20-year-old twin brothers from Chief Mukanganwi area in Bikita who appeared before Masvingo Magistrate’s court facing rape charges after allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl who was coming from school are now free men after Masvingo Regional Magistrate Bishard Chineka acquitted them as the case lacked incriminating evidence against them. The duo, who are not related to the complainant but are neighbours, initially appeared in court on March 13, 2024, and were remanded out of custody for continuation of trial on the following day (March 14). In their defence, the accused persons said they were doing a menial job on the day in question, only knocking off around 1800hrs, the same time the complainant claimed to have been raped of which they were working about six kilometres away. Their claim was corroborated by the witness whom they were working with on the day and time in question. In passing judgement, Chineka said it was reasonable that the complainant could have been raped by other people because it was during dark hours and that the accused persons were working about six kilometres away from where she was raped. “It is reasonable that the complainant was raped by other people because on that day the accused persons were moulding bricks in their village which is about 6 kilometres from where the complainant was raped. She said she was raped at around 6pm and that is the time accused persons left their working place,” said Chineka. He also said the complainant did not mention the accused persons’ names when she told her school teacher that she was raped and there was no reason for her to hide rapist names. It was the state’s case on January 25, 2024 the complainant was on her way from school at around 1700 hours when she met the accused persons. The complainant noticed that the accused persons were following her and she tried to run away but they caught up with her. The court heard that the first accused person dragged the complainant to a nearby bush, laid her down on her back and told his brother to tie the complainant’s hands and to close her mouth after which he raped her while the second accused person was watching. After that, the second accused person also raped her whilst the first accused was watching before they threatened the victim with death if she disclosed the matter to anyone. The following day the complainant went to school and she informed her friends who escorted her to the school teacher where she narrated her story. The teacher told the school head in turn and later escorted the girl home, where she told her parents that she did not tell them of her ordeal as she was afraid of her father. A report was made at ZRP Nyika post and the accused persons were arrested.
Residents in Runyararo West suburb of Masvingo City who have been traveling to Mazorodze Clinic or Masvingo Provincial Hospital will soon heave a sigh of relief as the maternity wing at the clinic is nearing completion. The development was revealed in the recent full council minutes where it was noted that the wing was only one percent shy from completion. “It was reported that construction of the maternity block at Runyararo North West was at 99 percent complete,” read part of the minutes. If completed, the maternity clinic will become the second council owned in Masvingo after Mazorodze Clinic in Mucheke A, with the clinic expected to serve a greater part of the city as it has a catchment area of about 30,000 people from Runyararo West, Garikai, KMP, and the Victoria Ranch Suburbs. Calls to establish maternity wings at other council clinics Runyararo and Rujeko have been raised countless times with the local authority promising to construct the crucial wings once resources permit. Residents from Rujeko are the ones mainly affected as they have to cross the Masvingo-BeitBridge Highway to Mazorodze Clinic or go straight to Masvingo Provincial Hospital. Masvingo City Mayor and Ward 4 Councilor Alec Tabe said although construction was almost complete, there were still a few finishing touches to be done. “The structure is almost complete in terms of construction but there are a few things left including tubing the place and getting equipment for the ward,” said Tabe. Construction of the ZWL $64 845 080 000 facility commenced in June 2023 and was expected to be completed in December of the same year. Council has also completed the construction of the fifth and sixth classroom blocks at Rujeko Secondary School and is also about to complete construction of the safe market in Mucheke which is 98 percent complete.
CHIREDZI-Efforts by Chiredzi Town Council to upgrade its water situation could be affected by the current power cuts that have recently resumed after a few months of relief. The local authority which has been struggling to provide clean and safe water to its growing population, was recently thrown into further distress by the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) following incessant load shedding which has immensely affected pumping at its Hippo Valley Waterworks. The load shedding came at a time when the local authority was trying to put in place measures to boost water pressure to reach higher ground and upgrading of a water system. In an interview with TellZim News, Chiredzi Town Secretary, Engineer Wesley Kauma, said the current water works were established four decades ago for less than 10 000 people with an initial capacity of 5 megaliters per day but it later increased to 10-mega liters per day. “Chiredzi Waterworks was established in 1968 for 4000 residents with an initial capacity of five megaliters per day and later increased to 10 Mega liters per day. “The town has since grown and now requires 22 Mega liters per day including 2 days water retention and fire storage. Water supply has fallen short with Makondo suburb requiring 5 Mega Liters per day and the suburbs have increased to include Melbourne Park, Westwood, Lowlands, and others. “In 2005 council applied for a PSIP loan to upgrade the water works to 15 mega liters per day but not much was achieved due to limited disbursement until 2012 when UNICEF expanded the water works pump house and desludging of Tshovani Ponds and what is now outstanding is construction of four clarifiers and 4 filtration tanks and corresponding 7.6 m2 reservoirs. “Also required are ring mains and district measuring area to quantify how much water is being supplied to each ward for billing purposes,” said Eng Kauma. Engineer Kauma also said the council is constructing a trunk line at Chitsanga Hills to boost water pressure to reach higher grounds like the Magwaza Location. “We have a 1-kilometer trunk line bypass under construction at Chitsanga Hill to boost pumping pressure so that it reaches higher grounds like Magwaza,” he said.
