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Chipinge Town secretary up for criminal abuse of office

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Susan Dube

 

Livingstone Mtetwa

CHIPINGE- Town Secretary Susan Dube has
found herself in trouble with the law after she was recently arraigned before
the Magistrates Court facing two counts of criminal abuse office.

Chipinge regional magistrate Poterai Gwezhira granted Dube
$40 000 bail for both charges and ordered her not to interfere with witnesses,
report to Chipinge CID offices twice a week and not to report for work.

Dube is said to have used her position to violate the local
authority’s staff quota benefit scheme in which permanent employees of the
council are exempted from paying 60 percent of the total cost of residential
stands.

An audit report is said to have uncovered that Dube used her
position sometime last year to approve an application for exemption, under the
staff quota scheme, on a residential stand to one Jason Mhlanga who was not
permanently employed by the council.

Mhlanga is said to have been working for the local authority
as a graduate trainee hence should not have benefitted from the scheme. Mhlanga
acquired a stand number 4767 Kelvin Street measuring 1 000 square meters.

On the second charge, Dube stands accused of taking 74×32mm
and 26×25mm PVC pipes which were found at her Kenilworth farm.

The state led by Timothy Katsande alleges that on December
23, 2020, Dube applied for domestic water connection at her farm.

The application was approved on January 25, 2020, with
conditions that she buys her own water connection materials and pays labor costs.

After the approval, Dube took pipes valued at US$639 from
town council central stores offices which were then laid from Chipinge Prison
farm to her farm covering a distance of about 850 meters.

Some of the pipes were recovered at Dube’s farm which led to
her arrest.

Masvingo appoints Mbetu acting city engineer

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Kudzaishe Mbetu


 

Clayton Shereni

The City of Masvingo has today (February 10) appointed operations engineer Kudzaishe Mbetu as acting city engineer with immediate effect, TellZim News has learnt.

Mbetu replaces city engineer Tawanda Gozo who was last week slapped with a six months suspension without pay over acts of gross incompetence.

Mayor Collen Maboke confirmed Mbetu’s appointment saying he will hold the fort for six months, a period during which the council is expected to finalise Gozo’s case.

“I can confirm that we have appointed engineer Mbetu as the acting city engineer with effect from today and he will act until we complete disciplinary proceedings against our director of engineering Tawanda Gozo,” said Maboke.

Maboke said that they were optimistic of better service delivery under Mbetu and that he would rise to the occasion.

“Our hope is that he (Mbetu) will work flat out to improve access to water, road network, and refuse collection during his reign as the acting city engineer,” said Maboke.

Mbetu, who joined the City of Masvingo last year from the City of Gweru where he was the water engineer, faces the daunting task of restoring the adequate water supply and improving the city’s road infrastructure among other engineering services.

 

Fulbright TEA application season opens

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TellZim Reporter

The Fulbright Teaching
Excellence & Achievement (TEA) program has opened for the 2021 season, with
people interested being advised to apply and submit their applications before
the March 01 deadline.

 In a statement, US Embassy
Zimbabwe exchange programs specialist Gladys Tutisani said a competitive upper
level university or graduate level academic program for practicing
teachers and
selection will be based on meticulously prepared applications, TOEFL scores and
interview performance.
 

The 2021-2022 Fulbright TEA
Program will take approximately 168 international secondary-level teachers of
English, English as a Foreign Language, math, science, and social studies,
including special education teachers in those subjects, to the United States
for a six-week program in January 2022 or September 2022.

The students will take part in academic
seminars for professional development at a host university and will observe and
share their expertise with teachers and students at the host university and at
local secondary schools.

The program will consist of
general academic seminars focusing on new teaching methodologies,
student-centered learning, content-based instruction, lesson planning, and
instructional technology training for teachers.

It will also include a
practicum of at least 40 hours with a U.S. partner teacher in a secondary
school near the host university to actively engage participants in the U.S.
classroom environment.

“Cultural enrichment,
mentoring, and support will be provided to participants throughout the
program.  The program will designate one cohort to examine gender in education
themes in depth. Applicants interested in this topic will be given the
opportunity to self-designate in the application materials,” the statement
reads.

“The gender in education cohort
will likely take place in spring 2022. Please note that not everyone who
requests to participate in this cohort will be selected, as the number of slots
is limited; however, some gender and girls education sessions and materials will
be included in every cohort,” it further reads.

