The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) says it is concerned about the treatment of freelance journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and Jacob Ngarivhume, leader of Transform Zimbabwe, who are currently detained at Chikurubi Maximum Prison. According to the lawyers group, on Saturday ZLHR lawyers Roselyn Hanzi, Beatrice Mtetwa and Moses Nkomo visited their clients, Chin’ono and Ngarivhume at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, where they were moved to from Harare Remand Prison last Friday by Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) officials. In a statement, the ZLHR said Chin’ono and Ngarivhume’s lawyers only came to know of the transfer of their clients late on Friday 7 August 2020 after they learnt from independent sources that the duo had been strip searched, sh
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa's cautious intervention in the current Zimbabwean crisis has got off to a rocky start, with the opposition warning yesterday that they will not be railroaded to accept any deals that they disagree with, as had happened a decade ago when the country's unity government was put in place. This comes after Ramaphosa announced on Thursday that he had appointed former South African vice president and Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, as well as former cabinet minister Sydney Mufamadi as his special envoys to Harare - "to identify possible ways in which South Africa can assist Zimbabwe". It also comes as well-placed sources in South Africa have told the Daily News On Sunday that Ramaphosa's surprise move followed preliminary talks within his
South African opposition leader Julius Malema on Sunday urged Zimbabwean youths to take decisive steps to end President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s increasingly autocratic rule, warning that social media activism alone would not bring about the desired change. Zimbabwe is going through its worst economic crisis in over a decade, with inflation of over 700 percent. Many blame Mnangagwa, the 77-year-old successor of Robert Mugabe, for the crisis which has seen doctors and nurses going on an indefinite strike in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. Economic Freedom Fighters leader Malema spoke at a Women’s Day event close to the grave of anti-apartheid icon Winnie Mandela, charging that Zimbabwean women wake up everyday with a threat of arrest, abduction or rape by Mnangagwa’
The ZPCS spokesperson Supt Meya Khanyezi has denied ill-treating journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and activist Jacob Ngarivhume. The two were arrested over allegations connected to the July 31 demo. Yesterday lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa complained over how they have been suddenly transferred to the COVID fested Chikurubi maximum and afterwards denied food from outside, as also their re;stoves and friends are blocked from seeing them. There are fears that the two will be poisoned. Khanyezi said the Commissioner General of Prisons is allowed under the country’s laws to transfer or make standing orders without consulting legal representatives of inmates. “The Commissioner General is empowered to make standing orders and it is in terms of these standing orders that certain ca
VICE-PRESIDENT Constantino Chiwenga opted to take over the Health and Child Care portfolio following differences with President Emmerson Mnangagwa over the sacked Obadiah Moyo's successor, it has emerged. Mnangagwa last week announced that he had appointed Chiwenga the new Health minister, sparking speculation on the motives behind the surprise move that has been described as unconstitutional by some legal experts. Lawyers say a VP is not allowed to double up as a minister in terms of the constitution. Insiders told The Standard that Chiwenga wanted Health and Child Care deputy minister John Mangwiro, who is his personal doctor, to take over the ministry, but Mnangagwa did not agree. After the haggling, the VP is said to have volunteered to take over the por
Opposition MDC Alliance Vice President Tendai Biti has accused the generation of politicians who fought the liberation war of holding the country to ransom and said their primary focus was power retention, state capture and benefiting from corruption under President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Biti slammed the war veterans for holding the country to ransom by claiming they were the liberators of the nation and using that as a launch pad to monopolise key political positions. The former Finance Minister was co-panellist during a Thursday SAPES Trust online Policy Dialogue whose focus was on “What will it take to reach a Settlement in Zimbabwe”. Biti added that the war veterans generation was still fighting a war that was won in 1980. “We still have a few and the few ar
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday officially launched the National Tourism Recovery and Growth Strategy as he led the restart of the sector, whose contribution to the national economy has been heavily crippled by the outbreak of Covid-19. The President also officially reopened the Victoria Falls Rainforest, signalling the country’s readiness to welcome visitors into the prime resort destination. The tourism and hospitality industry is one of the key foreign currency earners in the country and employs thousands of people along the value chain. Despite the Covid-19 dent on arrivals, Zimbabwe expects to leverage on internal competencies around domestic tourism to unlock wider potential and enhance operators’ capacities on the interim. In this regard, the National Tourism Reco
FUGITIVE G40 members, who are hiding in South Africa, are behind the recent anti-Zimbabwe campaign responsible for inventing a non-existent crisis and have been engaging various regional players in a desperate effort to isolate the country. Unbeknown to many users of social media platforms, the cabal of fugitives has hatched a devious blitz on Twitter that gives the impression of a Zimbabwe in crisis. The members of the G40 cabal which had captured the former President during the First Republic recently met African National Congress’ (ANC) secretary-general Elias Sekgobelo “Ace” Magashule of South Africa where they apparently fed him with wrong impressions of the situation obtaining in the country. Messrs Saviour Kasukuwere, Walter Mzembi and Patrick Zhuwao, who
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa's government has been thrown into disarray after a number of ministers and senior bureaucrats were placed in isolation in the past week after either contracting the highly infectious Covid-19 or coming into contact with infected persons. In terms of World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines on the control and management of the pandemic, which had as of yesterday claimed 97 lives from 4 395 infections around the country, any infected person should be placed in quarantine until they recover while anyone who has come into contact with an infected individual should be quarantined for at least 14 days until they test negative. The development comes just a week after the death of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement minister Perrance S
OPPOSITION MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa has blasted President Emmerson Mnangagwa for labelling innocent citizens as terrorists after they expressed anger over his maladministration. Chamisa accused Mnangagwa of using a primitive way of governance. Speaking for the first time after visiting a number of victims of State-sponsored abductions, torture and arrests in the last week, Chamisa said it was not proper for activists to "stay in mountains" fleeing the regime in a free country. Chamisa, who has been on leave mourning the death of his mother who passed on last month, is expected back in office today at a time dozens of citizens are in hiding facing arrest for allegedly participating or calling for the July 31 protests . "It is not proper to have people in
