TheNewsHawks
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Presidential spokesman George Charamba - who has served decades in the corridors of power - found himself caught in a familiar communication dilemma yet again when his immediate boss President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputy Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga used the same Shona expression, "mazvake mazvake", in their polarised addresses to the just-ended Zanu PF Annual National People's Conference in Chinhoyi on Saturday, with some people suggesting he had written or influenced both, trying to serve two masters at the same time. He was accused of influencing both rival speeches in which Mnangagwa, clearly referring to Chiwenga, said "MuZanu PF hakuna mazvake mazvake (there is no room for individualism or pursuit of personal agendas in Zanu PF". He appeared to be responding to what Chiwenga had earlier said in a scathing speech while introducing him to the conference. Chiwenga said "mazvake mazvake haana kwaanotisvitsa" (pursuit of personal interests will not take us anywhere). The two clashing addresses put Charamba, who is Mnangagwa’s spokesperson but close to Chiwenga, in a dilemma. Vocal former Zanu PF Mashonaland West provincial chairman and ex-Norton independent MP, Temba Mliswa, publicly attacked Chiwenga's speech, calling it "corrosive and discordant" when compared to Mnangagwa's. Mliswa targeted Charamba directly for the administration's "internal messaging disaster", warning if Charamba was responsible for crafting contradictory speeches for the country's leadership, he represented an "existential danger to the coherence of the state" and should be fired. Charamba and Mliswa have traded barbs over political loyalty and communication issues for a long time. Mliswa has previously called for Charamba’s dismissal, while Charamba has described Mliswa as a nonentity. Politically, Mliswa's achievements have been phenomenal given that he has not been a political activist in an organisationally and ideologically grounded, structured and consistent way, rising from through the ranks. He is largely a self-made major political actor. Charamba has been government's communication czar for decades. He joined the public service in 1984 as a press officer in the Ministry of Information, Post and Telecommunication Services, and was seconded as Press Secretary to the late former ceremonial president Canaan Banana from 1984 to 1987. After Banana's office was abolished following the 1987 Unity Accord and a major power structural shift (abolishing the ceremonial presidency and prime minister's positions for the executive presidency), Charamba joined the late former president Robert Mugabe's office in 1988 as an Assistant Secretary in President's Information Unit (deputising Linda Chihuri), and later became Mugabe's official Press Secretary; much later Permanent Secretary for Information and Broadcasting Services starting in 2000. Now he is Deputy Chief Secretary for Presidential Communications in the Office of the President and Cabinet and Presidential Spokesperson. Charamba has over the decades tried to maintain reasonably good political and media relations (in the olden days he would even take critical private media journalists to tour the President’s Office and ensure collaborative relations). However, he would also become combative and personal in his interactions with media and journalists. He would act crude and nasty (hiding under pseudonyms on newspaper columns initially and later social media), earning himself critics and opponents within and outside the ruling and government. He sometimes targeted certain journalists and media platforms, especially those that remain stubbornly independent, expose leadership, governance and policy failures, as well as corruption and incompetence, within the regime he serves. At times he becomes downright petty and vindictive; excludes certain media platforms or journalists from state occasions, mainly access to Mnangagwa. Charamba has been good, bad and ugly in his communication practice.
TheNewsHawks197,591 views • 10 days ago
The "quadripoint" located at the confluence of the Chobe and Zambezi rivers near Kazungula, where the borders of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe come within a hundred metres or so of meeting each other fascinates the world. The four nations, Botswana (south), Namibia via the Caprivi Strip (west), Zambia (north), and Zimbabwe (east), almost meet where there is a state-of-the-art 923-metre long Kazungula Bridge built at a cost of US$260 million. While often called a quadripoint, it is technically a near-quadripoint. Instead of a single mathematical point where four corners touch, a short 150-metre border connects Botswana and Zambia directly across the river, separated from Zimbabwe and Namibia by two distinct tripoints. The configuration dates back to the 1890 Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty, which created the Caprivi Strip so Germany could access the Zambezi River, while Britain got Zanzibar.
