Bricks molded in 2014 had been lying idle until now

Moses Ziyambi

Gutu South Member of Parliament
(MP) Pupurai Togarepi is investing part of the $50 000 Constituency
Development Fund (CDF) allocated to him by parliament to resume work on a
clinic project in Ward 28 which will help thousands of villagers to get easier
access to health services.

A committee was formed to
supervise mobilisation of locally-available materials needed for the clinic to
be built, with villagers recently using their scotch carts to transport river
sand from a nearby stream.

Ward 28 Councillor Johnson Nhema
said he was pleased that work had at last been resumed at the project site
which had become a painful heartbreak for close to five years.

“We are pleased that much of the
resources needed are in place to build and complete the clinic. We are happy
that our MP has realised the importance of this clinic to people of this ward
and other surrounding areas.  This is the
development we yearn for and the community has pledged to support the MP in his
efforts to improve their lives. We all know he could have chosen to use the
money elsewhere if he wanted. There are many deserving cases in Gutu South,”
said Nhema.

Villagers told Tell Zimbabwe
Togarepi had pledged to build a decent house for nursing staff using his own
money while the CDF allocation is being spent on the main clinic building.

Toilets have already been built
and villagers said they looked forward to all work being completed before the
end of 2020.

The closest health centres at the
moment are Mukaro Mission Hospital, Chitando Hospital and Cheshuro Clinic, all
of which are at least 10 km away.

The project was initiated back in
2013 but work stalled in 2014 as factional battles in Zanu PF claimed the scalp
of then Gutu South MP Dr Paul Chimedza.

Chimedza was fired from his
government post of Health deputy minister and was also suspended from conducting
party activities for allegedly aligning himself with then vice president Joice
Mujuru’s so-called Gamatox cabal which was accused of plotting to
unconstitutionally seize power from then president Robert Mugabe.

Insurance giant Old Mutual, which
had reportedly agreed to bear much of the cost of building and equipping the
clinic, beat a hasty retreat fearing the consequences of being seen to be
working with members of the ostracised cabal.

Initial designs for the clinic
had intended it to be solar-powered as well as to have a solar-powered borehole
and a few maternity beds.

There had been no progress at the
project site for all those years until now, with many of the 50 000 bricks
which villagers had molded and transported getting damaged.

     The Bere throne is one of the chieftaincies revived in recent months

Brighton Chiseva                                              

MASVINGO – Masvingo Provincial Development Coordinator (PDC)
formerly known as Provincial Administrator (PA) Fungai Mbetsa has said
newly-revived chieftainships in formerly white settlements have no power to
distribute land.

Some of the newly-revived
chieftainships in the province are Bere, Nemamwa and Neromwe and Musara.

These chieftainships are in
resettlement areas that were created after the Land Reform Programme displaced
white settler farmers.

Mbetsa said the chieftainships were
there only to uphold cultural values and harmony through solving social and
cultural disputes between people in his area of jurisdiction.

“The Ministry of Lands through
relevant departments is responsible for giving people land and the chief will
only solve disputes among people who were put under his area by the ministry. He
has no power to give land because it is feared the resettlement areas will be turned
into communal areas,” said Mbetsa

He said the chiefs, however, had
power over the selection of village heads and headmen in their area of
jurisdiction. He said the village head and headmen will have similar roles to
play but only at village level.

“The chiefs can appoint village
heads or headmen through the required procedures and they will also bring peace
among their subjects through presiding over domestic disputes in their areas of
jurisdiction,” said Mbetsa.

Chiefs and village heads in many
areas are being reported to be selling land especially those near growth points
and main roads.

Village heads around Nemamwa area
have been accused of doing so and those around Jerera in Zaka are also said to
be selling stands in areas meant for the expansion of the growth point and
efforts by the local authority to stop them seem be failing.