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Siltation rocks Masvingo dams

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Siltation rocks Masvingo dams

…Tugwi-Mukosi, Mutirikwi dams under threat

Emmaculate Mutonhori

CHIREDZI- The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) recently warned that Zimbabwe’s biggest inland lakes, Tugwi-Mukosi and Mutirikwi are under threat as most dams in the country have been highly affected by siltation thereby disturbing the production of sugarcane in the Lowveld.
ZINWA Regional Manager Peter Shotera said there is extreme siltation in dams in the province, excluding Tugwi-Mukosi and Mutirikwi that still have their actual holding capacity though they are also under threat.
“Tugwi-Mukosi average percentage is currently 95 and this is because it was recently constructed but this does not mean it is safe from siltation and we are afraid sugarcane farming is going to deteriorate because our water bodies are slowly being affected by siltation,” said Shotera.
Andrew Mupariwa Masvingo Provincial Mechanization Engineer also said siltation is not only affecting sugarcane farmers but all farmers in the province in general.
“Several irrigation schemes are heavily affected by siltation. Chilonga Irrigation Scheme, which gets water from Runde River failed to irrigate for years because of siltation as well as Rupangwana, ARDA Tshovani , St Joseph and Gudo Irrigation Schemes that get water from Save River,” said Mupariwa
Mupariwa also mentioned that they are working as a department on major challenges that cause siltation which include stream bank cultivation and conversation works are some of the measures.
“We are partnering some Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) which include World Food Programme (WFP), OXFAM, and Mwenezi Development Trust in establishing some solar powered borehole watered gardens which are plus or minus one hectare and some one and half to two hectares so that we move farmers who are practicing stream bank cultivation from riverbanks into those gardens.
“Conservation works involve contour pegging in some farms so that runoff is reduced. It is not only siltation challenge which is being faced but also the top soil which is being washed away from fields means fertile soil is lost so, we are trying to do both soil and water conservation.
“The challenge we have is not only siltation but also top soil which is being washed away from the fields and this means we are losing fertile soil and that means our yields are also going down,” said Mupariwa.
He also elaborated that veld fires are contributing to siltation by destroying trees, grass and everything that helps to bind soil together and that they are currently working together with the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) and Forestry Commission in addressing issues of afforestation through Small Irrigation Revitalizing Program (SIRP).
Currently water levels in Masvingo province are as follows: Tugwi-Mukosi 97.78%, Mutirikwi 96.41%, Bangala 20.35%, Manjirenji 89.28%, Muzhwi 99.69%, Ngezi 91.58%, Manyuchi 87.92%, Mushandike 80.63%, Bindangoma 97.78%, Tokwane 58.18%, Nyajena 87.87%, Siya 86.52%, Musaverema 80,45%, Magudu 70.81% and Chivake 96.83%.
In general terms, siltation refers to the increased concentration of suspended sediments, and to the increased accumulation of fine sediments on bottoms where they are undesirable, especially fine sand or clay is increased by soil erosion arising from agricultural practices particularly along riverbanks and deforestation.

Tragic death of Chiredzi’s oldest newspaper vendor

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Tragic death of Chiredzi’s oldest newspaper vendor