Masvingo’s Victoria Primary School was crowned provincial quiz champions at the provincial competitions conducted by the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) on March 8 in Zaka. The director of NMMZ Mr Lovemore Mandima said Masvingo residents have to support Victoria Primary so that the national trophy will return to the province again. “I urge Masvingo schools and teachers to support Victoria Junior to retain the national championship in the province once again,” said Mandima. He said the heritage quiz competitions were important as they promote heritage among schools encouraging students to be successful in the programme. “The quiz competitions started in 1993 and ever since they have gained momentum in primary schools’ heritage education system shaping students’ desire and knowledge on the subject,” said Mandima. Victoria Junior Primary School which was representing Masvingo District came first whilst Hwiru from Gutu came second and Mandakaza from Bikita came third in a tightly contested competition. Victoria Junior quiz participants walked away with US$ 150 and a shield from National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe from the US$ 600 that was set aside for prices for the winners. Hwiru Primary School which came second got a floating trophy and a cash prize of US$ 120. The Heritage Quiz competition for primary schools started at cluster level where 173 schools around the province were participating. It was on February 23 when cluster winners met at the District level to come up with the seven schools that represented the seven districts of Masvingo in Zaka on March 8 where Victoria Junior Primary was crowned provincial champions. At national level, Victoria Junior Primary School will battle it out with nine other schools from the country’s 10 Provinces at the national finals to be held in Gweru on May 18. Last year Hellen McGhie scooped first prize at the national finals which were held in Bulawayo. Heritage Bookshop, AFC and Gain Supermarket Jerera branch, and N. Richards Group of Companies donated the cash prize for the success of the competitions.
Masvingo City Council has embarked on mandatory dog vaccination exercises in conjunction with the veterinary service department mainly in the Rujeko suburb. The command vaccination program was necessitated by a report of a rabid pitbull that attacked five people in the area in February. This was confirmed by Masvingo City Acting director of housing and environmental services Sithabile Matava. She said after a report, the dog was taken for samples, and it was discovered that it had rabies. Since then, they have been vaccinating all dogs in the area and catching all those found roaming around since they could not establish if the rabid dog had not infected other dogs before its death at the hands of angry residents. “On 19 February we received a report of a pit bull that had attacked five people in Rujeko Surbub. We only got the report after a day of the incident and people had already killed the dog. We dispatched a team to Rujeko and considering how vicious it was, we took samples from the dead dog and discovered that it had rabies. “So currently we have centralized our vaccination program to Rujeko since that is where the rabid dog was. We had a mass vaccination on March 06 and so far we have vaccinated 169 dogs and we are also rounding up those that are roaming around the residential area,” said Matava. She said they were targeting to vaccinate dogs in the whole city at a date to be advised in April during school holidays saying from experience they had learned that if they do it during school days, the adults will be at work and some simply do not care like how youngsters do. “We are targeting to vaccinate all dogs in the whole city in April during school holidays, we have discovered that we have a higher turnout during holidays. “We are also urging dog owners to make sure that they vaccinate and license their dogs and we have a new bylaw which regulates dog ownership and the number of dogs each person is allowed to have. We also urge members of the public to report roaming dogs to Masvingo City Health Department,” she said. The local authority recently resolved to conduct a dog census to ascertain the number of dogs in the city to be able to put dog bite control measures in place.
