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Junior leagues, academies key to untapped sports talent

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Junior leagues, academies key to untapped sports talent


Clayton Shereni

While
some cities boast of having junior leagues and vibrant academies in various
sporting disciplines, Masvingo still lags behind though some of the finest
talent in Zimbabwe trace roots back to the province and it seems sports
administrators and the corporate world are far from walking the talk in
promoting and nurturing young talent.
Pamushana,
Chibi, Gutu, Chidyamakono and Dewure High Schools have been forces to reckon with
at national sports tournaments especially in Netball, Soccer and Volleyball but
little has been done to tap talent from these schools.
Six
former Pamushana pupils shined at the netball world cup in United Kingdom last
year with Claris Kwaramba and Sharon Bwanali attracting attention from Australian
clubs.
Charles
Manyuchi who hails from Masvingo province has managed to set up a boxing
academy for young boxers but the academy is based in Chivhu, which makes it
hard for some Masvingo school going aspiring boxers to attend training
sessions.
Young
football players in the country have found fortress at the Willard Katsande’s under-18
annual soccer tournament but this hasn’t been enough since the tournament takes
place once a year.
However,
for Masvingo the situation is worse, as successful players and the corporate
world have turned a blind eye at the young talent which remains untapped.
Other
major cities like Bulawayo and Harare pride themselves in Serie A junior league
and Harare junior league respectively where junior soccer teams for clubs like
Highlanders, Dynamos and Harare City get a chance to showcase their talent.
Not
only do these provinces have junior leagues but they have vibrant academies
like Aces Youth Soccer Academy in Harare where Khama Billiat started his career
and Bantu Rovers Academy in Bulawayo who have produced Aston Villa midfielder
Marvelous Nakamba.
Many
Masvingo young football players have been playing in the Mucheke Social League (MSL)
while volleyball players from Masvingo Christian College and Great Zimbabwe
University (GZU) have been playing in the Dzimbahwe Volleyball league.
In
these leagues young talent play against old players some of them who have
retired while some just play to maintain physical fitness as they will have
lost the hope to turn professional.
Efforts
to set up academies have been done with the latest academy being Masvingo Youth
Academy (MYA) but the academy’s vision has been thwarted due to lack of funding
to acquire proper training equipment.
Tennis
has been the only sport which seems to be making strides in nurturing young
players as the administrators have set up a vibrant board which seeks to
promote young talent.
Young
tennis players in Masvingo are promising to conquer the continent with the
likes of Ednah Mhango claiming more than 15 accolades including regional
trophies before completing her primary school education last year.
Thirteen
year old Masvingo tennis ace, Thompson Thomu Jnr is currently in Namibia with
team Zimbabwe Under14 team in the International Tennis Federation
(ITF)/Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) tourney where he has won a gold and
silver medal against Africa’s best junior players.
Tennis
coach and Masvingo Tennis board chairman Thompson Thomu said they are in the
process of partnering local schools and also revealed that they have lined up
seven tournaments for junior tennis aces.
“Our
junior players are school going so we are currently heavily engaged with the
Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to try and bring a junior league
into their structures.
“We
have lined up seven tournaments to be held in Masvingo for the junior players.
The tournaments include Masvingo Open, Masvingo Junior Tennis closed I, II,
III, Zim closed, Inter provincials  and Simon
Muzenda tourney,” said Thomu.
If
all sports administrators in the city emulate the tennis board, Masvingo will
once again become a hub of producing quality sports personalities.  

