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Zinara allocates $44 million to Masvingo for 2021

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Zinara allocates $44 million to Masvingo for 2021

 

Acting Town Clerk engineer Edward Mukaratirwa


 Wayne
Ncube

The Zimbabwe National Road
Administration (Zinara), which last allocated road maintenance funds to the
City of Masvingo in June, has, for the year 2021, allocated about $44 million
to the local authority whose road network has become deplorable.

A total sum of $43 268 127 has been
allocated to the city for both routine and periodic road maintenance work.

City of Masvingo acting Town Clerk
engineer Edward Mukaratirwa said that the allocations from Zinara were very low
considering the current state of the roads.

“The Zinara allocations are very low
and unpredictable. The money does not come at some instances and we last
received such allocations in June.

“We will, however, make use of the few
funds availed to upgrade our drainage systems which have been overwhelmed by
the current rains,” said Mukaratirwa.

The Public Works and Planning Committee
meeting minutes dated November 9, 2020, say that the committee agreed to spread
the funds evenly across all wards.

“The members agreed that the
maintenance should focus on all wards, which includes resealing of roads such
as the Zimuto road which is 410 meters with an estimated budget of $3 264 000.

“The other roads which are to be
resealed are Bahunia which is 1 080 meters long at an estimated cost of $7 327
300, Calvin Majange road which is 600 meters at an estimated cost of $4 559
200.

“The 500 metres long Yomukono Street
will be resealed at a cost of $4 087 200,” reads the minutes.

Other roads to be resealed include 4.1
Brigade, Mashavishavi and Target Kopje 06 Route to the tune of $1 229 647, $3
264 800 and $5, 4 million respectively.

Drainage cleaning and lining in Chesvingo,
Mucheke, Runyararo West, Target Kopje, Rujeko, Central Business District and
Morningside covering 25 kilometers has a budget allocation of $4 million.

 

Zanu PF DCCs: Masvingo election updates

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Zanu PF DCCs: Masvingo election updates

 

Jorum Gumbo

…Mahwende
‘caught with stuffed ballots’ in Masvingo

…Zaka petitions
party over ‘massive rigging’

…Mundungehama
wins Chiredzi

…Team Bolato
in Chivi, Gutu clean sweep

 

Upenyu Chaota/Moses Ziyambi

The
Zanu PF District Coordinating Committee (DCC) elections which were run over the
weekend are producing controversial results, with with reports of massive fraud
being alleged.

New
inter-district factions going by the names ‘Team Bolato’ and ‘Team Zanu PF’
have emerged to take control of these all-important grassroots structures that
will be critical arbiters of power in the next primaries ahead of 2023 general
elections.

When
contacted for comment on the allegations of fraud in the elections, party bigwig
Jorum Gumbo, who was deployed to Masvingo to preside over the elections, said he had received some complaints on irregularities but was generally satisfied with the conduct of the elections.

“We have
so far received results for Gutu, Zaka, Chivi and Bikita districts and the
other ones are coming. We had some logistical challenges and the rains did not
make it make it easy for us to deliver materials to all places in time.

“In
every election, there are people who complain about the results and that is to
be expected. Even (US President Donald) Trump is complaining right now. I only
receive total results of all voting centres and there could have been some
voting irregularities, yes, but those are specific and they will have to be
investigated on a case by case basis so that we see what can be done.

“I do
not receive results that are specific to one centre where there could have been
more votes counted than the number of people in the register. We are using
registers that date back to 2017 and 2018 so some changes have happened; there
are people who died and there are others who are no longer in the party. We don’t
expect such people to vote,” said Gumbo.

Many
local Zanu PF sources, however, said the elections were largely fraudulent,
with some people who contested for positions moving to some voting centres as
presiding officers.

In Masvingo
district, alleged Team Bolato member Tawanda Dube, who is contesting against
Trust Mugabe for the position of district chairperson, is said to be getting more
votes than the maximum number of people in the registers.

A total
number of 120 voters are expected to vote for the main wing but sources say
that in Ward 7B of Masvingo West, Dube polled 167 votes against Mugabe’s 6
votes. In the same Ward, there were a total of 12 spoiled votes bring the total
of votes cast to 185.

Sources
said that the results from Ward 7B have since been nullified but Gumbo
dismissed the claim, saying nobody could cancel the election results without
his knowledge and before he had received the results.

