Grace Mugabe under Fire over Kasukuwere

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• Grace Mugabe with ‘Tyson’.

Zanu PF officials have questioned the motives of first lady Grace Mugabe over her close association with party commissar and local government minister Saviour Kasukuwere, who is facing charges of plotting to overthrow president Robert Mugabe.

Zanu PF provincial executives across the country unanimously voted in favour of removing Kasukuwere from his party and government positions, accusing him of tampering with party structures in an effort to dethrone Mugabe.

Senior party sources blamed Grace Mugabe for her relationship with Kasukuwere, a member of the G40 faction which she is accused of heading as she angles to succeed her husband ahead of party favourite and front-runner vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa.

“Mrs Mugabe was naïve to link herself with people who have now turned out to be enemies of her husband and who want to remove him from office by crooked means. It is now apparent that Kasukuwere and his colleagues like Jonathan Moyo used the first lady to get close to the president to advance their evil agenda. Suppose they had assassinated him?” said a source, claiming that the first lady was being watched.

Grace Mugabe has also come under fire over her public statements denouncing Mnangagwa and military generals whom she accused of plotting to kill her husband and family in a speech broadcast on national television. The sources said Mnangagwa and the generals came close to resigning their government positions following Grace Mugabe’s televised tantrums.

Senior ruling party members want Mugabe to reign in his wife and stop her from sponsoring factions and disrupting party activities. However, they note that Mugabe has already admitted in public that he cannot control her.

“The issue is that Gushungo (Mugabe’s totem) is just a man and like most other men, he has a problem dealing with his wife. He admitted as much in Masvingo. But the issue is, if Zanu PF wants to survive, it will have to take action against Mrs Mugabe and remind her that she is only the head of the women’s league and nothing else in the party,” said a source.

Grace Mugabe has been accused of overstepping her mandate in her desperation to succeed her 93 year-old husband, who is facing poor health. The first lady is accused of usurping her husband’s powers and making cabinet and party appointments, according to Temba Mliswa, who was sacked as chairman of Mugabe’s home province.

© Now Daily 2017. All Rights Reserved.

 

 

Mandi Chimene Faces the Axe

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• Mandi ‘Wefodya’ Chimene.

Manicaland provincial chairperson Mandi Chimene is next in line to be fired from the Zanu PF politburo following her utterances denouncing vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, the heir-apparent to president Robert Mugabe, Now Daily can reveal.

Ruling party sources said party members had never forgiven Chimene for dressing down Mnangagwa in front of the president during a central committee meeting that was broadcast on ZBC-TV in 2016.

Chimene, a former close associate first lady Grace Mugabe and leading member of her G40 faction openly told Mugabe to fire his deputy and scoffed at war veterans. She also attempted to have Chris Mutsvangwa removed as leader of the Zimbabwe Liberation War Veterans Association but this was resisted by the ‘comrades’.

Mnangagwa refused to comment publicly on Chimene’s insults. However, war veteran and Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General Constantine Chiwenga remarked: “Akadhakwa nefodya (meaning, ‘Mandi Chimene is high on marijuana’).

Zanu PF provincial executives have now passed a vote of no confidence against party ‘political commissar’ Saviour Kasukuwere. The Matabeleland North province executive also passed a no-confidence vote against higher education minister and G40 faction member Jonathan Moyo.

“Mandi Chimene is next. People have not forgotten that she taunted the vice president,” said a source.

© Now Daily 2017. All Rights Reserved.

Kasukuwere Accused of Killing Chivamba

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Kizito Chivamba, the former Zanu PF Midlands provincial chairman died because of health complications arising from the actions of Zanu PF political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere, relatives have said.

Chivamba’s brother told a funeral gathering in Gweru that Chivamba’s health broke down on the day Kasukuwere announced his suspension from the post of Midlands provincial chairman.

“That same night, my brother did not sleep. He started complaining of severe headaches. His condition grew worse until he died,” Chivamba’s brother said.

A Central Intelligence Organization operative, Chivamba was singled out for brutal treatment after he opposed plans by Kasukuwere to organize demonstrations against vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa at the Zanu PF headquarters in Harare. Sources said Chivamba ordered party members not to board buses that had been sent by Kasukuwere to collect would-be demonstrators.

Masvingo provincial chair Ezra Chadzamira was also suspended at the same time for defying Kasukuwere’s directive. Chivamba and Chadzamira are close allies of Mnangagwa, a leading contender to succeed president Robert Mugabe as party leader.

