MDC Alliance MPs who have been boycotting Parliament yesterday started trickling back to the House and were heckled by their Zanu PF counterparts, who jeered and labelled them MDC-T instead of MDC Alliance. Fifteen opposition MPs, mostly proportional representation legislators, turned up and the most senior was Hatfield MP Tapiwa Mashakada, who later told journalists that they had not defected and were still MDC Alliance MPs as they were elected by the people. But the party immediately shot down his claims, with secretary for presidential affairs Jameson Timba saying only the national council, which sits today, would make a resolution on whether to attend Parliament business or not. “We met as MDC Alliance and made a resolution that we were elected by the people and, therefore, mus
Dear Thokozani Khupenga, I hope this communique/ missive finds you in your right state of mind.I should admit that your hallucinations have unprecedentedly reached diabolical proportions. At a minimum it’s sheer hallucinations, and a minimum you require psychiatric evaluation. Firstly, you are a political prostitute, you sold your integrity for silver and gold . Mendaciously and with cupidity , you opted to urinate on the people’s project by forming an unholy alliance with Mr Lipstick . You took an oath with the devil to be used as a conduit pipe to urinate on the people’s project. On a silver platter, the devil handsomely rewarded you with the keys to Harvest House for your betrayal . In a twinkling of an eye the 2.4 millions who overwhelmingly endorsed Cha
Zimbabwe government through its Health Ministry is reportedly buying face masks for USD $28 each from President Mnangagwa’s son linked company called Drax International LLC . Zimbabwe government through its Health Ministry is reportedly buying face masks for USD $28 each from President Mnangagwa’s son linked company called Drax International LLC. This comes as the Zimbabwean people are struggling to raise USD 50 cents to buy the cheapest face mask available on the market. In a letter written by the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Golden Guvamatanga to the Ministry of Health and Childcare demanding the release of a consignment of Drax International, the health kits are being charged at very expensive prices to the ministry. In the let
Amnesty International says charges laid against three Movement for Democratic Change Alliance activists, who were allegedly abducted recently by suspected state security agents, beaten up and sexually abused, as “a travesty and ploy to intimidate the opposition”. Responding to the Zimbabwe Republic Police’s decision Tuesday to charge Harare West lawmaker Joanna Mamombe, Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova for participating in peaceful protests against hunger during the lockdown period last month, Amnesty International’s deputy director for southern Africa, Muleya Mwananyanda said expectations were that the government was supposed to carry out investigations on their alleged abductions and not prosecute them. Mwananyanda said, “Joana Mamombe, Cecelia Chimb
Opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa yesterday called on African leaders to stop silencing citizens and undermining human rights and democracy as the continent commemorated Africa Day.His call came as human rights defenders voiced concern over the gross violations of civil and political rights by security forces. Rights groups said Zimbabwe was a liability to Africa as it lagged behind in the peace and development agenda as enshrined in the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. Speaking to NewsDay, Chamisa said Africa was tired of dictatorship and it was now time to end the crisis and build a united Africa. “Instead of silencing the guns, we see there is concerted effort to silence the citizen and also to silence alternative voices and to silence the vot
POLICE have arrested 40 682 people for violating Covid-19 lockdown regulations as the Government steps up efforts to contain the spread of the deadly virus. The national lockdown started on March 30. Police have since set up numerous checkpoints and roadblocks across the country and introduced patrols targeting people and motorists breaching the restrictions. Last Sunday alone, 1 219 people were arrested in separate incidents countrywide. Most of those arrested were in violation of movement restrictions. Fourteen were arrested for liquor related offences, 43 under the Road Traffic Act, 68 for opening businesses without exemption letters, 754 for unnecessary movements, 15 for gathering, 274 for failing to wear masks, while 61 for violating the Miscellaneous Offences Act. Some of
Government has revealed that schools will resume classes mid next month, following hard on the heels of universities, whose doors are set to be reopened from June 1 The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Cain Mathema told The Sunday Mail yesterday that “schools will be opened three to four weeks from now” To prepare for the resumption of studies, Government is set to hire 6 000 teachers as part of a comprehensive plan for the safe and smooth opening of schools in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. This will bring the number of teachers to 140 000. The country currently has about 4,5 million learners. “The 2020 exam class will resume classes first, followed by 2021 exam classes two or three weeks later, with the rest of the groups following in that m
MDC-T secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora yesterday pleaded with MDC Alliance MPs who have disengaged from Parliament in protest against the recall of four legislators by the his Thokozani Khupe-led faction to attend the august House and help fight COVID-19. Mwonzora recalled three MPs and one senator — all party leaders — following a Supreme Court ruling in March which made Khupe the acting MDC-T president, ordering her to convene an extraordinary congress within three months under the party structures of 2014. However, the MDC Alliance’s national standing committees resolved to snub all parliamentary activities in protest over the decision by Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda and Senate president Mabel Chinomona to obey Khupe’s orders to recall Charlton Hw
The sacking of Mutodi causes infighting in Zanu PF. The onslaught against Mutodi escalated yesterday after Zanu-PF’s Mashonaland East provincial executive said he would be charged with undermining party leaders. Mnangagwa gave the flamboyant politician the boot, a week after the former Information deputy minister said he was living in fear of Foreign Affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo and Chris Mutsvangwa, a former presidential advisor. President Emmerson Mnangagwa fired controversial politician Energy Mutodi following accusations that he was part of a faction undermining the Zanu-PF leader amid allegations of fissures in his government. This was after Moyo humiliated the Goromonzi West MP when he distanced the government from statements by the then deputy ministe
Police on Friday swooped on private media journalists Frank Chikowore (pictured) and Samuel Takawira at a hospital in Waterfalls, Harare where three MDC Alliance youth activists are hospitalised. Chikowore works for Voice of America’s Studio 7 while Takawira works for online publication, 263Chat. The scribes had visited the health facility in Waterfalls suburb to conduct interviews with Harare West MP Joanna Mamombe, activists Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova. The MDC trio made world news recently when it was seized from a police station by suspected state agents who drove it outside Harare to subject it to horrendous acts of physical and sexual abuse. The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), a lobby for media rights, has since dispatched lawyers to foll
