In a daring move alien to Zimbabwean traditional leaders, Chief Murinye born Ephias Munodawafa who recently castigated the President Emmerson Mnangagwa administration for failing to deal with corruption, has said he is not afraid and is prepared for anything as far as his recent utterances are concerned.
Chief Murinye recently made headlines after making bold statements while addressing mourners at the funeral of Public Service Commission (PSC) Head of the Pay and Benefits Development and Management Agency Elson Gonye in his area spewing vitriol against corrupt elements in Mnangagwa’s administration.
The traditional leader told mourners that there was every reason to call upon Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Phillip Valerio Sibanda to repeat what they did in November 2017 (apparent reference to the sanitized military coup that overthrew former president Mugabe).
When contacted for further clarification and comment over his utterances, Chief Murinye declined to give names of the individuals involved in the corrupt activities but pointed out a case that took place in Masvingo in which a truck full of fertilizers meant for the local people was allegedly diverted to Harare for selling at the parallel market in Harare.
“It is a bit difficult to mention names but about two or three months ago, came a truck full of fertilizer, someone came and whispered to me that the truck was taking the fertilizer to Harare and sell it at the black market.
“After that I took the registration numbers of the vehicle, called the Propol and also went to Chivi road block to notify the police manning the block on the development but up to now, nothing has been done,” said Chief Murinye.
He also said he is prepared for the consequences that are likely to follow his criticism of corrupt and criminal activities among top government officials.
“I am not afraid and I am prepared for whatever I will face. If they want to kill me, they can come and kill me I am not afraid,” said Chief Murinye.
At Gonye’s funeral, Chief Murinye implored Mnangagwa to take heed to his call and put his house in order, if he wanted to retain power in the 2023 harmonised polls that are just one and half years away.
“ED is my nephew, if he fails to listen to my advice, in 2023 he will not make it. People are disgruntled, they are seeing what is going on and they will punish you in the ballot box.
“We are fed up, sick and tired of these crooks and criminals. We do not want this anymore. Criminals have no place in Zimbabwe, wherever minerals pop up the same individuals claim ownership and everything along the way. ED has got a good vision but he is surrounded by criminals. We do not know if it will be the best option for us to go to Valerio Sibanda so that he can repeat what he did. We do not want that. We are fed up of being the laughing stock of the world because if you go to South Africa and they ask you where you come from, you feel ashamed to the extent that you can even think of hiding your passport.
“Have you observed the humility of this home, have you seen it? What if they were those guys with nepotism and tribalism you have taken from high up there? If you visit other people’s homesteads, you would just realise how well other people are living,” said Chief Murinye.
He further castigated people who are siphoning public funds for personal benefits like buying properties in leafy suburbs in Harare.
“If you go to areas like Borrowdale, you wonder where the owners of such properties get the money to construct them. I am not proud of that kind of money; give me nothing even if it means stripping me of the chieftainship. I would rather be with my people and enjoy the sanity of the Heavens which demands righteousness than reveling in ‘dirty or bloody’ wealth acquisition.
“How do we celebrate when someone boasts that the wealth he possesses is too much to the extent that he would only be declared broke when he reaches the levels of Strive Masiiwa (Econet founder), a son of the former president for that matter. You think we are happy with such kind of issues prevailing? Whoever gets into power should rein his/her children so that they know the nation belongs to the people and not individuals. We have supported the ruling party because it is our party, but do not betray that support by doing whatever you wish to.
“There was a gold rush at Hwendedzo. Musara went there and proposed incorporation of the community in sharing the proceeds, there were top army officials with people being chased away. That is nonsense,” said Chief Murinye.
As if responding to the issue, a Twitter handle believed to be run by Presidential Spokesperson George Charamba tweeted that Chief Murinye had called him to clear the air.
“WHEN CHIEF MURINYE CALLED: Today I got an unexpected call from Chief Murinye who fondly addresses me as ‘the son of Manheru’, with all the attendant semantic consequences. His message was brief: he hates the way opposition forces are abusing his strong indignation with his President and his party, ZANU-PF.
“He explained what triggered the outburst. Further, he says he has since sobered up and is ready to explain himself. So guys, don’t think you are about to score; take chill pill!!!!,” reads the statement.
Contacted for comment again to clarify on the tweet, Chief Murinye said he was in a meeting before his mobile phone went unreachable the rest of the afternoon.
Barely a month ago, Chiefs’ Council President Fortune Charumbira had a video of himself shot at Zanu PF national conference in Bindura while claiming that Chiefs are the true owners of Zanu PF as a party and challenges the leadership to involve them in the affairs than inviting them as guests at annual conferences and congress.
