Home Blog Page 427

Zifa Eastern region AGM set for May

TellZimNews
-
0
Zifa Eastern region AGM set for May
Davison Muchena 

 …battle
for vacant posts heats up

Clayton
Shereni

MASVINGO- Local football mother body, Zimbabwe
Football Association (Zifa) Eastern Region, will next month hold its Annual
General Meeting (AGM), where two vacant posts are expected to be filled.

Eastern Region chairperson, Davison
Muchena confirmed the development and said they were putting final touches on
the logistics of the AGM.

“We lost two members last year, one
went to Australia and the other passed on so according to the constitution we
have to fill in those posts so we will be holding an AGM. 

“According to the initial plan, the AGM
is slated for May 1 or 2. We are yet to decide on the venue but there are two
options, Masvingo or Mutare,” said Muchena.

The board lost Cryil Mukweva who passed
on last year and Simon Mushangwe who went to Australia.

Mukweva was the board’s vice
chairperson while Mushangwe served as a board member in charge of
Development. 

Sources told TellZim News that Wisdom
Simba the current Secretary General is the favourite to land the vice
chairperson post.

However, other members interested in
the post are reportedly choosing to keep the cards to their chest and spring a
surprise at the AGM.

Mutare City football club (FC)
Secretary General Benjamin Chindima is also being tipped to replace Mushangwe
as board member in charge of development.

Simba had been reassigned to be the
acting vice chairperson and to the development portfolio while Farai Rutsvara
was assigned to the acting Secretary General post and also to be the board
member in charge of finance.

Meanwhile, the Zifa Masvingo province
Division Two board also has two vacant seats namely the board vice chair and
board member in charge of finance post.

The seats became vacant after the
suspension of Tinashe Gomba and Energy Zava last year over allegations of
defrauding four foreign players.

Dates of the AGM to replace these two
is so far not yet confirmed but sources claim something is brewing.

With Premier Soccer League (PSL) action
on the brink of a return in over a year, D1 football is reportedly set for a
month after PSL resumes and D2 following.

Junior director Marima named outstanding business personality

TellZimNews
-
0
Junior director Marima named outstanding business personality

 

Moses Ziyambi

Junior Enterprises director Noah
Marima has been named Outstanding Business Personality of the Year 2020 Silver
(Masvingo Region), helping to cement his image as a young entrepreneur of
repute, TellZim can report.

The recognition came during the
Megafest Business Awards ceremony held at Great Zimbabwe Hotel on Friday, April
24, 2021.

Being head of a dynamic business
enterprise, the latest recognition comes in face of the Covid-19 pandemic which
has put many people out of business.

Through his dynamic enterprises,
Marima employs dozens of people at his driving school, haulage business, security
firm and microfinance enterprise.

Junior High School, which is
under construction in Rhodene close to the road to Harare, is the latest
addition to the growing Junior portfolio.

“I feel honoured that I have been
given this recognition which comes at a very difficult moment when we are all
struggling to survive the Covid-19 pandemic and the pain that comes with it.
Business has not been good especially last year and we had to improvise in many
ways just to stay afloat. This award therefore means a lot to me, my wife and
our team at the company,” said Marima.

He said he will continue to work
hard to make a difference in his community particularly in Masvingo city where
he started his business and nurtured it to become a game changer in many
sectors.

“As a team, we are looking ahead
with optimism especially now that the Vehicle Inspectorate Department (VID) and,
other stakeholder institutions that make the greater part of our business possible,
have opened their doors with the relaxation of the lockdown.

“Going forward, there should no
longer be any excuse because we need to adjust to the new normal and make our
business responsive to the circumstances of the moment. Our focus should now be
on sustainability and growth,” said Marima.

The annual Megafest Business
Awards, which have been running for 14 years, are hosted by Bulawayo-based
Megafest Holdings, with the objective of demonstrating appreciation for people
working diligently to make a difference in their business roles.

 

‘ELLT to create robust electronic integrated transport system’

TellZimNews
-
0
‘ELLT to create robust electronic integrated transport system’
 Felix Mhona at the Centre

 …plans to avail system in vernaculars

Kimberly
Kusauka

The Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development,
Felix Mhona has said the objective of the Electronic Learner License Testing
(ELLT) system is to create a robust electronic integrated transport system at the
Vehicle Inspection Department (VID).

Speaking at VID Masvingo depot on Sunday, April 25, Mhona
said the system will help contribute to the reduction of road accidents and
deaths.

