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That’s how it takes to be a non – partisan, patriotic, non – violent, peace making and loving police man.
Just a week after his solo protest, he wrote a letter of resignation. According to his reasons, he said : “I CANT BE USED TO PROTECT THE LOOTERS.”
“I CANT BE USED TO BEAT/BRUTALIZE MY FELLOW CITIZENS AND FRIENDS FOR STANDING FOR THEIR RIGHTS.”
“HOW CAN I GO AROUND TORTURING MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, I AM EVEN FAILING TO PAY EVEN MY RENT, THE SAME TO MY FELLOW ZIMBABWEANS WHO ARE STRUGGLING TO MAKE ENDS MEET. I RESIGN ,GOD WILL MAKE A WAY”
” I CANT BE USED TO SUPPORT WHAT IS EVIL ONCE AND FOR ALL.”

GOD BLESS ZIMBABWE. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter

Justice will never be served in Zimbabwe if the psychotic Zanu PF regime keep arresting those who seek to defend the defendants to previous spurious charges!!

Job Sikhala’s lawyer Mr Chibhamu was arrested at the at the court and taken to Harare Central, however he has since been released. The tyrant is holding salted sjambok to scare all our citizens to silence.

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Mnangagwa’s police abusing Beatrice Mtetwa, lawyer for journalist Hopewell Chin’ono in jail without bail for reporting corruption in Zimbabwe. They were denying her entry into the magistrates court.

26-07-2020.

HARARE—I have made a deliberate and sensible choice not to lower my expectations in life and be part of the “Stay Positive” brigade and that decision is non-negotiable.
That nonsense of being asked to stay positive when there is nothing to be positive about is what made this country the absolute Shit Hole it is today!

At a social level, this “Shinga Mwanangu” claptrap has seen our sisters live miserable marriages generation after generation, whilst being pummeled daily by bullying and horrible husbands.
This is NO different to what the Emmerson Mnangagwa regime is doing to us by refusing to fully implement Political Reforms that would set this country on a strong economic footing.
What is there to be positive about in this country and why should citizens be asked to suffer whilst smiling at the outcomes of their tormentor’s cruelty, a tormentor that does not seek to change his ways?
We have no clean running water, no electric power, no jobs, no money, no political will to Reform from Emmerson Mnangagwa, no fuel, we have CORRUPTION galore, no health care, nepotism and mismanagement of State institutions continues, looting of State and national resources also continues unabated, fraud by the political elites remains standard and yet you expect Hopewell Chin’ono and the country to be positive?
Positive about what exactly?
We have no bright future under this regime and it is deliberately killing that future for generations to come, should we be smiling to that tragic reality?
NO! I will not lower my standards and join the “Stay Positive” brigade in a hole by making life there comfortable instead of getting out and seeking a normal human existence.
My father taught me that if you are in a hole, don’t make life there comfortable, GET OUT.
The elites have been making life in our hole comfortable for themselves by buying generators, buying solar equipment installations, drilling boreholes, buying 4 X 4s, seeking medical treatment from South Africa and the list goes on.
What my father taught me is what I have chosen to do, I have chosen to be on the right side of history, I have chosen to be with the people, and that requires me to work on getting out of that hole!
I have made this choice at a time when I could have been with the tormentors making millions like what the Regime Associates do daily, but that is not how I was brought up!
I might not live to see a better Zimbabwe through natural or unnatural circumstances, but I am at peace with the decisions that I have made, and I am not afraid to die for holding those principles.
Many have asked me about that probability as a price for speaking out, I respectfully ask you not to ask me anymore.
I know the price for speaking against a gangster State, but more importantly, I also know the huge price for keeping quiet.
It is a soft genocide that we are seeing everyday as we bury our loved ones dying in hospitals without medication.
We shall all die, but it is what we leave behind that will count many centuries after we are gone, so I am at peace with any such eventuality were it to happen to me.
It has happened to many others, and it shall happen to many others too until our politics becomes civilized.
I am a product of my existence and as such, what I say and what I do with my life is a reflection of how I was brought up by my parents!
We live under an incompetent and corrupt government that hires private jets for Vice Presidents, a Government that dishes out cars to traditional Chiefs when hospitals have NO ambulances!
A government that has left the poor to die from easily treatable diseases and turned public hospitals into death traps, and yet some amongst us have the nerve to ask me to stay positive?!
We have been asked to stay positive since 1997 when this crisis began, what has that positivity yielded for our people 22 years later?
Some make these calls whilst sitting in their Range Rovers or call me from air-conditioned mansions in Harare asking me to be positive.
It shows the huge and shameful disconnect between the Haves and the Have-Nots of this country and it also shows that whilst making their millions, the elites of this country will continue being happy cohabiting with this regime’s broken moral compass!
I want to put it on the record, until this government starts doing the right things, it’s Regime Associates and Apologists should Stop asking me to be positive!
It is nonsense and it is insensitive to ask me to be positive when I am seeing compatriots die daily because of this government’s shortcomings!
I do not seek to be accommodated at the feeding trough like many amongst us, that is why I turned down the offer to sit on a parastatal board when it was made last year, what I am after is a better life for all.
A life that gives all hard working citizens of this country a fair chance to live a decent life.
They will never get it at the rate at which this government is destroying our country, they will never get these opportunities if elites continue to seek accommodation instead of CHANGE in return to keeping their business interests going!
The selfishness of the elites is only truly self evident when those opportunities are blocked for their own kids, that is only when they join the masses in protesting.
But why would they complain when they were getting forex at 1 to 1 and when they don’t spend hours in fuel queues like the ordinary citizen?