Ladies and gentlemen the moment we have been waiting for the whole of 2021 is just around the corner and only a week away from now. Zvamurimi mugodhakwa muchikanganwa kuti January is coming, fees dzinenge dzichidiwa, let’s drink responsibly. Let us mask up OMIRIKON iriko kkkk. The Christmas holidays are here cdes, let’s travel safely, zvekuzodeedzwa kundufu hobo hobo madonha pamigwagwa hatizvide. But someone recently said January wacho has already come in December because yuwesi racho harisi kubatika. Mati madii?Kkkkkkk
Merry Christmas to you all women and men, of course save for Marry Mubaiwa or Chiwenga. Mapombi semunhu wechidzimai, guru rekubereka rinochecheta ndikafunga zvirikuitika kuna Marry waGenerari. Kutambiswa chamutavanhava naformer roommate. Vakuru vakataura vakati chawira mwana wehama hachisekwi, zvokwadi ndiri kuzviona uye moyo wekubereka wadzimba ndakatarisa chimiro chaMarry Chiwenga. Ko nhai Genarari hamuoniwo here chimiro cheaimbova mudiwa wenyu kuti hachisisina kuti twasa uye denda riri paari raramba rangoti takarasima naye. Ndaifunga kuti munhu wese ane moyo but am now doubting if men were created equally or moyo yakasiyana siyana. A sinful heart is just like a crooked fence, for all the paint in the world won’t straighten it, so goes the saying and versus the reality currently obtaining in the case between the two former love-birds, shows just how the differences have become irreconcilable.
To make matters worse, the trial resumed during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and Marry just played the role of a woman who bore the brunt of patriarchal hegemony and cruelty during that particular time when people around the globe were trying to advocate for the cause of women. This matter has dragged so much in courts and I think they have failed, ko vari kudii havo kuindesa kwashe, I am proud of our traditional leaders when it comes to marital matters, havamisi kkkkk.
Speaking of Chiefs, let me hasten to say Big up to my Bamukuru, kkk eh vakaroora sis vanguka Chief Murinye. I think all chiefs should copy from our Murinye. Yes the guy has guts, kana kuti liver zvinongotaurwa nevakomana vepaTwitter because the audacity yakapenga kkkk, kuudza ED kuti hokoyo ne coup kkk. Hanzi toudza here PV vapamhe zvavakamboita gore riya kkkk. Valerio I am sure you heard the chief, hanzi matank ngaapinde zvakare mutown kkkkk. Hanzi corruption is the cancer eating away our economy kwete zvemaSanctions. If we could find more chiefs like him, I think zvinhu zvofamba ini. Infact, he was supposed to have joined Chief Ndiweni time ichiripo, the tag team would have produced something better. I think the Chief’s council president is taking a leaf; we need leaders with people at heart, who take the bull by its horns not sanitizing corruption. Fortue kkkk, please confront Zanu PF for our misery kwete zvebootlicking izvo. The only thing fortue said this year is kuramba US$50 yemaphone yaMthuli iya. But Chimuface chiya chotijairira, icho Mthuli kkkk chakataura zvema 2% tax paya tikafunga mafunnies ikozvino tikungorohwa mari hedu. Izvezvi mukasaita serious muchaona zvemaUS$50 izvezvi zvichitoitwa takatemba kkkk. We know that if you give this hurumende a centimeter they will take a kilometer. Mthuli is a hardcore neo-liberal capitalist muface uya. He thinks everyone anoseva chingwa nebacon, and all he wants to do is to punish Zimbabweans, kuita kutikama, kusvozva chaiko. Wonzwa chodada zvacho nesurplus budget, iyo inenge yehurombwa iyoyo. Varume musadaro imi.
Back to madzishe angu, I am sure ana Chief Mugabe you are getting it, ana Nhema newe Ndanga paZaka apo. Moenda kunedziya dzekuUuzumba dzekuda kuvhukunyura Bob kuti these are the kind of Chiefs we emulate kwete zvekucherana nezvitunha. We need Chiefs who side with people not Zanu.
But as usual I suspect these guys in cheap black nylon suits and dark sunglasses have already visited our Chief. I heard neredu dhongi repaTwitter Jamwanda saying the Chief has already called him ready to address the matter kkkkk. One thing I like about it, shoko harivhikwi makatozvinzwa, endai zvenyu chief munoti makaresva kunzwa that is not what I meant but zvakatotaurwa kkkk. Mongotiwo it was a moment of madness ndanga ndamborova one or two cups dzemukumbi wakauya kuzovhurwa navashe few weeks ago Mwenezi uko.
Zvakaoma heyo nyaya yeGonyeti remupunga raifanirwa kuinda kwaChivi rikarohwa nechadzimira rakananga Harare yadzokororeka pengai chief mupiwe rice renyu kkkk. Killer Zivhu akabirwa rake gore riya zvikarova kkk. But iye Killer uyu kkk, I saw he is in the Mavhenyengwa faction kkkkk. Ko hamusi kuziva, he is still Zanu PF that guy Once Zanu PF, always Zanu PF so vamwe vaya please take a chill pill kkkk. Handisini ndadaro ndi Joji kkkk. Sometimes Zivhu goes on sosho media kunorakasha zvake but he sometimes forgets kuti arikurakasha ani, vanhu vopera havozve kutemwa nemastray bullets, Killer vanhu killer, asi paTwitter vanouka havo havaregi, hohodo, unoitwei kushunamidzwa!
