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Devolution: New healthcare facilities take shape in Gutu

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Devolution: New healthcare facilities take shape in Gutu
Mushayavanhu Clinic in Gutu

 Terrence
Ndowora

Construction of
healthcare facilities in Gutu district is nearing completion as much of the
work on the main buildings has been done, it has been learnt.

Gutu RDC Chief
Executive Officer (CEO), Alexander Mutembwa told TellZim News that Mushayavanhu
Clinic, which is in Gutu Central constituency, was almost complete.

“We are now done with
construction of the clinic main block, construction of septic tanks for sewer
system is underway, and we are focusing on constructing a staff house which
accommodates two families,” said Mutembwa.

Similar works are being
done at Ndawi Clinic in Gutu West, Muchakayaora Clinic in Gutu East, Makumbe Clinic
in Gutu North and Makwirivindi Clinic in Gutu South constituencies
respectively.

“Construction of
clinics in other constituencies is also underway. We have already procured
fencing materials for the clinics, and we have also engaged a contractor to
drill boreholes at the clinics which will be fitted with solar-powered systems,”
said Mutembwa.

Mutembwa said construction
of a vegetable flea market in Mpandawana for the youths and Small and
medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) was underway.

“As for the youth and
SMEs, we didn’t forget them. We are constructing a vegetable flea market for
them in Mpandawana. We will son complete work on two boreholes that we drilled
in Mpandawana so as to curb water shortages when we experience poor supplies by
Zinwa,” said Mutembwa.

The local authority head
said most of the devolution funds allocated to them were channeled towards the
construction of clinics and establishment of community taps so as to improve
excellent healthcare services and delivery of clean water.

Masvingo province was
allocated about $2 billion in devolution funds for 2021, from which Gutu district
got a share of about $200 million.

Police opens murder investigations on Masvingo CBD burnt body

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Police opens murder investigations on Masvingo CBD burnt body

 Veeslee Mhepo   

MASVINGO-Police
has opened murder investigations after a decomposing human body was found burnt
beyond recognition in Masvingo CBD on Monday May 31.

Masvingo
Provincial Police Spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa confirmed that police
is suspecting murder as there were blood stains on the durawall, blood stained
bricks and burnt clothes on the human remains found on Monday.

“A
human body was found burning and in a decomposing state by Munyaradzi Mutasa after
a foul smell developed around his workplace and he informed the police who
attended the scene.

“Police
saw blood stains on the durawall, a dead human body burnt beyond recognition,
bricks and burnt clothes on the scene. They took the body to Masvingo
Provincial Hospital for postmortem. Thorough investigations are underway and we
are appealing for any information that will lead to the arrest of the
perpetrator,” Dhewa said.

A
mentally challenged man, Kelvin Matimamwe (33) who used to roam around the area
where the body was found is assisting police with investigations after he alleged
that he saw four men chasing someone around the area days before the alleged
murder.

Allegations
from vendors who work around the scene are that Matimamwe could be the number
one suspect because he was always been indicating violent tendencies.

Masvingo
has seen a surge in the number of street urchins recently, some of whom have
become violent and destroying property.

‘Lack of menstrual health management policy increasing stigma’

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‘Lack of menstrual health management policy increasing stigma’

Herbert Chikosi

Veeslee
Mhepo

MASVINGO
– Lack of a Menstrual Health Management (MHM)
policy in Zimbabwe has made it hard for stakeholder intervention, and has increased stigma especially in schools and rural
areas, the country’s birth-control authority has said.

The Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council
(ZNFPC) feels there is a huge gap in Sexual Reproductive Health Rights without
a policy on MHM.

ZNFPC Masvingo provincial marketing officer, Herbert
Chikosi said lack of MHM policy had a negative impact on girls and young women
as they face stigma and stereotypes.

“The disadvantage of not having MHM policy is
seen in the stigma that our young girls and women suffer. All the myths around
menstruation must stop and an MHM policy would help in creating environments
that are girl-friendly especially in schools and work places,” said Chikosi.

He said such a policy would ensure enough data
and enlightenment on MHM and help in the assessment of the value of sanitary
wear which is still very expensive for many consumers, with girls in rural
areas being the most affected.

Chikosi said his institution will keep on
engaging other organizations, policy makers, leaders and traditional leaders on
MHM-related issues.

MyAge Zimbabwe executive director Onward Gibson
said to ensure sustainability on access to sanitary and MHM services, there had
to be a policy which would make it easier for stakeholder intervention.

He said such a development would ensure that
girls and young women do not have to miss school owing to a non-friendly menstrual
health needs environment.

