SPECIAL envoys appointed by African Union chairperson, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to probe reports of gross human rights violations in Zimbabwe jetted out of the country yesterday after aborting their proposed meetings with the opposition and civic society groups under unclear circumstances. Baleka Mbete, Sydney Mufamadi and advocate Ngoako Abel Ramatlhodi met President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House and were expected to meet main opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa and civic society organisations. The trio arrived on a fact-finding mission "following recent reports of difficulties that the Republic of Zimbabwe is experiencing", according to a statement by Ramaphosa's office last week. MDC Alliance spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said they had b
Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday reiterated his administration’s unwavering fight against corruption saying the door to graft has been shut warning that those who want to pursue that route would face dire consequences. In his Heroes Day address broadcast live from State House in Harare, the President said Government makes no apologies in its enforcement of transparency and accountability across the country’s socio, economic and political spectrum. “The Second Republic has, since its inception, accelerated the entrenchment and consolidation of democracy, constitutionalism and the rule of law in pursuit of social justice and equal opportunities for the economic empowerment of the previously marginalised majority,” said President Mnangagwa. “Informed by a ca
President Emmerson Mnangagwa risked a diplomatic spat with South Africa on Monday after blocking two special envoys sent by President Cyril Ramaphosa to gather information on human rights violations in Zimbabwe from meeting his rivals and rights groups. Mnangagwa met the three-team delegation of Baleka Mbethe, Sydney Mafamadi and Ngoako Ramatlhodi at State House during which he reportedly told them there was “no crisis in Zimbabwe.” The main opposition MDC Alliance said Ramaphosa’s office contacted them last Saturday to prepare a five-person delegation to meet his envoys on Monday. In a statement announcing the Zimbabwe mission last week, Ramaphosa had said the delegation would “engage the government of Zimbabwe and relevant stakeholders to identify possible w
Main opposition MDC Alliance vice president Tendai Biti has slammed MDC-T leader Thokozani Khupe for knowing “nothing about intellectual property” and urged the rivil party to stick to its name which it used to contest the 2018 election. Khupe is planning to confront the Nelson Chamisa-led MDC Alliance with a court challenge seeking to stop the beleaguered opposition from using the name MDC. This follows a recent court ruling that declared Chamisa’s rise to the helm of the main opposition as illegal and that MDC Alliance was not a political party but a coalition. Khupe is planning to confront the Nelson Chamisa-led MDC Alliance with a court challenge seeking to stop the beleaguered opposition from using the name MDC. This follows a recent court ruling that declared
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday called criticism of human rights abuses by his government “divisive falsehoods” and said his administration was under renewed attack from domestic and foreign opponents. Mnangagwa, during a Heroes Day speech in Harare, said the allegations were “unjustified attacks by our perennial detractors, both inside and outside our border”. “The divisive falsehoods and concoctions by renegades and supremacists who want to pounce on our natural resources will never win the day. Truth shall triumph over lies, and good over evil,” said Mnangagwa, who replaced Robert Mugabe after a 2017 coup. Hopes that Mnangagwa would unite a polarised country and revive a stricken economy following the Mugabe era have b
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
