summons once the prosecution has put its house in order.

Sian Maseko, director at lobby group Sexual Rights Centre, said Ricky’s court case shows how the legal system is being used to harass those perceived to be different.

“The way Ricky has been treated is inhumane. The constitution guarantees equal rights and respect for the dignity of all citizens and we should all be affirming that,” Maseko told SW Radio Africa Wednesday.

Maseko said the case against Ricky had been unnecessary, a point also made by magistrate Ndebele who castigated the State for wasting the court’s time.

“As activists we hope all Zimbabweans will use this case as an opportunity for constructive dialogue on sexual orientation and gender identity so that we can end this culture of hate speech and intolerance,” Maseko added.

See also – http://www.swradioafrica.com/2014/01/30/transgender-activist-stripped-naked-by-police/

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Human rights organizations have opposed a Constitutional Court appeal by the South African police, against an order compelling Pretoria to investigate human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

The South African Supreme Court of Appeal in November last year upheld a ruling by the North Gauteng High Court which compelled the authorities to investigate torture in Zimbabwe.

The South African prosecuting authorities had appealed against the High Court ruling in 2012, which said authorities have a duty to act on the evidence of torture as required by the Rome Statute to which South Africa is a signatory.

The Statute is the founding law of the International Criminal Court.

The ruling, which set a precedent for the investigation of crimes against humanity committed outside South Africa, was based on a dossier of evidence submitted by the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum and the Southern African Litigation Centre.

The dossier was handed over to the South African National Prosecuting Authority and the police. It detailed cases of torture against opposition members and rights activists by ZANU PF members.

In December 2013 human rights activist Ben Freeth, supplied more evidence of torture to the South African authorities. But the South African police three weeks ago appealed again and this time to the Constitutional Court.

Zimbabwe Exiles Forum director Gabriel Shumba, told SW Radio Africa’s Cutting Edge programme Wednesday that lawyers for ZEF and the Southern Africa Litigation Center filed opposing papers on January 20th. Shumba said their argument was that it is possible for South Africa to probe human rights violations in Zimbabwe, even if Zimbabwe is not a signatory to the Rome Statute.

