Christian leaders in Zimbabwe disturbed by abductions – The Zimbabwean

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Three female leaders, members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change–Alliance (MDC-Alliance) were allegedly abducted in Harare by some unknown men, last week, on Wednesday. They had first been arrested at roadblock.

Abducted and tortured

The three women were later found on Friday severely beaten and traumatised. They had been dumped by the roadside some 80 kilometres north of Harare in Zimbabwe.

The opposition leaders were part of an MDC-Alliance COVID-19 demonstration that the government termed illegal. The three, Joana Mamombe (MP for Harare West), Cecilia Chimbiri (MDC Alliance Youth Assembly Vice-Chair) and Netsai Marova (Deputy Organising Secretary of the Youth wing) were protesting the government’s COVID-19 lockdown implemented without social protection for the country’s poor.

Christian leaders say attacks offend Christian and cultural norms

In a strongly-worded statement released in the capital, Harare this week, the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD) to which the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) is a part, denounced the abductions of the female MDC leaders. They also drew attention to the brutal assault of two Zimbabwean women in the country’s second-largest city, Bulawayo, on 16 April at the hands of six police officers.

“Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD) has received with shock and disbelief the news of yet another abduction and inhuman treatment of three young women including a Member of Parliament. This comes only some few days after the barbaric physical assault of two women, Ntombizodwa and Nokuthula Mpofu, of Cowdray Park, Bulawayo by six police officers. It should be stated that the reports suggesting that Harare West Legislator, Joana Mamombe and her colleagues Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova were taken from police custody, and were tortured and sexually assaulted and inhumanely treated by yet to be known agents point to something that is against the heart of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the various International Conventions to which Zimbabwe is a signatory and, above all, to our cultural norms and our fundamental Christian beliefs regarding the sanctity and dignity of life,” said Zimbabwe’s Church leaders.

Need for a full investigation

“First, it is deeply disturbing that the country has seen so many cases of abductions in the last few months, most of which have not been conclusively investigated. What is further disturbing are the insinuations, from some state agents, that all these abductions arc either stage-managed or carried out by an unrecognisable “third force” without substantiating such claims with credible and irrefutable evidence. This constitutes the denigration of responsibility of the highest order on the part of government,” said the Church leaders.

ZHOCD has called for a full investigation. They condemn the ill-treatment of women as a whole, particularly, “in 2020 when the whole world is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, which was a global high point in recognition of the dignity of women after centuries of patriarchal domination and treatment of women as second class citizens of the world.”

Amnesty International decries disappearances

Muleya Mwananyanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East and Southern Africa, condemned the abduction of the three MDC female politicians.

“Zimbabwe has a history of enforced disappearances, with some activists having gone missing for years now. Many activists have been tortured in police custody, despite denials by police,” said the Amnesty International representative.

Various rights groups say since 2019, about 50 social and political activists have been abducted and tortured by unknown persons. One of 2019’s widely publicised abduction was of Peter Magombeyi, leader of Zimbabwe’s medical doctors, who were agitating for better working conditions.  He was taken away by some unknown men, beaten and later dumped by the roadside.

Zimbabwe’s Minister of Home Affairs orders an investigation

Zimbabwe’s Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister, Kazembe Kazembe has since ordered the Commissioner-General of Police to institute a full-scale investigation into the abduction of the three female MDC leaders. He said the Commissioner-General should “establish what transpired, who did what, and the motive behind the actions.”

Church leaders pledge continued pastoral care

In the meantime, Zimbabwe’s Church leaders under the auspices of ZHOCD have pledged to continue offering pastoral support, comfort and protection to all victims of abductions and brutality.

‘We can’t turn them away’: the family kitchen fighting lockdown hunger in Zimbabwe – The Zimbabwean

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It is 7am and hundreds of children have come out on this chilly morning to queue for a plate of porridge.

With makeshift masks covering their faces, the children wait for Samantha Murozoki to start dishing up the warm food into whatever plastic tub, plate, tin cup – or even ripped-off corner of a cardboard box – is presented to her.

The winding queue is a sign of the desperation that has gripped the populous township of Chitungwiza, on the outskirts of Harare, since Zimbabwe enforced national lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19, which has seen 46 cases and four deaths.

The queues have become a common sight in Seke Unit A, where Murozoki prepares porridge in the mornings for children and supper later in the day for hungry families.

With a makeshift stove, a couple of large pots and a few cooking utensils, the mother of two has been winning the respect of thousands who pass by her kitchen daily and is gathering volunteers who help her keep track of the children. A team of women serve and wash up the utensils.

None of the children have been turned away.

