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Chadzamira lobbies Govt for more dams, irrigation schemes

Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Ezra Chadzamira in long sleeve shirt

Blessed Chauke

The Minister of
State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Ezra Chadzamira has
applauded government for the many agricultural projects planned for the
province, saying the province was ready to make a bigger contribution to the
success of the National Development Strategy through farming.

Speaking at the
Chombwe Water Scheme in Chivi North on April 10, Chadzamira said the province
needed to be supported with more water projects and irrigation schemes.

“We are pleased
that government will soon fund construction of the Muzhwi-Mushandike Canal to
harvest water from Muzhwi for farmers in Mashava, Chivi and Mushandike. There
will be other irrigation schemes in such districts as Bikita which will harness
water from Mutirikwi,” said Chadzamira.

He also said
government had agreed to fund construction of another dam at the confluence of
Runde and Tende Rivers in the district, a project he said would enable Zimbabwe
to export water to South Africa.

He thanked
President Emmerson Mnangagwa for initiating the pfumvudza programme which he
said had enabled perennially dry districts as Chivi to increase their crop
yields this year.

He said
government had many irrigation projects in the pipeline, all of which are aimed
at making Masvingo a green belt of agriculture.

Speaking at the
same event, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mthuli Ncube said
Masvingo was potentially a very rich province whose natural resources needed to
be developed.

“Masvingo
province has a lot of wealth; your roads, your tourism facilities, the
agricultural land. You can see the whole of Zimbabwe from Masvingo alone. You
have a lot of water bodies but we need to build more irrigation schemes so that
the water can be put to work.

“So you are a
very rich province but we want to make sure that we support you as central
government so that you make your rightful contribution onto the size of the
national cake; the national GDP,” said Ncube.

Chivi Rural District
Council (RDC) chairperson Godfrey Mukungunugwa said people in the district had
benefitted a lot from the pfumvudza programme.

“People in this
area have for long been harvesting poor yields but with
pfumvudza, they now expect a bumper harvest this year. Even if they receive low
rainfall, it will no longer be much of a problem since they can now be
supported by the Chombwe Irrigation Scheme,” said Mukungunugwa.

Mutare owed $400 million by residents

 




‘debt a setback for optimum service delivery’

Perpetua
Murungweni

City of Mutare has
attributed the deterioration of service delivery to unpaid debts which have
ballooned to $400 million.

TellZim organized a
feedback and engagement meeting between city officials and residents yesterday,
April 09, and it was heard that residents owed council enormous amounts of
money.

Speaking at the event,
Mutare Mayor Blessing Tandi said the situation was a setback which militated
against efforts to provide optimum services to all residents.

He said the local
authority failed to provide adequate services because residents were failing to
pay their bills in full and in time.

“The council is failing
to provide adequate services because the residents are failing to pay their
bills and they owe us up to $400 million. Residents should assist council to do
its job by paying their bills in order to get better services,” said Tandi.

He said the debt was
the reason why the city did not have a grader and other road-making equipment,
and was also the reason why the city could not maintain sweet lights and could
not pump water to Dangamvura.

The mayor also revealed
that the recent rate hike was necessitated by the need to improve revenue, and
not to make profit as local authorities are nonprofit-making organizations that
survive on what residents pay to it for services.

“The hike in rates is
because the council is trying to raise money to improve service delivery and
not to make a profit from the residents. Council survives solely on money paid
by the residents,” said Tandi.

He said council could
barely afford to maintain infrastructure such as roads, sewerage, and water
pipes that often burst across the city.

“As council, we are
failing to maintain the roads, sewerage and the some pipes that burst. As
things stand, we also do not have adequate capacity to provide all the water
that is needed in such residential areas as Dangamvura,” said Tandi.

Some residents,
however, said council should not continue making life harder for residents, but
should rather find ways to force Zinara to fund the maintenance of some council
roads as it was making enormous amounts of money at the tollgates and in vehicle
licensing fees.