© Now Daily 2017. All Rights Reserved.

 

Grace Mugabe’s Presidential Bid Flops

• Mugabe and ‘Dr Amai’.

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First lady ‘Dr Amai’ Grace Mugabe’s bid to succeed her husband as president has come to a crashing end following the decision by Zanu PF’s 10 provinces to remove her right-hand man Saviour ‘Tyson’ Kasukuwere as party commissar, it emerged.

Kasukuwere, the leader of the G40 faction backing Grace Mugabe, is now fighting for political survival after ruling party members nationally voted to have him removed from his influential party and government posts.

War veterans accuse Grace Mugabe of violating a long-standing party code that the posts of political commissar and security be held by former fighters. She catapulted Kasukuwere into the powerful party commissar position, brushing aside objections from the veterans. Grace Mugabe said at the time that being a war veteran was not a guarantee of good leadership and helped her ‘friend’ to get the post.

The G40 faction is now in disarray, according to party sources. Kasukuwere’s fate now awaits a decision from president Robert Mugabe, who has previously protected him on behalf of his wife. Another G40 leading light Jonathan Moyo is also facing the sack for associating with Kasukuwere and publicly denouncing the command agriculture programme led by Grace Mugabe’s main rival for the presidency, vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Mugabe’s nephew Patrick Zhuwao, who was fighting in Grace Mugabe’s corner, has already been silenced amid corruption allegations. Zhuwao was found to have given a lucrative consulting contract to his alleged girlfriend and paid her tens of thousands of dollars.

(c) Now Daily 2017. All Rights Reserved.

Terror Reported as Mugabe Army Invades Gold War Zone

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• Gold war victim (top), Mugabe.

Scores of people have been injured while many others have fled their homes in Zvishavane and Mberengwa amid claims of beatings and torture by Zimbabwean army soldiers deployed to end deadly fighting by informal miners over gold mining rights, Now Daily has learnt.

Comment was not immediately available from the defence ministry and the reports could not independently be verified.

However, witnesses said the random army violence was continuing.

“The soldiers came to our village and just started beating up everyone in sight, especially the youths. They accused us of attacking police officers,” claimed one informal miner who fled Mazvihwa village at the weekend and said he was headed for South Africa.

Mines minister Walter Chidhakwa recently said the army was being brought in to restore order after the regular police failed to do it. An unknown number of people have been killed and thousands injured as illegal miners fight for control of gold mines in the Midlands and Matabeleland South. Some have invaded government mines like Sabi, disrupting production.

Deputy minister and MP for the violence-ridden Zvishavane-Runde constituency Fred Moyo told the recent regional Minex conference that a cabinet committee chaired by home affairs minister Ignatius Chombo was looking into the problem which he described as ‘serious’. He said the continued occupation of Sabi mine by ‘poachers’ threatened to drive away investors who reopened the mine recently.

Moyo said the informal miners had recently entered Sabi mine illegally and threw home-made bombs at guards who confronted them, injuring three.

Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe recently started moving units of the country’s dreaded military into southern provinces affected by horrific communal violence which has seen hundreds killed and thousands injured by gangs wielding machetes, guns and home-made bombs.

“The soldiers came to our village and just started beating up everyone in sight, especially the youths. They accused us of attacking police officers,” claimed one informal miner who fled Mazvihwa village at the weekend and said he was headed for South Africa to seek refuge until the soldiers withdrew.

• Zim soldiers on terror mission in Chiadzwa.

Two female cops were hospitalized, according to witnesses, after being attacked at Mutambi while trying to arrest associates of a gangster known as Aveng, the so-called ‘gweja president’ who moves with dozens of bodyguards. The ‘gweja president’ could not be located but his lieutenant, Richo, was later apprehended by the ‘red berets’, a crack unit of the Zimbabwean military police. However, other wanted thugs, including Come See, Bothy and Jah Jali escaped, according to the sources.

The gwejas launched revenge attacks in Zvishavane on Independence Day, beating up patrons in bars, conducting door-to-door attacks on houses of prostitutes and demanding free sex. Armed riot police only responded to the attacks the following day, after the gwejas had left.

At least 10 army trucks carrying dozens of soldiers in uniform and civilian clothing were seen rolling into the southern town of Zvishavane weeks ago, according to witnesses. Other witnesses said they saw groups of soldiers in army vehicles arrive at the disused former 5^th Brigade headquarters at Dadaya just outside Zvishavane.

