Login to BlackFacts.com using your favorite Social Media Login. Click the appropriate button below and you will be redirected to your Social Media Website for confirmation and then back to Blackfacts.com once successful.
Enter the email address and password you used to join BlackFacts.com. If you cannot remember your login information, click the “Forgot Password” link to reset your password.
GWERU residents yesterday urged the council to give incentives to people who pay their bills in United States dollars, saying such a move would enable the local authority to collect revenue in foreign currency. BY Stephen Chadenga The residents made the call at a consultative meeting for the 2021 budget. Gweru United Progressive Residents and Ratepayers Development Association Trust executive director David Chikore said council should charge less in US dollars to encourage ratepayers to settle their bills in hard currency. “Since council has adopted dual pricing we propose that instead of billing the US dollar component using the interbank rate, they can lower it a bit compared to the RTGS$ charge,” he said. “By introducing incentives council will be able to directly get revenue in US dollar and pay its suppliers without hassles. Without incentives people will continue opting to pay in Zimdollars.” Mayor Josiah Makombe said his council would consider the proposal. He said council was also working on ways to implement the payment of tariffs in the 2021 budget in a manner that would ease the burden on ratepayers. “That is a welcome move by residents to propose for incentives to those residents who settle their rates in US dollars and we are going to seriously consider it,” Makombe said. “We will do everything as a local authority to make sure that we implement payment methods that ease the burden on our residents.”
South Africa is one of the hardest-hit countries in Africa with over 740,000 infections.
The country recorded 60 more virus-related deaths on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 20,011.
UNITED KINGDOM-BASED Zimbabwean teenager Tawanda Chireva has signed his first professional contract with English third-tier club, League One side Ipswich Town. By Sports Reporter The 17-year-old, who plays as a midfielder, signed a contract that will see him stay at Portman Road until 2022, with the club having an option to extend the contract by a further 12 months. Before signing the contract, Chireva had made just one appearance for Ipswich, coming off the bench in an English Premier League match in November 2019, becoming the youngest debutant in the team’s history at just 16 years and 31 days. Chireva has made one senior appearance for the Blues so far, coming off the bench as a late sub in the EFL Trophy clash at Colchester in November 2019. That appearance made him Town’s second-youngest debutant ever, behind only Connor Wickham, at just 16 years and 31 days old. Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The youngster was born in Chelmsford, United Kingdom to Zimbabwean parents Blessing and Tsitsi Chireva.
By NQOBANI NDLOVU/ NIZBERT MOYO The Hwange Local Board (HLB) has resolved to impound stray livestock found roaming in residential areas as the municipality seeks to restore sanity in the coal-mining town. According to the local authority, livestock such as cattle, goats and sheep have become a nuisance, as they disturb residents’ peace and destroy their vegetable gardens. “The animals are also posing danger to both motorists and pedestrians. To this end, the council wishes to advise livestock owners to effectively control the movement of their animals and guard against them encroaching into residential areas. Failure which they risk being penalised for contravening council by-laws in relation to keeping of animals, reptiles and birds,” HLB said. The local authority also said it was concerned with the increase in repeat offenders. “The local authority continues to face the strain of keeping impounded animals before they are claimed by their owners,” “Various initiatives are currently being explored to come up with more deterrent measures to curb uncontrolled movement of animals within residential areas.” Any person whose cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys would be impounded, the council said, shall be liable to pay a fine of $280 per head per day. The fines, the HLB said, would be reviewed from time to time. “No person shall be permitted to let his/her animals wander or feed in the council area without the written consent of council,” HLB added. “Council shall retain the right and power for the seizure of animals which are found trespassing or straying and the sale, destruction or other disposal of such animals if they are not claimed within two weeks.” The local authority added that it also had the right to kill such animals if diseased and deemed prejudicial to the health or safety of human beings or other animals. HLB also said it was planning to enter into a private public partnership to build a technical college in the mining town, the first of its kind in Matabeleland North province. HLB board chairman Nqobile Mabhena told Southern Eye last week that the municipality would provide the land and had already approached the responsible ministry about the idea. “Matabeleland North does not have a technical college and Hwange has been a ‘technical’ town, we would love to have the first technical college in the region built here,” Mabhena said.
