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Zanu PF Cllrs call for Zesa manager’s head

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Zanu PF Cllrs call for Zesa manager’s head

 

Cllr Mnayanga

…accuse power utility of ‘sabotaging’
Masvingo water supply

Moses Ziyambi

Two Zanu PF Masvingo Masvingo
Urban councillors have this evening demanded that Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority Masvingo manager Jacqueline Hlatswayo resign with immediate effect
for allegedly dabbling in opposition politics and sabotage.

This was heard in a full council
meeting held at the Civic Centre a while ago.

The drastic call comes in the
wake of a drastic reduction in the city’s water supply levels due to poor
electricity feed into the intake tower at Bushmead which has seen only one pump
being used, instead of two.

While making a contribution
during the adoption of minutes from the Public Works Committee, Ward 10 Cllr
Sengerai Manyanga said Hlatswayo, whom he called a liar, must be made to resign
with immediate effect.

“She is sabotaging us, she is
sabotaging council and residents. She must resign. We must go and present our
case to the Minister of State (for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution
Ezra Chadzamira) and make sure she is forced to go. That other year she lied to
us that she was going to connect us to another line with better voltage. We
must take action. I am even ready to occupy her office and I will not leave. Kana
gurokuro richidambuka ngaridambuke,” charged Manyanga.

He was supported by his Ward 8 counterpart
Against Chiteme who accused Hlaswayo of dabbling in opposition politics.

“She is out to smear council and
incite residents against us. We must engage the Minister of Energy (and Power
Development Soda Zhemu) and tell him that your manager here is no longer doing
her job; she is doing politics. She is running ZESA like her own private
company which she can close at any time she wants,” charged Chiteme.

Earlier on, Acting Town Clerk
Edward Mukaratirwa had reported that ZESA was not cooperating with regards to
the replacement of a broken down transformer which is blamed for the crisis.

“There is a tendency at ZESA
yekuvharirana panze (sabotage). Some residents approached us to offer
assistance to replace the transformer but we did not get any cooperation from
ZESA. Again, Delta Beverages Masvingo offered to buy the transformer but when
we requested for specifications of the transformer from ZESA, we did not get
the information,” said Mukaratirwa.

This was also corroborated by
Mayor Collen Maboke who said Delta had also approached him complaining that
ZESA was failing to cooperate, and their production at their factory in the industrial
areas was getting severely affected.

In the Afternoon, TellZim had
approached Hlatswayo at her office but she said she was not allowed to talk to
the press, and referred all questions to the power utility’s national corporate
communications head Prisca Utete who had not responded to questions emailed to
her by the time of writing.

 

 

 

New cotton hybrid introduced

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New cotton hybrid introduced

…as farmers threaten
to withhold yield over non-payment

Beatific Gumbwanda/
Veeslee Mhepo

CHIREDZI-
The
Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) together with the Cotton Company of
Zimbabwe (Cottco) last week launched a new cotton hybrid seed, Mahyco 571,
which is said to adapt to climate changes.

Mahyco 571 is a new cotton variety
which was developed by Quton Company to adapt to climate change and can produce
a boll weighing more than 6 grams, with a single plant producing more than 100
bolls.

AMA area manager Simon Pande said his
organisation was there to ensure that farmers have maximised their production
as well as secure the market for their crop.

“We are moving with time introducing
new seed varieties which can sustain climate change. Farmers need to maximise
their production by yielding more than 1 900 kilograms per hectare, that is why
we are introducing the new Mahyco 571 seed,” said Pande.

Meanwhile cotton farmers have protested
the delays in payment by Cotton with some yet to receive payment for their
deliveries from the 2019-2020 farming season.

Addressing farmers at a 0.5 hectare
demonstration plot in Crown Range last week, Chiredzi North legislator Roy Bhila
lambasted Cottco for failing to live up to their end of paying farmers for the
cotton delivered to them.

“Before we could talk about the new
cotton variety, we should discuss pending issues first.

“Last season farmers were not paid for
what they delivered at Cotton except for some few groceries. From what I can
see, the company is also looking after this year’s crop before they could even
settle the last season’s debt.

“This is derailing the vision 2030 of the
middle income economy as farmers were equipped with land in order to self-sustain
but you are letting them down,” said Bhila.

Last year, the cotton company of
Zimbabwe failed to pay farmers of their produce and gave them grocery hampers.

Over 300 cotton farmers from Masvingo
district, who are serviced by the Jerera depot, have registered their
displeasure with Cottco’s no payment saying they would hold on to their
harvests until they are paid their dues.

