…As council allegedly purchases top-of-the-range vehicles for HODs

Melinda Kusemachibi

Bikita Rural District Council (RDC) is embroiled in a scandalous vehicle purchasing spree that has seen the local Bikita Residents and Ratepayers Association (BIRRA) drafting a petition letter seeking redress and clarity over the move by the local authority.
In a letter dated April 29 copied to various authorities among them Bikita RDC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Masvingo resident minister, District Development Coordinator (DDC), President’s office, Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and Bikita West Member of Parliament undersigned by acting BIRRA secretary Mark Mutengani, the residents seek redress as to why council resolved to embark on such a move at a time service delivery is deteriorating.
“It is our displeasure to present our discontentment on the resolution passed by our council to the effect that you agreed and purchased seven top of the range vehicles for Head of Departments (HODs) of which six of them have already been delivered. To add disappointment, you went further to privatize the vehicles with yellow plates under the so-called ‘loan facility’.
“It is our displeasure to learn that our council has abandoned its main purpose of service delivery to go on a self-enrichment route by pampering its employees with brand new top of the range GD6 Toyota Hilux vehicles worth over US$ 350 000. From the best of our knowledge, council has no ambulances, refuse collection truck, fire brigade truck not talking of the general road maintenance and sewer reticulation but you had the guts to buy seven luxury vehicles for personal use ignoring the already available new fleet available,” read part of the petition letter.
The residents also expressed displeasure over the manner in which the RDC handled council debtors with the former surrendering debtors to debt collectors and the resident association felt the RDC management was ‘terrorizing residents’ as the generally poor residents were forced to incur legal costs after having already failed to honor their bills.
BIRRA feels the intervention of the relevant authorities to which the letter was copied would bring sanity at the local authority while at the same time the RDC would be compelled to lay bare their 2022 budget and show where the purchase of such vehicles was slated.
Contacted for comment on the matter Bikita RDC CEO Peter Chibhi said residents do not have the power to block resolutions that the local authority would have passed as the law allows them to purchase such vehicles while at the same time alleging the undersigned association does not exist.
“Residents tell their councilors to bring issues to council but have no mandate to force council to rescind a resolution. It is like citizens forcing government to reverse Acts of Parliament. The process was done above board in line with cabinet circular on executive vehicles dated March 20, 2018. Bikita RDC is a public institution scrutinized by the Auditor General’s office by way of External Audit.
“We are audited yearly. The vehicle were budgeted for from 2016 to 2021, and they were bought in 2021 so they cannot be in 2022 budget and 2022 rates cannot be reviewed downwards because the procurement of the vehicles was done in 2021 and not 2022,” said Chibhi.
He however said residents owe council a lot of money dating back to 2020.
“Residents owe the local authority ZWL$10 million dating back to 2020 and we engaged lawyers to recover the debt. Residents want service and they must pay for the service. Water and sewer in Bikita is a mandate of Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA). We bought six pick up service vehicles on a loan facility as provided for in the RDC Act.
“Service delivery in Bikita is done accordingly as the roads are rehabilitated, refuse is collected three times a week, boreholes are rehabilitated and new boreholes are drilled, the six vehicles are condition of service delivery to be used for five years for council business in line with council policy and government circular,” added Chibhi.
However a source privy to matter who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the petition comes at a time when poor service deliverly is rocking the authority.
“The petition is very true, poor service delivery rocks at the growth points. They gave residents unserviced stands, where there are no sewer systems, roads and the refuse compactors do not even go there leading residents to dump waste everywhere.
“The council is good as nothing, they are after ratepayers’ money. They are living luxurious lives at the expense of residents, they bought cars with the residents’ money and privatized them,” said the source.
Most local authorities countrywide have been accused of failing to prioritize the welfare of residents and ratepayers as a result of misplaced priorities among them purchasing luxurious vehicles, hefty salary packages and allowances among other issues while residents are at the receiving end with acute water shortages and failure to ensure efficient refuse collection.

