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Masvingo residents protest pre-paid water meter reap off

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Masvingo residents protest pre-paid water meter reap off
 Pre-paid water meter

Moses Ziyambi

Some
140 residents who bought infill stands in Mucheke D Extension and were made to
pay US400 each for pre-paid water meter installations are demanding refunds
after Masvingo City Council failed to deliver, TellZim can report.

The
aggrieved residents, who paid the money between 2017 and 2018, have since
written to the local authority demanding that they be refunded because council installed
regular water meters instead of the much more expensive prepaid ones that they
paid for.

After
representatives of the disgruntled residents frequented council offices to get
redress, the local authority communicated that government’s decision to abandon
its maligned belief in the false equivalence in the strength of the US and RTGS
dollars had affected the project.

“Our
provisional offer indicated that you would be connected to a prepaid water
meter which had its cost factored into the cost of the stand. However,
developments on the national monetary and fiscal policies resulted in
significant increases in the cost of servicing the strands which Council felt
could not be passed onto the beneficiaries.

“Furthermore,
our plan to rollout the prepaid water metering scheme throughout the city was
equally affected and was abandoned at tendering stage due to high costs and
other technical considerations.

“Resultantly,
it became uneconomic and unaffordable for council to install prepaid water
meters on new stands without requisite software and hardware support. This led
to a decision to install postpaid meters on all stands including yours,”
council wrote to one of the stands owners in February.

The
despondent residents, however, have demanded that council must prove the cost
at which they purchased the installed postpaid water meters as they suspect
that they were overcharged.

“Firstly,
we would like to get a copy from your office showing the price of the postpaid
meter. As far as we are concerned, your office is not being sincere to the
people of Mucheke D infills. We are so sure that those meter are not worthy
US$50. There is no transparency concerning those meters. It’s really disturbing
for us to get something worthy US$40 or less whilst we paid US$400,” the affected
residents wrote to council.

The
letter was signed by many people including Daniel Bviuure Conrad Murambiwa,
Tavengwa Maswera.

Though
council is yet to respond, the residents have vowed to escalate their fight
until what they consider to be a reap-off is reversed.

Mwenezi man kidnaps, rapes minor

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Mwenezi man kidnaps, rapes minor

Blessed
Mandaza

CHIREDZI– A 27-year-old man from Mwenezi
Estates recently appeared before Chiredzi Regional Magistrate Judith Zuyu
facing rape charges as defined in Section 65 of the Criminal Law (Codification
and Reform) Act Chapter 09:23 after he allegedly kidnapped a ten year old girl
from her home yard before raping her in the nearby bush.

The state represented by Noel Muranda
alleged that on the November 4, 2020, the accused visited the complainant’s
house where he found her sweeping the ashes at their fire point outside the
house. The accused then summoned the girl and she refused to comply.

The accused approached the juvenile and
grabbed her before disappearing into the nearby bush.

According to state papers, the accused
then pushed the complainant down and ordered her to lie down, undressed her and
had sexual intercourse with her.

The state argued that after the
complainant was raped, she was threatened with death if she made any report.

She got home, took a bath and never
alerted her parents of the ordeal.

The mother and aunt noticed some blood
stains and unusual step from their daughter but she refused to disclose that
she had been raped and that she got bruised in between her thighs.

On November 14, 2020, the complainant’s
mother noticed some thick white vaginal discharge on her daughter’s private parts
before the juvenile disclosed that she had been raped leading to a police
report.

The accused is being represented by
Knowledge Mabvuuri of the Chihambakwe Law Chambers and the case was remanded to
the April 14, 2021.

Solomon Mujuru’s death- ZimPF youth leader to release book

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Solomon Mujuru’s death- ZimPF youth leader to release book
Darlington Tawanda Sibanda

 Martha
Leboho

Outspoken Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF)
youth league leader, Darlington Tawanda Sibanda, is set to launch a book which chronicles the journey of
the late Rtd Gen Solomon Mujuru up until his mysterious death in an inferno at
his farm in Harare in 2011.