TheNewsHawks29,182 views • 2 days ago
The helicopter that killed Wicknell Chivayo, his wife Lucy Muteke, her personal assistant and two pilots was hired from Themba Nkatazo, a local businessman's Sky Helicopters which provides premium, on-demand charter and rental services in Zimbabwe. Nkatazo is widely recognised as the founder and chief executive of agricultural enterprise Valley Seeds Private Limited, as well as the owner of the luxury private aviation charter company, Sky Helicopters. Youth minister Tino Machakaire today introduced Nkatazo to mourners in Marondera, Mashonaland East, during the burial of Captain Calvin Tafirei Soda, the pilot who was in charge of chopper that crashed, killing Chivayo and four others. Soda was buried the same day as his colleague Captain Courage Mutavirwa who died with him in Chiredzi, Masvingo. Through Sky Helicopters, Nkatazo provides luxury helicopter hire and private charter services, frequently utilised by high-profile corporate leaders, public figures, politicians and wealthy socialites, locally referred to as mbingas, particularly the late Chivayo.
TheNewsHawks307,567 views • 24 days ago
𝐖𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐘𝐎 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐈 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 THE late flamboyant business tycoon Wicknell Chivayo, who died in a horrific helicopter crash with his wife Lucy Muteke, her personal assistant and two pilots near Marondera on Wednesday last week, did not fully pay former police commissioner Augustine Chihuri for his Hollywood-style upmarket mansion in the affluent Gletwyn suburb bordering Chishawasha Hills in the northeastern environs of Harare's wealthy residential areas, The NewsHawks can exclusively reveal. Details gathered after an enquiry about the issue show that Chivayo only paid Chihuri US$1.4 million in May 2024 for the lavish mansion valued at US$2.5 million at the time. A well-informed source who was involved in the transaction said: "The fact and truth of the matter is that Chivayo had not fully paid for the property at the time of his tragic death last week. The house in Gletwyn was valued at US$2.5 million, but Chivayo only paid US$1.4 million and the balance was to be settled through 'services', which are very difficult to quantify and value in monetary terms, particularly when the buyer is now deceased. What this means is that Chihuri will have to decide what happens next because he wasn't fully paid." In Zimbabwe, delivery and occupancy of a purchased house are legally and physically complete only after the successful registration of a new Title Deed at the Deeds Registry Office and the subsequent physical handover of the property. Under Zimbabwean law (Deeds Registries Act), simply signing an Agreement of Sale and moving into the house does not make one the rightful legal owner. True ownership and full delivery require a two-part handover process, which includes payment of the full price, depending on terms and conditions, and conveyancing process. The conveyancer has to conduct a search at the Deeds Registry to ensure the title is clean, unencumbered by outstanding mortgages, and valid under current regulations like Statutory Instrument 76 (SI 76). There is need for a rates clearance certificate, settlement of Zimra's capital gains tax, payment of transfer fees and stamp duty, and lodging and registration before occupancy. Sources said the outstanding US$1.1 million balance was supposed to be paid through "political services" rendered to Chihuri by Chivayo. "The deal over the house was not fully cash-based and had problem at two levels from the start. First, payment was not in full. The US$1.1 million balance to paid in 'services' brought a challenge of valuation of the services rendered which are not even written down. How do you put a monetary value to 'political services' when one of the parties to the deal is no longer alive? Secondly, there was a serious problem of valuation of the property. While Chihuri sold the house for US$2.5 million, Zimbabwe valued it at US$7 million. That's a huge discrepancy of US$4.5 million. So there was no agrement there. This has far-reaching implications on the deal and what happens to the mansion given that Chivayo, the supposed new owner, is now deceased. In the end, Chihuri still holds the keys to Chivayo's mansion." The political services agreed between Chivayo and Chihuri entailed resolving political tensions between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the former police boss that intensified before, during and after the November 2017 coup which brought the incumbent to power. Chihuri supported Mugabe, hence opposed the coup. He tried to use the police to foil it, but failed. After the putsch, Chihuri escaped to Malawi as Mugabe's political allies scattered. The Zimbabwean state seized the mansion during investigations into Chihuri's wealth in 2020. Government under Mnangagwa initiated legal action to confiscate an estimated US$32 million in assets and multiple properties linked to Chihuri, accusing him of building a criminal syndicate and siphoning public funds during his 25 years leading the police force.
