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MDC Alliance Chikomba official’s house burnt down

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MDC Alliance Chikomba official’s house burnt down
The house that was destroyed by fire

 Tracy Fuzha

CHIVHU
– In a suspected case of political violence, MDC- Alliance spokesperson for
Chikomba West, Noel Kureva’s three-bedroomed house in Ward 20 was burnt on
Saturday afternoon by unknown persons.

The
incident happened at around 15:00hrs when no one was at home, but with property
and food worthy US$2 500 being destroyed.

Important
documents and property including sofas, television sets, radio sets, cement,
maize, groceries, bicycles and blankets were burnt.

Mashonaland
East provincial police spokesperson Inspector Tendai Mwanza was not reached for
a comment as his mobile phone was not reachable by the time of writing.

A
close source who preferred his identity to be kept anonymous for fear of possible
victimisation told TellZim that the incident follows many threats against
Kureva by some Zanu PF activists who demanded that he should vacate his plot.

“We
suspect that the house was burnt down by Zanu PF members who have been
threatening him to vacate the plot where he stays. My question to this case is
whether the land belongs only to Zanu PF and those who are loyal to it.

“We
understand the land belongs to every Zimbabwean and everyone has a right to the
land and we must not fight over it but we must rather develop it,” said
the source.

The
source said opposition supporters in the area were worried with the increasing
number of political violence in their area.

“We
are worried with the increasing numbers of politically related violence in our
district and the province at large. We are no longer safe and we are having
sleepless nights in fear of being victimised,” he said.

MDC
Alliance Mashonaland East provincial spokesman Chengetai Murowa said the party was
concerned about the increasing cases of political violence in the province.

He
said the matter has been reported to the police and they are investigating the
matter.

Murowa
said his party was also worried about the continued harassment of MDC Alliance
supporters by suspected Zanu PF activists especially during campaign time.

“One
of our activists in Chikomba West had his house burnt by fire and we are
suspecting members from the Zanu-PF party in the area.

“A
police report was made and the police have started their investigations. However,
we totally condemn this political violence as we start campaigning towards 2023
polls. Police should act upon this criminality and catch up with such
undemocratic perpetrators who are against peace and development.

“Burning
someone’s house is against our culture and as such the law should take its
course,” Marowa said.

Masvingo Volleyball Association preps for Zimbabwean Open Qualifiers

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Masvingo Volleyball Association preps for Zimbabwean Open Qualifiers
Triangle Parrots in green vs Telone hwaks in white and blue

Blessed Chauke

Volleyball
teams from Masvingo have commenced preparations towards the return of action
which will see them take part in the Zimbabwean Open Qualifiers tournament that
is going to be played next month.

The
games will be played in three regions to decongest venues and Masvingo will
host teams from the Manicaland province while other clubs from the remaining
provinces will be stationed in Harare and Bulawayo.

This
comes after a call from Zimbabwe Volleyball Association (ZVA) for clubs to
register with provincial associations for them to be able to contest in the
qualifiers.

Chairperson
of the Masvingo Volleyball Association, Clemence Muzondo said they are
targeting to register as many clubs as possible for the tourney’s qualifiers since
it brings together top Zimbabwean volleyball clubs.

“We
are going to register for The Zimbabwean Open Qualifiers since it brings all
top sides together and our clubs will gain more experience. Clubs will assess
their performance against other clubs and it is only this one tournament which
brings volleyball teams together.

 “As of now we are not sure how many teams that
are going to register for the tournament and since it is an open tournament any
club is welcome to participate. The regular participants we have now are GZU
Elders, Telone Hawks and Triangle Parrots,” said Muzondo.

Muzondo
said that due to the lockdown, clubs failed to take part into any practice
matches and the only opportunity which they got this year was too far and
expensive for Masvingo based sides.

“Due
to the Covid-19 restrictions, we have not played any games this year. The Victoria
Falls Open was played last weekend but many teams failed to attend, only Telone
Hawks women’s team managed to attend the tournament while others failed due to financial
problems because the trip was very expensive,’’ he said.

Muzondo
also said that the pandemic had also affected their local competition and
forced them to shelve it.

“Because
of the Covid-19 restrictions, we faced a lot of problems especially socio
economics as players and management. Our game time for players has been negatively
affected and the association could not hold any competitions.

“However,
we are also taking advantage of some restrictions to put our house in order and
prepare for the coming season. We are also appealing to the corporate world to
partner Masvingo Volleyball Association to help grow our sports,” he said.

