"The seizure and confiscating of traders merchandise in the absence of a court order is unlawful as this interferes with individuals property rights,"

Cheda said in a ruling made on 2 August.

The ruling came after the Bulawayo Upcoming Traders' Association (BUTA) had taken the police to the High Court, challenging the confiscation of their goods during the height of "Operation Murambatsvina". BUTA is a grouping of close to 3 000 traders in the city.

Despite the ruling, police raids on the vendors in the city are still continuing with Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) spokesperson, Magodonga Mahlangu, saying: "Most of our members are vendors and earned income from vending. How are they going to pay the fees if the police are not allowing them to trade?"

Widow Anna Banda, who resides in Emganwini, said: "I have to feed the children but how can do that if the police do not allow us to sell our goods?"

Robert Ndlovu of James, Moyo Majwabu and Associates, who represented the vendors, said it was legal for his clients to sell their wares. "As of now I can't comment. As far as I am concerned, they have not come back to me but the High Court Order gave them the green-light to trade," Ndlovu said.

Contacted for comment, Assistant Commissioner, Wayne Bvudzijena said he had "no comment for The Standard" before switching off his mobile phone.

A student who spoke to The Standard said college officials had informed them that they would, as a result, not graduate this year but would rewrite the examination on a date to be advised.

"It is disturbing to note that even those who did not have access to the leaked paper will be affected because some lazy colleagues cheated," complained the student who declined to be named.

Other students attacked the college administration saying it was being unfair to the majority who had not seen the leaked paper.

The RCZ Synod Moderator Reverend Enos Chomutiri confirmed the leak.

"I can't give you a detailed explanation because when it happened I was out of the country. But from what I heard, the college officials are waiting for advice from the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education giving another date. We will communicate the date to the students as soon as it is known," Chomutiri said.

Chomutiri did not name the lecturer suspected of leaking the examination paper because investigations are still in progress.

Lloyd Chaduka, the College principal was said to be on holiday.

Disgruntled students allege that the paper was leaked to a female student who later revised it with friends before examination day. She smuggled answers into the examination room but an invigilator spotted her.

Accompanying Mujuru were Deputy Minister of Youth, Gender and Employment Creation, Saviour Kasukuwere, and the Minister without Portfolio, Elliot Manyika, and unidentified State security agents.

Worshippers who were not aware of Mujuru's visit, said they were shocked to see her arriving at Mpiyazwe, which falls under the Bubi/Mguza district along the Nyamandhlovu road.

The area is 30km outside Bulawayo and some 10 000 worshippers held their six-day annual convention, which ended last Sunday.

The leaders accused of working in cahoots with the ruling party introduced Mujuru and afterwards, she started urging the people to pray for Zanu PF, The Standard was told.

Mujuru is alleged to have appealed to the church, which has a large following in the country, to use their numbers to canvass for votes for the party.

It was at this point, The Standard was told, that disgruntled church members stood up and started leaving.

Church members, such as Thomas Bhobho, who said he came from Macheke, outside Marondera said: "Anyone is free to attend the church but for Mujuru to try and bring party politics here is bad. It is taboo at this church."

Priscilla Chitemba, of Harare said: "We were shocked to hear her telling us to pray for the ruling party. We never thought that she had come to campaign."

Kasukuwere confirmed that he had travelled with the Vice President to the Nyamandhlovu. "Yes, I did attend, but call me later," Kasukuwere said.

When contacted, Manyika said it was not a secret that they travelled to Nyamndhlovu, especially as it was a public meeting.He said: "We also attended the Salvation Army meeting in Harare as part of mobilisation."

Mujuru was not immediately available for comment.

On Tuesday last week, ruling party MPs ensured that Zimbabweans will hence forth live in perpetual terror of the State when they enthusiastically passed the Constitutional Amendment Bill No 17.

Its passage into law will transform this country into a vast Gulag, effectively declaring Zimbabwe a de facto one-party State. The Bill is a coup that completes the full cycle of repression by plugging the loopholes in both AIPPA and the Public Order and Security Act (POSA).

It is a tragic irony that the heroes of Zimbabwe's struggle for liberation have now mounted the most resolute and calculated assault on the rights of citizens of this country. Embarrassed by dwindling popular support during polls since 2000, the government and the ruling party are now intent on achieving public backing through coercion.

The defining moment of the Zimbabwean nightmare and tragedy was the sight of Zanu PF MPs breaking into song and celebrating. They may have celebrated the emasculation of the judiciary in the case of applicants contesting seizure of commercial farmland in the belief that it is a piece of legislation designed to punish white supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. This is unashamed racism and demonstrates how short their memories are. The victims of the government's so-called Third Chimurenga have not been and will not be entirely white commercial farmers.

Besides being whipped into line and voting along party lines, the ruling party MPs celebrated a pyrrhic victory. They decry the shortages of foreign currency and low levels of foreign direct investment, when in passing the Bill their message to external investors is unambiguous: there is neither observance of nor respect for property rights in Zimbabwe.

There are German, French and Italian investments in farming/agricultural enterprises in this country. Now they could contemplate pulling out or scaling down their activities in order to minimise potential losses and there will be lesser prospects of attracting further investment from these countries in particular or other nations in general.

The next front of assault on property rights, at the rate at which things are going, could be foreign factories and companies, or those whose owners are deemed to threaten national interests.

The usurpation of the authority of the judiciary poses a serious threat to efforts at turning around the economy, while the timing of the passage of the Bill was an instructive demonstration of the dearth of strategic planning and timing in the ruling party. Whether it was a show of the now familiar mindless and empty bravado directed at the visiting International Monetary Fund mission that was in the country, the mind boggles.

The IMF team is unlikely to have been impressed with both the Bill and the 11th hour payment of the US$120 million towards settling Harare's arrears in the hope of staving off expulsion from the international financial institution. The best that Zimbabwe can now expect from the IMF Board is that it will not expel the country, but neither will it open the taps to new balance of payment support, simply because Zimbabwe has not demonstrated any resolve to put the economy on the path to recovery. Mere expressions of intent are one thing, determined action towards attainment of an economic turnaround is quite another.

The actions of the ruling party MPs demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt where the real threat to national interests and security is coming from.

They may celebrate in the mistaken belief that in withdrawing travel documents from people who are calling for this country to be punished by the international community, they are responding to the EU and US travel sanctions. But, in fact, they are building a wall around Zimbabwe out of which people considered "dissidents" will not be allowed. The immediate targets are members of the opposition MDC and those from non-governmental organisations and civic society groups. To this, add media houses and practitioners.

Such a landmark amendment should have been preceded by broader consultations between the government, MPs and the electorate. Issues such as what constitutes threats to national interests should have been debated and agreed on before presentation of and debate on the Bill. The government and the ruling party are seeking support through coercion and in this instance the government is wielding a new weapon it proposes to use against its citizens in curtailing freedom of travel, association and expression.

The difference between this government and Ian Smith's, which banned and exiled many of the leading nationalists resulting in their recourse to UN or Commonwealth travel documents, is negligible. The timing of the Bill is also regrettable. It comes weeks before the United Nations General Assembly in New York this month. It is as if Zimbabwe is telling everyone else to go to hell.

The opposition has been rendered impotent, the judiciary disempowered and the economy dealt a mortal blow. Someone has a death wish for this country.