Gibson said MyAge Zimbabwe was also working for
an MHM policy and ensure that communities had enough information on MHM.

“MyAge Zimbabwe works with communities to
ensure that myths, taboos and stigma around menstruation are addressed by
providing women, girls, men and boys with information on menstruation.

“We believe that this will facilitate in
breaking the silence around menstruation, ensure that women and girls
menstruate in a safe and hygienic environment and that menstrual waste is properly
disposed,” he said.

Road rehabilitation key priority for Mutare

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Road rehabilitation key priority for Mutare

Farai Bhiza speaking at a TellZim News Engagement Meeting in Mutare

 Believe
Mpofu

Mutare Deputy Mayor Cllr Farai Bhiza has said the
local authority has prioritized road rehabilitation over other service delivery
issues since the city’s roads need urgent rehabilitation.

Some motorists who fear for serious damage of their
vehicles, have resorted to only use their vehicles in the Central Business
District (CBD) and hike back home.

Speaking at a TellZim News Engagement Meeting on May
15, 2021, Bhiza said most roads have become really bad and that council has
since started resurfacing its major roads.

“The state of our roads has deteriorated a lot,
but we have already started resurfacing some roads in the commonage, only that we
are doing it in phases because of limited resources. We have witnessed the
Aerodrome Road being resurfaced, together with several other roads.

“Let me not hasten to say that Council has just
concluded plans to purchase a new grader and a roller, and for your own
information, our challenge as council is that we did not have not have a grader
but since the city is now expanding as far as Beira Corridor and Gimboki we saw
it fit to have our own machinery,” said Bhiza.

Bhiza also revealed that tender procedures to
procure a new grader are now at an advanced stage and that council intends to have
a lasting solution to road rehabilitation.

He said Mutare City Council is also waiting for the
delivery of a tipper truck to increase the fleet.

“We have other trucks but they are not enough
to cover all the 19 wards that need urgent road rehabilitation. If we add the
tipper which we are expecting, it would make it easier and convenient to repair
roads in high density areas,” Bhiza said.

Bhiza said that they also plan to purchase an
additional grader and a bulldozer in future.

The local authority has established a new committee,
Business Investment Standing Committee which will deal with private players who
may want to invest and assist in the road rehabilitation exercise.

Devolution funds to complete stalled projects in Mwenezi

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Devolution funds to complete stalled projects in Mwenezi
Masvayamwando Primary school

 Believe Mpofu

Mwenezi
Rural District Council (RDC) will channel its share of the devolution funds
towards improving access to healthcare facilities and rehabilitation of roads
which have become inaccessible.

Mwenezi
RDC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Albert Chivanga said that their target was
to complete two clinics so as to improve access to health care facilities in
the district.

“We
are in the last stages of building Pertinel Clinic in Ward 13 and Chovelele
Clinic in Ward 17. Rehabilitation of Tolkwa Road in Ward 17 was also done using
the funds which we received,” said Chivanga.

He
said that the local authority recently finished drilling boreholes and had also
done some renovations at more than three council-run schools. 

“We
have also renovated school classroom blocks and teacher’s cottages at Vinga,
Chengwe, Mwasvamwando and Gwarama Primary schools in wards 14 and 17. Six
boreholes were also drilled in the district,” said Chivanga.

Mwenezi
District Development Coordinator (DDC), Rosemary Chingwe said that the local
authority and other critical stakeholders had partnered to develop the district
and in the acquisition of road-making machinery.

“Despite
various projects of rehabilitating roads, maintaining schools and building
clinics; the RDC has also bought a toll grader and tipper truck that are being
used in developing Mwenezi,” said Chingwe.

She
however, bemoaned the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic which she said had
hampered some developmental projects.

“The
Covid-19 induced lockdown has delayed the completions of other critical
projects in our district which we planned in 2020 and earlier this year,” said
Chingwe.

So
far, Mwenezi has reportedly received $32 million out of the $209 million which
the local authority was promised for 2021. 
 

Women plead for more market stalls

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Women plead for more market stalls

 

Collen Maboke

Clayton Shereni

MASVINGO-
Calls have been made to the local authority to erect more vending and market
stalls in the city so as to afford an opportunity to unemployed women who are
informal trading to earn a living.

Many
women and youth are unemployed and have turned to informal trading for survival
as the economy continues to worsen.

Speaking
during a Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) and Transparency, Responsiveness,
Accountability, and Citizen Engagement (TRACE) virtual meeting held last week,
participants pleaded for more market stalls to be availed for ease of doing
business.

One
of the participants, called on the local authority to heed to their calls so as
to avoid a scenario where they engage in running battles with the police.