Gutu in 10 day Covid-19 vaccination campaign

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Clayton
Shereni

Health authorities in Gutu have
intensified the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the district where frontline
workers are being urged to take the Chinese Sinopharm jab amidst resistance and
a low uptake across the country.

The programme which started on March 29,
in an effort to improve the uptake of the vaccine, has seen over 200 people get
their first jabs on the second phase of the vaccination programme.

Gutu District Medical Officer (DMO),
Doctor Brian Takayidza, told TellZim News that the campaign was on course and teams
were being dispatched to different schools and vaccination centers.

“For the second round so far we have
managed to vaccinate 263 people, but for the first round I don’t have the exact
figure. What I am sure of is that we achieved 89 percent of the targeted
frontline workers.

“We have two teams which are moving
around clinics and in schools helping out with the vaccination process on a
daily basis,” said Dr Takayidza.

Dr Takayidza bemoaned the low uptake of
the vaccination saying the campaign was likely to be extended so as to reach
other remote areas.

“Our campaign hasn’t been that much of
a success because we were affected by the Easter holiday. However, we stand
guided by the provincial authorities on whether we extend the 10 day campaign
or not but it is most likely that it is going to be extended.

“We are also working with Community
Based Health Workers (CBHW) and they have been capacitated so they will be
helping on mobilization,” said Takayidza.

Masvingo province received a total of
22 000 doses of the first batch of Sinopharm vaccine which was distributed
among the seven districts for the vaccination of frontline workers.

So far, at least 3 600 frontline
workers have been vaccinated out of 6 000 leaving a deficit of over 2 000 of
the targeted 6 000 in the province.

Buhera councillor raises flag after 13-year-old drowns in Dewure River

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 Believe Mpofu

Buhera
South Ward 33 councillor Success Nkomo has called on
parents to closely monitor their children to avoid tragedies like the death of
a 13-year-old boy who drowned while swimming in Dewure River on Tuesday, April
6.

Jefter
Mufundirwa from Gwangwa Village in Birchenough drowned while swimming alone at
around 1600 hours.

Councillor
Nkomo said parents were to blame for neglecting their children which has
resulted in the loss of life.

“I
am pleading with parents to look after their children. We lost a lot of
children in these rivers and we have to put a stop to it.

“We
cannot cry the loudest at funerals and blame God on things which we should do
as parents. Children should be monitored at all times,” said Nkomo.

Several
drowning cases have been reported in Manicaland and the police have been on
record calling on citizens to be alert of possible dangers at all times.

The
body of Mufundirwa is yet to be recovered and the Sub Aqua time has since been
called to do the search.

Covid-19 exposes inequalities between countries: WHO

 Theresa Takafuma

The
Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on inequalities between countries as
African states have been pushed to the back of the queue in accessing test
kits, personal protective equipment (PPEs) and now vaccines, World Health
Organization (WHO) has said.

In a
statement commemorating World Health Day on April 7, WHO Regional Director for
Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti said only 2 percent of the 548 million Covid-19
vaccines administered worldwide have been in Africa which however accounts for
nearly a fifth of the global population.

“Only
11 million or 2 percent (vaccines) have been in Africa, whereas the continent
accounts for around 17 percent of the global population.

“There
are also inequities within countries; discrimination based on gender, place of
residence, income, educational level, age, ethnicity and disability intersect
to disadvantage vulnerable populations,” said Dr Moeti.

She
said the prominent challenge in addressing the inequalities stem from the
unavailability of data regarding citizens, therefore creating a gap between
nations and communities in Covid-19 response.

“A key
challenge in addressing inequities is that there is limited data showing who is
being missed and why, and to address this, national health information systems
need to capture age, sex and equity stratified data, information that can then
be used to inform decision and policy making,” said Dr Moeti.

She
said WHO was working with countries to strengthen capacities to collect, manage
and use data, and to enhance monitoring and action to address inequities.

She
urged WHO member states, partners, civil society, communities and other
stakeholders to intensify work with the organization to achieve universal
health coverage and to invest in addressing the social and economic
determinants of health, to tackle inequities and build a fairer, healthier
world.