Moses Mutoko a cotton farmer said the
company made payments plans with farmers where farmers chose groceries or money
as a form of payment and those who chose monetary payment have not yet received
anything.

He said farmers have consulted the
Cottco Jerera depot manager Tinashe Chinodyanyama several times and nothing
tangible came.

“We have been waiting for our payment
for a long time now and we depend on that money as farmers, we have tried to
consult the manager many times and all we get are delays.

“We are tired of waiting all we need is
our money and if we do not receive payment as soon as possible we will keep our
cotton and find other trading ways,” said Mutoko.

Chinodyanyama said the situation was
beyond his office and only the higher office at the headquarters could solve
the impasse and he assured farmers that payment was on the way as soon as
members from the headquarters confirm with him.

“This is a national situation and only
confirmation from the headquarters in Harare can fix this issue but I assure
farmers will receive their payments eventually,” said Chinodyanyama.

‘Electronic learner driver licensing eliminates corruption’

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‘Electronic learner driver licensing eliminates corruption’

Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Felix Mhona at the center

Blessed Chauke

The
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Southern Region Trading Company (SRDC), Phil Mushosho
has said the new Electronic Learner’s License Testing (ELLT) system helps to eliminate
corruption and half-baked drivers.

SRDC
are the system providers who designed ELLT for the Ministry of Transport and
Infrastructural Development.

He
said this at the Masvingo Vehicle Inspectorate Department (VID) depot where the
Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Felix Mhona launched the
system on Sunday, April 25.

Mushosho
said the system eliminates corruption by cutting interaction between
prospective learner drivers and VID staff.

“You
do not have to interact with people but you interact with the system; from
registration all the way to the invigilation and there are instructions in the
computer room from which you can learn how to take the test and it is very user
friendly.

“The
idea is to make sure that people actually study the high way code and
understand the rules of driving so that when they pass the test, they would
actually have studied and by that way we are eliminating poor drivers,” said
Mushosho.

He
said the system was very different from the manual processes of the past in
that the current system is fed with many questions from which the system
selects randomly for each test.

 “The manual had a limited number of papers and
it was possible for candidates to be aware of the paper that they were going to
write and memorise answers but this system got a huge bank of questions; over a
thousand.

“The
computer selects at random the question that they will give you and the
questions will be different to the next person so there is no possibility that
you cheat or anticipate the questions.

“In
the past  because the manual was marked
by people there was a possibility that they could just pass a candidate or fail
the candidate but in this case, it is the computer that will determine if the
candidate has passed or failed based on the quality of the answers provided,”
he said. 

PED nullifies Vic Jnr fees hike

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PED nullifies Vic Jnr fees hike

Believe Mpofu

Parents with
children at Victoria Junior School have raised complaints
over a new fees structure which they said was reached at an irregularly
convened meeting which did not even constitute a quorum.

The alleged inquorate
meeting was held at the on April 09, with only 53 parents in attendance at a
school with an enrolment of over 3000; boarders and day scholars combined.

Attendants
agreed to raise the fees from just over $4 000 to $7 056 per day scholar per
term, with boarders paying much more for the extra facilities and services they
use.

However, many
parents say the meeting was not regularly convened, with the school head and
SDC colluding to keep the event low profile.

“The kind of
resolutions that were made are normally adopted at Annual General Meetings (AGMs)
and there should be a quorum for the decisions to hold water. This was not the
case with this particular meeting and I feel it must not go unchallenged,” said
one parent.

Another parent
said the fees structure was unjustified as children are going to school for an
average of two days per week due to the regulations put in place by government
in response to the recent spike of Covid-19 cases in schools.

“The fees
structure is unjustified. Besides that it was put in place by an inquorate
gathering, the fees structure does not relate to the situation on the ground.
Our children are going to school for only two days on average, so the increase
is unjustified. We are organising ourselves as parents and guardians so that we
can mount a challenge through proper structures in the education department,” said
the parent.

Other parents
blamed the School Development Committee (SDC) and school head Mashuro for what
they called an illegal meeting with resolutions that are not binding.

Acting Masvingo Provincial
Education Director (PED) Shylatte Mhike confirmed that there was discontent
with the manner by which the new fees structure was put in place.

“We received the
complaints and we are doing investigations. We disregard the outcome of the
meeting and proper procedures should be followed to finalise the matter,” said
Mhike.