Masvingo unveils vast investment opportunities

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Masvingo unveils vast investment opportunities



…city wants multi-storey flats, cluster houses in bid to clear backlog
Moses Ziyambi
Masvingo City Council has compiled a brochure with key information on
investment opportunities that business people can exploit for their own profit
and for the economic growth of the city.
Masvingo city and the wider province have wide investment potential but
capital inflows are miniscule due to many factors including a difficult
macro-economic environment affecting the whole country.
With the brochure, city fathers hope to convince local and foreign
investors that the prospective benefits of investing in Masvingo far outweigh
the risks.
“The City of Masvingo enjoys a unique natural attribute; located
equidistant from the major cities and host to the Great Zimbabwe Monument, a
World Heritage Site and second most popular tourism site in Zimbabwe after the
Victoria Falls. The City of Masvingo prides itself in a fairly well maintained
road, water and wastewater disposal infrastructure. The city is designated a
Tourism Development Zone (TDZ) accessible by road, rail and air,” the city
states as the reasons why it is wise to invest in Masvingo.
The
city has dangled massive incentives to prospective investors and these include competitive
prices of land, flexible and negotiable payment terms, rates moratorium and
free water during construction.
The
city has also committed to give investors in the tourism development zone some
tax holidays.
In
the heavy manufacturing and industrial activities category, the city is
offering prime stands measuring 2 000 – 6 000m2 in the Westview
industrial area while commercial stands in the CBD are being offered at very
affordable prices.
The
city is also looking for a joint-venture partner interested in reviving the
278-hectare Shakashe Game Park by fencing its environs, stocking it with small
game, building lodges and conference facilities.
Masvingo
has also floated exclusive advertising rights on every space covered by the 578
solar-powered streets lights that the city wants investors to install.
City
fathers are also looking for investors capable of servicing 800 high density
and 200 medium density residential areas in the envisaged Rujeko D housing
project.
The
deal will also involve the provision of off-site sewer reticulation
infrastructure including a sewerage pump station.
The
city has also made available some 3000m2 of land close to Exor along
the Masvingo-Beit Bridge highways for the construction of medium density, multi-storey
residential flats and/or cluster houses.

Education system creating fools: Minister Murwira

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Education system creating fools: Minister Murwira

Upenyu Chaota
The
Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education Professor Amon Murwira has lampooned
the country’s higher education system which he claims is producing less of
thinkers and more of fools.
Murwira
spoke at a recent Zanu PF Masvingo Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC)
meeting where he said the education system had over the years failed to produce
solution holders.
He
said at birth, people are ignorant and without knowledge of anything but are
made stupid and foolish with the type of education they receive.
“We
should know that every person born of a woman is born ignorant but not foolish
or stupid. So where does stupidity and foolishness come from? Fools come from
the education system. The type of education that tells them that in order to do
engineering you have to study English first.
“Our
ancestors never learned English but we have our Great Zimbabwe monuments. That
kind of engineering remains a marvel even to date. Our education system is teaching
people to read and write but is doing little to teach them to think.
“This
is why you see a lot of people fighting on WhatsApp because they mastered the
skill of writing and reading but not thinking,” said Murwira.
Murwira
said there is need for a complete paradigm shift in the country’s higher
education system as the education is contributing to uselessness with 98
percent of the people only good at reading and writing while 38 percent are
equipped with skills.
 “This country has been subjected to systematic
destruction of the confidence of its people. The issue now is how do we
construct and reconstruct the confidence of our people.
“We
need to move away from being beggars to producers. The aim of our education is
to modernize and industrialize this county. It is not to Westernise,
Easternise, Northernise or Southernise.
“We
need to ask ourselves why our universities and colleges are detached from the
society they are intended to transform. We want to restore ourselves as a
people through relevant education,” said Murwira.
He
said a lot of graduates complain that there are no jobs yet the country is
facing a myriad of problems which requires people to put their brains and
skills to work and provide jobs for themselves in the process of solving the
crisis.  
“Education
has to have a purpose and benefits. We don’t want people who go through higher
education and come back looking for jobs.
“What
have you been learning? How does education lead to uselessness? We have now
looked at this thing and said let us look at our tertiary institutions and see
why people are being taught to destroy rather than build.
“Education
should create solutions not add to the problem. We see graduates getting into
the streets demanding jobs yet we expect them to create jobs. We asked
ourselves why our education system is creating professors who are begging for
food. People say there are no jobs but the country has drought. There are no
drugs but people say there are no jobs. To address all these problems is a job
on its own.
“There
are plenty of jobs but there is no one doing it. We need to fix our education
system first. 98 percent of our people can read and write but only 38 percent
have skills,” said Murwira.