I heard mari yemota yemukomana yakwana, please kana yatengwa imi vanhu ve Zanu tokuzivai, musiye mota yemwana please. This time mukanetsa we will call the man of the moment Nemaisa to deal with you kkkk, munododwa senhodo. Musorobhangu Jonso, ndoreva Moyo kwete Madhuku, chete vanabhanguza vacho vawanda vanaProf Jonso vane kahunhu kakada kufanana, kkkkk. Anyway regai nditaure nyaya yacho. That man is still grappling at straws for his lost political relevance. Hameno what he suggested to Chamisa about money to train polling agents akagoti omomoterwa nezvinyuchi zvemukomana wepaGutu. He was told to use his own political advice to resuscitate his dead political career kkkkk. Ndambozvireva ini kuti paTwitter vanombaikubudira musaga,kkkk. You may have been at one point the sharpest political brains around mukuru but zvakati pepepe dhuu!kkkk Go where your advice is appreciated, kana vana Chamisa vasingadi siyai so, vachazvionera pamhino sefodya come 2023.
Asi Zimbabweans so, hanzi handei tinoisirwa mae-passport edu muflash. Mapombi is not against moving with time and not against the E-PASSPORT, yes we need kufambirana nenguva ladies and gentlemen, ndozviriko these days but this should not be at the expense of others. I hear many complaining about the two-year period yakapiwa those who have traditional passports to replace as it is too little, why not just allow them to expire then when renewing munhu opiwa E yacho? I heard kuti the difference is minor, so regai vakatora aite expire unless you say replacing is free kwete kungoda kutimocha pose pose. Imagine you would have renewed yours last week wakabhadhara $318 yuwesi woudzwa kunzi panoda imwezve $200, haa varume ka! Remind me ndigotaura nezveyeCBZ iyoyi yakanzi ndokuchange kuchibhadharwa mari dzacho. Corruption in this country needs us to be removed kubva munyika tose tomboiswa somewhere, muno monyatsosukwa mocleanwa mofiritwa tozodzoserwa because haiwa bodo!
Before I go hangu for my usual lunch, ko Failton Svimambo neZifa yake vakazodiikowo, i heard he is raising the middle finger to Zifa kkkk. Please failton you have failed, just leave and your team so that a new crop takes over. On that note, musazoita semakanokorwa tsoka neshiri during the holidays vanhuwe muchingombeya because Covid-19 is dangerous,topera.
Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) has revealed that child marriages in the country have increased this year and Masvingo province is ranked fourth among the country’s ten provinces after recording 35,5 percent girls and while boys account for 4,2 percent in cases of child marriages .
This was revealed in a concept note of the 2021 National Gender Forum prepared by the ZGC under the theme ‘Action towards the Eradication of Harmful Practices Which Breed Child Marriages and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Young Girls’.
Statistics by ZGC show that Mashonaland Central province tops the list with 49, 5% girls, 6, 7% boys married at a young age, followed by Mashonaland West with 41, 7% girls and 5, 6% boys.
Mashonaland East is on third place with 37,8% girls and 3,9% boys, followed by Masvingo with 35,3% girls and 4,2% boys with Manicaland having 36% girls and 3,4% boys.
Matabeleland North is rated at number six with 32, 9% girls and 5, 5% boys entering into early child marriages, followed by the Midlands with 30, 4% girls and 2, 7% boys.
Matabeleland South had 22, 2% girls and 1, 7% boys, while Harare had at 21, 7% girls and 2, 7% boys, with Bulawayo being the least with 13, 5% girls and 2, 7% boys.
ZGC considers child marriage as one of the systemic barriers prejudicial to the achievement of gender equality.
ZGC said the prevalence of child marriages in Zimbabwe was unacceptably high with “1 in 3 (32, 6%) girls and 4% boys being married before the age of 18.
“Statistics from the Multiple Indicator Survey demonstrate that child marriage is still a challenge in Zimbabwe and disproportionately affecting more girls than boys. Further indications are that child marriage prevalence is high (40%) in rural areas as compared to urban areas (21, 3%),” ZGC said.
ZGC Commissioner Tsungirirayi Hungwe-Chimbunde said child marriages are rape cases.
“Call it rape not early child marriages,” said Hungwe Chimbunde.
Girls and Women Empowerment Network (GWEN) Trust Director, Kumbirai Kahiya said they were monitoring church activities with a watchful eye in their efforts to combat child marriages.
“We have stepped up our efforts to address the issue of child marriages through various engagements with ordinary church members and their leaders.
“Our main focus is on Christianity and African Traditional Religion (ATR) groups where we teach them about women empowerment and educate them on constitutionally-enshrined rights for young women,” said Kahiya.