Speaking on the same programme Angela Mudukuti from the litigation centre said they were waiting for the court to set the date for the hearing of the matter. She said they are confident of sailing through on the case which has gone on for six years.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The education of children with disabilities is in jeopardy after government suspended a special scheme that entitles them to free primary school education. Reports Thursday said the secretary for the Social Welfare ministry, Ngoni Masoka, recently told his primary and secondary education colleagues of the development. Called the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), the programme assists children from poor backgrounds with school fees. According to the department of social services there are one million children in the programme. Last month director of social services, Sydney Mhishi, told parliament that his ministry received only $15 million for the special programme even though they had asked for a budget allocation of $73 million. Mishi also revealed that Zimbabwe had approached the British government for help, a development which the Department for International Development confirmed. But around the same time former education minister David Coltart raised concern over the lack of transparency and the partisan way in which the BEAM programme is managed. Head of the Council of Social Workers, Philip Manyanye, said the government should ‘go down to basics’ and ensure that more funding goes towards children. He said if the government has no money it should be ‘honorable enough to revise its politics and approach the many organizations that are willing to help.’ Manyanye said he was ‘not surprised’ by lack of support for BEAM because the government has ‘no relationship with many institutions that could support the scheme.’ Manyanye, a senior social worker himself, said the effect of the suspension of the BEAM scheme stands to cause more social problems such as street children and child labour. The decision by government to discontinue the BEAM scheme comes at a time when parliament is trying to tackle the broader problems of people living with disabilities. A Thursday NewsDay report said senators last week introduced a motion urging government to institute a national special needs policy and a law to deal with children with special needs.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Former Prime Minister and leader of the MDC-T, Morgan Tsvangirai, will next week call on his party to unify and end the in-fighting when he meets chairmen from the party’s 210 districts. The party will hold a strategic executive retreat on Friday next week followed by an indaba on Saturday with all the district leaders from around the country. The meeting on Saturday will also be attended by all standing committee members. Party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora confirmed that at least four members from each of the 12 provincial executives will attend the Saturday meeting. ‘This is a feedback meeting for the President to put across his plans for the future of the party. It will be attended by members of the standing committee, 210 district chairpersons and 48 provincial leaders representing 12 provinces,’ Mwonzora said. Political analyst Mutsa Murenje told SW Radio Africa that Tsvangirai has to show strong leadership in the aftermath of the disappointing electoral results and go back to the drawing board. ‘He simply needs to go back to the grassroots and ask what went wrong. He will get all the answers there because and work on those to rectify whatever mistakes they did.‘The party needs to revisit the issue of imposition of candidates, which I regret to say played a significant role in the outcome of the results. There was also disconnect between leadership of the party and the grassroots when they entered the unity government, a situation which led to their structures not bothering to register and vote,’ Murenje said. It is believed Tsvangirai will use the retreat to outline his party’s plans to build a stronger and viable opposition party, free of disunity. A source told us Tsvangirai may use the opportunity to read the riot act to ‘rebels’, warning they threaten to ‘kill’ the party amid reports that the ‘lack of discipline’ in the party is helping divert attention from ZANU PF’s catastrophic failure to manage the economy. Next week’s meetings come at a time when the veteran former trade unionist is fending off a surprise challenge to his leadership from within his own senior ranks. The internal revolt marked Tsvangirai’s toughest challenge since the last elections, when a flurry of senior party officials seemed intent on abandoning him, seeking to force a leadership contest. So far he has survived that confrontation and his supporters took heart in signs that the call for a vote on his leadership by senior party members appeared to be gaining only limited traction.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The opposition MDC-T party is failing to mobilise the people against corruption in the wake of scandals at State-linked institutions, a political researcher has said. In the past month, ordinary Zimbabweans have reacted with disbelief at the huge salaries that ZANU PF executives are drawing at loss-making parastatals at a time when the majority of the population are wallowing in poverty. Corporate malfeasance is at record levels, service delivery from local and central government at its lowest, and ZANU PF corruption at its worst – an indication that there is a leadership vacuum. But instead of assuming the leadership role, the country’s main opposition party is showing a lack of capacity to rally Zimbabweans around critical national issues, political researcher Rashweat Mukundu told SW Radio Africa Thursday.“The opposition parties are inward-looking, are failing to connect with the people and this is entrenching ZANU PF’s dominance,” Mukundu said.“If the opposition continues on this path, we are facing another decade of unthreatened ZANU PF supremacy despite the party’s failures, Mukundu said. At its formation in 1999, the MDC became the most formidable opposition force Zimbabwe has ever seen, but this had nothing to do with any strategic actions by the party. “There was a lot of sympathy with opposition voices stemming from the collapse of the economy, farm invasions and the suffering of Zimbabweans caused by ZANU PF.” But the MDC-T failed to consolidate this when they joined the unity government following the disputed 2008 elections which Morgan Tsvangirai won. “The MDC-T should have use this time to define itself, reorganise, reconnect with voters, and explain what the party’s interests are,” Mukundu added.“They failed to read that this is no longer 2008, the shops aren’t empty anymore and therefore there is a need for a new strategy. They allowed ZANU PF to outfox them.“They joined the government and forgot why they were there, and this disconnected them from the citizens who had pushed them to the high political levels which they reached, because people couldn’t see what they were doing differently” he said. ZANU PF on the other hand, used their time in the Coalition to define itself through populist policies such as ZimAsset which, despite being un-implementable, resonated with voters. “It appears the MDCs saw the unity government as the final destination while ZANU PF used that time to learn from the opposition and prepare to retake power,” Mukundu added. As a result of shortsightedness, lack of vision and the current witch-hunt stemming from the leadership debate – the MDC-T has come unstuck.“Right now, the MDC-T is collapsing under the weight of internal fights. The party is failing to live by the ideal of its motto, the party of excellence,” he added. Another political figure Simba Makoni says ZANU PF leader Robert Mugabe is wholly to blame for the country’s problems, including the looting at State enterprises. Makoni said without ZANU PF implementing the agreed-on reforms, conditions in the country will continue to slide. “While Mugabe can’t provide the leadership required to tackle corruption because he can’t lead, he can take full responsibility for the corruption and looting of State enterprises,” Makoni said. The Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn leader said the opposition had a critical role to induce Mugabe to do the right thing. “Left to their own devices ZANU PF is not willing to change anything because the status quo suits them. It is up to us outside the system to find ways to induce them to act. Zimbabweans should lose hope because bringing about the change we deserve is our responsibility,” Makoni added.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

