Category: News Feeds

MASVINGO
–
A
small
plane
crashed
in
a
mountainous
area
between
Zaka
and
Bikita
districts
in
Masvingo
province
on
Sunday
morning,
killing
the
pilot.

Witnesses
said
the
aircraft
caught
fire
on
impact.
It
had
two
people
on
board
–
the
pilot
and
his
wife,
who
survived
with
severe
leg
injuries.

Some
locals
claimed
the
couple
are
Australians.

Investigators
from
the
Civil
Aviation
Authority
of
Zimbabwe
(CAAZ)
have
been
dispatched
to
the
scene
to
investigate
the
crash.

The
plane
went
down
in
Nyoka
Village,
about
85km
southeast
of
Masvingo.

Videos
from
the
accident
scene
showed
the
aircraft
among
trees
and
tall
grass,
broken
into
several
pieces
with
a
large
section
of
the
fuselage
engulfed
in
flames.

One
witness
said
the
woman
appeared
to
have
been
ejected
from
the
aircraft
before
impact.
Both
her
legs
were
broken.
She
was
rushed
to
hospital
and
her
current
condition
is
not
known.

The
pilot
was
trapped
in
the
wreckage
and
suffered
severe
burns
to
the
lower
part
of
his
body
“up
to
his
chest
area.”
He
died
before
rescuers
could
free
him.

Police
are
expected
to
release
a
statement
on
Monday.

HARARE
–
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
has
appointed
a
tribunal
to
investigate
whether
High
Court
judge
Never
Katiyo
should
be
removed
from
office
over
allegations
of
gross
misconduct.

The
tribunal
will
be
chaired
by
retired
judge
Maphios
Cheda
and
will
also
include
legal
practitioners
Tafadzwa
Hungwe
and
Chaka
Mashoko.

This
follows
a
recommendation
from
the
Judicial
Service
Commission
(JSC),
which
advised
the
president
in
October
2025
that
the
matter
should
be
formally
investigated.

Delays
in
the
appointment
of
the
tribunal
had
angered
lawyers,
with
Beatrice
Mtetwa
writing
to
the
Attorney
General
in
January
this
year
stating
that
it
was
“undesirable
that
any
litigant
should
be
required
to
appear
before
a
judge
whose
conduct
has
been
found
sufficiently
concerning
for
the
JSC
to
recommend
a
tribunal.”

Mtetwa
said
her
firm
represents
a
litigant
in
a
High
Court
matter
in
which
Justice
Katiyo
allegedly
incorporated
into
a
judgement
matters
that
had
not
been
placed
before
the
court.
Although
the
JSC
acknowledged
receipt
of
the
complaint
in
2024
and
indicated
it
would
be
investigated,
no
outcome
was
communicated.

Katiyo
is
also
accused
of
issuing
a
fictitious
judgement
and
making
a
procedural
violation
in
a
politically
sensitive
case.

It
is
alleged
that
in
July
last
year,
the
judge
handed
down
a
fabricated
ruling
in
a
property
dispute
between
Bulgarian
company
Technoimpex
JSC
and
a
local
firm,
a
judgement
which
falsely
recorded
that
a
hearing
had
taken
place
and
that
senior
Advocate
Thabani
Mpofu
had
appeared
for
one
of
the
parties.

Mpofu
denied
ever
participating
in
the
case,
prompting
Katiyo
to
take
the
extraordinary
step
of
rescinding
his
own
judgement,
acknowledging
that
it
had
been
“erroneously
issued.”

The
withdrawal,
dated
August
7,
2025,
raised
serious
questions
about
judicial
integrity
and
due
process.

Barely
a
week
later,
the
same
judge
came
under
fresh
scrutiny
after
granting
the
National
Prosecuting
Authority
(NPA)
leave
to
appeal
in
a
politically
charged
case
before
the
deadline
to
file
opposing
papers
had
expired,
a
breach
of
court
rules
that
lawyers
described
as
“a
blatant
violation
of
procedure.”

