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Masvingo Council in rates hike climb-down

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Masvingo Council in rates hike climb-down

Ruvarashe
Chichera

MASVINGO
– The
business community has breathed a sigh of relief after the local authority
announced that there will be a revision of the proposed 2020 licence fee
increases which had caused immense pain on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Masvingo City Council
has already advised the business community to approach licensing offices at the
Civic Centre to get new figures.
Towards the end of last
year, council announced new business licence fees with an average of 4 000
percent increase across the sectors but it has now been reversed.
“The City of Masvingo
hereby advises its valued stakeholders that it has revised downwards previously
advertised 2020 licence fees after considering concerns raised from various
stakeholder groups. All those affected are advised to approach our Licensing Offices
at the Civic Centre for rectification…” reads part of the noticed published
recently in the media.
Last year, TellZim gathered
and published the reaction of many small business people in town who expressed
hopelessness saying they will never afford to pay the new fees and will have to
operate illegally.
People were also made
aware of the window period offered by council to write letters of objection to the
rate hikes so that the required number of letters needed to force a revision
could be reached.
Masvingo City Council
chamber secretary, Vitalis Shonhai confirmed then that people were submitting their
letters of objection through the formal channels.
“I can confirm some
people have already sent their letters. The budget is only a proposal and it
will only work if people agree to it. I urge people to take the right channel
and communicate through formal processes,” said Shonhai.
Owing to the high
default rate in the payment of licence fees among small business people at the
beginning of the year, the police had started taking advantage of the situation
to arrest the defaulters and release them upon payment of bribes.

‘Mutare Hostel haunted by ghosts’

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‘Mutare Hostel haunted by ghosts’
A look of the notorious Matida Hostels

Monalisa Matongo
MUTARE – Some Matida Hostel residents say they suspect their place is
haunted by ghosts which they claim to be seeing in bathrooms and main passages
during the night.
The residents claim that deceased individuals who lived in the
hostels decades ago are coming back as apparitions.
 “Some people were
brutally murdered in these hostels some time ago and their embittered spirits
are coming back to haunt this place. We heard that the people who committed the
murders used to stay at these hostels as well,” said Mallon Ngaru.
Cllr Elizarbeth Tsoro of Sakubva Ward 2 said the paranormal
developments had seen some hostel-dwellers avoiding using the bathrooms in the
after-hours.
The council-owned, heavily congested hostels, which have largely
fallen into a state of disrepair, can be equated to the notorious Matapi flats
in Mbare, Harare.
Their sanitary facilities are broken and the passages are unlit,
with many families using bathrooms and toilets communally.
“The ghosts are said to be visible not only to adults but also
to young children and they are mostly seen in the bathrooms. I am working to
persuade council to prioritise resuscitating the lighting systems of the
hostels,” said Tsoro.
The hostels are also prone to burglars that take advantage of the
dark passages and rundown security systems.

Police summon MDC members over Sikhala demo

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Police summon MDC members over Sikhala demo

Police maintained a vigilant present during the trial of Job Sikhala
Virginia
Njovo

MDC national youth organising secretary and Masvingo
Urban Ward 4 Councillor Godfrey Kurauone and other party activists were last
Sunday called for questioning at the Masvingo police law and order section in
connection with protests that rocked the city during the trial of MDC national
vice chairperson Job Sikhala on subversion charges.
Other opposition members who were also called for
questioning include Masvingo Urban Ward 4 Councillor Daniel Mberikunashe, MDC
Masvingo provincial administrator Peter Chigaba as well as party members Kissmaker
Mapote, Olivia Tobaiwa and Jeffryson Chitando.
“An unmarked and unregistered vehicle with police
officer came to my house and they demanded that I accompany them to the police
station but I refused and told them I will report there on my own.
“When I got there, I was interrogated for over two
hours and they made me sign a warned and cautioned statement. They accused me
of housing thousands of people on the eve of the trial. But do I have big
enough space to accommodate thousands of people?” said Chitando.
On his own experiences, Kurauone described the police
actions as barbaric, accusing them of flagrantly displaying acts of political
partisanship.
“They interrogated me for about three hours. They
accused me of helping to organise people who demonstrated but I denied that.
They also asked me who was behind the disturbances and I told them I didn’t
know so they accused me of failing to cooperate with them. They alleged that a
police car was stoned. They also said they will charge people for malicious
damage to property, claiming that glasses at Edgars and Chicken Slice were
damaged,” said Kurauone.
Zimbabwe lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) members
Collen Maboke and Martin Mureri were active in giving support to the activists.
 .