 A queue forms outside Samantha Murozoki’s home in Chitungwizaon May 5, 2020, where, with the help of volunteers, Samantha Murozoki serves over a 100 hot meals per day from her home to families whose household income has been cut off by closure of all informal markets during the lockdown Photograph: Jekesai Njikizana/AFP via Getty Images

The feeding programme that began about a week into the national lockdown has become essential for the Chitungwiza community.

“I started with a 2kg packet of rice and 500g of beans. The number of people needing food has doubled since then. It’s not something that I had planned for,” Murozoki told the Guardian.

When food supplies were getting low soon after she started, she sold some of her personal possessions to get more.

“When my money ran out I started bartering food supplies with my jeans and sneakers,” she said.

Samantha Murozoki started the food programme after learning that neighbours were going hungry under lockdown.

 Samantha Murozoki started the food programme after learning that neighbours were going hungry under lockdown. Photograph: Jekesai Njikizana/AFP via Getty Images

Murozoki said her feeding programme was driven by compassion after a neighbour told how her family had gone to bed hungry as work and informal trade has dried up under the lockdown.

An immigration lawyer, Murozoki has won the support of Zimbabweans on social media.

“After I posted pictures of what I was doing on WhatsApp my friends and family chipped in to help out. A colleague also decided to put my story on Twitter and Facebook, that is how the Zimbabwean community started helping out. They have been donating groceries and some are even wiring money from overseas,” she said.

She said beneficiaries of the programme are required to register before receiving food aid.

“We just get people coming in to register their families, so we do not segregate. The lockdown is affecting everyone. We cannot turn people away because everyone wants food,” Murozoki said.

Zimbabwe’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has partially opened up the economy to the manufacturing and mining sectors. But millions of informal workers remain on lockdown and food stocks continue to run low.

With a baby strapped on her back, Anastencia Hove, 35, came to Murozoki’s kitchen for breakfast and has stayed to volunteer as a cook.

“I was moved by her love. It is rare to find people who think about others. So I said as a token of my appreciation for her support, I should volunteer. This lockdown has not spared us at all, so people are suffering. The number of people I see here shows that many are hungry,” Hove said.

Gracious Mango, 39, clutches a plastic food container as she waits for her name to be called out. She explains how life has worsened during the lockdown.

“There is no food at home. It is becoming difficult every day,” Mango told the Guardian. “My husband and I have not managed to make any meaningful money because the economy had literally shut down.”

Mango’s friend, Michelle Makuvise, 30, a street vendor, said Murozoki needed everyone’s support. “I think this is good work which should not go unnoticed. The community is literally feeding on her generosity so support is needed.”

Murozoki inspects the queue

 Murozoki shields her eyes from the sun as she inspects the queue outside her home. Photograph: Jekesai Njikizana/AFP via Getty Images

Zimbabwe experienced yet another poor harvest this year, leaving almost half the population in need of urgent food aid, with the most vulnerable people in rural areas already on the verge of starvation, according to humanitarian organisations.

In urban areas, 2.2 million people are in urgent need of food aid as many struggle to put enough on the table.

Government lockdown relief of US$4 per family is yet to be distributed at a time vulnerable families are failing to earn a living amid skyrocketing inflation.

As more urban Zimbabweans go hungry every day, Murozoki sees herself feeding more people, especially during lockdown.

“Even if the lockdown is lifted, I might continue for a month or so until everyone gets back on their feet. As long as Zimbabweans help me, I will be able to continue with my work,” she said.

COVID-19 and hyperinflation leave hunger and few options in Zimbabwe – The Zimbabwean

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HARARE – The Zimbabwean government’s coronavirus stay-at-home message is hard to bear. Signs of a country coming unstuck are everywhere: daily shortages of electricity, fuel, basic goods, even mains water – local councils have no money to maintain aged pipes or invest in infrastructure.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa said in a national broadcast on 16 May that although established industries like mines, supermarkets, and banks could extend their operating hours, informal street businesses – with the exception of fresh produce markets – would remain shut. It’s in this informal sector that millions of Zimbabweans eke out a living.

Mnangagwa said the lockdown measures, introduced on 30 March, would be reviewed every two weeks, adding, “the country needs to ease out of the lockdown in a strategic and gradual manner”.

The government is trying to restart an economy that was already imploding well before the coronavirus crisis. Hyperinflation, running at 676 percent in March, means most urban Zimbabweans can’t afford all their food needs. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second city, is having to ration running water to one day a week despite the extra sanitation needs of the coronavirus crisis.