As the exposés on corporate corruption continue to unravel, Presidential spokesman George Charamba has admitted to his ‘culpability’ in a looting scam that has rocked the Premier Medical Aid Society (PSMAS). President Mugabe’s top aide also revealed that his boss was the PSMAS patron. According to a Wednesday Daily News report Charamba said that about 80 percent of the society’s contributors are civil servants, whom the government routinely struggles to pay. Charamba’s admission came as it emerged that he sat on the board that approved the mega-salary and benefits of the leading medical aid society’s chief executive. Reports said Charamba also sat on 13 committees of the PSMAS whose boss, Cuthbert Dube, earned half a million dollars every month. However, according to the Daily News, Charamba sought to exonerate himself by claiming that he and his fellow board members ‘found the machinery in place.’ He said they did not ‘ask the right questions’ on the assumption that government policy was being followed. Charamba further claimed that he was the least paid board member. But according to the Daily News revelations, Dube was earning $30,000 in board fees per month, which means Charamba could also have benefited. The report says Charamba not only served on several PSMAS subsidiary company boards but sat on key committees, which include the benefits, finance and budget committees. MDC-T deputy National Organizing secretary, Abednico Bhebhe, said the involvement of Charamba at the PSMAS shows that Dube’s ‘corrupt salary’ was part of the broader corruption entrenched in the President’s office. Bhebhe said: ‘In my view Mugabe, whether he knew of Dube’s obscene salary or not, was most probably brought in to scare away any possible whistle blowing on the scam. ’ He added: ‘Dube cannot have been able to do all that without some people in that office working with him and protecting him.’ Bhebhe said Charamba , by virtue of being a board member, was part of the scam. Revelations that Charamba may have benefited in the PSMAS salary scam puts another twist to the ZANU PF factionalism which is seen as the main driver of the exposés on ‘corrupt salaries.’ All along the exposés were said to have affected only those executives aligned to the faction led by vice President Joice Mujuru, leading to the belief that the other faction led by Emmerson Mnangagwa was instigating everything. Charamba, who hails from Buhera, is said to belong to the Mnangagwa faction.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The KweKwe city council is reeling from the ZANU PF directive to write-off residents’ outstanding utility bills, and have called on the Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo to offer a solution to the crisis. MDC-T ward 3 councillor Weston Masiya said instead of coming up with a solution, Chombo was making things worse by barring council from taking action to force communities and businesses to pay their bills. KweKwe is operating under a $12 million debt and is barely providing service delivery as any attempts to force debtors to pay are being blocked by Chombo. In line with the government directive, the council cancelled over $14 million in household municipal debt. Big companies such as Ziscosteel (now NewZim Steel) ferrochrome producer ZIMASCO, Lancashire Steel and Tor Steel owe the council millions more. ‘The moment we attempt to cut off water to Ziscosteel and Redcliff, Chombo moves in to block it. So how are we going to recoup the money to enable us to sustain operations of the council if they do not offer any solutions to the problems,’ said Masiya. Dozens of local authorities, among them Harare and Bulawayo, face uncertainty as operations risk collapse under a mountain of debt. Already there are fears that failure to inject cash to sustain the councils will see operations grind to a complete halt this year. Just before last year’s elections Chombo ordered local authorities to write-off residents’ outstanding utility debts. Critics described it as a vote buying exercise for ZANU PF.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

A Harare pressure group on Friday led residents in a march to Town House, in a show of support for Mayor Bernard Manyenyeni’s fight cleanse the city council of corruption. Samuel Mangoma, the acting director of Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR), said reports of gross financial irregularities at town house must be investigated without fear or favour, amid indications Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo is against any probe. The Mayor of Harare last week suspended the town clerk, Tendai Mahachi, for failing to comply with a directive to furnish council with the salary schedules of all senior council employees. Less than 48 hours later Chombo, a friend and alleged business partner of Mahachi, directed that he be reinstated before any investigations can be conducted against him, in the process rescinding the Manyenyeni’s decision to suspend him. This move has angered residents who have vowed to fight Chombo tooth and nail to ensure he keeps his hands off council affairs. Mangoma told SW Radio Africa that corruption at town house has deprived residents of basic services and that their march against corruption was the beginning of big things to come. ‘We went to Town House to show our moral support to the mayor in his gallant fight to rid the council of the rot. The mayor acted within the confines of the constitution to suspend Mahachi and we all knew Chombo would move to protect him.‘But this time we want to be loud and clear that Chombo must be stopped. He’s a sinner and today’s (Friday)’s event was just the beginning of a long battle ahead to show him he cannot win against millions of Harare residents,’ Mangoma added. A High Court judge meanwhile has thrown out an application filed by a Harare resident that sought to stop Mahachi from reporting for duty. Bellinda Chinowawa of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who filed the application on behalf of resident and ratepayer Tawanda Zhuwarara, said the judge threw out the application because Manyenyeni had already complied with Chombo’s order to reinstate Mahachi. Despite the setback, other residents are making a statement on the Mahachi saga, like 42 year-old Philosophy Nyapfumbi who has gone on a hunger strike in protest over the reinstatement of the town clerk. The Herald reported that Nyapfumbi vowed he would starve himself until the town clerk was suspended again. ‘I am acting on behalf of all city residents who want Mahachi to remain suspended. I am not saying the Town Clerk is corrupt, but for the city to improve its service delivery which has deteriorated over the years he has to pave way for investigations to be made.‘I will stay here at Town House and I will only leave when the town clerk is no longer coming to work. Council is failing in waste management, maintaining potholes and even traffic lights while they are paying each other hefty salaries. This has to stop and I am saying no to this,’ Nyapfumbi told the Herald.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