TellZim
News has however established that non-existent wards 5B and 5C came into
existence mysteriously for the duration of the elections, with all the 120
votes in each ‘new’ ward being won by Dube.

In Ward
6 Masvingo Urban, another Team Bolato member and City of Masvingo Deputy Mayor
Wellington Mahwende, who sailed through uncontested as secretary for finance,
is said to have been caught with a stuffed bucketful of ballots.

Mahwende
refuted the claims when TellZim News reached him for comment, saying people
should accept defeat and not tarnish other people’s names.

“No
such thing happened. That talk is coming from people who have been defeated
heavily and they are just bitter. Vote-counting is progressing well and will be
completed soon,” said Mahwende.

In Ward
7 of Masvingo Urban, Charles Munganasa who is contesting for the position of
secretary for youth affairs against Agnes Murove, is said to have polled over
80 votes against the maximum expected tally of 40.

In Zaka
district, a total of nine losing candidates, who include former Zaka West MP Paradzai
Chakona have written to provincial and national party leaders to complain
against alleged massive rigging and vote-buying by a faction ‘yakabva kuvakuru’.

Deputy
Finance minister and Zaka East Member of Parliament (MP) Clemence Chiduwa won
the position of chairperson.

Chakona
contested and lost against Zaka Central MP Davison Svuure for the right
deputise Chiduwa who, from the very beginning appeared to be the indesputable favourite.

“We,
the below listed candidates from Zaka District, Masvingo Province, collectively
record and submit this appeal letter to you on the manner and way District
Coordinating Committee elections were and are being conducted in Zaka
District. 

“This
petition brings on record some discrepancies and flaws in the conduct of
elections. It is our fervent belief that we have fallen victims of
functionalism and individualism in Masvingo Province,” reads the petition
signed by Chakona, Aleta Makomeke, Brighton Mahoya and Felix Kufandada among
others.

In
Chiredzi, Siyaki Mundungehama won the position of chairperson after polling 2885
votes against rival Simba Chibememe who got 600.

Norman
Sharara will be the vice chairperson after he defeated three rivals by a wide
margin. Similarly, Stephen Dziva defeated three rivals by a wide margin to land
the position of secretary for administration.

The
Chiredzi secretary for finance will be Simbarashe Gwara who defeated Chiredzi Urban ward Councillor and
businessman Obert Ngwenya by 1694 against 1288.

In
Chivi, there is a massive outcry after Team Bolato, which is said to be fronted
by Chivi Rural District Council (RDC) chairperson Godfrey Mukungunugwa,
walloped all Team Zanu PF members.

Team
Zanu PF members in Chivi are allegedly led by Chivi Central MP Ephraim
Gwanongodza and his Chivi North counterpart Mathias Tongofa.

A Zanu
PF insider told TellZim News that Gwanongodza and Tongofa were left off-guard and
unable to defend their turf after they were sent to Mwenezi as presiding
officers, leaving their members to their own devices.

“Though
the results are yet to be certified, all those that have won are Team Bolato
members. There is nothing for the other faction, and this is bad for the party
because it will lead to voter apathy. Abiot Madzore, for example, is not very
popular but he has won the race for the secretary for youth affairs position because
some of the votes he got were brazenly stolen from Letmore Tizai who was the
favourite,” said a source.

As it
stands, Chivi will be led by Samuel Mandonde who sailed through uncontested and
he will be deputised by former MP Albert Chamwadoro who defeated Tawanda
Munyuki by 2211 votes to 1020.

Taurai
Masvinu will be new secretary for administration after he defeated Kudakwashe
Dzoro by a wide margin.

The
district commissariat will be led by Aleck Nhundu who thumped Munashe Pwanyai.

Ward 5
Councillor Grace Mukungunugwa, who is related to Godfrey Mukungunugwa, will be
the women’s league secretary after she defeated two rivals Vimbai Takaendesa
and Nyembesi Phiri by a wide margin.

In
Gutu, only four positions are said to have been contested while the other 19
were taken uncontested following what insiders called an extreme political
scheming exercise by Team Bolato.

Gutu
will be led by former provincial youth chairperson Brian Munyoro, who among
many others, sailed through uncontested.

(An earlier report had erroneously stated that Obert Ngwenya had won the Chiredzi secretary of finance position. We regret the inconvenience caused.)

