HARARE – President Robert Mugabe’s government has escalated its clampdown on human rights defenders, with police arresting more of the activists in 2016, compared to the previous year, a latest Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) report has revealed. In its recently released 2016 annual study, the rights lawyers said they represented over a thousand…
HARARE – Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has rallied suffering workers to go and register for next year’s elections — telling them it’s the only route to restore their dignity and values eroded by the current economic crisis. Tsvangirai, a former labour union leader during the 1990s, lamented the closures of factories and thousands of job…
HARARE – Harare businessman Beadle Gwasira has donated sewing machines, as part of his $30 000 revolving fund, to a club of 30 groups of women in his Zanu PF ward seven in Mount Pleasant and where he is also a councilor. With over 200 people attending the handover ceremony in the capital on Friday,…
HARARE – Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa’s planned move to pay $1,1 billion towards settling Zimbabwe’s World Bank dues is “criminally irresponsible and treasonous”, former Finance minister Tendai Biti has said. He said the intended payment will be made on the back of a moribund economy characterised by massive deindustrialisation, absent aggregate demand, chokingly high government…
HARARE – A lawyer representing jailed rapist Robert Martin Gumbura’s wives in an alleged pornography possession case has slammed the State for infringing on her clients’ rights by keeping them on remand for more than three years. The women — including the cleric’s congregants — Choice Neganye, 32, Amadeus Mutakwa, 32, Rutendo Sekai Mandiya, 28,…
HARARE – A fresh row has erupted over the contentious matter of biometric voter registration (BVR) kits — with opposition parties now planning protests to force the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) to guarantee the security of data gathered during voter registration exercises. This comes as Zec has just completed the testing of BVR kits, which…
HARARE – Police have warned both businesses and members of the public to be wary of gangs of armed robbers who have mounted a spate of heists, particularly in and around Harare — in a new crime wave that is targeting companies and homesteads. The warning comes as the dangerous robbers have also used detonators…
HARARE – Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere’s suspension of Chitungwiza councillors is unconstitutional, the Chitungwiza Residents Trust (Chitrest) has said. Last week, Kasukuwere suspended the town’s 25 councillors, including the Mayor Phillip Mutoti, over corruption allegations. The councillors, accused of allegedly contravening Section 114 of the Urban Councils Act, are also charged of gross incompetence,…
HARARE – Our staff writer Blessings Mashaya speaks to the opposition MDC shadow Finance minister Tapiwa Mashakada. Below are excerpts of the interview. Q: Do you think Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has done enough to solve the country’s economic problems and the current cash shortages? A: Since 2013 the economy has plunged into a prolonged…
HARARE – Masvingo Provincial Affairs minister Shuvai Mahofa has said only Zanu PF supporters will be favoured in contract awarding for the construction of the Harare-Beitbridge highway. The call for domestic party preference in the public procurement process for the project was tabled during a recent Zanu PF Masvingo provincial coordinating committee (PCC) meeting held…