Titled Conspiracy- Winds of Change, the book will be virtually launched on April 15
in Johannesburg, South Africa. The presser will be live streamed on the book’s Facebook
page @Conspiracy263, and will be available on the book’s website www.conspiracy263.online, on Amazon and other leading online
stores.

Set on a fiction modern city in present
day Zimbabwe, the book is a thrilling journey that follows a son’s quest to
uncover the mysterious death of his father. Set against a political background,
the story unravels a tug of war between two political powerhouses aiming at
claiming the presidential hot seat.

“The book is on the death of the late
Retired General Solomon Mujuru, it’s a work of fiction inspired by a real life
individual who died under a mysterious circumstances.

“Many Zimbabweans and people from
across the world find it hard to come to terms with the manner in which he
passed so I tried to dramatize it in a way which embraces his heroics in the
struggle for independence by depicting his death in a respectable way and just
to say he never died but he multiplied,” said Sibanda.

Like any other writer, Sibanda has
faced challenges of strict censorship in publishing his work especially from the old
dispensation.

“We are not free to write or
purposefully express ourselves. Zimbabwe has very rich and interesting untold
stories that most writers are afraid to tell and also funding and sponsorship
is a big challenge,” said Sibanda.

Sibanda is currently working on a new
project of a mini-series based on this book, and another script titled ‘Conspiracy – Sins Of The father’.

Born and bred in Hwange, the 31-year-old
urged writers to stay relevant and push harder than everyone else. Sibanda is
also a graduate in humanitarian work with University of Zimbabwe School Of
Social Work. He is currently the Acting CEO of Eyethu Investment Holdings a South
African based family run investment holdings company with interests in
impactful industries, including connectivity, media and television
broadcasting, mobile app developments, mobile game developments, other software
system developments and related technologies.

Mushandike community laments absence of bins, dumping site at business centre

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Mushandike community laments absence of bins, dumping site at business centre

 Terrence
Ndowora

Service delivery at Mushandike Business
Centre has deteriorated to unprecedented levels with the locals and business
community calling on the local authority, Masvingo Rural District Council
(RDC), to put in place public bins and establish a dumping site for proper
waste management.

The Environmental Management Agency
(EMA) noted with concern the wanton littering at the Mushandike Business Centre
during a clean-up exercise last week in line with the Presidential National
Clean-up Programme.

The campaign was attended by Masvingo District
Development Coordinator (DDC) Ray Hove, officials from EMA and Zinwa, Mushandike
traditional leadership and members from the local and business community.

The local business community chairperson
Lichana Mushandike said there was need for an establishment of a proper dumping
site to service the business center and the local community.

Mushandike said some residents were
dumping waste all over the business center with some waste finding its way to
the canal causing blockages.

“We appreciate the work done by EMA to
encourage us to make sure that our business center is clean but our major
problem is that we do not have proper dumping site, residents end up dumping
waste everywhere.

“Another pressing matter is that we do
not have public bins at the business centre and this has caused massive
littering. We call on the local authority to provide the public bins so that we
help keep our environment clean,” said Mushandike.

Masvingo RDC had promised to erect
proper vending markets at the business centre but nothing has materialized to
date leading to the sprouting of vendors much to the detriment of the
environment.

Masvingo RDC Ward 7 councilor Bennegina
Mudambiranwa said there was need for proper waste management systems in place
and the council was working on it.

“The council is aware of the service
delivery challenges experienced here at the business centre and efforts are
being made to come up with a solution.

“We want to establish a dumping site
and put public bins then come up with a refuse collection schedule so that
waste is managed properly,” said Mudambiranwa.

On the issue of markets, Mudambiranwa
confirmed the promises they made to build a market place saying that the
council had not neglected its promise and they were looking into it.

“The council is aware of the problem
and is going to fulfill its promise soon to build a market place for Mushandike
Business Center,” said Mudambiranwa.

Provincial environmental manager Gerald
Muusha urged the community to have the spirit of cleanliness and make sure the
business center was clean at all times to attract customers.