TheNewsHawks189,343 views • 24 days ago
ZIMBABWEAN GOVERNMENT CAUGHT UP IN A UK CONTRACT KILLLERS, EXTREMISTS AND FAKE RALLY SCANDAL An Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit documentary film titled Contract Killers and the Far Right exposes links between the British far-right student movement Turning Point UK (TPUK) and an armed loyalist paramilitary member, while detailing a fake political rally organised on behalf of the Zimbabwean government. The investigation revealed that TPUK's chief executive Jack Ross was acting on behalf of the Zimbabwean government and paid thousands of pounds to Allan Nesbitt — a convicted violent criminal linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a proscribed terrorist organisation — to stage a fraudulent political rally. The purpose of this rally was to manufacture public support in the UK for lifting international sanctions against Zimbabwe. Uebert Angel, a Zimbabwean businessman, self-styled prophet, and President Emmerson Mnangagwa's Special Presidential Envoy and Ambassador-at-Large to Europe and the Americas, is referenced in the story. While Angel is a prominent figure frequently tied to Zimbabwean state lobbying, sanction-busting campaigns, and was famously the central target of Al Jazeera's 2023 Gold Mafia exposé regarding illicit state financial flows, this specific film focuses directly on the operational link between TPUK leadership, British far-right networks, and loyalist paramilitaries acting as paid conduits for the Zimbabwean state. Beyond the fake rally for Zimbabwe, undercover cameras captured Ross introducing an undercover reporter to Nesbitt, revealing that Nesbitt could arrange violent physical attacks or execution-style contract killings through his paramilitary connections. Ross has completely denied the findings, claiming his secretly recorded remarks were "not meant seriously".
TheNewsHawks51,828 views • 8 days ago
Tinashe Mukogo, a South African-based Zimbabwean corporate strategy consultant and founder of Money and Moves, a finance and business newsletter, recently appeared on CNBC Africa's Closing Bell with veteran journalist Godfrey Mutizwa to provide an economic update on Zimbabwe and how companies are performing.
TheNewsHawks19,531 views • 4 days ago
Dangote: I Had My First Private Jet at 22 Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote says he bought his first private aircraft four months before he turned 23. "I’ve seen it all. Whenever I see people flying everywhere in private aircraft but they don’t own a factory, it means they aren’t contributing to the economy," he said. - Arise News.
TheNewsHawks172,731 views • 1 month ago
At the time of his tragic death in a horrific helicopter crash last week, controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo did not own helicopters, but revealed to have ordered three of his own awaiting delivery. This came out in a conversation during one of his visits to his rural homestead in Gandami Village in the Wiltshire farming area of Chivhu, Chikomba district, Mashonaland East Province. Chivayo shared videos inspecting construction of his rural mansion and a helipad which he dubbed "mini Borrowdale Brooke". In this video, Chivayo talks about construction of a helipad, while repeating that he had brought three helicopters, including a massive one. He says the resources were there to finish the project fast which he was dedicated to. He was known for his passion for private aviation, often displaying luxury aircraft, private jets, and choppers like a Leonardo AW139 as part of his lavish lifestyle. Chivayo owned a Gulfstream G550 private jet valued at approximately US$34 million. The helicopters he was using were hired from Themba Nkatazo who runs Valley Seeds Private Limited and Sky Helicopters, a luxury private aviation charter company. The company provides premium, on-demand helicopter hire, rental, and private charter services used by high-profile corporate leaders, public figures, politicians and wealthy socialites like Chivayo who tragically died in a chopper on Wednesday afternoon last week.