Amnesty International Membership Growth and Communications officer, Lucy Chivasa said her organization has been assisting victims with psychological and social support.
“When we come across cases where teenage girls have been impregnated and forced into marriage, we seek the intervention of law enforcement agents. We assist parents of the girl to make police report so that criminals can be arrested,” said Chivasa.
ZGC Act mandates the commission to convene an annual gender forum to discuss issues of concern related to the commission’s constitutional and statutory functions.
“Each year, the annual gender forum is held under a particular thematic area of concern. The 2021 annual gender forum is taking place in the backdrop of rising concerns of religious and cultural practices that fuel child marriages, sexual exploitation and abuse of young girls,” the commission said.
ZGC in partnership with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community Small and Medium Enterprises, Development carried out a community engagement programme in Mafararikwa Marange.
The recent surge in GBV cases has been attributed to increased power cuts as the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) continues to intensify its load shedding operations across the nation.
Speaking during a Residents-Stakeholders engagement meeting with Ward 17 residents , Zesa and Zimbabwe Republic Police’s Victim’s Friendly Unit (VFU) under the Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRA) Women Empowerment Initiative last week, GRRA director, Selipiwe Conerlia said findings conducted by her organisation revealed how constant power outages were triggering domestic violence in communities.
He further highlighted the need for all stakeholders to unite and foster solutions which minimize domestic violence and vandalism of electrical equipment.
“The shortage of power in our area has become a challenge. This has even triggered issues to do with domestic violence as most women are now victims to most household disputes,” Conerlia said.
Ward 17 resident, Margret Hove highlighted how load shedding has become the cause of most GBV cases in the community.
“The problem we have with Zesa’s load shedding is that most mothers are failing to prepare food on time. Another challenge is sometimes we do not even have money to buy gas or paraffin.
“So when our husbands come back from work they will be tired and hungry to find out that nothing would have been prepared. The end result is then centred on blame games and fights due to these power cuts,” she said.
Another resident, Hilda Chiramba of Mkoba 19 appealed to Zesa to monitor its substations and electrical switches as thieves were terrorizing and vandalizing properties.
“I stay in Mkoba 19 and we have a serious challenge there. We have a boy called Lovemore who is mentally challenged and goes around playing with electrical switches and sometimes switching off electricity at one of your substations in the suburb as the doors can no longer shut well.
“We appeal to you to come and close these doors as the station poses great risk to the young man. One day you will hear reports of him electrocuted. We are facing high crime and robbery cases due to load shedding, do something about this,” she added.
Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company (ZETDC) Southern Region, Public Relations Officer, Edward Nyoni explained the load shedding process saying it was all under efforts to safeguard and share the little available power to everyone.
“There are issues of power shortages in the country, so load shedding is centred on making sure that we share electricity sparingly amongst everyone.
“The reason behind is we are having challenges where our electricity is generated, that is at Hwange and Kariba power stations as we do not have storage facilities for power,” Nyoni said.
He also pointed out the issue of vandalism of infrastructure as another hindrance to power supply stability.
“On the other hand vandalism of Zesa property is contributing to power outages as well .Some people are stealing cables and oil from our transformers, a thing which is making it difficult for us to provide much needed power.
“We are working with police on daily basis to bring these culprits to book. Am sure you are now aware that the jail term for stealing Zesa property is stiffer. Be our eyes and report any acts of vandalism.” he added.
Meanwhile in its campaign against gender based violence, ZRP Gweru Victim Friendly Unit (VFU) team however, urged victims of GBV to report cases of violence without fear.
The call against GBV comes at a time when many are being urged to report cases of abuse.
Cases of GBV when convicted now attracts a prison sentence of 24-26 months.
Gweru-Women in the Midlands province have been urged to embrace life changing and sustaining projects under the Young Women for Economic Development drive.
Speaking at the Midlands Prisons Women Capacitation Initiative official launch at Hwahwa Prison recently, Deputy Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises, Jennifer Mhlanga said it was important for women to embrace business opportunities as government had moved in to support them with both women and community development grants.
She added that as a ministry, they had drafted a list of initiatives to help boost business ideas which women could undertake.
“I am glad we came here to witness some of the great projects which women are doing. We have seen various products from this official launch that include detergents making, horticulture produces, fashion and designing among others. However, we still call upon women on board as we can do more.
“I want us to be practical and look how best we can enhance our skills towards entrepreneurship. From today’s launch and exhibition, let us go with ideas and further refine them for bigger projects. We have a list of initiatives as a ministry on which us as micro-players in business can adopt and improve our livelihoods.
“As young women for Economic Development, let us take the program to our various centers and provinces so that we go and seed our ideas with the women development fund. Through government, we have managed to get the support to elevate us as women because we are lagging behind in terms of empowerment,” she added.
Mhlanga further encouraged women to enrol with the newly established vocational institution in Masvingo for training.