EFF Zim appoints Mapuranga national spokesperson

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EFF Zim appoints Mapuranga national spokesperson
Rudairo Mapuranga

Elliot Jinjika
HARARE– The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Zimbabwe , a sister
political movement to the Julius Malema-led EFF South Africa, has appointed
Dickson Rudairo Mapuranga to the position of national spokesperson, TellZim
News has learnt.
EFF Zimbabwe is led by Innocent
Ndibali and is working to make an impact on the local political arena as Malema’s
party has done in South Africa.
The movement, which claims to be
premised of Pan Africanist values with a determination to fight for a united
Africa and the economic emancipation of black people, has also seen like-minded
political parties being formed in Namibia, Liberia and Malawi.
Mapuranga, who hails from Chivhu,
said young people must take the lead in economic affairs of the country by
participating in national policy-making activities.
 “My appointment as EFF Zimbabwe national
spokesperson has come at a time when I am making commitments to change the
lives of people in Zimbabwe by leading an exemplary life.
“Economic revival rests in the
agricultural and mining industries. As the EFF, we will therefore push for youth
empowerment in these areas. This will increase young people’s participation in the
two most critical areas of the economy. Extraction comes first before
processing,” said Mapuranga.
He said he acknowledged the need
for youths to play a bigger role in national issues by taking advice from
seasoned politicians.
“It is my view that economic
development needs intergenerational participation with a blend of experience
and new ideas. It is therefore my considered view that the youth should engage
the preceding generations for wisdom on how to transform their lives,” said
Mapuranga.
Mapuranga is currently studying
for a degree in Media and Cultural Studies at Great Zimbabwe University (GZU).
He is founding CEO of Bread
Basket Farmers Association (BBFA) and is one of the founders of Core Miners Association.

MP Mangwiro letting us down: Chikomba West Villagers

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MP Mangwiro letting us down: Chikomba West Villagers
Dr John Mangwiro