President Robert Mugabe is free to join other African and European Union (EU) leaders at a summit scheduled for April in Brussels, a western diplomat has said. Topics for discussion at the two-day EU-Africa Summit will include peace, security, investment, climate change and migration. Confusion over whether Mugabe would be travelling to Brussels arose when the state media quoted a cabinet minister saying that Mugabe, who is on the EU targeted sanctions list, had not been invited. Other African leaders threatened to stay away from the Brussels meeting in solidarity with Mugabe, whom they recently elected AU deputy chairperson. But EU ambassador Aldo Dell’Ariccia, who is also quoted in a Zim Independent newspaper report, says Mugabe was invited at the same time as other African leaders.“He’s been invited as all the other African Heads of State, just as he’s been invited to previous EU-Africa summits,” Dell’Ariccia told SW Radio Africa Friday. Asked about Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi’s remarks in the State media that Mugabe had been snubbed, Dell’Ariccia said the minister’s remarks came after the invitations, including Mugabe’s, had been issued. The envoy said the summit is a platform for frank high-level discussions of issues of mutual importance to Africa and Europe and “so it is normal that President Mugabe will be invited”.“The decision to invite Mugabe is independent from the restrictive measures and all members agree with that,” Dell’Ariccia said. He added that there are provisions in international law for people on targeted sanctions to attend such summits.“But at the summit there will be open and frank discussion of different subjects and possibly, the situation of Zimbabwe will also be discussed,” he added. An EU decision on the restrictive measures, still in place against President Mugabe and nine others, is expected around February 20th, ahead of the Brussels summit. The European bloc has been steadily re-engaging with ZANU PF and has lifted most of the targeted measures, despite continuing human rights violations by the ZANU PF regime. Some observers say the EU wants to lift the remaining restrictions and has been softening its stance on Harare, and that the country’s recent re-admittance into the global diamond trade proves this. On Monday, UK based Zim activist Ephraim Tapa told SW Radio Africa that the EU has likely been engineering Mugabe’s acceptance back into diplomatic circles, “because there is a fight for access to Zimbabwe’s natural resources.” Belgium, Europe’s diamond trade capital, successfully pushed for the lifting of measures that barred it from trading in Zimbabwe’s controversial Chiadzwa diamonds. Tapa said similar “greedy” motives might have engineered Mugabe’s promotion to a top leadership position at the AU and Southern African Development Community, where he was recently elected deputy chairperson.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