ORGANISERS of the annual international literature festival, LitFest Harare said this year’s edition would celebrate the resilience of artistes during the COVID-19 pandemic. BY TAFADZWA KACHIKO The festival, which will run from November 25 to 28 under the theme, Art Longa, Vita Brevis — Art is Long, Life is Short will be partially streamed online. “The onset of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns saw many arts and culture practitioners losing revenue streams, sources of livelihood or even loved ones,” Festival director Chirikure Chirikure told NewsDay Life & Style. “Through all this, most artistes showed great resilience and continued to move forward, adapting and daring to keep creating works of artistic expression. We have to salute that resilience,” he said Chirikure said the COVID-19 pandemic had a lot of ripple effects in households and societies around the globe. “In particular, gender-based violence cases reportedly increased since the COVID-19-induced lockdown and as such, the festival will focus on issues related to violence and peace transformation,” he said. “Art, and literature in particular, have to contribute to the dialogue around social challenges and their effect. The ability to stay firm under difficult conditions and to interrogate such challenges, are the stamina that keep us going.” Chirikure said the passion and purpose to create works was noble because art would live forever, and help shape the future. “The LitFest Harare festival will feature discussions, readings, recitations and performances by various local and international participants. Details of sessions and participants will be announced in due course,” he said. The LitFest Harare festival celebrates literature, arts and culture by bringing together authors, artists, academics, students and the public to share knowledge, collaborate, as well as showcase and enjoy talent. Follow us on Twitter @NewsDayZimbabwe
Cryptocurrencies have prodded the world with the benefits. Everyone is crazy to know and learn about these currencies. The noise made by the profits that caused people to earn is enough for them to tap into the crypto world. 2020 is marked by the serious pandemic that caused various businesses and projects to decline. Many lost their assets and now when things got better, the people start earning to sustain. Many of the people are concerned with the investments. It is one of the wisest decisions to invest in cryptocurrencies. If you want to invest then you must invest in digital assets. It is a better option than investing in other businesses. People are not unaware of the popularity it is gaining day by day. Many people have now started educating themselves in the crypto world. Some take help from the platforms. Beginners usually use the bitcoin digital platform to ease all the obstacles they encounter during investments. The most renowned cryptocurrency called the bitcoin was released in 2009 but not many people knew until 2013. After 2013 the real rise of these currencies began. Since then all the years it expanded and the growth cannot be ignored. Many analysts predict that cryptocurrencies would have a good future. Even in 2020, the price fluctuated to $12000 recently. If the previous patterns are traced then the prediction about them is optimistic. The blockchain technology of bitcoin made it popular and due to this technology people believe it to be safe and secure. However other currencies have made their mark too and are predicted to be a rise in 2020. Let’s have a look. Bitcoin (BTC). When you hear the term cryptocurrency, bitcoin is the currency that comes in your mind. This is because of the popularity it has gained. It is the oldest currency and still dominant globally. Therefore, bitcoin will definitely rise in 2020. It will be the best decision to invest in bitcoin that has already made many people kings by just investing a few bucks. Ethereum (ETH). Ethereum became the second largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin. 2018 has been the year having the meteoric rise of Ethereum where it reached $1423. Ethereum is a bit advanced from bitcoin due to more enhanced blockchain technology. By using Ethereum you can build your own cryptocurrencies. Ethereum is easier and must be looked into for the investors who are planning to invest in 2020. Ripple (XPR). Ripple made a huge jump in 2017 when it started from zero to $2.4 within the same year. While the price dropped in 2018. But still, nothing to be sad about? You can still invest in 2020 because it may rise this year giving you huge profits. Ripple is also used as a payment system for transacting international payments safer. How awesome is this when you come to know that your payment with ripple gets transferred within seconds despite taking long days? Litecoin (LTC). Litecoin cannot be ignored. Like Ripple, it also showed great performance in 2017. It started at $4 and grew up to $ 358. However, it dropped in 2018 but the game is not over yet. You can inves
A suspected financier of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Felicien Kabuga, made his first appearance at a UN court in The Hague on Wednesday after decades on the run.