“As the southern region, we have good news for you. We have established the Rodgers Howman institution which is set to equip women with skills for developmental projects. We also have the Jamaica Inn which caters for the northern region. From there we will partner with tertiary institutions for further refined entrepreneurship packages.
“We also now have the community development fund in place which we are going to seed here at Hwahwa. If you feel as a community you can do a bigger impactful project, approach us with your proposal. If they pass you will be awarded the funding. These funds are being facilitated through Woman and Empowerment banks. These funds are available for you to use.” she added.
Mhlanga however challenged women to make use of the devolution fund saying through the minister of State’s office and local authorities’ community changing projects would be considered under the devolution funds.
Young Women for Economic Development (YWED) national chairperson, Tatenda Mavetera expressed gratitude to the First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, Patron of Prisons, for imparting life changing initiatives to women.
“We want to thank Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa for giving us the opportunity to use our hands as young women and we are following her footsteps. Let me repeat, as a movement we are not here for politics but bread and butter issues.
“Do not think being married is a ticket to better life or living, rather using your hands is the only way to sustain your families and development of the country. I will give you an example the fingers of a hand ,they are not equal, so just like fingers let us discover our strength and focus more on our abilities because we might be different and have different strengths to cascade development , as young women we stand for development,” she said.
Meanwhile Young Women for Economic Development, provincial chairperson, Farirai Nhari urged young women to work towards attaining bigger investment opportunities by working together.
The launch was held under the theme, “Inclusion of women in various sectors of the economy as we attain vision 2030”
The young Women for Economic Development initiative is a women empowerment programme established by the First lady as efforts to capacitate the livelihoods of women at household and community levels.
As an initiative it seeks to complement government efforts towards attaining vision 2030 by uplifting the welfare of women through various developmental community projects.
With barely three weeks before the curtain comes down on the year 2021, government race to achieve the intended herd immunity of vaccinating 60 percent of the total population falls behind schedule as only 39 percent of the population has received the jab.
A total number of 3 896 589 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 in Zimbabwe since the programme was rolled out which makes it 38.9 percent herd immunity.
Specialists in the field are reported to have had doubts on the target set by government as over ambitious and unrealistic saying the time stipulated was too little.
Vaccination programme began in February 2021 and it was the target of government to have vaccinated 10 million people of the total population of an estimated 16 million.
From the national daily Covid-19 statistics, the number of people getting vaccinated is tremendously going down even though the new Omicron Covid19 variant has hit the country.
There is apparent complacency on the side of ordinary people and government, which is failing to enforce the regulations worse still convening meetings to conduct party business.
Chief Coordinator for the National response to Covid-19 pandemic in the office of the President and Cabinet, Dr Agnes Mahomva said they continue lobbying for people to get vaccinated by acquiring more vaccines and encouraging people to get vaccinated.
“Our job is to continue pushing so that people get vaccinated and making sure that we access more vaccines.
“Our ambitious target remains and whether we get there or not is not a problem, we continue encouraging people to get vaccinated. We acquired more vaccines recently that we expect to receive this Friday (December 10),” said Dr Mahomva.
She went on to dismiss questions to whether they will reach the target by saying that she is not eligible to talk about it but has to wait for the end result.
“Now it is not the right time for us to conclude whether we will reach herd immunity or not for we are still working and hoping that we will make it,” said Dr Mahomva.
Masvingo Provincial Medical Director (PMD) Dr Amadeus Shamhu said they continue to vaccinate people in the province but however they are having low turnouts.
“We want people to get vaccinated and continue vaccinating those who show up for vaccination but they are showing up in few numbers which is delaying us from reaching community herd immunity,” said Dr Shamhu.
Masvingo Covid-19 Taskforce spokesperson Rogers Irimayi said they are increasing awareness campaigns with the support of partners and that people are still getting vaccinated but the numbers have dropped, though there is a slight increase maybe because of the new variant.
“As taskforce we are intensifying awareness campaign programmes, our partners are supporting in terms of resources to ensure we reach out to the generality of our communities.
“People are still getting vaccinated although the numbers had fallen down in the previous months but an upsurge is being experienced maybe because of the Omicron variant,” said Irimayi.
He said they continue encourage people to observe World Health Organisation (WHO) measures against Covid-19 and encourage people to get vaccinated so as to curb the spread of the virus.
“We encourage people to be very cautious and follow the WHO and government Covid-19 guidelines of masking up, hand sanitizing and maintaining social distancing. However, vaccination is the best option in protecting ourselves and our loved ones,” said Irimayi.
Sometime at the end of November, community herd immunity for Masvingo province stood at 34.8 percent which has been subject to change obviously since some people are getting vaccinated.
Mwenezi – Mwenezi’s Chirami village-groomed talented poet and now South Africa based artiste, Tillman Baloyi popularly known “Captain Dundee” recently released a thrilling 13 track album titled Denderedzwa Remashoko Rorirazve.