The
case
involved
opposition
politician
Maureen
Kademaunga
and
several
others
who
were
acquitted
of
attacking
Zanu
PF
supporters
in
2024.
On
August
8,
2025,
Justice
Katiyo
granted
the
NPA’s
application
for
leave
to
appeal
four
days
after
it
was
filed,
despite
respondents
having
until
August
20
to
file
their
responses.

Legal
practitioners
said
the
ruling
“was
granted
in
error
and
to
the
prejudice
of
the
respondents,”
and
demanded
its
rescission
under
Rule
29(1)(a)
of
the
High
Court
Rules.

Mnangagwa,
in
a
notice
published
in
the
government
gazette
last
Friday,
said:
“I
do,
by
this
proclamation,
establish
a
Tribunal
to
inquire
into
the
question
of
removal
from
office
of
the
Honourable
Justice
Never
Katiyo.”

According
to
the
proclamation,
the
inquiry
will
run
for
five
months
from
the
date
the
members
are
sworn
in.
The
tribunal
must
then
submit
its
findings
to
the
president
within
a
month
after
completing
the
hearings.

Cheda’s
panel
will
also
look
into
whether
the
judge
attempted
to
frustrate
investigations
by
rescinding
a
judgement
after
receiving
a
memorandum
from
the
Chief
Justice.

Mnangagwa
said
the
tribunal
would
determine
whether
the
judge’s
conduct
amounts
to
gross
misconduct
and
whether
he
is
“fit
to
hold
office
in
the
light
of
the
foregoing.”

Under
Section
187
of
the
constitution,
a
judge
may
only
be
removed
from
office
for
inability
to
perform
duties
due
to
physical
or
mental
incapacity,
gross
incompetence
or
gross
misconduct.

The
inquiry
may
be
conducted
either
in
public
or
in
private
depending
on
what
the
tribunal
considers
appropriate.
Its
final
report
will
recommend
to
the
president
whether
Justice
Katiyo
should
remain
on
the
bench
or
be
removed
from
office.

Justice
Katiyo
was
controversially
appointed
a
judge
by
President
Mnangagwa
in
2021
after
allegedly
scoring
lowly
in
public
interviews
for
judges
conducted
by
the
JSC.

He
previously
worked
as
a
magistrate
in
Chinhoyi
and
was
legal
affairs
director
in
the
ministry
of
industry
and
commerce
immediately
before
his
appointment
as
a
judge.

HARARE
—
The
High
Court
has
temporarily
halted
the
rape
trial
of
Walter
Magaya,
founder
of
Prophetic,
Healing
and
Deliverance
(PHD)
Ministries,
pending
the
determination
of
a
legal
challenge
to
a
magistrate’s
decision
to
conduct
the
proceedings
in
a
Victim
Friendly
Court.

Justice
Tawanda
Chitapi,
sitting
in
the
High
Court
at
Harare,
issued
the
stay
by
consent
on
Friday
following
an
urgent
chamber
application
filed
by
Magaya’s
legal
team.

The
criminal
proceedings
before
Regional
Magistrate
Estere
Chivasa
are
now
suspended
pending
the
outcome
of
a
review
application
Magaya
filed
before
the
High
Court
on
February
27.

Magaya,
42,
faces
three
counts
of
rape.
The
alleged
victims
aged
24,
22,
and
21
are
all
former
congregants
or
associates
of
his
church.
He
denies
all
charges.

The
legal
battle
began
on
February
16,
the
first
day
set
down
for
trial,
when
the
prosecution
applied
–
on
the
strength
of
oral
submissions
by
its
counsel
alone
–
for
the
matter
to
be
transferred
to
the
Victim
Friendly
Court
and
heard
in
camera.

The
state
argued
that
the
complainants,
as
church
members
who
faced
the
prospect
of
sitting
in
the
same
room
as
their
alleged
rapist,
were
vulnerable
witnesses
who
would
suffer
substantial
emotional
stress
in
an
open
court
setting.