Elliot Jinjika

CHIVHU – When voted into office, some
politicians in the country disappear from their constituencies and reappear at
the next election time seeking support from the same electorate.
This
outrageous trend is common in Chikomba West where the local Member of
Parliament (MP) Dr John Mangwiro has rarely if at all been seen by much of his
constituents.
A medical
doctor by profession currently serving as Deputy Minister of Health and Child
Welfare, Mangwiro stands accused of spending much of his time in Harare doing
little to represent the interests of the people back home.
The
constituency faces many problems that need the attention of the MP but he seems
nowhere to be found, and this has drawn his more criticism than compliments.
One
villager said Mangwiro was battling bad health and had totally neglected the
constituency office where staff has now left for non-payment of their dues.
“We
hardly hear about him and the constituency office he opened to deal with local
issues is no longer giving any service. I heard he is not feeling well and he never
attends programmes in this constituency where many problems abound,” said the villager.
Another
villager said Mangwiro could be doing better job in the Ministry of Health but
was obviously faring badly at local level.
As
chairperson of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Africa Region, Mangwiro
was scheduled to be the guest of honor at the World Diabetes Day held at Garwe
Stadium in Chivhu.
He
however, did not turn up and many of his villagers who had expected to meet him
were further disappointed.
Last
week Mangwiro sent representatives to Northwood Primary to convince parents
that they allow their children to be transported to a neighbouring school for
lessons pending the completion of classroom blocks at their own school.
His
proposals were vehemently rejected by parents who felt the school should have
been long-supported to put in place its own facilities than allow it to open
its doors pre-maturely.
 “We don’t even know him here since we voted
him into office. Instead of chipping in by providing funds or sourcing funds
for us to solve the problems at the school he is making bad suggestions. He is
only looking for political mileage after being quiet for a very long period of
time,” said one parent.
Chivhu
Ratepayers and Residents Association (CHRRA) Chairperson Collen Zvarevashe
lambasted Mangwiro’s record as Deputy Minister of Health, saying the situation
at health institution in his constituency and the larger district was
deplorable.
 “Hospitals and clinics in Chivhu are faced
with very big service delivery challenges and one would normally expect the
deputy minister to do something as this is his own area. Who else can be better
placed to understand local challenges than a deputy minister who comes from
this area?
“He
should have acted upon solar panels donated by UNDP lying idle at Chivhu
Hospital but he did nothing. He never attends to the problems of this
constituency, we are orphans. The MP should be in touch with the situation in
his constituency and he should be seen to be working on the challenges we face,”
said Zvarevashe.
When
contacted for comment, Mangwiro said he had been battling ill-health for some
time but was now fit to live up the expectations of people who voted for him.
“I have
been out of the country for quite a long period of time and I thought it’s
known that I have been battling ill health. I underwent a surgical operation
but I can now confirm that I am fit and raring to go. I have a lot of projects in
my plans. We have a lot to do,” said Mangwiro.

Legal Perspectives with Fidelicy Nyamukondiwa

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Legal Perspectives with Fidelicy Nyamukondiwa



What
is Statutory Rape?
‘Statutory Rape’ is a
misnomer. The correct legal term is ‘having
sexual intercourse with a young person’. There is a bold line between
‘having sexual intercourse with a young person’ and rape. The latter is
committed when a man has non-consensual sexual/anal intercourse with a woman. The
former is criminalised by section 70 (1) (a) of the Criminal Law Code. This
article is a brief analysis of section 70(1) (a) of the Code.
Section 70(1) (a) of
the Code criminalises consensual sexual intercourse with young persons. A young
person is defined in the Code as a boy or a girl under 16 years. Therefore, 16 year-olds
are consequently not young persons. As a result of the foregoing, it is not an
offence to have consensual sexual intercourse with a 16 year old child. The rationale
behind section 70 of the Code is to protect ‘young persons’ from sexual exploitation by predatory adults. The
constitutionality of the Code’s definition of ‘young person’ is questionable in
view of section 81 of the constitution which provides that boys and girls below
18 years have the right to be protected from sexual exploitation.
Whilst our current
criminal law does not criminalise consensual sexual intercourse with 16 and 17
year olds, that does not mean such children can get married. As explained in my
previous article titled ‘Categories of persons who cannot marry in Zim’, the
minimum age of marriage in the country is 18 years. There is a blatant lacuna
in our law. In Latin such a gap is termed a ‘casus omissus’. The lawmaker must
spring to action and align the Criminal law code with the Constitution.
Legally, a child who is
12-years-old or below can never be said to have consented to sexual intercourse.
A man who engages in sexual intercourse with such a child commits rape. If the
accused is a female, the offence is called ‘aggravated
indecent assault’. If an adult has consensual sexual intercourse with a
young person above 12 years of age but of or below the age of 14, the person
must be charged with rape unless there is evidence to show that the young person
was capable of consenting.
It is not an offence
for children under 16 years to have consensual sexual intercourse amongst
themselves. I cannot do more than restate the famous dictum of Justice Ndou in S v 
Juvenile(RPS) HC 18/03; “Whilst it might be a bitter pill to swallow
for parents, youngsters aged under sixteen can freely indulge in sexual
activities outside criminal sanctions…This does not seem ideal in this era of
HIV/AIDS. There is nothing criminal about accused’s conduct although morally
and religiously reprehensible.”
Having sexual
intercourse with a young person is a relatively serious offence.  In Sv
Banda & Chakamoga HH 47/16, Justice Charewa urged magistrates to impose
effective sentences of not less than 3 years for those accused who are
twice the victims’ ages, are married with children of their own, impregnate the young persons
or infect them with STDs. A magistrate can consider community
service or payment of a fine depending on the circumstances. Each case is
decided on its own merits.
Fiat Justitia Ruat
Caelum!
Nyamukondiwa
Fidelicy writes in his personal capacity. Contactable on
nhanyams@yahoo.com/0785827154