Felicien Kabuga's a suspected financier of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, which saw 800,000 people murdered, according to the UN.
Kabuga, now in his 80s, is accused of crimes against humanity including genocide.
UN prosecutors also accuse Kabuga of helping create a Hutu militia group and urging the killing of Tutsis through his media company.
He is also accused of helping to buy machetes in 1993 that were distributed to genocidal groups.
He denies the charges.
He is \"very tired,\" said his lawyer, Emmanuel Altit.
Kabuga, one of Rwanda's richest men was first indicted by the now-closed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) two decades ago.
On the run
But he was not arrested until this year in May, near Paris.
He was transferred from France to The Hague in October.
The initial hearing before a pre-trial judge took place at the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, which has taken on cases left over from the ICTR.
Kabuga spent years on the run using a succession of false passports, with investigators saying that he had been helped by a network of former Rwandan allies to evade justice.
His lawyers argue he should be tried in France but France's top court ruled he should be moved to UN custody.
Kabuga was initially to be transferred to the UN court's facility in Arusha, Tanzania, which took over the ICTR's duties when it formally closed in 2015.
But a judge ruled he should first be taken to The Hague for a medical examination, and it was not immediately known when or if Kabuga might be transferred to Arusha.
After George Floyd’s death, many athletes and sports leagues pushed back more forcefully against the president’s demand for standing during the national anthem, and he shifted away from the issue.
GWERU council engineer Robson Manatsa has resigned barely two days after another top official was suspended on graft charges, with sources indicating that more senior employees were likely to quit to avoid being sacked following a damning audit report implicating most of them. BY BRENNA MATENDERE Early this week, estates and evaluations manager Gibson Chingwadza was suspended by acting town clerk Vakai Douglas Chikwekwe on allegations of presiding over shady activities that prejudiced the broke local authority of US$300 000 revenue. Manatsa, who did not give reasons for his resignation, walked out at a time when an internal audit, led by ward 11 councillor Albert Chirau, in its report linked him to corrupt activities at the local authority. These included allegations that he violated procurement regulations in purchasing a JCB backhoe loader that turned out to be second-hand, yet council paid for a brand new one. The engineer was accused by the internal audit team of “serious negligence leading to the death of eight people in Gweru due to typhoid last year”. Investigations showed water pumped by council from a reservoir in Mkoba was not treated. The town engineer was also accused of influencing the employment of line department workers with no requisite qualification as well as engaging graduate engineers to supervise senior staff in the department among other allegations. Mayor Josiah Makombe confirmed that Manatsa had tendered his resignation. “I can confirm that the town engineer has resigned. He did not give detailed reasons for his resignation, but I just hope that maybe he got a better paying job elsewhere. I really cannot speculate on why he left the city council even though it is true that he had been fingered on corruption issues by an internal audit we carried out,” he said. Substantive town clerk Elizabeth Gwatipedza is also still on suspension over a slew of corruption charges, some of which touched on her failure to effectively supervise the engineering department that was then led by Manatsa. When contacted for comment, Manatsa said: “I am in a meeting, please call later,” before hanging up. He did not respond to written questions sent to his mobile phone. Further efforts to contact him did not yield results as his phone was on voicemail.
[New Zimbabwe] Zimbabwe Senior Hospital Doctors (ZSHDA) members downed tools Thursday after the acting Health Ministry secretary said it would be insane for government to pay their salaries in foreign currency.
