CHIREDZI – Chiredzi West Member of Parliament (MP), Darlington Chiwa is on a collision course with the Commercial Sugarcane Farmers Association of Zimbabwe (CSFAZ) chairperson Addmore Hwarare with both parties throwing damaging accusations at one another ranging from embezzlement of funds to refusing to support First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa.
Hwarare and Chiwa, who have been long time buddies, have stepped on each other’s toes after the latter, as claimed by the former, allegedly resigned from his executive position in the CSFAZ protesting against the donation of sugar to the First Lady.
Chiwa, in response, wrote a letter referenced ‘Protest against First Lady by resignation’ to Zanu PF Masvingo provincial chairperson Ezra Chadzamira exonerating himself from Hwarare’s claims.
Chiwa blamed Hwarare for embezzling CSFAZ funds soon after he stepped in office in November last year.
“It became clear in that meeting that the current chairman of the association cannot account $160 000 (farmers levies) that was in the associations account when he took over. Procedurally the executive demanded a finances report which the chairman could not produce,” reads the letter.
Chiwa also refuted that he resigned in protest against CSFAZ’s donation to Auxilia and argued that if he was against donating to her; he would have withdrawn his subscription from CSFAZ.
“The allegation that I chose to resign as a protest to a donation of sugar to the First Lady are false. Resigning from the executive is not resigning from the association. If I wanted to bar the First Lady from receiving that donation I could have withdrawn my subscriptions,” reads the letter.
Hwarare who was involved in an accident could not be reached for a comment as his mobile was not reachable.local

MASVINGO – The cat and mouse relationship that existed between journalists and members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) will be a thing of the past as the law enforcement agency has called for cordial relations between the two parties for the promotion of peace ahead of the forthcoming elections.
Speaking at an Election Safety and Security workshop facilitated by MISA-Zimbabwe Flamboyant Hotel last weekend, national assistant police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Paul Nyathi called on the media and the police to work together to ensure that a peaceful environment prevails during the coverage of elections.
Over the years, the police and the media have enjoyed a sour relationship with the former accusing the latter of beating them up in discharge of their duties.
“The relationship between the police and the media is like that of fish and water, we cannot do without each other. We need to work together in the execution of our duties. The police and the media are key stakeholders in as far as the provision of information during the election period is concerned.
“Let us work together to promote peace during the election period,” said Chief Supt Nyathi.
He said the cases of harassment are a thing of the past as the police will work to ensure that journalists are given their space and protection in discharge of their duties.
“As the police, I want to assure you that the field will be friendly for journalists. We have urged all our officers to respect you when doing your job. We will provide you with all the information you need from the provincial offices to national,” said Chief Supt Nyathi.
Of late, journalists have been caught in the cross fire with the police especially when covering protests, something which the police say will be resolved amicably.
“Journalists covering demonstrations or public disorder situations can contact our ground commanders at respective places of occurrencesso that they will know who is who. Journalists also need police protection during covering protests or any other disturbances hence we should work together,” said Chief Supt Nyathi.local

TellZim Reporter

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) has called upon the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to speedily appoint a substantive chief elections officer in line with Section 9 of the Electoral Act.
In a statement released on March 20, ZESN says such an appointment was necessary to ensure that there was ample time for the successful candidate to adjust to the new position and oversee the management of key electoral processes before the next elections which are expected to be held within the next five months.
The call was necessitated by the departure of Constance Chigwamba who left after falling out of favour with the electoral management body.
“According to the Electoral Act Section 9 (b) and (c), some of the key functions of a Chief Elections Officer are to supervise and control the activities of other employees of the Commission in the course of their employment and to be the accounting officer of the Commission in terms of the Public Finance Management Act [Chapter 22:19] (No. 11 of 2009).
“The CEO position is a crucial office in the administration and management of electoral processes in Zimbabwe hence the need to ensure that a suitably qualified candidate who possesses the right skills, experience and knowledge is expeditiously appointed in order to keep good electoral administration principles which will enable ZEC to implement its mandate of delivering free, fair and credible elections in Zimbabwe.
“ZESN reiterates its calls for an independent ZEC that safeguards principles of good electoral management such as transparency, integrity, professionalism, competence and fairness,” reads the statement.
After the departure of Chigwamba, ZEC appointed Utoile Silaigwana, a retired army officer, to the position of acting chief elections officer but many stakeholders responded negatively due to Silaigwana’s alleged association with rigged elections in the past.local

GWERU – Former Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti last Sunday showed up at the MDC Alliance rally in Mkoba where he denounced the ruling Zanu PF party and pledged to support the coalition.
When Bhasikiti was given a chance to speak, he took the opportunity to endorse Nelson Chamisa’s candidature for the presidency.
Bhasikiti told the fully-packed Mkoba Stadium that voting Zanu PF in the upcoming elections would be tantamount to endorsing ‘the junta’.
“I am here to tell you what I noticed about this so-called ‘new dispensation. It is not a government for the people by the people but a government of those who facilitated the soft coup.
“I have been in Zanu PF, have tried rejoining them but really, I will tell you from experience that if you vote Zanu PF in the next election, you will be voting in a junta which you will find hard to remove,” Bhasikiti said to loud applause.
TellZim News later approached Bhasikiti to seek clarification on his recent attempts to be readmitted into the ruling party.
“It is true, I have tried going back to what I called my home only to realise it was not warm. Those accommodated there are only those from the Lacoste faction. I then wondered if Lacoste alone could develop the nation.
“That is the problem we are facing now; Lacoste trying to run it all by themselves. That can’t be,” Bhasikiti said.
After being expelled from Zanu PF for links to the Gamatox faction of former vice president Joice Mujuru in 2014, Bhasikiti became a founding member of Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF).
Factional fights in the party saw him going it alone and running as an independent in the 2017 Mwenezi East parliamentary by-election.
He however withdrew from the race citing an uneven playing field and intimidation of his supporters by Zanu PF.
After the ouster of Robert Mugabe as president, Bhasikiti showed up at a Zanu PF Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) meeting in Masvingo where he knelt before Josaya Hungwe to beg for readmission into the party.
“Now that Zanu PF has redeemed itself, we have decided to come back because we have always been Zanu PF. I told Didymus Mutasa and Rugare Gumbo that we should dissolve the party and go back to our roots and I assure you that they are all coming back to their home,” Bhasikiti said then.local

War veterans who gathered for their provincial meeting at Masvingo Poly last Saturday questioned their representative in the politburo Victor Matemadanda’s sanity after he reconvened the meeting in order to speak in front of ZBC cameras.
The ZBC news crew arrived after the meeting was over. Upon realising that the ZBC news crew had arrived, Matemadanda called the house to order once again and started the deliberations for the second time just to accommodate the ZBC cameras.
War veterans who came from far away districts such as Mwenezi did not take Matemadanda’s move lightly.
“This is madness, how can he do this when he knows that we have a long journey going back home. Some of us are going to use Masvingo-Beitbridge highway which is very dangerous after this meeting,” war veterans could be heard saying as Matemadanda addressed them for the second time.
He literally repeated what he had said before the ZBC TV news crew had arrived.
Some said Matemadanda could have just summarised what happened in the meeting as a side interview to ZBC rather than re-starting the whole process just for the love of appearing on TV.local