Magaya
contested
the
National
Prosecuting
Authority’s
characterisation
of
the
complainants
as
vulnerable
witnesses,
pointing
out
that
they
are
adult
women
in
their
early
twenties
who
lodged
their
complaints
years
after
the
alleged
incidents
and
only
after
the
police
made
public
appeals.

He
maintains
that
the
entire
prosecution
is
the
product
of
a
coordinated
effort
to
solicit
complaints
against
him.

Magistrate
Chivasa
granted
the
application
without
interviewing
the
alleged
victims,
without
receiving
affidavit
or
psychological
evidence,
and
without
conducting
the
independent
inquiry
mandated
by
Section
319C(1)
of
the
Criminal
Procedure
and
Evidence
Act,
says
Magaya’s
defence.

In
her
ruling,
she
said
the
witnesses
“clearly”
appeared
to
be
vulnerable
based
on
what
she
had
“heard
from
the
state
counsel
and
from
the
state
outline
that
has
been
filed
in
the
record,”
adding
that
she
believed
the
prosecution’s
account
that
the
witnesses
had
been
interviewed.

Magaya’s
defence
team,
led
by
Admire
Rubaya,
attacked
that
ruling
as
a
gross
irregularity.
In
his
founding
affidavit,
Magaya
characterised
the
magistrate’s
decision
as
“not
adjudication
–
that
is
abdication,”
arguing
that
the
magistrate
had
“swallowed
the
state
counsel’s
say-so
hook,
line,
and
sinker”
and
had,
in
the
process,
surrendered
her
independence
and
compromised
his
constitutional
right
to
a
fair
trial.

The
defence
further
argued
that
relocating
the
proceedings
to
the
Victim
Friendly
Court
where
witnesses
testify
through
intermediaries
would
severely
curtail
its
ability
to
cross-examine
witnesses
directly
and
assess
their
credibility,
and
that
the
right
to
a
public
trial
under
section
69(1)
of
the
constitution
is
a
non-derogable
right
that
admits
no
limitation.

With
the
trial
having
been
set
to
resume
on
March
12,
and
the
prosecution
having
declined
to
voluntarily
postpone
it
pending
the
review,
Magaya’s
lawyers
filed
the
urgent
chamber
application
for
a
stay
of
proceedings.

Justice
Chitapi
granted
the
order
by
consent,
with
the
National
Prosecuting
Authority
not
opposing.

The
court
has
now
case-managed
the
underlying
review
application
on
a
firm
timetable.
The
respondents
–
magistrate
Chivasa
and
the
Prosecutor
General
–
are
required
to
file
their
responses
March
13.
Magaya
has
until
March
20
to
file
an
answering
affidavit,
and
until
March
27
to
file
heads
of
argument.

The
respondents
must
file
their
heads
of
argument
by
April
7,
Magaya
must
consolidate
the
full
record
by
April
10,
and
the
matter
is
set
down
before
Justice
Chitapi
for
hearing
on
May
14.

The
relief
Magaya
seeks
in
the
review
is
threefold:
that
the
magistrate’s
ruling
directing
a
Victim
Friendly
Court
trial
be
set
aside;
that
the
matter
be
remitted
for
trial
in
an
open
court
before
a
different
regional
magistrate;
and,
ultimately,
a
final
order
confirming
the
stay
of
proceedings
pending
finalisation
of
the
review.

Magaya
was
first
arraigned
before
the
Harare
Magistrates’
Court
on
January
26
this
year
on
four
counts
of
rape
after
police
made
a
call
for
potential
victims
to
come
forward
in
November
2025.
Three
of
those
counts
are
now
before
the
regional
court.

The
charge
sheet
refers
to
incidents
allegedly
occurring
in
July
2020
and
in
2023
at
rooms
in
Magaya’s
Yadah
Hotel
in
Waterfalls,
Harare.

The
matter
returns
to
the
High
Court
on
May
14.

