According to various sources including the World Health Organisation and the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC), the top 10 causes of death in Zimbabwe include HIV/AIDS, respiratory, heart, neonatal and diarrheal diseases (Typhoid and Cholera – as caused by broken Sewage system in Harare), and road accidents. A majority of these conditions, if not all, can be avoided if the government improved the health system and infrastructure.

But we know, the reason why they don’t do this is because of a lack of foreign currency required to get these things done, and the reason for that is theft! The sort of theft shown in that RBZ list. State sanctioned theft of the highest order involving the President, cabinet, ministers, judges and Zanu associates who include church leaders of all people.  

Millions of Zimbabweans have died because of poor health services in the country. The money which was stolen by these people should have been used to improve our health system which would have prevented many many deaths. The money could have been used to buy medicines and medical equipment. But instead, many Zimbabweans are faced with paying hundreds or even thousands of US dollars to get specialist treatment for cancer and other long-term conditions. Many cannot afford this; your mother, father, relatives are left to rely on Panadol. With no ambulances in the rural areas, people who are ill are often ferried by wheelbarrows to clinics which are probably shut because the money to keep them running was stolen. The result is death by theft! 

Zimbabwean roads are worse now than they were before Cecil Rhodes was a lad. Many people die each year from road accidents which occur as a result of the pathetic state of our roads, some of them with pot-holes that look like small riverbeds. The millions of US dollars stolen by these people could have been used to build better roads which would have saved lives. Death by theft! 

The US dollars which were looted could have been used to repair the terrible water and sewage systems in the towns and cities which led to thousands of people dying from Cholera. Till this day, there are people including children drinking water from filthy rivers who the lose their lives to Cholera. Death by theft.  In conclusion, to the young people of Zimbabwe, these looters have stolen our future.

The reason why we keep seeing doors of opportunity being closed in front of us is because of this gang of thieves. The reason why your business idea didn’t go anywhere was because of people like the thieves on that RBZ scheme. The reason why you couldn’t get that loan to start your own agro business is because the US dollars were in the pockets of that politician or judge or church leader.

The reason why your mother, father, uncle, aunt, and other relatives passed away prematurely is because of this sort of theft. To the rest of Zimbabweans, this level of corruption is a direct threat to your life too. Some may think they are ok and will not be affected by this because they are doing well themselves. Well, the bad roads don’t care about the US dollars in your bank account or suitcase mdala. That shaky bridge will not give you an easy pass because you are in an M-Class Mercedes. We are all under threat.  

There is no other way of stopping this theft other than sending all these people to jail en-masse. They cannot be allowed to walk freely in Zimbabwe because they will cause more Deaths by Theft. These people are a national security threat. Zimbabweans who are fed up with this state-of-affairs should unite and get rid of these people by any means necessary. 

Three badly injured and traumatised women found on roadside 60 miles from Harare

Zimbabwean opposition activists and a member of parliament have described torture, humiliation and repeated sexual assaults after being abducted by suspected state security services.

The three women, all leaders of the Movement for Democratic Change’s youth movement, were arrested at a roadblock guarded by police and soldiers on Wednesday at a protest in Harare against the state’s failure to provide for the poor during the country’s Covid-19 lockdown.

They then disappeared until they were found on a roadside on Friday morning 60 miles away from the capital by a local man, badly injured and traumatised.

Witnesses said masked assailants bundled the three women into an unmarked Toyota minivan and drove them away.

One of the women, Cecilia Chimbiri, 33, told the Guardian they were taken to a remote, wooded area where they were beaten, stripped naked, sexually assaulted with firearms, and forced to drink each other’s urine.

“They beat me on my back, all over the body using sticks. They used a gun to beat us, then molested me, “ Chimbiri said.

“They pushed [us] out of the truck on to the road. They left us there. They said ‘we will be watching you … What is so special about you that you want to turn against the government?”

Another of the women, Joana Mamombe, one of the youngest Zimbabwean members of parliament, described how they were forced to march and sing protest songs.

“They were pouring water on us. They beat us if we stopped. They made us drink each other’s urine. They were fondling Cecilia,” Mamombe, 36, told reporters at a private Harare hospital where she is receiving treatment.

Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the MDC, called for international intervention.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took power in Zimbabwe as president after the fall of Robert Mugabe in 2017, was last year accused by Amnesty International of a “ruthless” and systematic crackdown on human rights.

Chimbiri’s father, Henry Chimbiri, told reporters that “state agents” had been responsible for the abduction of his daughter.

“They are not human. They are killers. The girls are in bad shape. They are in pain. One can’t talk. She is just crying The police is no longer our police,” he said.

Zimbabwean police said they were investigating the suspected abduction case and suggested that imposters were responsible for the attack.

“Police are concerned with the abuse of social media platforms by some members of the public. Some are even using cellphone lines registered in fictitious names to abuse state officials, among other criminal acts. Members of the public are warned against the practice and offenders will certainly be brought to book,” said a police spokesman.