32 000 people vaccinated in Masvingo

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32 000 people vaccinated in Masvingo
Minister of State for Masvingo province Ezra Chadzamira

 Brighton
Chiseva

MASVINGO
– A
total of 32 000 people have been vaccinated so far in Masvingo province since
the beginning of the phased vaccination programme which started in February.

During the first phase, the province received 22 000 doses
of the Sinopharm vaccine enough to vaccinate 11 000 frontline workers and other
essential services.

The vaccination started on a low key as people doubted the
efficacy of the Chinese jabs.

Masvingo provincial Covid-19 taskforce spokesperson Rodgers
Irimayi told TellZim News that the vaccine uptake was increasing every day and
was happy with the progress and turnout.

“As of today a total number of 32 thousand people have been
vaccinated, we are happy with the numbers which are increasing every day since
the inception of the programme and we are happy with the progress that we are
making,” said Irimayi.

Masvingo Provincial Medical Doctor (PMD) Dr Amadeus Shamhu
said the vaccination programme was not open to everyone as the case in other
provinces saying they were still in the second phase targeting the education
sector, the elderly and those with chronic diseases.

He however said they were not turning away volunteers who
were not in the second phase as a notable number of people are turning out at
vaccination centers.

“We are in the second phase of the vaccination now where we
are targeting teachers, the elderly and people with chronic diseases. The
programme is yet to be opened to the public but however, we are not turning
people away, if someone comes to a vaccination center we will vaccinate them.

“We are happy with the progress we have made so far since
the turn out is increasing day by day. We urge those who are supposed to be
vaccinated in the second phase to utilize the chance to avoid congestion in the
third phase,” said Dr Shamhu.

Masvingo received the first batch of the SinoPham vaccine in
February this year which was targeting frontline workers and received the
Sinovac vaccine on its second batch of vaccines on April 12, 2021.

Teacher unions welcome decision to suspend June exams

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Teacher unions welcome decision to suspend June exams
Dr Takavafira Zhou

Believe Mpofu

Teachers’
unions under the Federation of Zimbabwe Education Unions (Fozeu)
welcomed the government’s decision to suspend the Zimbabwe School Examination Council
(Zimsec) June ‘O’ and ‘A’ level examinations.

Government
recently announced the suspension of the June exams citing the multi-layered
disruptions caused by Covid-19 including delays in writing and marking of the
November exams which negatively impacted the timing and the cycle of public
examination.

Fozeu
says pupils have not covered syllabus because of the Covid-19 induced lockdown
and teachers’ incapacitation.

The
organisation says merely pushing forward with writing of June exams was futile
as pupils ‘cannot perform miracles’ in the exam room.

In
an interview with TellZim News, Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ)
president Dr Takavafira Zhou said though parents were generally not receptive
of the idea, it was the best thing that could be done under the circumstances.

“Parents’
complaints are understandable. They have spent a lot of money hiring private
teachers to teach their children and have therefore lost money in the process. The
communication must have been made in January.

He
blamed government for failure to communicate the new position earlier thereby
giving the false impression that June exams would continue as usual.

“Cancellation
of June exams was a blessing in disguise, pupils did not cover the syllabus
because of Covid-19, and pupils cannot perform miracles in examination room. It
was a good move, despite the inconvenience it has caused to parents and the
psychological pressure it had forced upon pupils trying to prepare for the
examination.

“It
was a good move, despite the inconvenience it has caused to parents and the
psychological pressure it had forced upon pupils trying to prepare for the
examination.

“If
June exams had been allowed to continue, it would disturb preparations for
November exams as schools would be used for exam purposes, and teachers for invigilation
and marking,” said Zhou.

On
his part, Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) president Obert
Masaraure told TellZim News that it would not have made sense to impose exams
on unprepared pupils.

 “Imposing examination on unprepared learners
was going to be a disaster. The down time caused by both incapacitation and
Covid-19 induced lockdowns is not good for our education sector,” said
Masaraure.

Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta) Dr Sifiso
Ndlovu said the cancellation was a hard decision but it was inevitable.

“Cancellation
of June exams was a hard decision but it was inevitable. It would be a waste of
resources to assemble huge funds to run the examination which evidently would
be a sham exercise. The government’s decision was a good move,” said Ndlovu.

MMCZ to recruit youths

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MMCZ to recruit youths

 

Wayne Ncube

MASVINGO-
The Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) has revealed that it will
offer outlined training programmes for youths and small-scale miners on
precious, semi-precious and chrome in a bid to boost their production capacity
and compliment the country’s target to turn the mining sector into a 12 billion
industry by 2030.