“The main aim of the project is to create a robust
system that will see our economy qualifying to become a middle class economy by
2030, following the President Mnangagwa’s vision.

“Research shows that 90 percent of road accidents are a
result of human error, which is why it is our goal to reduce road accidents by
10 percent annually by providing effective driver training and testing with assistance
of VID which plays a critical role in the promotion of road safety through
vehicle inspection, driver training and testing, re-testing of Public Service
Vehicle drivers and overload control,” said Mhona.

He further mentioned that the project will help to ease
corruption as students now interact with the computer without any human interference.

Mhona said ELLT is currently available in English but plans
to include indigenous languages were underway.

He said there were plans to include a facility that will
enable prospective drivers to book a test from the comfort of their homes.

The VID Masvingo depot is the fifth to be equipped with the
new system but plans are there to roll it out to the rest of the depots
countrywide, Mhona said

Parents give Mushandike High School head 2 weeks ultimatum to leave

TellZimNews
-
0
Parents give Mushandike High School head 2 weeks ultimatum to leave

 Brighton
Chiseva

MASVINGO
– Parents
whose pupils go to Mushandike High School have given the school head Rosewita
Mudarikwa a two weeks ultimatum to leave the school accusing her of gross maladministration.

The School Development Committee (SDC) on behalf of the parents
has since written a letter to the school authorities with a number of complaints
demanding that they remove her from the school before they take the matter into
their own hands.

The SDC and other stakeholders who included the local councilor
had a meeting with the school head on Wednesday April 23, 2021 where they
demanded that she leaves the school.

Ward 7 councilor Bennegina Mudambiramwa confirmed having met
with the SDC saying she managed to convince them that they should engage the
education authorities first.

“We met at the school and the parents were really angry that
they wanted the head to leave the school as a matter of urgency but we managed
to talk and we agreed that they should put their concerns into writing and
present them to the District Schools Inspector (DSI).

“I went to see the DSI at his offices with the petition but
he was not there and I will present the matter and the letter when he gets to
his office,” said Mudambiramwa.

The parents were complaining that the head was working alone
without the SDC in almost everything that was done at school.

Mushandike Hish School SDC secretary John Magodora said that
the head was not acting in the best interest of the parents and the pupils
saying since she came to the school there has been no meaningful developments
and pass rate dropped.

“The head is making the school a one man band, when she is
not around even the deputy head cannot decide on anything, the deputy has to
wait for her. The deputy head cannot even welcome visitors when she is not
there.

“There has been no meaningful development that has ever
happened at the school since she came in 2005,” said Magodora.

CBAP adopts 20 OVCs at Makomba, Mazambara Secondary Schools

TellZimNews
-
0
CBAP adopts 20 OVCs at Makomba, Mazambara Secondary Schools

George
Chimwayange

The Community Based Aid Program (CBAP)
continues to make positive strides in supporting Orphans and Vulnerable
Children (OVCs) in Masvingo district having adopted a total of 20 pupils at
Makomba and Mazambara Secondary Schools in Zimuto.

CBAP recently paid a visit to the
schools where director Samuel Mhungu highlighted that most OVCs were being
neglected by care givers and called on the community to stop all forms of
discrimination.

He called on OVCs caregivers to work
with teachers to help identify areas of improvement in the learning processes.

“Caregivers and guardians of orphans
and the vulnerable children must show love to the children because the
environment they are exposed to at home will determine the output at school,”
said Mhungu.

He said they saw it fit to assist 20
pupils from both Makomba and Mazambara Secondary Schools as a way of ensuring
that vulnerable children have equal access and opportunities to education.

“Education is key and as a community we
have to invest in the education of our children. We know vulnerable children
are at a disadvantage most of the times hence the reason why we have taken this
step of helping the selected individuals.

“We plead with guardians and caregivers
to support these children and not overburden them with household chores,” said
Mhungu.

Parents appreciated the idea of helping
the vulnerable and orphans in the community as they promised to work hand in
glove with the teachers to improve the learning of these marginalized pupils in
schools.

“We appreciate the work of (CBAP) and
we also continue working together with their teachers in molding children’s
behavior towards education and for them to become better pupils in the
community,” said one parent.

Zanu PF Cllrs call for Zesa manager’s head

TellZimNews
-
0
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

TellZimNews
-
0
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’

TellZimNews
-
0
‘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

TellZimNews
-
0
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

TellZimNews
-
0
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.

1...426427428...964Page 427 of 964