In the countryside, 4.3 million people – one in three Zimabweans – are facing food shortages as a result of a punishing drought last year, among the worst in a decade, and there’s uncertainty over the success of this month’s harvest.

A disappearing economy

Zimbabwe’s economy shrank by eight percent last year, and the government fears it could contract by up to 20 percent by the end of 2020.

It blames the freefalling economy on “sanctions” imposed by hostile Western governments, consecutive droughts, and now COVID-19. Its critics argue the collapse is the culmination of years of mismanagement by the ZANU-PF party that has ruled since independence.

Maize flour is especially in short supply, and people spend hours in queues to buy the government-subsidised staple.

The New Humanitarian witnessed police in Harare last week use tear gas to clear a desperate crowd who refused to believe the maize flour in the shop was finished. They were convinced the staff were going to sell the remaining stock on the unofficial market, where it retails at five times the controlled price.

“People have to travel around looking for basic foodstuffs; there is crowding and people are neglecting social distancing,” said Godfrey Kanyenze of the Labour and Economic Research Unit of Zimbabwe, a trade union-linked think tank. “But you have to choose; you either stay at home and starve or come out to try to survive.”

A disposable mask costs $1 – a significant outlay in a country where 70 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

So far, there have been 46 official COVID-19 cases and four deaths. The absence of discernable clusters of infection “may suggest that, despite the small numbers tested, our country might have a reduced COVID-19 trajectory,” Mnangagwa said in his broadcast.

Hustling to survive

Agnes Shumba is among those struggling to make ends meet in coronavirus times. “I am a qualified professional teacher, and yet I can no longer feed my three children because of the price increases which followed the COVID-19 lockdown,” she told TNH.

Shumba has been forced to break the law and sell blackmarket petrol to support her family. A contact at a filling station reserves fuel for her; she then drives back to her township home in the Harare suburb of Kuwadzana and resells what’s in her tank.

In her boot she carries vegetables, bought in the capital’s main market, on which she can also turn a small profit.

In Kuwadzana, shebeens – unofficial drinking spots – have sprouted, and there’s a worrying rise in sex work, in a country with a 13 percent HIV prevalence rate. “People are doing anything to survive,” Shumba said.

Like many Zimbabweans, she had a lifeline, until recently, across the border in South Africa. Her mother, a domestic worker there, used to send food parcels, but the South African government closed the busy border in March as a coronavirus lockdown measure.

That has dented Shumba’s household budget, but also put Johnson Ndlovu out of business. For five years, he delivered groceries bought and paid for by relatives and friends in South Africa to families across Zimbabwe. The pick-up vans crossing the 24-hour border station at Beitbridge were a mobile industry that helped sustain people through the economic hardships.

“Thousands of those vehicles are currently parked and not moving, which means many families in Zimbabwe are feeling the impact of food shortages,” Ndlovu said.

Remittances from Zimbabweans working in South Africa are also drying up as the South African economy slows. “Some Zimbabweans working here have lost their jobs, while others have fled back to Zimbabwe,” Simiso Sibanda, based in Johannesburg, told TNH. “It is safe to say that COVID-19 has disrupted many things.”

The Zimbabwean embassy in South Africa says it has been inundated with distress calls from Zimbabweans asking for help to return home. The UN’s emergency aid coordination office, OCHA, said in its latest bulletin it was expecting an influx of 8,000 Zimbabwean migrants from neighbouring countries – with numbers set to rise in the coming months.

Rural needs

The crisis is far from just being an urban problem. Zimbabwe essentially has a rain-fed agricultural economy, but the country has experienced drought in three of the last five growing seasons. As a result, 1.1 million people in rural areas have reached “emergency” levels of hunger usually associated with war zones.

And it’s likely to get worse. The harvest of early planted crops is below average, according to FEWS NET, a US-funded famine monitor. Pasture for livestock is “deteriorating fast” and livestock losses are being reported.

A total of seven million Zimbabweans in rural and urban areas are currently in need of food aid, and the World Food Programme is reaching just over three million of them. The government’s food safety net operations struggle to cover the remainder.

In response to the country’s swelling needs, the government has launched a $720 million economic rescue plan – but it doesn’t yet know how to pay for it. The initiative, which represents nine percent of the country’s GDP, aims to revive small- and medium-sized enterprises, expand health delivery services, and provide relief to the millions in need.

In a bid to win external backing, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube wrote in April to the heads of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank warning that COVID-19 was the final blow and appealing for help to avoid economic collapse – which, he said, could threaten regional security.

While other vulnerable countries have been able to access billions of dollars in emergency COVID-19 credit, Zimbabwe cannot: its $2 billion of arrears to the World Bank and the African Development Bank make it ineligible for further funding or debt forgiveness.