Francis Aphiri destined for a class of its own

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Francis Aphiri destined for a class of its own

…school head Maregere
sets school for new challenges

Star
Matsongoni

With a rising pass rate
and an expanding school infrastructure system, Francis Aphiri primary looks set
to become an institution occupying a place of its own in a sector characterised
by increased competitiveness.
Owned by Masvingo City
Council and named after one of the most revered policy makers to ever lead the
city, the late Mayor Francis Aphiri, the school has been on an upward
trajectory in its relatively short history.
Under the leadership of
school head Henry Maregere, the school now boasts an enrollment of 1 200 pupils
mostly from the adjacent Runyararo West suburb as well from other surrounding
residential areas like Victoria Ranch and Mucheke D.
Having been developed
as a response to the ever-growing need for more educational facilities in the
sprawling city, Francis Aphiri Primary School has rapidly grown to be a school
of choice for many people in the city.
Since taking over as
school head, Maregere has presided over a steady rise in the grade seven
examinations pass rate from 91.27 in 2016 to 95 percent for 2019. Maregere says
his wish is to record an improved pass rate after each examination period, with
greater focus being on the quality of results.


The school has also
made formidable strides in improving its facilities; having completed the
construction of a new classroom block which is being used by grade ones and yet
another one which is currently being used by grade sevens although it was
initially designed as an industrial block for pupils studying woodwork and home
economics.
Francis Aphiri is also
finalizing plans to build an ‘infant centre away from the school’, and one
classroom block is already up.
Maregere says
experience points to the importance of isolating ECD, grade one and grade two
pupils from the rest of the classes.
“The infant department
will help the youngest of our children to be free and to be themselves. Those
are the children who are at the lowest formative years of their development so
they need to be given room to live and learn without being subjected to the same
kind of control that should otherwise be reserved for older children. The
younger children want to be happy, they want to make noise and you can’t expect
them to be as much responsive to instruction as their older counterparts do,”
said Maregere.
He said facilities in
the envisaged infant department will also house teachers offices as well as any
other infrastructure required for early childhood academic development.
The school has a
thriving poultry project which recently contributed a substantial amount of
money to the coffers after the sale of 250 birds.
“We also have plans to
start a rabbit and fisheries project. We have already built the ponds for the
fish and we are building a permanent foul run to replace the cages that we are
currently using. The idea is to establish separate income streams that
complement the developmental work being done using school fees,” said Maregere.

                                      Francis Aphiri Pri admin staff

He said many of the
plans were being delayed by inadequate water supplies at the school.
“We have a borehole
here but it doesn’t yield much water. I am pleased therefore that a new
borehole will soon be drilled and most of the water will be used for those
agricultural projects,” said Maregere.
Since becoming Francis
Aphiri Primary School head, Maregere, who previously headed Victoria Jnr and
Makoho Primary schools, has overseen a number of new projects including the
construction of a perimeter fence around the school and the paving of the front
yard.
Three classroom blocks
have also been constructed and plans are that more learning space should be
created in order to decongest the classrooms and allow more pupils to be
enrolled.

Legal Perspectives: People cannot marry

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Legal Perspectives: People cannot marry




Categories of
persons who cannot marry in Zimbabwe

With Fidelicy Nyamukondiwa
The Customary Marriages Act [Chapter 5:07],
the Marriage Act [Chapter 5:11]
and of course the Constitution governs marriages in Zimbabwe. The gazetted Marriage Bill, 2019 seeks to repeal and
replace the aforementioned two statutes and align Zimbabwe’s marriage laws to
the Constitution. This article outlines the categories of persons who cannot
marry in terms of the country’s marriage laws.