We are not trying to make names out of pupils: Muresherwa

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We are not trying to make names out of pupils: Muresherwa


TellZim Reporter

For Masvingo Christian College, the philosophy of giving
every child the chance to explore their potential is what drives the school’s
growth in leaps and bounds each year.
Masvingo Christian College head Edison Muresherwa believes
that every child, if given the chance to prove themselves, has potential to do
something that can help them make living regardless of how many units they may
have obtained at grade seven.
While a lot of secondary schools are on a helter-skelter to enroll
only the straight A pupils, Muresherwa’s mission is to afford every child the
chance to go through secondary education. This has accorded study opportunities
to may pupils who face rejection elsewhere.
“We are not trying to make names out of pupils. We want them
to make names out of us, that is why we do not screen them at enrollment but we
still achieve competitive results.
“If one of our learners one day points at Masvingo Christian College
and say, ‘Had it not been for this school I wouldn’t have been given a chance
to prove myself’, we would have done our job,” Muresherwa said.
Muresherwa says the various technical and agricultural
projects undertaken at the school constituted efforts to give every pupil a
chance to explore their capabilities from a wider pool of offerings.
Practical skills that pupils can learn include fisheries,
piggery and growing vegetables.
“We have various projects that we keep developing at the
school, and our vision is to see every child gaining skills that will help them
in the future. We equally value academic excellence as much as we value
technical expertise in our learners.
“We also do the hard sciences and I can safely tell you that
we have a remarkable number of doctors and engineers who did their ‘A’ level
here. This year, we have already enrolled 50 science pupils in lower six,”
Muresherwa said.
Mashoko Christian Schools chairperson Zebedee Togarepi echoed
the same sentiments saying the major development any school could do for the
community was to include every child.
“We do not have cut-off units for form ones and we try to
give every pupil a chance at ‘A’ level. Nonetheless, our results have proved us
right, that every child, if given the chance, can excel.
“As a Christian school, we give learners a chance to choose
for themselves if they want to lead a Christian life or not. Our duty is to
lead exemplary lives to influence them, but the choice solely lies with them,”
Togarepi said.
Togarepi, who started off at Masvingo Christian College as a
student back in 1970 when it was still a Bible college, said it would have been
a wild dream back then to imagine him as chairperson of the responsible
authority of a group of Christian schools.
He said his current position was a result of him being given
a chance when he could otherwise have been discriminated against.
Masvingo Christian College recently installed a solar system
at the school and is already pumping its own water for practical learning
purposes.
The school also has a biogas plant where pig waste is used to
produce biogas that is used mainly in science labs and in the home economics
department.

21 people under coronavirus self-quarantine in Masvingo

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21 people under coronavirus self-quarantine in Masvingo

