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Victoria Falls town clerk digs in, says won’t be forced to resign  

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

Victoria Falls City Council town clerk Ronnie Dube has vowed that he will not resign over corruption allegations levelled against the local authority’s management and councillors, arguing that he is yet to be proven guilty of any offence.

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Dube has been in the eye of a storm since the arrest of Victoria Falls mayor Somvelo Dhlamini early this month 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.

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A fortnight ago 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 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.

Ndolo said the stand, 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.

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He claimed that councillors and Dube shared US$400 000 that was paid as a bribe by the lowest bidder for the stand.

The town clerk, however, said he will wait for ongoing investigations by various agencies to be completed before he could speak about the allegations.

“I have nothing really to say, but I will not be forced to resign because people have said things and judged me for corruption,” he told VicFalsLive in an exclusive interview.

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“All I can say for now is I am watching the space because all these allegations have prompted various legal instruments to be put by central government, the police Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and a ministry of Local Government investigation team.

“So let it be, let them come and let’s watch the space.

“For all those allegations I will only be able to fully comment after all the investigations have been completed, but on the calibre of councillors, that is not my call.

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“It the same people who are complaining that voted for them and the good thing is that we are having elections next year.

“So they should start choosing councillors that would stand for their calls.”

Dube’s relationship with councillors has been deteriorating over the corruption allegations and before his arrest, Dhlamini was accused of organising the group that raided the town clerk’s office.

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The mayor had unsuccessfully tried to suspend the town clerk over the same corruption allegations.

Two days after Dube was locked out of his office, the tables turned against Dhlamini as he was whisked away from his council offices by Zacc investigators to the regional court in Hwange where he was charged with fraud.

Court records alleged that  “On the 15th of August 2022 and at Victoria Falls City Council offices the accused Somvelo Dhlamini, who is the mayor of the city council and in his capacity as such unlawfully and intentionally made a misrepresentation and purported to be Valentine Munyaradzi Maseko, who he had earlier on in 2003 purchased Stand 1139  by making an application using the name Valentine Munyaradzi Maseko to Victoria Falls City Council under the Wood Road Housing Scheme upon which the council offered him stand number 1771 Wood Road which needed a deposit of US$25 000.”

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It was alleged that Dhlamini paid US$10 000 and the balance was supposed to be paid within five days, but he failed to settle the debt and paid $7 500 000 instead.

The mayor was denied bail and is detained in Hwange awaiting trial.

He made a routine appearance in court on Monday and was further detained until early next month as the investigating officers said they still needed more time.

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The power struggles between the mayor and the town clerk have been raging on for some time amid charges by residents that corruption has paralysed service delivery in the resort city.

Victoria Falls ratepayers have been boycotting the city council’s 2023 budget consultation meetings demanding answers over various allegations of corruption and Dube said the stand-off will have far reaching effects on the local authority’s operations.

“This has had a negative impact, as you see that we are struggling to finish the budget (formulation process),” he said.

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“People started boycotting the consultative meetings and naturally it’s got a demoralising effect on the management of council affairs and some council process subsidiary to how government operates.

“I think this year we will be found wanting as we won’t be able to submit our budget on time and the same people who are disrupting these processes will be the same ones crying next year that there is poor service delivery because we would’ve not been allocated what we should be because of the delays that have been taking place.”

Last week, the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC Alliance, which controls Victoria Falls City Council, said its councillors that are being accused of being corrupt were victims of political machinations.

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    December 27, 2022 at 1:53 am

    Victoria Falls town clerk digs in, says won’t be forced to resign   – VicFallsLive
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Zimbabwe turn towards black market as inflation rises

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Zimbabweans are feeling the wrath of high inflation. The rate of inflation in the southern African country now stands at 131.7 percent in the month of May.

Locals are now helpless as they are now forced to search for cheaper products as a way to survive the overpriced goods at major supermarkets.

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In these shops they call trucks, lie the solution to their demise as they can buy cheaper products compared top large supermarkets.

“We buy at the truck shop because they are cheap, their price is not even expensive because there, in the big shops these days, they are expensive. Even their rate is less (than in supermarkets, ed.), at the truck shop they give us the good rates, that’s why we prefer to buy at the truck shop because they are cheap,” a customer said.