Children
Section
78(1) of the Constitution provides for marriage rights and is in tandem with
International Conventions and Treaties to which Zimbabwe is a signatory. It
sets eighteen years as the minimum age of marriage.
However, at the time section 78(1) of the Constitution came into effect, section 22 of the Marriage Act allowed a sixteen year old
girl to marry provided the guardians consented. It also empowered the Justice
Minister to authorize marriage of boys under eighteen and girls under sixteen
years. The Customary
Marriages Act on the other hand, did not provide for a minimum age limit
for marriage
The landmark Constitutional Court judgement of Mudzuru and Anor v Minister of Justice…CCZ
12/15 was a child marriages death knell. It declared the Marriage Act and the Customary Marriages Act unconstitutional
and held that with effect from 20 January 2016, no person below the age of
eighteen years may enter into any marriage, including an
unregistered customary law union or any other union
including one arising out of religion.
It’s been 4
years after Mudzuru was decided but
it is disturbing to note that child marriages are still prevalent in Zimbabwe.
Adults who in any way take part in child marriage arrangements must be
prosecuted under section 94 Criminal
Law (Codification & Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23. It is high time the relevant laws be aligned to the Constitution
to ensure the smooth running of the wheels of justice.

Persons of the same sex
There has been growing
concerns and advocacy for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights
in Zimbabwe since the 90’s. The Constitution does not however provide for such
rights. Former president, the late Robert Mugabe was internationally known for
castigating the advocacy for LGBT rights. Section 78(3) of the Constitution
expressly prohibits marriage of persons of the same sex. Consensual sexual intercourse
between adults (sodomy) is an offence inviting a maximum penalty of one year
imprisonment or a level fourteen fine. The case of S v Banana 2000 (1) ZLR 607 (S) demonstrates how sexual intercourse
between persons of the same sex is frowned at in Zimbabwe.

Relatives
Persons of certain
degree of relationships have always been prohibited from marrying since time
immemorial. The common law crime of incest was codified through section 75 of
the Criminal Law Code. If convicted,
a person can be sentenced to a maximum of five years imprisonment or to pay a
level fourteen fine.
Section 75(2) lays down the degree of relationships
which can neither have sexual intercourse nor marry. Besides the common ones, also
included are relationships between; parent and step/adopted child (even above
18years), any person and his or her ascendant or
descendant, any person and a descendant of a brother or sister, whether of
whole or half blood and between  any person and an ascendant or descendant of his or her former
spouse.

Other Categories
Besides children,
persons of the same sex and relatives, mentally challenged persons who cannot
comprehend the nature of the marriage contract cannot marry. Parties to a Civil
Marriage contract cannot marry as long as the marriage still subsist. Whilst a
man customarily married can marry another wife, a woman in the same marriage
cannot marry another husband.
Fiat
Justitia Ruat Caelum!
Nyamukondiwa
Fidelicy writes in his personal capacity. He holds a Diploma in Law and is a
former Public Prosecutor at Masvingo Magistrates Court. He is a LLB (HONS)
student at Herbert Chitepo Law School. Contactable on 0785827154 /nhanyams@yahoo.com.

Pastor O Surprises congregants, funds start-up ideas

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Pastor O Surprises congregants, funds start-up ideas


TellZim
Reporter

MASVINGO
–
Youthful clergyman and business person, Pastor Onward Chironda recently
surprised congregants during a Sunday service at his New Creation Embassy
Church by giving some youths money to fund their business ideas.
During the course of
the service, Prophet O had asked young people what they were doing in life and
what they would want to be known.
A few who responded
that they wished to start businesses were given substantial amounts of money in
US dollars and in South African rands.
The youthful pastor
said the church was not a place of spiritual solutions alone but was also a
place of social upliftment.
Pastor O, as he is
affectionately known, is widely described as flamboyant but he has demonstrated
a strong commitment to the welfare of the less fortunate.
Inspired by his mentor
Uebert Angel, the young pastor has been doing many philanthropic works aimed at
giving hope to the underprivileged.
He recently completed writing
a book which he has launched in the United States of America.