Face to face with Mwenezi woman who spent 40 years with mermaids

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Face to face with Mwenezi woman who spent 40 years with mermaids

 

Chihwakwa family homestead, Mwenezi East

 Cephas
Shava

MWENEZI
–
The woman who recently hogged the limelight after reappearing from the world of
mermaids made her first public appearance on Sunday, December 06, following
several weeks under the restrictive care of Zaka female traditional healers who
helped secure her reappearance.

Rowai Chihwakwa, of
Matande village under Chief Negari, disappeared in 1982 as an eight-year-old
girl, only to reappear last month following a series of rituals spanning two
weeks at the site of her disappearance.

After her reappearance,
the n’angas took her to Zaka where they cared for her while helping her to
adapt back into the real world.

At a ceremony held at
the Chihwakwa village homestead in Mwenezi East, Rowai, who donned a crown of
feathers that are common with n’angas, did not say much as she seemed to be
disinterested or at least indifferent to the many curious faces around her.

Chief Negari, Mwenezi District
Development Coordinator (DCC) Rosemary Chingwe, Mwenezi RDC Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) Albert Chivanga, District Public Service Inspector Last Gondo
were among the prominent people who were part of the gathering.

Flanked by the n’angas,
Rowai’s body was wrapped in a colourful cloth commonly referred to as Zambia.

Her head was veiled,
with her face hardly visible in the hut where she sat on a mat, with a
neatly-woven reed basket containing an assortment of sangoma paraphernalia
right in front of her.

It is believed that if
a person is snatched by mermaids and he/she spends several years with them, the
person – if the necessary rites are performed and members of the family do not
sound ‘unnecessary’ alarm or cry – would come back a connoisseur in
traditional medicine with knowledge of remedies to virtually all ailments and
abnormalities like cancer and infertility.

At the rain soaked
ceremony, Rowai looked strikingly light in complexion perhaps as a result of
her prolonged stay in a paranormal world where sunlight and its scorching
effects are said to be non-existent.

She hardly looked like
one in her late 40s and approaching her 50s, but rather like a post-pubescent girl,
or perhaps in her 20s at the very maximum.

Hordes of people from
the length and breadth of the district braved the rains and thronged the
homestead to witness what many locals considered to be rarer a wonder than a
solar eclipse.

People tucked away
their phones obediently after the family banned cameras, with well-known
sangomas and traditionalists of the district threatening supernatural calamity
to anyone who would try to snap a shot of the intriguing woman.

The large gathering of
visitors could only but take a glimpse at the mysterious Rowai, who has now assumed
a larger than life character in an area which is short of local heroes.

Those who wanted to see
her were required to remove their shoes and act with extreme courtesy both in
speech and body posture; with everybody required to remove their shoes, introduce
themselves by their full names as they entered the hut.

In response, Rowai would
simply nod her head in acknowledgement or mumble two or three barely audible
words.

After much painstaking effort
to get the Chihwakwa family to release more details about the returnee, TellZim
News finally managed to speak to Loveness Maponde who reluctantly revealed that
after several days of trying, Rowai was now able to eat like any other person.

“As you might have
seen for yourself, the girl is doing well but is yet to fully-adapt to our
world. Personally, I can communicate with her with ease. The first person whom
she was able to recognise was her mother and elder brother Alfred. Since the
girl is yet to fully recover, we need not to divulge information which may
derail the progress we have made,” said Maponde.

When asked for a
comment, Chief Negari said it was a great day for people in his area to welcome
Rowai back to the world of physical being.

“It is a pleasure for
me to be here bearing witness to this amazing event. It has been many years
since our daughter was taken by mermaids so we are excited that we now have her
back. I have seen her myself and she is indeed human,” said Chief Negari.

Other sources who
agreed to talk to TellZim News said when she was still ensconced in Zaka, Rowai
would on some instances disappear and reappear later.

“When she was in
Zaka she disappeared and reappeared on three separate occasions. Upon her reappearance,
she would bring with her concoctions of all sorts. Some reeds that had grown
close to her shoulders and were noticed when she came back have since
disappeared.

“She had very long hair
when she came back but it has now receded to the size of the normal hair of any
other ordinary person that you know. It is Rowai’s own instruction that no photograph
must be taken at the moment,” said a source.