There is a name for that, SELFISHNESS!

I come from Murewa where one of the first black millionaire businessmen in Rhodesia, Mr Kanyasa of the Farai Uzumba bus service fame chose principle over money.
He died in a Rhodesian jail fighting the racist colonial regime’s oppression and racist corruption.
There were many black businessmen like him who made profit not for profit’s sake.
Those are my heroes, those are the people that I look up to because they understood that being rich on the back of regime favors in a pool of government induced poverty is the equivalent of losing your soul to the devil.
If they had taken the “stay positive” route, Rhodesia would have stayed in colonial and racist shackles forever or much longer than was necessary.
Mr Kanyasa from Uzumba and of the Wafawanaka totem had the largest fleet of buses in Rhodesia, a hard working millionaire businessman.
He also had supermarkets and land, but he chose to support the liberation struggle giving freedom fighters clothes, food and money and allowing his buses to ferry them where need be.
He paid the ultimate price for it, but today he remains an icon of our liberation struggle and to this very day those with a moral compass remember him in their thoughts.
I have no such wealth like Mr Kanyasa, so why should I reduce and recede my integrity by tacitly supporting a broken regime when a man who could have thought of saving his millions chose to do the right thing?
I have questioned myself why black millionaires of today and political elites become so insensitive to the suffering of our people to the point of losing their moral compass and expecting someone who is going to bed on an empty stomach to be sensitive!
Positive about what?
“Being positive” doesn’t fix political and economic problems, it doesn’t fix crippling power shortages, drug shortages, cash shortages, fuel shortages or water shortages.
If it did we would have been living in a better country where the citizen was happy!
It shows that we have NO decent community and business leadership when people in privileged positions in our society ask us to be positive in the midst of an uncaring Regime.
It shows that we have NO leadership when the privileged define silence against a corrupt regime as patriotism!
This government has induced a chaotic existence in pursuit of easy pickings from things like fuel cartels and forex trading at the central bank, the RBZ!
This “stay positive” brigade is shameless because they speak from their own position of privilege and they are unconcerned by why we are not positive as long as their lives remain on track and their interests are protected?
The regime is aware of this weakness so it seeks to co-opt them and pretends to sort out their economic concerns through tinkering with the economy whilst the looting continues, and the regime also gives them futile seats on the table to feel special.
When truth, justice and common sense become secondary elements to one’s existence, when decency, empathy and compassion become tradable commodities, then the “stay positive” brigade becomes NO different to our persecutors!
It is aiding and abetting the suffering of our people in pursuit of business favors from this regime.
This regime should simply implement Political Reforms and stop asking for “positivity” from citizens groaning under a political crisis that manifests itself through economics, when it is giving us nothing in return!
If you so wish to be positive about this gross incompetence, corruption, nepotism and mismanagement, please do so on your own, but don’t attempt to guilty trip us into supporting the very people who have made our lives unbearable!
Stop asking me to be positive, Ask Mnangagwa to implement Political Reforms!

source HOPEWELL CHIN’ONO is an award winning Zimbabwean international Journalist and Documentary Filmmaker.*

Human Rights lawyer faces arrest, forced not to represent incarcerated journalist.

