January 2017

HARARE – Tertiary students have requested a meeting with Higher Education minister, Jonathan Moyo, and a parliamentary panel to discuss the re-introduction of students’ grants. University of Zimbabwe (UZ) Students’ Representative Council (SRC) has since written to Parliament and Moyo’s office over the engagement, which they said would also help clarify government’s position on tertiary…

BULAWAYO – Only 20 percent of Zimbabwe’s 13 million-plus population has a copy of the new Constitution, a research group has said. The group — Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) — conducted a survey in 2016 to establish Zimbabweans’ access to the crucial document. MIHR general-secretary, Benedict Sibasa, said there was need to prioritise…

HARARE – Former vice president and now Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) leader, Joice Mujuru — who is still smarting from her party’s crushing defeat at the hands of Zanu PF in Saturday’s Bikita West by-election — says she still has enough fuel in the tank to topple President Robert Mugabe from power in 2018. In…

HARARE – As Zanu PF’s deadly tribal, factional and succession wars reach alarming levels, there are growing fears that the country, particularly government business, will soon grind to a halt if the mindless bloodletting continues unabated. This comes as President Robert Mugabe’s stone-broke government once again missed its revenue targets in 2016, on the back…

HARARE – Civil rights activists yesterday accused Norton independent MP Temba Mliswa of denying the scope of the Gukurahundi genocide after the voluble legislator said Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa was not to blame for the killing of 20 000 civilians in the Midlands and Matabeleland provinces. They said Mliswa must acknowledge that slayings took place,…

HARARE – A lawyer representing pro-democracy activists, including Patson Dzamara and Linda Masarira, yesterday humiliated the arresting officer for plagiarising the same statement previously submitted in court by his colleague. Obey Shava was representing Dzamara and Masarira together with Makomborero Haruzivishe, Rangarirai Mhende and Leverage Masvondo who are being charged with insulting cops. They appeared…

HARARE – Parliament is seeking public comments on the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number 1 Bill, which seeks to restore sweeping powers to the president to singularly appoint the Chief Justice. A new Constitution produced by an inter-party parliamentary committee and agreed by Zanu PF and MDC negotiators before a referendum in 2013 curbed presidential powers…

HARARE – An opposition party of South African radical leftists has urged President Robert Mugabe to step down, saying he is no longer capable of discharging presidential duties. Urging Mugabe to take a cue from Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh who was forced by Ecowas to cede presidential power last weekend after his defeat to his rival…