National

Commission of inquiry findings fail to be tabled as Victoria Falls councillors fight

Published

3 years ago

January 18, 2023

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

A special full council meeting meant to present the findings of a commission of inquiry set by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works to investigate claims of corruption against Victoria Falls City town clerk Ronnie Dube failed to take off on Tuesday after the city’s mayor and councillors came to a standoff over who should preside over the discussions.

Minister July Moyo set up the probe team late last year after resident’s activists and the mayor Somvelo Dhlamini levelled corruption allegations against the local authority’s management head.

Earlier this month, the ministry brought the findings of the report for adoption which was meant to be tabled to a full council, but failed after Dhlamini was confronted by ward various councillors accusing him of breaching the law.

“You can’t chair the meeting when you are an interested party,” ward three councillor Lungile Nyoni charged first.

This was after Dhlamini had asked his deputy mayor Patricia Mwale to pray ahead of the meeting.

“You are misleading the council and you can not chair also because of your court case,” he added.

“You are supposed to sit there as the residents because you are an interested party because that’s what was said by the minister regarding this matter. ”

The two exchanged some harsh words as the mayor demanded to be provided with an act that prohibits him from chairing the meeting despite being the complainant into Dube’s allegations.

“Which law?”Dhlamini quizzed.

“I said come with the law and if it’s there, I will listen to your reasons…

“I am supposed to chair this and discuss it with the chamber secretary’s office because I have to know what we are talking about.”

Moments after, the argument was paused after Nyoni suggested that he should call the minister to give him a go ahead to chair.

Dhlamini and Dube then stepped out of the board room to call Moyo, but came back to report that he was not answering his mobile phones.

Dhlamini then insisted to go ahead with his decision to chair or temporarily adjourn, but again was interjected by ward one councillor Tonderai Mutasa who advised him that it was against the law as he was an interested party.

Mutasa’s sentiments were also echoed by ward 11 councillor Edmore Zhou.

“So if we are saying we are adjouning the meeting because the mayor said we have to and at the same time you are saying he is not supposed to chair the meeting, surely for me it doesn’t balance,”Zhou said.

“We are here with the residents, we need to do the correct things and if we are saying the mayor is not supposed to chair, he doesn’t have the power to adjourn the meeting so that’s why residents can not take us serious because we won’t be doing the right thing and in accordance with our the law, so he should do the right thing. “

“I will not step down,” Dhlamini charged.

“I will never. ” he added.

Zhou then went on to quiz why Dhlamini had stopped attending some committee meetings that have nothing to do with the report’s findings.

However, other councillors wanted the meeting to proceed with Dhlamini chairing, on condition that he signs down as they were worried about wasting the resident’s time and council expenditure to host such meetings.

Following the back and fourth which led to some resident’s activists to get agitated, Dhlamini announced that the meeting will be adjourned to allow the minister to respond together with a supporting act on why he should not chair.

Dube and Dhlamini have been in the eye of a storm since the arrest of Dhlamini in October on allegations of fraud emanating from the acquisition of a housing stand from the local authority.

Dhlamini was arrested shortly after a group of war veterans and members of the Hwange Residents Association raided the town clerk’s office and force marched him out

The group said they wanted Dube to step aside to allow for investigations into allegations of corruption levelled against him to be concluded first.

Few days after, war veterans from Matabeleland North convened a meeting that was attended by over 300 residents to discuss the corruption allegations against the local authority.

Victoria Falls Combined Residents Association (Vifacora) executive member Trymore Ndolo told the meeting that they had information allegedly showing how Dube and some councillors ‘corruptly’ sold commercial prime land known as Stand Number 8300 which was earmarked for a water, hygiene and sanitation project, was sold for US$4 million instead of US$14 million that was agreed to by a full council meeting.

The report was meant to address its findings on such allegations among others.

After the meeting, Vifacora chairperson Kelvin Moyo expressed disappointment in the capacity of some officers and councillors.

“We are very much disappointed in what ended up happening, I think all counsillors when they are getting to council they know what they are expected to do, the rules and procedures of the law, but it wasn’t so because there was unparalleled ignorance that was displayed by some of the officers and counsillors,”he said.