… likely to receive pauper’s burial as no relatives are showing up for him

Melody Musuva

CHIREDZI-Former Hippo Valley Estates employee and newspaper vendor popularly known as ‘Dzungu’ or ‘Chauke’ was recently hit by an unlicensed biker and later died at Chiredzi General Hospital after sustaining head injuries.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) are still gathering more detail about him since he had no national Identity Document and known relatives as he was living in the streets.
ZRP are yet to establish proper documentation for Dzungu as he had no registration certificates or known relatives but this publication established that he was known as Solomon Chauke and is remembered for pioneering newspaper vending in Chiredzi in the early 90s after he parted ways with Hippo Valley Estates.
Masvingo Provincial Police Spokesperson, Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said Dzungu was hit by an unlicensed biker, Tafadzwa Muperi (26) at around 1200 hours along Lion Drive in Chiredzi.
“Dzungu, who was more like a street man as he had no fixed residential address, was hit by Tafadzwa Muperi with a motorcycle and the biker had no license. Dzungu died at Chiredzi General Hospital a few minutes later and since then nobody has claimed his body,” said Dhewa.
District Social Welfare Officer, Admire Emmanuel also said that there is little information pertaining to relatives, real name and age for the deceased as he did not even had a National Identity card or known relatives.
“Dzungu was known by many in the streets of Chiredzi by selling newspapers and begging for help but there is little information of his life history including relatives, date of birth and National Identity card. Many myths are surrounding him as some are saying he came from South Africa while others are saying he came from Malipati,” said Emmanuel.
Dzungu was well known for inflating newspaper prices and his target market were known businessmen who could not question his pricing system.
Before Covid-19, Dzungu was known for drinking ‘Black Label’ lager at supermarket entrances before he shifted to Eagle and later Cane Spirits as his revenue base was shut down due to the pandemic, and was arrested multiple times by police officers who were not familiar with him.
Though Dzungu was well known for selling newspapers, he was illiterate and could not read what he was selling but had a tactic to find someone explain him the contents of every front page stories which he could master in order to lure his customers into buying.

Poor results rock School of Nursing

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Poor results rock School of Nursing

Clayton Shereni

MASVINGO– Controversy and poor results are slowly becoming order of the day at Masvingo Provincial Hospital School of Nursing as students continue to fail amid internal power wrangles raging on at the institution.
Since 2020 low percentage pass rates have been recorded, with sabotage and politics being cited as some of the contributing factors to a poor spate of results.
The pass rate that usually skyrocketed up to over 90 percent over the years was reduced to 50 percent in 2020 and this year recorded below 20 percent.
In May last year, 14 students reportedly sat for their final year examination and only seven passed, a number that translates to 50 percent pass rate.
A paltry 18.8 percent was also recorded when a combined 16 students reportedly wrote their examinations in May this year including some who had failed the previous and only three passed.
The failed 13 students got another chance to repeat where three of them passed, and the remaining 10 had no option but to withdraw translating to a 21 percentage pass rate.
Another group of 14 students that also sat for their exam this year recorded a zero percent pass rate.
Contacted for comment Masvingo Provincial Hospital Public Relations Officer, Mercy Zulu directed all questions to the Provincial Medical Director Doctor Amadeus Shamhu.
Dr Shamhu said the low pass rate was a nationwide problem but also revealed that they were carrying out investigations at Masvingo Provincial Hospital School of Nursing.
“There was a general decrease in the pass rate nation-wide, we did not witness this in our province only, however we are carrying out investigations to establish reasons for the decrease at our school of nursing,” said Dr Shamhu.
However, efforts to get a comment from the school’s senior tutor Catherine Sithole were fruitless, as she did not pick up her mobile phone up until the time of going to print.
Ministry of Health and Childcare Public Relations Officer, Donald Mujiri could not be drawn to comment said his phone’s network reception was bad as he was at the airport.
Inside sources allege that politicking and sabotage was taking its toll at the school after a rotation of the school’s board of management in 2020, a development that has seen a free fall of the pass rate percentage at the institution.
The school that is one of the several government run schools of nursing trains over 40 students every year and has been immensely contributing to the national health system.

Prisoner bites off fellow inmate’s finger

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Prisoner bites off fellow inmate’s finger

Fredrick Moyo

An inmate at Masvingo Remand Prison recently appeared in court for biting off a fellow inmate’s finger during a fight.
Last Makova (33) of Mukosi clinic under Chief Shumba in Masvingo was convicted of assaulting Charlton Mazibuko by Masvingo Magistrate Consepter Ngwerume, which led to the latter losing his finger.
It was the state case as presented by prosecutor Godknows Mugondo that on June 21, 2021, at around 2100 hours, the accused Makova assaulted Charlton Mazibuko (35), in a prison cell they were sharing.
The accused person is said to have been asleep while other inmates were playing draft in the cell and he woke up, sat on a toilet seat and started pouring water on other inmates.
However, other inmates including the complainant Mazibuko tried to restrain him.
Mazibuko grabbed Makova from the front in trying to stop him and while in the process of restraining him, Makova bit him on the right cheek, and in the scuffle bit off his finger.
The matter was reported to prison officers, leading to Makova’s arrest.