Mvuma – Police in the Midlands Province are investigating a case of murder where the body of a man was found stashed in a shaft. Midlands Provincial Police Spokesperson, Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko confirmed the incident and said police are appealing for information that can aid them with investigations. “The matter is being treated as murder and we are appealing to members of the public who might have information of what could have caused the death of Mguni to contact any Police Station,” said Mahoko. The body was discovered on March 11, 2024, at about 1500 hours at a plot on the outskirts of Mvuma where illegal mining activities were taking place. The now deceased was identified as Nqabutho Mguni aged 47 of LVD, Mvuma who worked as a security guard. Circumstances are that the man left his home on March 7, 2024, at about 1720 hours going to a nearby Nyamafufu area to collect his cell phone but did not return despite that he was supposed to commence his guard duty at 1800 hours. His workmate Luckson Mwelasi, a man aged 36 whom he was staying with, had to work alone for the night before filing a missing person report at Mvuma Police station on March 8, 2024. On March 11, 2024 a passerby discovered the body of Mguni lying in a shaft and reported to the police. Mining experts assisted in retrieving the body which had several injuries all over.
A Kwekwe family lost their car, cash and other valuables to robbers who pounced on their home in Chicago, Kwekwe on March 8, 2024 at about 20:00 hours. Midlands Provincial Police Spokesperson, Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko confirmed the development and said the police were appealing for information that may lead in the identification of the robbers. “I can confirm we received a report where a family in Kwekwe lost their car, some cash and other valuables “We are appealing to members of the public who might have information that can lead to the arrest of the suspects and recovery of the stolen property to approach any nearest police station,” said Mahoko. Circumstances are that Ladeo Green (34) was at home with his wife when seven unknown men entered the house. They tied the couple’s hands with shoe laces before demanding cash from the couple who surrendered US$100. They also took cellphones, car keys and drove away in the couple’s vehicle, a white Honda Fit registration number AFS 3373 old shape before disappearing. A report was made to the police and investigations were still underway by time of writing.
While the country is grappling with the Cholera crisis, with Masvingo being reported to have several hotspots, a disaster is looming at Chifedza Clinic in Ward 15 of Chivi District as the health facility has for months been running without water. The clinic, which is about 20 kilometers from Chibi Growth Point and has an estimated catchment of 4500 people, has been operating without water for some time now after the pump that was used to draw water from a nearby borehole broke down and is yet to be repaired. Sources said Chifedza Clinic had been operating without water supplies since July 2023, at the peak of harmonized election campaigns, a situation that has forced patients and waiting mothers to bring water from their communities in the adverse hot weather conditions. “Water supplies have become so dire in the times of the Cholera outbreak in the District and the clinic’s catchment area. A lot of water is needed to disinfect floors, concurrent disinfection of linen and washing of hands as clients enter and exit premises but there is none. “There was panic when a cholera case was reported at the clinic; after the report DDF and Chivi RDC staff members visited the clinic to assess the water situation but no tangible action has been taken so far,” said one villager Another source said neighboring community members were trying their best by supplying water but it was not enough to meet the need and said the councilor and MP were letting people down. The challenge since last year was necessitated by substandard pipes and recently the pump that was left operating in the open due to poor workmanship broke down. Chibi Rural District Council (RDC) Chief Executive Officer Tariro Matavire confirmed the crisis and said they were running around as a local authority and they hoped the problem would be addressed within two weeks. “The pump that was being used at Chifedza Clinic broke down and currently the clinic is getting water from a nearby secondary school borehole. “We have people on the ground right now and we are in the process of installing a new pump and I am confident that after two weeks the problem will have been resolved,” said Matavire. Local Councillor Albert Meke said the problem was persisting and confirmed that council employees were on the ground assessing the situation and said the challenge was that the pump that was there had more power compared to the pipes hence there were continuous pipe bursts. “There is a crisis at Chifedza and from what I heard from the council, continuous pipe bursts were being caused by the fact that the pump that was there was more powerful than the pipes because the pipes were laid some time ago but the pump was later changed. “I don’t stay close to the clinic though to understand how the people are coping but the council is on it now so I am sure the problem will be addressed soon,” Meke said. The waiting shade at the clinic was also blown off by winds in November 2022, and patients have to sit under tree shades whilst waiting for service.