Other people who are
well-versed with the family’s travails throughout the 1980s, 90s and early
2000s said they grew up accustomed to the intermittent sound of traditional
drums in the bush especially during the night as the Chihwakwas desperately
tried to bring back their ‘lost’ child.

“As I grew up, I would
ask my parents why there were sounds of drumbeats in the bush far away from
home and they would tell me that the Chihwakwa family was performing
traditional rituals to try and bring back their lost child. It became a normal
thing up until I left my rural home for work in town in the early 2000s,” said
one woman.

The Chihwakwa family
says Rowai disappeared along a small stream known as Matande which offloads its
flow down into the mighty Runde River.

Hailstorm leaves a trail of destruction

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Hailstorm leaves a trail of destruction

 

Tugwane High School

Agnes Madechihwe

MASVINGO –
A number of places around Masvingo province were affected by the heavy rains that
pounded the city a few days ago, with roofs of many houses and schools getting
blown away.

The
rains were received after a prolonged period of high heat which ended up in
violent hailstorms with thunder and lightning which killed four people in
Chiredzi.

In
Masvingo South Ward 23, around houses were destroyed and their roofs were blown
away by heavy winds.

Four
roofs of staff houses’ were blown off at Jena Rural Hospital leaving a number
of families without a roof over their heads.

At
Tugwane High School in Masvingo South, one staff house had its roof blown away.

Masvingo
South Member of Parliament (MP) Claudious Maronge said the Jena Rural Hospital
roof was very old and had become vulnerable to adverse weather conditions.

“The
rains were windy but the major issue is that we have old structures. The roofs
are old and they need to be repaired. We call upon all the responsible
authorities to mobilise resources to maintain the houses so that we avoid
similar incidents,” said Maronge

In
Chiredzi district, five people were struck by lighting at Hippo Valley estates
while they were on their way to work.This led to the loss of life of one of the
victims as the others were taken to Hippo Valley Medical Centre for treatment.

In
Zaka district, three houses were destroyed in Mazhetesi village while a number
of houses were left without roof in Chipezeze area near Jerera.

A
complex at Jerera growth point was blown while a kitchen at the Reformed Church
In Zimbabwe (RCZ) had its kitchen blown off.

Many
houses in Zaka Ward 8 and Ward 109 were destroyed while many structures in the
Zibhwowa area were also destroyed by continuous rains over two days .

 

Seven Zanu PF candidates jostle for Mwenezi East

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Seven Zanu PF candidates jostle for Mwenezi East
Simbarashe Mpofu-Mabhena

Cephas
Shava

MWENEZI
–
A total of seven candidates from the ruling Zanu PF party are eyeing the
Mwenezi East parliamentary seat which fell vacant following the death of the
then Member of Parliament (MP) Joosbi Omar.

No political party has
officially give the green light for its members to start campaigning and none
of the parties has set primary elections date.

However, some seven
Zanu PF candidates have so far thrown their hats into the ring with some
already ‘silently’ campaigning.

Former Ward 5 Councilor
Master Makope, who heads Avhunga Secondary School, is among the contestants. In
the run-up to 2018 general elections, Makope came second in the Zanu PF primary
elections, a distant behind Omar who went on to then represent the party in the
harmonised elections.

Prominent Rutenga based
businessman, Simbarashe Mpofu, who is better known as Mabhena, is also said to
be in the race, and many people tip him to win the race.

Luckson Chikomo, a
sugarcane farmer from the Mpapa area, who is a former employee of Tongaat
Hullet Zimbabwe, has reportedly thrown his hat into the ring as well.

Marvelous Chifumuro, a
teacher at Sagwari Secondary School who for long tried his lucky in the
political ring without success, is also among the hopefuls

Ward 13 Councillor Takura
Mudavose is said to be carefully weighing his options too.

Jabulani Mberesi who is
a lawyer by profession and Cuthbert Muzara who is a Zanu PF central committee
member, are also said to be among the list of contestants.

Some contestants who
spoke to TellZim News confirmed there interest for the constituency.

“Although the
party is yet to authorize us to campaign, we have already started the ground
work. If we wait for the party to announce its own dates, we will not have
enough time to engage with the grassroots. Wwe have decided to start the
process for our own benefit,” said one of the contestants who spoke on
condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, sources in
the Nelson Chamisa-led MDC Alliance said grassroots structures were suggesting
two names, the district’s organising secretary Tineyi Mapepa and the party
treasure Tendekai Mandizvidza.