Pardon
Jinya who is the coach of Masvingo College volleyball team popularly known as
Christian Pirates said they are not sure of their participation in the Zimbabwe
Open Qualifiers since their team stand guided by authorities on the way
forward.

“Ours
is a school team and it is sponsored by Masvingo Christian College, so we are
not sure if we will travel for The Zim Open Qualifiers tournament. There has
not been much action since we all know that sport had been banned because of
COVID-19.

“We
last played games a long time ago and as you are aware of, sporting activities
have been in schools and as a result we are not sure whether we will register
for the Open tournament or not,” said Jinya.

Covid-19 pandemic worsens access to sanitary wear

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Covid-19 pandemic worsens access to sanitary wear
Herbert Chikosi

 Kimberly Kusauka/ Pepetua
Murungweni

A
crisis of lack of sanitary wear for women and girls has notably increased
partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has worsened poverty levels in
communities, it has been observed.

Colloquially
referred to ‘period poverty’, the problem is endemic in rural areas where the
country’s poorest live, but unemployment and job lay-offs due to the
pandemic-induced lockdowns have seen the problem getting more pronounced in
urban areas too.

Speaking
at a Menstrual Health Management conference held in Masvingo recently, Zimbabwe
National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) Marketing Officer Herbert Chikosi said
many girls lacked access to dignified sanitary wear.

“Girls
experience lack of appropriate sanitary products and a conducive environment
where they can manage their period in a dignified manner, and this forces many
girls to skip school,” said Chikosi.

Speaking
to TellZim News later on, Chikosi with support from Plan international Chiredzi
and Divine Trust, ZNFPC was distributing sanitary pads to young girls and was also
making reusable sanitary pads at their Tshovani Youth Centre.

“As
ZNFPC, we are getting assistance from Plan International Chiredzi and Divine
Trust and we are distributing pads to young girls and also making reusable pads
at Tshovani Youth Centre,” said Chikosi.

He
said the organisation was training young girls on making reusable sanitary pads
on their own so that they are able to deal with period poverty in the Covid-19
pandemic situation.

“We
are training young girls to make reusable pads on their own so that they are
well-equipped to curb the period poverty especially during this pandemic,”
said Chikosi.

To
celebrate Mother’s Day, ZNFPC offered free family planning services which
include Jadelle, Implanon and Sayana Press for the whole week.

To
help fight the secrecy and stigma around menstruation, ZNFPC is now including
men in menstrual health management dialogues.

Zaka Central CDF mess: 500 bags of cement meant for clinic go to waste

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Zaka Central CDF mess: 500 bags of cement meant for clinic go to waste

The bags of cement, which were being kept in a bar at Mbuyamaswa business centre

Brighton
Chiseva

ZAKA
–
There is an outcry in Zaka Central after some 500 bags of cement meant for
Mbuyamaswa Clinic dried up due to what many feel to be a case of negligence and
poor management, TellZim can report.

The bags of cement,
which were being kept in a bar at Mbuyamaswa business centre,
were bought using money allocated under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF)
disbursement programme in 2018.

Zaka Rural District Council
(RDC) Ward 9 Councillor Moses Mutandavari confirmed the wastage saying the
cement could not be used in time as there was no money to pay workers.

He said the Ministry of
Health and Childcare promised to provide money to pay workers who would plaster
the building but the promises did not materialise.

 “The cement dried up since the workers stopped
working because they had not been paid. As a community, we used to mobilise our
own resources to pay the workers but it became more difficult with the Covid-19
outbreak and the resultant lockdown.

“We then had a meeting
with the Ministry of Health representatives together with Assistant District
Development Coordinator Mr. Zinanga and they promised us that the ministry was
going to take over all the work,” said Mutandavari.

He said the builders
could not continue as they had not been paid for the work that had already been
done.

When contacted comment,
Zaka District Health Services Department Administrator Eliah Zimbwa
acknowledged that the ministry had promised to commit some resources but had
not expected the community to stop its own resource mobilisation efforts.

 “The ministry of health is supposed to fund
the project but we did not stop them from finishing up what they had started
because it was their project. The ministry came in to help the community and
they should continue working until the treasury releases some funds,” said
Zimbwa.

Assistant Zaka District
Development Coordinator (DDC) Victor Zinanga said he could not speak to the media
and referred questions to his boss Memory Dhliwayo who did not answer her
phone.

However, Zaka District
Medical Officer (DMO) Dr Mutero Mupereki said he was not sure about the actual
number of bags that had dried up saying the community failed to handle the
cement properly.