Zimbabwe, nevertheless, is looking for a loan to clear the backlog. In return, Ncube – who admitted to “recent policy missteps” in his letter – offered to implement economic reforms long-sought by donors.

That is a nod to the “corruption and the cartels” that have scuppered earlier promises of reform, the president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, Peter Mutasa, told TNH. Those “missteps” included payouts queried by the IMF to the fuel importer Sakunda, a company that enjoys a close relationship to the ruling party.

Kindness Paradza, chair of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the government isn’t getting enough credit for the economic measures it has already put in place.

“Despite being under sanctions, Zimbabwe has managed to pay off its debt to the IMF, and, for some reason, many people choose to ignore that fact,” he told TNH.

The World Bank this month granted $7 million to help Zimbabwe fight coronavirus, using a trust fund to circumvent its own rules, and the African Development Bank has approved a further $13.7 million grant to strengthen the underfunded health system.

But that is well short of the amount Zimbabwe is looking for. “Very little is coming from external sources, and the government is essentially on its own,” said Kanyenze.

Without donor assistance, Ncube warned that Zimbabwe would resort to printing money – a move Kanyenze described as “a recipe for disaster”. Independent analysts believe the real rate of inflation is already double the official figure.

For Kanyenze, “the crisis is an opportunity for everyone to close ranks and come together, and the starting point is political dialogue”.

But that would involve negotiations between ZANU-PF, Zimbabwe’s opposition – which accuses the ruling party of systematically rigging elections – and civil society, with a role too for the influential church as mediators. And there is hardly any dialogue right now, Kanyenze noted, adding: “Zimbabwe is highly polarised, even at this time of COVID.”

Government Gazettes Update: 25th April to 18th May – The Zimbabwean

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Government Gazettes Update: 25th April to 18th May

This bulletin lists and briefly outlines the content of Statutory Instruments [SIs] and some General Notices [GNs] published in Government Gazettes from 25th April to 18th May 2020.  Those SIs on which Veritas has already commented have links to the relevant Bill Watch bulletins.

Gazettes Extraordinary 25th April to 7th May

During this period the Government Printer continued publishing Gazettes Extraordinary only.  This meant that there was no publication of the normal Friday legal notices about name changes, companies, deceased estates, etc.  It also meant a substantial reduction in the number of gazetted tender notices, although a few tender notices from Ministries and state-controlled entities appeared in these Gazettes Extraordinary.

Wednesday 29th April

SI 96/2020 [link] – Deferral of Rent and Mortgage payments during COVID-19 National Lockdown

This SI contains regulations, made by the President under the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, provides for a moratorium on rent and mortgage payments during the National Lockdown, and bans eviction from premises for failure to make such payments.  In Bill Watch 24/2020 of 5th May [link] Veritas, with permission, set out and endorsed the Law Society of Zimbabwe’s published critique of the impact and legitimacy of these regulations, and added a few criticisms of our own.  See also SI 97/2020 noted below for an amendment to these regulations gazetted only a few days later.

Thursday 30th April

GN 688/2020 [link] – Amendment to Clemency Order No 1/2020 re remission of prison sentences

This Gazette contained one General Notice [GN] only, making extensive amendments to Clemency Order 1/2020 signed by the President on 24th March [GN 673/2020 gazetted on 27th March 2020 [link].  Paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 of the original order were  replaced;  paragraph 11(d) was amended;  and a new paragraph 10A was inserted granting remission to

(1) all blind inmates. and

(2) other disabled inmates so physically challenged that they cannot be catered for in a prison or correctional environment.

As these amendments significantly increased the number of prisoners benefiting from remission of their sentences, we have prepared a consolidated version [link] of the Clemency Order reflecting the changes made – but also preserving the previous wording in footnotes.  The footnotes will be an aid to understanding how the categories of beneficiaries have been extended.

Comment: GN 688 improved the lot of women and juvenile prisoners by deleting GN 673’s requirement that to qualify for full remission of sentence they should have served at least half or one-third, respectively, of their sentences.  Similarly, GN 688 reduced from one-half to one-quarter the portion of sentence already served that would qualify a prisoner with a sentence of 3 years or less for full remission of sentence. 

But this approach was not applied to the commutation of death sentences to life imprisonment, as it could have been.  The 10-years on death row qualifying period fixed by GN 673 – itself repeated from an earlier clemency exercise – was left intact. 