“On
the issue of informal traders, council is not providing enough vending space
for us to sell our goods. Sometimes you go to sell in the CBD but the police
will always chase you and sometimes take whatever you will be selling. Informal
trading and vending is now our source of income and we would like to plead with
the local authority to take us into consideration because we are sending
children to school and feeding our families through informal trading,” said a
participant.

Masvingo
Mayor, Collen Maboke said a resolution had been made towards expanding market
stalls and that the local authority was targeting to construct more markets.

“A
resolution was done a long time ago targeting the improvement of market stalls
in the city. The money which we collect from vendors at our markets will be
used to construct and expand our markets,” said Maboke.

The
number of vendors especially in the CBD has ballooned due to the high economic
activity and street pavements have become the new market stalls for vendors.

Many
people have been arrested while some have had their goods taken by the police
and municipal police who will be chasing after them.

Council engages bus operators, police to move buses back to Mucheke Terminus

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Council engages bus operators, police to move buses back to Mucheke Terminus
Mucheke bus terminus

 Wayne
Ncube

MASVINGO– Masvingo City Council has engaged bus operators and Zimbabwe
Republic Police (ZRP) to enforce the council resolution that buses operating from
undesignated points in the Central Business District (CBD) move back to Mucheke
Bus Terminus with immediate effect.

The resolution which was made in a full
council meeting held on Monday, May 31, came after council agreed that buses
loading from undesignated places were fuelling disorder and open defecation.

Masvingo Mayor, Cllr Collen Maboke moved
council to resolve to order all buses including ZUPCO buses to operate from
Mucheke Bus Terminus, since the makeshift termini around the CBD are becoming a
health time bomb.

“The makeshift terminus near Benjamin
Burombo building where travellers are using the bush behind that government
complex as ablution facilities is a health time bomb,” said Maboke.

Ward 1 Councillor, Selina Maridza also said
council was failing to enforce its by-laws and should order all buses operating
from undesignated points to move to Mucheke Bus Terminus.

Acting Town Clerk Edward Mukaratirwa told
TellZim that he had given Chamber Secretary, Vitalis Shonhai the directive to
communicate with operators today (June 1).

Shonhai said they are already engaging with
bus operators, that they notify their drivers to move to Mucheke Bus Terminus
and that they had involved the police to help them enforce the resolution..

“We are engaging with the bus operators to
inform them about the directive. We also have already engaged with ZRP who will
help us to make sure that the buses are no longer operating in the CBD.

“We will also inform the public about the
directive so that there will be order in the execution of the instruction,”
said Shonhai.

Bus drivers who spoke to TellZim News
however said that they were unaware of the directive since no official
communication had been relayed to them.

“We are still normally operating at our
usual points because we are not aware of the council directive and council
police has not informed us about the directive to move to Mucheke Terminus,”
said one of the drivers.

A traveller who was at the terminus
adjacent to Benjamin Burombo building however said the directive was not considerate
of travellers as Mucheke Bus Terminus is not a conducive place to wait for a
bus, with dirty toilets and also far for those who would be carrying luggage.

“The directive is not fair to us passengers
because the Mucheke terminus is no a conducive place to wait for buses as it is
dirty and the toilets have deteriorated and it will be a disadvantage for some
of us carrying luggage as it is a far place,” the traveller said.

Zupco kombi operators urged to stop overloading

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Zupco kombi operators urged to stop overloading

Zupco Kombis in Masvingo


 Kimberly Kusauka

Commuter omnibuses
are regarded as a
hotspot for Covid-19
since passengers are often
overloaded in violation
of Covid-19 regulation of
maintaining a distance of one
meter between individuals, it
has been said. 

This came out during
a Covid-19 response press
discussion organized by
TellZim and held at Charles
Austin Theatre on May 27. 

Masvingo Provincial Covid-19
Taskforce spokesperson
Rogers Irimayi said commuter
omnibuses commonly known
as kombis were possible
hotspots of the virus as
operators were largely defying
government directives on the
loading of passengers. 

“Many operators are not
sticking to the passenger limits
prescribed by government and
are overloading. That is not
allowed and it is the duty of us
citizens to report such cases or
to refuse to be packed in those
kombis,” said Irimayi. 

He said that it was due to
the fact that Masvingo was a
small city where travelling to
the furthest point could take
10 minutes in average traffic
that there was no many cases
of transmission of the virus in
kombis.

“That is the advantage that
we have a s a city. We don’t
spend a lot of time on the
kombi seats because it may
take only some 10 minutes
before you disembark from the
kombi. It would probably be
a different case if we needed
to travel longer distances and
spend more time squeezing
each other while packed in the
kombis,” said Irimayi.