Embrace entrepreneurship, Midlands youths urged

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 Ian Kadziya

GWERU-
Women of Africa (WoA) has urged youths in the Midlands province to venture into
entrepreneurship and start business in order to make a living and curb
unemployment.

Speaking
to youths during a Youth Empowerment workshop in Gweru recently, WoA intern
programs officer, McAurthur Mkwapatira, said it was important for youth to
engage in idea sharing as efforts to curb poverty.

“About
90 percent of youths in Zimbabwe are not employed if we exclude side hustles.
So looking at this figure, there is need to be innovative for us to do away with
poverty, create jobs and sustain ourselves as young people.

“We
want youth’s businesses to grow all over Midlands province and our next port of
call is to expand our wings to other provinces,” said Mkwapatira.

Ministry
of Small to Medium Enterprise provincial officer, Tsitsidzashe Shumba, said it
was important for youth to join businesses but it was important to equip them
with proper planning and management skills.

“We
decided to assist the youths on how to become entrepreneurs, how to manage businesses
and to be goal oriented.

“The
idea behind this training is to curb high unemployment rates as a way of
creating job opportunities for every youth in Zimbabwe. To everyone who have
big or small business idea, don’t be shy to come to the ministry as our doors
are open for help.

“Never
compromise on goods or quality service when operating a business, also use your
time wisely because time is never enough,” said Shumba.    

Gweru visually impaired youth donates clothes, foodstuffs to children’s home

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Jim Arshar, (in grey t shirt) , J .H Properties Sales and marketing  Precious Muzadzi ( In black) pose for a photo with Midlands Children of Hope Centre ,Children

Tinaani
Nyabereka

It was a dream come true for Jim Arshar, a Gweru based youth,
who demonstrated that disability was not inability as he went on and donated three
bags of clothes to Midlands Children Hope Center in Gweru a fortnight ago.

The donation which was done in a collaborated effort with
Just Homes (J.H) Properties, a local property developer, also comprised of
foodstuffs.

Arshar, who became visually impaired in 2017 after suffering
from an (undisclosed) eye ailment, said disability was not inability and
disabled persons have to fight to get their place in the society.

He said the society still stigmatizes and discriminates
against persons with disability and remains difficult for them to break even.

“This is my first initial donation and am very happy because
it has been my dream to reach out to vulnerable children.

“It was always my desire to make my community a better place
for vulnerable members of our society.

“I would like express my sincere gratitude to our partners
Just Homes Properties, my family and friends who have made this donation a
success,” said Arshar.

Just Homes (J.H) Properties sales and marketing officer Precious
Muzadzi said they were humbled by Arshar’s commitment to help other vulnerable
members of the society.

“Arshar has shown that being disabled is not inability. He
has moved from being dependent on others and taken it upon himself to be better
and improve himself.

“He has taken it upon himself to help others despite his
condition. We have decided to join him in his quest because his idea was very
noble,” said Muzadzi.

The children’s home currently houses 18 inmates.

Zinwa, Mushandike farmers repair broken canal

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File picture

Veeslee Mhepo

Zimbabwe National Water Authority
(Zinwa) and Mushandike farmers have joined hands to repair the canal at
Mushandike Irrigation Scheme which has been broken for three years.

Zinwa communications officer Marjorie
Munyonga said they were on their feet fixing the broken canal with the help of farmers
and dismissed allegations that they were forcing famers to work on the canal.

She said they were fixing the canal in
order to meet the farmers’ target for winter wheat planting on April 25.

“We are working together with the
farmers to meet the wheat planting target and we are almost halfway and we hope
to complete it in time as we promised since the resources are there,” said
Munyonga.

Mushandike Irrigation Scheme
chairperson Enere Butsumani said famers were happy with the work Zinwa was
doing and expressed optimism that work would be completed in time for planting.

He said farmers pledged to work together
with Zinwa to speed up the process so that they meet winter wheat planting
deadline.