43-year-old Baloyi’s album produced at his Johannesburg base has songs titled Kugarira Chipo,Pfuma Kufuratira, Kugeza hukama, Hova mbiri, Chipatara ne jere, Mhinduro nyoro, Tsaona, Ibva pano, Chako ndechako, YeDenga, Kugomarara, Tora tora and Tatsika joy.
Speaking to TellZim News from his South African base, Baloyi who dubbed himself an “Ambassador of Hope” said he is currently working on producing videos from some of the songs in the 13 track album.
“My songs are purely traditional and through them I ought to inspire many such that teachings embedded in both my songs and poems become an ever shining epitome for locals and those beyond our locality. This is my second album and those who have already sampled the songs are already in consensus that the album is topping when comparing it with the first one.
“Quality CDs for the 13 track album are already available and are costing 100R each. So far the discs are accessible here in South Africa and very soon I will be in Zimbabwe distributing the album so that my fans can get the chance to sample the songs” said Baloyi.
The multi-talented Baloyi, who bemoaned the plight of several local talented artistes whose careers are dying unnoticed owing to lack of exposure, envisioned establishing own local radio station.
“In Mwenezi, we have a lot of talented artistes whose super quality works are in moribund as no one is there to give them required exposure. It is my hope which I am already working on establishing my own radio station right in Mwenezi and this will definitely enable locals to showcase their talents,” added Baloyi.
Besides working on the videos for the 13 track album, Baloyi together with his wife are now working on a gospel album which he said will be released soon.
Masvingo urban ward 10 Councillor Sengerai Manyanga said Masvingo full council meetings were ‘useless’ talk shows where they come to discuss and pass resolutions that are not implemented.
This came out during a full council meeting held on December 01, live streamed by TellZim News as part of its recent resolution and partnership between the media house and Masvingo City Council.
Councillor Manyanga fumed after a proposal that the full council meeting should turn into a committee and members of the public and the media should leave the meeting.
“I think it is unfair that you chase away people from the full council meeting, they are the ratepayers so its unfair practise that we are doing here at council. It is useless to keep on doing these meetings when no resolutions are implemented.
“We agreed that we were going to build Mucheke rank but up to now there is grass and no progress being done. We agreed that there will be a revenue collection point at Exor but to no avail,” said Cllr Manyanga.
He went on to warn council management that they should take into consideration what the councillors said and implement saying they had power to hire and fire.
“You should try to listen to us councillors because you are a council worker and we can fire you at any time because you are failing to implement resolutions.
“We are not aware where you are getting such influence,” said Cllr Manyanga.
He went on to say full council meetings should be cancelled until previous resolutions have been implemented.
“I think full council meetings should be nullified until we make sure that resolutions which were passed have been followed we should nullify this meeting,” said Cllr Manyanga
He went on to accuse council managers of being late at work on daily basis and suggested that a log book be put in the Town Clerk’s office so that everyone who signs is seen by the Town Clerk.
“I come here around 8 am and sit in the car and I see most of the managers arriving after nine. The logbook should be put in the TC’s office so that everyone is seen when he arrives,” said Manyanga
Ward 8 Councillor Against Chiteme supported Manyanga saying they cannot sit for yet another full council meeting and pass resolutions when they have a backlog on implementation.
“We talked about building Mucheke rank a long time ago, but nothing has been done so far, so there is no purpose of sitting for this full council meeting if we do not implement resolutions. Today’s full council meeting should be nullified,” said Cllr Chiteme.
However, Maboke said the resolutions are not implemented yet because council was engaging in other projects.
Town Clerk Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa said the resolution about Mucheke bus terminus was still on the cards and they had a meeting with bus operators whom they urged to make use of the bus terminus.
“The Chamber Secretary and security officers had a meeting with bus operators last week in the PDC’s office, this afternoon I was informed of the follow up to that meeting concerning the parking of buses at Mucheke terminus.
“So it is not like as administration we have just paused, it is an issue that my office and Chamber Secretary’s office are pursing together with the Provincial Development Co-ordinator,” said Eng Mukaratirwa.
The resolution to build Mucheke bus terminus was passed in June and there was a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) going to be used for the construction of the terminus.
Masvingo urban councilors told the recent full council meeting that the local authority was supposed to build offices for the councilors in their respective wards.
Ward 10 councilor Sengerai Manyanga said it was noble for council to construct offices for councillors at ward centres where they would be able to meet residents who would need their services.
“Council has to build offices for us councillors so that we do not meet with people under trees or in the streets,” said Manayanga
Manyanga said such facilities would help residents to be able to access services from their councillor without having trouble in calling him/her or even ask about their whereabouts as the councillor would be found at the office.
“We as councilors, are there to hear of the problems faced by the public, therefore offices are needed so that when they want to speak to the councillor, they can go straight to office without asking about the councillor’s whereabouts so that they can speak to him/her,” he said.
He also said Masvingo council is the only council that has not built offices for councilors but also lied that they built a mobile clinic.