GZU Pro-Vice Chancellor in court for stock theft

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GZU Pro-Vice Chancellor in court for stock theft
Professor Munyaradzi Manyanga

Terrence
Ndowora

Great Zimbabwe University
(GZU) acting Pro-Vice Chancellor (PVC) Professor Munyaradzi Manyanga will
tomorrow, April 08, appear in the Masvingo Magistrates’ Court on allegations of
stealing 150 chickens, TellZim News has learnt.

Zimbabwe Republic
Police (ZRP) Masvingo provincial spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa
confirmed Prof Manyanga will appear in court as his docket was now ready.

Prof Manyanga allegedly
stole the chickens from his subordinate Fortune Nguvo, a janitor, who is running an indigenous ‘road-runner’ poultry project
at the university’s Mashava campus.

The matter was reported
to the police in January after the victim discovered some of the stolen birds
from a person who had reportedly bought them from Prof Manyanga.

Rates must fall: Nemanwa business community petitions Masvingo RDC

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Rates must fall: Nemanwa business community petitions Masvingo RDC

 Perpetua Murungweni

The Nemanwa business community has
today (April 7) petitioned the Masvingo Rural District Council (RDC) over
prohibitive tariffs which shot from US$24 to US$100 per term among a host of
other service delivery concerns.

The petition was delivered to the
council engineer one Chenjerai on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Martin Mubviro who was said to be out of the office.

The Nemamwa business community
secretary Rtd police Superintendent Philip Ncube said they peacefully and
successfully served the petition to council and they were now awaiting a
response.

“The Nemanwa Business Forum management
committee successfully and peacefully served a petition to Masvingo RDC following a resolution made at a meeting on April 3, 2021.

“Nemanwa Business Community made resolutions
as outlined on the petition. Amongst the resolutions to the Masvingo RDC, the
business community demanded reduction in all licenses.

“General licences increased from US$24
use to US$100usd and as business owners we cannot afford to pay these fees and
the council must revise their license fees”, said Ncube.

The business community accused Masvingo
RDC of being a corrupt council whereby staff including council security collect
forex from business people and swipe or pay EcoCash pocketing the hard
currency.

“The business community is demanding
that there should be a full investigation of all payments by swipe against licenses
to identify owners of the bank accounts.

“We call on the council to seek dialogue
with shop operators and not to close if they fail to pay for their shop
licenses.

“We are also calling on the local
authority to remove all vendors from undesignated sites and the council must
finish constructing the vending stalls,” said Ncube.

Masvingo RDC CEO Mubviro said he was
yet to receive the petition but would be briefed once he gets back into office.

“If a petition was served then I would
be briefed about it. I am not in the office at the moment.

“Our council is open for dialogue and
if business people want to come to the table then we will be ready to listen,”
said Mubviro.

Human rights defender Sibanda burial set for tomorrow

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Human rights defender Sibanda burial set for tomorrow
 Gilbert Sibanda

Terrence
Ndowora

Zimbabwe Civic
Education Trust (Zimcet) Masvingo provincial representative Gilbert Sibanda,
who died recently at his home in Rujeko C, will be buried tomorrow, April 08,
at his rural home in Macala Village under Chief Mazetese in Mwenezi district.

A human rights defender
who was involved in many advocacy issues in the province, Sibanda was diabetic
and had been on treatment for a long time.

His first born, Gallat
Sibanda told TellZim that the family was devastated by his sudden death which
they never saw coming.

“He started showing
symptoms of illness on 16 March but we did not know it would end this way. He
was always full of life and he loved his work representing the needs of people
in various spaces,” said Gallat.

He said his father had
worked with civic groups promoting human rights for over 20 years, a period in
which he gained respectability as a selfless representative.

Sibanda, who is
survived by his wife Nyaradzo Madzoro and six children, died in the early hours
of April 08 after suffering a shortness of breath.

He was also a poet who
worked with such fellow rights activists as Shilla Chisirimunhu of the
Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz).

“Go well my brother, we shall continue your great works in
civic education, community transformation and engagement! Rest our poet, rest
in peace,” Zimcet leader Collen Chibango wrote on Facebook.

Chilonga people seek to reverse law on land ownership

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Chilonga people seek to reverse law on land ownership

 Blessed Chauke

Shangani
people from Chilonga, through their lawyer Tendai Biti, have filed an urgent
chamber application with the High Court seeking to reverse the 120 year old law
on land ownership.