“We are happy that the repairs on the
canal have started and we are helping Zinwa with labour because we want the
irrigation scheme to be up and running.

“A lot of livelihoods depend on the
success of this irrigation scheme so as farmers we agreed that we would provide
the resources at our disposal to make it work. Winter wheat planting season is
upon us and we are working against the clock,” said Butsumani.

The canal draws water from Mushandike
Dam.

Chicken theft: Trial of GZU Pro Vice Chancellor in false start

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Professor Munyaradzi Manyanga 

TellZim Reporter

The
case of Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) acting Pro-Vice Chancellor (PVC)
Professor Munyaradzi Manyanga has failed to take off in court after the police,
who earlier on indicated that the docket was ready, made a sudden volte face
saying investigations were still on going.

Masvingo
provincial police spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa told TellZim News yesterday
that the docket was ready and Professor Manyanga was due to be in court today.

Professor
Manyanga stands accused of stealing 150 chickens from his subordinate Fortune
Nguvo, a janitor, who is running an indigenous ‘road-runner’ poultry project at
the university’s Mashava campus.  

By
the time of printing, the court had no knowledge of the case with Inspector
Dhewa saying they were still doing investigations on the case which was
reported in January this year.

What
has caused the case to drag this long has remained a mystery.

 

Command vaccination only way to go

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It is
the era of mass defections and sometimes I wonder whether these are
choreographed or not. All of a sudden people are dumping Chamisa enmasse kkkk.
Operation munhu wese kuZanu PF has kicked in and to what end, I do not know. Mapombi
is here again and I hope I find you well tichingoti mufaro kwamuri. I know
things are not going very well for the majority of us and we are still hoping
that the future will be bright though tatova hedu kuma50 ikoko. Imagine at 50 I
am still hoping that the future will be bright. This is what Zanu PF has done
to us and it takes man like vana Makomborero Haruzivishe to take a stand
against tyranny and say enough is enough. But my message to the guys like
Makomborero, please we are not worthy your sacrifice. We are cowards and you
will be taken to the guillotine alone while we just do social media campaigns
and it ends there. Zimbabwe is not yet ready for change so if you stand alone
trust me you will be victimized, killed or send to jail, alone. Kuno kuMasvingo
at least pane vakanyorawo havo pamadziro epaChicken Slice hanzi Free Mako so we
are with you chikomana kkkkk. See you after a year.

Now,
can someone tell me why people are dumping Chamisa like that? Is this one of
Zanu PF’s campaign strategies towards their 5 million votes in 2023? Ehe, Zanu
PF is a visionary revolutionary party. They have a lot of visions these guys.
Vision 2023 yavo is saying 5 million votes. KuMDC kwedu naChamisa kuya hatina kana
plan for 2023 zvedu, ko ungatidii. We are just waiting to cry rigging foul kana
tabhurwa kkkk. We will challenge the election results at the courts we know are
captured and we lose the case and we still keep telling our people that we were
rigged and we will give you a signal to fight for our stolen vote. The signal
never comes until we reach the next election. That is how we maintain relevance
in the eyes of the electorate naNelson wedu. Tiri wero naNero kkkkk. Politics
is a game of calculated mass deception and a lot of Zimbabweans have fallen
prey to this game. You cash in on the vulnerabilities of the electorate. That
is how you stay in the game. Chamisa has become a master manipulator hence the
reason why people cheer him on whenever he opens his mouth.