AfriForum, which successfully prevented South Africa from donating helicopters to Zimbabwe, says it will monitor the donation of the same aircraft to Namibia to ensure that it does not end up benefiting the Mugabe regime. The South African civil rights NGO said the Air Force indicated this week that the final approval of the donation to Namibia was still pending but seemed to be a formality. France, the manufacturer of the 12 helicopters, has already approved the transaction, a statement issued Thursday said. The statement further quoted reports which said the aircraft and parts are packed and ready for shipment. An urgent court order obtained by AfriForum in 2013 prevented the same donation to Zimbabwe on fears that the government there would use the aircraft against its own people. However, since it is unclear yet what Namibia will do with the donation, AfriForum said it will monitor the transaction ‘carefully’ to ensure Namibia does not hand over the aircraft to the ZANU PF government. In 1998 Pretoria donated 150 Samil trucks and 24 guns to Namibia. During that time, Namibia and Zimbabwe were involved in the DRC civil war. According to the statement, it later came to light that the guns were sent to the DRC as soon as they had arrived in Namibia. The statement said in the event that the donation to Namibia was ‘merely to have the helicopters delivered to Zimbabwe’, contempt of court proceedings will be brought to court against the South African authorities. Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF) director Gabriel Shumba hailed the development and said he hoped Namibia does not send the aircraft to Zimbabwe. He said: ‘Zimbabwe is not a country at war. If it is, it is at war against hunger.’ merely a set to have the helicopters delivered to Zimbabwe in any event, contempt of court proceedings will be brought against the relevant ministers and officials.merely a set to have the helicopters delivered to Zimbabwe in any event, contempt of court proceedings will be brought against the relevant ministers and officials. AfriForum actively supports human rights movements in Zimbabwe. Alongside the Zimbabwe Southern Africa Litigation Centre and Z EF, AfriForum want South Africa to investigate human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. Last year AfriForum, together with former Chegutu farmer Ben Freeth, submitted more evidence of torture to the South African authorities who have since appealed against a Court order compelling them to act on Zimbabwe.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe Defence Forces are reportedly operating on a shoe-string, putting their operational duties in jeopardy, a parliamentary report has revealed. The report on defence and home affairs says soldiers have not been able to access healthcare because of the army not paying its debts. The report adds that the police too are battling to settle debts amounting to nearly $145 million to service providers, which has resulted in some services being withdrawn. The ministry of defence was allocated slightly more than $356 million, which amounts to 8.9% of the 2014 national budget but, despite that, the army chiefs have dismissed it as grossly inadequate considering the ministry’s needs. The heads of the military, police and CIO are among a few very rich individuals in the country because of their strong links to the ruling party. For the 2013-2016 period, the report indicates that the defence ministry’s seven priority areas are all under threat because of underfunding. Those areas are the maintenance of existing defence force equipment and facilities, training, re-equipment, refurbishment and upgrading, research and development, defence projects and food security. Meanwhile, Air Zimbabwe’s two A320 Airbuses have been grounded at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the last four months, amid reports the planes were unserviceable. NewsDay reported on Thursday that grounding of the Airbuses adds to the woes of the national carrier that now has only two planes in the air servicing the Harare-Johannesburg route and the domestic market. They are a Boeing 737 and a leased Embraer jet. The third functional plane is a Boeing 767 which is used when the 737 is down or when President Robert Mugabe is travelling outside the country.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Government bungling has been blamed for the Tokwe Mukorsi flooding which has seen a last minute rush to evacuate vulnerable villagers. MDC-T Bulawayo South legislator Eddie Cross said if the government had heeded advice the dam would have been completed on time and the current situation would have been averted. The government failed to meet its deadline to complete the construction of the dam by the end of last year, a development which has led to the huge volumes of water cutting holes through the incomplete wall. Government this week started evacuating 4,000 villagers downstream of Tokwe Mukorsi Dam, who are at risk of being swept away by floods caused by the heavy rains. Press reports Thursday quoted ‘engineers’ allaying fears that the dam wall had collapsed. A Daily News report quoted Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) officials saying Masvingo province, which is where the mega dam is situated, received ‘double the amount of rain it usually gets.’ Chief Executive officer Albert Muyambo said this eventuality was not anticipated by the engineers who he said were working flat out to resolve the problem. But Cross said he, together with his colleagues in the budget and finance parliamentary committee, advised the government last year to speed up the completion of the dam. He said they warned that unless the government found the funding and hired a professional engineering firm to oversee the project the construction of Tokwe Mukorsi dam would not be completed on time. Tokwe Murkosi dam But Cross told SW Radio Africa that Zinwa, which supervises the construction of the Tokwe Mukorsi Dam, has no capacity to handle the project. ‘When we arrived there last year we found the site in shambles. I was very unhappy with the supervisory team which was there from the water authority. We found an engineer drinking beer. Nobody else was around.’ He added: ‘when I mentioned this to government I was told that Zinwa was doing a good job.’ Cross revealed that the project is about 85 percent finished. The floods pose a danger to the people living in Ngundu, Gororo, Triangle and Nyahombe areas. Meanwhile from Bulawayo SW Radio African correspondent, Lionel Saungweme reports that two people were saved from drowning when floods destroyed 18 homes in Tsholotsho Thursday.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