Authorities in Zimbabwe have previously suggested that abductions of trade unionists, lawyers and opposition activists have been staged to discredit the government.

Nick Mangwana, the government’s information secretary, called on the three women “to work with the law enforcement agents in order to bring the truth to light.”

“The three women were part of a group of MDC youths that defied the lockdown laws in the country and took part in an illegal demonstration,” Mangwana said in a statement, adding that police started looking for them after they failed to show up for questioning.

Dozens of pro-democracy campaigners, trade unionists and opposition officials have been abducted by suspected state security services in recent years.

Most have been released after several hours, though many have been badly beaten, stripped, threatened or otherwise mistreated.

Last year government ministers and senior officials suggested the apparent abduction of a doctor and labour activist had been carried out by a “third force” to destabilise the country.

Allegations that unidentified third parties were undermining authorities were a staple under Mugabe, who ruled for 37 years and died last year in a clinic in Singapore.

The European Union on Friday said it was “deeply concerned” about the “torture and humiliation” reported by the MDC members and urged authorities to investigate their “enforced disappearance”

Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights condemned the abduction.

“ZLHR strongly condemns such wanton disregard of human rights and the constitution. Enforced disappearances, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment can never be justified. All perpetrators must be held accountable,” the human rights watchdog said in a statement.

Public discontent has grown in Zimbabwe with Mnangagwa, who has struggled to fulfil promises of economic prosperity and greater political freedom. The health system has largely collapsed amid the worst economic crisis in more than a decade.

Chamisa continues to dispute his narrow loss to Mnangagwa in the elections in 2018 but has struggled to mobilise mass support for the MDC.

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NO TO OPPRESSION OF SPEECH #Zimbabwe#Freehopewell

The arrest of investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and 31 July protests organiser Jacob Ngarivhume by police on Monday is a ploy by the government to divert attention from the Farm Mechanisation Scheme scandal, a political commentator has said.

University of Kent law professor Alex Magaisa said the Zimbabwean government wants to silence voices of dissent as it has become apparent that social media has neutralised and outdone old propaganda media such as ZBC radio stations and the sole TV channel. Magaisa wrote on Twitter:

Yesterday I said the regime would throw up a trick to divert attention from the looting under the Farm Mechanisation Scheme. The arrest of Hopewell Chin’ono and Jacob Ngarivhume is supposed to do that. The regime wants to take back control of the narrative. But #PayBackOurMoney.

One way to deflect attention from the Farm Mechanisation scam is to do something so outrageous that it dwarfs the attention on looting, like the arrests. But still, Zimbabweans refuse to be hoodwinked. They want beneficiaries to #PayBackOurMoney Simple!

The regime wants to silence voices of dissent. This is not just about Hopewell or Jacob. This is about every citizen who wants to exercise their freedom of expression, assembly or to demonstrate. It’s about silencing social media, which has neutralised and outdone old propaganda.

As we demand #FreeHopewell & #FreeJacob let us remember that the regime is also testing people’s resolve. If people sit back and watch, their leaders will be picked one by one, like lambs to the slaughter. Authoritarian regimes are only as strong as the people’s acquiescence.

On Saturday, Magaisa literally threw the cat among the pigeons when he exposed how ruling party elites looted US$200 million in the form of farming equipment, with the cost later saddled on the shoulders of taxpayers.

Following Magaisa’s comment, former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Gideon Gono issued a long incoherent article trying to justify the looting.

Another beneficiary of the controversial Farm Mechanisation Scheme, Temba Mliswa, has since pledged to use part of the proceeds to build a rural church building for the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe.

A Zimbabwean journalist who recently exposed alleged government corruption involving coronavirus supplies has been charged with inciting public violence.

Hopewell Chin’ono live-streamed his arrest before being told to put his phone down.

An opposition politician, Jacob Ngarivhume, has also been arrested in Harare on the same charges.

In a statement, Zimbabwe’s police appeared to confirm that the two arrests were connected.

The US embassy called Mr Chin’ono’s arrest deeply concerning, while his lawyer called it an abduction.

“We’re not sure where he has been taken. His helper says they did not produce any warrant when they came to his house,” human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said in a video statement.

Motioning to a smashed patio door at Mr Chin’ono’s home, Ms Mtetwa said eight or so security agents were involved in the raid.

Campaign group Amnesty accused Zimbabwean authorities of “misusing the criminal justice system to persecute journalists and activists” and said “the arrests of Hopewell Chin’ono and Jacob Ngarivhume are designed to intimidate”.

This video streamed on Facebook appears to show the moment the investigative journalist was confronted inside his home: https://www.facebook.com/566679596/videos/10158280608969597/

What did Mr Chin’ono report about?

Mr Chin’ono’s reporting on alleged Covid-19 procurement fraud within the health ministry led to the arrest and sacking of Health Minister Obadiah Moyo.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa fired Mr Moyo earlier this month for “inappropriate conduct” over the $60m (£47.5m) medicines supply scandal.

Zimbabwe’s opposition MDC party said the state was persecuting a journalist for exposing government corruption.