Saturday 2nd May

SI 97/2020 [link] – Amendment of Deferral of Rent and Mortgage Payments regulations – Creation of criminal offence

This SI added a new “offence and penalty” section to the principal regulations in SI 96/2020 [see above], making it a criminal offence for any person to cause or force the eviction of a tenant or mortgagor protected under SI 96/2020 for asserting his or her rights under the moratorium.  This was a response to complaints that landlords were taking no notice of the ban on eviction for non-payment, and that the police were powerless to protect tenants in the absence of an offence and penalty provision.

SI 98/220 [link] – COVID-19 Regulations Amendment (No. 2)

This SI amends the regulations gazetted in SI 77/2020.  See Bill Watch 23/2020 for more detail [link].

SI 99/2020 [link] – National Lockdown Order Amendment (No. 5)

This SI amends the lockdown order gazetted in SI 83/2020, including extending the lockdown until midnight on Sunday 17th May.  See Bill Watch 23/2020 for more detail [link].

Monday 4th May

SI 100/2020 [link] – Excise Duties on Petroleum Fuels Amended

This SI amended, with effect from 5th May, the rates of excise duty applicable to petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Tuesday 5th May

SI 101/2020 [link] – National Lockdown Order Amendment (No. 6)

This SI amends the lockdown order gazetted in SI 83/2020.  See Bill Watch 25/2020 for more detail [link].

Wednesday 6th May

SI 102/2020 [link] – National Lockdown Order Amendment (No. 7)

This SI amends the lockdown order gazetted in SI 83/2020.  See Bill Watch 26/2020 for more detail [link].

SI 103/2020 [link] – COVID-19 Regulations Amendment (No. 3)

This SI amends the regulations gazetted in SI 77/2020. See Bill Watch 26/2020 for more detail [link].

Regular Gazette 44 of Friday 8th May

This Gazette marked the resumption by the Government Printer of publication of the regular weekly Friday Gazette.  There were no SIs.

Gazettes Extraordinary of 8th and 14th May

Friday 8th May

This Gazette contained many GNs listening registered suppliers under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act and regulations.

Thursday 14th May

SI 103A/2020 [link] – New Ten and Twenty Zimbabwe Dollar Notes

By this SI the Minister of Finance and Economic Development gazetted the President’s authorisation to the Reserve Bank to issue new ten and twenty Zimbabwe dollar notes conforming to the specifications of colour, design and security features stated in the notice.

Regular Gazette 46 of 15th May

SI 104/2020 [link] – Collective Bargaining Agreement: Agricultural Industry: Tea and Coffee Sector

New wages in ZWL$ with effect from 1st November 2019.

SI 105/2020 [link] – Collective Bargaining Agreement: Agricultural Industry: Timber Sector

New wages in ZWL$ with effect from 1st November 2019.

SI 106/2020 [link] – Customs  and Excise Suspension for SKD tricycle kits

This SI adds a new section 9LL to the principal regulations.  It provides for a suspension of customs duty on semi-knocked down (SKD) tricycle kits imported by approved assemblers.

SI 107/2020 [link] – Customs and Excise Suspension Regulations: Amendment No. 231

This SI specifies mining location ME547-577, held by Rockrange Investments (Pvt) Ltd for purposes of section 9K of the principal regulations [3-year suspension of duty for capital development of a mine].

SI 108/2020 [link] – NSSA Pensions & Other Benefits Scheme – Rates of Benefits Notice Amendment No. 27 – “Increases” in Benefits

Before getting round to “increasing” pensions and benefits, this SI raises the rate of contributions from both employer and employee from 3½% to 4½% of employee’s insurable monthly earnings, with effect from 1st January 2020.  The newly specified amounts for pensions and benefits are stated in ZWL$ amounts and replace amounts previously stated in US$.  For instance, in section 3(b) of  the SI the minimum invalidity pension is formally changed from US$ 30 to ZWL$ 80;  it is only possible to regard this as an increase by reminding oneself that President Mnangagwa had in February 2019, by SI 33/2019, deemed US$ amounts specified in Acts and statutory instruments to be the same amounts in RTGS/ZWL$ – a feat of legislative legerdemain later confirmed by Parliament by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 [link].  Note: A different provision in SI 33/2019 was recently declared unconstitutional by Justice Zhou in a High Court case, but the Minister of Finance and Economic Development has said the Government will appeal against his decision. 

SI 109/2020 [link] – NSSA Accident Prevention & Workers Compensation Scheme (Prescribed Matters) Amendment – Increased benefits

This SI “increases” [see entry above] to ZWL$ 2 000,00 the funeral benefit for a worker who dies in an accident.  Where a worker injured in an accident subsequently dies, NSSA will appoint a funeral services provider under a new provision.  With effect from 1st October pensions on the payroll will be increased by 200% (or more, if that is necessary to bring them up to the new minimum pensions for workers (ZWL$240), widow/widower (ZWL$160), children (ZWL$30) or dependants (ZWL$53.33).