After returning home, teachers
who successfully complete the program will be eligible to compete for small
grant awards for essential teaching materials, follow-on training for other
teachers, collaborative projects between participating American schools and
their home schools, and other activities that build on the exchange
experiences.

 

Shortlisted candidates will be assisted
with TOEFL registration and test vouchers, with applicants required to be
resident in Zimbabwe at the time of application and of program participation.

 Eligibility requirements:

•            
Applicants should be secondary level teachers of English, math, science, and
social studies, and special education teachers in those subject areas.

•            
Full-time secondary school teachers;

•            
Have five or more years of classroom experience in TEA teaching disciplines:
English, Mathematics, Social Studies or Science;

•            
Demonstrate a commitment to continue teaching after completion of the program
and a clear passion for the program;

•            
Are actively involved in leading a co-curricular activity (club, sport, etc.)
at your school;

•            
Have earned a Bachelor’s degree; and

•            
Are between 25-45 years of age.

 

“Eligible candidates can apply
online at https://fulbright.irex.org/. The deadline for
submission of online applications is March 01, 2021. Applicants who choose not
use the online application form can complete the attached TEA Paper Application
Writable PDF form. The completed form should be emailed to HararePAS@state.ov  together
with the completed Institution Support & Recommendation Form, also attached,”
reads the statement.

 

 

Another army general succumbs to CovED-19

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Mapombi
is here again. I hope I find you well and free from CovED-19 yadai kunetsa. I
hear a lot of people whispering into Mapombi’s ears hanzi heee CovED-19 has
gone silent these days it’s no longer killing kumusoro uko kkkkk. Please dear
readers let us not wish death on our fellow Comrades. I know they have wronged
us in many ways but to wish them death I think it is preposterous. The only way
we can deal with ED and his team is to vote them out of power in 2023. But
again we have a big problem on the alternative. 

I want you to ask yourselves a
very serious question and be honest with yourselves, Do we have an alternative
in Zim politics? I mean look at Chamisa, Mwonzora, Mteki, Dzinemunhenzva and 23
other opposition parties. We have a ruling party which is being challenged by
over 20 opposition parties. I do not know about you dear readers but I think we
should let Zanu PF reign until we have a better alternative. We had hopes on
Chamisa but now he no longer has a party.

His
hardline supporters believe that MDC Alliance is for Chamisa but the truth is
that Mwonzora mukoma Dhagirasi waenda nechitanda. Mwonzora is in charge ladies
and gentlemen make no mistake about it. It does not matter whether you think he
is a Zanu PF puppet or not. Mwonzora has outwitted Chamisa and the young man
still has a hangover and is still trying to come to terms with his new reality.
I know some Nerorists will say Mapombi is crazy but that is the reality you are
facing machinja. 

Muri machinja api chaiwo and aani. Look at Bhasikiti. Yes, I
mean Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, the man of no fixed political abode. He left Chamisa
saying the party he claims to lead now belongs to Mwonzora. Form another party
before it is late my brother Nerison Chamisa. MDC Alliance is gone and by
continuing to cling onto the name, you are doing a major disservice to you and
your supporters.

What’s in
the name MDC anyway that you fight teeth and nail to defend when it is apparent
that you have lost it. And another thing, please stop saying a person who
differs with your opinion is a Zanu PF agent. Sometimes you think you are doing
a service to yourself when in actual fact you are actually giving Zanu PF
unnecessary credence. Zanu PF is only as powerful as you imagine it to be. 

Vana
Biti, Sikhala and Ncube should tell us how much of Zanu PF’s money they spend
when they differed with Morgan Tsvangison. When these fellas broke ranks and
formed their own parties, they were labelled Zanu PF and now that they are back
everyone chooses to bury their heads and ignore those allegations. Please spare
us the crap ok. This is not Mapombi’s story for today but ndangoti rega
ndidarike nepo. I hope tanzwana machinja kkkkk. I can tell pane ragumbuka now.
Munosvasvangwa nenhamo rambai muchidaro.

I heard
our Town Clerk engineer Mukaratirwa finally grew some footballs and had to
write a suspension letter to his former boss Masvingo city engineer Tawanda
Gozo. Yes, Mukaratirwa was once Gozo’s deputy in the engineering department
before he was elevated to town clerk on acting basis. Sources said Mukaratirwa
was the one doing all the donkey work while Gozo was just seating in the office
and enjoying some air conditioner. 

