By TellZim Reporter

A heated debate between Masvingo City councilors nearly turned physical over international trips, specifically a proposed “look and learn” tour to Zambia and licensing of a new liquor operator at Hillside Extension Shopping center in the last full council meeting held on June 27.
The Public Works and Planning Committee Chaired by ward 8 councilor Richard Musekiwa had recommended that the committee visit Kitwe, a city with a twinning arrangement with Masvingo, to learn about a solar plant they wanted to implement back home at Bushmead water works.
The members of the finance and general purpose committee and those in the health, housing committee who do not sit in the public works committee were against the idea saying the local authority had no money so they could not have the trip.
Sources said ward 3 councilor who chairs the health committee Maxwell Madhuna clashed with ward 10 councilor Sengerai Manyanga and PR councilor Esther Zishiri with the support of the chairperson pushing for the trip and the debate almost degenerated into a fist fight.
“Madhuna pointed out that council had recently funded an international trip to Japan for the Mayor and Health Director, and Councilor Manyanga was poised to go to China for another trip.
“He had support from councilor Benard Muchokwa who chairs the finance committee and the PR councilor Alaica Time and the two groups exchanged harsh words and vulgar,” said the source.
Sources said Madhuna and company argued that if there was real need, they would rather send the two engineers instead of the whole committee and other department members since the council’s financial situation was precarious.
“The tension between Manyanga and Madhuna was palpable, with both sides dug in and unwilling to back down. The near-fistfight was averted, but if the situation had continued like that they would have exchanged blows,” said a source.
However, it was later resolved that council should send only the engineers who would understand what was done there and what could be done back home than sending people with no technical knowledge.
Sources said the issue had escalated from a previous disagreement over the Health and Housing Committee’s recommendation to allow a bar to operate atHillside Extension Shopping center which was disputed by Manyanga and Zishiri.
“The standoff was a carryover of a clash over the licensing of a bar operator at Hillside Extension Shopping center, Manyanga’s committee rejected the proposal, citing noise concerns and potential competition with existing businesses. The Health Committee, led by Councilor Maxwell Madhuna, argued that the bar owner had met all requirements, including soundproofing.
“Manyanga and PR councilor Esther Zishiri argued that no one was supposed to get another license in that area. They argued that there were reports of noise so they could not allow another operator to add more noise despite reports that he had met the requirements. Tempers flared and Madhuna accused them of having been paid by the current operator to make sure than no other person gets a license there,” said the source.
Madhuna accused Manyanga’s committee of being influenced by a prominent nightspot operator who wanted to limit competition.
However, the matter was sent back to the committee for further scrutiny and would come to the next full council meeting for deliberations.

By Beverly Bizeki

The long awaited construction of the Mucheke main bridge in Masvingo is progressing steadly with authorities saying it is now 58 percent complete and anticipated to be completed by end of September this year.
Masvingo Deputy Provincial Roads Engineer Shadreck Kativhu confirmed the development and said preparations for the final deck were being worked on.
“The bridge at Chevron is now on 58 percent. Preparations are being done for the construction of the final deck and we expect that by end of September we would have completed works at the bridge,” said Kativhu.
Kativhu said the Chimusana Bridge was 2.5 percent while the interchange on Charumbira Street was on three percent and construction was already underway.
“The Chimusana Bridge is at 2.5 percent. Relocation of sewer lines, bases of foundations and preparation of a detour upstream is taking place.
“For the third one, the interchange, construction has started and it is now on three percent,” said Kativhu.
Construction of the Chevron Bridge commenced in June 2024 and was initially supposed to be completed in February 2025 after years of false starts.
In March this year, officials said efforts on the Chevron Bridge were at 40 percent completion and designs for Chimusana Bridge were at advanced stages, both of which will alleviate congestion.
In 2012/13 budget, Masvingo City Council had proposed US$800 000 for the widening of Chimusana Bridge and in 2014 council then indicated that the same project needed at least US$2.5million. The council, then under the late Town Clerk Adolf Gusha claimed that the money that was proposed in the 2012 council budget was never collected as residents failed to pay their bills.
In 2018, government cancelled a tender to modernize the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge highway that had been awarded to Austrian firm, Geiger International and awarded it to five local companies namely Masimba Holdings, Exodus and Company, Fossil Contracting, Bitumen World and Tensor.
In 2022 Masimba Construction Company was contracted to construct additional bridges on Mucheke River in Masvingo which were aimed at reducing congestion along the Masvingo-Beitbridge highway under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP 2).
The Mucheke Chevron Bridge is located on the Harare-Masvingo Beitbridge highway and is used by traffic to Harare with it also being used by the locals to cross to Masvingo CBD.
The bridge is the only route into town when Chimusana Bridge is flooded.
With the bridge being the only way through to the CBD from across the river, traffic congestion stretches from the bridge to Masvingo Polytechnic and to Chikato Police station from the other side.
Reports also showed that Chimusana structures consist of two new double-lane bridges, each 74m long, forming a 4-lane dual carriageway on the Masvingo City Bypass. The western bridge will carry northbound traffic, while the eastern bridge will carry southbound traffic. Construction of these two bridges commenced in August 2024 and is scheduled to be completed in May 2025.

By Tatiana Mhararira

Junior High School, one of the best private schools in Masvingo, recently won the High Schools Oratory Toastmasters Zimbabwe National competitions held at the school from June 27-29, 2025.
Junior High team comprising of Tapiwa Chuma and Tinashe Gwara scooped the first position in debate.
In English public speaking Takudzwa Mawarire scooped the first position, in Ndebele poetry Anashe Makwara was on position 1 and in Spelling Bee the best overall speller was Raphael Joel who won the gold medal.
Overally, Junior High won 10 gold medals, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze and the winners will proceed to the international competitions in March next year.
Speaking to TellZim News, Junior Enterprises, which runs Junior Primary and High Schools, Director Noah Marima said they were proud of the achievement and the support they got from parents.
“We are proud of this achievement and grateful for the learners’ dedication. We try by all means to balance to excel in whatever we do as a school be it in sport or class.
“We want to thank parents for their unwavering support and their encouragement has played a significant role in the learner’s success,” said Marima.

The team patron Netsai Hove said the team performed well and they needed to work on quiz where they did perfom well so that next time they dominate all the categories.
“Our students performed exceptionally well in most of the disciplines. We are proud of the entire team. Patrons and learners worked as a united form and dedicated their free and social time for practice. However, we need to improve in Quiz especially current affairs and general knowledge categories so that next time we dominate all categories,” she said.
The seven participating schools were Mavhuradonha, Mzilikazi, Bulawayo Adventist, Hermain Germiema, Terry Goss, Victoria High and the host school.
In April, Junior High School made a remarkable achievement in the Sustainable Environmental Conversational Trust Africa (SECTA) competitions held in Mutare.
Out of 36 participating schools, the team secured an impressive third place, showcasing their exceptional debating skills and knowledge on environmental issues

By Virginia Njovo

Smallholder farmers in Southern Zimbabwe are breaking new ground in their quest for sustainable livelihoods, thanks to a pioneering initiative that brings them face-to-face with the private sector in market dialogues facilitated by the Climate Resilient Livelihoods Project (CRL).
The initiative supported by the Government of Zimbabwe, Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is aimed at promoting inclusive and structured market systems.
On June 26, 2025 farmers in Masvingo District gathered at Makoholi Research Institute where they networked with private sector in the province who are crucial in breaking marketing barriers.
Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries Water and Rural Development deputy director responsible for Markets and Trade in the Business Development, Market and Trade Directorate, Simba Mupodyi encouraged farmers to practice market oriented production for easy access to markets.
“Farmers should practice market oriented production where they focuse on producing goods and services that meet the demands and needs of the market where demand driven is met, this will help smallholder farmers to increase income ,improved food security as well as enhancing livelihoods by participating in value chains and benefiting from market opportunities.
“These dialogue platforms and engagements present immense opportunities for smallholder farmers, the private sector and the government to co-create market based solutions,” said Mupodya.
Climate Smart Agriculture Expert at CRL project with GCF Dr Nelson Chanza encouraged farmers to be organised, practising group selling as well as being accurate with documentation especially when signing contracts.
“Farmers should be organized where they do collaborative efforts from production stage up to market scouting. We also encourage them to be vigilante to minimize fraudsters who approach them with fake promises,” said Dr Chanza.
Dr Chanza also encourage farmer to have market intelligence that include gathering and analysing data and information about specific market or industry which can help them in making informed decisions about production, marketing and sales.
Hamaruomba Dairy Cooperative Chairperson Christopher Gomerai said the networking opportunity gave them expert and technical knowledge that will be useful in their work.
“I want to thank our partners who assisted us with this technical support and the opportunity which we had today to meet as farmers sharing ideas on how to market our products from local markets up to global markets,” said Gomerai.
Garikai Fruit and Veg Market commonly known as known as Chitima Market Chairperson Martin Shava said every farmer was welcome to sell produce at the market.
“Every farmer is free to come and sell at Chitima, there is no discrimination on where you are coming from,” said Shava.
Over 4 500 farmers in Masvingo are benefitting from the CRL project that focuses on livestock production, small grains production as well as other varied agricultural crops.