He said the community
was wrongly blaming the Ministry of Health for the loss when the people
themselves refused to lend the cement to Bailzone Mining Company which had
promised to replace the cement later on.

“I was indeed informed about
cement which dried up at Mbuyamaswa Clinic. People blame us but the contractors
and the community failed to utilize the cement in time. The structure was ready
for roofing but they could have prioritised plastering over roofing.

“At first, I talked to
a mining company called BailZone, which was prospecting in the Chiromo area, to
use the cement and replace it when we were ready to use it. I was later told
that the option was no longer viable as they were ready to use the cement. I
then told BailZone that we could no longer give them the cement, only to be
told later that the cement had dried up,” said Mupereki.

When contacted for
comment, Zaka Central Member of Parliament (MP) Davison Svuure said he is not
aware of any cement that dried up in his constituency.

“I have not heard of
any cement that dried up, who told you about that,” said Svuure.

Svuure’s predecessor, Paradzai
Chakona, who initiated the project when he was still MP, said it was painful
that such critical resources had gone to waste.

“I initiated the
construction of three clinics in Zaka Central and the other two are almost
complete while this particular one is still a long way to go. I am very disappointed
to hear that the cement was left to dry-up,”said Chakona.

Some community members
said Svuure had told people to stop contributing towards the payment of
workers, promising that he would source the money from government.

“Something similar
happened at the Four Miles Clinic project where community contributions were
paid back with promises that government would do the job. But there has never
been progress ever since,” claimed one community member.

Zaka district is one of
the most underdeveloped districts in the province where many people still
travel more than 10km to the nearest health facilities and schools.

The district has seen a
number of clinics being constructed in the past few years and most of them are
near completion.

In Zaka Central
constituency, three clinics namely Four Miles, Mbuyamaswa and Tovane are under
construction.

…
as clinic project faces new challenges

The Mbuyamaswa Clinic
project, whose construction has been on hold since last year owing to the
lockdown and none payment of wages, is now facing new challenges related to
roofing material specifications needed for the release of new funding.

The project, which was
initiated by the community, got funding from the government through the Ministry
of Health and Child Care and the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and
National Housing.

Zaka District Medical
Officer (DMO) Dr Mutero Mupepereki told TellZim that the Ministry of Health and
Child Care could not provide new funding unless the Department of Public Works
specified what was needed at every stage of construction.

“We do to work alone as
a ministry. We work with government departments in other ministries, and in
this case, we work with the Public Works department which knows what is needed.
Our job is just to procure what would have been recommended by the department,”
said Mupereki.

He said he was not sure
as to when the work could resume at the project since the Department of Public
Works had not provided the bill of quantities as yet.

“I am not sure when
construction will continue. Right now, we are waiting for the list of materials
so that we do the quotations,” Mupepereki said.

A source, however, said
the Department of Public Works had no skilled manpower to draw the list of what
was now needed.

“The clinic will not be
completed any time soon because there are no carpenters and other artisans who
can quantify the requirements and give the list to the Ministry of Health.
Judging by the tiresome bureaucracy in government offices,
the procurement will most likely take a lot more time,” said the source.

Civil servants belong to Zanu PF, says Minister

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Civil servants belong to Zanu PF, says Minister
Clemence Chiduwa

 Cephas Shava

MWENEZI
–
Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development Clemence Chiduwa recently
declared that all government workers belonged to the ruling Zanu PF party and
they are under obligation to support the party.

However, Section 200
(5) of the national constitution obligates political neutrality for all civil
servants.

Chiduwa expressed his
sentiments to invited heads of government departments and Zanu PF structures
who gathered for the party’s inter-district meeting which was held at Rutenga
growth point’s Council Hall on Saturday, May 22.

In a bold-worded
statement during his address, Chiduwa declared and bragged that in other
districts of the province, civil servants had been chanting Zanu PF slogans at
various gatherings for a long time.

“All government
workers are working for Zanu PF. In my own home area of Zaka, government
workers are now fully-aware that whenever there is a gathering, they stand and
chant our party slogans because they are working for Zanu PF.

“Here in Mwenezi, we
are looking forward to a situation whereby government workers know that they
are working for Zanu PF,” said Chiduwa.

During his address, the
Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs, Ezra Chadzamira who preached
the gospel of development and unity in line with the policy of devolution, also
maintained that government workers belong to Zanu PF.

Chadzamira pointed out
that, with 25 000 hectares having already been identified in Mwenezi, vast
tracts of land with capacity to feed the whole nation will be put under
irrigation.