With
the help of the Young Miners Foundation (YMF), MMCZ revealed that they have
targeted all the provinces in the country and they are ready to assist young
miners with provision of information related to products, markets expert
procedures and regulations and consolidation of mineral products from various
miners.

In
an interview with TellZim news, MMCZ General Manager Tongai Muzenda said the
training is starting in the quarter of the year.

“The
training should start this quarter, we are liaising with Young Miners Foundation
(YMF) on the modalities,” said Muzenda.

He
said they decided to start this training programme because they want cover the
gap between the youths and, minerals and metals knowledge.

“We
have decided to start this training now because we have realised that the
minerals and metals knowledge gap in our youths and we want to cover it.

“We
also advise young miners to prioritise registering and participating in
international fairs and conferences,” said Muzenda.

MMCZ
has also stated that they will continue purchasing from young miners for onward
resell, provide linkages with possible investors for value addition and
beneficiation.

Zanu PF bid to seize urban councils ‘disingenuous’

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Zanu PF bid to seize urban councils ‘disingenuous’

Constantino Chiwenga

…as Mnagagwa moves to dissolve
‘opposition-run’ councils

Terrence Ndowora

President
Emmerson Mnangagwa seems to be living in the past after he blasted poorly-run local
authorities during his Independence Day speech, saying they were causing misery
to people by failing to provide optimum services.

“They
can’t continue electing councillors who do not deliver, when councilors are
elected they are supposed to deliver services to the people who elected them, and
not bring misery.

“But
because we have seen that they have failed, this is why under the Second Republic,
we have now instituted an inter-ministerial Taskforce, led by the Honorable
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, to deal with, overriding the authority of
these councils, so that we can provide to our people the services which these
local authorities have failed to provide, so as central government we are
intervening using central government resources to do so,” said Mnangangwa.

Masvingo
Urban is operating with six councillors out of 10, after four others were
removed due to the infighting in the opposition MDC formations.

The
recall of councillors as well as Members of Parliament (MPs) was widely
interpreted as a result of machinations by Mnangagwa and his ruling party who
are bent on destroying credible opposition to their long rule.

MDC-T
president Douglas Mwonzora sacked the four councillors earlier this year, and
the city has had to do away with the audit committee as its composition and
quorum could not be reached.

In
Harare, Mutare and many other urban local authorities, several councillors were
also recalled by Mwonzora thereby affecting service delivery in one way or the
other.

When
asked to give his opinion on Mnangagwa’s latest political posturing, analyst Rashweat
Mukundu said Mnangagwa was a hypocrite and should not always speak with
political intentions.

“It’s
hypocrisy for the President to accuse the local authorities yet their hands are
tied up, the government incapacitated them, he shouldn’t speak with political
intentions.

“The
President should make sure the country’s economy is running. Right now, people
can’t afford to pay rates because of economic challenges leading to failure of
councillors to deliver better services to people.

“He
(Mnangagwa) should retrace where the real problem is coming from not blaming
the councillors,” said Mukundu.

Media
scholar and political analyst, Dr Last Alfandiga said government could not
honestly blame the opposition for poorly-run local authorities as there were
many other factors at play.

“The
councillors are not the ones who run the local authorities; they come more or
less as advisors. It’s rather the duty of the council’s administration to do
the day -to-day management of council affairs.

It’s
a political move to win voters but at the same time violating people’s rights
of representation because these councillors who were recalled represent the
people who elected them,” said Alfandika.

Another
analyst, Mabweazara Mugodzwa said the move was a strategy by government to vest
the ministerial taskforce to usurp power from elected representatives.

“It’s
a political act aimed at empowering the ministerial taskforces to run councils
on behalf the ruling party and its leadership.

“They
are responsible for the dismissal of the councillors and are, at the same time,
expecting councils to deliver excellent services to the people. This is not
possible because they are crippled,” said Mugodzwa.

He
said it was disingenuous that government had suspended by-elections and now
expected a smooth flow of business in council without taking responsibility in
its own role in creating the mess.

Higher Life Foundation donates US$20 000 maternity equipment Masvingo Provincial Hospital

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Higher Life Foundation donates US$20 000 maternity equipment Masvingo Provincial Hospital

Dr Richard Makoni (right), Dr Zulu (in grey suit), Dr Nyabereka from Higher Life Foundation, Masvingo
Provincial Hospital Matron Justina Rufaro Nyakudzi and Higher Life Foundation Information Management
Specialist Sarathiel Chaipa pose for a photo with the donated equipment

Brighton
Chiseva

MASVINGO
– Masvingo
Provincial Hospital got a shot in the arm yesterday (April 23) after Higher
Life Foundation donated maternity equipment worth more than US$20 000 to its
maternity unit.