“As residents, we feel that we are shortchanged in terms of the rate of which the service delivery in concerned because we were hoping that the findings were going to be presented at the end of the day so as residents, we should look at the capacity in understanding issues and adjudication so much so that it can all come to the benefits of the residents.”

The town clerk also called on the minister’s intervention.

“This stems from the fact that the moyor has a pending case in court and the minister (Moyo) issued a circular in February 2022 directive which stated that all council officials with pending cases should remain barred from council and this is the same interpretation which we have,”he said.

Dube revealed that the authority has written three letters to the minister seeking clarity on the matter, but none has been responded to.

“Going forward, we are going to consult again this time indicating that this scenario will render council dysfunctional.”

National

Another Zimbabwe gold coin sale registers little for most

Published

5 hours ago

August 13, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY GAMUCHIRAI MASIYIWA

With the price of gold up globally, the Reserve Bank of

Zimbabwe in April put the gold coins it stopped minting a year earlier back on the

market.

But interested investors had to act fast.

By mid-June, the sale of coins from its accumulated stock was abruptly concluded

and another chapter of the currency chaos that has characterized the nation’s

economy for decades was in the books. This time, at least, economists say the

experiment had little effect.

The short-lived sale is just the latest example in a long line of inconsistent policies,

says Ithiel Mavesere, a lecturer in the economics and development department at theUniversity of Zimbabwe. Storing value in a gold coin is not a viable option for the

majority of the population, he adds.

“Ideally, what they should have done is come up with low-value coins, with

denominations as low as equivalent to US$20 for the majority of the population to

afford,

” Mavesere says.

However, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mushayavanhu says in a written

response to Global Press Journal that the gold coins were effective as an alternative

investment instrument and there was huge demand from both corporations and

individuals. According to RBZ data, corporations bought about 79% of the gold coins

and individuals bought about 21%.

About US$12 million’s worth sold

The lowest denomination of the coins represents a tenth of an ounce of gold,

equivalent to 9,299.13 in Zimbabwe gold, or ZiG, the national currency, or about

US$347. The highest denomination of the coins represents one ounce of gold,

equivalent to ZiG 92,991.34 or about US$3,470.

In all, the central bank has sold gold coins worth ZiG 343 million, or about US$12.8

million, according to Mushayavanhu, who says the recent sale happened after the

bank noted increased demand following the rise in international gold prices.

“In this context, the Reserve Bank re-issued an accumulated parcel of gold coins from

a combination of gold coins which had been bought back from the market through

redemptions and some coins which were still being held at the Reserve Bank from

the previously minted stock,

” the governor wrote.

A statement from the bank in mid-June announcing the halt to the sale indicated it

had been intended to clear the stock of gold coins it had and those that had been

cashed in by their holders.

Mushayavanhu says the bank stopped minting gold coins in April 2024 to prioritize its

gold reserve which, along with foreign currency reserves, backs the Zimbabwe gold

currency.

He says foreign reserves increased from US$270 million in April 2024 to US$731 million

as of the end of June.

The central bank first introduced the Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coins — which share an

indigenous name for Victoria Falls — in 2022 at a time when the country was

experiencing currency instability with high inflation and continued devaluation of

what was then the national currency, the Zimbabwe dollar.

The coins aimed to reduce dependency on the US dollar and help stabilize the

economy. The coins helped mop up excess cash in local currency that was circulatingin the market. Coupled with other monetary measures in 2022, the monthly inflation

rate dropped from about 31% in June to about 12% in August that year.

However, the exchange rate of the Zimbabwe dollar drastically fell against the US

dollar and the government replaced it with the new Zimbabwe gold currency in April

2024. Since its introduction, the currency’s value has been cut in half.

A ‘drop in the ocean’

Lyle Begbie, an economist with Oxford Economics Africa, believes the sale of the gold

coins when they were introduced in 2022 was more of a revenue-generating scheme,

as it happened at a time when inflation was very high.