TheNewsHawks80,473 views • 24 days ago
When a safari tour suddenly turns into a deathtrap... It is a chilling truth — even the most seasoned guides and wildlife experts will tell you that wild animals are fundamentally unpredictable, and a safari can turn dangerous in an instant regardless of how well human behaviour is managed. While safari fatal incidents are statistically rare, they serve as a powerful reminder of nature's raw power. When things go wrong, which they do sometimes, it is usually driven by specific wildlife stressors.
TheNewsHawks60,511 views • 19 days ago
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has lashed out at Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, who wants to take over power from him in a fierce succession battle, warning "Hatidi mweya waRegioni muMusangano wedu" (Shona for we don't want the devil's spirit in our party" as the rift between them widens. In the Bible, Legion (Regioni in Shona) refers to a multitude of demons possessing a man in the New Testament stories found in Mark 5:1–20 and Luke 8:26–39. Chiwenga installed Mnangagwa in power after the November 2017 coup that ousted the late former president Robert Mugabe as Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander and clearly now feels entitled to succeed him, which is being resisted by his fiercely rivals. However, Mnangagwa does not want him to be his successor and this created infighting. Mnangagwa wants billionaire Kudakwashe Tagwirei or former Zimbabwe Defence Forces boss retired General Philip Valerio Sibanda. In a fierce pushback against Chiwenga, Mnangagwa told a tense Zanu PF central committee meeting at the party headquarters in Harare: "The Party and national interest remain central and at the core of our discussions. I urge us to distinguish between principled contributions intended to improve the Party and reject conduct that seeks to divide or derail the Conference Agenda. Preferences of cliques and narrow inclinations, among other retrogressive acts, have no place in our Party. Hatidi mweya waRegioni muMusangano wedu (we don't want the devil's spirit in our party." At the politburo session yesterday, Mnangagwa also took a swipe at his co-deputy for boycotting the President’s Fundraising Dinner Ball on Saturday evening. Zanu PF raised about US$10 million for the conference, but Chiwenga was the only one in the Top Six or presidium to boycott. Chiwenga had also boycotted the late tycoon Wicknell Chivayo’s funeral last week and the swearing-in of Tagwirei on Monday as the new Economic Development and Investment Promotion minister. The crucial politburo and central committee meetings are part of the annual national people's conference which officially opens in Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West, province, on Friday. The meetings are taking place under an ominous cloud of contentious constitutional amendments and heightened succession infighting.
TheNewsHawks43,510 views • 15 days ago
🔴The convoy of three cars which have been menacingly following retired Air Force of Zimbabwe Air Vice-Marshal Henry Muchena and his wife for close to a week now, includes a silver Honda vessel AGC 6549; white Mercedes Benz AES 6579 and white Toyota Hilux AFC 9059. It suspected that these are state security agents brazenly running an overt and ominous surveillance operation to harass and intimidate Muchena - while also sending a warning to other former army commanders - for his bold resistance and attacks on the recent far-reaching constitutional amendments extending President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s tenure by two more years from 2028 to 2030.
TheNewsHawks127,097 views • 1 month ago
As first reported on Monday by The NewsHawks in detail, Zanu PF 23rd Annual National People's Conference in Chinhoyi has passed key resolutions to align the party's constitution with the national charter, overcoming resistance from Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga's faction. This followed a turbulent week in which President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Chiwenga’s political brinkmanship intensified as the succession battle mounts. In a detailed explanation of what the current situation within the ruling was and the trajectory of events, The NewsHawks on Monday accurately detailed what the proposals were and the likely resolutions that conference would pass. After tense proceedings and navigation of a vast political minefield, marked by succession brinkmanship Mnangagwa and Chiwenga, Zanu PF passed the following resolutions: 🟢Party congress postponement: Zanu PF moved its congress due next year, 2027, (the last one was held in 2022) to 2029, with the elections due in 2030; 🟢Leadership Matrix: President Emmerson Mnangagwa will remain state president until 2030 and President and First Secretary of Zanu PF until 2029 when congress is due; he will seek re-election to lead the party beyond 2029, while the organisation will nominate a different candidate for state presidential election; 🟢Constitutional alignment: Zanu PF to amendment its constitution to align it with the national charter; Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 3) Act, which extended Mnangagwa’s term to 2030, elongates presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years and shifted the presidential election to a joint sitting of parliament. • Administrative and disciplinary issues: Adopted rule changes to fix election procedures, tighten party control over government officials, establish a new administrative body, and update internal disciplinary regulations.