TellZim
Reporter
Some 21 people in
Masvingo province have been advised to practice self-quarantine over the next
few weeks after they recently came home back after travelling to countries
associated with the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Masvingo Provincial
Medical Director (PMD) Dr Amadeus Shamu confirmed that local health authorities
had advised the travellers to quarantine themselves.
He, however, said
people should be well-informed on the difference between self-quarantining and
effective monitoring by health authorities.
“There should be no
panic at all as there is no suspected case of coronavirus. These are just
travellers who came back into the country from countries that are associated
with the virus. What happens is that when somebody arrives from such countries and
they exhibit no symptoms of the virus, we advise them to minimise their
movements and mixing with other people in case they carry something not yet
clinically detectable,” said Shamu.
He said the 21 people
were in the different districts of the province, and were not in hospital or
any medical facility.
“They are not in
hospital but are at their own places. These are just precautionary measure
being taken by authorities to keep the people safe,” Shamu said.
He also told TellZim
News that four of the 21 people under self-quarantine arrived from China, where
the virus was first detected on December 31, 2019, while others had just
arrived from such countries as India that share borders with China.
By the time of writing,
latest official statistics from China showed that a total of 2004 people had
died of the virus, most of them on mainland China, while 74 185 cases had been
confirmed worldwide.
Many countries,
however, distrust official Chinese data on the virus as the communist
government there is not transparent on controversial topics or issues deemed
embarrassing.

Musikavanhu criticises English name for new Chiredzi suburb

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Musikavanhu criticises English name for new Chiredzi suburb

Beatific
Gumbwanda
CHIREDZI – Chiredzi West
Member of Parliament (MP) Farai Musikavanhu has criticised Chiredzi Town
Council for giving a new suburb an English name, saying an indigenous language
name could have been chosen.
Addressing
crowds that gathered at Tshovani Stadium for a youth-themed service delivery
meeting dubbed ‘Maborn-born’ festival last weekend, Musikavanhu said council
was ill-informed to name its newest residential development Melborne Park.
With
reference to Cllr Ropafadzo Makumire, who was present at the event, and who is
Chiredzi Town Council deputy chairperson, Musikavanhu said an indigenous name
could have been found to protect the district’s cultural heritage.
“These
councillors failed to establish a traditional name for our medium density and
chose an English one, Melbourne Park. Is that really possible? Are they serious
about preserving our cultural heritage?” said Musikavanhu.
When
Makumire was given the podium to give a vote of thanks, he tried to defend the
council saying it was not proper for Musikavanhu to shame fellow elected public
officials in front of the crowd.
“We
were all voted into office MP, it’s never good to mock others in front of the
same electorate which voted you in office,” said Makumire.
Many
people have also criticised council’s naming choices as reflective of mental
colonialism and an ingrained inferiority complex.

Morgan Tsvangirai Street for Mutare

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Morgan Tsvangirai Street for Mutare

Felix
Matasva

Mutare City Council has resolved to rename Second Street in the Central
Business District (CBD) to Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, the former MDC leader who
died of colon cancer on February 14, 2018.
The late Moven
Mahachi, Moris Nyagumbo, Edgar Tekere and Kumbirai Kangai will also have
streets named after them.
 City of Mutare Mayor Blessing Tandi told TellZim News that councillors unanimously agreed
to rename Second Street after the late Tsvangirai in honour of his
contributions to the politics and democracy in the country.
“We are now in agreement with councilor Chabuka and
Nyamhoka’s proposal. We have agreed that Jeff Road be renamed to Edgar Tekere,
Second Street to Morgan Richard Tsvangirai and First Street to Morris Nyagumbo.
“Aerodrome Road
will be renamed to Moven Mahachi. We will deliberate on Kumbirai Kangai later,”
said Tandi.
He said Tsvangirai deserves a special place in the
history of the country and renaming a street after him is not only befitting
but appropriate.
 “No one disputes the contributions made by Tsvangirai
in the struggle for a democratic Zimbabwe. He stood up to a brutal regime when
it was not fashionable to do so.
 “He was brutalised but they did not break his resolve.
His dream for a better Zimbabwe for everyone was more important to him than his
life. Sadly, he did before that dream could be realised. We will inscribe his
name into the history books because he was one of the finest leaders this
country has ever produced,” said Tandi.
 Tsvangirai has also received a similar honour in
Masvingo where the city fathers agreed to rename Hofmeyer Street after the
veteran opposition leader.

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