The deployment came just days after illegal gold hunters known as gwejas threw petrol bombs, injuring three guards at the state’s Sabi Gold Mine. One of the gwejas was shot in the leg during the incident. Gunshots were later heard when police tried to stop random revenge attacks by other gwejas on patrons at a restaurant.

However, critics say the army involvement will just fuel tensions and not end inequities that are the root of the problem. Senior government officials have been fingered in illegal mining in the region. Experts also said the government should address issues of poverty triggered by mine closures and corruption among law enforcement officials.

Corruption within the Zimbabwe Republic Police’s minerals and border control unit is blamed for the failure by the authorities to stem the problem.

© Now Daily 2017. All Rights Reserved.

Makandiwa Abandons Chitungwiza after False ‘Prophecies’

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* Smile, you’re on TV: Makandiwa and wife.

Multi-millionaire self-proclaimed ‘prophet’ Emmanuel Makandiwa has dumped the impoverished Chitungwiza congregation that brought him fame and fortune and relocated to the leafy northern suburbs, it emerged.

Makandiwa’s move came after a string of patently false ‘prophecies’ which caused many to doubt his powers as a ‘prophet’ who claimed to hear directly from God.

The prominent televangelist has riled followers by relocating his Zimbabwe headquarters from a dusty Chitungwiza ghetto to the upmarket Mt Hampden property development where he has raked in millions selling residential stands to members of his United Family International Church. Mt Hampden, just north of Harare, is being developed by government into the new Zimbabwean capital. Makandiwa’s massive Chitungwiza church building remains an uncompleted shell years after work started on it.

Sources said Makandiwa now lived in South Africa and sometimes flew to Zimbabwe on Sunday mornings for services but this was denied by his spokesman Prime Kufa. The sources said Makandiwa’s decision to leave Chitungwiza where his church started was taken after his takings from church offerings dropped due to the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy and the introduction of discredited bearer bonds by the government to replace the US dollar. At the peak of his movement, Makandiwa reportedly raked in at least $250 000 per week in offerings after instructing his tens of thousands of followers to each give him $20 at every service.

Makandiwa, a former pastor at AFM Zimbabwe, started UFIC on a humble note in Chitungwiza, asking his poor followers to donate their cellphones and personal effects to get things going. He lost credibility after some Ghanaian pastors accused him of committing human sacrifice, allegedly killing several people in the hope of boosting his ‘spiritual powers’. A fetish priest in the West African country claimed to have performed the sacrificial rituals for Makandiwa and several other pastors in Zimbabwe and southern Africa. The Ghanaian pastors wanted to visit Zimbabwe to ‘prove’ their claims but were denied visas by the Zanu PF government, which is accused of protecting the discredited clergyman.

Makandiwa also lost followers after making several ‘prophetic’ claims which did not materialize. He promised to ‘walk on water’ at Kariba dam, like the Biblical Jesus on the Sea of Galilee but backed down on the appointed date. He later claimed that the Zimbabwean economy would flourish and that diamonds and gold would “rain” on the country but this did not happen. Instead, the country’s economy has been on a downward slide since investors fled Zimbabwe with billions of dollars in the wake of the disputed 2013 election which many say was rigged by president Robert Mugabe and his party.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe has warned people to be wary of false prophets who take advantage of the desperate by making false promises. Apparently, many are turning to religion for answers as economic problems deepen.

© Now Daily 2017. All Rights Reserved.

Chiyangwa Dumps ‘Best Friend’ Kasukuwere

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• Better days: Kasukuwere (left) with Chiyangwa before the fallout.

Zanu PF central committee member Phillip Chiyangwa has abandoned his former ‘best friend’ and business partner, the beleaguered party political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere who is fighting for political survival after eight of the party’s ten provinces demanded his removal, it emerged.

Chiyangwa put the nail in Kasukuwere’s coffin at a decisive meeting of the party’s Mashonaland West executive Wednesday where a vote of no confidence was passed on the party commissar. Chiyangwa declared that his former close buddy should leave his position.

“We thank the province for a quick job, remember we are going for elections next year and those who do not perform like Kasukuwere should give way to those who are capable,” Chiyangwa said.

Chiyangwa belongs to vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Lacoste faction of Zanu PF while Kasukuwere is with first lady Grace Mugabe’s G40.

Mashonaland East and West provinces passed votes of no confidence Wednesday against Kasukuwere, a close ally of president Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace Mugabe and leading member of her G40 faction. Kasukuwere has been accused of abusing his powerful party position to promote the secret campaign by Grace Mugabe to succeed her ailing 93 year-old husband as president.