He says it makes sense that the recent sale of gold coins was influenced by the

increase in gold prices on the global market. But he adds that the value of gold coins

was too little to have an impact on the economy. Begbie says the US$12.8 million in

coins the central bank reported selling is less than 1% of Zimbabwe’s gross domestic

product — which the World Bank estimates at US$44 billion — a “drop in the ocean”

when it comes to the country’s macroeconomic picture.

Prosper Chitambara, an economist based in Harare, agrees the impact of the recent

sale was minimal. He says gold coins don’t have a significant impact on currency

stability in an economy like Zimbabwe’s, which is highly informal and also highly

dollarized — meaning it’s heavily reliant on the US dollar as a currency.

“Most economic agents in our economy prefer to transact using their US dollars

because it’s a highly tradable and highly liquid asset. … So there’s a huge confidence

and trust in the USD than in the gold coins or even in the Zimbabwe gold,

”

Chitambara says.

Samuel Wadzai, the executive director of Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic

Transformation, an organization in Harare that advocates for the informal business

sector, says there have been a few instances where members have tried to use gold

coins for everyday transactions, but it hasn’t been widespread.

“Most traders still prefer cash due to the challenges of acceptance and the limited

understanding of gold coins in everyday trade,

” he says.

Isheanesu Kwenda, 31, a Harare street vendor with a sociology degree, says the recent

sale of gold coins didn’t offer any benefit for him. Like many Zimbabweans, he has

heard about the gold coins, but has never seen or opted to buy them. The vendor is

part of Zimbabwe’s informal economy, which sustains over 80% of Zimbabwe’s

population and contributes nearly 72% to the country’s GDP.

“Street economics informs that you should not attempt to get something you are not

sure of or do not understand. … I prefer to sell my goods and keep my money in US

dollars because it holds value, or I can keep my money in stock,

” Kwenda says of theclothing he sells.

Last year, Kwenda lost more than half his earnings after Zimbabwe gold was

introduced. After being paid the equivalent of US$1,000 in Zimbabwe dollars, he only

managed to salvage US$360 and lost the rest in exchange rate losses.

For Kwenda, restoring confidence is simple: The government must stick to a plan,

without making sudden U-turns

This story was originally published by Global Press Journal

National

Seven killed, 36 injured in road accidents in Masvingo and Hwange

Published

1 day ago

August 12, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY WANDILE TSHUMA

A tragic weekend on Zimbabwe’s roads has left seven people dead and 36 others injured in two separate accidents in Masvingo and Hwange.

The first accident occurred on Monday, at around 2:00 a.m. along the Mutare-Masvingo Road when a Toyota Quantum vehicle carrying 22 Zion Christian Church congregants veered off the road and overturned, killing six people and injuring 16 others.

In a separate incident, one person was killed, and 20 others were injured in Hwange when a Nissan NP300 vehicle overturned after its left rim broke on Sunday, at around 5:00 a.m.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police has urged motorists to exercise caution on the roads, avoiding speeding and observing all road rules and regulations to prevent such tragic accidents.

The police are currently working to identify the victims, and the names will be released once the next of kin have been notified.

National

United States Embassy temporarily suspends most visa processing In Zimbabwe | Report

Published

6 days ago

August 7, 2025

VicFallsLive

BY NEWZWIRE

The U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe will temporarily suspend all routine visa services starting Thursday, according to a State Department memo.

The suspension will impact a range of visa categories, including immigrant visas, and nonimmigrant visas for tourism, business, study, and exchange programmes. A senior State Department official said:

The Administration is always working to prevent visa overstay and misuse.

The official cited Zimbabwe’s B1 and B2 visa overstay rate of 10.57%, equivalent to 709 individuals.

Overstay rates among student visa holders are also a concern — particularly as Zimbabwe has not agreed to a so-called “safe third country” or “third country national” arrangement, which would allow asylum seekers to pursue their claims from a country they previously transited through, the official said.

The Trump administration has reportedly exerted pressure on African nations to accept the return of non-national migrants. To date, only Eswatini, Rwanda, and South Sudan have publicly agreed to such an arrangement.

According to the memo, the suspension will not affect visas that are already valid, and certain applications, including official and C-3 diplomatic visas, will continue to be processed.