Emmanuel Chitsika

A number of roads being constructed or renovated under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP) embarked on by the government of Zimbabwe in a bid to improve the road network around the country have been deteriorating soon after completion, pointing to poor workmanship.
Some of the contractors who are doing the work have become notorious for producing these poor roads, but continue getting contracts in different parts of the country, bringing to question how the monitoring of the programme is being done.
The ERRP has seen billions of dollars being poured into the programme, and has been one of the Second Dispensation’s biggest points of implementation after President Emmerson Mnangagwa condemed most roads in the country at the beginning of the programme.
Recently, Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) revealed that it was going to disburse $17 billion under the second phase of the programme, after having already disbursed $5,8 billion to road authorities across Zimbabwe in the first phase.
Last year Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona told Senate that a monitoring and evaluation approach had been adopted by government to ensure quality delivery of projects.
In Chiredzi there are reports that Fossil Contracting was directed to re-do Lion Drive road after it developed potholes barely less than two weeks after opening to traffic.
Chiredzi District Development Coordinator (DDC) Lovemore Chisema said in as much as they are concerned with the poor road surfaces they have seen in the Lowveld town, they are yet to assess the work before coming up with a detailed overall report.
“I am equally concerned with the quality of some of the roads because generally when one looks at the surface, you would see that the quality is below standard so we are going to do some checks on the roads. I am yet to carry out that exercise of assessing the roads; I haven’t been around as I was part of the Population and Household Census programme. I once called the contractors three days ago for some other engagement but we are yet to go on a tour of the roads they have done where we expect them to brief us on their work,” said Chisema.

Masvingo Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Dr Jefta Sakupwanya however said inadequate capacity to supervise the contracted companies might have led to such poor quality road surfaces, saying government was going to descend on work contractors responsible for shoddy work and blacklist them.
“As government, we do not allow or tolerate poor work at all. We are saying those contractors who are found wanting in terms of poor workmanship should be blacklisted and never allowed to get other tenders of work in the future.
“Currently the immediate intervention we have sought is to train road authorities on how to ensure strict supervision of contractors and of course working with Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA), we have got a team at provincial level which is moving around trying to ensure quality assurance on the roads because after completion, these roads should last between 15 and 25 years to avoid a scenario in which government would waste resources channelled towards such initiatives,” said Dr Sakupwanya.
He went on to say that there could be some contractors who are responsible for poor workmanship, with most doing well.
“Apa paita zai rimwe rakaora muBasket rakazara mazai akanaka chose (It is a matter of one rotten egg in a basket full of good eggs). What I can say is that there is need to enhance and improve the capacity of contractors of these road authorities to manage and supervise contractors. There was that inadequate capacity to monitoring and supervision of contractors which could have led to the compromise in terms of the quality of roads,” he added.
In Masvingo urban in Rujeko suburb, Ingwe Drive is one such example of poorly done work as the road developed cracks before the road markings that were recently done.
Some local authorities have been blamed for shoddy resurfacing after they only put gravel in some roads, which was then washed away by rains.
In Masvingo again, the Chimusana Bridge which was confirmed to have been incorporated into the ERRP due to failure by Masvingo City Council to rehabilitate it has been a ‘white elephant’ project as anything meaningful is yet to be implemented.

Melinda Kusemachibi

Masvingo Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Dr Jefta Sakupwanya said his office would intervene in Bikita vehicle purchase ‘scam’ in a bid to ensure that sanity prevails over the matter.
Dr Sakupwanya acknowledged receiving a messenger from Bikita with the petition and promised his office would look into the matter.
“Yes l know the issue and a messenger was sent from Bikita to my office. We are going to investigate and look into what happened on the resolution by Bikita Rural District Council (RDC) to use council money purchasing seven vehicles and privatizing them,” said Dr Sakupwanya.
Bikita District Development Coordinator (DDC) Bernard Hadzirabwi said that he knows about the issue as he was called from the higher offices though physically the petition never reached his office.
“Yes l am aware of the issue because the offices of Ministry of Local Government called me telling me about it. I did not receive the petition but it was copied to the office of Minister of State and also to the office of Masvingo Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution,” said Hadzirabwi.
He said that he could not comment on the issue as it is now at the office of the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.
“I cannot comment on the issue as it is already at the office of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister July Moyo, he is the one to comment on the issue,” he added.
Sources at the RDC offices however said Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) recently deployed a team of four officials to interview some employees at the local authority though ZACC spokesperson, Commissioner John Makamure denied that.
“Yes it is true that on Wednesday (May 4) some four officials from ZACC came to Bikita RDC offices and had some interviews with some of the local authority’s employees concerning the purchase of such vehicles,” the source said.
Makamure said that they never deployed officials at RDC to investigate the matter.
“We are going to compile and check what happened but we did not send our team to Bikita and investigate the issue. If we want to do investigations, we do that to both urban and rural councils and Bikita is one of them,” Makamure said.
Bikita Residents and Ratepayers Association (BIRRA) acting secretary Mark Mutengani however said he heard through the grape vine that ZACC descended on the RDC last week and that some officials from the local government ministry were set to visit on May 6 though the position was not officially communicated to them.
“Yes, I just heard that sometime this week on Wednesday (May 4), some officials from ZACC came for investigations with some circles reportedly saying officials from the parent ministry are around to carry out the investigations (on May 6) though I am yet to clarify on the actual situation obtaining,” said Mutengani.
BIRRA drafted a petition letter seeking redress and clarity over the move by the local authority which stands accused of going on a purchasing vehicle spree for top official.
The RDC purchased seven GD6 Toyota Hilux vehicles for Head of Departments before fixing yellow registration plates instead of the official black and white, a move that provoked residents alleging privatization of such properties.