124 solar panels lie idle at Chivhu Gen Hosp

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124 solar panels lie idle at Chivhu Gen Hosp

Elliot
Jinjika
CHIVHU–
The incessant power shortages which have hit the country have taken a toll at
Chivhu General Hospital putting to a halt key operations which require electricity
while a124 solar panel field lie idle in the backyard drawing and ire from the
public.
The hospital management has come under fire from the
public after they have negated a solar field of over 120 panels donated by the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) about two years ago.
Power shortages have affected the mortuary,
laboratory, theatre and CSSD departments at Chivhu General Hospital with most
patients now being referred to Gutu, Murambinda, Driefontein and other mission
hospitals for assistance.
There have been some reports alleging that the
hospital management abused the funds to finish the project in anticipation that
they would recover the money quickly but the economy took a nosedive plunging
the whole project into doubt.
No comment could be drawn from the hospital
authorities but Chivhu district public works officer Edwin Mashingaidze said that
the project will soon be operational as it has been stalled for far too long.
“Soon the project will be completed and everything
will be done in a very short period of time. The handover had not been done
because the work was still in progress. We were just waiting for the donor to
supply other materials that were lacking.
“All things hinged in the hands of the donor and our
job here is just to check the progress and nothing more.
“Some sections of the hospital have already been
connected and soon the whole hospital will be done. Circumstances beyond our
control derailed the progress and it has nothing to do with misappropriation of
funds as others may think,” said Mashingaidze.
If completed, the solar field will be able to power
the most critical areas of the hospital.

Hwindi soldiers embarrass Army

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Hwindi soldiers embarrass Army

…as desperate gunmen
hustle it out on streets as mahwindi

TellZim
Reporter
MASVINGO
–
The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) has distanced itself from the activities of
its wayward members who seek to supplement their salaries through means that
are unprofessional and outside of the organisation’s mandate, TellZim News can
report.
Responding to questions
in the wake of the death of a soldier in an accident at old Croco Motors on
January 10, ZNA spokesperson Col Overson Mugwisi said the duty of soldiers was
to defend the country and not to indulge in unprofessional hustles.
“I have not received any
complaint regarding the issue of our members who practice touting and I would
have wanted you to identify those who are doing it for me. As you know, the
duty of soldiers is to defend the country as per the mandate of ZNA,” said
Mugwisi.
He said disciplinary
action will be taken against members who are found to be breaking the
guidelines of their professional duties in order to protect the reputation of
the organisation.
Mugwisi, however,
feigned ignorance of the death of Lance Corporal Mufaro Jongwe while doing
touting work at old Croco Motors in Masvingo.
Jongwe, who was a
well-known tout at the pick-up point, was helping to load a stationary
Harare-bound Bercam bus when he was crushed by the same bus after he ran after
it when it took off.
As the bus moved
forward, Jongwe had reportedly hopped onto it but he missed his step twice and
fell on the ground before the vehicle ran over his head.
The soldier, who is
survived by a wife and two children, was buried on Monday, January 13, in
Vuranda village of Chivi district.
He was sent off with
requisite military honours while his colleagues in the touting business also
trooped to his homestead to pay their last respect.
“He was a fantastic
colleague who had mastered the crude requirements of our work. He was a soldier,
yes, but he suffered like the rest of us. The money that junior officers are
getting is not enough so we can’t fault him for trying to find extra means to
fend for his family,” said one distraught tout.
Many serving members of
the army are openly practicing touting when they are outside of their
professional work as part efforts to survive the harsh economic realities.
In the same vein, some
police officers are engaging in pirate taxi business and illegal foreign
currency dealings on the streets.
The Zimbabwe Republic
Police (ZRP) recently released a circular condemning the behavior of some of
its female members in Harare who are reportedly selling their bodies to illegal
gold panners in Mazowe district.

Chief Neromwe bans circumcision, female initiation

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Chief Neromwe bans circumcision, female initiation

                                                 Chief Neromwe
Beatific Gumbwanda
CHIREDZI – Chief Neromwe
has come out strongly against traditional male circumcision and a girls adulthood initiations rites that he said
were not customary to people of his cultural identity.
Traditional male circumcision
rites are performed widely in Chiredzi district but mostly by members of the
Tsonga/Shangane tribal group.
Chief Neromwe, born Clemence
Madzingo, is just but one Shona chief in a district dominated by Tsonga
traditional leaders.
The restoration of the Neromwe
chieftainship last year has caused severe friction with Chief Tshovani, born
Hlaisi Mundau.
The revival of Neromwe saw
Tshovani losing wards 17, 26, 27 and 28, leaving him presiding over wards 20,
22 and 32.
The four resettlement wards which
were awarded to Neromwe were under Tshovani and were subjected to Tsonga
cultural practices of hook (male circumcision) and komba (female initiation
into adulthood).
Both cultural practices are
practiced in the mountains under the cover of many taboos and superstitions
that prevent external scrutiny.
Many people in the wards that
were awarded to Neromwe felt the practices were alien to them and Neromwe now
seems to have acted in response to their apprehension.
Speaking to TellZim News soon
after obtaining a court order which bars Chief Tshovani from getting into his
territory and interfering with his subjects, Chief Neromwe said the two
cultural practices were now a banned tradition in areas under his jurisdiction.
“It was never our tradition. We
will no longer allow any of that to take place in our community as it has been
happening before,” said Neromwe.
Government and foreign donors are
implementing medical male circumcision across the country, and they have in
some parts of Chiredzi partnered local communities to improve traditional
circumcision practices.

Ailing rape victim weeps in court in fear of ‘rapist’ sangoma

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Ailing rape victim weeps in court in fear of ‘rapist’ sangoma

…begs magistrate to strike case off the roll

Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI– A rape victim
recently wept in court and begged Chiredzi Senior Regional Magistrate Judith
Zuyu to strike off the roll the case against his alleged rapist whom she said
could kill her using his black magic.
The 42-year-old ailing woman, who
was raped allegedly by Jamu Jamu, a sangoma, said she feared her rapist would
use his magic to finish her off if he was to be convicted.
“I forgave him, like what my
husband did before he died. He said maybe Jamu Jamu had raped me as payment for
a service he rendered us.
We owed him a cow after we
consulted him when my husband was ill but he never got healed. We then failed
to pay up in time so he raped me perhaps to compensate himself for the unpaid
work. I am now in fear, as I no longer know the root of my sickness,” wept the
woman, who cannot be named for ethical reasons.
She said her health was
inexplicably deteriorating ever since Jamu threatened to make her worse if she
ever reported the two incidences when he raped her.
Both wife and husband were Jamu’s
patients but the sangoma allegedly raped the woman on the two incidences he
attended to her.
The State led by Innocent Tshuma
claimed that on March 13, 2019, the complainant experienced abdominal pains and
she went to Jamu looking for help.
Jamu is alleged to have smeared
some herbs onto the woman, laid her on some bedding where he raped her once.
When she regained her
consciousness and realised she had been raped, her violator apologised for what
he had done.
While on his way to hospital on
June 05, 2019, the woman’s husband met Jamu whom he asked to go to his home and
attend to his wife who was not well.
When Jamu went there, he used the
same tricks to rape the woman again. When the woman discovered she was
pregnant, she confided in her mother who then advised her to report the matter
to the police.
He husband died in December 2019.

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