He said it was also fortunate
that Zupco kombis were getting
fumigated on a daily basis
before they start commuting
so as to curb the spread of
Covid-19 as confirmed by
Irimayi. 

“Zupco kombies are fumigated
every day before they start
commuting so as to curb the
spread of Covid-19. That helps
a lot in minimising the risk
of spreading the virus among
commuters on vehicles that
carry people the whole day,”
Irimayi said. 

Zupco Masvingo depot
manager Wiseman Zuweni
said all Zupco-affiliated public
utility vehicles were obligated
to sanitize passengers. 

“Passengers are sanitized at
the door upon entry. This does
not mean to say our operators
must overload; they must stick
to the loading limits that have
been set by government so
that there is sufficient social
Zupco kombi operators urged to stop overloading
distancing,” said Zuweni. 

Masvingo United Residents and
Ratepayers Alliance (Murra)
spokesperson Godfrey Mtimba said
government must enforce loading
limits on Zupco which the government’s
own company. 

“Zupco kombis are a cause for
serious concern because they are
doing as they like. There is hardly
any social distancing. It’s now even
more frightening in light of the many
Covid-19 cases that have been recorded
at Bondolfi Teachers’ College,” said
Mtimba.

Only six people register to vote in May – ZEC

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Only six people register to vote in May – ZEC

 George Chimwayange 

The Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (Zec) has
been open for voter
registration since the end of the
2018 harmonised elections except
during the hard lockdown period,
the local office of the electoral
management body has said. 

The Deputy Provincial Election
Officer (PEO) Maxwell Ncube said
not as many people as would be
wanted were coming to register
to vote due to attitudes that make
them want to register at the 11th
hour.

“Only six people were recorded
since the beginning of May;
three women and three men. Our
statistics show that people are not
registering and some of them end
up transferring to other areas. The
major problem is that people want
to do things at the last minute,”
said Ncube.

He said Zec will soon be going
on outreach programmes to
encourage people, especially
youth and women, to vote. 

TellZim spoke to one youth Stefan
Nhongo who said he was not even
aware that people were already
registering for 2023 elections . 

“There is not enough awareness
in the province on the registration
and we do not even know where to
find the offices,” said Nhongo.

Vanessa Mashuro, a Mucheke
resident, said most people were
not aware that the local Zec offices
were open and were registering
people for the fast-approaching
2023 harmonised elections.

“People do not know where
the offices are located and we
usually register when they have
announced that there are elections
happening, and when registration
centres are opened everywhere,”
said Mashuro.

The youth suggested that there
should be much more awareness
programmes so that apathetic
people especially the youth can
develop more interest in electoral
activities.

Covid-19 taskforce fights vaccine infodermic

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Covid-19 taskforce fights vaccine infodermic

 

Rogers Irimayi Masvingo provincial taskforce’s spokesperson

Terrence Ndowora

The Masvingo Provincial Covid-19 Taskforce is committed to fighting misinformation on the Covid-19 vaccination so as to improve acceptance of the programme among citizens, it has been said.

The taskforce’s spokesperson, Rogers Irimayi, who also chairs the Risk Communication Subcommittee of the taskforce, said much of the misinformation, known in contemporary terminology as ‘infodermic’, was mostly prevalent on social media.

“At first, the vaccination programme was given poor reception as people had doubts about the vaccine’s efficacy and due to many conspiracy theories being cooked up. A lot of unhelpful social media content was circulated, leading to hesitancy among the people. For example, a wild theory that vaccination would lead to a wipe-out of the Black race was propagated on social media,” said Irimayi.

He said this during a Covid-19 response, resource mobilisation and distribution discussion organised by TellZim and the Civic Centre on May 27.

He said he was pleased that there was now a ‘rush’ for vaccines among the general populace as people become more informed about the motive of the vaccination programme and the efficacy of the vaccines being used.

“As a taskforce, we are doing everything we can to make sure that correct information concerning vaccination programme is being disseminated. Of late, there has been an increase in the number of people visiting health centres to get vaccinated. That makes us excited because we know that our efforts to communicate the right messages are having a positive effect,” said Irimayi.

He urged people to make good use of social media platforms by sharing truthful information about vaccines and the vaccination programme rather than spreading fake news.

“People should explain the importance of vaccines rather than ‘cook’ fake theories that do more harm than good to the people,” said Irimayi.

Vaccination uptake in Masvingo province has tremendously increased, with 37 245 people having received their first doses, while 18 736 people had received their second doses as on May 26.

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