The donated equipment included the basic equipment namely
the Blood Pressure (BP) checking machine and Fetal Dopplers among others.

Also included were critical care equipment that include CPAP
Machine, Ultra Sound Machine, Multi Parameter Monitor Machine, Vacuum
extraction Machine and Neo-Natal Resuscitation Kits.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Higher Life Foundation
head of health department Ronald Nyabereka said the donation was a reaction to
the calls for help by the hospital authorities.

He said they were rendering aid in form of equipment to five
Central Hospitals and three Provincial Hospitals.

“We came here with the equipment after the hospital
requested that we help them in this regard and we were answering to their call.

“We are supporting them through both the equipment and training
which we are giving to the doctors and the midwives. The training will be done
by our partner Mars,” said Nyabereka.

He said the donation was just the beginning saying if the
hospital requests for other things with resources permitting they would rise to
the occasion.

Nyabereka said they were not only leaving the donation and
end there, but will go on to train the handlers and repair the equipment in
cases of malfunction and regular maintenance.

“We are not ending by leaving this equipment, we are
responsible for the user training of the staff who are going to be using the equipment
and maintenance in case of a breakdown,” said Nyabereka.

He said the maternal and child health care programme was
necessitated by a number of media reports about the maternal mortality cases
and this prompted Higher Life patrons Strive and Tsitsi Masiiwa to share the
story with their partners at ELMA Foundation resulting in the formation of maternal
health projects.

Masvingo Provincial Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Noel
Zulu said he was more than happy to receive the donation saying it was going a
long way to improve maternal health care at the province’s largest referral
hospital.

“We are very happy with this gesture as it is going to make
our work easier here. With this equipment we will be able to deal with special
cases and there will be no need to refer patients to Harare as we would be able
to handle most of the emergencies here,” said Dr Zulu.

He went on to appeal to the corporate world to come in and make
donations in various departments of the hospital.

“This donation will help us a lot but will not meet the all
our requirements, so we will continue knocking on Higher Life’s door for more
support.

“I also call upon other organizations and individuals who
has the means to come and help us improve our hospital standards,” said Dr
Zulu.

Guard against shrinkages, businesses warned

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Guard against shrinkages, businesses warned

Andrew Chekani

Kimberly
Kusauka

The
Masvingo Business Community has lamented theft by employees and customers saying
these were among the major factors contributing to business shrinkage.

This
came out at a business shrinkage management workshop held at Reformed Church University
(RCU) where a number of solutions were discussed.

Other
causes of shrinkages that were noted include administrative errors, fraud,
false payments, alterations, overbilling, rising operational costs and breakages.

The
two presenters Dr Oscar Chagwiza of the RCU Department of Commerce and N. Richards
Group (NRG) director Andrew Chekani urged businesses to improve their
management systems to reduce shrinkages

Among
these concerns were issues to do with theft by employees and customers as well
as administrative errors, fraud and breakages.

Dr
Chagwiza said businesses should hire thoughtfully, use cameras, rotate
employees, having and witnesses whenever discounts or refunds are being done.

“Hiring is an important aspect in business but
before hiring, an organization must have a hiring policy based on establishment
and range of activities and employee assignments should be rotated to
avoid over familiarisation which may
open up pilferage routes.

“When hiring, vetting is needed lest you hire
a criminal. Vetting methods includ police clearance, reference letters from
school head and pastor is important,” said Chagwiza.

He
warned against specialisation which he said opened pilferage routes and may
lead to special arrangements with fraudsters.

“While specialisation brings efficiency,
over-familiarization with a system within one department may open up pilferage
routes. Employees must be deployed at the commencement of duty, especially till
operators. This minimises ‘special arrangements’ with customers-cum-fraudsters,”
said Chagwiza.

In
his presentation, Chekani said businesses especially those operating in the
retail sector should have efficient operating systems.

“If
you can’t put proper systems and controls in your retail business, you would
rather close the door to the customers until you are up to date without delay
unless if your goal has shifted to turning your enterprise into a charitable
organization.

“If
opportunities are left on the table for employees to steal, they would surely
steal. You can’t afford to have high shrinkage, otherwise your business will be
shrunk and kicked out of the competitive turf,” said Chekani.

The
shrinkage management conference was attended by both small and large retailers
in Masvingo which include OK Mart, OK Zimbabwe and N Richards Group of stores.

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