TellZim reporter

Barely a year after the gold rush that sparked an influx of fortune seekers in Wendedzo area of Masvingo North constituency, a local village head said the community is being haunted by the development as locals have joined in the panning activities, threatening infrastructure in the area.
Speaking during a tour of journalists organised by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) on April 28, local village head Saina Chinomwe said the area is in fear of a repeat of the rush which threatens the road network and a dam that serves the community.
Chinomwe said a likely rush is on the cards after a ‘self-proclaimed’ spirit medium told the local people of the presence of the precious mineral at another spot in the locality.
“A certain lady of the Madzibaba Apostolic sect claimed to have been shown the presence of gold near the dam in which she claims the belt goes underneath the road towards the water source. After her claims lots of local people rushed to the area with tools like picks and shovels for use there. As part the local leadership, I went there and enquired on the developments but after realising the violent nature of the people, I had to leave for safety,” said Chinomwe.
He also said the first gold rush left scars on the environment as well as relations within the community as the local people especially youth blamed the local leadership for failing them in benefiting from the resources.
“Pits are everywhere and we as locals do not even have plans on how to reclaim the damaged environment. The other challenge is that even when we fill up those pits, the panners would always dig and open them up in search of gold. When such developments take place, the local leadership is by-passed as we get no consultation and as a result people just invade our land without our blessing.
“Animals belonging to the local people are also under threat from the huge pits these artisanal miners dug. The young people in our communities blame us as leadership for failing to ensure they benefit from the available resources at the expense of people from afar. We once approached the local councillor to help find a solution to the degradation, but he is yet to bring back an answer and thus we call upon government to intervene and ensure the case is put to rest once and for all,” urged Chinomwe.
He however said the local people have declined offering labour towards land reclamation as they argue that they benefited nothing from the resource.
FaFlo Zim director Fidelicy Nyamukondiwa also bemoaned the damage inflicted on the land during the gold rush as they destroyed animal habitats while at the same time the pits create a breeding place for waterborne diseases.
“There are lots of insects whose habitat is soil and trees and thus the gold rush led to the destruction of their habitats. These pits also serve as breeding places for a number of waterborne diseases as vectors like mosquito breed in such places. Basically those are some of the negative effects of the gold rush,” said Nyamukondiwa.
He added that his organisation was in the process of mobilising resources towards reclaiming the damaged land.
“As an organisation we are on an initiative to cover all these pits and should funds permit, we would embark on it. We already have volunteers who wish to take it up on themselves to reclaim the land. We will try to get support to motivate local young people towards the work.
“There is also need for the community to cooperate towards such efforts and the need to embark on awareness campaigns to help deal with the ignorance that is in the community as far as dangers associated with panning are concerned. People need to understand the legal consequences of engaging in such activities like the mandatory prison terms on offenders,” he added.
Environmental Management Agency (EMA) Masvingo Environmental Education and Publicity officer Brian Makani said in 2021 joint operations comprising of law enforcement agents managed to arrest 55 people in 2021 and 10 so far this year.
“EMA working other law enforcement agents managed to arrest a total of 55 people here in 2021 and this year since January we arrested 10 who were given tickets and orders within Wendedzo area so they carry out rehabilitation on degraded land where they were illegally mining. The challenge is that most prospective miners would seek for licence and start operations without acquiring the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) certificate,
“Last year when people were found carrying out illegal mining activities, quite a number of awareness campaigns were undertaken with the help of health personnel and Masvingo Rural District Council (RDC) where the local people were taken through a number of awareness lessons on the dangers of illegal mining which is not sustainable. The joint operation by security officers was deterrent enough to reduce the influx of gold panners and hence minimized the damage that could have been extensive,” said Makani.

TellZim Reporter

MASVINGO – The First Capital Bank has launched a promotion code-named Balance up and Win promotion where three lucky winners will walk away with Toyota Rush vehicles.

The promotion was first launched last month in Harare and is running from April 01 to September 30 2022.

To enter in to the promotion, account holders are required to maintain an average balance of ZW$20 000 or US$100 all the time for the whole month for six months starting from this month (April).

First Capital Bank head of Marketing and communications Emily Nemapare told TellZim News during Masvingo provincial launch that there will be lots of other prices to be won during the period when they will be having monthly draws.

She said First Capital is a big bag as witnessed by its ability to reward its customers through the promotion.

“We have a lot of prices for our customers. This shows how big we are as a bank, from my experience in the banking industry, I have never seen any bank giving away cars. So we urge people to open accounts with us,” said Nemapare.

She said from Masvingo they will have similar launches in Gweru, Bulawayo and Mutare and will have monthly draws in each province where people win different prices if they qualify and have the final draw at the end where three vehicles will be given away.

To qualify for the monthly draws customers need to register for WhatsApp banking and transact at least once on the platform and transact at least three times on any of the bank’s digital platforms.

Fredrick Moyo

Since the start of Covid-19 lockdown, statistics have shown that Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Zimbabwe has been on the rise and there has been an increase in reported GBV cases, including psychological, physical, sexual and economic forms of violence.
This came out during Zimbabwe National First Lady’s Programme on Male Engagement conference held at Masvingo Polytechnic on April 21, 2022.
Speaking at the event, Masvingo Provincial Victim Friendly Unit (VFU) coordinator Daniel Jopo said GBV cases have been on the rise in the province since the start of the lockdown with the province receiving most of the reported cases being perpetrated by males.
“In 2021 from January to March, Masvingo province recorded 343 reported cases of GBV while in 2022 from January to March we have 496 reported cases. If we take a closer look at our statistics, GBV cases are on the rise in the province and the whole of last year we received 1 508 cases.
“Some of these cases have been linked to the Covid-19 pandemic but however, I am happy that the courts are solving all the cases that we present to them,” said Jopo.
He also added that as VFU, they work with many stakeholders in carrying out awareness campaigns to minimize or stop GBV cases in the province and encouraged people to seek third part interventions and solve their disputes amicably without violence.
“Some if not all of the GBV cases that we are receiving, males are the perpetrators while females are victims. As ZRP, we work with many stakeholders to fight GBV as we carryout awareness campaigns, provide counselling services to minimise or stop GBV and also encouraging people to report GBV cases in time so they can be quickly solved. We also encourage people to seek third part interventions from Chiefs, Pastors, family members or even us the ZRP whenever they argue,” added Jopo.
Gender-based violence is of serious concern in Zimbabwe as it is to the rest of the world and indeed it is imperative to emphasize that GBV was already a global problem before the Covid-19 pandemic but however increased due to lockdown and movement restrictions.

TellZim Reporter

In a development that will bring a sigh of relief to the general populace in the province, Masvingo Provincial Hospital’s X-ray laboratory is now fully equipped and functional.
The hospital’s Public Relations Officer Chioniso Gono told TellZim News that the laboratory is now in full scale operation and patients no longer need to go to private health institutions where they are charged exorbitant fees.
She said the laboratory was not functional because of a number of challenges including unavailability of the film for the scans.
“We want to advice members of the public that our laboratory which has not been functional for some time is now in full operation to offer x-ray services. There had been some shortages of some equipment and mostly film,” said Gono
The hospital recently made headlines for having only one Blood Pressure testing machine but they went on to refute the allegations saying the hospital was well equipped to that regard.
Gono said each and every department had its own BP machine contrary to the reports that wet round a few week ago.