Addressing
a
ZANU-PF
Masvingo
Provincial
Coordinating
Committee
(PCC)
meeting
at
Robert
Mugabe
School
of
Education,
Mudenda
warned
that
some
NGOs
were
straying
from
their
mandate
and
getting
involved
in
politics
in
a
bid
to
push
what
he
described
as
a
regime
change
agenda.

He
said
party
members
should
carefully
monitor
NGOs
to
make
sure
their
activities
align
with
the
country’s
national
goals.
Said
Mudenda:

“In
terms
of
Section
105
of
the
Party
Constitution,
the
PCC
is
mandated
to
monitor
and
recommend
political
and
development
programmes
and
initiatives
in
the
province
so
as
to
foster
an
integrated
approach
among
the
party,
Government
and
other
stakeholders
in
the
implementation
of
such
programmes.

“You
should
monitor
all
NGOs.
Be
very
careful,
some
of
them
come
in
a
sheep’s
skin
and
start
to
deviate
from
their
mandate,
dabbling
in
politics.

“You
should
Know
them
and
make
sure
that
all
what
they
do
aligns
with
the
national
development.”

The
Private
Voluntary
Organisations
(PVO)
Amendment
Act
was
signed
into
law
on
11
April
2025.

The
legislation
grants
the
state
broad
powers
to
oversee,
audit,
and
suspend
NGOs,
placing
organisations
involved
in
governance,
human
rights,
and
advocacy
at
particular
risk

Engineers
say
some
bridges
had
become
partially
blocked
by
sand
deposits
following
heavy
rains,
reducing
the
capacity
of
waterways
beneath
the
structures
and
raising
concerns
about
flooding
and
road
safety.

The
work
was
highlighted
during
a
media
tour
of
infrastructure
projects
in
the
province
on
Thursday
led
by
the
Minister
of
Transport
and
Infrastructural
Development,
Felix
Mhona.

Provincial
Roads
Engineer
Mangisi
Nkomo
said
inspections
found
that
sand
had
completely
filled
the
waterway
of
at
least
one
bridge.

“Our
bridge
up
to
depth
level
is
around
1.8
metres,
and
the
entire
1.8
metres
waterway
has
been
covered
by
sand,”
he
said.
“So
we
prescribed
that
the
contractor
do
desiltation.”

Eng
Nkomo
said
engineers
had
initially
considered
installing
culvert
pipes
on
top
of
the
bridge
as
a
temporary
measure
to
improve
water
flow,
but
the
plan
was
abandoned
because
of
the
current
rainy
season.

“We
actually
had
two
interventions
which
we
had
proposed,
that
is
putting
some
culvert
pipes
on
top
of
the
bridge,
but
because
we
are
going
through
a
wet
season
we
cannot
put
a
detour,
so
we
resorted
to
desilting,”
he
said.

Under
the
current
plan,
contractors
will
remove
sand
up
to
100
metres
on
either
side
of
the
bridge
and
across
a
40-metre
width
of
the
river
in
an
effort
to
reopen
the
waterway.

Officials
say
the
move
is
intended
to
reduce
the
risk
of
flooding
and
protect
the
structure
from
possible
damage.

The
Minister
of
Local
Government
and
Public
Works,
Daniel
Garwe,
also
raised
safety
concerns
about
some
of
the
bridges
in
the
area,
noting
that
several
were
narrow.

“It
will
be
necessary
to
put
some
sign
posts
because
some
of
the
bridges
are
very
narrow.
There
are
certain
things
that
we
can’t
change
when
it’s
too
late,”
he
said.

Eng
Nkomo
said
authorities
would
ensure
adequate
signage
was
installed
to
warn
motorists
and
improve
safety
along
the
route.

The
desilting
exercise
forms
part
of
wider
infrastructure
works
in
the
Maphisa
area
as
the
government
prepares
to
host
this
year’s
national
Independence
Day
commemorations
there,
with
officials
focusing
on
ensuring
roads
and
related
infrastructure
remain
usable
for
visitors
and
residents
expected
to
attend
the
celebrations.