Zimbabwe has endure years of fluctuating value of currencies worsened by adoption of US dollar. Many Zimbabweans are now shunning away from major stores that experience frequent fluctuating currency rates when converting to the local Zim Dollar.

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“Its cheaper for customers to buy from out here, for instance for a dollar they can get two drinks, instead of one from a supermarket. It’s also because our exchange rate is better than the official rate,” said one vendor.

The black market is also taking a toll on the local Zim Dollar with economists warning of a further deterioration of the local currency if not regulated.

“What we have witnessed over the past weeks is a massive increase in pricing, Zim dollar pricing. This has largely been caused by the very significant depreciation of the local currency that we have seen on the black market or on the parallel market,” said Prosper Chitambara, an economist.

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Zimbabwe’s economy is inching toward “full dollarization,” with the local currency facing collapse, local investment firm Inter-Horizon Securities said. It slumped by 34% in April alone-Source: Africa News.

 

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Zimbabwe releases more than 4 000 prisoners in presidential amnesty

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HARARE – About a fifth of all prisoners in Zimbabwe were released on Thursday under a presidential amnesty a few months ahead of crunch general elections.

A total of 4270 inmates were let out, according to the country’s correctional service, which described the reprieve as a “noble gesture” by the president.

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“We would like to appeal to… society at large to embrace and accept the inmates who have been released,” Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) said in a statement.

“Those aggrieved are encouraged to forgive them”.

The move brings down overcrowding in the country’s more than 50 detention centres, which have capacity for about 17 000 people but held more than 22 000 before the amnesty.

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Yet, ZPCS spokesperson Meya Khanyezi told AFP “it was not about decongestion”.

“This was just a noble gesture by the president,” she said.

The amnesty was granted to various categories of prisoners including those who have served at least three-quarters of their sentence, or one tenth if over the age of 60.

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Violent criminals as well as those serving time for robbery, treason and public order and security offences were excluded.

Those released will be able to vote in presidential and legislative elections that are to be held in August, although no date has been announced yet.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is struggling to ease entrenched poverty, end chronic power cuts and rein in inflation.

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He granted a similar amnesty at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 in a bid to curtail the spread of the virus in detention facilities.- AFP

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Free elections key to Zimbabwe’s debt settlement, says AfDB

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 HARARE – Zimabwe’s upcoming presidential election and compensation of white farmers whose land was seized two decades ago are key to efforts to restructure its crippling debt, the African development bank chief said Monday.

African Development Bank (AfDB) president Akinwumi Adesina and Mozambique’s ex-president Joaquim Chissano, are leading efforts to help Zimbabwe re-engage with the West to clear its US$8.3 billion bilateral and multilateral debt.

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“The success of the efforts we have all put into this process will depend on what happens with the upcoming presidential elections,” Adesina said at debt resolution talks with President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Harare.

He said the international community will be “watching very closely” the vote.

“The full weight of re-engagement with the international community will depend on this… (and) the entire electoral process that guarantees a credible election”.

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“Success on the political and electoral reforms, and a free and fair election, are crucial to clear the pathway towards arrears clearance and debt resolution for Zimbabwe,” he added.

Rights groups and opposition parties have complained of a clampdown ahead of elections, whose date is yet to be set.

Chissano, a respected statesman said holding “free and fair elections” and settling the issue of compensation for white former commercial farmers were among “low-hanging fruits” in advancing dialogue with the West and international financial institutions.

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“Harvesting these low-hanging fruits is critical as they are likely to trigger decisive action towards arrears clearance and debt resolution,” he said.

Chissano and Adesina last week met members of the US Congress, State Department, Treasury among other agencies to discuss Zimbabwe.

Adesina revealed that the AfDB is working with Zimbabwe to develop “innovative financial instruments and structures that can be used to front-load the mobiliSation of the US$3.5 billion for compensations”, without getting into further debt.

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“It is important that we find a mechanism to try to fast-track…the payment of these compensations”.

Zimbabwe’s late ex-president Robert Mugabe launched land reforms in 2000, grabbing white-owned farms to reverse a historical land ownership imbalance that favoured the white minority population.

More than 4,000 of Zimbabwe’s 4,500 white commercial farmers were evicted from their properties, which were given to black tenants.

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But in 2020 Mnangagwa, who succeeded Mugabe following a military-led coup, signed a US$3.5 billion deal with dispossessed farmers to compensate them for infrastructure developments on their former land. – Eyewitness News 

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