Local political
analysts say the contest in Zanu PF and the MDC primaries will have no obvious
winners although the resources factor is likely to have immense influence.

 

Omar, who died on
October 25, took over the Mwenezi East constituency in 2017 through a
by-election following the death of his predecessor Joshua Moyo.

 

Gokomere man kills boy, cooks head

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Gokomere man kills boy, cooks head

 

TellZim Reporter

In a grisly incident, a man from
Matova village under Chief Zimuto in the Gokomere area, yesterday murdered his brother’s
nine-year-old son before cutting off his head and boiling it in a pot, TellZim
News can report.

The man is said to be mentally-challenged.

Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) national
spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident saying
the man was already in custody.

“We are still investigating the motive
but the suspect is already in custody,” said Ass Com Nyathi.

Facts gathered by TellZim News are
that the boy, identified as Trevor Chitiga, went to play at his uncle Clever
Chitiga’s place yesterday afternoon but did not return home at the expected
time.

His parents began to look for him
all over but could not find him. Earlier today, people found Clever boiling the
boy’s head in a huge pot but with the rest of the body missing.

On being approached, the suspect,
who is said to be mentally-challnged, fled the scene but was arrested in
Mucheke high density suburb in Masvingo and was detained at Chikato Police
Station.

The boy’s torso was later found
wrapped in a mosquito net and dumped in a trench in the same village.

It is said the boy was a grade
two pupil at Matova Primary School

 

I am still in the game, says ex-Zaka Central MP Chakona

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I am still in the game, says ex-Zaka Central MP Chakona

 

Paradzai Chakona

…as he guns for
the VC post in Zaka DCC

Brighton Chiseva

ZAKA – Former Member of
Parliament (MP) for Zaka Central Paradzai Chakona says he is still in the political
game and hopes for a comeback to the party leadership, this time as the Zaka District
Coordinating Committee (DCC) vice chairperson.

The DCC elections
are being conducted this weekend on December 05-06 across the whole country.

Chakona, who
served as acting Zanu PF Masvingo provincial chairperson at the height of
savage factional politics in 2015, scoffed at media allegations that he had
been disqualified from contesting in the DCC elections.

“I am still in
the game and was not disqualified at all. I will win this post and have a
chance to help restore sanity in the party and work to make sure that Zanu PF
and President Emmerson Mnangagwa win the 2023 election,” said Chakona.

During the Team Lacoste-G40
battles in Zanu PF, Chakona was pushed out of the post of acting provincial
chairmanship as he was perceived a strong Team Lacoste member who supported then
Vice President Mnangagwa’s bid to succeed then president and now late Robert
Mugabe.

In the current
DCC contest, Chakona says his rivals are too junior for him yet he himself is a
tried and tested leader with a lot of developmental work to his name dating
back to the period he served as MP.

“The people of
Zaka say they want me to lead again. I am very confident that I will win and
work with the party leadership to secure a win in 2023 and making sure we help achieve
Vision 2030 together,” said Chakona

Chakona is contesting
against his successor MP Davison Svuure for the right to deputise Zaka East MP and
Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development Clemece Chiduwa who clinched
the chairmanship post uncontested.

Other notable
individuals contesting for posts in Zaka DCC are Aleta Makomeke who wants the women’s
league chairperson post and Pepukai Chiwewe who wants to be district
information and publicity secretary.

 

CBAP brings early Christmas cheer to Chikarudzo community

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CBAP brings early Christmas cheer to Chikarudzo community


A consignment of maize seed and groceries

 

Mark Chavunduka

Masvingo– The Chikarudzo community received
early Christmas treats from the Community Based Aid Programme (CBAP) in form of
grocery hampers and maize seed.

The Christmas treats targeted
vulnerable groups in Wards 13, 17, 18 and 19.

A total of 570 families received 5
kilograms of maize seed and around 600 households took delivery of grocery hampers.

Speaking to TellZim News after the
donation, CBAP executive director Samuel Mhungu said the donation was meant to
assist vulnerable people who were affected by the Covid-19 induced national
lockdown.

“We have donated according to the
population of the area and the beneficiaries were selected from the villages
based on vulnerability status. During this time of year, we usually help
communities with maize seeds as it is the farming season.