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) yesterday said it did not have the funds to urgently address the issue of water contamination in Luveve and surrounding suburbs, which resulted in the loss of 13 lives and infection of over 1 000 residents with diarrhoea, typhoid and dysentery. Council said it urgently required US$1 482 000 to address water contamination problems in the affected suburbs. Town clerk Christopher Dube told Southern Eye that the council did not have the money to urgently implement the sewer and water works rehabilitation programme in the affected districts. “We don’t have the money. Some of the materials have to be imported, that is why we quoted the figure in United States dollars because it does not fluctuate,” he said. The targeted projects include rehabilitation of the outfall sewer line (US$1,2 million), repair of all water and sewer service connections (US$250 000), pipe laying and replacement (US$25 000), repair of the reclaimed line (US$5 000) and pipes and fittings (US$2 000). In the immediate term, the local authority revealed that it would be back-filling all unprotected hand-dug wells and their use would be strongly discouraged. “We have a mandate to carry out this work as the council. The project has to be done, but the sad reality is that there is no money,” Dube added. “Payments to the council are erratic. People are not paying their rates and again, inflation is rising at an alarming rate. However, the money has to be found. We have to do it, that is why we are here as a council.” The latest council finance and development committee report shows that the financially-squeezed local authority was owed $383 519 064 by ratepayers as of April. Government departments owe council $17 440 652, industrial and commercial debtors $136 637 286, parastatals $10 304 153 and residents $219 136 973. According to council’s engineering services department, Bulawayo’s water and sewer infrastructure has outlived its lifespan. “The infrastructure is over 50 years old and has not had any water quality challenges. The 144-hour shedding strained the already aged network, further complicating the system and reducing its ability to self-cleanse due to prolonged hours of no water in the network …,” the report reads.
A 36-YEAR-OLD Ruwa tenant has been jailed to 18 months for forging her daughter’s birth certificate in a bid to inherit her late landlord’s estate. BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA Abigail Muchafuruka was sentenced by Marondera magistrate Ignatius Mhene, who later commuted the sentence to 420 hours of community service at Ruwa Police Station. The court heard that Muchafuruka forged her daughter’s birth certificate and submitted it in court on July 9 this year in a bid to claim a stake in her later landlord, Peter Kandawasvika’s estate. The forged document indicated that the deceased was the child’s biological father. Muchafuruka told the court that she had an affair with the late Kandawasvika, resulting in the birth of her daughter but her claims were dismissed after records at the Registrar-General’s Office revealed that the child’s original document had no father’s name. The matter came to light after the deceased’s wife noted that there was different printing on the child’s forged birth certificate. John Hama represented the State.
FORMER chief magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe’s trial on charges of criminal abuse of office and defeating the course of justice resumed at the High Court yesterday with his ex-deputy Elijah Makomo taking to the witness stand. BY CHARLES LAITON Makomo told Justice Felistas Chatukuta that contrary to State claims that he was forced to recuse himself in a matter where he was conflicted, he did so of his own volition. The State had alleged that Guvamombe forced Makomo to recuse himself from a matter involving businessman Nathan Mnaba. In his testimony, Makomo said he took the decision to recuse himself from handling the matter following complaints raised by both Mnaba, who was the accused in the matter and Nighert Parween Savania who was the complainant. He was asked to read a report which he authored in response to the allegations that had been raised against him for having failed to properly handle the trial leading to his recusal. Makomo dismissed allegations that he had received a US$8 000 bribe from Savania and further challenged Mnaba to prove his allegations. Through his lawyers, Jonathan Samukange and Brighton Pabwe, Guvamombe denied the charges being levelled against him, accusing his former workmates and colleagues of concocting the charges to cover up their sexual abuse cases. In one of the counts, Guvamombe is accused of allowing former Cabinet ministers Supa Mandiwanzira and Saviour Kasukuwere to be attached at the Harare Magistrates Court from the University of Zimbabwe while facing criminal charges. In his defence, he told the court that his actions were above board since he delegated the issue of the students’ attachment to Makomo, who then forwarded the matter to the human resources department for implementation. When the trial started, Judicial Service Commission secretary Walter Chikwanha absolved Guvamombe of any wrongdoing, saying the commission then did not have a proper policy on student attaches. l Follow NewsDay on Twitter @NewsDayZimbabwe
[AIM] Maputo -The Covid-19 pandemic \"has taught us how we depend on each other to keep safe and together we are seeking a cure through research, testing and validating treatment\", said Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Thursday.