TheNewsHawks27,575 views • 12 days ago
Kenyan President William Ruto arrived in Harare, Zimbabwe, yesterday to attend the 25th Comesa Heads of State and Government Summit today under the late local tycoon Wicknell Chivayo’s lingering shadow. Chivayo’s shadow is hanging over Ruto, highlighting the public and political scrutiny surrounding the close, controversial ties between the Kenyan president and the late flamboyant Zimbabwean businessman, who tragically died in a helicopter crash on September 30. As the outgoing chairperson of Comesa, Ruto travelled to Zimbabwe primarily to hand over the leadership bloc to his host, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The high-level summit will be held at the New Parliament Building focuses on regional economic integration, industrialiaation, and trade agreements. The trip marks Ruto’s first visit to Zimbabwe since the sudden death of Chivayo — whom he described as a friend. Before his death, Chivayo enjoyed extraordinary and unprecedented access to the Kenyan presidency. He frequented State House in Nairobi, attended an intimate family engagement for Ruto's daughter Charlene, and famously recorded a viral video of President Ruto personally driving him. Their tight relationship sparked massive political debate in Kenya where he had a diplomatic passport regarding state hospitality and Chivayo's corporate interests — including reports linking his companies to multi-billion dollar Kenyan airport expansions. With Ruto landing in Chivayo's home country, social media and political commentators have heavily fixated on the unaddressed questions surrounding their financial and personal partnerships.
TheNewsHawks15,840 views • 7 days ago
British billionaire and co-owner of Manchester United Sir Jim Ratcliffe is currently in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, celebrating his 74th birthday. He arrived yesterday for an eight-day private holiday with his family. Today morning, Ratcliffe kicked off his birthday by playing a round of golf at the Elephant Hills Golf Course. He praised the course as "marvellous" and "magnificent". His trip is planned as a broader tour of Zimbabwe’s premium wildlife areas. He will next be travelling to Hwange National Park and Mana Pools. In a video shared by Zimbabwe's Ministry of Tourism, Ratcliffe commended the country, noting that the weather is fantastic, the people are great, and describing the country as a "glorious" and "very safe" destination.