Gazette Extraordinary Sunday 17th May

SI 110/2020 [link] – National Lockdown Order Amendment No. 8: Lockdown extended indefinitely – but with relaxations

This SI is summarised in Bill Watch 29/2020 dated 17th May [link].

Gazette Extraordinary Monday 18th May

The two GNs making up this Gazette may be of interest to those with concerns about the Government’s procurement processes for COVID-19 essentials.  The GNs notify Shortlisted Suppliers to the National Pharmaceutical Company [NatPharm] as at 18th May 2020. Both GNs invite parties interested in being added to the lists to contact NatPharm.

GN 861/2020 [link] – Personal protective equipment [PPE]

This GN lists not only the names of the shortlisted suppliers, but also the quantities involved, unit price, total price, country of manufacture and in some cases name of manufacturer.

GN 862/2020 [link] – Detergents, medical and surgical sundries

This GN, unlike SI 861 above, gives no details of unit price and total price.

Reminder: Documents Available on Veritas website

All SIs, GNs and Bill Watch bulletins referred to above are available for downloading on the Veritas website using the hyperlinks indicated.

Consolidated versions of the COVID-19 regulations [link] and the National Lockdown Order [link], incorporating the latest amendments, are also available on the website.

Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied.

Post published in: Featured

Zimbabwe COVID-19 Lockdown Monitoring Report: 19 May 2020 – Day 51 – The Zimbabwean

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Excerpts from reports generated by Community Radio Harare have also been incorporated in this report.

3.0       Emerging issues 
           3.1       General updates
In Chitungwiza, it was reported that some teachers have resorted to conducting extra lessons at a cost ranging from ZWL500 per week in their homes. It was reported that students are being taught from as early as 5.30 am – 7 am to avoid detection by law enforcement officers.

In Nyanga at Avilla Mission, pregnant women in the maternity ward were requested to pay USD60 for them to be transported to Nyanga District Hospital. It was reported that Avilla Mission currently does not have midwives hence the need to transport pregnant women to Nyanga District Hospital. Given the current economic conditions which have been acerbated by the COVID-19 lockdown, most women cannot afford the transportation cost. Some of the women resorted to using ox-drawn scotch carts for their transportation.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Mr Nick Mangwana reported that per the latest regulations, low risk sports are now allowed to take place, provided those competing and those spectating have been screened and tested for COVID-19. According to the regulations, low risk sports include archery, tennis, golf, motorsports, darts and. The gatherings should not exceed 50 people.

In the Harare suburb of Glenview, community members who were not wearing face masks were denied entry into shops. It was also reported that most of the people loitering in the streets were not wearing face mask, including police officers who were enforcing the lockdown. At Specimen Shopping Centre, scores of vendors were observed from as early as 7am, and there were running battles with law enforcement officers in the area. Drug abuse has been reported in the area due to the inactivity of youths most of whom are informal traders and touts who have since been rendered redundant by the current COVID-19 measures.

The Masvingo Mirror reported that twelve (12) employees from Gonarezhou National Park have tested positive to COVID-19 following tests done on Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) kits at a private laboratory in Chiredzi. The 12 were among 62 employees from Gonarezhou who went for mandatory Pre-Industrial tests at Lancet Laboratory. However, the cases have not yet been confirmed by the Ministry of Health and Child Care as the workers were then subjected to the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests whose results were still pending.

               3.2       The right to food and water
Water challenges continue to plague high density suburbs nationally. In Majange in Masvingo, Tynward, Tafara, Kambuzuma, Glenview and Kuwadzana in Harare, residents receive tap water at most two days a week. Various stakeholders including the Harare City Council have resorted to providing water bowsers for residence to acquire potable water. However, chaos has constantly erupted as residence try to fetch water from the bowsers. Social distancing measures are not followed as people try their chances of getting supply.

In some areas, such as Magwegwe in Bulawayo, community members wake up as early as 3am to fetch water at community boreholes.

In Bindura, it was reported that vulnerable community members are on the verge of starvation since the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare has stopped conducting food distributions in the area. It was reported that the elderly and the disabled only received ZWL179,99 cash pay-outs via OneMoney mobile money service on 26 April. Given the continuous increase in prices of basic commodities, the money they received as part of the COVID-19 relief program cannot sustain them for any meaningful period.