HARARE, Zimbabwe.(News of the South)-Political commentator Pedzisai Tyrants has Tweeted that magistrate Nduna has ordered Prosector General to prosecute Hopewell’s lawyer after removing her from representing Hopewell.

He added that this kind of ruling is unprecedented. Never did Zimbabwe witnessed this kind of stuff under Mugabe. God save, serve Zimbabwe

Magistrate Ngoni Nduna rules that lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa stands down from representing journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and directs that the Law Society of Zimbabwe should cancel her licence for “scandalising the court”.

This development comes after the state accused Mtetwa of running a Facebook account which they believe improperly criticised the judiciary.

After a long day of queuing at the passport office and waiting to be served, a woman confronts the passport office officals. Her queuing number was 89 but the officials only served to number 25. The woman is heard asking questions in the video. The Officials knew they would be serving up to number 25 but why would give out more numbers and let people wait for long knowing they they are only serving 25 people.

People come from different places and sacrifice a lot to get hold of the passports and ID’s. Being turned away after a long wait from 2am is painful. This corruption and human rights abuse is killing our country .

“This was the last straw for me. There was no way I could allow this on my watch. It took more than 1:45 minutes to get this whole thing resolved. And you hear someone saying there are no human right violations in Zimbabwe.The old, blind and mothers with babies on thier back queuing from midnight. #Zanupfmustgo #ZimbabweLivesMatter * Passport office in Harare ” she posted

A Harare Magistrate’s Court on Friday 14 August remanded in custody journalist Hopewell Chin’ono after magistrate Ngoni Nduna postponed the ruling on an application by State prosecutor Whisper Mabhaudhi to bar Chin’ono’s defence lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa for contempt.

Chin’ono will remain behind bars at the Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison until 18 August to allow Nduna “time to research on the internet”. 

One of the lawyers representing Chin’ono, Roselyn Hanzi from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), told Daily Maverick: 

“The magistrate has said he needs time to write his judgment and deliver on Tuesday the 18th of August. Chin’ono’s bail application is not going to proceed until we have a ruling so that we know the position of our lead counsel on the matter.” 

Mtetwa is accused of contempt due to comments posted on a Facebook page associated with her. The State prosecutor said that Mtetwa must have taken corrective action against people running the “Beatrice Mtetwa and The Rule of Law” Facebook page, when she realised that they were denigrating the courts. 

He further alleged that Mtetwa’s conduct was “unethical and unprofessional” by failing to act on information produced under her name that denigrated the courts. 

Mtetwa, however, submitted that the application to remove her from Chin’ono’s case is sui generis, meaning it has no legal basis, because the prosecutor relied on “obiter” remarks made by a High Court judge. 

On justifying the need to further remand Chin’ono to 18 August, Nduna said he did not have “wi-fi at home for the purposes of doing further research” before handing down his ruling on the State’s application to bar Mtetwa from representing Chin’ono. 

Hanzi told Daily Maverick that, “As human rights lawyers, we feel the courts should be provided with adequate resources for them to be able to carry out their work. In this age, judicial officers should be capacitated with basic essentials, like the internet.” 

According to the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS), Chin’ono was on Friday erroneously taken to the High Court of Zimbabwe instead of the Harare Magistrate’s Court. This delayed his arrival at court by about three hours and resulted in a narrow window for the magistrate to give a ruling on the prosecution application for Mtetwa to stand down. 

Because of Covid-19 lockdown regulations, all businesses, including the courts, are obliged to close at 3pm in order to allow for movement before the 6pm curfew. 