“Our own council is the only one that has not built offices for its councilors. You lied to the public that you build a mobile clinic that you did not,” he said
Manyanga also said there is need for the council to build a police base at Eastvale in Masvingo as there are many thieves flocking the area.
“Council has to partner the police and build a police base at Eastview because the number of cases of theft has escalated. Thieves broke into Alpha cottage and 29 rabbits were stolen,” said Manyanga
. . . as abuse of public funds increases, Masvingo city auctions bus for allegedly RTGS$20k
Kimberly Kusauka
Heads must roll at many local authorities following gross mismanagement of funds and maladminstration in general as unearthed by the Auditor General Mildred Chiri’s recent report and the oral evidence that came out during Parliamentary Portofilio Committee on Public Accounts (PAC) hearings recently.
Top council managements have appeared before PAC to answer on allegations of mismanagement of public finances and resources and the majority were found wanting.
However, what is worrying is the inaction or reluctance by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) after both the auditor general’s report and PAC meetings in which one of ZACC commissioners was ever present.
Failure by ZACC to take action has resulted in residents losing trust and confidence in the whole system, with some even threatening not to pay their bills in time.
Latest and topping the list among residents’ grievances is the auctioning of council bus by City of Masvingo for allegedly RTGS$20 000 on November 13, 2021. This infuriated residents that they demanded answers from council management and that ZACC should also get involved as they suspect corruption following allegations that the person who bought the bus is linked to one senior council employee.
Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Alliance (MURRA) director Anoziva Muguti condemned the decisions being made at Town House saying they should always consult residents on issues that involve ratepayers’ monies.
“We were shocked and residents are not happy especially about the auctioning of the bus in RTGS. The auction was also supposed to be a public auction but it seems like the auction was private; I do not know why such a bus in good condition can be sold for that little – RTGS$20 000, that is surely a joke,” said Muguti.
Millions of dollars have been lost by councils through many leakages that include poor control systems, fraud, theft, funds misappropriation among other things which disadvantage residents who are at the receiving end of increased rates yet poor service delivery.
Most, if not all the local authorities cited in the auditor general’s report have serious service delivery issues, some of which have become perennial and require urgent attention but it seems the running of operations at these institutions is largely to blame for the sorry state they are in.
The sale of the bus by city of Masvingo was shrouded in mystery prompting a heated debate on TellZim WhatsApp groups as to what could have transpired after councillors raised the ‘controversial’ circumstance under which the bus was allegedly sold for RTGS$20 000.
Masvingo City Council Bus
Masvingo Town Clerk Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa could neither confirm nor deny the allegations but said council will carry out investigations and announce the findings to the public. Mukaratirwa said the issue was dealt with the responsible committee, the disposal committee, and the highest bidder wanted the bus for US$17000.
Masvingo Town Clerk Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa
“We engaged an auctioneer to assist us to do a public auction of those assets as per law because we dispose assets as per Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDPA) Act and the relevant regulations. My understanding is that the highest bidder wanted the bus for US$17000, but social media was awash with reports that the bus went under the hammer for RTGS$20000. The office of the town clerk is carrying out investigations and the findings will be made public,” Eng Mukaratirwa said.
He said they weighed the assets after finding an auctioneer and marked prices for major assets in United States $ which included the bus, old vehicles and other equipment and advertised the date for the auction November 13, 2021 following conditions that bidders pay deposits in US$.
“After identifying the auctioneer, we assessed the assets and put reserve prices on the major assets that included the bus, old vehicles and other big equipment and we put the reserve price in US$. We advertised now for the public auction to be held and set the date as the 13th of November 2021.
“So the conditions of sale were such that the bidders were supposed to pay their deposits in US$ and also that on successfully biding for any assets they were going to pay in US$,” said Eng Mukaratirwa.
However, the Town House seems to be in chaos as councillors raised the issue during a full council meeting on December 01, accusing management of auctioning assets at giveaway prices.
Councillors Sengerayi Manyanga (Ward 10), Against Chiteme (Ward 8) and Sellina Maridza (Ward 1) were all confused about the exact amount the bus was sold at as the say various figures during the full council meeting. Maridza said RTGS$24000, Chiteme said RTGS$17 000 whilst Msanyanga said RTGS$20 000. This is clear evidence that the auctioning of council assets was not as clear as the management want residents to believe.
Sengerayi Manyanga
”We want to know the exact priced for the bus because we are hearing that it was auctioned for RTGS$20 000. Residents are asking us about it and we do not have answers so can you tell us the exact price,” asked Manyanga.
How the auction ended up selling in RTGS also when it was initially agreed that all assets were to be auctioned in US$ remained a mystery – even the Town Clerk had no satisfactory answer.
“Unfortunately, along the way the auctioneer and the disposal committee changed the conditions which had been set by council in terms of collecting the proceeds and sales in US$. So when council management discovered that a meeting was held with the two and as we speak right now as the TC, I have launched an investigation in order for me to be able to get to the bottom of the issues. We want to know why the auctioneer and the committee went on to agree to auction the assets in RTGS because what the Act says is that the proceeds should be used to acquire new assets, so how are we going to do that with the said amounts in RTGS,” said Eng Mukaratirwa.