He said all
stakeholders needed to work together so as to achieve President Emmerson
Mnangangwa’s Vision 2030.

The Inter-district
meeting, which was attended by several Zanu PF provincial bigwigs, also had former
MDC Alliance heavyweight Tongai Matutu in attendance.

During his own remarks,
Matutu lambasted the opposition party and pledged to recruit several MDC
Alliance supporters to Zanu PF.

USAID moves to empower communities surrounding wildlife corridors

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USAID moves to empower communities surrounding wildlife corridors

 

…injects millions of dollars towards resilience in
seven wards

Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI – The United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) has pumped in US$19 million to help communities living in wildlife
corridors and protected areas surrounding Save Valley Conservancy, Gonarezhou
and Bubye sin Chiredzi and Bikita districts.

This has been done to help the communities manage
their resources and draw economic benefits from those resources thereby
reducing their vulnerability to climatic shocks and economic stresses.

The project somehow fills the gap left when the European
Union (EU) withdraw its US$15 million funding for the Save Valley Conservancy
project in early 2020, citing lack of progress due to the absence of political
goodwill.

The Save Valley Conservancy project was aimed at
creating a wildlife corridor to separate wildlife and landless communities who
occupied parts of the park.

With Resilience Anchors, people in Bikita Rural
District wards 24 and 26; Chiredzi wards 1 and 23; and Chipinge 30 and 29 will
benefit in capacity building towards management and protection of their resources
for economic benefit.

The US$19 million resilience project was launched last
week through a programme dubbed Accelerating New Community-based Holistic
Outcomes for Resource Sustainability (Resilience Anchors).

The five-year-long project is aimed at reducing the chronic
vulnerability to climatic shocks and economic stresses of those living in
communities around protected areas and associated wildlife corridors.

USAID says Resilience Anchors can provide economic
opportunities for vulnerable communities to improve their ability to cope with
and recover from shocks while conserving the natural resource base for
sustainable livelihoods.

Speaking at the launch of the project, Principal
Administrative Officer in the office of the Provincial Development Coordinator (PDC),
Edmore Mangure, who stood for the PDC Dr Jasper Sakupwanya, said the initiative
will go a long way in empowering the beneficiary communities.

“In for years, wildlife corridors and protected areas
will be anchors of development, meaning they will provide opportunities for the
vulnerable communities in our province. Simply put, this means the project will
improve the quality of life for Masvingo community.

“The role of this project is to reduce community’s
chronic vulnerability to climatic shocks and economic stresses. Masvingo is
blessed with wildlife and vast tracts of vegetation. However, these species are
at risk as the human population around protected areas grows,” said Mangure.

He said there were many threats to wildlife and to
people living around protected areas and these include poaching, illegal
wildlife trade, human-wildlife conflicts, unreliable revenue streams,
unreliable water sources and minimum private sector investment.

“Disasters hurt the poor and vulnerable the most.
Resilience Anchors, as the project name says, seeks to put resilience at the
heart of our communities. An important way to achieve this is through
community-based management programs for the poor and vulnerable,” said Mangure.

African Wildlife Foundation, which is the lead
implementing partner for Save Valley Landscape, was represented by projects
manager Serial Moyo who expressed optimism in Resilience Anchors’ potential to turn
things around for the better.

“When we look at economic benefits, we are looking at livelihoods.
We are looking at how we can help strengthen communities so that they are not
susceptible to these (climatic) shocks and when these shocks happen, people are
resilient. They are able to withstand, absorb, adapt and transform their
communities. That is the objective of the Resilience Anchors project.

“We can effectively use the natural resource heritage we
have by applying good governance and oversight and thus build resilience within
our communities. We intent to work with our communities to ensure there is an
understanding of good land-use practices,” said Moyo.

The project’s key objectives are centred on the
improvement of economic benefits from strengthened community-level resource
governance and oversight of conservation enterprises.

It also aims to increase sustainable and sufficient
supplies of quality water to meet human, economic and ecosystem need, as well
as strengthening locally-led development and private sector engagement.

 

 

Public hearings on sexual harassment to be held in Masvingo

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Public hearings on sexual harassment to be held in Masvingo

Wayne
Ncube

The Parliamentary
Portfolio Committees on Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare (PSLSW) as
well as the Women Affairs, Gender, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises
Development (WACSMED) will hold joint public consultations on sexual harassment
in Masvingo on June 01.