From assistant builder to doctorate holder- story of Malilangwe’s ecologist

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From assistant builder to doctorate holder- story of Malilangwe’s ecologist

Rumbidzai Muswera

CHIREDZI-The story of a Malilangwe Conservation Trust’s ecologist, Doctor Allan Tarugara (34), who began working as an assistant bricklayer in 2008 at Malilangwe and rose through the ranks by attaining a doctorate degree in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation as well as a permanent job in one of the Zimbabwe’s most celebrated wildlife conservancy is one that is inspiring. Malilangwe.
Dr Tarugara began working as an assistant bricklayer for a construction company that was doing renovation work at one of Malilangwe’s tourist lodges then shifted to leopard habituation working as an assistant for a resident wildlife filming crew before he got a scholarship through Malilangwe’s staff development program.
Doctor Tarugara, who comes from Zaka District, grew up in Chiredzi.
“I started as a general hand for a construction company that was doing renovation work at one of Malilangwe’s tourist lodges. I then went on to do leopard habituation work as well as being a lighting assistant for a resident wildlife filming crew that worked at Malilangwe,” he said.
“I got a scholarship through Malilangwe’s staff development program for a Bachelor’s Degree in Forest Resources and Wildlife management at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) from 2012-2016 and a Master’s Degree in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) from 2017-2019 which he then upgraded to a doctorate between 2020 and 2021,” he added.
Malilangwe Conservation Trust General Manager, Mark Saunders also confirmed that Doctor Allan Tarugara rose through the ranks to be a doctor by utilizing the organization’s scholarship through staff development programs.
“We have a guy who began as an assistant builder and rose through the ranks by utilizing one of our scholarships for staff development and now he is permanently employed with us as an Ecologist,” said Saunders.
Currently Tarugara is working under Malilangwe’s Reasearch Department with keen interests in Terrestrial and Aquatic ecology.

Zaka man rapes daughter for seven years

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Zaka man rapes daughter for seven years

Brighton Chiseva

People from Zaka were recently left tongue tied after it emerged that a 41-year-old man had been raping his biological daughter for the past seven years.
The man is said to have been raping his daughter since she was 10 years old.
Sources privy to the incident said the matter came to light after he infected the child with an undisclosed Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI).
Upon being quizzed at the local clinic, she was asked to bring her boyfriend for treatment and that is when she implicated her father.
“He infected her with an STI and she got treated, and then went back after some time with the same problem and that is when the nurses asked her to bring his lover who had infected her so that both of them could be treated. She told the nurses that she could not and when quizzed she revealed that her father had been raping her,” said the source.
The nurses are alleged to have then contacted Zaka police leading to the arrest of the suspect on September 09, 2021.
The man appeared before Chiredzi regional magistrate’s court and was remanded in custody.
Sources said the man had been staying with his daughter and his other wife after separating with her mother.

School suspends lessons due to lack of sanitizer

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School suspends lessons due to lack of sanitizer