Kasukuwere faces charges of corruption involving the sale of land earmarked for party youths and tampering with party structures in an attempt to remove Mugabe from office through unconstitutional means.

Mugabe has failed to douse the political fires raging against ‘Tyson’, Kasukuwere’s nickname. The president recently scolded party members for mounting public demonstrations denouncing ‘Tyson’ in Midlands, Mnangagwa’s home province and Mashonaland Central, from where Kasukuwere hails.

Grace Mugabe is facing an uphill task against Mnangagwa, who enjoys the support of the military, intelligence service and the state media. Mugabe’s attempts to back his wife have been met with revulsion.

© Now Daily 2017. All Rights Reserved.

Tsvangirai, Mujuru Seal Election Coalition Deal

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• Coalition partners: Tsvangirai and Mujuru at Wednesday’s signing ceremony.

By MORGAN TSVANGIRAI

(MDC-T President)

Today is a historic day in many ways.

It is the first day of the 38th year of our independence but with the majority of Zimbabweans with nothing to show for it except dire poverty, extreme suffering, hunger and disease.
Yesterday, we had a leader who skirted the critical issues affecting the people during the commemoration of our independence, an important day that has now been privatized by a political party.

It is against this background that we have chosen this day to give hope to the people of Zimbabwe that indeed that there is a bright light at the end of this very dark tunnel.
We have chosen this day to take the first step to bring all Zimbabweans under one roof so that we can work together to remove this unmitigated repression and misgovernance that pervades our lives.

I am pleased to inform the nation that today we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Dr. Joice Mujuru of the National people’s party to establish a pre-election alliance en route to the establishment of a coalition government which shall drive a comprehensive democratization and transformation agenda.

This is just the beginning of the building blocks towards establishing a broad alliance to confront Zanu PF between now and the next election in 2018. Similar arrangements will be entered into with other political formations and we will inform you as it happens, as we have done today.

While political parties have their role in nation-building, it must be understood that they are not the only stakeholders. We are in this together with other key stakeholders such as traditional leaders, the church, labour, vendors, war veterans, civic society, business and the generality of Zimbabweans.

This is our collective struggle and I call upon the people of Zimbabwe to join us in working together and in playing your part so that we can reclaim our country, our freedom and our dignity.

To the youth, the future belongs to you. Shape it and the first step in doing so is by registering to vote.

• Signing ceremony.

Even at the over-ripe old age of 93, President Mugabe knows that the country’s crisis is unsustainable. Every Zimbabwean from every station of life knows it too. So we should all stand together in unison and say enough is enough. As President Mugabe enters the sunset of his life, it is incumbent upon all of us to pick the pieces and rebuild our country together.
I hope the understanding we reached today, and which we will reach with many others, will culminate in a solid political co-operation agreement that should usher in a new governance culture in our country.

Today, marks the beginning of Zimbabweans coming together in building an inclusive society that prides itself in leaving no one behind.

The future can only be bright for this country that we all love.

I thank you.

(c) Now Daily 2017. All Rights Reserved.

Bungling CIO Assassin Dies

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• Hitman: Chivamba.

Kizito Chivamba, the bungling Central Intelligence Organisation hitman who failed to kill former opposition politician Patrick Kombayi in a widely publicized assassination attempt, has died.

Chivamba, a strong ally of vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, was recently appointed Zanu PF Midlands provincial vice chairman. Chivamba, the former Midlands chair, bounced back into the provincial structures after initially being sacked by party commissar and Mnangagwa rival Saviour Kasukuwere, who is now under pressure to leave his party and government positions.

Chivamba was assigned by former vice president Simon Muzenda to take out Kombayi, a hotelier and former Gweru mayor, during campaigning for parliamentary elections. His shot went wide and hit Kombayi in the genitals, causing him to spend months of treatment in a United Kingdom.

Midlands Zanu PF spokesperson Cornelius Mupereri said Chiamba (59), the MP for Chiwundura died at Gweru provincial Wednesday morning after a ‘short illness’. The nature of the illness was not disclosed.

© Now Daily 2017. All Rights Reserved.

Ronia Bunjira Death Shocks MDC-T

• Tsvangirai speaks at Bunjira funeral.

The Movement for Democratic Change has been thrown into mourning following the death of Harare MP Ronia Bunjira.

Bunjira, the party’s Harare province women’s assembly chairperson will be remembered for her active role in organizing a protest by vendors which shook the regime of Robert Mugabe in 2015.

(c) Now Daily 2017.