The public hearing will
be held at Rutenga growth point in Mwenenzi district, on Hevoi FM radio and at Mucheke
Hall on the same day.

A report presented by
the PSLSW states that in terms Section 149 of the Constitution, the Portfolio
on PSLSW and WACSMED received a petition from Emthonjeni Women’s Forum
imploring Parliament to review Chapter 28: 1 of the Labor Act in order to
strengthen provisions that seek to curb sexual harassment in the work place.

It also states that the
petitioners called for ratification of the International Labor Organization
Convention No. 190 concerning the elimination of violence and harassment in the
world of work.

The Committees noticed
that sexual harassment was rampant and was not limited to the work place,
therefore the need for a comprehensive inquiry.

“The objective of the
public hearing is to ascertain the prevalence of sexual harassment in the country
and its impact on victims and society in general; to solicit public views on
whether the Labor Act and the other laws adequately address issues of sexual
harassment in the work place.

“It assesses the
available framework and process of securing redress; and to gather public views
on measures that can be taken to curb sexual harassment at all levels of
society,” reads the report.

The committee will be
conducting public hearings on sexual harassment and law from Monday May 31 –
Friday June 2021 in Mutare, Bulawayo, Harare, Nyika,
Kadoma, Marondera, Magunje and Plumtree.

 

Heroes Acre without Mugabe: incomplete history of Zimbabwe

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Heroes Acre without Mugabe: incomplete history of Zimbabwe

 Tatenda
Murenjekwa

Robert Gabriel Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe
for 37 years from 1980-2017 and despite being shunned by many, the nonagenarian
had managed to protect the country’s legacy. 
The late President fast tracked the Land Reform Programme which gave the
majority of blacks land ownership. Prior to that, land was owned in the hands
of the white minority.

Mugabe managed to elevate Zimbabwe
in the areas of education, tourism and hospitality and agriculture among
others.

The writer therefore noted with
concern that apart from being surrounded by selfish and power hungry people who
manipulated him, Mugabe heroism can never be taken away from him.

Although Mugabe some described him
as an ‘enemy of the revolution’ by the time of his death, the writer notes that
the call for the exhumation of his body for reburial at the National Heroes
Acre is vital towards rebuilding Zimbabwean history.

Chief Zvimba, born Stanley Mhondoro,
found Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace guilty of violating tradition by burying
Mugabe in the courtyard of his rural homestead.

However, family members of the late
Mugabe including his nephew Leo Mugabe vowed that the exhumation was not going
to happen. He further accused the Chief and the government of attempts to force
Mugabe’s remains onto the Heroes Acre against the late president’s wish.

From the inquiries done by the writer,
many people argue that Chief Zvimba has connived with government to exhume the
remains of the late president for reburial at Heroes Acre in an attempt to
achieve their political own agenda.

The writer, however, views the
exhumation of Robert Mugabe’s body for reburial at Heroes Acre as something
crucial in the eyes of patriotic Zimbabweans.

The history of Zimbabwe without
Mugabe is incomplete. Mugabe was admired by many worldwide despite the fact
that he fell for a trap set by criminals who happened to surround him before
being dislodged through ‘Operation Restore Legacy’. Mugabe’s wife and her
cohorts in the form of the so called G-40 group drove Mugabe to Waterloo. The
current President Emmerson Mnangagwa has learned something from Mugabe in as
far as nation-building is concerned.

Mugabe was among the founding
fathers of Zimbabwe. The history of Zimbabwe thus is incomplete without the
likes of Tongogara, Chitepo, Mujuru(Rex and Joice), Muzenda, Zvobgo, Mavhaire,
Dabengwa, Nkomo, Chief Tangwena among others.

During his tenure of office, Mugabe buried
cadres at the Hero’s Acre thus honoring brothers and sisters who sacrificed
their lives to fight for the independence of Zimbabwe. Excluding Mugabe from
the Heroes’ Acre therefore, takes a lot of respect from it. The writer
therefore notes that Mugabe’s remains should be exhumed for reburial at the
Heroes’ Acre in a way to preserve the country’s history.

The move to bury Mugabe at his rural
courtyard was a ploy by Grace and her cohorts to settle scores by the new
national leadership given the way Mugabe was removed from power.

Even if Chief Zvimba’s call for the
reburial of Mugabe the Heroes Acre is a government’s project to achieve
personal agenda, it remains important that he be reburied.

It has come to the writer’s
understanding that although Mugabe has distorted the history of Zimbabwe in
some instances, the move to devalue ‘patriotic history’ has been fast-tracked
by the move to bury Mugabe at his rural courtyard.

