The new dispensation in Harare needs the buy-in and investment of millions of Zimbabweans who left the country and settled elsewhere, particularly the multitudes resident in neighboring South Africa, if the vision of turning around the Zimbabwean economy is to be realized, Zimbabwe consul general Henry Mukonoweshuro told expatriates in Johannesburg Saturday night.
Addressing a glitzy Zimbabwe Achievers Awards ceremony, Mukonoweshuro appealed to Zimbabweans based in South Africa to consider moving back and investing in their motherland, now led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
“As we meet today, in the new dispensation as we called it since last November, the government of Zimbabwe is very proud,” Mukonoweshuro said. “We, as the representatives of the government of Zimbabwe are very proud to say as you toil, as you make names in these foreign lands, you should now start looking north of the Limpopo [River]. As the president [Mnangagwa] always says, his mantra — Zimbabwe is now open for business.”
DA Committed to Rooting Out Corruption
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has used its federal congress to celebrate its successful decadelong legal battle for the reinstatement of charges against former South African President Jacob Zuma, describing it as a demonstration of the party’s commitment to rooting out corruption, The Sunday Independent reported.
The DA, South Africa’s opposition party, held its federal congress in Tshwane over the weekend.
Party leader Mmusi Maimane said Zuma, who was charged Friday in the Durban High Court with 16 charges relating to corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering, would have to be forced to answer for his alleged criminal activities, The Independent reported.
Liberian-Americans Sue Sirleaf for War Crimes
Rev. Mahn Coaley and Pastor Torli Harlan Krua, two Liberian-Americans, have filed a lawsuit against former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and others in Massachusetts on account of their alleged roles in the 1990 war that took more than 200,000 lives and displaced countless more, the Daily Observer reported.
Others named in the suit include President George Manneh Weah, former President Charles Taylor, Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu and U.S. Naval Secretary Richard V. Spencer.
The Daily Observer obtained a copy of the court summons, which has given the defendants 21 days as of March 26 to file a response and serve their motions on the plaintiffs or their attorney. Failure to respond will result in a default judgment for the plaintiffs, the summons said.
Handyman Takes Rap for Pot Possession
A prosecutor on Friday withdrew a marijuana possession charge against the owner of Big Boys Café and his teen son after a handyman claimed the drugs were his, the Nassau Guardian reported.
Ronald Butterfield, 59, his 16-year-old son and the handyman, Dion Wilson, 56, faced a single count of possession of dangerous drugs at their arraignment before Magistrate Samuel McKinney.
Wilson pleaded guilty and paid an $800 fine to avoid spending nine months in prison.
Jamaican Men Delaying Fatherhood
Professional men in Jamaica have been deliberately delaying or foregoing fatherhood, a worrying trend in light of the county’s graying population, The Jamaica Gleaner reported.
Though the median age in Jamaica is currently 29, former Prime Minister Bruce Golding recently pointed out that by 2050, it could reach 40, and urged the government to move quickly to have a national conversation on the issue, The Gleaner reported.
However, pointing to the influences of the growing Men Going Their Own Way movement, sexologist Dr. Karen Carpenter told The Gleaner that men are making bold moves in looking out for themselves.
Venezuelans Fleeing to Trinidad and Tobago
The ongoing economic crisis in Venezuela is forcing its citizens to flee their island and apply for asylum in Trinidad and Tobago.
To date, approximately 2,000 Venezuelans have applied for asylum in Trinidad and Tobago and the numbers are increasing, acting Chief Immigration Officer Charmaine Gandhi-Andrews told a Joint Select Committee on Human Rights, Equality and Diversity on Friday.
The issue of Venezuela was raised by member Esmond Forde, who questioned Gandhi-Andrews about the influx of Spanish-speaking nationals, as their country faces shortages of food, medicine, violent crime and rising unemployment, the Trinidad Guardian reported.