             3.3       Destruction of vending stalls and property  
In Mbare in Harare, vendors and informal traders whose vending stalls were demolished have started to trickle back to their vending and trading sites. The government promised to allocate vendors new vending sites. However, the indefinite extension of the Level 2 national lockdown is seeing some vendors gradually beginning to trade illegally. Running battles between law enforcement officers and informal traders are now the order of the day.

In Epworth in Harare, more than twenty families including children at Domboremaziso were left homeless after the Epworth Local Board demolished their homes to pave way for other construction. The residents claim that they were not served any notice of eviction. Residence were observed removing whatever remained of construction materials including roofing sheets and windowpanes. The incident has left residents exposed to low temperatures precipitated by the winter season.

3.4       Mandatory testing and quarantine
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Mr Nick Mangwana indicated four (4) returnees from South Africa, believed to have been recently released from prison, are now quarantined for an unspecified period in Remand Prison after their arrest for theft and violence while at a quarantine centre in Beitbridge.

Mangwana also reported that Madziwa Teachers College quarantine centre in Mashonaland Central now has a total of 41 returnees. Six (6) new returnees arrived – 2 from Botswana, 3 from South Africa and 1 from Mozambique – as the latest additions at the centre. Twenty (20) people at the centre are awaiting their test results.

In Mashonaland West, Chegutu District’s Mupfure College quarantine centre is now operational. The quarantine centre received 3 females and a baby boy from South Africa and Mozambique.

            3.5       Transport challenges
Transport challenges continue to plague community members traveling to work. In Glenview, community members indicated that ZUPCO bus operators are not adhering to the COVID-19 measures relating to social distancing. Community members also indicated that ZUPCO buses are not adhering to the requisite timetables. This has fuelled delays and long queues of passengers at the majority of bus termini. The situation has been worsened by the fact that only a few ZUPCO buses are in operation. In Harare CBD, long queues of people waiting for ZUPCO busses and transport were observed. Some people ended up walking to their respective homes in Mbare and Sunningdale. Many have called on the government to take introduce more ZUPCO busses and to reintroduce commuter omnibuses.

Amidst the transport challenges, a joint operation by the army and police officers cleared the Harare CBD around 5.30 pm. It was reported that the operation was implemented in response to the continuous defiance of the national lockdown by citizens in the Harare CBD. Most food outlets particularly Pizza Inn were swamped with customers as a result of a weekly promotion.

4.0       Update on the abduction and torture of MDC Alliance youth leaders
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) issued a press statement dated 18 May 2020 on the abduction and torture of Harare West MP Joana Mamombe together with MDC Alliance Youth Assembly leaders Cecelia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova.  The Commission indicated that it had launched an investigation into the abduction and torture of the trio as articulated under section 243 (1), (d), (e) and (f) of the Constitution. The preliminary findings of their investigations confirm that the trio was indeed abducted, tortured and subjected to conditions that impaired their dignity. The Commission further condemned the abduction as a grave violation of the right to personal liberty guaranteed under section 49 of the Constitution. The ZHRC further noted that despite the violation of the national lockdown regulations by the trio, they were still entitled to their human dignity and other rights as articulated under section 50 of the Constitution for the rights of arrested and detained persons.

To this effect, the ZHRC recommended that ZRP officers respect human rights of arrested persons by not assaulting or torturing suspects. The Commission recommended that the MDC Alliance appraises their members of the lockdown regulations and to resort to lawful means of resolving grievances. The ZHRC further recommended that the government of Zimbabwe ratifies the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment. The ZHRC also recommended the Parliament to operationalisation the Independent Complaints Mechanism to receive and investigate complaints from the public about the misconduct of members of the security services and remedying any harm caused by such misconduct as articulated under section 210 of the Constitution. The Commission further called upon members of the public with relevant information pertaining to the abduction and torture of the trio to contact the Commission.

5.0       Summary of violations
The table below summarises human rights violations documented by the Forum Secretariat and Forum Members from 30 March to 19 May 2020.

6.0       Conclusion
The Forum calls on the government and local authorities to provide potable water for community members since COVID-19 measures require constant hygiene. The Forum also reiterates the need to improve the transport situation in the country to allow social distancing in public transport. In light of food shortages, the Forum calls upon the government to increase the distribution of food aid under the COVID-19 food relief program.

Jones Day Has A Decision To Make — See Also

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Online LSAT Is Glitchy… So OBVIOUSLY The Takeaway Is To Never Try Online Bar Exams

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Yesterday, Michigan joined Indiana in offering an online bar exam this summer in lieu of forcing students to pack into a convention center. Right on queue, the first online administration of the LSAT offered welcome news for online haters with tales of glitchy security problems — exactly the sort of stumbling blocks that the NCBE claims prevents them from moving the UBE online.