MDC
Alliance vice president Biti announced the move on his twitter handle @Biti Law
Chambers a few weeks ago saying they had filed an application on behalf of the
Hlengwe Shangani  people seeking to  reverse a colonial legal order that says
communal land is state owned and individuals cannot claim entitlement to it.

“We
are proud to report that on the behalf of the Hlengwe Shangani people of
Zimbabwe Lowveld, we have filed a land mark application seeking to reverse 120
years of a colonial legal order which states that an African cannot own land in
communal lands,” reads the tweet.

Alex
Magaisa, a prominent lawyer and political analyst also commented on the issue
through his twitter handle saying the Communal Land Act was in violation of the
constitution in several ways.

“The
Big Saturday Read (BSR) argued that the Communal Land Act violates the
constitutions in several ways and should be repealed or challenged. Pleased to
see leading human rights litigation firm @ Biti Law Chambers challenging this
law which is fundamentally based on colonial constructs,” reads the tweet.

Communal
Land Act says land shall be vested in the President, who shall permit it to be
occupied and used in accordance with the Act.

One
of the applicants, Livison Chikutu, from Chilonga told TellZim News that the
government has been dodging them for a long time since it failed to address the
Chilonga evictions.

Chikutu
said it was very difficult for them to fathom the idea of having to be forced
to vacate their ancestral lands saying they had been evicted from other areas
and cannot remain nomads.

“We
have filed the land mark application challenging the government because we
realised that the government is being unfair to us since no one from the
government is showing interest to address the Chilonga evictions.

“The
problem is that the government is not following our history because we have
been shifted from different areas such as Gonarezhou, Triangle, Hippo Valley
and Malilangwe and finally settled here a long time ago.

“Our
fathers were not compensated when they were moved to this place just like what
they want to do with us,’’ said Chikutu.

However,
in a WhatsApp group that consist of people from Chilonga, people were
expressing mixed feelings over the whole issue with some voicing their anger
against the lucerne project which is posing an eviction threat to them while
others were saying the project was beneficial.

One
participant said if the project was meant to benefit them, they would have been
consulted and not a selected few to make decisions for them.

“From
what we know, if projects are coming in the community, people in that community
are consulted and agree but now we are being forced to agree to what they want.

“If
they are listening leaders who care about the people from Chilonga, why did
they ignore the petition that was filed by the community? They just went on
with the project knowing very well that the people from Chilonga were against
it,” said the participant.

Others
said that the problem was that the selected representatives were sell-outs.

Chilonga
people are being represented by Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs
and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira, Chiredzi South legislator Kalisto Gwanetsa and
Zanu PF Masvingo provincial political commissar Jevas Masosota.

“In
all the meetings that are being held about this project, we are represented by
the very people who like the project to continue and none of the critics is
allowed into the meetings. Those who represent us, the likes of Chadzamira,
Masiya, Gwanetsa and Masosota are all in support of land invasion and community
eviction.

“Why
not forcing us to do sugar cane projects? At least that’s better for us as we
have failed to get an earnest share of the sugar cane farms as Tsonga people
for they are within our territory,” said another participant.

A
few weeks ago, Chadzamira held a meeting in Chiredzi to address the issue but
chiefs and only selected individuals attended the meeting and the rest were
turned away.

Yesterday,
a high powered government delegation led by local government minster July Moyo
and minister of agriculture Dr Anxious Masuku had a meeting with the Chilonga
local leadership to try and get community buy in.

Moyo
promised that no one would be evicted from their lands but a few individuals
whose homes fall in the way of the irrigation scheme would be moved with the
families getting compensation.

Masvingo’s World Boxing Champion bullish ahead of debut Dubai fight

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Masvingo’s World Boxing Champion bullish ahead of debut Dubai fight

…first
match out of Africa a game changer welterweight champion

Clayton Shereni

Masvingo
based World Boxing Organization (WBO) Africa Welterweight champion, Brendon
Denes has expressed optimism ahead of his fight in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) which is slated for this Saturday, April 10, 2021.