The rift between the incumbent
President and the former first lady can be illustrated by the way the latter
denounced and defamed the former in public. Failure of Grace’s ploy to override
Mnangagwa saw the widening of the rift between the two. 

Driven by the principles of nation
building, Mnangagwa then instigated the reconciliation agenda in a way to build
the nation and heal the country from past ills.

The G-40, on the other hand, managed
to degrade the post –Mugabe government for human rights violation and election
rigging which they think would move the government into disrepute. Efforts by
the G-40 to degrade the post-Mugabe government remained in vain and the refusal
to bury Mugabe at the national shrine proved to be the ploy by family members
and enemies of the new order to render the Mnangagwa-led government
illegitimate.

The history of Zimbabwe without
Mugabe at the national shrines is incomplete and the exhumation of his remains
for reburial at the national shrine gives history value.

The national shrine portrays the
struggle for Zimbabwe’s independence and the writer is convinced that the
exhumation of Mugabe’s remains for burial at Heroes’ Acre would be an important
move towards the reconstruction of history.

espite different political
affiliations, Zimbabweans should consider their culture and customs which
shapes their history. 

Makorokoza fire gunshot at Mhandamabwe rank marshals

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Makorokoza fire gunshot at Mhandamabwe rank marshals
File Picture

Terrence Ndowora

Three
artisanal miners recently fired a gunshot in a bar in Mhandamabwe after they
were overpowered by local rank marshals during a brawl on Thursday night, May
27, TellZim News has learnt.

Though
Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said he had
not received a report of the incident, witnesses said the suspected artisanal
miners fired a gunshot to scare away the rank marshals.

The
sources claim that the three had been overpowered but they later made their way
out, with no one being injured.

“They
were overpowered by the rank marshals and managed to fire a gunshot once in the
air trying to scare the rank marshals away. They immediately fled the scene and
two of them are still on the run,” said the source.

One
of the suspects was reportedly captured by the public and was said to be in the
hands of local

Sources
told TellZim that one of the suspects is believed to be the bar lady’s
boyfriend.

The
bar lady who was reportedly taken by Mhandamabwe police for questioning, was
seen bragging to rank marshals the following morning that his boyfriend would
shoot anyone who dared to attack her. 

Chiredzi lands officer transferred over ZACC testimony

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Chiredzi lands officer transferred over ZACC testimony

Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI – Chiredzi
District Lands Officer
Honest Mapfumo,
who reportedly testified to the
Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption
Commission (ZACC) against
corrupt land allocations in
Chiredzi, has been transferred to
the Agriculture ministry’s head
office, TellZim can report.

Attempts to reach Mapfumo for
a comment were futile as his
mobile phone was unreacheable.
However, a letter dated May
20 which was signed by
Secretary for Lands, Agriculture,
Fisheries, Water and Rural
Resettlement Dr John Bhasera
orders Mapfumo to begin his
new duties at the head office on
May 31 pending reassignment.

“The Ministry has received
reports concerning
administrative challenges on
your performance in Chiredzi
District, Masvingo Province.

“In light of this development,
I have decided that you be
recalled from Chiredzi District
Office and reassigned new duties
at Head Office in Harare. You aretherefore required to assume duty
in Harare with effect from 31 May
2021. 

“Meanwhile, on receipt of this
minute, you are required to start
the handover-takeover of your
current duties and assignments
with the Member appointed by the
Acting Provincial Lands Officer,”
reads the letter. 

Sources said Mapfumo was likely
to be demoted after his testimony
to Zacc implicated many powerful
politicians who then complained
about him to his Harare bosses.

 A few months ago, ZACC visited
Chiredzi at the request by a young
farmer Tungamirai Rukatya who
complained that senior politicians
in the province had irregularly
taken ownership of his land and
shared it amongst themselves. 

He also complained that another
piece of land owned by one Tony
Sapo, and which is protected
under a Bilateral Investment
Protection and Promotion
Agreement (Bippa) has also been
seized. 

At a Zanu PF inter-district
meeting held at Chitsanga Hall a
few weeks ago, Zanu PF Chiredzi
District Coordinating Committee
(DCC) chairperson Siyaki
Mundungehama complained that
land was being allocated without
knowledge of the local Lands
office, and that the allocations
were largely benefitting non-locals.

Meanwhile, many Chiredzi
business people with political
connections are said to have
bought prime land near Chitsanga
Hills at give away prices.

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