TheNewsHawks20,100 views • 11 days ago
The explosive audio recording played in court during the bail hearing of former South African Deputy National Police Commissioner for Crime Detection Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya features a conversation between businessman Serge Cabonge (also spelt Kabonge) and a man identified as Mr M (the father of a minor complainant in Sibiya’s case). Cabonge is a friend of the late former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe's son Bellarmine Chatunga. He is also in the circles of many other Zimbabweans, especially women. The Congolese-born socialite, who lives in Johannesburg, was one of the first people to arrive at Chatunga's Sandhurst home before his subsequent arrest in February following a high-profile shooting incident at his residence. Cabonge became one of the shadowy figures whose names were featured in the background. The case culminated in a legal settlement, prison time for his co-accused cousin Tobias Mugabe Matonhodze, and Chatunga’s deportation from South Africa in April 2026. The legal crisis surrounding Sibiya, spans two distinct fronts: severe criminal charges that led to his arrest and concurrent internal disciplinary actions tied to corruption exposed by the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into the interface between police, criminal syndicates and civil servants. Sibiya was heavily implicated in the 2010 Zimbabwe rendition scandal, an illegal cross-border police operation that later became central to allegations of State Capture and political manipulation within South African law enforcement. On October 12, Sibiya resigned from the South African Police Service, which the police ministry regarded as a dishonourable discharge. Sibiya was arrested on September 21 at a strip club in Sandton by members of the Commission’s Recommendations Task Team. He is being held at the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Facility in Pretoria while his highly contested bail application continues at the Randburg Magistrates Court. He faces six criminal charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty. The allegations include raping an unconscious 18-year-old woman at a Sandton hotel in May 2026 after buying her and her friends alcohol, human/child trafficking, and videos from a 16-year-old girl between July and August 2026, and Firearms Control Act violations. The state has strongly opposed bail. Explosive audio recordings played in court also connect him to underworld figures and extortion plots. Sibiya's defence claims the charges are a fabricated "internal police battle" orchestrated to destroy him. In the 25-minute phone recording, Cabonge discusses the close relationships and financial dealings between detained business underworld figure Vusimuzi "Cat" Matlala and Sibiya. Matlala, an alleged underworld kingpin, and his wife, Tsakane, were arrested for property and lease fraud, forgery, and uttering. The charges stem from a scheme where they allegedly used falsified documents — including bank statements and a fake Eswatini (Swaziland) identity document under the name "Vusimuzi Dlamini" — to illegally secure a luxury residential property lease worth R95 000 per month in Waterkloof Heights, Pretoria. Matlala reportedly used the fake ID to pose as a member of the Eswatini royal family. While Tsakane and two other co-accused were granted R20 000 bail following their arrests by the Gauteng Political Killings Task Team, Matlala abandoned his bid for bail during his court appearance and remains in custody. The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, which commenced public hearings on September 17 2025, is probing extensive claims of criminality, political interference, and corruption within South Africa's criminal justice system, specifically targeting police and crime intelligence structures. As of October 2026, it has surpassed 183 sitting days, yielding over 26 000 pages of oral transcripts and 105 000 pages of documentary evidence from more than 110 witnesses. The deadline for its final report has been extended to January 25, 2027.
TheNewsHawks22,912 views • 14 days ago
After President Emmerson Mnangagwa unexpectedly aborted his trip to Bulawayo to open officially open the ongoing Mining Engineering and Transport Expo (Mine Entra) exhibition, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga is now set to perform the duty amid speculation why his boss decided last minute not to attend. Mnangagwa was expected to open the event on a day when there is a stayaway planned by civil society organisations and the opposition. Running under the theme, “Unearth, Transform, Prosper: Anchoring Economic Transformation Through Mining Value Chains”, the expo showcases mining companies, their activities and contributions to the economy.
TheNewsHawks106,352 views • 3 months ago
Botswana's President Duma Boko, who took office on November 1, 2024, captured singing a Xhosa religious song with fluent rendition. Boko reportedly has South African Xhosa origins and heritage. Xhosa-speaking people and communities are found in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. With a population of about 9.6 million, Xhosas are the second largest ethnic group in South Africa after Zulu-speaking people who are about 15 million. They are mainly found in Eastern Cape, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces. Born in 1969 in the Mahalapye area of Botswana, Boko, who is Tswana by nationality, is associated with Xhosa-speaking communities locally and in the region. The Botswana President attended Madiba Senior Secondary School, which carries a name similar to the late former South African president Nelson Mandela's Xhosa clan identity. This highlights Botswana's diverse, multi-ethnic, and multicultural background. Zimbabwe's has a small Xhosa population of at least 200 000 people, intertwined with Ndebeles, mainly found in Mbembesi and Ntabazinduna areas near Bulawayo. Xhosa is one of Zimbabwe’s 16 official languages, half of them found in South Africa; namely Ndebele (a Zulu dialect), Sotho, Venda, Tswana, Shangani, Xhosa, sign language and English.
TheNewsHawks250,599 views • 7 months ago