The waiting shade whose roof was blown offThe waiting mother’s shelter
GWERU – Zimbabwe Women’s Super League (ZWSL) side Black Rhinos Queens have expressed their confidence in winning the 2024 Super League. The Club Coach Kudakwashe Matuwi told the media in the Midlands capital recently that they were confident of winning as the girls were ready for the title charge. “This year we thrive to become the champions so that we represent the country. We made mistakes last time and failed to clinch the title but we attribute much to the fact that we were in transition period but I am confident now that our players have graduated from our developmental academy,” said Matuwi. He said during the transition stage they were fusing old and new players with the likes of Talent Mandaza, Patience Mujuru and Rutendo Makore expected to hang their boots but the fact that they came second last season gives them confidence that they will be crowned champions this time around. “Having a playdate year and assuming the second position behind Herentals last year was a big achievement and we aim higher this year and I am very confident of the team,” said Mutuwi. He went on to say the task ahead was building player confidence and combination which he said was key in driving the team forward. “We want to understand each other as players and build player confidence and combination as we restructure a strong squad that will be responsible for bringing the title home,” he said The Club’s Assistant Coach Felistas ‘Figo’ Muzongondi said the pre-season camp in Gweru was key in pushing women football. “We need to take women football to another level, and we cannot do it alone, we need the support of other stakeholders like media among others to achieve the vision. Blach Rhinos has seen a number of players graduating from their developmental team including the likes of Kelly Chatyoka, Henrietta Chakomanapo, Tatenda Tembo and Caroline Mangwaya among others as the team is set to play other clubs like FC Platinum, Chapungu and Gweru based Chipembere Queens in this season. Last month the Black Rhinos Queens conducted their pre-season preparations in Gweru as part of the team building process.
…Zanu PF chair lies with a straight face, says council can pay councilors for party business …“We were duped,” CCC councilors say
By Brighton Chiseva
Masvingo – The ruling party Zanu PF is allegedly using government structures to manipulate councils to advance the ruling party’s programmes. This was evidenced by the mystery surrounding a meeting that took place at Masvingo Polytechnic on March 03 2024 where the party allegedly used government structures to call for a meeting to facilitate payment of allowances to people especially councilors who came for the meeting. It is yet to be ascertained whether the meeting was solely a Zanu PF event or that the ruling party hijacked a government programme and turned it into party business as some voices of authority are conflicting. More shocking however are the utterances made by Zanu PF Provincial Chairperson Robson Mavhenyengwa who, clearly grappling at straws tried to sanitize the blatant abuse of ratepayers’ funds by saying it was due procedure for councils and parliament to fund party activities. “Councils are allowed to give councillors allowances when they attend such meetings and the same applies to parliament and senate,” said Mavhenyengwa Opposition and independent councilors must have unknowingly or knowingly fallen into the trap, as they also collected allowances for a meeting they did not attend, but their principle fell short as they also partook in the fleecing of ratepayers just like their ruling party counterparts. In composition of the invited people, it indicates that it was a government event since government officials like the District Development Coordinators (DDC) and local government officials were officially invited. However, almost all councilors, MPs and Senators were wearing Zanu PF regalia, with the revolutionary party slogans being chanted throughout. Coupled with this was the presence of Mavhenyengwa on the programme, who gave welcome remarks, reinforcing the event being purely partisan. One council official said his local authority was invited together with all councilors and procedurally they had to pay transport allowances but were shocked to arrive at the meeting only to see the majority of invited guests wearing party regalia and speakers chanting Zanu PF slogans. “We received communication form the Provincial Development Coordinator (PDC)’s office in Masvingo that there was a government meeting where the Minister of Local Government wanted to see all councilors and management. “Naturally, that’s council business and we had to pay our councilors’ travelling allowances, However, when we arrived we were shocked to see that people were wearing party regalia and there were slogans. “We are not Zanu PF employees but local government employees, so we advance government programmes not party issues be it Zanu PF or any other party, so if it was party programme we would not have been invited. “If it is the party that needed us they could have used their structures to invite us so that we decide whether or not we could go, but when you are invited from the PDC’s office there is no way you can avoid going,” said the official who refused to be named. Permanent Secretary for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution (formerly Provincial Development Coordinator) Dr Addmore Pazvakavambwa said the meeting was a government programme, which was why the invitations were like that. “The meeting was a government programme and was headed by the Ministry of Local Government and the guest-of-honor was its Minister Winston Chitando. “President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched a programme called ‘Call to action,, no compromise on service delivery’ in Harare, so this meeting was a follow up to the national launch where the responsible minister was taking it down to the provinces so it was a government programme. I am however not privy to the details of who attended or who did not,” said Dr Pazvakavambwa. Asked whether it was allowed for councils to pay allowances to councilors for party programmes, Dr Pazvakavambwa said that could best be answered by the responsible ministry, saying his office only links with Local Government Ministry on devolution issues since the projects are implemented by local authorities. “The Minister of Local Government is the right person to answer that. However, I would want to believe that the councilors were paid because the programme was a government programme and that’s why the Minister of Local Government was the main speaker,” said Dr Pazvakavambwa.