A business consultant hired by a subsidiary of Zimbabwe’s power authority, ZESA, has joined the list of executives reported to be receiving exorbitant salaries at state institutions, with a monthly salary of $44,000. Dennis Magaya, who is described as a “business strategy consultant”, was hired by ZESA subsidiary Powertel Communications in 2012, under controversial circumstances according to the Financial Gazette. His contract expires in 2015. The paper said Magaya was engaged to implement a five-year business plan that he had drafted for Powertel, which is a state-owned internet services provider. But his contract was “fast tracked” by ZESA group chief executive officer Josh Chifamba and board chairman Francis Chirimuuta, “in clear defiance” of a State Procurement Board (SPB) resolution. SPB had reportedly decided Magaya and his company Rubiem Technologies, could not be hired to implement the strategic plan which he had drafted as there would be a conflict of interest. But the ZESA chefs ignored this and hired Magaya in his individual capacity, insisting Powertel would benefit from and make millions of dollars from the services provided by his company. In addition, Powertel’s former finance director Warner Mtisi and former managing director Samuel Maminimini, were both sacked by Powertel after they questioned Magaya’s hefty package and resisted efforts to hire him. Mtisi took legal steps and reportedly won his case at the labour courts, but Chifamba is believed to have appealed against the court ruling. Political commentator Lameck Mahachi described Magaya’s salary at Powertel as “absurd”, especially given that ZESA itself was failing to provide enough electricity to Zimbabweans and was in debt.“It appears everyone is on the bandwagon. It’s a culture of looting and everybody wants to loot. This is really absurd. Everyone knows that Zimbabwe is on its knees economically. How can they pay someone that kind of salary?” Mahachi told SW Radio Africa. He added: “ZESA is failing to provide power to the people. Blackouts are happening all the time and we know ZESA owes huge sums of money. They can’t afford to pay anyone $44,000 monthly. This is unacceptable and calls for making noise. How can we be quiet?” Mahachi said senior executives running parastatals were backing each other’s salaries and bonuses because they also stand to gain financially from their decisions, regardless of the fact that they may be illegal. Magaya joins a growing list of executives recently exposed for looting state-run institutions that are in debt. The list includes Cuthbert Dube, the CEO who made $500,000 a month at the Premier Services Medical Aid Society, and suspended ZBC boss Happison Muchechetere, who looted over $40,000 per month while ordinary staff went without wages for the last 7 months.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The ZANU PF government has admitted that it does not have the $27 billion it needs to implement its much-touted economic recovery plan. The Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset) was central to ZANU PF’s election campaign, but 7 months since the party’s disputed victory, there is no sign that the blueprint will translate into any programmes. Ministry of Finance official Jonah Mushayi revealed that the government will be approaching donors to help raise the $27 billion, the NewsDay quoted him as having said Thursday. “There are certain things we need to attend to as government and business. $27 billion is required for the blueprint. It’s quite a huge figure over five years,” Mushayi told a business conference. Mushayi added that government will be approaching local and international donors to fund the implantation of the economic plan, adding that the national budget of $4.1 billion is insufficient, as the bulk of it goes towards civil service wages. Economist Vince Musewe told SW Radio Africa that the problem in Zimbabwe is not the shortage of money but the system institutional failure due to corruption. “There is evidence that between 2008 and 2012, a total of $12 billion was looted from the Marange diamond field, and $3 billion is missing from pension fund NSSA.“This is not a country without money, but one where there is rampant institutional incapacity. ZimAsset is just a joke and this government has no political will to implement good programmes,” Musewe said. Musewe said it will be foolhardy for western donors to give the Zim government funds, considering the illicit dealings and corruption prevalent in the country. “With the money that has been looted so far from State coffers, the government doesn’t need to be begging,” Musewe added.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Thousands of villagers have been forced to flee their homes, downstream of Tokwe Mukorsi dam in Masvingo, amid fears the dam will burst after torrential rains pounded the province. The situation could have long ago been averted had government provided the $12 million to pay for concrete lining to be installed prior to the rains. The dam has received 370mm of water in 10 days, described by engineers on site as ‘excess of the norm.’ The engineers are currently trying to construct an emergency spillway while at the same raising the wall of the dam. President Robert Mugabe has declared Tokwe Mukorsi a disaster area which, in theory, allows government to move in rapidly and assist the evacuation of over 60,000 families. But those who have already been forcibly evacuated from the flood basin have been staying in the open along the Masvingo-Beitbridge highway, according to the Southern Eye website. The villagers said they feel they’ve been abandoned by the government. The villagers have been camping at the Muzvidziwa bus stop in Ward 36 for the past three days with their few belongings and there is fear of a disease outbreak as there are no sanitary facilities at the place. The government says it is relocating the villagers to Nuanesti Ranch, but it too has no facilities or running water. Hungry villagers only managed to take a few clothes when they were evacuated and are currently being served diluted orange drink. They complained that they need more solid food. Tasara Wamambo, director and founder of Tokwe Mukorsi Rehabilitation and Resettlement Trust (TMRRT), which represents families affected by the dam and advocates their rights, said the long term solution to crisis is for the government to relocate the villagers and compensate them enough to build new homes elsewhere. He said efforts to evacuate the villagers now were being hampered by floods that have affected the designated areas for relocation. ‘A number of areas that have been designated for relocation are flooded as well, so the situation is being made worse by the constant rains. But a long term solution is to find areas where the villagers can be compensated well enough to build new homes, away from the flood basin,’ Wamambo said. Following cracks in the dam wall there were fears it would breach, threatening to unleash a wall of water into neighbouring villages, sweeping away thousands of people in its path. However the government on Sunday urged the public not to panic as they said the issue can be resolved. Minister of Water Resources Saviour Kasukuwere said engineers were working flat out trying to reinforce the wall, although he admitted the situation is ‘challenging.’ A local insurance company said from its risk analysis of the site, the dam wall is unlikely to collapse. Champions Insurance operations director Munyaradzi Kativhu told the Daily News that the dam wall was not collapsing but a huge volume of water is forcing itself through the wall that is still under construction. ‘We carried out a risk management analysis and the dam wall is not collapsing. The dam wall was built through compacting rocks and these rocks have not been plastered. So the floods were caused by huge volumes of water which perforated through the dam wall,’ Kativhu said. The Tokwe Mukorsi dam is being built by an Italian company, Salini, with funding from the government, to provide irrigation to villagers in Chivi and surrounding districts of Triangle and Chiredzi. The project, with a cost of $156 million, is designed to boost the drought-resistance of a region that normally receives insufficient rainfall and once complete, it will also supply water to the city of Masvingo, where severe water shortages have been experienced in recent years. Construction began in the 1990s but stopped a decade later when the economy experienced hyperinflation and government payments were late. It only resumed after the formation of the government of national unity in 2009. The Tokwe Mukorsi is set to become the largest inland dam in the country, with a capacity of 1.8 billion cubic meters and a flood area covering more than 9,600 hectares.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Police in Johannesburg are investigating President Jacob Zuma’s son for manslaughter, after a Zimbabwean woman was killed in an accident involving his sports car, reports said. An AFP news agency report quoted major South African newspapers saying Phumzile Dube died when Duduzane Zuma’s Porsche crashed into a mini bus on February 1st, shortly before midnight. According to the report Dube was buried in Zimbabwe last Saturday. The report quoted a Metro police spokesman confirming the incident which occurred in Sandton where the sports car ‘collided in the rear of a taxi in the dark during heavy rain.’ According to the report the taxi overturned, injuring two other people. The taxi driver is said to have been hospitalized after he collapsed at the scene of the accident. The spokesman confirmed an investigation of manslaughter against the driver of the sports car. Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj reportedly declined to say anything, claiming he did not comment on Zuma family matters. But according to the report Themba Dube, husband to the deceased, told the Sunday Times that Zuma ‘killed’ his wife. He is reported to have said that he wants justice done and it does not matter that Zuma is the president’s son. Taxi driver Vusi Dlamini also weighed in accusing Zuma of bumping into his vehicle ‘out of the blue.’

