By Virginia Njovo

Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Senator Monica Mutsvangwa has emphasised the need to strengthen Gender Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response services, psychosocial support and economic empowerment for women and children in reception centres and during transit to their respective destinations.

This has come to her attention after some reports show that 74 percent of the 110 000 returnees are women and children, while men dominate the remaining percentage.

She noted that from the day the repatriation process started, two women were sexually abused during transit, one in Polokwane and one in Beitbridge, but not in the reception centre.

Speaking during the handover of the consignment of 1 000 dignity kits from United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and 10 000 tonnes of rice from the Zimbabwean Government through MWACSMED held at the Beitbridge Reception Centre on July 2026, Minister Mutsvangwa said women and children should get protection from GBV as well as the provision of psychosocial support at the reception centre.

“To address the specific gender dimensions of this crisis, my Ministry is actively working alongside the government ministries, development partners and humanitarian organisations; together we are strengthening gender responsive reintegration strategies and enhancing the mechanisms for Gender Base4d Violence prevention response. This whole effort is to ensure that the unique needs of women and girls are prioritized in every intervention.They should also get psychosocial support through counselling and emotional assistance to help returnees cope with trauma, stress and challenges associated with displacement and reintegration,” said Mutsvangwa.

She assured the returnees that they were not alone in the current challenging phase of their life, her Ministry will assist them with some of the skills relevant to income generation through existing structures, which were already helping women in Zimbabwe.

“While the road to recovery may be challenging, I want to assure you, our returnees, that you will not walk it alone; we call upon you to join our train of progress by embracing economic empowerment opportunities and being GBV prevention champions.

“Consider joining the Women’s Bank for access to loans, participating in internal savings and lending schemes in your villages as well as becoming part of cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that are engines of our national growth. Government and partners are available to support your journey toward healing, resilience and renewed hope,” added Mutsvangwa.

During her solidarity speech, UNFPA country Director Tabifor Miranda said the UN family was committed to immediate restoration of dignity, safety and protection as well as long-term reintegration.

“In close collaboration with the Government of Zimbabwe through MWACSMED, we are committed to various critical pillars of action, including the immediate restoration of dignity; that is why we are handing over these dignity kits where we expect every woman and adolescent girl receiving one as they provides essential health supplies and hygiene supplies as well as self-worth that serve as the first step towards restoring the sense of self-worth.

“We are also working to ensure that transit facilities are safe spaces where no woman or girl has to fear for security,” said Tabifor.

In an interview with TellZim News, one of the returnees, Chiedza Vannessa Chekudya, expressed her gratitude to the government of Zimbabwe for ensuring safe return.

“I want to thank the Government of Zimbabwe for ensuring that we have come back home safely. I was doing my business in South Africa, and I managed to bring my equipment I was using to start over here in Zimbabwe, and I also want to encourage those who are afraid to come back home not to worry, as the welcome is warm,” said Chekudya.

Zimbabweans who are in South Africa and are exposed to the violence and attacks are encouraged to go to Zimbabwean Consulates and Embassies near them or even the Police Stations so that they can be safely transported home. A total of 463 trips are made in the process.

By Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI – The net has closed in on Chiredzi Town Council Chairperson Councillor Jameson Charumbira, who the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission arrested on the same charge levelled against Acting Town Secretary Consider Kubiku, Criminal Abuse of Duty as a Public Officer, in a development that now places the council’s top elected official and its top administrator in the dock together.

Charumbira, who appeared without legal representation, was granted US$500 bail and is set to stand trial on August 13, 2026, the same date Kubiku is due back in court.

The arrest comes barely a week after revelations that Charumbira had allegedly sat on a Ministry of Local Government and Public Works directive ordering corrective action on irregular staff deployments at the council, without ever tabling it before Full Council.

The directive, contained in a letter seen by TellZium News, dated July 2, 2026, and addressed personally to Charumbira, followed a ministerial fact-finding mission into the promotion and deployment of Mr M. Njiri and Engineer I. Muteyaunga.

Signed by Minister of Local Government and Public Works Daniel Garwe, the letter found that while the appointments substantially complied with Council’s Conditions of Service, the process had also revealed opportunities to strengthen organisational efficiency through the optimal deployment of technical personnel in line with qualifications and expertise.

“The Ministry has considered the report of the fact-finding mission. Whilst the investigation established that the appointments substantially complied with Council’s Conditions of Service, it also identified opportunities to strengthen organisational efficiency through the optimal deployment of technical personnel in line with their academic qualifications, professional competencies and technical expertise,” reads part of the letter.

The Ministry directed CTC to place the matter before Full Council and take administrative measures on four fronts: aligning Engineer Irvene Muteyaunga’s deployment with the Water and Sanitation portfolio in view of his specialist qualifications; reassigning Simbarashe Bhasera to a portfolio matching his industrial and manufacturing engineering background; redeploying Njiri to the Security Department where his qualifications could be “optimally utilised”; and initiating a competitive recruitment process to fill the substantive post of Senior Projects Coordinator. Council was given 30 days to report back with resolutions and supporting documentation.

“Accordingly, Council is requested to place this matter before Full Council for consideration and to take the necessary administrative measures, in accordance with its Conditions of Service and applicable legal and administrative procedures, with particular regard to the following: The alignment of Engineer I. Muteyaunga’s deployment with the Water and Sanitation portfolio, taking into account his specialist qualifications and professional experience; The reassignment of Mr Simbarashe Bhasera to a portfolio that more appropriately corresponds with his qualifications and technical expertise in industrial and manufacturing engineering; The redeployment of Mr M. Njiri to the Security Department, where his qualifications and professional background may be optimally utilised; The initiation of a competitive recruitment process to fill the substantive post of Senior Projects Coordinator in accordance with Council’s Conditions of Service and the applicable legal and administrative framework,” the letter elaborated.

However, sources claimed that, Charumbira never brought the directive before Full Council, keeping fellow councillors in the dark about the Ministry’s findings and instructions.

This silence now appears to sit at the heart of ZACC’s interest in his conduct.The antigraft body first moved on July 13, just 11 days after the letter’s date, arresting Kubiku over the promotion of two council employees without the relevant academic qualifications.

According to court papers, in December 2025 Kubiku allegedly caused the creation and adoption of a new council organogram that established two new managerial posts, Assistant Director Operations in the Engineering Department and Senior Projects Coordinator in the Housing Department, despite a job evaluation exercise having recommended that the posts occupied by Muteyaunga and Njiri be abolished and the two redeployed to departments matching their qualifications.

Court papers state that the two posts were never advertised internally, and no shortlisting, interviews, or competitive selection process took place, with Muteyaunga and Njiri instead handpicked by Kubiku in violation of the council’s Human Resource Policy.

The State further alleges that council’s Human Resources policy requires promotions to be initiated by a written request from a Head of Department, and that no such request was made for either promotion.Investigations subsequently found that neither employee met the minimum qualifications for their new posts.

The Assistant Director post in the Engineering Department requires a degree in Civil Engineering; Muteyaunga holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering.

The Senior Projects Coordinator post requires the skills to supervise engineering works; Njiri holds a Diploma in Security Management.Kubiku appeared before Regional Magistrate Judith Zuyu and was granted US$500 bail.

The case has a possible 19 witnesses, with investigations expected to be completed by August 11, 2026.

Charumbira’s arrest today, on an identical charge and with an identical bail amount, now ties the two officials together on the same trial date, raising the prospect that the full circumstances behind the ministerial letter, and why it was never disclosed to councillors, could be tested in open court.