“We know there are a lot of people who
have been immensely affected under the Covid-19 pandemic and it is that group
which we are targeting by these hampers. We help with the little we have and it
is our hope to see communities food secure which is why we are giving people
maize seed so that they can farm for subsistence.

“Since October last year, we have we
have managed to help about 1 500 families across Masvingo district with maize
seed as well as grocery hampers,” said Mhungu.

Ward 17 councillor Edwin Manyawu
applauded CBAP for their community based programmes which not only help but
empower the communities.

“I want to thank CBAP for helping us
with the gifts. We have many vulnerable families that need all the help they
can get to curb hunger,” said Manyawu.

In the education sector, CBAP supports
selected children from poor backgrounds by paying their school fees and taking
care of some of their basic needs at school.

“We pay fees and provide them with
school uniforms as well as stationery as a way of curtailing the rate of school
dropouts in poor communities,” said Mhungu.

 

Zanu PF Chiredzi DCCs: 3 candidates withdraw

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Zanu PF Chiredzi DCCs: 3 candidates withdraw

 

Ronald Ndava


….concern over ‘shrinking’ democratic space in ruling party

Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI – Three candidates who were contesting for positions in
the upcoming Zanu PF District Coordination Committee (DCC) elections have
pulled out at the 11th hour due to what some party insiders believe
is a matter of intimidation, TellZim News has leant.

The DCC elections will be held over the weekend from 05-06 December.

Eustina Magocha (Ward 18) and
Runesu Mangwau (Ward 28) vied for vice chairmanship post but withdrew from the
race to pave the way for education inspector Norman Sharara who in 2018
contested in the Chiredzi West parliamentary primaries but was defeated by
current Member of Parliament (MP) Farai Musikavanhu.

Tamirira Chayambuka of Ward 6,
who contested for the position of secretary of welfare for disabled and disadvantaged
persons, also withdrew from the race for unclear reasons.

The DCC structures, which were
abandoned by former president, the later Robert Mugabe a few years ago due to their alleged divisive nature, are
being hotly contested in the party as they are considered influential arbiters
of faction power in the crisis-prone ruling party.

Musikavanhu, who was recently
co-opted into the Masvingo Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) as secretary
for finance, announced the trio’s withdrawal on Zanu PF local WhatsApp group where most
members cautiously welcomed the development.

“Good morning comrades. I would
like to inform you that in the spirit of harmony and team work to further
consolidate the strength of our revolutionary party Zanu PF in Chiredzi West
Constituency and Chiredzi District at large following comrades have officially
withdrawn from the DCC Elections,” wrote Musikavanhu.

Musikavanhu initially had ambitions
for the DCC chairmanship but was persuaded to stand down before being co-opted
into the PCC in what was seen as a delicate act of balancing and appeasement.

The withdrawal of Magocha, Mangwau and Chayambuka from the race, however, raised the concern of other party
members who are worried about a supposed shrinking of democratic space in the
party.

“If they were not coerced to
resign through one way or another, I salute the comrades though such
last-minute-decisions affect the electorate that had already committed their
votes towards the said comrades,” said one party member.

Zanu PF Masvingo provincial
secretary for information and publicity, Ronald Ndava said they made
consultations with candidates who withdrew from the race ostensibly due to
intimidation.

“We made consultations with those
who withdrew from the race thinking they had been coerced or intimidated in any
form but it seems they voluntarily paved way for their cadres to avoid
vote-splitting,” said Ndava.

Are driving schools, VID in a corrupt relationship?

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Are driving schools, VID in a corrupt relationship?

 

There are serious concerns that VID officers are issuing driver’s licences fraudulently 


…concerns
for road safety as drivers get licences corruptly

Clayton Shereni

Human
error is the largest cause of road carnage and drivers are major culprits in
most of these unfortunate events that often claim hundreds of lives every year;
leaving thousands with dream-shattering injuries.

In
Zimbabwe, the Vehicle Inspectorate Department (VID) oversees the roadworthiness
of motor vehicles and has the sole right of issuing drivers licenses.

It
is the prerogative of VID to conduct road and provisional license test at their
23 depots found across the country.

In
simpler terms, the VID is the gatekeeper and plays a critical role in building
road safety as they determine who drives and who does not, which vehicle is
certified fit and which one is deemed unfit.

Although
human error is inevitable in any sector of human endeavour, it still has to be
asked whether or not the VID, which claims to have a vision of becoming a leader
in the provision of world class service in road safety management in Southern
African Development Community (SADC), is a compromised department.

Issuing
a license to an undeserving person is putting the lives of many people on the
line as the driver would be prone to many mistakes.

The
enforcement of standard quality controls is now questionable and the sense of
safety which the commuting public once had has somehow faded as cases of
alleged bribery involving VID officials increase.

The
Covid-19 pandemic saw a lockdown being put in place, with road tests and learner’s
license tests being cancelled since March.

Significant
lockdown relaxations were, however, made in October, and VID depots are now
busy with aspiring drivers who had been shut out for the duration of the
lockdown.

On
October 18, 2020, a VID official Bhekimpilo Sithole appeared before Masvingo
Magistrate Candice Kasere, after he allegedly swallowed bribe money totaling to
US$60 soon after conducting a test with a prospective driver.

He
was busted by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers before he had
swallowed the other US$40 he had received from the learner driver.

On
his initial appearance, Sithole was not asked to plead to a charge of criminal
abuse of office but was remanded out of custody to December 16, 2020 on $3000
bail.

In
an interview with TellZim News, national VID director Dr Johannes Pedzapasi
said they had put in place various mechanisms to reduce corruption.

He
said other measures to complement the Electronic Learner’s Licence Testing (ELLT)
in efforts to reduce chances of corrupt behavior in the licensing process were
being rolled out.

“We
have many strategies in place to fight corruption and some of these are internal
control measures that flag malpractices and give indicators. We have done the
ELLT which is the first phase and the second phase will come to the actual
driving test in an effort to reduce human interface.

“We
want to first make sure that all our depots have an ELLT system first before we
roll out the second phase. We were also affected by Covid-19 but we hope to put
everything in place in the year 2021,” said Dr Pedzapasi.

For
one to acquire a driver’s license, they have to write a learner’s license test
which would be followed by practical driving lessons by the many driving
schools available.

A
certificate of competence would then be issued by the VID when tests are done
and the prospective driver is found to be competent enough.

If
the alleged corrupt deal between Sithole and the prospective driver had
materialized, the driver could have walked away with a license even if he/she
had failed the test.

Corruption
at this level costs many lives on the road as incompetent drivers would be in
charge of vehicles that share the same roads with everybody else.

Passengers
Association of Zimbabwe (PAZ) director, Tafadzwa Goliati said passengers were the
biggest losers in a society where permission to drive is given corruptly.

“Driver
training should be done extensively so that the lives of passengers are
protected. Zimbabwe has been producing some of the best drivers in SADC and
that standard should be maintained. The law must be enforced so that those who
are conniving in the act are punished and face the full wrath of the law,” said
Goliati.

The
bribery malpractices at VID also implicate driving school instructors who stand
accused of being conduits for bribes that are given to VID officers to
facilitate easy issuance of certificates of competence.

Instructors
at driving schools are alleged to be playing the middleman’s role in these
illicit transactions.

In
response to these allegations being levelled against driving schools, Zimbabwe
Driving Schools Owners Association (ZDSOA) spokesperson, Noah Marima said their
association was working round the clock to make sure that their instructors do
not engage in corrupt activities.

“Our
instructors are strictly required to observe the law and the highest level of
ethical behavior. There could some cases of instructors being involved in
corruption and we condemn it because it defeats the whole purpose of the lawful
business that we do. We are working flat out to make sure that those issues of
corruption come to an end,” said Marima.

With
the best part of the road test being done in the VID premises and in public
view, some might think that it’s difficult for a prospective driver to bribe
officials but many are times when this actually happens.

In
2018, 54 VID officers from different depots were fired for fraudulently issuing
199 licenses to undeserving drivers and awarding fitness certificates to un-roadworthy.

Minister
of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Joel Matiza in April 2019
launched ELLT to minimise interface between VID personnel and prospective
drivers.

However,
the initiative has not plugged all possible chances for bribery since VID examiners
still have a major influence on the other elements of the licensing process.

Drivers
that get a licence through corrupt means are dangerous drivers because they
would not have gone through the necessary training and testing rigours that are
expected of them.

Much
of road carnage is a clear result of human error while other factors such as dilapidated
roads contribute less.

A
collective action by those responsible for quality driving, prospective drivers
themselves and law enforcement agencies can do a lot to stop corruption and,
ultimately, road traffic accidents.

.

 

 

 

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