Gozo was one smart engineer who did not want
to get his hands dirty. I doubt if the man even wore a work suit. It does not
matter now because then man was slapped with a six months suspension without
pay while the council investigates his competency to hold office. If all
incompetent people would be suspended I am sure someone would not be talking
about vision 2030 now kkkk. That man is so incompetent and I wonder why we are
still cheering him on. He should also be suspended and have his competency
investigated. 

The councillor Maboke led council has teeth. They have done
something which the Chakabudas and Fidzes failed to do. To those who do not
know Maboke, he is the mayor of Masvingo. His council has failed in everything
else pertaining service delivery but has successfully suspended the man whom
they say was sleeping on duty. Whether that’s true or false we have to discuss
on another day. But as far as I am concerned the same problems which led to the
dismissal of Gozo are still with us. No water, refuse remain uncollected, roads
keep deteriorating and I wonder who is sleeping on the job now.

I have
a question and I would like to gets some answers. Why is CovED-19 only
targeting the Zanu PF military faction? Mafire arikuita machinda aya ekuita
coup Mapombi would swear something is wrong chete. Maybe CovED-19 has a score
to settle with these military man. I hear some saying the latest death of Rtd
Lt Gen Douglas Nyikayaramba is just the beginning. Mapombi will not review her
sources but from what I hear hanzi the number should be 8 and we are just at
number five. CovED-19 has come to harvest these guys kkkk. 

So if you are a
military man and had something to do with that coup and pose a threat to Dambu,
be warned. CovED-19 is coming for you all. I however strongly feel that
CovED-19 is missing its target. I do not know who should be the target but all
I know is that pane kakupotsa karikuitika and I am sure Zimbos out there
agree.  Chiwenga achasara asina akana
munhu one on his side if CovED keeps on harvesting the army guys like this.
Sanyatwe be safe kuTanzania uko, boss Rugejo I hope makahwanda kufarm because
CovED is out for guys like you? The situation in our country has reached
another level.

I am
not saying there is a conspiracy theory here. All I am saying is that CovED-19
is not being fair. Why is it targeting only members of one faction? We want a
balance kuti ikatora uku yotorawo uku not zvairi kuita izvi. We want the
military faction to remain strong so that ED will be kept on his feet. SB Moyo
was occupying one of the most powerful and strategic cabinet positions. Some
said the army wanted the post so that they could herd ED but when SB Moyo
succumbed to CovED-19, our dearly beloved President replaced him with some guy
whom many people are calling a thief. 

Shava is said to be implicated in the
Willowgate scandal but Mapombi would not want to talk about things she does not
know. What I know is that Shava is from Midlands and ED is consolidating his
power. He is now more powerful and CovED-19 is doing all the work for him by
getting rid of his political nemesis. General Chiwenga I hope you are seeing
what is happening to your comrades and I hope you have a contingency plan. I
have said enough regai zvangu ndinokanga maputi angu for lunch. But before I go
I want to say nematambudziko to the Makwarimba family on the passing on of Clemence
Makwarimba. To those who did not know Clemence Makwarimba, he is the one who
once remarked that God send ED to fight CovED-19 and about a year later he
succumbs to the virus. Why didn’t ED protect Makwarimba from the virus? Kudenga
kuna Mwari. Mboko imboko.

 

 

Makwarimba conferred liberation hero status

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Clemence Makwarimba


…to be buried today in Mapanzure

TellZim Reporter

Zanu PF
central committee member and former Masvingo Rural District Council (RDC) Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) Clemence Makwarimba, who died on February 7 from
Covid-19 complications, has been conferred with a liberation war hero status.

Makwarimba
will be laid to rest at his rural home in Mapanzure today, February 9.

Zanu PF
Masvingo provincial political commissar Jevas Masosota told TellZim News that
the Makwarimba family has decided to bury their relative at their rural home
instead of the provincial shrine.

“What
the party did was confer the liberation hero status and it was now the decision
of the Makwarimba family to choose the resting place.

“They
chose to bury him at his rural home and we have to accept the family decision. He
will be buried under strict adherence to Covid-19 regulations,” said Masosota.

Makwarimba’s
family said the former Masvingo RDC CEO and Zanu PF central committee member
had been rushed to Morgenster Hospital for treatment after suffering kidney
failure three days prior.

The
doctors are said to have two Covid-19 tests which came back negative and had to
do a third test which came back positive.