A government official later responded by tweeting that journalists were not above the law.

Who was the arrested politician?

Jacob Ngarivhume leads a tiny opposition party called Transform Zimbabwe.

But he appeared to be organising plans for an anti-government protest on 31 July.

Like Hopewell Chin’ono, the opposition politician was detained in the capital, Harare, on Monday in what critics said was a concerted move to stifle criticism of the government.

What’s happening in Zimbabwe?

BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding says the incident comes at a time of rising tensions in Zimbabwe, with hyperinflation strangling the economy, and talk of a new round of mass protests against Zanu-PF, the party that has run the country since independence.

Zimbabwe’s government promised reforms and economic growth after former President Robert Mugabe was ousted from power three years ago.

But critics say it has reverted to its old habits of repression and corruption.

Pay more attention to who is more upset about the rioting, than the murder.

HEADLINEMAY 13, 2020

In Kentucky, the family of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old aspiring nurse who was shot to death by police inside her own apartment, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Louisville Metro Police Department. The lawsuit details how police shot Taylor at least eight times after they burst into her apartment, unannounced, with a search warrant. The man police were looking for did not live in Taylor’s apartment and was reportedly already detained by police when officers arrived at Taylor’s residence on the night of March 13. At the time of her killing, Taylor had been working as an emergency medical technician treating COVID-19 patients.

MAY 20, 2020

An employee at the Zimbabwe Electrical Supply Authority (ZESA), Clement Mateta, is reportedly traumatised after Tarirai Mnangagwa, the son of President Emmerson Mnangagwa threatened to shoot him over the weekend.

Mateta who was in the company of former Sunday Mail photographer Edmore Muzerengi had gone to Mnangagwa’s farm in Norton to record meter readings the incident took place.

Muzerengi told NewsDay that upon arrival at the farm, Mnangagwa who was entering the premises stopped Mateta from accessing the meter box saying they were not supposed to enter the premises since it was a State House and protected place.null

He ordered them to sit crosslegged, entered the house and came out wielding a pistol, fired shots in the air and used the pistol to remove Mateta’s face mask. Narrated Muzerengi:

We identified ourselves and produced letters from Zesa, but he still threatened to kill us. He said he could kill and bury us behind his house and nobody would know what happened to us.

Muzerengi added that Mnangagwa then asked a woman who was behind him to collect the meter box keys and opened it, took pictures of their identification particulars and the letter from Zesa and released them.null

Both Mashonaland West police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ian Kohwera and national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said they were yet to receive the report.

AN eight-year-old Mudzi boy in Mashonaland East died recently after collapsing in fear when some army officers providing security to First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa allegedly intimidated him last month, the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) has confirmed.

The claim is contained in ZPP’s monthly monitoring report. ZPP said the unnamed boy died on admission at Kotwa Hospital also in Mudzi.

The human rights organisation said cases of human rights perpetrated by State security agents and municipal police across the country had increased since the start of the lockdown to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country at the end of March.

“One of the cases is a very unfortunate incident where an eight-year boy panicked and collapsed after he and his friends were reportedly intimidated by some army officers who were providing security during the First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa’s visit in Mudzi North in Mashonaland East province,” ZPP said in the report released Wednesday

Mnangagwa is known for travelling across the country through her Angel of Hope Foundation donating aid to vulnerable communities.

Meanwhile, the ZPP has said while State security agents have a mandate of maintaining order during lockdown, police, army and local councils officers had turned out to be the major source of human rights violations.

“Despite being deployed without proper protective clothing, the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the municipal police, and the army, unfortunately, proved once again, the need for security sector reforms, as they contributed to a combined 96.64% of all perpetrators during the month of April,” ZPP said.

“Of the total number of violations recorded, harassment and intimidation topped the list with 130 incidents while 86 cases of assault were recorded.

“Harare recorded the highest number of violations at 104, followed by Midlands, which had 52 cases. Manicaland, Mashonaland East and Masvingo provinces each recorded 25% of food and other aid violations. Harare, Matabeleland North and Midlands all share 8.33%.”

The ZPP said at the start of the lockdown, citizens were required to adhere to strict social distancing, but the situation was impossible due to the unavailability of safe, potable, running water in most urban areas.

“Therefore, images of mostly women queuing for water at public water points dominated both the first and the second phases of the lockdown.

“During the second phase of the lockdown, after the President (Emmerson Mnangagwa) announced two more weeks of restricted movement, local authorities, acting on a directive from government, began a process of demolishing informal sector work spaces, without adequate warning to those who operate in those spaces.

“The move further added misery to the already struggling informal sector operators, who had endured a good three weeks without operating, despite the nature of their work offering them hand to mouth income.”

There are politicians who can print cars, t shirt, zambia, umbrellas, suits, hats, scarfs, doeks for everyone as they gear up for elections but can’t provide face masks for the same people during such a pandemic.

Alcohol they can provide during rallies but alcohol based sanitizer they can’t during such times.

Remember them in your prayers also,
So that they may wake up from their slumber. (Pray for those who elect them into office also)