There
are a lot of questions being asked around and Mapombi is here to answer them. I
hear people asking where those people said to be defecting to Zanu PF are
coming from. Dear readers, let me school you a little bit about our politics. I
need you to understand that everyone is a Zanu PF supporter. The only
difference is that some are disgruntled Zanu PF supporters and they have found
themselves in the opposition but no matter where you go, remember the road that
will take you home. We have a lot of Zimbabweans who are in the diaspora in
search for greener pastures but that does not make them foreign to their
country. Eventually they will all come back home. We don’t close our borders to
our people in the diaspora. Zanu PF is the home and MDC and other opposition
parties are the diaspora. So we must understand that this exodus of people
going back to Zanu PF is nothing new at all. People are just going back home
but I need everyone to understand that these are not defections at all.
Chamisa’s party has supporters and not members. Supporters do not defect, they
just go. How can you say a nobody is Zaka kwaManyiri uko asina kana position
kuMDC and probably never voted in their lives has defected to Zanu PF? You then
parade hundreds of such people and say they have defected to Zanu PF kkkk njere
shoma zvadzinoita. No one from Chamisa is defecting to Zanu PF are we clear? I hope
pajeka mongoudzana udzana ikoko. Tiri kudzifambira nyaya dzacho.

Mukati
muchinda uya anonzi Charlton Hwende dzakakwana here. Now is see why MDC
sometimes ichitadza kuita zvine musoro. How can Hwende say they would boycott
by-elections if they are not allowed to use the MDC Alliance name? The MDC
Alliance name is already gone when are you going to get that into your thick
skull iwe Hwende mbwende. Why are you crying over spilt water? Yadeuka yadeuka
baba move on kkkk. Do you honestly think that Zanu PF gives a damn if you
boycott elections? This is why Mwonzora is there. Mwonzora will participate in
the by-elections using the MDC Alliance name whether you like it or not. So
boycotting elections is the worst case of buffoonery and lunacy at the highest
order. Wake up iwe Hwende and smell what you are shoving. Mapombi is very
disappointed with you. You should be fired just like Matemadanda. You don’t
give up, this is war. There are a lot of opposition parties in Zimbabwe in case
you didn’t know. Who said elections would not be held because Chamisa aramba.
The coming in of Mwonzora is a game changer in our politics and we don’t need
useless people like Hwende to make such reckless comments. If that’s Chamisa’s
position then he must be foolish and must get his dose of the Chinese vaccine
maybe it would give him clarity on this issue.

By the
way, Mapombi received his Covid-19 jab and I want to thank my connections in
Zanu PF for abusing their powers and make me get a dose pamafrontline workers
ipapo kkkkk. Kana usina wekuziva haulumi. To be honest I think vaccination is a
matter of national security for every country and there should be no room for
negotiations or voluntarism. People don’t trust Zanu PF or anything associated
with it that is why voluntary vaccination will never work. It will all come
down to politics. If Mapombi got vaccinated and is still alive why not you.
Ngenyi uchiramba ngenyi. Command vaccination is the only way to go otherwise we
will have stock piles of vaccines which nobody wants. Zanu PF inogona
zvekumanikidza vanhu izvi so why not do it now. At least this time it would be for
a noble cause. If you force people you just have to make sure that there are
options. We have to vaccinate everyone if we are to beat Covid-19 and through
command vaccination programme we will get there. Izvi zvana head immunity
ndezvekupenga. Munhu wese ngaabaiwe zvipere. Kusiri kufa ndekupi. I heard the
deputy minister of Finance saying Zimbabwe has enough money for Covid-19
vaccines so please make sure you buy enough for everyone. Make sure you buy
different vaccines so that people would have a choice on which jab to take. Dear
Zimbabweans, please let us put politics aside and focus on the enemy at hand.

Covid-19
is real and we have to find one another in this fight. Brother Nelson and
Emmerson please let us reach out to one another and encourage our people to get
vaccinated. We will fight each other again but the priority at the moment is to
save our people. A lot of people do not want to get vaccinated because their
choices are not rationally informed but are politically
motivated. Zanu PF members are eager to get vaccinated because they saw their
leader getting vaccinated. Brother Nelson the ball is now in your court and I
plead with you to do the right thing. Ngenyi uchiramba kubaiwa iwe Nelson
ngenyi. Please tell your people that there is no harm in getting vaccinated.
After all, these are the voters of tomorrow so we have to keep them alive and
safe. I have said enough regai zvangu ndinokanga maputi angu for lunch. Mboko
imboko.