Masvingo
minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira will
preside over the burial.

 

Manicaland, Masvingo leads in latest Covid-19 tally

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…as stronger third wave
beckons

TellZim Reporter

Masvingo province recorded
the second-highest new coronavirus positive cases yesterday, February 07, while
Manicaland reached an alarming daily infection figure of 74 the previous day, TellZim
has observed.

The figures come at a
time the curve of the second wave seems to be flattening, but with experts
warning that a much stronger third wave of infections could be imminent unless
sufficient vaccines are procured in time.

Experts also warn that
it is foolhardy for authorities to believe they are winning the war against the
virus basing simply on the declining infections and fatalities as testing was
still being performed on a limited scale due to lack of resources.

Masvingo province
recorded 18 new cases on February 07, the second highest tally in the whole
country behind Harare which recorded 25.

The previous day,
February 06, Manicaland province had recorded an astronomical 77 new infections
which was the country’s highest for the day, followed by Harare and Midlands
which recorded 26 cases each.

A total of four people
died of Covid-19 in Manicaland’s on February 06, and the number declined to one
death yesterday when only 10 fatalities were recorded countrywide, down from 13
the previous day.

Manicaland has 174
total number of deaths, 737 active cases and 1 349 recoveries.

In Masvingo no deaths
were recorded for two consecutive days, February 06 – 07, with the cumulative
death total holding firm at 64 in a province with 83 active cases and 2052
recoveries.

Harare still maintains
its lead as the epicenter of the virus at 510 total deaths, 1 669 active cases
and 12 166 cumulative Covid-19 cases.

Government says
vaccines that are being procured from Western countries, as well as those
donated by China, will be available free-of-charge to all people who want them.

Meanwhile, South Africa
has suspended a rollout of vaccines developed by Oxford in partnership with
British-Swedish biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

This followed trials
carried out at the University of the Witwatersrand which showed that the
vaccines’ effectiveness to a coronavirus variant called B.1.351 was
‘disappointing’.

The variant, also known
as 501.V2, was first discovered in that country in January but has been
detected elsewhere across the globe.

There are worries that
the variant, which is now responsible for 90 percent of new infections in South
Africa, could be present in Zimbabwe due to geographical proximity leading to
freer movement of people between the two countries notwithstanding the
lockdowns and the limited border closures.

 

 

Anderson High School prides in academic excellence

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Megan Hill

…as pupil scores 10As at Cambridge ‘O’ Level

TinaaniNyabereka/Christine Chiromo

GWERU– 16-year-old Anderson Adventist
High student, Megan Lizelle Hill has set a mark above the rest after scoring
10As at the recently published 2020 Cambridge Ordinary Level results.

Hill sat for 10 subjects in both Sciences and Arts
combinations.
 

In an interview with TellZim News, Anderson High School head, Billy Caxton
Mukasvanga said the academic excellence which Megan showed was a result of hard
work and dedication.

“Anderson High
School is proud to have brilliant pupils like Hill. She has not only surpassed
the previous record but rather has inspired future learners.

“She scored straight
As in Mathematics, English, History, Religious Studies, Fashion and Textiles,
Commerce, Chemistry, Biology, Geography and Physics.

“We want her to
even score 15 points and above at ‘A’ Level. However, it is our wish that she
gets a scholarship to enroll at Cambridge or Oxford University for her degree
studies.

“As an institution
we always teach our pupils that discipline is the bridge to success and Megan
has led by example,” said Mukasvanga.

Hill said her secret to achieving the great results
was hard work saying she had to move out of her comfort zone and focus on her
studies.

“Everything is possible if we put all the effort and
concentration in what we do.

“Success does not come easy and a lot of people quit
when the journey gets tough. We were under Covid-19 and most schools adopted
online learning which was a bit challenging.

“The idea is not to be stopped by the challenges
associated with online learning but coming up with ways to overcome the challenges,”
said Hill.

She said she would like to pursue medicine after
completing her A level studies.

Zanu PF Central Committee member Makwarimba succumbs to Covid-19

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…possible
hero status for former Masvingo RDC CEO

TellZim
Reporter

Zanu PF central committee member Clemence
Makwarimba who passed away yesterday, February 07, has posthumously tested positive
for Covid-19, TellZim News has learnt.