As Law.com has it:

Most of criticism leveled by early LSAT Flex takers on the popular online forum discussion Reddit was directed toward the online proctors, which were supplied by ProctorU—a third-party test security vendor. ProctorU provides live proctors who monitor test takers through the cameras and microphones of each taker’s computer. ProctorU also uses artificial intelligence and humans to review recorded video from those computers to catch cheating. But some Reddit users said their proctors were an hour or more late to log them into the test, leaving them hanging at an already stressful time.

This tracks what we heard from tipsters, who also identified ProctorU as the weak link:

Just finished taking the LSAT-Flex. Apparently, lots of people had a long wait for a proctor after they signed in. Other people are talking about issues with proctoring. My proctor took over my cursor for several minutes during the analytical reasoning section. A friend’s proctor disappeared and she isn’t sure if her test submitted while another person’s test just shut off in section 1 and when she tried to re open it it said test submitted and the proctor was gone.

So much for the panopticon.

While we’re going to hear a lot about these breakdowns, the real lesson to draw from this is that the test ran pretty smoothly all things considered. This process was rushed into place due to the pandemic and frankly it’s impressive it worked at all. There are definitely folks with vested interests in maintaining the bar exam status quo, but glitches are invitations to more experimentation, not support for shutting everything down.

If people want a full-complement bar exam in 2020, they’ll need to offer it online. It’s as simple as that. Figure out how to get the proctoring right because failure isn’t really an option here. The longer states drag out this decision, the more difficult it will be to have a real exam.

Online LSAT Makes Its Debut—With a Few Glitches [Law.com]

HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

Biglaw Firm Announces More Austerity Measures — Attorney Layoffs And Salary Cuts

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After already announcing monthly partner distributions would be capped and retirement benefits cut, Dorsey & Whitney has gone back to the austerity measures drawing board. Yesterday, in a firmwide video call, additional cost-cutting — in the form of layoffs and salary cuts — were announced.

As a tipster at the firm tells Above the Law, the salary cuts are in ranges for those making over $150,000 and, it what many perceive as a change in course, announced an unspecified number of layoffs of both attorneys and staff:

Dorsey Whitney announced an unspecified number of terminations (attorneys and staff) and salary cuts in a video from the managing partner yesterday. Salary cuts are: 10-20% for income partners, 15-20% for of counsel, “generally” 15% for associates (with opportunity for true-up at end of year), 15-20% for management level staff making over $150k. No explanation was given for the vague ranges. The firm had been discussing the possibility of salary cuts for weeks and even solicited associate feedback on the matter, but had until now signaled strongly that they were not considering layoffs at this time.

And a shortened, virtual summer associate program and a delayed start for the new class of associates is also being implemented:

Additionally, early this morning, the incoming first year associates were informed that their start dates would be deferred to January 2021, and the summer associate class will be entirely virtual.

As reported by Law360, the firm provided comment on the cuts:

“After intense deliberation, we made these hard decisions so that we will continue to be a strong, efficient law firm,” Dorsey & Whitney managing partner Bill Stoeri said in a statement. “I am extremely grateful to all of those who have served the firm, and for those who will continue to work to serve our clients in this new environment.”

The firm also said billable hour guidelines for associates would be reduced for the year and there will be special productivity bonuses for especially busy attorneys.

If your firm or organization is slashing salaries, closing its doors, or reducing the ranks of its lawyers or staff, whether through open layoffs, stealth layoffs, or voluntary buyouts, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Our vast network of tipsters is part of what makes Above the Law thrive. You can email us or text us (646-820-8477).

If you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Layoff Alerts, please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the layoff alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each layoff, salary cut, or furlough announcement that we publish.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

Advice For In-House Attorneys That Have Lost Their Jobs To COVID-19

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No. 1 is if they haven’t already developed a social media presence to do so through building up a personal brand, which I will probably be speaking about or tweeting about in the future. I would also say that you’re not alone. I and plenty of others are here to help and support you to the extent that we can. And network. Continue to chat with people. Continue to learn about what others are doing, learn from them about how they’ve gotten through other difficult times in their careers. And really focus on what makes you happy and what you really want to be doing and then relentlessly pursue avenues that will help you achieve that goal. 

— Colin Levy, former General Counsel at Salary.com, tells Corporate Counsel what he would tell other in-house attorneys who have also lost their jobs. Levy’s frank Tweet about getting let go amid a pandemic is making the rounds, and gives a glimpse into the personal impact of businesses’ austerity measures.