The
26-year-old fighter will face Ahmed Samir Darwan of Afghanistan at the Arabian
Ranches Golf Club in Dubai.

Boika,
as Denes is affectionately known in the boxing fraternity,
will leave the country today (April 07) in the company of his coach Ali ‘Otto’
Phiri.

Speaking
to TellZim News before his departure, Denes said the opportunity was a rare one
and that he would do his best to win.

“This
is one of my best opportunities and I am ready for the fight. I am emotionally
and physically fit. I am going to take the guy heads on. I am promising good
results because this is a fight of a bigger magnitude,” said Denes.

Boika
said his camp had done all the homework and intensive preparations and that he
was looking forward to raise the country’s flag high.

“It
is actually an honour for me to go out there and represent my country because I
am proudly Zimbabwean. I want to make my fans and every Zimbabwean happy. We
have been in camp and I am going out there in full force because I and my coach
have done all the necessary preparations,” said Denes.

The
Charles Manyuchi Boxing Academy product will feature in a boxing extravaganza
dubbed ‘War on the Shore 4’ which will see six boxers from different countries
exchange blows in three matches.

The
fight which was secured by the Gilbert Munetsi-led Box Africa will be Boika’s
first fight in the UAE and outside Africa as he continues to rise in the boxing
fraternity.

Boika
who was supposed to face off Hassan Mwakinyo of Tanzania in March but the bout
got affected by the death of President John Magufuli. The fight was then
postponed to May since Tanzania is observing Ramadan for the whole of
April. 

If
he wins in Dubai the World Boxing Federation (WBF) Intercontinental Champion will
get a chance to participate at a boxing galore in America which is slated for
July this year. 

Only 138 Masvingo businesses licensed with council

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Only 138 Masvingo businesses licensed with council

Clayton Shereni

City of
Masvingo councillors have fumed at management for failing to enforce the
payment of shop licences by businesses with the city only managing to issue
licences to 138 business since the beginning of the year.

This
came out during a full council meeting held at the Town House on March 29,
2021, where councillors fumed over ‘lack of seriousness’ on the part of the
local authority.

Speaking
during the meeting, Ward 8 councillor, Against Chiteme accused the management
of not enforcing the licensing of business and shop operators for the past
three months.

“You
are not working, I can show you around town there are so many people operating
without licenses and we are now in March. Where do you expect to get revenue
from if you do not enforce a simple process like shop licence?

“There
are a lot of businesses in town that have been operating for the past two years
without licences and we ask how that is possible. What are you doing about
that?

“Since
January you have only managed to licence 138 businesses and you say you are
working hard. I know of a certain complex where more than 10 people use one
license,” said Chiteme.

Chiteme
named the Tsungai complex as one of the premises where there is no compliance
to the law as shop operators are reportedly dodging paying for their 2021
licenses.

Ward 10
councillor Sengerayi Manyanga accused some council bosses, who run businesses
in town, of using their power to avoid paying shop licenses and threatening
council police whenever they approach their premises seeking proof of license.

“We
hear that some council officials are abusing powers. We all own businesses and
we hear reports that some council police officers are turned away when they ask
for licenses. We need the chief of police to report directly to the Acting Town
Clerk and avoid some unnecessary protocols which may even fuel corruption,”
said Manyanga.

In an
interview with TellZim News after the meeting, Deputy Mayor and Ward 6 councillor
Wellington Mahwende called upon the business community to comply with the law
and said that officials should not abuse their social status.

“We
encourage our people to do legal operations so they must come and pay for their
licenses. There are various ways of making them pay including deploying our
security but it’s good to just encourage them to come forward and get licensed.

“Everyone
should pay their licenses regardless of their social status or position in the
society. All businesses should operate and abide by the by-laws of the city,”
said Mahwende.

The
local authority was affected by the Covid-19 induced lockdown and licensing of
shops could have been stalled by the closure of non-essential service providers
who constitute the larger percentage of shop owners in the city.

Corner
shops measuring between 1 to 25 square meters pay between $8 000 and $10 000
per year while those measuring 25 square meters to 100 square meters pay
between $17 000 and $22 000 per year. 

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