WATCH LIVE as Gambakwe looks at reports that Obert Mpofu, who was recently demoted from his high-ranking position as the Party’s Secretary General is not attending ZANU-PF daily activities. In September 2025, President Emmerson Mnangagwa reassigned him to the position of Secretary for ICT as part of a major Politburo reshuffle. He was succeeded as Secretary General by Advocate Jacob Mudenda, who presided over the January 2026 long service awards.
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1. All Manicaland dams are full. the 2025/2026 rainy season has led to a total of 109 fatalities across Zimbabwe. Beyond the loss of life, the rains have affected over 8,295 households, damaging 334 houses, 236 schools, and 21 bridges.
2. Zimbabwe military was deployed in Mozambique to help with the flooding.
3. General Phillip Valerio Sibanda, the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), is involved in a property and mining dispute regarding the late Cde Herbert Ushewokunze’s family farm. Sibanda claims to have bought the property using mining claims dating back to early 1982. The allegations state Sibanda has demanded an 85% share of the operations, leaving only 10% for the Ushewokunze family and 5% for the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA). In 2021, the military dismissed reports that General Sibanda had invaded Goede Hoop Farm in Mazowe. At that time, the ZDF stated that Sibanda had never been allocated that farm nor visited it, though a section of it had been allocated to the army and police as corporate entities.
Business
1. Net One Introduces reverse calling. NetOne’s reverse calling service allows users with zero airtime to make calls by transferring the cost to the recipient. To use it, a caller simply dials 164 followed by the recipient’s number (e.g., 164071xxxxxxx), prompting the receiver to either accept or decline the charges before the call connects. Currently exclusive to NetOne-to-NetOne calls, the service charges the recipient at standard rates, though they must have a sufficient airtime balance as voice bundles are not eligible for payment.
2. Sternely Kondongwe is a prominent businessman and Managing Director associated with several successful enterprises including Byword Motors (motor vehicle services and sales), Jadecon Construction & Engineering, Byword Logistics, and Jadecon Foods. His innovative business practices earned him the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) Masvingo Businessman of the Year 2025 award. He met Mnangagwa this week.
3. Reserve bank Of Malawi to prosecute exporters who have not repartriated funds back to Malawi amid forex shortages.
4. Malawi introduces Diaspora accounts
5. Kefentse Mzwinila is a former cabinet minister in Botswana and an associate professor who has recently been the subject of high-profile legal and corruption investigations. The Botswana High Court issued several significant rulings regarding Dr. Kefentse Mzwinila’s properties, While the court returned nine properties to Mzwinila due to insufficient evidence from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), it confirmed a final restraining order on 25 other assets, including various ploughing fields, residential plots, and over P1 million in cash. He served as the Minister of Lands and Water Affairs under the administration of Mokgweetsi Masisi and was previously the Assistant Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sports, and Culture Development.
Africa
Israel and South Africa expel each other’s diplomats. On Friday, 30 January 2026, South Africa and Israel engaged in a rapid “tit-for-tat” expulsion of their most senior remaining diplomatic representatives. The South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) declared Ariel Seidman, the Israeli chargé d’affaires, persona non grata and ordered him to leave within 72 hours. DIRCO cited several reasons for the move: Repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch “insulting attacks” against President Cyril Ramaphosa. A “deliberate failure” to inform DIRCO of visits by senior Israeli officials, specifically a recent visit by a delegation to the Eastern Cape hosted by a Xhosa king. The government described these actions as a “gross abuse of diplomatic privilege” that challenged South Africa’s sovereignty. Within hours, the Israeli Foreign Ministry responded by declaring Shaun Edward Byneveldt, South Africa’s senior representative, persona non grata and gave him a matching 72-hour deadline to depart.
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Notes
On January 29, 2026, three recruits died after developing medical complications during a routine endurance exercise at the Defence Forces Recruits Training School (DFRTS) in Eldoret.