Councillor Manyanga then rendered full council meetings useless arguing that all the resolutions they make are never implemented and management sometimes do as it wishes against the decisions made by the city fathers.
Manyanga said full council meetings have since been reduced to mere talk shows with no implementation of the resolutions that would have been made.
“I think it is unfair that you chase away people from the full council meeting, they are the ratepayers, so its unfair practice that we are doing here at council. It is useless to keep on doing these meetings when no resolutions are implemented.
“We agreed that we were going to build Mucheke rank but up to now there is grass and no progress being made. We agreed that there will be a revenue collection point at Exor but to no avail. These are becoming mere talk shows and we do not know what to tell residents now because they expect quality service delivery from us. I think full council meetings should be abandoned until all the pending resolutions are implemented. We cannot continue making resolutions that are not implemented,” said Manyanga.
Councillor Manyanga also too a swipe at some management officials for coming to work late all the time saying they should shape up or ship out.
“I come here around 8 am every day and I see most of the managers arriving after nine. They are not even serious about providing quality service delivery yet they get their salaries from ratepayers’ monies. That culture must stop and I suggest that a logbook should be put in the TC’s office so that everyone logs in as he or she arrives,” said Manyanga.
In her report AG Mildred Chiri mentioned that of the 59 issues she reported, 34 related to the area of governance while 25 were related to service delivery, employment costs, procurement and revenue collection, all this relating mostly to misappropriation of ratepayers funds and resources which are supposed to be channelled towards service delivery.
Among other issues, Masvingo City Council, in the most recent Oral Evidence session by the PAC, was grilled over its lack of a proper lease register which captures all council rented properties.
In documents released to PAC, telecoms giant Econet Wireless was flagged as one of the leasees who allegedly had overdue lease issues, with some of the leases for its 16 base stations having expired, dating back to 2013, a fact that was disputed by Econet representative Engineer Kezito Makuni during the PAC Oral Evidence session who said their leases were up to date.
Service delivery in all councils is in dire state, with most of them having projects that annually appear in budgets but with little to no progress especially on water and waste management, both solid and liquid.
In Harare, most residential areas go without running water for months, at a time when officials are appearing in court for embezzling council funds while lying to residents about service delivery.
Some of these institutions award tenders to contractors who do not honour their contracts and on top of losing ratepayers’ funds, service delivery is greatly compromised.
Bindura Municipality awarded Pelgin Consulting Services a tender to supply a front-end-loader in December 2018, which they paid US$90 850 for, but it took years to be delivered, and it is still not clear if it eventually came.
That equipment could have made a bigger difference in service delivery for the local authority, but if such kind of equipment takes two years to be delivered, then it leaves a lot to be desired if ever roads are going to be repaired, among other things.
Chiredzi Rural District Council also awarded Solutions Motors, which was blacklisted by the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) recently, a tender to supply a Toyota Fortuner vehicle in October 2019, and the local authority is now demanding a refund after the supplier failed to deliver.
Solutions Motors has outstanding issues with Mwenezi and Karoi RDCs among other local authorities, but it kept getting recommended to these local authorities despite its poor record in supplying, all pointing to dodgy dealings in tender awarding.
The Dangamvura Water Project in Mutare has become a mantra at almost every council engagement meeting, but it still remains a pipe dream as works keep stalling and resuming irregularly.
Perennial water woes bedevil Masvingo urban, and it has been reported that there is an estimated 40 percent loss in the water reticulation system, with council confirming that a large number of water meters are not working (26 percent of all Rujeko water meters are not working).
Eng Mukaratirwa said a council task team was carrying out surveys on water meters and the results will be published after they complete each zone.
“Confirmed 26 percent for Rujeko zone and at the moment we are in the process of purchasing water meters to replace the non-functional ones. As for other zones our Non-Revenue Water task team is still carrying out surveys and as they complete each zone, the results will be made public,” Mukaratirwa said.
Chegutu has the same problem, where it was reported that 80 percent of the municipality’s households did not have functional water meters, while 50 percent of water distributed from the treatment plant is lost through leakages according to the AG’s report.
Masvingo residents during recent council budget consultations complained over the continuous recurrence of the Mucheke Trunk Sewer project on the budget when the project which started some years ago is far from completion.
In the 2022 proposed Masvingo council budget, the trunk sewer project is allocated ZW$100 million from devolution funds meant for the local authority.
About US$4 million previously went down the drain on the trunk sewer project, without much having been done except for trenches that were dug and ended up being a health hazard to residents.
Having said all this, ZACC has remained a toothless bull dog as local authorities continue to plunder ratepayers’ money. Residents associations demanded heads to roll at local authorities but those with powers have remained reluctant which made them accomplices in depriving citizens quality service delivery.