Kimberly Kusauka

Madondo Primary School in Zaka is alleged to have suspended lessons recently due to unavailability of hand sanitizers as most parents reportedly failed to pay school fees that were to be used to purchase them.
A parent who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of victimization of his child said pupils got the instruction not to come to school since they have not paid up school fees hence the school could not afford to buy hand sanitizers.
“Pupils were sent back home and told not to come back since their parents did not pay school fees and the school has no hand sanitizers.
“It is unfair especially for exam classes who will have to sit for their Zimbabwe School Examination Council (ZIMSEC) very soon. I also have a child who is in grade seven and preparing for examinations,” said the parent.
A close source said the parents are begging government to intervene since there is no more time before grade seven pupils sit for their ZIMSEC examinations.
Zaka District Schools Inspector (DSI), Samson Chidzurira said he has not yet received such information and directed all questions to the school head.
“I did not receive such information, so you can contact the school head for clarification,” said Chidzurira.
School Head Canisio Chaurura said the school did not shut its doors because of sanitizers but called for pupils to attend in groups since they did not have enough sanitizer for large groupings.
“We did not turn away learners but we arranged hot sitting whereby they would attend classes in groups.
“We saw it a danger for pupils to attend classes at the same time whilst the school did not have enough hand sanitizers. However the school has purchased enough sanitizer and classes have resumed with all pupils attending,” said Chaurura.
Recently in Midlands province, schools in Mberengwa namely Masase, Chegato and Mnene high schools were hit by a Covid-19 outbreak.
According to statistics released on September 14, at Chegato 63 pupils and one teacher tested positive with nine pupils at Mnene and 40 pupils at Masase High Schools all testing positive to the virus.
Currently the Ministry of Health and Child Care is working on including children from the age of 14 to 17 in the vaccination program.
This also comes hot on the heels of calls and public outcry over rushed schools opening in which various stakeholders felt government ignored the plight and welfare of learners as educational institutions were not fully equipped to handle the pandemic.

Man hospitalised after alleged ZRP brutality

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Man hospitalised after alleged ZRP brutality

…’Masvingo police tries to sweep case under carpet’

Courage Dutiro

A Masvingo ‘illegal’ money changer was left ruing his actions to evade law enforcement agents after being hospitalized at Masvingo Provincial Hospital following an alleged attack by a Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officer on Saturday September 11 at Victoria Hotel during a blitz targeting illegal money changers and vendors.
Justice Murambwi (37) of Runyararo West Suburb said he met this fate at the hands of a ‘ruthless’ officer who slid him on the pavement as he tried to negotiate his escape route from their area of operation popularly known as paChicken Inn.
“We were at Victoria Hotel when the police pounced on us. One of the officers tackled me and I fell to the ground leading to severe injuries I sustained on my right leg. X-ray results are showing that the leg sustained two fractures, one on the ankle joint and the other one on the fibula. The doctor said this could cause permanent injury.
“The case was reported at Masvingo Central Police but I am yet to know the name of the officer who injured me though if an identification parade is conducted I would positively identify the guy,” said Murambwi.
When TellZim News crew visited the health institution, a visibly shaken Murambwi expressed agony, anguish and despair as he lied on his hospital bed and said he has no other alternative source of income thereby looking up to fellow workmates to foot the medical bills.
A police report seen by TellZim News dated September 11 2021, showed that the case was reported, stating that Murambwi only fell on the pavement and sustained injuries but it had no CR number.
“The patient fell on the pavement and injured his right ankle,” reads part of the document.
Medical report stamped September 13 2021, stated that the injuries are severe and disability is likely to happen.
“The injuries are likely to have been caused by a blunt object. Serious force could have been used to inflict pain. The injuries are severe and disability is likely to happen,” reads part of the medical report.
Masvingo Provincial Police spokesperson, Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said the case was reported and investigations are underway.
“The name of the perpetrator is not yet known and we are still investigating the matter”, said Dhewa.
Sources privy to the case said Murambwi was injured by a police officer who was raiding vendors and illegal money changers.
“I was here on Saturday. A police officer tackled Murambwi as he tried to evade arrest and he sustained serious injuries on the leg. It seems the police are trying to conceal the case, when we visited the police station we were taken to different offices but nothing materialised. Most of us here can identify the officer if we see him,” said the source.