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The future of Kwekwe is uncertain after a major employer in the Midlands city said it is retrenching half of its workforce due to financial problems. Reports Sunday said the Zimbabwe Mining and Alloy Smelting Company (Zimasco) announced that it will be retrenching half of its three thousand workers in an attempt to streamline costs. According to reports, between October 2012 and late 2013 workers were already on forced pay cuts with some taking home less than $150. A Southern Eye report quoted general manager of marketing and administration, Clara Sadomba, saying the decision to streamline activities at the mining giant is a ‘response to global market conditions.’ Sadomba claimed that those conditions have ‘negatively’ affected commodity prices in general and chrome prices in particular since 2008. She said as a result the company will undertake ‘various cost cutting initiatives in all its operations.’ However a research report from KPMG, one of the leading professional auditors in the world, contradicts Sadomba’s claims. KPMG research shows that chrome prices have been on a steady rise for years. The report said there are disagreements between the workers and the management. Workers are said to be demanding that the top management staff should instead take salary cuts because they are allegedly earning high salaries and are entitled to too many benefits. Workers who spoke to SW Radio Africa confirmed that the suggestion of voluntary exit had no takers, something which has forced the company to look into forced retrenchment. Casper John Tshuma said the workers representatives and the management were in meetings on Monday to discuss the forced retrenchment option. He said: ‘The feeling amongst the workers is that the management is offering unreasonably low packages.’ According to Tshuma thousands of families stand to be affected by the impending lay off. Zimasco is one of the major employers in Kwekwe with almost all the households in suburbs like Fitchlea, New Town and Chicago directly dependent on the company. The Midlands city is currently faced with high unemployment, with major companies like New Zimbabwe Steel yet to re-open. Formerly known as Ziscosteel, New Zimbabwe Steel was expected to reopen at the end of last month but according to sources that did not happen.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The Mayor of Harare may have been pressured to comply with a directive from the Local Government Minister, Ignatius Chombo, which ordered him to reinstate the suspended Town Clerk Tendai Mahachi. Mayor Bernard Manyenyeni said “it became necessary” to go against his original decision to suspend Mahachi but added that he was “obviously not happy” he had done so. The mayor would not be drawn to discuss the reasons why it had become necessary, but admitted there were things he could not say and that were “not possible to tell the whole world”. He added: “Tell all the stakeholders that nothing has changed and their support should not disappear. We had to do what we had to do and expect those who sympathize with the decisions and what needed to be done to continue doing so.” Manyenyeni suspended Mahachi in January after the town clerk failed to comply with a Council resolution to provide the salaries and benefits schedule of all Harare City Council senior employees, including his own. The suspension was intended to facilitate investigations into Mahachi’s conduct, as well as the finances of the Harare Council. But just two days later Chombo ordered the Mayor to re-instate him. Acting as a resident of Harare, angry lawyer Tawanda Zhuwarara approached the High Court seeking an order declaring Chombo’s directive illegal. Through his lawyer Bellinda Chinowawa, he argued that Chombo’s powers in terms of the Urban Councils Act only applied to the Council, and not to Mayoral decisions. But Zhuwarara was not aware that Mayor Manyenyeni had already ordered Mahachi back to work “with immediate effect”, and the High Court on Friday dismissed his application, citing the Mayor’s compliance as reason for dismissal. Meanwhile, Robert Mugabe’s spokesman, George Charamba, was back in the news again with fresh allegations that he had lied about his salary as a board member at the shamed Premier Services Medical Aid Society (PSMAS). After being exposed, Charamba claimed that he was the least paid person on the eight-member board. But it has emerged he was actually one of the highest paid, earning over $100,000 last year. According to the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, Charamba’s board payments ranked fourth highest at the medical aid society, with the highest earner being board member George Chaburuka, who made over $200,000. And as the salary scandals continue it has also emerged that the suspended Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation chief executive officer, Happison Muchechetere, also paid himself $90,000 in yearly bonuses. This was in addition to the monthly $40,000 salary he was earning, while workers at ZBC went without wages for seven months, according to the Daily News on Sunday newspaper. The issue of exorbitant salaries being paid to government employees and executives at parastatals has dominated the headlines in the last few weeks, with the state-run media exposing several senior ZANU PF chefs in salary scandals that have shocked many struggling Zimbabweans. The development is widely seen as the result of infighting within ZANU PF, with one faction using the media to de-campaign the other.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The Civil Protection Unit (CPU) has issued fresh flood warnings after the death of four people over the weekend, when their Zupco bus plunged into the Musavezi river near Shurugwi in the Midlands province. As the bus was midway over the bridge a strong current of water swept the bus into the raging river. Luckily twenty-three other passengers, mainly cross border traders, escaped unhurt, but the driver sustained minor injuries. Reports say two bodies, that of a male and a female, were discovered near the wreckage a day later, while two others, that of an elderly woman and a minor, were found some distance away following a night long search. The bus was travelling from Beitbridge to Kwekwe when disaster struck. Heavy rains have been drenching the country since January, causing widespread flooding along rivers. Many parts of the country, from Muzarabani up in the north to Beitbridge down in the south, are now experiencing the worst floods in many years, as water inundates villages, farms, homes and major vital roads. The major road that links Bulawayo to South Africa via Beitbridge was cut-off for hours between Saturday and Sunday when the Mtshabezi river bridge in Gwanda was submerged by torrents of non-stop rain. Our correspondent in Bulawayo, Lionel Saungweme, said the road has since reopened after the water subsided and is now flowing just underneath the bridge. He said flood waters have paralysed large parts of the country. Heavy rains for the past four weeks have swelled rivers and cut-off bridges and traffic to many parts of the country. Weeks of heavy rain have left large parts of the Masvingo, Midlands and Matabeleland South provinces under water with the levels of most dams and rivers appearing to have peaked, leaving the situation critical in many areas, particularly along rivers. But the rains have also brought joy to the city of Bulawayo which has been struggling with the supply of water, as most of its dams had almost dried up. Latest statistics for Bulawayo’s water supply dams show that Mtshabezi and Insiza Mayfair dams are 100% full, while Umzingwane stands at 68.7 %, Lower Ncema is now 67.7 % and Inyankuni 21.2 % full.

Heavy rains leave a trail of destruction | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

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Zim opposition failing to take lead on graft protest | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Mugabe aide admits ‘culpability’ in medical aid looting scam | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Chombo debt directive pushes KweKwe to the brink of collapse | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Harare residents march in support of Mayor | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Mugabe invited to Brussels summit | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

AfriForum to ensure helicopter donation does not benefit Mugabe | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

One more step | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Government blamed for Tokwe Mukorsi flooding | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

ZESA advisor joins growing list of parastatal looters | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Govt needs $27 billion for ZimAsset | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Thousands flee as dam threatens to collapse | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Zim woman killed in Zuma son car crash | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Kwekwe faces uncertainty as Zimasco retrenches | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Harare Mayor says he was pressured to reinstate town clerk | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Worst flooding in years swamps Zimbabwe | SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe