By Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI – Ward 32 of Chiredzi Rural District Council (CRDC) is benefiting from its natural resources and Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in various sectors, including health, education, and water and sanitation, TellZim News can report.
The community is benefiting from CAMPFIRE projects and Public Private Partnerships (PPP), which enabled them to improve their wellbeing through construction of educational infrastructure and clinics, as well as enhancements in water and sanitation.
During the first quarter of this year, 2025, Ward 32 constructed of a teacher’s house and a classroom block at Magumire Primary School.
Ward 32 councilor, who is also CRDC’s Chairperson, Aspect Mashingaidze, told TellZim News that they received a donation of US$5000 from Shangaan Safaris, which significantly impacted the construction projects.
“We received a donation of US$5000 from Shangaan Safaris which made a huge impact on the construction of a teacher’s house at Magumire Primary School as well as a third block which is currently at Foundation Level,” said Mashingaidze.
Mashingaidze also said they received another US$1100 from the Matutu Bangwa Campfire as proceeds from crocodile hunting, which was yet to be utilized towards another community project.
The ward also received US$88,000 in proceeds from the Mangula Triangle Conservation Project, a collaboration between the community, CRDC, and Malilangwe Trust, which has been utilized towards the drilling of eight community boreholes and the installation of six solarized boreholes.
“We have managed to utilize the US$88,000 from Mangula Triangle Conservation Project towards drilling of eight community boreholes for village business units and solarizing 6 borehole sites.
“We have started a one hectare nutritional garden for eight villages, refurbishment of Marambakuzara Primary School blocks as well as solarizing one classroom block at the same school. We also had a stand alone solar borehole for Marambakuzara clinic as well as 14 kilometer new road establishment from Rusununguko Fairrange to Mkwasine and construction of 3 staff houses at Marambakuzara Primary School,” said Mashingaidze.
In addition to the community efforts, Mashingaidze personally contributed to the development projects.
“I also contributed 40 bags of cement towards construction of Mulenge Primary School second classroom block as well as three tipper trucks of river sand and 10 bags of cement towards the construction of teacher’s house at Nyavasikana Primary School,” said Mashingaidze.

By Andrew Zhou

Masvingo – The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) recently took a significant step towards promoting environmental conservation in Masvingo province’s rural communities by training traditional leaders on environmental management best practices.
The training programme, which were done in Gutu, Zaka and Mwenezi District, aims to equip traditional leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary to champion environmental conservation in their area of jurisdiction.
The programme covers a range of topics, including sustainable land use, waste management, gully control, illegal mining, illegal sand extraction, and wetlands management.
EMA’s Masvingo Provincial Spokesperson, Munyaradzi Mtisi, said it was an ongoing program which will cover all traditional leaders in the entire Masvingo province’s seven districts.
‘We have been targeting traditional leaders. We have so far trained traditional leaders in Mwenezi, Gutu and Zaka but, the programme will spread throughout the entire province.” said Mtisi.
Mtisi, emphasized the importance of traditional leaders in promoting environmental and natural resources conservation.
“Traditional leaders play a crucial role in shaping the values and practices of their communities. By empowering them with environmental management knowledge and skills, we can promote sustainable practices and protect Zimbabwe’s natural resources.” he said.
Traditional leaders will be equipped with training skills which they will use to train villagers on environmental management practices. They will also learn steps to take when environmental harmful practices happen in their communities.
“The leaders will train other villagers on these resources management and report issues like illegal mining, illegal sand extraction or deforestation to responsible authorities like EMA or Forestry Commission.” said Mtisi.
He said by empowering traditional leaders and other stakeholders with environmental management knowledge and skills, EMA aimed to foster a culture of sustainability and environmental stewardship in Zimbabwe.
He also said 50 traditional leaders including village heads, headmen and chiefs were trained in Mwenezi District alone.
The training programme was well-received by traditional leaders, who recognize the need for environmental conservation in their communities.
In an interview with TellZim News, Mwenezi’s Silver Village head born Mattison Imbayago said he was implementing what he learnt due training by EMA.
“We are grateful to EMA for this initiative, we are now committed to promoting environmental conservation in our communities and protecting Zimbabwe’s natural resources for future generations.
“We are now controlling gullies and those who want to cut down trees for firewood are required to obtain the permit first from the responsible authorities and failure to do so, one will face the wrath of the law,” said Imbayago.