Makwarimba’s family said the former Masvingo
Rural District Council (RDC) CEO had been rushed to Morgenster Hospital for
treatment after suffering kidney failure three days prior.

Phainos Makwarimba, who is the Zanu PF deputy
provincial commissar and son to the late Makwarimba, said his family was
devastated by the loss.

“He developed a kidney problem three days
before and we took him to Morgenster Hospital where he later passed on. The
doctors did two Covid-19 tests on him and the results came back negative but
they performed a third test as they had reasonable grounds to suspect Covid-19 and
it has just come out positive. As a family, we are shuttered by the loss of our
father,” said Phainos.

The late Makarimba becomes possibly the 65th
Covid-19 fatality case in Masvingo province.

He also said the family was in close
consultations with the party for guidance on burial arrangements.

Sources said the local Zanu PF leadership had
applied for provincial hero status for Makwarimba.

No comment could be obtained from Zanu PF
provincial chairperson Ezra Chadzamira, who is also the Minister of State for
Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution, 
and provincial political commissar Jevas Masosota as their phones were
unreachable.

Makwarimba joined Masvingo RDC in 1977 and rose
through the ranks to become the CEO in 1993, a position he held until his
retirement in 2013.

Makwarimba was born in 1953.

He is survived by his wife Tendai, five
children and several grandchildren.

Domestic violence victim raped on way from police station

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file Picture

 

Colleen Chitsa

 

MASVINGO- A man from Mucheke has been arraigned
before the magistrates’ court facing rape charges after he allegedly turned on
a victim of domestic violence whom he had accompanied to the police station to
report her case.

In an application for further remand, Benny Daus (30),
is said to have raped a domestic violence victim once without protection.

The State claimed that on January 25, 2021, the
complainant, who has been beaten by her husband on numerous occasions decided
to go and make a police report.

The complainant wanted to make a police report at a
police base in Runyararo West but did not know the directions.

The complainant is said to have asked for directions
from Daus who volunteered to accompany her to the police base.

On their way back at around 1500 hours, the two
decided to pass through Daus’ place to drink some water which the complainant
had requested.

When they arrived at the residence, Daus is alleged to
have dragged the complainant inside the house and took her one month old baby
whom she was holding and placed him on the floor.

Daus is said to have forcibly removed the
complainant’s undergarments that he tore in the process, and went on to have unprotected
sexual intercourse with the complainant once without her consent.

After the ordeal, the complainant proceeded home where
she alerted her husband and a police report was made leading to the arrest of
Daus.

Traffic cops demand R100 bribe from Covid-19 violators

 

Non-Zupco kombis in Chiredzi

…Govt’s
hike of lockdown fines promoting corruption, motorists say


TellZim Reporter

NGUNDU – The
Ngundu-Chiredzi highway is turning into one of the biggest cash cow for corrupt
traffic police officers manning various police check points along the road.

Transport
operators who ignore the level 4 anti-Covid-19 lockdown are made to pay a R100
bribe at every police checkpoint for them to proceed with their journeys.

At
three different police roadblocks, TellZim came face-to-face with this kind of corruption,
with traffic cops brazenly receiving bribe money from pirate taxis.

A
short distance from Ngundu growth point towards Chiredzi, a cop rejected R100 from
one of the kombi conductor, demanding that he should make it R150 which he was
later given.

A
pirate taxi driver who regularly plies the Ngundu-Chiredzi route revealed that
since the start of the lockdown, bribes were the only way to survive on the
road.

“We
are made to pay R100 at every police checkpoint. Since each two police shifts
are deployed on each checkpoint of the road on an average day, we regularly pay
the R100 twice per day. At each of the three check points, every police shift
demands its own money. The greediest cops are at the Ngundu roadblock because
they always demands R150 in bribes from each motorist who is on the road
illegaly,” said one of the drivers.

As
was the case at Ngundu and at another check point just after Triangle, police
officers were openly taking bribes without making any effort to conceal it.

Just
before Triangle, motorists disembarked from their cars and placed the bribe
money on a disused tyre where one cop sat benignly, pretending that nothing was
happening.

Many
motorists said government’s recent decision to increase fines paid by lockdown and
curfew violators made it sensible for them to pay bribes than risk three months
prison time after failing to raise money to pay the steep fines.

People
who are caught moving around after the curfew are required to pay $20 000 in
fine or spend three months in prison, while those that are caught without
facemasks are now required to pay $5000, up from $500.