When Mavhenyengwa was contacted for comment on the sidelines of the meeting last week, he told this publication that the meeting was purely Zanu PF where they were whipping their elected members to work hard. He said there was no way CCC councilors would have been part of the meeting because Zanu PF only had authority over its members and did not have authority to whip people from other political parties. With a straight face, the Zanu PF provincial chair went on to endorse the abuse of government structures by claiming that councilors were entitled to get allowances when they go for their party activities, further lying through his teeth saying that it was even legitimate at Parliament and Senate. “The event was a Zanu PF program where we called all our councilors, MPs, and Senators among others, where we were whipping them into line and calling them to action. “It is allowed for them to get allowances from council when they come for such meetings and the same happens even at Parliament. If the opposition employees got allowances for the same programme maybe they did not know because they were not needed, we cannot whip them because they aren’t ours,” said Mavhenyengwa. Ironically, MPs and Senators who attended the meeting confirmed the lawmakers did not receive a dime in allowances from parliament as Mavhenyengwa purported, with one MP saying he only heard councilors were paid but they were not. “No MP received any allowance. We attended using our own resources and we only heard that councilors received allowances from their councils. We did not bother also because we don’t know how they operate,” said the MP.
Correct position on payment of council allowances
Former Masvingo City Council Collen Maboke
Efforts to get a comment from the Minister of Local Government and Public Works Winston Chitando were futile as he instructed this reporter to send questions on WhatsApp but failed to respond to them until time for publication. Repeated efforts to call Chitando failed to yield results as he was not answering his cell. Prominent lawyer and former Masvingo City Mayor Collen Maboke had however earlier told TellZim News that Mavhenyengwa was wrong in his assertions about policymakers being entitled to allowances when attending party activities, saying the Urban Councils Act was very clear on where and when allowances are to be disbursed. “The Urban Councils Act is very clear on that. It’s illegal for councils to give allowances to councilors when they go for their party business. They only get allowances when dealing with service delivery issues which is council business. What the councils did was wrong because that is clear abuse of ratepayers money,” said Maboke. He also said if the opposition councilors were aware that it was not government business they were not supposed to accept the money for them to be able to hold council to account but it was difficult now that they are accomplices. Opposition councilors also further breached the law by not attending a meeting to which they had received allowances, on the pretext that it was a Zanu PF meeting, which defies logic as they just pocketed free funds. To further expose the policymakers’ lack of integrity, one councilor said they claimed allowances because they believed it was a government program, but when they found out it was not, they did not make an effort to return the money. “We are not allowed to demand allowances when doing any other business that is not related to service delivery. We get those allowances when traveling on council business. However, on this one, at first, we thought it was a government programme, but we later learnt that it was a party thing. In that case, who would return the money?” the councilor said.
Unsubstantiated claims of being ‘tricked’ by CCC councilors
CllrPhilemon Muchaindepi of Chiredzi
Opposition councilors were accused of aiding Zanu PF to abuse council and public resources after accepting the travel allowance to a meeting that they did not attend. Speaking to TellZim News, some of the councilors said they were tricked into believing that the meeting was a government meeting, only to realize later that they had been tricked after receiving the allowances. Some even claim they only realized after getting to the venue, seeing the majority of guests clad in Zanu PF regalia that they had been tricked. “We did not know it was a party function, we only realized when we got in town seeing our fellows from Zanu PF taking off jackets and revealing their party regalia. When we queried we were told that we should ask the Town Secretary or Council Chair which we did. “They both said they received communication that said the program was a government programme. We then asked them to share the communication with us but they failed and we concluded that they had tricked us,” said Councilor Philemon Muchaindepi of Chiredzi. Masvingo and Zaka RDCs’ opposition councilors however collected the allowances fully aware that the meeting was a Zanu PF event, as evidenced by Masvingo District Coordinating Committee Chairperson Tawanda Dube, who is also a councilor when he communicated in the council official WhatsApp group that the event was purely Zanu PF and everyone was supposed to come wearing party regalia. The whole scenario has opened a can of worms on the state of affairs in local authorities, some of which have been caught on the wrong side of the law after allowing council resources to be used for partisan activities. Former Chiredzi Town Council Chair Francis Moyo, who is currently under fire by graft body Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) once had the local authority probed by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Accounts over his use of a council vehicle to attend former President Robert Mugabe’s birthday celebrations at Great Zimbabwe Monuments, after the vehicle got involved in an accident severely damaging it. The local authority was said to have used council funds to repair the vehicle, an issue that became contentious during the oral evidence sessions conducted by the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee where officials from Chiredzi Town Council were called to give testimony. Sources however said the issue was resolved after officials from the local authority shifted blame to the late Town Secretary Charles Muchatukwa whom they said had authorized the transaction.