Bigger, better Triathlon Africa showpiece gathers momentum

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Bigger, better Triathlon Africa showpiece gathers momentum

Clayton Shereni

HARARE- Preparations are in full swing for the prestigious Bonaqua African Triathlon Cup slated for September 25 this year at the Troutbeck Resort in Nyanga following green light for sporting activities to resume given by government recently.
This year’s 14th edition of the annual event comes at a time when sport fans are thirsty for action since March last year when sporting activities were stopped in a bid to curb spread of Covid-19.
Addressing journalists during the launch of this years’ galore on September 14, Rick Fulton, event organiser of the Bonaqua Troutbeck Triathlon Tournament said the sport was growing each year and attracting international athletes as it continues to grow bigger and better.
“The Bonaqua African Triathlon Cup Troutbeck which is sanctioned by the International Triathlon Union (ITU) is contributing positively towards the development of sports and tourism in Zimbabwe by attracting regional, continental and global athletes,” said Fulton.
Bonaqua has been bankrolling the event for five years now and other Coca-Cola subsidizes like Schweppes have also been face of the tournament before.
Coca-Cola Zimbabwe Frontline Marketing Portfolio Activation Manager, Faith Nehanda expressed her pleasure for collaborating in the ‘ever-growing’ sport especially during the Covid-19 era.
“As the Coca-Cola system which includes our bottling partner Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited, we are delighted to be able to support local sports development through sponsorships like the Triathlon during these challenging times. The Bonaqua African Triathlon Cup Troutbeck is growing with each year, and attracting global athletes,” said Nehanda.
Another prestigious cup, the Junior Triathlon Africa Cup that will see countries like Egypt, Mauritius, Namibia and Tunisia take hosts Zimbabwe head-on will be hosted at the same venue.
This years’ event is a platform for Triathlon Elite Athletes to maximize points as they eye to up their ranking high ahead of Olympics scheduled for Paris, France.

Miss Masvingo 2021 auditions draw nearer

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Miss Masvingo 2021 auditions draw nearer

Rebecca Tshoga

Preparations for Miss Masvingo 2021 beauty pageant have reached a climax as aspiring models from the seven districts of the province gear up for district competitions to be hosted at various centers in their respective areas.
Organizers of the event said auditions have been held virtually and physically under strict Covid-19 conditions to avoid spread of the deadly disease as such events attract mass audiences.
Director and founder of Miss Masvingo Donovan Takaendesa confirmed that the event was first organized before strict lockdown restrictions.
“When we organized the event there were no strict lockdown restrictions. However we put in place measures to avert any future inconveniences. We initially wanted to hold the auditions and event online, but the lockdown has been eased, which will ensure smooth running of the event.”
The auditions will determine contestants that are going to participate at district level and scout out the victorious ones to proceed to provincial level.
Contestants are drawn from the seven districts namely Bikita, Masvingo, Chiredzi, Chivi, Gutu, Mwenezi and Zaka.
“We are taking contestants from the district and we are also considering Zimuto although it is not part of Masvingo district but we are making an exception,” said Takaendesa.
For Zimuto and Gutu the auditions will be on September 18 at Gutu council hall, Masvingo district at Caravan Park, Chiredzi at Westwood lodge and Bikita will hold their auditions on 25 September and Zaka and Mashava on October 2 though venues are not yet known.
Measures have been put in place to make sure contestants meet set criteria to participate in the contest.
Contestants have to be vaccinated before auditions or proceeding to the actual contest.
“Considering the pandemic, we have a limited number for contestants. However, auditions will have no limited numbers, and we will choose our specific contestants after the auditions.
After auditions we will take 12 contestants from each district where we will choose two leaving our contestants at 14 from the seven districts.
They will then go for the district level before proceeding to provincial,” said Takaendesa.
Management of events and number of contestants has been done under consideration of the Covid-19 pandemic.
After the completion at district level, the event managers will look for a bigger place to accommodate participants and judges so as to maintain social distancing.
The theme for this year’s pageant is “Fighting Against the spread of Covid-19’ with the aim of campaigning against spread of corona virus.
Takaendesa said their goal is to search and give every hidden talent the opportunity to exhibit and be heard, providing an affordable and fair platform for the models.

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