…accuse school authorities of negligence

Melinda Kusemachibi

Parents of over 30 pupils at Victoria High School are crying foul over failure by the school authorities to notify them on the expulsion of their children as the school failed to communicate with them after expelling the pupils last term.

They said they were surprised to learn about the incident on opening day (May 3) this term when their children were denied access into school premises after most had already paid school fees as well as buying food.

The expelled learners were reportedly forced to sleep in the fields for two nights as punishment for sneaking out to attend a racing event.

A parent who spoke to TellZim News said their children were expelled from the school without first notifying them.

“The school expelled our children from the school but to my surprise I did not receive any letter from the school indicating that the children had been expelled from the school. They even allowed them to board the school bus in Harare on opening day only to realize they had been expelled from the school.

“When there is a problem at the school or even when my child is sick, they would communicate or even call us but on this issue they did not call. To my surprise, the school head told me that he could not find our phone numbers,” said the parent.

The parent also went on to say that the school even let them pay school fees despite the fact that their learners were expelled and when they inquired with the school, they were offered a transfer letter which indicated that it was at the parent’s request.

“They even allowed us to pay the school fees which the school head has told us that they will refund us,” added the parent.

However, Victoria High Head Engelbert Chimbwari dismissed the allegations and said that no pupil was expelled from the school.

“There are no pupils that were expelled from the school. It was just a displinary process,” said Chimbwari.

Asked to shed light on the issue of pupils having been served with transfer letters, Chimbwari professed ignorance on the matter.

Contacted for comment on the issue Acting Provincial Education Director (PED) Shylet Mhike said that the matter had not yet been reported at her office.

“The matter is yet to be reported at my office but if the school had expelled the children because of different reasons which might be linked to stubbornness then the school has the right to expel such pupils,” said Mhike.

Human rights lawyer Martin Mureri said considering the rights of the pupils, what the school did was not right as they were supposed to call and inform their parents first.

“They should have notified their parents first and hear what was the story behind, then if  disciplinary proceedings were supposed to be done, then they should have done that than just expelling pupils without hearing what the story was about,” said Mureri.

It is reported that the pupils are yet to attend lessons or even allowed to sleep in the hostels after being punished for sneaking out of school to attend a motor bike racing event last term.

Tendai Charumbira

Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ) education secretary Dr Julius Witmos Mutumburanzou said he is delighted with the performance of RCZ run schools in the November 2021 Ordinary and Advanced level results.
Dr Mutumburanzou told TellZim News that he was particularly happy with the ‘O’ level results despite some of the schools not delivering their very best unlike with ‘A’ level results in which the schools did really well with the lowest getting 90 percent pass rate.
“We as the RCZ, are happy with the performance of the schools in the November 2021 ‘O’ level results especially Chibi and Pamushana High schools, although some schools failed to reach our bench mark.
“We are also delighted with the ‘A’ level results because the lowest schools scored 90 percent pass rate, which is a rare feat,” said Mutumburanzou.
He also added schools were quite outstanding despite the socio-economic hardships in the country, industrial actions not forgetting the Covid-19.
“RCZ schools were quite remarkable against the social-economic situations which are quite difficult and also the industrial elections apart from Covid-19,”said Mutumburanzou.
Chibi High is leading in the ‘O’ level results with a 100 percent pass rate, in ‘A’ level it recorded 98.28 percent pass rate. Pamushana scored 91.02 percent in ‘O’ level and 99.49 percent pass rate in ‘A’ level results. Gutu High recorded 89.6 percent pass rate and the best candidate scored 12As and 1B in ‘A’ level it scored 97.7 percentage pass.
Nyashanu High School in Buhera district in Manicaland province also recorded 90.63 percentage pass rate in ‘O’ level recording that best pupil being a boy who scored 11As and 1B and best female pupil scored 8As and 4Bs. In ‘A’ levels, it recorded 94.67 percent. Chingombe 2 Alhiet recorded 76.22 percent pass rate in the ‘O’ level and 90.22 percent in the ‘A’ level results.
Makumbe High School recorded 88.46 percent pass rate. The best pupil in boys scored 7As, 3Bs and 1C and best candidate in girls scored 5As and 3bs. In ‘A’ levels, it recorded a total percentage pass rate of 65.97. Zimuto High recorded 78.80 percent pass rate in ‘O’ levels while in ‘A’ levels it recorded 92 percent.

Tinaani Nyabereka

Police in Gweru have today released the mayoral pool car which was being held at Gweru Central Police following a dispute between former Mayor Josiah Makombe and council.

The vehicle was set to be Makombe’s exit package after his full term as he was supposed to buy it at book value, but he was then recalled by the Douglas Mwonzora led MDC-Alliance in December 2021.

According to an affidavit in the hands of this publication, the vehicle was returned today, May 5 2022 to Gweru Acting Town Clerk Vakai Chikwekwe.

“I Douglas Vakayi Chikwekwe residing at (address given), Gweru being the owner of Toyota Prado AAF-6417 I do hereby indemnity the Government of Zimbabwe and the ZRP or any member thereof any damage which the property may have occurred during investigations.

“I also acknowledge that I do not have any other property in the hands of the police. The property will be kept by me until I am advised to dispose it by the police. I shall also comply with the court instructions if the property is required as evidence,” read part of the affidavit.

Efforts to get a comment from Makombe were fruitless as his phone was not reachable by the time of writing.

Chikwekwe also could not comment on the issue as he referred all questions to the Public Relations Officer.