By Decide Nhendo

Due to frequent water rationing by Masvingo City owing to power outages, Delta Corporation Limited Masvingo depot has constructed another reservoir tank to make them two at their brewery plant to ensure that they have enough water for production.
Delta corporate affairs general manager Patricia Murambinda confirmed the development saying the move was a response to severe water supply disruptions being faced by Masvingo City which greatly affect production at the brewery.
“Masvingo Brewery and all other residents of Masvingo were experiencing severe water supply disruptions, and as a result, the brewery has constructed another reservoir to minimise production disruptions during unscheduled water cuts,” said Murambinda.
She also said the brewery worked hand in glove with the City of Masvingo to upgrade the water supply piping from the main sources and directly feed to the factory.
“Our brewery has worked closely with the City of Masvingo to upgrade the water supply piping from the main sources and feeding directly to the factory so that enough water will be available whenever it is needed for production,” said Murambinda.
The City’s water supply comes from Bushmead Waterworks at Lake Mutirikwi, where an average of 30 megalitres (ML) is pumped daily to the city.
Council has attributed this water crisis to power outages that have affected pumping of water, as well as pipe bursts at Bushmead Waterworks which has resulted in slow and reduced pumping of water.

By Tinaani Nyabereka

Gweru – Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRA) last week engaged office bearers and residents on service delivery accountability to improve service provision in the City.
Speaking during an engagement meeting in Gweru last week, GRRA Director Cornelia Selipiwe said it was important for the community to take a lot and account for development in their respective communities for progress.
He added, that with female councilors on board, it was key to give councilors time to align policies and implementation of operations on the ground.
“The purpose of this engagement is for us to find out where we are in terms of development, checking progress as we have councilors in the chambers formulating policies to serve the communities. Remember the challenges we have are broad; we have issues with water supply, sewer, and roads, so we want to find out where we are, and whether there are any changes. That is the purpose of the meeting,” said Selipiwe.
Ward 1 Councillor, Miriam Mangwanya, said she was working tirelessly to improve service delivery in the city and her ward.
“We have a lot of issues in our city which need urgent redress. Our roads, and our drainages are in bad shape but efforts are being made to make sure that we deliver the much-needed services.
“Of late water is a serious challenge, we are having pumping challenges due to some issues which include electricity, breakdown of pumps and pipe bursts.
“However we are always on the ground to ensure that we enable residents to get water for use. We are still pumping as per schedule so that everyone gets water,” she said.
Mangwanya added that she was going to take all the residents’ plea to the council so that the city fathers could deliberate and find lasting solutions to some of the challenges bedeviling the city.
Ward 5 resident, Tabeth Magigwana said council was taking residents for granted by overcharging for some services they were failing to provide.
“Council is holding us at ransom, we pay bills but we get nothing, we ask for updated bills, we hear we owe council a lot and at some point, we don’t get services at all.
“We don’t have water, water is a serious challenge, and we even see people fetching water in the roads and drainages to use.
“Most open boreholes in Senga are not safe considering that we always have raw sewer due to pipe bursts,” said Magigwana.
Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) Midlands Coordinator, Gracia Mashingaidze said the policy framework at council was questionable.
“We know that council and City Park moved commuter omnibuses to TM up to City Parking, but the whole road is no longer safe, observations are that, motorists are violating rules and the place is a high accident road.
“We then question the policy formulation of council policies by our local authorities, is it developmental or resource mobilization for the benefits of a few council individuals? We then need to foster strong accountability tools as well as performance ratings for deliverables which shape the city,” she said.