Court grants Chin’ono and Ngarivhume access to food 

In another ruling on an urgent chamber application by ZLHR challenging conditions of detention at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, the High Court of Zimbabwe gave a ruling in favour of Chin’ono and activist Jacob Ngarivhume, saying the two should be “allowed visits by their lawyers and doctors, and to confer with both in private”. 

Since their arrest on July 20, ZPCS authorities have denied the two men unsupervised visits, and the High Court judge granted the application filed by ZLHR challenging the suspension of their section 50 rights as stipulated by Zimbabwe’s Constitution. 

ZPCS was ordered to comply with the Constitution which lays out the rights of everyone who is detained. The state of prisons in Zimbabwe has been an issue of public scrutiny due to deteriorating hygiene standards.

In April, President Emmerson Mnangagwa used his presidential privilege to give more than 1,200 prisoners an amnesty in order to decongest the prisons. Chin’ono and Ngarivhume are now allowed to communicate with lawyers in private, doctors of their choice, and can receive PPE, food and clothes, subject to reasonable restrictions. 

Increasing number of prosecutions for dissent 

On the same day, Friday 14 August, that Chin’ono appeared at the Rottenrow Magistrate’s Court, many other activists appeared in different courts on charges related to dissent. 

The main opposition MDC-Alliance leadership, including its two vice-presidents, Tendai Biti and Lynette Karenyi-Kore, and five senior party members, Gladys Hlatywayo, David Chimhini, Womberaiishe Nhende, Vongai Tome and Lovemore Chinoputsa, all appeared in court and were remanded to 28 August. 

The group are facing charges of contravening Covid-19 regulations after they were arrested while singing at their party headquarters in the capital on 4 June. The party’s councillor in Masvingo, Godfrey Kurauone, has been in remand prison since July after he was arrested for singing an anti-Mnangagwa song. 

The week also saw several activists brought before the courts, including a 22-year-old National University of Science and Technology student, Rujeko Heather Mpambwa, charged with insulting Mnangagwa. Mpambwa posted a message on a WhatsApp group criticising the president for “lacking patriotism”. Another youth activist, Namatai Kwekweza, was arrested for raising awareness for people to resist a constitutional amendment. The week closed with the release from remand of seven pro-democracy campaigners who were arrested and charged with “subverting constitutional government”, in May 2019. Had they been convicted, they could have been imprisoned for up to 20 years.

Monday 17 August begins with the bail hearing for Ngarivhume while Chin’ono’s bail hearings will only start after ascertaining whether his lead counsel, Mtetwa, can represent him. 

Should Mtetwa be barred from representing Chin’ono, a major scar will mark the integrity of Zimbabwe’s judicial system – denying accused persons the right to a lawyer. 

The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Ndavaningi Mangwana, said it is natural that there are excesses by security forces when enforcing lockdown measures across the country.

This follows numerous reports of people, including journalists, who have been brutality assaulted by soldiers and police under the guise of enforcing lockdown regulations.

Speaking during an interview after touring radio stations in Gweru – ZBC’s 95.4 FM and AB Communications’ 98.4FM – Mangwana argued that even United States of America forces have been accused of using excessive force during the Iraq and Afghan wars. He said: We have laws that are supposed to be implemented. President Mnangagwa recently said there is a complainants mechanism to be publicised for people to report abuse by law enforcers.

He also said lockdown measures should be implemented in a humane way so that’s the way we want it to be. But in all situations, there are always excesses. That’s natural.

American soldiers in Baghdad, Iraq, Afghanistan, were reported to have used excessive force and this happens in any situation where people are involved.

A Beitbridge man had his calf nearly ripped off by a police dog while the officers were chasing after illegal money changers in the town last week.

In another incident, a Mabvuku man, David Mutendera, was left with facial injuries after he was reportedly assaulted by soldiers on 5 August after arriving home around 7 pm in violation of the dusk-to-dawn COVID-19 curfew.

The Zimbabwean Constitution prohibits enforced torture, inhuman or degrading treatment as punishment. We call upon Zimbabwean authorities to respect these fundamental rights and full adherence to Zimbabwe’s international human rights obligations. Its so sad the government continue to deny all these abuses. Corruption, nepotism and extreme porvety remains order of the day.

The government keeps terrorising its own people