By Beverly Bizeki

Months of tension that was brewing at Victoria Primary School between the School Development Committee (SDC) and the school administration was finally brought to an end following the dissolution of the committee and election of a new one at the school Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on March 26, 2024.
The two parties were divided over several issues including the refusal by the SDC to conduct the AGM on March 26 citing that conditions that had been set for the holding of the meeting had not been met yet as well as the unavailability of some committee members on the given date.
On the other hand, the administration pushed for the meeting to be held on that date stating that the tenure of the committee had expired and they could not postpone the meeting once again with the new SDC expected to go for training by the parent ministry.
In a circular that made rounds on social media platforms before the meeting, the SDC cited that the AGM had to be postponed to a later date in April for the full committee to be present at the meeting as most of the members were said to be unable to attend due to various reasons.
“We understand the importance of the AGM and the role it plays in the governance of our school. However, we also recognize that many of our members are unable to attend on the originally scheduled date. We believe that it is essential to have as many members present as possible to ensure a productive and inclusive meeting and as we align to the law that governs the school,” read the circular.
The committee also noted in the same document that the meeting could not be held because the conditions set for the meeting to be done had not been met since one of the suppliers of materials for the construction of a classroom block at the school had not yet delivered the rest of the materials paid for.
“It is important to note that at our last meeting, we also agreed to do the meeting when one supplier supplied all the materials he was paid for in November 2023 which include 20,000 bricks and 130 bags of cement. The SDC also agreed to make sure the swimming pool is working that was also paid for last year,” read part of the circular.
Addressing parents on a WhatsApp group the chairperson Nesbert Mareverwa indicated that he would not attend the meeting and that the admin could go ahead with the meeting if they insisted.
“We are four members on the side of parents in the SDC and we all agreed to postpone tomorrow’s date owing to circumstances which include those in the above document. Why should we hurriedly want to do the AGM when the law says it can be done by the month of April every year?
“We have parental authority invested in us and if the other authority thinks otherwise then they should proceed with the meeting in our absence whereby the presence of ex officio will be noted. We will not be present tomorrow for there is more beyond the naked eye,” said Mareverwa.
However, the meeting went on to take place and the now former vice chairperson of the committee Nyaradzo Shumba told the gathering that as the committee, they had issues because the supplier had received payment but had not delivered so they needed to get a written agreement from the supplier or have him deliver before handing over the reins to the new team.
“We refused to conduct the meeting in February because we have a supplier who was paid US$ 8,000 to supply the said materials yet the rule states that the supplier is supposed to deliver first then get paid and we only learned that the supplier was paid.
“Upon asking, the head referred us to the clerk and we wondered how someone got paid without the head knowing the clerk does not sit in the SDC full committee. Upon that, we communicated with the head that we needed to see the supplier to tell us what was stopping him from supplying 5 months down the line or communicating directly to us because development is for the SDC.
“The supplier was called and came where he responded that he does not answer to the SDC but to the head then we said if we do not get a written agreement because this is the money we need to present to the parents what we did with it. The building which was supposed to be constructed was supposed to be at window level by now but that has not happened because of the delays by the suppliers,” said Shumba.
Speaking at the AGM, school head Dr. Rameck Mashuro said the meeting had to be done on the 26th because the tenure of the committee had expired and the new committee was supposed to go for a training of SDCs by the Ministry of Education hence the school had gotten a nod from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) to proceed with the meeting.
Responding to the supplier issue and questions by some of the parents on why some committee members were not present at the meeting to read the minutes and their reports, Mashuro said the supplier had notified the school that he would deliver the materials in batches.
“The supplier notified us that he had been attacked by robbers who took away money and a car from him which is why he said he will deliver the materials in batches of which he is already doing that.
The District Schools Inspector said we can go ahead with the meeting as the chairperson said he is no longer interested in matters to do with the school, there is a leadership gap within the SDC hence in that case the head is allowed to chair the meeting. The meeting was long overdue because the SDC postponed the first date in February when their tenure expired,” said Dr Mashuro.
Due to the ongoing clashes, the financial statements presented during the meeting were only signed by the head who assured the parents that results from the audit to be done in days to come will be available to them and they would get the clarity they seek in terms of the statements.
The school selected new committee members whose names were yet to be finalized at the time of reporting as the members still have to check whether their accounts are paid up as part of the conditions for being in the SDC.

By Staff Reporter

MASVINGO – Great Zimbabwe University has taken delivery of US$500 000 worth of equipment for its Simon Mazorodze School of Medical and Health Sciences.
The Medical School Dean Professor Jacob Mafunda said the consignment arrived from China where it was ordered last year by the institution according to their specific requirements.
“We have received this consignment here which we ordered a year ago from China, and the equipment is intended for the Bachelor of Medicine, Biometric and Bachelor of Surgery. In these we also have six disciplines namely Anatomy, Biochemistry, Behavioral Science, Herbal Medicine, Pathology and Physiology,” said Prof Mafunda.
He went on to say part of the consignment will allow the medical school to be able to do paternity tests which he said will be done soon
“We have PCR equipment here, that is the medical equipment used for paternity tests; this means we will soon be doing paternity tests here,” he said.
He went on to say the school will work in partnership with Masvingo Provincial Hospital where students will go for clinical attachment and some of the equipment will go there, saying the development will help the community of Masvingo.
“Masvingo Provincial Hospital will be upgraded to a teaching hospital for GZU medical school. So we will have some of the equipment there for our students when they go there for clinical attachment.
“Some of the equipment will also go to our teaching hospital in Mashava and we will have some upgrades on all those areas,” said Prof Mafunda.
The Medical School was commissioned by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2022 in the presence of the widow to Dr Simon Mazorodze who the school was named after.